Buscar:pop 3

Volume 1 of this expertly curated project of 90s Italian House - put together by Don Carlos.

If Paradise was half as nice… by Fabio De Luca.

Googling “paradise house”, the first results to pop up are an endless list of European b&b’s with whitewashed lime façades, all of them promising “…an unmatched travel experience a few steps from the sea”. Next, a little further down, are the institutional websites of a few select semi-luxury retirement homes (no photos shown, but lots of stock images of smiling nurses with reassuring looks). To find the “paradise house” we’re after, we have to scroll even further down. Much further down.

It feels like yesterday, and at the same time it seems like a million years ago. The Eighties had just ended, and it was still unclear what to expect from the Nineties. Mobile phones that were not the size of a briefcase and did not cost as much as a car? A frightening economic crisis? The guitar-rock revival?! Certainly, the best place to observe that moment of transition was the dancefloor. Truly epochal transformations were happening there. From America, within a short distance one from the other, two revolutionary new musical styles had arrived: the first one sounded a bit like an “on a budget” version of the best Seventies disco-music – Philly sound made with a set of piano-bar keyboards! – the other was even more sparse, futuristic and extraterrestrial. It was a music with a quite distinct “physical” component, which at the same time, to be fully grasped, seemed to call for the knotty theories of certain French post-modern philosophers: Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Paul Virilio... Both those genres – we would learn shortly after – were born in the black communities of Chicago and Detroit, although listening to those vinyl 12” (often wrapped in generic white covers, and with little indication in the label) you could not easily guess whether behind them there was a black boy from somewhere in the Usa, or a girl from Berlin, or a pale kid from a Cornish coastal town.

Quickly, similar sounds began to show up from all corners of Europe. A thousand variations of the same intuition: leaner, less lean, happier, slightly less intoxicated, more broken, slower, faster, much faster... Boom! From the dancefloors – the London ones at least, whose chronicles we eagerly read every month in the pages of The Face and i-D – came tales of a new generation of clubbers who had completely stopped “dressing up” to go dancing; of hot tempered hooligans bursting into tears and hugging everyone under the strobe lights as the notes of Strings of Life rose up through the fumes of dry ice (certain “smiling” pills were also involved, sure). At this point, however, we must move on to Switzerland.

In Switzerland, in the quiet and diligent town of Lugano, between the 1980s and 1990s there was a club called “Morandi”. Its hot night was on Wednesdays, when the audience also came from Milan, Como, Varese and Zurich. Legend goes that, one night, none less than Prince and Sheila E were spotted hiding among the sofas, on a day-off of the Italian dates of the Nude Tour… The Wednesday resident and superstar was an Italian dj with an exotic name: Don Carlos. The soundtrack he devised was a mixture of Chicago, Detroit, the most progressive R&B and certain forgotten classics of old disco music: practically, what the Paradise Garage in New York might have sounded like had it not closed in 1987. In between, Don Carlos also managed to squeeze in some tracks he had worked on in his studio on Lago Maggiore. One in particular: a track that was rather slow compared to the BPM in fashion at the time, but which was a perfect bridge between house and R&B. The title was Alone: Don Carlos would explain years later that it had to be intended both in the English meaning of “by itself” and like the Italian word meaning “halo”. That wasn’t the only double entendre about the song, anyway. Its own very deep nature was, indeed, double. On the one hand, Alone was built around an angelic keyboard pattern and a romantic piano riff that took you straight to heaven; on the other, it showcased enough electronic squelches (plus a sax part that sounded like it had been dissolved by acid rain) to pigeonhole the tune into the “junk modernity” section, aka the hallmark of all the most innovative sounds of the time: music that sounded like it was hand-crafted from the scraps of glittering overground pop.

No one knows who was the first to call it “paradise house”, nor when it happened. Alternative definitions on the same topic one happened to hear included “ambient house”, “dream house”, “Mediterranean progressive”… but of course none were as good (and alluring) as “paradise house”. What is certain is that such inclination for sounds that were in equal measure angelic and neurotic, romantic and unaffective, quickly became the trademark of the second generation of Italian house. Music that seemed shyly equidistant from all the rhythmic and electronic revolutions that had happened up to that moment (“Music perfectly adept at going nowhere slowly” as noted by English journalist Craig McLean in a legendary field report for Blah Blah Blah magazine). Music that to a inattentive ear might have sounded as anonymous as a snapshot of a random group of passers-by at 10AM in the centre of any major city, but perfectly described the (slow) awakening in the real world after the universal love binge of the so-called Second Summer of Love.

For a brief but unforgettable season, in Italy “paradise house” was the official soundtrack of interminable weekends spent inside the car, darting from one club to another, cutting the peninsula from North to centre, from East to West coast in pursuit of the latest after-hours disco, trading kilometres per hour with beats per minute: practically, a new New Year’s Eve every Friday and Saturday night. This too was no small transformation, as well as a shock for an adult Italy that was encountering for the first time – thanks to its sons and daughters – the wild side of industrial modernity. The clubbers of the so-called “fuoriorario” scene were the balls gone mad in the pinball machine most feared by newspapers, magazines and TV pundits. What they did each and every weekend, apart from going crazy to the sound of the current white labels, was linking distant geographical points and non-places (thank you Marc Augé!) – old dance halls, farmhouses and business centres – transformed for one night into house music heaven. As Marco D’Eramo wrote in his 1995 essay on Chicago, Il maiale e il grattacielo: “Four-wheeled capitalism distorts our age-old image of the city, it allows the suburbs to be connected to each other, whereas before they were connected only by the centre (…) It makes possible a metropolitan area without a metropolis, without a city centre, without downtown. The periphery is no longer a periphery of any centre, but is self-centred”.

“Paradise house” perfectly understood all of this and turned it into a sort of cyber-blues that didn’t even need words, and unexpectedly brought back a drop of melancholic (post?)-humanity within a world that by then – as we would wholly realise in the decades to come – was fully inhuman and heartless. A world where we were all alone, and surrounded by a sinister yellowish halo, like a neon at the end of its life cycle. But, for one night at least, happy.

So 2020 was going to be the year of Van Weezer -- the big riffs rock album Weezer made as an homage to the metal bands they loved growing up -- until, thanks to the global pandemic, it suddenly wasn't. The entire time, however, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo was busy at the piano, writing a very different album that referenced another vital musical touchstone of his youth: The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.



Throughout the summer of Covid-19, he and the band -- along with a 38 piece orchestra -- chipped away at masked recording sessions until the record was complete. The result is an album called OK Human -- a cheeky nod to Radiohead's technophobic future-trip OK Computer, but sounding nothing at all like that record. Taking the listener bit by bit through parts of Cuomo's every day, it's a Technicolor symphonic spree that meditates on how over-and-under-connected we all are, particularly in a year where we can see each other with greater ease, but actually can't physically be near each other at all.





OK Human is also packed to the brim with some of the best, most personal songs Cuomo has written in the last decade, all of which shine brighter and bolder with splashes of string and horn arrangements courtesy of album producer Jake Sinclair and arranger Rob Mathes. It's hard to imagine any other band who came up in the alt haze of the 90s creating a simply perfect orchestral pop album, but that is exactly what Weezer's done; OK Human is a testament to the excellent, enduring melodies Cuomo has written since Weezer's inception, and the ones he continues to write today.

Back in stock due to popular demand, the 23rd release in our signature Brazil 45’s series served up a double header of classics from Sonia Santos and João Donato.

First up, 'Poema Ritmico Do Malandro (Balanço Do Crioulo)' is a beautiful track from the instantly recognisable Sonia Santos. A song that drifts from classic to psychedelic samba, laden with strings, horns and crowd noise. First released on 7” by Copacabana in 1971, but never on an album, originals fetch up to £100 per copy. A different version of this song also appears on the truly excellent Zito Righi Alucinolandia LP.

On the B side, 'Cala Boca Menino' is taken from João Donato’s much sought after and requested Quem É Quem LP. Quirky percussion, bubbling keys, horns and a hypnotic vocal. Donato is a hugely prolific force in Brazilian music and worked with the likes of including Tom Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Cal Tjader, Dom Um Romao and Gilberto Gil amongst others. ‘Cala Boca Menino’ was released on a 7” in 1973 in Brazil, but is very difficult to find at a reasonable price and in good condition these days.

2024 was a big year for Regulate Recordings and their sister club night “Shake Your Rump”. DJ Deviant’s “The Rhythm” & “Make Em Bounce” burned up dance floors in spring, “Summer Jam” saw Atomphunk & Deviant team up with Seattle MCs Mugs and Pockets to devastating effect. “Summer Jam” lit up the second half of the year with support from the Allergies, Boca45 and 6 Music and was included in Craig Charles’s “Funkiest Tracks of 2024”.

Regulate move into the new year by setting off two certified bangers. Master of the decks DJ Deviant is back on production duties; lead track “Get On The Floor” sees him once again collaborating with Swamburger (Mugs and Pockets) for a full force party starter. The production pulls influences from the earliest days when hip hop and disco were joined at the hip, with nods to The Sugar Hill Gang and The Furious Five, as well as the Golden Age and artists like Chubb Rock and Big Daddy Kane. Swamburger’s machine gun delivery and Deviant’s sharp cuts pull the track right into 2025 for maximum impact.

Flip side “Where’s The Party Clap” is a big trunk of cut and paste funk with a popping bass line, horns, claps, cuts and a groove that just doesn’t quit.

Young Croatian cellists Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, together known as 2CELLOS, have achieved sensational success by taking the cello to a new level. Their playing style has broken down the boundaries between different genres of music, from classical and film music to Pop and Rock. 2CELLOS have no limits when it comes to performing live and are equally as impressive when playing Bach and Vivaldi as they are when rocking out AC/DC. Their debut album is a thrilling collection of chart-topping rock and pop songs performed in their signature style.

2CELLOS rose to fame in 2011 when their version of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” took the world by storm. The YouTube video became a massive viral sensation leading to a record deal with Sony Masterworks and an invitation to join Sir Elton John on his worldwide tour. The song charted at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Digital Songs Chart and landed the 2CELLOS’ debut album in the Top 100.

In addition to many sold out solo tours (US, Japan, Europe) and collaborations with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens of the Stone Age and George Michael, the duo have also appeared on major TV shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Bachelor and many others. Together with the Chinese classical superstar pianist Lang Lang, they appeared at the CCTV New Year’s Gala for more than 1 billion viewers.

2CELLOS features the duo’s renditions of popular songs such as “Use Somebody”, “Smooth Criminal”, “Fragile”, “Hurt”, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and more. It is released as a 10th anniversary edition of 1500 numbered copies on white coloured vinyl. It is housed in a heavyweight jacket with soft touch laminate and includes an insert.

Der Pianist Louis Philippson begeistert seine Generation mit emotionalen und virtuosen Videos auf Social Media für die klassische Musik. Für sein Debütalbum "Exposition" verfolgt er die gleiche Idee und verbindet eigene Kompositionen mit neuen Arrangements bekannter Melodien klassischer Werke, sowie von Anime- und Pop-Songs. Selbstgeschriebene, epische Stücke wie "Supernova" und das groß-orchestrierte "C'est toi" stellt er seinen reduzierten Klavierminiaturen wie "Paulette", "Memories of Moldau" und "Dragon's Lullaby" gegenüber. Seine Eigenkompositionen ergänzt Louis Philippson durch frische, farbenfrohe Arrangements von Melodien aus verschiedenen Genres. Nach dem Motto von Duke Ellington, dass es "nur gute oder schlechte Musik" gibt, vereint er eine poetische Klavierversionen von "OMG" der K-Pop-Band NewJeans mit einer dynamischen Bearbeitung von Tschaikowskys Klavierkonzert, kreiert elegische Klavierversionen über Melodien aus Mahlers Symphonie der Tausend oder "In Trutina" aus Carl Orffs Carmina Burana, und spielt Puccinis "O mio babbino caro" begleitet von einem Cello. Auch Anime-Klassiker wie "A Town with an Ocean View" und "Lover's Oath" spielt er am Konzertflügel.Über sein Debüt-Album sagt Philippson: "Die Entstehung von 'Exposition' war eine unglaubliche Reise. Ich wollte ein Album schaffen, in dem ich alle Genres verbinden kann, die mich inspirieren. Es gibt so viele großartige Melodien, die man neu auf dem Klavier entdecken kann. Mein Ziel ist es meine Generation für die Schönheit der Klaviermusik auf neue Weise zu begeistern."Lange vor seiner TikTok-Karriere wurde Louis Philippson im Alter von sieben Jahren auf YouTube von seinem zukünftigen Klavierlehrer entdeckt, einem Professor an der Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. Dort wurde er später Jungstudent und nahm an zahlreichen nationalen und internationalen Klavierwettbewerben teil, darunter der prestigeträchtige Bach-Wettbewerb, den er gewann. Während der Pandemie im Jahr 2022 startete Louis Philippson seinen TikTok-Kanal und begeistert seitdem die Gen Z mit Vlogs, Humor und eindrucksvollen Klavierdarbietungen. Seine Posts haben inzwischen über 750.000 Follower erreicht. Philippson hat bereits mit einer Vielzahl von Künstlern aus unterschiedlichen Genres zusammengearbeitet. Unter anderen dem Konzertpianisten Martin Stadtfeld, der Geigerin und Influencerin Esther Abrami sowie dem italienischen TikTok-Pianisten Gabriele Bagnati. Ein besonderes Highlight seiner Kooperationen war die Zusammenarbeit mit der Sängerin Teya Dora für eine akustische Version ihres weltweiten Top-50-Hits "Dzanum".

Balancing mystic pop, psychedelic ambiance, and pulsating electronica, her debut LP weaves a divine, harmonic universe



Ghent-based singer-songwriter and composer Nele De Gussem (Uma Chine) has today announced her debut solo album The Loom Of Longing, out February 7 2025 on Viernulvier Records.



De Gussem has delivered a sensational album of mystic pop, psychedelic ambiance and pulsating electronica. To shape her divine harmonic universe, she has a preoccupation with soundscaping that involves using her sensual voice and electronic/analog instruments as a sort of palette of rich textures where she’s the auteur, as opposed to the cog in a bigger machine as she’s been with her band, Uma Chine.



“This album celebrates having found desire as a compass in my life and as a medicine to quell fear, holding back and keeping silent.”

— NELE DE GUSSEM



The cracking first single from the album - ‘Wonder’ comes with an eye-popping music video by Belgian visual artist Victor Verhelst (STROOM). Verhelst crafts a unique collage of 90s computer game-inspired motion graphics, which has an otherworldly appeal and highly symbiotic relationship with the music. Rarely do the marriage of visual and musical arts come together so invitingly.



Of the single’s feel, Nele De Gussem says: “‘Wonder’ is about the paradoxical situation of being at a party and finding stillness within. Introspection amid exuberance; tranquillity amid joy. It’s like being swept away by a rush of light - feeling our head in the clouds - but feeling equal magic in the corporeal self.”

HTRK step into their 21st year on reflective terms, launching a series of collaborations, covers/remixes, installations, and performances alongside the new repress of their full-length debut, Marry Me Tonight. First released in 2009 via Blast First Petite, the album saw its first vinyl pressing in 2015 via Ghostly International and has since been out of stock. In late 2024, Marry Me Tonight becomes available in limited edition pink and black vinyl, also finally on streaming services. Few groups in history elevate mood to such singular, smoldering supremacy as the Australian duo of Jonnine Standish and Nigel Yang, aka HTRK (or "hate rock" if informed). Across two decades of work and wounds, HTRK’s sound has shape-shifted between densities and intensities, noise and nakedness, but never wavered in its delicate poetic gravity. In HTRK’s sound world, cavernous reverberations of dub techno are mixed with frosted post-punk motifs and the gravelly imperfections of industrial, reimagined in the setting of a dingy basement. Like all HTRK albums, Marry Me Tonight was singular in sound and circumstance. It's the only album the outfit recorded from start to finish as a trio, and it's the only HTRK record that bears the co-production stamp of Rowland S. Howard. Breathy, caustic, and rife with contradiction, Marry Me Tonight took the raw material recorded on 2005's Nostalgia and transformed it into a pop record — pop that buckled and warped beneath the glare of Howard, fellow producer Lindsay Gravina, and the HTRK trio: Jonnine Standish, Nigel Yang and Sean Stewart. Howard died at the end of 2009; Stewart died the year after. Things would never be the same. The band would carry on and reach new heights despite it all, but as a trio, this is their definitive document.

Metal Church’s 4th album is often cited as their best. Breaking through in the-mid eighties within a blossoming Thrash Metal scene, these guys from Seattle stuck to their guns while other bands were polishing their sound to meet popular demand. The Human Factor (1991) excels in chugging riffs, melodic breaks, pulsing beats and furious vocals - a true Thrash classic. The lyrics stand out in their substance: singer Mike Howe tackles political and social subjects on “Date with Poverty”, “Flee From Reality” and “The Final Word”.

The Human Factor is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on translucent red coloured vinyl.

2006
"GlaubeLiebeTod"Wenn ein Album so erfolgreich war wie "Wahrheit oder Pflicht" wächst die Erwartungshaltung ins Unermessliche! Doch OOMPH! haben die schwierige Aufgabe mit Bravour gemeistert!"GlaubeLiebeTod" ist das mit Abstand abwechslungsreichste Werk des Trios. OOMPH! haben sich deutlich weiter entwickelt und ihr Spektrum um etliche neue Elemente bereichert. Beispielsweise sticht der dramatische Stampfer "Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod" heraus. Völliges Neuland betritt die Band auch mit der morbiden Piano-Bombast-Ballade "Eine Frau spricht im Schlaf". Die unverzerrten, sehnsüchtigen Gitarren in "Das letzte Streichholz" sowie die düsteren Doom-Riffs in "Land in Sicht" hat man in dieser Form ebenfalls noch nicht bei OOMPH! gehört. Nicht neu, aber dennoch überraschend ist die phasenweise Rückbesinnung auf die EBM-Anfänge des Trios in den frühen Neunzigern, die u.a. bei der ersten Auskopplung "Gott ist ein Popstar" deutlich wird. Abgesehen davon gibt es natürlich noch genügend Nummern, die die bisherige Linie weiterführen und mit hymnischen Hooklines und fantasievollen Sounds auftrumpfen. Dazu zählen vor allem der wunderschöne "Träumst Du" und der mächtige Metaller "Mein Schatz".

Die 1987er Black Uhuru-Alben "Positive" und "Positive Dub" zählen zu den besten Arbeiten der legendären Reggae-Band und erscheinen nun kombiniert in remastered Qualität. Produziert von Steven Stanley, mit Sly & Robbie als Studiomusiker, war "Positive" das letzte Album mit Delroy "Junior" Reid on vocals. Beide Formate enthalten die vollständigen 16 Tracks, die LP ist auf schwarzem 180g Doppelvinyl im Gatefold gepresst.

- "At its best, Black Uhuru combines the persistent dance-inciting rhythms of pure reggae with substantial pop melodies and soulful vocals." - St. Petersburg Times

- "The sheer tunefulness the band has displayed in the past." - The Washington Post

- "Uplifting, yet realistic. It paints real, and often graphic, pictures of conflict in the Third World." - Ottawa Citizen

Von Sonny Foderas Top-10-Hit "Angel" bis zu bahnbrechenden Momenten mit Chase & Status, David Guetta, The Blessed Madonna und Dom Dolla – die Leidenschaft, Ausgeglichenheit und pure Emotion des Stimmtalents von Clementine Douglas ist unverkennbar. Die Britin ist eine ebenso starke Songwriterin und tritt nun mit eigenen Singles hervor, die als 7"-Trilogie auf limitiertem, signiertem Farbvinyl erscheinen. Sie weisen subtile Veränderungen auf, wenn darke Momente der Clubkultur, D&B und 2Step in ihren Pop-R&B-Sound einfliessen. Dennoch sind sie genauso hymnisch wie ihre grössten Momente und zeigen, wie Clementine mit süss-gefühlvollen Vocals und warmer Live-Instrumentierung der Dancemusik eine belebende menschliche Note verleiht.

Von Sonny Foderas Top-10-Hit "Angel" bis zu bahnbrechenden Momenten mit Chase & Status, David Guetta, The Blessed Madonna und Dom Dolla – die Leidenschaft, Ausgeglichenheit und pure Emotion des Stimmtalents von Clementine Douglas ist unverkennbar. Die Britin ist eine ebenso starke Songwriterin und tritt nun mit eigenen Singles hervor, die als 7"-Trilogie auf limitiertem, signiertem Farbvinyl erscheinen. Sie weisen subtile Veränderungen auf, wenn darke Momente der Clubkultur, D&B und 2Step in ihren Pop-R&B-Sound einfliessen. Dennoch sind sie genauso hymnisch wie ihre grössten Momente und zeigen, wie Clementine mit süss-gefühlvollen Vocals und warmer Live-Instrumentierung der Dancemusik eine belebende menschliche Note verleiht.

MIDLIFE CRISIS! - Something as unusual as a Swedish "supergroup" in the genre of '77 Punk Rock.

Urrke (Maryslim, Bizex-B), Dregen (Backyard Babies, The Hellacopters, Mike Monroe Band), Robban Eriksson (The Hellacopters, Strindbergs, Winnerbäck, Syl Sylvain), and Måns P Månsson (Crimson Shadows, Wrecks, Maggots).

In 2004, they first put their wild heads together and recorded three old punk classics, released on a vinyl EP. The band went on to release three more EPs (the latest one in 2018). Now, everything is being released on ONE fantastic collection via Wild Kingdom Records. By the way, Dregen is currently making waves on Swedish national TV with the popular series "Så Mycket Bättre".

Hold on to your hats folks!

Sound Like: Heartbreakers, Slaughter & The Dogs, PF Commando, early Damned, The Saints, UK Subs, Dictators, etc oldschool Punkrock.

MIDLIFE CRISIS! - Something as unusual as a Swedish "supergroup" in the genre of '77 Punk Rock.

Urrke (Maryslim, Bizex-B), Dregen (Backyard Babies, The Hellacopters, Mike Monroe Band), Robban Eriksson (The Hellacopters, Strindbergs, Winnerbäck, Syl Sylvain), and Måns P Månsson (Crimson Shadows, Wrecks, Maggots).

In 2004, they first put their wild heads together and recorded three old punk classics, released on a vinyl EP. The band went on to release three more EPs (the latest one in 2018). Now, everything is being released on ONE fantastic collection via Wild Kingdom Records. By the way, Dregen is currently making waves on Swedish national TV with the popular series "Så Mycket Bättre".

Hold on to your hats folks!

Sound Like: Heartbreakers, Slaughter & The Dogs, PF Commando, early Damned, The Saints, UK Subs, Dictators, etc oldschool Punkrock.

MIDLIFE CRISIS! - Something as unusual as a Swedish "supergroup" in the genre of '77 Punk Rock.

Urrke (Maryslim, Bizex-B), Dregen (Backyard Babies, The Hellacopters, Mike Monroe Band), Robban Eriksson (The Hellacopters, Strindbergs, Winnerbäck, Syl Sylvain), and Måns P Månsson (Crimson Shadows, Wrecks, Maggots).

In 2004, they first put their wild heads together and recorded three old punk classics, released on a vinyl EP. The band went on to release three more EPs (the latest one in 2018). Now, everything is being released on ONE fantastic collection via Wild Kingdom Records. By the way, Dregen is currently making waves on Swedish national TV with the popular series "Så Mycket Bättre".

Hold on to your hats folks!

Sound Like: Heartbreakers, Slaughter & The Dogs, PF Commando, early Damned, The Saints, UK Subs, Dictators, etc oldschool Punkrock.

Guitar-slinging, soul-singing blues and rock legend Tommy Castro gets back to his crowd-pleasing blues roots on Closer To The Bone. Tommy’s one of the most popular roots music artists in the world due to his infectious albums and one of the busiest live performance schedules in all of music. His 2021 studio release, Tommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came To Town, has scanned nearly 15,000 units.

Ginnels never let up. Though it has been, staggeringly, eight long years since the last irresistible jangle pop transmission under the Ginnels moniker, nothing much has changed in Mark Chester's approach when it comes to the practice of music making, even if much everything else for Chester has seen considerable flux – he's now a father of two, and most shockingly of all for an indie popster of his ilk, gainfully employed. "It definitely started the same way all Ginnels stuff starts," Chester explains, "which is just me looking through five years of phone demos and going 'that's a decent song' and 'that's a decent song', and if you keep that up then you have a full album."

The man himself might be coyly committed to making his process sound as pedestrian as possible, but from the moment the delicate chiming introduction of album opener 'The Body Was Gone' goes widescreen – revealing an expanded sonic palette richer in timbre and exponentially wider in scope than anything Chester has let out into the world thus far – it is apparent that "The Picturesque" is poised to be less than parochial in its sonic purview.

From here, "The Picturesque" plays like a gauzy road trip Super 8 footage cutting between scenes of sunset at Monument Valley and B-roll from around middle-Ireland, entirely soundtracked by some enchanted mixtape of heretofore unheard B sides from REM, XTC and The Go-Betweens, unexpected guest appearances from the surprisingly together-sounding ghost of Johnny Thunders and snippets from your coolest friends' unreleased instrumental experiments. All liberally rippled with Chester's unique ear for melody and appetite for the unexpected when it comes to crafting guitar parts. And this, by design, feels like a Guitar Record, above all else.

For all its effortlessly sticky lyrical and melodic twists, "The Picturesque" separates itself within the mighty Ginnels catalogue in both the dexterity in playing and diversity in tone on show across these 12 tracks. And 12, of course as we know, being the optimum number of tracks for any LP to have, so bonus points for that too.

“Richard Davies is one of the last great songwriters on planet Earth. Every song on Composition Book is up there with his finest and so it's no small feat that after 35 years of making beautiful records, this one is his best.” – Robert Pollard / Guided By Voices Australian mad scientist Richard Davies has long flown under the popular radar with his groups The Moles and Cardinal, but his 10 albums are loved and championed by indie rock royalty. The Flaming Lips, for example, have recorded a Davies song and backed him up on a Moles tour in 1995. A scholar of the songwriting of The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Dylan et al., Davies spins off subtle, catchy indie rock melodies, sometimes reassembled in bizarre Frankenstein arrangements and deconstructed sonic derangements. On Composition Book, The Moles have evolved with emphasis on acoustic guitar and divine female voices. Davies’ lyrical non sequiturs and caustic wit sting, surprise and delight. “The Australian-bred, New England-based Richard Davies has long been a secret-handshake artist for indie diehards; his songs suggest self-contained pop hits from a crooked dimension.” – The New Yorker “The greatest differentiator between the work of the Moles and that of their contemporaries, though, is Davies himself. As a presence, there is something deeply and beguilingly inscrutable about him, a purposeful blankness that betrays an enormous amount of weight and depth behind it, and oozes both vulnerability and vitriol when it breaks and cracks.” – Pitchfork

Debut studio album by the Irish singer and rapper. Biig Piig is London-based songwriter Jess Smyth, who, since 2017, has made smouldering hip-hop and neo-soul jams with homespun production. Biig Piig is a genuinely unique modern era pop star. Having come of age through musical experimentation, self-exploration and collaboration she started 2023 with the release of her critically acclaimed debut mixtape ‘Bubblegum’ and continues with the release of her upcoming debut studio album, 11:11. Radiating creative might throughout her releases, Biig Piig has seamlessly woven through various genres and languages to deliver stories and songs that speak effortlessly of youth culture. Her unpredictable and excellent discography encompasses tracks with NiNE8, Meronomy, Emotional Oranges, Lava La Rue and her musical versatility, from nonchalant rap to melancholic lament and melody, has garnered attention from Billie Eilish, Bella Hadid, Lil Nas X and the late Virgil Abloh to name a few. Biig Piig has built a nascent global audience for her instantly identifiable sound via world- wide tour dates and promo across platforms such as Triple J, Studio Brussels, 3FM, DLF, Radio 4, KCRW and more. She splits her time between the US and UK having established a support network of creatives and inventive energy that keeps things feeling fresh and fluid. A standard Black, x11 trk LP Vinyl & CD. The Retail exclusive format is a Transparent/Clear LP Vinyl. Extensive promo & marketing activity.

Hulten würdigt das Erbe von Bert Jansch, John Martyn und Nick Drake und erfindet es auf innovative und faszinierende Weise neu. Auf "Eyes of the Living Night" verbindet er die rohen Emotionen seiner früheren Werke mit einem weitläufigeren, jenseitigen Sound und hat ein schimmerndes Album geschaffen, das den Hörer auf eine Reise durch die Jahrzehnte von Rock, Synth-Pop, Blues und Folk mitnimmt, die sich am besten als ‘Ambient DreamGrunge‘ beschreiben lässt.

Like so many bands that cut their teeth playing basements, rental halls, and teen centers around the Puget Sound in the early '90s, the Olympia trio Lync may have had similar roots to the local rock heroes of the era but were conscientiously averse to the trappings of mainstream success. Lync kept the grit, the shouted vocals, and the rough-hewn choruses, but eschewed the machismo and metal swagger. Their song 'Cue Cards' is a perfect encapsulation of their overall approach-heartfelt melodies, bashed drums, hoarse throats, gritty bass lines, and fractured guitars. Lync's legacy was interwoven with fellow PNW artists like Modest Mouse, 764-Hero, and Red Stars Theory-bands that were crucial to the foundation of Suicide Squeeze Records. It only made sense for Suicide Squeeze to reissue Lync's lone LP, These Are Not Fall Colors back in 2023. And in conjunction with the reissue, Suicide Squeeze is proud to announce the second single featuring a choice cut from Fall Colors paired with a current artist's reinterpretation of the song. On their latest 7", Lync's original version of 'Cue Cards' is paired with a cover by Julia & The Squeezettes-a Suicide Squeeze-centric all-star line-up featuring Julia Kugel of The Coathangers and Julia, Julia, Staz Lindes of The Paranoyds, Bonnie Bloomgarden and Rikki Styxx of Death Valley Girls. On their rendition, Julia & The Squeezettes excise the half-time distorted bombast of the original in favor of up-tempo minimalist pop. Guitars are reduced to a few choice phrases, putting the song's luring vocals and lyrical charms at the forefront. Paired with the tasteful yet propulsive rhythm section, this new approach to 'Cue Cards' demonstrates the timeless songwriting of Lync while simultaneously showcasing the creative vision, timbral aptitude, and resourceful production savvy of four contemporary artists in the ongoing lineage of American indie rock. Suicide Squeeze is proud to release these two versions of 'Cue Cards' to the world on a pressing of 500 Ocean Blue-colored vinyl 7" singles.

. The idea for the band was originally conceived by singer-guitarist Joe Woodward whilst writing and recording songs in his kitchen on a 4-track recorder, and over time eventually found help from like-minded friends, Elliot Roberts and Cam Wheeler. The three of them would spend their nights experimenting with cassette recording with the admirable if not challenging aim to recreate the symphonic sounds of Phil Spector on a DIY budget. With growing confidence and having amassed a small catalogue of songs, a few aborted attempts were made to get a live band together before they found help from a second guitarist, Eli Allison, who had recently relocated from Cornwall. As necessity would dictate, the first shows as a quartet made use of a drum machine, but the ideal formation for the band wasn’t truly complete until meeting Nia Abraham, whose live drumming would add a more physical quality to the band’s sound. At the beginning of 2024, they began working more purposefully towards an end goal with the writing and recording of the five-song Nowhere Near Today EP. Though retaining some of their home recording practices, they also made use of a studio facility based in a disused shopping centre basement that was made available through SHIFT, a local artist collective connected to the band. The acquisition of an 8-track Tascam 488MKII, along with the natural reverb of SHIFT’s empty concrete space allowed for further opportunity to experiment with both cassette recording techniques and their still developing live sound, the two environments permitting an all-too-rare creative freedom. The process was transformative for the group, their Spector-inspired ambitions now taking on a more defined shape that skirted around the edges of psych, noise-rock and industrial-pop in a way that increasingly became their own. For a debut EP, the results are impressively realised, a confluence of expansive tremolo guitars, a deliberately primordial rhythm section and a contrasting vulnerable vocal performance that’s both melodic and bracing. It’s a record born both of private experimentation and public performance, who they are on stage and what they express on record informing the other but still distinctly each their own thing, shifting then dovetailing like the waves of feedback that wash through Nowhere Near Today. Still a young band, it’s tomorrow they feel a lot closer to.

The Durutti Column, Linda Perhacs, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Judee Sill. Hello and welcome to Decide Which Way The Eyes Are Looking, the new record by Lina Tullgren. It is a deeply gorgeous intervention, a carefully ornamented dilemma, the most inviting crisis. Made with a host of Los Angeles musicians, Decide exposes Tullgren's daring and trust. Each song is a ring of curious sound: the skip of harp strings, the flutter of woodwinds, the ratchet of percussion, the euphonium's sigh. And at the center of each wreath, Tullgren sings, finding this space between Judee Sill and Sam Jayne. It's a tone that signals weariness, but a weariness hand-in-hand with tenacity. There's a clarity, a kind of immovability. Lina Tullgren's first record came in 2016, a homemade, under-the-skin set of laments. Subsequent LPs and constant touring cemented Tullgren's reputation as a composer of "wide-eyed wonder paired with a resonant despair." 2019's Free Cell showed Tullgren lingering in the margins of their songs, finding places both aloof and spare. Floodgates opened; Tullgren spent the subsequent years exploring deep listening, improvised music, and extended technique. They developed a patience and faith in cooperation that ranged at the far edge of song. Collaborations with Mayo Thompson and Claire Rousay furthered this development. This was not a break with the past for Tullgren, rather it was an opportunity to see how far a song could go. And from that distance, deep in a landscape of drone and tension, Tullgren returned to the bright vulnerability of a lyric and a hook. Weaving together the affective and the radical, Tullgren took the quiet isolation of a shoreline cabin to write the songs that would become Decide Which Way The Eyes Are Looking. For Tullgren, Decide is a culmination of all the work they've done throughout their life: the melodic, the dense, the confessional, the unknowable. It's also a tribute to collaboration. Describing the sessions as having "a lot of space and a lot of ease,"" Tullgren invited musicians from a vast field of songmaking to play on the recording: Leng Bian, Zach Burba, Luke Csehak, Corey Fogel, Jenny Hirons, Tara Milch, Tim Ramsey, Michael Sachs, Jude Tedaldi, Marta Tiesenga and Ben Varian. Jonny Kosmo's backhouse was offered as a cozy, easygoing space for the players to create their parts together, and the record was completed by Tullgren and Luke Csehak together at their Los Angeles home. In Tullgren's words: "I feel really strongly that this album is a portrait of the community I found in Los Angeles." Decide Which Way The Eyes Are Looking is a quiet masterpiece: a generous, memorable journey. It is the result of five years of labor, the product of abandoning the pop song entirely and starting over. Whatever wanderings or doubt fueled it, Decide is also entirely at ease: a record on which Tullgren sings "and I know/what to do now" and "I know exactly what to do" in subsequent songs, clear in the revelations this path has given the

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart exploded out of the late 00s Brooklyn indie scene with a bright, distinctive sound that paid tribute to everything from C86 to early Slumberland, Sarah and Creation label pop, but with a distinct American flavor drawn from groups like Smashing Pumpkins and The Exploding Hearts. Their 2009 self-titled debut is rightly considered a classic, ins of Being Pure At Heart exploded out of the late 00s Brooklyn indie scene with a bright, and with Perfect Right Now we're thrilled to round out the story of The Pains' early years.

Enter Now Brightness feels different for Nadia. It is an album, she says, of departure and questioning, that has reminded her how songwriting can be “the most useful thing to do with pain and joy and thoughts and feelings and anger.” That through music we can find great change. “I’m so much better off now that it exists,” she says. “Now feels like a new time.” On this record, Reid moves ever further from her earlier folk inclinations, establishing a sound that is distinctly her own. Enter Now Brightness is a record of poise and great beauty, the sound of a cellular shift, of pain giving way to tenderness and joy. It takes its title from a passage in a book Reid was reading from a line that seemed to call out to her from the page: ‘Brightness entered the study.’ “It was the image of opening the curtain, or turning the light on, or of standing in the wings of a theatre and waiting to go on stage. It’s the idea of life beginning now.” "Nadia embraces a full-bodied sound halfway between Haim’s sophisticated pop sparkle and Sharon Van Etten’s full-throated songcraft" - The Guardian

Here it is, the sixth chapter in the sonic journey of Mr. Mangiadischi.

Continuing the dance-floor assault, MD006 delivers four tracks, each with a unique story but all with the same aim: to make you move to the rhythm.

• A1 - Mamma
A Balearic groovy deep house nostalgic tribute to the most important person we have in our life. This track blends warm melodies with heartfelt emotions, making it the perfect homage.

• A2 - Genug Vans
Intergalactic soul/post-disco space-tech. A cosmic voyage through pulsating rhythms and celestial sounds, designed to take you on a dancefloor odyssey.

• B1 - Fenel
A very modern interpretation of this '76 Algerian artist's funk/pop/world/country mesmerizing masterpiece. This track merges elements of funk, pop, world, and country in a blend that transcends genres and eras.

• B2
A disco/funk/pop-rap in its most modern and groovy version. Infectious beats and catchy hooks make this track a surefire hit for any set.

At the age of 14, Ayako Hosokawa was already performing in the American military clubs in Japan, picking up the English language by singing international pop songs of that time. Now, she represents feeling and soul within her songs, no matter whether she sings in English or Japanese. After her marriage, she moved to the United States and was discovered and sponsored by Earl "Fatha" Hines. She found enthusiastic fans touring San Francisco, Las Vegas, Montreal and lots of places in California, performing in the clubs, local radio stations or on TV. In the '80s, she started a roving life between the United States and Japan. Due to her recordings for TBM and performances for radio stations and on TV, she became one of the best-known pop and jazz singers throughout her country.

Backed by a terrific band, Ayako tackles some of the most memorable jazz standards of all time on the 1977 release To Mr. Wonderful. Couple this with spectacular sonics for a memorable and beautiful album.

“Misty” is the second album by the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio after “Midnight Sugar”, and is one of the most popular works on the TBM label. This is the definitive opus by a marvelous trio, packed with lyricism and a powerful swing feeling!

Radioactive Man (Keith Tenniswood) presents his 6th album ‘Jam Out The Kicks’ released on self-operated label Asking For Trouble this November 28th. Written while immersed in the throes of touring over the last four years - the album showcases Tenniswood’s singular sound, honed for the international dance floors that he is charged with. Jam Out The Kicks will be released on a triple 12” vinyl package with artwork by renowned artist Lung.

Working together UK rave, jungle, breakbeat and Detroit electro and techno the album plays between these different genres and styles. It brings the grit, joy, grime and funk but also with a big lot of heart in its sensitive softer elements and moments. Opening track ‘Under The Counter’ has been the lead to his live performances - soft and gleaming and with deep warm bass tones it’s his reset track to set the tone for the set. We then move into slap bass funk on ‘See Above’ and through the many sounds on the release - from dense textured and kicking techno to bass heavy rave. Curveball on the release is ‘Sinkhole’ starting out as a collaboration with Suade Bergemann, vocallists Ali Love and Chloe Raunet (C.A.R) both put their touch on it. It’s just one example of Radioactive Man’s desire not to want to be held down to any one sound and to always be developing and moving forward.

Founded in 1979 in Sesto San Giovanni by Roberto Fusar Poli, Il Disco o began as a small, family-run record store, quickly evolving into a hub for imported music and a pioneer in the "disco dance" genre.

By 1981, it had expanded into music distribu/on and produc/on, aligning with the rise of Italo Disco—a genre blending synth-pop and electronic disco inspired by ar/sts like Giorgio Moroder and Bobby Orlando. Its first release, "I'm A Vocoder" by Gay Cat Park, marked the start of a prolific catalog that included hits like "You Are A Danger" by Gary Low and "Comanchero" by Raggio Di Luna, cemen/ng Il Disco o’s reputa/on in Italy and abroad.

At its peak, the label produced up to one record a day and distributed interna/onal hits like "Don’t You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds.

Action Bronson, the Flushing, Queens chef-turned-rapper / food show personality releases his major label full length debut 'Mr. Wonderful,' via Vice / Atlantic. The album features production from Noah '40' Shebib, three time Grammy Award winner Mark Ronson, The Alchemist, 88 Keys and long time collaborator / cohort Party Supplies. 'Mr. Wonderful', which also includes guest spots from Chance the Rapper, Party Supplies, Big Body Bes and Meyhem Lauren, catapults Bronson into new territory with sonically voluminous production while staying true to the mixtape aesthetic that has made him so popular in the hip hop community and beyond. This is an album that is the sum of its parts, with meticulously crafted segues into each track creating a fluid, tightly woven work. Notably the album includes a Billy Joel sample approved by the man himself on 'Brand New Car' due to a hand written note from both Action Bronson and Mark Ronson exclaiming their admiration to the New York legend; a rare feat achieved by few. The atmospherically layered second single 'Action Crazy' shows how far Bronson has come since his highly lauded mixtape Blue Chips 2 and is just a piece of the puzzle that is 'Mr. Wonderful'.LP - US vinyl. Comes with CD.

Singer, songwriter and composer Melike Şahin is set to releases her new album AKKOR via Gülbaba Records in partnership with Day Dreamer

An empowering assertion of survival that propels traditional Anatolian pop and folk influences into the future, AKKOR rises like a phoenix from the flames to reintroduce the Turkish superstar diva to an international audience. An expression of Şahin’s personal growth, the album is an affirmation of her growing status as the voice of a generation, and hose lyrics have been adopted as a callto rights for the women’s movement in Turkey.

Recorded live in London with producer Martin Terefe (London Brew, Buika, Jamie Cullum), AKKOR features a selection of the most talented and forward-thinking musicians on the scene, including guitarists Dave Okumu and violinist Raven Bush, as well as terling Campell (David Bowie) on drums, Glen Scott (Eric Bibb) and Nikolaj mTorp Larsen on keyboards. Bringing an international feel to her mheart-rending performances, the record represents the most focussed and complete expression of Şahin’s sound to date. Melike Şahin has made a career of facing down criticism and censorship to make sumptuous and provocative music that captures the defiant tone of progressive creativity in contemporary Turkey. Having performed around the world with Turkish psych legends BaBa ZuLa, Şahin released her debut album Merhem in 2021, gathering billions of streams and building a reputation for unforgettable live performances in the process. Influenced by the style of Sade, cutting an elegant and beguiling figure on the stage. Where Şahin describes Merhem as about healing, she says AKKOR is about survival, both on an emotional level, coming to terms with difficult relationships, childhood trauma and the pressures of newfound fame, and on a social level, in continuing the champion the rights of the oppressed in the face of state and media violence. Powerful and vulnerable in equal measure, AKKOR demonstrates an orchestral grandeur and a dramatic flair drawn from Şahin’s love for traditional Anatolian pop and folk music, injected with the urgency of contemporary production. Bound together by Şahin’s inimitable voice AKKOR skips between Middle Eastern melancholy and classic disco hedonism, for an album that is as stylistically open, pluralistic and affirmative as the messages the music carries.

Although she does not describe herself as an activist, Şahin’s poignant lyrics have come to define the women’s movement in Turkey, with the words, “I deserve each and every inch of this smile,”adorning protest banners on International Women’s Day and celebratory posters at Pride.

“This is the moment that I told myself, Yes, I am an artist,” Şahin says. “I am bearing all of the other things because of this, because I am affecting people's lives, and I am giving some power.” AKKOR – which translates as candescent – finds Melike rising again and burning brighter than ever before.

Overall though, Şahin says AKKOR is her rebirth album – a statement of self-empowerment, through which she hopes tocontinue to raise up the voices of those around her. “You are seeinga woman who falls down, but who rises again and flies,” sheexplains. “Maybe she doesn't win, maybe she doesn't lose, but she's a survivor,” Şahin concludes. “She is a phoenix.”

HTRK step into their 21st year on reflective terms, launching a series of collaborations, covers/remixes, installations, and performances alongside the new repress of their full-length debut, Marry Me Tonight. First released in 2009 via Blast First Petite, the album saw its first vinyl pressing in 2015 via Ghostly International and has since been out of stock. In late 2024, Marry Me Tonight becomes available in limited edition pink and black vinyl, also finally on streaming services. Few groups in history elevate mood to such singular, smoldering supremacy as the Australian duo of Jonnine Standish and Nigel Yang, aka HTRK (or "hate rock" if informed). Across two decades of work and wounds, HTRK's sound has shape-shifted between densities and intensities, noise and nakedness, but never wavered in its delicate poetic gravity. In HTRK's sound world, cavernous reverberations of dub techno are mixed with frosted post-punk motifs and the gravelly imperfections of industrial, reimagined in the setting of a dingy basement. Like all HTRK albums, Marry Me Tonight was singular in sound and circumstance. It's the only album the outfit recorded from start to finish as a trio, and it's the only HTRK record that bears the co-production stamp of Rowland S. Howard. Breathy, caustic, and rife with contradiction, Marry Me Tonight took the raw material recorded on 2005's Nostalgia and transformed it into a pop record _ pop that buckled and warped beneath the glare of Howard, fellow producer Lindsay Gravina, and the HTRK trio: Jonnine Standish, Nigel Yang and Sean Stewart. Howard died at the end of 2009; Stewart died the year after. Things would never be the same. The band would carry on and reach new heights despite it all, but as a trio, this is their definitive document.

Up The Bracket arrived like a raging bull in a tired post-Britpop china shop and introduced the world to The Libertines, a new gang of London bohemians, whose ragged tunes, red military tunics, opiated poetry and "live now pay never" lifestyle came to define the millennial angst of the early noughties. At the heart of the band is the blood bond bromance between the ramshackle Music Hall Jagger/Richards, Peter Doherty and Carl Barat, ably assisted by the rock solid rhythm twins John Hassall and Gary Powell. Any bookie worth his salt would have given you short odds on this quartet surviving more than a month or two, given the teetering on the brink lifestyle they chose to lead, but here we are two decades later and our Byronic heroes, though older and wiser, are still fighting the good fight and making music every bit as vital as their debut. The belief, talent and fervour that Doherty spoke of in their earliest manifesto has stood them in good stead. Up The Bracket, justly considered one of the greatest albums of the noughties, was originally released on October 21st 2002 by Rough Trade Records. The album, a heady stew of indie rock, skiffle, blues, dub and English bucolic pop, was a huge shot in the arm to a largely redundant music scene and helped to inspire the rebirth of guitar music, going on to influence countless artists who followed in its wake. Up The Bracket, which was produced by Mick Jones of The Clash, takes you on a wondrously poetic journey into the band"s mythical world and their fevered dreams of Albion, a land of squalid glamour, liberty, equality, fraternity, gin palaces and chip shops. Quite simply Pete, Carl, Gary and John created a hugely compelling timeless British rock"n"roll classic debut as relevant now as it was upon its release.

The genius that is Tony Allen departed this mortal world in April of 2020, but not without leaving an unmatched legacy that crossed oceans and borders, bridging cultures and forging a sound that changed music. As the drummer for Fela Kuti's revolutionary Africa 70, Allen's polyrhythmic drumming defined Afrobeat. His contributions as an artist and cultural ambassador left an indelible impact on every genre of popular music, from Techno to Jan to Rock and Hip-Hop. Tony Allen's music stands as an ongoing testament to the interconnected musical relationships and dialogues across the African diaspora, and their lasting influence on how we listen. For Jazz Is Dead producer Adrian Youngs, it is no small honor to share new music recorded with the drummer revolutionary Tony Allen.

Rich in melody and instantly classic in feel, Luca dell’Orso debuts on CWPT with an extended EP of lush Italo, sensitively summoned from the Netherlands. Having impressed with previous releases on labels including Bordello A Paligiaria and Red Laser Records, these six tracks demonstrate a delicate approach to his studio, flitting between pop songwriting and analog experimentation.

From the soft fanfare that announces ‘Solitair & Solidair,’ ‘Actors’ establishes a confident groove that gently pushes an Alfa Romeo pedal toward Balearic ecstasy. On the instantaneous lead single ‘Dear Rosie,’ dell’Orso blends the signature palette of the vintage Yamaha-X7 synthesizer with longing vocals from collaborator Jolisa. A paean to a special person from a distant past, ‘Dear Rosie’ is blessed with a wistful melody befitting an Eric Rohmer classic, a musical postcard of a treasured connection. From wistful midsummer memories, dell’Orso easily transports listeners to another season entirely with ‘Winter Scent’, a deep meditation reflecting the artist’s walks in the few hours of available sunlight, thoughts beautifully vocoded beneath a heavy sonic layer.

Out of this lavish gloom blossoms the inevitable sound of spring on the driving, optimistic ‘Love by Association’; an enduring recipe of distinct drums and pitch-shifting synthesis, frozen in time for frenetic Eurodisco dancefloors. On ‘Propaganda’, dell’Orso offers a more forceful take on the same instincts, skipping inner-Schengen borders to simmer via industrially-tinted pleasures as revealed in Dusseldorf, 1984. For a sublime finale, ‘This Time (Things Will Be Different)’ takes to the piano, where Luca dell’Orso finds space to demonstrate the elegant minimalism that easily coexists alongside his timeless energy.

FOR FANS OF: Nine Inch Nails, Stabbing Westward, bbb (Crosses), The Black Queen, Lady Gaga, Depeche Mode, Ministry
Love, das neue Album des Londoner Industrial-Noise-Pop-Dreigestirns Tayne, ist eine Erkundung von Liebe, Begehren, Konflikten und Angst. Während
einer Phase der Dissoziation geschrieben, dokumentiert Tayne-Mastermind Matt Sutton seine Vorstellungen von Liebe als Konflikt, Opfer und
Kompromiss, wie emotionale Bindung zu Konflikten führt und wie sich die Auswirkungen über Generationen hinweg ausbreiten können. Was kostet
die Liebe? Wie weit sind wir bereit zu gehen, um ihr nachzujagen? „In den meisten Liedern ist definitiv eine besiegte Haltung zu spüren“, sagt Matt.
„Ich war von Intimität eingeschüchtert, hatte Angst davor, verletzlich zu sein und mich zu outen.“ Mit einem wütenden Hybrid aus Metal, Industrial,
Shoegaze und Pop ringt Love mit der klassischen Definition des Wortes und erforscht, wie wir mit den Konflikten umgehen, die bei der Suche danach
entstehen. Matts Gesangsmelodien bilden einen starken Kontrapunkt zu den rasselnden Beats und den Wellen pulsierenden elektronischen Lärms,
die diese zehn Tracks prägen, und schaffen einen kraftvollen Hybrid, der ebenso viele Anleihen beim Art-Pop von Lady Gaga wie bei den akustischen
Angriffen von Nine Inch Nails nimmt. Gewalttätige Synthies kollidieren mit verführerischen Melodien, die den inneren Konflikt im Herzen der Platte
widerspiegeln. „Der Kontrast ist für mich viel interessanter“, erklärt Matt. „Ich liebe immer noch extremen Metal und Heavy-Bands, aber ich denke, es
ist ein bisschen aufregender, wenn man versucht, etwas zu schaffen, das nicht das ist, was alle anderen machen.“

The long-awaited new full-length from legendary electronic pioneers THE ORB with cover design from iconic graphic wizards THE DESIGNERS REPUBLIC • A fascinating sonic journey over four epic tracks, constantly switching between psychedelic flourishes and beat-driven focus

Veritable pioneers of electronic music, iconic act THE ORB returns to Kompakt with the new full-length MOONBUILDING 2703 AD - another major slice of psychedelic synth bliss, obscure loops and deep ambient textures tossed in swinging breakbeats and powerful basslines. Installing a forward momentum rather unusual for a genre-defying project like this, the latest effort from masterminds Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann follows their 2005 album success on Kompakt, the cheekily named "Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt" (KOMPAKT CD 45), as well as several contributions to our Speicher and Pop Ambient series - but more importantly, it finds the legendary duo at the peak of its creativity, ringing in another essential phase in what can only be called a ground-breaking career.

True to form, the new offering MOONBUILDING 2703 AD features a small track list, but turns each one of its four cuts into a mini epic in its own right. Opener GOD'S MIRRORBALL hits the ground floating, employing a handful of cozy statics to great effect before finally discharging into an intricate mosaic of atmospheric melodic sketches and gripping rhythms. With a hypnotic runtime of more than 14 minutes, it immediately establishes a blueprint for the other album tracks to follow, perfectly illustrating the vast extent of the artists' vision and their impressive skills in luring in listeners - welcome to THE ORB's sonic labyrinth, where nothing is what it seems and the unexpected waits just around the corner.

Likewise, follow-up track MOONSCAPES 2703 BC presents itself as a uniquely versatile affair sitting comfortably between ambient flourishes and beat-driven focus, holding as many twists and turns as a caper movie, but carefully grounding every single one of its cliffhangers in its impeccable flow. With a runtime of approximately 9 minutes, LUNAR CAVES is the shortest jam of the bunch - and also the most ethereal, keeping its rhythmic content to a bare, pulse-like minimum and opting for enticing, freewheeling synth textures instead. Album closer and title cut MOONBUILDING 2703 AD introduces a surprisingly jazzy vibe mingling rather well with the wealth of electronic tricks up its sleeve - even indulging in abrasive bass sweeps and a breathtaking multitude of different rhythm sections constantly switching places. It's a fitting closing act for a full-length as multifaceted as this, as idiosyncratic as possible and as muscling as needed.


• Das langerwartete neue Album der legendären Elektronikpioniere THE ORB mit einem Coverdesign der gefeierten Graphikschmiede THE DESIGNERS REBUBLIC • Eine faszinierende Klangreise über vier epische Tracks hinweg, permanent zwischen psychedelischen Schlüsselreizen und beatgetriebenem Fokus changierend

Mit THE ORB kehren echte Pioniere der elektronischen Musik zu Kompakt zurück - der Langspieler MOONBUILDING 2703 AD präsentiert erneut einen grossen Wurf in Richtung psychedelischen Synthie-Segens, obskurer Loops und porentiefer Ambient-Texturen, geschwenkt in schwungvollen Breakbeats und wirkmächtigen Basslines. Mit einem für genresprengende Projekte wie diesem hier eher unüblichen Vorwärtsdrang beerbt das neue Album von den Großmeistern Alex Paterson und Thomas Fehlmann ihren 2005er Erfolg auf Kompakt, das augenzwinkernd benannte "Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt" (KOMPAKT CD 45), sowie einige Beiträge zu unseren Speicher- und Pop-Ambient-Serien - viel wichtiger allerdings, daß wir das legendäre Duo auf der Höhe ihrer Schaffenskraft antreffen, eine neue wesentliche Phase einläutend in einer Laufbahn, die nur als bahnbrechend bezeichnet werden kann.

In bekannter Manier hat das neue Werk MOONBUILDING 2703 AD eine eher kleine Tracklist vorzuweisen, baut dafür aber jeden seiner vier Tracks zu Mini-Epen von eigenem Recht um. Der Eröffnungsakt GOD'S MIRRORBALL schwebt einem da vor Ohren, zuerst nur mit einer Handvoll gemütlichen Rauschens bewaffnet, später dann in ein feingliedriges Mosaik von atmosphärischen Melodieskizzen und mitreissenden Rhythmen explodierend. Mit einer hypnotisierenden Lauflänge von über 14 Minuten etabliert das Stück die Blaupause für die folgenden Ereignisse, perfekt die enorme Reichweite der künstlerischen Vision und ihre Fähigkeit zur massenhaften Verführung nichtsahnender Tänzer illustrierend - willkommen in THE ORB's Klanglabyrinth, wo nichts ist wie es scheint und das Unerwartete um jede Ecke lauert.

Ähnlich präsentiert sich der Folgetrack MOONSCAPES 2703 BC als einzigartig vielseitige Angelegenheit, bequem zwischen ambienten Ornamenten und beatgetriebenem Fokus sitzend und mit sovielen Drehungen und Wendungen wie ein Gaunerfilm - doch stets seine Cliffhanger im makellosen Flow erdend. Ein wenig über 9 Minuten lang, ist LUNAR CAVES der kürzeste Entwurf in der Gruppe - und auch der ätherischste, hält er doch die Rhythmusanteile auf einem puls-ähnlichem Minimum und optiert stattdessen für freilaufende Synthie-Texturen. Das letzte Kapitel des Albums schließlich ist auch der Titeltrack: MOONBUILDING 2703 AD besitzt eine überraschend jazzige Note, die sich ziemlich gut in den Reichtum an elektronischen Tricks einfügt, welche hier aus dem Ärmel geschüttelt werden - sogar in rauem Bass schwelgend und eine atemberaubende Vielfalt an Rhythmussektionen aufrufend, die ständig die Plätze tauschen. Es ist ein passender Abschluss für ein derart facettenreiches Album, so idiosynkratisch wie möglich und so anschiebend wie nötig.

2025 Cream VINYL REPRESS.

When Alex Stephens (A.K.A. Strawberry Guy) self-released his debut single last year, he was merely doing it out of a love for songwriting. What he wasn't expecting was a million Youtube streams and an avid fanbase. Now, the South-Wales born, Liverpool-based songwriter is ready to release a full EP of his compelling, lushly produced dream-pop.

Born outside Cardiff, Strawberry Guy moved to Liverpool to study music and grow as a writer. 'I knew that it was a very artistic city with all it’s creative history, it seemed like the perfect place to move to.' he says. Whether it's playing keyboards in The Orielles or just being part of the city's growing musical scene, Alex plays music for the love of music, something that heavily translates into his adept songwriting.


The intense emotional feel of the tracks he writes is down to Alex's songwriting process, recording the entire EP in his bedroom & producing it himself. 'I feel that it’s important to me to only write/record when you’re channeling some kind of emotion, so I would only work on it when I was in the right mood to do so.' He answers when asked about the isolated environment into which he put himself for the recording process.

Much of the inspiration for Alex's work comes from experience rather than other artists. 'When something significant happens to me, all I want to do is make music.' In terms of musical touchstones however, there's the obvious dream-pop contemporaries such as Beach House and Weyes Blood, coupled with great songwriters of old like Nat King Cole or Harry Nillson. Sonically, a blend of orchestral & synthesized melodies layer together to act as a platform for his heartfelt lyrics.

Opener 'Without You' is a fine example of this, a break-up song of sorts, with an infectious keyboard melody and swirling synths over which Alex contemplates whether it's even possible to find lasting love. The lyrics 'Do you really have to talk about the things you do with him? Do you really have to talk about your love?' hit particularly heavily.

Contrast this with the final track, the titular 'Taking My Time To Be', a powerful song of self-discovery. Beginning with downtempo piano and drums, the song breaks out into a saxophone and synth solo that wouldn't go amiss on a Badalamenti soundtrack. 'The song is about me learning to be comfortable with myself, but then wondering if I'll be accepted for being myself' Alex imparts. It's a fitting closer to a EP driven by emotion and experience.