Suche:head north

Rare Seventies Big City Street Soul

In 1971, film producer David Gil and his business partners Robert S Sinn and Paul Frankenberg launched a film company called GSF. Over the next few years, it would be involved in a small number of productions. But, in 1971 the movie business was kind of old-hat, music was where it was at, and so GSF Records, a well-funded label, headed by Larry Newton was formed. Today Newton is largely remembered for his attempts to prevent Louis Armstrong from recording 'What A Wonderful World' but that didn’t stop him from growing ABC from a second division company to an industry leader. As he approached his 52nd birthday he was unveiled as GSF Records’ president a full-service music company, involved in records and publishing across all genres. Through a joint venture with drummer Bernard Purdie the label targeted the R&B charts and soul & funk dominated GSF's release schedule.

Black music ruled and this was reinforced by the hiring of Lloyd Price as head of A&R (veteran R&B star), and producers George Kerr (All-Platinum), Mickey Stevenson (Motown) and Jerry 'Swamp Dogg’ Williams. No wonder then, unintentional as it was, that GSF left behind such an extraordinary legacy of rare soul treasures.

NEW YORK’S BEST KEPT SOUL SECRET Features legendary Northern Soul classics courtesy of Anderson Brothers, Skull Snaps and Connie Laverne Produced by hit makers George Kerr and Motown veteran Mickey Stevenson Starring the Whatnauts and Eddie “Hey There Lonely Girl” Holman

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, two-time Grammy® Award-winning Hip-Hop icon, Kennedy Center Honoree, actor, author, NAACP Image Award winner, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder/CEO of Rock The Bells, LL COOL J continues his trailblazing career with upcoming album 'The FORCE'.

LL’s highly anticipated 14th studio album The FORCE (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy) set for release September 6th follows over a decade long hiatus. The record was executive produced by Hip-Hop innovator and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Q-Tip, of A Tribe Called Quest. With this album, LL will help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the creation of Def Jam Recordings. As LL was the label’s first release, there is no better way to represent the legacy of Def Jam Recordings on its 40th year

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, two-time Grammy® Award-winning Hip-Hop icon, Kennedy Center Honoree, actor, author, NAACP Image Award winner, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder and CEO of Rock The Bells, LL COOL J has created one of the most multifaceted careers and brands in entertainment and continues to display his wide range of talents with every project.

Four decades after he first burst onto the scene, LL COOL J continues his vibrant, trailblazing career. LL COOL J helped elevate the burgeoning rap and Hip-Hop scene of the 80’s, which developed into the musical and cultural phenomenon that is Hip-Hop as we know it today. Of LL’s many contributions to the culture, he also is credited with the creation of the acronym “G.O.A.T.” - short for “Greatest of All Time.”

First introduced to the world in 1984 as a Def Jam Recordings’ flagship artist, LL is the first rap artist to amass ten consecutive platinum-plus selling albums, including his critically-acclaimed debut album, RADIO, and the international, timeless anthem and album of the same name, MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT. LL’s hit singles include “Going Back to Cali,” “Doin’ It,” “Around the Way Girl,” “Loungin’”, “Headsprung,” and Hip-Hop’s first rap ballad “I Need Love.”

Up next, this fall LL is back to make his latest artistic contribution and continue to elevate Hip-Hop culture after over a decade long hiatus with the release of his highly anticipated new album, The FORCE (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy), executive produced by Hip-Hop innovator and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Q-Tip, of A Tribe Called Quest. With this album, LL will help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the creation of Def Jam Recordings.

In December 2017, LL became the first rapper to earn the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor, which is America’s highest achievement for any performer. In addition, he received his star on the world-renowned Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 21, 2016.
In March 2018, LL launched his own SiriusXM timeless Hip-Hop channel entitled “LL COOL J's Rock The Bells Radio,” garnering millions of daily listeners. The channel features a wide range of innovative and timeless Hip-Hop content, music, interviews, and in-depth retrospectives curated, programmed, and presented by the award-winning artist himself. Since founding the radio station, Rock The Bells has developed into a global platform that has become the preeminent voice for timeless Hip-Hop. Rock The Bells focuses on content, commerce and experiences that honor the CULTURE and the core elements of Hip-Hop – MCs, DJs, Breakers, Graffiti Artists – and more. Rock The Bells hosted its inaugural eponymous music festival in Queens, New York in August 2022, which sold out back-to-back years in 2022 and 2023, where LL headlined both festivals.

LL COOL J was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on October 30, 2021, in Cleveland, Ohio for the 36th annual induction ceremony. Considered by most as the crowning achievement for one’s musical career, the ceremony was a celebration of LL’s lasting impact on Hip-Hop and the music industry.

In Summer 2023, LL COOL J, Rock The Bells, and Live Nation Urban kicked off his first arena tour in 30 years across North America called The F.O.R.C.E. Tour, inspired by the name of LL’s forthcoming album. Living up to the acronym for Frequencies of Real Creative Energy, the lineup for this tour was personally curated by LL COOL J. Building off their amazing performance together on the GRAMMY® Awards earlier that year celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop, all dates featured collaborative live performances with preeminent Award-winning Hip-Hop band The Roots, the legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff, and DJ Z-Trip.

LL hosted the GRAMMY® Awards for an unprecedented five years in a row from 2012-2016, for which he earned rave reviews. In addition, he hosted and produced the GRAMMY® Nominations Concert Live Special for seven years and has also been a presenter at the Emmy®, Golden Globe® and SAG Awards. Most recently, at the end of 2023, LL helped produce CBS’ live concert special A GRAMMY Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award.

LL has always been an avid philanthropist involved in numerous causes, including literacy for kids as well as music and arts programs in schools. Founded in 2005, LL’s charity “Jump & Ball” – which takes place every August in his hometown of Queens, New York – aims to give back to his local community by offering an athletic and team building program dedicated to bringing wholesome fun to young people.

Between being a musician, actor, philanthropist and entrepreneur, LL COOL J is the ultimate multi-hyphenate whose career continues to expand and where he remains one of the most beloved and innovative brands in entertainment. He currently resides in both New York and Los Angeles.

Brothers Dana and Alden McWayne, along with a troupe of multi-instrumental artists, come together to create jazzy melodies with indie sounds inspired by their unconventional upbringing in Eugene, Oregon. Following the success of their debut full-length album and it's lead track "Dragonfly" (which tracked 300,000 TikTok creations, and over 10 million streams) the brothers recruited Jared Solomon (Sza, Remi Wolf, Teezo Touchdown) to produce their sophomore LP, Coyote, You're My Star. Melding vintage sounds with the aesthetic and experience of existing in Gen Z and the digital age, the new LP has already been met with rousing approval, with airtime on the Zane Lowe show on Apple as well as playlist covers like Spotify's State of Jazz. The band is also set to tour North America and Europe across festivals and headline shows.

“This is a true story”

Fargo is a fantastic dark comedy-crime drama television series created and written by Noah Hawley and inspired by Joel & Ethan Coen’s 1996 movie of the same name. Both Coen brothers serve as executive producers on the series. The show stars Martin Freeman (The Hobbit trilogy), Billy Bob Thornton, Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) and more.

The soundtrack features selections from the show’s original music composed by Jeff Russo (Power, Necessary Roughness, About Cherry). Its score is well done, with different motifs or instruments assigned to different characters. For Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman’s character) it’s that nearly-whimsical main theme. For the drifter Lorne Malvo (Thornton’s character) it’s sleigh bell chimes that represent his animalistic nature coming out.

This is a limited edition contains of 666 individually numbered copies on transparent green vinyl. The package includes an insert with pictures of the characters.

Following the huge acclaim of Matt Berry’s 2021 album The Blue Elephant (“A sonic odyssey” – Uncut) – as well as last year’s one-off album of library music collaboration with the KPM label (“another string to Berry’s impressive bow” – Prog magazine) – we present Heard Noises, Matt’s eighth studio album with Acid Jazz, out 24 January.

We’re hugely excited to offer a beautiful label-exclusive gatefold edition on Psychedelic Swirl colour vinyl, alongside the standard version Sky Blue LP, as well as corresponding soft-pack CD and retro Cassette.

Out now, lead single ‘I Gotta Limit’ finds Matt trading lines with Kitty Liv (Kitty, Daisy and Lewis) as a man after a second chance with a woman impatient with his pleading. With a song structure inspired by Sly Stone, in a little over three minutes ‘I Gotta Limit’ crams in a plethora of musical ideas on an instantly catchy song which is part Northern Soul, part psych.

In contrast to The Blue Elephant’s dizzying trip through an idiosyncratic love of British Psych, Freakbeat, Acid Rock and late ‘60s pop, Heard Noises finds Matt heading for a looser, Californian psychedelia through his love of the trippier sounds of space pop and rock, and his ear for an eerie, haunting melody.

Once again, the album is testament to Matt’s exceptional musicianship, production skills and songwriting prowess. Almost every instrument is played by Matt including guitars, bass, a variety of keyboards (acoustic and Wurlitzer pianos), synthesizers and organs (including Moogs, Vox, Farfisa, Gibson, Eminent organs) and Mellotron.

He is joined by long-time collaborator, neo-progressive drummer Craig Blundell, and guests including Pokerface’s Natasha Lyonne and back with Matt is The Shins/Fruit Bats’ Eric D. Johnson (acoustic guitar, autoharp and backing vocals on ‘Why On Fire?’, ‘To Live For What Once Was’ and ‘Snakes That Slide’), Phil Scraggs (lap steel guitar on ‘To Live For What Once Was’ and ‘Snakes That Slide’), Rosie McDermott (vocals on ‘Sky High’) and the S. Club 60s Choir (featuring Matt’s mum).

In many ways Heard Noises could be considered the perfect distillation of the extraordinary breadth of musical ideas across Matt’s albums to date.

The War On Drugs, "one of the premier live bands of their generation" (Pitchfork), announce Live Drugs Again, via Super High Quality Records and Transgressive / Canvasback. In support of Live Drugs Again, the band will kick off their Zen Diagram North American co-headline tour with The National, with support from Lucius, on September 12th. Recorded on tour between February 2022 through December 2023 in America, UK, Europe and Australia, Live Drugs Again follows 2020's Live Drugs and represents The War On Drugs at their ragged, righteous best. Bandleader Adam Granduciel comments, "Live Drugs Again chronicles the evolution of these songs from the studio to stages all over the world; documenting our continued growth as a live band. This series ensures that these versions, and some of our favorite moments on stage, will live on." As Consequence so accurately hailed, "it's hard to imagine a musical experience that's more enveloping and uplifting." This is hearing a band at its peak.

For Fans Of... Monophonics, David Axelrod, The Rugged Nuggets, Adrian Quesada. Debut LP from The Ironsides. Founded and produced by Monophonics member Max Ramey. Featuring members of Monophonics, including Kelly Finnigan. Reminiscent of a cinematic soundtrack from a 60s European film. The Ironsides have arrived. Changing Light is the first full-length effort from this masterful group of Bay Area musicians. It melds classic psych-soul sounds with sweeping orchestral arrangements – reminiscent of a cinematic soundtrack from a 60s European film. The Changing Light evokes strong imagery of an open road, a breathtaking view, and scenes of a vast landscape begging to be explored. Cruise up the coast, where sweeping orchestral arrangements rise and fall with the tide. As you head North, the countryside opens to an undeniable groove. Tremolo-soaked guitar tones grow on the vines, and timeless, soulful bass lines flow like wine. In higher altitudes, French horns and trumpets soar like eagles. A river below carries bellowing cello tones through a mountain pass into an expansive canyon. Down in the desert, fuzzed-out electric guitar cuts through the dry heat and leaves the listener thirsty for more. Plot a course, or just turn on the car and drive. Max recommends the latter. "The songs are inspired by landscapes - Each one could mean something to someone and create a completely different meaning for someone else." At the end of a long road, The Ironsides have found the perfect place to begin. Also Available From The Ironsides: Changing Light 7", The Raven / Song For Adrian 7"

ISOxo & Knock2 have been building towards the release of the forthcoming 4EVR album since the duo sold-out an historic four (4) consecutive headline performances at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles in November 2023. At the beginning of the year, the duo announced their Coachella debut and a select number of “ISOKNOCK 4EVR” headline events in Seattle (2X WAMU Theater) and Brooklyn (Under The K Bridge) – selling out 10,000 tickets per market in a matter of days. ISOKNOCK also will be headlining the North Coast Music Festival in Chicago. ISOKNOCK debuted at Coachella to a packed-out Sahara Tent with intricate, multi-tiered, live production from Production Club. Many of the songs from the forthcoming 4EVR album were first teased at this performance. Each of the subsequent ISOKNOCK shows in Seattle and Brooklyn had unique production – with special guest cade clair popping out in Seattle to perform forthcoming album focus track “4EVR”. In April 2024, Knock2 and RL Grime co-headlined Ultra Music Festival with a special back-to-back DJ set. During this performance, ISOxo popped out for a special guest appearance and the trio debuted the collaboration “SMACK TALK” to the roaring crowd. In support of the 4EVR album, ISOKNOCK will be producing a narrative short film that embodies the tagline of the album – “Pain is Temporary, ISOKNOCK is "4EVR” On the eve of their highly-anticipated collaborative album 4evr, ISOxo & Knock2 will present the 4EVR Gallery – a tribute to the DIY ethos, uncompromising vision, and longstanding partnership of the two artists who are pushing the boundaries of dance music and reshaping it in their own image. From their humblest beginnings in San Diego to dominating the world’s most prestigious festival stage at Coachella, the 4EVR GALLERY will give fans a rare opportunity to share space with artifacts of history-in-the-making.

Originally scheduled for release way back in March 1996, "The Raw Factor" by North Carolina native Omniscence is one of the last of the unreleased mid-90's albums to see the light of day. Despite being awarded The Source's coveted "Hip Hop Quotable" and dropping two well-received singles ("Amazin" and "Touch Y'all"), record label politics meant the full-length "The Raw Factor" album was never released and fans were left wondering what might have been.

28 years later, "The Raw Factor" is finally being released on vinyl, CD and digital stores. Featuring punchline-driven lyrics from Omniscence delivered in his unmistakable cadence, and backed by head-nodding production from Fanatic, the album is a must-own for fans of 90's Hip Hop.

Omniscence haunted the same early 90's cyphers and stages that many lyrical greats from the era had to cross. With a gruff delivery and equal adeptness with punchlines and metaphors, his high finish at the 1994 edition Battle For World Supremacy at the New Music Seminar assured heads across the culture were watching. After this, Omniscence locked in with producer Fanatic (who also laced tracks for Notorious B.I.G., Ma$e and Michael Jackson). The result was "The Raw Factor" album, fifteen plus tracks of jazzed out boom-bap, replete with crackin' drums.

Now Below System Records has not only given the album its first deluxe physical release (including 2xLP, CD and digital) as well as a slew of bonus/unreleased tracks.
















p Touch Y'all (Remix) feat. Sadat X
















p Touch Y'all (Remix) feat. Sadat X
















[p] Touch Y'all (Remix) [feat. Sadat X]

Jabu return with ‘A Soft and Gatherable Star’, an LP that sees the Bristol-based trio evolve from a uniquely spectral take on trip hop to proffer a singular vision between cloudy, downered dream-pop, off-kilter ambient, and the warm, low-end throb of sound system culture. This development is aligned with contemporaries like HTRK, Dean Blunt, Tarquin Manek, YL Hooi and Rat Heart Ensemble, whilst also harkening back to the likes of AR Kane (with whom they are set to play shows and release a collaborative single), the languorous drift of 'Victorialand' era Cocteau Twins or The Cure circa ‘Disintegration’. Comprising Jasmine Butt (vocals, guitar), Alex Rendall (vocals, keys) and Amos Childs (production, bass guitar), the trio’s method may have shifted but the feel remains consistent - slow, spatial, sensuous and gently melancholic. With a career arc unlike almost any other current guitar outfit, Jabu sit within a strong lineage of off-centre Bristolian music, and a very British strain of home-spun DIY bands. Self-recorded between Jas and Amos’ home in South Bristol and Amos’ mum’s house in rural North Somerset, the album came together via a process of trial and error - learning to play on borrowed instruments, using the equipment “wrong”, staying up late recording and slipping into strange, semi-conscious sleep deprived/inebriated headspaces. Having captured over 50 tracks, they honed in on those they liked most, shaping them further, whilst carving out space to allow input from people they love and admire - Daniela Dyson’s voice and Will Memotone's clarinet on ‘Ashes Over Shute Shelve’, Birthmark's synth on ‘Gently Fade’ and ‘Sea Mills’, Rakhi Singh (Manchester Collective) and Sebastian Gainsborough (Vessel)’s strings and arrangements on ‘All Night’, Josh Horsley’s cello on ‘If I Asked You, You'd Tell Me’, and Lorenzo Prati’s sax, again on ‘Sea Mills’. The album was mastered by Amir Shoat (HTRK, ML Buch, Dean Blunt, Carla Dal Forno). Influence-wise, the guitar-based material recalls the bands Amos listened to when younger, and Jas’ more folk-leaning inspirations. Deep-lying dub, hip hop and soul influences are also evident in both the way the LP was mixed, and the space ingrained in their subconscious. Tinged with melancholy, the songs cohere as a set of soliloquies and ruminations on love and tenderness. The album’s title comes from a poem by Amos’ late father which hangs on his wall and seeped into the record. ‘Ashes Over Shute Shelve’ is formed of lines from another poem of his. Recited by longtime collaborator Daniela Dyson and with Will Yates (Memotone) playing his mother’s clarinet, the track was imagined as a conversation between his parents. Geography and location also play a big part in the record, with several significant places name-checked in songs. Shute Shelve itself is a hill near Amos’ mum’s house, who explains “There’s a tree at the top with a 360° view of the Mendips, where my dad’s ashes were scattered. We used to go up there when we could first buy booze from the petrol station down the road, get drunk, light a fire, listen to music from my little battery powered CD player and sleep out without tents.” Titled after a Bristol suburb near where Amos’ grandparents lived and where Jas would spend time as a teenager, ‘Sea Mills’ references her being abandoned by friends on the Downs while high on mushrooms, stranded and missing the bus back. ‘Kosiše Flower’ references the city in Slovakia where Amos and Jas holidayed shortly after getting together and a flower he gave her, which she pressed in a book after an argument. ‘Oceanside Spider House’ is a location in Nintendo 64 game The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, where someone seeks shelter from the falling moon. Genre: Electronic / Ambient / Dream-pop

A hugely in demand repress (the original vinyl pressing on North Country changes hands for hundreds of pounds..) now released on Shack’s newly created own label Shack Songs.

The Shack story is one of music’s greatest legends. It incorporates hardship, bereavement and chaotic misadventure, but above all it tells the tale of beautiful music triumphing over trouble and tragedy.

‘Here’s Tom with The Weather’ boasts a majestic and fresh form. These are magical songs, psychedelic folk songs of the finest Head vintage. Sleepy-eyed, wistful and mystical, yet crafted with a cunning and acute dexterity beyond just about anybody you can think of.

The two profoundly Liverpudlian brothers Mick and John Head have made several brilliant albums together , but none as quickly as ‘Here’s Tom…’ which was completed in seven weeks at Brynderwen Studios in North Wales along with drummer Iain Templeton (RIP) , bassist Guy Rigby and producer Jay Reynolds in 2003.

In the 80’s , the two brothers from the notorious Kensington estate in north Liverpool were singer and guitarist with The Pale Fountains , an effervescent pop group which imploded under the weight of two albums in 1986. The Heads returned in ‘88 as Shack and a debut album Zilch. In 1991 , Shack made ‘Waterpistol’ , an inspirational guitar jewel that would have proved just as influential as any British album in that era had the studio not burned down, taking the master tapes with it. Four more years passed , but by the time it was finally released on Marina it had developed ‘lost classic’ status.

The Heads battled on. They toured as their hero Arthur Lee (RIP) of Love’s backing band. In ‘97 , they created a new group called The Strands and recorded the delicate, dreamy masterpiece ‘The Magical World Of The Strands’ . They spent a long time making another classic ‘HMS Fable’ , and then decided that next time they wouldn’t take quite as long recording. Enter ‘Here’s Tom With The Weather’.

Showcasing John’s slow , shy emergence as a songwriter to challenge his brother (on the sparkling, heartbreaking ‘Miles Apart’ and ‘Carousel’ , and the spun-out ‘Kilburn High Road’ ) , toasting Mick’s newest confirmation as the most unrecognised genius of his or any other generation (the ode to his bro, ‘Byrds Turn To Stone’ , the mariachi horns that break open the slow folk fog of ‘Meant To Be’ , the two lullaby bookends ..and on , and on) .

“The journey we’ve had together has been beautifully turbulent”, laughs John. “But there’s times when we glide and we’re gliding forward now”

Mick agrees. “Making this album has been frantic, chaos, carnage, intense : the normal way with us. But it doesn’t sound like that. That’s all that matters. The story is what it is. But so are the songs and so are the records. Because we’re good.”

Nobody could disagree with that.

A hugely in demand repress (the original vinyl pressing on North Country changes hands for hundreds of pounds..) now released on Shack’s newly created own label Shack Songs.

The Shack story is one of music’s greatest legends. It incorporates hardship, bereavement and chaotic misadventure, but above all it tells the tale of beautiful music triumphing over trouble and tragedy.

‘Here’s Tom with The Weather’ boasts a majestic and fresh form. These are magical songs, psychedelic folk songs of the finest Head vintage. Sleepy-eyed, wistful and mystical, yet crafted with a cunning and acute dexterity beyond just about anybody you can think of.

The two profoundly Liverpudlian brothers Mick and John Head have made several brilliant albums together , but none as quickly as ‘Here’s Tom…’ which was completed in seven weeks at Brynderwen Studios in North Wales along with drummer Iain Templeton (RIP) , bassist Guy Rigby and producer Jay Reynolds in 2003.

In the 80’s , the two brothers from the notorious Kensington estate in north Liverpool were singer and guitarist with The Pale Fountains , an effervescent pop group which imploded under the weight of two albums in 1986. The Heads returned in ‘88 as Shack and a debut album Zilch. In 1991 , Shack made ‘Waterpistol’ , an inspirational guitar jewel that would have proved just as influential as any British album in that era had the studio not burned down, taking the master tapes with it. Four more years passed , but by the time it was finally released on Marina it had developed ‘lost classic’ status.

The Heads battled on. They toured as their hero Arthur Lee (RIP) of Love’s backing band. In ‘97 , they created a new group called The Strands and recorded the delicate, dreamy masterpiece ‘The Magical World Of The Strands’ . They spent a long time making another classic ‘HMS Fable’ , and then decided that next time they wouldn’t take quite as long recording. Enter ‘Here’s Tom With The Weather’.

Showcasing John’s slow , shy emergence as a songwriter to challenge his brother (on the sparkling, heartbreaking ‘Miles Apart’ and ‘Carousel’ , and the spun-out ‘Kilburn High Road’ ) , toasting Mick’s newest confirmation as the most unrecognised genius of his or any other generation (the ode to his bro, ‘Byrds Turn To Stone’ , the mariachi horns that break open the slow folk fog of ‘Meant To Be’ , the two lullaby bookends ..and on , and on) .

“The journey we’ve had together has been beautifully turbulent”, laughs John. “But there’s times when we glide and we’re gliding forward now”

Mick agrees. “Making this album has been frantic, chaos, carnage, intense : the normal way with us. But it doesn’t sound like that. That’s all that matters. The story is what it is. But so are the songs and so are the records. Because we’re good.”

Nobody could disagree with that.

Producer, designer, publisher, filmmaker, all-round scene phenom - Lasse Marhaug returns with his first album since relocating from Oslo to the Arctic Circle, surveying his 35-year career for a set of grizzled, doom-pocked rhythms and foghorn drones pulled from the aether. Expansive and hard to categorise, it's a precision-tooled set of ice-cold tonal productions that heavily lean into Mika Vainio’s rhythm experiments, with extra levels of growling bass and curious noises to send us deep into the uncanny.

Lasse Marhaug has put his mark on literally hundreds of albums - working with artists like Jenny Hval, Merzbow, Jim O'Rourke, Kevin Drumm, Hilary Woods - so many others - yet he still regards himself as a primarily visual artist who got diverted into an occasionally different path. If his last album 'Context' was a kiss goodbye to decades of life in Oslo, 'Provoke' turns a new page, but one that draws heavily from memories of the distant past, reflecting on the way the topographies of Norway's frozen north helped shape his creative worldview. Weaving electronics into environmental recordings captured in the bleak Arctic winter, the album was mixed during the Polar night season, when, for two straight months, the sun never rose past the horizon. Somehow, even at its bleakest, Marhaug avoids the usual aesthetic signifiers for this kinda thing, finding elements of queered beauty in all the severity, juxtaposing elements that shine a bright light on all the odd spaces in-between.

A consideration of noise music's place in 2024, and whether it can still be a tool for subversion when its aesthetics have been so commodified, ‘Provoke’ also refernces an experimental '70s Japanese art magazine that attempted to define a new language for photography. Operating somewhere between these two guiding poles, Lasse feels his way through a subtly altered mode of expression, a new approach to familiar concepts. Album opener ‘Plates’, for example, gives it the full Ø treatment, like some exceptional ‘Oleva’-outtake, but , eventually, shards of interference start to exhale like horses blowing, creating uncanny sensations that hit through ambiguous feeling rather than sheer noise terror. Ritualistic, corporeal - hard to know what you’re listening to and why it makes you feel that certain way - so much more than just machine cycles optimised for their ultimately hollow brutalist aesthetic.

Marhaug paints vivid pictures from a carefully chosen palette, drawing us into a soundworld that's rich with contradictions and contrasts. Even the relatively deafening 'New Topographics' offsets its wall of distortion with a muffled, perforating kick drum, cutting into the noise like a knife through butter. And all of this preparation makes the album's lengthy centrepiece 'Monochrome Head' even more impactful; hinging on a Pan Sonic-like alloy of bass and drums, the track snowballs through tempered feedback and improv scrapes and whistles that pick up into an orchestral din. Marhaug accents the bluster with rhythmic hums that gather in momentum until they're almost oppressively heavy, as if everything's about to collapse.

A masterclass in quietly subversive world-building, 'Provoke' invites us to peer at an expansive sonic landscape and marvel at its intricacies, but this time around there's a Lovecraftian behemoth lurking somewhere beneath its icy surface.

The Invisible Road: Original Recordings, 1985–1990 compiles an unheard, previously unreleased body of recordings by Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz, dissidents from diametric backgrounds who met during the heady days of Downtown New York in the 1980s. This collection reveals the creative and life partners’ radical shared vision of avant-garde pop in all of its boundary pushing freedom, combining Deyhim’s singular approach to vocalization, Horowitz’s invention of new musical languages, and touchstones of traditional music from around the world, creating a new music that ultimately retains a voice entirely its own. Despite their difference in backgrounds and respective journeys, at the time of their meeting in the early 1980s in New York City, Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz were both products of the search for freedom and understanding (and resultant awakenings) that swept the globe and helped culturally define the late 1960s and 70s. Deyhim, born and raised in Tehran, spent her teens dancing with Iran’s Pars National Ballet company, performing weekly on Iranian national television, and travelling her home country studying with master folk musicians and dancers, before relocating to Belgium and joining Maurice Béjart’s prestigious Béjart Ballet of the 20th Century. Horowitz, born and raised in Buffalo, New York, had spent much of the decade before abroad, first departing for Paris under the shadows of the Vietnam War, where he studied piano, Eastern philosophy, and became entrenched the city’s free jazz scene, playing with the likes of Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton, and Alan Silva, before embarking south to Morocco where his friendship with Paul Bowles helped cultivate a deep passion for the country’s musical traditions and a shift in his musical practice.



The pair met by chance sometime in 1981 at Noise New York, a small studio on West 34th Street founded by the musician and recording engineer, Frank Eaton, as a utopian creative laboratory that beckoned artists and bands like Arthur Russell, Christian Marclay, Liquid Liquid and Butthole Surfers into its orbit. Both artists had recently relocated to the city, Horowitz having recently released his debut album, Oblique Sequences (Solo Nai Improvisations), on the legendary Paris based imprint Shandar, and fallen in with members of New York avant-garde like La Monte Young, Jon Hassell, David Byrne, and Brian Eno, and Deyhim having begun to more actively incorporate singing into her practice, notably recording a vocal score for choreography she was doing at La MaMa Experimental Theatre.



Initially bonding over a cassette tape of field recordings made by Paul Bowles that had been given to mutual friend and writer Brian Cullman (seeking answers for Ornette Coleman’s question “what is the sound of sound”), their earliest collaboration was documented on Horowitz’s 1981 album, Eros In Arabia, with Deyhim contributing vocals to the track “Queen Of Saba.” Over the coming years, their deep connection would routinely gravitate them into the studio, culminating in the body of recordings that would appear on their 1986 album for Crammed Discs, Desert Equations: Azax Attra. Unknown to nearly all but the artists, laying in wait over the decades on numerous multi-track and stereo reels, DAT tapes, and reference cassettes, were a vast array of recordings made by Deyhim and Horowitz bookending Desert Equations. The 13 pieces represented on The Invisible Road: Original Recordings, 1985–1990 were recorded largely between Noise New York and Daylight Studio in Brussels, during a period that Deyhim describes the partnership between herself and Horowitz’s as seeking a music “free of any specific cultural reference, with a personal musical signature,” blossoming into a body of sonority that embraced the energy of contemporary boundary pushing pop and the avant garde, filtered through their mutual love and study of various musical traditions from across the globe and deep engagement with the ideas and tactics of experimental music.



Undeniably rooted in Horowitz’s study of the North Africa ney and the music of the Berber and Gnawa cultures during his time in Morocco, Deyhim’s deep engagement with the folk traditions of Iran, and the couple’s immersion in the interconnected Downtown underground music scenes, each piece on The Invisible Road offers its own vision creative and cultural hybridity. Deyhim sings in both English and Farsi, as well as a composite tongue that she developed by drawing upon numerous indigenous vocal techniques from around the world, intuitively responding to Horowitz’s simultaneous sound syntax forming and combining a wide range synthetic and acoustic instrumentation, and experimental tape techniques, within a visionary series of free-standing expressions.

Flat Duo Jets: White Trees 2024 Remaster Fronted by the late Dex Romweber. The duo’s fourth album was the first album of all original material. Produced by Caleb Southern, White Trees is a Jets’ masterpiece that proved that Romweber could diversify his band’s material without losing his recklessness and urgency.

Dex passed away earlier this year on February 16th and this reissue is dedicated to his memory and legacy. Jack White from the White Stripes has called Dex and the Flat Duo Jets a major influence when starting out. White declared that seeing the Jets for the first time “opened up a whole new inspiration for me about the guitar.” And he was downright effusive in the 2006 cult-classic Romweber documentary ""Two Headed Cow"", calling Romweber “a huge influence on my music… one of the best-kept secrets of the rock & roll underground.” In 2009, White recorded a seven-inch with Romweber, and in 2011 he reissued the Jets’ long-out-of-print 1991 album Go Go Harlem Baby on his Third Man Records imprint.

“[White Trees] by North Carolina’s Jets is a tarnished neo-rockabilly gem. Dexter Romweber’s battered honk is the perfect voice to wrap around these twisted tales about Charlie Dick (Patsy Cline’s hubby), UFOs, and dining with Van Gogh. It’s as if the ”Eraserhead” soundtrack were recorded at Sun Studios and sent to Weekly World News for editing.”- Entertainment Weekly Arguably the busy Duo’s most accomplished set, ‘93s handily diversified White Trees jumbled stylistically antiquated originals in a cohesively dignified manner. -Beermelodies"

When the quartet of Luke Martin, Gabriel Salomon, Klaus Janek and Andy Graydon gathered to record an afternoon of sessions in Andy's studio, it was both the result of years of cultivation and an afterthought. Klaus and Andy had been long-time, and now long-distance, collaborators since their shared years in Berlin. That city was also where Andy was introduced to Gabriel at one of his solo performances by their mutual friend, the painter Paul McDevitt. Years passed, and cities. After meeting and working together in Boston, Luke and Andy both found themselves transplanted to Minneapolis. And by happenstance Gabriel arrived a few years later. A new conversation was just starting to emerge when Klaus announced his arrival, stopping by on a North American tour. Suddenly the four got a chance to listen and play together performing on a bill at a local gallery, in one configuration or another, for the first time. Packing up after that show, Klaus leaned over to ask, "isn't there a moment we could meet again, to play?"

Nothing was expected, and so anything was possible. The circumstances lent their gathering an impromptu but grounded feeling, a unique mix of chance encounter and reunion. As befits an opening encounter, the focus was as often on listening to the unfolding sonic conversation as it was on making a recording. Everyone seemed to intuit the direction despite not knowing where they were headed. The four faced each other in a loose circle surrounded by speakers and microphones pointed haphazardly, as likely to catch the dog padding around curiously as the bowing of strings or rattling of a cymbal. The permissive spirit of the day was declared early, just before rolling, when Gabriel asked if we should close the studio windows or leave them open. "You know what my answer is," replied Luke. If it's in the nature of a recording to become fixed, to be bottled up, let us at least leave open the windows to hear what might be coming next.

The debut album by much-loved Yorkshire band, Shed Seven, Change Giver released on vinyl for the first time since 1994, this reissue faithfully replicates the original Polydor UK pressing and is pressed on high-quality 180gm vinyl. Change Giver was released on Polydor Records in September 1994, on the leading edge of the Britpop movement and established the group as one of the most successful and cherished of the era. Although not garnering the headlines and controversy of other acts of the time, Shed Seven vocalist Rick Witter, guitarist Paul Banks, bassist Tom Gladwin and drummer Alan Leach - established a trademark sound and a fervent fanbase, resulting in a lengthy career and a string of hit albums. Formed in 1990 (and named after a railway shed) after making a name for themselves in their hometown of York, Shed Seven played London, gaining a reputation for their fearsome live shows an came to the attention of influential BBC Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq. After a bidding war, the group signed to Polydor in 1993, and group recorded what was to become Change Giver with producer Jessica Corcoran. First single, Mark/Casino Girl was released in March 1994 ahead of the album, and with each subsequent single release, the group pushed higher into the UK charts. Released as Britpop was accelerating, Change Giver was described by Melody Maker as "a chipper, cocky collection of brassy Northern pop songs." The album reached the UK Top 20,and established the band to be one of the most popular acts of the final years of the 20th Century. Listening to the album today, the bravado of youth combined with strong melody and powerful lyrics put the album on a par with early works of The Jam and Blur.

For number 84 in the Brazil 45 Series, we head to the North of Brazil with this dancefloor monster, double-sider by Magalhães & Os Panteras.

'Xangô' by Magalhães is taken from his 'E Sua Guitarra' album, from 1986, and originally released on Gravasom Records. A stunning, driving Lambada track with haunting vocals and a compelling gusto energy. It has been gaining popularity over recent years with DJs and is a sure-fire get-out-of-jail dancefloor saver.

On the flip, we find another biggy from Os Panteras, 'Lambada Pauleira’. Also released on Gravasom Records, but a year later in 1987. It is best known for Joutro Mundo's fine re-edit of the track, but here we have it in its original form, in all its quirky brilliance. It is easy to see why, over the years, it has been a staple of some of Brazil's finest DJs’ sets, such as Augusto Olivani (aka Trepanado).

We are super happy to present these two red-hot tracks back-to-back. Now let the dancefloors return so we can heat things up!

- Next installment in BRAZIL 45 Series.

- Two dancefloor focussed cuts.

- Sought-after original of an edit made famous by Joutro Mundo.

One of THE most iconic albums to hail from Merseyside. ‘H.M.S. Fable’ was the third LP released from Shack following 1988’s ‘Zilch’ and 1995’s ‘Waterpistol’. A collection of majestic storytelling in guitar form, written by two extraordinarily talented brothers, Michael & John Head.

Originally released on Laurel Records/London Records in 1999, the band at that time comprised of
MICHAEL HEAD - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar JOHN HEAD - Electric Guitar, Vocals REN PARRY- Bass Guitar IAIN TEMPLETON - Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals.

The album was voted #2 in both NME and Uncut’s critics album of the year polls, only missing out to The Flaming Lips’ ‘The Soft Bulletin’ in both.

Now released on the band’s newly-formed label Shack Songs, ‘H.M.S. Fable’ encompasses many musical styles, from orchestral guitar pop to psychedelic-tinged folk and even elements of Britpop, nicely summed up by the editor of NME Steve Sutherland in a 9/10 review, in June 1999:

‘’Not since Liam Gallagher howled his early indolent disdain has this music sounded so alive. 'Pull Together' is an anthem easily the equal of Oasis at their most loved-up and huge. ‘Comedy' tender and uplifting, like the missing track from 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', 'Daniella' a haunted and exhausted homage to Head's hero Arthur Lee, and 'Lend Some Dough' a rollicking Scouse Play For Today with a chorus that goes, "I've got a sore back and I'm itching’’ ”

The Shack story is one of music’s greatest legends. It incorporates hardship, bereavement and chaotic misadventure, but above all it tells the tale of beautiful music triumphing over trouble and tragedy.

In the 80s, the two brothers from the notorious Kensington estate in north Liverpool were singer and guitarist with The Pale Fountains, an effervescent pop group which imploded under the weight of two albums in 1986. The Heads returned in ‘88 as Shack and a debut album ‘Zilch’. In 1991, Shack made ‘Waterpistol’, an inspirational guitar jewel that would have proved just as influential as any British album in that era had the studio not burned down, taking the master tapes with it. Four more years passed, but by the time it was finally released on Marina it had developed ‘lost classic’ status.

The Heads battled on. They toured as their hero Arthur Lee (RIP) of Love’s backing band. In ‘97, they created a new group called The Strands and recorded the delicate, dreamy masterpiece ‘The Magical World Of The Strands’. They spent a long time making another classic ‘H.M.S. Fable’...

One of THE most iconic albums to hail from Merseyside. ‘H.M.S. Fable’ was the third LP released from Shack following 1988’s ‘Zilch’ and 1995’s ‘Waterpistol’. A collection of majestic storytelling in guitar form, written by two extraordinarily talented brothers, Michael & John Head.

Originally released on Laurel Records/London Records in 1999, the band at that time comprised of
MICHAEL HEAD - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar JOHN HEAD - Electric Guitar, Vocals REN PARRY- Bass Guitar IAIN TEMPLETON - Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals.

The album was voted #2 in both NME and Uncut’s critics album of the year polls, only missing out to The Flaming Lips’ ‘The Soft Bulletin’ in both.

Now released on the band’s newly-formed label Shack Songs, ‘H.M.S. Fable’ encompasses many musical styles, from orchestral guitar pop to psychedelic-tinged folk and even elements of Britpop, nicely summed up by the editor of NME Steve Sutherland in a 9/10 review, in June 1999:

‘’Not since Liam Gallagher howled his early indolent disdain has this music sounded so alive. 'Pull Together' is an anthem easily the equal of Oasis at their most loved-up and huge. ‘Comedy' tender and uplifting, like the missing track from 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', 'Daniella' a haunted and exhausted homage to Head's hero Arthur Lee, and 'Lend Some Dough' a rollicking Scouse Play For Today with a chorus that goes, "I've got a sore back and I'm itching’’ ”

The Shack story is one of music’s greatest legends. It incorporates hardship, bereavement and chaotic misadventure, but above all it tells the tale of beautiful music triumphing over trouble and tragedy.

In the 80s, the two brothers from the notorious Kensington estate in north Liverpool were singer and guitarist with The Pale Fountains, an effervescent pop group which imploded under the weight of two albums in 1986. The Heads returned in ‘88 as Shack and a debut album ‘Zilch’. In 1991, Shack made ‘Waterpistol’, an inspirational guitar jewel that would have proved just as influential as any British album in that era had the studio not burned down, taking the master tapes with it. Four more years passed, but by the time it was finally released on Marina it had developed ‘lost classic’ status.

The Heads battled on. They toured as their hero Arthur Lee (RIP) of Love’s backing band. In ‘97, they created a new group called The Strands and recorded the delicate, dreamy masterpiece ‘The Magical World Of The Strands’. They spent a long time making another classic ‘H.M.S. Fable’...

"Ukraine's most beloved and enduring band Okean Elzy will release their first-ever English-language studio album, Lighthouse, on October 11 via Elektra. The group herald the record’s announcement with the title track and new single ‘Lighthouse’ featuring John Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls. Produced by John Feldmann (Blink 182, Avril Lavigne, 5 Seconds of Summer), and co-written by Slava, Feldmann and Eva Arnby Busacker (5 Seconds of Summer, Landon Barker), the track also features Travis Barker on drums. A portion of the proceeds from the song will be donated to United24, an initiative launched by the president of Ukraine in support of the country during the ongoing war. The song is accompanied by a cinematic music video – available to stream on the band’s You Tube Channel
Okean Elzy’s lead vocalist Sviastoslav ‘Slava’ Vakarchuk says, ""The creative process was a unique experience for me. Working alongside Feldy and Evey was both fun and inspirational. The song came together in a matter of minutes. Having Travis on drums took the vibe up to a whole other level, and is yet another example of how special the human camaraderie and support is on this track.""
""Lighthouse is a very powerful metaphor for me,"" Slava continues. ""As a Ukrainian I couldn't think of a better metaphor to express our hope for the future, which is part of why the song and album bear that name.""
Okean Elzy radiate luminous energy through ‘Lighthouse’. Anchored to a steady beat, warm guitars ebb and flow beneath a heartfelt promise, “Take my hand, I’ll get you through the storm.” The momentum builds as the song climaxes on an uplifting chorus, “Tonight, I’ll be your lighthouse, shining on.” Meanwhile, Vakarchuk and Rzeznik lock into a bold and bright back-and-forth. The music video seamlessly translates this energy to the screen, capturing the chemistry between the frontmen.
With their upcoming album, Okean Elzy aims to transcend borders and share the rich tapestry of Ukrainian culture with audiences around the world. The album will include collaborations from Travis Barker (Blink-182), Paul O'Duffy and Diane Warren.
In support of Lighthouse, a portion of their North American tour’s proceeds will be donated to Open Eyes Fund, specifically supporting their Drive For Life initiative, whose goal is to deliver 30 ambulances, along with essential medical equipment to the frontlines where urgent medical assistance is required. These efforts will be in addition to the 242 ambulances already delivered to Ukraine and 36,000 lives saved previously by Open Eyes. Following their North American tour, Okean Elzy are set to headline the O2 Academy Brixton in London on December 4. Check out the full confirmed itinerary below. General on-sale begins today at 10am local time.
Consistently selling-out stadium shows, winning multiple YUNA Awards (the nation’s equivalent to the Grammys or the BRITs), and topping airplay charts, Okean Elzy are undoubtedly Ukraine’s biggest band."

Ohm and Octal Industries debuted on this label to great acclaim back in 2022 and now they're back on Lempuyang with Northwest Passage, a first album-length collaboration. This double 12" continues with their themes of failed arctic explorations and mythological creatures and, after 12 previous outings together, might be their best work yet: the sounds are mature and powerful, bleak yet deep. Dubbed-out chords roll to infinite horizons, frozen tundras are detailed with wispy melodies and pulsing, supple techno both soothes the soul and gets the head nodding. This is more stylish, subversive and superbly executed electronic music.

Brothers Dana and Alden McWayne, along with a troupe of multi-instrumental artists, come together to create jazzy melodies with indie sounds inspired by their unconventional upbringing in Eugene, Oregon. Following the success of their debut full-length album and it's lead track "Dragonfly" (which tracked 300,000 TikTok creations, and over 10 million streams) the brothers recruited Jared Solomon (Sza, Remi Wolf, Teezo Touchdown) to produce their sophomore LP, Coyote, You're My Star. Melding vintage sounds with the aesthetic and experience of existing in Gen Z and the digital age, the new LP has already been met with rousing approval, with airtime on the Zane Lowe show on Apple as well as playlist covers like Spotify's State of Jazz. The band is also set to tour North America and Europe across festivals and headline shows.

2024 Repress

Dark Entries is honored to finally present the first ever official vinyl reissue of Space Museum by Solid Space. Solid Space was the British duo of Dan Goldstein (keyboards, vocals) and Matthew 'Maf' Vosburgh (guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals) formed in 1980. Dan and Matthew met at the age of 11 while attending school in north London. In late 1978 at at the age of 14, they formed Exhibit 'A' with Paul Platypus' and Andrew Lunchbox' Bynghall. They recorded two EPs in 1979 and 1980, self-released on Irrelevant Wombat Records and appeared on 'The Thing From The Crypt' compilation. After the dissolution of the group, Mathew started taking his guitar over to Dan's house where he'd play his Casio MT-30 and they would record songs. Eventually a second hand drum machine and Wasp synthesizer were acquired from classified ads in Melody Maker and the Solid Space sound was born. By this time they were just turning 18 and finally found the freedom to make the music they'd had in their heads. Over the course of the next two years the band assembled eleven bedroom recordings that would become one of the most cherished DIY obscurities of its kind. Their debut album 'Space Museum' was released in 1982 on cassette by In Phaze Records. All of the songs were mixed by label boss Pat Bermingham on 8-track tape at The Shed, in Ilford, which was literally a garden shed. The band's music and lyrics were heavily indebted to science fiction, in particular the 1960s television series Doctor Who. 'Space Museum' is an unveiling of atmospheric, minimalist post punk supported by bright melodies. The music combines drum machines and synths with acoustic guitar and toy drums whilst also experimenting with samples between tracks. Lyrics deal with space travel and a general sense of dejection. Representing a bubbling spirit within the underground, they foreshadowed an entire world of independent music which would emerge across the 80's and well into the 90's. For this reissue we've included two bonus tracks from the band's archive, Platform 6' originally released on the B-side of the second single by Exhibit 'A', this song features only Dan and Matthew and is the first Solid Space track ever recorded. Tutti Lo Sanno' is a cover of In Phaze label mates Marine Girls, though the lyrics have been changed to suit the gender of the new singer.Each song has been carefully remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The record is sleeved in a replica of the cassette artwork featuring the Cybermen and Jamie from the Doctor Who episode "The Wheel in Space". Every copy includes a double sided 11x11 insert with lyrics, notes and never before seen photographs of the band taken by Maf as well as a postcard featuring an original advert for the cassette.

Timeless soul, 'Cool Cool' is the standout title track from James Alexander Bright's recent album. It's an immediately enchanting gem, with tendermusicianship and a stripped back production highlighting James' voice, pitchedsomewhere between Eddie Chacon, Beck and Michael McDonald. Athens of theNorth's in-house band East Coast Love Affair add a delightfully psychedelic Balearicpiquancy with an beautiful dub version on the flip.

'Cool Cool' has been enjoying a plethora of worldwide support; seeing James insession for Gilles Peterson, suppling a Block Party mix for Huey Morgan, interviewedby Bandcamp Weekly, and played across tastemaker shows on stations includingBBC 6 Music, FIP, Jazz FM, KCRW, KEXP, Les Inrocks, NTS, Soho Radio, Triple R,WDET, WNXP.

The past six years has seen James release a veritable treasure trove of music:'Mallorca' and 'Strange Folk' EPs, debut album 'Headroom', joyous second 'Float', analbum of collaborations and reworks with cosmic Americana-disco DJ/producer duoFlying Mojito Bros, and a new project with Groove Armada's Tom Findlay as Bright &Findlay. 'Cool Cool', his third solo album since 2020, was released on 26th July 2024.

Produced by Lenny Kravitz (Executive) and Fela Kuti’s original engineer Sodi Marciszewer (Artistic). Worldwide tour in 2024 / 2025 (North America, Europe, Australia). New album from 2018 Grammy nominated album “Black Times”. Seun Kuti set to release highly anticipated album ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’ featuring guests Damian Marley and Sampa The Great on October 4th. Afrobeat virtuoso Seun Kuti is gearing up to unleash his latest musical masterpiece upon the world with the upcoming release of his album that will be set to make waves globally via Milan independent label Record Kicks. Coming 6 years after the Grammy nominated album ‘Black times’, this album marks a pivotal moment in Seun Kuti's illustrious career, showcasing his evolution as an artist and activist. Executive produced by legendary musician Lenny Kravitz and Fela Kuti’s original engineer Sodi Marciszewer (artistic producer), ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’ promises to deliver a sonic experience like no other. With both Kravitz's and Sodi’s expertise together with Seun Kuti's unmatched talent, the album is poised to redefine the boundaries of contemporary music while staying true to the roots of afrobeat. Featuring a tracklist of six electrifying songs, each track on ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’ embodies the spirit of resistance, resilience, and revolution. Each song talks about standing up against challenges and fighting for change. Like the standalone singles ‘Dey’ feat reggae icon Damian Marley, described as “a song about embracing and championing who we are, regardless” and ‘Emi Aluta’, “a song about struggle (Aluta means struggle) that pays homage to all the great revolutionaries”, that features Zambian singer, rapper and songwriter, Sampa The Great, one of best and most innovative lyricists of our time. The song ‘T.O.P.’ is about “how society values money and success more than people”. Seun Kuti wants to change this by promoting empathy and reconnecting with nature. In another song, ‘Love & Revolution,’ he expresses his love for his wife and believes that true love can inspire people to make the world a better place. “This project has been very special to me from the moment I conceived it, speaking to Lenny Kravitz, who has shown me such a brotherly love and respect” Seun says. “He has brought me to his home. I met his daughter Zoe and he has guided us with fierceness. Since we spoke about the album, three years ago, as the executive producer of this project, he has always been by our side and very supportive”. “I want to thank Craig Ross and Sodi, the producer of this project. We had a great time. It was the first time for me in the studio with Sodi and I was really impressed by his work and his fatherly advice and dedication”. Each song on the album is a testament to Seun Kuti's unwavering commitment to using music as a tool for social change and empowerment. Through his powerful lyrics and infectious grooves, he continues to carry on the legacy of his father, the legendary Fela Kuti, while carving out his own path in the world of music. As a musician and pan-African activist, Seun has been involved in a number of campaigns in recent years, including #EndSARS – a social movement against police brutality in Nigeria. Significantly, he’s revived the Movement of the People (M.O.P.), the political party his father set up in 1979, which was quashed by the military government not long after Fela’s failed presidential bid. Fans can expect an album that not only entertains but also inspires and ignites a spirit of activism and liberation. Seun Kuti is a Nigerian musician, singer, and songwriter renowned for his captivating performances and socially conscious music. He is the youngest son of Afro beat pioneer Fela Kuti. Seun has spent most of his life preserving and extending his father's political and musical legacy as the leader of his father's former band Egypt 80. As a developing saxophonist and percussionist, he entered the formal ranks of the band before he was 12. In 1997 when Fela passed, in fulfilment of his father's wishes, Seun assumed the mantle as head of Egypt 80 and he has run it ever since. During his career, Seun Kuti released 4 albums with Egypt 80: ‘Many Things’ (2008), ‘From Africa with Fury: Rise for Knitting Factory Records’ (2011), coproduced by Brian Eno and John Reynolds, ‘A Long Way Beginning’ (2014) and the Grammy nominated ‘Black Times’ (2018) that included a feature from Carlos Santana. They also released numerous EPs. Seun has played for enthusiastically receptive audiences globally and collaborated with many great artists. In 2022, he joined forces with Roots frontman and MC extraordinaire Black Thought in the EP ‘African Dreams’. In 2023, Seun collaborated on Janelle Monae's ‘The Age of Pleasure’ (Grammy nominee for Album Of The Year) with the two singles 'Float' and 'Knows Better', teamed up with Talib Kweli and MadLib for their album ‘Liberation 2’ on the song ‘Nat Turner’ featuring Cassper Nyovest and released a new version of the single ‘Bad Man Lighter’ with Black Thought, featuring Vic Mensa

From Cape Town to Cairo, and now to fans, stages and screens around the world, PJ Morton shares his newest album, fully made in the motherland. Cape Town to Cairo is a collection of songs that he created in 30 days throughout 4 countries in Africa — South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. Described as the best trip of his life, this transformative journey began as just the seed of an idea last fall, but instantly grew into his most sonically-sprawling and immediately-inspired record to date. With no music, lyrics or preconceptions, he stepped foot onto the continent with two thoughts: a wild dream to write and record his next LP in less than a month, and a mission to immerse himself in as many different cultures, stories and communities as he could.

Surrounded by featured collaborators like Fireboy DML, Mádé Kuti, Asa, Ndabo Zulu, and Soweto Spiritual Singers, as well as additional producers including P.Priime and The Cavemen., his own live band and local musicians, PJ Morton used music as his common language. Always his greatest way of communicating, he expressed his feelings and experiences of Africa through songs he and others were forming together on the spot, side-by-side in different studios, cities and towns for the very first time. None of the tracks were written before he arrived or after he left, and the arrangements showcase both the countries’ native genres as well as the innate, stylistic instincts that have made Morton a 5x GRAMMY-winner and 20x GRAMMY-nominee, whether it be his soul, R&B and gospel roots, or the pop prowess he has further honed as a member of Maroon 5.

“When you’ve been in music as long as I have, you’re constantly looking for inspiration,” says PJ Morton. “And you’re looking for the things that made you want to do it in the first place. I’ve made albums every type of way you can think, so I wanted to try something I hadn’t done before. As a Black American who had never been to South or West Africa, I knew there was something there waiting for me. So I put a little pressure on myself to make a full record in a month, but I also said, ‘If I’m gonna go to Africa, I want to see Africa.’ We made music, but we also formed connections. We made new friends, and this is just the start.”

ESSENCE adds, "This trip is not just a physical move, it's a spiritual return…The soul of Africa pulses through every note he plays and every word he sings,” and VIBE adds that “the multi-faceted artist is fully embracing a new phase in his life.” Cape Town to Cairo marks PJ Morton’s first album since 2022’s Watch The Sun, which featured collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Nas, JoJo, Wale, Jill Scott, Alex Isley and more. Since then, Morton has become the first Black composer to write an original song for a Disney attraction, having just finished making the music for Tiana's Bayou Adventure, opening on June 28th, 2024 at Disney World and Fall 2024 at Disneyland. He also won his latest GRAMMY earlier this year, worked with Samara Joy on “Why I’m Here” for Regina King’s Netflix film Shirley, and landed a cover of his song “Don’t Let Go” as the soundtrack to Apple’s iPhone 15 commercial.

PJ Morton recently returned from headlining his debut shows in Asia, New Zealand and Australia, and announced an extensive Cape Town to Cairo Tour for North America summer and fall 2024. Following iconic performances at New Orleans Jazz Fest, The Kennedy Center, Roots Picnic and Newport Jazz Fest, Morton will embark on a run of more than 25 dates across the country, including New York City’s Beacon Theatre, Chicago’s Chicago Theatre, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Los Angeles’ The Wiltern, and dozens of others.

On the heels of his headline tour and Maroon 5’s Las Vegas residency, PJ Morton will publish a life-spanning new book titled Saturday Night, Sunday Morning. The memoir sees him recounting and reflecting upon a trailblazing path that continues to defy expectations and straddle the tensions of music and faith, race and culture, expression and identity. As the son of two pastors and gospel artists, Morton grew up grounded by the sound of the Church, but soon found himself drawn to R&B, pop and soul, writing songs that the industry, his family and community struggled to understand. In the face of mounting pressure, rejection and constant miscategorization, he committed himself to a steadfast path of independence: making music on his own terms, launching his own record label, joining one of the biggest bands in the world while staying true to his New Orleans roots. The risks he took paid off, and through his transformation from preacher's kid to the busiest man in showbiz – performing everywhere from his local congregation to the Super Bowl, collaborating with everyone from his father to Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Jon Batiste and Lil Wayne – he hopes to encourage readers and listeners to overcome obstacles as they seek their dreams.

Having established himself as a guitar slinging matinee idol fronting Welsh riot starters Trampolene and riding shotgun in Peter Doherty’s band the Puta Madres, Jack Jones releases his debut solo album ‘Jack Jones’. For this album Jack Jones has put away his guitar and embraced a fresh and highly contemporary sound in which to couch his hard-hitting state of the nation poems of existential fear and loathing. His lyrics tackle many of today’s burning issues: mental health, drug addiction, mortality, and the tortuous demands of technology. There’s also joy and hope in there. With some of his catchiest tunes so far, it’s a record that’ll both open up this natural-born star to untapped audiences, and reveal hidden depths to those already ‘on the team’. Much like the first Specials album at the turn of the 1980s, you can imagine ‘Jack Jones’ being useful to youngsters in 2024 trying to navigate the problems of today – swap birth control and street violence for mindless hedonism and mental-health struggles, and you have an equally bold and connective roadmap to the pitfalls of contemporary young-adult living. Jack Jones has enjoyed Top 10 success with TRAMPOLENE on the Independent Album Charts with three Top 10 Albums, hit the road as special guest to Liam Gallagher at the personal request of the iconic frontman, supported The Libertines on an Arena Tour as ‘Tour Poet’ and had the honour of being the first act to headline Swansea Arena. Headline tour dates are: November 2nd Glasgow The Poetry Club SWG3, 3rd Liverpool Jacaranda, 6th North Shields Three Tanners Bank, 7th Manchester YES Basement, 8th Cambridge The Six Six Bar, 9th Shrewsbury Albert & Co Frankville, 13th Bristol The Exchange, 14th London Old Blue Last, 15th Swansea Bunkhouse, 16th Cardiff The Moon

Imaginative re-workings and improvisations by Andrew Tuttle of the late great Michael Chapman's unfinished instrumental album. Sonic explorations that bridge the Southern and Northern Hemisphere via the Caribbean, remote Northumberland and sub-tropical Australia. Navigating calm seas and turbulent waters of ambient corals, new-age pirates, waves of lapping banjos and drifting eroding guitars.
When Michael Chapman passed away in September of 2021, at the age of 80, he did so – as he spent much of his life – as both a pioneer and a legend. A veteran of the British blues/folk/jazz scene, Chapman emerged in 1966 and continued working throughout his life, always pushing the boundaries of his creations while collaborating with a slew of similarly heralded musicians along the way: Bert Jansch, Mick Ronson, Elton John, Thurston Moore, Steve Gunn; to name just a smattering of those he worked alongside over the years.
It's the latter of those – Brooklyn guitarist and songwriter Steve Gunn – who Chapman flourished alongside in recent years, the two collaborating on 50 and True North, two of Chapman’s final and finest records. It was through that friendship that Chapman’s music found Andrew Tuttle, the Brisbane-based multi-instrumentalist who has toured Australia several times alongside Gunn.
In the aftermath of Chapman’s passing, his partner Andru discovered Tuttle’s Fleeting Adventure LP, describing it as “one of the albums that kept me sane during that first brutal winter on my own.” The pair met in Australia shortly after, and before Andru had even made it back home to the north of England, Tuttle had begun working on the recordings she shared with him at that time. Those recordings were part of a project Chapman was working on at the time of his death, called Another Fish – what would have been a companion piece to his previously-released LP, simply called Fish.
Though Chapman had spent time in his local studio playing all the guitars, layering the different sounds and effects, he’d always intended to do much more work on the songs, however fate had its way and he never got to ribbon-bow those ideas and bring the album to its conclusion.
Though there was little intention in terms of how to finalise the project, Tuttle spent valuable time with those recordings. What materialised, eventually - with time, care, and diligent attention - is a two-disc set Another Tide, Another Fish, something both unusual and completely distinctive. The first disc, Another Tide is centred around Tuttle’s own work, which shaped all seven of Michael’s songs and ideas into new songs of their own, and the second disc which simply incorporates the recordings that Michael left behind.
“On all of the tracks I also ‘played along’ on banjo to the originals several times until I learned an approximation,” Tuttle continues. “This ended up resulting in a ‘hybrid’, where some works are easily identifiable to those who know Michael’s originals, and some took that inspiration to head altogether elsewhere. Each of the tracks, even where not obvious, does have at the very least a trace element sample of the original recordings so that it’s a true collaboration.”
What we’re left with is indeed a hybrid: part remix album, part cover album, both a solo work and a collaboration, of sorts. Inspired by Chapman’s original ideas and with new track titles directly referencing the numbered but otherwise untitled source material, Tuttle adds his own flashes of colours throughout, including editing, sampling, MIDI transposing and signal processing that twists these songs into beautiful new shapes. Perhaps Tuttle’s greatest achievement here then is that Another Tide sounds so effortlessly free of all this context.
Whether you know Michael’s, Andrew’s or even Andru’s story or not, these recordings will bristle with enchantment and intrigue, worlds are built, and while some thrive and grow, others fizzle out in a burst of light, such is the way. “It's been a long, long road but we got there and I think it's been more than worth it,” Andru says in the record’s liner notes. “I really hope you think the journey was worth it too.”
Guitars and effects by Michael Chapman recorded by Alex Warnes at Phoenix Studio, Brampton, Cumbria, 2017 Banjo, effects and edits by Andrew Tuttle at Bella Vista, Brisbane / Meanjin, 2023-2024

The Heads’ Simon Price returns to his kandodo project with 'theendisinpsych'; "primitive pieces of psychedelic tuneage+years of wasted time=43 minutes of headphone bliss." It's the follow up to the 2019 collaboration with Wayne Maskell and Hugo Morgan, Kandodo 3 – K3, but this time back in solo-mode. He is now relocated in Northumbria, and has recorded the album himself in his home studio, drawing on his wide collection of music/instruments and the rural environment for inspiration. The new album fizzes and crackles with a verve that will activate the “turn on, tune in, drop out” sense in all listeners… Simon explained the album in a focused/out of focus track by track way… is this Price’s paean to his obsession with Bowie? chamba7 - octave mandolin through fuzz, tambo beat, in praise of Bowie compilations. chamba is malawian weed theendisinpsych - bought a reel to reel tape off ebay in 2005, ('Bowie radio interview tape, USA, 1970, 3 minutes?') then bought a machine to play it on in 2015. Heard the words and laid them onto a fuzzy break bed. Thought it all too relevant to today, prophetic David from his 'hippy' days (not a prophet or a stone age man) fuzzy oceans - played on 1 string spamjo, bouncing echo over 70's drum machine, 'we've fucked the oceans' freefalling - rolling cello and hissing cymbals with vocoder dreams comes with african/stationtostation artwork stylings for the sleeve..pre-apocalypse blues (and pinks), the world isn't going a good way a sumptuous 4 course sonic supper, tuck in.

A double header from Detroit artist Bobby Hutton, both songs reissued here for the first time and highly sought after. “Lend A Hand” is Bobby’s biggest record on the Northern Soul scene from the 70s, a dancefloor classic, and only previously issues as a UK promo 7” outside of the 1973 album “Piece of The Action” (also reissued on Expansion).

Paraphilia is an American death metal band hailing from the pacific northwest (Portland, Oregon). This cellar dwelling duo debuted their nasty brand of guttural destruction in the form of 2021's EP Primordium of Sinister Butchery. A frenzied titanic sized sixteen minute beatdown.

So here we are now 2023, brings us their 'super' debut full length "The Memory of Death Given Form". This record is already creating some major ruckus in death metals underground circle.

Comprised solely of SP (vocals/guitars/bass/programming) and KRP (vocals/lyrics), Paraphilia's brand of brutal & technical death metal is of the thick and chunky variety. Foot stomping groove mixed with gut punching brutality. This unmerciful bastard child snorts, snarls, growls, and lurks about waiting to hammer your bones into dust. The song structures are complex enough to impress, but also memorable and downright unforgiving in the headbanging department.

With a touch of the old school, some intricate guitar dissonance, masterfully written songs, and teeth loosening heaviness, "The Memory of Death Given Form" will delight and destroy even the hardened of death metal elites.

It contains 7 massive tracks (with a Bloodbath cover) chock-full of sophisticated dense riffs and relentless drum pummelling that's nothing short of being an aural sledgehammer, the album kicks off with a crushing track that takes no prisoners.

Technically proficient but insanely groovy "Memory of Death Given Form" is a thick beast of jarring tempos and vomit inducing guitar savagery. Harsh, drawn out gutturals over rhythmic guitar mayhem is enough to make anyone feel like they could run straight through a brick wall. Unadulterated death metal ferocity.

To put it bluntly, this is DAMN fucking GOOD, and you would be hard-pressed to find any better death metal this year.

Sure for fans of: Bloodbath, Hate Eternal, Suffocation, Devourment & similar.

Available on a delicious black and yellow super marble 180gr. vinyl, and solid yellow vinyl, and both are limited at 100 copies each.

Paraphilia is an American death metal band hailing from the pacific northwest (Portland, Oregon). This cellar dwelling duo debuted their nasty brand of guttural destruction in the form of 2021's EP Primordium of Sinister Butchery. A frenzied titanic sized sixteen minute beatdown.

So here we are now 2023, brings us their 'super' debut full length "The Memory of Death Given Form". This record is already creating some major ruckus in death metals underground circle.

Comprised solely of SP (vocals/guitars/bass/programming) and KRP (vocals/lyrics), Paraphilia's brand of brutal & technical death metal is of the thick and chunky variety. Foot stomping groove mixed with gut punching brutality. This unmerciful bastard child snorts, snarls, growls, and lurks about waiting to hammer your bones into dust. The song structures are complex enough to impress, but also memorable and downright unforgiving in the headbanging department.

With a touch of the old school, some intricate guitar dissonance, masterfully written songs, and teeth loosening heaviness, "The Memory of Death Given Form" will delight and destroy even the hardened of death metal elites.

It contains 7 massive tracks (with a Bloodbath cover) chock-full of sophisticated dense riffs and relentless drum pummelling that's nothing short of being an aural sledgehammer, the album kicks off with a crushing track that takes no prisoners.

Technically proficient but insanely groovy "Memory of Death Given Form" is a thick beast of jarring tempos and vomit inducing guitar savagery. Harsh, drawn out gutturals over rhythmic guitar mayhem is enough to make anyone feel like they could run straight through a brick wall. Unadulterated death metal ferocity.

To put it bluntly, this is DAMN fucking GOOD, and you would be hard-pressed to find any better death metal this year.

Sure for fans of: Bloodbath, Hate Eternal, Suffocation, Devourment & similar.

Available on a delicious black and yellow super marble 180gr. vinyl, and solid yellow vinyl, and both are limited at 100 copies each.

Denzel Curry's forthcoming King Of The Mischievous South Volume 2 finds him presenting a sequel to the project, and bringing back the sound, that helped launch his career. While the first installment of King Of The Mischievous South was performed from the perspective of his Raven Miyagi persona, a name bestowed upon him by Raider Klan founder SpaceGhostPurrp, Volume 2 finds Curry operating under his Big Ultra persona -- an elevated version of Raven Miyagi that is bragadocious and revels in the success that Curry has seen over the last decade of his career. Creating King Of The Mischievous South Volume 2 has been a goal of Curry's for some time, though his earliest attempts to do so ultimately morphed into other projects, namely his 2016 album Imperial and 2020's 13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT. It wasn't until he stopped overly attempting to create Volume 2 that its songs started to emerge naturally. 

Given the project's sound, which pays homage to the great musical heritages of the South -- from Memphis to Houston and Curry's own South Florida -- its features include the region's greats, both old and new, as well as others whose style is indebted to the South's musical legacy. Features include fellow former Raider Klan member Key Nyata, Memphis stalwarts Juicy J and Project Pat, Texas' Maxo Kream, That Mexican OT and Mike Dimes, North Carolina’s TiaCorine, Atlanta's 2 Chainz and Kenny Mason and South Florida's Ski Mask The Slump God and PlayThatBoiZay, as well as ASAP Ferg and ASAP Rocky, among others. The project more broadly and the intentional inclusion of Rocky and Ferg is Curry's attempt to show what could have been had relationships not soured with SpaceGhostPurrp, fulfilling the promise that existed at the rise of their respective careers in the early 2010s.  

With all of the otherworldly adventures Denzel has taken listeners on over the course of his last few conceptually-driven albums, this project serves as a showcase for the fun, spontaneity and technical mastery that has made him one of rap's most in-demand talents over the course of the last decade. 

Originally scheduled for release way back in March 1996, "The Raw Factor" by North Carolina native Omniscence is one of the last of the unreleased mid-90's albums to see the light of day. Despite being awarded The Source's coveted "Hip Hop Quotable" and dropping two well-received singles ("Amazin" and "Touch Y'all"), record label politics meant the full-length "The Raw Factor" album was never released and fans were left wondering what might have been.

28 years later, "The Raw Factor" is finally being released on vinyl, CD and digital stores. Featuring punchline-driven lyrics from Omniscence delivered in his unmistakable cadence, and backed by head-nodding production from Fanatic, the album is a must-own for fans of 90's Hip Hop.

Omniscence haunted the same early 90's cyphers and stages that many lyrical greats from the era had to cross. With a gruff delivery and equal adeptness with punchlines and metaphors, his high finish at the 1994 edition Battle For World Supremacy at the New Music Seminar assured heads across the culture were watching. After this, Omniscence locked in with producer Fanatic (who also laced tracks for Notorious B.I.G., Ma$e and Michael Jackson). The result was "The Raw Factor" album, fifteen plus tracks of jazzed out boom-bap, replete with crackin' drums.

Now Below System Records has not only given the album its first deluxe physical release (including 2xLP, CD and digital) as well as a slew of bonus/unreleased tracks.
















p Touch Y'all (Remix) feat. Sadat X
















p Touch Y'all (Remix) [feat. Sadat X]
















[p] Touch Y'all (Remix) [feat. Sadat X]
















[p] Touch Y'all (Remix) [feat. Sadat X]

"This Jon Favreau-directed movie stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a human raised in the North Pole to be an elf. After discovering he`s really a human, Buddy heads to NYC to find his place in the world and to find his father.

He not only finds his family, but he also manages to rekindle Christmas spirit in the city. The soundtrack includes songs by Louis Prima, Ferrante & Tercher, Ertha Kit, Brian Setzer, Ella Fitzgerald, Wayne Newton, Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston, Johnny Osbourne, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Zooey Deschanel, and Leon Redbone."

RAYE has been on a real journey prior to her stratospheric rise to the top and notching the first #1 UK hit of 2023. Nominated for 7 x Brit Awards (the most by any artist in one year) her long-awaited independent debut album, My 21st Century Blues, made an immediate impact hitting the #2 spot on the UK albums chart. As a welcome result of her self-fulfilling new work, RAYE unknowingly created the song that has become synonymous with 2023 – the chart topping, viral global smash “Escapism” featuring 070 Shake – that earned her first Top 10 slots at US Pop and Rhythm radio and and is the biggest selling single by a Female British artist in the UK in 2023. From the radio to the club, it put RAYE on the map in a whole new way earning the Best Contemporary Song Award at the 2023 Ivors, AIM Best Independent Track and Best Social Trending Song at the Global Awards, as well as contributing to her winning a BRIT Billions Award in recognition of 1 Billion career UK streams (globally, 4.5 Billion cumulative). RAYE also received the Live Nation Best Female Award at the O2 Silver Clefs and was nominated for the Best International Act at the BET Awards. Fresh off sold-out tours with Lewis Capaldi, Kali Uchis, and SZA, she embarked on a mammoth journey of her own. Two headline tours spanning the UK, Europe, and North America saw her energy ignite sold-out crowds every night. Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage felt her command, and the Royal Albert Hall, draped in the magic of her orchestra and choir, witnessed a BBC special for the ages. This year, My 21st Century Symphony arrives at the o2 Arena, then it's on to Coachella. After playing and owning the pop game, RAYE bet on herself and won.

Tracklisting

1. Overture. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 2. Oscar Winning Tears. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 3. Hard Out Here. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 4. The Thrill Is Gone Requiem. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 5. The Thrill Is Gone. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 6. Five Star Hotels. - RAYE, Heritage Orchestra 7. Mary Jane vs Graeme Blevins. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 8. Mary Jane - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 9. Environmental Anxiety. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 10. Body Dysmorphia - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 11. Ice Cream Man. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 12. Dani's Interlude. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 13. Flip A Switch. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 14. Worth It Prelude. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 15. Worth It. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 16. Black Mascara. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 17. Buss It Down. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra 18. Escapism. - RAYE, The Heritage Orchestra



Congratulations to RAYE on her phenomenal night at the Brit Awards.. with a record breaking six wins in one night, including ..

Best British Album

Best Artist

Best Breakthrough Artist

Best Songwriter

Best R&B Act

-3rd album from veteran rap duo Dillon & Batsauce. Dillon on the raps & scratches, Batsauce on the beats. ('On Their Way' - 2018, 'Self Medicated' - 2020).
-Produced entirely by Batsauce, guest features include Grand Puba, Kool Keith, Quelle Chris, Reef the Lost Cauze, Headkrack and Jay Myztroh of Stono Echo.
-Atlanta, GA + Jacksonville, FL album release parties booked for end of July + Northeast Tour Run scheduled for August.
-Batsauce has been producing hip hop and soul for 20+ years with multiple albums on labels BBE (Barely Breaking Even) producing for his wife, soul-singer, Lady Daisey + Galapagos4 where he produced multiple projects for Qwazaar of Typical Cats. He is 1/3 of the group, 'The Smile Rays' (which includes Lady Daisey and Paten Locke). He's also done extensive work with Akrobatik, Mr. Lif and even has multiple songs with George Clinton!
-Dillon is an Atlanta, GA based MC/DJ who has been releasing records for 20 years, 10 of those years was running FULL PLATE, the label he started in 2013 with Paten Locke (RIP). Dillon has worked with many of Hip-Hop's elite from the old school to the true school such as Chuck D, Diamond D, Count Bass D, Kool Keith, Greg Nice, Grand Puba, Homeboy Sandman, J-Live, Quelle Chris, Sadat X, Ras Kass, Stacy Epps, Planet Asia, eLZhi, Slimkid3 of The Pharcyde - and the list goes on!
-Classic black, standard weight vinyl in full-color jacket w/ matte finish. Includes Download Card.
Underground hip-hop veterans, Dillon and Batsauce have been making unorthodox rap music together for nearly 20 years with a simple formula: Batsauce makes the beats, Dillon writes the songs, and whatever happens, happens. After carving out their own lane with a catalog of EPs and LPs over the past 2 decades, the duo has finally slowed down enough to ask themselves, 'What Have We Done'?
Is the title of their latest effort rhetorical or meant to be an actual question? If so, Dillon and Batsauce probably don't want to know the answer. They probably don't want you, the listener, to think too much about it either. Instead, 'What Have We Done' is an invitation to experience the trials and tribulations, the small wins and the big losses of being aging independent artists in an increasingly cut-throat world for music makers.
But Dillon & Batsauce aren't the only ones on this joyride, we also hear from a well-curated crew of characters they've befriended along the way, from bonafide legends like Grand Puba and Kool Keith to modern day rap heroes, Quelle Chris & Reef the Lost Cauze. The end result is a collection of songs that runs the gamut from personal to aspirational to...delusional. Whether it's 'too much' or 'not enough', the answer to the question, 'What Have We Done' remains open to interpretation. Perhaps it’s not a question at all, but merely the naturally visceral reaction when career creators look back at a life lived on the edge.
Track Listing: 1. What Have We Done (Intro) 2. Mind Made 3. Quiet as a Library 4. Eddie Farah 5. Make History 6. Cannonball feat. Grand Puba 7. Banana Peels 8. Accolades feat. Reef the Lost Cauze & Jay Myztroh 9. Wakin' up Hungry feat. Headkrack 10. Goin' Viral 11. Ready on the Left feat. Kool Keith 12. What Are We Doing (Interlude) 13. Watercolors feat. Quelle Chris 14. Speak Easy 15. Isiah Thomas 16. Rock Bottom 17. Yoga Flame

Are you a mannequin in the eyes of your beloved? Does your partner compare your relationship to a factory that emits plumes of smoke? Are you in love with a seductive and destructive Credit Default Swap? Someone who sucks you in with skyrocketing short term erotic returns - only to ghost you until you crash so hard that you end up broke(n) in your own bed? Do you pay $300 an hour out of pocket to a psychiatrist who promises to help you strike a deal with a difcult parent - one that will produce more stable long term returns on your psychic investments? If so, then you, my friend, may be drowning in the sea of Love in the Time of Capital. It's where everyone would love to drown. It's a new album from John Davis of The Folk Implosion that fnds him backed with confdence by Eli Moore and Andrew Dorsett of the indie pop band Lake. It was recorded by Nich Wilbur at the Unknown, a cavernous recording studio in Anacortes, WA that has been a favorite destination for indie rockers around the nation. Ben Brodin recorded Megan Siebe playing strings on two tracks at his Hidden Branch studio in Omaha, and the album was mixed by Scott Solter in Durham NC. Arrangements are based on the classic power pop trio of drums, bass and electric guitar. Those elements are tastefully embellished with organs and pianos that call to mind records by classic rock bands like Tom Petty's Heartbreakers. That is, if the Heartbreakers were fltered through the Northwestern International Pop Underground tradition, and cast a critical eye on how commodity culture shapes the way we think of ourselves and our intimate relationships. The album also features four ballads, three drum and electric guitar free, for all you late night introspective heads.

To experience Justin R. Cruz Gallego's pulverizing Sub Pop debut is to get burned down to ashes and burst forth, born anew. Grim Iconic...(Sadistic Mantra), the Tacoma-based artist's second album, is driven by opposing forces: noisy abstractions and tightly structured beats, anguish and dissolution at the outside world and empowerment within, apathy and catharsis. Grim Iconic...(Sadistic Mantra) weds scouring electronics to hooky songs and Gallego's powerful drumming in a way that feels visceral and new. It's his most personal statement to date, at once playful and intent, driven and combustible, total fucking chaos mixed into glints of broken-glass beauty. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Gallego experienced culture shock as a child after relocating to the frigid climes of the Pacific Northwest. He found solace in the Seattle punk scene centered around Iron Lung Records and has since remained a fixture in the underground community. "I see this record as first and foremost a musical statement," Gallego says. "I grew up in punk and DIY subcultures, but before that I had Latin music playing in the background through my childhood and every phase of adolescence. It was surprisingly natural to incorporate. I realized I wanted to go deeper into these rhythms. I wanted to make a record that felt as experimental as much as it felt from the perspective of a Latino. When I got a glimmer of that possibility, it felt exciting." Lead single "Dogear" is a face-melting party starter that sounds like someone forced Talking Heads and Rudimentary Peni to share a practice space. "I wanted a song that felt playful in the way it attempted to be dissonant without taking itself too seriously," Gallego says. "Cholla Beat" is even more ambitious, an anthemic mix of WAR and Wire led by unruly synthesizers spiraling down a labyrinth of production. Gallego's influences for the album are vast, ranging from British documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis to electric Miles Davis to audio miscreants like Demdike Stare and Oneohtrix Point Never. But it's Gallego's assured sonic vision that resounds the loudest. And, while J.R.C.G. is a solo project, conceived and executed primarily in Gallego's home studio, he found strength in opening the project to others, starting with Seth Manchester as co-producer. Manchester's penchant for bone-rattling frequencies, as seen in his production work with The Body, Battles, and Mdou Moctar, made him a natural fit for Gallego. Together, they retained the intimacy of Gallego's home recordings while taking advantage of the hi-fi stylings of his Machines With Magnets Studio in Rhode Island. The closing song, "World i," offers a glimpse into the live experience of Grim Iconic...(Sadistic Mantra), with upwards of seven band members blasting off. The album features a fascinating mix of supporting players, many of whom cycle through J.R.C.G.'s live lineup: Morgan Henderson (The Blood Brothers, Fleet Foxes), Jason Clackley (Dreamdecay, The Exquisites), Jon Scheid (Dreamdecay, U Sco), Erica Miller (Casual Hex, Big Bite), Veronica Dye (Terminator) Phil Cleary (U Sco), and Alex Gaziano (Dreamdecay, Kidcrash, Science Amplification). Taken as a whole, G.I.S.M. is a whirlwind of sound, pummeling, and cleansing. It's a sweaty, thrilling aural adventure and, like a great basement show, it'll leave you breathless, exhausted, and wanting to repeat it all over again. As any good mantra should.