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Blake Lee has always been fascinated by the unknown, and space, in its isolating, mysterious vastness, embodies this theme immaculately. The open void, captured so memorably by Stanley Kubrick in '2001: A Space Odyssey', is Blake's far-reaching canvas on 'No Sound In Space', a cinematic meditation on the cosmos that's painted in nuanced, emotionally sincere colors. The Los Angeles-based composer has been contemplating his full-length debut since 2021, using his guitar as a sonic paintbrush rather than find himself snared in its traditional aesthetic constraints. Transforming its characteristics with effects and subtle processes, he layers sustained tones and intimate improvisations, creating richly visual polychromatic utopias teeming with unknown life.

Since 2011, Blake has been most known for being the guitarist and a music director for Lana Del Rey, notching up three songwriting credits on her acclaimed ‘Ultraviolence’ full length. He sees his solo work is a form of escapism, a place where he can experiment and find comfort and catharsis outside of expectations and formal structure. The album was written instinctively, and Blake made sure he didn't force anything, letting go and getting out of his own way, listening intently as sounds and textures materialized organically. "I didn't want to ruin it by being a perfectionist," he laughs. And his collaboration with Kenyan sound artist KMRU, who runs the OFNOT label and contributes to two of the tracks on the album, occurred similarly organically.

Blake was moved to reach out to KMRU when he caught a performance of 'Natur' at Los Angeles' Zebulon in 2022, leading to a prolonged back-and-forth. They didn't meet in person until earlier this year, by which time they'd become firm friends, continuously sharing music and conversation. KMRU had lent a valuable ear to Blake, who sent early playlists of 'NSIS' that, over the months, slowly evolved into the finished album. It's the first release on OFNOT that's not by KMRU himself; the label emerged last year with the release of KMRU's own 'Dissolution Grip', and Blake's debut immediately expands its sonic universe. Alongside the playlists, Blake also provided KMRU with the tracks' raw stems, which KMRU began to edit and expand in his Berlin studio. 'Miura' and 'Waiting' are the result of this process, two sublime abstractions that augment Blake's dreamlike, euphoric tones with KMRU's pebbly distortions and booming low-end rumbles. And this same playful sense of freeness seeps into Blake's other compositions.

On the misty 'In A Cloud', he surrounds cascading string tones with soft-focus pads that swell until they're like crashing waves, and on the two 'Echoplexx' pieces, he uses delay and reverb to smudge his sounds until they're viscous residue, the harmonies obscured by whooshes of white noise and distant chimes. The mood is quieted somewhat on 'Moving Air', as Blake's swirling tones form half-heard lullabies, coalescing into a dense, melancholy crescendo, and he fills out the sound with reverberant airport recordings on 'Pan Am', letting pitchy My Bloody Valentine-esque drones warble beneath the transitory chatter. Each track melts into the next, forming a billowing, cryptic narrative that leaves more questions than answers. Blake is constantly searching, and fills his unoccupied space with warmth, perception and sensitivity.

BigʼN was, is and always shall be a legacy noise rock band from Chicago (est. 1990) comprised of vocalist William Akins, guitarist Todd Johnson, bassist Fred Popolo, and drummer Brian Wnukowski. After releasing a stellar debut album (1994), followed by their sophomore and signature effort Discipline Through Sound on Skingraft Records (1996) and a split single with Shellac, the band became inactive for some years. In 2018, BigʼN recorded and released a new EP, Knife of Sin, via Computer Students™. In 2022, they released DTS 25, an expansion of their pioneering second album. Both were recorded by the late, great Steve Albini. BigʼN is back once again with a ruthless new album, End Comes Too Soon — their first in 28 years — released via Computer Student. It's all still here as present and disciplined as ever — Brianʼs powerful, reliably precise drumming with melodic phrasing that shapes the songs, Fredʼs metallic superstructure of a bass that builds the defined framework of the music, Toddʼs clangorous guitar that has more harmonic content than a lot of his noisier peers, and William Akinsʼ yarling vocals, the most recognizably human thing about the band, that convey layers of tension and intent, all the emotional content of a hellbound therapy session. Tragically, on May 7, 2024, Steve Albini suddenly passed away of a heart attack. Naturally, BigʼN were shocked and devastated. End Comes Too Soonʼs title comes from a lyric, and is unrelated to Albini; still, the album became a roundabout love letter to the man, his studio, and his legacy. Like its predecessors, the album is structured by snippets of musical interludes or Transmissions — and there are six here, under the common code "XMSN."

BigʼN was, is and always shall be a legacy noise rock band from Chicago (est. 1990) comprised of vocalist William Akins, guitarist Todd Johnson, bassist Fred Popolo, and drummer Brian Wnukowski. After releasing a stellar debut album (1994), followed by their sophomore and signature effort Discipline Through Sound on Skingraft Records (1996) and a split single with Shellac, the band became inactive for some years. In 2018, BigʼN recorded and released a new EP, Knife of Sin, via Computer Students™. In 2022, they released DTS 25, an expansion of their pioneering second album. Both were recorded by the late, great Steve Albini. BigʼN is back once again with a ruthless new album, End Comes Too Soon — their first in 28 years — released via Computer Student. It's all still here as present and disciplined as ever — Brianʼs powerful, reliably precise drumming with melodic phrasing that shapes the songs, Fredʼs metallic superstructure of a bass that builds the defined framework of the music, Toddʼs clangorous guitar that has more harmonic content than a lot of his noisier peers, and William Akinsʼ yarling vocals, the most recognizably human thing about the band, that convey layers of tension and intent, all the emotional content of a hellbound therapy session. Tragically, on May 7, 2024, Steve Albini suddenly passed away of a heart attack. Naturally, BigʼN were shocked and devastated. End Comes Too Soonʼs title comes from a lyric, and is unrelated to Albini; still, the album became a roundabout love letter to the man, his studio, and his legacy. Like its predecessors, the album is structured by snippets of musical interludes or Transmissions — and there are six here, under the common code "XMSN."

Die PBS-Serie Earth Focus befasst sich mit den komplizierten Verbindungen zwischen Südkaliforniens Naturlandschaften und städtischer Entwicklung. Jede Episode erforscht einen bestimmten Ort, darunter den Los Angeles River, das Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Joshua Tree National Park und die Mojave Wüste. Der Soundtrack der Serie, komponiert von Elori Saxl, unterstreicht die emotionalen Erzählungen dieser Orte und betont das Zusammenspiel zwischen Menschen und der Natur sowie die Auswirkungen der vom Menschen geschaffenen Umwelt. Dabei ließ sie sich von Künstlern wie Alice Coltrane und Hiroshi Yoshimura inspirieren, Saxl hat die Musik mit digital manipulierten Aufnahmen von Wasser und Wind, analogen Synthesizern, MIDI-Samples und bearbeiteten Holzbläsern gespielt von Stuart Bogie (Klarinette, Bassklarinette, Flöte) kreiert. Diese einzigartige Mischung aus Klängen erinnert an das musikalische Erbe von Los Angeles und an die allgemeine Atmosphäre von Wind, Sonne und südkalifornischer Kultur. Die Musik bezieht sich lose auf die psychedelischen und traumhaften Klänge, die mit der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart von Los Angeles verbunden sind. Sie enthält jedoch einen modernen Twist, der reale und synthetische Elemente vermischt, um das zeitgenössische und zunehmend spürbare der von Menschenhand geschaffenen Landschaft in Los Angeles und den angrenzenden Regionen zu reflektieren.

- 140G schwarzes Vinyl inklusive Einleger und Downloadkarte

Nach der Veröffentlichung von 'POPtical Illusion' Anfang des Jahres kündigt John Cale die Wiederveröffentlichung seines Album-Klassikers 'The Academy in Peril' für den 15.11.2024 an!

Das Album wurde von Heba Kadry neu gemastert und es ist die erste von Cale Künstler autorisierte Neuauflage des beliebten Albums. "The Academy in Peril" enthält enthält den Bonustrack "Temper" und wird auf CD, Vinyl und digital erhältlich sein.

"Das Wiederaufgreifen von Werken aus der Vergangenheit ist für mich ein zweischneidiges Schwert. Natürlich ist das unvermeidlich, wenn man seit 60 Jahren oder so Musik macht. Das Besondere an diesem Prozess bei Domino ist, dass sie es richtig machen wollen. Es geht nicht darum, etwas nur wegen eines Jubiläums neu aufzulegen oder einen Katalogfavoriten zu sammeln, sondern darum, neue Schätze zu finden und das hervorzuheben, was sie ursprünglich besonders gemacht hat. Nachdem ich die Testpressungen gehört hatte, kam mir der Gedanke, dass das neue Mastering einen wesentlichen Teil der Präsentation dieser Werke ausmacht, anstatt sie einfach nur zu konservieren. Es gibt Momente der Klarheit und sogar den einen oder anderen Lacher, wenn man nicht nur die Musik, sondern auch die Sessions (und Possen) Revue passieren lässt, aus denen diese beiden Aufnahmen entstanden sind. Es ist mir eine Freude, diese mit Ihnen zu teilen . . wieder." - John Cale, September 2024

With a little bit of old and a little bit of new, Chicago's enigmatic Rudy De Anda is back with two tracks out on a super-limited 45. The A-side, 'Take Me For A Little While' is a cover of the Royal Jester's version of the track, taken from the Numero Group catalog. It's an up-tempo, irresistible tune in both Spanish and English. The B-side, '83,' is a brand new Rudy original recorded in his current home of Chicago. It's a collaborative effort that came naturally from building on grooves and jamming with his band. It's a taste of what's on the horizon for Rudy, something fresh, moody, and intriguing. It's an ode to 70s funk, with just the right amount of groove and low-fi charm. The two tracks compliment each other and make for a well rounded 45, while demonstrating the breadth of Rudy's sound.

1985 war das Jahr, in dem der Grundstein für die Karriere einer Band gelegt wurde, die auch fast 35 Jahre danach noch genau so aktiv ist,
wie am ersten Tag. Die Rede ist natürlich von RAGE, die zunächst als AVENGER gestartet sind, bevor es dann zur Umbenennung kam.
Nun werden die legendären Alben der Herner Metal-Legende mit Bonus-Material mit etlichen Demoversionen (inkl. bisher
unveröffentlichten Titeln) auf Doppel-Vinyls neu veröffentlicht.
„10 Years In Rage“ (1994) enthält neben dem Album etliche Bonus-Titel auf einer Doppel-Vinyl. Ein absolutes Muss für alle RAGE-Heads!

1985 war das Jahr, in dem der Grundstein für die Karriere einer Band gelegt wurde, die auch fast 35 Jahre danach noch genau so aktiv
ist, wie am ersten Tag. Die Rede ist natürlich von RAGE, die zunächst als AVENGER gestartet sind, bevor es dann zur Umbenennung
kam.
Nun werden die Alben der Herner Metal-Legende mit Bonus-Material mit etlichen Demoversionen (inkl. bisher unveröffentlichten Titeln)
auf Doppel-Vinyls neu veröffentlicht.
Ein absolutes Muss für alle RAGE-Heads!

1985 war das Jahr, in dem der Grundstein für die Karriere einer Band gelegt wurde, die auch fast 35 Jahre danach noch genau so aktiv ist,
wie am ersten Tag. Die Rede ist natürlich von RAGE, die zunächst als AVENGER gestartet sind, bevor es dann zur Umbenennung kam.
Nun werden die Alben der Herner Metal-Legende mit Bonus-Material mit etlichen Demoversionen (inkl. bisher unveröffentlichten Titeln) auf
Doppel-Vinyls neu veröffentlicht.
Ein absolutes Muss für alle RAGE-Heads!

Ludwig Hart, who over two albums has established himself as our foremost innovator of classic American road rock aesthetics, has throughout 2024 released songs with a sound that is even bigger than on the artist's breakthrough album, 2021's "Paloma". The song "Less I Try" has been in constant radio rotation in Sweden, Germany and the UK, and Hart has had time to appear on national TV, embark on a major tour with two successful gigs at The Great Escape in Brighton and spend a summer playing the biggest Swedish festival stages. On his third album "Stay Young" - released on September 27 via Argle Bargle Studios - Hart showcases an increasing freedom to genre and style. From reflective, stripped-down tracks like "Ghost of You" and the title track, we're taken through the reverb-drenched garage boogie of "Run Run" to the big chorus wind-in-the-hair rock of single favorites like "Less I Try" and "Journey." On previous albums, Hart has been praised for his lyrics - personal stories about people around him growing up and their life situations. On ”Stay Young” - on the contrary - he turns inward and faces his own fears and demons. "It's been scary but necessary. The album is about my fears of getting older, fears of ending up like my dad. It's about how much I've tried to suppress things I've been through, and how they've probably shaped me into who I am. I live with ghosts that never seem to want to let go, I have my own devil on my shoulder that constantly makes itself known. I am periodically terrified of ending up in total fucking darkness. This record has helped me try to understand why."

"Perhaps best known for his long association with the legendary Muddy Waters, Otis Spann is largely recognized as one of the greatest blues pianists of all time, if not the greatest.

Although Spann made a name for himself in Chicago by the mid 1940s, it wasn’t until 1960 that he got the opportunity to record an album of his own. The sessions Spann did with Candid Records co-founder Nat Hentoff that year resulted in the legendary album Otis Spann Is The Blues. (Incidentally, this was also the first album ever recorded for the fledgling New York City based label.)

The tracks on Walking The Blues were recorded during those same sessions in August of 1960 in New York City.

Left on the cutting room floor, they would not be officially released until 1972, two years after Spann’s untimely death.

Robert Lockwood Jr., also from Muddy Water’s group, accompanies Spann on guitar here as he does on the Is The Blues album. But Walking The Blues also features Spann’s close friend, veteran singer and composer James Oden, better known to blues fans as St. Louis Jimmy.

Stripped down to just the these musicians, this magnificently performed and produced set showcases Spann’s voice as well as piano. Spann stretches out with his pulsing two-handed rhythmic attack, and brings the barrelhouse piano style of his youth in line with the modern Chicago style he embodied."

Led by Sommer, the release signifies the first chapter of the drummers much much-anticipated Nordic trilogy on April Records, aiming to capture and document Nordic improvisation and composition across three carefully curated ensembles. Bassist Arild Andersens storied career stretches back to the 1970"s as one of ECM s first recording artists, collaborating with household names of the genre including Jan Garbarek, Don Cherry, Bill Frisell, John Taylor, Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea, and the list goes on. Welcoming the opportunity to work with and nurture younger artists, the ensemble was born when Daniel Sommer selected Andersen for a project during his studies at the Danish National Academy of Music. Later, impressed by Luft s performances in Ireland and Norway, Andersen suggested expanding the pair into a trio. A transcendent musical voyage, As Time Passes " blurs the lines of conventional trio roles, and celebrates the evolution of jazz as a fluid, versatile form of expression. By providing each musician the freedom of becoming a key contributor in the melodic discourse, the trio channels the spirit of jazz veterans such as the Bill Evans Trio and free free-jazz ensemble Air, while echoing the sounds and innovations of pan pan-European contemporary jazz. Mixing pensive rubato ambience with energetic grooves, instrumental dexterity, a modern ECM ECM-esque sound and folk undertones, the record s compositional clarity combined with the spontaneity of a live performance flows across and between genres, borders and generations alike. Luft s intricately over- dubbed layers of acoustic guitars, vast reverbs, and contrapuntal melodies expand the sound of the three piece into an immersive world of textures. Rendered in the stark beauty of Andersen"s bass lines, the nuanced strokes of Sommer"s drums, and capped with the lush, expansive timbres of Luft"s guitar, "As Time Passes" is a testament to the enduring and ever ever-evolving wonder of Jazz.

The Iconic 80s Band, Berlin, Return with Strings Attached to Take Your Breath Away

Nearly 40 years after their founding, the Los Angeles-based synth pop group, Berlin, return with an album of their classic tracks_with strings attached. Working with a full philharmonic orchestra, Strings Attached sees the band revisit some of their classic tracks, from their formation in the early 1980s through to today, including, of course, the iconic theme to the movie, Top Gun, Take My Breath Away. Featuring the classic line-up of Terri Nunn, John Crawford and David Diamond, Strings Attached is perfect for both existing fans of one of the most legendary bands of the 80s and those who are being introduced for the first time.
Founded by bassist John Crawford, singer Terri Nunn, and keyboard player David Diamond, Berlin made its first national impression with the provocative single Sex (I'm A...) from the gold-selling debut EP, Pleasure Victim in 1982. The group was filled out by guitarist Rick Olsen, keyboard player Matt Reid, and drummer Rob Brill. Berlin's first full-length LP was the gold Love Life in 1984. In 1985, the group was pared down to a trio of Crawford, Nunn, and Brill. Berlin topped the charts around the world in 1986 with the single Take My Breath Away, the love theme from the Tom Cruise movie Top Gun, a track which won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and which has cemented itself as one of the most memorable songs featured in a film of all time.

The songs that grace this comprehensive double vinyl package all come from the golden age of country music. For nearly a century now, country music has been captured on cylinder, vinyl, tape and compact disc. In America during the 1950s, while rock & roll battled calypso as the nation’s favourite sound, meanwhile in the background, these classic country songs could be heard across the land - all the way from the Gulf of Mexico, right up to the frozen wastes of Minnesota. After the golden age of what might be called pure country, came country-rock, alt-country and Americana. But the century of songs gathered together here is plain and simple country music - at its best

Dischi Fantom’s Sussurra Luce series, blurring the boundaries between text, music and voice, returns with their fifth instalment, an expanded version of Hanne Lippard’s “Talk Shop”. Sculpting a fascinating bridge between radically experimental sound practice, conceptual art, and sound poetry, across its two sides the Berlin based multidisciplinary artist taps an almost dada sensibility, delivering a suite of poems and texts where singular words and sentences are looped and repeated creating a sensory experience of the efficiency and stress found in our private as well as public life.

Roughly a year ago, we had the pleasure of exploring the first two releases from Dischi Fantom’s emerging Sussurra Luce series, Ginevra Bompiani, Caterina Barbieri, and Tomoko Sauvage’s “Il Calore Animale” and Francesco Cavaliere’s “Zoomachia Disc 1”. An extension of the Milan based cultural platform Fantom’s broad and diverse activities (exhibitions, installations, performances, etc.) across numerous artistic disciplines, the series, curated by Francesco Cavaliere and Massimo Torrigiani, delves into the “science of imagination”, working with contemporary authors to explore and blur the boundaries between text, music and voice. Now the brilliant series returns with its latest entry, the Berlin based multidisciplinary artist Hanne Lippard’s “Talk Shop”. Released in a limited edition of 200 copies and coming with an LP-sized booklet, it combines orality and textuality with the idea of loop and repetition to explore the notion of time, and it’s a stunning gesture of performative poetics that plums a startling range of subjects through its sonorous forms.

Working across the fields of text, vocal performance, sound installation, printed objects and sculpture, for more than a decade Hanne Lippard has deployed language as the raw material for her work. Working within a practice that rests at the juncture of the spoken and written word, drawing upon content appropriated from the public sphere (found text) intertwined with her own words, Lippard’s work investigates how the rise in digital communication and mediation reprograms our relationship to language, presenting the subsequent fragility of language - its flaws, oddities, and potential for misinterpretation - and its attempts to convey meaning and sense.

“Talk Shop”, the fifth instalment of Dischi Fantom’s Sussurra Luce series and Lippard’s third recorded release - building upon the ground of 2020's “Work”, issued by Collapsing Market, and 2021's “PigeonPostParis”, released by Boomkat Editions - began as a live performance. Combining orality and textuality with the idea of loop and repetition to explore the notion of time, its relationship with the world of work today, and its personification through the experience of the human body - anonymity as the spearhead of the digital economy - the conceptual underpinnings of the piece depart from the notion that the human voice has become commodified by the ubiquitous nature of contemporary productivity, and intertwined with the mechanics of capital - the voices of satnavs, smart speakers and voicemail systems - while the written word has become increasingly anonymous online.

Addressing vocal anonymity as a spearhead of the digital economy, Lippard’s “Talk Shop” - regarded by the artist as “a compilation of poems and texts where singular words and sentences are looped and repeated creating a sensory experience of the efficiency and stress found in our private as well as public life” - taps an almost dada sensibility through its unexpected layers of meanings drawn from a maximalized approach to the potential of the human voice, creating an engrossing and challenging listen from the first sounding to the last, that continues to reveal itself and unfold with every return.

Sculpting a fascinating bridge between radically experimental sound practice, conceptual art, and sound poetry, it culminates as one of the most strikingly singular creative gestures we’re likely to encounter this year. Highly recommended and not to be missed.

Hanne Lippard (Milton Keynes, 1984) explores the social forms that govern discourse. Her artistic practice, which mainly takes the form of reading and sound installations, investigates the voice as an instrument of emancipation and alienation in times of hyper-connectivity. By mixing personal thoughts and appropriating texts from advertising, slogans and newspaper articles, the text becomes a mix of private and public that regains inventiveness and authorship through the use of the voice, becoming a body of its own. Her recent artistic research has focused on the use of the female body as a container of sounds, on the conscious and unconscious automation of speech and language.

Joni Mitchell Gets Jazzy, Counterbalances Love and Trust with Freedom and Confusion on Court and Spark


Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP
Plays with Definitive Detail and Clarity: Pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl Strictly Limited to 5,000 Numbered Copies
Box Set Features New Liner Notes
1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe


Court and Spark, the most commercially successful album of Joni Mitchell's trailblazing career, arrived after a year in which she took some time to breathe and kept a low profile. The pause led to more breakthroughs for the singer-songwriter. Marking Mitchell's increasing drift toward jazz (and affinity for Miles Davis and John Coltrane), Court and Spark garnered four Grammy nominations, earned the Best Album of the Year vote in the prestigious Pazz & Jop poll, and ranks #110 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing on MoFi SuperVinyl, strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies, and featuring new liner notes, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the 1974 classic with definitive detail, tonality, and directness. Marking the first time the revered LP has received audiophile-quality treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on vinyl and SACD sets.

Benefitting from a virtually nonexistent noise floor, dead-quiet surfaces, and superior groove definition, this collectible edition reproduces without compromise the textures, details, and breathtaking craftsmanship that help make Court and Spark into what many fans believe is the Canadian native’s finest hour. Notes bloom and decay as they do amid an acoustic live environment. Soundstages extend far and deep, with black backgrounds and balanced tones adding to the uncanny realism.

The reference-grade presence and openness put in transparent view Mitchell’s incisive words and unique phrasing, as well as the contributions of her prized support musicians — including Tom Scott and the L.A. Express as well as guest turns by the likes of David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jose Feliciano, and Robbie Robertson. Mitchell, experimenting with the melodic parameters of guitar and piano, is rightly found at the center of it all. The jazz-rock rhythms of drummer John Guerin, slippery guitar lines of Larry Carlton, vibrant horns and reeds laid down by Scott — crucial to the songs’ shape-shifting arrangements — can now also be heard with fresh ears.

Visually and physically, the packaging of the Court and Spark UD1S set complements its distinguished status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, both LPs come in foil-stamped jackets with faithful graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. This reissue is for listeners who desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including Mitchell’s “The Mountain Loves the Sea” painting — a picture of waves embracing and receding away from a mountain, a metaphor for the record’s lyrical themes — on the cover art.

Pitching deceptively light compositions against underlying tensions, Court and Spark witnesses the singer-songwriter finding her footing with a group of top-shelf musicians who seemingly understand her visions as well as expanding her lyrical palette and venturing further into territory no artist had dared explore. Mitchell’s accessibly complex structures, beat-propelled rhythms, and spirited interplay with Scott & Co. both give the music a different identity than her prior efforts and point in the directions she soon headed.

Lyrically, Court and Spark matches the wit, integrity, originality, and intellect of anything in Mitchell’s oeuvre — no small feat. Offsetting positives with negatives, and considering circumstances from multiple angles, Mitchell explores issues connected to love and freedom, certainty and confusion, and trust and fear with unfettered boldness and introspective empathy. She teeters between surrender and retreat, and spends a majority of the record sussing out the complications and sacrifices involved with such actions.

Mitchell addresses the transactional nature of desire (the intimate title track, the upbeat “Raised on Robbery,” complete with rock ‘n’ roll pep from Robertson and zesty sax from Scott); anticipation and disappointment of romance (“Car on a Hill,” “”Down to You); fame and celebrity (“A Free Man in Paris,” “People’s Parties”); and sanity (the dark and stormy “Trouble Child,” a satirical cover of Annie Ross’ “Twisted”). Throughout, she sings with an emotionally penetrating beauty and devastating honesty that teaches about ourselves.

Or, as Mitchell relays on “People’s Parties”: “Laughing and crying/You know it’s the same release.”

"Join the Kyle Shepherd Trio on 'A Song More Sweetly Played' as they explore, collaborate and improvise on the ‘songs we like to play’. The album’s title is a dedication to the celebrated South African artist William Kentridge, with whom Shepherd collaborated on a joint-work “Waiting for Sybil” that has toured world-wide. In addition to ten Shepherd originals, perhaps most unexpected is the inclusion of an exquisite reading of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ and a deconstructed take of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, a favourite rock anthem that Shepherd describes as a ‘guilty pleasure’.

‘The inclusion of the Massive Attack and Journey tunes – that’s something out of character to me,’
observes Shepherd. The selection rests well within the grand jazz tradition of repurposing popular songs as vehicles for improvisation, thought, and pleasure. ‘It just came down to playing some tunes that we like and we can flow with, so that we can be inspired and express ourselves in a very natural organic way,’ he says. ‘We walked away from the from the studio feeling like – you know, we actually really enjoyed playing this record! I felt less attached to any sort of predetermined concepts except that we would play some music that I wrote that we like – a selection of things that we like to play. It felt like a bit of a tonic – every musician gets a chance to breathe through the music, and the music just flows and moves as organically as we could make it.’

To hear one of South Africa’s foremost pianists play with intention, freedom and enjoyment, in the tradition and beyond it, is above all a gift to the listener, and Matsuli Music is proud to be able to share the Trio’s first album in a decade, A Dance More Sweetly Played.

Kyle Shepherd is one of South Africa’s leading jazz, film and theatre music composers and pianists of his generation, internationally recognised for his distinctive compositional style and performances. He was the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year for Jazz in 2014 and the UNISA piano competition winner in 2019, and has performed in 28 countries around the world, including 11 concert tours to Japan."

The Kyle Shepherd Trio: Kyle Shepherd (Piano), Shane Cooper (Double Bass) and Jonno Sweetman (Drums).
All Compositions by Kyle Shepherd except “Teardrop” by Massive Attack and “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey.
Recorded May 2024 at Sunset Studios, Cape Town
Recording Engineer - Jürgen von Wechmar
Mixed by Martin Ruch.
Mastering by Frank Merritt.
Artwork and Design by English Designed and produced with support from the Baxter Theatre, Cape Town.

12” paddling pool blue vinyl, is an edition of 500. CD Digifile. Following the runaway success of their critically acclaimed 2021 second album Contender, the question for fast-rising London four-piece Fightmilk was always going to be “what next?” With a tight indie-pop sound that defined their early recordings, the answer was obvious to a band who seem hellbent on the notion of evolve or die… The band originally formed in 2015 in a Brixton pub garden by Lily and Alex, who had both, separately, just been dumped and thought being in an angry punk band would cheer them up. Then they found Nick and Healey to hold the rhythm down and make them sound good. With three albums under their belt, they’ve perfected their chaotic, melodic brand of joy and rage-filled pop with full-throated yelling and sparkling guitar riffs as their trademark. They’ve graduated from angsty whippersnappers in their mid-twenties to overgrown teenage 30-somethings with mild ongoing back and shoulder pain. Their previous 2 albums Not With That Attitude (2018) & Contender (2021) marked them out as an ambitious and rising prospect, and now on their forthcoming new album No Souvenirs the band eschew their former Britpop ties and edge further into DIY punk and heavier rock influences to reveal a leaner, meaner, more abrasive side to their cathartic lo-fi anthems. Whilst collectively diving into their passion for Jimmy Eat World, frontwoman Lily Rae made a conscious decision to strengthen her “big loud yell” with influence from Alicia Bognanno (Bully), Nat Foster (Press Club), and Missy Dabice (Mannequin Pussy). “My voice is the biggest it’s ever been and I’m constantly thrilled when people are surprised at how loud I am, considering I’m so small in stature,” she grins. “Lyrically I always look to Bruce Springsteen for inspiration but I also really enjoyed the angsty candour of Sour by Olivia Rodrigo, and Kacey Musgraves’ impeccable one-liners.” There are a few genre experiments on the record—Yo La Tengo in ‘Paddling Pool’, ‘Canines’ is part The Strokes and part Neu!, and ‘Back From Tour’ was heavily influenced by long term friends Johnny Foreigner. “You could probably make a case for ‘Inferno’ having a bit of Counting Crows to it, but we were never writing to emulate,” explains guitarist Alex. “The references and touchstones just happened along the way. As far as we’re concerned, they just sound like Fightmilk - and that’s a really nice place to be nearly a decade in.” “That said, we’ve also been REALLY picky with the songs that made it onto the album - there’s probably an-other album’s worth of songs that didn’t feel right, even if we loved them. We got really good at finding the “magic thing” in each song that made it work.” Spilling over with candid lyrics about death, doomed love, and dog bites, framed by endless punk energy and the kind of full-throated riff-rock that sounds just at home in a giant stadium as it does in a sticky-floored toilet bar, No Souvenirs is a triumphant return from the band, who are equally enthused by the album. “I only realised after we put the songs together how personal to me this album was,” explains Lily. “Not just because I’m writing about extremely specific sitcom episodes in my life (getting fired from bridesmaid duty, being bitten on the arse by a dog, being relentlessly asked when I’m going to have kids), but because whilst we were making it, I turned 30. It’s a significant age for women, especially in music, because aside from being something called a ‘geriatric millennial’, there’s an unspoken rule that there’s a cut-off point for you to have ‘made it’ and after that you have to settle down and be normal.” For Lily, writing for the album also aligned with the 10th anniversary of the death of a close friend, with the resulting track ‘No Souvenirs’ lending its title to the album as a whole. “It had taken me that long to write about it in a way I felt ok with. But I realised that I couldn’t have written it before,” she explains. “I needed that distance, and that maturity, to be able to articulate those feelings. It feels to me now like the album is about scorched earth, moving on, taking nothing with you for the next ‘thing’ - and realising that getting older is a privilege.” Bringing a huge amount of energy and joy with them whenever and wherever they hit a stage, interacting with the audience is a vital part of the Fightmilk live experience. “Without people singing and dancing at us we wouldn’t have gigs at all, so we want everyone to get involved!” says Lily of the band’s future tour plans

Butcher Holler is named for the little Kentucky town where Loretta Lynn was raised. On the tribute album of the same name, acclaimed singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell pays homage to Lynn’s humble roots and timeless, hard-hitting writing and performance style. For the first time, Butcher Holler is now available on vinyl, remastered and expanded with three brand new tracks. Jewell writes, “And so, a toast: to the woman with more banned songs than anyone can count; to that voice that reaches the very grain of the theater walls around her; to our national treasure. Gratitude is not enough, so I sing these songs for any who will listen.” The Boston Globe praised, “There's an irresistible snap to these songs- they're tight, deliciously twangy and rendered without orchestrated frills... a deft tribute."

When Bob Vylan won the first MOBO award for Best Alternative Music Act in 2022, the punk-grime duo took to the stage and used the platform to speak about how they managed to achieve the impossible as independent artists in a genre-defying space. “We released an album this year that we produced entirely, mixed entirely, recorded entirely, all from my bedroom…so everybody that’s here, bigging up Atlantic and bigging up Warner, fuck that, us man did it ourselves”.

It was an acceptance speech that rattled the room and built anticipation for their next projects.

Humble as the Sun, the forthcoming album from Bob Vylan continues with much of the rage and urgency that they have come to be known and loved for, but this latest project shows that they are now stronger and wiser, bolstered by the wins and learnings that they have fought hard for along the way. The resulting tracklist aims to leave the listener feeling power alongside their anger, and brings a fresh and compelling blend of punk, rock, grime and rap together in an experimental way.

Following on from the last album, Bob Vylan Presents the Price of Life, the message woven throughout Humble as the Sun remains dark in places but is high-energy, defiant and unapologetic in its critique of a broken social and political system that so many have fallen victim to, but feel powerless against.

This album is for the underdogs, the ones who come out swinging and those who refuse to be defeated in the face of injustice, and aims to remind listeners that anger is a fire that can be harnessed and put to use. The album creation started from a conversation with the sun, which is, after all, a big ball of fire that sustains life.

From masculinity to myths about the G Spot, the themes and topics explored on Humble As The Sun make for an often humorously empowering celebration of the peoples ability to endure, overcome and bring about change.

The lyricism on this album is even more layered than their previous projects, still darkly humorous, anti-establishment and unforgiving but at times pauses to deliver much-needed words of afrmation to listeners, “You are loved. You are not alone. You are going through hell but keep going.” Bobby assures the listener, ofering an antidote to the state of the world, aiming to give some power and agency to those who hear it. At a time when so little trust or faith exists between the people and the powers that be, Bob Vylan ofers out a hand in the despondent darkness that has overwhelmed so many in the shadow of a burning planet. They guides the listener to a place where they can see some light and feel empowered to do something, to fight back, to continue pushing forwards despite the challenges faced along the way.

Mixing all of the best quintessentially British - and Jamaican - musical elements from punk to drum and bass, grime and rock, Bob Vylan creates a sound that reflects the state of the nation, at once voicing the frustrations that normal people have, while also highlighting one’s ability to persevere, overcome hardship and to change.

Um das Jahr stilvoll ausklingen zu lassen, schließt sich Buddha-Bar mit dem Berliner Duo Dole & Kom für ein Deep, Ethnic und Organic House Projekt zusammen. Die international bekannten deutschen Produzenten und DJs Dole & Kom sind Stammgäste auf den Buddha-Bar-Compilations. Ob auf Ibiza, Mykonos, Tulum, Kairo oder Dubai, ihre Electro-Deep-Sound mit mystischem und ethnischem Touch bringt Clubgänger und Jetsetter aus aller Welt zum Tanzen. Zwischen Underground und Mainstream verbreitet sich ihr einzigartiger, dynamischer und fesselnder Vibe in den Tracks und unterstreicht die stets scharfe, akribische und magische Arbeit von Ravin, Resident DJ in der Buddha-Bar Paris seit über 20 Jahren.

Reaching For Our Star b/w Run Between The Raindrops (While My Teardrops Fall). Semi Opaque Natural VINYL. A trio of Kansas City soul sweepers, from the sprawling mid west burg's storied Cavern, Damon, and Forte concerns. Bump and the Soul Stompers' 1970 sweet soul double sider "I C an Remember" was a tail pipe-dragging, low rider classic in the making, had it ever been released. A few years later Jerald "Bump" Scott took his new group to Cavern's subterrane an confines to cut the group harmony masterpiece "Living In The Past," but remained unissued prior to Numero's discovery of the Cavern tapes. As disco was cresting at the top of the next decade, Sharon Revoal tracked her James Brown meets James Bond stepper "Reaching For Our Star"_ the last 45 released on Marva Whitney's peerless Fortelabel.

You Never End is the third album from Valentina Magaletti, Tom Halstead and Joe Andrews (Moin) out via AD 93 on the 25th October. Its title alone expresses the teetering and shifting nature of both the album and band. This record marks the Moin’s shift into a new phase with vocal collaborations across the album from Olan Monk, james K, Coby Sey and Sophia Al-Maria.

The album’s collaborators all have voices that are alluring in their own right whilst hard to pin down: from james K’s ethereal, reverb drenched vocals, Coby Sey’s words that bounce and echo across London’s concrete streets and Olan Monk’s emotive songwriting, while artist Sophie Al-Maria’s voice and thoughts are known to stretch across her multidisciplinary practice as an artist, filmmaker and writer. The unique mystique of each collaborator is maintained throughout the record while simultaneously opening Moin up to new possibilities, in a gentle shifting alchemy.

Continuing their enigmatic re-configuring of the traditional band, Moin use a mix of conventional and unique production and compositional techniques. Subtly re-framing the current conversation about what band in 2024 needs to be, Moin walk the line between what's reassuringly familiar and what's unsettling and inquisitive. You Never End is a more sensitive record in sentiment, it re-contextualises grunge, shoegaze and indie rock with a weirdly comforting melancholy while still sounding direct and alive.

Showing Moin at their most accessible, the vocal collaborations bring the most articulate moments and lucid emotion while still remaining uniquely within Moin's established world. Alongside this, the record fine tunes the elements of electronic production that have always been a feature of the band's unique sound in a deeply subtle way. Elements are simpler and more direct, offering robust functional support as well as textural and emotional resonance. Together they show the potential for both practices to intertwine.

You Never End is both produced and mixed by Tom and Joe, demonstrating the extended range of control the pair have over the band's sound, and their ability to truly hold together Moin’s intricate world.

~~~From Mississippi and Olvido Records~~~~~~ Steel-string guitar and vocals by the great Giorgos Katsaros, a mythic figure of Greek rembetiko. Our obsession with underground Greek music continues with 10 ultra-rare recordings of heartbreak and vice from rembetiko legend Giorgos Katsaros. Katsaros, who by some accounts lived to be over 100 years old, carried the old songs of Greece to the Diaspora in the United States, bridging centuries of music in one storied lifetime. Born in 1901 on the Greek island of Amorgos, Katsaros' was enchanted with the songs he picked up as a kid in the streets of Piraeus and Athens. Encouraged by his grandfather, an amateur singer, Katsaros developed a style that mirrored his upbringing - centuries-old Asia Minor songs, island rhythms of his homeland, well-known Athenian songs of the time, and anonymous `rebetiko' songs. Katsaros' songbook was vast, but he was most drawn to the street life and music of the manges of early 20th-century Greece: outcasts who dealt with the indignities of an unstable economy and an inauspicious future with the old standbys: wine, hash, and dancing. These ten tracks are remastered from Katsaros's 64 surviving early recordings, many rarely heard since their original release. Hypnotic melodies plucked over repeating thumbed basslines back his deep, mournful voice. Katsaros brought this nostalgic late-night music to smoke-filled rooms of Greek exiles in Chicago, Philly, and New York, where he emigrated in 1917. He continued to travel the country and play until his music was supplanted by more modern styles in the 1950s. He retired to the town of Tarpon Springs, FL, famous for its Greek sponge fishers, til a late-in-life revival brought him back to Greece for a few massive concerts and national accolades in the 1990s. Like many great artists, Katsaros carefully curated his own mythic backstory over the decades. He sometimes claimed he was born in 1888, making him 109 on his passing, and conflicting accounts of his birth and travels circulate to this day. Greek researchers Stavros Kourousis and Konstantinos Kopanitsanos, who also compiled these tracks, contribute groundbreaking new historical research on Katsaros' life. Lyrics, poetically translated by Tony Klein, further fill in the picture. Clean and rare 78s were remastered by Stereophonic. Katsaros has never sounded better than on this LP, pressed on heavy black vinyl, with extensive notes and lyrics.

Erste Vinylauflage der 2022er EP der Alternative-Rock-Band Chase Petra aus Long Beach, Follow-Up ihres Debütalbums "Liminal" aus 2019. Sechs Tracks, die zwischen spritzigem Garage-Pop, donnerndem Emo-Punk und akustischem Alternative-Rock hin- und herspringen, vorgetragen mit einer melodischen Ohrwurm-Note. Blue Marbled Vinyl.

Four originals from the 2024 Nu Groove catalogue appear on wax for the first time; ‘The Monk’ and ‘Shoot Your Shot’ from Harry Romero, plus Daniel Steinberg’s ‘AC TC’ and ‘Do It For The Music’. Opening the four-track vinyl, the New Jersey native and Latin house master Harry Romero’s ‘The Monk’ first appeared alongside ‘Shoot Your Shot’ for a two-track release in September 2024. Next, Berlin-based Arms & Legs label boss Daniel Steinberg released ‘AC TC’ and ‘Do It For The Music’ in October 2024, with the two club-ready tracks forming part of his expertly crafted Life Goes On EP.

EMEX is the latest project from Modular Expansion, marking the reunion of George Apergis and Alex Retsis after eight years. Together, they've developed EMEX Live in an entirely new dimension. This release features two techno tracks with a classic old-school flavor, recorded during the EMEX Live performance at the Phygital Audiovisual event. Phygital, an immersive experience curated by Modular Expansion, was supported by the Greek Ministry of Culture and the National Opera. Held at the Castle of Rio, the event showcased live audiovisual performances that blended digital and physical instruments.

Celebrating dance music’s roots in Africa, global music superstars Soweto Gospel Choir and renowned Australian DJ Groove Terminator team up with Grammy-winning producer Latroit to present ‘History of House,’ a global reimagination of the iconic dance music classics that defined a generation.

Featuring exquisite multilingual vocal performances and collaborations with some of Southern Africa's most promising emerging artists, "History of House" stands as a vibrant celebration of music and culture. This album transcends boundaries, effortlessly connecting diverse cultures across generations with an authentic fusion of global beats, Afro house, Amapiano, and house music.

LWS debuts on can you feel the sun. We hear nature being carved like a pumpkin. We hear the exhalation in an easy breath, the inhalation through a morning mist. We hear it’s time to eat and the table is heaving with grapes and custards. We thank the DJs who have been playing this to the moon and the stars and the dancers wide awake.

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.

Repress!

"Without pausing for breath and hot on the heels of their exhilarating debut album 5, the elusive Sault return with their sophomore full length titled 7. The signature hybrid of funk, dance, post-punk, soul and disco is front and centre once again, confidently delivered with their typical fearless nature. If 5 had you out of your seat, 7 will have you dancing in the streets....Spread the word, Sault are back at it!"

Dean Josiah Cover aka Inflo has been composing for Michael Kiwanuka, The Kooks, Tom Odell, The Jungle and Little Simz

Belén Natalí, Argentinian artist based in Barcelona and known for her extensive international career in the field of reggae and sound system culture, starts a new project where she navigates organically in pop/lo-fi rhythms with R&B reminiscences and jazz without forgetting his nods to Jamaican music. Her EP Jacarandà (Say it Loud Records & Costa Futuro, 2023) is quite a declaration of intent that features the collaborations of Ferran Palau and Santa Salut on two of the cuts. Belén, inaugurates a new stage in her musical career with musicians and producers such as Genis Trani or Hoss Benitez and Enric Peinado from the groove combo Big Menu.

For soul-reggae artist Natty, music isn’t just pleasure, it is also a healing power.

The London-raised singer-songwriter has been on a remarkable journey of creative and personal discovery in recent years, moving his partner and children to rural Jamaica to live off-grid and off the land, while delving deep into studies on music’s mental and physiological properties .

The result of this journeying is Natty’s expansive, fourth album, The Divine Trinity.

Across nine tracks he employs his trademark vocal power and uplifting melodies to explore everything from earthy funk grooves to guitar-strummed yearning, emphatic spoken word entreaties and spacious, dubbed-out reggae.

Partnering with his longtime band The Rebelship once more, Natty also expands his reggae-influenced sound through the instrumental frequencies of South Asian tablas, Zimbabwean mbira and wooden flutes. “There’s so much that I’ve never done before in this record,” he explains. “We have a song in 5/4, inspired by my time learning music in Zimbabwe, as well as sound bowls, the song of the crickets from the land we live on in Jamaica and hand drums from all over. Its ancient frequencies combined with classic songwriting, allowing people to tune into the power of music.”

2024 Repress

Re-mastered from the original Mono Master Tapes. Limited repress 1000 copies.

180 gr vinyl pressed by Pallas in Germany.

Deluxe high-gloss flipback album jacket.

Essay written by Brian Priestley.

Double insert using an original photo by JP Leloir from the concert.

Artwork by Jean-Louis Duralek.

Each record has been visually checked to prevent defects.

A never-before released Art Blakey 1965 live recordings.

First official release with the full permission and cooperation of the Art Blakey Estate & INA (Institut National de l’Audiovisuel).

Art Blakey, Live in ’65 boasts an exceptional one-hour concert from Paris in 1965. This performance showcases one of the few undocumented Blakey bands, the New Jazzmen, featuring Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Jaki Byard on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, Nathan Davis on sax, and, of course, Blakey on drums.
Freddie Hubbard’s incendiary playing on “Blue Moon” and the blistering 24-minute version of his own “Crisis” shows that he was one of the most innovative trumpeters in jazz history.

On this live session, the audiences seem to have been enthusiastic and appreciative. “Everywhere we’d go people would say, This is the best Jazz Messengers we’ve heard!”, according to Davis. “And because of the way Jaki would play and Reggie would go, it was like a semi-freedom thing – with Messengers heads, you know, but when we got to soloing…! And Blakey was ridin’ and floatin’ the time…but he would always be loose enough to follow, to keep it going. He’s one helluva musician.”

Recorded at Palais de la Mutualité, Paris, France, November 3, 1965.

Freddie Hubbard (Trumpet)
Nathan Davis (Tenor saxophone)
Jacki Byard (Piano)
Reggie Workman (Bass)
Art Blakey (Drums)

Max Essa is a bonafide Balearic boss man and one of the regulars of the Is It Balearic? label. It is there that he returns now with 'I'm Homeward Bound' which is a textbook sound from the producer, with a hint of Tears For Fears. The pads are delightfully gooey and subtly uplifting over gently percussive and stuttering beats and the whole thing is rich in lazy poolside energy. Nathan Dawidowicz remixes into a percolating bit of deep and tribal disco, Secret Soul Society brings out the early evening house grooves ready for sunset sessions and the closing cut 'Chasing Horses' is a super sweet late night groove with heartfelt chords

Eine musikalische Reise entlang der DonauDas neue Album "Donau" von Florian Christl ist eine musikalische Reise von der Quelle bis zur Mündung des zehn Länder verbindenden Flusses in zwölf neuen, atmosphärischen Kompositionen. Für diese ließ sich der Pianist und Komponist von der anmutigen Schönheit der Natur und den unterschiedlichen musikalischen Traditionen der prunkvollen Städte und Regionen entlang der Donau inspirieren. Mit unterschiedlichen Besetzungen erkundet Florian Christl Orte wie Wien, Budapest oder das Donau Delta und nimmt jeweils ein lokales musikalisches oder klangmalerisches Element in seine Kompositionen auf. Es begleiten ihn das traditionelle bayerische Volksmusikensemble "Seeger Saitenmusik", der Akkordeonist Vladislav Cojocaru, die Geigerin Kristina Šuklar, die Cellist*Innen Raphaela Gromes und Alik Lysiùk, ehemalige Mitglieder des Odessa Opernorchesters, die in einem Streicherensemble und als Solisten mitwirken, sowie Florian Christls festes Ensemble, mit dem er das Album auch live auf der Release-Tour spielen wird.Schon als Kind faszinierte es Florian Christl, wie das Wasser der Vils, die durch seine Heimatstadt Amberg fließt, seinen Weg ins weitentfernte Meer finden konnte. Es ist die Donau, die den kleinen Fluss mit dem weit im Osten gelegenen Schwarzen Meer verbindet. Auf dem 2.857 Kilometer langen Weg von ihrer Quelle im Schwarzwald bis zur Mündung in der Nähe der ukrainischen Hafenstadt Odessa, durchquert die Donau halb Europa und kulturelle Zentren wie Wien, Bratislava, Budapest oder den Großraum Bukarest. Deren Austausch hat sie als wichtiger Reiseweg wortwörtlich befördert und die Entwicklung eines gemeinsamen kulturellen Erbes Europas mit all seiner Vielgestaltigkeit - wie etwa in der Musik - gefördert.Der Beginn des Krieges in der Ukraine ruft in Florian Christl schlagartig das Gefühl der Verbundenheit hervor. Inspiriert von der Programmmusik der Romantik - insbesondere Smetanas "Moldau" - reifte in ihm die Idee, die "Donau" auf einem Konzeptalbum zu vertonen, um ein Zeichen für den Frieden in Europa zu setzen."Der Gedanke, wie uns die Donau alle direkt mit der Ukraine verbindet, ließ mich nicht mehr los. Der Fluss symbolisiert eine wechselvolle, tragische Geschichte von Flucht, Vertreibung und Invasion in Europa, aber auch von einem beständigen Austausch, der doch die europäische Kultur erst erschaffen hat, wie man in der europäischen Kunstmusik deutlich sehen kann," erklärt Florian Christl.Mit dieser Idee begann der Komponist eine umfassende Recherche über die Donau, die Städte, Regionen und artenreichen Naturräume, die sie verbindet. Eine Reise auf dem Fluss führte ihn bis zum Donau-Delta. Dort markiert die Donau die Grenze zwischen einem Europa in Frieden mit Rumänien an einem Ufer und der Ukraine im Krieg am anderen Ufer. Florian Christl beschreibt die Situation:"Es war surreal und traurig. Der Kontrast zwischen der unglaublich schönen Natur und dem Wissen, um die Schrecken des Krieges, die hier nur wenige Kilometer entfernt sind."Der Entstehungsprozess des Albums zog sich über mehr als zwei Jahre hin. Nach den ersten Aufnahmen erlitt Florian Christl im September 2023 einen Herzinfarkt, der ihn für mehrere Wochen aus dem Leben katapultierte und bis heute nachwirkt. Eine Erfahrung, die ihn dazu brachte, neu darüber nachzudenken, was im Leben wirklich wichtig ist: "Im Alltag verlieren wir oft den Blick dafür, was wirklich zählt: Die Momente mit den Menschen, die uns wirklich wichtig sind, mögen sie noch so knapp und beiläufig erscheinen. Wir verwenden so viel Energie darauf, nach scheinbar bleibendem materiellem Einfluss, Reichtum oder Land zu streben. Wir sollten viel mehr Zeit darauf verwenden, diese, unsere Reise miteinander zu genießen."

System Olympia drops her album debut and, in turn, initiates her Okay Nature label. 'Delta Of Venus' takes elements of minimal synth/wave, pop, contemporary R&B, and fashions them into this steely, icy cool and highly original new form whilst keeping loyal to the DIY tradition. Stunning release that you really don't want to miss.

"Hin helga kvöl" (Das heilige Leiden) ist eine tiefgründige Erkundung roher Emotionen und schlichter Schönheit, die vom kulturellen Erbe Sólstafirs und den atemberaubenden Landschaften Islands inspiriert ist. Sólstafir, was auf Isländisch "dämmrige Strahlen" bedeutet, bezieht sich auf das Sonnenlicht, das in der Dämmerung durch dunkle Wolken dringt, und fängt das Wesen von "Hin helga kvöl" ein, ein Leuchtfeuer der Hoffnung, das durch die schwersten Zeiten scheint. Sólstafir stellt sich den inneren Dämonen und überschreitet die Dekadenz des Rock'n'Roll, indem es Musik schafft, in der der universelle Kampf und Triumph über die Not mitschwingt. Aufgenommen in den Flóki Studios im abgelegenen Skagafjörður, Island, hat der Wechsel der Umgebung die Atmosphäre des Albums nachhaltig beeinflusst. "Hin helga kvöl" enthält acht Tracks, die Sólstafirs charakteristischen melancholischen Sound mit Elementen aus ihrer Vergangenheit vermischen und dabei Black-Metal-Wurzeln mit melodiösem, hymnischem Rock verbinden. Über den Titel des Albums sagt Tryggvason: "Wir alle leiden im Leben, und sogar die Natur leidet. Das kann man auch in der Religion und Spiritualität finden. Hin helga kvöl bedeutet 'Das heilige Leiden' und steht für den Kampf, dem wir alle ausgesetzt sind." Das atemberaubende Cover des Albums von Rowan E. Cassidy mit seinen Kohleschatten illustriert perfekt die emotionale Tiefe und die atemberaubenden Höhen von "Hin helga kvöl". Tryggvason beschreibt die Musik mit einem Wort: "allein", was die Essenz von Sólstafirs ungefiltertem und leidenschaftlich emotionalem Sound einfängt. Die Musik von Sólstafir ist von vielfältigen Einflüssen geprägt, darunter Black Metal, Classic Rock, Post-Rock, Punk und die raue Schönheit der isländischen Natur, die einen ganz eigenen Sound hervorbringen. "Hin helga kvöl" verspricht ein heller, strahlender Meilenstein in Sólstafirs glanzvoller Karriere zu werden, der den Weg von der Dunkelheit zum Licht erhellt. Lasst diesen November die unverfälschte Schönheit und spirituelle Kraft von "Hin helga kvöl" in euren Köpfen freilaufen. Leiden hat sich noch nie so erhellend angefühlt.

"Hin helga kvöl" (Das heilige Leiden) ist eine tiefgründige Erkundung roher Emotionen und schlichter Schönheit, die vom kulturellen Erbe Sólstafirs und den atemberaubenden Landschaften Islands inspiriert ist. Sólstafir, was auf Isländisch "dämmrige Strahlen" bedeutet, bezieht sich auf das Sonnenlicht, das in der Dämmerung durch dunkle Wolken dringt, und fängt das Wesen von "Hin helga kvöl" ein, ein Leuchtfeuer der Hoffnung, das durch die schwersten Zeiten scheint. Sólstafir stellt sich den inneren Dämonen und überschreitet die Dekadenz des Rock'n'Roll, indem es Musik schafft, in der der universelle Kampf und Triumph über die Not mitschwingt. Aufgenommen in den Flóki Studios im abgelegenen Skagafjörður, Island, hat der Wechsel der Umgebung die Atmosphäre des Albums nachhaltig beeinflusst. "Hin helga kvöl" enthält acht Tracks, die Sólstafirs charakteristischen melancholischen Sound mit Elementen aus ihrer Vergangenheit vermischen und dabei Black-Metal-Wurzeln mit melodiösem, hymnischem Rock verbinden. Über den Titel des Albums sagt Tryggvason: "Wir alle leiden im Leben, und sogar die Natur leidet. Das kann man auch in der Religion und Spiritualität finden. Hin helga kvöl bedeutet 'Das heilige Leiden' und steht für den Kampf, dem wir alle ausgesetzt sind." Das atemberaubende Cover des Albums von Rowan E. Cassidy mit seinen Kohleschatten illustriert perfekt die emotionale Tiefe und die atemberaubenden Höhen von "Hin helga kvöl". Tryggvason beschreibt die Musik mit einem Wort: "allein", was die Essenz von Sólstafirs ungefiltertem und leidenschaftlich emotionalem Sound einfängt. Die Musik von Sólstafir ist von vielfältigen Einflüssen geprägt, darunter Black Metal, Classic Rock, Post-Rock, Punk und die raue Schönheit der isländischen Natur, die einen ganz eigenen Sound hervorbringen. "Hin helga kvöl" verspricht ein heller, strahlender Meilenstein in Sólstafirs glanzvoller Karriere zu werden, der den Weg von der Dunkelheit zum Licht erhellt. Lasst diesen November die unverfälschte Schönheit und spirituelle Kraft von "Hin helga kvöl" in euren Köpfen freilaufen. Leiden hat sich noch nie so erhellend angefühlt.