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Matthew Halsall unveils new band and announces 'Salute to the Sun'

his new album on Gondwana Records

Limited edition Double Clear vinyl, printed on reverse board with Gold foil artwork plus double printed reverse board inner sleeves including download code. Cover Artwork by Daniel Halsall with design and layout by Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic.

Comes packaged in a resealable, re-usable Polypropylene anti-static, acid-free, crystal clear sleeve for maximum protection.

Composer, trumpeter, producer, DJ and founder of Gondwana Records, Matthew Halsall has always worn many hats. But at the heart of everything that he does Halsall is first and foremost an artist and a musician. A trumpeter whose unflashy, soulful playing radiates a thoughtful beauty and a composer and band-leader who has created his own rich sound world. A sound that draws on the heritage of British jazz, the spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, as well as world music and electronica influences, and even modern art and architecture, to create something uniquely his own. A music that is rooted in Northern England but draws on global inspirations.

Salute to the Sun is his first album as a leader since Into Forever (2015) and marks the debut of his new band. A hand-picked ensemble featuring some of Manchester's finest young musicians: Matt Cliffe flute & saxophone, Maddie Herbert harp, Liviu Gheorghe piano, Alan Taylor drums and Jack McCarthy percussion as well as long-time Halsall collaborator, bassist, Gavin Barras who has been at the heart of Halsall's bands for over a decade. For Matthew it was important to have a band based locally and able, pre-Covid, to meet and play each week, and who also performed a sold-out monthly basement session at Yes in Manchester. The album draws energy from these sessions and inspiration from themes and ideas that have inspired Halsall through the years (on albums such as Oneness, Fletcher Moss Park and When the World Was One) ideas of ecology, the environment and harmony with nature.

"I feel Salute to the Sun is a positive earthy album. I wanted to create something playful but also quite primitive, earthy and organic that connected to the sounds in nature. I was listening to lush ambient field recordings of tropical environments such as jungles and rainforests and found myself drawn to percussive atmospheric sounds which replicated what I was hearing (bells / shakers / chimes / rain sticks) and I started to experiment with more wooden percussive instruments such as kalimba and marimba".

Salute to the Sun features lush wholly improvised tunes inspired by ambient rainforest and jungle field recordings, deeply soulful tunes built around hypnotic harp and kalimba patterns, deep Strata-East inspired spiritual jazz grooves and some of Halsall's most beautiful playing and inspiring healing melodies yet recorded.

The album was recorded at the band's weekly sessions, using Halsall's own recording set-up, giving the recordings a relaxed vibe and unforced energy that really lets the music breath. The album is also very much a family affair as Halsall's brother Daniel Halsall, artistic director of Gondwana Records, was an important presence at the sessions and co-produced the album. It is also his memorable artwork that adorns the cover of Salute to the Sun, an album beautifully designed by legendary designer Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic, who also created the covers for the recent archival releases Oneness, Sending My Love and Colour Yes and is one of Halsall's favourite designers. Together Daniel Halsall and Ian Anderson have designed all of Matthew's seven albums to date, so it felt extra-special to bring them together for, Salute to the Sun, an album that Halsall was determined to present in the very best way possible. The album was mixed with another long-time collaborator, George Atkins at 80 Hertz in Manchester, who works tirelessly with Halsall to perfect the sound and was mastered by noted engineer Peter Beckmann who brings an added depth to the sound specially around the bass notes as well as Halsall's trumpet. The magnificent double vinyl was cut as a Half Speed master by Barry Grint at Alchemy Mastering for the best possible analogue experience.

The result is arguably Halsall's most beautiful and complete recording to date, playful, charming and imbued with the warmth of the sun and the energy of life.

4 Hands, an intimate and surreal musical conversation on the piano from German sound pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius and American composer Tim Story, is an example of all the warm yet otherworldly beauty that can come from approaching a shared love for a singular instrument from overlapping directions.

Recorded sequentially but on one and the same grand piano, Roedelius laid down a few impromptu piano études in May 2019 whilst visiting his transatlantic friend Story. Tim then learned all their intricate phrasings to add his own parts in the following months.

"Together we shaped the basic compositions, sometimes carefully preparing the piano with various materials (including my own hands), and Achim’s performances were committed to tape. I continued to compose and refine my parts in the following months. Because it was all recorded on the same piano, the result has a very appealing consistency of sound, and hopefully blurs our individual contributions into a single integrated voice,” Story explains.

4 Hands encapsulates rippling minimalistic patterns and delicate, ghostly interactions with surprising harmonic twists. Roedelius’ intuitive and instinctive approach based in improvisation, paired hand in hand with Story’s deliberate distilling of ideas over time, creates two sides of an engaging and thought provoking conversation that seems to evolve and deepen with each successive listen.

"4 Hands is not just a new album — the logical continuation of the long-standing friendship between two composers. It’s our tribute to awareness and listening, coaxing a new sound language from the endless possibilities of a single piano played by our four hands. For me, these pieces express a different kind of beauty, they evoke more than the sum of their parts, they are a wordless dialogue, a bridge across the great water that separates our cultures from one another. Allons enfants des deux patrie, haha!” adds Roedelius.

"The Beast Within" is the new album by Brazilian artist, Diego Garcia; exploring gender identities within contemporary electronic music. The artist uses two of their distinguished artistic identities: The Princess of Death, her feminine identity - where there is an exploration of a more introspective and corrosive textures commonly associated with patriarchal values; and Projekt Gestalten, his masculine identity - where melodic and hypnotic sounds, often associated with matriarchy, are emphasized.

In this project, Diego's aim is to dichotomize their gender identities inspired by a point-and-click adventure game from the 90's called "Gabriel Knight 2 - The Beast Within". The story was written by American game designer, Jane Jensen with original music composed by her husband, Robert Holmes. The protagonist is on the trail of a strange wolf, murderer of a little girl. Gabriel was asked to take care of this evil and suspects that this case is paranormal in nature. Together with his assistant, Grace Nakimura, he discovers the dark truth behind the history of Bavaria. The gameplay alternates between Gabriel and Grace and its storyline is only explored indirectly by Diego - as it is deeply connected with their childhood and formative years and still remains as one of their all-time favorite games.

Just like in the gameplay, Diego alternates between both of their feminine and masculine identities in order to create original pieces of music. As Projekt Gestalten, an array of dance tracks are functionally presented; ranging from melodic and trippy to club-ready driving techno; dissecting a more rational aspect of the game's storyline. In contrast, The Princess of Death goes into an ambient and experimental approach; exploring liturgical themes that includes a dark and dystopian cover of the traditional gospel song "When The Saints Go Marching In", a song that is featured throughout the whole franchise of the game in many different versions. In the end, the gender polarizing concept is extrapolated and both aliases are finally merged into one another; leading to the Gestalt principle, alluded to in Diego's main alias, being fully applied as a whole.

The project's ultimate goal is to challenge preconceived notions of how a specific gender should sound/behave and to explore light/dark, sacred/secular, good/evil, male/female using, as the blueprint, a gender-neutral game where the player is forced to assume a feminine and a masculine role in order to navigate through the story. All of these ideas are perfectly aligned with Diego's own trajectory as an artist and their distinct artistic identities featuring distorted gender values - which comes full circle in this project.

Each LP sleeve is delivered as a bespoke limited edition, hand-printed and customised by the man himself. Features Jehst, Taja, Jaz Kahina, Vandal Savage, Junior Disprol and Cappo. The return of the “Zack de la Rocha of Ashby de la Zouch”, back in tandem with Chicago producer Spectacular Diagnostics World status 2020-21; a write-off, one to be struck from the record, ‘NULL AND VOID’ if you will. This hasn’t stopped Kid Acne kicking on and bringing what he calls “the difficult fifth album” to the Lewis Recordings megaplex. Full of Yorkshire say-so, his inimitable strain of hip-hop delivers the mind-bending with everyman knowhow, fearlessly “taking out pop chart sucker rappers with a blow dart”. Spectacular Diagnostics (Westside Gunn, Vic Spencer, Conway the Machine, Nolan the Ninja) is back on the boards for Kid Acne’s latest magical mystery tour, strengthening regional alliances with UK heavyweights Cappo, Jehst and Vandal Savage as well as introducing one-to-watch Taja. Driven by the wise man’s testament that thou shalt never use the internet again, Acne shakes off screen burn and heads back to the great (socially distanced) outdoors with a fresh batch of wavy, chaos theorising boom-bap.

Rapidly marking themselves out as one of the most abrasive, innovative artists to watch in 2022, Brighton-based feminist electropunk trio CLT DRP are delighted to kick off their year with new single ‘TORX’, out now on Small Pond Records.

The single will be available to purchase on a new limited edition 10” vinyl from Small Pond which features new track ‘TORX’, previous single ‘Ownership’ plus a remix from New York’s FLOSSING (Brace Yourself Records), and their cover of Dolly Parton’s track ‘Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That’.

Commenting on the track, CLT DRP vocalist Annie Dorrett says: "TORX is a hard-hitting non-stop racket. It was a stream of consciousness that stemmed from a very tired & frustrating day where I couldn't get my oven fixed in my flat because I didn't have the right screwdriver and I was dealing with a sort of post-break-up rant about somebody that caused me a lot of grief. It’s one of my favourites to play live now."

►Under the new moniker A/N, French producer Apollo Noir delves deeper into his music and casts a strong yet versatile sonic alloy of atmosphere, beat, voice and texture.

►ACIE E R R (alliteration, French for steel) is a raw, eloquent and fickle stream of consciousness of openness and transparency.

Coming from the steel-city of Thiers, where his family forged a reputation as unrivaled knife manufacturers, A/N does not hide his deep bond with the age-old metal alloy and its making, which here become a structural metaphor in a work that inevitably goes deep into the emotional, the personal and the political.

A sort of 'romanticism of steel' sets the narrative mode of the eight tracker where touching chords progressions, pounding beats, synth washes and eerie vocal intrusions alternate grounded physicality and propulsive sways with unfathomable angelic hues and electro-acoustic subtleties.

Making use of a wide range of analog equipment and the invaluable help of drummer Seb Forrester, A/N's textural sound stream tempers its gleaming chrome finishes by means of sonic shocks and sublime coatings of distorted warmth.

From the bubbling arpeggios of 'Mentir En Temps De Crise' and the organic texture of 'Disparaître', to the clustered sound particles of 'Chromé' and the instant-classic attitude of 'Avoueur Condamner' (Andy Stott, Lanark Artefax) ACIE E R R's contrasting sonic energies bring openness and versatility into focus.

Steel is one of the world's most-recycled materials ☺

The Ring Orchestra is an eight-person effort, a collective coming together to tackle opera and one of the genre’s controversial poster boys. 18 compositions, the artists Born in Flamez, Gil Schneider, Simonne Jones, Leo Luchini, Legion Seven, P.A. Hülsenbeck, Isa GT, and Ixa create a collaborative musical score that uses Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen as the point of departure. Originally, the music was cre-ated for a staging of Der Ring des Nibelungen at Schauspielhaus Zürich, directed by Christopher Rüping and written by Necati Öziri. Far from being an affirmative tribute, the orchestra sets out to decon-struct and break down what Wagner and his opus magnum represent: collaboration over singularity and openness instead of conservative rigidity. The resulting score doesn’t shy away from ambivalence by de-centralizing authorship and encompassing everything from ambient to pop, reggaeton, and a wider vari-ety of non-western musical influences.

Marc Rapson is a man of many dimensions. From rocking BBC's Maida Vale and Later with Jools Holland as part of Ben Westbeech's touring band, to releasing stellar re-edits of Marvin Gaye and Sarah Vaughan to the acclaim of Gilles Peterson, Marc has spent the last decade quietly building a following amongst those in the know. Dark vs Light seamlessly blends crunchy, low swung Hip Hop beats with Marc's jazz inflected Fender Rhodes and synth sounds. Not one to be confined to a singular style, Marc also fires up the sampler for tracks such as 'Click Loud', combining surgical chop skills with live instrumentation. Dark vs Light is the product of a mind that grew up on Ahmad Jamal as much as A Tribe Called Quest: the jazz pianist with a passion for raw beats. This first time on double vinyl complete edition includes all tracks from the now out of print EP along side additional bonus cuts from the original sessions featuring MC Replife as well as a dope cover of a classic Roy Ayers track. A great way to help celebrate Futuristica’s 15th year!

n 2018, unknown artist James Infiltrate dropped an album of smart electro tunes that get everyone talking. It turned out to be an alias of James Burnham aka Burnski aka the Constant Sound boss aka Instinct, who is one of the most visible and prolific artists of recent years. Now some of the cuts from that album get choice remixes - AlexJann flips 'Flash' into a caustic electro banger with bright synths and twisted bass. Stojche goes for a lurching, loopy, scintillating and loopy remix of 'Isolate' that takes you to the stars and the flip offers up an acid laced electro cruiser from Sound Synthesis and Relpek mix of 'Reconnect' that is melodic and mysterious.

As the tides change and the majesty of the moon once more begins to illuminate our forgotten domain, the hotly-tipped Incus has made the jump to hyperspace and determined that now is the time to unleash his neoteric creation into the macrocosm of music. At the behest of the sonic social masters, "INC.AUDIO" will be deemed a passion project, but in reality it will rip the very fabric of what it means to have a personal creative outlet, curtailing boundaries and expectations alike. Based on the creed of freedom of experimentation, the label will allow Incus and close friends within the industry to share their creative expressions within a familial and contemporary framework free from third-party limitation.

For now we start at the first chapter of the INC.AUDIO narrative, and the inaugural release which comes from the architect himself. His first solo EP contains 4 tracks conceived at home during lockdown, combining new sound design techniques developed through the mediums of trusty Korg Hardware and Ableton live. The end product is a consummate representation of the benefits of free time, reckless abandon and zero red tape.

Kicking off with "Design Your Mind", Incus draws on his longstanding influences collected via years of crate-digging and supporting underground idols in the UK and Ibiza. Shuffling percussion, jittering stabs and percolatin' chords wax and wane, submitting us to the will of its deep, minimal groove with a sultry sensibility. Next is "New Dog Old Tricks", the one with "that" bassline. No holding back from the get-go, the punching percussion is waylaid sporadically by erratic tones and steadied by placid, ambient chords. The charming breakdowns are peculiarized by a haunting saxophone sample, firmly establishing the clear-cut level of advancement and attention to detail achieved by the creator.

"Calm in the Chaos" steps back from straight-up grooving, inviting an equatorial temperature to come and play. Tantalising acid-inclined bass notes perforate the horizon, aiding the insistent percussion and creating a sunny, party-ready disposition infectious as they come. Feel like you're on a beach or in a rainforest? Snap. After the party we finish in the "Morning Haze". Alien-like frequencies and UFO bleepology steer the good ship Incus on this extra-terrestrial journey through the tech-house heavens to its final resting point. The seductive vocal cut adds a beautiful edge to the track, creating a minimal yet also expansive soundscape perfect for disembarkment. So, now you see what INC.AUDIO is all about, why wouldn't you stick around? Fight the bureaucracy and become who you need to be today, not tomorrow.

Following a four-year hiatus, our main imprint is back with a new outing by our long-time friend, Laslo. His previous works found home on quality record labels like Greta Cottage Workshop, Greta Cottage Woodpile and Soundscape Versions. Now he is delivering three originals, all shaped and arranged along his dub-infused, peculiar sound. As label heads, we rarely focus on remixes, but in the case of this EP we could not resist the chance to get one by the Hungarian drum & bass veteran Ghost Warrior (31 Records, re:st, Well Street Records), who did his first ever remix for Tape Hiss, this time exploring the mid-tempo territory.

Johnny Marr started his career with The Smiths, beginning an amazing history as one of the most influential songwriters and guitarists in British independent music. His subsequent creative journey has seen him at the heart of The The, Electronic, Modest Mouse and The Cribs, as well as working with such names as The Pretenders, Talking Heads, The Avalanches, and the musician and composer Hans Zimmer - with whom he recently recorded the score and soundtrack for the forthcoming James Bond film, No Time To Die, including the title track created with Billie Eilish.

In the wake of his time leading The Healers, Marr’s solo career has given rise to three UK Top Ten albums - The Messenger (2013), Playland (2014) and 2018’s Call The Comet, and he will be returning in February with his most expansive work to date, Fever Dreams Pts 1-4. It was created during the long, uncertain period that followed the arrival of the UK’s first lockdown, when his focus was pushed into both his interior life, and evoking the emotional states of others. “It’s an inspired record, and I couldn’t wait to get in and record every day,” he says. “But I had to go inwards.”

The upcoming album reflects his multi-faceted past, but takes his music somewhere startlingly new. “There’s a set of influences and a very broad sound that I’ve been developing - really since getting out of The Smiths,” he says. “And I hear it in this record. There are so many strands of music in it. I think it’s the most ambitious solo record I’ve done.”

Da die Scheibe mit 20 Songs mehr cooles Material enthält, als auf eine einzelne CD passen würde, erscheint „Life Below Zero“ als Doppelalbum.
Zudem wird es eine streng limitierte Fanbox geben, die u.a. eine Bonus-CD mit 6 bisher unveröffentlichten Tracks enthält.
Allein in der Dunkelheit, 24/7 nicht das kleinste Licht, ein wenig Nähe oder den Hauch von Wärme. Nur erdrückende Stille, beklemmende Einsamkeit und klirrende Kälte. In „7even Days of Darkness“ bauen sich nach und nach treibende Beats auf und peitschen Dir eiskalt ins Gesicht. Doch Du
trotzt dem scheinbar aussichtslosen Schicksal und entgegnest: „Now I will gather power and bring it to an end.“ Du kämpfst, aber die Kälte und
das Eis scheinen Dich zu überwältigen und in die Knie zu zwingen...Doch dann tauchen plötzlich Dr. Schnee, Der Frost, °Celsius und von Fahrenheit
vor Dir auf und halten Dir den „Mirror“ vor Dein nahezu erstarrtes Gesicht. Mit melodiösen Synthie-Sounds, eindringlichem Gesang und Beats,
zu denen Du einfach tanzen MUSST, tauen sie Deine eingefrorenen Glieder auf und schenken Dir neue Hoffnung. Du erkennst, dass Musik, Liebe
und Freude stärker sind als Dunkelheit und Kälte.
20 Songs. 14 auf Englisch. 6 auf Deutsch. Auf „Life Below Zero“ finden sich so viele deutsche Tracks, wie auf keinem anderen Eisfabrik-Album
zuvor. Die Meister des Future-Pop zeigen mal wieder, wie man innerhalb von Sekunden das Eis bricht und ein wahres Feuerwerk an heißen Beats,
mitreißenden Synthie-Sounds und großartigen Texten auf die Tanzfläche und die Gehörgänge abfeuert.
Gänsehaut und Muskelkater vom Tanzen sind hier gleichermaßen vorprogrammiert und eins ist sicher: bei den ganzen fetten Dance-Tracks wird
so schnell niemandem kalt.

San Francisco Moog: 1968-72 documents a missing link in the history of electronic music, as well as the little-known moment when psychedelic music went electronic.

In 1968, Bay Area native Doug McKechnie got hold of one the very first modular Moog synthesizers ever made and began finding his own way to play it. Soon, he was hauling the finicky instrument around to perform improvised concerts at colleges and ballrooms, as well as an ill-fated appearance on the bill at Altamont. Many of the performances were recorded, and the surviving tapes—never before released—capture a free- flowing, transportive sound that fills in the gap between the austere mid-century academic avant garde and the expansive cosmic suites of Tangerine Dream and the rest of the Berlin School in the ‘70s.

This is not another corny old Moog record. San Francisco Moog sounds as fresh as anything by today’s analog-synth heads while bringing to life a lost moment in the development of the music.

All pieces were created improvisationally in an atmosphere of exploration and discovery on a Moog Modular Series III synthesizer and recorded live with no overdubbing to Ampex PR-10, Nagra 3, or TEAC four-channel recorders.

Produced by Doug McKechnie, Lee Gardner, and PJ Dorsey
Mastered by A.F Jones at Laminal Audio
Art direction by Frank Hamilton and Nolen Strals
Mandala art by Richard Winn Taylor

One-year-and-a-half after landing on earth with its first eponymous EP, The Outsider Syndrome is back from its exploration of the vast Techno universe with more musical UFO’s.

Through “Social Engineering”, the Lyon-based duo – composed of E-care and Don Jo –, is about to deliver another dose of rock-influenced electronics, delving its dark-energy into a not-so-sci-fi-anymore dystopian future made of totalitarianism, supranational control.

Four raging tracks of analog techno and electro, with a huge space given to narration and improvisation, as a fight against boring, repetitive standards.

To be published once again on Beyond Techno Musical UFO’s on limited-edition vinyl.

In Detroit in 1969 the city was still rebuilding from the 1967 riots, there was still hope and a drive for the future and the good times that were just around the corner. Young people in America had an excitement for what they perceived was possible for them. Cue one such person – Larkin Yewell.

Many of you will likely not have heard of Larkin, or Fourth Level, Richard Martin, George Burnette or even Larkins record label U-Larc. But it exists as a moment captured in time, the 45 capturing the full extent of hope and ambition, the excitement and drive to capture the attention of people through music, aiming for the star and coming to Detroit – Motor city and the home of Motown. Larkin also came North to get a job in the Chrysler factory while hustling to make his name in the music business.

But here are the two tracks they recorded and released, so turn the volume up and hit play on both sides.

A sequel to the 2001 series Blue Planet, it took 4 years to complete this seven part new exploration of the underwater worlds, with 125 expeditions across 39 countries and 6000 hours of underwater filming. The series was broadcast on BBC One on 29 October 2017 with viewing figures exceeding 10m and its exposure of plastic pollution in our oceans has started a global conversation about reducing plastic waste.

With over 120 soundtracks to his credit which have grossed 24 billion dollars at the box office, Hans Zimmer has been honoured with many accolades: an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, three Grammys, an American Music Award, a Tony Award and The Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement. His Academy Award nomination for Interstellar marked his 10th Oscar nomination.

The composition is completed by Jacob Shea and David Fleming from Emmy and BAFTA nominated Bleeding Fingers Music. Bleeding Fingers has created original music for productions including the Fox’s The Simpsons, BBC’s Planet Earth II, National Geographic’s Princess Diana In Her Own Words, NBC’s hit Little Big Shots, Sony’s Snatch (TV), Amazon’s American Playboy, AMC’s The Making Of The Mob, Netflix original Roman Empire and History Channel’s Mountain Men.

Cemento Atlantico is the first recording project by the Italian DJ/producer Alessandro “ToffoloMuzik” Zoffoli, conceived between 2020 and 2021, in an orphaned silence from wandering and social sharing due to the lockdown in this Pandemic era. To be released on vinyl, CD and all digital platforms starting from July 29th, 2021 via Bronson Recordings, the album Rotte Interrotte was born from the need to translate the travel experiences of recent years into music: Morocco, Vietnam, Peru, Cambodia, Colombia, India, Guatemala, Myanmar. At the edge of the world. The sound that fills everyday life is often seen as a foregone background, in reality all its connotations can be explored and ordered to create a melody. Without a shadow of a doubt, the threshold of auditory attention rises by being sent, immersed in cultures and countries other than your own. Among those coordinates, Cemento Atlantico has kidnapped fragments, samples and field recordings from nature, history, road and sacred places. Emotions engraved in the mind with occasional recording means, subsequently manipulated through electronics and rhythmic construction creating a truly unique and contemporary sound and of cultural melting-pot. Zoffoli has written and produced the record (then mastered by Giovanni Versari), also taking care of its artwork. Cemento Atlantico’s logo is made up of the initials “C” and “A”: “The letter ‘A’ indicates the first Ocean I crossed, the Atlantic one, while the letter” C “- represented by a crescent Moon, with no political or religious reference – symbolizes rebirth, the growth of a project or the advent of a new life in many ancient and modern cultures“. Trip hop, dubstep and chillout are intertwined with world music and ethnic elements, as if the starting point was Bristol, rather than Cesenatico, and the arrival point was all to be soundtracked, all to be explored. Following the first extract Umm Bulgares, the new singles taken from the album are Beat ’em Bang, Amazonienne, Blade Runner Zero and El congreso de los Fantasmas. More than an album, Rotte Interrotte is a casket of stories set in time with your eyes closed, in the deep belief that through sound you can imagine the world without seeing it.

FFO: Arthur Russell, Stealing Sheep, Neu!, Agar Agar, Galaxians
Holodrum are a new disco-infused synth-pop group, who feature members of Hookworms, Yard Act, Cowtown, Virginia Wing, Drahla and more.

Maybe Holodrum were destined to start at this point. This might be the first time they’ve all officially worked together, but between Emily Garner (vocals), Matthew Benn (synth/bass/production), Jonathan Nash (drums), Jonathan Wilkinson (guitar), Sam Shjipstone (guitar/vocals), Christopher Duffin (sax/synth) and Steve Nuttall (percussion) they’ve shared bands, mixed each other’s records, promoted live shows and made music videos together in and around Leeds. As Holodrum, this is the 7 piece’s debut album, but the interlocking grooves and hot headiness of their repeato-rock-via-CBGBs dopamine hits have in one way or other been fermenting for years.

“When it comes to doing music most bands fall between two extremes of doing it for some goal or as an end to itself” says Shjipstone. “I think Holodrum is about the joy and complexity of living, and I just hope to god everyone gets to have a good time doing it.”

Ultimately the core of the group comes from Shjipstone and his former Hookworms bandmates Benn, Nash and Wilkinson. After their abrupt dissolution in late 2018, the four of them spent six months apart; Benn still had Xam Duo, his ongoing project with Virginia Wing and some-time James Holden & The Animal Spirits live member Duffin, Nash remains vocalist and guitarist of long-running DIY rockers Cowtown and helms his solo project Game_Program; and Shjipstone plays guitar with Yard Act. However, the four of them missed the sixth sense synergy they’d built-up playing together over a decade and soon enough demos were being swapped and new ideas were discussed.

The vision of a large live electronic ensemble formed quickly. Friends were added: Duffin and Nuttall – who was keen to resurrect the double percussion interplay that he and Nash had been exploring as part of motorik trio Nope joined first. Then animator and VIDE0 singer Garner crystallised the line-up by joining on vocals.

“Apart from Emily, all of us had actually played together before in a covers band at a New Year’s Eve party at the Brudenell Social Club a couple of years ago, so we knew we could have fun together” says Benn. “So we set up to be a live party band early on. We wanted lots of people on stage having fun, playing for people that also wanted to have fun. It makes sense we take inspiration from bands like Tom Tom Club and Liquid Liquid; they were trying to help people to party at a point when New York was quite a scary and dangerous place we’re doing the same, albeit in the face of a decaying world and a global pandemic.”

Covid-19 hasn’t given them much opportunity to do that yet, with two fledgling shows in late 2019 to their name before festival appearances at the likes of Bluedot, Sounds From The Other City and Gold Sounds were scuppered last year. However, the 6 tracks on Holodrum crackle with the energy of the dancefloor. Opening cut 'Lemon Chic' described by Garner as her “workout track” starts out sparsely, with tight drum claps and burbling synths holding a teetering suspense before the whole thing’s prised open, allowing beaming saxophone skronk to shine in. Garner’s vocals bob and weave around the syncopations of the track’s building cacophony.

It sets the stall for an album heavy on euphoria, built atop crisp interplaying percussion and acid-flecked grooves. At times Shjipstone provides a raw counterpoint on vocals, while elsewhere - like on the strutting, swirling disco of 'Free Advice' and 'Low Light'’s late night ping pong synths - the pair indulge in playful call and response as the instrumentation builds and contorts around them. 'Stage Echo' provides a respite of sorts halfway through, a swirling, fever dream of a track that peaks with big squelchy frequencies and cavernous reverb, before the album returns to its repetitious exercises in body-moving catharsis underpinned at all times by a relentlessly propulsive rhythm section.

The STAR CREATURE vet returns for Part 1 of his 2022 Chicago/Cali/Minn/Moon combo venture this time around bringing MR. ZACKEY FORCE FUNK on vocals. This one spins round like the rings of Saturn. Intimate dancefloor funk. No matter how hard you throw it, it still comes back around.

But like a sunbeam peering through a haze of wildfire smoke, Early Eyes have
somehow persevered through dashed dreams, fractured relationships, historic
social justice uprisings in their own hometown, and a society tearing apart at the
seams to make an album that is both responsive to the chaos and wearily
optimistic."It almost feels like Look Alive! is a direct response to the pandemic,"
bandleader Jake Berglove reflects. "It was like, oh, my goodness, all of our
capitalist anxieties just came true! We took all of that anxiety and angry energy
and put it into making a really f***ed up album." Look Alive! vibrates with angst,
punctuated by computerized glitches and disintegrating threads of abandoned
melodies that echo in the distance before roaring back to life. With the assistance
of producers Caleb Hinz and Jake Luppen (of the band Hippo Campus), Early
Eyes felt more liberated stylistically, and Look Alive! looks ahead to a post-genre
future where emo, post- hardcore, Japanese city pop, and musical theater can
coexist peacefully on one album. "We ran with so many different influences," John
says. "I mean, like, half the songs on the album just sound like a completely
different band. We were just more unafraid to commit — like, alright, we're just
going to make a punk song right now."

Matrimony emerged from the scrum of yobbos making noise in late-'80s
Australia (Cosmic Psychos, Lubricated Goat, etc), a nearly all-female
band of punk-pop minimalists as raw emotionally as musically
Building songs around simple, repetitive bass lines and the languidly morose
vocals of one Sybilla, the band reveals its disaffection more through what it
doesn't say than what it does. So while choppy guitar squalls underpin songs like
'Kitty Finger' and 'Fish and Chips Sweetheart,' elsewhere the playing is stripped
nearly bare. Sybilla's love/ hate relationship with her titular subject on 'Mr. Pop
Star' is reduced to a series of stuttered yelps, while her dispassionate plea on
'Come Back Baby' is backed only by finger snaps and the ubiquitous heavy bass
lines, distilling a lifetime of self-pitying angst into a two-minute session in front of
a cracked bedroom mirror. Matrimony also pays a nominal tribute by covering the
Scientists' 'Frantic Romantic' even more dourly than the original.

Reissue of George Duke's classic 1975 jazz-funk-fusion album 'The Aura
Will Prevail'
With its intensive quartet, this 1975 recording again mirrors how far Duke, by his
own admission, had moved away from the "smug and overly serious jazz
musician" and towards a master of fusion, eager to experiment and add a note of
humour to the music. With Santana drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, bassist
Alphonso "Slim" Johnson, and the Brazilian percussion magician Airto Moriera,
Duke designed stunning scenarios in sound which once more reveals him to be
one of the synthesizer pioneers.
He paints a fantastic morning atmosphere in Dawn; in Floop the Loop Duke
conjures animated, funky tone poems. There is a change of scene as Duke takes
up the role of soulful singer on the smooth ballads For Love and Fools. His
onetime collaboration with the Mothers of Invention rubs off on Duke's
adaptations of Echnidna's Arf and Uncle Remus, and a touch of samba is added
to the relaxed tropical magic of Malibu.

Reissue of Ella Fitzgerald's 1969 album of funky big-band cover versions,
conducted by and featuring Tommy Flanagan on piano
Ella Fitzgerald singing Eric Clapton's "Sunshine of Your Love", or the Beatles' "Hey
Jude"? Something of a revelation for those who know Fitzgerald as purely a jazz
singer. Ella's pristine clarity of earlier years, now tinged with a throaty worldliness,
is a perfect foil to her choices from the world of rock and pop. It also adds new
depth to such standards as "Give Me the Simple Life", "Old Devil Moon", and Burt
Bachrach's "A House is Not a Home".
Recorded "live", the album is divided into a big band set and Ella with her longtime accompaniment, the Tommy Flanagan trio. Pianist Flanagan is simply one of
the all-time greats. After listening to this, how can you not be a fan of Ella's?
Includes the original liner notes from Norman Granz, who produced this record.

"Europe's greatest clarinetist and free spirit" (Jazzthetik) plays ballads and
legendary love songs on his new MPS album. In so doing, he delivers new
meaning and a fresh sound to the pieces. A sentimental look back is simply not
his thing. Together with his new quartet of pianist Frank Chastenier, bassist Lisa
Wulff, and percussionist Tupac Mantilla, Kühn contrasts his sensitive side with
his unbridled desire to experiment. "I've chosen some of my favourite ballads for
this album. These pieces have nothing to do with any sort of trend. For me, they
are poignant and beautiful; they are simply timeless," says Kühn. "I found it
especially appealing to combine these particular choices with my latest
compositions. The album opens with "Both Sides Now", a classic by Joni
Mitchell. Kühn liked the poetic text, and says that, "Somehow, in life there are
always two sides, but it's best when they enrich each other and can smoothly
merge in order to create something new."
One of five new compositions, the title song "Yellow + Blue" encapsulates the two
perspectives: the flamboyant, the impulsively vibrant yellow next to the soft,
sensitive, warm bluesy-blue tonal colour. In turn, a new musical color is created
out of the contrast.

"My aim for my new record was to find really unusual combinations,"
explains Rolf Kühn, in cheerful mood after his last day in the studio
The special attraction of these 13 'Spotlights' emanates from the extraordinary
combination of instruments and styles, and above all from the fact that a group
of virtuoso artists from very different musical backgrounds have come together
to participate in a a project very close to their hearts. The theme running through
and joining up the album is of course the unmistakable sound of Rolf Kühn's
clarinet. Hamilton de Holanda, the distinguished Brazilian expert on the bandolim,
a kind of mandolin, immerses Kühn's clarinet in Latin- sounding melancholy.
Albrecht Mayer, international classical star and solo oboist with the Berlin
Philharmonic, provides a fascinating angle with his highly sensitive playing and
the rich facets of his art. Asja Valcic, the outstanding Croatian cellist, contributes
her impressive, classical virtuosity and daring improvisation, as she races
frantically through the notes with Kühn. Christian Lillinger, the exceptional
percussionist with the Rolf Kühn Unit, adds his wild groove to the mix and 0 like
Berlin bassist Oliver Potratz - accentuates the tense dynamic mood. Ed Motta,
heavyweight Brazilian singer and megastar in his homeland, brings out his
baritone to sound like a synthesizer suffering voltage fluctuations, breathing and
scatting resounding word scraps into Kühn's compositions.

With her very own musical language, pianist Julia Kadel has become a
regular talking point in jazz circles, releasing her first two records on Blue
Note/Universal she and her trio were nominated in 2015 for the
prestigious German Music Award Echo Jazz as "Newcomer of the year"
and Julia Kadel as "Female instrumentalist of the year"
Julia Kadel's variable competitions, her imaginative playing and the band's
striking improvisations became more courageous over time. On 'Kaskaden' they
have now reached a new dimension of detail and intensity. More determined than
ever, the trio balances the fine line between harmony and atonality, intuition and
reflection, poetry and austerity.The live qualities of the trio, which was founded in
2011, its subtle interaction and intuitive understanding encouraged the trio to
produce the new album under live conditions - especially as it took place in the
legendary MPS studio in Villingen (Black Forest, Germany). Its history dates back
to 1958, great jazz pianists such as Oscar Peterson, George Shearing, Monty
Alexander and Bill Evans once recorded here. With the Bösendorfer Grand
Imperial grand piano - once acquired for Friedrich Gulda - in the center
surrounded by classic analogue technology, Kaskaden was captured to tape oneto- one. This influenced not only the charismatic sound but also the special
atmosphere that characterises the album.
Furthermore, the location of the recording not only came as a surprise but
probably also as a small sensation to every fan of MPS as the Julia Kadel Trio is
the first MPS act after over 35 years recording again in the historic studios; the
popular German magazine Der Spiegel reported about it.

The beauty of the sound: clear, transparent, precise, a work of art - and
that includes both the actual recording, and the subsequent production -
something that was already an essential difference in clarinettist,
composer and sound researcher, Rolf Kühn's musical concept
The pieces were recorded on separate sound tracks, in a stereo technique that
lends a visual sense to the music. In fact, there is a cinematic feel as sounds
project on the mind's eye. For this special, sensual production, Kühn has gathered
his Berlin trio around him - his "working band" with Christian Lillinger (drums),
Ronny Graupe (guitar) and Johannes Fink (bass). Their previous studio
recordings have had a sense of freedom about them that has indicated the
direction in which these musicians are heading. Theirs is a concentrated,
compact play that has moved further and further away from the delineation
between notated and improvised music. Duo and group improvisations flow
across the interstices between the sketched-out musical islands. On 'Stereo' Rolf
Kühn goes even one step further; he condenses the compositions, providing
accurate and concise sound ideas. The sound of 'Stereo' is reminiscent of the
Blue Note aesthetics of the 1960s, when the stereo sound was something
outrageously new and greatly enhanced the tonal possibilities of the recordings.

The Grammy-nominated powerhouse vocalist Beth Hart takes on one of
her most profound undertakings to date by channelling the legendary
voice of Robert Plant on A Tribute To Led Zeppelin
The album will be released on CD, double black vinyl and doulbe orange vinyl via
Provogue/ Mascot Label Group. The nine- song album highlights the incredible
spectrum that Led Zeppelin operated in, from powerhouse rock to psychedelia,
folk, jazz, prog, blues, funk, soul and beyond. Rumours about the album had been
circulating for a few years. At the helm was super- producer Rob Cavallo and
engineer Doug McKean. The A-list musicians include Cavallo on guitar along with
Tim Pierce, Chris Chaney on bass, Jamie Muhoberac on keyboards, Dorian
Crozier on drums and Matt Laug, with Orchestral arrangements by David
Campbell. All that was left was the final piece of the puzzle… the voice.
Things clicked into place when Cavallo was producing Hart's previous album, War
In My Mind (2019), and she did an impromptu version of "Whole Lotta Love" in the
control room during the session. Maybe this was always in the cards. It's fitting
that the song that started it all, "Whole Lotta Love", is the opening song of the
album. From there, it's a non-stop, palpitating journey.
Talking about the music and legacy of Zeppelin, Beth says, "it's so beautifully
done, it's timeless. It will go on forever. Sometimes people come along, and
they're from another planet, and they make these pieces of art which will forever
be, like the Mona Lisa."

The Grammy-nominated powerhouse vocalist Beth Hart takes on one of
her most profound undertakings to date by channelling the legendary
voice of Robert Plant on A Tribute To Led Zeppelin
The album will be released on CD, double black vinyl and doulbe orange vinyl via
Provogue/ Mascot Label Group. The nine- song album highlights the incredible
spectrum that Led Zeppelin operated in, from powerhouse rock to psychedelia,
folk, jazz, prog, blues, funk, soul and beyond. Rumours about the album had been
circulating for a few years. At the helm was super- producer Rob Cavallo and
engineer Doug McKean. The A-list musicians include Cavallo on guitar along with
Tim Pierce, Chris Chaney on bass, Jamie Muhoberac on keyboards, Dorian
Crozier on drums and Matt Laug, with Orchestral arrangements by David
Campbell. All that was left was the final piece of the puzzle… the voice.
Things clicked into place when Cavallo was producing Hart's previous album, War
In My Mind (2019), and she did an impromptu version of "Whole Lotta Love" in the
control room during the session. Maybe this was always in the cards. It's fitting
that the song that started it all, "Whole Lotta Love", is the opening song of the
album. From there, it's a non-stop, palpitating journey.
Talking about the music and legacy of Zeppelin, Beth says, "it's so beautifully
done, it's timeless. It will go on forever. Sometimes people come along, and
they're from another planet, and they make these pieces of art which will forever
be, like the Mona Lisa."

Brand new album by the legendary Swamp Dogg.In 1954, 12 year old
Jerry Williams, then performing under the name Little Jerry Williams,
made his first recording for Mechanic Records, a blues stomp with a
shockingly mature vocal performance - Through the 60"s Williams' career
developed with a number of successful singles, including 'I'm the Lover
Man' and 'Baby You're My Everything', as well as writing and producing
hits for Dee Dee Warwick, Doris Duke, and Patti LaBelle and the Blue
Belles. It was in 1970, however, that the full extent of Williams' eccentric
creative genius was unleashed on the world for the first time, with the
birth of his musical alter-ego, Swamp Dogg
Created to 'occupy the body while the search party was out looking for Jerry
Williams, who was mentally missing in action due to certain pressures, maltreatments and failure to get paid royalties on over fifty single records,' the
Swamp Dogg alias, still in use today, allowed Williams to create music that was
bolder, raunchier, and more honest to his creative instincts. The Dogg's cult
classic debut 'Total Destruction to Your Mind' struck a powerful blend of Williams
classic soulful sensibilities and the blooming psychedelia of the time. Infused in
the swirling brew is Swamp's blink- and- you'll- miss- it humor, a number of acid
odes, and a heavy dose of sharp political insight. Though the psychedelic
strangeness alienated R&B fans of the time, and the authentic R&B infrastructure
prevented it from clicking with hippie audiences, it has retroactively received
legendary status in cult music circles.Now, 50 years after Total Destruction
introduced Swamp Dogg to an unprepared world, and nearly 70 since Little Jerry
Williams went into the studio for Mechanic, Williams brings us I Need A Job' So I
Can Buy More Autotune. A spiritual successor to 2018"s hit Love, Loss and
Autotune, this album continues to push Swamp's sonic exploration of the effect
as one of his many creative weapons. In the extended tradition of Total
Destruction, Swamp Dogg's 2021 LP neatly balances sleek modern production
techniques with that classic Dogg sound that has anchored William's music since
the 70s. Subtle yet soulful drumming, skin- tight horn grooves and meandering
funk guitar leads create a sonic landscape fitting Swamp Dogg's iconic croon,
occasionally drenched in the titular autotune. At 78, Swamp Dogg is as sharp of a
singer and songwriter as ever. His raunchy yet charismatic sense of humor takes
a more forward role on I Need a Job' So I Can Buy More Autotune, with earnestly
delivered lyrics about all day sex and an entire song dedicated to the perils of
'Cheating in the Daylight.' Many of the record's most charming moments emerge
from the juxtaposition of Swamp's left field humor with genuine messages of
love, such as 'She Got That Fire', which weaves descriptions of imagined sex acts,
including but not limited to an encounter involving edible underwear, in between
relatively wholesome proclamations like 'she must be an angel on earth,' and
'when she looks at you, it's like sunshine from her eyes'. I Need a Job does more
than prove that Swamp's still got it, it proves he's still getting better.

After the incredible success of Polygondwanaland in 2017, we want to give everyone a chance to get their lucky hands on these King Gizzard albums, so let’s make it real together one more time with fair prices and no margin ! MAKE IT VINYL!

Live at The Enmore Theatre, Sydney, Australia, April 22nd 2021

Der Klassiker "The Savage Poetry" bekommt zum 20 jährigen Jubiläum noch einmal eine Neuauflage mit komplettem Remastering und ist erstmals als Vinyl erhältlich.

Gut 20 Jahre nach Veröffentlichung des viel beachteten vierten Edguy-Albums "Savage Poetry" (ursprünglich 2000 erschienen) kommt nun eine neue Version - als Digipak und erstmals als Vinyl (in verschiedenen Farben).

First Word Records is very proud to present you with 'Peace + Harmony'. The first EP from our most recent signing, K S R .

Hailing from Moss Side, Manchester, this young talent has been steadily building a rep for himself over the past few years as one of the UK's most exciting soul vocalists, with his releases encompassing an eclectic assortment of alternative R&B, future soul, hip hop and D&B. Influenced by an array of neo-soul artists, such as D'Angelo and Anderson .Paak, his own soulful style has already seen him tour and collaborate with a number of UK peers; working on projects with label-mates Children of Zeus & Australia's REMi, and supporting the likes of Etta Bond & The Mouse Outfit, as well as performing sell-out headline solo shows in Manchester and London, and playing various festivals across Europe, including the We Out Here festival very recently.

Since he began developing his music in 2017, K S R has had support from the likes of 1Xtra, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Mixmag, NTS, Reprezent, Unity & Soho Radio, in addition to featuring on a slew of D&B tracks with artists like Lenzman, BCee, Emba & Redeyes. The collab with Emba was recently named a 'Kiss FM Future Selection' courtesy of Hybrid Minds and features have been supported on Spotify's 'New Music Friday' and 'Mandem - Kings' amongst others. His debut release 'Unfiltered' appeared on Polarface Records in 2019, which was followed by single 'Flex With Me' (also produced by Tyler Daley from Children of Zeus) then an independent second EP, 'Take Control', followed in late 2020 (during the pandemic) which amassed over 500k streams. Additionally to the releases, he was recently recruited by Manchester United as part of their 21/22 season kit announcements, as well as working with Nike and Size? on a special MCR-themed Air Force 1 release.

It's now time for a new extended project from Roosevelt Kazaula Sigsbert - better known as K S R . 'Peace + Harmony' is a solid set of alternative R&B, produced by Dom Porter and mixed by Eric Lau. Six tracks in all, including the single, 'Harmless' (which received support from the likes of Mr. Scruff (Worldwide FM), BBC Manchester and Victoria Jane (BBC Radio 1), was 'Track Of The Week' on 1Xtra/BBC Introducing, and saw the video racking up several thousand plays in its first weekend) and follow-up 'CGWY' featuring Children of Zeus on a brand new interpretation of their classic track 'Get What's Yours'. From the intro track 'I Wonder', to the downlow future soul of 'Lily Apart', to the autobiographical vibes of 'Born In '98', to the closing track 'Given Summer', also featuring the vocals of Ayeisha Raquel, each track on the EP is of course laced with Roosevelt's unmistakable silky smooth vocals, and is set to join his already impressive catalogue of underground soul classics such as 'Alien Boo', 'Stylin' and 'New Love'.

K S R says "my third EP, P E A C E + H A R M O N Y is a collection of my thoughts and experiences from my journey throughout the last two years of my life. Lots of aspects of my life changed over 24 months, along with everyone around the globe. When we were thrown into the unknown at the start of 2020, I stepped away from music for a while as I couldn't find any peace in my creativity and needed to evolve. I finally started to feel cohesive with my songwriting and music, and I could feel harmony between myself and my art once again."

'Peace + Harmony' by K S R is released on vinyl & digital on First Word Records, late 2021.

The Grammy-nominated powerhouse vocalist Beth Hart takes on one of her most profound undertakings to date by channelling the legendary voice of Robert Plant on A Tribute To Led Zeppelin
The album will be released on CD, double black vinyl and doulbe orange vinyl via Provogue/ Mascot Label Group. The nine- song album highlights the incredible spectrum that Led Zeppelin operated in, from powerhouse rock to psychedelia, folk, jazz, prog, blues, funk, soul and beyond. Rumours about the album had been circulating for a few years. At the helm was super- producer Rob Cavallo and engineer Doug McKean. The A-list musicians include Cavallo on guitar along with Tim Pierce, Chris Chaney on bass, Jamie Muhoberac on keyboards, Dorian Crozier on drums and Matt Laug, with Orchestral arrangements by David Campbell. All that was left was the final piece of the puzzle… the voice.

Things clicked into place when Cavallo was producing Hart's previous album, War In My Mind (2019), and she did an impromptu version of "Whole Lotta Love" in the control room during the session. Maybe this was always in the cards. It's fitting that the song that started it all, "Whole Lotta Love", is the opening song of the album. From there, it's a non-stop, palpitating journey.

Talking about the music and legacy of Zeppelin, Beth says, "it's so beautifully done, it's timeless. It will go on forever. Sometimes people come along, and they're from another planet, and they make these pieces of art which will forever be, like the Mona Lisa."

Red hot Modern Soul 45 recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1985. Big thanks to Robert Garcia @mrbighappy & Daniel Mathis @quartzwatches for the research and words on this one!!

Brotherhood Band was started by Ernest Coleman(EC) and Clint Hyson, who met thorough a US Navy band called "Mid-South", which was the US Navy's premier musical organization operating out of Millington, Tennessee (20 min outside of Memphis). The group initially played as an instrumental jazz band. In keeping up with the times, they shifted gears towards a more contemporary sound. Shortly after, they decided to cut a single. Enter "Nicci's Theme", which is the B-side here and it's a beautiful jazz tune EC wrote for a girl he fell in love with. This song was supposed to be his door way in, but he actually never opened the door with her.

A few weeks later Clint called EC and played this syncopated bass line for him over the phone. And then EC being the ladies man that he was wrote the lyrics to "Leather Pants" to it. Part of the lyrics read "The pants they stretch, but they don't bust. Enough to make a blind man cuss", but it originally read as, "The pants they stretch, but they don't bust. Enough to make a PREACHER cuss". The song was ready, but they needed to find a singer. That's when member Richard Owens mentioned that he had a young cat back in Atlanta named Taji. In a gamble Taji drove up to Memphis for the Sunrise recording studio session to record the track. According to EC when Taji laid the vocals down he took the song to the next level. In fact it was so impactful that EC, who is now a Grammy producer, still references Taji's sessions when working with new artist.

After the single dropped the group played at Memphis hot spots, Bills Twilight Lounge and Club No Name. EC even had an idea to host a local leather pants contest as a way to promote the song. This lead to a frenzy of women seeking to be "Miss Leather Pants".

The first and truly stunning release on the new Deeptrax sub-label Chasing Sunsets is one that is hard to describe...

As an (electronic) multi-instrumentalist, ES has been making music on a daily base for more than 25 years but has not released anything meaningful to this day. When we asked for some demos, we were literally bombarded with hundreds of well-produced songs in a wide variety of styles.

ES is a very creative artist who, in addition to making (video) art, creates his own world with his music. He is a musician with a completely unique sound that sometimes evokes a strong association with other music or artists. It sounds familiar and is pleasant to listen to because all the sounds seem to fall into place perfectly. But at the same time, it's totally fresh and sounds like nothing else.

“I just want to make music and not worry about the hassle; you just have to do it for me...” was the answer to the question if we could talk about releasing some music on one of our labels. "Just pick the songs you like, releasing my music on vinyl would be great ..."

So that's what we did...

This first EP gives a nice overview of some of the many musical sides of ES. It's jazzy, funky, dubby and trippy electronica with bits of ambient, house, breakbeat, acid and many other weird ES sound mix-ups. The tracks are as they are, all recorded in one take/version. Unique songs with sharply programmed rhythm and bass complemented by brilliantly played guitar, piano and synth parts. It's a surprising debut from an artist who only shows a small part of his personality with this release.

Welcome to the world of ES....