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Midway through his long, earnest and often very, very
funny essay on the role playing game ‘Dungeons &
Dragons’ in the September 2006 issue of The Believer,
writer Paul La Farge proposes that ‘Dungeons & Dragons’
is not a game at all but rather a ritual. La Farge notes the
marked difference between game and ritual. Whereas a
game seeks to demonstrate how unequal or distinct
players / teams are from one another, rituals seek to do
the very opposite.
 And so, across the 25-year history of Jagjaguwar - an
independent record label curiously named using a
‘Dungeons & Dragons’ name generator - we find this idea
of ritual as a conjoining practice. We see it early on when
Jagjaguwar join forces with a midwestern label called
Secretly Canadian for a powerful fusion. We see it in
familial relationships and collaboration among Jagjaguwar
artists and the ways those artists’ most treasured
collaborators make their ways to the Jagjaguwar game
board.
 ‘Join The Ritual’, a piece of Jagjaguwar’s 25th Anniversary
celebrations, looks to pay homage to the labels and artists
that, whether they know it or not, invited Jagjaguwar to the
table, to this wild, dark magic ritual of music. We’re talking
about independent titans like Drag City, Too Pure, K
Records and Touch & Go. We’re talking about heroes like
R.E.M., Slint, Stereolab and Tracy Chapman. These songs
captured the imaginations of founders Darius Van Arman
and Chris Swanson - and ultimately, opened up worlds to
them.

Natalie Imbruglia returns with her brand new album Firebird later this year, kicking off with the first single 'Build It Better' in June. The single marks the first new music from Natalie in almost a decade after choosing to remain out of the limelight following her monumental success in the nineties and early noughties, accumulating 5 x UK Top 10 singles, 10 x UK Top 40 singles, 1 x UK #1 album, 3 UK Top 10 albums, 2 BRIT Awards, 8 ARIA Awards, 3 Grammy Award nominations and much more. The forthcoming new album was written and recorded between the UK, the US and her homeland of Australia, co-written with the likes of Albert Hammond Jr of The Strokes, Romeo Stodart of The Magic Numbers, KT Tunstall, Eg White (Adele, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith), Luke Fitton (Little Mix, Girls Aloud), Fiona Bevan (One Direction, Ed Sheeran), Rachel Furner (Little Mix, Jason Derulo, Craig David) and more, and produced by Natalie and My Riot with additional production from Albert Hammond Jr, Gus Oberg and Romeo Stodart.

Effortlessly hopscotching between vintage acid and 80s Rn’B, insouciant Francophone pop and twinkling electro house, Lou Hayter has delivered something at once utterly unique and defiantly timeless with her much anticipated debut solo LP, released on Skint Records. It has been a long time coming for London native Hayter, who first made her mark professionally as keyboardist for New Young Pony Club, one of THE bands at the epicentre of the white hot day-glo nu rave scene alongside the likes of the Klaxons and Test Icicles in 2006. But, to fully place her debut album in context, it is necessary to rewind a little bit – to the very beginning in fact, with Hayter growing up on a diet of Bowie, Prince, Human League and Jellybean-era Madonna while concomitantly learning classical piano from the age of five. The flames of this deliciously varied musical palette were further stoked by trips to record shops in Soho with her brother (Soul Jazz was a particular obsession), but it was while studying in Cambridge that the match was well and truly struck – she used her student grant to buy a set of Technics and started putting on club nights, before moving to London and working at Trevor Jackson’s seminal Output Recordings, placing Hayter smack bang in the middle of all the action, with disco punk fever hitting full force and bands like the Rapture and LCD Soundsystem first breaking out.

The hugely successful, Mercury-nominated New Young Pony Club followed shortly after, but it’s through her subsequent output that she started to distil and refine her idiosyncratic tastes. And certainly, you can hear hints of both the New Sins, the 80’s New Wave duo she formed with Nick Phillips, and Tomorrow’s World, the swooning Gallic pop act she fronts alongside Air’s JB Dunckel, in her remarkable debut. Full to bursting with evocative electro-soul love letters to her home town of London alongside addictive disco torch ballads, it’s like Kylie meeting Mr Fingers or, Jam & Lewis producing Jane Birkin – something beautiful and melancholic yet sharply modern and new. From the warm, woozy, lysergic harmonies of opener “Cherry on Top”, which sound like a beloved old cassette unravelling, to the fizzy, infectious “Cold Feet”, which calls to mind Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam at their most heartworn, taken in toto the album perfectly nails the essence of gorgeously nostalgic synth-pop with a twist; crisp, stylish and sophisticated music which heralds the next chapter of Lou Hayter quite nicely, actually. Her retro-futuristic results will give 2021 the pop fix it so desperately needs.

Early support by: Laurent Garnier, AME, Marco Bailey, Jennifer Cardini, Terrence Fixmer, Kyle Geiger, Marcel Dettmann, Apparat, Richie Hawtin, Vril, Charlotte De Witte, Sasha, Benjamin Demage any many more..



Fresh off of a remix for Grimes’ “My Name is Dark”, producer Julien Bracht has been powering through CV19 studio seclusion on full-power, with a distinct vision for brighter days ahead. Bracht’s new album, “Now Forever One,” an emblem of dark analog synthwave, is set to drop June 11. Bracht’s first solo album under his own namesake is cut with surgical precision for the shoegazing astral sound travellers who long to break out of their pandemic quarantines, and reconvene for techno-induced ascension. The album’s first single, “Melancholia,” and it’s accompanying video, is already breaking hearts and charts. An exquisite sonic hybrid of communal revelry and profound introspection, “Now Forever One,” focuses Bracht’s multilayered craftsmanship on resolving this era’s angst with sensory exploration and optimism.



As a lifelong drummer, Bracht’s insatiable musical energy lead him to bang out his first 3 EPs within one year of first being signed in 2011-12. In 2015 he founded the band Lea Porcelain with Markus Nikolaus in London. Their hypnotic post-rock debut release in 2017, “Hymns to the Night,” gained instant acclaim from UK tastemakers Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq and Zane Lowe, to name a few. The lads broke back onto the international stage with dates on several major festivals around Europe, including the Leeds/Reading Festival, Great Escape Brighton and Latitude. Rich output combined with the inclusion of live drums in his solo live sets quickly gained Bracht recognition and slots on the global tour circuit.

“Now Forever One” forges Julien Bracht’s transition from techno djing, while continuing the explorations of texture and timbre over functional song structures from Lea Porcelain, to a more open-ended search for the aural sublime — the substrate on which music, life and light glide to create momentary nodes of meaning in an increasingly meaningless sociopolitical atmosphere. These are crucial themes to Bracht’s process and approach. “The intention in my music is to strengthen people’s awareness and minds… I want us all to gather in spirit and stick together.”

The album exemplifies Bracht’s hunt for elemental juxtaposition with the warm Prophet 6’s sawtooth howls and bright pads against chillingly indifferent pulsing basslines and percussion. Clocking in at just under 65 minutes, “Now Forever One’s” tracks are sequenced to take the listener through the full emotional arch of a 15-hour rave, with an emphasis on those moments of collective epiphany where heaving techno floors become the perfect microcosm for an idealistic and interconnected future. Interspersed with improvisational one-takes, the album submerges the listener in polyrhythmic meditations, of which “Streets” and “Nocturne” are standout examples, and soars on the vaulted synth melodies of future dance floor favourites “Melancholia” and “Dreams of Euphoria.” Sascha Ring of Apparat & Moderat puts it perfectly: “I played “Melancholia” the night I got it at Mutek Festival in Mexico City, and instantly knew it’ll shine on a big floor at the right time. It’s just the right balance of majestic melodic deepness.” The sounds are both triumphant and exploratory.

Greater than the sum of its parts, Bracht’s latest release hints at the artist’s emerging potential for nailing our moment’s zeitgeist; learning to live smaller while constantly seeking higher heights. Inhabiting the fertile ground between solitary rumination and dance-floor convenance, the launch of “Now Forever One’s” lunar expedition into the techno oblivion of pandemic lockdown is oddly fitting.

Born in Brixton, a child of the Windrush Generation, Letts’ slippery and unorthodox career is somewhat hard to define, without taking a few detours around London, New York and Jamaica. He began his working life managing the dauntingly hip Acme Attractions on Chelsea’s Kings Road, where he made a mark with his attitude, dress and, especially, the pounding dub reggae that vibrated the shop’s walls. His first gig as a DJ at the short-lived Roxy in Neal Street, became mythical for turning a generation of punks on to reggae. They in turn hipped him to their DIY ethos resulting in his reinvention as a filmmaker. This led to a shed-load of music videos (Linton Kwesi Johnson, The Clash, Bob Marley) not

to mention documentaries on the likes of Gil Scott-Heron, George Clinton and Sun Ra.



In the ’80s, he was part of Mick Jones’ new venture, Big Audio Dynamite and his innovative use of samples were a core part of their sound. Listeners of his weekly 6 Music radio show are taken on a musical safari that moves seamlessly between time, space and genre. It’s not called Culture Clash Radio for nothing. So this latest bulletin from Letts HQ is merely one angle of a multifaceted personality, his take on the JA tradition of the cover version.



The history of Caribbean music owes a debt to R&B as many of the early island releases were cover versions of US 45s. Ska’s breakthrough commercially, Millie Small’s ‘My Boy Lollipop’, was originally recorded by Barbie Gaye in ’50s New York. Cover versions became quite a thing in Jamaica and Don, following in that tradition, has dug deep with a selection of interesting dubbed out covers including thirteen exclusives.



“A disciple of sound system, raised on reggae n’ bass culture my go to sound was dub. Besides being spacious and sonically adventurous at the same time, its most appealing aspect was the space it left to put yourself ‘in the mix’ underpinned by Jamaica’s gift to the world - bass. But that’s only half the story as the duality of my existence meant I was also checking what the Caucasian crew were up to not to mention the explosion of black music coming in from the States. That’s why this version excursion crosses time space and genre, from The Beach Boys to The Beatles, Nina Simone to Marvin Gaye, The Bee Gees to Kool & The Gang, The Clash to Joy Division and beyond. You’d think it impossible to draw a line between ‘em but not in my world. Fortunately, the ‘cover version’ has played an integral part in the evolution of Jamaican music and dub covers were just a natural extension.”



There’s a diverse mix of classic and new, with legendary figures like John Holt, The Tamlins and Cornell Campbell, mixed in with British veterans Mad Professor and the irrepressible Dennis Bovell, while (relatively) young striplings Kiko Bun, Emily Capell and Prince Fatty deliver the goods, with laidback Texan groovers Khruangbin also offering an exclusive bass heavy-delight.



The song choices are diverse, from French dubsters’ OBF’s renditions of ‘Sixteen Tons’, the miners’ paean popularised by Tennessee Ernie Ford in the 1950s, to Ash Walker’s refix of Omar’s ‘There’s Nothing Like This’ and ‘All I Do Is Think About You’, immortalised by the ill-fated Tammi Terrell and preserved here by Quantic (the latter two both exclusives). Being a Rebel Dread compilation, there’s a cover (by Wrongtom Meets The Rockers) of The Clash’s ‘Lost In The Supermarket’ while Don’s exclusive, naturally, is a rendition of Big Audio Dynamite’s debut hit, ‘E = MC2’.



“Truth be told I’ve wanted to work with the Late Night Tales crew from the get go. We’re talking nearly two decades such was the allure of their musical aesthetic typified by curators like Nightmares on Wax, The Flaming Lips, MGMT, Trentemoller, Khruangbin and countless others. Now being as old as rock n’ roll (born in ‘56) and having nearly 20 years of Culture Clash Radio under my belt I figured I was tooled up to musically juggle with the best of ‘em. But I wanted to carve out a space that was distinctly my own - something that reflected my musical journey and the culture clash that’s made me the man I am today.”

‘Something Good Will Happen’ marks another defiant chapter for MarthaGunn, who consistently prove they are worth their weight in gold through honest and conscientious song-writing, partnered with pristine pop melodies that have caught the attention of tastemakers CLASH, Independent, Dork, The Line of Best Fit, BBC Introducing Track of The Week and John Kennedy (Radio X). This is the sound of a band ever evolving their euphoric sound, where nuanced production and kaleidoscopic samples lift them into the stratosphere. If there’s one goal MarthaGunn want to achieve with their music, it’s connection. Whether it’s Abi giving a voice to her contemporaries via her Songwriters Circle on Instagram live, where she invites her favourite songwriters for a Q&A about their process, guests including Another Sky, Katy J Pearson, Willie J Healey, Flyte and Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, or setting up a virtual tour in light of having shows cancelled and playing a special live set including a locally sourced cover - her and her band want to remind people that they’re not alone and that, at end of the day, we’re all human and we all have that in common.

"To mark the 50th anniversary of the 1970 concept double album, Jesus Christ Superstar, it has today been announced that a variety of special anniversary edition albums will be released on September 17th. This landmark release, which includes full cooperation from the creators Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, features an array of exclusive demos, commentaries, interviews and much more.
The special anniversary editions are a celebration of the original 1970 concept double album and its continued success spanning 50 years. With the new editions all having been re-mastered at Abbey Road, fans have a great selection to choose from.

Far Out Recordings presents the peerless and criminally undervalued Quartin catalogue, beginning with the reissue of Jose Mauro’s forgotten masterpiece Obnoxius. Over the course of the 60s, Roberto Quartin released more than 20 albums in Brazil on his label Forma, by artists including the likes of Eumir Deodato and Quateto Em Cy. Selling the rights of Forma to Polygram in 1969, Quartin struck out for pastures new at the dawn of the 1970s with the launch of his self-titled label. Significant works and high-water marks for Brazilian music overall followed in that decade’s first year, with Victor Assis Brasil Plays Antonio Carlos Jobim and the aforementioned Obnoxius. These singular gems in Brazilian music, difficult to categorise yet compellingly haunting, have for too long gone unheard.

Today, very little is known about Jose Mauro and as a result those searching for some kind of insight on the man behind the music must attempt to glean what they can from the music itself. One rumour claims he died in a car accident shortly before the album’s release, a fact that could have lent his brief musical career a touch of mythology were it not for how scant the details concerning any other aspects of his life are. The political turmoil from which the album emerged is significant also; recorded during an era of oppressive state censorship, the album, like all the Quartin catalogue, is the result of steadfast defiance in the face of a crushing military dictatorship. While many musicians of the era fled the country, preferring their prospects in the affluent, liberated USA, rebellious, young musicians like Mauro chose to stay and reflect their anger at the authorities through thinly veiled protest songs such as the stirring ‘Apocalipse’. Herein lies the basis for a more dramatic theory; that Mauro was in fact abducted by the military! Whatever the truth, the mystery remains unsolved, and all that remains is his bewitching music, all of which is composed by Mauro and Ana Maria Bahiana. Production on the record was cancelled after Mauro’s death and it was never sold commercially until its rerelease decades later. What appeal does Mauro’s music hold to today’s listeners, forty-something years removed from its conception? Simply put, there is very little else that sounds much like it all. Take the title track of ‘Obnoxius’. A wholly singular piece of music, blending string-drenched melancholia with orchestral pomp, sunny psychedelic strumming with propulsive percussion, topped off with Mauro’s yearning vocals. The result is indicative of Mauro’s unique blend of sounds from Latin Jazz and samba to psychedelic folk and baroque orchestration.

Today, Obnoxius retains its strange, otherworldly appeal – A firm favourite amongst a small circle of deep diggers including Madlib, Gilles Peterson, Floating Points. Jose Mauro’s mournful and melancholic vocals create a dark, brooding atmosphere that stands in contrast to the usual joyfulness and high-spirited rhythm of the more prominent Brazilian music of the era. Despite this air of foreboding, Mauro’s confident baritones, chord patterns and sumptuous arrangements have the ability to induce in the listener an almost trance-like state of ecstasy. Mauro’s long hidden masterpiece, a complex and uniquely stunning work is being offered the chance to be heard by the wider audience it has always deserved. A second Jose Mauro release, A Viagem Des Horas, compiling more incredible tracks unreleased in Mauro’s lifetime, will follow, alongside other unreleased jewels from the Quartin catalogue, from the likes of Piri and Victor Assis Brasil…

Stepping up with an astounding collection of first-class sonics, Fred V’s
highly anticipated debut solo album, ‘Radiate’ is on the horizon for the
summer of 2021, on Hospital Records.
Consisting of 15 tracks that feature exciting collaborations with Millbrook, Zara
Kershaw, Vonn , Lottie Jones and SAYAH. Fred V’s first-ever standalone longplayer is everything you’d hope for and more, built from an infusion of electronic
influences from the past, present and future.
Expect an up-close and intimate insight into the Exeter-based multi-instrumentalist, as he continues to carve out his unique musical identity through ethereal
soundscapes and melancholic climates.
With his debut album marking a fresh chapter in his career as a solo artist, Fred
V’s journey so far has been a remarkable one. From his decade-long collaborative project alongside Grafix which saw many world tours, live shows and three
studio albums.
Since embarking on his individual venture Fred V has put out a string of successful releases which have drawn support from airwave tastemakers Annie
Mac, Ren LaVice, MistaJam, Charlie Tee and more.
Diving deep into the exploration of his own sound, expect to find Fred V playing at Hospitality Bristol BBQ in August, Hospitality Weekend In The Woods and
Sundown Festival in September.

Spirits Having Fun records are ones made from and for shows and spaces—arrangements rooted in a deeply collaborative process, that come to life through intuitive and locked-in live improvisation. Following their 2019 debut Auto-Portrait, Two finds the New York and Chicago based four-piece continuing to challenge ideas of what a rock band can be, pulling apart their musical experiences and reimagining them as kinetic compositions, equally studied but palpably organic.

Two is constructed around gut feelings and strong grooves, elastic rhythms and playful pacing. Its twelve songs expand, contract, and make sharp turns between melodies under singer-guitarist Katie McShane’s meditative lyrics. “Broken Cloud,” which was also released last year on a compilation in support of Chicago Community Jail Support, offers a glimpse into her reflections on the natural world: "A city grew out of the ground / to a mountain it's only a blur."

True to its name, the internal logic of the band is also just a lot of fun, built on trust and deep-rooted musical relationships. Before there was Spirits Having Fun, McShane, bassist Jesse Heasly, guitarist-vocalist Andrew Clinkman, and drummer Phil Sudderberg had performed together in various arrangements over the years. McShane, Heasly and Clinkman met in a specific corner of the Boston underground in 2013, a time when a scene had coalesced around students from local music conservatories frequently collaborating with punk bands and noise artists, exchanging ideas and warping musical worldviews. Heasly and Clinkman played together in Cowboy Band, making mutant, free jazz-inspired takes on old country tunes. When Clinkman moved to Chicago, Heasly and McShane played in experimental groups like EKP and Listening Woman; in Chicago, Clinkman met Sudderberg playing in projects like jazz scene fixture Ken Vandermark’s high-powered band Marker.

Spirits first came together as an attempt at a long-distance collaboration among friends in 2016, driven by the simple feeling of missing each other; they’d meet up for marathon weekends here and there to practice, playing small loops through dive bars and art spaces around the Midwest—just enough for McShane and Heasly to afford plane tickets back home. Being split between Chicago and New York forced the project into a deliberate pace. “We tried to take it slow and let it be what it was,” said McShane. That sense of patience unexpectedly prepared them for March of 2020, when their planned tours and the release of Two were indefinitely delayed.

Two was mostly recorded in the summer of 2019 with the help of omnipresent Chicago engineer Dave Vettraino and DPCD’s Alec Watson, whose contributions on organ, synths, and piano are laced throughout the record. The album reflects a synthesis of solitary and communal songwriting processes—each song drawing on fragments written by individuals, which McShane threaded together and shaped through her distinct compositional lens, making the songs whole before returning to them to the band to mature collectively. When composing, McShane writes first on the keyboard before adapting parts for guitars played by herself and Clinkman. Their dueling approaches to guitar are complementary: McShane, being a newer guitarist, brings a freshness to the project (“I'm just discovering the whole time,” she says) while Clinkman has been playing since childhood.

“There's a lot more collaboration on this record,” says Clinkman, “in terms of all of us letting stuff bloom a little bit more.” The record’s first single, “Hold The Phone” is a good example of this process—it started with a playful intro riff from Clinkman, a melody and bridge added by McShane, a wobbly outro groove added by Heasly, which Sudderberg brought to life. Another single, the dynamic “See a Sky,” written primarily by Heasly, underscores the rhythm section chemistry at play across the record, the song ebbing and flowing around Heasly and Sudderberg’s eclectic percussive palettes.

“Entropy Transfer Partners” is the only song on the record with lyrics by Clinkman, and the album’s most politically direct—a call for solidarity in the face of systemic failures, an acknowledgment of the shared material devastation caused by our country’s ongoing healthcare and housing crises: “These are not things we're experiencing individually. We struggle through them collectively. And we could actually declare, all of us, that it doesn't have to be this way, and fight and organize to ameliorate some of those conditions.” (“We won't work to create the shit you monetize, to run our lives,” they sing.)

From front to back, Two is an absorbing listen simply for its impressive range. But as the members explain themselves, the complexity of the record is about more than its intricate riffs, or how often they count out an odd time signature, but how they reject the notion of boxing the songs in, letting the melodies take on lives of their own. “Making music that feels alive is important to us,” says Clinkman. “Music feels most powerful to me when it deepens our sensation of feeling alive and connected to other humans. It’s so easy to feel worn down and isolated; that your life’s value is fixed to your productivity at your job, or the things that you have or don’t have. Making music that feels joyful and fun seems like one effective antidote to that feeling.”

The edition that marks the start of the brand-new Comets Coming could not be more suitable: it is that Rodrigo Brandão, like his grandfather Herman Poole Blount, dust of stars that the world knows as Sun Ra, may have his feet on the Earth, but he has definitely a sidereal head.

Brandão arrived recently to Portugal, but already left a strong mark in the most adventurous Lisbon scene, having performed several concerts in which his language has been wrapped in the exploratory sounds of musicians such as Rodrigo Amado, João Valinho, and Hernâni Faustino. The agitator, poet and spoken word artist, brought a vast experience that over the years saw him collaborate with artists as distinct as the members of Metá Metá or Prince Paul (that one!) on BROOKZILL!.

This work, however, came in his luggage, across the ocean, on the rediscovery trip that brought him from Brazil to Lisbon. OUTROS ESPAÇO was recorded in São Paulo in late 2019 with a luxury crew: Tulipa Ruiz and Juçara Marçal added to the microphone, Thiago França played flute and alto & tenor saxophones, Guilherme Granado dealt with the synthesizers and effects, Marcos Gerez measured the overall pulse with his electric bass, Thomas Rohrer played soprano and 'rabeca' (fiddle), and Paulo Santos dealt with the percussion. In addition to the base band, OUTROS ESPAÇO also features some members of Sun Ra Arkestra's current incarnation. Respectively: Danny Thompson (RIP) on baritone and bongo, Elson Nascimento on 'surdo' (tom drum), Knoel Scott on tenor and soprano, with the giant Marshall Allen in a prominent role leading the collective towards the unknown, while playing the alto sax and synthesizer.

In OUTROS ESPAÇO, Brandão reaches for words from different origins, from contrasting times and cultures, all with magnetic resonance imaging: what is not from his furrow comes to him from Candomblé (“Quando Os Orixás Desfilam Sobre A Cracolândia”), from his readings of Sun Ra (“Eu Sou 1 Instrumento” is an adaptation of the poem I Am An Instrument), or from the school's playgrounds (“Jamais Nos Esqueceremos”). And in these words there are teeth and nails ingrained in injustice (“Quantos Coltrane...?, “Todo o Dia Tem +”) and kaleidoscopic delusions that result from the speed of light (“Sol da Meia Noite”).

The crew that travels through these OUTROS ESPAÇO (PT for "Other Spaces") has freedom as the main fuel, jazz as a measure of their reach, and all swings in the world as maps, so they can lose themselves at the end of the cosmos. There is urgency and reflection, craziness and precision, surprise and well-known ancestral raw material, that makes us vibrate inwardly with the same trembling as the comets that are coming.

The visionary and veteran Scotty Hard was responsible for making everything sound like the music of the spheres, dealing with the mixing from his INGUASONIC SOUND studio in Brooklyn, NY.

And lastly, in January, Rob Mazurek, another frequent ally of Brandão, another notorious space traveler, offered a poem that frames this project. Among other things, he writes:

Make this place sing

Make this place thunder

Make this place shake

It couldn't be in any other way.

Back In Love City, the new album produced by Daniel Ledinsky (Rihanna,
Carly Rae Jepson), Andrew Maury (Lizzo, PostMalone) and Fryars (Pharrell
Williams, Mark Ronson), sees The Vaccines both perfecting their winning
formula, and pushing their sound forward, evolving from their previous
foundations with an album that reflects on escapism as a necessary
part of modern living.
With 4 Top 5 UK Albums, including a #1 with 2012’s Come Of Age, and 19 singles playlisted on BBC Radio One, The Vaccines’ fifth album creates a place
where people go to find solace, satisfaction, safety, and connection: Love City.

Audio premiere for Povratak na Parni Pogon on Monday 24th of May via Music is my sanctury

Video premiere via Clash or Twisted Soul

Airplay - dom servini (soho radio), WYEP Pittsburg (dubmission), WKDU Philadelphia (eavesdrop radio), Jocks & nerds (soho radio), Basic Soul Show, Bondfire Radio NYC + many smaller stations across EU, UK & US

LP review - Mojo, Songlines agreed so far

Key selling points:

Kozmodrum are pioneers of the Croatian nu-jazz scene
Kozmodrum's second albumGravitywon the highest award in Croatia, Porin

Individual members of Kozmodrum as well as Kozmodrum as a collective are acclaimed musicians in the Balkans and have won numerous prestigious awards for their work

Their music is like a DJ set played live - as all the music is played live with 'traditional' instruments by the Kozmodrum ensemble


numerous great reviews, but not many in English - we're looking to introduce the band to UK audiences with this release -- this is one review in english for their album Gravity:https://exclaim.ca/music/article/kozmodrum-gravity
Our PR for this 3rd album by Kozmodrum is done by Francesco Soragna (Jus Like Music) with specific focus on UK market.
BIO:

Kozmodrumhave been pioneering a new approach to electronic music in Croatia, often described by the band as Organic Dance Music. Techno, House and Dub styles intertwine through a continuous set, played by a live band on guitars, drums and keyboards.Simultaneously, the tradition of jazz ensemble performance is stitched into the architecture of music itself.

Kozmodrum have released 2 albums, 'Na Tragu Satelita' in 2016, and 'Gravity' the following year, receiving a Porin Award for the latter (the Croatian Grammy). Individual band members also received numerous awards for their accomplishments and are considered by many to be pioneers in the Croatian nu-jazz scene. Kozmodrum's main influences are Tycho and Elektro Guzzi, as well as Jaga Jazzist with whom they performed live. The band have played numerous festivals and concerts, with Kozmodrum's members performing with Hans Joachim Roedelius, noise/art/sound figure Sunao Inami, as well as jazz masters Reggie Washington, Peter Erskine, David Liebman, Alan Broadbent, David Murray and Saskia Laroo.

Onstage, Kozmodrum is a five-piece ensemble that adds a third dimension to their music, written and produced by the band's founder Janko Novoselić. Using the framework of a DJ set, the compositions are made to be played openly, where the beat is 'looped' until a cue is given to make a change or switch to another part. The pieces are often minimalistic to start with, but evolve over the performance into more complex patterns, harmonies and melodies. With constant shifts between the natural and the artificial, organized and improvised, quiet and loud - Kozmodrum create an unforgettable, mantric performance.

First released in September 1996, ‘Spiders’ is the debut album by the Liverpudlian
alternative rock band Space. Upon release, the album reached #5 in the UK album charts
and received critical acclaim for it’s unique sound, humorous lyrics, and incorporation of
varying musical styles.
• Highlights include the hit singles ‘Female Of The Species’, ‘Neighbourhood’, ‘Me and You
Versus the World’ and ‘Dark Clouds’.
• To mark the 25th anniversary of ‘Spiders’, Demon Records is proud to present a new reissue
of the album pressed on heavyweight 180g translucent yellow vinyl

Analha was one of the first approaches I had with the design of analog basses and drums, to understand the way in which we can involve so many sounds and transform them to our own liking, to give it its own narrative, a sense, an identity in which it can be navigated about different styles without problem.

They are two pieces that make up totally different break paths where "Mi ama Dic K no" A1 is my own exploration and vision of the break beat, three melodies written in F # that count the subtlety, while the bass contrasts in an aggressive idea to the beat of many changing rhythms in the drums, which sorfs between a Mpc, 808, Dsm & V Modular ; Classic trip hop voices samples that guide the way this own idea progresses on the breaks and pads that generate a more complete environment with a very energetic atmosphere that is constantly on the rise in the active and natural development of the track.

Towards the B side "Run mami run" B1 is composed by a classic intro of acid cut while some seconds of drums interpose which are accompanied by a radio narration of a chase, a return change is present with a vinyl spin between voices from GTA & WU TANG CLAN which make an intro for an infusion of breaks fully aligned to the beginnings of oldskool drum and bass which are accompanied by voices recorded, treated and edited to connect more directly between the spaces interrupted by the glitch acid chords.

Among contrary structures "Analha" contains hidden but marked criticisms, it is a project that comes from 2018 and ended at the beginning of 2019 which made him think about how to involve more than music within his own sound narrative.

The sonorous identity of rachiid today is different, he understands his environment but does not believe in adapting, he tells us that each exploration and discovery during these years have led him to think how this first release was born until now but is not connected at all with what nowadays, describes his sonority today as changeable, essential and highly with IDM, experimental and breaks.

Repress


Nina Kraviz launches her (pronounced 'trip') label with a double-EP compilation entitled 'The Deviant Octopus', featuring a pair of brand new productions from Kraviz alongside material from Terrence Dixon, emerging talent Parrish Smith & Bjarki, and veteran producers Exos & Steve Stoll.

The idea for has been gestating for some time with Nina Kraviz, an avid crate-digger and frequenter of numerous second-hand record stores, who has long wanted to begin a label of her own which would build on some of the principles of her beloved 90s techno labels in terms of attitude and aesthetics, whilst looking for forward-thinking modern productions that reflect her core tastes for idiosyncratic electronic music.

The art and title of 'The Deviant Octopus' comes from a single-sentence scenario dreamt up by Kraviz: 'Without a moment's notice an Octopus appeared and devoured everyone in sight'. Supplied with this scenario, artist Tombo rendered his own unique visualization for the artwork that adorns the release sleeve. It's Kraviz's own nod to the labels that inspire her and grab her attention while digging through second hand records, the best of which were imbued with the unique personality of the people behind them. This extends to the sound Kraviz intends for : dusky, divergent and trippy music to stimulate brains, dreams and fantasies.

In this respect 'The Deviant Octopus' is a perfect introduction: Kraviz herself is represented on the tracklist by two new tracks that take up the mantle of last year's Mr Jones EP by returning to the vocal-flecked hypnotic techno that marked out that release. Complimenting those are two new cuts from a true master of hallucinatory off-kilter techno, Terrence Dixon in his Population One guise.

Joining them will be a pair of names from the techno pantheon who have been huge influences on Kraviz: with a career that's taken in releases on Synewave, Trax, Novamute and Richie Hawtin's early-90s Probe Records, Steve Stoll has been mining his own variant on techno and acid minimalism for over twenty years, heading up the Proper NYC label and releasing under various pseudonyms, such as Cobalt, of which Kraviz has been a long-term fan. His counterintuitively titled 'Pop Song' sits alongside a 13-minute 90s techno excursion from Reykjavik's Exos - the only previously-released cut (originally appearing on Thule Records sub-label Plast Trax in 1998) - together illustrating that will also live up to its name in the geographical sense: showcasing great music from historically vibrant electronic music scenes outside of the usual Detroit-Berlin axis.

With Kraviz looking to build a small repertory of talent around , this first release also makes room for two newer names: Bjarki is an Icelandic talent to keep a firm eye on, who drew Kraviz's attention in a chance meeting after a gig at Copenhagen's Culturebox club, after which he passed her a collection of mind-bendingly odd demos; while Parrish Smith is a talented Netherlands-based producer whose short yet impactful sketch '1.0 / 8.0 Afrika Genocide' brings the second 12' to a bewitching close.

Michael Mayer’s latest EP, Brainwave Technology, comes at you purposeful, stealthy and sly. It’s a glorious left turn for the redoubtable producer, one that sees his typically lean and lithe productions buffed to a metallic, futurist sheen. There’s a gleam in the eyes of tracks like “Brainwave Technology” and “Alpha” that speaks of serious fun, of the intersection of the pleasure zone and the frontal lobe.

“Brainwave Technology” itself is informed by Mayer’s deep dive into the thorny terrain of artificial intelligence, transhumanism and posthumanism. Inspired by reading German philosopher Richard David Precht, Mayer found himself heading down the “proverbial rabbit hole,” as he describes it, “watching hours of YouTube material by self-proclaimed prophets of these ‘inevitable’ changes to come.” Never one to be taken in by the egotist’s dance, Mayer’s cynicism about the whole endeavour is tempered, a little, by the deeper questions that these figures gesture towards: “Is it really an evolutionary step that man and machine become one? Or is it rather a marketing plot by Silicon Valley billionaires?”

On “Brainwave Technology”, Mayer plays the charlatans at their own game, turning their logic against them by exposing the fruitiness of their ‘visions’. “I chose irony as my sword with which I chopped off some quotes from some of those batshit crazy prophets and self-promoters,” he explains of the drooling psychobabble he drops in the track’s lacuna. There’s a sense of humour here – how could you not laugh at these hungover egotists? – but there’s levity too, a sense that Mayer’s using sound to expose the contradictions and double-speak at the heart of these half-formed ideas. It’s a Burroughsian tactic, to slice into the heart of the voice to see what hidden truths surface.

It was Burroughs, too, who once said that “when you cut into the past, the future leaks out”; Brainwave Technology cuts into the logic of the futurologist to leak out the messiness of modern reality. On “Alpha” and “Gamma”, Mayer seems to conjure up the stark, ominous music that’d soundtrack a science fiction reinterpretation – or preinterpretation – of our modern malaise, all funereal wreaths of electronic noise and clatterboxing beats. As the EP resolves with “Device For The Young At Heart”, Mayer’s questions are piling up: “Do we want to become immortal and live on as a download? Do we really give up on Earth and put all our effort into colonising Mars?” There are no answers, of course, but plenty of imaginings-to-be. Brainwave Technology soundtracks both dystopian and utopian possibilities of what could come next.

Rage, confusion, despair, self-deception, and introspection Madi Diaz cycles
through the full spectrum of emotions on History Of A Feeling,
her debut on ANTI-.
It’s an album that undeniably marks Diaz’s status as a first-rate songwriter, a
craft she’s spent years refining, and one wherein Diaz establishes herself as an
artist capable of distilling profound feelings with ease.
Diaz pulls from a range of folk, country, and pop leanings she is as much influenced by Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna as she is the sonics of PJ Harvey
and directness of Kathleen Hanna. On History Of A Feeling, the Nashville based
songwriter comes to terms with the dissolution of a meaningful relationship.
By the end of it, she wills herself into a self-reflective state where she doesn’t
hate herself for being so heartbroken.
The songs on History Of A Feeling, are the most direct and introspective songs
Diaz has ever written. In the few times she’s gotten to perform them live in
front of an audience, Diaz describes the experience as one where she feels
acutely present even though she’s singing about emotions that started to take
root years ago.
It’s relatable to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and great change in
some manner, and this profound sense of intimacy and camaraderie she seamlessly weaves into the songs was important to her.
“I wanted it to sound conversational, like I had just walked over to your house
and we’re sitting and at the end of your driveway talking just like we’re hashing it out in the same way that you’d call a best friend at one in the morning
because you needed to talk about what just happened.”

Mondo is proud to continue its on-going celebration of the DC film universe, with an all-new limited edition pressing of one of the most iconic film soundtracks of all time: John Williams' legendary score for SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE.

The marketing for SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE cleverly described itself as a film that would make you "believe a man could fly," but no one involved in the film could be prepared for how that newfound belief would change the world forever. Now, nearly 43 years later, the superhero film industry shows no signs of slowing, but very few have achieved the visual and sonic miracle that the late Richard Donner and the inimitable John Williams were able to do with their epic origin story.

Featuring all new artwork by DKNG, Produced by, and featuring extensive liner notes by Michael Matessino, and pressed on 2x 180 gram black vinyl.

New York City 4-piece deliver a modern blues rock masterclass on their feisty debut album.

“A timeless classic rock sound that revels in lean riffs and raw emotion.” – Afropunk

In an age where artistic merit is awarded to those who shout the loudest, Dakota Jones pride themselves on an unwavering ability to leave a lasting impression. Spearheaded by Tristan Carter-Jones fierce and unashamedly uncensored songwriting, the band’s fast-growing reputation as formidable live act has stamped Dakota Jones with the hell-hath-no-fury power of Chaka Khan, the wild spontaneity of Janis Joplin, and the honey-dripping sensuality of Marvin Gaye. Their debut album’s message of proud black heritage and triumphant queerness manifests itself in Carter-Jones’ ability to challenge norms of adulthood and femininity as she takes a deep dive into some of life’s most visceral emotions.

Tristan Carter-Jones: “I’m a black, queer woman expressing myself through love and music. Some folks still find that to be a transgressive act in and of itself. I work to fight that idea. I write a lot about my
Continued over…
sexuality and the ways in which I express it. Songs about sex and love bounce back and forth between songs about heartache, hangovers and self-medication, and the pleasure and pain of truly finding yourself. I don’t think we get to hear these things from a woman’s mouth as often as we should.”

Serving as an instant tone setter, the album opens with the line "Stretch marks from growing pains" with Carter-Jones lamenting the woes of adjusting to adulthood on lead single ‘Did It To Myself’ - her husky and commanding vocal instantly asserting its place in the spotlight. The atmosphere soon turns steamy on the flirtatious title track ‘Blacklight,’ whilst fantasising over a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde love affair the funk-laden ‘We Playin Bad Games’ packs a punch with its tale of free spirits entwined in a haze of late-night revelry.

Elsewhere, stories of caustic heartache twist the knife into wounded blues guitar riffs on ‘Like That’ and ‘Black Magic (That Power)’, in which Carter-Jones’s stoical voice never once faulters as she mourns the memories of a previous flame. Personal prayer ‘Lord Please’ recites empowered words of reassurance, and solidarity in the face of injustice erupts into a rallying cry for change on the classic sounding ‘Noise’ – written as a reaction to the 2016 US election. “I woke up after the election feeling pure panic and fear in my body,” remembers Tristan. “I wanted people in a place of privilege to stand up for what I was feeling, stand up for injustice, stand up for all of the things we need to change as a country. I wanted their rage, and I wanted their noise.”

Finally, the band’s tender tropes of togetherness eventually boil into gritty, guitar-slung balladry on hidden bonus track, ‘California,’ where, knees buckling under the weight of past trials and tribulations, Carter-Jones sets out on one final journey of self-discovery, hastily pulling out from reality and leaving only a dust cloud in her wake.

Production comes courtesy of the Grammy-winning John Wooler, ex Virgin Records A+R and founder of the Blues label Pointblank who has worked with everyone from John Lee Hooker and John Hammond to Isaac Hayes and Van Morrison. The album also features a wealth of hugely talented and accomplished musicians, including backing vocalist Kudisan Kai, former backing vocalist for the likes of Elton John, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole, Beck, Sting, Mary J. Blige and Jill Scott. Also present; Grammy winning keyboardist Jon Gilutin, who has spent years working with some of the industry’s most respected and iconic artists including Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Jackson Browne, Celine Dion, Bonnie Rait and Carole King. You’ll also hear the talents of acclaimed guitarist Michael Toles. Most well-known for being a part of the Stax Records group The Bar Kays, and for his contributions on famous records by Issac Hayes, Al Green, BB King, Johnny Taylor, Rufus Thomas, Albert King to name just a few.

Dakota Jones are a rising funk, soul and blues rock band from Brooklyn, New York City. Comprising of Tristan Carter-Jones (vocals), Scott Kramp (bass) Steve Ross (drums), and acclaimed musician Randy Jacobs (guitar) - former member of Was(Not Was) who has recorded for Seal, Bonnie Raitt, Tears for Fears, Elton John and many others. Though Carter-Jones and Ross first met in 1999 whilst at primary school, the band formed years later following a series of home jam sessions in 2016. The band’s collective alias originates from Carter-Jones’s middle name, ‘Dakota’. Dakota Jones have since released a string of acclaimed singles and EPs as well as received international attention for their track, ‘Have Mercy’ after it featured on Netflix’s 2019 film, Always Be My Maybe starring Ali Wong and Randall Park – and now after years of hard work and determination, the band are finally set to reveal their long awaited debut album. “We’d been regularly releasing EPs, waiting for our chance to come, and wondering what that would look like,” says Carter-Jones. “We didn’t realise until we started making this record that we needed to stop waiting for some break to come along, and just do it ourselves, independently.”

“Black Light really dives into a place of funk soul and everything that comes with it. There’s joy and dancing, sleek guitar licks and funky bass slaps. There’s pain and longing, and there’s the feeling of relief when you come out of that place and find your joy and purpose again. Black Light is my story.”

Repressed !

Luca Cazal & Josh Baker kickstart Richy Ahmed’s new vinyl focused imprint, Back 2 Black, with a brace of intergalactic tracks. The new label’s first release also features a remix from British electronic stalwart, Radioactive Man.

Cazal remains a central figure within the house & techno community; his DJ residency at Circoloco is longstanding and releases for labels like Crosstown Rebels, Classic Music Company, his own See Double label, and Richy Ahmed’s Four Thirty Two imprint have marked out his production prowess and ear for a good groove. Josh Baker has been rising up the ranks over the last few years, with releases for Ben Rau’s META label, Locus and his own You&Me label.

On ‘Organ Nuke’, Cazal & Baker dip into the kind of spacey techno house that was forged by Detroit pioneers Underground Resistance, as funky percussion and organ stabs are coupled with dreamy pads and cosmic tones. ‘Rocket Ship’ continues these themes, with heavy 909 drums anchoring a cheeky acid bassline and flashes of cosmogonic sound.

British DJ & producer, Radioactive Man, has long since been at the coalface of electronic music’s leftfield. As one half of Two Lone Swordsman (with the late, great Andrew Weatherall), and multiple aliases for his industrious flow of releases, the revered producer injects a heavy dose of classy electro and Drexciyan vibes into ‘Rocket Ship’. Rolling breaks unfurl in the electro beats as head scrambling keys and rasping bass stimulate the senses for a funkin’ body poppin’ workout.

Transmission Reissue Of Porcupine Tree Rarity Featuring Recordings From
The ‘Stupid Dream’ & ‘Lightbulb Sun’ Sessions
Having recently announced that Snapper Music will be representing Porcupine
Tree’s Transmission label worldwide, new CD and LP reissues of the band’s catalogue will roll out throughout 2021.
Originally issued in 2001 as a limited-edition release, this highly sought-after
album features songs written during the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun sessions, including ‘Buying New Soul’ and ‘Ambulance Chasing’.
Porcupine Tree released their last album, ‘The Incident’, in 2009, marking another step forward in the incredible journey of the band that began as a solo
studio project created by Steven Wilson in the late eighties to a multi grammy
nominated act and one of the world’s most revered live bands, selling out arenas across the globe and wowing fans with their incredible performances.
This new Transmission 2021 reissue of ‘Recordings’ remains faithful to the original artwork and comes in a digipack with 8-page colour booklet or gatefold
sleeve.

AUGUSTANA-LIVE (RECORDED FROM A LIVESTREAM EVENT) was recorded live in December of 2020. The concert recording was a long awaited arrival for fans of the band, who’d never released a live album until that point. In a solo performance setting, Dan Layus plays through some of the most well loved music from the groups catalogue in a chronological order. The concert is intimate and authentic, nuanced and powerful. He makes the songs feel experienced and lived in, and cements a moment into a recording that mirrors what he’s done on stages across the world for so many years. This LP marks Augustana's first vinyl release in over 10 years.



Dan Layus has fronted Augustana as it’s singer and primary songwriter since its formation in 2002. Building a dedicated following of fans off the backbone of hits like “Boston”, “Sweet and Low” and “Steal Your Heart”, Augustana have gone on to release 5 Full Length LP’s and multiple singles and EP’s. As a touring artist for over 16 years, Augustana have performed throughout North America, Europe and Asia and have opened for artists across multiple genres, including One Direction, The Chicks, Snow Patrol, OneRepublic and Counting Crows.

The most recent LP release AUGUSTANA-LIVE (RECORDED FROM A LIVESTREAM EVENT) was recorded live in December of 2020. The concert recording was a long awaited arrival for fans of the band, who’d never released a live album until that point. In a solo performance setting, Dan Layus plays through some of the most well loved music from the groups catalogue in a chronological order. The concert is intimate and authentic, nuanced and powerful. He makes the songs feel experienced and lived in, and cements a moment into a recording that mirrors what he’s done on stages across the world for so many years.

Limited Edition Polka Dot Vinyl - Includes Bonus 7" The Pipettes reissue their beloved debut album "We Are The Pipettes" on limited edition polka dot vinyl to mark the album's 15 year anniversary. Back on vinyl for the first time since its original release, the record sounds as fresh, funny and filthy as it did on it's release. Whether it's the string-drenched, four to the floor, call to the dance-floor clarion call of Pull Shapes or the lonesome melancholy of A Winter's Sky, it's a record full of the joys and the pains of youth.

Following “La Contra Ola” (BJR015), Bongo Joe presents 'La Ola Interior', a compilation exploring the ambient side of the Spanish electronic music produced in the 80’s, bringing together 19 little-known and innovative pieces from the golden age of Spanish electronic music !

It gathers musicians from various horizons and of many generations, who shared the desire to create an immersive soundscape and to combine electronic music with non-Western musical traditions. As a general rule, the Anglo-Saxon tropism did relate the spanish peninsula’s ambient music to the Balearic Sound, that is to say to the relaxing music played in Ibiza’s nightclubs. But this music takes place in the productive territory of experimental musics, and particularly in its two main breeding grounds: the tape recording underground and the independent musicians-producers scene.

Inseparable from the processes of self-publishing, distribution and exchange of music that were then taking place in Spain in an artisanal way, the vast underground movement of cassettes was divided between an "ethno-trance" combining industrial beats and oriental sounds on the one hand (Esplendor Geométrico, Miguel A. Ruiz / Orfeón Gagarin) and unclassifiable low-fi tinkerers on the other hand (Camino al desván, Eli Gras, Mataparda, Victor Nubla). Hyperactive, this scene is radical and strongly dominated by the hardest musical styles, but the ambient, influenced by the German Kosmische Musik and "krautrock", also develops here.

The second vein of Spanish ambient comes from some of the independent labels of the peninsula (DRO, GASA, El Cometa de Madrid, EGK) whose activity will mark the return of some of the most adventurous musicians-producers of the 70s. Some were influenced by American minimalism (Luis Delgado / Mecánica Popular, Suso Saiz, Javier Segura), others by Fourth-World Music conceived by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno (Finis Africae, Jabir). Having passed through folk, ancient, traditional or contemporary music, and being familiar with improvisation and studio techniques, these artists come from a mutant hippie culture, capable of phagocyting many musical styles from electronic ambient to ethnic improvisation and modal jazz.

These two scenes and generations that make up LA OLA INTERIOR intersect around a common interest in non-Western musical traditions. Their exploration may be that of the tribal origins of electronic rhythms or the Arab heritage of Spain. Above all, it is a dreamy exoticism, an immobile journey as the sounds, rhythms or instruments of these traditions are scrutinized by Western practices (avant-garde music, electronic technology). The result is a hybrid music, filtered and reinvented, neither Western nor extra-Western, with a pronounced taste for the fusion of opposites, which we have called "Acid Exoticism" because of its permanent search for trance or contemplation. Atmospheric, contemplative and serial, these musics still plunge us today into a sensorial journey, at the same time interior and distant, organic and technological, between exotic reminiscences and interior visions.

This is the first official re-release on vinyl under licensed courtesy of BMG Rights Management,UK, remastered from an original master copy out of the vaults of BMG, originally released in 1972 on Bronze Records.

Co-founder of Colosseum in 1968 with Jon Hiseman, he knew from his Jazz Club years as drummer for Georgie Fame, Dick ran through this group's hectic recording and touring schedule for over 3 years until November 1971, when it disbanded.

In his late 30s at that time, on top of his musical shape, he moved on to start recording on his first solo project, with material left over from Colosseum days (written by D. H.-S., Clem Clempson and Jon Hisemann) and new material jointly composed with well-known lyricist Pete Brown. He recruited the help of Colosseum mates, Hiseman, keyboardist Dave Greenslade and vocalist/bass player Mark Clarke, plus the brilliant ex-Elton John group Caleb Quaye (Hookfoot) on guitars and Rob Tait (ARC, Battered Ornaments) on drums; old pal G. Bond is featured providing remarkable moog work on 'Pirate's Dream', funky organ on 'Moses In The Bullrushourses' and sharing piano duties with Gordon Beck (G.B. Trio, Nucleus) on 'What The Morning Was After'; Paul Williams (Juicy Lucy) gets the lion share of vocal duties, and Chris Farlowe and Chris Spedding (Nucleus, Battered Ornaments) have respectively a sole vocal and a guitar spot on 'Pirate's Dream'.

The album track by track:
Side one starts with 'Future Song', the track that really rises above the other tracks here. The guitar, vocals (by Mark Carke) and sax are great on this one. Killer sax 2 minutes during an excellent instrumental interlude. H.-S. sounds slightly eastern-influenced on his outstanding sax lines. Such an uplifting track with it's repetitive riff and hard, driving sound! Next is 'Crabs', starting off in a mellow way with Greenslade's piano and reserved vocals as the sax joins in followed by guitar and drums as it builds. Irresistable! Great vocals by Paul Williams. One could easily imagine both tracks on a Colosseum album. 'Moses In The Bullrushourses' is uptempo, owing just as much to jazz, blues and hard rock. Great groove! Lots of organ here to send shivers down your spine and perfect guitar playing. 'What The Morning Was After' opens with some sax excursions as the drums help out. Acoustic guitar by Quaye and powerful vocals by Paul Williams take over as the piano joins in. Our second favourite tune on here after the opener. A folky song really until it picks up half-way through.

Side 2 opens with the 11 minutes 'Pirate's Dream', with Farlowe on vocals and Spedding's initial rock blues riff, but soon evolving to a complex multi parted composition in the best spirit of Valentyne Suite, driven by Hiseman multi faceted drumming. D. H.-S. twin saxes soar on a calmer mid section with Spedding doubling the licks and the bass grumbling relentlessly behind; it slowly gains speed with moog, sax and vocalizations duelling and answering each others with dazzling, demanding and inspired phrasings on top a thundering rhythm section; after the lyrics resume it evolves into a majestic, grandiose finale. A bluesy clean guitar lick opens 'Same Old Thing', a swinging, calm heavily modulated twisted blues, with a punchy rhythm section, a soulful Williams on vocal, Quaye delivering an inspired sparkling solo and D. H.-S.'s sensitive fat sax enhanced with some double tracking on the solo part. A great ending to a great album.

Album comes with the reproduction of original gatefold cover sleeve, additional cover-sized insert with band story, lyrics and photos. A highlight! Highly recommended!

It may be his fifth album, but Saturday Night, Sunday Morning marks the start of chapter two for Jake Bugg. Arguably his most complete and coherent record to date, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning manages to combine a love of ABBA, the Beach Boys, Supertramp and the Bee Gees, with a contemporary pop sound: one that’s already spawned his most ubiquitous song in years via euphoric lead single, All I Need. “I knew what I was looking for this time around,” the 27-year-old says, firmly. “And I feel like I accomplished it.” It’s almost 10 years since a two-fingered Bugg burst onto the scene with his eponymous debut, one that topped the UK album charts and saw the then 18-year-old from Nottingham fêted as the next Bob Dylan. A Rick Rubin-produced follow up, Shangri La, quickly followed. But progress stalled with Bugg’s third, largely self-produced, record, On My One, in 2016. “I was having a hard time on that third record,” Bugg admits, five years removed. “The support from the industry wasn’t what it was. All those people telling you how great you are weren’t there anymore. It does feel like the rug’s been swept from under your feet.” What that record provided, however – along with its comparatively stripped-back follow up, Hearts That Strain (2017) – was a much-needed course corrector: one that set Bugg on the upward trajectory he finds himself on today. “When I came to terms with that was when I left the ego at the door,” he says. “It didn’t work out. But it led here. And this is probably my strongest record." It’s testament to Bugg’s rediscovered confidence that Saturday Night, Sunday Morning – a nod to the debut novel by Nottingham author Alan Sillitoe – sees him working with some of his highest profile collaborators to date, most notably American songwriters Andrew Watt and Ali Tamposi, best known for their work with pop heavyweights Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, Camila Cabello. “I was looking for how I can incorporate my sound for a more modern era. And I kind of struck gold working with Andrew Watt and Ali Tamposi,” Bugg says. Convening in LA, the first track the trio wrote together is the jealousy-inflected About Last Night, a song about the “insecurities you go through as a young person in a relationship with someone.” “It’s got such dark undertones, which I love,” Bugg says, of a song that showcases a newly discovered, Beach Boys-esque falsetto. “But it’s also very, very pop. That’s what I’ve always loved. With ABBA, with Supertramp. I love pop music. But when you can get it to be dark, I love it even more.” It’s a trick the trio repeated again on Scene, Bugg’s personal favourite from the album and a song that best encapsulates the combination of old and new: Watt’s George Harrison-esquire guitar brushing up against contemporary melodic choices by Tamposi. “I love writing with her,” Bugg says of the Havana hitmaker. “She brought that women’s perspective. And I knew that I’d got that balance of what I wanted. That old school chorus with contemporary verses. That to me was my favourite song when I wrote it, and it still is.” Perhaps the biggest example of Bugg’s newfound ego-less approach to writing, however, came in the shape of Downtown, a song that grew from an idea by Jamie Hartman (Celeste, Lewis Capaldi, Rag'n'Bone Man), and sees Bugg deploy the higher range of his voice to ethereal, ’60s Bee Gees effect. “Usually, the initial spark of an idea comes from me. And when it doesn't, it sometimes loses my attention,” Bugg admits. On Downtown, however, he relished his role as arranger: “Because there were a lot of moving parts and chords, it was almost like a puzzle,” he says. “I’d never approached a song like that before. “What I’ve been enjoying on this record is the collaborative process,” he continues. Working with people, writing with people. Because I’ve realised all I really want to achieve is to be the best writer I can possibly be. And I think by working with other people, it allows you to learn a lot as well.” It’s a theory Bugg has put to the test during lockdown, when he was approached by his manager about writing the soundtrack to an upcoming documentary, The Happiest Man In The World, about Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho. “It’s kind of a completely different experimental outlet,” Bugg explains of his first ever score. “I approach my own work quite professionally. But with this I can just switch off and go into a different world. And it’s been brilliant – I’ve had to learn different styles of guitar: bossa nova, samba. It’s a bit Vangelis, who’s probably my favourite artist – which may surprise people.” Possibly. But you get the impression that surprising is what Bugg likes to do. “I don’t like to be stuck doing the same thing,” he admits. “And that’s what this record Saturday Night, Sunday Morning was. I wanted to push myself. I’m always learning new influences. I’m careful not to get stuck on the same thing. “It’s not going to be right every time. It’s not going to be good every time,” he continues. “But if that’s the process it takes to get to this record, where people are loving the songs again, then that’s the journey we have to take.” For Jake Bugg, chapter two starts now. New album ‘Saturday Night, Sunday Morning’ is out August 20th on RCA Records

Originally released on cassette by Good Person Recordings in 2016, Impressive Almanac is the culmination of Dan Shaw's bedroom experiments making minimalist post-punk. The entire album was tracked by himself at home shortly after moving from Seattle to his hometown of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Dan did not yet have any backing band at the time. The album shines with his raw and unfettered creativity, repetitive DI'ed guitars, and disaffected yet deeply personal lyrics about the banality of modern life.

Shaw says of the record: "Sharing this tape with friends in the Western Mass DIY scene soon led to the formation of Landowner as a full band. Even though we're a real band now with a real drummer and everything, the drum machines and repetitive riffs of these songs still serve as an important reference point for the vibe we strive to attain in our music today."

The album was quite formative for Born Yesterday Records. Co-owner and now Deeper bass player Kevin Fairbairn met Dan at a show in Western Massachusetts. Dan gave him a cassette of Impressive Almanac. When Kevin returned from tour, he was eager to show it to me and I quickly became obsessed with it. A year or so later when we were discussing starting a record label, we both knew that Landowner had to be one of the bands we talked to first. This release will roughly mark the three year anniversary of Born Yesterday's first release, Landowner's Blatant.

English jazz-funk band Level 42 released their tenth studio album Forever Now in 1994. While Forever Now marked the return of original drummer Phil Gould, it was the last album before the band’s breakup. Featuring the popular singles “Forever Now”, “All Over You”, and “Love In a Peaceful World”, the album was a commercial success. It reached #8 in the UK album charts. Music critics were also generally favourable, with Allmusic calling it the band’s “best album since the mid-80s heyday of World Machine and Running in the Family”.

“an aggressively modern merger of Rush’s arena art rock, U.K. prog
classicism especially Pink Floyd and King Crimson and the post-grunge
vengeance of Tool” Rolling Stone
Having recently announced that Snapper Music will be representing Porcupine
Tree’s Transmission label worldwide, new CD and LP reissues of the band’s extensive catalogue will roll out throughout 2021.
Originally released in 2007, ‘Fear Of A Blank Planet’ was Porcupine Tree’s ninth
studio album. It was the band’s biggest selling album at the time, was their first
album to break into the Billboard top 100 in the USA as well as charting across
Europe, earned the band a Grammy nomination and has been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine’s Greatest Prog Albums Of All Time.
‘Fear Of A Blank Planet’ was an ambitious 50-minute piece of music made of
6 tracks that flow together to create a cohesive whole, the British art-rockers
Porcupine Tree created a concept album based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel
‘Lunar Park’, with lyrics that addressed how the adolescent protagonist battled
his bipolar and attention-deficit disorders with a regimen of prescription drugs
and Internet overstimulation.
The music used sprawling vocal melodies, atmospheric guitars and drums that
tumbled through chaotic passages to echo the main character’s manic-depressive states. ‘Fear Of A Blank Planet’ features guest appearances from Robert
Fripp (King Crimson) & Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson.
Porcupine Tree released their last album, ‘The Incident’, in 2009, marking another step forward in the incredible journey of the band that began as a solo
studio project created by Steven Wilson in the late eighties to a multi grammy
nominated act and one of the world’s most revered live bands, selling out arenas across the globe and wowing fans with their incredible performances.
This new Transmission version of ‘Fear Of A Blank Planet’ will be released as a
2LP gatefold 140gm edition.
“a dramatic, wide-screen, expertly executed, genuinely thrilling rock record” Q
Magazine

’Angelo lost his shit over it. Aaliyah’s 3rd favourite track of all time is on it. David Bowie rocked up with it to a TV interview, declaring it “the most exciting sound of contemporary soul music”.

In 1996, Lewis Taylor released his self-titled masterpiece. A true modern classic, it’s an album that was years ahead of its time. Forget 25 years ago, it could easily have been made in 2021. An effortless blend of neo-soul, sophisticated pop, smart grooves and laid-back white funk, it enjoyed rapturous reviews from critics and music legends alike. But the album never managed to make an impact and given what was likely a token vinyl release at the time, the original records have long since been near-impossible to find. Lewis Taylor’s Lewis Taylor remains a holy relic for some and criminally unknown to most.

Lewis Taylor’s impeccable influences created a dazzling sonic palette: the LP as a whole suggests the visionary brilliance of Prince; the vocal stylings evoke the yearning power of Marvin Gaye; the effortless guitar playing shares the virtuosity of Jimi Hendrix; the haunting tones conjure Tricky; the innovative production and engineering invite comparisons to studio mavericks like Todd Rundgren and Brian Eno; the multi-layered, complex harmonies flash on Pet Sounds-era Brian Wilson; the dark, drama is reminiscent of both Scott Walker and Stevie Wonder; the complex arrangements create textures and moods with the feel of Shuggie Otis on Inspiration Information; the bold experimentation is akin to progressive artists like Faust and Tangerine Dream; the atmosphere is in conversation with Jeff Buckley’s Grace… and we could go on. That might all sound like marketing hyperbole, but not as far as Be With is concerned. It is a genuine wonder how an album this good could’ve passed so many people by.

But despite all the reference points, the similarities are really only skin-deep because the album sounds truly original. It occupies its own distinct, strange universe that feels dark and brooding one moment, bright and joyous the next. Ultimately, Taylor sounds like Taylor.

Although you wouldn’t know it from the credits, the album wasn’t the work of Lewis alone. Sabina Smyth gets an executive producer credit on the original sleeve, but in fact she worked with Lewis on the production and arrangements, did a lot of the backing vocals and she co-wrote Track, Song, Lucky and Damn with Lewis.

Lewis clarified all this in a Soul Jones interview with Dan Dodds in 2016. He explains how not giving Sabina the credit she was due at the time was an unfortunate consequence of where his head was at and he’s now trying to set the record straight.

Together they created an exquisite and sensually-charged record, with a freshness to the writing that makes the songs catchy, melodic-yet-deep and sometimes even funky. The music is predominantly guitar-led and a mixture of organs and synths, live drum loops and electronic percussion make for a sort of modern soul backing orchestra.

On the surface the album is gorgeously laidback, but beneath the lush, sometimes slick, production there’s a murkiness in the seriously gritty funk/hip-hop instrumentation. Lewis Taylor can be a claustrophobic listen. Even its one-word, often seemingly throw-away track titles add to the sense of unease. In its most positive moments, there’s still a sense that things aren’t quite right. The magic comes from this compelling tension.

The languid, strutting “Lucky” is a sensational opening statement. Sinuous electric guitar winds around the shaking percussion with a killer bass line rattling your bones, and Lewis’s voice is sublime. Its six-and-a-half unhurried minutes manage to distill the work of Marvin, Al Green and Bobby Womack because yes, it’s *that* good. Up next is the tough, dusty drum and jazzy, unsettling psych-guitar workout of “Bittersweet”. Aaliyah described it the “perfect song”, which says it all. By turns loping and soaring, tightly coiled and blasting free, 25 years on its discordant, swaggering majesty still sounds like future R&B.

The swinging, blue-eyed funk of “Whoever” oozes sophisticated sunshine soul for hazy days before “Track” sweeps in. The music tries to lift us up, beyond the reach of the vocals trying to drag us back down as Taylor sings “my mood is black as the darkest cloud”. The spare, dubby electro-soul of “Song” closes out the first half of the album with barely contained dread as it creeps towards the lush, synth-heavy coda.

The smouldering “Betterlove” eases us into the second half, coming on like a languorous response to the call of “Brown Sugar”, before sliding into the shuffling, softly-rocking “How”. Somehow the remarkable “Right” manages to both warm things up and smooth things out even more. Taut yet luxurious, it’s definitely not wrong.

“Damn” was to have been the album’s title track and you might also be able to hear its influence on D’Angelo’s Voodoo, maybe most obviously in the chaotic closing moments of “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”. Building to a screeching wall of noise that suddenly cuts dead, “Damn” sounds like the natural end to the album, with the celestial a cappella “Spirit” serving as a heavenly reprise.

When it came to the sleeve, art director Cally Callomon heard Taylor’s music as “sideways off-camera glances at a plethora of influences he had” and wanted to interpret that visually: “I went off into night-time London to see if I could find his song titles in off-beam low-fidelity photographs. I even found a shop called Lewis Taylor”. With a slide for each of the album’s ten tracks, nine of them are on the inner sleeve and the slide for “Damn” makes the front cover. It should’ve been the album’s title, but concerns over distribution in the US scuppered this.

One of UK soul’s most fascinating artists, Andrew Lewis Taylor is an enigmatic figure and a hugely under-appreciated talent. A prodigious multi-instrumentalist who got his start touring with heavy blues/psych outfit the Edgar Broughton Band, he released two albums of psychedelic-rock as Sheriff Jack before Island signed him on the strength of a demo alone. But Taylor was destined to be one of those artists unable (or unwilling) to be pigeonholed and despite the best efforts of Island’s publicity department the music never sold in the quantities it needed to or deserved to. Island eventually let him go in the early 2000s and in June 2006, Lewis Taylor retired from music.

Typical for the mid-90s, this CD-length album was squeezed onto a single LP for its original vinyl release. Simon Francis’s fresh vinyl mastering now spreads out the ten tracks over a double LP so nothing is compromised. And as usual, the records have been cut by Pete Norman and pressed at Record Industry. The original artwork has been restored at Be With HQ and subtly re-worked to work as a double.

This sprawling psychedelic soul opus really is a forgotten should-be-classic. We know that there are those of you who know, and as for the rest of you, we’re a bit jealous that you’re getting to hear Lewis Taylor for the first time.

“Hitting Hard” originally released in 1977 by Epsilon Records is widely regarded as one of Aguabella's seminal works, with its “street-style” rare groove fusing Brazilian, salsa, Latin jazz, and funk flavors. Playing with a talented cast of heavyweights including San Francisco vibist Nerio De Gracia, the dynamic Cedric Deon Bi on vocals, and percussion great Armando Peraza. With original copies still fetching a pretty penny in the secondary market, this limited reissue of essential Latin jazz-funk is a worthy addition to any record collection.

English thrash metal outfit Xentrix is commonly referred to as one of the “big four” of English thrash metal, given their popularity in the underground metal scene of the 1980s to mid-1990s. The band released their second studio album For Whose Advantage? in 1990. It gave them even more interest than their debut, and it marked the first time the band got to shoot a music video – for the title track. It also gave Xentrix the opportunity to tour with Skyclad and play shows with world famous metal bands such as Slayer and Sepultura. And rightfully so, as this album belongs in any headbanger’s collection.

For Whose Advantage? is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl.

Nice Swan Records announce the release of
compilation LP ‘Nice Swan Introduces Vol.1’.
Introducing a wave of new and exciting talent
including the likes of Jelly Cleaver, Courting,
Sprints, Hallan, Malady, Mandrake Handshake and
Anorak Patch.
The upcoming compilation solidifies Nice Swan’s
growing status as one of the UK’s most reputable
indie labels, with further signings and releases set
to be announced in the coming weeks.
Launched in 2016 by North West duo Pete
Heywoode and Alex Edwards, Nice Swan’s initial
aim to become a platform for discovering and
nurturing new talent soon attracted widespread
recognition, with the subsequent success of
signees such as Sports Team, Pip Blom, FUR and
Hotel Lux building momentum at an impressive
rate.
Instilled with a passion to push emerging artists on
a monthly basis, ‘Vol.1’ marks the next stage of the
cult indie label’s development. With several acts
already becoming mainstays on the BBC Radio 1 /
6 Music airwaves and gaining extensive
tastemaker approval, the compilation could not be
arriving at a better time.

The System 108 anniversary record sums up the label's five-year work without words. The new collection is an impression of everything that the team has become during its existence. System 108 has matured nominally and stylistically, defining for itself three main directions: post-industrial, techno and break-beat, disco and house. Each of the three parts of the new collection reveals one of the musical trajectories of System 108 development: (Part 3) -- house with a touch of classics -- hear the echoes of Detroit and Chicago.

Hospital Records are extremely proud to present ‘Smile & Wave’, the
second studio album from drum & bass’ friendliest MC, Inja.
With the biggest smile on his face, the lyricist, vocalist, poet, artist and storyteller delivers
16 tracks, seamlessly weaved together through Inja’s infectiously feel-good flow and sincere
wordsmithery. The entire album was produced by Whiney, further cementing their relationship as one of the most untestable dance music pairings. Also featuring Charlotte Haining,
Eva Lazarus, DRS, Fox, Cleveland Watkiss, Singing Fats, and DJ Marky.
Album title track ‘Smile & Wave’ is the musical embodiment of Inja’s playful demeanour.
Known for being the world’s smiliest artist, Inja wrote and recorded this feel-good bouncer
alongside his daughter who is “pretty much the first person to hear anything” he’s up to
musically. Expect a rude bassline and infectious wordplay.
Teaming up with superstar singer-songwriter Charlotte Haining, ‘Reach Out’ sees two of the
most distinct voices in dance music come together over a bittersweet wobbler written about
times when you feel “so out of place, out of reach” in the words of Inja. Having worked
alongside an impressive array of electronic artists including Hybrid Minds, Sub Focus, My Nu
Leng and Friction, Charlotte’s delicately powerful hooks are the perfect counterpart to Inja’s
heartfelt flows.
Luscious pads and dubbed out pianos and guitars set the scene on ‘Baby Angel’ featuring the
worldwide wave-maker Eva Lazarus who returns to Hospital Records for the first time since
featuring on Etherwood’s ‘Light My Way Home’ back in 2015. Having worked alongside staple
figures including Mungo’s Hi-Fi, Zed Bias and Gentlemen’s Dub Club, Eva infuses her reggae,
hip-hop and jungle flavours alongside Inja’s humbling storytellings.
Inja’s “personal favourite to perform live as it smashes every and any system”, ‘Explode’, is a
140BPM anthem featuring flows that will ignite any room and a killer instrumental that will
have you bobbing no questions asked. Proving himself to be a versatile and skillful microphone controller, Inja’s ability to shell down any tempo is ever more apparent on this upfront
banger.
Three legendary MCs unite on ‘Hands, Lights, Flames, Phones’ where Inja joins forces with
two of Manchester’s very finest - DRS and Fox. Sharp lyricism is rife as the triple threat of
three titan wordsmiths link up, seeing energetic bars bouncing off each other over a cold-cut
drum & bass roller. This is a combination not to be tested.
Inja has established himself as a pinnacle figure within the realms of drum & bass. Loved for
his ability to express his thoughts into honest, relatable lyrics in ‘She Just Wanna Dance’, a
spoken word piece for Amnesty International that was a viral online hit in 2017, and more
recently switching it up to ‘We Just Wanna Dance’ during the UK lockdown, expressing his
desire to be reconnected with ravers again. Then picked up by BBC News and Sky News.
On top of being the MC of choice for drum & bass powerhouse group Kings Of The Rollers,
Inja is no stranger to tearing things up on the airwaves with support from the likes of DJ
Target, Rene LaVice and Danny Byrd on BBC Radio 1 over the years. Since his debut ‘Blank
Pages’ album on Hospital Records in 2018, Inja has flourished as a multi-talented MC, vocalist, singer and songwriter with a series of singles including the Beatport Drum & Bass charttopper ‘Game Face (Stay Alert)’ alongside Whiney, as well as the infamous ‘Lumberjackin’’ on
Serum’s Souped Up.
"To all the supporters that enjoy anything I’m a part of, I would never have had the opportunities to see as much of the world as I have without you. My gratitude has no bounds and I’d
love to share a smile with you all one day.” - Inja

Having produced full albums for numerous buzzing names in the last couple of years, 38 Spesh has become recognized as one of the most prolific beatmakers in the new era of hardcore Hip-Hop. So, to mark this achievement, he has decided to start giving fans the instrumentals to their favorite songs with a new series titled Speshal Blends. The first volume of the series includes beats off of Che Noir's Thrill of the Hunt II, Flee Lord x 38 Spesh's Loyalty + Trust, 38 Spesh's 5 Shots EP, and more. The title of the series is a homage to MF DOOM’s classic instrumental collection, Special Blends. The album art also references DOOM’s series, but instead of playing on the Zig-Zag motif, the Speshal Blends covers riff off the logos of popular cigar brands most commonly used for blunts

Since Grazed is either the 14th or 16th record depending on how you count them (but who’s counting?) by Eleventh Dream Day, a Chicago band with Kentucky roots.
After 2015’s blistering guitar blast Works For Tomorrow, Janet Beveridge Bean, Rick Rizzo, and Douglas McCombs return alongside James Elkington and Mark Greenberg.
The hour of music on this 2xLP takes the long road home, spacing out at the wheel and reveling in the journey - celebrating those along for the ride. This is not a record about what is lost, but what is still there, however nicked up and grazed it may be. Built from the bottom up, the 12 songs here start simply with acoustic guitar and a voice and layer a lush symphony of sound over the band’s most melodic tunes to-date.

After the exploration of snowy mountains of Alpestres, released on Hands in the Dark in 2018, French composer Matthias Puech ventures into new territories, sketching a cartography of the invisible where the journey, in chiaroscuro, is announced as a rite of passage. A Geography of Absence, as introspective as unpredictable, immerses the listener into a unique sensory whirlwind where organic matter becomes almost palpable. A researcher in theoretical computer science and an engineer at GRM, Matthias Puech constructs a dialog between synthetic music and field recording, capturing sounds that surround him and creating his own sonic language with the help of synthesizers he designs and develops; notably the Oscillator Ensemble and the Tapographic Delay, made by the American company 4ms.

Composed during a moment marked by ordeal and mourning, A Geography of Absence retraces an inner journey where the physicality of sound leads the listener into an initiatory tunnel filled with apparitions, ghosts, visions. With sound oscillations as a navigational map, we progress, step by step, through the meanders of an unknown world, dazzled by the prospect of a new synthetic horizon, an electronic biotope teeming with life and incarnations. Playing with time, space and matter in an approach similar to that of musique concrète, Matthias Puech combines ambient and noise, floating sounds and electroacoustic experimentations, thus shaking up our listening perspective, which finds itself walking through a parallel universe, strata after strata, sequence after sequence.

The trip begins with “Hollow”, as if on board a night train travelling at full speed through ghost towns. Or is it a spaceship? Removed from their original habitat, sounds – picked up during walks or moduled by synths – are free to be interpreted differently by everyone, according to the memories that shape us. Granular and metallic, this first piece takes us to an elsewhere in orbit. "Work Song" is built around the pulsation of the void, of space, where strange creatures and liquid emanations abound. We become fetus, cocoon coiled in the placenta, heart beating to the rhythm of the gooey choreography of the human body. "Chrysalis" awakens the racket that lies dormant in us, when the skin changes, when the transition takes place. One seems to recognize certain sounds stemming from nature but they could also be mirages, imitating reality to render the barely perceptible engulfing. “Tunnel Vision” brings out a herd of haunted bells, slowly swelling in a pastoral maelstrom, ending in a deafening buzz. Further on, the chirping of an animatronic bird mixes with the hooting of an owl: "A Faint Beacon" invokes a nocturnal vigil that mixes the crackling of a fire and icy gusts of wind blowing everything away. Like an epic, sucking the listener into the breach of a black hole in the center of the Milky Way, it's up to "Homeostasis" to conclude in the high spheres and contemplative vapors, where the balance of dawn announces a rebirth.

A Geography of Absence is a meticulous and sensitive piece that constructs a delicate symphony of extremes, between introspection and desire for the unknown. Accompanied by the ink work of the artist Léa Neuville, whose folds of prints sketch this imaginary atlas, Matthias Puech becomes a narrator of mental adventures. And succeeds once again in transcending reality to dig a path to the unspeakable.

First ever vinyl reissue of rare private pressed Florida Funk/Soul from 1980. Featuring founding members of 'The Winstons' (the 'Amen Break', most sampled track in electronic/hip hop music). 180g Black Vinyl Edition limited to 500 copies, comes with obi strip and insert featuring unseen pics & liner notes. Streetlife was a short-lived soul-funk band from the Tampa Bay area and released just one album in 1980. The group was composed out of several dynamic musicians (ranging from street players to college professors) but at that time nobody knew (yet) that their Nite Songs LP would become such a much sought-after private pressed holy grail within the record collecting community! Streetlife was founded in 1979 by Sonny Pekerol and Phil Tolotta who were both members of the top-selling 1960s Washington DC Grammy Award-winning hit band 'The Winstons'. Their track Amen, Brother is the most widely sampled instrumental in the history of the electronic music & hip hop genres_it would become known as the Amen Break. When `The Wintstons' story came to an end, Sonny Pekerol (founding member and originally playing the bass - then successfully evolving into the manager and promoter) and pianist/vocalist extraordinaire Phil Tolotta would continue their musical friendship/collaboration under the name `Streetlife'. Their high-energy sound got the attention of local crowds in no time_so the decision to record and cut a vinyl album came as a natural thing. Nite Songs (produced by Sonny & Phil, who also wrote the bulk of the songs) saw the light in 1980 and quickly gained attention and airplay (receiving radio & television coverage nation-wide). Described as the hottest band from the state of Florida, `Streetlife' had the magnetism to captivate you, be it on concerts, nightclubs or on vinyl. Other members included: Octavia (responsible for the amazing lead & backing vocals on the album), Mark Halisky (on keyboards & the writer of two songs on Nite Songs), Ray Butler (on drums), Mike Milhoan (on trumpet), Bryan Mann (on the guitar) and Stephen Nathan (playing the trombone, flugelhorn & doing the arrangements). Charles Davis also played bass in the band for a while (he and bandmate-drummer Ray Butler were members of the `Washington Jamb Band' back in 1977). Mike Flore (Sax) and Ramon Lopez (from the well-known `Stan Kenton Orchestra') would also join them on the Nite Songs recordings. Collectively `Streetlife' had more than 75 years of experience_and these extraordinary talents (with almost as many varying backgrounds) are meticulously coming together on the album we are presenting you today. The entire album is filled with sexy (yet strong) unique vocals that make the listener experience a lot of emotions, aggressive `slap & thumb' bass lines & small yet groovy horn sections _one can clearly hear the influences of artists like Otis Redding, Curtis Mayfield, as well as several Motown, acts like Marvin Gaye softly slipping in. If you like your songs either slow, sexy and groovy or prefer them fast-paced and more experimental & cosmic_look no further, Nite Songs has it all. This is THE perfect combination of slick soul, blasting Hammond B-3 organ funk, smooth jazz and melancholic R&B piano works. This album just begs for a prominent space in record collections fans and crate diggers worldwide!