quête:m set

A unique longplayer by Germany's Funk champions The Mighty Mocambos: 'Scénarios' is a wild journey through iconic performances captured on 8-track tape, including celebrated versions of breakdance favourites like 'Axel F.' And 'Let The Music Play' as well as brand new original material composed especially for recordings in unusual settings.

Hamburg's deep funk chefs are known for their intuitive recordings that capture the energy of a live performance, and with this record they go all the way.

Just before the pandemic, the group recorded an in-store live session at legendary Hamburg record shop Groove City and taped an impromptu performance at JAM PDM! breakdance battle in Potsdam. Both were released on vinyl 45s, quickly sold out and became secret weapons for DJs. While most bands shifted their stage to the studio in 2020, producing an abundance of isolated lockdown-inspired material, the Mighty Mocambos – never shy of an antidote - took the mobile version of their recording studio on the road.

With no audience allowed at the Pitt Hopkins Music Session charity concert, the group used the occasion to compose meditative folk-soul instrumentals to be performed exclusively on stringed instruments. Sweaty funk does not work via video stream, but the format provided a welcome opportunity to create something entirely different. Even without electricity and drums, the cinematic "Four Two Three" and "Silent Heroes" are unmistakably recognizable as Mocambo themes.

When you follow Nina Simone's credo that an "artist's duty is to reflect the times", it became evident that once the world slowly started opening up again, further concerts would be captured on the group's portable Fostex R-8 tape machine. Luckily, restrictions fell on the very evening that the band hit the open air stage at the Import Export in Munich on September 11th 2021. The extended afrobeat-inspired jam on J.J. Cale's "Carry On" witnesses people celebrating and dancing together again for the first time after a year and the manic "Munich Psycholympics" unleashes all bottled-up energies that had being lying dormant.

The slightly kafka-esque "Ghost Walk" was taped during a soundcheck for a concert that was eventually called off for safety reasons, reflecting once more the uncertainty of the time. The last scénario sees the Mighty Mocambos returning to a packed indoor venue, playing "Let The Music Play" to a audience of b-boys and -girls – a testament to the sheer power of music. Featured as an encore here, an acoustic version of "Where Do We Go From Here?" (originally recorded with Lee Fields) closes the record and its restless voyage through unusual recording situations.

"Scénarios" differs drastically from other live albums as it does not seek to replicate existing material from studio albums. All songs were written or arranged especially for the live recordings in order to combine the group's DJ-friendly trademark sound with added vibes and momentum from the audience. Most of them were recorded while they were performed in public for the first time ever.

Comes in gatefold sleeve & includes download voucher.




d 04: Theme from Beverly Hills Cop (Axel F) Live

NNAMDÏ has never been able to stay in one place. The Chicago
multi-instrumentalist and songwriter set a blistering pace in 2020
with his critically acclaimed genre-fusing LP, ‘Brat’, a punk EP,
‘Black Plight’, and ‘Krazy Karl’, a full-length tribute to Looney
Tunes composer Carl Stalling. Add in his role as co-owner of label
Sooper Records, as well as recent tours with Wilco, SleaterKinney and black midi, and it’s an overwhelming schedule.
 However, his latest album, ‘Please Have A Seat’, is the result of a
much needed pause. “I realized I never take time to just sit and
take in where I’m at,” says NNAMDÏ. “It’s just nice to not be on
‘Go, Go, Go!’ mode, and re-evaluate where I wanted to go
musically.” This period of reflection allowed him to take stock of his
life and his relationships. “I wanted to be present,” he says. “Each
song came from a moment of clarity.” ‘Please Have A Seat’ serves
as an invitation to listen. It’s a request to sit down, be present, and
take in a moment. With this quiet introspection, NNAMDÏ found
inspiration in silence and nuance.
 While making the record, he decided to stretch the limits of his pop
songwriting: every track had to be hummable. Though he’s written
earworms throughout his career from playing in bands in
Chicago’s DIY community or releasing goofy raps as Nnamdi’s
Sooper Dooper Secret Side Project, here, his shapeshifting hooks
are undeniable. Each of the album’s fourteen songs, which
NNAMDÏ wrote, produced, and performed entirely himself, are
relentlessly re-playable, careening into unexpected and
disorienting places. With NNAMDÏ’s singular vision, ‘Please Have
A Seat’ is yet another leap from Chicago’s hardest working
musician. By taking a minute to sit down and catch his breath, he
re-emerged with the most ambitious, accessible, and nuanced
work of his career.
 Coloured vinyl LP format pressed on Walnut Brown vinyl.

Set for release on 28th October, the deluxe edition of Lady Blackbird’s debut album ‘Black Acid Soul’ comes with a staggering 11 additional songs, encompassing brand new material such as stunning single ‘Feel It Comin’ and remixes commissioned by the likes of electronic, jazz, funk luminaries Emma-Jean Thackray, Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy and Greg Foat.

Originally released in 2021, ‘Black Acid Soul’ received enormous critical acclaim; The Sunday Times named her their Breaking Act, stating that she “brings a singing voice of extraordinary nuance and immaculate phrasing to a selection of covers/reworkings and pindrop originals” in a 4* review. The Guardian awarded the album a 5* review, remarking that Blackbird “finds her calling with an extraordinary collection of songs and performances that burn deep into you”.

Low Company presents Yuta Matsumura’s Red Ribbon, a sequence of introspective, lavishly melodic dream-songs and amphibian atmospheres recorded in scattered periods over 2018-21. Having played in bands like Low Life, M.O.B. and Orion, and the duo Jay & Yuta (with Jay Cruikshank), Red Ribbon is Matsumura’s first solo outing, and represents a conscious effort to move away from guitar-based songwriting. He composed its nine tracks mostly on piano - layering vocals, bass, keyboards, flute (courtesy of Maeve Parker), violin/cello (Laurence Quinn) and clacking drumbox rhythms into dynamic, dubwise avant-pop structures which are supple and spacious but fizzing with detail and vivid inner life. The laconic 4/4 pulse, heat-warped synth-tones and haunting vaporous melodica of opener ‘Box Garden’ set the tone: its surreal psychedelic patternings barely concealing a deep sting of longing and regret. The cryptic lyrics suggest chance encounters, hidden logic, missed opportunities, fatalism, serendipity. A city submerged: everyone else paused mid-movement, while you’re allowed to swim free and fish-like through the streets, over the rooftops...‘Tangled Orchid’ is a tense night-drive through dry desert heat and into the unknown, running away from your old life, chased down by dust-devils of half-baked schemes and abandoned plans, while ‘Myth Machine’ drops the tempo and something mind-altering, guiding us on a tripped-out dub-disco scuba among alien flora and fauna, a world of impossible shapes and sensations. At which point, the mood of the album decisively shifts, firstly with ‘Sake No Otoh’, sung in Japanese by Haruka Sato: an instant-classic, breathtakingly intimate lover's lament that sounds like it got lost on its way to heaven and is now doomed to orbit the earth forever. The songs that follow continue in this more confessional, imploring mode. As if the travelling's done, the baggage has been cast off, and we’ve arrived at our destination, where the real process of rebirth and repair can begin. The music’s textures become less overtly dubby and electronic, with more of an organic, earthy, chamber-pop/avant-folk feel, at once sad and hopeful-sounding. Three songs in particular bear the influence of Eno’s 70s work (and its mutant bedsit offspring Lifetones, Flaming Tunes, etc): ‘‘E. Potential’, where baroquely chorused vocals - half-agonised, half-beatific - teeter on top of simple oscillating piano loops, and the stately, dawntreading ballads ‘Tabula Rasa’ and ‘No Sleep For Birds’. The bulk of the album was made prior to lockdowns and all of that; its themes of reset, self-examination, the need to f**k it all off and take spiritual stock, are timeless. Though they perhaps have a more bittersweet resonance now the world has returned pretty much to how it was, only worse. Track list: 1. Box Garden 2. Tangled Orchid 3. Myth Machine 4. Red Ribbon 5. Soko No Ato 6. Tabula Rasa 7. E. Potential 8. No Sleep For Birds 9. Zookeeper's Trial

(Amsterdam | NL) Surrender to the call of NowNow Records as the imprint from Lee Ann Roberts' sets the release of its first V/A compilation. Featuring Aida Arko, Brecc, Blicz, and Geerson, NowNow Various 1 sets the space between the subtlety and soul of Hard Techno with a tasting of proper talent. Pre-orders are available starting on 30 September 2022.

The now Amsterdam-based South African artist, Robert's created NowNow Records as a destination for communities and cultures to come together in sonic bliss. NowNow Records has championed off-the-grid Techno through its inherent state of urgency since Robert's kicked off the imprint with 2021's I Want You Ep. Since, NowNow Records has been celebrated as a go-to destination for the harder edges of Techno, with releases from WarinD, OGUZ, Ana Lilia, and Benny Guzi all offering their respective takes on this unmistakably relentless sound.

After two successful years, NowNow Records' first V/A features Vienna's Aida Arko, whose A Long Night Into Dunwall kicks things off with her typically industrial, dark, and percussive groove before melding into Brecc's appropriately titled Praise the Rave. The Utrecht-based artist, known for his relentlessly energetic sets, draws from much experience with this one, and it shows! Next, Paris' enigmatic Blicz lets the music do the talking with Independance Night before fellow Frenchmen Geerson closes the affair with the bonafide banger, Domenical Mass.

The complete release is not one for the faint of heart but definitely for those looking for that moment where the music takes you travelling without ever having to leave where you are.

A true love letter to house music, Larson presents his account of the ubiquitous dance music genre diving deep into its origins. Connecting the dots with some of the genre’s most beloved innovators such as Larry Heard, Boo Williams, Ron Trent, Chez Damier or Chris Brann, the Belgian producer pays tribute by adding his own emphases. Setting a bright mood, at times aiming for the dance floor, at others comforting the listener into a casual vibe, Larson is not seeking, but spontaneously drawing attention with his graceful sounds, stripped to the bone and built on an intuitive factor.

Larson hails from Liège, the South Belgian city known for its meat balls and the mighty river La Meuse, and works as a sound editor in movie production. Recognised by those-who-know as one of the most quintessential figures of Liège’s burgeoning underground nightlife scene, the time is now for Larson to step forward. His 2x12” debut release dubbed ‘Interlace Joy Motions’ is one for the house heads, shifting between 121 and 130 BPM and showcasing the diverse sounds the producer has in store.

Opening track Our Inner Sun has smiles written all over. A simple yet effective piano loop, warm strings and a delicately running acid baseline are all Larson needs to set the standard for the beauty that is yet to come. Effortlessly entertaining for close to seven minutes, here is the essence of timeless house music at work.

Pushing up the speed up to 129 BPM, A2 brings the brand new label’s title track, Larson’s take on the many meanings the name may represent. Designed for jubilant dance floor action, Hi Scores is punchy and elegant at the same time.

On the flip side, Slack Breeze is an eleven-minutes-long breezy electro trip paying homage to Detroit music pioneer Juan Atkins and offers two mixes, nicely manufactured as one auditive whole on the vinyl record with a useful visual marker in between. Be aware of the slight tempo drop between the bold Club mix and the more laid back Sensual mix.

In a cultured and charming manner, Lethal Dance opens the second 12”. Driven by a fab bassline and soft as silk string arrangements, here is a slow burner for moments lost track of time. High Jazz Travel on C2 continues this trip to lofty spaces, speeding up the pace but holding on to Larson’s well crafted dream universe, with its mellow aura almost turning into a debonair lullaby for grown-ups.

Adding another layer to the cake is Chris ‘Funk’ Ferreira, the C12 resident DJ and ½ Senga Ferreira. Also active as the mixing engineer of this double 12”, on the D1 the Brussels based producer takes up the role as remixer with his stomping and energy building ‘Magic Force’ version of Hi Scores, contributing the single vocal sample to the EP. Things come to an end with Souvenir d’Enfance, a playful and innocent conga driven house track, cherished as a safe and sound childhood memory, forever in our hearts just as this excellent debut by Larson.

Blue Vinyl

Since 1996, Buddha-Bar has created and developed a new vision of Life. With its enchanting venues and intoxicating music, Buddha-Bar has created Lounge Music. Widely copied but never equaled, our musical signature has delighted millions of people around the world and through the years. Selected by Ravin, this triple Best Of Vinyl gathers the greatest titles that made the Buddha-Bar history from 1996 to 2013.

TNT is the third full length studio album released by Tortoise in 1998 1998 : Tortoise"s third studio album TNT is released. In and out of print over the past decade we are happy to finally give everyone what they have been asking for - TNT on vinyl again! Pressed on high quality virgin vinyl, the two LPs are packaged in a deluxe old-style tip?on gatefold jacket fully replicating the original artwork and includes a download coupon for the first time! Tortoise"s third full-length release, TNT, was written and recorded during a 10-month interval in 1997. This longer-than-usual writing/production schedule was purposefully undertaken by the group in the hopes of crafting an expansive, diverse, yet thematically coherent offering. TNT builds upon the spare, instrumental framework of the group"s first, self-titled album, and the extended edits, melodic adventures, and klangfarben of the subsequent full-length release, Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Further to this, Tortoise"s interest in the possibilities offered by the remixing of tracks was realized within the actual production of TNT; individual elements, sections, or sometimes whole compositions mutate within the album"s shifting framework. These techniques were suitably realized thanks in part to the use of non-linear digital recording and editing methods, the first example of such work for the group

* Dazed and Amazed Duo Color Vinyl * Fully printed inner sleeves * Liner notes by Larry Mizell Jr. // The album is named for the combs used to maintain an Afro hairstyle, and that's significant. The group's Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler said it summed up what they wanted to do with it: "It means the utilization of the natural, a natural style," he has said. Like with 1993's debut _Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)_, 'utilizing the natural' meant creating hip hop that blended jazz with the formidable rap skills of the aforementioned Butterfly, Craig 'Doodlebug' Irving and Mary Ann 'Ladybug Mecca' Vieira. Unlike that debut, it meant broadening to include guests such as Gang Starr's Guru, Jeru the Damaja, and Jazzy Joyce. Following the gold-selling commercial success of their debut, they here set out to prove their artistic prowess. This is intelligent, alternative hip hop that sounded like party music. Its lyrics are dense with wit, social commentary and politics - and its original inner sleeve was modeled on the newspaper of the Black Panther movement.

Following their recent addition to the Prosthetic Records roster, multinational cybergrind quartet THOTCRIME are set to release their sophomore full length, titled D1G1T4L_DR1FT. With members hailing from Champaign-Urbana, IL, Philadelphia, PA and Nottingham, UK THOTCRIME’s prolific output to date has seen the band generate a buzz in online music communities and garner praise from Bandcamp Daily in the publication’s profile on the burgeoning cybergrind movement at large. D1G1T14L_DR1FT, the follow up to 2020s ønyøurcømputer, sees THOTCRIME continue to gleefully abandon genre convention in favour of boundless individuality and invention. Prosthetic debut LP from cybergrind curators/digital girls on your computer, THOTCRIME. D1G1T4L_DR1FT features collaborations with Pupil Slicer, Callous Daoboys, Dreamwell & Diana Gruber.

Following their recent addition to the Prosthetic Records roster, multinational cybergrind quartet THOTCRIME are set to release their sophomore full length, titled D1G1T4L_DR1FT. With members hailing from Champaign-Urbana, IL, Philadelphia, PA and Nottingham, UK THOTCRIME’s prolific output to date has seen the band generate a buzz in online music communities and garner praise from Bandcamp Daily in the publication’s profile on the burgeoning cybergrind movement at large. D1G1T14L_DR1FT, the follow up to 2020s ønyøurcømputer, sees THOTCRIME continue to gleefully abandon genre convention in favour of boundless individuality and invention. Prosthetic debut LP from cybergrind curators/digital girls on your computer, THOTCRIME. D1G1T4L_DR1FT features collaborations with Pupil Slicer, Callous Daoboys, Dreamwell & Diana Gruber.

Green Vinyl

Shogun Audio are proud to present the ninth volume of the acclaimed Shuriken vinyl series - featuring four of the most popular tracks from the Shogun vaults that have never previously appeared on vinyl

Set on green vinyl, this is a strictly limited edition collector’s item so don’t miss your chance to assemble a set of weapons any warrior would be proud of, when they are gone they are gone…

Kieran Hebden’s Text Records is proud to announce Bolts, the debut album from British-Armenian producer Hagop Tchaparian, set for release in autumn 2022.

“Can I say, my friends call me Hagop? I don’t want people to struggle with my long name. I always liked that Eminem introduced himself and said “hi, my name is….” I think I want to be called Hagop so people find it easy to connect.”

Hagop’s debut album Bolts features ten tracks of hyper-personal rhythm music that mixes techno with field recordings of his travels through Armenian and Mediterranean culture. Early DJ support has come from Four Tet, Gilles Peterson and Nikki Nair. The artwork for Bolts was curated by skateboard, music and sports photography legend Atiba Jefferson.
“As a teenager I would make the pilgrimage to Slam City skateboard shop - I couldn't really afford to buy anything other than Thrasher magazine. I would see Atiba’s photos and get super inspired and want to push across the bridge and go skate Southbank. Downstairs was Rough Trade Records where I would be able to find the music from the music section in Thrasher and music i heard in the background of skate videos that I couldn’t really seem to find anywhere else. Atiba was photographing loads of these bands too so it's absolutely a crazy dream to be able to work with someone who provided so much of the inspiration throughout my life.”

"While focusing on the current conditions we find ourselves in and bracing for what seems like the collapse of humanity, I made this collection of music in an attempt to ignite the essential remnants of my inner euphoria, and perhaps yours too" - Feldermelder

Euphoric Attempts is a finespun, voluminous manifestation of euphoria, a testimony to creativity, produced at a time when the outside world seems to be slowly disintegrating. The musical language is pure, vast, resilient, and vulnerable. The compositions of Feldermelder have a tonality both strange and familiar, intensified and influenced by classical music, yet distinguished by the coalescence of contrasting styles.

Euphoric Attempts relates to the state of our external surroundings but also refers to our inner life: it passes through our memories — through our organism — through our stories, and intends to elude the cold grip of analytical listening, instead retrieving intrinsic truths. The track titles signify a form of homage to our inner individuality, existing in parallel with the severities of the tangible, the external.

For this album, Feldermelder draws together compositions from his extensive archives, focussing on material that reflects the simple joy of making music. As a counterpoint to the abstract complexities and intricate rhythms of his live performances, here Feldermelder creates candid compositions of purity and minimalism, finding a sense of elegance in the details. Euphoric Attempts discovers the prospect of liberation and vitality in concealed intimacies, capturing their resemblance in gentle, elaborate, and prodigious movements of sound.

Feldermelder is a Swiss musician, sound designer, producer, and installation artist. He is co-founder of -OUS and part of the audio-visual collective Encor.studio. He has previously released several releases on -OUS, both as a solo artist, and in collaboration with Sara Oswald and Julian Sartorius. Feldermelder's influences range from pioneering early electronic music to contemporary analogue electronics to classic jazz and beyond. The diversity of the music that inspires him is mirrored in his own work, which illustrates an ever-evolving sound, and indicates that influence is seen as both map and compass, guiding divergent inclinations.

Unfurled Works is a collection of back-catalogue zake tracks that have been lengthened for this new cassette, which is a slow-moving cascade of ambiance that washes over you in a delightful fashion. It's an album of frayed edges and lo-fi production, of dream-like haziness and heart-warming subtlety. The five carefully layered tracks on it slowly and stylish shift from one to another with meditative pads and organic drones that are gently peppered with sombre keys. Some pieces are light and airy, others are more moody and heavy, and all of them are perfect for daydreaming and re-setting your mood. Silence takes on all new potency and the beauty of the barely-there grows ever more striking.

Daft Punk's 'ALIVE 2007' set, which won 2 Grammy Awards in 2009 (Best Electronic Album and Best Electronic Single categories) and was previously only available on CD and digital, will be released for the first time as a double vinyl with a triple gatefold sleeve.

Derived from their live performance at Bercy on 14 June 2007, this album was originally published the same year on November 19th. Through this amazing live experience, Daft Punk manipulated and reworked their established material, transposing and deconstructing the structures of their studio tracks.

A limited edition of 'ALIVE 2007' will be released at the same time, in a special box including the album on 2 solid white vinyls, plus a vinyl bonus (Side A: the show's encore (human after all / together / one more time (reprise) / music sounds better with you) /Side B : 'ALIVE 2007' pyramid logo etched), a 52 pages book (pictures taken during the shows), a slipmat and a download card.

'ALIVE 1997' is also being reissued separately. Recorded in 1997 in Birmingham during their first European tour, a few months after the release of 'Homework', this first live testimony was released in 2001. 45 minutes of non-stop live mixing, featuring the band's first standard tracks (Da Funk, Rollin' & Scratchin'...) along with those techno-electronic explosions unique to Daft Punk!

Blue Vinyl

Das GRAMMY-nominierte Trio PVA veröffentlicht ihr mit Spannung erwartetes Debütalbum, „BLUSH“ Mitte Oktober auf Ninja Tune. Das Album der Südlondoner Band, das kurz nach ihrer 2020 beim Ninja Tune-Sublabel Big Dada (u.a. Yaya Bey, Young Fathers oder Diplo) veröffentlichten EP, „Toner“, erscheint, verbindet den Pulsschlag elektronischer Musik mit der rohen Energie eines lebensbejahenden Konzerts und offenbart mehr über das Trio, als sie bisher je preisgegeben haben. Die elf mitreißenden Tracks der Gruppe, bestehend aus Ella Harris und Josh Baxter (die sich Leadgesang sowie Synthesizer-, Gitarren- und Produktionsarbeit teilen) sowie Schlagzeuger und Perkussionist Louis Satchell, basieren auf einer Formel aus Acid, Disco, knallenden Synthesizern, der Befreiung des Dancefloors und kathartischem Spoken Word-Post-Punk.

PVA begann, als Harris und Baxter 2018 begannen, gemeinsam etwas zu machen, das sie als „Country-Friend-Techno“ bezeichneten. Ihre erste Show, eine Nacht namens „Narcissistic Exhibitionism“ im The Five Bells Pub in New Cross, fand nur zwei Wochen nach ihrem Kennenlernen statt. Der Abend wurde von Harris kuratiert und bot im Obergeschoss Malerei, Bildhauerei und Fotografie, während im Erdgeschoss Bands auftraten. Sie buchte PVA als Headliner. Einer ihrer ersten Songs, „Divine Intervention“, entstand, als Harris ihrer neuen Bandkollegin ihre Träume diktierte. Auf ihrem Debütalbum nehmen PVA die gleiche Energie aus der Live-Szene mit, während sie gleichzeitig eine ganzheitliche Welt voller Textur und Herz aufbauen. „BLUSH“ ist reich an schwergewichtigen Industrial-Beats, zerklüftetem Punk-Spirit und Momenten stiller Kontemplation durch Harris' poetische Lyrics. Das Album rennt unermüdlich vorwärts und verbindet Einflüsse wie Portishead, PC Music, Laurie Anderson und das kultige Rave-Pop-Duo The Pom-Poms mit Leichtigkeit. „BLUSH“ wurde während der verschiedenen Lockdowns geschrieben, eine Leidenszeit für eine Band, die es eigentlich gewohnt ist, die Grenzen ihres Sounds live auf der Bühne auszuloten. Diese Einschränkungen machten PVA aber nicht zu schaffen. Wenn überhaupt, fühlten sie sich durch die erzwungene Distanz in ihrem Songwriting gestärkt. Harris schrieb Gedichte und lernte, Musik zu produzieren, Baxter arbeitete mit anderen Künstler*innen als Produzent, und Satchell setzte sein Musikstudium an der City University fort und studierte unter anderem alte afrikanische Polyrhythmen.

The Older I Get, the Funnier I Was, which follows Thomas’ brilliant 2020 HBO special The Golden One and his Can't Believe You're Happy Here EP released earlier this year, surveys a range of emotion and offers a broad sonic palette, moving between pop punk, electro, and the obvious influence of the singer-songwriters he grew up listening to in early childhood. It conjures the ennui of Bright Eyes alongside the barefaced storytelling of John Prine, the overstuffed lists of Fred Thomas with the lackadaisical humor of Colleen Green, among many others.

Thomas attributes the dexterity of the record to Duterte, who recorded and engineered most of it in addition to serving up plenty of encouragement when Thomas got down on the process. “As a comic, I used to test out new songs during sets to see if the funny bits were hitting, but since I wrote this in isolation I ended up writing lyrics and worrying less about making jokes,” Thomas says. That said, the album’s plenty funny. Stand-out and lead single “Rigamarole” opens with a Thomas-voiced infomercial that recalls his oft-cited lookalike Jim Carrey as the Grinch, before launching into a buoyant pop song about being depressed.

Whitmer Thomas will admit that when he traveled home to small town Gulf Shores, Alabama to record his HBO stand-up special, The Golden One, he expected to be greeted as a returning hero, a conquering king, or at minimum, a guy with a moderately successful career as an entertainer in Los Angeles. “I expected a big welcome home, open arms, but when I went back I realized: nobody fucking knows me. Nobody remembers me,” Thomas says. “In the years I’d been performing that show, I’d been romanticizing my childhood in this mythologized place, but the visit made me see that I’m not really from there anymore.”

The sense of alienation compounded when Thomas recognized how few people in town remembered his mom, to whom The Golden One is dedicated and largely about. Thomas grew up watching her perform with her twin sister at the legendary Flora-Bama Lounge, where he set the special, and still counts her as one of his musical influences. His new album, The Older I Get, the Funnier I Was, isn’t overtly about his mom, her presence is deeply felt throughout. While in Gulf Shores, Thomas discovered dozens of her old recordings, all of which had been wrecked by Katrina, but upon returning to LA, Thomas paid “a fancy place in Hollywood” to fix the tapes and hired Melina Duterte (Jay Som, Bachelor, Routine) to mix them. The two struck up a collaborative friendship, and Thomas had the sound of his mom’s voice back. “I was listening to songs she recorded when she was about my age, just these heartfelt, sweet Americana songs,” he says. “I decided then that I wanted to lose the Ian Curtis voice I always sing with; I wanted to do what came naturally, because my mom always sounded like herself, even when she was singing some cheesy reggae song about, like, Jamaica.”

Thus he went into The Older I Get, the Funnier I Was knowing it was time to retire his darkwave persona, and leaning into his natural, chirpier voice, which he says sounds “like a 12-year-old’s.” It makes sense: much of the album chronicles what Thomas calls “being a kid and feeling like you have no control and overcompensating by being annoying.” “So much of the album is about witnessing drug and alcohol addiction as a kid and seeing what it does to people, but also realizing that there's nothing you can do about it,” Thomas says. It’s familiar territory (see: “Partied to Death”) but the methodology is different this time around; true to its title, The Older I Get, the Funnier I Was isn’t always looking for laughs. Thomas might’ve left his hometown behind, but his kid self is still tagging along, a Peter Pan shadow he can’t untether himself from. The first line he sings on The Older I Get, the Funnier I Was is: “There should be a room at every party where you can just sit and watch a movie.” Find a 12-year-old who wouldn’t say the same.

Freedom – the debut album from Leah Weller – a modern soul soundtrack to her head spinning twenties turning into empowered, contented thirties. Completed last year, Weller’s first complete album follows a decade-long career on catwalks, in front of cameras and making dancefloors shake, constantly on the move and with music as a constant companion. Finding the escape route out of anxiety-inducing mix-and-match career moves with the stability of love, the slowdown of repeated lockdowns and, finally, motherhood, Weller’s race is now to be run at her own pace with a collection of songs set perfectly to her flow.



Gathering nine, finely-tailored songs together with a drum beat of support from producer and collaborator, Steve Craddock, the collection speaks, much rather than screams, of finding the sweet spot between the need for hope, however naïve, and the truths that only experience can spell out.

Freedom – the debut album from Leah Weller – a modern soul soundtrack to her head spinning twenties turning into empowered, contented thirties. Completed last year, Weller’s first complete album follows a decade-long career on catwalks, in front of cameras and making dancefloors shake, constantly on the move and with music as a constant companion. Finding the escape route out of anxiety-inducing mix-and-match career moves with the stability of love, the slowdown of repeated lockdowns and, finally, motherhood, Weller’s race is now to be run at her own pace with a collection of songs set perfectly to her flow.



Gathering nine, finely-tailored songs together with a drum beat of support from producer and collaborator, Steve Craddock, the collection speaks, much rather than screams, of finding the sweet spot between the need for hope, however naïve, and the truths that only experience can spell out.

On his debut album producer and Squama co-founder Martin Brugger hovers through Ambient, (upbeat) Downbeat and unfulfilled build-ups.
Conceptualized as a blank soundtrack, the music was sent to fellow artists who shared their visual and verbal associations which became the source for the artwork and tracktitles, effectively making the album a collective effort.
Evident in all of his recent projects is Brugger's passion for working and thriving within closely set limits.
The only audio sources in the process of making the album were his record player and a Dave Smith Prophet 08 synthesizer. In an antithesis to most sample-based music, Brugger takes the more ephemeral moments of recorded music and uses pitching tools as a magnifying glass to dive deeper into the sound and bare layers that normally remain unheard.

We Jazz Records presents the second volume of their reworks albums dealing with source material from the Helsinki-based label's catalog. This time around, it's Carl Stone's turn to tackle the source albums at hand and filter the label's output through his musical lens.

We Jazz Reworks is an idea that repurposes some of the label's output 10 albums at a time. That is, the label invites producers whose music they love on board, and one by one, they tackle 10 albums worth of source material, of which they are free to use as much or as little as they choose. The series evolves chronologically, so this volume being number two, the source material is pulled from We Jazz LPs numbers 11 through 20. The artist has complete freedom.

Volume 2 in the series happens with Carl Stone, a legendary figure in creative music. His career spans decades of unlimited musical innovation. Stone's recent output on Unseen Worlds, the label who has also been instrumental in issuing some of his remarkable earlier work, ranks among the most original art of our time and renders notions such as "genre" virtually meaningless.

Here, We Jazz originals by Terkel Nørgaard, OK:KO, Jonah Parzen-Johnson and more are met here with a fresh sense of discovery, spun around and delivered ready for the turntable once again.

Carl Stone says:

"It was wonderful that We Jazz gave me carte blanche to work with any materials from the set of ten releases in its catalog. This freedom to work with everything could have been a mixed blessing though, as it could be a challenge to try to deal with so much musical information. In the end I did what I almost always do: Let my intuition be my guide and to seize upon any musical items that seemed to fit into an overall approach."

"To make a new piece I usually start with an extended period of what really is just playing, the way a child plays with toys. Experimentation without necessary expectation, leading to (hopefully) discovery of things of musical interest, then figuring out a way to craft and shape these into a structured piece of music. Each track uses a different approach, which I found along the way during this play period."

This conceptual approach becomes complete with the design, in which album graphics are treated in a similar fashion, reworking what's there. This time around, the artwork is reinvented by Tuomo Parikka, a regular cover collage contributor for the We Jazz Magazine.

CURACAO BLUE TRANSPARENT VINYL, INSIDE OUT SLEEVE, OBI W/ LINER NOTES, PRINTED INNER SLEEVE WITH SOURCE ALBUM DESIGN REFLECTIONS.

'The Arbitrary Dimension of Dreams' is Cate Kennan's oblique exploration of memory, nighttime, and narrative. The resulting 12 compositions are brisk, evocative, and lingering. Kennan's sonic palette is vast yet harmonized, deftly matching spectral synthesizers to hazy lap steel guitars and watery analog effects. Existing in the sparsely occupied world of early melodic electronic music, her songs call to mind the sonic landscape's of Malcolm Cecil, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, and Deux Filles. Each individual track sculpts a setting, constructing an amorphous landscape of surreal musical vignettes. Picture a boat tied to a dock, bobbing with the waves, wisps of fog refusing the complete vision. This is the nebulous space of 'The Arbitrary Dimension of Dreams,' an enveloping, insistent realm that feels both intimately familiar and profoundly otherworldly.

Several things happened before a warm day when I met the four members of Frankie Cosmos in a Brooklyn studio to begin making their album. Greta Kline spent a few years living with her family and writing a mere 100 songs, turning her empathy anywhere from the navel to the moon, rendering it all warm, close and reflexively humorous. In music, everyone loves a teen sensation, but Kline has never been more fascinating than now, a decade into being one of the most prolific songwriters of her generation. She's lodged in my mind amongst authors, other observational alchemists like Rachel Cusk or Sheila Heti, but she's funnier, which is a charm endemic to musicians. Meanwhile Frankie Cosmos, a rare, dwindling democratic entity called a band, had been on pandemic hiatus with no idea if they'd continue. In the openness of that uncertainty they met up, planning to hang out and play music together for the first time in nearly 500 days. There, whittling down the multitude of music to work with, they created Inner World Peace, a collection of Greta's songs changed and sculpted by their time together. While Kline's musical taste at the time was leaning toward aughts indie rock she'd loved as a teenager, keyboardist Lauren Martin and drummer Luke Pyenson cite "droning, meditation, repetition, clarity and intentionality," as well as "'70s folk and pop" as a reference for how they approached their parts. Bassist/guitarist Alex Bailey says that at the time he referred to it as their "ambient" or "psych" album. Somewhere between those textural elements and Kline's penchant for concise pop, Inner World Peace finds its balance. The first order of business upon setting up camp in Brooklyn's Figure 8 studios was to project giant colorful slides the band had made for each track. Co-producing with Nate Mendelsohn, my Shitty Hits Recording partner, we aimed for FC's aesthetic idiosyncrasies to shine. The mood board for "Magnetic Personality" has a neon green and black checkerboard, a screen capture of the game Street Fighter with "K.O." in fat red letters, and a cover of Mad Magazine that says "Spy Vs. Spy! The Top Secret Files." On tracks like "F.O.O.F." (Freak Out On Friday), "Fragments" and "Aftershook," the group are at their most psychedelic and playful, interjecting fuzz solos, bits of percussion, and other sonically adventurous ear candy. An internal logic strengthens everything, and in their proggiest moments, Frankie Cosmos are simply a one-take band who don't miss. When on Inner World Peace they sound wildly, freshly different, it may just be that they're coming deeper into their own. Inner World Peace excels in passing on the emotions it holds. When in the towering "Empty Head" Kline sings of wanting to let thoughts slide away, her voice is buoyed on a bed of synths and harmonium as tranquility abounds. When her thoughts become hurried and full of desire, so does the band, and she leaps from word to word as if unable to contain them all. As a group, they carry it all deftly, and with constant regard for Kline's point of view. Says Greta, "To me, the album is about perception. It's about the question of "who am I?" and whether or not the answer matters. It's about quantum time, the possibilities of invisible worlds. The album is about finding myself floating in a new context. A teenager again, living with my parents. An adult, choosing to live with my family in an act of love. Time propelled us forward, aged us, and also froze. If you don't leave the house, who are you to the world? Can you take the person you discover there out with you?" - Katie Von Schleicher

Several things happened before a warm day when I met the four members of Frankie Cosmos in a Brooklyn studio to begin making their album. Greta Kline spent a few years living with her family and writing a mere 100 songs, turning her empathy anywhere from the navel to the moon, rendering it all warm, close and reflexively humorous. In music, everyone loves a teen sensation, but Kline has never been more fascinating than now, a decade into being one of the most prolific songwriters of her generation. She's lodged in my mind amongst authors, other observational alchemists like Rachel Cusk or Sheila Heti, but she's funnier, which is a charm endemic to musicians. Meanwhile Frankie Cosmos, a rare, dwindling democratic entity called a band, had been on pandemic hiatus with no idea if they'd continue. In the openness of that uncertainty they met up, planning to hang out and play music together for the first time in nearly 500 days. There, whittling down the multitude of music to work with, they created Inner World Peace, a collection of Greta's songs changed and sculpted by their time together. While Kline's musical taste at the time was leaning toward aughts indie rock she'd loved as a teenager, keyboardist Lauren Martin and drummer Luke Pyenson cite "droning, meditation, repetition, clarity and intentionality," as well as "'70s folk and pop" as a reference for how they approached their parts. Bassist/guitarist Alex Bailey says that at the time he referred to it as their "ambient" or "psych" album. Somewhere between those textural elements and Kline's penchant for concise pop, Inner World Peace finds its balance. The first order of business upon setting up camp in Brooklyn's Figure 8 studios was to project giant colorful slides the band had made for each track. Co-producing with Nate Mendelsohn, my Shitty Hits Recording partner, we aimed for FC's aesthetic idiosyncrasies to shine. The mood board for "Magnetic Personality" has a neon green and black checkerboard, a screen capture of the game Street Fighter with "K.O." in fat red letters, and a cover of Mad Magazine that says "Spy Vs. Spy! The Top Secret Files." On tracks like "F.O.O.F." (Freak Out On Friday), "Fragments" and "Aftershook," the group are at their most psychedelic and playful, interjecting fuzz solos, bits of percussion, and other sonically adventurous ear candy. An internal logic strengthens everything, and in their proggiest moments, Frankie Cosmos are simply a one-take band who don't miss. When on Inner World Peace they sound wildly, freshly different, it may just be that they're coming deeper into their own. Inner World Peace excels in passing on the emotions it holds. When in the towering "Empty Head" Kline sings of wanting to let thoughts slide away, her voice is buoyed on a bed of synths and harmonium as tranquility abounds. When her thoughts become hurried and full of desire, so does the band, and she leaps from word to word as if unable to contain them all. As a group, they carry it all deftly, and with constant regard for Kline's point of view. Says Greta, "To me, the album is about perception. It's about the question of "who am I?" and whether or not the answer matters. It's about quantum time, the possibilities of invisible worlds. The album is about finding myself floating in a new context. A teenager again, living with my parents. An adult, choosing to live with my family in an act of love. Time propelled us forward, aged us, and also froze. If you don't leave the house, who are you to the world? Can you take the person you discover there out with you?" - Katie Von Schleicher

„Techno. Simply Techno. The way I see it and like to hear it.“ is the simplistic idea behind RICO PUESTEL's new album THE VERGE, THE ROPE & THE ROOFTOPS. And that's what is delivered on this LP – 12 high density Techno productions following his highly anticipated 2021 album OBI THINE XI.

Besides the two special Electro jams OUT OF THE BOUNDS and SAVED AGAIN, all tracks deliver a coherent forward motion that have an inner connection while being able to work seperately and individually in a functional as well as special-moment-way throughout any Techno DJ set.

While there happens to be a deeper connection within, RICO PUESTEL himself recorded an album DJ mix, giving another perspective on how these tracks are intertwined.

As the opening of the CD is declaring: „This sound is relentless. It knows no stops. Standing on the verge. Climbing on the rope. Echoes from the rooftops.“

Yazzus follows up her appearance on the Tresor 30 compilation with a new EP named BLACK METROPOLIS.

Within its, at times, rough-hewn textures lies a core
that explores joy and energy within the roots of black techno. In her words: “I want this release to be black and beautiful, to be queer, and playful, a nostalgic nod to the 90s but also reimagining it in the current times.”

The Ghana-born, London-bred, now Berlin-based producer’s research into afro-futurism, envisaging a path forward for science, technology and culture through the black experience, has impressed a deep
vision on this EP. Yazzus sets like a cartographer, using her tracks to explore a technologically advanced world, each representing dierent regions and environments.

Human Error Processor introduces an ear-worming percussion pattern nearly swamped by distorted bass drums and a vocal sample screwed just beyond recognition. Perforated leads with a 150bpm four to the floor stomp, infectious and supercharged. Gluey synth
motions soak in an otherworldliness, where industrious,
mechanical rhythms map out futurist structures in all directions.

Metro City Bay Area exhibits a ghettotech soul, lean and bouncy - this part of the galaxy is an infinite source of fun, with the heart of groove at it’s core. Three Deities brings adventurers of its region towards higher powers, its ravey synths and an engulfing bass provoke a complete NRG release, ascending into a spiritual trance where dense melodies bubble and fizz.

Digital-only track United By Fate meddles busy vocal samples with searching melodies, a fitting end to the kaleidoscopic that is BLACK METROPOLIS.

Perpetual Doom proudly presents the new album from Austin Leonard Jones: Dead Calm. On this collection of nine new tracks, the Texas-based troubadour channels his eclectic talent into a melancholy country groove. Full of signature tumbleweed melodies and his deadpan wit, it is an essential addition to Jones’ unique and varied catalog.

Like any good country record, Dead Calm starts with a joke and ends in tears. “A werewolf walks into a bar,” Jones sings on opener “Cape Fear,” where vampires pour drinks and no one seems to escape. The town might be full of the undead, but it could be anywhere—after all, as Jones says, “It’s hard on the living in Cape Fear.” The slide guitar and faint bright keys set the tone for an album that mixes domestic sorrow with a touch of kitsch, like Conway Twitty at a seasonal Halloween outlet. “I’m the sole survivor of the all-night show,” he sings on “Back in the Black Lagoon,” “and it cost a thousand tears for every episode.” Somewhere between a funeral and a costume party, Dead Calm bursts with classic songwriting sure to get you on the dance floor and crying.

All these ghost towns, desert bars, and haunted capes emerge from the small town outside Austin where Jones wrote and recorded the album. Alongside producer Jesse Woods, he crafted a sound based on the traditional country palette of acoustic and slide guitar, organ and gentle drums. Songs like “Night Parrots” and “Demon Sands” take stock of life’s disappointments as Jones’ maudlin voice and Jesse Siebenberg’s pedal steel twist tighter around each other. “The Australia Song” puts autobiographical storytelling first, while “Exotics” laughs at our tendency to seek satisfaction in far-off places and things. It all comes together on “Its Treachery,” where Jones confronts the intimate betrayals of “a whole life not working out as planned.”

Sound familiar? Austin Leonard Jones invites you to join the club.

Heist Recordings has been pushing the envelope for house music since day one and we’re always on the lookout for artists that represent our vision on electronic music. Our next guest on the label fits that profile and more. He is the embodiment of modern-day electronic funk and a true wizard on the keys: Atlanta raised cool guy Byron the Aquarius.

Byron has a solid history on the label: He remixed Parker Madicine back in 2017 and did a mad solo on the 2019 released Dam Swindle track ‘The life behind things’. We’ve done some shows together and stayed in touch while Byron was working together with Jeff Mills on his 2020 jazz crossover record ‘Ambrosia’ on Axis. Now, after a solid string of releases on labels like Shall not Fade and Purveyor Underground, Byron is making his solo appearance on Heist. His ‘Akira’ EP goes from dark basement grooves to dreamy broken beats and features a remix by New York dance music wizard Kush Jones.

The Akira EP kicks off with ‘I love yo’. In this track, Byron decides to leave his keys at home and goes in deep with a moody club workout. ‘I love yo’ is a track that juxtaposes dreamy samples with rough percussion and vocal chops with a clear nod to the work of Mr. G. The melody is mellow, but don’t be deceived; clever drum programming and plenty of sub take this track into the club vibe just the way Byron likes it: warm, hazy and sexy AF.

Byron is not known for delivering straightforward house tunes, but when he does deliver them, he does it in style. Enter ‘Get up’; the A2 of the EP. There’s everything we love about house music: smart vocal chops, driving percussion, classic house keys and a booming sub to get you bumping to this beat.

The B-side sees Byron up the tempo and take a deep dive into bass territory with ‘Love’. In this track, there’s lush pads running over a percussive broken beat and chopped R ’n B vocals to add some serious sex appeal. It’s deceptively simple and clean but ever so catchy, which clearly shows Byron’s prowess as an electronic music producer.

Going back to classic house mode, we’ve got ‘Success’: A spoken word house track that fits right in with the classics. Byron sets the mood with some bumpy key-and synth work while brainstorming about originality and blackness throughout the track. Even though the message underneath might be a serious one, Byron succeeds in delivering this in a fun, uplifting way that never gets pretentious or divisive.

The EP finishes with a remix by New Yorker Kush Jones. This is an artist who understands how to build a groove. He could take you anywhere from house to juke, footwork and techno, which is exactly why he’s been getting so much love for his music recently. Kush is an artist who sees no boundaries in his music and still manages to create his own sonic universe. His remix of ‘I love yo’ takes a dreamy approach with soft chords running over an electronic groove with a pure and improvised feel. All elements fit together perfectly and it’s the clever ad-hoc programming and arrangement that suck you into his unbounded world from the first beat.

As always, enjoy the music and play it loud.

Yours sincerely,
Maarten & Lars

OVERVIEW: "After receiving regional praise for his 1976 debut Abrabo, Dan Boadi set his sights on leaving Ghana and bringing his highlife sensibilities to an American audience. Recorded at Paul Serrano namesake studio on E. 22rd St. in Chicago, Boadi's U.S. debut showcased the true scope of his musical range weaving in and out of funk, highlife, afrobeat, and reggae. The title track immediately demands the listener' attention with a chugging drum lead by The African International's King Tuch setting the pace for Boadi's colorful orchestration to follow. Money Is The Root of Evi claims t's own space as a musical melting pot and reflects the excitement Boadi waslearningto harness as a musician in his newfound home of Chicago."

Alice Boman’s second album, available on CD housed in
digisleeve and booklet, and translucent coloured vinyl
housed in single sleeve with printed inners.
 Imbued with an enveloping warmth which radiates from
Boman’s gossamer-light vocals, ‘The Space Between’
ruminates on intimacy and existential angst, her quiet
contemplations cocooned in sympathetic arrangements
created in collaboration with producer Patrik Berger
(Robyn, Lana Del Rey).
 For ‘Feels Like A Dream’, additional vocals were provided
by Perfume Genius, a collaboration that came about via
Instagram and was recorded at a distance.
 “I have been a fan of his for a long time,” Boman explains.
“I love his voice - it’s so special. Initially I wanted us to
harmonise with each other but I love how the song turned
out, with us each having our separate verses, and singing
together at the end.”
 With vocals left largely unadorned throughout, the focus
falls squarely on Boman’s lyrics, which were written from
the deeply personal perspective of someone settled within
a relationship, and learning to be vulnerable with their
partner.
 The album is very much a journey, charting Boman’s
progress from fear (‘Honey’, ‘Maybe’) to the ‘place of
tenderness’ she ultimately arrives at on ‘Space’, the
album’s exquisite closing track. It’s a journey she hopes
listeners will share in, finding comfort in community.
Because, as Boman knows all too well, when life gets too
much, there’s always music.
 For fans of Aldous Harding, Angel Olsen, Sufjan Stevens.

The second release in My Morning Jacket’s ‘MMJ
Live’ series.
Recorded live at the Auditorium Theatre in
Chicago, IL on November 11, 2021 and featuring a
setlist of career highlights from recent tracks: ‘Love
Love Love’, ‘Complex’ and ‘Never In The Real
World’ from the recent self-titled album, plus
classics ‘Dondante’, ‘Mahgeetah’ and ‘Phone Went
West’.
Three LPs pressed on limited-edition translucent
orange vinyl and packaged in a triple gatefold
sleeve.

With selections ranging from Praetorius to Britten,
plus all-time favourites by J.S. Bach (The
Christmas Oratorio) and Handel (Messiah), this
album brings together some of the most beautiful
and justly famous musical settings of the Nativity
story.
Festive or intimate, exuberant or elegiac, these
highlights from iconic recordings in harmonia
mundi’s voluminous catalogue are an ideal
sampling of the Christmas magic across epochs
and styles.

Simple Minds return with eighteenth studio album Direction of the Heart, set for release on 21st October 2022 and including lead single ‘Vision Thing’.

Direction of the Heart is Simple Minds’ first album of new material since 2018’s outstanding UK Top 5 album Walk Between Worlds. Throughout its nine tracks, Direction of the Heart finds the band at their most confident, anthemic best on an inspired celebration of life, and which manages to perfectly encapsulate the essence of past and present Simple Minds, a band whose reascent over the past 10 years has seen them, once again, capture the magic and critical praise of their early days

"Let's get ready to rumbleee!” O.B.F’s latest album is just around the corner; unleashing their incendiary first single “Chainsaw”. A track born straight from the womb of soundsystem and clash culture. Already rated as a future classic by dubplate connaisseurs, the track sets the tone for what to expect from the most forward thinking dub outfit on their next LP.

Today Chicago-based percussionist, composer and producer Makaya McCraven announces the details of his new album In These Times, which is set for release on September 23rd via International Anthem / Nonesuch / XL Recordings. The first offering from the new album is a song tiled "Seventh String," which encapsulates the various musical dimensions present on McCraven's new album, a career-defining body of work that is a remarkable new peak for the already-soaring McCraven. In These Times is a collection of polytemporal compositions inspired as much by broader cultural struggles as McCraven's personal experience as a product of a multinational, working class musician community. It's the recording that he's been trying to create for 7+ years, as it's been consistently in process in the background while he's put forth a prolific run of releases including: In The Moment (2015), Highly Rare (2017), Where We Come From (2018), Universal Beings (2018), We're New Again (2020), Universal Beings E&F Sides (2020), and Deciphering the Message (2021). With contributions from over a dozen musicians and creative partners from his tight-knit circle of collaborators - including Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, Brandee Younger, Joel Ross, and Marquis Hill - the music was recorded in five different studios and four live performance spaces while McCraven engaged in extensive post-production work at home. Featuring orchestral, large ensemble arrangements interwoven with the signature "organic beat music" sound that's become his signature, the album is an evolution and a milestone for McCraven, the producer. But moreover, it's the strongest and clearest statement we've yet to hear from McCraven, the composer. Profiled in the New York Times, Vice, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the Guardian, and NPR, among other publications, Makaya and the music he makes today is what Passion of Weiss explains, "is part of a necessary conversation about the next evolution of the Black improvised music known colloquially as 'jazz.' He's found the threads connecting the past with the present, and is either wrapping them with new colors and textures, or he's plucking them gleefully like the strings of a grand instrument." McCraven, who has been aptly called a "cultural synthesizer" and "beat scientist," has a unique gift for collapsing space, destroying borders and blending past, present, and future into poly-textural arrangements of post-genre, jazz-rooted 21st century folk music. In These Times encompasses his artistic ethos, his experiences, identity and lineage, while pushing his music to new heights.

3 bangers mental live set style from Matek, in a never too much spirit and one hardcore crunch from Mr Runlevel.

ZYX Italo Disco: Best Of : DIE neue Vinyl-Compilation-Serie für unsere weltweiten Italo Disco Fans geht in die 4. Runde. Natürlich gibt es diese Ausgabe auch wieder als 2LP-Set in farbigem Vinyl .16 unvergessene Hits und Raritäten aus den 80er Jahren in bester Soundqualität.

Written and recorded in the midst of a dizzying stretch in which nearly everything about the way the band lived and worked was turned on its head, Motel Radio's "The Garden" is indeed a work of relentless hope. The songs are profoundly vulnerable here, and the performances are warm and breezy, calling to mind everything from Andy Shauf and Cass McCombs to Beck and Tame Impala with an easygoing demeanor that belies the deep emotional work underpinning them. Motel Radio generated early buzz in their adopted hometown of New Orleans on the strength of their 2015 debut EP, Days & Nights, which helped land them dates with the likes of Kurt Vile and Drive-By Truckers in addition to festival slots at Firefly, Jazz Fest, and more. The band followed it up with the similarly well-received Desert Surf Films in 2016 and their first full-length, Siesta Del Sol, in 2019, touring the country on a seemingly endless loop as they built up their devoted following one night at a time. Since then, the band had set a goal of becoming more self-sufficient and learning to record on their own, and when it came time to cut The Garden, they dove in headfirst, cutting half the collection in an old fishing camp south of New Orleans with the help of engineer Ross Farbe (Video Age, Esther Rose) and the other half fully remotely while engineering themselves. "There was this real creative freedom that came with working remotely and learning how to run the sessions on our own," explains co-lead singer Ian Wellman. "Synths, samples, beats, plug-ins; suddenly these whole new worlds of sound were at our fingertips and the possibilities were limitless." That creative liberation is easy to hear on The Garden, which opens with the mesmerizing "Wise." Like much of the album, it's a gentle meditation on finding joy and fulfillment, on spreading love and positivity. "I've gotta open my eyes," co-lead singer Winston Triolo sings over dreamy guitars and a hypnotic digital drum loop. "I only get one life, well now how can I live it wise?" The airy "Outta Sight" celebrates the simple pleasures of letting go and being present, while the washed-out "Sweet Daze" revels in the warmth of human connection, and propulsive "Happiness Pie" looks for ways to share the comfort and contentment that comes with self-acceptance. On The Garden, they've realized there's no sweeter garden than the one you grow yourself.

Two of the finest tracks from Lance Ferguson's Rare Groove Spectrum Vol. 1, the stellar takes on EW&F's Brazilian Rhyme and James Mason's Sweet Power Your Embrace, have been picked up for this limited Japanese 7" edition courtesy of Jet Set Records - and a ridiculously strong pairing it is too.

Cut loud to 7" wax and served in a polybag with Japanese insert. We've not got many of these so get in quick!