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Last month, Chase and Status returned to the limelight unveiling their hard-hitting and trailblazing singles “When It Rains” ft. BackRoad Gee, complete with a Jack McMullen starring, Hector Dockrill-directed cinematic visual and the addictive smash “Don’t Be Scared” ft. Takura. Today, the duo are making a true statement of intent for the year ahead, with the announcement of their sixth studio album, What Came Before. Created by Crown & Owls, the accompanying artwork captures a truly special and magnetic live moment. Speaking on the concept, Crown & Owls state:

“We wanted to create an image that captured the very human compulsion to gather in a dark room and dance and sweat. Such scenes have a different weight to them after they were off the table for a good while, and we were very interested in capturing a moment of collective catharsis in the shadow of a period of history that pushed isolation on so many. We were really interested in the stories of the individuals in the image - what drives them to want to be in that room? The whole campaign kind of works backwards from that moment in the photo really - the intersecting stories of the dance floor, and the sense of freedom and release it brings to the individual. The record sleeve, the single covers, visualisers and elements of the music videos were all captured at this special night - it’s been a joy to work on.”

Landing alongside the album announcement is new single “Mixed Emotions” - a euphoric and recognisably brilliant dose of true Chase and Status energy that landed alongside an incredible video, filmed in two halves and directed by UKMVA-winning Femi Ladi (Pa Salieu - “My Family”). Femi Ladi states:

“On nights out like this, sometimes you just want to get fucked up. Trying to get to that moment, when you’re out of your head and completely in the moment. Sometimes music gets us there, sometimes drugs and alcohol, sometimes it’s a combination of all 3.

I want to connect our camera to the chasing of that high. A visual metaphor for trying to reach that euphoria. Each time she takes a bump, a line or a pill, the camera closes in on her. The closer she gets to that euphoric moment, the closer the camera gets to her.

By the end I want the audience to have an uncomfortable and claustrophobic feeling as our hero goes slightly overboard, a feeling that most of us know but won't dare to admit.”

Consisting of 13 tracks, What Came Before distills 15 years of unparalleled experiences into a bold, invigorating sixth album; informed by global tours, sold out headline shows, five albums, multiple awards, chart success, underground kudos, top tier collaborations and remixes, and, above all else, that unwavering dance floor energy that remains as tangible and transformative now as it has since the very beginning. This pure, unadulterated exhilaration is the glue that binds all of these experiences together, cultivating a legacy of positive vibes, unforgettable moments and the continued progression of British club culture.

For trailblazers Chase and Status, the story is cyclical - a constant process of regeneration and refinement that comes full circle. Everything that came before, from their inception point to now, has brought them back to their essence.

Landing in the wake of their critically acclaimed specialist album RTRN II JUNGLE, and the more recent news of their headlining ParkLife festival this Summer, Chase and Status’s musical return is highly anticipated. After a series of teasers were published on their social media, the duo directed their fans to whatcamebefore , unveiling a plethora of forthcoming Summer festival dates.

The forthcoming album marks the inception point for the duo’s next phase; while on forced hiatus they also went back to square one with their live show. With What Came Before Chase & Status prepare to embark on the next chapter of their illustrious career as a seasoned act ignited by the same excitement

After a hiatus of a few years to concentrate on various studio projects, Steevio’s Mindtours label is back with a vinyl release over 2 volumes, pressed on bio-vinyl at the carbon neutral pressing plant Deepgrooves.

Dod yn ôl at fy nghoed (which is Welsh for ‘to return to my trees’ meaning to return to balanced state of mind) sees Steevio experimenting with deep, broken-beat bass techno awash with polymetric rhythms and jazz infused chord structures. Steevio’s musical approach has in recent years become more free-form, with loose mathematical frameworks, evading clear generic boundaries, and this release continues and expands on that theme.

All tracks were recorded live and improvised from a blank canvas in real-time on an analogue modular synthesizer.

Vol. 1 was all recorded during Covid lockdown and represents some the best material from jams from that period. All tracks were recorded live and improvised from a blank canvas in real-time on an analogue modular synthesizer.

Vol. 2 to be released 1 month after.

This 10th Anniversary Edition will be one pressing and then gone, the album is remastered, pressed on Transparent Red Vinyl, features new sleeve art by Cold War Steve, comes with a fanzine and a flexi disc featuring an unreleased track.

As deep as it comes, two unwinding cuts of beautiful deep house..

Hand scrubbed textured record sleeve, with custom stamp by Ciaran Birch.

“Escape” from abusive family ties is almost a cliche in modern media. In practice, the threshold for self-informed decoupling from said abuse is often socially out of reach for those that have in fact been abused, both physically and/or psychologically.

We feel shame for even entertaining the idea of getting rid of people in our lives that are joined to us by blood. Instead of genuine mutually-assured connection, we feel duty-bound to them - no better than a minimum wage retail job without which we would become homeless. Had these people been anything other than family, we would have ditched them long ago. I encourage a decoupling from the family unit and giving up on any hope you had for improved relations.

This record has been mastered without compression in an attempt to counter the over saturation of three minute, brick-walled, max-energy production trends in contemporary dance music.

Things are getting better is a bold statement to make in a time when the world seems to be on the verge of world war 3 and the cost of living is rising beyond most of our reach. Five years ago when I started the Voices of Creation with Jack I knew the world would need new songs, new mantras and prayers for this new day that is dawning. We would need more faith, we would need love, we would need vision, and we would need each other. A part of every beginning is an ending, this is an observable law of nature. So it is with unyielding faith and a hopeful heart that I look out at this world and find reasons and ways to keep moving forward with love; making music that echoes with the sparks of this new world I’m working to see come into view. Things may be falling apart, old ways of being becoming unsustainable; death, war, chaos, genocide, famine, and floods; symptoms of the internal combustion of a society wracked with fear and given more access to weapons than to their own feelings.

This collection of songs are my testimony in a way, a sonic exploration of finding my faith and figuring out how to use my faith to navigate life and this great big old world after losing family (my mother Betty and my brother Keith) and in a way losing my sense of hope for what my future could even be. Through the writing and singing of these songs I healed myself of the doubt and mistrust of the unknown. I found a way to forge my faith into what is now a mighty sword of song, community, and ministry with the intention of healing myself and others. I’ve always felt as though melody and language were tools that could be agents of change and healing if used with intention and integrity. To witness the expanding joy and shared purpose grow within the choir and to see the contagious nature of faith and togetherness through our rehearsals and shows showed me how necessary it is to the human experience. This has been truly revelatory, further anchoring me in what I feel my purpose is on the planet; and that is to sing and bring to life more joy, peace, love, community, unity, faith, and praise. With more of those energies flowing around the planet, things will surely get better and better and better…ad infinitum. Word to Nina, Jimmy & Betty, and all my angels and ancestors riding wit me. We still here and God is still good.

"An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times." Nina Simone

Extra Soul Perception proudly unveils a new collaboration between two of the most captivating artists from the future soul and R&B scene. "Undercover Lover" is the culmination of three years of an organic creative partnership between Jamma-Dee and Qendresa - one that has manifested itself just in time to soundtrack summer in LA and London; their respective homes.

Following Jamma-Dee's celebrated debut album, "Perceptions," and Qendresa's recent midnight soul bomb, "2 Much", "Undercover Lover" is a highly anticipated release that emerges as an effortlessly smooth summer anthem.

The genesis of "Undercover Lover" was Jamma-Dee's irresistibly heavy beat, which underpins an intricate mirage of interlocking rhythms and textures, with the eclecticism that has cemented the producer as a mainstay of the West Coast soul-funk scene. Qendresa's songwriting prowess shines through in seamless hooks and vocal melodies that flow effortlessly over the production with bold and uncompromising energy. Gary Gritness's live bassline, introduced during an impromptu studio session, injects a deep groove into the track.

At the engineering helm, K15's expertise further elevates the record with a resonating richness and vitality. An instrumental version on the B-side allows listeners to experience the production and bassline on a deeper level.

The resulting sound is a collaborative effort that transcends borders and genres, delivering a record that is as heartfelt as it is infectious.

"Undercover Lover" stands as a testament to the power of collaboration and creativity, embodyingExtra Soul Perception's mission to facilitate transformative musical exchanges between artists worldwide.

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About Extra Soul Perception:

Extra Soul Perception is an artist development program that operates as a label, music agency, event curator, and producer of international musical residencies. With a mission to facilitate artistic collaboration across borders, Extra Soul Perception has garnered acclaim for its innovative approach to fostering creativity and diversity within the music industry.

The Entertainers, a South Carolina soul band led by singer Earl Dukins, released their first single 'Livin' For The Summer' in 1980, which became a smash hit, and their first album in 1983. The band's first album, released in 1983, was reissued for the first time with an obi. The album features a selection of well-chosen covers, including Chai Lights' 'Hot On A Thang', Bobby Patterson's 'I'm in love with you', Turley Richards' 'I won't cry anymore' and 'What are we gonna do', as well as the aforementioned 'Livin' For The Summer', the gorgeous string-tinged middle tune 'I'm Leavin' and original songs, all of which are full of modern soul with an exhilarating blue-eyed soul - AOR feel!

There are two versions of Perennial: the adventurous art-punk modernists, layering British Invasion pop, 60s soul, 90s Dischord post-hardcore, electronic music, and free-jazz, and the live three-piece whose bombastic 20 minute sets have become a “must-see” in the New England music scene. What started in 2015 as an all-encompassing art project has since grown into an honest-to-goodness word-of-mouth phenomenon, with over 300 shows played in the last six years (including shows with Guerilla Toss, Bully, Calvin Johnson, Jon Spencer, Sheer Mag, Teenage Halloween, and Downtown Boys) and multiple pressings of both of their full-length records. Perennial formed the band they always wanted to hear, and when they play, they're the band they always wanted to see. Perennial’s breakthrough 2022 LP, In The Midnight Hour, was their first time working with producer Chris Teti (The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die), a collaboration that garnered rave reviews from BrooklynVegan, Under The Radar, Post-Trash, Pop Matters, NPR Music and more, and marked a new creative benchmark. Feeling inspired, the band once again worked with Teti on 2023’s 7” EP The Leaves Of Autumn Symmetry, which earned more high praise from Stereogum, Paste, Consequence, Alternative Press, and Bandcamp Daily. Their latest release is the adventurous, experimental mod punk LP Art History, available June 7 via Ernest Jenning Record Co. and Safe Suburban Home.

Following two successful dancefloor-orientated releases with remixes by Marco Shuttle and S.O.N.S., London-based label E2-E8 takes an ambient turn while remaining faithful to its ethos of putting new artists on the map. Water Locks is the debut release from Szl0, a sound artist who’s been living and breathing East London’s inspiring atmosphere and contradictions for the last 10 years.

Water Locks is a tale of boats, canals, twists and turns of a quietly ever-changing life. A misty, smoky dive into a soul in constant search for itself. For his debut album, Szl0 peeked into instincts and fantasies and crafted a series of deep live improvisations.

The beauty is in the tension: Szl0’s music is for pause and reflection, yet it’s the moment that matters. A series of intense movements firmly grounded in the here and now which, taken together, becomes bigger than the sum of its parts. A late night listening at sea.

Limited run of 50 tapes. Includes a download code with a bonus remix from E2-E8’s own Miro Sundaymusiq (“First Light” – Pacifist Techno Soul Edit) who reinvents one of Szl0’s movements and gives it an unexpected dancefloor appeal.

Ein Must-Have in der Geschichte des amerikanischen Death Metal, remastered!

Die legendäre Chicagoer Death Metal Band Oppressor wurde 1991 von Bassist/Sänger Tim King und Gitarrist Adam Zadel gegründet, bald kamen Gitarrist Jim Stopper und Drummer Tom Schofield hinzu. Oppressor hat sich neu formiert und spielt wieder live!Oppressor nahmen zwei Demos auf...

und ihr zweites Demo, "As Blood Flows" von 1993, brachte sie 1993 unter Vertrag. Dieses Demo wurde als eine sehr starke Veröffentlichung angesehen, die über 30 Minuten dauerte und eine anständige Produktion aufwies. Im darauffolgenden Jahr wurde das Debütalbum "Solstice of Oppression" veröffentlicht, das von ausgiebigen Tourneen begleitet wurde, aber das Label von Oppressor ging kurz darauf in Konkurs. Um ihren Namen in der Öffentlichkeit zu halten, veröffentlichten Oppressor eine halb Live- und halb Studio-Compilation namens "European Oppression Live/As Blood Flows", die Live-Material von ihrer europäischen Support-Tour für ihr Debüt und Studiomaterial enthielt, das aus dem kompletten "As Blood
Flows"-Demo der Band von 1993 bestand.

The label that ignited the Dutch post-punk scene! Homogeneity be damned, these early Plurex tracks are a head-turning snapshot of what was happening in the late ‘70s Netherlands underground! Includes an interview with Plurex founders and all of the singles from 1978-‘80! Some of the bands would never release another record, but for the label and many of the artists there was yet more history to be made, not least of which was Minny Pops’ ascendance to seminal status, and Plurex’s emergence at the center of the envelope-pushing Dutch music scene that came to be known as Ultra. “It’s extreme, that’s what that word stands for,” explains van Middendorp of the movement, “It stands for something that’s clearly outspoken, and that’s what we tried to do.” From the confrontational clang of their early punk releases to the electronic art attacks that arrived soon after, Plurex was about saying something new, loudly enough for all to hear. When those records were made,” says van Middendorp, “I never expected that we would have a conversation about them 40 years later if not longer. At the time nobody was even thinking for one minute that this might happen.... That so many years down the line there’s still people out there that will discover this music. And the great thing about The Plurex Story is that it’s also on a format that I’m a big fan of, because who gives a shit about the stream? It’s nice to have a physical album in your hands.”

"Includes the DIO titles:

DONINGTON ’83 & DONINGTON ’87 (both on 2LP 180g Vinyl with etching on Side D) and the Limited Edition Picture Disc DOUBLE DOSE OF DONINGTON ’83 & ’87"

Highly anticipated 3rd album by FIGHT THE FIGHT. "Shah Of Time" is their most ambitious record to date. Just came back from an extensive European tour with Leprous. Previously shared the stage with Satyricon, High On Fire, Hatebreed, Devind Townsend Project and more!

With a new line-up, a fresh inspirational breeze caught Fight the Fight. This led the band into a psychedelic metal universe and sent them into a genre bending fusion of prog and metalcore. This drift has sparked growing interest and anticipation to the bands upcoming
release. Fight The Fights third album "Shah Of Time" is their most ambitious record to date and is set to be released May 31st 2024. With three new singles out from the upcoming album, Fight the Fight have seen an exceptional rise in numbers gaining more that 30.000
monthly listeners on Spotify alone. The new constellation just came back from an extensive European tour with Leprous, after holding back on live performances in 2023. This year Fight the Fight are ready to fully blow the mind out of their rapidly growing new audience, and fans can expect even more exciting tours and live dates when the album is released.

Glasgow septet The Joy Hotel are announcing their debut album Ceremony with the release of its lead single, the surging and rapturous 'Jeremiah'. It’s a song that grapples with the idea of approaching unknowns, and how conflicting attitudes illicit different responses to the same situation. More directly, it’s about staring death in the face and choosing how to come to terms with it.

Newly signed to SO Recordings and with a debut album proper in hand, The Joy Hotel have become a word-of-mouth success story in the Scottish DIY scene, and have since taken their live show across the UK and Europe, playing festivals including Hidden Door, Doune the Rabbit Hole, Connect, TRNSMT, Twisterella, Latitude, Sound City and The Great Escape.

The band spent eleven days at Rockfield, the legendary studio in Monmouth, Wales, recording live-to-tape. When they left, they had a sound. It is often contradictory, in that it combines the songwriting sensibilities of pop and country with arrangements reminiscent of the psychedelic scene of the 60s, six-part vocal harmonies with elements of noise rock, beautiful balladry with a sense of humour, and a cinematic quality. The result of those eleven days is debut album Ceremony, a record that searches for the profound in the seemingly routine, and reaches out with arms wide open to wring celebration out of each moment.

Ceremony will be accompanied by a short film documenting the creation of the album called ‘Come The Ringing Bell’.

The 2019 released "Caligula" took the vision of Kristin Hayter's vessel to the next level of grandeur, her purging and vengeful audial vision went beyond anything preceding it and reached an unparalleled sonic plane within her oeuvre. Succeeding her self-released 2017 "All Bitches Die" opus, "CALIGULA" saw Hayter design an ambitious work, displaying the full force of her talent as a vocalist, composer, and storyteller. Vast in scope and multivalent in its influences, with delivery nothing short of demonic, "CALIGULA" is an outsider's opera; magnificent, hideous, and raw. Eschewing and disavowing genre altogether, Hayter built her own world. Here she fully embodied the moniker Lingua Ignota, from the German mystic Hildegard of Bingen, meaning "unknown language" _ this music has no home, any precedent or comparison could only be uneasily given, and there is nothing else like it in our contemporary realm. Whilst "CALIGULA" is unapologetically personal and critically self-aware, there are broader themes explored; the decadence, corruption, depravity and senseless violence of emperor Caligula is well documented and yet still permeates today. Brimming with references and sly jabs, Hayter's sardonic commentary on abuse of power and invalidation is deftly woven. Working closely with Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets studio in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Hayter stripped away much of the industrial and electronic elements of her previous work, approaching instead the corporeal intensity and intimate menace of her notorious live performances, achieved with unconventional recording techniques and sound sources, as well as a full arsenal of live instrumentation and collaborators including harsh noise master Sam McKinlay (THE RITA), visceral drummer Lee Buford (The Body) and frenetic percussionist Ted Byrnes (Cackle Car, Wood & Metal), with guest vocals from Dylan Walker (Full of Hell), Mike Berdan (Uniform), and Noraa Kaplan (Visibilities). "CALIGULA" is a massive work, a multi-layered epic that gives voice and space to that which has been silenced and cut out.

A1 - Tensor
Opening with an earworm minimal old school melody which lives long in the mind, Tensor sees JLM Productions kick off his latest Spatial EP in style, flexing his versatility in the genre with an exquisite Hot Pants break pattern in delightfully laid back fashion. Showcasing sublime filtering techniques, a lush 808 bassline and a nominal usage of kicks, Tensor lives long in the memory - and rightfully so.
A2 - Pseudovector
A real treat in store for fans of clean, edited breaks as JLM Productions immediately drops the crispest assortment of drum samples which will delight the ear and the feet in equal measure. Pseudovector is a real treat for the senses with an immense high note melody punctuating the track as the breaks build and build, adding layers of punchy detail which combine beautifully with cymbals, bongos and gentle atmospherics.
AA1 - Helios Drift
A more laid back piece that harks back to a special bygone age of slower atmospherics - as is Spatial's speciality - Helios Drift offers a feast of breakbeats with distinctive tribal maracas jubilantly shaping a unique vibe. Soothing padwork provides an elegant backdrop to the beats with rolled chords and sci fi melodies draped throughout, deconstructing towards a polished outro to this memorable mid-set breather.
AA2 - Wavefunction
Instant rolling 2-step vibes unfold as Wavefunction sees JLM Productions close the EP in style with a track which won't fail to move the discerning dancefloor. Immense 80's synthwave vibes tell a tale of cyber dystopia, highly evocative notes washing harmoniously with the breakbeats while a superb bassline solo in the breakdown invites contemplation from the audience before the beat rolls on to a reflective conclusion.
Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist)

A song is a song until it isn't, until it's pushed to its limits and beyond to become harder, faster and more dissonant. The music on Oneida's 17th full-length album, Expensive Air, all started as tightly structured, melodic rock songs _ very much in line with the non-stop bangers of Success from 2022 _ but along the way, they changed. Bobby Matador sketched the structures of these songs from his home base in Boston, then sent the demos to Oneida's New York contingent: Kid Millions, Hanoi Jane, Shahin Motia and Barry London. "We were working out the songs in New York without Bobby. We would start out riding the riffs, and then Shahin and Jane would add wild, out-of-tune licks," said Kid Millions. "It seemed so perfect." Oneida has long straddled gray-area boundaries between the NYC punk/psych/rock world and the art/experimental world, playing at gritty rock clubs and elevated cultural institutions, including the Guggenheim, MoMA PS1, ICA London, MassMOCA and the Knoxville Museum of Art. The band has been known for extended live improvisational performances, collaborating onstage with Mike Watt, members of Flaming Lips, Portishead, Boredoms, Yo La Tengo, Dead C, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and many others. Oneida's members juggle a wide variety of other music projects. Drummer Kid Millions has played with Spiritualized, Royal Trux and Boredoms and releases solo compositions under his own name and as Man Forever. Shahin Motia founded noise - punk's Ex-Models and currently plays in Knyfe Hits. Kid and Fat Bobby perform and release music as People of the North, and Bobby's outside projects New Pope and Nurse & Soldier each released new albums in 2023. Oneida's previous album, Success, came after a four-year hiatus, unleashing the band's pent up creative energy in a set of catchy, accessible, nearly poppy songs. Song structure remained important in the run up towards Expensive Air, but so was the instinctual, improvisatory interplay that has always been a part of Oneida's process. The band had been playing live together for two years, sharpening its attack and pushing its songs to go harder, faster and wilder. Oneida recorded Expensive Air in three sessions scattered across 2023, convening at Colin Marston's Menegroth The Thousand Caves studio in Woodhaven, Queens, whenever they had a few songs ready. Marston and the band mixed the album in February 2024 at Menegroth. The new album expands on what Oneida achieved with Success, but also pushes past it, laying down irresistible song structures then blowing them to psychedelic bits. "I found myself thinking about this record as a darker, looser, louder, counterpart to Success," Bobby explains. "Both records charge forward from the jump and mix the elliptical with the blunt, and longing with self-mockery. But Success is like laughing in a car gunning carelessly through an ice storm, and Expensive Air is how you laugh at yourself as the car spins into the ditch, or a tree. Same trip, but a little closer to the bone."

Recorded live, the music on this album is a wild, spacey psychedelic jam, featuring Here & Now’s initial members.

Uncanny Valley is back with a tape that dives deeply into the musical underground of Lusatia, an area not far away from the label's home base Dresden. Expect analogue extravaganza with a punk attitude by two mysterious artists from the region of the Slavic sorbs. During the slow building odyssey that is LIVE IN NOCHTEN, it creaks and groans like the wind that shakes the giant F60 overburden conveyor bridge in the Lusatian coalfields. For this jam, the elusive figure that goes by the name of Luzyca Bambaataa and usually hides in the back room of a hair salon, has wired together countless worn-out synthesizers and recorded a soundtrack to the surroundings. But others claim, that Luzyca Bambaataa is the street name of a complex character who fully immersed into some gear that a youth center in Hoyerswerda acquired with left-over EU fundings. After the cassette has been turned, things get even more serious with Graef's first outing of his electronic alter ego. The four killer tracks range from the dance floor anthem GAIVAL via the almost cosmic ghost song HAUNTING VOYAGE and the brutal drum heavy monster R0GU3 D3L4M41N to the fascinating IDM study SOLIFUGE. Born Benjamin Butter to his parents in Hoywoy, he nowadays is a full-blown artist who adds a colorful DIY edge to all the different art forms he puts his hands on. The artwork was created by graffiti artist Techr.

2024 Repress

'The Magical World of The Strands' is one of the most accomplished albums of British songwriting of all time. Why every household doesn't have a copy, I don't know. Seriously, I think it's a masterpiece' - Richard Hawley

'Mick Head is a genius' - Noel Gallagher

Michael Head has announced details of the release of his first album of new material in over 11 years.

Recorded under the name of Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band, 'Adiós Señor Pussycat' is released on Violette Records on Friday 20th October 2017.

Beautiful and evocative and recorded in his home-town of Liverpool between March 2016 and June 2017, the album is the culmination of four years of hard work. Equal to his finest moments, Adiós Señor Pussycat will undoubtedly only further cement his reputation as one of this generations greatest songwriters.

Ever since the 2003 release of her debut, Another Mind, Hiromi has electrified audiences with a creative energy that encompasses and eclipses the boundaries of jazz, classical and pop, taking improvisation and composition to new heights of complexity and sophistication. On her most recent album, Silver Lining Suite, Hiromi further exemplifies her virtuosic hybridity and emotional range, finding strength and hope amidst the turmoil of the pandemic. 
 

Born in Hamamatsu, Japan in 1979, Hiromi’s first piano teacher, Noriko Hikida, exposed Hiromi to jazz and introduced her to the great pianists Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson. She enrolled in the Yamaha School of Music and started writing music. 

 

Hiromi moved to the United States in 1999 and studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Among her mentors was jazz bassist/arranger Richard Evans, who took Hiromi’s demo to his friend, the legendary pianist Ahmad Jamal. Evans co-produced Another Mind with Jamal. 

 

Another Mind was a critical success in North America and Japan, where the album shipped gold and received the Recording Industry Association of Japan’s Jazz Album of the Year Award. Hiromi’s astonishing debut was but a forecast of the shape of jazz to come. 

 

In 2009, she recorded with pianist Chick Corea on Duet, a live recording of their concert in Tokyo. She also appeared on bassist Stanley Clarke’s Grammy-winning release, Jazz in the Garden. 

 

In the summer of 2021, Hiromi performed at the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics. 

2024 Restock

Classicos EM Vinyl, LP 180gr, Simple cover) Recorded live at "Maracanãzinho" (Rio de Janeiro) on the 23rd of February, 1974. Liner notes by Gerson Conrad.

„Drifts and Surfaces“ ist ein dreiteiliges Set, wobei jedes Werk aus Auftragsarbeiten hervorgeht und durch gemeinsame Themen vereint wird: der Fluss zwischen ephemerer Bewegung und alltäglichem Stillstand, das Paradoxon von außergewöhnlicher und alltäglicher Schönheit und der Ehrgeiz und Müßiggang, der das Leben im 21. Jahrhundert ausmacht Saxl nutzt weiterhin kammermusikalische Ensembles neben analogen Synthesizern und digitalen Experimenten und vertieft sich dabei in strukturelle Emotionen und die lebendigen Details kleiner Handlungen. Während ihre bahnbrechende LP „The Blue of Distance“ (2021) Feld-Aufnahmen aus den Adirondacks und dem Lake Superior verarbeitete, stammt Saxls Quellenmaterial hier vor allem aus Live-Percussion und anderen Instrumenten. Das Projekt begann 2018 im Brooklyner Stadtteil Red Hook in dem Proberaum, den sich Saxls Band mit dem Percussion-Trio Tigue teilt. Später im selben Jahr spielten sie gemeinsam eine Residency und nahmen das Stück auf. 2021 begann sie ein neues Auftragswerk mit Third Coast Percussion aus Chicago. Der Titel „Drifts“ bezieht sich auf den Roman von Kate Zambreno aus dem Jahr 2020, in dem die Protagonistin von der Arbeit von Chantal Ackerman fasziniert ist, die die typisch weiblichen, unsichtbaren Formen der häuslichen Arbeit als ebenso wertvoll darstellt wie Tätigkeiten, die gemeinhin als produktiv angesehen werden. Saxl stellt „Drifts“ im Geiste dieser feministischen These auf: „Es fühlt sich an, als gäbe es hier eine kleine Reihe von Frauen, die diese Idee erforschen und kleine Aktionen feiern, von denen ich hoffe, dass ich deren Arbeit fortsetze.“ Das letzte Stück, „Surfaces“, wurde vom Guggenheim Museum in Verbindung mit der Alex Katz-Retrospektive im Jahr 2022 in Auftrag gegeben. Die Gruppe - bestehend aus Henry Solomon am Baritonsaxophon, Robby Bowen am Glasmarimbaphon und Saxl - lehnt sich an leichte, nachdenkliche Töne an, die von der Gegenwartsbezogenheit des bahnbrechenden Malers inspiriert sind. Katz' Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der optischen Wahrnehmung von „schnell vergehenden Dingen“, wie der Liminalität der Dämmerung, wenn die Umrisse eines Objekts beginnen, undeutlich zu werden. „Die Art und Weise, in der sich unsere Wahrnehmung der Dinge verändert, nicht weil sie sich verändern, sondern weil wir uns verändern“, erklärt Saxl. „Ich wollte, dass sich diese wirklich kleinen Veränderungen dramatisch anfühlen, um die imaginäre Bewegung in seinen Gemälden widerzuspiegeln.“ Tritt man zurück, um „Surfaces“ innerhalb des Sets zu betrachten, findet Saxl den Strom, der sich durch die gesamte Arbeit zieht, das Konzept des Selbst als Teil von etwas Größerem. „Katz‘ Darstellung mehrerer Generationen von New Yorker Künstlern hat mich dazu inspiriert, darüber nachzudenken, dass es kein individuelles ‘Ich' als Künstler gibt, ohne die Künstler, die vor mir kamen, und die Gemeinschaft der Künstler, mit denen ich zusammengewachsen bin. Die Grenzen zwischen uns verschwimmen, und ich habe das Gefühl, dass ich auf einer verwobenen Oberfläche getragen werde, die von der Gemeinschaft um mich herum gebildet wird. Gleichzeitig weiß ich aber auch, dass ich mich irgendwann nach innen wenden und allein hinausschwimmen muss.“

Continue As Amery is the debut album by Montreal-based artist Amery. Formerly recording under the moniker Alpen Glow, Continue As Amery sees the songwriter step out into a bold, colourful world full of pop hooks, snagging feelings of abandon and the mornings after. Amery Sandford began releasing as Alpen Glow in 2020 after years playing in punk groups in Newfoundland and as half of Montreal pop duo Born At Midnite (Arbutus). Recorded in Montreal by David Carriere (TOPS, Marci), Patrick Holland, and Kristian North, Continue As Amery is a blast of melodic joie de vivre. On her debut Sandford brings her punk and DIY credentials into sharp focus on 8 perfect pop odes to city living, making mistakes and figuring it out as you go along. Suffuse with powerful imagery and an almost uncanny talent at spinning out hooks brimming with humour and spirit, Amery’s soundworld is informed by friendship, experience and by her day job as a renowned illustrator and visual artist. Beginning Alpen Glow in a spirit of fun and now shedding the alias, Amery’s ready to hotwire the nite. Each song is rich with story. Mountain FM, named for the radio station in Sandford’s home town in the mountains of Alberta, launches into a tale of speeding, blasting the radio too loud, the giddy burning of rubber with no care in the world to slow you down. Featuring live band members Sarah Harris, Jack Bielli, and Frank Climenhage, the singer bristles to get out of her stifling hometown while lamenting the wide eyed adventurer who left for the big city. On Hotwire The Nite, Amery is out on the town, with imagery loaded with the night’s promise. Amery sings “Black candle / Dripping intel / Dagger hanging by an emerald handle / Holy roller that I just can’t have without my hand on an old flame,” diving in and out of fantasy and desire over a pulsating banger. Moments like these feel like a thesis on aural pleasure, with the production sleek and silky playfulness persisting throughout. Spirit Is Broken is a pep talk the artist is giving herself in the mirror. Only Amery could write something so joyous and harmonically glorious while singing about low ebbs. Every line shines with humour, the chorus starting with an exasperated “oh my god, alright” and the refrain nailing the bittersweet feeling of enjoying feeling down. It’s a mood continued on slow groover Ennui, a melter striking out at being stuck; same parties, same faces, daring to dream beyond. As an illustrator and visual artist, Sandford’s images detail dancing instrument-clad animals, party scenes that nod to historical image making heavy hitters like Hieronymus Bosch and Ludwig Bemelmans. On Miracles, Amery deals in bold pop production and her yearning to escape into fantasy, given wings by Korgs and drum machines. On Rocker Blues, originally by French artist FR David, Amery brings the heavy with synth-guitar and an undeniable chorus. C9 is in some ways the album’s centrepiece, a mid tempo funk jam and duet with Montreal stalwart Fireball Kid, it’s the party just out of reach on the horizon. The thing about Cloud 9 is that on the comedown you might get a hella lot of rain. The world Amery builds is intoxicating, rich and most importantly open for anyone to fall into. To be continued…

Nearly a decade after their last album, Lilacs and Champagne picks up right where that record, Midnight Features Vol. 2: Made Flesh, left off. With bizarre excursions into pillowy, sentimental made-for-TV music - and children's choirs incanting the blackest dread-filled music the band has conjured to date - Fantasy World is both transcendent and traumatic. Despite sharing two founding members of Grails (multi-instrumentalists Emil Amos and Alex Hall) Fantasy World only peripherally resembles their core group. Lilacs & Champagne have exaggerated their early record's implications and accelerated their mercurial rearranging of music history by deftly incorporating live instrumentation and samples with equal amounts of deference and disregard. Previously existing primarily in a realm adjacent to instrumental hip-hop (J Dilla, Clams Casino, Madlib), Fantasy World exposes Lilacs & Champagne's deeper lineage as playful tape-collage culture jammers in the vein of legendary sound satirists, Negativland and Severed Heads. It embraces the effect of a child entering a dollar store: the immediate euphoria felt upon discovering the seemingly endless aisles piled impossibly high with novelty toys, utensils, party decorations, and toiletries eventually gives way to the overwhelming realization that they're actually just a tourist in a perilous mountain of colorful garbage. From those mountains, Lilacs & Champagne mold monuments to curiosity and confusion.

Following a ten-year hiatus, multi-instrumentalists Rafael Anton Irisarri and Benoît Pioulard return with »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes«, their third LP together as Orcas. Building on the electronic minimalism of »Orcas« (2012) and the Twin Peaks-inspired haze of »Yearling« (2014), the duo have expanded their sound and vision into a full-spectrum ensemble.

In the time since their last major collaboration, Irisarri and Pioulard have done plenty on their own, while also traversing significant life changes: relocation from Seattle to New York, separation and divorce, illness, hospitalizations, and the loss of siblings, parents, and friends. Yet from these tribulations, they gleaned inspiration to reconstruct their lives, creating music with new collaborators and partners. Recorded in a variety of studios and cities including Brooklyn, Cambridge, Oxford, Seattle, and upstate New York, the resulting album, under the tutelage of UK producer James Brown (Arctic Monkeys, Kevin Shields, Nine Inch Nails), is a patiently-crafted beast, equally inspired by impressionism, British new wave, and dream pop.

With Irisarri’s guidance and Brown’s encouragement, Pioulard brings his velvety voice to its harmonized peak on songs like »Wrong Way to Fall« and the Durutti Column-indebted »Fare«. Where his most recent solo albums for Morr Music (»Sylva« and »Eidetic«) navigated foggy forests of ambient pop and stacked tape loops, here his characteristic blur shifts into focus with a unique degree of clarity and confidence. »How fare against balance do I / Navigate my errors?«, Pioulard sings in a heartbreaking tenor, echoing the album’s broader themes of introspection, grief, loss, trial and trauma.

Lead single, »Riptide«, is a summary of Pioulard’s life changes and personal upheavals in the past decade, »flitting eastward toward a yen deep in the past« and learning to glide through the tumult of ocean waves, as a metaphor for the punches one takes in pursuit of grace. Its towering, key-changing midsection arrives with the monumental drumming of Slowdive’s Simon Scott, a long-time friend and cohort who appears on most songs in the set. Scott’s quintessentially English, jazzier approach offers a balance of force and restraint as the backdrop for Irisarri’s majestic guitars, analog synth lines, and Martin Heyne’s Fender Rhodes counterpoints.

Second single, »Next Life«, began as a sketch by Scott, and reached its final form in the hands of Pioulard and Irisarri, at a point that each had endured major concurrent losses, finding a commonality in the need to gaze over the horizon while acknowledging the unavoidable bittersweetness of letting go – not only of people, but of routines, places, and expectations. It’s one of Orcas’ most nuanced pieces, with a mid-tempo, sunset glow that unfolds into a sparkling, slide-guitar finale as it disappears in the rear view.

On third-act highlight, »Bruise«, Scott is doubled on the drum kit by MONO’s Dahm Majuri Cipolla, whose Liebezeit-influenced metronomy anchors a nimble bass groove from Andrew Tasselmyer (of Hotel Neon), and some of the album's most syncopated, spaced-out interplay, courtesy of Puerto Rican guitar player Orlando Méndez (a childhood friend of Irisarri’s). Originally a droney, fingerpicked guitar demo, »Bruise« is the most storied composition here, having gone through almost a dozen versions and lyrical edits, with Brown distilling hours of improvised performances into the final arrangement.

Throughout »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes«, Irisarri uses his deep well of production experience to paint the stereo field with meticulously designed textures, exemplified on the slow burn of »Heaven’s Despite« and the heady rush of »Swells«. As a mixing and mastering engineer with Black Knoll, he has built a client list that reads as a who’s-who of modern, forward-thinking composition, including Temporary Residence, All Saints Records, and Ghostly International, among many others.

As with previous collaborations, Irisarri and Pioulard bring disparate styles and specialties to the table, but with an interpersonal dynamic that transcends friendship into brotherhood, their open-minded workflow and mutual respect are evident at every turn. »How to Color a Thousand Mistakes« brims with tight, complex art rock songwriting, masterful production, and sonic versatility, informed by a plethora of genres and tonal hues. The title might promise answers, but the gravitational center of the album is the dawning realization that, as you reckon with the infinite whims of the cosmos, there could be none.

LINGUA IGNOTA, the solo project of multidisciplinary artist Kristin Hayter, takes a radical, unflinching approach to themes of violence and vengeance in ways that are moving, brutal, and harrowing. Her music is intentionally situated at specific and strange intersections, incorporating elements of power electronics, death industrial, and black metal alongside baroque classical, spiritual minimalism and folk. Relentless intensity and soaring dramatic arcs are informed by Hayter's background in classical music, and the major sonic locus of the project is her voice, a dynamic entity that rushes from unhinged screaming to lilting soprano to angular belting with an artistry and ferocity that has drawn comparisons to Diamanda Galas. She is notorious for confrontational live performances that can leave an audience breathless or in tears. Hayter began classical training at the age of ten with intent to pursue an operatic conservatory track. Instead she developed an interdisciplinary fine arts practice at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She continued with graduate work at Brown University, producing a controversial thesis titled BURN EVERYTHING TRUST NO ONE KILL YOURSELF. LINGUA IGNOTA was born out of this thesis which re-contextualized misogynist content as biblically vitriolic anthems for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. A survivor herself, Hayter seeks to give a singularly aggressive voice to the unheard, silenced, and dismissed.

Inspired by the Buddhist sutras, Blitzen Trapper’s radiant new album, 100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions, offers a captivating take on rebirth and transcendence, navigating its way through the space beyond dreams and reality, beyond gods and mortals, beyond life and death. The songs here are as sincere as they are surreal, rooted in rich character studies and deep reflection, and the production is intoxicating to match, blending lo-fi intimacy and trippy psychedelia into a mesmerizing swirl of analog and electronic sounds. Add it all together and you’ve got a gorgeous collection of stripped-down bedroom folk wrapped in lush layers of synthesizers and washed out electric guitars, a poignant, expansive exploration of perception and purpose that manages to look both forwards and backwards all at once. This LP is pressed on clear blue vinyl and limited to 1,000 copies worldwide. Launched roughly two decades ago in Portland, OR, Blitzen Trapper broke out internationally with 2008’s Furr, which cemented their status at the forefront of the modern indie folk revival. Rolling Stone hailed the band’s “hazy, psychedelic Americana,” while NPR praised their “explosive live performances and infectious roots-rock swagger.” Dates with Fleet Foxes, Wilco, and Dawes followed, as did festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk, and Coachella, among others. The band would go on to release six more similarly lauded studio albums, culminating with 2020’s Holy Smokes Future Jokes, which Mojo proclaimed “sounds like the Beatles at Big Pink.”

Cold is the self-titled debut studio album by Jacksonville-based rock band Cold and was originally released in 1998. Discovered by A&R man Fred Durst (from Limp Bizkit), Cold burst onto the scene with their self-titled album, a potent blend of raw emotion, haunting melodies, and powerful instrumentation. Led by vocalist Scoot Ward, the band quickly garnered attention for their introspective lyrics and intense live performances. The singles culled of the album ""Go Away"" and ""Give"" showcased Ward's ability to convey deep-seated emotions with raw honesty, while tracks like ""Confession"" and ""End of the World"" captivated listeners with elements of alternative rock, metal, and post-grunge into a cohesive sonic tapestry. Cold is available on vinyl for the first time and includes an insert.

KEYS has just completed their second album, “The Grand Seduction”. This all-keyboard band is the brainchild of singer Jake E (Cyhra, Amaranthe and others) and keyboardist Mark Mangold (Touch, Drive, She Said, Michael Bolton, Cher, Paul Rogers and others) with Emanuel Bagge (Sweden’s Got Talent Finalist) on additional vocals and keys, Irwan Fabrien (noted keyboard guitar sound designer) with help of drum gurus Alex Landenburg (Kamelot, Cyhra and others).

Featuring live performances with three keyboardists and a huge battery of keyboards, this ambitious band brings keyboard and instrumental prowess to new heights while playing songs that run the gamut from scathing progressive melodic forays to catchy and melodic rock anthems …and Jake’s award-winning voice (Burrn Vocalist of the year 2020). Previous KEYS album also featured guest keyboard additions by Charlie Calv of Angel and others.

Though songs are first and foremost, this band shows the versatility of keyboards in this day and age. These artfully crafted songs are ripe with scathing synth, organ and “guitar” pyrotechnics, dazzling time signatures and drumming, bombastic choruses and “guitar” riffs (played on keyboards with the now available plug in’s that perfectly emulate guitars). As Mark and Jake are first and foremost award winning songwriters, they never lose sight of the composition and melodies, though couched in the very signature and hard to pigeon hole sound (isn’t that the whole point?) of this band and Jake's 4 octave vocal range.

Celebrated by fans and fellow musicians as being among the blues' most talented and exciting guitarists, Chris Cain is, according to Living Blues magazine, "turning out the best work of his career." Good Intentions Gone Bad debuts 13 striking new songs, with Cain delivering top-shelf performances on blistering shuffles, slow-burning blues and joyful soul. Fellow Alligator artist Tommy Castro guests on one track.

King Of None is a stoner rock group from Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 2013, their signature sound fuses heavy riffs and raspy vocals with progressive elements and psychedelic soundscapes. With three self-released ep’s, the group's sound has evolved from having a ‘90s desert stoner rock feel to include more wide-ranging psychedelic and progressive influences from their own musical pasts, while maintaining the same riff-worshipping attitude. They have received international attention in the underground stoner rock scenes and became known for their energetic and captivating live performances.

"A fourteen-song LP pulled from the Fleetwood Mac Super Deluxe release, including a further seven songs from the Tusk tour, four from the 1977 Rumours tour and three from the 1982 Mirage tour. This special 2LP becomes available again following a limited release in 2021.
Marketing: There will be posting across WMG socials and online banner advertising. Stevie Nicks will also headline BST Hyde Park on 12 July and will perform at Arenas in Manchester and Glasgow in July"

"The Last Dinner Party present a new 7” vinyl to celebrate their second single ‘Sinner'
This limited-edition white 7” release features the studio version of 'Sinner' on the A-side and an energetic live take from Melkweg, Amsterdam of 'Sinner' on the B-side.
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"15th anniversary pressing of A Day To Remember’s Gold-certified third album, Homesick. The two-LP set features the original album, two acoustic tracks and nine live tracks. Homesick features some of the band’s biggest hits to date, including “The Downfall Of Us All,” “If It Means A Lot To You” and “Have Faith In Me.” After its 2009 release, the album hit #21 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Independent Albums Chart, as well as KILLYOURSTEREO’s Album of the Year. "