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Catz 'n Dogz are back with album 'Moments'. Written and recorded in the midst of this crisis. Twelve tracks form the backbone to this wide-spanning sonic journey that document the highs and lows of this time. Drawn out of their comfort zone, it's safe to say this shift in their creative paradigm resonates throughout 'Moments'. Inviting you to gaze deeper inside, the album floats in a haze of dreaminess and cottony serenity. Though seemingly simple, the track titles point at themes more complex and universal that will strike a chord with every soul.

Traversed by a vaporous jazz vibe and highlighting an obvious lean towards laid-back atmospheres, 'Moments' effortlessly alternates between. Lo slung house 'Sunrise' features James Yuill, the heavy-lidded, funky bass-heavy 'Memories' and the rolling brass anthem 'Time', in collaboration with Jaw - and more doped up trip-hop-ness. 'Life', the slo-mo chugger that will get the feels on alert, the chillax of 'Nothing' and 'Love,' and the luscious 'Moment' feat. Angelika Nowak, a sample-heavy, soul jam whose naive charm will prove hard to resist, even for the stonehearted.

Catz 'n Dogz explore inwards the heart's non-spoken spheres, where the pop-infused hip-hop 'Meditate' introduces Heather Chelan. A more personal affair 'Listen' makes for a playful interlude. 'It's OK' invites you to let go of the shame at shedding tears, a memorable cut with its joyful whistling, elated guitar riffs and rousing bass.

To close off this sonic micro-odyssey, 'Tomorrow' casts a spell of positiveness. With blazing synth lines and robotised talk, unfolds an anthem for tomorrow's world. One where music holds the crucial place it's always had. So be the kids' dreams, the person they want to be in the future. Be Batman, be a firefighter, be a rock star.

"Matasuna Records" has found another musical treat from the African continent for its latest release - a song by the Ghanaian musician "Mawuli Decker". It was released in 1983 on the rare and sought-after album "Ayo Special" and is available for the first time as a 7inch vinyl single, which is supplemented by an edit from "Renegades Of Jazz". The esteemed London label "Kalita Records" was able to provide the audio material for new masters and is also acting as music publisher with the new "Kalita Music Publishing".

Mawuli Decker was born in 1949 in Ghana, where he also grew up. His musicality has been given to him from an early age, so that he not only attracts attention as a singer, but also plays drums, percussion and bongo. He played in various dance bands, which were very popular in Ghana especially from the middle of the last century onwards and made the Ghanaian highlife known beyond the borders. He has played in various dance bands such as New Planets, Sawaaba Sounds, The Tops, Caprice 73, The Volta Pioneers and others, which have performed in Ghana and other West African countries.
His first release was in 1975 with the band "Dzobi Soundz" on the Polydor label. Further releases of projects with his participation followed, until 1983 when he recorded his album "Ayo Special" at "Otodi Studio" in Lome (Togo) with an illustrious group of musicians.
He is still deeply rooted in music and performs in West Africa and is still very active in recording.

On the A-side is the original version of the song "Lololi-Lomko", sung in the "EWE" language, which is spoken in the south of Ghana as well as the southern parts of Togo. "Lololi" means "There's Still More Love" and "Lomko" stands for "Please love me" - classical themes that have appeared in countless songs in music history. Although a certain catchiness of the track cannot be denied, it doesn't seem cheesy at any point. Mawuli, who also contributes the vocals, creates perfectly formed harmonies through his compositions and arrangements, which are especially apparent in the bassline, guitars & brass and of course the vocals.

This was certainly also the idea behind the edit of "Renegades of Jazz" on the B-side, which did not want to break up and alienate the organic composition. Listening closely reveals the approach: a steady tempo, a more powerful bassline and additional drums and percussions bring the song back directly to where it belongs: to the dancefloors of this world!

Metal is a collaborative endeavor between Bristol and London artists Jamie Paton and Mike Bourne of Cage & Aviary and Teeth Of The Sea, respectively. A shared love for modular synthesis brought the two together in 2018 for a series of improvised live performances and the tracks featured on this EP were born from rehearsals for those sessions. What draws ESP to this music is its paradigmatic nature. The tracks are exercises in improvisation yet there is a level of control in which the performance slowly comes alive. Jam sessions allow for artistic gratification, a freedom of form often at the expense of the listener, but when artists set forth exacting parameters, there grows an opportunity for alternate forms of fulfillment on both sides of the experience. As is typical among stylistic prototypes, a reduction of tools frees the artist to narrow their focus and explore more singular modes of performance.

Jamie and Mike chose texture as a concept, namely Metal, and following the aforementioned methods, minimized their instrumentation toward the aesthetic representation of that element. Operating in a void without the convenience and advantages of the infinite tools we’re now accustomed to, they exhausted a short list of granular details, honing their concept to a fine point. Throughout these three iterations on the theme, we hear timbres that depict metal literally, but moreover we gain a view into the duo’s visceral attachment to its materiality, abstractions of its surfaces, and an overall transgression from conventional constructs of beauty. The idea is simple, designed with discipline to romanticize both the crudeness and elegance in one of Earth’s most industrious and enigmatic elements. Metal.

The electronic musician and Poker Flat founder's contemplative new studio album takes in minimal house music, moody techno and effervescent breaks across 11 unique tracks. His previous LP Paradise Sold alongside Langenberg was released in 2018 to critical acclaim, and described as "elegantly euphoric" by Mixmag. Never Ending Winding Roads is an entirely solo release however, with much of it produced during the months of enforced isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many of the track titles reflect Steve's headspace during this time, with themes of solitude, contemplation and reflection brought to the fore perhaps more than with any of his previous work. Steve's formative musical years were spent during Germany's techno and acid-house heyday, with his love for a perfect groove as apparent now as it was back then. His DJ skills and a keen, innovative ear led him not down the typical path of the early nineties trance and harder dance scene, but instead towards a fresher, hybrid sound-merging stripped deep house, tweaked out acid and more minimal forms of techno and electronic music: a strand of music he fiercely champions to this day.
"My mindset when making Never Ending Winding Roads was completely different to any other project I have embarked on. I didn't have to tour, and instead could focus 100% on writing music without having the dancefloor as a constant influence. This allowed me creative freedom to explore a range of styles and emotions, and as a result, it is the album I feel most satisfied with to date." says Steve Bug.

With 11 brand new tracks, Never Ending Winding Roads is a meticulously produced and deeply engaging electronic album; one that explores various shades of house, techno and broken beat with Steve's celebrated attention to detail and consummate originality. Album opener Lucid Loops perfectly sets the tone, immediately ensnaring you with a hypnotic, undulating synth line and a faintly menacing undertone thanks to hushed, discordant strings and unnerving vocal stabs. This atmosphere of quiet paranoia permeates many of the tracks on Never Ending Winding Roads, most explicitly in the sinewy groove and sketchy, panic-inducing synth line of Locked Away In My Head.
This album more than perhaps any other in his career sees Steve experimenting with broken-beats, to incredible effect. Tracks like A Conscious Machine and Electro Harmonix are melodic, emotionally-rich cuts: burst of radiant optimism that juxtapose beautifully with the album's darker moments. Elsewhere tracks like Yellow Snake find Steve exploring deep, dubby territory, while album closer Upon Mountains is a cosmic, arpeggiated masterpiece: an 8bit computer game soundtrack reimagined as a poignant electro ballad.

Mort Garson’s road to cool cultural caché and the sublimity of Plantasia meant a decades’ long journey through an underworld of sophisticated, international, string-laced dreck (i.e., your great-grandparents’ record collection) to arrive at Music from Patch Cord Productions, this set of queasy-listening you now hold.

Music from Patch Cord Productions shows that Garson’s knack was to exist in both worlds, super-commercial and waaay out. He cut delirious minute-long blasts for commercials (as to whether or not they were actually ever aired remains unknown) and spacecraft-hovering études. Were there really account managers out there in the early ’70s that gave the greenlight to these commercial compositions which seemed to anticipate everyone from John Carpenter to Suicide? What were these campaigns actually for, Soylent Green? Regardless, Mort’s jingle work laid the groundwork for the future. As Robert Moog himself noted: “The jingles were important because they domesticated the sound.” Via Garson’s wizardry, the synthesizer transcended novelty to ubiquity and dominance.

Other curios and questions abound. How did Garson’s arrangement work for Arthur Prysock’s satiny body worship album This Is My Beloved transmogrify into the body-snatcher pulses of “This is My Beloved”? Are the two pieces even related? What is the IATA code for the airport of “Realizations of an Aeropolis”? What denomination is the “Cathedral of Pleasure”? If “Son of Blob” sounds like a hallucinatory melted ice cream truck theme, what on earth does Blob’s father sound like? Every sound wrangled out of that Moog by Garson pushes things further and further out.

Of course, these are all questions that may never get answers, as Garson wasn’t the most organized modern day composer, busy as he was conjuring strange new realms with his circuit boards and synths. He worked and wrote right up until his death in 2008, his daughter and Sacred Bones still going through all of the material left behind. He wouldn’t live to see it, but his renaissance was just around the corner, the seeds that had been scattered in record bins around the world suddenly coming to bear fruit. Take a bite!

Thaba is a collaboration between South African singer/
songwriter Khusi Seremane and American producer/musician
Gabriel Cyr. Tragically in July 2020, while the two were
working with Soundway to prepare the release of their first
record, Seremane died a few days past his 41st birthday, after
battling health issues for several years.
The particular Thaba sound reflects a sonic duality drawing
on a double pop heritage of Mbaqanga and Bubblegum artists
like The Soul Brothers, Paul Ndlovu and Pat Shange alongside
traces of Roxy Music, Grace Jones, Sade, and Talk Talk that’s
wrapped up in a modern, electronic, layered, introspective
and at times jazz-tinged production style.
Brought together by a shared love of kwaito, 90’s R&B and
classic downtempo, Seremane and Cyr collaborated for a
decade after meeting online in the halcyon days of Myspace
Music. While the pair initially planned for Seremane to guest
on a Teleseen track, their ideas eventually evolved into an
entire record. Their debut, Eyes Rest Their Feet, was created
remotely over the course of several years, with the core
recorded during a 2016 studio session in Cape Town.
After returning to New York, Cyr honed these recordings with
several Brooklyn-based musicians, calling upon members
of Antibalas, Underground System, Midnight Magic, Loboko
and others. Eyes Rest Their Feet spans genres as well as
geography, touching on elements of soul, reggae, synth-pop
and beyond, with lyrical themes that explore loneliness and
the challenges of human relationships.
Eyes Rest Their Feet not only represents the apex of
Seremane’s work as an artist but also a meditation on the
transformative power of love and the impermanence of all
things.

Demon Records presents the first ever vinyl pressing of The Durutti Column’s 2003 studio album “Someone Else’s Party”.

Formed in Manchester in 1978, The Durutti Column were one of the first acts signed to the iconic Factory Records by Tony Wilson. Primarily the project of guitarist and vocalist Vini Reilly, the group have a cult following with notable fans including Brian Eno and John Frusciante.

Recorded after the passing of Reilly’s mother, the melancholic “Someone Else’s Party” explores themes of loss and reflection. Highlights include the trip-hop influenced ‘Vigil’, and ‘Spanish Lament’ which weaves together Reilly’s signature shimmering guitar sounds with a sample from David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.

Pressed on two 140g clear vinyl, housed in printed inner sleeves.

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) is the award winning drama film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by (a.o.) Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. The original score and songs were composed and conducted by John Williams (the Star Wars & Indiana Jones trilogies, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and many more). The album won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Directed by Rob Marshall, the film stars Zhang Ziyi and Ken Watanabe, amongst others. The story revolves around a young girl who is sold by her family to an okiya, a geisha house. Her new family then sends her off to school to become a geisha. The story focuses on her struggle as a geisha to find love, while in the process making a lot of enemies. The film was nominated for and won numerous awards, including nominations for six Academy Awards, and eventually won three: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

Available as a 15th anniversary edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on white vinyl. The package includes an insert and the D-side contains an etch.

Today internationally renowned composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and visual artist Tim Koh announces the release of his debut solo album ‘In Your Dreams’, set for release on 18 September via Tim Burgess’ O Genesis Recordings. The announce follows the release of recent single ‘Fall Into Your Dream’ in May.

In Your Dreams is Tim’s most straightforward and accessible release to date, and an exciting addition to his body of solo work, which hitherto can broadly be described as experimental noise. The poignant song collection tackles core themes of life’s calamities, broken love, and transitory relationships, yet counterbalances its essential melancholy with a whimsical, upbeat, and playful spirit throughout. While not strictly autobiographical, the songs draw from Tim’s recent personal experiences during his two-year isolation from friends and family, and create a compelling narrative of alienation, loss, and love.

Tim wrote In Your Dreams in Amsterdam, L.A., and London in-between his time touring with Ariel Pink, and subsequently recorded the songs at home in Amsterdam while recovering from a near-fatal 2018 accident. The recurring hospitalizations that Tim has endured in recent years subtly find their way into the album through phone recordings from Tim’s actual hospital stints, underscoring the album’s themes on this highly personal work. In Your Dreams deftly juxtaposes lush, densely layered sounds with stark simplicity through a series of quick turnarounds, creating the captivating feeling of tension and release that characterizes this remarkable song collection.

Guest musicians on In Your Dreams include Chris Cohen on guitar, and drum help from Jay Watson (Tame Impala, Gum) and Josh da Costa (CMON). Adding to the family feel of the album, longtime Ariel Pink and Tim Koh collaborator Jorge Elbrecht performed mixing duties along with mastering by Heba Kadry.

Sam Gendel’s Nonesuch Records debut, Satin Doll, was recorded in Gendel’s native California, and is a futuristic homage to historical jazz. The album features three musicians — Gendel on saxophone, Gabe Noel on electric bass, and Philippe Melanson on electronic percussion — engaging in simultaneous synchronized sonic construction/deconstruction of jazz standards, including Miles Davis’ ‘Freddie Freeloader’, Charles Mingus’ ‘Goodbye Pork Pie Hat’, and Duke Ellington’s ‘Satin Doll’.

Sam Gendel is a musician and producer living in Los Angeles, CA. He is most known for his work with the saxophone, though he is proficient on multiple instruments. His work is diverse and includes significant collaborations with a wide range of artists including Ry Cooder, Blake Mills, Sam Amidon, Perfume Genius, Moses Sumney, Knower, Vampire Weekend, and inc. no world. Gendel’s previous discography includes the critically praised Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar with bassist Sam Wilkes and 4444.

marbled blue & white vinyl

Mireia Records’ maritime-themed color-splash series “We'll Sea” hits edition number four. Gathered here we find an illustrious quartet of today’s most proficient captains of the night: Das Komplex (Steps, Love on the Rocks), Tecwaa (Höga Nord, Les Yeux Orange), Jacques Bon (Beats in Space, Mule, Smallville) and Achim Maerz (Don’t Be Afraid).
Hear satellites roaming the atmospheric edge of our planet as if it would be just another shore. Listen to breaking waves of light.
Stargaze while dipping toes in the sands of time.
Time to leave the planet - at least for the length of this record.

In 1990 Neil Hannon started recording and releasing under the name
The Divine Comedy. Thirty years and twelve great albums later,
Hannon is rightly adjudged one of the finest singer songwriters of his
generation. To celebrate, Divine Comedy Records are remastering
and reissuing nine of the band's classic albums.
The nine reissued albums have been remastered from the original
tapes at the legendary Abbey Road Studios by mastering engineer
Frank Arkwright (Blur, The Smiths). Overseeing the audio throughout
the campaign is engineer / mixer / producer Guy Massey, whose
work on the Beatles Stereo Remasters won him a Grammy Award.
‘Casanova’ was the band’s third album and the first to bring real
success. First released in 1996 it explored and dissected a world of
casual affairs, loose morals and a thousand anxieties in between.
From the NME: “‘Casanova’ fairly teems with sex, with suppressed
desires... with ample evidence of what dicks men can be.” Mojo
described it as a “glorious... sumptuous paean to life, love and
longing.” Select said “Only a barren heart could resist it... Sensible
people simply swooned.” Singles ‘Something For The Weekend’,
‘Becoming More Like Alfie’ and ‘The Frog Princess’ became chart hits
and airplay staples while an alternate version of ‘Songs Of Love’
became the theme music for legendary Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted

German funk stalwarts The Mighty Mocambos unleash another sample of their explosive live energy, a 7" of two brand new tunes recorded straight to 8-track tapeduring JAM PDM! Breakdance Battle at Fabrik Potsdam on February 1st 2020.

"Arabesque Breakin' Suite" on side A is an original instrumental medley written for the occasion and delivers the raw, heavyweight sound that has made The Mighty Mocambos a staple of b-boy battles the world over. Side B is a cover of the Axel F Theme from Beverly Hills Cop, taking the tune from 80s synth-heavy electro-pop to soulful, tropical-flavored b-boy funk.

In these peculiar times without concerts, these live recordings are a real labor of love that capture the special vibes of a Mighty Mocambos performance while remaining suitable for DJ-use and enjoyable to the dedicated listener.

The 45 comes in a beautiful picture sleeve - a reproduction of the tape box used for the recording with a b/w photo from the event.

Between Christmas 2000 and New Year 2001 producers Ekkehard Ehlers and Stephan Mathieu recorded an album of warm, soft, delicately crackling electronic music in the space of that week. It was christened with the ambivalent title "Heroin" and was released on CD via the label Brombron in 2001 and later in 2003 re-issued on Kit Clayton's Orthlorng Musork on double-LP with remixes the pair had commissioned as expansions.

17 years later Heroin sees its first vinyl release to include all 13 tracks from the original CD track-list on this LP + 12“ set. The centerpiece "Herz" finally receives its long deserved vinyl treatment (side C, at 45rpm) and on the flip side Thomas Brinkmann contributes a mirror in a magnificent remix of that very piece on side D.

Ehlers and Mathieu were both highly prolific solo artists during the period 2000-2004, and in just two years after the initial release of "Heroin" each had produced over half a dozen new solo recordings: among them the serial masterpiece Ehlers' "Plays" (Cornelius Cardew, Hurbert Fichte, John Cassavetes, Albert Ayler, Robert Johnson) released as 5 stunning LPs in a series on Staubgold, while Mathieu's 'Full Swing Edits' spread over five 10" records plus his album 'FrequencyLib' on Mille Plateaux, 'Die Entdeckung des Wetters' on Lucky Kitchen and ‘The Sad Mac’ on Atsushi Sasaki’s Headz label were greeted to critical acclaim.

Both artists were expanding their conceptual sonic approaches in the glow of developing laptop technologies which would to these times in 2020 seem quite primitive, but these two in that period used the state-of-the-art to aid and abet their conceptual visions, while at times the duo used unorthodox experimentation - yet always had a distinctively melodic and musical form at its heart and soul.

Ehlers can be seen as a conceptualist, as a meta-musician who interrogates the mediums and methods of sound production - reflecting on the conditions and possibilities of improvisation (e.g. "Plays Albert Ayler") and exploits ideas of mutation and distortion of popular aesthetics played out within a ghostly form of divine pop beauty in his project März.

Mathieu, originally a drummer and co-founder of what has come to be known as the Berlin 'Echtzeitmusik' scene. His approach could be similarly described as working a critical analyst and researcher: Subtly and precisely working in the realm of processing as a method of intervening in melodious/harmonic analog sound sources.

Ehlers and Mathieu may not think too much about their singular productions and publications outcomes, but instead concentrate on the process and musical personality that characterizes their gesture- style itself stays in the background - and they usher a music from small minimal sound sources coaching a patient music of slow intervention - much like a refraction of light than a concrete painting or a blurred photograph - beatus accident.

And indeed, "Heroin" is an album that embraces the happy accident being made up of reduced, often very catchy and very direct micro hooks which seem laser-guided into a space accepting obvious melodic beauty in what feels like an observation of musics unfolding and revealing it's DNA, embed with for a kind of yearning for innocence and naiveté - as if Satie were on the jukebox in "The Crying of Lot 49". Not to say the music is "reduced", but rather: 'restricted' and born from acceptance of limitations, and the artists allowing the sounds to just "be.." with some incremental degrees of coercion.

The album not only sounds like that of 2 producers who are both dreamers and scientists, but that Ehlers and Mathieu chose to work with these means in a dialogue together to reduce pop music to its musical/tonal core, it is not Pop music anymore, rather a ghostly pointilistic itteration of song. "Heroin" is located at this transition, around that point at which tracks, that were or could have become pop compositions, irrevocably slip into a static harmonic nirvana. We are invited to follow the arch of Heroin in a slow-motion morphine musical haze.

Heroin sounded timeless when originally released and proof is that it remains so, one wishes that Ehlers and Mathieu would convene again for a week, a month or an entire year to continue this process of slow rumination, picking affectionately over the sounds they both love - and then maybe when everything is condensed, evaporated they would write more songs with those sonic refractive elements that remain.

Following up on their debut LP Kick Drunk Love for Marcel Vogel’s Intimate Friends imprint a few years back, we are proud to present the next installment in the sporadic KAMM legacy: Cookie Policies.

Far more sonically rich and musically adventurous than its predecessor, Cookie Policies sees the band make bold strides into new territories where classically hardwired categories such as jazz, indie rock, and electronica melt into one another with immaculate, timeless ease.

The band members’ positions are more clear cut as well this round, with Marc David Barrite (aka Dave Aju, who also did one of his coveted mix engineering jobs on the LP) on prominent lead vocals in many of the pieces, Alland Byallo on trumpet, Kenneth Scott on synth bass, and Marc Smith adding guitar sections while the others shared the arranging and programming duties. This makes for a deeper continuation of the otherworldly combination of their known individual production styles, as well as a musical whole truly greater than the sum of its parts.

The set starts off with “Bird Call”, whose opening ode to Morricone ok corral-meets-samurai showdown riffs flow into a loose and drifting psychedelic boom bap blip, building until a glorious change-up of key and energy brings the track to its peak and deconstructed back down. “Rachel, the Largest Bullfrog” then takes things in a sweeter, slightly more traditionally-structured direction where dusty indie-folk ballad vibes intersect with an array of twisted cosmic tones, bits of computer keyboard percussion, and deep rolling sub bass. “Buckle Down” then moves things back away from acoustic restraints into a beautiful synth-laden musing on potential regret, with an ultra-potent horn section from Byallo vs a nasty stacked Roland SH-101 finish.

“CCBPGC” cools things off for a few minutes with an ambient field recording slice-and-dice motif, which slowly but surely evolves into a slinking jazz noir groove from another dimension. The more traditional song structures return on the lovely “La Luna”, where Barrite’s pen and soulful voice take to nautical longing themes over apropos waves of sonic textures. The ebb and flow of the verse/chorus sections eventually rise and give way to an absolutely gorgeous denouement. “Shleem” then takes us into pure unadulterated soaring sci-fi soundtrack ambient blast-off bliss, while the epic closing track “The Soft Glow of Electric Sex” gives a hearty nod to early masters of sprawling psychedelic jam sessions, from Pink Floyd and Can to In A Silent Way-era Miles and Liquid Liquid, while bringing it clearly into futurist millennia. The gradual evolution of the piece into its grand finale is the stuff we true music-lovers live and die for. We hope you enjoy the ride as much as we do.

Outstanding and legendary Italian Library album out of the vaults of Cometa Edizioni Musicali featuring tones of mental Jazz-Funk and Psychedelic beats. The listener is constantly kept by the incredible music that swings between Psychedelic Funk, Esoteric Jazz and Cinematic/Love themes. Tracks like "Love For Sale", "Privacy", "Metropolis Notte" and "Dopping 2000" are simply timeless, with a stunning sound that perfectly plunges in the universe of great 1970s vibes and golden Italian library/film music of the time. Originally issued on Limited Edition serie for collectors, this gem has been repressed on 180gr. wax again with improved sound quality remastering from the original master tapes.

A virtuoso pianist and composer of seminal works in early electronic and experimental classical music, Jocy de Oliveira’s musical output has had a great influence within Brazil and abroad. Her sole contribution to Brazilian popular music, her 1959-recorded album, ‘A Música Século XX de Jocy’ in many ways stands apart from the rest of her artistic oeuvre.

The original vinyl release marketed the record as adding to Brazil’s samba heritage with a ‘simple and original dialectic’, naming its style ‘vanguard samba’, which differs from both traditional samba and Bossa Nova, in its infancy at the time.

Listening to Jocy’s ‘20th century music’ in the context of the contemporaneous and vastly more influential Bossa Nova style is especially striking. Where Bossa Nova’s innovators incorporated influences from jazz and French piano music to a samba foundation, Jocy de Oliveira took a greater leap, wedding her century’s classical music to samba. Where Bossa Nova dawned a new epoch of poetic lyricism in Brazilian popular songs with great poets such as Vinicius de Moraes and themes of longing, love and nature, Jocy de Oliveira’s lyrics are concerned with scenes of urban tragedy and decay, presenting an alternative vision to Brazil’s stereotypical tropical paradise image almost 10 years before the emergence of the Tropicália movement.

The sounds and lyrics of Jocy’s landmark release still shock today. Put in the context of a conservative Brazil on the eve of Brasília’s inauguration, it is even more startling that this record ever got made. An unconventional mix of classical and popular musical influences combined with socially critical, ironic and at times journalistic lyrics make for a unique listening experience.

A unique representation of Brazilian popular music, Jocy de Oliveira’s masterpiece ‘A Música Século XX de Jocy’ is reissued for the first time. Meticulously remastered, the record is pressed on high-quality 45-RPM vinyl, with a modernised back cover and printed inner sleeve including previously unseen pictures taken for the record’s release in 1959.

The King & City label is the subject of three 12" reissues, starting with One Blood's classic Lovers Rock take of William DeVaughn's soul anthem, Be Thankful.

Taking the influence of reggae from the Caribbean diaspora within the cultural melting pot of 70s London, the birth of Lovers Rock, often-dubbed 'romantic reggae', is a uniquely black British sound, developed against a backdrop of riots, racial tension and sound systems.

A style suited to the London scene, it represents an apolitical counterpoint to the then dominant conscious Rastafarian sound and continued the soulful and commonly love-themed rocksteady style.

Active during the scene's peak, King & City was launched by Neville King and Lee Laing to champion the sound and alongside other producers like Dennis Bovell, created genre-defining hits.

Formed in 1979 One Blood was made up of the 5 Robinson brothers - Errol, Jerry, Lloyd, Trevor and Paul - and recording at the legendary TMC studios, went on to release two albums and countless singles.

Be Thankful pays homage to DeVaughn's original, with smooth vocals gliding atop tight drum and bass, vocal jumping up dub pom acapella to summer perfection. The tapes here passed to cohort Lexx, crafting a wonderful discodub that is all groove, expertly cutting back and forth...diamonds in the back, sunroof top.

Good Vids, Vile Times is the second album by Ant Antic. Its central themes are the never-ending flood of information and its effects on us. The Berlin-based singer and producer Tobias Koett wraps serious questions into radiant pop songs. What does constant bombardment of information do to us? What's lost along the way?

On his new album, Ant Antic observes the emotional power of media and information. The helplessness we feel in the face of predominantly bad news and the growing inability to take pleasure in good news. The way an overload of junk information leaves no mental capacity for real social connections. As a child of the first globally connected generation, he witnesses geographical boundaries dissolve and people consider humanity as one. At the same time, everyone seems to struggle to come to terms with a reality overflowing with possibilities. Slowly, we collectively turn into superficial nihilists.

"When I wrote my first album Wealth I looked inward to examine my own emotions, asking myself "How do I really feel?". For Good Vids, Vile Times I was focusing less on the how and more on the question of why. "Why do I feel that way?"", Tobias explains the creative writing process behind his second album as Ant Antic.

"I'm a bag of hot air / Push me up density / Feel like a millionaire / Don't bring me down gravity", he admits on the single Yellow Press. Referencing the album's cover artwork by Austrian photographer Erli Grünzweil, Tobias describes how it feels to advertise his own life to other people - when behind the meticulously crafted presentation, there's sometimes nothing left but emptiness and anxiety.

Good Vids, Vile Times is an album rich in variety, ranging from indie-pop to contemporary R&B. In stark contrast to the somber tone of the lyrics, the songs radiate a cheerful liveliness. Fueled by analog synthesizers and an electric guitar often not discernible as such, the record builds on Ant Antic's signature sound. It's all Tobias on Good Vids, Vile Times - writing songs, recording vocals, guitars and synths, all the way to production and mixing. Essential elements and ideas are put into focus by getting rid of everything else. At the same time, the new album sees singer and producer Tobias openly flirting with pop, exploring new sounds and aesthetics, and maturing musically and lyrically. No song is alike, each one tells an honest and relatable story - all held together by the magic glue that is Tobias' distinctive voice, which might stay with you forever.

"Minor Planets completes a trilogy of cosmically themed electro-acoustic albums by UK and Berlin based trio Twinkle3, 15 years in the making. This third installment is once again all about the unique synergies the group discover in combining free group improvisation with studio and musique-concrete techniques. The group's combined love of everything from Lee Perry to Noh Theatre via Karlheinz Stockhausen and King Sunny Ade lead them to respond musically to create a single universe where they all coexist and interact. Aleatoric analogue sequencing, chamber-like acoustic improvisation and dub treatments become distilled into a distinct and emotive narrative that takes us on an exhilarating hyperspace cruise to the outer reaches.

Clive Bell is a virtuoso of the Shakuhachi. His aesthetic takes us on a timbral journey between noise and pitch, expressed and phrased rhythmically by the contour of human breath. This creates a perfect context and focus for a music that moves seamlessly between rhythm, suspension, time modulated analogue states, dissonance and melody. Richard Scott and David Ross share a background in acoustic free improvisation and have pioneered new approaches to rhythm using self-designed analogue systems. On Minor Planets these seemingly paradoxical orthodoxies cross-pollinate in a spirit of wonder and optimism to produce original and experimental music that is both life affirming and uplifting.

Album artwork by Benjmain Kilchhofer captures the feeling of peering through the vacuum of space and catching a rare glimpse of the mysterious alien biomes, fossils, and silhouettes cast by dwarf planets, asteroids, Kuiper belt, and other trans-Neptunian objects."

“Not The Nine O'Clock News gave the world alternative comedy and made the media scene we have today.” – Mark Lewisohn, Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy Celebrating over 40 years since the ground-breaking comedy series arrived on BBC TV, Demon Records proudly presents all three original LPs - Not The Nine O’Clock News, Hedgehog Sandwich and the double LP The Memory Kinda Lingers - lovingly mastered on heavyweight themed coloured vinyl.
Let the famous signature tune take you back to the heady days of 1979, when Labour gave way to the Conservatives, striking workers created the Winter of Discontent, and Not The Nine O’Clock News inherited the BBC2 time slot vacated by Fawlty Towers. It quickly became a trailblazing smash hit, running for four series and making stars of Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys-Jones.
Among the many famous, and much-loved, sketches included on the LPs are David Bloody Attenborough (aka Gerald the Gorilla), Points of View, General Synod’s “Life of Python”, Constable Savage, University Challenge, Hi-Fi Shop, That’s Lies, Not The Parrot Sketch, Open
Marriage, Question Time, Game For A Laugh, Two Ninnies, McEnroe’s Breakfast, What A Load of Willies, The Pope’s Visit, Simon and Garfunkel and – yes – The Return of Constable Savage. Produced and devised by John Lloyd and Sean Hardie, Not The Nine O’Clock News won a Silver Rose at the Montreux Festival and a BAFTA for Best Light Entertainment Programme. Its large writing team included such future luminaries of TV comedy as Richard Curtis, David Renwick,
Andrew Marshall, Guy Jenkin, Laurie Rowley, John Lloyd and Andy Hamilton. Presented as a faithfully reproduced facsimile gatefolds, and remastered from the original tapes.

Repress!

For its second release, Radiant Love sticks to family values. Paying homage to the party and label’s co-director and resident Byron Yeates, Byron’s Theme comes from the likes of Vani-T (one half of Berlin’s forceful, femme party Climax) and D. Tiffany (who threw down a ruthless remix on the label’s first release by Fio Fa). Together, they take the name of Pillow Queen – a semi-pejorative term for the kind of sub who expects to receive pleasure like a well catches rainwater. No reciprocation, just a reign of sexual passivity.


Their tracks, however, give plenty. “Byron’s Theme” presents a rich palette in its 2-minute buildup: a dry trance hook, high-end synths buzzing and wavering, pitch-shifted voice samples and a pan-flute ran through with tremolo. Throbbing, the 303 bassline picks up after a breakdown at the 4-minute mark, and only then does one realise the song’s still building. There’s still room in the last 40 seconds for some percussion modeled on a breakbeat loop – which is to say, the track is incredibly cheeky and hard-hitting – all that I would hope for in any lover.

While the EP’s first track feels wide, rangy, “Estrel Nights” opens the EP’s B-side in a much closer, tighter space. The build is percussive: bongo taps, claps, cowbell; then a hi-hat snaps things into shape, and in lopes the kick drum. And rhythm remains the central player here. It’s not until 3 minutes in that the percussion finds a melodic backdrop – a dreamy, detuned pad, choral, like a moan.

Ex-Terrestrial’s remix of “Byron’s Theme” repositions some of the elements and ratchets up the tempo of the original, but maintains its respiration: the energy and erotics flow into a different structure, closer to traditional trance, with sharp hi-hats and loopy arpeggios that phase in and out of syncopation, measure to measure. Diagonal, we incline to a climax that dizzily plateaus at 6 minutes, de-escalates and breaks down over the next 2, glows until it’s just a kick drum, slower, slower still; we’re catching our breath.

PRESSED ON ECO-FRIENDLY VINYL AT THE GREENEST PRESSING PLANT IN THE WORLD

The ends of days are ones with which Damian Lazarus is familiar, but, much like his biblical namesake, he too, has come back from the brink and risen to fight on, his career is interwoven with themes of survival and re-birth. Fittingly then, his second solo album does not wallow in our current dark times but charts a path of hope. Flourish, offers a glimpse of a new world worth living in and surviving for.

Flourish takes us through the many lives of Damian Lazarus, who, as he has grown older, and traversed the globe, has come to more deeply examine the role the dance floor plays in his own life and that of others. With parties cancelled, it would have been easy to wallow, but instead urgency took hold, and isolated Italian countryside Damian took the space to tackle the larger questions he has been grappling with for years.

As anyone who has watched Lazarus DJ can attest, his inspirations are deep and varied, criss-crossing show tunes, drum n bass, jazz, electro, soul, house, techno and everything in-between. This album reflects his immersion in a multitude of scenes over the years, from the early days of London drum n bass, to his role as a figurehead in the electroclash scene, and of course the significant impact his Crosstown Rebels label has had on contemporary underground house and techno. Flourish is far from a box of functional DJ tools, in the same way as Damian’s debut album Smoke The Monster Out or the more worldly outings in his brace of albums with the Ancient Moons. It’s a personal, brave and varied body of work. It’s also the work of an artist who has grown over the ten years since his last solo album. Lazarus plays with nuances of texture, tempo and style to create a rich and dense album that takes us on an odyssey that is at times both dark and uplifting. Vocals of his own cast an intimate shadow over the album with those of his sole collaborator Jem Cooke offering a soothing balance amidst the madness.

Damian’s work reminds us that however taxing the journeys there are always moments of beauty to be found.

Bridging the link between the drummer's hometown in Montana and the love of african rhythms, Beat Bronco Organ Trio offer us this sublime, lilting instrumental full of precussive warmth and mid-tempo syncopations.

This 2-part song is not featured on their recent Road Trip LP, but following hot on the theme of musical travellings. Departing from the land of the shining mountains and heading across continents to the sound of the twangy, rolling guitar, parts 1 & 2 are a delightful yet raw aural journey carried out across a live, 4-track tape machine.

Totally analog and fresh, as we often wish music could be.

BAFTA Award-winning actor Matt Berry has been the star of a number of high profile TV series including Toast Of London, The IT Crowd and most recently What We Do In The Shadows. Concurrently he has
cultivated a career as a musician that has seen him release six solo albums and collaborate with the likes of Bond composer David Arnold, Jean-Michel Jarre and most recently Josh Homme, who invited him to perform on the Desert Sessions.

His most recent album ‘TV Themes’ was a UK Top 40 hit and was awarded four stars by Will Hodgkinson writing for The Times. His reinterpretation of British TV themes of the past was no mere wallow in nostalgia but an exploration of recording techniques and a joyous celebration of the music.

‘Phantom Birds’ was inspired by a fascination with Bob Dylan’s ‘John Wesley Harding’, the way it was recorded with the minimum of musicians to draw attention to the songs. For the recording Matt worked with drummer Craig Blundell - known for his work with
Steven Wilson and Steve Hackett - and legendary pedal steel player BJ Cole, yet the tinges of Americana are never allowed to overwhelm Matt’s own distinctive style.

The different seeds that have been planted throughout the life of Croatian Amor come to bloom on 'All In The Same Breath,' affirming an equilibrium that's all its own. Spiralling through the half-light electronics are gentle bumps and breaks that are layered into moments of elevation. A coarse edge remains just an arm's length away, but there is an unmistakable element of celebration throughout the album's 10 tracks. As the syncopated terrains ring out, their perpetual rhythmic motions call a medley of human voices that speak in security. They sing to everyone just as they sing to themselves. In the years since the seminal Croatian Amor album 'Love Means Taking Action' Loke Rahbek has strode a twofold path. There are the delicate, meditative compositions that he has made with Frederik Valentin; setting acoustic instrumentation against affecting digital treatments, each of their collaborative albums are an exercise in the magnificence of subtle restraint. And with the sharpest of turns you'll find Rahbek's parallel universe of rave-shocked rhythms and kinetic helixes that eddy through genre and tempo with few constraints. Collaborations with Varg²™ have yielded the wildest of this, and remain ongoing, yet the traces were already apparent across much of the previous Croatian Amor album 'Isa' with its treated vocalizations and cascading rhythmic mechanics. 'All In The Same Breath,' arrives as a steady handed synthesis of these divergent instincts. Elaborating the distinct techniques and themes that form the wistful essence of the project, the album's quiet composure is a sign that these familiarities have been set adrift to settle into their own private ecosystem.Small vessels travel in a perfect array. Light following shadows, following light. Every movement a signal, every second is camouflage. 'All In The Same Breath' is perhaps more than anything an invitation to be open to wonder.

Seeing himself as a social commentator, Coops continuously draws inspiration from everything around him and is feeling more inspired than ever. Having signed to the label in 2018 he has already released 2 poignant albums and continues to create at rapid speed.

The 8-track project - which was made in just 4 studio sessions - is unlike Coops’ usual 14+ track albums both he and his fans have become used to. Coops turned the album around in record time to ensure his music was released during this unparalleled time in history. The homegrown beats come from his close friend and long term collaborator Talos who has produced almost all his beats to date.

In the opening track, ‘ Boom Biddy Bye’ Coops doesn’t waste a second in putting his fellow rappers through their paces. A block rapper with no one to please but himself, Coops professes that he barely listens to what other rappers release to ensure they don’t infiltrate and influence his own music. Highly appropriate for these times, title track ‘ Crimes Against Creation ’ is the stand out voice of this generation and his message to the world. ‘W arped perception, thwart connections, they force perfection, then claim the antidotes an injection...’ plays out and we begin to appreciate how the current situation is playing heavily on his mind. As the album progresses we get to see all sides of Coops’ personality with ‘Piss Poor’ reminding us of the raw gritty London lifestyle from which he has risen from, whilst ‘Profile’ demonstrates his softer more promiscuous side as well as touching on themes of fatherhood and online relationships.
Coops’ musical entry point begun by making music with his friends, but it wasn’t until he really looked at himself and the world around him when he decided he needed to go it alone, opening his mind and his solo stream of creativity which hasn’t stopped since. A self-proclaimed hermit he embodies the essence of a true artist and only finds comfort in doing what he loves, not what he is told.

Will Saul, DJ/Producer and Aus Music label head primes the 150th release for the longstanding British label with a stellar cover of the 1990 seminal techno record of the same name by Yolanda on seminal label Underground Resistance.

With the original record being one of Saul's all time favorites and UR being a constant source of inspiration it was beyond a dream to get his version fully approved by Mike Banks to celebrate the landmark anniversary. Saul then worked with Berlin based vocalist Gilli.jpg - who has recently worked with Cinthie - to re-vocal Yolanda’s song.

As a former intern at Skint in the late 90s heyday, this up-streamed anthem feels extra special finally landing digitally on the label where Saul began learning his trade over twenty years ago. The vinyl will be released on Aus. There is also a version expected later this year which see's Saul collaborate with Paul Woolford and additional remixes by Move D and Space Dimension Controller that will land shortly. The release features artwork by Trevor Jackson, the man behind the Output label, who’s releases launched careers for huge artists like Four Tet and LCD Soundsystem to name just a few. His iconic, pop art influenced work has been seen on releases including the undisputable 80’s dance classic, Raze ‘Break 4 Love’ and S'Express 'Theme from S'Express'.

2020 Re-issue of Keith Kenniff's debut under his Goldmund moniker. Originally only released on CD in 2005 via John Twells' Type Recordings, this album of rare and unusual minimalist beauty is now presented as a vinyl edition for the first time.

Multi-instrumentalist Keith Kenniff is a busy man. He has appeared as Helios on a number of acclaimed releases, including Deaf Center’s ‘Neon City EP’, and released a debut album ‘Unomia’ on Merck records which has appeared on many best of 2004 lists. All this while studying at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and playing drums, guitar or contributing production to a host of amazing musicians. Kenniff lives and breathes music, something that is very obvious when hearing tracks under any of his pseudonyms.

As Goldmund, Kenniff has disregarded the electronic elements of his music almost entirely in favour of just a piano, a microphone and occasionally a guitar. ‘Corduroy Road’ is thirteen tracks of pure recording, the sound of the piano being opened and the feet on the pedals, the sound of fingers pressing lovingly onto the keys. This is a record of rare and unusual beauty, so shocking and yet unpretentious in its simplicity. When the guitar does emerge from beside the delicately touched piano, it serves as a balancing point for the record. Weaving in and out of the melodies, it adds another layer to what is already incredibly moving music.

‘Corduroy Road’ is rooted in Kenniff’s love of folk music from the American Civil War. We can hear this directly from his rendition of Civil War era classic ‘Marching Through Georgia’, but the influence carries throughout the record. There is an unheard voice which propels each track through history, maybe the ghosts of dying soldiers whispering in a long forgotten bar. Every haunting note drifts deep into the psyche and is lost in the ether of nostalgia. In this way it is a concept recording of sorts, it certainly has a narrative and has to be listened to in sequence. The story has clear themes; loss, history, friendship, camaraderie, forgiveness and hope, all clearly marked out by musical segments. It is no surprise that Kenniff’s passion for cinema shines through so strongly.

It would be hard to draw comparisons to music so rooted in folk traditions, but the music evokes traces of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mark Hollis, Keith Jarret or even Eno’s more piano based compositions. Yet influence seems unimportant when listening to this deeply personal work. Just let it sink in and drift into the psyche.

Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles announces details of his highly anticipated new album Articulation, released on Erased Tapes on 31 July 2020.
‘Articulation’, the lead track and album centrepiece, links the record back to the analogue fluidity and colour of 2016’s Night Melody. The division of varying time signatures, intertwined with a complex structure of notes, creates an expression of a moving structure and conjures a dreamy motorik energy. Ryan Lee West explains, "The title track is about articulation and playfulness with shape and time. Its structure is very machine-like, but I was really interested in how melody and sense of story could develop out of this, and it became an exploration of mathematical structures - patterns and shapes having a conversation. I love that something on paper can appear rigid and calculated, but then take on new meaning based on the context that surrounds it, or how it changes over time."
Articulation (which follows 2018’s Persona) was conceived with a very visual way of thinking, unusual for the London musician and producer. During the writing process Ryan drew structures, shapes and patterns by hand to try and find new ways of thinking about music, giving himself a way to problem-solve away from the computer. The album title references a piece by the avant-garde contemporary composer Györgi Ligeti, though not for its music, but for the non-traditional graphic score that accompanied it.
“I find electronic music is often battling to say something with integrity because technology and production can easily get in the way. I think the goal of a lot of electronic composers is to find a balance between the vision of the idea and the power of possibilities on the computer. With a pen and paper sketch you can compose and rethink ideas without technology getting in the way, so for me it acts as a very helpful tool to refresh the process.” - Ryan Lee West
The idea of using analogue drawings and tools to bolster digital creations can be heard in the structure of the pieces that make up Articulation from the broody techno opener ‘Vibrations on a String’ all the way to the album’s boundless closer ‘Sudden Awareness of Now’. While the anthemic rise and fall of ‘Still Here’ and the beatless ambient meditation ‘Melodica’ evoke a certain nostalgia, ‘Forwardism’ achieves the very opposite by burying its melody within the fast-paced rhythm of its pulsating synths.
Rising out of birdsong heard from his studio window, ‘Sudden Awareness of Now’ has a particular urgency about it and seems to perfectly capture a longing for escape. Built around a simple and repetitive melodic theme, expanding and retracting over the course of its seven-minute odyssey, Lee West explains; “I like the fact that if you say something over and over again in music, then over time it can become something else, something reflective.”
Since the release of Persona, Ryan Lee West has taken his captivating live A/V set to all corners of the world. Last seen live on stage with 17 players of the London Contemporary Orchestra for a sold-out orchestral performance at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in January 2020.
Meanwhile Lee West has kept busy. After contributing an exclusive track titled ‘Them Is Us’ to Adult Swim’s coveted Singles series, he recently shared the beautifully textured solo piano piece Winter’s Lament on this year’s Piano Day. He has also been in high demand as a composer, scoring Charlie Brooker’s much talked about Black Mirror episode Striking Vipers, composing original music for Secret Cinema presents Stranger Things as well as renowned choreographer Alexander’s Whitley’s groundbreaking new work Overflow which was set to premiere at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre this spring.
Articulation will be available worldwide on 31 July, with live activities to be announced as soon as the situation allows safe event planning

Romare - bürgerlich Archie Fairhurst - kehrt mit seinem neuen Album „Home“ zurück, das sein drittes auf Ninja Tune und das erste überhaupt seit seinem von der Presse gefeierten „Love Songs: Part Two“ von 2016. „Home“ folgt auf die im September 2019 erschienene 12“ „Gone“/ „Danger“, seine bisher direkteste Dancefloor-Platte, die Resident Advisor als „fesselnde acht Minuten filmischer House-Musik“ beschrieb. Die Veröffentlichung von „Home“ kommt für Fairhurst nach einem Leben unterwegs, der seine Kindheit damit verbrachte, ständig mit seiner Familie zu reisen, während seine Eltern für die Arbeit um die Welt zogen, bevor sie sich schließlich in Großbritannien niederließen. Dieser nomadische Lebensstil setzte sich anschließend aufgrund seiner blühenden Karriere als Musiker fort und führte ihn auf Welttournee (allein in den letzten zwei Jahren spielte er über 150 Shows). Das neue Album markiert ein neues Kapitel in Fairhusts Leben mit einem Umzug von London aufs Land und der Gründung einer Familie; ein Umzug, der „mir Frieden und Ruhe gegeben hat“, kommentiert er. Der Neubau seines eigenen, selbst gebauten Studios trägt zu diesem Gefühl der Zufriedenheit und Sesshaftigkeit bei, nachdem er in der Vergangenheit in verschiedenen Schlafzimmerstudios gearbeitet hat. Auch von Themen wie Liebe und Romantik, die sein letztes Album, „Love Songs: Part Two“, dominiert haben, hat sich Romare entfernt, stattdessen geht es auf „Home“ um Spiritualität, Identität und Zugehörigkeit. „Identität und Zugehörigkeitsgefühl sind etwas, nach dem ich immer mehr gesucht habe, seitdem ich Vater geworden bin.“, erklärt er, „Während ich aufwuchs, war ich immer unter vielen Menschen mit unterschiedlichem Hintergrund, meine eigene Identität fühlte sich manchmal verloren an.“. Fairhurst ließ sich von den ungewöhnlicheren Platten seiner Sammlung inspirieren und vertiefte sich in amerikanischem Gospel und traditionellem irischen Folk bis hin zu Country, religiöse Hymnen und Klassik, mit einem besonderen Vorliebe für die Komponisten Thomas Tallis und Vaughan Williams.

'Prole Art Threat' is producer Anthoney Hart's second LP for Planet Mu under his East Man alias, after 2018's well received debut 'Red White & Zero'. It brings together a set of MCs from all over London, Darkos and Eklipse from East London and Lyrical Strally from near Feltham who were on the first album, Ny Ny and Mic Ty also from East London, Streema and 'Vision Crew' member Whack Eye from Lewisham plus Fernando Kep, an MC from the burgeoning Brazil grime scene. They work across a cohesive set of tight riddims forged from thoughtful amalgams of grime, dancehall and drum & bass. The album takes its name from a Fall song/mission statement of the same title, the band being self-consciously working class and led by a brilliant autodidact in Mark E Smith. East Man relates that the title is to be taken as “a reflection of working-class creativity and how the establishment marginalise us and (perhaps on a subconscious level) see us as a threat.” Les Back, author of 'The Art of Listening' and 'Out of Whiteness: Color, Politics and Culture (with Vron Ware)' contributes liner notes to the record: East Man understands the force and the democracy of the mic. Listening to Prole Art Threat is like being at a dance. As the mic is passed between each of the MCs, a different tale is ‘elevated... off the map’ as Ny Ny puts it. We hear instalmentsfrom Forest Gate, Lee, Lewisham and Manor Park as these ‘lyrical gaffers’ and ’top boys and girls’ tell tough stories of life under the scrutiny of the ‘Feds’ in a brutal and divided city. The bars and rhymes document what it means to live here; from the double standards applied to the sexuality of young girls and boys to the corrosive violence of everyday life. All this is dissected without compromise. This is not just aLondon story though, the inclusion of Fernando Kep from the burgeoning Grime scene in Brazil is evidence of the outernational reach of the music. The tracks on East Man’s album explode the wilful ignorance of those who see ‘the working class’ in contemporary London as code for whiteness. This is the sound of a proletarian urban multiculture, made from Caribbean and African influences, sound system culture, pirate radio and the inexorable rhythms of Grime, Drum & Bass, Techno and Dancehall. It is the stirring of the "white" & "black" working classes who are living together and coming together on their own terms in sound. ‘Making music because you love it... what the fuck else could you do?’ as East Man says. The tracks and voices you are holding in your hands are, as a result urgent, vital, as hard nails and twice as sharp.

After the success of the 2 Late 4 Love EP, Roy Of The Ravers returns to Emotional Response with a double LP with a deeper perspective, experimenting in ambient and drone textures, lucid techno travails and acid interludes.

Recorded between 1997 and 2017, the album was pieced together over the last six months after Roy's archives were first feared lost and then found. Approached by the label to release a follow up with something more introspective and personal, it was discovered that a recent move to a new studio had led to over 20 years of music being misplaced after it was believed they were mistakenly dropped at a local charity store. However, deep in a box of what were thought to be patch cables were in fact the decades worth of hard drives and here presented, is a sample of those lost recordings.

The nature of the music is introspection, eschewing the acid beats and white noise for a personal encounter between man and machine. The orchestral opening of the title track gives way to the submarine beats, pulsing TB303 and gliding hats of Robinson College 10 to set the outlook to come. Even with the scattering A Dim And Distant Past waking lulled senses, the melodies and feel all lead to a pause and reflect rather than jump and shout.

This is continued with the haunting drives of Bounce Erec and Oriental X0X-Press; the twisted, warped jams of The Weber Traum Boat Pt.3, Ichi and Roland Corp Labs 05; and the beautiful, heartfelt odes in Sade Lost Theme, The Clock House Pt.2 and closer, Nemesis '01. The album's melodic nature hums and shines as CS (6x8) appears as much a centre piece as a alternative consideration to the acid tinged, club bangs of Roy's releases to date.
A surprise package maybe, but in the rolling, word of mouth phenomena that was Emotinium II, all this and more was sensed and so White Sunrise Music II, spreading across 12 songs of contrasting moods, is a further affirmation that there is something good and worthy of exploration.

Kidbug is a love story, one which emerged through a fateful connection when Netherlands-based Marina Tadic (Eerie Wanda) and Australian transplant Adam Harding (Dumb Numbers) met at Joyful Noise Recordings' annual holiday gathering. After enlisting their friends Thor Harris (Swans), Bobb Bruno (Best Coast), and Dale Crover (Melvins), Kidbug emerges fully-formed to present their self-titled debut, 11 songs of beautiful, fuzzed out shoegaze dream pop. Recommended If You Like: My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Breeders, Pixies, Pavement, Sonic Youth, Stereolab, and/or, Eerie Wanda, Dumb Numbers.

Demon Records presents The Final Tour from legendary guitar band The Shadows performing their greatest hits live on this 2LP set made available for the first time. Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett together on-stage June 5th 2004 at Cardiff Arena.
It was during a hot summer day in June 1960 that The Shadows entered Abbey Road's Studio 2 to record Apache, the track that was to become the instrumental hit of the decade. It shot to No.1, became an instant classic and saw the start of a string of over thirty hits that included another four No.1’s - Wonderful Land, Kon-Tiki, Dance On! and Foot Tapper.

31 tracks including four No1's are featured on this double LP pressed on red vinyl with printed inner sleeves

The late engineer and producer Paul C’s fingerprints are all over this single from Ultramagnetic MC’s, perhaps the defining release of their career. While earlier records gave notice of their strange and unique talents, they were loveably messy affairs. This, however, is the real deal, as polished as their early sound would ever be.

‘Give the Drummer Some’ grabs a fistful of different elements – from James Brown, Dee Felice Trio and James Brown – but bends them to its own purpose. This is a song with a momentum of its own and endlessly quotable lyrics. One of which, of course, was sampled by The Prodigy – huge hip-hop fans – for ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ in 1997. The now hugely rare 7” of ‘Give the Drummer Some’ edits this out to make it more radio-friendly, but this reissue reverses that cut, giving you the original lyrics. If anyone knows why Kool Keith also changes the word ‘rappers’ to ‘monkeys’ for that edit, answers on a postcard…

The brilliant B-side harks back to the time when every group had a song dedicated to their DJ. ‘Moe Luv’s Theme’ sees Kool Keith at his most straightforward, singing the praises of the turntable skills of Moe Luv. It would be throwaway were it not for the effortless repurposing of Jackie Robinson’s oft-sampled ‘Pussyfooter’. That – and the presence of one of the world’s great MC’s at the height of his powers – elevates it far above a footnote.

2x12" Pressed & Designed On Gold-Opaque Coloured Vinyl - Double Gatefold - LTD PRESSING OF 2000 WORLDWIDE - Featuring All The Classic Hits & Hard To Find Rarities ...

The classic album of Germany's funk champions reissued on surf blue colour vinyl.

Original press release note from 2011:

After almost twenty 45's under various pseudonyms, their thrilling and hugely successful debut album with London-based singer Gizelle Smith and a tour with concerts throughout Europe, Germany's most prolific deep funk formation is ready to step further into the spotlight with their second longplayer.

The aptly titled THE FUTURE IS HERE sees the group explore new territories with features by hiphop legends Afrika Bambaataa and Charlie Funk, French singer Caroline Lacaze and German rare groove queen Su Kramer, while manifesting their unique raw funk sound and refining their unmistakable instrumental style that has long gained international reputation.

Producer legend Kenny Dope (Masters at Work, Bucketheads) picked up the Mighty Mocambos's re-interpretation of the Furious Five classic "The Message" (released under a pseudonym on an obscure phantasy label without proper distribution), remixed it and re-released it on his own imprint Kay Dee Records. This album includes the original version of the "Next Message" – a message that apparently got heard and answered.

Afrika Bambaataa (the Godfather of Hip-Hop) and Charlie Funk (aka Afrika Islam, Grammy- and Oscar-decorated producer of Ice-T and original member of the Zulu Nation) loved the Mocambo vibe and joined the group on stage and in the studio to record "Zulu Walk" and "Battle", two stunning tracks of organic Funk that take Hip-Hop "back to the roots where we started out" (as featured MC King Kamonzi rightfully says) and along the way, leads funk into the future.

Keeping up with the universal spirit and ignoring boundaries of language in favour of the global groove, the Mocambos recorded "Physique", a rousing dancefloor smash sung in French by Caroline Lacaze. "The Sun Shines Tonight" is a cheerful party-in-the-studio session with original German funk and disco queen Su Kramer (who played with Donna Summer in the original cast of "Hair" during the late 1960s) that documents the pure joy of playing and spontaneity of a Mocambo live situation.

The 12 titles on this album showcase the group's collective determination, unified versatility and creative wit. From the drum-heavy, afro-tinged "Calling The Shots", the anthemic "Struggle & Triumph", the romantic melancholy of "French Vanilla Skies", the somber and frantic "Transcendental Express", to songs with an almost cinematic quality like the moody "A Brighter Darkness" and the horroresque "Paranormals Theme", the album offers a broad spectrum of colours, all held together by the unity of a band that has been playing together for years - recorded live in a few takes with simple analog equipment to capture the energy, chemistry and blind faith between dedicated musicians.

The result, mixed and mastered by chief engineer Def Stef with a decidedly modern punch, is a far cry from nowadays vintage soul band replicas. It is a universal and timeless statement: with the knowledge of the past and present, right now, we look into the future - THE FUTURE IS HERE.