Buscar:other people

Today sees Belgian-Caribbean provocateur Charlotte Adigéry and her long-term musical partner, Bolis Pupul announce their debut album Topical Dancer, due for release on March 4 2022 via Soulwax’s iconic label DEEWEE.
Cultural appropriation. Misogyny and racism. Social media vanity. Post-colonialism and political correctness. These are not talking points that you’d ordinarily hear on the dancefloor but Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are ripping up the rulebook with their debut album Topical Dancer. The Ghent-based duo, who broke out with their 2019 Zandoli EP, are rare storytellers in electronic music: they take the temperature of the time and funnel them into their playful synth concoctions – never didactic and always with a knowing wink.

Their debut studio record – which cements them as a duo under both their names for the first time and is co-written and co-produced by Soulwax – is both a triumph of kaleidoscopic electro-pop and “a snapshot of how we think about pop culture in the 2020s.” It captures Charlotte and Bolis’s essence as musical collaborators and the conversations they’ve had over the past two years on tour, as well as their perspectives as Belgians with an immigrant background, Charlotte with Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Bolis being of Chinese descent.

Beyond the album’s thematic heft, Topical Dancer reflects Charlotte and Bolis’s idiosyncratic sound: it’s thoughtful but it bangs. Their take on familiar genres is always off-kilter; songs sound undone or a little wonky; but these are nocturnal heaters to make the club throb. “We like to fuck things up a bit,” laughs Bolis. “We cringe when we feel like we're making something that already exists, so we're always looking for things to combine to make it sound not like a pop song, not like an R&B song, not a techno song. We’re always putting different worlds together. Charlotte and I get bored when things get too predictable.”

Topical Dancer is fizzing with ideas – there’s certainly no filler among its 13 tracks. But above all, perhaps, it has a restlessness, a desire not to be boxed in and to escape others’ narrow perceptions of who they are. It’s summarised by the refrain of their new single, ‘Blenda’: “Don’t sound like what I look like / Don’t look like what I sound like.” “One thing that always comes up,” says Bolis, “is that people perceive me as the producer, and Charlotte as just a singer. Or that being a Black artist means you should be making ‘urban’ music. Those kinds of boxes don’t feel good to us.”

‘Blenda’ in particular references how “I am a product of colonialism,” says Charlotte, “and I feel guilty for taking up space in a white country.” The song was inspired in part by Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book Why I’m Not Longer Talking To White People About Race. “It talks about the colonial past and post-colonial present in the UK,” Charlotte continues, “but that isn’t merely a British or American problem, Belgium is part of that as well.” She says that her home country is likewise “oblivious to a big part of its history” which “results in general ignorance and a lack of understanding and empathy towards Belgian inhabitants of immigrant descent.”

On Topical Dancer, it’s less about finger pointing or being dogmatic about all the things they speak about. It’s about emancipation through humour. “I don’t want to feel this heaviness on me,” says Charlotte. “These aren’t my crosses to bear. Topical Dancer is my way of freeing myself of these issues. And of having fun.”

Ltd Black & White LP

Today sees Belgian-Caribbean provocateur Charlotte Adigéry and her long-term musical partner, Bolis Pupul announce their debut album Topical Dancer, due for release on March 4 2022 via Soulwax’s iconic label DEEWEE.
Cultural appropriation. Misogyny and racism. Social media vanity. Post-colonialism and political correctness. These are not talking points that you’d ordinarily hear on the dancefloor but Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are ripping up the rulebook with their debut album Topical Dancer. The Ghent-based duo, who broke out with their 2019 Zandoli EP, are rare storytellers in electronic music: they take the temperature of the time and funnel them into their playful synth concoctions – never didactic and always with a knowing wink.

Their debut studio record – which cements them as a duo under both their names for the first time and is co-written and co-produced by Soulwax – is both a triumph of kaleidoscopic electro-pop and “a snapshot of how we think about pop culture in the 2020s.” It captures Charlotte and Bolis’s essence as musical collaborators and the conversations they’ve had over the past two years on tour, as well as their perspectives as Belgians with an immigrant background, Charlotte with Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Bolis being of Chinese descent.

Beyond the album’s thematic heft, Topical Dancer reflects Charlotte and Bolis’s idiosyncratic sound: it’s thoughtful but it bangs. Their take on familiar genres is always off-kilter; songs sound undone or a little wonky; but these are nocturnal heaters to make the club throb. “We like to fuck things up a bit,” laughs Bolis. “We cringe when we feel like we're making something that already exists, so we're always looking for things to combine to make it sound not like a pop song, not like an R&B song, not a techno song. We’re always putting different worlds together. Charlotte and I get bored when things get too predictable.”

Topical Dancer is fizzing with ideas – there’s certainly no filler among its 13 tracks. But above all, perhaps, it has a restlessness, a desire not to be boxed in and to escape others’ narrow perceptions of who they are. It’s summarised by the refrain of their new single, ‘Blenda’: “Don’t sound like what I look like / Don’t look like what I sound like.” “One thing that always comes up,” says Bolis, “is that people perceive me as the producer, and Charlotte as just a singer. Or that being a Black artist means you should be making ‘urban’ music. Those kinds of boxes don’t feel good to us.”

‘Blenda’ in particular references how “I am a product of colonialism,” says Charlotte, “and I feel guilty for taking up space in a white country.” The song was inspired in part by Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book Why I’m Not Longer Talking To White People About Race. “It talks about the colonial past and post-colonial present in the UK,” Charlotte continues, “but that isn’t merely a British or American problem, Belgium is part of that as well.” She says that her home country is likewise “oblivious to a big part of its history” which “results in general ignorance and a lack of understanding and empathy towards Belgian inhabitants of immigrant descent.”

On Topical Dancer, it’s less about finger pointing or being dogmatic about all the things they speak about. It’s about emancipation through humour. “I don’t want to feel this heaviness on me,” says Charlotte. “These aren’t my crosses to bear. Topical Dancer is my way of freeing myself of these issues. And of having fun.”

In February of 1976 Eddie Carmichael left the group “The Voshays” after catching the bandleader/manager stealing from the band. Derry Shepherd and Duncan Bethel left at that time also. About a week later I asked Derry if he would be interested in starting another band and he said sure. At that point Duncan Bethel agreed to participate and he recruited his friend Flynn Emanuel to play trombone. Derry was the manager of the cafeteria at Sears Department Stores in The Pompano Fashion Square Mall and he met Sandy Ficca who was the manager at Chess King Men’s Clothing Store in the same mall. Sandy also agreed to join the group and we auditioned bass players and chose Dave Segal and only one keyboard player auditioned and that was Bob Groszer. We now had all of the personnel for the group and we commenced rehearsing in the recreation center in Pompano Beach, FL at Westside Park. We did a few “Chitlin’ Circuit“ gigs to fine tune the band and music and then moved over to the beach circuit. While there we would perform spring and summer months at “The Ocean Mist” on the Strip in Fort Lauderdale, FL and for the fall and winter months the Big Daddy’s 8600 Club on Miami Beach. After 18 months of constant gigging I suggested that the band go into the studio and record some original music. Now all we needed was some serious financial support and songs. I met a man by the name of Jerry Bullard and convinced him to back the project. We formed our own independent label “Get Off Records” and publishing company “Situated Music”. At that point Dave Segal and Sandy Ficca left the group and Bruce Saddler who was the drummer for The Voshays joined us on the drums for the first two recordings. Sandy Ficca returned as drummer and brought in his old friend and bandmate Daryl Walker to play Bass on five of the six remaining songs. We recorded the entire album in five days at SRS Studios and Triad Studios both in Fort Lauderdale, FL in August of 1977. The first single “Give It Up (Let Yo Funk Fly Free) was a winner released only in the New York tri state area where in two weeks it reached number 16 in the top 100 and was poised to go number one nationwide on the R&B charts in the next two weeks. Henry Stone, owner of TK Records in Hialeah, FL wanted to sign the group as did many other major record labels including Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire. But the usual problems of the music business reared its ugly head and the record was pulled from all radio airplay and the group who became disenfranchised with the business of the industry decided to call it quits. Derry Shephard went into Gospel Music production, Sandy Ficca went on to become the drummer for the Pop/Rock recording artists “Firefall”. Daryl Walker is a session player and music teacher, I did studio sessions and played in several cover bands and toured internationally. Bob Groszer toured with Sly Stone and other legendary recording artists. Dave Segal went on to start New York Bass Works in New York. Flynn Manuel became a music teacher in The Broward County School District and Bruce Saddler and Duncan Bethel left the Music industry completely. We were young and not good business people at that time and did not understand the rules of do’s and don’ts of the music industry. But we had three talented songwriters, a great arranger, a killer band and all the financial support that we needed. Looking back if we only had an experienced manager I truly believe Mirror would have gone on to create some great music over the years that followed.
Peace and love all the time,

Vordergrundmusik's head honcho re:deep kicks off the Vertigo remix series with his interpretation of Aural Drift. He gives the track a whole new vibe by adding a lively beat and garnishing it with restrained sounds and beautiful harmonies. An oh so cozy affair!

The second installation is of no other than one of Shitkatapult's labelfounders, T.Raumschmiere.
Keeping the vibe of the original whilst spicing it up with effectful and driving elements. An energetic 135 bpm madness to go wild to!

In between the striking synth jabs and arcane vocals of Back to Life, Rittik Wystup spins a net of sharp, crackly drums and fondle, almost trickling piano tones. His elation to combining electronic and acoustic spaces is mirrored throughout the rework, echoing his own unique sound note by note.

Last but not least, we are very delighted to have the german powerduo Extrawelt on the remix duties. The Cluster Buster version takes the original on a dark and imposing journey of huge 808s, raw synths and celestial widescreen pads. Turning it into a sturdy yet cinematic beast of an electro tune. While the Laser Blazer Remix takes things to a whole new level. Ever since Extrawelt started playing this version in their live sets, people have been going absolutely nuts! As the title already suggests, an absolute highlight and surely one for the books!

Nonesuch Records releases Ghost Song, the label debut of singer/songwriter Cécile McLorin Salvant. Ghost Song features a diverse mix of seven originals and five interpretations on the themes of ghosts, nostalgia, and yearning. Salvant says, “It’s unlike anything I’ve done before – it’s getting closer to reflecting my personality as an eclectic curator. I’m embracing my weirdness!” Cécile McLorin Salvant plays at Cadogan Hall on November 16 as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, four shows at SFJAZZ in February, and two nights featuring the music of Ghost Song at Jazz at Lincoln Center in May. Salvant says of the title track, out now, “What if the love has gone, the love has left you and you have the emotions around that, and you’re still going through them, still engaging with the ghost of that love?” She continues, “Some songs are so painful to come out but this one came out pretty quickly. I’ve had some loss the last couple of years: my grandmother, the drummer in my band Lawrence Leathers.”



Ghost Song opens and ends with a sean-nós (traditional Irish unaccompanied vocal style) performance by Salvant, recorded in a church. On track one, she transitions into Kate Bush’s 1978 classic ‘Wuthering Heights’. Salvant says of the song, “Wuthering Heights is a book that really struck me to my core as I was making this album, during the pandemic. And the best interpretation of the novel is Kate Bush’s song.” She continues, “It’s the most classic ghost story. I decided I wanted to do an album called Ghost Song, and I knew that one had to be on it. Then I had the idea to mix it in with the sean-nós ‘Cúirt Bhaile Nua’, which binds it to the traditional ‘Unquiet Grave’, the last track on the album. The ghost is not haunting me; now I am haunting the ghost. They parallel each other so well and they’re such different time periods. I wanted the album to be a circle, with the sean-nós reference at the beginning and at the end. So it is the first track but it’s also the last track and it’s also the middle track, which is how I listen to music, walking around my neighborhood, on a plane, travelling somewhere, putting stuff on repeat.” “All the songs on the album kind of mirror each other. I tried to create this strange symmetry. So as you go in from both ends, the songs are sort of matched together,” Salvant says. “‘I Lost my Mind’ is the center of the Russian doll. I wrote that in the middle of the pandemic. There were nights when I wanted to just scream. It was this deeper part of me saying, ‘It’s OK if this sounds completely crazy, OK to just go with the completely crazy thing and not worry if people think you have lost your mind for doing it.’



“The bands also mirror each other from top to bottom. In terms of the instrumentation, everything,” Salvant explains. “That’s why the songs are there in that relationship: they match each other, they’re like fraternal twins, or one is the evil twin of the other. I, as the living, am visited by the ghost, and then I go visit the ghost in turn. I am haunting the ghost and annoying the ghost, which is saying, ‘Get out of here and go live.’” Of the sonic variety on Ghost Song, Salvant says, “Texture is a big part of how I sing, having multiple textures in one song. It’s almost a compulsion. I can’t allow myself to stay in one texture. The instrumentation creates that but the recording process as well. It’s something I like, even when I’m eating. You want the creamy and chewy and crunchy at the same time. Warm and cold.”



Cécile McLorin Salvant, a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and three-time Grammy Award winner, is a singer and composer bringing historical perspective, a renewed sense of drama, and an enlightened musical understanding to both jazz standards and her own original compositions. Classically trained, steeped in jazz, blues, and folk, and drawing from musical theater and vaudeville, Salvant embraces a wide-ranging repertoire that broadens the possibilities for live performance. Salvant’s performances range from spare duets for voice and piano to instrumental trios to orchestral ensembles. Her unreleased work Ogresse is an ambitious long-form song cycle based on oral fairy tales from the nineteenth century that explores the nature of freedom and desire in a racialized, patriarchal world. Salvant studied at the Université Pierre Mendès-France. She has performed at national and international venues and festivals such as the Newport Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Village Vanguard, and the Kennedy Center. Salvant is also a visual artist.

Dutch symphonic metal band Delain released their third studio album We Are the Others in 2012 to positive reviews from music critics. The album title was inspired by the murder of 20-year-old Sophie Lancaster, whose murder was likely a hate crime due to her being part of the goth subculture. The album spawned two single releases: “Get The Devil Out of Me” and the title track, for which the band shot a music video that included many well-known people from the metal scene, including George Oosthoek, Sharon den Adel, Robert Westerholt and Rob van der Loo. The album features guest contributions by the likes of Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory) and Marko Hietala (Nightwish) and was produced by Jacob Hellner (aka Tripod), who is best known for producing most of Rammstein’s albums.

A new hub solely for the Icelandic talent’s unreleased material, BJARKI will also serve as a platform to launch a wealth of forthcoming audiovisual projects in the coming months, with the label logo designed by Paul Nicholson, NUMBER 3, and all artwork designed by Thomas Harrington Rawle - the creative behind the Care More project. Operating and creating its own storyline with every release, intertwining projects between Harrington Rawle and Bjarki across various mediums, the imprint will also drop a series of offshoot white label releases while being reactive and unveiling random drops across its upcoming schedule. Delivering his first solo release since ‘Oli Gumm’ on трип in 2018, late-February marks the first release on the new label as he unveils his four-track ‘I Wanna Go Home’ EP.

“I want to share more of my unreleased works, especially the tracks that I have created specifically for parties in each city I play. People impact my work a lot, and I would like to share this music directly before or after the show. I don’t see any other way than to set up my own channel or label where I can share all these ideas. Next year will be a lot about sharing stuff and being in direct contact with the audience.” - Bjarki

Opening the label with authority, ‘I Wanna Go Home’ welcomes a quartet of cuts showcasing the genre-spanning polymath at his best, delivering a medley of serious yet playful productions which arc back to previous material while also looking ahead to the future. A creative force with an unrelenting swathe of experimental ideas, influences and directions, this new eponymous imprint looks set to home some of Bjarki’s finest and most unpredictable material to date.

Third album from North Carolina band who merges raw country with punk grit and pop sensibilities. "Straightforward, undiluted songs about shared hardships and unlikely victories that can bring even the most polarized people together. We are not responsible for other people’s behavior and sometimes we have more say in our own lives than we believe. The moment we realize this we start awkwardly constructing this cerebral bridge that's somewhat clunky and weird but it’s finally taking us in the direction we want to go. The songs on Nightroamer are beautiful, agonizing, magnetic, mischievous, indomitable pieces of the clunky and weird brain bridge to personal autonomy." —Sarah Shook

Upcoming new album release from JD Simo entitled 'Mind Control' will be released at the end of October while JD is on tour (9/28 - 11/21 & 1/7/2022 - 1/29/2022 JD Simo... The Chicago-born, now Nashville transplant is like a one-man crusade dedicated to keeping music real, raw, and honest. No matter the setting and no matter his role (whether it’s wingman or bandleader) J.D.’s presence infuses the situation of the moment with the music that’s been fueling him pretty much his whole life, spiced with influences that straddle both decades and dimensions. As a songwriter, guitarist, and producer, he has worked with Jack White, Tommy Emmanuel, Luther Dickinson, Dave Cobb, Blackberry Smoke, and even been a member of Grateful Dead founder Phil Lesh' "Phil & Friends." Now he comes forth with his most unique, original, and rawest effort yet… “Mind Control,” which drops November 5th, 2021. During lockdown in '20, he started cutting tracks in his makeshift studio weekly. Joined by longtime collaborator Adam Abrashoff on drums and longtime friend bassist-producer-engineer Adam Bednarik (Justin Townes Earle), they mused a proverbial soup of shared influences - Hill country trance blues of Junior Kimbrough, RL Burnside, and Asie Payton, hypnotic Afro Beat of Fela Kuti and Tony Allen, psychedelic warps of Captain Beefheart, Funkadelic, and Jimi Hendrix, the old school blues of John Lee Hooker, Earl Hooker, and Lightnin Hopkins and the raw, fuzzy rock of The Stooges and Nirvana. 'Mind Control' is the product of 3 like-minded buddies huddled in a humble setting, making music to make them feel good. The songs' stark, revealing nature is the product of them using the creative process for therapy and enjoyment. Because they had to, for no other reason than they couldn’t not! They love it too much. A positive theme of growth, self-help, and struggles with addiction and mental health lay alongside a haunting, low-down musical landscape. It's raw, funky, and real. Such is life.

Noon Garden is an exotic psych-pop odyssey from one of the founding members of Flamingods. Drawing on worldly sounds from the likes of Francis Bebey and Dur Dur Band to Shintaro Sakamoto, tearing up the sonic rule book and conjuring up a distant land where you find yourself cutting loose to grooves that meander their way through a wide spectrum of African disco, funk, exotica and psychedelia. Noon Garden has received support from the likes of Clash and The Line Of Best Fit and recent single Decca Divine was playlisted on Amazing Radio. The track also picked up love at DSP playlists including Spotify’s ‘Fresh Finds: Indie’ and Apple’s ‘New in Alternative’. British born with Nigerian & Jamaican heritage, Prest spent his childhood living in Bahrain surrounded by people, like himself, who were all living on an island away from their homeland. Seeing the world from a young age and the experience of 10 years of globe-trotting touring with Flamingods are imprinted on his new project and have been a huge influence on shaping Noon Garden’s tropical adventurism. As a talented multi-instrumentalist Charles has written, self-produced and played all the parts on the single himself. Noon Garden says of the album: "This debut was an experiment to get to know myself better. Taken from the name of an area not too far from my family home in Norwood south London, the literal words ‘Beulah Spa’ conjured up imagery of being a place to contemplate in warmth and complete tranquility. Writing music is a therapeutic process for me and it’s taken about eight years on and off to finish this album by myself, to try understand what it was exactly that I wanted to say lyrically and explore sonically. The album’s lyrics have shape-shifted so much with time but they take a curious look at the human experience; in my case growing up and soaking up a lot of cultures from an early age in the Middle East, the UK and briefly in Singapore. It’s a reflection on what’s past and what’s yet to come, my connection with others over the years and how that inevitably shapes your outlook on what’s around you. All of this told through the lens of psychedelia which has always given me a sense of possibility. Beulah Spa is the first marker of where I’ve gotten to so far in my life, channeling it all into a musical odyssey that lays the foundation for a lot more to come.”

A homage to the wildlife and mountain people of Benedicte Maurseth’s home area in Hardanger. The acclaimed and innovative visionary musician Benedicte Maurseth is coming forth with the wonderful all-consuming album Hárr. The sound of her magic Hardanger fiddle is woven seamlessly together with that of birds and the other musicians’ musical impressions. Always moving forward with a steely calm disposition, the record draws you into a world where one feels to be one with nature, wandering over a mountain plateau. Benedicte was raised in Maurset in Eidfjord – near Hardangervidda National Park – and has hiked through the mountains her whole life, clearly laying the foundation for this musical expedition. As traditional folk musicians have always been, Maurseth is open to contemporary influences from interactive art and music styles. The work Hárr oscillates between Norwegian folk tunes, free improvised music, American minimalism, and extensive use of musique concrète. In the tracks you will also hear natural soundscapes via the shufflings of reindeer, reindeer herders, birds and insects all recorded in Hardangervidda. Benedicte Maurseth: Hardanger fiddle Mats Eilertsen: contrabass, electronics Håkon Stene: vibraphone, percussion, electronics Guests: Jørgen Træen: electronics Rolf-Erik Nystrøm: saxophone Stein Urheim: langeleik, harmonica, electronics, samples, percussion

From Richmond, Virginia arrives Tempter, a soundtrack for end times hurtling along to the speed of global rage and impending doom. Merging the very best parts of crossover metal and hardcore from the 80s Japan, Sweden and UK, Tempter bring a new voice to a legendary sound. It comes perhaps as no surprise then that the group comprises of veterans of the hardcore scene from bands such as Candy, Division of Mind, Nosebleed, Ekulu and more. Instant bulldozers Sacricide and Pestilence, with their punchy riffs and wild solos bookend the S/T EP, whilst Uniformed Madness and Night Terror run along with at times almost apocalyptic walls of acidic noise. The production provides a dense atmospheric swamp of rage, mixed by Fucked Up’s Jonah Falco, providing a fitting soundtrack for Valentina Lopez’s huge vocal that sounds like 1000s of witches chanting. La Lluvia, with its use of samples and layers of synths, dances around spoken word sections that read out a poem of the same name by Roberto Bolaño, one of Chile’s greatest literary writers. Bolaño’s work fits perfectly with a biting satirical punk mood that Lopez exudes with every breath. He often questioned the privilege of making art whilst the junta would torture people in basements. Hardcore, punk and metal often likes to think of itself as a political act more than music, whether in its DIY ethic or protest lyrics. However, perhaps we find it too easy to fall into its angry embrace and eat each other alive whilst the world outside continues to fall. This music makes hell on earth that little bit more bearable, however ultimately Bolaño, and Lopez, call on counterculture music to have meaning and political action.

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.

Durutti Column are still one of the most sought after band of the English post-punk. Since their first album 'The Return Of Durutti Column' (released on Factory in 1980), the guitarist, pianist and composer Vini Reilly has published a series of remarkable albums that filled the gap between new wave and ambient music. Reilly and Bruce Mitchell (who’s been working with such major artists like Simply Red and Rod Stewart) represented the future of the Manchester scene moving forward from the forerunners (Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, etc.) to the new musical heroes (Happy Monday, Stone Roses and the likes).

MATERIALI SONORI invited The Durutti Colurnnat for the first edition of the Greetings Festival in San Giovanni Valdarno in 1985, and build since then a steady relationship with the band. It was precisely Vini Reilly that started the record series 'Greetings' (dedicating to the Belpaese tracks like 'Florence Sunset", "San Giovanni Dawn", 'For Friends In Italy"). Subsequently MATERIALI SONORI dedicated the first cover of the magazine Sonora to Reilly and Mitchell (including a previously unreleased track on the magazine's compact disc)

'Dry' is conceived as a new journey among Vini inventions, through rarefied moods and subterranean streams of sound. The fifteen songs (lasting fifty-five minutes) have been recorded in Manchester in 1990, Vini sits in on guitar and piano, while Mitchell is on electronic and acoustic percussion, other instruments such as the clarinet (played by Zinnia Mitchell-Williams, Bruce's daughter), harmonica, viola and keyboards are also featured on the session. Here, once again, Durutti Column 's music could be defined as half-way between melancholy rock and 'progressive' New Age.

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.”

Varaz (Steven Taelman, BE) returns to Moodfamily for a second time. His nifty synth work is this time accompanied by remixes of none other than Lawrence (Giegling), Dewalta & Moodfamily's very own AMyn.

Lovers of Berlin's nightly hours will certainly feel Baba Yaga's purpose. It's exactly how the boogeyman is supposed to come across: slightly haunting, in dark rooms, surrounded by smoke and people dancing as if they are summoning the demon of the early hours.

Terribly awesome, horrifically effective yet it feels like divine intervention. Hauntingly beautiful.

A few years back I had this dream: I was walking through vast grasslands
towards a solitary hill
On top of the hill was a movie house. On the marquee: History of Jazz.I kept
thinking about it. What was in the movie house? What happened before? What
followed? Why was I going there? Why "History of Jazz"? To reach some kind of
insight, I began a film script, extending the dream tenfold. The script morphed
into a novella-sized book, a series of songs, and finally, a "mind-movie" podcast,
forming this labyrinthine, multi- medium story – equal parts dream, film and
waking life. Figuring out how to transcend the traditional parameters of the album
to create a more panoramic story- vision is something I've been unconsciously
trying to do for some time. I've been pushing against the edges – toying with
narrative, characters and visuals with Easterween and Niagara, a weird children's
book Daydreams for Night – but the scope of life behind Rialto felt too
irrepressible and expansive to be boxed in an album. The book and podcast have
kicked open the doors – allowing the album to lead or serve where it should.In
Rialto's extended narrative, Klaus (loner, insomniac) is working a stint as a driver
for a small town writer's festival. Following a series of unsettling paranormal
events, he finds himself agreeing to a strange request - to deliver a film reel in
time for its premiere at a secluded movie house - the Rialto. The journey leads
him through a circuit of strangely located, oracular movie houses, screening a mix
of dreams, fantasies, memories and prophecies - numinous films of personal
revelation. Inhabiting the movie houses are underworld characters and spirits
with ambiguous motivations, some helping and some hindering Klaus's quest. It's
a Dantesque, deep cleanse pilgrimage to untangle bitterness and trauma,
rediscover a lost clairvoyance, ancestry, and ultimately, the medicinal source of
eternal youth. A metaphysical noir. A hyperstition.Rialto's album stars seven
singer-artists playing characters alongside mine: Tamara Lindeman (The Weather
Station), Daniel Knox, Thom Gill (Owen Pallet, Beverly Glenn- Copeland), Ryan
Driver (Jennifer Castle), Felicity Williams (Bahamas), Robin Dann (Bernice) and
Martin Tielli (Rheostatics). All Toronto- based like me except Daniel (Chicago).
Performed by the Venuti String Quartet with arrangements by Andrew Downing.
Produced by Jean Martin (Tanya Tagaq). It's my 13th album and fourth on Tin
Angel - previous releases on Tin Angel: Miracle In The Night (2019), Small Town
Water Tower (2016), and Niagara (2014). Each of Rialto's eight podcast episodes
features a chapter from the book performed by a cast of twenty five - made up
almost entirely of musicians – including the speaking voices of the
aforementioned singers, as well as Meg Remy (U.S. Girls), Claudia Dey, Veda Hille,
Devon Sproule, Luka Kuplowsky and others. Rialto is available as a 101-page eBook (illustrations by David Ouimet) on Sud de Valeur Press. Premiere
performances begin fourth quarter 2021. Happy Rialto listening, reading,
watching, dreaming...

First Word Records is very pleased to welcome back Quiet Dawn with a brand new EP entitled 'Movements'.

Parisian multi-instrumentalist Will Galland has been with First Word since late 2014, providing several releases for us over the years, from his acclaimed debut album 'The First Day' to his last EP release, the organic opus 'Human Being - The Short Story Of The Reed'. Collaborations have included Makaya McCraven, Oddisee, Miles Bonny and First Word crew such as Eric Lau, Bastien Keb and Sarah Williams White, who he teamed up with on his classic remix of the track 'Hum' and most recently on the track 'One By One' which appeared on the compilation EP 'A Family Affair' at the start of 2021.

For his latest project, 'Movements' sits firmly in the realms of broken beat, after being heavily inspired at First Word's infamous 14th birthday party at Total Refreshment Centre, where he played alongside label-mates such as Kaidi Tatham and Children of Zeus. This delectable six-track EP encompasses a series of deeply percussive grooves and squelchy synths. This is a predominantly instrumental affair, though does feature the supremely soulful vocals of Oliver Night on the track 'Change Must Come', following on from Oliver's work with the CoOp Presents crew amongst others.

Quiet Dawn says "after the birth of my son, I took the time to get back to making new music.

And when I started to work on new tracks, I wanted to compose something without concept, unlike my previous records, just because time is precious and I wanted to find pleasure again when I composeand not be fixed to a concept, or a story.



These new tracks are instinctive; made with my main instruments, rhodes & piano, synths, percussions, vocals, bass and guitars. They are naturally oriented towards my big musical crush, BRUK, along with different rhythms, vibes and grooves. For me, it's definitely a record for the dancers. For this reason, the new EP is called 'Movements'. Aside from the dancer's element, the title relates to everything that is happening in the world at the moment, working on this record over the pandemic. Affecting people in all countries, friendship, mutual aid, solidarity and movements in many instances are very important to me, my family and my musical family, First Word.'



The influences on this particular EP come largely from the West London music scene; DKD, Bugz, Neon Phusion, 2000Black, Domu, IG Culture, Jazztronik, MdCL, the First Word fam and many many more artists. There are also heavy vibes inspired by 70's jazz, funk, disco, latin & african music."

'Movements' by Quiet Dawn is released on First Word Records on vinyl & digital in late 2021.

The young and ambitious hip hop group Blackalicious emerged from the underground during the late Nineties. Their debut album established them as one of the West Coast’s top outfits, but it was the follow-up Blazing Arrow that earned them major acclaim. This second studio album was originally released in 2002 on MCA Records. The album features several guest appearances, including Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against The Machine), Gil Scott-Heron, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Cut Chemist and Chali 2NA (Jurassic 5) amongst others.

Blackalicious was known for their ‘positive tip’, in other words, their lyrics have often been spiritual and uplifting rather than violent or misogynous.The group consisted of DJ/producer Chief Xcel and rapper Gift of Gab.

The Nonesuch debut of Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra), LIFE ON EARTH, is a departure for the Bronx-born, New Orleans-based singer/songwriter. Its eleven new “nature punk” tracks on the theme of survival are music for a world in flux – songs about thriving, not just surviving, while disaster is happening. Hurray for the Riff Raff tours North America this spring, beginning March 19 in Atlanta and continuing through April 20 in Nashville, with stops in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, among others. International tour dates will be announced shortly.

For her eighth full-length album, Segarra (they/she) drew inspiration from The Clash, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bad Bunny, and the author of Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown. Recorded during the pandemic, Life on Earth was produced by Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Bon Iver, Kevin Morby).

Life on Earth’s first single, ‘RHODODENDRON’, is about “finding rebellion in plant life. Being called by the natural world and seeing the life that surrounds you in a way you never have. A mind expansion. A psychedelic trip. A spiritual breakthrough. Learning to adapt, and being open to the wisdom of your landscape. Being called to fix things in your own backyard, your own community,” says Segarra.

Of the ‘Rhododendron’ video, which was directed by New Orleans-based artist Lucia Honey, Segarra says: “It is really far out and fun. I got this bodysuit that just looks like the inside of the human body. It looks like you’re skinless. It’s in a scene where I’m playing to an audience of plants. Just really absurd, but I put that suit on and I was like man, this feels really good. It feels like, ‘This is who I am. Let’s just take the skin off.’

“It reminds me a little bit of Kids in the Hall,” they continue. “With this ‘Rhododendron’ shoot, something clicked in me where I was like, ‘All I have to do is be myself.’ I had been thinking that I had to be something bigger than myself. I felt like I was just never quite making the mark and then something clicked where I was like, ‘I just gotta be me. I could do that. I could show up and be me. And if people don’t like it, then I don’t know what to fucking tell them.’ It was like a brain shift of, ‘Oh, this can be fun. It doesn’t have to be suffering.’ With so many videos and photo shoots before, it really felt like suffering. I felt so uncomfortable being perceived. I didn’t know who I was.”

Honey adds: “We wanted to create something surreal, playful, and saturated that indulged heavily in the aesthetic of the early ‘90s. Alynda and I had many overlapping visual and philosophical references which sparked the initial collaboration. We wanted to make this video an homage to Gregg Araki’s Teenage Apocalypse trilogy but as a nature documentary crossover. I came across Araki’s work as a queer teenager, and he’s always been a big inspiration. Sex, blood, punk rock, camp, etc.

“We live in a moment where the future is bleaker and more unknown than ever, so there becomes a deep comfort in nostalgia and reliving the past. Through our talks, I realised Alynda’s new album touches on many of these same subjects, but perhaps in reverse; running from a past that is always haunting you. Shifting into a more refined self/identity through confronting one’s trauma and baggage. It was easy to reach collaborative synergy for this video project because we’re both interested in tackling similar issues.”

Alynda Segarra was born and raised in the Bronx, which they left at the age of seventeen, running away from everything and everyone they knew, hopping freight trains or hitchhiking across the country in the company of a band of street urchins. Segarra moved to New Orleans in 2007 and formed two bands: Dead Man’s Street Orchestra and Hurray for the Riff Raff. In 2015, Segarra decamped to Nashville, then to New York, to make her most recent album, 2016’s critically praised The Navigator, an ambitious and fully realized concept album that was her quest to reclaim her Puerto Rican identity. Segarra’s previous records as Hurray for the Riff Raff are Crossing the Rubicon (EP, 2007), It Don’t Mean I Don’t Love You (2008), Young Blood Blues (2010), Hurray for the Riff Raff (2011), Look Out Mama (2012), My Dearest Darkest Neighbor (2013), and Small Town Heroes (2014).

The new album by B.Visible is a distinctive studio work, which captures the state of mind of searching for something, without actually knowing what. The only thing you can make sense of is that you aren't currently satisfied, and you want a change in your life, even though you aren't exactly sure of where you belong. This music is a quest, a search for a greater range of self-expression. B.Visible captured this very thought-provoking concept by focusing on what really matters, musically, and conceptually alike. He stayed true to his feelings, regardless of judge-ment or other people's thoughts and opinions. In the end, it's all about fulfilling creativity and exploring feelings without boundaries.

"In Between Places", demonstrates his remarkable talent for extending varied elements across the whole spectrum, allowing a wide range of influences to inspire, entertain and captivate the audience in a very spe-cial way. What makes "In Between Places" stand out is the fact that it shows the artist's chops, without seeming to try to hard to do so. It's or-ganic and dynamic; technically accomplished, but also incredibly spon-taneous and one-of-a-kind in its execution. The instrumental is perfectly balanced, allowing B.Visible's expertly interwoven patterns of melody and rhythm to soar through the mix and come alive with raw and thrilling performance.

Ultimately, "In Between Places" is a truly special album, which is rich in terms of sound design and textures, tipping the hat off to artists such as Four Tet, Flying Lotus or Apparat, only to mention a few. This record is a musical journey with a unique twist.


Viennese producer B.Visible is always pushing his craft forward with each concept being an evolution. His music is mutating organically as each project brings novelty but always while blending sharp electronic components with dusty acoustic layers. That duality exists in every aspect of his creative journey with DJ sets revolving around second-hand records and modern-day productions but also his live project offering a whole new dimension and generosity to the audience. B.Visible melts the barrier between analog and digital in a such distinctive and elegant way that it feels natural.

Kapingbdi came together in Liberia, West Africa, during the late 1970’s and had their own unique style. This six to seven-piece band played original compositions in a vibrant mix of African Rhythms, Soul, Spiritual Jazz, Funk and Rock. Led by Kojo Samuels on sax, flute and vocals “Born in The Night” presents the essential tracks from their rare studio LPs produced between 1978-1981. The work has been carefully edited and remastered in 2019 for vinyl LP and a 6-Page Digipack CD, which includes two additional recordings. Kapingbdi toured through Europe and the U.S. and were the only Afro funk band to ever come out of Liberia.

Kapingbdi hail from Liberia, West Africa and have their own imitable style. They effortlessly combine traditional African music in a modern mix of Jazz, Funk, Soul and Rock. The band is a fusion of the old and the new.

The word "Kapingbdi" is taken from the Sierra Leone language Mende and means "born in the night". Kojo Samuels was given the name by his Latin teacher whilst attending high school in Freetown, They often meet and debate at night in the city and soon after Kojo is called Kapingbdi. The name serves as a description of his origin. Born In Lagos, Nigeria in 1943. The son of slave children. His mother from Nigeria and father from Sierra Leone who moved the family to Liberia, during the 1950’s.

Kojo has played music for as long as he can remember. He starts with the harmonica and later becomes a drummer and percussionist in his first band at school. During his art studies 1965-1972, he tours Germany and works as an art teacher in the USA. His band Kapingbdi is reorganized five times and consists of up to seven musicians. In a VW-Bulli he drives the group from concert to concert and if the drummer fails, he jumps in himself. Between 1978 and 1981 three Kapingbdi LPs are produced for the independent label Trikont, recorded in Hamburg and Munich. During this creative period, the band plays at festivals in Africa and Europe. In 1984, the band tours the United States and shortly after, they came to an end.

At their best, Kapingbdi would rouse the audience with original compositions like "Human Rights", justice for all, especially for South Africans, and "You Go Go You Go Come". The officials and employees in the government departments have no time for the common man, for any questions such as job search, scholarship or similar, he receives the answer "go, come back tomorrow" and the same thing the following day. Or "Now Is The Time For Cry For Love." Now it is time to scream for love and finally, time for humanity and justice. Despite immense difficulties, the musicians consciously live and work in Africa and are at home in Liberia.

On April 12, 1980, ordinary soldiers and non-commissioned officers organize a coup against the government. This is an attempt to put an end to a policy of exploitation of the Liberian people. Whilst efforts to eradicate poverty, lawlessness and illiteracy are obvious throughout the country, Liberia is still Americanized to a high degree. This is evident, as the radio programs of that time almost exclusively played American disco music. Under these conditions, the people seek a reconnection to their folk music, and Kapingbdi were aware of this. Kojo tried many times to come together with traditional Liberian musicians. This passion takes him north of the country. Meeting and playing with the old hornblowers and playing music on traditional instruments, such as the elephant tusk.

Kapingbdi make high quality tape copies of their own vinyl LPs and patiently try to displace all unauthorized tapes from the domestic "market". Nevertheless, it is hard to make a living through music in Liberia. Kapingbdi, is now celebrated. The radio plays are in abundance, but royalties are not forthcoming. Their musical link is the feeling of Afrobeat and Highlife, which is found in each of the many Kapingbdi pieces. They embody Jazz, which is understood to be the most refined example of black music outside of Africa. In Liberia, Jazz is virtually impossible to hear. Bright shining names such as John Coltrane, Charlie Parker or Miles Davis were widely unknown. Thus, the Black Jazz, including its Back-To-Africa movement of the 60’s and 70‘s, passes by without leaving a trace in Africa itself.

Kojo's claim at the time, was to make African music with the depth, sensitivity and the freedom of the technical level of Jazz. This makes Kapingbdi the torchbeares. The underpaid prophets in small Liberia. It is the passion with which the founder of the band continues to work on their music for years. Tirelessly, stimulating and encouraging his fellow musicians. This is ultimately responsible for the success of Kapingbdi in Liberia itself. The local audience seems to listen to the band in fascinated astonishment. One wonders about the ability to develop as demonstrated by Kapingbdi on the basis of their music. It is African and unusually jazzy, danceable and better than the American disco music heard on the radio.

Rather than chase the money and the job opportunities in Europe, Kapingbdi are firmly rooted in Africa. The musicians live in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, at the Kabingbdi workshop, located in the Congotown area on the eastern edge of the sprawling city. Kojo works here as a sculptor, painter, batik artist and musician. The sales revenue that his activities generate, gives him the opportunity to support the development of African Jazz music. The highest percentage of funds are from Germany and Kojo’s work ethic is “to work on your own thing“. The stance taken aims to support the welfare of Liberians and Africans. The other musicians of the group live in a second house that is nearby.

For the sake of consistency, Kapingbdi is a full-time band. However, the revenue, from all of the sources, could not keep them afloat. Equally, as important to the group are Kojos's knowledge of traditional African music and his sculpting skills. His knowledge is shared with others at the afternoon workshops. It is here that they discuss new lyrics, engage in political debate and the self-imposed task of improving conditions in Africa. At times the debate became heated, especially during rehearsals. This was regarded as good and integrative, sowing the seeds of innitiative to keep the band together.

From 1980 to 1985 Kojo also opened and ran the club "Panjebota", located on the grounds of the U.S. Consulate in Monrovia. Almost every evening Kapingbdi perform the song "Wrong Curfew Walk", whose lyrics lament the killing of citizens during the curfew imposed by the Liberian government. When the head of state Samuel Doe hears the song, he behaves agressively and forces Kojo to close the "Panjebota". Kojo had already moved on. Soonafter he meets Fela Kuti at the Africa-Festival and plays concerts in Germany with Cecil Taylor's workshop band.

Kapingbdi is for thinking, dreaming, dancing. What they sing about is what they have experienced. Kojo Samuels is 76 years old today and still follows his vocation as a critical musician, artist and activist.

Ekkehart Fleischhammer / Sonorama 2019 (with the help of original press sheets and the memories of Kojo Samuels)

With one foot in the real world and the other in a charmed dimension of his own making, Amos Lee creates the rare kind of music that's
emotionally raw yet touched with a certain magical quality.

On his eighth album 'Dreamland', the Philadelphia- born singer/ songwriter intimately documents his real- world struggles (alienation, anxiety, loneliness, despair), an outpouring born from deliberate and often painful self-examination.
"For most of my life I've walked into rooms thinking, 'I don't belong here,'" says Lee. "I've come to the realization that I'm too comfortable as an isolated person, and I want to reach out more. This record came from questioning my connections to other people, to myself, to my past and to the future."

“The record was written from a place of wanting to
escape the walls of my own apartment, I wrote it
imagining freedom and dancing and people being
able to hold each other again. I spent so much
time on zoom day and night just writing words and
melodies and before I knew it I’d written an albums
worth of material. I felt a wild and animalistic
feeling of needing and wanting to socialise again
come out whilst writing and the feelings just didn’t
stop. I felt like being in my apartment and being so
isolated made me really dig deep into my mind and
my imagination just ran wild. Most of the music is a
celebration but some of the music comes from a
painful place, of loss and heartbreak. I felt trapped
and almost like my insides were dancing but I
couldn’t express it, but in writing it allowed me to
feel free again. This record feels like a new start
and the ability to come back to life after such a
strange time of us all being alone.” - Foxes

 The Slow Show release their fourth studio album, their first for three years, entitled ‘Still Life’,
via PIAS. The four-piece, who first formed in Manchester, will support the release with a
European tour in February and March 2022, culminating in an already sold-out hometown show
at Manchester’s Hallé St Peters on 4th March.
 Lead track ‘Blinking’ is a perfect taster to the new direction ‘Still Life’ offers. Same but different
again. “An ode to love and loyalty. The song is a defiant pledge to never giving up on the
people you love. Musically we wanted the song to have impact, a directness and powerful
punch that we’d previously shied away from.” - Robert Goodwin (vocals)
 The making of ‘Still Life’ has been quite the ride. Following their breakthrough album, ‘White
Water’, it was clear The Slow Show were not just ‘another band from Manchester’. The legacy
of The Smiths, Joy Division and all those other great predecessors is not something to be trifled
with, but The Slow Show didn't need to wear their address on their sleeve: this was something
else, fully formed, with a mesmerising sound, rich in atmosphere and melody.
 With the band’s desire to push each other outside of their respective comfort zones during the
recording process, ‘Still Life’ subsequently offers a more diverse, rich and interesting sound
than previous albums.
 “We did develop our sound,” says Rob Goodwin. “We had to try something else. We felt we
owed that to ourselves, and to the people that come and enjoy the music. We explored a lot of
stuff: different sounds, different feelings, different ideas, different processes as well. Some of
them didn’t work at all, but some did. It was difficult and challenging, but it felt good in the end.”
 This experimental side to the creative process allowed the band to introduce new elements to
their work. “Some new approaches and sounds crept in,” keyboardist Frederik ‘T Kindt admits.
“Some were far from our older work. For instance: after some initial encouragement from me,
Rob was keen to sing a bit higher on this record. Chris was encouraged to make his drums a
bit more present; some things almost sound like a breakbeat to my ears.”
 Recorded remotely over the course of the past year, with Goodwin recording vocals from
Dusseldorf in Germany and the rest of band recording in the UK, ‘Still Life’, as a concept, takes
inspiration from the experiences of lockdown: “Before the virus arrived, I had a busy life;
spending two weeks in Germany with my girlfriend, and then flying to Manchester to work with
Fred or to a gig.” Goodwin remarks: “And then all of a sudden, life came to a halt. It took a little
getting used to, but I actually had a really nice realisation during that time. I understood that the
slower life got, the more I saw. I spent a lot of time in nature, seeing things in a different
perspective. And that's what you need when you're trying to create. You have to really look,
and then you see things happening everywhere.”
 The tracks themselves are brimming with emotion and reverence towards the significant
relationships we encounter in life. Stand-out anthem ‘Blinking’ is a defiant pledge to never
giving up on the people you love. Musically the band wanted the song to have impact, a
directness and powerful punch that they’d previously shied away from. Whilst ‘Woven Blue’
deals with the aftermath of uncoupling. The idea that meaningful relationships are very often
woven and complex, making resolve difficult.
 These very personal tracks are counterbalanced with the more topical, ‘Breathe’, which
documents some of the unjust and heart-breaking scenes of 2020 with spoken word references
to John Boyega’s emotional rallying cry in support of Black Lives Matter movement in London’s
Hyde Park.
 In all, Still Life marks another evolution of a band that have never tried to fit in any particular
box but have inhabited their own unique universe.
 LP pressed on white viny

"In the beginning of the 2000's being a producer or a DJ wasn't cool, it was something for nerds. And no one was so crazy to spend all their money in machines. I was going to the clubs in the weekend and when everyone was going to the afterparty i was going to work for a little money to be able to make music, music that I wanted to be play by all these big DJ's I had the chance to see, and I made it."
- Tells Hector Sandoval AKA Tensal Aka Syndromania to me and some other younger DJS (P.E.A.R.L, Jheal Bashta) while we drink a beer in Gijon north of Spain, city close to the town where Syndromania is based. -

After hundreds of records released and the recognition of every single artist of the scene. Few has changed for Syndromania, he keeps getting immersed in his studio with the same love although now with another point of view plus the experience to twist it to the next level.

DJing since 1993 his musical knowledge may be in the top 5 more knowledgeable people I ever met. As you can hear along the 6 cuts of this Sacrilegio EP it's fully rooted on straight messages and codes that have been filling up years of rave culture with a new take on them in order to optimize them for a contemporary rave experience.

From UK infected electro, mechanical-industrial techno music, leaning Chicago house cut to a tremendous take on techno-trance. This record is one of my favorites ever released on OAKS/KAOS and one of the ones that I'm sure that sets the level to inspire many to reinvent and develop our culture.

To be honest Sacrilegio is one of the records I'm more proud about of all in our catalogs. Thanks to Syndromania for this extraordinary piece of art and DJ apex tool which won't ever leave my record bag, neither probably yours."
Respeto.
Hector.

#oftenplusneverminus8

The debut album from hotly tipped kiwi band Jamie and The Numbers, finally sees a release via Pete Brady’s Superfly Funk and Soul Records. After years of limited release 7”s being fought over worldwide by collectors and fans, this superb LP is the culmination of years of work for highly gifted Tongan-Kiwi Jamie Mavusa. Based in Wellington she can occasionally be seen singing soul tunes for Tapestry Music Promotions at many of their Music Reviews and also in her gospel choir at Church. It was at one of the Tapestry Music shows in Wellington that Jamie met Simon from Deltaphonic Records/The Numbers and after watching Jamie perform an amazing version of "Wade In The Water”. It was suggested they do some recording together with the view of doing some cool Soul classics and a bunch of originals too, the rest is now history.



The Numbers are an incredibly tight Wellington based band. Prolific writers of their own original material they are a 4 piece that consist of three brothers from Wainuiamata and a newly adopted Kiwi originally from Birmingham England. If you get a chance check these guys out they are brimming with cool retro tunes and some barnstorming original songs played with verve and passion and their shows are always fun, 2019 they supported "From The Jam" on their visit to New Zealand and after teaming up with Jamie have played Pasifika Festivals and open-air concerts to thousands of people. The Numbers collectively have played, sessioned, recorded for other artists on such labels as Gut Records, D-Star, EG Records, Imaginary Records and have in excess of 40+ published songs with Universal, Complete Music, KWS Records NYC and Cherry Red Records.

Solid olive green vinyl in a regular sleeve with an etched B-side
On their EP entitled perfect, MANNEQUIN PUSSY's new songs burst forth from
the sprawling months of social isolation & internet-fueled anxiety. The band rages
about the practice of condensing your daily life into a manicured stream of
images for social media. What happens to the social impulse when everyone you
love or even like is leveled into a set of pixels. "It was a really weird psychological
experience, being bombarded by images of other people constantly when you are
not around a lot of other people," vocalist Missy Dabice says.
After spending most of the year 2020 apart from each other and everyone else,
the members of MANNEQUIN PUSSY decided to book studio time and work
together in person again. What came out of that compressed session time were
some of MANNEQUIN PUSSY's most furious, incandescent songs yet. The
Philadelphia based band teams up yet again with producer Will Yip to satiate fans
with perfect, the EP follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2019 Epitaph debut
Patience (Pitchfork Best New Music, sold out US tour, and "one of the best rock
releases of 2019" according to Paste Magazine). "We just fgured if we forced
ourselves into this situation where someone could hit 'record,' something might
come out," Dabice says. "We'd never written that way before."

New York trio Sunflower Bean announce their second record Twentytwo in Blue. The album will be released on March 23rd when all members of the band - Julia Cumming, Jacob Faber and Nick Kivlen - will be 22 years old. The album comes almost two years and two months after the release of their critically acclaimed 2016 debut album Human Ceremony.

Co-produced by Unknown Mortal Orchestra's Jacob Portrait (who also mixed the record) and HC-producer Matt Molnar of Friends, Twentytwo in Blue shows Sunflower Bean stay true to their guitar band core and classic rock-inspired roots, while exploring new sonic textures with more direct and progressive themes. Unlike their debut, which was essentially a compilation of songs Sunflower Bean wrote while still in their teens, Twentytwo in Blue was made in the year between December 2016 and December 2017 and showcases how far the band has come since playing together in their high school days.

To celebrate the album announce, Sunflower Bean share a new single and follow up to I Was A Fool' entitled Crisis Fest.' 2017—we know/ Reality's one big sick show/ Every day's a crisis fest,' vocalist and bassist Cumming sings. This last year was extremely alarming, traumatic, and politically volatile,' explains the band about the track. While writing this album, we often reflected back on the people we met while on tour. We felt a strong kinship with the audiences that came to see us all over the country, and we wanted to write a song for them - something to capture the anxieties of an uncertain future. 'Crisis Fest' is less about politics and more about the power of us, the young people in this country.'

Sunflower Bean find a sublime maturity and progression to their sound and songwriting on Twentytwo in Blue. If there was a ragged beauty in the gauzy, groovy wall of sound of Human Ceremony, there's a new directness to these songs, a product of the band's growth and the insanity of the times we're in. Sunflower Bean have gained a newly confident voice that they bring to the second album, one that doesn't shy away from addressing the other events of those two years—political changes and cultural shifts that have left America and the world stupefied. This has been such an unbelievable time,' says Kivlen. I can't imagine any artist of our ilk making a record and not have it be seen through the lens of the political climate of 2016 and 2017. So I think there's a few songs on the record that are definitely heavily influenced by this sort of—whatever you want to say what the Trump administration has been.' A shit show,' offers a helpful Faber.

Ultimately, this record is much more than a political statement or piece of commentary on today's political climate. I think one word that always comes to mind when I think about this record is lovable,' says Cumming. We want the songs to be something that someone can get attached to, and have be a part of them. Because that's what I look for in songs myself, and that's the kind of experience we want to give to others.'

There is nothing quite like an evening under the rhythmic spell of the legendary David Morales. Stepping on the dancefloor while he's behind the decks requires full trust and surrender. You agree to hand the reins of your mind, body, and spirit to his intuition and ability to guide you to where you need to be at all times. It will occasionally be cathartic and intense. It will often make the hairs on your body stand on end, and make you sweat more than you ever have before. The endorphin release will be powerful. You will feel like you can touch joy and euphoria it in the air around you. As he gently brings you back down to reality, you will feel renewed and ready for anything life brings your way. This is more than a night of dancing. This is an experience at the hands of a magical maestro of music. How is this possible from a night on the dancefloor? Well, it begins with the brilliant mind of an artist at the peak of his creative power, imbued with the empathy necessary to connect with what has become a global legion of fans. "If there is any secret, it's really simple: I love what I do with all of my heart," Morales says. "I'm a DJ first. I thrive on human interaction. I am always adjusting my sets based on what the people in the room need. Each night, we form an emotional connection that inspires the music as it comes."

For Morales, "working in the studio is important, but it exists as a way of supporting the DJing experience. It's all to inform how it will work on the dancefloor."

To that end, you're reading these words as you dive into a new collection of Morales classics. Ever the collaborator, he has enlisted the input of a wide range of voices and talent. There is the diva power of fellow legend Ultra Nate, who brings her signature sass to "I Can Dream," while Michele Perera's explosive chemistry with David is all over the inspiring "Life is a Song" and "Never Give Up", as well as the impassioned "Addicted."

Morales reminds the listener of his ever-evolving musical scope in collaborations with blondewearingblack ("What Can I Do"), Lea Lorien ("Never Looking Back"), and Blakkat ("Can't Get Enough"). There's the clubland supergroup of David with Mr. V, Scotty P. and DJ Rae on "The Feels." Rounding out the set is a reunion with longtime muses Elle Cato ("I Feel Love") and British soul icon Joe Roberts ("Easy"). Just be sure to listen closely, because there's bound to be a surprise tucked between these grooves to tickle your ears and move your body.

The beauty of this sparkling new foray into electronic music is the heightened intimacy between Morales and the music. What you are hearing here is almost exclusively from the man's own fingertips. "The technology has evolved in the most extraordinary and liberating ways," he says, adding that he is now able to be far more directly hands-on during the building of each track. "Back in the '90s, I had to have more people involved, With the changes and growth in technology, I can now do it, myself. I don't even have to be in the studio anymore. It's smart, financially, but it's also way more fun and creative."

David adds, "I don't have to wait to manifest an idea anymore. I can just build my ideas as they come to me." In fact, he reveals that many of these new tracks were born in unique places, like planes, cars, his bedroom, and a host of other settings. "Music is always spinning around my mind. I no longer worry about losing an idea."

Surviving the highs and lows of an ever-changing world has also brought Morales back to the basic essentials of life and music. "The pandemic has brought things full circle for me," he says. "I love what I do and I still have the passion of a kid who is just getting started"

Yet, we know that Morales has been in the game for longer than a minute. He's a Grammy award-winning producer, remixer, and songwriter. He has lent his skill to countless of records by icons that include Mariah Carey, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, Seal, and Jamiroquai. As a turntable artist originally from New York City, he earned his bones of credibility back in the '80s and '90s in clubs like the Paradise Garage, Red Zone, Tunnel, and Club USA. He initiated the concept of DJs touring beyond their hometowns with countless, wildly successful treks that have taken him the farthest-reaching corners of the world. As electronic music thrives on pop radium, David tops the list of every young artist and DJ as a primary influence.

Even with such a staggering legacy, Morales never looks over his shoulder.

"That is how you stumble and fall," he says. "If you get all caught up in the past, you're going to lose sight of what is right in front of you. You lose the excitement of discovery. That is what gets me off; taking what I know and combining it with what I don't know as I learn it. There is nothing better than experiencing how it all comes together. It's different every time."

And that is the ultimate secret to that extraordinary spell that David Morales casts over us all every single time.

Never stuck for inspiration, people-powered and newly electrified singer-songwriter, Jamie Webster watched the world get weird and channelled every wicked turn into a new, 10-track album, Moments, set for release on Fri 28 January 2022. Following last month’s teasing single, Days Unknown, Webster reveals the follow up to last year’s number six-charting debut with new, rallying-cry single, Going Out.

Melding together two short stories, one of Paul and the other Annabella, Webster’s renowned people-watching prowess, setting vivid pen pictures of neighbours and strangers in his native Liverpool to music, switches to pin-sharp short fiction for Going Out. Cutting

across the strange absence of empathy for Britain’s young, Webster uses his characters to spell out the loss, frustration and rebellion of the twenty-somethings stopped in their tracks by recent circumstance and a tangle of incomprehensible rules.

Never stuck for inspiration, people-powered and newly electrified singer-songwriter, Jamie Webster watched the world get weird and channelled every wicked turn into a new, 10-track album, Moments, set for release on Fri 28 January 2022. Following last month’s teasing single, Days Unknown, Webster reveals the follow up to last year’s number six-charting debut with new, rallying-cry single, Going Out.

Melding together two short stories, one of Paul and the other Annabella, Webster’s renowned people-watching prowess, setting vivid pen pictures of neighbours and strangers in his native Liverpool to music, switches to pin-sharp short fiction for Going Out. Cutting

across the strange absence of empathy for Britain’s young, Webster uses his characters to spell out the loss, frustration and rebellion of the twenty-somethings stopped in their tracks by recent circumstance and a tangle of incomprehensible rules.

On an early morning in November 2015, THE GHOST INSIDE was involved
in an accident that claimed the lives of their driver, the lives of everyone
in the other vehicle, and resulted in multiple injuries for all of the band
members
Jonathan Vigil (vocals) suffered from a fractured back, ligament damage, and
two broken ankles. Zach Johnson (guitar) has since had 13 surgeries for a femur
injury. Andrew Tkaczyk (drums) ultimately lost his leg. The future of the band was
very much up in the air throughout 2016, as everyone struggled to recover.The
road to recovery was both mentally and physically extensive but THE GHOST
INSIDE were determined to get back to doing what they love. Nearly four years
later, the band did just that, returning to the stage July 2019. Originally meant to
take place at the historic Shrine Auditorium, tickets sold out so quick that the gig
had to be moved to the parking lot, selling double the venues capacity. Over 8000
people witness this return to the stage. The accident will always be a defning
moment for THE GHOST INSIDE, but never what defnes them.

Capitalising on a defining year where PET NEEDS released their debut album ‘Fractured Party Music’, spent a summer playing outdoor gigs with fellow Xtra Mile artists as part of The Gatherings and recorded new music, the four-piece from Colchester step up a gear with huge plans for 2022. First up is the release of a deluxe edition of Fractured Party Music featuring 4 extra tracks including the new single ‘Punk Isn’t Dead (It’s Just Up For Sale)’. The album and single is out digitally on 14th January 2022. A few days later the band set out on a vast UK tour supporting Frank Turner – playing potentially to over 20K people – which culminates on 27th Feb at London Brixton. ‘Punk Isn’t Dead…’ has become a live favourite and has been rerecorded with that added live energy with Sam Duckworth (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly) producing. Playlists to pitch for: Spotify: The Punk List The Pit Feel Good Rock Pure Pop Punk Pop Punk’s Not Dead All New Punk Apple: New In Rock Breaking Hard Rock Pop Punk YouTube: New Rock Deezer: Punk Rock Other plans for 2022 include further far-reaching tours supporting Frank Turner across Europe and USA (dates for US tour to be announced), dates supporting Skinny Lister in Germany, their own headline shows and summer festivals. Below is the campaign overview for 'Fractured Party Music' standard format, released in March 2021.

There’s an ancient Japanese legend in which a horde of demons, ghosts and other terrifying ghouls descend upon the sleeping villages once a year. Known as Hyakki Yagyō, or the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, one version of the tale states that anyone who witnesses this otherworldly procession will die instantly—or be carried off by the creatures of the night. As a result, the villagers hide in their homes, lest they become victims of these supernatural invaders.

Such is the inspiration for the latest album from EARTHLESS. “My son is really into mythical creatures and old folk stories about monsters and ghosts,” bassist Mike Eginton explains. “We came across the ‘Night Parade of One Hundred Demons’ in a book of traditional Japanese ghost stories. I like the idea of people hiding and being able to hear the madness but not see it. It’s the fear of the unknown.”

Whereas 2018’s Black Heaven featured shorter songs and vocals from guitarist Isaiah Mitchell on much of the album—an unprecedented move for the San Diego power trio—their latest is a return to the epic instrumentals EARTHLESS made their unmistakable name on. Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons is comprised of two monster songs—the 41-minute, two-part title track and the 20-minute “Death To The Red Sun.”

The scenario that allowed for this kind of exploration was a stark contrast to that of Black Heaven. At that point, Mitchell was living in the Bay Area, which made it difficult for the band to get together and work on the type of long instrumental pieces they’re known for. But in March 2020, the guitarist moved back to San Diego. More specifically, he moved back the night the pandemic lockdown kicked in. Bad timing, perhaps—or maybe perfect timing.

Plus, they were all on the same page about not wanting to do another record with vocals. “In a way, I think this album was a reaction to our last record,” Eginton says. “Black Heaven was outside our comfort zone. I think it was a good record, but it was challenging to write songs in a more traditional verse-chorus-verse format. This one was more enjoyable. I’m sure we’ll do more vocal tracks in the future, but for the time being I see that album as a one-off.”

Given the record’s inspiration, it should come as no surprise that Night Parade of One Hundred Demons strikes a more sinister tone than the rest of the band’s catalogue. “It definitely has a darker, almost evil kind of vibe compared to stuff we’ve done in the past,” Rubalcaba says. “There’s more paranoia and noise, and some of Isaiah’s whammy-bar stuff kind of reminds me of these Jeff Hanneman moments in Reign In Blood, where it just seems like everything is going to hell. It’s pretty fun.”

Night Parade of One Hundred Demons was recorded in San Diego with Rubalcaba’s childhood friend Ben Moore, who’s worked with everyone from DIAMANDA GALAS and BURT BACHARACH to CEREMONY and HOT SNAKES. When Eginton wasn’t tracking his bass parts, he worked on the album’s incredible sleeve art. “He really dedicated himself to the project,” Rubalcaba says. “He’d be drawing in the studio with, like, a coal-miner’s lamp on his head while we were doing overdubs. He really knocked it out of the park.”

All told, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons isn’t just a return to the band’s traditional format—it’s a return to their very beginnings. “This album actually has the very first Earthless riff in it,” Eginton reveals. “We just recorded it 20 years after we wrote it. But we’re really happy with how this record came out. We feel it might be our finest to date.”

Tara Nome Doyle is a 24-year old singer-songwriter with Norwegian-Irish roots. In April 2018 her first release, the song Down with You came out. Since then it has been streamed more than four million times. More singles and an EP called Dandelion followed. In January 2020 her debut album Alchemy was celebrated by the German press (“… like Kate Bush singing songs by Nick Cave at Berghain”, SPIEGEL). TND’s second album, Værmin, will be released in January 2022 on Modern Recordings. The album was produced by Simon Goff, a Grammy-award winning producer (for his work for Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Chernobyl score), violinist and engineer.

TND likes to collaborate: In spring 2021 she co-wrote an original song with Isobel Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) for the upcoming Netflix feature film Munich - The Edge Of War. In July 2021 the EP The Moments We Keep, which she co-wrote and co-produced with the Italian pianist Federico Albanese, came out on Mercury KX. In late 2020 TND released recordings with Malakoff Kowalski (Bad Dreams) and 1k Flowers (Clemency). TND has also collaborated twice with Max Rieger (Die Nerven; producer of e.g. Caspar and Drangsal).

On Væermin TND tells a tragic love story, rich in symbolism and nuances, orchestrated with piano, violin and synthesizer and sometimes pulsating beats – and with singing that is both intense and varied, sometimes angelic, sometimes rough and threatening. Væermin is touchingly beautiful – and yet it also celebrates the supposed ugliness that lives in all of us and that we like to suppress and ignore. All songs are named after animals that are considered undesirable pests: leeches, caterpillars, snails and worms. Væermin celebrates their beauty and thus also asks a political question: What would happen if we welcomed these vermin instead of rejecting them? Wouldn't we then arrive at a much richer, balanced relationship with ourselves, to a more differentiated relationship to the world around us and to other people?

Værmin is a grand, wise, deeply moving album. And the songs get stuck in your head immediately, pulling you into their depths: existential music by an extraordinary artist.

Russell Marsden and Emma Richardson first started writing songs together in their teens after meeting at school in their Southampton hometown. Forming Band of Skulls 17 years ago with drummer Matt Hayward, they went on to make five acclaimed studio albums together. Now, the pair have temporarily stepped away from Band of Skulls to focus on a new musical project they’ve been dreaming about since their earliest songwriting days.

The album covers the full breadth of human emotions, mining deeply into songs about human connection, vulnerability, loss, change, love, identity and forgiveness – as well as the future and hope. It’s vast in scope, something magnified by its grandiose cinematic feel that leans towards the soaring jazz arrangements of the 40s and 50s. The album’s strings were scored and directed by Tom Edwards, who had worked with Band of Skulls previously when he’d reimagined several of their songs. “When Tom sent back the first song, ‘Outsider’, it was a jaw-dropping moment for us to see what he’d done with it,” Emma says. “We challenged him to take inspiration from the incredible composers and arrangers from the 40s and 50s jazz era

Ibiza’s finest Valentín Huedo will present the serene and cleansing TONIGHT EP. Finding a fitting home on Lee Burridges’ magical All Day I Dream label, the project explores dynamic styles while staying rooted in melodic house. Explore the serene soundscapes and lush instrumentals spread out across 3 original tracks on TONIGHT.

Born and raised in Ibiza, Valentin Huedo grew up surrounded by seductive tunes and grooves - connected with astounding nature and free-minded people. He grabbed the core of the island and understood the way music transcends us, and makes us bond with ourselves and with each other. Since, he’s been projecting it both on the island and all over the world.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announce an album of remixes of tracks from ‘Butterfly 3000’, their second studio LP of 2021 alone. ‘Butterfly 3001’ features reworks courtesy of (among others) DJ Shadow, Donato Dozzy, The Scientist, DāM-FunK and The Flaming Lips!


"We’ve put off doing a remix album for a long time. Maybe it was conscious, maybe it wasn’t. But it’s happening now. That’s not to say that Butterfly 3000 makes the most sense to remix. It might seem like the obvious one, but it’s not. Yes it’s electronic. But so is a fridge. Have you tried to dance to Butterfly? It’s hard. It ties your shoelaces together. It’s duplicitous in it’s simplicity. But Butterfly 3001 expands on this. It also deviates and obliterates. We’re honoured to have such esteemed people go to work on these songs. We hope you love this album as much as we do. See you in Da Club!!!" - Joey Walke

First released by Britain’s then foremost folk label, Transatlantic Records in 1970, Storyteller’s first album is a forgotten gem of Psychedelic Folk Prog Rock. Warm and silky production courtesy of Andrew Bown and Peter Frampton, fabulous dual vocals and a wistful arrangement of top-drawer UK Folk Prog, make Storyteller a diamond worth digging into. Around 1969, after being a part of the band The Other Two on Decca Records, working with people like Chuck Berry, Duane Eddy and Jerry Lee Lewis, and touring with Chuck Berry and The Animals, Caroline Attard joined a new band that was being formed; Storyteller. A quintet who followed their own inclination, ignoring current fashions and just doing what seemed to come naturally, Storyteller is a crate-digger’s delight. Up there with Fairport Convention, Jefferson Airplane and Steeleye Span, Storyteller were steeped in folklore tales such as on ‘Ballad Of The Three Laps’, bringing the true spirit of folk alive in their own unique way. With songs written primarily by Roger Moon, and Terry Durham as muse of inspiration with his paintings and wonderful Yorkshire stories, Storyteller’s debut has the authentic and honest vibe of the real McCoy. No longer confined to being coveted by collectors and those in the know, this lush remastered reissue via Svart Records comes on gatefold vinyl with updated liner notes and interview. If you treasure Folk, Prog and Psychedelic Rock, make sure this is a tale you don’t miss out on!