Search:west

Tauche ein ins Herz des Londoner West Ends mit Paddington The Musical – Original Cast Recording, das
all die Wärme, Magie und den liebenswerten Humor von Paddingtons neuem Abenteuer einfängt. Inspiriert
von Michael Bonds zeitlosen Geschichten und den preisgekrönten STUDIOCANAL-Filmen präsentiert das
Musical neue Songs und Liedtexte von Tom Fletcher, ein Buch von Jessica Swale und die Regie von Luke
Sheppard.
Von mitreißenden Ensemble-Nummern bis hin zu gefühlvollen Balladen feiert der Soundtrack Familie, Freundschaft und die Suche nach dem eigenen Platz in der Welt. Begleite Paddington und die Browns durch
spannende Momente, herzliche Begegnungen - und natürlich ganz viel Marmelade.
Mit dem gesamten West-End-Ensemble aufgenommen, bringt dieses Album den Charme der Windsor Gardens direkt zu dir nach Hause. Erhältlich auf CD und als Sammler-Vinyl ist es ein freudiges Erinnerungsstück
für Fans jeden Alters - der perfekte Begleiter für Londons liebenswertesten Bären.

San Francisco hardcore stalwarts Western Addiction return with Psychedelic Munitions, a high-octane successor to Frail Bray that captures the explosive fervor and technical precision of their Bay Area roots. Recorded and mixed by Scott Evans at Sharkbite Studios and Antisleep Audio, then mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, the album delivers a massive, "live-in-the-room" sound that avoids modern polish in favor of visceral, room-shaking grit. Despite the time between releases, the band bridges the gap with a collection of songs that feel both seasoned and dangerously urgent. Psychedelic Munitions stands as a definitive masterclass in authentic California punk, honoring the legacy of the Gilman Street scene while pushing the boundaries of the genre's aggressive potential. Since forming in 2003, WA has defied easy categorization, the band crafting songs that comfortably draw from a wide swath of rock 'n' roll while retaining punk's ferocity with a hardcore feel. Fat Mike often lists WAs "Cognicide" (2005) as one of the greatest releases on the label, also calling it one of the best hardcore albums he's ever heard. Joey Cape from Lagwagon has also stated that it's his favorite album released on Fat Wreck Chords.

San Francisco style driving techno tinged with dark dubs and disco from two of the town’s most explosive producers.

Brick & Zero Idea represent the same city, blazing their own paths in San Francisco’s heady techno scene. Both manage their own labels / parties, Brick with Perfect Dark and Vitamin1000 a la Zero Idea respectively, but are no strangers in the studio together.

First up, two full-bodied techno timebombs from the duo: a mega sub’n’dubchord special alert on A1’s “West End” paired with a more refined, smoother, slippier companion on the A2 “No Room For Error”. Combined-strengths banger collabs for different moments and moods of a night.

Sticking with the theme, we see contrasting solo tracks on the flip side as well. Brick’s “Sigil” spotlights the producer’s laser focus for darker, hypnotic, full force synths in impeccable arrangement, while “Xhale” ends this release on an upliftingly funky bassline disco tip showcasing Zero Idea’s ease at blending techno sensibilities with French House techniques.

"Blinded by Fame", das zweite Studioalbum von Dutch Interiors, ist ein Fan-Favorit. Es wurde noch nie zuvor auf Vinyl gepresst. Die sechsköpfige Band aus Long Beach begleitet sich schon seit fast zwei Jahrzehnten. Jack Nugent, Conner Reeves, Shane & Hayden Barton, Davis Stewart und Noah Kurtz waren alle Freunde aus Kindertagen, und die Band ist das Ergebnis einer kreativen Verbindung, die durch bereits bestehendes Vertrauen und vertraute Verbundenheit entstanden ist. Man kann die unterschiedlichen Stile und Persönlichkeiten der Bandmitglieder an den Songs erkennen, die sie unabhängig voneinander schreiben, bevor sie sie der gesamten Band vorstellen, wo die Stücke oft zu ganz neuen Formen heranwachsen. Trotz dieser individuellen Herangehensweise an das Songwriting beschreiben sie sich gegenseitig als ,Zweige desselben Lebensstamms", deren aufeinanderprallende Einflüsse und Erfahrungen alle in die Songs einfließen. Mit Einflüssen, die von Ambient über Southern Rock und Jazz bis hin zu Dance-Musik reichen, wandelt sich die Band und oszilliert zwischen Alternative Country, kantigem Indie-Rock und Anklängen an dissonante Ambient-Klänge, während sie dennoch wie eine Band klingt, die sowohl ihre eigene private Sprache spricht als auch diese in etwas Universelles übersetzt. Nach der Veröffentlichung ihres jüngsten Albums ,Moneyball" und einer neuen EP, ,It's Glass", über Fat Possum ist Dutch Interior gekommen, um zu bleiben. Lob für Dutch Interior kommt von Pitchfork, Rolling Stone und anderen.

An improvisational musician, composer and poet, Titi Robin has travelled extensively since the early 1980s – from Brittany to Catalonia, India to Morocco – crafting his own musical aesthetic. Throughout his journey, he has built bridges between his native Anjou, where he still resides, and the Gypsy cultures of many lands. Neither a compilation nor a mere summary, this selection offers a certain perspective on his body of work, which has earned him praises by luminaries like Peter Gabriel or Brian Eno.

Despite his many travels, it would be a mistake to view Titi Robin as an explorer of the "elsewhere". While he plays the guitar, the bouzouq, or the oud, he does not seek to imitate a Gypsy, Syrian, or Greek style; rather, he plays in a voice that is uniquely his own—a syncretism of his personal journey, from his teenage years playing at Moroccan community celebrations to his collaborations with Gypsy musicians from Southeast France and India. In Angers, in the Roseraie neighbourhood, he was immersed in the rhythms of Moroccan chaabi from an early age. Later, he frequented the gypsy neighbourhood of Saint-Jacques in Perpignan. These encounters nourished an aesthetic territory he likes to call ‘Titistan’, which includes Perpignan and Rajasthan. He views Mediterranean culture as "a bridge, a crossroads, a network of long-standing links woven between North and South, East and West." In this selection, you will hear the palmas marking the compas of the Catalan rumba; strings enveloping the melody of the bouzouq, answered at times by the clarinet or the kaval flute popular in the Balkans and Anatolia.

Produced between 1993 and 2011 these songs have been fully remastered and are presented here for the first time on vinyl, with extensive liner notes.

Originally released in 2014 on cassette and digital only, Till Human Voices Wake Us was the first album by the Iranian artist on Umor Rex. It became a key work in our catalog, and now, 12 years later, it is available on vinyl for the first time. This is the first in a series of four special, limited reissues to be released in 2026 to mark the 20th anniversary of Umor Rex.

Till Human Voices Wake Us comprises ten tracks with a clear and carefully structured script, based on poems by T.S. Eliot, highlighting Siavash Amini’s work as a composer for theater, film, and art exhibitions. His music deliberately leans toward ambient expressions, at times recalling Morricone’s Western film scores. The interplay between synthetic and digital elements, together with multilayered, soul-healing electric guitar passages, creates an opulent sonic texture that moves between dramatic and melancholic moments with a finely constructed, fluid dynamism.

There is an emotional depth in each piece, guided by tonal variations and shifting textures that turn the music into a mental journey, with landscapes, a sense of cold resolution, and the quiet inevitability of an ending. Till Human Voices Wake Us was Amini’s first album on a non-Iranian label. Following this release, he has also published work, in addition to Umor Rex, on labels such as Room40, Hallow Ground, and Opal Tapes, among others, and is now considered one of the most prominent figures in Iran’s experimental music scene.

All music by Siavash Amini. Original master by Nicholas Szczepanik. Remastered for vinyl by Rafael Anton Irisarri. Artwork by Daniel Castrejón.

"Already established within Iran’s music scene, Siavash Amini has crafted a powerful signature sound that blends meticulously assembled ambient synthesis with languid electric guitar melodies, recalling Lanois and Eno’s classic Apollo." — THE QUIETUS (Tristan Bath)

Anders als das 7 Jahre zurückliegende Album Hill West, das sehr zurückhaltend produziert war, gibt es auf dem neuen Album Alchemy von Todd Thibaud kaum leise, nachdenkliche, akustische Americana-Töne, sondern es ist - ganz im Gegenteil - lauter, voll elektrischer Gitarrenrock mit einer dementsprechend ausgerüsteten 5-Mann-Combo aufgenommen! Mit seinem lauten, dynamischen Sound, den süffigen Gitarrenläufen und rockigen Bandarrangements ist das Musik mit einem klaren Pop/Rock-Auftrag und einem erstklassigen Mix zwischen Westcoast, Heartland & Prairie Rock auf Basis von handfestem Singer/Songwritertum und melodieseligem Indie Roots/Guitar Pop, und so besitzt Alchemy die Grundtugenden all der Heartbreakers, Wallflowers, Jayhawks, BoDeans und Gin Blossoms mit einer ordentlichen Prise Springsteen/Mellencamp/Hiatt & Co. Aber das Endergebnis trägt natürlich die deutliche Handschrift von Todd Thibaud! Alchemy kommt mit geschmackvollem Artwork und komplett mit allen wichtigen Credits und sämtlichen Texten. Alle 10 Songs wurden von Todd Thibaud geschrieben und in derselben Quintettbesetzung eingespielt, die uns im April und Mai 2026 auch live begeistern wird: der Meister selber an der elektrischen Rhythmusgitarre (mitunter auch etwas Tasten) und mit seiner einzigartigen, sonoren Stimme, dazu die ewigen Mitstreiter Thomas Juliano an der Electric Lead (auch E-Piano, Chamberlin) sowie Multiinstrumentalist Sean Staples (hier auch mehr elektrische Leadgitarre als Banjo, Mandoline und Keyboards), dazu die Rhythm Section Ed Valauskas am Bass (plus Keyboards) und Drummer Chris Anzalone; alle beteiligen sich durchweg am prächtigen Harmoniegesang.

For two decades, Gun Outfit has been a band defined less by genre than by continuity, patience, and a commitment to making music that reflects their lived experience.
Formed in Olympia, Washington in 2006 but long since rooted in Los Angeles, the group has evolved from a raw duo into a quietly formidable five-piece, their sound growing from scrappy post-punk beginnings into something spacious yet intimate, and always underpinned by an experimental edge.
On Process & Reality, Gun Outfit return with their most ambitious and immersive work to-date, a sprawling 80-minute double album shaped by time, environment, and philosophy. Recorded over the course of a single month in the late summer of 2020, on an 80-acre ranch in Pine Flat, California, while a massive forest fire burned less than ten miles away, the seeds of these songs were stark and strange.
Its title, Process & Reality, draws from the central work of philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, whose philosophy places intuition, experience, creativity, and relationality at the center of existence.
The band’s current lineup reflects both longevity and openness. Sharp and Keith remain the band’s primary architects, joined by longtime drummer Daniel Swire, multi-instrumentalist Henry Barnes, and bassist Kayla Cohen. Additional collaborators include Chris Cohen, Warren Lee, and Danny Sasaki all of whom add further depth, leaving subtle fingerprints across the album.
Musically, the album expands the band’s palette without abandoning its core sensibility. Dulcimer, autoharp, sitar, melodica, keyboards, homemade electronics, and a wide range of acoustic and electric textures appear throughout. The sound is mellow yet expansive, songs move between fragility and hefty atmospheric passages.
Influences surface obliquely rather than overtly. Elements of reggae and dub inform the production’s spatial sensibility. Echoes of long-form European jam bands coexist with sharp post-punk. British folk traditions, American country, and classic West Coast songwriting drift in and out of focus; the band is never afraid to lead or follow.

Ten years ago, Anderson .Paak didn't just release an album; he staged a full-scale takeover of the soul and hip-hop landscape. Released on January 15, 2016, Malibu served as the definitive arrival of an artist who had spent years grinding in the underground before a star-making turn on Dr. Dre’s Compton. While his previous work hinted at his potential, Malibu was the moment the world met the "Cheeky Andy" persona in full—a virtuosic drummer, a raspy-voiced crooner, and a sharp-witted rapper all rolled into one. The album is a sprawling, sun-drenched journey through the Southern California coast, blending 1970s funk, church-reared gospel, and gritty boom-bap into something that feels both nostalgic and entirely futuristic. With a heavyweight production lineup including 9th Wonder, Madlib, Kaytranada, and Hi-Tek, the record maintains a warm, analog texture that was a breath of fresh air in an increasingly digital era. It’s an album that breathes, full of intentional imperfections and the kind of "in-the-pocket" groove that can only come from a seasoned live performer. Beyond the infectious, dance-floor-ready energy of tracks like "Am I Wrong" and "Come Down," the album is a deeply autobiographical masterwork. .Paak uses the 65-minute runtime to unpack his life story with startling clarity, touching on his mother’s gambling addiction, his father’s incarceration, and his own brushes with homelessness with a sense of resilience that never feels heavy-handed. He weaves these heavy themes through a lens of triumph, grounded by vintage surfing documentary samples that give the project its cinematic, coastal atmosphere. It’s a celebratory record born out of struggle, anchored by his impeccable technicality on the drums and a guest list—featuring ScHoolboy Q, Rapsody, and The Game—that feels hand-picked to complement his specific brand of West Coast swagger. A decade later, Malibu stands as a modern classic and the blueprint for the soulful revivalism that would eventually lead .Paak to global superstardom and Grammy-winning heights. It remains a testament to the idea that the most profound music often comes from the most personal places, proving ten years on that the best way to move forward is to stay rooted in the groove.

Different strokes for different folks. The celebrative 11-track 'xoxo' compilation, originally pressed as a 3xLP, is now also available as three separate EPs. No pussyfootin' on EP 2. M.S.L.'s Hydrolic brings Canadian electro with a pinch of Dutch Westcoast salt. RAFF takes the wheel on Radiant and drifts between break-y, 4x4 and IDM. Percussion connaisseur Tala Drum Corps delivers a well-deserved breather on Gargoyle, with basslines that leap like frogs. As we lose track of time, GEN-Y's SkyStalker shows how a midnight-minded groove gets pulled along by lush progressions.

Für Kevin Morby ist das ,kleine Weite" der weite Himmel, das einfache Leben, seine Herkunft aus dem Mittleren Westen und alle Pflichten, Bescheidenheit, Vertrautheit und Isolation: das Land, die Menschen und die Teile davon, die in ihm stecken. ,Der Mittlere Westen hat etwas Unbeabsichtigtes Musikalisches an sich: Zikaden, die in den Bäumen zirpen, ein vorbeifahrender Zug, eine Tornadosirene, die losgeht", erklärt Morby. ,Wenn man genau hinhört, gibt es diese fast unheilvollen Geräusche unter dem weiten Himmel - seine Hässlichkeit und seine Schönheit und wie beide oft gleichzeitig zusammenwirken. Und obwohl der Mittlere Westen technisch gesehen keine Ödnis ist, ist er meine Ödnis." Little Wide Open ist der Titel von Kevin Morbys achtem Studioalbum, produziert von Aaron Dessner. Im Sommer 2024 hatte Dessner Morby gebeten, The National bei ihrem Konzert im Londoner Crystal Palace Park zu unterstützen. Kurz darauf wandte sich Dessner, der gerade eine Glückssträhne hatte, nachdem er Alben für Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran und Gracie Abrams produziert hatte, wandte sich an Morby und teilte ihm mit, dass er gerne sein nächstes Album produzieren würde. Anfang 2025 begannen sie mit den Aufnahmen in Aarons Long Pond Studio in Stuyvesant, New York, und beendeten sie im September desselben Jahres. Das Album, an dem eine Vielzahl von Mitwirkenden wie Dessner, der mehrere Instrumente spielt, Amelia Meath, Andrew Barr, Justin Vernon, Katie Gavin, Lucinda Williams, Meg Duffy und anderen, wurde von Morby als dritter Teil einer Trilogie nach ,Sundowner" (2020) und ,This Is a Photograph" (2022) beschrieben, in denen er seine Zeit im Mittleren Westen nach seiner Rückkehr nach Kansas City dokumentierte. Dieses Mal wertet Dessners Produktion Morbys Aufnahmen auf, ohne dabei den Fokus auf die Songs selbst zu verlieren. Es gibt eine neu gewonnene Zuversicht und Klarheit sowohl in Morbys Songwriting als auch in Dessners Produktion, die an Tom Pettys Klassiker Wildflowers aus dem Jahr 1994 erinnert. Da Morby mittlerweile hauptsächlich in LA lebt, hat sich die Atmosphäre, die Little Wide Open durchzieht, gegenüber seinen Vorgängern etwas verändert. Wie Rachel Kushner in ihrem Begleittext zum Album über Morby schreibt: ,Es geht um Zeit, um das Gefühl, dass er sich von der Nostalgie und dem verlorenen, aber schönen Kampf, an der Vergangenheit festzuhalten, gelöst hat. Er hat akzeptiert, dass die Zeit unaufhörlich fließt und man sie nicht aufhalten kann. Stattdessen hat er das Gefühl, dass er auf ihr reitet. Er ist Passagier der Zeit."

Presse: Eclipsed Interview, Jazzthing, Folker, OX, TAZ World Music, Bad Alchemy, Westzeit, Stadtrevue, Saarbrücker Zeitung, TIP Berlin, Zitty Konzert Tipp, Musikexpress, Choices, Journal Frankfurt, Süddeutsche Zeitung, FAZ, ...

Radio: WDR Cosmo, ByteFM Tour presentation, DLF Kultur Tonart Interview, BR 2 Nachtmix & Kulturwelt, DLF Corso, DLR Kultur Tonart, Radioeins Planet Fruit and other shows, BR 2 Zündfunk, NDR Info Nachtclub Radio Globo and Domingo, Radio Bremen Nordwestradio Sounds, SR 2 Voyages, NDR Kultur Neo, WDR 3 tba, HR 2 Hörbar, MDR Kultur, RBB kulturradio Musik der Kontinente, ByteFM, M94,5 Transglobal Express, Radio Querfunk Orsinos Lied, Oldenburg 1, Radio Dreyeckland, Freies Radio Stuttgart, Radio Darmstadt, tide Radio, Radio Corax, bermudafunk, Radio X, Radio Lora....


Türkischer Folk-Psych-Rock aus Amsterdam der brennt und funkt und treibt und unwiderstehlich außergewöhnlich ist. Wenn türkische Folk-Music Psych-Rock und Elektro-Pop trifft entstehen Altin Gün. Mit ihrem außergewöhnlichen Spagat zwischen scheinbar komplett unterschiedlichen Stilen gelingt dieser Band, die türkisch klingt, von deren sechs Mitglieder aber nur eines in der Türkei geboren wurde, etwas wirklich Außergewöhnliches. Als türkischen Psych Folk bezeichnen sich diese Niederländer selbst, und betonen, dass sie ihre Musik im Kern als Folk verstehen, freilich ein solcher, dem man die tiefe Liebe zur Musik der funkigen 60er und 70er anmerkt. Sehr groovig, elektrisch und voll explosiver psychedelischer Strukturen kommen die türkischen Stücke daher. Lieder, die zum Teil schon unzählige Male gehört und interpretiert wurden, die zur musikalischen Vergangenheit der Türkei gehören, ihr Erbe sind, aber völlig neu klingen. Bandgründer und Bassist von Altin Gün, Jasper Verhulst, betont, wie wichtig das identitätsstiftende Potential der Lieder ist, dass man diesem aber etwas Einzigartiges hinzufügen wollte, was die Hörer innehalten lässt. "Die Lieder stammen aus einer langen Tradition. Das ist Musik, die versucht, eine Stimme für Viele zu sein. (... Und dann) brauchen wir etwas, das die Leute dazu bringt zuzuhören, als wäre es das erste Mal." Der Sound von Altin Gün klingt gleichermaßen traditionell wie vollständig zeitgenössisch und zeigt auf fast schon märchenhafte Art und Weise, dass Musik ein kulturell durchlässiges, experimentelles Medium ist, in dem uns immer wieder wunderschöne Überraschungen begegnen. Mit "Gece", ihrem zweiten Album, hat sich die Band nun endgültig als unverzichtbarer Interpret des anatolischen Rock- und Folk-Erbes etabliert und ist eine absolut unverwechselbare Stimme in der aufstrebenden globalen Psych-Rock-Szene geworden.

• “Guerrilla Girls!”, Ace Records’ much-anticipated first release of 2023, takes us on a thrilling ride from punk’s mid-70s origins, via the left-field post-punk groups, jangly female combos, grunge bands and vigilante Riot Grrrls of the 80s and 90s, to the she-punk bands of recent years – a five-decade alternative to the macho hegemony of rock.

• The collection highlights songs that emerged out of a dynamic underculture of female creative expression. What unites the featured artists is a healthy disregard for the way the music industry ties up its female performers into pretty, neo-liberal packages. From Patti Smith, universal mother of the punk movement, to the Bags, Bikini Kill and Skinny Girl Diet, this music is anti-A&R. Including lesser-known names such as San Francisco street punk Mary Monday and London-based experimentalists pragVec, it shows that, rather than being a few novelty bands existing on the margins, these performers represent a stronger, more three-dimensional version of the female experience.

• Glorious resistance was on display in the first wave of UK female-fronted punk bands. Poly Styrene’s charged vocals on X-Ray Spex’s ‘Iama Poseur’, for instance, were a deliberate refusal to be a pretty punkette. With 15 year-old Lora Logic on saxophone, X-Ray Spex epitomised a fearless, self-defined agency that was at odds with the pastel shades and flowery, submissive Laura Ashley version of 1970s girlhood. By the early 80s, there was a hugely vibrant scene propelled by the diverse rhythms and voices of post-punk feminism. Lora Logic had left X-Ray Spex to form the interweaving textures of Essential Logic, the Mo-dettes mangled ska and off-kilter pop, and Birmingham band Au Pairs sliced political rigour into their lyrics and funky guitar work.

• Some female artists took that elemental energy into pop, creating pop-punk with a twist. We’ve Got A Fuzzbox And We’re Gonna Use It!! made a statement on music technology and female power with a cheeky play on words. Their song ‘Rules And Regulations’ shows that what Guerrilla Girls do well is debunking – taking genres of popular song and turning them inside out – like the way the Pandoras and the Pussywillows would amp up the driving beat and high vocals of the 60s girl group style, and subvert it with a DIY garage element.

• In its fanzine culture, use of montage and DIY music, 90s Riot Grrrl bands such as Bikini Kill and Bratmobile drew direct inspiration from 70s punk, articulated through the prism of Third Wave feminism. Too often, Riot Grrrl gigs were invaded by men intent on heckling “the enemy”. Liz Naylor, manager of British Riot Grrrl band Huggy Bear, says that their concerts became war zones. From the US grunge and Riot Grrrl scenes emerged more female instrumentalists, with bands such as L7 and Babes In Toyland proving that it was possible to recruit cutting-edge drummers, bass players and guitarists. Lori Barbero, whose relentless power drumming is a major element of Babes In Toyland, took the one instrument that has been a staple of male rock’n’roll and made it her muse.

• In the 2000s a new generation of girl-punk bands drew on the Riot Grrrl underculture to form their own sound. London trio the Tuts refashioned C86, Riot Grrrl and lush dream pop on songs like the ironically titled ‘Let Go Of The Past’, while the Regrettes injected shots of ska and doo wop into their explosive West Coast pop-punk. What began with Patti Smith and 70s punk has grown into a vast, spikey infrastructure of girl music. Many take inspiration from their foremothers, like Skinny Girl Diet whose vigilante feminism and punk distortion has been championed in return by Viv Albertine of the Slits. As long as these female artists stay aware of their musical vision and what they are trying to express – in a sense, A&R themselves – the underculture will continue to grow and flower. And this “Guerrilla Girls!” compilation is a celebration of that power.


• The back sleeve of the release features a scene-setting introductory essay by Lucy O’Brien (author of She Bop: The Definitive History Of Women In Popular Music). Each of the two discs come in a swanky inner bag containing a track commentary by compiler Mick Patrick (Ace Records’ long-serving champion of female artists of all persuasions) and exclusive interviews with many of the featured artists by Vim Renault and Lene Cortina (founders of the Punk Girl Diaries webzine).

Comprised of double bassist Julian Tjon Sack Kie, drummer/percussionist Mill Voyance, and harpist Ranie Ribeiro, this marks their debut 7" release as Sons of Jumira. Recorded live at NOIIS in Zurich, Switzerland. Taking inspiration from the West African Mandinka concept of Jaliya, the practice and art form of the Jali (griot), as well as the Mandinka tuning Tomora. These elements converge in a sound rooted in storytelling and musical expression.

London trio, thredd’s, acclaimed 2025 debut ‘It’s Lovely, Come On In’ available for the first time on vinyl. thredd is the latest project from musicians Will Lister, Max Winter, and Imogen and The Knife who came together as the first (and only) band formed during the infamous Laylow residency in West London.

Over the course of 4 weeks in November 2023, the trio set up a makeshift studio in Laylow’s basement venue and wrote music to be performed live each Wednesday, embracing a raw, immediate approach with no room for overthinking. The result is a sound they call “cold pop”, a mix of atmospheric textures, sharp melodies, and emotional depth. Since then, they’ve built on their diverse strengths having already played the ICA and supported Nourished by Time across the UK.

Having shared a studio in South London together since 2020, the trio have collaborated and cross-pollinated their musical approach while taking time to hone their individual crafts; Will’s drum programming and production, Max’s ear for harmony and composition, Immy’s lyrics, melody and vocal delivery. With music that both feels familiar yet boundary pushing, ear catching and intriguing, it becomes a true sum of its parts celebrating the individualism of each musician.

The album ‘It’s Lovely, Come On In’ moves between late-night indie, synth- driven pop, and stripped-back songwriting with emotional weight. Tracks like ‘Horseshow’ showcase Will’s tight post-triphop inspired beats, Max’s harmonic instincts, and Immy’s evocative vocals. ‘We Don’t Speak Anymore’ came together in a day, capturing a sharp, defiant energy. ‘Something For My Head’ is a late-night, anxious love song, while the title track has a defiant repetitive energy. The lead single ‘Party’ bursts with bold, euphoric energy, and ‘Funny Girl’ strips back to something vulnerable, inspired by a haunting vocal sample and personal notes.

The record channels the layered, mysterious atmosphere of Laylow’s basement, shaped by the building’s winding corridors and hidden rooms. Themes of fatigue, release, and creative survival run throughout, born from a pressure-free, collaborative process.

‘It’s Lovely, Come On In’ feels honest and immediate, a collection made to capture a moment, not polish it away. As they put it, the record is for people who are “Up for a party, down for a cry.” The album doesn’t make grand claims; it simply invites you in.

Welcome to THE VAULT for 1985. A collection that digs deeper into the year’s musical landscape – uncovering singles that may not have always reached the highest chart positions but remain essential to the rich and diverse pop story of 1985. Some were overshadowed at the time, some were highlights from albums that had already sold huge amounts, some found greater success internationally – but all deserve their place in this continued celebration of 80s pop.

45 tracks across 3-LPs – pressed in gorgeous green vinyl – NOW Yearbook – The Vault: 1985.

LP1 opens with a trio of tracks from huge-selling albums:- Bruce Springsteen’s ‘My Hometown’, the sixth single in the UK from ‘Born in the U.S.A’ - one of the best-selling albums of the decade, followed by Bryan Ferry with the stunning ‘Windswept’ from ‘Boys And Girls’ and Sting’s ‘Love Is The Seventh Wave’, taken from his solo debut ‘The Dream Of The Blue Turtles’. Next up, Go West with a U.S single release ‘Eye To Eye’, Scritti Politti with ‘Perfect Way’ – their biggest hit in America, and ABC with ‘Be Near Me’. The first side closes with two established bands; Heaven 17 and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark… Flip the LP over for Adam Ant with ‘Vive Le Rock’, Midge Ure, Blancmange and the second collaboration between Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder with ‘Good-Bye Bad Times’. The Style Council’s ‘Welcome To Milton Keynes’ leads to LP1’s closer’s from Simply Red and Fine Young Cannibals who followed their debut ‘Johnny Come Home’ with ‘Blue’.

LP2 opens with Cocteau Twins and the dream-pop atmospherics of ‘Aikea-Guinea’, ahead of The Jesus And Mary Chain with ‘Just Like Honey’, and The Dream Academy with ‘The Love Parade’.

Brilliant with their cover of James Brown’s ‘It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World’ and jazz-influenced pop from Matt Bianco are up next ahead of the sublime ‘Castles In The Air’ from The Colourfield and Elvis Costello & The Attractions, who released the 1979 track ‘Green Shirt’ to promote their ‘Best Of’ collection … and the side closes with The Clash’s ‘This Is England’ which would become their last originally released hit…whilst on the other side…celebrate the dancefloor, with a vibrant mix of Hi-NRG, soul, electro and club-influenced pop:- Opening with Sheryl Lee Ralph’s ‘In The Evening’ and Barbara Pennington’s equally superb ‘On A Crowded Street’, the hi-energy continues with Miquel Brown and Hazell Dean ahead of a US hit from Laura Branigan (‘Spanish Eddie’) and Divine’s cover of ‘Twistin’ The Night Away’. LP2 finishes with a massive U.S. dancefloor smash for Eddie Murphy with ‘Party All The Time’.

The final LP kicks off with a bunch of singles that achieved bigger hit status in the US than here and opens with Billy Joel’s ‘You’re Only Human (Second Wind)’, a track written exclusively for his ‘Greatest Hits – Volume I & II’ compilation, ahead of pop-rock from John Mellencamp plus an anthemic smash from Bon Jovi. Pat Benatar’s ‘Invincible’ features ahead of The Power Station’s third US Top 40 hit…whilst back in the UK Chris Rea enjoyed his biggest chart hit to date with ‘Stainsby Girls’ and the side is completed by Marillion with ‘Heart Of Lothian’ the third hit from their huge ‘Misplaced Childhood’ album… Flip to the final side for the stellar vocals on ‘Act Of War’, the huge collaboration between Elton John & Millie Jackson ahead of dancefloor smash ‘New Attitude’ from Patti Labelle and ‘Show Some Respect’ a U.S. single from Tina Turner. Sophisticated pop-R&B from Michael McDonald and Daryl Hall & John Oates come ahead of the collection’s closers- and two outstanding vocal performances: Chaka Khan’s ‘Through The Fire’ and the U.S. breakthrough hit from Whitney Houston with ‘You Give Good Love’ – signalling the arrival of one of the decade’s brightest new stars.

NOW Yearbook – The Vault: 1985 – A deeper dive into an unforgettable year in pop.

You On Repeat is a bittersweet indie pop album shaped by warmth, immediacy, and unfiltered charm, recorded over a summer weekend on Sweden's west coast. Jangly and distorted guitars meet lo-fi textures and disarming melodies, rooted in a DIY '90s indie spirit. Moving fluidly between noise and tenderness, the record balances raw emotion with finely crafted hooks. Fort Not, the Swedish songwriting duo of Robert Carlsson and Fredrik Söderström, return with their new album You On Repeat on Meritorio Records. Joined by bandmates Philip Gates, David Hansson, and Joakim Björnberg, the group recorded the album over a hot summer weekend in a barn near Sweden's west coast - an environment that left its mark on the record's warmth, immediacy, and unfiltered charm. You On Repeat is a bittersweet indie pop record where jangly and distorted guitars, lo-fi textures, and disarming melodies meet. Rooted in a DIY spirit inspired by '90s indie rock and classic pop songwriting, the album moves fluidly between noise and tenderness, urgency and ease, capturing a band equally attuned to raw emotion and crafted hooks. Long regarded as one of Sweden's best-kept indie secrets - as praised by Swedish music magazine GAFFA - Fort Not are ready to step fully into the light. With You On Repeat, that secret is finally revealed. FFO - Guided by Voices, Beat Happening, The Clean, Pavement, Television Personalities, Daniel Johnston.

Rostams drittes Album, American Stories, erscheint am 15. Mai und ist sein erstes neues Album seit über fünf Jahren. Der iranisch-amerikanische Künstler und renommierte Produzent kehrt mit einem Album zurück, das sein Leben in zwei kulturellen Welten beleuchtet. Die Musik verwebt Elemente der amerikanischen und persischen Tradition und verbindet Fingerpicking auf der Gitarre, Pedal Steel und gezupfte Akkorde mit mikrotonalen persischen Melodien. ,Diese Verbindung von Ost und West fühlte sich wie die Musik an, die ich für dieses Album machen musste." Rostams Texte, in denen er seine eigenen Erfahrungen verwebt, sind eine Sammlung von Geschichten und Reflexionen. ,The Weight" spielt im Frühjahr 2025 auf College-Campus in Amerika. In ,Forgive is to Know" verarbeitet Rostam reale Ereignisse und den Akt des Songwritings selbst. Rostam reflektiert das Ende einer Beziehung in ,Hardy ft. Clairo" und setzt sich mit der ungewissen Zukunft der Menschheit auseinander. Das Ergebnis ist ein Album, das sich zutiefst individuell und doch unverkennbar amerikanisch anfühlt. ,Letztendlich hoffe ich, dass die Zuhörer Trost in diesem Album finden und ich möchte den Menschen ein Gefühl des Optimismus vermitteln."

Rostams drittes Album, American Stories, erscheint am 15. Mai und ist sein erstes neues Album seit über fünf Jahren. Der iranisch-amerikanische Künstler und renommierte Produzent kehrt mit einem Album zurück, das sein Leben in zwei kulturellen Welten beleuchtet. Die Musik verwebt Elemente der amerikanischen und persischen Tradition und verbindet Fingerpicking auf der Gitarre, Pedal Steel und gezupfte Akkorde mit mikrotonalen persischen Melodien. ,Diese Verbindung von Ost und West fühlte sich wie die Musik an, die ich für dieses Album machen musste." Rostams Texte, in denen er seine eigenen Erfahrungen verwebt, sind eine Sammlung von Geschichten und Reflexionen. ,The Weight" spielt im Frühjahr 2025 auf College-Campus in Amerika. In ,Forgive is to Know" verarbeitet Rostam reale Ereignisse und den Akt des Songwritings selbst. Rostam reflektiert das Ende einer Beziehung in ,Hardy ft. Clairo" und setzt sich mit der ungewissen Zukunft der Menschheit auseinander. Das Ergebnis ist ein Album, das sich zutiefst individuell und doch unverkennbar amerikanisch anfühlt. ,Letztendlich hoffe ich, dass die Zuhörer Trost in diesem Album finden und ich möchte den Menschen ein Gefühl des Optimismus vermitteln."

STRICTLY LIMITED TO 100 COPIES ARTIST PROJECT After discovering techno at La Concrète, invited by my girlfriend, it was a revelation, and I very quickly felt the urge to contribute in my own way. My intention has been to create tracks infused with positive energy (even if the creative process sometimes leads into slightly darker corners of music). Still, I realized—rather late—the importance of the musical genre known as “techno.” Here is my reflection on it: Nothing is closer to village music (with everything that implies among indigenous peoples, for example—important and respected moments of communion) than techno. On one side, you have basic organic instruments and the voice; on the other, the most advanced technology available. But fundamentally, the difference is only superficial—the essence is the same: a guide, and people who participate intuitively, ultimately finding or discovering their own inner paths… individuation. Techno represents the re-emergence of a kind of initiation rite that had been missing in the West for quite some time—a sort of continuation of Woodstock, more spread out over time but just as powerful from a societal perspective. This release is my contribution to that revival, in the same way a villager might feel free to join trance music with a simple stick that sounds right, or a drum—something intuitive that all our ancestors must have practiced naturally at one point or another. In short, nothing pretentious—just something made with heart

In a patchwork of IRL sound fragments, humming ambience and sub bass brushstrokes, Bobby Ingham debuts on Sneaker Social Club with a social-realist inversion of soundsystem music that relishes negative space while telling a street-level story.

Bobby Ingham is a 24-year-old multidisciplinary artist whose creative practice across film, music and sculpture was shaped by formative experiences in his native Leeds. Having started to experiment with spoken word, poetry and electronic sound production, he sharpened his focus after moving to London. Homesickness moved him to recreate the sensory impression of his hometown through sound, using snippets of his every day experience with his friends and family as well as archival recordings online related to Leeds. The particular lilt of regional dialect became central to the character of his work — a direct portal into a personal world that could only be rendered by someone who has lived it.

Ingham’s work chimes with that of SSC’s own Low End Activist. Where LEA has repeatedly taken us around the Oxford council estate he calls home, on Angel of the North Ingham lets us stay a while on the streets and in the houses that made him. It’s intimate from the very start — opening track ‘Lynne’ features Ingham’s own grandmother, while ‘I Feel So Good I Swear I Could Fly’ finds Ingham voicing his own poem as he retells personal experiences in a disarmingly mythological manner.

‘1st Memory Of Love For DRXSJKFL ft. Pretty V’ invites Wakefield, West Yorkshire-based artist Voldy Moyo to lay down a spoken word piece that evokes the dehumanising nature of military service and those left behind by it. Where there are no words, Ingham instead speaks with brittle machine rhythms and blocks of texture, swooning synthesised beauty and any emotional shade you care to mention in between. It’s a work that takes you right into the heart of the artist — someone committed to telling an honest story from a viewpoint that seldom gets a second thought.

Repress of one of the best French hardcore from 97 with this meticulously remastered edition.
A all time classic with the iconic West Coast-inspired track, it blends ferocious energy.

Jess Sah Bi is well-known as half of the legendary duo Jess Sah Bi & Peter One who brought homegrown Country-Americana to the West African masses with their smash debut Our Garden Needs Its Flowers in the mid-1980s. Touring stadiums and reaching listeners worldwide, their music has racked up millions of spins on YouTube and remains imprinted in the hearts of Ivorians of a certain age. ATFA reissued their album in 2018, garnering critical acclaim from publications including Pitchfork and Rolling Stone and reaching a new generation of listeners outside Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire). Sometime in the early 90s, Die Sahbi - or Jesse, as he known to friends-became gravely ill with an unknown ailment and almost died. He visited various doctors and all kinds of religious healers and nothing helped. One day he went down to an Evangelical Christian revival in his neighborhood. They prayed over him and he was delivered. He says, "Their prayers helped chase out whatever demons and unhealthy spirits were inside me. After that my illness went away. When I went to the United States a few months later on an exchange program I wanted to make music to thank God because I was saved." He recorded an album of music praising God in order to honor a promise he made to himself at the depths of his desperation in the hospital. The album Jesus-Christ Ne Deçoit Pas Jesus Christ Does Not Let Us Down came out in 1991 and sold around 3000 cassettes in Ivory Coast. The master tape was lost along the way so the recording has never been on digital platforms until now. Jesse didn't have much time to record while visiting South Carolina, hence the relatively short album, 6 songs including two reprises for filler. A local pastor connected him with a studio and some American musicians (Robert Fortner and Gary Davis) to help. They added acoustic guitar, percussion and keyboard accompaniment to Jesse's soaring French and Gouro vocals, harmonica and finger-picked acoustic. The resulting recording is deeply soothing and contemplative music that perfectly compliments the songs already embraced by millions. But he had to find the rest of the studio expenses-$600 total-which he secured drawing cartoons for UNICEF. Jesse is Ivory Coast's first political cartoonist, a vocation for which he was widely celebrated at the time. It also made him a few enemies which lead to him leaving the country permanently a few years later. Jesus-Christ Ne Deçoit Pas is Jess Sah Bi's first and only gospel album. Fortunately, fans responded with enthusiasm: widespread radio airplay and concerts followed, along with a growing solo profile in the country. The first big gospel artists in Ivory Coast were the duo Mathieu et Constance, who emerged in 1989. There was a bigger gospel music movement in English-speaking counties like Ghana and Nigeria (Christians make up roughly 40% of the population in Ivory Coast, slightly less than Muslims). Jesse didn't have any intention of working in Christian music but he realized, "You don't make music to make money-you want to send a message." In the years since Jesus-Christ's release, gospel music in Ivory Coast has grown to become a key part of music culture in the country. Spiritual music appears in community actives across the public and private spectrum from religious gatherings and parties to television broadcasts and music festivals. And, as it has evolved and indigenized locally, gospel music has picked up elements of traditional Ivorian music, reggae and soul. The album ultimately precipitated the demise of the duo, who were soon separated geographically as Peter One relocated to Nashville. He went on to become a nurse and release a successful solo album on Verve following the ATFA collaboration. Nowadays Jesse lives in the Bay Area and continues to record and perform music wherever and whenever he has the chance. He is publishing a new book of humorous cartoons in 2025 and his most recent album Never Give Up came out in 2020

An EP of the darker side of electronic dance music is always a welcome addition to Especial. Up and coming producer / DJ Miles J Paralysis steps away from releasing on his own Crying Outcast label to explore left of centre, new wave and cosmic sounds; songs woven from his own vocals and samples.

A love of Dub, Hip Hop and Electro-Funk led into electronic music. Sampling TV shows, making beats, jamming. Exposed to Leeds and Manchester club cultures, seeking the more experimental. African Head Charge, Muslimgauze, The Rootsman and Weatherall were early influences in forming a no rules philosophy.

Born and raised around West Yorkshire, the beauty and bleakness of the moors have a strong bond on Miles Henry aka Miles J Paralysis and his music. Folklore and the occult link and connect an interest in Northern Hauntology. Unresolved histories, stuck between past glory and phantoms of possible futures.

The EP starts with It’s Only Shadows Talking. A play on the Paralysis persona, the spectral dub house groove meets industrial overtures, encasing his own eerie and unsettling vocals to begin the narrative.

Don’t Forget The Ritual takes a direct link from British folk traditions. Sacred and ceremonial; the laid-back breakbeat, samples and delays are the transition to the evocative embrace of melancholia.

Come On Fleet, the hypnotic Latin (vocal) sample creates a lurking murmuration, rimshot percussion meets gothic sound design for the EPs’ most straight forward and direct club cut.

Surreal and dreamlike soundscape, closing track The Delicate Fairytale is the perfect platform for Miles own phantasm. Inspired by the stories of Dorothy K Haynes and Robert Hickman, the pervading sense of a David Lynch aesthetic, exploring the nostalgic nature of memory.

Mysticisms’ returns to the music of the Conscious Sounds label and their short-lived but highly prized Dub meets Funk project, Dub Specialists. Created by label head Dougie Waldrop and Chris Petter (Love Grocer) to explore their interest in samplers and a love of Funk and Jazz.

A hugely respected “Digital” and “Roots Reggae” label, Conscious Sounds has been a mainstay of the East London digidub sound for over 30 years. Dub Specialists released 3 albums on the Crispy Music sub label, they have recently gained considerable interest in digger circles, with rising prices to match.

As with their first Dubplate outing, the release features extended re-edits by the label and friends, this time featuring versions by Lexx, Miles J Paralysis, Chuggy and Vanity Project. Working with the simplicity and skill of his studio craft, Dougie utilised the Atari 1040, Cubase and Soundcraft mixer to effect. Petters’ chords sit atop reggae basslines, funk samples, loops and this time, a heavy dose of cut up vocals in to the mix.

While the first EP came from their debut album, Breat To Break, here the source material for the re-edits comes, in the main, from their second outing “Dub To Dub Beat To Beat”. A more expansive album that also dipped in to 4/4 rhythms and touches of House / Techno.

Opening track Dynamic Duo is a 4/4 stepper bomb – with samples from Adam West’s iconic interpretation of Batman – expertly extended by long-standing DJ, producer and edit master, Zurich’s own Alex Storrer aka Lexx, who dials things to max for a club stop. A new name on many lips, Miles J Paralysis takes it all back down with a beautifully drawn out, acid-tinged tripper. Bumpin’, the mid-tempo groove sucks you in, psychedelic and mind expanding.

The flip returns to the more traditional Dub Specialist vibes of Breaks’n’Funk’ cut ups, first with (co-)label head Chuggy’s faithful extension of Heavy Dub. Featuring the classic Ijahman Levi’s vocal, the breaks flow and piano / horns stab, a dance floor shaker for the discerning. To close, secret studio fixer to many, Matt Bruce again dons his Vanity Project moniker to perfectly tease and live dub (out) the half-stepper, Reality Dub and close this latest in the Dubplate series.

Beat The Mystery.

A guitar stands alone in Wedding, that metropolitan biotope in the western center of Berlin, caught in constant transformation between idyll and abyss. It lets its gaze wander, unsettled, almost shy, until it encounters a trumpet, with which it begins a cautious, then ever more intimate pas de deux.
Welcome to the second studio album by the Berlin-based band Conic Rose.
The album title Wedding is no coincidence. The story of Conic Rose is closely intertwined with the Berlin neighborhood that gives the record its name. The band's studio is located here, and both studio albums were created in the immediate vicinity of the small river Panke. This place settles over the music like a warming patina. The album feels as though the musicians and the neighborhood have invited one another to get to know each other. Not least because Wedding also means marriage. These marriages between a band and an urban landscape, a fading past and an emerging future, fear and hope - unfold in every single song on Wedding.
For their second album, Conic Rose repositioned themselves completely. Not in terms of personnel, but in the question of how to move forward. Conic Rose still sound like Conic Rose; their distinctive blend of cinematic jazz, ambient textures and guitar-led contemporary music remains untouched. And yet Wedding is, in many ways, the conceptual counterpart to their debut album Heller Tag. Where the debut documented movement within an urban setting, Wedding describes a state of being. Behind every piece seems to hover a large question mark.The group opens up its palette, allowing more influences, becoming at once more subtle, more profound, more filigree. It is less about definition than about the spaces in between. The most immediately striking difference from the previous album is the strong presence of the guitar. In Bertram Burkert's playing, many voices seem to converge. His yearning openness forms an equal counterpoint to Döben's trumpet and flugelhorn. Blurred and layered sounds occasionally make the ground seem to slip away beneath one's feet, while Döben's gliding lines create both closeness and distance. Together, the band express in a deeply subtle way a sense of life that corresponds precisely to our time. Something lurks in the background, omnipresent yet still unnameable. Conic Rose need no words to convey this feeling of uncertainty with remarkable eloquence. Perhaps this has something to do with Wedding being a place of confrontational introspection, but Conic Rose confront the escape from escape itself. With the recording and release of Wedding, this process is far from complete. The seed only begins to grow in the listener's ear. With every listen and the echo it leaves behind in memory, the studio bud continues to bloom. The album is merely the point of departure. What ultimately matters is what it sets in motion within those who encounter it.

“I hope this record gets bought, played, shared and sold, then winds up in a dusty bargain bin for someone else to discover in years to come. It sure is easy to save music online, but owning a piece of art made by an artist you support is so much deeper. In an age where the world is at our fingertips, it’s ever so important to slow down and appreciate things that take time.”

Delete Spotify. Invest in the underground. Rebel against convenience.

Arranged and produced by DJ Headlock

Additional mixing by Larry 'Bruce' McCarthy at Edgar Studios

Mastered by Johanz Westerman at Ballyhoo Studio Mastering

Mit weltweit über 55 Millionen verkauften Tonträgern, 14 Nummer-1-Singles und sieben Nummer-1-Alben feiert die irische Band Westlife ihr über 25-jähriges Bestehen mit der Veröffentlichung von "25 - The Ultimate Collection", einem Rückblick auf ihre gesamte Karriere.
Diese Vinyl-Edition enthält Hits aus allen Schaffensphasen sowie zwei brandneue Titel, die speziell für dieses Jubiläumsprojekt aufgenommen wurden.

Killer Groove Records proudly presents the self-titled debut album by Italian cinematic funk trio Atabasca. A sonic journey where funk, psychedelia and desert groove merge into a timeless narrative suspended between rhythm and vision.


"Atabasca" marks the debut release from the cinematic funk trio, dropping March 27th on limited edition LP, CD digipack and digital formats, the latter featuring an exclusive bonus track. This is a project built on evocative imagery: each song unfolds as an open scene, an emotional landscape where listeners can step inside and write their own ending.

Lap steel, kalimba, percussion and guitars interweave with bass and drums, striking an original balance between tradition and experimentation that evokes unwritten soundtracks for worlds at once distant and familiar. The record navigates between melancholy and irony, tension and release, with a sharp focus on dynamics and sonic narrative.


Deserts, seas, imaginary villages, getaways, pursuits and collective rituals: "Atabasca" emerges as a collection of musical landscapes that unfolds through vivid, evocative imagery.

Jazz-funk, world music, afrobeat, psychedelia and the Italian Golden Age of movie soundtracks merge into a singular emotional geography: warm, analog and deeply human.

The musical journey opens with "Dune", a melancholic statement that leaves room for imagination, before igniting with "Kundela Mawedi" and its cascading lap steel over haunting vocal chants. "Paco" tips its hat to classic westerns, tracing a bandit's trajectory, while "Cameo" drifts back to childhood through minimal rumba and shimmering kalimba. The cinematic imagery continues in "Cacopoulos", a nod to Spaghetti westerns and Eli Wallach, built on raw drum patterns and distorted guitars. Intensity builds in "Khettara", where afrobeat rhythms and Middle Eastern textures intertwine, before "Hell Dorado" tears off in pursuit of the American dream's funk-fueled mirage. "Papambra" weaves hypnotic polyrhythms between kalimba and lap steel, while "Porpora" delivers a sensual, visceral tango of passion and tension. The digital edition closes with "Reprise", a sequel that stretches the album's central theme into an expansive, meditative interpretation.

The tracks were recorded in single takes, capturing the raw energy and natural atmosphere of the performance. Artistic production was handled by the trio alongside Andrea Fabrizii (digger, musician, producer and catalogue curator for CAM Sugar), while Riccardo Ricci mastered the album at Velvet Room Mastering Studio in Brighton.

Like a desert blooming within the evergreen forests of the planet's far north, a unique, alien, disruptive environment. This is the vision behind Atabasca, the project of Luca Mongia (guitars, lap steel, keyboards, vocals), Paolo Mazziotti (bass, keyboards, vocals) and Valerio Pompei (drums, percussion, vocals).

Individually active for over twenty years on both the national and international scenes, the three Italian musicians came together in 2023 to create a project that merges experience, experimentation and creative freedom. Their music is imaginative and at times dreamlike, blending the classic concept of the instrumental trio with the worlds of film scoring and sound design.

Atabasca's sound moves through jazz-funk, world and cinematic territories, weaving together afrobeat, desert and psychedelic influences into a personal and timeless language. Each piece is a scene; each sound, a fragment of a world, a journey between reality and imagination where groove, texture and organic timbre merge into a singular sonic ecosystem: a perpetually shifting balance that generates new inner landscapes.


For fans of Khruangbin, Surprise Chef and instrumental psych-funk!

Much like the duo’s music, the story of Rural France is both mundane and magical. Tom Brown (also of transatlantic janglepunks Teenage Tom Petties) and Rob Fawkes moved to London in their mid-twenties. Despite living under the same roof, they never picked up a guitar – except for one drunken, failed attempt at writing a Spoon song (“Big Chops” …don’t ask). It was only after both separately relocating to Wiltshire and starting families that they began assembling songs as a way of meeting up. Tom had amassed a pile of sprightly slacker jams that were calling out for Fawkes’ messily melodic guitar lines. Rural France was born.

After a debut album on their hero, ex-Lemonhead Nic Dalton’s Half-a-Cow Records, they retreated to a garage to record their next two albums: RF (2021) and Exacamondo! (2024), both released on much-respected jangle label Meritorio Records. Despite being lo-fi in the truest GbV sense, both records were warmly received by the DIY indie blogosphere, with their short, scrappy, but supremely melodic songs landing on numerous AOTY lists. RF even won Album of the Year at Janglepop Hub.

Raven Sings The Blues probably summed up the sound best: “With drunken visions of Beach Boys harmonies playing in the back of their heads and hooks that consume Teenage Fanclub cheeriness with the same beautiful brevity that drives Tony Molina, the pair have knocked out eleven rumpled classics.” Album four, SLOTHS, arrives via Meritorio Records and Safe Suburban Home Records on 08/05, and is a slightly different beast. For one, it’s been mixed by a professional – Rob Slater (Westside Cowboy, Yard Act, Thank) – giving the guitars and drums room to breathe. It’s easily their most high-fidelity record to date. It’s also their jangliest, most baroque and thoughtful album yet. But alongside added organ, horns and mellotron – and drums from Tom’s Teenage Tom Petties bandmate Jeff Hamm – it still retains the buzzes, hums and little freak-outs that stick to the duo’s original “Pavement playing Teenage Fanclub” mission statement. “Rob and I both wanted to do something a little slower and a little more melancholy,” says Tom. “We resisted our usual urge to hit the distortion pedal and made something that fitted where we are now and celebrates how we still listen to Meatloaf when we get drunk.”

SLOTHS is also the most thematically consistent Rural France record to date. While it wouldn’t be right to call it grown-up, it definitely has homeowners’ insurance. From the Silver Jews-esque Americana of “Slab” and mid-life rallying cry of “Thirty Seven Forever”, to the horn-embossed loser anthem “Lonely Heart Pyramid Scheme,” the songs celebrate (and rail against) the absurdities of getting older, forming a band in your thirties, and the strange phenomenon of time passing. Because no matter how slow you move, everything else goes fast. SLOTHS.

Mit Maaya präsentiert Ami Yerewolo, die bedeutendste weibliche Hip-Hop-Stimme Malis und eine zentrale Figur des westafrikanischen Rap, ihr neues Studioalbum. Maaya ("Menschlichkeit") verbindet die rohe Energie modernen Hip-Hops mit traditionellen malischen Instrumenten wie Kamalé Ngoni und Tamani. Das Ergebnis ist ein kraftvoll geerdeter, zugleich zeitgenössischer Sound, der Amis künstlerische Identität präzise widerspiegelt. Als Rapperin, Produzentin und Gründerin eines eigenen Frauen-Rap-Festivals hat sich Ami Yerewolo gegen gesellschaftliche Widerstände durchgesetzt und eine Vorreiterrolle für eine gesamte Generation junger afrikanischer Künstlerinnen übernommen. Ihre Texte thematisieren Resilienz, Selbstbestimmung und den Mut, gegen konservative Normen aufzustehen - Botschaften, die weit über Mali hinaus Wirkung entfalten. Mit Gastbeiträgen von Jah Moko und Mina la Voilée erweitert Maaya seine musikalische und emotionale Tiefe. Das Album ist vollständig unabhängig produziert und überzeugt durch Authentizität, Haltung und eine klare, unverwechselbare Stimme.

Camera Obscura feiern das 25-jährige Jubiläum ihres Debütalbums ,Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" mit einer Vinyl-Neuauflage bei Merge Records. Seit der ursprünglichen Veröffentlichung in Großbritannien bei Andmoresound im Jahr 2001 ist das Album in diesem Format vergriffen. Die Jubiläumsausgabe kommt als die definitivste Version von ,Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi", die je auf Vinyl gepresst wurde, und enthält beide B-Seiten der Single ,Eighties Fan" - ,Shine Like a New Pin" und ,Let's Go Bowling" -, die später den erweiterten CD-Neuauflagen des Albums hinzugefügt wurden. ,Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" wurde nach seinem Erscheinen wiederholt von John Peel in seinen BBC-Radiosendungen gespielt. Das Album ist ein bemerkenswert selbstbewusstes Debüt, ein voll ausgereifter Ausdruck eines Sounds, der die Fans der Band seit ihrem ersten Durchlauf des von Stuart Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian) produzierten ,Eighties Fan" bis zum letzten Hören des 2024 erschienenen Studio-Comebacks von Camera Obscura ,Look to the East, Look to the West" in seinen Bann gezogen hat. Diese Fans haben lautstark gefordert, dass ,Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" die Vinyl-Neuauflage erhält, die es schon lange verdient hat. Wenn man die Nadel auf Tracks wie ,Swimming Pool", ,Pen and Notebook" und ,Happy New Year" setzt, ist leicht zu hören, warum: Jeder der 12 Songs des Albums ist ein perfekt beobachteter Ausschnitt aus dem Leben, der durch opulent detaillierte Arrangements filmisch inszeniert wird. Es ist zeitlose, grundsolide Popmusik, wie sie nur Camera Obscura machen kann, geeignet für die Hi-Fi-Anlagen von 1966 und 2026 gleichermaßen.

Zusammenarbeit von Khruangbin und dem malischen Gitarrist Vieux Farka Touré zu Ehren von Vieux' Vater Ali Farka Touré. Der "König des Wüstenblues" galt als einer der renommiertesten und talentiertesten Gitarristen, die Afrika je hervorgebracht hat. Das Rolling Stone Magazin wählte den 2006 verstorbenen Musiker unter die einhundert besten Gitarristen aller Zeiten. In Alis Sound verschmolzen traditionelle malische Musikstile mit verschiedenen Elementen des Blues, wobei er in den lokalen Sprachen Songhay, Tamasheq, Fulfulde und Bambara sang. Das Ergebnis war die Schaffung eines bahnbrechenden neuen Genres, das heute als "Wüstenblues" bekannt ist und Ali drei Grammy-Auszeichnungen, weltweite Anerkennung und den Spitznamen "afrikanischer John Lee Hooker" einbrachte. Die Kollaboration zwischen Khruangbin und Vieux Farka Touré zollt Alis Vermächtnis Tribut, indem sie einige seiner wirkungsvollsten Werke neu interpretiert und mit verschiedenen Sounds experimentiert, ohne die Integrität des Originals zu vernachlässigen. Das Ergebnis ist eine würdige Hommage an eine Legende, die eine erfrischende westafrikanische Mischung aus musikalischen Referenzen schafft. Die acht Songs auf "Ali" sind Vieux' Favoriten und repräsentieren viele verschiedene Abschnitte in Alis Karriere - darunter bekannte Songs wie das ursprünglich mit Ry Cooder aufgenommene "Diarabi", obskure Titel wie "Alakarra" und alles dazwischen. "Ali Hala Abada" ist ein langsames und meditatives Instrumentalstück, das durch die Leadstimme von Vieux hervorgehoben wird, in die Lee ihren verankerten Begleitrhythmus perfekt einfließen lässt. Mit "Ali" schaffen die Künstler eine respektvolle Erinnerung an Alis Leben. Highlights und B-Seiten werden aus seinem Katalog gleichermaßen gewürdigt. Dabei bewahrt sich das Quartett die natürliche Improvisation seiner Musik und bringt auch ihre eigene ein. Es passt, dass Vieux das texanische Trio auswählte, um das Erbe seines Vaters zu ehren. Der psychedelische Funk von Khruangbin findet inzwischen weltweiten Anklang.

Mannequin Records presents Electronic Corporation 1998–2006, a compilation bringing together rare and long unavailable recordings by the German electronic projects H.E.I.M. Elektronik and MAS 2008.

Active around the turn of the millennium, both projects share the involvement of producer Ive Müller while developing distinct collaborations and approaches to electronic music. H.E.I.M. Elektronik was founded in 1996 by Holger Erlenwein and Ive Müller (after the two artists split in 1999, Müller continued using the name), while MAS 2008 is the project of Ive Müller together with René Kirchner. Though separate entities, the two projects explored a similar sonic territory: stripped-down electro, minimal electronics and machine-driven body music shaped by analog hardware and a raw DIY production ethos.

The roots of Müller’s work go back to the final years of the DDR. As a teenager he worked as a licensed DJ — officially known as a “Schallplattenunterhalter” — operating a travelling disco across Saxony. With limited access to official Western releases, music circulated through cassette recordings taped from West German radio stations such as RIAS Berlin, NDR2 and Bayern3. Together with friends he travelled between youth clubs and discos around Leipzig with a “rolling discotheque”: a Russian Wolga pulling a trailer loaded with Electro-Voice sound systems sourced through the black market.

At the turn of the 2000s this background in underground electronic culture resurfaced in a series of recordings rooted in electro, EBM and minimal machine music. The tracks collected on Electronic Corporation 2000–2002 capture this moment: cold sequences, driving rhythms and stark synthetic textures produced with a direct and uncompromising approach.

Compiled and remastered by Rude 66 from the original sources, Electronic Corporation 2000–2002 documents a small but fascinating chapter of German underground electronics from the early digital era.

The highly anticipated collaborative album, GOLDFISH, sees two of contemporary hip-hop's most revered and distinct production minds, Hit-Boy and The Alchemist, finally join forces for a full-length statement. Far from a simple beat-swap, this project is a masterclass in sonic cohesion, blurring the lines between their signature sounds to forge a new, golden-hued identity. Beyond production, the duo step from behind the boards to behind the mic to trade verses throughout the project, adding a personal layer to their creative vision.

GOLDFISH is a deeply immersive listen, perfectly balancing the West Coast muscle and polished, anthemic quality of Hit-Boy's work with the dusty, abstract texture and cinematic suspense that defines The Alchemist's aesthetic.

The result is a sound that feels both street-tested and museum-worthy. A collaborative manifesto, showcasing the infinite possibilities when two generational talents decide to link up, creating an instant classic in the canon of producer/MC albums.

USA Hardcore/Punk Geschichte! M.I.A. wurden 1980 in Las Vegas gegründet, zogen 1981 nach Orange County und begannen im berüchtigten Cuckoo's Nest zusammen mit Fear, Shattered Faith, T.S.OL. u.a. Shows zu spieln. Ende '81 gingen sie in ein lokales Tonstudio in Costa Mesa und nahmen an einem Nachmittag neun Songs auf, bis ihnen das Geld ausging - 300 Dollar gut angelegt! Eine Kassette wurde rasch kopiert und herumgereicht. Eine Kopie der Kassette wurde KevinSeconds bei einem Gig mit 7 Seconds in Reno gegeben. Kevin gab sie an Tim Yohannan von Maximum Rocknroll weiter. Schließlich gelangte sie in die Hände von Felix Alanis von Smoke Seven und Greg Shaw von Bomp. Mitte 1982 waren M.I.A. dann auf drei Vinyl-Veröffentlichungen vertreten: "Tell Me Why" auf der Compilation American Youth Report von Bomp, "New Left" auf Maximum Rocknroll Presents: Not So Quiet On the Western Front von Alternative Tentacles und acht der neun Tracks landeten auf der berüchtigten Split-LP mit Last Rites auf Smoke Seven. Alle 9 Tracks des ersten Tapes sind hier versammelt, zum ersten Mal richtig abgemischt. Der Begin von M.I.A. (US) und gleichzeitig das letzte Lapitel der Moder City Records-Reissue-Reihe zur Band. « ...In one corner is M.I.A., a band originally from Las Vegas, the champions of punk's positive side. They've managed to fuse a super tight thrash sound with enlightened attitudes_"I Hate Hippies" is obviously meant as a satire with a moral, and the results are absolutely stunning. » _Jeff Bale's 1982 review of the Last Rites for...-Split-LP in Maximum Rocknroll #2 2.Auflage, Cover Metallic Blue, Vinyl Dirty Turquoise, plus 24seitigem Booklet.

After the success of her fiery 2024 LP, Baptized By The Blaze, Nashville outlaw siren India Ramey is back with Villain Era, set for release on May 8, 2026, via Copoco Records/Blue Èlan. Baptized By The Blaze was the story of Ramey’s journey through the fire, a harrowing passage toward healing and empowerment. Villain Era is firmly rooted in her own reckoning; it doesn’t ask for permission, it kicks the door wide open. “This album is the ‘healed’ me,” Ramey says. “I didn’t know how to have boundaries because I was such a people pleaser. If my boundaries offend you, I’ll happily play the villain in that story.” Ramey left the South for the first time to record in Los Angeles with two-time Grammy-nominated producer Eric Corne. Together, they built a soundscape as cinematic as it is cathartic, with a powerhouse band including Ted Russell Kamp, Eugene Edwards, Chris Masterson, Eleanor Whitmore, Kevin Brown, Boo Bernstein, and Haley Spence Brown. The result is Villain Era: ten spaghetti western–meets–honky tonk vignettes penned solely by Ramey, laced with grit, gallows humor, and emotional precision. With five studio albums under her belt, Ramey continues to be one of country music’s fiercest truth-tellers. Now, with Villain Era, she stands unapologetically in her power, delivering songs that cut deep and laugh loud, songs that balance the weight of lived experience with the freedom of release.

Presenting the 5th edition of the legendary West-Coast House label, Pacific Coast House reissue series. Here we bring The Coastal Commission / Boing – The Conversation / Currency back onto one 12” for the first time on limited Orange Vinyl.