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Forever at Last - the debut EP by Melbourne’s HighSchool - is finally back in print on vinyl. Six brilliant tracks that introduced the world to an exciting new band, it’s been out of print long enough and is being reissued ahead of their 35-date World tour. Produced by Archie Shannon (Floodlights), the band’s ingenuity shines with them effortlessly mining myriad influences. Where first singles ‘Frosting’ and ‘New York, Paris and London’ delighted with their potent mix of sun-dappled indie pop and industrial post-punk, their next two ‘De Facto’ and ‘Sirens’ pointed to the dancefloor with the band infusing DFA / New Order / Future Islands sounds while the final pair saw ‘Jerry’ taking a darker turn, playing on the band’s gothic image before closer and title track ‘Forever at Last’ pushed the synth to the fore. A perfect record.

Eco-vinyl pressing

Athens-based percussionist and sound artist Yorgos Stavridis makes a stark, physical debut for Heat Crimes with »Solo Percussion«, a set of one-take improvisations that approach percussion as a field of friction between body, objects, space, and sound. Working with membranes, metals, found objects, and feedback systems, Stavridis foregrounds timbre, texture, and spatial presence, collapsing distinctions between instrument, environment, and recording apparatus.

Microphones and speakers are treated as unstable instruments in their own right, introducing opaqueness, resistance, and feedback into the performative chain. Scrapes, low-end pressure, brittle metallic chatter, and sudden bursts of resonance emerge through close bodily engagement with surfaces and materials, each piece documenting a specific configuration of objects, gestures, and acoustic conditions. Performed and recorded live, »Solo Percussion« captures sound in its most contingent state; situational, physical, and irreducibly present. Eschewing narrative, pulse, or formal development, the record sits squarely in Heat Crimes’ lineage of process-led, uncompromising sonic research, where listening becomes an active, tactile act and sound itself is the primary event.

L.A.-based soul singer Leela James started out singing backup vocals on Hip-Hop albums in the late 90s and early 2000s. In 2004, she recorded the song "No Tears" on Pete Rock's "Soul Survivor 2", shortly after she signed a deal with Warner Bros Records and released her debut album A Change is Gonna Come, named after her cover of the Sam Cooke song. A true soul singer, with a voice comparable to Mavis Staples and Betty Wright, Leela enlisted Commissioner Gordon to oversee production, which included tracks by Kanye West, Raphael Saadiq, Wyclef Jean, and Chucky Thompson. The lead single, "Music," is an ode to the soul singers of yesterday, with a Hip-Hop feel. She performs a soulful R&B cover of No Doubt's "Don't Speak" and alternates between funky uplifting tracks like "Good Time" and "Soul Food" with downtempo, soulful ballads like "When You Love Somebody" and "My Joy." Leela James departed from Warner after the release of her debut and went on to release seven more studio albums. It's been twenty years since A Change is Gonna Come was released in June of 2005, and Get On Down is proud to present this underrated gem for the first time on vinyl. The album is pressed on "Golden Pearl" colored vinyl and packaged in a gatefold jacket, limited to 1000 copies. It's been a long time coming, but this is a must-have for neo-soul and R&B music lovers.

Political thriller Je Suis Karl, produced by German director Christian Schwochow, has a strong Czech connection. The soundtrack has been created by Czech musician and composer Tomáš Dvořák, a.k.a. Floex, who joined forces with British composer and pianist Tom Hodge. The soundtrack for Je Suis Karl will be released on September 16, 2021.
"In this project, Tom and I built on music that we wrote together three years ago for the album A Portrait Of John Doe. While this was the first feature film for me, Tom has extensive experience with composing music for movies and series," commented Dvořák.
Co-produced by the Czech company Negativ and filmed in part in the Czech Republic, the movie features characters played by Czech actresses Anna Fialová and Elizaveta Maximová. The picture makes use of the story of a young German girl, Maxi, and her family to draw attention to rising extremism among right-wing nationalists. Je Suis Karl was premiered during this year's Berlinale film festival in the Berlinale Special section.
At the director's initiative, music for Je Suis Karl was composed based on the script before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Christian Schwochow asked for a demo, but when Tom and I set to work in Prague, we came up with a huge amount of inspired stuff within a short time, and the music became the foundation of the soundtrack. Because of the pandemic, the music itself was created on a long-distance basis. It was a game of ping pong of sorts," Dvořák added.
The soundtrack for Je Suis Karl features a unique timbre, far from the traditional symphonic sound. Instead, the sonic design relies on a fusion of dark, discordant, dirty sounds that present the symphony orchestra in a novel fashion.
Floex and Hodge created a database of loops, sounds, soundscapes, and sonic experiments with no specific compositional context. In composing music for individual scenes, they used this musical database, remixed themes and versions of compositions, and worked with vintage equipment, such as the Yamaha MT4X cassette player. Considering the large quantity of music recorded, the album contains 14 compositions from the movie itself, plus bonus tracks that did not make it into the film.
Tomáš Dvořák, a.k.a. Floex, is a Czech clarinetist, composer, producer, and multimedia artist, the recipient of multiple Anděl Music Awards. His discography includes two long-play records, Pocustone and Zorya, soundtracks for the games Samorost 2, Machinarium, Samorost 3, Pilgrims, and Papetura, remix albums, and extended-play records. In 2018, he joined forces with Tom Hodge to release the album A Portrait Of John Doe.
British composer, pianist, and clarinetist Tom Hodge challenges the boundaries of contemporary experimental music. He composes music for film, series, documentaries, advertising, and ballet. His most recent projects include the soundtrack for Je Suis Karl and music for the movie The Mauritanian filmed by director Kevin Macdonald. He has released several solo albums, including Piano Interrupted and Second Moon of Winter, and has pursued a long-term collaborative partnership with musician Max Cooper.

It’s been decades since New Found Glory were etched onto pop-punk’s Mount Rushmore, but as the Coral Springs, Florida, quartet approach their 30th anniversary, they’ve proven with their 11th studio album Listen Up! - and first for Pure Noise Records - that they still have plenty to say. Shaped by guitarist Chad Gilbert’s battle with metastatic cancer and the enduring bond with bandmates Jordan Pundik, Ian Grushka, and Cyrus Bolooki, the record captures resilience and gratitude in tightly wound riffs and sing-along hooks reminiscent of their early 2000s classics. Written face-to-face in Gilbert’s Nashville home with a riff-first mentality, the album recalls Sticks and Stones and Catalyst while pushing forward with songs like first single “100%,” road-tested alongside The Offspring and Jimmy Eat World. Produced by Steve Evetts with contributions from Dan O’Connor of Four Year Strong, Listen Up! balances nostalgia with urgency, embodying the band’s mission to inspire a new generation of fans while offering longtime listeners a renewed sense of strength, positivity, and joy—because, as Pundik sings on “Beer And Blood Stains,” at the end of the day, “it’s good to be alive.”

Stef Heeren, driving force of Belgian band Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat, is embarking on a special reunion concert series with his original folk ensemble to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the band’s acclaimed album, Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water. Arguably their finest work in their discography, the album was the pinnacle of the band's folk-oriented sound, after which they tapped into more electronic territories.

The initial vinyl pressing (and cd) of Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water, released in 2011, has long been sold out and now fetches excessive prices on the secondhand market. To mark this milestone, the album will be reissued in early 2026 as a limited-edition vinyl on KTAOABC’s own imprint, Kattengat.
With this re-release on the horizon, Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat is eager to hit the road once more, revisiting their folk roots and performing the songs that defined their earlier years. The concerts will not only celebrate the album Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water, but also offer a chance to explore the full spectrum of the band's career, from their folk beginnings to their more modern, electronic explorations.

Happy anniversary!

The British electronic and sibling duo, Disclosure celebrate 5 years since the release of their third studio album ENERGY.



For this album Disclosure shifted towards a more rhythmic and percussion focused sound, taking influence from UK house, garage, hip hop and world music.



It showcases a diverse range of vocal collaborations including Kelis, Channel Tres, Mick Jenkins, Fatoumata Diawara, Blick Bassy, Kehlani, Syd, and Common.



ENERGY was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards and the single "My High" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 2021 Grammy Awards. It is BPI certified Silver in the UK.



This 5th anniversary 1LP will now be available for the first time on limited edition Zoetrope, housed in a single die cut sleeve. Designed by Drew Tetz, each side of the zoetrope is inspired by the original album artwork, using the water and the clouds imagery to create lifelike movement with these earth elements.

Leigh-Anne Pinnock is ready to reintroduce herself. After conquering the pop world with one of the biggest groups on the planet and stepping out as a solo artist, she has reached a new clarity: no more compromises, no more limits.

With the introduction of her debut album ‘My Ego Told Me To’, Leigh-Anne isn’t reinventing herself, she’s restoring the woman she always was. Bold, unapologetic and free, this album is the purest expression of her artistry to date and musically reflects every facet of Leigh-Anne Pinnock - unfiltered, independent and finally on her own terms. “Everything that has been in my heart, everything I’ve wanted to do, I’m doing now. It feels like freedom. It feels right.”

Leigh-Anne Pinnock is ready to reintroduce herself. After conquering the pop world with one of the biggest groups on the planet and stepping out as a solo artist, she has reached a new clarity: no more compromises, no more limits.

With the introduction of her debut album ‘My Ego Told Me To’, Leigh-Anne isn’t reinventing herself, she’s restoring the woman she always was. Bold, unapologetic and free, this album is the purest expression of her artistry to date and musically reflects every facet of Leigh-Anne Pinnock - unfiltered, independent and finally on her own terms. “Everything that has been in my heart, everything I’ve wanted to do, I’m doing now. It feels like freedom. It feels right.”

FRQNCY LDN, the new project from Alex Lavery and James Ford (producer du jour and one half of Simian Mobile Disco), are releasing their debut album ‘The White Edition’ on 5 September via PRAH Recordings. Alongside the news of their debut album, the duo are sharing the first taste in ‘Matthias’ Wajd’, which they describe as “a rousing, instrumental piece from the middle of the set where the whole ensemble became balanced providing moments where Raven played violin with haunting yet uplifting melodies within the cavernous reverb of the church. Interestingly, at this moment, most of the audience who had been laying down rose to watch the performance like a gig, like an awakening.”

Initially conceived as a live project with earlier performances at churches in London and at Glastonbury, FRQNCY LDN’s music is a mix of strings, gongs, oscillators, FX, and spoken word, and the result is a musical experience unlike any other. Now that immersive magic has been captured on their debut release through Prah Recordings.

The music that FRQNCY LDN are releasing as their debut album is from an extraordinary live take from a performance at St Matthias Church in Stoke Newington last year, and thanks in no small part to the serendipitous bunch of musicians they assembled: composer and violinist Raven Bush, clarinettist Arun Ghosh, cellist Satin Beige Chousmer, and harpist Chloe Chousmer-Kerr. Alongside Lavery and Ford and assisted by engineer Animesh Ravel, they were able to capture the music to a world class level.

FRQNCY LDN has its roots in a supermoon that occurred three summers ago, after the hottest day of the year. Two of Lavery’s friends gave a sound bath that evening. “I’m not overly into astronomy or anything but the experience was nuts,” he says. “I had to find out what had just happened. What felt like forty minutes was actually two and a half hours. We were all out. It was so profound that I was hooked.”

He immediately signed up for a sound therapy course where he learned about what he calls a “brain hack” to meditation. “The thing about sound therapy is there’s a lot that’s meditation-based, and I find meditation really difficult. I’ve got a very busy brain. What was alluring about this process of sound immersion, a sound bath, whatever you want to call it, is it’s basically a hack to making your brain get into a meditative state.”

FRQNCY LDN’s early shows crystallised their ideas into a project, and Lavery brought poet Nikita Gill on board as a vocalist. “One of the first poems she gave to me, ‘Unwitches’ was in response to me explaining that I’d love this project to be perceived as something anyone could access. It’s not just for the sound meditation or the yoga, or the mushroom crowd. No one should be turned off by connotations from where the music comes from, I love music but I’d never be into that because it’s too woo-woo. Nikita said she’d had this poem for a long time but she’d never found the right home for it.”

And in an increasingly busy and fraught world, the need to tune out for an hour or so, and maybe tune in to something more profound, is only going to get bigger.

Un-easy listening from »anti-singer« and improviser Sofia Jernberg, a celebration of the voice in its rawest, most malleable form. Jernberg was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Vietnam and Sweden, so one can only imagine these diverse languages opened up a wealth of phonetic possibilities before she entered academia to study jazz and composition. If you dive into her catalogue you’ll clock her startling range – working as a jazz soprano and as an improviser, collaborating with everyone from Stefan Schneider to Mats Gustafsson, as well as appearances on the stage and screen, most notably in Matthew Barney, Erna Ómarsdóttir, and Valdimar Jóhannsson’s »Union of the North«.

On »Voice«, Jernberg provides a ground-level entry point to her work, meticulously running through a litany of unconventional techniques (non-verbal vocalisation, split tones, toneless singing, and distortion) without any effects, just pure batshit sonics designed to show off the voice’s scope as an experimental instrument. On »Mouth Synthesizer« she purses her lips to make ratcheting pops like some analog oscillator, hoarsely mimicking the sort of blustery, Merzbow-coded distortions you might get if you patched a RAT pedal into a broken guitar amp. It isn’t an act of caricature, it’s Jernberg’s way of demonstrating that expensive modular rigs aren’t an essential tool for experimental music, before throwing a side-eye to the field recording industrial complex on »Birds«, transforming her vocal chords into a nightmare aviary. But it’s Jernberg’s startling »multiphonic« experiments that hit hardest. The album opens on »Multiphonic I«, and it’s difficult to tell that you’re listening to a human voice at first – you could just as well be on Colin Stetson’s overblown sax airstreams. Jernberg creates a captivating spiral of crooked, phased tones and hoarse, guttural croaks that she develops over three movements. On »Multiphonic II«, her voice is turned into a storm of pained shrieks, and on the third and final segment, it almost resembles Arve Henriksen or Jon Hassell’s muted brass curlicues. Each track pulls a different musical muscle, whether it’s »One Pitch« with its unsettling yodel-like quivering drones or »Gurgle«, sounding like a close mic-ed recording of a small pot gently simmering.

After receiving ecstatic reviews from all over the world for their 2023 debut „To The Gods We Swear“, Norwegian heavy metal warriors ROZARIO return with a vengeance. Their new album, „Northern Crusaders, is not just a follow-up — it’s a statement of intent. This is a band on their own Northern Crusades“, carrying the flag for classic, melodic heavy metal into a new era. The new album is an explosive collection of 12 powerful tracks that blend soaring, epic melodies with hard-hitting rockers — all packed with massive sing-along choruses, fierce conviction, and unstoppable energy. Behind the wall of sound lies an impressively crafted production, driven by massive drums, thunderous bass, blazing guitars and a powerful, commanding vocal performance. Every riff hits hard, every chorus soars high, and every note bleeds passion and conviction. ROZARIO have added fresh firepower to the lineup with the incredible young guitarist Taran Lister, whose talent brings an extra edge and intensity to the band’s signature sound. „Northern Crusaders“ was recorded at Holter Studio, once again with the amazing Trond Holter (Jorn, Wig Wam) at the helm — the band’s trusted producer and unofficial sixth member — ensuring a sound that’s as grand and powerful as the band’s vision itself. 1. Fire And Ice 2. We Are One 3. Down Low 4. Free…Forever 5. Crusader 6. Coming Home 7. Die Like Warriors 8. Until The Gods Are Calling 9. Sleepless 10. The Warning 11. Haunted By The Past 12. Betrayed Black Vinyl

The skies crack, the world coughs, and the smoke clears only to reveal the end. From the depths of the riff-choked void, Belzebong return with a new sermon for the final days - The End Is High. Recorded and mixed by Satanic Audio @ Sound of Records, this new chapter drags you deeper into your doom - where the incense burns green, and time moves slower than death itself. This is the soundtrack for the final procession. No salvation. No redemption. Bong. Fire. Death

Neon green vinyl, limited to 350 copies. The skies crack, the world coughs, and the smoke clears only to reveal the end. From the depths of the riff-choked void, Belzebong return with a new sermon for the final days - The End Is High. Recorded and mixed by Satanic Audio @ Sound of Records, this new chapter drags you deeper into your doom - where the incense burns green, and time moves slower than death itself. This is the soundtrack for the final procession. No salvation. No redemption. Bong. Fire. Death

Re-issued! 1993 nahmen PROPAGANDHI ihr erstes Album "How to Clean Everything" auf und veröffentlichten es über das damals noch junge Label Fat Wreck Chords. Es versteht sich von selbst, dass das Album nicht nur das Label bekannt machte, sondern vor allem PROPAGANDHI als eine der großen Kräfte in der Punkszene etablierte. "How To Clean Everything" war ein Start nach Maß und lehnte sich noch eher an die Skate-Punk-Tradition an als die folgenden Werke der Band. Trotzdem voller aggressiver Metal/HC-Riffs und jungenhafter, bissiger Texte über Menschenrechte, Gleichberechtigung und radikale linke Politik. Sänger/Gitarrist Chris Hannah erklärt seine Gründefür die Neuauflage (mit einem Hauch seines geliebten sarkastischen Humors): ,Vielleicht liegt es an den Badesalzen, aber ich bin zu der Überzeugung gelangt, dass es wertvoll ist, etwas zu haben, das einen bis zum Tod verfolgt. Ich präsentiere euch "How To Clean Everything". Die 2026 Neuauflage enthält wie die 20th Anniversary Edition das komplette Originalalbum plus die drei Outtakes, die Fat Mike für Fat Wreck seinerzeit für die Vinylveröffentlichung rausgenommen hatte. Natürlich wurde das Album auch von den originalen Analogbändern remastert. Schwarzes und farbiges Vinyl wieder erhältlich.
















p SEEMED FUNNY THE FIRST TIME BONUS TRACK
[q] NOT TO BE GENDER SPECIFIC, OF COURSE [BONUS TRACK]
















[p] SEEMED FUNNY THE FIRST TIME [BONUS TRACK]
[q] NOT TO BE GENDER SPECIFIC, OF COURSE [BONUS TRACK]
















[p] SEEMED FUNNY THE FIRST TIME [BONUS TRACK]
[q] NOT TO BE GENDER SPECIFIC, OF COURSE [BONUS TRACK]

Rough Signal Records steps into 2026 with a fresh release, featuring Bristol’s young lion KaiDub, following their link-up on last year’s “Osaka to Bristol” release.

Built together in Kai Dub’s Bristol studio, this record is a straight-up expression of their shared love forUK Dub. Militant UK stepper drums and powered by Dub Kazman’s signature synth lines, forming a heavy, sound system–minded steppers tune.

Every track comes, Dub Mixed by Dub Kazman, including the ruf and tuf cut he dropped as the final tune at NO LOGO FESTIVAL last year. No frills, just heavyweight, pressure, and sound system vibes

[a] A1 Cabin Talk Feat. Giancarlo Esposito [album Intro]










[l] A12 Believe (In Him) [feat. Lady Stout And K. Butler & The Collective]


[o] A15 Just How It Is (Sometimes) [feat. Jay Pharoah & Gareth Donkin]



[s] A19 Day In The Sun (Gettin' Wit U) [feat. Q-Tip & Yummy Bingham]

Hotel Lux announce their second album 'The Bitter Cup', which will be released October 31st. News of the album comes alongside the outlining of an extensive UK winter tour and new single, Costermonger. The band's 2023 debut album Hands Across The Creek won an abundance of press support, from the likes of: Dork, The Guardian, Mojo, Uncut, DIY L&Q, Clash, So Young, NME. BBC 6 Music playlists were also achieved. Recent single Another One Gone marked the start of new chapter for the band, after talking time to rediscover their identities, both as musicians and as a bunch of mates heading into their late twenties.

On new single, Hotel Lux say: "Costermonger is a musical translation of a BBC documentary detailing the rise and the fall of Deptford Market, High Street and the surrounding housing. The title itself refers to a Cockney word for a market trader. Sadly, the subject matter of the lyrics are as relevant now as they would’ve been back in ‘67 when Lewisham council first started pulling down the council housing.

On ‘The Bitter Cup’, Hotel Lux took it upon themselves to self-produce. “Something that felt completely natural, but also entirely necessary” Recorded at Big Jelly Studios, the band had enough confidence to lead on carving their own sound for this new record. Written completely collaboratively, and recorded live to replicate the emotional intensity of their live shows, this new record finds the band at their most vulnerable, while, also, at their most confident.

Alex Rex, the project of acclaimed musician and former Trembling Bells bandleader Alex Neilson, is set to release his fourth and final studio album, The National Trust, on March 28th. Written in the wake of the sudden death of his younger brother, Alastair, the album is a poignant reflection on loss, love, and renewal, deeply rooted in the landscape of Carbeth—a cabin community in the Scottish countryside that Alastair called home. For Neilson, the cabin became both a physical and emotional project, a symbol of restoration and reconnection.

"For the first four years after Alastair died, his cabin lay empty and exposed to the remorseless Scottish weather. It came to look like a rotten tooth in a beautiful mouth. Cladding was dropping off its veneer, the ashen baubles of dead wasps nests clung to the rafters, all his possessions were just as he'd left them but eaten by mice, moths and time. Ashtrays still carried the crushed centimetres of his old tab ends. The cabins are so joyfully animated by their host's specific personality and this one looked like a haunted house. Guilt, unrealised hopes and encroaching nature yoked together in a wandering sadness. Combined with the fact that I didn't know the right way round to hold a hammer made the project of its restoration seem hopeless.”

Neilson, however, gradually began chipping away at the task, determined to transform the cabin into something he hoped would resemble “a National Trust site occupied by a psychopath,” with a little help from some friends, including Lavinia Blackwall and Marco Rea.

“They poured love into the cabin and helped restore Alastair's original vision. The project also helped restore my relationship with Lavinia which had fractured after Trembling Bells broke up in 2017. Alongside long-term Rex lieutenant Rory Haye, we applied the same intensity of dedication that we did in renovating the cabin, into creating The National Trust.”

As with Neilson’s previous albums, the recording process was intentionally unpolished, with songs presented in the studio with no rehearsals and captured in just a few takes. This raw, immediate approach amplifies the emotional weight of the album, which Neilson describes as being at a “personal apex of sour self-reflection, mock misanthropy, and self-exposure.” Longtime collaborators Lavinia Blackwall, Marco Rea, and Rory Haye return, alongside guest musicians like Jill O’Sullivan (Jill Lorean) and Trembling Bells guitarist Mike Hastings, to bring Neilson’s vision to life. The result is a deeply personal and multifaceted work, blending acid wit with haunting introspection.

The songs on The National Trust traverse a wide emotional and thematic range. The title track opens the album with a sharp and confessional edge, exploring love, loathing, and cultural critique with Neilson’s signature wit. “Boss Morris” pays tribute to the all-female Morris dancing troupe that reinvents British folk with vibrant energy, while “Two Kinds of Song” turns self-referential humour into an avalanche of remorse, culminating in the unforgettable chorus: “I’ve got two kinds of song. Which one will it be; one where I hate myself or one where you hate me?” Elsewhere, tracks like “Psychic Rome” draw from the decadence and hysteria of ancient Rome, while “The Coward in the Tower” breaks new ground as the only song Neilson has composed on an instrument before recording.

Throughout the album, Neilson’s lyricism is as vivid as ever, transforming personal tragedy into poignant and often darkly humorous art. Yet, there is a sense of finality to this work. "Songwriting has encouraged me to see the whole world as a resource. The things people say and throw away can be chiselled and polished and plopped into a lyric. It’s the same with building the cabin- scouring the edges of society for pallets, discarded wood, ornaments for the garden. But while song writing brings to life orphaned parts of my personality, the cabin is a synthesis of all my interests – nurturing my emotional health instead of exploiting it. With that in mind, I think this will be my last album as Alex Rex.”

With The National Trust, Neilson closes a significant chapter of his career, blending masterful musicianship with deeply personal storytelling. Known for his collaborations with artists such as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Shirley Collins, and Current 93, as well as his decade-long tenure leading the psych-folk outfit Trembling Bells, Neilson has long been celebrated for his eclectic and uncompromising vision. This final album serves as a fitting culmination of his journey as Alex Rex, capturing the essence of his artistry while offering a profound exploration of loss, renewal, and the enduring power of love.

Multiplatin-Superstar Hilary Duff kündigt ihr erstes Album seit mehr als zehn Jahren an. luck…or something erscheint am 20. Februar 2026 über Atlantic Records. HIER kann man das Album ab sofort vorbestellen/vorab speichern. „Oft werde ich gefragt, wie ich nach all den Jahren in dieser Branche noch mit einem halbwegs klarem Kopf durchs Leben gehe“, sagt Hilary. Es ist Glück – aber in dem ‚…or something‘ steckt auch eine Menge Gewicht. Vieles, was ich erlebt habe, steckt darin, und genau das hat mich zu der gemacht, die ich bin.“ Im Januar bringt Hilary ihr neues Album mit der „Small Rooms, Big Nerves“-Tour auf die Bühne – eine Serie intimer Konzerte, die innerhalb kürzester Zeit ausverkauft war. Die ersten Headliner-Shows seit über zehn Jahren starten am 19. Januar 2026 im historischen O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London. Es folgen Toronto (HISTORY, 24. Januar), New York (Brooklyn Paramount, 27. Januar) und Los Angeles (The Wiltern, 29. Januar). Nachdem die Shows so schnell ausverkauft waren, bedankte sich Hilary bei ihren Fans mit einer persönlichen Instagram-Nachricht hier ansehen. Das sechste Studioalbum luck…or something enthält unter anderem die gefeierte Single „Mature“, die bereits überall verfügbar ist. Duff schrieb den Track zusammen mit ihrem Ehemann, dem Grammy-ausgezeichnten Songwriter und Produzenten Matthew Koma (Britney Spears, P!nk) sowie der Hitmakerin Madison Love (Halsey, Ava Max). Der sarkastische, autobiografisch gefärbte Track kombiniert Erinnerungen an romantische Missgeschicke in der Jugend mit einer schillernden Produktion – genau jene Mischung aus Witz und Verletzlichkeit, die Duff seit jeher auszeichnet. Nur eine Woche nach Veröffentlichung hatte „Mature“ bereits über 5 Millionen Streams, dazu kommen über 2,5 Millionen Views des Musikvideos bei YouTube. Hier kann man den Clip ansehen, bei dem Lauren Dunn (Olivia Rodrigo, Dove Cameron, Saweetie) Regie führte. Anfang der Woche veröffentlichte Hilary zudem ein „Behind the Scenes“-Video vom Dreh – hier ansehen.

Based on an unbelievable true story, Roofman follows Jeffrey Manchester (Tatum), an Army veteran and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald's restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname: Roofman. The film's score was composed by Grizzly Bear multi-instrumentalist Christopher Bear, with contributions from The War on Drugs' Jon Natchez. Christopher Bear is a drummer and multi- instrumentalist member of the Brooklynbased indie-rock group Grizzly Bear. He continues developing his independent career, most recently working on arranging soundtracks for the HBO series High Maintenance, and scoring the 2023 film Past Lives alongside his bandmate Daniel Rossen.

Finlay Shakespeare is an electronic musician working from the UK and across Europe. A childhood obsession with his parents’ record collection led him to both create his own music and build his own synthesizer equipment throughout his teenage years. After studying audio engineering, he was invited to become in-house engineer for the Moog Sound Lab UK, leading to collaborations with acts as diverse as Suicide, Charlemagne Palestine, The Grid and Mica Levi & Eliza McCarthy, both in live and studio environments. In 2017, Finlay began recording a series of monthly “Housediet'' releases - all improvised and captured at home utilising drum machines, modular synthesis and processed vocals. After several encounters with Peter Rehberg of Editions Mego, a compilation of the Housediet tracks was drawn up by Rehberg and Shakespeare, culminating in the release of “Domestic Economy” in early 2019. “Solemnities' ', a second album for Editions Mego appeared the following year. In the period since Rehberg’s untimely passing, Finlay has recorded for Superpang, Modulisme and his own GOTO Records imprint. “Illusion + Memory”, meanwhile, continues on from where “Solemnities” left off, with Finlay once again aiming to work at the fringes of electronic pop. Alter is proud to present “Illusion + Memory”, the third full length physical LP of Shakespeare’s utterly unique and sophisticated output. Shakespeare’s obsession and knowledge of late 70’s and early 80’s electronic pop music is once again at the forefront of this intense and dynamic release. Alas, this is not some retro throwback. Shakespeare’s deep understanding of his machines breathes new life into a genre of music once defunct. Supporting the likes of Blancmange bolstered his reputation for sublime synth hooks and dark lyrical content. Building on his previous work in the field “Illusion + Memory” is an unabashed pop record, as joyous as it is intense, moving from the brooding opening ballad “Your Side of the River” through the punchy “Theresa” which could be read as a love song to Throbbing Gristle’s United. Elsewhere “Climb” unleashes the opportunity to the dancefloor as wild electronics snake into all manner of schizophrenic shapes. There is a romantic side to this music. In its homage to electronic pop of the late 70’s and early 80’s but also in the emotional punch Shakespeare injects into every second of every track. Shakespeare’s reboot of these musical forms is technically impressive, one rich in feeling and deep in emotion, atmospherically and vocally. The two come together to create a unique visceral sonic experience… today!

Donovan Philips Leitch is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist who in the 1960s developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music. He emerged from the British folk scene and reached fame in the UK in early 1965 before replicating this in the US the following year, baring the fruits of the blossoming, successful, and eventually long collaboration with record producer Mickie Most.

Fast forward to 2018 and we're very pleased to say we're re-issuing these wonderful albums on our own state51 Conspiracy label - these are the first two of five, with another special release to follow in 2019. All five were cut at Abbey Road, pressed on 180g audiophile vinyl and lovingly re-created to replicate the original releases. They are all strictly limited to just 300 copies for the world too.

Repress!

With the fourth Realm Of Consciousness compilation, Tale Of Us shine a light on the artists whose work has shaped their sets in recent times. The sound encompasses everything Afterlife represents: introspective electronica, euphoric peak-time cuts and more subtle rollers.

"Talk Is Cheap" ist das mit Spannung erwartete erste vollständige Album der neuen Metalcore-Shootingstars "Fight From Within" aus dem Norden des Bundesstaates New York. Ihre authentische „Don't give a f%8k“ Attitüde überzeugt die Metal-Community, wie ihre schnell steigenden Zahlen auf verschiedenen Social Media Plattformen beweisen. Jose Mangin von SiriusXM hat sie als eine der Bands bezeichnet, die man im Auge behalten sollte.

Lucid Express sind fünf junge Träumer aus Hongkong, die mitreißenden, bittersüßen Rock machen, der zum Träumen einlädt. Ihr zweites Album "Instant Comfort", das Nachfolger ihres selbstbetitelten Debütalbums aus dem Jahr 2021 ist, enthält ihre bisher komplexesten Arrangements. Lucid Express holten den Shoegaze-Autor Kurt Feldman (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Depreciation Guild) für das Mixing und Mastering an Bord - das Ergebnis ist ein noch klarerer und mitreißenderer Sound der Band. Über Discord zusammengekommen, entstand ,Instant Comfort" in marathongleichen nächtlichen transpazifischen Sessions zwischen der Band in Hongkong und Feldman in New York City - ein gemeinsames Streben nach Perfektion, das sich von Mitternacht bis zum Sonnenaufgang abspielte. Durchdrungen von gleichermaßen schleichender Melancholie und hoffnungsvoller Romantik, werden in diesen neuen Songs verwirrende Gefühle zugelassen. Luftige Melodien werden von einer schweren Gitarrenwand untermalt: siehe ,Promise Me" und ,Something Blue". Lucid Express waren schon mit Punchlove und Blushing in den USA auf Tour und hat auf renommierten Festivals in Asien und Amerika gespielt, darunter Clockenflap, LEVITATION und Slide Away.

The highly anticipated collaboration album “97239 710” by Tokyo-based rap crew TiGht Plump and Olive Oil－who continues to lead the scene with his
one-of-a-kind beat magic－is finally arriving on analog LP from OILWORKS REC!!

GRAMMY-prämierte Rap-Ikone Nas und DJ Premier – zwei der einflussreichsten und angesehensten Persönlichkeiten der Hip-Hop-Geschichte – veröffentlichten ihr mit Spannung erwartetes Kollaborationsalbum „Light-Years“ am 12. Dezember digital über Mass Appeal Nach den limitierten Day Ones Editionen gibt es nun die regulären Editionen mit Artwork, ab 20. Februar 2026.

Nach jahrzehntelanger Vorfreude ist „Light-Years“ die Wiedergeburt einer 30-jährigen Zusammenarbeit. Die Partnerschaft von Nas und DJ Premier ist tief in der DNA des Hip-Hop verwurzelt. Ihre Geschichte begann 1994 mit „Illmatic“, das Hits wie „N.Y. State Of Mind“, „Memory Lane“ und „Represent“ hervorbrachte. „Illmatic“ etablierte Nas als Ausnahmetalent und festigte Premiers damals aufstrebende Karriere. Ihre musikalische Chemie vertiefte sich im Laufe des folgenden Jahrzehnts durch Klassiker wie „I Gave You Power“, „2nd Childhood“, „Nas Is Like“ und „N.Y. State Of Mind Pt. II“.

Angeführt von Mass Appeals bahnbrechender Reihe „Legend Has It…“, die einige der wichtigsten und einflussreichsten Hip-Hop-Künstler aller Zeiten feiert und ins Rampenlicht rückt, präsentierte die Reihe ein ganzes Jahr lang historische Veröffentlichungen von Kultur prägenden Künstlern wie Slick Rick, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, Big L und De La Soul. Mit „Light-Years“ liefern Nas und DJ Premier den krönenden Abschluss dieser legendären Reihe, in der ihre unbestreitbare Synergie nach wie vor einzigartig ist.

2006 zierten Nas und DJ Premier das Cover des Scratch Magazine und kündigten ein gemeinsames Projekt an, das die Begeisterung der Fans erneut entfachte und die zwei Jahrzehnte währende Vorfreude beflügelte. Letztes Jahr taten sich Nas und Premier zusammen, um das 30-jährige Jubiläum von „Illmatic“ mit der Veröffentlichung des neuen Tracks „Define My Name“ zu feiern, mit dem sie erstmals ihr wegweisendes Kollaborationsalbum ankündigten.

„Light-Years“ ist ein wahrer Beweis für den Einfluss beider Künstler, ihr Vermächtnis und die Zeitlosigkeit ihrer gemeinsamen Musik.

Pem is a multidisciplinary artist, songwriter, and gardener whose work fuses organic and stylized elements. Her music is rooted in nature, shaped by long days tending gardens and observing seasonal cycles. Initial ideas emerge as “pocket sketches” — spontaneous melodies recorded while gardening — later evolving into full compositions.
Her EP other ways of landing emphasizes textural depth, world-building, and her distinctive vocal agility. Themes of belonging and rootlessness permeate her work, inspired by her transient lifestyle and connection to gardens.
Pem’s sound blends ethereal alt-balladry with soul and folk influences, underpinned by raw singer-songwriter foundations. Her hypnotic tremolo vocal technique adds an uncanny, esoteric quality. Live, she delivers arresting performances marked by stylized detachment and emotional tension, complemented by self-made costumes and lyrical motifs of fabric and fragility.

Influences range from Nick Drake and Vashti Bunyan to Cocteau Twins, Mazzy Star, and Björk. Her music explores cyclicism, mythology, and planetary themes, merging her real-world gardening experience with mystical undertones.

Whilst remaining leftfield in spirit, there is a musical vulnerability to the latest iteration of Legss, and a newfound pop sensibility to their writing, which reflects a move to a more accessible sound. There is a security in inaccessibility, and shedding this cloak opens the band up to an earnestness at once exciting and nerve-wracking. Twinned with their signature world-building aesthetic, the new direction is reflected sonically by drummer Louis Grace, who co-produced the album with Balazs Altsach (Ugly, Katy J Pearson, Broadside Hacks) - set to be distributed by The state51 Conspiracy.

On the announcement of their debut album, Unreal, the band say:
“Unreal feels like the work of a lifetime. We can’t believe we’re still here to see it through, but we are and we couldn’t be prouder. The album is about miscommunication and feelings of unreality/the uncanny in everyday life; the tragic and the comic.”

ABOUT LEGSS
Merging intricate guitars, disquieting monologues and a rhythm section both technical and unruly, London’s Legss create a wholly unique sound.
After meeting and forming in London, Legss released their experimental, darkly satirical debut EP Writhing Comedy in 2019, which received heavy airplay on BBC 6 Music. A year later the band’s much-anticipated, genre-bending sophomore EP Doomswayers was released in the shadow of the pandemic, championed by BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders and BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq.

After the release of their single ‘Hollywood’, Legss signed to The state51 Conspiracy and released their third EP Fester in 2023, recorded at The Church, which saw critical acclaim from the likes of the Sunday Times, Quietus, Independent, Line of Best Fit, So Young Magazine, DORK, L&Q, and DIY.

In 2024 the band were included by Simon Reynolds in the afterword to a republished edition of Mark Fisher’s seminal Ghosts of My Life (Zero Books).

Legss are Louis Grace (drums, synth), Ned Green (vocals, guitar), Jake Martin (bass) and Max Oliver (guitar)

Zweite Vinyl-Nachpressung auf red, black and white 3-way color merge vinyl (Phoenix II Edition). Das Fantasy-Mittelalter-Metal-Phänomen CASTLE RAT präsentiert sein zweites Album! Castle Rat ist die NY Fantasy-Heavy-Metal-Band, die von der Rat Queen angeführt wird, welche die Mission verfolgt, ihr Refugium gegen diejenigen zu verteidigen, die es zerstören wollen. Ihr zur Seite stehen The Count, The Plague Doctor und The All-Seeing Druid. Gemeinsam stellen sie sich mit Heavy Magie dem unerbittlichen Zorn ihrer Erzfeindin - dem Tod in Form von The Rat Reaperess. The Bestiary ist ein riffgeladenes Kompendium mystischer Kreaturen und vorwarnender Erzählungen aus einer vergessenen Welt. Es erzählt 13 allegorische Geschichten von mythischen Bestien und dem Zauberer, der sie beschwört, und verwebt kraftvolle Heavy-Hymnen und dunkle Verzückungen zu einer betörenden und unvergesslichen Heavy-Metal-Odyssee. Als ob Grace Slick mit Black Sabbath ca. 1200 A.D. auf einem Kiss-Konzert Liebe macht. Aufgenommen von Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Wolves in the Throne Room, Björk) und gemischt von Jonathan Nuñez (Torche, Restless Spirit), bietet das Album episches Heavy-Gemetzel und doomy Hard Rock. Hervorgegangen aus New Yorks abscheulichem, kreaturenverseuchtem Untergrund, schlugen die Fantasy-Heavy-Metaller zunächst mit ihren Live-Auftritten und später mit ihrem Debütalbum "Into The Realm" im Jahr 2024 große Wellen. Seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr 2019 haben CASTLE RAT ein lebendiges Labyrinth aus Erzählungen und Mythen geschaffen, welches sie nun rund um die Welt führt. The Bestiary auf CD (aufklappbares Digipak), MC (mit gefaltetem Inlay) und auf LP (farbiges Vinyl, inklusive ausklappbarem Lyrics-Insert)!

The last time Noir embarked on a similar creative exorcism was for 2012's Jimmy's Show LP which selected choice cuts from 18 E.P. 's released via straight to fan subscription over as many months. The resulting album is one of his most lauded and beloved by fans, with the vinyl now selling for silly money on Discogs.

Programmes for Cools is Jimmy's Show's spiritual successor, idiosyncratic, other worldly and brimming with timeless melodies. Noir's influences seep through the track list, wrapped with a haunting, dreamlike delivery.

First single 'Out Of Sight' is a Fleetwood Mac meets Selected Ambient Works era Richard D James, four to the floor banger. Already a fan favourite, it propels Side A forward with a somewhat misplaced optimism, much like Neil Young's 'Walk On' starting On the Beach.

Side B is more esoteric, exemplified by 'Fireworks’which includes lyrics and vocals from Marie Claude Dequoy,produced with the wooze of golden era Boards of Canada. Elsewhere, influences as disparate as Stevie Wonder, on the wonky clav funk of 'The Fountain', and Ian Brown 'I think I found it' illustrate Noir's disregard for musical straightjackets (the latter may have the most unapologetic baggy, hypnotic groove since the Mondays' 'Halleluiah').

As the album swells to its conclusion, via the epic Led Zeppelin meets the Warhol clique 'Morning Light’and the heart tugging finale of 'Motorbike’(the first song released from the most recent run of E.P.'s), there is a sense of completion and finality...
‘This is the last Jim Noir album. There are no more Jim Noir albums after this one. This time I'm serious. It's been the hardest I've ever worked on anything. I think I have created my own Be Here Now...Sorry.’
Joking and hyperbole aside, the album has more of an Abbey Road feel, and needs to be experienced in one sitting. If the infamous Davyhulme prankster is to be believed and this is his final outing, then you could wish for a more fitting album. - NM

At the start of this summer, following a three-year hiatus for Daphni (punctuated only by his first ever collaborative Daphni track ‘Unidos’ alongside Sofia Kourtesis), he dropped ‘Sad Piano House’. The track represented something of a continuation in the Daphni catalogue, its roots growing from Cherry’s ‘Cloudy’ and its subsequent Kelbin remix, something in that song’s makeup having a profound effect when played on dancefloors by Snaith and countless others. ‘Sad Piano House’ deployed more intangibly irresistible bendy piano to equally satisfying effect and continues to achieve similarly rhapsodic dancefloor saturation.
Though a sizeable gap for Daphni releases, between Cherry and Butterfly however of course sits Honey, the latest Caribou album and one that saw the more instantaneous and dancefloor leaning traits of Daphni peaking through the cracks more than ever before. This blurring of the lines leads to an intriguing collaboration in Butterfly’s lead single ‘Waiting So Long (feat. Caribou)’. An unlikely duo - in that both artists are the same man, Dan Snaith - ‘Waiting So Long’ is not so much an identity crisis, ego trip, or the result of a chemical spill in the Snaith laboratory. It’s simply a track that Snaith felt for the first time belongs to both aliases, and might appeal to fans of both. He has never sung on a Daphni track before, and did not set out with the intention to do so this time, and yet this strange billing was born.

Daphni music has always been Snaith’s way of hitting directly to the core of the dancefloors he spends so much of his time playing to, and those dancefloors have been steadily expanding as his name grows, with the music following suit. This album however also draws from further back with a definite kinship to the very first Daphni album, the invigorating bag of ideas that was Jiaolong.
Butterfly is a showcase of the wonderful variety and surprising twists and turns that made that album such an exciting new prospect and that still to this day make Snaith such an intriguing DJ. There are more heavy hitters here, tracks that fill those dancefloors better than anyone, like ‘Clap Your Hands’ which picks up the energy of ‘Sad Piano House’ and flips it, exposing the gritty and intoxicating underbelly of Snaith’s hitmaking side, while retaining the playful urgency that runs through all of his work of late. Meanwhile ‘Hang’’s comic-strip horns are unpinned by gleeful force, unrelenting and thrillingly unshakeable. Elsewhere though comes a clutch of other tunes that might creep out somewhere more off the beaten path, a path Snaith has never stopped seeking in amongst his larger billings. ‘Lucky’ is squirmy and elusively intoxicating, ‘Invention’ skitters down meandering, inviting corridors, ‘Talk To Me’ grumbles and broods in the murk, and ‘Miles Smiles’ could roll on endlessly, so confident in its groove. There are no obvious peaks in these tracks or unifying moments, in fact many of them really have no business being on the dancefloor at all, and yet in the right setting, they could be the most fun to be had all night.

One such club is a good microcosm for the ethos of Butterfly as a whole. “Around the time I was finishing up this album I played a long set in a club called Open Ground in Wuppertal, Germany.” Snaith recalls, “It’s kind of, in one sense, the platonic ideal of the kind of club I’d want to play in. Every single decision has been taken, at great expense, with the aim of making the perfect sounding medium sized club room. But on top of it being the perfect acoustic environment it also is run by an amazing collection of people in a way that gives it a sense of community that dance music at its best provides. It is an absolute pleasure to play in that room to a crowd of people who come from all over. Playing in there you feel like you can play anything, and I played works in progress of pretty much every track on this album in my set there. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing a short set at a festival or in a more raw warehouse kind of club where you bang it out and only really functional music works but on record I guess the point of these Daphni records is to keep in mind a more expansive idea of dance music where the parameters are broad and the church is broad. I think that actually, putting really functional stuff next to weirder tracks (both on an album and in a dj set) might be the thing that’s still most interesting to me.”
This is the feeling that’s most palpable on Butterfly, and in every single time you see Snaith DJ. Right from the inception of the Daphni alias - and even before that – the thrill of trying stuff out, pushing at the boundaries has always been there and on Butterfly is present in all its twists and turns. It leaps all over the place and yet it hangs together, never feeling like a grab bag of dancefloor utilities but rather a distillation of all the strings to Snaith’s bow, exhilaratingly human and unified by one singular concept – simple and joyful exploration.

Intricate structures with an intertwining of spontaneity and randomness, meeting the diverse genre influences of the band members from mediaeval music to shoegaze to noise. That is Unravel, the new album, and first in six years, from Czech band Manon Meurt.
"Unravel reflects the different stages of dissociation, a person's thoughts, observations - whether of the environment or of oneself - and admiration for the beauty and cruelty that nature mirrors," multi-instrumentalist and lyricist Kateřina Elznicová says of the album.
Produced by Eddie Stevens (Freakpower, Zero 7, Moloko, Roisin Murphy) the album was pieced together from recorded fragments, meticulously pieced together. The title Unravel refers to the development of the band, unravelling what they are to find the full potential of their music as well as uncovering the layered nature of the songs and emotions.
"Eddie Stevens’ approach to recording was a big surprise. We understood that there was no one right version of the songs. Each of our themes carries a certain energy that can manifest and blossom in many ways. Compared to previous records, the vision of each member was much more evident, while we learned not to cling to our individual ideas of a signifying break or a nu-metal bounce at the end of an ambient song. The main thing was a common concept," adds keyboardist David Tichý on creating the seven songs on the record.
Abum producer Eddie Stevens describes the collaboration, “Each album is an adventure. You do some preparation, check the route over and over, prepare for any eventuality that your packing space and imagination will allow, plan some places to stop and rest en route, places to eat, sleep, then consider the challenges - the ice wall, the summit, even just finding your way in foreign land. But despite all that planning, you can never really say for sure what’s going to happen, what unexpected path you might take, what strangers might invite you in for a cup of tea and to what ends. So it was making Unravel with Manon Meurt and engineer and studio owner Lukas Martinek at Svárov studios and of course back home in the relative safety of my studio. Musicians who quickly became friends showed me more than I showed them, people with ideas, with creativity seeping from their pores. Music making the right way: no blinkers, no walls, no preconceptions, no barriers, no rules. What a pleasure, and what a magical, technicoloured,
kaleidoscopic album we’ve made together, “
The combination of industrial material with plant motifs in the work Untitled_1 by Ukrainian artist Liza Libenko, which adorns the cover of Unravel, strongly attracted the band. After all, floral motifs have always been close to Manon Meurt's music. Libenko, a student of the Academy of Fine Arts and a finalist of the prestigious Austrian Strabag Artaward International Prize, has recently been working on overcoming the narrative boundaries of the canvas, the paintings "attack"the viewer. Sunflowers are a powerful symbol of life and the sun; in Libenko's paintings they are black and burnt, serving as an allegory for contemporary conditions. The work was photographed by photographer and artist Marcel Rozhoň, and the final processing of the Unravel album was done by graphic artist Zuzana Malá.

“Tubby did three original dub albums, ‘Dub From The Roots’. ‘The Roots of Dub’ and the third is ‘Brass Rockers’ with Tommy McCook ‘pon the flying cymbals. Where he mixed it with the horn going in and out in a dub way and one named ‘Shalom Dub’ you can call Tubby’s too because he mixed the versions as they were off forty fives’’

Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee

King Tubby and Producer Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee are intertwined in the birth of Dub Music. After discovering a mistake that made a ‘serious joke’ (more of which later...) they went on to release the first pressings of this new musical genre namely ‘Dub Music’. Tubby’s vast knowledge of electronics and Bunny’s vast catalogue of rhythms would lay the foundations of what today is taken as a standard... the Remix / Version cuts to an existing vocal tune.

Osbourne ‘King Tubby’ Ruddock was born in Kingston, Jamaica on 28th January 1941 and grew up in the High Holborn Street area of downtown Kingston. He studied electronics at Kingston’s National Technical College and also on two correspondence courses from the U.S.A... When he had qualified Tubby began repairing radios and other electrical appliances in a shack in the back yard of his mother’s home. His work in the early days included winding transformers and building amplifiers for Kingston’s Sound Systems. Tubby built his first Sound System in 1957 playing jazz and Rhythm & Blues at local weddings and birthday parties. His reputation as a man who knew and understood both electronics and music grew steadily and as the sixties drew to a close. Tubby
purchased his own basic two track equipment. He installed this alongside his dub cutting machine, a home-made mixing console, and his impressive collection of jazz albums in the back bedroom of his home at 18 Dromilly Avenue which he christened his music room.

Tubby and Striker were at Treasure Isle Studio’s one day while Ruddy from Spanish Town was working with the engineer Byron Smith....

“Tubby and myself was talking when Ruddy was cutting some dub but Smithy (engineer) made a mistake through we were talking and forgot to put in the voice. It was two track recording in those days. Ruddy said ‘No Man! Make it stay! and so they cut the rhythm. When I went over to Ruddy’s that Saturday night a dance was in progress and when they played the vocal to the tune... then he said we’re going to play ‘Part Two’. They never called it ‘Version’..and then he played the rhythm track. The song was a catchy song and everybody started to sing along and the deejay started to toast so everything went down well. On Monday morning I went up and I said ‘Tubbs the mistake we made was a serious joke.It mash up Spanish Town! The people went wild. So you have to start to do that now ‘cause when the man put on the ‘Part Two’ everyone start singing this song. It played about twenty times. I said you try Tubbs!’...Well the next Saturday night now when Tubby strung up down the farm U Roy said he’s going to play ‘Part Two’ but Tubby did it different now. He started with the voice then dropped it out and let the rhythm run and then he brought in the voice in the middle and from there Tubby started to get really popular.’’
Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee

Dynamic Sounds upgraded to sixteen track recording in 1972 and Tubby purchased, again with the help of a deal brokered by Bunny Lee. The old four track equipment and the MCI console from their Studio B. The four tracks now gave him far wider scope to work with and he began to create a new musical form where the bass and drum parts were brought up while the faders allowed Tubby to ease the vocal and rhythm in and out of the mix. It was only a matter of time before Tubby’s dub plate experiments began to make it on to vinyl and the first ever long-playing King Tubby releases would feature a collection of his mixes to a selection of Strikers rhythms. So please sit back and enjoy this historic set of sounds. Lovingly restored and with a few extra gems added to the CD Editions. These releases were the first to carry the name of King Tubby and the first to credit the great musicians that contributed so much to the rhythms that made these albums possible.

Malena Zavala is an Argentinian-born, London-based artist, producer, and filmmaker, known for crafting ethereal, genre-blending music that navigates the space between her Latin heritage and her British upbringing. With the forthcoming album If This Life Could Start Again set for release on 30 January 2026 on Paraná Records, Zavala presents her most intimate, cohesive, and accomplished work to date, marking a significant evolution in her artistic journey.
With her new album, Malena creates an atmospheric dream pop world, weaving singer-songwriter intimacy with synth pop, Argentine folk, indiepop, rock and experimental music, threaded together by her blissful vocals and dreamy guitar work. Gorgeously warm and vivid, If This Life Could Start Again charts the journey from pain to acceptance, mapping out the non-linear nature of healing through a sonic landscape. Each song embodies a distinct emotion within that journey, from grief and chaos to feeling lost, seeking refuge, finding confidence, and finally acceptance and letting go. Drawing on her Argentinian roots, Malena uses the Andes mountains as both a visual and thematic anchor – the difficult climb towards higher ground becomes a metaphor for healing, whilst being lost at rock bottom reflects the darkest moments of the journey. 
Completely composed and performed by Malena herself, the album was recorded in Girona’s L’Empordà countryside in Spain with producer Luke Smith. As a professional producer and audio engineer, this was Malena’s first time relinquishing production control – an intimate creative shift that allowed their shared vision to shape the album’s rich, enveloping sound. 
However, Zavala’s career to date has been a testament to self-sufficient artistry. Her critically acclaimed debut, Aliso (2018), was written, recorded, and produced alone in her parents’ garage, which honed her dreamy bedroom pop sound. The album, praised by The Guardian for its “gently warped and beguilingly melancholy guitar pop,” ****, immediately catapulted her from DIY beginnings to prestigious stages, supporting acts like Lord Huron at London’s Roundhouse and Men I Trust at Village Underground and subsequently continuing on their UK/EU tours. Later with standout performances at Latitude, Green Man, and All Points East. Her consistent radio support from key influencers including BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 1's Huw Stephens, and Steve Lamacq has solidified her presence on the airwaves.
Her second album, La Yarará (2020), saw Zavala delve deeper into her roots, exploring Latin traditions like Cumbia and Bolero. This exploration of identity continues powerfully on the new album, but with a newfound lyrical depth and sonic confidence. The new album, If This Life Could Start Again, is a raw and transformative eight-track journey that maps the emotional landscape of healing. Written after a period of personal upheaval, the album traverses themes of grief, hereditary trauma, and self-discovery. The record’s narrative is structured like a mountain ascent. A challenging climb through varied emotional terrain, posing the central question: “Will you join the journey?” Sonically, this journey mirrors the non-linear path to acceptance, evolving from acoustic folk and synth-pop to funk-infused rhythms and rock anthems.
As a formidable live performer, Zavala has built a robust touring profile across the UK and Europe. She will embark on an extensive tour in February and March 2026 to support the album, with dates spanning major cities from London and Glasgow to Berlin, Paris, and Barcelona.
With If This Life Could Start Again, Malena Zavala fully realizes her artistic vision as a self-taught producer to an autonomous artist commanding her career through Paraná Records whilst reflecting the vast landscapes of her heritage and affirming her place as a compelling and evolving voice in contemporary music.