Buscar:shame

Produced by Dan Austin, (Biffy Clyro, You Me At Six) 2021’s Fatal Mistakes made No 5 in the UK national album chart which is the 6th top 10 for Del Amitri and the highest charting album since Twisted in 1995. The album also made No 2 on the Independent album chart and No 5 on the vinyl album chart. Fatal Mistakes also achieved the band’s highest chart position in Germany to date Throughout their first chapter, Del Amitri released a succession of hits - including ‘Nothing Ever Happens’, ‘Always The Last To Know’ and ‘Roll To Me’ - which became international radio staples, propelling a career that accomplished five UK Top 10 albums and 6 million sales. Justin speaks about the track When Iain presented me with this psychedelic swamp blues it called out for the stream-of-consciousness treatment. Sadly I’m no Dylan and this pathetic attempt to summon the spirit of Subterranean Homesick Blues refracted through the streets of Glasgow ended up in the outtakes pile. The only thing I can say in mitigation is that it’s ALL TRUE, EVERY WORD.

Hurtling out of Lesser Poland full of indignant rage and armed with defiant conviction come Lublin’s OHYDA with a third LP that puts Kaczyński and his PiS cronies to shame. The legacy of Polish forefathers DEZERTER lurks behind razor-sharp riffs and tightly-wound drums, but this record is no mere exercise in homage paying. Where other efforts may hide behind prescriptive cacophony, OHYDA leap out from the dark with a sound that is both cleaner and more considered while somehow remaining belligerently heavy and grotesque. Such is the catchiness that loiters beneath the swell of this tortured LP you might even pick up glimmers of TZN XENNA’s 1985 7” Dzieci z Brudnej Ulicy. Right-wing populists and pro-lifers are amongst the victims who are dressed down with both fury and absurdity. There’s also an entire tune that goes after Kaja Godek, which deserves a round of applause in itself. The band’s best work to date. (Christopher Dodd, Bad Breeding). Pan Bóg Spełni Wszystkie Pragnienia Lewaków... I Dojdzie Do Katastrofy! was recorded at the local Culture Center (CK Lublin) by Dariusz Kociński and mastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door Studios. Sleeve art by Dziki, mincing the head of Kaja Godek, a prolife/anti LGBTQ+ activist, with lettering help from Guitarrist Mike Champagne.

Decomposed recalls classic American hardcore like Bad Brains, Poison Idea and Jerry’s Kids or Japanese ragers like Paintbox, The Comes, Eiefits and Skizophrenia. But there’s also a healthy slug of classic UK and US punk and even a bit of Krautrock, psychedelia and Black Sabbath in there too. Nottingham has always been a melting pot for heavy music. For a small city, it has boasted more than its fair share of genre defining bands and artists, not to mention record labels. Bands cross-pollinate, form projects and offshoots and play one-off gigs that would result in lengthy careers and world tours if they had happened across the Atlantic. It has always been like that there. No big deal (but yet, a really big deal if you know). One such band/project/offshoot were Endless Grinning Skulls. Formed by guitarist Andy Morgan (also from Bloody Head, Army Of Flying Robots, Nadir and countless more), drummer Steve Charlesworth (Heresy, Wolves Of Greece, Meatfly, Geriatric Unit) and bassist Gords (Hard To Swallow, John Holmes, Geriatric Unit) in the early twenty-teens, they re-set the bar for the 3-piece hardcore band before (perhaps inevitably) burning out in 2018. Morgan and Charlesworth weren’t done though. They’d forged a bond in EGS and wanted to carry on playing together so - in a familiar Nottingham storyline - they recruited former Pitchshifter guitarist Stu Toolin on bass and Anmarie Spaziano (who you might know from running a famous burger joint) on vocals and formed Blind Eye. They knew Toolin was about to relocate to Portland, Oregon so they wrote and recorded an EP (released on Morgan’s own Viral Age Records). Quick-sharp. No messing about. And that – by rights – should have been that: over and out. New band please. However, the demo captured a rare intensity and vitality that more considered projects often fail to achieve. This was a band let loose, free from previous shackles and loving the noise they made. It seemed a shame to stop there. Recruiting Matt Grundy (a former bandmate of Morgan’s in both Nadir and Dead In The Woods) to the bass vacancy they went back to Stuck On A Name Studios in 2021 with Ian “Boulty” Boult at the helm again and delivered the album Decomposed.
Decomposed genuinely rocks out without losing one iota of the effervescent anger that made the demo such an essential listen. From the insistent, minimal opener Ready To Go Now via the unhinged thrash of Straw Man and the menace of the stomping Pero No Quieres, to the measured chugging and epic crescendo of closer Broken Star, this record is a fucking blast. Needle off, flip it back over, play it again. Your neighbours are loving it so much they’re banging on the walls to tell you. “I suppose the intention was to write high energy, catchy hardcore, with a nod to what has come before, but also to do our own thing,” explains Andy. “Lyrically, the album was written during the pandemic, and although it’s not ‘a pandemic album’, I think it deals with a lot of the feelings of loss, separation and isolation

MY DYING BRIDE'S CLASSIC 1996 SHOW FROM KRAKOW, POLAND, FOR
A NIGHT OF DOOM METAL MAGIC
PRESENTED ON DOUBLE GATEFOLD VINYL, & ON THE VINYL FORMAT FOR THE
FIRST TIME.My Dying Bride has been the leading light of doom metal since the
debut album 'As The Flower Withers' was released on Peaceville Records back in
1992. Influenced by acts such as Celtic Frost & Candlemass, the British band's
heavy atmospherics have carved a huge worldwide following over the years to
stand as one of the true enduring & distinguishable pillars of the genre. 'For
Darkest Eyes' contains the band's iconic 1996 performance from Krakow, Poland,
featuring numerous classic doom anthems from the early career of the UK Metal
Gods. The show was recorded as the band was riding a wave of popularity due to
their recent breakthrough third album, 'The Angel & the Dark River' (plus their tour
with British metal legends Iron Maiden in the winter of 1995), showcasing several
tracks from that release such as 'The Cry of Mankind' & 'Your Shameful Heaven',
as well as renditions of other established numbers such as 'The Crown of
Sympathy' & 'The Forever People'.
This edition of 'For Darkest Eyes' is presented on double gatefold vinyl & first time
on the vinyl format & contains cover artwork adapted from the original video tape
release.

Repress, note new price. Black vinyl issue of the long sold out RSD compilation. Housed in heavy duty slipcase box. FOR FANS OF… Daptone Records, Big Crown Records, 45s, Soul, Funk, R&B. This is the follow up to our first volume of Soul Slabs, which is a collection of tracks from our 7” release series. For many of them, it's the first time they'll be appearing on an LP. Soul Slabs Vol. 2 is a collection of A-sides from the 7” catalog of Loveland Ohio’s Colemine Records. Specializing in heavy soul, funk, and R&B, Colemine prides itself on authenticity and an old school production style, while still making songs that seem fresh and are moving the genre of soul forward. This 3LP collection of 27 tracks puts their diverse catalog on full display, many of these songs being presented for the first time on an LP. Featuring artists such as Durand Jones & The Indications, Kelly Finnigan, Ben Pirani, Jr. Thomas & The Volcanos, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Monophonics, Ikebe Shakedown, The Dip, The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, Soul Scratch, and more!

Manchester rock band Oceansize built a career and reputation of constructing sonic soundscapes from out of nowhere into the most monolithic, dynamic behemoths heard in aeons.

The band formed in 1998 and released four albums before calling it a day in 2011. They gained favourable comparisons in the press to bands like Mogwai, Tool, Nirvana, Jane’s Addiction, My
Bloody Valentine, Can and Faith No More among
others.

Oceansize challenged themselves and thus by the same token ensured the listener didn’t become comfortable while listening. And let's face it, - comfortable is, after all, boring.

‘Everyone Into Position’ was Oceansize’s second
studio album. Beggars Arkive are reissuing the
album on splattered yellow double vinyl.

RIYL: Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, Radiohead & Tom Waits. "If you have never heard the Doctors of Madness, you should. Musically they are the Velvet Underground, New York Dolls with shades of glam, hippie, prog and punk all rolled into one, yet are still totally original. Vastly underrated, they should have been huge. Pure genius" Vic Reeves…. The DOM are “the missing link between David Bowie & The Sex Pistols” (The Guardian May 2017). Exploding onto the music scene in 1975 with their theatrical, William Burroughs-inspired Sci-fi nightmare, they were misunderstood by many, but those who knew understood the importance of the band’s dangerous, uncompromising approach to lyrics, to music and to performance. Among the many fans of the band were acts as diverse as The Damned, Vic Reeves, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, Spiritualized, Julian Cope, The Adverts, The Skids and Simple Minds. The Sex Pistols supported them, so did The Jam & Joy Division. They were the first to combine the avant-garde approach of The Velvet Underground with a distinctly European aesthetic. The blue hair, exotic stage-names, the lyrical themes of urban decay, political propaganda, mind control and madness were all taken up by the punk bands who followed in their wake. The DOM were trailblazers, pioneers, adventurers…pushing the boundaries of rock music and theatre to see how far it would go before it bust. What happened after them was due, in no small part, to what they achieved in 3 short years. They may not have been Jesus Christ, but they were, arguably, John the Baptist!!! Now, 40 years after they imploded, they are back…with an album seething with lyrical anger and passion. It is the most potent and incisive musical dissection of modern life and contemporary politics released the decade. With tracks titles like “So Many ways To Hurt You”, “Sour Hour”, “Make It Stop!” and the ground-breaking sonic assault of the title track “Dark Times”, Richard “Kid” Strange proves once again that he has his finger firmly on the pulse of our times, just as he had when he founded the band in 1974. Produced by John Leckie (Radiohead, Stone Roses, Pink Floyd), the new album, Dark Times, features contributions from Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Sarah Jane Morris (Communards), Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave etc), Steve ‘Boltz’ Bolton (The Who, Scott Walker) and the young protest singer Lily Bud, alongside the current thrilling and thunderous DOM rhythm section of Susumu Ukei (bass guitar) & Mackii Ukei (drums) of the Japanese extreme glam-metal band Sister Paul, and Dylan O Bates (violin and keyboards). Julian Cope, another rock star who, like Strange, found the confines of music too tight for his ambition, his energy and his imagination, was blown away when he first heard the songs, declaring, “These Dark Times are enormously informing: the RULES OF THE FUTURE are indeed being forged right now”. Top producer Martyn Ware (Human League/Heaven 17) said the album “…reminds me of Iggy Pop’s Kill City album – love it.” and Biba Kopf (The Wire) declared, “Still listening to new DOM album with immense interest and pleasure”. The first single, Make It Stop!, is an impassioned howl against the global drift to right wing extremism and persecution of minorities, and is already a live showstopper for the band. It features the thrilling cross-generational combination of Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Lily Bud on backing vocals. In the period since the last DOM gig in 1978, Richard has written a memoir, collaborated on a cantata with internationally celebrated composer Gavin Bryars, worked as an actor on films with Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Harmony Korine & Jack Nicholson, toured the world in a Russian version of Hamlet with James Nesbitt as his grave-digging co-star, played Glastonbury, sung baritone in the British premiere of Frank Zappa’s200 Motels at the Royal Festival Hall, directed a multi-media evening celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, won Best Art Film Prize at the Portobello Film Festival last year, had his own live talk show, worked with Tom Waits and Marianne Faithfull on the William Burroughs/Robert Wilson stage play The Black Rider, curated events for the Tate Gallery, and sung Walt Disney songs with Jarvis Cocker.

Brand new studio album by The William Loveday Intention as part of their “career in a year”! “The cover pic is from a visit I made with my son and friends to the artist Giovanni Segantini's hut in the High Alps sometime around 2016. Segantini (1858-1899), was an illiterate and stateless artist famous for his paintings made in the Engadin. The title track is about living your life through someone else's YouTube channel: a blow by blow account of how their life in the frozen north is more, picturesque, sensitive, fun, enlightened and artistic than yours could ever be. 'Stood Upon a Chair' is about the villain Jessie James, but without the romance part that is usually added to such tales. 'You Gotta Move', a Mississippi Fred McDowell cover, is one of the best recordings we've ever made. Here I’m accompanied by my wife Julie and my friend Dave Tattersall who plays electric slide guitar. A true gem which should make someone, somewhere, rich and famous. (Or at least make Mick Jagger blush with shame.) Topping it all off we hit a couple of old Headcoats numbers with added verses that reveal the hidden depth behind those impeccable pop songs.” - WILLIAM LOVEDAY 2022

Prolific London producer Lxury returns to the Lost Palms catalogue, this time with his second-ever solo long play - a honey-dipped journey through the rainbow colours of house music and its adjacent styles.

Living up to his name, no room is spared in Lxury's careful curation of full-bodied soundscapes which make for a truly immersive listening experience. Emotion-laden melodies and glistening pads grant permission for shameless self indulgence, whilst flickers of cooler, harsher tones add dynamism and depth. At times, this sounds like anthemic melodies, reverberating claps and sunshine-doused pads ("Motion" and "YT Storm"); at others, like mournful female vocals which are chopped and looped beneath a shuffling drum pattern ("Get Down On"). Elsewhere, highly-processed flutes and video-game-esque samples transport you to a neon speedway ("Ninja H2R Flyby") before industrial-sounding textures and down-tempo rhythms ease things to a blissful close ("Ride"). No matter where it is that Vivid Night Experience takes you, playfulness and warmth are guaranteed: two descriptors which have become synonyms with the Lxury's musical output.

Vivid Night Experience LP drops 29th April via Lost Palms

Heavy Machinery Records and Tee Pee Records are very excited to announce 'Tales of Torment', the new record from Melbourne horror rock juggernaut Rot TV, out February 18, 2022. The record is led by first single 'Ready To Die', a relentless, loud n' proud rock number with "just the right ratio of headbangery to boogie woogie".

Rot TV are lovers of all things freakish and gritty - be it a demented old Lovecraft tale, or a BÖC tune on full blast. Their debut vinyl release FDA/Transylvanian Nights was a hard n’ heavy double feature of howling, riff-crazy horror rock, and their brand new debut LP Tales of Torment delivers all this and more. Rot TV have described their forthcoming album as a delightful journey to hell and back dedicated to ALL maniacs - and that means YOU.
credits
released February 18, 2022

Harriet Hudson-Clise - lead vocals
Graham Clise - guitars, percussion & vocals
Robert Muiños - guitars, percussion & vocals
Zac Holly - bass, synthesizer & vocals
Lee Parker - drums, percussion & vocals

Recorded, mixed and produced by Robert Muiños at Sauna Studios, Collingwood in 2021
Mastered by John Davis at Metropolis Mastering
Front cover painting by Chris Grande
Logo & handwriting by Harriet Hudson-Clise
Design and collage by Luke Fraser at Grin Creative
Project coordination by Amber Arizono
Series curated and produced by Miles Brown

The Line Is A Curve is about letting go. The core of the record is that the pressures we face do not always have to be heavy burdens, but can be reframed; the more pressure a person is under, the greater the possibility for release.

The album plays like a chronicle of pressures - the mind-numbing pursuit of a comfortable life, the eternal striving for more, the pressures of the city, the country, the times. The pressures of maintaining relationships, of battling illness, addiction, poor mental health, the vacuous life of our online selves. As we move through these chronicles though, the mood brightens. The musicality becomes more expansive as the lyrical horizon broadens and we glimpse coastlines, high streets, scrap yards, train stations in the rain; the entire album begins to let go. We encounter the contributions of artists who I love and admire, guest vocalists and instrumentalists, and so we defeat the sense of isolation felt in the opening track with a sense of deeply connected community. More Pressure, the penultimate song, is the essence of the whole album and the epiphany that leads to Grace, which is a prayer, a surrendering; ‘Please move me, please move through me, please unscrew me, please loosen me up.’ But once we get to the end of Grace, and the album, we loop back to the start – to ‘Kiss off the day with a mute mouth. Pass the commute like I can die faster than you.’ Because no matter how much a person grapples with, realises, deeply understands, about life and their place in it, we still wake up in the morning back to square one. Life isn’t solved the minute you figure something out about it. It’s a daily operation to increase your resilience, cultivate a deeper acceptance, let go of what’s chasing you and lean in to the pressures. It’s cyclical, as I believe all things are. And instead of trying to fight the cycles, this album asks us to surrender to them. To let go.

These general themes, of acceptance, resilience, surrender are also about where I’m at in my personal life, in my journey towards a greater acceptance of myself as an artist and as a human being. Being more honest with the world and my community about who I am and letting go of some heavy heavy shame, which is a glorious thing.

This album has a beautiful heart, there is so much love running through it and I can’t wait for people to experience it.

Motown Collected brings together the biggest names in the rich history of this legendary label. From very early singles to the artists that made Motown a household name for decades to come and the cross-over pop success of the late 70's and 80's. Featuring legendary artists like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Jackson Five, Smokey Robinson and The Commodores, as well as gems from the likes of Marv Johnson, Barrett Strong, The Marvelettes and Tom Clay and pop superstars Rick James, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie and Debarge: just a selection of the 33 incredible tracks featured on Motown Collected.

For RE:WARM 011 we present Bibbi ‘You Don’t Mind’. A four-track House infused dancefloor weapon. With hints of early 90s Euro House prime for those vintage Mediterranean sunset dance sessions after a few drinks under the parasol. All 4 tracks are sure-fire winners here. This is the only solo outing for Bibbi on vinyl with this release which is a real shame as she clearly had talent that somehow didn’t translate to capturing the interest of a wider audience.

The record was produced by ‘SUN’ Nkotsoe, formerly one half of Monwa & Sun and a popular solo act after his eponymous debut in 1990 and Looking For Love in 1991. He surely could have put his own name on this four-track e.p, given that the early house beats take centre stage. Recorded at the famous Shandel Studios, the home of many great South African popular acts of the time.

Originally released in 1992 on Diamond Music and officially licensed to RE:WARM records via Gallo Record Company.

Suzanne Santo has never been afraid to blur the lines. A tireless creator, she's built her sound in the grey area between Americana, Southern-gothic soul, and forward-thinking rock & roll. It's a sound that nods to her past — a childhood spent in the Rust Belt; a decade logged as a member of the L.A.-based duo HoneyHoney; the acclaimed solo album, Ruby Red, that launched a new phase of her career in 2017; and the world tour that took her from Greece to Glastonbury as a member of Hozier's band — while still exploring new territory. With Yard Sale, Santo boldly moves forward, staking her claim once again as an Americana innovator. It's an album inspired by the past, written by an artist who's only interested in the here-and-now. And for Suzanne Santo, the here-and-now sounds pretty good. Yard Sale, her second release as a solo artist, finds Santo in transition. She began writing the album while touring the globe with Hozier — a gig that utilized her strengths not only as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, but as a road warrior, too. "We never stopped," she says of the year-long trek, which often found her pulling double-duty as Hozier's opening act and bandmate. "Looking back, I can recognize how much of a game-changer it was. It raised my musicianship to a new level. It truly reshaped my career." “Defiant” - American Songwriter “a bluesy ripper that gets its sizzle not just from her dynamic vocals but from a dirty, undulating guitar line from Gary Clark Jr” - Buzzbands “On “Fall For That,” she digs deep to sing about the push and pull between needing human connection and solitude, chaos and calm” - Buzzbands “bold storytelling and introspective reflection” - CMT “Catchy-as-hell” - Glide “she digs deep” - KCRW “Suzanne Santo is one of those musicians that come along every once in a blue moon.” - National Rock Review “Santo takes ownership and power back with crass and candor, introducing shameless, self aware dialogue that opens the door for conversation that leads to real healing.” - Paste "spunky" - Premier Guitar “Southern-gothic soul” - Rolling Stone Country “vivid musical portraits” - San Diego Union-Tribune

re-release Find the Greatest Movie Scores selected by CINEZIK in an new Wagram Vinyl Collection!

Mercurial London artist Nilüfer Yanya announces her hugely anticipated second
album, ‘PAINLESS’, for release via ATO Records.
 ‘PAINLESS’ is the follow-up to Nilüfer Yanya’s renowned 2019 debut album, ‘Miss
Universe’, which fully established her as a singular artist and a distinctive voice that
simply has to be heard.
 The critically acclaimed ‘Miss Universe’ - a widescreen concept record that took a
tongue in cheek swipe at the most self-involved corners of the health and wellness
industry - was followed last year by the three song EP ‘Feeling Lucky?’, which further
explored Yanya’s fascination with ‘90s alt-rock melodies and drew on themes of
resentment, her fear of flying, and the concept of luck. Pitchfork summed up ‘Feeling
Lucky?’ and her now peerless songwriting aptitude best: “Nilüfer Yanya’s melodies
have a pull so strong they almost necessitate their own law of physics.”
 Yanya also re-released her early EPs on vinyl for the first time this year, on the
record ‘Inside Out’. The release is a fundraiser for Artists in Transit, a collaborative
not for profit group she founded with her sister Molly that delivers art workshops to
displaced people and communities in times of hardship.
 As the daughter of two visual artists (her Irish-Barbadian mother is a textile designer
and her Turkish-born father’s work is exhibited at the British Museum), creativity was
always destined for Nilüfer Yanya’s future. Now she enters the next stage of her
creative journey - Yanya is running head first into the depths of emotional
vulnerability on her sophomore record, ‘PAINLESS’. The album was recorded
between a basement studio in Stoke Newington and Riverfish Music in Penzance
with ‘Miss Universe’ collaborator and producer Wilma Archer, DEEK Recordings
founder Bullion, Big Thief producer Andrew Sarlo and musician Jazzi Bobbi.
 Where ‘Miss Universe’ stretched musical boundaries to include a litany of styles from
smooth jazz melodies to radio ready pop, ‘PAINLESS’ takes a more direct sonic
approach. By narrowing down her previously broad palette to a handful of robust
ideas that revolve around melancholy harmonies and looped industrial beats to mimic
the insular focus of the lyrics, Yanya has smoothed out the idiosyncrasies of previous
releases without losing what is essential to her.
 ‘PAINLESS’ is a record that forces the listener to sit with the discomfort that
accompanies so many of life’s biggest challenges whether it be relationship
breakdowns, coping with loneliness, or the search for our inner self. “It's a record
about emotion,” Yanya explains. “I think it's more open about that in a way that ‘Miss
Universe’ wasn't because there's so many cloaks and sleeves with the concept I built
around it.” Summing up the ethos of the new album, she adds, “I’m not as scared to
admit my feelings.”
 Should stock of ATO0594BI1 sell out, a different standard vinyl format will be made
available (ATO0594LP).
 “A distinctive new voice in indie rock, a deeply expressive singer and sharply
inventive guitarist” - Uncut
 “On a musical and human level, then, the world needs more people like Nilüfer
Yanya” - MOJO
 “A true original” - The Guardian

Straight from the fertile imagination of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs guitarist Sam Grant comes Rubber Oh - a place where an irreverent magpie spirit has its way with the eternal psych-pop continuum. ‘Little Demon’ is the first sample of this fresh foray - a bass-driven, blissed out mantra that sets out its stall where the travails of the everyday fade into the transcendental realm of the astral plane. A whole new box of sonic delights from a curious and artful talent, this track maps out a refreshing new landscape on which shameless melodic suss and wayward aural eccentricity lock horns. Some may be reminded of the likes of Air’s ‘10000Hz Legend’ and Super Furry Animals ‘Radiator’ by the montage of 60s-tinged mind-melt and sleek futurism here, but the truth is that Rubber Oh is a manifestation of a very personal vision. Alchemically assembled in his own Blank studios in Newcastle, ‘Little Demon’ - in all its thundering, earcandy glory, and accompanied by a Faustian, abstraction-embracing remix by friends and cohorts Richard Dawson and Circle’s Jussi Lehtisalo - is merely a first step into the unknown. “It’s a reference to when you’re lying in bed and your thoughts sabotage you” reasons Grant of ‘Little Demon’ - “It’s all meant to be this fixed loop - the lyrics, the riff, the drums - a constant repetition that keeps going round, maybe like a fever dream. The little demons that when you’re in bed suddenly start in your psyche, opening a door that just leads to another door” Wherever this door leads, ‘Little Demon’ is a psychic journey to be returned to on repeat.A. Little Demon B. Little Demon (Richard Dawson’s Haunted Wine-Cellar Version – Feat: Jussi Lehtisalo

Soundscapes shaped by moments of dark brooding doom and
relentlessly riff-heavy and psychedelically charged movements
For Hodges and Dimmock the chemistry they share is unshakeable both live and in the studio. Their unmistakeable energy and ferocity has marked them out as UK sludge metal's most exciting prospects.

In the years between 2018’s BAMBI and LP3, Minneapolis’ Hippo Campus -- made up of vocalist/guitarists Jake Luppen and Nathan Stocker, drummer Whistler Allen, bassist Zach Sutton, and trumpeter DeCarlo Jackson -- has grown up and into itself. Although the five-piece has been friends since middle school and put out a number of studio releases since its inception, it’s the new record, LP3, that’s the most honest portrait of who Hippo Campus is. It’s also a study in the nuances of growing up -- coming to terms with mortality, the confusing journey of sexuality, bottoming out, seeing decisions from the night before in the harsh morning light; finding your identity as a person and as an artist -- how that can be a collision of elation and shame, painful and joyful all at once. LP3 marks a sort of ego death -- and ultimately feeling okay with that. So much of LP3 was written in the chasm between grappling with the value of your own art and the larger, chaotic context of the world. It traverses the end of relationships, of careers, and the chance of meeting yourself as a brand new person. If you take the signifier of “musician” away, what does it mean? And how do you expand your identity outside of work? Here, it’s something the band works through. And, in the end, it happens with the same ride-or-die crew at your back to hold you down -- or up -- the entire time. Over the last few years, the Hippo universe has expanded outward. Luppen and Stocker both put out solo records as Lupin and Brotherkenzie respectively, and the two also teamed up with Caleb Hinz to put out the debut Baby Boys record while DeCarlo Jackson founded, and collaborated with multiple bands around the Twin Cities, including DNM, Arlo, and FPA. Navigating solo projects and new dynamics and the spotlight alone is humbling, bringing up new insecurities and defense mechanisms. It was challenging in its own way to branch outside of Hippo -- and it made the eventual return to the project feel like coming home. “With LP3, Hippo felt like a very safe space to express those things because you have your best friends around you, rallying behind you,” Luppen says. “And each person could chime in with their own experience. I felt like it was a very safe space to be earnest.” Here, Hippo Campus killed what they knew and started again.

In the years between 2018’s BAMBI and LP3, Minneapolis’ Hippo Campus -- made up of vocalist/guitarists Jake Luppen and Nathan Stocker, drummer Whistler Allen, bassist Zach Sutton, and trumpeter DeCarlo Jackson -- has grown up and into itself. Although the five-piece has been friends since middle school and put out a number of studio releases since its inception, it’s the new record, LP3, that’s the most honest portrait of who Hippo Campus is. It’s also a study in the nuances of growing up -- coming to terms with mortality, the confusing journey of sexuality, bottoming out, seeing decisions from the night before in the harsh morning light; finding your identity as a person and as an artist -- how that can be a collision of elation and shame, painful and joyful all at once. LP3 marks a sort of ego death -- and ultimately feeling okay with that. So much of LP3 was written in the chasm between grappling with the value of your own art and the larger, chaotic context of the world. It traverses the end of relationships, of careers, and the chance of meeting yourself as a brand new person. If you take the signifier of “musician” away, what does it mean? And how do you expand your identity outside of work? Here, it’s something the band works through. And, in the end, it happens with the same ride-or-die crew at your back to hold you down -- or up -- the entire time. Over the last few years, the Hippo universe has expanded outward. Luppen and Stocker both put out solo records as Lupin and Brotherkenzie respectively, and the two also teamed up with Caleb Hinz to put out the debut Baby Boys record while DeCarlo Jackson founded, and collaborated with multiple bands around the Twin Cities, including DNM, Arlo, and FPA. Navigating solo projects and new dynamics and the spotlight alone is humbling, bringing up new insecurities and defense mechanisms. It was challenging in its own way to branch outside of Hippo -- and it made the eventual return to the project feel like coming home. “With LP3, Hippo felt like a very safe space to express those things because you have your best friends around you, rallying behind you,” Luppen says. “And each person could chime in with their own experience. I felt like it was a very safe space to be earnest.” Here, Hippo Campus killed what they knew and started again.

Funky organ groove with a spritual soul swing !

One of the most influential and underground Hammond organists of the 1960's was "Big" John Patton as he was then known. If it was the groove that you wanted Patton was your Man and he made several albums for the legendary Blue Note label, many of which went on to sell for eye watering prices. As his style went out of favor, some of the recordings never saw the light of day until almost 20 years later and at the same time Patton slipped into the background. He resurfaced in the 1980s and went into the studio. Among his albums Soul Connection, originally released in 1983 on Nilva Records has now been re-released

Patton had a strong band with him on this record. Avant Garde trombonist Grachan Moncur III fits in just nicely with some funky lines and solo's. Acid jazz Guitar Hero Melvin Sparks rides in the all important funk grooves but the revelation has to be saxophonist Grant Reed, who you may know from the Jazz Room Release of "Shamek Farrah & Folks" and who was a mainstay of the Mongo Santamaria set up. Jazz Exile Alvin Queen has been part of the sound set ups of Junior Mance, Stanley Turrentine and Charles Tolliver, among others.
The whole album sounds as if it was laid down in a Rudy Van Gelder session in the mid 60's and then languished in a vault somewhere, waiting until the fan base had returned.

Die Londoner Band Palace hat ihr drittes Album ”Shoals” angekündigt, das am 21. Januar über Fiction/Virgin Music erscheinen wird. ”Shoals” ist ein tiefgründiges und nachdenkliches Album, das in seinen
12 fesselnden Tracks einige der größten Fragen des Lebens kühn erforscht. Es erkundet geschickt drei
existenzielle Dilemmas vor einem breiteren Hintergrund des Staunens über die Weite und Kraft des Ozeans
und schließt seinen Bogen mit dem atemberaubenden Opus ”Where Sky Becomes Sea”. Durch das Eintauchen in Themen des Unterbewusstseins, der Träume und des Existenzialismus ist ”Shoals” im Großen
und Ganzen ein Album über das Leben mit und die Verarbeitung von Angst. Der Titel ist inspiriert von dem
scheinbar unvorhersehbaren Verhalten von Fischschwärmen, die sich genauso schnell verändern wie unsere
Ängste und Befürchtungen in Bezug auf die Welt um uns herum, erklärt Frontmann Leo Wyndham: ”Es
erforscht und hinterfragt, was wirklich greifbar und real ist - was wirklich zählt und was wir im Tod werden
- und die Angst davor. Die Angst zu existieren und die Angst zu sterben. Es ist eine Ode an die Kraft des
Ozeans und die Majestät der Natur und wie sie manchmal die einzigen Dinge sind, die sich wirklich real,
lebendig und atmend anfühlen.”

The second installment in the D-Vine Spirituals Story. The Memphis gospel label that took the South by storm in the late 60's-early 70's is finally getting it's due with the reissue treatment that the Bible & Tire imprint is known for. Gritty, raw and real sacred soul from a time when the sound of gospel music was at its peak and most contagious. The collection consists of legendary artists like Elizabeth King, Elder Jack Ward & The Gospel Four and The D-Vine Spiritualetts to name just a few. This is Sacred Soul gospel from D-Vine Spirituals Records.

Pioneering rock 'n' roll singer-songwriter Dion delivers yet another power
collection of timeless blues with Stomping Ground
This is the follow up to his universally acclaimed 2020 Keeping The Blues Alive
Records debut, Blues With Friends. Dion has yet again enlisted the music world's
most iconic and talented stars to bring his blues to life. Peter Frampton, Eric
Clapton, Keb' Mo', Joe Bonamassa, Patti Scialfa & Bruce Springsteen, and more
join Dion on this year's most heartfelt release! 1. Take It Back Feat. Joe
Bonamassa.

“I can remember literally bolting across a busy warehouse party in the early 90's (I think it was actually DIY in Gloucester?) afterhearing a record come on which immediately stood out to me, hadn't heard it before.... A clear 303 single note bassline/hook with sublime strings and undeniable flavours of Detroit and Chicago in the drums and vibe. I needed to know what it was!!That record was "Northern Lights" by Caucasian Boy (AKA Crispin J Glover and David Jenkins, AKA DJ Shakra), and I have honestly been playing it ever since. Fast forward 28 years, and here we are releasing their new acid house monster, the Remote Control EP”Justin Harris Remote Control immediately puts youback in the warehouse or one of those dark, sweaty basement parties which have shaped manymusical educationsover the decades, you know, when things are just starting to get really involved! Beginning with a relentless 90's feel and withmore thana nod to early 90's Belgian Techno, Remote Control steers you through a perfect six and a half minutes of heads down warehouse acid groove, all culminating in a kick-ass gorgeous breakdown. And then there's Dystopia.A deep, dark 909 driven cut of excellence. You can hear in every bar that the purveyors of this track have a deep experience of and are driven to write for the dance floor. Once again, making perfect use of 303, 909 and 808 (amongst others) Dystopia pullsno punches and shamelessly leads you right into the middle of that sweaty dancefloor, and it's perfectly executed deliverykeeps you right there.

Some people say it’s the hope that kills you, but statistically dreams are responsible for a lot more casualties. The second album from the Icelandic supergroup, not only acknowledges this but celebrates it. To dream is to slowly digest oneself from the inside.

In January 2021 the team was reunited and have since then been writing, recording and releasing a new song every last friday of each month, much like they did in 2018. Dream is Murder is the result a collection of all 12 songs on one album.

Sin Fang, Sóley and Örvar are all established performers, composers and producers in there own right, but their Team Dreams project is so much more than a sum of it’s parts. Even though each of their individual fingerprints can be found all over the album, the result has a distinctive sound of it’s own.

The first three songs on the album display the diverse nature of the project, Imaginary Love is a catchy pop tune, Calling for Your Touch a sprawling cinematic ballad with hints of both Top Gun and Twin Peaks, then there is Shame a gut wrenching tragedy of being born into decay. Where the Maps Run was specially recorded for Amnesty Inter-national in Iceland and given as a part of Amnesty’s 60 year anniversary.

Artwork for each of the songs was conjured up by the one and only Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir and is as much a part of the whole as the music. Each song was accompanied by a res-in sculpture with leftovers from dreams and daily life cast and preserved in with in it. The music takes up three sides of the 2xLP and the fourth and final side holds an exquisite etching by Ingibjörg, depicting the artifacts within.

1. Some records hit you with an instant impression of timeless brilliance, and Low Life’s Dogging is one of those records, what the wise call “an instant classic”. 2. From Squats to Lots: The Agony and the XTC of Low Life is more like their second album Downer Edn (read Edition), a little more withdrawn, a little more textured. Complex. Rich. Which is to say: you’re going to need some time with it. 3. Some show, some grow. Low Life have done both. This one is a grower. Spend some time with this one. It’s got that nuanced flavour. Don’t guzzle. Sip. Savour. 4. Sip it, and sense the recurring brilliance of Mitch Tolman’s lyrics, exploring the usual territory of gutter life, lad life, punk life, low life. The dirge. Disgust and shame in white Australia. Council housing, bills piled to the neck, substance abuse and rehabilitation, the fallen lads and lasses who stood too close to the flame, loss and loneliness, from squats to lots. Un-Australian gutter symphony. 5. There is a celebration of resilience and that’s a central theme of this record and a time like ours needs a record like Agony & XTC. Low times are coming through, but if you’re low they won’t get to you. 6. Iggy Pop’s Bowie produced studio rock masterpieces ‘The Idiot’ and ‘Lust For Life’ are important reference points to the 3rd album sounds of Low Life. Here comes success! 7. ‘The Agony and Ecstasy’ is a 1985 novel by Irving Stone about the life of Italian Renaissance painter Michelangelo. Stone wrote another novel about the single eared painter Vincent Van Gogh called ‘Lust For Life’. This synchronicity hit me. 8. Iggy and the Stooges are a pretty safe reference for Low Life (and all good rock music). Iggy and the Stooges are a low life’s Michelangelo, but solo Iggy like Lust for Life is a better reference for this particular incarnation of Low Life, which is to say they are studio rock albums. 9. Bowie later referred to this period of his life as profoundly nihilistic. But Iggy looked at it as the period of his life that saved him from an early grave. This confrontation is Low life lore. 10. Let’s stick to this, because there’s something about this era of Bowie that makes sense with Low Life’s new album, particularly Low. One should never miss the Low in our new album from Low Life. Producer and studio boss Mickey Grossman has the ear for the Low, and he has carved out a little statue of David right here. 11. Mickey’s ears are recording, mixing and producing the best of Sydney, most notably the Oily Boys Cro Memory Grin. A great companion record to this one. Use Agony & XTC AFTER Oily Boys. Not on an empty stomach, and don’t try to operate heavy machinery (bobcat, bulldozer etc). 12. The relationship between Low Life and Sydney hardcore should not be understated, but it also shouldn’t guide how to listen to Agony & XTC. This is not austere, disciplined music. 13. Think, like, if Poison Idea were given the kind of studio time and budget as Happy Mondays. You wouldn’t play it to a teenager. It’s not for children. This is a mature flavour, one for the adults who have had to contend with failure and hardship, medical bills and disappointed family members, betrayed lovers and worrisome growths, police brutality and tooth decay, humiliating bowels and collapsed septums, detoxing and drying out, for those who have seen themselves as corrupted and putrid and unloveable, for those who endure all of this and aren’t willing to lie down and cop it sweet: Low Life are still here and they ain’t going nowhere. NOTES ON HOW NOT TO LISTEN TO AGONY AND XTC OF LOW LIFE: 1. Don’t think of shoe-gaze. It suggests a safe passage to 90’s reminiscences, a vogue style of our time, but nothing to do with Low Life style. Low Life style is always of its time. The content changes. Agony & XTC shares weight of records like My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless and Slowdive’s Kebab, records that were laboured on after the songs were recorded, songs that were written as they were recorded. 2. We can call these “studio albums” as opposed to albums built in the heat of live performance. Studio albums from the 90’s are called shoe-gaze by some journalist nerds, but we know better than to use words like this. 3. Studio albums are excessive and, at the same time, so empty. Agony & XTC, Loveless, Kebab, Rumours: excessive! And empty. This is not to suggest this is Low Lite, some throwback, soft. A band like Low Life can make an overproduced studio rock album without having to use the word shoe-gaze. So, don’t think studio albums mean anything especially 90’s. Don’t look back. 4. Let’s lose these distasteful labels, like “shoe-gaze”, “rehab rock”, “stab”, “guitar OD overdrive”, “western Sydney wonder”. They can fade out. A low life was once referred to as a vagabond. Who uses this term today? Nobody. Language can murder. Words can die. Kill ‘em all! - Daniel 'DX' Stewart, Melbourne, 2021.

LTD. VINEYARD GRAPE VINYL-

Typically, a band's big indie label debut doesn't come 15 albums into its career, but with Constant Smiles' Paragons, here we are. Primary songwriter and sole "constant" member Ben Jones_who considers Constant Smiles a collective_sees its impressive output as a way to document the group's evolution. Since its live debut as a noise duo on Ben's home of Martha's Vineyard in 2009, Constant Smiles has grown to include contributions from 50 other members, all of whom have personal connections to the group's extended family. And while the collective has indulged an array of musical whims along the way - including Ben's penchant for penning a new set's worth of material for each live performance - Constant Smiles' sound has tightened up considerably over their past couple of albums, in large part as a result of Ben's working relationship with Mike Mackey, who has become his main creative partner. This increased focus manifests on Paragons in the band's most cohesive batch of songs to date, ranging from shimmering psych-pop excursions to bittersweet, piano and string-accented strummers, and an execution that feels like a massive step forward for the band. Through its recent forays into dream pop and shoegaze (Control) and synth-pop (John Waters), Constant Smiles has learned how to incorporate its experimental inclinations more fluidly into the mix. Artists like Yo La Tengo, and the more recent Rat Columns, are good touchstones for Constant Smiles' musical approach - tethering to an indie-pop core while perennially mining genres, always finding new ways to intrigue listeners and pursue a unique vision. Paragons was produced and engineered by Ben Greenberg in the last two weeks of December 2020 at Gary's Electric, with additional recording done by Ben Jones at his home studio, The Void, and his Aunt Leanne's house. The album was mixed at Circular Ruin Studio and mastered by Josh Bonati. The band on Paragons consists of Jai Berger (who performed "Introduction"), Spike Currier (bass and synth), Matthew Addison (drums), Emma Conley (violin), Nicky Wetherell (cello), Adam Lipsky (piano), and Ben Greenberg (guitar and Mellotron).

“I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve listened to Age of Exile in the past few weeks. I got a preview before it came out and on the first listen I was hooked. My first impression was that it sounded like Kaleidoscope (with whom Straw Man Army shares members), but it’s reaching toward something more like the song-oriented anarcho punk of Zounds and Crisis. I’ve been playing this record into the ground in the subsequent weeks, though, and there’s so much more to hear than a simple “this kinda sounds like this” comparison. One thing Straw Man Army shares with Kaleidoscope is a sense of rhythmic sophistication and inventiveness. We expect that a neo-anarcho band will have some interesting marching band snare patterns, but there’s so much more to the tracks on Age of Exile. Every song has a unique groove (or rather several of them, frequently overlapping), giving the album a sense of scope and breadth far beyond most contemporary punk records. And then there’s the sense of melody, which is equally sophisticated. While the interwoven rhythms make each song seem like a dense tapestry, the guitar melodies have a sense of sweetness and directness that makes Straw Man Army seem approachable and human. And then there are the lyrics, which I haven’t been able to dig into thoroughly, but are as dense, poetic, and vibrant as the music, focusing on how to live in the rubble of empire. Age of Exile is a striking album no matter which aspect of it you focus on, and it’s so distinctive and consuming that I can already tell it’s going to be a big part of the soundtrack to this part of my life.”

The forthcoming latest edition of the popular compilation series featuring long-lost vintage 60s-70s proto-metal and stoner rock singles, Brown Acid: The Thirteenth Trip will be available on Halloween 2021. Check out the first single "Run Run", released in 1970 by Montreal hard rockers Max is available to hear & share via Metal Injection HERE. (And, direct YouTube and Bandcamp)

The Brown Acid series is curated by L.A. label RidingEasy Records and retailer/label Permanent Records. Read interviews with the series curators via Paste Magazine HERE and LA Weekly HERE.

About The Thirteenth Trip:

Max, from Montreal, QC — originally known as Dawn, before Tony Orlando & Dawn forced a name change — kick things off with “Run Run” from their lone 1970 single. It’s a hard-hitting rocker with scale climbing crunching guitars and powerful Bonham-esque drumming. Sadly, the band didn’t last long due to poor management and various other factors, so this is the only surviving document according to guitarist Gerry Markman. And what a document it is, paired with the A-side “The Flying Dutchman.”

You might remember Ralph Williams and the Wright Brothers from their track “Never Again” on Brown Acid: The Tenth Trip. Here they make their return to the series with the A-side of their 1972 Hour Glass Records 45, which sounds like Blue Cheer mangling Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” (that’s right, several years before Van Halen actually did so.) Alas, Ralph and these Wright Brothers soon disappeared from terrestrial airspace.

“Feelin’ Dead” is extremely heavy blues from this also extremely rare 1974 single by Detroit, MI’s Master Danse, which was only released as a promo 45. Think Led Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You” and you’re on the right track. A little dose of Hendrix acid blues and a heartfelt groove, and you’ll wonder why this single never even made it to official release. The unavoidable tell in the lyric, “help me get this damn thing out of my arm” hints at the post-Vietnam heroin epidemic as a potential clue why we never heard more from Master Danse.

Folks, Gary Del Vecchio is “Buzzin’” hard on this one, and from what sounds like an in-studio party of yelps and chatter at the start of the song, it seems that the whole band was in on the festivities. The funky blues riff, reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker” and rollicking rhythmic changes certainly keep the buzz a rollin’.The recording is technically credited as Gary Del Vecchio with Max, though not the same band as the one that kicks off this Trip.

John Kitko’s 1973 heavy psychedelic rager “Indecision” is the only recording known to exist by the mysterious artist. The Twin Record Productions release features a different artist, Tom Poff on the B-side, which is truly a shame, considering the smoldering ashes Kitko leaves of the turntable by song’s end. It starts out more like a late 60s Acid Rock jam before leaping into a blazing double-time gallop, whipped into a frenzy by wailing, neck-pickup guitar squeals and Kitko’s barely audible howls.

Tampa, FL’s Bacchus made their Brown Acid debut way back on the very first Trip with “Carry My Load.” This 1972 B-side, “Hope” is a huge sounding swinging rocker replete with roadhouse piano bolstering the chunky riffs and confident vocals. After relocating to Southern California a few years later, the band morphed into Fortress, an 80s melodic metal act whose Hands In The Till album of Pomp Rock on Atlantic Records still draws chatter today.

Orchid’s “Go Big Red” is perhaps the most garage-y sounding offering here, with loose rhythms and straightforward stop-and-start riffing. Nonetheless, the stomping energy and fried-amp guitar tone make this one a charming skull thwack. The band’s 1973 single on American records, backed with a cover of Johnny Russell and Voni Morrison’s “Act Naturally” (popularized by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos) is their only release, so the world never did see this Orchid fully blossom.

By the title alone of Dry Ice’s “Don’t Munkey with the Funky Skunky” you know you’re in for a good time. The 1974 barnstormer seems aimed to the novelty tunes crowd, with its kooky lyrics and silly-voiced spoken catchphrase break, “peeyew, you’ll be sorry if you do.” But, the Ohio band’s maniacal drumming, crunching guitars and, of course, drug euphemistic lyrics make it a shoo-in for the Brown Acid series of erudite rock’n’roll.

Good Humore’s swaggering 1976 rocker “Detroit” is a slick and smooth paen to the Motor City. It most likely doesn’t predate “Detroit Rock City” by Kiss, also released in 1976, and it has more rock’n’roll swing, but it could fit comfortably alongside the era’s arena anthems. Not much else is known about the one-off release on P.V. Records, but songwriter Mike Moats is noted to also have been a recording engineer in later years and this well produced track sounds like a labor of love.

The forthcoming latest edition of the popular compilation series featuring long-lost vintage 60s-70s proto-metal and stoner rock singles, Brown Acid: The Thirteenth Trip will be available on Halloween 2021. Check out the first single "Run Run", released in 1970 by Montreal hard rockers Max is available to hear & share via Metal Injection HERE. (And, direct YouTube and Bandcamp)

The Brown Acid series is curated by L.A. label RidingEasy Records and retailer/label Permanent Records. Read interviews with the series curators via Paste Magazine HERE and LA Weekly HERE.

About The Thirteenth Trip:

Max, from Montreal, QC — originally known as Dawn, before Tony Orlando & Dawn forced a name change — kick things off with “Run Run” from their lone 1970 single. It’s a hard-hitting rocker with scale climbing crunching guitars and powerful Bonham-esque drumming. Sadly, the band didn’t last long due to poor management and various other factors, so this is the only surviving document according to guitarist Gerry Markman. And what a document it is, paired with the A-side “The Flying Dutchman.”

You might remember Ralph Williams and the Wright Brothers from their track “Never Again” on Brown Acid: The Tenth Trip. Here they make their return to the series with the A-side of their 1972 Hour Glass Records 45, which sounds like Blue Cheer mangling Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” (that’s right, several years before Van Halen actually did so.) Alas, Ralph and these Wright Brothers soon disappeared from terrestrial airspace.

“Feelin’ Dead” is extremely heavy blues from this also extremely rare 1974 single by Detroit, MI’s Master Danse, which was only released as a promo 45. Think Led Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You” and you’re on the right track. A little dose of Hendrix acid blues and a heartfelt groove, and you’ll wonder why this single never even made it to official release. The unavoidable tell in the lyric, “help me get this damn thing out of my arm” hints at the post-Vietnam heroin epidemic as a potential clue why we never heard more from Master Danse.

Folks, Gary Del Vecchio is “Buzzin’” hard on this one, and from what sounds like an in-studio party of yelps and chatter at the start of the song, it seems that the whole band was in on the festivities. The funky blues riff, reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker” and rollicking rhythmic changes certainly keep the buzz a rollin’.The recording is technically credited as Gary Del Vecchio with Max, though not the same band as the one that kicks off this Trip.

John Kitko’s 1973 heavy psychedelic rager “Indecision” is the only recording known to exist by the mysterious artist. The Twin Record Productions release features a different artist, Tom Poff on the B-side, which is truly a shame, considering the smoldering ashes Kitko leaves of the turntable by song’s end. It starts out more like a late 60s Acid Rock jam before leaping into a blazing double-time gallop, whipped into a frenzy by wailing, neck-pickup guitar squeals and Kitko’s barely audible howls.

Tampa, FL’s Bacchus made their Brown Acid debut way back on the very first Trip with “Carry My Load.” This 1972 B-side, “Hope” is a huge sounding swinging rocker replete with roadhouse piano bolstering the chunky riffs and confident vocals. After relocating to Southern California a few years later, the band morphed into Fortress, an 80s melodic metal act whose Hands In The Till album of Pomp Rock on Atlantic Records still draws chatter today.

Orchid’s “Go Big Red” is perhaps the most garage-y sounding offering here, with loose rhythms and straightforward stop-and-start riffing. Nonetheless, the stomping energy and fried-amp guitar tone make this one a charming skull thwack. The band’s 1973 single on American records, backed with a cover of Johnny Russell and Voni Morrison’s “Act Naturally” (popularized by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos) is their only release, so the world never did see this Orchid fully blossom.

By the title alone of Dry Ice’s “Don’t Munkey with the Funky Skunky” you know you’re in for a good time. The 1974 barnstormer seems aimed to the novelty tunes crowd, with its kooky lyrics and silly-voiced spoken catchphrase break, “peeyew, you’ll be sorry if you do.” But, the Ohio band’s maniacal drumming, crunching guitars and, of course, drug euphemistic lyrics make it a shoo-in for the Brown Acid series of erudite rock’n’roll.

Good Humore’s swaggering 1976 rocker “Detroit” is a slick and smooth paen to the Motor City. It most likely doesn’t predate “Detroit Rock City” by Kiss, also released in 1976, and it has more rock’n’roll swing, but it could fit comfortably alongside the era’s arena anthems. Not much else is known about the one-off release on P.V. Records, but songwriter Mike Moats is noted to also have been a recording engineer in later years and this well produced track sounds like a labor of love.

Formed in 2019, LA-based Cuffed Up were born out of a search for “self acceptance and self-realization”. Amidst a shared affinity for the ever-expanding global post-punk scene, vocalist and guitarist duo Ralph Torrefranca and Sapphire Jewell, bassist Vic Ordonez and drummer Joe Liptock breathe fresh life into the resurgent genre. The quartet’s latest EP, Asymmetry, saw the band pair up with producer Brad Wood (Touché Amoré, Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair) spending a week honing the songs through experimentation with sounds and ideas. The result is a collaborative effort that tackles one’s own mortality, abandonment in relationships and reckoning with shame. Now signed to Royal Mountain Records (Alvvays, Mac DeMarco, METZ, Wild Pink), Asymmetry expands on their refreshing self-titled debut that saw love from the likes of KEXP, NME, DIY, Bandcamp, and The Line Of Best Fit, as well as Steve Lamacq (BBC Radio 6), Daniel P Carter (BBC Radio 1) and John Kennedy (Radio X) and a supporting run with Silversun Pickups.

Eleven groups in eight days. A marathon recording session in a makeshift storefront studio in a 100-year-old building in the tiny Eastern North Carolina town of Fountain. Once the idea for the project was in place, Alice Vines of the Glorifying Vines Sisters started calling local musicians. It didn’t take her long to line up almost a dozen groups to come lift their voices and represent the region’s unique Sacred Soul traditions. When the groups on this record gathered to record in February of 2020, they couldn’t have known that the world was on the heels of a global pandemic, or that the year would bring great turmoil and social upheavals. But in the reality created by gospel songs even the greatest of trials are not surprising, nor can they be ultimately devastating. Every time singers stepped up to the mic during these sessions, they created a sonic world where no amount of bad news can undermine the truth of The Good News. Even when “you can’t really see a solution to what you’re dealing with at the moment,” says Kiamber Daniels of Faith and Harmony, singing gospel music will remind you, “hey, I’m still here; I got what it takes to make it through this. It will give you a sense of peace.” Produced by Bruce Watson (Fat Possum/Big Legal Mess/Bible & Tire), this collection of sacred soul recordings of Eastern North Carolinian gospel groups is a one of a kind exploration. With a rich heritage of family gospel music, the artists in this area have been honing their craft over generations and have their own way of making the material original and unique. This is Sacred Soul of North Carolina.

Spirale were an Italian quintet from Rome, consisting of Gaetano Delfini (wind instruments, vocals, percussion), Giancarlo Maurino (saxophone, flute, percussion), Corrado Nofri (piano, marimba, mbira, siren, Jew’s harp), Giuseppe Caporello (contrabass, guitar, percussion) and Giampaolo Ascolese (drums) who released a single eponymous album in 1974. This is a release known mostly by Italian progressive rock lovers, since its sound can be easily associated
to the jazz-rock delivered by the way more popular Napoli Centrale and Perigeo - but also to the ‘fundamentals’ Dedalus, Arti & Mestieri, Uno, or even the lesser known Bauhaus for instance. But playing this
kind of music and trying to release an album in the first half of the ’70s in Italy was also incredibly hard and courageous: Spirale, in fact, was one of the many bands that lived a very short life, before splitting up and disappear forever. Spirale was originally released on the International King record label, thanks to Mario Schiano, a free-jazz
saxophonist who discovered the band, and producer Toni Cosenza, who included the album in the ‘King JazzLine’ series. Consisting of just four tracks, most of which taken by the 13-minute long “Cabral, Anno 1” and the marvellous 17-minute “Peperoncino (Cose vecchie, cose nuove)”, Spirale is an incredibly balanced and flowing record that sounds still fresh and inspired even today, and it’s a shame that it has remained hidden and overlooked for such a long time. Moreover, it is characterized by that undescribable and particular Mediterranean flavour that only Italian musicians were able to obtain. This beautiful album is of course immensely rare in its original edition, and is now finally reissued on Dialogo record label in a faithful restored version that will finally satisfy any collectors who have waited for
years for this beauty to see the light again!

Rat Life Records is back with more music to accompany the end of the world. Here are six tracks by Roman citizen Alessio Di Mezza (also known as Religius Order) that make you feel like it's the Fall of Rome all over again. Excellent timing, considering the state of modern civilization on this planet right now. Luci Nere is the perfect soundtrack for your Apocalypse Afterparty!