Cerca:kin

If Songs of Praise was fuelled by pint-sloshing teenage vitriol, then Drunk Tank Pink delved into a different kind of intensity. Wading into uncharted musical waters, emboldened by their wit and earned cynicism, they created something with the abandon of a band who had nothing to lose. Having forced their way through their second album's identity crisis, they arrive, finally, at a place of hard-won maturity. Enter: Food for Worms, which Steen declares to be "the Lamborghini of shame records." It marks a sonic departure from anything they've done before, abandoning their post-punk beginnings for more eclectic influences, drawing from the tense atmospherics of

Merchandise, the sharp yet uncomplicated lyrics of Lou Reed and the more melodic works of 90s German band, Blumfeld For the first time, the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. "I don't think you can be in your own head forever," says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: "It's weird, isn't it? Popular music is always about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn't much about your mates." In many ways, the album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together - and grown so close, against all odds - can share

Exclusive Bundle LP+7"-
Exclusive lim.Yellow Vinyl + 7” Black Vinyl including exclusive Bonus Track “Slimbo”.

If Songs of Praise was fuelled by pint-sloshing teenage vitriol, then Drunk Tank Pink delved into a different kind of intensity. Wading into uncharted musical waters, emboldened by their wit and earned cynicism, they created something with the abandon of a band who had nothing to lose. Having forced their way through their second album's identity crisis, they arrive, finally, at a place of hard-won maturity. Enter: Food for Worms, which Steen declares to be "the Lamborghini of shame records." It marks a sonic departure from anything they've done before, abandoning their post-punk beginnings for more eclectic influences, drawing from the tense atmospherics of

Merchandise, the sharp yet uncomplicated lyrics of Lou Reed and the more melodic works of 90s German band, Blumfeld For the first time, the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. "I don't think you can be in your own head forever," says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: "It's weird, isn't it? Popular music is always about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn't much about your mates." In many ways, the album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together - and grown so close, against all odds - can share

TRANSPARENT PURPLE VINYL

If Songs of Praise was fuelled by pint-sloshing teenage vitriol, then Drunk Tank Pink delved into a different kind of intensity. Wading into uncharted musical waters, emboldened by their wit and earned cynicism, they created something with the abandon of a band who had nothing to lose. Having forced their way through their second album's identity crisis, they arrive, finally, at a place of hard-won maturity. Enter: Food for Worms, which Steen declares to be "the Lamborghini of shame records." It marks a sonic departure from anything they've done before, abandoning their post-punk beginnings for more eclectic influences, drawing from the tense atmospherics of

Merchandise, the sharp yet uncomplicated lyrics of Lou Reed and the more melodic works of 90s German band, Blumfeld For the first time, the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. "I don't think you can be in your own head forever," says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: "It's weird, isn't it? Popular music is always about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn't much about your mates." In many ways, the album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together - and grown so close, against all odds - can share

Tape

If Songs of Praise was fuelled by pint-sloshing teenage vitriol, then Drunk Tank Pink delved into a different kind of intensity. Wading into uncharted musical waters, emboldened by their wit and earned cynicism, they created something with the abandon of a band who had nothing to lose. Having forced their way through their second album's identity crisis, they arrive, finally, at a place of hard-won maturity. Enter: Food for Worms, which Steen declares to be "the Lamborghini of shame records." It marks a sonic departure from anything they've done before, abandoning their post-punk beginnings for more eclectic influences, drawing from the tense atmospherics of

Merchandise, the sharp yet uncomplicated lyrics of Lou Reed and the more melodic works of 90s German band, Blumfeld For the first time, the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. "I don't think you can be in your own head forever," says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: "It's weird, isn't it? Popular music is always about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn't much about your mates." In many ways, the album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together - and grown so close, against all odds - can share

Souk is delighted to present the sophomore album from a true fixture in Cairo seething electronic scene who should, by now at least, remain anonymously famous behind the 3Phaz moniker. Both as a way to make focus on the music itself regardless of identity and to sever ties with past projects, 3Phaz acts like an entity in itself, a most suitable conjuration of sounds past and future gravitating on their own dimension. Though connections are inevitable and welcoming with home turf artists such as ZULI or Rozzma, the Souk catalogue or percussion obsessed travelers like DJ Plead or errorsmith, 3Phaz's dalliance with the traditional sounds of Shaabi and Mahraganat and possible intersections with Grime, Techno and Bass-heavy subcultures feel very much their own.

Stripping away some of the dankest & darkest layers that made his debut album - Three Phase - such a dystopic proposition, Ends Meet envisions a different kind of future, that while not necessarily utopian, feels less tense and more celebratory in the capture and release mastery of its syncopations. Through seven percussion workouts summoned from hard hitting kicks, flinty hand drums, darting rhythmic excursions and traditional flute-like synth melodies, 3Phaz creates a set of raw and ever-intriguing dj tools for adventurous dancefloors that escape the mere functionality associated with the term to bristle with a life of their own.   

Bondo is four Los Angeles musicians collaging displaced tempos and fractured melodies. Their sparsely vocalised music conspires to bring into view a practical enlightenment, evoking the sandy contentment of an exhausted marine sunset. The organically mechanical compositions wander with the intention not to be aimless, but to be consumed in Process.
Bondo comes to Quindi Records to release its first full-length album, Print Selections, and it is saturated in the communal consciousness of the band. The songs call for the individuals to dissolve to make way for the music.
The lyrical content of the record tells of a mind made anew, cleared of its data & ego to witness nothing in particular. Bringing the past with them, the band makes clear allusions to their influences - their tones reminiscent of outfits like Duster, Unwound, Acetone & Fugazi, but also has heavy nods to more formless genres like the dub melodies of King Tubby and the jazz of Archie Shepp.
The music feels like the dusty bed of a scanner, plays like the light leaking from underneath its lid.

Thugwidow AKA Alex Lowther-Harris is a Jungle producer currently living in North Wales. Productions range from Hardcore rave tracks to more Ambient Tecky Jungle.

Thugwidow makes his Bukva debut with "An Otherwise Perfect Sky EP", these tracks and remixes represent the culmination of years of work, in honing his sound, working on production and grinding away. This record is a typical Thugwidow sound, the kind of tunes he loves making and listening to. With remixes from some of Thugwidows favourite artists Tim Reaper, Response & Pliskin. This record should be perfect for late nights, early mornings and perhaps the more chilled out moments when there's too much going on in your head.

Record Kicks presents "Yours Truly", the new album by Bordeaux's "Soulboy", Mr. Alexis Evans.

Like fine Red Wine, "Soulboy" Alexis Evans gets better with Age. The best evidence of this is his brand new album "Yours Truly", set for release on February 3rd, 2023 on LP, CD and digital via Milan-based label Record Kicks. Produced and mixed by Louis-Marin Renaud (Lou Doillon, Theo Lawrence, Desmond Myers), "Yours Truly" is the third studio album by Bordeaux-based singer-songwriter Alexis Evans and sees the light 4 years after his previous LP "I've Come A Long Way", defined "Soul album of The Year" by Rolling Stone France. "Yours Truly" consists of 12 brilliantly soulful cuts that take direct inspiration from 60's & 70's classic soul music adding a sound that is firmly rooted in the new millennium.

Anticipated by the first single "Mr Right On Time", the album was recorded between Bordeaux and Nantes during 2021 and beginning of 2022. The idea behind the new album was to find a unique sound, mixing classic 60's & 70's soul music with more contemporary influences such as hip hop beats, jazz, reggae, and Caribbean sounds. To do that, Alexis paired up with producer Louis-Marin Renaud, known for his work with French-English singer, actress and model Lou Doillon and country-soul rising star Theo Lawrence, who took part in the arrangements and mixed the album.

"All instruments were recorded live, some titles were completely live and others got modified, cut, sampled, depending on the tunes in a kind of beatmaking way. It was a very fun and fulfilling project that will sound awesome on stage for sure," explains Alexis.

Lyrically, the album could be described as soulful everyday rhymes. "Love may be the number one subject in soul music and clearly has its place of honor in a few songs ("Close to me", "What is this feeling"), while other songs tend to deal with it in a more cynical but poetic way, for instance on "Mister right on time", in which beauty remains in simplicity," states Mr. Evans. He continues: "Another topic of the album is abandonment ("It matters to me", "The only apple", "Close to the water"). Whether it is the fear of being left behind or the sadness after a loss, this album still bears some traces of lockdown and I was aiming at giving another perspective on different matters, looking at them in a dreamlike way." The themes of the album are reflected in the cover artwork, made by Adrià F Marquès.

Alexis Evans, songwriter with a timeless style based in Bordeaux, France, found the love of music and learnt to play guitar thanks to his father, an English musician. His inspirations range from Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke to David Bowie. At the age of 17 he debuted with his first project "Jumping to the Westside", with which he was awarded the "Cognac Blues Passion" prize and flew to the "International Blues Challenge" in Memphis, Tennessee, where he impressed the American audience even though he was still a teenager. Mr. Evanshas built a household name in the scene as the "enfant prodige of soul" starting with his first album, released in 2015, and consolidated his reputation with his second long play "I've Come a Long Way", released in 2019 on Record Kicks. Rolling Stone France described it as "The Soul album of the year", while Blues & Soul Magazine and BBC 6 defined him as "One of the most exciting additions to the international Soul Scene". Following the release of the album, Alexis toured in France and Europe extensively, stopped only in 2020 by the Pandemic. Thanks to the forced break, Alexis started to lay down the new album, and he's now ready to present the fruit of his hard work: "Yours Truly".

This come-back is nothing other than the first step towards the new Fakear.

This new wave can be expressed in one word : Talisman, His new album. The first tracks Moonlight Moves and Altar have mesmerizing and intriguing sounds. It also features Voyager, with a music video mixing gorgeous mountain views and a feeling of weightlessness.

Today Fakear is above all Theo: with his emotions and his battles, one of them being for climate change, and the importance of our planet. For his new album, he collaborated with Camille Étienne, a known climate change activist, on his track Odyssea.

Ten years after his first steps in the industry, Fakear now returns to his roots, without looking to the past with nostalgia or contempt; but rather by contemplating his past self with kindness, and a tap on the shoulder. « I found myself », he admitted.

The next issue in the on-going Mastermix series features a centerpiece of Frankfurt’s club history: Wild Pitch Club.

A predecessor to the esteemed Robert Johnson and a stepping stone for Panorama Bar’s very own nd_baumecker.

Founded by Playhouse masterminds Ata and the late Heiko M/S/O it was a Thursday club night that heavily featured house music as a prescription to the ongoing techno fever. Enamored with the US-American roots of it and all things deep, it not only presented the right records, but also their creators and protagonists. With a string of guest DJs from Robert Hood and Claude Young to Kerri Chandler and Theo Parrish as well as talent from the UK and Europe, it was one of the culture’s hubs at the time.

Here you have its testimony. Selected and mixed by Ata and nd_baumecker, it’s an authentic snapshot of the club’s vibe and spirit, spread over two 2x12” volumes, a collectable tape (download included) and a pleasant streaming version, it’s the full dosage. Like Roach Motel confessed: Wild Pitch, I love you.

A showcase of Paco De Lucia’s mesmerising Montreux Jazz Festival live performances between 1984 to 2012.

The audio has Expertly restored and remastered in superlative HD audio; The Montreux Years is released on superior audiophile heavy weight vinyl, MQA quality CD and in HD digital. The release includes brand new liner notes and rare photos from his Montreux shows.

* Bass-heavy spiritual vibrations from dub duo Alpha and Omega featuring a mysterious uncredited singer on vocal duties.
* `Yemenite Chant’ originally surfaced on the classic `King and Queen’ LP in 1990.
* Along with the original cut, this 12” features 3 previously unreleased mixes.

Finnish bassist Antti Lötjönen returns in February 2023 with his second Quintet East album on We Jazz Records. With Verneri Pohjola on trumpet, Mikko Innanen and Jussi Kannaste on saxes, and Joonas Riippa on drums, Quintet East is a hard-hitting ensemble of Helsinki scene A-listers. The new release sees the quintet work with Lötjönen's inspired new music with remarkable spirit, spreading out on a quest for new sounds and ideas, and returning to base with a fresh batch of acoustic creative music, wild to the bone even when sounding completely in control.

Circus/Citadel is essentially a coherent album, rather than a series of loosely connected compositions. There's plenty of diversity within Lötjönen's compositions and the band's dynamics, yet it all flows into one effortlessly, creating a suite of sorts, even outside of the title composition which consists of three parts. During the course of the album, the quintet often gets together in smaller formations: in trios and duos of different combinations of the players. The music breathes and maintains its energy at all times, leaving plenty of headroom for the all-out quintet "attacks" when needed. It all comes together in a shape that feels unified and cyclical, leaving the listener hungry for repeated listens in order to get deeper into the many layers found within.

Antti Lötjönen says:

"These compositions vary in terms of form and density, with each player having enough room to re-invent and expand on the music within the pieces. I wrote this music over a relatively brief time span. This, I think, is something you can also hear on the album, as the temporal closeness of the ideas brings with it a certain kind of unity. The world we live in sometimes feels like and absurd circus, from which you need to get away from to get new ideas and energy. Everyone needs their citadel, whatever it may be. This pairing of the two words Circus/Citadel is inspired by a poem by the Romanian-born German-language poet Paul Celan (1920–1970)."

Circus/Citadel is released by We Jazz Records on 24 February, 2023, as white and black vinyl editions, on CD and digitally. The artwork displays a freeform graphic score of the music by We Jazz artistic director and designer Matti Nives. The vinyl versions are housed in heavy duty tip-on sleeve with silver-embossed lettering, and the CD comes in a matte digisleeve with silver-embossed lettering. Antti Lötjönen Quintet East performs live in Finland in January and February.

Finnish bassist Antti Lötjönen returns in February 2023 with his second Quintet East album on We Jazz Records. With Verneri Pohjola on trumpet, Mikko Innanen and Jussi Kannaste on saxes, and Joonas Riippa on drums, Quintet East is a hard-hitting ensemble of Helsinki scene A-listers. The new release sees the quintet work with Lötjönen's inspired new music with remarkable spirit, spreading out on a quest for new sounds and ideas, and returning to base with a fresh batch of acoustic creative music, wild to the bone even when sounding completely in control.

Circus/Citadel is essentially a coherent album, rather than a series of loosely connected compositions. There's plenty of diversity within Lötjönen's compositions and the band's dynamics, yet it all flows into one effortlessly, creating a suite of sorts, even outside of the title composition which consists of three parts. During the course of the album, the quintet often gets together in smaller formations: in trios and duos of different combinations of the players. The music breathes and maintains its energy at all times, leaving plenty of headroom for the all-out quintet "attacks" when needed. It all comes together in a shape that feels unified and cyclical, leaving the listener hungry for repeated listens in order to get deeper into the many layers found within.

Antti Lötjönen says:

"These compositions vary in terms of form and density, with each player having enough room to re-invent and expand on the music within the pieces. I wrote this music over a relatively brief time span. This, I think, is something you can also hear on the album, as the temporal closeness of the ideas brings with it a certain kind of unity. The world we live in sometimes feels like and absurd circus, from which you need to get away from to get new ideas and energy. Everyone needs their citadel, whatever it may be. This pairing of the two words Circus/Citadel is inspired by a poem by the Romanian-born German-language poet Paul Celan (1920–1970)."

Circus/Citadel is released by We Jazz Records on 24 February, 2023, as white and black vinyl editions, on CD and digitally. The artwork displays a freeform graphic score of the music by We Jazz artistic director and designer Matti Nives. The vinyl versions are housed in heavy duty tip-on sleeve with silver-embossed lettering, and the CD comes in a matte digisleeve with silver-embossed lettering. Antti Lötjönen Quintet East performs live in Finland in January and February.

Adam Lambert war schon immer bestechend gut darin, die Songs anderer Künstler und Künstlerinnen zu interpretieren – von seinen Anfängen bei „American Idol“ über seinen Auftritt bei den Kennedy Centre Honours 2018, wo er Cher mit seiner fast zärtlichen Version ihres Megahits „Believe“ zu Tränen rührte, bis hin zu seiner Rolle als aktueller Sänger von Queen.

Nun geht der Grammy-nominierte Künstler konsequent den nächsten Schritt und kündigt ein ganzes Album ausgesuchter Coversongs an. „High Drama“ erscheint am 24. Februar 2023 und markiert zugleich sein Debüt bei Warner Music. Schon jetzt gibt es zwei Songs daraus zu hören: „Ordinary World“, eine kraftvolle, atmosphärische Balladenversion des Duran-Duran-Hits von 1993, sowie Lamberts wunderschöne Interpretation des Noël-Coward-Klassikers „Mad About The Boy“ aus den 1930er-Jahren. Fans des Musikers werden wissen: Er performte den Song kürzlich bereits im Rahmen der BBC-Show „Strictly Come Dancing“ (siehe unten). Außerdem wird Lamberts Version auch in dem kommenden Film „Mad About The Boy — The Noel Coward Story“ über das Leben des Noël Coward zu hören sein, der kommendes Jahr in die Kinos kommt.

„High Drama“ – der Titel des neuen Albums ist natürlich nicht von ungefähr gewählt, denn der US-Amerikaner liebt die große Geste. Und wir erleben ihn hier mehr denn je als einen Künstler, der sich in seiner eigenen Haut wohlfühlt, der voll und ganz er selbst ist – und jede Minute davon auskostet.

Bei seinem neuen Album übernahm Adam Lambert auch die Rolle des ausführenden Produzenten, die Songs selbst wurden produziert von Tommy English (Kacy Musgraves, Carly Rae Jepsen), Andrew Wells (Halsey, OneRepublic), George Moore und Mark Crew. „High Drama“ nimmt uns mit auf eine Reise durch die moderne Musik, von Klassikern wie Ann Peebles' „I Can't Stand The Rain“ und Bonnie Tylers „Holding Out For A Hero“ bis hin zu Hits jüngeren Datums wie Billie Eilishs „Getting Older“ – hier in einer Glam-inspirierten Version – und einer rockigen Interpretation von Lana Del Reys „West Coast“. Gemeinsam haben alle Songs, dass sie sich durch Adam Lamberts unvergleichliches Gesangstalent auszeichnen.

Aktuell arbeitet Lambert übrigens auch an seinem eigenen Musical, bei dem sich auf eigene Songs von ihm und eine Starbesetzung freuen kann.

Recorded in 1973 at the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Paddington, London, Unfinished Picture is Rupert Hine's second LP. The songs where all composed by Hine with lyrics by David McIver and Simon Jeffries. On its sessions, Hine was surrounded by a host of outstanding musicians that included Simon Jeffes (Penguin Cafe Orchestra), Mike Giles (Giles, Giles & Fripp / King Crimson), Mick Waller (Cyril Davis, The Steampacket, Jeff Beck Group), Ray Cooper (Eric Clapton, Elton John) among others.



Rupert Hine's recording adventures started with the release of a 7" 45 by the folk duo Rupert & David "The Sounds Of Silence". In 1971 he was approached by Purple Records for the release of his debut solo LP Pick Up A Bone, which despite its lack of commercial success featured a strong collection of critically acclaimed compositions that made Purple Records want him to record a second album - Unfinished Picture, on which Hine showed a fantastic evolution to a more conceptual, cinematic approach. Echoes of Ray Davies, Kevin Ayers or hints of Nick Drake taken to a more 'happy' territoire mix with beautiful strings by The Martyn Ford Orange Ensemble and even some ARP synth explorations to build a fantastic collection of sounds that take the listener on a trip through the worlds of folk, psych and prog.



Hine's career would soon take off as a famed producer, he did work with Kevin Ayers, Milla Jovovich, Jonesy, Steve Tilston, Anthony Phillips, Camel, Saga, Rush, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Bob Geldof, Suzane Vega, and many others.

Dreams, Pains & Paper Planes will be Pixey’s first longer form project since the glittering Sunshine State EP arrived in October 2021, which had followed her hugely acclaimed early-2021 debut EP for Chess Club, Free To Live In Colour. The Sunshine State EP’s lead single and title track was crowned Tune Of The Week by Jack Saunders at BBC Radio 1, and received further airplay from Clara Amfo (who also had the EP’s second single ‘Take Me On’ on regular rotation), Mollie King in her Best New Pop playlist and Introducing’s Gemma Bradley. The EP was awarded a second consecutive 5* review from Dork Magazine who subsequently placed Pixey on the 2022 Hype List, to add to her list of accolades including The Sunday Times’ Breaking Act, Notion’s Internet Crush, The Daily Star’s Rising Star, and DIY’s Neu artist.



Commenting on the mini-album, Pixey says: “Dreams, Pains & Paper Planes is my biggest release to date. The majority of the record was written, recorded and produced by myself in my bedroom, alongside a couple of studio tracks. Genre bending was something I wanted to experiment with, tailoring to the moods of each song but still keeping to the core big beat elements. I wanted to write a record that kept a sunny sound but was more anxious lyrically. More than anything, I want the listener to feel like they can dip into an alternate world for a while, whether it’s comforting or not”

Canto Ostinato is the new volume of classical minimalism from musician and producer Erik Hall. Written for four pianos in 1979 by Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt, the piece is freshly framed as an intimate, hour-long solo performance consisting of multitracked grand pianos, electric piano, and organ. Modern yet warm, ethereal yet tangible, Hall's Canto Ostinato expertly bridges a revered piece of meditative concert repertoire with a tactile and highly personal studio setting. Chicago-born and Michigan-based, Erik Hall is known as a multi-instrumental pillar for the groups NOMO, Wild Belle, and his own songwriting moniker In Tall Buildings. He has composed music for feature films, and as a producer/engineer he has shaped records for Natalie Bergman and Western Vinyl labelmates Lean Year. In a 2020 creative pivot, he chose to reinvent composer Steve Reich's monumental contemporary classical masterpiece Music for 18 Musicians as a solo undertaking, applying the piece's score to the familiar keyboards, guitars, and synthesizers in his studio. "At the time I think I was working through my identity as a musician and an artist," Hall explains, "and on a level there was some sort of exorcism of a long held pop spirit." The album was celebrated for being "freshly thrilling" and "legible in history but assertive of the moment" (Pitchfork) and "beguiling, meditational, and magical" (Electronic Sound). It won the 2021 Libera Award for Best Classical Record, and it quickly joined the canon of the piece's quintessential recordings. "There is a pseudo-meditational benefit to working on a longform piece that's built on repetition," Hall says. "Every stage- from internalizing the music, to executing the performance, to editing and mixing the record- requires deep and sustained presence of mind. I've always been drawn to a hallucinatory combination of harmony and repetition, and I found the entire process addictive." An apt second chapter, Canto Ostinato is inherently vast, and its score gives great creative license to the performer. Comprising 106 sections, complete freedom is given to repeat each one as many or as few times as desired. Additional leeway is given with regard to dynamics, articulation, and even instrumentation. On the heels of his previous, rather maximal arrangement, Hall chose to limit this album's palette to three foundational keyboards of his studio: a 1962 Hammond M-101 organ, a 1978 Rhodes Mark I electric piano, and his family-heirloom 1910 Steinway grand piano. "This particular piece brought the added challenge of rekindling my dexterity as a pianist, something I haven't maintained in earnest since I was a teenager," he admits. The ensuing five-note rhythmic motif- the piece's primary building block- is steady and workmanlike, forgoing virtuosic flare for depth, texture, and resonance, and eventually giving way to the stunning gratification of a gorgeously lyrical left turn. As with Music for 18 Musicians, Hall employed no loops nor quantization nor any programmed or sequenced instruments of any kind. Every part was performed live in a room and captured with microphones, one at a time, each informed by, and reacting to the last. In this way the record breathes with interplay and an organic humanity, complete with flaws, noise, and the faint sound of turning pages. The recording quality is nonetheless toneful and saturated, characteristic of Hall's production style and straying from the usual transparency of classical albums by using gear with tubes, transformers, and various stages of compression in the signal path. Always there is unmistakable realism and the feeling of being present in the room, sitting among the keys, hammers, and tines. Ten Holt said: "Time, patience and discipline are the prerequisites for making a genetic code productive." His landmark composition provides Hall once again with a wondrous space in which to reverently embody this sentiment and deftly convey the elegant beauty of this music.

Algiers haben sich eine Crew zugelegt: Für ihr viertes Album "SHOOK" versammelte die Band eine Schar gleichgesinnter Künstler um sich herum. Der Nachfolger zum gefeierten Album "There Is No Year" (2020) ist ein musikalischer wie inhaltlicher Blitzableiter in bewegten Zeiten und mit seinen 17 eindringlichen Songs schon jetzt eines der aufregendsten Alben aus 2023. Das komplette Album entstand, als Fisher und sein Bandkollege Ryan Mahan für einige Monate in ihre Heimatstadt Atlanta zurückkehrten, wo sie unter dem wachsenden Druck litten, was schließlich in einem Burnout gipfelte. Eine extreme Zeit für die Band und für die Freundschaft der beiden Musiker, in der sie schließlich auch persönlich wieder zueinander fanden. Sie hörten viel alten Hiphop und eine Neuauflage von DJ Grand Wizard Theodores 1970er Punk-beeinflusstem New Yorker Rap-Meisterwerk "Subway Theme" diente als spirituelles und thematisches Moodboard für das Album. Während Gemeinschaft und Zusammenarbeit schon immer ein wesentlicher Bestandteil der Arbeitsweise von Algiers war, kommt dies bei "SHOOK" nun voll zum Tragen. Die Liner Notes lesen sich wie ein Who is Who der zeitgenössischen Underground-Musik, mit Zack de la Rocha, Big Rube (The Dungeon Family), Billy Woods, Samuel T. Herring (Future Islands), Jae Matthews (Boy Harsher), LaToya Kent (Mourning A BLKstar), Backxwash, Nadah El Shazly, DeForrest Brown Jr. (Speaker Music), Patrick Shiroishi, Lee Bains III, und Mark Cisneros (The Make-Up, Kid Congo Powers). Dank ihrer Beiträge wird "Shook" aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln neu geformt und kontextualisiert. "Es vertieft und erweitert die Welt von Algiers", so Schlagzeuger Matt Tong. Atlanta, der Ort, an dem die Platte entstanden ist, steht schließlich im Mittelpunkt. Das Album beginnt mit einer robotergesteuerten Zugdurchsage vom Hartsfield Airport, die vielen Einwohnern von Atlanta ein Begriff ist und Fisher als Kind immer eine Heidenangst gemacht hat. "Wir haben in einer Umgebung gearbeitet, an die wir gewöhnt waren", sagt Gitarrist Lee Tesche. "Es fühlt sich an wie die beste Algiers-Platte, die wir je gemacht haben." Dass diese Platte überhaupt entstanden ist, grenzt an ein kleines Wunder, da die Band immer wieder vor der Auflösung stand. Algiers haben jedoch Reibung in Energie umgewandelt und mit "SHOOK" ein außergewöhnliches und kraftvolles Album produziert, das am Ende von seiner starken Gemeinschaft lebt. "Ich glaube, mit dieser Platte haben wir unser Zuhause gefunden", sagt Mahan, und Fisher fügt hinzu: "Es war eine ganz neue, positive Erfahrung - eine erneuerte Beziehung zu der Stadt, aus der wir kommen, und Stolz dafür zu haben. Mir gefällt der Gedanke, dass diese Platte uns auf eine Reise mitgenommen hat, die aber in Atlanta beginnt und endet."

Zur Feier des 50. Jahrestages des kultigen Wattstax-Events, das am 20. August 1972 im L.A. Memorial Coliseum stattfand, veröffentlicht Stax Records ”Wattstax” neu: The Living Word”.

Diese beiden LPs wurden von den Originalbändern von Chris Muth geschnitten und enthalten Auftritte von Isaac Hayes, The
Staple Singers, The Bar-Kays, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Albert King und anderen.

Re-Discover mythical 60"s Hits sung by Soul, Funk, Rock & Folk Icons in the unique double Vinyle!

Electric Light Orchestra leader Jeff Lynne did more than figuratively reach for the sky on Eldorado. Daring to be bold, and creating imaginative worlds that invite the listener to escape the mundane, the visionary composer-musician achieved a multidisciplinary fantasia and, in the process, a prog-rock landmark. Nearly 50 years later, the concept album's brilliance can be experienced like never before in cinematic, IMAX-worthy fashion.

Sourced from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl vinyl at RTI, housed in a keepsake box, and limited to 10,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP set of Eldorado allows the long-time audiophile staple to resonate with reference-setting dynamics, tones, and colours. Conjuring the feeling of journeying to different horizons, the record's songs teem with layer upon layer of details, which can now be heard as the producers intended. This very special release both pays tribute to the record's merit and enhances the spectacular program for generations to come.

Presenting the album with breathtaking clarity yet retaining the warmth, texture, and emotion that differentiate live music from reproduced sounds, the collectible reissue features beguiling levels of in-the-moment presence, grand-scale sound-staging, and instrumental balance. Bursting with a veritable cornucopia of stimuli, MoFi's Eldorado package also benefits from superb separation and immersive atmospherics that stem from the meticulous remastering process – as well as an ultra-low noise floor, industry-leading groove definition, and dead-quiet surfaces courtesy of the MoFi SuperVinyl properties.

The premium packaging and gorgeous presentation of the UD1S Eldorado pressing befit its extremely select status. Housed in a deluxe box, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendour of the recording. No expense has been spared. Aurally and visually, the reissue exists as a curatorial artefact meant to be preserved, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners that prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in everything involved with the album.

An artistic breakthrough that established Electric Light Orchestra as a pioneering band (and confirmed Lynne as the leading practising Beatles disciple), the 1974 effort remains notable for its involvement of a full orchestra and choral section, the range of which are captured with exquisite results on this LP. Eldorado distinguished itself from the band's first two works not only via Lynne's sharpened songwriting but due to the hiring of an orchestra that augmented the group's three string players. Co-arranged by Lynne and conductor Louis Clark, the symphonic movements bolster the contagious fare without ever drowning it. The accents also act as transports into the varied narrative universes.

Finished as a story before Lynne put notes down on paper, Eldorado ironically owes its inspiration to Lynne's father. In response to his dad's criticisms about the band, Lynne conceived a melodic tour de force that, like The Wizard of Oz, which informs the cover art, emphasizes the power of everyday dreams and everyman heroism. It's no coincidence that the sonic journey begins with an overture punctuated by the words of a cynic who condemns "the dreamer, the un-woken fool."

Beautiful yet fun, ambitious yet consistent, Eldorado proceeds to celebrate such romantics and escapists. A Technicolour escapade marked by lush melodies, fluid crescendos, and an intoxicating blend of energetic rock and sweeping orchestral elements, the album weds rich imagery and sweeping sounds in manners that make the two inseparable. In Lynne and company's hands, reality and fantasy collide, and dissolve any dividing lines. The proof is not just in the epic production, but in the timeless (and catchy) nature of songs such as the balladic "Boy Blue," power-pop packed "Illusions in G Major," and, of course, the aptly titled hit, "Can't Get It Out of My Head."

Decades later, Eldorado doubles as an invitation to break away from monotony whether you're listening to your Mobile Fidelity reissue on a large system or an excellent pair of headphones.

MoFi SuperVinyl


Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.

Forty Below Records releases 'Weight of the World', the new album by
award-winning Blues and Roots musician Joe Louis Walker
A Blues Hall of Fame inductee and six- time Blues Music Award winner, NPR
described Walker as "a legendary boundary- pushing icon of modern blues." His
2015 release, 'Everyone Wants a Piece', was nominated for the Contemporary
Blues Grammy. In addition, Walker dueted with B.B. King on his Grammy Awardwinning Blues Summit album and played guitar on James Cotton's Grammywinning album 'Deep in the Blues'. Recorded with Producer Eric Corne (John
Mayall, Walter Trout, Sugaray Rayford), 'Weight of the World' showcases the depth
of Walker's influences and the prowess with which he commands different
genres; be it Soul, "The Weight of the World," "Is it a Matter of Time," "Don't Walk
Out That Door," Gospel, "Hello, it's the Blues," Funk, "Count Your Chickens," New
Orleans 2nd line, "Waking Up the Dead," Indie Blues "Root Down," Rock N Roll,
"Blue Mirror," Contemporary Blues, "Bed of Roses," or Jazz, "You Got Me Whipped."
It's a compelling album that displays a master at the height of his game. They say
Roots musicians age like fine wine, which certainly rings true with Walker. 'Weight
of the World' is a resounding statement and quite possibly the beginning of the
greatest chapter of a storied career

Forty Below Records releases 'Weight of the World', the new album by
award-winning Blues and Roots musician Joe Louis Walker
A Blues Hall of Fame inductee and six- time Blues Music Award winner, NPR
described Walker as "a legendary boundary- pushing icon of modern blues." His
2015 release, 'Everyone Wants a Piece', was nominated for the Contemporary
Blues Grammy. In addition, Walker dueted with B.B. King on his Grammy Awardwinning Blues Summit album and played guitar on James Cotton's Grammywinning album 'Deep in the Blues'. Recorded with Producer Eric Corne (John
Mayall, Walter Trout, Sugaray Rayford), 'Weight of the World' showcases the depth
of Walker's influences and the prowess with which he commands different
genres; be it Soul, "The Weight of the World," "Is it a Matter of Time," "Don't Walk
Out That Door," Gospel, "Hello, it's the Blues," Funk, "Count Your Chickens," New
Orleans 2nd line, "Waking Up the Dead," Indie Blues "Root Down," Rock N Roll,
"Blue Mirror," Contemporary Blues, "Bed of Roses," or Jazz, "You Got Me Whipped."
It's a compelling album that displays a master at the height of his game. They say
Roots musicians age like fine wine, which certainly rings true with Walker. 'Weight
of the World' is a resounding statement and quite possibly the beginning of the
greatest chapter of a storied career

Bukahara veröffentlichen mit 'Tales of the Tides' die bislang besten Songs ihrer Karriere!

Das neue, im Februar erscheinende Album der größten unbekannten Band Deutschlands basiert auf sehnsuchtsvoller Rootsmusik und ist geprägt von einem postmigrantischen, grenzüberschreitenden und freiheitlichen Selbstverständnis. Damit gehen Bukahara jetzt in die größten Hallen.

Darum geht es auf 'Tales of The Tides', dem wunderbaren neuen Album der Global-Folkband Bukahara: unser gestörtes Verhältnis zur Natur und untereinander, die Agonie und den Zynismus, vor allem aber um den unbeirrbaren Glauben an Veränderung und Menschlichkeit, an eine liberale Mehrheitsgesellschaft und internationale Solidarität.

Die Lieder, die Soufian Zoghlami zu diesen Themen geschrieben hat, sind ihrerseits freiheitlich und international, vor allem aber sind es die bislang besten Songs dieser Karriere. Die Musik von Bukahara ist auch auf 'Tales of The Tides' immer noch durchdrungen von nordafrikanischen Einflüssen ebenso wie von Balkan-, Klezmer- und arabischen Akzenten. Ihre sich aus diesen Einflüssen ergebende Musik haben Bukahara indes zu einer Folk-Internationale gebündelt, die aktuell niemand so spielt wie sie.

Auf 'Tales of The Tides' türmt sich diese Folk-Internationale zu einer Flut der ganz anderen Art auf: Ja, dieses Album beschreibt einen Flutzyklus. Aber einen lichtdurchfluteten, in dem Liebe, Verständnis, Menschlichkeit und Wärme zählen. Und Hoffnung, die ganz besonders. Themen, mit denen die größte unbekannte Band Deutschlands eigentlich in jedes Radio und jede Zeitung gehört.

Red Vinyl

Bukahara veröffentlichen mit 'Tales of the Tides' die bislang besten Songs ihrer Karriere!

Das neue, im Februar erscheinende Album der größten unbekannten Band Deutschlands basiert auf sehnsuchtsvoller Rootsmusik und ist geprägt von einem postmigrantischen, grenzüberschreitenden und freiheitlichen Selbstverständnis. Damit gehen Bukahara jetzt in die größten Hallen.

Darum geht es auf 'Tales of The Tides', dem wunderbaren neuen Album der Global-Folkband Bukahara: unser gestörtes Verhältnis zur Natur und untereinander, die Agonie und den Zynismus, vor allem aber um den unbeirrbaren Glauben an Veränderung und Menschlichkeit, an eine liberale Mehrheitsgesellschaft und internationale Solidarität.

Die Lieder, die Soufian Zoghlami zu diesen Themen geschrieben hat, sind ihrerseits freiheitlich und international, vor allem aber sind es die bislang besten Songs dieser Karriere. Die Musik von Bukahara ist auch auf 'Tales of The Tides' immer noch durchdrungen von nordafrikanischen Einflüssen ebenso wie von Balkan-, Klezmer- und arabischen Akzenten. Ihre sich aus diesen Einflüssen ergebende Musik haben Bukahara indes zu einer Folk-Internationale gebündelt, die aktuell niemand so spielt wie sie.

Auf 'Tales of The Tides' türmt sich diese Folk-Internationale zu einer Flut der ganz anderen Art auf: Ja, dieses Album beschreibt einen Flutzyklus. Aber einen lichtdurchfluteten, in dem Liebe, Verständnis, Menschlichkeit und Wärme zählen. Und Hoffnung, die ganz besonders. Themen, mit denen die größte unbekannte Band Deutschlands eigentlich in jedes Radio und jede Zeitung gehört.

Inspired by the likes of old-school legends including Venom, Kreator, Sabbat JPN & Metallica, James McBain formed Hellripper in 2014, showcasing an electrifying brand of blackened thrash. Building on the already impressive foundations laid by their early EP & split releases, the first full-length album, Coagulating Darkness',
was released in 2017 to media acclaim, with the UK's Metal Hammer hailing Hellripper as Scotland's King of the arcane mosh & the band receiving notable attention throughout Europe & the US. This was followed by the Black Arts & Alchemy' EP, before an eventual deal was inked with Peaceville Records, resulting in the masterful The Affair Of The Poisons', further propelling the band to the forefront of the UK metal scene. Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags' - Hellripper's third studio album - establishes a new threshold of excellence & raises the bar further over The Affair Of The Poisons', with an opus standing at the crossroads between the sound that Hellripper has become known for & a whirlwind of different influences up until now yet to be explored, resulting in James McBain's most personal & diverse
work to date. With a greatly expanded scope to the tracks, incorporating more epic & melodic blackened anthems alongside the high- speed metal attack & blistering solos, Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags' marks a new highpoint for the band. Inspired by the landscapes & legends of the Scottish highlands, McBain explores the darker side of Scottish history & folklore - the title itself taken from a
line in the Robert Burns poem,Address to the Deil' - as well as including references to clan culture (including his own) throughout the album. For example, one of the tracks ( The Cursed Carrion Crown') is based on the legend of Sawney
Bean' & the Bean Clan (a spelling variation of McBain'') & tells the story of a family of cannibals that lived in a cave & committed various gruesome acts. As always, the writing & recording process was carried out by James McBain himself, with a few guests offering contributions in the form of additional vocals & instrumental
parts. With recording taking place between March 2021 & June 2022, the album was also mixed by McBain & mastered by Damian Herring at Subterranean Watchtower Studios. The suitably sinister & ominous artwork appears courtesy of Adam Burke. Hellripper will be embarking upon a series of shows in support of the album throughout 2023.

'Turning (Inside Out)' is the new 12" dance single from Arbutus Records, a collaboration between Canadian synthpop artist Moon King and Baltimore production team Visors, with added vocals from fellow Bmore rapper DDM and, in a surprising turn of events, saxophone from the Neptunes' Chad Hugo, under his St Charles alias.
The 'pandemic-era online collab' has given us some strange and unlikely gems, of which this record is certainly one - a mesmerizing
mid-tempo groove with Moon King and DDM's call and response vocals floating above, culminating in a catchy chorus: 'feels like turning inside out, when I need you there, you're not around'.

Derrick Morgan ia one of the greats of Jamaican music, he is the undisputed King of Ska.
But his recording career dod not stop in 1967 when the sound of Ska slowed down into Rocksteady.
Nor did it stop in 1968 when Rocksteady evolved into the early sound of Reggae.
The set you have here was first released in 1974 when Reggae was King,the album carried the name 'In the Mood'..but also had the working title 'This is Derrick Morgan'.
A title in the world of Reggae carrying the moniker would normally be used to introduce new singer and be his showcase album.
In this case in could be used to reintroduce the singer Derrick Morgan to the new Reggae sound.
But we feel someone of Derrick's calibre needs no introduction as his voice works on any rhythms put his way.
So sit back and enjoy one of the greats of Jamaican music showing the world with the help of producer Bunny Lee that he can roll with the Reggae sound....respect...

DJ SizleCaude is the head of the Herbal Soundz label and this is his first EP. It's one steeped in classic house knowledge and Chicago-referencing sounds. That is particularly true on 'About Time' with its spoken word sermon over dusty old drum sounds and hefty deep house drums. 'Kindly Listen' cuts it up with razor-sharp hi-hats and swirling pads that sound like a church organ in meltdown. Last of all is 'Ntho Tse', a swirling cosmic cut that takes you on a voyage through lush synth work and heartwarming pads before settling on a nice jazzy vibe.

The latest from Steve O'Sullivan and Mosaic's archive raiding series sees the first ever airing for an unreleased extended mix of the soft and soul-drenched 'Composure', plus two choice selections on the slip, the sleek sub-bass powered 'She Don't Do Chicks' and a dub mix of the equally streamlined 'Bumper Car'. If the A-side is a luxurious period piece of sorts - it could be related to Underground Resistance's 'Galaxy 2 Galaxy' for instance - then two on the other side could have been made yesterday they're so relevant and playable, coasting along with the kind of subtly jacking framework and dubby basslines that G Man made his own. All lovingly remastered at The Exchnage too.

Blackploid has become one of Central Processing Unit's stalwarts in the past couple of years. Martin Matiske's project contributed a trio of EPs to the Sheffield label across 2021 and 2022, with each of them showing off the kind of electro chops and production sensibilities that made Blackploid an ideal fit for an imprint which also boasts the likes of Cygnus, Silicon Scally and Bochum Welt among its catalogue.

Now, for CPU's first release of 2023, Matiske levels things up with the debut Blackploid LPEnter Universe. Across these twelve tracks, Matiske leaves us in no doubt that he's a prime mover in the world of modern electronic music.Enter Universedoes not let up from start to finish, delivering a dozen pieces of leftfield electro that draws from the sound's greats while also showcasing an unpredictability and flair that is all of Blackploid's own.

The tone is set from the first frosty chords of opening cut 'Pulsation'. The track traverses the starscape on pitter-patter drums and chirruping synths, a lively and slightly dystopian roller with an adventurous undercurrent reminiscent of classic Rephlex drops. It's a style which Blackploid often draws for throughout the rest ofEnter Universe, albeit with elements added or subtracted at each stage.

Indeed, this album features some of the most unusual production you will hear on any record this year. While the grooves pulse away in a manner reminiscent of Drexciya or Legowelt, Blackploid layers the mixes with a whole cornucopia of synth tones. 'The Mission' boasts a bleep-bloop breakdown that sounds like malfunctioning rotary telephones; 'Silent Room' is a ghoulish jam which harks back to Warp's legendary Artificial Intelligence compilations; 'Automatik' and 'Wormhole' are defined by some brilliantly strange low-ends - you'll be thinking of Mr. Oizo's 'Flat Beat' with the wiggly former, while the gurgling, writhing anti-lead that dictates 'Wormhole' is oddly thrilling and more than befits the track's title.

This inventive approach is also apparent in some of the structural choices onEnter Universe. While the tracks here all keep a steady, dancefloor friendly pulse, several of them surprise you by switching up the approach after a minute or two. 'Pulsation', 'Automatik' and 'The Mission' all feature moments where a new element - extra hi-hats, a synth line entering from leftfield - inject fresh impetus into the tune to keep the listener on their toes.

Blackploid may push the sonic envelope onEnter Universe, but this does not mean there is no room for melody. In particular, the cuts here which most strongly channel 'Computer World'-era Kraftwerk do so by fronting some slyly tuneful work, particularly in the low end of the mix. 'Unidentified' serves up delightfully springy chords, 'Cell Mutation' leads from the bassline, and 'Space Curve' features little cells of melody and counter-melody working together to closeEnter Universeout on a high.

Blackploid's debut LP Enter Universe marries Drexciyan electro and Warp-school electronica with some brilliantly inventive production choices.

With a moving album cover paying homage to fallen comrades King Von and Nuski, Lil Durk and Only The Family release their fourth OTF label compilation album, Loyal Bros. Alternating between hard-hitting street anthems and emotional ballads, the 23-track tape sees new music from Lil Durk, posthumous appearances from King Von, and contributions from OTF signees Booka600, Memo600, Timo, Doodie Lo, JusBlow600, THF Zoo, and C3. In addition to OTF’s stacked roster, the project features several high profile collaborators, such as Lil Uzi Vert, Tee Grizzley, Foogiano, Big30, EST Gee, Slimelife Shawty, & more. On the heels of an already impressive year, Only The Family makes a strong statement that they're here to stay for years to come.

PLEASURE ZONE PRESENTS - CESARE VS DISORDER - FISRT RINSE EP (12")
LIMITECEDITION - BE FAST

DOUBLE BLACK LP : 2 x 140 G Black Vinyl , Sleeve & 2 x Heavy Weight Printed Inner with UV Gloss Finish

Legendary electronic music duo Orbital return Early 2023 with new album “Optical Delusion”, the Hartnoll brothers first studio album since 2018’s Monster’s Exist. Recorded in Orbital’s Brighton studio, “Optical Delusion” includes contributions from Sleaford Mods, Penelope Isles, Anna B Savage, The Little Pest, Dina Ipavic, Coppe, and perhaps most surprisingly, The Medieval Baebes.
Earlier this year, Orbital celebrated their storied history with “30 Something” which, unlike other Best Of’s, contains reworks, remakes, remixes and re-imaginings of landmark Orbital tracks including “Chime”, “Belfast”, “Halcyon”, “Satan”, and “The Box”

SHORT BIOG:

“A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest of humanity – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison…”

You many have seen this quote attributed to Albert Einstein on social media, the archetypal Smartest Guy Ever apparently having an out-of-character religious epiphany. It certainly leapt out at Paul Hartnoll of Orbital who spotted it in Michael Pollan’s 2018 book How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence.

“As soon as I saw ‘optical delusion’ I thought Oh hey, that’s the album title,” says Paul. “It just seemed to say so much about how people construct their own realities, how we see patterns that aren’t there, how we see what we want to see.

“But it’s actually a misquote. He never quite said that. In the German original what he’s really saying is that human experience is as relative as physics. Wouldn’t it be good if we could accept that, and find a kind of universal theory of everything for the human race? Then you look at everything from history to art to your Twitter feed and you think yeah, that’s what we’re all trying to do all of the time…”

Hence ‘Optical Delusion’, the tenth original Orbital album and the latest in a burst of renewed post-pandemic creativity for two brothers who’ve stayed at the top of their game longer than anyone from the post-1988 Class of Acid House.

Now with ‘Optical Delusion’ the Hartnolls dig deeper into the unquiet psyche of our increasingly surreal and disordered world. Sketched out partly during lockdown but fully recorded in the uncertain After Times, the album summons up conflicting emotions and sometimes beguiling images from years when the science fiction doomsdays that the Hartnolls watched on TV as kids finally came true. There are mesmeric tracks with names like ‘The New Abnormal’ and ‘Requiem For The Pre-Apocalypse’ and ‘Day One’. But there are also straight-up bangers and ethereal cosmic dreams, abstract sound wars and deeply human songs of separation and loss.

And it all starts with a bang. Lead single ‘Dirty Rat’, an outright Fall-meets-Front-242 class rant with vocals by Sleaford Mods mob orator Jason Williamson, harks right back to the Hartnolls’ days of politicised anarcho-squatpunk. It began as a remix swap (Orbital did the Sleafords’ ‘I Don’t Rate You’) and morphed into a comic, brutal, bass-driven harangue not so much against our rulers but at the petty, mean-spirited, frightened, Mail-reading voters who put them there: the people who are “blaming everyone in hospital/blaming everyone at the bottom of the English Channel/blaming everyone who doesn’t look like a fried animal.”

Also key to the album is opening track ‘Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)’ which returns to an Orbital truism, that time always becomes a loop. This chugging, cyclical Orbital groove gives way to an unnerving past-meets-present timeslip fit for ‘Sapphire And Steel’ as goth maenads The Mediaeval Baebes materialise to sing ‘Ring O’Roses’ – the innocent nursery rhyme whose roots are in the Black Death.

“I’ve always liked folk music and mediaeval sounds,” says Paul, himself an occasional Morris dancer. “I had the basis of that track and I wanted to spin it off somehow.” Trawling his archives he stumbled on The Mediaeval Baebes’ version of ‘Ring O’Roses’ “and my hackles just went up. I was like, my God, this is the original pandemic folk song.”

?his being Orbital, there are collaborations galore on the album, the roles once played by Alison Goldfrapp, Lady Leshurr or David Gray now filled by new talents. London singer-songwriter Anna B Savage contributes a compellingly fragile, Anohni-like vocal to ‘Home’, in which nature reclaims the scorched and vacant mega-cities. ‘Day One’ is a pulsing techno track featuring the singer Dina Ipavic. Paul got in touch with her after working on a score for a sculpture show of giant robotic installations by his friend Giles Walker during the pandemic. First Paul cut up his own score and Ipavic’s vocals on the track The Crane, which appears on the deluxe version of the album. Then he thought, Why not work with her for real? The result is school of ‘Belfast’, a bassy dreamscape with vocalised clouds billowing above.

The pensive ‘Are You ?live?’ adds to the Orbital product range of existential questions (‘Are We Here?’, ‘Where Is It Going?’) in collaboration Bella Union signings Penelope Isles, AKA brother and sister act Lily and Jack Wolter. “They’re our studio mates, they work upstairs!” says Paul happily. “And they’ve both got amazing voices.”


But Orbital are Orbital and never far from the dancefloor. “Eventually the more abrasive bits came back into the fold…” ‘You Are The Frequency’, first of two tracks to feature mysterious vocalist The Little Pest, surrounds the listener with warped voices ordering you to the dancefloor (Phil: “we wanted the idea that the music is kind of absorbing you”). And the second, the sinister ‘What A Surprise’, traps you in a paranoid electronic hall of mirrors.

In another nod to Orbital’s resurgent past the cover artwork once again comes from fine art painter John Greenwood, creator of fantastical grotesques for the covers of ‘Snivilisation’, ‘In Sides’ and Orbital’s most recent album, 2018’s ‘Monsters Exist’. Orbital had just had a slick Mark Farrow cover for ‘30 Something’ – this is a return to the overripe and bulbous techno-organic constructions that somehow express Orbital’s own uncontrollably fertile sound.

There are gaps in the future that Orbital are desperate to fill too; there will be tours and festivals and rooms and fields full of people. Those long paralysed months when we had little to look forward to but a Zoom DJ set made Paul and Phil appreciate the things that make life worth living.

2 x Solid White LP, 5mm spine Sleeve UV Gloss Finish, 2x Heavy Weight Printed Inner Sleeve UV Gloss finish, marketing sticker.

Legendary electronic music duo Orbital return Early 2023 with new album “Optical Delusion”, the Hartnoll brothers first studio album since 2018’s Monster’s Exist. Recorded in Orbital’s Brighton studio, “Optical Delusion” includes contributions from Sleaford Mods, Penelope Isles, Anna B Savage, The Little Pest, Dina Ipavic, Coppe, and perhaps most surprisingly, The Medieval Baebes.
Earlier this year, Orbital celebrated their storied history with “30 Something” which, unlike other Best Of’s, contains reworks, remakes, remixes and re-imaginings of landmark Orbital tracks including “Chime”, “Belfast”, “Halcyon”, “Satan”, and “The Box”

SHORT BIOG:

“A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest of humanity – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison…”

You many have seen this quote attributed to Albert Einstein on social media, the archetypal Smartest Guy Ever apparently having an out-of-character religious epiphany. It certainly leapt out at Paul Hartnoll of Orbital who spotted it in Michael Pollan’s 2018 book How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence.

“As soon as I saw ‘optical delusion’ I thought Oh hey, that’s the album title,” says Paul. “It just seemed to say so much about how people construct their own realities, how we see patterns that aren’t there, how we see what we want to see.

“But it’s actually a misquote. He never quite said that. In the German original what he’s really saying is that human experience is as relative as physics. Wouldn’t it be good if we could accept that, and find a kind of universal theory of everything for the human race? Then you look at everything from history to art to your Twitter feed and you think yeah, that’s what we’re all trying to do all of the time…”

Hence ‘Optical Delusion’, the tenth original Orbital album and the latest in a burst of renewed post-pandemic creativity for two brothers who’ve stayed at the top of their game longer than anyone from the post-1988 Class of Acid House.

Now with ‘Optical Delusion’ the Hartnolls dig deeper into the unquiet psyche of our increasingly surreal and disordered world. Sketched out partly during lockdown but fully recorded in the uncertain After Times, the album summons up conflicting emotions and sometimes beguiling images from years when the science fiction doomsdays that the Hartnolls watched on TV as kids finally came true. There are mesmeric tracks with names like ‘The New Abnormal’ and ‘Requiem For The Pre-Apocalypse’ and ‘Day One’. But there are also straight-up bangers and ethereal cosmic dreams, abstract sound wars and deeply human songs of separation and loss.

And it all starts with a bang. Lead single ‘Dirty Rat’, an outright Fall-meets-Front-242 class rant with vocals by Sleaford Mods mob orator Jason Williamson, harks right back to the Hartnolls’ days of politicised anarcho-squatpunk. It began as a remix swap (Orbital did the Sleafords’ ‘I Don’t Rate You’) and morphed into a comic, brutal, bass-driven harangue not so much against our rulers but at the petty, mean-spirited, frightened, Mail-reading voters who put them there: the people who are “blaming everyone in hospital/blaming everyone at the bottom of the English Channel/blaming everyone who doesn’t look like a fried animal.”

Also key to the album is opening track ‘Ringa Ringa (The Old Pandemic Folk Song)’ which returns to an Orbital truism, that time always becomes a loop. This chugging, cyclical Orbital groove gives way to an unnerving past-meets-present timeslip fit for ‘Sapphire And Steel’ as goth maenads The Mediaeval Baebes materialise to sing ‘Ring O’Roses’ – the innocent nursery rhyme whose roots are in the Black Death.

“I’ve always liked folk music and mediaeval sounds,” says Paul, himself an occasional Morris dancer. “I had the basis of that track and I wanted to spin it off somehow.” Trawling his archives he stumbled on The Mediaeval Baebes’ version of ‘Ring O’Roses’ “and my hackles just went up. I was like, my God, this is the original pandemic folk song.”

?his being Orbital, there are collaborations galore on the album, the roles once played by Alison Goldfrapp, Lady Leshurr or David Gray now filled by new talents. London singer-songwriter Anna B Savage contributes a compellingly fragile, Anohni-like vocal to ‘Home’, in which nature reclaims the scorched and vacant mega-cities. ‘Day One’ is a pulsing techno track featuring the singer Dina Ipavic. Paul got in touch with her after working on a score for a sculpture show of giant robotic installations by his friend Giles Walker during the pandemic. First Paul cut up his own score and Ipavic’s vocals on the track The Crane, which appears on the deluxe version of the album. Then he thought, Why not work with her for real? The result is school of ‘Belfast’, a bassy dreamscape with vocalised clouds billowing above.

The pensive ‘Are You ?live?’ adds to the Orbital product range of existential questions (‘Are We Here?’, ‘Where Is It Going?’) in collaboration Bella Union signings Penelope Isles, AKA brother and sister act Lily and Jack Wolter. “They’re our studio mates, they work upstairs!” says Paul happily. “And they’ve both got amazing voices.”


But Orbital are Orbital and never far from the dancefloor. “Eventually the more abrasive bits came back into the fold…” ‘You Are The Frequency’, first of two tracks to feature mysterious vocalist The Little Pest, surrounds the listener with warped voices ordering you to the dancefloor (Phil: “we wanted the idea that the music is kind of absorbing you”). And the second, the sinister ‘What A Surprise’, traps you in a paranoid electronic hall of mirrors.

In another nod to Orbital’s resurgent past the cover artwork once again comes from fine art painter John Greenwood, creator of fantastical grotesques for the covers of ‘Snivilisation’, ‘In Sides’ and Orbital’s most recent album, 2018’s ‘Monsters Exist’. Orbital had just had a slick Mark Farrow cover for ‘30 Something’ – this is a return to the overripe and bulbous techno-organic constructions that somehow express Orbital’s own uncontrollably fertile sound.

There are gaps in the future that Orbital are desperate to fill too; there will be tours and festivals and rooms and fields full of people. Those long paralysed months when we had little to look forward to but a Zoom DJ set made Paul and Phil appreciate the things that make life worth living.

Ugly Mac Beer, a key figure in the French breakbeat scene, founder of Beatsqueeze Records and author of the critically acclaimed albums Modonut 1 & 2 alongside Mister Modo, is back with a new solo album “The Valley of the Kings”, between lofi hip-hop, abstract hip-hop or even broken beat, which will be released on January 27, 2023.

A digger/beatmaker effort par excellence, very inspired by the 90s productions of masters of the genre such as Madlib, DJ Shadow or RZA, the concept of this instrumental album with oriental sounds is based on the search for the sample of “THE” ultimate and perfectly heady loop, which can be listen to over and over again.

The eponymous title track which opens the album sets the tone with its powerful lofi hip-hop drum on a big cinematic and orchestral sound which evokes an Egyptian peplum of the 60s taking place in the heart of the mythical valley of the kings! Another highlight of the album, the track “Les chœurs perdus” resonates like a children’s tale, with its bewitching voices and magical songs set to a catchy beat that evokes the Egyptian goddesses and the mystery of the pyramids. To compose the powerful and rather dark beat of “The New Flame”, another essential piece of the album, the beatmaker drew his inspiration from New York hip-hop from the 90s but also from “crime film” soundtracks from the 70s. The sublime interludes “Fortune & Gloire”, “Years of Despare” and “Ambitious Dream” take us from one track to another, each one more powerful than the other.

In a very cinematographic mood, Ugly Mac Beer succeeds in developing its “old film about Egypt” album concept from start to finish and thus manages to tell a real story that takes us on a journey back in pyramids time.