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Nach 'The Burden of Restlessness' und 'Acheron' aus dem Jahr 2021 folgt mit 'Regenerator' der dritte Teil von King Buffalos "Pandemie-Trilogie". Geschrieben und aufgenommen von der Band mit Mixing und Engineering von Gitarrist / Sänger Sean McVay und Mastering von Bernie Matthews.
Das 7-Track-Album ist nun also die dritte Verschmelzung progressiver Rhythmen, treibende Atmosphären zu einem spannenden Psychedelic Rock-Schmelztiegel.
Das sehr melodische Highlight 'Mammut' - mit McVays selbstbewusstester Stimme schimmert vor verzweifelter Hoffnung, auf 'Hours', entfalten sie klassischen Space Rock und die das abschließende 'Firmament' dient als Zusammenfassung aller drei Alben, die das Finale markieren von einer Trilogie, die wesentlicher Eckpfeiler von King Buffalo's Arbeit ist. 'Regenerator' ist auf CD sowie 180. Gr. LP erhältlich. Weißes Vinyl (inklusive Download).

VISIONS schrieb zum Vorgänger:

"…Umso schöner dann die Nachricht Anfang März, dass das Trio aus Rochester, New York in diesem Jahr drei Alben veröffentlichen will. Das passiert also, wenn man Ideen und - virusbedingt - Zeit hat. (…) Darunter pulsiert ein dichter Groove zwischen Psych und Prog. Tatsächlich sind King Buffalo nicht mehr weit von Tool entfernt. Der Klang von "The Burden Of Restlessness" ist unglaublich. Die Verstärker brummen und grummeln, die verzerrten Schichten sind transparent, der Bass groovt viril und transparent darunter und das Schlagzeug liefert ein sattes Fundament. Aufgenommen, produziert und gemixt hat die Band das Album selbst, was die Sache noch eindrucksvoller macht. "The Burden Of Restlessness" ist ein faszinierender, stimmungsvoller Trip, eine in sich bemerkenswert geschlossene Platte. Dessen aggressivere Ausbrüche sorgen meist ab Mitte und gegen Ende der massiven, mäandernden Songs für Höhepunkte." (VISIONS Juni 2021)

Deluxe 180gram vinyl edition comes in a foil-embossed and die-cut cardstock jacket with printed inner sleeve and additional 12x12 art cards featuring the collages of Maciek Szczerbowski. All the art interacts with the die-cut jacket framing. Edition of 300. Rooted in a distinct and immediately identifiable sound_with the cello of Rebecca Foon (Saltland, Set Fire To Flames, Thee Silver Mt Zion) and the marimba of ex-Godspeed You! Black Emperor percussionist Bruce Cawdron at its core_Esmerine has long embroidered emotive chamber works using threads of post-classical, post-rock, Minimalism, neo-Baroque, jazz, pop and a wide array of folk traditions. Multi-instrumentalist Brian Sanderson, who joined the group in 2012, has furthered Esmerine's melodic and ethnomusicological sensibility ever since, expanding the ensemble's palette as its third core member with guitars, ngoni, ekonting, hulusi, brass horns of all sorts, and more. Since 2003, six stately and filmic instrumental albums have inscribed compositional landscapes through epigrammatic miniatures, longform multi-movement chronicles, and all manner of evocative musical prosody between. Marked by an inimitably turbid yet tempered pastoralism, alternately lit by dappled dawn and disquieted dusk, Esmerine's musical narratives balance asceticism and romanticism, melancholy and hope, stillness and wanderlust. Esmerine now shares Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More, its seventh full-length album and first in five years. The band surprise-dropped the full album digitally on 06 May 2022, with the CD and Deluxe 180gram LP editions hitting stores on official release date 26 August 2022. Following an acclaimed run of mid-career records on Constellation through the 2010s_the last three of which have all been finalists or winners of Juno Awards for Instrumental Album of the Year and/or Album Packaging of the Year_Esmerine began working on new music at decade's end. Under the auspices of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, and a summer 2019 residency at Le Château de Monthelon (an artist commune in France where the band has cherished long-standing spiritual, creative, and personal connections), compositional seeds were planted_and then pandemic rooted everyone in place. In between lockdown waves, at the respective rural Québec homesteads of Cawdron and Foon, longtime co-producer Jace Lasek (The Bernard Lakes) began capturing the band in various stripped-down configurations with spartan remote equipment. More fulsome arrangement and overdub sessions at Foon's converted barn during the summer of 2021 brought the album to full fruition_where a notable increase in the use of acoustic piano also poured forth, with just about every band member having a go. The record also signals the definitive integration of bassist Philippe Charbonneau_having joined Esmerine as a touring member pre-pandemic, he plays throughout the album on upright and electric bass, with turns on piano and synth, as well as sound design contributions via tape echo and other processing. Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More grapples with the existential tensions between atmosphere and airlessness, seclusion and claustrophobia, forbearance and coalescence. In many ways it is one of Esmerine's most restrained records. Only a few passages are driven by full percussion. There is palpably less Sturm and Drang or overt crescendos compared to its recent predecessors. The new album roils with a different sort of dynamic intensity, where instrumental densities ebb and flow within an overtonal centre, melding into each other with gauzy timbral warmth, sometimes tracing fleeting tendrils outwards, but always rotating around a saturnine gravitational force. Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More is like a dark forest lit by a closely-orbiting opalescent planet; it could be the alternate score to Von Trier's Melancholia or Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

Die legendären King's X, bestehend aus dUg Pinnick, Ty Tabor & Jerry Gaskill, freuen sich, die Veröffentlichung ihres 13. Studioalbums 'Three Sides of One' über InsideOutMusic/Sony Music bekannt zu geben. Es ist das erste neue Album der Band seit 14 Jahren, für das sie sich mit dem Produzenten Michael Parnin (Rage Against The Machine, Mark Lanegan) zusammengetan haben, um es in seinem Blacksound Studio in Kalifornien aufzunehmen. dUg kommentiert: 'Es kommt mir vor, als wäre es eine Ewigkeit her, dass wir ein neues Album herausgebracht haben, und ich bin bereit, dass die Welt unser neuestes Werk zu hören bekommt, das hoffentlich ein bisschen von allem enthält, was man an King's X liebt. The groove is with us!" Das Album wird als Limited Deluxe Gatefold 180g Marbled 2LP + CD mit einem exklusiven, handnummerierten Druck und Poster, sowie als Ltd CD Digipak, Gatefold Standard 180g 2LP + CD und als Digitales Album erscheinen.

(Reissue)

Der GORGOROTH - Klassiker an dem kein echter Black Metal fan vorbeikommt! Jetzt als White/Black Marbled Vinyl

-Heavy Metal Sampler mit Underground-Hits und Kultsongs
-umfasst die „goldenen Achtziger“ mit Stücken von 1981 bis 1988
-Vinyl only (keine digitale Version)!
-EYECATCHER: attraktives Cover mit Hommage an die Serie
„Stranger Things“
-bedruckte Innenhülle mit Essay über den 80s Metal und viele Fotos
-mit einem neuen Vinyl-Remaster des Manilla Road Klassikers
„Necropolis“
Trotz dem Vinylboom, der in szenestarken Musikrichtungen
noch deutlicher ist als in der Popmusik, gab es in den letzten
Jahren bisher wenige Compilations auf LP. Dabei waren
Zusammenstellungen ein ebenso wichtiger Teil der Siebziger und
Achtziger, eben in der Zeit, als die Schallplatte das gängige Medium
war und ein Mixtape eben nur ein Tape war.
„Heavy Metal Things“ spielt natürlich auf die erfolgreiche TVSerie „Stranger Things“ an, die in den Achtzigern spielt und bei
den Jugendlichen einen ganz eigenen Lifestylewunsch erzeugt hat.
Trotz der spannenden Handlung erlebt man eine Zeit, die in einigen
Punkten doch einfacher und entspannter war – trotz dem Kalten
Krieg und unsicheren Atomkraftwerken. Die Schallplatte (und
erstaunlicherweise sogar die Kassette) gehört in diese Zeit, die sich
mit der Hochphase des Heavy Metal überschneidet. In Szenekreisen
taucht daher oft die Floskel „goldene Achtziger“ auf, denn so
ziemlich jedes Metal-Subgenre wurde hier erfunden oder klang
wenigstens bereits an. Ein ruppiger, teils noch von der Gesellschaft
geächteter Stil wurde zu einem kommerziellen Erfolg. Auch die
Neunziger, gespickt mit Grunge und Crossover, konnten die Rückkeh
des traditionellen Heavy Metal in den 2000ern nicht verhindert. Und
durch die Serie „Stranger Things“ werden Jugendliche auf Songs un
Bands aufmerksam, die in Folge nach über 30 Jahren wieder in die
Charts schiessen.
Trotzdem ist die LP „Heavy Metal Things“ keine Compilation mit
den großen Hits der Mega-Acts in diesem Segment. Im Gegenteil!
Hier wird gezeigt, welche spannenden Acts aus den USA und
Europa zunächst nicht mit dem Massenerfolg gesegnet waren,
allerdings von neugierigen und interessieren Genrefans mittlerweile
entdeckt wurden. So konnte man auch in den letzten Jahren Bands
wie Manilla Road bei Festivals wie dem Hellfest, Sweden Rock
oder Maryland Death Fest sehen. Kultgruppen wie Griffin (USA),
Witchfynde, Malleus oder Dark Wizard kehrten auch zu den
Bühnen zurück. Der Underground ist im Heavy Metal in der Tat
eine größere Sache, als man bei dem Begriff zunächst annehmen
müsste.

FIRST PRESSING ON WHITE VINYL*Regenerator is the fifth full-length from the Rochester, New York-based trio King Buffalo.

Written and recorded by the band with mixing and engineering by guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay and mastering by Bernie Matthews, the seven-song outing is the third in King Buffalo’s stated ‘pandemic trilogy,’ following 2021’s The Burden of Restlessness and
Acheron.

Both of those albums – like 2018’s Longing to Be the Mountain, 2016’s
debut, Orion, and the various EPs and other offerings they’ve made over the last eight years – made bold declarations about who King Buffalo are as a band, and Regenerator is no different. As McVay, bassist/synthesist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson continue to explore the outer reaches of modern psychedelic
music, melding progressive rhythms, drifting atmospheres and
accompanying surges of electricity, this new collection only further establishes them as one of the brightest lights shining in underground rock today.
As the third of three, Regenerator inherently ties together the previous two LPs, and as the band unfold the leadoff title-track across nine and halfminutes, it becomes clear just how truly they have marked out their own sonic presence.

The later melodic highlight “Mammoth” – with McVay’s most confident vocal performance yet – shimmers with hope that somehow doesn’t come across as desperate; on “Hours”, the group engages classic space rock, and the closing “Firmament” acts as a summary
for all three albums, marking the final installment of this trilogy as the
essential cornerstone of King Buffalo's work to date.

Regenerator is available on 180.gr white vinyl (including download) and CD.

Mo Troper is truly one of a kind, and that’s never been more apparent than on his fifth full-length, the winkingly titled MTV. Arriving hot on the heels of his 2021 full-length, Dilettante, the album finds the Portland, OR-based power pop extraordinaire diving further into home-recorded immediacy to make a record that feels like a strikingly direct conduit to the world of Mo–where heartbreak, hilarity, and hooks all go hand-inhand.

MTV hurtles through 15 songs in just 31 minutes, with most of the tracks never even coming close to the three-minute mark. The sequence feels like a combination of a fever dream and a travel diary, intertwining tales of romantic longing with the ups and downs

of cross-country touring. Songs like “Across The USA,” “Royal Jelly,” or “Coke Zero” unravel the headaches and heartbreaks, often alternating between unflinching emotional details and legitimately funny one-liners. “I feel like I’m just in this mode of rebelling against the expectation for artists to be emotionally or aesthetically cohesive,” Troper says. “I think about all my favorite records and songwriters, and they’re often these people who would have really depressing stuff and then insane moments of levity that don’t get talked about as much. I want to make music that’s emotional but also campy or sarcastic or resonates in other ways. I’m like, ‘you know what, it’s all me.’”

Pink Marbled Vinyl

Our next release is a huge project executed by Dubbing Sun. The list of artists involved in making of this 12" is really impressive and it features very talented vocalists as well as instrumentalists from all over the world including Warrior Queen, Lady Skavya, Piya Zawa, Caveman Dub & Khoe Wa. It got pressed on a coloured dirty pink vinyl and is limited to just 400 pcs. Out September the 2nd.

A co-founder of the P-Funk movement, Clarence Eugene ""Fuzzy"" Haskins was born in West Virginia in 1941 and started as a singer in the doo-wop vocal group The Parliaments, led by George Clinton in the late 1950s. He was a founding member of the groundbreaking and influential 1970s funk bands PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC. Fuzzy Haskins toured and appeared on P-Funk albums as a singer, and occasionally as a guitarist, throughout the 1970s. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997. Despite the success of Mothership Connection, Fuzzy Haskins was growing frustrated that his songs were no longer being featured on albums by Funkadelic and Parliament. He also watched as Bootsy Collins, a relative newcomer to the family, embarked upon a solo career. This added to Haskins' frustration and at the height of P-Funk's popularity, Fuzzy left the ensemble to pursue a solo career. Fuzzy Haskins released two landmark solo albums on Westbound Records: `A Whole Nother Thang' in 1976 and `Radio Active' in 1978. With his brand of earthy & heavyweight funk, Fuzzy Haskins' solo works fits right in with many of the other great P-Funk side projects and was sampled by renowned artists and acts from the likes of Prince, The Prodigy, N.W.A and Fatboy Slim.On the album we are presenting you today (Radio Active from 1978) you'll find eight sublime tracks written (or co-written) by Mr. Haskins himself and recorded by Richard Becker at the legendary PAC 3 Recording Studios in Dearborn, Michigan where classic albums from Norman Feels and Dennis Coffey were born. One of the tracks (Woman) was personally mixed for the album by Tom Moulton (the originator of musical revolutions like `the remix', `the breakdown section' and the `12inch single vinyl format').Fuzzy switched between drums and guitar, while taking charge of the lead vocals and production, he was accompanied in the studio by an all-star musician line-up of P-Funk family members such as Jerome `Bigfoot' Brailey (drums), Cordell `Boogie' Mossom (bass), Gary Shider & Michael Hampton (guitars), Glen Goins (piano, drums & guitar)_and of course the fantastic Mr. Bernie Worrell on keyboards. Besides these Parliament/Funkadelic alumni, also present on the recordings are Bruce Nazarian (The Temptations) on Moog and Jazz pianist Gary Schunk (known for his collaborations with Marcus Belgrave & Wendell Harrison).The result of all this musicianship was a record that oozed quality. Despite the quality of the music (and just like with `A Whole Nother Thang') the album didn't sell the vast quantities that were projected and didn't reach the audience it deserved.`Radio Active' is filled with keyboard-driven spacey funk, sharp hooks, popping bass-lines, JB styled soulful (yet sexy) vocals, a hint of disco, fantastic guitar build-ups and breaks that make you shake_a true gem that deserves a place in your record collection (mint vinyl copies are hard to find and pricey these days). If you are a Funkateer_this one's for you! This unique album comes as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (strictly limited to 500 copies) with obi strip and features the original artwork created by virtuoso Ronald Edwards (known for his graphic work with Parliament-Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, Fred Wesley, George Clinton, Maceo Parker, Bernie Worrell, Fishbone_and countless others). To top it all off, this release also includes an insert featuring the original liner notes written in 1994 by renowned author and producer Rob Bowman (Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Marvin Gaye) who reflects on Fuzzy Haskins' two solo albums.

Die Titanen des Thrash Metal sind zurück!

Megadeth veröffentlichen am 02. September ihr sechzehntes Studioalbum „The Sick The Dying… And The Dead!“ mit 12 brandneuen, unveröffentlichten Songs. Nach dem GRAMMY-gewinnenden Erfolgsalbum „Dystopia“ bleiben die vier Metalheads voll auf Erfolgskurs und lassen jedes Fan-Herz höherschlagen. Auch dieses Mal geht es um schmetternde Gitarren, fette Drum-Sounds und die markerschütternde Stimme von Frontmann und Produzent Dave Mustaine. Von nostalgie-getränkten Songs wie “Night Stalkers” mit
Mega-Feature Ice-T hinzu dem emotionalen und namensgebenden Song “The Sick The Dying… And The Dead” ist alles auf dem umfassenden Album vertreten.

Mustaine zeigt sich mehr als glücklich: „For the first time in a long time, everything that we needed on this record is in its right place. I can’t wait for the public to get hold of this!”.

Das Album erscheint als Jewel-Case CD und Gatefold 2LP

Orange w/ black marble vinyl. 180g. To celebrate their seventh anniversary, Black Screen Records have once again teamed up with Oddworld Inhabitants to release the soundtrack to Oddworld: Soulstorm - the explosive second game in their brand new Oddworld Quintology - on limited edition 180g vinyl. Composed, mixed and mastered by the American EDM DJ and producer Josh Gabriel - you may know him from his work on the Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee soundtrack - the official soundtrack comes on limited edition 180g orange/black marbled vinyl in a full-coloured gatefold sleeve and includes four intense ambient bangers from the latest installment of the Oddworld series. All tracks have been remastered for the vinyl format by Christian Bethge. "Josh's unique music has been the ideal soundtrack to Abe's story since its very beginning. This selection of completely original tracks are a clear progressive evolution of that sound, which is a perfect match for the expanded ambitions of the game itself." - Lorne Lanning ABOUT THE GAME: Oddworld: Soulstorm is the explosive second game in a brand new Oddworld Quintology that tells the continuing story of Abe and his comrades as they discover further crimes against Mudokonkind and look for the spark that will ignite a revolution.

UK-based producer Yak is one of the strongest talents in percussive, bass-heavy club music. His debut record Mido, which appeared on Version in 2017, remains an ultimate DJ weapon (Hard Wax) up until this day and is still tearing up clubs and festivals everywhere. After releases on Martyn's 3024 and the es-teemed R&S label, Yak delivers his third record (vinyl & digital) on Version, Balmora Blue/Swex.
This is a proper double A-sider that will surely get your dance bubbling. Swex and Balmora Blue are future rave anthems coming with earth-shattering sub, warm, elevating synths - and the trademark Yak drums to resurrect a dead soundboy's nana. Both tracks range around 120 bpm, but will sound as crisp at high-er/slower pitch or rpm too, making them versatile tools in every DJ's chest. Another essential bit from Yak and Version. Played by Vladimir Ivkovic, Moxy, Madam X, Or:la & Breaka.

Blue Marbled Vinyl

The final chapter in the RATS: INFEST series adds a left-field twist. Mike Parker is one of the most important historical Techno artists for us and has recently released two halftime EPs for Donato Dozzy & Neels Spazio Disponibile label which have been some of our favourite releases by another label in the last few years. Once we heard these EPs, we were on the hunt for some Mike Parker music on Samurai.

Mike Parker creates music live on an all-hardware setup and has done so since the mid-'90s. There is not really anyone that sounds like Mike and we're excited to have him on board at Samurai.

Mike has recalibrated his machines and created an all-new halftime sound specifically for this remix of 'Mainliner' and his upcoming EP for Samurai. Slightly more quirky and less dense than his usual approach, the machine pulses wind around a steadfast step. An unexpected, but perfect mood shift to re-imagine the Mainliner sinisterism.

Baby T makes a welcome return to the label following on from her debut EP Portra. This time the versatility of the Baby T sound is on display with a 140 Breakbeat killer re-sculpture of 'The Spell'. Dealing out euphoric vibe peaks with 4/4 punctuations and Reese/break combinations, this one is a guaranteed peaktime dancefloor weapon. We love Baby T!

New pressing on double coloured vinyl, (Disc one White & Disc two Pink), Gatefold sleeve, DL card. René Laloux’s celebrated 1973 sci-fi animation ‘La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet)’, is overhauled with a re-imagined soundtrack by electronic modernists Stealing Sheep and legendary sound innovators The Radiophonic Workshop. This exclusive release is part of Fire Records’ re-imagined score series. “No institution has had a greater impact on the development of electronic music than the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.” The Vinyl Factory. It’s a real pre-Avatar conundrum that Stealing Sheep, with the help of Bob Earland, Dick Mills and Roger Limb from the Radiophonic Workshop, unravel. Creating an ethereal excursion that’s narrated by Roger Limb; like a futuristic Martin Denny, or Dr Who gone ambient techno, with a hint of Forbidden Planet 50 years on. It’s an analogue swirl set in an off-world paradise; a field recording from the future. This is a creative, generation-spanning, union brought together to score this unique cult film. A must for fans of psyche electronica and Stealing Sheep’s formidable ‘Big Wows’ album. “Stealing Sheep devour a broad range of styles, incorporating everything from the dark dance-pop of Grace Jones to the experimentations of Radiophonic Workshop pioneer Delia Derbyshire and John Carpenter soundtracks.” The Guardian // ‘La Planète Sauvage’ is a thing of ambient beauty punctuated with electronic earworms that switches from intensely ominous to otherworldly dream like moments. Track listing: Side A A1 Opening Credits A2 The Chase A3 Saved/Captured A4 The Bracelet A5 Council of Draags pt.I A6 Terr & Tiwa A7 The Knowledge pt.I Side B B1 The Fight B2 The Knowledge pt. II B3 The Initiation B4 Escape B5 The Big Tree B6 The Ritual B7 The Duel Side C C1 Theft/Zarek C2 The Bird C3 The Free Oms C4 The Purge C5 The Journey to Ygam C6 Council of Draags pt.II Side D D1 The City of Free Oms D2 Robot Attack D3 The Fantastic Planet D4 The Final Battle D5 Terr D6 End Credits

. All vinyl comes with a DL card. Seminal third album from one the greatest UK punk bands, Leatherface's 'Mush' is back on wax with brand new colour vinyl editions. Lovingly repressed, the album comes with extensive liner notes and includes 4 bonus tracks via download; a unique cover of ‘Message in a bottle’ and ‘Trenchfoot’ from the Not Superstitious 7” & ‘You Are My Sunshine’ and ‘Dreaming’ from the I Want the Moon 7” // "One of the most intense records of the '90s" AllMusic // "The truly perfect album" The Guardian // Teaming up with engineer Paul Tipler (who also worked on Stereolab and Chapterhouse), ‘Mush’ was recorded in Greenhouse Studios in North London (owned by Pat Collier of The Vibrators). Following praise from the music press, they soon found themselves doing John Peel and Mark Radcliffe sessions. Fully re-mastered, this collection includes extensive liner notes featuring interviews with Frankie, as scribed by The Big Takeover’s Jack Rabid, leaving no stone unturned. The release includes remastered bonus material via download, including a unique cover of ‘Message in a bottle’ and ‘Trenchfoot’ from the Not Superstitious 7” and ‘You Are My Sunshine’ and ‘Dreaming’ from the I Want the Moon 7”. Track listing Side A: A1 I Want The Moon A2 How Lonely A3 I Don't Want To Be The One To Say It A4 Pandora's Box A5 Not A Day Goes By A6 Not Superstitious Side B: B1 Springtime B2 Winning B3 In The Real World B4 Baked Potato B5 Bowl Of Flies B6 Dead Industrial Atmosphere…. Bonus tracks on LP DL & CD: Message in a Bottle (Not Superstitious 7"), Trenchfoot (Not Superstitious 7"), You Are My Sunshine (I Want The Moon 7"), Dreaming (I Want The Moon 7")

The Maghreban has been making Dance music and related genres under various names since the mid 90s, spanning Jungle, Hip Hop, Rave, House and Techno; on labels like Versatile, Black Acre, Eglo Records, R&S Records and his own Zoot Records.

This is his second full length LP under this project and is a refinement on his first. He has worked with the jazz saxophonist Idris Rahman to craft something more cohesive perhaps and more rooted in Jazz and Techno as well as Eastern music. There are also vocal collaborations with Nah Eeto, Omar and Abdullah Miniawy.

Airplay from Benji B, Gilles Peterson and Tom Ravenscroft on BBC Radio. DJ and Radio Support from Ben UFO, Nina Kraviz, Mosca, Otik, Eclair Fifi, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaur, Martyn Bootyspoon, Appleblim, Krikor, Photonz, Gramrcy, and many more.

Favourable reviews so far in Uncut & DJ Magazine: "His most expansive statement so far..Innovative and Irresistable", Reveiws to come in Mixmag, The Wire and other publications.

Sieben lange Jahre nach der letzten Platte ist „The God Machine“ der sehnsüchtig erwartete Schulterschluss zwischen den frühen Neunzigern und der ausgebufften Raffinesse der Gegenwart. Ein beeindruckendes Album, das die letzten Werke keineswegs ignoriert, aber Komplexität und, Orchesterwucht bewusst in den Hintergrund rückt. „The God Machine“ ist das „Imaginations From The Other Side“ des Jahres 2022, komponiert, arrangiert und vor allem entfesselt von einer Band, die 27 Jahre Zeit hatte, ihren Stil zu perfektionieren. Dieser Spagat ist durchaus als Marschrichtung zu verstehen. „Wir wollten nicht einfach unsere Qualitäten von 1995 herausstellen, aber wir wollten diesen komplexen Weg definitiv nicht auf ewig weitergehen. ‚The God Machine‘ ist ein Neuanfang für uns. Wir haben die Weichen neu gestellt und uns auf gewisse Dinge besonnen, die wir auf den letzten Alben ein wenig vernachlässigt haben.“

„The God Machine“ ist, das wird schnell offenbar, die mühelose Spitze ihres bisherigen Schaffens. Ein Album, das gar nicht erst versucht so zu tun, als wären es noch die Neunziger, und sich stattdessen auf die Muskelerinnerung der damaligen Zeit verlässt. Hochgradig infektiös, beseelt von den Frodos, Peter Pans und Kapitän Nemos der Vergangenheit, ein packendes, aggressives, hochmelodisches und bei aller Zugänglichkeit brillant arrangiertes Album, beseelt von Magie und dennoch kein reiner Eskapismus. Ein modernes Meisterwerk in der Tradition jener Werke, mit denen BLIND GUARDIAN in den Neunzigern nach den Sternen griffen.

Picture Vinyl

Sieben lange Jahre nach der letzten Platte ist „The God Machine“ der sehnsüchtig erwartete Schulterschluss zwischen den frühen Neunzigern und der ausgebufften Raffinesse der Gegenwart. Ein beeindruckendes Album, das die letzten Werke keineswegs ignoriert, aber Komplexität und, Orchesterwucht bewusst in den Hintergrund rückt. „The God Machine“ ist das „Imaginations From The Other Side“ des Jahres 2022, komponiert, arrangiert und vor allem entfesselt von einer Band, die 27 Jahre Zeit hatte, ihren Stil zu perfektionieren. Dieser Spagat ist durchaus als Marschrichtung zu verstehen. „Wir wollten nicht einfach unsere Qualitäten von 1995 herausstellen, aber wir wollten diesen komplexen Weg definitiv nicht auf ewig weitergehen. ‚The God Machine‘ ist ein Neuanfang für uns. Wir haben die Weichen neu gestellt und uns auf gewisse Dinge besonnen, die wir auf den letzten Alben ein wenig vernachlässigt haben.“

„The God Machine“ ist, das wird schnell offenbar, die mühelose Spitze ihres bisherigen Schaffens. Ein Album, das gar nicht erst versucht so zu tun, als wären es noch die Neunziger, und sich stattdessen auf die Muskelerinnerung der damaligen Zeit verlässt. Hochgradig infektiös, beseelt von den Frodos, Peter Pans und Kapitän Nemos der Vergangenheit, ein packendes, aggressives, hochmelodisches und bei aller Zugänglichkeit brillant arrangiertes Album, beseelt von Magie und dennoch kein reiner Eskapismus. Ein modernes Meisterwerk in der Tradition jener Werke, mit denen BLIND GUARDIAN in den Neunzigern nach den Sternen griffen.

Tansparent Red Vinyl

Sieben lange Jahre nach der letzten Platte ist „The God Machine“ der sehnsüchtig erwartete Schulterschluss zwischen den frühen Neunzigern und der ausgebufften Raffinesse der Gegenwart. Ein beeindruckendes Album, das die letzten Werke keineswegs ignoriert, aber Komplexität und, Orchesterwucht bewusst in den Hintergrund rückt. „The God Machine“ ist das „Imaginations From The Other Side“ des Jahres 2022, komponiert, arrangiert und vor allem entfesselt von einer Band, die 27 Jahre Zeit hatte, ihren Stil zu perfektionieren. Dieser Spagat ist durchaus als Marschrichtung zu verstehen. „Wir wollten nicht einfach unsere Qualitäten von 1995 herausstellen, aber wir wollten diesen komplexen Weg definitiv nicht auf ewig weitergehen. ‚The God Machine‘ ist ein Neuanfang für uns. Wir haben die Weichen neu gestellt und uns auf gewisse Dinge besonnen, die wir auf den letzten Alben ein wenig vernachlässigt haben.“

„The God Machine“ ist, das wird schnell offenbar, die mühelose Spitze ihres bisherigen Schaffens. Ein Album, das gar nicht erst versucht so zu tun, als wären es noch die Neunziger, und sich stattdessen auf die Muskelerinnerung der damaligen Zeit verlässt. Hochgradig infektiös, beseelt von den Frodos, Peter Pans und Kapitän Nemos der Vergangenheit, ein packendes, aggressives, hochmelodisches und bei aller Zugänglichkeit brillant arrangiertes Album, beseelt von Magie und dennoch kein reiner Eskapismus. Ein modernes Meisterwerk in der Tradition jener Werke, mit denen BLIND GUARDIAN in den Neunzigern nach den Sternen griffen.

When Rey Sapienz was eight years old, the Democratic Republic of Congo was plunged into the Second Congo War. The conflict last five years and was the bloodiest since World War II, leaving an indelible mark on East Africa and creating mass displacement and loss of life. But Sapienz endured, cutting his teeth as a young rapper at twelve, first performing to celebrate Congo's independence day. When he finished school, he headed to nearby Kampala to hone his craft and collaborate with local producers. But civil war broke out back home and he was forced to extend his stay in Uganda. Since then, Sapienz has established himself as a force to be reckoned with, co-founding the Hakuna Kulala label, teaching his Ableton Live skills to Kampala's young producers and releasing two acclaimed EPs. For his debut album, Sapienz embarks on an ambitious project that travels beyond the avant beatscapes of his early material. Alongside traditional percussionist, vocalist and dancer Papalas Palata and rapper Fresh Doggis, he has formed The Congo Techno Ensemble, utilizing their skills and experience to offer a statement that speaks to the past, present and future of the DRC. On "Eza Makambo", the trio channel rich musical traditions and historic tension, evolving electronic and traditional forms into boundless sci-fi mutations. The track breaks open the stories all three artists accumulated in the DRC, augmenting radioactive techno-dancehall beats with radical, open-hearted words and rhymes. "Eza Makambo" is a heady cocktail of stylistic futurism and harsh reality that could be compared with Zizou Bikaye's seminal "Noir et Blanc or Danis Mpunga & Paul K.'s genre-breaking electronic experiments. But marked by the DRC's recent scars, it's a critical work that stands painfully alone.

Red Marbled Vinyl

Blood Moon ist ein außergewöhnliches, vielschichtiges
Werk. In 13 wunderschön arrangierten Liedern bewertet
der als Ry Cuming geborene Sänger die Beziehungen,
die er im Laufe der Jahre erlebt hat, und schreibt dabei
von einem Ort aus, der für ihn eindeutig unglaublich
persönlich ist. Diese Songs halten ihm einen Spiegel
seiner eigenen Selbstwahrnehmung als Künstler vor, der
ständig lernt und wächst. Blood Moon ist vielleicht das
bisher organischste Album von RY X , das über intime
Beziehungen reflektiert und sie in umfassendere
Gespräche über den Geist, das göttliche Weibliche und
die Erforschung des Selbst übersetzt

Anton Klint hails from Sweden and likes to make music at night. In his first release for Hivern he shows once again his knack for producing highly amusing electronic dancing sounds. Both of his tracks in 'Lyckliga Mnniskor' are twisted, playful and hard to pin down, which gives them a unique freshness. The title track is a schizoid take on tribalistic house, in which playful percussion layers and nervous synth sequences provide the background to its menacing vocal sample. 'Djembe Unchained' is, as its title suggests, still heavy on the percussion, but these are generously processed through delays to build a spaced-out and dizzy atmosphere. The track gets the remix treatment by our long-time favourite Black Merlin, who sharpens the beat to invoke mystic forces and push 'Djembe Unchained' into slo-mo cosmic techno territories. The artwork is by Barcelona-based artist Xavier Marin.

U.S. pressed 7" flexi album sampler + foldout poster + full album (10 tracks) download code....

"As friends deep into the forest roamed,
they heard a low and wretched moan.

A pack of starkloons, savage and wild,
whooped and danced and drummed beguiled.

Til they faced each other, in dead of night:
a drum battle! To claim the right

Of soul and body to wander free,
beyond the clearing and the lands of tree."

WISHBONE ASH ANNOUNCE LIVE 10LP BOX SET: ‘LIVING PROOF (LIVE RECORDINGS 1976 - 1980)’

Wishbone Ash achieved considerable success in the 1970s, during which they were among England’s most popular hard rock acts, achieving an incredible eight top 40 albums. Often regarded as one of the premiere UK live acts of the ’70s, they toured considerably throughout this period and into the following decades.

Madfish are proud to present a new 10LP box set containing five concerts recorded between 1976 - 1980. Initially appearing on ’The Vintage Years’ CD box set in 2018, four of the shows will be issued on vinyl for the first time, with a newly sourced and previously unreleased recording from the band’s October 1976 run of shows in Nakano Sunplaza,
Tokyo on the New England tour exclusively available within.

Featuring the second classic Wishbone Ash line up of Andy Powell, Martin Turner, Laurie Wisefield and Steve Upton, these recordings showcase a band at their live best and firing on all cylinders across four different tours. Album notes and ‘making of’ track-by-track interviews by author and Wishbone expert Campbell Devine are on display within a lavish booklet with sleek design and rare live photographs.

Limited to 1,000 copies as a one time pressing, this is a must have for all Wishbone Ash fans.

This record is self produced by Miles himself! Without long time production collaborator Teo Macero, Miles chases new directions with this 1984 recording. Miles allows keyboardist Robert Irving and guitar legend John Scofield to write most of the material on the LP. This record is dripping with some of the new sounds of synths which makes this a very unique entry in the Miles catalog. This album features John Scofield on guitar, Robert Irving on synths and programming, Darryl Jones on bass, Al Foster on drums, Mino Cinelu on percussion, Bill Evans on sax, and a guest appearance from Branford Marsalis.

Truly one of the great trumpeters of the bop era, Howard McGhee suffered with drug addiction his whole career which meant his band-leading recorded output was minimal. Although the 1950s had largely been a waste for McGhee, Dusty Blue, recorded in 1960, marked a strong return-to-form and is credited amongst fans as some of his best recordings. Featuring an all-star band of Bennie Green, Pepper Adams, Tommy Flanagan, Roland Alexander as well as the ever-touring Ron Carter, this is a collective of musicians at their very best. Mastered from the original tape transfers by Kevin Gray, this is a sublime recording from start to finish.

Features:

180g Vinyl
Remastered from the Original Analog Tape Transfers by Kevin Gray
Printed & Pressed at Pallas
12" Insert Featuring a Photographic Print
Deluxe Reverse-Board Jacket
Officially Licensed from Bethlehem/BMG

Musicians:
Pepper Adams baritone saxophone
Ronald Carter bass
Walter Bolden drums
Tommy Flanagan piano
Roland Alexander tenor saxophone
Bennie Green trombone
Howard McGhee trumpet

The iconic US blues-rock guitarist Walter Trout is set to release his 30th
solo album, Ride on 19 August via Provogue/Mascot Label Group.
However fast or far a man travels, he can never truly outrun his past
On his new album he found himself eyeing the horizon and the green shoots of
his triumphant late career. There was a new record deal with Mascot/Provogue. A
move from California to Denmark with his beloved family. Even now, aged 70,
Trout was still writing fresh chapters of his life story.
The last time we saw Trout stepping out, he was on the road in support of 2020's
Ordinary Madness. The campaign ended in frustration, when Covid rendered live
work too dangerous, both for this liver- transplant survivor and his fans,
condemning Trout to an enforced downtime in Denmark that he hadn't known in a
half- century. "I've been at this since '69, when I started out in the New Jersey
bars," he reflects. "Suddenly, I'm sat on my ass for sixteen months, although I did
still practice guitar every day. My wife and manager Marie knew I needed to make
music. So her present to me for my 70th birthday was a brand-new record deal
she had negotiated. My producer, Eric Corne, scoped out a new studio in LA, and
my plan was to fly home to make a new album."
The result is Ride, providing an emotional release-valve – both for its creator and
his loyal listeners – perhaps this veteran artist can reconcile with his past, accept
his future and live in the present as it unfolds. "I think you can interpret this album
title a few different ways," he concludes. "I mean, this album is definitely a
musical ride and I certainly tried to cover a lot of ground. But, really, life is kind of
a ride too, isn't it? And I want to live mine to the fullest."

The iconic US blues-rock guitarist Walter Trout is set to release his 30th
solo album, Ride on 19 August via Provogue/Mascot Label Group.
However fast or far a man travels, he can never truly outrun his past
On his new album he found himself eyeing the horizon and the green shoots of
his triumphant late career. There was a new record deal with Mascot/Provogue. A
move from California to Denmark with his beloved family. Even now, aged 70,
Trout was still writing fresh chapters of his life story.
The last time we saw Trout stepping out, he was on the road in support of 2020's
Ordinary Madness. The campaign ended in frustration, when Covid rendered live
work too dangerous, both for this liver- transplant survivor and his fans,
condemning Trout to an enforced downtime in Denmark that he hadn't known in a
half- century. "I've been at this since '69, when I started out in the New Jersey
bars," he reflects. "Suddenly, I'm sat on my ass for sixteen months, although I did
still practice guitar every day. My wife and manager Marie knew I needed to make
music. So her present to me for my 70th birthday was a brand-new record deal
she had negotiated. My producer, Eric Corne, scoped out a new studio in LA, and
my plan was to fly home to make a new album."
The result is Ride, providing an emotional release-valve – both for its creator and
his loyal listeners – perhaps this veteran artist can reconcile with his past, accept
his future and live in the present as it unfolds. "I think you can interpret this album
title a few different ways," he concludes. "I mean, this album is definitely a
musical ride and I certainly tried to cover a lot of ground. But, really, life is kind of
a ride too, isn't it? And I want to live mine to the fullest."

THE CLASSIC SLAB OF PURE 80's DOOM METAL FROM THE SWEDISH
LEGENDS – PRESENTED ON SINGLE BLACK VINYL
Candlemass was formed by bassist & songwriter Leif Edling in Stockholm,
Sweden in 1984 & is well known for its epic doom metal, having a great influence
over a generation of the genre's subsequent greats such as Paradise Lost & My
Dying Bride - Candlemass themselves taking a large influence from Black
Sabbath.
'Ancient Dreams' was Candlemass' third album, released in 1988 & it featured a
natural progression of slow- mid tempo epic arrangements from their previous
release, 'Nightfall' - perhaps even more distinction between slow & faster parts -
with the unique tones & unmistakable voice of Messiah Marcolin still dominating
proceedings on this pure doom metal classic.
With a perfect balance between melody & sheer heaviness, it is still debatable as
to whether this is the ultimate Candlemass & therefore greatest doom metal
album of all time, with some giving this title preference over the seminal 'Nightfall'
album.
'Ancient Dreams' was produced by Leif Edling & Candlemass & was recorded at
Stockholm Recording studios in 1988. This edition of 'Ancient Dreams' is
presented on single black vinyl, featuring the original cover art.

THE ICONIC 1993 MASTERPIECE OF UK GOTHIC DOOM PRESENTED ON
SINGLE BLACK VINYL. My Dying Bride has been the leading light of doom
metal since the debut album "As The Flower Withers" was released on
Peaceville Records back in 1992
Influenced by acts such as Celtic Frost & Candlemass, the band's heavy
atmospherics have carved a huge worldwide following over the years & they
remain at the pinnacle of the genre & one of the most instantly distinguishable
metal bands.
Originally released on Peaceville in October 1993 & recorded at Academy Studios
in Yorkshire, 'Turn Loose The Swans' saw the arrival of long- time session
musician & classically trained violin & piano player Martin Powell. The album also
saw the band stretching & pushing the grandiose textures & epic doom dynamics
to create an opus of previously unrivalled atmosphere & stark emotion.
Fans & critics have since hailed 'Turn Loose The Swans' as the blueprint for the
new Gothic Metal genre, with many often still citing the release as among the
defining albums of the band's distinguished career.
This edition of 'Turn Loose The Swans' is presented on single black vinyl, now
with cover artwork from the original CD edition.

Vinyl Packaging: Gatefold LP + download card. Indie Exclusive Transparent Orange vinyl in gatefold jacket Limited to 1000. CD 6 panel Digipak. Gnosis is the highly anticipated 8th full length from Russian Circles. Across the span of their previous seven studio albums, Chicago-based instrumental trio Russian Circles traversed a diverse topography of sounds, moods, and approaches with their limited armory of drums, bass, and guitar. It’s difficult to chart an evolution in their sound when their records have always felt like well-curated playlists. It wasn’t uncommon to hear drone-heavy meditations, dazzling prog exercises, knuckle-dragging riff-fests, haunting folk ballads, and tension-baiting noise rock all within the span of one album. Still, it’s difficult to ignore the progression from the pensive and intricate melodies of Enter (2006) to the layered distorted dirges of Blood Year (2019). It’s been a gradual sonic shift owing to the band’s rigorous tour schedule and a predilection towards playing their more authoritative material on stage. But with their latest album, Gnosis, Russian Circles eschew the varied terrain of their past work and bulldoze a path through the most tumultuous and harrowing territory of their sound. As was the case for so many artists in the age of COVID, the obstacles of geography and isolation forced Russian Circles to reevaluate their writing process. Rather than crafting songs out of fragmented ideas in the practice room, full songs were written and recorded independently before being shared with other members, so that their initial vision was retained. While these demos spanned the full breadth of the band’s varied styles, the more cinematic compositions were ultimately excised in favor of the physically cathartic pieces. Gnosis was engineered and mixed by Kurt Ballou. Drums and bass were tracked at Electrical Audio in Chicago to maximize the natural room sounds of the rhythm section. Guitar and synth overdubs were conducted at God City in Salem, MA to take advantage of Ballou’s vast inventory of amps and effects pedals. Despite the entirety of the album being written remotely, the songs were recorded with the full band playing together to retain the live feel of the material. Owing to the climate of the times and a new writing method, Russian Circles created their most fuming and focused work to date—an album that favors the exorcism of two years’ worth of tension over the melancholy and restraint that often colored their past endeavors. European Co-Headline tour with Cult of Luna slated for Marc 2023 (Dates TBA). Russian Circles have received coverage from most notable press including Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, FADER, AV Club, Consequence, Decibel, Revolver and much more.

‘Cupid & Psyche 85’: Originally released in 1985, includes sleeve notes written by Green Gartside and David Gamson.

From a bedsit in London to New York recording studios… Alternative acclaim to mainstream adulation… Indie label hopefuls to major signings… Despite the series of radical shifts that underpinned its creation, Scritti Politti's second album, ‘Cupid & Psyche 85’, achieved the virtually impossible. While everything was scaled up - the ambition, the sound, the audience - the singular artistic vision that drove the group not only remained intact and undiluted in these bigger surroundings but became more inventive, more adventurous and, ultimately, more beloved. Introduced to pianist and programmer David Gamson while making of the band's debut album ‘Songs To Remember’, Green Gartside realised he had found a creative foil to help him achieve the ambitions he had for Scritti Politti Partially recorded in New York, with several tracks produced by Arif Mardin (who had worked on Aretha Franklin’s ‘I Say A Little Prayer’, a track Green beautifully commemorates on this record) and partially in the UK, with Green and Gamson directly overseeing the process, ‘Cupid & Psyche 85’ is infused shimmering synths and the heat of classic funk.

Yet weaved together by Green’s intoxicating melodies, it is also embroidered with ideas from philosophical writings, while taking cues from myths and fables.

Repress in legendary Soul:r Sleeve for 2022

When Marcus asked Brazilian producer Bungle to make a tune for Soul:R with no pressure and no limitation he never expected him to
come back with what Marcus says is the best Soul:R 12" there has been for a long time. For months now "Astral Travel" and "Aura"
have been turning heads in Intalex DJ sets all over the world as soon as they are played, with people rushing to find out what these
tunes are. This is the first single from Soul:R for 2013 and it sets the bar high.

The Bay Area legend – Rapper, entrepreneur and Cookies Don, Berner, is back with his 19th solo studio album, Gotti. Paying homage to the infamous mob leader, John Gotti, Berner flexes his mafia favors and assembles one of his most impressive cast of features on the 19-track album, including Future, Cozmo, Rick Ross, Nas, Jadakiss, Kevin Cossom, Rod Wave, Mozzy, Conway The Machine, Styles P, Benny The Butcher, Ty Dolla $ign, Ryn Nicole, Millyz, Wiz Khalifa, Janelle Marie & Madeline Lauer, as well as never-before-heard audio from from the mob leader’s trial. After a banner year with both highs and lows, Berner ends the year on a high note with some of his finest work.

In many ways Kumoyo Island represents the culmination of a journey for Kikagaku Moyo. While their decade-long career can be summarized as a series of kaleidoscopic explorations through lands and dimensions far and near, there's a strong intention in each of their works to take the listener to a particular place, however real or abstract they may be. In that sense, the title and cover art for the band's fifth and final album draws you into a magical mass of land surrounded by water-but the couch suggests that Kumoyo Island may not be a fleeting stop, but rather a place of respite, where one could pause and take it all in. Reconvening at Tsubame Studios in Asakusabashi, Tokyo, where their earliest material had been recorded, the five members of Kikagaku Moyo found new inspiration in a familiar and comfortable environment. With their adopted homebase of Amsterdam under lockdown and their touring activities halted due to the pandemic, the band felt a renewed sense of freedom being back in shitamachi, or the old downtown area of their hometown. With unrestricted time in the studio, they began to build upon the demos and song fragments they'd amassed since their last tour. In the 1.5 months spent in Tokyo, everything started to come together. "Monaka", its name taken from a type of Japanese wafer sweets, takes melodic inspiration from traditional minyo folk styles, while "Yayoi Iyayoi" is a rare instance of the band singing in their native tongue, its evocative lyrics utilizing archaic words taken from old poetry and nature books found in one of the many secondhand bookstores of Tokyo. For "Meu Mar", an Erasmos Carlos cover, the original Portuguese lyrics were translated into English, then to Japanese. Strangely enough, the words seem to conjure an image of the protagonist floating among the clouds, looking down upon Tokyo Bay. In fact, it may be possible to draw a parallel between the topography of the band's home country-an island nation, surrounded by bodies of water-and the mysterious isle of Kumoyo. Are they one and the same? Has the band finally made it back home? It's up to the listener to decide.

John Carpenter is a legend. As the director and composer behind dozens of classic movies, Carpenter has established a reputation as one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of modern cinema, as well as one of its most influential musicians. The minimal, synthesizer-driven themes to films like Halloween, Escape From New York, and Assault on Precinct 13 are as indelible as their images, and their timelessness was evident as Carpenter performed them live in a string of internationally sold-out concert dates in 2016. Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998 collects 13 classic themes from Carpenter's illustrious career together on one volume for the first time. Each theme has been newly recorded with the same collaborators that Carpenter worked with on his hit Lost Themes studio albums: his son, Cody Carpenter, and godson, Daniel Davies.

BLACK VINYL REPRESS

ITS 25 YEARS Since the first Heads album was released.. .so.. for 2021..Rooster has decided to get the album back in print on vinyl.. but changing the artwork. With some silver foiling and bordering, the single sleeve has been boosted to a sweet gatefold, Rooster also got the Radio 1 sessions from the time remastered, and re-cut along with the huge b-side to their Television 7” “Jellystoned Park”.
So there you have it, a double vinyl silver jubilee reissue of a fantastic debut album!

From the original reissue sales notes:
“The Heads had self-released a couple of 7"', and then Cargo Uk's inhouse label Headhunter UK got to release a further 7", and then the Debut album in 1996. Amidst a world suffocating in Britpop smarm, the Heads cut a timely swathe with their unkempt rock psychedelique. The album contained 10 tracks of guitar driven, amp destroying rock, with cues taken straight from the US underground, Stooges, MC5, Mudhoney, Pussy Galore, early Monster Magnet too but with a disitinctly British stamp, some of the drone and fuzz from Loop / Spacemen 3, some of the attitude of the Fall, Pink Fairies and Walking Seeds and overlaid with the spaced rock of early Hawkwind. It was obvious that the four members of the Heads were music obsessives. The debut album was recorded at Foel studios (owned by Dave Anderson from Hawkwind) and engineered by Corin Dingley, it was mastered by John Dent at LOUD.”


We’ve asked for some new appraisal of the Heads for the Silver Jubilee edition from good friends....

Stewart Lee February 2021
“The Halley's Comet victory orbits of historic heavy artefacts from Detroit, like The Stooges or The MC5, leave grateful onlookers aghast. But, hidden away in Bristol, The Heads are still with us now, our homegrown acid-garage godfathers, an ongoing thirty-two year old concern with a back catalogue arguably more consistent than the super-dense psyche-rock groups that inspired them. The Heads arrived fully formed and have spent three decades becoming more like themselves, a musical black hole that sucks in all surrounding matter. I love The Heads “

Phil Alexander February 2021
“The Heads make music for freaks in the know. If you were there in 1996, you’ll know just what that means…

Back then, they were gloriously out of step with the pop-cheese of the time and geezerly lumpiness of Britpop. Theirs was an altogether different take on music – a take inspired by the glorious burn-out of the ‘60s, the sonic overdrive of the ‘70s and the axis of joy created by the combination of excess volume and repetition.

We could name-check some inspirations and kindred spirits: The Stooges, Hawkwind, Floyd, Loop, Sabbath, Amon Düül II, Spacemen 3, Walking Seeds, Mudhoney, Monster Magnet among them... But in all honesty, The Heads have always existed in a world of their own, surfacing as and when the mood takes them, before returning to their subterranean rehearsal room to jam their way through yet more mind-altering riffs and mood-altering rhythms.

Relaxing With The Heads is their first defining statement. It is also possibly their most straight-forward release, the sound of a band attempting to find structure in their playing rather than abandoning themselves to their wildest impulses. That would come later…

And yet, 25 years on, this album blasts forth like few records from that time, its slacker charm welded to super-fuzzed riffs that propel its 10 tracks ever onwards. Righteous is probably the only word for it…”

Repress in legendary Soul:r Sleeve for 2022


A Soul:r classic by Phil Tangent. 'Billie's Smile is a absolute Anthem! Sweeping strings rise over a mysterious female vocal enveloping your consciousness as super tight beats rain down. Showing D&B can be emotive and inspiring whilst remaining powerful enough for the dancefloor. 'Lunar' on the flip roams with a Detroit techno and funk backbone keep the groove driving to end. Surreal sonics evolve as a wall shaking bass line contorts the sub frequencies. A classic 12' not to be missed.
DJ support from Marcus Intalex, Doc Scott, Bailey, Hype, DJ Lee.

Cerrero, Llorona Records founder's solo project, joins young "Gaita flute" and trumpet wizard El "León" Pardo (Ondatrópica) for an acid cumbia infused dub journey to the underground electronic sound of south America. Blend of ritualism and futurism, rough ethereal sound, melancholic voices and analog dub mixing for a unique record that presents the work of the thriving electronic acts from Colombia. Llorona's in-house act, Cerrero, teaming up with another Colombian, gaitero and trompetista, El Leon Pardo. The enigmatic and cult like figure has featured on many-a-Colombian record in recent years, including, Ondatropica and Velandia y La Tigra. Though this might be one of the most exciting match-ups yet. Cerrero's minimalistic electronic beats channeled through an analogue console alongside the abraded howls of gaita and accentuated trumpet work. The deep and bassy four-track EP, Canción Para Un Amigo, was justly named to mark the meeting of these two brilliant minds. Mixed in the extemporaneous ambience of a live recorded session, it makes for a riveting listen. Six standalone tracks, bound through crescendoing loops which culminate in an ethereal and atmospheric ritual of sound which evokes Colombian ancestry. From the spellbinding opening of gaita-led "Canción Para Un Amigo", the EP evolves through "Todo Te Llevaste", a track skillfully stitched between its vocal interludes by the rat-a-tat of accented tambor, a fanfare of trumpets and underpinning bass line. Closing out via "Cumbia en Lejanía"'s, gaita / trumpet led interplay into "Despedida", a pining jazz melody soaked in reverb, it's as complete of a work we've heard yet from Cerrero and represents another glistening gem in the ever increasing bows of the Llorona catalogue. Inescapably mesmeric as it is a true delight.