Cerca:e lan

Fresh Afro-Soul Music - Ghana’s Highlife going by the heartbeat of 70s Soul Music. Jembaa Groove is a multicultural band founded in late 2020 by bass player and composer Yannick Nolting, and singerpercussionist Eric Owusu.

Speaking the same musical language, they quickly realized the fruitful
outcome of their musical encounter and decided to spend a couple of
months composing their original music. Digging deep into both their
backgrounds and musical identities, they came up with an organic result both like to label as Afro-Soul.

After seeking for the right companions for the upcoming journey and
stumbling on a few of Berlin's finest musicians, they finally formed Jembaa Groove, a 7-piece band that combines fresh sounds from Berlin's underground music scene with traditional West-African sounds from Ghana and Mali, such as Highlife, Adowa and Wassoulou. Their aesthetic vision is inspired by soul music from the ‘60s and ‘70s and avoids overly-produced commercial arrangements while merging driving bass grooves and steady drum patterns with fresh horn lines and catchy melodies. Produced by Yannick Nolting. Composed and arranged by Yannick Nolting. Vocal
arrangements and lyrics by Eric Owusu.

Es gab vereinzelte Gerüchte, nun ist es offiziell: Am 29. April 2022 erscheint das neue Rammstein-Album »Zeit«!

Der achte Longplayer der Berliner Musiker folgt auf das unbetitelte Nummer-Eins-Werk, mit dem die Band 2019, nach der längsten Album-Pause ihrer bisherigen Karriere, auf Anhieb 14 Spitzenpositionen der
internationalen Charts erreichte. Zwei Jahre haben Till Lindemann (Gesang), Paul Landers (Gitarre), Richard Z. Kruspe (Gitarre), Flake
(Keyboard), Oliver Riedel (Bass) und Christoph Schneider (Schlagzeug) an den elf Songs des neuen Albums gearbeitet. Zur Seite stand ihnen erneut der Berliner Produzent Olsen Involtini. Aufgenommen wurde »Zeit« in den La-Fabrique-Studios in St. Rémy de Provence, Frankreich.

Repress
Byron the Aquarius (aka Byron Blaylock), an accomplished keys player as much as he is a producer, has a deep love for the organic side of music. This shines through in his creations, back to his debut EP in 2007. More recently, Blaylock's skillful jazz beats have found a home on the one and only Jeff Mills' Axis Records. From his birthplace in Birmingham Alabama, Blaylock has grown into an international figure of acclaim for his explorative compositions.

Already having two successful EPs with Shall Not Fade under his belt - most recently marking the labels' 50th release with What Up Doe? Vol.2 - Byron the Aquarius returns for a gorgeous double LP. Expect the smoothness of deep house, melodic instrumental hip hop production of the J Dilla creed along with tight jazz pieces.

The New Beginning LP showcases range and expertise from the off, exploding with pulsing discordant jazz in "Amaya's Voyage". Psychedelic g-funk is the MO of "Smoke One For Huckaby", before a B-side milieu of jazz and hip hop reminiscent of Guru's Jazzmatazz. The album settles into a deep groove across its C-side, the highlight of which is the percussive workout of "Underground Was Black", complemented delicately with dazed pads and buoyant but smokey lounge jazz sounds in "Cosmic Jazz". Off kilter hip hop shines through in "Last Time We Gonna Do This" and its eclectic sound palette, then we are blindsided by the heavy electro distortion of "The End Of The World". The record closes with a collaboration of the genres explored throughout, pieced together into the pumping "Lost People of Tron". The album feels like a lap of honour around all the influences in Byron The Aquarius' sound - it's yet another artistic triumph.

There is a tendency within modern electronica to pigeonhole and categorise, to package music into easily digestible formulae. In direct revolt comes Dutch artist Satori and his new album Dreamin’ Colours, released globally April 22nd, 2022, on renowned imprint Crosstown Rebels. Recorded at the esteemed Sonic Vista Studios in Ibiza, the nine-track LP has been greatly anticipated off the back of its proceeding’s singles: Yellow Blue Bus ft. Laska, Lalai ft. Ariana Vafadari and most recently Gin Song.

An ethereal, swirling body of work, Dreamin’ Colours is rich in texture, colour and imagination. Satori stretches himself out through languorous, mystical explorations of both the digital and the analogue elements of music, the result a beautifully conspired collection of world music, steeped in electronic and Balkan roots, and straddling a multitude of genres from blues and indie electronic to opera, folk and beyond.

Colourful Dream begins proceedings, taking the form of a gently-building opener. From the pluck of a guitar string to hypnotic flute-like elements, we soon arrive at the enchanting world of Lalai ft. Ariana Vafadari. Recorded in a four-hundred-year-old water well, it showcases the transcendent sound with which Satori has become best known, meandering through rustling hats and tribal-like drum patterns whilst the dulcet tones of Ariana shimmer softly throughout.

Tuti ft. Kalima takes on a harder edge, with gritty drum patterns opening into melancholic chords early on. Kalima’s vocals add an emotive touch to the piece, paving the way for Moj Dilbere: a euphoric cut that feels tribal and reflective in one.

We land at a similarly ethereal soundscape on The Gin Song ft. Mybaby, as star-like synths pulse alongside punchy percussion before Yellow Blue Bus ft. Laska takes its place. It begins with real-life ambience, made up of sounds recorded live in Ibiza as a bus passes and birds chirp merrily in the background. This swiftly gives way to a guitar-flecked bassline, opening neatly into the vocal offerings of both Satori and Laska.

Troublemaker ft. El Mundo retains an inherent melodic quality, progressing through poignant strings and whispering kick-hat combos. Powerful and poignant, the mesmeric sounds of Ora Dea and Moshe meander subtly into Lonely Boy (Redux) ft. Hugo Oak. The closing saga brings things to a wonderfully subdued finish, rounding off the album on a wholeheartedly calming note.

Although raised in the Netherlands, where commercial electronic music is of course king, on Dreamin’ Colours it is undeniably Satori’s Balkan heritage that layers his production with dreamy, ethereal, Eastern European influences. The album’s overriding voice lies in his exultant celebration of Eastern European music, weaving vibrant threads of its earthy, melodic, rhythmic sounds into his thick musical tapestry. Written during the pandemic and driven by the ache of separated love, the album is, Satori says, his most personal yet.

From holding down an eighteen-month residency at Heart, Ibiza to having nearly four-hundred-thousand listeners on Spotify each month, Satori is a truly worldwide artist in today’s electronic music scene. Having been championed by Damian Lazarus early on in his career, he has emerged as a must-see live act for fans from all corners of the globe. November 2021 marked the start of his USA tour, where his Maktub concept adorned some of the country’s most iconic clubbing institutions, whilst his discography speaks for itself, with a plethora of acclaimed releases on labels including Crosstown Rebels, Sol Selectas and DGTL Records to name a few. As Dreamin’ Colours introduces him to an ever-growing audience, Satori remains one of the most exhilarating, untamed and truly authentic forces in music.

Am 22. April wird Amy Macdonalds Megaseller „This Is The Life” mit den Superhits „Mr. Rock n Roll“ und „This Is The Life“, zum ersten Mal auf zwei weißen 10“-Vinylen erhältlich sein!

Amy’s Debütalbum aus dem Jahr 2007 erreichte Platz 1 der britischen Albumcharts und Platz 3 in Deutschland und verkaufte sich in beiden Ländern bis heute weit mehr als 1 Million Mal. In Deutschland hielt sich das Album 36 Wochen in den Top 10 und war damit eines der erfolgreichsten Alben des Jahres 2008.

Auch in anderen Ländern wie Frankreich, den Niederlanden, der Schweiz und Schweden erlebte „This Is The Life” ähnlich erfolgreiche Platzierungen in den Albumcharts.

Double-LP on 45rpm 180gm black vinyl, housed in a gatefold jacket with printed inner sleeves. Alternate cover artwork & 20 page lyric book.

2020’s A Hero’s Death saw Fontaines D.C. land a #2 album in the UK, receive nominations at the GRAMMYs, BRITs and Ivor Novello Awards, and sell out London’s iconic Alexandra Palace.

Now the band return with their third record in as many years: Skinty Fia. Used colloquially as an expletive, the title roughly translates from the Irish language into English as “the damnation of the deer”; the spelling crassly anglicized, and its meaning diluted through generations. Part bittersweet romance, part darkly political triumph - the songs ultimately form a long-distance love letter, one that laments an increasingly privatized culture in danger of going the way of the extinct Irish giant deer.

Clear Vinyl

Written and conceived by Stephan Crasneanscki, ‘LOVOTIC’ is a concept album by Soundwalk Collective, composed in collaboration with lauded actress and singer/songwriter Charlotte Gainsbourg. Featuring veteran techno stalwart AtomTM, rising singer/composer/performance artist Lyra Pramuk, celebrated actor Willem Dafoe, and writer/philosopher Paul B. Preciado, the album is released by the new Berlin-based Analogue Foundation.

Inspired by a relatively new field of research that seeks to explore and develop the possibilities of sexual and emotional relationships – and even love – between humans and robots, ‘LOVOTIC’ interrogates the impulses, ideas, and needs underlying this phenomenon. The project ventures into a future where sex, intimacy and desire are reformulated through the connection of humans, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

In an age of such hybrid entanglement with the machine, human identity requires the construction of new forms of intimacy, gender, and sexuality. At present, however, such technologies are primarily used to produce programs of limited sexual iterations that do not question the preformatted categories of gender and sexual orientation. In contrast, on ‘LOVOTIC’, Soundwalk Collective ask whether the future of sex and sexuality could instead be an exponentially expanding kaleidoscope. Where does the impulse of preference come from? What sets of words from our vocabulary can be communicated to the AI mind to generate a new identity for desire? Could the machine be another technology that brings us closer together?

Sonically ‘LOVOTIC’ is unidentifiable, artificial, and genuinely futuristic, occupying an amorphous androgynous netherworld at the borderlands between biotic and android. Traditional musical signposts are virtually non-existent, instead offering a mercurial, formless sound which mirrors the flourishing of gender fluidity it suggests could be on the horizon.

The production tangibly evokes the odd, rubbery textures of faux flesh, the slick virtual glide or glitchy mishaps of software, and the sleek shine of hardware. Gleaming sound design creates shard-like surfaces redolent of Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘Glass’, the slippery stretched sonics Gabor Lazar, and the unsettling dark ambience of TOWERS and Hallmark ‘87.

At turns intimate and inviting, with whispering-in-your-ears ASMR vocals evoking blissful, heightened sexual states, within ‘LOVOTIC’ there’s optimism, but also unease; As well as the positive, it implies the negative ramifications of technology. At points a synthetic siren’s call appears to lure the listener to a darker place, with audio malfunctions suggesting dystopian science. Voices morph from gentle to distorted – a glitch in the system causing the mask to slip, like virtual lizards – ‘They Live’ or ‘V’ (?), for the metaverse age.

Here, Charlotte Gainsbourg invokes a being of unknown identity – an artificial eve, the oracle and the portal – speaking from an unspecified time in the future. The voices of AtomTM, Lyra Pramuk and Willem Dafoe weave in and out of Charlotte’s, often overlapping, merging into one another, expressing the entity of a being that’s ephemeral and in constant flux, oscillating between the natural and artificial. The record’s other bonafide singer, Lyra Pramuk’s delivery alternates between spoken word, operatics and partially- unintelligible language.

A multi-media project, ‘LOVOTIC’ also features the work of writer, philosopher and curator Paul B. Preciado – a leading thinker in the study of gender and body politics. Paul contributes a post-apocalyptic, quasi scientific and fictional text, which adds further fantasy, artistic and intellectual depth, augmenting the listener’s experience. Like all the best Sci Fi, his words seem prescient, describing what could become a likely reality in the future. Paul performs his written texts on the opening and closing tracks of the album; ‘The Age Of Mutation’ (in Spanish) and ‘Primate Love’ (in English).

Soundwalk Collective is an experimental sound collective helmed by Stephan Crasneanscki in collaboration with Simone Merli, which operates in a continuously rotating constellation of sound artists and musicians. The Collective’s approach to composition combines anthropology, ethnography, non-linear narrative, psycho- geography, the observation of nature, and explorations in recording and synthesis.

Joe Bonamassa - 'The Ballad of John Henry' 2022 Remaster erstmals als farbiges Doppel-Vinyl

Provogue / Mascot Label Group veröffentlichen am 22.04.2022 drei spezielle Vinyl-Neuauflagen des Blues-Titans Joe Bonamassa. You & Me", "The Ballad of John Henry" und "Live from the Royal Albert Hall" erscheinen erstmals remastered.
Das Bonamassa Kult-Album "The Ballad of John Henry" aus dem Jahr 2009 wird erstmals auch auf farbigem Vinyl erhältlich sein. Das Album wurde für die 2 LP-Version neu gemastert und auf 180g braunem Vinyl gepresst. Als besonderes Bonbon gibt es mit der B.B. King Coverversion von 'Chains and Things' einen Bonustrack.
Bonamassas siebtes Studioalbum brachte ihn erneut auf Platz 1 der US Billboard Blues Charts und brachte ihm den Durchbruch in Europa. Mehrere Bonamassa-Originale zieren das Album ebenso wie Coverversionen von Tom Waits, Sam Brown und Ike & Tina Turner, die die ganze Bandbreite seiner Palette aufzeigen.
Mit mittlerweile 25 Nummer 1 Alben in den Billboard Blues-Charts, ausverkauften Tourneen und seiner Keeping The Blues Alive Cruise in Amerika und Europa, ist Joe Bonamassa allgegenwärtig. Diese Re-issues sind für seine langjährigen Fans und für Musikliebhaber, die JB neu für sich entdeckt haben. Diese drei Alben sind Joe Bonamassa vom Feinsten!

Produziert von Jorge Elbrecht (SKY FERREIRA, JAPANESE BREAKFAST, WILD NOTHING) ist "Giving The World Away" HATCHIEs bisher ausuferndstes Werk. Mit umfangreichem Input von ihrem langjährigen Kollaborateur Joe Agius, nimmt es die himmlischen, schimmernden Shoegaze- und Pop-Sensibilitäten ihrer früheren Veröffentlichungen auf, dreht aber den Lautstärke-Regler um das Zehnfache auf. Ursprünglich wollte Harriette Pilbeam mit diesen Songs eine energischere Richtung einschlagen - sie hatte die klare Vision einer HATCHIE-Show, die sich in eine Tanzparty verwandelt und mehr Bewegung und Lebendigkeit in ihre Live-Shows bringt. Aber dann, zwischen Covid und den Lockdowns in Australien, zog sich Pilbeam mehr in sich selbst zurück, und diese Selbstbeobachtung und Selbstfindung diente als wahre Inspiration für die Platte. In "Giving The World Away" kehrt sie immer wieder zu demselben Thema zurück - verinnerlichte Scham abzubauen und Dankbarkeit und Beständigkeit zu finden, und endlich in der Lage zu sein, sich selbst zu vertrauen. Harriette Pilbeam wuchs als Jüngste in ihrer Familie auf, ein selbst bezeichnetes "großes Baby", aber sie sagt, die letzten anderthalb Jahre hätten ihr den Raum gegeben, sich selbst besser zu verstehen. Nach Jahren der emotionalen Selbstverleugnung legt sie hier ihre Ängste offen. "Giving The World Away" ist ein Album über Selbstvertrauen, über Rückgewinnung, über die seltsame Zeit im jungen Erwachsenenalter, in der man endlich in der Lage ist, sich selbst klar zu sehen. "Giving The World Away" ist der bisher klarste Blick auf Pilbeam und ein Zeugnis der Kraft und des Mutes, die daraus entstehen, wenn man sich verletzlich zeigt und sein Herz aufs Spiel setzt.

Produziert von Jorge Elbrecht (SKY FERREIRA, JAPANESE BREAKFAST, WILD NOTHING) ist "Giving The World Away" HATCHIEs bisher ausuferndstes Werk. Mit umfangreichem Input von ihrem langjährigen Kollaborateur Joe Agius, nimmt es die himmlischen, schimmernden Shoegaze- und Pop-Sensibilitäten ihrer früheren Veröffentlichungen auf, dreht aber den Lautstärke-Regler um das Zehnfache auf. Ursprünglich wollte Harriette Pilbeam mit diesen Songs eine energischere Richtung einschlagen - sie hatte die klare Vision einer HATCHIE-Show, die sich in eine Tanzparty verwandelt und mehr Bewegung und Lebendigkeit in ihre Live-Shows bringt. Aber dann, zwischen Covid und den Lockdowns in Australien, zog sich Pilbeam mehr in sich selbst zurück, und diese Selbstbeobachtung und Selbstfindung diente als wahre Inspiration für die Platte. In "Giving The World Away" kehrt sie immer wieder zu demselben Thema zurück - verinnerlichte Scham abzubauen und Dankbarkeit und Beständigkeit zu finden, und endlich in der Lage zu sein, sich selbst zu vertrauen. Harriette Pilbeam wuchs als Jüngste in ihrer Familie auf, ein selbst bezeichnetes "großes Baby", aber sie sagt, die letzten anderthalb Jahre hätten ihr den Raum gegeben, sich selbst besser zu verstehen. Nach Jahren der emotionalen Selbstverleugnung legt sie hier ihre Ängste offen. "Giving The World Away" ist ein Album über Selbstvertrauen, über Rückgewinnung, über die seltsame Zeit im jungen Erwachsenenalter, in der man endlich in der Lage ist, sich selbst klar zu sehen. "Giving The World Away" ist der bisher klarste Blick auf Pilbeam und ein Zeugnis der Kraft und des Mutes, die daraus entstehen, wenn man sich verletzlich zeigt und sein Herz aufs Spiel setzt.

Das brandneue Album des Songwriters, Produzenten, Multi-Instrumentalisten und langjährigem Bon Iver-Mitglieds ist sowohl persönlicher als auch kollaborativer, als er es je hätte vorhersagen können. In den vier Jahren seit seinem letzten Album "Hundred Acres" hat Sean Carey diese 10 Songs in der herausforderndsten und von Veränderungen geprägten Zeit seines Lebens geschrieben. Von der Aufnahme und Reflexion zu Hause in Eau Claire, über die Zusammenarbeit mit den Co-Produzenten Chris Messina und Zach Hanson in einem Studio-Außenposten in Gualala bis hin zu einer unvergesslichen Erleuchtung während eines ruhigen Moments beim Fliegenfischen in Montana - "Break Me Open" zeigt, wie Carey den Schmerz über das Auseinanderbrechen seiner Ehe, das Ableben seines Vaters und das Aufwachsen seiner Kinder verarbeitet, nur um mit einem überwältigenden Gefühl der Dankbarkeit und Großzügigkeit daraus hervorzugehen. Vor dem Hintergrund einer Pandemie erschütterten diese Erfahrungen von Trauer und Verlust S. Carey bis ins Mark und ließen ihn sich fragen, wer er war und wohin er gehen wollte. Doch mit dem Versprechen, präsent und verletzlich zu bleiben, ging er weiter nach vorne, fand heraus, wo die Angst schwelte, und kanalisierte diese Gefühle in die Musik. In den letzten zehn Jahren ist S. CAREY zu einem unverzichtbaren Kollaborateur innerhalb der Bon Iver-Gemeinschaft und darüber hinaus geworden. Er hat an Sufjan Stevens "Carrie & Lowell" mitgewirkt, mit Low und anderen Songs geschrieben und produziert, während er sein eigenes Werk durch Themen wie Natur und Nachhaltigkeit, Jazz-Anklänge und herzliche Lyrik vorantreibt. Auf "Break Me Open" öffnet er nicht nur sich selbst und die intime Inspirationsquelle für die meisten gemeinsam geschriebenen Songs, die er je auf einem Album hatte, sondern er heißt auch mehr Stimmen in seiner Welt willkommen als je zuvor. Bläser-Arrangements von CJ Camerieri (CARM), die Streicher kommen von dem meisterhaften Rob Moose, mit zusätzlicher Unterstützung von Ben Lester, Jeremy Boettcher, Nick Hall, John Raymond, Chris Thomson, Eli Teplin und Talyor Deupree.

Das brandneue Album des Songwriters, Produzenten, Multi-Instrumentalisten und langjährigem Bon Iver-Mitglieds ist sowohl persönlicher als auch kollaborativer, als er es je hätte vorhersagen können. In den vier Jahren seit seinem letzten Album "Hundred Acres" hat Sean Carey diese 10 Songs in der herausforderndsten und von Veränderungen geprägten Zeit seines Lebens geschrieben. Von der Aufnahme und Reflexion zu Hause in Eau Claire, über die Zusammenarbeit mit den Co-Produzenten Chris Messina und Zach Hanson in einem Studio-Außenposten in Gualala bis hin zu einer unvergesslichen Erleuchtung während eines ruhigen Moments beim Fliegenfischen in Montana - "Break Me Open" zeigt, wie Carey den Schmerz über das Auseinanderbrechen seiner Ehe, das Ableben seines Vaters und das Aufwachsen seiner Kinder verarbeitet, nur um mit einem überwältigenden Gefühl der Dankbarkeit und Großzügigkeit daraus hervorzugehen. Vor dem Hintergrund einer Pandemie erschütterten diese Erfahrungen von Trauer und Verlust S. Carey bis ins Mark und ließen ihn sich fragen, wer er war und wohin er gehen wollte. Doch mit dem Versprechen, präsent und verletzlich zu bleiben, ging er weiter nach vorne, fand heraus, wo die Angst schwelte, und kanalisierte diese Gefühle in die Musik. In den letzten zehn Jahren ist S. CAREY zu einem unverzichtbaren Kollaborateur innerhalb der Bon Iver-Gemeinschaft und darüber hinaus geworden. Er hat an Sufjan Stevens "Carrie & Lowell" mitgewirkt, mit Low und anderen Songs geschrieben und produziert, während er sein eigenes Werk durch Themen wie Natur und Nachhaltigkeit, Jazz-Anklänge und herzliche Lyrik vorantreibt. Auf "Break Me Open" öffnet er nicht nur sich selbst und die intime Inspirationsquelle für die meisten gemeinsam geschriebenen Songs, die er je auf einem Album hatte, sondern er heißt auch mehr Stimmen in seiner Welt willkommen als je zuvor. Bläser-Arrangements von CJ Camerieri (CARM), die Streicher kommen von dem meisterhaften Rob Moose, mit zusätzlicher Unterstützung von Ben Lester, Jeremy Boettcher, Nick Hall, John Raymond, Chris Thomson, Eli Teplin und Talyor Deupree.

After a cameo appearance on the Spektrum compilation, DC Salas lands on TAU with his first full EP. The Belgian producer has been active for more than a decade and brings with him depth of experience and maturity, along with a clear understanding of the dance floor. His Time Well Spent EP showcases these core skills, along with his distinct flair and emotive nuance...

Orange Vinyl


With his second contribution to the Lost Palms catalogue, Swansea-based producer Tom Vernon takes us by the hand and leads us with him on a contemplative journey through Japan's rural landscapes and their urban surroundings.

Following the success of his debut EP released on Shall Not Fade's sub-label Lost Palms, Tom Vernon returns with a blissed-out 5-tracker. Taking its name from the ancient temple district at the foot of the Japanese mountain, Minobu EP sees the emerging producer fuse field recordings with the stylistic tropes of house and broken beat, creating intricately woven tapestries imbued with memory and place.

The wistfully amorphous opening track "Onjuku" captures the stasis of a declining-population seaside town, taking its cue from the futile whine of the tsunami warning system that echoes daily through its empty streets. On "Minobu In The Train", the EP discovers its pulse, translated into the shuffle of maracas, reverberating cymbals and a hypnotic piano melody that New Zealand brothers Chaos in the CBD would be proud of. With instrumental-sounding percussion, a modest, throbbing bassline and the ambient backdrop of Tokyo station, "Unexpected Departure" takes jazz-infused broken beat as its reference point, and sees the EP at its most transportive. Bringing things to a close are the complex drum workouts and acid-tinged melody of "Route E52" and the more upbeat deep house track "Could This Be" with low pass filtered funk-infused melody that oozes sex appeal.

Minobu EP drops 22nd April via Shall Not Fade.

Belgian techno don Marco Bailey lands on Watergate with a debut that’s guaranteed to intrigue as he leans into electro territory, grabbing rerubs from Extrawelt & Biesmans while he’s at it. DJ, producer and label chief, his is a storied career that spans three decades, and it’s long been evident that Marco’s enthusiasm and passion remains resolute. He closed 2021 with the release of his sixth studio album Surreal Stage, an ambitious, introspective body of work that dropped via his booming imprint Materia. His own label aside, his discography is stacked with cuts across eminent labels Second State,
ARTS, Bedrock Records, as well as being one of the first artists to debut on Carl Cox’s seminal INTEC.
While it’s techno that he’s become firmly associated with, his adeptness in the studio isn’t limited to the nuances of one genre and this is a rare opportunity to showcase a different side to his musicality.
‘The Spirit’ floods in first, almost immediately engaging listeners as it ebbs and flows with complete abandon. If the promise of electro grabbed your attention, it’s ‘From My Mind’ that delivers and sticks in your mind - from the heavy synth bassline to the soaring ascendant melody, and distorted, robotic vocals.
‘Pulse’ slaps and packs plenty of punch power as it snakes its way through with dominating, ascendant chords.
German duo Extrawelt and Belgian export Biesmans step in with rerubs of ‘From My Mind’, and firmly grip some of the elements which make this electro excursion so memorable.

Produziert von Jorge Elbrecht (SKY FERREIRA, JAPANESE BREAKFAST, WILD NOTHING) ist "Giving The World Away" HATCHIEs bisher ausuferndstes Werk. Mit umfangreichem Input von ihrem langjährigen Kollaborateur Joe Agius, nimmt es die himmlischen, schimmernden Shoegaze- und Pop-Sensibilitäten ihrer früheren Veröffentlichungen auf, dreht aber den Lautstärke-Regler um das Zehnfache auf. Ursprünglich wollte Harriette Pilbeam mit diesen Songs eine energischere Richtung einschlagen - sie hatte die klare Vision einer HATCHIE-Show, die sich in eine Tanzparty verwandelt und mehr Bewegung und Lebendigkeit in ihre Live-Shows bringt. Aber dann, zwischen Covid und den Lockdowns in Australien, zog sich Pilbeam mehr in sich selbst zurück, und diese Selbstbeobachtung und Selbstfindung diente als wahre Inspiration für die Platte. In "Giving The World Away" kehrt sie immer wieder zu demselben Thema zurück - verinnerlichte Scham abzubauen und Dankbarkeit und Beständigkeit zu finden, und endlich in der Lage zu sein, sich selbst zu vertrauen. Harriette Pilbeam wuchs als Jüngste in ihrer Familie auf, ein selbst bezeichnetes "großes Baby", aber sie sagt, die letzten anderthalb Jahre hätten ihr den Raum gegeben, sich selbst besser zu verstehen. Nach Jahren der emotionalen Selbstverleugnung legt sie hier ihre Ängste offen. "Giving The World Away" ist ein Album über Selbstvertrauen, über Rückgewinnung, über die seltsame Zeit im jungen Erwachsenenalter, in der man endlich in der Lage ist, sich selbst klar zu sehen. "Giving The World Away" ist der bisher klarste Blick auf Pilbeam und ein Zeugnis der Kraft und des Mutes, die daraus entstehen, wenn man sich verletzlich zeigt und sein Herz aufs Spiel setzt.

‘Social Graces’ is the debut album from Australian
post-punk outfit Loose Fit. Made up of Kaylene Miller,
Anna Langdon, Max edgar and Richard Martin.
 Kaylene and Anna met in fashion school and instantly
bonded through their love of experimental music.
 After toying with lo-fi bedroom recordings, the pair
recruited Max edgar on guitar and Richard Martin on
bass and started making some actual noise.
 Kaylene is also behind the cult knitwear brand WAHWAH Australia, with items worn by Noel Fielding,
Courtney Barnett and Kim Gordon.
 The band’s rhythm-heavy sound contains echoes of
UK post-punk titans such as PiL and A Certain Ratio.
 “Their post-punk indebted sound is barbed, wiry, and
overwhelmingly infectious.” - Clash
 “This is music to truly let loose to” - So Young
Magazine
 “If you thought they were going to make a quiet
entrance, you thought wrong.” - DIY
 “Loose Fit have ever been producers of the most
kinetic percussive tracks that have a restless and
visceral energy about them.” - Backseat Mafia
 For fans of Shopping, The Slits, Delta 5, Dry Cleaning,
Amyl & The Sniffers, Sonic Youth, A Certain Ratio

AUDREY Horne liefern skandinavischen Hard Rock der Extraklasse!
AUDREY HORNE sind zurück – mit unstillbarem Hunger und destilliertem Rock’n’Roll in den Venen! 2002 geründet erspielten sich die Norweger um Ausnahmesänger Toschie und Enslaved Gitaristen Ice Dale schnell den Status als eine der besten Live Bands in der Szene. Sie gehörten zu den ersten, die den Radio Rock der 70er und 80er Jahre wiederbelebten und die Tradition von Frank Stallone, Toto und Billy Joel fortführten, lange bevor das zum Trend wurde. Vier Jahre nach Blackout sind die Norweger mit ihrem siebten Album zurück! Devil’s Bell erscheint am 22. April 2022 und ist ein grandioses Rock’n’Roll-Album voller Ohrwürmer!

Devil’s Bell kommt mit 9 mitreißenden Songs daher, die Konzerthallen auf der ganzen Welt zum Beben bringen werden. Man spürt in jeder Sekunde, dass das Album die stickige Luft eines schweißgebadeten
Konzertabends atmet.

Toschie beweist einmal mehr, dass er eine der charismatischsten und energetischsten Stimmen im Hard Rock hat. Die herausragende Gitarrenarbeit von Ice Dale (Enslaved) und Thomas Tofthagen (ex-Sahg) unterstreicht den bemerkenswerten Mix aus 70er und 80er Rock mit NWOBHM. Wie bei jedem AUDREY HORNE Album gehen die Songs nahtlos ineinander über und bleiben schon beim ersten Hören hängen – ein modernes Hard Rock-Album der Extraklasse!

Nach der Wiederveröffentlichung von „Back To The Light“ letztes Jahr erscheint nun auch endlich Brian May´s „Another World“ am 22. April!
Diese Neuauflage kommt genau zur richtigen Zeit, denn lange war das Album überhaupt nicht erhältlich. Brian May kümmerte sich zusammen mit dem Co-Produzenten Justin Shirley-Smith, dem Queen- und BM Pro Tools-Experten Kris Fredriksson und dem langjährigen Queen-Artdesigner Richard Gray um die neue
Reissue-Version.

Nach der Wiederveröffentlichung von „Back To The Light“ letztes Jahr erscheint nun auch endlich Brian May´s „Another World“ am 22. April!
Diese Neuauflage kommt genau zur richtigen Zeit, denn lange war das Album überhaupt nicht erhältlich. Brian May kümmerte sich zusammen mit dem Co-Produzenten Justin Shirley-Smith, dem Queen- und BM Pro Tools-Experten Kris Fredriksson und dem langjährigen Queen-Artdesigner Richard Gray um die neue
Reissue-Version.

VARIOUS - TERRITORIO DEL ECO:EXPERIMENTALISMOS...PER· ( HIGHLIGHTS
First compilation brings together the Peruvian experimental scene from 1975 to 1988, a period was the most prolific for a generation of Peruvian artists who, based on musical conceptions derived from modern jazz and techniques inherited from avant-garde music. Collect unpublished and loss pieces from artists such as Omar Aramayo, Manongo Mujica, Arturo Ruiz del Pozo, Miguel Flores (Ave Acústica), Douglas Tarnawiecki (Espíritus), Luis David Aguilar, Chocolate Algendones and Corina Bartra. Rescued from private archives and limited editions on cassette. DESCRIPTION First compilation brings together the Peruvian experimental scene from 1975 to 1988, a period was the most prolific for a generation of Peruvian artists who, based on musical conceptions derived from modern jazz and techniques inherited from avant-garde music, sought to integrate the sounds of Andean, Afro-Peruvian and Amazonian cultures in search of a new musical universe. Native instruments and folk melodies were used in compositions that demanded modern recording techniques and electronic sounds. This generation was articulated in Lima and was made up of musicians such as Omar Aramayo, Manongo Mujica, Arturo Ruiz del Pozo, Miguel Flores (Ave Acústica), Douglas Tarnawiecki (Espíritus), Luis David Aguilar, Chocolate Algendones and Corina Bartra. But more than a movement, it was a set of individuals from dissimilar origins, who came from rock, jazz, contemporary classical and popular music, but also from the visual arts and poetry, and who had in common the cultural climate of the late seventies and early eighties in a country marked by a series of social and economic transformations, as well as the emergence of new visions and insertions of Andean culture and folklore in the city. The appearance of a mythical substrate connected the work of these musicians and defined an aesthetic, based on the deconstruction of folklore and the exploration of the possibilities that indigenous instruments offered. From there, these musicians immersed themselves in abstract, but also symbolic and conceptual forms. In many cases, they were strongly influenced by jazz and were keen to explore the possibilities of the recording studio. Territorio del eco: experimentalismos y visiones de lo ancestral en el Perú (1975-1989) - The Land of Echo: Experimentalisms and Visions of the Ancestral in Peru (1975-1989) - is a compilation that offers an overview of what was one of the moments of greatest creative intensity for experimental music in Peru in its encounter with indigenous sounds. Collect unpublished and loss pieces, rescued from private archives and limited editions on cassette, these pieces are reissued for the first time in vinyl LP format. The album includes 8 pages booklet with extensive notes written by Luis Alvarado, author of the compilation, as well as much visual documentation. Cover art by Paloma Pizarro. Limited to 300 copies. Beneficiary project of the Economic Stimuli for Culture of the Ministry of Culture of Peru.

Debut full length album on the Valley of Search label by Mexican born, New York-based vibraphonist, marimbist, improviser and composer Patricia Brennan. The twelve original instrumentals that make up the album were composed and performed solo by Brennan on vibraphone and marimba. Employing unusual performance techniques and occasional electronics, many of the compositions were borne from improvisations created live in the studio at the time of recording. At times exploring silence and space, stillness and patience the album investigates new sonic territories with an endless sense of curiosity. "This album is a personal statement not only as a vibraphonist but also as an improviser and composer," says Brennan. "From bowing and bending pitch, to the use of extended effects via guitar pedals, this album reflects my vision for the vibraphone and the potential of all the possible ways it can be played. I wanted to not only incorporate all those techniques in the compositions but also wanted them to become part of my general improvisatory language." Patricia has performed with many renown musicians including singer and composer Meredith Monk and Theo Bleckmann, saxophonists Jon Irabagon and Scott Robinson, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, drummer Marcus Gilmore, guitarist Mary Halvorson and many others. She has performed in venues such as Newport Jazz Festival, SF JAZZ, and Carnegie Hall, as well as international venues such as Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Germany, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Lance Ferguson is back for a killer follow-up 7" to his second volume of classic re-works and re-imaginings, Rare Groove Spectrum Vol. 2 - released on Freestyle in late January on LP, CD and digital formats.

We just couldn't resist putting this take on Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers cover of Gladys Knight's Got Myself a Good Man on a 45. Keeping true to the source, yet somehow simultaneously sounding like no-one else, this version is 100% guaranteed to put a spring in the step of any crowd as the sun starts gradually to come out from hiding. Aside from the faithfully executed and expertly recorded drum-track, which sits pretty higher up in the mix than it's precursor, the star of this particular show comes midway through when Lance's lilting and sun-kissed guitar solo comes gliding in. If you can't move to this, even just a little bit, then you might actually be lacking a pulse. Backing things up is the undeniable latin-funk strut of Mandrill's Mango Meat. Given an instrumental work-out here with Remco Keijer's Flute and Daniel Mougerman's keys putting in work over a heavy-as-lead rhythm section, those delectable salsa-inflicted horns upping the spice levels.

Lance's work across the Rare Groove Spectrum series can often be looked on as something akin to a "live re-edit" on the originals, at times switching up sections or extending the groove. These two choice cuts however are a masterclass in subtly teasing out some of the original elements on the tracks that really make them work on a dance-floor, and bringing those to the fore while retaining 100% respect for the OG arrangements.

With its saturated sounds, clipped beats and spacey pads, Walk Again opens a portal to a place full of mystery and promise.

Across 11 tracks, John Lord Fonda confirms that he is not only capable of writing techno bombs like We Can’t Breathe and Race For Nothing, but also breakbeat-tinged gems like Little Jazz.

The soaring melodies of Antarctica and Creme bring a dreamlike intensity to the project, while new-wave wannabee Together Again (featuring vocals by Gabriel Afathi of The George Kaplan Conspiracy) enlarges the musical horizon, planting its flag as an evolved piece of techno not afraid to mix genres.

Calmer moments such as Walk Again and A Descent Melody continue our journey into the richest of techno landscapes, where intriguing, fascinating tracks like They Will Fight For You.

Dazzling and cold, brutal and soft, the album marries a fluid, coherent mix of cerebral techno and poetic melodies, both calm and calming.

Walk Again, dance again, live again.

3x12"

Extraordinary musical talent returns with a deeply textured third outing on Blu Mar Ten Music.

Having made serious waves with the release of his debut album "Coeur Calme" in 2014 and the incredible 2016 follow up album "Zawadi", Kimyan Law steers his sound in a darker, more introspective direction with the twelve heavily themed set-pieces of his new album, "Yonda".

The album title, "Yonda", homophonically flits between a location in Kimyan Law's native Congo and definitions of something situated at a distance but still visible, foreshadowing the artist's move away from his typical uplifting palette into less playful territory.

While previous work seemed to be a personal exploration of joy-tinged melancholy, "Yonda", feels much more sober and pensive, infected with external events. In conversation with Kimyan Law the artist described one piece ("Krieg") as his "portrait of war", with the music moving through phases of violence, silence, panic, redemption and peace. Ever the allegorist, Kimyan Law relates themes of conflict and war not just to obvious geopolitics but also to his own physical struggles, and even an obsessive battle with the music itself, ("Yonda" has been more than three years in the making). In 2017 the artist wrote, "I've reached a point where I couldn't sleep because it bothered me so much... I have found myself unable to make any music except for Krieg".

An accomplished drummer in his own right, Kimyan Law's intricate rhythmic sensibility is the lifeblood that runs throughout the album, incorporating ever more outlandish sources of percussion recorded from his natural surroundings and filtered through technology.

"Yonda's opener, "Jaardin", is deceptively gentle, with off-kilter rhythms and pianos providing fertile ground for Elyn's delicate singing before the whole piece careens off into what can only be described as orchestral proto-jungle territory. It soon becomes apparent that this placid introduction is misleading, with subsequent tracks fluctuating between pounding tribal beats ("Arboreal Epitone" / "Kin"), chilling orchestration ("Byo" / "Krieg") and rehabilitated jungle forms ("Seven Ant Foley"). A constant mix of light and dark, futuristic yet primitive atmosphere hangs over the album, with waves of luscious synths and deeply musical string arrangements lovingly cloaked over the razor-sharp drum work.

Unusual conceptual themes litter "Yonda"; "Dor Rhythm" is about a Dung Beetle's journey, "Lampion" is about paper lanterns, "Nova" is about plant growth while "Kilele" is a song about peace, featuring Kimyan Law's own vocals in a new language he created himself, conjuring memories of Cocteau Twin's Liz Fraser.

While "Yonda" contains moments of incontestable beauty it can often be a difficult listen, an illustration of an anxious mind yearning for peace. An obsessive and intricate musician, Kimyan Law's use of African percussion, finely honed polyrhythmic patterns and celestial sprinklings of keys melded with slabs of sub-bass power and sheer energy makes for an intoxicating listen. As ever, Kimyan Law has delivered a profoundly serious piece of work that expands the vocabulary of his genre. Despite the darkness saturating the work, a soft light still breaks through the window. It is the east, and Kimyan Law is the sun.

Trojan have pulled together some of reggae's finest moments here, and importantly they come from some of the genre's most vital female talents, who can often be overlooked in favour of their more visible male counterparts. Across four sides of vinyl the likes of Millie Small, Althea & Donna, Marcia Griffiths, Phyllis Dillon, and Susan Cadogan all deservingly feature and personal sleeve notes from musician Rhoda Dakar also add real value. Big hits, unknown rarities and some brilliantly wonky numbers like Sandra Robinson's "Sensi For Sale" make this an instant NEED!

"“The New Backwards” was conceived by Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson in 2007, revisiting stray tracks which hadn’t seemed to gel with the material he had chosen for the more somber “Ape of Naples” from 2005, COIL’s initial posthumous release, a sort of requiem and a kiss-goodbye to his then recently deceased partner John Balance.

Significantly different to its sister release, this album collects the brilliantly chaotic and outrageously rhythmic material from the original sessions for the album that was begun as early as 1993 and had originally been conceptualised as the follow-up to “Love’s Secret Domain”. These songs are as diverse and wild as the places they originated from, partly infamously spawned in Sharon Tate’s former home in the Hollywood Hills, the Nine Inch Nails home base in New Orleans and London’s Swanyard, remixed and restructured with the help of long-term friend Danny Hyde in Thailand, this collection has its own unique flow and an atmosphere not found on any other COIL release.

Both “AYOR” and “Backwards” had by the time the album was first released already become favourites in COIL’s manic live performances. Some of the other tracks had only leaked in demo versions and are here presented updated and polished as Christopherson and Hyde intended them to be heard. It is interesting to consider Balance’s vocal contributions, too. Whilst on the albums COIL did release at the time this material was first put aside (“Black Light District” and “ElpH”) his voice is all but absent, his vocal performances and his lyric writing here are arguably more closely indebted to the previous “Love’s Secret Domain” era, especially the epic “Copacaballa” is noteworthy in that respect.
The New Backwards” effectively became the final official COIL studio release of all new material whilst Peter was still alive and is here presented for the first time fully supervised by Danny Hyde, its co-creator.
The stunning cover uses a detail from artist Ian Johnstone’s “Cubic Raven” painting, licensed from the estate of IJ..

It is high time to rediscover this timeless album with the Infinite Fog release boasting eight further tracks of previously unheard material from the same sessions, rough working stages and surprising remixes which will surely delight the dedicated COIL archaeologists, as they shine yet another light on the creative process and on what could have been.

Recorded at Swanyard, London and at Nothing Studios, New Orleans, 1996.
Thanks to everyone there, especially Trent Reznor who made it all possible.
Written & Produced by Coil & Danny Hyde.
Remixed by Peter Christopherson & Danny Hyde, Bangkok 2007.
For that session Coil were: Peter Christopherson, Jhonn Balance & Drew McDowall.
Mastered by Jessica Thompson.
Front artwork by Ian Johnstone.
Artwork licensed from The Estate of Ian Johnstone.
Layout Cold Graves and Oleg Galay."

Lander & Adriaan is a Belgian duo with drummer Lander Gyselinck (Stuff.,Beraadgeslagen,LABtrio) and Adriaan Van de Velde (Pomrad, Mauro Pawlowski, J. Bernardt).

Their common fondness for slick digital synths and 90s underground dance music genres brought them together to submerge in symbiotic jams during the very first lockdown in 2020.
After a bunch of very successful under-the-radar concerts, they recorded an album in the summer of 2021 that will be released in the spring of 2022.


Their gently disturbed mashup of 90s dance music genres like Chicago juke, Detroit techno, UK-Funky, Classic rave, corny jazz fusion and mundane jazz improv brings you to a pleasantly disturbed realm of unguilty pleasures, sheer weirdness and pure excitement.

Passarani debuts on Aus with his sixth studio album, The Wildlife Of The Quieter Ones. Marco's discography boasts releases on Libertine, Running Back, Peacefrog and Numbers, the diversity between each label show his versatility as as a producer, he’s seamlessly moved with the times and glides through each era with a zesty take on a timeless sound, his credentials speak for themselves and here you see a well seasoned producer at the top of his game

Having already solidified his reputation within the
past year, gaining praise from key publications
including Dork and Gigwise, alongside spins on
BBC Radio 1 (Jack Saunders) and BBC 6 Music
(Shaun Keaveny, Huw Stephens), Jaws The Shark
is certainly swimming in a sea of potential, and
with support slots for Dinosaur Pile Up imminent,
his presence across the indie landscape is primed
to become even bigger in the months to come.
 Produced by Theo Verney (FUR, FEET, Lazarus
Kane, English Teacher), Jaws The Shark’s ‘Still
Young’ is out via Nice Swan Records.

URFERD signifies the beginning of a new and additional musical chapter for its founder and sole member, Daniel Beckman (TWILIGHT FORCE, AGES), and brings a refreshing new perspective to the genre, challenging the boundaries of dark atmospheric folk music.

The first album "RESAN" is a musical odyssey in both a literal and figurative sense. The album takes the listener on a journey through dark and olden Nordic forests; where strife and hardships follows in our steps, yet where the beauty and vastness of the solemn Nordic landscape persists and permeates. From the album opening's depiction of a serene morning's dawn to the closing track's respite of a hearth at nightfall, RESAN traverses a multitude of captivating musical landscapes and themes throughout its eight songs.

Ein fulminanter Streifzug durch uralte Sagen und Mythen mit Schwedens Viking-/Folk-Metal-Berserkern
Die schwedischen Folk-Metal-Berserker MÅNEGARM unternehmen einen weiteren Streifzug durch uralte
Sagen und Mythen aus längst vergessenen Zeiten und veröffentlichen den Nachfolger des 2019er Chartstürmers Fornaldarsagor (2019): Das zehnte Studioalbum der Wölfe, Ynglingaättens Öde (dt. Das Schicksal
der Ynglinga-Sippe), erscheint am 15. April 2022 über Napalm Records
Als lyrische Inspiration in der facettenreichen Klangwelt MÅNEGARMs dient das Gedicht Ynglingatal,
welches das Schicksal einer altnordischen Dynastie beschreibt - dem Haus Ynglinga. Ynglingaättens Öde
bietet reichlich musikalische Abwechslung und besticht durch eine atmosphärische Auseinandersetzung, die
den alten Mythen neues Leben einhaucht und sie ins Hier und Jetzt transportiert.
Mit Ynglingaättens Öde unterstreichen MÅNEGARM einmal mehr ihre Stellung an der Spitze des Folk/-
und Viking Metal und halten heidnische Traditionen auch nach mehr als 25 Jahren Band-Geschichte eindrucksvoll am Leben

Pressed on Eco Vinyl - Jemima Thewes is a singer/songwriter who grew up in the highlands of Scotland; an atmospheric landscape which continues to help provide the bones of her music - She sings traditional songs and her own material

In February 2015 Jemima independently launched her debut EP 'Bright Shadows' with friends and collaborators Tim Lane (tongue drum), David Boyter (guitar/ mandolin) and Susan Appelbe (cello). It has been greatly received with radio plays on stations such as Travelling Folk on BBC Radio Scotland and Late Junction on BBC Radio 3.Cloud-hopping tales are told by warm, haunting vocals
and adorned with playful instrumentation. Jemima and her band charm you along a cathartic, spell- binding and life- affirming journey. The unique combination of strings and a rare wooden box in the form of a chromatic tongue drum creates an innovative sound which along with Jemima's compelling voice, magically stirs the emotions to the very heart of the soul.

In November 2020, with the entire world locked down at home, Amir
Bresler was itching to create - He'd spent years onstage, but never
released a full solo album

A friend's invitation brought him to a rural village outside Tel Aviv, and the move lit a spark: Bresler set up shop in the village's local auditorium named 'The House of Arches', and planned single-day sessions with different combinations of Tel Aviv's finest, including keyboardist/ producer Rejoicer, Yemen Blues frontman Ravid
Kahalani, bassist Gilad Abro, pianist Nomok and trumpeter Sefi Zisling. For nearly a week, crews of friends drove north and dug into psychedelic jazz and funk, all built upon Bresler's polyrhythmic beats. They captured spontaneous bursts of energy ' free-form jams in the morning reigned into tight, mesmerizing grooves in the afternoon. Those six compositions ' each recorded live in one day ' make up
House of Arches, Amir Bresler's first solo LP, out on Raw Tapes, with grooves as deep as the Mediterranean where it was conceived.

Alga Marghen proudly presents "Water Angels", an LP with previously unreleased tracks by Katalin Ladik, following the monumental "Phonopoetics" from 2019. "Water Angel", the title track, is a side-long work from 1989. It began its life containing a plice of "O Fortuna" from Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" and was first staged in an artificial fog on a lake at the 1989 Spoleto Festival in Italy. The texts include fragments of her own lyrics mixed with parts from James Joyce and Lewis Carroll in a kind of sonic-textual collage of processed sounds superimposed to environmental field recordings. one can also hear the composer Erno Király, her first husband, playing his self-built instrument called "Zitherphone", a 58-stringed huge engine of sounds assembling five zithers in a single body, with pick-ups placed on some of the strings. The first part of "Water Angel" was used as a starting point for "Three Orphans", another composition juxtaposing electronically modified voice with recordings of folk songs, this time Hungarian. It's a kind of "adaptation of a Hungarian folk ballad", utilizing recordings done in Transylvania in 1940, registered with a wax cylinder phonograph and gathered by Radio Novi Sad. Thanks to the collaboration with Boris Kovac, the sound engineer for this project, the quality of Katalin Ladik's screams, whispers, chants, laughter, giggles is now significantly improved, and in some ways the subtle nuances of her virtuoso interpretation find here their most powerful rendition. Also presented on this record are three and never before issued works created by Katalin Ladik in collaboration with the composer Svetlana Marasch at the electronic studio of Radio Belgrade in 2019, "Electric Bird", "White Bird" and "Ice Bird". combining extended vocal techniques, processing and modular synthesis, these tracks confirm the artist's radical temperaments that helped to define her work during the 60s and 70s, while pushing it further into new territories thus revealing an artist with almost no peer in the experimental landscape today.

Even in trying times, “there is no love without electricity.” Electricity is the fourth and most progressive album from Ibibio Sound Machine, and like all good Afrofuturist stories, it begins with an existential crisis. “It’s darker than anything we’ve done previously,” says Eno Williams, the group’s singer. “That’s because it grew out of the turbulence of the past year. It inhabits an edgier world.”

Electricity was produced by the Grammy Award and Mercury Prize nominated British synthpop group Hot Chip, a collaboration born out of mutual admiration watching each other on festival stages, as well as a shared love of Francis Bebey and Giorgio Moroder. The fruits of their labor reveal a gleaming, supercharged, Afrofuturist blinder. Electricity is the first album Ibibio Sound Machine have made with external producers since the group’s formation in London in 2013 by Williams and saxophonist Max Grunhard. True, 2017’s Uyai featured mixdown guests including Dan Leavers, aka Danalogue, the keyboard jedi in future-jazz trio The Comet Is Coming, but Hot Chip and Ibibio Sound Machine worked together more deeply throughout the process, collaborating fully. Along the way, the team conjured a kaleidoscope of delights that include resonances of Jonzun Crew, Grace Jones, William Onyeabor, Tom Tom Club, Kae Tempest, Keith LeBlanc, The J.B.’s, Jon Hassell’s “Fourth World,” and Bootsy Collins.

The hook of opener “Protection From Evil” has Williams wielding a massive synth line from Hot Chip’s Al Doyle like a spiritual shield against unspecified, malign forces unspecified because Williams is speaking in tongues. Her lyrics are onomatopoeic: their meaning is defined in her energetic delivery. As Electricity takes off, so do Williams’ words towards a brighter future, alternating between English and Ibibio, sometimes within verses, and propelled by Joseph Amoako’s unabating afrobeat. She digs into this sentiment further on single “All That You Want,” coolly assuring her romantic interest while also requesting reciprocity. Meanwhile, Scott Baylis’ playful Juno synth guides the listener’s feet along the dancefloor.

Electricity is a deep and seamless realization of Williams’ and Grunhard’s ambitious founding manifesto to combine the singularly rhythmic character of the Ibibio language which Williams spoke growing up in Nigeria with a range of traditional West African music and more modern electronic sounds. While the band enjoys veering further into electronic territory with the help of mutuals like Hot Chip, Grunhard emphasizes, “For us, it’s not just a matter of embracing new technology. What’s key is to keep the music grounded in African roots.” Ibibio Sound Machine best exemplify this on Electricity’s “Freedom.” That track was inspired by the water-drumming rhythms of Cameroon’s Baka women, which in turn fueled its lyrics, which in turn prompted Hot Chip and Ibibio Sound Machine to layer joyfully kinetic electronic counterparts on top in the studio. As the track culminates with the mantra of “rage, hope, cope, soul,” it’s clear that Ibibio Sound Machine have channelled, harnessed, and distilled these words as guiding principles, both for the album and for the turbulent world that awaits it.

French artist Trudge returns to Lobster Theremin with his debut LP No More Motivation arriving on March 18th with a genre-bending and original masterstroke; charged as it is cerebral. The album's concept points to the artist's tumultuous relationship with music; plagued by life events and the looming shadow of tragedy. That same relationship however, has led to an album of nuance, a cathartic whirlwind that pushes and pulls from one part of the psyche to the next.

From the laden house sounds found in his earlier work, to the hard-hitting emotive techno we hear today, both Trudges’ personal and artistic evolution runs parallel, drawing between the lines of introspection and dance music’s modern functionality. Bangkok Radio kicks off proceedings with a reminiscent drive through the city's bustling landscape, as space unfolds the further we travel from the hustle and bustle of daily life. No Motivation, Meaningless is a nod to the producer's headspace - burdened by the unpredictability of reality and it’s governing influence on art; echoing throughout the entire album.

Mazzomba explores the duality of light and dark; heavily submerged sounds can be heard melting below the surface, as airy synths create an ethereal glow - acting as our torch through the crud-infested trench. The album's interlude Berserk provides a rest bite, an ambient dreamscape laced with deeply layered textures - casting warm fluorescent light amongst the clouds as balance is restored.

Dead Orange and Gradient demonstrate the artist's knact for intelligent sound-design and world-building soundscapes, while Unghosted and Punishments sees Trudge venture into raw and unwavering compositions created for the dance-floor. Closing the album is Blue Ritual, a thought-provoking piece that has the ability to transport and heal. It’s introspective layers point to the changing winds to come - rounding off an album not binded by genre, but an eclecticism that characterizes an artist true to his craft.