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Based on original 1967 BYG sampler. Newly mastered to vinyl from original BYG tapes. Lacquers cut by Alchemy Mastering at AIR STUDIOS. Introduction by surviving BYG co-founder Jean-Luc Young. Track-by-track notes by author, journalist and BYG-authority Kevin Le Gendre. Cd: expanded cd edition in deluxe gatefold sleeve & printed inner wallet Based on original 1967 BYG sampler. Expanded with 5 additional tracks exclusive to CD. Digitally mastered from original BYG tapes by Nick Robbins. Introduction by surviving BYG co-founder Jean-Luc Young. 16-pages booklet with track-by-track notes by author, journalist and BYG-authority Kevin Le Gendre. *** BYG were a pioneering independant record company, one of the first labels to actively promote diversity and support black African-American musicians and multi-cultural artists worldwide during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Beginning in March 2022, BYG will reissue their now rare and collectable original albums. Newly remastered from the original BYG tapes, each album will be released on LP facsimile-edition & CD with exclusive sleeve notes by Kevin Le Gendre and John Masouri, in high-definition digital audio, downloads and streaming formats. “BYG were passionate in supporting diversity, against prejudice and narrow-mindedness so I am proud we fought for all our artists and their music, no matter what they were, who they were or where they were from ... This sampler is a testament to their creativity...” Jean-Luc Young, 2021

Born Bangalter in 1947, Daniel Vangarde is a French songwriter and producer. In 1967, he met Jean Kluger who became his publisher. In the 1970s, their tandem stood out in those fields, for a plethora of popular French artists such as Petula Clark, Claude François, Joe Dassin, Dalida, Régine, Sheila and Ringo. 1975 saw the birth of Vangarde’s label, Zagora, and his first and only solo LP. Later on, Vangarde and Kluger were responsible for a number of hit songs by The Gibson Brothers, Ottawan and La Compagnie Créole. With or without Kluger, Vangarde also wrote and produced songs that remained underground, under several monikers (Starbow, Who’s Who, Soul Iberica Band, Yamasuki, Rocky & Vandella…) and for various artists. Let’s open these incredible cosmic disco funk vaults! Available on Double Vinyl (featuring 2 exclusive tracks) & CD .

After releasing a successful collaboration album last year, Memphis, TN artist, Young Dolph returns with his highest charting album in his career, Rich Slave. The title is Dolph's commentary on how he is perceived – that no matter how much money he has – in the eyes of America, he will always be a slave. Rich Slave is the album that Young Dolph has shown growth in the sense that he has touched on current events, and social commentary with songs like, The Land that say, "they say this the land of the free, but it looks like the land of bullshit to me". With little features aside from Megan Thee Stallion, Key Glock, and G Herbo, Rich Slave showcases Young Dolph's charismatic skill, and ability to inspire those after him to pursue entrepreneurship.

Repressed! Illmatic, the 1994 studio debut of Nasir "Nas" Jones, was more than just a critical success for the Queensbridge-based rapper. At a time when East Coast hip-hop was increasingly being taken less seriously than their West Coast counterparts, Illmatic's raw jazz and soul-based production, dire atmosphere and lyrics, coupled with Nas' uncompromising flow was integral in restoring interest in the East Coast as a hotbed of hip-hop artistry. Along with key releases from Wu-Tang Clan and Notorious B.I.G.,it shifted attention away from the funky, dayglo synth-based G-funk coming out of California and back to the grimy streets of New York. After such an unprecedented debut record, expectations were understandably high for Nas' follow-up. What came next threw critics and fans for a loop, but was no less influential than Illmatic, and would become the most commercially successful album in the entirety of Nas' discography. The 1996 sophomore follow-up was titled It Was Written, and in contrast to the urban bleakness of his debut, had Nas dipping his toes into the world of mafioso rap. Amidst production from heavy hitters like Trackmasters, Dr. Dre, L.E.S., Havoc of Mobb Deep, and Illmatic-collaborator DJ Premier, among others, Nas weaves evocative narratives of gang warfare, downtrodden neighborhoods, drug deals gone awry, and gangsta triumph, against a backdrop of samples from Sam Cooke, Etta James, the Isley Brothers, and even Chuck Mangione. It Was Written was not hard up for top-tier guests either, featuring major guest turns from Lauryn Hill and Joel "JoJo" Hailey of K-Ci & JoJo. It also introduced the world to The Firm, the brief Nas-led supergroup featuring rappers AZ, Foxy Brown, and Cormega. It even managed to cause some minor controversy in the hip-hop community for its collaboration with West Coast producer Dr. Dre, at a time when the East Coast/West Coast rap feud was reaching a fever pitch, briefly attracting the ire of one Tupac Shakur. Not only was It Was Written received warmly by critics, but became a major commercial success, reaching the top of the Billboard 200 charts, reaching platinum sales status four times, and alongside albums like Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, helped usher in the era of mafioso rap in the mainstream. It rendered chart hits out of singles like the Eurhythmics-mimicking "Street Dreams", and the Grammy-nominated "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)", and proved to be a major influence on artists like Kendrick Lamar, Lupe Fiasco, and many more.

Debut single for NEW label set up by Savage Pencil (Art), Al From Hell (Printer) and Agitated Records.. primarily to release tasty limited 7” records by awesome new musics.. first release is by Pensylvanian guitar manglers Laurel Canyon, evoking strains of the Stooges via a distinct Pacific Northwest pop filter.. Fluid, Tad, Screaming Trees, Mudhoney etc..are easy points of reference.. but these songs have fire and melody in equal measure and burn their own path, recorded earlier this year with Steve Albini. Punk rock band Laurel Canyon – Nicholas Gillespie, Serg Cereja, and Dylan Loccarini – formed in 2019 when Nick and Serg met through a mutual friend in their hometown of Allentown, Pennsylvania. After connecting over a shared interest in both Arthur Rimbaud and The Stooges, the two began to rehearse together in Serg’s garage. By October 2020, Serg and Nick began composing original songs together as Laurel Canyon. Following their first release, “Two Times Emptiness” b/w “Enemy Lines,” in May 2021, Nick and Serg traded in their characteristic jangle for fuzz pedals and established a relationship with veteran producer Bryce Goggin (Pavement, The Lemonheads) at Trout Recording in Brooklyn. They released their 5-track EP “Victim” digitally on January 14, 2022, rounding out the line-up with bassist Dylan Loccarini. The artist Savage Pencil, who has created artwork for Big Black and Sonic Youth, drew the EP cover. Singles “Daddy’s Honey” and “Eczema” created a buzz online and were featured in Spotify playlists “All New Rock” and “Smells Like Stream Spirit.” Their debut LP, recorded by Bryce Goggin and Steve Albini, will be released in early 2023. More news on that real soon!

1976 planten ex-Yardbirds-Sänger Keith Relf und seine Schwester Jane, Jim McCarty, Louis Cennamo und John Hawken, die ursprüngliche Besetzung der Band Renaissance, eine Wiedervereinigung. Doch der damalige Sänger und Gitarrist Keith Relf verstarb, bevor das Projekt in dieser Form umgesetzt werden konnte. In der Folge übernahm Jim McCarty, die akustische Gitarre und einen Teil des Gesangs. Schlagzeuger der neuen Band wurde Eddie McNeill, dazu kam noch John Knightsbridge an der Gitarre. Da die Band Renaissance jedoch in komplett anderer Besetzung fortbestand, musste ein anderer Name gewählt werden. Die ursprünglichen Renaissance waren nun Illusion. Illusion veröffentlichten 1977 und 1978 zwei sehr schöne Alben auf Island Records. Sie werden nun erstmalig als LP wiederveröffentlicht.
Das Mastering von den original Tapes wurde im renommierten AIR Studio von Paul Samwell-Smith (für 'Illusion') bzw. Phil Kinrade überwacht. Beide Alben kommen mit teilweise Spotlack im Artwork sowie bedruckten Inner Sleeves!

1976 planten ex-Yardbirds-Sänger Keith Relf und seine Schwester Jane, Jim McCarty, Louis Cennamo und John Hawken, die ursprüngliche Besetzung der Band Renaissance, eine Wiedervereinigung. Doch der damalige Sänger und Gitarrist Keith Relf verstarb, bevor das Projekt in dieser Form umgesetzt werden konnte. In der Folge übernahm Jim McCarty, die akustische Gitarre und einen Teil des Gesangs. Schlagzeuger der neuen Band wurde Eddie McNeill, dazu kam noch John Knightsbridge an der Gitarre. Da die Band Renaissance jedoch in komplett anderer Besetzung fortbestand, musste ein anderer Name gewählt werden. Die ursprünglichen Renaissance waren nun Illusion. Illusion veröffentlichte 1977 und 1978 zwei sehr schöne Alben auf Island Records. Sie werden nun erstmalig als LP wiederveröffentlicht.
Das Mastering von den original Tapes wurde im renommierten AIR Studio von Paul Samwell-Smith (für 'Illusion') bzw. Phil Kinrade überwacht. Beide Alben kommen mit teilweise Spotlack im Artwork sowie bedruckten Inner Sleeves!

Jetzt auch als VINYL! 180 Gramm und fettes Artwork. Auf dem Planeten Dub haben Dubblestandart mit mittlerweile zehn Alben bereits einen eigenen Krater hinterlassen. Gegründet Ende der Achtziger unter dem Eindruck von Lee Perrys einzigartigen Black Ark-Produktionen und Adrian Sherwoods radikalen Mixmanövern auf On-U-Sound, hat die bewährte und begehrte Backing Band (Ari Up, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Dillinger, Lilian Allen, Top Cat), um Paul Zasky den jamaikanischen Produktionstechniken ihr eigenes, europäisches Gesicht gegeben: bassbasiert, New Wave-infomiert, mixtechnisch auf dem neusten Stand und versiert im Seiltanz zwischen digitalem Wumms und analoger Wärme, wortlos vermittelnd zwischen Patois und Schmäh. Mit dem elften Album krönen sie ihre Karriere mit einer Serie Aufsehen erregender Kollaborationen (u.a. Lee "Scratch" Perry, Ari Up und Regiemeister David Lynch!) und einer in dieser Saison in Sachen Dichte, Fülle, Tiefe und Schwere ihresgleichen sucht. Aufgenommen wurde in Kingston, der Bronx und im heimatlichen Studio in Wien.

If it's really a post-genre world, why does everything sound the same? The two halves of Tampa rap duo They Hate Change_Dre (he/him) and Vonne (they/them)_first came together in front of the apartment complex where they both lived as teens. Dre had just moved down from Rochester, NY; Vonne was trying to sell him bad weed. It was clear from the start that the two listen to music differently from most people_they're sonic omnivores, obsessive deep-divers, lovers of rare and radical sounds. Starting as kids trawling the internet for tracks, they've been collecting music from around the world and across the decades, amassing a shared sonic knowledge so deep that "encyclopedic" barely begins to cover it _ not just the East Coast hip-hop that Dre grew up on, or the hyperlocal bass-music variants like jook (the Gulf Coast's twerkably raunchy answer to house) and crank (think "Miami bass meets NOLA bounce"), but also drum `n' bass, Chicago footwork, post-punk, prog (they're, like, seriously into prog), grime, krautrock, emo, and basically any genre on the map. Once they graduated to DJs on the Tampa DIY scene _ which includes everything from punk rock house parties to the black "teen nights" that pop up in rec centers and ballrooms _ they figured out how to pull all these disparate sounds together into a cohesive style. More importantly, they figured out how to make it something people will actually move to. When they made the transition to rapping and making beats, they brought that pleasure-seeking approach to sonic experimentation with them. "With this album, Vonne says, "it's really like, okay, you know how you talk about the internet breaking down borders? Here's what that actually sounds like. It's not just a hip-hop record with a couple more weird sounds. You want homegrown DIY? This is a record that was written, produced, and recorded in a 150-squarefoot bedroom from the least cool city you could think of." Finally, New is what a truly post-genre musical landscape is supposed to be: building deep connections that transcend outdated distinctions between them, spilling over with the joy of exploration and possibility, and daring other artists to think broader, go deeper, take bigger risks. Let the rest of them keep playing by the old rules_They Hate Change will keep changing the game.

Wah Wah 45s are proud to present a new set of remixes, as well as originals released on vinyl for the very first time, from Afrobeat supergroupEparapo. Having come togetherduring the unprecedented events of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, and despite being a project born from the privations of lockdown, their music is ultimately an expression of hope, resilience & resurgence.

The word "eparapo" means "join forces" in Yoruba, the language of Afrobeat. It's also the title of a track by the late, greatTony Allen- drummer for Afrobeat legendFela Kutiand lifelong friend and mentor of our very own "Afrobeat Ambassador",Dele Sosimi. Not only did Tony help to invent Afrobeat, he always looked for ways to push the boundaries, never content with recreating what had gone before but constantly expanding and developing the genre. This project hopes to pay homage to his legacy, and that of Fela Kuti himself. Its aim is to innovate, fuse and diversify while still retaining the essence of the music.

The force behind Eparapo is bassist, composer & producerSuman Joshi.He has been a member of Dele Sosimi's Afrobeat Orchestra for nearly a decade and has performed on stage with the likes of Tony Allen, Seun Kuti, Ginger Baker & Laura Mvula. He is also bassist with UK jazz ensemble Collocutor and fusion project Cubafrobeat.

Featured vocalist on both original tracks, and remixes, is the aforementioned Dele Sosimi - keyboard player and musical director for Fela's Egypt 80 as well as Wah Wah 45s recording artist on both his solo material and the recent collaboration with house music producer, Medlar.

The rest of the group comprises of bandleader ofAfrik Bawantuand percussionist for Ibibio Sound Machine and Keleketla,Afla Sackey; highly rated UK jazz vocalistSahra Gure; saxophonist, composer, producer and bandleader of the renowned forward thinking jazz outfit Collocutor,Tamar Obsorn; keyboard player, producer and front man for Lokkhi Terra and Cubafrobeat,Kishon Khan; one of the UK's finest and most in demand trumpeters,Graeme Flowers, who has played with Quincy Jones, Gregory Porter and many more; trombonist for Bellowhead and mainstay of Dele's Afrobeat Orchestra,Justin Thurgur; and finally drummer for Steamdown and Sons of Kemet, as well as the man behind the Nache project,Eddie Wakili Hick.

From London To Lagoswas inspired by a talk given by writerRoberto Savianoat the Hay Book Festival in 2016, just before the Brexit referendum. In it he described the UK as the "most corrupt country in the world". This was a reminder of how the leaders of so-called developed countries, conveniently suffering from colonial amnesia, still point disparagingly at the rest of the world and talk of "endemic corruption" and "Banana Republics". All the while the ill-gotten gains of organised crime syndicates, corrupt multinationals and military juntas across the globe are funnelled through financial centres such as London. Same trouble, different methods, greater scale. Of course the best way to divert the population from all this is to find distractions such as populist leaders who declare their countries "world beating" and scapegoats such as refugees, immigrants and other members of the underclasses. It has always been thus but it doesn't always have to be so.

This track was once more recorded remotely during lockdown and features an all star lineup of world class musicians from the UK Afrobeat and jazz scenes. Members of the Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra, Keleketla, Sons of Kemet and beyond have come together to create this powerhouse of a band. They encapsulate the meaning of "eparapo" and "join forces'' to fight a common enemy in the shape of corrupt and divisive ideologies.

Its remix comes fromWheelUP- the moniker of West London broken beat revivalist Danny Wheeler, who here delivers something of a smoother straight up Afro flavoured house workout that's sure to be heard across dance floors and festivals this summer. The Tru Thoughts signed artist adds gliding synths and tight drums that ride the original's hypnotic melody perfectly and make for a future club classic.

Black Lives Matterwas obviously inspired by the movement of the same name and was the first track to be released by Eparapo in late 2020. Dele's voice tell the story slave ships leaving West Africa in the fifteenth century, the brutal conditions that were experienced on board, and the continued suffering of the African diaspora today. As always, half of the artist's income for this song will be donated to the NAACP - a civil rights organisation in the United States, created for the advancement of black people by means of following judicial policies.


The remix here comes from Birmingham based producer signed to Jalapeno Records,Sam Redmore. Sam's love for breaks and beats comes into play well here, subtly chopping up the original to create a bass worrying version that still sends that very important message of justice and equality - Black Lives Matter!

a 01: From London to Lagos (WheelUP Remix) feat. Dele Sosimi

[c] 03: Black Lives Matter (Sam Redmore Remix) [feat. Dele Sosimi]

Bad Colours is back with his sophomore album, "Always With U," out on Bastard Jazz Recordings in November, 2022. The London-born, Maryland-raised, Brooklyn-based DJ, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist - aka Ibe Soliman - continues to build on the well-deserved acclaim from his 2021 debut LP, "PINK," as well as a slew of standalone singles and collaborations with the likes of Shabazz Palaces, Jarv Dee, and Stas THEE Boss.

"Always With U" sees Ibe further develop his talents as a songwriter and producer, while maintaining the signature balance of banging dance music and dense bars that he's quickly becoming known for. The album expands Ibe's role to a collaborator, band leader, and all-around star-of-the-show; it's certainly still a dance record, but there's also so much more. Live instrumentation accompanies every track, with the notable contributions of Nigerian bassist Akin-Alade Ogo heard across the album, as well as the NY-based saxophonist Carras Paton on the jazzy, upbeat house number, "Heartache + U."

The lead single, "Maybe I Should Move to LA," sees the proudly Brooklyn-based Bad Colours contemplate a move out West – an idea that came about following a trip to LA for the 20 Years of Bastard Jazz anniversary party (which he DJed) in November last year. Bright pads, a thumping four-on-the-floor beat, and a catchy vocal line make it the perfect accompaniment to a top-down joy-ride up PCH. The album's second single, "You Don't Know," features frequent collaborator and PNW darling Jarv Dee, as well as KAS and JVDE who have both been making waves in the Brooklyn scene (KAS for his work with Grammy- nominated producer Harmony Samuels featured on BET, and JVDE as the lead-singer of alternative band Blind Benny). "You Don't Know" turns up the heat with Jarv and KAS trading dense, rapid-fire verses over a high-tempo beat and detuned vocal; the kick cuts out for the bridge, replaced by syncopated keyboard stabs and JVDE's stacked vocals. "You Don't Know" is high-energy hip house at its finest: Super catchy and irresistibly dancey.

The two singles are emblematic of the rest of the album, which largely alternates between vocal and hip house, sometimes jazzy, other times touching on R&B or dancefloor influenced pop. Dave Giles II and Cor.Ece (who recently both contributed to Beyoncé's chart-topping "Renaissance" LP and Honey Dijon's "Work" single) feature on "Flow," while Toribio (of the acclaimed Brooklyn band Conclaves) provides vocals for "Do Better;" both tracks are on the mellower side, reminiscent of late-90s New York mid-tempo garage. Rising artist N.O.V. features on the second track, "Ready," rapping over a bass-heavy beat; MarcusHarmon makes a return after appearing on "PINK," with smooth vocals on the romantic "Come Closer." Aforementioned JVDE can be heard throughout the album, contributing to "You Don't Know," "Flirtation Avenue," and "Easy Come, Easy Go."

While Ibe's career has spanned nearly two decades - as both a DJ (alongside the likes of James Murphy, Mark Ronson, and Q-Tip) and producer (for Kendrick Lamar, Faith Evans, Keyshia Cole, and Rick Ross, among others) - the Bad Colours name only came into being in early 2020, with the debut LP, "PINK," being released in February, 2021 on the Brooklyn tastemaker label Bastard Jazz. By tapping into his deep network of artist friends, Ibe compiled a treasure-trove of vocal samples, snippets, sketches, and fresh instrumental loops into a beautiful debut record that touches on hip-hop, house, and left-field electronic, while remaining danceable.

A slew of singles throughout 2020 and 2021 included "Feelin' Like," featuring the Seattle rapper Jarv Dee, has become an underground hit, popping up everywhere from Best Buy ads, Hulu's "Woke," celebrity Peloton instructor Emma Lovewell's playlist, and even as a soundtrack to the Mayor of Madrid's TikTok video. Most recently, "Feelin' Like" had a prominent placement in the #1 Netflix film "Spiderhead," directed by Joseph Kosinski ("Tron: Legacy;" "Top Gun: Maverick") and starring Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, and Jurnee Smollett. The breakout success of "Feelin' Like" further led to a collaborative EP with Jarv Dee, titled "BLAKHOUSE," which saw additional features from fellow PNW natives Shabazz Palaces ("Clouds," featured in Hulu's "Shoresy") and Stas THEE Boss ("Black Skin"). This year, Bad Colours dropped the early Summer banger "Hit The Breaks," and served as the musical director for the influential MADE New York festival, a two-day fashion, music, and arts event presented by Public School NYC and Paypal, that saw performances by Nas, Heron Preston, and Bearcat among others.

"Always With U" is a testament to Bad Colours' versatility as a producer and artist, which has allowed him to bring together such a diverse group of friends and collaborators. Yes, the house and hip-hop roots remain, but "Always With U" shows an evolution of the Bad Colours sound into masterfully crafted dancefloor sounds. It's a truly stunning follow-up from an artist undoubtedly on the rise. The album is out on all platforms, via Bastard Jazz Recordings, November 11th, 2022.

Heralding the release of Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz, the forthcoming album by Detroit-born-and-based artist, Waajeed, the 12” features further examinations of the track’s motifs by the vaunted Detroit collective, Underground Resistance, Zambian producer SHE Spells Doom, and a special reimagining by Waajeed himself featuring live drums.

Alongside the LP version the three remixes further explore the links between Techno and Jazz, styles both founded on African traditions that make commentary on the present but are always oriented to potential hereafter.

On the People Mover Remix, Waajeed enlists the talents of Zo!, Tall Black Guy, Michele Manzo, and more to explore one extreme of the track’s musical heritage. Syncopated drums, driven by a full and bright snare drum, firmly place this version in the sphere of contemporary Jazz emanating from Detroit and cities across the US.

Coming from an album inspired by revolutionary efforts against oppression in Detroit and in Black locales around the world it is entirely fitting that Underground Resistance should provide their take on Motor City Madness. UR’s Mike Banks follows the lead of the original’s melange of genres. By thickening the bassline, peppering the mix with extra brass from the Mad Brass Horn Section, and adding strings courtesy of Six Mile Strings, UR further explore the dynamic intersection of music, history, and geography.

SHE Spells Doom closes the remix package with his second release on Tresor after his contribution to 2021’s Tresor30 compilation. The Zambian artist trims Motor City Madness down to the bones of the brass section and infuses them with a gqom beat, simultaneously referring to Jazz and Techno’s deepest roots in Africa, as well as suggesting where they might be headed in the future.

PUBLISHED: 6TH OCTOBER 2022

Emanating from a ‘prehistoric’ existence near the end of the last millennium, Andy Votel and his slightly older college mates were once best recognised in Mancunian clubs and bars as teenage vinyl nerds and bum-fluffed battle rappers under the collective name Violators Of The English Language (which in acronymic form explains Andy’s own exotic pen-name).

As steadfast supporters of the 1980s / 90s Brit-core rap scene coming out of London, the multicultural Violators’ Mancunian accents were perhaps a bridge-too-far to secure dream job contracts for humble labels like Kold Sweat and Music Of Life. An unlikely constructive meeting with Gang Starr’s DJ Premier (while Andy helped out at a radio station), plus playing warm up DJ sets for countless US rap heroes might have temporarily added inspirational fuel to the fire, but after an active period combining graffiti, rapping, scratching, obsessive record digging and beat making into their daily operations, adulthood eventually began to rear its unwelcome head.

A decade later, Andy Votel and his digging skills would begin to provide direct sample material for the likes of Madlib, Mos Def, Jay Z, Nas, Dr Dre, Ghostface Killa and Action Bronson, amongst others, and the Violators’ black book of breakbeats and catalogue numbers soon began to feed a same-butdifferent rap beast.

For a project that has taken thirty years, it would be totally inadequate to call the formation of Hypocritical Beatdown Records a lockdown-project. There’s a deep history and psychology in these records by Violators Of The English Language and their spin-off groups Magnets (Rap Group) and ProVerbs, that combines stage-fright, loss, pride, creative-schizophrenia, racial inequality, surrealism, personal politics, brotherhood, artistic-constipation, better judgment, love, anti-love, soul searching and much more.

As well as Andy Votel taking care of both production and part of the microphone duties, some might recognise fellow MC and solo recording artist Figure Of Speech as a prominent voice here. The trio of Magnets (Rap Group) sees Andy also joined by local B-Girl legend Jeni Chan aka Penny Chew, and rapper and DJ Benjamin Hatton who has previously recorded with Kid Acne, The Mongrels and Sheffield’s Invisible Spies’ long-running squadron. Widely respected visual artist Rick Myers (now living in Massachusetts) also contributed scratches for many of these recordings via file sharing and custom dub-plates to keep the Violators’ authentic line-up intact, as well as galvanising the crew’s semi-reluctant art-school roots.

Extra production credits for the label also go to Sean Canty from Demdike Stare, and the late great Dan Dwayre aka Black Lodge (Mo Wax) who sadly passed away during the completion of these recordings. The members of Violators Of The English Language who you’ve not yet heard of will quickly make themselves known as the needle drops on this long-mooted debut vinyl release.

Special 10th Anniversary Edition In Brown Card Artboard Sleeve With Additional Lyric Print Insert

Slowdive singer and songwriter’s third solo album, which was originally released in November 2012. It is a stunning record and one which, upon its release, underlined the claims that Neil was one of the finest and most underrated British songwriters of recent times. It’s also a very special release in the Sonic Cathedral catalogue; the shoegaze label licensed the record from Jack Johnson’s Brushfire imprint for the UK and Europe and it was the start of a relationship that also gave us the Black Hearted Brother album in 2013 and, ultimately, brought about the reformation of Slowdive in 2014. But Palindrome Hunches is a very different beast. Both stately and understated, this moody and mesmerising collection of peculiarly British folk songs was made with the Band of Hope, a Wallingford, Oxfordshire based collective consisting of Ben Smith (violin), Drew Milloy (double bass), Paul Whitty (piano) and Tom Crook (guitar). Together with producer Nick Holton, banjo player Kevin Wells and backing singer Aimee Craddock, they recorded the album to tape over a few weekends in the music room of their local junior school. “At first we were going to record in a studio, but everything seemed too clean,” said Neil at the time. “We just went through the songs and recorded them live without very much rehearsal. We wanted to be spontaneous and simple and to keep the little mistakes that sneaked in.” This goes a long way to explaining the album’s humanity and intimacy, and also why it has had a quiet life of its own over the past decade, gradually growing in stature alongside Neil’s more high-profile activities with Slowdive; copies of the 2012 original and even the 2017 repress currently fetch up to triple figures on Discogs. The stunning opener ‘Digging Shelters’ was used to devastating effect in the posthumously released James Gandolfini movie Enough Said – a fitting home for a song that rubs shoulders here with ruminations about love and loss such as ‘Tied To You’ and ‘Spin The Bottle’ and, on ‘Wittgenstein’s Arm’, an Austrian pianist who had his right arm amputated in World War I and lost three of his brothers to suicide. The wordplay of the title track is almost light-hearted in comparison; “I wanted to write a song that was the same forwards and backwards, but it didn’t quite work out,” explained Neil, adding that he also chose ‘Palindrome Hunches’ for the album’s title because “I like the idea of things being reversible”. A couple years later, by reforming his old band, he proved that. And now, ten years on, it’s the perfect time to rewind to this understated, underrated classic. Side A 1 Digging Shelters 2 Bad Drugs and Minor Chords 3 Wittgenstein’s Arm 4 Spin The Bottle 5 Tied to You Side B 1 Love Is a Beast 2 Palindrome Hunches 3 Full Moon Rising 4 Sandy 5 Hey Daydreamer 6 Loose Change. Praise for Palindrome Hunches on its original release: ““Nope, it ain’t shoegaze as it's been codified and re-codified. But why be disappointed in someone following his muse to a logical conclusion when that path was always the one he walked on?” – Pitchfork An exquisite set of dark folk music” – The Times “Draws from the same understated, reflective well as John Martyn” – MOJO “‘Tied To You’ doesn’t merely evoke Nick Drake but withstands the comparison – evidence of the songs’ quality” – Financial Times “Halstead’s songs breathe the sort of honesty and goodness that’s harder and harder to find in the iTunes age” – The Independent “Given the chance, they could be songs that continue to enchant for many years to come” – The Line Of Best Fit

Wretch shows mysterious black metal band Anti-God Hand at the height
of its powers
Anti- God Hand are reportedly based in Vancouver and connected to brutal
electronica /// progressive Industrial /// ritualistic ecstatic ambient musician City,
though we can neither confirm nor deny such circumstances. We can tell you that
Wretch is positively cosmic and toys readily with established black metal tropes,
pushing so-called genre conventions in directions atmospheric, experimental and
electronic. Recorded in Vancouver, Andrew Weathers (claire rousay, Threshing
Spirit, Hayden Pedigo, More Eaze) mastered and Sebastian Ruslan provided
album art.
RIYL: Krallice, Deafheaven, Spectral Wound, Wolves In The Throne Room, Liturgy
File under: Metal, Black Metal

Wenn ,Black Stabat Mater" das Album ist, mit dem sich das HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO auf neues Terrain wagt, dann ist ,Evil In Oslo" die Zusammenfassung der früheren Jahre, obwohl es tatsächlich auch eine klare Verbindung zwischen beiden Alben gibt. Während die neun Performances hier von den ersten drei Studioalben stammen, sind die meisten längere Workouts, die HEDVIG als selbstbewusste und talentierte Gitarristin zeigen. Aufgenommen in den Osloer Clubs ,John Dee" und ,Buckley's" ist ,Evil In Oslo" ein kraftvolles Livealbum, das sich auf ein hohes Level an musikalischem Können stützt und eine perfekte Balance zwischen Freiheit und Disziplin eingeht. Diese qualitativ hochwertigen Aufnahmen fangen sowohl die pure Energie als auch die kleinsten Details auf ganz großartige Art und Weise ein. Mit Linernotes von Richard Williams. ENG Reissued! If "Black Stabat Master" can be seen as moving into new terrains, then "Evil In Oslo" can serve as a summing up of the previous years, although there is also a clear link between the albums. While the nine live performances presented here all come from their first three studio albums, most are lenghty workouts again showing Hedvig as a very confident and accomplished solo guitarist. Recorded at Oslo clubs John Dee and Buckley's, "Evil In Oslo" is simply a kick ass live album (never thought we'd ever use that expression, but there you go), with a very high level of musicianship and a perfect balance between freedom and discipline. The hi-res recordings capture both the energy level and all the details in a marvellous way! Liner notes by Richard Williams.

Wenn ,Black Stabat Mater" das Album ist, mit dem sich das HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO auf neues Terrain wagt, dann ist ,Evil In Oslo" die Zusammenfassung der früheren Jahre, obwohl es tatsächlich auch eine klare Verbindung zwischen beiden Alben gibt. Während die neun Performances hier von den ersten drei Studioalben stammen, sind die meisten längere Workouts, die HEDVIG als selbstbewusste und talentierte Gitarristin zeigen. Aufgenommen in den Osloer Clubs ,John Dee" und ,Buckley's" ist ,Evil In Oslo" ein kraftvolles Livealbum, das sich auf ein hohes Level an musikalischem Können stützt und eine perfekte Balance zwischen Freiheit und Disziplin eingeht. Diese qualitativ hochwertigen Aufnahmen fangen sowohl die pure Energie als auch die kleinsten Details auf ganz großartige Art und Weise ein. Mit Linernotes von Richard Williams. ENG Reissued! If "Black Stabat Master" can be seen as moving into new terrains, then "Evil In Oslo" can serve as a summing up of the previous years, although there is also a clear link between the albums. While the nine live performances presented here all come from their first three studio albums, most are lenghty workouts again showing Hedvig as a very confident and accomplished solo guitarist. Recorded at Oslo clubs John Dee and Buckley's, "Evil In Oslo" is simply a kick ass live album (never thought we'd ever use that expression, but there you go), with a very high level of musicianship and a perfect balance between freedom and discipline. The hi-res recordings capture both the energy level and all the details in a marvellous way! Liner notes by Richard Williams.

Mondo, in conjunction with WaterTower Music, is proud to present the premiere vinyl pressing of Hans Zimmer’s incredible score to WONDER WOMAN 1984.

Featuring incredible artwork by La Boca and housed in a tri-fold jacket with holo-foil elements, with liner notes by writer and director Patty Jenkins, the vinyl pressing is available on 3x 180 Gram Swirl colored vinyl.

Hans Zimmer’s score to WONDER WOMAN 1984 is quite possibly our favorite piece of superhero film scoring since John Williams’ SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978), and Danny Elfman’s BATMAN (1989). We know that sounds hyperbolic, but even before our test pressings arrived, it was one of our most listened to albums on Spotify of the last 6 months. It’s that good. We can’t wait for you to hear how good it sounds on vinyl, out of big speakers.

Composed by Hans Zimmer
Artwork by La Boca
Manufactured in the Czech Republic

"Who invented the Typical Girl?" The Slits gleefully proclaimed as they attacked sexual stereotypes way back in 1979. There are no typical girls. Just remarkable women making remarkable music, as this compilation highlights. 16 of the greatest current female fronted independent punk, darkwave and independent bands, from around the world, celebrated on vinyl.

Inspired by the pioneering women of the 1st wave punk era and beyond, Emotional Response continues to bring you the sixth volume of their acclaimed TYPICAL GIRLS series. Featuring the finest in current punk, indie, darkwave female fronted music for all corners of the globe.

"Who invented the Typical Girl?" The Slits gleefully proclaimed as they attacked sexual stereotypes way back in 1979. There are no typical girls. Just remarkable women making remarkable music, as this compilation highlights. 16 of the greatest current female fronted independent punk, darkwave and independent bands, from around the world, celebrated on vinyl.

Inspired by the pioneering women of the 1st wave punk era and beyond, Emotional Response continues to bring you the sixth volume of their acclaimed TYPICAL GIRLS series. Featuring the finest in current punk, indie, darkwave female fronted music for all corners of the globe.

RIGHTFUL RULER returns the legendary Jamaican vocalist Earl 16 to the center stage of international roots reggae music. This four song showcase style ep demonstrates that matching an A-class veteran singer/ songwriter with the sounds of the Zion I Kings (ZIK) production team serves to revitalize the musical forces long associated with the classic reggae tradition- roots, reality, and culture!

Earl 16's career now spans five decades and is marked by hits and highlights throughout. HIs Jamaican recordings from the cornerstone studios (Studio One, Black Ark, Channel One) are still sought after gems from the golden age. But, unlike many of his peers, Earl 16 successfully adopted the changing sounds and styles of reggae in the U.K.(where he resides) and collaborated with top producers like Mad Professor and Nick Mannaseh. He has remained current into the new millennium with "Release The Pressure", a notable vocal to LeftField's breakthrough drum & bass hit.

The all star lineup of musicians on RIGHTFUL RULER is anchored by drums provided by ace producer and multi-instrumentalist Roberto Sanchez (A-Lone Productions). Keyboards by Pau "Nattykeyz" Dangla Valls and trumpet by Patrick "Aba Ariginal" Tenyue complement the rhythmic foundations set by ZIK core players David "JAH David" Goldfine (bass) and Laurent "Tippy I" Alfred (rhythm guitar, piano, organ). Sheldon Bernard's flute and Errol "Blacksteel" Nicholson's background vocals are heard on the title track and lead guitars by David Prout and Andrew "Moon" Bain appear on "Find A Way", a feature with the dynamic toasting of Mr. Williamz. All dub mixes are done by JAH David with cover art by Ato K.D. Roberts .

GREY & BLACK SWIRL VINYL
Public Memory is a blend of damaged and dubbed out percussion, unfurling synths and sparse sampling all strung together by producer Robert Toher's spectral tenor. The project's sophomore LP, Demolition follows 2017's Veil of Counsel EP and 2016's Wuthering Drum LP with cinematic fortitude.While Public Memory's prominent krautrock and triphop rhythms are represented here, Demolition explores a greater range of tempos and an expanse of alien emotions with layers of electronic drums, live drums, Korg synths and samples from nature. Themes of rebirth and reflection imbue the album's atmosphere, rich in tape delay, spring reverb, and textures that conjure a sci fi and supernatural narrative.Toher's adept use of space and tension articulates the world of Demolition as eerie, emotive, and above all, narcotic.Each track is an existential procession. "Turning out the lights on your illusion," Toher sings to close the album, accepting that change is an inescapable condition of being.

Authentic original release track listing and artwork, issued for the first time on special transparent amber coloured vinyl.

New pressing of the old RSD LP , now on black vinyl. An essential vinyl release of the Throwing Muses’ mainstay’s 2016’s CD and essay book that featured stories from “her life's most perception-altering junctures” (NPR). “As memoirs, her albums are so intensely personal... as art, they’re arguments for the value of unapologetic individuality” Pitchfork. “This music reminds you how alone you are; it consoles you through its insolubility, comforts you by jabbing you in the chest and letting you know how complex the struggle is, how inaccessible we are to each other but just how universal our pain can be.” The Wire. This sonically rich and fragmented record references to Hersh’s past material and sees her perform on guitar, bass, drums, piano, horns and cello. There’s a mysticism and sense of life wonderment throughout ‘Wyatt At The Coyote Palace’ that also has death as a central theme rather than the contemplation of death itself it’s reaching the end of something and beginning a new life. Tracklist: Side A. 1 Bright 2 Bubble Net 3 In Stitches 4 Secret Codes 5 Green Screen 6 Hemmingway's Tell. Side B. 7 Detox 8 Wonderland 9 Day 3 10 Diving Bell 11 Killing Two Birds 12 Guadalupe. Side C. 13 American Copper 14 August 15 Some Dumb Runaway 16 From the Plane 17 Sun Blown 18 Elysian Fields. Side D. 19 Soma Gone Slapstick 20 Cooties 21 Christmas Underground 22 Between Piety and Desire 23 Shaky Blue Can 24 Shotgun

Nikki Lane's remarkably dazzling third album Highway Queen, sees the
young Nashville rebel emerge as one of country and rock's most gifted
songwriters.Produced by Lane and fellow singer-songwriter Jonathan
Tyler, and recorded in Denton, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee, Highway
Queen is an emotional tour-de-force
Blending potent lyrics, unbridled blues guitars and vintage Sixties country- pop
swagger, Lane's new music will resonate as easily with Black Keys and Lana Del
Rey fans as those of Neil Young and Tom Petty. Highway Queen starts with the
whiskey-soaked restlessness of € 700,000 Rednecks, a rowdy call to action, and
ends on the profoundly raw Forever Lasts Forever, where Lane belts freely,
mourning a failed marriage, the lighter shade of skin left behind from her wedding
ring. Lane's journey to heartbreak takes exquisite turns. Companion is pure Everly
Brothers' dreaminess ( I would spend a lifetime/ Playing catch you if I can ).
Elsewhere, she goes on a Vegas bender on the rollicking Jackpot, fights last-call
blues ( € Foolish Heart ) and tosses off brazen one- liners at a backroom piano
( Big Mouth ). Lane, a Greenville, South Carolina native, is a unique songwriter
who didn't take the traditional country artist path. Her backwoods roots are
undercut by her chosen career as a fashion entrepreneur (she's the owner of
vintage clothing boutique High Class Hillbilly) who has lived " and been
heartbroken in " Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. So it's no surprise that her
music seamlessly crosses musical genres with lyrics steeped in the doomed
perseverance only a true dark horse romantic knows. Lane's rapid rise in music is
thanks to the fervent critical acclaim of her debut record Walk of Shame and
2014's Dan Auerbach-produced All Or Nothin'. Pressed on Blue Jean Color vinyl.

'Night Of The Endless Beyond', the sophomore album by Lord Of The Isles AKA Neil McDonald for the ESP Institute, had almost become a mythical piece of work. The tracks very slowly crept into formation from the lowest depths of 2021, and once the completed album finally made the leap from creation into manufacturing, an entirely new onslaught of follies and delays awaited at the pressing plant. We began to laugh, for not only did Mario Hugo’s otherworldly sleeve artwork visually translate this music so well, but it was an uncanny premonition to the album being lost in space, falling through a black hole, evaporating into the aether like a dream that never really happened. But, at long last, ground control has confirmed contact! It did happen, it will arrive, and it’s not a myth.
Listening to 'Night Of The Endless Beyond' now feels like the return of a strayed friend, one whose distance left us pining for an embrace. Although this Techno relies on unassuming means, there is a remarkably complex and persuasive emotional statement embedded here, insisting we learn to endure the long game and allow ourselves patience to investigate and appreciate the minutiae contained not only within the notes, but their negative space. From its introduction, through its mellow crests and valleys, there is a conveyance of restraint — subtle dynamics that quietly beg for attention, repetition so hypnotic that imaginary melodies are inescapable, transient peaks so deliberately scaled that we mourn the subsequent decay. In accordance with Neil’s ESP debut, 'In Waves', we never feel attacked by instrumentation but shielded from sharp edges, able to step inside the music, breathe the air it occupies and know its true intentions, whether bright or bleak.
Just prior to the album close, a film dialogue excerpt summarizes everything quite honestly by proposing, “The truth of the universe is waiting … the truth of what is … it’s all going to go away … everything … into blackness … the void … and nobody is in charge.”
“…and what do you do with that?”
We stare long into the 'Night Of The Endless Beyond' and answer… “You smile.”

With I was born by the sea, Richie Culver brings to a close a period of intense introspection and emotional reckoning with a debut album that serves as both an optimistic statement of intent and a final glance back at the painful places it explores. Following recent work with Blackhaine and Pavel Milyakov, I was born by the sea picks up where Culver’s EP for Italian label Superpang, Post Traumatic Fantasy, leaves off, painting an unabashed portrait of contemporary malaise, detailing a life lived behind closed doors, pinned under the crushing weight of austerity, sapped of the strength to do anything other than gaze out to sea and all the grey possibilities it represents. Where Post Traumatic Fantasy saw Culver returning to his hometown of Hull after a period spent entangled in London’s relentless sprawl, his first full length project reaches further back to his formative years working in a caravan factory and going to raves in and among Hull’s outskirts. Unspooling like a fever dream, I was born by the sea is the anxious clutter of a racing mind spoken clearly, a stark reflection on how it feels to have too many ideas and too much time to act on them.

Though unquestionably a snapshot of a time of significant difficulty, Culver reflects on this period with tender empathy and pitch-black humour, stitching together unflinching observations from England’s neglected corners, ‘there’s more mobility scooter repair shops and bookies than there are bookshops,’ and devastating vignettes of everyday struggle, ‘tears on the tin foil’, with surreal depictions of industrial grit, ‘skimming stones in a small pond by the slaughterhouse’. His DIY approach to production stretches the rough sinew that connects these fragments of memory, a process he describes as using a paired back collection of synths and drum machines to the best of his ability, ‘but to the least of their capabilities,’ wringing out visceral sound with self-taught urgency. During the album’s most impressionistic passages it’s as though Culver has transposed past internal turmoil into powerfully resonant noise, the Sisyphean sonics of ‘Create A Lifestyle Around Your Problems’, which evokes in its concrète clatter and MRI machine barrage the sound of making the same mistake again and again, or the stuttered jumble of ‘Its Hard To Get To Know You,’ its garbled vocal modulation and frayed edges of distortion channeling the paranoia of somebody listening to muffled voices through thin plaster, climbing the walls of their bedroom with the curtains closed, a nervous breakdown in stereo.

In counterpoint to this glides the ever-present spirit of the dance floor, which haunts the record from the moment it is invoked in its first few seconds. Opening onto a sea wall of bright synthesis, the stuttering vocals and bass tone chops of ‘Nervous Energy’ dump us directly into post rave ecstasy, the echoing cry of a voice amplified by loudspeaker carrying the loose energy and surge of crowds moving in darkness. The incessant, dead phone line beep of ‘Pigeon Flesh’ builds to a pulse that suddenly swells into an anxious technoid surge, shapeshifting at lysergic speed into head shrinking audio hallucinations, a descent into the void of the present via machine music hypnosis. Even ‘Its Hard To Get To Know You’ summons the ego death drive of hardcore techno within its scorched textures, flickering indiscernibly between attritional noise and frazzled hardware stomp. Paying homage to both the parties of his youth and a countless succession of Sundays spent offering himself up within Berghain’s hallowed architecture, Culver’s experiments in addressing his formative relationship with rave provide an energetic glimpse at where he might take his sound next.

Between spikes of propulsive energy and grim mood pieces Culver returns to suspended passages of aching, glacial drift, the cold swell of the North Sea, accompanied by some of his heaviest testimonials. The gauzy ebb of ‘Daytime TV,’ its tumbling loops reminiscent of boats bobbing off a distant shore, sees the artist at his most checked out, slumped in front of his television, seven days a week. ‘I used to dream of doing something,’ he admits, ‘anything to get out of this town.’ ‘Love Like An Abscess’ pairs swirling currents of ambient shimmer with violent images of baseball bats lying next to beds and blood-stained mattresses, next to which Culver pleads in a desperate mumble, ‘let our love grow, like a broken abscess.’ Yet it’s with the album’s final word and title track that Culver reveals a glimmer of cautious optimism, a parting gesture of exposition and closure. ‘I knew I had to get away,’ he asserts, ‘so I did and I never looked back.’ What follows builds from a low throb, the flutter of a tiny heartbeat, to a resonant glow, embellished with unfurling synthetic burbles, oil rigs sparkling in the distance, golden light spilling across the sea. In reckoning with the place he had to escape, Richie Culver is now free to look towards the promise of something new, something hopeful.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce Uri Katzenstein’s Audio Works, produced in collaboration with Holon’s Centre for Digital Art. Spanning sculptural installation, performance, video art, and many other media, Katzenstein’s absurdist, poetic, and often hilarious work made extensive use of sound and music. This, however, is the first release dedicated to the artist’s audio work, collecting 28 tracks produced between the early 1980s and 2017. Compiled from dozens of hours of recordings left uncatalogued (and in some instances unheard) at the artist’s death in 2018, these four sides are a treasure trove, offering a captivating glimpse into a uniquely uninhibited creative practice. Predominantly recorded alone, with some contributions from regular collaborators such as Ohad Fishof on the later pieces, many of these tracks stem from Katzenstein’s time living in New York in the 1980s. Feeding on the cross-pollination of post-punk energy, radical art practice, and new media possibilities that characterised the New York scene at this time, many of Katzenstein’s recordings squeeze multilayered vocal experimentation into synth-based miniatures with a distinctively pop twist, their forms ruptured with anarchic bursts of free-form electronics, sounds from self-built instruments, and field-recorded snatches of the outside world. Katzenstein’s electronic production calls up touchstones of skewed 80s art pop like Laurie Anderson, Ambitious Lovers, and Scritti Politti, but imbued with DIY directness and economy of means. The arrangements of synths, percussion, and noise elements are invigoratingly raw and, at times, almost austerely minimal. On ‘Intermission’, thick distorted chords accompany a wandering portamento melody, inhabiting the wayward carnival space of Roedelius’ most unhinged efforts. Many of the tracks centre on Katzenstein’s multi-tracked vocal performances, often moving between multiple languages, (most commonly English, German, French, and Hebrew). A bewildering range of vocal approaches are present on these pieces, from sweet wordless harmonies to hammed-up growls and monastic recitations. On ‘Skin O. Daayba – Complex Habits no. 3’, improvised resonance singing against a backdrop of echoing electronics and radio snatches. ‘Half Monk Half Herring’ layers multi-lingual syllabic fragments, crossing sound poetry techniques with melodic invention in a way rarely heard outside of Caetano Veloso’s Araçá Azul. On ‘Attempt to Raise Hell’, Katzenstein’s distorted voice spits out streams of alliterative nonsense (‘the hemlock of Henry, he was a hermit…purple pumpkin pulsates to pops’), while on the hilarious ‘Eric’, Katzenstein appears to instruct a small boy simultaneously in basic French and German conversation. On ‘Chicken’, vocal harmonies accompany the pecking and clucking of the titular fowl. Moving from bent, outsider synth pop to snatches of Jo Jones-esque automated instrumental clang and absurdist linguistic experiments, these are far more than footnotes to an artist’s gallery works. Accompanied by extensive, beautifully written liner notes by Roee Rosen and the little information that exists on the individual tracks, Katzenstein’s Audio Works inhabits an outer fringe of DIY pop and sonic experiment reminiscent of Pascal Comelade or Die Welttraumforscher, where accessible forms convey radical interrogations of song, word, and sound.

dreamcastmoe is the recording project of singer, songwriter, producer, and DJ Davon Bryant, a lifelong resident of Washington, DC. His music moves freely between moods and modes, hypnotic, romantic, traversing electronic, R&B, funk, soul, and hip-hop... Resident Advisor dubs it "soulful, cross-genre dance music." This ability to adapt and finesse, to twist in different directions while staying true and coherent in vision, can be traced to his home city and its complex cultural history. "Most Black kids in DC don't ever get to this point," he says. "This is what I am making this music for, in the DC tradition of soul and empathy and love that is rooted in this city. My music is for real people dealing with shit every day." A versatile, modern artist and collaborator, dreamcastmoe has thrived in the underground since his first uploads to Soundcloud and Bandcamp in 2017 and subsequent releases with labels like People's Potential Unlimited, Trading Places, and In Real Life Music. Bryant's laid-back personality, emotional honesty, and infectious energy shine through his work and how he talks about it, as Crack Magazine notes in their 2021 Rising feature: "a steady combination of confidence, creativity, and calmness." He grew up playing drums in church; he's worked dead-end jobs, had ups and downs, even sold off all his gear one time, but never stopped reinvesting in himself. He is quick to praise his co-producers, rattle off influences _ the visual feel of NBA 2K, the comedic timing of Bernie Mac, the savvy legacy of Duke Ellington, for starters _ and credit resourceful DC breakouts like Ankhlejohn that showed him the roadmap. His voice, a steady instrument, seemingly connects it all, capable of slow falsetto flow, swaggering talk-rap, and outright croon. His storytelling style is choppy yet fluid, like a mixtape, which is how Bryant sees Sound Is Like Water, his debut on Ghostly's International's freeform label, Spectral Sound. The two-part project culminates as a full-length LP release in November 2022. The first side, released as Part I, opens on the blurred beats of "El Dorado," which dreamcastmoe dedicates to his journey. It's a head-nodder, an off-kilter earworm co-produced by Max D (Future Times, RVNG Intl, etc.), with Bryant harmonizing hooks with synth jabs and a pitched-down presence. "Complicated" is the slow jam, delivered smoothly from a Saturday night crossroads. dreamcastmoe is contemplative and committed... gliding and locking ad-libs into skittering rhythms courtesy of co-producer Zackary Dawson _ but also willing to let something go, "acknowledging that everything in life IS NOT easy." "RU Ready" takes off from the jump as a tribute, challenge, and promise to his partner and his city ("The times you sat with me when I needed you the most / Told me the things that I needed to see / Young black man, really trying to be what I can be / And I'm really from DC). In its potent two-plus minutes, the sonics (co-produced by ZDBT) press the message, all cymbal crashes, breakbeats, and serrated synth lines. "Cloudy Weather, Wear Boots" is a blitzing dance-punk track made in collaboration with Jordan GCZ on Bryant's first trip to Amsterdam. The album's flipside opens on "Much More," the first of two synth-and-beat ballads co-produced by ZDBT. Later on "Long Songz," he claims, "I'm not writing love songs no more," prioritizing the vibe with "all my day ones." He calls it "a cry for more normal moments. Everything doesn't have to be a fantasy love story, more time spent getting to the money, growing, and making a way." He saves two of his most propulsive cuts for the finale, co-produced by Sami, co-founder of DC dance label 1432 R. As their titles suggest, "Take A Moment" and "Make Ya Mind" operate as anthems for movement, with Bryant free-flowing commands above wildly-styled percussion. Per Bryant, the latter is both "wake & bake jam" and a "dance floor bomb." His parting line: "Action / You got to show me action / Reaction." The world of dreamcastmoe straddles virtual reality and the realness of DC, images both imagined and lived-in. Bryant has a knack for unexpected melodies but what makes his music so exciting is his capacity to defy the expectations of genre and image. A fluid ingenuity and vulnerability bottled by Sound Is Like Water, and this is just the beginning.

Wütrio is the first in a series of re-issue albums curated by legendary German DJ, producer and rare vinyl collector Rainer Trueby. 'Wütrio' is the critically-acclaimed album first released in 1987 on the Bremen based label, Thein Records . A label started by Friedrich Thein whose musical pedigree includes links to the world class and world famous Thein Brass instrument makers and retailers. 'Wütrio', the band, originally formed in the Bavarian city of Würzburg and went through line-up changes before recording this album with founding members Robert Schulte Hemming and Rudi Engel complemented by Wolfgang Pusching, Martin Kübert, Peter Wirth and the amazing vocal talents of Beate Kynast. The album is a work of art; Jazz it certainly is, but it is so much more than this one genre as it moves like a cabaret aboard the Trans-Europe Express travelling across genres and changing tracks as it picks up Samba, Jazz-Rock, Fusion, Electro-Funk and the New York Avant-Garde on its journey. From his time as one half of production duo 'A Forest Mighty Black', Rainer Trueby has been at the forefront of cutting edge Black music as creator, disseminator and curator. Previous releases through BBE include the must have 2020 compilation 'Soulgliding' and co-productions with DJ Kon on the 'Kon and the Gang' album from 2016. It is worth noting that it is Rainer himself who gave the name 'Soulgliding' to a genre of certain paced and soulful groove of music that now bears that name. His selection of the 'Wütrio' album to kick off a highly collectable series of re-issues is an inspired choice.

Das legendäre ukrainische Black-Metal-Projekt Drudkh läutet mit seinem brandneuen Werk "All Belong to the Night" die kalte Dunkelheit und den verführerischen Verfall des Herbstes ein. Obwohl das Album nur vier Songs umfasst, wütet es über 45 Minuten lang und liefert einen epischen Strudel aus grandiosen Melodien, verheerender Aggression und den kalten, atmosphärischen Passagen, die Drudkhs unverwechselbaren Sound ausmachen. Für Fans von SAOR, MGLA, FUATH, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, PANOPTICON. Artwork von Edward Novikov.

Das legendäre ukrainische Black-Metal-Projekt Drudkh läutet mit seinem brandneuen Werk "All Belong to the Night" die kalte Dunkelheit und den verführerischen Verfall des Herbstes ein. Obwohl das Album nur vier Songs umfasst, wütet es über 45 Minuten lang und liefert einen epischen Strudel aus grandiosen Melodien, verheerender Aggression und den kalten, atmosphärischen Passagen, die Drudkhs unverwechselbaren Sound ausmachen. Für Fans von SAOR, MGLA, FUATH, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, PANOPTICON. Artwork von Edward Novikov.

Das legendäre ukrainische Black-Metal-Projekt Drudkh läutet mit seinem brandneuen Werk "All Belong to the Night" die kalte Dunkelheit und den verführerischen Verfall des Herbstes ein. Obwohl das Album nur vier Songs umfasst, wütet es über 45 Minuten lang und liefert einen epischen Strudel aus grandiosen Melodien, verheerender Aggression und den kalten, atmosphärischen Passagen, die Drudkhs unverwechselbaren Sound ausmachen. Für Fans von SAOR, MGLA, FUATH, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, PANOPTICON. Artwork von Edward Novikov.

Das legendäre ukrainische Black-Metal-Projekt Drudkh läutet mit seinem brandneuen Werk "All Belong to the Night" die kalte Dunkelheit und den verführerischen Verfall des Herbstes ein. Obwohl das Album nur vier Songs umfasst, wütet es über 45 Minuten lang und liefert einen epischen Strudel aus grandiosen Melodien, verheerender Aggression und den kalten, atmosphärischen Passagen, die Drudkhs unverwechselbaren Sound ausmachen. Für Fans von SAOR, MGLA, FUATH, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, PANOPTICON. Artwork von Edward Novikov.

500 Copies only on 180gm Heavyweight Classic black vinyl. Colour sleeve with printed disco bag/inner sleeve. Andy Crofts rounds up his Colorama artists on Volume 1 of this uber cool and eclectic compilation. The brainchild of Andy Crofts from the Paul Weller band the Colorama record label was set up initially as a vehicle to release records from Andy's own band The Moons but always with the ambition to champion the art of the songwriter and build an eclectic roster of like minded bands and musicians. Building on the critically acclaimed 'Pocket Melodies' from The Moons came the album 'Love & Chemicals' from Teenage Waitress and a new addition to Colorama Bristol DJ & Promoter John Britton joining Andy in the search for artists to join this burgeoning boutique label. The search culminated in the album you are now reading about 'THIS IS COLORAMA! VOL. 1' a collection of tracks from The Moons, Teenage Waitress, Sunzoom, Bliss Williams, Tiny Dyno, Duvet Daze, Pale Sabres, Wilderman, Chris Watson, Robi Mitch, Eloise, The Lunar Towers, Reid Anderson, Andy Crofts & Le SuperHomard which offers a diverse melting pot of genres with a common theme, to deliver memorable verses, hooks and choruses.

After releasing his self-titled debut album in 2017 (On Agitated AGIT044R), Dion Lunadon (The D4, ex-A Place To Bury Strangers) and In The Red Records is proud to release his sophomore album, Beyond Everything. Beyond Everything will be Lunadon’s first release on In The Red (an ideal match for his music), as well as his first full-length since departing A Place To Bury Strangers. Written, performed and recorded by himself, the songs tap into a raw, palpable energy that blur the line between the music and the person. Drums on the record were played by Blaze Bateh (Bambara) and Nick Ferrante (The Black Hollies). Lunadon says; “The record was written and recorded sporadically between 2017 and 2019. I probably wrote about one hundred songs during this period. The first album was pretty relentless which I liked, but I wanted to make something more dynamic for the second record. Something that could be more conducive to repeated listens. I’d get in my studio, come up with a song title, and start working on any ideas that I had. For example, with ‘Elastic Diagnostic,’ the idea was to create a hum that evokes the sound of life coursing through your body. Everything else kind of formed around that idea.” “An arresting, noise-infected dose of psych-garage.” on “It’s The Truth”—Brooklyn Vegan “An amped up garage psych ripper.” on “Living And Dying With You”—Brooklyn Vegan “A ferocious rocker.” on “Living And Dying With You”—Destroy Exist “A gritty and raw glam-like anthem centered around chugging power chords, Lunadon’s howled and desperate delivery, forceful and propulsive drumming paired with an explosive feedbackdriven coda, ‘It’s The Truth’ further cements the Kiwi-born, Brooklyn-based artist’s reputation for crafting anthems meant to be played as loud as humanly possible.” —Joy Of Violent Movement

Hate Propaganda's far too overlooked 2019 debut EP "World War 666" sees a much needed reissue on vinyl, remastered and enhanced by brand new artwork commissioned for the purpose by Xerox master P. Van Trigt. When it was first released on cassette tape back in 2019 by War Arts Productions, this war-torn debut offering of primeval warnoise by the mysterious Portuguese war criminals stood out immediately as a crown jewel debut for the genre and as one of the year's most definitive and underrated manifestations of extreme metal's most hateful and berserk fringe. Packing in nineteen minutes of absolute hatred, the annihilating MLP manifests as a nightmare hallucination of complete violence and negativity, evoking eons of perennial apocalyptic global planetary war and terror on the wings of its nefarious design of achieving maximum annihilation in the shortest amount of time possible. To harness this bleak pantheon of ruin, the Portuguese conquerors have assembled a weaponized and uncontrolled sonic chain reaction where grindcore, black metal, death metal and hardcore punk are all accelerated and instigated into an inescapable payload of death aimed straight at the vital sinews of humanity. A sonic maelstrom churned into shape by an onslaught of obscure violent riffs, psychotic leads and ominous laughter which, parallel to a pulverizing drum performance, emanates from oblivion with an antediluvian, negative aura. Comparisons to bands like Diocletian, Heresiarch, Tetragrammacide and Nuclearhammer will run abound, yet these would be only easy superficial conjectures as this is a manifestation of sonic extremism which dwells on a plain of excellence entirely its own. Its uniqueness transpires particularly in the maniacal drumming which underlines the band's hardcore and punk influences, and is exalted further by an unusually crystalline production and by a masterful onslaught of uber-audible riffs hiding behind nothing and seemingly going in the opposite direction of the homogenous and indiscernible sensorial smothering the genre usually opts to go in. Tracklisting: 1. World War 666 2. Neverending Mass Graves 3. Violent Nature of Human Annihilation 4. Welcoming the Nuclear War With Open Arms 5. Let the Sirens Signal the End of Times

On her debut album Alone at Last, Tasha celebrates the radical political act of being exquisitely gentle with yourself. For years, the Chicago songwriter has dreamed hard of a better world_she's worked with the local racial justice organization Black Youth Project 100 and has been on the front lines at protests around the city. But as she returned to the guitar, an instrument her mother first taught her to play when she was 15 years old, she began exploring the ways music can be a powerful force for healing. Across Alone at Last's seven tracks, Tasha sings mantras of hope and restoration over lush guitar lines inspired by the stylings of Nai Palm and Lianne La Havas_both artists who, like Tasha, opt for a sweetness in their playing over the masculinized bravado that often accompanies the electric guitar. Alone at Last is a powerful talisman in a demanding world, and a reminder that kindness toward the self can help unlock the way to a world a little more livable than this one.