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Grave Digger sind seit über 4 Jahrzehnten ein fester Bestandteil der deutschen Heavy Metal Szene. Chris Boltendahl, Axel Ritt, Jens Becker und Marcus Kniep sind nicht nur im Live-Bereich eine feste Größe, sondern liefern auch regelmäßig hochwertige Heavy Metal-Alben ab. Auf ihrem neuesten Album "Symbol Of Eternity" spinnen sie die Geschichte der Kreuzritter weiter... nachdem sie sich bereits auf dem Album "Knights of the Cross" damit befasst haben, widmen sie sich nun erneut der der sagenumwobenen Geschichte der Templer.

Messerscharfe Riffs, opulente Chorarrangements und die markante Stimme von Chris Boltendahl sind Bestandteile von Grave Diggers neuem Werk. Alle Markenzeichen, die die Band seit 4 Jahrzehnten auszeichnen, werdem auf dem neuen Album fortgeführt und machen "Symbol Of Eternity" zu einem originellen und harten Album. Und doch stehen neben den gnadenlosen Riffs, wie im eröffnenden Headbanger "Battle Cry", immer wieder melodische Refrains im Vordergrund... harte Doublebass-Attacken, gepaart mit Midtempo-Songs und dem fast schon doomigen Titeltrack lassen jedes Headbangerherz höher schlagen.

Grave Digger waren noch nie so abwechslungsreich und scheuen sich nicht, auch mal weit über den Tellerrand zu schauen - wie beim Bonustrack "Hellas Hellas", einer Coverversion des griechischen Superstars Vasilis Papakonstantinou, bei der Chris zum ersten Mal in seiner Karriere griechisch singt und für den die Band sogar Vasilis für einige Gesangspassagen gewinnen konnte!

Öffnet eure Ohren und Augen, wenn das neue Album am 26. August weltweit in den Läden steht und ihr eine weitere Reise in die geheime Welt der Templer unternehmen könnt. Der König ist tot… lang lebe der König!

VALBORG haben seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr 2002 mit jedem Album eine große Lust zu musikalischen Experimenten und Grenzüberschreitungen gezeigt. Dabei ist das Trio aus Bonn trotz aller Geschicklichkeit bei der Vermeidung von musikalischen Schubladen jedoch seinem ebenso dunklen wie harten musikalischen Markenkern stets treu geblieben. Entsprechend schwer haben sich Kritiker mit der Einordnung ihres Sounds getan und es unter anderem mit Etiketten wie "Doom", "Blackened Death Metal" und "Industrial" versucht. Fest steht, dass VALBORG auf ihrem neuen Album mit dem Titel "Der Alte" einen bewusst reduzierten Ansatz verfolgen. Die brutalen neuen Tracks kommen kurz und bündig auf den Punkt, nutzen einfache Strukturen und setzen auf extremen Gesang. Dazu kommt der typische, unerbittliche Schlagzeugbeat als Markenzeichen der Band. Unterstützt von LANTLOS-Schöpfer Markus Siegenhort, der für die gesamte Produktion verantwortlich zeichnet, haben sich VALBORG für einen rohen, ungeschliffenen Sound entschieden. Dieser stützt sich ganz auf die Gitarren, da dieses Album ohne Keyboards auskommt. Zu ihren hörbaren Metal-Einflüssen fügt das Trio weitere Elemente, zum Beispiel aus Punk und Wave, hinzu. Unter dem Strich bringt die Vereinfachung knallharte Tracks, die dennoch VALBORGs cineastische Qualitäten aufweisen und passend zu ihren lyrischen Themen bedrohliche Albtraum-Szenarien in kosmischen Dimensionen konstruieren. In den Texten lauern Schrecken und Wahnsinn der Abgründe des Weltraums, ebenso wie xenomorphe Manipulationen und apokalyptische Visionen, die sich oft auf kanonische Werke der modernen Science Fiction Literatur beziehen. VALBORG wurden 2002 in der deutschen Stadt Bonn gegründet. Kritiker haben das Trio unter anderem mit Künstlern wie GODFLESH, CELTIC FROST und TRIPTYKON sowie TYPE O NEGATIVE verglichen, doch VALBORG sind ihre eigenen Wege gegangen, die sich einfachen Kategorisierungen entziehen. Die Deutschen wurden bereits zum zweiten Mal vom trendigen Roadburn Festival in die Niederlanden eingeladen und haben auf weiteren renommierten Festivals und Touren mehrmals Europa durchquert. Die letzten Tournee spielte die Band im Vorprogramm von MANTAR und HEMELBESTORMER. Mit "Der Alte" bieten VALBORG weit mehr als nur einen bittersüßen Ohrenschmaus für ihre treue Fangemeinde: Das präzise, hart einschlagende Album ist für alle gedacht, die sich nach ebenso brutaler und dunkler wie intelligenter neuer Musik sehnen!

Mit nur zwei Demos seit Gründung im Jahr 2018 scheint es, dass MALIGNANT ALTAR nach modernen Maßstäben etwas zu ruhig gestartet waren. Doch dieses Monster hat nicht geschlafen oder sich auf seinen Lorbeeren ausgeruht, sondern das ranzigste, obszönste Album geschaffen, das man sich vorstellen kann. Aus dem tiefsten Schlund 80er-Horror-Einflüssen ergießt sich eine Flut von Innereien in Form von eitrig faulen Riffs und zermürbenden Drums in einem dicken teerigen Matsch instrumentalen Verfalls über den Hörer. Gesanglich wird purer Ekel ausgekotzt, der sich glorreich klebrig über die letzte Ritze bösartig hypnotisierender Rifflandschaft einfügt und wie verfaulte Leichenreste aus euren Lautsprechern tropfen. Wenn das alles nach einer Demo-Band mit begrenzten technischen Spielfähigkeiten klingt - Nichts wäre weiter von der Wahrheit entfernt, da MALIGNANT ALTAR mit gnadenlosem Drumming und technisch ausgefeilten Riffs aufwarten können.

Über fünf typische Tracks und einem spektralen Zwischeninstrumental ist die Platte zwar gnadenlos brutal, verzichtet aber dennoch nicht auf Dynamik. Diese Texaner haben Würze in ihrem Death Metal und wissen genau, wann unausweichliche Attacke oder zermürbender Groove bis hin zum Pulverisieren der Nackenwirbel gefragt ist!

Grave Digger sind seit über 4 Jahrzehnten ein fester Bestandteil der deutschen Heavy Metal Szene. Chris Boltendahl, Axel Ritt, Jens Becker und Marcus Kniep sind nicht nur im Live-Bereich eine feste Größe, sondern liefern auch regelmäßig hochwertige Heavy Metal-Alben ab. Auf ihrem neuesten Album "Symbol Of Eternity" spinnen sie die Geschichte der Kreuzritter weiter... nachdem sie sich bereits auf dem Album "Knights of the Cross" damit befasst haben, widmen sie sich nun erneut der der sagenumwobenen Geschichte der Templer.

Messerscharfe Riffs, opulente Chorarrangements und die markante Stimme von Chris Boltendahl sind Bestandteile von Grave Diggers neuem Werk. Alle Markenzeichen, die die Band seit 4 Jahrzehnten auszeichnen, werdem auf dem neuen Album fortgeführt und machen "Symbol Of Eternity" zu einem originellen und harten Album. Und doch stehen neben den gnadenlosen Riffs, wie im eröffnenden Headbanger "Battle Cry", immer wieder melodische Refrains im Vordergrund... harte Doublebass-Attacken, gepaart mit Midtempo-Songs und dem fast schon doomigen Titeltrack lassen jedes Headbangerherz höher schlagen.

Grave Digger waren noch nie so abwechslungsreich und scheuen sich nicht, auch mal weit über den Tellerrand zu schauen - wie beim Bonustrack "Hellas Hellas", einer Coverversion des griechischen Superstars Vasilis Papakonstantinou, bei der Chris zum ersten Mal in seiner Karriere griechisch singt und für den die Band sogar Vasilis für einige Gesangspassagen gewinnen konnte!

Öffnet eure Ohren und Augen, wenn das neue Album am 26. August weltweit in den Läden steht und ihr eine weitere Reise in die geheime Welt der Templer unternehmen könnt. Der König ist tot… lang lebe der König!

Grave Digger sind seit über 4 Jahrzehnten ein fester Bestandteil der deutschen Heavy Metal Szene. Chris Boltendahl, Axel Ritt, Jens Becker und Marcus Kniep sind nicht nur im Live-Bereich eine feste Größe, sondern liefern auch regelmäßig hochwertige Heavy Metal-Alben ab. Auf ihrem neuesten Album "Symbol Of Eternity" spinnen sie die Geschichte der Kreuzritter weiter... nachdem sie sich bereits auf dem Album "Knights of the Cross" damit befasst haben, widmen sie sich nun erneut der der sagenumwobenen Geschichte der Templer.

Messerscharfe Riffs, opulente Chorarrangements und die markante Stimme von Chris Boltendahl sind Bestandteile von Grave Diggers neuem Werk. Alle Markenzeichen, die die Band seit 4 Jahrzehnten auszeichnen, werdem auf dem neuen Album fortgeführt und machen "Symbol Of Eternity" zu einem originellen und harten Album. Und doch stehen neben den gnadenlosen Riffs, wie im eröffnenden Headbanger "Battle Cry", immer wieder melodische Refrains im Vordergrund... harte Doublebass-Attacken, gepaart mit Midtempo-Songs und dem fast schon doomigen Titeltrack lassen jedes Headbangerherz höher schlagen.

Grave Digger waren noch nie so abwechslungsreich und scheuen sich nicht, auch mal weit über den Tellerrand zu schauen - wie beim Bonustrack "Hellas Hellas", einer Coverversion des griechischen Superstars Vasilis Papakonstantinou, bei der Chris zum ersten Mal in seiner Karriere griechisch singt und für den die Band sogar Vasilis für einige Gesangspassagen gewinnen konnte!

Öffnet eure Ohren und Augen, wenn das neue Album am 26. August weltweit in den Läden steht und ihr eine weitere Reise in die geheime Welt der Templer unternehmen könnt. Der König ist tot… lang lebe der König!

Sometimes a band grows so exponentially from one record to the next, it’s almost jarring. Hell Fire has already established themselves as the preeminent masters of a new hybrid breed of Bay Area thrash and NWOBHM in just a few short years, but their fourth album Reckoning is the type of ascendance that truly sets a band apart.

Reckoning is their Master of Puppets, their Number of The Beast, their Defenders Of The Faith. From the very first notes of the album opening title track, you can feel a vital new energy and inspiration to their music. To say Hell Fire used the recent global downtime to dig within and fully refine their sound would be an understatement. It truly is a reckoning.

“This album is every aspect of our band amplified to its maximum potential,” says singer/guitarist Jake Nunn. “This is the record we've always wanted to make, and it feels like we're just getting started,” guitarist Tony Campos adds. “We wanted to push ourselves musically and capture some of our frustrations, anger, loneliness, and rage over being locked inside and dealing with life during a global pandemic in the days when no one really knew how to navigate,” says drummer Mike Smith.

With no touring on the horizon in 2020, the band hunkered down and recorded nearly a full album in preproduction home demos. “I set up a little studio in my garage to record guitar, bass, and vocal tracks,” Campos says. “While Mike bought an electronic drum set and we demoed every song so we were more prepared going into the studio.” Each of them found themselves practicing more on their own and ironing out every last detail and nuance before finally being able to once again play in a room together.

The band’s heightened professionalism also brings in guest bassist Matt Freeman (of Rancid and Operation Ivy fame) on the album after original bassist Herman Bandala departed the band amicably during the initial writing process. New bassist Kai Sun joined Hell Fire in Fall 2021. Reckoning was recorded and mixed at Atomic Studios in Oakland, CA with Chris Dugan.

The title track kicks things off with a slight nod to the layered melodies of acoustic and harmonized guitars of Metallica’s “Battery” before the band rips into its signature galloping guitar picks, soaring harmonies and blistering rhythms. It’s an anthem and a gauntlet thrown down with Nunn’s shimmering screams and guttural howls while dueling guitar solos and Smith’s relentless double bass drum shuffle bring home the point that Hell Fire is born anew. “Medieval Cowboys” hearkens to the epic attack of Iron Maiden’s Powerslave with glistening melodies and complexly interwoven musical shifts that showcase exactly how tight and precise the band has become. “Addicted To Violence” is blistering thrash and “Thrill Of The Chase” soars with rich harmonies while both songs lyrically reflect hard truths the band faced in isolation. The lush acoustic based ballad “A Dying Moon” shows the band effortlessly stretching out in new directions. “It Ends Tonight” is an epic anthem served as a mission statement to the band’s return wherein arpeggiated riffs, squealing pinch harmonics, group chant vocals and Smith’s octopus-armed beats will have legions raising their fists in the air in salute.

“It’s somehow the heaviest and most melodic work we’ve done, and I’m proud of the discipline it took,” Nunn says. “It’s a wild thing.”

Charles Mingus has a fascinating way of offering music that is grounded in tradition while remaining startlingly original. The freshness of a piece like Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus, has the effect of rendering much of what passes for jazz as tedious. The band is small for Mingus, and includes Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone and bass clarinet, Ted Curson on trumpet, and Dannie Richmond on drums. It would be one of Dolphy and Curson's last recording dates with the artist, and they seem determined to go all out for it.


The leader's bass line kicks off "Folk Forms No. 1," followed by Dolphy outlining the melody, and then joined by Curson.
A simple riff develops into a lively New Orleans funeral march that's developed for 12 minutes. "Original Faubus Fables" is serious intent a political attack on segregation governor Faubus but Mingus and Richmond's singing is difficult to listen to with a straight face. Still, this doesn't distract from the wonderful music.

Picture London, thirty years ago, as Neneh Cherry gears up to release her debut album Raw Like Sushi - a thrumming, restless, vibrant city that in 1989, much like today, pulsed defiantly against a backdrop of increasing political doom, rocking to the joyful noise of culture leaping across boundaries, radically reordering itself. Rents are low.

Soho hums to the chatter of poets, vagabonds and petty sex tourists drinking in the same elixir of possibility. The divisions between the queens of Old Compton and mods and punks of Carnaby Streets look huge but feel slight. A spirit of multiracial unity permeates the air.

New York hip hop and Chicago house continue their euphoric colonisation of nightclub culture. Amid this maelstrom, Neneh Cherry emerges, capturing the entire, giddy rumble of this rolling community street culture in one record, Raw Like Sushi. With no interest in genre, Raw Like Sushi upsets and inverts everything you thought you knew about how pop can work, at it's brightest and most effective.

One of the greatest debut albums of all time, born halfway between Never Mind The Bollocks and Boy In Da Corner, Raw Like Sushi was ready to escort you right to the centre of it's dancefloor, dripping hot sweat under a mirrorball at 3am - and its particular magic remains just as potent today.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of an album that culturally, musically and stylistically defined a generation and everything that followed, Raw Like Sushi has been remastered at Abbey Road and will be released in super deluxe format across 3CD and 3LP heavyweight vinyl box sets, and 1CD and 1LP formats.

The box sets include a stunning 48-page 12x12 book packed full of iconic photos, new interviews, liner notes and memorabilia. The album features five of Neneh’s biggest singles - including the worldwide smash hit single ‘Buffalo Stance’ as well as hit singles ‘Manchild’ produced by Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja, ‘Kisses On The Wind’, ‘Heart’ and ‘Inna City Mamma’. It also features rare mixes of key tracks by Massive Attack, Arthur Baker, Smith N Mighty, and more.

Since the release of Raw Like Sushi 30 years ago, Neneh Cherry has continued to define and redefine culture, style and music releasing five studio albums, including 2018’s Broken Politics, produced by Four Tet, which was met with critical acclaim by the likes of The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Times, Q and Pitchfork.

Neneh went on to tour the album throughout 2019 including her largest ever headline show at London’s Roundhouse, and festival performances at Glastonbury, Latitude, Primavera, Pitchfork and more proving her music and message more relevant than ever.

Slave To Society is the new solo project of Andrew Bowen (Ex AnD / Shadows)
Dystopian concepts and themes help build the intense sound and vision of the project. Known for exploring the extremities of the hardcore sound, tempo unrelated this is about the amalgamation of industrial and
experimental noise music, mixed with cinematic atmospheres, technoid rhythms, mechanical breaks and raw low frequency distortion. Releasing music with PRSPCT, Bank NYC, Murder Channel, Cyberspeak, Pure Hate Trax and many more. Think for ourselves, create and move outside the realm of ordinary submission.

Don’t be a Slave to Society!
Written Produced and Recorded by Andrew Bowen
Mastered and cut by Dietrich Schoenemann
Published by BANK Records NYC Ltd

Originally released in 2012,Tender Oppositesis TOPS’ debut album, nowcelebrating it’s 10year anniversary with a special edition LP. A lush array oftimelessly crafted songs,Tender Oppositesgathers its strength throughdelicate intimacy. These are moving songs that succeed earnestly,disregarding trends and myth-making, focusing instead on pure popcraftsmanship.

TOPS' tendency to opt towards making straight-forward, stripped down andhonest recordings lets their pop songwriting shine out in the open. With aheart frmly attached to their sleeves, their songcraft delves into theemotional intricacy of personal relationships, asking questions about powerand desire. Riley Fleck’s measured drumming and David Carriere’strademark guitar licks work in tandem and in service of Jane Penny’sunmistakable, wistful voice.

"This album is intended to be a journey through every genre of music that I love the most. It was inspired through the use of a vast number of tools and foley recordings. As an artist I force myself to be versatile while keeping my own touch on the music I create. Much of the creative ideas behind this album were inspired by the feeling of loss, a loss of attachment to any of the restraints and walls I had created within my art. I am never pushing for a specific sound, I go with my subconscious flow. Once again my grandpa has continued to inspire me through his art. Every time I get to work with him I feel grateful. I am so lucky to have the chance to pair his art with mine."
--Chrizpy Chriz

Continuing the ‘first time on vinyl’ purge of the AMT archives. Here’s the band's classic 2006 album finally available on double vinyl for the first time. Housed in full colour gatefold sleeve.
‘Myth of the Love Electrique’ is another scorcher from these ridiculously prolific psych masters. This album is notable for being the debut of their newest band member: Kitagawa Hao. Kitagawa's presence doesn't dominate the recording by any means, but her contributions nicely complement the swirling chaos the group generates. Acid Mothers Temple always manages to find a breath of fresh air at the most opportune times, and this is no exception. While remaining a tight unit, bringing Kitagawa into the fold adds another dimension to their chaotic sprawl without having to sacrifice any of their strengths on this incendiary album.
“Comprised of four lengthy tracks, the album explodes with a start: "The Man from Giacobinid Meteor Comet." Kawabata Makoto's guitar quickly becomes a tangle of screams, a frenzied surge that drags the band along with it. The rhythm section is ferocious. Bassist Tsuyama Atsushi frequently ventures out to the stratosphere, but he also knows when to hold back or to provide a vaguely melodic foundation. Likewise, the amount of energy drummer Shimura Koji dedicates to his performance is a lesson in endurance. Divided into three movements, this track eventually cools down and then glides to a drone landing, alighting the listener breathlessly upon calmer ground.
Kitagawa's voice makes its first appearance on "Five Dimensional Nightmare," floating over a bouzouki arrangement that sounds like singing glass. This one is divided into three sections like the previous track, but starts airy and then goes into a drone as Tsuyama briefly takes over the vocals. From here, strings are tortured like fingernails on a blackboard before a guitar and Higashi Hiroshi’s water drop electronics restore balance.
As much as I loved the two previous tracks, the band forges ahead into something different on "Love Electrique." Kitagawa's presence is most felt on this track. Her voice streaks across the mix as blistering guitars and freaky electronics blast all over the place. Over the course of 20 minutes, it hits several different moods and textures on a truly transcendent journey.

Of the four tracks, only the live staple "Pink Lady Lemonade (May I Drink You Once Again?)" may seem a little redundant. Kitagawa, however, breathes new life into this standard by bringing her vocals to the fore over the entire track, as if restoring an element that previously had been missing. It's hard to call it a definitive version because so many other excellent versions already exist, but it is a great one in its own right. For fans who may be weary of this song after all of its appearances over the years, it is easy enough to stop the disc after gorging on the first hour of music, and it is still a welcome dessert if the mood should strike”

TOPS were formed in Montreal when song-writing duo David Carriere and Jane Penny decided to join forces with drummer Riley Fleck. Since then they have become one of the most influential underground bands of the past decade, creating a space for sophisticated pop music in the indie world. Their tendency to opt towards making straight-forward, stripped down and honest recordings lets their pop songwriting shine out in the open. With a heart firmly attached to their sleeves, their songcraft delves into the emotional intricacy of personal relationships, asking questions about power and desire. Riley Fleck’s measured drumming and David Carriere’s trademark guitar licks mesh with Marta Cikojevic’s lush keyboards. All these elements work in tandem and in service of Jane Penny’s unmistakable, wistful voice. The result of this mixture is a collection of four self-produced records and a handful of singles that cover a range of moods and a complex emotional realm while maintaining a groove and musicality. Soft rock infused pop hits flow easily, surrounded by their signature moody ballads.

Black Truffle is thrilled to continue its program of archival releases from Arnold Dreyblatt with a recently unearthed concert recording from Dreyblatt and Paul Panhuysen’s "Duo Geloso". While isolated examples of Dreyblatt’s collaboration with the legendary Dutch multi-media artist appeared on the CD reissue of Propellers in Love and Black Truffle’s wide-ranging archival Second Selection, this is the first release to document the variety and playfulness of the concerts that Duo Geloso performed throughout Europe in 1987-88. Both working across sonic and visual forms, fascinated by numerical relationship and the infinite complexity of string harmonics, Dreyblatt and Panhuysen had a natural affinity for each other’s work, strengthened through Dreyblatt’s many visits to Het Apollohuis, the important experimental art space Panhuysen helped to found in Eindhoven. However, as René van Peer suggests in the liner notes enclosed within this release, Dreyblatt and Panhuysen took very different approaches to these shared interests; the wonderful energy of these Duo Geloso performances results from the meeting of Dreyblatt’s more austere, compositional process with Panhuysen’s spontaneity.

Recorded at a concert at Het Apollohuis in December 1987 (a series of beautiful photographs of which adorn the LP’s packaging), each of the six pieces presented here is distinctive in terms of instrumentation and performance approach. Using electric guitar and bass tuned by Dreyblatt and played using E-Bow and Panhuysen’s motorised plectrums, the opening ‘Razorburg’ moves slowly through a long series of held notes with a madly insistent tremolo that crosses Dick Dale with a mechanised take on the layered guitars of Günter Schickert. The same pair of instruments returns on ‘Duo for Guitars’, where the mechanised attacks dissolve into a harmonic wash, reminiscent of the machine guitar work of fellow Het Apollohuis alumni Remko Scha. On ‘Love Call’, the guitars and bass are accompanied by Panhuysen’s distant warbled vocals, familiar to Maciunas Ensemble listeners. On the remarkable ‘Synsonic Batterie’, Panhuysen begins proceedings with a solo barrage of electronic percussion on the Synsonics Drum Machine (a simple drum synthesiser produced by the toy manufacturer Mattell), joined eventually by Dreyblatt performing his signature percussive natural harmonics on pedal steel guitar. When Panhuysen adds his bird whistle to the mix, the performance becomes the perfect exemplar of the Duo Geloso’s unique mix of studious close listening and subtle absurdity.

Presented in a gatefold sleeve with archival photos and illuminating liner notes from René van Peer.

"Full recording of one of the most engaging and beguiling Late Junction live sessions we’ve ever heard - the one off first meeting between Korean multi-instrumentalist Park Jiha and writer and performer Roy Claire Potter.
It’s an unlikely pairing which works from the first breath. Park Jiha plays the saenghwang, a Korean mouth organ which she blows in long multiphonics to set pace for Potter’s words. They unfurl a scene slowly in front of you, rich and focused, shifting your field of vision and drawing you in, elsewhere. It’s impossible not to follow, not to look for where they point. When the piri sounds for a flooded town on the B side, the water flows between your own feet; Potter’s words a sometimes frightening hörspiel in scouse.

Though the details are fine, the space each artist gives one another and their instruments, their language, is given to the listener in turn. A careful melody picks out a route for words with no fixed meaning, a body with no fixed direction, and we are invited to listen and see a kind of music made visible in its inference. A truly very special record we are very proud to share.
—
Influenced by linguistics and performance theory, Roy Claire Potter makes performance, text, drawing, installation and film, and oen collaborates with musicians and sound artists to make audio for music festivals and radio. Across the wide range of their practice, Roy tells stories built from fragmented, intense images that depict moving bodies or domestic scenes and architectural settings. Roy’s interest in subtext and narrative sequencing is felt in the way they use fast-paced talking or reading speeds, and restricted or partial views of space. Complicated social or group dynamics, and the aftermath of violent events are common themes in Roy’s work and are usually treated with a dark, sometimes wilful humour.

Park Jiha creates exploratory music rooted in traditional Korean instrumental performance. To this session she brings three instruments: a Korean hammered dulcimer called a yanggeum, a saenghwang which is an instrument made of 24 slender bamboo pipes attached to a bowl and played like a harmonica and a double-reed bamboo flute called a piri, which sounds similar to an oboe.
—
Recorded and mixed on: 30 January 2020 by Rob Winter, Pete Smith and Andy Rushton at Maida Vale Studios, London for “Late Junction - Roy Claire Potter and Park Jiha in session”. Produced by Rebecca Gaskell, Katie Callin and Alannah Chance at Reduced Listening for BBC Radio 3."

In January 1959, Lester Young was in Paris for a series of concerts at the famous Blue Note Club. He plays with Rene Urtreger on piano, Kenny Clarke on drums, Jimmy Gourley on guitar and Jamil Nasser on bass. On March the 4th, 1959, Eddie Barclay decides to record Lester at Studio Barclay, which will be his last album.

This legendary recording session is poignant and moving in line with the from Coleman Hawkins ‘Sirius’ and the last recording of Billie Holiday. Lester Young is reduced but the grace and genius are still there! Some days later, March 15, 1959, Lester succumb at the Alvin hotel, a few hours after arriving in New York. A heart attack had just one defeat all musicians nicknamed ‘Prez’, The President.

7A Records announces the release of Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart’s original studio and live albums. In the mid-1970s promoters were trying to reunite the Monkees, but with Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork unavailable, it was suggested that Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones team up with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart to tour as ‘The Golden Great Hits Of The Monkees Show - ‘The Guys Who Wrote ‘Em & The Guys Who Sang ‘Em’’. The group signed a deal with Capitol Records to record a self-titled studio album of new material. They later released a live album from their tour of Japan. Both albums have been unavailable and out of print for many years. 7A Records have tracked down the original master tapes, that were presumed missing for at least 27 years, and remastered both albums for this release. Available as deluxe 2CD and 2LP sets, the CD version will include a big 40 page colour booklet featuring extensive liner notes and previously unseen photos. The 2LP version comes in a gatefold sleeve and is pressed on special 180g Green, Black and Yellow Quad Vinyl.

The LP ‘All Welcome on Planet Ree-Vo’ due for release on 29th July could only really have been made in one city steeped as it is in Bristol’s decades of less conventional hip hop and bass music. Tweaked and fine tuned during the summer of 2020 the record punches with a mix of red eyed paranoia to a playful future funk.
The album was all recorded, produced and mixed by Andy at Christchurch Studios, Bristol (home of Mezzanine era Massive Attack) with all vocals written and performed by T. Relly.
During 2021 the first two singles from the LP were released. The first was the juggernaut that is ‘Groove With It’. T. Relly growling out polemic against the relentless cacophony spun by Andy Spaceland, The brutality of the bass and horns is temporarily smoothed with Relly’s soulful, swaggering placation of ‘Turn your speakers on/ Till ya speakers blown baby/ If you’re feeling strong baby/ We can keep it going baby’.
This was followed in April by the 12” release of Combat featuring a thumping remix by Surgeon (Tresor Records) and an extended electro remix by Ree-Vo themselves.
2022 began with the limited red 7” release of remixes by NØISE and Batbirds with stunning original artwork by Shepard Fairey who came to the project via mutual friend Joe Cassidy (Butterfly Child). The release was announced on OBEY’s website
‘Spacebox’ which will be the last single to be released in time with the album is their hookiest, a party throwing chorus spinning tipsy visitors around the intergalactic control booth of mission control.
“Lift off, blast off, shirt off, dance off! Naked in the dancehall SPACE BOX!” is the beamed mantra, Relly transmitting to all occupants of the galaxy.
“We wanted to make a hedonistic and colourful dancehall track, a bold response to the suppressive circumstances of the last two years”.
About Ree-Vo:
T. Relly​ is pure Bristol hip-hop royalty – known in the community variously for his links to all of the city’s major club nights, his passion and support for the most disadvantaged (through his work with the youth and prison leavers), through to compering stages at St Paul’s Carnival and his seminal 2018 LP with DJ Rogue ‘Let Them Know’. He collaborates with many crews including Innalife and Killer Crab Men.
Andy Spaceland​ (AKA Andy Jenks) got involved in Bristol bass music as soon as he moved to the city with Static Sound System​ and a collaborative 12” with Rudy Tambala (​AR Kane​) as Sugarboat Vs Sufi, before his band ​Alpha​ were signed to ​Massive Attack​’s label Melankolic, whilst he also became one of their tour DJ’s. His CV of collaborations range from ​Smith and Mighty​ to Madonna. He has released music on Dj Die’s label, Gutterfunk as White Bully and he is also currently releasing music with US producer ​Butch Vig​ in the band ​5 Billion in Diamonds​, whilst working on new tracks with ​Mark Stewart (The Pop Group) including remixes by Adrian Sherwood. His signature sound can also be heard on this remix for ​Elizabeth Fraser​ -

The LP ‘All Welcome on Planet Ree-Vo’ due for release on 29th July could only really have been made in one city steeped as it is in Bristol’s decades of less conventional hip hop and bass music. Tweaked and fine tuned during the summer of 2020 the record punches with a mix of red eyed paranoia to a playful future funk.
The album was all recorded, produced and mixed by Andy at Christchurch Studios, Bristol (home of Mezzanine era Massive Attack) with all vocals written and performed by T. Relly.
During 2021 the first two singles from the LP were released. The first was the juggernaut that is ‘Groove With It’. T. Relly growling out polemic against the relentless cacophony spun by Andy Spaceland, The brutality of the bass and horns is temporarily smoothed with Relly’s soulful, swaggering placation of ‘Turn your speakers on/ Till ya speakers blown baby/ If you’re feeling strong baby/ We can keep it going baby’.
This was followed in April by the 12” release of Combat featuring a thumping remix by Surgeon (Tresor Records) and an extended electro remix by Ree-Vo themselves.
2022 began with the limited red 7” release of remixes by NØISE and Batbirds with stunning original artwork by Shepard Fairey who came to the project via mutual friend Joe Cassidy (Butterfly Child). The release was announced on OBEY’s website
‘Spacebox’ which will be the last single to be released in time with the album is their hookiest, a party throwing chorus spinning tipsy visitors around the intergalactic control booth of mission control.
“Lift off, blast off, shirt off, dance off! Naked in the dancehall SPACE BOX!” is the beamed mantra, Relly transmitting to all occupants of the galaxy.
“We wanted to make a hedonistic and colourful dancehall track, a bold response to the suppressive circumstances of the last two years”.
About Ree-Vo:
T. Relly​ is pure Bristol hip-hop royalty – known in the community variously for his links to all of the city’s major club nights, his passion and support for the most disadvantaged (through his work with the youth and prison leavers), through to compering stages at St Paul’s Carnival and his seminal 2018 LP with DJ Rogue ‘Let Them Know’. He collaborates with many crews including Innalife and Killer Crab Men.
Andy Spaceland​ (AKA Andy Jenks) got involved in Bristol bass music as soon as he moved to the city with Static Sound System​ and a collaborative 12” with Rudy Tambala (​AR Kane​) as Sugarboat Vs Sufi, before his band ​Alpha​ were signed to ​Massive Attack​’s label Melankolic, whilst he also became one of their tour DJ’s. His CV of collaborations range from ​Smith and Mighty​ to Madonna. He has released music on Dj Die’s label, Gutterfunk as White Bully and he is also currently releasing music with US producer ​Butch Vig​ in the band ​5 Billion in Diamonds​, whilst working on new tracks with ​Mark Stewart (The Pop Group) including remixes by Adrian Sherwood. His signature sound can also be heard on this remix for ​Elizabeth Fraser​ -

Deluxe reissue of their 1989 sophomore album pressed on pale blue colour vinyl.
Presented in a gloss laminated gatefold sleeve, which features the original LP plus a bonus disc with all the A and B sides, some compilation tracks and an outtake, plus a 12-page booklet containing previously unpublished lyrics and tons of contemporary reviews and photos.
Completely remastered for your listening pleasure.
In 1989, while the musical world was fêting serial-killer worshipping noise bands, white boys with dreadlocks and the first glimmers of techno, one band – The Wolfhounds – was describing the times and the country exactly as they were. Or at least as they saw it.
Well, not exactly. The privations of finding enough money to live on, a semi-permanent roof over your head and perhaps the hope of real change were all there in the lyrics along with the multitudinous shards of ideas in the music, both raging and reflective – but there was also a sense of magical realism and authentic personal circumstance imbued in it all.
Formed as a frantic noisy fusion of sixties garage and independent post-punk in Romford in 1984, by 1986 it was the band’s misfortunate to be corralled with the jangly and quirky bands of the era-defining C86 tape, given away free with the NME that year. The frustration of being lumped with the lumpen was already spilling over into a heightened creativity that would see the band release three LPs in 18 months, the first and perhaps most fully realised of which was Bright & Guilty.
The band’s sense of melody saw three singles taken off it, and all received plentiful radio play that resulted in enthusiastic audience responses when the band toured with My Bloody Valentine and the House of Love shortly after the LP came out. This renewed attention also saw them being threatened with legal action by the food company satirically targeted by one of the singles – Happy Shopper.
The band’s magpie listening habits also saw the first glimmers of an interest in sampling with the track Cottonmouth, hip hop in the drum rhythms of Invisible People and Son of Nothing, discordant post- hardcore in Non-specific Song and even percussive hints of Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs in Charterhouse.
The album’s lyrical themes have sustained the relevance of these 30-something year-old songs. The dictatorship of the class system over the economy is touched on in Charterhouse, the unfairness of housing policy in Rent Act and Red Tape Red Light, the desperation of not having enough money to even seek employment in Useless Second Cousin. But there is contemplation and mystery, too: Rope Swing’s nostalgia for pre-teen childhood, Invisible People’s detailing of intangible weaknesses.
Of all their peers, The Wolfhounds post-C86 output stands up straight and proud, and you’ll find echoes of their sound in Fontaines DC, Idles and many others – but not performed with the brashness, vigour and uniqueness of the originals.

Ending a break of twelve years, The Villains Inc. returns from the past to deliver four lost tracks from the label mastermind himself! Author of a short yet remarkable discography on Dominance Electricity, Electro Empire, and Drivecom just to name, Italian don Gab.Gato takes this opportunity to revisit some of his classics by a quatuor of undisputed electro heavyweights.

UK veteran Phil Klein opens hostilities on A side with his outstanding remix of "Electro Empire". Originally released on German Electrocord back in 2003, Gab.Gato's version sees a luminous electro-funk treatment in pure Bass Junkie style. Needless to say this electro banger will hit you hard with its untouchable sub bass, oldschoolish tones, hammering drums and retrofuturistic atmosphere!

Italian techno / electro legend Max Durante, coming next, propels "The Villains Inc" cut to another dimension. Taken from the "No Light Or Shadow EP" (ATVS002 in 2008), the track mutes into a milestone of an experimental slaughter tinted with industrial sororities. Following a catchy Speak n' Spell overture, the song introduces some hot and sexy female orgasms, while a heading acid line enhanced by a straight to the point rhythm will drive you on the dancefloor.

US DJ / Producer Sinistarr on the flip goes deeper into the realm with his "Couterterrorism" rework of "A Scanner Darkly". Published on Boris Divider's Drivecom in 2007, the tune evolves into a completely fresh and transformed version. A frantic bassline carries you away on a fast inducing grimey dancefloor boogie combined with hi tones and no nonsense electro beat!

Last but not the least, Drexciyan Dj Stingray closes the EP with its groovy "313 Psycotropic mix" of "S.N.A", a tune written by Gab.Gato and Matteo Merlo in 2007 on "The Systematik Network Attack EP" (ATVS001). Stingray's mix sounds like a sonic, ethereal and thought after assault based upon cutting-edge sororities over playful vocals.

Craftily written and designed (artwork project by Gab.Gato, and illustrated by Simonloop aka Urbanmagic, in 2009 was prophetic on his own: clones programmed to reappear from the past), nasty "Reprogrammed EP" features the almighty ATVS signature we all know, a dark, magnetic and rough sound ranging from breakbeat acid-tinged to Detroit-influenced electro and techno style. Should we mention that this limited 12" (no digital) is expected to sell fast and earn the status of collectible masterpiece, just like the previous releases on the label!

Green Vinyl

Aside from being one of Anamanaguchi’s most streamed songs, “Miku,” featuring the vocaloid pop star Hatsune Miku, is an anthem for a new type of musical icon, one that doesn’t need to be attached to a physical human body. Miku, which was officially released in 2013, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media. Her voice is based around Japanese actress Saki Fujita and uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid 2, Vocaloid 3, and Vocaloid 4 singing synthesizing technologies. Anamanaguchi wrote “Miku” with the virtual musician and were the first band to perform live alongside the Hatsune Miku hologram on the Miku Expo tour in 2016. Since then, the song has been streamed tens of millions of times around the globe and given way to several viral TikTok moments with 20K+ unique videos, signature dance moves, and millions of views.

Consistently engaging their audience in both the real world and the virtual internet-sphere, Anamanaguchi has had TV performances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Adult Swim’s Fish Center, multiple appearances at Porter Robinson’s Secret Sky Fest, and co-curated one of the first major live stream events for indie musicians with the Nether Meant Festival, which was featured in the New

York Times and The Washington Post. The band has also continued to stay true to a uniquely cohesive collaborative spirit, sharing tracks with artists such as HANA, Planet 1999, Flux Pavilion, Porter Robinson, Dorian Electra, Pussy Riot, Village People, and POCHI.

For 2022, Polyvinyl is proud to announce the release of Miku on vinyl for the first time. The release will feature the original composition as well as 8 bonus versions of the song including remixes from LLLL, Carpainter, Ben Aqua, Mino Mino, Lazerdisk, as well as an NES version, a Japanese version, and an instrumental version.

Florida four-piece Fame On Fire are back with their
second album, ‘Welcome To The Chaos’, which
includes hit single ‘Plastic Heart’, that has been on
heavy rotation on influential stations such as Active
Rock Radio and SiriusXM Octane Radio.
The band continue their aggressive and emotional
attack on the rock genre. With features from Ice
Nine Kills, amongst others, Fame On Fire aren’t
letting up on the firepower they have in their music.
Supporting Zero 9:36 on a US nationwide tour in
March 2022, Fame On Fire are set-up to make
2022 their biggest year yet.
For fans of Papa Roach, A Day To Remember,
Asking Alexandria.
LP pressed on red vinyl.

Vanderwolf re-emerges with '12 Little Killers' an eclectic collection that
includes the deliciously oozing slice of psychedelia of the single Glisten,
which is heavily-slanted toward melting analogue synthesizers (Sam
Sallon) and rich layers of acoustic guitars (Chris Cordoba) and an
exquisite vocal by Max Vanderwolf
Recorded by producer Chris Wyles at his south London studio, the 12 songs were
selected, mixed and compiled by keyboardist and co- producer Sam Sallon. It's
available in a limited pressing of 500.
Vanderwolf's music spans a wide-range of genres from global beats to hard blues
to fragile balladry to prog- rock monstrosities and beyond. With a vast back
catalogue of songs to release, Vanderwolf is set to get his wild and restless
music out to the world.
Born in NYC, working in London and as of 2020 residing in Los Angeles, Max
Vanderwolf has recorded several albums and countless songs. Most of them
remain unreleased. Notably, he was vocalist and creative-force behind the semilegendary London band, Last Man Standing, whose sole album in 2008 received
plaudits from many including Mojo and Uncut.
Concurrent to his life in music, Vanderwolf has worked under an assumed name
as a music programmer and concert producer in some of the worlds' most
celebrated clubs and venues. He went from overseeing the legendary
underground downtown NYC's Knitting Factory to overseeing London's Royal
Festival Hall, where for 9 years he produced the Meltdown Festival where he
worked closely with David Bowie, Patti Smith, Jarvis Cocker, Massive Attack and
others. He has produced concerts in Brooklyn, Rome and Paris working closely
with John Cale, Sparks and the Residents.

More than 20 years after its release, Arab Strap’s second album is reissued on vinyl.

Philophobia was recorded on the outskirts of Glasgow in the early incarnation of CHEM19 Studios with engineer/producer Paul Savage & at Cava Studios in Glasgow with engineer Geoff Allan.

Initially released in 1998, it was the follow up to the band’s 1996 debut The Week Never Starts Round Here. Instrumentally ambitious, Philophobia is adorned with sepulchral guitar, trumpet, cello & Scottish rainfall, providing a most beautiful backdrop to Aidan Moffat’s bold lyrical presentation as he articulates experiences most of us are too embarrassed to even think about; confessional, intimate, insightful and hilarious, ‘Philophobia’ remains a literate & musical revelation. ‘Philophobia’ - (from Greek "φιλέω-φιλώ" (love) and "φοβία" (phobia)), is the fear of falling in love / emotional attachment.

Amid massive global paradigm shifts Dave Hartley (aka Nightlands) became a father twice over and left his native Philadelphia for Asheville, where the pace of daily life is slower and it's easier to maintain a zoomed-out perspective on modern life. From the newfound refuge of a studio he built using the bones of a barn attached to his hundred-something-year-old house in the mountains, Hartley has tailored a collection of well-crafted pop rock, pointedly titled Moonshine. Guided by some of the harmonic sensibilities that have helped make The War on Drugs a force in modern music, Moonshine combines immaculate-yet-dense vocal stacks and billowy clouds of effected keyboards with classic songcraft, revealing previously unseen acreage in the unfurling dreamscape that is Nightlands. The surrealistic album art by Austin-based illustrator Jaime Zuverza depicts an archway opening to the stars over the surface of an idyllic sea flanked by both moon and sun. Similarly, Moonshine reveals portals within portals leading to ever deeper places in Hartley's vocal-centered labyrinth…

“Total Terror 2” is another collection of early Front Line Assembly demos remixed and remastered for a CD released for the first time in 1994. The original recordings of these songs were done in 1986/87. The equipment used was primitive, but then so is mankind.

Deluxe re-release including all tracks from the first edition plus some bonus taken from old compilations. Limited pressing of 500 copies with double vinyl record, deluxe gatefold sleeve and new vintage artwork.

Great compilation of soul tracks that have been sampled by artists such as Massive Attack, Kendrick Lamar, Cypress Hill, and others.



















s D2. Marva Whitney - It's My Thing (You Can't Tell Me Who To Sock It To) [Album Version]

Originally released in 2012,Tender Oppositesis TOPS’ debut album, nowcelebrating it’s 10year anniversary with a special edition LP. A lush array oftimelessly crafted songs,Tender Oppositesgathers its strength throughdelicate intimacy. These are moving songs that succeed earnestly,disregarding trends and myth-making, focusing instead on pure popcraftsmanship.

TOPS' tendency to opt towards making straight-forward, stripped down andhonest recordings lets their pop songwriting shine out in the open. With aheart frmly attached to their sleeves, their songcraft delves into theemotional intricacy of personal relationships, asking questions about powerand desire. Riley Fleck’s measured drumming and David Carriere’strademark guitar licks work in tandem and in service of Jane Penny’sunmistakable, wistful voice.

Nightlands is the solo project of The War on Drugs’ bassist and multi-instrumentalist Dave Hartley. Amid massive global paradigm shifts Dave Hartley (aka Nightlands) became a father twice over and left his native Philadelphia for Asheville, where the pace of daily life is slower and it's easier to maintain a zoomed-out perspective on modern life. From the newfound refuge of a studio he built using the bones of a barn attached to his hundred-something-year-old house in the mountains, Hartley has tailored a collection of well-crafted pop rock, pointedly titled Moonshine. Guided by some of the harmonic sensibilities that have helped make The War on Drugs a force in modern music, Moonshine combines immaculate-yet-dense vocal stacks and billowy clouds of effected keyboards with classic songcraft, revealing previously unseen acreage in the unfurling dreamscape that is Nightlands. The surrealistic album art by Austin-based illustrator Jaime Zuverza depicts an archway opening to the stars over the surface of an idyllic sea flanked by both moon and sun. Similarly, Moonshine reveals portals within portals leading to ever deeper places in Hartley's vocal-centered labyrinth. Throughout the album, there are plenty of buoyant high moods where the pitter-patter of drum machine and humming digital organ hints at Hartley's low-key tropicalia streak, but the lyrics anchor the dreaminess in real-world sorrow and resignation. Nowhere are these sentiments more apparent than on the title track, a nearly acapella recitation of "America the Beautiful" that poignantly hovers over a mirage of soft keyboards before dovetailing into Hartley's own words about the hypocrisy of the American dream. "This was never intended to be an overtly political record" he admits. "I have so many friends who are able to process the frustration of current events gracefully or with wisdom or in a nuanced way, but I often find myself just consumed with anger about it all. I decided to just let that come out, and it manifested itself lyrically." Moonshine's wide-eyed, utopian instrumental backdrops provide sharp contrast to Hartley's lyrics, which sting even harder within the sweetness. Even in light of the album's vocal emphasis, Hartley's history as a bassist brilliantly beams through Moonshine, giving effortless and sprightly movement to songs like "Down Here," which also features an extended section of saxophone lent by his Western Vinyl labelmate, Joseph Shabason. In addition to Shabason, the album hosts a short list of remote collaborators including four of Hartley's bandmates from The War on Drugs, Robbie Bennet, Anthony Lamarca, Eliza Hardy Jones, and Charlie Hall, as well as exotica virtuoso Frank Locrasto (Cass McCombs, Fruit Bats), and producer Adam McDaniel (Avey Tare, Angel Olsen). Hartley was forced to keep the guest list small out of the necessity of pandemic isolation, coupled with his move to a smaller city, all of which challenged him to do most of the album's heavy lifting right down to the mixing duties, resulting in the most independent effort of his career. By that measure, Moonshine is also the clearest image yet of Dave Hartley as a person and creator.

Mit ihrem 2. Album ”Heile Welt” versuchten Deine Freunde sich 2014 abermals am Spagat zwischen Kinderlied und ausgereifter musikalischer Empfindung. “Heile Welt” ist ein mutiges, humorvolles und intelligentes Stück Musik für Familien und Kinder. Als genaue Beobachter und feinfühlige Verbündete erschließen sich Deine Freunde mit ihren witzig-prägnanten Texten die Lebenswirklichkeit moderner Familien und zeichnen so ein ungeschöntes, aber umso liebevolleres Bild ihres Alltags. “Heile Welt” ist ein originäres
Werk mit Ecken, Kanten, viel Wahrheit und noch viel mehr Spaß.
Mit ihrem 3. Album erneuerten die ”Kindsköpfe” der coolsten Kinderband der Welt 2015 einmal mehr die deutsche Kinderunterhaltung mit dem Ziel, Familien zusammenzubringen. Wollten sie sich anfangs nur mit den Kindern verbünden, besteht ihr Publikum inzwischen zur Hälfte auch aus amüsierwilligen Eltern.
Also mussten auch Elternlieder her. Und so gibt es auf KINDSKÖPFE erstmals einige Tracks aus der Vogelperspektive; doch katapultiert sich die Band auch wieder direkt in den Kosmos der Kindheit und
thematisiert in den 17 Songs so ziemlich alles, was in Kindsköpfen so vor sich geht.

Beide Alben, die nun erstmals auf je 2 weißen bzw. transparentgelben 180g-LPs (+ jeweils beigelegter CD) in mit allen Texten bedruckten Innenhüllen in einer 2LP-Kastentasche erscheinen, verbinden: straighter Rap, lupenreiner Pop, Elektrobretter und cooler Funk.

Clear vinyl LP edition of 500 copies. Vacant Gardens is Glenn Donaldson (of The Reds, Pinks and Purples and a hundred others) and Jem Fanvu, collaborating on music and with the latter responsible for vocals and lyrics. The project began with the idea of combining heavy fuzz and slow-mo drum machine beats with Fanvu's gentle almost trad-folk style vocals. Almost all of Donaldson's otherworldly sounds are achieved through layers of guitar fuzz and copious delay, while Fanvu offers an ideal counterpoint, taking the listener on a celestial melancholy trip with her opaque poetry and melodies. So inspired were the duo by this blend of styles, they immediately recorded at least two albums of material, Under the Bloom and Obscene, released in quick succession in 2020 and 2021 in swiftly-disappearing micro editions on the secretive Tall Texan label. With those records close-to-impossible to find at an affordable price, Tough Love are now reissuing both LPs. From Reds Pinks and Purples' Glenn Donaldson, Vacant Gardens is an interstellar recording project that combines celestial, shimmering guitar on the verge of breaking like a massive, emotive wave and an ethereal vocal style from Jem Fanvu (visual artist, Minor Ghost Band also, plus collaborating with Tune-Yards, Cavity Fangs and many more) recalling Hope Sandoval or Liz Fraser that sails in its wake. Simply put, this is some of biggest, heart-tugging guitar music you'll hear in recent times. Sold out at once debut Under The Bloom, is followed now a continuation and development of the group's sound on Obscene: a frayed tapestry of Slowdiving, Flying Saucer Attack guitar noise wall married with an angelic vocal from Fanvu that glitters in counterpoint to the stringed distortion like Hope Sandoval or, in the way it shines bright in the fog, like Jonsi's surfing the surging waves of emotion in early Sigur Ros. Originally released in February on digital formats, Obscene gets a vinyl press and is sounding massive. Vacant Gardens' music suggests oceanic feelings, a hazy intergalactic consicousness that burbles beneath the surface of everything while also touching the visceral points in the human heart that makes groups like Galaxie 500, Yo La Tengo so timeless.

"At the end of 2021, POWERWOLF – the most successful German metal band to date – fascinated with a streaming event of unprecedented dimensions. Those who thought they had seen everything in the live sector were instantly proven wrong with unmatched audio production and visuals that can only be described as simply breathtaking. This summer, on July 8, 2022, this new benchmark for music streaming events will finally be available to view any time you crave. THE MONUMENTAL MASS - A CINEMATIC METAL EVENT will be unleashed on DVD, BluRay and many other physical formats! POWERWOLF have stood at the peak of superlative, epic metal moments for years, but what they present with this streaming event surpasses anything seen before. After months of detailed work, a story was crafted and presented in several chapters based on the stunning music and elaborately staged cinematic scenes. All show effects, actors and stage settings work hand in hand with each other and bring the medium of live music to a level never seen before. From battles with clergy to stories of nuns, monks and burning angels, cinematic images immediately capture the viewer. Each song has its own stunning set designed and is perfectly staged - the production and size alone are unparalleled. One live premiere of a POWERWOLF classic follows the next, one after another – all with impressively produced sound design.

Petter Eldh's explosive ensemble Koma Saxo continues their adventures with a new album "Koma West", out on We Jazz Records, 18 March 2022. The album sees Koma Saxo expand on their previous sound with the addition of vocalist Sofia Jernberg and a strong cast of featured artists, including cellist Lucy Railton, violinist Maria Reich, pianist Kit Downes and accordionist Kiki Eldh (Petter's mom!). The hard-hitting key quintet remains, including Eldh on bass and assorted instruments, Christian Lillinger on drums, plus saxophonists Otis Sandsjö (of Y-OTIS), Jonas Kullhammar and Mikko Innanen bringing the SAXO to the KOMA operation.

At 14 tracks, "Koma West" is a full menu of monumental compositional ideas that could spawn entire albums. True to his chop & go production style, Eldh relies on continuous movement while presenting another all killer no filler program taking Koma Saxo on a sonic outing not quite like anything that had previously appeared under the band's name. That being said, there's very much the Petter Eldh touch here, one which might be hard to pinpoint and verbalise, but nevertheless a recognisable style of composing, producing and arranging.

Thematically, the album is rooted in the West Coast of Sweden, where Eldh grew up – he's from a tiny town called Lysekil. There's a thread of Swedish folk song tradition that has been part of the Koma Saxo DNA from the get-go and you can hear that here as well, especially on cuts such as "Närhet", beautifully sung by Sofia Jernberg.

Petter Eldh says:

"In a way, it's a concept album and a celebration of the Swedish West Coast. The first single is called 'Koma Kaprifol', and kaprifol is the landscape flower of Bohuslän on the West coast, where I grew up. I'm not too wild about attaching strong narratives to my music but there's no way around it this time. The oysters, a common snack around the coast, are a strong conceptual presence here. Anyway, they seem to pop up here and there quite often already thus far in the Koma Saxo narrative, even though it's not always so obvious. Koma Vocals! Koma Strings! I love the presence of Sofia Jernberg here and I love writing string arrangements, too, although I never thought I would do it for Koma, but of course, Koma should have some strings, why not?. Koma Saxo should and can become anything."

*WAREHOUSE FIND

Massive Attack’ esque rare gems by the UK masters Various Production in collab w/ Cat Power. Limited!

Having kicked off in Galway and then quickly on to Brisbane, we travel across the pond to Durham, to pick the brains of one dance music’s freshest minds and most exciting talents, Tommy 2000, for the all-encompassing GTOWN 003 - ‘2K Musik’.

5 tracks that will travel the length and breadth of your brain; from the epic opener and lead single, ‘Whales’, to the algebraic break sequences of ‘T-2000’, Tommy’s follow up to his debut EP on DJ Haus’ Dance Trax is about as mature a sound you could expect from any artist, let alone an 18 year old just dipping his toes in the water.

‘Whales’ leads the way as an almost orchestral breakbeat builder-style track that reaches its peak gradually and really takes us for a ride as we step into the world of 2K Musik. Following on from that, is the most classically-conventional track of the lot, ‘Baff’. The four to the floor backbone lulls the listener to be sucked into what is an entirely unique club track they’ve never even come close to hearing before. That is then spun on its head entirely when Tommy’s almost bookmark sound comes into play on the title track, ‘2K Musik’. Hammering us with breaks and unapologetic bass, this marriage of old school sounds with entirely dynamic arrangement and all around ingenuity tells us exactly what 2K Musik is all about.

We swap over to the B side then, without much of a break for air, and kick off with the ever-nautically themed ‘Tuna’. At this point, it’s more than evident that Tommy 2000 is entirely worthy of his placement as an artist that’s here to stay, as if he’s pulled us underwater to listen to what the sea creatures have to say to us. Totally transforming even more modern sounding breakbeat drum patterns and bending them to his will, GTOWN003 is almost like a portal into the mind of a music genius, not just an EP you sit down and listen to; this is an immersive exhibition into the world of Tommy 2000. The final stop on the line is ‘T-2000’. You want to stop and get off, but you can’t. Everytime you think you’ve got this track figured out, you haven’t. Snares coming crashing down and attacking the breaks just as you’ve began to comprehend the synthlines and pads that eb and flow off of each other as this crescendo takes us home and back to reality, as the needle lifts on what is only the beginning for one of dance music’s brightest stars on one of its realest labels.

GTOWN003 - 2K MusiK by Tommy 2000 lands on G TOWN RECORDS on June 24th. Are you Ready?