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Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, proudly presents Push Push, the new album by acclaimed producer
Taggy Matcher aka Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart (Voilaaa, Mr President, The Dynamics, Uptown Funk Empire,
Metropolitan Jazz Affair, Da Break, …). After the success of his previous LP Singasong, Taggy Matcher returns with 8
tracks exploring his wide range of Reggae & Dub influences, each time magnified by a fine crew of vocal guests as LMK,
Birdy Nixon, Alexandra Charry, Hawa, John Milk & Elodie Rama. With a great sense of authenticity, they all bring their own
touch to Taggy Matcher's compositions and covers. Always faithful to its inspirations, brilliantly produced, Push Push is
your new invitation to follow the Lion to Zion.
The album starts with "Push Push", a title already released last year as a vinyl single 7", in collaboration with rising
singer LMK, who you may know from her successful previous reworks on Taggy's last album ("No Love Allowed", "My
Man"). Sharing the same love for the early 80's Digital Rub A Rub productions, lyrics are about street harassment of
women… with a pinch of humor!
On "Little Things", Taggy invites old mate Birdy Nixon for a cover of an early rocksteady classic by Hemsley Morris.
With the vintage bounce we love combined with modern sounds and productions, the song is all about tenderness and
simplicity.
"Volvere Mañana", the song has this very cumbia hip move with the participation of gifted singer Alexandra Charry
from Cali in Colombia, where they both composed the song. Then, Taggy invited Boris Pokora to play the "gaita" local flute
to give the song its proper Colombian Caribbean coast flavor.
The album continues with "Two Dimes" featuring longtime collaborator Hawa (from Mr President to Mr Day and other
numerous projects). This shaky disco reggae rockers is all about getting ready for the party… but with two dimes only!
"Q Fashion" is a song full of wittiness and self-mockery wrote during the first Covid-19 lockdown. Parisian Soul singer
John Milk was stuck in Paris while Bruno was in Lyon. On this minimalistic digital reggae tune, they give the ingredients to
perfect your next quarantine outfit.
Discoish reggae tune "Get Enough" featuring Birdy Nixon has a simple and successful recipe: just mix a big dose of
Lovers with the same amount of Rockers and you've got this 100% soulful song.
On "Suit and Tie", Taggy and John Milk go Pop with this version of Justin Timberlake, that fits perfectly with John's
tender and mellow style.
Finally, Elodie Rama with Taggy Matcher pay tribute to Erykah Badu and her legacy to the Soul music scene at the end
of the nineties. The mood is jazzy, mellow and warm, with a tiny Lee Scratch Perry early 70's vaporous vibes.

Porgy & Bess – Die Jazzoper von George Gershwin, ist wahrlich ein Eckpfeiler der Jazzgeschichte. Sie beschreibt das Leben von Afroamerikanern in der Schwarzensiedlung Catfish Row in Charleston um 1870 und erzählt die berührende Liebesgeschichte zwischen Porgy & Bess. Das gleichnamige Album von Ella Fitzgerald und Louis
Armstrong präsentiert eine grandiose Auswahl der besten Stücke aus Gershwins Oper und ist ein Juwel, welches in keiner Jazz-Sammlung fehlen darf

• Within a year of her ground-breaking Double-Album “Bad Girls”, Donna Summer left
Casablanca Records to become the first Artist signed to the new Geffen Records label.
• The fourth album released for the label was 1987’s “ALL SYSTEMS GO”, was recorded in both Los
Angeles and Munich and was predominantly produced by long-term Giorgio Moroder
collaborator and movie soundtrack composer, Harold Faltermeyer, giving the album a slightly
harder-edged, FM-radio friendly sound with a heavier R&B influence.
• Out of the two further tracks recorded for the album, ‘Dinner With Gershwin’, which was
produced by Richard Perry and written by Brenda Russell, gave the album that desired FMradio sound, with the single becoming a worldwide hit reaching #13 in the UK singles chart.
Other singles include ‘Only The Fool Survives’, a duet with Starship’s lead-singer Mickey Thomas
and the album’s title track ‘All Systems Go’.
• This special edition revisits the original album on 180g Orange Colour vinyl.

A collective of forward-thinking "jazz" musicians from Australia. We owe our thanks and gratitude to the founding mothers and fathers of the music people call jazz. We respect and continuously study their legacy whilst embracing our current surroundings in making music that honestly reflects our time and space.

Compound X launch new limited edition vinyl label CX BLACK, with four innovative tracks that set an immediately high standard.

Compound X is DAR and DULUM, both progressive and dedicated journeymen, their visions melting psychedelic rock and deconstructed techno to deliver a forward-thinking take on electronica. Their innovative sound first debuted in April 2020 on Distopic Utopia Records, and a live debut is scheduled for Dark Mofo festival in Tasmania, Australia, this June. The act's dynamic range and genuine sound artistry are what set Compound X beyond the status quo, something that’s clearly displayed with this latest release.

The opener 'Sending Me Signals' is dark and thrilling techno. The blistering synths bring fizzing energy to the hammering kicks, while tortured voices add extra layers of eeriness. There is haunting paranoia to the unsettling voices that loop in the background of 'Gone 2 Far.' The drums are again brilliantly brutal, and the whole atmosphere is utterly arresting.

The synths on 'Asexual Orgasm' sound as if fired from a machine gun with caustic textures, scraping hits, and dehumanised vocals add up to a wall of intense techno noise that will disorientate all dance-floors. Finally, 'Ancient Sentient' is a slightly more spacious cut with buzzsaw synths, undulating rhythms, and distorted bass that makes for maximum impact.

It's been already 10 years since the first DJ's Choice parties in basements and squatted social centers in Rome. Many things have changed, but the approach remains the same: using music as a form of expression and a means to affirm one's identity.

RM stands for "Rebel Music" (i.e., music by DJ's Choice founder The Rebel), but is also short for "Rome", a city represented in track one by the 'Jedi Master' of Roman hip hop: Danno, from the pioneering underground crew Colle Der Fomento.

Also performing on The Rebel's instrumental are New York hip hop duo The Good People in track two, ''Body Rockin''', remixed by another Italian hip hop legend, Ice One.

Rome and New York are two worlds, two styles, but two sides of the same coin. Our Rebel Music brings them together as if they were two stops on the same subway line.





e 05: Body Rockin' (Hip Hop Room Remix) feat. The Good People

After the huge northern hemisphere summer of 2019, filled with amazing events and awesome music, Avalon releases his long awaited second album 'RISE' to great critical acclaim.
Every track a story, every track a magical moment lifting dancefloors to new realms of psychedelia!
Set almost ten years apart from his classic debut album 'Distant Futures', Avalon has since climbed to dizzying heights to become one of the leading and most in-demand artists of the global Psychedelic Trance scene. Chart topping number ones have lined-up one after another between massive collaborations, two remix albums, three collaboration albums (as Killerwatts with Tristan and Future Frequency with Sonic Species) and a gigging schedule that has placed him at every major festival and music loving country possible.
'RISE' shares with us many solo productions, filled with the classic Avalon trademark elements that first garnered him so much success. Twisting and mixing-up his quintessential sounds with the newest and biggest production techniques, plus four amazing collaborations with friends and Psychedelic alumni; Tristan, Dickster, Ajja and Mad Maxx, ensured this album has become a force to be reckoned with!

'RISE' expresses an artist at full potential, utilising all he has learned from a deep dive into psychedelic music and taking things to the next level.

Get ready to Rise!!

We are very proud to now be able to offer this amazing album as a Special Limited Edition double Vinyl.

The next phase in our ongoing Spice Girls campaign sees a series of releases on CD, cassette (d2c only), vinyl and digital to mark the 25th anniversary of the Spice Girls multi-platinum debut album ‘Spice’, first released in the UK on 4 November 1996 and number 1 in 18 countries around the world. An expanded 2CD set contains the original 10 track album, along with bonus tracks / B-Sides taken from the four singles ‘Wannabe’, ‘Say You’ll Be There’, ‘2 Become 1’ and ‘Mama’/’Who Do You Think You Are’ (all No. 1 in the UK). The second disc contains a selection of the many remixes commissioned for the singles, along with previously unreleased songs. The original 10 track album will also be made available as a Zoetrope (animated) vinyl picture disc and five different coloured vinyl LPs . LIMITED EDITIONS. NUMBERS WILL BE SHARED OUT ONCE ALL ORDERS IN FOR DEADLINE.

Stilleben Records is very happy to release their third EP with Kuldaboli from Reykjavik. I got an email from him and he said.. ''Hey Luke.. I found a USB with some old tracks on it. I think these are the first tracks I have ever made. Have a listen..'' And we did. Blown away by the real and pure sound Stilleben represent... Enjoy... Because these songs almost ended up in the trash can..! ITS MORE FUN TO COMPUTE

Pilgrimage of the Soul is the 11th studio album in the 22-year career of Japanese experimental rock legends, MONO. Recorded and mixed - cautiously, anxiously, yet optimistically - during the height of the COVID- 19 pandemic in the summer of 2020, Pilgrimage of the Soul is aptly named as it not only represents the peaks and valleys where MONO are now as they enter their thirddecade, but also charts their long, steady journey to this time and place. Continuing the subtle but profound creative progression in the MONO canon that began with Nowhere Now Here (2019), Pilgrimage of the Soul is the most dynamic MONO album to date (and that's saying a lot). But where MONO's foundation was built on the well-established interplay of whisper quiet and devastatingly loud, Pilgrimage of the Soul crafts its magic with mesmerizing new electronic instrumentation and textures, and - perhaps most notably - faster tempos that are clearly influenced by disco and techno. It all galvanizes as the most unexpected MONO album to date - replete with surprises and as awash in splendor as anything this band has ever done. MONO began in Japan at the end of the 20th Century as a young band equally inspired by thepioneers of moody experimental rock (My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai) and iconic Classicalcomposers (Beethoven, Morricone) who came be fore them. They have evolved into one of the most inspiring and influential experimental rock bands in their own right. It is only fitting that their evolution has come at the glacial, methodical pace that their patient music demands. MONO is a band who puts serious value in nuance, and offers signi ficant rewards for the wait. "glacial, metallic, all-consuming post-rock" - Stereogum ,Stunning, eloquent, emotionally gut-busting" - Pop Matters "it's the kind of album that's best played start to finish (and best played loudly), and that can truly suck you in and transport you to another world if you do so." - Brooklyn Vegan

FEATURING REWORKINGS BY YANN TIERSEN, BILL RYDER-JONES, MALIBU, ELUVIUM and
PETER GREGSON.
140g black vinyl with lacquers cut by Alchemy, printed inner sleeve, limited to 500 copies.
Michael Price has announced a new album, The Hope of Better Weather - part reissue, part reworks - due out onThe Control Room on 15 October 2021.
The new album takes his 2012 EP, The Hope of Better Weather, originally recorded by Price alone in a room with a
piano improvising, and brings it fully to life with the addition of a series of reworkings by Yann Tiersen, Bill
Ryder-Jones, Malibu, Peter Gregson and Eluvium.
He explains, “I wasn't trying to control what anybody else was doing. Everybody that joined in with the project gives
their own little piece of freedom. I was really interested in what freedom we all give ourselves, as well as being
fascinated to see what a little germ of an idea can mean to somebody else.”
Listen to Yann Tiersen’s rework of ‘The Anatomy of Clouds’: LINK
Listen to the original version of ‘The Anatomy of Clouds’: LINK
The five pieces, alongside these new reworkings capture a stark beauty, tenderness and delicacy in their tone. But
they are also wind-like in their shifting, expansive and elemental essence - capturing an exploration of the natural
world. “Nearly 10 years ago when I recorded these improvisations, I felt like I was missing the natural world - things
like the weather, the beach at Scarborough and all those kinds of visceral things.”
When Price revisited the work in recent months - at a time when many of us found ourselves more aware of the
natural world - he reconnected with it in a way that looks to connect with his next artistic steps. “You start off with
listening to 10 year old piano recordings and then you go through the reinterpretations of people looking at that
material now through their own lens. The fixation with weather, coastlines and with people connected with nature, is
really strong all the way through this project. Coming out the other side of it, it's kind of like a Northern weather feeling
- coming out with your collar turned up with a hat on, a bit drizzly and shit outside, but with a kind of determination
that is the route forward.”
Most musicians, if they are lucky, will master one craft or field within their career. For Michael Price, he’s managed
three, with his music spanning across piano, orchestral and soundtrack work. The soundtrack work - for TV shows
such as Sherlock, Dracula, and Unforgotten, and films such as Eternal Beauty, Cheerful Weather and Just Jim - has
seen Price win an Emmy, as well as receive countless nominations (including a BAFTA nomination). His work as a
solo artist takes the form of beautiful improvised piano works, such as Diary (2017), or via lush, grand, hyper-detailed
orchestral work, as heard on critically acclaimed releases via Erased Tapes such as Entanglement (2015) and Tender
Symmetry (2018). His latest release, The Hope of Better Weather, is rooted in the piano world but also exists as a
bridge crossing into new terrain..
The process of putting together the release has been an emboldening and liberating one for Price, and he finds
himself feeling buoyant about the possibilities of what lies ahead – which includes a new solo orchestral album. “It is
super freeing and liberating,” he says. “There's these little green shoots of a freedom emerging.”

Portico Quartet announce Terrain, a three-part suite drawing on American minimalism and ambient music alongside their own rich heritage as they explore new musical vistas

When Duncan Bellamy and Jack Wyllie – the driving force behind Portico Quartet got together in their East London studio in May 2020 and started work on the music that would become their new album, the world, or most of it, was in the midst of the first lockdown. The unique impact of the events of 2020 became the backdrop to their time composing and recording; causing them to take stock, re-think, and plot a new musical path.

Indian novelist Arundhati Roy expressed the sense of grief and rupture from the pandemic as "a portal, a gateway between one world and the next", and as they created the music that would become Terrainthey were drawn towards longer, slowly unfolding pieces, which are perhaps the most artistically free and also the most beautiful they have ever made.

These are compositions more in the lineage of Line and Shed Song (Isla/2009), Rubidium (Portico Quartet/2012) and Immediately Visible (Memory Streams/2019). Wyllie expands: "We've always had this side of the band in some form. The core of it is having a repeated pattern, around which other parts move in and out, and start to form a narrative. We used to do longer improvisations not dissimilar to this around the time of our second record Isla. On Terrain we've really dug into it and explored that form. I suppose there are obvious influences such as American minimalism, but I wasparticularly inspired by the work of Japanese composer Midori Takada. Her approach, particularly on 'Through the Looking Glass', where she moves through different worlds incorporating elements of minimalism with non-Western instruments and melodies were at the front of my mind when writing this music".

Terrain I, II & III are all subtly different, but a short rhythmic motif that repeats is the starting point in all three movements. There is a sense of a shared journey to all these pieces, they move throughdifferent worlds, with a sense of horizontal movement that lends the music real momentum. Terrain I was the first piece they worked on and it started with a hang drum pattern, improvised by Bellamy, who added cymbals and synthesiser. From there on it grew, Wyllie adding saxophone, another synthesiser section, strings. For Bellamy "It felt more like filmmaking than music making, a bricolage of conflicting, shifting signs, subtle tension and multiple narratives. Andrei Tarkovsky's 'Mirror' and British artist John Akomfrah's incredible 'Handsworth Songs' were pivotal points of reference for me." Wyllie expands the point. "There is a sense of conversation between us both, in that someone presents a musical idea, the other person responds to it with something else, which would then be responded to again... until it feels finished. These responses are often consonant with each other but there is also a dissonance to some of this work. The music slowly evolves through these shared conversations."

It is this sense of dialogue, both between the composers, and between tranquillity and a subtly unsettling melancholy, that makes Terrain such a powerful statement. One that speaks to both our interior and exterior worlds, to our own personal landscape, to our Terrain.

LIMITED RED VINYL.

“I think my music provides space for me to say the things I can’t always say in real life.” says Virginia native songwriter and multi-media artist Corrinne James. “That’s what I love about songwriting—There’s room in music for all of the conversations that can’t exist in reality.”

While studying New Media and Cinematography at the University of Virginia, James created a secret Bandcamp under the alias Naomi Alligator, and began uploading her intimate home recordings online. Inspired by the sparse and confessional qualities of Liz Phair’s early portastudio recordings, James decided to create her own musical journal to share and process personal anecdotes.

Her modern folk production and poetic songwriting links the sounds of classic folk artists like Joan Baez and Steeleye Span to a 21st century context. James wrestles with guilt, purpose, and jealousy through vivid narratives in the songs that make up her vast self-releases. This fall, five years since her first upload and over a dozen releases later, James will share her new four-track EP, Concession Stand Girl, while making her debut on Carpark.

On the title track for Concession Stand Girl that opens the EP, James sings the inner monologue of an unappreciated ticket-taker at a high school football game. James plucks a sparkly banjo and sings details of the concession stand girl’s relationship to each of the spectators who must go through her to enter the game. “Although seemingly insignificant, the concession stand girl must interact with each spectator as they enter the football game. Despite being unable to physically see the game, inside of her head she narrates her relationship to the people at the game.” The track “Anywhere Else” sits in contrast to the rest of the EP, being the only song where James plays guitar instead of banjo.

The last song written for the EP, “Anywhere Else” describes the tense emotions that come from comparing yourself to others in the eyes of your partner. “The protagonist is convincing herself, as well as her partner, that she could leave at any moment. She doesn’t want to be taken for granted anymore.” “Big Blue World” is a touching closer to the EP, where James sings about finding her way back to the place that feels most like home. James examines the fleeting nature of ambition and asks what really creates the feeling of contentment. Describing the song’s lyrics James says, “You can achieve everything you want, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like anything compared to just feeling at home and feeling who you are deep down.”

Richard Ashcroft is set to release the new album ‘Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1’ on October 29th via RPA / BMG. The album features twelve newly recorded acoustic versions of classic songs from his back catalogue spanning both his solo career and his time with The Verve.



ABOUT



After lockdown was lifted, Richard decided to start the project as a way to reunite the community around him, bringing a selection of great musicians and old friends back together again. As the project took shape, they discovered just how varied their new approaches could be. Some of the arrangements proved to be timeless and remained similar to the originals, with years of experience and a new found passion that saw Richard’s vocals express a fresh empathy within their lyrics. Meanwhile, other songs took on a new shape in this stripped-back set-up.



The rebirth of the iconic ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ was an emotional moment for Richard. It felt particularly poignant re-recording a song that he had written almost twenty-five years ago, especially as it's now officially his composition after Mick Jagger and Keith Richards relinquished their writing credits to him.

Another big moment comes with the new version of ‘C’Mon People (We’re Making It Now)’, a duet with Richard’s old friend Liam Gallagher. The pair have often talked about recording or performing the song together since it was first released in 2000, and now it’s finally happened - the sheer energy and delight that they shared during the session is palpable as the new recording beams with a joyous feeling of optimism.



‘Velvet Morning’ is another track that has been transformed. The vocals on the original version, as featured on The Verve’s classic ‘Urban Hymns’, were sung via a megaphone that Richard had purchased from a car boot sale the day before the recording session. Now Richard’s vocal really shines as it unleashes the song’s full magnitude.



The biggest surprise on ‘Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1’ is the inclusion of ‘This Thing Called Life’, a song which Ashcroft has rarely played live. It was originally recorded with No I.D. in the USA as a highlight of his soul-tinged RPA & The United Nations Of Sound project. Now taken back to basics, the new arrangement reveals a song that feels perfectly at home alongside Richard’s most highly regarded work.



Produced by Richard with regular collaborator Chris Potter, the album features his regular live band boosted by some special collaborators. Wil Malone provides the string arrangements, which were recorded at Abbey Road Studios. In addition, Chuck Leavell (The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers) performs piano, Roddy Bloomfield leads the brass section, and Steve Wyreman (Leon Bridges, Vic Mensa) contributes acoustic guitar and backing vocals.



Richard Ashcroft recently announced details of four special shows, each billed as “An acoustic evening of his classic songs.” After quickly selling out two nights at London’s Palladium, he subsequently added two bigger shows at the Royal Albert Hall and the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool to fulfill huge public demand for tickets. He will play:

“Leave your preconceptions at home,” begins one London critic’s assessment of sensual singersongwriter Sarah Jane Morris, who straddles rock, blues, jazz and soul with a goosebump-raising
four octave range that rumbles from the heels of her size eight shoes to the tips of her flame-red mane. Famed for her association with the Communards in the mid-80s and infamous for a banned rendition of the classic Me and Mrs Jones, Sarah Jane Morris has always attracted as much attention for her politics as for her soul-driven, seismic voice. Many solo albums later, pop stardom on the continent, and a diverse set of musical collaborations on record, film and stage, Morris continues to steer her unorthodox career to greater heights. Its popularity in Italy definitely took off in 1991 after winning the San Remo Festival paired with Riccardo Cocciante. Since that moment her
live activity in our country has become more and more accentuated and she has started collaborating with Italian artists and labels including IRMA records with which she has released 6 albums since 1996, and making her become one of the most frequent guests at the Blue Note in Milan. Following some previous collaborations with the Italian producer Papik which had excellent results, Sarah Jane Morris and Papik decided to produce a full album, mostly covers of well
known songs with some original compositions written together. The album is inspired by the great Pop culture of both musicians, combining soul, jazz and bossanova, linked to the particular sound
of the Roman producer's team. After the release of the singles "Missing", (which was a great success in the early 90s of "Everything but the Girl") and "Hold On To Love" written by Sarah Jane and Nerio Poggi, comes the album: " Let The Music play ”a concentration of good musical taste in which the mastery of producer Papik and his team combined with the enchanting but also unique timbre of Sarah Jane Morris's voice, brings together 11 songs of great intensity.

Diving into the archives of Alter Ego - the Italian experimental ensemble of Manuel Zurria, Paolo Ravaglia, Aldo Campagnari, Francesco Dillon, Oscar Pizzo, and Eugenio Vatta - Die Schachtel is thrilled to present Microwaves, a never before released body of recordings of works composed by Atli Ingólfsson, Giovanni Verrando, Yan Maresz, and Riccardo Nova, made with Pan Sonic (Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisanen) in 2005. Resting at the outer reaches of avant-garde chamber and electronic music, the LP’s blistering structures, tones, and textures - plowing forward with frenetic energy - remain radical and ahead of their time, more than 15 years after they were first laid to tape.

A modular chamber ensemble with a pointedly anti-academic approach to music, over the course of its activities - running roughly between 1990 and 2010 - Alter Ego developed a devoted following among some of the most forward thinking voices in experimental music, all the while collaborating widely with artists spanning a vast range of practices and disciplines, including Robin Rimbaud, Philip Jeck, Matmos, Gavin Bryars, Andrew Hooker, William Basinski, David Moss, Alvin Curran, Terry Riley, and near countless number of others.

Alter Ego’s diverse activities can be understood as interventions with the disposition toward formality within contemporary chamber music, often pairing themselves with artists working well beyond their own context as a means to develop highly original interpretations of a specific composer’s work. In 2004, this process led them to instigate a collaboration Pan Sonic, the Finnish duo of Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisanen, pioneers of a remarkably distinct form of rhythmic, experimental electronic music, and regarded by many as one of the most visionary and irreverent projects working in the field during the '90s and 2000s.

Initially conceived with Fausto Romitelli in 2004 before being sidelined by the composer’s untimely passing the following year, Microwaves acts, in part, a remembrance in sound, featuring four works by some of his closest friends, the composers Atli Ingólfsson, Giovanni Verrando, Yan Maresz, and Riccardo Nova. Each composition, Ingólfsson’s Snap, Verrando’s Harmonic Domains #3, Maresz’s Link, and Nova’s Thirteen13x8@Terror Generating Deity, have roots in a pallet of samples and fragments drawn by each composer from existing works by Pan Sonic. Upon completion, these compositions then entered into a collaborative process between Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisanen (Pan Sonic) and Alter Ego (Manuel Zurria, Paolo Ravaglia, Aldo Campagnari, Francesco Dillon, Oscar Pizzo, and Eugenio Vatta), and were performed collectively by both groups during an extensive tour that year.

Distinct and free-standing, while operating as a seamless whole, the four works encountered across the album’s two sides - built from the sounds of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, electronics, and further treatments - present an engrossing intersection between electronic and acoustic sound that diverges from most standing conceptions of electroacoustic music. Each composer’s carefully rendered structures rise and fall within the startling, conversant interplay between the two groups, finding perfect balance - between the frenetic and restrained - in what can only be regarded as one of the most striking and singularly unique expressions of contemporary chamber music realized during the 2000s.

Vast in scope, visionary in concept and artistry, and sonically engrossing, Die Schachtel is thrilled to present these never before heard recordings from the archives of Alter Ego. Microwaves is available on black vinyl, in a limited edition of 350 copies.

Diving into the archives of Alter Ego - the experimental ensemble of Manuel Zurria, Paolo Ravaglia, Aldo Campagnari, Francesco Dillon, Oscar Pizzo, Fulvia Ricevuto, and Eugenio Vatta - Die Schachtel is thrilled to present Pranam - A(Round) Giacinto Scelsi, a never before released body of recordings interpreting the works of the legendary Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi, made with Matmos (Martin Schmidt and Drew Daniel) in 2005. Resting at the outer reaches of avant-garde chamber and electronic music - moving at a glacial pace of tightly wound energy - Pranam’s two sides radically rethink the terms electroacoustic music in ways that still feel radically ahead of their time, more than 15 years after they were first laid to tape.

A modular chamber ensemble with a pointedly anti-academic approach to music, over the course of its activities - running roughly between 1990 and 2010 - Alter Ego developed a devoted following among some of the most forward thinking voices in experimental music, all the while collaborating widely with artists spanning a vast range of practices and disciplines, including Robin Rimbaud, Philip Jeck, Pan Sonic, Matmos, Gavin Bryars, Andrew Hooker, William Basinski, David Moss, Alvin Curran, Terry Riley, and near countless number of others.

Alter Ego’s diverse activities can be understood as interventions with the disposition toward formality within contemporary chamber music, often pairing themselves with artists working well beyond their own context as a means to develop highly original interpretations of a specific composer’s work. In 2005, this process led them to invite Matmos, the American duo of Drew Daniel, Martin Schmidt - acclaimed for a body of visionary albums at the vanguard of electronic process and sampling - to collaborate on a series of interpretations of works by the legendary Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi.

Realized in collaboration with The Fondazione Isabella Scelsi, which holds Giacinto Scelsi’s archives, and performed at the Festival Roma Europa and the Festival Aeterforum during May of 2005, the album’s four works - Estratti dal Quartetto per archi n.3 (1963), Ko-Lho (1966), Riti: I Funerali di Carlo Magno A.D. 814 (1976), Aitsi (1974) - shift the boundaries of 20th Century chamber music toward markedly new and contemporary terms, incorporating everything from the sounds of the Revox tape machine that Scelsi used to record his own improvisations and processed electronics, to the plastic trumpets used by fans during football matches.

From intertwining, shifting lone-tones that render startling resonances and dissonances, to passages guided by a vast pallet of electronics and flurries of acoustic sounds, joined as a single ensemble, across the two sides of Pranam, Alter Ego and Matmos infuse these four works by Scelsi with humor and playfulness, while retaining all the urgency and rigour with which they were initially composed.

Delicate and meditative, while tightly wound and brooding, Pranam brings the works of Giacinto Scelsi to life in ways that almost no group ever has. Riveting and immersive from start to finish, Die Schachtel is thrilled to present these never before heard recordings from the archives of Alter Ego. Pranam is available on black vinyl, in a limited edition of 350 copies.

When hearing Anna Gréta at the piano, you become witness to an
astonishingly mature artist, with absolutely profound technique, a
complex understanding of style and harmony and an impressively
wide range of musical expression, who has made an extraordinarily
good name for herself in just a few years on the Scandinavian scene.
Over a period of two years, partly influenced by isolation, the twelve
compositions of ‘Nightjar in the Northern Sky’ emerged, for Anna
Gréta not only as a pianist but also as a singer.
 The album title ‘Nightjar in the Northern Sky’ sets the tone for the
world of the album: A metaphor for the Scandinavian expanse,
tranquility and the close connection between people and nature, a
theme that runs through the songs in many pictures. “Nature is just an
enormous force in life. It is so much bigger than most of the other
things that otherwise seem so significant to us. And it is, in its infinite
facets, perhaps the greatest inspiration for my music. A place where
the noise falls silent and you can feel and hear yourself again,” before
adding: “Recently I have been developing a passion for bird-watching
- something that I reflect on in the title track. When you observe
nature carefully you can experience or see something unique. Sort of
like searching for love. The nightjar is a bird that is rarely seen flying
across the sky in Sweden and has been observed in Iceland less than
five times. I feel that everyone is looking for something unique in their
lives. And that nature can offer that to the ones open to see it.”
 With each of the tracks on the album she creates little, self-contained
worlds that fit into a bigger picture. Light-footed, relaxed, reduced,
concentrated. An art that required a great deal of work and attention
to detail. Together with pop-experienced producer Albert
Finnbogason, Anna Gréta chose the perfect, hand-picked line-up and
sound for each of her extraordinarily refined - harmoniously and
rhythmically - compositions.
 Although always in a coherent framework, Anna took elements from a
very diverse range of musical styles, alternating between jazz
elements and influences from pop music to excerpts from classical
and folk. All these elements create a remarkably multi-layered album,
which at the same time tells a coherent, bigger story.
 CD in 4-page digipack with 12-page booklet.
 180g vinyl with digital download code

To celebrate Billy Preston’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in October 2021 Apple Records and Universal Music Catalogue will be making Billy’s highly regarded 1970 album ‘Encouraging Words’ available on vinyl for a limited period. First released in the UK on 11 September 1970 the album was co-produced by Billy and George Harrison, with two of George’s songs – ‘All Things Must Pass’ and ‘My Sweet Lord’ – issued here for the first time, two months before his own recordings appeared on the triple album ‘All Things Must Pass’.In 2010 Record Collector magazine described ‘Encouraging Words’ as “one of the finest titles in the Apple Records catalogue”, while virtuoso keyboard player Rick Wakeman told BBC Radio 4’s John Wilson he considered Preston’s two Apple albums “absolute gems – a perfect combination of gospel and funk.” The album was last released on vinyl in 1992. The original album credits did not include details of contributing musicians, though the sleeve notes of the 2010 CD reissue included Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Ringo Starr, Bobby Keys and the Edwin Hawkins Singers.

The next phase in our ongoing Spice Girls campaign sees a series of releases on CD, cassette (d2c only), vinyl and digital to mark the 25th anniversary of the Spice Girls multi-platinum debut album ‘Spice’, first released in the UK on 4 November 1996 and number 1 in 18 countries around the world. An expanded 2CD set contains the original 10 track album, along with bonus tracks / B-Sides taken from the four singles ‘Wannabe’, ‘Say You’ll Be There’, ‘2 Become 1’ and ‘Mama’/’Who Do You Think You Are’ (all No. 1 in the UK). The second disc contains a selection of the many remixes commissioned for the singles, along with previously unreleased songs. The original 10 track album will also be made available as a Zoetrope (animated) vinyl picture disc and five different coloured vinyl LPs . LIMITED EDITIONS. NUMBERS WILL BE SHARED OUT ONCE ALL ORDERS IN FOR DEADLINE.

The next phase in our ongoing Spice Girls campaign sees a series of releases on CD, cassette (d2c only), vinyl and digital to mark the 25th anniversary of the Spice Girls multi-platinum debut album ‘Spice’, first released in the UK on 4 November 1996 and number 1 in 18 countries around the world. An expanded 2CD set contains the original 10 track album, along with bonus tracks / B-Sides taken from the four singles ‘Wannabe’, ‘Say You’ll Be There’, ‘2 Become 1’ and ‘Mama’/’Who Do You Think You Are’ (all No. 1 in the UK). The second disc contains a selection of the many remixes commissioned for the singles, along with previously unreleased songs. The original 10 track album will also be made available as a Zoetrope (animated) vinyl picture disc and five different coloured vinyl LPs . LIMITED EDITIONS. NUMBERS WILL BE SHARED OUT ONCE ALL ORDERS IN FOR DEADLINE.

The next phase in our ongoing Spice Girls campaign sees a series of releases on CD, cassette (d2c only), vinyl and digital to mark the 25th anniversary of the Spice Girls multi-platinum debut album ‘Spice’, first released in the UK on 4 November 1996 and number 1 in 18 countries around the world. An expanded 2CD set contains the original 10 track album, along with bonus tracks / B-Sides taken from the four singles ‘Wannabe’, ‘Say You’ll Be There’, ‘2 Become 1’ and ‘Mama’/’Who Do You Think You Are’ (all No. 1 in the UK). The second disc contains a selection of the many remixes commissioned for the singles, along with previously unreleased songs. The original 10 track album will also be made available as a Zoetrope (animated) vinyl picture disc and five different coloured vinyl LPs . LIMITED EDITIONS. NUMBERS WILL BE SHARED OUT ONCE ALL ORDERS IN FOR DEADLINE.

“Abner Jay the most unusual talent in the world. A true Southerner from South G.A. He was raised layin on his belly, drinkin water from the ol Swaunee River. Jay claims the secret for his good health and being the father of sixteen young’uns, and gonna git some more, layin on his belly drinkin water from that ol Swaunee. Abner still go to the Swaunee River every Sunday, and lay down on his belly. Abner is twenty five years older than you think.”
- Abner Jay
Stunning one-man band tunes from one of the United States’ great unsung artists. Rare and previously unreleased tracks from Abner’s vast catalog of home recordings, showcasing some of his most haunt- ing and powerful vocal performances on revelatory new renditions of classics like “I’m So Depressed” and “Ol Man River.”
A truly independent artist who performed at swap meets and fairs out of his custom converted trailer, Abner Jay traveled the United States from the 1930s until his passing in 1993. Told with his characteristic blend of humor and pathos, “I Don’t Have Time To Lie To You” is an unsparing take on the country Abner knew so well.
Licensed from Brandie Records and Abner’s family, 160g black vinyl comes in heavy old-style tip-on jacket.

At this stage in the game, the name Whitechapel commands respect. Already sitting on one of the most enviable catalogs in contemporary metal, in 2019 they dropped The Valley, showcasing a confident evolution in their sound and standing as a true landmark release that sets a new standard for the genre. In 2021, they return with that album's successor, the mighty Kin , which is an even more dynamic and diverse collection, further advancing the band's sound into new territory without losing sight of what brought them to this point. The commencement of writing for the album was a direct result of the Covid pandemic, the band having several tours lined up to finish out the cycle for The Valley, but when these got cancelled, they decided to refocus their energies and begin working on a new record. The result is a collection that explores a lot of sonic and emotional territory, and for the first time, it could be said that a Whitechapel record is as much a rock album as it is a metal one, an assertion guitarist Alex Wade agrees with. "It's still very much a metal album, I don't think you would hear any of the songs on mainstream radio, but there are elements of the record that have more of a rock and open vibe. We really wanted these songs to breathe and have life and to sound bigger than anything we've made so far. We have explored more singing on 'Kin' too. It wouldn't make sense to have the majority of the fanbase enjoy that sound and then shy away from it." This is not to say that the band have lost their hardest edges, with the full-on death metal assault that kicks off both "Lost Boy" and "To The Wolves" as brutal and serrated as extreme metal gets, and while vocalist Phil Bozeman explores his wide-ranging singing voice more, he also cuts loose with his trademark roar across the album's eleven tracks.

At this stage in the game, the name Whitechapel commands respect. Already sitting on one of the most enviable catalogs in contemporary metal, in 2019 they dropped The Valley, showcasing a confident evolution in their sound and standing as a true landmark release that sets a new standard for the genre. In 2021, they return with that album's successor, the mighty Kin , which is an even more dynamic and diverse collection, further advancing the band's sound into new territory without losing sight of what brought them to this point. The commencement of writing for the album was a direct result of the Covid pandemic, the band having several tours lined up to finish out the cycle for The Valley, but when these got cancelled, they decided to refocus their energies and begin working on a new record. The result is a collection that explores a lot of sonic and emotional territory, and for the first time, it could be said that a Whitechapel record is as much a rock album as it is a metal one, an assertion guitarist Alex Wade agrees with. "It's still very much a metal album, I don't think you would hear any of the songs on mainstream radio, but there are elements of the record that have more of a rock and open vibe. We really wanted these songs to breathe and have life and to sound bigger than anything we've made so far. We have explored more singing on 'Kin' too. It wouldn't make sense to have the majority of the fanbase enjoy that sound and then shy away from it." This is not to say that the band have lost their hardest edges, with the full-on death metal assault that kicks off both "Lost Boy" and "To The Wolves" as brutal and serrated as extreme metal gets, and while vocalist Phil Bozeman explores his wide-ranging singing voice more, he also cuts loose with his trademark roar across the album's eleven tracks.

Colorado songwriter Emily Scott Robinson beckons to those who are lost, lonely, or learning the hard way with American Siren, her first album for John Prine's Oh Boy Records. With hints of bluegrass, country, and folk, the eloquent collection shares her gift for storytelling through her pristine soprano and the perspective of her unconventional path into music. Though not fully autobiographical, American Siren gracefully blends imagined characters with meaningful people she’s encountered on her journey. Robinson grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, and turned toward guitar at age 13, after a summer camp counselor closed out the nights by playing songs by Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, and Dar Williams every night. She taught herself to play in the early 2000s by printing guitar tabs from the internet and singing to CDs by Indigo Girls and James Taylor. But she didn’t pursue songwriting until after seeing Nanci Griffith perform in Greensboro in 2007. Robinson received significant acclaim for her 2019 album, Traveling Mercies.
Her long-held dream came true later that year when she sang on the Telluride Bluegrass Festival stage as the winner of the Telluride Troubadour Contest. A poignant standalone single in 2020, titled “The Time for Flowers,” prompted a private Instagram message from Oh Boy Records’ Jody Whelan, letting her know how meaningful the song was to his family. They struck up a fast friendship, then decided to partner for a release of American Siren. For her fans and for herself, this revealing collection proves that heeding the call to make music was the right decision.

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

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

About The Thirteenth Trip:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About The Thirteenth Trip:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For years fans have been eagerly waiting for the release of ‘The Awesome Album’ by Pawnee, Indiana rock band Mouse Rat.
The band is fronted by Parks and Recreation Shoeshine Department Employee Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), who has led many local acts through the years such as Angelsnack, Everything Rhymes With Orange, Department of Homeland Obscurity, Just The Tip and Scarecrow Boat, among others.
The hits are all here: “5,000 Candles In The Wind,” “The Pit,” “Two Birds Holding Hands,” “Catch Your Dream (feat. Duke Silver)” and two additional tracks by the Scott Tanner (Jeff Tweedy)-fronted band Land Ho!. ‘The Awesome Album’ is sure to satisfy the millions of Mouse Rat fans across the globe. The Awesome Album features music from the Universal Television original series Parks and Recreation.

What happens when you put four of the most creative musicians from the Norwegian jazz scene in lockdown? They create. In march 2020, when the corona pandemic forced Norway into lockdown, Flukten found their oasis. Flukten springs out of one thing - the will to create music. Flukten consists of musicians from some of the most critically acclaimed jazz groups in Norway: Hanna Paulsberg Concept, Atomic, Moskus, GURLS, Wako, Espen Berg Trio, Hullyboo, Skadedyr and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra.After Flukten's debut concert last year one music critic wrote: "if there is one band debut that really has left their mark in soul and heart, it is this".With a musical reference library filled with the likes of John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Per "Texas" Johansson, Salif Keita and Paul Motian, they take detours through hip hop, soul and folk music from all over the world. Here, all spontaneous whims can be cultivated and explored. Flukten gives you dirty jazz that makes you move, and soft, fine tuned jazz that makes you think. This is music that celebrates life and embraces the unbelievable. In February 2021, the four musicians entered the recording studio with the same open attitude as when they first jammed together. On Flukten`s debut album you hear saxophonist Hanna Paulsberg's eternal vocabulary and multifaceted tone unfold completely without compromises. You hear guitarist Marius Klovning somewhere in the middle of John Scofield, sharp soul, western and Norwegian folk music. Hans Hulbækmo's drumming is tempting to compare with the playing of a solo pianist in his melodic repertoire. Bassist Bárdur Reinert Poulsen drives everything with his punchy, hard swinging hand, but also provides us with emotional solos.Together, Flukten are an explosion of joyful playing from some of Norways most talented musicians. The songs of Flukten's debut album span from playful melodies to dissonant harmonies. Sometimes it's a composition based on a voice memo of someone humming. Other times we hear snapshots from improvisations in the vivid studio atmosphere. The music dances, other times it is like a soft caress. Suddenly they fly into ecstasy. This album is the sonic equivalent to jumping from a hot sauna and into cold water. The music wakes you up. This is music that could only appear this exact moment from these exact musicians. Maybe you spend hours lying on the floor, lost in a book. Maybe you get drunk, or you run into the woods? We all need to escape now and then.

Over the past decade or so, Chris Forsyth has produced a series of perennially year-end list haunting studio albums of expansive art-rock, from 2013’s Solar Motel to 2019’s All TimePresent , in the process becoming one of the leading lights of the so-called “indie jam” scene, musicians combining omnivorous influences with post-Dead sprawl.

These critically lauded albums have established Forsyth as one of today’s most unique and acclaimed guitar player/composers - a forward thinking classicist synthesizing cinematic expansiveness with a pithy lyricism and rhythmic directness that makes even his 20-minute workouts feel as clear, direct, and memorable as a 4-minute song.

Pitchfork has called his music “a near-perfect balance between 70s rock tradition and present day experimentation,” NPR Music named Forsyth “one of rock’s most lyrical guitar improvisors,” and the New York Times calls him “a scrappy and mystical historian… His music humanizes the element of control in rock classicism (and) turns it into a woolly but disciplined ritual.”

But the studio records are just the tip of the iceberg.

You see, in a live setting Forsyth’s music is never really finished.

He hasn’t had a fixed band in years and plays with a rotating cast of characters. Regulars in Forsyth’s bands have included bassists Doug McCombs (Tortoise) and Peter Kerlin (Sunwatchers), and drummer Ryan Jewell (Ryley Walker, too many others to mention), among others - basically, whoever is available for the given gig or tour.

These are not groups that rehearse, exactly. Operating more like a jazz band, Forsyth and his players treat the songs as frameworks that remain identifieable but morph based on who’s playing them, like weather to a landscape.

Embracing this flux has become a cornerstone of Forsyth’s live sets, rendering every performance special and thereby catching the attention of tapers from his home base in Philly to New York City, Chicago, and Minneapolis. In fact, most of his live performances over the last few years are recorded and posted on the Live Music Archive site.

But the taper recordings, though many are high quality and full of character, are not professionally recorded and mixed multi-tracks.

Which brings us to Peoples Motel Band , the new live LP culled from a set that Forsyth played with NY-based group Garcia Peoples as his band, and is self-releasing on his own Algorithm Free label in a limited pressing of 500 copies.

Recorded September 14, 2019 before a packed and enthusiastic hometown crowd at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia, Peoples Motel Band catches Forsyth and Garcia Peoples (plus ubiquitous drummer Ryan Jewell) re-imagining songs from Forsyth’s last couple studio albums with improvisatory flair.

Forsyth and Garcia Peoples played a number of 2019 shows together, beginning with a semi-legendary jam set at Nublu in NYC in March, through a couple dates on Forsyth’s month-long weekly residency at Nublu in September and concluding with a five-date tour of the Northeast in December. The chemistry between the players is tangible.

As is often the case with Forsyth shows, the gloves come off quickly and the players attack the material - much of it so well-manicured and cleanly produced in the studio - like a bunch of racoons let loose in a Philadelphia pretzel factory.

Recorded and mixed with clarity by Forsyth’s longtime studio collaborator, engineer/producer Jeff Zeigler, the record puts the listener right in the sweaty club, highlighted by an incredible side-long take of the chooglin’ title track from 2017’s Dreaming in The Non-Dream LP (note multiple climaxes eliciting wild shouts and ecstatic screams from the assembled).

This is not the new Chris Forsyth album, exactly, but then again, it kinda is because whenever he sits down to play, something new comes out.

“I want total freedom, total possibility, total acceptance. I want to fall in love with the rock.” That’s how Lillie West describes the theme of “DIVER,” the song she calls the thesis of Lala Lala’s third record, I Want The Door To Open. The rock in question is a reference to Sisyphus, the mythical figure doomed by the gods to forever push a boulder up from the depths of hell. To West, it is the perfect metaphor for, in her words, “the labor of living, of figuring out who you are, what's wrong with you, what's right with you.”

Coming off of 2018’s acclaimed The Lamb, an introspective indie rock album recorded live with a three-piece band, West knew she was ready to make something sonically bigger and thematically more outward-looking than anything she’d done before; a record that would be less a straightforward documentation of her own personal struggles and more like a poem or a puzzle box, with sonic and lyrical clues that would allow the listener to, as the title says, open the door to the greater meaning of those struggles.

The result is I Want The Door To Open, a bold exploration of persona and presence from an artist questioning how to be herself fully in a world where the self is in constant negotiation. From the moment West declares “I want to look right into the camera” over a cascade of dreamy vocal loops on opening track “Lava,” I Want The Door To Open distinguishes itself from anything she’s done before in scope and intensity. The ultra-magnified iteration of Lala Lala is fully encapsulated in the monumental “DIVER.” Inspired by a character from a Jennifer Egan novel, it’s a pop song of Kate Bush-esque proportions replete with layered synths and booming, wide open drumming by fellow Chicago musician Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, and West pushing her vocals to the ragged edge. I Want The Door To Open is a musical quest undertaken with the knowledge that the titular door may never open; but it is through falling in love with the quest itself that one may find the closest thing to total freedom, total possibility, and total acceptance available to us on this plane of existence.

Long before John Brannon of Negative Approach cemented himself as a USHC icon, you
would hear rumblings about his pre-NA glam group, STATIC. Only a handful of people were
lucky/brave enough to see them live. Scenesters spoke of a tape but never seemed to have
one. Their most well-remembered song, Toothpaste and Pills, allegedly featured smashing
beer bottles against John’s mom’s basement wall as a percussion instrument. Could this be
real?

Fast forward to 2020 and a few months into the covid-19 lockdown, Brannon came across a
bunch of tapes he dug out of a box in his Mom’s closet - STATIC “DEMOS ‘78”, STATIC
“LIVE AT GROSSE POINTE SOUTH H.S.”, STATIC “LIVE AT PLEWA HALL”. Holy shit! The
legend is true! And best of all, STATIC rule!

John Brannon grew up in Grosse Pointe Park just a few blocks from the Detroit border. John
was always into music, but as soon as he heard T-Rex, The Stooges and Alice Cooper, he
was obsessed (and still is) and had to start a band to channel his obsessions. With the help
of neighborhood kid and collaborator Billy Daniels and a local drummer simply known as
“Red”, STATIC was born.

Before Negative Approach changed the face of punk and hardcore, before Laughing Hyenas
scared the world silly and blew everyone else off the stage and before Easy Action started
melting minds all over the world, there was STATIC. STATIC was real. STATIC was real as
shit.

Third Man Records is beyond ecstatic to be providing this long-missing piece of the
American Underground Music puzzle. We worked closely with John Brannon and Warren
Defever, one of Third Man Mastering’s resident wizards, to put together this essential
collection of demos and live recordings.

“I want total freedom, total possibility, total acceptance. I want to fall in love with the rock.” That’s how Lillie West describes the theme of “DIVER,” the song she calls the thesis of Lala Lala’s third record, I Want The Door To Open. The rock in question is a reference to Sisyphus, the mythical figure doomed by the gods to forever push a boulder up from the depths of hell. To West, it is the perfect metaphor for, in her words, “the labor of living, of figuring out who you are, what's wrong with you, what's right with you.”

Coming off of 2018’s acclaimed The Lamb, an introspective indie rock album recorded live with a three-piece band, West knew she was ready to make something sonically bigger and thematically more outward-looking than anything she’d done before; a record that would be less a straightforward documentation of her own personal struggles and more like a poem or a puzzle box, with sonic and lyrical clues that would allow the listener to, as the title says, open the door to the greater meaning of those struggles.

The result is I Want The Door To Open, a bold exploration of persona and presence from an artist questioning how to be herself fully in a world where the self is in constant negotiation. From the moment West declares “I want to look right into the camera” over a cascade of dreamy vocal loops on opening track “Lava,” I Want The Door To Open distinguishes itself from anything she’s done before in scope and intensity. The ultra-magnified iteration of Lala Lala is fully encapsulated in the monumental “DIVER.” Inspired by a character from a Jennifer Egan novel, it’s a pop song of Kate Bush-esque proportions replete with layered synths and booming, wide open drumming by fellow Chicago musician Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, and West pushing her vocals to the ragged edge. I Want The Door To Open is a musical quest undertaken with the knowledge that the titular door may never open; but it is through falling in love with the quest itself that one may find the closest thing to total freedom, total possibility, and total acceptance available to us on this plane of existence.

In 2020 Sunnyboys will celebrate 40 years since their inception (though a mere 12 years of actual existence) via a new release SUNNYBOYS 40 that brings together the first ever re-release of the band’s much loved 1980 eponymous debut 7” - featuring the original version of the classic Alone With You - alongside four new recordings culled from the archives of chief songwriter Jeremy Oxley.
Recorded over two days in October 1980 and released via independent Sydney label Phantom Records on December 31st the same year, the four songs featured on the EP were essentially the first songs Jeremy Oxley had presented to the band on his arrival in Sydney from Kingscliff just a few months earlier. Alongside Alone With You they included Love to Rule, What You Need & The Seeker.
The debut ‘yellow’ ep was an instant underground smash selling out its initial pressing of 1000 copies in just 2.5 weeks. A further pressing of 1000 would follow but then all further attempts of a repress were quashed when the ep master mysteriously disappeared after band signed to Mushroom Records in February 1981. The tapes having never been recovered these masters have been taken from the cleanest vinyl available and appear here for the first time ever outside the 7” ep format and that limited run of 2000.
Fast forward 40 years (as you do) and Sunnyboys are enjoying a renaissance rarely seen for any band from any era. In truth their popularity now eclipses what it did in 1980-1984 with each successive tour selling more tickets and faster than the tour previous. Why not then give the people new music?
Part 2 of Sunnyboys 40 was recorded between touring commitments in 2018 at Airlock Studios, Brisbane. Overdubs were added over the following twelve months at locations in Sydney & Brisbane and the mixing completed in the summer of 2019 by current in-demand producer Konstantine Kerstin. The idea being to tackle some material Jeremy had written for other projects post-1984 and to complete some unfinished business from back in the band’s original lifespan.

Can’t You Stop is a reworking of a song Jeremy recorded as The Fisherman in 1986. The short-lived trio were Jeremy’s immediate post-Sunnyboys band and the original version was released on the Waterfront label the same year. In this guise Can’t You Stop features an all new arrangement plus those trademark Sunnyboys harmonies.

Lovers (On Another Planet’s Hell) meantime, is a reworking of a track from the Sunnyboys third album Get Some Fun. The original version featuring a 4/4 beat often referred to as the “AC/DC beat” which never sat well with the band. The opportunity to readdress that all these years later proving irresistible. The added keyboards of Alister Spence and brass playing of Eamon Dilworth and young Nico Oxley (Peter’s son) also adding a new dimension to the original.

Strange Cohesion was actually written post-Get Some Fun in 1984 and was performed by the band regularly during their final tour. It would feature on the band’s swansong release, 1984’s Real Live but was never recorded in the studio. 40 gives the track its recorded debut and gives some small hint as to what Sunnyboys album no.4 may have sounded like.

Originally released as a solo recording back in 1991 under the banner Jeremy ‘Ponytail’ Oxley Way After Five shares perhaps the strongest relationship to the ‘40’ concept. Jeremy’s voice at times just a croak - a by-product of the life he has lead for much of last 40 years - adding further poignancy to the songs lyric; and it’s another Oxley classic.

And what better way to celebrate both the new release and the milestone anniversary than by doing what Sunnyboys do best - play live! And so Sunnyboys hit the east coast this February including first time ever shows in Torquay and for Sydney’s Twilights @ Taronga. Special guests Painters & Dockers will join Sunnyboys for the shows in Victoria while garage rockers Rocket Science will join the birthday boys in Sydney.
“We really didn’t think we would ever play again as a band. But wow, we have and we sure are having a bloody great time doing it.” - Peter Oxley

The Fabulous Counts were originally a teenage instrumental group of five musicians, Mose Davis (Organ and Piano), Demetrius ‘Demo’ Gates (Alto Saxophone and vocals), Jim White (Tenor Sax), Andrew T. Gibson (Drums) and Raoul Keith Mangrum (Percussion and Flute) who were later joined by the older, more experience Leroy Emanuel (Guitar and vocals). Emmanuel was invited into the group as it’s band leader by the groups manager Fred McClure, a former Detroit boxing champion who also happened to be the manager of another popular Detroit group the singing Metro’s of the hit recording “Sweetest One” fame and their subsequent respected RCA album of the same name. The Fabulous Counts would often perform at shows as the Metro’s backing band.

The Fabulous Counts first big break came after knocking several Detroit Record labels doors. They were eventually invited in by Ollie McLaughlin’s Moira studio to record, under the tutelage of Popcorn Wylie the one take hit “Jan, Jan (Moira-103). A further two Moira 45’s followed of which “Get Down People/Lunar Funk “(Moira-108) also scored high on the R&B charts. Through a deal arranged by McLaughlin The Counts released their respected “Jan, Jan” album on the Atlantic distributed Cotillion label in 1969. Moving on to Armen Boladian’s Westbound label, during 1970 the group simply changed their name to The Counts and charted with their 1971 “What’s Up Front” Westbound album, also releasing a solitary 45 “Thinking Single/Why Not Start All Over Again”. In 1972 while still part of the Westbound set up The Counts recorded two major label 45’s under the pseudonyms of Bad Smoke “Crawl Ya’ll Part 1&2” (Chess-2124) and Lunar Funk “Mr Penguin Part 1&2” (Bell 45-172), the latter being thier biggest hit. A subsequent move to Atlanta, GA saw The Counts sign with Michael Thevis’s Aware records where they recorded a further two successful albums “Love Sign” (1973) and “Funk Pump” (1975), plus a string of 45’s. In 1976 although officially never breaking up The Counts members went their separate ways to explore different life opportunity’s.



During 1978 and while still in Atlanta Leroy Emanuel borrowed money from his family and reuniting with his fellow Counts, Mose, Demo, and Jimmy Jackson Jr, they, accompanied by a local strings section recorded a session of material that spawned two songs “What’s It All About” and “Motorcity”. Which Leroy later made a deal with Terry Mendelson to release on a 45 on his TM label. The Counts had previously known Mendelson through his brother Bernie at Westbound. The TM 45 made very little noise with many of the copies having mispressed labels. Although later reissued and mistakenly credited as two previously unissued Westbound recordings on several latter Cd compilations it came to light that quite a few avid European soul collectors actually owned copies of this high quality, very elusive and desirable 45! With demand still seemingly high it seems a good time for Soul Junction to reissue it. The A-side, “What’s It All About” features its composer Leroy Emanuel on lead vocals with the other Counts adding to the backing chorus. The flipside of this 45 from the same session is the previously unreleased Mose Davis penned “Watch The Clock” which is more in keeping with the Counts traditional funk groove, enjoy.

Tiptoes joins the SlothBoogie roster this October with the ‘Good Times Incoming’ EP, comprised of four originals from the Scottish artist.

Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, Tiptoes is a time-served DJ/Producer who has been in the game for over 15 years and has performed at a variety of venues worldwide. As a DJ, Tiptoes sound traverses from Jazz to Jungle through Detroit, Disco, Techno, Garage, Broken Beat, Deep House and everything in between, always finding that balance between energy and soul which crosses over into his productions also.

Up first on the package is ‘Born Slippery’, a filter house workout fuelled by an amalgamation of funk infused bass, guitar and brass licks alongside swinging drums and dynamic filter work. ‘Green Room’ follows next and lays down soulful strings, stuttering vocal cuts and plucked bass atop an organic drum groove.

Opening the flip-side is ‘Right Here’, stripping things back to robust drums, jazzy keys and processed vocal chants before ‘Alright’ rounds out the release via airy keys, moog like synth licks and crunchy lo-fi percussion.

"The art of the remix has been around for several decades, from the fervid imaginations of JA pioneers like Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid or King Tubby to the disco enthusiasts of New York, such as Tom Moulton, who bequeathed us the modern iteration of the remix and provided a template from which most remixers still work. Moulton's first commercial remix, a reworking of BT Express' appropriately-named `Do It 'Till You're Satisfied', which stretched it from three minutes to a luxurious five, assisted the band in securing its first Billboard R&B Number One, as well as providing a pathway for remixers like Walter Gibbons, Larry Levan, Richie Rivera and Tee Sott, to completely reinvent the concept of a remix (and in some instances, deconstructing the idea of what comprised a song). It has subsequently been used as a marketing tool, a dancefloor-devastator, a gimmick (both cheap and expensive) or even as a way of reaching a different audience (think Tori Amos' `Professional Widow'). Khruangbin are no slouches when it comes to the remix themselves. They've been reworked before, in 2016, with the highly collectible EP on Boogiefuturo. But this time, they're taking it a step further with an album dedicated to the art. Entering the tight-knit world of a Khruangbin song can be a little daunting. They have created this entire universe in which the trio seem to function telepathically in the way the music is composed, arranged and played. To mess with their delicate eco-system can invoke feelings similar to that of an unwanted guest crashing a good-time party. "We write our music to be interpreted; this is another wonderful interpretation of the music," reassure Khruangbin. "There is something very vulnerable about letting others work on your music. But through the correspondence with the different artists, we gained a bigger connection to the songs themselves." The choice of remixers for this album is neither arbitrary nor accidental. They're not names picked randomly out of a hat or chosen via a throw of the dice. All have some connection to the band, sometimes personal friendships, musical connections, or simply mutual musical appreciation. Harvey Sutherland and Ginger Roots have both toured with the band, Kadhja Bonet and Ron Trent had their own mutual fan club going on, Knxwledge sampled `White Gloves' on a recent mixtape, Natasha Diggs and Soul Clap's Eli's are recent buddy-ups, Quantic is a mutual friend of Bonobo (crucial in the KB origin story), while I've known Laura for number of years; plus she is also godmother to one of Felix Dickinson's kids. Doesn't get much more intimate than that, right? Some of these remixes were specifically made so you can dance your ass off while getting down to the Khruangbin sound, while some might better be appreciated horizontally with headphones on, wearing fashionably loose clothes. The choice is yours. But all were made with love and respect for Khruangbin. "A good remix deconstructs, recontextualizes, or simply extends a good time," say the band. Amen and out." - Bill Brewster