quête:zea

BIOHAZARD formed in Brooklyn in 1988 and soon after released their first demo. The band consisted of founding members Billy Graziadei (vocals, guitar), Bobby Hambel (lead guitar) and Evan Seinfeld (vocals, bass). After the release of their second demo in 1989, drummer Anthony Meo left the band and drummer Danny Schuler replaced him. BIOHAZARD released their combined the urban sounds of hard-core, metal and rap with scorching lyrics describing the forces at work in our modern urban lives. With an impressive career spanning over 20 years with 10 albums (on both indie and major labels), the band sold over 5 million records. In 1990, Biohazard signed a recording contract with Maze Records. The band's self-titled debut album was poorly promoted by the label and sold approximately 40,000 copies. The album's subject matter revolved around Brooklyn, gang-wars, drugs, and violence.

In 1992, Biohazard signed with Roadrunner Records and released Urban Discipline, which gave the band national and worldwide attention in both the heavy metal and hardcore communities. The video for the song "Punishment" became the most played video in the history of MTV's Headbanger's Ball, and the album sold over one million copies. The band also began opening for larger acts such as Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, House of Pain, Fishbone, and The Cro-Mags. In 1993, the hardcore rap group Onyx brought on Billy Graziadei for an alternate "Bionyx" version of their hit single "Slam" with Biohazard as their backup band. This led to a collaboration on the title track of the Judgment Night soundtrack. The soundtrack would go on to sell over two million copies in the United States. Months later, the band left Roadrunner Records and signed with Warner Bros. Records Inc. who released their third studio LP, State of the World Address. The album was produced by Ed Stasium in Los Angeles and contained the single "How It Is" featuring Sen Dog of Cypress Hill, for which a video was also shot. During their 1994 tour, the band made an appearance on the second stage at the Monsters of Rock festival held at Castle Donington. State of the World Address went on to sell over one million copies, and Rolling Stone magazine selected the Biohazard logo as the best logo of the year.

This was the last Biohazard album with Bobby Hambel, who left due to differences with the rest of the band. The band recorded their fourth studio album, Mata Leao, as a three piece in 1996. It was produced with the help of Dave Jerden. For the 1996-97 Mata Leao Tour, former Helmet guitarist Rob Echeverria joined the band. The band also played on the Ozzfest mainstage alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Danzig, Fear Factory, and Sepultura. While touring Europe in support of the Mata Leao album, the band recorded their Hamburg, Germany, show for their first live album, No Holds Barred (Live in Europe), which was released in 1997 through their former label, Roadrunner Records. The band signed to Mercury Records and released their fifth studio album, New World Disorder, in 1999, once again with Ed Stasium as a producer.

The relationship with Mercury Records soured quickly as the band felt betrayed and misunderstood by the label. They severed their ties with the label amidst the merger of Mercury Records, Island Records, Def Jam Records, and Polygram into the Universal Music Group. The following year, Biohazard signed two new record deals with SPV/Steamhammer in Europe and Sanctuary Records for the remainder of the world. Despite the new record deals, the band took some personal time in order to work on other projects. Graziadei and Schuler also collaborated in transforming the band's rehearsal Brooklyn studio into a digital recording studio, known as Rat Piss Studios and soon after changed the name to Underground Sound Studios. Re-investing into the band, Graziadei and Schuler honed their engineering and productions skills while recording and producing local acts and new Biohazard demos. The band then undertook the process of writing, recording, and producing their own music. Their studio work led to the band's sixth studio album, Uncivilization, released in September 2001.
The album featured several guest appearances by members of bands such as Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Pantera, Slipknot, Sepultura, Cypress Hill, Skarhead, and Type O Negative. Shortly after the release of Uncivilization, guitarist Leo Curley left the band and was replaced by former Nucleus member Carmine Vincent, who had previously toured with Biohazard as part of their road crew. The band had to cancel scheduled European festival dates when Carmine Vincent underwent major surgery. The band did manage to find a temporary guitarist, Scott Roberts, formerly of the Cro-Mags and the Spudmonsters, in time to join the Eastpak Resistance Tour with Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Discipline, Death Threat, Born From Pain and All Boro Kings. Biohazard completed their seventh studio album in seventeen days; Kill Or Be Killed was released in 2003. While touring North America with Kittie, Brand New Sin and Eighteen Visions, Biohazard announced that Roberts would remain as their permanent lead guitarist. The tour was curtailed when it was announced that Seinfeld had fallen ill. With more downtime due to Seinfeld's illness, Graziadei and Schuler collaborated to mix Life of Agony's live comeback album, River Runs Again: Live 2003. Once Seinfeld was healthy again, the band toured Japan and North America, headlining over bands such as Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Throwdown, and Full Blown Chaos.

By the end of 2003, the band had begun recording its eighth studio album, Means To An End. The completed album was lost in a studio disaster, forcing the band to completely re-record the album, which was finally released in August 2005. In October 2004, Graziadei announced that Means To An End had been the final Biohazard album and that he would continue playing with his new band Suicide City as his main focus. One month later, on the Biohazard website, it was announced that there would in fact be a 2005 Biohazard tour. On December 15, 2005, Seinfeld and Graziadei participated in the Roadrunner United conglomerate event at the Nokia Theater in New York for an all-star event. The show opened with Biohazard's "Punishment," performed by Seinfeld, Graziadei, Sepultura's Andreas Kisser, former Fear Factory member Dino Cazares, and Slipknot's Joey Jordison. Graziadei and Schuler relocated their recording studio to South Amboy, New Jersey and renamed it Underground Sound Studios. The studio was renovated to include a live room with 20-foot (6.1 m) ceilings and 4,000 square feet (370 m2) of studio space. After Schuler's departure from the studio business, Graziadei relocated the studio to Los Angeles and changed the name to Firewater Studios. In January 2008, the classic lineup of Evan Seinfeld, Billy Graziadei, Danny Schuler and Bobby Hambel made the announcement that rehearsals had begun for a 2008 summer tour to commemorate the band's 20th anniversary. They toured Australia and New Zealand in April with Chimaira, Throwdown, Bloodsimple and headliners Korn to celebrate their newly declared reunion. The band also took part in Persistence Tour 2009, and announced at one of their shows that they were working on a new record. Biohazard brought in producer Toby Wright to work on the album and after several months at Graziadei's Firewater Studios in Los Angeles, the band completed their recording sessions. In June 2011, Biohazard announced that Evan Seinfeld had quit the band and Scott Roberts returned to replace Seinfeld for two UK dates but no decision regarding a permanent replacement was made. In January 2012, the band decided that Scott Roberts would remain with the band as a permanent member. The new album, Reborn In Defiance, was released worldwide, with the exception of North America, on January 20, 2012 through the Nuclear Blast label. In support of the album, Biohazard embarked on a short co-headlining tour of Europe with Suicidal Tendencies in the latter half of January 2012. After touring the world in support of Reborn in Defiance, the band entered the studio to work on a new release and after a falling out, Roberts departed the band.

Biohazard remains as it’s core founding members of Graziadei, Shuler and Hambel. Graziadei has since ventured off onto a solo career as BillyBio and teamed up with Cypress Hill frontman Sendog to start Powerflo. Both groups are working on their second releases due out late 2021 and early 2022.

The third compilation EP to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the establishment is Coastal Haze under the umbrella of Church,

An up-and-coming duo from New Zealand, Manuel Darquart, released on Wolf Music and others. The long-awaited first vinyl version of the popular song released digitally only in 2016.

The dense sound world with a wide range, including the impressive synth bass that penetrates the song, is unique to vinyl release. Including mastering by

Mr. KUNIYUKI, this work that realized a thick groove that is different from the time of digital sound source, there is no doubt that it will shake the entire space.

The up-and-coming French beatdown house S3A, whose long-awaited first album from Dirt Crew was well received. It's no wonder that he grew up listening to Detroit house,

and his unique sense of exquisite combination of sleezy beats, muffled texture and breathing such as disco funk is an excellent work.

The space is gradually filled with layers of euphoria that folds down, and the feeling of exhilaration and sophistication is irresistible!

The Japanese twin duo SATOSHI & MAKOTO, whose two albums released from YOUNG MARCO's label attracted a lot of attention, remixed the songs of SATOSHI FEAT and KUNIYUKI.

It is a remix of the work that was recorded in the label's 20th anniversary edition "20 YEARS SOUND OF SPEED RECORDS VOL.2" and was well received, but it seems that they were strongly influenced by early techno, and there is a melancholic synth work that drifts. The finish that is drawn into. It's a wonderful remix with respect for the original and a fusion of your own colors.

KUNIYUKI is in charge of mastering

Swiss firebrand alchemists Zeal & Ardor are excited to announce their forthcoming, self-titled new album, set for release February 11th, 2022, via MVKA.

Hissing and seeping justifiable rage from every pore - yet not an unrelenting musical battering - the 14-track opus was recorded by Marc Obrist and Manuel Gagneux at Hutch Sounds and mixed/mastered by Will Putney at Graphic Nature Audio. All songs were written by the softly spoken, multi-lingual frontman Gagneux, with some German lyrics intermixed with the English.

Gagneux declares, "With the self-titled record, we have arrived at where I imagined this project should sound like. It’s the longest we’ve worked on a single record and I believe it shows. The most important thing for an album of ours to do, is transport you instantly into our mood, our world. Even though this might not be the one you might expect from us, this record certainly delivers on that front. We had time to hone in to what we think makes us interesting and what sounds we would like to explore through this we have found our home. Home is burning. Welcome home.

Swiss firebrand alchemists Zeal & Ardor are excited to announce their forthcoming, self-titled new album, set for release February 11th, 2022, via MVKA.

Hissing and seeping justifiable rage from every pore - yet not an unrelenting musical battering - the 14-track opus was recorded by Marc Obrist and Manuel Gagneux at Hutch Sounds and mixed/mastered by Will Putney at Graphic Nature Audio. All songs were written by the softly spoken, multi-lingual frontman Gagneux, with some German lyrics intermixed with the English.

Gagneux declares, "With the self-titled record, we have arrived at where I imagined this project should sound like. It’s the longest we’ve worked on a single record and I believe it shows. The most important thing for an album of ours to do, is transport you instantly into our mood, our world. Even though this might not be the one you might expect from us, this record certainly delivers on that front. We had time to hone in to what we think makes us interesting and what sounds we would like to explore through this we have found our home. Home is burning. Welcome home.

Swiss firebrand alchemists Zeal & Ardor are excited to announce their forthcoming, self-titled new album, set for release February 11th, 2022, via MVKA.

Hissing and seeping justifiable rage from every pore - yet not an unrelenting musical battering - the 14-track opus was recorded by Marc Obrist and Manuel Gagneux at Hutch Sounds and mixed/mastered by Will Putney at Graphic Nature Audio. All songs were written by the softly spoken, multi-lingual frontman Gagneux, with some German lyrics intermixed with the English.

Gagneux declares, "With the self-titled record, we have arrived at where I imagined this project should sound like. It’s the longest we’ve worked on a single record and I believe it shows. The most important thing for an album of ours to do, is transport you instantly into our mood, our world. Even though this might not be the one you might expect from us, this record certainly delivers on that front. We had time to hone in to what we think makes us interesting and what sounds we would like to explore through this we have found our home. Home is burning. Welcome home.

Forenzics is an exciting new project from former Split Enz members Eddie Rayner and Tim Finn. The project saw two artistic endeavours meet in the middle and started like when Eddie and Tim had been revisiting some of their favorite sections from lesser-known Split Enz works, using them as inspiration and the basis for new songs.

Along with Tim Finn and Eddie Rayner, there are musical contributions from Noel Crombie of Split Enz, Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, Harper Finn and Elliot Finn. (the latter 2 being Tim’s children). Noel Crombie and Phil Manzanera; both dialled their parts in during Covid lockdown. And even though Eddie and Tim live in the same city they followed the same process. Tim says: “I love working this way, sharing files. You work when you want to, and my singing has an unforced intimacy that is very hard to achieve when there is someone else in the room.”

The Forenzics repertoire, like paintings in an exhibition, is an album of individual works that together form an immersive and cohesive whole. It is a genuine sabbatical journey into the artistic unknown, mapped out by two artists at the height of their creative powers.

The debut album from hotly tipped kiwi band Jamie and The Numbers, finally sees a release via Pete Brady’s Superfly Funk and Soul Records. After years of limited release 7”s being fought over worldwide by collectors and fans, this superb LP is the culmination of years of work for highly gifted Tongan-Kiwi Jamie Mavusa. Based in Wellington she can occasionally be seen singing soul tunes for Tapestry Music Promotions at many of their Music Reviews and also in her gospel choir at Church. It was at one of the Tapestry Music shows in Wellington that Jamie met Simon from Deltaphonic Records/The Numbers and after watching Jamie perform an amazing version of "Wade In The Water”. It was suggested they do some recording together with the view of doing some cool Soul classics and a bunch of originals too, the rest is now history.



The Numbers are an incredibly tight Wellington based band. Prolific writers of their own original material they are a 4 piece that consist of three brothers from Wainuiamata and a newly adopted Kiwi originally from Birmingham England. If you get a chance check these guys out they are brimming with cool retro tunes and some barnstorming original songs played with verve and passion and their shows are always fun, 2019 they supported "From The Jam" on their visit to New Zealand and after teaming up with Jamie have played Pasifika Festivals and open-air concerts to thousands of people. The Numbers collectively have played, sessioned, recorded for other artists on such labels as Gut Records, D-Star, EG Records, Imaginary Records and have in excess of 40+ published songs with Universal, Complete Music, KWS Records NYC and Cherry Red Records.

InsideOutMusic/Sony Music are set to release the new studio album from progressive rock legends Jethro Tull. 'The Zealot Gene' is the bands first new studio album in nearly 20 years. With more than 30 albums to their credit and sales totaling more than 50 million, Jethro Tull are one of the most successful rock bands of all-time with a catalog that contains classics that still resonate today. Led by Ian Anderson, Tull still continue to tour throughout the world, entertaining audiences of all ages.

InsideOutMusic/Sony Music are set to release the new studio album from progressive rock legends Jethro Tull. 'The Zealot Gene' is the bands first new studio album in nearly 20 years. With more than 30 albums to their credit and sales totaling more than 50 million, Jethro Tull are one of the most successful rock bands of all-time with a catalog that contains classics that still resonate today. Led by Ian Anderson, Tull still continue to tour throughout the world, entertaining audiences of all ages.

The career defining 5th album from South African Slam juggernauts VULVODYNIA. Featuring a slew of guest performances and production from Christian Donaldson. Looking in a medical textbook will tell you the following: Vulvodynia is a chronic, severe vaginal pain with no identifiable cause. While the severe part is dead on, what a medical textbook won’t tell you is that Vulvodynia is also the pioneer in what is rapidly becoming South Africa’s most eviscerating export: Technical Slamming Brutal Deathcore. With lobotomizing, lurid riffs, skin-shredding blast beats and slams gruesome and filthy enough to induce septic shock, Vulvodynia are a lethal plague, spreading throughout the flesh of today’s heavy music scene—infecting one set of ears at a time, and leaving no survivors. Vulvodynia have toured Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and played numerous festivals worldwide.

The career defining 5th album from South African Slam juggernauts VULVODYNIA. Featuring a slew of guest performances and production from Christian Donaldson. Looking in a medical textbook will tell you the following: Vulvodynia is a chronic, severe vaginal pain with no identifiable cause. While the severe part is dead on, what a medical textbook won’t tell you is that Vulvodynia is also the pioneer in what is rapidly becoming South Africa’s most eviscerating export: Technical Slamming Brutal Deathcore. With lobotomizing, lurid riffs, skin-shredding blast beats and slams gruesome and filthy enough to induce septic shock, Vulvodynia are a lethal plague, spreading throughout the flesh of today’s heavy music scene—infecting one set of ears at a time, and leaving no survivors. Vulvodynia have toured Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and played numerous festivals worldwide.

The career defining 5th album from South African Slam juggernauts VULVODYNIA. Featuring a slew of guest performances and production from Christian Donaldson. Looking in a medical textbook will tell you the following: Vulvodynia is a chronic, severe vaginal pain with no identifiable cause. While the severe part is dead on, what a medical textbook won’t tell you is that Vulvodynia is also the pioneer in what is rapidly becoming South Africa’s most eviscerating export: Technical Slamming Brutal Deathcore. With lobotomizing, lurid riffs, skin-shredding blast beats and slams gruesome and filthy enough to induce septic shock, Vulvodynia are a lethal plague, spreading throughout the flesh of today’s heavy music scene—infecting one set of ears at a time, and leaving no survivors. Vulvodynia have toured Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and played numerous festivals worldwide.

Aagyr Ferboden, a newborn noise project led by New Zealand songwriter Charlie Ryder. As a member of the band Yumi Zouma, Ryder’s typical work veers towards the pop-leaning side of alternative music - however Aagyr Ferboden finds the guitarist foregoing traditional structures to dive into more distortion and drone-filled soundscapes. With a debut album scheduled for release in late 2021.

“Like most things in life, our normal workflow can sometimes need a counterbalance, and over the years I’ve found that becoming part of a current helps to recalibrate from time to time. I’m thankful to the rest of the gang and our manager Phil for encouraging me to share these works, and I hope they can be helpful to others like they’ve been for

Merge will reissue two crucial releases from The Clean's distinguished discography. The "Tally Ho!" b/w "Platypus" 7-inch and the Boodle Boodle Boodle 12-inch EP, the Dunedin trio's first official recordings as a band, both celebrate their 40th anniversary this year. These reissues have been remastered by Tex Houston with assistance from the Alexander Turnbull Library New Zealand, and The Clean's David Kilgour and Robert Scott oversaw the careful re-creation of the original packaging. Merge is thrilled to make these records globally available for the first time since their original release in 1981. Featuring Clean classics like "Anything Could Happen" and "Point That Thing Somewhere Else," Boodle Boodle Boodle arrived two months after the "Tally Ho!" single, peaking at #5 and staying in the NZ Top 20 for nearly six months. Recorded on four-track by The Clean's childhood friends Chris Knox and Doug Hood, its five hugely influential songs provided a roadmap for the "Dunedin sound" that would soon follow. Boodle Boodle Boodle was awarded the Classic Record distinction by New Zealand's Taite Music Prize in 2017. The reissue will be pressed on limited-edition black & white swirl Peak Vinyl and standard black vinyl. All versions will include the 16-page zine that came with the rare original vinyl pressing.

'My first deep exposure to LEONARD COHEN was the "Bird on a Wire" documentary by Tony Palmer, which was, against the odds, broadcast on public television in New Zealand around 1974 or 1975. At age 15 or 16 I thought it was too dark. A few years later, in the late '70s, I wanted things darker. The first Cohen LP was very clever but a little too "up." The second was too public and political for me. Songs of Love and Hate seemed more honest, more about personal failure. I liked it, although Cohen tended to disown it, especially 'Dress Rehearsal Rag' and 'Last Year's Man', neither of which he performed live later on. I like 'Last Year's Man' for the same reason I like Nick Drake's 'Poor Boy'. It wallows and parodies at the same time. I came across the Suzuki OMNICHORD OM-27 because it was mentioned in relation to another Canadian, Joni Mitchell. It looked like a mystery box of potentially very good or very bad sounds, like a Bontempi chord organ customized for space travel in a Stanley Kubrick film. Irresistible... I was fortunate to meet JESSICA MOSS because of the 12 hour Drone event at Le Guess Who Festival in Utrecht in November 2017. I thought it would be cool to jam with some of the other people scheduled to play their own pieces so I asked the organisers, Bob Helleur and Jacob Hagelaars, to sound out the other droners a few weeks before the festival. Jessica replied, I sent a sample piece, and we talked, more than rehearsed, a day before the performance. We did our piece live and then some months later I sent her a recorded piece to which she added her magical playing.'

Roy Montgomery

New Zealand dreampop luminaries French For Rabbits have dedicated nearly a decade to creaming warmly detailed and expansive music together. Their third, prophetic, LP The Overflow is set for release via Reckless Yes (UK), AAA Records (NZ/Aus), and A Modest Proposal (Italy) is described by the band as their most “immediate and honest” record to date. The Overflow draws on the influence of contemporary artists Laura Jean, Hannah Cohen and Hundred Waters alongside the storytelling of folk and rap music, and even references 90’s cultural touch points such as Moby, Enya and The Lion King. Whilst its inspirations are diverse-the result is a singular album that is confident in its delivery. The album follows on from their elegantly stated second LP The Weight of Melted Snow and their 2014 break-out Spirits, which received millions of streams, and song placements everywhere from the Vampire Diaries to Netflix’s Never Have I Ever TV series. On their new album, the group, led by Brooke Singer, sweeps forward with their most dazzling body of work to date-from the introverts’ anthem ‘The Outsider’ to the unfurling end-of-the-world statement piece “Nothing in my Hands”. Written and recorded mostly in 2020 in Wellington, the songs on The Overflow cover a wide range of topics, with the common threads of introversion and anxiety woven throughout. Yet, on first listen, you could be forgiven for mistaking the album’s subject matter for something lighter and more upbeat, resplendent with featherlight vocals and delicate layers

Late 1980’s to early 90’s guitar pop/rock n roll band from Dunedin, New Zealand. Stephen featured David Kilgour, Alf Danielson, Geoff Hoani, and Stephen Kilroy.

Formed by David Kilgour after The Clean first split. They released an EP on Flying Nun records in 1988 as a three piece, later added another guitarist and recorded for a record that didn’t happen. Remastered, rescued and compiled for this release. New art and liner notes, insert with prev. unseen photos and fliers. Tracks from the Dumb EP, Radar of Small Dogs, as well as studio tracks from sessions towards the never-completed LP.

Interview with David Kilgour about the band coming up in the next Maggot Brain issue.

"Stephen Kilroy recently reminded me that my idea for the band was to have no aspirations, apart from making new music, and that it was a casual experiment. I’d forgotten that. I remember having a long break after the Clean first split. I wanted to keep making music in a low-key way, and with other musicians I could write and share the spotlight with. I’ve always wanted to be in someone else’s band." - David Kilgour, from the Maggot Brain interview.

For their 9th release Slam City Jams welcomes the fabulous Manuel Darquart to the family!
After brilliant releases on imprints like Wolf Music or Coastal Haze and recently getting remixed by the Italo-House legend Don Carlos, we are happy to have the duo on the label with their „Down 2 Dance“ EP. Originally from New Zealand but now living in London, Manuel Darquart bless us with a record full of balearic bliss, backed with a dope remix by Tech Support.
We are kicking things off with the title track, a deep, yet uplifting Italo-House tune: „Down 2 Dance“ is full of sweet chords, perfectly cheesy sax stabs and this catchy vocal cuts we just can’t get out of our head. On „Cultivating Yucca“ Manuel Darquart maintains the Italian vibe but
gets even more balearic with warm pads, some muted trumpets and of course: The slight sound of the ocean.
On the flip things get interesting with „Prince Of The Rinse“: Distorted 808s paired with a funky lead that builds up steadily and finally dissolves into a wonderful synth solo. A tune that reminds of the early Funkineven on Apron Records. To round this record off, we invited
Londons finest Tech Support to give the title track his remix treatment: He added his signature 80s sound to the original and perfecftly stripped back the tune to its essentials, with gated snare drums and little synth blips. What more can you ask for?!

A-side inside and B-side outside: this single is very loosely influenced by the collective experience of the long wait to be released; adding to the already exhausted canon of cultural covid artefacts. Cheeks is centred around the sub-bass of an old Italian organ and the honking sax of Iain McCall, telling the tale of a squashed individual. The over zealous approach to layers hopefully adds to the feeling of claustrophobia and mundane delirium.
If Cheeks is the wind up, Mild Weather is the release. An ode to the modern desire of one week in the sun, accepting that prize and returning back to the slog. Jayne’s beautiful vocal provides the centre-point to a casio led symphony, with acoustic and electronic drums fighting for attention throughout. As is the current norm, these tracks were written and recorded remotely and in a couple of sessions in Edinburgh at the beginning of 2021.

For the first time a Black vinyl pressing of the sold out LP of the latest Chills album. Latest studio album from the Dunedin (NZ) songsmiths helmed by the enigmatic Martin Phillipps with artwork by Trees’ David Costa. Dunedin’s finest, The Chills release their seventh studio album ‘Scatterbrain’, a glorious self-examination of Martin Phillipps’ songwriting hot (ish) on the heels of the hugely successful ‘Snowbound’ (2018) and the critically-acclaimed movie ‘The Chills: The Triumph And Tragedy Of Martin Phillipps’ a year later. “It’s about artistic integrity, self-realisation, self-acceptance and a reflection on mortality.” The Guardian…. Now in 2021, Phillipps is now taking stock of things – everything. Yes, everything. The result is this triumphant new Chills’ album ‘Scatterbrain’, a thought-provoking and evocative take from a man who has lived through good times and bad. A mature and honest reflection on life, destiny and the fate of our times delivered in beautiful melodies with Phillipps’ trademarked incisive turn of phrase. Viewed from the perspective of a man understanding his age and indeed his own mortality, the new album takes a mature look at matters arising with a side order of perspective. ‘Scatterbrain’ is a life passing before your ears as uncertainty increases and fake news rumbles on; during which aliens invade, Phillipps scales the walls beyond abandon as he probes the minutiae of worlds within worlds and the hourglass fills. A landmark album from one of the great modern song writers, it’s pure pop music for the new normal and we can’t wait to see how it ends…“This is what a living legend looks and sounds like” Rolling Stone // “An architect of New Zealand’s fabled Dunedin sound” Pitchfork

On November 12, Merge will reissue two crucial releases from The Clean's distinguished discography. The "Tally Ho!" b/w "Platypus" 7-inch and the Boodle Boodle Boodle 12-inch EP, the Dunedin trio's first official recordings as a band, both celebrate their 40th anniversary this year. These reissues have been remastered by Tex Houston with assistance from the Alexander Turnbull Library New Zealand, and The Clean's David Kilgour and Robert Scott oversaw the careful re-creation of the original packaging. Merge is thrilled to make these records globally available for the first time since their original release in 1981. Pitchfork described "Tally Ho!" as "a classic of immense proportions, from its Velcro melody, absurdly mixed garage organ and motorik beat, to the crusty, hiss-laden home eight-track recording that embodies it." Recorded in the middle of a New Zealand tour for a humble NZ$60, the song broke into the country's Top 20 singles chart at #19, surprising everyone including the band. Its B-side "Platypus" was recorded live at a show just days prior, capturing the band's buoyant and elastic sound on stage. The 7” reissue will be available on limited-edition silver Peak Vinyl and standard black vinyl, as well as limited clear vinyl exclusively in New Zealand.

The Black Keys release a special tenth anniversary edition of their landmark seventh studio. El Camino (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) will be available in several formats including a Super Deluxe edition of five vinyl LPs or four CDs, featuring a remastered version of the original album, a previously unreleased Live in Portland, ME concert recording, a BBC Radio 1 Zane Lowe session from 2012, a 2011 Electro-Vox session, an extensive photo book, a limited-edition poster and lithograph, and a ‘new car scent’ air freshener. A three-LP edition, which includes the remastered album and the live recording, will also be available. The Super Deluxe version will also be available digitally.

El Camino was produced by Danger Mouse and The Black Keys and was recorded in the band’s then-new hometown of Nashville during the spring of 2011. The Black Keys won three awards at the 55th annual GRAMMY Awards for El Camino – Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Album – among other worldwide accolades. In the UK, the band was nominated for a BRIT Award (Best International Group) and an NME Award (Best International Band). The week of release, the band performed on Saturday Night Live, The Colbert Report, and the Late Show with David Letterman, and later that year, went on to perform their first Madison Square Garden show.

Rolling Stone, which featured the band on their cover around the release, hailed El Camino for bringing ‘raw, riffed-out power back to pop’s lexicon,’ and called it ‘the Keys’ grandest pop gesture yet, augmenting dark-hearted fuzz blasts with sleekly sexy choruses and Seventies-glam flair.’ The Guardian said, ‘They sound like a band who think they've made the year's best rock'n'roll album, probably because that's exactly what they've done.’

In the newly written liner notes for El Camino (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), David Fricke says:

The story of the Black Keys' seventh album, named after an automobile, long out of fashion and featured nowhere in the artwork, begins on a sidewalk in the middle of a blizzard. On the afternoon of January 9, 2011, singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney stood on the pavement outside the Bowery Hotel in New York City, saw the weather turning vicious, looked at each other and came to the same decision: They had to get off the road.

The night before, the duo scored another first in a season getting crowded with them: The Black Keys' debut appearance on Saturday Night Live, performing ‘Howlin' for You’ and ‘Tighten Up’, the breakout singles from their latest release, Brothers. Two days earlier, Brothers – the Keys' first Top 5 album, released in May 2010 – became their first Gold record, passing a half-million in sales thanks to heavy FM rotation and a near-year of gigging, now set to run deep into 2011 including a prestige slot at Coachella and victory laps in Europe and Australia.

The Keys "tried to settle down" after cancelling the tour, Carney says. But that didn't last. "I said, 'We should just make another record.' And I asked Dan if we should get Danger Mouse" – the hip-hop and modern-rock producer, real name Brian Burton, who worked on the Keys' 2008 record, Attack & Release, and co-produced ‘Tighten Up’. Auerbach and Carney did not have any new songs, but as the drummer notes, "Most of our records – we don't have material when we start. Brothers was made up in the studio."

In the UK, the record gave the band their first top 10 hit, and in the US it debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200. The band was also the #1 most played artist at Alternative and AAA radio formats for 2012 in the US. The album’s first single, ‘Lonely Boy’: reached #1 on the Alternative and AAA charts; it also entered the top 10 at Rock radio. The second single, ‘Gold on the Ceiling’, also reached #1 on Alternative radio and the third single, ‘Little Black Submarines’, reached the top 3 at Alternative radio.

El Camino has been certified Double Platinum in the US; Platinum in the UK, Belgium, France, Ireland, and the Netherlands; Triple Platinum in Australia and New Zealand; Quadruple Platinum in Canada; and Gold in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland. Of the album’s singles, ‘Lonely Boy’ was certified Double Platinum in the US, nine-times Platinum in Canada, Triple Platinum in Australia, Platinum in New Zealand, and Gold in Denmark and the UK. ‘Gold on the Ceiling’ was certified Platinum in the United States, Australia, and Canada. ‘Little Black Submarines’ was certified Platinum in the United States. The Black Keys also were nominated for an MTV European Music Award in 2012.

Recently, the band announced their World Tour of America. The Black Keys will perform three intimate shows in Oxford, MS, Athens, GA, and St Petersburg, FL, surrounding their September 25 headlining set at Pilgrimage Fest in Tennessee.

The Black Keys recently released their tenth studio album, Delta Kream, which was recorded at Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville. The album takes its name from William Eggleston’s iconic Mississippi photograph that is on its cover.

Formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001, The Black Keys, who have been called ‘rock royalty’ by the Associated Press and ‘one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands on the planet’ by Uncut, are guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. Cutting their teeth playing small clubs, the band have gone on to sell out arena tours and have released nine previous studio albums: their debut The Big Come Up (2002), followed by Thickfreakness (2003) and Rubber Factory (2004), along with their releases on Nonesuch Records, Magic Potion (2006), Attack & Release (2008), Brothers (2010), El Camino (2011), Turn Blue (2014) and, most recently, “Let’s Rock” (2019), plus and a tenth anniversary edition of Brothers (2020). The band has won six Grammy Awards and a BRIT and headlined festivals in North America, South America, Mexico, Australia, and Europe.

The Black Keys release a special tenth anniversary edition of their landmark seventh studio. El Camino (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) will be available in several formats including a Super Deluxe edition of five vinyl LPs or four CDs, featuring a remastered version of the original album, a previously unreleased Live in Portland, ME concert recording, a BBC Radio 1 Zane Lowe session from 2012, a 2011 Electro-Vox session, an extensive photo book, a limited-edition poster and lithograph, and a ‘new car scent’ air freshener. A three-LP edition, which includes the remastered album and the live recording, will also be available. The Super Deluxe version will also be available digitally.

El Camino was produced by Danger Mouse and The Black Keys and was recorded in the band’s then-new hometown of Nashville during the spring of 2011. The Black Keys won three awards at the 55th annual GRAMMY Awards for El Camino – Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Album – among other worldwide accolades. In the UK, the band was nominated for a BRIT Award (Best International Group) and an NME Award (Best International Band). The week of release, the band performed on Saturday Night Live, The Colbert Report, and the Late Show with David Letterman, and later that year, went on to perform their first Madison Square Garden show.

Rolling Stone, which featured the band on their cover around the release, hailed El Camino for bringing ‘raw, riffed-out power back to pop’s lexicon,’ and called it ‘the Keys’ grandest pop gesture yet, augmenting dark-hearted fuzz blasts with sleekly sexy choruses and Seventies-glam flair.’ The Guardian said, ‘They sound like a band who think they've made the year's best rock'n'roll album, probably because that's exactly what they've done.’

In the newly written liner notes for El Camino (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), David Fricke says:

The story of the Black Keys' seventh album, named after an automobile, long out of fashion and featured nowhere in the artwork, begins on a sidewalk in the middle of a blizzard. On the afternoon of January 9, 2011, singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney stood on the pavement outside the Bowery Hotel in New York City, saw the weather turning vicious, looked at each other and came to the same decision: They had to get off the road.

The night before, the duo scored another first in a season getting crowded with them: The Black Keys' debut appearance on Saturday Night Live, performing ‘Howlin' for You’ and ‘Tighten Up’, the breakout singles from their latest release, Brothers. Two days earlier, Brothers – the Keys' first Top 5 album, released in May 2010 – became their first Gold record, passing a half-million in sales thanks to heavy FM rotation and a near-year of gigging, now set to run deep into 2011 including a prestige slot at Coachella and victory laps in Europe and Australia.

The Keys "tried to settle down" after cancelling the tour, Carney says. But that didn't last. "I said, 'We should just make another record.' And I asked Dan if we should get Danger Mouse" – the hip-hop and modern-rock producer, real name Brian Burton, who worked on the Keys' 2008 record, Attack & Release, and co-produced ‘Tighten Up’. Auerbach and Carney did not have any new songs, but as the drummer notes, "Most of our records – we don't have material when we start. Brothers was made up in the studio."

In the UK, the record gave the band their first top 10 hit, and in the US it debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200. The band was also the #1 most played artist at Alternative and AAA radio formats for 2012 in the US. The album’s first single, ‘Lonely Boy’: reached #1 on the Alternative and AAA charts; it also entered the top 10 at Rock radio. The second single, ‘Gold on the Ceiling’, also reached #1 on Alternative radio and the third single, ‘Little Black Submarines’, reached the top 3 at Alternative radio.

El Camino has been certified Double Platinum in the US; Platinum in the UK, Belgium, France, Ireland, and the Netherlands; Triple Platinum in Australia and New Zealand; Quadruple Platinum in Canada; and Gold in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland. Of the album’s singles, ‘Lonely Boy’ was certified Double Platinum in the US, nine-times Platinum in Canada, Triple Platinum in Australia, Platinum in New Zealand, and Gold in Denmark and the UK. ‘Gold on the Ceiling’ was certified Platinum in the United States, Australia, and Canada. ‘Little Black Submarines’ was certified Platinum in the United States. The Black Keys also were nominated for an MTV European Music Award in 2012.

Recently, the band announced their World Tour of America. The Black Keys will perform three intimate shows in Oxford, MS, Athens, GA, and St Petersburg, FL, surrounding their September 25 headlining set at Pilgrimage Fest in Tennessee.

The Black Keys recently released their tenth studio album, Delta Kream, which was recorded at Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville. The album takes its name from William Eggleston’s iconic Mississippi photograph that is on its cover.

Formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001, The Black Keys, who have been called ‘rock royalty’ by the Associated Press and ‘one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands on the planet’ by Uncut, are guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. Cutting their teeth playing small clubs, the band have gone on to sell out arena tours and have released nine previous studio albums: their debut The Big Come Up (2002), followed by Thickfreakness (2003) and Rubber Factory (2004), along with their releases on Nonesuch Records, Magic Potion (2006), Attack & Release (2008), Brothers (2010), El Camino (2011), Turn Blue (2014) and, most recently, “Let’s Rock” (2019), plus and a tenth anniversary edition of Brothers (2020). The band has won six Grammy Awards and a BRIT and headlined festivals in North America, South America, Mexico, Australia, and Europe.

With another week comes another gem to be let loose into
the world via Nice Swan. This time it’s the turn of Brighton
set Opus Kink, releasing their second offering of the year
in ‘Wild Bill’ / ‘This Train’.
 Having been recorded at the seminal Rockfield Studios in
Wales and produced by Tim Burgess, it’s every bit as
zealous and free as we’d expect and in discussing the
release, the group revealed: “‘This Train’ is a hell-forleather ride through humanity’s self-destructive tendencies
and futile battle against nature, flipping on its head the old
adage that ‘this train is bound for glory’.”
 A spooky intro converts to a fast-paced and frenetic sound
as trumpets and sax blare with feral delight. The single
comes to a screeching crescendo and we’re sonically
transported to what could easily be a pub parlour, perched
on the crimson material of a baby bar stool as beautifully
bedraggled chants echo out. They can’t remember how
they got there but are united in their message: “Don’t lose
yourself to everyone else; Don’t lose yourself to this train.”
 So far, Opus Kink have succeeded in turning listeners on
their head, leaving a simultaneous excitement and
perplexity as the struggle to brandish them with a ‘wemust-define-you’ handle ensues. With an underlying tone
likened to that of a Dickensian tale, they possess the edge
of a brooding petty criminal, the charm of a street urchin
and the philanthropic spirit of any good protagonist.
 The band have a flurry of nationwide gigs scheduled over
the coming months, including two Nice Swan showcases
alongside labelmates Malady, Mandrake Handshake and
Hallan. Taking the studio energy and general raucousness
into consideration, catching them live will be well worth a
look-in.

Independent leaders in the UK drum and bass scene, Hybrid Minds have paved their own way to success through operating from left of centre and keeping true to themselves at every step of the way. Their early tracks, ‘Meant To Be’ and ‘Touch’ firmly established them within the circuit, before they went onto amass 25 million streams for the latter, release a popular debut album and set up their own label, Hybrid Music. The huge support from tastemakers in the scene doesn’t stop there, with editorial playlist adds across Spotify and Apple Music, spins on George FM, BBC Radio 1,1Xtra, Kiss FM UK, Kiss Dance, Kiss Fresh, Studio Brussels, FM4, triple j and Capital Dance, UKF backing and a memorable DJ Mag HQ live stream, Bad To Me offered a glimpse of what’s to come from the Drum & Bass duo when they drop the full EP this October. What’s more, a recent release alongside Pendulum for Louder Than Words saw the Australian heavyweights go liquid for the fourth and final track listing on their own EP. Always staying true to their sound and style, Hybrid Minds previous success came from their early tracks, Meant To Be and Touch, before they went on to boast over 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, remix tracks for Above & Beyond and Tom Walker, and collaborate with the DJ heavyweight, Netsky for the global smash release, Let Me Hold You. More recently, they secured a primetime show on Kiss FM, embarked on a sell-out New Zealand tour and sold out their October ‘Outline’ o2 Academy, Brixton show, six months out!

The Brvtalist is proud to present The Dying of The Outer-Self, the new industrial techno album by Alessandro Nero. Available as a 12″ vinyl & digital re- lease, the EP includes two cutting remixes from hyp- noskull and LɅVΣN, in which both display a biting re- visitation to create a perfectly erosive synergy.

We catapult ourselves into a narrative that tells us
about the loss of the external being – of its appearance and sexuality, of flesh and of course, blood. Zeal- ous industrial sounds from the 90’s unite functional techno with contemporary noise and harsh hitting kick-drums, arriving at the discovery of new auditory carpets and intricate experimentations between the sacred and the profane in a guided recitation of the theater of life. The inevitable misfortune of the human situation, the failure of communication in the age of communication, the distance that causes distortion and a paradoxical, almost divine, impact. If only we could all have a sincere conversation, at least through art.

But sadly, like a distant echo of voices of violence from the past – a ruthless education made of respect and fear, commonly feeding on human and animal bones, is still floating, chopping everything as if the muscles were nothing more than mush to be served for dinner. An organic meat grinder emanating a pulp made of fictitious progress, now what matters are the first 5 seconds of attention, and that’s where your child is biologically more stupid than you – spicy and salty brain balls as a sack lunch for the scholastic trip to the sensory slaughterhouse.

On Now Where Were We, The Exbats hit the ground running like
a dystopian garage rock version of the Shangri-Las, or like
a message to the future from the pre-Velvet Underground doowop
wannabe Lou Reed. The album rings bright, like a beacon
in the wilderness: eminently, effortlessly catchy, and loaded
with buoyant choruses that rank alongside the best chart-toppers
launched by the Brill Building or Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound.
Kenny McClain and his daughter, vocalist and drummer
Inez McClain, formed the nucleus of the Exbats over a decade
ago, when Inez was just 10 years old; today, Bobby Carlson
rounds out the group on bass. Despite their remote location in
Bisbee, Arizona, just eleven miles north of the U.S.-Mexican
border, the group quickly racked up accolades citing a wealth of
influences that run from cartoon quintet the Archies to punk rock
originators the Avengers, and from the so-sweet-it-hurts 1910
Fruitgum Company to Los Angeles antiheroes the Weirdos.
Truthfully, The Exbats embrace a wider swath of musical styles,
incorporating blue-eyed soul, tongue-in-cheek country, Brit
pop, psych, and R&B into their sound.
The McClains describe this album as “more ambitious” than
its predecessors. They tooled ninety minutes northeast to Tucson
to record, per usual, with Matt Rendon at Midtown Island Studios.
Months later, the Exbats emerged with an album imbued
with harmoniously cautious optimism—the musical equivalent
but psychological antithesis to the Brian Wilson-Tony Asher
masterpiece “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times.” While Wilson
was looking for “a place to fit in,” The Exbats have found
sanctuary via the brilliant “Ghost In The Record Store,” which
is “for all of us who need the joy of a little bit of plastic making
lots of noise.” Like the best records to croon along with, Now
Where Were We is captivatingly simple, yet hardly simplistic.
The Exbats are singing from their hearts—and they aren’t afraid
to bare their souls.

Coloured Vinyl

New Zealand based, Australian Composer Micah Templeton-Wolfe has been creating music as Stray Theories for over 15 years now. Crafting cinematic ambient for personal listening and film.
Limited edition clear copper LP plus download card.
n5MD is proud to announce his 4th full-length and second with the label: This Light. This Light takes Templeton-Wolfe's amalgam of modern classical, ambient, and post-rock and sheds ample focus on each aqueous element.
It's cinematic yet tranquil, with loads of melancholia—each work cascading to emotive heights. This Light is equal parts majesty, confidence, sincerity, and sympathy. So aptly named, the album can be seen as Templeton-Wolfe's shining light in the Stray Theories catalog.

Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, producer, and songwriter Jordan Rakei is back with his fourth studio album

What We Call Life is Jordan Rakei’s most vulnerable and intimate album to date. Its lyrics concern the lessons that the New Zealand-born, Australia-raised, and London-based artist learned about himself during therapy, a journey that began two years ago when he started reading about the ‘positive psychology’ movement. Rakei, already a practitioner of meditation and mindfulness, was curious about the potential of using therapy for further self-discovery. During the process, he began to learn more about his behaviour patterns and anxieties, and addressed his long-standing irrational phobia of birds – a fear often associated with the unpredictable and the unknown, and something explored in the album’s creative direction and visuals.

“As we worked through it, it made me realise I would love to talk about the different lessons I learned from therapy in my music: about my early childhood, my relationship with my parents and siblings, becoming independent in London, being in a new marriage, understanding how my marriage compares to the relationship my parents had” Rakei says.

Black vinyl LP, printed inner sleeve, fully artworked outer sleeve with obi. Includes double-sided lyric poster and MP3 download code. Artwork by Justin Tyler Close.

Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, producer, and songwriter Jordan Rakei is back with his fourth studio album

What We Call Life is Jordan Rakei’s most vulnerable and intimate album to date. Its lyrics concern the lessons that the New Zealand-born, Australia-raised, and London-based artist learned about himself during therapy, a journey that began two years ago when he started reading about the ‘positive psychology’ movement. Rakei, already a practitioner of meditation and mindfulness, was curious about the potential of using therapy for further self-discovery. During the process, he began to learn more about his behaviour patterns and anxieties, and addressed his long-standing irrational phobia of birds – a fear often associated with the unpredictable and the unknown, and something explored in the album’s creative direction and visuals.

“As we worked through it, it made me realise I would love to talk about the different lessons I learned from therapy in my music: about my early childhood, my relationship with my parents and siblings, becoming independent in London, being in a new marriage, understanding how my marriage compares to the relationship my parents had” Rakei says.

Translucent pistachio green vinyl LP, printed inner sleeve, fully artworked outer sleeve with obi. Includes double-sided lyric poster and MP3 download code. Artwork by Justin Tyler Close.

UK multi-instrumentalist and story-teller Mara Simpson's new album In This Place will be released on September 24th, 2021. A heady blend of alt-folk, analogue synth and classical composition, In This Place is a tale of quiet rebellion, and taking back control. Fittingly, the new album marks the start of another new journey for Mara. In This Place will be the first record to be released on Downfield Records, a non-profit imprint set up by Simpson, placing artists at it’s centre. “I want to try and promote transparency and equality, assist other artists to get public funding and to ‘pay’ forward the time and resources I’ve benefited from,” she says. The label’s mission is to see musicians paid fairly and release records through a creative and joyous process.

Whilst the struggles of 2020 will go down in history, for Mara it was 2019 that was the tough one. A year spent consumed by worry, whilst in and out of hospital with her one year old daughter, had left Mara feeling like she was playing a constant game of catch up with a world that wouldn’t slow down. With songs ready to be recorded for her new album, she headed into the studio. “I stepped into the studio not needing my hand held, just my voice heard” explains Mara, who quickly came to the realisation that she was working in a toxic environment. Enough was enough

It was whilst waiting for a train that she had the sudden realisation that the album she was recording would never see the light of day. Struck by an overwhelming feeling of failure, Mara began to ruminate on the time and money she had wasted but then something clicked. “Perhaps it’s something about train stations, the coming and the goings, that allows a stagnating frame of mind the grace and space to clear” she says. “The funny thing is, upon realising failure, the despair I’d been feeling was now replaced with something else...Relief”.

Feeling re-energised, Mara called her dream producer Ellie Mason, of Voka Gentle, and together the pair began working on a new record. “I’ve been more hands-on with this album than I’ve ever been, taking a much more active role in production. Throughout the whole process Ellie has heard my voice, and been open to any possibility” explains Mara. “We’ve stumbled across golden moments, recording four part harmonies in Brighton’s oldest church, using every drum there is in Brighton Electric, layering New Zealand bird song with tape delayed piano, all thanks to her nurture, playfulness and kindness” she continues.

Album opener ‘Serena’, named after the apartment building in Brighton where Mara’s daughter was born, is based on the experience of becoming a mother and the responsibility of making important healthcare decisions. “How will I know how to love you” she sings over undulating synths and sparse piano chords. Title-track ‘In This Place’ is about the confrontation between mother and new-born child. The ‘sizing-up’ of one another as they embark on a new journey together. “When I left home to travel around the world and was so worried about breaking my Mum’s heart,” says Mara. “I just remember her saying that your children are never yours to keep. This is a song about the rawest of loves, and the fact that however much we love someone, they are never ours, and the beauty in that.”

In addition to the experience of motherhood, the songs on In This Place take inspiration from a wide range of places, including Mara’s ‘second home’ New Zealand. ‘Christchurch’, written in response to the Christchurch Mosque shootings in 2019, layers New Zealand birdsong on top of swirling piano and moving choral vocals. ‘Fault Lines’ was inspired by The Waitangi treaty. Signed in 1840 in New Zealand by the British Crown and Maori chiefs. The British understood that the Maori were signing over land that the British could now govern and effectively ‘own’, however to the Maori people it is impossible to own land, in the same way that you can’t ‘own’ air. “We live and die, the land remains and we are just it’s keepers for the very short time we are here. This song is about us not owning this earth - how can we? We are only the guardians of it while we are here” says Mara.

Backed by a band of accomplished musicians (Jools Owen (Bears Den) on drums, James Smith (Anaïs Mitchell) on banjo, Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres on clarinet and strings by Poppy Ackroyd) on In This Place, Mara sounds the most confident she’s ever sounded. With her new material, Mara Simpson hopes to promote a gentle, yet radical shift toward kindness and it’s this warmth that can be both heard and felt across her new record.

Following up on his Timedance debut in 2019, Sydney based wunderkind Air Max '97 signs his return in style with a double dose of hi-detail club warpers.

Without sacrificing any of his grimy and sub-loaded tendencies, the New-Zealand born producer expands his intricate and futuristic palette further with his most trance-inducing production to date.

Mastered by Beau Thomas at Ten Eight Seven.

Artwork by Butt Studio.

The anticipation is there in Elizabeth Stokes’ solo guitar riff under the opening lines of “I’m Not Getting Excited”: a frenetic, driving force daring a packed Auckland Town Hall to do exactly the opposite of what the track title suggests.

As the opener of The Beths’ Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 expands to include the full band, the crowd screeches and bellows. It’s a collective exhalation, in one of the few countries where live music is still possible.

The album title, and film of the same name, deliberately include the date and location, lead guitarist Jonathan Pearce says. “That’s the sensational part of what we actually did.” In a mid-pandemic world, playing to a heaving, enraptured home crowd feels miraculous.

In March 2020, everything seemed on track for another huge year for The Beths. Home after an 18-month northern hemisphere tour, they had just finished recording sophomore album Jump Rope Gazers and were primed for more extensive touring. But within days, New Zealand’s lockdown split the band between three separate houses. All touring was cancelled.

“It was existentially bad,” Stokes says. As well as worrying about economic survival, they lost something crucial to the band’s identity: live performance. “It's a huge part of how we see ourselves... What does it mean, if we can't play live?”

The band found an outlet through live-streaming, returning to the do-it-yourself mentality of their early days to connect with a global audience. The album and film have their genesis in that urge to share the now-rare experience of a live show, as widely as possible.

The fuzzy-round-the-edges live-streams pointed the way aesthetically. Native birds, wonkily crafted by the band from tissue paper and wire, festoon the venue’s cavernous ceiling while house plants soften and disguise the imposing pipes of an organ. The presence of the film crew isn’t disguised: much of the camerawork is handheld; full of fast zooms and pans.

With much of the material still fresh, the band was less focused on re-invention than playing “a good, fast rock show”, Pearce says. The tempo is up on crowd favourites “Whatever” and “Future Me Hates Me” (released as a live single on its third anniversary) as both band and audience feed off the mutual energy in the room.

Certain songs have taken on special resonance post-Covid. Pearce has found “Out Of Sight”, a tender rumination on long-distance relationships, hits particularly hard with live audiences.

Album closer “River Run” visibly brings Stokes to tears as a mix of achievement and relief kicks in. “You can finally relax at that point … You play the last note, breathe out a sigh and look up - and you’re in a giant room full of people happy and smiling.”

Introducing Cutcross, created to champion the melting pot of bass-centric sounds teetering around 140 bpm. Heading up the concept is Sicaria Sound, a DJ duo who since their inception set out to explore and expand on the possibilities of these sounds whilst spotlighting underground artists. Cutcross is therefore their next step in supporting the forward-thinking music that they've drawn for when curating sets.

Partners in crime Ebb & Texture by way of New Zealand are at the helm of CXT004. Featuring a solo track each plus two collaborative efforts, all four tracks pack a punch via plenty of low-end and lively breaks.

"To mark the 50th anniversary of the 1970 concept double album, Jesus Christ Superstar, it has today been announced that a variety of special anniversary edition albums will be released on September 17th. This landmark release, which includes full cooperation from the creators Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, features an array of exclusive demos, commentaries, interviews and much more.
The special anniversary editions are a celebration of the original 1970 concept double album and its continued success spanning 50 years. With the new editions all having been re-mastered at Abbey Road, fans have a great selection to choose from.

The new school meets the old school. Riding those crystal-clear waves off the back of their standout EP for WOLF Music, New Zealand duo Manuel Darquart double down with this 10-inch remix package containing a classic reworking from the master of dream house, Don Carlos and a sleazed up street soul workout from themselves.

No introduction is needed when you see Don Carlos’ name in the mix. A legend of the Italian dream house movement that has influenced so much of what we’ve heard since, not least the productions of the Manuel Darquart guys. A dream (house) matchup some might say.

Step one, Carlos sprinkles his magic on ‘Keep It DXy’ switching up the drum programming and adding those Balearic flurries that add a considered dose of dreaminess to whatever he touches, think summery sweeping strings and echoing synth stabs.

On the flip the Manuel D guys go full sleaze, weak at the knees for their ‘Sleazy Sunday Mix’. Imagine a street soul, Balearic lovechild and you’re on the right track. Start suppin’ a margarita and you’re getting closer. Sun-lounger on the sand, Adriatic in front of you, last night’s euphoria still a buzz in the brain and you’ve hit the spot.

Mara TK, a golden voiced, Maori-Scottish world-wandering citizen of Aotearoa (New Zealand) announces his debut solo album 'Bad Meditation', released 7th May on Extra Soul Perception. Stepping out on his own, Mara TK is the former frontman of the acclaimed Kiwi future soul trio Electric Wire Hustle. Written and produced by Mara himself, 'Bad Meditation' is his 13 track opus, a deeply personal account of heritage, love, loss and healing.

An alumnus of Red Music Academy in Toronto, Mara TK's work beyond Electric Wire Hustle has seen him collaborate with critically lauded names including Om'Mas Keith of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Detroit producer and J Dilla collaborator Waajeed, and Steve Spacek.

Extra Soul Perception is a collaboration and community music platform that started life between the UK, Kenya and Uganda but is now continuing to grow and connect independent musicians worldwide. Now with Mara TK added to the roster, Extra Soul Perception has released music by Lex Amor, K15, Maxwell Owin, Lynda Dawn, Hibotep, Karun, Labdi, Faizal Mostrixx and more.

*Nb: The solo version of 'Met At The River' is a digital exclusive only.

In September of 2019, Deliluh took flight with sights set on new horizons.
A long plotted scheme to uproot the group from their Toronto home and
airlift them into the touring bastion of Europe seemed like a pot worth
gambling their stack on.
Their future in the old world was read with wide-eyed optimism, emboldened
by two albums newly waxed and tour dates rolling in. Greener pastures with
foreign allure, a promised land chalk full of experimental art and sound, and a
plethora of unconventional venues ripe for the picking... it’s open season, what
could possibly go wrong?
Well, the best laid plans... ‘Amulet’ is the first release since Deliluh’s departure
from Toronto, an opening document of the group’s transition to Europe. Mirrored images of the same composition occupy each side; ‘A’ performed by their
previous four-piece lineup (Kyle Knapp, Julius Pederson, Erika Wharton, Erik
Jude) and ‘B’ by the current active two-piece (Knapp and Pederson). ‘Amulet’
is set to be released July 30th on 10” via Tin Angel Records.
The lyrics depict a jewel thief committing crimes with the conviction of a merciless zealot, and justifying them with a spite for the status quo. The protagonist
amuses with the threat of being “caught”, a fate seemingly imminent and yet
laughable in the crooked context of societal greed. Knapp delivers sharp criticisms with a swagger liberated of fear, imploring us all to root for the anti-hero
in a time when danger is craved en masse.
The tonal contrasts between both versions testify to the group’s versatility.
The A side pulls tension by way of minimalism, leaning into a sinister synth
sequence that navigates a pitch dark sonic terrain. Swooning guitar, plucking
violin, whispering synths and darting tape effects peek in and out of the periphery, circling with unsettled starkness around Jude’s gloomy bass drone, through
until Wharton-Shukster’s string soaring climax.
Flip to the B side, and the immediate motorik groove turns the sequence on its
head, snapping to a gritty dance track for nights long yearned for. Pedersen’s
modular synth takes on a fresh persona of dusted drums and otherworldly high
hats, cracking on the beat while guitar scratches, processed sax, and string
synths build with harmonic euphoria, all until the tape slips and pulls the rug
from under the DIY dance floor.
‘Amulet’ demonstrates Deliluh’s potential growing fearlessly in the face of a
tight game. They promise a plentiful stash of recordings soon to be unearthed,
giving the sense that their recently tested process of creation has been far from
hindered. What comes next is anyone’s guess, though Amulet at the very least
reassures that we’re still, as always, in trusted hands.
Knapp: “It’s ‘adapt or parish’ these days.. We’re fortunate to be safe and
healthy, and thankfully, we’re not afraid of taking risks or evolving.”
Pedersen: “It isn’t the end goal that matters, but what you learn while exploring the paths that lead into unexplored terrain.”

A Colourful Storm presents Seance, a new set of songs by Maxine Funke.

Following a productive recording period beginning with Silk (2018) and ending with Forest Photographer (2020), Seance marks a remarkable levitation of Funke’s tender, softly spoken songcraft first documented on Lace (2008) and Felt (2012) into new creative heights. Folksong confessionals with the burden of memory. Ghostly confines, murmurs from the cracks. Soil, blood and skin. The beauty and mundanity of the everyday.

The voice of Funke is a distinctive instrument, one which perfectly elucidates her sometimes confessional, at other times deeply inward allusions to love, loss, joy and disquiet. Lyrics grounded in observation and adventure (“Eyeballs, asphalt, grass clippings, peppercorns”) unravel into uneasy truths daubed in self-consciousness and forbidden desire (“I’m not shy / There's just a sparkle in your eye and I don't feel right”). The simplest things can be the most difficult to express.

Opener ’Fairy Baby’ and ‘Homage’ are sensuous and probing, celebrating new beginnings while cautiously closing old chapters. ‘Quiet Shore’, a seven-minute reverie of guitar strum and poetry, conjures spirits long forgotten and shines as Funke’s first solo foray into longform songwriting. A perfect accompaniment to the album’s centrepiece, ‘Lucky Penny’, a euphoric, entrancing rush foreshadowing the delicate dreamspeak still to come.

An assertive, visionary recording by one of New Zealand’s most extraordinary voices, Seance is a lover’s lament, a revealing of self and a secluded wander through fields of enchantment.

Tonnon produced the album with longtime collaborator, and The Beths’ guitarist and producer, Jonathan Pearce. Tonnon wrote the bulk of the songs during an extensive period of touring after the release of Successor - a period where Tonnon performed with Nadia Reid in Europe, The Veils in the USA, and The Chills, The Phoenix Foundation and Don McGlashan in New Zealand. The pair workshopped songs between tours, often recording new parts as the live versions developed.

Tonnon and Pearce recorded between 2017 and 2020, and in that time, Tonnon’s practise evolved heavily. He incorporated new technology into his set, including the Wellington-designed Synthstrom Deluge, which allowed him to adapt his set for new performance environments;Art Galleries, Museums, even New Zealand Fashion Week. He took that technology further when he collaborated with the Otago Museum on the immersive show for Planetariums, A Synthesized Universe, which travelled to Arts Festivals around New Zealand in 2019.

Creating a music video for ‘Old Images,’ which explored a lost passenger train network, Tonnon came to the idea for a new experience-based show called Rail Land. It took audiences on railways to reach distant community halls around Aotearoa. The show saw Tonnon combine historical research and spoken word narrative, with the immersive lighting and musical technology he developed for A Synthesized Universe. In March, Rail Land finished a three-night run at Auckland Arts Festival, cementing Tonnon’s move to the concept show.

Over time, Tonnon and Pearce’s production moved further from the traditional rhythm sections that powered songs like Successor’s ‘Water Underground.’ In their place came off kilter electronic rhythms, like the beat in ‘Two Free Hands,’ and textures that blur lines between organic and synthesized sound. Guitars are set against synthesizers, and drums against drum machines in ‘Entertainment’ and ‘Peacetime Orders,’ which Tonnon also used in his soundtrack for RNZ’s 80s spy-themed podcast The Service. In ‘Leave Love Out Of This,’ a ballad starts with a piano and a string quartet, but ends in a wall of electronic sound.

The constant has been Tonnon’s lyrics. Whether singing about evolution and the future of work in ‘Two Free Hands,’ the television industry in ‘Entertainment,’ or environmental disaster and regulatory failure in ‘Mataura Paper Mill,’ Tonnon has followed a distinct approach to subject matter, description and phrasing that have seen him longlisted for the APRA Silver Scroll three times.

Tonnon’s explorations of local government and civic infrastructure in his work - an unusual preoccupation for a songwriter, have taken new meaning in his adopted home of Whanganui, where last year, he was elected by councillors as Whanganui District Council’s representative for public transport.

After Tonnon moved to Whanganui, and Pearce toured almost constantly after the success of The Beths’ first album, the pair conducted their collaboration over distance, but with key sessions at Pearce’s Karangahape Road studio, including drums and bass with long time band members Stuart Harwood and David Flyger, a string quartet led by Charmian Keay and arranged by Matthew Bodman, and additional drums with The Beths’ Tristan Deck.

As Leave Love Out Of This is released, Tonnon and Pearce find themselves in very different places to where they started, working on Auckland’s Karangahape Road, close to the venues like Wine Cellar and Whammy Bar where they regularly performed. Back in New Zealand since Covid, Pearce has had to adjust to being in one of Aotearoa’s best-known bands, while Tonnon, when not working on conceptual shows, wrestles with how to restore civic infrastructure to a post industrial city in the regions.

Created over a life-altering period of, Leave Love Out Of This is the culmination of years of experimentation and development - with new technology, new sounds, and new ways of creating, and performing music.