Search:self self

Ivy Falls, the alias of singer-songwriter Fien Deman, will release her first full album in the spring of 2024. 'Sense & Nonsense' sounds mature, with a clear vision and direction. Fien wrote the album after a breakup and leaving her home; she witnessed cracks appearing in her life and found herself in a whirlpool of insecurities. Writing turned out to be the way to reorient herself and discover what she could fill her empty 'house' with. Everything changed: a new life, a new place, new people, and a new view of herself as a musician and writer. Bram Vanparys, aka The Bony King of Nowhere, makes his debutas a producer on Ivy Falls' first release. This unreleased duo impresses with 'the best coda for the confusing time that your twenties can be.'

Sometimes hitting a wall is inevitable. This occurred, partly even literally, in 2020: a broken nose, a painful breakup, and a series of chaotic events shook Fien's foundations. Losing her job, ending her relationship, leaving her home, and returning to her parental home, she hit rock bottom and started her quest to rebuild everything from scratch. After the tumult, Fien decided to shed the oppressive norms and ideas learned as a child and wholeheartedly pursue her own choices and projects.

In the years that followed, each aspect of her life gradually fell into its right place. This extended to her musical identity, themes, and sound. Acquiring some guitars and an upright piano, she endeavored to master them as a self-taught artist. Devoting ample time to her self-made home studio, she returned to the essence, distancing herself from the polished pop sound of her initial work and reconnecting with her first musical love - the singer-songwriters who had colored her teenage years. This rediscovered inspiration marked the first time in her musical career that everything felt perfectly aligned.

The album's artistic approach aligns with a fresh, expansive outlook on life and the future. Fien aims to challenge rigid societal concepts, including the notion of 'golden years.' She questions what and when exactly should be considered the most significant, joyful, and vibrant moments of life. The album delves into topics like the perceived superiority of extroverts, narcotic materialism, and toxic positivity. It's not a lament but rather an ode to what truly matters-the essence, love, and beauty. Fien's perspective encourages finding your inner child and immersing yourself in timeless and profound feelings.

Musically, Fien discovered her perfect match in Bram Vanparys (The Bony King of Nowhere), her newfound love. She wrote the songs, and he took on the role of album producer and co-arranger. Together, they crafted a metaphorical space where every small musical idea has room to flourish, and each insight and effort carries significance. Influenced by indie folk luminaries such as Julia Jacklin, Amen Dunes, Feist, Sharon Van Etten, Sufjan Stevens, and Nick Drake, Ivy Falls has set a high standard for her sound.

The main constant? Fien's distinctive voice commands every song, now revealing greater depth and nuance than ever. In live performances, Ivy Falls is joined by a talented ensemble: Trui Amerlinck (Tsar B, Mayorga), Jasper Morel (Black Box Revelation), Simon Raman (Steiger), and Anton De Boes (Philemon).

In the past, Ivy Falls has launched two EPs, received airplay on Studio Brussels and Radio 1, and shared the stage as supportfor artists like Balthazar, Jessie Ware, Sigrid, and Mabel.

Standing in a Greyhound Bus station, wearing a Sylvester t-shirt and huge duct-tape-covered glasses, Baltimore ’s Dan Deacon doesn't invoke the image of a composer to the other bus riders. The two suitcases he loads under the bus, which accompany him from city to city, hold the sweat-and-grime-soaked electronics that he uses to craft his raging, maxed-out party music and light show. After 12 tours and 300+ shows in little over 2 years, the gear is beaten and battered, but the show and the energy it produces is anything but.

Dan Deacon has garnered a reputation in the underground as an intense performer and classic showman. The table top full of pedals, a sine wave generator, vocoder and casio blasting through the PA, joined by a makeshift light board with various bulbs and green skull strobe light, make his all out dance-til-you-drop performance a complete experience.

But it isn't all fancy feet and bouncy beats. Deacon is a classically trained composer with a Masters degree in electro-acoustic composition. He has released 7 albums from 2003 to 2006, but those self-produced recordings do not contain the vocal-based experimental pop that he has fine-tuned in live performance. His latest full length, Spiderman of the Rings is the first album bridging the gap between party performer and genuine composer. A mixture of his live show dance anthems, intricate instrumentals and humorous monologues, Spiderman of the Rings establishes Dan Deacon as a new type of entertainer in the contemporary underground.

“Mother”, Logic1000’s debut album. “I felt so much love and inspiration entering into motherhood that I just needed to create something really powerful,” explains Samantha Poulter, the Berlin-based DJ and producer , who grewed up in the Sydney suburbs of Yarrawarrah and Botany Bay and better known to fans as Logic1000. “And with a lot less free time, you really make sure you make the most of any moment you get.” That vitality and renewed sense of purpose is captured on Mother.Preceded by the single ‘Grown On Me’, the 12-track set is a laser-focused “love letter to house music”, written in collaboration with her husband and long-time creative partner Thom McAlister (Cop Envy, Big Ever). Finding Poulter further fine-tuning her inventive, multi-genre approach, it’s a crucial contribution not just to the world of dance but to the canon of art inspired by parenthood. As Poulter herself puts it, a little awed, “I never thought I would be capable of something so powerful.”

One of the hardest working singer-songwriters in the game is named Katie Crutchfield. She was born in Alabama, grew up near Waxahatchee Creek. Skipped town and struck out on her own as Waxahatchee. That was over a decade ago. Crutchfield says she never knew the road would lead her here, but after six critically acclaimed albums, she"s never felt more confident in herself as an artist. While her sound has evolved from lo-fi folk to lush alt-tinged country, her voice has always remained the same. Honest and close, poetic with Southern lilting. Much like Carson McCullers"s Mick Kelly, determined in her desires and convictions, ready to tell whoever will listen. And after years of being sober and stable in Kansas City-after years of sacrificing herself to her work and the road-Crutchfield has arrived at her most potent songwriting yet. On her new album, Tigers Blood, Crutchfield emerges as a powerhouse-an ethnologist of the self-forever dedicated to revisiting her wins and losses But now she"s arriving at revelations and she ain"t holding them back.

One of the hardest working singer-songwriters in the game is named Katie Crutchfield. She was born in Alabama, grew up near Waxahatchee Creek. Skipped town and struck out on her own as Waxahatchee. That was over a decade ago. Crutchfield says she never knew the road would lead her here, but after six critically acclaimed albums, she"s never felt more confident in herself as an artist. While her sound has evolved from lo-fi folk to lush alt-tinged country, her voice has always remained the same. Honest and close, poetic with Southern lilting. Much like Carson McCullers"s Mick Kelly, determined in her desires and convictions, ready to tell whoever will listen. And after years of being sober and stable in Kansas City-after years of sacrificing herself to her work and the road-Crutchfield has arrived at her most potent songwriting yet. On her new album, Tigers Blood, Crutchfield emerges as a powerhouse-an ethnologist of the self-forever dedicated to revisiting her wins and losses But now she"s arriving at revelations and she ain"t holding them back.

Chaka Khan had lit the world on fire as the frontwoman for Rufus, tearing up the charts with hits like “Tell Me Something Good” and “You Got The Love,” picking up several Grammy awards on the way. She set out on her solo career with this collection in 1978, leading the way with the hit “I’m Every Woman,” which propelled the release to be certified platinum in the US and earn her another Grammy® nomination for best R&B vocal performance.

In November of 2023, she will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the end of a year that marked her 50th in the business. In 2024, we will launch a campaign to reissue her solo records, some physically, some digitally only, starting with the self-titled Chaka, which will feature a new remix of “I’m Every Woman” by DJ Rashida featuring Sheila E., liner notes from Emmy-winning journalist Kelley Carter, and bonus tracks from the original sessions.

After his first two one-off singles "Black Pegasus" and "Day Without You" introduced DJ Swagger's massive songwriting abilities and love for recording instruments, his first album on Kommerz Records, "Chemistry Forever", showcases his background in UK-leaning elec- tronic music as well as new tendencies towards neo soul, indie pop and jazz. Welcome DJ Swagger to the Kommerz Records stage and prepare for the album to drop on March 22nd.
The 25-year-old from West Germany's Bielefeld is pretty much the archetype of a so-called Wunderkind. At his young age the producer, DJ, multi instrumentalist and songwriter released more than 40 vinyl records including two solo albums and endless rave tracks since turn- ing 16. As of most recently and even though coming from an electronic music background DJ Swagger's creative agenda ventured more and more into classic songwriting and taking over the role of lead vocalist of his one-man-band. His third solo album "Chemistry Forever" show- cases this transformation from UK-influenced electronica towards neo soul and indie without losing its listeners at any point. His subtle melancholic vocal performance and the just as subtle, yet constant pop appeal make this equation solve itself magically. From electro, 2 step and breakbeat over hip-hop, indie and R&B to a final bebop (!) madness - "Chemistry Forever" is a trip for music lovers while each and every song has heavy potential to be listened to on repeat.
Besides his own vocal performances DJ Swagger also invited rappers TripSixVivo (London), Vitus04 (Bielefeld), Kaba (Paris) and poet Dainell Aiken (NYC) for mesmerizing guest perfomances. Additional production work came from Hamburg dance producer Speckman and jazz outfit Jonas Gersema Trio.
Aaaand since we called him a Wunderkind: Be aware that he's not only a next level musician, but studied graphic designer, illustrator and most likely many more things. Just an example: Most recently he sold self-made perfumed candles through his D.I.Y. label and fashion brand Goddess Music. He obviously designed everything around the album, directed the music videos and merch drops are to be expected.
For us, brothers Lukas and Jonathan, the love story goes way back though. In the midst of the long gone lo-fi house hysteria (2017-2018) we discovered the Bielefeld native's dance floor productions, which fused hip-hop braggadocio with pumping electronic music. We kept following up on his ever evolving musical journey into new genres and felt super honored when he reached out to release his upcoming projects via Kommerz.

"Jolifanto" takes its name from the first verse of "Karawane", a seminal Dadaist phonetic poem by Hugo Ball. When Ball first recited it in 1916 at the Cabaret Voltaire, both the author and the audience embraced a trance that left Ball exhausted, requiring assistance off the stage as the audience claimed the spotlight.

Over a century later, by a series of fortuitous events, "Jolifanto" is also the title of an album featuring two powerful musical entities. Artists stemming from diverse backgrounds converge with a shared experimental spirit, curiosity and passion for exploration in their music.

"Jolifanto" is an unexpected explosion propelled by (poly)rhythm, expanding into seemingly distant territories under the influence of flamenco. The Dadaist spirit permeates the work, where a constant tension between the improvised and the meticulously planned is evident. ZA! and Perrate together form an organism traveling from the roots to the rave, with nothing sounding out of place because the place is yet to be defined.

Perrate witnessed ZA!'s concert in a festival he attended as part of the audience. The Catalans surprised him with a proposal that he found radical and unclassifiable. Later, after being invited to prepare a collaboration for the Música y Museos season in Seville, Perrate decided to move off the beaten path, approaching ZA!, who quickly embraced the proposal. Exchanges of ideas and audio tracks ensued in a short time and they quickly  found out that they were in the same wavelength. A week before the concert, they met in the same physical space for the first time, dedicating a couple of days to composition and preparing the gig at La Mina Studios in Seville. The concert took place, hailed as "the best concert most attendees had experienced in a long time", as reported by the Diario de Sevilla. That energy needed to be captured, and so it was, at the Happy Place studio in Seville, where the album was recorded between March 6th and 9th, 2023.

The Catalan duo ZA!, "the duo that mash up terrace-chant mayhem with... everything else" (The Wire #384), has operated independently and self-managed since their inception in 2004. They overlap genres and amalgamate sounds that move, with intensity, between wild jazz, post-rock and avant-garde electronics, among other influences. In their acclaimed latest work, they have revived the Phoenician language, exploring Mediterranean sounds alongside MegaCobla and Tarta Relena.

Perrate, active since the late 90s, explores the outer edges of flamenco without forsaking its profound essence rooted in lineage and tradition, evident in every note of his voice. His latest work, "Tres golpes" (Lovemonk/El Volcán, 2022), named flamenco album of the year by Babelia/El País, and one of the albums of the year for BBC3's Late Junction, reflects an innate curiosity, possibly the seed of all the fortuitous events leading to this album.

The encounter between Perrate and ZA! is the result of serendipitous events interwoven with the narrative of artists dedicated to experimentation and radicalism in all its forms.

READ THE AIR is the new full-length record from MARBLED EYE, the four-piece punk band responsible for all of that noise coming out of Oakland for the last couple of years. The opening title track sets the album's tone immediately, guitars starting and stopping to match a staggered drum beat before guitarist and co-vocalist Chris Natividad's lyrics act as a mission statement for the album's recurring theme of self-reflection: "Searching / shaking / life simulating_ read the air / count me out."Engineered mostly by the band themselves, Read the Air's ten songs are both overdriven and ominous. Songs like single "In the Static" offer riffs worthy of a Marquee Moon or Entertainment! comparison, but the band still can't shake the dread of modern times. The song's refrain treats time like a threat, with Natividad's constant shout of "staring at the clock" acting as a haunted refrain. The combined playing of drummer Alex Shen and bass player Ronnie Portugal give songs like "Tonight" and "See It Too" an angular and driving edge. With additional recording from Toro Y Moi's Chaz Bear and mixing from Grace Coleman (Courtney Barnett, Spiritual Cramp), Marbled Eye have dialed in a record that feels destined to live in the noisy post-punk canon for years to come.Marbled Eye's new album Read the Air arrives this March via Summer Shade Records.

Helping to spearhead a revival of neo-psychedelic pop, California's Sugar Candy Mountain emerged in the early 2010s fusing sunny, retro sounds with lush, sophisticated composition. Ranging from lo-fi experimentation to vibrant Tropicália, early releases like 2013's Mystic Hits soon gave way to a brighter, synth-driven brand of psych-pop on 2018's Do Right. Sugar Candy Mountain's evolution continued with their eclectic fifth album, Impression, in 2021.The band initially began oin 2010 as the recording project of Oakland-based musician Will Halsey. From early on, his partnership with collaborator Ash Reiter yielded a unique sound blending classic '60s West Coast psychedelia with pastoral folk and pulling inspiration from pop experimentalists like Brazil's Os Mutantes, the Flaming Lips, and Brian Wilson. The band's self-titled 2011 debut drew largely from Halsey's early, more lo-fi recordings. By the time of 2013's Mystic Hits, Sugar Candy Mountain had evolved into a fully fledged live group with Halsey and Reiter at the helm. The album also expanded on their Brazilian influences and was partially recorded in Sao Paulo.Reissued for it's 10th Anniversary, Mystic Hits returns to vinyl under their newly minted home record label, Sugar Candy Mountain Records. Available in March 2024 on Lava Splatter (ltd to 1000) and Blood Red vinyl.

Embark on a soul-stirring voyage with Oriana Ikomo as she unveils "THE HEALING," an EP that encapsulates the profound metamorphosis she has undergone in recent years. This musical journey is an ode to personal empowerment, and Oriana's resilience echoes through each note and lyric.

The EP unfolds with a powerful, ethereal introduction where the piano and Oriana's soulful voice are in the center. With a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere, she passionately repeats the mantra, "Be kind to the mothers, the sisters, the brothers, and the sisters," serving as both an affirmation and an importantmessage to the world.

Oriana's sonic palette is a rich tapestry of genres, seamlessly weaving together R&B, Gospel, Ambient, Jazz, Electronic, and Pop influences. Her sound throughout the EP is affirmed and robust, reflecting the strength she has discovered within herself.

In each track, Oriana showcases her exceptional versatility as an artist. From the heart-wrenching 'MAMA, LET'S GO' to the rhythmically charged 'IMMA PLEASER', she navigates effortlessly through different musical landscapes. The EP becomes a sonic experience, offering you a diverse and immersive experience.

"THE HEALING" is not just an EP; it's a musical expedition that invites you to delve into the depths of Oriana Ikomo's soul. Through her evocative lyrics and dynamic melodies, she invites you to witness the beauty that emerges from personal growth and self-discovery. Join Oriana on this transformative journey as she leaves an indelible mark on the intersection of R&B, Gospel, Ambient, Jazz, Electronic, and Pop, proving that empowerment and artistry go hand in hand.

"Irish interdisciplinary artist Fears, aka Constance Keane, is back with her second full-length release - affinity. Following on from her critically acclaimed 2021 debut album Oíche, Fears has crafted ten self-produced tracks, drawing on human connection, intimacy, and moments of peace in a city.

Written and recorded between London, New York, and Dublin, affinity explores the relationship between her physical surroundings and the work she creates."

Affinity by Fears, released 21 March 2024.

This version of Affinity comes as a 1xLP.

The vinyl is pressed as a marble, pink disc.

MESS is the next instalment of the Liars' recycled coloured vinyl reissue series, released alongside the album’s 10th anniversary.

Originally released in 2014, MESS was the sound of Liars not only facing their fears but also chewing them up and spitting them back out in all their technicolor glory. Written and recorded by Angus Andrew and Aaron Hemphill, produced by Angus and mixed by Timothy "Q" Wiles, this record was less concerned with place compared to previous albums, and saw the band back in their own studio in LA.

Angus explained at the time of release, "We go from one extreme to the other. Working on the last record was really doubtful and paranoid, and that's fine, but it just meant that when work started on this one, it was the exact opposite. It was way more instinctual, fun, and confident.”

Liars’ recycled vinyl series so far has included Liars' 2001 debut, They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top; their concept album about witchcraft on The Brocken mountains, They Were Wrong, So We Drowned (2004); 2006’s acclaimed follow-up, Drum’s Not Dead; 2007’s LA-recorded self-titled fourth album, Liars; 2010’s Sisterworld; and 2012’s acclaimed WIXIW.

Includes unlimited streaming of Mess via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

96kHz - 48-bit HD Audio with digital booklet including original photography by Christopher Kayfield and liner notes by Shaun Brady.

Pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Ben Street, and drummer Billy Hart reunite for a second, scintillating trio date, BRIDGES, featuring original compositions by Hays and Hart with classics by Wayne Shorter, Bill Frisell, The Beatles, and Milton Nascimento.

Hays Street Hart, the trio of pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Ben Street, and legendary drummer Billy Hart, recorded their acclaimed 2021 debut, ALL THINGS ARE, under less than optimal conditions. The album began life as a performance in honor of Hart’s 80th birthday in December 2020, live-streamed from an empty Smoke Jazz Club in the final weeks of that grueling pandemic year. Despite those adversities, the music they created that night was spectacular enough to convince all involved that it should be released.

Two years later, the trio has reconvened, this time fully cognizant that they were going to record an album at Sear Sound Studios in NYC. The captivating BRIDGES brilliantly spotlights the unique chemistry and shared spirit of exploration that emerged fully formed on that initial impromptu session. The title succinctly hints at some of the reasons why Hays, Street and Hart work so well together: this is a trio that bridges generations, certainly, as well as a wealth of diverse experience and inspiration. But it also sums up a mutual desire to bring people together through music.

“In this world that seems to be crumbling beneath our feet,” Hays explains, “we sense the need to make allies where there might be adversaries. On the most intimate level, interpersonally and inter-psychically we set out to overcome any number of misunderstandings and adversarial situations.”

Not that there was any antagonism to overcome within the trio itself. More than anything, Hays Street Hart is a mutual admiration society of the highest order. The esteem in which the pianist and bassist hold Billy Hart likely goes without saying. The drummer was ordained in 2022 as an NEA Jazz Master, just one of the many honors he has chalked up over a breathtaking career. He began his career with an apprenticeship under the revered vocalist Shirley Horn and went on to make notable music with such luminaries as Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Stan Getz, and as part of the quartet Quest featuring David Liebman and Richie Beirach.

But Hart is if anything, even more laudatory toward his younger bandmates. Street has been a member of the drummer’s stellar quartet for two decades, alongside pianist Ethan Iverson and saxophonist Mark Turner, a tenure that speaks for itself. As for Hays, Hart is quick to place the pianist in the exalted company of some of his iconic former collaborators.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have the chance to perform with Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner,” says Hart modestly. “Each generation presents their own equivalent, and Kevin is an example of the latest innovations. There was Herbie and McCoy, then it was Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, and then you have what's coming next. I think Kevin is definitely part of that continuum.”

Though Hays sticks strictly to the piano on BRIDGES, he is also an accomplished singer whose vocal instincts fuel his inventive and lyrical melodicism. Street points to those facets as key to the connection between the pianist and Hart, who has enjoyed several meaningful collaborations with vocalists.

“It always seems to me that Kevin has the capacity to sing in his mind and then accompany himself on the piano,” Street describes. “That makes for such a nice connection with Billy, who has played with and learned from so many singers. I don't even feel like we're playing as a piano trio most of the time; it feels more like a quartet.”

Those qualities are especially clear on Hays’ “Butterfly,” which opens the album. Though it’s performed here as an instrumental, the pianist has composed lyrics for the piece, and its gorgeous, song-like quality shines through. Hays also contributed the breathtaking ballad “Song for Peace,” highlighted by Hart’s gentle, embracing brushwork and Street’s sturdy, stentorian tone. The pianist’s third original, “Row Row Row,” is constructed on a twelve-tone row, but as the playful title suggests, it has none of the more stringent qualities of the serialist composers.

Hart’s stunning “Irah,” originally recorded on his quartet’s self-titled 2006 debut, is dedicated to the composer’s mother and was recorded at Street’s suggestion. The bassist also brought guitarist Bill Frisell’s reflective “Throughout” to the date, imagining Frisell’s Americana influences would resonate with the similarly inclined Hays, who approaches the tune with a harp-like beauty. Hays’ love of pop and rock music is also reflected by the inclusion of The Beatles classic “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

The trio pays tribute to the late, great Wayne Shorter with “Capricorn,” originally released on the composer’s 1969 Blue Note album SUPER NOVA and later included on the Miles Davis Quintet set WATER BABIES. Hart called Shorter one of a kind. I think of the many times I heard him excel – with the Maynard Ferguson Big Band, with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, with Weather Report. And in each case, he was innovative.”

BRIDGES closes with the title track, a dazzling piece by the great Brazilian singer and songwriter Milton Nascimento, which Hays calls “one of my favorite compositions ever, by anybody.”

BRIDGES was recorded under ideal studio conditions by a now-established trio with a weeks-long European tour under their belts. Perhaps what’s most remarkable about the album is not that Hays, Street, and Hart play so masterfully together – with three artists of their caliber, who could expect any less? – but that this second outing maintains the bold spirit of inquisitiveness and spontaneity that its predecessor naturally possessed. Credit that to a trio perpetually determined to discover new bridges worth building.

Since more than 40 years, Anne Gillis has discreetly unfolded her proper singular universe without any compromise. She playfully moves with determined restrictions, excavating contrasting forces; sensual and visceral, mechanical and organical, black and white, … She extends this personal expression in her visuals using self-portrait photos, handwritten text and her theatrical performances are equally aligned. Her music can be considered as musique concrète using the tape machine as compositional tool, manipulating her recorded sources, mainly consisting of extended voice and different (instrumental) sounds with addition of electronics and treatments. In both her photography and her music, Anne Gillis works fully analog.

Emerging out of Amsterdam's vibrant squat scene in 1979, The Ex – a name chosen for the ease and speed with which it could be spray-painted onto a wall – have for four decades been an entirely self-sustaining musical entity, charting a course through the global underground with a spirit of freedom and radical exploration.

Blueprints For A Blackout, The Ex's fifth album and first double LP, combines caustic studio experimentations and loose songs from their gripping live-set at the time. The band consisted of singer G.W. Sok, guitarist Terrie Ex, two new recruits on bass, Luc and Yoke, and drummer Sabien Witteman, along with a plethora of guests including Mekons' Jon Langford and long-serving sound engineer Dolf Planteijdt, among others.

Originally released in 1984 on the band's own Pig Brother Productions, Blueprints veers from jagged punk explosions to sharply focused improvisations featuring field recordings that would become a hallmark of their subsequent forays into free jazz and experimental music. The overall effect is not unlike the menace of a slowly building winter storm.

Tracks like "Rabble With A Cause," "U.S. Hole" and "Scrub That Scum" stand out as exemplars of this phase of The Ex. Comparisons can be made to contemporaries Einstürzende Neubauten, NoMeansNo and Svätsox as well as later Crass label bands.

Emerging out of Amsterdam's vibrant squat scene in 1979, The Ex – a name chosen for the ease and speed with which it could be spray-painted onto a wall – have for four decades been an entirely self-sustaining musical entity, charting a course through the global underground with a spirit of freedom and radical exploration.

On 1985's Pokkeherrie (Dutch for "terrible noise"), The Ex return to the more stripped-down instrumentation on their early LPs. A key lineup change would also see the arrival of drummer Kat Bornefeld (whose supple rhythms propel the group to this day).

Recorded at the new location of Koeienverhuur Studio in the basement of storied squat/venue Emma, Pokkeherrie is a testament to the angular momentum of a group in full creative flux. Right from the opening track, bassist Luc Klaasen generates a relentless pulse. Terrie Ex's sparse/acidic guitar and G.W. Sok's impassioned vocals combine in a vein similar to The Minutemen, Flipper or Rudimentary Peni, except The Ex have the patience and wherewithal to sustain their approach beyond just brief explosions.

Perhaps only The Fall from this period can match The Ex's ability to hold a melody together while utilizing otherwise harsh sonic elements over an extended piece, most effectively on "Soviet Threat," "1,000,000 Ashtrays" and "White Liberals."

LP in gatefold sleeve. The band members are active with an impressive list of bands and projects - in pop, jazz and remote areas -, and relinquish this broad-mindedness with a self-evident love for adventure and exciting interaction.The result is a collective in continual transformation, maintaining a balancing act between wonder and determination.

Further is the brand new label from DJ Bone, who has started it in place of Subject Detroit which after 25 years he recently decided to put to sleep. This second EP lands on the same day as the first but is a new four-track solo outing from the now Amsterdam-based techno innovator himself. 'My Replicant Self' has synths slashing across the face of a sleek techno rhythm with sombre chords draped over the top. 'The Divine Call' ups the ante with spoken word menace and 'My Tribe' then layers up percussion and surging synth warmth. 'Remembering The Future' is a brilliantly quick and urgent track with slapping hits and bouncing drum funk.

Nippon Psychedelic Soul 1970-1979 is Time Capsule’s continuation of the deep dive into Japan’s rich history of folk and psychedelic soul music.

Vinyl LP with 4 page insert, original artwork and photos

The kaleidoscopic psychedelia of 1970s Japan captured a fragile and fertile moment as the country sought its future in funk grooves, heavy reverb and lyrical hallucinations.

The follow-up compilation to Time Capsule’s Nippon Acid Folk, Nippon Psychedelic Soul takes myriad pathways into the tripped-out undergrowth of 1970s Japan. Finding their feet at home and looking for inspiration abroad, the musicians featured here were engaged in the communal soul-searching that followed the breakdown of the 1960s protest movements. Some made it big, others drifted into oblivion. The music they left behind shimmers with intensity.

At the core was Happy End, the first project of YMO’s Haroumi Hosono, whose distortion-heavy guitar and crisp back-beat laid the foundations for Japanese lyrics that flipped the paradigm of Japanese rock music on its head. With it came a new found sonic ambition, such as in the bold Philly-soul style arrangements of producer Yuji Ohno, whose work with occult wandered Yoshiko Sai shares some of the bittersweet grandeur of Rotary Connection or David Axelrod.

Then there was Jun Fukamachi, a pioneer of Japanese synthesis, whose debut album was a carnival of orchestral funk, euphoric horn lines and rich production, complete with soaring guitar solos, psychedelic organ and a truly cinematic finale. The first and only time Fukamachi would sing on record, ‘Omae’ rips like the ultimate end-of-nighter.

Influenced by giants of the US soul scene, maverick composer Hiroshi “Monsieur” Kamayatsu (otherwise known as ‘the Brian Wilson of Japan’) went one step further, enlisting Tower of Power to play on ‘Have You Smoked Gauloises?’ The B-side to Monsieur’s biggest-selling single, it coasts with sophisticated cool - a liquid bassline and suave keys comping under a roaring trademark ToP sax solo. No surprise it found favour once more on the Acid Jazz dance floors of ‘90s London.

Such was the spirit of experimentation that big studio productions and private press releases sat side-by-side, with the likes of Momotaro Pink and Kazushi Inamura, taking their hopes of success into their own hands with the resources available to them. More reflective but no less robust, theirs was a heavy, fat-backed drum sound, soaked in dramatic, soulful psychedelia.

If some were dreamers and others space cadets, none were further out than sci-fi writer, musician, activist and self-made scientist Tadashi Goino, who transformed his own fantasy novel Messenger from the Seventh Dimension into an operatic prog odyssey with few discernible musical reference points – a majestic and completely bonkers outlier even among company as strange and brilliant as that which is collected here.

Less a compilation of a scene, as a compilation of a sentiment, Nippon Psychedelic Soul is a wild ride from start to finish, shattering the narratives of the Japanese folk and rock tradition into a million tiny pieces.

After making waves with their 2020 self-titled debut LP (championed by the late, great DJ and synth/wave connoisseur Silent Servant), Toronto’s Analytica return to Suction Records’ minimal synth sub-label Ice Machine, for the second full-length LP, “Strategy Of Tension”. Comprised of kosmische synth artist Gabe Knox and electro-industrial performer David Lush, Analytica is a synth-pop duo who confront the race-to-the-bottom ethos of our time, but utilizing sounds and tools from the early ‘80s synth-DIY era.

The album was recorded to a 6-track cassette portastudio in a two week session in Summer 2022, and mixed down live to tape in an afternoon. Analytica pair classic, holy grail analog synthesizers like the ARP Quadra, Roland System 100, and ARP 2600, with uncommon analog rhythm machines including the Univox SR-95, Soundmaster ST-305, Roland TR-77, and Korg KR-55B. The result is Strategy of Tension: a stinging rebuke to cynical political actors and a reminder that the only thing to fear is fear itself.

MidnightRoba is Roba El-Essawy, the voice of UK trio Attica Blues. Golden Seams marks Roba's return to music, this time both as vocalist and producer. Recorded during lockdown of 2020, Golden Seams features artists Jason Moran, Ben Williams, Edward Wakili-Hick, Junius Paul, David Mrakpor, Robert Mitchell, Tony Nwachukwu, Artyom Manukyan, Bubby Lewis, Mike King, Alec Harper, Dezron Douglas and Tommaso Cappellato. The album's foundation is firmly inspired by jazz, but in a style of her own. From electronic tracks such as Safe With Me, Self Doubt and Shelter Within, to the ballads Don't Let This Change, Reminded and jazz ballad Be Still, to the spiritual Bitter Boy (ft Jason Moran) and the classical title track Golden Seams.

The album was supported by Gilles Petterson on both BBC Radio 6 (as a feature artist) and Worldwide FM and by Kevin Le Gendre on BBC Radio 3's J to Z; by Tony Minvielle, Anne Frankenstein and China Moses on Jazz FM, where Don't Let This Change featured as Track of the Week, as well as by Kev Beadle, Alexander Nut, Leanne Wright, Charlie Dark, etc on NTS, Totally Wired Radio and Worldwide FM.

Redrum Recordz and Fremdtunes present:
Maj Rachel - 'My Shadow Was a Nun'
With her debut "My Shadow Was a Nun", Maj Rachel creates anamalgam of soul, musique concrete, sound design experimentsand classical. She employs objects as percussion, fieldrecordings, piano, guitar, synths, violin and effects incompositions that are rich in color and contrast. Her music isabstract, paradoxical, full of emotion. At times, her voicesubmerges into a tumultuous sea of reverb and distortion, onlyto emerge in soft, bittersweet melodies. She sounds dark andeerie. She sounds romantic and whimsical. In short, it's apowerful debut album that engages the mind, heart, and gut.
This is what Maj herself says about "My Shadow Was a Nun":
"So sensitive yet so immune. Light beams shine through millionsof holes. The sun makes the black thick wall seem light grey.The light pulls apart to colors. Love feels painful yet beautiful.You are around even though you're not. A brain doesn't like tothink it's alone. Arranged sound into personal stories, all self-recorded. Because sound creates deep emotion."

Anastasia Zems lands on Alzaya with a new EP resulting from a self-reflective journey marked by hypnotic electronic rhythms that echo the passage of time and the change of life.

ALZC03 – Atlantika EP is a rolling cycle of inspiration, mirroring new experiences and sonic explorations that oscillate from warm memories to dark atmospheres aligned to current events. The EP ends by inviting us to slow down, reinterpreted in a separate track by Eklektique, who uplifts its essence and message.

Pastel de Nata is a track resonating with trance-tech rhythms to evoke warm and welcoming memories in a new home that smells of the Atlantic Ocean.

With Bairro Alto, the piece evolves, wandering and experimenting with old-school trance soundscapes across borders—a memento of the past days spent in local record stores searching for new rhythms.

Casa Amarela tunes into a dark, oppressive atmosphere pronounced by classic acid and arp-bass sounds. A symbol of sorrow and pain tuned to the current times.

The hypnotic, acid, mid-tempo sound in Push The Tempo Down stands high in the sky to remind and invite us to slow down before rising again.

Push The Tempo Down Remix is a unique reinterpretation by Eklektique, injecting hypnotic and acidic components crossed with a groovy bass line to reinforce the track’s essence and message.

Lisbet Fritze and Louise Foo have shared artistic trajectories for half of their lives, having been two thirds of pop noir purveyors Giana Factory. As Glas, the duo reveals a patchwork of everyday observations rooted in significant life changes: moving countries, becoming a mother, keeping sane with and without a significant other. The music conveys a quest for balance, riding the line between doomy drama and playing it cool.

Their 10 song, self-produced debut, Kisses Like Feathers, will be released, worldwide in March 2023, through Hamburg’s hfn music. All lyrics, vocals and instruments were performed by Glas, and recorded in their studio. The album was mixed by Anders Trentemøller, with artwork by Brunswicker studio The Copenhagen-based duo have never been short on inspiration. Lisbet has lent her vocal and guitar talents to Trentemøller, in both the studio and on stage. Louise has explored immersive music with avant-pop project SØSTR, along with her sister, Sharin Foo of The Raveonettes. Lisbet’s other life involves architectural design. Louise works with sound installations in a visual arts context. The musical ideas of these two polymaths find coherence in the newly-formed Glas.

Kisses Like Feathers embody Nordic duality. Dark at times, it also presents with an open ethereality. Some songs feel tailor-made for a club’s sound system. Others lend themselves to intimate, headphone moments. While Lisbet and Louise’s harmonious vocal stack is the common thread throughout the album, the musical fabric is interlaced with acoustic, electric, and electronic instruments. Lo-fi piano and acoustic guitars share a reciprocal space with rich, synthetic orchestration. Galloping, modern rhythms and folk arrangements are often featured in the same song. These elements, and so many others, buttress the pair’s hymns.

Under the influence of his punk loving father and cabaret / comedy performing mother, Janek moved from singing in his school choir to learning to play drums and piano. Now, as well as producing music under his own name, Janek is also one of the founding members of the Neukolln based outfit Liquid Brain Orchestra, and one half of off-kilter duo Tutu Amuse with guitarist, vocalist and actor Rosa Landers. Janek"s debut solo album "Circle Of Madness" is a record that is best described by himself as a snapshot of "something at some point" and encourages the listener to "stay curious while trying to maintain a balanced and non toxic relationship with perfectionism on this discovery of new land through music, channelling self expression and learning".

"Worship Me or Die! is the 1987 debut studio album by heavy metal guitarist and violinist The Great Kat. As a Juilliard School alumnus, it’s no surprise that she’s best known for her thrash metal interpretations of well-known pieces of classical music. Her classical background, technical skills and self-promotion are sometimes compared to Yngwie Malmsteen. The album Worship Me or Die! includes the track “Metal Messiah”, which remains one of her most popular tracks to date. For the first time since its original release, Worship Me or Die! is being reissued. A limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies is available on silver coloured vinyl, which includes an insert."

Worship Me Or Die! by The Great Kat, released 15 March 2024, includes the following tracks: "Death to You ", "Worship Me or Die! ", "Speed Death ", "Ashes to Dust " and more.

This version of Worship Me Or Die! comes as a 1xLP. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

The vinyl is pressed as a silver disc.

Of the countless accolades and analyses that surround Blue, no point is more significant than the fact that the 1971 Joni Mitchell album continues to become more popular, revered, referenced, and relevant with each passing day. Such vitality is not only extremely singular; it is the ultimate measure of great art and, in the context of Blue, indisputable proof of the record's accessibility, integrity, and timelessness. If the most brilliant and everlasting music seeks to find truths shared by all of humanity, Blue can be said to be universal doctrine.

Sourced from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 12,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the landmark album with reference-grade detail, tonality, and directness. Marking the first time the beloved LP has received audiophile-quality treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on definitive-sounding vinyl and SACD sets.

Everything about Blue sounds more intimate, involving, and inescapable on this transparent pressing, which benefits from a virtually non-existent noise floor and superior groove definition. Mitchell's voice, positioned front and center, and primarily accompanied by minimalist acoustic guitar, piano, and dulcimer playing, comes across clearly and prominently. Suspended notes and radiant chords double as question marks, commas, and phrases. The in-the-room presence and spatial dimensionality make absolute the full-range spectrum of introspective emotions — hurt and distress, self-awareness and joy, difficulty and uncertainty, warmth and desire — Mitchell navigates, queries, and contemplates throughout the record. The defencelessness the singer once spoke about is laid bare here like never before.

The packaging of the Blue UD1S set complements its distinguished status. Housed in a deluxe box, both LPs come in special foil-stamped jackets with faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. This UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artifact for listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including the unforgettable cover photograph of a ruminative Mitchell shot by Tim Considine.

Deemed the third Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone; universally celebrated by critics, fans, artists, and educators; and defined by a spell of disarmingly vulnerable songs that are at once confessional, intense, spare, honest, painful, hopeful, and exquisite, Blue charts love, spiritualism, independence, and loss like no record before or since. Widely considered the album that established the singer-songwriter template, the largely autobiographical LP changed everything shortly after its original release in June 1971. Amazingly, it continues to do so more than five decades later.

An incalculable influence on generations of artists, it stands as the through-line from Carole King, Elton John, James Taylor, Joan Armatrading, and Leonard Cohen to Patti Smith, Carly Simon, Emmylou Harris, and Rosanne Cash to 21st century contemporaries like Brandi Carlile, Taylor Swift, Sharon Van Etten, and Courtney Barnett. Teetering between agony and optimism, it is — to borrow a phrase from Mitchell's eternal "A Case of You" — a bottomless "box of paints."

The beauty of the stripped-down arrangements, intoxicating melodies, and Mitchell's wisdom on Blue didn't go unnoticed. Critical acclaim, coupled with the depth of the material and Mitchell's reputation, propelled the album into the Top 20 in the U.S. and Top 10 in the U.K. Yet while so much pop music diminishes with age, Blue has defied norms and headed in the opposite direction. Its 50th anniversary year witnessed an outpouring of tributes, reflections, and testimonials that helped frame the record's escalating importance and symbolism — apt in an age in which women have become the prominent trailblazers in rock, R&B, and hip-hop.

Perhaps most succinctly, in a 2021 article celebrating the LP, the Los Angeles Times declared: "In 1971, nothing sounded like Joni Mitchell's Blue. 50 years later, it's still a miracle." Nothing, indeed. Yet "miracle" suggests Blue partially owes to a divine agent or inexplicable circumstance. And though Mitchell's bracing conviction and forthright sincerity can appear otherworldly, her musical approach and lyrical storytelling is nothing if not personal and human. What we hear is pure truth — no matter how aching, complicated, or stark.

Much has been written about the circumstances that inspired the songs on Blue: Mitchell's romances; her time overseas; her disdain for celebrity; her lingering sense of loss at having given up her daughter for adoption; her treatment by the very same industry that her music made uncomfortable; her prolonged search for resolution. These situations and experiences pushed Mitchell to question everything — especially big-picture concepts that have always obsessed mankind: fulfilment, autonomy, love, honesty, being.

"I wanna make you feel free," Mitchell sings on the record-opening "All I Want." Mission accomplished. Blue is liberation — and the start of a freedom that continues to impact music, culture, and identity today.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.

"For a long time, I'd come across these discs without really understanding what connected them, apart from a button and that famous logo designed by René Dessirier. Then, with a little more digging, I discovered the "self-production" link. For choirs, schools, folk singers, young pop groups, popular homes and even great composers who engraved unique copies of certain recording sessions...

The French equivalent of the English "Derby Service", the Kiosque d'Orphée, formerly at 7 Rue Grégoire de Tours in the 6th arrondissement, was taken over by Georges Batard in 1967 and moved to 20 Rue des Tournelles in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The adventure lasted until 1991. Georges Batard was a sound engineer who used a Neumann tube engraver to engrave acetates from the tapes he received, before printing the precious vinyls in the press factories of the day, where he was able to produce very small runs of between 50 and 500 copies.

Of course, there were other structures for releasing his records, such as Voxigrave or, later, FLVM, but none of them had so many records in their catalog. Le Kiosque d'Orphée was neither a label nor a publisher, but a structure that allowed you to press your own vinyl, at a time when it was quite an adventure to get your first 45 rpm or 33 rpm album released!

Georges Batard was described as passionate and conscientious. His son, bassist Didier Batard, wrote of him:
"Georges was passionate about recording and reproducing the stereo sound of his great passion, music. He paid close attention to distortion rates, signal-to-noise ratios, response curves, rise times and other damping factors in audio equipment. He was looking for the exact reproduction of concert hall sound in his living room (with the same sound level, if possible...). In the late '50s/early '60s, he found other sound enthusiasts in AFDERS (Association Française pour le Développement de l'Enregistrement et de la Reproduction Sonores). He became its honorary president. Every Saturday afternoon, its members met to test au- dio equipment. Their opinions were published in the monthly Revue du Son.

All you had to do was send in your tapes and choose the number of record copies you'd like to take home with you, so you could finally share your creations and, in a way, exist. You could opt for a generic sleeve, available in several colors, directly customizable with your name and credits, or you could design your dream sleeve yourself in your living room or at a printer's.

This "Do It Yourself" temple gave birth to some superb pouches. Stencilled, hand-written, illustrated with paintings, drawings, illustrations by friends or girlfriends of the time, photo prints hastily stuck in the middle of a blank, white sleeve, on which the traces of time would leave their imprints, so that collectors and the curious would come and buy them decades later, with the promise of a musical discovery, unfortunately not always fulfilled...

What most of these records have in common is the youth of their songwriters, whether or not they've had a career. Stories of buddies, of getting by and dreams of glory made up this catalog. Most of them were amateur productions, both in terms of the level of the musicians and the quality of the recordings, made on a two-track or, the ultimate luxury, a 4-track in a teenager's bedroom or parents' living room.

It was the beginning of the home studio, thanks to the advent of the Revox portable tape recorder. A bit of a shaky DIY system, but, in return, the luxury of setting no limits: one-sided tracks, no outside censorship, no artistic director, no manager, no Barclay or EMI/Pathé Marconi logos...

When you finally had your own record, you could give it away or sell it to friends, family or after concerts. You could also drop it off at the nearest record shop, with undisguised pride.

It was also a calling card that could be sent to radio stations or music labels, in the hope of launching a career...

Many of the protagonists in this story tried to sign with labels, but in those days, bridges were not so easy to build between one's hometown, or even one's village, and the major or more specialized label that might have released these records. At the time, the advertisements published in the press by the Kiosque d'Orphée opened up the field of possibilities for provincial composers. It was now possible to make their own record, without having to go through the process of signing with a label.

Some of the composers who have gone on to make a career have used this channel to release their first record or parallel projects (Claude Engel, Dominique A, Andy Emler, Michel Deneuve, Claude Mairet, Mick Piellard, Tristan Mu- rail...) and sometimes even single or very limited pressings of work or promotional copies (Bernard Parmegiani, Jef Gilson...).

This album is the conclusion of a long investigation, begun six years ago. It took a long time to find the records, scattered all over the place, in the homes of collectors and sometimes the musicians themselves, and then to listen to them, sometimes painstakingly, to unearth these moments of grace.

From this work, 23 tracks remain, but there are dozens of others that could have been included, so we had to choose, and the choice had to be as universal as possible. This selection is obviously not objective, but I hope you'll like it.

Today's music is raw, touching and powerful. "

Jean-Baptiste Guillot - Born Bad Records

Introducing, the experimental violinist and performer Vanessa Bedoret.

The London-based French musician today announces that she’ll be joining, Scenic Route, a label renowned for selecting and nourishing rising stars for the release of her debut album, Eyes, due out on 8th of March 2024. Launching with a taste of what’s to come, today she also shares single “1/2”, a textural track that tells of the dichotomy between those who are selfless and those who are self-centred, and their need to merge as one. This duality is reflected in the industrial metallic echoes under Vanessa’s soaring vocals and the piercing strings of her chosen instrument, the violin.

Treating songwriting as an instinctive process, Bedoret transforms her deeply personal experiences into pure emotion. Not following any set narrative, Eyes takes the listener on a journey via their own experiences, prompting introspection through Bedoret’s hypnotic melodies.

Through the album, she awakens the audience's imagination, to open up their emotional response. On “Ballad”, a vague, loving lyrical letter to someone close, Bedoret’s heartbreakingly soft lament is barely audible over the dramatic atonal strings. She flips her narrative again in the titular track, “Eyes”, so the listener empathises through her isolated violin, and takes on her anguish, not needing to understand the full story.

Bedoret began her classical training at age 6 and on completion at 18 she embraced the thrill of playing guitar in punk bands, and like many at the turn of adulthood, was quickly captured by the allure of the dancefloor. Her far-reaching taste doesn’t stop there, she also counts black metal to opera and from eurodance to IDM as inspiration. Her deep understanding of musical form elevates her experimentation to a truly unique sonic experience, one that never strays too far from her original love of classical music.

With only a string of releases under her belt via independent labels like Laura Lies In and Archaic Vaults, her refined skillset has meant she’s been in high demand for both solo shows and collaborations. These accolades include playing violin with New York avant garde collective Standing On The Corner at The Serpentine, as well as a part of Kahil El’Zabar conducts MOKI at the ICA, and Linder: Another Music in a Different Arcadia at the Design Museum alongside artist Linder Sterling, Naima Cherry, Maxwell Sterling, Kenichi Iwasa & Ella Frears.

For her solo performances, she’s shared stages with Standing on the Corner, Ekaterina Bazhenova-Yamasaki, Philomème Pirecki, John T. Gast and Nexcyia to name a few. She’s also performed as a duo alongside musician Severin Black in support of their collaborative EP release, First Passage / Excommunicated.

Through the lens of a life lived to it’s fullest and one that does not shy from experiencing the rawest of emotions, it’s clear that Bedoret has a nack for translating personal observations into cinematic crescendoes. The field recordings throughout only heighten this feeling adding both a grounding and other worldy sensibility. Lyrically, she allows you to peek into her private world and for a fleeting moment letting you lock eyes with hers, asking what do you see?

This debut is a glowing experimental work that purrs with a distinctive narrative. Vanessa Bedoret is a promising new act, ready to take 2024 by storm.

TM returns with a powerful release featuring Hardgroove legend David Moleon, accompanied by remixes from the masterminds Chontane, Invexis, and TM founders Jayat & Lamin.
On the A-side, "Sigue Tu Sueno" delivers a pulsating peak-time track with a distinct self-building progression, while Chontanes interpretation takes listeners on a journey through his adept sound design.
On the flip, "Agarrate a Los Pelos Del Pecho" presents a melodious track perfect for any occasion, as David effortlessly transports listeners back to the golden era of Techno with "Arriba," an absolute dance floor weapon.
In addition, we have added two digi bonus tracks for further enjoyment: "Todo al Rojo" as a vibrant Techno anthem as well as an alternate remix by Invexis, offering a more stripped-down yet impactful interpretation.

Random Color Vinyl. Beach Fossils' sophomore album, Clash the Truth, is modern post-punk triumph that's left a lasting impression on the music scene it was born out of. After releasing their self titled debut and the beloved EP, What a Pleasure, songwriter and composer Dustin Payseur began recording dissonant and introspective demos reflecting on his southern upbringing and young adulthood in New York. The tracks that would eventually make up Clash the Truth involved Payseur taking his songwriting in a new direction, employing jagged instrumentals, existential lyrics, and socially conscious subject matter. The darker themes of Clash the Truth still come out vibrant through bright guitar tones, locomotive drumming, and Payseur's inventive home recording techniques. Referencing the sounds of Factory Records releases, New York's no wave scene, and 90's avant-pop, Beach Fossils expanded their sound past the perimeters of bedroom dream pop. The album is now being reissued for the first time on Payseur and his partner Katie Garcia's own label, Bayonet Records, including a limited edition clear pink vinyl pressing.

What is the price we pay for joy, and is it worth it? The thread of this question runs taut through The Fourth Wall"s upcoming album, Return Forever, a fever dream of a record that unearths unresolved complexities of the immigrant experience in nine chapters. Throughout the album, songwriter Stephen Agustin circles a fire that feels so bright and yet so unknowable; there are not many answers to be found, only a disruption, the emergence of a world seen with new eyes. The Fourth Wall self-recorded Return Forever, beginning with recordings Agustin made in isolation during the pandemic. The record features Kasey Shun, Chris Lau, Kendall Sallay, and Andrew White. It is slated on DevilDuck Records.

Deer Jade – Jukurpa

Tired of grey skies and long faces? We’ve got a serious dose of musical vitamin D for you! Deer Jade is hailing from the picturesque Lake of Geneva, an area about which the late Jean Paul Belmondo had to say a thing or two. Her infectious smile and uplifting energy behind the decks already made her a household name in clubs and festivals around the globe. This solo debut is an expression of her strong self confidence and in-syncness with the world surrounding her. “Jukurpa” might be just one of the most flamboyant house tunes you’ll come across this year, readymade for swaying to on an early summer morning dancefloor. “Cosmic Dream” is of a more introspective nature, putting gentle psychedelic synth movements to good use. There’s a lot of heart in Deer Jade’s music. We’re happy to give it a home.

David Hasert & Niconé – Wasting My Time With You

Tired of grey skies and long faces? We’ve got a serious dose of musical vitamin D for you! ?This Cologne – Berlin joint venture is shedding rays of sun galore with this lost in reverie deep house jam. Built around a catchy as hell soul vocal and occasional piano outbursts “Wasting My Time With You” will certainly be one of our favorite tunes to waste our time to in 2024.

Deer Jade – Jukurpa

Hast Du genug von grauem Himmel und langen Gesichtern? Wir haben eine ordentliche Dosis musikalisches Vitamin D für Dich! Deer Jade stammt vom pittoresken Genfer See, einer Gegend, über die der unvergessliche Jean Paul Belmondo so einiges zu sagen hatte. Ihr ansteckendes Lächeln und ihre mitreissende Energie hinter den Decks haben sie bereits zum gerne gesehenen Gast in Clubs und auf Festivals rund um den Globus gemacht. Dieses Solo-Debüt ist Ausdruck ihres starken Selbstbewusstseins und ihrer Verbundenheit mit der Welt, die sie umgibt. “Jukurpa” ist vielleicht einer der extravagantesten House-Tunes, die man in diesem Jahr zu hören bekommt, wie geschaffen zum Mitschunkeln an einem frühen Sommermorgen. “Cosmic Dream” ist von eher introspektiver Natur und holt uns mit sanften psychedelischen Synthesizer-Bewegungen ab. In der Musik von Deer Jade steckt eine Menge Herzblut. Wir freuen uns, dass sie es bei uns verschüttet.

David Hasert & Niconé – Wasting My Time With You

Hast Du genug von grauem Himmel und langen Gesichtern? Wir haben eine ordentliche Dosis musikalisches Vitamin D für Dich! Das Köln-Berliner Joint Venture versprüht mit diesem verträumten Deep-House-Jam jede Menge Sonnenstrahlen. ?”Wasting My Time With You” ist mit seinen ?catchy Soul-? Vocals und gelegentlichen Klavier?-?Kaskaden sicherlich einer unserer Lieblingssongs, mit dem wir im Jahr 2024 unsere Zeit verschwenden werden.

The album "Folkhemmet" by Raa is a captivating musical journey that was released by Malmos Diskografiska. With its unique blend of folk and indie pop, this album offers a refreshing and soulful listening experience.

Raa, a talented Swedish singer-songwriter, showcases her exceptional storytelling abilities throughout the album. Her heartfelt lyrics delve into themes of love, loss, and self-discovery, resonating with listeners on a deep emotional level.

The melodies in "Folkhemmet" are beautifully crafted, combining acoustic instruments with subtle electronic elements. The arrangements are intricate yet understated, allowing Raa's enchanting vocals to take center stage. Her voice effortlessly glides over the melodies, conveying both vulnerability and strength.

Each track on the album has its own distinct personality. From the hauntingly beautiful ballad "Lost in Time" to the upbeat and infectious "Wanderlust," Raa showcases her versatility as an artist. The songs are expertly produced, creating a rich sonic landscape that draws the listener in from start to finish.

"Folkhemmet" is not just an album; it is an immersive experience that transports you to another world. Whether you're looking for introspective moments or catchy tunes to sing along to, this album has something for everyone.

With its thought-provoking lyrics, mesmerizing melodies, and impeccable production quality, "Folkhemmet" is a must-have addition to any music lover's collection. Immerse yourself in Raa's enchanting world and let her music touch your soul.

One of the most successful and enjoyable debuts in history, The Cars' self-titled album doubles as a greatest-hits collection. That's because not one song here is unrecognized or unknown. A huge reason why the Boston quintet became America's most popular new-wave band, The Cars launched eight tracks still regularly heard on radio stations everywhere. Consider the hit list: "You're All I've Got Tonight." "Good Times Roll." "Just What I Needed." "Moving in Stereo." "My Best Friend's Girl." "Don't Cha Stop." If you're a fan of pop music, this album is mandatory. Just call it the best new-wave rock album ever made.

And now, The Cars sounds better than it has in any previous incarnation. Mastered from the original analogue tapes, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition LP allows the music's oscillating rhythms, futuristic keyboard passages, panned stereo images, and rippling textures to be experienced like never before. The songs take on a surreal quality, the Cars manipulating the vibrant music at will to mesmerize the listeners' senses and hold them at bay. Mobile Fidelity's pressing epitomizes the sensation of "moving in stereo."

Led by Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr, the Cars managed to unite then-disparate styles: bubblegum pop melodies, angular art rock, progressive arrangements, and terse minimalism. Orr's low, understated singing and Ocasek's cool, detached vocals lend shades of doubt and double meaning to the lyrics, which are further counterbalanced by orchestral keyboard flourishes and electronic beats. The brilliant arrangements also benefit from a laidback cool and understated irony that remain uncommon in the over-the-top world of mainstream music. Obsessed with incorporating the latest technologies and sounds into its palette, the band spiced its tunes with delightfully quirky accents — country-tinged guitar fills, echoing Syndrums, reggae splashes, hard-rock tones, robotic pulses.

The results are the sounds of a creative landmark. At once accessible and eccentric, edgy and catchy, The Cars explodes with emotion, energy, and hooks. It's impossible not to get caught up humming and singing along to every song, an appeal that comes courtesy of Roy Thomas Baker's stellar production. The legendary producer, best known for his work with Queen, ensured that the record seamlessly packed a smooth midrange, spacious imaging, and call-and-answer choruses in one tight package. Baker's trademark touches with harmony vocals abound.

"The MoFi disc is much better than the original in every way. It's more dynamic, much more natural on top, and all three dimensions have a lot bigger space. This disc is great from start to finish, but "Moving in Stereo" will blow you away on a great system in a big room."
—Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio

Most audiophiles know Alan Parsons Project's I Robot by heart. Engineered by Parsons after he performed the same duties on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, the 1977 record reigns as a disc whose taut bass, crisp highs, clean production, and seemingly limitless dynamic range are matched only by the sensational prog-rock fare helmed by the keyboardist and his creative partner, Eric Woolfson. Not surprisingly, it's been issued myriad times. Can it be improved? Relish Mobile Fidelity's stupendous UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM box set and the question becomes moot.


Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI on MoFi SuperVinyl, I Robot comes to life with reference-setting realism on this numbered, limited-edition reissue. Boasting immaculate highs and lows, generous spaciousness, and see-through transparency that takes you into the studio with Parsons and Woolfson at Abbey Road, this definitive edition is designed to demonstrate the full-range capabilities of the world's best stereo systems while offering listeners the convenience of having all the music on one LP.

Featuring a nearly inaudible noise floor, this transcendent UD1S edition functions as a repeat invitation to savor reference-grade soundstages, immersive smoothness, sought-after instrumental separation, three-dimensional imaging, and consummate tonal balances. Able to be played back at high volumes without compromise or fatigue, it is a demonstration record for the ages – the likes of which are no longer being made. This is the very reason you own and invest in high-end audio gear.

The special characteristics of this UD1S version extend to the premium packaging. Housed in an elegant slipcase, the reissue features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. Aurally and visually, it is made for discerning listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in everything about this conceptual landmark. The Alan Parsons Project's most famous record deserves nothing less.

Inspired by and loosely based around the Isaac Asimov stories of the same name, I Robot delves into themes of artificial intelligence and technological dominance that make the record extremely relevant in the 21st century. Indeed, Parsons and Woolfson's pinnacle creation dovetailed with the ascendency of Star Wars, which itself is experiencing a rebirth in an age of self-driving cars, smart devices, and mindless automation. Lyrically, songs such as "The Voice" call into question human behavior – and their relationship to increasing robotic supremacy – in everyday life. Parsons and Woolfson reflect the associated paranoia, dichotomy, and transformation via shifting sci-fi arrangements steeped in drama and moodiness.

The absorbing tunes on I Robot also continue to fascinate due to their perfectionism and innovation. Borrowing from Pink Floyd's strategies, Parsons and Woolfson utilize a looped sequence on the title track to create new downbeats. "Some Other Time" employs two different lead vocalists and yet gives the illusion that only one is involved. Captivating strings, a piccolo trumpet, and bona fide pipe organ grace "Don't Let It Show." The origins of "Nucleus" stem from a unique analog keyboard concoction dubbed "the Projectron," devised by Parsons and electronic engineer Keith Johnson. Andrew Powell's orchestral and choral arrangements top it all off, with "Total Eclipse" arriving as a frightening track that presages the climactic "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32."

Does man or machine win in the end? Decide as you get lost in Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc 180g 33RPM LP pressing. Secure your numbered copy today!

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.

MoFi SuperVinyl

Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

For a few years Leo Robinson was the sort of hidden secret you sometimes come across in local music scenes. First in Manchester and now in Glasgow, he’d pop up regularly on DIY bills or as local support to a touring act, quietly blowing them off stage with his rich baritone vocal and homespun lo-fi tales of folklore and animism. With The Temple – his debut on PRAH Recordings – he looks set to cross over from being a cult concern.

“There's a spectrum within the album between fully mythologising or symbolising my lived experience, and just stating it in very matter of fact terms - that push and pull between the need to abstract and the need to break through the abstraction and have an honest moment with oneself” he explains. “This is one of the themes of the album as well as part of the process. The aim was to take all these anecdotal or symbolic elements and merge them into one narrative and one world, in a way that you can find your way through the record as if it were a landscape or language with its own logic.”

The record takes on a pastoral, slightly baroque nature that Robinson partly attributes to a friend screening a lot of ‘70s BBC material in his book shop that they used to hang out at. There are also elements of jazz, flickering to life in “The Spring”’s piano-led finale and coda.

Thematically, Robinson likens it to a Jungian ‘Hero's Journey’, his voice possessing a character who goes through several defined stages of consciousness. From conception and the beginning of an earthly life, the first half of the album recognises the development of the protagonist’s narrative and identity, before “The Pink Light”’s freeform departure from the hitherto more song-based suite devastatingly shatters this. The second half of the album then sees the protagonist witness “the uncontainable” water; learning that true divinity lies not in the individual self or lofty notions of gods and temples, but in the unremarkable nettles, insects and dogs on the roadside riverbank - referenced on tracks “The Cormorant” and “The Spring”.

Although now residing north of the border, The Temple was written while Robinson was finding his feet in Manchester, having moved there to go to art school as a teenager (as a visual artist, he has exhibited at the Tiwani Contemporary in London and Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre). As a result, many of the tracks bear out the shadows of his experiences in the northern city – at their most visible and explicit on the beautifully fragile storytelling of “The Pavement”. Written the day after the Manchester Arena Bombings, it recalls Robinson waking up to go to work on a hot summer’s day to discover that his street had been blocked off for terrorism investigations; it then progresses through the rest of his day, amidst the grimly surreal aftermath of the previous night.

Having written the chords, melodies and lyrics to the album, Robinson fleshed out the tunes by scoring out parts for the additional instrumentation, but it was only when a friend sent a demo to PRAH that he was able to fund its full recording. Guitars, vocals, piano and French Horn (the latter recorded by Lauren Reeve-Rawlings) were put down at Green Door Studios in Glasgow. Microphones were placed around the room and the sound of the musicians stepping on creaky floorboards and opening creaky doors were left audible to further the record’s live feel. The harpsichord heard on “The Serpent”, meanwhile, came from University of Glasgow lecturer David McGuinness. Strings were then recorded at PRAH Studios by Francesca Ter-Berg and Raven Bush, the Social Singing Choir adding their choral vocals to “Temple II”.

The result is an album that feels both luscious and yet intimately raw; as grand as Richard Dawson at his most panoramic but containing the rough edges and skeletal looseness of a Calvin Johnson work. At times Robinson lyrically moves towards the surreal, but ultimately this is a record grounded in reality; a true showcase of Robinson’s skill as a lyricist and songwriter.

Im Alleinang; das zweite Soloalbum des Bremer Battle-Rappers und Doubletime-Melancholikers Shiml wurde 2009 via Selfmade Records veröffentlicht und erscheint anlässlich seines 15. Geburtstags nun erstmals in einer limitierten Anniversary Edition auf blauem Doppel-Vinyl; nur so lange der Vorrat reicht!

Velella Velella, the debut solo album from I:Scintilla's powerhouse vocalist Brittany Bindrim, showcases her versatility as an artist. From moody, ethereal ballads to gritty dance bangers, Velella Velella explores themes of transcformation, the darker side of human nature, While Bindrim's vulnerable, unapologetic lyrics showcase themes of self-discovery, empathy, apathy, disillusionment, & growth