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The Amity Affliction return with one of the most personal and devastating records of their career. Following a decade-plus run as one of Australia’s most influential heavy bands, marked by ARIA chart-topping albums, platinum certifications, and global touring off landmark releases like Let The Ocean Take Me and This Could Be Heartbreak, the new album turns inward with unflinching honesty. Largely written about frontman Joel Birch’s relationship with his late mother, the record explores grief, trauma, faith, and self-reckoning through a series of deeply connected songs. “I’ll Break These Chains” confronts the confusion surrounding her death, “Afterlife” questions belief beyond this life, while the closing track “Eternal War” captures the ongoing internal struggle and the hope for change that never came. Musically massive and emotionally raw, this album stands as The Amity Affliction at their most vulnerable, cathartic, and fully realized.

Experience the raw electricity and boundary‑pushing creativity of Jimi Hendrix with this definitive 1‑LP black vinyl edition of BBC Sessions — a release showcasing some of the most dynamic and intimate performances ever captured by the BBC. Recorded between 1967 and 1969, these sessions highlight Hendrix at his most spontaneous and inventive, delivering explosive renditions of his classics, unexpected covers, and rare arrangements unique to these broadcasts.

There’s an alternate reality where everyone makes a living wage and the cleanest buses you’ve ever seen arrive every other minute. Where the most intense songs are about confessing your love to a crush at the apple orchard, and where gentle feelings and chaotic energy are inseparable best friends. This is the timeline where Cootie Catcher is right at home. This Toronto based four-piece exudes both vulnerability and unbridled excitement, creating a sound that hypercharges the open-hearted tenderness of twee pop with spiraling synths and giddy electronics. New album Something We All Got is the clearest and most vibrant reading of Cootie Catcher’s vision yet, with songs of sweetness, nervousness, and expectancy that beam out unguarded.
After releasing music made primarily in basement recording environments, Something We All Got is the band’s first flirtation with studio recording. The edges are still sharp, however, with some parts assembled from time-honored lo-fi methods and fun, personally-sourced samples seeping into the production. The sound is explosive and upbeat, with euphoric guitars, bubbly synth lines, speedy drums both played and programmed, and all other manner of sound constantly colliding. Cootie Catcher has three songwriters, Sophia Chavez, Anita Fowl, and Nolan Jakupovski, all of whom have distinctive voices but still manage to overlap in their writing on shared concerns like navigating the lines of romantic and platonic relationships, their city’s social scenes, and struggles in both the microcosmic experience of playing in a band and the zoomed-out challenges of living through late-stage capitalism.
Joy still touches every surface of Something We All Got. “Quarter Note Rock” bounces around the room in a fit of jangling guitar chords, scratched samples, and interplay between breakbeat loops and somersaulting live drums. It’s a blast of positivity even with lyrics about how disappointing it can be to meet your heroes. A smiling electro pop instrumental supports lyrics about having to step painfully away from an almost realized love on “Gingham Dress,” a song that subverts themes of domesticity as a backdrop for the dashed wilt of hopeless devotion.
Cootie Catcher rolls down hills and jumps through flaming hoops throughout Something We All Got without ever dumbing down the visceral emotions that drive these songs. There’s a palpable tension between the band’s exhilarating sonics and the raw, often uneasy sentiments expressed, but it’s an integral part of what makes them unique. Rather than hide behind the kind of calculated vagueness that plagues so much of the indie rock landscape in the time of cursed algorithms, Cootie Catcher runs full-speed toward every confusion and excitement, fearlessly direct and embracing the reality they’re in.

Igor Tamerlan is a stranger in his own land. Born in 1954 the Hague and spent most formative years in Paris, Igor suddenly had the urge to relocate to Bali in 1986. “I want to settle in Indonesia and marry a local girl,” he told his sister shortly before flying out.

His next journey would be as audacious as his time in the Fifth Republic. Born from a prominent Indonesian expatriate family in Paris with ties to Indonesia’s first prime minister Sutan Sjahrir, Igor earned a degree in architecture at Ecole nationale supe´rieure d’architecture de Paris-La Villette.

He could have been a brilliant architect or a political scientist (he was accepted to Sciences Po), but his passion for music distracted him from his academic works. He was after all named after Russian composer Igor Stravinsky.

During his brief stint at Sciences Po, Igor spent most of times hanging out at recording studios and rub shoulders with the likes of singer-songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman and Michel Polnaref. He had a brief encounter with The Rolling Stones at the Cha^teau de Thoiry studio in the early 1970s.

But Igor’s musical education and his occidental eyes appeared to be ill-suited for Indonesia. His first record, titled Langkah Pertama (First Step) on the mainstream label Musica was met with a shrug and was a commercial dud. An experimental record blending the influence of Spanish motifs, Francophile production and a whiff of hip hop and ska was seen by critics as being too alien. His sarcasm-laden lyrics and his biting critique of excessive materialism among the upper tier of Indonesia’s nouveau riche in the album was met with confusion from the audience. He was just too far ahead of his time.

He left the label Musica – or may had been dropped – soon after Langkah Pertama and decided to go independent. He then relocated to Bali and set up a state-of-the-art recording studio in Sanur, across the street from Southeast Asia’s first boutique hotel where luminaries like Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Sting, Yoko Ono and Ringo Starr stayed for their holiday.

From the studio, Igor recording everything from the sounds waterfalls, geckos, minibuses to motorized rickshaw and mix them with hip hop, jazz, electronica, dub and Balinese gamelan. A visionary, Igor was the first musician to use MIDI, which started to be available globally in the early 1980s.

On paper, songs like “Bali Vanilli” should not work, a mish mash of disparate elements mentioned above, sung in three languages, Balinese, English and Bahasa Indonesia while tackling the subject of overtourism. The song was also the first to introduce rap to an unsuspecting audience. But for some strange reason “Bali Vanilli” became a sensation and overnight Igor became household name. And in 1987, long before overtourism was an issue, Igor broached the subject to a national audience in Indonesia on the possible destruction of nature and culture from tourism.

Ever an iconoclast, Igor decided to step out of the limelight following the success of “Bali Vanilli” and in early 1990s he relocated to Indonesia’s cultural capital, Yogyakarta. Here, he worked on some more experimental music while juggling as music video director. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 64.

The 10 songs in this compilation, Bali Vanilli: Experimental Pop from Paradise Island (1987-1991), are some of Igor’s best works, music that would have gone into obscurity had it not been for the diligent work of film director Alfred Pasifico Ginting, who managed to track down some of the master tapes while researching on a documentary on the musician.

These recordings have never before been released outside of Indonesia. Igor would have been proud with this reissue project.

The beauty, confusion, complexity, and intensity of their youth - lived under the shadow and around the scars of conflict - are entangled in the industrial dance-punk hybrid encoded in the record's DNA, aptly entitled Crystalpunk. "This record is us waving a flag for that generation -- the ones who inherited confusion, resilience, and a fractured sense of self." They're waving that flag as intensely as possible too. For the uninitiated, Chalk mainlines the reaction between genres, eras, and cultures, commuting this collision into their sound. The Belfast group could comfortably power an underground warehouse party after-dark, incite a mid-day festival mosh-pit, or shake an arena on any given evening.

Their power has seamlessly translated to the stage with the group packing venues and delivering alternately sweaty and electrifying performances to a growing rabid fan base. As a group, they've sold out shows across the UK, EU and USA, notched festival performances such as Glastonbury, SXSW, BBK, Trans Musicals and more across 11 countries and were handpicked to tour alongside IDLES and Fontaines D.C.. Coming from dissimilar backgrounds and rallying together naturally, Ben and Ross first crossed paths in film school. As the story goes, Ben had noticed a framed poster of Dublin disruptors Gilla Band in one of Ross's Instagram photos and felt a kinship before ever actually speaking to him.

"Nobody else at our school was into experimental noise guitar bands, so that was all I needed to see," laughs Ben. Emerging in 2022, Chalk initially made waves with songs like "Them," "Velodrome," and "Static." Ultimately, they come-of-age and tell a story that resonates beyond borders. Not just a portrait of the band, but one of their home, a complicated place where the sacrifices made and risks taken by activists, artists, ravers and punks created the only environment that a band like Chalk could emerge from. Crystalpunk is not about choosing a side, it's about choosing the future.

‘Under The Sun’ is the new album from The Wanton Bishops, a band by every definition of the word, but primarily the vision of one eclectic man – Nader Mansour. The album is an exploration of identity and ultimately a love letter to his hometown Beirut, capturing Nader’s kaleidoscopic life journey through a melting pot of musical influence; primarily gutsy blues-rock but with tinges of psychedelia, surf-rock, dance, as well as the Lebanese influences of Nadar’s hometown. “It’s Lebanese Rock”, adds Nader, “a new genre, a blueprint for future music. It’s not fusion, it’s confusion, it’s not world music, it’s rock music from the world, for the world”.

Following the release of The Wanton Bishops’ debut album ‘Sleep With The Lights On’, a Delta blues record inspired by the likes of RL Burnside and Muddy Waters, Nader journeyed to America’s deep south to experience the roots of Mississippi blues. The experience spawned a musical epiphany for Nader, as he returned home to Lebanon a changed man with a newly inspired musical vision. Nader’s music slowly emerged from the Delta swamps into the Lebanese mountains, and the music of The Wanton Bishops began to reflect Nader’s homeland, his people, and his personal journey. To quote Nader, "I’m finally getting to the core of the music I want to create, and that core is scarily confused, yet uniquely special, much like our own identity as Lebanese people living in Beirut, that eternal cultural crossroad."

Repress!

180 gram coloured vinyl now at new price. Spacemen 3's debut album "Sound Of Confusion", released in 1986, was a blistering affair - establishing their love of the two-chord song and also expressing their admiration for the likes of MC5, The 13th Floor Elevators and The Stooges. Sound of Confusion was 7 tracks of overdriven assault, with a strange bleakness and despair creeping through the hypnotic sprawl. R Hunter Gibson would later say: "It boosts the value of unlit rooms, unpaid debts and unfeigned terror and it would rather tackle the gradients than settle for level best. New digipack. Tracks : 1 Loosing Touch With Your Mind  2 2.35, 3 Little Doll, 4 MaryAnne, 5 Roller coaster, 6 Hey Man, 7 OD Catastophe.

There’s an alternate reality where everyone makes a living wage and the cleanest buses you’ve ever seen arrive every other minute. Where the most intense songs are about confessing your love to a crush at the apple orchard, and where gentle feelings and chaotic energy are inseparable best friends. This is the timeline where Cootie Catcher is right at home. This Toronto based four-piece exudes both vulnerability and unbridled excitement, creating a sound that hypercharges the open-hearted tenderness of twee pop with spiraling synths and giddy electronics. New album Something We All Got is the clearest and most vibrant reading of Cootie Catcher’s vision yet, with songs of sweetness, nervousness, and expectancy that beam out unguarded.
After releasing music made primarily in basement recording environments, Something We All Got is the band’s first flirtation with studio recording. The edges are still sharp, however, with some parts assembled from time-honored lo-fi methods and fun, personally-sourced samples seeping into the production. The sound is explosive and upbeat, with euphoric guitars, bubbly synth lines, speedy drums both played and programmed, and all other manner of sound constantly colliding. Cootie Catcher has three songwriters, Sophia Chavez, Anita Fowl, and Nolan Jakupovski, all of whom have distinctive voices but still manage to overlap in their writing on shared concerns like navigating the lines of romantic and platonic relationships, their city’s social scenes, and struggles in both the microcosmic experience of playing in a band and the zoomed-out challenges of living through late-stage capitalism.
Joy still touches every surface of Something We All Got. “Quarter Note Rock” bounces around the room in a fit of jangling guitar chords, scratched samples, and interplay between breakbeat loops and somersaulting live drums. It’s a blast of positivity even with lyrics about how disappointing it can be to meet your heroes. A smiling electro pop instrumental supports lyrics about having to step painfully away from an almost realized love on “Gingham Dress,” a song that subverts themes of domesticity as a backdrop for the dashed wilt of hopeless devotion.
Cootie Catcher rolls down hills and jumps through flaming hoops throughout Something We All Got without ever dumbing down the visceral emotions that drive these songs. There’s a palpable tension between the band’s exhilarating sonics and the raw, often uneasy sentiments expressed, but it’s an integral part of what makes them unique. Rather than hide behind the kind of calculated vagueness that plagues so much of the indie rock landscape in the time of cursed algorithms, Cootie Catcher runs full-speed toward every confusion and excitement, fearlessly direct and embracing the reality they’re in.

Two years after their debut on Berlin-based Mannequin Records, Parisian duo Leroy Se Meurt returns with their second full-length album, Hier Pour Toujours. Far from any sense of nostalgia, this record offers no illusion of hope—history repeats itself, the future looks bleak, and their brand of electronic punk is the perfect soundtrack to it all.Drum machines dictate the pace while synths saturate the space, looping sequences grind relentlessly, and vocals lead this machine orchestra straight into the heart of the chaos. Drawing from their roots, Leroy Se Meurt pushes their fierce electronics further than ever—experimenting with bold slogans, spoken passages, and powerful sing-along choruses.The album opens with Pas Ma Croix, a commanding anthem built for the stage. It flows into Du Plafond à La Terre, driven by a monstrous electro beat and bassline, flirting with emotional vulnerability in its chorus before exploding into a synth solo. Alevlere Karşı once again taps into the duo’s EBM-meets-Turkish vocals signature style, hitting the mark with dancefloor precision.The title track, Hier Pour Toujours, closes side A with a more intimate, drumless moment—solemn but no less intense.That brief calm is shattered by Déviance, marking the return of guitars and an eruptive chorus brimming with raw energy. From there, the album launches into the furious Révolte Ardente, with its syncopated rhythm and vocals drenched in distortion, and continues with Pro Déclin, a stripped-down rhythmic skeleton carrying anti-growth mantras straight to the point. In a world clouded by confusion, the most direct messages often land the hardest.For a change of scenery, Fütürsüz dives into John Carpenter-esque territory—no drums, eerie night-streaked synths, and, for the first time in the band’s history, nearly clean vocals.Closing the record, Encore crawls at a BPM so slow it’s nearly in reverse. But what it lacks in speed, it makes up for in weight—a crushing incantation capable of toppling sound systems.With Hier Pour Toujours, Leroy Se Meurt isn’t offering optimism, but rather persistence. Nothing is settled yet—and perhaps, just perhaps—there’s still light at the end of the tunnel.

Mike Majkowski makes his debut on Hands in the Dark Records with Invisible, a selection of six moody and mysterious pieces produced between 2019 and 2025.

The prolific Australian double bassist and music maker has been involved in a diverse array of contemporary, improvised and experimental music since the early 2000s. This time, the Berlin-based artist is venturing deeper into downtempo, meditative and hypnotic minimal electronic realms.

While time and space are constraints, they also define our identities, creating inexplicable bonds with others flowing through shared moments and shared places. The state of being invisible obliterates these confines, allowing one to return to their pure essence. In this setting, Majkowski’s compositions display a discreet and profoundly emotional language characterised by vulnerability, darkness and confusion, while also embodying hope, soothing and resilience. A dim light, transcending love, space, memory and time.

“An extremely dynamic and creative release — Roadhouse combines acoustic and electronic music with a strong balance to invoke the complexity and confusion of a growing planet earth.” - Delroy Edwards, 2021

“‘Supernatural XS' is more bombastic (than its predacessor, ‘Aladdin Sales’). Imagine if French prog-dogs Heldon grew up on a diet of Hip Hop and high fructose corn syrup, or a mid-point between early Blues Control and Foodman's blissful mutations of Footwork. This Southern Indiana self-identified producer shows no particular allegiance to any lineage and evokes a couple they potentially aren't even privy to. Like Footwork, this music feels new and unique without outwardly attempting to break new ground, or inheriting any technological innovation. While I’m stoked on new music every single goddamn day, Roadhouse makes me particularly excited for the future of creativity, even if the odds are against it. Contemporary "Fusion" at it's best!. Very, very recommended!” - Repressed Records

With an internet-born sense of humor and an instinct for turning vulnerability into spectacle, Aldn has become one of the most distinct and enigmatic voices in alt-pop"s ever-mutating landscape. The Virginia-raised singer, songwriter, and producer first grabbed attention with his glitch-laced experiments and emotionally raw lyricism, but it was his 2024 viral smash "i cant believe i let you get away" that sent his profile into the stratosphere. The single - a pixelated cry of regret and romantic confusion - cemented his reputation as both a sonic innovator and a self-aware avatar for Gen Z"s wired melancholy. Now, Aldn announces his long-awaited debut album Strung Out Symphony

Mardi Gras Marble Coloured Vinyl Sao Paulo, Brazil's Blind Pigs are excited to give an essential record in their renowned discography - 2006's Heróis ou Rebeldes (Heroes or Rebels) - the re-issue it deserves. Considered by many in the band's home country as their finest release, many fans around the world have yet to hear it. It was originally released only on CD in Brazil, with the lyrics written entirely in Portuguese. Consequently, the band released it under their Portuguese name: Porcos Cegos. However, when it was released, many fans did not realize it was the same band! On top of that, it has never had a release outside of Brazil_until now! Nevertheless, within Brazil, the album was an instant sensation that bridged the gap between punk, streetpunk, and Oi! - exposing the country to sounds influenced by contemporary US streetpunk bands such as Reducers SF, Dropkick Murphys, and the bands on TKO Records. In particular, the title track, for which the band made a music video, became a shout along anthem for the band's fans, AKA "The Legion of the Unconformed." After a 10" vinyl pressing quickly sold out in 2013, the album has been tragically out of print. The new edition on 12" Mardi Gras Marble Vinyl from Pirates Press Records has been remastered by Dan Randall (Subhumans, The Slackers, Fucked Up), bringing new life to a master that the band was never quite satisfied with. With the addition of a song cut from the original tracklisting - "Tiros No Escuro" ("Shots in the Dark") - this is truly the record the band have always wanted fans to hear. And with it finally bearing the name "Blind Pigs" on the cover, there will be no more confusion_and as the band's frontman Henrike Baliu proudly puts it, "the world can finally witness a record that was so important to the Brazilian punk rock scene."

First chapter of a futuristic dub experiment series by The 18th Parallel. Geneva based collective invites engineer extraordinaire Roberto Sánchez to revisit 10 scorcher riddims from the Fruits Records vault to craft this inventive modern classic. Reminiscent of the greatest dub albums by King Tubby, Scientist, Prince Jammy, or Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.

Fruits Records presents the first volume of a series of dub albums by Swiss collective The 18th Parallel. Following in the tradition of Jamaican producers who revisited their catalogues in dub versions, such as Bunny Lee and his Aggrovators with King Tubby, Junjo Lawes or Linval Thompson teaming up with Roots Radics and Scientist, or Joe Gibbs and his Professionals with Errol Thompson, Fruits Records is launching a series of dub albums produced by the label's studio band, The 18th Parallel, which will invite different sound engineers to (re)mix the tracks throughout the albums: DUB AVALANCHE. This first volume offers a deep dive into the label's catalogue through ten classic or unreleased riddims revisited by Fruits Records' long-time partner, Spanish sound engineer extraordinaire Roberto Sánchez. The instrumentals are brilliantly performed by The 18th Parallel and punctuated by the voices of legendary artists such as The Viceroys, Lone Ranger, Cornell Campbell, and Dennis Walks, who appear fleetingly before disappearing into clouds of echo. Roberto Sánchez performs ten explosive, creative sound deconstructions, playing with stylistic codes to stimulate our memory and offer a timeless sensory experience.
Like the classics of the genre, the cover art evokes a quirky retro-futuristic imaginary space where, breaking with convention, the talent of Mexican artist Melissa Santamaría is expressed through a striking metaphor of a sonic avalanche.

DUB AVALANCHE VOL. 1 is already establishing itself as a future must-have for fans of uncompromising reggae and dub!

Peace and love in late 60s America did not come without parallel feelings of fear and confusion about the social situation – specifically about Vietnam. “Safe In My Garden” is the latest Ace compilation in an acclaimed series compiled by Bob Stanley – it’s a companion piece to the much-praised “State Of The Union (The American Dream In Crisis 1967 – 1973)” Ace CDCHD 1533/XXQLP2 057 2018).

The music on “Safe In My Garden” is harmony-laden, beautifully produced soft rock. Sunshine pop, even - a melodic, innovative style of American music that grew in the mid-60s out of the folk and surf scenes, exemplified by the Beach Boys and the Mamas and Papas. You will hear orchestral arrangements, and soft boy-girl vocals. But it wasn’t made in isolation from what was going on in the outside world. There are clouds and minor chords, plenty of melancholy in those harmonies.

“Safe In My Garden” includes songs of escape (Mark Eric’s ‘Move With The Dawn’, the Groop’s ‘A Famous Myth’), loss (the Eighth Day’s ‘How Can I Stop Loving You’, the New Colony Six’s ‘Prairie Grey’), dreamscapes (Tommy James and the Shondells’ ‘She’, Nancy Priddy’s ‘Christina’s World’), rebirth (Smokey and his Sister’s ‘Creators Of Rain’), a simpler world (the Free Design’s ‘My Brother Woody’) and a philosophically sounder future (Chad & Jeremy’s ‘The Ark’, Best of Friends’ ‘Summer Sound’).

It contains some surprisingly dark messages paired with beautiful melodies, as well as songs of hope. Thousands of young musicians in cities, suburbs and small towns across the States from the mid to late 60s spent their mornings hiding from the mailman, dreading the draft. This is the Sound of Young America in the late 60s, keeping its fingers crossed.

NSDA, the visionary imprint led by Anfisa Letyago, presents TUNEL, the debut album from Argentine producer Unfinished Portraits. The 11-track album explores a richly immersive world of brooding textures, melodic storytelling, and cinematic sound design.

"A journey inward. A space where the hidden comes to light and everything shifts shape. Each song is a signal in the dark, a guide to keep moving forward without losing your way" says Unfinished Portraits about the album's concept.
A rising force in the underground circuit, Unfinished Portraits builds a signature style rooted in techno, ambient, and electronica - combining hypnotic percussion with atmospheric depth. Across TUNEL, he constructs a soundscape that is both introspective and physical, designed for deep listening as much as late-night floors.

"When I first heard Unfinished Portraits music, I felt an immediate connection. There's something raw and cinematic in his sound that felt perfect for NSDA," says Anfisa Letyago. "Collaborating on this album was really special - it's a beautiful example of how storytelling and club energy can live in the same space."

Anfisa appears as a featured artist on three standout tracks - Home, Confusion, and Radar - adding emotional weight and rhythmic edge to the release. Their creative synergy underscores NSDA's commitment to supporting innovative new voices with bold sonic perspectives.

TUNEL will be available as a full digital album, with a limited-edition vinyl sampler featuring six selected tracks.

Erik K Skodvin's feature-length score to Thomas Roth's thriller "Schächten" feels like the epitome of all his musical projects, conjuring a dark cinematic trip through 1960's post-WWII Vienna in a film that touches on topics such as law, justice & revenge.

Releasing a soundtrack as a stand-alone album can be challenging; and "Schächten" is by no means a typical listening experience. The record contains 24 more or less short pieces evolving through dramatic movements, underlaying menace and deep emotive scenes. One thing that stands out is the linear atmosphere throughout the story which creates a wholeness that keeps your attention to the very end. Set in wintery Austrian landscapes in dimly saturated colours, the film's dramatic events with dark political undertones feels like a perfect situation for Skodvin's atmospheric collages - perhaps sounding closer than ever to his early works as Svarte Greiner or Deaf Center. Cello, violin, piano, analogue synth and plenty of hardly recognizable instrumentation come together in a record that feels very organic in its subdued tones. The score also features percussion by Andrea Belfi as well as a Chopin piano interpretation by Kelly Wyse to the bizarrely schizophrenic piece "Judenfreund".

With the contemporary world sliding into darkness again, listening to the soundtrack feels like coming to terms with ones own anxieties - something that in the end comes through as a cleansing experience. As quoted in the film "Everyone is their own devil. And we make this world our hell".

Short synopsis : "Vienna 1960s - The young Jewish business man Victor has to witness how the prosecution of a Nazi crime against his family fails. The political and legal system is still virtually run by former Nazis with large parts of society being entangled in the past. When Victor also loses his grief ridden father and his girlfriend’s family opposes their relationship and his identity, Victor begins to loose faith in formal justice and takes matters in his own hands."

John Calvin Abney rises again from the Oklahoman prairies with his latest album Transparent Towns. The ten songs focus on how we remember, and ultimately accept, though he is not always certain the memories we carry adequately mark the moments that make us. "This record is wrapped around the passage of time, whether or not we can trust the memories that we swear on, how we forgive ourselves and others as seasons turn, and how we define what is important as we roll the boulder back up the hill," Abney says of Transparent Towns. "We build these routines and live our stories, we rely on our histories and our memories - spoken and recorded. Now, we're relying on copies of copies, memories of memories, all packed like sardines into our phones, and we're losing the ability to tell our own stories. I have to constantly remind myself, as well as redefine what matters at the end of a day." Transparent Towns is the seventh studio album for Abney, and his first since 2022's Tourist, which he crafted after spending the pandemic as an itinerant writer. In contrast Abney penned most of the album's 10 tracks during a period of introspection and convalescence while recovering from vocal cord surgery in 2023. The time to himself - "I didn't sing for nearly a year, and after surgery, I couldn't talk for a month, and couldn't sing for over three months," he says, left him contemplating how to trace his experiences in the silence. The album's title track is Abney's take on the inaccessible past, witnessing loss and grief through the years, damning the "days we let go left unsaid", and accepting the uncontrollable circumstances we are sometimes placed in. "The troubles and the joys exist vibrantly in your memory, but you're wondering if you remember correctly," Abney remarks. "I've sometimes had this sort of confusion between memory and dreams - you crafted this ideal in your head of how things were or might be, in order to soften the blow of a harsher reality." The places we inhabit dictate how our memories form, and for Abney, there is one place to which he is constantly drawn: Oklahoma. Although he was born in the biggest little city in America, Reno, Nevada, he grew up learning guitar and piano in Tulsa, playing bars and DIY spaces from Norman to Stillwater. His affinity for the land that raised him is evident in the production of Transparent Towns. Abney self-produced the record, tracking most of it at Cardinal Song outside of Oklahoma City, with Michael Trepagnier handling mixing and engineering. The band was comprised mostly of Sooner State musicians too, along with Lydia Loveless and John Moreland contributing harmony vocals. His signature vulnerable voice and lyrical handiwork comes through in each of the songs, along with his penchant for alternative pop melodies set against colorful chords and subtle soundscapes. Having toured for years backing up artists like Moreland, Wild Child, Ben Kweller, and S.G. Goodman, Abney embraces a lead role again, as he presses forward with the loving lament and defiant joy throughout Transparent Towns, calling us to leave behind the pressures we place on our ourselves and recognize that just because there is an ending, it doesn't mean it's the end.

Limited first pressing on silver vinyl. Flying Horseman returns with their first new album in five years. Experience their renewed but signature sound with a fresh line-up.



Flying Horseman is back! After a five year hiatus and with a new line-up, the band is ready to once again captivate headphone junkies and live audiences alike with Anaesthesia, their seventh album. It's an urgent and passionate work of intelligent rock'n roll, hazy psychedelia and cosmic folk. Anaesthesia is brooding, angry and dark but at the same time full of life, wonder and sophistication. It's an invigorating, fascinating, electric brew.



Flying Horseman is still centered around the intensely personal song writing, singing and guitar playing of Bert Dockx. The band's line-up has changed,with Louis Evrard (Pruillip, Ottla, Grid Ravage) and Maximilian Dobbertin (Calicos, Frankie Fame) replacing drummer Alfredo Bravo and bassist Mattias Cré. Bravo and Cré were long-standing members, beloved by fans and fellow musicians alike, and they have played an important part in establishing Flying Horseman's musical identity. Today Evrard and Dobbertin are adding a fresh and personal twist to the idiosyncratic sound of Flying Horseman: their groove, their intuition and sensibility, their soul.



Then there's Loesje and Martha Maieu, who have been part of the group for almost as long as its frontman has, and who offer essential ingredients to bring about Flying Horseman's signature flavour, their haunting vocals and atmospheric electronics contrasting beautifully with Dockx' more earthy vocal delivery and his restless, fiery plucking of the guitar strings.



The whole record is fiery, alternately smouldering and violently burning. These are musical sounds capable of setting the listener's heart and mind ablaze. Anaesthesia is very consciously, a political record born out of Dockx and his friends' bafflement at the state of the world, the new rise of fascism, the onslaught of injustice, barbarism and stupidity which we, inhabitants of planet earth, are witnessing day in day out.



How to guard one's sanity in such a crazy world? How to maintain one's dignity? How to feel useful and joyful when surrounded by confusion and hate? These are the questions Flying Horseman is struggling with, as are so many of us today. But there is joy and purpose in the asking; in the struggling; in staying critical of dominant systems of oppression; in thinking or saying: "I don't agree, this is not how it's supposed to be"; in coming together and connecting, sharing, mourning and dreaming. Joy and purpose; questions and confusion; burning hearts and tarnished dreams: it's allhere, in the transportive sound world of Flying Horseman.



Anaesthesia was recorded in Antwerp by Joris Caluwaerts (keyboardist of the inimitable avant-jazz group .STUFF) and mixed by Yves De Mey (one of Belgium's most prominent & avant-garde electronic wizards), two experienced collaborators who know a thing or two about capturing sound and transforming it into a rewarding listening experience. With their help, Flying Horseman has crafted a tight collection of eight art-rock tunes with a clear identity, a rich sound, an original vision and a joyful purpose in the face of encroaching sinister forces.

LP comes with 24 page 8.5x11 full color booklet. In the blurred and memorial hallways of bygone time, to remember is to wander between the rooms of our own experiences, to appear and disappear, like a play of overlapping shadows. In music set drifting through the architecture of his own memories, Moses Brown weaves a story that oscillates between the past and the present, like a mason turning over stones to reconstruct his childhood home in this beautiful and disquieting soundtrack to growing up. On Stone Upon Stone, Moses' first solo LP attributed to his given name after several releases under the brilliant and despondent "Peace de Resistance" moniker, he moves sidelong into the realm of soundtracks with this score to the construction of his childhood home in a story spanning 1993-2023. Laid out in lush and provocative minimalist instrumentals, the album unfolds a story about the planning, partial construction, and dissolution of a home in constant state of becoming through the lens of its only child, coming of age under flux. Influenced by the approach of friends and collaborators Straw Man Army's OST to Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle, Stone Upon Stone was originally intended as a soundtrack to a novel of the same name by Wieslaw Mysliwski, an epic set in Poland about a family's construction of a mausoleum. Struck by the story's parallels with his own family's project, he got the idea to complete the work as a personal narrative. Created from layers of different mellotron voices then separated, re-amplified, and recorded as if they were a sitting chamber orchestra, the music eerily blurs the line between human and synthetic, giving way to something akin to a memory with it's blurriness of fact and fiction. In the same spirit of association, this record is certainly influenced by other minimalists working within the confines of "soundtrack", like Philip Glass' North Star and the film work of Michael Nyman. But Brown's soundtrack works within its own peculiar depth of field, living in the listener's imagination, thriving in its own sense of loneliness, aspiration, and confusion that only childhood can evoke. Listeners will feel the entropy of aging in Stone Upon Stone, like a memoir in cascading tones, that sets it apart from so much else in DIY music, and rewards with repeated listens. For Fans of Philip Glass, Kali Malone, Julius Eastman, Mica Levi, Roedelius.

Friends since the age of six, most of the album was written and recorded by the pair when they were nineteen. The songs possess all the singular magic of a duo writing and playing together while sounding like a full, sonically charged band. Their debut E.P. track 'Two Monkeys', included here, has a level of shoegazey dirt that will leave many distortion freaks reeling. `Every Word Said' is prog-pop perfection. The title track is as moody as anything by Flying Saucer Attack. 'Another One Making Clouds' evolves over 35 minutes and doesn't stop elevating and surprising. A founding notion of our label was to release recordings made as the musicians' first intended. No `notes' and no re-recording with a `proper' producer in a `real' studio. A noble preference we saw labels like Rough Trade pursuing with The Strokes, The Smiths, The Fall et al.This album is a proud example. And captures something you can't fake. A young band finding an epic, emotional, cinematic sound in their bedroom. Using it in that peculiarly British way to express the wonder, confusion and heartache of being nineteen. Of wanting to be seen and not seen. It's a kind of British `soul' music with ancestors like The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Jesus & Mary Chain and the original shoegaze bands. Progressive guitar music, channeling deep emotion, a desire to hear something that sounds like how you feel inside. The stuff nobody talks about. Everything Else.

Friends since the age of six, most of the album was written and recorded by the pair when they were nineteen. The songs possess all the singular magic of a duo writing and playing together while sounding like a full, sonically charged band. Their debut E.P. track 'Two Monkeys', included here, has a level of shoegazey dirt that will leave many distortion freaks reeling. `Every Word Said' is prog-pop perfection. The title track is as moody as anything by Flying Saucer Attack. 'Another One Making Clouds' evolves over 35 minutes and doesn't stop elevating and surprising. A founding notion of our label was to release recordings made as the musicians' first intended. No `notes' and no re-recording with a `proper' producer in a `real' studio. A noble preference we saw labels like Rough Trade pursuing with The Strokes, The Smiths, The Fall et al.This album is a proud example. And captures something you can't fake. A young band finding an epic, emotional, cinematic sound in their bedroom. Using it in that peculiarly British way to express the wonder, confusion and heartache of being nineteen. Of wanting to be seen and not seen. It's a kind of British `soul' music with ancestors like The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Jesus & Mary Chain and the original shoegaze bands. Progressive guitar music, channeling deep emotion, a desire to hear something that sounds like how you feel inside. The stuff nobody talks about. Everything Else.

Active between 1970 and 1976, the Bolton Iron Maiden (originally known as Birth and then Iron Maiden) was a psychedelic hard-rock band formed in Bolton by Ian Boulton-Smith (Beak) on lead guitar, Derek George Austin on bass and Paul TJ O’Neill on drums / vocals.
Influenced by contemporaries like LED ZEPPELIN, CREAM, FREE, GROUNDHOGS OR ANDROMEDA, their music blended blues, hard rock, and progressive elements.
They soon built a strong reputation supporting acts such as UFO, Bedlam (with Cozy Powell), CARAVAN, THIN LIZZY... In 1976, the band disbanded following the death of guitarist Ian Boulton-Smith from cancer.
In 2005, Paul O’Neill revived interest in BIM by releasing two albums, “Maiden Flight” and “Boulton Rides Again”,which compiled studio and live recordings. The proceeds from these albums were donated to Cancer Research and Macmillan Cancer Support. With the blessing of the more famous
Iron Maiden and their manager Rod Smallwood, the band adopted the name “The Bolton Iron Maiden” to avoid confusion.
For the first time on vinyl, “Maiden Flight” collects their previously unreleased studio recordings from 1972 plus raw as f*ck live tracks circa 1975.
*Insert with detailed liner notes and rare photos / memorabilia / *Download card with extra (live) bonus tracks

"Chasing the funky symphonies that filled my head and my dreams..."

December 25th, 2023 - an Instagram post. Stimulator Jones shared half a dozen FIRE tracks from his beat tape archive. We were immediately drawn to the rough hewn boom bap.

"I'd release that", Rob commented.

Hours of material was shared and the result is this: Cool Green Trees (1999-2005). A collection of beats and loops Stimulator Jones created between the ages of 14-20 at home in his basement, bedroom and computer room in Roanoke, Virginia.

You will not believe the profound soulful genius contained within these naive schoolboy melodies.

December 25th, 1998 - 25 years ago to the day and his much-coveted Yamaha SU10 sampler was finally bestowed upon young Stimmy AKA Sam Lunsford: "I immediately hooked up a CD Walkman to the input jack and looped the beginning two bars of Grover Washington Jr.'s "Mercy Mercy Me". I don't know what exactly was so thrilling about hearing two measures of music repeating over and over but it was so infectious and hypnotizing and enthralling to me. I'll never forget that ecstatic rush of making my first loop - an uncontrollable, gleeful smile plastered all over my face." When you hear the pocket breakbeat symphonies featured here on Cool Green Trees, you'll feel the same sense of frisson.

In the wake of his Stones Throw breakthrough - Exotic Worlds & Master Treasures - Stimulator Jones was pegged by many as a 90s throwback artist. However, he literally IS a 90s artist. He's been recording music most of his life and he's now 40. He created the bulk of Cool Green Trees as a teenager. Everything before 2004 was recorded when Sam was still in school. He was in 8th grade when he made the 1999 tracks - he didn't even have his learner's permit. This album is a snapshot of a young man in a simpler time. Things were still mysterious back then and he was flying blind, relying on his ears and having to figure things out for himself: "I had no road map for becoming a beatmaker. I have been collecting music since I was a kid, I am a lifelong digger and seeker of cool and interesting sounds. I was there in the golden age of Hip Hop, and while I may have been a suburban white kid in Roanoke, Virginia, I was tuned in and I bought so many classic albums when they came out. I was attracted to Hip Hop because of the musical and poetic quality. I was hypnotized by the rhythms, partially because I was a drummer. I didn't brag about collecting my breakbeat records or making beats - it was something I did in isolation. It wasn't something I generally wanted to bring attention to and it didn't really score me any cool points. I certainly wasn't flexing on social media about it."

Hell, he can do that now!

Opener "Pharoah Jones" was inspired by Yesterday's New Quintet and Madlib's ability to capture that classic 70s sound whilst playing all the instruments. Sam created this one stoned afternoon by laying down a 2 bar loop and a shaker loop on his Yamaha SU700 sampler. He hung a microphone from the ceiling and played his Yamaha Stage Custom drum kit over the top before adding ender Rhodes and playing his dad's Selmer tenor sax through an Electro Harmonix Memory Man echo pedal. Yes! Up next, "Ghost Gospel" utilises a dope loop from a gospel record and adds some soul-funk drums overtop, whilst working that filter knob. Says Sam: "The loop reminded me of something Ghostface would rap over. The sample was in 3/4 waltz time but I flipped it for a 4/4 groove, a technique I picked up from RZA. "Ill Feeling" uses sped-up pieces from a dusty old funk record and putting them over a classic NOLA drum loop; gain chopping up a slow, bluesy 3/4 time signature and bending it to a 4/4 groove. Classy shit. "Capital Punishment" features drums tapped in live, inspired by MF Doom's Special Herbs series. "Do Not Adjust" consists loops found on a compilation of 70s French music at Happy's Flea Market, a classic Roanoke digging spot.

The sublime, evocative title track, "Cool Green Trees" was created when Sam was still living at home. He dumped samples off his SU10 into the family desktop and arranged them in a demo version of Pro Tools: "This track was sort of my ode to the DJ Shadow style of sample based production. Super spacey, slow, and moody. The heavily filtered drums were inspired by Alec Empire's 'Low on Ice' album. I later added some scratches and sounds from a Spider Man storybook record." "Chill Scratch" snags the final bit of a bossanova record and pairs it with a drum loop before adding experimental scratching run through an Electro Harmonix Memory Man echo pedal. "Poisonous Fumes" was made using a sampler, mixer and a turntable; a kind of mixtape beat collage with added scratches and sounds from various records. Using dialogue from superhero records was a nod to Madlib. "Welcome Aboard The Starship" is dark, downtempo trip-hop with a spooky bent. Sam paired a slow, hard drum loop with a guitar sample grabbed off a psychedelic rock record. To finish, he added various backwards sounds and weird atmospheric effects and a little scratching. Swoon.

Side B opens with "Keep On Runnin", made on a borrowed Roland SP202 sampler. Having always loved the sound of the Lo-Fi filter on those machines, reminiscent of the Emu SP1200, Sam always imagined Del or another of the Hieroglyphics crew rapping over this beat. You can certainly hear why. "Sounds Impossible" sees Sam experimenting with layering multiple kick samples at different volumes to create patterns similar to those heard by Showbiz and Lord Finesse during their God-level 1995 period. "Painted Faces" was made by chopping up a REDACTED record which he had gotten from Happy's Flea Market and paired it with a REDACTED drum loop. By the time Sam recorded "The Knew Style", he had acquired a shitty old 1960s portable turntable off eBay. It didn't function properly when he bought it but his brother opened it up, cleaned it out and got it working: "I remember he told me that there was a bunch of sand inside of it when he opened it up, as if its previous owner had taken it to the beach. I would take that turntable on my Happy's Flea Market digs so I could preview records...that's how I found this loop."

"Chicken Wing Blues Sauce" loops up a classic blues joint and pairs it with some REDACTED drums. A bit of filtering and arranging et voilà! "Kool Breeze", from 1999, is one of Sam's oldest surviving beats, as is "Sexx Bullets". The Roots sampled the same record, leaving Sam frustrated yet vindicated. "Soul Child" was an early SU10 creation, looping a dusty old Soul Children 45 and pairing it with 70s rock drum loops to great effect. "Take Off Runnin" was another loop found digging with a portable turntable. Paired with some boom bap drums it makes for a hypnotic head-nod groove. "Centurian" was intended to be a little beat interlude a la Pete Rock. The sample is from a sun-dappled soft-psych record and it's paired with a Robin Trower drum loop that just happens to fit perfectly. Sometimes you slap things together kind of haphazardly and magic happens. "Bozack" was the first beat Sam made using Pro Tools, his first foray into using chopped sounds instead of loops, an exciting new world. "Church" is beat interlude using a Phil Upchurch loop with the "Long Red" drums - a favourite break of Dilla et al. Sam was really on a tear in late 2004, probably because he was unemployed and phoneless and able to just make beats all day. He made "Splash One" on a borrowed Yamaha SU700 and again was experimenting with tapping the drums in live with his fingers, instead of using a loop or sequenced pattern. Channeling 9th Wonder, Sam used a water splash sound effect from a Batman record as a percussive element, hence the title (also a 13th Floor Elevators reference). The main loop is a backwards portion of one of his favourite Roy Ayers songs.

"Hank" is another fun little beat interlude thing, created on a borrowed Roland SP202 sampler with the fantastic Lo-Fi effect that resembled the Emu SP1200 at a fraction of the price. "73 goatee", from 99, is another of his oldest surviving beats, created in his bedroom with his Yamaha SU10 and his brother's Vestax MR-300 4-track recorder: "This one will always feel special. I can remember having a feeling all the way back then on the night that I created it that this was a solid beat with a catchy loop. There was something in the Fender Rhodes melody that resonated with me emotionally, and I had never heard a producer sample that portion before. I felt like I had found my own unique sound, my own unique loop. It came from an Ahmad Jamal '73. I actually even recorded myself rapping and scratching over this beat way back then, I still have that version in all its imperfect sloppy glory."

Sam explains just how much these tracks mean to him: "They all have immense historical and sentimental value and I'm proud of them. These beats come from an innocent, simple time when I was just figuring out how to craft these sounds. They're something very personal to me. They are the initial part of a journey that I really was taking *alone*. There was no YouTube. I couldn't Google shit. I didn't even know any other beatmakers, producers or DJs in my town that could teach me anything. It was always just me, alone, in a room with some equipment - chasing the funky symphonies that filled my head and my dreams. What I was doing wasn't cool. Most of my peers thought I was a weirdo and couldn't care less. Creating these sounds was an anti-social endeavour. In a sense, I felt like it was me against the world, and all I had to instruct and assist me were the recordings produced by my heroes - RZA, DJ Premier, Erick Sermon, Beatminerz, Showbiz, Diamond D, Beatnuts, Prince Paul, The Bomb Squad, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, E-Swift, Mista Lawnge, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Peanut Butter Wolf, El-P and so many more...I dedicate this collection to them, and to my older brother Joe who has always been a musical and technical guiding light for me.

This was a time before every kid was a self-described producer and beatmaker, before everyone had a DAW, before Kanye and "chipmunk soul", before Red Bull beat battles, before there was any social media beyond chat rooms and AOL Instant Messenger, before Soundcloud, before SP-404 mania, before lo-fi beats to study to, before Splice, before targeted ads for MIDI chord packs, etc. In 99 when I told people that I had a sampler and made beats I was mostly met with bewildered confusion and indifference. Kids and adults alike would wonder why I got this weird machine for Christmas instead of something worthwhile like a Playstation or a mountain bike or even a guitar for that matter because at least that could be used to make "real music". Back then, sampling was still not widely respected as an art form - it was seen as lazy, talentless and unoriginal at best and outright criminal theft at worst. I had gotten respect for playing drums and guitar and things of that nature but this was a step in the wrong direction in the eyes of many."

The cover photo is a picture of Sam standing on his back porch in the latter part of 1998, just before he got his first sampler. He was 13 years old, in 8th grade. His dad took the picture with his 35mm film camera: "I actually wanted to be pointing my dad's .22 pistol at the camera lens but he wouldn't let me. He gave me an old walking cane to use instead. The Tommy Hilfiger puffer jacket came from the lost and found at William Fleming High School where my mom worked as a secretary. I was thrilled when she brought it home because we never spent money on expensive name brand clothing like that - we were for the most part strictly a sale rack, bargain bin, thrift store, yard sale, flea market kind of family when it came to clothes. My watch is some cheap off-brand fake gold department store watch." Mastering for this vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry.

Editions Mego reissue the 2001 release Asuma by Finnish artist Ilpo Väisänen. Originally released on CD this is the first ever vinyl issue, remastered by Rashad Becker. 2001 is a landmark year for the artist following a wave of success from the notable outfit Väisänen formed alongside Mika Vanio, Pan Sonic (as they were now known then). Following a string of highly acclaimed and influential releases such as “Vakio”, “Kulma”, “A’ and “Aaltopiiri” Pan Sonic had toured the globe extensively leaving a trail of blown expectations and rumours of all manner of objects in venues cracking or falling apart due to the immense sound the duo concocted with their unique instruments.

Taking a break from the ecstatic cacophony of Pan Sonic, Väisänen retreated to work on a solo release which conjured the spirits of the former outfit whilst simultaneously carving out a more personal take on these new electronic forms.

Asuma is a precise study of drones, rhythms, clicks, ambience and gentle confusion. Whilst inhabiting a zone of abstraction the results also move in a natural field as Väisänen’s native Finland permeates these recordings as much as the idea of experimentation itself.

Autioitu 1 opens the album as delicate pinball rhythms bounce across the spectrum as a hairy drone hovers underneath. The mood is both intriguing and unsettling. Tukahduttaja is a delightfully disorientating sound sculpture that is hard to pinpoint what it actually is. Klikki is comparable to a microscopic version of Pink Floyd’s “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict”. Asumaton is a foreboding miniature acting like a segway to Vallitseva which embraces the icy clicks that punctuates much of the Pan Sonic output. Arvioimaton Ongelma is an audio riddle whilst Jaettu jitters around a dancefloor crawl. Autioitu closes proceedings as a gentle ambient thumper. Asuma is awash with contradiction and mystery. This is time wrapped in twisted turns and rewards a neat payoff for those interested in the absolute fringes of electronic ‘dance’ music.

Yû enters high school hoping to finally discover love. But nothing happens, even when a boy makes a declaration...

She then meets Tôko, the perfect girl of the high school, in charge of the Students' Office and who seems to be like her because she rejects all her suitors.

Michiru OSHIMA is a prolific composer, arranger, conductor and lyricist, she started her career in background music for NHK (Japanese television) and movies. Her career is punctuated with participations and arrangements for major video games such as Ico (Playstation) or The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo). But it is in animation that she writes her most emblematic compositions. She is at the origin of the music of the famous series Full Metal Alchemist, of 2 parts of Star Wars: Visions (The Elder, The Twins) among others.

With "Bloom into you", she signs a dreamlike ode that beautifully accompanies the two students in their quest for themselves

Shell Company & Older Brother tap into the Mancunian continuum to deliver heavy sounds for heavy times on 'Shards', their debut release on Numbers.

Born from voice notes sent between Manchester, London and Lisbon, the release took shape remotely before being recorded inside Manchester’s The White Hotel, then refined in the sonic labs of Numbers and La Chunky in Glasgow.

Set across one night, 'Shards' is the fragments of the never ending process of breakdown and placing pieces back together. Along four tracks, the voices of Shell Company (Rosabella Allen) and Older Brother begin far apart, then argue, reflect and collide, trying to find the ground they stand on, with the music laid by brothers Rob and Chris Banks. The two voices work both together and against each other, rendering images that could only exist in limbo: running taps, cans on the floor, and crumbling walls.

Shell Company & Older Brother say of the release —

“Shards is a scream that sings softly. A record that shifts between confusion and sense, hopelessness and hope. Despite moments of intense and perfect connection, the shards rarely fit. Shards is a record not about giving up, but giving in. A recording of the victory that comes from surrendering to float, all because 'it will all make sense one day'. Shards is about love that begins and ends with broken pieces."

Welcome to this wild ride of cheese, wooden shoes, green gold and a whole lotta Dutch rock 'n roll attitude! This album is a high-octane compilation where today's garage, beat and rock'n'roll artists pay tribute to the rich history of Nederbeat and pop Each covering a classic Dutch tune with their own twist, companied with their own original. Think of it as a musical time machine with a detour through the gritty, reverbing walls of Studio Teepdek, guided under strict supervision by studio guru Arjan Spies and released by Soundflat Records / Topsy Turvy Records; home of the best contemporary Dutch artists. Buckle up, because you're about to hear the Netherlands' musical past and present collide in a glorious explosion of sound with a shot of cheap adrenaline.Enjoy the ride and to turn it up to 11.

The Krontjong Devils:The Greatest thing to come out of Holland since the Dutch Treat! Playing Surfmusic since 1991 and still going strong! Mooon: This young power trio consists of brothers Tom and Gijs and their cousin Timo. These cats take you to the Golden Age of pop music: the psychedelic boom of the 60's and 70's. The Kryng:Three jinxed no-good guys with an insatiable appetite for great popsongs. Their ace in the hole is singer/ guitarist/ cult- hero Mark ten Hoor, an extraordinary craftsman //when it comes to writing catchy and powerful songs. Fleur:She has the looks, the moves and a voice that sounds like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. The Heck:High pace, hectic, energetic and wild 60's garagepunk outfit all the way from Klazinaveen. Feel free to place them somewhere in between The Sonics and Reigning Sound. Frankie:The young and aspiring talent Frankie from the Eindhoven writes double edged songs like a head in the clouds and roots from your feet. Written like a dream but grounded in reality. Les Robots: Mechanical men from outer space, stationed in Rotterdam, presumably programmed by legendary producer Joe Meek to make astonishing instrumental music.

Over and through the hot cement of North East L.A., an almost-dry riverbed winds like a snake through the city. Coyotes lap at its trickling stream by moonlight, as pedestrians rush past it by day without a second glance, their thoughts tangled up in the distractions of life in a sprawling metropolis. Here, amongst the many avenues and gentle hills, we find Coffin Prick (alias: Ryan Weinstein).

Loose Enchantment, this latest Coffin Prick record, is music conceived of in a different frame of mind for humans living in a world nearly-disenchanted with itself. The album consists of eleven new pieces of music recorded by Coffin Prick himself at his home in Los Angeles, a great city of quicksand-like commitments and those who love them enough to uphold the ends of their collective bargains. A record as much about the confusion of modern life as it is endeavored to expose the lusts in the very loins of creation. Sounds enchanting enough for you? Let’s look a little more closely…

On the heels of 2023’s Laughing (Sophomore Lounge), Coffin Prick got busy. And fast. Playing shows into the year with a newly minted live band, while simultaneously working day and night in his home studio laying the ground for what would become Loose Enchantment. Whereas he was essentially a recording know-nothing at the inception of his last LP, he’d learned a thing or two about better capturing his ideas by this point, taking the sidesteps and victories born of the experience Laughing provided and turning the bright lights on them. As many of Los Angeles’s drivers choose to do, it was time to take some surface roads. Odes to self-delusion, the mysteries of creation, cleanliness, and the secrets in other people’s lives.

A little Loose Enchantment for everyone, basically.

Trash Mountain, Lily Seabird’s new LP out April 04, 2025, via Lame-O Records, is her most searching and immediate effort to date. Over nine delicate but sturdy tracks of intimate folk rock, she pares her songwriting down to its most resonant essen- tials.

There’s not a second wasted as she sings
of loss, growing up, and finding your center when things get overwhelming. It’s an album of unwel- come exits and uncertain futures, but there’s resil- iency and hope at its core. Recorded with producer Kevin Copeland (Hannah Frances, Lightning Bug, Allegra Krieger), it’s a testament to finding joy and connection in life’s chaos and confusion.

On their debut album Seven Dances to Embrace the Hollow, Zurich-based artists Magda Drozd and Nicola Genovese, as Sopraterra, offer exactly what’s announced: seven compositions which, as they unhurriedly flow into each other, mark potential entry points to discover what might be lying underneath. By choosing Sopraterra, which translates to “above the earth” in Italian, as their shared project’s name, Drozd and Genovese indicate their own position in this archeological-looking endeavor, hinting at the potential for sonic explorations to produce deeply submerged discoveries.
Sopraterra’s object of inquiry isn’t easily grasped, traversing histories and blending influences alike. In a time-line-bending manner, musical signifiers from the past, along with specific tonal scales lifted from baroque and medieval music, get digitally synthesized. As sonic matter, the result is distinctly of today: a collection of electro-acoustic compositions that remain experimental at their core, referencing genres like post-rock, shoegaze, or psychedelic, while evoking aural memories of ancient times. Seven Dances to Embrace the Hollow pulls backward and pushes forward alike. Without ever forcing a didactic listening experience, musical motifs and archetypes are thoroughly investigated. But there is no scientific ambition at play here. Rather, the harmonies of late medieval Ars Nova or the transcendent elegance of Baroque chamber music lend their emotional qualities to perceived ideas of old times.
Oscillating between ambient and drone, the album’s seven brooding compositions bring primal connections to a universally shared past to the surface. In its multi-directional positioning, Seven Dances to Embrace the Hollow makes the case for embracing the confusion of warped time and paying attention to all that’s rather felt than seen.

(10x12" box set, limited to 1000 copies, with premium finishing, uniquely numbered, incl. 10 records in individually printed sleeves, a booklet detailing the club's history & exclusive stickers) Boccaccio has secured its place among legendary venueslike Paradise Garage in New York and The Hacçinda in Manchester. Its bold fusion of emerging electronic genres such as New Beat, Acid, House, and Techno was way ahead of its time, drawing music lovers and clubbers from across Belgium and beyond.



Belgian label Music Man Records presents Boccaccio Life 1987-1993, a new compilation offering a fresh perspective on the legacy of the iconic Belgian club Boccaccio - often associated with the short-lived New Beat movement. The 40-track compilation highlights the raw and futuristic early house and techno sounds that were heard in the pioneering club.

Located in rural Destelbergen (Belgium), just a stone's throw from Ghent, Boccaccio has secured its place among legendary venues like Paradise Garage in New York and The Hacçinda in Manchester. Its bold fusion of emerging electronic genres such as New Beat, Acid, House, and Techno was way ahead of its time, drawing music lovers and clubbers from across Belgium and beyond. Sundays at Boccaccio were unlike anywhere else-offering sounds you couldn't hear anywhere else.

Boccaccio Life 1987-1993 is carefully curated by resident DJ Olivier Pieters and club regular Stefaan Vandenberghe, standing as the ultimate testament to a club that was more than just a venue. For those who experienced it, it was a community - a way of life. Hence the club's full name: Boccaccio Life.

This compilation stands as a testament to an innovative time in electronic music, capturing the raw, futuristic sounds of early house and techno. It sheds light on another side of Boccaccio, one that goes far beyond the short-lived New Beat scene. A carefully curated selection of 40 tracks, resonating with those who were there by offering familiar classics, while also reaching a new generation-those who never experienced it firsthand.

With tracks from Blake Baxter, Virgo, Frankie Knuckles, Tyree, and A Guy Called Gerald, the unmistakable influence of black American pioneers is clear-the originators of the firstanalog house and techno sounds. On the other hand, UK sound innovators such as The Orb and LFO bring both sharp textures and rough breakbeats to the table.

Club staple tracks include dreamy excursions from Roger Sanchez under his Egotrip moniker, the relentless basement house of Circus Bells by Robert Armani on Dance Mania, an uplifting take on a hip-house cut from The D.O.C. (Portrait of A Masterpiece in the CJ Ed-Did-It Mix), a timeless remix of UK Formation's Age of Chance from 1994, and an alternate take on The Tape by Boccaccio club regular and Belgian producer Frank De Wulf, taken from his B-Sides project.

While not always the obvious hits, these tracks have gracefully withstood the test of time, and were exclusive to Sundays at Boccaccio. Now, they are finally available to experience together in one collection, offering a timeless snapshot of a unique era.

Second and final volume of the vinyl pressing of this legendary tape released in 1993 in Colombia, documenting Ultra Metal, the country's early extreme Metal scene. Second volume completing the vinyl release vinyl release of The Colombian Awakening tape, released in 1993 by Schizophrenia Records, a comprehensive collection of face melting, raw recordings from the early Colombian extreme Metal scene, known as Ultra Metal,with styles ranging from Death Metal to Thrash and Grindcore. A savage and powerful document of one of the most intense underground scenes of the era, kickstarted by the infamous Parabellum. A must for fans of underground Metal! Includes remastered audio, new cover and a foldout inner sleeve with extensive liner notes. Limited edition of 300 copies.

Motown producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield assembled The Undisputed Truth to further explore the psychedelic soul he had been developing with the Temptations on songs like ‘Cloud Nine’ and ‘Psychedelic Shack’.

Joe Harris, Billie Calvin and Brenda Evans were assembled as the vocal front-line and their first single was ‘Save My Love For A Rainy Day’/’Since I’ve Lost You’ that was released on Gordy in February 1971 and got to #43 on the R&B Chart.

It was followed by ‘Smiling Faces Sometimes’/’You Got The Love I Need’ that was a massive hit single getting to #2 R&B and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their debut album The Undisputed Truth followed and not only contained all four tracks issued on 7” but an almost interstellar version of ‘Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today)’, ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ as well as a very soulful prowl through Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’. Tracks like ‘California Soul’ and ‘Aquarius’ also ticked the psychedelic soul box. All told it was a fantastic debut and sold strongly.

Amazingly this fantastic album has not been repressed since 1972. Thus Ace are delighted to put it back into the record racks pressed on 180gm black vinyl.

In early 2025 the Skids complete BBC Sessions are compiled onto CD by Scottish label Last Night From Glasgow - The double album features the five sessions the Skids recorded for John Peel with the BBC between 1978 and 1980 - The release includes the BBC session recordings of fan favourites The Saints Are Coming, Masquerade and Circus Games - The legendary Scottish punk band remain as influential as ever, even 45 years on. Legendary punk and new wave band Skids formed in Dunfermline in 1977. They rose to fame with 1979 single Into The Valley and 1980 album The Absolute Game. With almost 50 years under their belt the group, led by Richard Jobson, remain as thrilling as ever, as evident with their latest album Destination Dusseldorf in 2023. The Skids continue to boast over 80,000 monthly Spotify listeners and have been featured extensively across media and press throughout their career. In recent years they have partnered with label Last Night From Glasgow to reissue on vinyl albums Scared To Dance and Days In Europa, and release new album Destination Dusseldorf.

China Crisis BBC Sessions have been compiled onto vinyl by Scottish label Last Night From Glasgow, released in early 2025. The release features the band's two John Peel sessions recorded with the BBC in March 1982 and January 1983, now remastered and available on vinyl and CD. The album includes the BBC session recording of hit single Wishful Thinking. The Complete Sessions follows on from recent album China Greatness released in May 2024, a collection of the band's best tracks now newly arranged and mixed. China Crisis remain one of the UK's most beloved pop bands. Formed in Merseyside in 1979, the core duo of Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon remains unchanged 45 years on. They rose to fame in the early 80s with chart success single Christian and single Wishful Thinking, album Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms reached No.21 in the UK album charts in 1982. China Crisis continue to tour extensively and boast over 325,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

Black Eyed Sons - A New Rock 'n' Roll Collective - Members of The Quireboys and Down n' Outz are joined by an amazing collection of fellow musicians for a joyous collaboration of mutual admiration and musical celebration. Enjoy the debut album 'Cowboys In Pinstriped Suits" released via Off Yer Rocka recordings 31st January 2025. Since the band announced they were working on their highly anticipated new album, "The Band Rolls On", what was already becoming a chance for a musical rebirth metamorphosized into something far bigger and more ambitious. The final cuts feature distinguished collaborations from a multitude of Rock Royalty.

The band, their management and close friends within the industry all agreed that this should be treated as a stand-alone new project, a Rock 'n' Roll Collective going under the name "Black Eyed Sons", a nod to a previous album from their extensive back catalogue. The revised album title, "Cowboys in Pinstriped Suits” is named after one of the eleven tracks and features none other than Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott alongside Alice Cooper guitarist Ryan Roxie and bass grooves from Chip Z’Nuff. Guy Griffin commented "It's been nice to take a break and focus on the writing. Working with our own band as well as so many friends within the industry has done nothing but inspire us to write and create this exciting new project. We've done the hard work getting the tracks laid down, we're now looking forward to going back out on the road as Black Eyed Sons and delivering something entirely new from five musicians who've been playing together for over twenty years. Relationships break down sometimes, that’s Rock 'n' Roll, everyone does their thing, but we want to make sure there's no confusion as to what this is. Whilst we're proud of our musical history, that was then, this is now. It's onwards and upwards, so let the music do the talking. Joe Elliott added, "Having worked with these guys since 2009 in the greatest “other” band I could ever hope to work with, The Down ’n’ Outz, it just felt totally natural for me to reciprocate the love these guys have shown me by contributing to what is essentially a new beginning for them. So welcome to the mad world of Rock ’n’ Roll, you Black Eyed Sons." - Joe Elliott (Cowboys in Pinstriped Suits). Other collaborators had this to say: “This song feels so real and natural. Like a hug from an old friend. I’m proud to be a part of it.” - Charlie Starr (Autumn Reigns) - ‘’My friendship with the Quireboys started a long time ago and each time our paths have crossed, the bond has grown stronger. Therefore, I would lie if I didn’t say that in the back of my mind there always was a wish to do something together. So, I am more than thrilled when I was invited to sing on the Black Eyed Sons new album and that they also gave me a song where I could be who I am’’ ⁃ Mike Tramp (Your True Colours) - “I go back 30 years with these guys. A band that I’ve always loved and respected. To be asked to be part of this project was a great thrill, and proud moment as a guitarist.” - Scotti Hill (Dig Me out of this Hole) - “I’ve known Griff since the beginning of our respective careers…we are both from the old school baby, and Griff has always been the embodiment of rock n’ roll - genuine, classy, trashy, and an attitude that exemplifies what it is to be a rock n’ roll troubadour“ ⁃ Ryan Roxie (Cowboys in Pinstriped Suits/Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory) - “Since you graced us with your presence on the Wolves’ debut album, it’s only fair we should be a part of your debut as Black Eyed Sons. All the best!” - Kyf Brewer / Company Of Wolves (Foolin’ Yourself) - “Not only was it a pleasure to play guitar & sing on this record but it was also an honour to have Griff & the band record one of our songs! - Steve Conte / Company Of Wolves/Michael Monroe/NY Dolls (Foolin’ Yourself) - Band: Guy Griffin (lead vocals/guitar); Paul Guerin (guitar); Keith Weir (keyboards); Nick Mailing (bass); Pip Mailing (drums)

The combination of their musicianship and the cutting-edge technology at the studio resulted in a masterpiece of pure, state-of-the-art funk and boogie. The album features all the hallmarks of great 80s music: fresh synths, drum machines, and powerful lead vocals from John Davis. Upbeat tracks like "The Cat (Puma)" and the title track sit comfortably alongside more soulful songs like "Tears" and "Hearts of Gold," while "Dancing Shoes" remains one of the era's catchiest dance tracks.

Still, Shake It - Make It Loose holds a few mysteries. Why was it released under the unusual name J.D. (Puma) Lewis? And what's the story behind tracks like "The Cat"? While J.D. Lewis stood for John Davis Lewis's full legal name, Hudson sheds light on the "Puma" connection: "At the time, I was working as a promotions manager for Puma sportswear. Jörg Dassler, son of Puma founder Rudolf Dassler, was a friend of mine and financed our studio sessions." As said, these sessions took place at Hartmann Digital, a state-of-the-art studio in Untertrubach, Bavaria, where iconic artists like Nena, Yello, Visage, DAF, and Soft Cell recorded.

The use of such an expensive studio would have been out of reach for the two musicians without Puma's backing, which also explains why there is a title like "Dancing Shoes." When we had licensed the track for the Boogie On The Mainline compilation in 2018, we had the chance to speak with John Davis (who sadly passed away in May 2021 due to COVID-19). Davis revealed that there were plans to make a video for the song in collaboration with Puma, but those plans fell through. In the end, the album was signed to the Deggendorf-based Metrovynil label.

Interestingly, the original contract reveals that the first version of the album only contained six tracks. Metrovynil added two more: "Sexy Highschool Lady," a track Davis recorded solo, and "Party Rap" by The Dynamite Two, which had no connection to Davis or Hudson at all. The album's credits also list a "Fred Fiore" as the person "who made all of this possible." Hudson, who sees himself as the producer, has no idea who Fiore was - likely another fabrication from the label. "That's just the kind of thing Metrovynil did," Hudson comments with some regret.

Despite the behind-the-scenes confusion, the music spoke for itself. The original pressing looked and sounded fantastic, featuring a stylish cover shot of John Davis in a sharp suit. Now, with this first-ever vinyl reissue, we're thrilled to include additional photos and more background information in a deluxe gatefold sleeve.

This reissue includes all six tracks from the original Hartmann Digital sessions, plus two bonus tracks. From the original reel tapes, we unearthed additional material that Hudson and Davis produced together in the early to mid-80s. We're excited to share the previously unreleased tracks "Life's A Party," and "Walk Out On Me." The digital version of the reissue will also feature two more songs: "Red Drops" and "Pick It Up Off The Ground."

Shake It - Make It Loose is a classic boogie-funk album that belongs in every serious funk and disco collection. It showcases the undeniable talent of two true musicians and stands as a testament to the friendship between Reg Hudson and John Davis.

While 1995's Washing Machine LP moniker was a thinly-veiled jab at the corporate aesthetic ("no, you cannot turn Sonic Youth into a household appliance brand", the band even considered changing its name to Washing Machine but settled on the album title instead), their major label relationship was indeed a curious buzzpoint of talk on the street after their intake to DGC in 1990. It wouldn't be fair to say that this state of existence propelled the band to reinforce its independent mindset by releasing a series of opaque-looking, French-language-dipping, highbrow-looking releases on their own that focused on the more abstract improv/compositional side of the band; in all truths they had been heavily steeped in self-releasing spillover material prior to that. But after a pressure pot of the early 90's indoctrination into a new operational mode for the band and its visibility, and the forces around it attempting to shape their direction, it seemed like a good time to create a strong show of radical concept.

The Anagrama EP became the first in a series of the SYR label's Perspective Musicales releases seemingly cementing Sonic Youth's connectivity to an increasing public awareness in experimental composers of the 20th century (French or otherwise). The irony was that many of those original avant composers being rediscovered by the indie audience (Partch, Neuhaus, Reich, Messaien) often found themselves on major labels anyway! So, perhaps this reverse approach was a necessary concept/comment given the music biz climate of the 90's. Regardless of how apples and oranges fell in Xenakian probability/theory, it was clear that both Sonic Youth's stature in progressive music, aided by now unlimited taperoll time thanks to a home base studio downtown established after their Lollapalooza stint, gave the band plenty of trailblazing time for their self examination of untraveled avenues.

"Anagrama" unfolds into nine minutes of delicate textures, starting with thick drone segueing into moments reminiscent of the post-crescendo flutter/comedown of "Marquee Moon's" trail-out; Thurston, Lee and Kim's guitars all circling round each other taking delicate pokes and stabs before drifting into some post-rock rhythmic moves tapered with delicate percussive guidance from Steve Shelley. "Improvisation Ajoutée" reaches further out into dissolve with whirring oscillations, guitars hissing and clanking radiator-style in a short blast format that continues into "Tremens" and a spooked-out landscape of gelatinous notes snaking up slowly. The sparseness of attack is colorful, textures emit and linger, silent spots shine, all flanked by tasteful drumming that provides the thread to all the abstraction. Shelley's approach here is interestingly sideways to any kind of usual rock action, it's tempered, mutant and metronomic simultaneously. The finale track "Mieux: De Corrosion" is a real pedal-palatte showcase. Here, Plutonian guitar wash flanges upwards to buoy a myriad of colorful eruptions of amp-spuzz, chopped up tone blasts and general confusion. Out of the blue, some metallic one-note choogle kicks in and threatens to explode into some Judas Priestly motion, before it all sputters into aural glass showers, clang, and finally a ferocious wave of more flange hiss that crashes down on a dime.

This initial foray into SY's Perspectives Musicales series continued onward with releases featuring other co-conspirators, peaking with the ambitious 2CD Goodbye 20th Century that finally connects the band into full-on interpretations of other composers' pieces (as well as displaying their own new ones). The whole series is not so much an outlet for another "side" of the band, but a run that went hand in hand building new approaches of songcraft onto their own, more overground direction which included Jim O'Rourke (who hopped on during SYR3), adding additional density to A Thousand Leaves and other LPs of his era. Fans of the '86 Spinhead Sessions as well as the recently-exhumed later jams of In/Out/In will take in the sounds of SYR1 with glee.