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Bloodshot celebrates the 10th anniversary of No-Hit Wonder with this Barrel Select edition!

Barrel Select exists to highlight the best of Bloodshot’s cask-strength catalog and there’s no doubt that the No-Hit Wonder sits proudly on the top shelf.

“Your favorite songwriter’s favorite songwriter” according to Vice Magazine, Cory Branan, with songs covered by Frank Turner and Dashboard Confessional and a circle of friends and collaborators that includes Jason Isbell and the Hold Steady’s Craig Finn (who also grace this album’s credits as guest vocalists).

When it came out in 2014, all the people whose taste are worth a damn were raving about it, with Rolling Stone putting it on their list of that year’s best country albums.

With ten more years of aging, it’s only gotten better. It hasn’t mellowed, but it makes more sense now that the country mainstream has started to catch up to the level of outlaw cowpunk soul Cory was packing.

Our Branan-approved, Barrel Select edition stamps the sound onto Bloodshot Red vinyl and includes a full-size reproduction of the album’s 2014 promo poster with full lyrics and a new note from Cory on its backside.

Drink it in. It packs a punch.

Featuring appearances from Jason Isbell, Caitlin Rose, Craig Finn, and Tim Easton

10th Anniversary Barrel Select edition on Bloodshot Red vinyl

Includes a reproduction of the original promo poster, full lyrics

“Cory Branan is your favorite songwriter’s favorite songwriter” —Chicago Tribune

“He radiates talent” —Vice

“If you’re gazing slunk shouldered at your Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson records as so loved that you’re tired of listening to them, The No-Hit Wonder may just be the project to point your nose toward next. . . This is old school country rock at its finest” —Saving Country Music-

Crystal Clear Vinyl. Hamartia is the fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. A narrative tool often determining a character's arc (or fate) underpinning many of our favorite stories in film, literature, and music. Meredith Johnston, the singer-songwriter-producer at the heart of indie project Warm Human, borrowed the term for the title of her latest LP, and her first for Sooper Records. Hamartia finds Johnston probing the depths of her fatal flaw, self-hatred, without skimping on the catchy hooks and bracingly frank lyricism. "This whole album is pop music for deranged people" she says. Johnston wrote and produced the album with Chicago composer and producer Conor Mackey (Lynyn, Monobody, NNAMDI). Together, the pair crafted an album that draws liberally from its diverse influences, incorporating down-tempo electronics, drum n' bass, indie rock, synth pop, and elegant, unstructured soundscapes. Hamartia finds humanity in electronic music, with warm synths, guitars, and shape-shifting vocal stacks frequently creating a one-woman choir. Hamartia is buoyed by the best music of Warm Human's career, from the probing "Father Father" to the insightful "My Moods!!" and the musical dish session "Love 2 Hate." Inspired by Portishead, Sheryl Crow, Frou Frou and others, the LP can be both wryly funny and incisive in the span of a single couplet ("I asked for space and you gave me the moon," she sings on "My Moods!!" adding, "I'm riding shotgun with my shit attitude"). Hamartia is a perfect pop soundtrack for our current moment because its irresistible hooks and quotable lyrics are the opposite of empty escapism-they're an invitation to acknowledge your own struggles and flaws. To get in touch with your hamartia. Recommended if you like: Imogen Heap, Sylvan Esso, Madonna, Portishead, Frou Frou, Sophie, Postal Service, Sheryl Crow.

Phantastic Ferniture, the delightfully lightheaded project of Julia
Jacklin, Elizabeth Hughes, Ryan K Brennan and Tom Stephens,
release their self-titled debut album via Transgressive Records.
The mission is obvious: don't overthink it. These artists' shared
want to shake the shackles of their meticulously crafted solo
work to experience a second, giddy adolescence is evident in
the garage-pop perfection introduced today.
I'd gone straight into folk music,' says Jacklin, 'so every
experience I'd had on stage was playing sad music with a
guitar in my hand. I thought, I would love to know what it's like
to make people feel good and dance.'
Phantastic Ferniture's spiritual home may be the garage but
they were born in a bar, specifically the hallowed basement of
Frankie's Pizza in Sydney. One late night in 2014, on Jacklin's
birthday, a group hug manifested amid the pinball machines,
with all ten participants vowing to form a band. 'Only four of us
remembered the next day,' notes Hughes.
United by fern puns and a love of leisurewear, the band met up
whenever schedules would allow, writing songs and playing
smatterings of dates to an increasingly devoted audience.
Eventually it was decreed that this was no side project and an
album should follow. The result is one of the most enjoyable
albums of 2018. 'It feels really good,' Jacklin says with
satisfaction. 'It's like having an alter ego.'
A slice of defiant brilliance that feels effortless in its
execution.' - London In Stereo
LP pressed on pink vinyl with digital download code.
Press - Reviews in Clash, DIY, Q , Loud & Quiet, The Skinny. Radio - 6Music Lauren Laverne Track Of The Day
Online - DIY, Too Many Blogs, Most Radicalist, Giglist, London In
Stereo, Loud and Quiet, The Skinny, God Is In The TV Zine.

Cool Calm Pete has been featured in the past with MF Doom, RJD2, El-P, Morcheeba, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Aesop Rock, and others. More recently with Kool Keith, Real Bad Man, Heems, and Lee Scott.
Lost (Director’s Cut) kicks off Petes return with some new projects on deck.
Sometimes it takes time for something to establish its proper place in culture, and the modern-day discourse never fails to rush to label an album to be a classic or a flop. Then there are albums like Cool Calm Pete’s “LOST.” Adored by its dedicated fan base upon its original release in 2005 on Embedded Records and Definitive Jux, this record has continued to garner attention over the years from those who are familiar with it. While word-of-mouth alone may not have been sufficient to propel the album to mainstream success, its enduring popularity two decades later is a testament to its well-deserved recognition as an indie rap cult classic. The Korean-American emcee born as Pete Chung wasn’t asking to be a pioneer but having been raised in Queens NY during the golden era of hip hop, rhyming better than his peers just naturally became his identity. Throughout his debut album, his slow-paced, conversational flow fit like a glove to the self-produced “working class” beats that color most of the album. His education in fine arts as a painter and his day-job with a then-burgeoning lifestyle brand called Supreme sometimes took precedence in his professional life, but his dedication to the craft as a hip hop artist was evident, and fans took notice. The album hasn’t been re-released since its initial 2005 drop. and vinyl copies haven’t sold on the collectors’ market for less than $100 in years. With its first official re-release, the laws of supply-and-demand will surely alter that market, and chances are that with more ears to hear the album, those original pressings will only become hotter. In the meantime, the new “LOST (Director’s Cut)” has been re-mastered and extended for release on Cool Calm Pete’s own label Bubble Wife Records, with never-before-heard cuts led by a remix of the title track by Blockhead. Find it.

Tijs Vanneste, succesvol muzikant én tv-maker, komt met zijn eerste eigen plaat 'Over De Helft'.

Als deel van het iconische duo 'Van Echelpoel' werd het hoog tijd voor Vanneste om zijn eigen muzikale pad te bewandelen.

Tijs scoorde al eerder met albums in functie van zijn televisiewerk: 'Hier Is Het Goed' en 'Wildgroei' maakten deel uit van zijn gelauwerde televisieprogramma 'De Kempen' op VRT1. Dit nieuwe project wordt gedreven door zijn persoonlijke passie en mag gelabeld worden zoals iedereen in deze woelige tijden dat zelf wilt: een daad van egoïsme, nakend narcisme of gewoon een uiterst hoge nood aan een eigen creatieve uitlaatklep.

'Over De Helft' is geen toevallige schepping, integendeel, het is een belichaming van elementen die voor Tijs van onschatbare waarde zijn: humor, diepgang en plezier doordrenkt met wereldwijde muzikale invloeden zoals Reggae, Dub en Slavische klanken.

Zoals we van Vanneste gewoon zijn wordt dit alles op zijn eigen hardnekkige en eigenwijze manier van uitdrukken gepresenteerd: het authentieke en ondertussen tot wereldtaal verheven Kempense dialect.

De titel van dit zelfverklaard meesterwerk is treffend: 'Over De Helft'. Want laat dat nu de plek zijn waar Tijs zich bevindt: bijna 45 jaar oud en vooral erg blij met waar hij nu voor en in het leven staat: eerlijk en rechtdoorzee. Nummers als 'Talent' en 'De Kempen' vertellen over vroeger, nu en... later.

In het allerbeste geval is 'Over De Helft' een stimulans voor zowel lichaam als geest of op zijn minst een plaat die je doet dansen, lachen en verlangen naar een eeuwigdurende zomer.

Instrumental rock is alive is the motto of the VAL EXPERIENCE BAND, the new project from
rock-metal guitarist and composer Valéry Granson (aka Val). As a fan of instrumental rock,
which reached its peak in the 80s and 90s and still fascinates him, he decided to record his
first solo album, OSMIUM.
His major influences lie somewhere between Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Andy Timmons, Joey
Tafolla , Ritchie Kotzen, Jeff Beck , Jimi Hendrix, Paul Gilbert, Eric Johnson, Santana, Queen,
Frank Zappa and many others. Instrumental rock is alive...
The VAL EXPERIENCE BAND is a project worth discovering, whether on album or in concert,
for an experience that will not leave you indifferent.

Die größten internationalen Hits der 80er, 90er und 2000er Jahre in einer exklusiven Doppel-Vinyl-Kollektion! Entdecken Sie die wichtigsten Künstler, die ihre Jahrzehnte geprägt haben!

With extensive practical and academic understanding of the ‘remix’ process, Stian Balducci takes on the role of audio architect in this refined and redesigned remix album.

His meticulous approach has not replaced, but built upon Kjetil Jerve’s piano material and boasts a thorough dedication to mood and timbre through-out. The outcome combines new strokes of colour and delicately layered textures, offering fresh perspectives to an old canvas. The aural landscape takes shape in progressive, parabolic pulsations, coupled with sparse, rhythmic heart-throbs that embody the faint silhouettes of drum reverberations. This atmospheric landscape is complimented with subtle, pensive keys from Kjetil’s piano recordings that add emotional depth to the work and pay diligent tribute to the free structures of jazz.

The final project may be understood as a window, giving view to life’s sentient and evocative themes, without ever infringing on their delicacy. The sonic progressions tap into nature’s cycles through meditative repetition and offer the listener some brief respite from innate human habits of over-thinking.

As the contents of the album unfold, we are taken reassuringly by the hand to familiar, foreign lands, filled with curious sonorous tales and subtle insights that shed light on a world of deeper perception.

In keeping with the communal ethos of Dugnad Rec, ‘Tokyo Tapes: Piano Recycle’ reflects a thoughtful exchange between Stian and Kjetil. Stian professed that the project went ahead with just one rule: “to work only with the original source material, no external samples or sound sources”. This puritan approach spotlights a shared characteristic between them; namely, a unified desire to explore vibrations and a wholistic dedication to sound experimentation.

SWASTIKAS FOR NODDY is possibly, probably, maybe, or not, a seminal and sidereal masterpiece, the inspiration for 93,000 Masks On Nothings, none of which were Groovy. For me, well, it was my first Hallucinatory PickNick, and the skies turned Pixie Red for it.

I was given the album’s title during an Acid Trip: seeing Noddy Crucified In The Sky, I asked God what the most inappropriate BirthDay present for Noddy might be. God answered me from the Acid Whirlwind: “Swastikas!”

I recorded her in a run-down basement studio in West London, whilst I was simultaneously recording IMPERIUM. On playing the finished album to certain well-chosen friends, I was told by them that I had “destroyed Current 93”, and that it sounded like “demented children on drugs singing Simon & Garfunkel in a playground”. I then knew the album sounded exactly as I had dreamed it to sound, and as God had intended it to sound. Had I ditched the earlier darkness, and skipped into flowered fields? Great Black Time had already told me “NO!—GO!”

Remastered by The Bricoleur at Bladud Flies!, and with the original artwork refreshed and reborn by Rob Hopeye, this 12” vinyl picture-disc comes in a full-colour die-cut sleeve, which is printed on both the outside and inside.

This is one of the first 4 reissues of the entire back catalogue of C93 on picture-disc and standard vinyl, in the lead-up to the publication of my autobiography at the end of 2025, whilst I also work on many other recording, publishing, and painting projects, and Watch And Pray! Each release in the picture-disc vinyl reissues series is limited to 1,000 copies, and the titles will not be repressed as picture-discs once they have sold out.

Katharine Whalen of Squirrel Nut Zippers fame, makes a triumphant return with her Jazz Squad featuring Austin Riopel on guitar, Danny Grewen on trombone, and the great Griffanzo on pianos. This time the chanteuse delivers an entire album of breezy west coast jazz sounds in the form of a tribute to Chet Baker. It was around 1996 when Katharine Whalen first made her grand entrance onto culture’s collective radar as the sultry, yet effervescent voice of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, where she remained until their initial disbandment around the turn of the century.

In addition to the Zippers putting dixieland jazz on the pop charts in the 1990s, they sneakily introduced an unsuspecting "alternative" crowd to jazz music. Her cultural impact was also felt when she voiced the song "You You You You You" a standout track from Stephin Merritt's (The Magnetic Fields) project titled The 6ths. That song would also find its way into commercials and the film Pieces of April. After recording one solo album for Mammoth Records shortly after leaving the Zippers, Whalen stepped out of the public eye.

However, she’s remained very much in the spotlight of one unique small town; Hillsborough, NC, which has been referred to as Twin Peaks meets Northern Exposure. It’s a surreal literary, liberal Mayberry. If you find yourself in this Southern portal, you can find Katharine Whalen's Jazz Squad playing monthly in a cocktail bar appropriately named Yonder. The album was recorded in an old chapel in Hillsborough by North Carolinian royalty, Jerry Kee (Polvo, Superchunk, The Kingsbury Manx). Each song was recorded with the band all playing together in the same room, the way the old jazz records used to be put to tape.

Betty Boo is a Hip Hop pioneer and 90's icon, as well as a a multiplatinum selling, Brit- and Ivor Novello- Award-winning singer, songwriter,
and producer from West London
After a chance meeting in McDonalds on Shepherd's Bush Green, she ended up
supporting Public Enemy on tour in the US with her Hip Hop trio The She Rockers.
In 1989, she featured as guest vocalist on The Beatmasters' Top 10 single - Hey
DJ/I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing).
Her first solo single - Doin' The Do - was released the following year and
announced Betty Boo as a phenomenon in her own right. Betty Boo released two
albums - Boomania and GRRR! It's Betty Boo - and then mostly retired from the
public eye. 2022 saw the unexpected return of Betty Boo with her incredible
album Boomerang.
Betty Boo now returns with a new project, 'Rip Up The Rulebook'. "I loved making
Boomerang so much that I kept writing. I'm very proud of these songs and grateful
to be back creating music full time. The album title Rip Up The Rulebook is my
response to stereo- typical ideas about what women should be doing in their fifties.
I have never had so much fun making music (with my friends Andy Wright and Gavin
Goldberg). Long may it continue".
Live dates for 2024 to be announced. Upcoming performance at London's
Islington Assembly Hall on June 15th.

The third studio album "Pyramid" by The Alan Parsons Project was originally released in May 1978. As with other APP albums, the focus was on very high-quality studio sound production. "Pyramid" was a worldwide hit, achieving platinum and gold status in numerous territories including the USA, Germany and Canada. Limited edition 180g Heavyweight Clear Vinyl LP Half speed remastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road studios.

On 'Be Am' (now available only vinyl), Norwegian pianist, composer and
producer Bugge Wesseltoft has allowed his creative impulses to wander
where they may - no pre-set rules to govern the composition and
production, no obligations to (not) use electronics, not even a will to be
totally alone: this is pure playing and composition, where the music
speaks freely by whatever means it will
In the 25 years since Wesseltoft founded Jazzland Recordings, he has engaged in
numerous group projects and collaborations such as New Conception of Jazz,
duos with the likes of Sidsel Endresen, Henning Kraggerud and Henrik Schwarz,
one- off projects such as Trialogue, Bugge and Friends, and OKWorld! And of
course, the super- trio Rymden. However, it is in his solo material that we can
glimpse the true soul behind the effervescent and mercurial mind of one of the
most influential and important Norwegian musicians of an entire generation.
Many of the pieces here have the feeling of being wordless songs - indeed, no
words are needed when the notes convey all that is needed on tracks like "Tide"
or "State". The arrival of Håkon Kornstad on the track pairing of "Emergence" and
"Roads" shifts the mood from one of peace within solitude to peace within
company, the latter track being an understated dialogue, a musical soundtrack for
watching the world hustling and bustling, or sleeping its way towards a new day.
Tracks such as "Messenger", "Green" and "Be Am" throw more angular shapes,
musical shadow-play where unexpected progressions shift to moments of gospel
uplift before taking unanticipated shifts towards unexpected harmony. With "Life",
kalimba accompanied by birdsong loops, carrying us into a piece that takes
tentative but exact steps between positions, like tai chi in musical form.
"Sunbeams through leaves softly rustling" closes the album with that beautiful
Satie-like melodic simplicity that Bugge has made his own.

This album was a self imposed ambitious project for us. Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with. I demo’d everything at home on cassette 4 track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it 'til I had a pile of “songs”. Tom and I chose one sound each using synths and created a range of 3 octaves of that sample, then loaded them into Roland SPD-SX samplers and learned the transcribed songs using drum sticks. The idea was to change the way we wrote and to have 4 people along the front of the stage essentially playing percussion. So no guitar, no keys. As we were recording I kept thinking how the sounds, when paired up, sounded a bit like brass. So, we added a saxophone horn section to round out the horniness of the sound with a bit of reedy bell tones. Thanks to Cansfis Foote & Brad Caulkins on tenor and Baritone saxophones :) Sort of a Dexy’s Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk. Poppy and hooky, heavy at times.. Sort of vacuous and maybe a bit sci-fi in sound. Boneheaded in riff and heady in lyrics. Recorded at Stu-Stu-Studio by me on 8 track 1/4” tape . So pretty hot and raw. Lots to write about today. A lot of these lyrics were taken from things people said in passing about taking on life right now that stuck with me. Things that made me reflect. Things that made me laugh. Things that made me WTF. Some folks are kind, genuine & give you love and energy. Some are greedy manipulative ghouls who hang off your veins. You must be strong, composed and take care of yourself. Be self aware and check your mind for cracks. Learn to relax and be well. There are moments of beauty and redemption. Its not all bad news and there’s always hope. People continue to surprise me one way or another. Anyhow, Hope you enjoy and good luck out there. — John Dwyer

Hear the brutal anguish and aural suffering! LG Records has gathered out-of-print and unreleased recordings by two of San Diego’s more infamous and obscure punk bands from the very early 1990’s onto one blistering split LP. Often remembered merely as side-projects of Heroin and End of the Line, Sloog (aka Slug) and Brain Tourniquet were standalone outfits that were beloved locally but barely made any impact outside of the local San Diego scene. Sloog were heavy, tortuous, and disturbing. Fronted by mysterious and odiferous local character “Justinman”, Sloog sounded like they could have been the lovechild of Savage Republic and United Mutation. Brain Tourniquet were a younger thrash band who were noticeably inspired by contemporaries like Born Against and Crossed Out. Primitive and sublime, members went on to bigger things, but this was the not-so-humble beginning. The first release for each band was the 1991 Slug/Brain Tourniquet split cassette, released as Gravity Records #0. Copies of this tape were sold at local shows and during Brain Tourniquet’s west coast tour with Heroin. Sloog would record multiple demos in 1990 and 1991, and in the end they recorded what became their only vinyl release, 1992’s Pigs 7”. The material on this LP was pulled together from all of these recordings. Punish yourself with the Slug / Brain Tourniquet / Sloog vinyl LP out now on LG Records. Caution: this record may emit visible stink-lines into the air of your household. Open a window while enjoying the soothing sounds of Slow Death, circa 1991. 180-gram black vinyl only, 500 pressed, 28 pt tip-on jackets with printed inner sleeve.

Acclaimed Canadian electronic producer Francis Latreille, known as Priori, unveils his new singles "Learn To Fly" and “Segue” today, marking the first releases from his upcoming third album, This But More. "Learn To Fly" offers a taste of the album's lush, dubby techno soundscapes, while "Segue" showcases the album's ambient side. Arriving May 24th via NAFF, This But More marks a sonic departure for the artist, exploring a richly textured landscape of electroacoustic compositions inspired by literature, cinema, and the transformative power of nature.

Priori delved into This But More from September 2023 to March 2024, drawing upon archival recordings and fresh ideas. "This album is about healing," Priori explains. "Not necessarily 'music that heals', but about the process in its ups and downs, its beauty and uncertainty." Themes of protection, healing, sleep, and decay naturally emerged during the creative journey.

To craft this immersive world, Priori collaborated extensively. Writer and musician Devon Hansen penned a series of "Suggested Stories" to accompany the album, adding depth to its lore. Musically, Priori teamed up with James K, Ben Bondy, Sabola, Adam Feingold, and Jesse Osborne-Lanthier, infusing the album with diverse instrumentation, including violin, guitar, software instruments, and field recordings.

This collaborative spirit extends to the album's striking visuals. Jesse Orsborne Lanthier designed the main and single artworks, while Ulysse De Lezenne crafted a unique jewel, both pieces seamlessly connected to the album's narrative.

The intricate world-building sets This But More apart. "It's the biggest collaborative project I have tackled so far," Priori notes. This spirit of exploration extends to the second single, “Wake”, featuring Priori's first vocal collaboration with close friend Jamie Krasner (James K).

Priori's artistic process is grounded in self-awareness and intuition, asking vital questions about how each element serves the greater purpose of the music. Swimming sessions between studio work provided clarity and focus throughout the album's creation. These meditative moments reflect in the music, inviting listeners into a contemplative, dreamlike state.

Beyond music, Priori draws inspiration from the literary worlds of Gene Wolfe, Ursula K LeGuin, China Mieville, Brian Caitlin, the evocative games of Hidetaka Miyazaki and Yoko Taro, as well as the ever-evolving beauty of myths and nature.

Sumer Is Icumen In is Quentin Thirionet's (Dhavali Giri, Pairi Daeza) debut album. Still, his musical escapades are vast and varied, based almost entirely on improvisation and live recordings, of which he occasionally distributes tapes without further information. Elusive to categorization and identification, unwilling to fix his musical activity under a stable pseudonym, his projects have ranged from gypsy jazz guitar swings, French traditional songs from Auvergne, and various experimental collaborations. Increasingly closer to electronic instrumentation, he crafted what Belgian label KRAAK presents here as Maibaum, his first ever solo output. As the title goes, this may be a maypole on which his multicolored sonic visions spring about.

Former rope access worker and currently a farmer of organic greens, Thirionet lives up to these lines of work as a musician. He assembles precisely what seems like a subtle balance between high manmade structures and soft fertilized soils; a high voltage pylon placed in a biotic landscape. It's all an even blend, spontaneous and steady, but this contraption comes from profound considerations. "I chose these tracks among many others," says Quentin, "because I heard the melodies all the time in my mind, and because I cried while playing them without really understanding why."
Armed with nothing more than a blackbox, a sequencer, a freeze pedal, and a tape player, Thirionet orchestrates a vivid rite of polished futures. At times reminiscent of Hans-Joachim Roedelius' enveloping arrangements, Maibaum's ambiances rely on mild repetitive patterns subsequently textured by prickling sprouts, mechanic dislocations and revamps that stoke and brighten the stirring motions. Jim O'Rourke's I'm Happy and I'm Singing comes to mind in terms of its detailed and prismatic nature, but Sumer Is Incumen In has its particular narrative. It's a tale of regeneration, of spring's delicate procedures and allure, a celebration of gracious and fortunate junctions between nature and machinery.

The album unfolds like a massive engine being made flesh to drift along the ether of a sultry land. The terrain turns pleasant and fertile in the title track; the colors and melodies of May start to unravel. Chromatic columns rise and define the scenery's depth of field breeding a synesthetic stream between crystal lights and warbling organisms. Grande Albero Buono Magico Uoma's brisk kaleidoscopic arpeggios sound like scanning a tree's litmus foliage. Then Ciguri takes us back to the foggy swamp of the beginning but is suddenly lit by an insect’s labyrinthine roundabout. The Jeweled Grid is a poem Quanta Qualia's lustrous metallic voice recites as a report of the album's phenomena. "Shiny revelations jump out. Pearls of thought flicker about." Images from within that distill to swirl around among us. The thicket dissolves as the album concludes calmly in Le Concept De Chien N'aboie Pas. Swaying under sieved solar light, leaves and branches tingle until the winds grow weak. All the warm creatures gathered along the way, and all those who danced around the maypole's splendid equilibrium now withdraw, folding up small to foster rebirth once again.

José Badía Berner

This album was a self imposed ambitious project for us. Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with. I demo’d everything at home on cassette 4 track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it 'til I had a pile of “songs”. Tom and I chose one sound each using synths and created a range of 3 octaves of that sample, then loaded them into Roland SPD-SX samplers and learned the transcribed songs using drum sticks. The idea was to change the way we wrote and to have 4 people along the front of the stage essentially playing percussion. So no guitar, no keys. As we were recording I kept thinking how the sounds, when paired up, sounded a bit like brass. So, we added a saxophone horn section to round out the horniness of the sound with a bit of reedy bell tones. Thanks to Cansfis Foote & Brad Caulkins on tenor and Baritone saxophones :) Sort of a Dexy’s Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk. Poppy and hooky, heavy at times.. Sort of vacuous and maybe a bit sci-fi in sound. Boneheaded in riff and heady in lyrics. Recorded at Stu-Stu-Studio by me on 8 track 1/4” tape . So pretty hot and raw. Lots to write about today. A lot of these lyrics were taken from things people said in passing about taking on life right now that stuck with me. Things that made me reflect. Things that made me laugh. Things that made me WTF. Some folks are kind, genuine & give you love and energy. Some are greedy manipulative ghouls who hang off your veins. You must be strong, composed and take care of yourself. Be self aware and check your mind for cracks. Learn to relax and be well. There are moments of beauty and redemption. Its not all bad news and there’s always hope. People continue to surprise me one way or another. Anyhow, Hope you enjoy and good luck out there. — John Dwyer

The first project in this exciting new series, Red Hot & Ra – Nuclear War LP, is an album of political and social commentary, stemming from the incomparable Sun Ra track “Nuclear War”. Sun Ra’s 1982 track “Nuclear War” is an intense and potent call to action against the use of nuclear weapons and the potential for their use to inflict global destruction. The track is a stark reminder of the consequences of human carelessness and ignorance and the potential for our own demise. Originally written in response to the Three Miles Island incident in Pennsylvania in 1979, close to where The Arkestra was living at the time, in Philadelphia. The song may have been written in reaction to a very specific incident, but its relevance only grows.

"Té De Flores Silvestres" is the result of the dialogue between the Belgium photographer Michael Roemers and the Argentinian musician Federico Durand initiated by IIKKI, between February 2023 and May 2024.

Federico Durand’s music is a weave of sound searching introspection and delight through simple melodies, made in the heart of Argentina. Federico likes music, gardens, John Keats’ poetry, collecting stamps and Earl Grey tea. Since 2010 he has been released on some labels such as 12k, Home Normal, IIKKI, Spekk, White Paddy Mountain, LAAPS and more.

Michael Roemers, a child of the borders, was born in 1987 in the Belgian village of Plombières, studying sound at the Institute of Broadcasting Arts in 2008. He discovered the power of the image, and became passionate about photography. He began his photographic career following Belgian underground music bands as they toured Europe, capturing crazy moments on stage and backstage. Then, he decided to devote himself to a personal project, to capture his native Wallonie region, highlighting the richness and a part of these Belgian traditions region while exploring the themes of identity, memory and membership.
Since 2021, Michael Roemers has added a new string to his bow by running the Vice Versa podcast with his partner Sébastien Van Malleghem. This podcast explores the themes of photography, art and culture by giving voice to renowned guests in these fields. Té De Flores Silvestres is his first book.

Fine Art Book, Ltd. to 400 copies:
Hardcover book printed on Glossy Modern Paper 170g/m2 // 80 pages, 19cm x 22.5cm, 50 photos // Front cover points and back cover logo embossed // Selective UV varnish // Hand-numbered.

When Mano asked Gebrüder Teichmann to do a remix for Joãozinho Morgado, the King of Drums (O Rei dos Tambores) the two brothers couldn´t get more excited:
Starting from a love for dirty fast Kuduro beats those two pale potatoes, who spent years in dark Berlin basement underground clubs have been infected by energetic Angolan rhythms.
During their stays and musical collaborations in Luanda, they soon found Semba, Kazukuta, Kilapanga, Rumba and Merengue and all that fantastic musicians and music of the 60´s and 70´s golden age of Angolan music. Morgadinho was originally recorded at Gravisom studio in Lisbon, where Joãozinho Morgado orchestrated a groovy jam session with the Turma da Bênção project by Conjunto Angola 70 & Paulo Flores. Joãozinho was accompanied by Botto Trindade (Solo Guitar), Pirika Duia (Viola Ritmo), Mayo Bass (Viola Bass) and Galiano Neto (Percussion). The session was coordinated by Armando Gobliss.

Highly anticipated 3rd album by FIGHT THE FIGHT. "Shah Of Time" is their most ambitious record to date. Just came back from an extensive European tour with Leprous. Previously shared the stage with Satyricon, High On Fire, Hatebreed, Devind Townsend Project and more!

With a new line-up, a fresh inspirational breeze caught Fight the Fight. This led the band into a psychedelic metal universe and sent them into a genre bending fusion of prog and metalcore. This drift has sparked growing interest and anticipation to the bands upcoming
release. Fight The Fights third album "Shah Of Time" is their most ambitious record to date and is set to be released May 31st 2024. With three new singles out from the upcoming album, Fight the Fight have seen an exceptional rise in numbers gaining more that 30.000
monthly listeners on Spotify alone. The new constellation just came back from an extensive European tour with Leprous, after holding back on live performances in 2023. This year Fight the Fight are ready to fully blow the mind out of their rapidly growing new audience, and fans can expect even more exciting tours and live dates when the album is released.

Veiga lands straight on the dancefloor, no ambiguity about it. Spurred by the guys from RS Produções, he's been honing his DJ skills since he was 17 (currently 23), initially with partner Nunocoox, who gave him even more motivation. Production came naturally sometime in 2020. We venture: maybe one of the good things coming out of the lockdown? Summer of '22, his debut at Musicbox (at the Príncipe monthly residency) is recorded as a festive, lively set, punctuated by the kind of crowd shouts only heard when things go really happy and sweaty. Since then, Veiga's name has been spotted regularly in the afro club scene, growing in reputation

This side of kuduro, "Leandro" is as expressive as it gets, with percussive forces pulling in deceitfully different directions, much in the same style as the slower form of tarraxo. But we can call this house, yeah? No niceties, however: little over 3 minutes and the track abruptly cuts into silence, exuding the raw power of something made for the mix, not in the least "for the people". In a similar pragmatic mode, the stabs in "Sem Nome" get the party started unannounced. Full mode, for the duration. Minimal groove, broken beats and emotive highlights. "Boiler Room" may be wishful thinking, an interpretation of what is required to rock the place or, ultimately, just a title to wrap up the project. In any case, here's a feisty vocal-and-whistle driven stormer, building up to perfection over three and a half minutes. All elements exactly where they belong. Relentless pace in "X de Destroi", a dark side operation, unreal ambiance, breakneck beats, a purgation?

The title "Tudo É No Guetto" contains all the necessary theory. Everything happens in the ghetto. This uplifting house slab celebrates life as it is, freezing hardships for a moment, the ghetto seen as welcoming, a natural place to be. Vocals stashed away in his cell phone come from the animação crew Os Twinni (he joined them for a while). Clipped, repeated and manipulated to convey the very simple feeling of good times. Veiga himself talks about growing up with minimum resources but still happy. That is the memory he retains from being a kid in the ghettos of Amadora, just outside of Lisbon, born to a Cape Verdean father and Portuguese mother. Though the music sounds carefree and the message is chilled, let us not be tempted to rebrand Reality.

"For A Fleeting Moment" is the result of the dialogue between the Swiss photographer Simone Kappeler and the Japanese musician Tomotsugu Nakamura initiated by IIKKI, between March 2023 and May 2024.

Tomotsugu Nakamura is a musician and graphic designer residing in Tokyo, Japan. His primary artistic practice is to compose music with some fragments of minimal acoustic and electronic tones and some field recordings. In Concert, he he has played with various genre of musicians and his works have been released by Kaico, Audiobulb Records, and more recently by the French label LAAPS.

Born in 1952 in Frauenfeld (Switzerland) where she lives and works, Simone Kappeler started taking pictures at the age of 11. After studying German literature and art history, she studied photography at the Zurich University of the Arts. During a three-month trip to the United States in 1981, she took her first pictures using cheap cameras, especially the Diana camera.
Hasselblad, Leica, Diana, Brownie, Polaroid, disposable camera, expired or infrared films, since 1970, Simone Kappeler has explored all types of photographic techniques. Her work, experimental and poetic, reveals to us the curiously foreign world that surrounds us.
Since 1982, ongoing projects in southern France and the Grisons.1982/83, studio in New York, conceptual photography and Super 8 films. 1983/84, theater photographer, Schauspielhaus Zürich. 2009, six-week photographic study of Japan, 2015 studio in New York. Her work was the subject of a first monograph: "Seile. Fluss. Nacht. Fotografien 1964–2011", edited by Hatje Cantz and is regularly exhibited in Galleries and Museum in Europe and United States.
For A Fleeting Moment is her first book gathered exclusively a part of her wide polaroid works from 2011 to 2023.

Fine Art Book, Ltd. to 700 copies:
Hardcover book printed on Glossy Modern Paper 170g/m2 // 104 pages, 19cm x 22.5cm, 66 photos // Front cover points and back cover logo embossed // Selective UV varnish // Hand-numbered.

2024 Repress

Favorite Recordings presents Remixes by Voilaaa, a new EP built with exclusive versions of some of its biggest hits. Known for its Afro-Disco sound and strong dancefloor-friendly festive bangers, these new mixes bring another light to the successful project of Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart.

On A Side, Voilaaa asked famous Brooklyn-based producer and remixer JKriv (Razor-N-Tape) to provide even more club energy to "Ku La Foon (feat. Lass)”, originally released on Voilaaa's third and last album. The result is a powerful bomb that won't give any rest to the crowd.

The tracklist goes on with "Ben Bene La (feat. Lass)” reworked by Patchworks himself in a very Latin way, taking inspiration from the NY scene and its dancers, "Spanish Harlem" and Mongo Santamaria. You've got to play it loud and we're pretty sure you'll see some special moves on the dancefloor.

On B side, you'll hear another Patchworks remix, this time with probably one of Voilaaa's biggest hits, "Spies Are Watching Me (feat Sir Jean)”. In the footsteps of Moodymann, Masters At Work or the UK Garage scene, Patchworks delivers here some of his classic house music energy. You may know he started his career with house music: he transformed this anthem into a proper deep house cut with the same passion!

Finally, Voilaaa remixed himself! Working on "Tu Mens Devant Moi (feat. Ramatou Traore)”, Voilaaa carries the arrangement closer to the Angolese and Cape Verdean sound, reminding also the sound of Super Mama Djombo from Guinea Bissau. A tropical cut that will bring more and more sunshine to the club.

10-piece UK afro-fusion outfit TC & The Groove Family are proud to share their new EP ‘We Have Each Other’. Releasing on Friday 7th June via Bridge The Gap, the project sees the band refine the sound debuted on their 2022 album ‘First Home’. Returning to work once again with producer Tom Excell (Nubiyan Twist, ONIPA), the project explores a darker sonic palette, channelling a deep appreciation of UK bass and electronic music alongside afro-jazz sounds and hip-hop sensibilities.

The record documents a time of change within the group - a new lineup, plus members living in different cities and pursuing various paths - whilst also reflecting the turbulent socio-political climate, and the major shifts and changes on the horizon for humanity. However, despite the heavy subject material, the band strike an optimistic, uplifting tone, with MC Franz Von channeling the music into a message encouraging listeners to look around and embrace
community, whatever that may look like. Bandleader Tim Cook shares:

“Our collective purpose is to craft music that empowers and energises individuals to embrace their true selves with pride, celebrating the unity and strength we radiate as one community. No one needs to be alone when they are striving for common humanity. No one should be lonely when we celebrate each other, drawn together by a sound that says it’s good to be me, it’s better to be us. As our MC, Franz Von says, music brings peace, love & energy”.

Opener and lead single ‘Stand Strong’ is a love letter to afrobeat, creating a contemporary twist with its Khruangbin-esque guitar lines and weaving horns, whilst ‘Here, Now’ takes the tempo down to an atmospheric haze of dubbed-out ambient effects, pierced by uplifting horn melodies. ‘Blessed’ sees the group welcome Nubiyan Twist’s Aziza Jaye for a dancehall-meets-North African-flavoured feature, subtly reimagining what Elephunk era Black Eyed Peas would
sound like today.

At the EP’s centre-point and emotional peak, title track ‘We Have Each Other’ showcases the band’s jazz fusion, Latin and dark electronic influences. The tracks growling, subbed-out bass tones return as a theme for ‘Wile Out’ - a UK hip-hop & jungle tinged collaboration with SANITY complete with virtuosic, tight-knit grooves, furious horn lines and a whirlwind of immersive turntablism.

Originally formed in Leeds, TC & The Groove Family’s sound reflects the diverse musical and cultural backgrounds at the core of the project, with songs exploring grooves and genres including afrobeat, broken beat, jungle, jazz and grime. Their music has drawn widespread acclaim, supported by tastemakers including Jamz Supernova and Craig Charles on BBC Radio 6, BBC Introducing West Yorkshire, Jazz FM, Rinse FM, Radio FIP and more. The group have performed at the likes of Glastonbury, We Out Here, Greenman and Boomtown, and will embark on a UK tour across May & June in support of the release of ‘We Have Each Other’.

Missing out on that super-chill, uber-jittery minimal groove thing? Let"s get real, real Ghosted again. Oren Ambarchi has been collaborating with the Fire! trio (Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin) for over a decade - and both Johan and Andreas played on Oren"s Live Hubris as well. Oren and Johan began music-making together back in the early aughts - but it wasn"t until 2021 that the three of them got together to record music. That became the first Ghosted album. When they were done, it was clear they had founded a new group. A music of sustained tension and deep atmosphere marked by subtle, shifting dynamics, Ghosted was released in May of 2022 to psyched response everywhere; the trio embarked upon an ongoing series of concert bookings around Europe, with loads of other people in the world still hoping to have the chance to be in the room at the next show. Two years on, Ghosted has gone through several represses, now it"s time for the "dreaded follow up album"! Rather than go back to the well, the guys decided to tear everything down and start all over again, reimagining themselves from scratch. Just kidding! As we"ve noted, Oren, Johan and Andreas have been playing together for years and years, developing an essential telepathy within their shared space. They get each other and feed each other"s music processes on an elemental level. Why change that? What made the most sense was to go back to Daneil Bengtsson at Studio Rymden in Stockholm for a couple days, then have Oren and Joe Talia mix and Joe master it at Good Mixture in Melbourne again, then get Pål Dybwik to do some well-distinctive cover art, and once more, call it a record. That"s just what they did - and it should be no surprise at all that the new Ambarchi/ Berthling/Werliin album looks and sounds as engrossing as their debut, if not more so! Ghosted II has a definitively fresh quality radiating throughout. The mutual feeling among the three players goes deep, allowing for lots more to say every time they get together - a further recombination of elements, a new expedition through alternative angles... there"s always more, and incredibly, it"s all improvised, with next-to-nothing prepared going in and minimal overdubs after they"ve laid things down. References are shared in shorthand, with just a single word, like "Santana," or "Police" acting as working titles for certain pieces on this record (have a guess!). It"s a disservice to call them jams: above and beyond the innate feel of the songs, there"s a strong sense of structure, informed by the band"s communal aesthetic, and edified immeasurably by their time spent in concert the last couple years. As noted at the top, these guys balance their music improbably between a relaxed feel and a nervy resolve, as each member holds down their corner in an open sound field. Making Ghosted II, the band found that there"s a different kind of tension making something for an established project rather than the kind one feels making something for the first time - and they used this new variety, as before, as a kind of fuel - driving their terse minimalism fruit-fully through the process of succumbing to and then transcending guilty pleasures. Finding fresh territory in funk sketches, jazzy heads, ambient pastorals and droning soundtrack pieces, Ambarchi, Berthling and Werliin compellingly haunt a mad variety of spaces, leaving us wanting to get Ghosted II.

In the history of Black American soul music many recording artists have been called “Legends” some deservedly and perhaps some not so deserving of this current over used accolade? I might be a tad biased here, perhaps? but in my book one James Howard McCelland a.k.a Jesse James has surely earned the right to be called a “Legend” this octogenarian performer has weathered many storms and shifts in musical trends and styles over the years but like the trouper that he is albeit in lower keys these days he still manages time and time again to come up with the goods! “Back On Top Again” is Jesse James latest production album, a project filled with recent and current recordings in a southern soul style that has likened in passing by several respected soul scribes to the Malaco Sound I’ll let the record buying public make their own minds up on that one, I’m sure veteran DJ Bob Jones won’t mind me using his quote below:

The album also features two of Jesse’s friend’s with Donnie McKisic providing the rapping and additional backing vocals on the upbeat “I Lost My Baby On Face Book” and Shirley Diamond who you may recall from Soul Junction’s recent 45 release “You Don’t Know Who You Sleeping With” (SJ1021) returning with another excellent Diamond & James duet “Another Love Lay Over” as a further foot note the featured song “I’d Be A Fool 2 Fool Around On You” is an excellent cover version of what was a previously unissued Harvey Scales song until Soul Junction released it as the flipside their thirteenth 45 single release way back in 2011.

Album Sleeve Notes:

At the dawn of the 1960’s a young aspiring soul singer from Richmond, California by the name of James H. McClelland was honing his performing skills in several local nightclubs. At one particular show the compere struggled to pronounce the young performer’s surname and to hide his embarrassment he hurriedly introduced him as ‘Jesse James’, which became Jesse’s Stage name to the present day.

Jesse’s big break came through his aunt who at that time just happened to be dating West Coast Blues and R&B Legend Jimmy McCracklin. The aunt suggested to McCracklin the he should take a listen to her talented nephew, suitably impressed McCracklin produced Jesse on a song he’d written “I Will Go” for the local Shirley label. The release is credited to Jesse James & The Royal Aces a bunch of local musicians that Jesse had grown up with which included Slyvester Stewart a.k.a Mr “Dance To The Music” himself Sly Stone” on guitar. “I Will Go” was quite a popular record locally and led to a further four Jesse James releases on Shirley culminating in Jesse’s most sought-after record the delightful “Are You Gonna Leave Me”in 1966. The following year Jesse recorded the minor hit “Believe In Me Baby” released by the local ‘Hit’ label before being picked up by 20th Century for national distribution. While signed to 20th Century Jesse recorded a self-titled album and three other 45 singles before leaving the label.

Following a solitary 45 release for the Uni Label in 1969 Jesse formed his own Production and Publishing company ‘South Richmond Music’ releasing 45’s on his own label logo’s Zea and Zay before returning to 20th Century for a second time during 1974, releasing two 45 singles of which the sublime “If You Want A Love Affair” reaching #92 in the Billboard R&B charts in 1975, a song that would later receive worldwide acclaimed and is now regarded as Jesse’s signature tune. Ron Carson had been the producer on the later 20th Century releases and it was he that placed one of Jesse’s songs “The Same Thing Happens” on the Happy Fox label’s blaxploitation album “Black Fist”.

Into the 1980’s Jesse leased some of his songs for release on the Atlanta Georgia, Midtown label, a solitary release on the Moonlite Hope Music label (a lead single for a proposed album that never materialised) followed before Jesse joined Max Kidd’s Washington based TTED label. The TTED imprint was to yield Jesse’s biggest hit record “I Can Do Bad By Myself” reaching #61 in the R&B Charts. Following TTED Jesse formed Gunsmoke records releasing “Love On The Side” in 1988, from there on Jesse has continued to regularly release numerous studio albums though the 90’s into the new millennium and on to the present day.

Now well into his seventh decade as a performer this most resilient and enduring performer, has never been one to let the grass grow under his feet. He still performs live shows and is actively writing, producing and recording fresh new material. Soul Junction have now gathered together some of Jesse’s most recent and new recordings to form this album project which is aptly titled “Back On Top Again” Ride on Jesse James!

After touring the globe showcasing their A/V moshpit-inducing live show, they are revealing their new musical creations to an unsuspecting public. Never Sleep are proud to present a landmark moment in the Japanese hardcore new rave scene. The blinding lights of DEATH RAVE point to an untraveled journey, a sci-fi fusion of black metal, gabber, cyberpunk, performance art and techno. It’s their first for the Berlin label (founded by Gabber Eleganza) following 2021’s EP Principle of Light Speed Variance. Full description VMO aka Violent Magic Orchestra break through the darkness and herald a spectacular mould-melting sound on their forthcoming album DEATH RAVE. After touring the globe showcasing their A/V moshpit-inducing live show, they are revealing their new musical creations to an unsuspecting public. Never Sleep are proud to present a landmark moment in the Japanese hardcore new rave scene. The blinding lights of DEATH RAVE point to an untraveled journey, a sci-fi fusion of black metal, gabber, cyberpunk, performance art and techno. It’s their first for the Berlin label (founded by Gabber Eleganza) following 2021’s EP Principle of Light Speed Variance. Ahead of the release VMO have brought their digital harcore to festivals around the globe, including Roadburn Festival, BANG FACE Weekender, Brutal Assault extreme music festival, Le Guess Who?, CTM Berlin and Dark Mofo. Their performance is the ultimate extreme visual music project in which techno, black metal, and industrial unite to create a ritual from the near future, 2099. All visual art and stage setting is provided by non-touring member, artist and programmer Kezzardrix (who has been visual director for millennium parade and BABYMETAL previously).The power consumption of a VMO show is equivalent to 56 guitar amplifiers, 5000W, a mind-expanding supreme noise and light experience. The band members all go by the names of classic black metal bands rendered in the Japanese katakana script; “ダークスローン”; “メイヘム”, and “エンペラー”. Their new LP is the first to feature lead vocalist ザスター. The record features guest vocals from extreme metal icon Attila Csihar, known for singing with Mayhem and Sunn O))). Other featured artists include Dylan Walker, singer of Full of Hell, punk-techno artist Infinity Division (aka Ash Luk), Icelandic darkwavers Kælan Mikla and Ican Harem of Gabber Modus Operandi. The result is a leap forward from their 2016 debut, where they have found a singularity where death metal meets Kraftwerk, or Rephlex goes black. Dressed in corpse paint and other hell-raising looks, onstage they are like “Shinigami (death gods) from the Death Note manga”. Singles Venom, Supergaze and Martello Mosh Pit featuring Gabber Eleganza have been released in the lead up to the record and have been shocking techno dance floors too with their hi-NRG-symphonic doom-gaze. They have shared their video for Planet Helvetech (here), created by Berlin-based Patrick Defasten. Helvetech combines the Norwegian word for hell (hevlete) with techno and is a reference to the infamous black metal shop founded by Mayhem’s Euronymous. It’s a song that imagines time travel from 2099 on the planet Helvetech (where VMO comes from) to 1990s Oslo. In 2023, they performed at the CTM festival in Berlin, as well as at Berghain, receiving rave reviews. At Sydney’s leading multi-sensory SOFT CENTER festival they drove the crowd into a frenzy on the 17 metre X 30 metre jumbo screen. They have also collaborated with artists, performing at the two day installation by the trailblazing Tianzhuo Chen - The Shepherd - at the Kyoto International Performing Arts Festival in 2021 here. At Sónar 2023, VMO provided the music for Taiwanese visual artist Yuen Hsieh’s work about virtual life after death DIGITAL AFTERLIFE AGENCY here. VMO will tour the world again for the new record, with appearances at ROSKILDE and media art and music fest Sónar 2024 announced so far and the DEATH RAVE experience getting bigger and bigger.

"Remembering is not the opposite of forgetting," Casey MQ sings at the start of Later that day, the day before, or the day before that, his new LP and Ghostly International debut. It's a phrase fittingly misremembered from something the LA-based, Canadian-born composer came upon as he spiraled into unconscious and subconscious-led writing sessions at the piano. Casey's known for his 2020 breakthrough release babycasey, which gave voice to songs seen through the lens of childhood, various film score work and collaborations with artists such as Oklou (who returns here), Eartheater, and Vagabon. His gifts as a producer and songwriter are rooted in textural world-building and the excavation of personal truth. With Later that day... he questions what is true entirely, understanding our mind's tendency to bend and project onto pictures of the past. Across vivid, baroque pop balladry, Casey MQ reorients his recording project and point of view under the notion that memories are malleable. All the joy, pain, love, and loss housed within remembrance is open to interpretation and deconstruction, which he does deftly, with curiosity and complete artistic freedom. "It's a memory album," Casey puts it simply, winding up for the deeper unpacking, "and it might be a breakup album, too_there are more questions than answers." Engaging his dreams and sitting with sheet music at his newly acquired piano, he looked to new and old inspirations including the works of Claude Debussy, Joni Mitchell, and Joe Hisaishi's beloved Studio Ghibli film scores. "Since I was young, I always wanted to write a piano album." babycasey's studied electronic sound isn't wholly abandoned on Later that day... instead, it comes through like an atmosphere, giving Casey's more spacious, minimal arrangements a distinct luster and sheen. The textures and tones shift from song to song as if mirroring the way our minds constantly recontextualize, remember, and forget. Cathartic opener "Grey Gardens" _ its title derived from a dream abstractly related to the Toronto restaurant, but not the 1975 film, which he cites as another coincidental false memory _ presents the record's plaintive, haunted feeling. "Even if not reading into lyrics, sonically I wanted it to feel like you're being pulled into a universe. Not fantasy or otherworldly per se, something more tangible, of the body and mind," Casey says. "Hearing it back, I realized this track was the key to unlocking it." His tender falsetto hovers above ambient washes and echoed keys, each word falling carefully in the crevices. "Asleep At The Wheel" unfolds on arpeggiated synth before a burst of symphonic color; the synth returns inverted to harmonize with the outro, "I love a car crash, I love a story, I love a memory, I swear it's real..." Casey leans into digital imagination on the warm, introspective "Me I Think I Found It." Subdued, stuttered percussion underscores the singer as he cycles through pixelated imagery _ screenshots, smiles, streetlights _ searching for higher meaning through love. Built on ascendent chord distortions, "Dying Til I'm Born" gives the record one of its boldest pulses of emotion. The back half stretches out; "Is This Only Water" is sparse and foggy, "Baby Voice" is intimate and desperate for something to remain. "Words For Love" grooves on guitar, and "Tennisman9" aches in heartbreak. French musician Marylou Mayniel, aka Oklou, appears as the collection's only guest for the closing duet, "The Make Believe," a bright and buoyant send-off that gives Later that day... both a sense of resolve and cyclical-motion. "We are young, under the sun," they sing together, a parting image brimming with lightness.

"Remembering is not the opposite of forgetting," Casey MQ sings at the start of Later that day, the day before, or the day before that, his new LP and Ghostly International debut. It's a phrase fittingly misremembered from something the LA-based, Canadian-born composer came upon as he spiraled into unconscious and subconscious-led writing sessions at the piano. Casey's known for his 2020 breakthrough release babycasey, which gave voice to songs seen through the lens of childhood, various film score work and collaborations with artists such as Oklou (who returns here), Eartheater, and Vagabon. His gifts as a producer and songwriter are rooted in textural world-building and the excavation of personal truth. With Later that day... he questions what is true entirely, understanding our mind's tendency to bend and project onto pictures of the past. Across vivid, baroque pop balladry, Casey MQ reorients his recording project and point of view under the notion that memories are malleable. All the joy, pain, love, and loss housed within remembrance is open to interpretation and deconstruction, which he does deftly, with curiosity and complete artistic freedom. "It's a memory album," Casey puts it simply, winding up for the deeper unpacking, "and it might be a breakup album, too_there are more questions than answers." Engaging his dreams and sitting with sheet music at his newly acquired piano, he looked to new and old inspirations including the works of Claude Debussy, Joni Mitchell, and Joe Hisaishi's beloved Studio Ghibli film scores. "Since I was young, I always wanted to write a piano album." babycasey's studied electronic sound isn't wholly abandoned on Later that day... instead, it comes through like an atmosphere, giving Casey's more spacious, minimal arrangements a distinct luster and sheen. The textures and tones shift from song to song as if mirroring the way our minds constantly recontextualize, remember, and forget. Cathartic opener "Grey Gardens" _ its title derived from a dream abstractly related to the Toronto restaurant, but not the 1975 film, which he cites as another coincidental false memory _ presents the record's plaintive, haunted feeling. "Even if not reading into lyrics, sonically I wanted it to feel like you're being pulled into a universe. Not fantasy or otherworldly per se, something more tangible, of the body and mind," Casey says. "Hearing it back, I realized this track was the key to unlocking it." His tender falsetto hovers above ambient washes and echoed keys, each word falling carefully in the crevices. "Asleep At The Wheel" unfolds on arpeggiated synth before a burst of symphonic color; the synth returns inverted to harmonize with the outro, "I love a car crash, I love a story, I love a memory, I swear it's real..." Casey leans into digital imagination on the warm, introspective "Me I Think I Found It." Subdued, stuttered percussion underscores the singer as he cycles through pixelated imagery _ screenshots, smiles, streetlights _ searching for higher meaning through love. Built on ascendent chord distortions, "Dying Til I'm Born" gives the record one of its boldest pulses of emotion. The back half stretches out; "Is This Only Water" is sparse and foggy, "Baby Voice" is intimate and desperate for something to remain. "Words For Love" grooves on guitar, and "Tennisman9" aches in heartbreak. French musician Marylou Mayniel, aka Oklou, appears as the collection's only guest for the closing duet, "The Make Believe," a bright and buoyant send-off that gives Later that day... both a sense of resolve and cyclical-motion. "We are young, under the sun," they sing together, a parting image brimming with lightness.

Dave Angel’s 'Revolt' EP on Rekids Special Projects is an emotionally steamy and intense offering with jolting drums and outspoken words. The title track, ‘Revolt’, brings subtle funk while the synths are imbued with plenty of Detroit-inspired soul designed to light up any dancefloor. Angel’s 'May I Have This Dance' shows a different side, with zippy lead synths amplifying the vibes as hunched, dubbed-out rhythms march down low and keep you locked into the groove.

Following up his 2023 ‘Glide’ EP on Radio Slave’s Rekids, Dave Angel now makes his debut on its RSPX sister label with the ‘Revolt’ EP. From remixes for the likes of Carl Cox, Orbital and Underworld to underground classics on labels like R&S, K7!, and his own Rotation Records, Dave Angel’s ever-evolving sound has made him a core part of the scene for over three decades. With ‘Revolt’, Dave once again shows his uncontested production skills with an infectious double A-side record oozing character.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents this new official single reissue of “Feel So Good Inside”, by Lamar Thomas. A killer deep-disco and very rare collectable single, fully coordinated for reissue by French respected DJ and Tropical rare-groove specialist, Waxist Selecta.

Lamar Thomas is an American singer, composer and producer who made a short solo career in the 70s, and then formed the duo Thomas & Taylor. He has also penned few songs for Johnny Bristol, Garland Green, Nancy Wilson, Maynard Ferguson, or Johnnie Taylor among others.

In 1980, he recorded this 2 tracks single for MCA Records, who released it on a 7inch left almost unnoticed at that time. 30 years later, this brilliant disco production has become a classic rare-groove title for a few DJs and diggers, with among them, French collector and DJ, Waxist Selecta (aKa Julien Minarro).

Schooled about this rarity by DJ Klas (aKa Josh Goldman), he then made it a real favorite in his various DJ sets. Curious to learn more about this forgotten piece, he also liaised with Lamar through the web, and discovered that all the masters had burned in a California fire at Universal.

As Julien already worked on an upcoming reissue project with Pascal Rioux and Favorite Recordings (more details in 2015), he offered him and Lamar to arrange a proper official reissue and produce a new master from his own vinyl copy. Coming out in a 12inch version built for dancefloors, the package also includes a great extended mix by Waxist.

Head X'Change is the new album by Scythe, a long-distance collaborative project of David West and R.A. Jones. First appearing on two cloak-and-dagger cassettes distributed by Low Company in 2019 and 20, Scythe's "expertly modulated space blues and isolationist architectures" betrayed a uniquely sleep-deprived, DIY take on kosmische atmospheres, where brittle, decaying synthesiser loops found solace in endless trails of feedback and reverb. X'Change was recorded with modest instrumentation but grand ambition, recounting a journey, a memory... of leaving earth, a loved one, a body. Lifting off from tense, unnerving Tennessee, an ode is made to Genevieve, for perhaps the last time. Landing in eerily familiar valleys and amongst the lunar debris of Dawngarden and Superwillow, marvelling back at Earth inflicts a feeling of tininess and innocence, captured in the stargazing blues of Embryo. The titular track then marks a sudden inward trajectory and shift in mood: cool winds and amorphous bursts of black and deep blue emanate from fissures, ominously foreshadowing tunnelling paranoia. "Mark, Ring Me" is a distant plea for human contact... but it may all be too late, for the aching psychedelia For Iris grieves alone into the abyss. For fans of Cluster, Craig Leon, Pete Namlook, space travel...

The phenomenal three-piece band includes members of Oranssi Pazuzu, K-X-P, Grave Pleasures and Aavikko


Svart Records is proud to release the debut album, I, from Haunted Plasma, a powerhouse of futuristic synth in symbiosis with the super violent atmospherics of kosmische Black Metal. Haunted Plasma is “man meets machine” in a cybernetic wasteland, set to a conceptual backdrop of William Gibson and Phillip K. Dick style mind-melt. The highly evolved creatives at the heart of Haunted Plasma’s sound, cite Terry Riley, Massive Attack, a contemporary take on Krautrock hypnosis, psychedelic Black Metal and 90s Techno, resulting in an orgy of mutant sound.



The phantoms at the beating nucleus of this unearthly machine are Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu, Grave Pleasures), Timo Kaukolampi (K-X-P, Op:l Bastards) and Tomi Leppänen (Circle, Aavikko, K-X-P), transmitting a music form evolved from a life of redefining sonic boundaries in their respective projects. Also featuring guest vocals from Mat McNerney (Hexvessel, Carpenter Brut, Grave Pleasures/Beastmilk), Pauliina Lindell (Vuono, Dust Mountain) and Ringa Manner (Ruusut, The Hearing). Haunted Plasma promises an extraterrestrial experience from some of the foremost contemporary musicians at the heart of the Finnish heavy and avant-garde musical underworld.



Haunted Plasma reveals:

“We are liberated futurists, embracing free-form and natural composition, mirroring the merciless forces of cosmic creation. We have a motto to stay true to our feelings, to spawn a sound that’s never been heard before. Servants of music. Energizing, radical and pure”


The first single from Haunted Plasma’s cascading debut, Reverse Engineer, is a creepy, slowly erupting, synthetic nightmare, of a downloaded being waking up in the wrong future. Ghostly vocals demand the listener to “give us what we want” in an Orwellian glimpse into the current dystopia we live in, where information is controlled, and thoughts are bought and sold. As McNerney intones the words “technology of power” he describes the threat of a malevolent and omnipresent artificial intelligence, as much as describing the oppressive and electromagnetic sonar pulse of Haunted Plasma’s sound itself. Psychedelic guitar hypnosis from Vanhanen snakes around Kaukolampi’s molten and morphing synths, while Leppänen’s uncanny man/machine rhythms pull our strings and animate their other-worldly mechanisms. Have a look at the official visualiser of "Reverse Engineer" on the Svart YouTube channel here


Culminating in the full-blown fast Krautrock of the final self-titled track, oozing with blistering noise elements and enigmatic vocals from Ringa Manner, the album's journey reaches its zenith, taking you to unknown territories on a Kubrikian space trip. I is a rare record of talented musicians coming together to create a completely new sound, which is entirely their own, boldly glowing, where no light has shone before. From the dreamy psychedelia of Echoes to the discombobulated Spectral Embrace, Haunted Plasma is a willful force of deliberate sound contortion.


Whether you want to give in to Haunted Plasma’s sound or not, you are being watched, you are being recorded and your every move is monitored. Haunted Plasma will enter your system on the 31st of May 2024. Turn on your phantom circuits and be prepared for an interdimensional excursion into Haunted Plasma’s alien dreams.

The debut album from Haunted Plasma will be packaged in a beautiful tip-on sleeve, swirling fog artwork, complete with 12” booklet and pressed on 3 exclusive vinyl colours: 300 copies on Standard Black Wax, 500 copies in Amber + Black Smoke and 200 copies of Svart exclusive Turquoise/Black Marble. The album will also be available on CD and digital platforms.

To address the weight of the world without speaking of weariness. To march the song to breathlessness but loosen your grip when the band wanders. To tell all your secrets but shield your loved ones from vulnerability. To dress up in the charm and temptation of the pop song but maintain a core of peculiarity, of a single voice trying to navigate this world. This is the project of the Spatulas. Think of the few songwriters who know they're the only ones in the world who could write their songs. The ones who sing in the confidence that the song couldn't exist without them: Peter Jefferies, Jenny Mae, Ron House, Heather Lewis. Jonathan Richman? Put Miranda Soileau-Pratt and the Spatulas on this list. All eleven songs on `Beehive Mind' share a percussive, unshadowed presence, a steady, clear-voiced clop. Every note on the record is a little bit sad on its own but then they're organized in a way that you don't actually notice. Credit this to the band's skill_Jon Grothman, Lila Jarzombek, Kyle Raquipiso and Miranda Soileau-Pratt all play with no limits and they all play with profound ease. The songs breathe in warmth and patience, they are immediate and sweet. And then they start to meander. The guitar skitters with the deliberate unpredictability of a wild animal. Parts repeat and reset with the obsessiveness of an anxious mind. The lyrics open doors to unexpected scenes of lovers, family, and violence. This is all intentional: "I need to play music and listen to music as a form of therapy," explains Soileau. This means safety, this means encouragement, this means trauma, this means hard questions. Only a band so comfortable at the margins, only a band so capable, only a band so trusting can achieve all this. Miranda Solileau-Pratt wrote the first Spatulas song in 2020, while living in Oregon. Since that time, the band has released two cassettes and toured the United States. Members of the Spatulas have also played in The Blimp, Honey Bucket, Hot Gum, and Meerkaz. The band has shared stages with Helen, Lavender Flu, Debt Rag, Pink Reason, Blues Ambush, and Kath Bloom. `Beehive Mind' is their debut LP.

DJ Support: Gilles Peterson, Sean Johnston, Jaye Ward, Max Essa and Francois K

Limited to 300 copies

Having been long-time admirers of one another from afar, Hell Yeah and Michele Mininni finally come together for Pop Archetypes. It is a multifaceted debut album that collides broken beats, worldly rhythms, jazz, eastern melodies, live drums and much more into one thrilling 15-track opus that arrives on May 31st.

Italian artist Mininni has always had a leftfield take on electronic music and imbued it with rhythms, melodies and instruments from around the globe. He has released it on cult labels like R&S, Optimo Trax, Internasjonal and Curle Recordings but has saved his magnificent debut album for Hell Yeah. It is much more than a collection of sounds he has already explored and instead finds him heading off into all new territory without losing his signature sense of inventive and beguiling rhythm and melody. It is a multicultural journey that takes in heterogeneous styles and diverse influences but distills them all into one cohesive album with its own unique storyline.

Says Mininni of the record, 'I wanted each track to be like pieces of a unique, multifaceted picture, like walking through train cars or progressing through the levels of a video game, all filtered through my own vision and concentrated into 36 minutes. I wanted a pop album rooted in the extraordinary richness of popular music and projected into the future, a continuum where pieces communicate with each other and are received by the ears in symbiotic balance.'

Despite that concept, the album is a spontaneous listen full of surprises, left turns and original ideas that all hold together in thrilling fashion. It kicks off with the tumbling jazz drums and swirling synths of 'Spinning Around Cotton Candy', takes in mellifluous melodic layers and broken beats on 'Golden Room' and 'Slipped Air' casts you adrift amongst gorgeous piano keys and refracted vocals on the suspensory 'Vertigo'. There are jungle interludes with Eastern string melodies like 'Bangkok Tempo', lavish fusions of organic and synthetic sounds on 'Kundalini' and more charming Far Eastern rhythms on 'Muting Cat'. 'Congoflash' brings electrifying cosmic rays to busy hand drum patterns, 'The Magic Of Synesthesia' combines dark amen breaks and bright and uplifting flutes while 'Carousel Of Tears' douses you in watery melodies and celestial pads that awaken the soul.

Pop Archetypes is an adventurous work packed with meticulous and infinite details but all with an overarching narrative that makes it far more than the sum of its parts.

180GM BLACK VINYL : 500 PRESSED WORLDWIDE.

Furthermore, Billy Mahonie now have their own label, Whistling Sam Projects, an almost sold-out London launch show at The Lexington on May 4th, and they are confirmed to play Portals Festival Saturday May 25th in East London. After nearly quarter of a century, Billy Mahonie are very much back.
Formed in the first wave of British post-rock alongside the likes of Mogwai in the late 90s, John Peel favourites Billy Mahonie are set to return with the first new music from their original line-up in some twenty-four years. Whilst their debut album ‘The Big Dig’, released in 1999 on Too Pure Records, is considered a classic of the post rock genre, Billy Mahonie always crafted their intricate music with memorable hooks and melodies and performed it with energy and gusto. Theirs was not an aimless, meandering sound, instead the songs and attitude were rooted in punk rock, and still are. Billy Mahonie put the rock into post-rock.
Set for release this coming May 24th via Whistling Sam Projects, ‘Field Of Heads’ sees the band returning with their classic original line-up of Gavin Baker (guitar), Howard Monk (drums), Hywell Dinsdale (bass and guitar) and Kevin Penney (bass and guitar). Whilst this line-up has been semi active for a few years, no new material came to fruition. After their last gig in 2017, however, the band decided it was time to get back into the studio, but with two members living abroad new challenges were faced, but ideas were shared, old ones were resurrected and finally in October of 2019, Billy Mahonie were back in the studio.
Recorded over two long weekends on either side of the Covid 19 lockdowns, the band tracked at The Church studios, owned by their former collaborator and front of house engineer Paul Epworth, with senior engineer Luke Pickering at the controls, allowing ‘Field Of Heads’ to quickly take shape.
New single ‘Kaiju’ gives the music world the first taste of ‘Field Of Heads’ and right from the off, it’s classic Billy Mahonie. Immediately bursting into life with the energy and melody that is so unique to their sound, Howard’s driving drums thrust the music ahead as the guitars and synths weave their way around them. Intricate and shifting, but never at the expense of a tune that sticks in your head.
“This one came from a chord progression myself and Gav first tried out jamming in 2010,” explains drummer Howard. “Needless to say, when Hywell and Kev got their hands on it, it became something no-one ever envisaged. Kev's great title is, of course, the Japanese name for the subgenre of monster-based science fiction. A frenetic riff opens the song and for a counter guitar part only two options remain, play in the minimal gaps or find an overarching theme. We chose both. Kaiju films influence the additional Synths, echoes of those early Japanese movie themes. Some people we have played this to in advance have suggested this track is one we should lead with, as it is kind of where we left off. We agree. It rocks pretty hard. And is a bit funky too. What’s not to like?!”
 
Furthermore, Billy Mahonie now have their own label, Whistling Sam Projects, set up for global distribution through SRD, an almost sold-out London launch show at The Lexington on May 4th, and they are confirmed to play Portals Festival Saturday May 25th in East London. After nearly quarter of a century, Billy Mahonie are very much back.