Cerca:peak time

Every now and then a release comes along which is destined to unite, bring down the walls and basically, be a force for good. Your Kissing by Belcampo does just that, and with a style and panache which defies it’s lo-fi, handstamped limited white label aesthetic. The beauty of Your Kissing is in the way it successfully melds together elements of deep house, disco and the French Touch sound to form a track which will appeal to anyone who simply likes decent music. Belcampo keeps things stripped back just enough to give that beautiful, rolling, hypnotic atmosphere, whilst remaining lush, warm and uplifting, constantly teasing us with the repeated filtering guitar and string hook. Legendary British singer and songwriter Elisabeth Troy provides the cherry on top with her sweet vocal line giving us the hook which will get under your skin in all the right ways.

In addition to the main vocal mix we have a Belcampo Remix going heavier on the filters and pumping groove, calling to mind the glory days of Cassius, Motorbass and Super Discount with that distinctive feel-good French sound of the 90’s.

Closing out the EP we find Delisei which cranks up the jackometer for a peak time slice of looped-up heads down filter madness guaranteed to nice up the dance.

Repress

After breaking into techno's big league in 2017, Belgium's Amelie Lens' career has been maintaining the same impelling tempo as her music releases - this time with the launch of her own label: LENSKE. Catapulting from her intimate vinyl only studio sets onto the world stage, Lens has maintained an unwavering commitment to techno's dark acidic grooves. After proving her skills in her Belgian back yard, Amelie Lens' name became one to watch out for on worldwide festival stages. Anyone who's caught one of her Exhale take over nights at Labyrinth knows the caliber of her curation, with past guests like Marcel Dettmann, Ellen Alien, Rødhad and Kobosil, a skill she's solidified in her production and DJing. Never one to miss a beat, Amelie Lens is coming off a big year with big plans for LENSKE. The idea for Lenske was born naturally out of Lens sitting down to produce a track with collaborator Sam Farrago. When Kobosil offered to do a remix, the idea of a fresh platform to release her own and friends' music started to make sense. Aimed at the deeper underground of Amelie's techno spectrum, Lenske is also built to expose younger emerging artists. With the second release by Milo Spykers already in the pipes, Lens sees her imprint beginning as a carefully selected vinyl only platform, which will expand into digital releases to ensure affordability for the scene she wants to inspire and support. Lenske is also intended to continue the strains addictively dark stabs and hooks that Lens established with her releases on Lyase Recordings, ARTS and Second State.LENSKE's first release by Farrago, "Risin", comes packing high velocity punches, including a collaboration with Amelie Lens and a remix from Kobosil. The EP's A side is packed near 12 minutes of crisp machine driven techno with Farrago's rattling peak-time "The Riddler" being the first to puncture. The title track, "Risin", will only be released as the Kobosil remix, a titanium tour of auditory horrors, which also borrows from the EP's other tracks. Lens' signature sultry vocal samples on the B side's "Jealousy" draw the contours of a jaw grinding banger, while "Hidden Power" rounds out the release with a blaring dance floor siren encased in exquisitely unpredictable arrangement.

Juan Wauters’ fifth solo album, Real Life Situations, is a multifaceted ode to sur- rendering control and taking life as it comes. References to radio abound on its 21 tracks, and with good reason - the album spans genres, narrators, languages, and perspectives with the ease of spinning a rotary knob. Mining older songs, phone notes, new material, and snippets from TV and YouTube, Wauters has crafted an aural document of the year through his eyes.

Despite the circumstances of its creation, Real Life Situations is not a quarantine record. In many ways it’s the opposite of one, taking togetherness as both its subject and its primary medium. Pre-lockdown collaborations with Mac DeMar- co, Peter Sagar (AKA Homeshake), Nick Hakim, Cola Boyy, El David Aguilar, and more playfully offset Wauters’ more pensive solo tracks, and even in its sparest moments the album pulses with life. This is due in part to an impressive array of interludes and samples, most of which are field recordings that Wauters collects on his phone, ranging from the innocuous (“A Peter Pan Donuts Conversation”) to the intense (“Crack Dabbling”).

Under his care, these small moments become coordinates for the peaks and valleys of human experience, coloring the album with Wauters’ unique shade of realism. “Some people think I’m an optimist”, he explains, “but I’m not. I’m always seeing all sides of things.”
Of course, Wauters himself never disappears in the boisterous crowd - he lends his chameleonic songwriting to experiments in hip-hop (“Unity”), lo-fi R&B (“Mon- soon”), and deft indie folk (“Lion Dome”). Themes of loneliness, personal growth, patience, and companionship arise again and again; we can feel Wauters navi- gating a rapidly-changing world in real time. Jubilant choruses and spoken word poetry bleed into city noises and overheard conversations. Real freedom, the album suggests, comes not from gaining control, but from accepting its artifice. Like the programming on a radio station, there’s something here for everyone. All you have to do is listen.

‘Archive Series Volume no. 5: Tallahassee Recordings’ is the lost-in-time debut
album from Iron & Wine. A collection of songs recorded three years prior to his
official Sub Pop debut, ‘The Creek Drank the Cradle’ (2002). A period before the
concept of Iron & Wine existed and principal songwriter Sam Beam was studying
at Florida State University with the intent of pursuing a career in film.
‘Archive Series Volume no. 5’ documents the very first steps on a journey that
would lead to a career as one of America’s most original and distinctive singersongwriters. ‘The Creek Drank the Cradle’ arrived like a thief in the night with its
lo-fi, hushed vocals and intimate nature, while almost inversely Tallahassee
comes with a strange sense of confidence. Perhaps an almost youthful discretion
that likely comes from being too young to know better and too naïve to give a
shit.
The recordings themselves are more polished than ‘The Creek Drank the Cradle’
and give a peak into what a studio version of that record might have offered up.
‘Archive Series Volume no. 5’ was recorded over the course of 1998-1999 when
Beam and future bandmate EJ Holowicki moved into a house together. Beam
had not been performing publicly however, he was known for playing an original
song or two in the early morning glow of a long night. Holowicki - also in the film
program and who would go onto a career as a sound designer at Skywalker
Sound - had a mobile recording device and after some prodding convinced his
friend to record these late-night meditations.
Together they would record close to twenty-four songs, ideas and sketches, with
EJ on bass and Sam on vocals, guitar, harmonica and drums. The recordings -
all captured in the house where they lived - have a ‘live in the room’ feel akin to
say Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ or Nick Drake’s ‘Five Leaves Left’, rather than the
homespun lo-fi 4-track home recording experiment taking place at the time.
These recordings, minus one track, have never been made available and were
instead left preserved on a hard drive for the last twenty years. The one track
that floated out there, called ‘In Your Own Time’ was shared without a title to
childhood friend Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) at some point. The song became
known as the ‘Fuck Like A Dog’ song and Ben shared it with more than a few
folks during the golden era of mix CDs. Two of those folks were Jonathan
Poneman from Sub Pop and journalist Mike McGonigal, who included it on his
best songs of 2001 mix CD, passed out to friends and acquaintances. And for
many that is where the Iron & Wine story begins, until now.
‘Archive Series Volume no. 5’ is the foreword to your favourite book that you’ve
somehow skipped over time and time again. It’s an alternative history mixed with
some revisionist history told over the course of eleven songs. It’s also the debut
record by Iron & Wine some twenty years after the fact.

Formed in 1977 by Tomata du Plenty (vocals), Tommy Gear (synthesizers, vocals), David Brown (electric piano) and KK Barrett (drums), the Screamers were deeply linked to Los Angeles' first wave punk scene, yet their music and high-energy performances stood apart – defying classification and evoking intense audience reactions.

"These songs were recorded a few months after the Los Angeles punk scene began. These five statements of intent transcend Punk and project forward into the future: to the analog synth wave of the late '70s and beyond, to the present day, four decades later, when they finally receive an official release. Sourced from the original reel-to-reels, they are a revelation compared to the countless copies that have been circulating by multiple generations of tape-traders. Here, for the first time, is the Screamers' initial and legendary manifesto.

The Screamers concept was simple, yet audacious: take the spirit and the look of Punk – the pseudo-psychotic aggression, the spiky hair, vacant stares and barely concealed sadomasochism – and match it to a different configuration than the typical '60s rock template. As launched, the Screamers featured two keyboard players (Tommy Gear and David Brown), a drummer (KK Barrett) and an intensely charismatic singer (Tomata du Plenty). The idea was to be confrontational – to evoke (as Tomata described in an early interview) a state of anxiety.

Forty years later, this release builds on the groundswell of interest in the Screamers that has been occurring in the early 21st century. There are web sites with detailed histories of the group and several bootlegs of demos and live material from 1977-79. The video of '122 Hours of Fear' – perhaps their peak moment, recorded at Target Video in August 1978 – has now passed over 650,000 views online. This is the Screamers' time, and the time is now."

– Jon Savage (excerpt from the liner notes)

Color Vinyl

Formed in 1977 by Tomata du Plenty (vocals), Tommy Gear (synthesizers, vocals), David Brown (electric piano) and KK Barrett (drums), the Screamers were deeply linked to Los Angeles' first wave punk scene, yet their music and high-energy performances stood apart – defying classification and evoking intense audience reactions.

"These songs were recorded a few months after the Los Angeles punk scene began. These five statements of intent transcend Punk and project forward into the future: to the analog synth wave of the late '70s and beyond, to the present day, four decades later, when they finally receive an official release. Sourced from the original reel-to-reels, they are a revelation compared to the countless copies that have been circulating by multiple generations of tape-traders. Here, for the first time, is the Screamers' initial and legendary manifesto.

The Screamers concept was simple, yet audacious: take the spirit and the look of Punk – the pseudo-psychotic aggression, the spiky hair, vacant stares and barely concealed sadomasochism – and match it to a different configuration than the typical '60s rock template. As launched, the Screamers featured two keyboard players (Tommy Gear and David Brown), a drummer (KK Barrett) and an intensely charismatic singer (Tomata du Plenty). The idea was to be confrontational – to evoke (as Tomata described in an early interview) a state of anxiety.

Forty years later, this release builds on the groundswell of interest in the Screamers that has been occurring in the early 21st century. There are web sites with detailed histories of the group and several bootlegs of demos and live material from 1977-79. The video of '122 Hours of Fear' – perhaps their peak moment, recorded at Target Video in August 1978 – has now passed over 650,000 views online. This is the Screamers' time, and the time is now."

– Jon Savage (excerpt from the liner notes)

Repress

Dakar, Senegal. From this hostile land Midnight Menace is the latest KAOS assigned and one of its kind. You all with your support to the label via bandcamp fixed his computer so he can deliver this first one as an introduction. His Schranz/hard techno beat dives into a trance-mission direct to your brain in order to make your body shake.

Moving on to France JKS is half of Jawbreakers his techno rave music is really influenced by iconic figures from the 90's rave culture (Dave the Drummer/ Stay up Forever) name track is a retrotesque beat with a powerful bass-line moving between trance, body music and electro clash. With a ton of class.

Next one on the list delivering one of those weirdo tracks that from time to time we love to showcase on our compilations. DJDJ debuts with a darkroom alike anthem. Job Sifre and DJ Dorien punishing with a high intensity Body music song, taste their Bloody Mary.

Closing this record P.E.A.R.L goes pure HEARTCORE, with his already known Spanish primitivism, a gabber kick and a dismounted amen break dissolves into a mood melody to chill a floor at the peak ready for the next explosion.

This are HEARTCORE ESSENTIALS pls use them responsibly.
#oftenplusneverminus8

Global pop sensation Ava Max—who has already accumulated more than 4 billion career streams—has released her highly-anticipated debut album Heaven & Hell. The record features eight new tracks alongside her previously released hit singles “Sweet But Psycho,” “Who’s Laughing Now,” “So Am I,” “Salt” and “Kings & Queens,” the latter of which spent five weeks at #1 on European airplay and is currently #21 on Top 40 radio.

“Heaven & Hell represents light and dark, good and evil, and the devil and angel on your shoulder,” said Ava on the meaning behind the album. “I’m discussing the dualities of the challenges we face each day. Some songs have darkness; other songs are more positive. Heaven & Hell is the middle ground.”

Ava has also revealed the video for her track “Naked,” which was directed by Hannah Lux Davis (Ariana Grande, Halsey, Doja Cat).

“It’s about the real emotions we go through,” said Ava on the meaning behind the track. “If you don’t know my mind, soul, and heart, you’ll never know me by seeing me naked. We are more than our physical bodies. That’s what I wanted to show.”

A truly international artist, Ava sealed her pop superstar status with the blockbuster success of the RIAA 3x-platinum certified hit, “Sweet but Psycho.” Currently boasting over 2 billion global streams and counting, “Sweet But Psycho” was named among the New York Times’ “54 Best Songs of 2019,” spent three weeks in the top 10 of Billboard’s “Hot 100,” peaked at #3 at US Pop Radio and earned Ava her first-ever Teen Choice Awards nomination for “Choice Pop Song.” The song was joined by an official video that has more than 600 million views on YouTube.

Produced by GRAMMY® Award-winning super-producer Cirkut (Maroon 5, Miley Cyrus, The Weeknd) and co-written with Madison Love (Camila Cabello), “Sweet But Psycho” hit #1 on both Spotify’s “United States Viral 50” and Billboard’s “Dance Club Songs” while becoming one of “The Top Most-Shazamed Songs of 2019.” The song’s stateside success followed the track’s remarkable popularity abroad, including four consecutive weeks atop the UK Singles Chart and #1 rankings on charts in nearly 20 countries.

Dubbed an “Artist You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone, Ava has been feted with a wide range of media attention including high profile features in Vanity Fair, Billboard, FORBES, PAPER, and more. The pop star first took over TV with performances of “Sweet but Psycho” on CBS’s The Late Late Show with James Corden, NBC’s TODAY, and the Ellen DeGeneres Show, as well as a summer performance of her RIAA-certified gold single “So Am I,” on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. Ava became one of 2019’s most honored performers, including “Best New Artist” nominations at both the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards and the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards. The latter was highlighted by both Ava’s first-ever win for “Best Push Artist” and show-stopping live performances of both “Torn” and “Sweet But Psycho,” streaming now.

Clear Vinyl

Post-minimalist American composer Rafael Anton Irisarri makes his Umor Rex debut with his new album, The Shameless Years. Inspired by a troubled socio-political climate, buried melodies punch their way through a bleak cover of noisy drones, periodically veering into some of Irisarri's most eerily pertinent music to date.

One of Rafael Anton Irisarri's most thematically and sonically cohesive records to date The Shameless Years came together in a relatively short burst of creativity starting at the end of 2016. Rediscovering some relatively older tools - namely Native Instruments' Reaktor, Absynth, and Kontakt software - Irisarri combined them with his collection of guitars, pedals, amps, and analogue processing gear, turning his Black Knoll Studio north of NYC into a powerful writing tool. Completed quickly by Irisarri's standards, let alone during a period of social upheaval in American society, the record faces down several key personal themes. The title, suggests Irisarri, could in fact be seen as a reflection of the era of shamelessness we're currently living in, a time of fake news and alternative facts.

Two tracks were completely remotely between Irisarri in New York and Umor Rex veteran Siavash Amini from his home in Tehran, Iran. This music came together at the peak of all the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric happening in the USA, not to mention the banning of Iranians from entering the country, explains Irisarri. The diptych with Amini, 'Karma Krama' and 'The Faithless', seems bathed in additional waves of sorrow and dread. The wash of symphonic stormclouds of synth drones and processed notes on the latter gradually appears and disappears over the course of thirteen mournful minutes.

'Rh Negative' marches gigantic guitars through towering valleys of scarred ambient noise dealing with Irisarri's own heritage, many of his ancestors having come to America to escape poverty and oppression. The refusal of modern America to extend similar sanctuary to refugees escaping turmoil weighs heavily on the composer. Elsewhere an emotional onslaught of notes buried in mounds of greyscale noise on 'Sky Burial' aims to deal with Irisarri's very own mortality - something he was recently confronted with following health scares, an accident, and a near-death experience in 2016. Pushing 40 as this album was being made, the composer is constantly aware that he's already outlived his own father, who died at the age of 32. Facing down both intolerance and the void, the epic soundscapes of The Shameless Years are a vast cry of emotion from Irisarri. The clock is ticking - gotta make the most out of it while you still can.

All songs written and performed by Rafael Anton Irisarri, except #5 & #6 written and performed with Siavash Amini. Design by Daniel Castrejón, photos by Camilo Christen. Mastered by James Plotkin.

• When Lonnie Mack’s treatment of Chuck Berry’s ‘Memphis’ broke into the US Hot 100 on 8 June 1963 and peaked at #5 during its 13-week stay, he was initially pigeonholed as an instrumental artist. This perception was heightened by ‘Down In The Dumps’ on the flip, and furthered by his double-sided instrumental follow-up whose topside, ‘Wham!’, reached #28.

• Six months later the other side of Lonnie was revealed with his first vocal 45. The topside was a dynamic re-vamp of Jimmy Reed’s ‘Baby, What’s Wrong’, backed with a version of the gospel classic ‘Where There’s A Will’. Here you could hear him emoting in a way white singers never did – hollering, pleading and screaming in the very finest gospel tradition. The track was even picked up by some black radio stations in the south, but quietly dropped once it was realised that Lonnie was white.

• ‘Memphis’ was recorded at King Records Studio in Cincinnati on 12 March 1963. Carl Edmondson had been booked to produce a split session for Max Falcon, Kenny Smith and the Charmaines, but Edmondson’s band had recently broken up, so Lonnie and his crew were drafted in. With some time left at the end of the session, Lonnie was asked if he had anything he might like to record. ‘Memphis’ was the result. Edmondson thought the track had potential and suggested to Fraternity Records boss, Harry Carlson, that he should put it out. Within weeks it was climbing the charts, launching Lonnie’s long career.

• Post-Fraternity releases on Elektra, Capitol, Epic and Alligator cemented his reputation as the man who brought gospel, soul, blues, country and rock’n’roll together. He was one of the creators of blue-eyed soul, as well as the leading light for the legion of blues-based rock guitarists who plied their trade from the 60s onwards. It has to be said, though, that the bedrock of his legend rests on his Fraternity recordings, which highlighted both sides of Lonnie Mack – the vocalist and the guitarist.

After two UK #1 albums, 2 million album sales and an array of international acclaim, you might’ve thought you knew what to expect from Royal Blood. Those preconceptions were shattered when they released ‘Trouble’s Coming’ last summer. Hitting a melting pot of fiery rock riffs and danceable beats, they delivered something fresh, unexpected and yet entirely in tune with what they’d forged their reputation with.

The reaction was phenomenal, with highlights including 20 million streams, a premiere as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record and a run on Radio 1’s A-list and earned alternative radio support and media attention across the globe. In short, Royal Blood are primed to be bigger than ever before. That feat is set to be realised when they release their eagerly anticipated third album ‘Typhoons’ on April 30th via Warner Records.

When Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher sat down to talk about making a new album, they knew what they wanted to achieve. It involved a conscious return to their roots, back when they had made music that was influenced by Daft Punk, Justice, and Philippe Zdar of Cassius. It also called for a similar back-to-basics approach to what had made their self-titled debut album so thrilling, visceral and original.

“We sort of stumbled on this sound, and it was immediately fun to play,” recalls Kerr. “That’s what sparked the creativity on the new album, the chasing of that feeling. It’s weird, though - if you think back to ‘Figure it Out’, it kind of contains the embryo of this album. We realised that we didn’t have to completely destroy what we’d created so far; we just had to shift it, change it. On paper, it’s a small reinvention. But when you hear it, it sounds so fresh.”

Those traits pulsate throughout the new single and title track. Kerr’s spiralling bass riff casts an hypnotic allure as it grows in intensity, while his vocals switch at will between a raw rock roar and a soulful falsetto. It’s underpinned by Thatcher’s thundering beats, his taut rhythms infused with groove-laden hi-hats.

After setting the tone with ‘Trouble’s Coming’, the album opens in breathless, take-no-prisoners style with the fierce metallic grooves of ‘Who Needs Friends’ hitting an early visceral peak. Royal Blood further reference their fresh array of influences by deploying vocodered vocals on ‘Million & One’ before dynamically switching between the biggest contrasts of their sound with ‘Limbo’. Already a fan favourite having been a regular during the duo’s 2019 shows, ‘Boilermaker’ lives up to its reputation and is more than matched by ‘Mad Visions’, which evokes a hyper-aggressive Prince. It ends with a final surprise in the shape of the stark piano ballad ‘All We Have Is Now’, a vulnerable and revealing reminder to live in the moment.

That song’s unguarded sentiments gives the album a redemptive finale. Whether directly or allusively, the album focuses on exploring the flipside of success that they’ve experienced. It comes from the realisation that success is much more complicated than it seems and that having the time to regain perspective is a precious commodity which becomes ever more elusive. The situation called for reflection and change, which Kerr addressed in Las Vegas. He downed an espresso martini and declared it to be his last drink, and soon discovered that his new-found sobriety would have a positive impact upon his creativity and life as a whole.

That new approach manifested itself in the duo’s decision to produce the majority of ‘Typhoons’ themselves. ‘Boilermaker’ was produced by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, the two bands having first connected when Royal Blood supported them on a huge North American tour. Meanwhile, the multiple Grammy Award winner Paul Epworth produced ‘Who Needs Friends’ and contributed additional production to ‘Trouble’s Coming’.

After two UK #1 albums, 2 million album sales and an array of international acclaim, you might’ve thought you knew what to expect from Royal Blood. Those preconceptions were shattered when they released ‘Trouble’s Coming’ last summer. Hitting a melting pot of fiery rock riffs and danceable beats, they delivered something fresh, unexpected and yet entirely in tune with what they’d forged their reputation with.
The reaction was phenomenal, with highlights including 20 million streams, a premiere as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record and a run on Radio 1’s A-list and earned alternative radio support and media attention across the globe. In short, Royal Blood are primed to be bigger than ever before. That feat is set to be realised when they release their eagerly anticipated third album ‘Typhoons’ on April 30th via Warner Records.
When Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher sat down to talk about making a new album, they knew what they wanted to achieve. It involved a conscious return to their roots, back when they had made music that was influenced by Daft Punk, Justice, and Philippe Zdar of Cassius. It also called for a similar back-to-basics approach to what had made their self-titled debut album so thrilling, visceral and original.
“We sort of stumbled on this sound, and it was immediately fun to play,” recalls Kerr. “That’s what sparked the creativity on the new album, the chasing of that feeling. It’s weird, though - if you think back to ‘Figure it Out’, it kind of contains the embryo of this album. We realised that we didn’t have to completely destroy what we’d created so far; we just had to shift it, change it. On paper, it’s a small reinvention. But when you hear it, it sounds so fresh.”

Those traits pulsate throughout the new single and title track. Kerr’s spiralling bass riff casts an hypnotic allure as it grows in intensity, while his vocals switch at will between a raw rock roar and a soulful falsetto. It’s underpinned by Thatcher’s thundering beats, his taut rhythms infused with groove-laden hi-hats.



After setting the tone with ‘Trouble’s Coming’, the album opens in breathless, take-no-prisoners style with the fierce metallic grooves of ‘Who Needs Friends’ hitting an early visceral peak. Royal Blood further reference their fresh array of influences by deploying vocodered vocals on ‘Million & One’ before dynamically switching between the biggest contrasts of their sound with ‘Limbo’. Already a fan favourite having been a regular during the duo’s 2019 shows, ‘Boilermaker’ lives up to its reputation and is more than matched by ‘Mad Visions’, which evokes a hyper-aggressive Prince. It ends with a final surprise in the shape of the stark piano ballad ‘All We Have Is Now’, a vulnerable and revealing reminder to live in the moment.

That song’s unguarded sentiments gives the album a redemptive finale. Whether directly or allusively, the album focuses on exploring the flipside of success that they’ve experienced. It comes from the realisation that success is much more complicated than it seems and that having the time to regain perspective is a precious commodity which becomes ever more elusive. The situation called for reflection and change, which Kerr addressed in Las Vegas. He downed an espresso martini and declared it to be his last drink, and soon discovered that his new-found sobriety would have a positive impact upon his creativity and life as a whole.

That new approach manifested itself in the duo’s decision to produce the majority of ‘Typhoons’ themselves. ‘Boilermaker’ was produced by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, the two bands having first connected when Royal Blood supported them on a huge North American tour. Meanwhile, the multiple Grammy Award winner Paul Epworth produced ‘Who Needs Friends’ and contributed additional production to ‘Trouble’s Coming’.

Incl. Chris Geschwindner Remix

To kick off with their series, SINM presents its first record: First try Fridays (incl. Chris Geschwindner remix). The tree tracker consists of a blend between UK Garage, House and Electro to bring forward cutting edge rave sensations with futuristic vibes.

A side takes you straight to a two-stepper projectile, setting the tone with "First Try Fridays" and its powerful wobble sub and short electric stabs. Perfect for threatening the dance-floor in peak time hours alongside mysterious DDA's approach.

On the flip side, Realness teleports you to a nostalgic scenario with its polished chord progressions and breakbeat strikes. Slowly building up with vocal cuts and glitchy transitions, B2 reaches a both nostalgic and mysterious climax. To close the EP, Beam Dump's boss man captures the beautiful essence of Realness bringing beach-like sensations to a tune that's perfect for warming up a dance-floor or enjoying the after-hours.

More to come soon from the SINM crew, stay tuned!

Following the hard-hitting return single ‘Anxious’ and a slew of mysterious ‘West Gazette’ posters appearing around the UK hinting at the announcement (including Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Bristol and London), West London’s AJ Tracey assumes the character of a rising young basketball player appearing in a livestreamed press conference to reveal his next move: a lucrative deal with major
franchise Revenge Athletic ahead of a crucial playoff game. The broadcast ends with the true reveal: AJ’s highly anticipated sophomore album ‘FLU GAME’ will finally arrive.
Always pushing boundaries with his creative output, AJ’s campaign draws influence from the story of Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls team in the late 90s, with ‘FLU GAME’ referencing one of MJ’s most memorable championship games where he overcame a nasty bout of food poisoning (brought on by a dodgy takeaway pizza) and took the Bulls to the championship. Revenge Athletic are a franchise on the brink of a massive championship win and AJ is their new star. All we know for now is that AJ is about to take us into this new world, as he dons the number 10 jersey and states he’s “ready to get going and do what I’ve always done.”
‘FLU GAME’ sees AJ showcasing twelve brand new tracks, with tantalising features including Kehlani, T-Pain, SahBabii, NAV and Millie Go Lightly. On the production
front, AJ calls on regular collaborators Nyge, The Elements, Kazza, AoD and Remedee.
The project also features the UK Top Five singles ‘Bringing It Back’ with Digga D, ‘West Ten’' with Mabel and the Platinum smash ‘Dinner Guest’ featuring MoStack. AJ Tracey is a man on an unstoppable, independently built trajectory. 2020 was his
biggest year to date, with (certified Gold) single ‘West Ten’ alongside Mabel landing in the wake of chart-scaling ‘Dinner Guest’ featuring MoStack (Platinum), Number 1 charity single ‘Times Like These’ (alongside Dua Lipa, Rag & Bone Man and The Foo Fighters) and the Platinum-certified TikTok sensation ‘Rain’ with Aitch, which went on
to become the most watched UK YouTube video of 2020. AJ finished the year with a stand-out feature on Headie One’s enormous anthem ‘Ain’t It Different’ alongside Stormzy, a Platinum certified track that peaked at Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.
In 2019, AJ released his debut self-titled album which, after landing at Number 3 in the UK Official Charts, has gone on to clock over 350 million streams globally and is certified Gold. His Conducta-produced breakout hit ‘Ladbroke Grove’ was officially the
top selling independent single of 2019, spending an astounding 14 weeks in the UK Top 10, and is now certified Double Platinum (over 1.2 million sales). It was nominated for a BRIT, was named Best British Song at the NME Awards and is now the biggest-selling UK Garage record of all time - an incredible feat. AJ rounded off a
huge 2019 with two sold-out headline shows at London’s 10,000 capacity Alexandra Palace.
A music and cultural icon, and boasting over 1 billion global streams independently, AJ’s formidable talent and unmatched creative vision is set to see him scale even higher heights in the coming months.

a Anxious [prod Remedee]
[b] Kukoč (ft. NAV) [prod Pxcoyo + Yung Swisher]
[c] Bringing It Back (with Digga D) [prod. The Elements + AoD)
[d] Cheerleaders [prod Kazza & Swidom]
[e] Draft Pick [prod 5ive Beatz] Eurostep [prod AJ Tracey]
[f] Cherry Blossom [prod Nyge & AoD]
[g] Glockie [prod The Elements & AoD]
[h] Little More Love [prod YOZ BEATZ, RyFy & Mark Raggio]
[i] Top Dog [prod Nyge & AoD]
[j] Summertime Shootout (ft. T-Pain) [prod Nyge & AoD]
[k] Perfect Storm [prod YOZ BEATZ & JBJ]
[l] Coupé (ft. Kehlani) [prod The Elements]
[m] Numba 9 (ft. SahBabii & Millie Go Lightly) [prod The Elements]
[n] Dinner Guest (ft. MoStack) [prod The Elements & AJ Tracey]
[o] West Ten (with Mabel) [prod FRED & Take a Daytrip]

[a] Anxious [prod Remedee]
[b] Kukoč (ft. NAV) [prod Pxcoyo + Yung Swisher]
[c] Bringing It Back (with Digga D) [prod. The Elements + AoD)
[d] Cheerleaders [prod Kazza & Swidom]
[e] Draft Pick [prod 5ive Beatz] Eurostep [prod AJ Tracey]
[f] Cherry Blossom [prod Nyge & AoD]
[g] Glockie [prod The Elements & AoD]
[h] Little More Love [prod YOZ BEATZ, RyFy & Mark Raggio]
[i] Top Dog [prod Nyge & AoD]
[j] Summertime Shootout (ft. T-Pain) [prod Nyge & AoD]
[k] Perfect Storm [prod YOZ BEATZ & JBJ]
[l] Coupé (ft. Kehlani) [prod The Elements]
[m] Numba 9 (ft. SahBabii & Millie Go Lightly) [prod The Elements]
[n] Dinner Guest (ft. MoStack) [prod The Elements & AJ Tracey]
[o] West Ten (with Mabel) [prod FRED & Take a Daytrip]

New York ravers' family favorite Club Night Club announce their inaugural release as a record label. The first offering comes courtesy of Manchester heavyweight Herron. The meandyou founder and Soup Kitchen owner follows up last year's 'Box Of Swords' EP for Peder Mannerfelt with a gritty four tracker aimed squarely at the dance floor. On 'Lowflow' we see him develop similar sludgy Uk techno mutations to his 2016 CO/R collaboration with Joy Orbison, but this time with more explicit peak time intent. The Hi-Fi, sleazy chug core is ever present, but particularly on the A side, a freneticism of breaks pressure and pummeling sound design is let loose. In keeping with the name of A2's Velcro Spider, the record weaves a complex blend of the synthetic and heartfelt. Stumbling, low slung grooves mutate over the course of each track, quietly building and sustaining a tension the listener is unaware of until all hell breaks loose at the last minute in true drug chug fashion.

Eagles’ debut live album, featuring live recordings from California venues including The Forum, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, and Long Beach Arena. These live performances are from the peak of their career, spanning 15 recordings from between 1976 and 1980. The live show includes some of Eagles’ biggest hits featuring “Hotel California”, “Desperado”, and “Take It Easy”.

Originally released in 1980, the album is currently certified gold in the UK and x7 platinum in the US. The release is on 180g black vinyl, contains a poster, and features remastered audio from the Legacy box.


[a] A1. HOTEL CALIFORNIA [6:55]
[b] A2. HEARTACHE TONIGHT [4:35]
[c] A3. I CAN’T TELL YOU WHY [5:24]
[d] B1. THE LONG RUN [5:35]
[e] B2. NEW KID IN TOWN [5:45]
[f] B3. LIFE’S BEEN GOOD [9:38]
[g] C1. SEVEN BRIDGES ROAD [3:25]
[h] C2. WASTED TIME [5:40]
[i] C3. TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT [5:20]
[j] C4. DOOLIN-DALTON (REPRISE II) [0:44]
[k] C5. DESPERADO [4:04]
[l] D1. SATURDAY NIGHT [3:55]
[m] D2. ALL NIGHT LONG [5:40]
[n] D3. LIFE IN THE FAST LANE [5:10]
[o] D4. TAKE IT EASY [5:20]

Bad Colours is the moniker of London-born, Maryland-raised, Brooklyn-based DJ and producer Ibe Soliman. With influences of garage from both sides of the Atlantic as well as funk, post-disco, proto-house and rap samples; his debut album 'PINK' is set for release by Bastard Jazz on 26th February 2021.

The drive to record an album came about while isolating at home in Flatbush during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by some rough ideas and samples that friends sent him, Ibe focussed his attention on making music. From time well spent soaking up and storing sounds from clubs around the world, Ibe found, now with the time to dedicate towards it, the tracks flooding out. Taking cues from early Trax records and Larry Heard, the UKG musicality of MJ Cole, Todd Edwards' vocal sampling techniques, the brashness of Bmore, and an encyclopedia of disco, funk and soul knowledge; Ibe got to work and quickly compiled more than enough tracks for a full-length release.

Flowing from the album intro 'PINK!', first single 'Cookin' vibes over a Chris Faust sample and saxophone from south California virtuoso Carras Paton. 'Feelin' Like' was originally built around a short vocal sample by Jarv Dee, but grew to include additional lyrics on black power from the Seattle rapper after he heard it: "Dancey stuff with a message" says Ibe.

Slow jam 'Heyyy', with its preemptive lyrical synths, bridges to the album's next single 'Get You Off'. Ibe had been listening to a lot of Marvin Gaye - particularly 'I Want You' - during lockdown, getting into the production and vocals. After writing the "I just wanna get you off" hooks, he handed the track over to talented singer, actor and playwright Marcus Harmon who wrote the verses and provided the stunning vocal performance.

Keeping the sensual vibe, 'Skin To Skin' samples vocals from 'Private Play' by Wash 'N' Set, also produced by Ibe, with the Chris Isaak-esque guitar lines by Lex from Foreign Tapes. Made late at night, CMYK reminded Ibe of driving at night in the rain in NYC, where the colors bleed together on the wet road while 'Boss', the first track made for the album, is based around a Sunny Jones sample. The closing track 'Feel' was made at the peak of Black Lives Matter protests. "I just wanted something hard sounding," says Ibe.

Known for his residencies at some of New York's top venues, Ibe has been rocking crowds as a DJ for over a decade, and has shared the decks with the likes of James Murphy, Mark Ronson, and Q-Tip. He's performed alongside Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, Pusha T, and Young Thug, to name a few. In high demand as a private party curator, he's helped set the tone for Jeff Koons, FKA Twigs, Justin Timberlake, Travis Scott, and Usher. When Ibe's not behind the decks, he's in the lab, where he's produced for Kendrick Lamar, Faith Evans, Keyshia Cole, and Rick Ross, among others.

The first two EPs of rising French-Algerian singer-producer-songwriter Sabrina Bellaouel on InFiné are now available on a single 12" vinyl edition for the first time. At the crossroads of modern electronic production, alternative RnB & North African beats, Sabrina Bellaouel offers her listeners an unprecedented mix of grand emotion of the Pop stage and the cutting-edge underground flair of buzzing nightclubs

Textextext - (add your write up)

2020 saw Sabrina Bellaouel step out of her cocoon a fully formed artist. First, there was "We Don't Need To Be Enemies", a powerful and brave record - directing the limelight away from her talent as a singer and focusing on her honed, meticulous production skill and ingenuity in making demanding, forward thinking music. Bellaouel managed to tell stories of her identity and place in the world almost without a single vocal.

Then, there was "Libra" - fusing her own production with that gorgeous voice - showcasing a fully formed, trailblazing, independent artist. Sabrina jumps effortlessly between empowering trap on "Arab Liquor" to luscious RnB on "Float" and ends the record with "She Don't Care", a peak time house curveball that you can picture heating up the festival dance floors around Europe. The diverse and powerful EP united different sides of the press in its critical acclaim, receiving accolades from Resident Advisor, Mixmag, The Quietus, Metal Magazine and Pan African Music - just to name a few.

Both of these records then, represent a side of the coin - and are now available as a 12" Vinyl combining them to a singular listening experience. And when the clubs slowly open up again, you will surely see this secret weapon make it's way some well assorted DJ bags.

Lunar Tredd – Fimber Bravo’s first album on Moshi Moshi since the much acclaimed Con-Fusion – tells the tale. The highlife fusion of You Can’t Control Me resonates in the wake of the global Black Lives Matters protests. There is fire in these impactful clarion calls to resist oppression, recognise strength in resilience and fight against the corruption of power.

Bravo’s been a constant collaborative force - as his time as leader of 20th Century Steel Band, as musical director of Steel ‘n’ Skin, and appearances with everyone from Sun Ra Arkestra to Hot Chip, shows. Lunar Tredd reflects the influence of the music handed down to him by “ancestors” . Helped by an enviable cast of friends and collaborators, Fimber has shifted those touchstones to create something that sounds resolutely like the here and now.

Those friends that appear on Lunar Tredd, include Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and The Horrors’ Tom Furse; The Invisible drummer Leo Taylor and Senegalese percussionist, Mamadou Sarr dropping in on rhythm duties, while there are also appearances from Susumu Mukai aka Zongamin, the brilliant Kora player Kadialy Kouyate, vocalist Cottie Williams, Vanishing Twin’s Catherine Lucas, and production from Lapo Frost and Ghostpoet producer Shuta Shinoda. Some, like Zongamin and Williams go way back with Fimber, other connections are newer, but all have quickly become part of the London-based musician’s musical family.

Indeed, Fimber never loses sight of where he’s come from on LUNAR TREDD - even as he looks to where he might go next. As a musician, he’s still finding new creative peaks nearly 50 years after he began.

For the first vinyl compilation this year, dotwav invites three techno heavyweights that need no further introduction: Kangding Ray, Denise Rabe and Mario Berger deliver their own version of a trippy peak time track. All the productions catapult us into the future and right onto the floor.

If you are in search of the origins of Jamaican music this is a great album to start with. Mento was the original Jamaican folk music that predates Ska and Reggae. Played Exclusively on acoustic instruments Mento was based on both African and European elements. The 1950s was Mento’s golden age, as many artists recorded songs using a variety of rhythms and styles. It was the peak of Mento’s creativity and popularity and the birth of Jamaica’s recording industry.

Back in 2015, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the BBC broadcast of Delia Derbyshire & Barry Bermange’s “Inventions For Radio: The Dreams”, The Eccentronic Research Council released their own super-limited edition cassette soundtracking the recalled dreams (and nightmares) of friends, artists, actors, musicians, scientists, poets and filmmakers. The release was called “The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volume 1”. Five years on, and with a large part of the planet under lockdown and with nowhere to go but within their imagination, the ERC put a call out once again to music collaborators, nurses, teachers, truck drivers, writers, journalists and shop workers to upon waking, record their dreams straight into their phones and to then send them to the ERC to soundtrack. And thus, Volume 2 of The Dreamcatcher Tapes was born!

How did you make the album during lockdown?
“We got around 26 dreams sent to us via email over the space of a couple of weeks then Dean Honer my partner in The ERC and I revved up the old analogue equipment and would record music and collage sounds to the dreams (remotely) from our home recording studios and bounce them back and forth to each other till they were done. It was a really good way to work actually, sometimes I didn’t even have to put on any trousers!” says ERC/ Moonlandingz founder Adrian Flanagan. Why a second volume of The Dreamcatcher Tapes? “I was really interested to see how the enforced lockdown and the removal of people’s basic needs such as human contact and hanging out in close proximity to friends was affecting the dreams of my friends, peers and those at the very front line of this horrible pandemic”, Adrian continues. “The Important shared experiences for people’s mental health such as going out to gigs, the pub, the cinema etc. ”It was an interesting experiment. Nurses dreaming of inadequate PPE and having to use blow up Elvis costumes to protect themselves. Teachers dreaming of zombies and lots of people dreaming about sex - where the hair of Greek sorceress’s Circe meets bouncy castle breasts and where other dreamers dream of serial killers or seeing dead family members, or taking baby elephants for a walk, or having discos for one in the middle of the ocean and so much more. I’m really proud of this record. It’s psychedelic in its truest most cerebral form”

Who’s on “The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volumes 1 & 2”? Who are the dreamers?
“Although our long time collaborator Maxine Peake wasn’t on the very first tape (her dream ended up on LTD edition split 7” ERC single we did with Pye Corner Audio) - she was the first dream that we soundtracked when I came up with the idea of doing the concept record. However, on the new vinyl and tape box set - she opens volume 1. Across the 2 volumes there’s film maker Carol Morley, Andy Votel from Finders Keepers records, John Doran from The Quietus (who also wrote the albums brilliant sleeve notes), acclaimed writers Benjamin Myers & Adelle Stripe, musicians such as Evangeline Ling from the group Audiobooks, Lias Saoudi from my ‘semi fictional band’, The Moonlandingz and fat white family, Sidonie from The Orielles, journalists /writers Wyndham Wallace (he wrote lee Hazelwood’s brilliant biography) and Daniel Dylan Wray amongst a whole array of musician friends, eccentrics and people with actual proper jobs!”

Why did you chose Castles in Space for this release?
“Jim Jupp at Ghost Box records suggested them to me so I looked into them and saw they were doing loads of really great strange little bespoke electronic record releases. I think that because this is a very niche limited run release, it required a label that was willing to treat it like a piece of art and not a throwaway mass produced commodity. So making sure the packaging was special, the artwork was bang on point and the sleeve notes were written by a writer we like all were very important to us. “It was also important that we could turn it around from the finished recording to being in people’s hands really quickly as Dean and I have another ten projects between us on the boil - and so far, Castles in Space have been true to their word. It’s an artists label done with love and there’s not many of them about anymore - believe it or not.“

“The Dreamcatcher Tapes Volumes 1 & 2” is an immense collaborative achievement which makes for a thoroughly compelling, and gloriously disorientating listening experience.

It is released as a double coloured vinyl LP in deluxe gatefold sleeve w/insert and a highly limited deluxe double cassette box set. The album is released on March 19th, 2021.

OMEN Recordings welcomes a new artist for their 17th release. Since the last few months, AAHAN has been storming the world techno scene with his unique style. The Canadian producer contributes two excellent driving tracks, featuring a hard-hitting masterpiece remix by long time running UK techno champ, PERC, plus another rendition by our very own AXKAN.a


We’ll Rave Again - Pushing forward at a tempo that will get you sweatin’, mixed with rolling hi-hats and catchy leads, this will be a favorite to get everyone back on the dancefloor, again.


Crossing The Rubicon - A river of flowing melodies with hard underlining kicks that pulse makes this track sound big and dancers to lose themselves. There’s no turning back.


We’ll Rave Again (Perc Remix)- Storming out of the gates faster than anyone is this rager of a remix. When the hi-hats start to enter you know you’re about to be hit hard with even more. This piece promises to be a dancefloor peak time favorite.


We’ll Rave Again (AXKAN Remix) - Starting with voices from the outerworld and delivering heavy rounded kicks is this beast of a mash-up. Analog noise and crunch take the spotlight.


a2 Crossing The Rubicon

Special Request continues his impeccable run of form with a typically fervent entry into the DJ-Kicks mix series. His adventurous 25 track mix takes in personal favourites, new school classics and of course a selection of his own brand new and exclusive edits, dubs and reworks next to some overlooked gems. Leeds based Paul Woolford dares to go where few others do. He can do face-melting underground bangers, peak time piano anthems, ambient cinematics or chart climbing crossover hits. What unites his work as Special Request across labels like Houndstooth and R&S, though, is precision engineering, but never at the expense of real, raw emotion and visceral impact. He is an artist who very much pours his heart into everything he does, and has been on such a prolific run in recent years that it has been impossible to keep abreast of all his many projects. Even in this mix, he hints at yet more new sides and sounds. As always with Special Request, this is an emotional, full spirited ride through the musical mind of one of the most accomplished artists of the day.

Obviously is the new album from beloved band Lake Street Dive. It includes the new single ‘Nobody’s Stopping You Now’, a letter of encouragement from lead vocalist Rachael Price to her teenaged self, co-written with bassist Bridget Kearney. Lake Street Dive has figured out how to write tunes that reflect this particularly turbulent chapter in our shared history. The album track ‘Making Do’, which was released at the end of last year, speaks to the world that future generations are inheriting while exploring the lasting impacts of climate change and our responsibility to address it (featuring a cameo from Senator Ed Markey who co-sponsored the Green New Deal).

As Price puts it, “You’re trying to express your anxieties, your feelings, your sadness, your happiness, all of these things – your authentic state of being in a song. But you’re also trying to create something people will listen to over and over again. That’s the unique fun thing about music, putting these messages into three and a half minute snippets, dropping whatever truth we can and hoping it’s the type of thing that people want to ruminate on.”

Obviously was produced by Grammy Award-winning producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Elizondo who is best known as a songwriting collaborator for Dr. Dre, Eminem, and 50 Cent and has also served as a record producer for Fiona Apple, Mary J. Blige, Carrie Underwood, and 21 Pilots, among many others. Utilizing Elizondo’s hip-hop record-making expertise coupled with the permanent addition of keyboardist Akie Bermiss, Lake Street Dive’s wide-ranging taste in pop, rock, R&B, and jazz have blended together to make an impressively cohesive sound, combining retro influences with a contemporary attitude. “We’ve been a band for so long that we didn’t want to just become a feedback loop of our own ideas,” recounts Kearney. “It felt like a really good time to bring another person like Mike Elizondo, and he really opened us up. He encouraged us to make bolder arrangement choices, take those chances and try those things. The record really is a success in what we set out to do: continue to challenge ourselves, continue to grow, and do things we’ve never done before.”

The members of Lake Street Dive founded the group in 2004 while attending the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. The band features Rachael Price (lead vocals), Mike “McDuck” Olson (trumpet, guitar), Bridget Kearney (bass) and Mike Calabrese (drums) as well as their newest member Akie Bermiss (keyboards), who has been a touring member of the group since 2017. Since the band’s inception, they have released six studio albums. Their 2018 self-produced record, Free Yourself Up, debuted at #4 on the US’s Top Album Chart and charted #8 on the Billboard 200. In addition, the album’s hit single ‘Good Kisser’ peaked at #5 at Americana radio and appeared in the Top 20 at AAA radio, both career peaks for the band. The group has toured worldwide performing at major music festivals including Bonnaroo, New Orleans Jazz Festival and Newport Folk Festival while preforming alongside artists such as T Bone Burnett, The Avett Brothers, Robert Finley, Jack Johnson and Trombone Shorty.

Turning into a label and putting out our first record was an exhilarating process. Shoutouts again to everyone who's bought Aroent's "Eleese" EP, gave it airplay or left positive feedback. All of this certainly left us hungry for more, which is why we couldn't be happier to announce our next EP, AWK002 - "Nines" by Lårry.

After solid recent releases on Super Hexagon and Fusion Diagnostics, our dear Lårry goes from strength to strength with this versatile and atmospheric four tracker. From idiosyncratic techno swirls to emotive peak time bangers, every track has its own story and character, all served with immaculate sound design and the inimitable Lårry touch. Without further ado, we'll stop our excited rambles and let the music do the talking.

Thanks for the continued support and we hope you enjoy!

No other pairing in the history of Darkwave ever matched the unfettered creativity, resolve, and DIY attitude from the collaboration between the two creative minds that compromise Lebanon Hanover.

The meeting of the Swiss musician Larissa Georgiou, aka Larissa Iceglass and British artist William Maybelline a decade ago in the latter’s hometown of Sunderland in the UK, was a monumental occasion, reverberating throughout the European music scene and even across the Atlantic.

Lebanon Hanover would emerge from the peak of the world-wide minimal wave revival, with their 2011 split 7-inch record with La Fete Triste issued as the catalog debut of Europe’s most ubiquitous Techno-Industrial EBM labels, Aufnahme + Wiedergabe

With Berlin as their new physical home, William and Larissa would soon, however, join the Fabrika Records family. From here, they would go on to release two full-length albums through the Athens based label, starting in early 2012 with their winter debut LP The World Is Getting Colder, and it’s All Hallows Eve follow up Why Not Just Be Solo.

It was Lebanon Hanover’s 2013 third studio outing Tomb for Two that would go on to cement the duo’s legacy, with the album’s single “Gallow Dance” becoming a post-punk anthem for the times, with artwork became the band’s defacto logo. Not only that, the song “Sadness is Rebellion”, also featured on the album, became the band’s official Mantra.

Two years would pass before the release of 2015’s critically acclaimed fourth record, “Besides the Abyss”. In the intervening years, William and Larissa, initially a couple, would find other partners, and relocate to Athens.

Meanwhile, Lebanon Hanover as a live act would expand rapidly in popularity, exceeding capacity during their performances at Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig, and performing sold-out shows across Europe and the UK.

With the playful Babes of the 80s maxi-single released in the interim, three years would pass before the next record from Lebanon Hanover, with 2018’s Let Them Be Alien, the band’s fifth studio album.

At the dawn of the global pandemic, where dystopian nightmares that were only ever seen before within the pages of books and flashes of silver screen celluloid, has become a daily reality, a new kind of darkness envelops the world. It was at this Lebanon Hanover returned, sharing a glimmer of hope with the single “The Last Thing,” the duo’s first song from their forthcoming sixth studio album Sci-Fi Sky.

Spanning an epic journey across ten tracks that wander through industrial landscapes, and ascend beyond the atmospheric aether, Sci Fi Sky is Lebanon Hanover’s most cohesive artistic statement to date. With their icy hearts on their sleeves, this is the culmination of a decade’s worth of musical creativity radiating from the minds of both Iceglass and Maybelline, and altogether an otherworldly beacon of hope in a time of sheer darkness.

Live At Robert Johnson kicks off 2021 with a new cut above the rest thanks to Benjamin Fröhlich, who dons a cosmic Acid-to-Italo four-track EP. Whether „Club Fantasy“ insinuates the phantasy of clubbing in times of a pandemic shutdown in global club cultures, or a club by the name of it, lies within the ears of the listeners. Either way, Benjamin’s ties with the Robert Johnson club can be heard resonating throughout this fantastic EP.

Club Fantasy (Club Version) introduces a a happy 303 reminiscent bouncy bassline, supported by relentless rim shots, fast-forwards the Club Version of the title track directly into the uplifting domains of well-established sounds. Sparse echoing vocal snippets, encouraging us to dance, and by the time the piano stabs finally kick in, it’s all hands up for your very own club phantasies. Club Fantasy (Fantasy Version) boasts a less peaky signature, while working a more playful and driving treatment of the title track, supported by mellow strings, a harder kick and subtle room reverberation. On the flip-side, Escape presents a warm, emotional and cinematic Italo soundscape, featuring floating arpeggios, which flash like coloured strobes in the dark. Benjamin’s final track, Dream Machine, is a beautiful kaleidoscope of sounds, slightly more energetic yet moody, that is sure to catch everyone's ears on the dancefloor.

As a co-founder to Munich based record label Permanent Vacation, but also as a DJ and producer, Benjamin Fröhlich’s musical involvement traces back many years in the Cosmic Disco and Balearic scene, and into the networks of both Robert Johnson club and its label.

No other pairing in the history of Darkwave ever matched the unfettered creativity, resolve, and DIY attitude from the collaboration between the two creative minds that compromise Lebanon Hanover.

The meeting of the Swiss musician Larissa Georgiou, aka Larissa Iceglass and British artist William Maybelline a decade ago in the latter’s hometown of Sunderland in the UK, was a monumental occasion, reverberating throughout the European music scene and even across the Atlantic.

Lebanon Hanover would emerge from the peak of the world-wide minimal wave revival, with their 2011 split 7-inch record with La Fete Triste issued as the catalog debut of Europe’s most ubiquitous Techno-Industrial EBM labels, Aufnahme + Wiedergabe

With Berlin as their new physical home, William and Larissa would soon, however, join the Fabrika Records family. From here, they would go on to release two full-length albums through the Athens based label, starting in early 2012 with their winter debut LP The World Is Getting Colder, and it’s All Hallows Eve follow up Why Not Just Be Solo.

It was Lebanon Hanover’s 2013 third studio outing Tomb for Two that would go on to cement the duo’s legacy, with the album’s single “Gallow Dance” becoming a post-punk anthem for the times, with artwork became the band’s defacto logo. Not only that, the song “Sadness is Rebellion”, also featured on the album, became the band’s official Mantra.

Two years would pass before the release of 2015’s critically acclaimed fourth record, “Besides the Abyss”. In the intervening years, William and Larissa, initially a couple, would find other partners, and relocate to Athens.

Meanwhile, Lebanon Hanover as a live act would expand rapidly in popularity, exceeding capacity during their performances at Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig, and performing sold-out shows across Europe and the UK.

With the playful Babes of the 80s maxi-single released in the interim, three years would pass before the next record from Lebanon Hanover, with 2018’s Let Them Be Alien, the band’s fifth studio album.

At the dawn of the global pandemic, where dystopian nightmares that were only ever seen before within the pages of books and flashes of silver screen celluloid, has become a daily reality, a new kind of darkness envelops the world. It was at this Lebanon Hanover returned, sharing a glimmer of hope with the single “The Last Thing,” the duo’s first song from their forthcoming sixth studio album Sci-Fi Sky.

Spanning an epic journey across ten tracks that wander through industrial landscapes, and ascend beyond the atmospheric aether, Sci Fi Sky is Lebanon Hanover’s most cohesive artistic statement to date. With their icy hearts on their sleeves, this is the culmination of a decade’s worth of musical creativity radiating from the minds of both Iceglass and Maybelline, and altogether an otherworldly beacon of hope in a time of sheer darkness.

The incredible sonic beauty of the Sphincter Ensemble results from musical spontaneity, a random jam session undertaken by a loose group of friends in the unlikely setting of the
Harrovian Club in Barnes, west London, on 2 January 1972. The sumptuous free jazz/prog rock/avant-classical fusion features top session players at their peak, with Trevor Morais’
funky drumming loosely tied to Quatermass bassist John Gustafson’s rough melodic lines, embellished by Anne Odell’s far-out synths, Martyn Ford’s French horn and arrangements by Elton John’s orchestrator, Paul Buckmaster. This hugely enjoyable rarity is appearing on vinyl here for the very first time—a thing of wonder for all discerning prog fans.

We were playing the track ‘Common Ground’ out and it was getting the dance floor hot! It was an instrumental at the time and Renato Paris was in the dance (a singer that EVM has been working with, plays keys with Moses Boyd and is one of Gilles Peterson's one to watch) he came up and asked, “What's This?” grabbed the mic, peak time and layed down this dope freestyle vocal, it was a jaw drop kinda moment for us all! That was it, we had to make it happen! So we linked up Renato and Duke and it became the lead track on the EP. An infectious song that literally drips in soul and future R&B, and just fits perfectly over the strings on this killer broken beat track! It’s one that will stick in your head and make you play it twice!

The whole EP is nothing short of quality. From the sultry jazzy Bruk vibes of '2017 Heat Wave' to the monstrous club track ‘ Nighthawks’ an up front stomper with live drums and a bassline that'll make you shiver inside that funky top line.

‘Got My 606 Back’ has been getting rinsed by the Summer dance Forever crew’s KC The Funkaholic and was well received by dancers worldwide when it was used for an SDF promo earlier in the year. We’ve since had many of them asking when this is coming out! This one is a real body mover, sweat towel advised!

Finishing up on ‘IFZ Shuffle’ a wicked little house shuffler that almost takes you back to the 90’s. It has this sweet piano breakdown that then introduces synths and congas until the groove kicks back in again. This track and the whole EP for that matter, works in a multitude of situations. It wont fail!

Drumcode LTD gets a relaunch with the first original EP since 2018. Sweden’s Patrick Seich returns following ‘Rivers Will Turn’, his blistering collaboration with Sebastian Mullaert in 2016. This time a debut link up with Sandra Mosh is on the cards, a fellow underground mainstay of the Swedish techno scene, with caps at Berghain and Sonár Reykavik also to her name.

The four-track offering is a colourful trip through a range of techno moods. ‘Relicta’ is a trippy concoction driven by papery drums and ricocheting synths. ‘Terma’ is brimming with bouncy peak-time spirit. ‘Red Flag’ takes a tougher turn, pummelling with 2am intensity. ‘Square Side’ is a delicious head caver, driven by an unrelenting synth lead.

Gold Vinyl

It's the year 2021 and SASCHA MÜLLER is making a solo return with a 7" single on Intrauterin Recordings - an astounding 16 years after his first appearance on the label back in 2005. Coming in raw, dirty and powerful as it gets "Beat Junkie" weighs in a hypnotizing, grinding and surely Acid-fueled take on distorted, hard hitting peak time beat science whereas "Dope Beatz" caters a brutal, dancefloor devastating variation of heavyweight (Electro)Phonk x Chemical Beats for strobe-lit industrial dancefloors throughout the darkest, most vantablack hours of the night. 100% untamed underground music for those in the know.

Waterford hero Cailin inaugurates Gurriers with her solo debut Phantom Love Affair. 4 tracks of gritty, hardware focused techno with impressive variety and measured dancefloor focus that prove the producer to be one of Ireland's finest.

"The Unicorn" gets right down to business, siren-ated synths engulfing the hardened doofs for a tool'd up ride through the wild and uneasy. "Dickheads" proves heavier with an rising acid line leading the march to addictively hypnotic militant drums.

The flip gets funkier with Sphinx's staccato'd snares bouncing around a kinetic melody via peak time pace for prime floor effect. Our finale then involves the incredible title track, locking in for a mesmerising frenzy of pressure cooked 303's, high hats & kicks that will surely ravage the rave, whenever it may be.

Black vinyl pressing of the now sold out RSD 2020 reissue.

The Amorphous Androgynous unite their award winning psychedelic compilation series ‘ A MONSTROUS PSYCHEDELIC BUBBLE ( Exploding In Your Mind ) ‘ with their symphonic new single ‘ We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal’ ( taken from the forthcoming album ‘ LISTENING BEYOND THE HEAD CHAKRA ‘ ) to create this latest installment of the Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble series . Featuring a host of luminaries such as Peter Hammill -vocals ( Van Der Graaf Generator ) Paul Weller -piano and guitar and erstwhile members of the SPENCER DAVIS GROUP/ Ian Gillan Band AND SOFT MACHINE on lead guitar and sax among a plethora of other musicians ( including the Chesterfield Philharmonic choir and a full string section ! ) alongside collaboration & remixes with a host of bands ( ATOMIC SIMAO / HIGHER PEAKS / REGAL WORM / COBALT CHAPEL plus others ) to create one helluva progtronic psychedelic trip through the Amorphous Androgynous samplerdelic multiverse.

Following on from a sell-out first release, Serenity Records returns with a four track double-header from Thoma Bulwer & Anna Wall. In alignment with the label's policy of allowing the artists commissioned to choose a mental-health charity of their choice, 002 dedicates all its proceeds to Centrepoint - an organisation which seeks to combat the ever-growing problem of homelessness. The EP spans across the full spectrum of Techno, with the cuts varying from soft melodic textures, floaty synth work and a B1 that wouldn't stand at all out of place in a peak-time club setting - a nice surprise from this exciting new not-for-profit label...

"50th anniversary pressing of two iconic studio albums from America’s greatest rock and roll band at the peak of Creedence’s prolific career. Both albums were mastered at half-speed at Abbey Road Studios, benefiting from an exacting process that allows for an exceptional level of sonic clarity and punch. This 180-gram vinyl comes housed in a tip-on jacket replicating the original pressing packaging.
PENDULUM - First released in 1970, marking the band’s second release that year (following Cosmo’s Factory); their final with the original lineup •Includes the timeless hits “Have You Ever Seen The Rain,” “Hey Tonight” and more •Mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios using an exacting half-speed technique for superior sound quality •Pressed on 180-gramaudiophile-quality vinyl, housed in a replica tip-on jacket
MARDI GRAS - THE FINAL STUDIO ALBUM FROM AMERICA’S ALL-TIME GREATEST ROCK BAND•Celebrating Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 50th anniversary•Includes the classics “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” and “Someday Never Comes,” plus a cover of “Hello Mary Lou”•Mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios using an exacting half-speed technique for superior sound quality•Pressed on 180-gram audiophile-quality vinyl, housed in a replica tip-on jacket"

Trans World Railways creates a new line between Casablanca and Tbilisi by welcoming Cobert - one of Georgia finest producers - for a special limited 7inch edition. The two tracks are eagerly awaited since they've been featured on Casa Voyager label of the month mix on Resident Advisor. Kiev Stollen Story is an energetic peak time track while Office Junk is a more playful electro party starting track. Tested and approved. Vinyl Only.

Wretched Cuts is the new solo EP by gender-nonconforming techno artist, Projekt Gestalten. The release comes via the New York’s Mild Fantasy imprint run by DJ Elle Dee and features three original themes focusing on introspective techno plus a remix by veteran, The Lady Machine.

The project reflects an array of themes using as the starting point the story of Estamira and the Brazilian documentary of the same name, telling her life story. Estamira was an incredibly enlightened older woman who scattered one of the largest landfills of Rio de Janeiro for food. Not because she had to, but because she loved that place as she loved “her own children” and enjoyed making a living out of other people’s disposable goods. Simultaneously, while dealing with schizophrenia and abuse, she believed she was a superior spiritual being whose magical powers could control time, space, and other elements of nature.

The tracks are inspired by some of her most memorable quotes and moments that made an impact on Projekt Gestalten. “Wise People In Reverse” goes into a darker approach and samples Estamira’s voice talking in a mysterious unknown language with an unrevealed force, using only a broken piece of a telephone that she had just found it in the trash. “Morte Macaca” takes a rhythmic approach towards dub techno, and “Holographic Principle” gets trippier and hallucinogenic with Projekt Gestalten’s signature acid lines. The Lady Machine’s “Wise People In Reverse” remix takes the original theme to a driving, peak hour approach and transforms it into an effective DJ tool.

“There are no more innocent people on Earth, only wise people in reverse”.

NEP was a loose multimedia collective formed in 1982 Zagreb, ex-Yugoslavia. The founder Dejan Krsic collaborated with various artists in a quest of re-thinking the stale concepts of art history, position of the author and the barriers between pop and elitist high culture. Heavily influenced by Walter Benjamin and Andy Warhol in theory and Brian Eno and Kraftwerk in music, Krsic created NEP as an umbrella term (meaning Nova Evropa or New Europe) of diverse rule-breaking activities, covering graphic design, music, photography, video, news-media and theoretical work. Musically NEP focused on experiments in ambient and tape-music, self-released and hard to find compilation tapes like "The Cassette Played Poptones" (1988). Deeply immersed in pop-culture, politics and art theory Krsic's search for perfect pop music with cutting critical edge peaked in 1989, the year 'Decadance' track was conceived in studio. Fox & His Friends published the single in 2017 with Snuffo Remix on B-side. It received rave reviews in music press like MixMag and DJ Mag and it is still played on dance-floors around the world. But the story around the NEP is musically (as well as artistically) much wider: for the first time Fox & His Friends team compiles best cuts from unreleased and rare NEP tapes, covering the period from 1985 to 1989 on POP NOT POP abum. Dejan Krsic is now famous graphic designer and art historian in Croatia. Other collaborators include Laibach and Borghesia photographer Jane Stravs, artist and TV director Gordana Brzovic, Jovan Culibrk, now Bishop at The Serbian Orthodox Church and Anja Rupel, singer of cult Yugoslavian synth-pop group Videosex as well as the other members of Videosex, Iztok Turk and Janez Krizaj who produced some of the tracks. Other collaborators were talented producers Robert Logozar and Davor Daga Devcic, singers Linda Cooper, Natalija, Alexx Kovacs... The list of collaborations is long. Some of the memorable moments on POP NOT POP album are early demo version of Decadance 'How Do I Dance To This Music?' with blue movies samples and drum machine experiments like early Cabaret Voltaire, then Krsic's reinterpretation of legendary Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express anthem as 'Transcendance', or 'Radical Chic', where Dejan himself and Anja Rupel from Videosex make lovely couple of dandy-esque fashionistas, singing chart-friendly radio synthpop tune that contrasts the A-side (The 'NOT POP' side) - full of experiments, dark wave and industrial nods to Test Department and Cabs. B-side is 'THE POP' side that will surprise most of the NEP followers from their early experimental cassette days. Sunny, danceable, joyfull pop that reveals the many faces of NEP. As Kraftwerk today is more of a concept than a band, NEP does the same by re-writing its products (musical, graphical, theoretical, activist) and constantly puts them in permanent state of change or re-mix. In the future, only NEP logo will be enough to consider something an art piece, and NEP will be everybody who wants to, as their Art Manifest claims. Until that day comes, 'POP NOT POP' is a document of how the vivid and creative were art-scenes in socialist Yugoslavia. Some of the graphic work, cut-ups from theory and Manifesto are also included on this LP, designed by Dejan Krsic aka NEP himself. This release is made from the original master tapes and published for the first time on vinyl.