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LOVE + POP is a snapshot of a moment in not-so-far-away time; something fast, loud, moody and a little dangerous. It is, in some ways, classic Current Joys: full of wild ambition, sneaky hooks, and songs that move from concept to completion with prolific speed. But LOVE + POP also explodes myriad expectations with aggressive, deconstructed production, house music influence, and a guest appearance from Lil Yachty. It is not so much a twist as it is a unique multiverse identity for Current Joys, as Nick Rattigan's set out to "capture this sonic moment and harken back to the way I first released music." The story of LOVE + POP begins with one of those house parties: the kind that bulldozes your home and, in its aftermath, leaves a wreckage that finds you flattened but also ready to be new. In that mess and mayhem, Rattigan watched Everybody's Everything, the documentary of Lil Peep, and recorded a cover of "walk away as the door slams". But the itch wasn't scratched, and what began as a moment of homage morphed into something bigger, deeper and more fundamental, a point where the seemingly haphazard - in his home, in Peep's process - opened Rattigan up to an entire creative space and a new approach to bending or even detonating genre. Crucially, all of this was recorded at home, in what Rattigan calls a "tribute to the process of creating" in a DIY space. And what began as a singular passion project unexpectedly grew into a uniquely collaborative record for Current Joys. "I've set out to make collaborative records before," Rattigan explains, "but they often end up totally me, with just a couple exceptions. But then this record gave me the opportunity to be extremely collaborative, to let other people write instrumental tracks, sending links around for people to mess with and weigh in on. I sat down to do credits and realized here were all these people and styles and they all came together and worked." LOVE + POP's cover art is an airbrush/spraypaint rendition of the Wild Heart album cover, which is itself a photo of Rattigan's grandparents kissing. It is sacred in some ways and shredded in others. This idea - the aggressive reimagining of something timeless into a present, finite style - is LOVE + POP.

Lassen Sie sich von den fesselnden Melodien und der rauen Kraft des finnischen Powerhouse KAUNIS KUOLEMATON verzaubern - Mit einem unerschrockenen Ansatz, der Genregrenzen trotzt, hat diese Band die Essenz des Melodic Doom Metal neu definiert, indem sie ätherische Schönheit nahtlos mit unerbittlicher Kraft verbindet. Seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr 2012 haben sich KAUNIS KUOLEMATON auf die unerbittliche Suche begeben, die Grenzen ihres Handwerks zu überschreiten und eine einzigartige und faszinierende Marke melancholischen Metal zu kreieren, die Fans aus allen Ecken des Metal-Spektrums begeistert.
Ihr überwältigender und wiedererkennbarer Sound hat ihnen Plätze eingebracht, auf denen sie sich mit bekannten Acts wie Omnium Gatherum, Wolfheart, Cult of Luna, Vorna und October Tide teilen. KAUNIS KUOLEMATON hat das Publikum mit seinen magnetischen Auftritten von Festivals bis hin zu Headlinern in ganz Finnland begeistert. Mit drei Alben, einer EP und mehreren Singles unter ihrem Gürtel haben sich die finnischen Metaller fest als eine Kraft etabliert, die in der Metal-Szene zu rechnen ist.
Bereiten Sie sich nun auf das kommende Magnum-Werk "Mielenvalta" vor, das am 13. Oktober via Noble Demon veröffentlicht wird. Die mit Spannung erwartete Veröffentlichung verspricht ein weiteres intensives Kapitel in der Geschichte von KAUNIS KUOLEMATON zu werden. Mach dich bereit für eine klangliche Reise, die dich in ein Reich entführt, in dem Schönheit und Brutalität koexistieren, in dem sich eindringliche Melodien mit wilden Schreien verflochten und in dem die Grenzen des Metal durchbrochen werden.
Mit ihrem neuesten Album "Syttyköön Toinen Aurinko" mit komplett finnischen Texten haben KAUNIS KUOLEMATON bereits unauslöschliche Spuren in der Szene hinterlassen und Fans und Kritiker gleichermaßen gelobt. Nun, während sie sich auf die Veröffentlichung von "Mielenvalta" vorbereiten, erreicht die Entwicklung der Band neue Höhen und verspricht ein immersives Erlebnis, das euch den Atem rauben wird.

It's been a little over ten years since Hailu Mergia reemerged on the international music scene. Following the first in a series of his classic recordings reissued in collaboration with Awesome Tapes From Africa, Mergia assembled a band and began performing live again after many years driving a cab in Washington, DC. His first show back appeared on the front page of the New York Times along with a stellar review and he took off from there performing his flavor of Ethiopian jazz all over the world in the years since, including Radio City Music Hall and Montreal Jazz Festival. Finally, we have a recorded document of the keyboard player's powerful DC-based trio _ which practices each weekend in his basement _ featuring Kenneth Joseph on drums and Alemseged Kebede on bass. Beautifully captured at one of their fiery live shows at the venerable Brooklyn non-profit cultural center Pioneer Works on July 1, 2016, the concert was recorded by PW staff and mixed by Ted Young with mastering by ATFA's expert audio extraction collaborator Jessica Thompson. The performance clarifies what many people across the globe already know: in his fifth decade of music-making Hailu Mergia continues to push the boundaries of his remarkable abilities. Mergia and his veteran band energetically and playfully unpeel layer after layer of harmonic and rhythmic interest out of a spectrum of Ethiopian repertoire. Modern jazz demands constant reinvention and improvisation, night after night creating new works out of known modes and classic standards. This band is unstoppable when it comes to turning age-old melodies (like "Tizita" or "Anchihoye Lene") upside down and inside out until they emerge as molten new works, often spontaneously. Mergia's original compositions (like "Yegle Nesh") shine brighter than ever here as well. Moving from keyboard to organ to accordion to melodica, he deftly switches instruments _ often during the same song. Mergia at 77 years old seems to be working harder than musicians half his age. "Pioneer Works Swing (Live)" brings into focus the kind of onstage group improvisation and deadly solo passages that reach for places Mergia and the band have never gone, on festival and club stages across four continents. Now that Mergia has released two new recordings along with four classic reissues, he is eager to let everyone hear what he's been doing on the road since he re-took the global stage for his victory laps. So much more than an old act from yesteryear, Mergia balances his legendary Ethiopian recordings with good old fashioned sweat-soaked live concert triumphs such as the one we have here.

It's been a little over ten years since Hailu Mergia reemerged on the international music scene. Following the first in a series of his classic recordings reissued in collaboration with Awesome Tapes From Africa, Mergia assembled a band and began performing live again after many years driving a cab in Washington, DC. His first show back appeared on the front page of the New York Times along with a stellar review and he took off from there performing his flavor of Ethiopian jazz all over the world in the years since, including Radio City Music Hall and Montreal Jazz Festival. Finally, we have a recorded document of the keyboard player's powerful DC-based trio _ which practices each weekend in his basement _ featuring Kenneth Joseph on drums and Alemseged Kebede on bass. Beautifully captured at one of their fiery live shows at the venerable Brooklyn non-profit cultural center Pioneer Works on July 1, 2016, the concert was recorded by PW staff and mixed by Ted Young with mastering by ATFA's expert audio extraction collaborator Jessica Thompson. The performance clarifies what many people across the globe already know: in his fifth decade of music-making Hailu Mergia continues to push the boundaries of his remarkable abilities. Mergia and his veteran band energetically and playfully unpeel layer after layer of harmonic and rhythmic interest out of a spectrum of Ethiopian repertoire. Modern jazz demands constant reinvention and improvisation, night after night creating new works out of known modes and classic standards. This band is unstoppable when it comes to turning age-old melodies (like "Tizita" or "Anchihoye Lene") upside down and inside out until they emerge as molten new works, often spontaneously. Mergia's original compositions (like "Yegle Nesh") shine brighter than ever here as well. Moving from keyboard to organ to accordion to melodica, he deftly switches instruments _ often during the same song. Mergia at 77 years old seems to be working harder than musicians half his age. "Pioneer Works Swing (Live)" brings into focus the kind of onstage group improvisation and deadly solo passages that reach for places Mergia and the band have never gone, on festival and club stages across four continents. Now that Mergia has released two new recordings along with four classic reissues, he is eager to let everyone hear what he's been doing on the road since he re-took the global stage for his victory laps. So much more than an old act from yesteryear, Mergia balances his legendary Ethiopian recordings with good old fashioned sweat-soaked live concert triumphs such as the one we have here.

CARNAL TOMB aus Deutschlands ebenso chaotischer wie pulsierender Hauptstadt Berlin liefern mit "Embalmed in Decay" ihr sehnsüchtig erwartetes drittes Album ab, das den Geist des Old School Death Metal perfekt kanalisiert. Kürzere Tracks, rasante Blastbeats und charakteristische Doom-Passagen ergeben eine zeitgemäße Version des klassischen Death Metal. "Embalmed in Decay" zementiert den Status der Deutschen als einer der heißesten jungen Acts dieses brutalen Genres. CARNAL TOMB haben sich unter anderem von den Werken H.P. Lovecrafts inspirieren lassen, aber auch von Gore- und Zombiefilmen wie Amando de Ossorios Klassiker "Tombs of the Blind Dead" aus dem Jahr 1972, sowie speziellen italienischen Begräbnisstätten namens "Putridairum", in denen die Leichen der Verstorbenen in offenen Kammern bis auf die Knochen verrotteten. Auch das morbide Cover-Artwork des Künstlers Skaðvaldur wurde von diesen Themen beeinflusst. CARNAL TOMB wurden im Jahr 2014 in Berlin gegründet. Ein unstillbarer Hunger nach Old School Death Metal hatte alle Bandmitglieder infiziert. Neben einer bemerkenswerten Fülle von Demo-Aufnahmen, EPs, Split- und Single-Veröffentlichungen brachten vor allem die beiden Alben "Rotten Remains" (2016) und "Abhorrent Veneration" (2019) der Band einen exzellenten Ruf unter Todesmetallern rund um den Globus ein. Mit dem blutrünstigen Death Metal Horror von "Embalmed in Decay" rufen CARNAL TOMB sogar die Toten aus ihren Gräbern und lassen ihre entfesselten Monstersongs auf eine nichtsahnende Welt los.

CARNAL TOMB aus Deutschlands ebenso chaotischer wie pulsierender Hauptstadt Berlin liefern mit "Embalmed in Decay" ihr sehnsüchtig erwartetes drittes Album ab, das den Geist des Old School Death Metal perfekt kanalisiert. Kürzere Tracks, rasante Blastbeats und charakteristische Doom-Passagen ergeben eine zeitgemäße Version des klassischen Death Metal. "Embalmed in Decay" zementiert den Status der Deutschen als einer der heißesten jungen Acts dieses brutalen Genres. CARNAL TOMB haben sich unter anderem von den Werken H.P. Lovecrafts inspirieren lassen, aber auch von Gore- und Zombiefilmen wie Amando de Ossorios Klassiker "Tombs of the Blind Dead" aus dem Jahr 1972, sowie speziellen italienischen Begräbnisstätten namens "Putridairum", in denen die Leichen der Verstorbenen in offenen Kammern bis auf die Knochen verrotteten. Auch das morbide Cover-Artwork des Künstlers Skaðvaldur wurde von diesen Themen beeinflusst. CARNAL TOMB wurden im Jahr 2014 in Berlin gegründet. Ein unstillbarer Hunger nach Old School Death Metal hatte alle Bandmitglieder infiziert. Neben einer bemerkenswerten Fülle von Demo-Aufnahmen, EPs, Split- und Single-Veröffentlichungen brachten vor allem die beiden Alben "Rotten Remains" (2016) und "Abhorrent Veneration" (2019) der Band einen exzellenten Ruf unter Todesmetallern rund um den Globus ein. Mit dem blutrünstigen Death Metal Horror von "Embalmed in Decay" rufen CARNAL TOMB sogar die Toten aus ihren Gräbern und lassen ihre entfesselten Monstersongs auf eine nichtsahnende Welt los.

In the midst of the UK house rave-olution of the early-’90s, London’s V4 Visions imprint documented the confluence of street soul, deep house, swingbeat, and jungle sounds emanating from the clubs and pirate radio signals. Over the course of half a decade, V4’s unparalleled 12” output referenced every significant Black British music scene; from lovers rock to jazz-funk, sound system reggae to hip hop, new jack swing to garage, from artists Ashaye, Julie Stapleton, Maureen Mason, Rohan Delano, The Wades, and Endangered Species. This 18-track double LP is the first critical overview of the label, with extensive notes by Simon Reynolds, era-defining photographs, and fresh remasters, all housed in a glorious foil-stamped gatefold tip-on sleeve. Is this a dream?

‘The Masterplan’ is an extraordinary collection of B-sides originally featured on singles from Oasis’ era-defining first three albums, ‘Definitely Maybe’ (1994), ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ (1995), and ‘Be Here Now’ (1997). Far from being inferior to the singles they backed, many of the 14 tracks that feature on ‘The Masterplan’ have become as cherished as the band’s biggest singles from that seminal period. The album includes tracks ‘Acquiesce’, ‘Half The World Away’, ‘Talk Tonight’, Oasis’ iconic live cover of The Beatles’ ‘I Am The Walrus’ and the epic title track. Noel has often described ‘The Masterplan’ as one of the best songs he has ever written.

Formats include CD, Heavyweight Black LP and limited-edition Silver LP, to celebrate 25 years. The Masterplan’ charted at No.2 in the UK Official Album Chart UK selling over 122,000 copies in its first week. It went on to be certified triple platinum and has sold over three million copies worldwide.

‘The Masterplan’ is an extraordinary collection of B-sides originally featured on singles from Oasis’ era-defining first three albums, ‘Definitely Maybe’ (1994), ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ (1995), and ‘Be Here Now’ (1997). Far from being inferior to the singles they backed, many of the 14 tracks that feature on ‘The Masterplan’ have become as cherished as the band’s biggest singles from that seminal period. The album includes tracks ‘Acquiesce’, ‘Half The World Away’, ‘Talk Tonight’, Oasis’ iconic live cover of The Beatles’ ‘I Am The Walrus’ and the epic title track. Noel has often described ‘The Masterplan’ as one of the best songs he has ever written.

Formats include CD, Heavyweight Black LP and limited-edition Silver LP, to celebrate 25 years. The Masterplan’ charted at No.2 in the UK Official Album Chart UK selling over 122,000 copies in its first week. It went on to be certified triple platinum and has sold over three million copies worldwide.

The last twelve months have been a whirlwind for Henry Counsell and Louis Curran, the men who make up Joy (Anonymous). Having established themselves during the Covid-19 era by playing impromptu meet-ups on London’s South Bank, they have graduated to bigger venues, travelled to far-flung locales and recorded their second album, Cult Classics, while maintaining the spontaneous energy and irrepressible joy that made their name. Their music revels in the euphoria of being alive and all the feelings, good or bad, that come with it. It invites us into a community, draws us close and promises the night of our lives.

Recorded over the course of a year, the blueprint for Cult Classics was laid down over a two-week span at Imogen Heap’s Round House in east London. Joy (Anonymous) invited friends old and new to visit - they’d record live instruments in jam sessions upstairs and then retreat to a second room to flip and loop and generally mess with the sounds, moulding them into sizzling dance tracks. “Loads of people were coming up to me like ‘I thought this was going to be a dance record?’” Louis says, remembering the quietly beautiful music they’d be recording. “I’d be like, don’t worry about that, just keep playing.” He’d send it back to people later and they’d be floored - “That was my bit and you’ve made it... jungle!”

It was an organic and creatively fulfilling approach, one that didn’t allow any of the music to get stale or stagnate. As they built the tracks from the sounds they’d collected, Joy (Anonymous) would weave the new songs into their famously improvised live sets, testing them, refining them, taking note of the audiences’ reactions. In a year punctuated by a lot of travel, they’d also incorporate the voices of people they met along the way - “Beazley’s Poem”, which opens the record, features the words of a man who was working security at a Fred Again show at New York’s Terminal Five. “He was basically doing the opposite of his job and being a hype man, climbing on the fence and ramping up the crowd - we ended up hanging out with him - like, who’s this legend?” Louis explains. “He just speaks really amazingly about his life, all these amazing thoughts and opinions - he started jumping on the mic when we were playing, preaching these amazing messages to the crowd, like that we all need to be nicer to each other. The first time we played the record in its entirety, he introduced us and that’s the recording we’ve used.”

Joy (Anonymous) remain dedicated to the spirit of spontaneity. They shut a street down with a surprise waterside party in New York. On a trip to Copenhagen they played an impromptu set in a cafe, which turned into a house party and a night-long good time. In Lithuania, they ended up playing in a decommissioned prison. It’s harder, perhaps, to keep that spirit alive now that they are operating more within the confines of the music industry but they will keep lugging their kit to wherever the party calls for as long as they can. “I think if we lose that, we’ve kind of lost what makes us us,” Henry says.

Bursting with multi-genre reference points and disparate influences, Cult Classics is very much a dance album. The samples we made ourselves or we took from music that is quite different to dance music, but we definitely wanted to shout out a lot of the dance influences that we love,” Henry says. They listened to a lot of Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx as well as The Prodigy (“more rage stuff”), taking songwriting tips from their dance forebears, but also recording bits that felt more like jazz and motown (see: A Place I Belong and the lovely album closer, You’re In Or You’re Out). Emir Taha’s gentle classical guitar runs like a thread throughout Cult Classics, washing into the undertones of the record, tying it all together.

The album follows the beat of a night out, from frenetic, sweaty movement to the gentler winding down as the dawn breaks. At times it is euphoric, celebratory and pure, whirling fun, at others it seeks the joy in the darker emotions that life throws our way. 404 is designed to encapsulate everything about the Joy (Anonymous) journey so far. Skittering beats and ghostly vocals give way to vibrating house chords: sirens blare as we approach a dubstep drop. It’s dramatic and wild, ratcheting up, seeming to settle then hitting you with an intense and frantic breakdown before the ghostly vocal returns to lull us back into the world. It has the feel of a hungry cat playing with a mouse, toying with it before letting it get away.

What sounds like someone playing the spoons on playful, housey How We End Up Here is actually Louis’ restless habit of clicking his rings on everything, one of a myriad of calling cards and easter eggs that day one fans will recognise. They rework Miley Cyrus and Swae Lee’s Party Up The Street into a French-electro-inspired future classic, adding a note of melancholy to a tune that you can imagine hearing blaring from every car on a summer drive. The lyrics on Cult Classic are generally reassuring, inspirational, originally drawn from Henry in stream-of-consciousness freestyles. You’re fine the way you are, they seem to say - the repeated “No need to try” of A Place I Belong, the assurance that “It’s in me all the time” on In Me All The Time. Even the summery but regretful Did You Wrong hints at the growth that is possible from less than ideal behaviour. For Joy (Anonymous), joy isn’t about just being “happy” all the time - it’s about relishing every element of your being.

The name ‘Joy (Anonymous)’ is taken from the work Henry did with Alcoholics Anonymous groups: it is a way to build a community around sharing joy. Their impromptu live sets are known as ‘meetings’; they encourage fans to share moments of joy to their website. They care deeply about the scene they’ve come up in and are determined not to leave it behind. Every show is another chance to reach out and connect with people who love to come together and revel in music as loud as it can go.

Support slots for Fred Again and The Streets, wild B2Bs with Fred and Skrillex, and a set at Four Tet’s Finsbury Park all-dayer this summer have given the duo the opportunity to live out childhood dreams and introduced their infectious live shows to new audiences at huge venues.

With an album as assured and joyful as Cult Classics on the horizon (and a killer collab with The Blessed Madonna coming up), they’re only going to reach higher heights. But the essence of Joy (Anonymous) remains on the South Bank. Between shows at Ally Pally in September, they dragged their camping chairs and gear back down to the banks of the Thames: and it just felt right.

1988 in Hamburg gegründet (und 1991 wieder aufgelöst), war die Kolossale Jugend neben OZSWMK und Cpt. Kirk eine der ersten maßgeblichen Bands, die der so genannten "Hamburger Schule" zugeordnet wurden. 1989 erschien beim Label L'age d'or die erste LP "Heile Heile Boches" und 1990 folgte das zweite Album "Leopard II". Die dritte LP des Boxsets enthält Raritäten (Sampler-Beiträge, Single-Versionen) und Aufnahmen eines bislang unveröffentlichten Live-Konzerts aus dem Forum Enger (22.9.1989). "Heile Heile Boches" erschien 1989, im Jahr des Mauerfalls. International gab es zwar Hip Hop, Crossover, Hardcore und Alternative-Punk; in Deutschland lediglich deren Simulation oder Imitation, und außer einem inzwischen längst redundanten, wenn auch unverwüstlichen Deutsch-Punk nur wenig, das in der Musik als Bollwerk gegen den neu aufkeimenden Nationalstolz hätte dienen können. Aber es gab die Kolossale Jugend. Seit jeher am reingrätschen, nerven, ständig sich austauschend, vorantreibend und völlig immun gegen Versuche der Politik, Wirtschaft und Volksgemeinschaft sie für die heraufbeschworene Pop Nation Deutschland zu vereinnahmen. Schicksalsjahre einer Kaiserin: die Wendezeit. Das zweite Album, 1990, wurde folgerichtig "Leopard II" betitelt. Mithin sind Musik und Text auch denkbar schlecht für eine groß angelegte Verwertung geeignet; sie passieren in einem irrwitzigen Tempo. Die Texte sind maßlos, schwer zu fassen und immer einen Schritt voraus. Scheinbar ohne Anfang und Ende prasseln und hämmern sie so gewaltig drauflos, wie die Band auf ihre Instrumente drischt. Wir hören, wie jemand denkt und seine Kollegen verschaffen ihm den musikalischen Nach- und Ausdruck, den das Denken in so intellektfeindlichen Zeiten damals wie heute verdient. Aber das hat mehr mit Rockmusik zu tun, als das eingangs erwähnte, auch wenn man damit glaubte, nah am Original zu sein, denn die Reduktion und die Leerstellen sind kolossal. Und doch stand die Kolossale Jugend - die Band, die vom Himmel fiel, weil sie aus keiner klar definierbaren Tradition kam - am Anfang von etwas Neuem. Als sie sich 1992 auflöste, konnten sich weitere Akteure in und außerhalb Hamburgs an neuen Referenzrahmen mit Überschriften wie "Halt's Maul Deutschland"* oder "What's so funny about L'Age Poly d'Or" ** orientieren. Pascal Fuhlbrügge gründete und verließ L'Age d'Or, machte danach Musik mit Erneuerbare Energien, Sand 11 oder 8, sowie für Theaterproduktionen. Heute entwickelt er neben der Musik eigene Theaterstücke und spielt sie auch. Christoph Leich war dann lange Schlagzeuger bei Die Sterne und ist heute in der Musikbranche im Bereich Logistik tätig. Klaus Meinhardt zeichnete das L'Age d'Or Logo, gestaltete die Jugend-Cover, war Gitarrist beim Heinz Krämer-Werner Hornig Sextett und arbeitet als Illustrator. Kristof Schreuf starb völlig überraschend am 9. November 2022, er war Bourgeois with Guitar, Autor, Sänger und Texter der Band Brüllen. Seine Texte u.a. für taz, Jungle World und die Süddeutsche Zeitung waren Ereignisse. Die vorliegende Wieder- und teilweise Neuveröffentlichung ist ihm gewidmet.

“I’m still learning how to experience joy, how to be free, how to be comfortable in my own
skin,” says Jaime Wyatt. “A lot of us grow up feeling like we have to hide who we are just
to be accepted, but that comes from a place of fear and judgment. I wrote these songs as
a way of letting go of all that, as permission to feel good.” Feel Good, Wyatt’s extraordinary
new album, is more than just a permission slip, though: it’s an invitation. Recorded with
Black Pumas’ Adrian Quesada, the record is bold and ecstatic, built on tight, intoxicating
grooves that belie the songs’ substantial emotional stakes. Wyatt’s writing is raw and
intuitive here, tapping into the deep recesses of her subconscious as she reckons with
grief and growth, and her delivery is visceral to match, cutting straight to the bone with
equal parts sensitivity and swagger. Taken as a whole, the collection stands as a radical
act of creative liberation from an artist already known for pushing limits, a genre-defying
work of healing and self-love that tips its cap to everything from Al Green and Otis
Redding to Waylon Jennings and Bobbie Gentry in its relentless pursuit of peace and
pleasure.

The evolution of Swampmeat Family Band continues apace. When the Birmingham outfit released
their incendiary third album, Muck, three years ago, it marked the culmination of the kind of vision that
frontman Dan Finnemore had always had for them; having returned from the U.S. after a spell as a key
member of Philadelphia rockers Low Cut Connie, he was burning with ideas and inspiration,
channeling a renewed creative energy into a new-look version of the garage band he’d formed, as
simply Swampmeat, with drummer T-Bird Jones in 2006. Muck certainly felt like a family affair, one
that saw the group expand to a five-piece and broaden their musical palette, boldening their bolshier
side with brass, lending their forays into country some authenticity with the addition of pedal steel and,
by welcoming vocalist Joni Coyne into the fold, providing Finnemore with a new foil. The new
accoutrements came together to form the basis of Swampmeat 2.0, a slicker, sharper band anchored
by Finnemore’s handsome arrangements and melodic sensibilities. Polish Your Old Halo continues
Finnemore’s hot vein of songwriting form with Muck and capitalises upon that album’s creative
momentum, without being afraid to try new things and remove old ones; the brass and strings that
made it on to Muck have been left to one side, propelling Finnemore’s writing to the fore. The
freewheeling blues rock that came to define their last album is still alive and well. But there’s also
progression, something particularly evident in the album’s bookends; ‘Do It All’ brings the curtain up
with juddering, synth-led punk energy, while closer ‘Plant Your Feet Correctly’ is a swooning acoustic
cut, initially envisioned as having a string section but now presented in vulnerable, bare-bones fashion.

Toy Machine skateboard's seminal 1996 video “Welcome To Hell” features a unique and progressive patchwork of skateboarders, most of which would become icons in their world, and helped redefine
what the modern skateboarding video could be. A young Joseph Shabason felt that impact. The acclaimed musician hit rewind on his VHS copy of “Welcome To Hell” hundreds of times in his youth,
each watch as thrilling as the last. That invigorating, improvisational, full-body experience of skateboarding is one that Shabason likens to jazz, where a shared language exists between the wheels and woodwinds. The way the skateboarder and musician command that language is what distinguishes them, adding definition to the mercurial concept of “style.” This connection becomes most apparent in collaboration; ensembles of skaters and musicians are a noisy, creative bunch.

Reflecting on this relationship and the Toy Machine classic would ultimately lead Shabason to wonder: what does hell sound like? The answer was a concept album that, like his previous records, lives in
the personal. One that, much like skateboarding itself, would push him to try something new: rescoring "Welcome To Hell". Out on October 20th, 2023.

Hailing from Alexandra and nicknamed "Ratau" (meaning "lion"), saxophonist Mike Makhalemele (1938-2000) was a force of nature with a robust yet soulful tone and seemingly endless breath. He embraced the pop music scene as an enthusiastic collaborator and staked his territory at the intersection of township grooves with modern currents in soul, funk and disco. As a solo artist, he delivered a formidable run of albums in the 1970s that that made him the most prolific recording artist in South African jazz during this era. First issued in 1975 by the maverick independent label Jo’Burg Records, his debut The Peacemaker was a tour de force that introduced Makhalemele’s heavyweight sax prowess (deftly accompanied by Jabu Nkosi on keys and Sipho Gumede on bass) while showcasing his innovative approach as a composer and arranger. To mark the arrival of a new
saxophone colossus, the album’s profile portrait cover boldly evoked the iconic Yakhal’ Inkomo by the Mankunku Quartet from 1969. Mike Makhalemele and Winston Mankunku Ngozi would go on to share
the spotlight on a collaborative release entitled The Bull and the Lion in 1976

Cher celebrates 25 years of "Believe" : On November 3, the Grammy Award-winning masterpiece will be released in a new, expanded " BELIEVE (Deluxe Edition) " that adds a whopping 13 remastered remixes to the mega-seller's original track listing (11 million worldwide!). The deluxe edition will be released in 3LP/2CD/Download & stream formats via Warner Records. "Believe" was an album full of dancefloor perennials - a fact that the assembled remixes in the new mastering underline once again.

"Tee's Radio One Instrumental? & "Ray Roc's Latin Soul Instrumental" from "Dov'e l'Amore?" are included here in one package for the first time, for example, along with remixes of the empowerment anthem "Strong Enough," "All or Nothing," "Dov'è l'amore" and the title track "Believe," a worldwide smash hit that sold over 10 million copies and reached #1 in 23 countries, including Germany, where it now has 5x gold status.

Cher is one of the most successful artists in history, selling over 100 million records during her unparalleled career. To date, she is the only artist:in to record a #1 single on the Billboard charts in six consecutive decades.

Place of longing Paris - with the cellist Gautier Capuçon "Gautier Capuçon is like a diamond in a ring and sparkles on its setting", with enthusiasm the New York Times resorted to figurative comparisons. With such effusive praise, it is no wonder that the famous cellist's albums are also absolute bestsellers.

Intuition, Emotions and Sensations are now followed by his next album with a ravishing program: Destination Paris is dedicated to atmospheric evergreens and ranges from popular film music to French chansons and classical works.

Lupe Fiasco's The Cool (commonly referred to as The Cool) is the second studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released on December 18, 2007 by 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. It was recorded between 2006 and 2007, with Lupe Fiasco himself and Charles Patton (Chilly) serving as executive producers. The concept album The Cool is based on the song and a title character from his debut album Food & Liquor (2006).

The album features guest appearances by Gemini, Snoop Dogg and Matthew Santos, while production was handled by Patrick Stump, Soundtrakk and Unkle, among others. The album debuted at #15 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 143,407 copies in its first week.

The album debuted as the number one rap record and lasted for 9 weeks. As of 2022, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). At the 2009 Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best Rap Album.

Ambition ist das zweite Studioalbum des amerikanischen Rappers Wale. Es wurde am 1. November 2011 von der Maybach Music Group, Allido Records und Warner Bros. Records veröffentlicht. Es ist der Nachfolger seines Debütalbums Attention Deficit, das 2009 veröffentlicht wurde.

Die Produktion des Albums wurde von mehreren Produzenten übernommen, darunter Lex Luger, T-Minus, Tha Bizness, DJ Toomp und Diplo. Das Album enthält außerdem Gastauftritte von Rick Ross, Lloyd, Ne-Yo, Big Sean, Miguel, Meek Mill, Kid Cudi und Jeremih.

The initial cassette-only releases of Tashi Dorji turned lots of heads, including Six Organs of Admittance and Hermit Hut - now over a decade later, this release makes its full-album debut on vinyl. "Guitar Improvisation and Tashi Dorji are the first physical releases of my guitar improvisations. They were put out by a small local, now defunct, label called Headway Recording in 2012 and 2013. The friends who ran the label had heard some of my guitar music and reached out to me about doing a cassette release. Guitar Improvisations was really my first recording of improvisation - in a semi-studio setting at my friend"s basement space. It really was a formative time for me because it felt like everything opened, as far as the possibilities of what music-making meant. Like improvisation walked in and then there was a volcanic eruption . . ." - Tashi Dorji

If there’s anything that defines SUDS, it’s friendship. Meeting through their love of the DIY scene currently emerging in Norwich, the band quickly found themselves gravitating towards writing songs together, and by Autumn 2021, Jack Ames (drums/vocals) joined Maisie Cater (vocals/guitar) and Dan Godfrey (guitar/vocals) to form a line-up that felt inherently natural. Stepping in on bass duties came Harry Mitchell, and things seemed to click instantaneously. Driven to keep the spark going they all upped sticks from their far flung edges of the county, pooled together to get a touring van and set to work. Just like their 2022 debut EP, In The Undergrowth, SUDS ventured down to Kent to record with producer Ian Sadler (Roam, Anavae), ready to explore the next chapter of their story. Step forth debut album The Great Overgrowth, a record brimming with addictive melodies and gorgeous moments of optimism. Their evocative and sometimes literary approach to lyrics takes inspiration from midwest emo and the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene - Cater and Ames would regularly distract themselves while writing, gazing between the pages of books by Woody Guthrie, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan and Brontez Purnell - which appears across their songwriting and would quickly become the foundation for their sound. Finding a delicate balance of sensitive lyricism dripping in warmth and killer guitar hooks, The Great Overgrowth follows on from the EP, telling the next part of the tale, as a tight knit group of twenty-something year old friends struggling and floating through life, to becoming more confident in their everyday lives and friendships while embracing change. The band are already off to a flying start, conquering sets at 2000 Trees Festival, The Great Escape and Truck Festival, as well as sold out shows with Spanish Love Songs, Pool Kids and Martha. Their talent for achingly intelligent, relatable lyricism and a heft for devil-may-care creative output already puts them heads above the rest. SUDS might be fresh faced but have the maturity and drive to become one of the most exciting emerging artists of 2023.

Hard-hitting, outspoken West Coast metalcore trio MUGSHOT has announced plans to release a new EP, "Cold Will," on November 3rd with their new label Pure Noise Records. The furious 5-track, neck-snapping record is an uninhibited commentary on sociopolitical travesties infecting the country, set to the tone of merciless rage and crushing riffs. Commenting on the EP, the band says: "'Cold Will' is crafted by the pains of life: Abuse, depression, manipulation, trauma, and other existential themes that present themselves as the rudder that directionally steers this record’s “ship.” Lyrical themes are met by and married with the crushing weight of dissonant riffs and frenetic drum patterns that further push the listener into this mental space of this record’s daunting thoughts and overall aggression. The hardcore inspired metal record consists of a frenzy of chaotically heavy riffs, abrupt tempo changes, and pure unbridled anger that all coalesce into one definitive statement. This record serves as the callout to any abusive person that has manipulatively used their power or title to take advantage of another. And to the people who we’ve lost because of these types of actions – this record is dedicated to them. When one’s voice is lost due to the distortions of life – our responsibility should be to amplify their voice and bring awareness to it."

"Rural" is the first long-play work of Carlos Asimbaya aka Kaifo, which sees a fully matured vision of Ecuadorian keyboard tradition catapulted into the future and rhythmically sustained by the "bomba" percussion; an Afroandean element that bears witness to the unique history of this country.

Trained in classical music composition and inspired by jazz, Kaifo's repertoire features haunting, extensive melodies and scales that inform listeners on the landscapes of Andean styles while delivering a postmodern dancefloor experience. " Carlos Asimbaya is a keyboardist, composer and producer hailing from the small town of Machachi, Cantón Mejía, Province of Pichincha Ecuador. In 2016 he began a process of personal research and exploration of various musical expressions of traditional music, collecting sonic resources from remote localities such as Aloag, Machachi, Chalguayacu, Cotacachi, Alausi, Borbon, Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas and more - customs that identify the history of Ecuador.

In June 2019, he finally published his first single "Desvío" - a warm fusion of bomba, albazo, dembow, global bass, etc. followed by other digital releases culminating in the EP "Curtido" as part of the 'Kipus' series of Eck Echo Records. With "Rural" Kaifo uplifts the Ecuadorian organ tradition inaugurated in the mid-1960s by the likes of Polibio Mayorga into futuristic clubbing arenas. "Tres Caminos" is a magnificent opener where psychedelia meets the soft snare elegance of the "albazo", the indigenous genre that defines the soul of this country. "Monte Espeso" introduces clubbers worldwide to the contagious grooves of "bomba", the trademark rhythm of Afroecuadorian communities. The raw keyboard melody strikes fast like a proverbial lightning. "Hecho Leña" sounds like the one-man orchestra that is Kaifo. Relentless timbales fills and an alcohol-fueled family vibe characterize this unique "chicha" track.

Off World presents the final album in its trilogy of surreal and spacious leftfield electronics. "A stellar project headed by Sandro Perri, one of the most singular producers in contemporary music" (Boomkat), this third volume is another distinctive collection of tracks constructed from semi-improvised ensemble recordings made over the past decade with a varied cast of coconspirators. Drew Brown, Matthew Cooper, Susumu Mukai and Andrew Zukerman join Perri again on a variety of synths and machines, along with violinist Jesse Zubot (Tanya Tagaq, Fond Of Tigers). Perri also continues to add organ and piano to the mix, while Volume 3 notably features first-time Off World contributors Nicole Rampersaud on trumpet and Martin Arnold on guitar, both mainstays of Toronto's vibrant improv and out-music scenes. The Quietus calls Off World "genuinely explorative_the musical equivalent of a Dali-esque landscape" which through all sorts of genre-defying twists and turns, at times evokes "offkilter, late Miles Davis ambience". Off World 3 doubles down on that jazz-adjacent trope in certain respects, while holding fast to Pitchfork's dictum that Perri "cultivates his own genreless brand of futurism." Marked by longer tracks than previous collections, three of the album's five songs clock in around the 10-minute mark, where overtly improvised instrumental playing wends its way across alternately bubbling and woozy electronic beds. "Impulse Controller" is a languidly skewed rhumba where ambling melodic undercurrents and dubby electronic pointillism provide a dulcet promenade for Rampersaud's Miles-esque trumpet excursions. "Ludic Loop" see-saws along in a slow synthy two-step, punctuated by Perri's restrained piano chords and Arnold's fried electric guitar. "Empasse" is perhaps most reminiscent of earlier Off World collections, though again slowed and stretched, with oozing synth bass ostinatos counterposed by ambient layers of viola and violin filigree from Zubot. These three centerpiece longform tracks each highlight one of the album's instrumental improvisers, and taken together, make for the most scintillating sedate and ruminant album in the trilogy. Off World 3 sounds as sui generis as ever, but in wrapping up the series, Perri sprinkles the project's emblematic alien surrealism with decidedly anthropic elements and temporalities. This final volume in the trilogy could also be seen as a re-statement of Perri's politico-aesthetic mission, as aptly celebrated by Pitchfork and its glowing 8.0+ reviews of Perri's 2018/2019 solo albums In Another Life and Soft Landing (released between Off World 2 and the present volume): a uniquely purposeful, subtly detailed cannon of songs "busy, vibrant, and bursting with life, but that aren't ever in a rush to get anywhere."

It’s been a little over ten years since Hailu Mergia re- emerged on the international music scene. Following the first in a series of his classic recordings reissued in collaboration with Awesome Tapes From Africa, Mergia assembled a band and began performing live again after many years driving a cab in Washington, DC. His first show back appeared on the front page of the

New York Times along with a stellar review and he took off from there performing his flavor of Ethiopian jazz all over the world in the years since, including Radio City Music Hall and Montreal Jazz Festival.

Finally, we have a recorded document of the keyboard player’s powerful DC-based trio—which practices each weekend in his basement—featuring Kenneth Joseph on drums and Alemseged Kebede on bass. Beautifully captured at one of their fiery live shows at the venerable Brooklyn non-profit cultural center Pioneer Works on July 1, 2016, the concert was recorded by PW staff and mixed by Ted Young with mastering by ATFA’s expert audio extraction collaborator Jessica Thompson. The performance clarifies what many people across the globe already know: in his fifth decade of music-making Hailu Mergia continues to push the boundaries of his remarkable abilities.

Mergia and his veteran band energetically and playfully unpeel layer after layer of harmonic and rhythmic interest out of a spectrum of Ethiopian repertoire. Modern jazz demands constant reinvention and improvisation, night after night creating new works out of known modes and classic standards. This band is unstoppable when it comes to turning age-old melodies (like “Tizita” or “Anchihoye Lene”) upside down and inside out until they emerge as molten new works, often spontaneously. Mergia’s original compositions (like “Yegle Nesh”) shine brighter than ever here as well. Moving from keyboard to organ to accordion to melodica, he deftly switches instruments—often during the same song. Mergia at 77 years old seems to be working harder than musicians half his age.

Pioneer Works Swing (Live) brings into focus the kind of onstage group improvisation and deadly solo passages that reach for places Mergia and the band have never gone, on festival and club stages across four continents.

Now that Mergia has released two new recordings along with four classic reissues, he is eager to let everyone hear what he’s been doing on the road since he re-took the global stage for his victory laps. So much more than an old act from yesteryear, Mergia balances his legendary Ethiopian recordings with good old fashioned sweat-soaked live concert triumphs such as the one we have here.

Women In Revolt! is an exhibition of work by over 100 women artists working in the UK during the 1970s and 80s. It explores how women used radical ideas and rebellious methods to change the face of British culture. With music, painting, sculpture, photography, film, and performance, they forged a path for women’s liberation in the UK. To underline this trailblazing exhibition, a compilation has been dutifully curated to further reveal the music, sound art, and prominent musicians creating during this artistic and societal paradigm shift. The music that defines and defied this era, not only soundtracked but spurred on increasingly impassioned creative output and representation for women. Bands included on the compilation like X-Ray Spex and The Slits remain front of mind for band’s espousing this robust stance both sonically and politically, with equally impactful artists included like Ludus, whose lead singer Linder Sterling also impacted the genre.

Six Nine Records Ltd. UK proudly presents 3TOB’s first release on the label with the amazing tracks “My Baby” and “Love Will FInd Its Way”. The tracks are taken from the group’s digital only album “Trading Place”, which was released earlier in 2023. The group consists of three of the original and founding members of Tony! Toni! Toné!; Elijah Baker, Antron Haile, and Carl Wheeler. They were joined by Jubu Smith on guitar and Amar Khalil (who took over as lead singer following Raphael Saadiq’s exit from the group in 1998). Definitely not to be missed as it is a limited UK press with full colour printed picture cover.

Bad Wolves refuse to follow. Instead, the platinum-certified Los Angeles band — John Boecklin drums, Daniel 'DL' Laskiewicz lead vocals, Doc Coyle [lead guitar, backing vocals] and Kyle Konkiel [bass, backing vocals] — circumvent convention by stretching the boundaries of hard rock with earthquaking heaviness, enigmatic experimentation and enthralling melodies. Bulldozing boundaries is nothing new for the boys and their upcoming album, 'Die About It, maintains that narrative. With a story that emphasises the sarcastic statement pointed towards those defending their own beliefs into absurdity, wrong or right, Bad Wolves believe that if you're gonna cry about it then you might as well Die About It,

The five members of Sun June spent their early years spread out across the United States, from the boonies of the Hudson Valley to the sprawling outskirts of LA. Having spent their college years within the gloomy, cold winters of the North East, Laura Colwell and Stephen Salisbury found themselves in the vibrant melting-pot of inspiration that is Austin, Texas. Meeting each other while working on Terrence Malick's 'Song to Song', the pair were immediately taken by the city's bustling small clubs and honky-tonk scene, and the fact that there was always an instrument within reach, always someone to play alongside. Coming alive in this newly discovered landscape, Colwell and Salisbury formed Sun June alongside Michael Bain on lead guitar, Sarah Schultz on drums, and Justin Harris on bass and recorded their debut album live to tape, releasing it via the city's esteemed Keeled Scales label in 2018. The band coined the term 'regret pop' to describe the music they made on the 'Years' LP. Though somewhat tongue in cheek, it made perfect sense ~ the gentle sway of their country leaning pop songs seeped in melancholy, as if each subtle turn of phrase was always grasping for something just out of reach. Sun June returns with Somewhere, a brand new album, out February 2021. It's a record that feels distinctly more present than its predecessor. In the time since, Colwell and Salisbury have become a couple, and it's had a profound effect on their work; if Years was about how loss evolves, Somewhere is about how love evolves. "We explore a lot of the same themes across it," Colwell says, "but I think there's a lot more love here." Somewhere is Sun June at their most decadent, a richly diverse album which sees them exploring bright new corners with full hearts and wide eyes. Embracing a more pop-oriented sound the album consists of eleven beautiful new songs and is deliberately more collaborative and fully arranged: Laura played guitar for the first time; band members swapped instruments, and producer Danny Reisch helped flesh out layers of synth and percussion that provides a sweeping undercurrent to the whole thing. Throughout Somewhere you can hear Sun June blossom into a living-and-breathing five-piece, the album formed from an exploratory track building process which results in a more formidable version of the band we once knew. 'Real Thing' is most indicative of this, a fully collaborative effort which encompasses all of the nuances that come to define the album. "Are you the real thing?" Laura Colwell questions in the song's repeated refrain. "Honey I'm the real thing," she answers back. They've called this one their 'prom' record; a sincere, alive-in-the-moment snapshot of the heady rush of love. "The prom idea started as a mood for us to arrange and shape the music to, which we hadn't done before," the band explains. " Prom isn't all rosy and perfect. The songs show you the crying in the bathroom,, the fear of dancing, the joy of a kiss - all the highs and all the lows." It's in both those highs and lows where Somewhere comes alive. Laura Colwell's voice is mesmerising throughout, and while the record is a document of falling in love, there's still room for her to wilt and linger, the vibrancy of the production creating beautiful contrasts for her voice to pull us through. Opening track 'Bad With Time' sets this tone from the outset, both dark and mysterious, sad and sultry as it fascinatingly unrolls. "I didn't mean what I said," Colwell sings. "But I wanted you to think I did." Somewhere showcases a gentle but eminently pronounced maturation of Sun June's sound, a second record full of quiet revelation, eleven songs that bristle with love and longing. It finds a band at the height of their collective potency, a marked stride forward from the band that created that debut record, but also one that once again is able to transport the listener into a fascinating new landscape, one that lies somewhere between the town and the city, between the head and the heart; neither here nor there, but certainly somewhere.

Structured Records presents the continuation of their previous work, signed by The Wire Alliance, untitled "Mathspace."

The new EP consists of 4 solid and impactful Techno remixes, where the diversity within each track defines this 12-inch as the perfect tool to set the dancefloor on fire.

Silez, Swarm Intelligence, Rommek, and Irrational Language dive into a whirlwind of drones, aggressive rhythmic patterns, exquisite basslines, and other sonic elements that creatively and deeply dissect the original songs.

A compilation that at times sounds reminiscent of early 2000s Birmingham, while at other times injects a sound closer to IDM, all without straying from its own essence: precise Techno execution, without frills or pretensions but with a lot of personality and a clear direction—to provide timeless material for the most demanding DJs.

Structured Records' new release is here to stay in your record collections. And we're not just saying it, just hit play. We love what we do. Enjoy it.

From AMERIGO GAZAWAY who did FELA SOUL and BIZARRE TRIBE, now YASIIN GAYE. 13 tracks that perfectly blend MOS DEF and MARVIN GAYE. Features TEDDY PENDERGRASS, KANYE WEST, TAMII TERRELL, TALIB KWELI and BLACK ASTRONAUTS. Full picture sleeve, double vinyl.

Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell remains the turning point at which hip-hop crashed through mainstream barriers and never left. Anchored by the crossover smash "Walk This Way," the 1986 blockbuster still sounds like a revolution unfolding in real time. It has everything – hard-rock riffs, turntable scratching, itchy rhythms, hit singles – not the least of which are the trio's invigorating raps and inseparable chemistry. And now it's the first rap record afforded audiophile treatment, courtesy of Mobile Fidelity.

Sourced from the original master tapes and pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, the reissue label's numbered-edition 180g 33RPM SuperVinyl LP elevates Raising Hell to sonic heights on par with its musical and cultural significance. Ranked the 123rd Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone, 43rd on Pitchfork's Greatest Albums of the 1980s, one of the Top 100 Albums of All Time by TIME – and included on "Best of" lists by Spin, Paste, XXL, Entertainment Weekly, and basically every other significant media outlet – the triple-platinum effort rocks the house.

Benefitting from the ultra-low noise floor and groove definition of SuperVinyl, Raising Hell unleashes a torrent of massive dynamics and tsunami of frequency-plumbing details underlined by Rick Rubin's taut, crisp, albeit raw and streetwise production. Just as the Queens-based group both defined what hip-hop could represent – and displayed just how big it could get – Rubin's work melded ear-worm hooks, savvy drum loops, metal-leaning guitars, and, of course, Run and D.M.C.'s cross-fire lyrical interplay into watertight frameworks bursting with ideas, tones, samples, and beats. Heard anew on Mobile Fidelity vinyl, Raising Hell is in every regard the aural equivalent of a direct-to-console 1970s classic. And it sounds as fresh as hell.

As for the music, it ranks among the most influential, inventive, and invigorating ever released – rap or otherwise. Vanguard artists such as Ice-T, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Public Enemy's Chuck D – who declared it his all-time favorite and "the first record that made me realize this was an album-oriented genre" – have testified on behalf of its brilliance. And never mind the presence of the Top 5 single "Walk This Way," whose power helped make Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry relevant for the first time in nearly a decade – and literally put Run-D.M.C. in bedrooms ranging from the Bronx to Bartlett to Bad Axe.

Look instead to the rest of the entirely filler-free set, be it the corkscrew turns, slippery wordplay, and "My Sharona"-meets-"Mickey" mixology of the boisterous "It's Tricky," the fat-but-minimized bass grooves and warped turntable wobble of the hysterical "You Be Illin'," chimes-accented inertia and boombox-on- shoulder thunder of the now-iconic "Peter Piper," or voice-as-percussion attack of the funky "Is It Live." With Raising Hell, the answer to the question is always affirmative – a sensation bolstered by the fact the group always had something to say.

The definition of Golden Age Hip-Hop in every way, Run-D.M.C. avoids the negativity and misogyny that later plagued the style, spinning assertive tales about identity (the biographical and culture-changing "My Adidas"), work ethics ("Perfection"), and, most notably, pride (the Harriet Tubman- and Malcom X.-referencing "Proud to Be Black"). Pavement-packed inner cities, tree-lined suburbs, and cornfield-rimmed rural areas would never again be the same. And rocking a rhyme that's right on time would become trickier than ever.

File Under Balearic Gabba EP is the first in a new series of serious DJ tools that will encompass remixes, edits, originals and licenses, all with artwork that is a twist on the original Balearic Gabba logo by PlanetLuke. Up first is a new selection of music from core Hell Yeah artists that is unruly, impossible to define, and sure to twist dance floors inside out.

First up is Daniel Klein better known as SIRS, a Berlin-based mainstay with releases on the likes of Live At Robert Johnson. His cut of 'Super Rapido' is a dubbed-out blend of kosmiche chug and tropical percussion. Tumbling synth sequences bring extra colour as the groove builds over nine irresistible minutes.

Then comes Japanese downtempo master Calm with his Mellow Mellow Acid Dub of Sergio Messina & The Four Twenties's 'Sometimes' which is a nostalgic acid daydream and the perfect sunset soundtrack. Melancholic moods and lazy drums sink you in deep as the gentle acoustic guitars keep you afloat.

Label regular and Internasjonal and International Feel associate Feel Fly then comes through with an Estatico Danzante Remix of Pedro Bertho's 'Tornei' feat Mariana Gehring and takes us to the stars on twinkling keys, dusty breakbeats and steamy, worldly vocals that glow as warm as a setting sun.

Last of all is New York maestro and Loose Control Band member DJ Spun with his It's Rong Remix of My Friend Dario's 'Acid Mosquito in a Summer Night'. It finds him serving up a nine-minute excursion into jungle humidity with tribal percussion and jumbled bongos all run through with a spooky and primeval lead synth over lurching drum breaks.

The File Under Balearic Gabba EP brings a whole new dimension to wonky dance floor workouts.

Folk duo lilo's ascent continues with second EP, I Don’t Like My Chances On The Outside. Having met at school aged 11, Christie Gardner and Helen Dixon’s friendship runs over a decade deep. Starting out with homespun recordings and YouTube covers, by the time they moved to London in their late-teens, they had an unshakeable creative bond that forms an incredible bedrock for them to flourish from. Their exceptional debut EP Sleep Country (Practise Music) came out in late-2021. Taking cues from alt-folk and classic country, it showed a maturity and dexterity that belied their years. As Loud & Quiet said of the band in a recent interview, "what sets them apart from their contemporaries is a real understanding of Americana-influenced folk’s lineage as a genre. Think Emmylou Harris’ soul bearing and the pitchperfect vocal glide of Karen Carpenter." New EP, I Don’t Like My Chances On The Outside, is a truly brilliant follow-up that underscores that we're no longing talking about promise with this duo. Working with producer friend Joseph Futák, they're now firmly in their stride, deftly counterbalancing delicate moments and harmony-led pop highs across a full-bodied band sound. Their lyrics speak for their generation too, encapsulating the panic, anxiety and love of twenty-somethings at a time of great uncertainty; from single 'Settled' where the financial realities of needing to move back in with your parents to the sheer relief of ending a relationship on 'I Don't Love You Anymore' and 'Just A Thought's failing attempts to pull a friend away from a bad person ("It's your hill to die on," they warn), nothing is off the plate.

An archival release of this head-scratching 2010 recording made by
members of the freshly disintegrated Stars Like Fleas (called "NY's most
sublime and continuously undiscovered band" by PAPER Magazine): an
amalgam of private press new age, electro-acoustic improvisation, gothadjacent 80s DIY cassette culture, Italian prog rock, and community
choirs
From 2009-2011, Family Dynamics said what they had to say and then vanished,
their members separately going on to celebrated musical careers of their own.
The project emerged from the still smoldering ashes of volatile art- music
collective Stars Like Fleas, one of the earliest and most polarizing bands to define
the early aughts North Brooklyn music scene that produced Grizzly Bear, Dirty
Projectors, Animal Collective, TV On The Radio, Liars and others who went on to
enjoy broader appeal and success. Family Dynamics performed for barely two
years before unceremoniously vanishing, without any widely available record or
document. Whatever's Clever is thrilled to (re)issue this buried treasure, selfrecorded in a cabin in Woodstock, NY, at their creative peak, and never before
issued in physical format

The third album by Canterbury's own Caravan, originally released in 1971. This was the last album to feature the original Caravan line-up, before David Sinclair left to form Matching Mole with Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine) later that year. In The Land of Grey and Pink is of the defining albums of the era, deemed one of the Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time (Rolling Stone) and Best Cosmic Rock Albums (Q and MOJO). This reissue set features a pink and grey marble 2LP, which features live BBC live sessions tracks made available for the first time on vinyl.

On "Tambor De Cura", producer Daniel David (The Pendletons) and Bay Area staples Jazz Mafia team up with Rio De Janeiro artist Guinu to cook up a genre defying dancefloor hitter that blends dirty analog Brazilian funk, sci-fi synth sounds and raw horn lines with an unstoppable bass hook. Midway, the song transitions into a Samba break with a beautiful trumpet solo, while seamlessly returning to its infectious house tempo. Guinu's passionate vocals highlight the healing power of the music.

On "Devotion", producer/singer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel David (The Pendletons) teams up with Jazz Mafia to bring a rich up-tempo offering. Building off of a hypnotic jazzy house piano and tapestry of congas and live percussion, Daniel soulfully paints a picture of connecting to spirit through one's inner world. Jazz Mafia's driving horns build throughout, propelling the track, with relief by an energetic drum breakdown and conga solo.

Year of The Knife have announced their new album, No Love Lost, due out October 27th from Pure Noise Records. The album finds Year of The Knife at their most sonically honed with nine lean and vicious songs that clock in at a blistering 20 minutes. Recorded by Kurt Ballou (Nails, The Armed, Code Orange), No Love Lost sounds truly massive, a crushing amalgam of hardcore and death metal influences that demands your attention and stays with you long after its concise runtime. To mark the album's announcement, Year of The Knife have shared two new singles, the 86 second "Wish" and 48 second "Last Laugh," highlighting both the economy of songwriting and the level aggression found on No Love Lost. Both tracks also include guest vocals from some of heavy music's greatest, with the former featuring Devin Swank of Sanguisugabogg and the latter featuring Dylan Walker of Full of Hell. In late June, Year of The Knife were involved in a car accident while on tour. All four members endured serious injuries, especially vocalist Madison Watkins, who suffered many broken bones and a traumatic brain injury. No Love Lost sounds even more urgent and defiant in light of the band's recent circumstances, and profits from the album's sales will be going directly to the members' ongoing recovery efforts.

Reissue of MORTICIAN’s classic redefining release House By The Cemetery!

Through 35 hedonistic highlights stretched across three volumes, Music For The Radical Xenomaniac delivers the first ever deep dive into The Netherlands’ colourful house sound of the 90s and the under-celebrated producers and record labels whose music soundtracked a countrywide cultural movement.

Plenty of books and documentaries have celebrated the riotous raves, legendary clubs, high profile DJs and promoters who shaped The Netherlands’ hedonistic house scene throughout the 90s. Music For The Radical Xenomaniac dares to challenge these narratives by shining a light, for the first time, on those who created the scene’s kaleidoscopic, game-changing and globally influential soundtrack.

Leading the charge were a disparate group of key creators who not only forged links with their counterparts in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom, but also became celebrated figures on the worldwide electronic underground (Eric Nouhan, Aad De Mooy, Orlando Voorn, Stefan Robbers and Steve Rachmad). Alongside key underground imprints (Stealth Records, Basic Energy, ESP, Prime and Outland Records included) and lesser-known producers, these pioneers gave flavour to a radical musical movement via open-mindedness, unheard-of creativity and a genuinely futuristic ethos. All of these artists and labels are represented throughout the series.

So, what defined this hedonistic house sound from The Netherlands? Stylistically, it was varied – as the series so emphatically proves – but was defined by a set of distinctive sonic characteristics: emotive musical motifs, high-frequency synth sounds, mellow basslines, pulsating rhythms and more than a touch of hallucinatory intent.

Volume 2 contains a wealth of notable tracks and slept-on gems. These include Q’s ‘From Within (Body Mix)’, a lesser-known cut from the trio better-known as Quazar (Gert van Veen, R.o.X.Y co-founder Eddy De Clercq and Eric Cycle), Eric Nouhan’s melodic masterpiece ‘Technobility’, which is appearing on vinyl for the first time since 1994, and a rare collaboration between regular production partners Maarten van der Vleuten and Mike Kivits (better known as Aardvarck), which was initially released on a special R&S Records’ offshoot set up by the label’s co-founder, Renaat Renaat Vandepapeliere (Integrity II’s ‘Living In Fantasy’).

Other highlights include Exposure’s ‘Love Quest’, a highly sought-after 1991 track by The Hague-based DJ/producer Maurits Paardekooper, and an ambient-infused Andrew Weatherall favourite originally released by Stealth Records in 1993, Hole In One’s ‘Spiritual Ideas For Virtual Reality’.

Packed full of forward-thinking 90s gems remastered for today’s dance floors by Alden Tyrell, Music For The Radical Xenomaniac Volume 1 is a life-affirming celebration of a distinctly Dutch musical movement, whose rich textures and melodies are still inspiring new generations of DJs and dancers today.