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Oiche, the debut album from Fears, available 7th Mayl 2021. Pieced
together over five years, Oiche chronicles growth through challenges,
instability, and relationship changes, both with one’s self and others.
The album reveals itself much like a coming of age novel about the breaking
apart of girlhood and rebuilding of a young woman. An intimate depiction of
discovery, Oiche unearths internal dialogue, and makes peace with uncertainty.
Oiche, meaning ‘night’ in Irish, was recorded in three bedrooms, hospital, and
the Domino Recordings studio in Brixton.
Fears is London-based Irish artist Constance Keane. Combining reflective electronics, acoustic samples, and haunting vocals with organic visuals, Fears invites the listener on an ethereal journey, blurring the boundaries between
music and visual art. Her minimalist approach centres on emotive subjects,
which are all-at-once deeply personal yet remarkably universal. Oiche is the
first release on TULLE, run by and for exceptional womxn.

Kleistwahr is the solo project of Gary Mundy, the legendary power electronic and noise-rock musician who is a founding member of Ramleh and runs the highly influential Broken Flag label. Solemn drones and elegiac long-form passages gird Kleistwahr’s Winter, which often chimes, glistens, and glows through a unhurried constructs for organ, synth, guitar, and electronics. Yet Mundy pivots throughout with triumphant explosions of shrill noise, redlined overload, and harrowingly anguished vocals from the great unknown. Quintessential Kleistwahr.

Winter was originally published as part of the instantly out of print On Corrosion - a 10 cassette anthology from 2019 that was housed in a handcrafted wooden box and featuring full albums from Kleistwahr, Neutral, Pinkcourtesyphone, Alice Kemp, She Spread Sorrow, G*Park, Relay For Death, Francisco Meirino, Fossil Aerosol Mining Project, and Himukalt. The collection also stood as the 50th release for The Helen Scarsdale Agency, an imprint founded in 2003 and dedicated to post-industrial research, recombinant noise, surrealist demolition, existential vacancy and then some.

With the necessary reissue of Winter, The Helen Scarsdale Agency will embark upon the reissue of much of that material from On Corrosion.

black vinyl in mirrorboard gatefold jacket with die-cut! Much like the New Orleans-born artist who created it, Second Line is an unapologetic genre bender that pushes boundaries, expands possibilities, and shatters expectations. It's more than just an album: Second Line is a cohesive sensory experience that questions traditional ideas of sound, production, and visual aesthetics as they relate to music. Its interlocking parts tell an epic story about the quest for artistic expression, with Dawn describing her project as "a movement to bring pioneering Black women in electronic music to the forefront." She elaborates: "You never see women appreciated as producers and artists alike _ especially Black women in the electronic space. The time is now for us to start recognizing their talent, not only in electronic music but in all genres. I wanna be the reason why a young Black girl from the South can be whoever she wants to be musically, visually, and artistically." Second Line cuts to the chase with its opening suite of dancefloor bangers, immediately displaying Dawn's mastery of layered production and melodic hooks. Second Line treats Louisiana Creole culture, New Orleans bounce, and Southern Swag as elemental, allowing Dawn to weave in and out of house, footwork, R&B, and more. As she says, "I am the genre." The story of Second Line centers on Dawn's persona King Creole, assassin of stereotypes, a Black girl from the South at a crossroads in her artistic career. To move forward, she decides to look back, but where previous album New Breed took influence from her father, Second Line is illuminated by Dawn's mother. Her proud repeated proclamation of "I'm a Creole Girl" introduces the ecstatic dancehall pop of "Jacuzzi," and later, on the cinematic album centerpiece "Mornin | Streetlights," she answers Dawn's question of how many times she has been in love. Intimate conversations like this between the two are interlaced throughout Second Line, giving credence to how the protagonist came to be, and direction to build a lane forward. It's no surprise that King Creole's story parallels Dawn Richard's. As a founding member of Danity Kane, and later with Diddy's Dirty Money, Dawn was able to explore the ins and outs of commercial pop music. As a solo artist, she opted to selfrelease her music. Over the span of five critically acclaimed full-length albums, Dawn has made the message clear that she will not bow down or bend to industry norms. All the while, she's built her resume with enough extracurriculars to make your head spin: Cheerleader for the New Orleans Hornets? Check. Animator for Adult Swim? Check. Owner-operator of a vegan pop-up food truck? Check. Martial arts expert? Check! Second Line embodies the heritage of soul music and the roots of New Orleans, all surrounded by the influences of electronic futurism. "The definition of a Second Line in New Orleans is a celebration of someone's homecoming," says Dawn. "In death and in life, we celebrate the impact of a person's legacy through dance and music. I'm celebrating the death of old views in the industry. The death of boxes and limits. I'm celebrating the homecoming of the Future. The homecoming to the new wave of artists. The emergence of all the King Creoles to come." Dawn Richard is bold, confident, purposeful, and a King throughout Second Line. Are you ready to dance?

Brooklyn based Starrk debuts with this 4-track EP of experimental & industrial techno records. Through dissonant synths, harsh distortions, and powerful kicks, "The Club Is Now An Empty Room" is a reflection of a 2020 that deprived us of the catharsis of a dancefloor. The release is influenced by artists such as Tommy Four Seven, Swarm Intelligence, Ansome, and L A V E N, and the sounds will be familiar to fans of these artists.

Starrk himself is a NY based producer who is affiliated with the local techno venue Basement, and organizes various parties and music-related events under the SYITS organization.

everything one needs to know about this album: a misshapen,
CHUD-like figure wanders in a graveyard bearing a cross,
while a mutated fish flops in a polluted ditch and a clutch
of factories belch their smoke above it all. The message of
the illustration is not to frighten or warn, but to celebrate
and admire.
Originally released in January of 1984, Disease Is Relative
is an unapologetic and wholesale embrace of death,
disease, and dystopia, with liberal doses of absurdism
and an unrelenting devotion to anything unexpected,
chromatic, or evil sounding. Sporting influences as
diverse as no wave, death rock, funk, post-punk, hardcore,
metal, and prog rock, this music somehow happened in the
midst of a first wave hardcore scene, before there was a
“post-” to be “post” of. Less surprising is that this happened
in Cleveland, which also inspired a desire to recreate the
feeling of the city’s post-industrial desolation in sound.
There’s also some epic screaming and crazy guitar playing.
The album features three songwriters (brothers Andrew
& Chris Marec, Robert Griffin), who also divide guitar,
bass, and vocals equally between themselves here.
Drummer Bruce Allen is the secret weapon, and provides
a clue to what a young Bill Bruford might have done in a
band like this. And yet, beyond all odds, the end result is
cohesive, cathartic, and utterly idiomatic. The distinct vibe
of the album, and its sheer quantity of killer riffs, songs
and performances have made it an album that people have
championed over time, while others have come to know it
through the interwebs as a result.

everything one needs to know about this album: a misshapen,
CHUD-like figure wanders in a graveyard bearing a cross,
while a mutated fish flops in a polluted ditch and a clutch
of factories belch their smoke above it all. The message of
the illustration is not to frighten or warn, but to celebrate
and admire.
Originally released in January of 1984, Disease Is Relative
is an unapologetic and wholesale embrace of death,
disease, and dystopia, with liberal doses of absurdism
and an unrelenting devotion to anything unexpected,
chromatic, or evil sounding. Sporting influences as
diverse as no wave, death rock, funk, post-punk, hardcore,
metal, and prog rock, this music somehow happened in the
midst of a first wave hardcore scene, before there was a
“post-” to be “post” of. Less surprising is that this happened
in Cleveland, which also inspired a desire to recreate the
feeling of the city’s post-industrial desolation in sound.
There’s also some epic screaming and crazy guitar playing.
The album features three songwriters (brothers Andrew
& Chris Marec, Robert Griffin), who also divide guitar,
bass, and vocals equally between themselves here.
Drummer Bruce Allen is the secret weapon, and provides
a clue to what a young Bill Bruford might have done in a
band like this. And yet, beyond all odds, the end result is
cohesive, cathartic, and utterly idiomatic. The distinct vibe
of the album, and its sheer quantity of killer riffs, songs
and performances have made it an album that people have
championed over time, while others have come to know it
through the interwebs as a result.

searching for freedom is the forthcoming fifth studio album from the Australian singer-songwriter, free-surfer, and environmentalist Ziggy Alberts. This release follows his acoustic EP 'Truly Acoustic', "the perfect blend of relaxing, soulful guitar and wistful lyrics" - Culture Collide, and collaborative EP with Sydney rap duo, Horrorshow, 'I Won't Give You Up' which was described as one of "the most exciting new music releases to listen to in August 2020" by L'Officiel. Ziggy’s platinum-certified third album, Laps Around The Sun 2018 peaked at #9 on the ARIA Charts and included the platinum-certified single Love Me Now, “a raw, pained plea to love” Atwood Magazine. Released independently via his own label imprint, Commonfolk Records.

Ryley Walker currently resides in New York City. But his latest LP is a Chicago record in spirit. The masterful Course In Fable, the songwriter’s fi@h solo effort,
draws from the deep well of that city’s ferCle 1990s scene, when bands like Tortoise, The Sea and Cake and Gastr del Sol were reshaping the underground,
mixing and matching indie rock, jazz, prog and beyond.
Walker spent his formaCve years in Chicago, absorbing those heady sounds and finding ways to make them his own. Even though he emerged at first in folkrock
troubadour mode, it makes sense that he’s arrived at this point; each LP has grown more intricate and assured, his influences disClling into something
original and unusual. To put it simply: Course In Fable is Walker’s best record yet, full of acCve imaginaCon and endless possibiliCes.
Last October, Ryley went straight to one of the primary architects of the Chicago sound to make the LP. John McEn:re, Course In Fable’s producer/engineer/
mixer, can rightly be called a legend for his work with Tortoise, Stereolab, The Red Krayola, Jim O’Rourke and countless others over a prolific career that now
spans more than three decades. Seeing his name in an album’s liners is preVy much a trademark of quality.
Another Windy City exile, McEnCre is based on the west coast these days, working out of the Portland, OR studio he’s dubbed Soma West. On the seven songs
here, he delivers the signature shimmering and prisCne sonics he’s become known for over the years. But McEnCre was also inCmately involved with Course
In Fable’s overall creaCve process. “I told him to take the mixes and have at it,” Walker says.
The result is a rich, immersive affair — a headphones record if ever there was one. Course In Fable’s songs are twisty, labyrinthine things, stuffed full of ideas
(Walker half-jokingly calls it his “prog record”). But no maVer how complex it gets, the album is never overwhelmingly busy. Wiry guitars melt into gorgeous
string secCons (arranged by Douglas Jenkins of the Portland Cello Project). Tricky Cme signatures abound but feel as natural as can be. Melodies o@en dri@ in
unexpected direcCons but remain downright hummable. Like Walker’s beloved Genesis, the pop element is never too far from the surface even when shit
gets weird. (And speaking of weird, Ryley says that in addiCon to Genesis, much of the album’s inspiraCon comes from “Australian extreme scooter riders on
YouTube and balding gear heads on Craigslist.” Go figure.)
To help put together these various puzzle pieces, Ryley assembled a band made up of several longCme collaborators. Bill MacKay (another Chicago mainstay)
and Walker have made two excellent instrumental duo records of interlocking guitars and warm give-and-take — a rapport very much in evidence
throughout Course In Fable. The freakishly talented drummer Ryan Jewell has performed with Walker for years now in a variety of seangs, from
straighborward song-centric sets to blown-out improv extravaganzas. Bassist Andrew ScoJ Young (Tiger Hatchery, Health&Beauty) has logged many miles on
tour with Walker; he and Jewell are frequently astonishing, a buoyant-but-always-locked-in rhythm secCon, able to navigate someCmes dizzying turnarounds
with apparent ease. Listening to the interplay between Walker and these musicians and you might be fooled into thinking they’d spent a year roadtesCng
Course In Fable’s songs. But it all came together relaCvely fast, thanks to demos, rehearsals and the kind of musical empathy that comes from years of
playing together.
Beneath the wondrous interplay, you’ll find some of Walker’s most personal – if sCll typically crypCc — lyrics, hinCng at some of the trials the songwriter has
been dealing with in recent years. Balanced with necessary doses of dark humor and oddball poetry, Course In Fable feels most of all like a life-affirming
record, fresh air in the lungs, sun on your skin. “Fuck me, I’m alive,” Ryley sings at one point, a moment of both disbelief and pure joy.
Walker has released his albums on a who’s-who of independent labels over the past decade — Tompkins Square, Dead Oceans, Thrill Jockey and Drag City
among them. This Cme around, he’s doing it DIY-style, puang Course In Fable out on his own Husky Pants imprint. You’re in good hands. This is an album that
sounds great (mastered by Greg Calbi), looks great (artwork by Jenny Nelson and design by Michael Vallera). It probably even smells great. Whether you’ve
been onboard since the beginning or are new to the Ryley Walker universe, you’re in for a treat.

At first glance, Sarah Louise might seem an unlikely candidate
to credit technology as inspiration for her new album, Earth Bow.
After all, she has lived in rural Appalachia for the last decade,
foraging numerous species of wild mushroom, concocting
medicine from plants she gathers, and performing what she
terms “Earth Practices” to deepen her relationship with the
natural world. But it is precisely her ability to find connections
between false binaries that makes this album so novel and richly
immersive.
Louise conceived Earth Bow as an interconnected ecosystem,
meant to evolve, interact and grow. Known for her inventive
guitar playing, vocal harmonies and electronic experiments,
it was her use of the SP-404SX sampler that became a primary
inspiration for the album’s woven nature. “Improvising with the
404 during live shows allows me to collaborate with the music
as a living system, almost the way generative music works,” she
says. “I kept finding more and more samples that worked together
and realized I wanted to connect the entire record—and
that there were many ways it could be connected.”
Through this process, what began as eight core songs
blossomed into two sweeping suites. Samples—denizens of
her electronic forest—move around the record with changing
context like words in a sestina or phrases in the I Ching,
revealing new connections with each listen. Mesmeric sounds
abound on Earth Bow, from analog synth tones, to digitally
manipulated sonics that she stretches and layers with a painterly
touch. These electronic sounds inhabit the same environment as
field recordings, ceremonial percussion, guitars and empathic
vocals, weaving together her vast and borderless influences into
an enveloping world. “I want this record to take people on a
journey through the wonders of our incredible planet, to help
people feel held by the mysteries of nature,” she enthuses. “I
believe music can heal.” After a string of celebrated releases on
Thrill Jockey, Sarah Louise is self-releasing Earth Bow on her
new imprint of the same name.

Minimal Wave presents ‘Recordings 1980-1982’ (MW077), a triple 7” box set by pioneering south Florida synth-punk band Futurisk, in honor of their 40th anniversary. Founded by Jeremy Kolosine in 1978, Futurisk recorded many songs and performed live throughout the early 1980s. Though they had released two 7”s that sold out, had a legendary live show, and even some videos, by 1984 Futurisk was history. Eventually, the main core of Futurisk would be the Jeremy Kolosine, Richard Hess, and Jack Howard line-up though much happened leading up to this point.

In 1979, the teenage Jeremy Kolosine won studio time and money in a competition with his drum-machine-triggered guitar-synth act called ‘Clark Humphrey & Futurisk’. He decided to form a band around the name to record a more punk release titled The Sound of Futurism 1980 / Army Now. It was an ambivalent anti-war anthem with Jack Howard on drums, Frank Lardino on synth, and Kolosine on vocals and guitar synth. Many live shows ensued with the line-up which included Jeff Marcus on bass and Vinnie Scrimenti on drums but in 1981 a rift between the band caused them to part ways. They continued for a bit as ‘Radio Berlin’ (no relation to the Vancouver act) and Kolosine, who had gotten absorbed in a new analog synthesizer with sequencer continued as Futurisk.

He recruited synthesist and recording engineer Richard Hess who had a myriad collection of Moogs, Oberhieims, and CATs. Jack Howard returned on drums and syn-drums and the lineup for the Player Piano EP was cast. The EP, like the live show, was a strange blend of punk, minimalist, and disco-influenced electro-pop, with drum machine triggered synths and often frantic real drums all led by Kolosine’s schizophrenic Bowie / Ferry / Foxx adulations. It was recorded by Richard Hess and the band in the rooms of a friend’s house. The drum sound, recorded in a bathroom, rocks, even today. Reportedly, Futurisk may have been the first synth-punk band in the American South, and their 1981 track ‘Push Me Pull You (Pt. 2)’ was an early pre- ‘Rockit’ excursion into electro-funk.

The ‘Recordings 1980-1982’ box set includes three 7”s, an Army Now (1982) Flexi 5” x 7” postcard, and a 16-page full-color booklet featuring unpublished photographs of the band, the history of the band, and an interview with founder Jeremy Kolosine. The three 7”s are The Sound of Futurism 1980 / Army Now which includes an unreleased track from the same session, the Player Piano five-song 7” EP from 1982, and the Ocean Sound 7”, which has not been released in this format until now. All three 7”s are remastered, pressed on heavyweight 70-gram vinyl, and housed in heavy color printed matte sleeves featuring the band’s original artwork. The box is case wrapped and depicts an early illustration of the band printed in black on white with a spot gloss. Limited edition of 600 copies.

Released in 1983, Sandra Sá's 'Vale Tudo' is one of the essential Brazilian-boogie-funk records of the era. Pure class throughout, with a dream team of incredible musicians and producers behind the scenes. For some, this album is regarded as Sandra's magnum opus.

It is drenched in the essence of the Brazilian 80s boogie and funk sound. A driving force behind this is the writing, arrangement, and musicianship of Lincoln Olivetti, who was instrumental in forging this unique sound within Brazilian production at the time. It is heightened even further by the astonishing team that feature on the record. Brazilian icon and heavyweight Tim Maia, Robson Jorge, Serginho Trombone, Oberdan Magalhães, Claudio Stevenson and Jamil Joanes (of Banda Black Rio fame), Junior Mendes, the list goes on. This crew of musicians synergised perfectly with Sandra's vocal style, all complementing each other to create a classic.

One of our favourites from the album is the opening track 'Trem Da Central', an infectious groove that when paired with Sandra's cool and relaxed swaggering vocal resulted in an essential dancefloor jam! Equally delightful and dancefloor summoners are the catchy boogie funk of ‘Candura’, and the Earth, Wind & Fire sounding 'Pela Cidade'. Tim Maia features on the fast-paced duet 'Vale Tudo', which was written especially for Sandra to sing with Tim, who at the time was one of the biggest stars in Brazilian music. These boogie and funk compositions are balanced by fine slow jams giving the album a satisfyingly well-rounded feel.

Sandra had been working in music since the 70s and continues to do so to this day, but this period of the early 80s was a rich and prolific time for her. If you are a fan of Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti's self-titled album from 1982 or Marcos Valle's 1983 album featuring the song 'Estrelar', then this one is definitely for you. 'Vale Tudo' is a must-have record from a talented artist at the top of her game and Sandra makes it all sound so effortless.

LTD. NEON PINK & NEON GREEN VINYL

The Impossible Kid, released in 2016 on Rhymesayers Entertainment, marked Indie-rap mainstay Aesop Rock's first solo venture since 2012's Skelethon. Aesop continued finding new ways to improve on the skills that have made him one of the kings of indie hip-hop. His creative process now includes a newfound willingness to open up about his personal life, going deep on topics like depression, his sometimes rocky relationship with his family, and the turbulent handful of years that culminated in Aesop leaving his adopted home of San Francisco to live in a barn out in the woods, where he recorded the foundations of The Impossible Kid. There's also moments of levity though, as Aesop taps into the funny side of his persona that he suppressed during the period where being taken as a serious lyricist was more of a priority. Like Skelethon, Aesop exercised complete creative control over every aspect of the album, from the production (which he handled himself, with instrumental help from Philly's Grimace Foundation) to conceptualizing the cover art by his friend Alex Pardee.

The 'Abroad EP' catalogues a period of time spent travelling Japan in the spring of 2019. Throughout the course of the month-long trip, Rudy carried around a portable recorder, capturing various sounds that caught his ear. That collection of found sounds would eventually become the foundation for the EP, each track utilizing a handful of different recordings ranging from bird calls in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park, to windchimes in the coastal town of Kawazu. The EP took a full year of patient, daily work to complete, during which time Rudy invited a diverse group of collaborators in to help finish the songs. Throughout the recording process, harp, saxophone, and violin parts were added to create a unique blend of organic and electronic sounds.

POSY is the recording name of Rudy Klobas, Portland-based producer and multi-instrumentalist with a unique sound that intersects jazz, R&B, and electronic music. Originally trained on classical guitar, POSY gradually taught himself piano, bass, and drums and began writing and recording his first songs on a four-track cassette recorder. POSY's music is lush and densely layered, but maintains an element of simplicity that ultimately leaves one feeling relaxed, nostalgic, and hopeful all at the same time.

Following recent super-deluxe editions and multi-format releases of classic Who albums – ‘My Generation’, ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadrophenia’, and the success of ‘Live at Fillmore’, we follow with The Who Sell Out – this set shaping up to be the most superlative of all…!!
Released in December 1967 – the album reflected a remarkable year in popular culture. As well as being forever immortalised as the moment when the counterculture and the ‘Love Generation’ went global, 1967 produced tremendous musical upheavals as “pop” metamorphosed to “rock”.

Originally planned by Pete Townshend and the band’s managers, as a loose concept album including jingles and commercials linking the songs styled as a Radio London broadcast – born out of necessity as the band’s managers wanted a new album and there weren’t enough songs.

The original plan was to sell advertising space on the album – Jaguar cars, Coca-Cola etc. The jingles pay tribute to the pirate radio stations and expose the myths of ‘pop-culture’ and mock consumer society – way ahead of their time…

The homage to pop-art is evident in both the advertising jingles and the iconic sleeve design – created by David King (art director at the Sunday Times) and Roger Law (who invented Spitting Image) producing four giant images for each band member – Odorono deodorant, Medac spot cream, Charles Atlas and Heinz baked beans (Roger apparently caught pneumonia from sitting in the cold beans for too long).

Photography by renowned portrait photographer David Montgomery (rare out-takes included)

The album is a bold depiction of the period in which it was made – the tail-end of the ‘swinging-60s’ meets pop-art mixed with psychedelia and straight-ahead pop craft. It’s glorious blend of classic powerful Who instrumentation, melodic harmonies, satirical lyrical imagery crystallised for what was only the group’s third album – the ambition and scope is unrivalled by the Who, or any others from that period.

Within the bold concept, were a batch of fabulous and diverse songs – I Can See for Miles (a Top Ten hit) is a Who classic, Rael, a Townshend ‘mini-opera’ with musical motifs that reappeared in Tommy and the psychedelic blast of Armenia City in the Sky and Relax are among the very best material of the 1960s.

One of the most extraordinary albums of any era – it’s The Who’s last ‘pop’ album. Two years later came Tommy – a double concept album about a deaf, dumb and blind kid…

“We were hoping to get free Jaguars. We got fifty tins of free Baked Beans”

Pete Townshend

In Spring 2021, Seoul-based label Extra Noir will make TENGGER’s first EP, Electric Earth Creation, available on vinyl for the first time. Previously limited to a small run of CDs sold only in Korea, this 5-song 2013 collection reveals the genesis of what would become TENGGER’s signature sound: hypnotic synths, spectral vocals, rhythmic propulsion and nature motifs. Electric Earth Creation, however, presents a harder, less ethereal and more danceable version of the band. The EP was produced on Korea’s Jeju island, after the birth of RAAI, son of Marqido (synthesizers and programming) and Itta (vocals), which followed the dissolution of their previous musical project, 10. Conceived in response to the house-bound isolation of becoming new parents and the wild nature that surrounded them outside, the songs of Electric Earth Creation feel like rituals to summon and celebrate Earth’s primordial forces.
Despite a COVID-19-related separation between Japan and Korea, TENGGER have gained increasing recognition throughout 2020, and are confirmed to play 2021’s SXSW Online, with their most recent LP Nomad appearing in multiple “Best of 2020” lists and Pitchfork describing the album as imbued with “rustic majesty”. Fans of TENGGER’s later work will find Electric Earth Creation an essential part of the band’s catalog.

2LP on crystal clear vinyl. In these trying times, where intimacy and closeness are fraught with danger, Dans Dans (Dance Dance) brings you the sound of connection, communication, passion and togetherness.

In these trying times, where intimacy and closeness are fraught with danger, Dans Dans (Dance Dance) brings you the sound of connection, communication, passion and togetherness.

Dans Dans unites the talents of three of Belgium's most prolific music makers in Bert Dockx (Flying Horseman), Fred 'Lyenn' Jacques (Lyenn, Lanegan band) and Steven Cassiers (Dez Mona, DAAU). An utterly unique musical collective, the trio are set to release new album 'Zink' on the 23rd April via Ghent based independent, Unday Records.
From jazz, psychedelic blues and ecstatic noir soundtracks to spacey rock 'n' roll, Dans Dans cut their teeth on the cool jazz cafe scene in Flanders, Brussels with their sensational live performances and have since gone on to become a mainstay on the flourishing Belgian musical landscape.

Releasing their self-produced, eponymous debut album back in 2012, their highly distinctive, intuitive mix of musical styles and their ever-imaginative live shows caught the attention of discerning music lovers, journalists and promoters. A relatively unknown tour de force outside the Benelux region, Dans Dans have built a solid fan base since their inception with limited edition runs of early releases becoming collector's items among vinyl enthusiasts.

Well-received appearances at Cactus Festival, North Sea Jazz and Pukkelpop, as well as Gent Jazz, Ljubljana Jazz and Jazz Middelheim have confirmed their reputation as one of the most unique and exciting bands to come out of Belgium. In recent years, the group has been touring throughout Europe, garnering enthusiastic reactions beyond the Belgian borders as well. There's a case to be made that Dans Dans even played a key role in breaking down the wall between the Belgian jazz scene and the pop/rock circuit (years before pop journalists began referring to a New Wave of Belgian Jazz).

Opening with the moody noir rhythms of 'Cinder Bay', Dans Dans look to construct their own musical universe across 'Zink'. 'Naiad' unfolds into a devastating explosion of heavy feedback and wild, crashing drums before subtle electronica and baroque art-rock collide on 'Anemone' giving a good indication of Dans Dans' eclecticism. There's unquestionably a deep, underlying filmic beauty to the music, an evolving darkness and a perpetual sense of dread and paranoia. Elsewhere, 'Ravine' is intoxicating, provocative and uncompromising while the beatific 'Shell Star' is an infectious exploration of hypnotic grooves, atmospheric sounds and mind-bending melodies.

Producer Christine Verschorren (Philippe Catherine, Ivan Paduart) accentuates the music's wondrous fluidity throughout 'Zink'; the intriguing interplay; the subtle ties; the deep layering. Musical styles and influences are being blended organically and sublimated into what can only be called Dans Dans-music. "This is no fusion, no rock or jazz or ambient. This is the sound of the searching, intuitive human; of a timeless, mysterious dream; of the heart, the gut and the soul," says Dockx.

Nia Wyn grew up in Llandudno in North Wales where, despite the town’s breathtaking views, she found herself battling with demons relating to isolation, identity and mental health. In local junk shops she sought solace in old soul records, discovering the likes of Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and Marvin Gaye as well as hip-hop artists such as Nas and Lauryn Hill. Growing up in a house with a dad who played a lot of northern soul, disco and reggae, Wyn took inspiration from a truly eclectic range. Her unique storytelling style, along with such distinctive and raw vocals, has made Wyn into one of the top emerging female artists now coming out of the UK, her classic influences filtering through her singular songwriting into an entirely modern sound.

Wyn accrued early praise from the likes of Clash, Earmilk and more. She’s been played on BBC Introducing, Radio 1, 6Music, Radio 2’s Blues Playlist and was tipped by Huw Stephens as one of BBC Introducing's Ones To Watch in 2019 after opening for Paul Weller and Paloma Faith.

Favorite Recordings and Charles Maurice proudly present the 5th edition of the AOR Global Sounds compilations series: 8 rare and hidden tracks, produced between 1977 and 1984 in various parts of the world. Started in 2015, the AOR Global Sounds series was born from the will of Charles Maurice (aka Pascal Rioux) to share his longtime love for the AOR and WestCoast movement and highlight its influence for many artists in the late 70s and early 80s. In this 5th volume, he selected again highly forgotten productions, deeply infused with Disco and Soul flavors.

Half of the compilation’s tracklist is naturally coming from the US, homeland of this music style, while the other half is made of productions from all over the globe, from France or United Kingdom to Venezuela. And for most of these beautiful songs, it came from artists and bands rather unknown and often released as private press.

Often, these records will have a special story, sometimes they’re just part of the universal quest of finding true love. Nonetheless, they all carry a wide range of emotions magnified by the music.

For example, “Don’t Take It Away” by Westside is as a love song about a new relationship, recorded in Minnesota and mastered on Sunset Bld. (Hollywood) by Bernie Grundman, who worked on Thriller – funny thing, the original LP is a picture-disc, which was still quite rare back in the days because the singer saw one from Mickael Jackson when visiting the studio. “Til’ Mornin’ Comes”, the only release by The Ferry Brothers, is also a love song, recorded in NYC with notably Gwen Guthrie, Vivian Cherry & Patti Austin singing as backup vocalists. On “What Its Meant To Me”, Jonathon Hansen remembers with emotion the good times spent with the members of his band including the vocalist he was in love with. On “J’Irai Squatter Ton Cœur”, Didier Makaga better-known as a French Boogie & Pop singer, arranger & composer, sings a charming declaration of love on a heavy and groovy eighties production. “You Never Know” by Rhapsody, recorded in Connecticut, sounds more like an East coast fusion of Soul and Jazz-Funk à la James Mason. “What You Do To Me” by Sugar Cane was highlighted on a Pittsburgh Rock Radio compilation: listening to this smooth ballad with its amazing Moog synth break will lift your soul. “Kailua” by Venezuelan Jazz-Funk band Esperanto, is a song about Hawaii which evocates bucolic dreamy nights facing the ocean, a typical AOR vibe. Finally, “I Need You” from Mark Williamson is a blue-eyed soul UK groover ending on a four-on-the-floor climax!

And we could detail stories but our guessing is the best way to learn more about all these gems is to listen to the compilation, fully remastered from originals, and whether your preference is for vinyl or CD formats.

LEGENDARY SESSION ! FIRST TIME EVER ON VINYL AND CUT DIRECTLY FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES WITH NO DIGITAL PROCESS WHATSOEVER!!!

TIP ON SLEEVE PRINTED JUST LIKE THE OLD NIMBUS LP’s FROM THE 70’s and 80’s… BRAND NEW ARTWORK FROM ORIGINAL SESSION PHOTOS AND LINER NOTES BY Mark Weber

At long last…On Vinyl…From original tapes. 3/5ths of the Quintet that recorded "‘the Giant is Awakened’ LP in 1969…this album sat unreleased for 20+ years before it saw a small run on cd (with poor mastering the early 2000’s), now, 40 years after it was recorded, finally released in the original format it was intended for….This LP sounds fresh and amazing…if you’ve only heard the cd, you’ve not truly heard this lost gem in its full glory. edition of 500




Born in Mississippi in 1937 and beginning to play the saxophone at 14, Billie Harris relocated to Los Angeles in 1965 after a 4 year stint in the Air Force, becoming one of the great, unsung forces of underground jazz in the city for many years (he later relocated to the Mojave Desert, where, at last record, he still plays in a church band). A Venice Beach street musician and longtime member of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra - you can hear him playing on Live at I.U.C.C. and Flight 17, as well as Jesse Sharps Quintet & P.A.P.A.’s Sharps and Flats (reissued in 2018) - he was also director of the AZZ IZZ jazz club in Venice Beach during the 70s.




On April 29 and May 3, 1980, Harris entered the studio, backed by Horace Tapscott on piano, David Bryant on bass, Daa’oud Woods on percussion, and Everett Brown Jr on drums, recording, over those two days what was to be his only outing as a leader. Once heard, the tragic lack of further material can’t be ignored. It is a truly stunning piece of work, even more surprising for the fact that it sat unreleased for over 20 years, only to be released as a small, poorly mastered edition on CD during the early 2000’s. Now, finally appearing very first time on the format and label for which it was intended, 40 years after it was recorded, we can hear this lost gem in all its glory.




Harris was 43 years old at the time of the Nimbus West sessions that resulted in I Want Some Water, and the power and experience of his playing, honed over three decades, shows in full force. The band is equally imbued with power, sensitivity, and experience. Tapscott, Bryant, and Brown’s working partnership goes back to 1969, when they recorded Tapscott’s debut as a leader, The Giant Is Awakened. In quintet’s hands, channeling the heavy modal relationships pioneered by Coltrane, heavy spiritual groove lock and unfurl, threaded by the release via incredibly forward-thinking improvisation.




Like so much of the work that came out of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra scene, I Want Some Water has a giant sound, each track long in length, building slowly over time toward towering heights that leave the listener immersed in one of the greatest treasures of spiritual jazz that almost nobody ever heard. Rhythmic, rollicking, and tonally inspired, the joyous interplay of the band goes deep, locked in, and challenging the predictable path, while making nods to numerous, discreet traditions of music.




As far as reissues go, Nimbus’ first ever vinyl pressing of Harris’ I Want Some Water is about as good as it gets. Not only does it deliver some of the best music we’ve heard all year, but it takes huge steps toward allowing a crucial artist to be celebrated in a way that he’s always deserved.

Cut directly from the original master tapes, featuring brand new artwork from the original sessions and liner notes from Mark Weber, and issued in a limited edition of 500 copies, it’s an absolute must that can’t be missed.

Teenage Fanclub release a limited-edition double A side 7” ahead of their tenth studio album, Endless Arcade, released via their own label PeMa in the UK/Europe and Merge in the US.

The 7” vinyl features an edit of current single ‘Home’ (version only available on vinyl on this release) and previous single ‘Everything is Falling Apart’

Endless Arcade follows the band’s ninth album “Here”, released in 2016 to universal acclaim and notably their first Top 10 album since 1997; a mark of how much they’re treasured. The new record is quintessential TFC: melodies are equal parts heart-warming and heart-aching; guitars chime and distort; keyboard lines mesh and spiral; harmony-coated choruses burst out like sun on a stormy day.
Endless Arcade was virtually finished by the time lockdown was announced, bar the odd tinker under the engine hood. For the track ‘Home' It seems timely, given how everyone has had to stay home under lockdown, the track typifies TFC’s relaxed groove, culminating in Raymond’s peach of a guitar solo. Norman’s search for ‘home’ could be literal: after all, he’s been living in Canada for the last 10 years. But it’s also figurative.

In the 1990s, the band crafted a magnetically heavy yet harmony-rich sound on classic albums such as “Bandwagonesque” and “Grand Prix”. This century, albums such as “Shadows” and “Here” have documented a more relaxed, less ‘teenage’ Fanclub, reflecting the band’s stage in life and state of mind, which Endless Arcade slots perfectly alongside. The album walks a beautifully poised line between melancholic and uplifting, infused with simple truths. The importance of home, community and hope is entwined with more bittersweet, sometimes darker thoughts - insecurity, anxiety, loss.

Songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist, Jason McNiff releases his 7th full length album, Dust Of Yesterday, on April 16th. Produced and engineered by Roger Askew (Joe Strummer, Wilko Johnson, Christy Moore) the album was recorded throughout the summer and autumn of 2020 in Roger's home studio in Eastbourne, UK. It features McNiff's signature acoustic guitar work throughout with significant contributions from Beth Porter (of Eliza Carthy's band) on cello and Basia Bartz (most London based folk bands) on violin. 
 
His first album since leaving London - McNiff is now based in Hastings - Dust of Yesterday is an elegy on moving away from a beloved place and a lament for lost youth. We are treated to a musical tour of McNiff's life to date, from his 8-year residency as a Flamenco guitarist in a Spanish bar in Waterloo (Damaged Woman) to hopping the northbound train from King's Cross, hiding in the lavatory up to Nottingham (A Load Along). All the songs on Dust of Yesterday, in one way or another, speak of the past. But it is not bleary-eyed nostalgia. 

"I read somewhere that it is possible to literally change the past and I became very interested in this idea. It so happened around the same time that I discovered the Greek/Egyptian poet, Cavafy. In his poems he would talk about the past, but the memory is not a thing of the past, but something that is still part of him in the present. I could relate to that. "

Musically, Jason is influenced by the British acoustic guitarists (Jansch, Graham, Wizz Jones) and the great folk/rock troubadours of the 60s and 70s. He loves Mark Knopfler in the early days; the English teacher turned reluctant rock star, singing about Leeds and Newcastle and sounding like JJ Cale. For McNiff, the lyrics are central, and he has been especially captivated by those considered poets and writers as well as musicians. He loves literature and cites Hemingway, Chekhov and the aforementioned Cavafy, as major influences in his work. ( He has 'translated' Hemingway's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' into a song on a previous album, 'Nobody's Son')
 
 
Jason McNiff was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1974 to an Irish father and Polish mother. Academically gifted, he did well at school and went to the University of Nottingham to study French and Russian. He fell in with the Folk & Blues scene in that city before moving to London in the mid-nineties to do another degree in English Lit. He was just in time to catch the Bert Jansch residency at the 12 Bar club. For 6 months, every Wednesday night, McNiff would be in the front row of Soho's tiny club learning fingerstyle from the master. He would later sign his first record deal with Snowstorm Records, a label run by Bert's brother-in-law and found himself opening for Bert on numerous occasions. 
There followed a string of albums on various labels, including 2003's Nobody's Son (Americana UK album of the year) and 2011's April Cruel (nominated for best alt-country album at the Independent Music Awards in the US.)

Isasa’s fourth LP is a guitar excursion from a skillful, humble guide. Minimal, contemplative songs, rich in atmosphere and warm in spirit.

Some musicians give their name to their first album, signifying introduction. Some hold it in reserve — it took Wire 39 years to get around to calling an LP Wire. But whenever they do so, they are making a statement. For Conrado Isasa, an acoustic guitarist from Madrid, Spain, the decision to call his fourth album Isasa reflects the fact that his music’s relationship to his own identity has evolved. Isasa presents an artist whose work reflects that he knows and accepts where he comes from.
Between 1993 and 2003, he played electric guitar in the hardcore metal band Down For The Count and the post rock combo, A Room With A View. These were collective statements, communications between small groups and a select underground community. After the latter group’s demise, Isasa stepped back from recording, and for a while from guitar playing as well. He spent some time learning to play the trumpet, but was inspired to return to the guitar in 2007 after he heard Geoff Farina play a Mississippi John Hurt song for the encore of a Glorytellers gig. Then came another period of learning, during which he studied the playing of Hurt, John Fahey, Jack Rose, and Glenn Jones.
Performing as Isasa, he made three records, each of which can be heard as confrontation with an artistic challenge. Las Cosas (2015) is between the man and his acoustic guitar; what could he do with his fingers, a slide, six steel strings, and a box of wood? Los Días (2016) faces the broader issue of how to deal with the requirements of the American Primitive guitar style. Like Fahey, Rose, and Jones, Isasa sought to make an album that used a cohesive sequence of guitar and banjo instrumentals to express personal experiences. With its references to the sights, sounds, and tastes one might encounter in Madrid, it is like a poetic diary written with the distance that comes from having mastered a second language. After making that record, Isasa toured parts of the United States, and played at The Thousand Incarnations Of The Rose, a festival that gathered representatives of American Primitive guitar’s past, present, and future in Takoma Park, the town where the style’s original synthesist, John Fahey, was born. Insilio (2019) began to look beyond that style, dealing with Hindustani raga forms and adding other instrumental textures.
And now comes Isasa. The name suggests something very personal, and it’s true that it draws upon Isasa’s closest relationships. Two compositions are either named for or feature the voices of his children, but their presence helps this music to transcend the purely personal. For what could be more universally shared than the joy and love one feels for children? Others invoke concepts — absence, liberty, love, reunion. They may mean one thing to Isasa, and another thing to you, but by sharing his reactions to them, he invites you to recognize yours. Isasa isn’t just using his experiences to tell you about his life; he is using what he knows about life to help us know a little more about ours.

Zaumne's new album titled Élévation is a multifaceted yet subtle work, an abstract collage that is equally entrancing and immersive. Quoting passages from Baudelaire’s “Flowers of Evil”, the Polish musician promises to elevate the soul and consciousness “Beyond the sun / Beyond the ether”. Yet simultaneously, the artist wants us to stay where we are and focus on the immediate surroundings in search of our personal attachment to the world.

Initially recorded for the WET (Weird Erotic Tension) online community the four pieces are an exploration of erotic aspects of the environment and uncanny intimacy with other beings and objects that dwell in our nearest proximity. Just like on previous releases for labels like Czaszka Rec. or Perfect Aesthetics, on Élévation Zaumne maintains his interest in emotional aspects of sound and internet culture – he builds his compositions from fragments of ASMR-whispered poetry, samples of natural phenomena and field recordings from his family home and its environ.

What starts as an escapist exercise driven by uneasiness and ennui becomes an individual healing process, in which the subject rediscovers the strangely intimate relationship with the world and opens up to almost magical methods of communicating with other beings. ASMR samples and sounds of the artist touching, playing with and exciting different objects are an experiment in establishing contact with the non-human realm and a method of attuning the body and the mind to the reality in which everything is interconnected.

Zaumne tests Einstein’s “spooky action at a distance” through radical, sensual intimacy with what’s near, finding a glimpse of the absolute in his own room, again quoting Baudelaire: “To a child who is fond of maps and engravings / The universe is the size of his immense hunger”.

Zaumne is the moniker of Polish musician Mateusz Olszewski. In the past few years, he has released music on labels like Magia, Perfect Aesthetics, BAS or Czaszka Rec. Élévation, released by Mondoj and initially commissioned by WET, is his first vinyl release. Blending elements of genres like ambient, dub, minimalism and tape music with ASMR samples, field recordings and spoken word, he creates work with deep emotional focus and impact.

To mark his highly anticipated album announcement, Saint Raymond releases a fresh IG track titled Solid Gold. "Solid gold is about trying to rekindle the spark and make things work because you know that there is something special in the relationship and it’s worth fighting for. It’s about knowing that all of the good things override the negatives." - Callum (Saint Raymond) Saint Raymonds follow up to the UK top 10 album 'Young Blood', will be titled 'We Forgot We Were Dreaming' and is out on April 16th 2021. It will be followed by a run of warm up shows in April 2021 and full tour in Nov 2021.

Daybreak is a journey through an everlasting sunset, a pause on it's lights and colors. Produced between Paris and London from 2018 to 2020, this 6 tracks EP opens a new chapter for Kartell, with warm and nostalgic accents.

Timeless and soulful, the project tells our relations with memories and how we travel through them. The DX7 synth and warm tape processing was a key feature during the creative process to catch the essence of how souvenirs swings in our minds.

With 3 singles and 4 contributors between UK and US, Daybreak brings and intimate and hazy groove, ranging from funk to RNB with hints of jazz and soft rock.

Probably his more personal work to date, after a 4 years break to travel and rethink his music, this EP is a tribute to why he fell in love with music in the first place.

The EP includes already 2 singles: "All in" feat. Che Lingo which cumulates 2M plays and "Time" feat. Qendresa & Coops which has 300k plays.

"...a swirl of the bedrock elements that make up modern music, his LP lifts from Soul, Funk and Hip-Hop to create this ode to Detroit House."
A NATION OF MILLIONS

EARLY SUPPORT FROM ALEXANDER NUT ("Tight beats from Snips as always. Dexters Pain is my fave here. Big ups"), KARIZMA ("Proud to hear a friend grow musically, great work on the album my friend...Full Support. K'), RED RACK'EM, SK VIBEMAKER

SNIPS delivers the first vinyl release on Houseology. The Barbershop LP is a tongue in cheek play on the production techniques Todd Worsnip aka Snips normally uses when making his Hip-Hop work. This 8 track LP is meeting of the two worlds of House and Hip-Hop tapping into Snips' raw ability to find the best cuts and chops needed for any genre.

DJ Snips began his career at legendary London record store Deal Real', where he ran the open mic night alongside British host and comedian Doc Brown, Snips' years at Deal Real saw him DJ'ing alongside performances from several US heavy hitters including Kanye West, Mos Def and the Black Eyed Peas.

Snips' knack for manoeuvring through a wide range of Hip Hop oeuvres has seen him play around the world, Specifically in NYC where he has been a guest at legendary parties including Everyday People, Bible Study, Mobile Mondays and Ginny's Supper Club. As well as being a regular in NY, Snips has also headlined events in The Philippines, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, Qatar, France, Norway and Spain. When Snips isn't touring or on the Club circuit, he's known for churning out beats for some of the most talented MCs on both sides of the Atlantic. His production work includes tracks for several major US recording artists including M1 (Dead Prez), Capadonna (Wu Tang), Sean Price.

Work on the Houseology record label allows Snips the opportunity to articulate himself even more so within his skilled production, by drawing a definitive line between the House/Hip-Hop relationship which has existed for years.

neon candy vinyl incl. 24"x12" poster

To Sonic Boom’s Pete Kember, re-imagining the past can lead to ways forward on life’s natural, interconnected path. In April of 2020, he released his first album in over 20 years called All Things Being Equal, a lush and psychedelic record full of interwoven synthesizers and droning vocal melodies, concerned with the state of humanity and the natural world. An entire year later, Kember has re-imagined his last release and created an album of self-remixed tracks called Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough, inspired by the spirit of late 70s, early 80s records by artists like Kraftwerk, Blondie and Eddy Grant. His new album is hypnotic and moody, holding onto the existential framework of the original, but exposes a fresh, beating realm of possibility.

In his last album, All Things Being Equal, Kember told regenerative stories backwards and forwards as he explored dichotomies zen and fearsome, reverential of his analog toolkit and protective of the plants and trees that support our lives. His work is always complex, both in its instrumentation built using modular synthesizers, and with his attempts to observe the many variables that exist in the universe that are intrinsically connected. Kember takes his existential and musical curiosity even further in Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough, explaining “how we interact now is especially critical.” Written while the world endures many environmental and human crises, the album is both a balm and a reminder to nurture our own relationships, both natural and personal.

Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough includes remixes of six tracks from All Things Being Equaland two tracks previously released exclusively in Japan. The album opens just like the original, with “Just Imagine”in its remixed form. The modular synthesizer at its foundation sounds familiar, but as the song progresses it branches out into various veins of sparkling embellishments and deep humming to truly expand the world that the song attempts to envision. On the albums’title track “Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough,” Kember’s instrumentation mirrors the interactions he wishes to inspire; synthesizers responding and building on one another, a conversation of sorts that the human world currently seems to avoid.

Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough sets itself up to be a grooving, night-time record, while carrying on Sonic Boom’s sense of urgency to assess our relationship with the world. As Sonic Boom revisits his last album, he exposes the arteries and bones of his past work and shares its raw, exciting potential. The result is a re-textured and re-colored new set of songs, emphasizing Sonic Boom’s ability to make a sonically expansive album feel distinctly impactful for anyone who listens closely.

Limited editon LP format with extra heavy textured jackets and metallic silver ink. LP includes 12" square insert with lyrics and images of the artist, and download. The raw inspiration for Vague Tidings came from a 2006 DIY tour of the 49th state. It was a trip that went off the beaten path-sometimes a bit too far for comfort. Now, over a decade later, listeners find Joe O'Connell aka Elephant Micah stationed at a creaky spinet piano, singing about the Alaskan sky. Throughout, his lyrics take a new angle on a pet theme: human encounters with the natural world. Vague Tidings places these encounters in the American West and, at times, in its sci-fi corollary, outer space. Its imagery draws from the allure of Alaska, the idea of Western prosperity, and the human relationship to wilderness more broadly. Often, O'Connell sings about the goal of capturing and commodifying nature. In poetic sketches of resource extraction industries and dark sky tourism, frontier lust runs amok. Pipelines catch fire and stars disappear, all to the tune of a stark, uncanny Americana. Vague Tidings is a sustained, hallucinatory rendering of this theme. In style, its eight songs follow a switchback path between foggy incantations and mountain anthems. Made with a small cohort of acoustic instrumentalists, the record is rough hewn, but easy on the ears. To put Vague Tidings down on tape, O'Connell assembled some of his favorite musicians in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area, where he's lived since 2015: Libby Rodenbough (Mipso) bows and plucks a detuned fiddle, Matt Douglas (Mountain Goats) breathes life into various woodwinds, and Matt O'Connell (Lean Year) sets the pace on a two-piece drum set. Their loose, imaginative playing pushes Vague Tidings beyond the singer-songwriter genre into something richer in texture. Ultimately, this is foreboding but spacious music, with plenty of room for reconsidering life on earth. R.I.Y.L. Jason Molina, Bonnie Prince Billy, Bill Callahan, Damien Jurado.

PRIMAL FEAR's ferocious new record “Metal Commando” has been an undisputed highlight of 2020. The German power metal band's 13th full length detonated in the midst of a raging pandemic, leaving no stone unturned in its path. The whole world got stuck in, achieving the 6 piece some of their highest chart positions in their 20+ year career, which included; a top ten in Switzerland (6), Germany (7), Japan (7), Finland (9) and Sweden (9) next to multiple high entries in countries such as Austria, Spain, France and the USA.

PRIMAL FEAR are Germany’s metal band of the hour, again. Right now however, they want to show us something new, a different side to them - after releasing a string of heavy and hard-hitting singles from “Metal Commando”, mastermind Mat Sinner and vocal force Ralf Scheepers have something extraordinary up their sleeves; a 5-track single, built around an exclusive new rendition of their achingly beautiful ballad ‘I Will Be Gone’, re-recorded with none other than Finnish metal diva extraordinaire, Tarja Turunen.

“There were three famous vocalists on our final wish list,” Mat Sinner comments. “That it was Tarja who got involved in this song is a matter of pure joy for all of us. Working together on the song and video was totally relaxed and professional – a great experience also because Tarja’s and Ralf’s voices go together incredibly well. Now, we can expand the ‘Metal Commando’ saga with a unique chapter. We’re all really proud of this single.”

The Finnish icon can only agree: “I was very happy to receive the invitation to take part in PRIMAL FEAR’s beautiful song ‘I Will Be Gone’. We started our careers nearly at the same time many years ago, and finally got a chance to work together. I love the song and personally it helped me to stay connected and rock again, even if at the studio this time. I really hope that people will like this collaboration and that it will bring them joy especially during these difficult times we are living through at the moment.”
The song, fragile and touching, gets an altogether new and deeply melancholic vibe with Tarja’s unbelievably emotional performance, showcasing a different facet of PRIMAL FEAR. Yet, it’s not the only gift they deliver on this 5-track sensation - just take ‘Vote Of No Confidence’ for example, an all-new, previously unreleased beast of a song. Clocking in at over six minutes, this storming, furious anthem gives a brilliant glimpse of things to come. Previously only available as bonus tracks on the limited “Metal Commando” digipack, three more tracks complete this release; enchanting guitar instrumental ‘Rising Fear’, massive mid-tempo smasher ‘Leave Me Alone’, and heavy metal monument ‘Second To None’, making ‘I Will Be Gone’ so much more than just another off shoot of a successful album.

“Metal Commando” is so much more than just another album by a veteran band. The songs are too strong, the hooks too merciless, the refrains too huge, and their trademark phalanx of three guitars too indomitable for any meek kind of listener response. “We’re simply an awesome team,” Sinner laughs. The “we” he’s talking about are of course himself on bass guitar and vocals, fierce vocalist Ralf Scheepers, guitarists Tom Naumann, Alex Beyrodt and Magnus Karlsson as well as that brand-new whirlwind of a drummer, Michael Ehré.

After six albums “abroad”, “Metal Commando” saw the band return to their first home Nuclear Blast. Where some bands would give in under such pressure, changing labels for PRIMAL FEAR has unleashed a huge amount of sublime heavy metal energy. Heck, we bet this seismic shock was visible on the Richter scale! “We wrote and wrote and realised quite early on that we had a lot of good ideas going”. Good ideas? The songs are bangers as only PRIMAL FEAR anthems can be – a sound that’s long become a trademark just got new, shiny alloys.

New track ‘I Will Be Gone’ showcases PRIMAL FEAR’s mellow, bittersweet side – available on multi coloured vinyl, shaped vinyl, CD digipack or digitally. Let’s all take a deep breath now; soon enough it’ll get loud again on stages around the globe.

PRIMAL FEAR's ferocious new record “Metal Commando” has been an undisputed highlight of 2020. The German power metal band's 13th full length detonated in the midst of a raging pandemic, leaving no stone unturned in its path. The whole world got stuck in, achieving the 6 piece some of their highest chart positions in their 20+ year career, which included; a top ten in Switzerland (6), Germany (7), Japan (7), Finland (9) and Sweden (9) next to multiple high entries in countries such as Austria, Spain, France and the USA.

PRIMAL FEAR are Germany’s metal band of the hour, again. Right now however, they want to show us something new, a different side to them - after releasing a string of heavy and hard-hitting singles from “Metal Commando”, mastermind Mat Sinner and vocal force Ralf Scheepers have something extraordinary up their sleeves; a 5-track single, built around an exclusive new rendition of their achingly beautiful ballad ‘I Will Be Gone’, re-recorded with none other than Finnish metal diva extraordinaire, Tarja Turunen.

“There were three famous vocalists on our final wish list,” Mat Sinner comments. “That it was Tarja who got involved in this song is a matter of pure joy for all of us. Working together on the song and video was totally relaxed and professional – a great experience also because Tarja’s and Ralf’s voices go together incredibly well. Now, we can expand the ‘Metal Commando’ saga with a unique chapter. We’re all really proud of this single.”

The Finnish icon can only agree: “I was very happy to receive the invitation to take part in PRIMAL FEAR’s beautiful song ‘I Will Be Gone’. We started our careers nearly at the same time many years ago, and finally got a chance to work together. I love the song and personally it helped me to stay connected and rock again, even if at the studio this time. I really hope that people will like this collaboration and that it will bring them joy especially during these difficult times we are living through at the moment.”
The song, fragile and touching, gets an altogether new and deeply melancholic vibe with Tarja’s unbelievably emotional performance, showcasing a different facet of PRIMAL FEAR. Yet, it’s not the only gift they deliver on this 5-track sensation - just take ‘Vote Of No Confidence’ for example, an all-new, previously unreleased beast of a song. Clocking in at over six minutes, this storming, furious anthem gives a brilliant glimpse of things to come. Previously only available as bonus tracks on the limited “Metal Commando” digipack, three more tracks complete this release; enchanting guitar instrumental ‘Rising Fear’, massive mid-tempo smasher ‘Leave Me Alone’, and heavy metal monument ‘Second To None’, making ‘I Will Be Gone’ so much more than just another off shoot of a successful album.

“Metal Commando” is so much more than just another album by a veteran band. The songs are too strong, the hooks too merciless, the refrains too huge, and their trademark phalanx of three guitars too indomitable for any meek kind of listener response. “We’re simply an awesome team,” Sinner laughs. The “we” he’s talking about are of course himself on bass guitar and vocals, fierce vocalist Ralf Scheepers, guitarists Tom Naumann, Alex Beyrodt and Magnus Karlsson as well as that brand-new whirlwind of a drummer, Michael Ehré.

After six albums “abroad”, “Metal Commando” saw the band return to their first home Nuclear Blast. Where some bands would give in under such pressure, changing labels for PRIMAL FEAR has unleashed a huge amount of sublime heavy metal energy. Heck, we bet this seismic shock was visible on the Richter scale! “We wrote and wrote and realised quite early on that we had a lot of good ideas going”. Good ideas? The songs are bangers as only PRIMAL FEAR anthems can be – a sound that’s long become a trademark just got new, shiny alloys.

New track ‘I Will Be Gone’ showcases PRIMAL FEAR’s mellow, bittersweet side – available on multi coloured vinyl, shaped vinyl, CD digipack or digitally. Let’s all take a deep breath now; soon enough it’ll get loud again on stages around the globe.

Self titled debut album from NOLA based indie psych rock band. Silver Synthetic is comprised of indie rock all-stars with members formerly from The Bottomfeeders and Jeff The Brotherhood. The mega talented musicians formed at a record store in New Orleans because of course they did. Summer 2020 EP from Silver Synthetic garnered playlist placements on Spotify's Indielandia and Fresh Finds Rock. Debut album Chiming, driving, relaxed rock & roll minimalism For fans of Television, T. Rex, The Velvet Underground, chooglin' 02/17 - Announce/Pre-Order w/ IG: In The Beginning + music video 03/17 - 2nd IG: Chasm Killer 04/07 - 3rd IG: Around the Bend 04/09 - STREET DATE w/ focus track: Around the Bend INDIE RETAIL PROGRAMS: Retailer Time Program Details Rough Trade US March 31 Transmission livestream Rough Trade US April 2021 US Edit Rough Trade UK April 2021 UK Edit Euclid NOLA March/April 2021 Mural PREX April 2021 banner Record Grouch Brooklyn April 2021 socials program Resident Records April 2021 web package, mail order flyers Piccadilly Records April 2021 web banner Drift Records April 2021 web package AIMS May 2021 Tier 1 Broadtime April 2021 Level 1 ads, listening stations, preorders Indie retail April 2021 Promo posters (x400)

“I wanted to try and showcase as many people as I knew on this mix. My idea of Late Night Tales was to distil a series of relaxing moments; the whole conceptual sonic of relax- ation. So, I was trying to think of all the collaborators and friends that I knew, who’d recorded stuff with this horizontal vibe. Plus, I was also trying to help my friends' stuff get into the world. I know the story of Khruangbin blowing up after appearing on the series (in fact, I think that's how I discovered them). So, the main idea was to create a certain atmosphere, but also to help some of my favourite collaborators and bud- dies to give their songs a little push out into the world. Hope you like it” Jordan Rakei
Due for release on 9th April, Late Night Tales celebrate their 20th anniversary with the release of multi-instru- mentalist, vocalist and producer Jordan Rakei’s majestic compilation. The 28-year-old modern soul icon effortlessly stamps his own jazz and hip-hop driven sound all over this gorgeous array of handpicked tracks. A beautifully layered blend that is mirrored in the music he’s made, itcomes as no surprise that such a supremely gifted songwriter should deliver a mix that is all about the song.
Rakei, born in New Zealand, but raised in Australia, moved to the UK in 2015; he released his debut album, Cloak, with Oz label Soul Has No Tempo, but his two subsequentLPs, Wallflower and Origin, came out on Ninja Tune, the former#2 in Album Of The Year for Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide poll, while Origin was nominated for Best Album at the AIM Awards. Jordan had this to say on his upcoming mix:
As Jordan says,there’s so much more to the song selection on Late Night Tales’latest outing than a random collection of artists. Many have some sort of personal connection, so just as Bonobo provided a platform for the breakout of Khruangbin on a previous LNT, this may have the same ef- fect for Rakei’s friends. After a soothing opener from Fink, good friend and big influence Alfa Mist (part of the Are We Live collective) delivers ‘Mulago.’ “I want to champion their sound and show the world how good he is, and I thought it’d be fitting to start the mix with family,” says Jordan.
Next up is Charlotte Day Wilson with ‘Mountains,’ followed by ‘Count A Heart’ from Moreton, an exclusive collab- oration with Jordan, who grew up on the same street in Brisbane, Australia. “She was the first artist I ever collabo- rated with, and one of the first artists to be involved in mycareer,” he explains. Elsewhere we hear Scottish producer and multi-instrumentalist C Duncan’s haunting ‘He Came from the Sun,’ Barcelona collective Oso Leone deliver a dreamy ‘Virtual U’ and Bill Lauren’s ‘Singularity,’ which evokes a striking sense of time and place.
Snowpoet’s ethereal ‘Evitenity’ is a “long mediative nar- rative over a beautiful soundscape,” which at times seems chaotic, nicely juxtaposed with undeniable beauty, and Maro’s kooky songwriting shines on ‘Always And Forever.’ Long-time buddy Armon-Jones contributes ‘Idiom,’ and Jordan’s exclusive cover version is a two-for-one, Radio- head’s ‘Codex’ merging with ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Home’ by Jeff Buckley and another exclusive,original com- position by Jordan, ‘Imagination.’ The latter works as a piece with the spoken (Spanish) word voiced by movie director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, Birdman, and The Reve- nant,) who is a big fan of Jordan’s. “He messaged me when I went to L.A and asked to come to my show. I was in such shock and we hung out after. I thought it would be nice to get him to do this in his native tongue, because I don’t think that’s been done yet on the series.” It certainly is a familyaffair. Not theblood is thicker than water kind, but certainly musical kindred spirits.

Friedberg was born out of a vision to create a totally new sound for
London-based Anna Friedberg (writer, vocals, cowbell, guitar, and more cowbell) and backed by a stellar cast of musicians, Emily Linden (guitar, vocals), Cheryl Pinero (bass, vocals) and Laura Williams (drums), they are developing exactly that.
Music that is both immediately familiar but also like nothing you’ve ever heard before. Friedberg, when literally translated, means “peaceful mountain”, but this is far from the frenetic and feisty sound of Anna’s colossal new project and her debut EP ‘YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH’.
The full EP’s duality of upbeat, dance-inducing songs and emotionally heavy lyrics on topics of fear, insecurity and the breakdown of a codependent relationship, feel like an all-night party that ends up with new friends on the roof in fuzzy conversation, content in life’s mysteries. Crystal Clear transparent vinyl, standard 12” card sleeve w/ gloss finish, printed inner sleeve.

Absolutely stunning second album from Trees Speak new on Soul Jazz Records. Trees Speak's new album 'Shadow Forms' is a blend of 1970s German electronic and 'motorik' Krautrock instrumentals (think Harmonia, Can, Cluster, Popul Vuh, Neu!), haunting and powerful 1960s & 1970s soundtracks (think Italian prog-rock Goblin and John Carpenter horror movies, Morricone and existential John Barry spy movies), together with a New York no wave electronic synth and guitar analogue DIY-ness (think Suicide, anything on Soul Jazz's New York Noise series or Eno's New York No Wave)! Trees Speak' segue together all these elements into 'Shadow Forms,' which follows on from their critically-acclaimed debut LP 'Ohms,' released on Soul Jazz Records less than six months ago. Trees Speak are Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz from Tucson, Arizona and their music often draws on the cosmic night-time magic of Arizona's natural desert landscapes. 'Trees Speak' relates to the idea of future technologies storing information and data in trees and plants - using them as hard drives - and the idea that Trees communicate collectively. The album includes an exclusive bonus 45 single 'Outtake' and 'Transmitter' that will only be available with the first order of this amazing and ground-breaking new album.

cello player and electronic artist martina bertoni's new album "music for empty flats" delivers masterfully crafted experimental ambient / drone for fans of hildur guðnadóttir, giulio aldinucci or lawrence english.

martina bertoni is a berlin based cellist and composer. she started playing the cello at a very young age. classically trained, bertoni's career soon developed around experimental and film music where her cello has been featured in numerous records, soundtracks for awarded movies and tv series and collaborations, among others with blixa bargeld and teho teardo with whom she recorded several albums and performed at many prestigious festivals all around the globe.

the core of her solo work is based on deconstructing the relationship with her own instrument by combining acoustic sound, repetition, analog and digital synthesis. after the eps "in a paradise you would be happy" (2018) and "the green ep" (2019) she released her critically acclaimed full length album "all the ghosts are gone" with the reykjavík based label falk in january 2020.

on her new album she continues to explore the sonic possibilities of her instrument which she uses as sound source - sounds which are then processed, adding reverb, feedback and sub-bass frequencies and thus crafting sonic sculptures, rich of atmospheres and frictions.

"the inspiration for the title "music for empty flats" comes from a fraction of time during last winter, while i was visiting iceland. i had the strange opportunity to spend lots of time listening to music, alone in a brand new but unoccupied - therefore completely naked - empty flat in the suburbs of reykjavík. it was christmas, it was constantly dark, outside there was snow, inside there was this strange dystopian empty space in which i could listen to my favourite pieces of music in complete solitude. this is when i started sketching the new record." says bertoni.

the resulting seven new tracks deliver masterfully crafted experimental ambient / drone, dense and intense but fragile and sensitive at the same time. A more than impressive new artistic statement by martina bertoni, recommended not only for fans of hildur guðnadóttir, giulio aldinucci or lawrence english!

Controversial glam act New York Dolls were the epitome of rock ‘n’ roll excess, prefacing
the rough edges of punk. Formed in late 1971 and initially known as Actress, the earliest
incarnation featured bassist Arthur Kane, guitarist Rick Rivets and the guitarist that would
become Johnny Thunders, with drummer Billy Murcia and singer David Johansen; soon,
Rivets was replaced by Egyptian-born Sylvain Sylvain. Decked out in androgynous clothing,
including platform boots, lipstick and body stockings, The Dolls toured England in 1972,
which was ruptured by Murcia’s tragic alcohol-and-drugs-related death, bringing Jerry Nolan
into the group. Signing to Mercury, they issued a self-titled debut, followed by Too Much Too
Soon, but disappointing sales saw Mercury drop them. Live At Radio Luxembourg was
recorded in December 1973 and features hot live versions of songs from these two seminal
studio albums; with plenty of banter delivered in cod-French accents between the tracks, the
set reveals the group in their prime, their no-limits attitude taking the form of raucous guitar
riffs, shouted vocals, crashing drums and driving bass, and in addition to classic Dolls like
“Puss N Boots” and “Jet Boy,” there are some blues references too.

The Copenhagen-based, Scottish-born composer Clarissa Connelly’s music is evocative of the whimsical and almost child-like, tainted by an undercurrent of dark sensuality, disquietude and existential dread. Characterized by complex arrangements, big compounded chords, as well as a broad array of instruments, effects and sounds, her songs orient the listener towards utopian beauty that lie somewhere between the baroque and the primordial. With an experimental approach to vocal techniques, her voice can manifest benevolent fay-like creatures as easily as banshees and maleficent spirits singing melodies that retain the accessibility typically associated with pop-music. The compositions are lyrically and aesthetically grounded in Celtic folklore and Scandinavian vitalism. The threshold between the mundane and the fantastical are accentuated in her work, in such a way that the pursuit for – and the ability to recognize – real beauty in the world become anchored in the realm of work, everyday anxiety, motivation, human brilliance and failure.

With forthcoming album The Voyager, Connelly sets out to not only to study the relationship between nature and music, but also its relationship with time. She says: “I’ve always been especially excited about times in the north before Christianity came, and how the Pagan culture and Christianity became intertwined in people through rituals and formations in the landscape - burial mounds, passage graves, dolmens, etc.” She continues: “In some way, it’s very difficult to translate nature into an understandable movement of change. Looking at a mountain I often view a still picture of time – a moment right now – but sometimes, I can look at the mountain and see millions of years of change and movement. I believe that this point of view can be assisted by art and music. In a landscape ornamented with ruined Viking fortresses or ancient burial mounds, I find that I, for whatever reason, seem to be able to perceive time and comprehend history (the history of nature and culture) as a series of changes in a more salient way.”It is here that The Voyager derives so much of its power. It roots itself in history, mythology, capable of intertwining and unravelling both past and present. Songs such as Holler and The Hills Are Crying – opening and closing tracks on the album, respectively – conjure images of these ancient Danish sites, offering something more than just a fluid, long-forgotten way, and instead a tangible reverie that can educate, engage and thrill in equal measure. Connelly explains: “I have the idea, that the mystical and fantastical nature of these olden barrows and ruins can kindle a more dynamic and historically informed perspective. I think that an understanding of time as a movement is articulated when looking at the landscape in this way and can maybe bring us out of our little bell jar, and into a greater experience of life as a whole.”

The Voyager is released in conjunction with an app Vandringen (released 27 september 2020), conceived and created by Clarissa Connelly - along with the contributions of 21 other Danish musicians, painters, sculptures, performers - which highlights special ancient Danish locations, not viewable on Google Maps. These locations are presented with local knowledge and a number of them are interpreted for the modern day by the creatives involved. Connelly concludes: “I am very eager to write music that sounds like something that is happening now but has also happened a very long time ago. I have always found it fascinating to view history through changes in the landscapes around us, and therefore I started created this app and wrote this album.”

Die GRAMMY-nominierte Band CHA WA veröffentlicht mit ,My People" eine neue Song-Kollektion, die aus der reichen und lebendigen Straßenkultur von New Orleans schöpft. ,My People" vereint zeitgenössische Klänge mit der Musik von Straßenparaden und der Mardi Gras Indianer-Gemeinschaft - einer Gruppe schwarzer New Orleaner, die mit ihrer Kleidung, ihrer Musik und ihrem Dialekt den indianischen Stämmen Respekt zollen. Vollgepackt mit einer lebendigen Ansammlung von New Orleans-Klängen und -Geschichten, schöpft diese Sammlung neuer Originalsongs aus den Grooves von New Orleans-Funkbands der 70er Jahre wie The Meters (besonders bei Stücken wie ,Wildman" und ,Bow Down") und nimmt deutliche Einflüsse aus der Geschichte der Stadt mit Brass-Band-Musik, Jazz, R&B, Hip-Hop, Rock, Soul und afrikanisch inspirierten Arrangements (einschließlich einer relaxten Coverversion von Bob Dylans ,Masters Of War" in diesem Stil). Cha Wa wurde von Bandleader Joe Gelini kurz vor der Veröffentlichung des 2018 erschienenen Debütalbums ,Spyboy" gegründet, das 2020 bei den GRAMMYs mit einer Nominierung für das beste regionale Roots-Album ausgezeichnet wurde. ENG The next generation of New Orleans music shares a bold vision for the future with a reverence for the past. It builds upon tradition to bring something unique to the world. The future of New Orleans music is Cha Wa, a Mardi Gras Indian funk band that takes the music of the streets into the 21st century, with guests like Alvin Youngblood Hart and Anjelika Jelly Joseph. On "My People", the band tries to "take the influence of Monk and Bo and Willie Tee [from the original Wild Magnolias] back in the day, when they were interpreting the music of their time - the deep funk, disco, Afrobeat and tinges of reggae," says drummer & bandleader Joe Gelini. "And we're also trying to interpret and write new music that we're inspired to play that's relevant to our generation, and our current social environment." "My People" feels like pure joy, a distillation of generations of New Orleans expression, but it also never fails to remind us how hard-won that joy was and still is: not least in the tense, funky and explosive title track, with its declaration "My people, we're still here." "Mardi Gras Indian songs are inherently songs about freedom," Gelini says. "And that struggle is as relevant today as it's ever been."

Real Real World is the first collaborative effort from Nantes-based Australian drummer/percussionist Will Guthrie and Australian keyboardist/composer James Rushford. Primarily recorded in a fluid, spontaneous studio session in Nantes, with overdubs added later in Melbourne and Nantes, Real Real World presents five spacious, unhurried pieces that inhabit a unique sound world characterised by wheezing, half-voiced organ chords, chiming metal percussion, and eruptions of small sounds. Beginning with the eerily beautiful, shakuhachi-esque sound of Rushford performing on detuned portative organ, the opening title track is abruptly transformed by the entry of Guthrie’s sizzling cymbals, deep gong strikes, and rustling hand percussion. On the epic ‘Lumbering’, which occupies the majority of the record’s first side, organ chords define a space in which a kaleidoscopic succession of amplified thuds, chiming bells, rustled and dragged objects, and abruptly silenced clusters advance and recede in an oneiric blur, eventually making way for a passage of Guthrie’s virtuosic polyrhythms, itself unexpectedly overtaken by waves of melting fairground organ. The record reaches an energetic climax mid-way through the second side with the stunning ‘Slakes’, where lugubrious chords in the organ’s lowest register are joined by Guthrie’s skittering rhythms, which somehow manage to call to mind both the most chaotic moments of Balinese Gamelan and the stochastic breakbeats of late-90s Autechre. On this piece, Guthrie and Rushford are joined by Melbourne saxophone maverick Scott McConnachie, who contributes an alto sax solo of burning precision, working with a single-minded palette of piercing long tones and wild intervallic leaps. Though it makes extensive use of overdubbing, Real Real World retains a strong sense of having been performed, rather than constructed: while at times the fleeting succession of events can recall electroacoustic music, its primarily acoustic nature and unhurried pace is also reminiscent of the music of AACM affiliates or Marion Brown’s classic Afternoon of a Georgia Faun. Immediately engaging while also hiding countless details in the folds of its polychrome fabric, Real Real World is a relaxed and joyous document of collaborative musical invention.

Artwork by Patrizia Bach. Layout by Lasse Marhaug. Mixed and mastered by Joe Talia at Good Mixture, Berlin.