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Neapolitan composer, producer, and keyboardist Giorgio Lopez sets sail on Berlin-based label Cosmic Romance with his “Sud des Îles”. Navigating between 80s-inspired grooves, French boogie, and sun-kissed atmospheres, the record unfolds like a musical travelogue, following fictional skipper Georges Taty and his crew of musicians aboard the sailboat “Sud des Îles”, caught between racing waves, late-night jams, and dockside dreams.

From the whirling groove of "Voyager Sans Bouger" to the breezy atmosphere of "Toujours Distante", the eight tracks on Sud des Îles invite listeners to drift away in rhythm and reverie through a songwriting that is both infectious and evocative. Stories of escapes (real or imagined), romantic illusions, and nostalgia-tinted euphoria weave together, propelled by Giorgio Lopez’s arrangements and distinctive keyboard work, as well as by the well-crafted production, carried out together with Executive Producer and label owner Ed Longo.

Featuring lead vocals by Stella, Master Phil, Amanda Roldan, and Bernardino Femminielli, together with the “équipage de Sud des Îles” itself - a tight-knit ensemble of acclaimed musicians from Berlin and Naples – “Sud des Îles” is an invitation to ride the waves to a neon-lit night on a faraway island: no passport required.

The Morning Early release their debut LP via the LNFG Cartel in June 2025 - If you like your guitar power pop tinted with west coast American soul, this is one for you. Shades of Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark permeate throughout. Originally formed in the mid 1990's the band enjoyed some success in the central belt and released one single before going their separate ways. Back gigging now, they began work on this LP in 2023.

Produced by Nigel Godrich, Win & Reìgine, and recorded in multiple locales including New Orleans, El Paso and Mount Desert Island, WE paradoxically distills “the longest we’ve ever spent writing, uninterrupted, probably ever" (per the band’s Win Butler) into a concise 40 minute epic – one as much about the forces that threaten to pull us away from the people we love, as it is inspired by the urgent need to overcome them. WE’s cathartic journey follows a definable arc from darkness into light over the course of seven songs divided into two distinct sides -- Side “I” channeling the fear and loneliness of isolation, and Side “WE” expressing the joy and power of reconnection.

On the album’s cover, a photograph of a human eye by the artist JR evokes Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. This stunning image -- embellished by the distinctive airbrush color tinting of Terry Pastor (utilizing the same physical technique he employed on David Bowie’s iconic Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust covers) – is the visual expression of WE.

Collodion is the follow-up to Andrew Rumsey's 2023 solo debut Evensongs, which won widespread praise (from Mark Radcliffe on the BBC Radio 2 Folk Show, among others) as an unexpected gem of pastoral psych-folk 'An enchanting, enthralling album', according to Shindig! magazine. Next came Andrew's involvement with the Ghostwriter collective, whose September 2024 release on the Subexotic label Tremulant was described by Folking as 'hypnotically beautiful' and championed by author Sir Ian Rankin as a 'unique and spiritually enthralling listen ... with a touch of Bright Phoebus'. Collodion was (like its predecessor) recorded on a single day, in the historic setting of Rushall Church in Wiltshire, by RealWorld Studios'chief engineer Katie May. It features eight songs and a poem, with Andrew being joined by longtime collaborator David Perry on guitar and organ, plus jazz musician Cameron Saint on double bass. Collodion is a chemical used to develop images in early 'tintype' photography: these short songs, likewise, capture fleeting moods and moments before they fade.

Hitting release number three, Slush Records remaster and reissue Spacer IV aka James Zeiter’s sought-after 1997 EP on Pleasure Records. The man behind a slew of lauded records under a variety of different aliases, his sound is one that is cherished for orbiting the spheres of progressive trance and atmospheric dub techno. This four-track EP, however, saw James venture into unchartered territory, exploring a more melodic, house-tinted spectrum, before flipping back into the progressive techno-trance underbelly.

Having started life in 1995, Spacer IV had already gone from the leagues of limited white labels, to being the name stamped on one of Pleasure’s biggest-selling records by the time this EP came out. With only 195 white labels of his first record ARC 1/ARC 2 pressed, a copy was passed to Pete Robinson at Robs Records. ‘ARC 2’ was plucked from that release, supplemented with a new cut ‘ARC 3’ and given a proper pressing on Robs Records offshoot label Pleasure to notable success.

Fast forward to 1997 and James chose to depart the trance-infused techno sound of those first releases. Absorbing elements by osmosis, this EP sees James dipping his toes into fresh waters. Using what limited hardware he had available, including an Akai S950 sampler, Ensoniq ESQ-1 and Novation Bass Station 1, James laid down four distinctive and versatile club cuts.

‘Sirocco’ opens the EP, a tingling hit of endorphins that only the most timeless of tracks can elicit. Echoing pads feed acid murmurings, that sit atop dusty breakbeats and rattling sub-bass. An aural exploration, that is equal parts ethereal and empowering, taking cues from breaks, ambient, chill out and house. It’s one of those rare tracks that has the power to float you away or fuel your buzz, giving a healthy tug on the heartstrings in the process.

‘Mono’ follows, merging heads-down dancefloors with the embrace of warmer climates. It’s deep and Detroit-infused yet bolstered by a dream house bassline straight out of the Italian riviera. A dose of eyes-closed euphoria that hits just right.

The flipside sees James in more familiar territory with ‘Jetson’ and ‘Dust’. The former is a hit of space-age progressive house. Trippy, hypnotising, driving goodness, showcasing James’ ability to lock your body into a groove, yet send your mind to another world. The latter rounds out the EP, serving up an acid-swirling club stomper, forever building in intensity before dropping you into the vacuum of deep space.

Emerging from the Minneapolis underground and heading straight towards the sky, IE arrive on Quindi with a full-length album of sparkling, sophisticated wonder. Touching on kosmische grandeur, Riley-esque cyclical patterns, lounge pop and dubbed out psychedelia, the five-piece allow their songs to unfurl with a natural, hypnotic elegance which can take many different forms.
There's a loose, live quality to the recordings IE's members commit to record, which reflects their steady presence gigging in Minneapolis and the surrounding area. Since putting out their first release in 2016, they've glided from drone and synth-led jam band ambience (2018's Pome) to strung out, stoner-tinted slowcore (on 2023's outstanding Junk Body). For Reverse Earth they strike a smoky note that wraps itself around your skull across extended run times that evolve with a meditative poise.
From the deceptively driving 4/4 thrum of the opening title track through 'Divination Bag's snaking tryptamine mantras on to 'Simplify's slow and smouldering indie-soul, IE's sound is bathed in a sumptuous warm glow that rounds out the lows and the mids, creating a nocturnal shroud in which their nebulous song structures can feel deliciously endless.
Meredith Gill's drums provide rolling and tumbling undercurrents for the slowly shifting phases of the instrumental players, as Michael Gallope and Travis Workman trade keyboard parts and Workman and Sam Molstad chop and pick at their six-strings. Atop the thrum of her bass, Mariel Oliviera's vocal adapts to the scenery, from a distant, dreamlike siren song on 'Reverse Earth' to a spoken word meditation on 'Babel'.
There's space in each track for every instrument to cut through and have its moment, from a spiralling key vamp to a chicken-scratch guitar flex. The gently twisting, head-feeding groove exercises of the first four tracks give way to a slow and powerful march on 'Dark Rome', closing the record on a noirish anti-ballad fit to peal out in the closing slot at Twin Peaks' Roadhouse (circa season three).
As much as the tracks teem with composition, musicianship, and production to savor, a sound like IE's has a soporific quality that soaks in unconsciously. It's an evocative portal where the band feel as if they could just play on each piece ad infinitum - where the time itself seems to dislodge from its moorings.

Extending the melodious and mad, three-decade story of Super Furry Animals projects by adding another bombastic and beautiful chapter, Huw Bunford, Cian Ciarán, Daf Ieuan and Guto Pryce reconvene to announce the release of their second album, Pando.

Meeting every pummelling motorway mile with the beat of their psychedelic-soul-house blend since the release of their debut, Official UK Breakers Album Chart No.1 album, DK.01, in late 2023, Das Koolies’ energetic return to festival fields, intimate venues and service station shopping has affected no distraction from their mission. Committing to more time on the road at the same time as sharing rich spoils from the studio, Das Koolies include Newport, Nottingham, London and Manchester in their live plans. Determinedly exploring capability and ambition, the band’s continued, restorative return to wired and wonderful, man-and-machine-based music, following years of psych-folk-rock experimentation as four Furries, hasn’t meant forgetting the past. Som Bom Magnífico’s tour story, combining wistful and weary memory, rests the band’s case.

Taking on the lead lyrical and vocal role, Daf Ieuan, says: “Hindsight and rose-tinted glasses. It’s a song about a time when it was normal to order a veggie breakfast in hotels as a concession to a healthier life style, then following up by requesting to see the ‘Breakfast Wine Menu’. As Lou Reed sang: "Wine in the morning!".
Everyone should live like that for a while. Could be for a couple of days or a couple of decades. We’ve never laughed so much, but never again.”

Extending the melodious and mad, three-decade story of Super Furry Animals projects by adding another bombastic and beautiful chapter, Huw Bunford, Cian Ciarán, Daf Ieuan and Guto Pryce reconvene to announce the release of their second album, Pando.

Meeting every pummelling motorway mile with the beat of their psychedelic-soul-house blend since the release of their debut, Official UK Breakers Album Chart No.1 album, DK.01, in late 2023, Das Koolies’ energetic return to festival fields, intimate venues and service station shopping has affected no distraction from their mission. Committing to more time on the road at the same time as sharing rich spoils from the studio, Das Koolies include Newport, Nottingham, London and Manchester in their live plans. Determinedly exploring capability and ambition, the band’s continued, restorative return to wired and wonderful, man-and-machine-based music, following years of psych-folk-rock experimentation as four Furries, hasn’t meant forgetting the past. Som Bom Magnífico’s tour story, combining wistful and weary memory, rests the band’s case.

Taking on the lead lyrical and vocal role, Daf Ieuan, says: “Hindsight and rose-tinted glasses. It’s a song about a time when it was normal to order a veggie breakfast in hotels as a concession to a healthier life style, then following up by requesting to see the ‘Breakfast Wine Menu’. As Lou Reed sang: "Wine in the morning!".
Everyone should live like that for a while. Could be for a couple of days or a couple of decades. We’ve never laughed so much, but never again.”

For their 21st release, Not An Animal Records welcomes the Northeast-of-England's Tom Rankin, aka Frequencies Of Love to the fold for his first-ever release. A half-step away from their usual low-slung sound, the EP is a bright and sepia-tinted affair bringing prime-time energy to the label. It is rooted squarely on the dancefloor and steeped with glimmering synthesizers and lashings of keys. Despite this stylistic departure, the ever-present driving grooves make it feel right at home.

The EP begins with Tucan, delicately shifting and changing synthesizer arps flow throughout, weaving a delightful tapestry of past and present.

The record glides smoothly into round 2 with Bpsyde pulling no punches; it has a distinct atmosphere of the old-school about it. A one-two of percussive breaks on the one hand and progressive bass on the other with LFO Arps, keys and nineties vocal chops completing the combo.

Pegasus is a shimmering whirlpool off the Adriatic coast. An antiphonal of choral chanting and female spoken word endlessly circle the groove, occasionally combining in a viscous duetto of wacky, Italo-flavored deliciousness.

For the remix, groove deconstruction connoisseur Fantastic Man gives Pegasus the Midas treatment. Riding a throbbing and reprogrammed bassline, key elements from the original mix cameo throughout the track, rounded off by piano chord progressions to complete the pensive sound that constitutes the glue throughout the EP.

Born in the darkest days of a rainy summer, DRUUGG brews a raw garage rock, tinted with noise and romance under psychotropic influence. The trio, which quickly became a quartet, recorded its first tracks at the famous KOKO studio near Liège. In March 2023, nearly a year and a half after its formation, the band began performing, honing their skills from Wallonia to Brussels, through northern France and the Netherlands. Guitars keep screaming, walls shake, minds are marked, and nothing will ever be the same. In early 2024, after releasing their first EP, DRUUGG embarks on a crusade that will take them to Flanders and France. After spreading the gospel of FUZZ, the members retreat to their homeland to record their debut album, which will be available in spring 2025 through the Brussels label "EXAG' Records". In this world of chaos and illusion, DRUUGG is the ultimate cure that will lead you to illumination.

Art Longo, multi-instrumentalist and composer, has just released your next favourite album. Dwelling in the self-selected confines of a humble home recording studio for years, cooking up psychotropical pop hits heavily influenced by the late eighties music culture and dub.

The album, Echowah Island, in its entirety manifests a soundscape drenched in orange sunsets and cool breezes. The production, smothered in spring reverbs, space echo delays and wah wah (Echo + Wah), always grounded by the satisfying chugging rhythms of various old drum machines.

It is a creative endeavour and prosperous collaboration alongside Claudia Jonas, whose airy mysterious voice brings to mind the classic french femme fatale singers of the sixties. Her lyrics, almost kaleidoscopic in nature paints a nostalgic, rose-tinted dreamworld but never fails to challenge the listeners imagination and sense of reality.

»Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds« explores sound’s relationship with architecture, inspired by the Naala Badu building at the Art Gallery of NSW. Created from sound prompts responded to by artists like Jim O’Rourke and claire rousay, the work reflects on space, collaboration, and the fluid nature of sonic environments.

I like to think that sound haunts architecture.

It’s one of the truly magical interactions afforded by sound’s immateriality. It’s also something that has captivated us from the earliest times. It’s not difficult to imagine the exhilaration of our early ancestors calling to one another in the dark cathedral like caves which held wonder, and security, for them.

Today the ways in which sound occupies space, the so-called liquid architecture, holds just as much wonder, albeit one that is often dominated by functionality and form. Beyond those constraints however, how sound operates in the material world is something that exists at the fundament of our understanding of music, and moreover within the broad church we know as the canon of sound arts.

Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds is a record born out of these relations. In a direct sense, the record is the product of an invitation by curator Jonathan Wilson to create a sound environment, reflecting on the Naala Badu building at the Art Gallery Of NSW. The building’s name, which translates from the Gadigal language to ‘seeing water’, was opened in 2022 and this piece was offered as an atmospheric tint to visitors walking through the building throughout the year following its opening.

It’s also a record born out of a recognition for the porousness sound affords, especially as a device for collaborative endeavour. This composition is one born out of generosity and acoustic solidarity. Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds is comprised not just of my sounds, but also that of an incredible array of artists who have also operated in the orbit of the Art Gallery Of NSW. The players include Amby Downs, Chris Abrahams, Chuck Johnson, Claire Rousay, Dean Hurley, Jim O’Rourke, JW Paton, Madeleine Cocolas, Norman Westberg, Stephen Vitiello and Vanessa Tomlinson.

The piece was constructed around two long form sound prompts that each musician responded and contributed to. These materials there when digested into the final piece you hear. The work could not exist without the substantial offerings these artists made, and I am immensely grateful to each of them.

I’ll finish with a little note that appears on the LP itself.

Place is an evolving, subjective experience of space. Spaces hold the opportunity for place, which we create moment to moment, shaped by our ways of sense-making.

Whilst the architectural and material features of space might remain somewhat constant, the people, objects, atmospheres, and encounters that fill them are forever collapsing into memory.

Lawrence English
Performed by Amby Downs, Chris Abrahams, Chuck Johnson, Claire Rousay, Dean Hurley, Jim O’Rourke, JW Paton, Madeleine Cocolas, Norman Westberg, Stephen Vitiello, Vanessa Tomlinson

Capturing phantom drones behind dusty beats and haunted twangs, Ellis Swan and James Schimpl return for their third album as Dead Bandit. Locked into a musical language unique to their collaboration, the duo once again put us out to pasture across broad sonic plains, drums flapping like loose fence panels in the prairie breeze and bass rumbling like distant thunder. True to their previous two records, Swan and Schimpl keep the strung out guitars at the front of what they do, whether playing a naked, desolate strum or running six strings through disruptive effects processing until they're barely recognisable.
But while there are details of disturbance when listening to Dead Bandit's self-titled record up close, the wider impression is a smoother, more direct affair that toys with post-rock complexity and matches it with the emotional weight of melodic simplicity, gentle grooves and conscious arrangements. 'Weeds' offsets its languid fuzz guitar with shimmering sustained notes before settling into a patient, heavy-hearted composition charged with heartbreak leads pealing out in the middle distance.
By comparison, 'Glass' has a smoky, half-hidden backroom quality. Its brushed whisper of a beat, lingering guitar drones and subtle sub bass come on like a dub wise flip of a sad-eyed country ballad. The mood maintains on 'Half Smoked Cigarette', which captures the grey sky sullenness of post-punk and reframes it in the seductive isolation of rural America. While there's a thickness to the sound on these most direct of tracks on the album, there's also fragility inherent to the sound world Dead Bandit have been shaping out over these past few years.
'Buttercup' swaps sadness for sinister undercurrents, once more drawing on fulsome low end to fill out the sparse threads of instrumentation up top. 'Pink' finds a steady momentum for its own brand of brooding mystery, the sharp end of the beat bringing focus to the many-layered approaches to the guitar which roundly define the Dead Bandit sound. There's an even clearer direction mapped out in the vintage drum machine pulse of 'Koyo', all the better to carry swirling effects treatments and moody melodic figures. Even in these ominous climes there's space for plaintive, endearing hooks which land as the most direct phrases in Dead Bandit's musical lexicon to date.
The fundamental sound across this album holds true, but Dead Bandit are never bound to a singular practice. 'Lucien's Bitters' strikes up a pronounced drum machine beat which comes on like 90s downtempo, and it feels like a natural vessel for the heavy, shoegaze tinted lament of the guitars. At every turn, Swan and Schimpl prove their affinity for all kinds of approaches, and yet the end product is a deeply cohesive, immediate listen that shows just how clear their creative vision really is.

The next release from 29 Speedway is Break, the new EP from NY’s Relaxer, the long running alias of Daniel Martin-McCormick (Black Eyes, Ital and co-founder of Dripping), and it signals a decisive shift in his music. The tape features two remixes by the singular DJ Marcelle.

What happens when dubby drum & bass meets Dischord’s post-punk colossus Black Eyes? “Break” is the new EP from NY’s Relaxer, the long running alias of Daniel Martin-McCormick (Black Eyes, Ital and co-founder of Dripping), and it signals a decisive shift in his music.

Prompted by friends to write a drum & bass live set just as Black Eyes was reuniting, the results didn’t quite fit the d&b genre. But it felt right. Quick, nimble, with room for the ferocity of his favorite post punk and some of the spaciousness of dub. Evergreen vibes, really, but seen from a fresh perspective.

Honed over a period of two years, the five tracks on “Break” fuse Relaxer’s careening, technoid sounds with free jazz-tinted drum programming, snarling sound design and spacious echo trails. It’s a perfect fit for 29 Speedway’s future-facing, exploratory anti-genre approach to electronics. The tape features two remixes by the singular DJ Marcelle and mastering by Dubplates & Mastering.

Rich in melody and instantly classic in feel, Luca dell’Orso debuts on CWPT with an extended EP of lush Italo, sensitively summoned from the Netherlands. Having impressed with previous releases on labels including Bordello A Paligiaria and Red Laser Records, these six tracks demonstrate a delicate approach to his studio, flitting between pop songwriting and analog experimentation.

From the soft fanfare that announces ‘Solitair & Solidair,’ ‘Actors’ establishes a confident groove that gently pushes an Alfa Romeo pedal toward Balearic ecstasy. On the instantaneous lead single ‘Dear Rosie,’ dell’Orso blends the signature palette of the vintage Yamaha-X7 synthesizer with longing vocals from collaborator Jolisa. A paean to a special person from a distant past, ‘Dear Rosie’ is blessed with a wistful melody befitting an Eric Rohmer classic, a musical postcard of a treasured connection. From wistful midsummer memories, dell’Orso easily transports listeners to another season entirely with ‘Winter Scent’, a deep meditation reflecting the artist’s walks in the few hours of available sunlight, thoughts beautifully vocoded beneath a heavy sonic layer.

Out of this lavish gloom blossoms the inevitable sound of spring on the driving, optimistic ‘Love by Association’; an enduring recipe of distinct drums and pitch-shifting synthesis, frozen in time for frenetic Eurodisco dancefloors. On ‘Propaganda’, dell’Orso offers a more forceful take on the same instincts, skipping inner-Schengen borders to simmer via industrially-tinted pleasures as revealed in Dusseldorf, 1984. For a sublime finale, ‘This Time (Things Will Be Different)’ takes to the piano, where Luca dell’Orso finds space to demonstrate the elegant minimalism that easily coexists alongside his timeless energy.

As Tele Novella, Chronis (who performs in the beloved and rekindled indie pop band Voxtrot) and Ribbons (who previously performed in the long-running “Victorian punk” project Agent Ribbons) have spent their past two albums creating "Medieval outsider country" on 2016’s House Of Souls and 2021’s Merlynn Belle. Poet’s Tooth – the band’s second album for Kill Rock Stars – steers the duo’s whimsical western-tinted quality into fascinating new directions: cinematic-pop balladry on the autoharp-tinged opener “Young & Free,” gently clip-clopping Americana-folk on “Hard-Hearted Way,” and bass-driven funk on the wry “Eggs In One Basket.” With help from producer Danny Reisch, Tele Novella have crafted their most genre-rich, poetic, and sincere album yet.

Well-versed in vintage vernaculars, Oakland-based producer/musician Mike Walti is about to return with his sophomore offering under the Organi moniker – as new album “Babylonia” follows 2020’s “Parlez-vous Français?,” a landmark in vibe acquisition ever since.

Wyldwood Studios is a portal. It’s a secret gateway to analog spheres. Cross the threshold and you’ll feel the difference: you can pick any ol’ time, any place, any tongue or vibe, in fact. Hit the dancefloor in 1967, feel that plushy loveseat in the early 70s. It’s a welcoming place where better, saner vibes are still within reach. Fueled, at least in part, by those long-classic 12”s on the walls – just imagine the sepia-tinted countenance of Melody Nelson alongside actual Birkin sans wig, right next to Shadow’s immortal crate diggers, forever blurred –, and channeled through ancient time travel devices such as the MCI 416B only to arrive on classic 2-inch tape (MM1000 aka Ol’ Bessy), it’s a haven for all things organic, for all things imbued with that warm élan. Built and run by Oakland’s own Mike Walti, countless artists from many different genres have felt that flair, creating sonic spheres and moving back and forth along the malleable axis that is space-time. Capturing magic.

Emerging from this unique portal back in 2020, Walti’s aka Organi’s first studio album was a stunning answer to its titular question – “Parlez-vous Français?” It was a soothing, somewhat psychedelic trip so magnétique and alluring that it immediately brought back those bits of Franglais you never knew you remembered. Whereas the debut LP indeed felt like a spontané voyage to the French Riviera ca. 1968, its follow-up “Babylonia” is so much more than linguistic confusion and ancient Akkadian Rhythms. Using that hidden portal near Alameda’s finest port to access all kinds of remote regions and sonic spheres, it’s super tight and feels, well, decent, even though, just like the ol’ Babylon, it’s full of surprising tongues and dreams, schemes and melodies.

“Where do we go from here?,” someone asks in opening “Organii-“ – all majestically cinematic boom bap, buoyant bass, sick strings. A fittingly massive opener that feels like cracking open a cold one after long weeks at work (that ecstatic “ahhhh”), it perfectly sets the tone for another half hour of pure time traveling, globe-spanning bliss. Whereas that certain prédilection pour all things French makes “La Rockette” so tempting and tantalizing (think MalMalNonBien), the sophomore album’s Berlin-based guest singer Nana Lacrima soon takes us elsewhere: title track “Babylonia” spins ever so softly, like a magic lantern, with images of dreamier Stones Throw funksters or Savath y Savalas looming over the steady flow of an arrangement that washes you clean like an ancient, unpolluted River Euphrates or Brazil’s actual Amazon. A sexy Portuguese-flavored anthem, occasional guest singer Alix Koliha also enters the scene to add yet another layer of French chic to this Brazilian landscape. Next, we’re back at the Riviera, but the “Italiano” version of it, splendido sunsets and bell towers in the distance, the ragazze laughing and shaking it up, perhaps even some Portofino Gin so you can really feel that “me ne batto il belin,” as your fingers align form some half-serious “ma che vuoi?”

Tim Maia-penned “Padre Cicero” (1970) deals with the stunning transformation of the titular hero – “De reverendo a lutador,” and what a soaring, sensual hook –, and Organi’s take on Elephant Memory’s “Old Man Willow” (now an “Old Man Waltz”) perfectly underlines what Walti’s Wyldwood endeavor is all about: Easy-Going Experimental Dream Pop, fueled by Gainsbourg, Broadcast, Stereolab, etc.

Later on, even though something seems to be tres complique in “Remembering Anna,” it all sounds carefree like a spontaneous Friday afternoon with a bottle of fine wine. Right before the outro, key album guest Yea-Ming Chen (of Yea-Ming & The Rumors) returns to the mic, adding her dark and dusky trademark timbre to melancholy anthem “Pictures Of Your Face”. Reminiscent of Nico and Trish (rip & rip), it’s a track that’s both dark and strangely propelling, hypnotic and hip-shaking.

A third generation Bay Area native, Mike Walti aka Organi has been running Wyldwood Studios in Oakland CA for some 15+ years (recording artists like Tommy Guerrero, Spelling, Why?, Latyrx, Del, Dan The Automator, and Big Freedia, to name but a few). A multi-instrumentalist who’s obviously in love with the 60s/70s, he loves to work with analog equipment (“We just love us some analog!” “Just listen to those relays purr…”). Recorded and mixed by Mike Walti at Wyldwood, “Babylonia” will be released on vinyl/digital by Alien Transistor.

Esko is more than a producer, he is also a versatile writer and artist. Add to that the fact that he is the label owner of Van Klasse and it is clear that Esko has secured a prominent place in the Dutch Urban scene with these successes.

This artist had #1 hits with, among others, 'Ride Or Die' with Josylvio and 'Huts' with The Blockparty, Mouad Locos, JoeyAK, Young Ellens & Chivv. The single 'Hey Girl' together with Josylvio and Hansie conquered Spotify, the counter now stands at more than 48 million streams. His album 'Beats By Esko' took first place in the Dutch Album Top 100, in honor of this release Esko made history with his 'Beats By Esko' 101Barz Mega Session. After a tough period, Esko was ready to go into the studio and make new music purely based on feeling. The result of these sessions is his album 'FENIKS' and this title hits the nail on the head. According to Greek mythology, a phoenix represents rebirth and Esko now also feels reborn. His new music is more mature, more serious and has a message. This can be heard in the singles 'Jongen Van Bodem', 'Breng Mij Terug' and 'Platzak', which were released this year, with more than 9 million streams, which offer an insight into the past period.

By releasing open and honest music, Esko hopes to encourage listeners who are currently experiencing the same thing. This vinyl of the album 'FENIKS' features collaborations with Josylvio, Jonna Fraser, KA, Fresku and Glennis Grace, among others.

Esko is more than a producer, he is also a versatile writer and artist. Add to that the fact that he is the label owner of Van Klasse and it is clear that Esko has secured a prominent place in the Dutch Urban scene with these successes.

This artist had #1 hits with, among others, 'Ride Or Die' with Josylvio and 'Huts' with The Blockparty, Mouad Locos, JoeyAK, Young Ellens & Chivv. The single 'Hey Girl' together with Josylvio and Hansie conquered Spotify, the counter now stands at more than 48 million streams. His album 'Beats By Esko' took first place in the Dutch Album Top 100, in honor of this release Esko made history with his 'Beats By Esko' 101Barz Mega Session. After a tough period, Esko was ready to go into the studio and make new music purely based on feeling. The result of these sessions is his album 'FENIKS' and this title hits the nail on the head. According to Greek mythology, a phoenix represents rebirth and Esko now also feels reborn. His new music is more mature, more serious and has a message. This can be heard in the singles 'Jongen Van Bodem', 'Breng Mij Terug' and 'Platzak', which were released this year, with more than 9 million streams, which offer an insight into the past period.

By releasing open and honest music, Esko hopes to encourage listeners who are currently experiencing the same thing. This vinyl of the album 'FENIKS' features collaborations with Josylvio, Jonna Fraser, KA, Fresku and Glennis Grace, among others.

DJ Plead and rRoxymore with a debut collab of rhythmelodically restless productions, infusing limber, freewheeling styles with subtly psychedelic balearic melodics.

After meeting for the first time in 2019, Hermione Frank and Jarred Beeler got together at Frank's Berlin studio, slowly sculpting fractal geometries before finally adding the finishing spit and polish at Beeler's parents’ house in Sydney. Marking some of the first original material from either in a minute, the EP knits the duo’s rhythmic fascinations in three ways.

‘Celestial’ splices a rolling 4/4 with quicksilver polyrhythms and zippy melodic motifs swept into hand-clap trills, imagining something like Olof Dreijer re-shaping Joe’s angular syncopations. ‘Read Wrong’ follows to foreground a thumb piano on a more pendulous, sub-weighted flex, inflected with DJ Plead’s signature palette of drum sounds and canny orchestral flashes at the right moments, dipping like D1’s more melodic works or that forthcoming Nídia & Valentina Magaletti pearl.

The duo save their most hard-hitting for last, sliding speedy, dembow-inspired geometries through green-tinted clouds of electronics on a UKF-compatible offbeat threaded with swooping subs and flighty flutes. The momentum never lets up, but the two producers manage to evoke a mood that's as suited to a late-nite solo thing as it is to peak time wreckage. In other words; deceptively effortless gear that hits harder the louder it gets.

First time vinyl reissue of Univers Zero's legendary Crawling Wind, originally released in 1981 on the Japanese 'Chaos International Series' label, with the original cover artwork has been beautifully redesigned by Thierry Moreau.

Toujours Plus à l'Est, as the title suggests, is heavily influenced by the traditional music of Eastern Europe, particularly Bulgaria., and paying tribute to the iconic catchphrase of Professor Calculus (Tournesol), the character from the Belgian comic series Tintin. Before The Heat, played live a few times, is an ambient composition by Andy Kirk, who is part of the EP's lineup alongside Daniel Denis, Guy Segers, Alan Ward, and Dirk Descheemaeker. Central Belgium in the Dark is a live improvisation from a period when Univers Zéro dedicated part of their concerts to complete improvisation. What makes this recording unique is that one of Andy Kirk's effects pedals picked up and emitted the sound of a mysterious radio signal, seemingly coming from "nowhere," especially noticeable at the end of the piece. The title of this improv is a nod to contemporary composer Charles Ives' work Central Park in the Dark. Central Belgium refers to the concert venue where the piece was recorded (Haine-St-Pierre).

Univers Zero represents one of the longest-living bands in Belgium. It was established in 1974. Drummer Daniel Denis had the brilliant idea to gather together a team of professionals sharing the same taste for music. The band has adopted an instrumental progressive style. Over the last couple of decades, the band has also implemented a series of influences from chamber music - most commonly, chamber music from the 20th century. Even if the line-up changes a lot over the years, the overall sound of UZ remained fairly consistent.

Weißes Vinyl, limitiert auf 300 Exemplare. Unwiederbringlich dem Credo ,born too late" verfallen, loten Traum in ihrer Musik die technischen Grenzen des Zeitreisens neu aus und kreieren dabei einen naiven Gegenentwurf zum Hier und Jetzt in oszillierendem Technicolor. Der Sound des Trios entfacht Reminiszenzen an die Ursprünge von Psychedelia, Acid Rock und Glam, getragen von einem eskapistischen Tunnelblick auf längst vergangene Dekaden des bewusstseinserweiternden Hedonismus. Die ersten Aufnahmen der Band weckten prompt das Interesse des kalifornischen, in Los Angeles ansässigen Psychedelic-Connaisseur-Labels Hypnotic Bridge, welches Anfang 2024 zwei Traum-Songs auf 7" Vinyl veröffentlichte und dazu schrieb: ,Traum präsentieren eine Ode an den mystischen Rausch eines Technicolor-Traums. Aufgeladen durch Vintage-Tape Echos und Ausbrüche von Fuzz-Gitarren, sind ihre Songs dazu gemacht, sich tief in die Doppelhelix-Matrix von mehrfach gespiegelten Gedankenströmen zu winden." Das renomierte englische Musikmagazin ,Shindig!" schrieb dazu: ,Das Debütalbum der drei deutschen Musiker von Traum lässt keinen Zweifel daran, wo ihr Herz schlägt. (...) Der Gesang ist verträumt und distanziert, die Gitarren schlängelnd und kurvenreich." und zog zahlreiche Vergleiche zu obskuren Vertretern des Psychedelic-Pop der späten 1960er Jahre in Großbritannien wie Fire, Tintern Abbey, The Smoke, u.ä. Im Frühjahr 2024 begab sich die Band erneut ins eigene Studio um vier weitere Stücke aufzunehmen, die von Frontmann Helen Lichter komplett analog abgemischt wurden und mit ihrem puristisch verträumten Sound nahtlos an die Erstveröffentlichung anschließen.

Now celebrating 20 years since the original release of 'Salsoul Nugget' in April 2001, M&S enlists Mighty Mouse and Mark Knight for some amazing remix to celebrate this milestone anniversary.

Mighty Mouse pulls out all the stops with expertly chopped vocals and loops that builds intensity with a breakdown that is equal parts intense and euphoric and is sure to get the club absolutely heated.

With a career that spans across two decades, DJ & Grammy-nominated producer and Toolroom head honcho Mark Knight jumps on board the Salsoul Nugget mix package. It's fair to say Mark Knight knows his way around creating records that connect with house music lovers. 2020 highlighted Mark Knight’s more soulful house roots and follows his desire to create timeless dance records that stand the test of time, including the Sunday Shouting sampling 'All 4 Love' (feat Tasty Lopez). 2021 saw the release of ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’ with Beverly Knight and the London Community Gospel Choir. For his mix of Salsoul Nugget, Mark beefs up the drums for the main rooms while being respectful to the original.

The original vocal and original extended vocal mix and original extended Klub Mix are on the flip.

Kool Menthol. That's the name redolent of night and nicotine from Il Est Vilaine's new EP, featuring 4 tracks that send shivers down the spine and warm the body.


The eponymous single unfolds like an infectious groove worthy of an 80s Tokyo nightclub. Moreover, it's still the illustrator Apollo Thomas who signs the group's artworks, tinting their universe with an irresistible Japanese touch. Orientalism? Not entirely, as evidenced by "Revenge," which sounds more like the soundtrack of an electric western, and "Quetzacoatl," falsely tropical, incantatory, and metallic, rising like a Raëlian mantra in the after-hours.


"Ramassama," on the other hand, feels like a chase scene from an Italian horror film with a slightly dazed Dario Argento.
In short, the two rascals from Il Est Vilaine reaffirm their stamp of cowboy clubbers with this disco-like EP where there always remains a strong rock undertone.

Der ehemalige Wild Beast Sänger Hayden Thorpe legt sein drittes Soloalbum vor

Text: Hayden Thorpe hat sein drittes Soloalbum für den 27.September angekündigt. "Ness" ist inspiriert von Orford Ness in Suffolk, einem ehemaligen Militärstandort für die Entwicklung von Waffen während beider Weltkriege und des Kalten Krieges. Das 1993 vom National Trust erworbene und der Verwilderung überlassene Gebiet ist bis heute ein Ort des Paradoxen, des Geheimnisses und der ständigen Entwicklung. Thorpe's "Ness" ist eine Ode an Orford Ness, an den physischen Ort und an das Buch, das ihn inspiriert hat. Mit Wort und Bild haben der britische Bestseller-Autor Robert Macfarlane und Stanley Donwood darin einen kleinen modernen Mythos geschaffen. Teils Novelle, teils Prosagedicht, teils Mysterienspiel - in "Ness" vereinen sich ihre Fähigkeiten zu einer verblüffenden, beunruhigenden Wirkung und Thorpe erweckt die Lieder darin zum Leben. Nachdem sich Thorpe und Macfarlane auf dem Kendal Mountain Literature Festival kennengelernt und dann zusammengearbeitet hatten, entstand die Idee, dass Thorpe ein Album aus Macfarlanes Prosa machen sollte. Sein Exemplar des Buches ist nun mit schwarzer Tinte bedeckt, die Wörter, Zeilen und Sätze bedeckt, um „das Lied darunter zu enthüllen“. Das Video zur ersten Single "They" bei dem Hayden Thorpe und Andy King Regie führten und das in Orford Ness gefilmt wurde, dient als Einführung in "Ness": die Kiesgrube, das Buch und das Album. In den ersten anderthalb Minuten des Videos spricht Thorpe Macfarlanes Worte und bittet uns: „Listen. Hört jetzt zu. Hört auf Ness. Seid still und hört zu, ja? Hört wirklich zu."


[b] a2. WTF Is That?

Permanent Parts is the second album released by visual artist Katharina Grosse (synthesizer) and musician Stefan Schneider (synthesizer; So Sner, To Rococo Rot). Grosse and Schneider were joined at Galerie Max Hetzler on 29 April 2023, performing as part of the Spectrum without Traces exhibition, by three artists who all generally work within improvised music – Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet), Tintin Patrone (trombone and electronics), and Billy Roisz (noise generator, piezo and mini cymbal). Permanent Parts is an extraordinary set of recordings that inhabits multiple zones at once: within its thirty-five minutes, we can hear the interactions of non-idiomatic collective music making, and the electronic glimmers of electro-acoustics, while, at the same time, the music remains untethered to genre.

This capacity to work within liminal zones makes perfect sense when thinking about both Grosse’s and Schneider’s prior work, whether the energetic diffusions and spatial explorations of Grosse’s artistic practice, or the slippery texturology of Schneider’s recent work with electronics. Khorkhordina, Patrone and Roisz all find their own ways into this dynamic, too, and Permanent Parts feels like an equal exchange of presence and contribution; there are no hierarchies here. This might explain the music’s curious sense of development, where several elements are allowed to exist alongside each other, not in direct contact but in a mode that’s somewhere between carefree layering and unconscious juxtaposition. The musicians are listening, but not just with their ears – their skin, their bodies are hearing, too.

When talking about Permanent Parts, Schneider is careful to place it within contexts that are specific, to some degree, but which allow for difference to blossom. “Although it was recorded live, it somehow was not meant to be a documentation of a live event in the first place. The five piece line up that appears on the record had met for the first time only a few hours before the concert took place.” While it might take a leap of faith for all parties to walk together, and so willingly, into a place of such freedom, of such risk, there is clear sympathy here between the musicians, and a shared appreciation of the immediacies of the situation.

It also throws some of our preconceptions about this music out of the window. “The record does not feel like a document of a performance as the music was not pre-composed and there was no reference,” Schneider continues. “Perhaps it was not even an improvisation?” For Grosse, her musical relationship with Schneider similarly shakes free from expectation: “My sound does not exist without Stefan’s. It is neither written down nor is it improvised. It is instantaneous.” When thinking about the five-piece exploration on Permanent Parts and asked to expand on what each musician brings to the table, she continues, “We all love the thrill of an unknown encounter and we seem to have a need for building connections through the thicket of our voices.”

There’s a curious phrase on the back cover of the album, before the artists are listed: “Wir sind eine Batterie / We are a battery.” This sums up the spirit of Permanent Parts. Schneider recalls that Grosse said this phrase to the musicians at the start of the performance. Grosse explains further, “The figure of the battery referred to our placement in the space building out a small circle facing one another from where the sound could spill into the impressive volume of the gallery.” The battery as an arrangement of similar devices; but I also think of charge, and the conversion of chemical energy, and of fortification. It’s a poetic metaphor that sums up much of the febrile pleasure of the music contained on these Permanent Parts.

– Jon Dale, Melbourne

Permanent Parts is the second album released by visual artist Katharina Grosse (synthesizer) and musician Stefan Schneider (synthesizer; So Sner, To Rococo Rot, Mapstation). Grosse and Schneider were joined at Galerie Max Hetzler on 29 April 2023, performing as part of the Spectrum without Traces exhibition, by three artists who all generally work within improvised music - Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet), Tintin Patrone (trombone and electronics), and Billy Roisz (noise generator, piezo and mini cymbal). Permanent Parts is an extraordinary set of recordings that inhabits multiple zones at once: within its thirty-five minutes, we can hear the interactions of non-idiomatic collective music making, and the electronic glimmers of electro-acoustics, while, at the same time, the music remains untethered to genre.

Devant la porte des étoiles ist ein Portal, gegossen aus den uralten Steinen urzeitlicher Riten und kosmischer Verzweiflung. Dieses Debüt von GRAVENOIRE, das im lebendigen Schmelztiegel der Proberäume geschmiedet wurde und von den korrodierenden Einflüssen der Moderne unberührt ist, kanalisiert die nicht sanktionierten, ungezügelten Energien der Geisterwelt und des Tellurischen. Von den einleitenden Beschwörungsriten der instrumentalen Pavens bis zur hingebungsvollen Trostlosigkeit von Granit ist jeder Track wie ein Foliant, der mit der Tinte der Rebellion, der Mystik und dem unstillbaren Durst nach Transzendenz geschrieben ist. GRAVENOIRE lädt den Hörer ein, die vergessenen Pfade unter der Sternenkuppel zu beschreiten und sich mit den alten Kräften zu vereinen, die in den verborgenen Adern der Erde pulsieren.

Poet's Tooth - the band's second album for Kill Rock Stars - steers the duo's whimsical western- tinted quality into fascinating new directions: cinematic- pop balladry on the autoharp- tinged opener "Young & Free," gently clip- clopping Americana-folk on "Hard Hearted Way," and bass-driven funk on the wry "Eggs In One Basket." With help from producer Danny Reisch, Tele Novella have crafted their most genre-rich, poetic, and sincere album yet.

As Tele Novella, Chronis (who performs in the beloved and rekindled indie pop band Voxtrot) and Ribbons (who previously performed in the long-running “Victorian punk” project Agent Ribbons) have spent their past two albums creating "Medieval outsider country" on 2016’s House Of Souls and 2021’s Merlynn Belle. Poet’s Tooth – the band’s second album for Kill Rock Stars – steers the duo’s whimsical western-tinted quality into fascinating new directions: cinematic-pop balladry on the autoharp-tinged opener “Young & Free,” gently clip-clopping Americana-folk on “Hard-Hearted Way,” and bass-driven funk on the wry “Eggs In One Basket.” With help from producer Danny Reisch, Tele Novella have crafted their most genre-rich, poetic, and sincere album yet.

Releasing as a vinyl 45, Bad Night is the lead offering from The Cromagnon Band's new album Mode. This is the band's second LP and the first of theirs to be released on BBE Music. Mode itself is an album of cinematic and psychedelic dark Funk tinged and tinted with Nordic psych/jazz, classical, boom-bap Hip-Hop breaks and riff heavy rock. Bad Night is backed with Quadrant, a stand alone track that won't be on the album, thus making the vinyl single release a unique addition to the music lover's record collection. That said, these are are two tracks which give both a genuine flavour of the forthcoming album as well as the band's own musical influences and heritage as instrumentalists and producers. The Cromagnon Band's recording technique of taking breaks, riffs and melodies from favourite tracks and then improvising from there with completely live jam sessions in the studio allows them to record in their distinct and trademark 'reverse engineering' style. The trio of Drummer Tom Watt, Bassist Lenny Walker and multi-instrumentalist Bert Page work by making music as a team, playing for hours and united by a love of Hip-Hop breaks and psychedelic Jazz/Rock/Funk and classical music. They choose to record only instrumentals which allows space for Bert to weave intricate soundscape with Fender Rhodes, Moog, Sax and Clarinet over the beats and breaks they have written from their improvised jams. Bad Night b/w Quadrant are the lead releases from The Cromagnon Band's new album Mode. They will be released as a 7" vinyl and digitally.

For fans of - Darko, Bad Omens, Deftones, Alice In Chains On tour in the US April- May 2024 w/ Attila + Born Of Osiris Band names go a long way in helping paint a figurative picture in the listeners mind of what to expect before one ever hits “play.” When it comes to Extortionist, you think crime—you think gritty, raw, merciless and unsavory and maybe, just maybe, a little sprinkling of suaveness. When it comes to the Pacific Northwest’s resident moshslingers, those premonitions from their name are exactly what you get. As a band who have proven themselves exemplary at styles of heavy music ranging from downtempo deathcore to grunge- tinted metal, Extortionist are more than just a jack-of-all-trades; they’re masters. Utilizing bold, roaring guitars overtop crushing, steamrolling percussion and vocals that run the gamut from guttural to grating, pitched singing and topped off with—you guessed it—a now-infamous dodgeball-smack snare, Extortionist have proven that not only are they incredible at what they do, they’re a band that the heavy scene just can’t go without.

Limited vinyl edition of 300 copies on 180g white vinyl with download card. Deleted Scene, the 8th studio album from UK producer Stumbleine, overflows with beautiful nostalgia-tinged electronica. The album is steeped with cloud-like beauty, with opener I Can Stop Anytime I Like fusing addictive sampled vocals with soft, glassy guitars, as if a reflecting pool of the listeners' memories. Cinderhaze ripples that pool with a more driving, magnetic force, shifting and pulling its emotional weight in cyclic waves. Ursa Minor Sleeps Forever is fittingly sleepy, circling soft slow synth arpeggios in a dreamy haze, a sound built upon by Somnia to an epiphany-like string bed, never straying too far from Stumbleine's serene haven of melodic grace. On Catastrophette Stumbleine crafts a more dramatic and poignant web of sound, as if running through the memories created by the rest of Deleted Scene. The album as a whole is an escape to a dream-state of Stumbleine's making, captivating, yet familiar, and completely enveloping. According to Peter, "Deleted scene refers to the memories that play over and over inside your own head, replaying hazy copies of hazy copies that evolve into a bittersweet fever dream. Everybody has their own unique collection of deleted scenes slowly distorting and fading away." 'Stumbleine is the alias of Peter Cooper. With roots in the UK post rock scene, the reclusive producer began blending slow dream-like pop with fractured lo-fi beats as Stumbleine in 2012. Melancholic rnb vocals ebb and flow above submerged guitar ballads. Sand blasted samples intertwine with broken beats to create music with a nostalgic fragile warmth. Stumbleine is known for a DIY ethic, releasing music directly to fans or via the independent label Monotreme Records.'

Love Wonderland - The Best Twilights of Love Wonderland (CAM027)

Formed in 2018 by Takujuro Iwade, film director and drummer Kaya Koike and Mayumi Sakurai with the theme of " Lovers Rock from the other side," Love Wonderland performs reggae with a unique interpretation influenced by psychedelia and synth-pop.

The Best Twilights LP compiles tracks from three demos released between 2019 and 2024 and reflects their full spectrum from electronic dub to pop tinted reinterpretation of their peers.
Considered as the best kept secret of the Japanese dub scene, they continue to grow at each live performance with faith and passion.
Love Wonderland's main aspiration is to keep their motto alive.

Mastered by Krikor Kouchain and limited to 400 copies.

Turquoise Black Splatter Vinyl

IN SCHWARZER TINTE: Neues OCHMONEKS Album geht unter die Haut!
Neues von den Düsseldorfer OCHMONEKS: Zweieinhalb Jahre nach der Veröffentlichung ihres dritten Studio-Albums “GEGENWIND” kündigt sich mit "IN SCHWARZER TINTE” nun das vierte und wohl vielseitigste Werk der
Düsseldorfer an. Nicht nur die Fans der Band dürfen gespannt sein. “IN SCHWARZER TINTE” macht zwar genau da weiter, wo “GEGENWIND” aufhört - allerdings übertrifft sich die facettenreiche mit Band mit ihrem vierten Opus erneut selbst.

Musikalisch ist “IN SCHWARZER TINTE“ gewohnt vielfältig. Zu hören sind neben energiegeladem deutschem Rock auch harte Metal Riffs und emotionale Akustikgitarren. Sogar eine straighte Rock’n’Roll Nummer, die an die allerbesten Zeiten von Marius Müller-Westernhagen erinnert, hat es auf das Album geschafft.
Lyrisch landen die OCHMONEKS wie gewohnt direkt auf dem Punkt - die Hörer dürfen sich auf Emotionen, autobiographische Erlebnisse und unmissverständliche Aussagen freuen. Dabei greifen gleich drei der 11 brandneuen Songs inhaltlich auf verschiedenste, kreative Weise das Thema Tättowierungen auf - ein sicherer Grund für die Wahl des Albumtitels.
“IN SCHWARZER TINTE” steht jedoch nicht nur für die Tattoos, die einem das Leben in Höhen und Tiefen verpasst, sondern auch für die Verbindlichkeit, mit der die OCHMONEKS seit 2015 unterwegs sind. Die Band macht konsequent einen Schritt nach dem anderen und hat auf ihrem Weg bereits so manche Hürde genommen.

New Members presents ECO 1, an expansive 14-track double LP which includes music recorded in several locations and countries between the years of 2013-2023, some tracks of which have been excavated from saltwater-soaked drives. The LP presents a mesh of styles which obscure the boundaries between New Age, Ambient and Soundtrack to Country-Inspired Breaks, Vaporwave-Tinted Downtempo, and more. Weather Music is the mood. ECO 1 invites the listener into a strangely-familiar liminal soundscape.

"Back in the 1990s original Verve pressings of this record were hot items pushed into prominence in great part by write-ups in The Absolute Sound, particularly by my friend Frank Doris. I found a few, and even a few in pretty good condition, but none of them begin to compare to this double 45 RPM set that offers more of everything, particularly transparency and instrumental separation. ...Ella's on a microphone with a slightly rising high end but if it sounds icy, don't blame the recording or the mastering. It's your system. If it's well-balanced and your cartridge is a good tracker, the vocal transparency and clarity are spooky and the sibilant articulation is precise. These double LPs cut at Sterling Sound use the original tapes, not copies of the original tapes and the clarity and transparency coupled with QRP's drop-dead silent pressings are remarkable. The original pre-MGM buyout LP has a pleasingly nostalgic quality and the added warmth produces a bit more room sound, but in my opinion it can't compare to this reissue unless you like hearing things through rose-tinted loudspeakers. Elegantly produced, arranged and recorded and easy to recommend ..." Music = 9/11; Sound = 9/11 - Michael Fremer, February 15, 2013.

Fourteen numbers from the heyday of swing, composed sometime between 1930 and 1945 - played and sung time and time again in ballrooms, or on the radio to advertise biscuits or war bonds, were recorded by Ella in completely new and personal interpretations in 1961. No one should be put off by the rather unfortunate cover. Clap Hands... is absolutely top notch as regards musicality, perfect recording quality, superb accompaniment by a small ensemble, with room for improvisations; it offers a wonderful opportunity to discover something new in these evergreens, despite the occasionally banal lyrics. The songs of this recording conjure up bygone days, with listeners in the 21st century being offered a highly personal homage to one of the most successful periods in the 100-year history of jazz.