Suche:from the land

Finally the two main protagonists of the current live electronic movement and founders of our fair label Carl Cox and Christopher Coe have stepped up to the plate with this truly innovative and uncompromisingly live collection of techno tunes that defy categorization and are certain to land us fair and square on the dancefloors of the underground clubs of the world!

What can we say.. This EP just bangs! Improvised, recorded live and straight to 2 track in one day, this 4 tracker comes straight from the machines of Carl and Christopher’s collaborative studio in Australia and onto wax!

It is with great delight that we can present this collaboration straight after the release of Carl’s first solo album in 10 years.

This is a statement of definition from the boys, they have planted their feet firmly in the live scene with this edgy, experimental and jackin’ collection of beats!

The mindset is real.

Back in 2010 Caribou's Dan Snaith hosted a remix competition for his track 'Sun' from his then-new album Swim. The winner was an unknown producer called altrice.

Hailing from Tucson, Arizona of Iranian/Mexican descent, altrice took the bright euphoric highs of the original and crumbled them into rumbling lows, the crystalline edges becoming rough and undefined. Along with a bursting goody-bag of prizes, Snaith also provided altrice with the stems for the rest of Swim and the offer to remix the whole album track-by-track, creating 'stem'. Aside from a further dream-come-true remix of Radiohead, this is largely the last we heard from altrice in the past 12 years.

A year and a half ago though, having kept up correspondence with Snaith over the years, altrice began sending new material. With encouragement from Snaith he eventually wound up with an EP which has since become essential DJ material for Snaith and the cohort of friends he's shared it with, as well as appearing in Leon Vynehall's Radio 1 Residency, KH (Four Tet)'s recent Essential Mix and more.

With three tracks already released from the EP receiving further DJ support from Avalon Emerson, Floating Points, Yu Su, Sofia Kourtesis, Mano Le Tough and more, today the EP is released in full officially via Snaith's own Jiaolong label. compciter is a collection of music that for the first time is entirely altrice's own sound, alluring and off-kilter, a wealth of sounds and styles that are tied together by an irresistible warmth.

Speaking of the EP, altrice says:

"This EP is the result of allowing my stylistic boundaries to be nudged in a new direction, putting away a self-inflicted notion that I’m only fluent in certain subgenres of electronic music. I made some production choices that, for better or worse, will make this project stand out. I’ve been overwhelmed by the reactions in clubs and at festivals, and individuals reaching out with kind words about the music. It’s surreal."
From the huddled and obscured yet comforting vocal samples - described by Pitchfork as "a beacon of light in an uncertain landscape" - of 'bda creature' to the swinging 90s eurodance drums of 'places faces' and the way the welcoming guitar melody and soulful vocals of 'eyes' gives way to a full on bass pummel, the tracks that have been released so far from the EP are already causing a stir both on and off the dancefloor. Today, the chopped up vocals and vast roomy sound of 'yoni' along with '1609km' - which would almost be straightforward house if it didn't pull the rug out to make way for delicate piano and harmonica flourishes - complete a set that fulfils a promise 12 years in the making..

Landing on Cosmocities right on cue for the summer season ahead, Japanese producer Masumi Nishimura alias Inner Science deals out a new entry into his shimmering, shape-shifting mindset. Flying us off to a soothingly dreamy and colourful headspace, bristling with vibrant sound design minutiae to wrap your ears around, Inner Science exhibits the elevating power of his music through three original joints, complemented by two exquisite remixes from multi-faceted British genius Joe Goddard and Giegling staple, Map.ache. The acid-infused glitter of “Unfold” paves the way with understated bravura; a piece of squelchy yet dazzling nature, organically making the rounds between propulsive club music territories and exotica-laced cascades of sound. “Quiet Track 3” follows a similar course with its phantasmagoric landslides of chimey melodies and driving bass traction on stealth mode, all scudding and mingling with haiku-esque spiritual balance, while “Never Fade Away” blows the winds of poetic transcendence through a finely engineered mix of forward-racing groove and a honey-dripping, rainbow-like shower of elementally lush textures and envelopes.

Flip it over and here’s Joe Goddard taking “End of the Beginning" for a slower, slightly less sign-busy jaunt across sun-soaked clearings and pastures. Laying further focus and emphasis on the synth work and build-up here, Goddard channels Inner Science's many facets and wildland-like exuberance through a more directed, further orchestrated pathway. Tackling “Momentary Spread”, map.ache treats us to a further dynamic, floor-friendly approach, routing its listener onto proper functional, gridlocked tracks. Bleached-out pads evaporating into aether as the bass etches into your mind with durable effect, it’s a proper oneiric roller that engulfs you down its gushing throat of faded escapism and brittle, post-discoid melancholy

Scene Unseen return with their second release, following the debut release from Jinjé and this time we see a release from a pioneer in the Chilean electronic music and Hip-Hop scenes, DJ Raff.

Having released more recently on the label Big in Japan (the previous label from the Scene Unseen camp), with his beautiful Resistancia EP, the label were keen to welcome him back onboard for the new project.

Raff’s routes were originally in the Hip-Hop scene back in his native, Chile. His influence of this scene cannot be understated, as his name appeared in the credits of over 50 Hip-Hop releases coming out of the country. Most notably with Anna Tijoux and Makiza, as well as seeing his own track ‘Latino & Proud’ used in the EA Sports game, FIFA 2012 and then later as the theme music for the Comedy Central show, Broad City.

As time moved on, so did Raff’s sound and he started to move into more of an instrumental focus, moving away from any vocals and the Hip-Hop rhythms. Since then he has released on Mutante Discos, Nacional Records, Wonderwheel Recordings and his own Pirotecnia label, among others. As well as remixing for the mighty Dengue Dengue Dengue, Landikhan and more.

DJ Raff has played events like Sonar Barcelona, Mutek.ES, Lollapalooza (US, Argentina, Chile), RBMA Mexico and Red Bull also invited him to mentor at the 2015 RBMA Bass Camp academy in Chile. His last album 'Movimiento' was released in 2017 on Nacional records and earnt him a nomination for best electronic music artist at the Pulsar awards in Chile.

Raff’s new EP for Scene Unseen, Estado Líquido, is an EP of true beauty once again, showcasing four tracks that combine his signature Latin American vibes with his hip-hop influences.

The title track opens the EP with the calm samples and inspiration from the sound of the ocean, an emotive nod to the people attempting to travel from Africa to Europe over the years and the struggles they have faced.

“Basta” translates to “Enough” in Spanish, this track is inspired by the large-scale protests in Chile back in 2019 and lasting until March 2020. An electronic hip-hop beat alongside a constant synth arpeggio that was something more common to his early productions. Casualidad is a reference to a more personal stage of Raff’s life, with soft, bright, and uplifting melodies flowing between more fine percussive works.

Final track, Ceremonia, combines percussive African rhythms with melancholic Synth leads and pads, alongside a deep solid bass line and repetitive chants. The repetitive chants and percussions hold together the opposite worlds of happy festive rhythms and nostalgic melodies, taking the song to a place where both feelings combine in harmony.

Artwork is made by DMNC (Francisco Meneses) a designer, art director and VJ from Santiago de Chile. Previous work is linked to 3D animation and he actively collaborates with various electronic music projects across Latin America.

For this uniquely personal retrospective spread over twelve vinyl discs, Sven Väth takes us back to the early days of his DJ career. On What I Used To Play we meet great pioneers of electronic music, gifted percussionists, obscure wave bands, and innovative producers of a bygone 'new electronic' era. Rough beats and irresistible grooves from the identification stage of house, techno, and acid remind us not just how far electronic music has evolved over the past four decades, but how great it was to dance to EBM, techno, and house for the very first time.

If there is one protagonist of the electronic music scene who has remained curious, innovative and at the very cutting edge of music for over four decades, it's Sven Väth. His multi-layered artist albums and Sound of the Season mix compilations have been defining the genre for over two decades, and even today, he is constantly on the lookout for the next top tune to add to the highlights of his next set. At least, that's the case when he's not producing them himself as an artist or remixer. "Actually, it's always been part of my DNA to think ahead," and nothing had been further from his mind than looking back at his past, but when in spring of 2020 the international DJ circuit had to be scaled down to virtually zero, the 'restless traveler' suddenly had time. Time to stop and reflect on "how it actually was back then, at the very beginning of my career..."

"It was a great trip and with every track, beautiful memories came flooding back".
In the London apartment, he had just moved into, Sven has set up a "little music room", where he cocooned himself for several days, "to look way back for the first time and review my musical journey through the eighties, so to speak."

The interim result was six thematically oriented playlists with a grand total of 120 tracks from 'early 80s' to 'Balearic late 80s', together with excursions into afrobeat, European new wave, and EBM sounds and a few epochal techno/house tracks from the USA in between. From these 'Best of Sven Väth's favorites', the project What I Used To Play crystallized. Sven remembers how the Cocoon team reacted to his proposal: "They found the idea of making a compilation out of it MEGA from the beginning and everyone said 'Sven, go for it', but then, of course, the work really started, namely, to clear the rights and to get clean sounding masters of the up to 40-year-old tracks. There was also disappointment, of course. We couldn't clear certain titles because the rights holders in the USA had fallen out with each other or simply disappeared from the scene. In short, it wasn't easy, but now I can safely say we got the most important tracks."

Finally, after two years of research, curation, design, and administrative fine-tuning, the "little retrospective" from 1981 to 1990 is available. The exquisitely packaged, and three-kilo heavy box set is not only physically impressive, WIUTP is also the definitive record of Sven Väth's musical development. On each of the twenty-four sides of vinyl, you can trace track by track, what influenced him during which phase, and how he took off as a DJ from his parents' Queen's Pub straight into the spotlight at Dorian Gray. There and at Vogue (later OMEN), Sven became the style-defining player in the DJ booth that he still is today.




1981 - 1990: Future Sounds of Now

In the early eighties, the crowd in clubs like Vogue and Dorian Gray danced to what nowadays we call 'dance classics' - mainly disco, funk, soul, and chart pop. It was up to a new generation of DJs, including Sven Väth, the youngest protagonist in the Rhine-Main area at the time, to create their own club-ready music mix. Good new tracks and potential floor-fillers were rarities that had to be sought out and found, in order to prove oneself worthy.
Without MP3s, internet streaming, or other digital download possibilities, music didn't just gravitate to the DJ, instead, it had to be tracked down. In well-stocked record stores in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden or even in Amsterdam, London, or New York, Sven and friends sourced the material for countless magical nights. On WIUTP we can follow Sven's very personal journey through this wild, innovative era in which synth-pop, funk, hip-hop, and disco were successively replaced as 'club music' by house, techno, acid, and breakbeat. By the end of the decade, it was clear to see that these once exotic 'fringe' phenomena would soon become 'mass' phenomena.



Early 80s

Dirty Talk by the Italian-American duo Klein & M.B.O. represents the most innovative phase of the Italo-disco genre in the early eighties like no other track. Mario Boncaldo (I) and Tony Carrasco relied entirely on the original synthetic drum and percussion sounds of the Roland TR-808, coupled with the raunchy vocals of Rossana Casale and guitar accents of Davide Piatto. Of course, other tracks from this period were also influential in style, most notably Unit by Logic System, which worked as the perfect soundtrack to the laser lighting system at the legendary Dorian Gray club. With stomping beats and robotic rap interludes, Bostich by Yello also belongs on Sven's eternal playlist - after all, it caught the attention of Afrikaa Bambaataa, who invited the Swiss duo to perform at the Roxy in New York in 1983.



EBM Wave - Mid 80s

From today's point of view, the almost ten-minute-long, downtempo track Giant by Matt Johnson's band project The The, would probably not be considered an obvious club classic. However, a closer (re)listen reveals the rhythmic intricacies of the percussion overdubs by JG Thirlwell (aka Foetus) on Johnson's composition, and it becomes clear why this exceptional piece of music is one of Sven's absolute favorites. Other classics from this phase include Kaw-Liga by the mysterious The Residents, the hypnotic-synthetic Our Darkness by Anne Clark (and David Harrow), and last but not least, the somber, monotonous anthem Where Are You? by 16Bit, one of Sven Väth's projects together with Michael Münzing, Luca Anzilotti from 1986.



US House - Late 80s

You certainly can't talk about Chicago house without mentioning Frankie Knuckles. The resident DJ at the Warehouse not only gave the name to an entire genre, but also produced epochal floor fillers on the Trax label like the timeless Your Love, sung (and moaned) by Jamie Principle. Acid house protagonists Phuture also hail from Chicago, and on We Are Phuture (also released on Trax) we hear the chirping acid sounds of the legendary Roland TB-303 in full effect. Another featured classic is No UFO's by Detroit's Model 500 aka Juan Atkins, who is rightly considered the 'Godfather of Techno' even if the genre-defining track from 1985 still breathes with the spirit of hip-hop and electro from the first breakdance era.





Afrobeat

Le Serpent, by Algerian-born Abdelmadjid Guemguem, is a track that sounds completely different from everything else on WIUTP. Made in 1978, it's a monumental, rousing groove created without bass or synths, just with five congas! Even though Guem sadly passed away in 2021, his immortal, acoustic beats are understood all over the world and will continue to enrich many thousands of DJ sets for years to come. Another classic that not only Sven appreciates beyond measure is Hugh Masekela's Don't Go Lose it, Baby. In addition to being one of the most important jazz pioneers, the trumpeter and freedom fighter from Johannesburg was very experimental, integrating electronic sounds into his music in later years, in a similar vein to Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. Dutch jazz pianist Jasper van't Hof's afrobeat project Pili Pili has also aged well. The trance-like, almost sixteen-minute-long track of the same name, manages to fill a whole side on the seventh of twelve vinyl discs in the WIUTP box.



UK-US-Euro - Late 80s

Time for a change of scene, in the truest sense of the word, and from a musical perspective, this section is like landing on another planet. First up is Andrew Weatherall's classic remix of Primal Scream's Loaded, featuring the iconic Peter Fonda sample (lifted from the 1966 biker film Wild Angels) that came to personify the mood triggered by the British Second Summer of Love in the late eighties: "We wanna be free to do what we wanna do, and we wanna get loaded...". This period also saw the emergence of M/A/R/R/S whose only single, 1987's Pump Up The Volume, became a club classic with support from DJ legend CJ Mackintosh. In this most eclectic of sections, we also encounter New York house and reggae producer Bobby Konders and his seminal Nervous Acid.



Balearic - Late 80s

Those who know him, know that Sven had already lost his heart to the 'magic island' of Ibiza as a teenager, so with that in mind, the WIUTP project couldn't end without a Balearic chapter. Inspired by Manuel Göttsching's E2-E4, the immortal, eponymously titled Sueño Latino belongs in there without question. Equally popular on the island was, and still is Break 4 Love by Raze, which thinking about it, would also fit perfectly into the house chapter. Last, but not least, there's an overdue reunion with Sven Väth himself, in his role as frontman of the successful Frankfurt trio OFF. Together with Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti (later of Snap!) this 'Organization For Fun' created the off-the-wall club hit Electric Salsa in 1986 which incidentally turned into an international chart smash, putting Sven in the enviable position of having to decide between pop stardom and a DJ career. Well, we all know how that decision turned out and the rest, as they say, is history. A not insignificant part of his story is What I Used To Play. Enjoy!

Behold! Yes, Blue Butterfly, one of the absolute stunners on the revered Selected Sound, is finally available for all the beat-heads. Heavyweight library funk with a psychedelic touch, the super in-demand Blue Butterfly from *deep breath* Hardy's Jet Band, Orchestra Klaus Wuesthoff, Jan Troysen Band and Orchestra Gary Pacific - was originally released in 1971. Incredibly ahead of its time, it's been rare and sought-after for decades.

For many aficionados, this is the best Selected Sound release. Loaded with fuzzy wah-wah guitar, deep flute-lines atop soulful psych-rock breakbeats and huge organ action, its uncompromising funk will blow you away. Sampled for many hip hop beats and dropped by well known rare groove DJs around the world, one jewel in particular from this glorious German vault needs little introduction. The intro to Orchestra Gary Pacific's mesmeric "Soft Wind" rides the illest, crispest drum break you've perhaps never heard - like, the drum break to end them all - alongside a smooth, deep bass line from the heavens. It featured notoriously on the beloved Dusty Fingers comps of the 90s and was brilliantly sampled by Pacewon for his eternal "Sunroof Top". Just listen and be dazzled.

Beyond this mini-masterpiece, the other killer tracks offer brilliance in abundance. Hardy's Jet Band take control of the full A side, and it's full of dynamic psych-funk bombs. Hard, "big city" industrial groovers. In particular, the initial one-two of "Sorry, Doc!" and "Wind It Up" provide thrilling funky-blues rock instrumentals showcasing relentless guitars, flutes, sax and organ, the latter containing gorgeous, hypnotic breakdowns; these tracks just slay. The title track, "Blue Butterfly" is a real deep strut of a track with fantastic soloing from guitar and flute over crisp drums whilst the highway banger "What You Call To Be Free" certainly sounds a lot like unbridled, rhythmical liberty.

On the flip, the ghost-riding "Lady In Space" is a string-drenched acid-western foxtrot. Yep. “Pop Happening” by Jan Troysen Band is a heavy, druggy psych-fuzz organ groover whilst their slow beat-organ-flute gem "A Blue Message" is a gorgeous psych floater conjuring deeply strange frontier lands. Preceding their monster "Soft Wind", the soulful, uptempo groover “Ghetto Gap” by Orchestra Gary Pacific contains solo piano and flute whilst closing out the set is the free-and-easy samba beat of "So Far".

Founded in the late 60s by German composer and musician Klaus Netzle (who recorded under the alias Claude Larson for Sonoton) Selected Sound began as a production music company specialising in jazz, orchestral and electronic recordings. You can’t miss those early LPs in their iconic glossy metallic copper sleeves with minimal German typography. Serious, classy stuff.

The audio for Blue Butterfly has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis whilst Richard Robinson has handled reproducing the glossy metallic (iconic) original Selected Sound sleeve. Essential.

Yellow Vinyl
Over their six albums The Go! Team have taken sonic day trips to other lands - musically dipping into other cultures. But now on this, their seventh - they"ve bought a round-the-world ticket.... Benin, Japan, France, India, Texas and Detroit - all stops along the way. Wildly different voices from wildly different cultures side by side but all still sounding unmistakably Go! Team. Setting the course for a kaleidoscopic, cable access, channel hop. On the vocal roll call there"s Star Feminine Band, an all-girl group from West Africa, the Indian Bollywood playback singer Neha Hatwar, Kokubo Chisato from J-Pop indie band Lucie Too, 19 year-old Detroit rapper IndigoYaj, Hilarie Bratset (ex-Apples in Stereo), Brooklyn rapper Nitty Scott, and a whole host of others, alongside Go! Team staple Ninja. Picking up from 2021"s "Get Up Sequences Part One", Part Two continues the feeling of Technicolour overload. It"s a journey spanning Cyclone Tracey wig-outs, chroma key sitar psychedelia, Casiotone anthems, spoken word melodrama and kalimba callouts. Brill building melodies lead into musical handbrake turns, four track into panoramic. Eighteen years after their debut LP The Go! Team are still unlike anyone else and on "Get Up Sequences Part Two" they sound as fresh as a club soda....

Over their six albums The Go! Team have taken sonic day trips to other lands - musically dipping into other cultures. But now on this, their seventh - they"ve bought a round-the-world ticket.... Benin, Japan, France, India, Texas and Detroit - all stops along the way. Wildly different voices from wildly different cultures side by side but all still sounding unmistakably Go! Team. Setting the course for a kaleidoscopic, cable access, channel hop. On the vocal roll call there"s Star Feminine Band, an all-girl group from West Africa, the Indian Bollywood playback singer Neha Hatwar, Kokubo Chisato from J-Pop indie band Lucie Too, 19 year-old Detroit rapper IndigoYaj, Hilarie Bratset (ex-Apples in Stereo), Brooklyn rapper Nitty Scott, and a whole host of others, alongside Go! Team staple Ninja. Picking up from 2021"s "Get Up Sequences Part One", Part Two continues the feeling of Technicolour overload. It"s a journey spanning Cyclone Tracey wig-outs, chroma key sitar psychedelia, Casiotone anthems, spoken word melodrama and kalimba callouts. Brill building melodies lead into musical handbrake turns, four track into panoramic. Eighteen years after their debut LP The Go! Team are still unlike anyone else and on "Get Up Sequences Part Two" they sound as fresh as a club soda....

Yellow Vinyl


Over their six albums The Go! Team have taken sonic day trips to other lands - musically dipping into other cultures. But now on this, their seventh - they"ve bought a round-the-world ticket.... Benin, Japan, France, India, Texas and Detroit - all stops along the way. Wildly different voices from wildly different cultures side by side but all still sounding unmistakably Go! Team. Setting the course for a kaleidoscopic, cable access, channel hop. On the vocal roll call there"s Star Feminine Band, an all-girl group from West Africa, the Indian Bollywood playback singer Neha Hatwar, Kokubo Chisato from J-Pop indie band Lucie Too, 19 year-old Detroit rapper IndigoYaj, Hilarie Bratset (ex-Apples in Stereo), Brooklyn rapper Nitty Scott, and a whole host of others, alongside Go! Team staple Ninja. Picking up from 2021"s "Get Up Sequences Part One", Part Two continues the feeling of Technicolour overload. It"s a journey spanning Cyclone Tracey wig-outs, chroma key sitar psychedelia, Casiotone anthems, spoken word melodrama and kalimba callouts. Brill building melodies lead into musical handbrake turns, four track into panoramic. Eighteen years after their debut LP The Go! Team are still unlike anyone else and on "Get Up Sequences Part Two" they sound as fresh as a club soda....

3x12" 2023 Repress

To celebrate its landmark 20th release, Monnom Black invites you to enter The World of Monnom Black II - a return trip to techno's most uncompromising landscape. The triple vinyl release features 14 hand-picked contributions from the label's trusted collaborators alongside cutting-edge artists new to the roster; making this compilation one of the label's most varied and innovative collections yet.

On The World of Monnom Black II, new artists including VTSS, DIMI (AnD), Vladimir Dubyshkin, Hadone, Fractions, LDS, Aahan and Buried Secrets all throw down tracks which fuse tight machine rhythms with intricate detail. There's also a return for many established label favourites such as UVB, Dax J, Zanias and Thomas P. Heckmann as Knarz.

To round out the compilation there's a re-release of the timeless 1998 hip hop cut, "Devious Methods", from legendary drum and bass producer, Hive, and Tellurian's hardcore classic, "Big Bad City", gets a new mix from Dax J.

This release further confirms Monnom Black's reputation for representing raw analogue music and cements the label's place as the home of some of the roughest and classiest contemporary sounds in techno.

Welcome to the world of Monnom Black.

The Soninke collective consciousness finds its origins in a founding myth, a blood pact: the legend of Biida and the decadence of the empire of Ghana or Wagadu (evoked by Léopold Sédar Senghor as a land of plenty in his poem Le Kaya Magan). From the 3rd century AD, gathered in the region of Sahel, on the edge of the Sahara desert, the Soninko ruled over their kingdom and its capital Kumbi Saleh. According to folklore, they were blessed with abundant rain and nuggets of gold could be picked directly from the ground.

They owed this prosperity to a providential but cruel protector: the Wagadu Biida, a seven-headed serpent who lived at the bottom of the Kumbi well. Every year, as a reward for his favours, the Biida demanded an offering: the life of the most beautiful virgin woman in the community. Sacrifices took place for generations, until the 13th century AD, when fate chose Siya Yatabéré, Maamadi Sehedunxote's sweetheart...

Centuries later in 1977, Gaye Mody Camara, a young Soninke raised in Mali's Kayes region, settled in France to found his own empire. Initially selling wax, kola nuts and other goods in his Parisian outlets, he rapidly started distributing cassette tapes and eventually producing a multitude of recordings for his own label: Camara Production.

Crossing paths and collaborating over the next four decades with legendary artists, griots and industry moguls like Boncana Maïga, Jean-Philippe Rykiel, Ganda Fadiga, Diaby Doua or Ibrahima Sylla, Camara became one of the great independent music producers of his generation, and a pilar of the Parisian Soninke diaspora.

Released in close collaboration with Gaye Camara and with the assistance of Daouda N'diaye, one of A.P.S' (Association pour la Promotion de la langue et de la culture Soninké) historical members, this selection of songs and accompanying notes aim to shed a light on an intricate culture and its modern music, injustifiably unknown outside of West Africa and the various Soninko diasporas around the world.

From Malian Zouk to Mauritanian Reggae and other psychedelic groovers originally released on cassettes or digitally, we have given the utmost attention to bringing this music to a new format. It has been carefully remastered and pressed on a couple of 180g vinyls, with riso printed liner notes.

THUGWIDOW & Bruised Skies land on Hooversound with a new EP

“music for everybody, to think to, to dance to.”

The 12th release on the Hooversound imprint sees THUGWIDOW and Bruised Skies come together for ‘Blimey’ (HOO12), cultivating an evolving new sound: a dark and deep soundscape - ready to immerse, whether on the dance floor or at home. The release also features two remixes from Denham Audio and Response which will be available on the digital version only.

THUGWIDOW is the ambient jungle project of Alex Lowther-Harris, who’s sound is a formation of tastes, otherworldly guidance and obligation, evolving organically from nothing more than an adolescent love rebirthed in a new millennium.

Bruised Skies (Matthew Heywood) creates layered, visual music that captures a melancholic isolated landscape, oceans of sound lapping against shores; guiding the listener. With previous releases on Blank Editions, Intervention and Astral Black his solo music is a cross between season 3 of Twin Peaks and John Carpenter’s experimental scores; beautifully dark, bleak and isolated in its journey throughout.

Launched in 2016, Lunar Orbiter Program continues to prove the ability of his pilot Torai who is just back from his second moon landing.

"Sounds sublime" - Gilles Peterson

"What a delightful, excitingly beautiful album. From "At Once Familiar " all the way through to "Same as Before" everything song feels and sounds sonically glorious. A modern day classic" - Nightmares On Wax

Taking a short sabbatical from their journey into the spiritual stratosphere and beyond, Work Money Death landed on terra firma just long enough to record a follow up to the critically acclaimed "The Space In Which The Uncontrollable Unknown Resides Can Be The Place From Which Creation Arises". The new album "Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction" explores many of the meditative motifs that mould this unique group in their quest for the perfect sound and space. Those who are familiar with Work Money Death will know their output is as much an adventure for the listener as it was for the musicians.

"Thought, Action, Reaction, Interactions" is a salute to the now sadly deceased master of the spiritual sound Pharoah Sanders, and in particular the spontaneity of his recording process.

Each of the four tracks on "Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction" were recorded in one take with no rehearsal and while the players may have known where they were starting off none of them were sure where they would end. As much as it is entertainment, and have no doubt this LP is an unctuous, spirit-smoothing joy from beginning to end, this is an experiment of making music in the moment. Spontaneous and spiritual in its truest sense, "Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction" is a work of innovation and unsurpassed beauty.

"At Once Familiar" is a rising salute to the day, meditative, moving and fierce. An introduction to Burkill's emotive style, at once sweeping and succinct. It fills a room, and your head, with a very real sound, rich in texture and spirit.

"Freedom As A Heartfelt Song" is buoyant with harp, the spirit of the Yorkshire Pharoah is never more to the fore. Visceral sax rides over and uplifting backing, symbiotic and pinioned with power and beauty. Think Sun Ra horns meets Don Ellis brass.

"Song Of Healing" drifts on a river of music, guided through the rapids with a heartbeat bass line. This is temple sombre, with Eastern flavours and an overarching calm. A communion of sound, a master class in the understatement and power of the slow note, deceptively light.

"Same As Before" is spoken word playing foil to the call and response of the brass, dancing alongside and against each other. Spiritual vibrations cement ethereal forms to substantive sounds. A prayer to change."

As with the previous Work, Money, Death release (which was recorded in difficult conditions due to the Covid pandemic) the aim was to recreate a situation, in this case the impromptu and unrehearsed recording sessions of Sanders in the late 60's and early 70's, everything recorded in one take, creating a body of work that is a strong nod to a certain time and ethos but not a pastiche of it.


““Sounds sublime””
Gilles Peterson — BBC6, WorldWideFM

““What a delightful, excitingly beautiful album. From “At Once Familiar “ all the way through to “Same as Before” everything song feels and sounds sonically glorious. A modern day classic””
Nightmares On Wax —

South African production duo of Emil Zoghby and John Galanakis were responsible for a string of high-quality disco singles in the early 80s, typically cover versions of international hits — Klein & MBO’s ‘The Big Apple’, Sly & the Family Stone’s ‘Family Affair’ & David Joseph’s ‘You Can’t Hide (Your Love From Me)’ — backed with their own compositions. When Starlight hit the market with an album in 1983, it featured only one cover, the local hit ‘Picnic’, along with five of the duo’s original compositions, including their similarly styled response, ‘Picnicing’, which replaces the original’s sax with spaced-out synth stabs. Then there’s ‘Jah Jah Love’, an ecstatic disco sermon of dancefloor dynamite weighing in at over eight and a half minutes. Other tracks on this landmark album — ‘Let’s Go Dancing (Boogie Boogie)’, ‘Keep On Moving’ and an eponymous instrumental — offer a similar fusion of classic disco with newer Italo and proto-house influences: machine music with a human touch! Remastered from the original master tapes and reissued for the first time, Starlight will be available on vinyl and digital platforms from early 2023 (40 years after its initial release) via Afrosynth Records.

If one single song is indelibly associated with Johnny Cash, it has to be I Walk The Line - the song that landed him his first American hit in October 1956. But for many, Cash is defined by a single line from Folsom Prison Blues. “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die…”
confirmed Cash as a hard-living, fast-shooting guy (Don’t Take Your Guns To Town; Bonanza!) and also saw him identifying with prisoners and prison life. The ‘Man in Black’ had become a friend of Presidents and pop idols; a man whom stars like Bono and Bob Dylan deferred to; a legend courted by fans such as Quentin Tarantino and Johnny Depp.

And though a lot has been written about Johnny Cash since he died in 2003, questions remain about how this man came to dominate the world of popular music - but here, in your hands, are sixteen reasons why…

If naming is a form of claiming, of being claimed, how is one tethered to both the physical landscape that surrounds us, as well as our own internal emotional landscape at times calm, at times turbulent, and ever changing? H.C. McEntire’s new album Every Acre grapples with those themes that encompass grief, loss, and links to land and loved ones. And naming claiming land, claiming self, being claimed by ancestry and heritage permeates the hauntingly beautiful landscape that is this poignant collection of songs. The songs straddle the line between music and poetry. In “New View,” McEntire cites poets “Day, Ada, and Laux, Berry, and Olds” fixtures in the world of writing, whose works are beacons of light over bleak horizons. The beginning of the song is backed by soft guitar plucks that fall on the downbeat and spangle like stars, and, throughout, guitar, bass, and drums swell together gently, mimicking ebbing and flowing tides under the moon. McEntire’s voice (at once tender and fierce) intones the truth of both giving and taking, releasing and claiming: “Bend me, break me, split me right in two. Mend me, make me I’ll take more of you.” Permeated by heartbeat-like drums, “Shadows” develops quiet ruminations on surrender and loss reminiscing, moving on. This ponderous, dreamlike song asks the question of how “to make room.” How does one make room, for self and for renewal and surrender, when it is so difficult to leave what you know behind? Playing with slivers of descending chromatics, along with the occasional downward-stepping bass, here McEntire yearns for home, and for nesting. Perhaps one of the more grief-stricken songs, “Rows of Clover” is a lamentation, one that touches on the loss of a “steadfast hound.” The lone piano in the beginning of the song is rhythmically hymn-like. The stark verse arrangement gradually leads to a chorus that reads like a moody exhale, swollen with lush guitar strums and a Bill Withers–esque understated soul groove. But what stands out the most is an image of being “down on your knees, clawing at the garden” the only explicit mention of a person in the song. “It ain’t the easy kind of healing,” sings McEntire, seemingly from further and further away as her voice echoes; and healing takes time, time takes time truths that linger painfully. “Dovetail” is a song that tells of various women. The song moves back and forth between solo piano and the addition of bass and drums under vocals. McEntire’s gentle, trembling vibrato harmonized in thirds in a celebratory manner calls to mind a rejoicing psalm and shines through these images, leaving the listener cuttingly fraught with emotions such as wonder, sadness, nostalgia that can only arise with these juxtapositions. Gracious (and graceful) with its lilting melodies and lush harmonies, Every Acre explores the acres of our physical and emotional homes. These songs are reaching for the kind of home that we all seek: one where we can rest and lay down (or tuck away) our burdens of loss. And maybe, moving through every acre of a world that often tries to tear our sense of identity and heritage down, McEntire sheds light on what it is to be human in this life both stingy and gracious, both hurtful and kind.

If naming is a form of claiming, of being claimed, how is one tethered to both the physical landscape that surrounds us, as well as our own internal emotional landscape_at times calm, at times turbulent, and ever changing? H.C. McEntire's new album Every Acre grapples with those themes_themes that encompass grief, loss, and links to land and loved ones. And naming_claiming land, claiming self, being claimed by ancestry and heritage_permeates the hauntingly beautiful landscape that is this poignant collection of songs. The songs straddle the line between music and poetry. In "New View," McEntire cites poets "Day, Ada, and Laux, Berry, and Olds"_fixtures in the world of writing, whose works are beacons of light over bleak horizons. The beginning of the song is backed by soft guitar plucks that fall on the downbeat and spangle like stars, and, throughout, guitar, bass, and drums swell together gently, mimicking ebbing and flowing tides under the moon. McEntire's voice (at once tender and fierce) intones the truth of both giving and taking, releasing and claiming: "Bend me, break me, split me right in two. Mend me, make me_I'll take more of you." Permeated by heartbeat-like drums, "Shadows" develops quiet ruminations on surrender and loss_reminiscing, moving on. This ponderous, dreamlike song asks the question of how "to make room." How does one make room, for self and for renewal and surrender, when it is so difficult to leave what you know behind? Playing with slivers of descending chromatics, along with the occasional downward-stepping bass, here McEntire yearns for home, and for nesting. Perhaps one of the more grief-stricken songs, "Rows of Clover" is a lamentation, one that touches on the loss of a "steadfast hound." The lone piano in the beginning of the song is rhythmically hymn-like. The stark verse arrangement gradually leads to a chorus that reads like a moody exhale, swollen with lush guitar strums and a Bill Withers-esque understated soul groove. But what stands out the most is an image of being "down on your knees, clawing at the garden"_the only explicit mention of a person in the song. "It ain't the easy kind of healing," sings McEntire, seemingly from further and further away as her voice echoes; and healing ta;kes time, time takes time_truths that linger painfully. "Dovetail" is a song that tells of various women. The song moves back and forth between solo piano and the addition of bass and drums under vocals. McEntire's gentle, trembling vibrato_harmonized in thirds in a celebratory manner_calls to mind a rejoicing psalm and shines through these images, leaving the listener cuttingly fraught with emotions_such as wonder, sadness, nostalgia_that can only arise with these juxtapositions. Gracious (and graceful) with its lilting melodies and lush harmonies, Every Acre ex - plores the acres of our physical and emotional homes. These songs are reaching for the kind of home that we all seek: one where we can rest and lay down (or tuck away) our burdens of loss. And maybe, moving through every acre of a world that often tries to tear our sense of identity and heritage down, McEntire sheds light on what it is to be human in this life_both stingy and gracious, both hurtful and kind.

Orange Viny

If naming is a form of claiming, of being claimed, how is one tethered to both the physical landscape that surrounds us, as well as our own internal emotional landscape_at times calm, at times turbulent, and ever changing? H.C. McEntire's new album Every Acre grapples with those themes_themes that encompass grief, loss, and links to land and loved ones. And naming_claiming land, claiming self, being claimed by ancestry and heritage_permeates the hauntingly beautiful landscape that is this poignant collection of songs. The songs straddle the line between music and poetry. In "New View," McEntire cites poets "Day, Ada, and Laux, Berry, and Olds"_fixtures in the world of writing, whose works are beacons of light over bleak horizons. The beginning of the song is backed by soft guitar plucks that fall on the downbeat and spangle like stars, and, throughout, guitar, bass, and drums swell together gently, mimicking ebbing and flowing tides under the moon. McEntire's voice (at once tender and fierce) intones the truth of both giving and taking, releasing and claiming: "Bend me, break me, split me right in two. Mend me, make me_I'll take more of you." Permeated by heartbeat-like drums, "Shadows" develops quiet ruminations on surrender and loss_reminiscing, moving on. This ponderous, dreamlike song asks the question of how "to make room." How does one make room, for self and for renewal and surrender, when it is so difficult to leave what you know behind? Playing with slivers of descending chromatics, along with the occasional downward-stepping bass, here McEntire yearns for home, and for nesting. Perhaps one of the more grief-stricken songs, "Rows of Clover" is a lamentation, one that touches on the loss of a "steadfast hound." The lone piano in the beginning of the song is rhythmically hymn-like. The stark verse arrangement gradually leads to a chorus that reads like a moody exhale, swollen with lush guitar strums and a Bill Withers-esque understated soul groove. But what stands out the most is an image of being "down on your knees, clawing at the garden"_the only explicit mention of a person in the song. "It ain't the easy kind of healing," sings McEntire, seemingly from further and further away as her voice echoes; and healing ta;kes time, time takes time_truths that linger painfully. "Dovetail" is a song that tells of various women. The song moves back and forth between solo piano and the addition of bass and drums under vocals. McEntire's gentle, trembling vibrato_harmonized in thirds in a celebratory manner_calls to mind a rejoicing psalm and shines through these images, leaving the listener cuttingly fraught with emotions_such as wonder, sadness, nostalgia_that can only arise with these juxtapositions. Gracious (and graceful) with its lilting melodies and lush harmonies, Every Acre ex - plores the acres of our physical and emotional homes. These songs are reaching for the kind of home that we all seek: one where we can rest and lay down (or tuck away) our burdens of loss. And maybe, moving through every acre of a world that often tries to tear our sense of identity and heritage down, McEntire sheds light on what it is to be human in this life_both stingy and gracious, both hurtful and kind.

The last album of Dead Cat In a Bag on vinyl! 180g + downloadcode.

"Do you know it? Ennio Morricone, Nick Cave, Mark Lanegan, Tom Waits and Zach Condon walk into the bar, and there are all the seats occupied by the Dead Cat In A Bag musicians. Really." - this is how Jarek Szubrycht started the review of the last album of the Italian group Dead Cat In Bag in Gazeta Wyborcza. And he was right. Really.
Yes! Dead Cat In A Bag is back! They are back with a new album "We've Been Through".

After exploring several so called Neo-Folk regions, flirting with Folk Noir, mostly with Traditional Folk in a modern perspective, for example Americana to Tex-Mex and Balkan Music to Alternative Country, on this third record the ensemble drifts to a cinematic landscape, focusing on the theme of overcoming.

We've Been Through puts together World Music elements incorporating an almost soundtrack experience for a journey into both Day and Night, Hope and Disillusionment and telling stories of broken romances and shipwrecks.

Utilizing banjo and theatrical vocal delivery, together with with classic and odd instruments, the band remap the original charts but still set sail the desired destinations. And if, about the previous records, critics were prone to recall the prowess of Waits, Cave, Lanegan, Cash and Tindersticks, this time it will be harder to name the grandfathers.
Now there is a Morricone (or was it Badalamenti?) guiding spirit and a dreamlike universe full of memories, from the dry electric blues of a stream of consciousness duet in Duet For Nothing to the unexpected crooning vocals provided by Liam McKahey (CousetauX) in Lost Friends (a banjo droven dirge dealing with electronics and a bassoon, with steal percussions and a music saw for a frame), from the rendition of the traditional Wayfaring Stranger, balancing between electric guitars and Bluegrass, to the intimate cover of Leonard Cohen's Hunter's Lullaby, from the rock-(swamp)blues of The Cat Is Dead (enriched by Italian bass hero Gianni Maroccolo, from Litfiba and C.S.I.) to the soft meloncholy of the string quartet in Between Day And Night, from the dark cabaret of Fiddler, The Ship Is Sinking to the soft porch song, between Willard Grant Conspiracy and Kris Kristofferson, of the final title track.
You can hear a shrawn and a blues harp, whispers and choirs, love and dudgeon as the record goes. This is the sound of an orchestra playing on a sinking ship: what else could a fiddler do? And what can we do, in the end?

Honoring the craft and the ones that came before him through undeniably infectious beats that brace the weight of his choice samples and original layers. Getting his chops up through his younger days, Shane spent his time developing instrumental obstacle courses for local emcees to dance around including Gift Of Gab (Blackalicious), Spills (NY) Kinetic Source (Ozomatli) and Cashus King (LA.) By the age of 21 Shane threw himself into the ring of the Stones Throw beat making contest. To only the surprise of himself, Shane walked away twice as a weekly winner of the battles. After a small hiatus due to the birth of his daughter Clementine, Shane jumped back on the pads and began crafting the instrumentals for what would become Apostolos. With the instrumentals in flux Shane reached out via Instagram to an upcoming emcee out of the Duck Down Camp, a prodigy of the late, great Sean Price, Rim. After chatting back and forth for a small time, making sure Rim knew Shane was in this project for the right reasons, Rim jumped on board and even helped land other up and coming NY emcees like Eddie Kaine & Spills. From there everything snowballed. One feature led to another and soon enough the album was taking shape with features from not only Rim and Eddie Kaine, but hip-hop heroes such as Masta Ace, Planet Asia, A.G. of D.I.T.C. and Geechi Suede. With a few more instrumentals and spaces to fill Shane reached out to long-time bay area engineer/producer Deegan Mack Adams to help with the mixing and mastering and overall release of the project. Apostolos gets its namesake and back cover imagery from Shane Sounds' great great Grandfather, Apostolos Christakis who immigrated to the United States from Greece at the turn of the 20th century. The documents you see on the back cover are Apostolos’s army registration documents only a week after coming to the United States. We pay our respects to the ones who came before us and allowed us to be here to create this project. Salute!

Konnichiwa! The Courettes go to the land of the rising sun – and they sing in Japanese! The “hardest working band in showbiz” took another step closer to world domination traveling around the globe and landing in Japan in October for a successful tour full of packed concerts, sushi and Japanese rock ‘n’ roll! Their new upcoming 7” single is an outstanding version in Japanese of ‘Daydream’. The English version, from their latest album Back in Mono B-sides & Outtakes, is also included on the flipside. On beautiful white vinyl with red labels (just like the Japanese flag) the record is due out on January 27th on Damaged Goods Records, shipping from the UK to all corners of the western world and beyond. The original release on Japanese label Target Earth / Naris Records sold out by the third day of the Japanese tour. The mix is of course by Japanese Spector aficionado Seiki Sato, who was responsible for the Back in Mono album’s Wall of Sound extravaganza. So, ladies and gentlemen, get ready for one more spit ‘n’ snarl wall-of-sound garage gem with Martin blending class and wildness on the drums and Flavia bursting out on top - in Japanese! Kampai!

With 'Parallel Light', AndrewWasylyk offers an alternative mix album to 2020's spiritual-jazz and neo-classical masterclass in melody, 'Fugitive Light And Themes Of Consolation'. This new LP, his third with Athens Of North Records, is as much a different perspective as a companion piece.

The ten songs still circle landscapes for meaning, channelling half-heard melodies and misremembered memories; caught somewhere between settling down and setting out towards the shining levels of the estuary and beyond. Each magnifying the bold, expansive arrangements of FL&TOC with layers are lifted and peeled away.

The soft-focus glow of gently pressed piano keys, the well and wash of strings and brass remain, but the deduction of instrumentation serves to highlight the ornate and offers comfort with this new found space. In the warmth reshaped, a romanticism illuminated.

At the essence of these reframed compositions Wasylyk's blue and gold, mellifluous refrains prevail. It's a seamless, sublime flow from a restless artists and an album quietly reawakened.

Available on limited-edition orange tiger vinyl. 300 copies only! Be prepared to be blown to shit as the action/adventure GREEN TEAM, Calvin Valentine & Lawz Spoken, join forces once again! Calvin Valentine (Weeds is Awesome, Boy In Jeans) stars as TIGER, a P-38 driving, pot-smoking bat out of hell. Alongside Tiger is international, silent assassin mega-star Lawz Spoken starring as COBRA, a badass with a bad attitude and an even badder chip on his shoulder. Hop in the range with GREEN TEAM as they go on the hunt for the world's finest weed, exotic trucks, remote locations & rarest vhs tapes. Scorned by betrayal from friends, enemies, bad business & heartbreak, the duo is left with no other option but to seek absolute REVENGE. Joining them on the journey are co stars - Illa J (ICE), Milc (WOLF), Nia Joe (FOX) & on-set dj, Celly. Revenge is a disease and Green Team has the cure! Jammed with incredible special effects REVENGE OF THE TIGER is an exhilarating mix of non stop action, bong rips & romantic comedy.
Now available on limited-edition (300 pcs) orange tiger vinyl, REVENGE OF THE TIGER is: "All that and a bag of grass" - Surfer Chick Magazine.

While the theme of the four elements has been a constant source of inspiration in the arts, its setting to music using electroacoustic techniques seems highly auspicious, since the notion of matter and its transformation is consubstantial with the concrete approach. In »Sphæra«, Daniel Teruggi precisely addresses this question, transcending matter with the help of novel digital audio techniques so as to draw out forms, trajectories, layers, and musical objects, all of which result from the merging or sublimation of primordial sounds. Indeed, this is where Daniel Teruggi’s music and compositional approach stand out: by engaging sounds, with strength, will and inspiration, in a close encounter with energies, whether tectonic or electrical. Such collisions, such metamorphoses, are then appeased in the whole space of the composition, a fascinating landscape, the final destination of all transmutations. (François Bonnet, Paris, 2021)

"Between 1984 and 1989, my acousmatic work was focused on processing and merging the four fundamental substances. Each 'element' gradually became articulated with the others, thus crystallizing my subjective perception of their materiality. Over the years, helped by the enthusiasm of a Greek friend who propelled me into the Socratic universe, what started out as an exploratory path has become a circular, spherical unity, in which each occurrence simultaneously belongs to one of the four substances as well as the whole.

These four sections, of uneven durations, embody the different resonances of each 'element' upon my imagination. The movements are ordered compositionally and range from the intangibility of the air to the extreme density of the earth.
In Eterea, the dual nature of air, a space for the dissemination of sounds and an environment for mobile masses, shaped the work and the development of its forms. Whether it be the vast expanse of particles as organised movement or the displacement of sources in our three-dimensional perception, ethereal air fills the space and drives the immaterial motions and gestures.

Aquatica locates the materiality of water in relation to its amazing extremes: from the drop to the ocean, an extensive journey unfolds through the various phases of the reinvented liquid. Still waters, deadly waters, raging waters follow one another, leading to the aerial fusion of a primordial equilibrium eventually retrieved.

Then comes Focolaria and the unsteady fires, the elusive and wild will-o’-the- wisps that open and adorn the gates leading to the depths of the earth.

The land of Terra is devoid of atmosphere, a land of matters before the advent of life. The sounds of the original matter merge and evolve into purer forms. The motions trigger progressions towards new equilibriums of forces, the ultimate fusion, the very last attempt, needed for the emergence of life.

The sphere is now complete, the world ready for creation..." (Daniel Teruggi)

When it comes to deep and jackin' Techno with a touch of funk, Jackmate aka Michel Baumann was in a league of his own. As a producer, working in the house-techno spectrum he was able to keep a level of high quality, always trying to push himself and never afraid to try out new ideas. You never new what he would do next and that was probably why so many of us kept following him, checking out a new release and playing his music.

One of the many projects he was working on before he sadly passed away was collecting and preparing a compilation of Jackmate music from his vast archives. The idea was to present tunes from back in the day, or as Michel called them 'Jackmate classics'.

The compilation would also include some of Michel's favourites which he reworked and of course new music, there was always a new Jackmate track waiting to be finished. This vinyl sampler contains all new Jackmate music plus a Jackmate rework of the Soulphiction classic "Masai Mara"

• Gil Scott-Heron was twenty-one years old when he was signed to Flying Dutchman by Bob Thiele to make an album of his poetry. The resultant “Small Talk at 125th and Lenox” was recorded before a small live audience and, released in 1970, sat perfectly in a world where the Last Poets had just tasted Top 10 success with their debut LP. “Small Talk at 125th and Lenox” opened with a spoken word version of ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ and also featured poems and musical pieces like ‘Omen’, ‘Brother’, ‘Plastic Pattern People’, ‘Paint It Black’ and ‘Everyday’ that reflected on the black community and its condition within America at this time.

• The starkest of these sharp observational pieces from Scott-Heron was ‘Whitey On The Moon’, which recounts the US Government spending billions on landing a rocket on the moon at a time when, “a rat done bit my sister, Nell”.

• Like its follow-up – “Pieces Of A Man” – “Small Talk at 125th and Lenox” is a classic album and we are delighted to serve it up again on vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with the original liner notes.

• With current “Big Talk” of going back to the moon, whilst injustice still prevails for many black people in America, “Small Talk at 125th and Lenox” still conveys a message that resonates today.

Back in stock!

Following in the footsteps of the landmark 1966 double-quartet recording by Joe Harriott and John Mayer, Indian born musician Amancio D'Silva produced some of the most adventurous and sophisticated recordings within the canon of 'indo-jazz', a term used to define a pioneering east meets west synthesis that reflected the shifting musical and cultural landscape of post-war Britain. An experiment which reached a pinnacle in 1972 with D'Silva's seminal recording Dream Sequence by Cosmic Eye (The Roundtable TRZY001), an adventurous fusion of modal jazz and Indian classical music viewed through the psychedelic lens of swinging London. Exotic third-stream jazz conceived by a visionary composer whose virtuosic technique and deeply emotive guitar playing defined his two earlier and now legendary 1969 UK jazz albums Integration and Hum Dono with Joe Harriott, both recorded for the much celebrated Lansdowne label.

Also recorded in 1972 although not released at the time was Konkan Dance, an unofficial sequel to Dream Sequence that further explored the unchartered possibilities of an Indian music-jazz fusion. Featuring many of the same personnel, this session also included support from Don Rendell and Alan Branscombe, two giants of the UK jazz scene who add serious credentials to D'Silva's singular and intimate compositions. For reasons unknown the album was cancelled by Lansdowne at the time and never saw the light of day until being resurrected again in the 2000s. The Roundtable are pleased to once again showcase this important artist and present a new addition of this incredible and almost forgotten piece of the Amancio D'Silva story. Pressed on 180g vinyl and packaged in a custom 1960s-style flip-back sleeve.

Unreleased British Jazz from 1972.
Sequel to Cosmic Eye - Dream Sequence
Includes liner notes and rare photos.
Custom Flipback sleeve.
180g Vinyl

Philly’s own Chained Bliss set tongues a-waggin’ back in 2019 with their Stained Red cassette EP, gathering more than a few comparisons to the Wipers’ early racket in the process. Well, now they’re back with a debut album that seems to have skipped right ahead from Is This Real? to Over The Edge: this self-titled LP has all the gut-punching ramalama, knockabout guts’n’glory of that first tape, with added layers. Melodic guitar lines come perilously close to jangling over crunching power chords, while furiously yelped choruses give way to sumptuously put-together breakdown sections that catch you off guard and kick you in the shins before legging it down the street. Chained Bliss clearly love scrappy, skatey garage rock (echoes of Agent Orange’s Living In Darkness abound) as much as they love pushing that raucous clatter into something spacious - the meditative sections that flow effortlessly into absolute ripper Pillars Of Abuse are as unexpected as the thoughtful but head-spinningly energetic sections that bring Creative Seizure so thrillingly to life. Other times they’re just as happy to keep you careening towards the pit with two-minute bangers, but that’s the beauty of this record: it’s never smarter than when it’s playing dumb, and the rest of the time it’s just pretty damn smart. Here’s a challenge: can you listen to Ominous Life’s gnarly pop without raising those fists of yours skywards and landing a firm thump on the air? Or Drifter’s swaggering stomp? Or, or, or… ahhh hell, you get what I’m saying here. Every single cut slays, every single hook snags itself on your brain. You’ll come back for more, and more, and more. Are Chained Bliss your new favourite band? Well, gee, we’ve never met and I don’t know what you like and it’s not for me to say… but on the other hand, yes. Yes, they are. They’re heading straight for your heart and they ain’t budging. Will Fitzpatrick

CUSTARD VINYL PRESSING.

The Beths' Warm Blood is a strong contender for the catchiest record you've never heard. Formed when four jazz students at the University of Auckland bonded over their shared love of the pop-punk sounds of their youth, The Beths bring new energy to the genre. This 5-song debut EP, a deliriously pleasurable statement of purpose, comes crammed with enough blissful hooks to carry through most bands' careers.

Listeners for whom the tag 'New Zealand indie rock' brings to mind the Flying Nun sound of bands like The Clean and The Chills may be surprised to find Warm Blood's five unstoppable tunes landing closer to artists like Slant 6 and The Breeders. The nimble guitar work here moves from heavy riffing reminiscent of Sleater-Kinney to hazily bending lines that would make Stephen Malkmus and Mary Timony beam, while the joyous vocal harmonies from all four members bubble and swell to ecstatic crescendos that channel The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle.

With impeccable production from guitarist Jonathan Pearce and stellar musicianship across the board, Warm Blood is a non-stop delight. Tracks like leadoff track and first single 'Whatever,' the ridiculously addictive standout 'Idea/Intent,' and 'Rush Hour 3,' a playful ode to romance in this era of download-and-chill franchise films, take delight in the challenge of breathing new energy into the limitations of the 3-minute pop song. 

Red Vinyl

It has been exactly ten years since Finders Keepers first intrepidly entered Andrzej Korzyński’s cavernous musical vault, but it is only today that we are able to proudly announce the safe retrieval on what we consider the true heavy psych holy grail of the Polish composer’s mind-bending oeuvre. By cruel coincidence this welcome event has sadly come during the same year as the composer’s tragic passing. However, in true Korzyński style, alongside his previous Finders Keepers releases, the legacy he has left behind in this one final lost soundtrack project alone has come with musical riches beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.

The comprehensive elusive archive of the deeply psychedelic soundtrack to Andrzej Żuławski’s forbidden film Diabeł (The Devil) is perhaps the most detailed dossier one could wish to find – including audio sketches, rejected proposals and pre-butchered variations that play out like an intense and veritable creative conversation between the director and the maestro, both of whom are widely recognised as true mavericks of socialist-era Poland’s fertile artistic landscape. Never intended for anything as conventional as a straightforward movie tie-in promotional disc (state owned Eastern European record labels rarely did this), the music in this archive has required special forensic inspection. Let’s say the devil is in the detail. The 7” record you are now holding is more than just a companion piece, and it is far from a selection of the (non-existent) poppy title themes to promote a full feature-length album. This standalone release is wholly unique in its own right, giving Finders Keepers listeners a final access all areas snoop into the mind of one of the pillars of our alternative musical community.

As those familiar with Żuławski and Korzyński’s long-running relationship will understand (a methodology best exemplified in the schizoid soundtrack to the film Possession), their exchanges were deeply nuanced and often complicated, with lots of artistic “tennis” thrown into the mix. The key plot in this behind-the-scene fable is that after delivering his original off-kilter psychedelic score to the director, maestro Korzyński was asked to make the music “totally unique, like something from another planet”, to which Korzyński took his tapes, pulled down the vari-speed to a guttural grind and continued to recompose over the top using avant-garde electro-acoustic techniques while deploying psychedelic skills of guitarist Winicjusz Chróst. This limited record release proudly boasts Korzyński’s original uptempo awkward psychedelic pop music prior to the doom laden growls that make the official films soundtrack a true Goliath of Eastern European soundtrack composition. Which, when recontextualised, will stand as a veritable face-melter for stoner rock fans. As one of Finders Keepers deepest conquests, we are delighted to share The Devil Tapes… What is a grail without the wine.

Factory Benelux presents a new 3 disc black vinyl edition of Harmony, the debut album by influential Scottish group The Wake. Originally released by Factory Records in December 1982, this new expanded edition marks the 40th anniversary of this landmark post-punk album.

The Wake formed in Glasgow in 1981 after singer/guitarist Caesar left Altered Images, and joined Factory the following year. Harmony was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport with producer Chris Nagle (formerly Martin Hannett’s preferred engineer), by which time the group comprised Caesar (vocals, guitar), Carolyn Allen (keyboards), Steven Allen (drums) and Bobby Gillespie (bass). On release as Fact 60 the original 7 track mini album earned a 5 star review in Sounds magazine, hailed as the missing indiepop link between Factory and Postcard Records.

Bonus tracks on Disc 2 include The Wake’s dub-informed second single, Something Outside b/w Host, and also their John Peel session from July 1983 – the last recordings to feature Gillespie before his departure for The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream.
Disc 3 offers a desk recorded live set from Ayr Pavilion on 15 April 1983 during a tour with New Order. The concert includes several songs never recorded in the studio, including Recovery and Country of the Blind.

The enhanced trifold artwork for this new edition includes images of the band by noted photographer Paul Slattery, taken at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, as well as new liner notes by Caesar. A 2xCD edition is also available (FBN 29 CD).

After releasing several further albums on Factory and Sarah Records during the 1980s and 1990s, The Wake returned to recording with A Light Far Out in 2012. A new studio album is expected in 2023.

THE ANCHORESS TO RELEASE VINYL ACOUSTIC EP OF TRACKS FROM
THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED 'THE ART OF LOSING'
Following the raft of "Best of 2021" plaudits for 'The Art Of Losing', Welsh
songwriter & producer The Anchoress announces the vinyl EP release of acoustic
versions of tracks from her critically- acclaimed record.'The Art Of Losing -
Acoustic EP' is out on January 20th 2023 via Kscope & features a stripped back
piano version of 'Show Your Face', 'Let It Hurt (String Quartet Version)' & acoustic
versions of 'All Farewells Should Be Sudden' & 'The Art Of Losing' plus a solo
piano take on 'The Exchange' & a special French language version of 'Let It Hurt'.
Catherine Anne Davies aka The Anchoress says: "As an album that was designed
to be listened to on headphones as an intimate journey into the physical &
psychological landscape of grief, it's been fascinating to tackle these acoustic
reworkings & explore new textures & arrangements that strip back the songs to
their essential skeletons. I hope fans will find a new connection to the core of the
songs within these acoustic versions & be excited to own them on vinyl for the
first time."
The vinyl acoustic EP release coincides with news of a series of UK tour dates:

Just as Duster's landmark debut album Stratosphere was making its first orbit, Clay Parton, Dove Amber, and Jason Albertini tracked a largely improvised companion capsule under their Valium Aggelein alter ego. An ode to '70s Kosmische, Hier Kommt Der Schwartze Mond is a skeletal space nap for the prozac generation. Remixed and remastered from the original 16 track analog tapes, the 1998 album has been adjoined by 15 period-appropriate bonus tracks. A fuzzy masterpiece, hidden in plain sight, by the most important slowcore band of all time.

80g, schwarzes Vinyl. Re-Release des ursprünglich 1974 erschienen Albums von Gille Lettmann aka Sternenmädchen. Live im Quadro-Studio: Gille und Klaus Schulze. Musikeinblendungen von den LPs "Seven Up" (Ash Ra Temple & Timothy Leary), "Lord Krishna von Goloka" (Sergius Golowin), "Tarot" (Walter Wegmüller). Statements von Sergius Golowin, Timothy Leary, Brian Barritt, Walter Wegmüller, Liz Elliot, Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser. Aufgenommen im Zeitschiff Studio Dierks. Sorgfältig transferiert und remastert von den originalen, analogen Masterbändern durch HaGü Schmitz in den Dierks Studios in Pulheim-Stommeln im Jahr 2022. ENG 180g, black vinyl. Comes in a standard sleeve. Re-release of the original 1974 album by Gille Lettmann aka Sternenmädchen / Star Maiden. Live in the Quadro Studio: Gille and Klaus Schulze. Music inserts from the LPs "Seven Up" (Ash Ra Temple & Timothy Leary), "Lord Krishna von Goloka" (Sergius Golowin), "Tarot" (Walter Wegmüller). Statements by Sergius Golowin, Timothy Leary, Brian Barritt, Walter Wegmüller, Liz Elliot, Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser. Recorded at the Zeitschiff Studio Dierks. Carefully transferred and remastered from the original analogue master tapes by HaGü Schmitz at Dierks Studios in Pulheim-Stommeln in 2022.

Hot off the heels of Official UK no.1 and soundtrack to the first summer after lockdown Afraid To Feel, skyrocketing duo LF SYSTEM satisfy fans' cravings for a powerful disco anthem with follow-up single Hungry (For Love).

Still relishing in the success of Afraid To Feel, the duo have now earned over 150M total global streams, landed Clara Amfo’s ‘Hottest Record’ on BBC Radio 1 and certified Platinum, all before being crowned the Official UK no.1 after rocketing past Beyonce, Harry Styles, Drake, George Ezra and knocking Kate Bush off the no.1 spot.

Remaining there for eight consecutive weeks as the longest running no.1 record of 2022 behind Harry Styles, Afraid To Feel is the longest running dance no.1 in chart history, matching Calvin Harris’ One Kiss and cementing the nation’s appetite for a credible dance smash.

Now set to share a slice of Scotland across the UK with their new release, LF SYSTEM will host the ultimate pattie parties with pop up raves at independent fast food chains across Edinburgh, Manchester, and London. Meanwhile, later this month LF SYSTEM will give 100 fans a chance to hear Hungry (For Love) for the first time in an exclusive live set at Metropolis Studios with a special vinyl pressing that features Afraid To Feel on the b side, marking the first time the smash hit will be available on vinyl since its release.

For Conor Larkman and Sean Finnigan of LF SYSTEM, their success follows humble beginnings in the Scottish countryside, playing football against each other as teenagers on rival teams and raving at Scotland’s best clubs. They give credit for their dance hits to home village parties, soundtracked by Motown where Sean's Dad would share classic 70s records with them to dig into. Naturally, LF SYSTEM soon dropped disco edits of their own in 2020 including Dancing Cliché, which Danny Howard discovered and played for nine weeks on his BBC R1 show, earning over 4M streams and further plays from Sarah Story and Charlie Hedges.

Since then they have captured the attention of the whole industry and have played a bucket list headline Boiler Room set in Edinburgh, marking a full circle moment for the lads who were previously club residents for its promoters FLY CLUB. Continuing a flourishing tour schedule across the summer, LF SYSTEM graced BBC Radio 1’s Dance Party Weekend in Ibiza, played b2b with Danny Howard at Amnesia and sold out their first headline show at Night Tales in London.

Hungry for their next anthem, LF SYSTEM demonstrates a soaring dexterity of two ambitious producers deep in their creative prime, now whisking up a weapon exuding vibrancy and disco-edged orchestral joy. Sampling Sandy Gang’s bubbly 70s record Hungry and featuring warm sonic textures blended with rousing strings, Hungry (For Love) is set to leave fans drooling for more.

Italian Producer and part of the r²π trio PRG/M lands on the label with a five track EP. With a mixture of deep and club orientated tracks the EP follows and refines the sonic direction of the label. In addition to four original tracks, Switzerland based producer Mod21 completes the release with an extended remix showing his signature sound.

Oslo-based four-piece Legs 11 return to Beatservice Records with their third studio album, serving seven beguiling tracks on the delightfully off-kilter 'Welcome Home'.

Comprising of deviant players Sigmund Floyd, Torstein Dyrnes, Nils Tveten, and Audun Severin Eftevåg, Legs 11 have been Beatservice mainstays since making their label debut back in 2016. Fusing a disparate blend of esoteric sounds that include synth-pop, post-punk, new wave, house and more, the quartet journey from the murkiest depths into the pop-leaning stratosphere, taking in all manner of mind-altering detours along the way. Throughout their production journey, they've revelled in the unexpected, and 'Welcome Home' masterfully continues this aberrant trajectory.

Kicking things off in energetic mood, the new wave swagger of 'Flawless Logistics' dives deep into late-night rave abandon, Unhinged vocals and throbbing synth bass drive the cut through a futurist landscape of stripped rhythms and sinister tones before an atmospheric sax solo rises in to augment the searing lyrical message. Casting a critical eye on consumer-driven culture and mercenary musical forms, the vital composition is at once an unmissable social commentary and an irresistibly floor-filling groove.

Next, the glistening synths and sing-along vocals of 'Coup' saunter over bouncing bass notes and crisp machine drums. Acid licks rise in to add thrust to the club-primed groove while brooding pads and sultry spoken words meander through the sonic space. Elegantly sashaying into post-punk swirls, the hallucinatory swagger of 'Sax Consensual' bursts with theatrics. Seductive dart across the hyper-atmospheric backing track of pointed instrumentation, with glassy synths and fizzing drums joined by an evocative sax solo to vividly conjure late-night moods.

'Into The Darkness' bubbles with sinister intent, as striking bass and stripped rhythms charge through nocturnal synths, the serrated vocals purposefully projecting through the powerfully vivid subterranean mist. Maintaining the floor-focused tempo, 'This Is Your Home' sees sleazy vocals soar across an alien landscape. Distorted toms drive the groove as mysterious swirls and metallic textures fizz across the off-world horizon. Growling bass arrives alongside a searing sax lead as the endlessly-morphing rhythm undulates and evolves.

'The Crawley Within' sees darkly suggestive vocals enveloped by ominous synths and snarling acid licks, the determined rhythm steering the sparsely-woven instrumentation across alien topography as sensual whispers permeate the groove as the music undulates to an aberrant climax. Finally, completing a strikingly coherent collection, 'fuckboi' brims with attitude, with unhinged synths joined by growling rhythm guitar as the erotically-charged vocals project the steamiest of post-club invitations.

This is entirely unique work from Legs 11. Deviant, potent, and fiercely energetic, each track is propulsive enough to ignite dancefloors while embodied with more than enough profundity for headphone immersion. Utterly compelling.

Draconian Times is probably the main album for Paradise Lost, so much so that they still tour the album today, which remains one of the milestones in the Metal scene of all time. Recorded at The Forum in London, this live set includes a few fan favorite tracks from their extensive back catalogue which rounded out a truly spectacular performance. Are there any highlights? Oh yes. Opening track ‘Enchantment’ still ranks as one of the best songs this band has penned and the moment when the haunting piano intro gives way to the rest of the band kicking in is a real shiver-down-the-spine moment. ‘Hallowed Land’ and ‘Forever Failure’ (complete with Charles Manson intro) sound as powerful and relevant as when they first came out, and the performance of ‘Shadow Kings’ stands head and shoulders above the original. After being released on DVD and CD, the album was also released on double vinyl, here you will find two new unreleased colors and a truly exceptional packaging: this album comes out in deluxe Triple Gatefold edition, in two colors (Gold / Silver) 500 limited edition each.

When Dead Horses burst on the scene with ‘Ballad For Losers’ in 2017 directly from the acid-induced foggy lands of weird Ferrara they fooled everyone from the get-go and now they are back with the aptly titled ‘Sunny Days’. These characters were here to stay, unique, oblique and oblivious. Watching them live reminds you of the highs and lows of life, a train ready to derail at any curve, literally duct taped together, that suddenly arrives on the plateau, shining in the horizon. This is when it’s important to not blink, because mark my words, you might miss the rapture, even just a minute of pure forceful magic, where everything comes together, the peak and the ecstasy hand in hand.
Their new record is once again an incredible mix of primitive-punk, Gun Club marshlands, country sadness and acid-folk that sways from the rays of light of the Vaselines to the dawn comedown of the Meat Puppets.

In ’s words:
A music journalist on the new Dead Horses record would write: a concentrate of early swampy grunge, mixed with the Californian folk psychedelia of the 60s and the folk-blues of the Appalachians, with a tune that even Piero Ciampi may have written.
I am not a music journalist so these are my words: sweet and sad songs and soundscapes that embrace you and transmit human warmth to you. This is what music should be for, to warm you up, to excite you.