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In 2024, Kyoto Jazz Massive released their third album as a digital-only project, 30 years after their debut. It now receives the honor of a special vinyl edition, featuring brand-new exclusive mixes by Young Pulse—elevating these already great tracks to even greater heights, for both your ears and your feet.
This marks the first and exclusive collaboration between KJM and Echoes Of A New Dawn Orchestra (aka Jéroboam), the unique Parisian band that has been performing live with KJM across Europe for the past three years. On this occasion, KJM recorded four new tracks with EOANDO, including three original songs ("Power", "Love Wars", and "Impulsive Procession") and a new rendition of “Stand Up”, a previously released composition. To complete the album, you'll also find a stunning cover of KJM’s iconic track "Substream" by EOANDO, as well as their signature piece, “EOANDO's Theme”.
"Power" and "Stand Up" were recorded with Vanessa Freeman, while "Love Wars" features Bembe Segue. This London-based duo has been singing live with KJM since 2004.
"Power" is a crossover anthem, blending jazz-funk and French disco with a gospel touch. Vanessa Freeman’s uplifting lyrics call for collective awareness and energize audiences. "Love Wars" is a live-band interpretation of broken beat with a boogie spirit, enhanced by Bembe Segue’s sharp and spiritual vocals. “EOANDO’s Theme” was specially composed by Echoes Of A New Dawn Orchestra for KJM, capturing the Okino Brothers' love for boogie-funk jams with Brazilian and Balearic influences reminiscent of Azymuth.
“Impulsive Procession” fuses Afro, funk, jazz, fusion, soul, rock, house, and techno—drawing inspiration from several of KJM’s most respected musical heroes. A brand-new version of “Stand Up”, originally released in 2008, was re-recorded live in the studio with EOANDO and fresh vocals by Vanessa Freeman.
The album closes with a reimagined version of “Substream”, one of KJM’s most beloved tracks, covered by EOANDO for the official Tokyo Crossover/Jazz Festival 2023 compilation. This new version was recorded as an organic disco interpretation at Danilo Plessow’s studio in Paris.

World Of Echo announces the reissue of two remastered albums by Japanese guitarist and songwriter Naoki Zushi, 1988’s Paradise, and 2005’s III. Two classics of Japanese psychedelia, both Paradise and III were originally released on Org Records, the imprint of Shinji Shibayama of acid-folk group Nagisa Ni Te, with whom Zushi has guested on second guitar for decades. Both intimate and expansive, rich with revelatory songwriting and blasted, sky-scouring guitar, these reissues return these albums to print for the first time since the 2000s. It’s the first time III has been officially released on vinyl, with an extra, previously unreleased track, “Under The June Moonlight.”

Recorded in Kyoto’s Townhouse Studios in mid 1987 and released in limited-to-500 vinyl pressing in 1988, Paradise emerged from a scene in Kansai, Japan that was embracing the idiosyncracies of 1970s singer-songwriters, the soaring solos of early seventies psychedelia, and the DIY impulse of 1980s post-punk. While Zushi’s musical history stretched back to the early eighties – he was a founding member of Jojo Hiroshige’s noise outfit Hijokaidan – he found his feet with groups like Hallelujahs, whose dream-pop collection Niku O Kuraite Chikai Wo Tateyo was recently reissued by Black Editions, and Idiot O’Clock.

Paradise appeared two years after that Hallelujahs album and share much the same membership – Zushi’s backing band on several of the songs includes Shibayama on drums and Ken-Ichi Takayama (aka Idiot) on electric guitar, though just as often, Zushi plays all the instruments himself. The coordinates here are wide-reaching – you can hear the volume and intensity of Neil Young & Crazy Horse (on “Hallelujah: Left Side” and “Paradise: Midday”), the slow-motion magic of Galaxie 500, the idiosyncratic spirit of The Only Ones, all mixed up with tender guitar miniatures and stumbling garage-psych-pop moves.

Seven years later, after the transitional album Phenomenal Luciferin, Zushi released III. Perhaps his masterpiece, it’s already been bootlegged on vinyl, but this reissue is the real deal. The album was recorded at Studio Nemu over seven years, and sees Zushi backed by Shibayama (bass) and Masako Takeda (drums), his erstwhile bandmates in Nagisa Ni Te. By this stage, Zushi had started to really stretch out, and many of the songs on III swoon languorously, taking their sweet time to say what they need to say. It’s rich with lovely, melancholy songs, in a similar realm to bandmates Nagisa Ni Te, of course, but you can also hear traces of everything from Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs, through seventies private press loner folk, to the slow-burn meanderings of the likes of early Low or Damon & Naomi.

When interviewed by Shibayama in the mid-nineties, Zushi said of Paradise, “it was a sort of collection of songs that had meant something to me up to that point… it was my paradise. I wanted to create paradise.” That’s something Zushi achieves on both of these albums – visionary Japanese psychedelia, en route to paradise. - Jon Dale







g Under The June Moonlight vinyl only bonus track

CRYSTAL STILTS haben zum ersten Mal mit ihrer selbstbetitelten EP 2005 und dem Nachfolger "Alight Of Night" aufhorchen lassen - ein kleines Vorbeben der Welle von fuzzigen, Hall-orientierten Bands, die ihnen auf dem Fuße folgen sollten. In den Jahren, die seitdem ins Land gezogen sind, hat sich die Band weiterentwickelt und 2011 das kräftige ,In Love With Oblivion" und die ,Radiant Door"-EP veröffentlicht. Gegründet von Sänger Brad Hargett und Gitarrist JB Townsend haben sich CRYSTAL STILTS mit Andy Adler am Bass, Keegan Cooke am Schlagzeug und dem Organisten Kyle Forester zu einer kompletten Band gemausert. Dementsprechend wurde das neueste Album der Band, ,Nature Noir", vom Quintett eingespielt. Aufgenommen im Frühjahr 2013 weiten CRYSTAL STILTS ihre Soundpalette aus und spielen mit Streichern, Percussion und Synthies. Auf Tracks wie ,Star Crawl" und ,Sticks And Stones" verfügt der Gesang von Hargett über eine brillante Klarheit und Gefühlstiefe, während die musikalischen Arrangements eine Gewandtheit bezeugen, die die überraschen wird, die CRYSTAL STILTS bisher in die Lo-Fi-Schublade gesteckt hatten.

The album introduced a lush, complex dream world that the singer, composer, and producer created and inhabited largely on her own. She produced all the songs, and wrote and performed everything on the self-released collection outside of a re-imagined cover of Pink Floyd’s “Green is the Colour” and 2 other tracks (“The Time,” “Give It Back To You”), which started as instrumentals written by Survive’s Kyle Dixon (who composed the Stranger Things soundtrack with his bandmate Michael Stein), to which Ainsworth wrote melodies and added lyrics. Ainsworth, who’s relocated to Los Angeles from Toronto since 2017’s Darling of the Afterglow, explains that the collection revealed itself to her “as a play taking place in Mother Nature’s vanishing home,” aka Phantom Forest, and that she’s singing from 3 perspectives: herself, Mother Nature, and Greek Chorus. For instance, of the album’s opener, “Diamonds Cutting Diamonds,” she explains: “The Greek Chorus sets the scene, narrating and offering direction on how to enter Phantom Forest. It’s my hope that the listener will imagine the narration to be directed to them as well, as they begin the journey of the album.” You’ll get a sense of this from the collection’s edenic cover art and the playful, pastoral video for the album’s first single, “Can You Find Her Place.” Its inspiration came from Ainsworth’s love for Italian Renaissance painter Botticelli’s 15-century masterpiece “Primavera,” an allegorical representation of the burgeoning fertility of the earth in spring. She notes: “The video features the Greek gods of the painting in a choreographed Baroque style dance.” Keeping with the personal feel of the collection, her sister Abby Ainsworth directed the clip. In line with the classical and historical depths of Phantom Forest, Ainsworth, who holds a Masters Degree in film scoring composition from NYU and studied composition as an undergrad at McGill, notes that although the album might be considered pop, she approached it as an orchestrator. “Even if I’m dealing purely with synths,” she says, “The songs are like a score, each one an evolving journey. I love to use strings so I’ve included my string arrangements on ‘Tell Me I Exist’ and ‘Can You Find Her Place.’ I recorded live musicians on drums, bass, and guitar on ‘Edge of the Throne,’ ‘The Time,’ and ‘Floating Dream,’ and wove those live elements into my programmed elements.” Phantom Forest is a beautiful, vast collection that mixes the historical and the hands on, with hooks about the apocalypse and people obsessively using face-recognition software to see what paintings their face match with, in search of some kind of connection. It’s a journey that holds up to close listening (and lyric reading) and to dance floors, but that can also exist on a purely emotional plane. In all cases, it asks that you listen, and take some kind of action.

Rivet’s new album for Editions Mego is an uplifting and joyous affair coming in the wake of tragedy and disenchantment. It is yet another rebirth from an artist willing to take a step back and reprise the current situation he is in. Mika Hallbäck has a long credible history in the Swedish underground. First recognised for his industrial techno works under the Grovskopa moniker he worked privately on more experimental works that eventually came out as On Feather and Wire, an album released on Editions Mego in 2020. After much acclaim for this bold new direction that blended electronic abstraction, pop and industrial forms into a heavy synthetic trip two tragedies struck. One was the passing of label boss Peter Rehberg and then the passing of his dog Lilo, who was as close as a companion one could have. These events led to the release of the more unsettling follow up L+P-2 (Lilo and Pita minus two) on Midnight Shift Records in 2023. Peck Glamour sees Rivet return to the reawakened Editions Mego with an album of optimism inspired by reconciliation with loss and further explorations of new mental/sonic realms.

Hallbäck defines his approach as not being married to any particular machine, instrument, process or genre. However he holds a particular affinity to sampling, of which, he says, provides the dirt and grit amongst what would otherwise be pristine, generic machine music. The contemporary crate digging method of scouring obscure download music bogs for unique sounds was his preferred research practice.

Peck Glamour is an album full of tracks brimming with the excitement of exploration. It's the results of a mind informed by punk, industrial, techno, dancefloor, disappointment, trauma and rebirth. Here the synthetic and authentic is viewed simply as the same means of human rationale and expression.

The opening, ‘Catch Up to Light’, sets the scene with ecstatic and odd fluorescent vocals sliding amongst crystalline likembe whilst synths swirl amongst the external festivities. ‘Orbiting Empty Cocoon’ is somewhat a homage to the alien sound worlds of The Orb, one which takes the listener deeper into a mind melting array of teased potential as visual elements are executed in a mask of audio wizardry and euphoric staccato rhythms, the later being a nod to Singeli music. ‘Patitur Butcher’ is more dance frontal utilising the Ghatam drum and a YouTube rip of a Chinese language lesson. ‘Plastic Bag Putain’ was made during the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and should be clear of its intent. ‘All that Heaven Allows’ is a marimba cover of an imaginary Love Parade anthem. 'Kyrie Geire’ potentially briefly fills the void left by the demise of Coil. The entire trip of Peck Glamour is sewn up with ‘We left before we came’ whereby extraneous recordings of double bass player Gregory Vartian-Foss (tuning/strumming/moving the bass) are superimposed with local field recordings to create a gorgeous bed of sounds acting as an exciting exit music to this sharp collection of cinematic ear excursions.

2025 Repress.

In honor of the June summer moon, 2017.

Early support from Alan Backdrop, Cio D'Or, Deepbass, Ness, Svreca, Mod21, Slam, Oscar Mulero, Patrick Siech, Refracted, TM404, A Sacred Geometry, Etapp Kyle, Exium, Iori, Jonas Kopp, Kwartz, Retina.IT, Takaaki Itoh, Eric Cloutier, Brando Lupi and Dasha Rush to name a few.

Saxophonist, flautist and producer Chip Wickham casts a formidable shadow across the worldwide jazz landscape. Originally from Brighton, but now dividing his time between the UK, Spain and the Middle-East, he has made a name for himself with a series of beautifully crafted solo albums that draw equally on the hard swinging spiritual jazz of Roland Kirk, Yusef Lateef and Sahih Shihab, alongside the music of British jazz legends such as Tubby Hayes and Harold McNair and the more contemporary sounds of Jazzanova, Kyoto Jazz Massive and Robert Glasper. His close working relationship with Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana Records has spanned close to two decades (since he played on Halsall’s 2008 debut ‘Sending My Love’) and has since released three standout releases on the label (the ‘Cloud 10’ LP, and the ‘Astral Travelling’ and ‘Love & Life’ EP’s). Once again returning to the heralded label, he now prepares to release his elegant fifth studio album ‘The Eternal Now’. Further exploring his penchant for hard-hitting soulful, spiritual jazz and modal hard-bop, it denotes an exciting new chapter in his much- revered discography, once which sees his unbridled artist flourish into new and fruitful pastures.

A beautifully crafted record, ‘The Eternal Now’ is a heartfelt ode to submitting oneself to the practice of creating art, and the freedom that’s derived from letting go. Speaking on his journey to bringing it into the world, Chip explains “The Eternal Now is a creative place where time has no purpose. A place where the past and the future don’t exist. A place where an artist can create something that is timeless and relevant. Writing this album has been a deliberate journey of exploration and drive into the furthest reaches of creativity. An attempt to push myself artistically into new spaces using new colours and new energy”. On how he approached this record in comparison to his previous offerings, he divulges ‘I had to be playful and take risks. It has taken longer than any other album to make and it has been so worth it. I have been drifting and taking the road less travelled as well as not looking back. I’ve enjoyed being on the outside and the freedom it has brought me to create something new and fresh and relevant and timeless.’

The third album by Popol Vuh, a collective of musicians founded in Germany by Florian Fricke in 1969. 'Hosianna Mantra’ was a departure from the band’s first two records. Leader Florian Fricke abandoned the use of the Moog synthesiser and instead employed acoustic instrumentation such as piano, oboe and tambura. The record also featured evocative vocals by Korean singer Djong Yun and guitar contributions from Conny Veit.

The resulting album was one of the most inspiring, evocative and beautiful works to emerge in Germany in the 1970s and its fusion of ethnic, classical and ambient influences remains unique.

It is little wonder that 'Hosianna Mantra’ remains regarded as one of the finest works by Popol Vuh and continues to be held in high regard by both critics and aficionados alike.

This Esoteric Recordings edition has been cut at Abbey Road studios and replicates the original album artwork.

Transparent violettes Vinyl, limitiert auf 350 Exemplare. Riffs wie eine Wand aus Wüstensand. Schweiß und Tränen im Gesicht. Der unbarmherzige Groove der 90er, violett blitzende Lichter und viel, viel Rauch.GIANT HAZE sind 4 Musiker aus der Kieler Stoner Rock / Hardcore Szene, die gemeinsam für KYUSS-Tribute Shows auf der Bühne standen. Schnell kristallisierten sich kreative Synergien innerhalb der Band heraus und es entstanden eigene Songs - Giant Haze war geboren. Im Spätsommer 2024 wurde das Debütalbum ,Cosmic Mother" im bandeigenen Studio aufgenommen und anschließend von Ulf Nagel gemischt und gemastert. Schlagzeug und Bass wurden an einem Tag live eingespielt, um den richtigen Groove einzufangen. Die Produktion erfolgte ganz oldschool ohne Amp-Modeling, Drum-Trigger oder sonstigem Schnickschnack. Es wurde lediglich sehr sorgfältig und detailverliebt mikrofoniert und aufgenommen.Das spacige Artwork stammt aus der Hand von Gitarrist Pete und steht symptomatisch für das Herzblut und die Hingabe, mit der alle Bandmitglieder bei Giant Haze am Werk sind. Die Texte erzählen persönliche Geschichten über die Irrungen und Wirrungen des Lebens, Drogen, verlorene Freunde sowie kritische Gedanken zu gesellschaftlichen Entwicklungen und nationalistischen Tendenzen.

Diese sehr bedeutsamen Veröffentlichungen wurden bereits 2007 und 2015 von Kyrck Productions unter dem Titel "Stigma Diabolicum" zusammengestellt und physisch veröffentlicht. Mit den aktuellen Neuauflagen werden diese historischen Aufnahmen jedoch endlich auf eine Weise in Szene gesetzt, die sie verdienen. Die Seiten der hochwertigen 36-seitigen Artbook-CD-Edition enthalten persönliche Erinnerungen und Notizen der ursprünglichen Bandmitglieder, die Geschichten erzählen und faszinierende Einblicke in die Zeit der Wiedergeburt des Black Metal bieten. Sie enthalten außerdem eine Sammlung seltener Fotos, die unverfälschte Momente hinter den Kulissen einfangen und ihren intensiven, eigenwilligen Kreationen eine zusätzliche Ebene verleihen. Die Künstler offenbaren, was sie von anderen abhob und warum ihr Vermächtnis so heraussticht. Die neue Vinyl-Edition präsentiert "Stigma Diabolicum" erstmals auf einer Doppel-LP mit allen 15 Titeln – vier mehr als auf den vorherigen Vinyl-Editionen. In Erinnerung an die aufregenden vergangenen Zeiten erscheint "Stigma Diabolicum" außerdem erstmals im MC-Format.

Sydney artist Natalie Slade's debut album Control, co-written with Hiatus Kaiyote's Simon Mavin, is now followed-up with a second instalment of Australian future soul in Molasses, an album featuring a range of UK and Antipodean artists. Joined by The Dieyoungs on keys and Laneous on guitar, Natalie's songwriting and vocals are brought to the fore with excellent production by key Melbourne scene driver, Brisbane's Sampology and additional production from guest Dan Kye. Staying true to the debut album's style of Australian future soul Molasses has an emphasis on poetic storytelling, Natalie's lyrics and melodies that are heard against a lush bed of string arrangements and the influence of Sampology’s soulful but gritty sensibility. As well as her amazing eponymous releases Natalie has also featured on tracks from artists as important and diverse as Posy, Plutonic Lab, Parker and Rhodes and Dojo Cuts among others. Sampology is an innovative producer who, for the past 15 years or so, has been a driving force behind Australia's Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul and Broken Beat/Jazz explosion and has worked with the likes of Ron Trent, Tiana Khasi and Charlie Hill as well as releasing his own tracks. This collaboration between Natalie and Sampology on Molasses is a real high-water mark of music, song-writing and production. Releasing on digital and double vinyl LP, Molasses further chronicles the rising stars of Australia's burgeoning and increasingly important neo-soul and future soul scenes.

Since the late 1960s, jazz drummer Takeo Moriyama has been a dominant force in the free jazz scene, initially with the Yosuke Yamashita Trio, and more recently, collaborating with the KYOTO JAZZ SEXTET, earning respect from past to present. Recorded in 1980 with his quartet featuring Fumio Itabashi, this album is renowned for being the first to include the emotionally rich Japanese masterpiece "Watarase". Other highlights include the spirited "Exchange" and the beautifully poignant "Goodbye". Each track is a standout, offering a grand-scale performance where tranquility and movement organically intertwine, making it one of the top albums in the history of Japanese jazz.

The UK's renowned jazz-funk outfit Speedometer spawns a new single here that takes the form of a bunch of classy covers, all taken from their recent third album Four Flights Up. The A-side offers a refined version of 'Am I Your Woman?', plus a take on the Chi-Lites' classic 'Are You My Woman (Tell Me So)' with Ria Currie's standout vocals lodging deep in your soul. This one was inspired by a night spent dancing at a club in Osaka during their 2005 Japan tour and arms with a smooth groove. On the B-side, they do a fine job of 'Nam M'Yoho Ren'Ge Kyo,' originally by the Night Blooming Jazzmen, by delivering a tight, funky groove with exceptional horn and drum arrangements.

“BLUE” is a collaborative album between Russian artist Pavel Milyakov and Kyiv-based singer Yana Pavlova. Seven pieces compiled of minimalistic guitar loops, sax (including recordings by Alex Zhang Hungtai), dubby bass guitar and shadowy vocals. Mic noises, clicks and other sonic imperfections are a natural part of these tracks, as they are all composed with the use of random and unpredictable algorithms, purely improvised. Perfect soundtrack for the troubled summer days (and nights).

Wer ROME seit der 20-jährigen Bandgeschichte verfolgt, wird nicht bestreiten können: Jerome Reuter ist immer für eine Überraschung gut. Sicher ist der Folk Noir, die düstere Liedermacherkunst mit Akustikgitarre und melancholischen Vocals, seine kreative Basis und Kontinuität. Doch immer wieder finden sich auf seinen Alben atmosphärische Ambienttracks – filmmusikartige Collage und Vertonungen der Konzeptthemen, die ROMEs Ursprung in der Post-Industrial-Culture belegen. Und immer wieder überschreitet er souverän die Grenze zu anderen Genres wie dem Post Punk und dem dunklen Elektropop. Statt luziden Akustikakkorden treten dann noisige, kalte Elemente ins Zentrum, martialische Samples, analoge Synthieklänge und programmierte Beats, die auch auf dem Szenedancefloor nicht stören würden.

„Terres de Sang“ ist nun anlässlich des 20-jährigen Bandjubiläums eine Kollektion von Songs und Instrumentals, die in diesen Versionen noch nicht erhältlich sind, sei es live oder in Remixen. Dazu kommen jene typischen ROME-Klangkollagen, die man von den Intros der Livekonzerte kennt. „Terres de Sang“ ist ein Füllhorn der unterschiedlichen Stile, Themen und Stimmungen, die ROME seit zwei Dekaden kennzeichnen. Daraus ergibt sich kein eigenständiges neues Album, aber ein ebenso spannendes wie unterhaltsames Kaleidoskop der unerschöpflichen Kreativität Jerome Reuters, das dem ROME-Sammler aus dem Herzen spricht. Darunter finden sich auch alternative Liveversionen von beliebten ROME-Hits wie „Das Feuerordal“, „Blighter“ und „Secret Germany“.

Erhältlich als:
- 2CD Digipak
- Schwarzes, 180 Gramm schweres 12“ Doppel-Vinyl, Extra audiophiler Tonträger von hoher Qualität - deutsche Pressung, Gatefold-Klappverpackung, Mehrfarbig bedruckte Innenhüllen, Limitiert auf 500 Exemplare

Journeys are never just about distance. They stretch time, reshape perception, and demand transformation. With its latest vinyl split EP, Standard Deviation presents four tracks by Nastya Vogan and Phase Fatale that serves as a vessel for tracing displacement, memory, and the liminality of return. These melancholic yet powerful techno cuts serve both the concrete dance floor and moments of intimate self-reflection. Two artists--Nastya Vogan and Phase Fatale--approach Kyiv from different trajectories, but they both keep returning to the city. Vogan, a Ukrainian musician and resident DJ of Kyiv, and Phase Fatale (Hayden Payne), Berlin-based producer, Berghain and Khidi resident and founder of BITE Records, share a longstanding musical friendship. They've played B2B sets at K41 and Vogan, appeared on BITE's ''Shedding Skin'' compilation in 2023, and they share a vision for music selection, from aesthetics to philosophy. Vogan's 'Transitioning Territory' and 'This Is Not a Love Song' unravel the psycho-geography of transition. The first track captures the 24-hour journey to Kyiv as a rite of passage where 'time seems to fold; you are profoundly present yet paradoxically far from the world you left.' In this suspended state, memories surface and ordinary life recedes as the train's rhythm becomes its own meditation. Her second track explores Lacanian limerence--consciously falling for something not fully known, filling absences with personal projections as a way to discover what lies within oneself. Phase Fatale's contributions capture movement and distance with mechanical precision. 'Kekkai,' takes its name from the Japanese word for boundary, echoing 'respect my borders' ethos while reflecting on crossing into wartime Ukraine. The term also suggests a protective force field in Buddhist thought--much like Kyiv's current aura of resistance. 'Neosyazhna Rosa' (Unreachable Rose) honors Payne's Ukrainian grandmother Rose, weaving family history into his present connection with Ukraine. Both pieces balance melancholy with light, their sound palette of lush pads and rhythmic breaks crafted with K41's dance floor in mind.

Foehn & Jerome feat. Sonya Zlo - Macho Madness (PFFD003)

Berlin, Summer 2025 - A raw, hypnotic, and deeply conceptual collaboration is about to make waves. Austrian DJ and producer duo Foehn & Jerome, residents of Berlin's iconic Club Der Visionaere and founders of the Perfumed Freedom label, team up with Ukrainian artist and producer Sonya Zlo to present "Macho Madness" - a wild and genre-bending release born from an unfiltered studio jam that spiralled into something bigger. In addition to their experimental project Space Curls, with which the three artists also perform live shows, Sonya, Fabian, and Jerome have been working on their new techno/house project.

In a world where stereotypes wrestle for power, "Macho Madness" challenges everything we thought was normal. Overblown masculinity, the illusion of strength, and staged rituals of dominance – that is what we call the "Macho Madness".

Foehn & Jerome, known for their electrifying DJ sets, have been shaping Berlin's underground scene for over a decade. Sonya Zlo, who moved to Berlin from Kyiv in 2022, stumbled upon their gig by chance - and what started as a conversation about track ID's turned into a full-on collaboration.

"Working with Foehn & Jerome has taught me so much," says Sonya. "I come from a jazz background, so this was completely new territory for me - but bringing my melodic instincts into this heavy, industrial sound was crazy exciting".

Following Perfumed Freedom's recent releases "The Frisbee of No Return" and "Hermanngirl", the new record "Macho Madness" will be released in summer 2025. Play it, stream it, or pick up the limited vinyl - just don't expect anything ordinary.

Friss is a turntablist at heart. Inspired by legends like C2C, The X-Ecutioners, Cut Chemist, A-Trak, D-Styles and many more, he always dreamed of creating music in that same spirit. For years, he searched for his own unique sound. The search is over, it’s been found.

GENERATION CMD+Z is a tribute to the art of turntablism, filled with battle record references. Soulful, jazzy hiphop beats accompanied with scratches by friss., DJ Robert Smith and Kypski. The warm, distinctive touch of Amsterdam-based keys wizard Soul Supreme shines through on "Beep Aaah Fresh" and "Use Head. After years of rocking clubs and touring with side projects, Friss is taking it back to the roots: beats and scratches, turntables and a mixer, a computer and CMD+Z. At the end of the record there is a "hidden" scratch sentence containing all scratch samples used on the record to complete the turntablism feel.

Following his journey into the 45 scene with Deejay Irie as It Takes Two since 2020, this marks Friss’s first-ever solo release — a personal and powerful debut.

Limited to just 200 copies.

KYOTO JAZZ SEXTET's new work is a folk song cover!
KYOTO JAZZ SEXTET, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2025, has released an emergency 12-inch. It is a cover of "DOSOJIN NO UTA",
a folk song handed down in Nozawa Onsen Village, Nagano Prefecture, with a spiritual and danceable jazz arrangement.
In 2022, the demo version was used for the video distribution of the Dosojin Festival and secretly attracted attention, and was completed in 2025
with new recordings of drums and bass.
It was also selected as the commercial song for "THE GIN SODA", which uses gin from Nozawa Onsen Village Distillery and will be released at Lawson stores
nationwide in March 2025, and has attracted a lot of attention.
The coupling is Extra Freedom, which has been played more than 1 million times on Spotify and became KYOTO JAZZ SEXTET's biggest hit. In addition, the album includes a new jazz version of Still In Love, a cover of Shuya Okino's global anthem, featuring Navasha Daya and Tomoki Sanders.

This is a supreme album that breaks new ground for KYOTO JAZZ SEXTET and features their strongest songs.
This is also the first release from KJCC (Kyoto Jazzy Creative Council), a voluntary organization that Shuya Okino founded with Yukari BB (Jazz Sport Kyoto) and Masaki Tamura (DoitJAZZ!). Shuya Okino himself wrote the Japanese title on the front cover.

"New Messiahs" vereint halsbrecherische Riffs, atmosphärische Zwischenspiele und die dunklen, gefühlvollen Töne, nach denen sich Fans sehnen. Das Album bringt neue Kollaborationen mit sich, darunter Kyle Taylor am Schlagzeug, meisterhafte Soli von Charlie Honig und Craig Blackwell und ein eindringliches BonusCover mit Todd La Torre (Queensryche). Ashes of Ares zeigen handwerkliches Können der Spitzenklasse. Zusammen mit dem atemberaubenden Artwork von Kamil Pietruczynik ist diese Veröffentlichung mehr als nur Musik - sie ist ein Statement.

Jessica Winters Debüt ist ein vollendetes, mutiges und hinterfragendes Album voller Persönlichkeit, das irgendwo zwischen Therapie und Tanzfläche angesiedelt ist. Musikalisch finden sich Anklänge an Kylie Minogue und dem Glanz der 80er-Jahre-Madonna, der Extravaganz von Prince und Queen, der Energie und des gelegentlichen Knurren des Punk und der verträumt hochgezogenen Augenbraue der Psychedelia. In einer Welt, in der maximalistischer Pop zurück ist und Therapie-Memes das Mass aller Dinge sind, ist "My First Album" der perfekte Soundtrack.

Jessica Winter ist eine britische Sängerin, Songwriterin und Produzentin, bekannt für ihre experimentelle Popmusik, die Elemente verschiedener Genres wie Pop, Industrial und Indie vereint. Bisher hat Jessica eine Reihe von EPs veröffentlicht, die ihre Fähigkeit, unkonventionelle Themen und introspektive Texte in Popsongstrukturen einfließen zu lassen, unter Beweis stellen. Zusätzlich zu ihrem Soloprojekt verfügt Winter über eine umfangreiche Liste an Referenzen als Co-Autorin und Produzentin, die mit Künstlern wie The Horrors, The Big Moon, Jazmin Bean, Phoebe Green, Lauren Auder, Pre Goblin, Sundara Karma, Walt Disco und Brodka zusammenarbeitete.

Emerging from the Kansai underground with a sense of ritual and restraint, G Version III returns with a slab of meditative pressure, carved for sound systems. Following last year’s cassette release on Digital Sting, the Kyoto-based producer deepens his exploration of experimental steppers and sacred low-end science.

TRK 1 treads heavy—medium-tempo four-to-the-floor steppers, soaked in 80s/90s UK dub DNA and wired with flickers of celestial synth energy, edged with something unknown.

TRK 2 drifts off-grid—a 100bpm oddity conjuring sacred synth rituals and off-beat spatial tension. Droning and eerily weightless, it hangs like a vapor of frozen scent in an echo chamber.

Flip the plate and TRK 3 and 4 ignite—raw, unrelenting steppers built to test the physical limits of the rig. No compromise, no decoration—just ritual voltage for the floor.

Riddim Chango’s 16th release channels something ancient through circuitry, born for the weight.

Spirituelle Musik mit tiefer Resonanz, übertragen durch Klavier, Orgel und Harmonium von der geliebten Komponistin und äthiopischen orthodoxen Nonne Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru. "Church of Kidane Mehret" versammelt das gesamte musikalische Werk von Emahoys gleichnamigem Privatpress-Album von 1972 sowie zwei zusätzliche unveröffentlichte Klavieraufnahmen mit Emahoys ,Äthiopischer Kirchenmusik". Die Aufnahmen entstanden in Kirchen in ganz Jerusalem. Zum ersten Mal hören wir Emahoy auf dem Harmonium und der massiven, dröhnenden Pfeifenorgel, neben einigen ihrer bewegendsten Klavierstücke. Bei ,Ave Maria" hallt ihr läutendes Klavier gegen alte Steinmauern. Ihre vertrauten melodischen Linien erhalten eine neue Resonanz, wenn sie in ,Spring Ode - Meskerem" durch das Harmonium gespielt werden. Zwei überragende Orgelstücke bilden die B-Seite, die Emahoys klassische europäische Ausbildung mit ihrem lebenslangen Studium der äthiopischer religiöser Musik kombinieren. Nirgendwo ist Emahoys einzigartige Kombination von Einflüssen deutlicher als bei ,Essay on Mahlet", einem meditativen Dauerbrenner, in dem Emahoy die freien Verse der orthodoxen Liturgie Note für Note auf dem Klavier interpretiert. Dieses aufschlussreiche Stück stammt, neben der dramatischen Klavierkomposition ,The Storm", von einem anderen selbstveröffentlichten Album, "Der Sang Des Meeres" von 1963. Eines der einzigen bekannten Exemplare wurde vor dem Müll gerettet und von einer Mitschwester aus Emahoys Kloster am Rande von Emahoys Beerdigung im März 2023 an Mississippi Records weitergegeben. Die Vinylausgaben kommen im Oldschool Tip-On-Jacket mit metallischer Silberfolienprägung und einem 12-seitigen Booklet mit ausführlichen Linernotes des Gelehrten und Pianisten Thomas Feng.

Spirituelle Musik mit tiefer Resonanz, übertragen durch Klavier, Orgel und Harmonium von der geliebten Komponistin und äthiopischen orthodoxen Nonne Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru. "Church of Kidane Mehret" versammelt das gesamte musikalische Werk von Emahoys gleichnamigem Privatpress-Album von 1972 sowie zwei zusätzliche unveröffentlichte Klavieraufnahmen mit Emahoys ,Äthiopischer Kirchenmusik". Die Aufnahmen entstanden in Kirchen in ganz Jerusalem. Zum ersten Mal hören wir Emahoy auf dem Harmonium und der massiven, dröhnenden Pfeifenorgel, neben einigen ihrer bewegendsten Klavierstücke. Bei ,Ave Maria" hallt ihr läutendes Klavier gegen alte Steinmauern. Ihre vertrauten melodischen Linien erhalten eine neue Resonanz, wenn sie in ,Spring Ode - Meskerem" durch das Harmonium gespielt werden. Zwei überragende Orgelstücke bilden die B-Seite, die Emahoys klassische europäische Ausbildung mit ihrem lebenslangen Studium der äthiopischer religiöser Musik kombinieren. Nirgendwo ist Emahoys einzigartige Kombination von Einflüssen deutlicher als bei ,Essay on Mahlet", einem meditativen Dauerbrenner, in dem Emahoy die freien Verse der orthodoxen Liturgie Note für Note auf dem Klavier interpretiert. Dieses aufschlussreiche Stück stammt, neben der dramatischen Klavierkomposition ,The Storm", von einem anderen selbstveröffentlichten Album, "Der Sang Des Meeres" von 1963. Eines der einzigen bekannten Exemplare wurde vor dem Müll gerettet und von einer Mitschwester aus Emahoys Kloster am Rande von Emahoys Beerdigung im März 2023 an Mississippi Records weitergegeben.

Kesha’s sixth studio album, . (PERIOD) – yes, it's just a period. – is an unapologetic, unfiltered declaration of artistic freedom and fearless authenticity from the 2x GRAMMY® Award-nominated pop icon. Conceived, co-produced and co-written by Kesha, the 11-song collection transcends pop norms to create a raw, daring, and intensely personal sonic journey, a defiant act of self-expression that refuses to adhere to expectations or play it safe.
More than just a new album, . (PERIOD) is Kesha at her most powerful best, turning her experiences into vibrant, audacious art with a spiked heel at the neck of pop culture.
Among its many exhilarating highlights, . (PERIOD) includes 2024’s blockbuster hits “JOYRIDE” and “DELUSIONAL,” both available everywhere now. Currently boasting over 103M streams at Spotify alone, “JOYRIDE” proved a true sensation since its Independence Day release, reaching #6 on Billboard’s “Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles” and “Hot Dance/Electronic Songs” along with the top 30 on “Pop Airplay” and chart success around the world from the UK to New Zealand. Produced by Zhone and co-written by Kesha, Zhone, and Madison Love, the track marked the triumphant first chapter of a milestone new era for Kesha, celebrating both her long overdue empowerment as an independent artist as well as a powerful sonic evolution following 2023’s critically acclaimed fifth studio album, Gag Order. Along with its popular achievement, “JOYRIDE” has been met by high-profile critical applause from the likes of Rolling Stone, Variety, and Vulture, to name only a few. Perhaps NYLON said it best: “Everything about ‘JOYRIDE’ is a trip…The original glitter-faced party animal of the 2010s is back with a fiery vengeance.”
“JOYRIDE” joined by an equally acclaimed official music video streaming now on YouTube.
Directed by Dimitri Basil (Kylie Minogue, Vance Joy), Cooper Roussel (Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Miami Horror), and Laura Gorun (Joywave, Kings of Leon), the high-octane visual received wide-ranging attention from major publications and top online outlets around the globe, including Billboard, Vulture, and Rolling Stone, the latter of which raved, ““Kesha is taking her foot off the brakes and going full-speed ahead on her new video for ‘JOYRIDE.’ The video sees Kesha racing through the desert in a hot red convertible while being chased by a helicopter, gun-toting assassins, and a shirtless dude hell-bent on catching up to the pop diva.”

Kesha’s sixth studio album, . (PERIOD) – yes, it's just a period. – is an unapologetic, unfiltered declaration of artistic freedom and fearless authenticity from the 2x GRAMMY® Award-nominated pop icon. Conceived, co-produced and co-written by Kesha, the 11-song collection transcends pop norms to create a raw, daring, and intensely personal sonic journey, a defiant act of self-expression that refuses to adhere to expectations or play it safe.
More than just a new album, . (PERIOD) is Kesha at her most powerful best, turning her experiences into vibrant, audacious art with a spiked heel at the neck of pop culture.
Among its many exhilarating highlights, . (PERIOD) includes 2024’s blockbuster hits “JOYRIDE” and “DELUSIONAL,” both available everywhere now. Currently boasting over 103M streams at Spotify alone, “JOYRIDE” proved a true sensation since its Independence Day release, reaching #6 on Billboard’s “Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles” and “Hot Dance/Electronic Songs” along with the top 30 on “Pop Airplay” and chart success around the world from the UK to New Zealand. Produced by Zhone and co-written by Kesha, Zhone, and Madison Love, the track marked the triumphant first chapter of a milestone new era for Kesha, celebrating both her long overdue empowerment as an independent artist as well as a powerful sonic evolution following 2023’s critically acclaimed fifth studio album, Gag Order. Along with its popular achievement, “JOYRIDE” has been met by high-profile critical applause from the likes of Rolling Stone, Variety, and Vulture, to name only a few. Perhaps NYLON said it best: “Everything about ‘JOYRIDE’ is a trip…The original glitter-faced party animal of the 2010s is back with a fiery vengeance.”
“JOYRIDE” joined by an equally acclaimed official music video streaming now on YouTube.
Directed by Dimitri Basil (Kylie Minogue, Vance Joy), Cooper Roussel (Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Miami Horror), and Laura Gorun (Joywave, Kings of Leon), the high-octane visual received wide-ranging attention from major publications and top online outlets around the globe, including Billboard, Vulture, and Rolling Stone, the latter of which raved, ““Kesha is taking her foot off the brakes and going full-speed ahead on her new video for ‘JOYRIDE.’ The video sees Kesha racing through the desert in a hot red convertible while being chased by a helicopter, gun-toting assassins, and a shirtless dude hell-bent on catching up to the pop diva.”

After their 2022 LP 'Twelve Hymns To Syng Along', cult songwriter Mark ten Hoor, bass giant Peter Kroes, and drumming king of tape-hiss Arjan Spies - aka THE KRYNG - did what they do best: record more tunes at Studio Teepdek.

New Traditions is a collection of pipe music, electronic music, mouth music and folk music from five emerging and prominent Scottish artists.

It started in Sutherland with a recording of The Waters of Kylesku. “Do you learn any Gaelic at the school?” asks Hamish Henderson of Christine Stewart. “No,” she answers. “That’s a shame,” he responds, “Isn’t it?” she says. Then she sings. Her voice is of the peat itself, grown from the earth as the language was. It soars raptor-like above drenched ground and scoured pink rock.

Next, to Nancy Dorian, a linguistic missionary of sorts, who came from America to watch a language die. She charted the decline of Gaelic in a cluster of Sutherland villages from 1963 to 2020 when the terminal native speaker passed. Gaelic has origins in nature, with each letter of the alphabet named after a tree. It seems significant that the land of the north is now all-but devoid of forest.

Enter Alan Lomax, who travelled the world documenting indigenous music. Material from his archives feature on (fucking) Moby’s platinum selling Play. Despite the record’s worldwide commercial success we know very little of the music he essentially exploited.

Then musician Martyn Bennett, who built tracks around Lomax recordings of Scots and Gaelic voices, and did so with love that shared his blood with the cancer that killed him. His records both popularised and preserved obscure indigenous Scottish music.

This collection of tunes has similar intent: to consolidate ephemeral words in physical grooves - real as the rigs that still scar the earth - but also a desire to interpret. These versions have the greatest reverence for the originals at heart, but like the architecture of a great gallery, serve to protect and elevate.

Shutting Down Here ist ein besonderes Werk. Symbolisch gesehen deckt es einen Zeitraum von dreißig Jahren ab, zwischen zwei Besuchen von Jim O'Rourke im GRM, der erste als junger Mann, der von der Institution und seinem Repertoire fasziniert war, der zweite als vollendeter Musiker, einflussreich und von einer Aura des Geheimnisvollen durchdrungen. Shutting Down Here ist ein Stück, das wie ein Universum geformt ist, eine heterogene Welt, in der die verschiedenen musikalischen Facetten von Jim O'Rourke aufeinanderprallen: instrumentales Schreiben, Field Recordings, elektronische Texturen und kybernetische Verwandlungen, dynamische Räume, harmonische Räume, stille Abschnitte. Diese Vielfalt der Herangehensweise schwächt merkwürdigerweise in keiner Weise die Kohärenz des Ganzen, und das ist das Talent von Jim O'Rourke.

All Men Unto Me is a project led by Rylan Gleave, composer and vocalist (most notably in Ashenspire and various Paraorchestra projects). Today, All Men Unto Me announces their second album Requiem, an album which re-imagines an ancient mourning in a real, contemporary setting. Taking the broad emotional arcs of the Missa pro Defunctis, these structures pave way for new songs, ruminating on patriarchal power systems and the conditions of transmasculinity within these, through the haze of Queer reverence and forgiveness. In Rylan's words, the Missa pro Defunctis "translates to ‘Mass for the dead’, and refers to the Catholic text taken from the Roman Missal. When set to music, it is called a ‘Requiem’. Requiem masses are usually performed at funerals. I’ve sung in a few Requiems — Mozart, Fauré, Duruflé — when I’ve been in choirs, and felt those dramatic arcs of the structure in my own voice. Writing a Requiem felt like processing my own complex feelings about the Church, patriarchal power within it (and more broadly), and the death of a part of me in a framework that allowed for mourning. The contours of sorrow, light, forgiveness, and reverence made space for these songs to speak to my own identity as a survivor, and use that structure in a way that let me direct an ancient narrative myself." Marrying traditional Anglican soundworlds of electro-pneumatic church organ and stacked choral vocals with heavier sounds, closer to experimental/noise rock and doom metal, Requiem sits at times near Swans, Kayo Dot, Lingua Ignota, Greet Death, and Scott Walker.







[e] SEQUENTIA [video]

Seven years after their last release (Helltown, 2018), Electric Citizen returns with their fourth album, EC4-a powerful statement of renewal and raw energy. Written by Ross Dolan with contributions from the full band, the album was meticulously crafted over several years and recorded with Mike Montgomery and John Hoffman at Candyland Studio in Dayton, KY. The album was mixed by Collin Dupuis (Lana Del Rey, The Black Keys) in Detroit and mastered by JJ Golden at Golden Mastering in California. The album art was created by Neil Krug (Lana Del Rey, Tame Impala, Weyes Blood), who the band worked with for their first album, Sateen. Now signed to Heavy Psych Sounds, the band is ready to unleash their most potent work yet-a fusion of hypnotic grooves, searing guitars, and Laura Dolan's mesmerizing vocals. EC4 is both a homecoming and a rebirth. Electric Citizen is back!

Solid red vinyl, limited to 350 copies. Seven years after their last release (Helltown, 2018), Electric Citizen returns with their fourth album, EC4-a powerful statement of renewal and raw energy. Written by Ross Dolan with contributions from the full band, the album was meticulously crafted over several years and recorded with Mike Montgomery and John Hoffman at Candyland Studio in Dayton, KY. The album was mixed by Collin Dupuis (Lana Del Rey, The Black Keys) in Detroit and mastered by JJ Golden at Golden Mastering in California. The album art was created by Neil Krug (Lana Del Rey, Tame Impala, Weyes Blood), who the band worked with for their first album, Sateen. Now signed to Heavy Psych Sounds, the band is ready to unleash their most potent work yet-a fusion of hypnotic grooves, searing guitars, and Laura Dolan's mesmerizing vocals. EC4 is both a homecoming and a rebirth. Electric Citizen is back!

Efter ett år av kreativitet och musikalisk utforskning är det dags för det nystartade bandet Östersjöar att släppa sin debutvinyl, helt enkelt betitlad Östersjöar. Skivan släpps på Coop Records Gotland och fångar bandets unika sound som beskrivs som ett tåg som rör sig framåt, med krautiga influenser och en driven rytmik. Musikaliskt påminner Östersjöar om en fusion av Joy Divisions kyliga, pulserande rytmer och Hawkwinds expansiva ljudlandskap, där varje spår är en atmosfärisk och hypnotisk resa. Skivan spelades in live under en decemberkväll i den mytomspunna Sandkvie Studion, där bandet tillsammans med producent Mattias Bärjed (gitarrist i Soundtrack of Our Lives och Refused ), Mikael Lyander och Samuel Wizèn bakom mixerbordet fångade bandets äkta DNA i stunden.

It takes grindin' to be a king and Houston's Mike Jones' work ethic of "You Don't Work, You Don't Eat, You Don't Grind, You Don't Shine" had his phone blowing up in 2005 with the release of his major label debut Who is Mike Jones? on Asylum/Swisha House/Warner Records. Mike Jones started rapping in the early 2000s and he released a couple of independent albums on his own label Ice Age Entertainment before linking up with Michael "5000" Watts of Swisha House. He recorded the underground single "Still Tippin" with Texas contemporaries Paul Wall and Slim Thug, which appeared on the Swisha House compilation The Day Hell Broke Loose 2. The song, full of southern hip-hop slang and braggadocio, was an ode to the classic car culture in Houston, Texas, and could be heard bumpin' out the trunks of cars nationwide with its heavy bass and classical string loops. Before the release of Who Is Mike Jones? girls would ignore him, but after the release of "Still Tippin" they were all up on him, which led to the release of the single "Back Then" where he shouted out his real cell phone number that played a major part in the marketing and promotion of the album.You could call 281-330-8004 and get his voicemail and leave a message, but sometimes he would answer, which led to spreading the word of Mike Jones' debut album. "Back Then" was also a top-selling ringtone because (back then) you had to buy and download ringtones, unlike today. Mike truly went viral before going viral was even a thing. After dropping the two hit singles, Who Is Mike Jones? was released on April 19th, 2005, and would sell over a million copies that year, leading to certified platinum status. Twenty years later, this Texas Rap classic still holds up with features from other H-Town legends including S.U.C.'s Big Moe (RIP),Bun B, Paul Wall and Lil Keke. Juicy J & DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia added their Memphis touch to the "Got It Sewed Up Remix" and the album ends with a heartfelt dedication to Mike Jones' late Grandmother on "Grandma". Get On Down is proud to present the first vinyl reissue of Who Is Mike Jones? in a limited edition silver and red color-in-color pressing packaged with a full color printed insert tocommemorate the 20th anniversary of this H-Town classic

The Dark Flowers beguile with their dark take on country music" ROLLING STONE. THE DARK FLOWERS release their second album `INDIAN SUMMER' with Paul Statham bringing together a unique collection of collaborators, JIM KERR, GABRIELLA CILMI, DAVID J, THE ANCHORESS and SHELLY POOLE in June 2025 on Loki Records via Cargo.With 2014 debut album. `Radioland', songwriter and producer Paul Statham brought together a group of guest vocalists for a collection inspired by Sam Shepard's `Motel Chronicles'. Featuring an all-star cast of Jim Kerr, Peter Murphy, The Anchoress, Shelly Poole, Dot Allison, Kate Havnevik and Helicopter Girl, the album was characterized by MOJO as "a perfect album for a lonely winter night" (4/5). The new album sees Statham, a member of Post Punk band B-Movie, and co-writer with a host of well-known artists including Dido, Kylie, Peter Murphy and Simple Minds retain his principal role in the project as both producer and songwriter. Once again, Shepard's prose plays a key role with `Hawk Moon', the companion volume to `Motel Chronicles', an additional source of inspiration. Jim Kerr from Simple Minds continues his involvement with 3 tracks as does Welsh songwriter and multi-instrumentalist The Anchoress. David J from Bauhaus/Love and Rockets is also a featured artist along with Gabriella Cilmi turning in 2 dark and beguiling tracks. The project is completed with Shelly Poole (from country/folk band Red Sky July and a long-time friend and co-writer on 3 songs.

The Dark Flowers beguile with their dark take on country music" ROLLING STONE. THE DARK FLOWERS release their second album `INDIAN SUMMER' with Paul Statham bringing together a unique collection of collaborators, JIM KERR, GABRIELLA CILMI, DAVID J, THE ANCHORESS and SHELLY POOLE in June 2025 on Loki Records via Cargo.With 2014 debut album. `Radioland', songwriter and producer Paul Statham brought together a group of guest vocalists for a collection inspired by Sam Shepard's `Motel Chronicles'. Featuring an all-star cast of Jim Kerr, Peter Murphy, The Anchoress, Shelly Poole, Dot Allison, Kate Havnevik and Helicopter Girl, the album was characterized by MOJO as "a perfect album for a lonely winter night" (4/5). The new album sees Statham, a member of Post Punk band B-Movie, and co-writer with a host of well-known artists including Dido, Kylie, Peter Murphy and Simple Minds retain his principal role in the project as both producer and songwriter. Once again, Shepard's prose plays a key role with `Hawk Moon', the companion volume to `Motel Chronicles', an additional source of inspiration. Jim Kerr from Simple Minds continues his involvement with 3 tracks as does Welsh songwriter and multi-instrumentalist The Anchoress. David J from Bauhaus/Love and Rockets is also a featured artist along with Gabriella Cilmi turning in 2 dark and beguiling tracks. The project is completed with Shelly Poole (from country/folk band Red Sky July and a long-time friend and co-writer on 3 songs.

Swollen Members rose in the underground Hip Hop scene with a series of classic albums that made them one of the genre's brightest stars. Founded by Madchild, Prevail, and DJ Rob the Viking, Swollen Members have stayed independent under their own label Battle Axe Records. The have returned in 2009 stronger than ever with Armed to the Teeth, which features appearances from Talib Kweli and Tech N9NE.