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Recorded at Abbey Road Studios with legendary songwriter and producer Nile Rodgers, alongside the band's original producer Ian Broudie. The multi-platinum selling band released three studio albums between 2004 and 2008, scoring 9 UK Top 40 singles including two Top 10s with ‘Why Won’t You Give Me Your Love?’ and the all- conquering ‘Valerie’, the latter a triple-platinum hit for Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse. Today they return to share the fruits of their extended time away. The Big Decider comes into view as an album of stark significance to the band, completed by Dave McCabe (guitar, lead vocals), Abi Harding (saxophone, vocals) and Sean Payne (drums, vocals). Written against the backdrop of a decade and a half’s worth of lived experience, it is born under the weight of family tragedies, lives lost and created, reality checks, and home truths faced up to and stared down. Wrestled into shape under the kind of steam that only decades-long friendships - with all their messy fall-outs, make-ups, breakdowns and ultimately love - can muster, The Big Decider became the sound of water passing under the bridge, and love for music, love for each other, and love for creating together becoming the most important thing of all.

In many ways, the music of Writhing Squares could have only originated in Philadelphia; the city itself a microcosm of creatives, go-getters, freaks & weirdos that have coalesced into a supportive & boundary-pushing crew. Former Purling Hiss bassist Daniel Provenzano & Ecstatic Vision sax-player & vocalist Kevin Nickles' first musical missive was shot forth in 2013 (the self-released CDR "Live In Space") & various singles, split releases, albums (and a double-album) later we arrive at the duo's fourth full-length "Mythology", their third for Chicago-based Trouble In Mind Records. "Mythology" picks up the pieces left shattered by their previous double-album "Chart For The Solution" and reconnects the broken shards together like Kintsugi, the ancient Japanese technique for mending broken ceramics, infusing the breaks with powdered gold. The Squares themselves are like mad-scientists, taking the ruined detritus populating junk shops & surplus outlets & constructing their own sonic laboratories in their New Jersey basements to record, mix & tweak "Mythology"s eight tracks. Their new location allowed the band to regroup, reassess & reconstruct their sound from the ground up, shearing away the cosmic excess of 2021's "Chart For The Solution" to a sharper point. Tracks like `Barbarians' & `LEM' are classic Squares; brutal, aggressive, unwavering assault of Motorhead/Stooges-inflected sci-fi punk scree, while others like `Chromatophage's mutant funk & `Cerberus's techno-slink owe a serious debt to electric-era Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock & show that the group has more to offer than bludgeoning you with sonic force. Provenzano's bass & electronics are like a tank rolling across the terrain - a gnarly construct of Hawkwind-ian headiness & `Vincebus Eruptum's snarl - uncaring of what gets in the way. Nickles' brass vacillates between Stooges-influenced sleaze, jazzy no-wave stabs, & cacophonous sonic storms, strafing the listener into oblivion. The duo are joined on "Mythology" by drummer John Schoemaker - who contributed drums to "Chart For The Solution"s epic closing track `Epilogue' - whose percussive pulse adds an organic swing to The Square's sonics, particularly on album closer "The Damned Thing"s cosmic strut. "Mythology" tackles a multitude of themes, from fantastical tales of hellhound `Cerberus' or the comic-inspired "Eternity " to `Chromatophage's colorful/evil yarn about animals that eat colors (or a Magic: The Gathering card) to the true-life influenced `Acid Rain' that deals with the uncertainty of consuming drinking water after a chemical spill in the Delaware River. Elsewhere, `Ferrell' is an homage to the late, great Ferrell "Pharaoh" Sanders & `The Damned Thing' by a short horror story penned by Ambrose Bierce about an animal whose coloring is invisible to the naked eye. Writhing Squares are in a transitional phase, mapping out a new sonic mythology for themselves after crossing the event horizon into unknown space. "Mythology" is streaming on most DSPs & released on black vinyl & limited fluorescent green vinyl (while supplies last) on April 26th, 2024.

In many ways, the music of Writhing Squares could have only originated in Philadelphia; the city itself a microcosm of creatives, go-getters, freaks & weirdos that have coalesced into a supportive & boundary-pushing crew. Former Purling Hiss bassist Daniel Provenzano & Ecstatic Vision sax-player & vocalist Kevin Nickles' first musical missive was shot forth in 2013 (the self-released CDR "Live In Space") & various singles, split releases, albums (and a double-album) later we arrive at the duo's fourth full-length "Mythology", their third for Chicago-based Trouble In Mind Records. "Mythology" picks up the pieces left shattered by their previous double-album "Chart For The Solution" and reconnects the broken shards together like Kintsugi, the ancient Japanese technique for mending broken ceramics, infusing the breaks with powdered gold. The Squares themselves are like mad-scientists, taking the ruined detritus populating junk shops & surplus outlets & constructing their own sonic laboratories in their New Jersey basements to record, mix & tweak "Mythology"s eight tracks. Their new location allowed the band to regroup, reassess & reconstruct their sound from the ground up, shearing away the cosmic excess of 2021's "Chart For The Solution" to a sharper point. Tracks like `Barbarians' & `LEM' are classic Squares; brutal, aggressive, unwavering assault of Motorhead/Stooges-inflected sci-fi punk scree, while others like `Chromatophage's mutant funk & `Cerberus's techno-slink owe a serious debt to electric-era Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock & show that the group has more to offer than bludgeoning you with sonic force. Provenzano's bass & electronics are like a tank rolling across the terrain - a gnarly construct of Hawkwind-ian headiness & `Vincebus Eruptum's snarl - uncaring of what gets in the way. Nickles' brass vacillates between Stooges-influenced sleaze, jazzy no-wave stabs, & cacophonous sonic storms, strafing the listener into oblivion. The duo are joined on "Mythology" by drummer John Schoemaker - who contributed drums to "Chart For The Solution"s epic closing track `Epilogue' - whose percussive pulse adds an organic swing to The Square's sonics, particularly on album closer "The Damned Thing"s cosmic strut. "Mythology" tackles a multitude of themes, from fantastical tales of hellhound `Cerberus' or the comic-inspired "Eternity " to `Chromatophage's colorful/evil yarn about animals that eat colors (or a Magic: The Gathering card) to the true-life influenced `Acid Rain' that deals with the uncertainty of consuming drinking water after a chemical spill in the Delaware River. Elsewhere, `Ferrell' is an homage to the late, great Ferrell "Pharaoh" Sanders & `The Damned Thing' by a short horror story penned by Ambrose Bierce about an animal whose coloring is invisible to the naked eye. Writhing Squares are in a transitional phase, mapping out a new sonic mythology for themselves after crossing the event horizon into unknown space. "Mythology" is streaming on most DSPs & released on black vinyl & limited fluorescent green vinyl (while supplies last) on April 26th, 2024.

We Release JAZZ is very happy to announce an exciting new body of work by Joseph Deenmamode aka Mo Kolours. The singular musical spirit’s new 21-track album Original Flow is available as a double LP housed in a heavy 350gsm sleeve with original artwork by Mo Kolours himself and the classic WRJ obi strip, as well as in digipack CD and digital formats.

A catalog of critically acclaimed records, including his self-titled debut (2014), ‘Texture Like Like Sun’ (2015), 2018 album ‘Inner Symbols’ and three companion EPs, established Deenmamode as a prodigious musician and vocalist. Pitchfork extolled his “hypnotic, tribal-infused dance grooves”, DJ Mag appreciated the “colourful celebration of soundsystem culture”, and Resident Advisor advocated that “no one sounds quite like Mo Kolours”. Musical analogies were drawn by The Guardian as “The best album Curtis Mayfield never made with A Tribe Called Quest and Lee Perry” and Mojo as “like Marvin Gaye produced by J Dilla”.

Five years ago, Deenmamode moved to the Japanese countryside. Far away from familiarity, he contemplated his place and further questioned his identity. “I had none of my ‘own’ people around. I had time to really find what makes me tick musically. Japan has helped me go back to those subconscious leanings, really go deep, and reflect the aspects that make up my story”.

The tracks on ‘Original Flow’ have been constructed from sessions, improvisations and soundbites captured around the world during this time; collecting contributions from musicians including Deenamode’s brothers Reginald Omas Mamode and Jeen Bassa plus Andrew Ashong, Charles Bullen, Dwaye Kilvington, Eddie Hick, Stefan Asanovic, Myele Manzanza, Ross Hughes, and Tom Dreissler. Deenamode says “I’m proud of this album’s creative process. Coming from a tradition of scouring through hours of records, I wanted to create my own samples, to find that perfect loop that no other producer could put their hands on. I decided to invite a group of friends and acquaintances, who also happen to be incredible musicians, to a studio in Crystal Palace to improvise based on some loose ideas I had. We spent all day, and recorded everything”.

‘Original Flow’ is an album of UK street-soul nouveau, future indigenous jazz fusion, Rasta Segga, Nyahbinghi jazz, Malagasy Hebrew hip hop. While retaining a spirit of exploration and improvisation, it sees Deenmamode grow and flex beyond beat tape brevity, expanding composition and stretching his musical muscle to play live with other musicians. Themes of empowerment, overcoming adversity, and mental liberation coexist with notes from ancient history, futurism, and science, as well as musings on family and togetherness.

‘Magik Momentum’ springs from a discussion that features at the start of the song, an inspiring mentor answering a question from Deenmamode about improvisation and what role it plays in life when planning and manifesting the future. ‘Rockets to Mars’ questions the lack of care for the billions of people with nothing, while governments plan to explore space. “This sparked a comparison in my mind to a Sonny Okuson song that I would reference when performing. Okuson’s song talked of the lack of resources in many communities in the world, while governments go to the moon”.

He says the music behind ‘The News These Days’ is “possibly my favourite on the album”. Looped like he would a late sixty jazz-fusion sample, there was nothing added and the track was complete within a matter of minutes. “It was the first and best moment from the entire Crystal Palace session”, he adds. The album’s contrasting title track with minimal instrumentation played solo by Deenamode. While frustratingly searching for gems in past recordings, he thought in a burst of ego, “I don’t need no-one else to make a dope beat!” picked up his ravanne, (the traditional frame drum of his fathers home-land of Mauritius), pressed record, and started to play. He says, “In my thoughts were the rhythms of the Nubians in Upper-Egypt and Sudan, the swing of the huge drums played by Mauritanian women, of-course the Sega beat of Mauritius, and the ever inspiring beat of James Yancey”.

Driven by UK broken beat, Cuban congas, Nigerian and Mauritian inflections, ‘Love Vibration’ follows the concept that all emotions carry a vibratory frequency and pays homage to the frequency of creation and the power of love. The two part ‘Tatamaka’ tells of the history of Deenmamode’s ancestors, the maroons of Mauritius. “We are people who managed to run from our oppressors and find refuge in a corner of the island called ‘Le Morne’ where they could not reach us. One bloody day they came in numbers to re-capture, to revenge. Many of us chose to jump to our deaths, rather than be taken back into subjugation. The poem by Creole Richard Sedley Assonne says; “there were hundreds of them, but my people, the maroons chose the kiss of death over the chains of slavery”. Tatamaka was the name of a famed maroon leader who was murdered for claiming his, and our people’s freedom. The song is the imagined journey of escape and freedom by an ancestor of the maroons of Le Morne”.

Born in the west midlands and raised on the traditional sega music of his father’s Indian Ocean homeland of Mauritius alongside records by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Santana and Michael Jackson; his influences expanded with late 90s jungle and drum and bass nights in Bristol, experiments at art college in Camberwell, and the rich culture of Peckham, “at the time we called it the Afro Quarters of London” says Deenmamode, adding hip hop, dub, soul and soundsystem styles to his individual sound.

He explains, “I love drum music, from hand-drums to 808s. I love music from the ancient past, heritage music, indigenous music, traditional music passed down from the beginning of time. Music from the body, hand claps, grunts and foot stomps. Music with audible depth, busy, bustling, highly charged. Music from the soul, the music from beyond. I love music from the islands and the mountains. The music of the streets, hustle music, alleyway beats. Club music”.

He describes the creative process as thinking in images. “The visual world and the world of sound seem to intermingle in my thought process. When I play the drum with my eyes closed, a world of imagery dances and moves with beat. Improvised drumming feels like I am listening to what I want to hear, rather than trying to play what I want to hear. Following the rhythm and finding new pathways to walk within the patterns is what I experience. In this way I often feel I am just a listener, instead of the player”.
Original Flow is pressed on biovinyl, a sustainable alternative to traditional vinyl. Biovinyl replaces petroleum in S-PVC by recycling used cooking oil or industrial waste gases, resulting in 100% CO2 savings in bio-based S-PVC production. Furthermore, it is 100% recyclable and reusable, embracing the circular economy ideology.

The fourth full-length record from Atlanta’s Microwave is a trip. It all begins with the misty synth strikes and cosmic transmission warbles of “Portals,” before hazy, dripping-wet guitar chords settle in. The song, an adaptation of the traditional Christian hymn “Softly and Tenderly,” is true to its new name, as liminal and fleeting as it is gripping and emotional. It’s an enormous, gentle, enveloping introduction to what will be explored: life and death, happiness and freedom, the real and unreal. This is Let’s Start Degeneracy, the long-awaited new album from Microwave, releasing on April 26 via Pure Noise. It's an emo record, but perhaps only categorically speaking. It contains multitudes: ambient, pop, R&B, punk, and experimental sounds float in and out of one another as the record moves through scenes, experiences, and feelings, all of them rippling with a purity of intention and translation that mark the best artistic works of “psychedelia.” Vocalist/guitarist/producer Nathan Hardy, bassist Tyler Hill, and drummer Timothy Pittard have created something that resembles a concept record, but it’s the sort of concept that’s impossible to contain in just one phrase or word or sound. The record’s title, taken from a conservative politician’s take on drugs in 1970, captures this liberated spirit. There are no rules, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. “It’s about letting go of attachments and behaviors that aren’t serving you, and trying to shake off your programming and not be motivated by fear and guilt and shame,” says Hardy.

Francis Lai is France's best-selling international film composer, with hits such as "Love Story", "Bilitis" and "Un Homme et une Femme".

International hits in the USA, Germany, the UK and South America, as well as in Korea and Japan, where the Francis Lai Orchestra recorded the tribute album "13 Jours au Japon" just a few months ago, during a tour that took them to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and elsewhere.

A limited-edition Vinyl featuring the composer's cult tracks, including the 100 million-stream digital hit "La Leçon Particulière", "Concerto Pour la Fin d'Amour", five songs and, for the first time, his unpublished posthumous work "The Final Dot".


"13 Jours au Japon" (13 Days in Japan) is the ultimate vinyl tribute, featuring 25 musicians and singers covering the multi-award-winning works of the man nicknamed in the USA: "the artistocrat of melody"!

Napoleon is the 2023 spectacle-filled action epic film that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte's relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed. At the 96th Academy Awards, Napoleon received nominations for Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Visual Effects. The film features an original score written and composed by 7-time Primetime Emmy nominatated British composer Martin Phipps. Phipps is best known for his work for the series Peaky Blinders, The Crown, and Black Mirror amongst others. Napoleon marked his first collaboration with Scott and was described by critics as “one of the most interestingly unique, albeit brief scores to debut in this genre for many years.” Napoleon is available as a limited edition of 500 individually numbered copies on translucent red coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

Napoleon by Martin Phipps, released 26 April 2024, includes the following tracks: "Josephine ", "Ladies In Waiting ", "We Are Discovered ", "Look Down " and more.

This version of Napoleon comes as a 1xLP. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

The vinyl is pressed as a translucent, red disc.

Ltd Edition!

Nach dem überwältigenden Erfolg der Debüt-EP "You're Welcome" melden sich die Lambrini Girls mit ihrer neuen 7Inch 'God's Country / Body Of Mine' via City Slang zurück!

Das aus Brighton stammende Duo besteht aus Phoebe Lunny (Gesang/Gitarre - sie) und Lilly Macieira (Bass - sie) sowie Schlagzeuger Banksy (nicht zu verwechseln mit gleichnamigen Street-Art Künstler). Sie haben sich durch unvergessliche Live-Auftritte einen Namen gemacht und wurden vom Variety Magazine, BBC Radio 1, NME, The Line Of Best Fit, KEXP, Consequence, Evening Standard, CLASH, So Young und kürzlich vom Kerrang! Magazine an der Seite von Sleater-Kinney, wurde für den Rolling Stone UK's Rising Stars Award nominiert, und sogar Iggy Pop ist ein Fan.

Auftritte bei Wide Awake, Reading & Leeds Festivals, Manchester Psych Fest, sowohl als auch deutschen Shows in in Hamburg und Berlin!

Mutant präsentiert den OST zur Roadmovie-Komödie DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS (2024), Ethan Coens erstem "Solo"-Film (ohne seinen Bruder). Mit einem exzellenten Score des EMMY-preisgekrönten Komponisten Carter Burwell und Songs von Le Tigre über Linda Ronstadt bis Lizzie Mercier Descloux passt er sehr gut in das beeindruckende Erbe der jahrzehntelangen Zusammenarbeit Burwells mit den Coen-Brüdern. Es ist das perfekte Mixtape für diesen Roadtrip, ein bisschen Country, ein bisschen Rock'n'Roll, ein bisschen Disco und ein bisschen Queer. Carter Burwell ergänzt: "Wenn Sie die übliche lesbische Roadtrip-Krimi-Sex-Comedy-Musik erwarten, werden Sie nicht enttäuscht sein."

There are one million ways to approach love, one million ways to experience love, one million ways in which love shapes both the course of our lives and how we choose to navigate that course. On her second album, Bnny’s Jessica Viscius looks love square in its many eyes and describes, with self-awareness and humor, not only what she sees, but what it makes her feel. Deep romantic love, breathy lust, generous self-love—and their opposites, self-loathing, resentment, disappointment—all make appearances. Like a sheet being draped over a clothesline, channeling Mazzy Star and mimicking the soft, gauzy, fresh feeling of realizing you’re able to begin it all again with a new person. Recorded in Asheville at Drop of Sun and produced by Viscius alongside Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo De Souza, Snail Mail), One Million Love Songs is Bnny’s revelatory second album. Out April 2024 on Fire Talk

There are one million ways to approach love, one million ways to experience love, one million ways in which love shapes both the course of our lives and how we choose to navigate that course. On her second album, Bnny’s Jessica Viscius looks love square in its many eyes and describes, with self-awareness and humor, not only what she sees, but what it makes her feel. Deep romantic love, breathy lust, generous self-love—and their opposites, self-loathing, resentment, disappointment—all make appearances. Like a sheet being draped over a clothesline, channeling Mazzy Star and mimicking the soft, gauzy, fresh feeling of realizing you’re able to begin it all again with a new person. Recorded in Asheville at Drop of Sun and produced by Viscius alongside Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo De Souza, Snail Mail), One Million Love Songs is Bnny’s revelatory second album. Out April 2024 on Fire Talk

Career trajectories are rarely linear or make logical sense. Life is always unpredictable so all you can do is put in good work and keep at it. Joh Chase is a testament to this. Over the past two decades, the Seattle-raised, Los Angeles-based artist has persistently honed their songwriting and toured, opening for acts like Noah Gunderson and David Bazan. This dedication comes out entirely in their songs, which are so timeless, confident, and inviting they can only come from someone who’s devoted their whole life to their craft. Chase’s new album SOLO feels like a turning point for them: it’s the culmination of a lifetime of writing, losing, loving, and doing it all yourself. The LP adventurously toes the line between genres and sensibilities but it’s all filtered through Chase’s charming and fully-formed vision. SOLO is a testament to Chase’s do-it-yourself ethos throughout their entire career—they chipped away, self-funded tours, and crowdfunded this LP. But by finding their voice, they now no longer feel alone. “This is the most support I've ever had in my life,” says Chase. “I do not feel alone at all. There’s so much energy and generosity here around these songs.” Though it’s not their debut, SOLO feels like a reinvention for an artist: a daring reintroduction for a timeless talent. “I spent my life making music and trying to do it about 10 different ways,” says Chase. “Now this one feels like it. This album feels like a leveling-up of my music in general. When I look at it now, I realize this is the first record that's really me.” “Mesmerizing, infectious, joyful, and heartbreaking; this is the best new album I've heard in a decade. Joh Chase has arrived

On his sophomore EP 'Nightlife Stories', (produced by Chris Robinson), Billy Tibbals offers a beacon of hope for a new generation of rock fans-- an audience he believes is enjoying a resurgence

Tibbals' music brings glam rock to 2024 within a once-again-burgeoning LA rock scene. He explains, "I wanted to make something a little more aggressive. It's called 'Nightlife Stories,' and so it's about seedy creatures of the night." The result is six tracks that are bold, stone cold, and ready to mold the minds of the American youth. With his mop of curls and brazen, spangled outfits, Tibbals is a return to old- school glamor with eccentric hooks and dramatic swings that demand to be heard

The complete original Erroll Garner album Concert by the Sea (Columbia CL-883), which marked the pianist's best-selling record ever. There was actually no official plan to record the concert, and the release came about because Garner's personal manager, Martha Glaser, spotted that a tape recorder was running backstage and decided to use the tape, originally intended for the Armed Forces Radio Network. A live version of the perennial Garner composition "Misty," performed by the same trio the following year, has been added as a bonus. 180- GRAM COLORED RED VINYL - THE COMPLETE ALBUM + 1 BONUS TRACK - Contains new specially prepared liner notes by Penguin Guide to Jazz's writer BRIAN MORTON and by Paris' prestigious JAZZ MAGAZINE

1998 was a fertile year defined by juggernaut projects from Black Star, Lauren Hill, Outkast, and others, all of whom synced experimentation with foundational tenets that made the 1990s ferociously groundbreaking.


Out of Oakland, California, a collective known as Hieroglyphics were positioning away from industry control, to helm their own assets in manners more suited to their own marketing self-vision. While artists have certainly went solo prior, this came at a critical juncture for the crew during a spiraling and newfound Internet world. Born out of this independent spirit was the crew’s first official studio album 3rd Eye Vision.


The album spans twenty-two songs, all featuring beats by Domino who manned the lion’s share of production. A-Plus, Opio, Del, Casual, and Phesto also contributed beats. MCs each had their own song, short interludes highlighting their individuality through short verses, a clear espirit de corps statement.


Even among standouts like “Oakland Blackouts” or “At The Helm,” perhaps the most celebrated song off the release is “You Never Knew,” a track that propelled 3rd Eye Vision to #88 on the Billboard Top 200, not an entirely easy feat as a new label competing with the late ‘90s’ abundant onslaught of classic material.


In celebration of 20 years of 3EV, Fat Beats and Hiero Imperium are proud to present this CD/Vinyl reissue in deluxe packaging, expansive liner notes and the full original album tracks and a bonus for the very first time in one package.

For KING + COUNTRY musicians Joel and Luke Smallbone just announced the April 26 release of their “The Inspired By Soundtrack” album, based on their upcoming movie UNSUNG HERO. “The duo drops their latest track from the soundtrack today, ‘Crazy,’” The Christian Beat reported on Tuesday, “featuring the Smallbones and GRAMMY Award-winner (and sister) Rebecca St. James, along with a soundtrack version of the title track, ‘Unsung Hero.’”






[d] To Hell With the Devil (Rise) [With Lecrae & Stryper]

'Welcome to Hotel Heaven' is a fresh start for is George van den Broek, a young man with an old soul and the voice to match. His music as Yellow Days fittingly, feels both of his era and completely other: a woozy mixture of soul, blues, psych, and groove leaking through the walls of a jazz lounge that's come unstuck in time. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, George has never fit into one style or space. Despite George being an old soul — he hates social media, loves vinyl, and collects old cameras — Yellow Days really is a project about youth and modernity: “Hotel Heaven represents fake comfort in all its forms, this whole bullshit idea of luxury where nothing is real,” explains George. “There are so many young people who are living that kind of life. Because of the cost of living crisis, people are spending all they’ve got on a bag of white powder just to make them feel nice. Their jaws are still swinging at four o’clock in the morning, but they’re not saying anything. I wanted to write about these people and everything that is happening right now. This TikTok age where everyone wants to be famous. It’s also a big 360 of my life and career to date. I wanted to get away from everything I’d done before, wash my face and start afresh.” - Yellow Days

`Dan + Shay, the three time GRAMMY award-winning country duo are celebrating 10 years of their debut album, ‘Where It All Began’. In celebration of the anniversary they will be releasing Where It All Began on vinyl for the first time ever. The album features the singles ‘19 You + Me’, ‘Show You Off’ and ‘Nothin’ Like You’.

EYE – the new band from Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (MWWB) singer-songwriter/musician Jessica
Ball – has announced the arrival of their eagerly awaited debut album, 'Dark Light’. "These songs have
been many years in the making... Some of these ideas were crafted before MWWB, this is something
I've always wanted to do. Over the last couple of years, I’ve spent some time on finishing and crafting
these ideas and pieces of music into songs. Some were snippets of lyrics from my early twenties which
reflect on what seems like a different person. I think it’s quite poetic how it’s all come together now.”

Sleap-e is reclaiming herself. The Italian singer-songwriter’s second album, 8106, captures the spirit of play; the child-like instinct to pursue what you love without compromise - and here it is, that particular magic that rarely survives adulthood, remarkably intact. Each of its eleven songs are vibrant shards which build a mosaic of Asia Martina Morabito’s world: the growing pains of your early twenties, remaining faithful to your dreams despite the hostility of adulthood, places of escape both real and imagined - and the pulse of Bologna, her home and north star. As a student of old-school iconoclasts like The Fall and inspired by the outsider streak of Jimmy Whispers and Daniel Johnston, it was not any particular musical quality of theirs which Asia wanted to channel in Sleap-e, but their confidence to “explode in a raw, free and authentic way.” Though her sound has shifted from the tender bedroom pop of her 2020 EP Mellow and her 2022 debut album Pouty Lips which was bedecked with jubilant brass and Mediterranean rhythms, it’s her self-belief which endures. 8106 is Sleap-e’s most raucous, unpolished and playful offering to date, steeped in the influence of “egg-punk”, an internet-grown genre which seeks to satirise the tropes of punk with its danceable irreverence. There is joy to be found, Asia feels, in refusing to conform, and it has brought her closer to herself than ever before. But to gain her sense of self, first, she had to lose sight of it. Summer of 2023, when the outlines of the record were made, was a difficult time for her. 8106 was the number of the hotel room she felt confined to, alone and adrift from comfort when she was working away from home. Writing this album was her getaway car. “It represents an important choice I made,” she explains. “I chose happiness. I chose myself.” The title represents a kind of mental post-it note reminding herself to stay focused on what she loves; it’s a talisman to protect her from hard times. She returned home, and there she began recording the album in residency at the Bronson Club, a hive of like-minded creatives and mentors who helped it take its final form. At home, her own music was played freely and instinctively. The artwork for 8106 is by Noemi Vola, a prolific Bolognian illustrator and author who specialises in designs for children, which reflects the “funky, fairytale mood” of the record itself.

. Lodge has been performing and recording with The Moody Blues for more than five decades, selling in excess of 70 million albums, and also enjoys a successful solo career, doing what he loves, performing and playing music. Lodge has been voted one of the “10 most influential bass players on the planet,” and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including ASCAP, and Ivor Novello Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music. John was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2019 was given a star in his hometown ‘Walk of Fame’. In 2018, John and the Moody Blues were inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’, and in 2019 John was given the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Prog Awards. John’s latest release is the new studio Album ‘DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED – MY SOJOURN’. The album was recorded over the last year and has grown from John’s current live show as he, and his 10,000 Light Years Band, lovingly recreate this classic album

The third studio album from Rebecca Downes with 12 new, original blues-influenced, rock tracks all written by Steve Birkett and Rebecca. Album mixed by Bill Drescher and Chris Childs. With exciting new material that continues the evolution of the music towards rock, More Sinner Than Saint is worth the wait. At the outset, Downes consulted with producer Chris Kimsey, who has previously worked with The Rolling Stones, to select and refine the 12 tracks and to achieve what she and co-writer Steve Birkett see as the perfect expression of their current writing. With five of the fabulous tracks having been mixed by Californian based Bill Drescher, whose previous accolades include working with Rick Springfield and The Bangles, Downes showcases her trademark powerful vocals throughout. With the remainder of the tracks being mixed by Thunder’s Chris Childs, the pedigree of this album is faultless. With her superb studio band that includes Dan Clark, Lloyd Daker and Magnum’s Rick Benton, there was no shortage of artists queuing to join her on the odd track or two. The multi award winning Alan Nimmo (King King) plays guitar on If I Go To Sleep and Magnum’s Tony Clarkin delivers a fabulous guitar solo on Breathe Out. With her signature voice, style and song writing, it was little wonder that last year she was voted Female Vocalist of the Year at the FORM UKBlues Awards. The release of this jubilant new album once again gives her the chance to showcase her formidable powerhouse and gutsy vocals in tracks that have greater range and depth than anything she’s done before. Rebecca said: “We were honoured and humbled to receive Chris Kimsey’s guidance. He gave us confidence about the direction of our writing changing to a rockier sound and advice on the way the material should be recorded. Meeting Bill Drescher in LA was fantastic – such a lovely, down-to-earth guy – and his mixing took the five tracks to the next level. Chris Childs has since done an excellent job on the rest in matching Bill’s mixing style. We are very proud of this album – and the way the music has evolved towards rock. More than ever before we believe it captures the best of our song writing.”

The legendary Horsepower Productions return to Sneaker for a thematically charged trip into future zones, driven by dexterous breakbeat science and ruffneck soundboy wisdom.

The UK dubplate heavyweights are no stranger to a loaded sample, and they’ve got a message to impart on this double-edged record. They kick off with a rumination on the planet’s fragile ecosystem on ‘Tropic’, which looks to a possible future with an ominous fate for the foliage we hold dear. Production-wise, Horsepower set electric drum loops off against lurid daubs of synth without derailing the motion, but a huge amount of the track’s impact arrives in the sampling from a cult classic slice of sci-fi. The premise is that the last remaining trees and plants from earth are adrift in space in a bio-dome, and have been condemned for demolition - a depressingly feasible scenario with an aggravated soundtrack to boot.

On the flip, ‘Computer Rock’ rides a tough break slow and hard and injects dystopian electro synth licks into the mix for a darkside roller that celebrates the visionary talent of Jeff Brown, aka Kase 2. Brown pioneered graffiti in the 70s with futuristic styles that still hold sway today, leaning into his own sci-fi imaginings about computer worlds inhabited by extra-terrestrial beings, Brown passed away in 2011, and this track and the attendant B2 cut ‘Kase - Reprise’ pay tribute to a forefather of hip-hop culture by channeling the future shock styles of Bambaataa et al without ever sounding throwback.

The concept on this record gets taken out further with the additional digi-only tracks, which take in the low-slung, skunked up funk of ‘Blaque Gras’ and the amped up rave damage of ‘Kase 2-Part 2’. Throughout, on-point samples and a clear-eyed focus bring out the best in the Horsepower approach, offering up next level dance wreckers with something to say.

The second in our Mr Bongo series opening the vault on classic recordings from the fabled Groove Merchant Records catalogue. This time the spotlight turns to the Hammond B3 organ maestro Lonnie Smith, as we proudly present a reissue of his cosmic jazz-funk journey, ‘Afro-Desia’.

Originally released in 1975, this much-loved album was produced by Groove Merchant label owner Sonny Lester and features the mysterious 'Compliments Of A Friend' on guitar. Considering Smith was part of George Benson’s quartet in the ‘60s, that not so discreet veil appears to have been lifted on who this ‘friend’ might be. However, presumably due to contractual reasons, Benson had to remain covert for this recording. The lineup doesn’t stop there though, with the likes of legendary bassist Ron Carter and Grammy award winning saxophonist Joe Lavano joining the outfit.

An album of two parts, the first side sees Lonnie Smith in a spaced-out, cosmic jazz funk setting. The opener 'Afrodesia' is a funk flexing, steamy groover. Greg Hopkins and Lavano trading off on trumpet and sax respectively, as that bassline walks its way over fluttering jazz percussion and off-kilter electronics. 'Spirits Free' is an epic 15-minute free-wheeling jazz-funk workout. A mind melting trip that rises and falls, in parts spacey and serene, with Smith’s organ playing complimented by stretched out horns. Before long it opens out into unconstrained fluid sections that do its title proud. Pure ‘70s jazz-funk at its most stellar.

Side B takes a more classic soul-jazz flavour, with touches of Latin spice. 'Straight To The Point' kicks off with a carnival zing, full-frontal horn and organ lines providing a fiery party punch. It’s a swinging jazz cut that used to receive spins by DJs at Russ Dewbury's Jazz Room's sessions in Brighton in the ‘90s.

Finally, 'Favors' and 'The Awakening' close out the release. Two sure shot, quintessential Lonnie Smith firing Hammond grooves. Each conjuring up images of packed out, smokey jazz bar jams, every player letting loose with masterful improv sections to whip the crowd up into a frenzy.

A truly wonderful album, and an archetypal release showcasing the height of jazz musician excellence from this era.

repressed !

Conceived, written and recorded during the COVID pandemic, "King Perry" was produced by Daniel Boyle, and features guest performances from Greentea Peng, Shaun Ryder, Tricky, Marta, Rose Waite and Fifi Rong. Two tracks were also co-produced with Tricky, who releases Perry"s last recorded performances on his False Idols label. Record producer, composer, singer, and pioneer of the dub music genre Lee Scratch Perry passed away in August 2021. His influence over popular music since the 1970s is hugely significant, with artists including Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Clash, Beastie Boys, Max Romeo, Junior Murvin and The Orb all enriched by Perry"s legendary touch, innovative studio techniques and production style.

Take a trip to Jamaïca with this selection of the finest tunes played by the masters of Reggae. A nice 5 LP vinyl boxsett with Bob Marley, Lee " Scratch " Perry, Max Romeo, Black Uhuru....

Where does pop start and experimental music end? Instead of drawing lines, Red On keeps on exploring the spaces in between these supposed poles with his latest album Phantom Easy, a record that offers moments of pure beauty as well as unpredictable, uncontrollable wilderness.
The spaces Red On moves in aren’t per se terra incognita, but have been explored in recent years by like-minded musicians such as How To Dress Well, Fever Ray, or Dawuna, as well as artists that are affiliated with Präsenes Editionen, where Red On’s album is published, such as Martina Lussi, Belia Winnewisser, or Magda Drozd. Yet, Phantom Easy is an exploration of its own: The melancholic album, which is informed by pop, electroacoustic music, rhythm-focused jazz, and krautrock, is carried by Red On's voice, which appears in ever-changing stages of alienation. The wistful tone of the twelve tracks is reinforced by single phrases sung by Red On that, through their repetition, develop an urgency that can hardly be escaped. The result is pop music that is brave enough to embrace the adventure; or experimental music that doesn’t shy away from offering catchy hooks and grand melodies.

Don't judge a book by its cover. Judge a record by its cover.

And, perhaps, its title.

Cedar Walton's Mobius is as outrageously, disorientatingly brilliant as the stunning jacket design, featuring the legendary jazz pianist morphing into a mobius strip, set against a beautiful sky filled with cumulus clouds. A proper jazz-funk fusion slapfest, Mobius is a stellar electric set from - essentially - one *hell* of a SUPERBAND.

Yes, in addition to Walton's Fender Rhodes wizardry, Mobius is elevated by Ryo Kawasaki's stinging electric guitar, pristinely clear vocals by Adrienne Albert and Lani Groves, rootsy percussion by Ray Mantilla and Omar Clay, alto and baritone from Charles Davis, trumpet from Roy Burrowes, Gordon Edwards on bass and Frank Foster's tenor sax. Oh and did we mention STEVE GADD ON DRUMS?!?!

Gem after gem of looping, bliss-inducing gold, it's an incredibly revelatory album. It presents a thrilling synthesis of R&B, funk, blues and hard bop (with a hint of rock), all driven by an idiosyncratic electronic keyboard. Walton, a giant in the jazz world, got quite the workout every time he played, from piano to arp synthesizer to clarinet to electric piano to mini-moog and back again.

Mobius was Cedar Walton's debut for RCA in 1975. The versatile artist confirmed his abilities as a player, composer, interpreter and arranger with this stunning record, and his own bright compositions offered a springboard for the improvisations of the different soloists. Coltrane's "Blue Trane" is the first classic to be given the funkafied Mobius treatment, Ryo Kawasaki let loose all over neck-snapping Gadd-drum gold before the horns take a fiery turn and subsequently give way to Cedar's virtuosity. A sparkling b-boy break version of Thelonious Monk's "Off Minor" (featuring an absolutely *fire* solo from Walton) really sets proceedings alight. Of the three original pieces, the shuffling, percussive power of "Soho" is just absolutely mind bending Latin-influenced jazzy soul whilst the mellow vibes of "The Maestro" bring elegant, sumptuous soul. And then there's the effortlessly funky "Road Island Red". Just too, too good.

Cedar Walton was born in Dallas, Texas, on January 17, 1934 and began his professional career in 1959 when he began touring for several years with the J.J. Johnson Quintet. He later joined the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet and then Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Pretty solid credentials, right? While based in New York City, Cedar played with such luminaries as Donald Byrd, Eddie Harris, Blue Mitchell, Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Heath and Milt Jackson. Without question, he was one of the most complete and gifted musicians of his time and Mobius provides proof of that. The fresh, danceable tracks, all firmly rooted in the living tradition of blues and gospel, are skilfully presented by a master who enjoyed keeping abreast of contemporary tastes and was always keen to renew his language.

As the album notes state: “Mobius, which is the theoretical shape of the infinite universe, makes use of the most modern recording techniques and synthesizers. We mastered and mixed so that it’s hotter than the competition, which should help radio play and in-store demonstration.” Indeed. Mobius is really gorgeous mid-70s fusion, ranging from the funky to the ecstatic. It's an absolute MONSTER that will completely blow you away; and, yes, it's as wild and hypnotic as the cover. The audio for Mobius has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring it sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Irresistible Brazilian blues reggae from the heart of the Amazon rainforest. A psychedelic guarana induced trip and ode to the fading indigenous cultures and shifting hegemony in Brazil. This one-off release by Manaus native Natacha Fink was originally written in 1986 as the lead track on NOSSA MUSICA - a compilation celebrating regional music from the Amazon. Emerging out of the dictatorship, Natacha and her fellow artists rejected the aesthetic standards driven by internal colonialism and sought out new ways to express themselves away from the styles of the dominant Rio-São Paulo axis. What surfaced was a melodic blend of genres, with Natacha’s haunting vocals and playful lyrics gliding over an arrangement of guitars and double bass. Vocal backing is led by Torrinho, well known for his layered composition style, whose song ‘Porto de Lenha’ is recognised throughout Amazonas as an unofficial anthem. Hidden within the Amazon, Pirarublue lies in that wonderful space between innocence and honesty. Proudly exploring cultural and ecological spaces through a refreshing, ghostly infectious groove. For fans of Gal Costa, Elis Regina, Chico César, Jorge Ben Jor and Joni Mitchell.

Accompanying Natacha’s beguiling single is the field recording “Unseen Songlines” by artist and academic Nimalan Yoganathan. The composition immerses the listener in the soundscapes of Mamori Lake, a remote village inside the Brazilian Amazon. Nimalan explores the ambiguous perception of sounds emanating from the dense rainforest and deep beneath the Amazon River, where we hear the sounds but cannot see their sources: an acousmatic concert performed by the rainforest itself. Processed field recordings of birds and frogs, as well as underwater hydrophone recordings of dolphins and fish subtly weave throughout electroacoustic textures and beats. The listener is invited to hone in on the musical subtleties hidden throughout the environment. The compositional methods employed in this piece draw on the concepts of sonic rupture, presence, absence and memory found in the dub music tradition.

This limited edition 7” by Sticky Buttons puts these two outlying works together for a unique listening experience, combining the human and more-than-human experience of life at the heart of Brazil. Both uniquely Amazonian but with a universal appeal.

Warehouse Find!

Time to welcome Soul 223 to the label with his debut Delusions EP entitled Fear Of Stopping. Something of a complete legend in our eyes and ears, Steve Pickton has been releasing top drawer tuneage for over two decades both as Stasis on influential labels such as B12 and Peacefrog and more recently as Soul 223 on equally well regarded imprints like Delsin, Soul Jazz and Neroli. Always one to shy away from any limelight or self promotion it's true to say that this underrated British producer remains something of an anomaly, staying true to his underground roots where faceless, shadowy and obscure reigns supreme over the latest over-exposed cover star. This ethos naturally carries through into his music where you will always find both expansive beauty and unrefined rawness in equal measures ensuring his tracks always sound fresh rather than over produced or contrived.

Fear Of Stopping opens the EP with a low-slung disco groove providing the backbone for intermittent pad washes and reversing stabs. The focus here is firmly on the drums and simple conga riff with thankfully very little else to deter you from this sublime slice of abstract dance music.

Next up we have a remix from another ridiculously talented producer who chooses quality over quantity, having only ever had one release under his own name, albeit for one of the most respected labels in the world; Rush Hour. Maxi Mill came to our attention having released one of the tracks of 2011 namely To The Next. On this, his first ever solo remix he brings a brilliant bump to the EP with a raw, warehousey and bass-heavy workout. Just the right amount of strings and pads keep the deep vibe intact but the filtering bass and jacking drums definitely take this one to the floor.

Flipping over we have Walberswick in it's Hoist Covert Mix incarnation. Almost thirteen minutes of spaced out, deep Detroit house music awaits you, ready to lure you in and cocoon you with it's warm and hypnotizing machine funk. Lovely to hear the old Stasis influence working it's way into this one sounding both decidedly old-school and completely futuristic and otherworldly as only the best tracks ever do.

Closing the EP we have Birdbrook Rain dropping the BPM's for a beautifully sparse track that brings with it an almost desolate and disconnected feeling, echoing synths providing a naive melody while a dusty pad shifts simply beneath. A little slice of magic concluding a fresh and interesting EP, we hope you agree.

The Morning Papers Have Given Us the Vapours was made with the black watch bandmates and producers/engineers Rob Campanella (Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Tyde, The Warlocks) and Andy Creighton (The World Record, Parson Red Heads). Ben Eshbach, formerly of The Sugarplastic, arranged the strings. Kesha Rose guests on lead vocals on the second single, Oh Do Shut Up. And the great Lindsay Murray once again lends her beautiful backing vox to a number of tracks.

the black watch songwriter/frontman John Andrew Fredrick wrote the ten songs on this, his Los Angeles-based band's latest album, entirely unselfconsciously, with no set goal in mind other than to revel in the joy of songwriting, and, eventually, the luxury of recording his music with his more-than-accomplished band. The Morning Papers Have Given Us the Vapours, produced separately and together by Rob Campanella and Andy Creighton evinces the black watch's often stunning ability to, as Andy Gill once observed in The Independent, "find chaos in the calm, melody in the miasma."

Fredrick, who has also published four comedic novels and a book on the early films of Wes Anderson, jovially describes himself as "a recovering Anglophile--one who'll never, one hopes, fully recover." From his home studio in the Angeleno Heights district of L.A., he waxes eloquent about how being branded, as it were, as a too-ardent lover of British music, film, and literature has left him as bemused as has the tag "prolific" that is often affixed to reviews of his work.

"I just don't think it's all that interesting to note that we've made so many records. Looked at one way, it's a sort of deflection from talking about the timbre if not the quality of the individual songs. Though I know it can be intimidating for fans who've just discovered us--a sort of 'My goodness, where do I start with this band that has put out LPs since 1988?' I get it. I do. I picture someone standing at our slot at a bin at a record store becoming overwhelmed at the prospect of picking the 'wrong' title. And then walking away and not picking up anything from us!" Fredrick laughs. "What can you do indeed?"

He started his career as a songwriter as a result of an American Football injury that left him bedridden in the home he grew up in in Santa Barbara, California. The year The Beatles immortal double-album came out at Christmastime he broke his leg so badly that he had to be home-schooled for an entire year. His parents, ex-teachers themselves, refused to let him watch telly for more than an hour a day. He propped a Silvertone acoustic on top of the massive cast that screamed all the way up to his thigh from his toes, and began to write little melodies and lyrics that, doubtless, did not in the least mask his love for the Fabs, The White Album in especial.

And he read and read and read--histories of the American Revolution and Civil War, mostly, and as many Dickens novels as his mum and dad could bring him. "That year," Fredrick observes, "surely made me who I am today. Proof that intensely unfortunate-seeming events can prove most fortunate. As a sport-mad kid, it made me absolutely mental that I was exiled from the activities I loved most and the school teams I played on. What a blessing undisguised that injury was! Not that I'd like to experience anything like it ever again, mind you."

Fredrick can even recall a few of the melodies he wrote as boy ("Utterly trite, of course, completely jejune"); and in a way, The Morning Papers Have Given Us the Vapours showcases a kind of get-back-to-where-you-once-belonged sensibility. "I didn't intend, this time, to make an album per se. I write both songs and fiction in order to find out what happens, to find out what I might want to say," he notes. "Rob often asks me what a particular song is about; and I often reply that I either don't know, or would prefer that others say. Same thing goes for when people ask me where they should start with our discography. I never know what to say. Our LP from 2011, Led Zeppelin Five (remastered in 2021 for its tenth anniversary), has been our best seller, I think--but that may be because some stoned Zepheads thought their gods had perhaps put out a record they'd missed!"

Despite being deadly serious about music-making, TBW's been known to either whimsically or perversely title their albums. Examples: Jiggery-Pokery (an allusion to John Lennon assessing George Martin's productions), After the Gold Room (a pun on the Neil Young classic plus a local eastside L.A. watering hole), Sugarplum Fairy, Sugarplum Fairy (echoing Lennon's famous count-off to A Day in the Life), Fromthing Somethat (a garbled spoonerism/lyric while doing a vocal), Brilliant Failures (the 2020 release that, along with Fromthing Somethat, was named Album of the Year by venerable indie rock magazine The Big Takeover), and the aforementioned LZ5.

For the new LP, the band recruited longtime friends and allies Ben Eshbach (the Emmy-Award-winning frontman of The Sugarplastic) and Lindsay Murray (Gretchens Wheel) to compose and arrange strings and sing heaps of lovely backing vocals, respectively.

And the result? A collection of songs that Fredrick, in his quite-but-not-quite self-deprecatory way, might call another set of brilliant failures. "Every song, every LP we do, is a failure of sorts--no matter how powerful or beautiful or pleasing-to-us it turns out," John concludes. "I have often said that my aim is to write songs as good as anything on The Beatles... and I will never achieve my goal. And thus I'll have to keep at it, keep trying. And chin-chin to that!"

And now your attention's been brought to a band (or you've heard of them or heard a track or two down the years) that has been pegged by The L.A. Weekly as "a national treasure" as well as "the most criminally-neglected indie pop group imaginable."

So here's to the prospect of that ostensible neglect becoming as much of a thing of the past as John Andrew Fredrick's year-long stint in bed.

Clear Vinyl

Since her re-discovery in 2013 via cult favourite The Space Lady’s Greatest Hits, The Space Lady’s mission of galactic peace and celestial harmony has grown into a world-wide underground phenomenon. Recorded in 1990, The Space Lady’s original repertoire is a parallel universe greatest hits: songs familiar are transmogrified into shimmering bliss while new compositions amplify the message. The Space Lady’s Other Hits, released on April 20th for Record Store Day 2024, constitutes the songs recorded by Susan “The Space Lady” Dietrich Schneider as part of that repertoire that never made the original Greatest Hits, save for a limited bonus CD on the first CD pressing. Remastered by Mikey Love for vinyl, The Space Lady’s Other Hits completes the picture.

The Space Lady began her odyssey on the streets of Boston in the late 70s, then San Francisco ten years later, playing versions of contemporary pop music with an accordion and dressed flamboyantly. Following the theft and destruction of her accordion , The Space Lady invested in a then-new Casio keyboard, complete with a phase shifter, delay pedal and headset mic, birthing an otherworldly new dimension to popular song that has captured the imaginations of the underground and its leading exponents ever since.

The Space Lady’s Other Hits were recorded as they were played on the street, live, one-take, with Schneider playing, singing and simultaneously manipulating the various effects. Beginning with Elvis Presley’s iconic All Shook Up, the walking bassline underpinning the vocal, phasing in and out of this dimension, providing a fragile, extraterrestrial shadow to Presley’s original lust-driven performance. Slapback Boomerang is an original composition, written by Schneider’s then-husband Joel Dunsany a Rock ’n’ Roll pounder that could have been performed by The Cramps, its tale of relationship turmoil changed into a meditation on the nature of echo and feedback. There are moments where Schneider performs vocal caesuras, swimming in delay and phase for the pleasure of it, a pantomime drama performance that rings out. Closing Side B, Puttin’ On The Ritz is Irving Berlin’s 20s smash hit manipulated into a sombre ballad with its latent class struggle narrative brought to the fore.

A staple of The Space Lady’s performances to this day, Golden Earring’s 70s global hit Radar Love retains something of the original’s driving gallop but in The Space Lady’s telling it is shorn of the tight-trousered, taut machismo. The Space Lady coos and reaches up into the heavens away from the road, the phaser waves drenching the composition with transcendence.
Schneider’s falsetto performances in the choruses do nothing but lift the spirits ever-arching upwards. Next, The Space Lady emasculated Jim Morrison’s performance in The Doors’ 20th Century Fox. Faithfully playing Ray Manzarek’s keyboard parts on her Casio, Schneider disintegrates Morrison’s lust into waves of echo and delay, creating a Dubbed out version of the song, sounding eroded and decayed in all its ghostly glory. Pioneering Rock ’n’ Roll outfit Pete & The Pirates’ 1960 hot Shakin’ All Over, something of a response to Elvis’ All Shook Up, is blown out in warm fuzz and the celestial hug of The Space Lady’s
spirit.

A milestone of the Black music movement, originally released on Vault in 1969. The debut album of Elaine Brown was arranged by piano player amd composer Horace Tapscott, conducting the Californian Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. A true political manifesto, the album is an accurate meeting between black poetry and spiritual jazz. After her debut Elaine went to release an eponymous second album on Motown. Elaine Brown is an African American activist and a former leader of the Black Panther Party - Minister of Information and Chairman.

Swansong wurde 2020 in Kuopio, Finnland, gegründet. Die Gründer der Band, die ehemalige Up Yours-Punk-Sängerin Jemiina und der Verjnuarmu-Gitarrist Topi Pitkänen, taten sich zusammen und begannen, gemeinsam Musik zu machen. Swansong bringt etwas Neues in die Metalszene und kombiniert Melodic Death, Heavy und Folk Metal, um nur einige zu nennen. Die kraftvollen Melodien mit knallharten Riffs lassen die 80er und 90er Jahre aufleben. Oldschool-Elemente erhalten durch weibliche Death-Growls und -Schreie einen neuen Twist.

Treten Sie ein in die Swansong-Welt - Geschichten mit Mitternachtskriegern, starken Jungfrauen und kaltem, frostigen Wind! Die Mitglieder der Band sind erfahrene Musiker von Bands wie Verjnuarmu, Tornado, Carnal Demise und Omniversum und die Songs sind seit dem Jahr 2020 in Arbeit.
Die finnischen Melodic-Death-Metal-Newcomer Swansong veröffentlichten am 25.02.2022 ihre erste EP Winter Maiden, produziert von Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns (Finntroll, ...And Oceans, Dispyt). Swansong hat es sich zum Ziel gesetzt, weiterhin eine eigene Welt voller großartiger Melodien, Geschichten und visueller Elemente zu erschaffen, die bei den Hörern auf der ganzen Welt bereits auf große Resonanz gestoßen ist.

Die britische Musikerin Lucy Rose hat 2019 ihr drittes Album "No Words Left" veröffentlicht. Es wurde von den Kritikern am stärksten gelobt und gipfelte in einer ausverkauften Show im Londoner Barbican Theater. Es war eine Platte, die in einer Art stiller Ehrfurcht wiederkäute, emotional aufgeladen und geschickt vorgetragen.
Lucy hatte geplant, in der Zeit nach dem Album einige wohlverdiente Zeit zu Hause zu verbringen, nachdem sie seit ihren späten Teenagerjahren unermüdlich auf Tournee war. Zum Ausgleich gründete sie ihr eigenes Plattenlabel, Real Kind Records, und brachte neue Platten von Künstlern heraus, die sie bewunderte und von denen sie glaubte, dass sie die gebührende Aufmerksamkeit verdienten.

Inspiriert von einer Amerikareise mit ihrem Freund und Rapper Logic, arbeitete sie später mit dem renommierten Produzenten Kwes zusammen, um die Platte fertigzustellen.
This Ain't The Way You Go Out ist ein Album, das aus der Asche der Verzweiflung erschaffen wurde, das die kleinsten grünen Triebe nährte und etwas zum Leben erweckte, das sonst verbraucht aussah. Es ist eine neue Ära für Lucy, und zwar eine Ära im reinsten, wahrsten Sinne des Wortes. Eine Künstlerin, die sich der Kraft der Musik wieder bewusst wird und dabei eine Menge Spaß hat.

Have you played Atari today ?

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration takes players on an interactive journey through 50 years of video games, including a specially curated list of more than 100 playable classics and six entirely new titles from the award-winning team at Digital Eclipse.

For this unique project, Atari teamed up with composer Bob Baffy, who worked on many classic video game soundtracks, to compose rearranged classic themes and new tracks.

Microids Records is proud to bring you this unique soundtrack that captures the heart and soul of ATARI and a whole generation of gamers!

Reissue of early Japanese house outing by Junichi Soma, Shuji Wada and Katsuya Sayo. Comes with insert with liner notes.

All musical movements require a spark to set them alight; in the case of Japanese house music, that spark was provided by the forward-thinking resident DJs of The Bank in Roppongi, Tokyo. In 1989, to celebrate the ground-breaking club’s first birthday, the venue released a 12” EP featuring first-time productions from three of its DJs, Junichi Soma, Shuji Wada and Strong Katsuya AKS Katsuya Sayo.

Widely considered to be one of the first ever EP of house music produced in Japan, 1st Unit was never officially released. Instead, 500 of the 1000 copies pressed were given away at The Bank’s first birthday party, with the rest initially being sold not in local record stores, but rather the venue’s own in-house shop. Three decades on, the 12” is finally set to get its first worldwide release via Rush Hour’s Store JPN Series.

The record has its roots in The Bank’s willingness to give its ever-changing roster of DJs a free hand to play what they liked – at the time a rarity in Tokyo nightclubs, whose musical offerings usually revolved around strictly defined playlists. At The Bank in 1989, it was not only common to hear European body music and the kind of post-disco New York productions associated with Larry Levan’s sets at the Paradise Garage, but also acid house – something not offered at the time by other clubs in the city.

This cutting-edge blend of sounds, combined with the venue’s unique decor (it was modeled on the inside of a London bank, complete with a cashier’s window to take entrance fees), made The Bank a go-to spot for young party-goers, celebrities and forward-thinking Japanese musicians (Ryuichi Sakamoto was reportedly a weekly visitor).

When it came to celebrating the club’s birthday by cutting a unique record, it made sense for The Bank’s owners to turn to three of their most exciting resident DJs, who were assisted by Heigo Tani and Jun Ebi. The collective name, 1st Unit, was chosen to reflect the fact that all three resident DJs were debutants with no previous studio experience.

As this reissue proves, the music remains timeless, magical, and authentic to the sound of American house productions of the period – albeit with occasional twists,. Katsuya Sano’s EP opener, ‘I Need Love’, sounds like a twist on Larry Heard productions of the period – all jacking TR-909 drums, undulating analogue bass, dreamy JUNO synthesizer chords and evocative vocal samples.

The influence of Chicago acid house is also evident on Junichi Souma’s ‘Ubnormal Life’, whose unusual title contains what he says was an intentional misspelling. Driven forwards by restless drum machine handclaps, sweet chords and rising and falling melodic motifs, the track is an energetic and uplifting treat.

Perhaps the most influential of the three tracks at the time – within Japan at least – was Shuji Wada’s similarly misspelled ‘Endless Load’. Deeper and more melodic with a more expansive arrangement, the track’s combination of marimba-style lead lines, tribal drum patterns, dreamy chords and jazz-funk influenced bass offered a loose blueprint for the more successful and better-known Japanese deep house tracks that followed.