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Urwaxx returns with a long awaited second vinyl from Greenwald.
Inside 5 tracks showing exploration of electro and breaks music.
“Is What I Like” represents a reflection of his own vision of these styles.

The Jak has returned with 2 new Dirty bLends in extremely limited quantity.

Introducing nU cOhort to the label:

The Falcon(a silent assassin)

this new artist alias to the label has contributed to the further effort
of maintaining the sound from the early inception of chicago tracks like the days of old that still lives and breathes in us today that honors and treasures enriched essential dance music history.

DirtyBlends Edition 7 both sides IZ straight HEAT!

The Jak kicks the A-Side into madness with a Jakbeat blueprint of energetic electronics and various bass lines on this obscure creation honoring Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles and Farley that resonates a confrontational question repeatedly saying “Who said i can’t beat U for the title track ‘An Offbeat Formation of Control’

The Falcon Flys fiLthY iLL on the B-Side wit a whiPLash idea influenced from Chicago’s south-side of rhythm styles Paul Johnson and Chip E!!! made 2 Jak 4 Crazies that is truly Definitive Jakbeat.

Available again. Note price increase. The contributions of the late Detroit producer James DeWitt Yancey –better known to the world as J Dilla to the world of hip-hop can't be overstated, and nowhere is his legacy more apparent than his work as a member of Slum Village. A founding member of the trio, (Alongside rappers T3 and Baatin) Dilla provided the group's distinctly esoteric, free-wheeling sound, built around winding basslines, quirky drumbeats, subtle low-end frequencies, and classic jazz & soul samples. Against the backdrop of Dilla's rich production, T3 and Baatin's free-flowing style of rhyming would also earn wide critical praise, leading to comparisons as the successors to A Tribe Called Quest. (A label they themselves have rejected.) It's on Slum Village's 1997 studio debut, Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1, that all these elements come together in the most proficient manner. An instant hit among Detroit's underground hip-hop scene, the album seemed to combine all the best elements of the reigning alternative and gangsta styles of hip-hop into one cohesive style that was a hit among critics. Fan-Tas-Tic's influence extended far beyond Detroit, as its sound heavily influenced the sounds of D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, and The Roots just to name a few. (Roots drummer ?uestlove has even declared that: "Hands down this album birthed the neo-soul movement.") Ne'Astra Media Group now presents the album reissued on vinyl, for the first time in several years. Every wobbling bass note of J Dilla's production has been preserved and every freestyle line of T3 and Baatin has been re-created, to maintain the legacy of a late-90s rap classic, and the legend of one of hip-hop's greatest beatsmiths.

Reissue of the oud / viola virtuoso SIMON SHAHEEN's interpretations of pieces by one of the Middle East's most important 20th Century composers, MOHAMED ABDEL WAHAB. Produced by BILL LASWELL, remastered for vinyl at D&M Berlin.

MOHAMED ABDEL WAHAB (1902-1991) was "a giant in the world of Middle Eastern entertainment" (Al Jadid Magazine) - as singer, actor and composer – and is commonly considered "the father of modern Egyptian song". After a visit to Paris, he revolutionized the film industry by introducing the genre "musical film" to the Arabic world, the movie "The White Rose" in which he starred broke all records and to this day is frequently presented in Cairo's cinemas. But in 1950, WAHAB left the film industry to focus on singing and composing – he wrote over 1800 songs (among others for Umm Kalthoum, an iconic artist in the Arabic music in her own right) that were deeply rooted in classical Arabic music but also laid the foundation for a new era of Egyptian music as WAHAB was open to Western elements such as waltz rhythms or even rock'n'roll in Abdel Halim Hafez's song "Ya Albi Ya Khali". He also composed several national anthems (Tunisia, Oman, Libya, United Arabic Emirates) and re-composed the Egyptian national anthem "Belady Belady Belady", based on the original by Sayed Darwish. WAHAB received several decorations of Arabic states, and at his death in 1991, Egypt honored its famous son with a huge military funeral at the Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo, the six-horse carriage procession carrying his coffin was actually led by the prime and foreign ministers, followed by the ministers of defense, interior and culture!


SIMON SHAHEEN (born 1955) is the perfect choice for WAHAB's compositions. Born into a family of gifted musicians, he learned playing the oud at the age of 5 and the violin shortly thereafter. He earned degrees in Arabic literature and music performance at the Tel Aviv University, and later pursued further studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and after his emigration to the USA (in 1980) at the Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University. SHAHEEN lives in New York where he founded the Near Eastern Music Ensemble and Qantara, a formation that blends traditional Arabic Music with elements of Jazz and classical music, and he also has been organizing the Annual Arab Festival of Arts called Mahrajan al-Fan since 1994. The same year he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts at the White House. Solo albums like Saltanah (Water Lily Acoustics), Turath (CMP) or Taqasim (Lyrichord) underline his importance as one of the most significant Arab musicians, performers, and composers of his generation. His work incorporates and reflects a legacy of Arabic music, while it forges ahead to new frontiers, embracing many different styles in the process. SHAHEEN has participated in many cross-cultural musical projects with artists as diverse as Henry Threadgill, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, or the Jewish klezmer ensemble The Klezmatics, contributed to the soundtracks for The Sheltering Sky and Malcolm X and composed the entire score for the United Nations sponsored documentary, For Everyone Everywhere, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Charter. SHAHEENS biggest success was the Qantara album Blue Flame (2001) which has been nominated for eleven Grammy Awards.

Besides all his activities as performer, he dedicates a good part of his time to working with schools and universities, including Julliard, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Brown, Harvard, Yale, University of California in San Diego, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and many others.
The Music Of Mohamed Abdel Wahab was originally released in 1990 on Axiom, the record label curated by iconic producer and bass player Bill Laswell, and has been carefully remastered for this vinyl reissue at D&M, Berlin.


Press quotes:
"Master oud player and composer Simon Shaheen finds the perfect mix on this collection of Mohammed Abdel Wahab's pieces … seven wonderful interpretations sparkling with oud and strings interplay." Stephen Cook / AllMusic


"Shaheen's violin soars over a slicing string section and a bed of percolating percussion, while accordion, oud, finger cymbals and a chorus of singers weave in and out. Produced with sparkling clarity by Bill Laswell … this record opens a new world of harmonic and melodic possibilities to ears accustomed to Western pop." Greg Kot / Chicago Tribune


Musicians:
Simon Shaheen: Oud, Violin, Viola
Najib Shaheen: Oud
Sheikh Taha: Accordion
Anton Hajjar: Ney
Paula Bing: Flute
Ramzi Bisharat: Tabla
Hanna Mirhige: Mizhar
Michael Baklouk: Daff
Bobby Farah: Sagat
Ibrahim Salman: Quanoun
Artemis Theodos, Gabriel Palka, Nessim Dakwar, Kamil Shajrawi: Violin
Mike Richmond: Double Bass
Michael Finkel, Vladimir Greenberg: Cello
Laura Shaheen, Louise Salman, Maurice Chedid, Nermine Rawi,
Simon Shaheen, Youssef Kassab: Chorus

Einstürzende Neubauten producer Boris Wilsdorf, Karl O’Connor aka Regis and MY DISCO's Liam Andrews assemble as EROS, bottling no-wave/industrial lightning with a tight set of pulverized, widescreen torched-songs that rasp, grate and throb somewhere between This Heat, The Cure, Cabaret Voltaire, Alva Noto x Pan Sonic.

An industrial fantasy of flesh and steel, ‘A Southern Code’ is the stunning continuation of the trio’s work at Wilsdorf’s pivotal Anderesbaustelle studio on Regis’ watershed album, ‘Hidden In This Is The Light That You Miss’. Rejoined by another key muse, Anni Hogan, and Einstürzende Neubauten’s Jochen Arbeit, they effectively galvanised a new band, EROS, during long days and nights in the studio across 2020 and into 2021. The sound they make is fiercely lean, shaped by Wilsdorf’s manacled mixing and anchored in the frankly sexy as f#ck swerve of Regis vocals and his snake-hipped rhythm section.

The first songs issued from those sessions form a lustrous new high point of contemporary industrial and dance music, one porous to Kurdish dabke as much as archetypal goth, pulsing with a metallic bloodlust and spatialized by Wilsdorf’s genre-forming tekkerz in a way that seriously rewards with proper amplification. Judged on its immediate merits, it’s the sort of record that could have feasibly come out at any point between the ‘80s and now, but closer inspection reveals a discreet framework of sculpted subbass and sleekly rolling traction that betrays the modernity of minimalist D&B physics and up-to-the-second sound design that places ‘A Southern Code’ in a timeless echelon.

Registering the venomous drums and over-the-shoulder whispers of its title track, plus the incendiary middle eastern horns of ‘The Crawling Man’ - a real parallel dimension take on The Cure’s ‘The Top’ - to the post-apocalyptic lounge lizard styles of ‘In This Place’, and the unheimlich creep to ‘Nature Unborn (From Sun to Sun)’, the band’s first album plants a vital stake in the ground for industrial musick at the crest of a new decade.

Damian Schwartz makes a welcome return to Pulp for his third full-length album, La Sal De Tu Especie. The 11 track record was written over the last three years as a way of coping with some tough experiences and features remixes
from K15 and Gifted & Blessed. It once again finds the Madrid producer serving up the sort of richly musical house that has always stood him apart.

Schwartz has been away for a while but emerged in the early 2000s with an artful take on house music. As a student of jazz, composition and bass, his intricate grooves have always been embellished with real melodic craftsmanship. In the past, they have come on this label, Esperanza and A Harmless Deed which he co-runs with Jose Cabrera. He has put out two albums before now and also works under the Epiphany alias as a producer and live act. He is a real master of his analog machinery and someone who never fails to bring fresh ideas. This superbly adventurous and widescreen new album proves that once again and shows off diverse influences such as 90s broken beat by acts like Hanna and 4 Hero, the early IDM of LFO and Aphex Twin and the Detroit house and electro styles of greats such as Juan Atkins, Teknotika, Marcellus Pittman and Kyle Hall.

It kicks off with Renacido which is a cinematic synth opener that places you into orbit. La Elipa is expansive and jazzy house with cosmic chord work over the tight, punchy kicks and Lopp then gets physical with broken beat drums and funky bass dancing around each other to uplifting effect. The superb Zwei Danke is another masterclass in off-grid beat programming and soulful machine sounds that captures the essence of early Detroit house.

It is remixed by K15, a vital London beatmaker with credits on labels like Eglo and Wild Oats. His version showcases rugged, lo-fi and dusty drums softened by heart-melting chords and angelic vocal coos.

Schwartz's 'Morro Da Urca' is a suspensory ambient interlude that makes way for the crisp electro-funk and starry-eyed pads of 'Rufo,' then 'Meco' cuts loose
with boogie bass and glistening drums and perc that voyage through a whole eco-system of bright, nebulous synths. 'Mika' is another out of this world house composition with majestic leads and pixelated pads that bring warmth and future soul. There is real electricity in the freeform keys and corrugated drums of Coney Island that will ensure any dance floor takes off.

Final remixer Gabriel Reyes-Whittaker aka GB (Gifted & Blessed) is a composer and sound artist whose music is a constant exploration of the bridge between the technological and the ancestral. He flips 'Loop' into an Afro-future jazz dance with infectious percussion and expressive chords that never rest.

La Sal De Tu Especie is a timeless fusion of jazz freedom and house grooves that takes you into a magical new dimension.

"What you have here, pouring out of your listening devices, is Parisian Dreams. A genre-busting, generation-spanning, cross-pollination of 21st century beatmaking and 1970’s psychedelic composition. The styles are myriad. Running the gamut, between acoustic folky guitar riffs, through fuzzy movie-soundtrack textures, hitting grooves that land somewhere between dub and funky breakbeat jazz.
MPC producer Yeti recently found himself in a session with one of his musical heroes, Janko Nivolic. A veteran composer of psychedelic funk and jazz dating back to the late 1960’s. In his digging and sampling obsession Yeti had marvelled at the compositions of Mr Nivolic for years, collecting these rarities, mostly found on obscure Library records.
The title ‘Parisian Dreams’ is highly significant as is explained in this anecdote from Yeti. “At the session that I was involved in with Janko in Paris, he showed up with a score that he had conceived while dreaming the previous night. He awoke at 5 AM, scribbled it down immediately and brought it with him to the session. He didn’t need to take it over to the piano, to check if it made sense. He just knew it did. Blew my mind!” So, sit back and absorb these magical sounds from the sub-conscious of an 80 year-old musical legend, combined with punchy beats, from a revered MPC pad-tapper, specially designated, to give your woofers a workout. DJ Ollie Teeba". (Text by Soundsci/The Herbaliser)

Deron Miller gives his life to the riff. Unrestrained by industry expectations and genre limitations, the boundlessly prolific guitarist and voice behind multiple beloved projects is best known as the founder, frontman, and songwriter in CKY. His authentic and effortlessly hooky heavy rock obsession returns with 96 BITTER BEINGS. Reinvigorated and ready to rumble all over again, Miller roars back with the same reverence for riffage that made underground hits out of CKY anthems like “Flesh Into Gear,” “Escape from Hellview,” and “Disengage the Simulator” from 1998 till 2011.

The familiar warmth, feel, groove, and unapologetic honesty which drove the song “96 Quite Bitter Beings” to 54 million streams (on Spotify alone) permeates the pair of albums unleashed by 96BB.

A successful crowdfunding campaign saw Miller, guitarist Kenneth Hunter, bassist Shaun Luera and Shaun’s brother, drummer Tim, conjure up 2018’s Camp Pain in limited release. North American and European touring followed, wrapping up shortly before the COVID-19 shutdowns.

“After CKY and a short break, I decided to continue, without changing the sound,” Miller explains. “Because that’s what I do. It’s what I love to do and what people say I do well. All of the guys who got in the band with me are great musicians. And each of them is hungry. They have priorities and ambitions about being in a rock band, no matter the grim state of pop music out there. If we can bring rock and metal back to the mainstream, in some way, that’s the dream.”

In 2022, 96 BITTER BEINGS unleash the long-awaited Synergy Restored, 11 songs of relentless power and vibe. Four-on-the-floor, fuzzy and visceral, proper rock n’ roll made by an actual band, rather than a bunch of overprocessed samples and otherwise stale shenanigans. Songs like “Vaudeville’s Revenge,” “90 Car Pile-Up,” and “Wish Me Dead” offer vivid reminders of the truth-telling prowess of guitars, bass, and drums. Miller is on fire, weaponizing the same knack for memorable musical epiphanies behind projects like Foreign Objects, World Under Blood, and CKY.
Miller co-founded Foreign Objects and later Camp Kill Yourself (a name born of his love of VHS slasher classics) in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in the ‘90s. Written by Miller, 1999’s Volume 1 appealed to metalheads, skaters, stoners, and punks. The album led to a stint on Warped Tour and a deal with Island Def Jam Music Group, which issued Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild• in 2002. Axl Rose chose CKY to support the ill-fated Chinese Democracy tour, and they also played with Metallica.
An Answer Can Be Found followed in 2005, producing the Billboard Mainstream Rock Top 40 single “Familiar Realm.” Extensive touring with Avenged Sevenfold and the like-minded Clutch followed. Carver City, in 2009, would prove to be Miller’s last album with the group he created and led. Across the four albums, Miller indulged his love of everything from ‘80s thrash metal to doom, as CKY blended high-octane ruckus with occasional bursts of Moog synths and cinematic storytelling.
Miller never stopped creating, with a handful of full albums written and released, a foray into horror movies, and parenting three children with his wife, scream queen actress Felissa Rose. Like Galactic Prey, the most recent Foreign Objects album, the 96BB records were recorded and produced by Miller and Hunter at Manifest Productions. Camp Pain was explicitly made for diehard fans who supported the creation of both albums through 96BB’s Indiegogo campaign. Synergy Restored was always intended for wider release, which it sees now via Nuclear Blast.
“I want my work taken seriously. I thank God every day that I was never overexposed, or even exposed enough commercially, to where I’m resigned to a specific moment,” Miller says. “I would rather have my self-respect, the respect of the audience, and a dedicated cult following.”

“Every time I go out, I see Nirvana, Metallica, and Misfits t-shirts. These kids may not know the music, but at least they are displaying a visual interest,” he adds. “Corporations spend millions of dollars promoting certain styles of music, but history proves that true rock will always sneak in.”

By freeing himself from the labels that have made D.L.i.d.'s career, Casini turns to more pointed and experimental sounds, he is now part of a purely electronic current, at the electronic current, at the crossroads of the influences that have forged his unique musical identity. For this adventure, the objective is simple: to let the creativity of its author take him to where he where he wishes it. From Trap to house through more hybrid styles, he lays his deep and catchy voice on 6 tracks that will be unveiled one after the other in the heart of an evolving EP.

After a year of releases exploring recent musics from the USA, Europe and the southern hemisphere the Horn of Plenty presents a survey of archival private, demo, and live tapes from local avant-anarcho-punks The Apostles. The tapes were (poorly) recorded in Islington & Hackney squats between 1981-1983 and they capture the fledgling band exploring various line-up’s, styles & techniques with limited means and ability. In 1983 The Apostles released their first vinyl EP and switched mainly to a more straight-ahead anarcho-punk style. They gained a strong following then called it a day in 1989. Their vinyl output is still regarded highly by fans and collectors and their ‘official’ demo tapes have become highly sought-after, particularly since being namechecked by Ty Segall in a 2014 interview. In a 2009 article charting the band’s history (frontman) Andy Martin gives these early tapes a mere footnote and states that, in his opinion, they are ‘Best Forgotten’. With respect Andy, I beg to differ. Best Forgotten shows the band grappling with the political, racial and cultural tensions of the time whilst exploring radical politics and issues around homosexuality and mental health. Their sympathies with The Angry Brigade’s ‘direct action’ ethos extended to their involvement with the squatted Centro Iberico and The Wapping Autonomy Centre where they worked closely with Crass, Poison Girls, Flux of Pink Indians and The Mob among others. Viewed retrospectively, it’s easy to draw comparisons with early Fall records, The Door and The Window etc… but also at their melodic best they echo 60’s beat groups and even 70’s blues-rock. A keen interest in tape collage (supplied here by Ian Rawes who later became established with his London Sound Survey project) and the avant garde also inform the mix. Highlights include a bleak reworking of Lemon Kittens’ Chalet D’Amour and a live version of Simon & Garfunkel's I Am A Rock segueing into their take on Alternative TV’s Splitting In Two recorded at The Recession Club in Ponsford Street, Hackney. The short-lived Recession Club, which The Apostles co-ran and where Andy Martin worked the door, also hosted the first ever Coil concert. On that night he refused entry to Death In June on account of their ‘inappropriate attire’. Best Forgotten comes in a hand stamped, stickered and assembled edition of 500 copies and includes an A3 poster and 32 page A4 zine collecting archival photos and images from The Apostles tapes & zines along with liner notes and reflections on the tracks written by Steve Underwood (Harbinger Sound), Chris Low (former Apostles drummer) and The Apostles frontman Andy Martin, who thought this whole thing was daft.

Bird Moves is the jazz offspring of the German band Noetics. Originally founded as a classical formation devoted to jazz, the members quickly explored its related styles. Without genre restrictions Bird Moves are mixing Jazz with anything from Funk to Dub and had their debut release on Agogo Records.

For this single they recorded two amazing new songs. "Easebound" is a groovy-breezy laid-back tune while late night cruising, slowing down or just daydreaming. On the flip you'll get an afro-tingled mid-tempo track named "Kakra Kakra".

This double-sider is pressed on limited black and orange recycled wax.

Reggie B returns with his much awaited NBN release "Tinky's Jam.” This is his first full length album since “Soulofunkaquarian” released with INnatesounds. The album was most definitely worth the wait. It takes the listener through a personal and musical journey inspired by the birth of his son, who he affectionately calls “Tinky,” and the connection they share. Tinky was a major part of this album, oftentimes found in the studio during the conceptions of many of the songs. This album is unlike any other record released by the Kansas born producer, multi instrumentalist, singer and arranger. After the birth of his son, he was inspired and encouraged to get back into the musical game by the head of NBN, Onra. "Tinky's Jam" is something of a family affair with friends and old collaborators playing their part.

Born into a musical family to parents who were two sides of the same coin, a father who was one of the most renowned drummers in Topeka, Kansas funk and jazz fusion scenes and a mother who was one of the most prominent gospel singers in the city. The apple didn't fall far from the tree and Reggie has spent his life performing and playing with a healthy slew of releases.

This album is the result of countless days in the studio which yielded scores of a dozen slabs of head nodding funk.

Mostly instrumental and showcasing Reggie's many styles from the heavy bounce of "Futuristic Slow", to the George Clinton nod on "P For Life", and the crafted soul of "Gone Fishing" with Dominique Sanders to the cool street jazz feel of "Realize" with Donald Hates's sax adding flare as well as the beat of "Nose Dive" providing the nod factor for the heads.

Closing out the LP ``Tinky's Dance" - a raw soulful jam that lies somewhere between Prince and Larry Heard - for Reggie "the whole project felt like a gift to me and my baby boy Tinky! I wanted to let him know he’s always in my heart and soul and I love my Tinky man infinitely! It’s a children's album for the elevated child like Tinky!”

Ringing from hi-fi headphones and blown-out boombox speakers alike
comes the overloaded guitar genius of "Easy Listening", a record of rock
n' roll daydreams and terminal boredom, and 2nd Grade's long awaited
second LP.Like a blue slushy on a hot day, Easy Listening is a sweet
respite
Like the Blue Angels touching down on the Las Vegas Strip, Easy Listening is
impossible to ignore. And like a janitor mopping up beer on the floor of the
Hollywood Palladium in 1972, hours after the Rolling Stones have finished
Ventilator Blues and climbed onto the bus, Easy Listening knows the glory and
cost of escapism, abandon, and the soul of rock n roll. Philadelphia's 2nd Grade
(Peter Gill, Catherine Dwyer, Jon Samuels, David Settle, and Fran Lyons) is a band
both obsessed with and worthy of rock stardom, and Easy Listening proves their
status as virtuosos of the power pop renaissance.Sonically and lyrically, Easy
Listening pays tribute to a guitar lineage linking the Stones to the Flamin'
Groovies, to Redd Kross and Guided By Voices. With its spiraling hooks and
handclapped quarter note beat, lead single Strung Out On You sounds like an
alternate reality post-Radio City Big Star cut. In 2nd Grade's world, music history
is a prism, not a linear progression. Famous teens transcend time on the outro to
Teenage Overpopulation, a shouted cacophony of names including Tommy
Stinson, Lizzie McGuire, and Joan of Arc. The line between the love of an
audience and that of a romantic partner is blurred on songs like Hands Down and
Me & My Blue Angels. Across the album, hi- fi and lo- fi styles splice together;
playful references and surreal hints of impossibility build a complex, believable
world atop a foundation of simple and sticky melodies that resonate on very first
listen. Pressed on Blue Jay Color vinyl.

Talkbox is multidisciplinary artist Michael O’Mahony’s third album and his first for 33-33. It’s his most complete and cohesive music project to date, a culmination of ideas, happy accidents and compositions that have been cut up and re-arranged over many years. The album’s sonic signature is the Vocaloid software synthesizer – the titular ‘talkbox’ – famously by Japanese cartoon Hatsune Miku. O’Mahony became aware of Vocaloid in 2015 through the popular Nyan Cat meme, which em marketed ploys the software. Excited by the emotive potential and realism of Vocaloid’s voice synthesis, he began to imagine an album that combined its capabilities with italo disco- and UK garage-inflected sounds. As the version of Vocaloid O’Mahony had access to sang only in Japanese, O’Mahony relied on Google Translate to obtain the required characters to enter into the software. In early experiments with the software, the north Londoner translated BBC match reports from his beloved Arsenal FC. Eventually, he amassed a library of syllables and phonetic sounds, from which he created the melodies crystallised on the record. As far as we know, these vocal lines have no meaning in lyrical terms. O’Mahony works largely in an iterative way; song ideas are reworked over and over in different styles, sometimes over a period of years. Multiple versions of a song might appear on an album, each one with its own particular nuances in feeling. Music perhaps does not always flow out of O’Mahony, but emerges over time. O’Mahony’s album forms part of his wider project: an analysis of his subjectivity through art and psychotherapy. The music complements his writing and video work, which feature in his performances. He writes in chains of association, speculating on topics such as family dynamics, or the meaning of recurring dreams about a childhood game console. His video practice features footage of objects found in his parents’ house, such as his sister’s childhood My Little Pony toy and his retired psychiatrist father’s lecture tapes. The music, at once synthetic and heartfelt, imbues the writing and video work with a strange tenderness. Taken together, these various aspects of O’Mahony’s work form a meditation on the emotional attachments we make to consumer objects and the role of early life in character formation. Tracklist 1/Talkbox 2/More Succinct 3/Electricity 4/Not Giving Up 5/Dinosaur 6/Trumpet 7/Electricity (Rock Version) 8/Aliss 9/Be Good 10/Not Giving Up (Slow Version)

Bootlickers of the Patriarchy was written about Senator Susan Collins
and her infamous press conference after the Kavanaugh/Blasey Ford
hearings
It's about women who succeed from undermining the success of other women or
choose to gain success from exploiting the oppression of other women. This is a
character who has taken many forms throughout history, the kind of woman who
seems perfectly content playing Gamma to the Alpha male. "Bootlicker" is my
direct challenge to the notion of 'women supporting other women,' and the
falsehoods and unrealistic expectations that comes with a statement like that." "I
wrote the song to be played in two different arrangement styles, the first half
being slow and haunting and the second going balls- to- the- wall rage. I was re
exploring a lot industrial/proto industrial music I had listened to as a teenager in
the 90s and used some elements of synth/drum machine sounds to convey all
that anger, panic and darkness." // "Well, why not do a cover of your influences as
a B- side? I was obsessed w/ the Ministry album 'With Sympathy' when writing
tracks for my upcoming album. It is the record Al Jourgenson has stated multiple
times that he's ashamed of most, which is saying a lot considering this man's
autobiography. I teamed up with my friend Heather Elle of Flossing, formerly of
post punk bands Bodega and The Wants for this collaboration. It's my first official
recorded track where I'm playing guitar, so as the saying goes, it's never too late
to pick up a new instrument and get totally lost in it."

HOAXED unveil their captivating and catchy debut full-length, Two Shadows! Comprised of vocalist/guitarist Kat Keo and drummer Kim Coffel, HOAXED's superlative blend of styles—heavy melodic rock with captivating hooks, gothic undertones, undeniable metal, and tinges of americana - pave the way for a singular expression that’s entirely their own. Two Shadows is as unique as it is memorable and catchy. The record thrusts, retreats, and beguiles across its melody-powered and hook-driven expanse, with earworms “The Call,” “Guilty Ones,” and “The Knowing” serving as the album’s crucial lighthouses. Formed in Portland, Oregon, in 2020, HOAXED's initial songwriting plan casts a wide net. The breach opened up considerably as Coffel and Keo explored the outer edges of their musical influences and artistic aspirations. After fruitful songwriting sessions, the twosome self-released their eponymous four- song EP in February 2021. Signaled by the whirring, diaphanous spell of video single "Candle Master", HOAXED caught the attention of Relapse Records, who signed the outfit in 2021. As a live act, the pair has already hit the ground running, rocking the stage with Unto Others, Blackwater Holylight, and Amorphis, and hailed as an “absolute riot on stage.” (Metal Insider) Shortform: HOAXED unveil their captivating and catchy debut full-length, Two Shadows! Comprised of vocalist/guitarist Kat Keo and drummer Kim Coffel, HOAXED’s superlative blend of styles— heavy melodic rock with captivating hooks, gothic undertones, undeniable metal, and tinges of americana —paves the way for a singular expression that’s entirely their own. FFO: (Early) Ghost, Black Sabbath, Tribulation, My Dying Bride, Unto Others, Blood Ceremony, Katatonia

Repressed !

We are proud to present a set of edits of this long-lost classic from the golden age of African music, from a figure who is still beginning to get his props internationally, Eji Oyewole.

Born to a royal lineage in Ibadan, Prince Eji Oyewole has had a career as a flautist, saxophonist and sometime bandleader spanning well over half a century. He trained both in Nigeria and then at Trinity the prestigious music school in London, and his life as an itinerant musician also saw him living for extensive periods in Geneva, Hamburg and in Lyon.

While for many years Fela Kuti (with whom Eji played) and King Sunny Adé commanded international attention to the exclusion of most other Nigerian musicians, as if there was only room for one Nigerian superstar at a time on the world stage, on the domestic scene things were very different. Eji was part of the huge craze for ‘highlife’, a generic term that in fact subsumed many different styles, united in their fusion of traditional west African forms with jazz influences and electric instruments, and in the bands’ working practices as entertainers at the nation’s numerous hotel / nightclubs. As this cracking album, recorded for EMI Nigeria at the tail end of the ‘70s and now remastered, reveals, Eji’s version of highlife was even more distinctive than most, eschewing the usual emphasis on guitars for a brasher, horn- laden sound, seemingly influenced as much by American funk as it was jazz, and of course with the heavy percussive undertow central to most African music.

This gave Eji a chance to shine, and there are some scorching solos as well as tight ensemble playing across the four lengthy (to ears accustomed to the three-minute pop song) songs. Eji also played piano on the session. The material has an element of social commentary (Oil Boom and Unity In Africa) and should help feed the seemingly insatiable appetites of the many who have been turned onto African music by the enterprising efforts of devoted collectors, labels and fellow fans.

Surely one of the few musicians who has played with Fela, Miles Davis and Bob Marley, Eji Oyewole still plays regularly in Lagos, recently had an album of new material out with his current band The Afrobars, and has been a member of Faaji Agba, a super-group that has toured internationally and been dubbed ‘the Nigerian Buena-Vista Social Club’.

Longtime underground star Francesca Lombardo steps up to Ovum with a trio of superb new signature sounds. Italian Lombardo has been crisscrossing the globe and headlining all its most tasteful clubs and festivals for many years. Her powerful, heartfelt grooves have come on the most influential labels of the day and her critically acclaimed debut album 'Life of Leaf' showed that she can do all sounds and styles from downtempo to pop with equal skills. Her mix of innovation and compelling grooves continues on this latest EP. The vocals on the opener 'Magic Moment' are a poem Francesca's friend Victoria sent to her. She kept them for four years before ?nding the special inspiration that encouraged her to use them in these writing sessions. They lend the tune an intimate feel and draw you in deep to the elegant house drums and warming synths. It's an uplifting and classy tune with a standout Moog bassline that will lock in the floor. After the dub version is 'Sea,' a much more twisted and peak time techno tune. The synths are spangled over jacked-up drums, with edgy textures and late-night menace all making it a sure-?re winner This is another tasteful take on techno from Francesca Lombardo.

Martin Khanja (aka Lord Spike Heart) and Sam Karugu emerge from Nairobi's flourishing underground metal scene as former members of the bands Lust of a Dying Breed and Seeds of Datura. Together in 2019 they formed Duma (Darkness in Kikuyu) with Sam abandoning bass for production and guitars and Lord Spike Heart providing extreme vocals to the project. Recorded at Nyege Nyege Studios in Kampala over three months in mid 2019 their self-titled debut album fuses the frenetic euphoria, unrelenting physicality and rebellious attitude of hardcore punk and trash metal with bone-crunching breakcore and raw, nihilist industrial noise through a claustrophobic vortex of visceral screams. The savant mix of brutally adrenalized drums, caustic industrial trap, shredding grindcore inspired guitars and abrupt speed changes create a darkly atmospheric menace and is lethal on tracks like the opener "Angels and Abysses" , "Omni" or "Uganda with Sam". The gruelling slow techno dirges and monolithic vocals on "Pembe 666" or "Sin Nature" add a pinch of dramatic inevitability bringing a new sense of theatricality and terrifying fate awaiting into the record's progression. A sinister sonic aggression of feral intensity with disregard for styles, Duma promises to impact the burgeoning African metal scene moving it into totally new, boundary-challenging experimental territories.

"While focusing on the current conditions we find ourselves in and bracing for what seems like the collapse of humanity, I made this collection of music in an attempt to ignite the essential remnants of my inner euphoria, and perhaps yours too" - Feldermelder

Euphoric Attempts is a finespun, voluminous manifestation of euphoria, a testimony to creativity, produced at a time when the outside world seems to be slowly disintegrating. The musical language is pure, vast, resilient, and vulnerable. The compositions of Feldermelder have a tonality both strange and familiar, intensified and influenced by classical music, yet distinguished by the coalescence of contrasting styles.

Euphoric Attempts relates to the state of our external surroundings but also refers to our inner life: it passes through our memories — through our organism — through our stories, and intends to elude the cold grip of analytical listening, instead retrieving intrinsic truths. The track titles signify a form of homage to our inner individuality, existing in parallel with the severities of the tangible, the external.

For this album, Feldermelder draws together compositions from his extensive archives, focussing on material that reflects the simple joy of making music. As a counterpoint to the abstract complexities and intricate rhythms of his live performances, here Feldermelder creates candid compositions of purity and minimalism, finding a sense of elegance in the details. Euphoric Attempts discovers the prospect of liberation and vitality in concealed intimacies, capturing their resemblance in gentle, elaborate, and prodigious movements of sound.

Feldermelder is a Swiss musician, sound designer, producer, and installation artist. He is co-founder of -OUS and part of the audio-visual collective Encor.studio. He has previously released several releases on -OUS, both as a solo artist, and in collaboration with Sara Oswald and Julian Sartorius. Feldermelder's influences range from pioneering early electronic music to contemporary analogue electronics to classic jazz and beyond. The diversity of the music that inspires him is mirrored in his own work, which illustrates an ever-evolving sound, and indicates that influence is seen as both map and compass, guiding divergent inclinations.

Stellar Legions is four experienced space cadets from the Antwerp interstellar legion, led by Captain Andrew Claes (STUFF., BRZZVLL, Internal Sun). With a sound rooted in jazz, improv, hip-hop, dub and electronic music, brace yourself for an intergalactic trip through colourful musical worlds and allow yourself to be carried away to indefinable, otherworldly but always hospitable beacons.

Alongside Claes, the delegates on duty are all heroes from the Allied star: Bram Weijters (Raymond Van Het Groenewoud, Crazy Men), Klaas De Somer (Tourist Lemc, Selah Sue) and Fre Madou (ex-DAAU, Namid). With them, come stories and artifacts from the multidimensional cosmos to our beloved mother planet Earth and this autumn, they passionately present their first omnibus 'Stellar Legions', released 21st October via the groove-obssessed Sdban Ultra label.

The album consists of eight tracks recorded in the studio and live, resulting in one big cosmic experience that exhilarates down to every last arrangement. From Claes' twisted sax on the semi-electronic ecstatic dream world that is an 'An Arp in Tunisia' to the jazzy snatches of 'Wessel' where De Somer's hurried drum patterns and Weijters frenzied keyboard solos catch light, Stellar Legions unites the adventure and improvisation of jazz with contemporary sounds.

At the core of the Stellar Legions sound is a rhythm section Sly & Robbie would have approved of: loose and sticky, grinding and unwinding: De Somer's drums fizz with expectation while the relentless bass strokes from Madou provide the beating pulse. It's fresh, it's raw and it keeps us listening, grooving and wanting more. Elsewhere, 'Odyssey' is a cataclysmic mix of feverish sounds and melodies that take you to an extra-terrestrial place, while the live recording of 'Alcyone', basks in a spatial mix of futuristic grooves and ethereal soundscapes before album closer 'Covix', results in a spacious and wonderfully atmospheric affair.

Electronics wizard Andrew Claes has recorded music in a wide range of styles ranging from free jazz outfit Chaos of the Haunted Spire (duo with Teun Verbruggen) to techno icon Marco Bailey and New Wave hero, Marcel Vanthilt. In addition, he has collaborated with Zach Danziger, Zap Mama, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Hermes Ensemble, Mauro Pawlowski, Josse De Pauw and many others and released music with the electro-jazz collective AAN/EOP and his solo project, Internal Sun.

Claes is also a teacher of 'Live Electronics' at the Conservatory of Antwerp and a doctorate in the arts, where he is currently investigating the possibilities of an electro-acoustic saxophone. He also regularly gives workshops on the Belgian synthesizer microcontroller platform, Axoloti. His latest achievement is AI-driven robot-jazz project 'BotBop' with Dago Sondervan and Kasper Jordaens, which explores the possibilities and limits of 'computer aided music performance'. Their latest project 'Integers & Strings' premiered at the Sònar festival in Barcelona in November 2021.

With selections ranging from Praetorius to Britten,
plus all-time favourites by J.S. Bach (The
Christmas Oratorio) and Handel (Messiah), this
album brings together some of the most beautiful
and justly famous musical settings of the Nativity
story.
Festive or intimate, exuberant or elegiac, these
highlights from iconic recordings in harmonia
mundi’s voluminous catalogue are an ideal
sampling of the Christmas magic across epochs
and styles.

Brand new Italian label “WeDoThings” is happy to introduce “The Beetools” with the debut album ‘SoulNova: The Magical Tones Revenge’.

“The Beetools” are a four elements crew who love music and mostly enjoy live playing instruments and synths.

Their roots start from Latin and Electronic Music as well as Funk & Jazz, inspired and influenced by Mambo & Samba rhythms too.
Starting from here, they have joined together and created an Italian soup/group as follows:
Original Recipe:
- take four poor guys with different music styles and put them in a mixing bowl
- add few spoons of keys, flutes and some drums
- put inside a pinch of synths
- mix and fry 180 grams of magical sound
- a sprinkle of groove and trumpets on top
Everything seems to work fine and now it’s cooked to perfection, ready to please your ears.

Strictly serve it hot on a “vinyl plate”
It’s a limited pleasure, this one is a keeper !!

Pure Wicked Tune is a mixtape-style collection of extracts & cut-ups, taken from DIY cassette recordings featuring rare groove and "soul blues" soundsystems playing at early morning house parties and blues dances - mostly in South & East London - between the mid 1980s & early 90s.

Sounds like Funkadelic, Touch of Class, Latest Edition, JB Crew, Manhattan, 5th Avenue (and the many more featured on this tape) originally began to form in the mid-1980s. With lovers rock dwindling, and the reggae scene becoming dominated by harder digital-style dancehall, these sounds provided a tight but loyal crowd with a potent alternative - playing a mixture of killer rare soul, funk and boogie records in an inimitably reggae soundsystem style, complete with toasting, sirens and effects aplenty.

They were most well-known for playing at house parties and blues dances, typically in small flats or warehouses, with timing of such events generally running from the early morning hours until late the next afternoon. Though the popularity of the sounds faded following the dance music explosion of the early 1990s, there has been continued demand for revival sessions ever since. Whilst the influence of key British reggae & dancehall soundsystems on subsequent UK sounds like hardcore & jungle is relatively well documented, a similar line can just as easily be drawn from these sounds and the aforementioned styles' tendency toward sampling popular rare groove cuts, particularly well evidenced in the work of Tom & Jerry, 4hero, Reinforced & LTJ Bukem among others.

This represents the first outing in a series of collections exploring the sounds of UK soundsystem culture, via extracts from archival DIY cassette recordings of blues parties, dances & clashes made between the late 70s and early 90s. Often duplicated and shared widely, these ruff and ready "sound tapes" provided keen ears with music that wasn't otherwise readily available on the airwaves or in the record shops, and would go on to leave a deeply-rooted but too often overlooked influence on the UK's musical landscape.

We are proud to present the official 40-year anniversary issue of Imagination's debut album Shake It. Remastered from original tapes, this deluxe edition is a double vinyl LP with gatefold sleeve, featuring a newly available lyric insert.

Shake It covers a diverse spectrum of styles and sounds, all combining to a unique soulful amalgam that ranges from sunshine AOR funk ("Mornin' Lights") and leftfield disco ("Strawberry Wine") to psychy, epic, downtempo, vocoder grooves ("Can't Stand Without You") and more. Originally released in 1980, it fast became one of Germany's most collectible privately-pressed LPs.

Shake It was the creation of young thoroughbreds working hard on becoming professional musicians, trying to take their next big step in the music business. Starting out as a pure jazz-rock combo in the mid '70s (as we hear on the recently released lost studio tapes, I'm Always Right (The WDR Tapes 1977)) Imagination left behind their instrumental roots, incorporating new musical trends and styles.

Uwe Ziss, their saxophonist and flutist, became one of two lead singers in Imagination. He would be joined by the younger Roger Mork, a student of original guitarist Willi Hövelmann, around 1979. Roger's voice would best be heard on the aforementioned "Mornin' Lights", one of the various standout tracks on Shake It. However, there is much more that this album offers.

There are brilliant soulful soft rock ballads like "Clouds Flee Before The Wind" and "Waitin for your Call" or the catchy "California" song that switches from a dreamy Westcoast sound (as the title implies) to danceable rhythm & blues with equal ease. Last but not least, we have unearthed three unissued bonus cuts. On one, the demo take of "Clouds Flee Before The Wind", we hear, for the first time ever, the original refrain of this song, which, for some strange reason, was taken out from the final mix on Shake It.

When all eight original songs were recorded and mastered in June, at the well-equipped West Aix-La-Chapelle studio, the stage was set for Imagination's long-desired career push. They'd initially press about 2500 copies of Shake It selling it mainly, locally, directly to their hometown fanbase in Düsseldorf. Meanwhile, their manager would attempt to arrange a record deal with a music label. Unfortunately, this became more difficult than expected. Negotiations with a smaller publishing company were made by Imagination, and Shake It was repressed on Nash Records in 1981 without their consent, under the false promises of a nationwide promotional tour which would never come to fruition. At the same time, the group would face a UK band under the same name achieving mainstream success, making it difficult (not to say entirely impossible) to perform as "Imagination". Though the band would remain active after Shake It, they'd split shortly after Nash's duplicitous reissue hit store shelves.

Luckily, through time, Shake It itself has remained worthwhile, creatively, for those who stumbled upon it and financially, too, becoming quite the sought after gem in record collecting circles. This deluxe anniversary double vinyl issue makes the LP available once again at a far more reasonable price, featuring the original, illustrious, eye-catching, Roy Lichtenstein-influenced banana art, as well as previously unavailable press pictures and more.

2022 Repress
The Sound of Studio One can be identified by the great singers that it cultivated along the many great songs that these singers released. But as studio 1's dominance was slowly pulled away by the up and coming new breed of producers many of the artists would inevitably end up working for these new camps and so the songs and singers found a new audience. The reggae sound of the Studio 1 would make a great combination and the man to pull this was together Bunny Lee.
The 1960's in Jamaica was run by two main factions, Coxsonne's Studio 1 and Duke Reid's Treasure Isle. These two leading protagonists saw what some of the other great Sound System men like ' Tom The Great Sebastian' had not taken onboard, that when the tunes they imported began to dry up from the USA, their future lied in producing music. Tunes that suited the musical styles that the people of Jamaica still enjoyed. By the late 1960's thse supremacy was being challenged by the up and coming new producers on the scene, Lee Perry being one, and the other being 'Ghost of the Studios' himself, Bunny Lee. Bunny 'Striker' Lee may have inherited the moniker 'Striker' from his liking of a particular TV show called 'The Hitch-Hiker', but it would soon stand also for the considerable hits he would obtain as he was declared producer of the year in Jamaica in 1969, 1970,1971 and 1972.
For this release, we have compiled many of the great Studio hits that Bunny Lee recorded with the singers that had originally cut at the famed Studio 1. Bunny Lee's sprinkling of magic over some classic tunes....the sound of Studio 1 backed up this time Bunny 'Striker' Lee's set of star musicians The Aggravators. Proving you can't keep a good tune down, or a great producer pushing forward.....Bunny Lee strikes back....
Hope you enjoy the set.....

In a time where electronic music gets harder and faster each day, Berlin-based duo Brigade‘s debut album „Hard Times, Soft Music“ reclaims easy listening as a badge of honour. Being released on 14.10.2022, the record is a meticulously calibrated work of room temperature, a home cooked meal between friends or a warm sonic blanket that tugs you in after a rainy day. Pushing their club roots to the side, Brigade‘s debut album con- dently sits between ambient, house and hip hop. „We took the pandemic as a cue to take a break from dance floor productions and play around with different genres and production styles.“ The rst single „International CommunicationTM“ showcases that breadth and introduces an album pretty much anyone in the post-Shrek cultural landscape could agree on. Basically, if you appreciate a good hug, chances are you‘ll enjoy this LP. Also, there's a pretty cute dog on the cover.

With "To the Westcoast / My Fate (Revisited)" by Ara Pacis we are proud to officially release two of the most exciting AOR tracks hailing from Germany.

Ara Pacis, a group from the island Föhr in the North Sea, was originally founded in 1971. Initially influenced by blues and classic rock by The Rolling Stones, The Who, and the like, they were also inspired by bands such as Steely Dan as well as the German/British group Lake. However, Ara Pacis created a style of their own when their privately pressed and self-distributed "To the Westcoast" LP was released in 1979. The songs were mainly characterized by two-part guitar riffs by Töns Brautlecht-Deppe and Wolfgang Schiffner, who also were the core songwriters of the band.

The freshly remastered single starts with the title track "To the Westcoast". Due to its sunny and yacht-y vibe it is easily amongst the best and most authentic tunes out of the "Westcoast rock" genre recorded in Germany. With family connections in California, lead singer Töns Brautlecht-Deppe was able to create and capture the feeling of the Pacific sea shore just perfectly.

The single is backed with a revised studio version of "My Fate". Here, lead singer Töns Brautlecht tells his story about getting into playing guitar as a young boy. The track is also featured on the album but the version we present on the 7" vinyl is an unreleased, even quite funky and more powerful take. It was recorded in 1981 at the Rüssl studio in Hamburg where Brautlecht had just started to work as an engineer.

As the "To the Westcoast" LP was released during a time when styles like New Wave, Synth Pop and Punk became popular in Germany and the interest in organic and soulful rock declined, Ara Pacis' debut remained relatively unnoticed until today and even the Krautrock collector's scene does not seem to be fully aware of this hard to find gem yet of which only 1000 copies were originally pressed. The band is still kept in good memory by their fans as a quite legendary live act and although they officially split in 1982, the group still served their fan base with revival concerts in 1990 and 2002 plus a website with full band story and lots of images from the early days.

We hope this single sheds new light on this great band. It is limited to 350 copies and released in a beautiful picture sleeve which shows the original LP artwork.

Balamii resident and Sticky Tapes-founder Theo Everyday arrives with a huge debut on Cheeky Sneakers, seamlessly blending the worlds of jungle, electro and trance with his signature sauce of nostalgic and futuristic hyper-funk.

Having curated the Sticky Tapes mix series and label - supporting music from artists such as Stones Taro, Om Unit, Jossy Mitsu and Lobster Theremin label head Asquith - the DJ and producer knows a thing or two about merging differing styles and energies. The Holsten FM EP plays out like a three hour club set; placing classic UK sounds at its foundation and throwing multi-coloured paint all over them.

'The Way You Feel' makes use of the pitched-vocal, SoundCloud hyper-pop aesthetic with hardcore-piano stabs and heartstring-tugging cheese wrapped within a huge low-end swinging bassline. A great lights-up tool to leave them with a smile on their face. The classic rave energy is maintained on the EP title track - a stripped-back cut of ragga jungle-step that's as meditative as it is devastating.

From golden-era rave and jungle future-mutations to heads-down club sounds, 'Every Body's Talking (Well Let's Talk)' is a strobe-light power sequence for when things are in full swing, before 90s breakbeat and trance join forces on a 'Six and Two Threes' hands-in-the-air moments.

Breaks-littered dream sequences that feel like a warm hug follow on 'Summer Lie In' - its chopped melodies and stirring atmospherics causing ripples within the pond of paradise - before 'Mod Cons' closes with a squelching cut of acid-electro on a killer digi-only exclusive.

Ask any of the great guitar pickers who have emerged over the last four
decades to name a primary influence and the response is likely to be
"Tony" or "Rice" or, to avoid confusion, "Tony Rice
" There can be no doubt that Tony Rice's footprint on the time- line of guitar
playing in bluegrass music is monumental.
"Guitar" was Tony Rice's first venture into recording and it still holds up as one of
the great bluegrass guitar records ever issued. The album came to Rebel in a
roundabout way. It was recorded in Lexington, Kentucky, first appeared on a
record label in Japan, made its way back to Kentucky for release on a regional
label that was later acquired by Rebel in the late 1970s. As Tony was working in
banjo-great J. D. Crowe's band at the time, it was quite natural for Crowe, Tony's
brother and mandolinist Larry Rice, and bassist Bobby Slone to provide the
instrumental backing. Recorded at a time when progressive sounds and styles
were treading on the traditional framework of bluegrass, "Guitar" was praised for
walking the fine line of spotlighting Tony's prowess on the instrument while
remaining very much a "band" recording.
With Tony in fine form vocally and his amazing guitar work on full display, this is
where you will find his signature versions of "Freeborn Man," "Doing My Time,"
"Nine Pound Hammer," and "John Hardy" – plus the closing track, a nine-minute
tour-de-force rendition of "Lonesome Reuben."

THE NEW STUDIO ALBUM FROM THE JAPANESE LEGENDS - AN OPUS
OF DARK & ECLECTIC BLACKENED HEAVY METAL, SHROUDED IN
TRADITIONAL EASTERN INFLUENCES..
Cult Japanese black metal legends Sigh formed in 1989/90, featuring
mainman Mirai Kawashima, Satoshi Fujinami & Kazuki Ozeki
Following initial demos, Shinichi Ishikawa was brought in & Sigh set about
recording the masterpiece debut 'Scorn Defeat' for Euronymous' Deathlike Silence
Productions, going on to become one of the country's greatest & most revered
metal exports. With a journey through the strange & the psychedelic,
incorporating a whole eclectic mix of genre styles & experimentation throughout
their career, Sigh has remained a vital creative force in the avantgarde field whilst
maintaining their old school roots.
'Shiki' marks the latest chapter in the Sigh legacy & includes some of the band's
heaviest & darkest material for some years; a fine hybrid of at times primitive
black metal akin to early influences such as Celtic Frost amid more epic melodic
heavy metal riffing & solos. The album also utilises a whole host of instruments
to give further texture & dynamics to the compositions & eerie atmosphere,
incorporating traditional oriental instruments such as the Shakuhachi & Sinobue
flutes.
The word "Shiki" itself has various meanings in Japanese such as four seasons,
time to die, conducting an orchestra, ceremony, motivation, colour. The two
primary themes for the album are "four seasons" & "time to die".
The concept & artwork is based around a traditional Japanese poem & on 'Shiki'
Mirai explores how at this stage of life he himself is going through Autumn, with
Winter coming soon & so empathises with the contrasting sentimental feelings
from watching cherry blossoms (a symbol of spring) in full bloom.
Joining Mirai & Dr Mikannibal for this release are Frédéric Leclercq of Kreator,
plus US drummer extraordinaire, Mike Heller of Fear Factory, along with an
appearance by long-time member Satoshi Fujinami on bass. 'Shiki' was recorded
across multiple studios & mixed & mastered by Lasse Lammert at LSD studios in
Germany.

'Cross the Rolling Water' is the debut collaborative album from Hannah
Reed and Michael Starkey
Acclaimed singer-songwriter and fiddler Hannah Read met banjo player Michael
Starkey at an Appalachian old time session in Edinburgh in late 2019.The
moment they first struck up a tune together there was an immediate meeting of
musical minds and they have since become a formidable and dynamic fiddle and
banjo duo, playing repertoire deep from the old time tradition like Apple Blossom
as well as newly composed tunes and songs Shenandoah by Anais Mitchell.
Hannah is an award winning Scottish musician based in Brooklyn, NY. She moved
Stateside to study American fiddle styles and to immerse herself in the thriving
string music scene. She has toured extensively, performing solo and collaborating
with musicians far and wide including Tony Trischka, Sarah Jarosz and Jefferson
Hamer, as well as being one part of the BBC Folk Award winning Songs of
Separation. Her previous album was the well-received 'Way Out I'll Wander' from
2017.
Michael is a multi-instrumentalist, music teacher and old time banjo enthusiast
living in Scotland. His mission as a musician is to keep things simple - clear
melody lines underpinned by solid, infectious rhythm. Recent collaborations
include with Wayward Jane (Edinburgh- based UK/ US folk and roots music 4-
piece) and 'Faultlines', a collection of Lisa Fannen's poetry set to music.
"Hannah and Michael have arrived at a way of playing old- time music that's
refreshingly dynamic, expressive, and toneful. Every track makes me feel like I'm
sitting right next to them, eyeing my fiddle case, just hoping they'll let me join in" -
Stephanie Coleman, old time fiddler

"Party people hold onto your hats!" Ugly Duckling presents their fifth full-length album Moving at Breakneck Speed. After more than a decade in the music business, Young Einstein, Andy Cooper and Dizzy Dustin are well accustomed to the recording process. For their latest LP, the boys dug deep into their bag of tricks to create what they feel is their most dynamic and complete release to date. Moving at Breakneck Speed is an exciting and musically exotic adventure story that has our desperate heroes circling the globe to outrun an evil gang of super-criminals determined to put an end to UD once and for all. The record is made up of 14 power packed tracks that showcase Ugly Duckling's classic production sound as well as the flavorful and humorously soulful vocal styles of Dizzy and Andy. "By the time you work on your fifth record, you ought to know how to do it, right?" asks Andy, "I think we put all of the pieces together to make a really, really good album".

3am Recordings brings you its debut album, from label boss Al Bradley. While it would be much easier to get some huge name in for this who is previously unrelated to 3am, it was never going to be like that here. Staying true to the ethos of the label, it was important that this milestone was a reection of the label and what it has always stood for. The move back to vinyl in 2015 has rmly planted the label back
in its place as one of the UK's most consistent for house music, retaining its value of working with artists who have been involved with the label over its 19-year history, or who have been rm supporters of 3am during its time. Over the 9 cuts there are a variety of vibes, 'Little Treasures' aims to cover a selection of sounds that represent Al's inuences & styles, having been buying records since the mid-80s &
playing vinyl as DJ since he got his decks in 1991. The past is important as it represents where we started, the future is equally important, as it's the area of the unknown & we have to embrace it...

Covering deep house, dub techno, broken beats, raw machine funk, beatless ambience & more, the album is one that is danceoor-aimed, but works beyond that area too. With support from the likes of Placid (We're Going Deep), Carlo Gambino (We_R_House), Lolu Menayed
(Rawtrax), Lars Behrenroth (Deeper Shades of House), Loz Goddard (Oath), James Reid (Sonet), Moodymanc (2020Vision) & many more, the album reaches right across the spectrum of electronic music.

Radio Mars is really happy to present you this new artist on the red planet !

Tomas is a punk at heart (a real one)

For this release he was able to mix all styles because he is not linked to any and that’s what makes his charm! His music appropriates the space in a particular way because it bewitches you and never lets go. Melancholic melody, devastating kick a kind of perverse decadence in which the poetic song is linked. Her soft voice comforts you in her sequences of Electro, ghetto, breaks, feverish techno in which you can guess the heat of sweaty bodies…A real job in transitions and choices…

DJ Frankie by his remix gave his hot and nasty side, he respected the original while putting his touch to it, a high-flying track that will easily turn any dance floor. Well done Frankie

This record is a marvel!

B. Bravo (aka Adam Mori) returns to Bastard Jazz with the long-awaited follow-up to his 2017 debut LP, "Paradise," with a fresh full-length offering: "Vizionz." Replete with his signature future funk vibes, infectiously soulful grooves, and talkbox excursions, "Vizionz" sees the multifaceted artist take the classic West Coast into outer space. If B. Bravo's last album sought to get lost in paradise - enjoying the moment here and now - "Vizionz" looks forward, feet placed firmly in an established LA vibe, while the matured eyes of a veteran producer gaze keenly to the future.

"Vizionz" arrives following a slew of diverse singles, which highlight B. Bravo's stunning versatility as a songwriter, producer, and collaborator. Last year's "Lifted (What U Waiting 4)" came first, at the end of May, 2020, pairing g-funk talk-box verses and synth lines with rich vocal harmonies and a dance-floor-ready beat. Frequent collaborator Reva DeVito (Miami Horror, Kaytranada) makes a standout vocal appearance on "Fly Bye," the second single. Here, Adam surrounds Reva's vocals with ambient pads, a Dilla-inspired beat, and an irresistible bassline, while Reva's dreamily sings about getting away from it all. The final single, "Believe," sees Chuck Inglish (of the famed duo The Cool Kids) rhyme in his distinctive baritone over a bass-heavy instrumental meant to rattle some car stereos.

The singles offer a view into the rest of the album: Solo B. Bravo joints include "Moon Bounce," a talk-box boogie jam begging for late-night drives with the top down; the largely-instrumental synth improvisation, "Midnight Rider;" the upbeat "Penelope," which showcases Adam's vocal and harmonic prowess; a bumping g-funk interlude, with "Flip Out;" as well as the laid back album opener, "Da Essence."

Further vocal assists come by way of Sally Green on the flirty "10/10," and Rojai on the slow jam ""No Regrets" . Both singers have worked on B. Bravo projects in the past, with Rojai additionally joining forces with Adam to form the duo Kool Customer, whose self-titled debut album was released on Bastard Jazz in 2018. Two more hip-hop-leaning tracks are aided by Def Sound ("Back Times Two") and Nico Fasho ("Ms. Stardust"); leaning heavy into outerspace G-Funk Hip-Hop vibes.

Taken as a whole, "Vizionz" is a much needed boost of serotonin: Uncompromisingly positive, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes aspirational, but always funky. The range of styles is a testament to Adam's indelible production chops, songwriting skill, and ability to collaborate. While it has been a long 5 years since "Paradise," "Vizionz" proves more than worth the wait.

Born and raised in California, with roots in Japan, B. Bravo's signature style of Cosmic Funk and late night synth grooves have made him a favorite among DJ's, dancers, and music lovers worldwide. A tasteful producer, sought after remixer, party rocking DJ, master of the talkbox, band leader, and alumnus of the Red Bull Music Academy, Mr. Bravo is an accomplished performer both at home and abroad.

Heavily inspired by the synthesizer-enhanced R&B grooves of the late '70s and early '80s, B. Bravo debuted in 2009 with the seven-track "Analog Starship" EP. A deeper impression was made the following year with a shorter extended play, "Computa Love," the title track of which was supported by BBC DJ Benji B months prior to release. Additional strides were made with a batch of singles and EPs that followed throughout the next few years, as Bravo toured and performed at numerous festivals around the world.

His relationship with the Brooklyn tastemaker label, Bastard Jazz Recordings, began in 2016 with the 7" single "I'm For Real / Stay The Night' (which notably featured a Mr. Carmack remix of the latter). Bravo's debut solo LP quickly followed with 2017's critically acclaimed "Paradise" - which shone a light on vocalists and frequent collaborators Reva DeVito, Trailer Limon, Kissey, and Lauren Faith - with a remix album appearing six months later.

Additional solo releases have found a home on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings and Frite Nite, while production credits have appeared on releases from the legendary Blue Note Records, HW&W, All City, Friends of Friends, and Tokyo Dawn. B. Bravo has worked on projects with the likes of Salva, Mr. Carmack, Teeko, DJ Lean Rock, Reva DeVito, Lauren Faith, and Kate Stewart.

Having toured throughout the US, Latin America, Europe and Asia, he's shared the stage with performers like Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus, DāM-FunK, Hudson Mohawke, at a world-spanning range of festivals such as Detroit Electronic Music Fest, HARD LA, Northern Nights, Laneway Singapore, Sonar in Barcelona, Snowglobe, SXSW, Basscoast, Do-Over, Low End Theory, Boiler Room, and Soulection.

B. Bravo's "Vizionz" LP is out on Brooklyn's Bastard Jazz Recordings Spring, 2022.

“We’ve been reflecting on the relationship between our innerworlds and outerworlds,” says Soccer96’s Danalogue. “How our minds shape our experience and our experience shapes our mind. How caring and nurturing our innerworlds can improve our relationship with our outer experiences. We see the creation of music as the bridge between these two worlds.”

Betamax, who makes up the duo along with fellow Comet is Coming member Danalogue, describes their latest album as “spiritual combat music to steady us through the stormy changes of the outer world.”

For this album the pair co-wrote with The Colours That Rise, Tom Herbert, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Simbad and Rozi Plain.

From the exhilarating electronic charge and propulsive rhythm of ‘Crystal Pyramid’ to the almost cosmic drum n bass of ‘Speak More of Love’ feat The Colours That Rise, the album takes in a vast array of sounds and styles, from jazz to electronica, while never really sitting comfortably within easy genre categorisation. “We are searching for particular spontaneous energies that feel fresh and resonant,” Betamax says. “The hope is that when we reach this experience the music can penetrate the mind and affect the deepest mental processes.”

Stólar label boss Philipp Priebe delivers his new album ‘Apparent Calm Palms’ this October, joining
the roster of Mainz/Hamburg, Germany’s Feuilleton.
Berlin-based artist Philipp Priebe has been steadily making his mark on the contemporary deep hazy
house and leftfield electronica scene over the past few years with a series of releases on his own
Stólar imprint. Here though we see him deliver his second album following his debut LP ‘The Being Of
The Beautiful’ released on Japan’s IL Y A Records back in 2014. Feuilleton is the brainchild of Chris
Gruber (Fossar) and Tim Eder and since 2018 has unveiled material from the duo themselves, RR
(René Raabe), Snad, Gari Romalis, Melina, Jakob Seidensticker and more.
Throughout the ‘Apparent Calm Palms’ LP Priebe delivers a concoction of styles and sounds cohesively fused together to form the bigger concept which is he tells us is ‘’an album about small towns and
villages and the needs and desires that brings one night out in clubs. The transport/travel, the preparty, all the things that you had to do, when you are not directly living in the big party places, but still
want to have a decent night out, away from your usual suspects.’’.
Throughout the ten-track LP Philipp delivers ethereal deep house with opening track ‘Desires’, the
succeeding ‘Interborough’ and ‘Chimera’, murky dub house leaning cuts like ‘Quiet Decay’, ‘Slalom’, ‘
Unfold’ and ‘Conclusions’ while ‘Transfiguration’ showcases a more classic Chicago House influence.
Title-track ‘Apparent Calm Palms’ and the interlude ‘Behind Their House’ then see Priebe offer a foray
into textural ambient sounds, once again showcasing his unique ability to craft raw, understated and
emotion fuelled material across a variety of genres.
Mastering by Sven Weisemann and Lacquer Cut by Stefan Betk

For Fans Of: Aasha Puthli / Grace Jones / Minnie Ripperton/ The Supremes/ Love Apple / Kendra Morris. Previous debut 45 garnered much acclaim from KCRW, the BBC, Albumism, and countless more. The band consists of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair, former 79.5 and backing singer for Chicano Batman), Nya Parker Brown (former 79.5), and Sabrina Cunningham. Housed in a spot-glossed LP with exclusive lyric / photo insert. The highly anticipated debut LP from Say She She, the all female discodelic soul band that will transport you with their dreamy harmonies, catchy hooks and up tempo grooves! The band's sound is a hat tip to late 70’s girl groups with the three strong female lead voices of Piya Malik (featured in El Michels Affair, and backing singer for Chicano Batman), Nya Gazelle Brown, and Sabrina Cunningham - whose vocals soar through a set doused heavily with funky bass lines, rhythmic wah guitar, melodic synths and lilting bansuri flute lines, bursting into a seamless blend of dreamy harmonies and catchy hooks. A multicultural, multi-instrumental, collaborative melting pot, pulling sounds and styles from all corners of their record collections. The largely self-produced debut album ‘Prism’ features contributions from Dap Kings Joey Crispiano & Victor Axelrod, Max Shrager (The Shacks) Bardo Martinez (Chicano Batman) Nikhil Yearwadekar (former Antibalas) Andy Bauer (Twin Shadow) and Matty McDermot (NYPMH). “The funkiest sh*t we’ve heard in a while” (KCRW) // “A glorious overload of joyful elation and spiritual elevation”

"After embarking on her solo journey with the release of her enchanting first solo album, Tales From Six Feet Under (2021), former Delain frontwoman and songwriter CHARLOTTE WESSELS is now about to unveil her second full length album in two years, Tales From Six Feet Under Vol II, to be released on October 7, 2022 via Napalm Records. As on its predecessor, instruments and vocals were performed or programmed and produced by Wessels herself in her very own Six Feet Under Studio, fueled by her tight-knit Patreon community. On that platform, she releases a new song every month, and Tales Vol. II is a collection of the second year of this endeavor. On the new album, Wessels’ styles range from melancholic alt pop to synth-infused rock and connects atmospheric elements with harder sounds, crossing genre boundaries with ease. The album sets off with the captivating synth-flavored track “Venus Rising”, luring into CHARLOTTE WESSELS’ world of sound, immediately showcasing the multifaceted nature of her music as it’s followed by “Human To Ruin”. The song starts with a sweet melody that breaks into a propelling metal track, where calmer parts alter with powerful break outs. Wessels releases her power on other commanding tracks like “The Phantom Touch” and “Good Dog”, while on “The Final Roadtrip”, she presents the full range of her vocal prowess atop carefully balanced electronic beats and indie soundscapes. Her softer, poetic side is shown on the intimate “Against All Odds” – a gentle ballad featuring calm vocals and an acoustic guitar strummed delicately by Timo Somers. “Toxic” comes with an obscure, captivating whispering sound that turns into a strong sonic wall, as the album then fades out with the honest atmospheric gems “I Forget” with cello performance by Elianne Anemaat and “Utopia”. This eclectic wealth of songs proves Wessels’ exceptional ability to express the most sincere feelings and emotions within her art and her distinct intuition for the combination of seemingly different genres. Tales From Six Feet Under Vol II is an enchanting portent of CHARLOTTE WESSELS’ further multifaceted endeavors."