Buscar:ear dis

This record invites you on an extraordinary journey, in the form of a spatio-temporal and transgenerational sound collage, into the parallel and singular universe of one of the major counter-culture movements of the 1960s fantastic realism. A cross between thematic compilation and sound creation, it offers a selection of rarities and nuggets with psychedelic and esoteric tonesby groups from the late 60's - early 70's French psychedelic scene, such as Haira, Guy Skornnik and Martin Circus, as well as previously unreleased tracks by major current and emerging bands such as The Limiñanas, Zombie Zombie featuring Pacôme Thiellement, The Penelopes or Terrains vagues, Rubin et le paradoxe featuring Brigitte Fontaine, Tuxedomoon or Exotourisme (Perez and Dominique Gonzalez Foerster). These tracks were created especially for the occasion. All mixed and interspersed with audio archives by Jacques Bergier, Louis Pauwels or Eugène Canseliet and sounds from installations designed by visual artists (Veronique Belland, Alexis Chapelain). At once cutting-edge and accessible to the uninitiated, between fantasy and science fiction, esotericism and occultism, popular culture and contemporary art, avant-garde and pop music, this disc offers a poetic ode to the Strange, to curiosity, to the capacity for wonder and the desire for knowledge, with a view to re-enchanting reality. Conceived by Jean-François Sanz (author, director and curator) and Hermione Volt (visual artist), in collaboration with Laurent Paulré (founder of the Contours label and producer at Radio France), and with the complicity of Céline Du Chéné (author and journalist), this album, an atypical sound object, is the musical extension of the eponymous group exhibition UN AUTRE MONDE ///DANS NOTRE MONDE, which opened at Galerie du Jour in Paris.

New-York based artist Viul returns to the label with a new release. Initially only available as part of a special edition of Viul's Dauw debut 'Secret Recess' released early 2024, 'Green Corridor' now gets a proper physical and digital release and leaves its addendum phase.

While being recording in the same period, the pieces on this 30 minutes album undeniably share some commonalities with the sound aesthetics of 'Secret Recess'. However, the thicker synth pads and more floaty structures clearly mark the music and give this album its own distinctiveness and form.

2024 reissue

Toothpick aka Swirl People step out with their newly entitled label Lost In The Swirls, which they have distilled to the more simple name L.I.T.S. Records. The Belgium-based project is an alias of Dimitri & Raoul and they bring fresh house sounds here even though this is a reissue of some classic 90s material. The title track has lush and bright summer pads over driving, tight kick drums. The opener 'May The Funk Be With You' has a classic UK flavour to it with woodpecker-like hits and dusty drum loops under some smart chord work. Last but not least is 'Naked Speedway' which has a warm bassline meandering below expansive chords that bring an early morning vibe. Good stuff.

Next up on BPitch sublabel UFO Inc. is an essential linkup from two rising Berlin-based talents, Linn Elisabet and Stina Francina. Bringing with them two distinct approaches to music production but a shared vision of techno's weirder corners, Linn and Stina go all in on their first joint release together, fusing sonic abstractions into a release that never loses sight of the club. With a classically trained musical background, Linn explores reverberant soundscapes and complex arrangements with a learned ear, but a firm rejection of the rigid forms that often taint formal musicality. Promoting a sense of non-compliance in their sonic palettes, they offer a contemporary and transgressive interpretation of techno that strives to reimagine reality and desire. Having fostered her passion for electronic music in intimate, underground spaces, Stina's approach to production is rooted firmly in affect; carefully weaving fragile emotional narratives with a generous sensitivity. With a particular penchant for old school trance, her sound is often coloured by a feeling of melancholy and hope.

4 tracks rescued from the vault produced in 1994-2016 by the legend J. Meurisse (Signal Out 42, Amnesia, DJPC, Pleasure game...), one of the pioneers from the genres new beat, EBM and early techno belgium sounds

Allchival present their second look at the music of Roger Doyle and Operating Theatre (a little known proto synth-pop act and experimental theatre group that he led.)

In reverse chronological order the second disc contains music from the United Dairies release of 1979 – ‘Rapid Eye Movements’. Experimental tape work heavily influenced by the French school of music concretists and recorded at various points during the 70s in Finland, Holland and Ireland, although it is most certainly a Roger Doyle solo record the label ran by Nurses With Wounds John Fothergill decided to release it under the group name for reasons now lost to the fog of time.

After this a volte-face towards a more accessible sound, coming via his friendship with future Hollywood actress Olwen Fouéré and her connection to the theatre. It also featured the vocals of a young Spanish immigrant Elena López- bucking the 80’s trend by moving to rather than from Dublin. With Fouéré adding the theatrical element to the group (an almost essential part of any early 80s synth act) alongside pulsing synths, brass, a vocoder and the electro acoustic production talents of Doyle himself, it was the first time a Fairlight sampler was used in an Irish studio setting and gives a prescient but alternative take on the new wave sound that came to dominate the charts soon after.
Doyle’s work on the newly released Fairlight sampler had brought him to the attention of U2’s Bono who had seen a feature about his sampling experimentations and reached out to him for piano lessons. This led to a deal on the bands embryonic Mother records for what Doyle calls his first “popular song” - Queen of No Heart - which alongside “Spring is Coming” made up the backbone of the EP which was released some years later (1986) on the Mother Records label. Established by U2 in 1984 and initially intended to launch Irish bands, many of the acts – including this one – were subsequently unhappy about the label’s haphazard approach to releases and lack of promotion. The record was released as a die cut 7 inch with the two main tracks and a 12 inch EP with additional tracks – ‘Part of My Make-Up’ / ‘Atlantean’ / ‘Satanasa’. The Mother experience was for Doyle and the rest of the group a frustrating one with no promotional plan and no tour. After that Operating Theatre as a quasi pop project ‘just kind of fizzled out’ says Doyle.

Doyle, the musical maverick at the heart of the act, continues to produce to this day and has released 30 albums. A frequent collaborator we round out the record with a remix from another Irish outsider - Morgan Buckley of the Wah Wah Wino fame.

From the early ‘90s to the turn of the millennium, Gabrielle was one of the UK’s most successful and beloved artists. With two unforgettable #1 smashes (‘Dreams’ and ‘Rise’), a back catalogue full of Top 10 hits, two albums which reached 4 x Platinum status, two BRIT Awards, two MOBOs and an Ivor Novello, everything she touched seemed to turn to gold. In recent times, Gabrielle has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence, one that proves that timeless, empowering songwriting and a distinctive voice that is the very definition of soul will never go out of fashion.
The first single from the album, "A Place in Your Heart" will be released on the 18th January (9:30am timed release), and will be premiered on BBC Radio 2 - Zoe Ball that morning. The new single retains Gabrielle's signature sound, opening with her instantly recognisable vocal and provides an anthemic hook fans will no doubt sing along to.
A big part of that resurgence comes from the love shown to her by the current wave of iconic artists. Adele recalls being inspired by the lyric “Dreams can come true” as a child and has been a life-long fan of Gabrielle since, saying, “I remember being mesmerised by her, so pure and so delicate and gentle with her voice and in the way she moved.” And when Adele’s own dreams came true, she returned to her first inspiration and invited Gabrielle to join the bill for her two rapidly sold-out Hyde Park shows in the summer of 2022. The result was a sea of faces - some older fans, but many more who would’ve been too young to remember her the first time around - singing Gabrielle’s songs back to her.
Another high-profile supporter emerged that same year. Stormzy invited Gabrielle to cameo in his ambitious video for ‘Mel Made Me Do It’, where she joined a host of artists including Dave, Little Simz, Headie One and Jazzie B. She was also referenced in its midpoint monologue, when ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ star Michaela Coel narrated Wretch 32’s words: “Gabrielle once told us dreams can come true, and that sentence emancipated the minds of our pioneers.”
2018’s ‘Under My Skin’ in 2018 was heralded as “a heartfelt comeback” by The Guardian on its way to the Top
10. It wasn’t long before she was discovered by a brand new audience too, winning fans with a memorable stint as Harlequin in ‘The Masked Singer’ in 2021.and followed by ‘Do It Again’, an album of which mixed original songs, new takes on all-time classics, and her interpretations of more modern pop favourites from the likes of Billie Eilish, Harry Styles and Rihanna. It shot to #4 on the Official Album Chart - Gabrielle’s highest chart position in twenty years.

With Gabrielle’s star again in ascendance and her high profile live presence, 2024 seems the perfect time to release a new album. She’s consolidated her original audience and found a whole new one.
Autumn / Winter 2023 saw Gabrielle embark upon the ‘30 Years of Dreaming’ headline tour which was extended to a phenomenal 33 dates following overwhelming public demand. Many shows sold-out more than six months in advance, including London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall.

Fire-splattered vinyl is opaque red vinyl with yellow & orange starburst. As C418, composer and producer Daniel Rosenfeld designs sounds to resonate in both physical and pixelated realms. Best known for his original soundtracks to Minecraft, the single best-selling video game of all time, he's developed a discography of instrumental music over the last decade that traverses electronic pop patterns, neo-classical dreamscapes, and sparse ambient motifs. The latter element has broken from the "8-bit" pigeonholing of game music and earned him accolades that reference artists like Erik Satie (The Guardian) and Brian Eno (VICE). In 2015, after quietly self-releasing Minecraft Volume Alpha and Minecraft Volume Beta, Rosenfeld partnered with Ghostly International to reissue Minecraft Volume Alpha on vinyl and CD. The release garnered attention from proper music critics and the gaming community alike, becoming one of the most sought after records in the Ghostly catalog. Now, following several restocks of Alpha to fervent fan response, it is time for the soundtrack's second installment to shine. For the legion of listeners and players to, at long last, have Minecraft Volume Beta in tangible formats. Originally self-released in 2013, Minecraft Volume Beta was C418's longest batch of music to date at nearly 140 minutes. The collection features tracks that were "silently" added to Minecraft during its music updates and a few that never officially entered the game. The run time is now adapted to fit the double LP format, while digital downloads include the full set Rosenfeld's unmistakable abilities are on display; he creates a sweeping variety of musical ideas that mirror the limitless universe of Minecraft. Ghostly International is thrilled to give this unique collaboration its due treatment and hopes to see the creative inspiration which drives Minecraft and Rosenfeld continue to disperse by virtue of this unexpectedly universal music.

repress !

Following acclaimed singles from Powell, Blood Music, Shit & Shine and Prostitutes, the next release from Diagonal is a landmark. It marks both the London label's first full-length album release, and the return of abrasive and furiously funky hip-hop deconstructionists Death Comet Crew, one of the most quietly influential underground acts to emerge from the creative melting pot of 1980s New York.

Ghost Among The Crew documents the group's return to studio operations for the first time since the 80s, as well as their first ever full-length studio album. It's a remarkable trip: a consolidation of their early feral disassemblies of hip-hop and electro, but also broader in scope, chewing up and spitting out fragments of soul, jazz fusion, punk and industrial music.
Death Comet Crew were founded in New York City in 1983 by Stuart Argabright, a founder member of post-punk/industrial mavericks Ike Yard and the mind behind Dominatrix and later Black Rain. Their sound, then as now, was a singular proposition: urban in mood, exploratory, often compellingly danceable, yet confrontational. It emerged from the interweaving talents of the group's varied members: guitarist Michael Diekmann (of Ike Yard), bassist Shinichi Shimokawa (later of Black Rain) and Nick Taylor aka DJ High Priest, frequently joined by the late, great hip hop artist and graffiti writer Rammellzee. Having recorded two studio EPs - 1985's At The Marble Bar (featuring Rammellzee) and its follow-up Mystic Eyes - the group disbanded barely a year after forming. They left behind a reputation for their incendiary live performances, several recordings from which were gathered on crucial 2004 compilation This Is Riphop.
The musical climate that first birthed Death Comet Crew was one of fertile cross-pollination of styles. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the seeds of modern day urban musics - hip hop, punk and post-punk, no wave - were taking root in the streets of recession-struck New York City. Argabright recalls dancing at the downtown Mudd Club around 1980 to a bold mixture of styles, with DJs cutting from synth-pop and post-punk to funk, soul and early hip-hop: Bowie and James Brown next to Run DMC, Ultravox and Gary Numan. Indeed, the names of his New York contemporaries operating around the same time - the likes of Liquid Liquid, Run DMC, Afrika Bambaataa, Arthur Russell, ESG, Swans, Sonic Youth, Bill Laswell and more - have since been inscribed in modern music history.
With previous projects Dominatrix and Ike Yard having recently become inactive, in 1984 Argabright formed Death Comet Crew as a means of exploring new sonic avenues. He'd been experimenting with tape, recording and procesing the sounds of his surrounding environment and dialogue from films and TV. Joined by Shimokawa, Diekmann and Taylor, and using drum machines, turntables, spidery guitar and bass, the group assembled a scrambled collage of rhythms and sampled voices. Their live performances were, in Argabright's words, "aurally violent, sharp-edged, downright lacerating", hacking gleefully away at hip hop and electro's rhythmic frameworks. Rammellzee joined the group to vocal 1985 debut EP At The Marble Bar; his MC turn on highlight 'Exterior Street' is all the more remarkable for having been entirely freestyled in the studio. When Death Comet Crew reformed in 2003 for a string of live shows, he continued as an active member of the group, touring and working with them during the recording of Ghost Among The Crew, until he sadly passed away in 2010.
After reforming, Death Comet Crew began writing and recording new material. Now, following on from their just-released Galacticoast 12" through Citinite, Ghost Among The Crew - its title a homage to Rammellzee - hones the group's abrasive early experimentations while tripping into bold and astrally minded new territory. Alongside the core quartet of Argabright, Diekmann, Shimokawa and Taylor are new voices, including Rapscallion (a friend of Rammellzee's), Jessica 6/Hercules & Love Affair singer Nomi Ruiz, and Carolyn 'Honeychild' Coleman. Its eight tracks are steeped in the impulsive spirit of electric Miles and the deep space romances of Sun Ra, and possessed of an enigmatic yet undeniable pop edge. But equally they're pricked with urban paranoia and dread, traits that have long been hallmarks of Argabright's musical projects.
'Me Czar Of The Magyars' opens the album in a twist of tension like the turning of a ratchet. Its taut electroid shudder is paired with machine gunned cymbal hits and a voice telling of "wormwood and opium dens" - the sound of being teleported from everyday city streets into the astral plane, where every sensory input is heightened and the promise of danger or pleasure lurks unseen around every corner. Later, Coleman's lyrics pay tribute to Rammellzee on the sci-fi funk of 'Deep Space Woman'. 'Let The Clubs Ring' melts lounge bar organs and frazzled guitar into freakishly unstable shapes, while 'Drag Racing' matches its title, rocketing along frantically atop clattering drums. 'Moons On Titan's Seas' is halfway interlude pause for rest, like an exotic cocktail in a bar orbiting some as-yet-undiscovered new world. These varied strands are somehow all summarised in album closer 'Ignition Spark', which sets Ruiz's vocals alongside Taylor's and Argabright's. The zone the trio inhabit in this final track exists in perpetual push-pull between contemplation, memory, intrigue and violence, a decisive opening of a new chapter in Death Comet Crew's history.

As with all Diagonal releases, the initial vinyl pressing will be packaged in unique, specially designed artwork.

Warehouse Find!

As we hurtle towards our 200th Freerange release the quality output you've come to expect from Freerange shows no sign of faltering with Bas Amro bringing you an absolutely stellar EP entitled You And Me. Dutch wunderkind Bas has built himself a solid reputation through only a handful of releases on labels such as Wolfskuil, Kutchuli and most notably his 2011 EP Ten on Freerange which has gone onto become a stone-cold classic in the deep house mecca of Johannesburg. This long awaited follow up delivers on every level and if early feedback and crowd
response is anything to go by looks set to push Bas further into the spotlight where he deserves to be.
You And Me starts in a deceptively understated manner wrapping you in a shroud of warm, dubby stabs underpinned by a rolling groove that can't fail to draw you onto the dancefloor. Things stay deep with hints of Chandler and echoes of Basic Channel until the breakdown arrives, the filters roll up and the whitenoise
shines through bringing a new energy and dynamic to the track. A classic, timeless vibe which we're proud to be bringing you on Freerange. As with his previous release Ten, Bas works hard to deliver not one but two faultless originals so flip over for Across The Street featuring the vocals of Jennifer and you won't be disappointed. A simple, repeating six-measure synth hook drives the track and brings with it a lovely looseness and lack of obvious
structure. Kennifer's sparse, almost improvised sounding vocal drops heighten the sense of space and freefall effect making such a refreshing change to most of todays formulated and conventional house music. Last up is an amazing remix of You and Me from rising start Matt Karmil who brings his own unique and refreshing sound to the EP. Karmil's recent LP on PNN
won rave reviews from all corners and with just two other releases on Beats In Space and International Records Recordings he seems to have burst from out of nowhere but has certainly become hot property in the last 12 months. His forthcoming remix for John Talabot and Axel Boman under their Talaboman is immense and here he treads a similar path focusing on a raw percussion-heavy sound with very minimal tweaks and effects adding subtle colour and interest. These days it's very hard to breakthrough with an original, new approach to house
but Matt Karmil seems to have done it with ease.

On 'Mirror, Reflect,' Amy O returns to form as she documents her transition into motherhood in the early days of the pandemic. Initially conceived as a lo-fi endeavor to record songs made with friends in those days of uncertainty, 'Mirror, Reflect' is an intimate and exploratory work that weaves collected home and field recordings with shimmering synths and Oelsner's playful lyricism. A stalwart presence in the indie-pop underground since 2012, Oelsner shifted her approach to record making on 'Mirror, Reflect' to emphasize process over product, with the resulting songs born out of a myriad of home sessions, song-a-day projects, songwriting workshops and online collaborations. This kind of patchwork, home-spun approach was familiar to Oelsner, who made her name with her sparkling, homemade pop songs before releasing three studio albums, including her most recent album, 2019's Shell. 'Mirror, Reflect' gently shrugs off the sheen of those studio albums, as an early prenatal recording of Oelsner's daughter's heartbeat opens the record in the near-ambient instrumental prelude of "Honey" -- a wonderfully nuanced dispatch from the dog days of summer that's under-bellied by both the precarity and beauty of the early months of infancy and new motherhood. Oelsner's knack for finding magic in the mundane is also deeply apparent on "Dribble Dribble," where the stick-with-you nature of the playful rhyme schemes of the children's books that became a regular part of her literary intake are worked into a lilting reflection on resilience, destruction and loss. Oelsner's initiation into motherhood is inseparable from the poetic heart of 'Mirror, Reflect', but the album is also largely informed by the shifts in Oelsner's relationship to herself. Through playful and emotionally acute observations, Amy O turns the potentially contractive experiences of motherhood, isolation, family and aging into a freewheeling work where ephemerality and humor collide over her deft lyrical phrasing, musicality and her keen observations turned poetic revelations.

Repress
Dry mix only single LP edition, reverb mix of 2LP edition excluded.

Issued in 1975, this is the articulation of Zambia’s Zamrock ethos. Its' musicians were anti-colonial freedom fighters, it envelops Zambian folk music traditions, and it rocks - hard. Amanaz were serious, and they made a serious stab at an album. They titled their album Africa, according to original band member Keith Kabwe, “because of how it was shared and how its inhabitants were butchered and enslaved, its resources stolen... all the atrocities slave drivers committed. “ Thus, their “Kale,” a blues sung in Nyanja, that traced the continent’s arc from slavery to Zambia’s independence closes the album. Kabwe and rhythm guitarist John Kanyepa have a winsome softness to their vocals, which sit politely aside the feral growl of drummer Watson Baldwin Lungu, bassist Jerry Mausala and bandleader/lead guitarist Isaac Mpofu. Africa’s vibe ranges from anxious (“Amanaz”) to escapist (“Easy Street”) to straight-up pissed-off. On the “History of Man,” his voice whiskey-burned, his distorted guitar buzzing like swarming hornets, Mpofu indicts his species. There’s a darkness to Africa not found on any other Zamrock records, and a melancholy drifts throughout, specifically on Mpofu’s more restrained “Khala My Friend,” which stands as an effective, bleak situation for the Zambian everyman, the average citizen of a struggling, new nation, who might have had relatives in conflict-torn countries on the horizon, who might have been struggling to find his next meal, who might have seen a bleaker future than his president promised. Then there’s the clear Velvet Underground-influence on the nostalgic “Sunday Morning,” which, as Kabwe recalls, was the first song written for the album, back in 1968, when Velvet Undergound and Nico was a new release - and the underground funk of “Making The Scene.” The album also tackles traditional Zambian music and early-‘60s rock – punctuated, of course by Kanyepa’s wah-wah and Mpofu’s fuzz guitars. But every time Amanaz get too deep, too violent, they come back with an accessible song and woo their listener back to the groove. “Green Apple” is a civil song, featuring Kanyepa’s sighing guitar.

Nick Llobet (they/them) was ready to throw in the towel. Llobet, who grew up in South Florida, learned to play guitar at a very young age, dabbling in everything from classical, blues, classic rock, and flamenco. They'd spent much of their early 20s searching for their voice as an artist and as an individual, as well as for a musical community Llobet would eventually move to Brooklyn, but after three years of looking for a hopeful artistic breakthrough, they spent much of their time in seclusion, consumed by social anxiety and imposter syndrome-and they were considering abandoning songwriting completely. One day, while commuting through Penn Station en route to their partner's family home in Virginia (that would also lead to the crucial purchase of a secondhand Tascam cassette recorder), they noticed Patti Smith sitting alone, waiting for a train. The typically shy Llobet decided to approach the icon, who was, in turn, delighted to see that Llobet was carrying a guitar. At the end of their interaction, Smith offered some parting wisdom: "She wished me luck and said, 'Practice hard, Nick.'" Llobet took her advice to heart, and this chance encounter kicked off a personal and artistic rebirth. They started performing as youbet, a play on their last name, and began "changing their vision for what a song could be." youbet's debut, Compare & Despair, a delightful gem of a record that showcases Llobet's propensity for freewheeling whimsy and emotional intensity. In May 2019, inspired by a song-a-week writing group that produced Compare & Despair, Llobet started a second club in which contributors would upload that week's song to a private Bandcamp. Invigorated by this small musical collaboration, the feedback, and the accountability, Llobet wrote 18 songs throughout the duration of the club, twelve of which became Way To Be. After this songwriting marathon, Llobet spent 2020 focusing on instrumental guitar work and political engagement. By the summer of 2021, they were ready to revisit the Way To Be tracks. Over the next year-and-a-half, Llobet worked on the record relentlessly, refining the lyrics, recording, and arrangements from their apartment. Llobet self-produced Way To Be and describes the process as an enormous, labor-intensive undertaking that felt akin to "making a whole film." Along the way, Llobet was joined by collaborators, including Julian Fader (Ava Luna), Adam Brisbin (Buck Meek), and Daniel Siles. Across Way To Be's 12 delightfully off-kilter tunes, Llobet uses wordplay and tongue-in-cheek humor to obliquely explore dysfunctional relationships, regret, self-confidence or the lack thereof, queerness, and self-discovery. Fuzzy at the edges and filled with playful, kinetic arrangements, Way To Be is a bridge into the entrancing world of youbet. You won't want to leave.

Aural Imbalance has enjoyed a colourful and celebrated journey through music over the years, taking in ambient soundscapes, deep house and of course, a pioneering role in atmospheric drum & bass. With Spatial, he has unearthed a pure, varied musical prowess seldom seen, with the ability to control both the lighter aspects of the mix as well as expert breakbeat craft. Infinity Spectrum showcases the breadth of talent Aural Imbalance possesses in one incredible package, not to be missed.

A1 - Aurealis
Opening the album with a wonderfully serene track, Aural Imbalance delicately rolls out his trademark smooth ambience with building cymbals and an energetic break merging perfectly in the mix - along with a great, pounding undertone of bass. Riddled with old-school sensibilities, Aurealis layers the building blocks until the track opens up further through a superbly lush breakdown, blooming like a flower in the summer sun before the breaks return.

A2 - Glistening Stars
Washing strings and the chitter-chatter of playful effects introduce Glistening Stars, before familiar, crisp old school breaks steal the limelight. A happy earworm melody soon reveals itself, and the breaks are gradually filtered back in following an other amazing breakdown before the melody takes on new life. Packed with detail and soul, this track will repeat on you long after you've moved on.

B1 - Alpha
Curious, apprehensive tones punctuate a fascinating intro, with a deep old school bassline creeping out first to greet us, before the hi-hat laden break loses its inhibitions and roams free.
Crafting a deliciously textured atmosphere, Aural Imbalance continues to showcase the breadth of his production techniques in his Spatial form, flecking the track with sumptuous melodies to create yet another gem.

B2 - Stargazers
This piece opens with a special blend of quiet, epic serenity, evoking hope and wonder as amen cymbal work and a stabbing snare-heavy break pattern rise and fall in the surrounding symphony. The quietly musical bassline plays a key role in the aural world-building here, complementing the breaks it harmonises with superbly. Aural Imbalance allows the composition to breathe and flourish for a superbly executed final act. Delightful.

C1 - Slow Motion
Introduced with quietly filtered breaks, Slow Motion dials back the pace with a break pattern which relaxes the snare while still maintaining a playful energy as the kicks and bass bumble along below. A uniquely atmospheric yet eccentric melody takes shape with dreamy pads filling the backdrop, and calming scatterings of echoing effects colliding and combining to generate a blissful collage of sound.

C2 - Apparition
Switching up the vibe we have Apparition, which boldly utilises long, tranquil yet purposeful pad work before an immense break pattern riddled with stark snares and a jumpy bassline which rides the smothered kickdrums so well, they appear to be fused as one. The breaks on this are truly special and will move the discerning dancefloor for sure, Aural Imbalance continuing to reveal a never-ending depth to his sound.

D1 - Artificial Satellite
Introduced with smooth synths and DJ-friendly hi hats, Artificial Satellite sees Aural Imbalance laying down a fresh showcase of old-school breakbeats, laced with that inimitable Spatial flavour. A swirling low-key sci-fi vibe punctuates the breakdown before the beats re-emerge. A deep, brooding bassline pulses beneath throughout, while the perfectly executed breaks enjoy their final flourish.

D2 - Unknown Forces
Finally, up steps Unknown Forces for a blistering finale to the LP. Aural Imbalance is at his amen-editing best here with a truly superb showcase of analogue break patterns to nourish the ears and set pulses racing on the dancefloor. Deep bass elevates the gentle intro before thumping kicks begin an epic workout, chopped to perfection with synths and strings flying gracefully above. We couldn't have a Spatial LP without an amen banger could we? What a way to end

Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial/Red Mist)

Nick Llobet (they/them) was ready to throw in the towel. Llobet, who grew up in South Florida, learned to play guitar at a very young age, dabbling in everything from classical, blues, classic rock, and flamenco. They’d spent much of their early 20s searching for their voice as an artist and as an individual, as well as for a musical community. Llobet would eventually move to Brooklyn, but after three years of looking for a hopeful artistic breakthrough, they spent much of their time in seclusion, consumed by social anxiety and imposter syndrome—and they were considering abandoning songwriting completely. One day, while commuting through Penn Station en route to their partner’s family home in Virginia (that would also lead to the crucial purchase of a secondhand Tascam cassette recorder), they noticed Patti Smith sitting alone, waiting for a train. The typically shy Llobet decided to approach the icon, who was, in turn, delighted to see that Llobet was carrying a guitar. At the end of their interaction, Smith offered some parting wisdom: “She wished me luck and said, ‘Practice hard, Nick.’” Llobet took her advice to heart, and this chance encounter kicked off a personal and artistic rebirth. They started performing as youbet, a play on their last name, and began “changing their vision for what a song could be.” youbet’s debut, Compare & Despair, a delightful gem of a record that showcases Llobet’s propensity for freewheeling whimsy and emotional intensity. In May 2019, inspired by a song-a-week writing group that produced Compare & Despair, Llobet started a second club in which contributors would upload that week’s song to a private Bandcamp. Invigorated by this small musical collaboration, the feedback, and the accountability, Llobet wrote 18 songs throughout the duration of the club, twelve of which became Way To Be. After this songwriting marathon, Llobet spent 2020 focusing on instrumental guitar work and political engagement. By the summer of 2021, they were ready to revisit the Way To Be tracks. Over the next year-and-a-half, Llobet worked on the record relentlessly, refining the lyrics, recording, and arrangements from their apartment. Llobet self-produced Way To Be and describes the process as an enormous, labor-intensive undertaking that felt akin to “making a whole film.” Along the way, Llobet was joined by collaborators, including Julian Fader (Ava Luna), Adam Brisbin (Buck Meek), and Daniel Siles. Across Way To Be’s 12 delightfully off-kilter tunes, Llobet uses wordplay and tongue-in-cheek humor to obliquely explore dysfunctional relationships, regret, self-confidence or the lack thereof, queerness, and self-discovery. Fuzzy at the edges and filled with playful, kinetic arrangements, Way To Be is a bridge into the entrancing world of youbet. You won’t want to leave.

Lloyd Banks is gearing up for the release of The Course Of The Inevitable, his first studio album in over a decade. Having previously set the stage with a few cinematic teaser trailers and the album cover, Banks has now come forward to confirm the official release date for the upcoming project, as well as the tracklist and guest appearances to be expected.

For the most part, Banks will be flying solo on COTI, with only five of the eighteen tracks including featured artists. On that front, we're looking at appearances from Roc Marci, Benny The Butcher, Styles P, Sy Ari Da Kid, and Vado. Other than that, however, the stage is largely set for the Punchline King, who will likely have much to say on his fourth studio album.

Runar Magnusson is an Icelandic/Danish sound artist and musician, currently based in Austria. With a masters degree in Electronic Music Composition from The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark, he is inspired by the sounds of nature, noise, and meditation. Magnusson specialises in atmospheric disturbances through minimalist compositions. A sly humour cuts through the dark hues of his works.

Magnusson writes: "The two works which make up "Inside Out of Chaos" are somewhat related. They were made at the same time and share the same source materials somewhat – a pool of sounds I had been experimenting with for a couple of years. Two separate projects created the opportunities for me to realise them in these finished forms.

At the beginning of 2020 I was invited to participate in an acousmatic concert series at the Traktorfabrikken in Vienna. Curated by Austrian composer Christian Tschinkel and performed on his Akusmonautikum sound system this particular event, titled Kill & Kaoss, was the last in the series. I named my piece after the event and dedicated it to Tschinkel´s Akusmonautikum system. Without my knowing, I had witnessed this system in action half a year earlier at a concert at the Hermann Nitsch Museum in Mistelbach, with Hermann Nitch playing the organ and Tschinkel operating the sound system – a profoundly enjoyable performance. I was very happy when I connected the dots soon after the invitation to participate. I intended my work for Kill & Kaoss to be a way to greet the new lunar year of the rat – a year which held many surprises… The event took place on 22nd of February 2020 at Traktorfabrikken, Vienna.

"Inside Out (for Trattner)" was composed for Austrian artist Josef Trattner. It was the soundtrack for a film that was a part of his exhibition "Inside Out" at the Kiesler Foundation in Vienna, 2020. I assisted with the installation of the exhibition, itself a filmed action that evolved into the movie of which this is the score. The installation was a very hard physical process that left me bloody and blistered. It was also a fascinating, trance-inducing experience. Mining with ones bare hands, digging out this huge structure and creating a womblike cave, a tunnel system, a playground, a hideaway while experiencing ever-increasing pain in the fingers and hands. The exhibition ran from 27 February 2020 until 23 December 2020.

I consider this release as the final part of a trilogy I refer to as "the three sisters of sorrow". These three releases are an insight into my state of mind at the time – a mental collapse, somewhat triggered by a move to a new country, the death of my friend Jóhann Jóhannsson and the loss of my father a year later. Between 2018 and 2021 I had the trilogy almost ready but had not been able to finish them. I sought professional help to lift me up from the deep and was diagnosed with ADHD, which explained many things in my life. Only after the darkness had lifted could I see that these three releases were connected. They depicted both the mental state I had been in – an incapacitating downward spiral, a crushing chaos – and also my search for the light, a way out of the maze and my path up to the surface."

Runar Magnusson, Vienna, 13 November 2023

New Zealand's Marlon Williams has quite simply got one of the most extraordinary, effortlessly distinctive voices of his generation-a fact well known to fans of his first, self-titled solo album, and his captivating live shows. An otherworldly instrument with an affecting vibrato, it's a voice that's earned repeated comparisons to the great Roy Orbison, and even briefly had Williams, in his youth, consider a career in classical singing, before realizing his temperament was more Stratocaster than Stradivarius. But it's the art of songwriting that has bedeviled the artist, and into which he has grown exponentially on his second album, Make Way For Love, out in February of 2018. It's Marlon Williams like you've never heard him before-exploring new musical terrain and revealing himself in an unprecedented way, in the wake of a fractured relationship. In early December, Williams and his longtime girlfriend, musician Aldous (Hannah) Harding, broke up. While personally wrenching, the split seemed to open the floodgates for Williams as a writer. "_I wrote about fifteen songs in a month," he recalls. Sure enough, while Make Way For Love draws on Williams' own story, in remarkably universal terms it captures the vagaries of relationships that we've all been through: he bliss (opener "Come To Me"); ache ("Love Is a Terrible Thing"); nagging questions ("Can I Call You"); and bitterness ("The Fire Of Love", whose lyrics Williams says he "agonized over" more than any). And there's "Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore", a duet with Harding, recorded after the two broke up, with Williams directing Harding's recording via a late-night long distance phone call. "We finally got to talk it out," he adds. "We still love each other very much."If "breakup record" is a trope-and certainly it is-then Marlon Williams has done it proud. Like the best of the lot, Make Way For Love doesn't shy away from heartbreak, but rather stares it in the face, and mines beauty from it.

The female-led discodelic soul band Say She She, named as a silent nod to NileRodgers (C'est chi-chi!: It's Chic!"), release their sophomore album `Silver' on theheels of an epic break-out year that grows brighter by the day. The three strong voices of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair staple feature, and formerbacking singer for Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham and Nya GazelleBrown front the band. This harmonizing trio was formed in a classic New York taleof friends that met by following the music: the downtown dancefloors, through theLower East Side floorboards and up to the rooftops of Harlem. `Silver' was entirely written and recorded live to tape at Killion Sound studio inNorth Hollywood earlier this year and produced by Sergio Rios (of Orgone). Whilethese analog recording techniques help root Say She She's sound in a bedrock oftonal warmth that only tape can achieve, it is also their process of cutting the trackin the moment and capturing the magic of communal creativity that has seen theirsound described as "a glorious overload of joyful elation and spiritualelevation" (MOJO) and "infused with the wonky post-disco spirit of early'80s NYC" (The Guardian). Silver, the element, is known as the metal of self-confidence and the mirror of thesoul. With that, the 16-song double-LP projects not only their growth in writingwith confidence, but also reflects a deeper exploration into their punk-chic, femme-forward sensibility. Ultimately, `Silver' oozes with quirk and adventure and embraces themultifaceted nature of what it means to be a modern femme. The She She'sfully embrace their role as beauticians, actively reminding people of the inherentbeauty in the world. They skillfully employ double entendres and humor toencourage open dialogue and fearlessly address important matters that demandattention.

Combining elements of post-rock, trip-hop, and industrial music, HAAL have quickly become cult favourites in the UK live scene. Their psychotropic blend of samples, DIY pedals, and monolithic instrumentation, has seen the band play and tour alongside the likes of Kyoto Kyoto, WEB, Deliluh, Treeboy & Arc, Katy J Pearson, and Gurriers, as well as appearing at festivals such as ArcTanGent, Dot To Dot and more. Coming off the heels of their recent singles “Janus” and “Judy” (and subsequent remixes by Water From My Eyes and Crimewave), the new EP “Back To Shilmarine” arrives as a blistering snapshot of the band’s protean dynamism.

The band celebrate their late-90s / early-00s influences in a caustic yet melodic blend of tracks that nod as much to the output of labels such as Dischord, Touch & Go, and Nothing Records, as they do their contemporaries in the UK scene such as SCALER, Famous, deathcrash, and LICE. The EP sees them bring all these touchstones together to create a unique and uninhibited maelstrom of sound that spans everything from intricate math-inflected guitar lines and pensive vocals to propulsive drumming, totemic riffing, and warped synths.

Arguably some of HAAL’s heaviest material to date, “Platform 1, 18:19” offers the first look into this new material melding motorik rhythms and hypnotic riffs with sudden explosions of noise and power. However, as ever with HAAL, there is more than meets the eye – the track also features samples completely abstracted from their sources, for instance, the drone that begins the song is taken from a video of frontman Alfie Hay and his friends beating Bop It.

Elsewhere on the EP, the lyrics explore themes of cosmic existentialism, absurdism, meaning, transhumanism, inner reflection, science, history, and general philosophy. “All the lyrics are musings or verses that I wrote at very different times in my life” says Hay. “I then had to fit them around the music, despite being written at wildly different periods.” The record was once again recorded with long-time collaborator Alfie Tyson Brown (Katy J Pearson, LICE, Lazarus Kane) at The Louisiana in Bristol. The band have a tight knit collaborative circle around them, this is particularly notable around the band’s imagery

Although a five-piece live and with too many contributors on record to list, Serena-Maneesh nevertheless essentially remains the work of Emil Nikolaisen. Born in the remote village of Moi into a musical family (sisters Hilma and Elvira often play with the band), Emil is Norwegian rock royalty. It’s hard to find a Norwegian band that Emil hasn’t either played with or produced, and he’s also been nominated for a Spellemannsprisen, the Norwegian equivalent of a Grammy. He’s not just influential in his home country either, having released a split single with Fucked Up, worked with Sufjan Stevens, and been invited to share stages with The Dandy Warhols, Nine Inch Nails and Oasis. In 2008, Smalltown Supersound originally released this glimpse of Serena-Maneesh's early days. Tweaked and all beautifully pushed to the red. Most of the material on SM-Backwards was released as two EPs prior to Serena-Maneesh's much lauded debut album; "Zurück" and "Fixxations" both on Hype City and Honeymilk Records, covering the time 1999-2003. Due to the fact that the labels didn't have international distribution, the material never got released outside of Norway. In addition to the original EP material, this vinyl reissue also contains new re-wrappings/mixes with contributions from Anton Newcombe of Brian Jonestown Massacre, Kramer and others from the universe surrounding Serena-Maneesh.

Originally released on tape by SicSic in 2014, Aprilnacht commemorates a decade of music from Brannten Schnüre and marked the spring in a tetralogy of albums about the four seasons when it came out. Back then the Würzburg-based project consisted solely of Christian Schoppik, who later welcomed Katie Rich to take over the vocals. He used to perform as Agnes Beil, but dropped the name when, while making this album realized his music was becoming "much gentler and more fragile". Aprilnacht already captured the particular musical ideas that Schoppik would thoroughly keep exploring, delving deeper and deeper into the use and manipulation of samplers from sources so diverging as to wander between the five continents to post-war German family television and cult cinema. Heir of the ritualistic intensity of Coil, of the intricate sampler assemblies of Ghédalia Tazartès', and of the dusty, dismal old ballads from around the world, Brannten Schnüre manages to make these paths cross in a territory that is as inherent as it is uncanny; sieged by the past and intimate as a hearth. An organic approach to folk, ambient, and sound collage, where ethereal yet thoroughly textured pieces coalesce in enthralling, delicate, and innermost musical rituals.

The album cover paintings reveal the temper: dreary old towns where shadows come to dim the slow passage of crepuscular colors, a soft area of reanimation where wind and light come close and foresee the night of spring. Aprilnacht was inspired by the stories of German philosopher and writer Friedrich Alfred Schmid Noerr, whose work exhaustively examines the conflict between paganism and Christianity, safeguarding myth in a way that Schoppik describes as boldly modern, humorous and unpredictable in its variations of the Germanic folklore motifs. "I wanted to do the same with the music," he states, and the music here could as well be suitable for a night when household deities welcome wandering will-o'-the-wisps, water nymphs, and gyrovagues to discuss Perchta's leadership of The Wild Hunt, but this album is not a folk tale, it's not an elegy to worlds already gone, hidden in years; it's an intersection of routes that open mysteriously before our ears like a congregation of vapors. Aprilnacht is a gathering of voices; "There are too many children, and none of them keeps quiet," reads the last verse of «Requiem für eine Ringelnatter.»

Sensuality drips over the music to celebrate both the voluptuousness and tragic quality of nature; "It's raining on me, urine from your flowers," Schoppik sings in «Urin deiner Blüten» and later on, faced with a snake's erotic features, as if he wanted to be embraced by it: "Your quick, sharp tongue and your warm venom; that's what the pond is missing." Orality is where this profusion of contents thrives. When the voices get closer and condense, the words reveal the saliva employed to pronounce them; we feel the mouth and the tongue, but when breath envelops them in sorrow and softens their edges, they sound distant, diffused in the atmosphere, letting go of the body that held them. These two vocal facets oscillate permanently and interact naturally with the fertile assembly of samplers and instruments that develop throughout the album, which condense and disperse impersonating each other, interweaving to search for a specific syntax. Tangled whisperings of enigmatic phrases, timid voices that stick out to check the scene but hide away quickly, shivering trance chants and monastic ambiances, distant screams and clamors in between chaos and warfare swirl until bursting into subtle songs where even Mother Mary comes forth softly. Soothed by foggy atmospheres and crackling punctuations, these voices shape a vulnerable crowd, an occasion of fragility. Along this swarm of songs thrown into thin air, accordions sound like heavy-breathing lungs; clarinets sigh like curtains shaking; violin solos wander around like bees; Gjallarhorns cries distend like fleeing cattle; glockenspiels evoke remote music boxes and inherited toys; backward emanations emerge like slender waves retreating. On the banks of stretching loops and ember textures is where the songs slowly nest, collecting the words to find their tone.

A poem by Jorge Teillier says, "To talk with the dead you have to choose words that they recognize as easily as their hands recognized the fur of their dogs in the dark. To talk with the dead you have to know how to wait: they are fearful like the first steps of a child. But if we are patient one day they will answer us with a flame that suddenly revives in the fireplace." This may be Brannten Schnüre's main purpose: To find the voice to speak to those of whom we were a vision. Not in mourning, but acknowledging the obscure and volatile nature of spring's regenerative force, searching for the treasure of balance, as evidenced in the lyrics of «Requiem für ein Schwalbennest,» "Its nest was destroyed so many times before it was finished, and despite that, the shallow builds as if it is infatuated." The same idea is here in the words of Schmid Noerr, who made poetry an act of resistance to the horror of Nazism; "Since having seen the ability of a brilliant spirit to die, with a calm mouth that everyone saw, health is true again and we affirm it, even if rivers of blood flow." And as we call for the dusk's kindness, waiting to return home and eat with our kin by the stove, our ears become used to the games of the night. We feel like we're rowing on wetlands, while the "moon musick" keeps us vigilant against the slightest movement of water or sweet moan because eeriness here is imperative for survival. Do not succumb to the insipid howl of death, for nothing may last but mutability. You see, the rock has moved a little during the night; the rest is just wind fleeing from the void.

Another well kept secret from the Italian cult electronic music imprint - Interactive Test. A 4 track EP with a wide range of flavours in "house" music, very much dependent on the different samples employed. A side starts off with a deep house track echoing similar atmospheric qualities as to some of the dancefloor oriented productions making their way into US underground scene around that time, specifically Chicago and Detroit. The Percapella Mix makes the dedication to the Canadian Disco legend Gino Soccio very clear with a lengthy sample of "There's a Woman", a track which uses early electronics in a pioneering way, with what could possibly be one of the first examples of an Acid Bass line. On the B-side, things slow down a a notch with more clear cut explorations in Acid house featuring layers of synths and percussive samples and occasional placement of vocal samples from countries far away from Italy, all made possible thanks to the new exciting technologies that had recently been made available to producers at the time. Remastered by Man Made Mastering in Berlin and re-released with new full cover artwork.

Born in 1977, in Malang, East Java, Wukir Suryadi began playing music for theatre at the age of 12 with the Idiot The-ater Studio, and later with the Rendra Theater Workshop. In his solo work, and as a member of Senyawa, Error Scream, Bendera Hitam Setengah, Potro Joyo and other groups, Wukir breaks the boundaries of traditional music, death metal and avant-garde performance. On this new release, “Cycle and Prayer,” recorded in 2023, he expands the edges of his unique artistic world further, by digging in to meditative improvisation, art, and community building in his home workshop in the mountains of central Java. These recordings vibrate inwards, toward the microcosmic ecologies of forests and rivers; they distort outwards, resonating with global waves of apocalyptic change that are forcing all living beings to the edges of existence on earth. The result is a meditative poem that moves, as its titles an-nounce, from phenomena to phenomena, praying that humans find a way out from the depths of the depths to the light that illuminates the soul.
An essential mode of creative work for Wukir is the creation of unique instruments, using these sound sources as “bullets of expression.” In addition to the spear-like tube zither Bambu Wukir, he has created the Solet, Enthong, Garu, Luku, Arrows, and Industrial Mutant instruments, which in addition to being used in live performance, have been exhibited in the Instrument Builders Project and the 2017 Jakarta Biennale. In the past few years, Wukir has begun to collaborate with local guitar makers, carpenters, and suppliers of native endemic wood in the mountain region of Salatiga. Using earthen bricks along with local woods (suren, coconut, mindi, and waru lengis) as building materials, he constructed a new studio and workshop space in Tingkir, where this album was made. The trees, water and air of the local environment have exerted a powerful influence in Wukir’s documentations of instrumental sound. On this recording, he uses the simple Cetta guitar, an instrument designed in Bali and made for Indonesian children and local communities of folk and popular musicians, in order to explore the different sonic characteristics of a more “normal” instrument built from local wood.
The themes of the album -- cycle and prayer -- arise from a foreboding series of meta-events that shook Indonesia and the world over the past years, following one after the other: the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukrainian-Russian war, the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy in which football supporters were gassed and killed by police, revelations of govern-ment failures and corruption, the rise of personal vehicles, the increasing disturbance of natural patterns of the rainy season and other ecological cycles. “In these waves of technology and narratives of truth made for certain interests, playing a sound at a certain frequency and repeating can try to bring images and feelings to a certain point of con-sciousness,” Wukir told me. “Sound is a prayer that creates a change, whether gradual or rapid, in the behaviour of living things, to face the demands of the time, as humans struggle to live according to what they believe.” The draw-ings and sketches used for the cover spontaneously emerged alongside the recordings, as an instinctive depiction of “time and sound, nature that is outside of oneself, and nature that is within.”

Kerri Chandler, Dennis Quin and Troy Denari join forces to deliver ‘You Are In My System', a modern take on the iconic 1998 ‘You’re In My System’.

The original mix of ‘You’re In My System’ has been a staple for many in House music DJ sets for the past twenty-five years, a record that perfectly encapsulates the soul of House and Kerri’s distinctive sound. Here we see Kerri Chandler put a contemporary twist on this celebrated cut from his back catalogue, this time collaborating again with vocalist Troy Denari and Dutch artist Dennis Quin, who’s delivered numerous hits on Kerri’s Madhouse imprint such as ‘Move Out Of My Way’ and the last collaboration between the three, ‘Be Strong’.

Here the three artists collaborated to rework and replay the entire composition and create this new 2023 version, Kerri and Dennis using the same hardware used in the original composition and singer/songwriter Troy Denari, lends his vocals to this new version of the track, reimagining the vocals of Mic Murphy to capture the essence and spirit of the 1980's hit by American Synthpop band The System.

Throughout 'You Are In My System' Kerri Chandler’s signature soulful keys, bouncy bass line and dynamic synth work ebbs and flows amongst Dennis Quin's sturdy, swinging and crisp drum style while Troy Denari's refreshed vocals then bring a modern soul and warmth to things, resulting in the dynamic future classic presented here, destined to work its way onto many late summer dancefloors and beyond. Dennis Quin also offers up his 'DQ Dub' for a more raw groove focused fix.

Antal plays the Extended Club Mix at Dekmantel Selectors


Early DJ Support:

Antal - even more effective for nowadays attention span!
Hector Romero - Very nice job on this one. On it.
Domenic Cappello - Still a great tune and love these versions
Sasha - very cool
Massimiliano Pagliara - All time favourite!

London-based four-piece Adult Jazz announce their first full-length album in a decade, So Sorry So Slow, out 26 April 2024 via Spare Thought. Alongside the announcement comes lovesick new single ‘Suffer One’ featuring Owen Pallett, a cautious excavation of self and sexuality, clambering across a gorgeously shapeshifting, filmic five-minutes.

Containing some of the band’s most abrasive but gentle, beautiful and melismatic work to date, So Sorry So Slow has many defining characteristics: romance, panic, devotion and remorse, threaded together by an intentionally laser-focused love. It’s deeply personal, bruised and candid in its expressions of tenderness, and deeply pained in its concurrent reflections of ecological regret. Across its hour-long runtime, a delicate, frenetic energy and glacial heaviness coexist, the band pitting those paces against one another. In their richly experimental timbre, dancing strings and fluttering falsettos prang against a bed of brass drones like a wounded bird.

“We started writing in 2017 and began recording in 2018,” says vocalist Harry Burgess. “We genuinely thought it might be finished in 2018! But things kept developing and, having resolutely not struck while the iron was hot, there was no real external push to rush things after that, so we just kept letting things shift and unfold until it felt right. Listening back to my voice notes it’s nice to notice that there are fragments of ideas from the whole period 2017-2023 which have shaped the record.”

Recorded in bursts at studios across London and in the band members’ flats, at Konk, on the Isle of Wight and in Sussex, So Sorry is unambiguous in its evolution. Sonically, there are sparks of the arrhythmic brightness that afforded the band’s critically acclaimed debut album Gist Is its cult adoration, for fans of Arthur Russell and Meredith Monk, but with a blossoming, melancholic darkness often overhead. Piano sprees and luscious string sections appear like low-hanging stars on a night-time drive, whilst plunging vocal distortions and humming brass loops resurrect heavy limbs in a bad dream.

“I usually have objects as kind of totems for ideas,” explains Burgess. “The album initially started out to do with performance… the totem was a head mic, one of the subtle skin-tone ones, discreet on the forehead of a West End star. A number of the first songs in their original forms were almost musical theatre piano ballads. I think that was really a device to write about my life as the ‘main character’ (pre internet-speak reframing): regrets about romance, relationships - unsustainable relationships with the self and others.”

“However, once we started writing, the ideas about unsustainable personal relationships, loving unevenly and heartbreak conflated with a more expressly ecological regret. Like contending with big feelings of loss, endings, beauty, desolation, and with how much joy the earth contains in it. Feeling so much gratitude bound up in waves of sadness. Maybe witnessing a slow-motion goodbye to all that, or its last gasps. I love the earth and the life it supports so much. I love how ecosystems fit together - even the brutal stuff. It may be basic to say, but now is the time to be laser focused on that love. I was thinking about human centrality on earth, us as the ‘main character’, the way that is served by faith and romanticism, and the subsequent disingenuous understandings of our position in the ecosystem, as only stewards somehow, rather than subjects. The totems at this point: a herald’s horn, lorry inner tubes, archaeological tools. I guess from doom, industry, history respectively.”

“Now I would say the record is about gripping. Totems being: crampons, rope, drips, desalination equipment, accruing various survival tech. I think gripping sums up both of the threads. There’s the emotionally correct clinging to the earth that is the substrate of everything we value, or the delusional clinging to our imagined dominant position. But also the practical, technological aspects of creating a sustainable relationship, of remaining here. Then I think of romance again.”

So Sorry So Slow comes out 26th April 2024 on Spare Thought, mixed by Fabian Prynn at 4AD Studios and mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road.

Adult Jazz is Harry Burgess, Tim Slater, Steven Wells and Tom Howe.

Warehouse Find! - Test Pressing!

It seems like ages since we last had Roberto Rodriguez on the label with his excellent Be Somebody back in 2008, so we're plenty happy to welcome him back for a long overdue follow up. Roberto clearly hasn't just been sitting on his arse the last 4 years however, having established the Serenades label which released his own LP Dawn last year, as well as putting out the killer Thinking Of You release on Fina plus numerous remixes for rock solid labels such as Let's Play House, On The Prowl, Moodmusic and 2020 Vision. Those familiar with Roberto's productions and credentials will know he has a fine ear for disco and 90's house born out of years collecting records and DJing in the best clubs in his native Helsinki.
Kicking off with Dance Like Nobody's Watching, we see Roberto tread confidently into pure, unadulterated retro house territory with NJ organ stabs, swinging 909 drum groove and choice vocal hits.
Oxymoron keeps things a little deeper with tracky filtering chords and driving drums resulting in a garage-influenced feel with bucket loads of raw attitude.
Finally we have The Black Madonna on board for a remix of the title track. The Chicago producer impressed us recently with her brilliant disco-infused tracks on Stripped & Chewed and Home Taping labels and thought her the perfect choice to contribute to the release. Here she delivers a lesson in stripped back Chicago warehouse vibes keeping everything to a bare minimum for maximum club bump. Kick, claps and piano stabs form the basic groove as she confidently develops the arrangement slowly and surely.

The Space Lady began her odyssey on the streets of San Francisco in the late 70s, playing versions of contemporary pop music an accordion and dressed flamboyantly, transmitting messages of peace and harmony.
Following the theft of her accordion, The Space Lady invested in a then-new Casio keyboard, birthing an otherworldly new dimension to popular song that has captured the imaginations of the underground and its lead exponents ever since, with the likes of John Maus, Erol Alkan and Kutmah being devotees.

Of her early street sets, only one recording was made, self-released originally on cassette and then transferred to a home-made CD. "The Space Lady's Greatest Hits"(LSSN021) features the best of these recordings - mostly covers but with some originals - pressed on vinyl for the first time and features archival photographs and liner notes from The Space Lady herself. 'Greatest Hits' contains The Space Lady's personal favourites; her haunting take on The Electric Prunes' 'I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night),' a frantic 'Ballroom Blitz' amidst other reconstructed pop music. Included are also 4 originals that easily match for the Pop canon. Following the release of this archive, The Space Lady will be issuing new material and travelling the world to present her message outside the United States for the first time.

In the mid 90s The Space Lady packed away her Casio synth and silenced her distinctive voice, retiring from the streets of San Francisco. Now, more than 30 years after her initial forays on Haight Ashbury, she has surfaced with the first ever official release of her timeless, startling music and, even more remarkably, has re-started her live career. Now in Colorado, The Space Lady continues to spread her message of peace, harmony and love.

VINYL LP: Edition of 500, black Vinyl. Gatfold Poster and printed insert with Download Card.

“Suddenly it’s ok to be a square” - Twelve Cubic Feet, a clear case of a band which should have been bigger than The Beatles but, for some malignant reason, became a blurry footnote in the history of underground music. Formed from the ashes of Exhibit A in the Spring of 1981, the band disappeared leaving no trace shortly after 1983. During their brief existence they released a series of stickers, a monthly newsletter, two cassette tapes and their incomparable ‘Straight Out Of The Fridge 10”, which was at the very top of our dream records to release since we started Sealed Records. Twelve Cubic Feet released this perfect 22 minute 7 track album in 1982 on Namedrop Records (home to Doof, Philip Johnson and Cold War and ran by Philip Johnson and 12CF guitarist Paul Platypus). It is a glorious scratchy DIY indie pop gem with a post punk spirit. The sound is naive and fragile yet very addictive. Based around jangly clean guitars, drums that are on the edge of falling apart, haunting keyboards and a female vocalist that has a knack for a golden pop hook. Hard not to fall in love with. It’s beautiful with a ragged charm that deserves to be heard by the masses. Anarcho Indie pop anyone?? The band played a lot of the anarcho punk haunts of the early 80’s - Autonomy Centre in Wapping, Centro Iberico and London Music Collective and were equally heralded by punks (Andy Martin from The Apostles released one of their tapes) and the DIY music crowd. The line up changed after the 10” and they recorded a Joe Foster produced demo and fell in with Alan McGee's Communication Club crowd. Twelve Cubic Feet burned bright for just a handful of years and now it’s time to burn bright again. Hopefully this reissue will help them reverse one of their sticker statements “today we’re nobodies but tomorrow you’ll know who we are”. This reissue comes with the 16 page booklet that came with the original 10". Twelve Cubic Feet feature members who did time in bands such as Khmer Rouge, The Reflections, Solid Space, Doof and What Is Oil? Amongst others. For fans of the Marine Girls, Girls at our Best, Hornsey At War, Swell Maps and Postcard Records

Mammoth Penguins are a 3-piece indie powerhouse, showcasing the songwriting and vocal talents of Emma Kupa (Standard Fare) backed up by the noisiest rhythm section in indie pop. May 2024 sees the release of their fourth album Here on Fika Recordings. After 2019’s big, bold and confident There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win, and the initial shock of the global pandemic cancelling a trip to SXSW in 2020, the band returned to the studio in the summer of 2021 to start recording. The new record leans into a raw pop-punk power-trio sound more than ever, with a deep growl in layered guitars and bursts of percussion and harmony. The songs and artwork explore themes about finding a place for yourself and familiarity with people and places. Although it turns back towards a classic three-piece sound, the band weren’t restricted by that palette, adding finishing touches of percussion, extra guitars and backing vocals in short bursts in a garden shed, and also bringing in gorgeous strings to sweeten the title track. The sound builds on the band’s first album, Hide and Seek, which was released with the much-loved and sorely missed Fortuna POP! in 2015. The follow-up LP John Doe in 2017 was an ambitious concept album, exploring the feelings of loss and anger at a man who fakes his own death only to return years later, expanding well beyond the 3-piece rock‘n’roll template, with washes of strings, synths and samples. The ‘Penguins have been smashing it at some high-profile support slots in the lead up to this album release, including at Allo Darlin’s joyous reunion at Islington Assembly Hall (Oct 2023) and Muncie Girls last ever London show (Dec 2023). They play the Leicester Indiepop all-dayer and Wales Goes Pop in March, before heading out on tour in support of the new album in May. Those big singalong choruses need your voice shouting back from the crowd with joy and defiance. Mammoth Penguins are Emma Kupa (guitar, vocals), Mark Boxall (bass, vocals) and Tom Barden (drums, vocals). Reminiscent of the pop melodies of The Beths, the indie dissonance of Land of Talk, and the guitar forward slacker rock of Weezer, Mammoth Penguins marry heart-ache indiepop with spiky guitars and Emma’s frank confessional songwriting. “wonderfully awkward indie pop with a literate flair, sounding a lot like a Weezer record or even a more feminine Wedding Present” Clash // “eminently relatable earworms” Brooklyn Vegan // “one of the finest examples of simple and true indie rock around” All Music // “her characterful voice still carrying masses of charm and the messier, grungey approach bringing a strength all of its own, aided by a clutch of cheerful hooks and riffs that contrast nicely with lyrics dealing mostly with heartbreak and misery” Drowned In Sound

Kee Avil's music is both adventurous and intimate, intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant. The Montréal guitarist and producer's 2022 debut LP Crease garnered plaudits from outlets like The Wire, The Quietus, Mojo and Foxy Digitalis, picking up a Canadian Juno Award nomination and Bandcamp Album Of The Day and Albums Of The Year along the way. Its intricate construction, unnerving atmospheres, and knife-edge take on avant-pop prompted comparisons to early PJ Harvey, This Heat, and Gazelle Twin. A remix EP with work by claire rousay, Ami Dang, Cecile Believe, and Pelada brought collaborative perspectives to four Crease tracks, offering new pathways within those songs. With Spine, Kee Avil strips back her heavily textured compositions, opening up a much rawer sound. She calls it folk—and while traditionalists might scoff, this is urgent music that reflects the precarity of modern life, as well as the jarring mixture of electronic and real-world interactions that have become the fabric of our day-to-day experiences. There's a hypnotic post-punk somnambulance to it all, using the repetition and fracturing of melodic phrases interwoven with delicate electronics to create curious and persistent hooks. While not a concept album, themes of time's passage, remembrance, and decay crop up across multiple tracks. Each track intentionally only has four elements—guitar, electronics, and two other instruments, with Kee's voice and guitar pushed to the front. Within this minimalist framework, the juxtaposition of beauty and discomfort that is key to the Kee Avil sound stands out in skin-prickling relief. "We're shaped by many versions of ourselves," says Avil. "I was looking back at these versions of myself and what could have been, what didn't end up being and what did end up being, and going back like that through time. Seeing the future, the past." Spine was written in Kee Avil's home studio after a lapse in writing while touring Crease and working on other projects. She is a well-known and respected member of the Montréal experimental scene, and formerly ran Concrete Sound Studio with Zach Scholes, who continues to work with her as a producer on Spine. Compared to the three years that went into making her debut, Spine emerged in a matter of months—a process that may also be a factor in its intensity and sharpness: "This record was much harder, like it was really discovering everything from scratch." In her desire to not simply replicate or extend the sound of Crease, she felt she had to rip up the rule book, write in a different way, and pare back songs against her usual instincts. Sometimes, when we work against our ingrained habits, we get to the core of who we really are. Spine is an exercise in that process. Without over-intellectualizing or being didactic, it hits immediately and emotionally, especially if you are a person who has spent much time in the process of self-examination. Kee's voice hisses, whispers, and chants; her guitar bends and rings; electronics skitter and crackle; violin creaks like a door in the wind. There is something so evocative about the atmospheres she creates that it's easy to overlay one's own feelings onto her work, but to do that wholly would be to overlook one of the most important things about Spine: Kee Avil's clear and thoughtful vision. This isn't just the next step forward in her artistic trajectory; it's a stunner of a record that stands on its own, a bracing and thrilling listen that has much to reveal about the contradictions inherent in being human. — jj skolnik.

Algerian singer and musician Lili Boniche was born in Algiers on March 14, 1921, and died on March 6, 2008. He was famous for his contribution to Judeo-Arabic music, and particularly associated with chaâbi, a musical genre popular in Algeria that blends Arab, Berber and French influences. Born Eliaou Élie Boniche, and he grew up in a Sephardic Jewish family and became interested in music at an early age. His musical career really took off in the 1940s and 1950s, when he recorded numerous hits that helped popularize the Judeo-Arabic repertoire. His unique style blended elements of Arabic music, jazz and tango, creating a captivating musical fusion. He is widely recognized for his mastery of the lute and his distinctive voice. His lyrics were often poetic, reflecting the everyday life, love and culture of his time. Lili Boniche left an indelible mark on the North African music scene. His legacy lives on in his recordings, which continue to be listened to and enjoyed by music lovers the world over.

Features remarkable, previously unheard versions of Ra classics "Calling Planet Earth", "Sunset On The Nile" and "Theme From The Stargazers".

Chris Whitley was an artist with his feet planted in two very different worlds. On one side was a guitarist/ songwriter who grew up with the Delta and Chicago blues of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, with some Bob Dylan thrown in. But at the same time, he was hanging out with NYC Lower East Side avant-gardeists like Arto Lindsey and Michael Beinhorn during his early ‘80s formative years. And it is precisely that tension between tradition and experimentation that makes his music so interesting and unique among “roots rock” artists. That tension is palpable on 1995’s Din of Ecstasy, his second record; Whitley abandons the acoustic blues-rock of his Living with the Law debut in favor of an album, that at first listen, owes a lot to the early-‘90s grunge movement. But Din of Ecstasy is hardly a johnny-come-lately to that sound; those are some truly weird tunings and chords being played by Whitley. It’s almost like he’s reinventing grunge in his own fashion, soaking it in blues and seasoning it with dissonance and feedback. Add some dark, druggy lyrics to the mix and Din of Ecstasy takes its place as one of the decade’s most adventurous albums, a cult classic way overdue for a vinyl release. Limited edition “clear smoke” vinyl, nestled inside a printed inner sleeve. Don’t sleep on this one

An album of originally unreleased Sun Ra, over 50 years after it was recorded, back in print on lightning yellow vinyl! Sun Ra is still trying to get our attention 50 years after dispatching this transmission. Humanity's path since then makes his message even more urgent today. Years after Herman Poole "LeSony'r Ra" Blount "left the planet" he's still trying to reach us, to wake us up and to change our destiny. Sun Ra and the Arkestra weren't a traditional studio band, and every star in the vast galaxy of their discography reflects this. The origins of these records can be hard to pinpoint at times, but when it comes to Thunder Of The Gods, it's a bit easier. "Calling Planet Earth - We'll Wait For You" was discovered on tapes from Ra's, Universe In Blue, believed to be recorded in '71. The raucous title track and "Moonshots Across the Sky" are unearthed from the '66 Strange Strings sessions. Modern Harmonic has once again paired Ra's sonic art with the visual art of "The Father of Modern Space Art," Chesley Bonestell, whose 1952 work "Formation of the Earth's Continents" spralls across the front and back covers

Culled from three 1985 gigs in the UK during a transitional and transcendent time in the band's story, Sonic Youth's `Walls Have Ears' appeared as a 2LP set in 1986, not just a live album but an artful tapestry full of live experimentation with songs, between-song tape segues, darkness, humor and audio verité on par with elements of side B of `Master Dik' to come later. With a bit of complexity to the situation of the release itself. But that's a different story. Deleted as quickly as it appeared then, it's now issued for the first time officially under the band's auspices. In this 2LP set brimming with primitive classics like "The Burning Spear", "I Love Her All The Time", "Death Valley 69" and "I'm Insane" (uncredited on sleeve), segues and live guitar changes ooze together threaded by Madonna tapes and vocal loops off the board. The first two sides of `Walls' are massive, cavernous, with newly-drafted drummer Steve Shelley in tow taking on past tunes and unveiling "Expressway To Yr Skull" in glorious form. They tear it up especially on one trash-fi excerpt of "Blood On Brighton Beach" (actually "Making the Nature Scene") from a legendary outdoor gig November 8th where Moore, Gordon and Ranaldo's guitars treble-blast dissonant shockwaves over the black-stoned beach of Quadrophenia fame. The record's second slab spotlights an April 1985 pre-Shelley gig supporting Nick Cave at London's Hammersmith Palais and was one of the final appearances live of Bob Bert, again featuring some molten takes on "Brother James", "Kill Yr Idols", "Flower" (Iisted as "The Word (E.V.O.L.)"), "Ghost Bitch" and others. The emergence of the Jesus and Mary Chain in the world gave Brit scribes a lazy and easy parallel, addressed here with a wink with the inclusion of "Speed JAMC", another offstage tape interlude playfully scrolling through one of that band's songs at fast-forward. This document remains an essential representation of some lean and mean years of the quartet's throttling march out into the world in the mid eighties. Coloured vinyl, one red, one yellow LP.

Deep Inspiration Show Records presents to you the Global Essence Sampler Part 2; created and curated with purpose, these 6 ¦ne delicacies nourish the mind and soul- on the A side we have Barce (Spain) featuring Roger Versey, Dan Piu (Zurich) and Zarenzeit (Valencia), providing a tour de force of style from blissfully jazzy & vocal Detroit House guides to paradise class deep vibes where late Nite Mediterranean meets Chicago auras arise. Melchior Sultana (Malta) introduces the Bside of the ride with instant club magic, remixing A1 in his own elegant & Profound way, followed by Dan Piu traversing the mind and ears through introspective Detroit Techno with soul permeating atmosphere, leading to the conclusion of this tour de force as He and Roger Versey (Ozarks,Arkansas) arrive as Passport bringing an eclectic collage of arcade funk sensibilities and warm analogue House to the occasion for the deeper persuasion. They say there is no genre, just the essence…Welcome and enjoy, the Global Essence Sampler Part 2. Mastered with passion by maestro Sven Weisemann.

Lost in the soot and fall out from Youngstown, Ohio's infamous Black Monday steel industry collapse was Tony March's cross-generational Tammy label. From its early days as a doo wop powerhouse to their last gasps chasing disco hits, Tammy unintentionally documented Youngstown's small but prolific Black music scene. This single LP surveys the label's best R&B, soul, funk, and disco, with 13 tracks from Ice Cold Love, Lynn Minor, J.C. & the Soul Angels, The Snapshots, Iron Knowledge, Roy Jefferson, and Steel City Band. Housed in a deluxe tip-on jacket, with a booklet crammed full of notes and ephemera, The Tammy Label continues Numero's 20 year tradition of preserving regional Ohio music.