Cerca:smart

The impact, influence, and importance of Run-D.M.C.'s self-titled debut – the album that invented hardcore hip-hop and bridged rap, rock, and funk in then-unparalleled ways – cannot be measured. The first full-length record released by Profile Records, the 1984 set permanently changed the sound of music, broadcast streetwise wisdom to every corner of the country, and made the notion of a one-man band a distinct reality. Bolstered by an incendiary blend of staccato deliveries, stark beats, aggressive exchanges, evocative hooks, and socially conscious messages, Run-D.M.C. still hits listeners in the jaw with the same intensity it did nearly 40 years ago when it could be heard booming from ghetto blasters carried around city blocks nationwide.

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's 180g SuperVinyl 33RPM LP is the definitive-sounding version of the groundbreaking work cited by Rolling Stone as the 378th Greatest Album of All Time. This reissue also represents the first time this gold-certified effort has been presented in audiophile quality. Benefitting from the ultra-low noise floor, superb groove definition, and dead-quiet surfaces of SuperVinyl, Run-D.M.C. now plays with a clarity, immediacy, punchiness, and directness worthy of the artistry, urgency, and intellect of the trio's material.

The brilliance of Russell Simmons and Larry Smith's production comes into view as if the music is being broadcast on a giant system in a small club — only more focused, lively, and unlimited. Free of dynamic constraints and fatiguing harshness, this LP invites you to turn up the volume and experience the raw, rough, invigorating songs that changed the look, sound, and feel of hip-hop overnight. Think the trio’s sparse framework of drum machines, tag-team rhymes, keyboard accents, and turntable scratches is stuck in the mid-80s? Spin MoFi’s SuperVinyl LP and gain new appreciation for the music, messages, and production on display on Run-D.M.C.

Recorded in the wake of two successful and pioneering singles, both included on the album, Run-D.M.C. effectively took a sheet of coarse-grit sandpaper to the polish, sheen, and linear presentation of all the hip-hop that preceded it. Stripped to bare-bones foundations, the songs grab your attention and shake you by the collar with a combination of industrial-leaning rhythms, staggered deliveries, dance drama, and hard, minimalist percussion. Then there are the lyrics.

The LP broadcasts a smart mix of boots-on-the-ground reports, uplifting advice, and then-nascent b-boy culture. In one fell swoop, its narratives and music rendered the scene’s proclivity toward glamor and softness passé. Run-D.M.C.’s tough, cool-minded fashion sense showed the trio walked its talk and gave fans — particularly those living in long-ignored urban areas — heroes which with they could identify. Kangol hats, black jeans, leather jackets, Adidas sneaks, and gold chains were the new currency.

In every regard, Run-D.M.C. signifies the birth of modern hip-hop. Never more obviously than on the groundbreaking “Rock Box,” where rap and rock were first fused. As the first hip-hop video to receive regular rotation on MTV, the track eviscerated racial and social boundaries, awakened musicians and listeners to new possibilities, and redefined both popular music and, ultimately, popular culture. As the Roots’ Questlove has stated, it “ knocked down many obstacles, enabling hip-hop to become the new gospel."

Such teaching includes the real-world scripture of “Hard Times,” utopian hopefulness of “Wake Up,” and observational truths of “It’s Like That.” Released as the group’s debut single well before its eponymous album, the latter tune established themes and outlooks Run-D.M.C. would embrace during its career. Namely, the keen awareness of various prejudices, economic ills, and disruptive violence as well as the knowledge that education, self-motivation, and hard work were the ways to escape disadvantages and disillusionment.

Inspired and inspirational, the song reflects the spirit and shrewdness that courses throughout Run-D.M.C. That includes a detailed account of the trio’s not-so secret weapon (“Jam-Master Jay”), purpose statement (“Hollis Crew (Krush-Groove 2)”), and a revolutionary hybrid autobiographical narrative-dis track (“Sucker M.C.’s (Krush-Groove 1)”) widely regarded as one of the best hip-hop songs ever created. The same can be said for every moment on Run-D.M.C.

MoFi SuperVinyl
Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analog 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 virtually indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

Electronic titan Sasha combines with Sentre for the latest in a series of collaborative releases. The release of 'Glastacy' coincides with this year’s Glastonbury festival and comes with something special for fans.

Even by his own high standards, electronic luminary Sasha is in a superb run of form that has already yielded some stellar singles in the last year, both solo and in collaboration with like-minded talents. TheGRAMMY Award-nominated artist is renowned for pushing musical and technological boundaries, as well as for platforming exciting sounds on his Last Night On Earth label. The next release finds him working with Sentre, aka Dave Gardner & Dennis White, who have been electronic mainstays for many years. They have plenty of major credits under their belts, including working with Sasha on his seminal ‘Involver’ album and also 'Track 10' which they made with Sasha many years ago. It was Pete Tong’s Essential New Tune at the time and is one of many gems from these self-confessed studio nerds.

The release of ‘Glastacy’ also marks a new approach for Sasha and LNOE as they extend their relationship with fans beyond just the music. For the first time, along with the single release, fans will be able to collect and own the single artwork for free. The label has always sought to marry together music and art across its releases and now fans get the chance to own a piece for themselves. Using pioneering technology, those who claim the art will also be able to convert it to a smartphone wallet pass which will bring with it future benefits and surprises from Sasha and LNOE.

'Glastacy' is their latest collaboration, and it works angelic, wordless vocal sounds into heavenly loops that shimmer in and out of focus. Deft hi-hits and a supple bassline bring movement as a lead synth motif rises up out of the mix to bring dramatic tension and take dancers to the stars. It's emotive, hypnotic techno of the highest order, with a spine-tingling breakdown leading towards more trance-inducing musical pleasures. The Intro:Outro Mix is an ambient tool stripped of beats.

Repress

Songs ’94-’98 is a smart selection of material from The Cat’s Miaow, an Australian indie-pop group that gifted their decade with some of its finest songs. Released on World Of Echo, the album draws from the group’s string of excellent seven-inch singles, a small clutch of compilation contributions, and features one previously unreleased song, “I Take It That We’re Through”, recorded in 1998. Part of the burgeoning international pop underground of the nineties, The Cat’s Miaow’s legend has only built over subsequent decades, as more people discover this most quixotic and curious of groups: a recent appearance on A Colourful Storm’s compilation of Australian indie-pop, I Won’t Have To Think About You, is testament to their enduring influence. In part emulating the selection of tracks on the 1997 CD-only compilation, Songs For Girls To Sing, Songs ’94-’98 is also the group’s first ever full-length 12” vinyl collection. The Cat’s Miaow started out in 1992 as a home-recording duo, Bart Cummings (guitar, bass, vocals) and Andrew Withycombe (bass, guitar) taking time out from duties with Girl Of The World and The Ampersands (respectively), knocking out songs on Withycombe’s four-track. Soon joined by Kerrie Bolton (vocals) and Cam Smith (drums), the quartet spent the next five years quietly, slowly working away in the suburbs of Melbourne, recording gem after gem of independent pop. Like many of their Australian precursors or peers – The Particles, Even As We Speak, The Cannanes – The Cat’s Miaow were more successful overseas, a sadly typical phenomenon within the Australian musical landscape. The Cat’s Miaow were always worldly and stylish, anyway, each seven-inch single a refined artifact, each song a peaceable jewel. You could hear some relationships with other music – someone (if not everyone) in The Cat’s Miaow was a Galaxie 500 fan; there’s a minimalism to the playing and melodies that recalls Young Marble Giants, Marine Girls, Beat Happening – but the spirit in these songs is endearingly individualised, the result of a hermetic vision, an ideal of what a simple, unadorned pop song could be. They had a winning way with simplicity, songs like “Autumn”, “Crying” and “I Can’t Sleep Thinking You Hate Me” passing by in the blink of a moistened eye, and when they stretched out, as on “Firefly”, you can hear hints of the drifting ambience they’d perfect in their other band, Hydroplane. It’s not much of a surprise that The Cat’s Miaow found a receptive audience, and no small amount of support, from the networked communities of indie-pop labels and fanatics that developed in the nineties – they released records on imprints like Drive-In, Darla, Bus Stop and Quiddity, shared a flexi-disc with Stereolab, and appeared on countless compilations over the years. But they also understood the importance of the local: their first few cassettes reached the world’s mail routes via Wayne Davidson’s legendary Melbourne tape label, Toytown; they turned up on a split single with Davidson’s group, Stinky Fire Engine; they appeared on a tribute cassette for one of Australia’s finest, The Sugargliders, and indeed that’s Josh Meadows of said group playing wah guitar on “Stay”. The Cat’s Miaow also rarely played live – one launch gig, for the Munch video compilation, and a few parties – which is a great way to maintain mystique. Cosmopolitan yet homely, dedicated to their craft, The Cat’s Miaow always felt a little like a group moving in slow motion, using that pace and focus fully to embrace the art of the perfectly stated pop song – every element in place, no flash and no fuss, no excess, just the core of the thing. Few managed to tease such fierce poetry from such understated, elegant means. From Australia or anywhere.

Ambitious, smart, and magnetically retro, The Rise and Fall of American
Kitsch will charm you with dazzlingly quirky storytelling, stellar
performances, and an adventurous Americana soundscape
It's nuanced enough that you'll want to soak it in with front-to-back listens, and
fun enough for a road trip soundtrack. With American Kitsch, Karen Jonas is
clearly on the rise.
Full PR plan in place
UK Tour in October 2024

Die grandiose Early-Works-Kollektion ART DEVO belegt, warum Devo eine der wichtigsten Bands der US-Musikgeschichte waren und immer noch sind. Die streng limitierte 3LP+7" Anthologie enthält meist unveröffentlichtes Archivschätze, Raritäten und Obskuritäten aus ihrer Frühzeit 1973-77, als sich Devo zu einem Kunstprojekt entwickelte, das David Bowie zur 'Band der Zukunft' erklärte. Die von Devo kuratierte Tracklist erscheint auf pink-schwarz-marmorstrukturiertem Triple-Vinyl im Deluxe-Boxset in Goldfolie, mit doppelseitigen Art Prints, darunter ein Scratch'n'Sniff-Bild, sowie Liner Notes der Gründungsmitglieder Mark Mothersbaugh und Gerald V Casal. Es gibt nur 1.000 Stück weltweit.

Reissue des zweiten Albums "Look Now Look Again" (1999) der US-Emo-Band Rainer Maria. Mit Hilfe von Mark Haines (Poster Children, Son Volt) und Elliot Dicks (Joan Of Arc) in den Smart Studios aufgenommen, ist LNLA das definitive Rainer Maria-Album, ein Standard, an dem die Band immer gemessen werden wird. Die Gitarre ist offen gestimmt und singt durch einen aufgedrehten alten Fender-Verstärker, der melodische Bass rollt, das Schlagzeug dröhnt und der lyrische Kompromiss zwischen Kaia und Caithlin ist in der Lage, ein grapefruitgrosses Loch ins Herz zu stechen. Die Neuauflage erscheint auf Pink Stripe mit Brown Splatter-Vinyl, passend zum ikonischen Cover.

2024 Reissue

Rare, spiritual and groovy, this is the ultimate live album, the pinnacle of the spiritual jazz scene! Detroit's proud drummer Roy Brooks' epic blackness is back!

Hardcore craftsman artist and drummer, who began his career in the 50s and remained at the forefront of the scene until his death in 2005, starting with the Horace Silver Combo in the early 60s and continuing with bands such as Stanley Turrentine, Youssef Latief and Charles Mingus. Roy Brooks. The drummer, who also played on Detroit's Wenden Harrison albums and was part of Max Roach's renowned M'boom project, recorded this live performance in NYC in November 1973 under the name The Artistic Truth, a group he led in the early '70s. Recorded live in NYC in November 1973 under the name of The Artistic Truth, this album easily surpasses the Baystate release in terms of quality and density. The band featured Reggie Workman (b), Olu Dara (tp), Joe Bonner (p), Cecil Bridgewater (tp), Sonny Fortune (as) and other prominent black musicians, with Eddie Jefferson joining on vocals on two tracks. This is a live document of five songs and 48 minutes of spiritual soul, packed with the raw, unrelenting groove of spiritual jazz from this era

Originally released on two tapes on Stucco, now available on vinyl. Ferocious, manic Punk via Austin, Texas. Overpublicised rock hack/full-time gobshite Charles Shaar Murray said of The Clash that they were ‘the sort of garage band who should be speedily returned to the garage, preferably with the motor running’. Now that’s all well and good, but what if I told you there was a band that sounded like they’d taken this to heart and replaced the petrol fumes with all the gnarliest uppers and the cheapest booze? Meet Texas’ Insane Urge, a band for whom no fidelity is too low, no riff is too snotty, and there’s no hook that wouldn’t sound better being crushed into the dirt by a combination of velocity and curled-lip, devilish delirium. This is their ‘Two Tapes LP’, compiling their (you guessed it) two tapes for Down South Tapes - and what a compilation it is! Rattling through 15 songs in 18 minutes, it condenses the primal chords of The Sonics, the dumb thrills of the Oblivians and the smash’n’grab speed of hardcore punk to create something that sticks to your synapses like paste. Almost feels like someone should call Bomp!, Sympathy For The Record Industry and Crypt to check this hasn’t leaked out of their archives - that classic raw vibe is unmistakeably here and it’s an instant winner. From the opening instrumental that shares its name with the band to the minute-long thrill ride of ‘Job’, ‘Two Tapes LP’ is rock’n’roll at its stoopid best (and trust me, you’ve gotta be smart to play this stoopid). It’s a record that’ll cement its place on your speakers, its brevity only serving to make you demand another immediate fix - which you’ll do again and again and again. If the band moniker reflects anything, it’s the fact that you don’t make music like this because you wanna. You do it cos you can’t see any other choice. Listen and love.

Our Label Records Vol. 1 präsentiert eine Auswahl an zumeist vergriffenen Funk 45s aus zwanzig Jahren Labelgeschichte. 2005 starteten die Brüder Tom und Gu mit der 7” Veröffentlichung "Give Me A Minute" von The New Mastersounds aus Leeds, UK, und haben seitdem mit Bands und Künstlern aus der ganzen Welt zusammengearbeitet. Gerade in den Anfangsjahren war Unique Records als Vertriebspartner einer der Garanten sich schnell zu etablieren. Auf dieser Compilation gibt es Uptempo Funk, smarte Breaks und soulful Grooves die sich als sichere DJ Tracks bewiesen haben. “Give Me A Minute (Part 1 & 2)”, geschrieben von Gu, war nach drei Monaten ausverkauft. Das von DJ-Ikone Keb Darge und Eddie Roberts produzierte “Bread & Water” von The Inmates war nach sechs Monaten nicht mehr zu bestellen. Die "Song 2" Coverversion von Diazpora schaffte es sogar in den Trailer einer britischen Castingshow. Mothergroove, Sir Ali Bengali, Wake&Bake! und Renegades Of Jazz sind Klassiker in den Vinyl Kisten von DJs weltweit und Garanten für volle Tanzflächen. Einige hatten auf Our Label Records die ersten Veröffentlichungen ihrer Karriere. Mit “Smudgin'” von The King Rooster findet sich auf dieser Werkschau zudem eine ganz neuer bisher unveröffentlichtes Funk Monster. Zehn Tracks stark ist "Our Label Records Vol. 1" eine sichere Bank für Funk Fans, Vinyl Enthusiasten, DJs und Sammler. Die erste Vinyl Auflage von 500 Exemplaren erscheint mit einer Bonus 7” aus dem Our Label Katalog.

"Enjoy The Ride Records in conjunction with Paramount Pictures proudly present Rolfe Kent's score to Election (Music From The Motion Picture).

Reese Witherspoon is Tracy Flick, a straight ""A"" go-getter who's determined to be president of Carver High's student body. But when popular teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) observes the zealous political locomotive that is Tracy, he decides to derail her obsessive overachieving by recruiting an opposition candidate (Chris Klein) - with disastrous results! Here's a smart, witty, and hilarious jab at high school politics helmed by award-winning director Alexander Payne (The Holdovers, Sideways)."

"Enjoy The Toons Records in partnership with Walt Disney Records and Enjoy The Ride Records, is proud to present the premiere vinyl release for Walt Disney Pictures' Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

A comeback 30 years in the making, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers catches up with the former Disney Afternoon television stars in modern-day Los Angeles. In this hybrid live-action/CG animated action-comedy, Chip and Dale are living amongst cartoons and humans in modern-day Los Angeles, but their lives are quite different now. It has been decades since their successful television series was canceled, and Chip (voice of John Mulaney) has succumbed to a life of suburban domesticity as an insurance salesman. Dale (voice of Andy Samberg), meanwhile, has had CGI surgery and works the nostalgia convention circuit, desperate to relive his glory days. When a former castmate mysteriously disappears, Chip and Dale must repair their broken friendship and take on their Rescue Rangers detective personas once again to save their friend.

Featuring the fantastic score by Brian Tyler, featuring ""Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers Theme"" Performed by Post Malone and ""Disney Afternoon Theme / Whale Rap Performed"" by Andy Samberg, John Mulaney & Nathaniel Motte. The 2xLP album is available on an Enjoy The Ride Records exclusive color vinyl variant, a Mondo exclusive split color vinyl, and two additional colored vinyl variants.

Nachpressung jetzt in klassisch schwarzem Vinyl! "Sad days for the kids, but great days for the Skins!" Oi! made in Leipzig! THE SPARTANICS, nach Demo, LP, 10" und diversen Sampler-Beiträgen mit ihrem zweiten Komplett-Album. Das Trio kommt zwar aus Connewitz, klingt aber angenehm britisch nach 70`s Lower Class Streetpunk mit smartem Beat, eingängigen Melodien und geschmeidig-scharfem Gitarren-Sound. Schön trocken-schnörkellos, puristisch unterwegs. Mit leichter Sohle und harter Botschaft: "Shut up, work hard and make money for the rich!" DON'T! 10 Songs mit englischem Text, grobe Richtung: Knackige Melange aus SPARRER, NEWTON NEUROTICS, EVIL CONDUCT und den LURKERS.

Sad days for the kids, but great days for the Skins! Oi! made in Leipzig! THE SPARTANICS, nach Demo, LP, 10" und diversen Sampler-Beiträgen mit ihrem zweiten Komplett-Album. Das Trio kommt zwar aus Connewitz, klingt aber angenehm britisch nach 70`s Lower Class Streetpunk mit smartem Beat, eingängigen Melodien und geschmeidig-scharfem Gitarren-Sound. Schön trocken-schnörkellos, puristisch unterwegs. Mit leichter Sohle und harter Botschaft: ,Shut up, work hard and make money for the rich!" 10 Songs mit englischem Text, grobe Richtung: Knackige Melange aus SPARRER, NEWTON NEUROTICS, EVIL CONDUCT und den LURKERS. Farbiges Marbled Vinyl, kommt mit CD-Version UND DLC!

Burnski's Constant Black kicks with yet more robust tech house for considered dance floors. This one comes from the ever-present underground stalwart Diego Krause and he opens with 'Bound', a perfectly driving and deep cut with slinky drums and smart vocals that are brought to life with sci-fi synth effects. 'Munro' is brilliantly lithe and elegant, with wispy synth motifs peeling off a super smooth and slinky groove. 'Phantom' ups the pace with a little more tech house urgency but still plenty of deftly designed cosmic pads. 'Flux' shuts down with kinetic, tightly coiled drum funk and popping neon colours. Great work all around from Krause.

"I wish I could turn or turn back" "Sometimes it’s hard to resist the feeling that there was a crucial turn in life out of which everything else flowed. Maybe in our more reasonable frames of mind we can dismiss that thought and take our plans and intentions very seriously. But, there’s often a lurking conviction that, like the oak from the acorn or the movie from its opening scene, it is already all there. In the first moment of Relics of Our Life, anything could happen, anything could come next. But as the suspense is broken with the first notes, the world of the record springs up as both an internal experience and a landscape of which we will learn something, but definitely not everything. The songs induce a swimming sense of cycling repetition and variation where shifting details tilt the ground under us. The round and round doesn’t make us dizzy; like breathing the right way, it makes us both heavier and higher. "Pawliczek’s songs can be located in the company of the greats of Flying Nun Records – maybe the delicacy of The Great Unwashed with the heavy heart of The Verlaines and smartness of The Chills. But, ultimately, his interests are elsewhere – a heart-break song over an earthly lover feels like only the tipping point for longing and devotion that outstrips the personal. In this sense, Popul Vuh for their hymnal geometry and switched-on Palestrina, and Terry Riley for cosmic elation come to mind. The songs have sweeping and cinematic proportions and depths of field constrained by a pop economy love of leanness. "But who’s supplicating whom here? The songs’ devotional quality is not upward to the sacred or even outward to the profane. It’s more like a magnetism between its elements – sounds, voices and rhythms. The track No Talk intones “why don’t you talk to me?” over a driving guitar and one feels visited by some kind of archaic god on whom the tables have been turned, finding himself jealous of our thousand little thoughts. The record finishes with his distorted lilting dance, trying to seduce us with some red red wine that is no one’s blood, but everyone’s favorite drug." -- Karina Gill (Cindy, Flowertown) 2024

Eight years since the breathtaking Somewhere Anywhere EP, The Mad Walls return to re-ignite psych rock with this gorgeous, floatily heavy, effortlessly groovy and sublimely sinuous debut LP. Driven by bone shaking acoustic guitar, visceral drums, wonderfully trippy basslines and the throwaway perfection of Christopher Mercado’s spooked vocals. Pure rock n’ roll yet devoid of cliché. Informed by, but no way in hock to, early MC5, Skip Spence, Sonic Youth, Syd Barrett and Jefferson Airplane when they still all lived together.
Recorded on tape in Mercado’s garage, there’s a DIY heart with epic results across sixteen songs. Only one track over three minutes and some under thirty seconds. “It’s just chatter about life and human feelings. Stylized human expression”. - Is Christopher's self effacing explanation of his mind bending, playful, storytelling. It opens with the walloping drum canter/bass attack of WHO WANTS TO DIE FOR RELIGION. Passes through the furious distorted acoustic guitar solo on I TELL YOU HOW I FEEL. The woozy, elastic time-stretching of COOL TRIPPER. The brief, funky lurch of IN YOUR DREAM YOU ARE NO ONE. The almost lush, cinematic SEVEN DAYS which conjures Serge Gainsbourg by way of Moby Grape. HIP COMMA’s floaty strut and the groovy raga of MAKA THE NATIVE, which has not one but two ‘breath solos’. CLOUDS OF DUST is a skeletal Krautrock fragment and THERE ONLY IS a luminous psych-pop single. Final track APPLES ends the album with a sinewy twelve bar blues and a killer psych guitar break. Bliss.
Somehow the MAD WALLS manage woozily florid and sharp as a blade. Studiedly detailed but effortless. Whip smart and dumb. And as we said at the start - just gorgeous…

Eight years since the breathtaking Somewhere Anywhere EP, The Mad Walls return to re-ignite psych rock with this gorgeous, floatily heavy, effortlessly groovy and sublimely sinuous debut LP. Driven by bone shaking acoustic guitar, visceral drums, wonderfully trippy basslines and the throwaway perfection of Christopher Mercado’s spooked vocals. Pure rock n’ roll yet devoid of cliché. Informed by, but no way in hock to, early MC5, Skip Spence, Sonic Youth, Syd Barrett and Jefferson Airplane when they still all lived together.
Recorded on tape in Mercado’s garage, there’s a DIY heart with epic results across sixteen songs. Only one track over three minutes and some under thirty seconds. “It’s just chatter about life and human feelings. Stylized human expression”. - Is Christopher's self effacing explanation of his mind bending, playful, storytelling. It opens with the walloping drum canter/bass attack of WHO WANTS TO DIE FOR RELIGION. Passes through the furious distorted acoustic guitar solo on I TELL YOU HOW I FEEL. The woozy, elastic time-stretching of COOL TRIPPER. The brief, funky lurch of IN YOUR DREAM YOU ARE NO ONE. The almost lush, cinematic SEVEN DAYS which conjures Serge Gainsbourg by way of Moby Grape. HIP COMMA’s floaty strut and the groovy raga of MAKA THE NATIVE, which has not one but two ‘breath solos’. CLOUDS OF DUST is a skeletal Krautrock fragment and THERE ONLY IS a luminous psych-pop single. Final track APPLES ends the album with a sinewy twelve bar blues and a killer psych guitar break. Bliss.
Somehow the MAD WALLS manage woozily florid and sharp as a blade. Studiedly detailed but effortless. Whip smart and dumb. And as we said at the start - just gorgeous…

"Multiplatinum hitmakers Fastball are remembering it's okay to have hits. Reflecting on their meteoric rise with chart-topping debut “The Way,” guitarist/vocalist Miles Zuniga wryly remarks, “I like to say that ‘The Way’ gave us the freedom to continue doing what we do.”

And what Fastball does is write hits. Their latest, Sonic Ranch, produced by David Garza (Fiona Apple) and John Fields (Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus), is ten sing-along gems, combining pop smarts & the wisdom of 30 years together."

This is not just a tribute album. It is an endeavour borne of love. Tim Smith composer, principal songwriter, lead singer and guitarist of Cardiacs passed away on the 21st July 2020. The artists on this record came together to celebrate Tim's unique music and further it's dominion Everyone involved in the making of this album generously gave their time and creativity freely, a testament to the love they all shared for Tim. After articles about Tim Smith and Leader Of The Starry Skies have been written in The Guardian and the Sun this is what some reviewers have had to say; A treat for fans and a primer for everyone else, this is extraordinary and timeless music that glows and trobs with love for the very brilliant man who created it. Dom Lawson ~ Prog Classic ...the music of Mr Smith, has the uncanny ability to transform minds, delve deep into whatever it is that makes us think and feel and push and pull at it in a way that is utterly unique and endlessly rewarding... Prog Archives ...the most diverse eclectic and excellent mix of music styles, artistic execution and musical diveristy that this reviewer has had the privelege - nay, the JOY to hear in ages. Andi James Chamberlain ~ Subba-Cultcha These aren’t just pop songs, there’s something far deeper going on. Many have the familiarity and spirituality of hymns... he’s our generation’s Elgar . Sam Shepherd ~ Line Of The Best Fit ...smart, talented people performing great, unique songs in support of a very worthy cause. Matt Evans ~ Rockarolla

Docile Recordings is for itself. We are an expression of the beautiful moments that hold us frozen. Warm confusion that breathes life to the senses. The Docile sound captures a nostalgia for times yet to come. We are a familiar resonance always shifting for the correct approach. Always aiming for the heart and soul. Docile speaks to the basic instincts of the techno rebel; supplying sonic reasons to trudge on.

The “last of a kind e.p.” is the 32nd release from the Docile Recordings record label. The feel of this release ranges from a pragmatic spiritual funk to a loose heabangin’ frivolity. Docile 32 is 4/4 minimal held together by soulful synth and smart percussion advanced by ringing highs and detuned horns. Proper mathematics of programming moves a mix match of harmonies through a gauntlet of invisible edits gaining momentum until it is taken away. This is Docile music.

In collaboration with OST Recordings, Acid Jazz present a new version of ‘Family Tree’ by Family Tree, with a smart-looking label based on the Ananda label of the original release. For the first time since that 1975 release, the Kevin Beamish Disco version is paired with the shorter original mix.

'Family Tree' is an all-time club classic made by ‘I Specialize In Love’ hitmaker Sharon Brown and her group Family Tree. With original copies of this record regularly selling for over £300, it makes a welcome return to record stores!

Peacefull darly... The Violent Cases 09 explore a new artist. His first record ! A sound very Dark Hardcore influenced, and even sometime Hard trance and Doom.

Oozi who did the mastering, also was a smart choice considering the music style here...

Fresh Dark Acid sound !!!

To mark its 50th anniversary, Farfalla Records is proud to announce the reissue of the highly sought after German library gem "Wonderland of Sound".

Originally released in 1974, the album was produced by Brillant-Musik's founder Werner Tautz and recorded in Zurich.
Wonderland of Sound is the epitome of the classic 70s library sound. A jazzy bliss orchestrated by the hottest European session players making up the Big Band "Rainbow-Orchestra".

A Splendidly funky and stunning set of compositions and arrangements with ultra-stylish horn section.

Nach einer beeindruckenden Reihe von Alben in den 2010er Jahren, die ihm eine treue Fangemeinde, Auszeichnungen von Zeitungen wie der New York Times, Fresh Air und Pitchfork und einen Platz in der oberen Riege der modernen Americana-Singer-Songwriter eingebracht haben, hat John Moreland in diesem Jahrzehnt bereits zwei unerwartete Wendungen vollzogen, die beide seine starke künstlerische Unabhängigkeit unterstreichen.

Zunächst veröffentlichte er 2022 mit Birds In The Ceiling eine brillante und klanglich vielschichtige Folk-Electronica-Meditation über moderne Entfremdung, die einige seiner Fans überraschte. Nachdem er im November 2022 eine schwierige Tournee hinter sich gebracht hatte, stellte er seine Arbeit komplett ein. Er nahm sich ein ganzes Jahr Auszeit von Auftritten und benutzte 6 Monate lang kein Smartphone.

Nach fast einem Jahrzehnt im Rampenlicht, in dem er ständig von den Erwartungen seines Publikums bedrängt wurde, nahm er sich zum ersten Mal Zeit, sich auszuruhen, zu heilen und zu reflektieren. Das Ergebnis dieses Unplugged-Jahres zu Hause ist 2024 Visitor, ein Folk-Rock-Album, das intim, unmittelbar, zutiefst nachdenklich und verdammt eingängig ist.

Nach einer beeindruckenden Reihe von Alben in den 2010er Jahren, die ihm eine treue Fangemeinde, Auszeichnungen von Zeitungen wie der New York Times, Fresh Air und Pitchfork und einen Platz in der oberen Riege der modernen Americana-Singer-Songwriter eingebracht haben, hat John Moreland in diesem Jahrzehnt bereits zwei unerwartete Wendungen vollzogen, die beide seine starke künstlerische Unabhängigkeit unterstreichen.

Zunächst veröffentlichte er 2022 mit Birds In The Ceiling eine brillante und klanglich vielschichtige Folk-Electronica-Meditation über moderne Entfremdung, die einige seiner Fans überraschte. Nachdem er im November 2022 eine schwierige Tournee hinter sich gebracht hatte, stellte er seine Arbeit komplett ein. Er nahm sich ein ganzes Jahr Auszeit von Auftritten und benutzte 6 Monate lang kein Smartphone.

Nach fast einem Jahrzehnt im Rampenlicht, in dem er ständig von den Erwartungen seines Publikums bedrängt wurde, nahm er sich zum ersten Mal Zeit, sich auszuruhen, zu heilen und zu reflektieren. Das Ergebnis dieses Unplugged-Jahres zu Hause ist 2024 Visitor, ein Folk-Rock-Album, das intim, unmittelbar, zutiefst nachdenklich und verdammt eingängig ist.

What is the connection between talented Theremin player and founder member of the Buggles Bruce Woolley and psychedelic pop band The Honey Pot? Well, in he autumn of 2008 Bruce kindly listened to Icarus Peel's newly-completed album Tea At My Gaffe" and suggested that he should stay on the psychedelic journey. Soon after, Icarus met DJ Marrs Bonfire of Bay FM, who featured the album on one of his "Smart Set" shows. The challenge from Marrs was for Icarus to write a Revolver" style album with shorter songs, and thus "To The Edge" was composed and produced with Wayne Fraquet on drums and Jacqueline Bourne and Iain Crawford on vocals.

Black Uhuru wurde Mitte der 70er Jahre gegründet und stürmte in den frühen 80er Jahren wirklich in die Reggae-Szene, als Sly & Robbie die künstlerische Leitung übernahmen und wichtige Alben wie Showcase, Sinsemilla, Red, Chill Out und Anthem produzierten (beachten Sie, dass es sich um eine großartige Sammlung ihrer Alben handelt). Singles für Sly & Robbies TAXI-Label sind auf TAXI TRAXX erhältlich und wurden letztes Jahr von TABOU1 veröffentlicht.

Die Alben waren nicht nur künstlerisch bahnbrechend, auch die Live-Shows waren großartig. Eine Lawine aus kraftvollem Drum and Bass, ergänzt durch grenzwertige Metal-Rock-Gitarren des verstorbenen Darryl Thompson, lieferte ein Fundament aus Rhythmus und Energie für Michael Roses Lead-Gesang und Duckie Simpsons und Puma Jones‘ Backing-Gesang.

Die erste US-Tournee von Black Uhuru fand 1982 statt. Damals steckte Reggae in den USA noch in den Kinderschuhen und es gab nur drei Reggae-Radiosendungen in Kalifornien: Doug Wendt in San Francisco, Roger Steffens in LA und Lance Linares in Santa Cruz. Lance leitete nicht nur seine Radiosendung bei KUSP, sondern buchte auch Künstler in Santa Cruz und arbeitete mit dem Soledad-Gefängnis zusammen, um Insassen dabei zu helfen, berufliche Fähigkeiten zu erwerben, die sie nach ihrer Entlassung aus dem Gefängnis nutzen könnten. Lance kontaktierte die Organisation Black Uhuru und bot an, ein Konzert im Gefängnis selbst zu organisieren. Zu seiner Überraschung wurde seine Idee begeistert angenommen und die Gruppe trat vor vollem Haus im Soledad-Gefängnis auf.

Was wir auf dieser Doppel-LP hören, ist das gesamte Konzert, das live auf KUSP übertragen wurde. Seine historische Bedeutung ist enorm und kann mit dem Reggae-Äquivalent der legendären Live-Aufnahme der amerikanischen Legende Johnny Cash in Folsom verglichen werden. Außerdem wurde das Konzert per Video aufgezeichnet. Wir haben das Video mit modernster Technologie restauriert und Schlüsselmomente des Konzerts kuratiert. Jedes dieser Videos kann mit der Artivive-Anwendung auf ein Smartphone gestreamt werden. Sobald die App installiert ist, können Benutzer die Videos ansehen, indem sie ihr Telefon auf die Fotos auf dem Plattencover (von Bruno Tilley) richten, die mit dem Artivive-Logo gekennzeichnet sind. TABOU1 ist stolz darauf, das erste Plattenlabel zu sein, das diese Augmented Reality-Funktion anbietet.

The relatively short life of San Francisco's Aluminum has so far yielded a single (Spinning Backwards, 2020) and an EP (Windowpane, 2022), but their debut LP, Fully Beat, overflows with tenured confidence and a singular style that deftly comprises shoegaze, big beat, and jangle pop. With influences ranging from Orbital, to Wipers, to The Avalanches and Sly and the Family Stone, theirs is a multifaceted take on established forms, fed through fuzz and led by honeyed, male-female vocal harmonies from Bay Area post-punk veterans Marc Leyda (of Wild Moth) and Ryann Gonsalves (of Torrey). "Smile" begins with deceptive sparseness, adding neon swirls of stacked tremolo over a mesmerizing lyrical refrain, and hinting at the dynamism to come with understated grace and grit. "Always Here, Never There" is Fully Beat's first pure hit of melodic pop: its liquid bass groove winds beneath a melancholy-sweet synth hook and Leyda's plaintive vocals, while drummer Chris Natividad's deep, pillowy snare and propulsive style maintain a driving pace. Lead single, "Behind My Mouth", shifts gears into a big beat shuffle and howl of overdriven guitars, which relent to Gonsalves' rolling bassline and playful, snarky vocal. Composed across several weeks of experimentation, it is a prime iteration of Aluminum's meticulous world of sound, which nevertheless carries an air of wry nonchalance. Asking, "Do you ever see behind my mouth?", Gonsalves notes that the song "comes from a place of wanting to be understood authentically, and to communicate intentionally." This approach speaks to the album's broader theme of exhaustion amid the demands of the modern grind: working unfulfilling jobs to pay exorbitant rent, feeling society break at the seams, and trying to maintain a meaningful personal life with the remaining scraps of morale. The response, then, must be to find joy. These songs were crafted over a half-dozen months in basements and practice spaces, creating an abundance of authentic passion and catharsis that's as nostalgic and comforting as a cherished, tattered band t-shirt. The closer, "Upside Down", is a full-throttle blare of joyous release - "a straight-up love song," according to Leyda. The deliberate choice to end it with a gradual fade, rather than a dramatic climax, smartly suggests the ambivalence of acceptance - perhaps fitting, when considering the immensity of the album's subject matter. It also hints that there is much more to be said, and as such a rich and compelling debut, Fully Beat shows that Aluminum are only getting started.

With Lucifer, Kompakt presents an album of rare beauty from two masters of modern music. A family affair, it’s a collaboration between the Italian father-and-son duo of Luciano Michelini and Lorenzo Dada, whose combined histories bring to Lucifer a depth of experience alongside clarity of vision and a finely tuned, neatly developed combined compositional voice. A lovely, beguiling suite of music that combines the electronic and the acoustic, the urban and the pastoral, its gorgeous night-eye vision and tender melancholy sits neatly within the Kompakt universe, while offering the curious listener some rich new perspectives.

There is already plenty to know both artists by. Lorenzo Dada creates across multiple fields – a techno producer and DJ who has already worked with the likes of Jay Haze, Fete, Leo Benassi, and Der, he’s released a small clutch of stylish, smartly designed EPs, and a solo album, Second Life (2018). His complementary background in classical music and composition informs his ensemble project, Tears Of Blue (who appear on Lucifer), where Dada paints with neo-classical tones for a quartet of violin, viola, cello and grand piano, supplemented by electronics for live performance.

Luciano Michelini’s history is yet richer. He may be best known, to many, for his piece “Frolic”, the theme to Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm series; it was also sampled by Snoop Dogg for 2022’s “Crip Ya Enthusiasm”. But there’s much more to Michelini’s story. A successful soundtrack composer, Michelini both studied and taught at the Conservatoro di Santa Cecilia, and worked for RCA from the sixties to the eighties; his soundtracks from this period are gorgeous examples of the form, particularly his work for Il Decamerone Nero (1972), L’Isola Degli Uomini Pesce (1979), and the devastatingly gorgeous Dimensione Donna (1977).

In the eighties, Michelini and his wife Anna Gutling founded the Electronic Music Division studio and academy in Rome, which is where the majority of Lucifer was recorded. Dada reflects on the experience: “We never worked together before, so it was all new for both of us,” with Michelini adding, “I truly love this experience with my son. He’s a talented pianist and composer. I am not very familiar with electronic music nowadays, but we did it fluently.” There’s certainly a familial energy at play through Lucifer, and you can hear how Dada and Michelini, through exploration and experiment, find a shared language, balancing Dada’s tendency toward minimalism, and Michelini’s composerly voice.

Lucifer flows as a suite that interweaves electronic music with acoustic instruments: the lonely sigh of saxophone; Michelini’s lush, verdant piano; the weeping strings of Tears Of Blue (recorded at the studio of Michelini’s friend, the late Maestro, Ennio Morricone). These multiple voices are located within the electronic sighs and swarms from Dada’s kit; there are moments of propulsion, and passages of lambent drift, where the album revels in its tonal sweetness. If it flows so effortlessly, that’s because Lucifer was designed that way, as a suite or a sonata of sorts.

And the title? Dada reflects, “Lucifer was an angel who decided not to be one anymore. The miracle of life is that we can decide what we want to be, even if we are born as angels or vice versa.” This feels somehow apposite: there’s certainly something of the transformative, and the transportive, in Lucifer, a unique family collaboration of rare poetry and sensitivity, where two generations meet in the modern crucible that is the electronic music studio.

Rude Boys are synonymous with Jamaican Dancehall culture from the present day going back to the very early days of Sir Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid’s first sound-clashes in Kingston. Studio One Rude Boy features artists and songs about rude boys and rude boy culture from all periods of Studio One’s history.

The album features Ska, Rocksteady, DJs, Roots and Dub The album features classic tracks from Jamaica’s finest singers and groups such as The Wailers, John Holt, the Wailing Souls, Dennis Brown alongside super-rare tracks from artists such as Mr Foundation, Dudley Sibbley and The Soul Brothers all recorded under Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd’s supervision at the legendary recording studio and record label. Musical backing comes from the legendary in house bands – The Skatalites, The Sound Dimension, Soul Vendors and Soul Defenders – who provide the classic Studio One rhythms so influential in the history of Reggae.

2024 reissue

Toothpick aka Swirl People step out with their newly entitled label Lost In The Swirls, which they have distilled to the more simple name L.I.T.S. Records. The Belgium-based project is an alias of Dimitri & Raoul and they bring fresh house sounds here even though this is a reissue of some classic 90s material. The title track has lush and bright summer pads over driving, tight kick drums. The opener 'May The Funk Be With You' has a classic UK flavour to it with woodpecker-like hits and dusty drum loops under some smart chord work. Last but not least is 'Naked Speedway' which has a warm bassline meandering below expansive chords that bring an early morning vibe. Good stuff.

With 14 Academy Award nominations, seven Grammy awards, and an Emmy to his credit, Thomas Newman has a track record second to none among modern screen composers (and even among his family, which is saying a lot considering he is son to Alfred, brother to David, and cousin to Randy Newman)! But among all his Academy Award-nominated scores—to classics like The Shawshank Redemption, Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Saving Mr. Banks, and The Road to Perdition—his score to the 1999 Academy Award-winning Best Picture American Beauty (the first of his many collaborations with director Sam Mendes) remains his most distinctive. That’s because Newman made the bold choice of composing a score almost entirely with percussion instruments, brilliantly intuiting that the lack of melodic resolution in the film’s themes would echo and amplify what he termed the “moral ambiguity” of the script. The result was a haunting and wholly original film score that is instantly recognizable to anyone who has seen the picture. Real Gone Music is very, very proud to present this work of genius on blood red rose vinyl to match the original album art (here used for the first time on a vinyl release) and the film’s shattering conclusion!

Is this release the last volume of the edits-saga?? ….It seems to be. Four bangers as usual courtesy from the boss FrescoEdits himself plus a fantastic edit from Rogue D and one from secret Italian pioneers “Kings of groove” . Super-smart sampling stuff for the most eclectic dancefloors!

Warehouse Find!

Last month saw the re-release of the this stone-cold classic from 1988. Now we give you the re-edits from The Black Madonna, Adjowa and Jimpster. The Black Madonna should need little by way of introduction seeing as she is almost singlehandedly regenerating Chicago's House music legacy through brilliant
her brilliant productions as well as her position as booker and resident at the legendary Smart Bar. It seemed only right and proper to have the youngest generation of Chicago native revisit such an infuentional classic from the first wave of House. With only the stereo track to work with she stretches things out
and teases with a filter-frenzied arrangement and plenty of twists and turns to bring a fresh new spin to In The Heat Of The Night.
Adjowa grabbed our attention after his amazing Science And Soul 10' last year and seemed the perfect choice to bring some seriously raw warehouse vibes to the release. He certainly goes for the jugular with a more in depth remix adding extra bass and beats with plenty of grit and dirt. Finally, Jimpster gives us his Stretchdit, keeping the vibe of the original intact but offering up an extended DJ friendly version with extra hats, FX and a
sprinkle of pixie dust adding sizzle and drama. We hope you agree that with club music like this sounding every bit as mind-
blowing today as it did in 1988 it seems only right to help introduce such innovative, influential and timeless music to a wider audience.

Warehouse Find!

Time to welcome Chrissy, a Chicagoan DJ, producer, edit-maker, blogger, sometime dance music historian and documenter and general hard-working mother f**ker (according to Stool Pigeon). The Smart Bar resident has had a string of top drawer releases on house labels such as Classic, Tugboat Edits, Razor N Tape and Hypercolour, not to mention his own brilliant Nite Owl Diner label which he runs with Alex Burkat. Chuck in releases for Planet Mu and running the juke/footwork label Loose Squares and you start to get the picture. This guy is a genre-bender extraordinaire and clearly a tireless and highly creative individual so we're very proud to have him join us hear for his Freerange debut.

. Limited edition silver vinyl anniversary reissue of the Magnetic Fields’ classic 1999 rumination on, of course, love. Funny, smart, dark, memorable, and a lifetime’s worth of listening. Stephin Merritt solidifies his songwriting genius on his “most ambitious and fully realized work.” (AMG) This vinyl reissue is remastered for vinyl and beautifully packaged in a 10” slipcase box with three double gatefold sleeves and a 24 page booklet!

Limited edition silver vinyl anniversary reissue of the Magnetic Fields' classic 1999 rumination on, of course, love. Funny, smart, dark, memorable, and a lifetime's worth of listening. Stephin Merritt solidifies his songwriting genius on his "most ambitious and fully realized work". (AMG) This vinyl reissue is remastered for vinyl and beautifully packaged in a 10" slipcase box with three double gatefold sleeves and a 24 page booklet!

Rico Puestel always has a surprise in store: #technohasleftthebuilding ain't finished yet! We've come a long way baby... The original recording sessions has been more extensive than previously known of, based on the incentive question: If Techno has left the building, what is actually left of it?

In the aftermath of it all, Rico Puestel bounces back to the true-bred heart of Techno and its traits that really made him fall in love with it in the first place. He initially kept these additional and special tracks to himself throughout the first album part, but the time has come to deliver them subsequently now.

Literally point by point, Rico Puestel designes a mesmerizing trip into the greater depths of early club nights, thinking of a world without any trials and tribulations of smartphones or the internet - just dancing and loosing oneself in the magic of the the 4/4-impulse and a tapestry of sound woven around our being.

In times, when people felt as a unit-of-one movement on the dancefloor, with Techno being its undeniable soundtrack and moment of truth, diversity was no issue, so #technohasleftthebuilding's aftermath also dives into the realms of Trance and beyond, because way back: Techno was just Techno and it's all about the music in the end.

Starting with a warning from a dystopian point in time, this further album part is an admonition and a refined view back from outside the building...