Buscar:community

"The core of confusion and upheaval that drove some of the band's most fiery earlier work, however, is replaced by a more stabilized undercurrent, a mentality that's reflected in songs not afraid to try new things and honestly explore uncomfortable feelings. When combined with exciting production and songwriting choices, that mindset helps make Feels So Good // Feels So Bad one of the Shivas' best albums.” - AllMusic "Portland, Oregon-hailing psych-surf band The Shivas accomplish another time-traveling, reverb-ridden sound that refuses to get boring. Jared Molyneux’s guitar work knows when to be bright or bashful at the right times, breaking into guitar solos that possess a late-’60s groove… The Shivas seem to blissfully flourish” - Paste "a consistent treat for the ears” - The Vinyl District "Though the psych-tinged guitar riff that drives 'Feels So Bad' was written while The Shivas were still on the road, its lyrics didn’t fall into place until the band was well into lockdown, unsure of when they’d be able to return to their most imperative true love: Live shows... Accordingly, 'Feels So Bad' permeates with a sense of urgent desperation, building off a chugging prog-rock instrumental.” - Consequence (on “Feels So Bad”) "They hooked the audience with their throwback rock sounds. The guitar strums and rhythmic drum beats were layered atop smooth and hallucinogenic vocals. The eyes can tell the take at times and there was a sparkle there that said that the band members just love doing live performances." - California Rocker "This single layers on the fuzz but keeps it dreamy, with an especially sticky guitar riff sure to lodge itself in your brain with minimal effort." - Portland Monthly (on “If I Could Choose”) “'My Baby Don’t' translates the genuine vibrant joy


of the live experience into the studio, bringing the band’s ‘60s garage rock roots, sharp pop vocal harmonies, and fervent performances along for the ride." - Under The Radar "Perfectly straddling the line between a solid-head bopping track and an introspective deep cut, The Shivas’ 'Undone' is a rock & roll gem. The track sounds straight out of the late 60s and fits seamlessly in the Portland band’s electrifying catalog." - The Luna Collective "The first time I clicked play on this track, I knew it was a yes for me." - Ear To The Ground Music (on “If I Could Choose”) "The harmonies would make the “Happy Together” Turtles blush, but the unsettling guitar doesn’t shy away from the woollier implications of the ’60s." - Willamette Week (on “If I Could Choose”) "'Undone' is just the perfect song for the good days and the bad ones." - GlamGlare "another hit" - Austin Town Hall (on “Undone”) "one of the best forthcoming albums of the year" - Austin Town Hall RADIO: #3 Most Added @ NACC - 50 official adds BIO Every working musician has had their life turned upside down by Covid-19. For The Shivas, who had recently released a new LP and normally keep a rigorous touring schedule, it was a particularly screeching halt. “We were about to go to SXSW, the following weekend was Treefort in Boise, and then we were going to open for our friends’ band on tour in the US before going to Europe,” Jared Molyneux remembers. Then everything just stopped. They were faced with a dilemma. “It forced us to adapt or just quit,” Molyneux says. “The reality is that shows are our job.” In truth, live shows aren’t just The Shivas job: they are the band’s greatest love. Shivas shows are bombastic, explosive and thoroughly communal live rock and roll experiences where barriers between the performers and their audience seem to dissolve into the sweat and sound. The stage—or the basement, or the living room—that’s The Shivas’ true element. It’s their raison d’etre. It’s their religion. The band’s live urgency may have been born in 2006, when the band’s young members—who began booking West Coast tours while still in high school—waited without fanfare on sidewalks or in parking lots, before being rushed onstage for their sets at 21-and-up clubs. Maybe it developed a little later, as The Shivas blasted their way through Portland’s storied and unsanctioned mid-aughts house show scene. Whatever the origin of their famously kinetic live experience, it’s the show that keeps them coming back after over 1,000 performances spread over 25 countries in 15 years. In those 15 years, The Shivas have grown tight-knit as a group. Guitarist/singer Jared Molyneux, bassist Eric Shanafelt and drummer/singer Kristin Leonard have all been with the band since its earliest days; guitarist Jeff City, another high school friend, joined in 2017. Together they’ve learned to thread a seemingly impossible needle: They’ve honed and tightened their performances without sacrificing the element of surprise that makes each show special. And despite touring and recording for most of their lives, they speak about their project with humility, in the DIY vernacular of their Pacific Northwest upbringing. They talk up their own favorite bands, play all-ages shows as much as possible, and bring a sort of blue-collar humanism to the live performances they relish so much. “We just want to make people feel good,” Molyneux says. “We want them to forget they have to work tomorrow.” Kristin Leonard elaborates, “The live show is all about that feeling of catharsis—in ourselves and in everyone who comes out. We’re creating this safe space where we can all let go. Where we can exhale. And it feels really good when we are able to facilitate that.” So when Covid hit, the band knew it was time for transformation. After a settling realization that live music would be grounded for the foreseeable future, The Shivas booked significant studio time with Cameron Spies, who also produced the 2019 Dark Thoughts LP. They also transformed their lives: three of the band’s four members found work with a local nonprofit serving unhoused Portland residents. They became engaged in protests and fundraisers for social justice. They spent a whole summer actually living in Portland, settling into the city they had always called home, but that sometimes felt like a temporary stop between tours. “We got into a more community-minded headspace,” Leonard says. “And that did give us some purpose. It felt cool to see everybody come together to stick up for what they believe in. It feels like an incredibly formative last twelve months.” The album that emerged from this new moment finds The Shivas reborn as a band that seems seasoned and perfectly at home with itself. There is a calm, even a hopefulness, to Feels So Good // Feels So Bad that sounds new. The Shivas didn’t write or record the album with a particular theme in mind, but one seems to have emerged: where Dark Thoughts was about confronting your demons with fearless self-examination, much of Feels So Good // Feels So Bad is about what happens once you find that peace: how being honest with yourself changes your relationships and your priorities. “I do think it’s about acceptance,” Leonard says. “There’s a weird relaxation that comes with being at peace with things you can’t control or have regrets about.” Maybe that’s why the squealing, riff-laden break-up song opener, “Feels So Bad,” is such a shock to the system. But it’s more of an exorcism than a melodrama: more a song about not being able to do the thing you love (in


this case, playing live shows) than splitting with a partner. “It’s like part of you goes to sleep,” Leonard says. As bandmates who are also in a long-term relationship, Molyneux and Leonard know that their songs might be seen as glimpses into their personal lives, but their songwriting is rarely autobiography. Leonard compares their process to something more akin to screenwriting. “There’s bound to be some autobiographical material in there,” she says. “But the common denominator is the exploration of universal feelings: ones that everyone experiences or can relate to.” The goal is to use the music to drill down into something genuine and sincere, beyond genre or stylistic affectation. That’s where The Shivas have arrived. Whatever growth led the band to Feels So Good // Feels So Bad, plenty of their fascinations remain. They’re still turning love songs into psychedelic, transcendent epics. “Tell Me That You Love Me” subverts doo-wop extravagance and dabbles in Flamenco rhythms. “Rock Me Baby” is a bubblegum anthem soaked in so much reverb that we might just be hearing it from the stadium nosebleeds. “Sometimes” is almost impossibly huge, like a witchy outtake from the Brill Building era. Those songs feel like logical expansions from a band that has always excelled at a timeless sort of rock and roll that tinkers with and explodes elements from every era. But on the towering and mournful “You Wanna Be My Man,” a slow-burning six-minute shoegaze prayer for a higher sort of love, there is a level of emotional nuance that feels like something altogether revolutionary. It’s there again in the stripped-down vulnerability of the album-closing elegy “Please Don’t Go.” Yes, Feels So Good // Feels So Bad is an album about acceptance. Sometimes that acceptance feels enlightened and sometimes it feels like the end result of a lot of kicking and screaming. The Shivas have adapted in both of those ways. With new tours scheduled and a new album on the way, they’re still hoping--like all of us--for a new era of vibrant, cathartic live music. The lessons they learned from having their normal upended, though, have only helped them grow

Finally the debut full length LP from Aeon Seven is upon us!

After a production career going back to the year 2000, this French maestro has been a creative force in all areas of production, DJing and animation.

First gaining some serious attention from the funk/breaks community worldwide with his exceptional Funky Furious EP (2005), he has gone on to produce a clutch of incredible mix tapes that beautifully reveal his deft touch on the turntables and in the studio, he's written a couple of singles for 45 Live Records and produced some slick DJ tools with the Thundercuts series on both 7" and 12".

Throughout all this time Aeon Seven has been honing his craft both musically and visually. His love of the instrumental, and obvious love of soundtracks, psyche and jazz come through in all of his productions. From the downbeat and wonderfully eerie and atmospheric themes of "The Hidden Hand", the cosmic harp led soundscape of the opening track "Outer Space Illusion" to the uptempo and funky blaxploitation vibes of "Mankind Hunt", Aeon Seven's grasp of songwriting is mature and expertly executed.

Tape

Foam and Sand is the ambient soundscape and visual project of award-winning composer and conceptual artist, Robot Koch. Inspired by the composer’s daily habit of meditation, ideas for the project started to take shape during the lockdown of 2020. Using tape recordings of slowed-down pianos, modular synths, and other sonic sources, »Full Circle« is a collection of 16 warm and organic ambient tracks.

»Full Circle Reworks« comes with an international selection of some of the most interesting and upcoming names in the ambient/electronic/modern classical community: Midori Hirano, Hainbach, Slow Meadow, Alaskan Tapes, Tom Ashbrook, Arms and Sleepers, Birds Of The West, Julien Marchal and Six Missing.

Stroboscopic Artefacts is proud to present the debut album of Malaysian born Bangkok based artist Wanton Witch.

Born in an isolated community of Borneo Island in 1993 Wanton Witch is a DJ and producer with a hyper-sensitive connection and approach to sound through performance. Coming of age in the relative isolation of island life, it wasn’t until relocating to Bangkok that she was able to access the different communities of musical genres that she would later travel between. With an early taste for trap and hip hop, she began working in the deconstructed club and techno scene where she found her musical voice, beginning her DJ career in 2018. Wanton is also a cofounder and original member of Queer underground creative collective ‘Non Non Non’ that has become a Bangkok nightlife staple.

Being an “outsider” musician and producer with no formal training, it was the fortuitous crossing of paths online that has sparked the creative collaboration between Wanton and label owner and creative director Lucy. Last year Stroboscopic Artefacts celebrated ten years established between experimental and dance floor spectres and this is the first record the label is releasing after one year break, marking the launch of a new chapter for the imprint. It is with releases like the eponymous debut album from Wanton Witch and the support given to emerging artists like her that the imprint continues to forge pathways within the industry.

Featuring 11 tracks, these recordings are the first body of work from the Bangkok producer, and include many different snapshots of electronic music genres from IDM and experimental to hardcore and rave, using caustic electronics to deconstruct traditional track conventions. This collection of cuts read more as a complete soundscape, like listening to a live set. The phrenetic jump from genre to genre, the mixing of diverse sound textures and landscapes reflect Wanton Witch’s own experience navigating a hostile world as a Queer trans woman in Malaysia. The intense energy with which each track is cut together reminds the listener of the nostalgia of mixtapes and a time in life when identity is being constructed.

Wanton Witch has created an album which feels like a reflection of the aggregation that already exists within musical internet sub-cultures and communities. A place where many diverse and contrasting sound palettes, textures, and structures can fit together to create a new different, Queer way of seeing the world.

Following up on Wanton’s LP, label head Lucy will also present an actual full length album named ‘Lucy Plays Wanton Witch’ featuring re-interpretations of the original material in a whole new body of work. This upcoming follow up release will not represent a mere remix edition, but a recreation from scratch and the rebirth of “one into another” so to say. Expect the quintessential Lucy treatment.

FlySiifu is a new collaborative project by Pink Siifu & Fly Anakin. Their debut album, ‘FlySiifu’s’, unites two prolific rappers with infectious chemistry.
The album mirrors their musical community, as they welcome guests into FlySiifu’s record store, with appearances from Liv.e, Foushe , $ILKMONEY, and producers Madlib, Jay Versace, Ohbliv, Awhlee, Budgie, Playa Haze, Animoss and more.
“Fly Siifu has all of our attention. The pair sound as soothing as a day spent sitting on the porch with your grandparents. Fly Siifu have found something special.” PITCHFORK.

The album’s lead singles have caught the attention of Vince Staples, Danger Mouse, KEXP, Hot97, Colors, Pitchfork, FADER, Hypebeast and i-D. Pink Siifu is a Baltimore based MC, singer and producer, originally from Alabama, whose diverse output ranges from soulful rap to punk.
He’s collaborated with The Avalanches, Mndsgn, Teebs, Quelle Chris, Anna Wise & Maxo. His 2018 album ‘Ensley’ featured in Pitchfork’s Album’s Of The Year list. 2019’s ‘NEGRO’ was described by Pitchfork as “intense and riotous, tapping into the anger at the heart of Black America.” “One of the most intriguing musicians in Black music.” THE FADER. Fly Anakin is a rapper from Richmond, Virginia, who was described by Madlib as “one of the illest MCs”, and has previously collaborated with Freddie Gibbs. He’s co-founder of the Richmond rap collective Mutant Academy. “Anakin’s detail isn’t a skill that could just be picked up from studying the legends of the genre, it’s a gift.” PITCHFORK

- Followup to 2015's Insides. - RIYL: Jacques Greene, Leon Vynehall, DJ Seinfeld, Project Pablo - Features cover art by Salvador Dalí protégé Steven Arnold. - Silver halide (gray + black marble) vinyl limited to 1,500 copies worldwide - Vinyl is housed in a black dust sleeve inserted in to a matte varnish jacket with metallic silver spot color // After a run of critically-acclaimed singles and EPs, British producer Michael Greene, aka Fort Romeau, returns to the full-length format with Beings of Light, the long-awaited follow-up to 2015's Insides and his second LP on Ghostly International. While a prolific DJ who orients many of his productions for the dancefloor, Greene still sees the album as the ultimate statement of intent, "a space to stretch out, to speak in full paragraphs rather than stunted sentences." He has explored several stylistic fragments in recent years (including the summer 2018 anthem "Pablo," hailed a Best New Track by Pitchfork), but when faced with the extended pause to the dance community in 2020, Greene felt compelled to focus on a larger body of work. Embracing a back-to-basics mentality, he amassed over a dozen hours of sounds, asking himself throughout the sessions: "Does the music move you? Is it honest?" He came out the other end with Beings of Light, an expressive collection traversing rainy day ambient, moonlit disco, and dream-like techno in pursuit of the power found within our subconscious. Album opener "Untitled IV" ushers in a sprinting tempo in its exploration of the human voice, a recurring device in the Fort Romeau project. Greene uses it as a compositional layer, disembodied with its context often opaque or reduced to a single phrase. Here the voice is scattered in percussive twitches, colliding with a kick drum to induce a near state of hypnosis as horns sound off in the distance. Propulsive standout "Spotlights'' is Greene's ode to the romanticised New York City that lives in our hearts, nocturnal and carefree. A vocal snippet repeats the title with a breezy poise, reminiscent of classic house cuts. "Ramona'' honors the beloved Robert Johnson club in Offenbach, Germany. Hazy, spacious, and sustained, Greene designed the beat with their system in mind, "also with a strong nod to the more modern lineage of exceptional minimal house music from Frankfurt," he says. Two ambient pieces surround the track, "(In The) Rain" sets the scene and "Porta Coeli" (a Latin phrase which loosely translates to "heaven's gate") soundtracks the comedown. The album's closer, the title track, is an arc constructed with atmospheric textures, euphoric swings of percussion, and a well-placed piano refrain, "Beings of Light" is adaptive; one could imagine it reverberating from a club, scoring the emotional apex of a film, or radiating through the realm of dreams.

Lake Havasu is a community of winding hillside roads, launched in the 1960s alongside a brick-for-brick rebuild of the original London Bridge. “It’s this very synthetic, gimmicky place set in this soulful, desolate landscape,” laughs Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan, who moved to the Arizona city for one year in seventh grade. Bazan collected his earliest childhood experiences for 2019’s Phoenix, the prolific artist’s celebrated return to the Pedro moniker and the first in a planned series of five records chronicling his past homes. To write its sequel, Bazan traveled to Havasu four times over several years, driving past his junior high campus, a magical skating rink, and other nostalgic locations that evoked feelings long suppressed. “An intersection I hadn’t remembered for 30 years would trigger a flood of hidden memories,” he says. “I was there to soak in it as much as possible.” Driving the inscrutable loops of Havasu’s lakeside, Bazan listened through an audiobook of Tom Petty’s biography, eventually dialoguing with Petty’s voice in his mind. A revelation from the book—that Petty subconsciously wrote the song “Wildflowers” as an act of kindness toward himself—inspired Bazan to approach his own work with radical generosity toward his young self. “I wanted to be there for that kid,” he offers. “That twelve year old still needs parenting, and still needs to process.” To revisit his past with openness, Bazan modified harmful work habits he’d accepted as necessary. That meant doing away with deadlines, and accumulating moments of play as he felt moved to—“Rather than squeezing stones every single time. I’m on a slow journey away from that,” he clarifies. As he worked through the music that became Havasu, flexibility and curiosity informed the arrangements. Bazan began writing on a simple synthesizer and drum machine setup. He detoured to a more elaborate assortment of analog electronic equipment, then woodshed his original two-handed keyboard arrangements on fingerpicked acoustic guitar. Concurrently relearning his catalog for a weekly series of livestream concerts also renewed his gratitude toward songwriting. “I was trying to evaluate what I have to show for 20 years of kicking my own ass,” Bazan quips about the strenuousness of full-time touring. “But the garden of my songs is what I’ve been building. It doesn’t have to be an ego test.”

The $mokebreak EP follows Pink Siifu & Fly Anakin's critically acclaimed 2020 debut album FlySiifu's and further explores the musical community they've assembled around their imagined FlySiifu's record store.
Now FlySiifu welcome their friends Fousheé, Chuck Strangers, ZelooperZ, MAVI, YUNGMORPHEUS, Koncept Jack$on, Big Kahuna OG, 3wayslim and Peso Gordon into the store and onto the mic, with beats provided by Black Noi$e, Ahwlee, Budgie, Ohbliv, Graymatter, ewonee, and iiye.
Don't miss the video for their posse cut 'Tha Divide', featuring ZelooperZ, MAVI, and Koncept Jack$on, shot by Elijah Maura on a cold night in NYC.



"a wild taste of what the two artists can create just by reaching into their inner circles" – SPIN

St. Paul and the Broken Bones announce their new album ‘The Alien
Coast’, released on ATO Records. Produced by Matt Ross-Spang and
featuring eleven new, original songs, ‘The Alien Coast’ is the first St.
Paul and the Broken Bones album tracked in the band’s hometown of
Birmingham, AL. The arrangement allowed the octet to spend more time
and tap a broader creative community than ever before, resulting in their
most ambitious work to date.
 Led by singer and lyricist Paul Janeway - a former bank teller and
preacher-in-training who learned to sing in his church choir - the octet
explore thrilling new territory on ‘The Alien Coast’, a fever dream
convergence of soul and psychedelia, stoner metal and funk, animated
by the very “fire and brimstone” which Janeway invokes in the album’s
opening line. Unlimited studio-time allowed individual members of the
band to experiment with synths and samples on ‘The Alien Coast’, and
even collaborate with Birmingham beatmaker and hip-hop artist Randall
Turner.
 Janeway cites a similarly disparate range of influences that wove their
way into the writing for ‘The Alien Coast’, from Greek mythology and
dystopian sci-fi, to works of art like Bartolomé Bermejo’s Saint Michael
Triumphs over the Devil and 17th Century Italian sculpture, to colonialperiod history books. “The title actually came from reading about the
history of the Gulf of Mexico, which is home for us,” he recalls. “When
the settlers - or invaders, really - first came to the Gulf Coast they
couldn’t figure out what it was, and started referring to it as the Alien
Coast. That term really stuck with me, partly because it feels almost
apocalyptic.”
 St. Paul and the Broken Bones have reached incredible heights since
breaking out with their first album in 2014. Their previous three albums
each debuted in the Billboard 200, their legendary NPR Tiny Desk has
over 7 million views, they’ve opened for the Rolling Stones, shared the
stage with Elton John, and appeared on several television shows
including Jimmy Kimmel Live, Austin City Limits and more. They were
also the first-ever musical performance on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show.
St. Paul and the Broken Bones announce their new album ‘The Alien
Coast’, released on ATO Records. Produced by Matt Ross-Spang and
featuring eleven new, original songs, ‘The Alien Coast’ is the first St.
Paul and the Broken Bones album tracked in the band’s hometown of
Birmingham, AL. The arrangement allowed the octet to spend more time
and tap a broader creative community than ever before, resulting in their
most ambitious work to date.
 Led by singer and lyricist Paul Janeway - a former bank teller and
preacher-in-training who learned to sing in his church choir - the octet
explore thrilling new territory on ‘The Alien Coast’, a fever dream
convergence of soul and psychedelia, stoner metal and funk, animated
by the very “fire and brimstone” which Janeway invokes in the album’s
opening line. Unlimited studio-time allowed individual members of the
band to experiment with synths and samples on ‘The Alien Coast’, and
even collaborate with Birmingham beatmaker and hip-hop artist Randall
Turner.
 Janeway cites a similarly disparate range of influences that wove their
way into the writing for ‘The Alien Coast’, from Greek mythology and
dystopian sci-fi, to works of art like Bartolomé Bermejo’s Saint Michael
Triumphs over the Devil and 17th Century Italian sculpture, to colonialperiod history books. “The title actually came from reading about the
history of the Gulf of Mexico, which is home for us,” he recalls. “When
the settlers - or invaders, really - first came to the Gulf Coast they
couldn’t figure out what it was, and started referring to it as the Alien
Coast. That term really stuck with me, partly because it feels almost
apocalyptic.”
 St. Paul and the Broken Bones have reached incredible heights since
breaking out with their first album in 2014. Their previous three albums
each debuted in the Billboard 200, their legendary NPR Tiny Desk has
over 7 million views, they’ve opened for the Rolling Stones, shared the
stage with Elton John, and appeared on several television shows
including Jimmy Kimmel Live, Austin City Limits and more. They were
also the first-ever musical performance on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show.

Pinegrove’s new album, ‘11:11’, is an unqualified triumph, an
album that seizes listeners with hook-filled songs imbuing
feelings of warmth, urgency and poetic beauty, even as it
asks some of life’s big and difficult questions.
 On previous Pinegrove recordings, band member Sam
Skinner usually oversees mixing duties, but this time out,
noted producer and former Death Cab for Cutie member
Chris Walla has assumed the role. Calling previous album
‘Marigold’’s production “crisp and contained,” Hall, who coproduced ‘11:11’ with Sam, sought more of a “messier” feel
for these new songs. Most of the recording took place at two
Hudson Valley facilities (Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock
and The Building in Marlboro) with the final touches done
side by side with Walla in Seattle.
 ‘11:11’ features lush soundscapes, organs, Megan
Benavente’s melodic and adventurous bass playing, Josh
Marre’s signature guitar work and a special guest - Doug
Hall, Evan’s father- playing piano on many tracks. The record
sounds intimate, yet expansive.
 “It spends equal time on optimism, community, reaffirming
what we are and how it’s our duty to look out for one
another,” says singer Evan Stephens Hall. “There’s anger,
love, hope and grief. The record has all of that.”
 The opening mini epic track, ‘Habitat’, is a two-part
masterpiece of texturalism, brimming with robust, percussive
guitars and driven by unsettling shifts. Another key track is
‘Alaska’, a happy-go-lucky romp of dense, bracing guitar
rock, lurching out of the gate with tectonic force and boasting
hooks at every turn. Later, the breezy, pastoral folk-tinged
‘Iodine’ glistens with exquisite vocal harmonies, and ‘Flora’ is
a beautifully appointed apology to nature, its luxurious
country rock feels connected to past masters like the Flying
Burrito Brothers or early Wilco.

Deluxe LP features 140g virgin vinyl; heavy-duty board jacket, artwork by Art Rosenbaum + DL. RIYL: Bob Dylan, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, Ry Cooder, Michael Chapman, Michael Hurley, The Youngbloods & Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Jake Xerxes Fussell’s 4th album finds the acclaimed folksong interpreter, guitarist, and singer navigating fresh sonic and compositional landscapes on the most conceptually focused, breathtakingly rendered, and enigmatically poignant record of his wondrous catalog. Produced by James Elkington and featuring formidable players both familiar (Casey Toll, Libby Rodenbough) and new (Joe Westerlund, Bonnie “Prince” Billy), it includes Jake’s first original compositions; atmospheric arrangements with pedal steel, horns, and strings. One of the most striking and strangely moving moments on Jake Xerxes Fussell’s gorgeous Good and Green Again an album, his fourth and most recent, replete with such dazzling moments arrives at its very end, with the brief words to the final song “Washington.” “General Washington/Noblest of men/His house, his horse, his cherry tree, and him,” Fussell sings, after a hushed introductory passage in which his trademark percussively fingerpicked Telecaster converses lacily with James Elkington’s parlor piano. That’s the entire lyrical content of the song, which proceeds to float away on orchestral clouds of French horn, trumpet, and strings, until it simply stops, suddenly evaporating, vanishing with no fade or trace, no resolution to its sorrowful minor-key chord progression, just silence and stillness and stark presidential absence. It feels like the end of a film, or the cold departure of a ghost, and is unlike anything else Jake has recorded. In all his work Jake humanizes his material with his own profound curatorial and interpretive gifts, unmooring stories and melodies from their specific eras and origins and setting them adrift in our own waterways. The robust burr of his voice, which periodically melts and catches at a particularly tender turn of phrase, and the swung rhythmic undertow of exquisite, seemingly effortless guitar-playing here he plays more acoustic than ever before pull new valences of meaning from ostensibly antique songs and subjects. On Good and Green Again, Jake not only ventures beyond his established mastery of songcatching and songmaking into songwriting, but likewise navigates fresh sonic and compositional landscapes, going green with lusher, more atmospheric and ambitious arrangements. The result is the most conceptually focused, breathtakingly rendered, and enigmatically poignant record of his wondrous catalog. It’s also his most deliberately premeditated album, representing his fruitful return to a producer partnership after two self-produced projects, What in the Natural World (2017) and Out of Sight (2019) (William Tyler produced his friend’s self-titled 2015 debut.) This time James Elkington produced and played a panoply of instruments, bringing to Jake’s arcane song choices his own peerless sense of harmony and orchestration, balance and dramatic tension. The pair enlisted a group of formidable players including regular bandmembers Casey Toll (Mt. Moriah, Nathan Bowles) on upright bass, Libby Rodenbough (Mipso) on strings, and Nathan Golub on pedal steel. They were joined by welcome newcomers Joe Westerlund (Megafaun, Califone) on drums, Joseph Decosimo on fiddle, Anna Jacobson on brass, and veteran collaborator and avowed Fussell fan Bonnie “Prince” Billy, who contributes additional vocals. Album opener “Love Farewell” (featuring some beautiful singing by Bonnie “Prince” Billy), an elliptical tale of the folly of war, set to the world’s most heartbreaking goodbye march for a lover left behind. “Carriebelle” and “Breast of Glass” each similarly concerns, in its own way, romantic love and leavings. All three songs highlight Jacobson’s diaphanous, understated brass parts, tying them together in a true lover’s knot. “Rolling Mills Are Burning Down,” with its distant keening strings and capacious sense of space, observes and mourns the loss of work and community in the wake of elemental disaster. Nine-minute tour de force “The Golden Willow Tree,” the sole explicitly narrative song herein, is a hypnotic, minimalist rendering of a tragic maritime ballad about scuttling an enemy ship in exchange for wealth and glory and a captain’s inevitable betrayal. “Fussell is creating his own legacy within the long lineage of traditional folk musicians and storytellers that have come before him.” The New York Times // “So elegant … It’s relaxing in the way that pondering a Zen koan is relaxing, and sweet in the way that the wounded, honey-voiced blues of Mississippi John Hurt are sweet.” Pitchfork // “Music that resides at the seams of Appalachia and the cosmos.”

A LOST RECORDING OF UNTAMED APPALACHIAN MUSIC.
160 gram black vinyl LP in gold & black color reverse-board jacket. Co-release with Jalopy Records.
In 1972, the renowned and singular folk musician Roscoe Holcomb left his home in rural Daisy, Kentucky and embarked on a west coast tour with Mike Seeger in 1972, which included a performance at The Old Church in Portland, Oregon - a beautiful Carpenter Gothic church built in 1882. Decades later, two particular reels were discovered deep within a pile of 1/4” tape in a shadowy corner of the KBOO Community Radio archives in Portland. Incredibly, those tapes contained the sole surviving evidence of a strikingly intimate and raw performance by Roscoe Holcomb, whose cascading and haunting banjo, guitar and voice echoed and saturated the room and hushed audience.
In contrast to Roscoe’s rarely documented (and at times restrained) live performances at folk festivals and television programs, Roscoe seems to have felt more familiar and spiritually moved in the old church that night. Heard here are standout versions of Appalachian folk-blues classics such as Single Girl, John Henry, East Virginia Blues, Swanno Mountain and more. Once cited as Bob Dylan’s favorite singer, Roscoe Holcomb appears at the peak of his powers here, showcasing his immense vocal talents on an extended acapella version of “The Village Churchyard”. The recording itself is warm and mysterious, sounding like the room itself is alive with the spirit, while the rumbles of trucks and hints of city sounds peek through the walls from the outside streets.

Over the last twenty years Comeback Kid have been hailed as one of the major counterparts when it has come to shaping and pioneering both the Canadian and international modern punk and hardcore sound and scene alike.
After having released their first demo in 2002, before quickly drawing the attention of Facedown Records for the release of their debut, Turn It Around, the last twenty-one years have seen the band produce some of the most acclaimed records within the genre. Signing to Victory Records (Thursday, Refused) for 2005’s career defining records, Wake The Dead and Broadcasting, the five piece have undoubtedly over the years been able to balance a DIY ethos and dependability, with that of a humanitarian ethos, and genre defining musicianship which has broken down the boundaries of hardcore, and transcended the genre onto a global stage. With a back catalogue that would produce some of the most seismic and influential anthems to transverse across both punk and hardcore, 2017’s signing to Nuclear Blast Records (Hatebreed, Madball, Slayer) saw the release of powerhouse heavy hitter, Outsider.
Arguably noted as a record and turning point in both sound and the band’s career, this release would be a definitive moment in pioneering a new path of which an entire generation of new artists within the genre would follow, thus solidifying Comeback Kid next to the likes of NOFX, Terror, and Converge as both major headliners, and forefathers to set the course for what it means to be one of the most adverse punk bands of the 21st century. “We’re a hardcore band, but we don’t feel like we belong to any particular sect of that,” states Neufeld alongside band members, Jeremy Hiebert (guitar), Stu Ross (guitar), Chase Brenneman (bass), and Loren Legare (drums). “We don’t want to be limited in any sense and prefer to work on our own terms.”
Now one of the most volatile leaders within the global heavy music community and continuing to break down boundaries and champion new territories, Comeback Kid’s seventh studio album, Heavy Steps is solidifying the band’s revolutionary status.
Returning to their roots, literally, by recording in Winnipeg and co-producing with John Paul Peters (Cancer Bats, Propagandhi) as well as collaboration with prominent mixer Will Putney (Knocked Loose, Every Time I Die, Four Year Strong), Heavy Steps is no longer a prerequisite to realizing Comeback Kid’s influence on modern punk, but a delivery of pure anthemic chaos, sheer speed and force. It is a statement of intent. “It’s about hitting the ground running, not knowing when or where the ground could break from underneath you.” summarizes Neufeld. “It's heavy steps on thin ice. Heavy steps on hollow ground.”

Sudi Wachspress returns to Tartelet Records with Dance Planet, a third LP of emotionally-charged house music to welcome us back to the dancefloor. The spirit of true house runs deep in the sound of Space Ghost. Oakland native Sudi Wachspress is intuitively plugged into the romantic, mystical energy of 4/4 club music as a unifying force of empowerment and liberation, carrying the torch from vital forebears like Larry Heard, Alton Miller, and Blaze.

His new album, Dance Planet, carries a greater responsibility to spread spiritual affirmations. As the global dancefloor community emerges from a mentally-taxing recess and confronts their social self like it’s the first day of school, Space Ghost’s message couldn’t be more supportive.

“Don’t be afraid to be yourself, don’t be afraid to let go,” he intones on “Be Yourself.” More than just a beat and a hook, his music is pointedly created to heal and energize. “I’m a big fan of old-school house vocals that have a positive message,” says Space Ghost, “tracks that can perhaps enhance your mood or strengthen your confidence in yourself.”

Wachspress has always represented a beacon of musical uplift, both on his previous Endless Light and Aquarium Nightclub LPs for Tartelet and on his swathes of self-released music and last year’s Free 2 B on Apron. Compared to most house-oriented artists, he places emphasis on the long-player format to create an encircling experience for the listener, smoothing out psychic wrinkles and massaging areas of tension for a fully holistic hit.

We commence with a warm and bouncy UK acid house vibe. We conclude with a beguiling 'Boards of Canada' style electronic bubble bath. We're treated to an array of flavors and an outstanding S.O.N.S remix in between. It can only be MUSAR and another compelling collection from Ricardo Tobar.
With a discography that started on Border Community and includes the likes of Co-coon and ESP Institute as well as MUSAR, Chilean Ricardo's credentials speak for themselves.
His music does, too. Constantly playing with themes of displacement, disorientation and delight in his fusions, 'Our Violence' was inspired by the ongoing discussions of cultural appropriation. At its heaviest, on tracks like the Isolee-esque 'Our Vio-lence' and S.O.N.S's SYO rolling breakbeat remix of 'La Femme Aux Masques', we're thrust deep into the most hypnotic of dances. At its most esoteric and experi-mental, tracks like 'Mineral' and 'La Femme Aux Masques', we're taken to places we didn't even know existed. Places that refuse to accept current formulas or standards and take us outside the box - where MUSAR always loves to be.

Years & Years has today announced details of brand new album, ‘Night Call’, which will see a release on Polydor Records on January 7th. Olly further introduces the record today with a brand new track, the pulsating ‘Crave’, and its incredible video featuring some of the cast of ‘It’s A Sin’ (Omari Douglas, Nathaniel Hall, David Carlisle) plus the likes of Munroe Bergdof. The record-breaking show won Best New Drama at the National Television Awards earlier this month, continuing a phenomenal year for Olly (which has also seen the release of first single ‘Starstruck’, its rework with Kylie, and a show-stopping performance of ‘It’s A Sin’ alongside Elton John at the BRIT Awards).

A daring dance track about leaning into submission to the point of embracing it, ‘Crave’ – says Olly – “is a playful way of inhabiting the deranged sexual energy I’ve always wanted. In the past I felt like I’ve been dominated by toxic relationships, and I felt like it would be fun to turn it on its head.” Consider this a risqué cut of kinked-up, club-ready pop, and Olly Alexander using his platform to push the boundaries of mainstream superstardom.

From its iconic artwork to its euphoric, rejuvenated sound, ‘Night Call’ is a thrilling new chapter for Years & Years. Inspired as much by pioneering figures like Sylvester as it is French House, at the centre of the record is that mermaid of a muse: a beautiful icon luring men to their death, on an album partly about those searching for love (or a lover) but ultimately finding power in themselves. Embodying the new perspective of a character – like Ritchie in ‘It’s A Sin’ - also deeply influenced Olly’s songwriting, with songs that blur the line between fantasy and reality but are bound together by their explorations of queer life. Hedonistic and escapist, ‘Night Call’ captures that joy and anticipation of going out precisely because, says Olly, “I was writing from a fantastical space, stuck in the same four walls. I wanted to have as much pleasure as possible in the music.”

As Years & Years, Olly Alexander has become one of the world’s most trailblazing modern pop stars. Across two hugely successful albums to date, the singer, actor, fashion icon and cultural vanguard has earned 5 Brit Award nominations, surpassed 4.4 billion global streams, and played triumphant homecoming shows at London’s O2 and Wembley Arenas. Along the way, Olly has also become a fearless, once-in-a-generation voice on important discussions around mental health, and issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community - all of which, in its own way, has taken him to ‘Night Call’, and the most essential Years & Years album to date.

Habibi Funk presents a selection of works by Algerian-born, Amazigh artist Majid Soula. Majid’s music blends the best of Arab-disco, highlife and groovy funk into something wholly unique.

Born in Kabylie, Algeria - a place that remains fundamental to his career - Majid Soula is a self-made musician, artist and producer. With no formal music education, Majid’s tenacity has led to a career that is still blossoming. His synths, driving drums, guitar & strong lyrics make a unique sound. A strong proponent for the rights of the Amazigh, he has a band that to this day plays shows, most linked to cultural events of the Amazigh diaspora in France, as well as in Belgium, Russia the UK and Sweden. He was part of a new wave of widely popular and successful Kabyle artists in the 1980s, such as Ait Menguellet, Lounès Matoub, Takfarinas, Idir and many more.

Habibi Funk as a label is dedicated to re-releasing music from “The Arab World”, but this release shows how reductive this term can be, as the countries from North Africa and West Asia being summarized under this term include a vast number of languages and identities. Obviously, headlines sometimes come with limited space, and one can’t avoid using terms that paint a half-finished picture. That being the case, however, we are even more happy that Majid Soula liked our idea to work on a release of a selection of his music with us. The tracks here are incredible and need to be introduced to a new generation of listeners.

For Majid Soula music is more than just entertainment. He considers himself an activist through music, and foremost a “chanteur engagé”, as he says of himself: „I take my inspiration from the daily life of my people and I share all their aspirations, mainly the official recognition of Tamazight as a language, culture and identity.”

He still works on new music in his small home studio in Belleville and occasionally plays concerts for the Amazigh community of the city.
We sincerely hope that for you reading this and listening to Majid’s album, his music will have the same revelatory feeling it had on us, and that this will be part of a momentum that will allow Majid to keep on working, playing, and sharing his message for many years to come.

H- side is etched
The American cable-television industry exploded in the 1980s, pushing broadcasts of diverse programming and emissions of low-laying cultures into homes. Community stations piggybacked on the digital developments of the time, extending their existence through telephony and broadcast a iliates. For those growing up in this time, in locations such as New York City, the localized communications beamed into their homes exposed them to an impressionable array of disparate sounds and visions.
Move into the 1990s and New York was filled to the brim of emergent cultures drawing from this ebullition of communication. From Rammellzee’s shapeshifting to the late Judy Russell and Frank and Karen Mendez’s Nu Groove imprint fusing reggae, poetry and house, nascent ideas emanated from the city walls, from within stores such as Sonic Groove store and on VHS releases such as Stakker’s The Evil Acid Baron Show, a legendary technicolor psychedelic trip along the wildest frontiers of acid house. As scenes expanded and identities developed, such individuals weather the events of the visceral now, expressing themselves right into an unpredictable future.
Function’s long career has seen him uncover a vast range of sonic identities, a mainstay through house, techno and industrial with collaborations with the likes of Regis, Damon Wild alongside his highly influential Infrastructure imprint. With influences deeply tied to pop art, rave and gay scenes, and early memories of block-parties emitting Kraftwerk and Strafe, he found himself seeking out the undercover illegal nights of the 90s on a quest of sexual unearthing, mixing the ever-yearning escapology mission of disco with the influential DJ sets of Jeff Mills.
For his new album Existenz, he marks a clear step away from the corporeal techno of his recent releases. Pivoting around themes of religion, sexuality, trauma and healing, it is a work expansive and celebratory, a clear liberation from a deeply internalized past. Formed from a collection of recordings made in a period from late 2016 to mid 2019, Existenz takes the form of a creative outburst in reaction to a number of traumas - recent, childhood and throughout Function’s life. Life partner Stefanie Parnow assisted the production process in its entirety, providing inspiration, spiritual healing and featuring vocal contributions.
Cosmic synths soar and swoop in ‘Pleasure Discipline’ through towering stacks of rhythm that stutter and creak to a halt before rebooting, a firm robotic response to human intervention. ‘Zahlensender’ reflects a spatial tetris of urban life, as digitalization set within an XYZ matrix confronts the sprawling city. Constant arpeggiated meditations echo synaptic transmissions, e ecting a dissolution of boundaries. ’The Approach’ recalls the unification of the self, a state of delirium non-subjective and smooth, as all connections and functions give way to simple intensities of feeling, crossing the threshold into spirituality. ’Golden Dawn’, featuring Stefanie Parnow, marks a further elevation of dubbed-out euphoria, as once more positive rays emerge. His ode to the effortless short-trip urban navigation 'Kurzstrecke' finds Function in motion, upfront and bold, snapshots of conversation and flickers of light. 'Ertrinken' finds metallic bass jabs swamping snipped synthetic voices, with hidden stores of emotion set as a nod to the history of vocoders as a tool for encrypted military communication. House icon Robert Owens features on 'Growth Cycle' and 'Be', entrenching a celebratory atmosphere over Function's clubwise leanings. Closing track 'Downtown 161' reflects the unmistakeable filtered and squashed interjections of television, and sampled dance vocals - a sound for the curious, dreamers and dancers.
With Existenz, Function reveals an essential body of work, spread over 4LP - thought experiments on the role of identity and spirituality after a lifetime of upheaval and trauma. Leading up until the release date, Function will undertake an album promo tour with select dates - A/V shows at Berlin Atonal and Rural festival in Japan, and three dates as part of his Bassiani residency.

You need to go hunt this down. They’re making incredible music!” Tony Minvielle – Jazz FM

Vertaal’s debut double LP, “Paradigm Shifting” was released earlier this year to wide acclaim from the international jazz community and sold out on initial pressings.

Featuring 4 singles including the atmospheric “Alcazar” and live favourite “Drop Off’, the album was subsequently re-pressed on limited edition black vinyl which is also at the point of selling out.

2020’s lock down and subsequent cancellation of the band’s tour schedule led to extended periods recording in their home studio, on a barge on the River Stort near Stansted Airport.

The duo, comprising keyboard player and producer Theo Howarth and drummer Ajit Gill recorded “live”

versions of some of the Paradigm Shifting album tracks for various radio shows, joined online by guest bassist Severin Bruhin, guitarist

Luca Gianassi, conga player Simon Todd and saxophonist Loren Hignall.

Some of those recordings have now been made available on a special limited edition cassette EP featuring 4 tracks live studio tracks

– three previously unreleased versions from the album “Paradigm Shifting”, “Drop Off”, “Paradigm Shifting” and “Alcazar” and a completely new track “NDY”

Designed to look a box of Swan Vesta matches, the tape itself is pink with an onbody sticker of a collection of pink-headed matches.

Rush-released for Christmas, The Lockdown Tapes will make a nice stocking filler for jazz aficionados!

Vertaal have been an increasingly notable presence in the nu-jazz scene over the past 3 years.
Tipped as “ones to watch for 2019” by Jazz Re:freshed, in 2021 Vertaal have played an exclusive pick of sold out shows at prestigious venues such as

Ronnie Scott’s, Pizza Express Soho and the Jazz Café, along with festival appearances at Standon Calling, High Tide Festival and Lost Village.

They have also supported the likes of Mark Guiliana (David Bowie), & Pete Ray Biggin (Level 42) Richard Spaven

and this year embarked on a tour of the UK’s record stores playing tracks from the album.

Ajak Kwai is a name well known to the airwaves, stage, and broader Australian music community for her powerful performances and strong messages that call for inclusion and celebration of the diversity found throughout Australian society. Originally hailing from a small town of Bor (pronounced ‘bohr’) on the Upper Nile in what is now South Sudan, music has always been part of her life.

Alongside sharing political messages through her music, Ajak Kwai is also a radio broadcaster in Melbourne on both PBS and 3CR. Her shows give a voice to the local African community so that they can tell their stories through music and spoken word, and her music selections focus on songs that have changed the world in a positive way. She challenges bias in our society and reminds politicians to be accountable for their language and actions.

Performing in English, Arabic, and her native language, Dinka, Ajak Kwai’s music draws upon South Sudanese funk and blues influences and brings together elements of traditional music alongside more contemporary gestures. The result is something notably unique and powerful.

Ajak Kwai is joined by a band of exceptional standards, including musicians Matthew Erickson, Kanyakumar Shome (Silent Jay, REMI, The Bamboos, Cat Empire, Sampa the Great), Kofi Kunkpe, Maria Moles (Jaala, Jonnine (HTRK), Mildlife), Gabriela Georges and guests Boubacar Gaye (Ausecuma Beats) and Allysha Joy (30/70).

Ajak Kwai’s previous release and fifth album, ‘Let Me Grow My Wings’, was featured as RRR album of the week, feature Album on 2ser, and saw widespread support across community radio. Ajak Kwai has been an ambassador of the Melbourne International Arts Festival for three years and her sets have been highlights at festivals including WOMADelaide, Bluesfest, Brunswick Music Festival, A Festival Called Panama, Dark Mofo, Port Fairy Folk Festival and Woodford Folk Festival.

Yellow Vinyl

From his early years on the music scene in Edinburgh, Theo Kottis has built a buzz as one of the UK's most exciting DJs. He is also the curator of his own unique sound, crafted on his Beautiful Strangers series, and gained clout from star DJs the world over.

The Mirror EP is fronted by a euphoric party track inspired by Kottis' lockdown yearning for "the kind of party where you don't stop dancing" - and crafted perfectly for this purpose. The raw energy of breaks and rave piano stabs is permeated by Busola's pep talk, getting the listener and the dancer geared up for the summer of release after a year of restrictions.

On the B Side, "Onda" takes its name from the Spanish word for waves. This is a blissed out relaxation after the intensity of the A-Side, an ode to an Ibiza poolside which still maintains a strong groove. Playful
pads pop out under sublime strings for an instantly nostalgic vibe.

Theo Kottis words on the release "Earlier this year during peak winter lockdown, craving the kind of party where you don't stop dancing, I took matters into my own hands, producing this new single "The Mirror", featuring Busola - who is the life of the party - to bring euphoric sounds to my living room and now to yours.

The thought of the impending "Summer of Love" got me through lockdown and I wanted to create something energetic and fun to mirror that excitement. I'd seen Little Gay Brother, the LGBTQ+ party and community perform at many festivals and knew their vibe would be an ideal source for this raw energy - I was introduced to Busola who provided the ultimate summer of self-love pep talk, something we all needed to get back out there post lockdown!

The second track is a nod to my summer escape to Ibiza where I played Pikes poolside and spent time in the sea and watching waves - "ondas" in Spanish - to reset and relax.

The Blind Date Party hosted by Bill Callahan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
and featuring AZITA, Matt Sweeney, Alasdair Roberts, Matt Kinsey,
Sean O’Hagan, Bill MacKay, George Xylouris, Dead Rider, David Pajo,
Mick Turner, Meg Baird, Ty Segall, Emmett Kelly, Cory Hanson, Six
Organs of Admittance, David Grubbs, Cassie Berman, Cooper Crain and
Sir Richard Bishop happened online in the autumn and winter of 2020 -
2021 but the party planning dated back to the spring of 2020.
 Stuck at home, with no gigs in the foreseeable future, Bill, Bonnie and
Drag City needed an outreach program to keep themselves busy, not to
mention sane. In the absence of any company or anything on the
calendar, playing songs they loved was an idea; playing with people they
loved, the desire. And making it fun - so pairing someone with someone
else having no say in the matter, the essence of the blind date, was the
plan. Favourite songs were chosen; players from around the Drag City
galaxy were messaged. Pretty soon, songs were flying back and forth -
music in the air.
 By autumn, the songs started to appear online: Bill and Bonnie singing a
song by someone they loved and admired; each song cut by another
artist they loved and admired, then sent to Bill and Bonnie to provide the
finishing touches. The spotlight pointed in every direction each week:
toward the singers and writers who’d originally played the songs (Yusuf
Islam, Hank Williams Jr., Dave Rich, The Other Years, Billie Eilish,
Steely Dan, Lou Reed, Bill Callahan, Jerry Jeff Walker, Robert Wyatt,
Lowell George, Johnnie Frierson, Air Supply, Will Oldham, Leonard
Cohen, David Berman, Iggy Pop and John Prine), toward their featured
collaborators, the artists whose artwork adorned each digital single and
videos made by still more collaborators.
 Like the best parties, it turned out to be everything and more than they’d
even hoped for. So many more people were involved in the process that
would on the page here. Suffice to say, making records over the years
has required a broad sense of community and an always-surprising mix
of independence and unity, inspiration and utility. Some of the best
memories are those where as many of our folks as possible were
together in one place at one time. The Blind Date Party was one of
these, maybe the most improbable one yet. It’s for everyone who’s here
and it’s in the name of everyone who’s gone but will never go and will
always live with us here. This album will too.

The Blind Date Party hosted by Bill Callahan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
and featuring AZITA, Matt Sweeney, Alasdair Roberts, Matt Kinsey,
Sean O’Hagan, Bill MacKay, George Xylouris, Dead Rider, David Pajo,
Mick Turner, Meg Baird, Ty Segall, Emmett Kelly, Cory Hanson, Six
Organs of Admittance, David Grubbs, Cassie Berman, Cooper Crain and
Sir Richard Bishop happened online in the autumn and winter of 2020 -
2021 but the party planning dated back to the spring of 2020.
 Stuck at home, with no gigs in the foreseeable future, Bill, Bonnie and
Drag City needed an outreach program to keep themselves busy, not to
mention sane. In the absence of any company or anything on the
calendar, playing songs they loved was an idea; playing with people they
loved, the desire. And making it fun - so pairing someone with someone
else having no say in the matter, the essence of the blind date, was the
plan. Favourite songs were chosen; players from around the Drag City
galaxy were messaged. Pretty soon, songs were flying back and forth -
music in the air.
 By autumn, the songs started to appear online: Bill and Bonnie singing a
song by someone they loved and admired; each song cut by another
artist they loved and admired, then sent to Bill and Bonnie to provide the
finishing touches. The spotlight pointed in every direction each week:
toward the singers and writers who’d originally played the songs (Yusuf
Islam, Hank Williams Jr., Dave Rich, The Other Years, Billie Eilish,
Steely Dan, Lou Reed, Bill Callahan, Jerry Jeff Walker, Robert Wyatt,
Lowell George, Johnnie Frierson, Air Supply, Will Oldham, Leonard
Cohen, David Berman, Iggy Pop and John Prine), toward their featured
collaborators, the artists whose artwork adorned each digital single and
videos made by still more collaborators.
 Like the best parties, it turned out to be everything and more than they’d
even hoped for. So many more people were involved in the process that
would on the page here. Suffice to say, making records over the years
has required a broad sense of community and an always-surprising mix
of independence and unity, inspiration and utility. Some of the best
memories are those where as many of our folks as possible were
together in one place at one time. The Blind Date Party was one of
these, maybe the most improbable one yet. It’s for everyone who’s here
and it’s in the name of everyone who’s gone but will never go and will
always live with us here. This album will too.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Lady Gaga’s iconic album Born This Way, Born This Way The Tenth Anniversary includes Lady Gaga's original Born This Way album, along with six new versions of songs reimagined by artists representing and advocating for the LGBTQIA+ community, including Kylie Minogue, Big Freedia, The Highwomen, Orville Peck, and more. The 3LP version includes 3 additional tracks.

Sharing with you the debut Album of Nice Girl titled “Ipsum”.
As a natural progression from her prior singles on Public Possession the music has a very capturing energy, although essentially machine music every single sound on the record seems connected with mother earth.
It’s rooted in the common ground that is home to all of us: the soil that nurtures flora & fauna, the air we breath, the water we drink, the sun & moon that shine upon our bodies.
One tribe, a million rituals, a common ground: The Dance (the Beat). Repetitive rhythms creating a sense of community & togetherness.

After the success of critically acclaimed debut, SOS Music Volume 1 (praised by The Wire - ‘There isn’t a weak link’, RA, Gilles Peterson, Maryann Hobbs, Rough Trade, Love Injection, Mixmag, DJ mag, Basndcamp, Vinyl Factory etc.), the cutting edge Los Angeles electronic label are back with their sophomore release, another explosive compilation comprised of brand new female and female identifying talent.
The release, available on beautiful clear vinyl and digital features 7 of the most exciting emerging names in global dance music; Aura T-09, Closet Yi, Regular Fantasy + Yazzus to name a few. As dance floors open, SOS co-founders Maddy Maia and Tottie wanted to curate something positive, uplifting and reflective of sweaty summer dance floors, whilst retaining the edge that permeated their debut.
The release will be accompanied by an SOS tour North American + Europe at some of the most iconic global clubs - and expect mainly female, female identifying and non-binary artists on the bill.
Though only founded in 2020, SOS Music has been making waves in the independent dance community, and has helped to highlight the global underground dance scene growing rapidly in Los Angeles. The release made end of year lists including Bandcamp’s Best of Electronic and Rough Trade NY compilation of the year. SOS Music also hold a residency on Worldwide Fm, which continues to highlight ground breaking electronic talent with a female focus.

Whoop whoop, it’s the sound of the inimitable KRS One’s ‘Sound of da Police’ and the mind bogglingly clever ‘Hip Hop vs Rap’, reissued here for the first time ever on 7 inch vinyl, housed in an original artwork picture sleeve this is a must have for anyone in the know.

First up ‘Sound of da Police’. A song that spoke out against the long running history of the Black community experiencing police brutality, violence and racism at the hands of those that were meant to be protecting them. The hard-hitting words from KRS touch on the history of slavery and it’s manifestation into systemic racism throughout the ages since.

“Change your attitude, change your plan
There could never really be justice on stolen land”

Couple that with a rough breakbeat, chopped through the MPC alongside choice funk samples and that legendary police siren ‘Whoop, Whoop’ and you had a certified golden era rap classic that ignited the fire in the belly of many across the globe.

On the flip, ‘Hip Hop Vs Rap’. A bumping hip hop loop lays the foundation for KRS to work his genius melding all manner of classic hip hop lines that are the perfect ammunition to cut up on the decks and results in a flow that certifies that hip hop is the culture that you live and breathe.

“Rap is something you do,
Hip-Hop is something you live!”

It’s a true, headsy b-boy gem which deserves a place in every collection.

Haiku Salut, the acclaimed electronica trio from the Derbyshire Dales release their fifth album, ‘The Hill, The Light, The Ghost’ on Secret Name records on August 27th. Note the LP follows in November.

A beautiful study of ghosts and memory, the gestation of the record began when Haiku Salut’s Sophie Barkerwood was given a Tascam field recorder. “I carried it around with me in case anything interesting happened. I guess I wanted to capture little pieces of the world in the same way we all take photographs,” explains Sophie. “It wasn’t immediately apparent that we would begin to use these sounds as the architecture for an album but as our writing process evolved the textures of these memories became a bank of inspiration.”

“We then began actively searching for ghosts in the world and framing the songs around their qualities,” Sophie continues. “Gathering recordings, removing them from their context and building worlds around them. Capturing and preserving personal experiences, and evoking vivid spaces. You could say the record is a miniature exploration of sound in relation to memory. Each piece is intimately connected to a place in time.”

Musically, the album marries the expansive vision of their third album, ‘There Is No Elsewhere’, which celebrated identity and community, with the darker, more contemplative feel of their fourth album, the trio’s original soundtrack for Buster Keaton’s ‘The General’. Building on the lessons learned working on ‘The General’, ‘The Hill, The Light, The Ghost’ is a cohesive suite, nine songs that combine to tell a larger story – that of experience and memory, of precious moments and echoes of past lives.

Hungry Shells, the seventeenth entry in RVNG Intl.’s intergenerational collaborations series FRKWYS, brings together vocalist, multi- instrumentalist, and sound artist Ka Baird with avant-garde composer and radical performance art pioneer Pekka Airaksinen. Recorded six months before Pekka’s passing, Hungry Shells alchemizes separate but similar spiritualistic practices, canvassing Baird’s voice and synthesizer rituals and Airaksinen’s lysergic sound explorations into startling, surreal landscapes.

Pekka Airaksinen, who left this realm for another in May 2019, is recognized as a pioneering composer both in and outside his native Finland’s fringe art community. A founding member of the late 60s art and music collective The Sperm, Airaksinen discovered Buddhism in the early 1970s, eventually establishing a number of meditation centers around Finland. Throughout his career Airaksinen embraced a degree of obscurity and anonymity that was inspired by his Buddhist learnings, and afforded him complete creative freedom. As he explained, “The less success you have, the more time there is to develop things.”

Ka Baird, who found her musical footing in Chicago playing in Spires That In The Sunset Rise before moving to New York to pursue her solo career, has developed a practice based in forms of active and engaged embodiment. Inspired by Charlemagne Palestine’s Body Music, Baird’s performances explore physical extremes as a catalyst for charged immediacy and presence. “I’m interested in the

places between precision and something unrestrained,” she told The Wire in 2019. Drawing on minimalism’s ecstatic deployment of duration and endurance, her recordings explore the outer limit sounds of her voice and its synthesis with developing music technology.

Airaksinen and Baird convened in Utrecht in the fall of 2018 to write, rehearse, and record Hungry Shells ahead of a performance at the Dutch festival institution Le Guess Who? Sessions took place between contemplative walks along the city’s medieval canals, and, for Airaksinen, lengthy meditations in his hotel room. Early on in the trip, Pekka shared ODO with Ka, a collection of Buddhist parables that he divinely received while meditating. After translating several of these texts from Finnish to English the duo used them as text for the album, and a sort of psychic foundation.

Since her debut onto the techno scene with the 2018 release of her EP 'Post-Traumatic Rave Syndrome' on Paula Temple's "Noise Manifesto" and a string of international festival and club appearances, Femanyst has gained a reputation for militant individuality. Akua Grant sets herself apart from the crowd with her aggressive & unrelenting industrial techno sets tinged with elements of Hardcore and Gabber. She has become known for her rebellious and innovative style in her adopted home of Berlin. Her self-assured approach to gripping and brawling techno tension sees her perform a fast paced and fervent flow on the dance floor. Femanyst continues to bring her unapologetically bold signature sound with her own techno imprint "Dark Carousel" as an extension to her much revered DJ sets of twisted and aggressive, high octane electronic music.


A2 Fluid - Post Industrial Transformation
Fluid is a queer DJ and producer based in Berlin. Supporting FLINTA* DJs, producers and party events are one of his priorities. His first release begun in January 2021 and he is still modelling his sound. His interest in electronic music goes from industrial techno to ebm to trance to hypnotic techno.

Post Industrial Transformation is a track which combines aggressive sounds and a lot of industrial elements. The transformation refers to Fluid's evolving own path. This evolution is similar to the tension that builds up all through the track. This track evokes change, modification, passage from one form to another.


B1 Hybral - Unheard Voices
Hybral is a Berlin-based non-binary DJ and producer drawn to eerie energetic industrial techno. They mix and produce haunting techno, EBM, and noisy-driven experimental sounds. Hybral's productions are made of dark atmospheric patterns linked with pushing percussions and basslines as well as heavily distorted kicks and harsh industrial noises. Mixing DJ sets the track selection is ranging from contemplative ambient to stern and fast techno - connecting vast influences from Hybral's personal experiences of spending days and nights on Berlin's dancefloors. They are founder of the queer label, podcast, and event series 'Subverted' which focuses on a distinct program aiming to lead dance music back to its roots of resistance and diversity.


B2 Marsch - Mrs. Jones
Marsch is a Berlin-based dj and producer from France, who initially began 8 years ago as a music curator and selector. She started to produce when she moved to Berlin, and has mostly been focusing on this for the past few years. She would define her music as a balance between melody, energy and texture, with a blend of minimalistic elements, rhythmic and percussions, and voices and futuristic synths.


DURCH BLN/TLV is a queer collective with a clear vision of solidarity and community building. DURCH operates in Tel Aviv and Berlin trying to bring queer people together, building a culture of inclusion, diversity and tolerance. In the tradition of original raves DURCH organizes solidarity events ranging from parties, to art and community events, with the strong belief that raves are a much needed place for people to come together, celebrate their diversity and learn to respect each other. Musically DURCH is eclectic inspired by hardcore, straight forward techno, ghetto and scouse house and 90s acid.

We proudly announce the release of our first vinyl record "dogged boldness". This is a long held dream by the entire crew. With Femanyst, Hybral, Marsch and Fluid we are happy to showcase four artists that are close and dear to DURCH BLN/TLV. The record is a compilation of four hard-hitting, inciting techno tracks. Rough, bold and aggravating, just the way we like it. We are proud that we are able to continuously work with queer artists and to be a platform to further queer artists visibility.


Disclaimer: The world needs more queer artist, more queer music, more queer techno, more queer perspectives, more queer love and more queer intimacy.
No place for any racist, sexist, trans- or homophobic shit.

Artwork by Rory Midhani
Mastering by Chlar

Born in 1999, Charlie Hickey grew up in South Pasadena,
just minutes from Downtown Los Angeles. Raised by two
singer-songwriter parents, Charlie’s second language was
music since day one. As early as grade school, he was
making sense of the world through songwriting, and by
middle school he was writing, recording and performing
songs that attracted a community of collaborators and could
silence a room.
 A turning point for Charlie came at around the age of
thirteen, when he covered a song by then up-and-coming
artist Phoebe Bridgers, who was still in high school herself.
The two quickly became friends and collaborators, setting
Charlie on an exciting new musical path. Years later,
Bridgers introduced Charlie to songwriter, drummer, producer
and her bandmate Marshall Vore, who noticed something
special about Charlie. The two began writing and recording
songs together, and soon Charlie dropped out of school to
work on his music full-time.
 Charlie Hickey’s first proper single was ‘No Good at Lying’
and it’s the first track on ‘Count The Stairs’. The Marshall
Vore-produced track introduces us to Charlie’s evocative
storytelling and features Phoebe Bridgers on backing vocals.
“I’m no good at lying / on my back or through my teeth / but
I’m good at dreaming / I can do it in my sleep,” he sings over
hushed guitars and a whimsical banjo, searching for truth as
his unconscious mind runs wild and bleeds into reality. It’s a
slow, quiet, and understated peek to the world of Charlie
Hickey, who is barely of legal drinking age, but taps into such
universal themes that showcase a wisdom beyond his years
and exudes promise for what’s to come.

Born in 1999, Charlie Hickey grew up in South Pasadena,
just minutes from Downtown Los Angeles. Raised by two
singer-songwriter parents, Charlie’s second language was
music since day one. As early as grade school, he was
making sense of the world through songwriting, and by
middle school he was writing, recording and performing
songs that attracted a community of collaborators and could
silence a room.
 A turning point for Charlie came at around the age of
thirteen, when he covered a song by then up-and-coming
artist Phoebe Bridgers, who was still in high school herself.
The two quickly became friends and collaborators, setting
Charlie on an exciting new musical path. Years later,
Bridgers introduced Charlie to songwriter, drummer, producer
and her bandmate Marshall Vore, who noticed something
special about Charlie. The two began writing and recording
songs together, and soon Charlie dropped out of school to
work on his music full-time.
 Charlie Hickey’s first proper single was ‘No Good at Lying’
and it’s the first track on ‘Count The Stairs’. The Marshall
Vore-produced track introduces us to Charlie’s evocative
storytelling and features Phoebe Bridgers on backing vocals.
“I’m no good at lying / on my back or through my teeth / but
I’m good at dreaming / I can do it in my sleep,” he sings over
hushed guitars and a whimsical banjo, searching for truth as
his unconscious mind runs wild and bleeds into reality. It’s a
slow, quiet, and understated peek to the world of Charlie
Hickey, who is barely of legal drinking age, but taps into such
universal themes that showcase a wisdom beyond his years
and exudes promise for what’s to come.

Following a definitive first volume jam-packed with forward-thinking musical talent working in the South African creative improvised music idiom, New Horizons returns with a fresh iteration of young artists who continue in the same tradition and tone.

The compilation showcases recent recordings from 14 more leading lights in South Africa’s contemporary jazz scene: pianists Thembelihle Dunjana, Afrika Mkhize, Sibusiso ‘Mash’ Mashiloane, Blake Hellaby and Siphephelo Ndlovu’s The SN Project; saxophonists Sisonke Xonti, Muhammad Dawjee and Linda Sikhakhane; singer Spha Mdlalose; drummers Ayanda Sikade, Leagan Starchild and Tefo Mahola; and trumpeters Ndabo Zulu and Marcus Wyatt accompanied respectively by Umgidi Ensemble and The ZAR Jazz Orchestra.

Together they form part of a vibrant, connected community charting new sonic territory that speaks to today’s troubled times while building on the country’s unique and proud jazz history.

gem-K is the femme fatale alter-ego of Maria Korkeila, a Finnish multidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of fashion, graphics, textiles, photography and music. Super Utu and Korkeila first crossed paths in 2017 at The Community, a small independent art gallery then located in Paris’s 10th arrondissement run by a group of Finnish expats. It was from then we learnt that Korkeila’s artistry is influenced not by any one discipline but by praxis itself. This can be observed through her myriad creative explorations: In My Room - a site specific installation at Kämp Garden, Helsinki; Her Aalto University grad collection - a junction of photography and textile design through a feminist lens; and Fiskars by Maria Korkeila - a gender-neutral gardening and urban exploration clothing collection.

HIGHLIGHTS: Objetos Musicais is a collection of 13 sound pieces created by artists from South America and Switzerland, who work in an intermediate zone among the craft of luthiers, visual arts and experimental music. Their works evoke the visionary ideas of Walter Smetak, a Swiss composer who lived in Salvador, Bahia (Brazil) Smetakian spirit tunes in with a new community of contemporary artists, who relate to the work of the so-called "experimental luthiers": artists who build their own instruments, lead them towards radical extended versions or take the exploration towards the building of resonant machines. DESCRIPTION: Objetos Musicais is a collection of 13 sound pieces created by artists from South America and Switzerland, who work in an intermediate zone among the craft of luthiers, visual arts and experimental music. Their works evoke the visionary ideas of Walter Smetak, a Swiss composer who lived in Salvador, Bahia (Brazil). Smetak was a pioneer of musical experimentation in that country and developed, in the 60s and 70s, a musical poetics that was captured in two seminal albums, Smetak (1974) and Interregno (1980), both of which, after being out of print for a long time, have been reissued today, hence the motivation for this tribute. On those two albums, Smetak combined Afro-Brazilian ritual traditions, theosophy, microtonality studies, collective improvisation and the use of unconventional musical instruments, which he called Plasticas Sonoras. Smetak came to build around 150 acoustic instruments, many of which are true sound sculptures of great visual impact. This latter aspect is the most directly evoked one on this album-and it so happens that the Smetakian spirit tunes in with a new community of contemporary artists, who relate to the work of the so-called "experimental luthiers", artists who build their own instruments (Marco Scarassatti, Phillipp Laeng, Maria Anália), lead them towards radical extended versions (Ruben Dhers, Claudio Merlet), develop hybrid projects involving instruments and sound sculpture (Javier Bustos, Alvaro Icaza and Verónica Luyo, Juan Pablo Egúsquiza, Edgardo Rudnitzky) or take the exploration towards the building of resonant machines (Nicole L'Huillier, O Grivo, Zimoun, Cod.Act), without these categories being mutually exclusive, but rather tending to mix, thereby opening up new sonic possibilities. This new community of artists has begun to create a whole new field of research and, in a way, a new discipline, understandable within the context of this new paradigm opened by the maker culture, which has pushed creators and developers from all over the world to conceive alternative-anti-hegemonic and DIY-forms of production. Therefore, this collection allows the artists to evoke Walter Smetak but also to connect his work to this new scene-to which it precedes-a link for this new art that makes its way at some point among the work of experimental luthiers, sound art, experimental music and the DIY ethics. Curated by Luis Alvarado and Chico Dub. Art by René Sánchez. Limited edition of 300 copies on vinyl. This project is part of the experimental music and sound art platform Incidencias Sonoras: COINCIDENCIA, by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.

Echolocation is the debut album by Pamela Z, the pioneering Bay Area intermedia composer and performance artist. Written and recorded over three years, and self-released and distributed on cassette in 1988, Echolocation is genre-defying document of Z’s earliest experiments with live voice and delay, and the impetus of an artist’s three decade search for sounds yet unfelt.

Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Z traded one snowy backdrop for another to attend the University of Colorado in Boulder at the tail end of the 70s, where she pursued a degree in music while taking local gigs covering Joni Mitchell and Malvina Reynolds b-sides on an acoustic guitar. While a host at KGNU, Z discovered a vast world of avant-garde music in the community radio station’s library, and was inspired to create towards, and alongside, the fringe sounds she pulled from the stacks and broadcast. This revelation intersected with a new era of accessible and affordable instruments and home recording technology, and a diversifying community of artists self-releasing music on cassette and finding an audience through underground publications.

Z moved again to San Francisco in 1984, legally changed her last name, and furthered her practice of vocal processing in live environments. A city simultaneously nurturing and stratifying the free spirit of the two decades prior, Z assumed an immediate role in the Bay Area’s interdisciplinary performance art scene, and began curating Z Programs, her own concert and event series.

Australia's biggest selling dance act and one of the most popular drum'n'bass acts of the early 21st century, Pendulum are an Australian group based in the United Kingdom. Formed in Perth in 2002, the group was originally comprised of producers Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, who worked in tandem with a local DJ named Paul "El Hornet" Harding. One of the team's initial releases, "Vault," became a sensation amid the drum'n'bass community in 2003, benefiting greatly from its high-profile placement at the beginning of J Majik's FabricLive mix album. In 2005, Pendulum made their full-length album debut, Hold Your Colour, featuring the singles "Tarantula" and "Slam."
Pendulum signed to Warner Music U.K. and made their major-label debut with 2007's "Granite," a Top 30 hit. Their second full-length album, In Silico (2008), spawned four singles, including U.K. Top Ten hit "Propane Nightmares". In Silico went on to reach platinum status in the U.K., as well as just missing out on the U.K. number one album chart spot. Their third album, Immersion, was released in 2010, and shot straight to the top of the U.K. albums chart. It featured collaborations with the Prodigy's Liam Howlett, Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson, and Swedish metallers In Flames. In support of the album, Pendulum embarked on a world tour, playing two sold-out shows at London's Wembley Arena and headline slots at some of the U.K.'s largest festivals.
At the end of 2011, Pendulum took a break from live performing, with Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen focusing their energy on their side project, Knife Party. In 2018, Pendulum returned from a seven-year hiatus, with Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen and Paul Harding currently touring as Pendulum - Trinity.

Das kanadische Ensemble BADBADNOTGOOD machte sich einen Namen als sie kurzerhand Jazz und HipHop miteinander verbanden - nun kehren sie mit ihrem Debüt auf XL Recordings zu ihren instrumentellen Anfängen zurück! Mit dem Talk Memory reflektieren sie die Geschichte und die Innovationen der Musiker und Komponisten, die sie auf dem Weg zum eigenen Sound beeinflussten. Die Band formte sich 2010 im Humber College Jazz Kurs in Toronto, das feste Trio-Line-Up mit Alexander Sowinski (Drums), Chester Hansen (Bass) und Leland Whitty (Gitarre und Holzbläser) existiert seit 2015. Für die drei ist ein Song ein lebender und atmender Organismus, der sich natürlich entwickelt und je nach Umgebung anders klingt. "Talk Memory" ist ein Album, das ganz in diesem Sinne entstanden ist und markiert auch einen Wechsel vom Ego hin zum Kollektiv, zur Balance und zur Harmonie. Es enthält musikalische Beiträge von Arthur Verocai, Karriem Riggins, Terrace Martin, Laraaji und der gefeierten Harfenistin Brandee Younger, die bereits mit Moses Sumney und Thundercat gearbeitet hat. Die Visuals entwarf Virgil Abloh mit seiner Designfirma Alaska-Alaska_äó, der auch das Albumcover gestaltet hat. "Talk Memory" ist ein Album, das betont, wie Musik als Konversation unabdingbar kollektiv und improvisiert sein muss. Es erinnert dabei an die typischen Momente einer Live Jazz- oder Soul-Show, in der der Frontmann jedes einzelne Bandmitglied vorstellt, um ihm/ihr den gebührenden Applaus zukommen zu lassen. Und so ist ein Album voller tiefer Zuneigung zur Musik und zur Community entstanden.

Richard Ashcroft is set to release the new album ‘Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1’ on October 29th via RPA / BMG. The album features twelve newly recorded acoustic versions of classic songs from his back catalogue spanning both his solo career and his time with The Verve.



ABOUT



After lockdown was lifted, Richard decided to start the project as a way to reunite the community around him, bringing a selection of great musicians and old friends back together again. As the project took shape, they discovered just how varied their new approaches could be. Some of the arrangements proved to be timeless and remained similar to the originals, with years of experience and a new found passion that saw Richard’s vocals express a fresh empathy within their lyrics. Meanwhile, other songs took on a new shape in this stripped-back set-up.



The rebirth of the iconic ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ was an emotional moment for Richard. It felt particularly poignant re-recording a song that he had written almost twenty-five years ago, especially as it's now officially his composition after Mick Jagger and Keith Richards relinquished their writing credits to him.

Another big moment comes with the new version of ‘C’Mon People (We’re Making It Now)’, a duet with Richard’s old friend Liam Gallagher. The pair have often talked about recording or performing the song together since it was first released in 2000, and now it’s finally happened - the sheer energy and delight that they shared during the session is palpable as the new recording beams with a joyous feeling of optimism.



‘Velvet Morning’ is another track that has been transformed. The vocals on the original version, as featured on The Verve’s classic ‘Urban Hymns’, were sung via a megaphone that Richard had purchased from a car boot sale the day before the recording session. Now Richard’s vocal really shines as it unleashes the song’s full magnitude.



The biggest surprise on ‘Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1’ is the inclusion of ‘This Thing Called Life’, a song which Ashcroft has rarely played live. It was originally recorded with No I.D. in the USA as a highlight of his soul-tinged RPA & The United Nations Of Sound project. Now taken back to basics, the new arrangement reveals a song that feels perfectly at home alongside Richard’s most highly regarded work.



Produced by Richard with regular collaborator Chris Potter, the album features his regular live band boosted by some special collaborators. Wil Malone provides the string arrangements, which were recorded at Abbey Road Studios. In addition, Chuck Leavell (The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers) performs piano, Roddy Bloomfield leads the brass section, and Steve Wyreman (Leon Bridges, Vic Mensa) contributes acoustic guitar and backing vocals.



Richard Ashcroft recently announced details of four special shows, each billed as “An acoustic evening of his classic songs.” After quickly selling out two nights at London’s Palladium, he subsequently added two bigger shows at the Royal Albert Hall and the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool to fulfill huge public demand for tickets. He will play:

Clear Vinyl

Side A begins with Veil of Secrecy, its darkness bubbling up from the depths of a strong bass groove, loaded with rich textures and quirky shifts. Psyk offers his hypnotic trademark on the remix, a stripped down feeling with skillful changes to provoke the mind.

Side B begins with Deep State, its intensity gripping immediately due to its lavish percussion, off-kilter leads and unrelenting rolling bass driving the masterly arrangement. The Fourth Branch marches an eerie minimalism into bass oblivion with an abundance of lush atmosphere and well timed changes.

We recognize that now is a difficult time in society across the globe and especially to our dance music community where the impact is still unknown, however because of this, we believe it is more important than ever to share a common bond and a love for techno.

Hidden proves again its strength in consistency and quality with another hard-hitting four-track EP by label boss, Deepak Sharma.

The release is tough, gritty, dark and reflective of both the times we live and the artist involved: Deepak Sharma's heavy, rolling and sobering originals are paired with a somber, powerful remix with subtle movements by Psyk.