quête:back to the beat

Indie exclusive red vinyl, ltd ed /100. First new studio album in 20 years, produced by J. Robbins & Liars Academy. Indie Exclusive opaque red vinyl. Limited edition of 100. After two decades on pause, Liars Academy return with Ghosts their most massive album to date. Unofficially a followup to 2004's Demons, Ghosts is an evolutionary step forward for the band and testimony to the timelessness of rock music. The swirling energy of 70's guitar rock and the anthemic swagger of 90's radio rock inform the 11 song trip packed with massive riffs, razor-sharp hooks, and scream-along chest beaters--a spectacular come-back album by a band at its peak. Steadfast Records is proud to present the brand new album from Liars Academy. Ghosts is a relentless cache of rock hits from the post-Demon's powerhouse quartet of Ryan Shelkett, Chris Camden, Fred Fritz, and Eric Fauver. Produced by J. Robbins and Liars Academy, mastered by Adam Boose, and vinyl masters cut by Bob Weston.

Indie exclusive red vinyl, ltd ed /100. First new studio album in 20 years, produced by J. Robbins & Liars Academy. Indie Exclusive opaque red vinyl. Limited edition of 100. After two decades on pause, Liars Academy return with Ghosts their most massive album to date. Unofficially a followup to 2004's Demons, Ghosts is an evolutionary step forward for the band and testimony to the timelessness of rock music. The swirling energy of 70's guitar rock and the anthemic swagger of 90's radio rock inform the 11 song trip packed with massive riffs, razor-sharp hooks, and scream-along chest beaters--a spectacular come-back album by a band at its peak. Steadfast Records is proud to present the brand new album from Liars Academy. Ghosts is a relentless cache of rock hits from the post-Demon's powerhouse quartet of Ryan Shelkett, Chris Camden, Fred Fritz, and Eric Fauver. Produced by J. Robbins and Liars Academy, mastered by Adam Boose, and vinyl masters cut by Bob Weston.

Hot on the heels of last year’s Mermaids reissue retrospective, Hull’s deep listening house forerunners return: this time revisiting a pair of originals as well as previously unreleased versions.

It’s testament to the depth of feeling that Steve Cobby and David McSherry can conjure, that these tracks sound as potent and impactful as they did when they first came out - and not just for the dance. Throughout their 30+ years, the Yorkshire duo have produced ten albums amid many more collaborations, and transformed the remix into an artform, putting their fingerprints on everyone from Busta Rhymes to The Orb to Radiohead.

This EP collection finds them at the full scope of their powers: from disembodied mood music, to tripped-out dubby beats and raw house sessions for the club. The title track Subtle Body sounds like it drifted in through the window in the middle of a snowy night. Its layered chimes, looped delay feedback and floaty chords (played on a Wurlitzer Electronic Piano that Steve bought from Bill Nelson), mark it out as an enduring piece of ambient music, and a favorite for film-makers, able to soundtrack both haunted memories and afterparty comedowns with finesse. It precedes an unreleased instrumental version of Nightfall from Fila Brazillia’s 2002 album Jump Leads (named Mixmag’s chill album of the year), and as an instrumental, the chunky electro bass and mix of ephemeral tones and bird-like chirrups are brought clearly into focus. The attention to detail is what makes Fila Brazillia’s sound palette so rich, and Nightfall a certified smokers’ anthem.

On the B side, the tempo and temperature rises, and we’re treated to The Light Of Jesus, a favorite from Fila Brazillia’s 1994 debut LP Old Codes: New Chaos. Atop a bumping house groove, the song weaves together smooth organ pads and electrified guitar licks with syrupy bass and gospel-tinged exaltations from Charles Bukowski. The EP rounds out with Room ‘96, a live house jam from Hull’s Room nightclub, and a veritable time capsule back to the halcyon ‘90s rave days, when the lights were still on, everyone was home, and anything seemed possible.

The songs here on Subtle Body might be a window into a time long past, but they remain in the present: and as long as bodies seek pleasure, and dancers want to keep going til sunrise, Fila Brazillia will endure, and soundtrack those moments for us all to get lost in.

Detroit’s Marcellus Pittman returns to Acid Test following his Unknown Species track featured on the “10 Years of Acid Test” compilation, he’s back with his debut EP for the label.

Juddering mechanical beats, layered percussion and gurgling 303 basslines are on the menu, from one of Detroit’s finest.

Housed in a full colour sleeve, with a photo by Marcellus himself

The Allergies hook up with The Pharcyde's Bootie Brown on their brand-new slab of throwback rap, 'Stanky Funk'. It's a match made in hip-hop heaven, with The Allergies channelling classic early 90's boom bap beat business. Beefed up lo-fi funk loops, neck-snap drums, cuts and rumbling bass lines provide the backbone for a legend to get busy over.

'Never Gonna Let Go' is on the B-side – a funky up-tempo breaks-heavy banger that sees The Allergies twin monster samba samples with roots reggae vocal rips, for full dance-floor destruction.

SP-1200 beats made using postal service. Fredfades and Sraw collaborate through post, exchanging dusty beats for an experimental Hip Hop record. The process of sending floppy discs back and forth, where each producer added element over element on their own SP-1200, has been on-going for almost 10 years, slowly building a collaborative body of work.
The result is Double Density, an LP that oozes with the character of that infamous instrument which laid much of the foundation for the earliest Hip Hop artists and still manages to evoke those raw and visceral sounds of that era. Reinforcing those sounds are the voices of Planet Asia, Pink Siifu and Blue November, who deliver lyrics from US coasts to Scandanavia’s fjords.
The duos collaborative effort swims in a sea of eclectic influences where Jazz, Soul and Hip-Hop thrive in the construct of this unique instrument. The drum machine pops, crackles and hisses on a bed of big bass lines through 12 tracks that go from short instrumentals to fully arranged songs.
Taking Hip-Hop back to its origins, everything is stripped bare to its essentials and for every vocal track, there’s its antithesis in the form of an instrumental break. It’s a record that plays with the archetypes of Hip Hop and Rap as something that we’ve lost over the years that begs for revocation. Double Density sounds exotic in the world of today’s gleaming beats.

Repress!

Silver Sleeve 2012 Version

This special edition 2LP package comes housed in an a silver jacket featuring DOOM’s infamous metal mask icon embossed on it.

Each record is pressed on black vinyl. An absolute must have for the DOOM completist. The long awaited reissue of DOOM's first solo gem, Operation: Doomsday. Remastered from the original Fondle 'Em 1999 issue. Side A is listed as "Side Zero". Side B is "Side One". And so forth. Underneath his mysterious metal mask, MF DOOM hides the cachet underground legends are made of. After KMD (his first group)’s 1994 sophomore album Bl_ck B_st_rds was shelved by Elektra in 1994 and his blood brother Subroc (one half of the sibling rap duo) passed away, surviving frontman Zev Love X mutated into the MC Avenger known as MF DOOM and the Rap world is better for it. This 19-cut deep album is ridiculously dope, in a bizarro Ol’ Dirty Bastard kind of way. Doom sounds either high or drunk on most of the tracks, his self-produced beats are gritty, and his rhyme styles are almost indecipherable. On arguably the best track, “Rhymes Like Dimes,” Doom weaves some pointed lyrics through his abstract wordplay, spitting ‘only in America could you find a way to earn a healthy buck / And still keep your attitude on self-destruct.’ Who You Think I Am? features DOOM‘s crew M.onster I.sland C.zars, while on “?” he trades hot verses with former Columbia artist Kurious Jorge. Doom’s avant-garde ghetto-rhyme philosophies take even more intentionally weird twists on “Tick, Tick...” where he and guest MC MF Grimm’s flows warble over a rhythm track whose tempo speeds up and slows down continually. The comic-book themed skits, will help take you deep into the mind of an MC who is as otherworldly as they come. And in today’s bland commercial Rap universe, Operation Doomsday’s left-of-center beats and rhymes are the perfect remedy.

If you were smart enough to get your grubby paws on the first Scrap Metal compilation, you probably have a pretty good idea of what you’re in for with our second installment. Featuring long-lost gems from ultra-rare 45s and private press singles—plus one previously unreleased banger—Scrap Metal 2 maintains a steady NWOBHM course. Packed with infectious outliers and supremely talented one-and-done metal warriors from the crucial British movement of the late ’70s and early ’80s (and some killer American obscurities inspired by them), this collection delivers all the fist-pumping, riff-mongering and flashy solos of heavy metal’s golden age. As always, every track has been officially licensed and every artist gets paid. As a late entry into the NWOBHM sweepstakes, JJ’s Powerhouse was formed in Merseyside, England, by guitarist Jon “J.J.” Cox with members of his previous band, Quad. Much like the opener to the original Scrap Metal comp, you can hear early Metallica coursing through this legendary ripper. Coincidentally, this ultra-rare 45 was released in ’83, the same year as Kill ’Em All. Taking their name from a 1978 sci-fi novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Welsh super troopers Storm Queen reveled in animal-print clothing and flying Vs. The Motörhead-meets-Priest anthem “Raising the Roof” is the flipside to their only single, which the band self-released in 1982. Led by guitarist Dave Morse, Storm Queen’s earliest lineup included bassist Bryn Merrick (RIP), who would go on to join The Damned. Roaring out of Birmingham, England, in 1975, Jameson Raid palled around with fellow Brummies Black Sabbath and named themselves after a failed 19th century attack that helped kick off South Africa’s Second Boer War. Their three-song 1979 debut featured the infectious “It’s a Crime,” which comes across like a deadly hard-glam version of Budgie. Still fronted by vocalist Terry Dark, they’re going strong as of 2022. A.R.C., a punky proto-metal group from the UK, released the boozy single “Home Made Wine” b/w “The Chase” in 1979 and—as far as we know—were never heard from again. They’re not to be confused with a gang of Tolkien enthusiasts also called A.R.C., who released two NWOBHM singles in the early ’80s and actually were heard from again. Nonetheless, the A.R.C. we have here was led by a thirsty lad named Klaus Brunnenkant, who liked to rock n’ roll all night and party every day. Both sides of Metropolis’ sole single bear the legend, “Unauthorized duplication shall result in getting your ass beat.” This San Jose metal squad released their only single in 1986 and dedicated it to Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, who had recently been killed in a bus accident. “The Raven” is the serpentine NWOBHM- and Edgar Allan Poe-influenced flipside to “Time Heals Everything,” and yeah, you can hear the guitars going out of tune on the solo, but that’s part of the charm. Of the two dozen or so metal bands that have called themselves Prowler over the years, we’re pretty sure this particular Prowler is the only one from San Diego. These dudes take a thrashier approach than most of the bands here on Scrap Metal 2: “Temporary Insanity” strikes a deft balance between early Anthrax and early Testament, with just enough hard rock swing to keep it from getting overly staccato. Self-released in ’86 as the band’s only single, the song is the flip to “I Love It.” Not much is known about Christian Steel beyond this: They put out their only single in 1983, which boasted “Need Your Love” as the flip to “I Don’t Want To.” The former, included here, sounds kinda like a dizzy, more metallic version of ’70s Jersey rockers Starz, who famously influenced the likes of Mötley Crüe, Poison and Twisted Sister. Ohio guitarist/vocalist Marty Soski’s career dates back to at least 1969 with the Inside Experience track “Be On My Way,” which we unearthed for our own Brown Acid: The Third Trip. This time, we’ve got a monster Soski cut that he recorded under the name Black Rose. Released in 1982, the absolutely smokin’ “Sidewinder” was the A-side on the band’s sole single. The main riff isn’t far off from Y&T’s major-label banger “Mean Streak,” which was released the following year. When Dark Age titled their 1987 album The Youngest Metal Band in the World, they weren’t even sort of kidding. Legend has it that “Star Trippin’,” which was released as a single a year earlier, was written by guitarist CJ Rininger when he was just 12 years old. His brother Dave, the vocalist, was two years younger. Old photos of the band—complete with pineapple haircuts—seem to bear this story out. Either way, the song is pure flash metal, conjuring Sunset Strip sleaze all the way from Ohio. By now, all you heads know Los Angeles magic men Sorcery from their storied appearance in—and soundtrack for—the death-defying Ozploitation flick Stunt Rock. What we have here in “Whales” is a previously unreleased track from the same 1978 recording sessions. It’s a little bit Zeppelin, a little bit prog, and a whole lotta thundering riffage. Why this languished in the vaults for so long is anyone’s guess. Better late than never!

If you were smart enough to get your grubby paws on the first Scrap Metal compilation, you probably have a pretty good idea of what you’re in for with our second installment. Featuring long-lost gems from ultra-rare 45s and private press singles—plus one previously unreleased banger—Scrap Metal 2 maintains a steady NWOBHM course. Packed with infectious outliers and supremely talented one-and-done metal warriors from the crucial British movement of the late ’70s and early ’80s (and some killer American obscurities inspired by them), this collection delivers all the fist-pumping, riff-mongering and flashy solos of heavy metal’s golden age. As always, every track has been officially licensed and every artist gets paid. As a late entry into the NWOBHM sweepstakes, JJ’s Powerhouse was formed in Merseyside, England, by guitarist Jon “J.J.” Cox with members of his previous band, Quad. Much like the opener to the original Scrap Metal comp, you can hear early Metallica coursing through this legendary ripper. Coincidentally, this ultra-rare 45 was released in ’83, the same year as Kill ’Em All. Taking their name from a 1978 sci-fi novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Welsh super troopers Storm Queen reveled in animal-print clothing and flying Vs. The Motörhead-meets-Priest anthem “Raising the Roof” is the flipside to their only single, which the band self-released in 1982. Led by guitarist Dave Morse, Storm Queen’s earliest lineup included bassist Bryn Merrick (RIP), who would go on to join The Damned. Roaring out of Birmingham, England, in 1975, Jameson Raid palled around with fellow Brummies Black Sabbath and named themselves after a failed 19th century attack that helped kick off South Africa’s Second Boer War. Their three-song 1979 debut featured the infectious “It’s a Crime,” which comes across like a deadly hard-glam version of Budgie. Still fronted by vocalist Terry Dark, they’re going strong as of 2022. A.R.C., a punky proto-metal group from the UK, released the boozy single “Home Made Wine” b/w “The Chase” in 1979 and—as far as we know—were never heard from again. They’re not to be confused with a gang of Tolkien enthusiasts also called A.R.C., who released two NWOBHM singles in the early ’80s and actually were heard from again. Nonetheless, the A.R.C. we have here was led by a thirsty lad named Klaus Brunnenkant, who liked to rock n’ roll all night and party every day. Both sides of Metropolis’ sole single bear the legend, “Unauthorized duplication shall result in getting your ass beat.” This San Jose metal squad released their only single in 1986 and dedicated it to Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, who had recently been killed in a bus accident. “The Raven” is the serpentine NWOBHM- and Edgar Allan Poe-influenced flipside to “Time Heals Everything,” and yeah, you can hear the guitars going out of tune on the solo, but that’s part of the charm. Of the two dozen or so metal bands that have called themselves Prowler over the years, we’re pretty sure this particular Prowler is the only one from San Diego. These dudes take a thrashier approach than most of the bands here on Scrap Metal 2: “Temporary Insanity” strikes a deft balance between early Anthrax and early Testament, with just enough hard rock swing to keep it from getting overly staccato. Self-released in ’86 as the band’s only single, the song is the flip to “I Love It.” Not much is known about Christian Steel beyond this: They put out their only single in 1983, which boasted “Need Your Love” as the flip to “I Don’t Want To.” The former, included here, sounds kinda like a dizzy, more metallic version of ’70s Jersey rockers Starz, who famously influenced the likes of Mötley Crüe, Poison and Twisted Sister. Ohio guitarist/vocalist Marty Soski’s career dates back to at least 1969 with the Inside Experience track “Be On My Way,” which we unearthed for our own Brown Acid: The Third Trip. This time, we’ve got a monster Soski cut that he recorded under the name Black Rose. Released in 1982, the absolutely smokin’ “Sidewinder” was the A-side on the band’s sole single. The main riff isn’t far off from Y&T’s major-label banger “Mean Streak,” which was released the following year. When Dark Age titled their 1987 album The Youngest Metal Band in the World, they weren’t even sort of kidding. Legend has it that “Star Trippin’,” which was released as a single a year earlier, was written by guitarist CJ Rininger when he was just 12 years old. His brother Dave, the vocalist, was two years younger. Old photos of the band—complete with pineapple haircuts—seem to bear this story out. Either way, the song is pure flash metal, conjuring Sunset Strip sleaze all the way from Ohio. By now, all you heads know Los Angeles magic men Sorcery from their storied appearance in—and soundtrack for—the death-defying Ozploitation flick Stunt Rock. What we have here in “Whales” is a previously unreleased track from the same 1978 recording sessions. It’s a little bit Zeppelin, a little bit prog, and a whole lotta thundering riffage. Why this languished in the vaults for so long is anyone’s guess. Better late than never!

Magna Pia, a.k.a seasoned producer, DJ, and composer Hüseyin Evirgen, announces his second full-length album, ‘QUT’, arriving on Inland’s Counterchange label in March on double vinyl.

After 2 steamrolling EPs of club tracks on the label - now entering its tenth year of action - Magna Pia presents his most complete and advanced body of work to date, weaving a dense narrative of drone, figurative synthesis, bass-heavy electronica, and abstract techno.

Over eight tracks each referencing his rich cultural and musical background, we are treated to a unique overview of a producer at the crest of his art. The word ‘Qut’ is an ancient positive affirmation, in one short word encompassing all that is scared, pure and good. The Old Turkic term meaning not only ‘good fortune’ and ‘joy’, but in shamanic circles, the ‘wonder of the heavens’, permeates the roots of Evirgen’s multi-heritage history.

That Evirgen expresses his interpretation of this central theme through the marriage of bewitching melodies with atonal, experimental and rumbling electronics is a conscious comment on the distortions and mutations of our Modern Era. We now exist in the digital age of the Technosphere for better or worse, and must seek beauty where-ever possible.

The opening ‘Prologue’ invites the listener into a futuristic yet organic sound world, where lush stereo processing goes hand in hand with rumbling bass and subtly detuned drone languages. From the echoes of traditional Uyghur folk music, translated via synthesizers into a glistening slow-diving opus (‘Qizil’), to churning dub-techno adorned with a symphony of evolving sine-waves (‘Venus M’), Evirgen then deploys ‘X’ - a haunting experimental piece composed predominantly with his voice and electronic processing.

The interweaving synth lines of ‘Gudanna’ pierce the fog with a radiant and transcendent club-techno bounce before the ode to the ancient Bronze Age goddess ‘Astarte’ unfolds its snare-driven broken-beat formations. The title track ‘Qut’ embodies by far the heaviest club track of the album, in a deadly, stripped-back moment of future-techno hypnotism. Dancing flames of purple-tongued synthesis are held (just) in line by a wonderfully tough throb of drums.

With his ‘Epilogue’, Magna Pia allows the spectral ideas and concepts laid out across the LP to connect and travel full circle, confirming our suspicions that this could be one of the most coherent and exciting works to emerge in the brave new field of introspective, and sensitive techno-electronic language.

The first thing that grabs you about Altin Gün"s new album is the energy. With Ask, the Amsterdam-based sextet turn away from the electronic, synth-drenched sound of their 2021 albums, Alem and Yol. While those two, created at home during the pandemic, paid homage to the electronic pop of the 80s and early 90s, Ask, marks an exuberant return to the 70s Anatolian folk-rock sound that characterised Altin Gün"s first two albums, On (2018) and Gece (2019). But there"s development here too. Ask is the closest the band have come so far to capturing the infectious energy of their live performances. "It"s definitely connecting more with a live sound - almost like a live album," says bassist Jasper Verhulst. "We, as a band, just going into a rehearsal space together and creating music together instead of demoing at home." "We didn"t record it like we did the last album," agrees vocalist Merve Dasdemir. "We basically produced that one at home because of the pandemic. Now we"ve gone back to recording live on tape." How many more worlds do Altin Gün visit in this joyful expedition? "Rakiya Su Katamam" is glowering space rock as though Gong had taken a stopover on the Bosphorus. "Canim Oy" is a psychedelic freak-beat stomper from a world where Istanbul"s Kadiköy district was the Carnaby Street of the east. "Güzelligin On Para Etmez" is a dreamy acid-folk anthem. And the finale, "Doktor Civanim," is an irresistible slice of sci-fi disco camp with lava-lamp synth squiggles that wouldn"t sound out of place next to Baris Manço"s "Ben Bilirim." Fresh yet timeless. Rooted in antiquity yet yearning for heavenly futures. Ask wants to take you places. All you have to do is strap yourself in

The Bluebeaters landmark debut album from 1999 receives a first-ever vinyl release. Featuring band's hits like Cher's "Believe" or Black's "Wonderful Life" all cooked in a strictly mid 60s Jamaican Blue Beat & Rock Steady style. Gatefold 2LP clear vinyl with printed inserts, limited to 500 copies, instant collector's item.

Record Kicks in collaboration with Universal Music Italy presents the release of The Bluebeaters seminal debut LP "The Album" for the first time ever on wax on a limited edition clear vinyl double LP on March 31. Way before the vinyl comeback of the 2010s, "The Album" was released in 1999 on CD and on two limited edition promo 12"s that are now very in-demand in the scene on V2 Records. "The Album" marked a generation of Soul, Rock Steady and Reggae fans in Italy selling over 40.000 physical copies and now 24 years after its original release, it gets published on full vinyl.

Fronted by "The King" Giuliano Palma on vocals backed with members of cult Italian bands of the 90s such as "Casino Royale", "Africa Unite" and "Fratelli di Soledad", The Bluebeaters' analog recordings finally find the vinyl format they deserve. On the album's track list you can find Jamaican music classics such as "World's Fair" from the Skatalites, Joe Higgs' "There's a Reward" or Bob Marley's "Coming In From The Cold" mixed with hits such as Cher's "Believe", Black's "Wonderful Life" or even 1978 "See You Tonite" by Gene Simmons from The Kiss that perfectly sound as if they were recorded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd at Studio1 in Kingston in 1966.

The Bluebeaters are not newcomers on Record Kicks, the Milan label released their "Everybody Knows" album in 2015. Top Italian musicians in love with vintage Jamaican ska and reggae and blessed by Ken Booth, during the last 25 years of their career they headlined festivals like Rototom Sunsplash and International Ska Fest in London. Among their fans, they count the likes of Gaz Mayall, David Rodigan and the legendary late lamented Lloyd Knibb (The Skatalites).

The reissue of The BB's "The Album" is part of Record Kicks' 2023 initiatives to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Side by side with similar imprints like Daptone, Big Crown, Colemine or Timmion Records, under its motto "The explosive sound from Today's scene", Milan-based record label and music publishing Record Kicks, has been pitching the contemporary funk & soul scene since 2003. With over 250 physical releases under the belt, the label has released bands from all over the globe and earned support of VIP fans such as rap superstars Jay-Z, Tyler The Creator and Dr. Dre, who sampled the label's catalogue.

Australian vocalist-guitarist Daevid Allen was a part of the highly experimental Canterbury scene, alongside the likes of drummers Robert Wyatt and Pip Pyle, before he relocated to Paris in the late ‘60s, formed Gong and made music that had a rare blend of on the fly creativity and off the wall humour. However, Banana Moon was a solo effort by Allen that saw him reunite with the aforementioned British kindred spirits as well as bassist Archie Legget and vocalist Maggie Bell, among others. The nine songs on the record run from interludes of just under a minute to epic suites that exceed ten, making it clear that Allen, as his work with Gong suggested, gave full vent to his imagination whether he was writing songs with a quasi-Beatles pop appeal or engaging in unrestrained sonic flights of fancy. With lyrical curveballs being thrown on every track, none more so than ‘Fred The Fish And The Chip On His Shoulder’, the music has a wry charm to match the performance skills of the band. This re-mastered version of Banana Moon brings Allen’s uncommon musical vision back in to view and serves as a reminder of the feverish and fearless energy that spurred on an artist whose work has lost none of its seductive shock value.

Hey Joyce (BlackCash & Theo Edit) by Lou Courtney b/w Soupy (BlackCash & Theo Edit) by Maggie Thrett | Galaxy Sound Co. — GSC45-36 If you know, you know. & I know many of you have been digging for the very rare donut “Hey Joyce” by Lou Courtney. Even if you first heard it back in the day via #CutChemist & #DJShadow, this gem has long been popular amongst #raregroove dancers & dusty-fingered hip-hop DJs/beat-makers. “Hey Joyce” is a rare 1967 single from soul man Lou Courtney. Featuring a rasping, impassioned lead vocal from Courtney, sweet female backing vocals & the kind of semi-stomping beat that's so beloved by Northern Soul heads. In 1991, Main Source sampled it on their track “He Got So Much Soul (He Don't Need No Music)”. & thanks to the fine folks at @galaxy_sound_company you can cop it all for yourself.

On the flip, we have another lost funk jam, “Soupy” by Maggie Thrett, that has been sampled by #PrincePaul & #DeLaSoul for 1989’s “Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge)”. Black Cash & Theo do the track right with a proper edit that'll put smiles on faces all across the dance floor. Like the A-side, “Soupy” is also a fave of Cut Chemist & DJ Shadow, as evidenced by their live sets & sample of it for their 2008 track “Fused Of Course”.
As with all GSC45s, another true must-have treat & 45-crate essential.

Sintering or frittage is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by heat or pressure without melting it to the point of liquefaction. The material produced by sintering is called sinter. The word sinter comes from the Middle High German sinter, a cognate of English cinder.

Born in the mid-60s, German musician and sound designer Uwe Zahn came on the scene of electronic music with his debut full-length album for DIN, titled “Atol Scrap.” In the very same year of 2000, the influential City Centre Offices label has signed Arovane for his majestic “Tides,” which has withstood the test of time for over two decades now. Back then, electronic music was split between the dance floors and the bedroom listening, with the latter carrying the now-famous acronym for Intelligent Dance Music. And Zahn’s compositions were indeed just that – more than a gimmicky, knob-twisting, stuttering randomization of experimental rhythms and tone, Arovane’s music evoked real emotion which has assembled his followers from around the globe. But his arrival on the scene was more than a predictable trajectory. Zahn’s sound began to take shape in the late 80s when the cut-up hip-hop beats were layered with synthesizer pads and looped samples. This experimentation progressed into what the 90s coined as breakbeat and glitch.

As the 2000s rolled over, and the monumental imprints, such as Skam and Warp, honed their staple repertoire defining the future of electronic music, City Centre Offices had a staple of their own. Often referenced alongside Boards of Canada and Autechre, Arovane’s sound quickly gained a discerning audience, tuning into his melancholic melodies, advanced textures, and complex polyrhythms. The pinnacle of his production was released in 2004, when suddenly, on “Lilies,” Zahn signed off with the final track, which he has titled “Good Bye Forever.” And then there was silence. For nearly nine years, the scene and yours truly mourned the loss of Arovane, assuming that he’s given up. That is until, in 2013, Zahn came out with a brand new album, “Ve Palor,” on the surviving post-IDM imprint, n5MD.

While on hiatus, Uwe spent his time researching, reconnecting, and reflecting on all he’s built. The sound experiments went on, and so did the music scene, morphing, dissolving, re-shaping itself into a new form for new followers. During that time, Zahn spent some time with sound design, creating patches for Access Virus TI, as well as sample packs for various sound developers. After “Ve Palor,” Zahn began collaborating with various musicians from around the world, exploring, directing, and fusing their distinguished sound with his own. On his subsequent releases, he shared credits with ambient artists Porya Hatami, Hior Chronik, Darren McClure, and even yours truly. During our collaboration, Zahn often described the process of building a new vocabulary for our very own defined language, with which my piano spoke through sound.

With nearly two dozen studio releases under his belt, numerous EPs and singles, and just as many appearances on various compilations, Zahn continues to split his time between his fascination with sound design, sonic programming, and musical composition, which sees the light via his ongoing projects, releases, and contributions towards audio plug-ins, software synths, and sound sets for advanced hardware. It’s effortless to slot Zahn’s sound between the genres, scenes, and names, but very difficult to peel apart, define, and then express the essence using words. However, what is simple and essential for the ones who understand, is recognizing, admiring, and subsequently falling in love with all that is encompassing of Arovane. (by Mike Lazarev)

Third times a charm, Plush III is presented to you by our fav Underground Popstar™ Regularfantasy, casting her web out to friends all over the globe in the name of lavish collaboration. First up, in cahoots with fellow Canadian icon Big Zen, the quintessential hit - Call U When I’m Done, a phone talk fantasy with a bonus beatdown remix from living legend Priori.

Plush royalty Chrysalis returns with regfant, a jam Down Under manifesting as a flirty kiss on the cheek to Aqua, Life in Plastic. The B side raises the roof back to Montreal with larger than life references and partnerships for tried and tested chart toppers Sweet Emotion & Sucks To Be You.. Kristian North, D. Tiffany, Steven Tyler, Prozzak and Oprah to name a few. A crowded house party at Le Chateâu; make sure you’re on the guestlist!

Heist welcomes Belgian house maestro UC Beatz to the label with a 5 track EP featuring Marina Trench and Tour-Maubourg.

UC Beatz is a man who likes to do things his own way. You can hear it in his distinctive sound, but it also goes back to when he started producing and putting out records. If he would have asked us for advice back then, we would have definitely tried to talk him out of starting a record label without a good distribution deal. The hours of work to get the records made, printed and stamped is one thing, but going from shop to shop to sell your work, just because you believe in it? That’s just mad.

Thankfully, Belgian producer, DJ -and yes, label owner- UC Beatz didn’t ask our opinion when he started Entrepot Records in 2014 and we’re glad for it. It’s been a total success story for him and an inspiration for independent artists all around. His releases quickly gained momentum, all sold out in weeks and with that, helped him establish his name as stylish deep house producer with his own sound.

Fast forward to 2023, and we find UC Beatz on labels such as Classic Music Company, Razor ‘n Tape and now we’ve his debut on Heist for you. There’s no need for him to go from shop to shop this time, because we’re sure people will jump on this record the minute it hits the shelves.

UC Beatz delivers a stunning 5 track EP with guest appearances from Marina Trench and Tour-Maubourg. The EP sees the artist go from euphoric sample house (Orchid’s Wish) to his classic pad-driven sound on tracks like Purple Corner Fig and Blu Thang. The EP would be good without the collabs, but UC Beatz found a perfect match in style with fellow Heist artist Marina Trench on ‘Make me feel’. His co-production with Tour-Maubourg sees the duo dive deep into a classic Chicago deephouse vibe and deliver the most ethereal track of the EP.

Yours Sincerely,
Maarten & Lars

Balearic believers rejoice! Japanese tropical-fusioneers Coastlines are back with the worldwide vinyl release of Coastlines 2. The follow-up to their classic debut, this is the sound of Coastlines's global influences. If the dedication to intricate sonic details is particularly Japanese, the overarching feel captures the sprawling grandeur of the international balearic community. As they put it, Coastlines 2 presents "a more precise and beautifully polished magic hour." If that isn't Balearic, we don't know what is.

Takumi Kaneko and Masanori Ikeda don’t radically alter their sumptuous template with this second LP; and we wouldn't want them to. Yet with a more focused flow from first track to last, both Coastlines and Be With feel this is an even stronger album than their first. One thing that hasn't changed is the use of instrumentals instead of words to express their themes; namely, "the emotional expression of being soaked."

Opener "Tenderly" is appropriately titled, a gentle Latin shuffle easing you back into the Coastlines sound. An organ-heavy synthy exotica that's in step with Lovelock's contemporaneous "Washington Park". Their über-horizontal take on Hawkshaw & Bennett's "Mile High Swinger" (from Synthesiser And Percussion, reissued by Be With!) evokes cocktails-by-the-pool as the sun slowly sets. The blunted deep jazz-funk swing of "Alicia" is a rearranged reimagining of the Gabor Szabo song from his classic Jazz Raga LP. This here sounds like an outtake from The Chronic.

As the sun goes down, "Combustione Lenta" soundtracks the relaxing slow burn of an idyllic bonfire on an isolated beach. Displaying a beautiful new side of Coastlines, we're treated to Moments In Love vibes and melancholic guitar arcs. The piano-laden early morning wonder of "Night Cruise" started life as a completely different song, but the duo found a particularly good loop from the initial sketch and reconstructed it into this sophisticated 80s instrumental soul groove. "Waves And Rays" is all undulating acid waves and lighthouse light. A chopped and screwed steel drum G-Funk with soaring synths and nods toward the squelchy machine soul of Mtume and Jam & Lewis. Yes, *that* good.

The bouncy futureboogie cosmic chug of "Sky Island" represents the beginning of the sunrise, casting images of 80s Japanese fusion and definitely one to play out early doors to get the crowd stepping. "Area Code 868" is the strutting staccato sound of Joe Sample waking up in the Caribbean to craft his piano funk drenched in sunshine. Accordingly, the tentative, naive melodies of "Sand Steps" represent that vivid feeling first thing in the morning, as you step on to the sandy beach in the sunshine and take a deep breath. The world is yours.

The emotional, organ-piano-steel drum-driven "Song For My Mother" is a slo-mo show of sincere gratitude to all the great mothers. "Yasmin's Theme" is Coastlines's Brazilian homage, recalling for them that early summer feeling. It's propelled laconically by the carnival beat of batucada`s big bass surdo drum and complimented by sweeps of warm keys and radiant vocal harmonies. Blissful beatless closer "Asafuji" conjures a scene from a wonderful morning spent with the people of Shizuoka, the symbolic mountain of Japan, Mt Fuji and its inhabitants. It sounds like Dâm-FunK jamming with Sabres Of Paradise.

Coastlines 2 was painstakingly crafted, across the pandemic, at Masanori's rented place in Tokyo and then brought back to his home studio and worked on slowly and repeatedly. With limited time to see each other, the duo became more united in their "consciousness with natural progress."

Mastered by Simon Francis and cut by Cicely Balston at Air Studios, this magnificent double LP has been pressed by the good people at Record Industry.

KUF create emotion-laden dialogues across layers of time and dimensions of sound. With three albums the Berlin trio pioneered an astonishing inversion of the typical electronic band set up, by
pairing a plethora of disembodied, sampled voices with acoustic real-time interaction on bass, drums and keys.
'Yield', their fourth album, presents a shift in focus. Less weight on the vocal core – lots of new integrations of sampling, synthesis and band action in different constellations. This diversification of
sources pulls the conceptual stops out and yields a dazzling array of magical instrumentalism. Bold.
Catchy. Flourishing.
From 'Gold' to 'Universe', KUF solidified an irresistible marriage of android vocal cords and highly energetic beats. Their third album 'Re:Re:Re' applied the concept to remix/cover version hybrids of
classics from Macro's stellar back catalog, tackling originals by the likes of rRoxymore, KiNK, Patrick Cowley, Santiago Salazar and Stefan Goldmann. With proof that the concept could be applied with
supremely gratifying results to such diverse contexts, time was ripe to go back to the drawing board and reimagine the perimeter.
Now 'Yield' breathes the freedom of playful reassembly of the main ingredients. A sampler's cut-up capabilities triggered by frisky fingers. Persistent bass. Adamant drums. Rough soul, intertwined by
improvised outbursts and shaped with the aesthetics of raw MPC-based chunky techno. Twelve slices of hyper-integrated realtime magic.

Raising the bar yet again, Night Owls' first single of 2023 lays yet another set of classic soul songs on you, flipped into the band's signature style. On Side A we find The Flamingo's beloved Doo-Wop/soul hit from 1959, "I Only Have Eyes For You," re-imagined to wind your waistline with Night Owls' longtime friend and collaborator - the one-and-only Chris Dowd from Los Angeles' legendary Fishbone on vocals. Known for tunes like "Pouring Rain" and "Everyday Sunshine" Dowd brings his signature soul drenched delivery with a hint of rude boy grit to match the rhythmic and tonal stylings of the group. Wanting to take things to the next level, producer Dan Ubick called in veteran underground Jamaican legend Tippa Lee (Stones Throw, Dub Club, Jammy's, Greensleeves, etc.) to sprinkle his magic rasta dust on top and deejay/toast on the track and the results are burning hot.

But wait, that's not all!! On Side B we find the beloved beat diggers classic "Live And Let Live," originally performed by Jimmy Jones in 1970 on Deke Records out of Chicago. For the Fender Rhodes-driven reggaefied version here, Night Owls roped in another longtime friend - Los Angeles kingpin and mover ’n' shaker, "Music Man" Miles Tackett to add his soulful vocals to the track and it's as buttery as cornbread from Cracker Barrel! Tackett is the mastermind behind globe-trotting funk/soul collective Breakestra (of which Night Owl Dan Ubick was a member) and legendary weekly L.A. dance parties like Funky Sole, Root Down and The Breaks. This side also includes Destani Wolf, who many will remember was featured on Night Owls’ version of “Let’s Stay Together”, providing the beautiful ‘verbed out backing vocals.

This one takes us back! We originally reissued Waltel Branco's 'Meu Balanço' in 1995, it was one of the first releases to come out on Mr Bongo. It is a much-requested title with original copies becoming ever more-scarce and the price tag increasingly rising, so it feels fitting to present this stunning record once again for all to enjoy.

Waltel Branco was born in Paranaguá, Brazil in 1929 and died in Rio de Janeiro in 2018. During his triumphant career he accumulated an impressive musical portfolio. A true maestro who from the 1950s onwards appeared on productions as a guitarist, writer, conductor, composer, and arranger. He worked with some of the greats of Brazilian music including Elis Regina, Dom Um Romao, Bossa Três, Marcos Valle and Tony Bizarro to name just a few.

'Meu Balanço' was originally released on CBS Records Brazil in 1975. It is Brazilian big band, orchestrated jazz-funk at its finest. Echoing the library and film productions created in Europe and the USA at the time, it also displays the hallmarks of Waltel’s heritage with distinct threads of Brazilian flavour running throughout. The musicians on the record include under-the-radar players that were the backbone of the Brazilian music industry in the 1970s including Luizão Maia on bass, Edmundo Maciel on trombone and Paulinho Braga on drums.

The album flirts between jazz-funk, cinematic library excursions, breaks and beats, easy-listening, and 70s cop show instrumentals. It is a breezy ride into Waltel's world, wonderfully nostalgic and of another time and place, yet snippets of the production echo the beats of contemporary hip-hop iconic artists such as Madlib, knxwledge and The Alchemist.

You reach a point in life where the question of how to stay at the top of your game looms; the only real solution being, you change the game. Our Love, the new album from Caribou, is the sound of Dan Snaith doing just that. Our Love is due October 6th on City Slang and is the sixth studio album from Caribou. The album features collaborations with Jessy Lanza and Owen Pallett. It was mixed by David Wrench and features artwork by Jason Evans/ Matthew Cooper.

Our Love is formed around a mixture of digital pop production, hip hop inspired beats, muted house basslines and a love of shuffling garage that can be traced all the way back to the time of Start Breaking My Heart which are, of course, all filtered through Dan's own unique perspective. The warm analogue sounds of classic soul should not be overlooked either, for they weave themselves most intensely into the records DNA. In fact, Our Love is probably Caribou's most soulful record to date, chock-full of heartfelt lyrics and organic nature which cuts through bubbling synths and blissful euphoria of their synthetic constructions. It's not all downbeat of course, whilst some thoughts linger on mortality, loss and letting go, there is always an element of celebration.

Having followed up his Polaris Prize winning 2007 record Andorra with the universally adored Swim in 2010 (selling nearly 175, 000 copies worldwide and being named 'Album of the Year' by Rough Trade, Mixmag and Resident Advisor whilst also hitting The Guardian, Pitchfork, Spin and Mojo's Top 20), Dan has spent the intervening four years not only touring the world, bringing not only the sounds of Caribou to the stage but proving his immeasurable worth as a DJ with epic 7.5 hour long sets. In 2012 Caribou were personally invited to join Radiohead on the road whilst Dan released his first album under the guise of his dance floor loving pseudonym, Daphni, to widespread critical acclaim. Following the shape shifting sounds of JIAOLONG and the brightly textured, fluid constructions of Swim - both inward looking records in their own way - Dan withdrew to the basement once more to work on Caribou's next opus. Only he didn't: Our Love isn't the sound of isolated creation but the sound of Dan at his most connected - with love for his listeners, his collaborators and those closest to him.

Limited first pressing on clear vinyl. Dick Stusso's third album is a document of slow mental unraveling with a world in perpetual decay as its backdrop. With S.P., California-based singer and songwriter Nic Russo has created his most out-there and toothsome record to date, plunging his listeners into a strange and thrilling new world at every opportunity. S.P. is the first Dick Stusso record in four years, following his stellar Hardly Art debut In Heaven from 2018-but this latest missive is more of an indirect sequel to the buzz-building 2015 release Nashville Dreams / Sings the Blues, diving deeper into the fictional character Dick Stusso's crumbling psyche and dystopian surroundings. If our introduction to Dick was someone trying to pursue their dreams and turning into a failure as a result, S.P. reflects the moment where, in Russo's words, "The character is becoming unlikable. He's succumbing to what is taking place around him."Nearly half of its 18 songs-spanning countrified rock duets, Guided by Voices-recalling anthems, and outro noise-burst sound experiments-were completed before the pandemic, when Russo decided to take a beat and allow the music to sprout new, weird buds in his rehearsal space. With mixer Andrew Oswald accentuating the record's unique feel, S.P. bridges the gap between the ultra lo-fi confines of his 2015 debut Nashville Dreams / Sings the Blues and the lush echoes of In Heaven, with a few helping hands to fully flesh out Russo's vision. Grace Cooper (The Sandwitches, Grace Sings Sludge) contributes vocals to "Dinner for Two" and "Self Reflection (Deep)," while his father Marc Russo-a Grammy-winning saxophonist who's currently touring with the Doobie Brothers-lays down expert horn arrangements on "Garbagedump #1." The myriad of twists and turns on S.P. further establish Russo as a fascinating craftsman who's never bound to do the same thing twice.

The Underground Culture Tourist is a new label from the artists of the same, aka Moss Shamshad. He has been making music since the eagerly 2000s on top labels like Classic Music Company but now takes the power into his own hands on this self-releases 12". It finds him back in the heart of the classy deep house underground with a debut vinyl release that will immediately turn heads. 'House Music Anthem' is stylish, stripped back yet atmospheric with its rolling drums and cosmic synth work while 'P To You' has a little playful funk to its beatdown drums and steamy chord work.

Xenochrony is a various, literally everything : artists, styles, spaces and times. It consists of four new tunes deftly produced between 1999 and today, and you’ll definitely find your cup of tee among.

The opening cut “ Juno ” says it all, a classy House beat rich of riffs and Fx from the good old 106. Following, “ Lost In Schiller, its percussions sit over a hammering bass line making it feel like the early Minimal. We then flip the side to enjoy “ UFO” , what a progressive Techno beauty ! The Ep is closed by the delicious “ Annaeric ”, an emotional standard D&B, containing all that Nostalgia and bringing back the past.

Oriental Beat by Hanoi Rocks gets the redux treatment, officially mixed and revived from the original sessions, and released on March 17th on deluxe vinyl, CD and digital formats. The CD and vinyl come with the song lyrics, checked and approved by Michael Monroe. Dubbed the “re(al) mix”, this 40th anniversary edition was mixed by Petri Majuri at E-Studios in Finland in collaboration with the band. Vocalist Michael Monroe calls this release “the longest and slowest album project ever,” stating that “40 years in the making, it's not just a remix, but the REAL MIX supervised and approved by Hanoi Rocks”. Recorded in London, UK in 1981, for 200 pounds a day, Oriental Beat was made during the height of the British punk + New Wave movement, when the band was hanging out with everyone from Phil Lynott to the Damned. Hanoi Rocks’ original drummer Gyp Casino says of Oriental Beat that: “Back in the days we gave heart, soul and a bit of pain to make this record something else” but the sound of the album, originally released in 1982, did not match their efforts at the time. Bassist Sami Yaffa called it “the worst sounding album of our career” and Michael Monroe said that “the producer of the album didn’t have a clue what the band was about and his mix of the album was horribly wrong”. Oriental Beat’s original engineer Peter Wooliscroft, was not a rock producer, and according to Hanoi Rocks’ manager Richard Bishop he “tried to mix the album to sound like Spandau Ballet”. Released before the band could remix or rerecord it, as the label had run out of money, and the master tapes had gone missing, the band has always considered the original mix of Oriental Beat to be a “disaster”. With the tapes mysteriously showing up in the Universal vault recently, the band was finally able to mix and resequence the album the way they wanted it to sound. Oriental Beat is a defining masterpiece made when Hanoi Rocks was about to explode onto the world scene and written at the absolute peak of lead guitarist Andy McCoy’s creativity as a songwriter. Rhythm guitarist Nasty Suicide says “only now, with stripping it down to the bare essentials and tweaking it to bring out what was really laid down it became our dream come true! THIS is what it's all about” as this definitive edition of Oriental Beat now fully displays the ultimate arrogance and attitude which defined the band.

Oriental Beat by Hanoi Rocks gets the redux treatment, officially mixed and revived from the original sessions, and released on March 17th on deluxe vinyl, CD and digital formats. The CD and vinyl come with the song lyrics, checked and approved by Michael Monroe. Dubbed the “re(al) mix”, this 40th anniversary edition was mixed by Petri Majuri at E-Studios in Finland in collaboration with the band. Vocalist Michael Monroe calls this release “the longest and slowest album project ever,” stating that “40 years in the making, it's not just a remix, but the REAL MIX supervised and approved by Hanoi Rocks”. Recorded in London, UK in 1981, for 200 pounds a day, Oriental Beat was made during the height of the British punk + New Wave movement, when the band was hanging out with everyone from Phil Lynott to the Damned. Hanoi Rocks’ original drummer Gyp Casino says of Oriental Beat that: “Back in the days we gave heart, soul and a bit of pain to make this record something else” but the sound of the album, originally released in 1982, did not match their efforts at the time. Bassist Sami Yaffa called it “the worst sounding album of our career” and Michael Monroe said that “the producer of the album didn’t have a clue what the band was about and his mix of the album was horribly wrong”. Oriental Beat’s original engineer Peter Wooliscroft, was not a rock producer, and according to Hanoi Rocks’ manager Richard Bishop he “tried to mix the album to sound like Spandau Ballet”. Released before the band could remix or rerecord it, as the label had run out of money, and the master tapes had gone missing, the band has always considered the original mix of Oriental Beat to be a “disaster”. With the tapes mysteriously showing up in the Universal vault recently, the band was finally able to mix and resequence the album the way they wanted it to sound. Oriental Beat is a defining masterpiece made when Hanoi Rocks was about to explode onto the world scene and written at the absolute peak of lead guitarist Andy McCoy’s creativity as a songwriter. Rhythm guitarist Nasty Suicide says “only now, with stripping it down to the bare essentials and tweaking it to bring out what was really laid down it became our dream come true! THIS is what it's all about” as this definitive edition of Oriental Beat now fully displays the ultimate arrogance and attitude which defined the band.

FÜR FANS VON: Steel Panther, Mötley Crüe, Poison, The New Roses, Kissin' Dynamite, H.E.A.T.
Am 17. März 2023 veröffentlichen die 80er-Hair-Metaller John Diva & The Rockets Of Love ihr drittes Album „The Big Easy“. Während die Band auf
ihrer zweiten Platte „American Amadeus“ noch die Grenzen des Glam Metal auslotete, kehren die fünf Musiker auf Album Nummer drei zu dem
zurück, was sie am besten können: gradlinigem, erfrischendem Rock mit markanten Riffs, harten Beats, vielschichtigen Texten und einem Frontmann
in Bestform. Keine Schnörkel, kein Bullshit, sondern Stadionhymnen für die ganz große Bühne. Wir haben darauf gewartet und endlich ist es so weit:
JOHN DIVA is back! „Remember 80-something — we never seemed to miss a thing“. Schon die ersten Zeilen des neuen John-Diva-Songs „Back In The
Days“ vermitteln, für welches Gefühl die Band steht. Spandex-Hosen, jugendlicher Leichtsinn, Partystimmung und volle Batterien im Walkman: John
Diva & The Rockets Of Love holen die sorglosen Momente der 80er in die Gegenwart und lassen sie klingen wie den neuen heißen Scheiß. Und
können wir nicht alle ein bisschen Sorglosigkeit gebrauchen? John Diva & The Rockets Of Love stehen für fette Partys, leidenschaftliche
Bühnenshows, aber auch für liberale Botschaften in ihren Lyrics. Bullshit? Fehlanzeige. So erteilen die fünf Musiker dem Genre-üblichen Sexismus in
ihren Texten eine klare Abfuhr, zum Beispiel in Songs wie „Boys Don’t Play With Dolls“. „Bei uns ist jeder willkommen und wird wertgeschätzt“, stellt
Frontmann John Diva klar. Gut so. Denn wir können wohl alle ein bisschen Sorglosigkeit gebrauchen.

A year and a half ago, THE MFA returned to the fore once more, when we released their "Oranges and Lemons EP".

Their new album, “Lights Out”, which could be described as a long time coming, is definitely THE MFA’s most ambitious work to date.

As they put it in their own words: “The album is very special to us. It’s a long ambition brought to fruition. It’s an album that is at home on the dancefloor or at home. We’ve always been influenced by 90s rave culture and the club scene of that era and the explosion of creative freedom through electronic music that happened back then.”

The album sums up what THE MFA stands for; their love of electronic music intertwined their love of songs and melody, sometimes banging, sometimes pensive, sometimes longing, occasionally up-beat and happy. Melodic techno-pop-rave then.

The album opener "My Desire" pins down the essence of the album, showing some pop sensibility and a healthy dose of that early 90s spirit with longing vocals by Rhys Evans. The track shows from many angles of the intensity of what club culture was about. The track has, for sure, that pop quality which sets it apart - it is a very complete and rounded and in the true sense, a hit.

"Identify This" kicks off with blissed-out sci-fi sounds but commences with 90s rave chords that gets under your skin and creates a fantastic kaleidoscopic picture of moody UK rave with these spurts of emotional uplifting moments which are worth every penny.

"Bear Likes To Rave" takes us back to the warehouse days and reminds us of the acid warehouse parties with fanned stroboscope beams and dry ice cannons. It’s like looking down on a rave party happening from above, from a bird's eye view, which is in full swing where the euphoria spills over into the audience. "Girl Ahead" is a vocal track exclusively on the digital version of the album, again with Rhys Evans on vocal duties. Here they ponder all the possibilities of the future and the mistakes of the past. Features space toms and grand piano rave chords to evoke a housy feel within.

With "Freedom24" a Hi-NRG melody meets nightcrawler sounds ala "Klang De Familie". This is a soundtrack for the night.

"Lammas Day" has the chilling exotic quality of 808 State "Pacific State" if you grant us this comparison, paired with some phantastic Dr Who sensibilities! This track is quite a voyage!

"Warehouse"... Make Some F-...ing Noise... A TV presenter speaks about Acid house...... This is a wild mash up of impressions which nicely go together due to the melodic string composition and the 303 sequences.

"The Snapping Branch" starts with a mash up of sounds and then dives into an episodic snapshot of "happiness" when the serotonin shoots in (just before it drops). Experiencing a perfect flow that does not want to end. Every clubber knows that feeling.

"You Make Me Smile" is the third vocal track on the album featuring Rhys Evans on vocals. It has fantastic radical stark mood changes and blatant shifts, therefore throws the listener from one corner to the other. Just like the contrast of day and night. Bits here and there might conjure a Radiohead spirit, but really this is all MFA.

"Lights Out” certainly puts across the feeling you get at the end of the night - the club has closed; you are walking home. These are the sounds and feelings in your memories as you chase the vibe that is dwindling as the club becomes ever further away.

ALEXANDER SKANCKE´s exciting debut ep for SLICES OF LIFE, including a collaboration track with FOEHN & JEROME.

Alexander Skancke is a Berlin-based DJ, producer and rising talent within Europe´s underground house scene. The young Norwegian has made a sizeable impact on the electronic music scene, dating from way back to his early releases on Neostrictly, to the internationally respected releases on his own label Quirk. Entrenched in his love for vinyl and analog productions, Skancke is imbued with a passion for the very roots of house music, but has also kept his ears open far beyond the boundaries of electronic music.

Skancke’s excitement for analogue is reflected in all aspects of his life: from his work at Bikini Waxx (a record shop in Berlin specializing in second-hand vinyl), to his fascination with vintage studio gear, all culminating in his music having a wonderfully raw and organic feeling.

The 3 tracks that make up his “Public Trouble” ep showcase Alexander Skancke´s knowledge of the history of dance music without copying the originals, but instead creating his own unique signature:

The A side - “This Go This Way” sends you on a crazy acid dream, driven by a hypnotic unstoppable beat with Alexander Skancke´s voice appearing out of the ether, before vanishing away.

For the B1 track “Wind Sync” Alex teamed up with his label mates and renowned DJ- and Producer-Duo Foehn & Jerome at their studio in Berlin. Together they've masterfully crafted a light footed minimal house track with a slightly melancholic touch.

The EP´s title track “Public Trouble” truly shows off Alexander Skancke´s love for deep minimal funk: An ultra groovy piece of music based around tight beats and warm basslines, topped off with a funky stripped back synth line.

Ground Groove, the third full-length release from the LA-based, Iranian-American producer and DJ, Maral, begins with an invocation: the sprawling, achingly heavy Feedback Jam opens the floodgates of history. Conventional (linear) spacetime collapses, crushed beneath the track’s lumbering 4/4 heartbeat and successive waves of distortion. As each wave recedes, samples trickle forward in the mix — seeking, perhaps, to fill the void. Voices and instruments rise and fall in uncanny reverse. Overlapping, implied melodies flicker into focus, then flit away. Feedback Jam is at once an initiation ritual, and a thesis statement for the record that follows.

Drawing upon a vast personal archive of Iranian folk, classical, and pop recordings (some sourced from mixtapes made by her parents in the eighties/nineties), Maral presents, on Ground Groove, a further refinement of the signature “folk club” sound she developed as a live DJ— a sound she would later codify on Mahur Club (2019) and Push (2020). By collecting, dissecting, and re/presenting sonic fragments from Iran, Maral practices a kind of dance-floor ethnomusicology. The subject of her inquiry: Iranian


culture and contexts, throughout history and in the present. But, crucially, this inquiry is instantiated within and throughout the body of the listener, whether this listener is dancing in the club, or riding the train, nodding along with headphones on.

Maral speaks of being in collaboration with her samples, treating each as a distinct bandmate, often consulting with an artist’s catalog (or even a single recording) as one would a trusted creative partner. In so-doing, Maral claims to seek to transcend the self. In this regard, her output neatly triangulates contemporary dance and heavy music with much of the traditional religious music that she samples. Broadly speaking, each of these idioms addresses a desire —shared by audience and performer alike—to transcend the self through volume, repetition, and movement.

Having, in her youth, studied the Setar under Nader Majd (the founder of Virginia’s Center for Persian Classical Music), Maral cycled through various genres (ex: punk, emo, dub) in her adolescence and early twenties, all the while expanding her knowledge of, and appreciation for, Iran’s diverse musical traditions during regular summer trips to Tehran. In college, Maral taught herself to make beats with a ripped copy of Ableton (which remains her DAW of choice), eventually transitioning to playing and hosting various club nights. Forever abiding by an autodidactic, DIY impulse to create art and foster community, Maral relocated to Los Angeles in 2013, where she quickly immersed herself in the city’s numerous overlapping music scenes.

Collaboration (beyond sampling) has proven an important component of her process, with notable spoken word contributions from the likes of Lee Scratch Perry and Penny Rimbaud, as well as a 2021 Panda Bear collab track (On Your Way), which the Animal Collective founder co-produced. Maral is equally attentive to the visual components of her records (album art, music videos, etc.), drawing upon the work of peers and friends for inspiration.

Indeed, the genesis of Ground Groove can be traced back to an audio-visual collaboration between Maral and the artist Brenna Murphy, originally commissioned for the 2021 Rewire Festival — a project that would eventually serve as the album’s foundation. Tracks eight through eleven on Ground Groove comprise Maral’s half of this installation, with tracks one through seven composed afterwards, inspired by the fruits of Maral and Murphy’s collaboration. Murphy’s visuals will be released alongside Ground Groove as a visual accompaniment. Additionally, Murphy designed the album’s art, directed the video for the lead single (the aforementioned Feedback Jam), and is featured on track six, Shy Night.

Composed largely on Ableton, Ground Groove features more frequent and more prominent live recordings from Maral (guitar, bass, and vocals) than either Push or Mahar Club. The cult favorite Roland MC-909 groovebox rears its head on Mari’s Groove. Mixed by Trayer Tryon (Hundred Waters) and mastered by Daddy Kev, the attention to sonic quality on Ground Groove constitutes another significant step in Maral’s development as a studio artist.

Ground Groove’s eleven tracks are “grooves” in the obvious sense, in that they are each driven by a persistent, propulsive rhythm, but the album’s title may just as well suggest the glacial passage of time—the scope of human history, in which individual voices, like streams, carve paths (impossibly) through earth and stone, winding their way to the vast sea of the present.

One of the most spoken of dnb formations is back with a double pack that's one of the most spoken of project since their collaboration with Mayhem and KRS-One. They're taking the word collaboration to the next level with this spectacular Collision EP. 4 tracks made by Noisia colliding with other heavyweight formations from across the globe! The opener is "Cannonball", it starts off as one giant drum roll and then turns into a dancefloor roller that just "stays classy" everywhere you play it! For the second track Noisia collabs with Black Sun Empire to bring real 100% Dutch flavor to the floor. "Infusion" is a track that takes its inspiration from the Negative camp but blended to perfection by these 2 grand masterminds of music.

Plate 2 brings a tune that sounds a lot like ram trilogy's titan classic but your ears deceive you in this one. Its none other then a collab by Noisia & The Upbeats with a track titled "Mudslide"! it's heavy, it's bad, it pounds, it flows, it's just one of those records that can't be beaten! The closer is another collab by Noisia & Phace called "Levitation", this roaring production shows what this scene is all about: heavy beats combined with sick reese basses and a neurotic funk that you just can't get your hands on!

Again Noisia delivers proper quality with this slamming EP. This is one Collision you just can't wait to feel!

Comes in standard full colour Vision Recordings repress sleeve.

2023 Repress

Soul:r returns from a break to release a brand new Marcus Intalex 12'. 'Sell Your Soul' hardsteps with menacing bass and 'You shouldn't have to sell your soul vocal drops. The weighty mix of rough beats, shuddering bass and gorgeous vocals slide sweetly over a swirling background. 'Guillotine' is a much more sinister track. Marcus creates a vibe that's full of bruising techno fear, whilst brilliantly funky. Robot stabs, with a dose of the abstract, this built for big sound systems and will suck you in.

For a quarter of an hour, Zürich was the navel of the world. Let's look back: at New York's CBGB's, pre-punks were shredding away, Malcolm McLaren, as a man with a fine-tuned taste for the hip, imported the sound to London, where his sweetheart Vivienne Westwood dressed the test-tube band The Sex Pistols. A few pop magazines later (we are in an analog world!) punk bands sprouted everywhere, like shiny pimples on poorly fed teenagers. Contrary to legend, even back then, it was often those with a musical background who were the most successful. One such example, Henrich "Wüste" Zwahlen, who had learned the violin, attended a jazz school and went into prog-rock before joining the Nasal Boys, one of the first punk bands in Zürich. The scene included the female band Kleenex (cover: Fischli of art heroes Fischli/Weiss), whose minimalism was praised by the London music press, while the world's most important rock theorist, Greil Marcus, wrote an ode highlighting Zürich's role as the birthplace of Dadaism. A fertile ground for the militant youth movement that exploded in 1980 and stirred up the city of banks, protestantism and boredom with raw wit and expressive violence. Gathering at concerts of local bands and fueled by endogenous and artificial substances - they paid homage to exuberance and self-indulgence.
The mantra of "everything-is-possible" was driven forward on the musical front by progress in terms of means of production: analog electronic instruments were no longer reserved for hippie nerds, who sat in front of large plug-in boards like autistic-psychedelic switchboard operators connecting cables for their sound carpets. Now snazzy stage personnel elicited fast-paced sounds from handy devices often made in Japan. Kraftwerk was fashionable, the Zurich duo Yello experimented with new synthetic sounds, and the groundbreaking album "Alles Ist Gut" by the Düsseldorf based duo D.A.F. (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) was released, which chanted its program of provocation times danceability with lines such as "Tanz den Jesus Christus, tanz the Mussolini, tanz the Adolf Hitler." In England meanwhile, electronically backed New Romantic bands were replacing New Wave. The Human League, Heaven 17, Duran Duran, OMD, Depeche Mode or Visage stormed the charts.
In Zürich's underground, the duo Aboriginal Voices caused a stir at that time. A couple, good-looking, styled, looking cool into the cold neon light, with a danceable beat and sequenced electro sounds, to which Micheline gave a very unique touch when she sang in French and English. Micheline had a classical piano education, had left home early, worked as a lighting technician in a strip joint and at Booster, the hottest boutique in town (one of the relicts that still exists). Voilà: a musician who was as stylish as she was tough. She was already playing with Wüste in the band "Doobie Doos", a band where everyone played an instrument they didn't master. In 1980 the Aboriginal Voices were formed, initially with vocalist Magda Vogel (of later UnknownmiX fame), who was trained as a classical singer.

Frustrated by organizational friction and constant hassles with band lineups, Wüste and Misch decided to do everything as a twosome: self-mixed, self-styled, self-produced. With the top-of-the-line Linn drum machine clocking the beat, Wüste's guitar and Micheline on the Yamaha synthesizer created a unique sound of danceable electronic music. Whereby the Aboriginal Voices acted as a kind of proto-influencer, receiving the latest equipment to try out, especially since they made it a point not to work with tapes, but to design everything for live shows. They had an interface built for the legendary Roland MC-4B, who sequenced the modular Roland System 100M but where one output controlled a light show synchronized with the sound. A pioneering act that fit well into the DIY spirit of punk, with its self-distributed tapes and fuck-you attitude towards the cretins of the music industry. Consequently only two cassettes and an EP were released. There was something futuristic about the sound, the vestiary style and the electronics, while the attitude remained rebellious. Of course something so deeped in the Zeitgeist wasn't meant to last. Wüste moved to New York, Micheline stayed in Zurich, both still active in the music scene to this day.

Sven Regener, head of the band Element of Crime and one of Germany's most successful pop writer said a few years ago when asked if he knew of any Swiss music: "Of course! In 1983, a Swiss band called Aboriginal Voices played with us at a festival in Zurich. Great, avant-garde electro-pop. That was my first encounter."

If you ever saw them live, you never forgot them, and so over the years you belonged to a teeny-tiny circle of insiders, happy to be joined after all these years by new aficionados who appreciate the sound of that quarter-hour, when Zurich was ravishing, creative and exciting.

- Thomas Haemmerli

After on the first futuristic EP, MAXIMILIAN this time taking it back to the 90's base with 2 classic Deep-House tracks on EVIDEON Studio Records 002. All tracks have been made in with analogue machines in an oldschool manner with beats in transcendent atmospheres. All the essentials delivering exquisitely balanced sounds that merge emotion and intensity.

A planned reissue for many years, the untimely passing of Steve Coe shortly after the label's rerelease of The Ganges Orchestra's The Dream put everything on hold. However, time moves and so now seems a fitting time to revisit this "world dance" classic with fonder hearts. Long cherished, it is a reminder of Steve's enduring studio mastery. After the initial success of his work with Sheila Chandra in Monsoon, Steve expanded his musical scope, working on an Indipop compilation as clubs looked to Eastern flavours to add a new dimension for the dancefloor. Teaming up with tabla disciple turned teacher, Jhalib (Millar), as well as long time collaborator Martin Smith, it's hard to imagine Mysteries was first heard in 1982. Hailed as an all time classic, it's enduring appeal can be seen in how it became a staple for the likes of Danielle Baldelli at the infamous Cosmic club and beyond to become an original Evissa "balearic" secret play for Weatherall & co in those fateful summers of love and beyond. Remastered especially for this release, the orchestral Eastern melody and mid-tempo chugging rhythms and vocals marry in perfection with a dub bassline of Wobble inspired depth. This alone would be enough, however, the original is at last backed with the 1988 remix. Aimed at the then burgening New Beat scene, a subtle straightening kick is added, but it's the unmistakable vocals of Sheila Chandra that finally brings this release together in melodic harmony. Peace be with you Steve. I AM x

The superb Make Up series hits release number three and in doing so heads back to the trio that started it all. The combination of Chicago house originator Chez Damier, Adeen label head Camille and Italian talent Nico Lahs is a dream team indeed and they serve up some crucial edits that cover a wide sonic range. There are standout cuts on the first 12" such as 'Dance to Freedom' and 'African Bump' while jazzy grooves define 'Sunny' and 'Changes' is all about getting that dance floor vibing. This is another in-the-know musical voyage from this crew that more that deserves a spot on your shelves.