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Alignment is back on Charlotte de Witte's KNTXT label for a fourth time with his Attack EP. It offers four more forward-thinking tracks of trance infused techno.

Berlin-based, Italian-born artist Alignment, whose real name is Francesco Pierfelice, has emerged as a real force in the techno world in recent years. He has had an outstanding array of vital productions, and his sound helps carry forward the diversity and musical identity KNTXT stands for. His sound has smartly evolved since as he continues to pick up new influences. All that comes out on this superb new release.

Says the artist, ‘I am more than happy to contribute with ‘Attack EP’, another release on such a renowned imprint like KNTXT. Charlotte has supported me since day one, and I am hugely grateful to release for the fourth time on her label. Four tracks that are straight to the floor, they are the outcome of touring clubs and festivals again now in 2022. Enjoy this selection and see you soon on the dance-floor!’

Says label boss Charlotte de Witte, ‘Alignment is one of my favourite producers out there. His high energy style and sound always deliver on the dancefloor. I'm very proud and honoured to have him once again on board for another four killer tracks on KNTXT.’

Attack opens up with hammering drums and turbo-charged synths. It is an all powerful track that drills deep and brings a real sense of rave to the club. There is an ever present sense of euphoria to Dream State as the trance synth loops bring real light and emotion to the flat footed and slamming drums. Some steamy vocals add that all important hook and ensure real dance floor destruction. Multiverse brings bouncing techno funk beneath edgy synth stabs and industrial percussion design for soot-black warehouse spaces. Last of all is The Way, another unstoppable and supersized techno offering with hands-in-the air synth designs and drums that just don't quit.

This is another fiery offering of new school techno from Alignment.

Beyond The Black (Ltd. Box /LP+12"+2CD):
- colored 180g LP in gatefold with 2p lyric sheet (Clear with red/black splatter)

- colored 12” vinyl including 3 bonus tracks with etching on Side B (Gold)

- 2CD digi book (incl. 3 bonus tracks & instrumental CD)

- 4 signed cards (each band member)

- 4 art prints (each symbol)
Beyond The Black können auf eine imposante Erfolgsgeschichte zurückblicken: Schon mit ihrem Debüt im Jahr 2015 schlug die Band um Sängerin Jennifer Haben ein wie eine Bombe. „Songs Of Love And Death“ hielt sich wochenlang in den Top 15 der Charts und brachte den renommierten „Metal Hammer“-Award in der Kategorie „Bestes Debüt“ ein. Auch der Nachfolger „Lost In Forever“ konnte 2016 direkt daran anknüpfen, ging auf Chart-Platz 4 und führte Beyond The Black auf eine Mammut-Tour durch Deutschland, Groß-britannien über Russland bis nach Japan. Seit 2014 begeisterte die Band ihre Fans bei immer größer werdenden Auftritten auf dem Wacken Open Air und war gefeierter Support-Act für Bands wie Aerosmith, Korn, Scorpions, Saxon und Within Temptation.
Im Herbst 2019 folgte die erste eigene Europatour als Headliner–zum Großteil ausverkauft. Ihre musikalische Klasse über Genregrenzen hinweg hat Sängerin und Frontfrau Jennifer Haben zudem in Deutschlands erfolgreichstem Musikformat „Sing meinen Song“ bewiesen. Eine Erfolgsgeschichte, die mit Chart-Platz #3fürdas vierte Studioalbum „Horizons“ gekrönt wurde. Heute, zwei Jahre später, sind Beyond the Black zurück mit einem Knall und starten ein neues Kapitel. Nach den gefeierten Singles „Reincarnation“ und „Is There Anybody Out There“ kündigt die Band ihr neues, fünftes Studioalbum an, das selbstbetitelt „Beyond the Black“ heißen und am 13. Januar 2023erscheinen wird! DiePre-Order beginnt ab sofort und wird von der neuen, düster-kraftvollen Single „Winter Is Coming“ eingeläutet, die den richtigen Ton für die bis dato größte Headline-Europatournee der Band setzt.

Black White Marbled Vinyl
Beyond The Black können auf eine imposante Erfolgsgeschichte zurückblicken: Schon mit ihrem Debüt im Jahr 2015 schlug die Band um Sängerin Jennifer Haben ein wie eine Bombe. „Songs Of Love And Death“ hielt sich wochenlang in den Top 15 der Charts und brachte den renommierten „Metal Hammer“-Award in der Kategorie „Bestes Debüt“ ein. Auch der Nachfolger „Lost In Forever“ konnte 2016 direkt daran anknüpfen, ging auf Chart-Platz 4 und führte Beyond The Black auf eine Mammut-Tour durch Deutschland, Groß-britannien über Russland bis nach Japan. Seit 2014 begeisterte die Band ihre Fans bei immer größer werdenden Auftritten auf dem Wacken Open Air und war gefeierter Support-Act für Bands wie Aerosmith, Korn, Scorpions, Saxon und Within Temptation.
Im Herbst 2019 folgte die erste eigene Europatour als Headliner–zum Großteil ausverkauft. Ihre musikalische Klasse über Genregrenzen hinweg hat Sängerin und Frontfrau Jennifer Haben zudem in Deutschlands erfolgreichstem Musikformat „Sing meinen Song“ bewiesen. Eine Erfolgsgeschichte, die mit Chart-Platz #3fürdas vierte Studioalbum „Horizons“ gekrönt wurde. Heute, zwei Jahre später, sind Beyond the Black zurück mit einem Knall und starten ein neues Kapitel. Nach den gefeierten Singles „Reincarnation“ und „Is There Anybody Out There“ kündigt die Band ihr neues, fünftes Studioalbum an, das selbstbetitelt „Beyond the Black“ heißen und am 13. Januar 2023erscheinen wird! DiePre-Order beginnt ab sofort und wird von der neuen, düster-kraftvollen Single „Winter Is Coming“ eingeläutet, die den richtigen Ton für die bis dato größte Headline-Europatournee der Band setzt.

Beyond The Black können auf eine imposante Erfolgsgeschichte zurückblicken: Schon mit ihrem Debüt im Jahr 2015 schlug die Band um Sängerin Jennifer Haben ein wie eine Bombe. „Songs Of Love And Death“ hielt sich wochenlang in den Top 15 der Charts und brachte den renommierten „Metal Hammer“-Award in der Kategorie „Bestes Debüt“ ein. Auch der Nachfolger „Lost In Forever“ konnte 2016 direkt daran anknüpfen, ging auf Chart-Platz 4 und führte Beyond The Black auf eine Mammut-Tour durch Deutschland, Groß-britannien über Russland bis nach Japan. Seit 2014 begeisterte die Band ihre Fans bei immer größer werdenden Auftritten auf dem Wacken Open Air und war gefeierter Support-Act für Bands wie Aerosmith, Korn, Scorpions, Saxon und Within Temptation.
Im Herbst 2019 folgte die erste eigene Europatour als Headliner–zum Großteil ausverkauft. Ihre musikalische Klasse über Genregrenzen hinweg hat Sängerin und Frontfrau Jennifer Haben zudem in Deutschlands erfolgreichstem Musikformat „Sing meinen Song“ bewiesen. Eine Erfolgsgeschichte, die mit Chart-Platz #3fürdas vierte Studioalbum „Horizons“ gekrönt wurde. Heute, zwei Jahre später, sind Beyond the Black zurück mit einem Knall und starten ein neues Kapitel. Nach den gefeierten Singles „Reincarnation“ und „Is There Anybody Out There“ kündigt die Band ihr neues, fünftes Studioalbum an, das selbstbetitelt „Beyond the Black“ heißen und am 13. Januar 2023erscheinen wird! DiePre-Order beginnt ab sofort und wird von der neuen, düster-kraftvollen Single „Winter Is Coming“ eingeläutet, die den richtigen Ton für die bis dato größte Headline-Europatournee der Band setzt.

Polens BLACK RIVER besteht aus Musikern der Bands BEHEMOTH, DIMMU BORGIR, VESANIA, ROOTWATER und NEOLITHIC. Ihre Musik ist eine wahre und ungezügelte Hommage an die Tradition der musikalischen Härte, mit der die Musiker von BLACK RIVER aufgewachsen sind. Live-Konzerte zu spielen ist ihre wahre Stärke, wo die Professionalität und das Können der Band sie ran an die Speerspitze des Genres bringen soll. Laut Metal Hammer spielt die Band auf auf dem Album Black'n'Roll Stoner Rock, den das Magazin als "Monster Magnet im Danzig-Sound" bezeichnet. Auf Liedern wie Lucky in Hell erinnere die Band zudem an Alice in Chains. Das nun auf dem Label Crusader Records erscheinende 'Axe' bleibt diesem Stil treu.

Black Vinyl

Erased Tapes are immensely proud to announce the reissue of the debut album Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light by Bell Orchestre. To honour the album"s original recordings the album is also seeing its first vinyl repress since it was released in 2005. Originally formed in 1999 whilst studying at university, the first music Bell Orchestre made was live scores for contemporary dance performances. A few years later, the studio sessions for Recording A Tape.. took place simultaneously in the same studio as when Arcade Fire were recording their eponymous debut album Funeral. The two Montreal-based bands took turns to record their albums but due to the growing interest in Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre was put on hold as band members Parry and Sarah Neufeld quickly became occupied with Arcade Fire"s busy touring schedule. "The Bell Orchestre album was almost done, but it kind of sat there. We were just sitting on this album that we were really proud of, but we didn"t have anyone to pay attention to it" Parry told Pitchfork in 2005. The album was released to critical acclaim and has since received cult status among fans. Bell Orchestre is a collaborative instrumental group based in Montreal. Its six members come from wildly divergent musical backgrounds, and the unlikely chemistry that results from their collaboration is the very thing that sustains their connection. It"s as if the group as a whole has tapped into a very particular, very distinct energy: like that of an approaching storm. In many ways, Bell Orchestre is the sum of not only its parts, but the sum of its influences and inspirations. Among those influences can be listed such diverse artists as Lee "Scratch" Perry, Arvo Pärt, Charles Mingus, and Talk Talk. But ultimately they work together to create something that none of them has quite heard before. Bell Orchestre has been known to retreat into the woods to make and write music: from a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, to the forests of Quebec and Vermont, and back to their hometown of Montreal. The specifics of time and place, the elemental forces at work outside, and those forces that exist inside, all come into play within Bell Orchestre"s musical process. This particular music could be made by no one else at no other time in history. The experience of listening to Bell Orchestre, whether live or recorded, is almost that of experiencing a form of synaesthesia: the result is a collage-like construction of not just sound, but visual elements as well. From a herd of elephants to that approaching storm on the horizon, from a quiet forest in the country to ice forming on a city street, from watching vapour trails disappear in the sky to watching the changing light of dusk through a window. The result then is not so much cinematic as it is evocative: Bell Orchestre have not just written the music to the film - they have created an invisible film that only comes to life in the listening

 Love And Rockets are the seminal groundbreaking trio of
Daniel Ash (vocals and guitar), David J (vocals and bass)
and Kevin Haskins (drums). They formed in 1985 after the
first split of their band, Bauhaus. Love and Rockets
provided a clean slate and an opportunity to plumb the
depths of imagination and influences.

 The band’s 1985 debut album, ‘Seventh Dream of
Teenage Heaven’, was an unashamedly psychedelic
adventure, far removed from the dark, angular
soundscapes of Bauhaus. Yet they had to fight hard to
avoid being branded ‘goth’, citing Syd Barrett, Marc Bolan
and the later period Beatles as primary influences. This is
a single black LP with a gatefold sleeve.

 Love And Rockets are the seminal groundbreaking trio of
Daniel Ash (vocals and guitar), David J (vocals and bass)
and Kevin Haskins (drums). They formed in 1985 after the
first split of their band, Bauhaus. Love and Rockets
provided a clean slate and an opportunity to plumb the
depths of imagination and influences.

 ‘Express’ is a unique, mystical and transcendental
travelogue of sorts. The original press release for the
album said that “the balance of light and dark, positive and
negative, yin and yang, is a recurring theme.” In 2020,
NPR, referring to the album, stated that their “psychedelic
train ride laid the foundation for alt-rock.” This is a single
black LP with a standard sleeve

2023 black repress !

Yung Lean releases his new album Starz via YEAR0001. The album is Lean’s seventh full-length following 2018’s Poison Ivy and includes previously released singles “Boylife in EU,” “Violence,” and “Pikachu.” Much like Lean’s overall catalog, the new album feels almost impossibly cohesive. In part, that’s thanks to production entirely from longtime collaborator whitearmor - they kept the sessions intimate and secluded, recording partly in an old ballet hall in the Swedish countryside. But this is an album only Lean could make, as a young veteran, with a sound and career that’s well-entrenched globally but still doggedly, even perplexingly, on its own planet.

A deranged cacophony straight out of London, England. On their debut, self-titled release, VIOLIN blend elements of Swedish masters TOTALITÄR and HEADCLEANERS with the muscle and swagger of Boston 82 and the panicked power of NYHC in the mid 80s. The end result is a Mind numbingly fast and concise pure hardcore punk that is all together contemporary, edging in at times on the learned idiocy of Toronto’s S.H.I.T. VIOLIN is the brainchild of Lindsay Corstorphine (SAUNA YOUTH, MONOTONY, PRIMITIVE PARTS etc) who has written, mixed and recorded everything on this stellar release, with the exception of the drums, here carried out by the inimitable Jonah Falco of FUCKED UP fame. Pinning Falco’s drumming to Corstorphine's vision has nailed a sound which is at once huge and perfectly audible, whilst remaining brutal and ugly in tone. There are moments of genuine innovation on display as is evident on the track ‘Empty Mind’ which begins with discordant noise, before building from a mid-paced swing into frantic lunacy, and then introducing a harrowing and unexpected synthesiser. The stark black and white artwork, carried out by Daniel David Freeman, provides a perfectly abstract and menacing back drop to this slab of primitive hardcore.

Dawn of Chromatica ist eine Neuauflage von Lady Gagas sechstem Studioalbum Chromatica, welches von BloodPop produziert wurde. Mit einer Pop- und Hyperpop-Produktion enthält das Remix-Album Kollaborationen mit zahlreichen Künstlern wie Arca, Rina Sawayama, Pabllo Vittar, Charli XCX, Ashnikko, Shygirl, Dorian Electra und Bree Runway, während die Features von Ariana Grande, Blackpink und Elton John aus dem ursprünglichen Album beibehalten wurden.

Mit dem Album will Gaga ihre Liebe und Unterstützung
für jüngere Künstler zeigen. “I invite you to dance to this album in celebration of young artists all over the world. Artists who see
the world, feel the world, and put that feeling into something bigger than all of us: music.” - Lady Gaga

Dark night creatures creep through the tunnels and chambers in the abandoned sites of the former dwarven industry. Greenish-black energy flows through the empty halls as skeletons of the dead rise to dance, accompanied by the shaking of skulls, and the rattling of bones. Be warned, this spectacle is not for the faint of heart. Necromancy is an impressive school of magic, but also a dangerous one – it is better not to mess with necromancers.

K.O.P. 32, a studied alchemist of sound prepared this mythical and enchanting debut 12-inch filled with fast-paced tribal rhythm sorcery, psyish texture spells and mushroom spore acid.

Mana Abundance assumes no responsibility for zombifications, mummifications, or paralyzations. All claims for due compensation in silver are entirely excluded, including (but not limited to) shapeshifting processes such as converting into a werewolf or changeling. Under no circumstances should students of magic under the age of 18 attend the ceremony! Additionally, house elves and other magical creatures are to be kept away from this record.

Exklusive Wiederveröffentlichung von 'The Somberlain', dem klassischen Debütalbum der schwedischen Melodic Black/Death Metal Band Dissection, das ursprünglich in den Unisound Studios aufgenommen und 1993 veröffentlicht wurde. Die neu gemasterte Version von Dan Swanö, dem ursprünglichen Tontechniker, lässt diesen Black Metal Meilenstein besser als je zuvor klingen!

- Ltd. 2LP (Limited double picture disc edition including 8 Page vinyl size booklet)

Exklusive Wiederveröffentlichung von 'The Somberlain', dem klassischen Debütalbum der schwedischen Melodic Black/Death Metal Band Dissection, das ursprünglich in den Unisound Studios aufgenommen und 1993 veröffentlicht wurde. Die neu gemasterte Version von Dan Swanö, dem ursprünglichen Tontechniker, lässt diesen Black Metal Meilenstein besser als je zuvor klingen!

- Ltd. 2LP (Limited double picture disc edition including 8 Page vinyl size booklet)

"Circus has always had some kind of presence in my life. My grandmother grew up within a travelling circus in Denmark many years ago and a cousin of mine reputedly ran away with another travelling circus in Ibiza for a while in the 80s. Some years ago my mother sent me a few faded black and white photos of my grandmother dressed up for performance and they are amazing. There are apparently many more photos but they've been handed to a circus museum in Denmark. Perhaps some day, if I dare to, I'll go and visit... In the meantime, I give you The Circus Hunter: The soundtrack to an 80s horror circus flick that perhaps could have been. I hope you will enjoy its breezy upbeat fun as well as its dark sides." Martin Jensen (The Home Current). Martin Jensen is a Danish born, Luxembourg dwelling electronic musician. He has several previous releases across several labels including Castles In Space, Polytechnic Youth, Woodford Halse

Best known for being Anderson .Paak’s live band The Free Nationals have toured the world meeting countless artists who inspire them. While the amount of all the contemporary musicians who inspire them would take an anthology of box sets, they boiled it down to a handful to include on the album, all of whom lend their talents in spreading the funk. Free Nationals means The first people of America, Indigenous to the land before Columbus came. Staying Indigenous to the funk, The Free Nationals wanted to tribute their inspirations such as Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Herbie Hancock, and Al Green by incorporating musicianship while pioneering musical euphoria for a new generation.

The album features friends they’ve met along their musical journey including the late Mac Miller, Syd, Anderson .Paak, Kali Uchis, T.I., JID, Westside Gunn, Conway, Chronixx, Daniel Caesar, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Kadhja Bonet, MIKNNA, Benny Sings, Callum Connor, T. Nava and Joyce Wrice. This pressing sees the album pressed on 180g Black Vinyl for the first time.

Although Los Hermanos Ballumbrosio are one of the most emblematic groups of Afro-Peruvian music, no single recording has been able to portray the essence of the group... Until now. "Homenaje a El Carmen" ("Homage to El Carmen"), their debut album for Buh Records, sets the record straight: it captures the true spirit of the musical tradition of El Carmen, a city located a few miles to the south of Lima that is home to the largest black community in Peru. Songs based on percussion and zapateo bring back the memories and experiences of a culture that has produced one of the greatest treasures of Peruvian music. "Homage to El Carmen", the third volume of the series "Perspectives on Afro-Peruvian Music", signals the return of the group to the recording studio, and also to the sources of rhythms such as festejo and panalivio, which they interpret with cajón, quijada (jawbone), congas, bongo and batá. The result is a distillation and a testimony of the memories and experiences that portray the cultural universe of El Carmen. We have access to a selection of traditional songs that are heard during the festivities, such as "Guanchivalito", which is played during the Yunza Negra, a ceremony in which a willow tree is cut to bring benefits to the community. "Panalivio " and "Serrana Vieja" are two traditional Christmas carols that are played in the "Hatajo de Negritos" and which reflect the syncretic character of the Afro-Peruvian culture. These songs speak of the difficulties of rural life, but they also serve as a vehicle to demonstrate the Ballumbrosio brother's mastery in the art of zapateo, a dance that is accompanied by violin and bells. The classic "La Esquina de El Carmen" is perhaps the song that best expresses the erotic character of festejo, also known as baile de cintura (waist dance). "Homage to El Carmen" is the highly anticipated return of the Ballumbrosio brothers to the recording studio. They have become indisputable references of Afro-Peruvian music and have displayed their sound and dances around the world. It was time for an album that portrays the essence of the group: a collective spirit, where the tutelary image of Amador Ballumbrosio always shines, and which traces a history from Africa to El Carmen. This album is published in vinyl format in a limited edition of 300 copies. Include 8 full-page booklet with liner notes in Spanish and English. Produced by Manongo Mujica and Daniel Mujica. Cover by Yerko Zlatar.

Waxwork Records in partnership with Back Lot Music is honored to release NOPE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Michael Abels. Oscarr winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope. The film reunites Peele with Oscarr winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer and Oscarr nominee Steven Yeun as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery. NOPE marks Abels' third feature film score with director Jordan Peele, having previously scored Peele's GET OUT and US. The album also features songs from the film, including a new version of Corey Hart's classic "Sunglasses at Night (Jean Jacket Mix)", Dionne Warwick's "Walk on By", The Lost Generation's "This is the Lost Generation", Exuma's "Exuma, the Obeah Man", and a never-before-released gem by a young Jodie Foster, "La Vie C'est Chouette" from the 1977 film MOI, FLEUR BLEUE. "NOPE is my most ambitious score to date," says Abels. "There are elements from the genres of sci-fi, action, horror, and westerns, but always through the tonal palette of Jordan Peele's unique vision. The lines between source music and score are blurred, as a good part of the score seems to be playing at the theme park, which is a key location in the story. The score is at times terrifying, yet also invokes the sense of awe and wonder that the characters feel as they realize what they are seeing. The film eventually becomes a grand adventure, and so the music expands into the larger-than-life scale we expect of a summer blockbuster." He goes on to say, "it was a joy to compose a score that encompassed such a broad range of genres and emotions, and I'm thrilled to have audiences experience all of them through this album." "Michael is one the most exciting composers working today - he has this amazing ability to create new sounds which was important for this film," Jordan Peele says. "He's able to play in the familiar and in the unfamiliar at the same time, so that helps give every film its own character, and he has an incredible mastery of so many different music genres." Abels is known for his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films GET OUT and US, for which Abels won a World Soundtrack Award, the Jerry Goldsmith Award, a Critics Choice nomination, and multiple critics' awards. The hip-hop influenced score for US was short-listed for an Academy Awardr and was named "Score of the Decade" by The Wrap. Abels is also co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group to increase visibility of composers of color in film, gaming and streaming media. Waxwork Records is thrilled to present the official NOPE deluxe double LP soundtrack album. The package comes complete with 180-gram colored vinyl, quality packaging, original artwork by Ethan Mesa, heavyweight gatefold jacket with matte coating, a multi-page 12" x 12" booklet, liner notes, & more!

Light Became Light is the debut album from Puppies in the Sun, a project composed of Alberto Cendra (synthesizers) and Cristóbal Pereira (drums), both originally from Peru and currently based in Rotterdam. Friends since childhood, they crossed paths again in Barcelona by sheer coincidence. This spontaneous pulse is also what dictated the beginnings of the project's characteristic sound: lengthy improvisational and sound exploratory sessions which are summed up in the project's first two EP's (Unheard EP and The Church of Puppies in the Sun, 2018). Like other well-known duos, Puppies in the Sun maximizes their compact instrumentation to establish themselves as a (noise) rock band without the presence of guitars or bass guitars. Far from being a limitation, this has provided them with great freedom. The lower end of the album's soundscape is triggered on Cendra's synthesizer scheme by Pereira's drums. This being one of the characteristics that emerge from the organic, minimal and spontaneous style of the band. As if it was a rocket, Light Became Light takes off in search of a sound and a space that pays tribute to cosmic rock and synthesizer music without leaving the melodic rawness of noise rock or even black metal behind. Some might also perceive an atmosphere that owes its existence to techno parties and a slight wink towards folk imagery. If there is anything that makes their sound iconic is the call for constructing wild and festive ambiances, state of trance and agitation. Light Became Light was recorded and mixed by Oscar Moreno at El Purgatorio (Madrid, Spain). In the middle of an intense heat wave, Puppies in the Sun locked themselves through the course of two weeks to record and process various analog and digital synthesizers, pianos, drums and vocals, to later mix Light Became Light in a classic analog console. Light Became Light is being published by Buh Records on 12" Vinyl in a limited edition of 300 copies. The artwork was done by the band itself and designed by Fernanda Binvignat.

Black Vinyl

Zum 20. Jubiläum des Original Spider-Man Films mit Tobey Maguire in der Hauptrolle erscheint der Soundtrack von Danny Elfman erstmals in drei Varianten auf Vinyl: als Black Vinyl, Silver und Gold Edition.

• Sony Masterworks is happy to announce the vinyl release of the Netflix live-action series Cowboy Bebop which premiered in November 2021 and is available on Netflix.

• Yoko Kanno and the band SEATBELTS, the artists behind the music in the original anime series of Cowboy Bebop, have returned to bring their signature dynamic, jazzy sound to the Netflix live-action show. The resulting compositions are characters themselves - constant companions to the crew of the Bebop and brimming with just as much personality.

• Cowboy Bebop (Soundtrack from the Netflix Original Series) is a treat for Bebop fans in an additional way - it features over twenty new tracks only available on vinyl! This wide release is pressed on red marble vinyl discs in a gatefold jacket with printed inner sleeves.

• COWBOY BEBOP is an action-packed space Western about three bounty hunters, aka “cowboys,” all trying to outrun the past. As different as they are deadly, Spike Spiegel (John Cho), Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), and Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda) form a scrappy, snarky crew ready to hunt down the solar system’s most dangerous criminals — for the right price. But they can only kick and quip their way out of so many scuffles before their pasts finally catch up with them.

• Original anime series director Shinichirō Watanabe is a consultant on the series, and original composer Yoko Kanno returns for the live-action adaptation. The series also stars Alex Hassell and Elena Satine.


• Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks of anime films, television series, live-action films, video games, and advertisements. She has written scores for Cowboy Bebop and its live-action adaptation, Darker than Black, Macross Plus, Turn A Gundam, The Vision of Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain, Kids on the Slope, Genesis of Aquarion and Terror in Resonance, and has worked with the directors Hirokazu Kore-eda, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Shinichirō Watanabe and Shōji Kawamori. Kanno has also composed music for pop artists Maaya Sakamoto and Kyōko Koizumi. She is also a keyboardist and is the frontwoman for the SEATBELTS, who perform many of Kanno's compositions and soundtracks.

Mit dreißig Jahren aktiven, schändlichen Dienstes unter ihren Gürteln sind NECROPHOBIC unbestrittene Legenden des Death- und Black-Metal-Undergrounds. Die 1989 von Schlagzeuger Joakim Sterner gegründete Band aus Stockholm vertrat von Anfang an eine einzigartige und furchtlose Vision und bestätigte ihr Können 1993 mit dem mittlerweile legendären Debütalbum The Nocturnal Silence. Indem sie den selbstbewussten Dilettantismus und die primitiven Klänge, die viele ihrer Kollegen schätzten, hinter sich ließen, schufen NECROPHOBIC eine kühne und lebendige eigene Identität und zauberten eine dicht melodische, aber unendlich verruchte Version von makabrem Extrem-Metal hervor, die seitdem von unzähligen weniger bekannten Bands nachgeahmt wurde. Mit 'Womb of Lilithu' veröffentlichen NECROPHOBIC ihr siebtes Album, das ursprünglich 2013 veröffentlicht wurde, neu. Die schwedischen Black-Death-Metal-Legenden legen dieses Album als letzte von insgesamt neun Wiederveröffentlichungen neu auf. Neben der ursprünglichen Albumversion aus dem Jahr 2013 enthält diese Wiederveröffentlichung zwei Live-Tracks als Bonus auf der D-Seite, die bisher noch nie veröffentlicht wurden. NECROPHOBIC zeigen sich auf 'Womb of Lilithu' von verschiedenen musikalischen Seiten und führen den Hörer durch ein tiefschwarzes Beschwörungsritual, begleitet von einer ausgewogenen Mischung aus Rohheit & Transparenz auch in Bezug auf die Produktion. 'Womb of Lilithu' ist wieder einmal ein wunderbares Werk schwarzer Death-Metal-Klangkunst aus Schweden. Wie schon die früheren Wiederveröffentlichungen 'Hrimthursum', 'Death To All' und 'Satanic Blasphemies' in diesem Jahr, wurde auch 'Womb Of Lilithu' von Dan Swanö im Unisound Studio remastered. Das Album wird erhältlich sein als Ltd. CD Jewelcase im Slipcase, Gatefold 180g Doppel-LP in schwarz mit 2-seitigem Einleger und einem doppelseitigen Poster im A2-Format sowie als Digitales Album.

Die mysteriöse Atmospheric Death-Doom-Band JADE entfesselt mit 'The Pacification Of Death' unergründliche Tiefen in klangvoller Verderbtheit sowie atmosphärischer Dunkelheit. Mit unheimlicher Finsternis und überwältigendem Riffing haben Jade ein erstklassiges Genre-Debüt aufgenommen.
Aufgenommen, gemischt und gemastert von Javi Félez in den Moontower Studios, Barcelona (Graveyard, Teitanblood, Foscor, etc.) sowie erstaunliches handgemaltes Artwork des Zeichners Adam Burke (Loss, Occultation, Vektor, Evoken, etc.).

Powermetal:
"...Das Cover weist schonmal in eine gute Richtung, da es auch recht viel Ambiente mit sich bringt. Als ich dann in "Pacification Of Death" eintauchen konnte, wurde trotzdem die Frage nach dem Genre nicht endgültig geklärt. Einerseits fühlt man sich in einigen Momenten an Death Metal erinnert (jedoch nicht der alten Schule aus den USA), viel öfter klingt das jedoch noch Black Metal, aber lässt sich auch hier nicht komplett einordnen. Doch wozu das ganze Geschwafel um das Genre, wenn wir es hier mit einem wirklich hochklassigen Album zu tun haben. Das Trio hat ein Brett eingespielt, das sich nicht so ganz einordnen lässt und das ist auch gut so, denn dadurch wird es spannend. Sechs Kompositionen finden sich auf dem Album und diese sind auch in sich recht abwechslungsreich..."

Back in stock !

First Word Records is very proud to present a brand new full-length album from Kaidi Tatham. 'It's A World Before You'.

Following on from two EPs released on First Word last year ('Changing Times' and 'Hard Times'), Kaidi has delivered us thirteen tracks that deftly illustrate his various talents as a multi-instrumentalist.

Kaidi is probably best known for his work with Bugz In The Attic, though his musical contributions over the years have also included Amy Winehouse, Slum Village, Mulatu Astatke, Soul II Soul, Moonchild, Leroy Burgess, Amp Fiddler, Chris Dave, Macy Gray, King Britt, DJ Spinna, Mr Scruff and IG Culture to name but a few! In recent times, he's worked with DJ Jazzy Jeff on a variety of projects, including his most recent album 'M3', touring Europe for Jeff and Will Smith's reunion shows, and on the PLAYlist album 'Chasing Goosebumps', with Glenn Lewis, Stro Elliot (The Roots), Masego, Maimouna Youssef, Rich Medina, Daniel Crawford and more.

All this in addition to heating up dances around Europe with his inimitable DJ sets, and working heavily with First Word label-mate, Eric Lau (who also mixed this album) on a variety of projects, and adding releases to his already impressive catalogue on 2000 Black, Eglo and Theo Parrish's Sound Signature, with regular compadre, Dego (who features on the album's title track).

This album personifies Kaidi's diverse palette of sounds - bar Eric & Dego's features, every piece of music is played by himself. Largely flowing on a broken beat rhythm section, Kaidi effortlessly incorporates washes of afro, latin and funk throughout. From the harmonics of 'Your Dream Don't Mean A Thing', to the breakneck funk of 'Outta Audah', each and every riddim exudes energy. But this isn't simply a bruk record. The album is laced together with downtempo beats and future jazz interludes throughout, and some sweet synth boogie is never very far away, especially on the weighty vibes of 'It's About Who You Know'. To top it all off, there's two delightful nuggets of hip hop soul - Mancunian label-mates, Children of Zeus, feature on the neo-soul vibes of 'Out Here On My Own', and there's a feature from Amir Townes, better known as Uhmeer - an upcoming MC from Philadelphia, and son of one Jazzy Jeff Townes - who rides a sub-heavy, piano-led slice of boom bap, voicing an assortment of characters to tell the tale of 'Cupid'.

'It's A World Before You' is set to cause serious damage to sound-systems over the Summer, and show and prove once again the skills of one of the UK's best unsung musical talents, Kaidi Tatham.

LP including booklet with extended liner notes. Channeling wild seventies Impulse vibes, even resonating the guts of early Art Ensemble of Chicago and the tempering spirit of Max Roach's 'We Insist' era: BRAHJA is soul searching their spirit on 'Watermelancholia'.

Devin Brahja Waldman is a New York saxophonist, drummer, synthesizer player and composer who leads the group BRAHJA. Waldman has accompanied his aunt, poet Anne Waldman, since the age of ten. Waldman is a co-founding member of Radical Reversal, Diva of Deva Loka, and Notable Deaths. He has performed with Patti Smith, William Parker, Nadah El Shazly, Malcolm Mooney, Thurston Moore, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Charles Hayward, Luke Stewart and Yoshiko Chuma. Waldman is also a member of NYC's Heroes Are Gang Leaders (led by poet Thomas Sayers Ellis and saxophonist James Brandon Lewis), of Sam Shalabi's Land of Kush, and of the Norwegian hardcore group MoE.

As a youngster, Waldman was taken under the wing of avant-garde giant Paul Bley. Along with Anne Waldman and cousin Ambrose Bye, Waldman is a co-producer for Fast Speaking Music -a NYC poetry and music label which has released recordings with Amiri Baraka, Meredith Monk, William Parker, Laurie Anderson, Eileen Myles, CAConrad, Fred Moten, Daniel Carter, Clark Coolidge, Thurston Moore, Joanne Kyger and many others.

Ancient to the future 2.0

Watermelancholia is about the law of Karma:
a law so obvious that it often goes unspecified and ignored.
Neglecting this law invites a world of chaos.
It's been articulated in endless ways.
Some have called it Cosmic Law or Natural Law.
Others translate it as Do No Harm.

(liner notes excerpt)

The moment the first bass note of Luke Stewart kicks in on 'Watermelancholia', followed by the swelling drum roll of Malick Koly and the lush leading voice of Janice Lowe you feel Devin Brahja will take you on a deep mind-blowing spiritual journey.


Channeling wild seventies Impulse vibes on 'O.P.K' or, could we say, even resonating the guts of early Art Ensemble of Chicago and the tempering spirit of Max Roach's 'We Insist' era: BRAHJA is soul searching their spirit on 'Watermelancholia'.


A poetic stream of consciousness, backboned by top-notch musicians, transcending the cosmic universe, trying to find answers and musically connecting.


Watermelancholia is a meditation on healing the inner schism between the sense of self - the ego - and the inner being. It is about bringing the ego to justice; putting it on trial, as it were.

Die schwedischen Progressive-Rock-Legenden The Flower Kings und ihr langjähriger Labelpartner InsideOutMusic starten 2022 eine umfangreiche Reissue-Kampagne, in deren Rahmen der gesamte Katalog der Band auf CD und Vinyl in remasterten Ausgaben neu aufgelegt wird, wobei viele der Alben zum ersten Mal auf Wachs erhältlich sein werden. Das nächste Album in dieser Reihe ist das siebte Album der Band, 'Unfold The Future', das ursprünglich 2002 veröffentlicht wurde. Es ist das erste Album, auf dem Schlagzeuger Zoltan Csörsz zu hören ist, und auf dem auch Daniel Gildenlöw von Pain of Salvation als Gastsänger zu hören ist. Das Album wird als Ltd. 2CD Digipak & Gatefold 180g black 3LP+2CD & LP-Booklet (zum ersten Mal!) erhältlich sein, beide mit remastertem Audio und neuem Artwork & Fotos.

We are delighted to finish off the last full EP on the Telomere series with a new Artist you may or may not be familiar with.

Aspetuck, a US based DJ and producer. has his vinyl debut with a well rounded and stacked four tracker.

This EP blends the many genres of electronic music while leaning towards the deeper and melancholic sounds of electronica. Tart Jam, is a real Jam that will get the dance floor movin’, groovin’ and smilin’!
Very limited black copies as always with a few colored copies available via the Wex bandcamp, be quick!

Marco Donato/Italoboyz is back to black (vinyl) with his debut on Luca Piermattei and Gäbrø’s label Polarity Records. The Ep continues and fully represents the label concept, far from trends and the sound of the moment. A release that encapsulates many moments of a club adventure, from straight dance- floor actions to more ethereal/trippy moments among the 4 tracks. Luca Piermattei adds 2 remixes, an uncompromising floor killer and a modern twisting post-house swirl, that make this ep one of those records that won’t leave the bag for very long time.

Each of the three hundred covers is different! All are numbered.

After two well-received albums of Normal Bias, the time has come for a solo debut in U Know Me of the half of this valued dub dub, i.e. Piotr Krupiński, better known as YAC.

The starting point for "We Have Much More In Common Than What Divides Us" was the rhythm, and on the one hand synthetic sounds of classic analog synthesizers with the legendary EMS VCS3 at the forefront, and on the other hand the organic hypnotic sound of Tibetan bowls and tubular bells. All together strongly processed and traditionally ground with dub techniques and marked by the tape's noise.

The amazing graphic design was created by Bartosz Szymkiewicz.

The cover design is the result of an attempt to graphically represent the album's minimalist but full of lively nuances music. Each of the forms on the cover corresponds with its surface area to the length of the work it depicts. The composition was procedurally generated by a computer program, resulting in 300 unique covers. Interestingly, the program definitely preferred to arrange the forms close together, which is an unforeseen reference to the title of the album.

First Word Records is very proud to bring you a brand new album from Takuya Kuroda!

Takuya Kuroda is a highly respected trumpeter and arranger born in Kobe, Japan and based in New York City. 'Midnight Crisp' is Takuya's seventh studio album, entirely self-produced and following 2020's highly acclaimed 'Fly Moon Die Soon', also released on UK label First Word (winner of the Worldwide Award's Label of the Year in 2019). Consisting of six new tracks, this once again sees Takuya displaying his unique hybrid sound, blending soulful jazz, funk, post-bop, fusion and hip hop.

After following the footsteps of his trombonist brother playing in big bands, he relocated to New York to study jazz & contemporary music at The New School in Union Square; a course he graduated from in the mid-noughties. It was here that Takuya met vocalist José James, with whom he worked on the 'Blackmagic' and 'No Beginning No End' projects.

Following graduation, Takuya established himself further in the NYC jazz scene, performing with the likes of Akoya Afrobeat and in recent years with DJ Premier's BADDER band. Premier said "The BADDER Band project was put together by my manager, and an agent I've known since the beginning of my Gang Starr career. He said, 'What if you put a band together that revolved around a trumpet player from Japan named Takuya Kuroda? He's got a hip-hop perspective and respect in the jazz field…"

Takuya Kuroda is already incredibly prolific, releasing six albums in the past decade and fortifying a solid reputation in the global jazz scene. 2011 saw the release of Takuya's independently-produced debut album, 'Edge', followed by 'Bitter and High' the following year and 'Six Aces' on P-Vine in 2013. Takuya was signed to the legendary Blue Note Records in 2014 for his album 'Rising Son', as well as appearing on their 2019 cover versions project, 'Blue Note Voyage'. He released his 5th album 'Zigzagger' on Concord in 2016, which also featured Antibalas on a reimagining of the Donald Byrd classic 'Think Twice'.

His last album was the afore-mentioned 'Fly Moon Die Soon' on First Word, which received plays and support from the likes of Pitchfork, Earmilk, Bandcamp Weekly, Worldwide FM, All About Jazz, Apple Music, Tidal, Stereogum, Treble, Brooklyn Vegan, FIP (France), Tony Minvielle, Jazz FM, Huey Morgan (BBC 6 Music), BBC Radio 3, Novena Carmel, KCRW and tons more DJs, tastemakers, selectors, radio stations, bloggers & magazines.

The new project 'Midnight Crisp' will be released October 21st 2022 on vinyl, CD and digital, worldwide via First Word Records.

arbitrary presents the third in the Black Box series of releases by Mads Emil Nielsen. The release, which showcases a more sample- and grid-based side of the Danish musician/composer’s work, is part of a sequence of publications with music and audio originally made for theatre, radio soundtracks and more.

Black Box 3 is based on sound pieces produced for Sprækker (Cracks), a dance performance & installation in Denmark, 2021. The starting points for these pieces are improvisations recorded with contemporary dancers, in which Nielsen guides the listener through a corpus of synthesizer recordings, everyday sounds and radio archives. These original recordings were reworked for this LP and edited into the six tracks in early 2022.

Written & produced, recorded and mixed by Mads Emil Nielsen, Copenhagen, 2021 / 2022. Acoustic sounds on Installation – 2 by Victor Dybbroe. Mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer at D&M, Berlin. Graphic design by Mads Emil Nielsen. Thanks to Aaben Dans, Thomas Eisenhardt, Catherine Poher, Chris Watson, Antoine Hubineau.

With help from Jerry Seinfeld himself, one of the classics from the mixtape era, Wale’s More About Nothing sees its first official release on CD & Vinyl. Originally released in 2008, the album is nothing short of a masterpiece in his celebrated catalog, and features appearances from then-budding artists Wiz Khalifa & Fat Trel, among others. True fans of the musician will undoubtedly know how crucial this project is to the culture; a Jerry Seinfeld collaboration with Wale finally available for all.

For Fans Of... Michael Kiwanuka, The Black Keys, Curtis Harding, Black Pumas. Latest 7” from Philly band named Artist to Watch by NPR station WXPN. Features signature Synth & Soul production from Eraserhood Sound. Follows the 2022 7” Money In Your Mouth / Miss Me. Philadelphia band Stereo League has always been about discovering new genres and working with collaborators who can bring unique sensibilities to their music. On their latest 7” Operator, Please / Seasons of Trouble, the band, comprised of childhood friends Alex Savoth and Dan King, continued their fruitful partnership with the synth & soul record label and production crew Eraserhood Sound. Following the success of the group’s 2021 EP Endless Mirage, the band, again under the guidance of EHS, have created two more timeless, soulful songs, each with their own unique personality. The A side “Operator, Please” is a swampy, seductive throwback to 70s soul and funk, evoking the indelible Southern sound from classic labels like Hi and Cat. The flip side “Seasons of Trouble” puts a bowtie on the funk, taking its cues from the classic Philly soul of The Delfonics, The O’Jays, and more. Stereo League, who have been named Artist to Watch by NPR station WXPN, believe this release to be the clearest and best representation of their vision to date, delivering the classic, yet thrilling sound they have been searching for. Tracks: 1. Operator, Please 2. Seasons of Trouble (Explicit)

Soft Raw is a new label from Danielle – a natural extension of the Bristol-based DJ’s expansive tastes within contemporary club music. Over the past few years the NTS resident has become a leading light in the multifaceted world of modernist techno abstractions, ably balancing soundsystem pressure and propulsive rhythmic intensity with experimental textures and explorative energy variations. Soft Raw seeks to continue that mission with releases which will progress stylistically from one approach to another, taking in exciting, emergent producers unique in their approach but bound together by the idiosyncratic curation of Danielle – a faithful reflection of her proven skill as a selector.

The label launches with a six-track drop from Slacker. Sam Black has been winding up a potent strain of needlepoint techno which leans towards jungle and half-time D&B in its tempo and structure. Across a selection of various releases, Black’s sound has evolved into an accomplished and detailed style which draws on moody atmospheres and advanced engineering in the grand tradition of UK soundsystem music. Across this EP the Slacker sound matches up to the spirit of Soft Raw, balancing fierce kinetic energy with delicacy and finesse and leaving some space for outright ambience. At times he locks into a half-step warm-up mode, while elsewhere the amens creep in for a more pronounced jungle rinse-out.

It’s a strong opening statement for this new label, but crucially this doesn’t spell out the future in absolute terms. True to Danielle’s broad outlook, subsequent releases are set to take in everything from straight up 4/4 and acid to footwork and electro, with a narrative binding each release together according to her internal logic and the tension between soft and raw qualities explored across consistently cutting-edge tracks.

2 dance§oormelter on limited handstamped black vinyl!

100% GALCHER was by all accounts a game-changer when it landed in 2013 as an hour of original music from a relatively unknown producer ushered in by the beloved mix series Blowing Up The Workshop. Galcher Lustwerk's signature sound — a smoky stream-of-consciousness baritone shadow-boxing with beats, informed by funk, rap, rhythm, and blues — felt like an epiphany, impossibly hypnotic and complete. Resident Advisor writes, "100% GALCHER laid out a louche, lysergic and resolutely black take on deep house." Pitchfork remembers the music's immediate impact: "It's the sort of gem you felt inclined to pass around” — and by year-end list time, word-of-mouth intensified. It was Resident Advisor and Juno's mix of the year, and earned a top-ten placement in FACT Magazine's albums list, as well as Philip Sherburne's personal rundown for Spin." Since then, select songs from 100% GALCHER have seen small-run pressings, while the album has lived primarily on SoundCloud and YouTube as a low-key cult legend. The gateway into Lustwerk's now well-established catalog, known for its reliability as a late-night listen and its prophetic vision for the near future of underground dance music. RA would later name it a mix of the decade, citing its influence and imagination: “Original in every sense — unknown, unheard and unbelievably good.” In late 2022, marking ten years since he first recorded the material, Lustwerk returns to Ghostly International to release 100% GALCHER as a remastered limited-edition double LP.

Lustwerk is a product of the Midwest. Growing up in Cleveland, he'd tape over his parents’ cassettes and spend hours at his family computer recording loops and designing artwork for the jewel cases of burned CDs. In high school, he turned to Ableton Live and absorbed every electronic music magazine he could find at the local Borders Books store. In excerpts from the 100% GALCHER liner notes, Lustwerk looks back: "My dad drove me to this shop on the westside Bent Crayon, where I would get anything the blogs told you to get + whatever the clerk recommended. CDs stayed in their packaging, there was always an overflow of vinyl stacked on the floor. I was too shy to listen to anything before buying."

As a college student at RISD, he played in noise bands, plugged into Providence's DIY scene via Myspace, and started DJing weeknights at bars downtown. There he connected with Young Male and DJ Richard, who would go on to found White Material Records and offer their third release to Galcher Lustwerk, an alias realized via CAPTCHA test, a perfect artifact of its internet age. By 2012, Lustwerk had drifted to New York City and settled into a graphic design job, quickly growing disenfranchised by office culture. "Some days I felt like a token, other days I felt invisible." At night, he and his friends were carving out their own space

Debut album by Dutch producer w1b0, who passed away in August, to be released in November on U-TRAX.

Wibo Lammerts' sudden death on August 15thshocked the worldwide electro community, and also left the record label, that had been working on the debut album with the artist known as w1b0 for the past two years, dumbfounded and in grief.

Wibo had jokingly always called his upcoming debut album 'his legacy', which now sadly has become a painful truth. With the support of Wibo's family, U-TRAX is now doing the only thing that doesn't feel totally wrong: proceed as planned, and release 'When Humans Ruled The Earth' on November 11.

W1b0 made quite a name for himself with heavy electro tracks that he released on labels like Bass Agenda, Hilltown Disco and Discos Antónicos. Standing at 202 meters, and combined with a cheerful character, most people remember him as the gentle giant of electro.
For this album, Wibo wanted to steer away from the dark and heavy electro he mostly made until then. The idea of having a platform to create delicate electronic music in different styles, and make it a showcase of his versatility, was very appealing to him. And that is where he and U-TRAX found each other.

The full-length album (over 75 minutes on cd and digital) comes after 'The Pilex Program EP', released in October, that featured a remix by Detroit's Ectomorph of 'Pilex Driver' and saw 'Program Yourself To Feel' remixed by a well-known Dutch producer that recently created the new 'techno alias' Human Form.
As usual with U-TRAX, the album comes in three different editions, with the 11-track double vinyl version containing the Ectomorph and Human Form remixes. The CD and digital version boast original versions only, plus four additional tracks: 'Alternate Reality Interface', 'Mixed Matter Fluctator', 'Synthetic', and 'In There'. The cassette version more or less has the same track list as the CD/digi version, but has both aforementioned remixes and a bonus track in the incredibly hypnotizing 'I Wanted You', a track that unfortunately couldn't be on the CD and vinyl versions.

Buyers of the physical releases get treated on superior quality products, another trademark of U-TRAX. The vinyl edition boasts over one hour of music, on two 180 grams, green vinyl discs, in a black & white & neon green gatefold sleeve. The eye-catching artwork is created by Utrecht artist Leffe Goldstein, known amongst others for his psychedelic beer can designs for Utrecht brewery Maximus. Wibo, being the beer lover he was, had zero doubts about having Leffe Goldstein do the cover for his album. The CD has a total playing time of 75 minutes and comes in a beautiful 6-panel digipack, while the cassette will have full-color on-body print and comes in a plastic-free Maltese cross fold-up sleeve.

Buyers of the physical releases get treated on superior quality products, another trademark of U-TRAX. The vinyl edition boasts over one hour of music, on two 180 grams, green vinyl discs, in a black & white & neon green gatefold sleeve. The eye-catching artwork is created by Utrecht artist Leffe Goldstein, known amongst others for his psychedelic beer can designs for Utrecht brewery Maximus. Wibo, being the beer lover he was, had zero doubts about having Leffe Goldstein do the cover for his album. The CD has a total playing time of 75 minutes and comes in a beautiful 6-panel digipack, while the cassette will have full-color on-body print and comes in a plastic-free Maltese cross fold-up sleeve.

Opener 'Acid Whip' is one of the oldest compositions on this album, in which a dark 303 bassline hums over layers of spacey strings. Wibo named it after the legendary Whip It party in Amsterdam's De Melkweg. 'Alternate Reality Interface' then presents bouncy rhythms toying around with all sorts of analog (bass) synthesizers, before we go really deep with the epic ambient techno track 'Wandering Souls'.
Then things get a little lighter spirited: 'Mixed Matter Fluctator' is an electro track that builds on sounds created by Matt Buggins. It has very strong Detroit influences, the city Wibo loved so much and that he made a pilgrimage to with a group of friends that called themselves 'The Techno Tourists'. The tempo goes up a notch in 'Program Yourself To Feel', that halfway opens up in wide science fiction strings that evoke memories of Star Wars, the movie series that Wibo was a great fan of, and that was the source of many of his tracks' names. The Human Form remix opens the vinyl edition of this album and is a downright belter of a track.

Next is a somewhat experimental intermezzo named 'Synthetic'. Erratic beats and pounding bassdrums get accompanied by very subtle eerie-sounding strings, before melancholic synthesizers and piano chords take over. This is an excellent prelude to the epic 'Hologram Computing', a track that is one of our favorites. It slowly and softly builds and builds, before a pounding bassdrum breaks loose and a hypnotic arpeggio takes you to higher planes.
Not ready to letting the listener relax, w1bo then serves 'Beilstein Reference', which again presents his trademark cocktail of down-to-earth electro rhythms and catchy melodies, covered in all sort of little sounds and noises, giving the song a lot of energy. What follows is 'Hit me', a track loosely based on a song by Dutch indie rock band Mr. Joe Abe. Wibo met the band's singer on a camping site while being on holidays and the two decided Wibo should do a remix of one of their songs. Nothing was left of the original except the vocals, and the result is a remarkable cheerful, poppy electro song.

'Anticipated Input' is one of the more recent tracks Wibo made for this album, combining electro, acid and, yes: epic strings. But not all is peace and quiet on this album, as 'Pilex Driver' shows. This is w1b0 going experimental in a danceable fashion: Industrial sounds make the track sound like we're passing a construction site that is playing loud electro music. On the vinyl version of this album, Ectomorph totally decomposed the original and made it into a mysterious, almost subdued, and totally brilliant electro track that sees a main role for the retro Roland CR drum machines sounds.

TFHats, Wibo's fellow member of the Transhumanism collective, added lyrics to 'Cartesian Coordinates'. His vocals add a pleasant New Wave flavor to this song, that has breaks that remarkably reminds one of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. What follows is the most personal track on this album. 'Fornan' is a song that Wibo made for his wife Nanette, and was added as the last piece of the puzzle that creating an album is. The warm Detroit techno atmosphere in this electro song couldn't be a more beautiful tribute to his love, and mother of their two young boys.
The album then takes a surprising detour through a 1980s landscape with 'In There', that features the Joy Division-esque vocals of another one of Wibo's friends, indicated only as Vincent. The super slow and gloomy track is a treat for anyone that loved the darker side of New Wave. The album has a worthy closer in the sensitive, yet playful 'Schlegel Diagram'.








h 08: Hit Me (w1b0's Slugfest Assault Dub) feat. Mr Joe Abe

Die Originalbesetzung von Black Ox Orkestar ist nach einer 15-jährigen Pause wieder zusammen. Die aus der fruchtbaren Montréaler Post-Punk-Agit-Prop-Szene der frühen 2000er Jahre hervorgegangene Band besteht aus Scott Gilmore, Jessica Moss und Thierry Amar von Thee Silver Mt. Zion (Amar komponiert und spielt auch weiterhin Bass für Godspeed You! Black Emperor) und Gabriel Levine von Sackville. Black Ox Orkestar haben Mitte der 2000er Jahre zwei gefeierte Alben mit aufgewühltem akustischem Avant-Folk veröffentlicht, auf denen sie osteuropäische und nordafrikanische Folklore durch die Linse einer düsteren, resonanten Indie-Rock-Sensibilität erforschten und Interpretationen von Instrumentalstücken aus verschiedenen jüdischen, rumänischen und arabischen Traditionen den Originalen gegenüberstellten. Auch dank Gilmores politisch aufgeladenem jiddischen Gesang sind diese frühen Alben für eine neue Generation von Musikern und Fans der jiddischen, Klezmer- und jüdischen Diaspora-Musik zu Meilensteinen geworden. Das von Greg Norman (Jason Molina, Nina Nastasia, Electrical Audio) hervorragend produzierte Album Everything Returns macht genau da weiter, wo die Band aufgehört hat: ein einschneidend atmosphärisches, melancholisches und doch entschlossenes Album einzigartiger moderner jüdischer Folkmusik, bei dem Klavier, Geige, Kontrabass, Klarinette und Cymbalom die Kerninstrumentierung bilden und die Gesangsstücke hauptsächlich auf Jiddisch gesungen werden. ENG Everything Returns reunites the original Black Ox Orkestar lineup following a 15-year hiatus. Arising from the fertile Montréal post-punk agit-prop scene of the early 2000s, the band comprises Scott Gilmore, Jessica Moss and Thierry Amar of Thee Silver Mt. Zion (Amar also continues to compose and play bass for Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and Gabriel Levine of Sackville. Black Ox made two acclaimed albums of roiling acoustic avant-folk in the mid-2000s, exploring Eastern European and North African folkways through the lens of a gritty, resonant indie rock sensibility, juxtaposing interpretations of instrumentals from various Jewish, Romani and Arabic traditions with originals led by Gilmore's politically-charged Yiddish vocals. These early albums have since become lodestars for many among a new generation of Yiddish, Klezmer and radical Jewish diasporic music practitioners and fans. First revealing its resurrection in February 2022 with a surprise flexi 7" single issued by left journal Jewish Currents as a gift to its thousands of subscribers, Black Ox has indeed fully and fruitfully reunited. Exquisitely recorded by Greg Norman (Jason Molina, Nina Nastasia, Electrical Audio), Everything Returns picks up right where the band left off: an incisively atmospheric, melancholic yet resolute album of uniquely modern Jewish folk music, with piano, violin, upright bass, clarinet and cymbalom making up the core instrumentation, and the vocal tunes sung primarily in Yiddish, alongside album centerpiece "Viderkol" and closer "Lamed-Vovnik" where English also features. This is not fusion music, but diaspora music: a cross-cultural call and response of musical lexicons, emerging from the history of Jewish persecution and displacement, the musicology of 19th century repertoire from Jewish shtetls , the improvisational traditions of nusakh in Jewish music and taqsim in Arabic music, and a wider polyglot dialogue of Jewish, Slavic, Arabic, and Central Asian musical traditions. Lyrically and stylistically, Everything Returns connects key current issues_from refugees forced to leave their homes, to the return of fascism and exclusionary nationalism_with the legacy of modernist Yiddish poetry and song. The new Black Ox Orkestar album is a sublime, poetic, politically-informed statement of re-energized diasporic musical intent, where Gilmore's voice and the band's simmering arrangements conjure an ardent, doleful balladry that echoes the sound and sensibility of artists like Tindersticks, The National, Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen. Everything Returns is a haunting, richly textured, darkly sparkling song cycle at once from a vanished world and very much of our time and place. Thanks for listening.

RIYL: A Hawk And A Hacksaw, Leonard Cohen, Daniel Kahn, Xylouris White, Arooj Aftab, Tindersticks, Nick Cave, Alasdair Roberts, Geoff Berner, The Klezmatics. Deluxe 180gLP with 350gsm Arktika jacket/inner + 36”x12” art/lyrics fold-out + DL. CD in gatefold jacket + art/lyrics fold-out. Recorded by Greg Norman (Jason Molina, Nina Nastasia, Electrical Audio). Everything Returns reunites the original Black Ox Orkestar lineup following a 15-year hiatus. Arising from the fertile Montréal post-punk agit-prop scene of the early 2000s, the band comprises Scott Gilmore, Jessica Moss and Thierry Amar of Thee Silver Mt. Zion (Amar also continues to compose and play bass for Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and Gabriel Levine of Sackville. Black Ox made two acclaimed albums of roiling acoustic avant-folk in the mid-2000s, exploring Eastern European and North African folkways through the lens of a gritty, resonant indie rock sensibility, juxtaposing interpretations of instrumentals from various Jewish, Romani and Arabic traditions with originals led by Gilmore’s politically-charged Yiddish vocals. These early albums have since become lodestars for many among a new generation of Yiddish, Klezmer and radical Jewish diasporic music practitioners and fans. First revealing its resurrection in February 2022 with a surprise flexi 7” single issued by left journal Jewish Currents as a gift to its thousands of subscribers, Black Ox has indeed fully and fruitfully reunited. Exquisitely recorded by Greg Norman (Jason Molina, Nina Nastasia, Electrical Audio), Everything Returns picks up right where the band left off: an incisively atmospheric, melancholic yet resolute album of uniquely modern Jewish folk music, with piano, violin, upright bass, clarinet and cymbalom making up the core instrumentation, and the vocal tunes sung primarily in Yiddish, alongside album centerpiece “Viderkol” and closer “Lamed-Vovnik” where English also features. This is not fusion music, but diaspora music: a cross-cultural call and response of musical lexicons, emerging from the history of Jewish persecution and displacement, the musicology of 19th century repertoire from Jewish shtetls, the improvisational traditions of nusakh in Jewish music and taqsim in Arabic music, and a wider polyglot dialogue of Jewish, Slavic, Arabic, and Central Asian musical traditions. Lyrically and stylistically, Everything Returns connects key current issues from refugees forced to leave their homes, to the return of fascism and exclusionary nationalism—with the legacy of modernist Yiddish poetry and song. The new Black Ox Orkestar album is a sublime, poetic, politically-informed statement of re-energized diasporic musical intent, where Gilmore’s voice and the band’s simmering arrangements conjure an ardent, doleful balladry that echoes the sound and sensibility of artists like Tindersticks, The National, Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen. Everything Returns is a haunting, richly textured, darkly sparkling song cycle at once from a vanished world and very much of our time and place. Tracklist: 1 Tish Nign 2 Perpetual Peace 3 Oysgeforn / Bessarabia Hora 4 Mizrakh Mi Ma’arav 5 Skotschne 6 Viderkol (Echo) 7 Epigenetik 8 Moldovan Zhok 9 Lamed-Vovnik

2022 Repress

Modern Obscure Music has been making links with the Far East since label boss Pedro Vian visited Japan and this is their first 12” release from a Japanese artist. Albino Sound is Hirotaka Umetani from Osaka and here he presents Black Lagoon. This is an exciting EP of experimental soundcapes and left of centre dancefloor escapades with an extra special remix from German producer DJ Normal 4. Black Lagoon opens the EP with live percussion and mysterious sounds and is followed by the mesmerising tones of Plum Valley. Transparent Colony is an open-armed ambient cut and the EP finishes with two versions on Dried Seeds. The original is an energetic mover and DJ Normal 4's Vibe Strike Remix is an eastern synth inspired mission.