Cerca:kid only

Rando Arand is an Estonian electronic music producer from Tallinn. With a strong foundation in sound design, Arand released his debut record on Asphalt Soliloquies in 2017 and has since captivated audiences at clubs and festivals across the Baltics with his unpredictable and unique live sets. Drawing inspiration from a range of genres such as broken jazz, dubtechno, breakbeat and jungle, Arand incorporates modular synth patches into his performances. He has shared the stage with artists like Dorian Concept, Gerry Read and King Midas Sound. In 2019, Arand released the "Alles" EP on Ali Asker's LIITHELI imprint, which focuses on promoting local talent from Estonia's capital. Arand's latest EP, "Aru" (2022), showcases his exploration of a new "Linki" format. In addition to his musical pursuits, Arand was also a host at the underground venue Ulme in Tallinn.

About the album „Child of the Internet”

The new album by experimental sound designer and electronic music producer Rando Arand takes the artist on a completely different path compared to the previously known dance music influenced deep and contemplative instrumental tracks. Featuring several notable guest artists, the album is a sizzling hot record that makes feet tapping and bodies grooving. On the artist’s most listener-friendly work to date, an impressive lineup of Estonian vocalists makes an appearance: Hyrr IV, the lead singer of the indie band Ouu; Jon Mikiver from Elephants from Neptune; actress Mirtel Pohla; alternative pop artist Kitty Florentine; queer artist Helgi Saldo; comedian Maiduk; and hobby musicians Maihe and David.

The conceptual album "Child of the Internet" is dedicated to young kids for whom the internet has been a defining part of growing up. Genre-wise, the album is very flexible, weaving through various musical chapters and styles with the help of numerous musical sketches, touching on both the comedic and the darker oddities that circulate online.

The album features scorchingly hot, electrified synth-funk jams with a nostalgic touch reminiscent of Prince ("Slidin in Yo DM’s", "Refresh"). Kitty Florentine delivers a sensual neo-soul ballad ("Just Scrolling"), filled with soft tones, soulful warmth, and a smooth groove. For more demanding listeners, the record also explores elements of chillwave, glitch, lo-fi hip-hop, techno, house, and breakbeat. Longer tracks and shorter interludes come together like a bouquet of favorite memes or a collection of countless open web browser tabs that we all keep running. At the same time, the album hints at the immense impact the internet has on our everyday lives.

Rando Arand’s latest studio album is an intriguing listen — perfect for enjoying alone with good headphones or as an ideal background soundtrack for a larger gathering with friends.

To kick off Ace Records 50th Anniversary we are delighted to offer up a 2-LP version of one of the most seminal and important heavy metal albums of all time.

Funded by and released on Chiswick Records in 1977, Motörhead’s debut album was a sonic blister of epic proportions capturing the musical lighting generated by Lemmy (bass/vocals), Phil Taylor (guitar) and Eddie Clarke (drums).

This 2-LP set not only offers up this classic first album featuring tracks like ‘White Line Fever’, ‘Violator’ and ‘Keep Us On The Road’ but also collates together, on sides three and four, ‘City Kids’ the “Beer Drinkers EP” as well as different mixed and alternative versions of ear-bleeding classics like ‘Motörhead’, ‘The Watcher’ and ‘Keep Us On The Road’.

The album cover features a silver hot foil replication Joe Petagno’s original Motorhead logo in all its glory. Sleeve notes are by Ted Carroll who takes the reader through the story of how Chiswick Records managed to scrape together the money to fund the recording and write themselves and Motörhead into rock and roll history.

It’s one hell of a way to kick off Ace’s 50th Anniversary re-issue schedule.

As on their first EP "Mokili Na Poche" on Seismographic Records, ATELIER KAMIKAZI'S collaborative lyrics are dedicated to their spectrum of life as street kids. They struggle with the exhausting and dangerous beauty of life in Kinshasa by encouraging themselves and promising never to give up. Neither in the face of lying politics, nor in the face of a religion whose representative they call "Priest Cat's Heart", nor in the face of that great power to which they dedicate several songs, the drug called "Bomb", made from car catalyst deposits mixed with a wild cocktail of ingredients. They warn against using this drug to see "the nakedness of the turtle", because the only thing that could really be seen would be the ridiculousness of those consuming the drug. They counter that they are on a mission to conquer the future with their weapons: the weapons of speech, their knowledge and Loketo, the hip swing of dance.

Claire Chicha aka Spill Tab is feeling more free than ever before. The LA-based, French-Korean songwriter and producer,has spent the past five years as spill tab honing a sound that is as raw-edged as it is refined, channelling low-slung guitar-strumming confessionals as well as the earworming melodic hooks of anthemic pop to produce a heady and distinctive mix.

Following the 2019 release of her intimate and infectious debut single “Decompose”, Spill Tab has evolved her spill tab project through three EPs: 2020’s synth-pop influenced Oatmilk, 2021’s playful, uptempo Bonnie, featuring Gus Dapperton and Tommy Genesis, and 2023’s co-produced, sonically-intricate Klepto, which gleefully meanders from the Hiatus Kaiyote-influenced jazz freakouts of “CRÈME BRÛLÉE!” to the guitar-chugging thump of “Splinter”. Live, meanwhile, Spill Tab has been tapped for her explosively energetic presence to open the North American leg of popstar Sabrina Carpenter’s tour, as well as touring through Australia with alt-rock trio Wallows.
With “PINK LEMONADE”, opening single from her forthcoming debut album “ANGIE” , spill tab’s freewheeling sound finds its fullest expression, harnessing this onstage experience and recorded experimentation with her bass-weight and pitched-up vocals. Here we find Chicha only ever chasing that “weird thing”, fizzing with an infectious enthusiasm and intricate musicianship. “The best songs come from writing the main idea in a day, as it’s so instinctual,” she says, such as “PINK LEMONADE” recorded “from a clip taken out of a 40-minute jam that we then chopped and spliced”.
Born to her French Algerian composer father and Korean pianist mother, Claire Chicha spent her early childhood in the mixing room of her parents’ LA post-production studio, bringing coffees to artists as they tracked scores for exciting new projects. “I hung out in that studio all the time until I was around 10 years old, absorbing jazz music my dad was into and classical music that my mom loved,” Chicha says. “My mom had a big hand in making me an adventurous kid, always trying new things from piano to harp and violin, forever soaking up new sounds.”

At 12, Chicha’s life was uprooted as she relocated to Thailand to live with her mother’s family following the collapse of her parents’ business after the 2008 recession. What followed was an unstable and formative few years of early teenagedom, navigating new cultures and life changes. In Thailand, Chicha began learning guitar to cover the Paramore and Green Day tracks she had grown to love while also becoming immersed in Thai traditional music. After a year, she moved once more to live with her aunt in Paris and there she was introduced to the classic sound of Serge Gainsbourg and Édith Piaf before ultimately returning to LA following the untimely death of her father.

“I had to become a real people person to fit in everywhere I was moving, and it immersed me into so many different styles of music,” she says. “I went from listening to the nasal singing of Thai traditional music at muay thai fights in Bangkok, to emotive classic French songs. It definitely informed the need to experiment with my sound as I became more interested in making music.”

At high school in LA, Chicha joined one of the country’s foremost show choirs and realised a natural aptitude for stagecraft and performance as she sang medleys in competitions throughout the US. Going on to study Music Business at NYU, Chicha found a love for the alternative soul and singer-songwriting of the likes of Moses Sumney and Bon Iver, as well as developing her own sound while spending summers interning as an A&R at Atlantic Records and being exposed to the gamut of New York’s live music scene.

“I was going to so many shows as an A&R intern and seeing just how much a lot of music sounded alike,” she says. “It made me realise I wanted my music to feel different, to cut through the noise but still make something that felt honest to me.”

Beginning to independently release tracks, Soill Tab gradually built a loyal fanbase with the release of wistful early numbers “Calvaire” and “Cotton Candy” and soon found herself signed to a major label. Yet, as her career progressed through the COVID pandemic the demands of a corporate major began to conflict with her own searching style. “My last two EPs were under contract and it felt like I was always chasing the carrot,” she says, “I felt a certain pressure to put out tracks quickly and find that ‘hit’. It wasn’t the right environment to truly make what I wanted.”

Ultimately parting ways with her label, Chicha began work on a new album, exploring new sounds and ideas with her LA-based community of collaborators like producer David Marinelli, Solomonophonic, Wyatt and Austin and John DeBold, without expectation. “It became this beautiful experience of only following ideas that I really believed in and exploring all the musical avenues I hadn’t before,” she says. “I’ve never been more excited about songs and I’ve never felt like a project is more mine.”

Writing and recording while touring with Sabrina Carpenter and Wallows, Chicha road-tested her new tracks to see what might land best with an audience who had likely never heard her music before. “You have to win people’s hearts as an opener and you can see what resonates and what doesn’t,” she says. “I would watch people fall in love or not and it’s usually always the song you’re having the most fun with that does the best. That’s what I put on the record.”

« Angie », Spill’s Tab debut album is relased on because Music and expected for May 16th release.

“In my category, I’m the one and only,” proclaimed Oakland legend Too $hort on his 1990 single “Short But Funky.” Few disagreed then, and even fewer would do so decades later. First appearing in the mid-1980s, slinging homemade tapes out of his car trunk, the man born Todd Shaw has always stayed true to himself. Although he is known more for the dirty side of his rap game, on “Short But Funky,” he also reminds listeners of an important fact: “There’s a serious side to everything I say.” Short Dog’s In The House, was $hort’s sixth studio album, and his second for the Jive label. By the time it hit, he was a West Coast legend, but his rep was growing Eastwards, as the rest of the country started opening its ears to new sounds. Peaking at #20 on the national Billboard 200 chart, the album was exactly what his dedicated fans expected funky, 70s drenched beats made for cars on the boulevard, and no nonsense lyrics that made more sense and dropped more knowledge than he was ever given credit for. For examples of his conscious side, look no further than the P-Funk fueled “It’s Your Life” or the album’s lead single, “The Ghetto.” The album’s second single “Short But Funky” landed somewhere in the middle of $hort and Todd Shaw, talking about where he was at as the new decade broke, and making it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere. His mortality was mainly on his mind after rumors had surfaced the year before that he had died in a crack house. He speaks directly to this crazy episode on “Dead Or Alive.” And although it’s mostly a solo affair, he brings in some heavy artillery and a lot of not for the kids profanity on “Ain’t Nothin’ But A Word To Me,” featuring none other than Ice Cube In between, $hort distributed plenty of tales and charisma for fans to eat up, continuing to build his legendary status as one of the rap trailblazers of the era. Get On Down has repressed this 1990 Bay Area classic album on Blue and Ruby Color-In-Color vinyl

Full throttle from Vancouver, BC to wherever the open road takes them The Vicious Cycles are BACK with their new LP Get Wrecked on Pirates Press Records! Before you even get the shrink wrap off the gatefold jacket, you can guess what kind of party you're in for. "Our pal Shakey Deal is the cover model," says Cycles head honcho Billy Bones. "A tuff looking scrub on a minibike says a lot about who we are." And who is that exactly? "We play garage/punk rock and roll songs about motorcycles. We like to have a good time." The promise of debauchery carries over into song titles like "Naked On a Beach," and "On Fire in the Hot Tub." As rip-roaring, danceable party music goes, it's second to none, and rest assured there's plenty of bike enthusiast inside baseball, but the lyrics often go deeper than a superficial glance might indicate. For example, the lead single, "Hold On Tight," is about, as Billy puts it, "the physical feeling of riding with your favorite person on the back of your motorcycle - easily one of the best feelings a human can have." So, a classic biker anthem? "But also," he's quick to add, "a metaphor for life and relationships. We're gonna make it." Waxing philosophical with motorcycles as allegory over chrome-plated punk rock 'n roll? That's The Vicious Cycles' songwriting in a nutshell. Another album highlight, "Daddy Was a Gambler" references Billy's father - an ex-preacher who regularly hauled his kids to Circus Circus in his '57 Chevy - and his mother, a nurse and, as Billy puts it, "as close to an actual saint as anyone in the world. The song is an appreciation for the two of them, and how their differences made me who I am." "Naked On A Beach" sounds like a party, but Billy explains it's "a critique of capitalism and the tiny lives we're expected - and sometimes content - to live." Even the title track, "Get Wrecked," is more than just a statement of defiance; it's a message to Billy's son about dealing with the conformist naysayers of the world. Longtime fans & newcomers alike will be stoked for the straightaways, but stick around for the twists and turns, just like any good ride. The band brings in pals on strings & saxophone for a 60s Wall of Sound-inspired production on "Black Boots, Black Leather Jacket," and try their hands at their first murder ballad on "Pretty Hands." There's an instrumental tune ("Blowing Smoke") and hell, there's even a deep cut cover of "Trouble Again" - originally performed by Stewart Copeland of The Police - which only the biggest nerds of a certain age will recall as the theme song to the 80s Star Wars animated series Droids! In the end, no matter the detours, the band - along with Jesse Gander (Territories, Comeback Kid), & Mariessa McLeod at Rain City Recorders - kept their eyes on the prize: sing-along choruses, handclaps, and short songs that get the job done and don't overstay their welcome. "I didn't want us to write a record that you could dance to." quips Billy. "I wanted us to write a record that you couldn't not dance to."

Scheurneus EP is Vunks latest 12 inch vinyl release on his own legendary imprint Moustache Records. This release is a tribute to the underground scene, no hipster house only pure electro techno acid EBM sounds. This release is part of his 30 year anniversary as a DJ. Produced in his atomic basement Baan Studios downtown Rotterdam. A1 has a crazy funky 303 bassline, 606 hi-hats, 909 toms and more cowbell, vocoder voices and some italo-ish Legowelt-ish melody , this all blends together for this "You Sexy Bassline". When David played it in a B2B with Tom Trago, Tom said are you kidding me, is this your track? A2 "Sorry ain't enough" is a musical tribute to the legendary Emmanuel Top from Belgium. Electro acid and a building up deep track. Expect some extra cut off frequency and resonance. Already played on National Dutch Radio 3FM by the best and funniest radio DJ the Netherlands has to offer; Justin Verkijk. B1 provides a tribute to the EBM wave scene, originally made for a VA compilation that was never released. Now brought to you on Moustache Records because we don't want you to miss this! Expect TR909 hats, vocoders, modular Fenix 4 system and more modular. A hit from the legendary Paradisco Festival in Belgium. B2 is filled to the brim with Flangers, TR 606 Drums and a sharp bassline form the Roland SH101, Davids first and favorite synthesizer ever! He paid 37,50 euro for it back in the days SH101 :) This is a tribute to Robert Armani and Chicago house pumping, jacking and goes up, up, upper, upperst! A pure club banger.

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“We like all these songs a lot. Dylan's approach to composing and playing involves hybridizing American Primitive, folk, country, soundtrack and avant influences into a unique & powerful alloy. Spinning the record is nothing short of a goddamn trip. Transportational music of the highest order. Get some today.” --Byron Coley “I made the title track a couple years ago at the beginning of summer,” writes Dylan, “I was thinking about how as you get older you have fewer new experiences. That feeling of excitement for summer fades, after it used to be such a big deal as a kid. Those experiences can only be new and vibrant once. The rest of your life can be spent in nostalgia for them. It's a sad thought and maybe not true for everyone, but I suspect it is for most.” The result, No New Summers, is Aycock’s first full length under his own name for almost a decade; it sees him journey through frayed fields of haunted solo-guitar, waves of prairie ambience and hard-won country stillness

Following the hyperactive “Blood Karaoke” (2022, Reading Group), “Performing Belief” builds rhythmic thickets from gathered sounds interwoven with synths, drum machines and other samples. Having built these rhythmic nests, Krivchenia then called on two contemporary mages of the low end: electric bassist and fellow Angeleno Sam Wilkes (Wilkes/Gendel) and double bassist/multi-instrumentalist from Krivchenia’s native Chicago, Joshua Abrams (Natural Information Society). Wilkes and Abrams bring the presence of a grounding human witness to the rhythmic undergrowth, providing a centering and even at times melodic voice to the gathering. This alchemy carries a profoundly fresh sense of time, blurring the edges of the quantized grid and the generic boundaries of electronic music.

The core of the album is a lush, opulent matrix of percussion ranging from the familiar—hand claps and drum machines—to the mysteriously verdant, sampled largely from Krivchenia’s own performed field recorded collection. For years, he would record any and all of his musical encounters with natural objects: performing on a particularly resonant log on a hike, throwing rocks into a pristine pond, tap dancing in the mud. This archive of “natural” sounds became the fertile soil out of which the tracks on “Performing Belief” grew. What is gained in the process is not just a novel set of sounds, but a new rhythmic language. The particular give, the anticipatory rustle, the extra breath of a hollow log when functioning as a kickdrum provides a greenness that overtakes the rhythmic grid, giving this music a peculiar kind of stickiness. This rhythmic language, set in Krivchenia’s long-fermenting electronic musical palate, feels like a revelation, even while it calls back not only to his wonderfully elastic timekeeping behind the kit with his beloved band Big Thief, but also to his prior work in computer music as well as his deep study and love of the vast human archive of drumming. “Performing Belief” is in good company in the rank and file of the legendary Planet Mu label. From the foundational early releases of the likes of Jega and Venetian Snares, to the contemporary envelope-warping work of Jlin and hundreds of brilliant releases in between, Planet Mu has been a beacon of forward-thinking rhythmic music for decades, informing Krivchenia’s own sense of the weird metaphysics of musical time since he was a kid. Krivchenia’s contribution to this history calls to mind the principle of organic danceability that subtends Mu’s whole catalogue, while bending our sense of rhythm in new and gracious dimensions. Krivchenia brings out the loamy complexity of natural rhythms, a clearing as generous as it is inviting. Let the drummer give you some.

The Arockalypse is the third studio album by Finnish rock band Lordi. It includes the hit single "Hard Rock Hallelujah", which won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 for Finland. The album was certified with a triple Platinum status in Finland, Gold in Germany, and Sweden. It reached the number one chart position in Finland, Sweden, and Greece. The Arockalypse has several guest appearances: Dee Snider and Jay Jay French from Twisted Sister, Udo Dirkschneider from Accept/U.D.O. and Bruce Kulick from Kiss. The Arockalypse is available as a limited edition of 666 individually numbered copies on black and gold marbled vinyl.

4XLP. Hardcover slipcase box. Liner notes from Soichi Terada, Colour: translucent red, clear, blue, and yellow vinyl

It has been 25 years since the release of Saru Get You (サルゲッチュ), known stateside and in the UK as Ape Escape. Ape Escape marked a significant milestone for the PlayStation, as it was the first game to require use of the PlayStation's DualShock (analog) controller. In Ape Escape, the use of the analogue sticks goes beyond camera rotation and acts as an extension of Kakeru's (Spike's) own character, controlling his many gadgets like the stun club, time net, and sky flyer. It's a unique form of control that, really, didn't become popularized until the release of the Nintendo Wii. It feels like a distinctly Japanese design, the sort of off-the-wall design that is either embraced or rejected on a global scale. In Ape Escape's case, the mechanic caught on.

Ape Escape is fast, frantic, and—at times—downright frustrating. Pipo monkeys dash, taunt, and swim away from your advances. They ride water monsters, fly UFOs, and even shoot uzis! Whether it's Kakeru, his friends, or the monkeys themselves, the characters are always running across the levels. This mad dash is enhanced by the game's soundtrack, composed by legendary composer Soichi Terada. As he recalls, the director of the production said, "Spike and his friends always have the image of running." In response, Terada happily produced fast songs with an average speed of over 170bpm. The resulting gameplay and audio is a match made in heaven.

Ape Escape is the first game soundtrack Mr. Terada ever created. The producers of the game heard one of his singles, "Sumo Jungle," and thought his frenetic drum-and-bass (Jungle) would be perfect for the game. The marriage of Ape Escape's charming overworld and Soichi's upbeat compositions is nothing short
of sublime. Especially now, it is difficult to separate the mischievous Pipos and fast-paced action from Soichi Terada's silky smooth synthesizer and heart-pounding bass. Earlier this year (2024), Soichi Terada's Ape Escape work was celebrated by the six-track EP Apes in the Net, which includes music from Ape Escape 1 and 3 (Terada did not compose the series' second installment). The label, Rush Hour Music, has prestigiously championed almost all of Soichi Terada's music, especially his (specifically non-VGM) house, jungle, and drum and bass releases (Sounds from the Far East, Asakusa Light, and more).
Before Apes in the Net, Terada's Ape Escape music was only available on CD, released in Japan around 2010. This release featured reconstructed tracks created by Mr. Terada himself, identical to the music arrangements featured in the game. The biggest difference, of course, was that they were of higher fidelity than was originally available on the PS1 disk format. Completing all of the aforementioned releases is this box set, released by Far East Recording in partnership with Cartridge Thunder and officially licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment. This box set release includes four LPs, housed individually by a hardcover slipcase. This box set includes every song from Ape Escape 1, except those available on Apes in the Net. This box set release also includes one bonus song, previously unreleased anywhere else (including the game itself!).

The music on this box set was meticulously mastered by Justin Perkins of Mystery Room Mastering. Using Mr. Terada's premastered source files, the music was completely and specifically mastered for vinyl. Rounding out the audio is absolutely stunning artwork created by Gobo3D. CT worked with Gobo to recreate some of Ape Escape's most iconic characters, referencing the original Japanese guidebook and other promotional materials. The result is visually delicious 300dpi artwork that takes you straight back to 1999. As uber-fans of the original PlayStation game, Cartridge Thunder and Far East Recording are proud to celebrate Soichi Terada's music and pay our respects to such a legendary PlayStation franchise—on the original hardware's 30th anniversary no less! It's with a happy heart, then, that Far East Recording and CT present to you Soichi Terada's Ape Escape Originape Soundtracks in a Box.

Please note: due to licensing exclusivity, this release does not include tracks previously released on Apes in the Net

"Real Emo" only consists of the DC emotional hardcore scene and the late `90s Delaware Valley screamo scene.... Frail were at the epicenter of that vibrant straight edge youth gaggle, screaming their throats bloody in baggy pants. Discontent with the metallic hardcore format, the quintet pursued Gen-X's ferocious, noisy rage against everything at San Diego's galloping pace. No Industry includes vital singles for the Yuletide, Bloodlink, and Kidney Room labels, plus rare comp tracks from across their `93-95 run. Make Your Own Noise.

I wrote The Shit Punx Hate for Realicide in 2005. This version was made for Decide Today around a decade later, maybe 2015? It was about the pathetic narrow-minded dogmas that were common in Cincinnati punk, being discriminated against when our approach defied dominant aesthetic criteria, chronically misunderstood and rejected without consideration.

This experience in my formative years led to a long path of thought as I entered adulthood. Those feelings of being "other"ed, treated poorly based on who I was, started to seem less significant compared to the prejudices I saw friends faced with. Targets of bigotry due not to a subcultural choice, but aspects of themselves they were born into. Of course I mean things like race, gender, class, abilities. If being dissed by punk rockers sucked for me, imagine what it must feel like being the only black kid in a social circle that can't even recognize its own racism, the only woman in places misogyny is the celebrated standard, having a non-white family at risk of deportation, growing up "male" or "female" when you've always known they are wrong about you, etc. This was my mental gateway into prioritizing these struggles, wanting to become an ally, then even more so an accomplice.

Revolutionary Reason was written in 2018 during my time working with Mass Action for Black Liberation, and revised abruptly this year while recording for this record, as it was inconceivable not to address the epitome of merciless colonial atrocity orchestrated by the state of Israel. While I write this, the IOF is massacring families in the West Bank. The death toll in Palestine is currently estimated at around 41,000 and it hasn't even been a year since this modern Nakba began. I hope these songs help make apparent that whatever you said you "would do" during Jim Crow America, Nazi Germany, Apartheid South Africa, any archetypal history now synonymous with wrongness, yes I can confirm NOW IS THAT TIME to do it ...if you were for real about it that is.

Big respect to my Arab friends who are so patient while I learn the stuff my school conveniently omitted, to my Jewish friends tirelessly combating the violence of their ethnicity being shackled to a cult of Zionism, to native resistance across Turtle Island that articulates so well that this fight is also still/always very domestic, to contemporary hiphop telling today's stories while rock music often merely offers retro fashion, and of course to Kieren and Borg my homies in OZ.

All my love to intifada direct action everywhere dismantling the imposed global suicide pact that is white supremacist capitalism.

~ Robert Inhuman 28 August 2024

Arny Margret, Iceland’s remarkable and poetic upcoming singer-songwriter, is due to release her second album ‘I Miss You, I Do’ on March 7th via One Little Independent Records. The follow-up to 2022’s celebrated, minimalist folk debut ‘they only talk about the weather’ sees her working with new producers in America to develop and hone a sound that’s more textured, expansive, and mature.

‘I Miss You, I Do’ incorporates sessions from Arny Margret’s trips to New York City, North Carolina, and Colorado, as well as those recorded in Iceland. During extensive international touring, she wrote prolifically and spent time getting to know producers and musicians who each brought their own unique and individual talents to the project. Arny’s atmospheric and introspective material has been layered with country-inflected full band ensembles, keys, banjo, harmonium, slide guitar and more, adding an ambience that only enhances her natural ability to convey crystal-clear imagery within thematically rich writing.

In pursuit of her creative vision, Arny enlisted producers Josh Kaufman, Andrew Berlin, Brad Cook, and Guðm. “Kiddi” Kristinn Jónsson. Josh Kaufman is best known for his work with Grateful Dead founder Bob Weir, The National, This Is The Kit, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter, and The War on Drugs. Andrew Berlin, GRAMMY nominated for his work on Gregory Alan Isakov’s record ‘Evening Machines’, also mixes national punk rock staples such as A Wilhelm Scream, Rise Against, and Teenage Bottlerocket. Brad Cook served as a producer for Bon Iver, Big Red Machine, Waxahatchee, Hand Habits, Kevin Morby, and Whitney amongst others. Arny also returned to Iceland to record with her long-time collaborator and friend Kiddi Jónsson in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Twenty years after its original release, Kool Keith’s very own mixtape "The Personal Album" is finally making its debut on vinyl. Originally only available on CD, this one-of-a-kind mixtape is a deep dive into the eccentric mind of one of hip-hop’s most enigmatic figures. Known for his outlandish alter egos and boundary-pushing lyrics, Kool Keith delivers his trademark extravaganza of sexual and erotic innuendos, surreal storytelling, and unfiltered rawness that makes this album an essential piece of his discography.

The long-awaited vinyl release features brand-new, exclusive artwork by Dutch artist Rob Worst, capturing the essence of Kool Keith’s provocative and unpredictable style. Whether you're a longtime fan or a newcomer to Kool Keith’s world, this first-ever vinyl edition of “The Personal Album” is a must-have for collectors and lovers of unconventional hip-hop. Dive into the bizarre, unapologetic genius that only Kool Keith can deliver—now, finally, on wax.

First things first - you don’t need me to tell you about the significance of Australia in the history of punk. I mean, what am I, Jon Savage? Google it yourself, FFS. Instead, let’s just agree that the speedy, feral racket thrown together by the likes of The Saints, Radio Birdman and The Scientists in the mid-late ‘70s is AT LEAST as deliriously entertaining as anything concocted by their UK/US counterparts, sowing the seeds for seemingly endless garage-inflected noisemakers in the land down under. No one likes using words like ‘tradition’ or ‘heritage’ here - the punk rock clusterbomb is far too messy for any of that business - but also emerging from Australian rock’s primordial soup is the addictive sneer of Stiff Richards. Like their predecessors, the band are a gleefully wracked mess of full throttle energy and barrelling power chords, with songs like ‘Kids Out On The Grass’ and ‘Point of You’ proving at least the equal of ‘(I’m) Stranded’ or ‘Aloha Steve And Danno’. Nine tracks in less than 30 minutes, all winners and all determined to leave you flipping over couches and smashing your TV set. And let’s face it, you may as well; there’s nothing good on. It all builds towards frantic closer ‘Fill In The Blanks’, which rattles around your speakers like the UK Subs trying to play Ed Kuepper riffs at the centre of an earthquake, before grinding to a halt as a voice says, “That’s the one.” Does it sound self-satisfied? Hey, it’s got good reason to - this is the best no-frills garage rock party since Gino & The Goons’ ‘Do The Get Around’, and the only appropriate response is to declare yourself betrothed to Stiff Richards because you can’t imagine your life without ‘em. Don’t believe me? Sort out your ears and get ‘State Of Mind’ in ‘em. Rock’n’roll as it’s supposed to be played.

After a quarter century Filmmaker are finally willing to admit they were/are an emo band. Formed in 1999 on the Great Plains of Saskatchewan, the group released an EP, an LP, and a smattering of singles and demos before quietly stepping away from the project.

During their brief tenure Filmmaker crisscrossed the country dozens of times without a phone, credit card, map, or clue. “We were just kids figuring out how to be a band in real time.” They shared the stage with the likes of Samiam, SNFU, Kevin Divine, and Propagandhi and spent countless nights sleeping in vans, on floors, and occasionally in hospitals.

Their lone album, An Invitation To An Accident, is now being released by the for the first time ever on vinyl and streaming services via Record Record Label.

The album was made at the legendary Factory Studios in Vancouver, BC with Blair Callibaba (Odds, By A Thread, Gob, Nomeansno). An Invitation To An Accident was recorded to 2” tape and contains only one edit, which was performed surgically with a razor blade. The album was originally released on July 2, 2002 by Farway Records and later in Germany on April 14, 2003 by TFR Music.

Two records came out in 1988 that forever changed the perception of "experimental" or "serious" music produced in Portugal. These were "Plux Quba" by Nuno Canavarro and "Música de Baixa Fidelidade" by Tózé (António) Ferreira. Both were released by the same label - Ama Romanta -, an influential independent imprint closely linked to avantgarde pop band Pop Dell'Arte. Because those records appeared in what could be perceived as an "alternative pop" framework, they rescued this difficult music from Academia. It helps that Canavarro played in a successful new wave pop band (Street Kids) during the period 1980-83. By association, being a friend since 1976, António was in close contact with many of the musicians and bands that were part of the equally celebrated and detested Portuguese Rock Boom (roughly 79-82).

He was not a musician then but through his friendship with Canavarro, who had the means to acquire electronic equipment, António became involved with that equipment and shared Canavarro's passion for experimentation and curiosity for knowledge. They tried to get hold of as many technical magazines as possible and learn while testing ideas. In 1983, Street Kids were about to break up, young lives drafted into the Army and maybe, in Canavarro's case, a whole new passion for challenging music similar to his bandmate Nuno Rebelo, by then in the process of discovering a wide range of "other" music mainly through Jorge Lima Barreto. Barreto, who had started Telectu with Vítor Rua, possessed a huge book and record collection and, like Rua before them, Canavarro, Rebelo and Ferreira became fascinated by the pool of knowledge they now had access to by frequenting Barreto's house in Lisbon. He was roughly a decade older, had published several books and other writings throughout the 1970s, cultivated an anarchic stance and a penchant for cultural indoctrination. Rebelo was the first to be introduced via his contact with Rua (who had invited him to play in his other band GNR).

Overwhelmed, he felt the need to share his enthusiasm with friends and eventually took a few to the house in true pilgrimage fashion. To see the Light. Among the few he led there was even João Peste, founder of Ama Romanta. Canavarro and Ferreira preceded him.

Ferreira recalls an exciting learning process added to his experiments with Canavarro's array of synths such as the Korg Ms 20, Korg polysix, ARP Axxe, Roland SH-01, the Ensoniq Mirage sampler... He read in a magazine article about someone who had studied at the Institute of Sonology (then in Utrecht, Netherlands) and went there during a vacation trip in the Summer of 1983. He became excited by the prospect of studying at the Institute but money was a problem. Canavarro, on the other hand, was admitted there in the following year. Back in Portugal, Ferreira eventually abandoned his Chemical Engineering studies in Lisbon's Technical Institute in favour of a more focused music practice. He collaborated with Telectu during 1984 and 85 as a sort of technical engineer, implementing some recording solutions and background tapes and went to work at a thermoelectric power plant in Sines, hoping to make enough money to fund his musical studies. He did and proceeded with the paperwork for admission at the Institute of Sonology, now based in The Hague. António studied there in 1986-87 and the present album includes two compositions developed at the Institute: "More Adult Music" and "This Is Music, As It Was Expected", both featuring the voice of Rodney Waschka II. Among other activities and talents, Rodney is an expert in computer music and to António his voice sounded similar to Robert Ashley's, whose work he admired.

What happened at the Institute was a systematization of António's self-taught practice. Computer software, Musique Concrète, noise and silence, organisation of abstract ideas and sounds. The original notes on the back sleeve of the LP give some indication of process and thinking, but a more detailed account was given by António in the liner notes of the CD reissue in 2002, which are also included in this 2025 LP reissue.

The music sounds deep and detailed, despite the fact of António calling it low-fi ("Baixa Fidelidade"). It flows like an improvised performance where several musicians might be responding to each other, respectful of their mutual space. Drama occurs, as a natural emotional connection is sought by the listener. Piano, bells, drone, processed voices, even the clear narrative of Rodney Waschka II, contribute to create a sort of alternative perceptual reality. The sounds are almost tangible, more a part of the physical world than ethereal manifestations and thus it would not be correct to invoke "ambient music" as a selling point. But although "physical" and distinct, this music is still alien, more so in Portugal's 1988 environment. In March, helped by Canavarro, António set up a home studio and there he recorded the remaining material for this album: "Algumas Pessoas Olharam O Sul E Viram Deserto", "Um Som, Seguido De Uma Cena Negra E Malva" and "O Verão Nasceu Da Paixão De 1921".

"Música de Baixa Fidelidade" stands not only as a proof of great resilience but as one of those magnificent works of art coming from someone who balanced technical inclination and emotional sensibility. Because of that, Tózé Ferreira is able to decode the phantom world of sound for anyone who cares to experience the sensation of inhabiting a version of the Future. First ever vinyl reissue, reproduction of the original artwork with an additional insert. Made in collaboration with the artist and the support of Paulo Menezes (Plancton Music), who provided valuable assistance. Remastered by Taylor Deupree.

Standard weight white vinyl remastered from the original tapes, restoring the original album on vinyl for the first time since 1995, including its original artwork. Includes download code.

In 1991, four kids from the suburbs of Chicago, IL formed Cap’n Jazz, arguably one of the most influential rock bands of the last 30 years. Those kids, brothers Tim & Mike Kinsella, Victor Villarreal, and Sam Zurick, were joined by Davey von Bohlen in 1994 and recorded their only full-length album before calling it quits - Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards in the Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We’ve Slipped on, and Egg Shells We’ve Tippy Toed Over - often referred to as Shmap’n Shmazz. Originally released on the Man With Gun label, the album quickly fell out of print after the band’s breakup, with the songs eventually making their way to the Analphabetapolothology compilation, released in 1998 via Jade Tree Records.

As a testament to this legendary debut, Polyvinyl is thrilled to announce the vinyl reissue of Shmap’n Shmazz, which has been remastered from the original tapes - restoring the original album on vinyl for the first time since 1995, including its original artwork. With the unmatched intensity heard in the opening track, “Little League,” coupled with eccentrically poetic lyrics, this iconic album has influenced countless artists since its release and unintentionally sparked a new genre. Pitchfork calls the album “a touchstone of Midwestern emo,” while Vulture placed “Little League” at #3 on their 100 Greatest Emo Songs of All Time list. Musician Devendra Banhart has also expressed his love for the band in a 2017 Joan of Arc documentary, describing Tim’s powerfully striking vocals like "going to the zoo on quaaludes, but all the other animals are on speed."

In addition to the band’s influential legacy, Cap’n Jazz was the catalyst to the formation of other notable bands featuring the original members, including American Football, Joan of Arc, The Promise Ring, Owls, Owen, Make Believe, Ghosts and Vodka and many more.

Loyle Carner will release his highly anticipated sophomore record, 'Not Waving, But Drowning' on 19 April via AMF Records.

'Not Waving, But Drowning' follows Loyle's BRIT (Best Male, Best Newcomer) and Mercury Prize nominated, top 20 debut 'Yesterday's Gone'. The bedrock of honest and raw sentimentality that you heard on 'Yesterday's Gone' left an inextinguishable mark on music in general and UK Hip Hop in particular, standing out as an ageless, bulletproof debut.

'Not Waving, But Drowning', Loyle's new album, gives yet more evidence - as if it were needed - of his razor-sharp flow and his unique storytelling ability. Yes, he can rap, but he allies that with the sensitivity of a poet, the observational skills of a novelist, and warmth of your best friend. The album opens with 'Dear Jean', a letter to his mother in which he's telling her that he has found the love of his life, 'a woman from the skies', and he's moving out.

It goes without saying that Loyle's music is hard to categorise, but what is even more impressive is that for someone who grew up listening to Mos Def, Biggie Smalls, Roots Manuva, and Wu Tang Clan, he doesn't sound like any of them. Although he might from time to time give lyrical nods to them, he's no imitator.

Loyle loves cooking. There are two tracks on this album named after chefs. The British-Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi, and the now deceased Italian chef Antonio Carluccio. 'Ottolenghi' the first single from the album was featured on the BBC Radio 1 B-list, BBC 6 Music A-list and has already been streamed over 5 million times.

Loyle refers to real life for everything, the title of 'Yesterday's Gone' came from a song of his step father, the title of his new album 'Not Waving, But Drowning' comes from a poem by his grandfather, which in turn came from a Stevie Smith poem. What you hear on the track 'Krispy' is real. He is pouring his heart out to his best friend Rebel Kleff after their relationship went downhill, he invites him on the track to say his piece but he doesn't turn up, so we get a flugel solo instead.

Loyle also has his own personal black consciousness movement. When he refers to his 'fathers' in the track 'Looking Back' he really is referring to two fathers. His biological father, a black man who he knows, but knows very little of, and his step father, a poet and musician who happens to be a white man but died a sudden unexpected death from epilepsy (SUDEP). With no real emotional ties to his biological father, but a deep connection with a deceased step-father, where does a young child turn He succinctly captures many of the great, unspoken, cultural and historical paradoxes of multicultural Britain on 'Looking Back'.

An album like this is hard to find. It is for those who like their Hip Hop to have soul, and their soul to have spirit. This is because it works on so many levels, but it is reflecting the personality of its creator. There are a host of collaborators here, Jorja Smith, Rebel Kleff, Kiko Bun, Kwes, Jordan Rakei, Sampha, Tom Misch and more, but none are overpowering. They blend righteously into place.
Loyle is not bitter with people who have let him down, or a society that lets so many down, but the combination of anger and love he has gives his voice the perfect blend of strength and vulnerability. This might be a coming of age album, but it's also a coming of ageless album. Loyle's 2019 Spring tour - which includes London's Roundhouse - sold out within 20 minutes of being on sale.

Not Waving, But Drowning



A rapper that raps about family is hard to find. The boys in the 'hood' tend not to be that interested in how much a 'brother' loves his mother, or how much he misses his dad, or even how much he misses his best friend. The boys in the 'hood' tend to be obsessed with the size of their cars, girls, bank accounts, and other personal 'possessions'. Loyle Carner's Mercury and BRIT Prize nominated debut 'Yesterday's Gone' (Released 2017), made it clear that he wasn't that kind of rapper. In fact, every time I talk to him about his work we talk about the world, and we tended to confuse ourselves by calling his work rap, poems, or songs, sometimes in the same sentence. They are in truth all of these things.



Here's some poetry.



Honestly I need them.

I hate them but I grieve them

I think I've finally found the reason

Trust

Like the fire needs the air.

I won't burn unless you're there.





'Not Waving, But Drowning', Loyle's forthcoming new album, gives us yet more evidence, (if it were needed), that he still has what rappers call, flow, but he hasn't lost any of his story telling qualities. Yes, the boy can rap, but a rapper with the sensitivity of a true poet, the observational skills of a novelist, and warmth of your best friend. The album opens with 'Dear Jean', a letter to his mother in which he's telling her that he has found the love of his life, (a woman from the skies), and he's moving out. He really loves the woman from the skies, but he still loves his mum, and so he reassures her that there is no competition, and tells her that 'She's not behind me or behind you, but beside we and beside two', his words. Or to put it another way, moving out without moving out. My words.



It goes without saying that Loyle's music is hard to categorise, but what is even more impressive is that for someone who grew up listening to Mos Def, Biggie Smalls, Roots Manuva, and Wu Tang Clan, he doesn't sound like any of them. Although he might from time to time give lyrical nods to them, he's no imitator. He says finding his own voice was something he always found easy. Although young, (in terms of a musical career), he has confidence in his own words and his own voice, and has never been tempted to sound like he's been hanging out in the USA, or rolling in 'Grime' on the mean streets of East London. And so when it comes to the creative process he doesn't simply find a beat to jump on and ride. Beats are important, but they are tenderly layered with samples, keyboards, or live drums, all imaginatively assembled for the laying on of words. Some tracks start with the idea, some with poetry, and some with a verse from a singer or some other melodic inspiration, but there is no formula.



Here's some poetry.



Don't hold any memories of us

Rather hold you everyday until the memories are dust

Yo we only caught the train

Cos you know I hate the bus





A prolific reader, who has dyslexia is hard to find. Add ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) to that and life should become even more difficult. To deal with your difficulties you devise coping strategies, which can differ from person to person. Loyle loves cooking. There are two tracks on this album named after chefs. The British-Israeli chef Ottolenghi, and the now deceased Italian chef Antonio Carluccio. Loyle describes himself as 'weird' because he is happy to read a cookbook as if he was reading a novel or a book of poetry. He has opened a cookery school for young adults not just because he loves food and wants to make more of it, but because it is one of the few things that can focus the ADHD mind. And when it comes to his other love, football, his approach is the same. Focus. He wanted to be a striker he says, up front scoring goals, but found his best position was in midfield because he was able to focus, check options, and see passes ahead of time, providing passes for other players just when they needed them. He says, 'You don't grow out of ADHD, you grow into it.' Loyle is also working with Levi's® on their music project where he is mentoring young musicians over a six month period, culminating at Liverpool Sound City festival.



More poetry.



When the going is tough

I wait till it falls on deaf ears

Hearsay

Without the boundaries of love



He also said, 'Ask most people and they will say that they love their mothers, but most are not going to rap about her'. On his first album Loyle's mum Jean wrote about the 'scribble of a boy' that growing up would take things apart to see how they worked. On this album she speaks with pride about a man who has found his place in the world.



Yes, poetry.



I'm still looking for the answers

Trying to find the right questions

Still waiting for my fathers

But can't break them in to sections



This poetry is serious. Loyle has his own personal black consciousness movement. He told me that he always felt safe at home, and being the darkest one in the family never meant a thing, but then when he had to face the outside world he felt hostility. It shook him up. Now he had to start asking questions, but what were the questions. This is serious. When he refers to his 'fathers' in the verse above taken from the track 'Looking Back' he really is referring to two fathers. His biological father, a black man who he knows, but knows very little of, and his step father, a poet and musician who happens to be a white man but died a sudden unexpected death from epilepsy (SUDEP). So to whom would a young black (or mixed race) kid turn He succinctly captures many of the great, unspoken, cultural and historical paradoxes of multicultural Britain when he says, 'My great grandfather could of owned my other one.' We are a people descended from enslaved people on one hand, and enslavers on the other, something we are still struggling to come to terms with, and this can be apparent in one family. A big book could have told you that, but here we get it in one line on the track, Looking Back.





Loyle refers to real life for everything. The album is peppered with captured moments that he records on his phone. These moments can range from conversations with taxi drivers, to capturing the moment when England scores a goal in the world cup. The title of 'Yesterday's Gone' came from a song of his step father, the title of his new album 'Not Waving but Drowning' comes from a poem by his grandfather, which in turn came from a Stevie Smith poem. What you hear on the track 'Krispy' is real. He is pouring his heart out to his best friend after their relationship went downhill, he invites him on the track to say his piece but he doesn't turn up, so we get a flugel solo instead. Yes people, this is real.



An album like this is hard to find. It is for those who like their Hip Hop to have soul, and their soul to have spirit, this is an album for those who have, (I'm sorry, I'm going to say it), emotional intelligence. This is because it works on so many levels, but it is reflecting the personality of its creator. There are a host of collaborators here, Jorja Smith, Rebel Kleff, Kiko Bun, Jordan Rakei, Sampha, Tom Misch and more, but none are overpowering. They blend righteously into place. Loyle is not bitter with people who have let him down, or the society that has let him down, but the combination of anger and love he has gives his voice the perfect blend of strength and vulnerability. This might be a coming of age album, but it's also a coming of ageless album. His first album worked, and this second album is a continuation of that work. Not creating a form, but being formless, as someone like Bruce Lee once said.

And here's some poetry from mum.



We talked long in to the darkest hours

Until we saw the burnished sky

And our eyes stung

As our words blurred and became thoughts

As we were silenced by the dawn

We clung to each other like sailors in a storm

Watch out! You are holding the 125th (one-hundred-and-twenty fifth!) album on Tramp Records in your hands! We are honored to celebrate this impressive anniversary with the tenth volume in the Praise Poems series. This time, too, we go on a journey to discover previously unheard regions of jazz, folk and AOR from the 1970s and 80s.

Praise Poems Vol.10 presents sixteen (almost) forgotten rare groove gems, all released between the years 1970 and 1984. One of the many highlights is the opening track: "Fields of Laughter" by Color Me Blu - originally released on an acetate only of which two copies exist worldwide. But there is much, much more to discover. This brandnew volume features a wide range of genres, from AOR (Whiz Kids, Ross Miller, and another previously unreleased track by Harve & Charee) to Latin-Rock a'la Santana (Color Me Blue, Tribal Sinfonia, and Apple) to Soul-Jazz (Ernie Lewis Trio, Joe Bozzi Quintet or Dutch saxophonist Frits Kaatee). Right at the end, one track in particular stands out: the wonderful "It's Good Not To Forget" by George Melvin and his quintet - a fabulously dreamy, thoughtful instrumental piece in the style of Ramsey Lewis with catchy tune potential.

Not many compilation series make it to a tenth edition. And if they do, then you often notice that the quality of the songs goes in the opposite direction to the increasing number of series: namely decreasing. Not so with Praise Poems Vol. 10, which the creators prove in an impressive new way. They have found tracks that were originally either a) pressed by the musicians themselves in very small editions or b) released by small, regional labels. It is understandable that neither the musicians nor these small labels had the necessary knowledge or budget to market their albums or singles professionally. The majority of the bands therefore did not manage to reach a large audience - although they certainly had the potential for the big stage.

"Praise Poems 10 - A journey into soulful jazz and funk from the 1970s" makes these almost 50-year-old treasures accessible to a new audience. We hope that you enjoy discovering your personal favorite song(s) and we are already looking forward to many more releases!

Volume 1 of this expertly curated project of 90s Italian House - put together by Don Carlos.

If Paradise was half as nice… by Fabio De Luca.

Googling “paradise house”, the first results to pop up are an endless list of European b&b’s with whitewashed lime façades, all of them promising “…an unmatched travel experience a few steps from the sea”. Next, a little further down, are the institutional websites of a few select semi-luxury retirement homes (no photos shown, but lots of stock images of smiling nurses with reassuring looks). To find the “paradise house” we’re after, we have to scroll even further down. Much further down.

It feels like yesterday, and at the same time it seems like a million years ago. The Eighties had just ended, and it was still unclear what to expect from the Nineties. Mobile phones that were not the size of a briefcase and did not cost as much as a car? A frightening economic crisis? The guitar-rock revival?! Certainly, the best place to observe that moment of transition was the dancefloor. Truly epochal transformations were happening there. From America, within a short distance one from the other, two revolutionary new musical styles had arrived: the first one sounded a bit like an “on a budget” version of the best Seventies disco-music – Philly sound made with a set of piano-bar keyboards! – the other was even more sparse, futuristic and extraterrestrial. It was a music with a quite distinct “physical” component, which at the same time, to be fully grasped, seemed to call for the knotty theories of certain French post-modern philosophers: Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Paul Virilio... Both those genres – we would learn shortly after – were born in the black communities of Chicago and Detroit, although listening to those vinyl 12” (often wrapped in generic white covers, and with little indication in the label) you could not easily guess whether behind them there was a black boy from somewhere in the Usa, or a girl from Berlin, or a pale kid from a Cornish coastal town.

Quickly, similar sounds began to show up from all corners of Europe. A thousand variations of the same intuition: leaner, less lean, happier, slightly less intoxicated, more broken, slower, faster, much faster... Boom! From the dancefloors – the London ones at least, whose chronicles we eagerly read every month in the pages of The Face and i-D – came tales of a new generation of clubbers who had completely stopped “dressing up” to go dancing; of hot tempered hooligans bursting into tears and hugging everyone under the strobe lights as the notes of Strings of Life rose up through the fumes of dry ice (certain “smiling” pills were also involved, sure). At this point, however, we must move on to Switzerland.

In Switzerland, in the quiet and diligent town of Lugano, between the 1980s and 1990s there was a club called “Morandi”. Its hot night was on Wednesdays, when the audience also came from Milan, Como, Varese and Zurich. Legend goes that, one night, none less than Prince and Sheila E were spotted hiding among the sofas, on a day-off of the Italian dates of the Nude Tour… The Wednesday resident and superstar was an Italian dj with an exotic name: Don Carlos. The soundtrack he devised was a mixture of Chicago, Detroit, the most progressive R&B and certain forgotten classics of old disco music: practically, what the Paradise Garage in New York might have sounded like had it not closed in 1987. In between, Don Carlos also managed to squeeze in some tracks he had worked on in his studio on Lago Maggiore. One in particular: a track that was rather slow compared to the BPM in fashion at the time, but which was a perfect bridge between house and R&B. The title was Alone: Don Carlos would explain years later that it had to be intended both in the English meaning of “by itself” and like the Italian word meaning “halo”. That wasn’t the only double entendre about the song, anyway. Its own very deep nature was, indeed, double. On the one hand, Alone was built around an angelic keyboard pattern and a romantic piano riff that took you straight to heaven; on the other, it showcased enough electronic squelches (plus a sax part that sounded like it had been dissolved by acid rain) to pigeonhole the tune into the “junk modernity” section, aka the hallmark of all the most innovative sounds of the time: music that sounded like it was hand-crafted from the scraps of glittering overground pop.

No one knows who was the first to call it “paradise house”, nor when it happened. Alternative definitions on the same topic one happened to hear included “ambient house”, “dream house”, “Mediterranean progressive”… but of course none were as good (and alluring) as “paradise house”. What is certain is that such inclination for sounds that were in equal measure angelic and neurotic, romantic and unaffective, quickly became the trademark of the second generation of Italian house. Music that seemed shyly equidistant from all the rhythmic and electronic revolutions that had happened up to that moment (“Music perfectly adept at going nowhere slowly” as noted by English journalist Craig McLean in a legendary field report for Blah Blah Blah magazine). Music that to a inattentive ear might have sounded as anonymous as a snapshot of a random group of passers-by at 10AM in the centre of any major city, but perfectly described the (slow) awakening in the real world after the universal love binge of the so-called Second Summer of Love.

For a brief but unforgettable season, in Italy “paradise house” was the official soundtrack of interminable weekends spent inside the car, darting from one club to another, cutting the peninsula from North to centre, from East to West coast in pursuit of the latest after-hours disco, trading kilometres per hour with beats per minute: practically, a new New Year’s Eve every Friday and Saturday night. This too was no small transformation, as well as a shock for an adult Italy that was encountering for the first time – thanks to its sons and daughters – the wild side of industrial modernity. The clubbers of the so-called “fuoriorario” scene were the balls gone mad in the pinball machine most feared by newspapers, magazines and TV pundits. What they did each and every weekend, apart from going crazy to the sound of the current white labels, was linking distant geographical points and non-places (thank you Marc Augé!) – old dance halls, farmhouses and business centres – transformed for one night into house music heaven. As Marco D’Eramo wrote in his 1995 essay on Chicago, Il maiale e il grattacielo: “Four-wheeled capitalism distorts our age-old image of the city, it allows the suburbs to be connected to each other, whereas before they were connected only by the centre (…) It makes possible a metropolitan area without a metropolis, without a city centre, without downtown. The periphery is no longer a periphery of any centre, but is self-centred”.

“Paradise house” perfectly understood all of this and turned it into a sort of cyber-blues that didn’t even need words, and unexpectedly brought back a drop of melancholic (post?)-humanity within a world that by then – as we would wholly realise in the decades to come – was fully inhuman and heartless. A world where we were all alone, and surrounded by a sinister yellowish halo, like a neon at the end of its life cycle. But, for one night at least, happy.

Available on Bedroom Isolation Frosted Silver Still Void Crystal Clear vinyl for indies only. Genre: Indie Rock / Electronic. Following his post-hardcore heroics with Indian Summer and Calm, Marc Bianchi unplugged his distortion pedal and switched on the four track. From his boyhood San Mateo, California bedroom, Her Space Holiday explores the bewilderment of young adulthood through a dreamy prozac lens. This expanded 25th anniversary edition of Home Is Where You Hang Yourself includes an extra LP of remixed songs from Duster, Bright Eyes, Micromars, and Mahogany, an elegant tip-on jacket, lyrics, and 20 milligrams of millennial malaise. Ask your doctor if Her Space Holiday is right for you

Available on Bedroom Isolation Frosted Silver Still Void Crystal Clear vinyl for indies only. Genre: Indie Rock / Electronic. Following his post-hardcore heroics with Indian Summer and Calm, Marc Bianchi unplugged his distortion pedal and switched on the four track. From his boyhood San Mateo, California bedroom, Her Space Holiday explores the bewilderment of young adulthood through a dreamy prozac lens. This expanded 25th anniversary edition of Home Is Where You Hang Yourself includes an extra LP of remixed songs from Duster, Bright Eyes, Micromars, and Mahogany, an elegant tip-on jacket, lyrics, and 20 milligrams of millennial malaise. Ask your doctor if Her Space Holiday is right for you

Available on Bedroom Isolation Frosted Silver Still Void Crystal Clear vinyl for indies only. Genre: Indie Rock / Electronic. Following his post-hardcore heroics with Indian Summer and Calm, Marc Bianchi unplugged his distortion pedal and switched on the four track. From his boyhood San Mateo, California bedroom, Her Space Holiday explores the bewilderment of young adulthood through a dreamy prozac lens. This expanded 25th anniversary edition of Home Is Where You Hang Yourself includes an extra LP of remixed songs from Duster, Bright Eyes, Micromars, and Mahogany, an elegant tip-on jacket, lyrics, and 20 milligrams of millennial malaise. Ask your doctor if Her Space Holiday is right for you.

Available on Bedroom Isolation Frosted Silver Still Void Crystal Clear vinyl for indies only. Genre: Indie Rock / Electronic. Following his post-hardcore heroics with Indian Summer and Calm, Marc Bianchi unplugged his distortion pedal and switched on the four track. From his boyhood San Mateo, California bedroom, Her Space Holiday explores the bewilderment of young adulthood through a dreamy prozac lens. This expanded 25th anniversary edition of Home Is Where You Hang Yourself includes an extra LP of remixed songs from Duster, Bright Eyes, Micromars, and Mahogany, an elegant tip-on jacket, lyrics, and 20 milligrams of millennial malaise. Ask your doctor if Her Space Holiday is right for you.

First Word Records is extremely proud to welcome aboard Takuya Kuroda.

A highly-respected trumpeter born in Kobe, Japan, Takuya is a forward-thinking musician that has developed a unique hybrid sound, blending soulful jazz, funk, post-bop, fusion and hip hop music.

After following the footsteps of his trombonist brother playing in big bands, he relocated to New York to study jazz & contemporary music at The New School in Union Square; a course he graduated from in the mid-noughties. It was here that Takuya met vocalist José James, with whom he worked on the 'Blackmagic' and 'No Beginning No End' projects.

Following graduation, Takuya established himself further in the NYC jazz scene, performing with the likes of Akoya Afrobeat and in recent years with DJ Premier's BADDER band (also including acclaimed bass player, Brady Watt). Premier said "The BADDER Band project was put together by my manager, and an agent I've known since the beginning of my Gang Starr career. He said, 'What if you put a band together that revolved around a trumpet player from Japan named Takuya Kuroda? He's got a hip-hop perspective and respect in the jazz field…"

Takuya Kuroda is already incredibly prolific, releasing five albums in the past decade and fortifying a solid reputation in the global jazz scene. 2011 saw the release of Takuya's independently-produced debut album, 'Edge', followed by 'Bitter and High' the following year and 'Six Aces' on P-Vine in 2013. Takuya was signed to the legendary Blue Note Records in 2014 for his album 'Rising Son', as well as appearing on their 2019 cover versions project, 'Blue Note Voyage'. He released his 5th album 'Zigzagger' on Concord in 2016, which also featured Antibalas on a reimagining of the Donald Byrd classic 'Think Twice'.

Late Summer 2020, Takuya Kuroda returns with his sixth album 'Fly Moon Die Soon'.

In his words, "this album is about the irony between the greatness of nature and the beautiful obsceneness of humanity. Melodies and grooves fly back and forth from being spiritual to being vulgar."

It took two years to make this album. In 2018, I decided I just couldn't make albums the same way I had been in the past anymore. As a birthday treat to myself, I booked a studio in Brooklyn for two days, with only myself and an engineer, Todd Carder. I brought along some tracks I'd been building at home to see if we could complete them within that time. We began replacing sounds and adding texture, sampling noises from all over the studio; me sipping coffee, hitting a 26" kick drum, speeding up snares. At the end of the two days we were like "wow, I didn't know we could make tracks this good in this way". This is how the process of the full album started. Everything was based on my beats I made at home, inviting musicians in one by one, adding or replacing parts. I was very careful when developing these tracks; just note by note, part by part. I wanted to make the music effectively from a blend of two different recording methods; one very slickly produced part and one very organic part played by live musicians. I remember mixtapes from when I was kid, and wanted to make an album that wasn't just a bunch of flashy singles, trying to catch people's attention in the first 30 seconds, or full of guest features. Instead, I'm essentially just trying to let the grooves breath."

The album consists of nine tracks of excellence. The uptempo jazz-funk of 'ABC' and 'Moody' sit alongside soulful jazz cuts like 'Fade' and 'CHANGE', also featuring Corey King on vocals. The title track is a downtempo groove lead by a heavy Moog bassline, whilst 'Do No Why' contains an infectious piano riff throughout. Aside from Takuya's original compositions, he revisits two classics from Ohio Players ('Sweet Sticky Thing' featuring Alina Engibaryan on vocals) and Herbie Hancock ('Tell Me A Bedtime Story') whilst the album closes with the epic 'TKBK'.

Takuya adds "this special cover was inspired by the Golden Moon I saw during a photoshoot in Death Valley with my homie Hiroyuki Seo".

Takuya Kuroda is a truly unique talent, and this album is a realisation of the evolution of his sound.

'Fly Moon Die Soon' is released on Worldwide Award-winning UK label First Word Records on vinyl & digital in September 2020.

Back in December 2016, Jeshi fell asleep whilst driving home from a party at 5am, and he crashed into a park car, only to be woken up by the airbag exploding in his face. This is the inspiration for album two. The new album is a statement of waking up and levelling up from the last period of his life. This is a new era, and full of energy.

SHORT BIOG

Jeshi doesn't run away from fire; he runs with it. The East London artist is on a quest to feel alive in every sense. To him, feeling alive means being present in each experience, no matter how challenging. For Jeshi - who has spent the last few years establishing himself as one of the most exciting voices of his generation - this is what life and art are all about. Chaos, then, is not something to shy away from, but where great ideas are born.
Jeshi's electrifying second album, AIRBAG WOKE ME UP is a collection of moment-capturing songs built to ignite reactions and start conversations. His scene-stealing jaunts to stages worldwide clearly influence its live-wire sound, as Jeshi and his cohorts smash through moods and tempos like kids let loose on funfair dodgems. "I want to make things that have intent and feel like statements," Jeshi declares. His versatile voice is the conductive thread that pulls everything together. "On Universal Credit, my voice was used in one way, whereas on this it's used in ten ways," he notes.
AIRBAG WOKE ME UP is an exploration into what happens when you emerge from tough times, and how they encourage you to view the world a little differently. It's bolder in ambition and built from renewed energy. Chaotic, but in the very best way. "In my head, this is the real arrival chapter," states Jeshi. "The 'I am here, I've arrived' moment."

Back with a bang! "Road To Happiness" marks the triumphant return of Manchester"s one and only Dislocation Dance - after a 7-year long hiatus. The new album - their sixth - features ten new and fresh songs. Main songwriters Ian Runacres (guitar/vocals) and Phil Lukes (bass/vocals) most probably never sounded better. Kinda like Manchester"s Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards they create killer grooves a la Chic and The Real Thing. Melodies galore & disco euphoria plus beautiful vocals. To Love And Be Loved! Daft Punk meets Everything But The Girl. Ian Runacres formed DD in Manchester, and soon got trumpet player Andy Diagram on board who later joined The Pale Fountains and James. They created their unique mix of Post-Punk, New Wave, Jazz, Disco, 60s French Pop and Soundtracks. The band played their first ever gig at the legendary Factory in Manchester, recorded sessions for John Peel, Janice Long and Kid Jensen, and went on their own eclectic journey. Always maintaining their unique DD sound. Now they are back. With a truly fabulous album. On Marina - the perfect home for them. Let"s get (it) on... the road to happiness.

Moar & DJ Vince are "The Beatmatics"
After a very nice 1st volume on tape only, the beatmaking duet is back with a new volume feat beats jazzy & deep, 90s remixes, samples tools and scratch tool!
For sure put it on the turntable and feel the boom bap vibe with their vintage samplers collection !

GLBDOM Classic drops a second vinyl release here in the form of a various artists' selection of vintage house sounds. Manuold's 'Hey Sunshine' gets things underway with some back-to-the-90s kick drums and playful horns with uplifting vocal samples making for a sweet vibe. Evenn's 'Inner Dance' is a nice raw house bumper with vamping chords and some soulful Detroit chords in the background. Scart Lead then keeps things silky with the smooth pads and muted melodies of 'Everglades' and Esspee and Kid Only close out with two more ageless house gems that pair dance for clout with heartfelt soul.

John Gosling (aka Mekon) the English big beat/industrial musician and electronica producer, is set to launch his new label Hua Hua (pronounced wah wah) with an 11-track compilation album this July. A quick scan at some of the featured artists showcases a line up of legends - eighties rap sensation Schooly D sitting alongside Primal Scream mainstay Bobby Gillespie and John’s recently departed punk hero Alan Vega - even Roxy Music’s saxophonist and founder member Andy Mackay makes an appearance. And while John’s electronic alter ego Mekon is always on hand to remix and arrange, he’s far from the only producer behind the proverbial wheel.
“It’s stuff I had lying around and now I am finding ways to get it out of my system,” he says. “It’s all been brought to the world with brilliant new artwork by Isabelle de Jour, who also features on various tracks.”
Gosling is well known as a member of both Psychic TV and Coil (for the album Transparent). Gosling founded the groups Zos Kia with John Balance and Bass-o-Matic with William Orbit before recording as Mekon. He has also remixed under the name Sugar J. And that’s before we get to the fact that he has soundtracked some of the most forward-thinking fashion shows in the world - crafting the soundscapes for Alexander McQueen shows since the show Dante in 1996. Firstly working hand in hand with the late great Lee “Alexander” McQueen, then with his successor Sarah Burton. In the mid-to-late-nineties he was a core member of the group Agent Provocateur along with Matthew Ashman (originally of Bow Wow Wow), Dan Peppe, Danny Saber (of Black Grape) and Cleo Torez. He has also worked with artists such as Roxanne Shanté ('Yes Yes Y'All'), Marc Almond ('Delirious'), and Afrika Bambaataa. His third album “Something Came Up” featured artwork by Alexander McQueen.
John is as passionate about Suicide and Alan Vega and what he describes as “the new stuff”. Besides, he says, “that’s how people listen to music now. I think kids – my kids anyway – listen right across the board. People don’t see genres anymore. So it’s my definition of good music.” It’s safe to say that this is very much Volume 1. “Yes, it doesn’t cover everything and Volume 2 will be completely different.”

George Clinton’s imagination knew no bounds and, defying normal music industry convention, by 1978 had five bands signed to three different record labels. One of these comprised of three Parliament / Funkadelic female backing singers working under the name of Parlet, whose debut single, ‘Pleasure Principle’ was released on Casablanca Records in March 1978.

It was Clinton’s idea that two other backing singers, Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva, become the Brides Of Funkenstein, a character he invented for the 1976 Parliament LP, “The Clones Of Dr Funkenstein”. “I have to be honest – at first, I hated the name and I thought George was kidding,” Mabry told Blues & Soul, “But I have gotten to like it – especially just the Brides.”

Clinton got the Brides signed to Atlantic Records and their first single was ‘Disco To Go’ / ‘ When You’re Gone’. The A-side was written and produced by Clinton and Bootsy Collins and had originally featured in live shows by Collins’ live band. Clinton was asked by Black Echoes why the song was recorded by the Brides rather than Bootsy. “He could, and it would have been a smash too,” he replied. “But we thought it sounded too much like James Brown, so we gave it to the girls. Now it don’t sound like James Brown.” It certainly did not and this electronic bass and horn-powered banger – complete with an Old MacDonald nursery rhyme refrain – debuted on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart at #80 on 30th September 1978. By the time the P-Funk crew were flying across the Atlantic in early November it had peaked at #7. Sadly for UK fans, ‘Disco To Go’ was only available on import although a Black Echoes review stated it was a “Slow chunky handclapper. It sounds not unlike Funkadelic’s own ‘Coming Round The Mountain’”.

‘Disco To Go’, went gold in America selling over 500,000 copies. It was the perfect springboard for the Brides debut LP, “Funk Or Walk” which quickly climbed into the upper reaches of the R&B chart and even saw the duo embark upon a signing tour of record stores. All of the songs on “Funk Or Walk” were written by legends of P-Funk, such as Bootsy Collins, Rodney Curtis, Bernie Worrell, Gary Shider and Clinton. “George has got thousands of tracks,” Mabry told Black Echoes. “When we go into the studio he says, ‘Like this one?

Jack Adkins, the creative force behind the moniker Jamin’ Jack, has a multifaceted musical journey that began in the mid-'60s in Cincinnati. Initially cutting his musical teeth in garage bands like the Coachmen, Adkins would later embark on a decade-long journey as Jamin’ Jack, the One Man Band, from 1983 to 1993. A pivotal moment unfolded in the early '80s when, at the age of 36, Adkins walked into London Music studio in Tampa to record his debut LP, 'American Sunset.' This album, distinguished by its evocative portrayal of the West's decline, emerged as a defining piece in Adkins's musical repertoire. Its sonic landscape, characterized by guitars and drum machines, resonates with a familiar and poignant atmosphere. The subsequent decade witnessed Adkins assuming the persona of Jamin’ Jack, the One Man Band, embarking on an extensive ten-year tour. Adapting to a corporate presentation style, he not only refined his musical craft but also mastered the art of bantering and entertaining, overcoming his initial shyness. During this nomadic period, Adkins carried the master tapes of 'American Sunset' with him on the road. In a poetic expression of his transient lifestyle, he pressed LPs and tapes in Houston, selling them directly at various venues. The album, at its zenith, serves as a sonic backdrop to the lonesome and transient life on the road, encapsulating the essence of a nation seemingly heading into the sunset. 'American Sunset' stands as a must-listen for enthusiasts of Trans-era Neil Young and the dystopian vibes reminiscent of Repo Man, offering a captivating musical narrative that echoes the spirit of its time. Neofolk electronica? we're not sure, but its just amazing! Only 500 units of this 'sunset' coloured vinyl will ever exist. You waited 40 years for this anniversary meeting, so don't blow it, buy it!

This band, and this album, function as critical missing links that takes one from The Fall to Yard Act, from Television and The Minutemen to Parquet Courts and Sleaford Mods, from punk as a sound to punk purely as an ethos. While any Van Pelt album is a stand alone album, the unique approach they take begs one to enter their world and dig deep in.

RELATED TO: The Lapse, Native Nod, St Vincent, Blonde Redhead, Enon, Jets to Brazil, Vague Angels, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, American Football, Texas is the Reason.

‘The lines between post-hardcore, indie rock, and emo blurred on the two mid-’90s full-lengths from the Van Pelt.’ Pitchfork

‘New York City’s The Van Pelt are an influential, but too often overlooked indie rock band -- cult favorites for many an emo-inclined crate digger.’ Consequence of Sound

‘...should be mentioned a lot more than they are when you talk about the history of emo.’
Washed Up Emo

Back in the day there was this thing called an A&R guy. They would hang out at small venues looking to throw money at the next big thing. In the early 90s, everyone was looking for the next Nirvana of course. NYC's The Van Pelt had just released an album of anthems called "Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves" that seemed to be just that. The only thing is, they didn't want to sign. Legend has it $2 million was turned down over pierogies and coffee one Monday morning because The Van Pelt didn't want to risk crashing and burning. Instead, they were gunning for a long and stable stride even if that meant they would largely remain out of the public's eye forever.

Lack of willingness to play the game didn't mean people weren't waiting with baited breath for their follow up album though. In 1997 The Van Pelt released "Sultans of Sentiment", an album nearly devoid of the anthems and licks people were expecting. In fact, it's a complete bummer of an album that subjects the listener to the point on life's curve where the hubris of youth gives way to a cresting crashing defeat no kid with heart could ever have seen coming. Seeing as humanity are sick fuckers who revel in the misery of both themselves and others, the popularity of Sultans grew and grew and continues to win new loyal fans even today. It's for this classic album The Van Pelt has never fallen off the radar.

That being said, their swan song "The Speeding Train" was recorded while they were working on their third album. In any other age, in any other way, this song would have been a hit. The Van Pelt broke up mid-recording, released Speeding Train as a single, and the rest of the songs from that session didn't see the light of day until they were released in 2014 as the "Imaginary Third" lp.

Why are we here talking about them today in 2023? Because in preparation for the release of "Imaginary Third" The Van Pelt started playing some reunion shows. Soundchecks revealed to them that this band has a voice that was prematurely muted by their inability to see clearly in the thick of it. Returning to explore just what that is 25 years later has led to this first collection of 9 songs, "Artisans & Merchants". This is not a reunion album. This is vindication for that decision made over pierogies and coffee decades ago. The Van Pelt is a band in it for the long haul, free from whatever trappings the mayflies of trends and markets may bring.

For lovers of The Van Pelt, listening to "Artisans & Merchants" is like hearing the voice of a dear friend you haven't seen in years, a friend you used to share countless beers with over banter that went nowhere other than delivering a solid night. Your friend is older, they've changed. In some ways you're worried for them, looks like they might be teetering on the brink of something. In other ways it's the same old them, a nugget of a soul too unique to ever be altered. It's for those unfamiliar with The Van Pelt though for whom we should be truly jealous. This is a stand alone album, incredible vital song writing in and of itself regardless of the long history this band has. The climax of the single "Image of Health" perhaps describes the beautiful desperation best: "And you never felt more alive / Than when the priest came to read you your rites!"

First Word Records is proud to present 'Nothing Leaves The House - The Anthology'. A vinyl-only album of 16 hip hop instrumentals from Mr Thing, kidkanevil, Tall Black Guy & Eric Lau. This is a collection of a long-out-of print series of beats from four of the most revered beat-makers in the underground scene.

This double-vinyl collection features four brand new tracks specially created for this 10 year anniversary release. The concept behind this project was originally birthed on Record Store Day 2012. First Word label founder Gilla explains "as we dipped in and out of London's Soho record shops, kidkanevil mentioned to me that he wanted to mine Mr Thing's vast record collection for samples. An idea formed to invite a couple of other beatmakers to join him and to press the resulting beats onto vinyl.

Mr Thing enthusiastically agreed to the idea with one stipulation: they could sample what they wanted, but the records had to stay within the walls of his flat. We quickly enlisted Eric Lauand Tall Black Guy to complete the quartet and 'Nothing Leaves The House' was born." The release came to fruition and was released a decade ago, for Record Store Day in April 2014. The quartet met up once again shortly after in another London record shop, to work on a follow up project.

For this one, Mr Thing brought one record for each producer from his collection for them to sample. They reciprocated by picking a record from the racks in the shop for him to use. 'Thing Leaves The House' was then released in 2015. Completing the trilogy of releases, the crew were invited to the legendary John Peel Archive to dig for samples there. After trawling the legendary Peel Acres collection, the producers individually selected sound snippets to create new beats from; this time under the stipulation that 'Nothing Leaves The Archive'. This double 7" release again landed on Record Store Day, 2016. Gilla says "10 years on from the release of the first record, and almost 9 years to the day since we were at Peel Acres, we are now releasing the 4th and final volume.

Whilst Mr Thing is still in England, the other three have travelled far and wide. Eric Lau is now in China, Tall Black Guy has returned to the US and kidkanevil has moved to Berlin. Our indie label budget didn't extend to uniting everyone from the different continents, so instead Mr Thing uploaded a folder of tracks for the trio to work from. With the previous volumes now long sold out, we've added the original beats to this anthology and have moved up from a double 7" to a double 12" LP. One side for each producer; four tracks made across 10 years." 'Nothing Leaves The House - The Anthology' is released on double vinyl, on Black Friday, November 29th 2024.

High Hopes - New album from the Mole.
High Hopes is 17 songs across 40 minutes on one slice of wax that, as advertised, sounds nothing like last month’s Ep, High Dreams. Here, rather than the long form dance form, is a continuation of the beat tape pacing from the last album, a collection of moments posing as ideas posing as a narrative stuffed with oddities and surprises that reward the close listen.
What’s heard on High Hopes is the Mole’s exploration of a love letter, from one person to a family, from the northern Pacific to the southern Atlantic, from a boy to a painted bird. Vancouver Island to Manantiales. The songs range from ambient sound bath and hip hop sludge, up to micro boogie and almost House before tumbling back down and forth again. Bubbling synths, MPCs swung out, samples chopped and chewed, bass and violins from Rick and Sophie, field recordings of birds and frogs and beaches, friends and family and fiestas. Did we mention the love ?! This album has got it all! Original collages from Antonio Carrau envelope this wax: jacket, sleeve and cookie. Antonio’s work is typified by playful combinations and bold statements about living in a embrace of analog and digital health. His co lages marry the corporeal world with an updated, digitalized age of reproduction, inducing feelings of gratitude for the simple everyday scenes we sometimes lose touch with when we forget to slow down. Good living, like breathing, requires inhaling as well as exhaling.
We can’t always produce content, make art, we must also pause, and listen. And enjoy. The Mole is joined by friends and colleagues on several songs included on High Hopes. Rick May plays bass on both Que Rico and album stand out GoinF4er. Sophie Trudeau (Godspeed You Black Emperor) plays and arranges violins on GoinF4er and Danuel Tate (Cobblestone Jazz) and Julz Chaz (Wagon Repair) both play Vibes and Emaxx throughout the album. Working with these incredible talents not only enriched this album, but fulfilled a long standing goal of the Mole’s; to work again with the musicians from whom he learned so much. People who helped inform the shape of Mole to come.
The Mole who was As High As The Sky. The Mole has been ‘recognized’ by the ‘global underground’ since his critically celebrated premiere album, As High As The Sky, but his earlier Eps (Wagon Repair, Philpot, Musique Risquee) got the attention of Top DJs, clubs, and festivals around the world first. His sound remains unique, fresh and deep: enjoying plays in a wide variety of spaces and places.
High Hopes is the Mole’s 5th solo album and his 2nd album for Circus Company (The River Widens) who have also proudly released two eps of Mole magic (Little Sunshine, High Dreams).
*Isn’t that too much time for one record? Short answer - No. Long answer - depends on the material. Due to the many quiet passages in the album, the groove spacing can be modulated and the needle can slow it’s progress towards the center/end resulting in longer sides with continued high gain and low distortion.

High Hopes - New album from the Mole.
High Hopes is 17 songs across 40 minutes on one slice of wax that, as advertised, sounds nothing like last month’s Ep, High Dreams. Here, rather than the long form dance form, is a continuation of the beat tape pacing from the last album, a collection of moments posing as ideas posing as a narrative stuffed with oddities and surprises that reward the close listen.
What’s heard on High Hopes is the Mole’s exploration of a love letter, from one person to a family, from the northern Pacific to the southern Atlantic, from a boy to a painted bird. Vancouver Island to Manantiales. The songs range from ambient sound bath and hip hop sludge, up to micro boogie and almost House before tumbling back down and forth again. Bubbling synths, MPCs swung out, samples chopped and chewed, bass and violins from Rick and Sophie, field recordings of birds and frogs and beaches, friends and family and fiestas. Did we mention the love ?! This album has got it all! Original collages from Antonio Carrau envelope this wax: jacket, sleeve and cookie. Antonio’s work is typified by playful combinations and bold statements about living in a embrace of analog and digital health. His co lages marry the corporeal world with an updated, digitalized age of reproduction, inducing feelings of gratitude for the simple everyday scenes we sometimes lose touch with when we forget to slow down. Good living, like breathing, requires inhaling as well as exhaling.
We can’t always produce content, make art, we must also pause, and listen. And enjoy. The Mole is joined by friends and colleagues on several songs included on High Hopes. Rick May plays bass on both Que Rico and album stand out GoinF4er. Sophie Trudeau (Godspeed You Black Emperor) plays and arranges violins on GoinF4er and Danuel Tate (Cobblestone Jazz) and Julz Chaz (Wagon Repair) both play Vibes and Emaxx throughout the album. Working with these incredible talents not only enriched this album, but fulfilled a long standing goal of the Mole’s; to work again with the musicians from whom he learned so much. People who helped inform the shape of Mole to come.
The Mole who was As High As The Sky. The Mole has been ‘recognized’ by the ‘global underground’ since his critically celebrated premiere album, As High As The Sky, but his earlier Eps (Wagon Repair, Philpot, Musique Risquee) got the attention of Top DJs, clubs, and festivals around the world first. His sound remains unique, fresh and deep: enjoying plays in a wide variety of spaces and places.
High Hopes is the Mole’s 5th solo album and his 2nd album for Circus Company (The River Widens) who have also proudly released two eps of Mole magic (Little Sunshine, High Dreams).
*Isn’t that too much time for one record? Short answer - No. Long answer - depends on the material. Due to the many quiet passages in the album, the groove spacing can be modulated and the needle can slow it’s progress towards the center/end resulting in longer sides with continued high gain and low distortion.

The only album to soundtrack both late-'70s Minneapolis lounges and a Travis Scott x Dior fashion show. Recorded in a host of living rooms with only a Fender Rhodes piano, a Donca Matic Mini Pops drum machine, and Senrick's wide-eyed, 20-year-old voice, the 1977 LP disappeared into the wild and joined the Wendigo in Minnesota lore. A provocative mix of marina soul, easy listening, and loner folk, Dreamin' is a sanguine sliver of the American private mind garden. Harsh winters coupled with a relative lack of interest amongst siblings allowed Chuck Senrick years of unfettered access to the family piano in their Farmington, Minnesota, home. Learning both by ear and by instruction, Senrick began gigging professionally at age 15, joining John Zimmer and the CR4 for a weekly rundown of Allman Brothers, Blind Faith, and Cream covers at the Sea Girt Inn in Lake Orchard. Tapping into James Taylor's pop-chart achievements in songwriting and enunciation, Senrick composed the bulk of the songs featured on Dreamin' before graduating from Farmington High School. At 20, Senrick migrated 30 miles north to the Twin Cities to pursue music full-time. Using borrowed equipment and borrowed living rooms, a string of informal recording sessions generated the quarter-inch tape for Dreamin'. "I didn't know how to do it," Senrick says about producing an album. "I just knew it could be done." Constructed with vocals, Fender Rhodes, and an assortment of rhythm presets on his Donca Matic Mini Pops drum machine, a mere 200 copies of the private-press masterpiece were stamped and sleeved and sold hand-to-hand at performances. Chuck's wife Lesli illustrated the album cover_a pen-to-paper portrait of her husband against the backdrop of the Minneapolis Skyline, she and their newborn son situated on a nearby knoll. Any plans for a re-press were quashed when producer Bruce W. Hansen lost the reels during a messy divorce. "I was a kid with big ideas and not much hope to do anything but play," Senrick said of the Dreamin' era. "It still amazes me that people are interested in it."