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Acknowledge Kindness expands San Francisco based The Reds, Pinks And Purples' distinctive brand of emotional pop, music built for the quiet hours and the restless mind. Evolving naturally from the heavier, melancholic indie rock of previous releases, the mood here feels more exposed and reflective, blossoming into lush dreamscapes that recall the bittersweet sorrow of The Cure or the tenderly gloomy transcendence of California by American Music Club. Created from a new headspace, the album finds main man Glenn Donaldson observing both the present and the weight of what came before it. Songs lean into a deeper sense of nostalgia, allowing him to look back with intent and revisit moments that once carried a sting. Donaldson's vocals are captured in high fidelity, raw and immediate, with lyrical abstraction underpinned by chiming acoustic guitars and achingly beautiful piano. Across its 11 tracks, Acknowledge Kindness expands The Reds, Pinks And Purples' emotional and sonic panorama, with Donaldson's ongoing world-building remaining both warmly nostalgic and strikingly original. "Donaldson's best work hides allure within a bigger picture, like a jangle-pop egg hunt" Pitchfork FFO The Smiths, Guided By Voices, The Chills, Leonard Cohen, The Go-Betweens, Robert Wyatt, Twee-, Jangle- & Sophisticated Guitar Pop. Coloured vinyl LP versions and digisleeve CD available

Seit nunmehr über zwanzig Jahren als Duo zusammen, setzen Hammock ihre bemerkenswerte Reihe klanglicher Entdeckungsreisen mit The Second Coming Was A Moonrise" fort. Der Titel fängt einen Moment der Entdeckung ein, als Byrd und ein Freund in seinen späten Teenagerjahren unter dem Einfluss von Psychedelika den Mondaufgang für die Wiederkunft Christi hielten. Byrd und Thompson, beide in erster Linie Gitarristen, haben festgestellt, dass ihre musikalische Verbundenheit immer stärker wird, während ihre gemeinsame Arbeit im Laufe der Jahre noch dramatischer und reichhaltiger wird, auf der Suche nach einem Gefühl von mitreißender, schimmernder klanglicher Ehrfurcht, das sich niemals einfach als etwas anderes als sich selbst zusammenfassen lässt. The Second Coming Was A Moonrise" setzt diese Empfindungen der Entdeckung fort und fühlt sich gleichzeitig wie eines ihrer intimsten Alben an, während es das reiche Gefühl von Erhabenheit erforscht, das sie im Gegenzug erschaffen können. Ein Großteil von The Second Coming" ist instrumental oder fügt nur wortlose Gesangssenken und Texturen hinzu, wenn auch immer mit Titeln, die bewusst gewählt wurden. Byrd greift mit Chemicals Make You Small" erneut auf seine drogenbefeuerten Fluchtversuche zurück, wobei zwei namhafte Gäste mitwirken: Wayne Coyne und Steven Drozd von The Flaming Lips, die Gesang und Keyboards beisteuern. Zu den weiteren wiederkehrenden Gastmusikern gehören der regelmäßige Mitstreiter Matt Kidd von Slow Meadow, der Streicher und Gitarre beisteuert, Matthew Doty von Deserta an Synthesizern und Gitarre, Christine Byrd von Lumenette mit engelsgleichem Gesang, Chad Howat am Keyboard und Bass sowie Jake Finch mit bemerkenswertem Schlagzeugspiel.

Kendra Morris' 2025er Brettspiel-Konzeptalbum ,Next" wurde schnell zum Fan-Favoriten, führte mehrere Jahresendlisten an und festigte seinen Platz als eine der kreativsten Albumkampagnen. Jetzt, sechs Monate nach der Veröffentlichung des Albums, freut sich Karma Chief, dir eine 45er-Single mit einem Fan-Favoriten vom Album und einem brandneuen Dub-Remix präsentieren zu können. ,Flat Tire", der Ankündigungs-Track des Albums, ist eine Hommage an den alten Reggae der 60er Jahre. Inspiriert von den Platten, die Kendras Eltern von ihren Reisen nach Jamaika mitbrachten, bietet der Song einen eingängigen, beschwingten Refrain, den du einfach nicht mehr aus dem Kopf bekommst. ,Flat Tire" wurde komplett mit Vintage-Equipment aufgenommen und über einen Tascam 388 abgemischt. Außerdem ist Ray Jacildo, der auch schon mit The Back Keys und Yola zusammengearbeitet hat, am Klavier und an der Orgel zu hören. Auf der B-Seite der 45er-Single ist ein Dub-Remix von ,Flat Tire" vom einzigartigen Paul Cherry zu finden. ,Sobald wir ,Flat Tire` aufgenommen hatten, waren Terry und ich uns sofort einig, dass es eine Art Dub-Remix geben sollte - der Song war wie dafür gemacht", sagt Kendra. Terry schlug Cherrys Namen vor und sie waren sich einig, dass er der Richtige für den Job war. Das Endergebnis spiegelt den klassischen Dub der späten 60er perfekt wider, indem es auf den Grundlagen des Songs aufbaut _ die Produktion weiter reduziert, den Hall verstärkt und an genau den richtigen Stellen Echos, Pausen und Delays hinzufügt.

Kendra Morris' 2025er Brettspiel-Konzeptalbum ,Next" wurde schnell zum Fan-Favoriten, führte mehrere Jahresendlisten an und festigte seinen Platz als eine der kreativsten Albumkampagnen. Jetzt, sechs Monate nach der Veröffentlichung des Albums, freut sich Karma Chief, dir eine 45er-Single mit einem Fan-Favoriten vom Album und einem brandneuen Dub-Remix präsentieren zu können. ,Flat Tire", der Ankündigungs-Track des Albums, ist eine Hommage an den alten Reggae der 60er Jahre. Inspiriert von den Platten, die Kendras Eltern von ihren Reisen nach Jamaika mitbrachten, bietet der Song einen eingängigen, beschwingten Refrain, den du einfach nicht mehr aus dem Kopf bekommst. ,Flat Tire" wurde komplett mit Vintage-Equipment aufgenommen und über einen Tascam 388 abgemischt. Außerdem ist Ray Jacildo, der auch schon mit The Back Keys und Yola zusammengearbeitet hat, am Klavier und an der Orgel zu hören. Auf der B-Seite der 45er-Single ist ein Dub-Remix von ,Flat Tire" vom einzigartigen Paul Cherry zu finden. ,Sobald wir ,Flat Tire` aufgenommen hatten, waren Terry und ich uns sofort einig, dass es eine Art Dub-Remix geben sollte - der Song war wie dafür gemacht", sagt Kendra. Terry schlug Cherrys Namen vor und sie waren sich einig, dass er der Richtige für den Job war. Das Endergebnis spiegelt den klassischen Dub der späten 60er perfekt wider, indem es auf den Grundlagen des Songs aufbaut _ die Produktion weiter reduziert, den Hall verstärkt und an genau den richtigen Stellen Echos, Pausen und Delays hinzufügt.

From the maniacal opening notes and carnival barker howl that launch the album, The Ugly Organ wasted no time searing itself into a listener's ears and quickly established Cursive as a musical force with which to be reckoned. A self aware examination of artistic constraints (or lack thereof), relationships, sex, and the intersection of all three, The Ugly Organ wowed critics and audiences alike with its cerebral, cathartic blend of songs. Fiercely intelligent and cohesive - the liner notes laid the songs out like a play, complete with stage directions - across its diverse sonic landscape, the album landed Cursive on the Sunday Arts & Leisure section cover of The New York Times (which also called it "a marvelous collection of riddles and left turns, conceived as a single piece of musical theater") and earned accolades from Rolling Stone ("a brilliant leap forward"), Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, Alternative Press, MAGNET ("The best punk record you'll hear all year"), Esquire, and SPIN, among many others, as well as a place on numerous year-end best lists.The Ugly Organ feels as vibrant and vital today as it did upon release more than 20 years ago. A landmark album, it not only catapulted Cursive from the simmering indie underground to the forefront of a genre, but also served to inspire a host of young bands in its wake.

Endlich ist es da, das lang erwartete zweite Album von GREEN DESERT TREE. Mit dem ersten Album "Progressive Worlds" hatte Green Desert Tree bereits 2019 bleibende Spuren in der Progwelt hinterlassen. Die Berliner Band um Mastermind Tim Sund (u.a. Keyboarder bei der Krautrock Legende Agitation Free) hatte bewiesen, dass sich aktueller Neoprog aus Deutschland in Sachen musikalischer Qualität und Originalität nicht hinter der internationalen Konkurrenz verstecken muss. Die Fachwelt hatte einen neuen Stern am Proghimmel wahrgenommen. Doch genau in dem Augenblick, als GDT im Begriff war die internationalen Festivalbühnen zu betreten, wurde der Band ein Strich durch die Rechnung gemacht: Corona. Diese unfreiwillige Unterbrechung aller Aktivitäten brachte dann auch ein paar personelle Veränderungen mit sich, so dass der bisherige Bassist Sascha Giebel zum Frontsänger avancierte und der italienische Bassist Francesco Beccaro neu zur Band hinzustieß. Das neue Album FIGHTING DRAGONS knüpft genau da an, wofür schon das Debüt so gefeiert wurde und besticht mit verpielt proggigen Keyboardintros, vertrackten Melodien, harten Gitarren, fantasievollem Storytelling, Satzgesang, symphonischer Größe, mikroskopischer Detailverliebtheit, klassisch anmutenden Passagen im Rockgewand und mitunter sehr druckvollen Parts. So handelt es sich bei den Songs des neuen Albums um eine Sammlung von Geschichten, die vom "Storyteller" erzählt werden. Dabei geht es zum Beispiel um eine Frau, die um ihren Bräutigam trauert, der am Vorabend der Hochzeit plötzlich spurlos verschwindet. Ein anderer Song handelt von einem computerspielsüchtigen Jugendlichen, der glaubt ein Ritter zu sein, der sein Königreich vor gefährlichen Drachen schützen muss. Was all diese Musik von GDT vereint, ist eine Qualität von Storytelling, die beispielsweise an Bands wie die frühen Genesis, Yes und Saga sowie an aktuelle Künstler wie Neal Morse und Steven Wilson erinnert, vereint mit einem Riesenspektrum an musikalischen Einflüssen und großer instrumentaler Virtuosität. Green Desert Tree wird nun zur Veröffentlichung des zweiten Albums "Fighting Dragons" endlich nachholen, was hätte schon längst passieren sollen, und zwar die deutschen Bühnen erobern und sich den Progfans in die Herzen spielen.

Michael Nau und Whitney McGraw haben große, fragende Herzen voller Musik, die Elemente aus Soul, Rock und Gospel in einen weichen Kokon aus Kleinstadtsound einhüllt. Das begann vor einigen Jahren als BASKET RIDE und wurde ganz zufällig zu COTTON JONES. Ein neuer Name verspricht neue Flexibilität. Nau schreibt nun ganz andere Musik, als er das für PAGE FRANCE tat; die ursprüngliche Paranoia, die ihn trieb, hat er abgeschüttelt. "Paranoid Cocoon" ist das Debüt für Suicide Squeeze, das in seiner ruhigen, holzigen Psychedelia die Suche des Duos nach Trost und Freiheit unter den Bergen von Maryland widerspiegelt. Zwischen der einsamen Dunkelheit des Waldes und dem Licht des roten Mondes versammeln COTTON JONES Songs des Verlassens und guten und schlechten Träumen, die sich aus der Umgebung speisen, in der beide ihren Ursprung haben. In "By Morning Light" ziehen sich die Stimmen der beiden gegenseitig aus ihrer Melancholie in einen Zustand erstaunter Genugtuung. Die Musik auf "Paranoid Cocoon" glitzert. Die Snaredrum und der sanfte Anschlag der Gitarre erreichen den himmlischen Eindruck von YO LA TENGOs "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out". Einfache, bescheidene Perfektion.

Einar Solberg (Leprous) kehrt mit "Vox Occulta" zurück, seinem zweiten Projekt unter eigenem Namen und einem kühnen, schweren und symphonischen Statement, das in Zusammenarbeit mit dem begehrten Norwegian Radio Orchestra aufgenommen wurde. Solberg will sich als einer der epischsten Charaktere der experimentellen Musik etablieren: "Ich möchte als der cineastische Mensch im Prog gesehen werden", erklärt er. "Ich möchte das vollständig für mich beanspruchen. Dies ist ein sehr cineastisches Album, und genau das war mein Ziel."
"Stella Mortua", der Eröffnungstrack von "Vox Occulta", spiegelt diese klare Vision wider. Solberg singt zu klassischen Streichern, bevor sich eindringliche E-Gitarren-Akkorde hinzugesellen und der Sänger sich durch einen majestätischen Refrain kämpft. Von da an hat jeder Song seinen eigenen Charakter - "Medulla" betont sein gewaltiges, metallisches Riff und "Grex" ist eine fast 12-minütige Odyssee.
"Vox Occulta" wurde von Solberg und David Castillo co-produziert, der für seine Arbeit mit Opeth, Katatonia, Amorphis und anderen bekannt ist. Auf dem Album sind Schlagzeuger Keli Guðj\u00F3nsson (Agent Fresco), Violinist Chris Baum (Bent Knee), Gitarrist Pierre Danel (Novelists) und Bassist Jed Lingat sowie John Browne (Monuments) und Ben Levin (ex-Bent Knee) zu hören. Adam Noble, ehemaliges Mitglied von Biffy Clyro, war für den Mix verantwortlich.
"Vox Occulta" wird als limitierte CD-Digipak- und Gatefold-Weiß/Schwarz-2LP-Version sowie digital erhältlich sein..

Im Winter 2008/2009 veröffentlichten MINUS THE BEAR eine EP namens "Acoustics", die neu aufgenommene Akustikversionen von Lieblingssongs aus der fruchtbaren Karriere des Quintetts versammelte und mit einem brandneuen Track angereichert wurde. Seinerzeit limitiert auf 5000 Vinyle ist ,Acoustic" schon lange ausverkauft. Mit ,Acoustics 2" folgt nun der zweite Teil der Akustik Serie und kommt als komplette LP mit acht neu aufgenommenen und neu interpretierten Tracks und mit sage und schreibe zwei neuen Songs: ,The Storm" und ,Riddles". ,Acoustic 2" wird langjährige Fans erfreuen und der anerkannten Rockband neue Zugänge in der Fangemeinde bescheren.

Released independently and on her 30th birthday, "Water Baby" is Giorgia-May's stunning debut album. Spanning over 8 tracks & recorded live at The Famous Goldwatch Studios in Berlin, Giorgia collaborates with some of Berlin's finest musicians to enhance her craft at putting emotions into songs. Each track highlights something different in her ability to channel pain, desire, lust and heartbreak, all whilst (most of the time) making you want to dance & smile.

Stemming originally from Brighton (UK), Giorgia-May has been pursuing a musical career through the means of travel. Now based in Berlin, she combines sensual lyrics, mesmerising tones and exciting arrangements which draw upon her personal experiences of love, loss and coming into womanhood. Blending soulful melodies with jazzy chords and hints of RnB, she takes influence from writers such as Olivia Dean & Amy Winehouse.

Extensive independent European tour in August & September 2026 through the following cities: Berlin, Paris, Bilbao, Porto, Lisbon, Valencia, Barcelona, Marseille, Cannes, Milan, Lake Como, Zurich, Luxembourg, Brussles, Cologne, Amsterdam and more ...

Yearly compilation series RADAR KEROXEN return with its sixth volume of theme-driven releases, continuing to chart the fractured sonic terrain of the Canary Islands’ undergrowth.

After digging through indie, psychedelia, shoegaze, and site-specific drone, Vol. 6 dives headfirst into the after-hours circuitry of the islas afortunadas, assembling a hand-picked selection of underground club mutations from five long-standing operators within the local electronic ecosystem.

If Vol. 5 was shaped by the cavernous resonance of Santa Cruz’s obsolete gasoline tank, Vol. 6 is fuelled by late-night club aesthetics and mid-90s hardware obsession. Opening the record, Dancelwerk — one of the archipelago’s early modular practitioners — delivers tightly wound structures nodding to Warp-era golden agefuturism and southern Tenerife’s rave boom. Cmos34 follow with their first-ever published material, injecting instability into the system through improvised techno rituals built on friction and feedback.

Jorganes drags the narrative deeper into hypnotic territory, stripping club music down to its skeletal pulse and channeling disciplined repetition and late-90s minimalism into austere, trance-inducing momentum. From Gran Canaria, Sunday German Flowers bends the mood toward cinematic dub: heavy low-end pressure, spoken word, and nocturnal atmospheres stitched into slow-burning club noir.

Closing the circle, Nico Hernández pulls the compilation back to volcanic ground with ambient compositions shaped by Lanzarote’s raw geological landscape — basalt echoes, tectonic silence, and island isolation rendered in sound.

As always, the release is housed in a post-tropical collage artwork by Pura Márquez.

Master by Daniel García
Artwork by Pura Marquéz

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER: THE LONG-LOST RECORDINGS OF BIRMINGHAM ROOTS REGGAE PIONEERS NATRUS Mastered from the original tapes by Guy Davie at Electric Needle Mythology, the label founded by music writer, author and broadcaster Pete Paphides, is thrilled to announce the archival release of newly-discovered recordings by Birmingham reggae band Natrus. Comprising members of the same family – seven in total – Natrus were a ubiquitous presence of the live circuit within and beyond the West Midlands in the late 1970s. Used as an ad hoc “Wrecking Crew” by local producer and promoter Toney Owens, NATRUS frequently provided live accompaniment to visiting Jamaican artists such as Sugar Minott, Johnny Osbourne and Freddie McKay. With an age span ranging from 9 to 25, NATRUS’S live work had to be structured around the educational obligations of their younger members. But when they weren’t playing live, they would frequently hone their own compositions at Owens’ studio in Saltley, Birmingham.

During their collective lifetime, NATRUS released one very limited edition single Mash It, with a stellar guest vocal from deejay Ranking Glad(Stone). Featured alongside Mash It on this release are a selection of recordings previously thought lost by the group who laid them down. They were only discovered after Toney Owens’ alerted Needle Mythology’s Pete Paphides to the existence of some 60 quarter-inch reels featuring all the music recorded by Owens over a period of ten years or so. When Paphides finally tracked down NATRUS rhythm guitarist Owen Taylor, he was stunned to hear of their existence. After a meeting with Taylor and his siblings, Needle Mythology collaborated with NATRUS on the restoration and remastering of the tracks featured on this, their very belated debut album. As well as Mash It and its original flipside Come From Africa, highlights on ‘NATRUS’ include a superb version of Slim Smith’s The Time Has Come and the deep roots entreaties of Freedom Inna Babylon, both showcasing the soulful vocal of lead singer Fitzdonald “Fitz” English and the almost psychic sense of musical attunement that percolates right down the the formidable rhythm section of Beverley Stewart (bass) and Clinton Gordon (drums).

On their seventh studio album, Lost Cause Lover Fool (due April 24th on Far Cry/Thirty Tigers), The Milk Carton Kids deliver 9 songs that, more than ever, invite listeners to lean in close and hover in the small moments the album magnifies. Much has changed since The Milk Carton Kids — Los Angeles-based singer-songwriters Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan — burst on the Folk scene in 2011. And The Milk Carton Kids have changed too. But at least one constant remains. Pattengale and Ryan continue to make music that entices us turn down the volume on a chaotic world and dwell as long as possible on what matters most. With rootsy arrangements, Lost Cause Lover Fool expands on the duo’s signature minimalist sound their fans love while also, somehow, making it even smaller. Lost Cause Lover Fool begins with the lonesome pluck and strum of the banjo on “Blue Water.”

Often employed either for lightning-speed or rhythm, here the banjo is handled carefully, with reticence, so that it feels more like light cast across a stretch of grass than a whole bluegrass instrument. Lyrically, this album-opener zooms in on a snapshot of a man walking along a riverside, remembering the child that used to lay on his chest who has now grown to share his worried mind. It’s a moment so small it might easily have been dismissed, except that it holds an emotion as universal as it is fleeting. Lost Cause Lover Fool magnifies many such small moments, turns them into mesmerizing worlds, and reminds us — pleads with us — to pay attention to them as they go by.

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

Rock legend John Corabi—renowned for his work with Mötley Crüe, The Scream, Union, ESP, and The Dead Daisies—steps into the spotlight with “New Day” his first full-length solo album of original material. Recorded in Nashville during the summer of 2025 and produced by multi-platinum songwriter and producer Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Buckcherry), the album fuses classic ’70s rock, soul, and blues influences into a sound that is both timeless and deeply personal. The record features the previously released singles “Così Bella (So Beautiful)” (2021) and “Your Own Worst Enemy” (2022), now fully integrated into a rich collection of tracks that showcase Corabi’s commanding vocals, heartfelt lyrics, and masterful songwriting.

Throughout the album, Corabi is joined by Marti Frederiksen, who adds backing vocals, guitars, piano, and percussion; Evan Frederiksen, providing drums, bass, B3 organ, electric guitar, mandolin, and programming; Richard Fortus (Guns N’ Roses) on lead guitar; and Paul Taylor (Winger, Steve Perry) contributing piano, organ, and clavinet. Together, they create an organic, instrument-driven sound built on real performances, melodic interplay, and soulful energy. A trip down to memory lane mostly with a nostalgic mood offering intimate everything that is in between acoustic moments to richly layered arrangements rockers: “New Day” is a journey through the heart of rock, infused with soul and blues sensibilities, and inspired by the melodic grandeur of early Boston and Queen. With a European tour planned for February/March 2026 and additional shows through late spring and summer, Corabi is poised to bring this music directly to fans, delivering both powerful live energy and emotional resonance. More than just a solo debut, “New Day” is John Corabi’s personal testament to rock’s enduring spirit—an exploration of melody, soul, and authenticity, played with passion and conviction at every turn.

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present DEMON SPELL’s highly anticipated debut album, Blessed Be the Dark, on CD and vinyl LP formats. After the cursed EP Evil Nights in 2024, the coven of DEMON SPELL returns, unleashing a vision of dark, occult heavy metal born from dust, bone, and shadow. Appropriately titled Blessed Be the Dark, the Italians’ debut album is a descent into ritual fire and ancient doom, where the echoes of the grave sing once more. This is music for disciples of the timeless art of darkness.

With Blessed Be the Dark, DEMON SPELL deepen their devotion to a shadowed form of heavy metal rooted in the classic tradition yet veiled in occult and arcane tones, all performance with a provocative theatrical presence. Wholly untouched by modernity, their sound draws from the primordial essence of early heavy metal; one can imagine the cutoff year at 1985, or perhaps earlier. The record presents a more mature and refined vision of the band’s sound as first displayed on the quick-hitting Evil Nights, here exploring darker, more occult atmospheres while also offering raw, energetic passages that bring moments of levity and drive. Listening to DEMON SPELL in full-length form feels like entering an endless Sabbath, where past and present dissolve and the flame never dies. Blessed Be the Dark stands as a testament to heavy metal as ceremony—timeless, solemn, and possessed by the Spirit of the Night.

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present WHIRLWIND’s highly anticipated second album, 1640, on CD and vinyl LP formats. WHIRLWIND was originally conceived as a studio-project by Mark Wild, from Körgull The Exterminator among other extreme metal bands, to satisfy his will to make a classic heavy metal album, a style that changed his life during his childhood – influenced mostly by ‘80s German metal bands like early Running Wild, early Helloween, Accept, Heaven’s Gate, Gravestone, Tyrant, Grave Digger, Steeler, and Stormwitch among others, but also all kinds of classic heavy metal like Mercyful Fate, Manowar, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest. In 2022, WHIRLWIND released their debut album, 1714, marking the band’s beginning. WHIRLWIND also established a live lineup to bring their songs to life onstage, with musicians from other known bands, like Redshark, joining as permanent members of the band. The album immediately generated a big buzz in the underground scene and led them to perform at some of the best-known festivals in Spain like Pounding Metal Fest and Skulls of Metal, alongside such bands as Visigoth, Attic, Omen, Tentation, Mindless Sinner, Witchtower, IRON CURTAIN, and Phantom Spell. Now arrives WHIRLWIND’s second album, 1640. Like its predecessor, the album is focused on historical and epic episodes of their homeland; specifically, this album revolves around the Thirty Years War that took place around Europe and the inner conflicts within Spain.

Musically, WHIRLWIND deliver a masterclass in cruising, classy Teutonic metal, running from more traditional-minded mid-tempo stompers to surging, up-tempo gallops of glory. Riff and lead form a lethal tandem, balancing both energy and color, while the rhythm section stays locked in no matter the dynamic. The production, too, of 1640 honors the mid ‘80s with authenticity – underground in spirit, Big League in execution. All told, the album is true heavy metal for true heavy metal people: no more, but definitely no less. By the blood in their veins, WHIRLWIND are marching to victory, ready to explode!

Bergsonist emerges on Dark Entries with Depths, a genre-bending 12-track LP of atmospheric and rhythmic excursions. For more than a decade, Moroccan-born Selwa Abd has been using the Bergsonist moniker to examine postcolonial identity and speculative temporalities across disparate media, including sound, image, video, and installation. She is also a key figure in New York underground music, fostering mutual aid and community support through her platforms Pick up the Flow (PUTF) and BizaarBazaar. On the 2025 album ASL أصل ⴰⵙⵍ, Bergsonist explored her Amazigh heritage using field recordings captured in Morocco. With Depths, her sixth LP, she continues the project of ancestral reconnection through sound. Abd notes: “I really use making music as therapy, not as a precious act, more as an energy release that makes me feel alive.” Depths overflows with this excess of vitality.

Tracks like “Trust the Current”, “Depths”, and “Underwater World Pursuit” showcase her singular take on diasporic techno-futurism, where James Stinson-esque atmospherics meet Moroccan rhythms. Elsewhere, “Again” and “Higher” push into coldwave territory, with icy arpeggios and electroid beats dancing beneath Abd’s ethereal vocals. But the dancefloor is not to be neglected: “Breakthrough” and “Ode to Life” spring forth with the kind of skewed peak-hour energy that only Bergsonist can bring. Artwork for Depths was designed by Eloise Leigh, and incorporates photographs by Abd and Greg Zifcak taken in Morocco. Also included is a protection poster that features an Amazigh symbol used for warding off the evil eye. Depths is an album that achieves a rare balance of elegance and DIY ethics - it is truly an ode to life.

In Sheep’s Clothing announces the long-awaited vinyl pressing of Marc Leclair’s beloved 2005 album Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes. The album will also be available on streaming for the first time via Community Music Group.

For years after Marc Leclair released Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes, he heard from listeners who had lived with the record in an unusually intimate way. Many described how the music became part of the emotional landscape of the months leading to birth. “I never expected that,” Leclair says. “Many women told me they listened to the record throughout their pregnancies. They said it made a real difference, that it helped them. It became more than just a record.”

First issued on CD in the early 2000s, Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes (Music for Three Pregnant Women) now returns in a new edition from In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi, appearing on vinyl for the first time as a double LP. The record is being pressed in Detroit at Archer Record Pressing, the historic plant behind deep-groove classics by Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Underground Resistance, UR’s Jeff Mills, and J Dilla.

Listeners who know the Montreal-based Leclair through his better-known work as Akufen might be surprised by the tone here. During the same years he was shaping the intricate micro-sampling tracks that made Akufen a cult figure on labels including Perlon, Force Inc. and Trapez, Leclair was quietly developing this far more personal project. The meticulous craftsmanship remained the same, though the focus shifted from the hyper-detailed cut-up rhythms of his dance records toward something slower and more atmospheric. “I always compare my work to a jeweler,” Leclair says. “It’s really very precise. I’m a bit of a detail freak. I can spend hours or days on just one phrase in one song. Everything has to be perfectly put together.”

The project began almost accidentally. A few members of Leclair’s circle became pregnant nearly simultaneously, including one who had long believed she couldn’t conceive. The first track he recorded for the project wasn’t meant to advance a larger concept, he says. “It was meant to highlight the fact that three of my closest friends became pregnant at exactly the same time.”

Leclair was already a father with a three-year-old daughter, so the emotional terrain of early parenthood was familiar. Gradually the idea expanded. “I began thinking, why not make a whole album that celebrates this and also follows the entire pregnancy, the nine months,” he says. The music developed piece by piece, including a track originally commissioned by the Berlin experimental duo Rechenzentrum that would later become the album’s opening movement.

Nearly seven years passed between the first composition and the finished album, and the music mirrors the strange arithmetic of pregnancy itself. What begins as a single idea multiplies outward, sounds layering and branching until the album feels less like a sequence of compositions than a living process unfolding in time. “I work very slowly,” Leclair says. “Everything has to be something I’m completely behind. I never want to rush anything. I want things to come naturally.” Across its 72 minutes, the album blossoms with the patience of a long meditation on time, growth and emergence.

When Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes first appeared via Mutek, it circulated quietly but steadily. Critics who discovered it later recognized its unusual scope. In a 2006 Pitchfork review, Mark Richardson gave the record an 8.1, calling “150e Jour” “an unfailingly gorgeous and tightly sequenced quilt of guitar and piano samples reminiscent of Tangerine Dream,” and describing “85e Jour” as infused with “viscous pop ambient drift, the gauzy synth pads ebbing and flowing with rhythm.” Boomkat described the album as “a majestic opus from a producer that's always promised so much — here delving into a panoramic construction of almost visibly radiant music that works so beautifully through each and every second of its 72 minute lifespan.”

The new In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi edition finally presents the record in the format Leclair long imagined. “I always thought that record deserved a vinyl edition,” he says. Spread across two LPs, the music now has room to unfold at its natural pace. More than twenty years after it first appeared, Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes remains what it was from the start: a carefully shaped meditation on transformation and the quiet miracle of life beginning.

Als Global Kryner 2004 die erste CD präsentierte, stand die Musikwelt Kopf. Es war Liebe auf den ersten
Blick. Die Idee war genauso einfach wie genial: man nehme den legendären Oberkrainer-Sound eines Slavko
Avsenik, verschmelze ihn mit Welthits, nehme eine Prise Jazz und jede Menge Spielwitz dazu und fertig
ist die Rezeptur. Die Süddeutsche Zeitung machte Luftsprünge und fabulierte gar von einer „eierlegenden
Wollmilchsau“ in Sachen Musik. Und mit „verkrynern“ war obendrein ein neues Zeitwort geschaffen. Was
folgte war ein Ritt durch alle Radio- und TV-Formate, wie er selten gesehen wurde. Hunderte Konzerte in
Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz, Benelux, Frankreich, Italien, Slowenien, Kroatien, Serbien, Ukraine bis
nach Mexiko. Nach heißen und durchaus fordernden Jahren des Tourlebens verabschiedete sich die Band
2013 von der Bühne.
Doch die Liebe ist nie erloschen. Im Gegenteil. Jetzt kommt: Global Kryner „2nd Love“! Bereits
im Sommer 2024 beschlossen die Global Kryner rund um Musikkabarettisten und Klarinettisten Christof
Spörk und Oberkrainer-Akkordeon-Urgestein Anton Sauprügl, neu durchzustarten. Posaunist und NeoFischzüchter Martin Temmel musste nicht zweimal gefragt werden. Markus Pechmann, mittlerweile einer
der gefragtesten Jazztrompeter des Landes, engagierte mit Sängerin Miriam Kulmer ein veritables Stimmwunder. Neu zur Band gesellte sich außerdem „Mister Groove“, Jazzgitarrist und Liedermacher Andreas
Haidecker. Aber Obacht: es wird kein Abnudeln alter Hits geben. Die Band bereitet sich in akribischer Kleinarbeit auf ihr Comeback vor. Neue typische „Verkrynerungen“ müssen dabei sein, ja, natürlich!
Aber diesmal gibt es eben auch eigens komponierte Songs zu hören. Man darf gespannt sein. Alles mit
viel Liebe zubereitet, nur eben nicht zum ersten Mal, sondern quasi „2nd Love“!

Diese erweiterte Ausgabe von „From A Page“ enthält die beiden CDs in einer Klappbox mit einem 16-
seitigen Booklet mit Liner Notes von Oliver Wakeman, einem Faltposter und fünf Kunstkarten.
und die erweiterte Ausgabe der 2LP von „From A Page“ wurde auf Halfspeedmastered 180-GrammSchwarzvinyl gepresst.
„From A Page“ ist ein Album mit Aufnahmen der Yes-Besetzung von „In The Present“ mit Chris Squire
(Bass), Steve Howe (Gitarren), Alan White (Schlagzeug & Percussion), Benoit David (Gesang) und Oliver
Wakeman (Keyboards). Die Songs wurden während der Sessions aufgenommen, aus denen schließlich das
Album „Fly From Here“ von 2011 hervorging, auf dem Geoff Downes nach Wakemans Ausstieg aus der
Band am Keyboard zu hören ist. Die 4-Song-Mini-LP „From A Page“ wurde 2019 veröffentlicht und enthält
Songs, die nicht auf „Fly From Here“ verwendet wurden.
Die 2-CD-Version von „From A Page“ enthält die ursprünglichen vier Songs sowie alternative Versionen von drei Songs aus „Fly From Here“ mit Oliver Wakemans Keyboard-Parts aus den ursprünglichen
Songwriting-Sessions und eine Studioversion des von Chris Squire geschriebenen Songs „Aliens“, der auf
der Tour 2008 gespielt wurde, auf Disc 1. Disc 2 enthält Demoversionen vieler Songs, darunter „Updraft“,
das die Grundlage für den Abschnitt „Army of Angels“ von „Into The Storm“ bildete, „Don’t Take No For
An Answer“, das nicht auf dem Originalalbum enthalten war, aber während der Sessions bearbeitet wurde,
und den Single-Mix von „To The Moment“, der zuvor nur auf Vinyl erhältlich war.

„Introducing Lee Morgan“ ist eine Hardbop-Platte aus dem Jahr 1956 des gefeierten Jazztrompeters, die
ursprünglich auf dem Label Savoy veröffentlicht wurde. Auf dem Album, das Morgan im Alter von nur 17
Jahren aufgenommen hat, sind auch Hank Mobley, Hank Jones, Doug Watkins und Art Taylor zu hören.
Es enthält sieben Titel, darunter den von Mobley komponierten Song „Hank’s Shout“. Diese Neuauflage
des Albums erscheint als Teil der Original Jazz Classics Series auf 180-Gramm-Vinyl, gepresst bei RTI,
mit vollständig analogem Mastering von den Originalbändern bei Cohearent Audio und einer Stoughton
Tip-On-Hülle.
Über Original Jazz Classics:
Original Jazz Classics wurde 1982 unter Fantasy Records ins Leben gerufen und 2023 mit einem Schwerpunkt auf audiophilen Wiederveröffentlichungen wegweisender Jazzaufnahmen wiederbelebt. Mit bisher
über 850 neu aufgelegten Titeln aus den bahnbrechenden Katalogen von Prestige, Riverside, Galaxy, Contemporary, Jazzland, Milestone und anderen bleibt OJC eine zuverlässige Quelle für die Entdeckung und
Wiederentdeckung des Jazz.

Los Angeles alt-punks Death Lens return with What"s Left Now?, an album that feels like a jolt of clarity after a year that never seemed to slow down. Fresh off touring with Militarie Gun, they dove into the studio with producer mixer Zach Tuch (Knocked Loose, Touché Amoré) to craft their first new music since 2024"s Cold World. The result is a set of songs that coil hooky guitar lines around lyrics about taking stock of what you have, what"s been taken from you, and confronting what remains without any sugar coating. Death Lens have always played with contrast: ferocity disguised by swagger, volatility wrapped in melody. Onstage, they transform that tension into something communal-cathartic enough to leave rooms wrecked, connective enough to leave people changed. Once a crew of partydriven garage punks, they"ve sharpened their voice into something broader and more urgent, speaking on life in heavily policed neighborhoods, immigration reform, and the responsibility to lift up the communities that raised them. What"s Left Now? pushes that vision forward, framing resilience not as a slogan but as a lived philosophy: one world, one community, one band refusing to stand still. Death Lens is comprised of Bryan Torres (vocals), Jhon Reyes (guitar, backing vocals), Tony Rangel (drums), and Ernie Gutierrez (guitar).

"Nitrito" is the new album by renowned Italian singer-songwriter Nada. The Italian word Nitrito refers both to the chemical compound and to the sound horses make to communicate, the album was released last June just in Italy and is now set to be released in other European countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and in the UK. The album was recorded in Bristol in 2024, with Nada once again entrusting its production to John Parish (PJ Harvey, Eels, Aldous Harding, Tracy Chapman, Giant Sand, Sparklehorse), who also plays most of the instruments on the record. This continues the collaboration that began with "Tutto l"amore che mi manca" (All the Love I Miss) (2004), recently remastered and released for the first time on vinyl and in a new CD edition, and continued with "E un momento difficile tesoro" (It"s a Difficult Time, Darling) (2019) and "La paura va via da sé se i pensieri brillano" (Fear Goes Away on Its Own If Thoughts Shine) (2022). "Nitrito" received an excellent four star review from the influential British magazine Mojo.

"Nitrito" is the new album by renowned Italian singer-songwriter Nada. The Italian word Nitrito refers both to the chemical compound and to the sound horses make to communicate, the album was released last June just in Italy and is now set to be released in other European countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and in the UK. The album was recorded in Bristol in 2024, with Nada once again entrusting its production to John Parish (PJ Harvey, Eels, Aldous Harding, Tracy Chapman, Giant Sand, Sparklehorse), who also plays most of the instruments on the record. This continues the collaboration that began with "Tutto l"amore che mi manca" (All the Love I Miss) (2004), recently remastered and released for the first time on vinyl and in a new CD edition, and continued with "E un momento difficile tesoro" (It"s a Difficult Time, Darling) (2019) and "La paura va via da sé se i pensieri brillano" (Fear Goes Away on Its Own If Thoughts Shine) (2022). "Nitrito" received an excellent four star review from the influential British magazine Mojo.

- 2026 repress -

SHDW & Obscure Shape launch new label Mutual Rytm with powerful eight-track V/A "Federation Of Rytm I", featuring VIL & Cravo, Lars Huismann, Grindvik and more.

Favourites for many within today's modern techno landscape, Stuttgart-based pairing Marco Blasi and Luigi Urban, aka SHDW & Obscure Shape, continue to grow their profile and position as artists leading the current new wave of techno. Having launched their first label From Another Mind in 2014, releasing material from themselves alongside remixes from the likes of Rodhad, James Ruskin and Dax J, early December welcomes the arrival of a new project and a second imprint to the fold, Mutual Rytm.

Showcasing a new dimension of techno and electronic music, celebrating originality and innovation by combining timeless cuts from the past with cutting edge sounds of the present and the future, the label will serve as a breeding ground for new artists alongside established talent and legends from the scene. Opening the imprint in style, the label bosses head up the first-ever release and the first V/A "Federation Of Rytm I" as they welcome a selection of new and established talent.

"Since the beginning of the global pandemic, we have been diving deep into the roots of our music and working on the aesthetics of our sound. That's when we realized that now is the right time to start a new project which differs from FAM, in both musical and artistic direction. The project will showcase a new dimension that aims to channel the authentic perspectives of both established and up-and-coming talents. With our new label, we want to give all artists the opportunity of musical freedom and expression of their versatility as producers. It is an honour to accompany the young artists on their careers, to see them grow and to help them in their development as musicians." - SHDW & Obscure Shape

The duos rolling opener "Conquest Of Paradise" quickly sets the tone and builds to reveal a classy and slick offering, combining rich stabs with tough drums and sharp hats, while Invexis keeps the tempo high as he weaves escalating synths and pacy kicks across "Elektronenwind". VIL & Cravo combine on the jacking and lively "Apolonia Loop", as eerie synths work amongst warped vocals across a tweaked out peak-time effort, before Alarico keeps the energy levels up throughout the relentless funk of "I'm Into You".

The second half of the package sees Lars Huismann enter the fray with the no-nonsense, snaking grooves of "Hyper Dub", with Nicolas Vogler's "Sauva Bite" fusing hypnotic tones with straight regimented claps for an intense yet playful ride through sounds and sonics. "Your Dry Lips" switches up the aesthetic as Grindvik journeys down a wormhole of metallic percussion and warping low-ends, before closing the show with authority via Stigmata's grinding and menacing offering "Gestas".

- 2026 repress / hot foil printed sleeve -

Limited Edition: Box with holographic hot foil logo print and five printed inner sleeves - No Repress

SHDW's label, Mutual Rytm hits a notable milestone at the start of 2024 as it turns two years old and hits its 20th release. To mark the occasion, the carefully curated compilation 'Federation Of Rytm III' arrives on February 2nd with a 30-track 5 x 12" boxset vinyl release and a further 6 digital bonus tracks.

Mutual Rytm is synonymous with serious, no-frills techno. It is a go-to for the world's most influential DJs and a home to some of the scene's most innovative producers. Over the last two years, it has explored several shades of sound, always with high-quality production and forward-thinking styles. A fine balance has always been struck between new and emerging talents and established names with plenty more to say, and that is the case on this collection which features the legendary likes of Blawan, Gary Beck, Colin Benders, The Advent and Dax J next to ANNE, Alarico, JakoJako, Chlar, LDS and many more.

Founder SHDW says, "I've poured my heart into curating a compilation of 36 tracks, a reflection of my deepest musical passions. The lineup is stacked with incredible artists, and it captures the label's essence - a fusion of artists spanning generations, united by a shared spirit and aesthetic, creating a seamless 'mutual rhythm'."

Although all 36 tracks stand alone as high-grade and club-ready dynamite, they also collectively form a versatile listening experience thanks to how they've been carefully assembled into a perfectly sequenced journey.

Each one dives into a different nuance within the world of techno and there is a range of moods from dark and driving to more energising and uplifting. The collection not only shows how far Mutual Rytm has come in a short space of time but also that it remains in a constant state of evolution and has a bright future ahead in 2024 and beyond.

SHDW's vision at Mutual Rytm was always to present a cohesive yet varied musical experience, and Federation Of Rytm III does exactly that.

O.B.F x Dubkasm.

Bristol, 10 AM. At the end of a garden, sub bass spilling out of a shed, the Dubquake crew had just stepped into the Dubkasm studio.

Rico jumped on the desk with Digistep, building riddims on the fly while Stryda and the crew bussed out some ninja moves. From that session, two raw dubz were born: Momentum and Shaku Dub.

Built for the dance, played on dubplate for a minute, it felt just right to press them onto heavyweight vinyl for the Teachings in Dub x Dubquake weekender that took place in Bristol and London last weekend.

Strictly dubplate pressure!

Backpackers rejoice as Ruckus release two more stone cold classics on 45 for the first time - coming hot from the NY underground of the 90s this boom bap bangers are certified

DIE BERNAUER STREETPUNKER MONA RELOADED LÄUTEN MIT "KEINE ZEIT" ZUR LETZTEN RUNDE BZW. GEBEN EINE ZUGABE: AUCH WENN'S TEILWEISE MIT MEINE FRESSE WEIERGEHT - BEI SO EINER HAMMERSCHEIBE FÄLLT DER ABSCHIED DOPPELT SCHWER! NACH GEFÜHLTEN SIEBEN LEBEN VOLLER HERZBLUT, SCHWEISS UND REICHLICH TRÄNEN ZIEHEN DIE FÜNF JUNGS AUS DEM LAGER DER BERNAU PUNKROCK LEAGUE IHREN IMAGINÄREN HUT. DIE 2008 AUSGERUFENE EWIGE JUGEND WICH, EIN JAHRZEHNT SPÄTER, EINER WAHNSINNIGEN KATERSTIMMUNG UND VERABSCHIEDET SICH 2025 ENDGÜLTIG MIT EINEM LETZTEN, DAFÜR UM SO LAUTEREN LEBENSZEICHEN. ALS FINALEN RAUSSCHMEISSER WERDEN 11 (FAST) NEUE ABSACKER ÜBER LIEBE, LEID UND TRINKGELAGE SERVIERT. AUFGENOMMEN, ZWISCHEN 2021-2022, IN BANDTYPISCHER DO-IT-YOURSELF MANIER SAMT DAZUGEHÖRIGER VERSPÄTUNG, WIRFT DIE MANNSCHAFT NOCH EINMAL ALLES IN DIE WAAGSCHALE WAS DIE HAUSEIGENE WAFFENSCHMIEDE ZU BIETEN HAT. MIT "KEINE ZEIT" MACHEN MONA RELOADED ALLEN FREUNDINNEN, ANHÄNGERN UND WEGGEFÄHRTEN, VOR ALLEM ABER SICH SELBST, EIN WÜRDIGES ABSCHIEDSGESCHENK VOLLER SPIELFREUDE, OHRWÜRMERN UND EINER FLATRATE AN GRATISDRINKS. ALS LANGJÄHRIGES HAUS- UND HOFLABEL HABEN ES SICH SUNNY BASTARDS NICHT NEHMEN LASSEN DAS FINDELKIND, TROTZ AUFLÖSUNG DER BAND ENDE 2023, DOCH NOCH AUF DIE STRASSE ZU BRINGEN. FÜR FANS VON OXO 86, GUMBLES, MEINE FRESSE, BARNEY ARMY...

Two deep, meditative house tracks built on warmth and repetition. Comes with insert in a silver sleeve.

On “Ritual of Dance,” Nhojj’s voice guides the listener onto a (makeshift) dance floor, as the track builds in intensity, mirroring the rising energy of a dance session. On the flip, “Groove Extracts” leans further into a stripped, hypnotic space. Driven by percussion, bass, and a wandering key solo. It draws you inward towards the more meditative side of losing yourself in the groove. Inviting the body to take over where the mind dissolves.

Ritual of Dance EP is about the journey of dancing alone or together.

Notoriously spirited, hard parrtyin' West Coast rap trio Tha Alkaholiks have returned with their first new studio album in over 10 years!

Combining fresh takes on some of the band's best known singles including "Daaam!" and "Make Room" PLUS several new songs, this album hits that '90s rap nostalgia spot!

Features special guests Planet Asia and spookybands!

Der Film "The Moment" ist eine Mockumentary über Charli xcx mit Charli xcx und über die Höhen und Tiefen des Erfolgs. Charli xcx kämpft mit immensen Erwartungen - mit denen von außen, aber auch mit ihren eigenen. Regisseur Aidan Zamiri präsentiert die Musikerin in ihrer bisher persönlichsten Rolle, basierend auf einem Drehbuch nach einer Idee von Charli xcx. Die Hauptrollen spielen Charli xcx, Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates, Isaac Powell und Alexander Skarsgård. Am 23. Januar 2026 feierte "The Moment" beim Sundance Film Festival 2026 seine Weltpremiere. Die internationale Premiere findet ab dem 12.02.2026 im Rahmen der Sektion "Panorama" der 76. Internationalen Filmfestspiele Berlin statt. Der Film ist ab dem 19 Februar in deutschen Kinos zu sehen. A. G. Cook, der schon zuvor mit Charli XCX zusammengearbeitet hat, hat die Musik für den Film gemacht. Am 12. Dezember 2025 wurde "Dread" als erste Single aus dem Soundtrack veröffentlicht. Der Song enthält viele Samples aus Charli XCXs Single "I Love It" von 2012. Die zweite Single, "Offscreen", kam am 15. Januar 2026 raus. Die dritte Single, "Residue", erschien am 27. Januar 2026 mit einem Musikvideo, in dem Charli XCX, Kylie Jenner und "Legionen von Charli's Klonen" mitspielen. Der komplette Soundtrack wurde am 30. Januar 2026 über A24 Music digital veröffentlicht.

In Gianfranco Rosi’s portrait of Naples, Sotto le Nuvole, the ground shakes periodically. Between Mount Vesuvius and the Tyrrhenian Sea, the fumaroles of the Phlegraean Fields hiss volcanic gas and steam. Below the sleeping volcano, modern day Naples emerges in black and white and fills with voices, with lives. From the traces of history and the concerns of the present, Rosi documents a city immersed in its continuous past, with Daniel Blumberg’s minimal soundscape hovering in a sonic space between liquid and air.
Tasked with creating a soundscape that would suspend space within Rosi’s film, Blumberg called upon the extended technique of saxophonists Seymour Wright and John Butcher to create a gossamer fabric of traces and sounds abstracted from their instruments. Having transitioned from theoretical physics to the saxophone, John Butcher has always deeply considered space in the context of his playing. His concerns are with flow, density and how the saxophone is situated in the living world. Zeroing in on the core sonic properties of the mechanical and acoustic components of the saxophone, Seymour Wright has integrated its every breath, reed vibration, keypad clatter and hissed microtone of his alto into his own, unique improvisational language. In his work with these two seminal players, Blumberg makes his most concentrated soundtrack to date - reinforcing the film's sense of overlapping time and space, and pushing at the limits of experimentation.

Initially recorded in Daniel’s flat in London, Butcher and Wright centre themselves around long, consistent tones, so soft that it seems breath is being gently pulled from the saxophone's bell by an invisible hand. Blumberg himself adds haunting bass harmonica, and recordings of Wright’s launeddas - a traditional and ancient triple pipe polyphonic reed instrument from Sardinia, Italy. Blumberg then travelled to the volcanic region of Baia, next to Pompeii. Once a flourishing classical Roman city loved by Nero, Baia slowly sank under hydrothermal pressure, leaving the city in a kind of geological purgatory. Using specialised geophones and hydrophones, Blumberg took those initial recordings and amplified them underwater, sending them calling out across the ruins of Baia’s mosaics, Nymphaeum statues and villas.

“It was important to me that the music was whispered in the same landscape that Gianfranco has worked for the past three years, so that you can hear the volcanic air gulping, the lapping of the waves, the steam and bubbles popping against John and Seymour’s saxophone breaths – an echo from a suspended time.”
What emerges is deeply melancholic, tender, subtle and right at the edges of audio technology. Submerged in an aquarian mausoleum, the mysterious vibrations of the saxophone and its bell become an echo of an echo, wading from the future into the past. ‘Sotto le Nuvole’ is less a soundtrack than a process of aeration - a sonic puncture in the material of the film which allows its central message to breathe, and a remarkable experiment at the limits of the saxophone’s possibility.

Fog On Mirror Glass introduces a new aesthetic amongst Donald Beaman albums. After four albums of varied full-band arrangements, this album emerged as an idea to present solo performances in conversation with full-band work. The bulk of the songs were recorded in the same place they were written: Beaman’s living room. Long time bandmate and producer Kirt Lind set up a makeshift studio at Beaman’s house to record the guitar parts in the same room where they were written, using the same guitars on which they were first played.

Unfurling with a measured pace, the resulting album combines elegiac lyrics with elemental arrangements played with an almost jazz-like reverential expressiveness, calling to mind the works of Cass McCombs, Will Oldham, and Jake Xerxes Fussell. Album opener “Glass Bottom Boat” sets the tone for the album with just Beaman and his guitar – written during the final months of a decade-long stay in New York City, the song was finished upon his arrival back in California. Meanwhile the title track, long a staple in live sets, lands near the middle of the album to recalibrate the mood, featuring the ghostly guitar work of longtime collaborator Ken Lovgren. “Old Universe” lifts things up a bit, propelled by the brushwork of drummer Michael Nalin and the jaunty bass playing of Kirt Lind. Finally, the album ends much the way it began, with Beaman and his guitar on album closer “Bamboo”.

“The dictionary definition of less is more.” - ---- Mojo
“His ability to carve universal empathy from mundane domesticity is remarkable.” - ---- RNR Magazine
“...a collection of evocative scenes and vivid emotions sung to sparse musical arrangements in Beaman’s distinctive sonorous tones” - Americana UK
“...pure and simmering, like a tattoo dedicated to a long lost friend, slightly fading from years in the sun, a memory that will always bring a tear in those quiet reflective moments.” - Psychedelic Baby Magazine