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Here John Cohen, Mike Seeger, and Tracy Schwartz provide backing for Cousin Emmy, the skilled banjo player, fiddler, and singer, whose legacy as a country music pioneer is cemented in the memories of those who heard her animated performances onstage and on the radio. This album contains some of her only recorded material, including several of her own compositions along with selections of old-time and bluegrass repertoire.

A.R. Kive collates the three most astonishing works from that most miraculous of duos - A.R. Kane - comprising the ‘Up Home’ EP from 1988 that signified the band’s dawning realisation of their own powers and possibilities, their legendary debut LP ‘sixty nine’ (1988) and its kaleidoscopic, prophetic double-LP follow up ‘i’ (1989).

In founder-member Rudy Tambala’s new remastering, the music on these pivotal transmissions from the birth of dream pop, have been reinvigorated and re-infused with a new power, a new depth and intimacy, a new height and immensity. Vivid, timeless and yet always timely whenever they’re recalled, these records still force any listener to realise that despite the habits of retrospective myth-making and the
safe neutering effects of ‘genre’, thirty years have in no way dimmed how resistant and dissident to critical habits of categorisation A.R. Kane always were. Never quite ‘avant-pop’ or ‘shoegaze’ or ‘post-rock’ or any of those sobriquets designed to file and categorise, A.R. Kive is a reminder that those genres had to be coined, had to be invented precisely to contain the astonishing sound of A.R. Kane, because
previous formulations couldn’t come close to their sui generis sound and suggestiveness. This is music that pointed towards futures which a whole generation of artists and sonic explorers would map out. Now beautifully repackaged, remastered and fleshed out with extensive sleeve notes and accompanying materials, ‘A.R. Kive’ reveals that 35 years on it’s still a struggle to defuse the revolutionary and inspirational possibility of A.R. Kane’s music.

A.R. Kane were formed in 1986 by Rudy Tambala and Alex Ayuli, two second-generation immigrants who grew up together in Stratford, East London. From the off the pair were outsiders in the culturally mixed (cockney/Irish/West Indian/Asian) milieu of the East End, with Alex and Rudy’s folks first generation immigrants from Nigeria and Malawi, respectively. The two of them quickly developed and fostered an innate and near-telepathic mutual understanding forged in musical, literary and artistic exploration. Like a lot of second-generation immigrants, they were ferocious autodidacts in all kinds of areas, especially around music and literature. Diving deep into the music of afro-futurist luminaries such as Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Lee Perry and
Hendrix, as well as devouring the explorations of lysergic noise and feedback from contemporaries like Sonic Youth and Butthole Surfers, they also thoroughly immersed themselves in the alternate literary realities of sci-fi and ancient history (the fascination with the arcane that gave the band their name), all to feed their voracious cultural thirsts and intellectual curiosity.

It was seeing the Cocteau Twins performing on Channel 4 show the Tube that spurred A.R. Kane into being - “They had no drummer. They used tapes and technology and Liz Fraser looked completely otherworldly with those big eyes. And the noise coming out of Robin’s guitar! That was the ‘Fuck! We could do that! We could express ourselves like that!’ moment”, recalls Tambala - and through a mix of
confidence, chutzpah, ad hoc almost-mythical live shows and sheer innocent will the duo debuted with the astonishing ‘When You’re Sad’ single for One Little Indian in 1986. Immediately dubbed a ‘black Jesus & Mary Chain’ by a press unsure of WHERE to put a black band clearly immersed in feedback and noise, what was immediately apparent for listeners was just how much more was going on here - a
tapping of dub’s stealth and guile, a resonant umbilicus back to fusion and jazz, the music less a conjuration of past highs than a re-summoning of lost spirits.
The run of singles and EPs that followed picked up increasingly rapt reviews in the press, but it was the ‘Up Home EP’ released in 1988 on their new home, Rough Trade that really suggested something immense was about to break. Simon Reynolds noted the EP was: Their most concentrated slab of iridescent awesomeness and a true pinnacle of an era that abounded with astounding landmarks of guitar-reinvention, A.R. Kane at their most elixir-like.

If anything, the remastered ‘Up Home’ that forms the first part of ‘A.R. Kive’ is even more dazzling, even more startling than it was when it first emerged, and listening now you again wonder not just about how many bands christened ‘shoegaze’ tried to emulate it, but how all of them fell so far short of its lambent, pellucid wonder. This remains intrinsically experimental music but with none of the frowning orthodoxy those words imply. A.R. Kane, thanks to that second generation auto-didacticism were always supremely aware about the interstices of music and magic, but at the same time gloriously free in the way they explored that connection within their own sound, fascinated always with the creation of ‘perfect mistakes’ and the possibilities inherent in informed play.

‘sixty nine’ the group’s debut LP that emerged in 1988 had
critics and listeners struggling to fit language around A.R. Kane’s sound. As a title it was telling - the year of ‘Bitches Brew’, the year of ‘In A Silent Way’, the erotic möbius between two lovers - and as originally coined by the band themselves, ‘dream pop’ (before it became a free-floating signifier of vague import) was entirely apposite for the music A.R. Kane were making. Crafted in a dark small basement studio in which Tambala recalls the duo had “complete freedom - We wanted to go as far out as we could, and in doing so we discovered the point where it stops being music”. There was an irresistibly dreamy, somnambulant, sensual and almost surreal flow to ‘sixty nine’s sound, but also real darkness/dankness, the ruptures of the primordial and the reverberations of the subconscious, within the grooves of remarkable songs like ‘Dizzy’ and ‘Crazy Blue’. Alex’s plangent vocals floated and surged amidst exquisite peals of refracted feedback but crucially there was BASS here, lugubrious and funky and full of dread, sonic pleasure and sonic disturbance crushed together to make music with a center so deep it felt subcutaneous, music constructed from both the accidental and the deliberate, generous enough to dance with both serendipity and chaos. ‘sixty nine’ remains - especially in this remastered iteration - ravishing, revolutionary.

The final part of this ‘A.R. Kive’ contains 1989’s astonishing double-LP ‘i’ which followed up on ‘sixty nine’s promise and saw the duo fully unleash their experimental pop sensibilities over 26 tracks, plunging the A.R. Kane sound into a dazzlingly kaleidoscopic vision of pop experiment and play. Suffused with new digital technologies and combining searingly sweet and danceable pop with perhaps the duo’s strangest and boundary-pushing compositions, the album did exactly what a great double-set should do - indulge the artists sprawling pursuit of their own imaginations but always with a concision and an ear for those moments where pop both transcends and toys with the listeners expectations. Jason Ankeny has noted that “In retrospect, ‘i’ now seems like a crystal ball prophesying virtually every major musical development of the 1990s; from the shimmering techno of ‘A Love from Outer Space’ to the liquid dub of ‘What’s All This Then?’, from the alien drone-pop of ‘Conundrum’ to the sinister shoegazer miasma of ‘Supervixens’ — it’s all here, an underground road map for countless bands to follow.” Perhaps the most overwhelmingly all-encompassing transmission from A.R. Kane, ‘i’ bookended a three year period in which the duo had made some of the most prophetic and revelatory music of the entire decade.

After ‘i’ the duo’s output became more sporadic with Tambala and Ayuli moving in different directions both geographically and musically, with only 1994’s ‘New Clear Child’ a crystalline re-fraction of future and past echoes of jazz, folk and soul, before the duo went their separate ways. Since then, A.R. Kane’s music has endured, not thanks to the usual sepia’d false memories that seem to maintain interest in so much of the musical past, but because those who hear A.R. Kane music and are changed irrevocably, have to share that universe which A.R. Kane opened up, with anyone else who will listen. Far more than other lauded documents of the late 80s it still sounds astonishingly fresh, astonishingly livid and vivid and necessary and NOW.

Australian label Lunatic Music’s second release (LM002) comes from London-based, Tokyo-born producer, DJ Himitsu. The first EP from Himitsu, Three Acid’s A-side offers up percussive dance tracks entangled with solid acid lines – a generous offering perfect for the party’s deepest hours.

When it’s time to relax, the B-side delivers with a balearic track full of looping organic samples. Complementing the release is renowned lunatic, Dexter Gregg, going hard with his take on B3 – Squid Friends (Solid State Remix.)

Frankie Cosmos, Palehound, Jay Som, Helado Negro, Lala Lala, Mamalarky, Sword II. Atlanta three-piece Kibi James announce their debut full-length album, delusions, out August 25th on Bayonet Records. Mari (guitar, keys), MJ Corless (bass) and Pomi Abebe (drums) join forces in crafting intoxicatingly dreamy melodies, their soft, siren-like voices sweeping you into their world as they bilingually share reflections on love in its many forms – romantic, familial, self – but most prominently the love that comes from their friendship. Co-produced, recorded and mixed by Drew Vandenberg (Faye Webster, SPELLLING, Toro y Moi) at Chase Park Studios in Athens, GA, and mastered by Heba Kadry, delusions is laden with vividly lush portraits of the places they call home Atlanta, their music community, their physical house, and the sense of home they have in one another. While the outside world is often a source of chaos, Kibi James finds security and intimacy in their shared domestic life together – the details of which come in the form of the intimate narratives and memories that make up delusions. From the manifestation spell for their now-apartment that's included in the first verse of "mister g," to finding homely solace in loved ones on "right now" and "bender," the band's ultimate sense of home is both fluid and utterly unshakable, as long as they have each other. They harmonize in both English and Spanish as their voices softly intertwine, singing of their hopes for the future over hazy, treated guitars and the soft pattering of drums. Their strong sense of unconditional love and mutual camaraderie keep them grounded, preserving the warm, optimistic light that has shone through every aspect of the band since their genesis. Corless says, "We're proud of where we come from and where we're headed. We're absolutely going to keep these delusions going."

Frankie Cosmos, Palehound, Jay Som, Helado Negro, Lala Lala, Mamalarky, Sword II. Atlanta three-piece Kibi James announce their debut full-length album, delusions, out August 25th on Bayonet Records. Mari (guitar, keys), MJ Corless (bass) and Pomi Abebe (drums) join forces in crafting intoxicatingly dreamy melodies, their soft, siren-like voices sweeping you into their world as they bilingually share reflections on love in its many forms – romantic, familial, self – but most prominently the love that comes from their friendship. Co-produced, recorded and mixed by Drew Vandenberg (Faye Webster, SPELLLING, Toro y Moi) at Chase Park Studios in Athens, GA, and mastered by Heba Kadry, delusions is laden with vividly lush portraits of the places they call home Atlanta, their music community, their physical house, and the sense of home they have in one another. While the outside world is often a source of chaos, Kibi James finds security and intimacy in their shared domestic life together – the details of which come in the form of the intimate narratives and memories that make up delusions. From the manifestation spell for their now-apartment that's included in the first verse of "mister g," to finding homely solace in loved ones on "right now" and "bender," the band's ultimate sense of home is both fluid and utterly unshakable, as long as they have each other. They harmonize in both English and Spanish as their voices softly intertwine, singing of their hopes for the future over hazy, treated guitars and the soft pattering of drums. Their strong sense of unconditional love and mutual camaraderie keep them grounded, preserving the warm, optimistic light that has shone through every aspect of the band since their genesis. Corless says, "We're proud of where we come from and where we're headed. We're absolutely going to keep these delusions going."

A Tele Music CLASSIC from 1972, Pierre-Alain Dahan's Continental Pop Sound is of those library albums with something for everyone. Breaks? Check. Fuzz guitar? Check. Slower, jazzy stuff? Double check. It's a stunning collection of psychedelic rock, soulful funk and retro pop stylings that's currently going for over £200 on Discogs. And with good reason. French drummer, percussionist and composer Pierre-Alain Dahan was a key member of the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou and Sauveur Mallia) and Jef Gilson Septet. So, you know this Be With reissue is nailed on essential.

Skip the by-numbers opener "Rock Extra" and head straight to the deeeeeep, minimalist groove of "Slowrama", a humid masterclass in low-slung, creeping crime funk with weighty breaks and beefy bass complimented by hypnotic wah-wah and warm electric piano. Sensational. It was sampled by Prince Po in 2004 for his "Love Thang" track. The galloping "Latin Pop Sound" is a percussive, Santana-esque tour de force featuring fantastic guitar shreds over a bassline to die for. "Morning Melody" is a lightweight amble whereas the brief but deliciously psych-rock heavy "Islam Blues" is a must for your mixes when requiring short segue tracks. The A-Side closes out with "Phasing Drums N° 1, 2 & 3", all completely ace. For us, N° 3 is the pick of the bunch, with particularly slooooow and deliberate drums underpinned by a droning, sinister organ. Hip-hop, before hip-hop, no less.

The genuine monster "Pacific Rock" blasts out the gate to usher in Side B, a thrilling and unrelenting pop-rock instrumental that really drives. "Quasimodo Pop" contains great slow mo funk breaks and scratchy guitars that alternate with pretty heavy riffing to create a compelling base track. "Carmel Beach" is as beautiful as the location it's named after, as insouciant guitars glide over super slo-mo beats and dramatic organ before it breaks down to a laconic, reflective electric piano showcase. Sumptuous. "Auto Moto Rallye" is a brief driving funk gem, as you might expect, complete with revved up guitars tuned and played to emulate the irresistible sound of growling race cars.

The upbeat, piano-led rock stomper "V.S.O.P Rock" is all well and good but, what you might really be here for is the trio of tracks that ensure the LP ends on an almighty high. The three most famous tracks “Rythmiques 1, 2 & 3” all come complete with *ultra*-dope breaks. N° 2 is probably our favourite, with the shuffling bassline and breaks combo augmented by the wonderful cowbell. Though on any other day, it could be N° 3! This album is often considered as the “baby brother” to Tele Music's Rythmiques, and this triptych is all the proof you need. Outstanding.

One of the very best French drummers ever, Pierre-Alain Dahan began his career at the Blue Note in Paris with Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Daniel Humair. Some start, eh?! He also participated in the recording of Serge Gainsbourg's cult album 'La Ballade de Melody Nelson' before going on to make countless KILLER library funk records and be a key member in the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Sauveur Mallia et al), Jef Gilson Septet (alongside Henri Texier) and many more. Some pedigree.

The audio for Continental Pop Sound has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Limited 2023 Repress of MADICNH002 By Tripped pressed on Transparent 12" record with Blue and Orange marbles, Comes in plain black record sleeve. Each copy is unique.

An eclectic EP heavy on the old-school vibes as familiar from the Madback label chief.

Going anywhere from Hard Techno, doomy Hardcore, Acid & Hardcore Techno. Don't miss out!

Whispers is the first proper P.G. Six album since 2011"s Starry Mind. Time passes slowly, as they"ve been known to say out in the country, and before you know it, there"s a bunch of it behind you. After five releases in the first decade of P.G. Six, it may seem a bit of a surprise to have not heard something new in the past twelve years - but a cursory listen to Murmurs & Whispers will answer why, as the deep acoustic focus of the tracks imply an investment of the type of compassion and understanding that takes time and concentrated effort to conjure. Additionally, Pat Gubler"s always got a few pots going at once in his ever-expanding musical universe. He"s been active since the mid-90s, first with Memphis Luxure and Tower Recordings, then as P.G. Six, and as a member of Metal Mountains, Wet Tuna, Garcia Peoples and Weeping Bong Band. Additionally, some time was spent making collaborative records with Dan Melchior (in 2019) and Louise Bock (in 2021). Pat"s been playing the harp for more years than he"s been in bands, but when he realized that he was writing a set of songs centered around harp compositions, he spent some time in the woodshed with his instrument, a late 80s model Triplett Celtic 34 String Harp (which replaced a lovely Paraguayan harp he"d played for years previously). After the previous P.G. albums of electric band arrangements, he was in a place of writing songs with more silence in them. He ended up playing a lot of the parts himself on Murmurs & Whispers, adding guitar, bass, keyboards, recorder and hurdy gurdy, in addition to his harp and vocals. Clark Griffin and Wednesday Knudson, who Pat plays with in Weeping Bong Band, played and sang a bit themselves, and the record was recorded piece by piece in houses around upstate New York by Mike Fellows. Returning to the quiet acoustic sound of the first couple of P.G. Six albums, Parlor Tricks and Porch Favorites (which has seen a much-needed reissue in the past year after too many years OOP) and The Well of Memory, Murmurs & Whispers is more straightforward in expressing its vision of rural celestial wonder. Bucolic and comfortably lived in, Murmurs & Whispers nonetheless projects the transcendent heart of P.G. Six once again, and as ever, it is magnificent to hear it passing through us.

Pierre-Alain Dahan & Slim Pezin's Neo Rythmiques is an absolute KILLER Tele Music library classic from 1976. It's absolutely sensational throughout, all scorching, uptempo jazzy soul funk that Mr James Brown himself would've been envious of. This is serious business with breaks for days. French drummer, percussionist and composer Pierre-Alain Dahan was a key member of the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Mallia et al!) and Jef Gilson Septet. With Neo Rhythmiques, he's joined by his eternal guitar colleague Slim Pezin (Voyage, Manu Dibango, Nino Ferrer), so you know this Be With reissue is fundamentally vital.

Opener "Soul Car" is a swaggering, horn-drenched jazz-funk beast whilst the slick JBs funk of "Happy Penalty" is just plain irresistible. Definitely influenced by American funk flavours, it stands alone on its own right as a brilliant piece of music, no question about that. The blazing "Kuzi-Kuza" is again horn-fuelled but has a more exotic, Latino feel, all loose grooves and bastard blues with funky organ and shredding guitars. The stomping, proto-disco of "Mercy Boa" is a guitar-sizzled Bohannon-esque hypno-groove for adventurous dance floors the world over. Outstanding. And if all that wasn't enough from one half of a 70s French library LP, the A side ends with the monumental, stratospheric "Slim Bertha"! I mean, what can you even say about this absolute monster?! Slo-motion, deep drama funk breaks with jazzy guitar and gleaming percussion. Just sensational.

Side B opens with "Country + Country", a rather forgettable slice of piano driven bluegrass funk (?!) Aaaaannyway, "Super Airship" follows and is a driving fuzz-guitar psych-rock workout of the highest order. We're back on track now. The brilliantly titled "Electronic Mutation" is a total highlight, the funk most definitely returning and, indeed, strong in this one with its deep clean breaks (with some particularly ace hi-hats), echoey effects and funky clavs. "Africa Semper" follows, all funky percussion, trippy echo and distorted, psychy guitar licks. To close out the set, "Neo Rythmiques 1 and 2" form a great salvo of top-tier, percussion-heavy synthy-funk-fusion. For our money, the bugged-out echoey space-soul of "N° 2" just about edges it.

One of the very best French drummers ever, Pierre-Alain Dahan began his career at the Blue Note in Paris with Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Daniel Humair. Some start, eh?! He also participated in the recording of Serge Gainsbourg's cult album 'La Ballade de Melody Nelson' before going on to make countless KILLER library funk records and be a key member - alongside his partner here, Slim Pezin - in the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co and Voyage. Dahan also featured in Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Sauveur Mallia et al) and Jef Gilson Septet (alongside Henri Texier), whilst the CCCP Pezin backed, among others, Manu Dibango and Nino Ferrer. Some pedigree.

The audio for Neo Rythmiques has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Part of Tele Music Reissue Campaign, 2023 first time reissue, 140g vinyl

Wow! Pierre-Alain Dahan & Mat Camison's Rythmiques is another iconic release in the hallowed Tele Music catalogue. First appearing in 1973, it features tense funk, blunted jazz and heavy breaks all the way. Considered the rightful sequel to Continental Pop Sound, it's a vital album for producers and DJs; and you can probably guess that RHYTHM is central to the record's presentation. And you can really taste what's rhythm, to borrow a phrase. French drummer, percussionist and composer Pierre-Alain Dahan was a key member of the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Mallia et al!) and Jef Gilson Septet whilst his partner here, Mat Camison, was a pioneering synth LORD. So, you know this Be With reissue is absolutely crucial.

The album picks up from where Continental Pop Sound left us, opening with the tense, stabbing thriller-funk of "Rythmiques N° 4". The dubbier "Rythmiques N° 5" is no less electric and definitely has a spacey air of wonky funk about it with the slightly off-kilter rolling piano. "Rythmiques N° 6" is more percussive-focussed with a brilliantly hypnotic opening that really stretches the drama out. “Rythmique N° 7” alternates between fast-paced, skipping drums and slo-mo funk, always with the clavinet high up in the mix. Wicked. The dope jazz of “Rythmique N° 8” truly mesmerises with licks of electric piano, funky bass flourishes and varied percussion. “Rythmique N° 9” has great, sloppy-yet-hard intro drums which sound like something Daft Punk could've pilfered circa Human After All, punctuated by a guitar rock refrain that repeats til the end but is never overdone. The A-Side closes with the beautiful, melancholic "Piano + Piano", a reflective jazzy piano track which could easily open a wide-ranging set this autumn and many after it. Stunning.

Opening Side B, "Auto Rythmiques" is a hectic yet compelling funk workout but it's all about the frankly devastating breakbeats on “Rythmiques N° 10 & N° 11” with effortlessly twisted funk bass lines over open drum breaks and enough tension and rhythmic switch-ups to keep your neck-snapping and your mind lifted. Downright essential. Taking leave from the heavy funk break action, the pastoral "Océan Horizon" is perhaps an unfairly overlooked highlight. A gorgeous, softly-aquatic, ambient gem, it's gently percussive with warm, floaty keys decorating the mellow rhythmic bed. The mercifully brief "Super Carrousel" is harmless fun-fair-funk but perhaps best skipped over whilst the intriguingly titled "Gay Shopping" is another throwaway exercise in inexcusable jaunt whilst. To close out this memorable set, thankfully, we're left with "Suspense N° 1" to get us back on course with its unsurprisingly tense mix of urgent stringed instruments that flirt with rhythm and melody yet the longer the track goes on. Deep.

One of the very best French drummers ever, Pierre-Alain Dahan began his career at the Blue Note in Paris with Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Daniel Humair. Some start, eh?! He also participated in the recording of Serge Gainsbourg's cult album 'La Ballade de Melody Nelson' before going on to make countless KILLER library funk records and be a key member in the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Sauveur Mallia et al), Jef Gilson Septet (alongside Henri Texier) and many more. Some pedigree.

The audio for Rythmiques has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Whispers is the first proper P.G. Six album since 2011"s Starry Mind. Time passes slowly, as they"ve been known to say out in the country, and before you know it, there"s a bunch of it behind you. After five releases in the first decade of P.G. Six, it may seem a bit of a surprise to have not heard something new in the past twelve years - but a cursory listen to Murmurs & Whispers will answer why, as the deep acoustic focus of the tracks imply an investment of the type of compassion and understanding that takes time and concentrated effort to conjure. Additionally, Pat Gubler"s always got a few pots going at once in his ever-expanding musical universe. He"s been active since the mid-90s, first with Memphis Luxure and Tower Recordings, then as P.G. Six, and as a member of Metal Mountains, Wet Tuna, Garcia Peoples and Weeping Bong Band. Additionally, some time was spent making collaborative records with Dan Melchior (in 2019) and Louise Bock (in 2021). Pat"s been playing the harp for more years than he"s been in bands, but when he realized that he was writing a set of songs centered around harp compositions, he spent some time in the woodshed with his instrument, a late 80s model Triplett Celtic 34 String Harp (which replaced a lovely Paraguayan harp he"d played for years previously). After the previous P.G. albums of electric band arrangements, he was in a place of writing songs with more silence in them. He ended up playing a lot of the parts himself on Murmurs & Whispers, adding guitar, bass, keyboards, recorder and hurdy gurdy, in addition to his harp and vocals. Clark Griffin and Wednesday Knudson, who Pat plays with in Weeping Bong Band, played and sang a bit themselves, and the record was recorded piece by piece in houses around upstate New York by Mike Fellows. Returning to the quiet acoustic sound of the first couple of P.G. Six albums, Parlor Tricks and Porch Favorites (which has seen a much-needed reissue in the past year after too many years OOP) and The Well of Memory, Murmurs & Whispers is more straightforward in expressing its vision of rural celestial wonder. Bucolic and comfortably lived in, Murmurs & Whispers nonetheless projects the transcendent heart of P.G. Six once again, and as ever, it is magnificent to hear it passing through us.

The Bad Guys is a 2022 animation feature film by DreamWorks Animation. Directed by Pierre Perifel, the film stars Sam Rockwell, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein and Awkwafina amongst others. The story follows a notorious fun-loving criminal animal crew. After a heist has gone wrong, the pack agree to become model citizens - or at least try to.

The score was composed by Daniel Pemberton who is known for composing the score to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and its sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). He has also composed the soundtrack for King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015). Besides the original score, this soundtrack also features the songs "Good Tonight" feat. Anthony Ramos, "Feelin' Alright" by Elle King and "Brand New Day" by The Heavy.

The Bad Guys is available as a limited edition of 500 individually numbered copies on yellow & orange marbled vinyl and includes a 4-page booklet with liner notes by Daniel Pemberton and Pierre Perifel.

Los Angeles rapper Earl Sweatshirt releases his new project SICK!, out now via Tan Cressida / Warner Records. The new 10-track project includes previously released singles "2010," "Tabula Rasa (feat. Armand Hammer)," and "Titanic" and features collaborative contributions from artists and producers Zelooperz, Nak-el Smith, Armand Hammer, Black Noi$e, and The Alchemist.

Speaking about the new project, Earl says:

"SICK! is my humble offering of 10 songs recorded in the wake of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns. Before the virus I had been working on an album I named after a book I used to read with my mother ('The People Could Fly'). Once the lockdowns hit, people couldn't fly anymore. A wise man said art imitates life.

People were sick. The People were angry and isolated and restless. I leaned into the

chaos cause it was apparent that it wasn't going anywhere. these songs are what happened when I would come up for air. Peace and love to Zelooperz the enigma, The Armand Hammer, and my good friends Alchemist and Black Noi$e. Peace and love to u."



Following the project's release, Earl Sweatshirt will embark on his North American 2022 NBA Leather Tour later this month with Action Bronson, and The Alchemist with Boldy James. The 19-date run will see stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City before wrapping up in Austin in February. Tickets are available here.



Listen to SICK! above and find full album details and upcoming live dates below. Stay tuned for more from Earl Sweatshirt coming soon.

Despite being nearly 50 years old, the first two singles garnered support from Shindig Magazine, New Commute, Aquarium Drunkard, and even landed on Spotify's Fresh Indie Finds.

The final U.S. show, a triumphant and blistering bookend to the storied career of one of the most influential bands in rock music, featuring a unique and expansive eighty-five minute set list that spans Sonic Youth’s nearly three decade catalog. Mixed from multitrack by longtime live engineer Aaron Mullan and mastered and cut by Carl Saff. On August 12, 2011 Sonic Youth played their final US show on an outdoor stage overlooking the East River at the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn. Fitting that their storied career would bookend with a panoramic view of New York City where it all began 30 years before, having left in their wake one of one of the most powerfully influential careers in rock music. Following incredible sets from Kurt Vile and Wild Flag, the band took the stage. As the sun went down over the city, Sonic Youth ripped through a 17 song set that spanned from deep cuts off their first studio album and highlighting many other albums all the way through to their last, like a band with everything to prove. Or as Brooklyn Vegan’s Andrew Sacher said at the time: “While most bands who are thirty years into their career are either fading away or living off of the nostalgia of their older material, Sonic Youth continue to sound and perform as fresh as ever.” Steve Shelley explains the uniquely career spanning set list of Live in Brooklyn 2011 and how it came to be, as well as the importance of outdoor NYC summer shows in Sonic Youth’s legacy: “This show was a culmination of a run of really special outdoor summertime shows in New York City for us, starting in ’92 with Summerstage in Central Park when we played with Sun Ra. For the Williamsburg Waterfront show I wrote out the set list to present to the band and it was a lot of material we hadn’t played in a while, a lot of deep cuts, so I wasn’t sure if everybody would feel like doing it. After worrying about which songs the band might say yes or no to, I threw those concerns out the window and I just made a list of songs that I thought would be a great set. We practiced the week of the show at our space in Hoboken and put the set together. First we’d try and make sure we had a guitar in the song’s tuning, then we’d try to remember the arrangement and try and put it together, sometimes re-learning bar by bar. In the end I think the whole song list made it through. Even as early as ’86 and ’87 we stopped playing ‘Death Valley 69’ and ‘Brave Men Run’ with any regularity. We’d just get excited about new material coming into the set and songs would get ‘retired’ and wouldn’t get played again for years. So on this particular night in Brooklyn a lot of those retired songs and deep cuts got dusted off and played for this show. It turned out to be a pretty special event with a really special song list.” The band would go on to fulfill a contracted festival run in South America a few months later but, by then, the group’s center was severed beyond repair and the festival appearances didn’t hold the same kind of weight. “The stage was facing the East River from the Williamsburg, Brooklyn waterfront, and I recall the sun going down in the west during our set. It was a pretty magical, if kinda weird day. Fitting, somehow, that our ‘last show’ should be in New York City, our home and where it all began…” Lee Ranaldo The Williamsburg Waterfront show would fondly become referred to as ‘The Last Show’ by fans and band alike, equally for its triumphant high energy performance, its unique and expansive set list and locale. Newly remixed and remastered, Live in Brooklyn 2011 is presented for the first time on 2xLP, 2Xcd, August 18, 2023.

Out Of The Blue is the debut studio album by Debbie Gibson and was released on August 18, 1987. The album received favorable reviews from music critics and sold more than five million copies worldwide.

Gibson wrote all ten songs on this album at the age of 16 going on 17, Gibson’s youthful exuberance and energy shine through infectiously on this album. No less than five tracks of this album hit the Top 40: “Only in My Dreams,” “Shake Your Love,” “Out of the Blue,” “Foolish Beat” and “Staying Together”.

This album stands out from the competition due to Gibson’s talent as a singer, musician, pop songwriter, arranger, and even producer.

There are different ways to celebrate an anniversary. We can look back and reflect on where we've been and how far we've come. Or we can look forward towards future possibilities. Alternatively, we can simply pause for a moment and be present - right here, right now. Rather like we are aware and mindful of what is happening at this very moment when we're enjoying superb music, excellently recorded and played.

That's how Clearaudio is celebrating its 45th anniversary. To mark the occasion, Clearaudio are delighted to present an album of music that embodies their passion for perfection, for nuanced and detailed sound, and for an intimate marriage of creativity and technical finesse. In other words, an album that reflects the key principles by Clearaudio.

"Take the best, make it better - only then it is just good enough." This well-known quote is as valid today as it was 45 years ago, and has inspired a host of colleagues and collaborators along the way. Ever since the release of Delta and Sigma speakers in 1978 and the development of the first moving coil cartridges, not a day has passed when Clearaudio didn't strive to set new standards for higher fidelity. This mindset continues to underpin their work to this day.

No matter where you've come from or where you are going, if your heart beats to the drum of truly authentic sound, then you'll find Clearaudio spirit, will and drive in every single one of their products - from the most towering turntable to the smallest cable.

While some creators may be content with merely looking closely, Clearaudio has always looked and listened closely. Very closely - and at both ends of the spectrum, from top-quality record engineering to excellent playback. So the early stages of every Clearaudio musical recording begin with questions like: "Does it sound exactly like in a concert hall?" and "Does the music feel as was intended when it was written and composed?"

In addition to their own recordings, a number of their favourite legendary productions from Deutsche Grammophon have also found their way onto this album. So why not take a pause, "take five," and enjoy these moments of exceptional music, lovingly produced? And join Clearaudio in celebrating 45 years of loving music!

Dedicated to Nora Forster, John Lydon's wife of nearly five decades, who passed away on April 5th 2023! Public Image Ltd. (PiL) announce their 11th studio album and first album in 8 years, End of World, to be released on 11th August 2023 on PiL Official via Cargo UK Distribution, followed by a 37-date UK and European Tour. The band began writing and recording End of World in 2018, during their 40th anniversary tour.

After The Great Pause, the band regrouped in the studio and "there was just this massive explosion of ideas," Lydon says. The result finds PiL set to release 13 of the best tracks they have ever written. The announcement comes with the release of new single Penge, which John describes as, "something of a mediaeval Viking epic." Earlier this year, PiL released Hawaii, the most personal piece of songwriting and accompanying artwork that John Lydon has ever shared. The song is a love letter to John's late wife, Nora, who had been living with Alzheimer's since long and sadly passed away on April 5th this year.

A pensive, personal yet universal love song that has resonated with many since its release in January, the song sees John reflecting on their lifetime well spent and in particular one of their happiest moments together in Hawaii. The powerfully emotional ballad is as close as John will ever come to bearing his soul. "It is dedicated to everyone going through tough times on the journey of life, with the person they care for the most," John says. "It's also a message of hope that ultimately love conquers all. As I say in the song, all journeys end and some begin again, but this is the beginning of a new journey with us. And, oddly enough, as bad as Alzheimer's is, there are great moments of tenderness between us. And I tried to capture that in the song." Celebrating their 40-year anniversary in 2018, the band is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential bands of all time. PiL's music and vision has earned them 5 UK Top 20 singles and 5 UK Top 20 albums.

With a shifting line-up and unique sound - fusing rock, dance, folk, pop and dub - Lydon guided the band from their debut album First Issue in 1978 through to 1992's That What Is Not, before a 17 year hiatus. Lydon reactivated PiL in 2009, touring extensively worldwide and releasing two critically acclaimed albums This is PiL in 2012 followed by their 10th studio album What The World Needs Now_ in 2015, which peaked at number 29 in the official UK album charts and picked up fantastic acclaim from both press and public. (The album also peaked at number 3 in the official UK indie charts and number 4 in the official UK vinyl charts). What The World Needs Now_ was self-funded by PiL and released on their own label 'PiL Official' via Cargo UK Distribution.

In 2018 PiL celebrated their 40th anniversary with a career-spanning box set and documentary, both called 'The Public Image Is Rotten', and a 32-date UK/Europe tour, plus dates in Japan. John Lydon, Lu Edmonds, Scott Firth and Bruce Smith continue as PiL. They are the longest stable line-up in the band's history and continue to challenge and thrive. PiL will be touring the UK and Europe in September and October 2023.

Dedicated to Nora Forster, John Lydon's wife of nearly five decades, who passed away on April 5th 2023! Public Image Ltd. (PiL) announce their 11th studio album and first album in 8 years, End of World, to be released on 11th August 2023 on PiL Official via Cargo UK Distribution, followed by a 37-date UK and European Tour. The band began writing and recording End of World in 2018, during their 40th anniversary tour.

After The Great Pause, the band regrouped in the studio and "there was just this massive explosion of ideas," Lydon says. The result finds PiL set to release 13 of the best tracks they have ever written. The announcement comes with the release of new single Penge, which John describes as, "something of a mediaeval Viking epic." Earlier this year, PiL released Hawaii, the most personal piece of songwriting and accompanying artwork that John Lydon has ever shared. The song is a love letter to John's late wife, Nora, who had been living with Alzheimer's since long and sadly passed away on April 5th this year.

A pensive, personal yet universal love song that has resonated with many since its release in January, the song sees John reflecting on their lifetime well spent and in particular one of their happiest moments together in Hawaii. The powerfully emotional ballad is as close as John will ever come to bearing his soul. "It is dedicated to everyone going through tough times on the journey of life, with the person they care for the most," John says. "It's also a message of hope that ultimately love conquers all. As I say in the song, all journeys end and some begin again, but this is the beginning of a new journey with us. And, oddly enough, as bad as Alzheimer's is, there are great moments of tenderness between us. And I tried to capture that in the song." Celebrating their 40-year anniversary in 2018, the band is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential bands of all time. PiL's music and vision has earned them 5 UK Top 20 singles and 5 UK Top 20 albums.

With a shifting line-up and unique sound - fusing rock, dance, folk, pop and dub - Lydon guided the band from their debut album First Issue in 1978 through to 1992's That What Is Not, before a 17 year hiatus. Lydon reactivated PiL in 2009, touring extensively worldwide and releasing two critically acclaimed albums This is PiL in 2012 followed by their 10th studio album What The World Needs Now_ in 2015, which peaked at number 29 in the official UK album charts and picked up fantastic acclaim from both press and public. (The album also peaked at number 3 in the official UK indie charts and number 4 in the official UK vinyl charts). What The World Needs Now_ was self-funded by PiL and released on their own label 'PiL Official' via Cargo UK Distribution.

In 2018 PiL celebrated their 40th anniversary with a career-spanning box set and documentary, both called 'The Public Image Is Rotten', and a 32-date UK/Europe tour, plus dates in Japan. John Lydon, Lu Edmonds, Scott Firth and Bruce Smith continue as PiL. They are the longest stable line-up in the band's history and continue to challenge and thrive. PiL will be touring the UK and Europe in September and October 2023.

After his acclaimed album for us released recently, Ribe comes again into the mothership with this modular madness EP, proving again his mastery of intelligent techno and sound design.

La penumbra is the first track, as the title suggests, darkness and shadows come immediately to mind when listening to it. A solitary bass drum joined by several drones and ambiences interleaving and mutating over the arrangement.

El Metodo follows, electric and sharp, with repetitive modular bleeps floating over a bass heavy groove. The only additional elements are percussive and come into the track progressively until the hypnotic climax.

Flipping the record, Las Raices introduce distortion and roughness on the equation, relying on a powerful groove soon accompanied by high pitched drones and electric synthetic washes.

Last Tune is Bajo el Olivo, liquid and elastic, with resonant bubbles going asymmetrically on top of the rhythm with occasional percussive details going on the back. A sci-fi sequence appears in the middle of the track adding additional sound hypnosis.

No doubt that Ribe has his own trademark sound and we are really proud of having him onboard.

Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl. High Vis were formed in 2016 from the ashes of some of the UK's best hardcore bands. Gild-toothed frontman Graham Sayle's anguished lyrics about life in working class Britain were familiar to fans of Tremors' full-throttle thrash, but alongside his former bandmate Edward `Ski' Harper and veterans of Dirty Money, DiE and The Smear, High Vis sought to transform that energy and intensity into something entirely new.Like scene-mates Chubby and the Gang did by pulling in unlikely source material from classic doo-wop or Micromoon have by combining everything from psychedelia and metal into their high potency mix, High Vis' 2019 debut album, No Sense No Feeling showed the band were never going to be constrained by any sense of genre rules or regulations. Its claustrophobic rattle bore traces of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Crisis, The Cure and Gang Of Four lurking in the shadows. 2020's synth-driven EP, Society Exists, was further evidence of the band's restless creative MO.High Vis' second album Blending sees them open their viewfinder wider than ever before. Alongside longstanding favourites such as Fugazi and Echo and The Bunnymen; Ride and even Flock Of Seagulls were shared reference points as the band worked on the album together.From the anthemic sweep of opener "Talk For Hours", through the title track's psychedelic swirl and "Fever Dream"'s baggy groove, it sees High Vis' sound blossoming into something with an unlimited richness. The hazy drift of "Shame" or the melodic jangle of "Trauma Bonds" may take them until uncharted waters, but they still have all the power and bite that made No Sense No Feeling so remarkable.Lyrically, the album represents another leap forward too. Talking frankly about poverty, class politics, and the challenges of everyday life, Sayle's lyrics have always addressed the downtrodden and discarded communities across Britain slipping below the waterline. This time around, Sayle's lost not of that social consciousness, but he's looked at himself and his own emotional landscape, and in the process created something that feels more universal, that reaches a hand-out to people and ultimately gives a message of hope."To me, the lyrics are less selfish," reflects Sayle. "In the past, I couldn't see past whatever was going on with me. It's about accepting things and being open to conversations and learning to talk to people rather than just thinking that we're all doomed."The song "Talk for Hours" is a prime example of that. Born out of an afternoon meeting up with an old group of mates "repeating the same thing and not actually learning anything about each other" it offers to actually break the cycle and to listen and speak frankly about shared feelings and experiences. "Trauma Bonds", meanwhile, traces the broken lines of those living in lost communities, but ultimately realises that despite our shared scars, there's still hope to move on to a better future."The message of the album is you're not who you're told you are," Sayle summarises. "You're not your class background. Whatever it is, you're not that. Don't resign yourself to thinking you can't be this and you can't be that."It's a vitally important message right now, and one that could be the motto for not only Blending, but for High Vis themselves.

The free folk/jazz sound of modern Los Angeles. Featuring a heavy bunch of musicians and vocalists including Moor Mother.

"Fearlessly Accessing the Divine Spirit From Here on Out" is the vinyl debut from pianist, composer, and producer Diego Gaeta. He has previously released projects as Club Diego and with the trio Human Error Club (whose members Mekala Session and Jesse Justice helped produce this record). He has quickly become a fixture in a number of Los Angeles musical environments, working with Lionmilk, The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Carlos Niño, Black Nile among others. This album is a synthesis of these many LA environments, and carries chamber, jazz, ambient, and folk influences, ultimately giving it an uncategorizable feel similar to works by Arthur Verocai or David Axelrod.

Gaeta recorded the initial ideas for the album by himself after experiencing a burst of creativity during the lockdown of 2020, in the aftermath of a season of protests in Los Angeles, on a piano at his home in El Sereno. "I was constantly not in tune with myself, always awaiting outrage and tragedy in a very unstable world. However, hitting the streets in support of various ongoing pandemic community actions felt necessary and it marked a point in time that ushered in large societal changes. The weight of that era made me feel allergic to making art at the time. All of these ideas came after that period, expressing my reflections subconsciously. I remember that the ideas came in a short amount of time, and then they developed."

Once he had created the tracks as Ableton sessions, he realized the gravity and context of how he was processing his ideas so he, as he puts it, "felt like taking them outside the hands of midi and into the hands of friends." Gaeta was able to assemble his dream band, which ended up being a 9-piece ensemble, or a nonet. "I felt that at some point I was channeling the geometrical balance of that nonet...it's almost as if I had a sextet and then the three of the sextet that's not the rhythm section were doubled. It's a really dense sextet, that's how I see it."

The recording process began the following summer in June 2021 as the musicians were all adjusting to the newfound dynamic of getting tested for COVID, waiting a few days, and then meeting up to record. "We were eating Indian food, some of us were smoking, it was a nice memory, but I felt a little stressed, because I was the bandleader, and I felt the emotional weight of my music."

The title track and single, featuring vocals by Jimetta Rose, begins with a speech by Gaeta delivered when playing with Black Nile in 2019 at the Levitt Amphitheatre in MacArthur park. Gaeta provides the following account: "Even though it was in 2019, socio-political tensions and issues were at the forefront for me at that time. I wrote a speech that was intended to be critical of the US but it ended up becoming a collage inspired by different women that had messages of freedom that spoke to me the most. I quoted Nina Simone and Georgia Anne Muldrow, it wasn't something that I read but something that she said "kicking it with consciousness and style" that phrase stuck with me, so I used it in that speech. Although critical, the speech had a positive feeling to it, and it was hopeful. I gave that speech while fireworks were going off."

Moor Mother & Zeroh are found on their respective tracks, Memory Screen & Eccolo - both delivering a distinct, commanding vocal performance. Low Leaf colors the track Soft Spot with harp, a beautiful ballad nestled in the center of the album. Other players include Gregory Uhlmann on guitar, Jon Kaye on violin, Devin Daniels on alto saxophone, Caleb Buchanan on bass, Dante Luna on vibraphone, Patrick Behnke on viola, Bryan Baker on tenor saxophone/flute, and Mekala Session on drums.

"I’d like for us tonight to embody a freedom oriented life. Freedom isn’t just a dream, it’s a place we must all arrive at together, as one by one the people of the Earth help each other to be Free of power, hate, and insecurities. Let’s kick it with consciousness and style. Can y’all dig that? YEAH. I can too. So now we’d like to present to you a spiritual transmission I like to call: 'Fearlessly Accessing the Divine Spirit of Freedom From Here On Out.' YEAH" - Diego Gaeta

Conundrum EP, a self-constructed puzzle, bringing together various conceptual elements. Going from detailed drum programming to live recorded synth-arp ambiences, Marijn S showcases the many colors of her being and spirit translated into sound.

Breakbeat, percussions, strength and focus but with some personal outlandish choices on the A side, followed by flowy-ness and playfulness, choices of musical elements lead by emotion on the B side.

In the late 2000s a sprawling catalog of what is now genre-defining music was emanating from an unlikely place. Cleveland, Ohio has a broad reputation for many things, but in the aughts, psyche-expanding Kosmische wasn’t necessarily Cleveland’s calling card… until Emeralds. The trio of John Elliott, Steve Hauschildt, and Mark McGuire had released a profusion of limited-run cassettes, CD-Rs, and vinyl titles that had been passed around basement shows and then migrated to niche music communities online, creating a unique kind of murmur, even in the height of the DIY blog era. Three kids from the rust belt were crafting a distinctive and truly far-out strain of music on their own terms in the Midwest. They were flipping lids in wood-paneled basements and circulating around the underground with soaring sounds stylistically indebted to deep German electronic music pioneers and released with the ethos and twisted fervor of renegade Midwestern noise freaks. After several releases garnered a die-hard fandom in niche circles of internet/music culture, and then catching the attention of the late Peter Rehberg, the renowned artist and curator of the Editions Mego label, an expectation was set that the next Emeralds record was going to be a big one. And in 2010, Does it Look Like I’m Here? was it.

mp3s of this album; they can finally get a fresh copy on vinyl. Does It Look Like I’m Here? became a hallmark that would carve a path for an entire scene. Ghostly International is thrilled to reissue the album, remastered by Heba Kadry, including 7 bonus tracks exclusive to the digital album and CD. The limited edition 2xLP includes extensive liner notes by Chris Madak (Bee Mask).

The Undertones formed in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1975 and released their third album ‘Positive Touch’ in 1981 which peaked at #17 in the UK Charts.

The Undertones' Positive Touch marks the departure from speedy pop-punk of their first two debut albums though the songwriting remains as tight and lively with plenty of hooks that keep you listening.

The punk-derived energy is almost entirely gone, replaced by a more varied and softer instrumental palette that features new textures like piano (courtesy of Paul Carrack, then in Squeeze) recorders and brass instrumentation.

Features the lovely "Julie Ocean" which has an undercurrent of anxiety, as well as much faster tracks like the pounding opener "Fascination" and the near-paranoid "His Goodlooking Girlfriend" are downright nerve-wracking.

This reissue is an exact replica of the embossed original sleeve and has been pressed on white colour vinyl for the first time.

Clear Vinyl. They say there's always something special about the first time and this record is that first time for the Folk Implosion. The band left the acoustic guitars and fragmentary sketch modus operandi of their earlier cassette behind to focus on an eccentric version of home studio craft, held together by a few cheap microphones (including a Radio Shack PZM) and a Tascam cassette 4-track recorder sequestered under the eaves of a 3rd floor, Cambridge Massachusetts double-decker house apartment. Wood floors and Christmas lights were as much a part of the vibe as an Ampeg VT 40 guitar amp and a small chord organ. The duo would wait until the downstairs neighbor went to work in the morning and then would play until the tunes snapped like a high-pitched snare drum. The setup would close down just before the neighbor came home from work, keeping the peace long enough to see the project through to completion.Once tracked, the band snuck into Fort Apache studios with Tim O'Heir (producer of Sebadoh's `Bakesale' LP) early one morning, freeloading off the Sebadoh sessions that were set to get going that afternoon. Tim mixed the songs through a very hi-fi Neve board in a matter of hours with the Tascam sitting right on the giant board like a tugboat keeping time with an oil tanker. The duo hoped that the spirits of ancestors like The Troggs, Devo, Al Green, and The Bee Gees would be pleased with the scent of tribute that arose from the ashes of the pyre. Today, they are pleased to see the Slaps and the Sputniks on view again nearly 30 years later.

In the past, Mapache recording sessions have been pretty laid-back
affairs, with friends coming and going, the sessions starting and stopping
at the band's discretion--as relaxed a process as the immaculately sunny
vibes that their four albums would suggest - But on their dynamic and
ambitious fifth album of cosmic-folk, Swinging Stars, Sam Blasucci and
Clay Finch decided to take a trip and hunker down somewhere
particularly special
"It's a pretty impactful place," Finch says of the Panoramic House, the artist
retreat where Swinging Stars was recorded. "It's kind of dramatic. It's a castle-y
building on a hill, way up overlooking the Bay."
Located in Stinson Beach in Marin County, California, the Panoramic House has
recently hosted acts like My Morning Jacket, the War on Drugs, and Cate Le Bon,
and was the ideal combination of scenic beauty and self-imposed confinement to
allow Mapache to settle in for their most cohesive album yet.
"That environment yields itself to a higher level of focus because everybody's
together for a week," says Finch, explaining that the band stayed there during the
process, sharing every bit of their time and energy on a shared vision. "We were
all captive. No one could escape," he laughs.
Swinging Stars, an album of calm, second-nature swagger, is the natural result of
a band that's existed in one form or another for its founders' entire adult lives.
Finch and Blasucci first met as students at La Canada High School, just north of
Los Angeles, where they both had a guitar class: "There wasn't much supervision
or anything," remembers Blasucci. "It was really nice. And we got to just play
guitars together."

Attarazat Addahabia & Faradjallah's album came to us as quite a mystery. Our friends from Radio Martiko got access to the studio archive of the Boussiphone label and a reel labeled “Faradjallah” was among the items they had found there. After listening to the selection of reels they borrowed, Radio Martiko felt it was not a fit for their label and helped us licensing it from Mr. Boussiphone instead. We knew nothing about the band. We just had the reel with the music but very little information. What we knew was that the music was incredible and very unique. Gnawa sounds were combined with funky electronic guitars, very dense layers of percussions and female backing vocals more reminiscent of musical styles further south than Morocco. We started asking around whether anyone knew the band with no immediate success until we asked Tony Day, a musician from Morocco who helped us during our search for Fadoul’s family. His sharp memory came through once again, remembering all the names of the Attarazat Addahabia band members and even how to contact the bands singer and leader Abdelakabir Faradjallah. After visiting him at his home in Casablanca with our Moroccan colleague Sabrina multiple times, he shared his personal story. His father arrived in Casablanca from Aqqa at the age of six and his mother came from Essaouira. Abdelakabir was born in the neighbourhood of Benjdia in 1942. Abdelakabir Faradjallah studied fine arts in Casablanca, graduating in 1962. He also played soccer in the second team of "Jeunesse Societe One". His brother-in-law Ibrahim Sadr worked for one of the biggest football teams of the time in Morocco called "Moroco Sportive Union", which allowed him to travel to France occasionally. While Ibrahim was never part of the band he brought along a few instruments from trips.


Yet the majority of the instruments they could not afford to buy were build by Faradjallah and Abderrazak, Faradjallah's brother who passed away early. For instance they had built a Spanish guitar and a drum made of wood barrel and sheepskin by themselves.During the 1950s Faradjallah was booked as a singer for surprise parties with friends. He started to write his first songs including "L’gnawi" in 1967 and wanted to make people discover Gnawa culture, or maybe rather his take on the culture to be more exact. Faradjallah recalls his first interaction with the genre in the streets of the Dern neighbourhood, where he used to go to elementary school. Gnawa is one of the essential musical genres of Morocco. It combines ritual poetry with traditional dances and music linked with a spiritual foundation. Musically a lot of influences originated from West Africa as well as Sudan. Gnawa is usually played by a selection of specific instruments such as the qaraqab (large iron castanets centrally associated with the music), the hajhouj (a three string lute), guembri loudaâ (a three stringed bass instrument) and the tbel (large drums). People would put shells on their clothes and instruments and use incense at their parties. "Sidi darbo lalla - lala derbo khadem..." came from Gnawa verses Faradjallah used to sing when he was 14. The lyrics tackle a global (im)balance of power and the question of social status in this course. The band Attarazat Addahabia was formed in 1968. The original line-up included 14 members, all from the same family. They played their first small concerts here and there starting in 1969. Later in 1973 they performed bigger shows for instance at the Municipal Theatre followed by the "Al Massira Show" at Velodrome Stadium in downtown Casablanca. Their first album "Al Hadaoui" (the one you are listening to) was recorded at Boussiphone studios in 1972 and was never released before. Nobody seems to remember the exact reason why Boussiphone ended up deciding not to put the album out. The album's title track also served as the basis for Fadoul's "Maktoub Lah", who frequented the same circles as the band for some time.

Their shows sometimes could go as long as 12 hours, starting at 5pm in the afternoon, with an occasional break here and there. In the 1980s the band took a brief break. Faradjallah recalled the reason for that break like this: "Zaki, the bands drummer, had fallen in love with a young girl from Mohammedia. Soon after, he fell very ill. The group members were convinced that the girl had given him ‘s'hor’ (a kind of local Moroccan version of "black magic"). For four years, the whole group stopped playing. It was unthinkable to find another drummer to replace Zaki, even temporarily." So they waited four years for Zaki to "get back on his feet" before going back on stage. Apart from very few gigs here and there Faradjallah stopped playing music in the mid 1990s. Some members from the younger generations formed a new band and still play frequently to this day. Faradjallah runs a television repair shop coupled offerings beverages and snacks in the Belevedere /Ains Sbaa district of Casablanca. While Faradjallah was primarily a musician, he would work for the local cinema and paint their posters for new movies by hand and he designed all artworks and cover posters of the band.

And this eventually led to him participating actively in our first exhibition dealing with Habibi Funk’s work in Dubai 2018. He helped us by creating calligraphic complementations on large photo prints for that show.

Fiddlehead's third album Death is Nothing to Us is a defiant, new chapter for the band. Since 2014, the Boston-based group have been honing their unique sound, bringing together the energy of hardcore, the anthemic melodies of `90s alternative, and the unbridled passion of Revolution Summer era emo. Their previous albums, 2018's Springtime and Blind and 2021's Between The Richness, dealt heavily with grief from different perspectives, and now their latest feels like a de facto culmination, drawing together many of the catalog's through-lines sonically and lyrically. The band again teamed with producer Chris Teti for their third record, and his punchy production captures Fiddlehead's live energy while showcasing the massive guitars and undeniable catchiness that makes their music so immensely satisfying. The album's concise 27 minutes sound like a natural extension of all of the band's strengths, but is glued together by vocalist Pat Flynn's singular tuneful roar. Flynn, since his time as the vocalist of Have Heart and now as Fiddlehead's frontman, has earned a reputation as one of hardcore's most thoughtful lyricists. He interweaves his ruminations on life, death, and all the joy and tragedy in between with references to Roman philosopher Lucretius; the author Jean Améry; other musicians like Bad Brains, Alex G, or Wire, and even references to the band's own back catalog. The humanity across Death Is Nothing To Us is palpable in every note. It's the kind of art that observes pain with real honesty rather than prescribing a solution for it-and in doing so, inadvertently offers some sense of hopefulness. The album finds Fiddlehead so deeply delving into the pain, confusion, nuances, and contradictions of sadness-so willingly wrapping their arms around a concept as existentially baffling as death itself-that they've created an album that is truly life-affirming. Death is Nothing to Us exemplifies so much of what makes Fiddlehead a special band: taking these heady, unanswerable questions and wrestling with them in a very earthbound way, all wrapped up in the urgent power of a three minute punk song.

Stephen Steinbrink discovered a short YouTube video of a street magician who approaches a highschooler walking home in Barstow, California. “Here, let me show you my idea,” he says, as he places a quarter on the kid’s hand. The magician performs some relaxed flourishes, and the coin vanishes. In silence, the kid stares at his hand at the nothing where there once, indisputably, was something, until his wonder finds a single word: “Cool.” The title of Disappearing Coin, the new album from Oakland songwriter Stephen Steinbrink, comes from this short clip. “When I look at it now,” he says, “I relate to the kid, who’s obviously uneasy in his body, and going through the experience of being a teenager in the early 2000s growing up in a bleak desert town like I did. I also relate to the coin, an inanimate disc of possibility. And I relate to the magician, an absurd facilitator of sending what is tactile and concrete into the wispy conceptual realm.” “I’ve watched it probably a hundred times,” he says. “It cracked me up but also blew my mind open the feeling of wonder I experienced watching this video became a guide as I navigated new ways of staying in the realm of what’s both real and magical.” Following the 2018 release of Utopia Teased, Steinbrink completed an apprenticeship in the nearly-lost art of Stained Glass, becoming a glazier at a studio that over three years, fully restored the enormous 90-year-old windows in San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. He committed to his Buddhist study, beginning lay monastic training before the process was thwarted by the pandemic. He dove deeper into music production for other artists, engineering two albums by Boy Scouts released on Anti- Records in 2018 and 2021. Steinbrink delighted in the way these pursuits pulled at the thread of ego’s tapestry and decentralized him from his craft, allowing him to embody a new role as a creative caretaker engaging in practices that felt communal and restorative. “As I slowly began writing for myself again, I tried to imbue my new songs with this sense of playfulness and wonder I felt while exploring these other interests.” He says. Feeling unlocked from the pressures of perfection that he often felt in his earlier work, creating Disappearing Coin felt buoyant and healing. “The album feels like an integration of all of my past musical selves zeroing in on the present,” Steinbrink explains, “I felt free to explore new ways of writing, through different perspectives, experimenting with fictional songwriting, visual archetypal language, and total collaboration.” This “total collaboration” was a joyous new venture after years of solo performing and recording. The album can be seen as a 42 minute session of show and tell, the manifestation of Steinbrink repeating the mantra of “Here, let me show you my idea” to himself over and over. Disappearing Coin is at once a welcome return for the veteran Steinbrink and the debut of a totally new artist, one who has found a new path to himself with new goals of openness, curiosity, and self-acceptance. “Recalls the magic pop purity of Arthur Russell...its minimalism manages to feel enlightened and transformative.” PITCHFORK // “Melodic and self-assured. Steinbrink delivers his knotted lyricism with a smooth lilt.

Paul Bradley, one of Kniteforces leading creators, is adept at any style of old skool rave, but when he turned his hand to the original old skool sound, he chose a new Alias, in Alias 303. This EP is a heavyweight slice of proper original rave music. Sounding like something Frank De Wulf or R&S might have released in 1991, its a dirty techno rave EP with filthy stabs but crystal clean production!

Hyper-On Experience need no introduction. This is their latest "Family" EP, and it is three unbelievable tracks. As ever, these are timeless works, with an intricacy and skill that belies their simple sounding and powerful rhythms. Technically superior whilst sneakily killer, The Family Business EP is going to be loved long into the future, with tracks like "Playground Tactics" regarded as anthems to be.

Bob Dylan was at several crossroads in the mid-1970s. Artistically, he was largely written off as being past his prime. Emotionally, he was suffering through a painful divorce from his then-wife Sara Lowndes. Creatively, he appeared at a stalemate, his previous decade's unprecedented run of transformational brilliance finished. Then came Blood on the Tracks.

A start-to-finish cycle that documents a lover's pursuit of, entanglement with, and loss of a woman, the bracingly intimate 1975 effort remains one of the most encompassing break-up albums ever made and ranks as the most personal statement of the Bard's career. To hear it is to experience the agony, frustration, trauma, highs, lows, confusion, sadness, and, ultimately, requisite redemption associated with intimate relationships gone astray. Dylan maintains it's a work of fiction, but it's evident close-vested autobiographical premise is what helps make it universal: It's the icon singing through tears, going out of his mind, battling hallowing emptiness, firing shots across the bow, and accepting culpability. It is, in short, a consummate expression of love's darker sides and the consequences of what happens when dreams unravel.

As part of its Bob Dylan catalogue restoration series, Mobile Fidelity is thoroughly humbled to have the privilege of mastering the iconic LP from the original master tapes and pressing it on dead-quiet LP at RTI. The end result is the very finest, most transparent analogue edition of Blood on the Tracks ever produced – and the first-ever proper analog reissue. Fantastically presenting both the solo acoustic and band-supported songs with the utmost clarity, dynamics, presence, immediacy, spaciousness, imaging, and balance, this version shines a high-powered light on the fluid vocal phrasing, timbral shifts, functional rhythms, and inward-looking strumming that contribute to every song here serving as a wound-exposing confessional.

For all the melancholic pain, unresolved questions, shattered memories, wasted times, unrequited dialogues, and weary regret within, Blood on the Tracks remains as daring as it is reflective. Rather than follow for a monotone caustic vibe, Dylan's songs burrow into the subconscious for the manners in which they are even-keeled, mellow, and occasionally, even peaceful. Dignity, honour, poignancy, and fairness – all traits uncommon in any situation in which partners dissolve histories, change hearts, and attribute blame – instil the record with equilibrium on par with the consistency of the flowing melodies.

Throughout, tunes come on and proceed as if they could continue forever, Dylan spinning poetic verses and conversations amidst finely tied knots of acoustic notes, chords, and fills, the deceivingly simple architecture conjuring the intertwined refractions of a bezeled jewel, various angles, colours, and textures conjoining into a gorgeously inseparable whole. Backed by Tony Brown's flexible albeit subtle bass, Buddy Cage's country-streaked pedal-steel guitar, and Paul Griffin's soul-baring organ – an instrument used to shadow, tuck-point, and illuminate here as effectively as any time in rock history – Dylan pours soulful emotion, open his veins, and bleeds.

Ranked 16 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and replete with existential thought, piercing directness, raw singing, and majestic arrangements,

Given the sonic and artistic merit of this album, we anticipate huge demand.

In a career spanning 50 years, Leo Sayer has sold more than 80 MILLION records worldwide.
• 'Silverbird' is Leo’s incredible debut album, originally released late in 1973, reaching #2 in UK Albums Chart and includes
the debut single ‘Why Is Everybody Going Home’ and the hit ‘The Show Must Go On’ (#2).
• Co-produced by Adam Faith and David Courtney, ‘Silverbird’ was recorded at several locations including Virgin Records’
Manor Studios, The Who’s lead singer Roger Daltrey’s Barn Studio and Apple studios.
• Following another successful UK tour in Autumn 2022, Leo Sayer has recently been on tour in the USA for the first time in
decades; a country that took him to their hearts with two #1 Singles and a GRAMMY Award and although he now has
Australian citizenship, Leo remains one of the UK's great singer/songwriters and performers of all time.
• This 50th Anniversary celebratory half-speed master version has been newly mastered by Phil Kinrade, and expertly cut
using transfers of the original audio tapes using precision half-speed mastering by Barry Grint at AIR Mastering, London
and is pressed on heavyweight 180g vinyl, with a 4-page insert containing the lyrics.

Much of Radio Red, the first full length album Laura Groves has released under her own name, was written, produced and recorded by Groves in her studio, watched over by two radio transmitting towers. “I became very drawn to them and they became like symbols to me; they were always awake, sending their messages, the red lights always came on at night and watched over whatever was going on in my life.” The album deals with themes of communication - missed and intercepted signals, chance meetings, synchronicities, the channels through which we try to express our true feelings, the outside interference that can get in the way and the joy of letting go and allowing the messages to flow freely.

Self-recording and production is a core part of Laura’s songwriting process. “I remember years ago getting hold of some basic recording software and being instantly drawn in. The idea of being able to layer up my voice was a dream, like building an orchestra out of what I had at home.” The passion for home-recording, using the resources available at the time, working through limitations and capturing textures through layering, forms the foundation of Groves’ experimental and off-centre pop music and electrified folk music. The sound world of Radio Red is made up of echoes, and snapshots of half-remembered pop songs, piano ballads, chopped up TV theme tunes, ambient synthesised sounds and electronic music; tuning in between channels without fully belonging to any one of them, with the comfort, familiarity and strangeness that can come with hearing voices on the radio.

Baxck in stock! PRESSED ON RED & GREEN OPAQUE VINYL! De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest may have been more commercially successful, but the afrocentric, jazz political rap movement and unfadeable Native Tounge Massive started with the Jungle Brothers. Their debut full length “Straight Out the Jungle” opened up many doors that are walked through by today’s artists like Mos Def, Common and even Kanye West. Their taste for jazzy horn samples helped kick-start the entire jazz-rap movement, and their James Brown fixation was one of the first. Plus, the group’s groundbreaking collaboration with legendary house producer Todd Terry, “I’ll House You,” paved the way for numerous hip-house hybrids that shot up the dance and pop charts over the next few years and appeared to be a staple on every East Coast Rap Album from ‘88 until ‘92. The opening track “Straight Out the Jungle” samples the classic Bill Withers drum break as the JB’s tell you where they are coming from. “Black Is Black” (featuring a young Q-Tip) and “Sounds Of The Safari” introduces the pro-black edge, while the sexually subtle classics “Jimbrowski” and “I’m Gonna Do You” are funny, clever and timely. Hard, smart, fun, clever and brilliant, Mike G., Africa Baby Bam and Sammy G may not have realized it but they crafted a classic rap album that stands the test of time. Available here on high grade, loud pressed, double vinyl for the first time ever!

Werewolves formed in 2019 and have proceeded to release an album a year to increasing acclaim and global calamity. Three full lengths and one EP later, the band performs an act of creative peristalsis with album four “My Enemies Look And Sound Like Me” due out 11th August 2023. Bassist/vocalist Sam (The Antichrist Imperium, The Berzerker) says: “Here it finally is, the recording that will cement our place in the technical death metal world as some of the greatest soloists and most thought-provoking lyricists working in music today. Our ability to shape raw art from ethereal nuance is second only to our famously slow craftmanship.” He continues “Of course I’m fucking kidding. This album is as idiotic as the rest, if not more. CAVEMAN RIFFS. Blasting. Screaming. Bowing to a shrine with pictures of Mortician, Marduk, and Angelcorpse. This isn’t going to be the album that brings people together and catalyses world peace. Apparently it has greater emotional reach than our earlier work but we haven’t noticed that ourselves, we’re morons. I can confirm that there is more swearing on this album than all the others, it’s positively Australian-esque”.

Andy Frasco & The U.N. release L'Optimist, an album that Frasco says is about staying focused on the things you love in life, even if you're in bumpy waters. "Nothing is ever going to come to fruition the exact way you want it to, so through the ups, downs and sideways of life, don’t forget that loving something with intention will keep the smiles on our faces throughout all the darkest times” - Andy Frasco

When Ryan Olcott, songwriter and frontman of Twin Cities’ iconic indie rock band 12 Rods, found unfinished Rods demos during lockdown, he was surprised. When he realized they were good, he was shocked. He quickly set to finishing and recording the compositions, which became If We Stayed Alive, the first 12 Rods album in twenty-one years. “These are songs that I forgot about,” he explains, “but upon finding them, I thought, ‘Wow, these are actually okay.’” That was the easy part. Reacquainting himself with twenty-year-removed craft and technique took some getting used to -- some parts longer than others. He recorded all the instruments in a week, but vocals took a bit longer. “Oh my god!” he laughs, “it took a couple days to get my voice back with that range and that power, but I could do it.” Any cobwebs that needed dusting are long gone. If We Stayed Alive is everything longtime fans have wanted, and the perfect introduction to what some called “America’s Radiohead" and what others have called one of the best indie bands of the ‘90s.

Reissue

The Staples Jr. Singers were part of a vanguard of soul gospel artists in the 1970s that broke from tradition to testify with the groove. They found their inspiration in the secular music they heard on the radio, and wrote songs that were nothing but stone cold soul.