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Maddie Jay has always had a fixation with taking things apart, examining every tiny piece, and putting them back together in her own way. In fact, in her teens, she tore out all the electronics of her first bass guitar in her parent’s garage, in order to re-paint it neon yellow, green and pink. This fascination with restructuring didn’t end with gear. For years, she has been taking apart music itself, and studying every facet of songwriting, melody and production, in order to patch it back together into her own colorful, quirky package.

This approach in life has brought her from her tiny hometown in northern British Columbia, Canada, to studying bass in Boston, and then to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a “hired gun.” After a year of travelling and supporting artists all around the globe, she was finding more satisfaction on her days off, producing on her laptop. Fast forward to 2020, and Maddie’s first EP “Mood Swings” has gained over 2 million streams on Spotify, and she has a feature on Grammy winning artist RAC’s LP “BOY.”

Prodigal son of the ESP Institute, Juan Ramos, rises from the cesspool of a world gone mad with 'Agua Del Cenote', his fifth release with the label. Whilst many artists are following their inner light to bring us some much needed joy amidst these rotten times, Juan (being the little shit that he is) follows an inner demon and delivers listeners and dancers a demented clusterfuck of sadistic chaos. The title track opens with what sounds like a butane torch and we metaphorically freebase into oblivion. Our perception of reality unravels, writhing in abrasive textures smeared across a low-slung, mid-tempo erotic thump. Everything feels blurry and distant, as if we’re swimming through an underground aquatic tunnel, in a panic, searching for an invisible band of spirits whose tune summons us into certain annihilation. Following this is a remix from a decorated lord of 20th Century electronics, Harald Grosskopf AKA The Synthesist. Harald wipes away grit and lethargy to reveal elements hidden deep within the mix as well as softens Juan’s sense of terror by building up to an optimistic layer of added synth. We’d love to offer some relief with the balance of the EP, however, the remaining two tracks paint complimentary hues in the same cerebral palette. 'Let It Go (Freaks Only)' veers closely to House in terms of tempo and gestalt, utilizing a vocal sample from Third Generation (Kerri Chandler) and a healthy dose of sub bass, but Juan hardly apologizes for his masochistic tendencies and certainly never relents into an uplifting mood. Closing the EP, Juan serves an antidote of sorts with 'Cuko', as if suggesting a way out of the swamp, but leaves it up to the listener’s intuition to not only see the carrot, but actually follow it into the light, thus completing the quest.

Swallow this: Part 4 of the Running Back various artists series here and as always, there is no long reading needed: 5 tracks by 5 different producers with different backgrounds and experiences. All somehow fit together and paint a bigger picture between remodeled deep house techniques and floor mechanics.
Yungruzt feat Eluize opens the dance with the emo-house poem Starlight. The young man managed to deliver a transcendental masterpiece that is best used for coming up - or down, if you will. A Human Connection is being made next by Baldo. Imagined and made for high times, the Barcelona mainstay applies a tried and tested formula isn’t failing here either: 303 morse codes, break beats and an on going automated voice message do the trick. The man like 9th House goes back to the deep with the yearning and beautifully composed piece Ara, while Tiger & Woods co-author Delphi trades the boogie and disco tropes for heartfelt piano house. Last but not least, new talent Signal Mute pushes it over the finishing line with another tearjerker. Shared joy is double joy!

In pairing words with art, the ESP Institute often does everything journalists hate. We drown the reader in hyperbole, abstractions as opposed to didactic or literal depictions, and paint the press release with superlatives that construct an existential struggle around the art and its conditions. To articulate our reasoning behind collaborating with the artist, or the synergy between their work and our catalogue, is sometimes so challenging that crossing that finish line is achingly delayed. Patrick Conway’s 2xLP 'Cellular Housekeeping', his fourth release with the label, is one of these works so monumentally exciting for us that we’ve strained over how to deliver with honor his art unto the masses. After the initial hurdle of visual representation (in this case handled with gusto by artist Hassan Rahim), how do we directly and intentionally talk about the art we deeply love, when in reality we’re largely guided by instinct? We explore many angles, often failing along the way, until finding a final click in the combination that unlocks the floodgates. With Patrick’s album, that elusive impetus revealed itself in a literary gem that both symbolized his aggressive, melancholic, romantic, and bleak overtones, as well as synchronized his work and our task with a metaphor so grand it justified putting these words to paper. In the deeply British poem of despair and hope, 'Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle', John Milton immortalized the classic idiom of the “silver lining”, and we find comfort in this transaction between struggle and what the poet considered divine intervention. Our bout of procrastination that brewed a cloud over the art may too tout a silver lining, the time that’s elapsed clearing a path for the album to exist in its rightful place, as opposed to fighting for a voice at an overcrowded table. In hindsight, this final hurdle might have only existed because without it, there is no glory, no resolution, but as all the pieces click and we collectively cross the finish line, Patrick Conway’s once captive 'Cellular Housekeeping' is now truly released.

1. Some records hit you with an instant impression of timeless brilliance, and Low Life’s Dogging is one of those records, what the wise call “an instant classic”. 2. From Squats to Lots: The Agony and the XTC of Low Life is more like their second album Downer Edn (read Edition), a little more withdrawn, a little more textured. Complex. Rich. Which is to say: you’re going to need some time with it. 3. Some show, some grow. Low Life have done both. This one is a grower. Spend some time with this one. It’s got that nuanced flavour. Don’t guzzle. Sip. Savour. 4. Sip it, and sense the recurring brilliance of Mitch Tolman’s lyrics, exploring the usual territory of gutter life, lad life, punk life, low life. The dirge. Disgust and shame in white Australia. Council housing, bills piled to the neck, substance abuse and rehabilitation, the fallen lads and lasses who stood too close to the flame, loss and loneliness, from squats to lots. Un-Australian gutter symphony. 5. There is a celebration of resilience and that’s a central theme of this record and a time like ours needs a record like Agony & XTC. Low times are coming through, but if you’re low they won’t get to you. 6. Iggy Pop’s Bowie produced studio rock masterpieces ‘The Idiot’ and ‘Lust For Life’ are important reference points to the 3rd album sounds of Low Life. Here comes success! 7. ‘The Agony and Ecstasy’ is a 1985 novel by Irving Stone about the life of Italian Renaissance painter Michelangelo. Stone wrote another novel about the single eared painter Vincent Van Gogh called ‘Lust For Life’. This synchronicity hit me. 8. Iggy and the Stooges are a pretty safe reference for Low Life (and all good rock music). Iggy and the Stooges are a low life’s Michelangelo, but solo Iggy like Lust for Life is a better reference for this particular incarnation of Low Life, which is to say they are studio rock albums. 9. Bowie later referred to this period of his life as profoundly nihilistic. But Iggy looked at it as the period of his life that saved him from an early grave. This confrontation is Low life lore. 10. Let’s stick to this, because there’s something about this era of Bowie that makes sense with Low Life’s new album, particularly Low. One should never miss the Low in our new album from Low Life. Producer and studio boss Mickey Grossman has the ear for the Low, and he has carved out a little statue of David right here. 11. Mickey’s ears are recording, mixing and producing the best of Sydney, most notably the Oily Boys Cro Memory Grin. A great companion record to this one. Use Agony & XTC AFTER Oily Boys. Not on an empty stomach, and don’t try to operate heavy machinery (bobcat, bulldozer etc). 12. The relationship between Low Life and Sydney hardcore should not be understated, but it also shouldn’t guide how to listen to Agony & XTC. This is not austere, disciplined music. 13. Think, like, if Poison Idea were given the kind of studio time and budget as Happy Mondays. You wouldn’t play it to a teenager. It’s not for children. This is a mature flavour, one for the adults who have had to contend with failure and hardship, medical bills and disappointed family members, betrayed lovers and worrisome growths, police brutality and tooth decay, humiliating bowels and collapsed septums, detoxing and drying out, for those who have seen themselves as corrupted and putrid and unloveable, for those who endure all of this and aren’t willing to lie down and cop it sweet: Low Life are still here and they ain’t going nowhere. NOTES ON HOW NOT TO LISTEN TO AGONY AND XTC OF LOW LIFE: 1. Don’t think of shoe-gaze. It suggests a safe passage to 90’s reminiscences, a vogue style of our time, but nothing to do with Low Life style. Low Life style is always of its time. The content changes. Agony & XTC shares weight of records like My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless and Slowdive’s Kebab, records that were laboured on after the songs were recorded, songs that were written as they were recorded. 2. We can call these “studio albums” as opposed to albums built in the heat of live performance. Studio albums from the 90’s are called shoe-gaze by some journalist nerds, but we know better than to use words like this. 3. Studio albums are excessive and, at the same time, so empty. Agony & XTC, Loveless, Kebab, Rumours: excessive! And empty. This is not to suggest this is Low Lite, some throwback, soft. A band like Low Life can make an overproduced studio rock album without having to use the word shoe-gaze. So, don’t think studio albums mean anything especially 90’s. Don’t look back. 4. Let’s lose these distasteful labels, like “shoe-gaze”, “rehab rock”, “stab”, “guitar OD overdrive”, “western Sydney wonder”. They can fade out. A low life was once referred to as a vagabond. Who uses this term today? Nobody. Language can murder. Words can die. Kill ‘em all! - Daniel 'DX' Stewart, Melbourne, 2021.

Third Man Records is proud to announce the 20th anniversary expanded edition of Kelley Stoltz’s defining album Antique Glow, due November 19, 2021. The announcement is heralded by the release of bonus track "Too Beck". Limited-edition "rainy nights" UK exclusive vinyl will be available on release day.

Originally self-released in minuscule vinyl-only quantities in 2001, Antique Glow has served not only as a template for the length of Kelley Stoltz’s twenty-plus year career, but has also served as a compass for other Anglophile, TASCAM 388 home recording acolytes. Original copies featured Stoltz’s clever, wry and fanciful hand-painted adornments overtop reclaimed thrift store LP jackets, Third Man’s release here utilizes some of those original unused images for a die-cut sleeve that ultimately gives the listener six different possible album covers.

The songs are by-and-large masterpieces of bedroom pop magic. From the whispering “Here Comes the Sun”-adjacent acoustic underpinnings of album opener “Perpetual Night” through the fuzz-threaded leads of “Are You Electric?” Stoltz’s inspirations are impeccable and clear. Sixties Davies British Invasion through 80’s British Bunnymen post-punk, with appropriate off-shoots into West Coast American pop-psych, Velvets-indebted hooliganism and Drake/CSNY acoustic attenuations, the end result is pure joy.

On the expanded version, standout tracks previously relegated to an Australian tour-only CD (like the breathlessly cinematic “Old Pictures”) see their first-ever vinyl and digital release while there’s an additional 10 songs from the Antique Glow-era seeing their first ever release in any format. The cutting room floor quality here is second-to-none, Stoltz clearly gifted with the curse of writing too many indelible songs, so the newly released “Too Beck” (originally cast off by Kelley because he thought “it sounded too much like Beck”) and “Umbrella” stand firm as some of the best, most timeless music Stoltz has ever released... a full two decades after he recorded them!

Electronic musician Xopher Davidson will release ‘Lux Perpetua’ this year via Daydream Library Series. A noted protége of Maryanne Amacher, Xopher recorded these two tracks in 2020 utilizing vintage synths within the beloved music studios of Mills College in Oakland, California. Xopher builds his experiments in electronic sound from a basis in painting, photography, and film, and through an interest in electronic circuits going back to building radios and homemade circuits as a kid. He has built and explored the sound world of a homebrew modular synthesizer comprised of surplus laboratory equipment: various oscillators, pulse generators, filters and an 'analog computer. He has released 4 albums as ANTIMATTER : ‘Transfixion’, ‘Antimatter Vs. Antimatter’, ‘Our Lady of the Skies’, and ‘Reset’. As an audio engineer, Davidson has worked on projects composed / performed by: the League of Automatic Composers, John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Subtropic, Diamanda Galas, Kid 606, DJ Rupture, Darwin's Bitch, Once 11, Mix MasterMike, Hans Grusel, Phoenecia, Jonah Sharp, We, Zbigniew Karkowski, and Iannis Xenakis

There are records with empathy, records which are your friends and then there's the others... There might be little difference between them, a certain "je ne sais quoi", an "almost nothing but still something" which makes the difference between almost pointless and vital records. Despite, or rather thanks to his cynical despair, Matt Elliott's music never holds up a moralizing mirror to us - on the contrary, it creates a compassionate dialogue with listeners like the rhythm of two steps that synchronize to become as one. In 2016, Matt Elliot brought out his seventh solo album The Calm Before whose obscure title is neither exactly threatening nor comforting... the calm before what? Before the storm for sure but maybe also before the great record, the immediate classic we felt might be coming for a long time in the dual discography of the Bristol-born artist working under his own name and his electronic alias Third Eye Foundation. The elegant details and perspectives of Little Lost Soul (2000) already hinted at the upcoming masterpiece from the English singer-songwriter. The Mess We Made (2003) was Matt Elliott's first solo album and portrayed a universe in a kind of flight towards Balkan horizons made up of visceral despair. With the Songs trilogy, he put aside the electronic side of his work to continue working with a minimalist, stark and lucid style of writing. The Broken Man (2012) was full of tears and long laments sometimes carried by Katia Labèque's piano on a record which painted new shades of grey. On this record Matt began working with the producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist David Chalmin (La Terre Invisible) who has kept on collaborating with the Bristol-born singer since then. Their partnership continued on Only Myocardial Infection Can Break Your Heart (2013) and The Calm Before (2016). Stéphane Grégoire is the head of the Ici D'Ailleurs label which has accompanied Matt Elliott since 2005 and perhaps he describes this album the best: "This new record by Matt is without a doubt his best album to date, a record that takes him into another dimension where he fully asserts himself as a songwriter and singer of the calibre of artists like Bill Callahan, Leonard Cohen or Johnny Cash." Matt Elliott's other records all seemed like empathic links between each other. Farewell To All We Know is an instant classic based on the sensitive piano and superb arrangements of David Chalmin, the sensitive cello of Gaspar Claus, the subtle bass of Jeff Hallam (who has also played with Dominique A and John Parish). There is a clear form of alchemy in all of this and still we find Matt Elliott's usual atmospheres and scenery, the same Eastern European folk music, long songs that take time to settle over time. Everything is the same but also is transfigured. By making his music stark and purifying and redefining the subject matter, Matt Elliott's work became so much more delicate. However this work is never frail nor really turned in on himself and thus becomes like a vital tune that vibrates and unfolds. The opening song Farewell To All We Know seems torn between the fear of what tomorrow may bring, inevitability and hope for the future in a permanent and progressive dramatic tension expressed by his Spanish guitar, the impressionist style piano and Matt's voice teetering on the edge of whispers. A funereal tribute to endless twilights and the dawns we all dream of seeing. There are touches of Leonard Cohen from Songs from a Room or Thanks For The Dance in The Day After That with Gaspar Claus's counterpoint cello. There is no spirit of resignation in Matt Elliott's work - life's path has to be followed against all odds. We have to follow the river's flow to reach the immense ocean and its infinite freedom. The haunted instrumental Guidance Is Internal harks back to the atmospheres of Howling Songs (2008) with its guitar parts full of scansions and muted threats. The music is transcendental but never seems afraid of the risk of falling. This is also what Bye Now tells us with its quasi-obsolete simplicity and sunburst melancholy reminiscent of the work of Luiz Bonfá, Bill Evans on Peace Piece or laidback crooners of the 50s. In Farewell To All We Know, Matt Elliott incessantly alternates between the dual desires to face up to the world or to protect himself from it. Hating The Player, Hating The Game is a lucid statement about the dullness of our daily lives sometimes, our right to get out of the game and no longer want to be part of it. Matt Elliott is tender but spares no one, particularly himself. Aboulia speaks of the tiredness of living and of looming death while Crisis Apparition says that there is always a time for reconstruction after chaos. This is like initially wearying wandering in the ruins of Aleppo with the slow dilution of the melody into a hallucinated drone. However the smell of great fires always fades and the earth always regenerates. Matt Elliott seems to suggest that the survival instinct is stronger than any cold winds could ever be. Matt Elliott never sings of certainties and prefers possibilities. Possibly the worst is over? Maybe... Maybe the storm has passed and devastated everything, now we just have to rebuild and live again. Farewell To All We Know shows us the distance that still needs to be walked and he walks next to you - right next to you, he is the friend who doesn't spare you the truth like all true friends really do.

Following a prosperous career in music and poetry, Detroit-based musician and performer Malik Alston readies his vibrant album 'Malik Alston Presents Painted Pictures: Air' set for release via The Jazz Diaries. The album is a spirited celebration between jazz virtuosity and Motor City house music, showcasing Alston's roots in Jazz, Gospel, Soul and Dance Music.

Siv Disa, the Chinese-American New York singer currently residing in Iceland has announced her debut album, Dreamhouse on UK based label Trapped Animal. Dreamhouse is available on Sky Blue 180GSM vinyl with a printed inner sleeve including song lyrics. The outer sleeve is printed uncoated high-quality card. Also available on Digipak CD and via Digital streaming and DL. The artwork was conceived and built by Siv Disa. It features a dreamy hand-painted dollhouse—the front image is a photograph of a tangerine sherbet living-room-in-miniature, complete with a teacup table and a glowing salt shaker lamp. The artist herself is hanging on the wall ensconced in a gilded frame overlooking the tableau. The back cover explores the same dollhouse, from a distance: there’s a garden in the basement, a maze of threads in the gallery, and a small ocean in the bathroom. A callback to the intricate maximalism of 70’s psychedelia and Neo-art nouveau, there are layers of details embedded into each room for the viewer to discover. Dreamhouse is a wild journey through its creator's psyches. It moves from gentle break-up songs to dark nights out in the fluorescent haze of nighttime New York and Reykjavik city filled with deep hallucinogenic beats... before it finally closes on a song infused with the isolation of 2020. The first part of Dreamhouse was recorded in upstate New York with collaborator and producer Sam and the sea, they both chose to relocate when the pandemic hit the US – and regrouped at a studio cabin in the wilderness to complete Dreamhouse and take time to escape the ensuing storm we all faced. It’s important to understand, whilst a product finalised during lockdown – this album was largely conceived way before the lockdown or pandemic, this is Siv Disa’s debut album and it was always going to be luminous and otherworldly, as with its creators. Quotes : “psychedelic pop that converges the encompassing textures of Broadcasts with Joanna Newsom’s pleasantly off-kilter melodies” - Line Of Best Fit // “...a haunting feel, while her warm, soft voice invites the listener into even the darkest of stories…Fear is an embodiment of this distinct sound she’s mastered.” Audiofemme // “profound lyrics flow from an ethereal plane, it’s an utterly captivating offering” Get In Her Ears

"You ever wonder what Keith Morris does at the end of the day? Does he maintain that wide-eyed stare, the one that pins audiences to the floor with its very intensity, while he’s putting on his pyjamas? Does he continue spitting venom from that heroically ragged throat of his while he’s making his cocoa? Does he lay his head on his pillow with the same righteous fury that launched thousands upon thousands of moshpits? Hey, I’m just wondering. Y’see, all that intensity and venom and fury… it has to go somewhere while he’s otherwise occupied with mundane tasks like taking off his socks or brushing his teeth, right? And listening to the thrilling racket conjured up by Vancouver’s Chain Whip, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they have somehow become vessels for that energy. I mean, they’re Morris’ spiritual successors - if their 2019 debut ‘14 Lashes’ wasn’t enough of a clue, then this six-song blast of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it brilliance should leave you in no doubt. This is hardcore punk as it was originally conceived, and it slays. ‘But who are Chain Whip?’ I hear you ask. Well, they’re a bunch of dudes from British Columbia who’ve also served time in bands like The Jolts, Fashionism and Corner Boys (among others). They’re the ones who are gonna have you slashing the seats at your local cinema, or taking potshots at lines of empty bottles on street corners, cuz they make you feel so damn tuff. OK, I’m just goofing around here - whereas Chain Whip are serious business. No, really. I dare you to listen to the Germs-go-nuclear b(‘)last of ‘Laguna Bleach’, or the garage-slop-at-200-mph rush of ‘Fresh Paint And Philanthropy’, and not want to launch a stink bomb into your teacher’s car. Or, failing that, to bring about the extinction of global capitalism. If that fails, you’ll just end up wearing out the grooves of this very fine six-song EP while bouncing between walls like the DRI logo guy if he wore jet heels and spring-loaded shoulder pads. Jeez, imagine Keith finishing the night shift and giving these guys a handover. As if they’d even need to be told. Look, Chain Whip are the best straight-up old-skool punk band you’ll hear today. You know what to do. Trust your instincts. Dance that two-step to hell with ‘em. This. Is. The. Shit." Will Fitzpatrick.

Textural sound reflections, communicating our enthusiastic, diverse relationship with nature, The Earth, woven from improvised patterns, forming the fabric of composition . . . Among each others closest friends, Jesse Peterson and Carlos Niño sonically painted land, sea and skyscapes, for Pablo Calogero to tell impressionist stories a top, full of questions and answers about the many experiences and adventures in life. Drives To The Beach is an eager companion for you, on your own unique journey.

Recommended If You Like: Elliott Smith, Hand Habits, Chris Cohen, Sam Evian, Wilco, Bright Eyes, The Magnetic Fields. Press Quotes/Selling Points: "Stewart Bronaugh sings cool and steady about his close experiences with death, what it means to endure your losses, and the gift of being able to recognize the most real love in your life." Angel Olsen. "Spiral Groove" delivers us singer-songwriter Stewart Bronaugh at the height of his artistic powers both visually and sonically. This album is studded with stories of mortality, challenges of addiction and sobriety, and the romance of a lifetime. Recovering from a seizure, Bronaugh’s sudden awareness of the limits of his own body was a “psychedelic experience” that shifted his perspective wildly. No longer “bulletproof, ” Bronaugh splits himself wide open on Spiral Groove, encapsulating all of our existential questions into tidy love songs. You’ll find pianos, string quartets, slide guitar, buzzing synth lines, and plenty of room to breathe. Each song is like a painting you can disappear into, a somber and hopeful spell for life after the end of the world

Recommended If You Like: Elliott Smith, Hand Habits, Chris Cohen, Sam Evian, Wilco, Bright Eyes, The Magnetic Fields. Press Quotes/Selling Points: "Stewart Bronaugh sings cool and steady about his close experiences with death, what it means to endure your losses, and the gift of being able to recognize the most real love in your life." Angel Olsen. "Spiral Groove" delivers us singer-songwriter Stewart Bronaugh at the height of his artistic powers both visually and sonically. This album is studded with stories of mortality, challenges of addiction and sobriety, and the romance of a lifetime. Recovering from a seizure, Bronaugh’s sudden awareness of the limits of his own body was a “psychedelic experience” that shifted his perspective wildly. No longer “bulletproof, ” Bronaugh splits himself wide open on Spiral Groove, encapsulating all of our existential questions into tidy love songs. You’ll find pianos, string quartets, slide guitar, buzzing synth lines, and plenty of room to breathe. Each song is like a painting you can disappear into, a somber and hopeful spell for life after the end of the world

This album is a critical meditation on variations of Orientalism practiced by Arabs themselves, as well as those who were born and raised within the diaspora. It originally began as a documentation of extended drum techniques, but eventually morphed into a project of more ambitious scope. Having an open timeframe, Julius Masri gave himself reasons to include all the instruments he obsessively picked up and learned over the years. The work accumulated intentions and guiding principles, and it became rather autobiographical in nature. Some of the tracks either refer to or were recorded in the actual physical spaces he grew up near, in Tripoli, Lebanon during the 1980s. The "Arabic Room" of the title refers to the sitting room in his family‘s house that was decked out in hyper orientalist exoticism, mashing together furniture, fixtures, paintings from all over the Arabic speaking world. The sitting room, or salon, is common in Lebanese homes made specifically to host and entertain guests. Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade and other western made Orientalist cultural artifacts not only had ubiquitous presence in the house, but also found their way onto tv shows and commercials. After moving to the US, his parents recreated this room in their home. Additionally, his father's generation was one that saw their country transform from a post-agrarian trading society after WWII to a center of banking and finance within the span of a few decades. The sense of some lost Eden like innocence of the interwar years permeated much of the media that was available to him growing up there. This album is neither ironic nor some judgmental pronouncement. Call it critical nostalgia. For Masri, there isn't much difference between this form of exotic fantasy creation, and his own adolescence steeped in comic books and listening to bands like Voivod. They both seem to him part of what's known in German as Fernweh, "a nostalgia for a place one's never been". All instruments are performed by Masri himself, (drums, Egyptian rababa, Azeri kamancheh, circuit bent electronics, keyboards, hammered dulcimer, and vocals). Genre-hopping is foundational to the album’s ethos; jazz, metal, experimental, electro-chaabi, and sound collage all appear within the framework of Arabic music, creating the sense of adventurous possibilities best associated with well curated mixtapes. Julius Masri is a Philadelphia based multi-instrumentalist and performer/composer, originally born in Tripoli, Lebanon. The Arabic Room is his debut solo-album. Currently he is working and playing with members of the Sun Ra Arkestra. The album will be released on vinyl only in an edition of 300 copies.

Stephan Bodzin proves once again why he is one of the most innovative techno artists in the world with new album Boavista. The expressive 17 track full length lands on Herzblut Recordings on October 8th 2021 and is proceeded by lead single 'Boavista' on the Afterlife label.

German icon Stephan Bodzin is globally recognised on a number of fronts - his live show is one of techno's most celebrated, his productions constantly push the genre forward with his own trademark sound. He has put out well-received solo long players Liebe Ist and Powers of Ten as well as worked on many other iconic projects under a range of aliases.

In the last year, Stephan had the chance to look back on the vast archives of music he has recorded but never finished. While spending time in Brazil, he picked his 25 favourites and finished them properly, with the best 17 making up Boavista. His simple aim was to tell stories with each track, to paint musical pictures that conjure up very real emotions in the listener. As always, playing the album live was in the back of Bodzin's mind throughout the creative process. This means each track is a powerful piece that is both emotional and honest, physical and straightforward, but also true to the authentic Bodzin sound. The lack of DJ gigs and club experienceshad no impact on the music: Stephan has long since done his own thing and has never tried to conform to expectations.

And so it proves. The album kicks off with the lush 'Earth' which pays homage to all the elements of life - water, fire, wind, as well as time, light and the rotation of the planet. 'LLL' is an electronic lullaby track defined by a sense of love for the people in Stephan's life and 'Astronautin' has a lead synth that came about after Stephan's daughter said she would like to be an astronaut when she grows up. It truly takes you to the stars before the simple but effective melodic patterns of the title track light up a night sky with real hope.

Elsewhere there 'Infinite Monkey' which was a freeform jam that was led by the music itself, the epic pads of 'Dune' and interstellar explorations of the more thoughtful and melancholic 'Cooper Station’. 'Nothing Like You' was written in a hotel room before Stephan's last pre-lockdown gig, then 'Isaac' is another powerful journey through space and time, different worlds and alternative realities.

Further hypnotising highlights come from the soft melodies but powerful basslines of 'Collider', the expansive synths of 'Trancoso' and the delicate beauty of 'Ataraxia', which references German composer Klaus Doldinger who was a huge influence on Stephan's understanding of melodies and harmonics. 'Breathe' is a second spindling vocal track featuring Luna Semara next to 'Nothing Like You' and closer 'Rose' isa heartbreaking piano piece.

Boavista is another exquisitely crafted album of rich, synth-heavy electronic music that takes you into new worlds of emotion and leaves you in awe

El Michels Affair follows up the massive success of their full length Yeti Season with The Abominable EP. A collection of unreleased tracks, alternate takes, and instrumentals from the Yeti Season recording sessions. EMA's blending their signature cinematic soul sound with influences from Turkis Funk and the grittiest of Bollywood soundtracks yielded an instant classic The Fader calls "a carnival of dusty funk and soul". The EP starts off with the unreleased gem "Messy Grass" whose synth intro, peppered with distant yeti cries, gives way to a tremendous backing track that Tamer Pinarbasi's Qanun dances over. On "Cham Cham" EMA invites Piya Malik to the microphone again to share her styled storytelling vocals over the instrumental track from Yeti Season's "Perfect Harmony". Where some of the tunes on the EP have vocals added, some of them have them removed letting the band take center stage; "Poison Song", "Uncut Gem", "Smoked", and "Progress" are all instrumental here giving them a wholly different energy than the vocal versions. The EP is being released with two different covers, each one has two paintings from different Ghanaian mobile cinema artists commissioned through Chicago's Deadly Prey Gallery and are interpretations of the original album artwork. One version is paintings by Stoger and Heavy J, who also contributed cover paintings to the Return To The 37th Chamber album. The other version of the cover is two paintings by Teshie and Farkira.

New album of Québecois performer Bernardino Femminielli after several releases on Mind Records or Desire Records. Produced by Dominic Vanchesteing (Marie Davidson, Jef Barbara, Chocolat, Bernardino Femminielli...). A synth-pop/chanson act in between Sebastien Tellier, Serge Gainsbourg and lust.

Bernardino Femminielli, a lucid and tempestuous entertainer, abandons his performance and his leather clothes to take on the role of a triple agent in a sentimental mise en abyme, far from the tumultuous moral, political and philosophical conflicts. By turns storyteller, voyeur and actor of this tragedy in six acts, it is his word against that of another.

The other is Brad Cerini.
Lulled by the variety of his Italy, this unaware student of Vannier, Lai and Musy projects Femminielli into the heart of the torments of a high school girl in love and betrayed.

The mouse slips out of the shadow of the palaces and embraces her fate with a gunshot. Iris embarks on a hellish journey, assumes her excesses of politeness and turns an unexpected encounter into a grandiose event.

An introspective and/or schizophrenic tale that polarises a toxic, vital desire, carried by a flowery music that frees the artist from her principles.

Femminielli plays "an assumed, sincere role, a more serious posture and a more serious tone, but also an emotional distance in the face of this painting of manners. I had to act for her and him.


Directed by Dominic Vanchesteing (Marie Davidson, Jef Barbara, Chocolat, Bernardino Femminielli...), Dans les yeux d'Iris is the first release of the Parisian label Corps Double.

Marooned at home during Melbourne's 2020 lockdown, with no bandmates in sight, Mark Monnone had no option but to take matters to his cassette 8-track and set to work on the follow-up to Monnone Alone (the quartet)'s 2019 powerpop tour de force Summer of the Mosquito. The former-Lucksmiths bassist then gave his home-recorded tapes to Gareth Parton (The Go! Team, Foals, Breeders) to mix the whole glorious mess into something worthy of human consumption. The resulting ten tracks on Stay Foggy bounce blindly from glum to whimsical, from blurred to razor-sharp, showcasing Monnone's disorientated hopes, dreams and lockdown inertia with an off-the-cuff beach party twist.

Almost 25 years after its last pressing on vinyl, this all-time classic finally get´s is reissue on 2x180 gram vinyl. Including 9 bonus tracks from the bands unleased demos in ’88 and ’91, the extensive oral history of the making of Blind as well as additional artwork and sketches this is the ultimate Corrosion of Conformity collector´s item.

But Only After You Have Suffered is a densely layered and deeply personal new work from multidisciplinary artist, composer, percussionist & producer Jamire Williams. Conceived as a spiritual, autobiographical artistic statement, Jamire applies sound collage practice to modern jazz composition, beat production, MC/vocalist features, and his uniquely impressionistic drumming style - making an album as akin to minimalist painting as an art-house film soundtrack or a classic hip-hop mixtape. A "self-reflective, almost testimonial work" that swiftly cycles across a vast spectrum of styles, it's the culmination of his five-year musical journey to the outer reaches of his own sound. It's the album he has always wanted to make.

If one always looks at the sky, he will end up with wings, a wise French man once declared. Halifax, Nova Scotia based musician Jeremy Costello had wings, long before he looked up. Wings of imagination. Brandishing in his head, transforming deep-rooted emotions into poetry and sound. Since 2012 the Canadian self-releases music as Special Costello, a moniker under which he records solo or with local friends like Saxophone player Nick Dourado or guitarist Dave Burns. His lyrics are sincerely woven poetic enunciations that balance between introspective emotions and existential philosophical demands. Lyrics from a spirit that is in love without an object, unconditional, mirroring his very own subconscious inner being. The music reflects his tempers in many colours. Glimpses of Synth-Pop, psychedelic rock nuances, traces of new romantic utopia, infantile Casio minimalism, Shoegaze haze, drama wave: Special Costello blends many styles, uniting all in his very own musing grandeur of pop music.

After an array of digital releases, Berlin based label Marmo Music now publishes the Special Costello touch for the first time physically fabricated on vinyl. Seven songs featuring the longing voice of Jeremy Costello, sometimes in correlation with spoken words and dialogues by noted artists, poets, and scientists. All creations have been recorded by himself between Spring 2017 and winter 2020, using the extrasomatic help of instruments and machines like Farfisa Combo Compact transistor organ, Roland JX3P polyphonic analog synthesizer, Roland D50 linear synthesizer, Roland Rhythm Composer TR-08, Arturia Microbrute monophonic analog synthesizer or a Gibson Thunderbird IV bass guitar. In communication with his sensitive inner blues, they created an atmospheric voyage into the heart of Special Costello, that fulfils Arthur Russel’s sapient declaration: being sad is not a crime! Seven musical paintings full of intimate, vibrant feelings and existential thoughts, veiled in an antidepressant neo new romantic glam. An epic tune like “The Next Day”, in which Costello’s singing links with thought-provoking spoken word samples, sounds like Robert Ashley is meeting Hans-Joachim Roedelius in a psychic séance with Brian Ferry. In comparison, a song like “If Not Depression, Then What?” grooves with a pulsating wave bass figure and an overall gently floating electronic majesty, while Costello’s voice takes deep listeners to an unknown higher ground. On the other hand, a composition like “Unsetting” offers a nonchalant graceful funk drift with reverberant hand claps, minimal guitar strains and a chromatic synth pop grace. Above all the music Costello’s voice cries, screams, whispers, and weeps with a compelling introspective elegancy, that invites to associate intensely with the nonpareil Special Costello touch.

Written, composed, and recorded by Jeremy Costello between 2016 to 2020 in Halifax, Scotch Village and Toronto (Canada).

Instruments used by the artist: Farfisa Combo Compact transistor organ, Roland JX3P Programmable Preset Polyphonic Synthesizer, Roland D50 linear synthesizer, Yamaha DX7 Frequency Modulation/Programmable Algorithm Synthesizer and TX7 FM Expander, Roland Computer Controlled Rhythm Composer TR-08, Arturia Microbrute Analog Synthesizer, Gibson Thunderbird IV bass guitar, MicroKorg Synthesizer/Vocoder, Electro Harmonix Small Stone Phaser, Memory Boy Analog Delay, Alesis Quadraverb, and finally, their voice was recorded using Shure Beta57A and AKG D 330 BT dynamic microphones.

In 2020 Sunnyboys will celebrate 40 years since their inception (though a mere 12 years of actual existence) via a new release SUNNYBOYS 40 that brings together the first ever re-release of the band’s much loved 1980 eponymous debut 7” - featuring the original version of the classic Alone With You - alongside four new recordings culled from the archives of chief songwriter Jeremy Oxley.
Recorded over two days in October 1980 and released via independent Sydney label Phantom Records on December 31st the same year, the four songs featured on the EP were essentially the first songs Jeremy Oxley had presented to the band on his arrival in Sydney from Kingscliff just a few months earlier. Alongside Alone With You they included Love to Rule, What You Need & The Seeker.
The debut ‘yellow’ ep was an instant underground smash selling out its initial pressing of 1000 copies in just 2.5 weeks. A further pressing of 1000 would follow but then all further attempts of a repress were quashed when the ep master mysteriously disappeared after band signed to Mushroom Records in February 1981. The tapes having never been recovered these masters have been taken from the cleanest vinyl available and appear here for the first time ever outside the 7” ep format and that limited run of 2000.
Fast forward 40 years (as you do) and Sunnyboys are enjoying a renaissance rarely seen for any band from any era. In truth their popularity now eclipses what it did in 1980-1984 with each successive tour selling more tickets and faster than the tour previous. Why not then give the people new music?
Part 2 of Sunnyboys 40 was recorded between touring commitments in 2018 at Airlock Studios, Brisbane. Overdubs were added over the following twelve months at locations in Sydney & Brisbane and the mixing completed in the summer of 2019 by current in-demand producer Konstantine Kerstin. The idea being to tackle some material Jeremy had written for other projects post-1984 and to complete some unfinished business from back in the band’s original lifespan.

Can’t You Stop is a reworking of a song Jeremy recorded as The Fisherman in 1986. The short-lived trio were Jeremy’s immediate post-Sunnyboys band and the original version was released on the Waterfront label the same year. In this guise Can’t You Stop features an all new arrangement plus those trademark Sunnyboys harmonies.

Lovers (On Another Planet’s Hell) meantime, is a reworking of a track from the Sunnyboys third album Get Some Fun. The original version featuring a 4/4 beat often referred to as the “AC/DC beat” which never sat well with the band. The opportunity to readdress that all these years later proving irresistible. The added keyboards of Alister Spence and brass playing of Eamon Dilworth and young Nico Oxley (Peter’s son) also adding a new dimension to the original.

Strange Cohesion was actually written post-Get Some Fun in 1984 and was performed by the band regularly during their final tour. It would feature on the band’s swansong release, 1984’s Real Live but was never recorded in the studio. 40 gives the track its recorded debut and gives some small hint as to what Sunnyboys album no.4 may have sounded like.

Originally released as a solo recording back in 1991 under the banner Jeremy ‘Ponytail’ Oxley Way After Five shares perhaps the strongest relationship to the ‘40’ concept. Jeremy’s voice at times just a croak - a by-product of the life he has lead for much of last 40 years - adding further poignancy to the songs lyric; and it’s another Oxley classic.

And what better way to celebrate both the new release and the milestone anniversary than by doing what Sunnyboys do best - play live! And so Sunnyboys hit the east coast this February including first time ever shows in Torquay and for Sydney’s Twilights @ Taronga. Special guests Painters & Dockers will join Sunnyboys for the shows in Victoria while garage rockers Rocket Science will join the birthday boys in Sydney.
“We really didn’t think we would ever play again as a band. But wow, we have and we sure are having a bloody great time doing it.” - Peter Oxley

Kalipo prepares to launch his new album Happy Little Accidents, which counts with twelve electro-focused tracks as well as the participation of feature artists Rampue, Ira Atari, Oberst & Buchner and subkutan. Iconic 80s painter and TV host, Bob Ross is celebrated for his thirty-minute landscapes, recognizably soothing voice as well as the 'happy little quotes' he imprinted on pop culture. One of Ross' most memorable turns of phrase, "We don't make mistakes; we just have happy accidents," went on to encourage thousands worldwide. And not just painters. "For me, this album was about letting the songs develop very quickly and not evaluating them too much, or trying to avoid mistakes," says German electronic music producer, Kalipo (Jakob Häglsperger) who named his latest release Happy Little Accidents after Ross' signature phrase. "Bob Ross really impressed me as a child, he was always so accessible to everyone and demonstrated how easy it was for anyone to work creatively," says Kalipo, who translated Ross' fast and instinctive wet-on-wet painting technique to music-making on Happy Little Accidents. The 12 tracks that make up PART I and PART II of the album are a celebration of the method - sometimes it's a floaty journey with tinkering sounds, at other times dark fast beats create the core of the music, but there's always a sense of intuition and heart driving Kalipo's productions.

It’s been said that writing about music is like dancing about
architecture but what about singing about movies? Sufjan
Stevens and Angelo De Augustine have paired up for a
collaborative project that does just that. ‘A Beginner’s Mind’ is
their debut album and contains 14 songs (loosely) based on
(mostly) popular films.  The source material is highbrow, lowbrow and everything in
between. The music is folksy, sweet, sincere and harmonically
effervescent - Simon & Garfunkel with New Age flourishes. This
album runs the gamut and has fun with it, even while its
songwriters remain fully rooted in the melancholy folk idioms
they are known for.  Daniel Anum Jasper, a pioneer of Ghanian movie poster
painting, was commissioned to paint a series of new works for
‘A Beginner’s Mind’. His paintings are a graphic simulacrum for
the same sense of wonder, wordplay and intrigue that shape ‘A
Beginner’s Mind’. By transforming old films into vital new songs,
Stevens and De Augustine ask us to consider ourselves from a
previously unconsidered vantage point - a new way of seeing
and hearing - an exercise that’s as necessary and relevant now
as it’s ever been.  “In the dizzying chime of his careful fingerpicking and highpitched howls, De Augustine captures love’s bright blaze.” - Pitchfork
 “What we find here, on what is arguably the pinnacle of his
output to date, is De Augustine achieving the beautiful balance
between introspection and grandeur; straddling the place where
pain and hope intersect.” - Line of Best Fit

Grey Marbled Vinyl

VARIÁT is the new experimental metal one-man band of Ukrainian artist Dmytro Fedorenko. Through dissonant noise poetry, corrosive synthesis, and subtle seeds of interiority and folk song, VARIÁT creates a sound world of austere urban psychedelia, invoking themes of primitivism and mysticism within the volatile currents of a contemporary digital era.

Conceived in 2020 as a provocative creative outlet, VARIÁT is founded on ideas of transgression, reinvention, and liberation, the consequence of observing prescribed artistic boundaries and pursuing new depths of aesthetic freedom. The project began as an exploration of new recording techniques: metallic materials used as percussion and channelled through blown amps, toms played with a hammer, drilled cymbals, raw, dimensional textures produced from found objects.

For the project’s debut album ‘I Can See Everything From Here’ a library of recordings rooted in musique concrète initiated countless sessions of seismic, discordant guitar noise and overloaded detonations of low end. Synthesizers calibrated and treated to sound like traditional instrumentation, rhythms of deluge and disarray. Compositions constructed with an intent to preserve their original modality; the chaotic spark of their inception.

The artwork created for ‘I Can See Everything From Here’ is an aquarelle (watercolour) painting, an ink-based projection which mirrors the sound of the album with dense, fragmentary shades of black and extensive tendrils of detail. A microcosmic depiction of the graphic power that defines ‘I Can See Everything From Here’.

The making of “I Dreamed of Electric Sheep” was heavily influenced by the situation everyone had to face lately. “We were forced to work under very peculiar circumstances, often interrupting our studio activity because of the lockdown”, says Franz Di Cioccio (lead vocals, drums). The whole process took one year spent mostly working at home, sharing ideas and meeting at Patrick Djivas’ (bass, keyboards) home studio, before the band was able to record the album at White Studios in Milan, Italy. Being the rhythm section Cioccio and Djivas make a perfectly working team. “We both have a great passion for SciFi movies. In the past we watched many of them together. In the case of ‘Blade Runner’ we were hit by the question: Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep? - The world has been changing around us. Computers are taking over and Covid has accelerated the process. However, we strongly believe in the power of people to use their imagination and fantasy. To us this is what really makes the difference between human beings and androids.” The band considers themselves being in a similar place when it comes to music that Impressionists were in when it comes to painting: They didn’t paint fixed somatic traits for their figures with their brush strokes while PFM (Premiata Forneria Marconi) do not consider themselves limited to a specific genre. While the album tells multiple stories they are all linked to passion, love and the power of imagination. As a real treat PMF invited a couple of musicians they have been friends with for a long time: Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) on flute and Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis) on electric guitar. “I Dreamed of Electric Sheep” is simultaneously released in both English and Italian versions, hence the Italian subtitle, “Ho Sognato Pecore Elettriche". PMF’s “I Dreamed of Electric Sheep” is available in the following formats: Special 2 CD Digipak with O-Card, Gatefold 2LP+2CD & Special LP-Booklet and Digital Album.

The Rain Just Follows Me, The Album: is the sound of an outbound train falling off the tracks. The train is lost and exhausted. The train is simply expected to execute a series of itineraries that are never ending. The train just doesn’t want to leave the station anymore. The train is me. There are times that it feels like a total nightmare, yet there are times where the melody soars into something so melancholy and beautiful, but most importantly...it never lets up. Just like the never ending itinerary, RAIN was written and recorded under extreme exhaustion and stress. The exact way that most people live their lives. Tired, strained, and searching for a moment where you can just hit pause...but you can’t, because here comes the next song.

In what seems like some sort of cosmic alignment bound to happen, the ever prolific and somewhat elusive Niagara make their way into the Discrepant catalogue with '1807'. Compiling tracks recorded between 2014 and 2018 that appeared scattered among very limited and long out of print self released CDRs, the record feels as much out of time as deeply resonant with these times with no dancefloors. Stripping away most of the beat based approach of early Príncipe releases and Ascender EPs, these 17 vignettes presented in the classic dance maxi 12" format dabble with escapism in a manner that projects them as potential DJ tools for lockdown.

Deeply idiosyncratic, the trio from Loures shows an internal coherence that while not easy to grasp given their mutating creative impulses, weaves each different path into a sonic fiction all their own. Cobbled together from countless hours of jamming on warm spectral synths, field recordings, otherworldly textures or devious drum machines '1807' paints a vivid and dreamlike escape route that goes from the hypnotic arpeggios and rarefied synths of 'Esc8' through the glowing tones and fragmented melodies of 'Egyptiu' and into the malfunctioning swirl of the stark 'Esc 10' or the polluted 4/4 thump and funky guitar line of 'Mapas'. Equally disruptive and inviting.

All tracks composed by Niagara between 2014 – 2018

Originally from Limerick, O’Brien’s work captures the everyday and the inbetween in a way that transcends any genre label. Writing from her own observations, O’Brien’s influences can be found in the realism of Mark E. Smith of The Fall, Patti Smith and The Slits, and the works of literary icons such Frank O’Hara, W.B. Yeats, Joan Didion and Albert Camus. Releases to date have drawn admiration from British and American outlets and radio stations as diverse as The FADER, Stereogum, The Guardian, Loud And Quiet, The Quietus, BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 Music, and more.

Speaking about the new single, O’Brien explains: “‘Most Modern Painting’ is about the creation and maintenance of ‘the self’ - the most epic task we are faced with in our lives. I wanted to work with structure in an unconventional way, linking the movements together using various voices from the narrative. The lyrics are voiced through a dialogue between the conscious and unconscious, through dream recall, memory, the individual and the ego.”

The accompanying music video for ‘Most Modern Painting’ was shot in a film-like manner on 16mm. Directed by Saskia Dixie, the movements are intrinsically linked to the lyrics; the choreography incorporates physical theatre, dance and elements of daily gestures and habits.

The chorus line on ‘Most Modern Painting’ birthed the title for the EP ‘Drowning In Blessings’ - “The more I said it, the more it meant. It’s an image which I find really cathartic; seeing the weight or build up of things as possibilities and opportunities instead of bearing their burdens. I approached the set of songs on the EP like a short album so the body of work feels full and tells a substantial story. Tracks allude and refer to one another and provide clues and hints to the future and to the past. It’s not only about language and music - it’s about energy, spaces, leaving room for other people to get in.”

A multifaceted artist, O’Brien’s writing has also been published by the esteemed London Magazine whose alumni include T.S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath and William Burroughs. Her unique fusion of spoken lyrics and art rock has piqued the attention of luminaries of both fields, seeing her perform with John Cooper Clarke and The Brian Jonestown Massacre at sold out theatres across the U.K. Playing live with her band and collaborators; Julian Hanson (guitar) and Oscar Robertson (drums), Sinead O’Brien’s transfixing performances are placing her at the forefront of a resurgent wave of independent British and Irish talent.

It’s been said that writing about music is like dancing about
architecture but what about singing about movies? Sufjan
Stevens and Angelo De Augustine have paired up for a
collaborative project that does just that. ‘A Beginner’s Mind’ is
their debut album and contains 14 songs (loosely) based on
(mostly) popular films.  The source material is highbrow, lowbrow and everything in
between. The music is folksy, sweet, sincere and harmonically
effervescent - Simon & Garfunkel with New Age flourishes. This
album runs the gamut and has fun with it, even while its
songwriters remain fully rooted in the melancholy folk idioms
they are known for.  Daniel Anum Jasper, a pioneer of Ghanian movie poster
painting, was commissioned to paint a series of new works for
‘A Beginner’s Mind’. His paintings are a graphic simulacrum for
the same sense of wonder, wordplay and intrigue that shape ‘A
Beginner’s Mind’. By transforming old films into vital new songs,
Stevens and De Augustine ask us to consider ourselves from a
previously unconsidered vantage point - a new way of seeing
and hearing - an exercise that’s as necessary and relevant now
as it’s ever been.  “In the dizzying chime of his careful fingerpicking and highpitched howls, De Augustine captures love’s bright blaze.” - Pitchfork
 “What we find here, on what is arguably the pinnacle of his
output to date, is De Augustine achieving the beautiful balance
between introspection and grandeur; straddling the place where
pain and hope intersect.” - Line of Best Fit

Ross Sinclair is a drummer, guitarist and founding member of The Soup
Dragons. In the early 1990s Sinclair left the group to complete his studies at
the Glasgow School Of Art.
Ross Sinclair is best known for his Real Life project, initiated in 1994 when he
had the words ‘Real Life’ tattooed across his back. Since then Real Life has become a 23-year performance project, taking form in a wide range of exhibitions, public art and publication contexts. Over the two decades of the Real Life
project, Sinclair’s work has employed various mediums including performance,
painting and music, often at the same time.
Through installation and audience participation Real Life has sought to challenge the conventional exhibition practice and connect with the public. These
projects have been exhibited worldwide. Throughout the course of the project,
a consistent thread of Sinclair’s work has sought to address the nature of the
individual, collective and national identities of Scotland.
During August 2015, Sinclair exhibited his work in 20 Years of Real Life at Edinburgh’s Collective Gallery which celebrated 20 years of his Real Life project.
Sinclair worked with teenagers to create 5 bands and produce an LP titled Free
Instruments for Teenagers. Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life The most recent incarnation of the Real Life project came as part of a two-week residency
Ross Sinclair undertook at the Shanghai Himalayas Museum in China, ahead of
his solo exhibition titled Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life.
This exhibition served to herald a new phase of Sinclair’s on-going Real Life project. For the exhibition Sinclair added the text ‘Is Dead’ to the ‘Real Life’ tattoo.
The residency focused on the consistent themes of participation, performance
and collaboration, coupled with Sinclair’s use of music in his art throughout his
career. Sinclair worked with students at the GSOA over a period of two years to
develop and record two songs (Real Life is Dead and Long Live Real Life) which
lay at the core of the exhibition. The songs were recorded in both English and
Chinese.
In Shanghai, Sinclair worked with local musicians, artists and singers to create the Chinese-Scottish Real Life Orchestra - a musical dialogue between the
Chinese audience and Sinclair’s Real Life Project. The group came together in
a collective voice, in English and Chinese, to share experiences through music.
The orchestra presented a live performance at the opening reception of the
Phase Three exhibition of CURRENT: Contemporary Art from Scotland, which
provided the soundtrack to Sinclair’s installation consisting of multiple editions
of banners and videos representing the 23-years of the Real Life project. Participants were also invited to respond to the themes of Real Life is Dead/Long
Live Real Life with words and pictures which were displayed on banners and
placards.

Odd, Ordinary & Otherwise,’ the third full-length record from New Orleans
country-folk songsmith Chris Acker, is a collection of songs brimming with
true tales, eloquent songwriting, and fearless honesty.
During his decade-long songwriting career, Chris has explored musical terrain
tread by contemporary folk music’s greatest champions: Prine, Dylan, Guthrie,
etc. With ‘Odd, Ordinary & Otherwise,’ Acker has forged an unmistakable lyrical
style that’s truly his own, containing more reverence than reference to those
who came before him.
The songs of O-O-O are equally as influenced by months of isolation during
COVID quarantine as they are by Chris’ place in the New Orleans dancehall and
busking communities in years previous.
The album’s thirteen tracks flow gracefully from introspective, quiet tunes worthy of the modern Folk Music cannon, to downright barn burners ready for
the dancehall and all the space in between. Acker’s creative response to the
heartbreak and anxiety that defined the year 2020 is primarily one full of life.
The vividly painted scenes and stories that define the record are his and no one
else’s. Paired with his signature pop sensibility, playful and sometimes humorous language, and a professional sonic presentation, ‘Odd, Ordinary & Otherwise’ is a compelling record that merits close investigation.

Exactly one year after "A Mysterious Land Of Happiness." (out on Beast in November 2020) here comes ". And Disasters". Broken Waltz is still martial, stormy and pagan, but darker. The drum'n bass duo rides on the tracks of Nick Cave, Tom Waits and even The Cramps!

After his debut LP ‘Temmuz’, released at the beginning of last year, Houschyar is back on Macadam Mambo with his new album: a less danceable but more personal opus. Being locked up on the rooftops of Istanbul, Houschyar repurposed a satellite dish, making use of its perfectly round and concave shape to create strange metallic-sounding percussive loops which he painted with sonic atmospheres that contained diverse shades of blue. ‘Mavi’ is an introspective pallet of emotions condensed into 7 hybrid compositions highly improvised which divagate into a very jazzy modern state of mind, jamming with pianos, electronic organs and rhythm boxes to produce another type of spiritual music that sounds absolutely timeless. In a very prolific year - with his release with DJ Sofa and Okay Temiz on Music from Memory and the initial EP of Raphael Kosmos’ newborn label Späti Records -, Marius Houschyar leaves no doubt about the level of his talent and him being part of a new generation of artists to keep a close eye on. To discover as soon as possible!

semi clear green vinyl

"Since our debut release on YUKU, our perspective about the many creative possibilities open to us has evolved.

With "MAKTUB," meaning "It's written," we're clearly stating that it's time to dive deeper into our musical ethos and production. It represents a significant step in our self-discovery, and a big step forward from the debut EP.

On this sonic architect project, we managed to make a strong cross-Atlantic connection with the various features on this LP and make geographical boundaries evaporate. This genre-fusion release was formed in pure isolation and solitude from all sides, but the final outcome brings a feeling of even stronger unity within TRAKA, and also at same time preserves our personal individual creative identities."
- TRAKA

Cherry Drops is a collection of tracks written by Call Super. It was started around the time they were working on a larger project called Tell Me I Didn’t Choose This, that reflected on a period in their life of upheaval, trauma and self-discovery. That project is bound up in a series of compositions for a self-made instrument called an Epi-Harp, clarinet, piano and percussion and a collection of paintings, two of which feature on the covers of the two releases that make up Cherry Drops. However the music on Cherry Drops became a release from that project, a distraction from painful reflections and recollections. It had to be music with a direct dancefloor connection because it was in thosespaces where Call Super found release through those pivotal periods in their life.

2021 sees the release of the long-awaited third album from Pola & Bryson - ‘Beneath the Surface’. Since their debut release in 2015, Pola & Bryson have transitioned from the exciting ones to watch to the unquestionable leaders of new school liquid drum and bass, grabbing the attention of the scene's greats in the process.

“Masterful production and musicality throughout, I love that the album has been made just as much for the home listener as for the clubs. For me, these guys are leading the new wave of liquid drum & bass.” Sub Focus

As digital streaming services continue to dominate as the primary source of music consumption, the wildly contested ‘death of the album’ debate continues to burn throughout the industry. To counteract the current trend of single tracks and playlist placements, Pola & Bryson wanted to experiment with a concept album.

“We envisioned a landscape to act as inspiration to us whilst writing this album. The landscape is made up of 4 distinct sections, each representing a different emotional state. The first being Shinrinyoku (a Japanese term for forest bathing), represented by a dense, peaceful forest environment. Mangata (loosely translates to moon river) takes you to the edges of a cold, misty lake which eventually leads you to Toska, representing a dark and endless cave. All transpiring with Yuugen, a vast and epic mountain range. The album, paired with bespoke animated visuals, paints the perfect reflection of the journey.” - Pola & Bryson

‘Beneath the Surface’ features collaborations with the drum and bass scene's hottest vocal talents, with each being selected to effortlessly meld with the respective soundscapes. After previously working with both Lauren Archer and Ruth Royall with beguiling success, Pola & Bryson knew that they wanted to send some ideas to both artists. This resulted in the creation of two beautifully blissful tracks ‘Under’ and ‘Friend’, which became the first two singles to be released from the album. While Solah and Kojo were specifically picked with their tracks in mind, Manchester favourite Strategy’s appearance on the release was an altogether more organic stroke of serendipity. The duo were unsure whether 'Anaesthetist' was going to make the cut as an instrumental, and were floating the idea of working with a vocalist when Strategy messaged them seemingly out of the blue. They knew in an instant that his sound was the perfect fit for the track.

Over the last five years, Pola & Bryson have steadily ascended from promising newcomers to well-respected leaders of the next liquid generation. The London based pair’s production credentials are now so well-respected that they have recently been commissioned for huge remix projects for Sub Focus x Wilkinson and Camo & Krooked and released a collaborative EP with Brazil’s legendary DJ Marky. Since their debut album ‘This Time Last Year’ on Soulvent Records and then 2018’s award-nominated Shogun Audio LP “Lost in Thought'', punters and peers have been on tenterhooks, anticipating what the duo would bring to the plate next. Effortlessly living up to its hype, anyone who journeys through the ever-changing soundscapes of ‘Beneath the Surface’ will be immersed into a new world of sonic expression.

Split Single from the garage combo of The Panturas and Sundancer sung entirely on their
regional language. An exclusive 7” split from Indonesian surf-garage-rock behemoth The
Panturas and Sundancer, hailing from Jatinangor and Lombok Respectively. It was the
first series from their upcoming “"Singel Klub" series.
"Lasut Nyanggut" by The Panturas their first song sung entirely in Sundanese language.
The band appointed Ricky Virgana from White Shoes and The Couples Company fame to
be their producer, and successfully produced a garage psych-surf-calypso with a mixture of
traditional oriental sundanese pop aesthetics. The lyrics of the song itself paints a picture of
someone fishing.The title itself is a popular term among fishing enthusiast on the western
parts of Java.
“Dedare Tanjung” or “Gadis Tanjung” roughly translates to “the girl on the cape”, was
inspired from “Dark Eyes” a russian folk song and Ismail Marzuki’s very own “Panon
Hideung” which is a song sung in Sundanese language. The band translates the song to
their own mother tongue language which is the Sasak, a language that the band originated
from.

Described by Swiss press as an “inventive genius marked by total unpredictability,” Roger Baudet’s music has preserved its freshness and spontaneity. Provoking feelings of surprise, anxiety and subjugation, he ends up bewitching you completely through his bizarre non-conformity. The oddity of the sounds is a choice of heterogeneity: the works gathered, although coming from one person, have little to do with each other. Forming a mosaic that provides a fragmented vision of atmospheres without apparent links, his music multiplies diverse rhythms and combinations, rejecting any principle of hierarchy in the musicality of the moment. The decorative music was composed as the soundtrack for theatre and ballet performances, documentaries, short films and exhibitions of paintings – a context that inevitably shines through the twenty-two pieces. Despite these classical settings, the music had a forward-facing, futuristic cadence – a precursor to the electronic genres that would later become techno or trance. This compilation from the past century is a collage of ornaments made out of sounds; stripped down, yet undoubtedly imbued with sensitivity, with hints of classical training, all suitable for contemplation.