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Gallegos, first name Oliver - deals in feelings rather than genres. The productions on his debut effort for RS INTL channel a 90’s rave euphoria. Luscious pads swirl amidst pitched down jungle drums, celestial strings and philosophical vocal snippets that evoke ecstatic joy.

It’s no mean feat to induce a feeling of elation without the means of a synthetic intervention - but Ollie seems to have cracked the code - taking us there with harmony, texture and rhythm alone - nothing synthetic here: this is alchemy at play... The EP - which in all honesty feels more like a mini album - is a real journey across 5 songs and 29 minutes. It’s about equally split between driving rhythmic compositions created with movement in mind, and pensive ambient detours that are more sonic meditations than anything else. The album reaches its most dizzying heights when these two elements come together in unison for the title track, “Memories You’ve Memorised'' - a widely road-tested future classic which blends scattered Juno chords, arpeggiated church organ and 80s vocal samples to a tear-jerking crescendo.

Memories You’ve Memorised elevates Oliver Gallegos to the top tier of modern electronic composition. There’s comparisons to be made to Primal Scream, Underworld and even Aphex Twin - but after all is said and done, we’re witnessing the coming of age of a future pioneer.

Was klingt, wie die begehrteste Mailadresse der Klasse 11b, ist das zweite Album der Berliner Indie-Pop-Band Von Wegen Lisbeth und hört auf den einzigartigen Namen sweetlilly93 @ hotmail . com . Und wer Angst hatte, der einstige Geheimtipp sei drei Jahre nach dem Debütalbum GRANDE nun im Mainstream angekommen, kann sich beruhigt zurücklehnen: Von Wegen Lisbeth bringen zwar mittlerweile problemlos die Konzerthallen von Kiel bis Freiburg zum Tanzen, klingen aber trotz Refrains, die einem wochenlang im Ohr bleiben, auch 2019 noch angenehm sperrig und dabei stets unverwechselbar.

Auf dem nun erscheinenden Album kümmert sich die Band, die in ihrem Proberaum wohl genug skurrile Instrumente hortet, um jegliche Flohmärkte Neuköllns zu füllen, um die kleinen alltäglichen Momente ihrer Umgebung und sagt dabei dank pointierter Ironie trotzdem mehr über unsere Gesellschaft aus, als man manchmal wahrhaben möchte. Von Wegen Lisbeth erzählen von der unübersehbaren Gentrifizierung im Viertel, dem Döner an der Ecke und dem Schweigen, das manchmal lauter scheint als der Presslufthammer vor dem Fenster.

Nach ersten Supporttouren für die Kölner von AnnenMayKantereit oder Sven Regeners Element of Crime haben sich Von Wegen Lisbeth längst in der deutschen Musikszene etabliert, ihr Album GRANDE erntete zurecht positive Kritik, nun legen die Berliner mit sweetlilly93@ hotmail . c om musikalisch und textlich nochmal einen drauf. Bereits mit der Single Lieferandomann erscheint ein erster Vorgeschmack auf das neue Album.

»Ist das 2Pac oder Brecht? Swipe' ich nach links oder nach rechts?«

Jaqee – is rhythm and life ”Places becoming journeys in themselves… Different places where I have lived and learned, places that have made my heart beat, the emotional realms that I have experienced. This is where it all starts, every time. Where I am is where it happens, because I am, there. Here.” She sings. She laughs! And she cries, too. Jaqee cannot tell when music and singing became her life, it has ”just always been there, in my head” she says. Now with the fourth album she has taken a closer look at herself, from every possible angle. No hiding. Different phases, different sides of her personality and musical creativity are all there. All as one. ”I am a diaspora kid, I fell in love with all kinds of music, I let myself embrace it all, because good music, is good music. All the way from Uganda at age 13 to the new home and culture in Sweden, then leaving Sweden as an adult for Berlin – has made me the Jaqee that I am”, says the Ugandan /Swedish artist who also received a Swedish Grammy nomination for her past work. Being on the move is without a doubt an important part of her life. “For me travelling is about being exposed to different perceptions, situations, cultures and extreme emotions, it has always made me grow. How many times have I not thought that: I wouldn’t have experienced this or that, if hadn’t been here. I love that feeling!” Jaqee’s music reflects this constant movement and progress. The album is inspired by places like Berlin, South Africa and Jamaica. The trip to Jamaica resulted in the only collaboration track on “Yes I am” recorded in Kingston with reggae artist Anthony B. Teka, the “Kokoo Girl” and “Yes I am” Producer says: ”This time around, like on the last album, we have worked with our colleagues in different countries. Musicians we love and musicians that are inspiring like Martin Hederos (The Soundtrack of our lives) who arranged the strings on the album. We also had New York drummer Daru Jones of Rusic Records play on some tracks. All these talents enhance the idea and expression that we wanted for “Yes I am”. With the album done, it is again time to hit the road and tour for Jaqee. “Getting out there and meeting the crowd is a high. We laugh, we dance and we get loud together. This is the best part of working with music – having a good time together. Music is a universal language.” On composing music, she admits that this time, more than ever, the words matter. Newly found motherhood has made this album in particular a significant legacy. Every song has a life punctuation of its own she has not limited herself by thinking in genres. Making the tone very straightforward. “The melodies and lyrics are closely intertwined, how I sing a word makes all the difference. Even though I love word play, it has to be very clear. Since I am not educated in reading music, I instead visualize and hear it, it seems to be the way my system works. It is all about rhythm and life, it is “YES I AM“.

For the fourth time now Jaqee introduces herself to the World with her impressive voice and her unique attitude. Born in Kampala, the Capital of Uganda, she began her vagabond like life the moment she was born. During her childhood, she travelled the rural areas of her home country with her parents. This is where she collected her first impressions of the life as a nomad. From birth on, wandering the earth became a part of her destiny. In the early nineties she undertook a huge step and immigrated to Sweden. The City of Gothenburg would become her adopted home from where she was able to access all the different destinies and directions, which were on offer to her. Through all the borders Jaqee crossed, music has always been her steady companion whereas it never was a stereotype thing that let her get down with any special genre, than more like a special feeling. “To do what I want in a particular moment is my motivation. I like to express myself in all kind of sounds.” So above all, she became a true nomad in the world of music. After several successful co-operations with numerous artists, in 2005 Jaqee made an impact with her debut album “Blaqalixious”, which was mainly a Soul and R&B album. “That was my direct contact to the music that a rural community in the Diaspora plays” she explains. But it did not end up there because a nomad like Jaqee does not settle anywhere. After further creative and fruitful collaborations, Jaqee released her second long player “Nouvelle d´ amour” in 2007. This time, the sound was more of a rocking, bluesy vibe. It seemed to be the total opposite to her debut album but for Jaqee it was only the next step on her path in the circle of life. “Everything is possible as long as it is real. I never wonder about things like genre as long as the vibe fits.” One step further on, she encountered the songs of Billie Holiday, which lead to the album “A letter to Billie” recorded together with Bohuslänbigband, a lovely homage to the great American Jazz Singer. Both of her first two albums each received a Swedish Grammy nomination and several appearances in the Swedish national television increased her standing as a passionate and soulful Singer. So Teka, producer and creator of many successful riddims for his co-found German label, Rootdown Records considered her to be part of his new project “Koala Desperados“, which link Caribbean vibes like Cumbia to Reggae, and while working on it a totally new idea was born. Jaqee and Teka decided to combine both their talents into one album. The results of which you can now hear on “Kokoo Girl” a refreshing mix of Old School Reggae sounds from the seventies combined with up-to-date Beats, electronic twists and turns and of course the amazing voice of Jaqee. For her, this means that she has achieved some of her ambitions. “I grew up with African Gospel, in sad and turbulent environment, so for me, this means I grasp and totally understand the reggae and its non ending struggle for the common man.” No sooner said than done and “Kokoo Girl” will become Jaqee’s fourth and newest release. All the paths she followed, countries she crossed and influences she absorbed are a part of this album. She sings with the freedom of spirit of the travelling people. The word “Kokoo” is the only memory that remains everlasting. It is just a word but its impact is so huge that Jaqee does not really like to explain it. “It implies irony and seriousness as well as sarcasm and fun.” It is more than a gimmick. “Kokoo” is a very special feeling and a clear view of the world from an artist who has seen more of it than all the people that have settled down.

Die in Los Angeles ansässige Dark-Melodic-Metal-Band Witherfall präsentiert ihr viertes Album über DeathWave Records. Der Vorgänger 'Curse Of Autumn' konnte großes Lob in der relevanten Fachpresse sowie die # 20 in den deutschen Album-Charts als auch US-BILLBOARD-Charts verbuchen.
Das neue Album wird von einem ehrgeizigen Zeitplan mit sieben Singles begleitet, von denen jede ein offizielles Video enthält, das die Geschichte des Albums voller Herzschmerz, Wut und Hartnäckigkeit erzählt. Das sind Witherfall, immer bereit, die Extrameile zu gehen, um endlich zur Speerspitze der internationalen Metal-Szene vorzudringen. Witherfall wurde 2013 in Los Angeles gegründet. Seitdem hat die Gruppe drei vielbeachtete Alben veröffentlicht. Die band macht keine Abstriche und engagierte für 'Curse Of Autumn' u.a. den international anerkannten Top-Drummer Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats, Steven Wilson, Jordan Rudess). Die Band engagierte erneut den Produzenten/Studio-Zauberer Chris "Zeuss" Harris (Rob Zombie, Queensrÿche, Shadows Fall) als Ingenieur/Co-Produzent sowie für Mix und Master
Das Cover von Blake Armstrong (In Flames, Megadeth, Kataklysm, Harry Potter) bietet einen visuellen Gegenpol zur Musik auf dem Album sowie zu Michaels kompromissloser Text-Offenheit.
Neben der CD gibt es schwarzes Vinyl sowie zwei limitierte farbige Versionen!

Die in Los Angeles ansässige Dark-Melodic-Metal-Band Witherfall präsentiert ihr viertes Album über DeathWave Records. Der Vorgänger 'Curse Of Autumn' konnte großes Lob in der relevanten Fachpresse sowie die # 20 in den deutschen Album-Charts als auch US-BILLBOARD-Charts verbuchen.
Das neue Album wird von einem ehrgeizigen Zeitplan mit sieben Singles begleitet, von denen jede ein offizielles Video enthält, das die Geschichte des Albums voller Herzschmerz, Wut und Hartnäckigkeit erzählt. Das sind Witherfall, immer bereit, die Extrameile zu gehen, um endlich zur Speerspitze der internationalen Metal-Szene vorzudringen. Witherfall wurde 2013 in Los Angeles gegründet. Seitdem hat die Gruppe drei vielbeachtete Alben veröffentlicht. Die band macht keine Abstriche und engagierte für 'Curse Of Autumn' u.a. den international anerkannten Top-Drummer Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats, Steven Wilson, Jordan Rudess). Die Band engagierte erneut den Produzenten/Studio-Zauberer Chris "Zeuss" Harris (Rob Zombie, Queensrÿche, Shadows Fall) als Ingenieur/Co-Produzent sowie für Mix und Master
Das Cover von Blake Armstrong (In Flames, Megadeth, Kataklysm, Harry Potter) bietet einen visuellen Gegenpol zur Musik auf dem Album sowie zu Michaels kompromissloser Text-Offenheit.
Neben der CD gibt es schwarzes Vinyl sowie zwei limitierte farbige Versionen!

1993 Chick Corea - the venerated 27-time Grammy winner and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master - unveiled the second incarnation of the Elektric Band. With the brand new lineup of guitarist Mike Miller, bassist Jimmy Earl and drummer Gary Novak, and saxophonist Eric Marienthtal (the lone holder over from the first iteration of the Elektric Band,) Corea, approached this ambitious outing in the same way he had done everything throughout his career, by pushing the boundaries of what modern jazz is.

With material written with these specific players in mind, Corea gathered this group of remarkably flexible musicians into Mad Hatter Studios in Los Angeles. Recorded almost entirely live in first takes, the album is notable for its “less is more” approach to Corea’s particular style of genre bending composition. Though the focus may have been more on acoustic piano than synths, the same proficiency, spontaneity, impeccable execution and jaw-dropping display of chops that characterize the five first Elektric Band albums applies.

Of special note here is the inclusion of the track “Final Frontier”, originally released exclusively on the Japanese and European editions. This all out burner is the lone tune on the record featuring Corea on a synthesizer.

Written as an answer to “Got A Match” from 1986’s The Chick Corea Elektric Band album, it’s an uptempo showcase for the players to stretch out and the kind of track that exemplifies the jazz fusion that Corea and his groups came to define."

Ltd. Purple & Black Splatter Vinyl. It's been four years since Zach Saginaw, aka Shigeto, returned home to Michigan from a stint in Brooklyn, NY, and since then, the multi-faceted musician has become a part of the fabric of Detroit's music scene. While always having a personal approach to his projects, Saginaw's influences for his third album, The New Monday are more about the community of Detroit than anything else. Named after a weekly DJ event called Monday is the New Monday that Saginaw does at the unassuming Motor City Wine with a group of friends, The New Monday is the result of Saginaw diving into the city's deep record culture, where there legacy of artist's of the past help Saginaw embrace his own contributions. "It's focused on a couple things and they all kind of come together to represent dierent things," explains Saginaw. "My time back in Detroit, back living in Michigan and spending time with a lot of kind of original people who have always been here, learning from them, hearing stories from them, being influenced by them, and inspired by them." While, in the past, projects like Lineage or No Better Time Than Now were rooted in strong personal messages, family and relationships respectively, The New Monday represents a communal eort where solidarity is the key. Going for a simplified approach of just trying to make good tracks, The New Monday is diverse in its styles leaning more into a dance music direction - new ground for a Shigeto project. A new air of confidence in Saginaw has expanded his horizons since his return to Detroit, but traces of his past work will continue to be present. "I don't want people to think I'm leaving anything," says Saginaw. "I'm still me. It's a result of me being immersed in the culture, and inevitably making music that is influenced by that culture whether it be house, techno, jazz, rap. It doesn't matter. It's all coming from what I love about Michigan." While The New Monday still features the jazz textures long associated with Shigeto projects, the varied elements that make up the album cohesively come together to show the distinct inspiration that Saginaw has drew from since his return home to Detroit. Like on "Barry White", which features Detroit hip-hop artist ZelooperZ (a member of Danny Brown's Bruiser Brigade crew who Saginaw also has a side project with called ZGTO), Saginaw captures everything he's been doing all on one track. As much as it's hip-hop influenced, it's a mutant that encompasses elements of dance music, jazz, and ambient sounds. Throughout The New Monday, Saginaw poignantly references the musical influences that have either always been with him or newly discovered. It is Saginaw's interpretation of Detroit's rich culture of innovative artistry, but done so with respect for the history and to contribute, not disrupt. "I think over the past four years, I can confidently say that I found my place here," describes Saginaw. "I'm happy here and I feel that I have the respect from the people I need respect from, that I want respect from. It's all of the result of embracing it and embracing, not Detroit, but embracing community, embracing family,








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Top secret transmissions from the Upgrade crew !

Hip-House back again for summer '24 with four raucous revivals done up 21st century style...

We're not getting many on this one, so presale essential

"In partnership with WaterTower Music, Waxwork Records is thrilled to release GODZILLA x KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Tom Holkenborg! The epic monster-battle continues with an all-new adventure that pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) features 23 new tracks created for the film by Grammy-nominated composer Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL (Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Zack Snyder’s Justice League) as well as composer Antonio Di lorio. Composer, Tom Holkenborg says, “I’m a huge Godzilla and Kong fan, and loved working with director Adam Wingard on 2021's GODZILLA VS. KONG, so returning to these monsters to score their biggest adventure yet was a dream come true. These are two of the most enduring names in Hollywood and Adam has done an amazing job implementing his vision for these icons. I was also delighted to be able to name Antonio Di Iorio, an incredibly talented composer, who has worked with me for many years, as my co-composer on this movie. I couldn’t be more enthusiastic to continue my adventures with Adam and expand our creative relationship in the Monsterverse.” Waxwork Records is excited to present GODZILLA x KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE as a deluxe double LP featuring the original soundtrack by Tom Holkenborg pressed to 180 Gram colored vinyl, housed in heavyweight gatefold jackets with matte satin coating, a 12x12 heavyweight art print insert, and design and layout by Matt Needle."

Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire by Tom Holkenborg & Antonio Di Iorio, released 21 June 2024, includes the following tracks: "Monarch Base - Red Dream", "Leaving Colosseum - New Dossier", "Friendship", "Approaching the Lake" and more.
This version of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire comes as a 2xLP in a(n) Gatefold Sleeve packaging. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

The vinyl is pressed as a swirl splatter, neon & pink & blue etc. disc. Another vinyl is pressed as a swirl splatter, neon & pink & blue etc. disc.

Compassion combines ethereal pop with ‘80s synth textures, and slacker-rock charm. It's got a bit of Matthew E. White, chilled out BC Camplight and Conor Oberst.

The inviting and perceptive songs on Rui Gabriel’s debut LP Compassion all tackle growing up. It’s about how the older you get, your priorities shift, friendships evolve, and responsibilities become inescapable. For Gabriel, the Indiana-based, Venezuela-born artist and co-founder of the acclaimed band Lawn, the changes in his own life inspired him to write a solo full-length that sounds like nothing the indie rock journeyman has done before. Across 10 vibrant tracks that combine ethereal pop with slacker-rock and piano-driven dance music, it’s a galvanizing showcase of personal growth and the grace you give yourself to push forward.

Work on Compassion started in 2018 when Gabriel was living in New Orleans. “I was living a pretty teenage life in many ways,” says Gabriel. “I worked at a pizza restaurant and would just go to shows or parties. I wasn’t doing anything other than music. I didn't have many responsibilities.” The songs he was working on at the time—tracks that didn’t fit Lawn but Gabriel still liked—initially went unfinished. But as Gabriel’s life changed, so did his songwriting and his desire to see his ideas through. “When I was writing lyrics, I was settling down with my partner and about to become a dad,” says Gabriel. “I was making choices about my life that contradicted the existence I had before. I had a different set of priorities.”

The songs on Compassion deal with youthful carelessness ("Dreamy Boys") and coming face-to-face with newfound responsibilities ("Change Your Mind"). It's consistently a biting, observant look at getting older thanks to Gabriel's unique perspective as a South American immigrant who's lived across the United States for the past 13 years. “When you are Hispanic, English isn't your first language, and you're in a music scene with a bunch of white people, you're going to stand out a little bit,” he says. On “Church of Nashville,” “Hey, Leonard Cohen is singing poems by the gentrified alley” he humorously aims at scene pretension and industry gatekeepers.

Compared to Gabriel’s work with Lawn, where he writes frenetic post-punk songs and yells, for Compassion he explores more straightforward pop sensibilities and showcases his singing voice. “I wanted to do a solo record to prove to myself that I could sing,” says Gabriel. Take the meditative, piano-based lead single “Target,” which is inspired by Dido and finds Gabriel gorgeously harmonizing with singer Kate Teague. He reaches similar infectiousness on the sunny rocker “Summertime Tiger,” which guests Stef Chura. Co-produced by Gabriel and Nicholas Corson (The Convenience, Video Age), Compassion is consistently warm, generous, colorful, and adventurous.

“Compassion is a record about change,” says Gabriel. “It's a coming-of-age record but for somebody who's coming of age into their thirties.”

When it comes to musical performance, Charlie Bereal has done it all. Over the course of his 20+ year career, he's performed with and written for some of the greatest Hip Hop and R&B artists of our time (JAY-Z, Aaliyah, Snoop Dogg, and Missy Elliot to name a few). Now, he's shifting gears to focus on his career as a solo artist. On 5/10/2024, Charlie will re-release his second full-length record entitled 11-11-11 via Karma Chief and Colemine Records. Originally released in 2019, 11-11-11 was recorded over the course of a few casual hangs in Los Angeles. Charlie invited his friends Jairus Mosey and Raphael Saadig to join him in the studio and the trio started to jam. "We were just recording for fun - it wasn't for a specific project at first. Afterward, I listened back and decided to turn the best parts into individual songs." This flexible approach combined with Charlie's masterful production resulted in a soulful, psychedelic blend of original R&B. Think Sly and the Family Stone or Funkadelic. Charlie was born in Los Angeles and raised in Pasadena, CA. Musical talent runs in his family. He started performing at his grandfather's church at a very young age. "My grandfather was a pastor, and my dad was a preacher," he explained. "I started playing in the church band when I was 10, and I was drumming even earlier than that." When he was 16, Charlie and his brother Kenneth started making music professionally. He still works on music with his cousins on a regular basis. "I come from a very talented family. I can count at least seven family members who play professionally these days." Beyond the re-release of his second record, Charlie plans to record another album at Colemine's studio in Ohio. Stay tuned for more original music from this Grammy nominated legend.

When it comes to musical performance, Charlie Bereal has done it all. Over the course of his 20+ year career, he's performed with and written for some of the greatest Hip Hop and R&B artists of our time (JAY-Z, Aaliyah, Snoop Dogg, and Missy Elliot to name a few). Now, he's shifting gears to focus on his career as a solo artist. On 5/10/2024, Charlie will re-release his second full-length record entitled 11-11-11 via Karma Chief and Colemine Records. Originally released in 2019, 11-11-11 was recorded over the course of a few casual hangs in Los Angeles. Charlie invited his friends Jairus Mosey and Raphael Saadig to join him in the studio and the trio started to jam. "We were just recording for fun - it wasn't for a specific project at first. Afterward, I listened back and decided to turn the best parts into individual songs." This flexible approach combined with Charlie's masterful production resulted in a soulful, psychedelic blend of original R&B. Think Sly and the Family Stone or Funkadelic. Charlie was born in Los Angeles and raised in Pasadena, CA. Musical talent runs in his family. He started performing at his grandfather's church at a very young age. "My grandfather was a pastor, and my dad was a preacher," he explained. "I started playing in the church band when I was 10, and I was drumming even earlier than that." When he was 16, Charlie and his brother Kenneth started making music professionally. He still works on music with his cousins on a regular basis. "I come from a very talented family. I can count at least seven family members who play professionally these days." Beyond the re-release of his second record, Charlie plans to record another album at Colemine's studio in Ohio. Stay tuned for more original music from this Grammy nominated legend.

Verrazzano continues with the second issue in our summer EP series! This time Type-303 is really ”Lost In Paradise” with this four-track EP to suit all sophisticated tastes.

The first track hitting your nerves is ”Acid Disco Time”. Have you ever wondered how it feels to go to a disco with a slight ”acidy” taste in your mouth and realize that something is familiar, but at the same time, somehow… out of place? You hear a Seinfeld bass slapping a classic groove, then a bubbling energy starts rising under the surface and now your armpits sweat in your blazer! Add some glitter dust shimmering in smoke, and the whole thing goes off to a spacey gallop! Is this now so-called ”Cosmic-Business” dance music?

The story continues with ”Lost In Paradise”, and takes us to the deep end of turquoise-colored waters. If you found a seashell from the beach and listened to its stories carefully, could you handle the tempting whispers of mermaids, and resist the melodies from those happy days of ancient Minoan Paradise? To get a taste of such delights, this track delivers a glimpse!

How do our ancestors teach us lessons long after their earthly existence? By roaming the Earth in cosmic fashion, of course!

”Spirit Dance”, with its ethereal flute and otherworldly harmonies puts the listener in a place where one is the question mark and the answer too… Deep? It should be.

When the spirits have done their hypnotic dance and the dizziness has vanished, it is time to wander on a field and look at some beautiful ”Wild Horses”. Basking in the evening dawn, you appreciate that some energies are not fully tamed, but are glorious as wild beings and should be kept as such. It’s the same with music, nurture the wild sides of sounds and energies!

Missing out on that super-chill, uber-jittery minimal groove thing? Let"s get real, real Ghosted again. Oren Ambarchi has been collaborating with the Fire! trio (Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin) for over a decade - and both Johan and Andreas played on Oren"s Live Hubris as well. Oren and Johan began music-making together back in the early aughts - but it wasn"t until 2021 that the three of them got together to record music. That became the first Ghosted album. When they were done, it was clear they had founded a new group. A music of sustained tension and deep atmosphere marked by subtle, shifting dynamics, Ghosted was released in May of 2022 to psyched response everywhere; the trio embarked upon an ongoing series of concert bookings around Europe, with loads of other people in the world still hoping to have the chance to be in the room at the next show. Two years on, Ghosted has gone through several represses, now it"s time for the "dreaded follow up album"! Rather than go back to the well, the guys decided to tear everything down and start all over again, reimagining themselves from scratch. Just kidding! As we"ve noted, Oren, Johan and Andreas have been playing together for years and years, developing an essential telepathy within their shared space. They get each other and feed each other"s music processes on an elemental level. Why change that? What made the most sense was to go back to Daneil Bengtsson at Studio Rymden in Stockholm for a couple days, then have Oren and Joe Talia mix and Joe master it at Good Mixture in Melbourne again, then get Pål Dybwik to do some well-distinctive cover art, and once more, call it a record. That"s just what they did - and it should be no surprise at all that the new Ambarchi/ Berthling/Werliin album looks and sounds as engrossing as their debut, if not more so! Ghosted II has a definitively fresh quality radiating throughout. The mutual feeling among the three players goes deep, allowing for lots more to say every time they get together - a further recombination of elements, a new expedition through alternative angles... there"s always more, and incredibly, it"s all improvised, with next-to-nothing prepared going in and minimal overdubs after they"ve laid things down. References are shared in shorthand, with just a single word, like "Santana," or "Police" acting as working titles for certain pieces on this record (have a guess!). It"s a disservice to call them jams: above and beyond the innate feel of the songs, there"s a strong sense of structure, informed by the band"s communal aesthetic, and edified immeasurably by their time spent in concert the last couple years. As noted at the top, these guys balance their music improbably between a relaxed feel and a nervy resolve, as each member holds down their corner in an open sound field. Making Ghosted II, the band found that there"s a different kind of tension making something for an established project rather than the kind one feels making something for the first time - and they used this new variety, as before, as a kind of fuel - driving their terse minimalism fruit-fully through the process of succumbing to and then transcending guilty pleasures. Finding fresh territory in funk sketches, jazzy heads, ambient pastorals and droning soundtrack pieces, Ambarchi, Berthling and Werliin compellingly haunt a mad variety of spaces, leaving us wanting to get Ghosted II.

LP, 2024 Repress - half speed mastering
"The 50 best IDM albums of all time"
Pitchfork

"A liquidy headbox of aural shapes, whose forms hardly change yet seem to encompass infinite viscosity within them, like rainbow pools of oil on water"
Wire

"Before IDM became a nation of Aphex and Autechre cosplayers, the genre was less defined by aesthetics than by a shared ideology. Here was a loosely connected axis of post-rave kids, united by little more than a shared willingness to subvert the tools of their techno idols and create sounds that hadn't previously been imagined. No record of the era better embodies this find-a-machine-and-freak-it ethos than Islets in Pink Polypropylene, the otherworldly debut by British producer Anthony Manning."
Pitchfork

"It’s refreshing to hear an all-electronic album that sounds so organic yet so totally alien."
Fact

"One of the UK’s first post-rave ambient records proper; sharing much more in common with Autechre’s Amber or AFX’s Selected Ambient Works Vol. II - which were both released in that same year - than anything else before or around it."
Boomkat

For fans of avant everything innovative and experimental music.




About The Album>>>>

The whole album was composed and realized on the Roland R8 drum machine. It followed the same process as the Elastic Variations pieces, with the major addition of many, many hours of editing.

Each piece was composed as a series of patterns, of varying lengths ( 5,6,7 bars long ). The stock R8 sounds were embellished with one of several ROM sound library cards ( mostly the Dance card, number 10 ).

These patterns were created by tapping out a rhythm, then, in real time, using the Pitch slider as the pattern looped, to create improvised melodies for each of the pattern's voices.

The rough version of each piece was built by stitching the patterns together as a song, listening to each addition over and over, to make sure the melodies flowed into each other in a vaguely coherent manner.

Once this initial rough structure was in place I set about fine tuning every single note.

The R8 doesn't allow you to assign a pitch to a note in the conventional sense. It's not possible to assign a pitch of Middle C to the first note of the first bar. Instead, it assigns a numerical value to a note's pitch, between -4800 and +4800 ( I think those numbers are correct - that little screen is seared into my memory ).

If you restrict all notes within a piece to a multiple of, say, 400, you therefore create the possibility of a sort of scale. For multiples of 400, you have a total number of 24 permissable notes. However, most of the percussive sounds, when pitch shifted, only sounded 'good' over a reduced range.

The first editing step was to go through the entire piece, and change every note's pitch to its nearest multiple of 400.

The second step was to draw out the entire piece on graph paper, the Y axis being pitch, X being time. This drawing gave me a visual sense of a melody's flow. It was easy to see too many notes clustering around too tight a pitch range for instance, or a single note straying way down into the lower register while all others at that point in the melody were in the upper.

Once these first 'clearing-up' edits were complete I could set about re-writing elements that didn't sound right melodically. Often this meant stripping out whole chunks of superfluous notes, to reveal a cleaner melody line, then shifting its shape slightly. If the flow of the line of dots on the graph 'looked' balanced and sweetly sinuous, then often it sounded so.

This entire process took many weeks per piece. Weeks of doing almost nothing else. Listening. Re-drawing. Re-writing. Listening. Round and round and round. When I could hear the whole thing in my head, from beginning to end, and nothing seemed to jar ( too excessively ), I knew it was done, time to move on.

I imagine it's very similar to the process of stop animation. Your days are filled with painfully tiny incremental changes that seem to be getting nowhere. Then, slowly, a shape, narrative, starts to appear. Then, all of a sudden, somehow, it's done.

When all the pieces were complete the R8 was taken into Irdial's studio where some simple effects were added, each voice recorded individually for clarity onto 8-track tape and mastered onto an ex-BBC half-inch tape deck.

Then I slept. And vowed never to do it again.

*****

And the title ?

Soon after finishing the pieces I happened to read a magazine article about Christo's "Surrounded Islands" installation with the music playing in the background.

There was something about a particular cluster of words within a random sentence that seemed pleasing and somehow appropriate.

"Islets in Pink Polypropylene" seemed to make as much sense as anything else.

Death Is Not The End together all three LP volumes of the critically acclaimed If I Had a Pair of Wings LP compilation series for a bundled edition.

"...all of the music on this compilation is the result of the forward-thinking artists and producers that realised the worth of local Jamaican artistry during a time when the island's leading political figures had not yet managed to throw off the colonial yolk. These are sounds with a certain innocence and the optimistic promise of better to come, with the influence of American pop ballads and doo-wop looming large, yet already pointing to the innovations of the future. Listen keenly and take in the sounds of the Jamaican music industry at its very beginnings, its singers and players drawing from the popular styles of the island's larger neighbour and already changing those styles into something their own." - David Katz

Lauren Laverne's comp of the week on BBC Radio 6 Music w/c 11th Jan.

Originally released in 1987, Life Time is the full-length debut by Rollins Band. This reissue—released on ROLLINS’ 2.13.61 label—has been remastered for vinyl by TJ LIPPLE and includes updated artwork by JASON FARRELL. Henry Rollins on Life Time: “Life Time is the first studio record by the Rollins Band. We did our first practice on 04-07-87 and went out on a long tour of America and Europe. On the road we wrote songs and put them into the set. By late October we finished the shows in London, UK. We went up to Leeds where Chris had a place to live and booked studio time at the same place that he and I did the Hot Animal Machine recordings a year before. I had no producer for this record and feared that since everyone in the band had strong opinions on how it all should be done that if we tried to do it ourselves we would do more harm than good. I called Ian MacKaye and asked for help. He got on a plane and came right out. That's Ian. We got straight to work as we had little time or money. All twelve songs were cut and mixed in a few days. We would do a take and Ian would tell us that it was good and we were moving on. When someone would say that they wanted to do it over again, he listened patiently and then asked again which song we wanted to do next. We got it all done and dragged it back to America for about 3,200 dollars. My, how things have changed. The album cover was drawn on the back of a diner place mat by Stephen Myers as a gift for my then roommate, Laura. Only the offset reproduction of the piece remains as the original went with her when she gave up her room. She shot herself a few years ago. Special thanks to Ian for coming to the rescue on such short notice. Thanks to you for checking this out.” Download code for full album plus live tracks. Also comes with lyric insert.

Third studio album by the Munich-based band Dune Pilot. Fuzzy stoner/desert rock at its finest! Founding members Andris Friedrich on vocals and Christian Schmidt on guitar are focusing again on earthy stoner roots rock with a ‘fat fuzz’. Munich scene veterans Veit Schlembach on drums (ex-Password Monkey) and Konst Fischer on bass (ex-Smoke The Sky) brought freshness into the team, enriching the sound and songwriting of the band in a multi-layered and positive way. The gods of desert rock - read Kyuss - are duly honoured here. The new album "Magnetic" has been completely recorded live in the studio by the well-rehearsed musicians. The four-piece ensemble has already done many live-shows, mainly in Germany, and has shared stages with scene greats such as Karma To Burn, Orange Goblin, Greenleaf, Colour Haze and Rotor.

Tomorrowland Music kündigt ’TOMORROWLAND 2024 - LIFE - OFFICIAL COMPILATION’ an. Erlebe die Euphorie des diesjährigen Tomorrowland-Mottos „LIFE“ bequem von zu Hause aus, mit exklusiven Tracks und erweiterten Versionen, die für DJs und Musikliebhaber gleichermaßen geeignet sind. Mit einer handverlesenen Auswahl aktueller Singles von einigen der größten Namen der elektronischen Musik, darunter Lost Frequencies, David Guetta, Alok, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Martin Garrix, Alesso und einige der größten Club-Hits des Augenblicks, wie Zerb (Mwaki), Alex Wann (Milkshake 20). Von erhebenden Melodien bis hin zu herzzerreißenden Beats ist jeder Track ein Zeugnis für die Einheit, Freude und Vielfalt, die auf dem Tomorrowland gefeiert wird. Jedes Vinyl ist ein Sammlerstück, reich an ästhetischen Details und angereichert mit luxuriösen Verpackungselementen, die durch ein atemberaubendes Artwork aufgewertet werden.

The classic 1981 collaboration returns expanded! • LP features two previously unissued tracks, CD/Digital adds four more Packaging features photos and new liner notes from John DeAngelis “I’m more proud of this album than anything I’ve done since I got my first gold record, toured with Elvis Presley, and joined the Grand Ole Opry.” —Skeeter Davis “This album was recorded with love all over the tapes. For us, it was the best.” —Terry Adams (NRBQ) After working with her sisters in The Davis Singers, Skeeter Davis embarked on a storied solo career. With nearly 40 charting singles between 1957–1974, her recording of “The End Of The World” (Produced by Chet Atkins) hit #2 on both the Pop and Country charts, #1 Adult Contemporary, and #4 R&B in 1962. Think about that! Since Skeeter had already crossed perceived genres, the thought of the collaboration with music’s Pandora’s Box known as NRBQ shouldn’t seem difficult to grasp. Terry Adams’ discovery of David Sisters 78 RPMs saw tracks added to early NRBQ set lists. The pairing was meant to be. She Sings, They Play was a natural coupling, and was issued to critical acclaim in 1985. “We had more fun making this record. What other group would think to do ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’ in 4/4 time?,” asked Skeeter Davis. She Sings, They Play returns nearly four decades after its original release, remastered and including six previously unissued bonus tracks – two studio outtakes appear on the LP while those and four more live tacks are now available on the CD/Digital version. The packaging contains updated artwork, photos from the sessions, and insightful liner notes from John DeAngelis. It’s a fresh look at an incredible union of two groundbreaking artists. She Sings, They Play. You enjoy!

2024 Repress

We have done a small repress of this mega Ellis Dee release that came out originally on his CAT Label in 1994 and was repressed by us in 2021. This has been sold out for a very long time but the demand has built up, so we have decided to repress one more time.

A kaleidoscopic sonic riot, Nandakke? is the hotly anticipated debut album from Japanese-Belgian duo Aili. Featuring 10 tracks of surreal electro-pop, joyful electronica, house music and more, Nandakke? is a euphoric album that sees Aili Maruyama and Orson Wouters more than fulfil the promise of their acclaimed debut EP.

Recorded over the course of six months in Orson's studio, packed full of vintage synths, Nandakke? captures the spontaneous spirit and creativity of those sessions. Exchanging riffs and rhythms, bouncing sounds and samples off each other, Aili and Orson would let the music take them where it wanted. The result,an album full of wild ideas and bold, playful experimentation.

More than anything an exhilarating feeling of discovery courses through Nandakke?, leaving you never sure where it will go next. One minute a pulsing electro-pop number featuring Aili's dad discussing his takoyaki (battered octopus) recipe, the next an explosive high energy workout song like Up & Down.

Certainly Aili was surprised to find herself singing in her own unique version of Japanese again.

"I thought that I was done with that after our debut EP, but apparently not as I speak even more Japanese on the album!" said Maruyama. "Every time we were in the studio these words would just tumble out. It's a complicated language but I just love to play with it.

"In many ways I'm an outsider, I left Tokyo aged 7, so there's a lot I notice as someone who is not a native speaker and it doesn't always make sense, there's a lot of mistakes in it.But in a way that sums up the whole philosophy of the album and how Orson and I work together."

That notion of duality, a sense of belonging but feeling apart, of being between two worlds and inventing your own captures the spirit of Nandakke?, itself a Japanese word that roughly translates to "Well, what was it?".

"It's something you say when you're looking for a word, like you know it but have forgotten how to say it. That's literally how I communicate with my dad the whole time," Maruyama explains. "The main feeling I have when I go to Japan is that I know the language, I can speak it, but part of me still feels like it doesn't have all the vocabulary. There's a gap there that nandakke has always filled for me. All the lyrics come from that place, that seven-year old trying to speak Japanese."

Whether Aili's singing about the language she invented with her father over the years to bridge the gap between them (Nandakke?), the idiosyncratic Japanese relationship to fashion (Fashion) or riffing on children's playground songs (Yubikiri) the result is a remarkable album that defies easy categorisation.

Bursting onto the Belgian scene in 2021 with their acclaimed debut EP, Dansu, its lead track spent 8 consecutive weeks at the #1 spot of Radio 1's VOX list and saw the band nominated for Studio Brussel's De Nieuwe Lichting ('New Generation') award. Since then Aili have appeared playing live on the Belgian TV show Roomies, been tipped by the likes of Rolling Stone, become regulars on tastemaker stations like KEXP and KCRW in the US and Nova in France, toured across Europe and, just recently, played their first sell out shows in Japan.

A home, a house, has countless frequencies. Each room, each corner feels different. Swings differently. And as you grow older, you realize which corner is yours. But yeah, it takes time…

It certainly marks the end of an era when the house one called home as a kid no longer exists. This home, it was the starting point of so many journeys. Of one big, ongoing journey. And so it feels good, soothing, reassuring to at least return to a spot nearby – to that (proverbial) hill from where you can see it. Feel the vibe that made you.

Andi Haberl’s debut solo album as Sun is sort of dedicated to that house. It’s a journey leading to that hill overlooking everything that made him. It’s not about nostalgia, not about actually returning to a specific place. Instead, it’s about finding a personal frequency, an overlapping of sounds and samples, an open space that mirrors and extends whatever frequencies felt right at different points in time.

“To me, the results feel like Gold Panda/Four Tet meets Steve Reich meets Krautrock meets film scores. I just really wanted to create moods that touch me – and ideally others, too.”

Talking about his first solo album, Haberl recalls many stages: early compositions that ended up on Alien Ensemble’s albums, early DIY/home studio/multi-instrumentalist inspirations (Le Millipede), new technologies that came and went, even a set of wildly convincing arrangements (done with Cico Beck’s crucial input) that ultimately became stepping stones for yet another round of DIY takes. “It was a long, recurring process, and the songs went through so many different versions,” he says, talking about phases of growth (“I added more and more equipment over time”) and pruning, “cleaning up my music a bit.” Tending towards instruments that open up space, and slowly falling in love with sampling, he certainly didn’t rush things once it was time for interior design decisions ;)

“During this whole process I got to learn so much about my own taste, how I prefer to listen to the pieces, which musical elements really matter to me… and what my own voice is. For example, that acoustic elements are most important to me: the banjo, piano, drums, my voice, glockenspiel, trumpet, melodica. Anything that opens up some space.”

Every journey begins with a search: “Missing” with its plucked chords opens like a sunrise over pastoral plains, gently leading the way towards the intricate, playful explosion that occurs once a certain amount of energy (“Sun”) hits dirt and other surfaces: things grow, clot and curdle into new shapes, like new buds; layers of sound move forward, drenched in Spring’s new light. Relying on samples to ask for precipitation (“Rain On Me”), robotic “Low” goes from barren to bass-heavy after its midway shift in pace, full of loops plucked from the shade.

Towards the album’s midpoint, things are suddenly reversed: “Cluster” has that backwards pull, you can’t tell what’s what, yet everything is perfectly locked in, as the pace increases once again. And before the title song shimmers with densified cheering (to eventually stand tall like early Lymbyc Systym), “Beside Me” swipes you off your feet with its booming bass drum. The beat returns once again (“Daydream”), full of searching voices underneath, and at “Dawnday,” we can finally catch a melancholy view of the house. Voices hum. It’s the score moment of the album. Everything makes sense now. A happy end of sorts?

“I want to take people on a journey. A personal journey, too, because when my parents split up and sold the house I grew up in, I felt a bit like the ground had fallen out from under my feet. But I have dedicated the album title and the accompanying piece to this house… so I can keep it in good memory.”

“I Can See Our House From Here” has been a long time coming. It’s been a long journey. Homeward-bound. Leading to a place that’s really Haberl’s – his sound. His frequencies.

Known as a long-time member of The Notwist and various other bands/projects (Alien Ensemble, AMEO, jersey, Ditty etc.), Berlin-based drummer/composer Andi Haberl has also worked with My Brightest Diamond, Till Brönner, Owen Pallet, and Kurt Rosenwinkel, to name a few. “I Can See Our House From Here” is his first solo offering.

After the successes of both L.D. 50 and The End Of All Things To Come, Mudvayne released their third studio album Lost & Found in 2005. It booked major success in the U.S., debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200. So far, the album has sold over a million copies worldwide and is their most successful album to date. It was produced by Dave Fortman, who has done production work for bands such as Godsmack, Eyehategod and Slipknot. Together with Fortman, they brought back the raw sound from their debut album L.D. 50.. Lost & Found features four singles: the Grammy Award-nominated “Determined”, “Fall Into Sleep”, “Forget To Remember”, and Mudvayne’s signature and most successful song chart-wise “Happy?”. The 2LP Lost & Found is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on gold & black marbled vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve and includes a 4-page booklet.

It’s a tough call which is the bigger cult classic, the Tank Girl movie or its accompanying soundtrack, but on balance, we’d have to go for the soundtrack. Yeah, the film had a cast composed of some of the most colorful characters (Iggy Pop, Ann Magnuson) and character actors (Malcolm McDowell, Ice-T, and of course the almighty Lori Petty!) in show biz. And, its dystopic, resource-starved desert setting, intense action sequences, and lead female character mark it as a feminist (albeit funnier) precursor to Mad Max: Fury Road. But check out the soundtrack’s bona-fides: assembled by Courtney Love herself, it features a Who’s Who of ‘90s female rock including Hole, Björk, L7, Veruca Salt, and Belly among others. Plus, it even has tracks that were exclusive to its release, like a unique version of Devo’s “Girl U Want,” “Mockingbird Girl” by The Magnificent Bastards (a side project of the late Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots), and a duet of “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love” between Joan Jett and The Replacements’ Paul Westerberg. In short, if there ever was a score that needs to be on wax, this would be it. We’ve done it right, too, with a gatefold jacket featuring the trademark comic book art and stills from the film, and a neon yellow vinyl pressing limited to 750 copies!

The three howler monkeys of NAG strike back with their new album “Boys Of Europe”. They debuted in 2016 as an exciting breath of basement-smelling air. Their moderately original alternative cement mix of the filthiest of punk, the truest of hardcore, and the evilest of metal was very well received. Then came gigs and tours around Europe before the second album was released in 2018, to raving reviews too, ofcourse. But then there was dead silence. For a long time. Now they’ve finally returned from obscurity with ten perfected and mighty NAG-tunes. Indeed, their hair has become greyer, and their backs hurt more, but there’s no way you can tell. They still sound like raging Norwegian teenagers. NAG has stayed true to their original ‘crust punk black metal’ formula, and the new album is as hard, fast and straightforward as anything they’ve done before.

Once upon a time, DJ’s were like soaring eagles, they would spread their musical wings and fly high to wherever they wanted to go musically. It wasn’t uncommon to hear hip house and go go played alongside disco and funk, or techno being dropped on either side of something a lil’ mo’ soulful. Then the DJ’s wings were clipped and clubs became musical cages for the more adventurous DJ’s, clubs evolved into one-dimensional musical prisons and beats bubbles. Unconventionally, Marcus McGowan hails from South Carolina, and it would be fair to argue that South Carolina is a bit of a house music wasteland? Perhaps it’s this simple geographical blip that has nurtured McGowan into creating a sound that can’t be affiliated to any particular city, cities such as Detroit that is generally associated with techno, Washington is the undisputed town of go go, or Chicago, which is renowned for acid house, hip house, and jackin’ house, and of course, New Jersey is the spiritual home of soulful house. What McGowan has created is a fresh, new vibe that appears to be crossing many musical boundaries and the test pressing mailout appears to have united music lovers from numerous genres of house music AND techno alike, with its deep, techy, jazzy, soulful, sweet and melliferous flavoured vibe. Luke Una boasted that “it’s the record of the year so far”, MFSB’s Yogi Haughton called it a “classic in the making”, but all said and done, the test pressing feedback from the handful that were passed out to music lovers around the U.K. is unanimous, it’s jus’ a frikin’ solid double hitter that can’t be pigeon-holed. This is a record for majestic, soaring DJ’s and music lovers, not scabby, common or garden Columbidae garbage foragers. It’s a slice of intellectual music that will perch McGowan very high up in the producer pecking order!

The tussling vegetables in Mal Dean's cover-sketch somehow befit perfectly this extraordinary duo of Bailey and the great Dutch drummer Han Bennink. Recorded in London in 1972, Incus 9 was their second record (after an ICP in 1969), becoming a blueprint and inspiration for generations of free-improvisers. It is paired here with a brilliant session from the following year, with the same power and friendly combativeness, and oodles of creativity, technique and humour. It's obvious how much they loved playing together.The tussling vegetables in Mal Dean's cover-sketch somehow befit perfectly this extraordinary duo of Bailey and the great Dutch drummer Han Bennink. Recorded in London in 1972, Incus 9 was their second record (after an ICP in 1969), becoming a blueprint and inspiration for generations of free-improvisers. It is paired here with a brilliant session from the following year, with the same power and friendly combativeness, and oodles of creativity, technique and humour. It's obvious how much they loved playing together.

Danza Nativa has done a great job of establishing its own unique sound in the techno sphere over the last half a decade. Now it marks the occasion of its fifth birthday with a two-part compilation that showcases its avant-garde take on the genre. They tell us that part one has been assembled as a sort of "mental (as in pensive, not deranged) techno album that takes the form of some direct tools for working DJs. Anthony Linell, Claudio PRC, Luigi Tozzi and DanielI are those who step up and explore abstract, drone, deep and plenty in between.

Ein Doppelalbum, das sich auf die 2012 mit 45 7" Singles erschienene Box-Set Compilation "Eccentric Soul: Omnibus" bezieht und zusammenfasst. "Minibus" versammelt 25 dieser Songs aus der amerikanischen Soul-Diaspora und verbindet die Punkte zwischen dem Harmony Group Sound, Funk, Disco und modernem Soul, 1966-1980. Deluxe Klappcover mit zahlreichen Notizen und Fotos illustriert.

Tickled Pink Glass Vinyl. Ein Doppelalbum, das sich auf die 2012 mit 45 7" Singles erschienene Box-Set Compilation "Eccentric Soul: Omnibus" bezieht und zusammenfasst. "Minibus" versammelt 25 dieser Songs aus der amerikanischen Soul-Diaspora und verbindet die Punkte zwischen dem Harmony Group Sound, Funk, Disco und modernem Soul, 1966-1980. Deluxe Klappcover mit zahlreichen Notizen und Fotos illustriert.

THE 1968 ALBUM ON WHICH JOHNNY CASH BECAME A LEGEND: AT FOLSOM PRISON AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT AND POTENT STATEMENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY


Johnny Cash already knew his way around Folsom Prison when he and his band stepped inside the institution’s forbidding walls on the morning of January 13, 1968 to record At Folsom Prison. He’d played there two years prior. But this time was different.

Cash took the stage that day for two shows amid a darkening sociopolitical atmosphere and a raging war in Vietnam, as well as the knowledge his career and health hung on by a thread. The Arkansas native shared many of the long odds and abject failures of the inmates for which he performed. The songs he chose, and the conviction with which he delivered them, say as much. The point at which Cash transformed from a country star into a legendary artist, and a bold statement about the American prison state and its commitment to rehabilitation, the triple-platinum At Folsom Prison remains one the most important, potent, and fabled records of the 20th century.

You can hear it echo off the walls of the room; pulse through the itchiness of the Tennessee Three’s acoustic-based boom-chick rhythms; crackle in the announcements conveyed over the intercom; ring in the comedy of the off-cuff remarks and pair of novelty tunes; sense it in palpable energy that wells up within Cash and his audience. And you can experience it like never before via Cash’s knockout singing. The bedrock foundation of all his music, the singer’s baritone resonates with profound degrees of depth, pliability, and passion that underscore how much this appearance meant to him — and the extent he was living the narratives.

Indeed, every song on At Folsom Prison serves a purpose and speaks to the conditions — mental, emotional, physical, geographical, legal, social — the inmates confronted on a daily basis. Beginning with the explicit messages of the opening “Folsom Prison Blues,” Cash makes it clear he understands and shares many of their plights. Not for nothing did the myth of Cash having done hard time persist for decades once this record hit the streets. That’s how real it is, and how dedicated Cash remains to conveying every note with the same truth he invests in the impromptu comments he makes between and amid songs.

Listen to the sorrow, regret, pity, and loneliness of Merle Travis’ “Dark as the Dungeon,” Cash pulling syllables til they threaten to break and inhabiting the mood of bleak phrases such as “pleasures are few” and “the sun never shines.” Witness the isolation, dejection, and sadness punctuating the walking-blues “I Still Miss Someone,” matched in gravity by a solemn reading of “The Long Black Veil” — a traditional dirge that involves murder, cheating, and deception. Cash cuts even deeper on a heartbreaking solo rendition of “Send a Picture of Mother” and plainspoken version of Harlan Howard’s “The Wall,” detailing a suicide disguised as jailbreak through cliched-jaw deliveries that softly curse the impossible situation.

In chronicling temptations, mistakes, mortality, punishment, and life “inside” — for better or worse, the stories of the disenfranchised, forgotten, written-off, and unrepentant — At Folsom Prison also has a blast playing the outlaw role. Cash captures wild-eyed craziness and out-of-control mayhem on a revved-up take of “Cocaine Blues,” taking extra satisfaction in its dastardly tales by way of voice that shifts into character for the sheriff and judge. The gallows humor and racing drama of “25 Minutes to Go”; quicksilver accents and resigned acceptance of “I Got Stripes”; train-whistle blare and twangy locomotion of “Folsom Prison Blues” — all fight the law only to see the law win.

Cash remains deeply committed at every moment, and inseparably connected with the tortured souls removed from the goings-on of the outside world. No wonder all but two songs here stem from the day’s first performance that saw Cash, Luther Perkins, Marshall Grant, and company give everything. As does the Man in Black’s soon-to-be-wife, June Carter. The couple’s fiery duet on “Jackson” scorches; their combination of surrender and fortitude “Give My Love to Rose” puts us in the dying protagonist’s shoes.

And with the closing “Greystone Chapel,” famously penned by convict Glen Sherley, who watched it all happen under the watchful eye of guards, Cash separates the corporeal from the spiritual, relaying lessons about salvation and survival. Heady themes to which he’d return for the remainder of his illustrious career.

From weaving thought-provoking poetics to channeling the spirit of vintage West Coast gangsta rap, acclaimed Los Angeles emcee Blu is a dynamic musical presence, forever evolving and defying expectations. Supremely talented producer and musician Shafiq Husayn has a similarly diverse skill set, with a storied history as a member of Sa-Ra Creative Partners and solo production credits for top artists across the musical spectrum, from Erykah Badu to Ice-T to Anderson .Paak to Jurassic 5 and many more. After linking up for the mixtape The Blueprint back in 2018, Blu and Shafiq Husayn are reuniting for the new album Out Of The Blue, elevating their collaboration to a new level. “The Blueprint was just me rhyming over some of Shafiq's beats that I found online,” Blu explains. “This time we were actually in the studio together. We’ve been working together since 2008, but this is our first official album.” Awash in Shafiq’s dense sonic architecture, Out Of The Blue showcases the intricacy of Blu’s spiritual street talk while simultaneously delivering a series of bass-heavy L.A. anthems. Entirely produced by Shafiq Husayn, the collection features guest appearances by MED, Exile, Chuuwee, Thurz, Speed Walton, Jimetta Rose, and Freestyle Fellowship members Myka 9 and Self Jupiter. “Out Of The Blue is my G-Funk album,” Blu explains. “Big brother Shafiq gave us a master class in production. We just in here being funky and having fun.”

10 Year Anniversary Gatefold 2LP 10 year anniversary gatefold 2LP edition of Cult of Luna's take on Fritz Lang's Metropolis film, Vertikal. "Somewhere Along The Highway" and "Eternal Kingdom" were inspired by the landscape of Västerbotten, the county we are from. We realised that there was only one way to go for us: to the city, into the future. Making a droney John Carpenter-esque album would be too easy and we've never been about taking the simple route. I was studying film at the time and had been floored by the aesthetic of German expressionism. This resonated perfectly with Erik Olofsson, who had just got into Italian futurism. This was a real challenge. We put in a lot of effort to realize our vision of the stale, artificial city in all aspects of what an album is. The way we played guitar (only down strokes), the production, artwork and band photos, everything was done with the vision as a guide. "Vertikal" is the album where we had the most precise vision of what we wanted to do and worked hardest to transform it from an idea into reality. A lot of things happened during the years between "Eternal Kingdom" and "Vertikal" and I could continue writing for ages but this will do for now. Ten years have passed since its release and what felt like a rebirth of the band, the band that is still ongoing with new goals and missions. It's a full circle kind of thing. At the time we had no label and now we are releasing it on our very own. Life is strange. Johannes Persson - Umeå December 2022

SALTPIG is a bit of a mystery. The band just showed up seemingly out of nowhere, album in hand, with the music loudly speaking for itself. As it soon became known, SALTPIG is a two person band with Fabio Alessandrini (formerly of Annihilator) on drums and Mitch Davis handling vocals, guitar and all of the other layers of noise that can be heard on the record. The music that came out of this pairing has elements of doom/stoner/psych/occult metal and others, but they didn't go into it with anything that specific in mind. They just make the music they want to hear. Davis has been working with bands/artists including LA Guns, Damon Albarn, Billy Squier, Stephen Malkmus, Mark Lanegan, Sunbomb and U2, but SALTPIG is obviously a very different animal. For his own band, Mitch created a sound that is much darker. When he started writing the SALTPIG tracks, it pretty quickly turned into this debut album. Most of the tracking was done in their respective studios, with Fabio in Italy, and Mitch in New York where he'd do all of the final recording, production and mixing. It's melodic but embraces dissonance. It's noisy and dirty and evil sounding. Underproduced and real. It embraces imperfections as only a human can do.

SALTPIG is a bit of a mystery. The band just showed up seemingly out of nowhere, album in hand, with the music loudly speaking for itself. As it soon became known, SALTPIG is a two person band with Fabio Alessandrini (formerly of Annihilator) on drums and Mitch Davis handling vocals, guitar and all of the other layers of noise that can be heard on the record. The music that came out of this pairing has elements of doom/stoner/psych/occult metal and others, but they didn't go into it with anything that specific in mind. They just make the music they want to hear. Davis has been working with bands/artists including LA Guns, Damon Albarn, Billy Squier, Stephen Malkmus, Mark Lanegan, Sunbomb and U2, but SALTPIG is obviously a very different animal. For his own band, Mitch created a sound that is much darker. When he started writing the SALTPIG tracks, it pretty quickly turned into this debut album. Most of the tracking was done in their respective studios, with Fabio in Italy, and Mitch in New York where he'd do all of the final recording, production and mixing. It's melodic but embraces dissonance. It's noisy and dirty and evil sounding. Underproduced and real. It embraces imperfections as only a human can do.

Haust started in the city of Notodden in 2001 and redefined the borders between punk and black metal with their 2008 debut album “Ride The Relapse”. The album was the first album to be released on the Fysisk Format-label and went on to inspire a generation of bands. Members from Haust have also been prominent in bands like Okkultokrati and Outer Limit Lotus, and guitarist Ruben Willem’s production skills has made its mark on bands like Kvelertak, Bokassa, Djevel, Ondt Blod, NAG and Sibiir.

With their debut album Haust showed the world how negative forces could manifest into an album. Some songs were inspired by the destructive car-culture in Notodden with its intense local mentality and anti-sophistication, as well as old horror movies and trash films by John Waters. Three more albums appeared, with some other members here and there, but the band went on hiatus from 2015 for several years. Now the band is back, in their original line-up, to return to their dark horror-inspired landscape from the early days; dirty punkrock with a strong negative energy.

The album summarizes everything Haust has done and stood for in the last 23 years: negativity, death and corruption are recurring themes, and the music is more aggressive, noisy and catchy than ever before.