Cerca:city of god

10x12inch bundle + book

What is going on here then? Well, digging through the ever shrinking tunnels in the cave system that is our warehouse we come across many forgotten ore and metal deposits that silently beg to be unearthed. Since we are not the beroerdste, we reckon it's about time to put some of these on offer to you, the unsuspecting consumer. And we have hit the jackpot in this case! For a limited time only (and as long as stock lasts) we offer 10 (yes TEN) records from the vast Creme Organization back catalogue + a copy of the glorious Godspill Artwork Book for just 50 (yes FIFTY) Smackeroonies! Which titles you will get will be a surprise, so take a chance take a chance boys & girls and all shades inbetween, cause here's a breath of fresh air in these times of inflation and global uncertainty! Love, the management.

Mit der Veröffentlichung von Black Magnets Debütalbum "Hallucination Scene" im Jahr 2020 entstand eine neue Industrial-Metal-Kraft in der unwahrscheinlichen Umgebung von Oklahoma City. Nachdem sie die Pandemie abgewartet hatten, kehrten Black Magnet Ende 2021 auf die Bühne zurück und veröffentlichen nun mit "Body Prophecy" ihr zweites Album voller maschinengetriebenem Chaos und elektronischer Abartigkeit.

Auf "Body Prophecy" verschweißt Mastermind James Hammontree die frenetische Vitalität von Post-Punk und Energie des Metals mit treibenden synthetischen Club-Beats, maschineller Gewalttätigkeit und verführerisch starken melodischen Impulsen. Tracks wie "Floating in Nothing" und "Violent Mechanix" bieten sowohl intensiv eingängige Hooks als auch hämmernden, brutalen Lärm. "Sold Me Sad" ist ein leises, gestörtes Wiegenlied mit atmosphärischer Wendung. Das pulsierende, drogengeschwängerte "Incubate" im Manson/Reznor-Stil wird am Ende des Albums von Szene-Legende Justin K. Broadrick (Godflesh, Zonal, etc.) in einem komplett neu interpretierten und erweiterten Club-Remix präsentiert.

Trotz der rauen, kratzender Atmosphäre und der stampfenden Aggression bleibt "Body Prophecy" ein äußerst dichtes, einprägsames Album, das auf die Bühne gehört und dafür sorgt, dass Körper in Bewegung und die Hörer gebannt bleiben.

- Artwork von Jesse Draxler (Ghostemane, NIN, H09909, etc)
- Enthält einen Remix-Track von Justin K. Broadrick von Godflesh
- Tourdaten für 2022 / 2023 geplant
- FFO: Ministry, Godflesh, Front Line Assembly, Nine Inch Nails, Code Orange, Pitch Shifter, Head of David, Killing Joke, Author and Punisher, Ghostemane, H09909, Youth Code, Skinny Puppy

Mit der Veröffentlichung von Black Magnets Debütalbum "Hallucination Scene" im Jahr 2020 entstand eine neue Industrial-Metal-Kraft in der unwahrscheinlichen Umgebung von Oklahoma City. Nachdem sie die Pandemie abgewartet hatten, kehrten Black Magnet Ende 2021 auf die Bühne zurück und veröffentlichen nun mit "Body Prophecy" ihr zweites Album voller maschinengetriebenem Chaos und elektronischer Abartigkeit.

Auf "Body Prophecy" verschweißt Mastermind James Hammontree die frenetische Vitalität von Post-Punk und Energie des Metals mit treibenden synthetischen Club-Beats, maschineller Gewalttätigkeit und verführerisch starken melodischen Impulsen. Tracks wie "Floating in Nothing" und "Violent Mechanix" bieten sowohl intensiv eingängige Hooks als auch hämmernden, brutalen Lärm. "Sold Me Sad" ist ein leises, gestörtes Wiegenlied mit atmosphärischer Wendung. Das pulsierende, drogengeschwängerte "Incubate" im Manson/Reznor-Stil wird am Ende des Albums von Szene-Legende Justin K. Broadrick (Godflesh, Zonal, etc.) in einem komplett neu interpretierten und erweiterten Club-Remix präsentiert.

Trotz der rauen, kratzender Atmosphäre und der stampfenden Aggression bleibt "Body Prophecy" ein äußerst dichtes, einprägsames Album, das auf die Bühne gehört und dafür sorgt, dass Körper in Bewegung und die Hörer gebannt bleiben.

- Artwork von Jesse Draxler (Ghostemane, NIN, H09909, etc)
- Enthält einen Remix-Track von Justin K. Broadrick von Godflesh
- Tourdaten für 2022 / 2023 geplant
- FFO: Ministry, Godflesh, Front Line Assembly, Nine Inch Nails, Code Orange, Pitch Shifter, Head of David, Killing Joke, Author and Punisher, Ghostemane, H09909, Youth Code, Skinny Puppy

Sounds like supergroup. Rarely have outstanding figures of such a variety of musical styles collaborated on one album to pay homage to a nearly forgotten artist, one of the few black Beatnik poets, Bob Kaufman.

"All Those Streets I Must Find Cities For" by The Plastik Beatniks is an attempt to acoustically reanimate Bob Kaufman, to return the Beat to him in a transatlantic collaboration. It is a shimmering psychedelic, at times jazzy concept album, sometimes reminiscent of Krautrock or hip hop, about a Beat-era poet who was as great as he was forgotten. It takes spoken word to a new level, as a transatlantic showcase of musical avant-gardes and a joyful "sound archaeology" of modernity, in which the tracks of the "Plastik Beatniks" meet the best voices of America.

The 12 wildly different songs and audi collages, on the transatlantically-produced album, "All the Streets I Must Find Cities For," is based on lyrics by Beat author Bob Kaufman. They were originally part of the radio play "Thank God for Beatniks," for which author Andreas Ammer ("Ammer & Einheit"), Notwist‘s Markus Acher and Micha Acher and loop maker Leo Hopfinger ("LeRoy") formed "The Plastik Beatniks." On the eastern side of the Atlantic they composed music and crafted soundscapes. On the west side of the ocean, they asked three of the most renowned singers, activists and producers in the U.S. to recite or sing Bob Kaufman's poetry.

Punk-pop icon Patti Smith immediately signed on to read Kaufman's poem "Ginsberg (For Allen)". Free jazz vocalist Moor Mother passionately performed Bob Kaufman's "War Memoir". American jazz clarinetist, composer, singer and “International Anthem” labelmate Angel Bat Dawid, a legitimate successor to Sun Ra, polyphonically read and sang such poems as "The Sun is a Negroe" and "West Coast Sound 1956" and included some clarinet solos on top. Also on the album, Bob Kaufman himself recites his previously unknown poems "Hollywood Beat", "Would You Wear My Eyes", and the "Jail Poem" "All Those Streets I Must Find Cities For". Beat chronicler Raymond Foye, who still lives at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, contributed an interview he conducted with late beatnik Allen Ginsberg about Bob Kaufman. Completing the circle was hip-hop artist Adam "DoseOne" ("13&God"), who once gave Markus Acher a well-thumbed volume of Bob Kaufman, whom he admired. He contributed some raps. Thus 12 tracks emerged, as diverse as the artists, poets and musicians who contributed to it. More than an album. An epitaph. A work for the eternity of Beat.

Regarding Bob Kaufman - of course the FBI kept a file on him – first as a sailor, then a communist, and finally a Beat poet. As one of the mainstays of the movement, he edited the literary magazine "Beatitude" in San Francisco and defined "Beatnik" to Allen Ginsberg: half rhythm, half sputnik. Bob recited his poetry loudly on the streets (when he wasn't sunk into years of silence in protest of the Vietnam War) and in the bars and bagel shops of North Beach. Once, he almost landed a pop hit ("Green Green Rocky Road"), which then made Dylan's companion Dave van Ronk famous. That Kaufman is today less known than his friend Allen Ginsberg may be because he was a black Beat poet, and also a Jew. This was not compatible with fame in the US of the 1950s. Though Kaufman had the same publisher, City Lights, as Ginsberg, he was frequently arrested and jailed, and was treated with electric shocks until he developed serious mental heath issues. There he wrote his "Jail Poems". The seventh of these lent this album its name:

"Someone whom I am is no one / Something I have done is nothing Someplace I have been is nowhere / I am not me What of the answers / I must find questions for? All these strange streets I must find cities for, Thank god for beatniks."

PRESSED ON MAROON-COLORED VINYL

The third instalment of “Speshal Blends” instrumental series includes
ten sought-after beats culled from Spesh’s own 6 Shots: Overkill EP,
Che Noir’s Juno album, 1000Words’ compilation, and the Army of
Trust II compilation. This collection further proves that on top of
being one of the nicest emcees on the mic, Spesh is also one of the
illest producers in the game. The cover continues the series’ trend of
tributing the cigar brands most popular for rolling blunts. This time
around Dutch Masters’ packaging gets flipped.

Dena Miller grew up on a diet of folk before spending 6 years writing and exploring projects through Philly's punk scene, Oberlin's conservatory experimentalist and NY's DIY history before arriving at her debut album 'Woodpecker' . Think Waxahatchee, Told Slant & Moldy Peaches...
Black vinyl with inner sleeve lyrics & download.

Deer Scout’s debut full length Woodpecker is a record about memory and the subconscious. And like an unforgettable dream that keeps you puzzling over its riddles for days, it’s as packed with direct symbols as it is with ruminative haze. “I approach songwriting as a process of boxing things up, or putting away a time capsule,” explains front person Dena Miller, who wrote the album over a period of six years. It’s a culminating collection of the project’s many sounds and influences to date, from Philly’s punk cooperatives to Oberlin’s conservatory experimentalism to New York’s DIY history. At the center is Miller’s assured guitar fingerpicking and boldly clear voice, firmly grounded even as it gently probes uncertain emotional and musical terrain.

Raised by two folk musicians in Yonkers, Miller began recording songs as Deer Scout her freshman year of college in Philadelphia. There, she wrote Woodpecker’s earliest song “Synesthesia” about a train ride home from a basement show: “Night in the city / Big house on the corner / Her voice has the timbre of summers ago,” recalls Miller resonantly. After Miller’s transfer to Oberlin College, Deer Scout began touring DIY venues around the country and sharing stages with favorite artists including Waxahatchee and Told Slant. The twinned intimacy and intricacy of those two influences is reflected in the carefully adventurous arrangements on Woodpecker, which features, among other contributors, bass from close collaborator Ko Takasugi-Czernowin, cello from Zuzia Weyman, drums from Madel Rafter, and guitar from Miller’s father Mark—who also wrote the song “Peace with the Damage” and originally released it with his band Spuyten Duyvil in 2011.

Many of the songs on Woodpecker were written during periods of grief or change. “I used to sing myself to sleep as a baby and I think music still plays the same role in my life—it’s a way of self-soothing or seeking comfort,” explains Miller. “But there’s also part of it that comes from wanting to connect with people." Recorded and mixed primarily by Heather Jones at So Big Auditory in Philly with overdubs by Miller at home, Woodpecker is an exercise in portraying the incommunicable. “Cup”—about a relational psychology test called “a walk in the woods” that turns encounters with symbols into meaning—uses watery arpeggios, wintry strings, and roving bass to create a liminal sonic space, optimistic but tense. “Cowboy,” with airy layers of acoustic guitar riffs and Miller’s charmingly double tracked voice, takes its little fish, big pond inspiration from the character Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy. And “Afterthought,” with its unexpectedly bright resolutions, is about God, love, and the complexity of empathy; “Heaven isn’t watching us,” sings Miller candidly over pedal steel.

Though Woodpecker is a record about uncertainty and the unknown, it’s also about compassion and connection—as Miller was able to find over the course of writing and recording this next chapter for Deer Scout and first release for Carpark, which she’s excited to at last share with the world.

"This Is A Photograph", MORBYs siebtes Album, ist ein Loblied auf die Americana, das Leben und Tod und Blut auf der Leinwand zum Ausdruck bringt. Der kreativ gestärkte Songwriter hat es geschafft, seine besten Songs, seine besten Gesangsleistungen, seine prägnantesten Texte und seine üppigsten Arrangements auf "This Is A Photograph" zu vereinen. Dies ist zweifellos sein bisheriges Hauptwerk. Die Geschichte beginnt im Januar 2020, als MORBY im Keller seines Elternhauses in Kansas City geistesabwesend in einer Kiste mit alten Familienfotos blättert. Nur Stunden zuvor war sein Vater bei einem Familienessen vor seinen Augen zusammengebrochen und musste ins Krankenhaus gebracht werden. In dieser Nacht spürte MORBY noch immer den Schock und die Angst, die ihm in den Knochen steckten. Also sah er sich die Bilder an, bis ihm eines davon ins Auge sprang: sein Vater als junger Mann, stolz und stark und voller Selbstvertrauen, der mit freiem Oberkörper auf einer Wiese posiert. "In the photo he looks young and full of confidence, puffing his chest out at the camera as if he were looking for a fight," erklärt MORBY. "It was not lost on me that this was the same chest, just hours before, I had seen the ambulance put a stethoscope against as he lay on the kitchen floor of my sisters house." Während sein Vater wieder zu Kräften kam, grübelte er über diese Gedanken nach. Und dann machte er sich auf den Weg nach Memphis. Er zog in das Peabody Hotel und verbrachte seine Tage damit, den Träumern, die er bewunderte, Tribut zu zollen und sich vor ihnen zu verneigen; er ging hinunter zum Ufer des Mississippi, zu der Stelle, an der JEFF BUCKLEY sein Ende fand. Er schlenderte durch das Viertel, in dem JAY REATARD seinen letzten Tag verbrachte, und fuhr dann am Stax-Zelt vorbei, um seine Stimmung kurz aufzuheitern. Dann fuhr er an Graceland vorbei, bevor er den Highway 61 überquerte und die Geister zu sich rufen ließ, um seine eigenen Träume zu gestalten. Abends kehrte er in sein Zimmer zurück und hielt seine Ideen auf einem behelfsmäßigen Aufnahmegerät fest, das nur aus seiner Gitarre und einem Mikrofon bestand. Die schwermütigen Songs, die zu all dem passen, was er gesehen hatte, sprudelten nur so aus ihm heraus. Wiederum leitete Sam Cohen (der "Singing Saw" und "Oh My God" produziert hatte) das Projekt. Sie begannen in Cohens Studio im Bundesstaat New York, das sich noch im Bau befand, zusammen mit dem Schlagzeuger Nick Kinsey, und arbeiteten langsam an den Songs, da die Reise der Aufnahme der Start-Stopp-Qualität von 2021 selbst entsprach, mit magischen Momenten, die in die prekären Navigationen eingestreut waren. Mit der Zeit füllte sich die Besetzung. Der ehemalige Tournee-Pianist Oliver Hill sowie seine Mutter Meg und seine Schwester Charlotte sorgten für die Streicher. Die Tourneeleute Cochemea Gastelum (Saxophon), Jared Samuel (Orgel) und Alecia Chakour (Gesang, Tamburin) stießen zu den Sessions hinzu, ebenso wie Eric Johnson (Banjo). Und neue Mitstreiter*innen wie Schlagzeuger Josh Jaeger (Schlagzeug, Perkussion), Brandee Younger (Harfe), Makaya McCraven (Schlagzeug), Cassandra Jenkins (Gesang) und sogar Tim Heidecker und Alia Shawkat (die schrägen Lacher auf "Rock Bottom") fügten sich in das entstehende Bild ein. Und passenderweise fanden die letzten Sessions live in Memphis in Sam Philips Recording Co. statt, das von seinem Sohn Jerry Philips geleitet wird und das Erbe des ursprünglichen Sun Records Studios fortführt.

"This Is A Photograph", MORBYs siebtes Album, ist ein Loblied auf die Americana, das Leben und Tod und Blut auf der Leinwand zum Ausdruck bringt. Der kreativ gestärkte Songwriter hat es geschafft, seine besten Songs, seine besten Gesangsleistungen, seine prägnantesten Texte und seine üppigsten Arrangements auf "This Is A Photograph" zu vereinen. Dies ist zweifellos sein bisheriges Hauptwerk. Die Geschichte beginnt im Januar 2020, als MORBY im Keller seines Elternhauses in Kansas City geistesabwesend in einer Kiste mit alten Familienfotos blättert. Nur Stunden zuvor war sein Vater bei einem Familienessen vor seinen Augen zusammengebrochen und musste ins Krankenhaus gebracht werden. In dieser Nacht spürte MORBY noch immer den Schock und die Angst, die ihm in den Knochen steckten. Also sah er sich die Bilder an, bis ihm eines davon ins Auge sprang: sein Vater als junger Mann, stolz und stark und voller Selbstvertrauen, der mit freiem Oberkörper auf einer Wiese posiert. "In the photo he looks young and full of confidence, puffing his chest out at the camera as if he were looking for a fight," erklärt MORBY. "It was not lost on me that this was the same chest, just hours before, I had seen the ambulance put a stethoscope against as he lay on the kitchen floor of my sisters house." Während sein Vater wieder zu Kräften kam, grübelte er über diese Gedanken nach. Und dann machte er sich auf den Weg nach Memphis. Er zog in das Peabody Hotel und verbrachte seine Tage damit, den Träumern, die er bewunderte, Tribut zu zollen und sich vor ihnen zu verneigen; er ging hinunter zum Ufer des Mississippi, zu der Stelle, an der JEFF BUCKLEY sein Ende fand. Er schlenderte durch das Viertel, in dem JAY REATARD seinen letzten Tag verbrachte, und fuhr dann am Stax-Zelt vorbei, um seine Stimmung kurz aufzuheitern. Dann fuhr er an Graceland vorbei, bevor er den Highway 61 überquerte und die Geister zu sich rufen ließ, um seine eigenen Träume zu gestalten. Abends kehrte er in sein Zimmer zurück und hielt seine Ideen auf einem behelfsmäßigen Aufnahmegerät fest, das nur aus seiner Gitarre und einem Mikrofon bestand. Die schwermütigen Songs, die zu all dem passen, was er gesehen hatte, sprudelten nur so aus ihm heraus. Wiederum leitete Sam Cohen (der "Singing Saw" und "Oh My God" produziert hatte) das Projekt. Sie begannen in Cohens Studio im Bundesstaat New York, das sich noch im Bau befand, zusammen mit dem Schlagzeuger Nick Kinsey, und arbeiteten langsam an den Songs, da die Reise der Aufnahme der Start-Stopp-Qualität von 2021 selbst entsprach, mit magischen Momenten, die in die prekären Navigationen eingestreut waren. Mit der Zeit füllte sich die Besetzung. Der ehemalige Tournee-Pianist Oliver Hill sowie seine Mutter Meg und seine Schwester Charlotte sorgten für die Streicher. Die Tourneeleute Cochemea Gastelum (Saxophon), Jared Samuel (Orgel) und Alecia Chakour (Gesang, Tamburin) stießen zu den Sessions hinzu, ebenso wie Eric Johnson (Banjo). Und neue Mitstreiter*innen wie Schlagzeuger Josh Jaeger (Schlagzeug, Perkussion), Brandee Younger (Harfe), Makaya McCraven (Schlagzeug), Cassandra Jenkins (Gesang) und sogar Tim Heidecker und Alia Shawkat (die schrägen Lacher auf "Rock Bottom") fügten sich in das entstehende Bild ein. Und passenderweise fanden die letzten Sessions live in Memphis in Sam Philips Recording Co. statt, das von seinem Sohn Jerry Philips geleitet wird und das Erbe des ursprünglichen Sun Records Studios fortführt.

Das vierte Album von Stephen McBean’s Nebenprojekt von Black Mountain. Die Bandbesetzung wechselt stetig und beinhaltet Mitglieder von Redd Kross, Melvins, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Dead Meadow und Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Das vierte Album von Stephen McBean’s Nebenprojekt von Black Mountain. Die Bandbesetzung wechselt stetig und beinhaltet Mitglieder von Redd Kross, Melvins, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Dead Meadow und Brian Jonestown Massacre.

In 2011 Gazelle Twin self-released 'The Entire City', a debut album that gathered rapid acclaim and sparked a decade of creativity during which its creator, Elizabeth Bernholz has built big upon her foundation of dark, cinematic energy. The album is now set to be reissued on deluxe coloured vinyl featuring the captivating photo collage artwork of British artist, Suzanne Moxhay, with newly designed artwork by Paul Agar & Gazelle Twin.

2 rare historical recordings (1983 and 1986) originally released as single sides and gathered here for the first time.

"Conductor might be my favourite composition and Life And Death Of Pboc might be my most sincere. Conductor was my first composed piece with no obvious reference points ... Life And Death Of Pboc was the second. These two compositions gave me the title Godfather of Dark Ambient."

Carl Michael von Hausswolff, born in 1956 in Linköping, Sweden, lives and works in Stockholm. Since the end of the 70s, von Hausswolff has worked as a composer using recording technology as his main instrument and as a visual artist using light projections, film/video and still photography as well as other media. He has exhibited at dOCUMENTA (Kassel), the biennials in Venice, Moscow, Liverpool, Istanbul, Sarajevo etc and in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Nicosia, Kaliningrad, Tokyo, London, New York, Philadelphia etc. His music has been played in festivals such as Sonar (Barcelona), CTM (Berlin), L'audible (Paris), el niche Aural (Mexico City), MUTEK, (Montreal) etc. and release works on LP/CD/DL by labels like Erototox (Ashevile), Sub Rosa (Brussels), Touch (London), Pomperipossa (Göteborg) and iDeal (Göteborg). He recently curated the 2nd part the sound-installation FREQ_OUT named freq_wave in co-operation with TBA21-Academy and collaborates with artist Leif Elggren, EVP re-searcher Michael Esposito, composers Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Mark Fell, Jim O'Rourke, author Leslie Winer and as Dark Morph (with Jónsi of Sigur Rós). He has also collaborated with Pan sonic, The Hafler Trio, Freddie Wadling and Erik Pauser (as PHAUSS).

White vinyl, gatefold cover, silver stamped, spotgloss-printed On Epiphanies, the first-ever "concept-compilation" to be released by Hallow Ground, artists such as Maria W Horn, FUJI||||||||||TA, Lawrence English, Siavash Amini and Norman Westberg, who all have previously released music on the Swiss label, were commissioned to pursue a non-rational creative process in approaching the phenomenon of epiphany through sound. In very different ways, all of the compositions on the compilation draw on the unique emotional powers of certain acoustic instruments, obfuscating the borders between physicality and abstraction. The results, whether long-form, short vignettes, profane and concrete sounds or spiritual and abstract pieces, perfectly encapsulate what Hallow Ground as a label has stood for since its inception in the year 2013: challenging not only conventional notions of what music is supposed to sound like but also the listeners' perception through the power of sound. On Epiphanies, Hallow Ground also welcomes artists including Magda Drozd, Akira Sileas and Valentina Magaletti to make their first ever contributions to the label. For those who greet this compilation with open ears and minds, these 81 minutes will deliver on its title.

A masterful mix of timeless American soul with vintage 1970s African samples in a most rewarding way – musical traveler Eamon teams with production duo Likeminds for No Matter The Season, his second album for Now-Again. “I’ve been singing since I was a tike, promoters used to call me ‘the boy wonder’, but with this record it felt new, almost like I was singing every note as if my life depended on it,” says Eamon from his home in Southern California, a far cry from his native Staten Island, New York City. But you wouldn’t know his birthplace from the way he sings, especially on No Matter The Season, where Eamon put a new spin on vintage samples from the Now-Again catalog, crafting beats from various African rhythms such as Amanaz’s Zamrock, the Hygrades Nigerian funk, and Ayalew Mesfin’s Ethiopian tezetas. Shortly after the release of his last Now-Again project, Captive Thoughts, he began working with the production duo on two original compositions that appear on No Matter The Season. But as time went on, he came upon the idea of completing the album by sending the duo samples from the Now-Again catalog to work with. Which were expanded upon with a multitude of live instruments. “There was something special about combing through the African records at Now-Again,” Eamon reflects. “I had never heard the variety of funk and soul that existed in places like Lagos and Addis Ababa, it was like a history lesson in Rhythm & Blues. I was hearing the godfathers of the movement here in the US. I wanted to pay my respect to that lineage. Since singing in my father’s doo-wop group as a kid, I’ve always used music from the past to create and express something new in the present. But to be able to do that across continents and get back to the roots…that was really impactful for me.” Likeminds, helmed by Chris Soper and Jesse Singer, two East Coast transplants to LA who are as comfortable chopping up samples on an MPC as they are playing classic instruments, using vintage microphones, or recording to tape, offer up what could be described as a West Coast spin on the revivalist soul sound championed by Daptone Records. “For sure, the album is soaked in an old school feel, but to still tap into the depths of my soul today is always the end goal,” Eamon states. All but two tracks are based on Now-Again samples, using the classic rhythms as accompaniment to showcase Eamon’s emotional singing style that is still as honest and raw as when he was a 16, singing about heartbreak. The end result, No Matter the Season, is a celebration of the musical relationship between Africa and America and the thrilling soul music that relationship has spawned since the 60s and 70s. “My hope is people know that I’m not leaving anything on the table in this chapter of my career,” Eamon reflects. “Only thing I can do is pour my heart out on every single line. Even though I’m writing and screaming to the heavens about my joy, my pain, my love…these are songs for everyone, everywhere, anytime. You’re gonna walk away feeling something. This is why I titled the album No Matter The Season.”

On June 17, 2020, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the City of Los Angeles, announced that the iconic multi-million selling
soul/R&B band, THE CHI-LITES, would be honoured in their Class of 2021, by receiving a star on Hollywood Boulevard on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• On 30th September 2021, with family friends and other soul legends in attendance, including their legendary label mate, Gene
Chandler, Marshall Thompson, co-Founder and last surviving member of THE CHI-LITES, accepted the honour on behalf of the Band.
• Although they had formed nine years earlier, it was when the Band met record producer Carl Davis in 1968 that they signed a
contract with Brunswick Records. They began to achieve commercial recognition and success, with songs predominantly written and
composed by band member Eugene Record, who was also their lead singer, although their first charting song, ‘Give It Away’ (US
R&B Chart #10) was co-written by Record, with producer Carl Davis.
• THE CHI-LITES released more than 15 studio albums and registered on the UK chart on nine occasions, with five Top 10 entries, one
of them being the Double-A sided reissue ‘Have You Seen Her’/’Oh Girl’.
• In 1976, THE CHI-LITES switched labels from Brunswick to Mercury and recorded two albums ‘Happy Being Lonely’ (1976) and ‘The
Fantastic Chi-Lites’ (1977), before teaming-up again with Carl Davis on his own Chi-Sound records label, to record 1980’s ‘Heavenly
Body’ and 1981’s ‘Me And You’.
• This 12-track vinyl LP set focuses on their Brunswick Records period and includes all of their UK hits, opening with their barnstorming ‘Are You My Woman (Tell Me So)’, the intro from which, being famously and expertly sampled by Beyoncé (and featuring
Jay-Z), for her worldwide 2003 hit and Transatlantic #1,‘Crazy In Love’.

YUNG DUMB is pleased to welcome the return of Westcoast Goddess for the label's first release of 2022. 'Elfin Glamour' is a delicate balance of feel-good melancholia, as the Berlin-based synth wiz comes forward with innovative sample flips over intricate melodies. The EP includes 'Deep Trance City' and 'Girl Who Dreamed Tomorrow', two unearthed DAT recordings from 2002, bringing new life to 20 year old songs.

Gang of Youths today announce their biggest tour of the UK, including London’s O2 Academy Brixton to launch their upcoming album ‘angel in realtime’ which is out on February 25th through Warner Records. This week will see them support Sam Fender on his arena tour around the UK and play their own instantly sold-out club shows.

Gang of Youths say, “the album is about the life and legacy of Dave's father, indigenous identity, death, grief and God. And also the Angel, Islington.”

Despite and indeed because of frontman Dave Le’aupepe’s father’s absence, his influence permeates every talking point that the album offers. At times it’s solely focused upon the precise, personal experiences of loss: the dichotomy of intensity and peace that comes as someone passes through their final days; the overwhelming feeling in the wake of their death that life will never be the same, even if the rest of the world at large remains utterly unchanged.

Following their recent singles, ‘the angel of 8th ave.’ , telling of falling in love in a new city and making a home in another, and ‘the man himself’, a song created around a sample recording from the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands that is about living without the guiding hand of your own father, today they release ‘tend the garden’.

Although the album is eclectic - influences range from American minimalism and contemporary classical, to drawing upon the legacy of Britain’s alternative/indie scenes, from drum ‘n’ bass to the most transcendent moments of Britpop -- it’s equally rooted in Le’aupepe’s Samoan heritage, with the majority of tracks featuring samples from David Fanshawe’s recordings of indigenous music from the Polynesian islands and the wider South Pacific. ‘angel in realtime’ also features contributions from a cast of talented Pasifika and Māori vocalists and instrumentalists.

Le’aupepe says, “I hope the record stands as a monument to the man my father was and remains long after I’m gone myself. He deserved it.”

‘angel in realtime’ will be released on digital, double white vinyl and CD and is now available to pre-order. Fans who pre-order the album will receive instant downloads of ‘tend the garden’, ‘the man himself’, ‘unison’ and ‘the angel of 8th ave.’. HMV and select independent stores will offer a special edition of the vinyl which feature an alternate cover.

Fans who pre-order the album will receive access to a pre-sale for the band’s 2022 UK and European tour. The pre-sale will open at 9am local time on Wednesday, November 17th, and remaining live until remaining tickets go on general sale from 9am local time on Friday, November 19th.

Gang of Youths are: Dave Le’aupepe (vocals, guitar), Max Dunn (bass), Jung Kim (guitar, keyboards), Donnie Borzestowski (drums) and Tom Hobden (keyboards, guitar, violin).

FFO: Arthur Russell, Stealing Sheep, Neu!, Agar Agar, Galaxians
Holodrum are a new disco-infused synth-pop group, who feature members of Hookworms, Yard Act, Cowtown, Virginia Wing, Drahla and more.

Maybe Holodrum were destined to start at this point. This might be the first time they’ve all officially worked together, but between Emily Garner (vocals), Matthew Benn (synth/bass/production), Jonathan Nash (drums), Jonathan Wilkinson (guitar), Sam Shjipstone (guitar/vocals), Christopher Duffin (sax/synth) and Steve Nuttall (percussion) they’ve shared bands, mixed each other’s records, promoted live shows and made music videos together in and around Leeds. As Holodrum, this is the 7 piece’s debut album, but the interlocking grooves and hot headiness of their repeato-rock-via-CBGBs dopamine hits have in one way or other been fermenting for years.

“When it comes to doing music most bands fall between two extremes of doing it for some goal or as an end to itself” says Shjipstone. “I think Holodrum is about the joy and complexity of living, and I just hope to god everyone gets to have a good time doing it.”

Ultimately the core of the group comes from Shjipstone and his former Hookworms bandmates Benn, Nash and Wilkinson. After their abrupt dissolution in late 2018, the four of them spent six months apart; Benn still had Xam Duo, his ongoing project with Virginia Wing and some-time James Holden & The Animal Spirits live member Duffin, Nash remains vocalist and guitarist of long-running DIY rockers Cowtown and helms his solo project Game_Program; and Shjipstone plays guitar with Yard Act. However, the four of them missed the sixth sense synergy they’d built-up playing together over a decade and soon enough demos were being swapped and new ideas were discussed.

The vision of a large live electronic ensemble formed quickly. Friends were added: Duffin and Nuttall – who was keen to resurrect the double percussion interplay that he and Nash had been exploring as part of motorik trio Nope joined first. Then animator and VIDE0 singer Garner crystallised the line-up by joining on vocals.

“Apart from Emily, all of us had actually played together before in a covers band at a New Year’s Eve party at the Brudenell Social Club a couple of years ago, so we knew we could have fun together” says Benn. “So we set up to be a live party band early on. We wanted lots of people on stage having fun, playing for people that also wanted to have fun. It makes sense we take inspiration from bands like Tom Tom Club and Liquid Liquid; they were trying to help people to party at a point when New York was quite a scary and dangerous place we’re doing the same, albeit in the face of a decaying world and a global pandemic.”

Covid-19 hasn’t given them much opportunity to do that yet, with two fledgling shows in late 2019 to their name before festival appearances at the likes of Bluedot, Sounds From The Other City and Gold Sounds were scuppered last year. However, the 6 tracks on Holodrum crackle with the energy of the dancefloor. Opening cut 'Lemon Chic' described by Garner as her “workout track” starts out sparsely, with tight drum claps and burbling synths holding a teetering suspense before the whole thing’s prised open, allowing beaming saxophone skronk to shine in. Garner’s vocals bob and weave around the syncopations of the track’s building cacophony.

It sets the stall for an album heavy on euphoria, built atop crisp interplaying percussion and acid-flecked grooves. At times Shjipstone provides a raw counterpoint on vocals, while elsewhere - like on the strutting, swirling disco of 'Free Advice' and 'Low Light'’s late night ping pong synths - the pair indulge in playful call and response as the instrumentation builds and contorts around them. 'Stage Echo' provides a respite of sorts halfway through, a swirling, fever dream of a track that peaks with big squelchy frequencies and cavernous reverb, before the album returns to its repetitious exercises in body-moving catharsis underpinned at all times by a relentlessly propulsive rhythm section.

Das zweite Album von Sam Beste aka The Vernon Spring ist eine kathartische, kraftvolle und zeitgemässe Neoklassik-Interpretation des bahnbrechenden Marvin Gaye-Meilensteins 'What's Going On' (1971). Eine Melange aus Field Recordings, Samples und Sprachausschnitten umwebt die zentrale und sehr intime Piano-Performance von The Vernon Spring.

Orison is the latest aural exploration between zake & City of Dawn and a predecessor to their previous orchestral effort, 'A Sorrow Unrequited'. Orison is a prayer or plea to a deity. The archaic origins of the term stem from the Latin language simply meaning to 'speak to God'. Patient and solemn symphonic drifts that foster stillness, boundless thought, introspection, and eternal contemplation.

"TJJA10025" Double Vinyl, Gatefold Jacket! Movie Soundtrack by full Orchestra of Tokyo City, Philharmonic Orchestra! Main Theme “Princess Mononoke”, Vocal by Yoshikazu Mera!

Khruangbin and Leon Bridges announce their latest collaborative EP, ‘Texas Moon’, out on Dead Oceans.

 An extension of the two’s chart-topping four-song ‘Texas Sun’ journey, ‘Texas Moon’ is an introspective stroll through the dark. “Without joy, there can be no real perspective on sorrow,” say Khruangbin. “Without sunlight, all this rain keeps things from growing. How can you have the sun without the moon?”

 Crediting their mutual home state for inspiration, ‘Texas Moon’ pensively examines Texas’ musical perception, while paying homage to the marriage of country and R&B that’s become synonymous with the lone star state. Propelled by rolling guitar licks, conga and bongo, lead single ‘B-Side’ meditates on meeting in a dream and frolics across the nearing contemplative night-time state with its longing joy.

 Elsewhere on ‘Texas Moon’, the artists channel a newly intimate musical scope that’s illustrated most dramatically when the spacy sensuality of the minimalistic ‘Chocolate Hills’ leads into the stark spirituality addressed on ‘Father Father’, a reminder of both acts’ gospel roots. Over a simple rolling guitar figure, Bridges pleads with the heavens - “Look at the mess that I made / Just a man with unclean hands” - only to be reminded of God’s eternal love.

 For Khruangbin, one song in particular was indicative of the trust that Bridges put in them. “The song ‘Doris’ is about his grandmother making the transition from this world to the next realm,” says Khruangbin’s Donald Ray ‘DJ’ Johnson Jr. “It’s a very somber, very deep record. And when someone places that kind of work into your
hands, the last thing you want to do is junk it up, overproduce it, or do too much. We treated it with the respect it deserved, and treated Doris with the respect she deserves.”

 “It’s like a short story...,” says the band’s Laura Lee of the music. “And it leaves room to continue having these stories together. It’s not Khruangbin, it’s not Leon, it’s this world we created together.”

 Upon its release, ‘Texas Sun’ soared to the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s Emerging Artists Chart along with landing the No.1 on spot on Americana/Folk Albums, among many others. Significantly, both parties’ musical directions were deeply affected by their time working together on ‘Texas Sun’.

 Khruangbin’s most recent studio album, ‘Mordechai’, moved their own vocals to the forefront, a change they readily admit was a direct result of working with Bridges.
Their sound was also tapped for remix / reinterpretation of a Paul McCartney song for the ‘McCartney III Imagined’ project. Meanwhile, in addition to his genre-defying Grammy-nominated album ‘Gold-Digger’s Sound’, Bridges has put out several other challenging, shared collaborative tracks, including work with John Mayer, Lucky Daye and, most recently, Jazmine Sullivan. Each of the artists appeared recently on Austin City Limits and will tour throughout the new year.

A Long Hot Summer is the fifth studio album of Masta Ace, and follow up album to Disposable Arts. The album is about Masta Ace's journey as an underground rapper through his "Long Hot Summer" in Brooklyn, together with his unofficial manager and pal Fats Belvedere. This album includes fan favorites such as "Good Ol Love", "Da Grind", "Beautiful", "Bklyn Masala" and guest appearances like Jean Grae, Big Noyd, Wordsworth, Edo G, The Beatnuts, Rahzel and more, along with production from 9th Wonder, Khrysis, DJ Spinna, Dug Infinite, Marco Polo and others. A Long Hot Summer is a classic Ace album through and through.

Khruangbin and Leon Bridges announce their latest collaborative EP, ‘Texas Moon’, out on Dead Oceans.

 An extension of the two’s chart-topping four-song ‘Texas Sun’ journey, ‘Texas Moon’ is an introspective stroll through the dark. “Without joy, there can be no real perspective on sorrow,” say Khruangbin. “Without sunlight, all this rain keeps things from growing. How can you have the sun without the moon?”

 Crediting their mutual home state for inspiration, ‘Texas Moon’ pensively examines Texas’ musical perception, while paying homage to the marriage of country and R&B that’s become synonymous with the lone star state. Propelled by rolling guitar licks, conga and bongo, lead single ‘B-Side’ meditates on meeting in a dream and frolics across the nearing contemplative night-time state with its longing joy.

 Elsewhere on ‘Texas Moon’, the artists channel a newly intimate musical scope that’s illustrated most dramatically when the spacy sensuality of the minimalistic ‘Chocolate Hills’ leads into the stark spirituality addressed on ‘Father Father’, a reminder of both acts’ gospel roots. Over a simple rolling guitar figure, Bridges pleads with the heavens - “Look at the mess that I made / Just a man with unclean hands” - only to be reminded of God’s eternal love.

 For Khruangbin, one song in particular was indicative of the trust that Bridges put in them. “The song ‘Doris’ is about his grandmother making the transition from this world to the next realm,” says Khruangbin’s Donald Ray ‘DJ’ Johnson Jr. “It’s a very somber, very deep record. And when someone places that kind of work into your
hands, the last thing you want to do is junk it up, overproduce it, or do too much. We treated it with the respect it deserved, and treated Doris with the respect she deserves.”

 “It’s like a short story...,” says the band’s Laura Lee of the music. “And it leaves room to continue having these stories together. It’s not Khruangbin, it’s not Leon, it’s this world we created together.”

 Upon its release, ‘Texas Sun’ soared to the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s Emerging Artists Chart along with landing the No.1 on spot on Americana/Folk Albums, among many others. Significantly, both parties’ musical directions were deeply affected by their time working together on ‘Texas Sun’.

 Khruangbin’s most recent studio album, ‘Mordechai’, moved their own vocals to the forefront, a change they readily admit was a direct result of working with Bridges.
Their sound was also tapped for remix / reinterpretation of a Paul McCartney song for the ‘McCartney III Imagined’ project. Meanwhile, in addition to his genre-defying Grammy-nominated album ‘Gold-Digger’s Sound’, Bridges has put out several other challenging, shared collaborative tracks, including work with John Mayer, Lucky Daye and, most recently, Jazmine Sullivan. Each of the artists appeared recently on Austin City Limits and will tour throughout the new year.

UMC are proud to present the release of What’s Going On: 50th Anniversary 2LP Edition on January 28th, 2022. This premium vinyl release features direct-to-analog mastering from the original primary album tape reels by acclaimed engineer Kevin Gray, one of the first times this has been done since 1971, offering an undeniably authentic listening experience. What’s Going On: 50th Anniversary 2LP Edition bonus LP opens up the album’s writing and production palette. Featured are four rare cuts making their vinyl debut, highlighted by a previously unreleased “stripped” version of the title song, plus all six original mono single mixes and their B-sides, with all of those 7” versions on vinyl for the first time since their original releases. Among them are alternate versions of “God Is Love” and “Flying High (In The Friendly Sky),” the latter issued on 45 as “Sad Tomorrows.” Full track listing below. With two 180gm records, a tip-on heavy stock jacket, original gatefold with complete lyrics, this formidable release also includes printed sleeves with track details, a rare image from the cover sessions, and a brief essay honoring arranger David Van De Pitte. Highlighted is a main essay by acclaimed author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib who was just named one of the 25 recipients of the 2021 MacArthur “genius” grant.

For 20 years the Tuareg culture and music has fascinated the world. Their quasi-sacred poetic songs inspire western songwriters like KURT VILE or JOSÉ GONZALEZ, while the virtuosity of their guitar playing fascinates guitar heroes like JIMMY PAGE, and finally the spirituality and meditative hypnotism impresses electronic music producers like FOUR TET.With two albums, IMARHAN has become an emblem of the new Tuareg generation, breathing new life into “Assouf”, the desert blues.

While most of current Tuareg productions are exiled to the United States, the group, led by Sadam, is part of their culture and their city, the capital of the Tuareg people, with an open door to the desert. By building their own studio in Tamanrasset Aboogi, Imarhan become the spokesmen of the young Tuareg lost generation (forgotten by Algerian, Nigerian and Malian governments).With their new album Aboogi, Imarhan manipulate the rights and ancestry of the Tuareg. By inviting the legendary Mohamed At Itlale aka Japonais (who has since, sadly, passed away) and the genius musician Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, IMARHAN follows the heritage of TINARIWEN, the godfathers of Assouf. When they recorded with GRUFF RHYS of the SUPER FURRY ANIMALS, their brilliant and universal songwriting takes on every sense of the word. Finally, by inviting the Sudanese singer Sulafa Elyas, we understand that IMARHAN is open to all of Africa, defenders of the Tuaregs but above all spokesperson for the new African generation.

Home to Cuca Records and hundreds of Nashville-fantasizing pluckers and singers, Wisconsin’s Driftless region was a hotbed of country music in the 1960s. Influenced by old-timey ethnic songs, Bakersfield outlaws, countrypolitan rainbows, and the lonesome twang of every rural route roadhouse, these 17 Driftless Dreamers washed up at Jim Kirchstein’s Sauk City record plant with little more than $100 and a longing. Collected here are the fruits of Cuca’s documentary approach to record making, capturing the voices and stories of a culture and glacier in abatement.

The Hope Conspiracy are a legendary hardcore band from Boston, MA. "Death Knows Your Name" is their landmark album originally released in 2006. Recorded by Kurt Ballou at God City Studios, it is a powerful chapter in the band's recorded legacy. From the haunting first notes of "They Know Not" to the Earth shaking "Stolen Days", the unrelenting rage of the album is undeniable. From musicianship to presentation, "Death Knows Your Name" still stands as a high watermark for the genre. The "Deluxe" edition features the classic eleven song album along with the song "Eurohell". A track previously available on their "Hang Your Cross" EP (now out of press). The physical packaging has also been revamped, featuring a special "Black on Black" printing of Aaron Horkey's incredible artwork for the release.

Hip-Hop lost one of its most talented wordsmiths when Fred The Godson passed away due to complications with COVID-19 last year. However, his family has continued his legacy by launching the nonprofit Fred The Godson Foundation, as well as releasing some of his most sought-after music on vinyl and CD. Ascension is the first posthumous release with all new material from the South Bronx emcee. The tracks were handpicked by Fred's brother Russ and they are a prime example of the creative high he was on just before his passing. The collection of songs includes production from The Heatmakerz and guest spots from G Mims, Guap Sinatra, M City, Reef Hustle, Bandz Dinero and more. This album is a celebration of Fred's life and so, fittingly, the LP dropped digitally on his birthday, February 22. On the same day, New York City officials unveiled a new street name in the South Bronx honoring the respected lyricist: Fredrick "Fred The Godson" Thomas Way. A lot of artists make street music, but only a handful have ever received a tribute with street signs

He's back! After nine years away from the big screen, the Big G reappeared for his 30th anniversary in THE RETURN OF GODZILLA. Produced by Godzilla's creator Tomoyuki Tanaka and directed by Koji Hashimoto, the picture returns the uber-kaiju to the ultimate antagonist he was always intended to be. Watch as he devastates Tokyo after being resurrected by an underwater volcano and thrill to the dramatic and explosive musical score by Reijiro Koroku!

Having previously worked with Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, Koroku was the perfect choice to score the Big G's triumphant return, creating no less than three themes for everybody's favourite kaiju. Listen to the rumbling low-frequencies and powerful brass attacks as he ravages a power plant and fights the Japanese Self Defence Forces (JSDF) and swoon to the love theme for Maki and Naoko. Koroku also wrote exciting pieces for the JSDF and the Super-X, a particular machine designed to fight Godzilla. Still, it's his respect and reverence for the Big G that makes THE RETURN OF GODZILLA such a success. The score ends with vocalists The Star Sisters lamenting Godzilla's disappearance, cementing the place he has in our hearts. "Take care now, Godzilla, my old friend."

Born the seventh child and the youngest of Rev. and Mrs. Clougies Young in the city of Lake Charles, La.Raised in the Church of God in Christ in Lake Charles, La. Earl began singing in church as early as six years of age.

He performed in my church choir and high school Gospel Choir in San Francisco under the mentoring of Professor Johnny Land.

Before forming his own group Earl did background vocals for Patti Labelle's song Quiet Time in 1978 after which he formed his small group and recorded this one solitary single in 1983.

Probably one of the finest gospel bangers every cut to vinyl, that's all that needs said.

In 1976, KISS dropped the bombshell on the world being DESTROYER, an album that originally received resistancefrom fans due to the band exploring a new sound and has long become the quintessential and all-time best selling KISS studio album. Exploding with concert staples and KISS Army favorites like “Detroit Rock City,” “Shout It OutLoud,” and “God Of Thunder” – the album’s new sounds came from the softer side of songs like “Do You Love Me?,”and songs heavy with orchestral arrangements including “Great Expectations” and their surprise hit single “Beth.”

"Life, Love And Faith" - Allen Toussaint (p, g, hca, arr); Alvin Thomas (ts); Francis Rousselle (tp); Clyde Kerr (tp, frh); George Plummer, Vincent Toussaint (g); Walter Payton (b); Joe Lambert, Joseph Modeliste (dr); a.o. & The Meters

Allen Toussaint had it all around him – the voices and spirits of black music, rhythm ’n’ blues, funk and soul. He was born in New Orleans and grew up there, the birthplace of jazz. As from 1960, he worked as a record producer and an A&R man at Minit Records, an independent label, which was closely associated with the transformation of the New Orleans Sound. His compositions for fellow musicians landed them in the charts, he frequently participated by performing with them on the piano, and so became a connoisseur and master of all possible sounds.

"Life, Love And Faith" marks his launch into his solo career, and quite rightly so. In the songs, Toussaint amalgamates all he had mastered with a rocking R&B, funky rhythms and expressive soul to create his highly personal sound.

Although it is a soul album through and through, one has the feeling that one is listening to an album from Reprise’s stable of singers/songwriters – including such artists as Randy Newman, Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat and Joni Mitchell – rather than what usually came out of New Orleans in the early Seventies. And also because "Life, Love And Faith" captures an eccentric genius who pursues his own idiosyncratic vision. It is a structured, multi-layered album, which does not show Toussaint in his purest form, but it is his only album that shows just how widely ranged and profound his many talents were.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head.

All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: 1972 at Jazz City Studios, New Orleans, by Cosimo Matassa and Skip Godwin

Production: Allen Toussaint

Originally released in 1971. "What's Going On is not only Marvin Gaye's masterpiece, it's the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices, a man finally free to speak his mind and so move from R&B sex symbol to true recording artist. With What's Going On, Gaye meditated on what had happened to the American dream of the past -- as it related to urban decay, environmental woes, military turbulence, police brutality, unemployment, and poverty. These feelings had been bubbling up between 1967 and 1970, during which he felt increasingly caged by Motown's behind-the-times hit machine and restrained from expressing himself seriously through his music. Finally, late in 1970, Gaye decided to record a song that the Four Tops' Obie Benson had brought him, 'What's Going On.' When Berry Gordy decided not to issue the single, deeming it uncommercial, Gaye refused to record any more material until he relented. Confirmed by its tremendous commercial success in January 1971, he recorded the rest of the album over ten days in March, and Motown released it in late May. Besides cementing Marvin Gaye as one of the most important artists in pop music, What's Going On was far and away the best full-length to issue from the singles-dominated Motown factory, and arguably the best soul album of all time." John Bush, AllMusic

Home to Cuca Records and hundreds of Nashville-fantasizing pluckers and singers, Wisconsin’s Driftless region was a hotbed of country music in the 1960s. Influenced by old-timey ethnic songs, Bakersfield outlaws, countrypolitan rainbows, and the lonesome twang of every rural route roadhouse, these 17 Driftless Dreamers washed up at Jim Kirchstein’s Sauk City record plant with little more than $100 and a longing. Collected here are the fruits of Cuca’s documentary approach to record making, capturing the voices and stories of a culture and glacier in abatement.

LTD. COLORED VINYL

Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988 hovers vibe–wise between two distinct poles within Light In The Attic’s acclaimed Japan Archival Series—Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 and Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976–1986. All three albums showcase recordings produced during Japan’s soaring bubble economy of the 1980s, an era in which aesthetic visions and consumerism merged. Music echoed the nation’s prosperity and with financial abundance came the luxury to dream.

Sonically, Somewhere Between mines the midpoint between Kankyō Ongaku’s sparkling atmospherics and Pacific Breeze’s metropolitan boogie. The compilation encompasses ambient pop, underground electronics, liminal minimalism and shadow sounds—all descriptors emphasizing the hazy nature of the nebula. Out–of–focus rhythms wear ethereal accoutrements, ballads are shrouded in static, and angular drums snake skyward on transcendent tones. From the Avant–minimalism of Mkwaju Ensemble and Yoshio Ojima, to the leftfield techno-pop of Mishio Ogawa and Noriko Miyamoto (featuring members of YMO), and highlights from the groundbreaking Osaka underground label Vanity Records, these are blurry constellations defying collective categorization.

These tracks also exist in a space of transition when the major label grip on the Japanese recording market began to give way to the escalation of independents. Thanks to the idyllic economic climate and innovations in domestically–manufactured music gear, creators on the edges were empowered to focus on satisfying their artistic visions in the open headspace of home studios. While labels like Warner Music and Nippon Columbia explored new sounds through traditional channels, it was possible for Vanity, Balcony and other indie labels, not to mention self–released artists like Ojima and Naoki Asai, to publish their work via affordable media such as cassettes, 7" vinyl, and flexi–discs.

Expertly curated by Yosuke Kitazawa and Mark “Frosty” McNeill (dublab), Somewhere Between is a collection of music, much of it released for the first time outside Japan, that is bound more by energetic vibration than shared history, genre or scene. They are the sounds of transition and searching—a celebration of the freedom found in floating.

Note: The track “Days Man” by Yoshio Ojima is only available on the LP and Cassette versions.

Following on from the successful ‘An Idiot Prayer’ live album and livestream event released this year, Nick Cave Productions & BMG announce B-SIDES & RARITIES PART I & II to be released internationally on 22nd October 2021.

B-SIDES & RARITIES PART II was compiled by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis and features 27 tracks from “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!” in 2006 to 2019s “Ghosteen”. Also features 19 rare and unreleased tracks including first recordings of ‘Skeleton Tree’, ‘Girl in Amber’, ‘Bright Horses’ and ‘Waiting for You’.

UNRELEASED TRACKS *

Over the course of five records to date, JUNO Award-winning Toronto rapper Shad has used an array of old-school tools to tackle modern problems, addressing the indignities and absurdities of our world through a shapeshfiting melange of boom-bap breaks, dusty soul samples, jazzy improvisation, and 10 dollar words rolled into thousand-dollar rhymes. But after weaving his myriad musical and philosophical interests into a narrative socio-political song cycle—2018’s A Short Story About a War—Shad began building his sixth record, TAO, from a much simpler concept: an image of a circle. Though, in true Shad fashion, he saw something much more profound within its basic round boundaries.

“The thing that inspired this record was this image in my mind of a circle, but it’s getting fragmented, and then the pieces start floating away from each other,” he explains. “And that felt to me like a picture of ourselves as individuals. If you think of our humanity as one whole, there’s all these different aspects of that, whether that’s work, or our relationship to the land, or our relationship to the transcendent, or our relationship to our bodies, or to our inner child?”

Hailing from Inglewood, California, Daniel “D SMOKE” Farris personifies the city's cultural duality: nurtured by the boulevards and natured by his family’s rich musical legacy. Smoke gained global notoriety in 2019 as champion and undisputed breakout star of Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow. In February 2020, Smoke released Black Habits. The 16-track project boasts features from music legends Snoop Dogg and Jill Scott, as well as appearances from Ari Lennox, his brothers SiR and Davion Farris, and mother, Jackie Gouché. D Smoke further solidified his resume with two Grammy nominations for Best Rap Album and Best New Artist of 2020. As a Black, Bilingual Rapper, Musician, and CEO, Smoke utilizes his lived experiences to create music and opportunities that bridge the cultural gaps seemingly present between Black and Brown communities, and the have and have-nots.