Pop & Rock News

1972s Psychonaut, by the Swiss-based Brainticket, is early seventies space rock at its finest. While the bands debut album, 1971s Cottonwoodhill, was a heavily acid-laden affair dominated by droning organ, disturbing vocals and a collection of cacophonic sound effects (causing it to carry a warning label and be banned in several countries) for their second effort, band-founder Joël Vandroogenbroeck brought in a completely new line-up and changed the bands sound dramatically. While Psychonaut still takes listeners into the realm of altered consciousness -- making heavy use of a droning Hammond, sitar, tablas, etc.-- this time the vocals are more melodic and the music itself is more song-oriented. This is by far Braintickets most accessible album, and perhaps their most timeless. Fully remastered from the original master tapes!

* Released for the first time on vinyl
* The ultimate collection of rare early materials by this electronic music pioneer
* Comes as a deluxe double LP set with insert and extensive liner notes . Limited black vinyl pressing (700 copies) with obi strip.

Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician that needs very little introduction. In the late sixties & early seventies he was a member of several iconic bands such as 'Tangerine Dream', 'The Cosmic Jokers' & 'Ash Ra Tempel' before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades. Collaborations were numerous and highlights include working with Steve Winwood, Brian Eno & Alphaville... just to name a few.

Klaus Schulze's proto moog-synthesizer work is regarded as a milestone in electronic music & during the decades he released landmark albums in genres catalogued as 'Ambient', 'Electronic', 'New Age', 'Berlin School', 'Experimental', 'Kosmische Musik' & 'Krautrock'. Mr. Schulze had a more organic sound than most electronic artists of the time, often he would throw in decidedly non-electronic sounds such as acoustic guitar and a male operatic voice. Schulze is also known for developing a Minimoog technique that sounds uncannily like an electric guitar, which is quite impressive in concert.

On occasions he would also compose film scores such as Body Love (1977), Barracuda (1978), Next of Kin (1982), & Angst (1983). His best known song 'Freeze' has been used in films like Manhunter (1986) and more recently in Sofia Coppola's 'The Bling Ring' from 2013.

In 2009, producer Klaus D. Mueller and Schulze began releasing La Vie Electronique ( The Electronic Life'), a series of sets that collected rare sought-after early works & unreleased tracks put in chronological sequence. These sets contain some of the best music Klaus ever created and are early 70's masterworks that will appeal to both fans and collectors.

Now available for the first time on vinyl, One Way Static Records presents the first volume in our new archival series 'La Vie Electronique'. This volume (1.0) focuses on the years 1968-1971 and is spread over two glorious LP's containing +78 minutes of Klaus Shulze rarities. This deluxe vinyl set also comes with an insert containing extensive liner notes.

Another first of year release, this time for Polytechnic Youth's older sibling, the more kosmische / kraut enthused Deep Distance. Following hugely acclaimed releases for labels such as Kranky, Constellation Tatsu, Not Not Fun and Great Pop Supplement, Jesse Reiner's esteemed JONAS REINHARDT return to the fray with the mighty Conclave Surge' LP.

The eight tracks contained within open the listener to a new dimension to the Reinhardt oeuvre, expanding deeply on the sonic themes explored in previous albums with a sense of immersive, meditative intent. The sharp sound design of minimal techno, early industrial music's capacity for dramatic shock and awe and the fervent rhythmic experimentation of West African synthesists all weaved their way into Reiner's palette for Conclave Surge.

Inspired in equal measure by the throbbing urbanity of coastal cities, continental European art-rock experimentation, and improvised electronic minimalism, Jonas Reinhardt's music transcends its influences into a wholly unique amalgam.

As Jesse himself says 'The latin origin of 'Conclave' translates to with key. The pieces of music selected for this album are designed to unlock, by way of machine and human synthesis, ritual and musical ceremony previously hidden from public view. The Conclave ceremony, traditionally designed to introduce something important, is a tool of power and of powerful groups. 'Surge' here refers to electric discharge arcing across a room, crackling gear, and skittering currents sourcing ground'.

Another wonderful Jonas Reinhardt record released as a limited edition pressing of 300 on vinyl only by Deep Distance Jan 2018.

"Cepheidians are the bulk of the universe, the foundation of any knowledge from the greater to the smaller. Temporal and local changes underlayed and still consistent in their spirit, they sweep through the universe and are the comparison and its resolution."Iku Sakan's Cepheidian circles between the poles of contraction and relaxation, both in mental and physical perceptibility. The playful way with the periodic repetition, addition and subtraction to create moments of deepest and greatest excitement is blown with an ease which is difficult for the listener to distinguish between fact and fiction"Sakan in 2017 has finally exposed us to his singular sound, could be Krautrock, certainly spiritual - but thankfully - undefinable. God knows what he'll hit us with in '018" - Japan Blues

'Last', the third LP by krautrock legends Agitation Free, was originally released in 1976 on Barclay in France as a posthumous LP that included tracks from '73 and '74. Agitation Free had been formed in 1967 by Lutz 'Lüül' Ülrich, Michael 'Fame' Günther, Lutz 'Ludwig' Kramer and Christoph Franke. They soon gained the residency as the house band on Berlin's Zodiac Club with their impressive multimedia stage show. By 1973 they had already released two LPs and suffered several line-up changes and the members of the band that recorded 'Last' included Michael Günther on bass, Burghard Rausch on drums, plus Jörg Schwenke and Lutz Ulbrich on guitars, plus friends - Erhard Grosskopf on loops, Michael Hoenig on sinthesizer, a.o. Although the album was first released in 1976, side one was recorded live in France in March 1973 and side two live in the studio in Berlin, February 1974. But don't be fooled by this, the whole LP sounds as a proper studio recording, no intrusive audience noises, perfect mix, outstanding audio quality.

Fans of Can, Guru Guru, Faust or Tangerine Dream will enjoy the sound of Agitation Free, where all elements of acid guitar krautrock mix to perfection with experimental sounds, kosmische atmospheres and tape looping.

The Wah Wah reissue respects the original artwork, features an insert with photos and liner notes and comes in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies only.

Coming out of the boiling Munich scene of the sixties that also gave us the original Amon Düül (Thom Argauer had played in a dixieland band with Chris Karrer in the late 60s, actually), Siloah are one of the best kept secrets of the krautrock production. Siloah had a hard core including Thom Argauer, Manuela von Perfall, Heinrich 'Tiny' Stricker and Wolfgang Görner, plus a host of guests coming and going, everybody was free to join and play at any time, guest members often joining from the Baumstassen commune around which the band was living before they eventually moved to an abandoned farm on the outskirts of town.

Their first LP is a trippy acid psychmasterpiece recorded in 1970 and privately issued on German Blues and Undergrund. It showed a strong influence from US West Coast psychedelic music and has a lovely acoustic approach. It's sound is free, full of improvisation and with a charming amateurish feel all through it. It will appeal to lovers of free spirits like Amon Düül themselves, Kalacakra or even Música Dispersa.

The Wah Wah reissue is made in cooperation with Thom Argauer family, it has been cut from the original master tapes, has original artwork (improved by printing it over a mirror finish silver cardboard), has two bonus track not on the original LP added, features an insert with photos and liner notes and comes in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies only.


· ANALOGUE LACQUER CUT DIRECT FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES

· TWO BONUS TRACKS

· ORIGINAL ARTWORK, IMPROVED PRINTING ON SILVER CARDBOARD SLEEVE!

· INSERT WITH PHOTOS AND LINER NOTES

· 500 COPIES ONLY!

Coming out of the boiling Munich scene of the sixties that also gave us the original Amon Düül (Thom Argauer had played in a dixieland band with Chris Karrer in the late 60s, actually), Siloah are one of the best kept secrets of the krautrock production. In 1972 Siloah had suffered a certain number of changes. Thom Argauer was still leading the project, but since his coleagues had left the farm in which they were all leaving he had to start again with new members Markus Krug and Florian Laber. He also looked for a more electric approach, himself moving from acoustic guitar to electric organ.

'Sukram Gurk' was the title chosen for their second LP. It was the name of Markus Krug spelled backwards. Markus' name was chosen because it was the one that sounded better phonetically to the ears of the trio. The sound of the album takes it all one step further, turning into an electric storm, yet retaining the free psychedelic improvisation feel of its predecessor.

The Wah Wah reissue is made in cooperation with Thom Argauer family, it has been cut from the original master tapes, has one bonus track not on the original LP added, features an insert with photos and liner notes and comes in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies only.


· ANALOGUE LACQUER CUT DIRECT FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES

· ONE BONUS TRACK

· FAITHFUL REPRODUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL GLOSSY LAMINATED SLEEVE AND ORIGINAL ARTWORK

· INSERT WITH PHOTOS AND LINER NOTES

· 500 COPIES ONLY!

First ever reissue and first time on vinyl for this unique Flying Saucer Attack live album, expanded with additional material and a new side four mix from Jim O'Rourke. Produced in collaboration with Dave Pearce / FSA and Bruce Russell (compiler of the original CD release for his Corpus Hermeticum label), featuring new artwork by Bruce Russell as well.

While rightly known for the folk-influenced songs and spacey instrumentals of their proper albums, the briefly active live version of FSA unexpectedly delivered a blistering wave of electric sound. Recorded at various shows in 1994, In Search Of Spaces heaves with long passages of feedback guitar racket, broken up by sections of surging rock music. The live band focused almost exclusively on visceral, trebly guitar noise—which, while always a key element in their sound, was greeted by audiences with total mystification (and often disapproval). Following a few brief attempts to settle a lineup and play songs from their records, Dave Pearce / FSA abandoned live performance altogether, leaving behind this album (and the barely available P. A. Blues CDR) as the sole document of his in-person delivery.

Originally compiled and released in 1996, this reissue adds several minutes of music back to the original program that had been edited out by FSA for being too rock.' For side four, Jim O'Rourke revisited the original 1994 live tapes and has made a spooky and brooding new mix of music exclusive to this release.

On paper, the collaboration between Jello Biafra and Ministry seems like a match made in industrial punk heaven, and thankfully the first release from Lard lives up to these expectations. Both parties seemed to have taught the other side a thing or two: Jello Biafra is more focused than usual, while Alain Jourgensen and Paul Barker from Ministry sound a lot more punky and loose. The percussion, courtesy of Bill Rieflin and the late Jeff Ward, is firmly in an industrial style, though — all mechanized metallic thrashing, but it works just fine with the material. The standout track is "Forkboy," the album's opener, a frantic guitar workout with Biafra's righteous anger coming through loud and clear.

Bis was formed in late 1994 by teenagers Sci-fi Steve, Manda Rin and John Disco. From 1995 on Bis released a string of 7''s and EP's, on indie labels like Chemical Underground, Guided Missile and their own Teen-C Recordings. Bis had a sound that was completely their own, an agressive yet poppy mix of punk, indie pop, riot grrrl, new wave and britpop. Their second EP for Chemical Underground, 'The Secret Vampire Soundtrack', managed to enter the British top 30, and the band was even invited to perform one of the songs of the EP, 'Kandy Pop', on Top Of The Pops. Bis released their 1997 debut album 'The New Transistor Heroes' on Wiija (Europe), the Beastie Boys' label Grand Royal (US) and Sony (Japan) - selling more than 100.000 copies of the album in Japan, where they were very popular, alone. After two more albums, 1998's 'Social Dancing', that had a more poppy and modern sound and featured hit single 'Eurodisco' and the 2001's 'Return To Central', leading the band further into electronic terrority, Bis split up in 2003. Members went on to other projects, only to return in 2005, with an extra rhythm section, als Data Panik. After three reunion shows and releasing a greatest hit compilation in 2007, Bis came back together in 2009, and have been playing shows regularly ever since, releasing the 'Data Panik' album in 2014, a bunch of (split) singles and re-releasing deluxe editions of their albums on their own 'Do Yourself In'-label. And now, in 2017, Bis ads a Christmas single to their already extensive discography, a single that shows two completely different sides of the band. The A-side, the catchy Christmas anthem 'You Wrecked My Christmas' brings 'Social Dancing'-era Bis to mind, with punky guitars, uptempo drums, 80s synths and a chorus that refuses to leave your mind once you've heard it. On the B-side Bis take Saint Etiennes' synthpop-influenced Christmas hit 'I Was Born On Christmas Day', strip it to the bones, and it ends up sounding like Bis' interpretation of a 21st Century krautrock Christmas song.

For a year, friends and producers Jean-Gabriel Becker and Susumu Muka have been meeting for collaborative recording sessions at Sounds And Sons studio in Shoreditch.

Susumu Mukai, originally from Kanagawa, Japan, has been involved in diverse projects such as Zongamin, Stalactite and Off World as producer and multi-instrumentalist. Mukai is also a member of bands including Fimber Bravo, Vanishing Twin and Floating Points. Jean-Gabriel Becker, originally from Paris, France, has been writing music under various names and in numerous projects, from Jeanga And George and Economy Wolf to Lux Prima to name only a few. He also composes extensively for films and television under his own name. The sessions for Eyes, their first EP together, unfolded as a musical dialogue between the duo - open-ended, discovering the sounds as they revealed themselves in an organic way. Although some influences can be heard, from acidhouse to krautrock, to jazz and psychedelia, the otherness of Eyes EP refuses to be categorised easily.

"On Suicide's First Rehearsal Tapes, recorded in 1975, Alan Vega and Martin Rev create minimalist aural structures, traces of which would surface on their eponymous debut album, released on the Red Star label in late 1977.

These songs are not a sketchpad of semi-formed ideas. The First Rehearsal Tapes comprise an audio diary of two men out in the ether, measuring themselves as evolving individual artists and as a unit who would rely on inseparability to realize their unique and often confrontational mass in the decades to come. What the tapes also reveal is that Vega and Rev were compositionally ambitious, capable of melody and form, while resisting definition as they headed further into uncharted territory.

The First Rehearsal Tapes afford the listener a glimpse into the creative process of two groundbreaking, true art warriors with their swords and shields leaning against the practice room wall. To understand the absolute brilliance of Suicide's first album as well as their sonic adventures that followed, you have to start here with their earliest recordings."

- Henry Rollins (excerpt from the liner notes)

Steve Murphy returns on Wilson Records with a solid electro EP that hark back to the classic sound of some of the greatest International Deejay Gigolos Records.

Blackest Ever Black presents To Make A Fool Ask, And You Are The First, the latest - and, for us, greatest - full-length entry in Ashtray Navigations' uniquely important, uniquely sprawling - possibly sentient and self-multiplying - discography. It picks up where the nerve-damaged exotica of 2015's A Shimmering Replica left off...acerbic surf' guitar and synthetic salt-breeze fit for the Tropic of Yorkshire. Instant immersion in a potent, pungent psychedelia that feels equal parts cosmic and aquatic. What Todd wrenches out of his instrument these days is a language unto itself (perhaps it always was)... a helical, ecstatic, grieving howl...a (super)natural efflorescence, beyond earthly description or transcription...ur-rock and post-everything. But equal emphasis is given here to pulsating machine rhythms and lush keyboard textures, with killer contributions from longtime fellow traveller Mel O'Dubhshlaine. There were pre-echoes of all this in the recent(ish) Fluctuants and Aero Infinite: but To Make A Fool feels like the culmination, or the fullest expression, of something which was only glimpsed in those earlier works. The side-long 'Spray Two' - gently eddying string-pads gradually slashed to all f***k with fraught piano improvisations - is a masterpiece in its own right. At its delirious peak, the whole thing boils over into brooding, arpeggiated noir-techno - Michael Mann's steadicam roaming Leeds' B-roads, some kind of tangerine nightmare - before finally cooling into a bleary starfield of pure and sumptuous hypno-tone. This LP is a trip, in the most skull-splitting, soul-crinkling sense of the word, but it soothes and heals as well. A circular and transformative journey to the other side of the underneath and a landmark recording from one of the most adept and visionary nodes in Britain's freakout underground.

Dubbed-out cosmic pastorals and politically exasperated techno-exotica from Blackest Ever Black's most secretive and shape-shifting project. Guest contributors include Conrad and Jonnine Standish of HTRK, Genevieve McGuckin (These Immortal Souls), and Lucas Santanna. The ghosts of Les Baxter, Rowland S. Howard and Nina Simone are also in attendance. But whoever is pulling the strings remains hidden...possibly in plain view. Structurally Wreck His Days recalls the grand collective statements of This Mortal Coil or Massive Attack, but musically its dreamlike overtures have more in common with Deux Filles, Global Communication, Arthur Russell, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Anthony Moore, even Robert Wyatt circa Old Rottenhat/Nothing Can Stop Us. It roams far and wide: from the lambent, near-Balearic piano loops of the title track, to the Audrey Horne-worthy death-jazz of 'Ghost From The Coast', and hulking, bass-heavy soundsystem weapon 'Reverberasia'. Side Two opens with the swelling, uplifting astral psychedelia of '...And I Tried So Hard', while 'I Beat As I Sleep As I Dream' reprises the bleak existential synth drift of T.T.W.F.U.'s extraordinary 2014 10', How Great A Fame Has Departed. A deep-seated socialist impulse drives the whole thing: with a dedication to women who have fought oppression throughout history, references to the Spanish Civil War and the UK Miners' Strike, and an overarching belief in the international ideal (in fact the closing 'Rosa / Kollontai' explicitly invokes the Internationale). Written and recorded over the course of 2014-15, Wreck His Days is a plea, or perhaps a requiem, for a world that embraces difference and upholds equality. Its contemporary relevance hardly needs emphasising.

Never before released studio and live recordings by Harmonia from 1975! Four fantastic tracks. Two from the Harmonia studio in Forst and two from live shows in Hamburg. These pieces express a very exploratory side of Harmonia, a rare peek into what they were capable of live.

1000 Robota im Jahr 2022 sind, soviel sei verraten, immer noch Sebastian Muxfeldt, Jonas Hinnerkort und Anton Spielmann. Und was macht eine Band, die schon immer den Zeitgeist angeschrien hat, mit der hochfrequenten Gegenwart? Sie durch den Fleischwolf drehen und ihr die eigene Reflexion vorlegen, genauer: Ein neues Album. Es klingt gewaltig, intensiv und intim zugleich und strahlt eine utopisch finstere Wärme aus.

1000 Robota im Jahr 2022 sind, soviel sei verraten, immer noch Sebastian Muxfeldt, Jonas Hinnerkort und Anton Spielmann. Und was macht eine Band, die schon immer den Zeitgeist angeschrien hat, mit der hochfrequenten Gegenwart? Sie durch den Fleischwolf drehen und ihr die eigene Reflexion vorlegen, genauer: Ein neues Album. Es klingt gewaltig, intensiv und intim zugleich und strahlt eine utopisch finstere Wärme aus. 1000 Robota über das Artwork: Jede Platte ist physisch (per Hand) individuell von uns gestaltet worden. Kein Artwork sieht gleich aus. Durch Heißluft werden handelsübliche Supermarkttüten um die Albumhülle geschmolzen. Faktisch gibt es kein "grafisches Artwork", es ist physischer Natur und schafft sich seine ganz eigene Form, die zu immer wieder neuen, unberechenbaren Oberflächen, Kerben und Strukturen führt, zu einer zusammengeschmolzenen und übersehenen Welt. Wahrscheinlich unsere Welt.

Mint and Bone Swirl Vinyl (A Side / B Side Effect) There’s a new Acid Rooster on the horizon as Irrlichter is heading our way.

Mainlining the spirit of Agitation Free, Neu! or any of the well known German psych and krautrock pioneers, Acid Rooster’s partially-written and part-improv take on free-thinking psych is equal parts monolithic and hypnotic, executed with genuine conviction – it’s like being catapulted into orbit by wave after cosmic wave in a maelstrom of psychedelic flavors, whether it’s blistering guitar pyrotechnics or the downtempo check-ins with your consciousness. It’s Acid Rooster’s strength to relentlessly take you well beyond the astral planes.

Aircooled return with a new single and album of disco-fuelled locked grooves, rock swagger and glittered poise but with an expanded palette that brings vocals to the fore for the first time. The extended psychomotorik traits are still very much part of the picture but the band have sidestepped into songsmithing with apparent ease and explosive results.

In a year that included sell-out shows at The Lexington - Islington, The Trades - Hebden Bridge and The Brixton Windmill, a stint opening for Suede on tour and the release (and repress) of their debut LP St Leopards, Aircooled found time in their studios in St Leonards on Sea, where they live, to write, record and produce Eat The Gold, a set of winning, infectious tunes that, while neatly avoiding resting on the laurels of their initial success, ignites with all the energy of a band at the peak of their power. From the super solid, relentless grind of Katharine and Justin’s stainless steel rhythm section to the twin-voices-as-one vocals from Riz and Ollie and the psyched-out riffing, wig-out guitars and synthesizers this is mirror ball disco funk rock from a band that’s clearly and unashamedly having a very good time.

Eat The Gold is set for release digitally and on vinyl on 16th February 2024 on the Music’s Not Dead label and will be celebrated with a show at Third Man Records the same day and followed by a series of gigs including Lewes Psych Fest and a major UK tour.

Im September 1968 spielte AMON DÜÜL bei den "Internationalen Essener Songtagen", dem ersten fünftägigen Rockfestival Deutschlands, das der spätere Ohr-Labelchef Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser initiiert hatte. Der Berliner Musikproduzent Peter Meisel hörte und sah die Band dort und nahm sie spontan unter Vertrag, zusammen mit Tangerine Dream und Birth Control. AMON DÜÜL stand der Berliner "Kommune 1" nahe und entstand zu einer Zeit, da jeder ein Künstler war, der einer sein wollte. Und so konnte auch jeder, der wollte, ein Musiker sein. Zusammen, im Kollektiv, war alles möglich. Angelika und Helge Filanda, Wolfgang Krischke, Ulrich Leopold, Rainer und Ella Bauer, Peter Leopold sowie Uschi Obermaier spielten in Meisels Studio zeitgemäß high in the sky eine Session ein, die alle Regeln durchbrach und alle Hörgewohnheiten auf den Kopf stellte. Die Aufnahmen wanderten zunächst in den Giftschrank, erst ein Jahr später traute sich Meisel, sie unter dem Titel Psychedelic Underground zu veröffentlichen. Hier ist die Fortsetzung: Die Doppel-LP Disaster/Lüüd Noma erschien 1972, als es die Gruppe AMON DÜÜL schon nicht mehr gab, und sie präsentiert weitere Aufnahmen aus derselben Session. Alle Titel sind surreale, unübersetzbare Wortspielereien, die Stücke sind klanglich besser organisiert, weniger fragmentarisch, klarer voneinander abgesetzt und ausgefeilter nachbearbeitet als auf der ersten LP - der ausgenzwinkernd mitgelieferte Hinweis, alle Störungen und Fehler seien beabsichtigt, hat aber gleichwohl einen wahren Kern. Nun sind diese denkwürdigen Aufnahmen wieder zugänglich, remastered von den analogen Originalbändern. Sie sind das Dokument einer Zeitstimmung, die unwiederholbar geblieben ist. Wer sich für die Anfänge des Krautrocks ernsthaft interessiert, kommt an diesem Album nicht vorbei - das Disaster wartet auf Sie!

Sense and Sensuality (1982) was the second and final album by seminal British post-punk band The Au Pairs. The four-piece group from Birmingham were very much in tune with the early 80s growth pangs from the first punk explosion - stripping down their music from their debut LP to a funkier, more rhythmic essence, and shifting the focus of their lyrics to the personal rather than the political.

The addition of horns and imaginative synthesizers allowed for more satisfying sonic diversity, from the disco-informed dance-punk of “Instant Touch” to the cabaret swing of “Tongue in Cheek”. While “That’s When It’s Worth It” takes several elements of popular post-punk - looping auxiliary percussion rhythms and a sporadically used horn section - and crafts them into a wild sound that’s equal parts dance, psychedelia, punk and art pop.

Their distinctly punk take on sex and gender politics, meanwhile, was their strongest thematic strain - and that’s truly where Sense and Sensuality shined. Despite only reaching #79 in the UK when first released, it’s now widely seen as one of the best post-punk albums ever.

Sense and Sensuality is now available as a limited numbered edition of 750 copies on translucent magenta coloured vinyl and contains an insert.

We did already reissue Between's "And The Waters Opened" ten years ago and it sold out very fast. Since then, many of you have kept asking for copies of it, so we've just done a new deal to produce a new run of 500 copies only. This is one of the most interesting kraut LPs, be sure to grab a copy for your collection!

First released in Vertigo in 1972 and often regarded as Between's most exotic and beautiful opus, it is a huge droning masterpiece with oriental nuances that might recall Popol Vuh, Fripp and Eno or Taj Mahal Travellers. A classic album from the early German 1970s scene!

Traversing the everyday in 2023, the need for ritual catharsis only grows stronger. The need to lose oneself in a force bigger than ourselves, and to venture into inner space the better to sculpt armour for the battles outside. Luckily this is the job of Bonnacons of Doom, aural soothsayers and progenitors of Trans Pennine hypnotic music. ‘Signs’ - their second album for Rocket Recordings - marks both a portent of things to come, and a roadmap of the psychic pathways to survival. This masked troupe, subsumed to mystery and amassed from across the North of England, have stepped up their mission accordingly. Building on the intimidating intensity of their self-titled 2018 debut, this series of fiercely charged mantras and premonitory transmissions is possessed of a new level of communal intensity. The band’s choice of weapons- the monomaniacal intensity of the riff, the liberating binary spirit of electronics and the incantatory vocals of ceremonial leader Kate Smith - here coalesce into a metaphysical force which stands defiant of easy categorisation. Within these otherworldly manifestations lurks solace in a place where the transcendent power of heavy amplification, cosmically aligned sonic explorations and strange forces darker and more unknowable can coalesce to cathartic and redeeming effect. ‘Signs’ marks out a supernatural landscape where ancient and modern, earthly and alien congregate in the eternal now, whilst Bonnacons Of Doom transcend era to light a path for the future

Unissued recordings by this very LOUD power trio from San Francisco, modeled
after Cream, Blue Cheer or The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Including their fantastic studio demo from 1968 plus raw & wild live tracks
from 1969.

Boogie (or The Boogie) was probably the first hard-blues / proto-metal group
that emerged from the San Francisco scene. This power-trio was formed by
Barry “The Bee” Bastian (Canned Heat, Lee Michaels...) on guitar/vocals;
John Barrett (The Rhythm Dukes) on bass and Fuzzy John Oxendine (Roky
Erickson & The Aliens, Jerry Miller Band...) on drums.

Comrades of Moby Grape (who even let Boogie use their rehearsal space) and
the Sons Of Champlin, they played at all the legendary venues (The Ark,
Avalon, Fillmore…) sharing stage with bands like Buffalo Springfield,
Quicksilver, Ace Of Cups, Flamin’ Groovies or Country Joe & The Fish. Their
explosive show at the Sky River Rock Festival (August, 1968, the first
outdoor multi-band Rock Festival held in the United States) to an audience
of 150,000 people, is still remembered today.

Sadly, their convulsed story, which includes undercover narks and marijuana
busts, left them with no record deal. But a studio demo - recorded in 1968
at Pacific High Recorders - including three tracks, “In Freak Town”, “To Me”
and a terrific, fuzzed out 7-minute long cover of “Wade In The Water”, plus
some live recordings from 1969, survived. Previously available only as part
of a private CD released by Barry Bastian, here’s the first ever vinyl
release.

PLAY LOUD!

*Hard cardboard sleeve.

*Insert with rare photos and detailed liner notes by San Fran rock historian
Bruno Ceriotti.

*Download card with the full album plus three bonus tracks.

"Arguably the greatest San Francisco's rock 'n' roll band of the 60's who
never released anything"
- Bruno Ceriotti

SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTORS VINYL WITH BONUS CD

Cottonwoodhill immediately ran into controversy for its association with psychedelic drugs.

the album came with a warning label that insisted

you should "only listen once a day to this record. Your brain might be destroyed,”

which led to the album being banned in several countries including the USA.

* 50th Anniversary deluxe edition of this Spanish psychedelic/progressive masterpiece from 1970!

* First ever vinyl reissue featuring the intended but never used at the time nude gatefold cover design by painter Claudio Bravo.

* Double set including the Spanish version of the album plus, for the first time on vinyl, the alternate English version that Fernando Arbex (Brincos main man) considered to be the definitive one and that he couldn’t release at the time, including different tracklist / mixes than the released at the time English one, resulting in a fabulous psych album with a strong late ‘60s British feel.

*12-page colour insert with detailed liner notes in English / Spanish and rare photos plus poster!

In 1969, Los Brincos, probably the most famous Spanish ‘60s pop band - often dubbed “the Spanish Beatles” – added a new member to their line-up: Colombian born Oscar Lasprilla, an accomplished keyboard / guitar player who had previously been part of pioneering Colombian psych bands Time Machine and the Speakers.

Influenced by psychedelia, prog-rock and underground sounds, Los Brincos (now simply named ‘Brincos’), led by drummer / main songwriter Fernando Arbex, decided that their new album would be a conceptual work - something never seen in Spain until then - similar to what other international bands like Beatles, Who, Moody Blues or Pretty Things were doing. The concept behind the album was supposedly to be based on the three enemies of the soul: the world, the flesh and the devil, hence the final title: “World Devil Body”.

This ambitious work was recorded by the new Brincos line-up - with famous Spanish musician Augusto Algueró as arranger - at the same place where King Crimson recorded their legendary debut, Wessex Studios in London, using the same sound engineer, Robin Thompson.

The recording sessions were intensive and highly productive, with the band giving plenty of room to improvisation. Some songs were sung in Spanish, some in English, being the central piece an outstanding 12 minute long conceptual psych suite, sung in English and titled “Mundo Demonio y Carne” (“World Devil & Body”), comprised of four parts and written by Fernando Arbex and Oscar Lasprilla. There was nothing similar in Spain at that time and this track stands today as one of the earliest, if not the first, progressive pieces ever recorded by a Spanish band.

Regarding the other tracks, we find many surprises: a long eastern sounding instrumental (“Kama-Sutra”); the eerie “Esa Mujer”, with a hair-rising orchestral arrangement by Algueró, featuring members of the London Symphony Orchestra; British influenced psych-pop “Jenny La Genio”, “Promises and Dreams” or “Butterfly” (which featured vocals sung through a megaphone!); hard-psych with plenty of guitar and Hammond (“Emancipation”, “Misery & Pain”)…

The album was originally intended to be housed in a gatefold cover with artwork by hyperrealist painter Claudio Bravo, showing the five members of the band naked from their waists up. It was instantly rejected by the label. Also, the heads of the label showed little interest in this project, as they didn’t understand it at all, putting many objections to the proposed tracklist / release ideas. In the end, the release received zero promotion. Finally, the album, housed in a new cover by another painter depicting a bizarre viscous brain, was released in 1970 in two different versions: one in Spanish (Mundo Demonio Carne) and another in English (World Devil Body). They featured different tracklists / songs but both versions included the English sung “World Devil Body” suite. Fernando Arbex had the US market in mind for the English version but in the end that version was released only in Spain, Germany and, oddly enough, Japan. The album was received with mixing reviews… it was too ‘progressive’ for most of the Brincos fans and the few progressive music fans in Spain didn’t even bother to listen to it, as they still thought of Brincos as a pop band. Soon after, the band, tired and exhausted, disbanded after giving an amazing concert at a famous progressive music festival in Barcelona, sharing stage with new Spanish underground bands like Máquina! and Smash.

During the years, both the Spanish/English versions of the album have been reissued many times. Then, in 1997, Fernando Arbex released (only on CD) what he understood was the definitive English version, featuring the nude Claudio Bravo cover for the first time and a new, different tracklist that, according to him, was the one he originally intended to release in 1970 but couldn’t do it due to frictions with the record company. The result is an English sung album with a strong late ‘60s British psychedelic flavour, including one of the best tracks Brincos ever recorded, “If I Were You” (which inexplicably was not included in the original release at the time) and a different mix of the “World Devil Body” suite.

To coincide with the 50th Anniversary of World Devil Body / Mundo Demonio Carne, we’re proud to present a deluxe double vinyl LP reissue featuring, for the first time on vinyl, the nude gatefold cover design and the alternate English version, as Fernando Arbex originally intended. Disc 2 features the Spanish version as originally released in 1970.

*Gatefold cover

*12-page colour insert with detailed notes

*Free poster.

Was für eine erstaunliche Verbesserung im Klang dieser 50 Jahre alten Aufnahme. Unter Zuhilfenahme der originalen, analogen Masterbänder und modernstem, technischem Equipment erscheinen die einfühlsamen Melodien der Originalbesetzung in einem wunderbaren Licht von Romantik und Empathie. Remastert in den Dierks-Studios, wo auch die Aufnahmen entstanden. Produziert unter Mitwirkung von Dieter Dierks.

Unbelievably killer and super, super heavy brand-new Psyche/Krautrock album coming out of nowhere from Brown Spirits, new on Soul Jazz Records!
Brown Spirits are from Melbourne, Australia. Their stripped down and tight musical unit is a trio (think Cream or Hendrix!) of raw bass, drums and shared guitar/keyboards meets the D-I-Y attitude and punk/post-punk intensity, giving them a unique hi-octane sound.

'Eurabia Vol. 1' is the forthcoming EP from Cairo Liberation Front, following up on their debut release on the über hip Höga Nord Rekords. It sees the band collaborating with Iraqi/Dutch female vocalist Meis (aka Bagdaddy) and Syrian keyboard virtuoso Rizan Said along others. The lead single Tilly' track gallops along like a rabid horse with Bagdaddy in the saddle, urging it on. It is, in essence, the embodiment on record of their scintillating live set, which ripped the roof off Dour festival this summer, and promises to do so again at their tenth Eurabia party to mark the EP release, this time with Mehmet Aslan and Baris K guesting.

Can, live from Soest, Rockpalast, Germany in November 1970.
This remarkable set is the earliest full concert recording of the mighty Can. Performed in November 1970 for broadcast on the WDR TV show Karussell für die Jugend (‘Youth Carousel) in Soest, 80 miles north of their base in Cologne, it features vocalist Damo Suzuki (who’d replaced Malcolm Mooney in May), alongside Michael Karoli (guitar), Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Holger Czukay (bass) and Jaki Liebezeit (drums), and is presented here with background notes and images.

Spoon Records kündigt, die erste Veröffentlichung in einer Reihe von lang erwarteten Live Alben an: Can Live in Stuttgart 1975 - erscheint auf Vinyl, CD und digital am 28. Mai 2021.

Selbst wenn man glaubt Can zu kennen, inklusive aller Alben und den legendären Lost Tapes, gibt es hier immer noch vieles entdecken das einen überrascht. Diese Musik ist nie zweimal derselbe Fluss.

Das neue Album in fünf Teilen, Can Live in Stuttgart 1975 dokumentiert einen wichtigen und beeindruckenden Teil der Can-Geschichte. Da in den 70gern technische Pannen immer wieder die geplannten Live-Aufnahmen sabotierten, fehlten diese im Spoon Katalog. Nun wurden die besten Bootleg-Aufnahmen genommen und unter der Leitung von Gründungsmitglied Irmin Schmidt und CAN Produzent/Toningenieur René Tinner durch die Mühlen der Technologie des 21. Jahrhunderts geschickt, um diese wichtigen historischen Dokumente in der bestmöglichen Qualität zu präsentieren. Gegründet 1967 und aufgelöst etwas über ein Jahrzehnt später, hat Can's beispiellose und kühne Verbindung von hypnotischen Grooves und avantgardistischen instrumentalen Texturen sie zu einer der wichtigsten und innovativsten Bands aller Zeiten gemacht. Die neue LIVE Serie offenbart eine völlig neue Perspektive auf die Band. Man kann vertraute Themen, Riffs und Motive hören, die auftauchen und durch die Jams surfen, aber es sind oft nur flüchtig wiedererkannte Gesichter in einer wirbelnden Menge. Man kann aber auch viel Musik entdecken, die es nie in den offiziellen Albumkanon geschafft hat. Die Aufnahmen gehen in extremere Bereiche als Can’s Studioarbeit: von sanftem, ambientem Drift-Rock bis hin zu den berühmt berüchtigten "Godzilla"-Momenten. Und selbst wenn sich die Band Mitglieder von Minute zu Minute anpassen und dem Rhythmus hinterherjagen, kann man die außergewöhnliche musikalische Telepathie hören, die sie alle teilten.

- "Can’s Live-Auftritte klingen wie eine epische Geschichte – ein Roman, der uns erzählt wird. Mit unterschiedlichen Kapiteln, wechselnden Stimmungen, Jahreszeiten und exotischen Landschaften." - Alan Warner

Future Days" aus dem Jahre 1973 ist das fünfte Studioalbum der Band und zugleich das letzte Album mit dem japanischen Sänger Damo Suzuki. Auf dem Album herrschte eine für Can bis dahin ungewohnte lyrische Atmosphäre, insbesondere bei den Stücken "Future Days" und "Bel Air".

- Die LP erscheint als 180g Vinyl inkl. MP3-Download Codes

LTD Edition im goldenen Vinyl!

"Future Days" aus dem Jahre 1973 ist das fünfte Studioalbum der Band und zugleich das letzte Album mit dem japanischen Sänger Damo Suzuki. Auf dem Album herrschte eine für Can bis dahin ungewohnte lyrische Atmosphäre, insbesondere bei den Stücken "Future Days" und "Bel Air".

Die gefeierte Can Live Serie wird mit einem Konzert in Paris mit Damo Suzuki fortgesetzt! Die zweite Phase der gefeierten Can Live-Serie, Can Live in Paris 1973, wird am 23. Februar 2024 auf Vinyl, CD und digital über Mute und Future Days (das neue EU-Label von Spoon Records) veröffentlicht.

Live in Paris 1973 zeigt Can in magischer Form bei einem Auftritt, der am 12. Mai 1973 im Pariser L'Olympia aufgezeichnet wurde und bei dem erstmals Damo Suzuki am Gesang zu hören ist. Von 1970-73 wurde die Stammbesetzung von Irmin Schmidt, Jaki Liebezeit, Michael Karoli und Holger Czukay durch den japanischen Improvisator und Sänger Suzuki ergänzt. Sie lernten sich durch eine zufällige Begegnung kennen, als Suzuki als Straßenmusiker in München unterwegs war; einige Monate nach dem hier veröffentlichtem Auftritt verließ Damo die Band. Dieses neue Album in der Reihe ermöglicht es uns, die Band in einer besonders wichtigen Phase ihrer Karriere zu erleben, da zwei ihrer am meisten gefeierten Alben - Tago Mago und Ege Bamyasi, wobei letzteres in den Pariser Auftritt einfließt - erst kürzlich veröffentlicht wurden. Die Aufnahmen wurden von Gründungsmitglied Irmin Schmidt und Produzent/Sound Engineer René Tinner, die alle Alben dieser Reihe zusammengestellt und bearbeitet haben, aus Aufnahmen in den Archiven von Spoon Records und von hilfsbereiten Fans eingesandten Aufnahmen zusammengesetzt und für das 21. Jahrhundert aufgearbeitet. CAN, die in den späten 60er Jahren gegründet wurden und sich ein gutes Jahrzehnt später auflösten, haben sich mit ihrer beispiellosen und kühnen Verbindung von hypnotischen Grooves und avantgardistischen Instrumentalstrukturen zu einer der wichtigsten und innovativsten Bands aller Zeiten entwickelt, und diese Alben zeigen die Gruppe aus einer ganz anderen Perspektive. Man hört vielleicht vertraute Themen, Riffs und Motive, die auftauchen und sich durch diese Jams wälzen, aber es sind oft nur flüchtig wiedererkannte Gesichter in einer wirbelnden Menge. An anderen Stellen hört man Musik, die es nie in den offiziellen Albumkanon geschafft hat. Bei diesen Aufnahmen gehen Can in noch extremere Bereiche als bei ihren Studioarbeiten: von sanftem, atmosphärischem Drift-Rock bis hin zu Momenten, denen die Band den Spitznamen "Godzillas" gab. Und selbst wenn sie sich von Minute zu Minute dem Rhythmus anpassen und hinterher jagen, kann man die außergewöhnliche musikalische Telepathie hören, die ihre Mitglieder miteinander teilen.

Die neue Veröffentlichung folgt auf Can Live in Brighton 1975 "Pure dynamite... keep them coming" - MOJO; Can Live in Stuttgart 1975, UNCUT's Reissue of the Year, #2 in MOJO's Reissues of the Year, #7 in THE WIRE’s Archive Reissues of the Year, und Can Live in Cuxhaven 1976, das ebenfalls in den “Reissues of the Year” stark vertreten war.

Can Live in Paris 1973 wird am 23. Februar 2024 auf Doppel-Vinyl, 2 x CD und digital über Mute / Spoon Records veröffentlicht.

Seit langer Zeit kursierten die Can LPs nur als Bootlegs, jetzt gibt es endlich die offiziellen Vinyl Reissues via Spoon Records! Die limitierte Erstveröffentlichung des Albums erschien im August 1969 auf dem Label Music Factory noch unter dem Namen THE CAN. Die zweite Veröffentlichung, mit neuem Artwork wie man es heute kennt, erfolgte auf Liberty Records im darauf folgenden Jahr. Aufgenommen wurde das Album im Schloss Nörvenich mit Cans erstem Sänger Malcolm Mooney. Das Albumdebüt der Band verband Elemente unterschiedlichster Stilrichtungen aus Psychedelic Rock, Blues, Fee Jazz und World Music. Die Nutzung der Improvisation, des Editings und des Layerings der unterschiedlichen Sounds setzte den Standard für alle folgenden Can Alben!

Seit langer Zeit kursierten die Can LPs nur als Bootlegs, jetzt gibt es endlich die offiziellen Vinyl Reissues via Spoon Records! Das zweite Can Album, eine Kompilation verschiedener Filmmusiken, erschien 1970. In dieser Zeit verließ Malcolm Mooney die Band und ist nur noch auf zwei Tracks vertreten: "She Brings The Rain" und "Soul Desert". Stilistisch entfernte sich die Band hier vom ersten Album "Monster Movie" (und dem später veröffentlichten Album "Delay") hin zu den den mehr meditativen, elektronischen Studioaufnahmen der folgenden Alben wie "Tago Mago" und "Ege Bamyasi".

Seit langer Zeit kursierten die Can LPs nur als Bootlegs, jetzt gibt es endlich die offiziellen Vinyl Reissues via Spoon Records! "Ege Bamyasi" ist das vierte Studioalbum der Band und wurde im Original 1972 von United Artist veröffentlicht. Der Titel "Spoon" (zugleich die Titelmusik der TV-Serie "Das Messer") schaffte es in die deutschen Charts (Platzierung #6). "Ege Bamyasi" ist das erste Album, das im neuen Studio der Band in Weilerswist aufgenommen wurde. Das Album wird immer wieder von Musikern weltweit als eines der einflussreichsten Alben überhaupt genannt. Tracks wie "I'm So Green" oder "Sing Swan Song" wurden von Künstlern wie Beck und Kanye West gecovered!