Suche:crooked one

Channeling inventive sound design into incisive, characterful techno variations, Jurango returns to Livity Sound with an eight-track double EP — his longest release to date. Taíno Gold captures a moment in time for Bristol-based Nate Reece's continually evolving sound as it draws on the full spectrum of UK club music.

Following a debut for Livity's reverse label in 2021 and last year's An Amorphous Mass EP, Reece is more assured than ever tackling a variety of club-focused cuts. The tracks on the release all came together before, during and after a two-month visit to Reece's grandparents' home — an idyllic tropical environment in a small community at the top of a hill in the northern part of Jamaica.

Taíno Gold refers to the island's indigenous Taíno community and the legend of a witch luring Spanish settlers into a trap on the Martha Brae river. There are no messages explicitly embedded in the music, but the release is both a personal reflection of Reece's own experiences and family heritage, plus a reminder about the enduring sceptre of colonialism and the continued need to fight against it. From absorbing Jamaica's fraught history through museum and plantation visits to the abundant nature in the garden surrounding his grandparent's house, the double EP marks a place in time for Reece, with eight advanced, ear-catching tracks as the end result.

From the cascading arps of 'Black Torches' to the tunnelling chords of 'Waiting For Trelawny', the melodic dimension of the Jurango sound is more confident than ever. 'Hibiscus' is a shimmering celebration of dub techno and crooked drum pressure and 'Chalk On Trees' basks in aqueous, fathoms-deep pads to close out the EP. Elsewhere, Reece brings new textural and tonal detail to his percussive workouts, splashing acidic noise around the angular experimentation of 'Maybe It's Broken' and firing off double-time rhythms to inject 'Double Sevens' with infectious urgency.

With the space afforded by a longer release, Reece widens out the scope of his artistic identity while absorbing the particular scene and setting that surrounded him while making the tracks. Taíno Gold is a vibrant next step for Jurango and a natural continuation of his work with Livity Sound.

Livity Sound is a label set up by Peverelist in 2011 as a vehicle for a raw and exploratory strain of UK techno, rooted in the heritage of UK dance music and sound system culture. It has since become one of the UK's foremost protagonists for cutting edge underground electronic music.

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR’s highly anticipated second album, Come Creeping Fiends, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Released in 2019 via DYING VICTIMS, AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR’s Havoc at the Midnight Hour debut album introduced this British power-trio with no small amount of sleazy, Satanic fanfare. While their background may jointly lie in black metal, the three un-gentlemen of AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR held high heavy metal done the ancient way: classic Tank, early Raven, Warfare, and of course the almighty Venom as well as modern torchbearers like Midnight, Whipstriker, and Power From Hell. Unsurprisingly, the album garnered international acclaim. Eclipsing that feat is the band’s second album, Come Creeping Fiends.

Truly titled once again, Come Creeping Fiends comprises nine tracks of heavy metal for the insane, forged in the Manchester morgue. Raging like a ravenous beast, summoning ancient ones, and agonizing with morbid doom, AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR cover a lot of ground here, but like the rotting undead that inspired it, this second album somehow holds together. The same black magic that made Havoc at the Midnight Hour a highlight six(-six-six) years ago is here again, only this time with a higher kill count and hit rate. Cleaner and crisper in execution but somehow darker and dirtier in its content, Come Creeping Fiends offers highlights at every crooked turn; tunes like “Strange Companion,” “Fiend in You,” and lead track “Dead Undead” will have all the witches dancing. Needless to say, fans of maniacal, EVIL heavy metal music and horror movies will find a lot to love. The wait for AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR’s second album might have been long, but Come Creeping Fiends will prove to be worth it…

Bruno Silva, operating here under his restless Serpente alias, returns with Visita do Fogo — a sharp, stripped-back and incendiary counterpoint to the drifting, dream-jazz abstractions of Dias da Aranha. If that record floated like smoke, this one crackles and snaps like dry wood.

Visita do Fogo finds Silva stepping back into the heat of his beat-driven origins, embracing a raw, forward-leaning approach that feels closer to his live detonation than a studio construction. The record is built on stark materials — drum fragments, percussive jolts, scorched-earth loops — all manipulated with his unmistakable “screw” instincts: micro-cuts, sudden pivots, rhythmic false floors and the sense that the track might turn itself inside-out at any moment.
Rather than smoothing edges or leaning into atmospherics, Serpente doubles down on urgency. Each piece moves through the record with a chop-and-go physicality, a kind of ritual propulsion that never settles into comfort. Silva’s rhythmic language remains entirely his own: crooked but precise, feral yet meticulous, rooted in dance structures but constantly mutating away from them.

Visita do Fogo is less a sequel to Dias da Aranha than a flare shot into the same night sky — brighter, hotter, and designed to leave afterimages. It captures an artist burning forward, shedding everything unnecessary, trusting the flame.

“Certain albums hit like howling bullets at pivotal moments, tearing open the face of music to reveal hidden sonic muscles and fusing them back into something both strangely familiar and yet entirely unrecognisable. We believe this is one of those records.”

The double album Death of Music delivers 18 crooked vocal pops, some ruthless, others unexpectedly disarming. In some songs, Ajukaja & Mart Avi function like a two-headed saurus swinging its spiky tail to shady pop-house smackers. In others, Ajukaja's serene organ licks descend into subterranean caverns, allowing Avi to float to the surface on their wavelengths and turn his voice into billions of extinct moths, enslaved by the moonlight’s pull. There are songs that face destruction and those that seek to prevent it.

One kykeon rap goes, “If you die before you die, then when you die, you don't die!”. Ajukaja & Mart Avi have embraced this notion to create new music that allows them to thrive in the algorithmic wasteland. 13 years in the making, these 66 minutes are packed with lifetimes of truths you didn’t know you needed to know. They are Ajukaja & Mart Avi – two against death.

Produced by Ajukaja
Words by Mart Avi, Music by Raul Saaremets
Guitar and Bass by Sten Sheripov (Can’t Touch The Earth, Safe)
Sax by Steve Vanoni (I.D.O.L.)
Recorded between 2011—2024
Mastered by The Bastard
Cover Photo by fs
Sleeve by Marke, Mart Avi
Pressed in Tartu, Estonia

Un-easy listening from »anti-singer« and improviser Sofia Jernberg, a celebration of the voice in its rawest, most malleable form. Jernberg was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Vietnam and Sweden, so one can only imagine these diverse languages opened up a wealth of phonetic possibilities before she entered academia to study jazz and composition. If you dive into her catalogue you’ll clock her startling range – working as a jazz soprano and as an improviser, collaborating with everyone from Stefan Schneider to Mats Gustafsson, as well as appearances on the stage and screen, most notably in Matthew Barney, Erna Ómarsdóttir, and Valdimar Jóhannsson’s »Union of the North«.

On »Voice«, Jernberg provides a ground-level entry point to her work, meticulously running through a litany of unconventional techniques (non-verbal vocalisation, split tones, toneless singing, and distortion) without any effects, just pure batshit sonics designed to show off the voice’s scope as an experimental instrument. On »Mouth Synthesizer« she purses her lips to make ratcheting pops like some analog oscillator, hoarsely mimicking the sort of blustery, Merzbow-coded distortions you might get if you patched a RAT pedal into a broken guitar amp. It isn’t an act of caricature, it’s Jernberg’s way of demonstrating that expensive modular rigs aren’t an essential tool for experimental music, before throwing a side-eye to the field recording industrial complex on »Birds«, transforming her vocal chords into a nightmare aviary. But it’s Jernberg’s startling »multiphonic« experiments that hit hardest. The album opens on »Multiphonic I«, and it’s difficult to tell that you’re listening to a human voice at first – you could just as well be on Colin Stetson’s overblown sax airstreams. Jernberg creates a captivating spiral of crooked, phased tones and hoarse, guttural croaks that she develops over three movements. On »Multiphonic II«, her voice is turned into a storm of pained shrieks, and on the third and final segment, it almost resembles Arve Henriksen or Jon Hassell’s muted brass curlicues. Each track pulls a different musical muscle, whether it’s »One Pitch« with its unsettling yodel-like quivering drones or »Gurgle«, sounding like a close mic-ed recording of a small pot gently simmering.

Of the 200+ collaborations Hifiklub has created since its debut album in 2007, the one with Alain Johannes remains the most significant and recurring in the Toulon-based band's rich discography. Founding member of Eleven, Alain Johannes is known for his solo career and his work with Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Mark Lanegan, and PJ Harvey. This 25th Hifiklub album, with its more ambient aesthetic, celebrates nearly 20 years of a fruitful musical friendship.

Cindy Lee is the diva alter-ego of singer / guitarist / drag queen Patrick Flegel, the one-time captain of heralded Canadian experimental guitar pop act, Women. In Flegel's working on / as Cindy Lee exclusively over recent years, their songwriting makes a move toward high atmospherics, often achieving a mysterious sweetness rooted equally in beauty and ache.

As Cindy Lee's first long-form statement, Act Of Tenderness makes use of antipodal themes to create a living sound: static with grace, distortion and sugar, all masterfully arranged with crooked nods toward pop classicism. The layered vocal on "Power And Possession" creates a palpable haunt, bringing historical girl-group lament to choir-esque heights. The feedback shriek and industrial grind of "Bonsai Garden" provides near-operatic damage, yet never stumbles into the irrevocably grave. These snowy pieces give the album a decidedly cinematic feel, albeit one bent more towards Eraserhead.

Originally released in a scant private edition in 2015, Superior Viaduct's imprint W.25TH is pleased to give Act Of Tenderness its deserving wide release.

When NYC-based experimental dance punks Guerilla Toss, active since 2011, were in Vermont recording their new full-length album You're Weird Now, frontwoman Kassie Carlson would prepare what she called 'punk lunch': a communal meal made by raiding the studio fridge for whatever was left and assembling a sandwich from the most random ingredients imaginable. Regularly joining punk lunch were two legends from their own corners of the weird music world: Stephen Malkmus (Pavement, The Jicks) and Trey Anastasio, Phish guitarist and owner of The Barn; the recording studio where Guerilla Toss were making You're Weird Now, with Malkmus in the producer's seat. Engineer Bryce Goggin, who has worked with Malkmus since Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, and Ben Collette, Phish's longtime engineer at The Barn, were also part of the crew. While the idea of the guy from Phish and the guy from Pavement sitting around with Guerilla Toss, congenially assembling sandwiches from random foodstuffs dug up from the depths of a studio fridge, might seem absurd, it also makes total sense. Because really, if there's any band that serves as the natural bridge between slacker punks who saw Pavement way before you did, wild-eyed wooks who've seen Phish more times than you ever will, and even the eccentrics in '90s drip following former GT tourmates Primus-it's Guerilla Toss. A band so imaginative and unapologetically themselves, they're basically the real-life manifestation of a utopian, post-snob world where all musical ideas are worthy of expression and everyone is welcome. You're Weird Now powers this message. Guerilla Toss' fifth album and second for Sub Pop is a hugely creative and joyful statement about the joy of creativity. With You're Weird Now Guerilla Toss reclaim the word "weird" for everyone brave enough to let their freak flag fly and stay true to their artistic vision no matter what-a way riskier act than it's ever given credit for, and one that requires a certain amount of serene self-confidence that it takes time and effort to cultivate and sustain. And they do so with the enthusiastic support of their musical predecessors: a standout moment arrives with "Red Flag to Angry Bull," which builds to a campfire sing-along-worthy outro featuring Malkmus and Carlson duetting over a chatty, classically Phish-y (there's really no better word for it) solo from Anastasio. The band hopes the message of You're Weird Now will resonate not only with music heads but anyone who struggles with feeling weird in a world where it will always be hard to be different. At the end of the day, it's all about the spirit of punk lunch: there's room for everyone because music is for everyone. "Everyone loves and appreciates music," says Carlson. "If you don't like music, you're kind of an asshole." That's not weird-that's just true.

McKinley Dixon’s Durchbruch begann in 2021 mit dem vielgeliebten "For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her" und setzte sich 2023 mit "Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!“ fort, beides instrumentenreiche Glanzleistungen im Geschichten erzählen, die sich mit dem Trauma und der Trauer über den Verlust eines jungen Freundes befassen.

Das neue nicht weniger bedeutungsvolle Album "Magic, Alive!“ setzt in vielerlei Hinsicht die Arbeit seiner Vorgänger fort: Es ist die Geschichte von drei Kindern, die ihren besten Freund verlieren sowie eine umfassende Betrachtung dessen, was Magie im Leben ausmacht. Kann Magie der Glaube an etwas sein, das wir nicht sehen können, genauso wie das Vertrauen in Wunder, Zaubersprüche und Portale für etwas, das jenseits unserer eigenen Erfahrung liegt? "Magic, Alive!" wurde ins Leben gerufen, als Dixon eine unerwartete E-Mail vom englischen Produzenten Sam Yamaha erhielt. Dixons frühe Beats hatten Yamahas eigene Arbeit inspiriert. Es dauerte nicht lange, und Dixon traf sich mit ihm in London und wühlte sich durch sein Archiv, um eine Fülle von Beats zu finden, die mit seinem eigenen Ansatz und dem aufkeimenden Konzept für "Magic, Alive!" übereinstimmten. Im Juli 2024 kehrte Dixon in seine Heimatstadt Richmond im US-Bundesstaat Virginia zurück und brachte eine Reihe von Sounds von Sam Yamaha und Koff mit, mit dem er bereits zusammengearbeitet hatte. Zusammen mit einer Reihe von Gästen und Freund*innen, von der Sängerin Anjimile und dem einfallsreichen Alabama-Emcee Pink Siifu bis hin zu Posaunist Reggie Pace und Harfenist Eli Owens, hat Dixon diese Beats weit aufgespalten und mit Hooks, Bläsersätzen und Gastauftritten versehen. Außerdem hat er mehrere Songs aneinandergereiht, so dass sich "Magic, Alive!" wie ein Traum bewegt oder zumindest wie eine alternative Realität, in der neue Regeln herrschen.

Arny Margret, Iceland’s remarkable and poetic upcoming singer-songwriter, is due to release her second album ‘I Miss You, I Do’ on March 7th via One Little Independent Records. The follow-up to 2022’s celebrated, minimalist folk debut ‘they only talk about the weather’ sees her working with new producers in America to develop and hone a sound that’s more textured, expansive, and mature.

‘I Miss You, I Do’ incorporates sessions from Arny Margret’s trips to New York City, North Carolina, and Colorado, as well as those recorded in Iceland. During extensive international touring, she wrote prolifically and spent time getting to know producers and musicians who each brought their own unique and individual talents to the project. Arny’s atmospheric and introspective material has been layered with country-inflected full band ensembles, keys, banjo, harmonium, slide guitar and more, adding an ambience that only enhances her natural ability to convey crystal-clear imagery within thematically rich writing.

In pursuit of her creative vision, Arny enlisted producers Josh Kaufman, Andrew Berlin, Brad Cook, and Guðm. “Kiddi” Kristinn Jónsson. Josh Kaufman is best known for his work with Grateful Dead founder Bob Weir, The National, This Is The Kit, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter, and The War on Drugs. Andrew Berlin, GRAMMY nominated for his work on Gregory Alan Isakov’s record ‘Evening Machines’, also mixes national punk rock staples such as A Wilhelm Scream, Rise Against, and Teenage Bottlerocket. Brad Cook served as a producer for Bon Iver, Big Red Machine, Waxahatchee, Hand Habits, Kevin Morby, and Whitney amongst others. Arny also returned to Iceland to record with her long-time collaborator and friend Kiddi Jónsson in Reykjavík, Iceland.

On February 7, 2025, Signature Sounds will re-issue Crooked Still's acclaimed album, Shaken By A Low Sound on remastered, deluxe colored vinyl. Two tracks, “Little Sadie” and “Ecstasy” were prominently featured on the Playstation video game, The Last of Us which became the Emmy-nominated show (2023) on HBO. Originally released digitally and on CD in 2006, Shaken By A Low Sound cemented Crooked Still's reputation as one of the premiere alternative bluegrass groups of the mid-aughts, shattering preconceptions of how traditional music was played. Shaken By a Low Sound received rave reviews from publications like Interview Magazine, No Depression, and USA Today proclaiming, “Aoife O’Donovan. Remember that name, because with a sultry voice that makes her sound like a bluesier Alison Krauss, she’s about to become the newest darling of the Americana set... Shaken is stirring.”

“Richard Davies is one of the last great songwriters on planet Earth. Every song on Composition Book is up there with his finest and so it's no small feat that after 35 years of making beautiful records, this one is his best.” – Robert Pollard / Guided By Voices Australian mad scientist Richard Davies has long flown under the popular radar with his groups The Moles and Cardinal, but his 10 albums are loved and championed by indie rock royalty. The Flaming Lips, for example, have recorded a Davies song and backed him up on a Moles tour in 1995. A scholar of the songwriting of The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Dylan et al., Davies spins off subtle, catchy indie rock melodies, sometimes reassembled in bizarre Frankenstein arrangements and deconstructed sonic derangements. On Composition Book, The Moles have evolved with emphasis on acoustic guitar and divine female voices. Davies’ lyrical non sequiturs and caustic wit sting, surprise and delight. “The Australian-bred, New England-based Richard Davies has long been a secret-handshake artist for indie diehards; his songs suggest self-contained pop hits from a crooked dimension.” – The New Yorker “The greatest differentiator between the work of the Moles and that of their contemporaries, though, is Davies himself. As a presence, there is something deeply and beguilingly inscrutable about him, a purposeful blankness that betrays an enormous amount of weight and depth behind it, and oozes both vulnerability and vitriol when it breaks and cracks.” – Pitchfork

With the release of Love (the) Ominous World, Blu & Exile have returned with an album that brilliantly builds on their soulful, reflective foundation with stunning musicality and sharp songwriting. Their shared history as one of hip-hop’s best duos continues to grow, especially as they venture into new territory while embracing and refining what made them special.

“This album is our most unique work to date,” Blu says. “We took a different approach with the direction while still staying true to the culture our music has built with our fan base.” That direction is one that finds the two California natives crafting records that would sound right at home on the radio and hip-hop charts. Like “Suga & Butta,” for example, which features recent Def Jam signee Rae Khalil and rising star Ahmad Anwar. Every element of the track is as sweet and smooth as its namesake, from the lyrics to the production. There’s also the raw G-funk banger “Chucks,” a snarling collaboration with West Coast stalwarts KXNG Crooked and Kurupt.

Hip-hop legend Rakim is breaking new ground with his upcoming studio album, G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH), by flexing his skills both on the mic and behind the boards. Widely lauded as the best lyricist of all time, The God MC himself is blessing the culture with the next step in his historic career.

“I feel like the battery in my back has been reenergized,” Rakim said about his new album, which arrives nearly four decades after the release of his classic debut with Eric B., Paid In Full. Since then, he’s continued to shape the landscape and culture of hip-hop as we know it, inspiring rising artists with his hype live shows and incredible studio albums. And while he’s produced some of his previous work—notably “Don’t Sweat the Technique,” “Juice (Know The Ledge),” and “Paid In Full”—this feels like new territory for the 18th Letter, whose production and scratching talents are nothing short of remarkable.

G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH) is proof that Rakim is truly one of the most special artists we’ve known not just in hip-hop, but all of music. You can tell he feels that level of praise when speaking about the genesis of the album. “Having the ability to showcase my talents behind the boards coupled with the elite lyricism the world already knows and gives me infinite praise for alongside some of the best talents to ever do it is truly a blessing and for that I am humbled,” he said.

Rakim is more than an official triple-threat as an artist, because he’s also showing off skills as a curator. On this album’s seven tracks, he enlists a who’s-who of top hip-hop talent, including the dearly departed Nipsey Hussle, Fred the Godson, DMX, and Prodigy (of Mobb Deep). Rakim also linked with many of his contemporaries, such as Snoop Dogg, Method Man, KXNG Crooked, B.G., and Kool G. Rap, among others.

The album’s first single, “Be Ill,” is the perfect introduction, as it pairs Rakim’s raw rhymes and head-nodding production with slick guest features from Kurupt and Masta Killa. Elsewhere, Rakim slows it down for the soulful “Love Is The Message,” which features Nipsey Hussle, Planet Asia, Louis King, Snoop Dogg, Sally Green, Kobe Honeycutt, and the LA Grand Choir. And then there’s the chest-thumping “International,” a straight-up slapper with hard-hitting rhymes from Kool G. Rap, Tristate, and Joell Ortiz.

For fans of hip-hop, and especially of Rakim’s storied discography, there is so much to love on this record. You can hear his hunger as an emcee and producer on every track, as well as his desire to collaborate with so many respected artists. Despite having decades in the game and many classics to his name, it feels like Rakim is just getting started.

While the world awaits the July 26th release date, fans can catch Rakim performing live throughout the US from now until the end of year in support of G.O.D.S Network (REB7RTH). In addition to debuting new material, he’ll be performing all the classics from his beloved catalog.

Hip-hop legend Rakim is breaking new ground with his upcoming studio album, G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH), by flexing his skills both on the mic and behind the boards. Widely lauded as the best lyricist of all time, The God MC himself is blessing the culture with the next step in his historic career.

“I feel like the battery in my back has been reenergized,” Rakim said about his new album, which arrives nearly four decades after the release of his classic debut with Eric B., Paid In Full. Since then, he’s continued to shape the landscape and culture of hip-hop as we know it, inspiring rising artists with his hype live shows and incredible studio albums. And while he’s produced some of his previous work—notably “Don’t Sweat the Technique,” “Juice (Know The Ledge),” and “Paid In Full”—this feels like new territory for the 18th Letter, whose production and scratching talents are nothing short of remarkable.

G.O.D.'S NETWORK (REB7RTH) is proof that Rakim is truly one of the most special artists we’ve known not just in hip-hop, but all of music. You can tell he feels that level of praise when speaking about the genesis of the album. “Having the ability to showcase my talents behind the boards coupled with the elite lyricism the world already knows and gives me infinite praise for alongside some of the best talents to ever do it is truly a blessing and for that I am humbled,” he said.

Rakim is more than an official triple-threat as an artist, because he’s also showing off skills as a curator. On this album’s seven tracks, he enlists a who’s-who of top hip-hop talent, including the dearly departed Nipsey Hussle, Fred the Godson, DMX, and Prodigy (of Mobb Deep). Rakim also linked with many of his contemporaries, such as Snoop Dogg, Method Man, KXNG Crooked, B.G., and Kool G. Rap, among others.

The album’s first single, “Be Ill,” is the perfect introduction, as it pairs Rakim’s raw rhymes and head-nodding production with slick guest features from Kurupt and Masta Killa. Elsewhere, Rakim slows it down for the soulful “Love Is The Message,” which features Nipsey Hussle, Planet Asia, Louis King, Snoop Dogg, Sally Green, Kobe Honeycutt, and the LA Grand Choir. And then there’s the chest-thumping “International,” a straight-up slapper with hard-hitting rhymes from Kool G. Rap, Tristate, and Joell Ortiz.

For fans of hip-hop, and especially of Rakim’s storied discography, there is so much to love on this record. You can hear his hunger as an emcee and producer on every track, as well as his desire to collaborate with so many respected artists. Despite having decades in the game and many classics to his name, it feels like Rakim is just getting started.

While the world awaits the July 26th release date, fans can catch Rakim performing live throughout the US from now until the end of year in support of G.O.D.S Network (REB7RTH). In addition to debuting new material, he’ll be performing all the classics from his beloved catalog.

Crankers of amp, torturers of fuzzbox and denizens of small-hours salvation, Thee Alcoholics dished out a rancorous and righteous debut in their decent `Feedback' - one that filtered gnarled riffage and motorik malevolence through a uniquely debauched prism in pursuit of some extremely ill-advised audial dystopia. Thee Alcoholics may have started life as the home-birthed brainchild of Rhys Llewellyn (Hey Colossus/Acidliner/Drmcnt) yet an evolution since has proven the ultimate form of this beastly creation to be the live arena. In assembling cohorts to turn these visceral jams into something to shake rafters and rattle pint-glasses, new frontiers of ornery intensity have made themselves manifest, and such is the form of the monstrous Bear Bites Horse Sessions, a live-in-the-studio document recorded with Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse studio in Haggerston, London, chronicling a band breathing life into a Stoogian paradigm, and doing so apparently whilst barely breaking a sweat. Taking essential elixirs of in-the-red mania, hypnotic repetition and deathless swagger, these twelve jams walk a crooked path that neighbours the nihilistic vortex of Loop, the saturnine lurch of The Fall and the deadpan derangement of The Heads but remains possessed of a maverick charisma and mischief all its own. Lovers of lysergic heaviosity and the sound of a Marshall 4x12 violently spluttering its last will find much to satisfy here, but moreover Bear Bites Horse Sessions is a testimony to sonic punishment as a gateway to new horizons, audial excess as a path to wisdom, and answers, right or wrong, being found in the bottom of a glass.

Ramkot is a wrecking ball from Ghent, Belgium, playing powerful yet danceable rock music. After two EP’s and building a reputation as one of the most exciting live bands around, the spring of 2023 sees the release of debut album In Between Borderlines, a razor-sharp 25-minute uppercut aiming for both head and hips. They tour extensively, playing a hefty 100 shows in just one year: from steamy venues and sun-drenched festival stages (Pinkpop, Down The Rabbit Hole) to even opening for Metallica in Amsterdam. For their sophomore album, instead of producing it themselves again, Ramkot enlist producer Alain Johannes (QOTSA, Eagles of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures), who invites them to the Joshua Tree desert. For three weeks, Ramkot reside in the legendary Rancho De La Luna studio, famous for QOTSA frontman Josh Homme’s The Desert Sessions. ‘We pulled out all the stops, not pushing our foot down on the accelerator all the time, which allows the music to breathe more. There’ll be a couple of softer songs the fans will not be expecting from us.’ But rest assured, every single note still sounds very much like Ramkot. The band will only play a handful of shows this year, including 2000 Trees (UK), Sziget (H), Pukkelpop and Lowlands.

Born Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, by now much has been made of Fantastic Negrito's own unique story--his early years growing up in an orthodox Muslim household, the doomed major label deal that turned him off of the music industry altogether, the near-fatal car crash that permanently damaged his guitar playing hand--as well as the remarkable redemption arc that began in 2015, when he won the first ever NPR Tiny Desk Contest. In the years that followed, Negrito would go on to take home three consecutive GRAMMY Awards for Best Contemporary Blues Album, tour with everyone from Sturgill Simpson to Chris Cornell to Bruce Springsteen, collaborate in the studio with the likes of Sting and E-40, launch his own Storefront Records label, perform at Lollapalooza, WOMAD, Glastonbury, Newport Folk, Byron Bay Blues, and nearly every other major festival on the map, and found the Revolution Plantation, an urban farm aimed at youth education and empowerment. Son of a Broken Man sees Fantastic Negrito encapsulating the inimitable elements of his celebrated body of work to date, from hard-hitting distorted guitar riffs to melodic and expressive ballads, all fueled by the unexpected twists that have become his trademark. The album stands as perhaps Fantastic Negrito's most personal thus far, exploring family, deception, and the human desire to hide the true self as he dives deep into one of the oldest conflicts in human history, the struggle between father and son. Beginning at a young age, Negrito was served untruths by his father. A made-up last name, a fabricated ancestry, and a fake Somali accent. Why lie? Why create this false narrative? Those are the questions Negrito had to ask himself and the questions that lie at the heart of Son of a Broken Man.

Von der griechischen Insel Paros kommt der Sound zum Alltag der Arbeiterklasse. Markenzeichen sind melodiöse Refrains, so geil, dass man sofort einsteigen will. Dazwischen ein fettes Brett Punkrock mit Einflüssen von Hardcore, Ska und Rap. Bisher nur digital vorhanden erscheint hier endlich das Album als LP mit zusätzlichen Bonustracks. "Relentlessly Truthful" ist hart und schnell wie die bittere Realität der Arbeitssklaven die längst die Schnauze voll haben von Korruption und Machterhalt um jeden Preis auf Kosten derer, die schwer schuften. Proteste werden von der Hand des Gesetzes niedergeschlagen und die Gegengewalt ist Notwehr. Wenn sie einem nichts mehr lassen dann muss man sich wehren und sich erheben - so heißt es im Text von "The Ones You Lost". Persönlicher Frust ist Thema in "Roll On The Summer". Mieses Wetter bedeutet keine Jobs, nix zu fressen und keine Kohle um abzuhauen. Die Einsamkeit lastet schwer und da gibt auch noch die Lieblings-Pornoqueen Sasha Grey ihre Karriere auf. Beirhythmischem Offbeat wird im Song "Grey Void" ihr Comeback gefordert. Um echte Liebe geht es bei "All Our Own Devices", so turbulent wie der Taumel der Gefühle, wenn die Achillesferse der Emotionen auch den Stärksten verwundbar macht. "Tribute Punk Rock Song" ist ein Rückblick auf die Zeit des ersten Iros, der ersten Glatze, als Reaktion auf zerstörte Träume und Ungerechtigkeit. Am Ende bleibt die Message dass man durch harte Tage durch muss um voller Stolz wieder aufzustehen. Die Mucke dazu ist elektrisierend und ehrlich und macht sowas von Lust auf mehr! Schwarzes Vinyl, nummeriert.

Originally released in 2013 and previously unreleased on vinyl, we are proud to present the 3rd volume in the Piece Maker series by legendary DJ Tony Touch. Featuring an incredible line up of MC's that includes Busta Rhymes, Reek da Villain, Roc Marciano, Lil' Fame, Too Short, Xzibit, Kurupt, B-Real, Papoose, Uncle Murda, Black Thought, Styles P, Sheek Louch, Jadakiss, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, RZA, Eminem, Twista, Bun B, Action Bronson, Prodigy, Joell Ortiz, Royce da 5'9", KRS-One, Crooked I, Redman, Method Man, N.O.R.E. and Erick Sermon among others.

The fourth Subetasch-Release is again combining 4 tracks of our residents, a juxtaposition of different influences on one record, always keeping a driving groove - and again, approaching the dancefloor with exciting, playful sounds. Four tracks with crooked sounds, catchy melodies, distorted voices, pumping beats and last but not least, elements of surprise.
Are you stuck in a rainforest and not sure if the frog you just touched is hallucinogenic? Then "raindrops" by TakaTuka is just the song for you right now! Kicking off on side A, 'the pumping bass and the delusional synth sounds' will help you with moving your body to find a way out of here or to just lay down and get one with the forest. Next up Jdis is striking up a faster pace with "Ghosts", where sharp synth stabs meet subtle acid sounds and whirling voices telling you to stay longer. On Side B, vaZdaZ dives in with delicious, freshly caught fish marinated in hazy vocals and a captivating tribal groove. Followed by Tinbred, which is the sound of beer cans being popped in the sunset on Danube Island if Vienna was flipped upside down and inverted in color. Be careful not to spill any of your Tinbred bread while jogging along to the groove of this tune.

What a difference a year makes, right? HOUSE Of ALL's follow-up to their self-titled debut came about at some risk to band and label . . . so absolutely sure of their debut, Martin Bramah asked for an advance on recording costs for the follow-up before their self-titled album had even been released. Needless to say, things went pretty well with the debut, which led to a few sold-out tours, wildly enthusiastic press and great sales. Follow-ups do come with perils, but perhaps Bramah's presumption was the very thing which has allowed CONTINUUM to escape the dread second album syndrome, because . . . it's fantastic! Whatever initial re-establishment of synaptic connection was needed to get things grooving on their debut, after many years since they'd last played together (excepting Peter Greenway, whose genuine bravery in joining four former members of The Fall whom he alone had never played with before) is history now. The grooves are bigger, the lyrics brilliant, Tomos Williams' production is top-notch and the necessity sitting on this album while the first one kept on rolling offered the advantage of allowing Dave Trumfio (of The Mekons and Pulsars) time to fine-tune the mixing and mastering . . . and it sounds HOT.

Love Makes Magic, the debut LP by JIM - aka Jim Baron of Crazy P & Ron Basejam notoriety - was released in June 2023 and the album has connected with an ever growing number of fans; lured in by great songs, Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter acoustics, 60’s psychedelic folk-rock, a dash of Balearic, discoid funk and a healthy dose of yacht-rock.
The album was voted Album of the Year in the Bill Brewster Furtive 50 chart for 2023 - like a Balearic BAFTAs - and Still River Flow (Generalisation Dub) came 2nd in the tracks of the year... which was nice.

Disco Pogo, Piccadilly Records and Mr Bongo all gave the LP honourable mention in their end of year charts too.
As you’d expect with an artist who has 25 years of dance music connections the accompanying remixes weren’t bad either... Crooked Man, Ruf Dug, Flying Mojito Brothers and Generalisation all came up with fine reinterpretations. Luke Unabomber hailed The Crooked Goth version of Phoenix as his track of the year. The vinyl run of the Crooked Mixes sold out in record time.

As the remixes racked up we considered collecting them together for a remix LP. And so here we are...
presenting Love Makes Magic - The Remixes.

The five aforementioned mixes will be joined by five brand new ones from X-Press 2, Mang Dynasty, Chris Coco, Begin ( James Holroyd) and Brown Fang. Spanning pumping club bangers, perfect sunsets soundtracks and left-field electronica.
We love them.
We hope you do too..

Felix Machtelinckx is a singer, composer, producer and lyricist from Belgium. Featuring an array of film scores, dance soundtracks, pop, folk and electronic music, Felix's music resonates with a familiar, almost nostalgic patina, applied with a distinctly crooked touch. Through artistic collaboration, coaching and production, Felix has cut a dash in the pop and indie cult scenes of Belgium, especially with his band Tin Fingers, who are feted as one of the most promising indie acts of the moment. Night Scenes, Felix’s solo debut is, in contrast to his other work, more humble and less traditional, roughly hewn from a series of ambient soundscapes, earthy textures and playful structures. Felix’s voice, normally the flagship of his music, becomes more of a distant memory, an indistinct emotion feathered throughout the music. Many lyrics are improvised, sometimes unintelligible, conjuring haunted, uncertain undertones. Similarly, the album is innately peripatetic to the core, being created, written and recorded in Lithuania, Belgium, France, mastered in the US, and finally released in the UK. In the first instance, some of the tracks were created for the contemporary dance piece Doggy Rugburn by Brandon Lagaert of Kaiho and Peeping Tom; others were created enigmatically for a film that never surfaced; while the remainder are the product of more personal work and research. As Felix began to collect and review these disparate parts, the concept of a unified album began to evolve. With 'night' featuring as a suitably dark leitmotif, or backdrop to a series of emotionally fraught 'scenes', each track depicts a form of trauma, locked within the confines of the mind. Felix observes: "Imagine yourself in a dusty old room unable to sleep. Emotions, fears and other demons haunt your mind. This in-between state makes your mind reach for other worlds. This is Night Scenes." For the most part, Night Scenes was created using a variety of old, and rare, analogue equipment. With almost no digital editing, the record was primarily mixed through a vintage cassette desk, giving it a nostalgic character with a noisy undertone. Felix fully embraced the synergy of his emotional themes and retrograde gear, enthusing: "A lot of textures were created on an old Soviet synthesizer that causes a blackout when you hit the lowest note on the keyboard. The dysfunctionality of the synths was often used to create rhythm and texture." This unnerving ability Night Scenes has to comfort and confound the listener is summed up by Jordan Hudson, House Of Media producer, and music podcaster, when he concludes: "Some songs on the album have this sort of fleeting comfort and tonality, which dissolves into a subtle rhythmic/structural or modulated disarray the moment I settle into them - this really fits with my experience of the night .. This record is a winner, and will be something I'll listen to a lot from here on

Richmond’s COUGH delivers thoroughly massive, psychedelic doom on their aptly titled Relapse debut ‘Ritual Abuse’. The albums five epic tracks are impenetrable walls of sludge; at points suffocating and claustrophobic, at others warped and hallucinogenic. ‘Ritual Abuse’ is an impressive monolith of sound and volume, and one of the finest moments yet of 21st century doom. Recommended if you like: ELECTRIC WIZARD, BONGZILLA, EYEHATEGOD, THOU, BURNING WITCH, CORRUPTED, BUZZOVEN

Joell Ortiz and L'Orange's "Signature" is reimagined to demand your undivided attention. This reinterpretation marks an audacious exploration of sonic boundaries-an homage to Ortiz's legacy while boldly forging a new path in hip-hop. Get ready to experience a musical journey that celebrates the artistry of Joell Ortiz and the transformative vision of L'Orange. Featuring KXNG Crooked, Sheek Louch and CyHi.

Repress of the sold out Record Store Day release, this time on a different colour. Black Spiders – Those trusted and true sons of the north are back. “We knew the new album had to be special. We’ve been away for a while. The first album was a straight shot, the second on the rocks, with this new one we had to kick down the brewery doors!” Pete Spiby. Back in June of 2017, Sheffield rock beasts Black Spiders waved goodbye to an army of loyal fans with some sonically charged shows before retreating into the shadows. And then, in November of last year, with the world in the grips of the Coronavirus pandemic and after a long year of very little fun from out of the silhouettes they returned with ‘Fly In The Soup’, the first new Black Spiders music in 6 years. Exactly the feel-good shot in the arm the world needed, while we await that other vaccine. The seeds of the Black Spider return were actually planted last summer, when singer and guitarist Pete Spiby began taking to guitarist Ozzy Lister to start writing new material and before they knew it, they had amassed the best part of 40 songs in a very short period of time which they whittled down. And then the pandemic hit. “It’s certainly been a strange process, in unfamiliar territory,” explains Pete. “We started to look at how we could do it given the restrictions and not only that, but we had to replace our original drummer too. For us and probably most other bands, we would usually take a riff or song idea to a rehearsal and thrash it out ‘till we either had something or it ended up in the song graveyard! This time around we couldn’t do that, so myself, Ozzy and on occasion Adam Irwin (bass player) started to send ideas back and forth until we had something to work with in GarageBand. We got to a point where we had enough song ideas with basic structure to go into a studio. It was at this point when we had to look for a new drummer.” With former drummer ‘Tiger’ Si Atkinson unavailable to play, with a week or two of grooming, the band took a chance on Planet Rock DJ Wyatt Wendel to occupy the drum stool. “I've never joined or worked with a band in this way EVER,” laughs Wyatt. “2020 certainly made it surreal. “A Pete/Ozzy writing session at the beginning of the year had produced some promising results, but it felt like barriers were popping up everywhere,” explains bassist Adam Irwin. “We started talking about how we could use technology such as GarageBand to help, and slowly but surely the song writing gathered pace. It was time to hook up with our old producer Matt Elliss and try these new songs out in the studio. “Heading into the studio to record songs we’d written but never played together, with a drummer that we’d never met, is one of the stranger experiences I’ve had while being in a band. Thankfully, Wyatt has turned out to be an excellent addition, who despite his faults (loud, southern) has fit right into the band dynamic. Covid has made life really tough for so many of us in our industry. And yet, this new way of song writing has been liberating, this is the most consistent and prolific we’ve ever been, and I am immensely proud of this album.” Against all of the odds, Black Spiders have crafted an album that features 13 tracks of high-energy, feel-good rock n’roll contrasted by demonic doom that despite the disjointed, isolated way it was recorded. It sounds like a band, firing on all cylinders. “We had to dig down deep to pull out some gems and what would we want from Black Spiders,” questions Pete. War, vengeance, mental health, death, conservation & climate change, where are we from? Relationships, friendships, our flaws. Where are we going? Alien life and Mother Earth - some of which made the record.” Kicking off with the aforementioned ‘Fly In The Soup’ single, this 3rd ST long-player wastes no time in grabbing you by the scruff of the neck and dragging you through an album where good times, hooks and riffs are not in short supply, but the doom-drenched likes of ‘Wizard Shall Not Kill Wizard’ and the psychedelic groove of album closer ‘Crooked Black Wings’ give us an album of many moods and dynamics and a reason to be cheerful in 2021. And why does the album have no title? “It wasn’t hard picking a title for the album, as we decided that the focus should be on the band, not the album title, so we decided not to have one. Let the music do the talking....

After taking time out from working together to focus on separate musical projects, maverick composer Alan Roberts (Jim Noir) and crowd-rousing vocalist Leonore Wheatley (International Teachers of Pop / The Soundcarriers) have re-joined forces to introduce Co-Pilot. Each the other’s wing person, they’re plotting an escape through Manchester’s claustrophobic grey skies with the pencil case colour of a hand-sewn multi-coloured primary school patchwork quilt. “We are both the creators in charge of navigating Co-Pilot’s overall sound which changes from track to track,” Leonore hints at what to expect. “There are about 6 different genres on one album, it's a pick n mix record!”


Happy in the haze of many boozy hours the album was recorded over just a few months whilst holed up and hanging out in Al’s city centre Dookstereo studio. The former Mill allowed the pair to relax, laugh and create without constraint. Armed with their original demos and vocal recordings from Al’s flat, they’d nip by the offie to pick up some Dutch courage before setting to work: building arrangements from a drum beat and basic chord pattern, the pair were so in tune they rarely spoke, allowing only the music to lead the way. “We’d communicate through nods of agreement or grimaces of dismay,” Leonore recalls. “Using the instruments with Al in production mode, we let the sound dictate the process whilst being drunk enough to follow it.”
The sound of life coming full circle after honing their separate crafts, Leonore had previously played keys and vocals in Jim Noir’s live band before moving on to front International Teachers of Pop for two critically lauded albums of joyous dancefloor filling bangers - their self-titled debut (2019) and Pop Gossip (2020). During that time Al would further expand Jim Noir’s universe with AM Jazz, which was celebrated as the no.1 album in Piccadilly Records’ ‘End of Year Review’ (2020), followed by the Deep View Blue E.P. (2021) cementing his status as one of Manchester’s finest songwriters.
As Leonore added her vocal magic to Al’s early demos of what would eventually become Co-Pilot’s ‘Spring Beach’ and a crooked original version of closing track ‘Corner House’, the vibe was prophetic “like the ending of Grease as Danny and Sandy take flight through the clouds”, letting their imaginations fly. The songs were the catalyst to spark a new phase of the pair working together, picking up where they left off. “From messing about with sounds during rehearsals in the very beginning it was always clear we liked the combination of sounds we made,” Leonore recalls.
Powered by a ‘try anything’ approach, Co-Pilot blends the musical DNA of what you’ve come to expect from each of the pair’s previous flight paths. “Whatever is switched on or nearby gets used. There's no 'correct' for us. If it sounds good, record it,” Al tells. United through typically turbulent wonky pop and lurking samples, whether culled from 70s TV themes or recreations of past and found sounds (see Al’s 60s tropicalia guitar on ‘Brick’, or the innocent ‘Swim to Sweden’ which opens with an ice cream van jingle Al recorded from his bedroom window) their process offers up a bucket load of Easter eggs. The album even features snippets from dearly departed pal Batfinks whilst ‘Motosaka’ is perhaps the most expensive 2-minutes on the album, featuring a Columbia Records Japan-cleared sample of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘Thousand Knives’. Its synth squelches and Tom Tom Club funk also received the blessing of Haroumi Hosono, Godfather of Japanese Electronica, who agreed to being sampled in an original version of the song. “We just kept listening back and hitting gold,” Al recalls. “I was thinking ‘yeah, not sure what this is but I like it! We were buzzing with what we had made.”
But the sound wouldn’t come without self-imposed instrumental challenges. Thanks to an old mellotron sample on ‘Move To It,’ the moog riff and nautical accordion breaks on ‘Swim To Sweden’ and the 6/8 and 7/8 jaunt of ‘Brick’, time signatures were lovingly skewed to create Co-Pilot’s unique mood. “It was a bastard getting the drums right,” Leonore reveals, “but I like the wonkiness”. Levelling up through the lyrics, the words of smoky and evocative ‘She Walks In Beauty’ are based on a Lord Byron poem, with the sentiment of remembering Leonore’s late grandparents. “I wanted to see how much I could get away with just singing on one note, and how I could harmonically change everything else around it vocally,” she says. Elsewhere ‘Can You See’ was written from the perspective of a concerned sister to a brother which tells of keeping someone safe. “The lyrics are quite metaphorical about day-to-day happenings, people loved and lost. Others are rhythmic nonsense! It’s up to the listener to figure out what’s true.”
It’s clear from Al’s productive production techniques and Leonore’s knack for vocals and lyricism, Co-Pilot’s course is engineered by two aeronautically adept sonic storytellers. “We share a pretty similar sense of humour,” Al tells, “It is funny listening to this quite serious album but knowing we were giggling as we recorded it all. It’s been great to have another brain to bounce off.” Their destination might be unknown, but the clouds are about to part for a sound that is light years ahead. “You'll like at least one song,” Leonore suggests, “and hopefully them all.”

Fünf Jahre nach "Footprints In The Rock" melden sich die unbesungenen NWOBHM-Helden TRESPASS mit einem großartigen neuen Album namens "Wolf At The Door" zurück. Das Album umfasst Themen, die ihnen am Herzen liegen - insbesondere Umweltthemen - und wurde von Gründungsmitglied, Gitarrist und Sänger Mark Sutcliffe in seinem Heimstudio geschrieben und später in den Crooks Hall Studios in der Wildnis von Suffolk aufgenommen. Nigel Palmer (Raging Speedhorn, Satan's Empire) gab dem Ganzen dann in Lowland Masters den letzten Schliff. Diese typisch britische Umgebung half Trespass dabei, ihren charakteristischen NWOBHM-Zwillingsgitarren-Sound beizubehalten, während die Rhythmusgruppe
einen Drive und eine Energie an den Tag legt, die sie direkt in die 20er Jahre zurückversetzt. Das Artwork von Mark Wilkinson (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest) gibt dem Album den letzten Schliff und wird sowohl die Fans der alten Schule als auch die neuen nicht enttäuschen. Trespass wurde 1979 in Sudbury, Suffolk, von Mark Sutcliffe (Gitarre, Gesang) und seinem Bruder Paul am Schlagzeug gegründet. Die Band hatte Anfang der 80er Jahre als Teil der New Wave of British Heavy Metal Erfolg und wurde von der Kritik gelobt, obwohl sie nur ein paar Singles und eine EP - die kultige Bright Lights" von 1981 - veröffentlicht hat. Songs wie "One Of These Days", "Stormchild" und "Bright Lights" haben sich einen Namen gemacht.

Hailed by American Songwriter as "one of America's most intriguing,
creative, and idiosyncratic voices," Eilen Jewell rises from the ashes on her captivating new album, Get Behind The Wheel, picking up the pieces of her shattered world and finding new purpose after watching her marriage, her band, and what felt like her entire career fall apart in a series of heartbreaking implosions Co- produced by multi- instrumental wizard Will Kimbrough (Todd Snider, Hayes Carll), the 11- song collection pushes the acclaimed singer and songwriter's
trademark blend of vintage roots- noir into more psychedelic territory, with spacious, cinematic arrangements complementing her revelatory explorations of grief, loss, resilience, and redemption. The band's performances are electrifying here, resulting in Jewell's boldest album yet, a powerful work of artistic alchemy that transforms heartache into genuine creative rebirth.

Five years since his last solo outing, Pev makes a very welcome return on his own label for Livity Sound's 60th release.

Having focused on expanding the innovative scope of Livity through a prolific release schedule, frequent label nights and the 10th anniversary Molten Mirrors compilation, on the 'Pulse E.P.', Pev delivers on his reputation for inventive, sharply-focused club music with four lean, focused club tracks across the tempo range.

From the crooked formation and pointillist bleeps of ‘Pulse I’ through the light-footed percussion and airy melodies of ‘Pulse II’ to ‘Pulse III’s strafing techno synths and ‘Pulse IV’s surefooted, bass-loaded house jack, it’s an EP of variation and consistency in equal measure. From the infectious, alien melodic lines to the elegant angles of the drums, not to mention the weighty subs, it’s all strikingly fresh and unmistakably Pev.

Livity Sound is a label set up by Peverelist in 2011 as a vehicle for a raw and exploratory strain of UK techno, rooted in the heritage of UK dance music and sound system culture. It has since become one of the UK's foremost protagonists for cutting edge underground electronic music.

Mzylkypop ( Miz-ilky-pop) is the music of Michael Somerset who leads an ensemble of multinational musicians based in Sheffield.

Ursula in Regression is the first single from the 2nd Myzlkypop LP "Threnodies and Ad Hocs" and features the golden vocals of Julia Calvo. In its original form it is an energetic, jaunty pop masterpiece but was taken down a darker & clubbier route by Crooked Man.

As the song writing element of The Crooked Man project Michael cashed in his free remix voucher with DJ Parrot who delivers three exceptional club mixes. Bent Crooked 1 inspired Luke Unabomber to get evangelical - calling it one of the best tracks he’s heard in the last 20 years.

Michael has a rich musical history beginning his career with industrial funksters Clock DVA before up sticking to Detroit to work with Don Was and his mutant disco orchestra Was (Not Was). He has written world-wide hits for Alison Moyet, Take That and Roisin Murphy.

Bill Nace"s Through a Room represents a seismic progression from Both, his startling 2020 debut solo LP for Drag City. Nace"s career has been defined by a relentless probing of ways to frame the complex menu of human emotions, and that the guitar has been his primary tool for exploring this terrain is of little consequence. On this new release, he also employs tapes, hurdy gurdy, doughnut pipe, quelle est belle, as well as his latest instrument of choice, taishogoto. This is also, ultimately, insignificant. What matters is the discerning spirit which animates his work. The tracks are carefully built from loops and phrases that talk to each other, subsume one another, overlapping and crashing and diving and expanding and emerging into unimagined vistas. On the whole, the record offers a fascinating and engrossing chronicle - a sequence of interrelated stories told by a temporally dislodged narrator. You think you"re here, then you"re there, and then you go through trapdoors and along tunnels, into cellars and secret rooms, and you find that actually you"re back where you started. But it"s not hard to follow. Trust me. Nothing this enticing can be hard to follow. The record was recorded and edited in Philadelphia during the uncertain summer of 2021 with engineer and co-producer Cooper Crain. Where Both was a chiseling down of spontaneous live performance, Through a Room, while obviously the work of the same artist, treats its sounds as building blocks, combining them to mesmerizing effect. What"s striking is the poise, the degree of authorial intensity. The false dichotomy of composition and improvisation is thoroughly and rightfully abolished. Bill"s interests range from post-punk to post-industrial to hip-hop to free jazz to avant-garde composition, and every area between such unhelpful labels. From the inscrutable, evocative track titles to the enticingly baffling cover art by his longtime compatriot Daniel Higgs, Nace is guided by an ineffable, internal muse, a persistently personal stormcloud of ideas that, ultimately, comprise that thing we call art. Here"s the real deal. - Matt Krefting, Holyoke, 2022

Joell Ortiz has a new solo album, "Autograph", coming out on Mello Music Group November 12th. Joell is 1/4 of the supergroup Slaughterhouse along with Joe Budden, Royce Da 5'9, and KXNG Crooked. His career started on Dr. Dre's Aftermath and then lead to Eminem's Shady Records, before joining the Mello Music Squad. He appears on Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton soundtrack, as well as Eminem's most recent album "Music To Be Murdered By." Joell's upcoming album "Autograph" features production from 9x Grammy Nominee Salaam Remi, the Grammy Winning Heatmakerz, Hesami, and Detroit legend Apollo Brown, along with features from Sheek Louch, Marc Scibilia, KXNG Crooked, Pastor LBS, and CyHi the Prynce.

Released to coincide with a pan-European tour kicking off in the UK, themulti-platinum double Grammy Award winning group Arrested
Development deliver 'For the FKN Love', a true hip-hop tour de force, once again executively produced by charismatic veteran frontman Speech and British production maestro Configa.Significantly, it marks the first time that Arrested Development have worked with equally legendary collaborators, making this their biggest ever release

Big Daddy Kane, The Sugarhill Gang, Masta Ace, Freddie Foxxx, Monie Love, Kxng Crooked, G. Love, Tony Momrelle (Incognito), Dee-1 and Fatman Scoop all feature. Legends of this calibre rarely do features and yet have graced this album. Arrested Development have always been dedicated to supporting up-and-coming talent, and this trend continues with the likes of Twan Mack, Dell-P, Lish, Ke'Andra,
4ize, Twisted Royalty, Cleveland P. Jones, MRK SX and Jahah all adding weight to proceedings. When it comes to boom bap and classic rap, few artists come close to Arrested Development.

The two-time Grammy Award winning hip-hop group was the first hip-hop group to ever receive the Grammy for Best New Artist, while also receiving one for Best Rap Single. Showing the group's widespread appeal, its track 'Tennessee' was later named by the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame as one of the Top 500 Songs That Shaped Rock & Roll, while the group was recognised at the Black Music Honors Awards in 2019. Meanwhile, 1993's 'Unplugged' album was not only Gold-certified
by the RIAA, but proved influential as one of the first hip-hop performances from the institution that is MTV.

'Vibe' is the latest single from Arrested Development, as featuring Big Daddy Kane, Cleveland P. Jones and Tasha LaRae. Part of the new studio album 'For The FKN Love', 'Vibe' was produced by the aforementioned boom bap specialist Configa. Configa had previously worked with Arrested Development on 2020's acclaimed 16-track studio album 'Don't Fight Your Demons'.

Joell Ortiz has a new solo album, "Autograph", coming out on Mello Music Group November 12th. Joell is 1/4 of the supergroup Slaughterhouse along with Joe Budden, Royce Da 5'9, and KXNG Crooked. His career started on Dr. Dre's Aftermath and then lead to Eminem's Shady Records, before joining the Mello Music Squad. He appears on Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton soundtrack, as well as Eminem's most recent album "Music To Be Murdered By." Joell's upcoming album "Autograph" features production from 9x Grammy Nominee Salaam Remi, the Grammy Winning Heatmakerz, Hesami, and Detroit legend Apollo Brown, along with features from Sheek Louch, Marc Scibilia, KXNG Crooked, Pastor LBS, and CyHi the Prynce.

23H23 is back in town... a superb Crystal Distorsion tune... One of the rare of a kind... Full out love of a music style creator... and all the other tunes trying, tiding and overfooding for more : Ixindamix in her funky live exercise... always surprised me and I luv that sound... Kindaz and his style too... Gravos bugging the tribe for more experimental groove : big 3rd type encounter ! Attention the extract we builded up does not show the end of the tune .. but finally you get 3 minutes of a round confortable kick... ahaha big I say again... 25D, Redge, Assolm System, Gravos... some other 23 heads of all kind will joice you up to the nirvana of the magic clock ! 23H23 of march or november 2023 !... ouuups... 2022 !