Part two of our nod to the world of library from Athens of the North introduce Greg Foat journeys into the world of synthesis with good friend James Thorpe. This new LP was recorded in the old Bees Studio on the Isle of Wight earlier this year, a special, different piece of work which I was delighted to receive on ¼ inch tape without warning. Greg's output continues to be prolific without ever tiring, he never plays it safe and is always looking forward whilst having an ear for our musical-heritage.

TRACK LISTING

1. Elementary Physiology, Pt. 1
2. Elementary Physiology, Pt. 2
3. Balloon Ride
4. Circadian Rhythms
5. Diametrically Opposed
6. Grockle Box
7. Living The Dream
8. Platform Game
9. Stacey's Theme
10. Photosynthesis
11. Chronobiology 

A concept album of Analogue Electronic Sci Fi Library Grooves for Synthesisers and Percussion. Commissioned by Sonoton and inspired by the 70's & 80's Sonoton music Library Catalogue. Featuring Ayo Salawu on Drums (Kokoroko) and Greg Foat with his impressive collection of vintage Synthesisers. File under Library Music

TRACK LISTING

1. Interstellar Fantasy
2. Journey To Arcturus
3. Solar Pirates
4. Mines Of Andromeda
5. Stasis Loop
6. The Lonely Robot
7. Cruising Home

Greg Foat's Greek Jazz quartet featuring Sokratis Votskos, Warren Hampshire and Ayo Salawu recorded live in Mykonos. Big fat Synth bass lines with Psychedelic Guitar, Hypnotic Bass Clarinet, mystical Flute and Killer Drums.

TRACK LISTING

1. Tsamykonos (feat. Warren Hampshire & Ayo Salawu)
2. Kiki's Tavern (For Vasilis) [feat. Warren Hampshire & Ayo Salawu]
3. On The Rose Bush (feat. Warren Hampshire & Ayo Salawu)
4. Secret World, Pt. 1 (feat. Warren Hampshire & Ayo Salawu)
5. Secret World, Pt. 2 (feat. Warren Hampshire & Ayo Salawu)
6. Secret World, Pt. 3 (feat. Warren Hampshire & Ayo Salawu)

Greg Foat is a London-based keyboardist, composer, bandleader and DJ. He claims his life-long love/hate relationship with the piano began at age 3, when he fell off a piano stool at his aunt's house. He started composing around age 11, and at 15 attended a jazz workshop with Jeff Clyne, Olaf Vas, Trevor Tomkins and Nick Weldon, igniting his obsession with jazz music. He furthered to study jazz at Middlesex University, and then studied for 6 months in Sweden on an Erasmus grant. He played his first professional studio session there at 21, and has been working as a professional musician ever since.

Snake Plant Shuffle and Spider Plant Blues are inspired by the the plants on Gregs bedside tables - which periodically move around the house dependent on his mood. The plants provide a good source of oxygen in the room and create a calm soothing atmosphere for Gregs musical projects. Together the tracks feature live drum kits by Ayo Salawu, Fender Rhodes and a plethora of Vintage Synthesisers.

Snake Plant Shuffle has had radio plays in Gemany, Poland and Canada, as well as being heavily featured in Amazon Music's Jazz playlists, including 'Fresh Jazz', 'Coffee Shop Jazz' and 'Café Jazz'. Both tracks are featured in Apple Music' 'Jazz Scene: UK' and 'New Latitudes' playlists.

TRACK LISTING

1. Spider Plant Blues
2. Snake Plant Shuffle

Foat has become a versatile mainstay in UK jazz through an acclaimed series of albums on Jazzman and Athens Of The North, moving from soul-jazz workouts to library music to cinematic, haunting compositions and pastoral acid folk. ‘Symphonie Pacifique’ goes expansive and widescreen, building a lush soundscape using choral textures, harp and tubular bells on the atmospheric ‘After The Storm’ alongside sensual groove-based tracks like the undulating ‘Anticipation’, the album title track and Groove Merchant-channelling ‘Nikinakinu’, all driven by Phil Achille on bass, Eric Young on congas and Moses Boyd’s crisp, flowing breakbeats. Other tracks include a moving tribute to KPM library legend Duncan Lamont on the reflective ‘Lament For Lamont’ and the languid, simmering ‘Island Life’.

The album is a truly international collaboration, recorded analogue and produced by Greg Foat at London’s Fish Factory studios with strings recorded in Edinburgh and choir in Gothenburg. The album was mixed by Mattias Glava at Kungsten Studios in Gothenburg. Cover artwork is based on a painting by early 20th Century Algerian / Parisian artist Henry Valensi.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Greg Foat has always had a firm place on the shop stereo, and 'Symphonie Pacifique' cements that likelihood with a swaying, filmic mash-up of syncopated hooks, frenetic percussion and effortless, jazzy cool. As perfectly redolent of the genre's past as it is it's future.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Prelude
A2. Symphonie Pacifique
A3. Undulation
A4. Anticipation
A5. Mu
A6. Yonaguni
B1. Island Life
B2. Nikinakinu
B3. Man Vs. Machine
C1. Before The Storm
C2. After The Storm
C3. Meditation On A Pedal Steel
C4. Lament For Lamont
D1. Pointe-Vénus
D2. Mother’S Love
D3. Epilogue: Three Tenors

Garron Frith is a singer/ Songwriter from the North West. After playing a gig for Nick Georgia at Popart Garron met producer, musician and one time member of The Willard Grant Conspiracy, Simon Alpin (Devendra Banhart, Teenage Fanclub, Badly Drawn Boy). The result was the making of this debut album. It's acoustic based with some great musicians adding a delicate backdrop to the ten tracks. The debut album features members of Grand Drive, The Willard Grant Conspiracy and Green on Reds Chuck Prophet. If you like early Adams/Damien Rice/Ray Lamontagne/Joe Purdy etc you won't go far wrong with this one.

"Resembling a hybrid of John Martyn and Gerry Rafferty on the inside sleeve photo of his second album, the Stalybridge singer-songwriter also demonstrates throughout a similar knack for innovative songwriting talents as the aforementioned duo.

Away From The Bright Lights is awash with fine, sensitively delivered Frith originals that superbly demonstrate his versatility: smooth acoustic soul on 'Not The Man' stomping bare bone blues on 'Pretty Penny', an absorbing full-band sound with sweeping violin and a perfectly laid-back rhythm section on 'This One' the mandolin and violin colours the celtic flavours of 'RocknRollBand' and the rich strain of gritty Americana that runs through 'Good Thing'.

What sets Frith apart is his warm and welcoming voice, which maintains its authority and stamps its mark on an album of understated confidence, possessing a beautifully brooding mood and atmosphere." - Danny Moore

Like some latter-day beat-centric version of Goffin & King, Georgia and Dudley have been on a collective creative roll in 2007 that shows no sign of stopping yet. Their futuristic hip hop-soul has already been aired on Georgia's "Olesi" and "Patti Blingh" albums, and their "Beautiful Minds" project with Brit DJ / producer 2Tall. Now "The Message Uni Versa" presents a further 20 tracks of the Stones Throw duo's inimitable peace, rhythm and rhyme.

Mixing old school blues and folk with new school hip-hop and funk, G. Love’s electrifying new album, Philadelphia Mississippi, brings together both sides of the genre-bending pioneer’s eclectic career in a wildly innovative and deeply reverent sonic pilgrimage to the heart of the South. Produced by North Mississippi All-Stars’ Luther Dickinson, the collection is loose and spontaneous, full of joyful, improvised performances and freewheeling collaborations with a slew of special guests including blues torchbearers like Alvin Youngblood Hart and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and rap icons like Schoolly D and Speech. It would have been easy for G. Love to play it safe coming off his GRAMMY-nominated 2020 release, The Juice, but Philadelphia Mississippi is perhaps his most adventurous collection to date, ditching all the rules as it experiments with form and function in an ecstatic celebration of music’s power to connect across genres and generations. Born Garrett Dutton in Philadelphia, PA, G. Love first broke out in the early ’90s with his band, Special Sauce, on their strength of their Gold-selling self-titled debut. Over the next three decades, he would go on to release seven more critically acclaimed albums with Special Sauce (plus five on his own), become a fixture on festival lineups from Bonnaroo to Lollapalooza, and collaborate on the road and in the studio with artists as diverse as Lucinda Williams, Dave Matthews, The Avett Brothers, Jack Johnson, Keb’ Mo’, and DJ Logic.

TRACK LISTING

1. Love From Philly (feat. Schoolly D & Chuck Treece)
2. Mississippi (feat. Alvin Youngblood Hart, R.L. Boyce & Speech)
3. My Ball (feat. Freddie Foxxx & Jontavious Willis)
4. Guitar Man (feat. Christone "Kingfish" Ingram)
5. Kickin' (feat. Chuck Treece & Lady Alma)
6. HipHopHarpin' (feat. Alvin Youngblood Hart)
7. Laughing In The Sunshine
8. I Ain't Living (feat. Tikyra Jackson)
9. Lemonades (feat. Cam Kimbrough, Luther Dickinson & Chuck Treece)
10. If My Mind Don't Change (feat. Sharde Thomas)
11. Sauce Up! (feat. Trenton Ayers)
12. The Philly Sound
13. Shouts Out (feat. Trenton Ayers & R.L. Boyce)

One of life's most difficult arts is learning to let go. You can try to cling to control in the face of a turbulent world, but the only constant we can count on is change—the tendrils of cleansing fire wiping away the old, new life springing forth from the dust and ash. So what's the point? Give yourself over to the depths. Surrender to the flow.

G.S. Schray's new solo album The Changing Account is an appropriate soundtrack for learning to cope with a world we can't count on. Each piece is full of elliptical melodies that swirl with the unstable logic of dreams. Flurries of piano, guitar lines, and other more alien instrumentation shimmer delicately, but before they coalesce into familiar shapes or rhythms they change, then change, then change again. Listening is a bit like falling asleep on a long road—with each passing song you're waking up somewhere new, trying to get your bearings in another strange world. How did I get here? Where are we going? It doesn't matter. Close your eyes, drift away again.

TRACK LISTING

1. In Select Everlight
2. Two Clouds Each
3. Diverted By Faint Pathway
4. Sated By The Plum
5. Two Pals Glowing
6. Still, Puzzled
7. Dome That Was Nothing
8. Eye On The Menace

For Fans Of : The Black Keys, Otis Rush, J.B. Lenoir, The Ramones, Hound Dog Taylor, Christone Kingfish Ingram, Magic Sam.

GA-20 clearly is on to something big. It’s a movement, a new traditional blues revival. The dynamic, throwback blues trio are disciples of the place where traditional blues, country and rock ‘n’ roll intersect. “We make records that we would want to listen to,” says guitarist Matt Stubbs. “It’s our take on the song-based traditional electric blues we love.” Stubbs, guitarist/vocalist Pat Faherty, and drummer Tim Carman have been at the forefront of this traditional blues revival since they first formed in 2018.

It’s no wonder they skyrocketed to the top of the Billboard Blues Chart. According to Stubbs, “Since we started the band we’ve focused on the story, the melody, and on creating a mood. Playing live as much as we do, we’re finding more and more that people are discovering how cool it all is. Traditional country, soul and funk music have all had these massive recent revivals, but traditional blues so far has not.” With their new Colemine album, Crackdown, and an intensive tour schedule, that’s all about to change.

On Crackdown, GA-20’s third full-length release, the band creates an unvarnished, ramshackle blues that is at once traditional and refreshingly modern. Expanding on their previous releases (2019’s Lonely Soul and 2021’s Try It…You Might Like It! GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor) GA-20 finds inspiration on the edges of the genre, where early electric blues first converged with country and rock ‘n’ roll. The album’s nine original songs include the loping, Louisiana-flavored Dry Run, the dirty, and bare-bones Easy On The Eyes and the melodic, garage-tinged Fairweather Friend. With tight, propulsive performances and a brevity and punk energy reminiscent of The Ramones, Crackdown is rowdy and fun, filled with instantly memorable, and well-crafted songs.

TRACK LISTING

1. Fairweather Friend
2. Dry Run
3. Easy On The Eyes
4. Crackdown
5. Just Because
6. By My Lonesome
7. I Let Someone In
8. Double Gettin'
9. Gone For Good
10. Fairweather Friend (Final Goodbye)

For Fans Of The Buffalo Killers, The Black Keys, Neil Young, Crazy Horse, Michael Nau, Wilco, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Byrds, Gene Clark. From the ashes of the acclaimed Ohio rock band Buffalo Killers, singers / songwriters/siblings Zachary and Andrew Gabbard have re-emerged as The Gabbard Brothers. And while there are still similarities to their previous band - with nods to greats like Neil Young, James Gang and Buffalo Springfield - there's a hazier, organic, earthy-psych vibe running through the brothers' new music. Debut LP as The Gabbard Brothers. Formerly known as Buffalo Killers with strong following, "Get It" by Buffalo Killers has 2 million streams on Spotify. Staple tour members of The Black Keys' band.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hang On, Mama
2. Feel Better Love Better
3. Pockets Of Your Mind
4. Little Mama
5. Said Too Much
6. Hazard KY Bluegrass Grandma
7. Early Pages
8. Lovin' Arms
9. Yer A Rockstar
10. Gimme Some Of That
11. Easter's Child
12. Lay Down

Sampled by Drake (“Jungle”) and G-Eazy (“Running”). Instrumental versions of Gabriel’s Stones Throw Records debut Jardín now available on limited edition wax. Gabriel Garzón-Montano’s formidable skills have come to fruition on Jardín in his Stones Throw debut. “This album came out of wanting to make music that reminds people how beautiful life is and how delicate their heart is,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to make music that is healing, comforting, and funky. I named the album Jardín hoping for it to create a space for healing when people put it on. “A garden is full of life, growth and beauty,” Gabriel said of choosing that unifying image as the title for his new album. “It makes me think of green and white and all the colors as they appear in different flowers.” That vivid spectrum bursts forth on Jardín itself and the album contains references to fruit of all sorts, sour mango, juicy tangerines and sweet peaches. From the heartache and aching vocals that float over the dusty drums of “Crawl” to the stutter-step thump of “Bombo Fabrika” to the high falsetto he nails on “Octave,” Garzón-Montano proves himself to already be one of 2017’s biggest breakout talents.

TRACK LISTING

1. Trial (Instrumental)
2. Sour Mango (Instrumental)
3. Fruitflies (Instrumental)
4. The Game (Instrumental)
5. Long Ears (Instrumental)
6. Crawl (Instrumental)
7. Bombo Fabrika (Instrumental)
8. Cantiga (Instrumental)
9. My Balloon (Instrumental)
10. Lullaby (Instrumental)

“I’ve been playing since I was 11 years old,” says Charlie Gabriel, the most senior member of the legendary Preservation Hall Band, “I never did anything in my life but play music. I’ve been blessed with that gift that God gave me, and I’ve tried to nurse it the best way I knew how.” While he’s faced plenty of challenges nursing that gift for more than 78 years, none likely rank with last winter’s passing of his brother and last living sibling, Leonard, lost to COVID-19. For the first time ever, Gabriel put down his horn, filling his days and weeks instead with dark reflection, a stubborn despondency broken now and then by regular chess matches in the studio kitchen of Hall leader Ben Jaffe, working overtime to bring his friend some light. One such afternoon also included Joshua Starkman, sitting off in a corner playing his guitar and half-watching the chess from a distance. When Charlie returned the next day, he brought his saxophone. “I was just inspired to try it, to play again. It had been a long time, and a guitar makes me feel free. I do love the sound of a piano, but it takes up a lot of a space, keeps me kind of boxed in.”

That day was to be the first session for 89, almost entirely the work of Gabriel, Jaffe and Starkman, recorded mostly right there, in the kitchen, by Matt Aguiluz. Charlie Gabriel’s first professional gig dates to 1943, sitting in for his father in New Orleans’ Eureka Brass Band. As a teenager living in Detroit, Charlie played with Lionel Hampton, whose band then included a young Charles Mingus, later spending nine years with a group led by Cab Calloway drummer J.C. Heard. While he’s also fronted a bebop quintet, played and/or toured with Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet, Aretha Franklin and many more, this is the first time his name appears on the front of a record, as a bandleader.

Since 2006, Gabriel has been a member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, featuring prominently on That’s It, So It Is, and Tuba to Cuba. 89 was different, and not simply due to a smaller ensemble. “We had no particular plan, or any particular insight on what we were gonna do. But we were enjoying what we were doing, jamming, having a musical conversation,” Charlie says, further musing, “Musical conversations cancel out complications.” 89 includes six standards and three newer pieces on which Gabriel is a writer: “Yellow Moon,” “The Darker It Gets” and “I Get Jealous.” The record also marks Charlie’s return to his first instrument, clarinet, on many of the tracks. “The clarinet is the mother of the saxophone,” he says. “I started playing clarinet early in life, and this [taught me] the saxophone.”

Finally, 89 includes three tracks of Charlie singing. “I always sung, but it wasn’t my forte to become a singer,” he says. “The truth is, people often develop a real relationship with a song once they hear the words. Sometimes I enjoy singing them.”

TRACK LISTING

Memories Of You
Chelsea Bridge
I'm Confessin'
The Darker It Gets
Stardust
Three Little Words
Yellow Moon
I Get Jealous

The album has been Half-Speed Remastered and cut to lacquers at 33RPM, on 1x heavyweight black LP, to deliver maximum dynamic range in the sound.

Vinyl cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering, mastered by Tony Cousins at Metropolis. The album is true to the original LP design, but all images are newly re-scanned.

The album comes with a download card with a choice of digital download (Hi-Res 24bit or 16bit)

Recorded in 1984, and originally released in March 1985, Birdy marks the first occasion that Peter worked with French-Canadian producer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Lanois who went onto co-produce both Peter’s So and US albums. The soundtrack to the Alan Parker movie of the same name – the tale of a Vietnam vet who harbours Icarus-like ambitions to fly – it finds Peter flexing his creative muscles free of any commercial pressures and has a number of tracks build out of elements of existing tracks from Peter’s third and fourth solo albums.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
A1 At Night
A2 Floating Dogs
A3 Quiet And Alone
A4 Close Up (from Family Snapshot)
A5 Slow Water
A6 Dressing The Wound
SIDE B
B1 Birdy's Flight (from Not One Of Us)
B2 Slow Marimbas
B3 The Heat (from The Rhythm Of The Heat)
B4 Sketchpad With Trumpet And Voice
B5 Under Lock And Key (from Wallflower)
B6 Powerhouse At The Foot Of The Mountain (from San Jacinto)

More than 20 years in the making, this December finally sees the release of i/o, Peter Gabriel’s first album of new material since 2002’s Up.

During 2023, Peter has been releasing a new song from the album on the occasion of every full moon. Being revealed roughly every four weeks, each track has been allowed to find its own time and space, to enjoy its own orbit. “It’s a little like getting a Lego piece each month,” Peter explains. Now it’s time to stand back and admire the final, completed creation.

And what a creation – 12 tracks of grace, gravity and great beauty that provide welcome confirmation of not only Peter’s ongoing ability to write stop-you-in-your-tracks songs but also of that thrilling voice, still perfectly, delightfully intact. Throughout the album the intelligent and thoughtful – often thought-provoking – songs tackle life and the universe. Our connection to the world around us – ‘I’m just a part of everything’ Peter sings on title track i/o – is a recurring motif, but so too the passing of time, mortality and grief, alongside such themes as injustice, surveillance and the roots of terrorism. But this is not a solemn record. While reflective, the mood is never despondent; i/o is musically adventurous, often joyous and ultimately full of hope, topped off as it is, by the rousingly optimistic closing song, Live and Let Live.

Always looking to push the boundaries, i/o is not simply a collection of a dozen songs. All 12 tracks are subject to two stereo mixes: the Bright-Side Mix, handled by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent, and the Dark-Side Mix, as reshaped by Tchad Blake. “We have two of the greatest mixers in the world in Tchad and Spike and they definitely bring different characters to the songs. Tchad is very much a sculptor building a journey with sound and drama, Spike loves sound and assembling these pictures, so he’s more of a painter.” Both versions are included on the double-CD package, and are also available separately as double vinyl albums. And that’s not all. A third version – the In-Side Mix, in Dolby Atmos, comes courtesy of Hans-Martin Buff “doing a wonderful job generating these much more three-dimensional mixes” and is included in three-disc set, including Blu-ray.

Peter has kept his trusty inner circle of musicians close to hand, which means guitarist David Rhodes, bassist Tony Levin and drummer Manu Katché are sterling presences throughout. Several songs bear the fingerprints of long-time associate Brian Eno, whilst there are notable contributions from the likes of Richard Russell, pianist Tom Cawley, trumpeters Josh Shpak and Paolo Fresu, cellist Linnea Olsson and keyboard player Don E. Peter’s daughter Melanie contributes warm backing vocals, as does Ríoghnach Connolly of The Breath. Soweto Gospel Choir and Swedish all-male choir Oprhei Drängar lend their magnificent harmonies and the mass strings of the New Blood Orchestra, led by John Metcalfe, both soothe and soar.

Peter has also invited a range of visual artists to contribute a piece of art to accompany each track. The dozen artists make an exceedingly impressive team of collaborators: Ai Weiwei, Nick Cave, Olafur Eliasson, Henry Hudson, Annette Messager, Antony Micallef, David Moreno, Cornelia Parker, Megan Rooney, Tim Shaw, David Spriggs and Barthélémy Toguo. Having handpicked the artists, Peter recognises that “They have the same obsessive attention to their visual work that we musicians have in sound.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I don't get why everyone is going on about it, it's only been 30 years and the result more than makes up for the *slightly* longer gestation time of I/O. It's a wonderfully rich, beautifully refined work that sings with influence from all of Gabriel's work since he started recording it, and coming together beautifully despite it's disparate elements.

TRACK LISTING

CD Tracklisting:
CD1 – Bright-Side Mix
1 Panopticom
2 The Court
3 Playing For Time
4 I/o
5 Four Kinds Of Horses
6 Road To Joy
7 So Much
8 Olive Tree
9 Love Can Heal
10 This Is Home
11 And Still
12 Live And Let Live

CD2 – Dark-Side Mix
1 Panopticom
2 The Court
3 Playing For Time
4 I/o
5 Four Kinds Of Horses
6 Road To Joy
7 So Much
8 Olive Tree
9 Love Can Heal
10 This Is Home
11 And Still
12 Live And Let Live

Blu-Ray – In-Side Mix (Dolby Atmos)
1 Panopticom
2 The Court
3 Playing For Time
4 I/o
5 Four Kinds Of Horses
6 Road To Joy
7 So Much
8 Olive Tree
9 Love Can Heal
10 This Is Home
11 And Still
12 Live And Let Live

Vinyl Tracklisting:
Bright-Side Mix & Dark-Side Mix
Side A
1 Panopticom
2 Playing For Time
3 The Court
Side B
4 Four Kinds Of Horses
5 I/o
6 Love Can Heal
Side C
7 Road To Joy
8 So Much
9 Olive Tree
Side D
10 This Is Home
11 And Still
12 Live And Let Live

The album has been Half-Speed Remastered and cut to lacquers at 33RPM, across 2x heavyweight black vinyl LPs, to deliver maximum dynamic range in the sound.

Vinyl cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering, mastered by Tony Cousins at Metropolis. The album is true to the original LP design with a wide-spine jacket and printed inner sleeves, but now utilises colour photographs from The Last Temptation of Christ film. All images are newly re-scanned.

The album comes with a download card with a choice of digital download (Hi-Res 24bit or 16bit).

Passion – Music for The Last Temptation of Christ was released a year after Martin Scorsese’s controversy-laden film first hit the big screen in 1988. Passion tends to be regarded as a work in its own right rather than just being a movie soundtrack. It features additional music to that which was included in the film; this extra material was the result of Peter continuing to record and to resolve “unfinished ideas”. Built on a foundation of Middle Eastern and North African rhythms and melodies, Passion is unsurprisingly Peter’s most spiritual work, no more so than when the alternately ascending voices of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N’Dour and Peter himself interweave on the title track. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Youssou N’Dour are far from the only notable guests; the cross-continental gathering of musicians also includes Senegalese griot Baaba Maal, jazz drummer Bill Cobham and avant-garde trumpeter Jon Hassell among many others.

TRACK LISTING

LP 1
A1 The Feeling Begins
A2 Gethsemane
A3 Of These, Hope
A4 Lazarus Raised
A5 Of These, Hope - Reprise
A6 In Doubt
A7 A Different Drum
B1 Zaar
B2 Troubled
B3 Open
B4 Before Night Falls
B5 With This Love

LP 2
C1 Sandstorm
C2 Stigmata
C3 Passion
C4 With This Love – Choir
D1 Wall Of Breath
D2 The Promise Of Shadows
D3 Disturbed
D4 It Is Accomplished
D5 Bread And Wine

Sick of Roy Wood's Wizzard, Cliff Richard's "Mistletoe and Wine" or even carols from Kings? Here's a chance to experince the ambience of the first Mass of Christmas in St. Mark's as it might have been celebrated in Venice around 1600. Featuring the music of Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612) and Cipriano De Rore (1516-1565) and exquisitely played on period instruments by the Gabrieli Consort and conducted by Paul McCreesh, this is a brilliant spiritual and joyous disc with the wonderful Archiv Production sound quality that recaptures the reality of the voices and instruments.

Angels & Queens - Part I was released back in September, picking up widespread acclaim across the globe. Its release was governed by the band’s desire to push through the release of new recordings this year, and release the record in two distinct chapters. The second chapter now concludes the full album’s tracklisting for a Spring 2023 release.

Angels & Queens incorporates a brand new recording of the band’s seminal debut single, Love & Hate In A Different Time, and songs that have already become staples of the band’s live set; Offering, Glory, and Great Wind.

A Deluxe CD version will also be made available with eight additional recordings, featuring four tracks from the band’s seminal Glastonbury set earlier in the Summer, a BBC Maida Vale session recording of Spanish Harlem, and a Greg Wilson and Che Wilson remix of Love and Hate in A Different Time.

TRACK LISTING

CD / Vinyl
1. Offering
2. The Blind
3. Angels & Queens
4. Taboo
5. To The Moon And Back
6. Professional
7. We Will Remember
8. Remember Me
9. If You Only Knew
10. Love And Hate In A Different Time
11. Glory
12. Great Wind
13.Mama

Deluxe CD Additional Tracks:
14.Love And Hate In A Different Time (Greg Wilson & Che Wilson Remix)
15. Blame (Live At Glastonbury)
16. Great Wind (Live At Glastonbury)
17. Professional (Live At Glastonbury)
18. We Will Remember (Live At Glastonbury)
19. Spanish Harlem (Live From Maida Vale)
20. Bloodline
21. Loyalty Ft. Ashley Sade

Grammy nominated DJ and production mastermind Paul Woolford steps up to deliver a timeless house reworking of Gabriels 'Angels & Queens'.

The title track from the trio's debut album (part 1) that took 2022 by storm. Endeared by the masses and critically acclaimed Gabriels set out a refreshing new take on soul that the world was subconsciously crying out for - an antidote to over produced pop - providing a deeper, more meaningful and heartfelt cause at its centre.

Tantalising from the outset, Woolford steps up to the plate with a hard-hitting remix that drives in straight to your centre. Punchy TR-909 drums combine with thundering bass tones and his archetypal, rising piano hooks. A combination that brings Jacob Lusk's inimitable vocals to new heights.

After a feverish reception to Paul's Instagram tease of the track, we've been itching to release this remix into the wild. It's a big one, don't miss it!

'Three supremely talented artists simply excelling at what they do' - Paul Woolford

Gerd Janson - 'Gabriels!!! - Total madness at Panorama Bar. Like it was made for the room'

TRACK LISTING

A1. Paul Woolford's Special Request Mix
B1. Original Version
B2. Paul Woolford's Special Request Radio Edit

This four track EP features the LA band’s single’s Blame and the EP’s title track Bloodline.

Quickly finding fans in the likes of Elton John, Celeste, Paul Weller, Benji B, and Gilles Peterson, the band should soon find plenty more on a record that could soundtrack a David Lynch epic such is its drama and suspenseful, late-night orchestral ruminations. Capped by Lusk’s voice, a weapon that swoops through the octaves breathlessly, Gabriels have that rare ability to make you re-evaluate music, and what it can do, in a heartbeat.

Whilst Lusk provides the wow factor with that ridiculous larynx, Gabriels are very much a close-knit trio. Producer, keyboardist (and full-time video director) Ryan Hope hails from Sunderland but calls LA home. Fellow producer-composer and violinist Ari Balouzian, a man with endless musical projects on the go at any one time, gives Gabriels’ songs a real ‘feel’ to them.

Sultry, soulful mood music certainly isn’t the band’s modus operandi, with debut track If Love & Hate In A Different Time having originally identified Gabriels as a loose-limbed, soul-stirring funk and gospel-flecked odyssey. But this experimental EP should paint an altogether more rounded idea of where Gabriels are at… !

TRACK LISTING

A1. Innocence
A2. Blame
B1. Stranger
B2. Bloodline

Jacob Lusk, Ryan Hope & Ari Balouzian; an acclaimed gospel singer and choir director, an established film director and a classically trained musician and soundtrack artist. This is the trio that fate brought together and now make up Gabriels.

Their debut EP ‘Love & Hate In A Different Time’ comprises five songs that sound instantly of another era without faltering into throwback territory. True masters of story-telling, their timeless take on vintage soul, new R&B and just a hint of ultra-contemporary altpop have seen them become firm favourites of Gilles Peterson, Off White’s Virgil Abloh, Benji B, Annie Mac, Elton John... the list goes on.

The lead track and new single, ‘Love & Hate In A Different Time’, showcases their sound perfectly. A soul-stirring song with elements of funk and that joyous gospel influence too. Jacob has one of those terrifically cavernous deliveries and understands the power of when to adopt restraint and when to let rip. It’s raw, show-stopping and combines to form a magical few minutes of cinematic sound, unlike anything else out there today.

In the song’s long-form video, directed by band member and British born musician Ryan Hope (himself a celebrated music video director), we’re taken through a history of the dancefloor in archive footage, culminating in Jacob singing Billie Holliday’s Strange Fruit to a rapt audience during a Black Lives Matter protest in LA last year. It’s an engrossing, moving watch and an evocative listen.

The rest of the EP stands tall with its lead track, shoulder to shoulder. Experimental flourishes, sultry beats and jazzy polyrhythms. Intoxicating stuff, it’s music that is hard not to like. Simply riveting and a hugely promising introduction to an already accomplished new act.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Repress of pretty much the biggest soul 12" of the year. There's been no escaping these tracks and now they're available for all once again.

TRACK LISTING

A1 - Loyalty (Featuring Ashley Sade)
A2 - In Loving Memory
A3 - Professional
B1 - Love And Hate In A Different Time
B2 - The Blind
B3 - Love And Hate In A Different Time (Alternate Version)

Embark on a sonic journey with Gabriels' 'Love and Hate' as it undergoes a mesmerizing transformation through the skilled hands of Xpress 2.

The Xpress 2 remix propels the track to new heights, infusing it with dynamic beats and an infectious rhythm that beckons listeners to the dancefloor. In addition, this vinyl edition also includes the Kerri Chandler remixes, adding a more soulful touch.

Kerri expertly blends emotive melodies with a pulsating energy that captivates the senses. This remix package is a testament to the collaborative prowess of these musical maestros, offering a transcendent experience for electronic music aficionados and dance enthusiasts alike.

Dive into the reimagined soundscape of 'Love and Hate' – a fusion of artistic brilliance and dancefloor magic.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Still some juice left in this pear! A nice smattering of fresh remixes of the already classic Gabriels track. Includes the universally adored Kerri Chandler vocal mix, along with a new, high voltage one from the New Jersey house cat. London's X-Press 2 also contribute two chunky house versions. Top stuff indeed.

TRACK LISTING

A1. X-Press 2 Love & Honesty Remix
A2. X-Press 2 Love & Honesty Hypno Dub Remix
B1. Kerri Chandler Vocal Mix
B2. Kerri Chandler 623 Again Mix

The story began like this ...We heard Daniel Gadd by pure chance. A flickering neon sign occupied one corner of the stage. Daniel took centre stage. He plays guitar and sings. We happened to be there. Immediately we began to listen. That dark basement in central London, a haven far from the concerns of people on the streets above, was the best place to be in London that night. The audience was spellbound. And then just as he seemed to be finishing up, someone shouted out “one more!” “Okay, thanks…is it okay if I do one more?” asked Daniel, wondering for a moment, not sure if it was. The venue booker by the door did not hesitate and nodded the go-ahead. Daniel played on. And we were very glad to be there. It turned out that Daniel Gadd had somehow got to London via Spain, and he had been in London for a year. He’d trained at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. He composes and scores for film, and also works as a film composer’s assistant, during the daytime.

At night he likes to play gigs. He’d even recorded an album of songs by the sea at Kalk Bay, a small fishing village that’s now become part of Cape Town. But he hadn’t known what to do next. Well we said we love your music so let’s meet up soon. A few days later we met Daniel at Foyles bookstore café at 107 Charing Cross Road. The album he’d mentioned is his remarkable debut. So here it is…. the album will now be released on CD and digital through Cargo. Daniel named his label 107 Recordings in recognition of the Foyles meeting where the idea for the release of this album was born. Daniel Gadd is 26 years old. He’s British-South African. He grew up in South Africa, he lived in Spain for a year and after that he found his way to London…

TRACK LISTING

1 Siri Linn
2 Some Time Ago (On A Cold Winter Night)
3 Rolling On
4 Sleep Turns Her Face
5 The Trail I'm Tracking 
6 Just Like The Road
7 So Long Old Friend
8 Someways Down A Highway 

All Black Everything, the debut EP by UK-based, Parisian bassist, vocalist and composer Amy Gadiaga, is an expansive, boundary-pushing 5-track collection showcasing prodigious bass playing and a voice brimming with power and emotion. It's a profound exploration of self-acceptance that presents both a celebration and acknowledgement of Gadiaga's deep-seated darkness.

Inspired by the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement All Black Everything confronts racial identity complexities and the challenges of being a societal 'black sheep' and sees Gadiaga courageously transform her insecurities into a narrative of self-empowerment.

Born to parents of Senegalese, Gambian, and Malian descent, and hailing from the outskirts of Paris, the multitalented Gadiaga has been making waves in the UK music industry since she moved to London aged 18. With a fresh and unique style that bridges the old school jazz tradition of musicians such as Betty Carter and Wayne Shorter with the raw, rootsy modern sound of artists such as D'Angelo, Stevie Wonder and Twinkie Clark, Gadiaga's breadth of ambition and revitalising approach have brought early critical acclaim and ardent fans.

Signalling the arrival of a significant new voice on the London music scene, All Black Everything communicates the liberating essence of embracing individuality and presents a journey through Gadiaga's personal struggles, standing as a testament to art's transformative power and encouraging listeners to find strength in their uniqueness. "All Black Everything is very much an exploration and embracing of one of my archetypes in life which is the black bird/black sheep" she explains. "That feeling of not thinking you belong anywhere, of being misunderstood and really tending to your own. No helping hand. But it's ok sometimes because you also feel like nobody can compete with you, you're one of a kind."

TRACK LISTING

1. Paloma Negra
2. Soar When I'm Alone
3. Full Sun (해찬)
4. Petite
5. All Black Everything

Imposter is a collection of songs by Dave Gahan & Soulsavers. Dave & Soulsavers didn’t write these songs, but they listened to them, studied them & gave them new life.

Recorded at the legendary Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, these versions of songs you know & some you may not, range from sparse to lush, sombre to joyful. The choices and the sequencing were deliberate & meaningful. It shines a light on the enduring strength of poignant lyrics and well executed melodies.

Imposter is a reflection of Dave’s life, a story told by others, but in his own distinct voice. 

TRACK LISTING

The Dark End Of The Street
Strange Religion
Lilac Wine
I Held My Baby Last Night
A Man Needs A Maid
Metal Heart
Shut Me Down
Where My Love Lies Asleep
Smile
The Desperate Kingdom Of Love
Not Dark Yet
Always On My Mind

Gaika presents his debut album, "Basic Volume" after captivating listeners with a blistering pair of acclaimed, self-released mixtapes "Machine" and "Security" and the Warp-released EPs "Spaghetto" and "The Spectacular Empire". The 15 track collection is co-produced by Gaika, with additional production from similarly forward thinking contemporaries, including SOPHIE, Dutch E Germ, Dre Skull and DADRAS, Aart as well as previous collaborators including Jam City, Nick Leon and Frank Ocean’s "Blonde" and "Endless" collaborator Buddy Ross. Speaking about the album, Gaika says, “Basic Volume" is collection of alchemical parables for all the Immigrants who wander the earth in search of themselves”

TRACK LISTING

Basic Volume
Hackers & Jackers
Seven Churches For St.
Jude
Ruby
Born Thieves
36 Oaths
Black Empire (Killmonger
Riddim)
Grip
Clouds, Chemists And
The Angel Gabriel
Immigrant Sons (Pesos
And Gas)
Close To The Root
Crown & Key
Warlord Shoes
Spectacular Anthem

Drift is non-conforming and genre blending. Whilst hard to neatly fit in a box, the record feels like an avant garde blend of Electronic, Hip-Hop, Punk and Grunge music featuring soundscapes recorded from GAIKA's travels abroad. Shapeshifting and cinematic in style, GAIKA draws inspiration from musical greats; Prince, Wu Tang Clan, Massive Attack, and John Coltrane, with his approach akin to the Pink Siifus, A$AP Rockys, and Dean Blunts of this world.

GAIKA’s sound spans from grime, dancehall, R&B, electronic, and beyond, often weaving in political commentary through his lyricism. New album Drift is an ensemble record with GAIKA as the central writer working with collaborators BbyMutha, KIDÄ, Azekel, Charlie Stacey, Chamber 45, Brbko, The Narrator (Amber Joy), SAMANTHA, and more. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Drift On
2. Piñata
3. Gunz
4. First Among Misfits (Ft The Narrator)
5. La Vacanza (Ft Kidä)
6. Sublime
7. Exit To Cisco
8. Lady (Ft Bbymutha)
9. O Vampiro
10. Bonehead Behavior
11. Vicious Chambers
12. Ultra Scuro
13. And There Goes The Challenger
14. Less Burners Bigger Hearts (Ft The Narrator, Azekel)

Since selling out the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House in 2010, Neil Gaiman and Four Play String Quartet have been firm friends and collaborators. They have toured the world together, released a New York Times best-selling book & record together, sold out Carnegie Hall together and most importantly, recorded a new album together, Signs of Life. Reflecting the fact that Gaiman and FourPlay have each, always refused to be pigeon-holed in their creativity - together, they have created something remarkable and unique.

Signs of Life is a gorgeous, ground-breaking and genre-bending collaboration between an iconic author and a unique musical ensemble. Part songwriting, part poetry, part story-telling; allencompassing, all-engaging, all beautiful.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Clock
2. Möbius Strip
3. Bloody Sunrise
4. The Wreckers
5. Song Of The Song
6. Credo
SIDE B
7. Neverwhere
8. Poeb First Read On January 26th, 2011 At The
Sydney Opera House
9. The Problem With Saints
10. In Transit
11. Sings Of Life
12. Oceanic (CD ONLY)

Air's Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin (who paid tribute to Serge Gainsbourg particularly well on 10,000 Hz Legend's 'Wonder Milky Bitch') wrote 5:55's delicate music, while Jarvis Cocker and the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon penned its lyrics. Produced by Nigel Godrich.

‘It's a genuinely delightful album’ - 4/5 The Guardian.

Originally released in 2006,..even though 5:55 isn't technically Charlotte Gainsbourg's first solo album (that would be Charlo[e for Ever, which was release in 1986, when she was 15), it’s her first solo album as an adult and, with the help of a dream team of collaborators , it's a fittingly sophisticated set that touches on her father Serge's brilliantly louche, literate pop without being overshadowed by it.

This mingling of French and English influences is mirrored in Charlotte Gainsbourg's subtly expressive voice and accent, which provides the perfect complement to the album's lush sounds and vivid imagery.

TRACK LISTING

A1. 5:55
A2. AF607105
B1. The Operation
B2. Tel Que Tu Es
B3. The Songs That We Sing
C1. Beauty Mark
C2. Little Monsters
C3. Jamais
D1. Night-Time Intermission
D2. Everything I Cannot See

Produced by Ed Bangers’ SebastiAn (Frank Ocean, Kavinsky) and mixed by Tom Elmhirst (Adele, Lorde, David Bowie), the album features collaborations with Sir Paul McCartney, Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Connan Mockasin and Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire, Caribou).

Having previously written lyrics with Jarvis Cocker and Air on ‘5.55’ (2006) and Beck on ‘IRM’ (2010), ‘Rest’ is the first album where Gainsbourg penned all the words. Feeling daunted by the desire to poetise her ideas, deliverance would arrive initially courtesy of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who provided the music for the title track, steering Charlotte toward a forensically focused approach to lyric writing. “Those were the first words that I actually sang on the album. I came in with all my bunches of lyrics… It was too much, really, and Guy-Man was saying, ‘you can’t say all that, you have to simplify it,’ and he reduced it to three words! It felt so innocent in a way, but it was exactly what I needed at that time”. On the album, Gainsbourg addresses personal topics ranging from the death of her father Serge and more recently sister Kate Barry, to the tensions between her shyness and her life as a performer and public figure, to charmingly illogical childhood fears.

The album’s major production lynchpin would be French DJ, remixer and producer Sebastian Akchoté-Bozovic, aka SebastiAn, best known for his releases on French house label Ed Banger and for his production work for Frank Ocean. His background in electronic music accorded with Charlotte’s desire for a sound with a disquieting, mechanistic edge, inspired by Giorgio Moroder and, perhaps unsurprisingly for a revered, award-winning film actress, movie soundtracks, particularly Pino Donaggio’s score for Brian De Palma’s ’70s horror classic Carrie and Georges Delerue’s music for Jean-Luc Godard’s nouvelle vague masterpiece Le Mepris, as well as the chilly, unsettling ambience of films like Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Hitchcock’s Rebecca.

The eleven essays on ‘Rest’ are nothing if not sure-footed, proffering a compelling fusion of gleaming, string-emblazoned modern electro-pop and cinematically textured avant-chanson – their magical music box melodies kissed by bruised, introspective, occasionally disquieting lyrics. The album opens with the nursery rhyme enchantment of ‘Ring a Ring a Roses’, a hazy mosaic of nostalgic childhood snapshots – the verses delivered in intimately captured French, the instantly infectious chorus in coolly clipped English – and ends with the electro-disco-flavoured ‘Les Oxalis’ (named after the eponymous woodland flower). “Those two songs were always the bookends of the album”, Charlotte explains. The latter’s rhythmic energy cuts against the lyric, describing a lachrymose promenade through a cemetery. “I remember SebastiAn asking, ‘Are you sure that’s what you want to say against that rhythm?’ But that’s how this album made sense to me, in the contradiction between things, with the music taking you somewhere and the words going the opposite way”.

It’s a potent dichotomy that permeates much of ‘Rest’, from ‘Lying With You’, whose busy drums and angular synths frame a lyric about Serge Gainsbourg’s death (“Like everyone who’s gone through this, you have to deal with the memory of someone who is still alive in your head, and the way you’ve seen them dead. I wanted to talk about the crudity of this”, explains Charlotte), to the frank, self-examining ‘I’m a Lie’ (“…about not knowing if you’re able to collapse or fly. It’s something that I’m always wrestling with”), and the wonderfully Giorgio Moroder-esque ‘Deadly Valentine’, whose lyrics, essentially a string of uncannily delivered wedding vows, play out against a motorik Euro-disco beat and soaring strings.

Another essay, ‘Songbird in a Cage’, was penned for Charlotte by Sir Paul McCartney, no less. “We had a very nice lunch about six-and-a-half years ago”, she recalls. “I couldn’t believe that I was actually sitting next to him. I told him that if he ever had a song for me it would be a dream come true. A few weeks later he sent this track. It was a demo. I didn’t know what to do with it, because I wanted it to be part of the album. We had to reinvent it. Paul very sweetly came to Electric Lady. He did a bit of piano, some bass, a bit of guitar. It was incredible, just to see him work”.

The aides-de-camp may have played their role on Rest, but it remains undeniably the work of a singular artist, one who has explored her personal darkness in pursuit of a sense of purpose and a place of resolution, purging herself of creative shyness and timidity in the process. “This time it felt like flying on my own. I knew I needed the right collaborator, and SebastiAn was always there, but all the same, this time the album is really mine”.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Brilliant goth-pop, throbbing basslines and the undeniably exotic and infinitely more alluring addition of vocals 'En Fraincaise' (that's french for 'In French'). Lovely.

TRACK LISTING

1. Ring-A-Ring O' Roses 
2. Lying With You
3. Kate 
4. Deadly Valentine  
5. I'm A Lie 
6. Rest 
7. Sylvia Says  
8. Songbird In A Cage 
9. Dans Vos Airs  
10. Les Crocodiles  
11. Les Oxalis 

After decades in the making Finders Keepers Records proudly present us with the first-ever pressing of Serge Gainsbourg’s most elusive and coveted soundtrack studio recordings - co-written, arranged and orchestrated by the genius Jean-Claude Vannier (‘Histoire De Melody Nelson’) during what many consider to be the dynamic duo’s most definitive creative period.
Believed to have been lost in a studio fire by Gainsbourg enthusiasts for over forty years (a myth that also shrouds Morricone’s lost ‘Danger Diabolik’ soundtrack) the misplaced master-tapes for the drug-fuelled/Mai 68 cash-in/road-movie ‘Les Chemins De Katmandou’ have been widely considered the final audio jigsaw piece in an immaculate discography/filmography thus earning this soundtrack bone-fide Holy Grail status amongst the most avid disc detectives.
Featuring the original crack team of Paris based players now recognised as French library music royalty, this LP epitomises the inimitable musical direction and expert psychedelic pop musicianship that graced classic Gainsbourg/Vannier soundtracks like ‘La Horse’, ‘Cannabis’ and ‘Sex Shop’. Laying the stylistic, futureproof foundations for subsequent decades of forward-thinking Gallic funk mastery.
Comprising Vannier’s signature recipe of thick plucked bass lines, close-mic’d drums, biting Clavinet and Eastern influenced strings and percussion (and a sprinkling of subtle traditional French instrumentation) the soundtrack to ‘Les Chemins De Katmandou’ (aka ‘The Road To Katmandu’ or ‘The Pleasure Pit’) captures Vannier and Gainsbourg in the first year of their creative partnership capturing their unique embryonic energy.
This previously lost full soundtrack score now exists on vinyl for the first time ever as an infinitely important milestone in the early development of the duo who would shape the sound of French pop music for years to come.

TRACK LISTING

Les Chemins De Katmandou (Titles)
The Pleasure Pit
Colin-Maillard
Le Roi Des Phlébotomes
Flower Child
Cache Cache
Opium Den
Overdose
Oliver
Fallen Rainbow
Colin-Maillard (Vox)
Les Chemins De Katmandou

In 1964 and 1966, when Serge Gainsbourg participated in the two public recordings at the “Maison de la Radio”, he was undoubtedly the outstanding protagonist of the evening. It was at this moment that his, according to his own words, “blue period” came to an end. This period was characterized by left-bank songs, tinged with notes of jazz and exotic rhythms.

Gainsbourg remains the master of chiaroscuro, double meaning and a true poet with caustic irony.

In these eight moving songs, Gainsbourg adopts the figure of the disappointed lover as well as the one of the cynical disillusioned man, accompanied by notes of piano or by a guitar and a double-bass. These original recordings perfectly summarize the first decade of his career.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Le Rock De Nerval
A2. La Recette De L’amour Fou
A3. Les Goémons
A4. La Javanaise
B1. Le Talkie Walkie
B2. Elaeudanla Téïtéïa
B3. Intoxicated Man
B4. Ces Petits Riens

On March 2, 1991 Serge Gainsbourg bowed out and left France orphaned by one of the most important singer-songwriters of French song. Thirty years later, his songs are still with us, proof of their quality. Indeed, beyond the many successes that have marked a career spanning more than thirty years, Gainsbourg's repertoire is abundantly rich.

Always at the forefront of innovation, he has been able to adapt his delicate and classical writing with the most modern musical styles: jazz, reggae, funk ... without ever losing his eloquence or his soul.

This 2LP Set sends us back and shows how Serge Gainsbourg was an emblematic and major figure.

TRACK LISTING

LP 1
1.L'eau à La Bouche - BOF "L'eau à La Bouche
2.Baudelaire
3.La Javanaise
4.Elaeudanla Téitéia
5.New York USA
6.Couleur Café
7.Qui Est "In", Qui Est "Out"
8.Docteur Jekyll Et Monsieur Hyde
9.Comic Strip
10.Chatterton
11.Bonnie And Clyde (with Brigitte Bardot)
12.Initials B.B.
13.Ford Mustang
14.Requiem Pour Un C... - BOF "Le Pacha"
 
LP 2
1.Je T'aime Moi Non Plus (with Jane Birkin)
2.L'anamour
3.69 Année érotique (with Jane Birkin)
4.Sous Le Soleil Exactement
5.ElisaBOFL'horizon  
6.Ballade De Melody Nelson (with Jane Birkin)
7.L'hôtel Particulier - BOF "Melody Nelson
8.La Décadance - Bof Sex-Shop (with Jane Birkin)
9.Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je M'en Vais
10.Comme Un Boomerang
11.Ma Lou Marilou
12.Aux Armes Et Caetera
13.Lola Rastaquouère 

Often cited as the masterwork of French icon and national treasure Serge Gainsbourg, Histoire De Melody Nelson features actress, amour, and inspiration Jane Birkin, arranger/conductor and co-conspirator Jean-Claude Vannier (L’Enfant Assassins Des Mouches), and a tight,hand-picked crew of top shelf U.K. session musicians, including Big Jim Sullivan, Vic Flick, Brian Odgers, and Dougie Wright. Originally released in 1971, this is an essential album for the discerning music lover.

Our initial reissue marked the first time that Histoire De Melody Nelson was ever made available domestically in the U.S., now available in two brand new très chic color variants. Dispelling countless myths, hearsay, and rumors surrounding Nelson, New York-based writer Andy Beta contributes a stylish essay for your edification, while the maestro himself chimes in with a period Q&A interview from France’s Rock N Folk Magazine, originally published in June 1971.

TRACK LISTING

Melody
Ballade De Melody Nelson
Valse De Melody
Ah ! Melody
L'hôtel Particulier
En Melody
Cargo Culte

50th anniversary Melody Nelson's story holds a very special place in Serge Gainsbourg's discography. In the aftermath of the global success of Je t'aime moi non plus Serge Gainsbourg, inspired by his new partner, Jane Birkin, decided "to get down to business." With the collaboration of a very young musician, Jean-Claude Vannier, he signs an album hailed as one of the most remarkable successes of orchestral pop around the world. 

TRACK LISTING

Melody
Ballade De Melody Nelson
Valse De Melody
Ah Melody
L'hotel Particulier
En Melody
Cargo Culte

Spread over 3 CDs, this collection of 59 tracks, consists of a selection of Gainsbourg tracks (including many new and exclusive versions), interpretations of songs from other performers and a volume dedicated to the music of films is the audio complement of 450 pages of the Gainsbook.

The result of more than twenty years of investigation and sixty interviews bringing together Serge Gainsbourg's historical arrangers, sound engineers and session musicians, this book sheds new light on his phenomenal repertoire.

Also available as a 10 track LP.

In 2010, the French edition of Rolling Stone magazine named this album the 28th greatest French rock album...considered as "the other" masterpiece of Serge Gainsbourg's discography, alongside “Histoire de Melody Nelson”, “L'Homme à tête de chou” – a concept album about a man in his forties falling in love with a rather free-minded shampoo girl - had not yet revealed all its secrets – until now! Almost 45 years after its release, the rediscovery of the multitrack tapes recorded in London in the summer of 1976 confirms that behind Gainsbourg's virtuoso talk-over was an extraordinary musical edifice. The new mix for this 2023 release rebalances the vocal and instrumental parts while retaining its original intent. 

TRACK LISTING

mix 2023
L’homme à La Tête De Chou
Chez Max Coiffeur Pour Hommes
Marilou Reggae
Transit à Marilou
Flash Forward
Aéroplanes
Ma Lou Marilou
Premiers Symptômes
Variations Sur Marilou
Meurtre à L’extincteur
Marilou Sous La Neige
Lunatic Asylum

instrumental Versions (only On Double Lp Edition)
L’homme à La Tête De Chou
Chez Max Coiffeur Pour Hommes
Marilou Reggae
Transit à Marilou
Flash Forward
Aéroplanes
Ma Lou Marilou
Premiers Symptômes
Variations Sur Marilou
Meurtre à L’extincteur
Marilou Sous La Neige
Lunatic Asylum
Transit à Marilou = Alternative
Ma Lou Marilou Alternative
Meurtre à L’extincteur -alternative
Lunatic Asylum -alternative
Variations Sur Marilou - Alternative

Includes his duet with Charlotte Gainsbourg…

At last, 12 years after his death, a proper retrospective of France's greatest export! His recording career spanned four decades, taking in everything from jazz to rock to reggae, but it's probably for his orchestral easy listening and low-slung cinematic funk that he's best loved round thse Northern Quarter parts. Everyone from Air to David Holmes and Andy Votel are hugely influenced by his sound. If all you know is "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus", then prepare to have your life enriched with the delights of "Bonnie & Clyde", "Requiem Pour Un C", "Ballade De Melody Nelson" etc. 23 tracks in all, on both vinyl and CD.

The first new Diamanda Galás album in nine years.

All The Way features remarkable, radical takes on familiar tunes, including the seminal "The Thrill Is Gone" and a solo piano interpretation of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight." The album's centrepiece is the American traditional "O Death," which has become a staple in live performances, and concludes with "Pardon Me I've got Someone To Kill" by country singer Johnny Paycheck.

Employing a vast array of advanced vocal and instrumental techniques, Broken Gargoyles is arguably Galas’ most intellectually, sonically and viscerally formidable work to date. The album finds the visionary artist deftly probing the weaving, warping transformation on the nervous systems of her post-traumatic soldiers and dying diseased.

GALATHEA is the new project by DJ Massimo Napoli, and the title of his first solo album. Borrowing the name from the homonymous Nereid from the Greek mythology, the album is a deep dive into dub, spiritual jazz and African surroundings. Over 12 tracks, the LP conceals a strong personality. Departing from club culture with particular emphasis on electronic dub, Galathea unfolds into many influences and styles, making it a unique listening experience. Mediterranean culture, afro and cinematic melodies, jazz, spiritual echoes, and soothing beats lead the listener into a subliminal escape, where the fluidity and the convergence of genres freely progress into a dream-like journey.

TRACK LISTING

1. Afrique (album Version)
2. Sunset Dub
3. Black Sand Feat. John Lui
4. Karma Blues Feat. John Lui
5. Spiritual Wind
6. Scirocco
7. Dune
8. Simeto
9. Sirens

Two years after the release of his first self-titled album, DJ producer Massimo Napoli aka Galathea presents the new 'Sacred Love', in which he once again avails himself of the collaboration of his friend producer and bass player Salvo Dub, as well as a combo of respected musicians: singer Kadi Koulibaly - originally from Burkina Faso - already featured on the first album, Giulia La Rosa, author of the lyrics and performer of the title track, pianist Mario Pappalardo, percussionist Sergio Spitaleri and drummer Luciano Cantone.
'Sacred Love' is definitely a more mature, intense and profound journey than the previous album of the same name, which enhances the magical dreamlike and spiritual atmospheres of a certain African culture.
The album guides the listener along a path of multi-ethnic contaminations: "Divinité", "Ouaga" and "Koloko", well interpreted by Kadi, touch on the sacredness and mysticism of the African continent and blend well with the Spiritual Jazz sounds that have evolved in the West.
"Divinité", through the spoken word of French poet Diego Hernandez, tackles the themes of faith, life and the relationship with one's 'self', with references to French chanson productions, in which Kadi's spiritual song, at times 'Saharan', intersects and expands into cosmic space.
The title track, the first single from the album, also released on 7" (45rpm) in two versions, is an Afro-American gospel with a typically afrobeat rhythm, vaguely reminiscent of Nina Simone's 'See-Line Woman'.
North Africa is represented by "Equator", while we climb further north into the middle of the Mediterranean Sea with "Medican Blues", to land in Stromboli with the Deep Jazz of "Ginostra", whose title recalls the village of the marvellous island in the Aeolian archipelago.
Then we have the Cuban track "Caminito", a sort of Cha-Cha with a romantic piano melody (à la Chucho Valdez) well performed by maestro Mario Pappalardo; and then again "Eos", strongly Balearic with a Brazilian mood; "Impression", a dreamy journey of impact; "Sirens", already present on the first album and here reworked in a new Spiritual-Ambient version produced by Agosta.
"Sacred Love" is thus an original and musically borderless album, which expands a certain African sacred culture and naturally blends Afrobeat, Jazz and Blues atmospheres with the Balearic sounds of Mediterranean culture.
Enjoy listening!

TRACK LISTING

A1.Ginostra
A2.Sacred Love Feat. Giulia La Rosa
A3.Equator
A4.Divinitè Feat. Kadi Koulibaly
A5.Koloko Feat. Kadi Koulibaly

B1.Ouaga Feat. Kadi Koulibaly
B2.Medicane Blues
B3.Caminito
B4.Eos
B5.Sirens Feat. Agosta

After producing two albums celebrated by a thirsty underground network of fans, Galaxie 500 released what turned out to be their unexpected swansong, This Is Our Music. The title is an intentionally declarative statement. After being labeled masters of the disengaged and forlorn, Damon Krukowsi, Dean Wareham, and Naomi Yang delivered a full-length comprised of their most stately material. Here, one can hear potential realized, as well as changes afoot. "Fourth of July" is a surprisingly up-front song for the band, with rolling drums and a bass-heavy refrain, and it proved to be their most popular single. The track sets the stage for the dynamism of This Is Our Music. When Galaxie 500 sounds wistful ("Summertime"), it sounds like years of yearning actualized; when the band sounds regretful ("Sorry"), it comes pleading on its knees. The trio found a beautiful balance between increased production values and knob-twiddler Mark Kramer's oddhanded approach. For the first time since its original pressing, This Is Our Music is available again on vinyl. Cut by vinyl ace Kevin Gray from a remaster by Kramer and Alan Douches, the album sounds more vibrant than ever, and Galaxie 500 exists again as one of the most enrapturing and glorious bands to emerge from the underground in the past 25 years.

TRACK LISTING

1. Fourth Of July
2. Hearing Voices
3. Spook
4. Summertime
5. Way Up High
6. Listen, The Snow Is Falling
7. Sorry
8. Melt Away
9. King Of Spain, Part Two

When Galaxie 500's Today was released in 1988, it set off a chain reaction of quiet explosions still being felt. Never before had a record so emphasized the calming elements of rock music, transforming what at first seems like a collection of bridges into fully realized songs. And one can draw a straight line from here to the many groups they influenced,like Low, Belle & Sebastian, and Bon Iver. Today is full of idiosyncrasies. The trio of Damon Krukowski, Dean Wareham, and Naomi Yang were recent Harvard grads who intuitively eliminated any histrionic tradition to rock songs, leaving core emotion (not for nothing did they include a cover of "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste," by the kings of feeling, The Modern Lovers). It was produced by Mark Kramer, who was best known for his work with cataclysmic slop rock pioneers such as Bongwater, Ween, and King Missle.

The band's hometown of Boston was just coming out of its love affair with Mission of Burma and pouncing upon the spasmodic electricity of The Pixies. Despite, or perhaps because of, all these elements, Today thrived. More than 20 years after its initial release, its title is still no misnomer. The music, recorded with what many thought at the time was too much reverb, sounds present, alive, and indeed a product of today. Songs like "Flowers," "Temperature's Rising," and of course "Tugboat" (the band's debut single) stand the test of time and exist in an eternal now. For the first time since its original pressing, Today is available again on vinyl. Cut by vinyl ace Kevin Gray from a remaster by Kramer and Alan Douches, the album sounds more vibrant than ever, and Galaxie 500 exists again as one of the most enrapturing and glorious bands to emerge from the underground in the past 25 years.

TRACK LISTING

1. Flowers
2. Pictures
3. Parking Lot
4. Dont Let Our Youth Go To Waste
5. Temperatures Rising
6. Oblivious
7. It's Getting Late
8. Instrumental
9. Tugboat

The Galaxy Sound Co. is now up to number 41 in their buy-on-sight 45s series, this time with '1$ Bin Breaks'. It's another vital 45 rpm that packs a lot in with plenty of epic sound sources that you will recognise and love from some of your favourite hip-hop joints. Artists like Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Puff Daddy, De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, J Dilla, Redman and Alicia Keys have called upon the sounds you will hear here from original artists like Odessa, Milt Jackson With The Ray Brown Big Band, Issac Hayes and many more. File this one under essential breaks, library sounds and jazz nuggets.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
"Sakura"
"On The Hill"
"Enchanted Lady"

Side 2
"Survival"
"Sunrise"
"A Few More Kisses To Go"
"Go On & Cry"

The Galaxy Sound Co's latest 7" kicks off with a remastered edit of 'Passion Play' by The Sugarhill Gang. It's a tune that was originally on their self-titled 1980 album and comes with background vocals from the superb funk and soul band Positive Force. Somehow the tune didn't make the charts at the time though it has been heavily referenced and sampled since, including by the likes of Kerri Chandler. The B-side is 'Who Is She (And What Is She to You)', a soul-jazz cover of a Bill Withers classic taken from Madelaine's only album, Who Is She, in 1978. It has a serious Chicago pedigree and great arrangements from Johnny Pate.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Galaxy Sound Co. continue to dish out the high grade edits. Now on 7" for extra effectiveness in the field (less weight for the real vinyl DJ!) they continue to mine sources of enjoyment for all with these two crowd pleasers sure to satiate even the rowdiest Christmas crowd...

TRACK LISTING

Love Play (Edit)
Who?

Galaxy Sound Co. hits 40 releases deep with yet another buy-on-sight 7". This latest entry into the Sample Series kicks off with an edit of 'Lovely Is Today' by Eddie Harris from his 1968 album Plug Me In. It's steeped in delightfully conversational saxophone with rousing chords dancing beneath in a swinging 60s fashion. A real classy gem. On the flip, 'September 13' by Deodato gets reworked and is from his self-titled jazz-funk album. This one is more funky and it's led by some big, proud horn stabs and silky drum rumbles enriched with great synths. Another vital 45 from this fine label.

TRACK LISTING

Lovely
13

Introducing the much anticipated 7'' vinyl featuring two standout tracks from Sami Galbi. Face A is "Dakchi Hani," a poignant post-breakup anthem blending raï influences with contemporary rhythms, offering a humorous take on navigating emotions. Face B showcases "Rruina," a powerful follow-up track that delves deeper into darker, club-oriented sounds, pushing the boundaries of Swiss-Moroccan raï-chaabi fusion. Seamlessly transitioning from the raw synths and bouncing rhythms of "Dakchi Hani" to the tension-filled atmosphere of "Rruina," this vinyl promises a captivating journey through Sami Galbi's musical evolution. With each track tailored for the dancefloors, this vinyl release is poised to explode with energy wherever it goes.

TRACK LISTING

A. Dakchi Hani
B. Rruina

HIFILOFI SCIFIWIFI is the debut solo album from Gale P, best known as the co -founder, guitarist and occasional singer of acoustic-indie stalwarts Turin Brakes.

Born in Tehran, based in Brixton, Gale Paridjanian was raised in the multicultural melting pot of South London in a family home full of musical instruments. He picked up a guitar at a young age and launched himself onto his musical arc. A lockdown break from touring provided the space to explore fresh creative directions, inspirations and collaborations. Gale brought all these into his home studio to stitch together into a compelling set of personal songs; “I’d go around London looking for inspiration, bring it back to my garden shed and create freely, attempting to turn into sound what I’d seen that day - a painting, a fight, a story overheard. But sometimes I’m just trying to make music I want to hear, like a home-made Shazam playlist.” Everything is tied together by Gales’ authentically lo-fi production, intimate vocals and sultry acoustic guitar, floating across dreamily trashy beats and subtle offbeat electronics.

Lead single ‘Thunderclouds’ is one of two collaborations with BBC 6 Music regular Eliza Shaddad. It's a tale of quiet evenings evolving into rowdy nights and ending up in full blown arguments. Eliza’s clear voice soars above a track that’s one part Bon Iver to two parts Velvet Underground. There’s fleet fingered guitar picking aplenty on ‘In The Rain’, and hushed campfire vibes to ‘Dark Clouds’, but this isn’t a folk album: ‘Zombie’ has the insistent push of 70s LA, ‘Need To Know’ drives like a Hall & Oates radio banger, and ‘There She Goes’ marries the cool of JJ Cale to the swagger of Britpop. Eliza Shaddad returns to duet with stunning effect on album standout ‘Offices’, with echoes of 90s slacker rock building to a shimmering climax.

HIFILOFI SCIFIWIFI blends together a mix of honest emotions and influences into a sound that’s genuinely homespun and heartfelt.

TRACK LISTING

1. All The Darkness
2. Mountains
3. There She Goes
4. Thunderclouds
5. In The Rain
6. Zombie Sage
7. Dark Clouds
8. Offices
9. Would You
10. Need To Know

‘Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?’ is the debut project from Paul Simonon (The Clash, Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad and The Queen); and Galen Ayers (singer-songwriter who amongst other artistic projects released the rightly acclaimed solo album ‘Monument’).

The roots of the album began in lockdown as Simonon relocated to a remote Mallorcan fishing village, where he spent his time, painting, and writing songs. Over an 18-month period he worked with local musicians, playing and busking in the streets of Palma with his friend Ayers.

What emerged is a collection of ten uplifting songs which collectively present a snapshot of pan-European music culture - and an album that journeys across the continent, influenced by French chansons, Spanish pop and English sea shanties; evoking scenes stretching from Edgware Road to Hydra Island; and painting pictures of everything from elegant Parisian cafes to drunken tourists in Magaluf to the ghosttown chill of an out-of-season holiday destination.

‘Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?’ features an array of top tier talent. Produced by the legendary Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T-Rex, Sparks) with a band made up of Simon Tong (The Verve, The Good, The Bad and The Queen), Sebastian Rochford (Polar Bear, David Byrne, Patti Smith), Dan Donovan (Big Audio Dynamite), and Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz…) playing melodica.

Long-term friends with a mutual admiration for each other’s work, the idea of a collaboration started when John joined Liam on-stage at his biblical knebworth shows.

Song ideas were soon flowing, and the album took shape with an intuitive intensity while in Los Angeles with the revered producer Greg Kurstin. He played bass throughout the record, while drums were performed by Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M., Atoms For Peace).

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I think about when I used to listen to Oasis and The Stone Roses back in 'The Day' and imagine how i'd feel if you told me that this would be a collaboration that could happen in the future. It's Squire's unmistakeable songwriting and playing, with Gallagher's vocals over the top. I bet he's even got his arms behind his back. Danceable, baggy psychedelic rock with vox one of the most legendary vocalists of his generation.

TRACK LISTING

1. Raise Your Hands
2. Mars To Liverpool
3. One Day At A Time
4. I’m A Wheel
5. Just Another Rainbow
6. Love You Forever
7. Make It Up As You Go Along
8. You're Not The Only One
9. I’m So Bored
10. Mother Nature's Song

Charity Partner for Single will be Action For Children.

TRACK LISTING

1. ‘All You’re Dreaming Of’

After the phenomenal reaction to his solo track ‘Wall of Glass’ and the emotional scenes that accompanied his first solo shows, Liam Gallagher brings us his eagerly anticipated debut album ‘As You Were’.

“I didn’t want to be reinventing anything or going off on a space jazz odyssey,” says Liam. “It’s the Lennon ‘Cold Turkey’ vibe, The Stones, the classics. But done my way, now.”

The album’s cover features an iconic new portrait of Liam which was taken by the influential photographer, fashion designer and creative director Hedi Slimane.

‘C'mon You Know’ follows the huge success of Liam’s previous studio albums ‘As You Were’ (2017) and ‘Why Me? Why Not.’ (2019), which established his iconic status for a whole new generation. His ‘MTV Unplugged’ also went straight to #1 on the Official Album Chart. Between his triumphs as a solo artist and his phenomenal success with Oasis, Liam has spent a combined total of almost six months at #1 across eleven chart-topping albums. 

Liam Gallagher is not the kind of artist who was going to be stopped by the sizeable problem of not being able to play to an audience during lockdown. So when the idea of playing a playing and filming a live stream show came up, he looked at the precedent set by the Sex Pistols and The Clash and decided to hit the River Thames, armed with a boatload of attitude, a phenomenal live band (including Bonehead) and an arsenal of classic songs.

The show has been captured in full on the new live album ‘Down By The River Thames’, which will be released ia Warner Records.

Originally streamed on December 5th 2020, the show became one of the most memorable performances of the lockdown era. From iconic Oasis favourites (‘Supersonic’, ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’) to big hitters from his two all-conquering #1 solo albums (‘Wall of Glass’, ‘Once’), Liam’s inimitable snarl boomed across the Thames and dominated London’s gloomy winter skyline. There were plenty of welcome surprises too: debut solo performances of the Oasis songs ‘Hello’, ‘Fade Away’ and ‘Headshrinker’, and the first live version of ‘All You’re Dreaming Of’. Liam’s voice is absolutely on point throughout, with a full-throttle snarl of anger and attitude that doesn’t compromise any of the finesse of the studio recordings.

Liam commented, “So here it is, the gig they said we could never pull off! As we were in lockdown, bored and depressed, rock ‘n’ roll came to save the day once again. It was a top night and a top gig and it’s captured here on record for you to all enjoy.”

TRACK LISTING

1. ‘Hello’
2. ‘Wall Of Glass’
3. ‘Halo’
4. ‘Shockwave’
5. ‘Columbia’
6. ‘Fade Away’
7. ‘Why Me? Why Not.’
8. ‘Greedy Soul’
9. ‘The River’
10. ‘Once’
11. ‘Morning Glory’
12. ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’
13. ‘Headshrinker’
14. ‘Supersonic’
15. ‘Champagne Supernova’
16. ‘All You’re Dreaming Of’

Liam Gallagher will document his triumphant two-night Knebworth Park shows with the release of the live album ‘Knebworth 22’ on August 11th. Returning to the scene of the era-defining Oasis gigs of the ‘90s, the huge audience stretched from fans who had been present some 26 years earlier right through to teenagers relishing the excitement of their first big gig. ‘Knebworth 22’ is a must-have live album for any fan who wants to relive the experience.

‘Knebworth 22’ is released alongside a live video of the weekend’s surprises. ‘Roll It Over’ originally featured on the Oasis album ‘Standing On The Shoulder of Giants’.

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: This is a lovely set from R Kid documenting his return to Knebworth last summer. Mixture of solo material and Oasis classics, this will tide us over until Liam and Noel bury the hatchet - yes, me and Andy are convinced it will happen!

TRACK LISTING

‘Hello’
‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’
‘Wall Of Glass’
‘Shockwave’
‘Everything’s Electric’
‘Roll It Over’
‘Slide Away’
‘More Power’
‘C’mon You Know’
‘The River’
‘Once’
‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’
‘Some Might Say’
‘Supersonic’
‘Wonderwall’
‘Champagne Supernova’

Last summer Liam Gallagher joined the list of all-time greats (Paul McCartney, Page and Plant, Nirvana and many more) who have filmed a prestigious MTV Unplugged session. Having missed Oasis’s 1996 session through illness, the show at Hull’s City Hall found Liam fulfilling some unfinished business entirely on his own terms.

Now Liam is set to release the ‘MTV Unplugged’ live album of the show on April 24th.

The show’s electrifying atmosphere is palpable from the very beginning with a phenomenal reaction as Liam takes to the stage with ‘Wall of Glass’. Material from Liam’s solo career such as his personal favourite ‘Once’ and the joyous ‘Now That I’ve Found You’ resonates in this stripped-back format, with his vocal shining alongside a trio of backing singers and string arrangements performed by the 24-piece Urban Soul Orchestra.

Oasis guitarist Bonehead features on performances of ‘Some Might Say’, ‘Stand By Me’, ‘Cast No Shadow’ and Liam’s first ever live vocal performance of the ‘Definitely Maybe’ bonus track ‘Sad Song’. The show concludes on a crowd-pleasing high with an emotive take on the classic ‘Champagne Supernova’.

Liam launches the ‘MTV Unplugged’ album by sharing the new version of ‘Gone’, which was one of the strongest performances of the night. Stripped of the force of the studio recording, ‘Gone’ instead reveals new-found bombastic dynamics and an evocative cinematic atmosphere.

TRACK LISTING

1. ‘Wall Of Glass’
2. ‘Some Might Say’
3. ‘Now That I Found You’
4. ‘One Of Us’
5. ‘Stand By Me’
6. ‘Sad Song’
7. ‘Cast No Shadow’
8. ‘Once’
9. ‘Gone’
10. ‘Champagne Supernova’

An etched 7” vinyl housed in a white card sleeve.

TRACK LISTING

1. Liam Gallagher - One Of Us [Sound Recording]

Liam is back, following his debut solo album "As You Were", which stormed to the top of the charts, selling over 100,000 copies week one, to become one of the best selling albums of that year.

"Shockwave" is the brand new single from Liam's forthcoming album.

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: Everything you'd want from a Liam Gallagher single. Swash-buckling, glam-stomping, life-affirming fun!

This month has seen Liam Gallagher make a typically full-throttle return. Super intimate sold-out show at Hackney Round Chapel? Biblical. Premiere and release of the long-awaited ‘As It Was’ documentary? Completed. Featured on the cover of Q, who described him as “rock’s finest frontman”? Naturally.

Liam wrote lead single ‘Shockwave’ with two of the key collaborators behind the all-conquering ‘As You Were’ album: Andrew Wyatt, who won the Academy Award for Best Original Song as co-writer of ‘Shallow’ from the film ‘A Star Is Born’, and the multiple Grammy-winner Greg Kurstin who also produced the track. It was recorded in Los Angeles.

Liam Gallagher’s debut solo album ‘As You Were’ was a critical and commercial smash. It debuted at #1, out-selling the rest of the Top 10 in the process, and was soon certified Platinum. Liam was back where he belonged, selling out huge outdoor shows and earning major awards from Q, NME and GQ.

More details regarding ‘Why Me? Why Not.’ will be revealed imminently. “It’s a better record than As You Were,” promises Liam. “Which is saying something, as that was epic, wasn’t it?”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: He's back! Liam's newest album sees him co-writing with a duo of talented musician pals, and retains all the charm and momentum of his previous outing, but with more OOMPH. Why not indeed.

'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' is the eponymous release from the solo project of the former Oasis legend, and the first after his acrimonious split from the aforementioned band. Working in both London and Los Angeles between 2010 and 2011, with frequent collaborator Dave Sardy serving as co-producer, Gallagher utilized the talents of now bandmates Jeremy Stacey (drums), Lenny Castro (percussion) and Mike Rowe (keyboards) for the album.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Oasis for grown-up people! Excellent songs, none of the baggage.

TRACK LISTING

1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. Dream On
3. If I Had A Gun…
4. The Death Of You And Me
5. (I Wanna Live In A Dream In My) Record Machine
6. AKA... What A Life!
7. Soldier Boys And Jesus Freaks
8. AKA... Broken Arrow
9. (Stranded On) The Wrong Beach
10. Stop The Clocks

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rory Gallagher’s “Deuce” sophomore solo album from 1971, a cut-down version of a deluxe boxset of the album is presented which will include a new mix of the original album, previously unreleased alternate takes and radio bremen radio session tracks.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Used To Be - 50th Anniversary Edition
2. I'm Not Awake Yet - 50th Anniversary Edition
3. Don't Know Where I'm Going - 50th Anniversary Edition
4. Maybe I Will - 50th Anniversary Edition
5. Whole Lot Of People - 50th Anniversary Edition
Side B
1. In Your Town - 50th Anniversary Edition
2. Should've Learnt My Lesson - 50th Anniversary Edition
3. There's A Light - 50th Anniversary Edition
4. Out Of My Mind - 50th Anniversary Edition
5. Crest Of A Wave - 50th Anniversary Edition
Side C
1. Used To Be - Alternate Take 1
2. I'm Not Awake Yet - Alternate Take 1
3. Maybe I Will - Alternate Take 1
4. Whole Lot Of People - 12 String Acoustic Alternate Take 1
Side D
1. In Your Town - Alternate Take 3
2. Should've Learnt My Lesson - Alternate Take 3
3. There's A Light - Alternate Take 1
4. Out Of My Mind - Alternate Take 3
Side E
1. Crest Of A Wave - Alternate Take 2
2. Crest Of A Wave - Radio Bremen 21/12/1971
3. Don't Know Where I'm Going - Radio Bremen 21/12/1971
4. I Could've Had Religion - Radio Bremen 21/12/1971
Side F
1. Should've Learnt My Lesson - Radio Bremen 21/12/1971
2. For The Last Time - Radio Bremen 21/12/1971
3. Messin' With The Kid - Radio Bremen 21/12/1971
4. Pistol Slapper Blues - Radio Bremen 21/12/1971

Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021) is a Best Of celebrating the first decade of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

This double album, curated and compiled entirely by Noel, includes tracks from the three Number One albums (‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’, ‘Chasing Yesterday’ and ‘Who Built The Moon?’) and the three acclaimed EPs (‘Black Star Dancing’, ‘This Is The Place’ and ‘Blue Moon Rising’) - plus 2 previously unreleased tracks including the brand new single ‘We’re On Our Way Now’.

The album is available on limited edition deluxe formats featuring a bonus disc including previously unreleased acoustic versions, remixes, instrumentals and an unheard demo.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Though the RSD version of this one follows one day later, you can have the chance to grab this retrospective / summary of the first ten years of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds project on a variety of formats NOW. Including all of the releases thus far and providing a great overview for new fans and old hands alike.

TRACK LISTING

Double Vinyl Tracklisting
Disc 1
Side A
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. The Death Of You And Me
3. AKA … What A Life!
4. If I Had A Gun …
5. In The Heat Of The Moment
Side B
1. Riverman
2. Lock All The Doors
3. The Dying Of The Light
4. Ballad Of The Mighty I
Disc 2
Side A
1. We're On Our Way Now
2. Black Star Dancing
3. Holy Mountain (Remastered)
4. A Dream Is All I Need To Get By
5. This Is The Place
Side B
1. It's A Beautiful World
2. Blue Moon Rising
3. Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
4. Flying On The Ground

Double CD Tracklisting
Disc 1
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. The Death Of You And Me
3. AKA … What A Life!
4. If I Had A Gun …
5. In The Heat Of The Moment
6. Riverman
7. Lock All The Doors
8. The Dying Of The Light
9. Ballad Of The Mighty I
10. We're On Our Way Now
Disc 2
1. Black Star Dancing
2. Holy Mountain (Remastered)
3. A Dream Is All I Need To Get By
4. This Is The Place
5. It's A Beautiful World
6. Blue Moon Rising
7. Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
8. Flying On The Ground

Deluxe 3CD Tracklisting
Disc 1
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. The Death Of You And Me
3. AKA … What A Life!
4. If I Had A Gun …
5. In The Heat Of The Moment
6. Riverman
7. Lock All The Doors
8. The Dying Of The Light
9. Ballad Of The Mighty I
10. We're On Our Way Now
Disc 2
1. Black Star Dancing
2. Holy Mountain (Remastered)
3. A Dream Is All I Need To Get By
4. This Is The Place
5. It's A Beautiful World
6. Blue Moon Rising
7. Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
8. Flying On The Ground
Disc 3
1. It's A Beautiful World (Instrumental)
2. If I Had A Gun … (Acoustic Version)
3. Black Star Dancing (Skeleton Key Remix)
4. Black Star Dancing (12" Mix Instrumental)
5. The Man Who Built The Moon (Acoustic Version)
6. International Magic (Demo)
7. Blue Moon Rising (Sons Of The Desert Remix)
8. The Dying Of The Light (Acoustic Version)
9. This Is The Place (Skeleton Key Remix)
10. This Is The Place (Instrumental)
11. Black Star Dancing (The Reflex Revision)
12. Be Careful What You Wish For (Instrumental)

Deluxe Box Set Tracklisting
Standard LP
Disc 1
Side A
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. The Death Of You And Me
3. AKA … What A Life!
4. If I Had A Gun …
5. In The Heat Of The Moment
Side B
1. Riverman
2. Lock All The Doors
3. The Dying Of The Light
4. Ballad Of The Mighty I
Disc 2
Side A
1. We're On Our Way Now
2. Black Star Dancing
3. Holy Mountain (Remastered)
4. A Dream Is All I Need To Get By
5. This Is The Place
Side B
1. It's A Beautiful World
2. Blue Moon Rising
3. Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
4. Flying On The Ground

Bonus LP
Disc 1
Side A
1. It's A Beautiful World (instrumental)
2. If I Had A Gun ... (acoustic Version)
3. Black Star Dancing (skeleton Key Remix)
Side B
1. Black Star Dancing (12" Mix Instrumental)
2. The Man Who Built The Moon (acoustic Version)
3. International Magic (demo)
Disc 2
Side A
1. Blue Moon Rising (sons Of The Desert Remix)
2. The Dying Of The Light (acoustic Version)
3. This Is The Place (skeleton Key Remix)
Side B
1. This Is The Place (instrumental)
2. Black Star Dancing (the Reflex Revision)
3. Be Careful What You Wish For (instrumental)

Etched 7"
1. She Taught Me How To Fly

Deluxe 3CD
Disc 1
1. Everybody’s On The Run
2. The Death Of You And Me
3. AKA … What A Life!
4. If I Had A Gun …
5. In The Heat Of The Moment
6. Riverman
7. Lock All The Doors
8. The Dying Of The Light
9. Ballad Of The Mighty I
10. We're On Our Way Now
Disc 2
1. Black Star Dancing
2. Holy Mountain (Remastered)
3. A Dream Is All I Need To Get By
4. This Is The Place
5. It's A Beautiful World
6. Blue Moon Rising
7. Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)
8. Flying On The Ground
Disc 3
1. It's A Beautiful World (Instrumental)
2. If I Had A Gun … (Acoustic Version)
3. Black Star Dancing (Skeleton Key Remix)
4. Black Star Dancing (12" Mix Instrumental)
5. The Man Who Built The Moon (Acoustic Version)
6. International Magic (Demo)
7. Blue Moon Rising (Sons Of The Desert Remix)
8. The Dying Of The Light (Acoustic Version)
9. This Is The Place (Skeleton Key Remix)
10. This Is The Place (Instrumental)
11. Black Star Dancing (The Reflex Revision)
12. Be Careful What You Wish For (Instrumental)

'Council Skies' is the highly anticipated fourth studio album from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. This 10 track album includes the new singles 'Pretty Boy' and 'Easy Now'.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There's no arguing that while the Gallagher popularity preference has shifted a little more recently towards Liam, it was older brother Noel's post-Oasis work that was the most refined, with the High Flying Birds hitting the perfect balance of melody and thoughtful songwriting. 'Council Skies' is the perfect illustration of Noel's sound, beautifully produced and nicely presented INCLUDING bonus 7".

TRACK LISTING

Vinyl Tracklisting
Side 1
1. I'm Not Giving Up Tonight
2. Pretty Boy
3. Dead To The World
4. Open The Door, See What You Find
5. Trying To Find A World That's Been And Gone Pt. 1

Side 2
1. Easy Now
2. Council Skies
3. There She Blows!
4. Love Is A Rich Man
5. Think Of A Number

Bonus 7”
1. We're Gonna Get There In The End
2. Pretty Boy (Acoustic)

CD Tracklisting
1. I'm Not Giving Up Tonight
2. Pretty Boy
3. Dead To The World
4. Open The Door, See What You Find
5. Trying To Find A World That's Been And Gone Pt. 1
6. Easy Now
7. Council Skies
8. There She Blows!
9. Love Is A Rich Man
10. Think Of A Number
11. We're Gonna Get There In The End

Deluxe CD + Extra Disc Tracklisting
Disc 1
1. I'm Not Giving Up Tonight
2. Pretty Boy
3. Dead To The World
4. Open The Door, See What You Find
5. Trying To Find A World That's Been And Gone Pt. 1
6. Easy Now
7. Council Skies
8. There She Blows!
9. Love Is A Rich Man
10. Think Of A Number

Disc 2
1. Don't Stop...
2. We're Gonna Get There In The End
3. Mind Games
4. Pretty Boy (Instrumental)
5. Dead To The World (Instrumental)
6. Council Skies (Instrumental)
7. Think Of A Number (Instrumental)
8. I'm Not Giving Up Tonight (David Holmes Remix)
9. Think Of A Number (Pet Shop Boys Magic Eye 12" Remix)
10. Pretty Boy (Robert Smith Remix)
11. Council Skies (The Reflex Revision)
12. Flying On The Ground (Radio 2 Session, 08.09.21)
13. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Radio 2 Session, 08.09.21)
14. Live Forever (Radio 2 Session, 08.09.21) 

Noel Gallagher takes some time out from feuding with shirty brother, Liam to put together a brand new full-length album with his High-Flying Bird cohorts. We kick things off with the decidedly 'D'You Know What I Mean'-y percussive scree, backed with distant shouting, thundering bass and growing shadowy reverbs on 'Fort Knox', obviously setting up a grand and extended entrance piece. From there we move into the stabbing horns and distorted bass of 'Holy Mountain', perfectly displaying his keen ear for melody, and almost irritating ability for penning a ruthless earworm. From there we move into the sleazy rock and roll of 'Keep On Reaching', owing as much to classic rock as it does disco with the harmonising backing vox and effervescent synth-brass. 

'She Taught Me How To Fly' presents a truly diverse set of influences, from dreamy synths to the airy ducked bass and dusty snappy percussives, providing a perfect balance between Noel's brilliantly robust compositional techniques and the more avant construction of mesmeric Krautrock or psychedelia. 'Black & White Sunshine' couldn't possibly be any more geared towards Oasis' fans, with that legendary vocal harmony NG does so well making an appearance, as well as the three-chord progressive lift we've heard once or twice before. 

What is most impressive is that the High Flying Birds have managed to step away from the considerable shadow that Oasis cast, whilst still retaining the melodic elements that made it resonate with so many people.   

TRACK LISTING

CD TRACK LISTING (STANDARD & DELUXE)
1. Fort Knox
2. Holy Mountain
3. Keep On Reaching
4. It’s A Beautiful World
5. She Taught Me How To Fly
6. Be Careful What You Wish For
7. Black & White Sunshine
8. Interlude (Wednesday Part 1)
9. If Love Is The Law
10. The Man Who Built The Moon
11. End Credits (Wednesday Part 2)
(Bonus Track) Dead In The Water (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)

LP TRACK LISTING
A SIDE
1. Fort Knox
2. Holy Mountain
3. Keep On Reaching
4. It’s A Beautiful World
5. She Taught Me How To Fly
B SIDE
6. Be Careful What You Wish For
7. Black & White Sunshine
8. Interlude (Wednesday Part 1)
9. If Love Is The Law
10.The Man Who Built The Moon
11.End Credits (Wednesday Part 2)

Noel's second studio album finds his song-writing in supremely fine fettle, but then you'd expect that from the master-craftsman. This time he has self-produced and included a song which actually pre-dates Oasis, and one from the aborted Amorphous Androgynous sessions. There' a slightly funky vibe left-over from said collaboration and whilst most of the album is choc-full of Noel's classic sounding melodies (albeit with some fairly obvious cribbing) "The  Right Stuff"and opener "Riverman" are the most unusual cuts here, one a spacejazz freakout , the other a seventies acoustic groover inspired by a night out with Morrissey (namecheckin' fact fans!) The remainder of the LP isn't too dissimilar to Noel's debut, but perhaps with a more discernable bottom-end as  gloriously displayed on Noel-by-Numbers  (and therefore superb!) lead single "In The Heat Of The Moment", and the one-of-the-best-things-he's-ever-done follow-up "Ballad Of The Mighty I". All in all, a splendid record.

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: He's still got it!

TRACK LISTING

1. Riverman
2. In The Heat Of The Moment
3. The Girl With X-Ray Eyes
4. Lock All The Doors
5. The Dying Of The Light
6. The Right Stuff
7. While The Song Remains The Same
8. The Mexican
9. You Know We Can't Go Back
10. Ballad Of The Mighty I

Defamator is the long-time-coming debut project of 24-year-old Chloe Gallardo. It tells a story of betrayal in love and friendship and the painful reality of overcoming love lost and former heartbreak. Drawing influences from artists such as Broadcast, Grouper & My Bloody Valentine Gallardo adds her own haunting, folk-style vocals and hyper-specific lyrics to create a sonic unique to her. A style that she describes in her words as “dark shoegaze bedroom indie pop”.

Album opener “Bloodline” epitomises this bittersweet modus operandi. 15 seconds into its dainty acoustic strum , Gallardo adamantly sulks “I’m fucked up” - the salvo of a lyric about feeling like a family disappointment. As the track lifts up into a cascading gaze-pop rush, recalling the likes of Bachelor and Snail Mail, we’re blessed with a pristine elegance that belies the song’s raging core. “I have always written music this way.”, she says of this fundamental contradiction. “It’s funny because I try so hard to write darker-sounding songs and they always come out way too pretty. So, I’ve resorted to writing the most gut-wrenching and intense lyrics to compensate.”

Written mostly during peak-pandemic times in Gallardo’s bedroom - (“you can hear how scared and alone I was.”) - the songs that made their way onto Defamator arose from a concerted period of healing. Drawing from the teachings of therapy, the songwriting process gave her the means to channel some deeply entrenched emotional scars.

This venting of anger is implicit throughout the record. The album’s title - Gallardo’s own neologism - uses the concepts of “defamation” and “defamatory speech” to innovate a kind of pejorative accusation. As a result, it is like we are actively listening to Gallardo forcefully take command of her past. Of the title track she explains: “The song Defamator is about someone who spoke untruthful things about me in order to manipulate me and the way people perceived me and I felt that was an underlying theme in most of the album.”

Recorded at Jazzcat Studios in Long Beach California with Jonny Bell (Hanni El Khatib, Adult Books, etc.) Defamator marks Gallardo’s first time in a “legitimate recording studio”. And it shows. Bell’s production is vital moving part here. There’s more stripped back affairs - ‘There Will Be Blood”; ”The Way’ - songs which gently seethe and purr like Grouper’s spectral dream-pop; Gallardo’s fluttering folk-ish voice gloriously pushed to forefront.

TRACK LISTING

1) Bloodline
2) God Is Dead
3) There W`ill Be Blood
4) Defamator
5) (Untitled)
6) New Jersey
7) To See You Go
8) The Way
9) Last Dance
10) New Jersey (Reprise) 

Everyone’s favourite gallerists are back in town, with a brand-new offering following back-to-back sell-out shows. Two mysterious mid ‘70s creations that have been causing chinstrokers the world over to lose their marbles. The bids have been wild on this one, and for good reason too, who wouldn’t want them taking top spot glistening like gold in their collection.

Artistry like you’ve never seen it before, retouched to perfection to create two new priceless pieces of musical magic - solely played by Harvey and Artwork.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Artwork's back with exhibit five from the Gallery. These limited edition edit 12"s have been impeccable throughout the series and this latest one - hammered by Harvey on promo - is pure disco gold. Don't sleep!

TRACK LISTING

A1. One Dollar
B1. Brief Encounter

Modern Times is the third album from the British creative spirit Elliot Galvin. If his previous trio album, The Influencing Machine was a more involved and produced album, then Modern Times completely redresses the balance. This is an album so immediate and instantaneous, it takes the same time to listen to as it did to make. Primarily produced for vinyl, each side was recorded in one complete sitting, with no break in between tracks, recorded direct to vinyl.

As Elliot explains: ‘I had been making music with a lot of electronic instruments and becoming a bit disengaged with making acoustic music. Then I saw a solo piano concert by Jason Moran when I was in Montreux and I was so inspired. It reminded me why I loved making jazz and acoustic music. It was so immediate and human. I wanted to make a record like this. I remember a chat I had a while back with a friend of mine Jorg who mentioned he was putting together this studio where you could record direct to vinyl and it seemed like the perfect way to capture a totally acoustic record”.

Modern Times is yet another confirmation of a musician who is able to play with real adventurousness and inventiveness. He has created a unique identity as one of the foremost European pianists and improvisors. He challenges himself, never allowing himself to sit on his laurels, inspires the musicians who play with him and pushes the boundaries of what we’ve come to know as contemporary Jazz. It’s unpredictable, inventive, but above all, it’s brilliant. Elliot Galvin is growing a formidable reputation: with Modern Times taking flight, a wave of international acclaim and plaudits for The Influencing Machine (including being named by Downbeat and Jazzwise as one of the best albums of 2018) and growing international audiences. He also has a solo piano album planned and recorded, Live in Paris at Fondation Louis Vuitton, due in early 2020. His output is prolific yet remains of the highest quality. There’s no stopping his endlessly creative spirit and his carving out of a career of deep foundation and longevity.

TRACK LISTING

1. Ghosts
2. Mr. Monk
3. Cat And Mouse
4. Shadows
5. Fountainhead
6. Change
7. Jackfruit
8. Gold Shovel
9. Into The Dark
10. To The Moon

More, new, authentic disco action from the Space Grapes firm. Round one and its repress sold out in super quick time and I reckon this one will follow suit...

Intent on bringing the good times back to the dancefloor, GALXTC's "Life Is A Mirror" sees the hustle and bustle of late '70s disco brought kicking and screaming into 2021 via a fat pressing and a high definition mix master. Like classic P&P, Brass Construction and Womack & Womack its driven by the familiar thud and whack of congas before being laced with funky clavs, grasping guitar licks and cranium-twisting keyboard solos. The formular is classic but the nuances and details are fresh and unique! 

Three version, with a dub and a version to give the working DJ as many options as possible.

Limited copies - buy now or cry later! 

TRACK LISTING

Life Is A Mirror
Life Is A Mirror (Dub)
Life Is A Mirror (Version)

Lee Gamble completes his ‘Flush Real Pharynx 2019-2021’ album cycle with ‘A Million Pieces Of You’, the third EP of a triptych written in a time when the subjective experience of overload came to a halt, giving way to an overbearing sense of loss, burnout and a desperate need for hope. These seven tracks feel more reflective, more human than the two preceeding EPs; the serpentine dopplers and seductive supercar engines of ‘In A Paraventral Scale’, and imploding motion sculptures of ‘Exhaust’. A deepfake of Lee’s voice appears from the chaotic slow-mo crash of ‘Balloon Lossy’, timidly telling of “[garbled]… good news”. The uncanny spectre of deep fakes, AI and deep learning models give way to the melancholic loneliness of the solo piano in ‘Empty Middle Seat’. Then glimmering, golden pads on ‘Hyperpassive’ slowly crawl into the hopeful, bright arpeggiations of ‘Balloon Copy’. ‘A Million Pieces Of You’ is a ride through a part-synthetic, part-modelled, part-imitation, part-taught, part-human, part[1]hopeful, part-reflective and paradoxically affirmative space – an involuntarily fitting finale to an album originally conceived in a world different to the one we now inhabit.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Lee Gamble continues to lead the way in terms of experimental electronics and post-everything nightclub deconstructions. A bit mellower in parts than some of his recent outings, it's nonetheless an arresting and encompassing listen throughout.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Balloon Lossy
A2. Newtown Got Folded
A3. Obsession Model
A4. Empty Middle Seat
B1. You Left A Space
B2. Hyperpassive
B3. Balloon Cop

‘Flush Real Pharynx 2019-2021’ is a three-part album from composer, producer and DJ Lee Gamble. Written over three years, and comprised of three seperate EPs, their individual releases unintentionally frame and timestamp a turbulent period. Across 77 minutes the full collection imparts a seamless tour through its three phases. File under #GullyAutomatedHyperConcrète.

“If the most widely available music is also the most easily digestible, then it is no wonder that artists like Gamble are so keen to grapple with music’s purpose beyond entertainment—to be an art form in fierce dialogue with the present.” (Pitchfork)

“This music gives form to the smart cities and networked realities of the 21st century … a thrilling meditation on the weirdness of now.” (Resident Advisor)

TRACK LISTING

01. Fata Morgana
02. Folding
03. Moscow
04. BMW Shuanghuan X5
05. Chant
06. In The Wreck Room
07. Many Gods, Many Angels
08. CREAM
09. Envenom
10. Glue
11. Naja
12. Tyre
13. Switches
14. Shards
15. Saccades
16. Balloon Lossy
17. Newtown Got Folded
18. Obsession Model
19. Empty Middle Seat
20. You Left A Space
21. Hyperpassive
22. Balloon Copy

On 'Models', Lee Gamble liberates sonic spectres to inform a suite of illusory anthems, subliming vulnerable, half-remembered fragments of dream pop, Soundcloud rap and trance in the process. Sung by cybernetic voices in an almost wordless language, his widescreen memories reverberate across the last few decades of pop history, smudging Elizabeth Frazer's surreal poetry into disembodied diva cries and Lil Uzi Vert's abstract, AutoTuned mumbles. Extracting haunted fragments of synthetic corrupted chatter and indecipherable non-words to sculpt dreamy pop simulacrums, Gamble takes the concept of the pop producer to its logical extreme; examining how intonation and language is engineered to monopolise our attention, his magical inversion of pop playing like a bewitching symphony of earworms.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Purple, Orange
A2. Juice
A3. XIth C. Spray
A4. She’s Not
B1. Phantom Limb
B2. Blurring
B3. Your Weight On My Arms

Sold out on release in 2020, Asher Gamedze's Dialectic Soul finally returns as a limited edition clear vinyl press ahead of On The Corner’s 10th anniversary. Dialectic Soul is the debut album from one of Cape Town's most cutting-edge, visionary artists and musicians, the drummer Asher Gamedze.

This is Jazz at its most spiritual, most progressive and most appealing form. As Asher himself says: Dialectic Soul is about motion and a refusal to remain static or stay still. It’s the commitment to be continually moving’.

Recorded live over two days at the Sound and Motion Studios in Cape Town with renowned musicians (Thembinkosi Mavimbela (bass), Buddy Wells (tenor sax), Robin Fassie-Kock (trumpet) Nono Nkoane (voc)), Dialectic Soul is breathtaking in its musical vitality and expression of soul seeking truth. By incorporating the concept of the Total Art for this project, it fits perfectly within On The Corner's aesthetic of music, art and vision for creative innovation. Label art director Victoria Topping created the sleeve design working with Asher's drawings and concept. Asher continues: "My composition "state of emergence" introduces the themes that constitute the album; free drums representing autonomous African motion, the saxophone reflecting deeply and honestly on the violence of colonialism, the teachings of Coltrane, Biko, Makeba, Malcom and others inspired the music's positive manifestations of resistance."

"Fundamentally, it is about the reclamation of the historical imperative. It is about the dialect of the soul and the spirit while it moves through history. The soul is dialectic. Motion is imperative. We keep moving." 

TRACK LISTING

1. Movement One: Thesis
2. Movement Two: Antithesis
3. Movement Three: Synthesis
4. Siyabulela
5. Interregnum
6. Eternality
7. Hope In Azania
8. The Speculative Fourth

Cape Town, South Africa-based drummer Asher Gamedze explores relationships of time between music and history on his new album Turbulence and Pulse, out on International Anthem in collaboration with Johannesburg-based label Mushroom Hour Half Hour.

Though this is Gamedze's first record with International Anthem as a leader, fans of AngelBat Dawids' debut, The Oracle, might recognize his name from their epic first-meeting-turned-song: Capetown or from his drumming on Angel & Tha Brothahoods LIVE. Close followers of free music may also know Asher from last year's offering on Astral Spirits, Out Side Work (which features scorching duets with fellow Brothahood member Xristian Espino: Sun City GirlsA l a n Bishop), or from his ZUZU debut album Dialectic Soul, which was ranked in the New York Times' Top Ten Jazz Albums of the Year.

Turbulence andPulse comes as a reset and a reintroduction, even while Gamedze is again joined by his core quartet from Dialectic Soul -South African musicians Thembinkosi Mavimbela (bass), Robin Fassie (trumpet), and Buddy Wells (tenor sax).

The album opener "Turbulence's Pulse" serves as a manifesto to inform the album that follows: a multi-rhythmic groove exploration of a collection of pieces initially composed by Gamedze on piano. The result is his most soulful and accessible album yet, and a sweet-vet-energetic addition to the South African jazz cannon. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: A new rising jazz artist from Cape Town lays down his musical manifesto and boy is it impressive. Brimming with complex poly rhythms, highly eloquent sax and sentiment rich piano and vocal contributions its a top drawer addition to the South African jazz cannon.

TRACK LISTING

1. Turbulence's Pulse
2. Wynter Time
3. Locomotion
4. If It Rains. To Pursue Truth
5. Melancholia
6. Alibama
7. Can't See The Sun
8. Sometimes I Think To Myself
9. Out Stepped Zim
10. Underground Formation

Gameface have been making quality emocore records for ten years now and this little EP is an exclusive UK release on Firefly to coincide with their forthcoming UK tour and it will satiate the many Gameface junkies out there whilst they wait for the next LP. The lead track is a cover of Elvis Costello's "Everyday I Write the Book" given the inimitable Gameface treatment.

Very few bands have been able to combine the best elements of punk,hardcore, emo and pop to make something simpler, something all of their own. Gameface are one of the few. Ten tracks of their trademark emocore. "Always On" shows undoubted maturity. A band that improves with each release. Produced by Jim Monroe, some of the tunes on the album show the band branching out in slightly new directions. This is definitely the most well-rounded Gameface record yet. Some things do get better with age!

The sum to infinity of a sequence is the sum of an infinite number of terms in the sequence. It is only possible to compute this sum if the terms of a sequence converge to zero. “Sum To Infinity” is also the second release from Gamut Inc, the retro-futuristic ensemble around composers and curators Marion Wörle and Maciej Śledziecki.

This second album by Gamut Inc combines custom-built autonomous music machines with haunting classical synthesiser sounds to create a dense musical kaleidoscope.

The core of the album is formed by Risset rhythms – cyclic accelerations and decelerations, in which rhythmic layers repeatedly fade in and out, setting in motion a seemingly endless process of rhythmic movement. The motifs are taken from geometric and arithmetic series that create urgency and restlessness. The rigour of the construction is obscured by an orchestra whose timbres are reminiscent of a retro-futuristic indigenous ensemble. Gamut Inc translate strategies of electronic music like pulse-width modulation to music machines such as automated accordion, automated percussion or glockenspiels and create an intense atmosphere that is idiosyncratic, original and modern at the same time.

Gamut Inc build their music machines, play electronic music festivals internationally, curate the Aggregate festival for automated pipe organs and composes for film, radio drama, and theatre. Their first opera, “Rossums Universal Robots”, premiered in 2022. Since 2011, at the intersection of electronic club culture and experimental music, they have produced live music, music theatre, film and theatre scores (including for the Junge Staatstheater Berlin) with their specially developed musical robots. They composed for ensembles like the RIAS chamber choir or the robot orchestra Logos Foundation and received invitations and commissions from international festivals and venues such as Sónar, CTM, Berghain, Sonic Acts, Technosphärenklänge or Numusic (NO). Gamut Inc has received numerous scholarships, including the Villa Kamogawa scholarship from the Goethe Institute in Kyoto, Japan, 2022. Their first release, “Ex Machina” was produced exclusively with music robots and released in 2014 in cooperation with Bôłt Records.

Excellent works here, do not miss! TIP!

TRACK LISTING

Series A
Series B
Series C
Series D
Series E
Series F

Internationally acclaimed vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and composer
releases her new studio album featuring Floating Points, Kofi Flexxx & Carlos Niño among others, and produced by Shabaka Hutchings on Hutchings’ Native Rebel Recordings

Since graduating from Berklee College of Music, UCLA and Harvard, ganavya has quickly become a much-in-demand artist on the US scene who consistently confounds expectations. Hailed as “among modern music's most compelling vocalists” (Wall Street Journal), “most enchanting” (NPR) and "extraordinary" (DownBeat), ganavya has worked with an array of luminaries including the likes of Quincy Jones, Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding and on new album like the sky, I've been too quiet she presents thirteen compelling tracks which showcase her ethereal voice and numinous energy. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Ganavya enlists an all-star cast for this spellbinding and and enchanted LP which is like Alice Coltrane's "Turiyasangitananda" given a completely modern renovation. You can clearly hear contemporary wizard Shabaka Hutchings' production influence throughout, and Floating Points' Arp Odessey drizzling through "Seal" is a particular album highlight.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Not In An Anthropological Mood
First Notebook Of Songs
Side B
Forgive Me My
Seal
El Kebda, Let It Go
We Made It To The Underpass
Side C
Our Mother Is Our Daughter Is Our Mother
(sister Said) Home Is A Direction
We're Still At The Underpass
Side D
Call It Luck If You Want To
Call Her By Her Name, Enheduanna
Growing Sense Of Wonder
I Walk Again, Eyes Towards The Sky

Gang Gang Dance continue their compelling musical evolution with new album "Eye Contact", the New York based group’s first  full-length release since joining 4AD.

Although together in their current incarnation for a decade, Gang Gang Dance only really came to the public’s attention with the release of the EPs "Hilluah" and "Rawwar" and crucially, 2008’s genre-bending long-player "Saint Dymphna". The latter in particular has come to be regarded as a landmark record in forward thinking pop circles, showcasing the group’s love of improv and experimentation and drawing inspiration from the local New York art community with which the band have close ties. "Saint Dymphna" also served to highlight previously untapped talent from the UK underground with a then unknown Tinchy Stryder providing vocals for the avant-grime track "Princes". A pioneering piece of work, it – coupled with their incendiary high-octane live performances – served to establish Gang Gang Dance as one of the most exciting and innovative acts of their generation.

After a personnel change (Tim DeWit departed shortly after the release of "Saint Dymphna", allowing drummer Jesse Lee to join the band), Gang Gang Dance returned to the studio in 2010 with long-term collaborator Chris Coady (producer of "Saint Dymphna" and "Rawwar", as well as recent releases by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Zola Jesus, Beach House and TV On The Radio) and work began on the group’s fifth album. "Eye Contact" sees the new line-up subtly build upon the melodic aspects of "Saint Dymphna". The album opens with a brief speech, 'I can hear everything. It’s everything time', then segues effortlessly into the audacious eleven-minute slow-burn "Glass Jar". It’s an ambitious beginning yet it is a coherent statement of intent. Elsewhere, "Eye Contact" features a guest appearance from Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, whose signature vocals take centre stage on the track "Romance Layers".

“Like Arthur Russell before them, they give equal floorspace to the spiritual and the sensual.” Pitchfork

Gang Gang Dance – one of the most enduring and creatively vibrant musical acts of 21st Century New York – return with brand new album, Kazuashita.

Formed initially as an improvisational outfit in the early 2000s, Gang Gang Dance are Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian DeGraw and Josh Diamond. All independently operating artists in their own rights, they consistently blur the boundaries between music and art; as comfortable today performing at the Whitney Biennial as they are at Coachella, and count Dash Snow & Nate Lowman, Tinchy Stryder and the Boredoms as previous collaborators.

Held together by Lizzi Bougatsos and her otherworldly vocal, Kazuashita is an intoxicating mix of ethereal shoegaze and electronic ambience, self-produced by Brian DeGraw.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Seguing brilliantly between a swooning electronic swell and clicking, glitched-out histrionics, GGD manage to toe the line between downbeat post-shoegaze electronics and more driven elements without batting an eyelid. Perfectly balanced and brilliantly evocative.

TRACK LISTING

( Infirma Terrae )
J-TREE
Lotus
( Birth Canal )
Kazuashita
Young Boy (Marika In Amerika)
Snake Dub
Too Much, Too Soon
( Novae Terrae )
Salve On The Sorrow

“Like Arthur Russell before them, they give equal floorspace to the spiritual and the sensual.” Pitchfork

Gang Gang Dance – one of the most enduring and creatively vibrant musical acts of 21st Century New York – return with brand new album, Kazuashita.

Formed initially as an improvisational outfit in the early 2000s, Gang Gang Dance are Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian DeGraw and Josh Diamond. All independently operating artists in their own rights, they consistently blur the boundaries between music and art; as comfortable today performing at the Whitney Biennial as they are at Coachella, and count Dash Snow & Nate Lowman, Tinchy Stryder and the Boredoms as previous collaborators.

Held together by Lizzi Bougatsos and her otherworldly vocal, Kazuashita is an intoxicating mix of ethereal shoegaze and electronic ambience, self-produced by Brian DeGraw.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Seguing brilliantly between a swooning electronic swell and clicking, glitched-out histrionics, GGD manage to toe the line between downbeat post-shoegaze electronics and more driven elements without batting an eyelid. Perfectly balanced and brilliantly evocative.

TRACK LISTING

( Infirma Terrae )
J-TREE
Lotus
( Birth Canal )
Kazuashita
Young Boy (Marika In Amerika)
Snake Dub
Too Much, Too Soon
( Novae Terrae )
Salve On The Sorrow

In advance of Gang Gang Dance's upcoming studio full-length comes the band's first ever DVD release. This film was made by Gang Gang Dance member, and visual artist, Brian DeGraw. "Retina Riddim" is by no means a tour film, documentary, live video, or anything as remotely stringent. Though 'art film' is a moniker that may be justly used to describe it, the term falls somewhat short of it's mark. It is, however, Mr. Degraw's first foray into film making and proves to be a more forward thinking release than many of their contemporaries might attempt. As an added bonus "Retina Riddim" also contains an audio CD cut together by Degraw specifically for this release. This was approached by him in much the same manner as the film, by assembling fragments of Gang Gang Dance music, mostly drawn from sound-checks and live shows, into one whole.

Legendary Boston beer fuelled skate crew present their two finest pieces of work on one double album. Kicking off in the early Boston hardcore scene Gang Green's debut "Another Case Of Brewtality" really put them at the forefront of the Boston scene. Classic old skool stuff on 2xCDs.

Since their inception in 1978 with the legendary "Damaged Goods" EP and debut album "Entertainment!", Gang Of Four, have been one of the most radical and radically important groups of the last thirty years.

Gang Of Four have triumphantly defined their place on the musical landscape, influencing a wide range of bands including R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sonic Youth, Bloc Party, The Rapture and Franz Ferdinand.

"Content" is their first new studio album in 16 years, and is the catalyst for a year long international marketing plan in 2011, driven primarily by massive press and online interest in the band, and supported by an aggressive live performance schedule and radio and TV exposure.

Some of the most memorable music of the late-70s British new wave era came courtesy of Gang Of Four. Formed in Leeds in 1977 the band were one of the first to be inspired by punk, but come up with a something different from the usual three-chord thrash of the time. The band's 1979 debut album, "Entertainment!", poured punk, funk, and politics into a groundbreaking sound that continues to influence such worthy modern rock descendants as Hot Hot Heat, The Rapture, and !!!. Essential.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Ether
2. Natural's Not In It
3. Not Great Men
4. Damaged Goods
5. Return The Gift
6. Guns Before Butter
Side 2
1. I Found That Essence Rare
2. Glass
3. Contract
4. At Home He's A Tourist
5. 5.45
6. Love Like Anthrax

Gang of Youths say, “the album is about the life and legacy of Dave's father, indigenous identity, death, grief and God. And also the Angel, Islington.”

Despite and indeed because of frontman Dave Le’aupepe’s father’s absence, his influence permeates every talking point that the album offers. At times it’s solely focused upon the precise, personal experiences of loss: the dichotomy of intensity and peace that comes as someone passes through their final days; the overwhelming feeling in the wake of their death that life will never be the same, even if the rest of the world at large remains utterly unchanged.

Following their recent singles, ‘the angel of 8th ave.’ , telling of falling in love in a new city and making a home in another, and ‘the man himself’, a song created around a sample recording from the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands that is about living without the guiding hand of your own father, today they release ‘tend the garden’.

Although the album is eclectic - influences range from American minimalism and contemporary classical, to drawing upon the legacy of Britain’s alternative/indie scenes, from drum ‘n’ bass to the most transcendent moments of Britpop -- it’s equally rooted in Le’aupepe’s Samoan heritage, with the majority of tracks featuring samples from David Fanshawe’s recordings of indigenous music from the Polynesian islands and the wider South Pacific. ‘angel in realtime’ also features contributions from a cast of talented Pasifika and Māori vocalists and instrumentalists.

Le’aupepe says, “I hope the record stands as a monument to the man my father was and remains long after I’m gone myself. He deserved it.”

TRACK LISTING

1 You In Everything
2 In The Wake Of Your Leave
3 The Angel Of 8th Ave.
4 Returner
5 Unison
6 Tend The Garden
7 The Kingdom Is Within You
8 Spirit Boy
9 Brothers
10 Forbearance
11 The Man Himself
12 Hand Of God
13 Goal Of The Century

With the original UK 7” of this release now as rare as hen’s teeth, and with the group having recently ‘reformed’ for one last album together, the Mr Bongo replica re-release of this 1990 masterpiece by Gang Starr couldn’t be more timely

The now-legendary duo of DJ Premier and Guru dropped this at the height of hip-hop’s sampling of jazz, which had led to a creative leap forward for the genre. Yet while others plundered in the dark, this instant classic wore its influences on its sleeve and paid verbal homage to the musicians they were sampling. The “melodious funk” of “Thelonious Monk” gets namechecked, while the track samples two of his records, including 1958’s Bop gem ‘Light Blue’.

While both versions presented here have common elements, the ‘Movie Mix’ - so-named for the song’s appearance on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s mythic jazz biopic ‘Mo’ Better Blues’ - goes in a few different directions to the ‘Video Mix’. Rather than just drop in an instrumental for the B-side, DJ Premier instead shows his versatility by switching up the base track (Kool & The Gang’s 1971 ‘Dujii’) and layering in other samples. In more ways than one, his virtuosity here echoes the improvisation of a jazz musician, akin to Denzel Washington’s Bleak in the movie.

Of course, he’s not the only show in town. The late Guru’s voice is as mellifluous as an instrument itself here, his potted history of the genre and the artists of jazz delivered with his own unmistakable cadence. Without this record, would he have gone on to make his ‘Jazzmatazz’ projects.

TRACK LISTING

Jazz Thing (Video Mix) 
Jazz Thing (Movie Mix)

Gang Starr is undoubtedly one of the most revered, beloved and influential groups in Hip Hop. Over the course of their distinguished career, they became a cultural institution and a brand you could ultimately trust. With a handful of indelible classic albums on their resume, DJ Premier and Guru’s catalogue has not only persevered but mastered the test of time. Simply, Gang Starr did not follow trends, they created them. Though they never “officially” disbanded after the release of their last project (The Ownerz 2003), Premier and Guru still remained infinitely connected to each other even as they embarked on solo paths.

Premier winning three Grammy’s along the way and assisting in turning fast rising artists such as Nas, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G. and many others into rap royalty; and his imprint included work with artists such as Drake, Christina Aguilera, Kanye West, Dr. Dre, Snoop, Mac Miller, The Game, Ludacris, Maroon 5, Common, Mos Def, Rakim, KRS-One, Janet Jackson, D’Angelo, DJ Khaled, Joey Bada$$, Royce 5’9, Twenty One Pilots, and Miley Cyrus; all of which spoke to his diversity and ability to traverse genres

In turn, Guru would go on to release his own quartet of highly influential Jazzmatazz projects

In the interim, fans always clamored for another Gang Starr album. Though there were whispers and murmurs over the years, nothing ever panned out and the possibilities of that project being willed into existence seemingly grew more remote as the years passed by. After Guru tragically passed away in 2010 the hope seemed to vanish altogether. The one person who refused to give hope was DJ Premier.

One Of The Best Yet is many things. Yes, it’s the first new Gang Starr album in sixteen-years and it is a historic event to be celebrated and rejoiced, but it symbolizes much more than that. One Of The Best Yet further cements Gang Starr’s legacy. This literal gift of an album not only harkens you back to Gang Starr’s seminal work of the past, but it re-establishes their impact in a modern-day perspective.

TRACK LISTING

‘The Sure Shot’ (Intro)
‘Lights Out” Feat. M.O.P.
‘Bad Name’
‘Hit Man’ Feat. Q-Tip
What’s Real’ Feat. Group Home & Royce Da 5’9”
‘Keith Casim Elam’ (Interlude)
‘From A Distance’ Feat. Jeru The Damaja
‘Family And Loyalty” Feat. J. Cole
‘Get Together’ Feat. Ne-Yo & Nitty Scott
‘NYGz/ GS 183rd’ (Interlude)
‘So Many Rappers’
‘Business Or Art’ Feat. Talib Kweli
‘Bring It Back Here’
‘One Of The Best Yet’ (Big Shug Interlude)
‘Take Flight’ (Militia Pt. 4) Feat. Big Shug & Freddie Foxxx
‘Bless The Mic’

"Step in the Arena" is the second studio album by hip-hop duo Gang Starr, printed as a 1990 release and commercially released on January 15, 1991. The album received critical acclaim and was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

The Source magazine stated: 'Step in the Arena stands alone on a musical level, yet it also remains true to hip-hop’s underground heritage.' In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source’s 100 Best Hip Hop Albums. 

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Name Tag (Premier & The Guru) (0:38)
2. Step In The Arena (3:33)
3. Form Of Intellect (3:42)
4. Execution Of A Chump (no More Mr Nice Guy Pt 2) (2:43)
5. Who's Gonna Take The Weight? (3:54)
Side 2
1. Beyond Comprehension (3:14)
2. Check The Technique (3:53)
3. Love Sick (3:21)
4. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (2:19)
5. Game Plan (1:03)
Side 3
1. Take A Rest (4:17)
2. What You Want This Time?? (2:40)
3. Street Ministry (1:20)
4. Just To Get A Rep (2:39)
5. Say Your Prayers (1:20)
Side 4
1. As I Read My S-A (2:55)
2. Precisely The Right Rhymes (3:17)
3. The Meaning Of The Name (2:50)
4. Credit Is Due (4:51)
5. Check The Technique (remix) (4:21)

Seemingly out of nowhere comes this 'best of year' challenger from Sacramento's Ganglians. Fusing the unhinged avant-outer-ethereal qualities of Panda Bear with the perfect pop of the Beach Boys and a wide-eyed-dreamy surround-sound hi-gloss, this is an astonishing all encompassing album that's gonna amaze everyone that hears it. It's probably been best described by the band themselves, 'this album is pure naive headphone acid pop to drive to, at least that's what was going through our heads.' - Ganglians. Totally recommended!!!

Tracklisting
1. Something Should Be Said
2. Voodoo
3. Lost Words
4. Candy Girl
5. Valient Brave
6. The Void
7. To June
8. 100 Years
9. Crying Smoke
10. Modern African Queen
11. Try To Understand

Ganglians’ affection for a sweet melody and wistful lyrical turn was apparent on their acclaimed debut set 'Monster Head Room' and their collectable Captured Tracks 7” of 2009, ‘Blood on the Sand’ – but Still Living, predominantly produced by Robby Moncrieff (Dirty Projectors, Zach Hill), furthers the vision of Grubbs and company. Says the man himself: “It’s a double‐LP for a reason – we wanted to try many different ideas while doing everything in real time, with no metronome and mainly our own instruments. There’s a whole bunch of things tossed in, with various styles going on.”

But, brilliantly, the seams between stylistic shifts aren’t detectable – Ganglians have taken the experimental blueprints of this album’s predecessor and updated (and expanded) their designs. So, moods move from quiet introspection to boisterous merriment, chords stimulating the synapses while the toes can’t keep from twitching. Says Grubbs of the end results: “This is outsider music, but with a pop sensibility that brings everyone in.”

He’s right to highlight the non‐exclusivity of this fare – it might have been made with envelope‐pushing intent, but little on 'Still Living' will leave the listener truly perplexed; unless, of course, they choose to delve deep into the rabbit hole of Grubbs’ inspirations. It’s personal, intimate and romantic, with metaphor preferred over the matter‐of‐fact musing of some other bands riding loosely comparable rhythms. “It’s pretty honest music,” says Grubbs. “Honestly, everyone feels a great range of emotions, like awkwardness and self‐doubt, and not wanting to have to be cool to be cool. And that’s what these songs are like.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Drop The Act
2. That’s What I Want
3. Evil Weave
4. Sleep
5. Jungle
6. Bradley
7. Things To Know
8. Good Times
9. The Toad
10. California Cousins
11. Faster
12. My House

Black Twig Picker and Pelt member Mike Gangloff self released the fantastic Poplar Hollow in an edition of only 200 copies earlier this year, and upon seeing it sneak out we instantly got excited to hear it with the potential for a vinyl edition. And hell, what we heard we loved, and are real pleased to drop it on glorious vinyl for the masses! Poplar Hollow perfectly blends his other projects together, merging experimental sounds with traditional American folk and roots music. Comprising of Mike performing vocal/banjo/violin duties, he brings a new eclectic and at times psychedelic vibe to much of this record. Poplar Hollow is a record unlike any I have heard recently, Gangloff is a truly individual force in the American scene, and this record further cements that status.

Pressed in an edition of 500 copies on 180 gram vinyl including a download of the album. Packaged in a sleeve featuring the inimitable eye popping art of Jake Blanchard.

Oft overlooked for over half a century while misfiled amongst exploit bellydance records and holidaymaker souvenirs this one-off 12 track album is the only existing full-length record by the best-kept mutant musical secret of the Armenian American diaspora, oud pop maestro Charles ‘Chick’ Ganimian.

One of the earliest examples of any kind of recorded fusion between rhythm heavy pop music and traditional Turkish music, Ganimian’s developments in New York City - with his sadly unrecorded Turk jerk combo The Nor-Ikes (New Dawn) combo - ran almost simultaneously alongside the rising Anadolou pop scene in Turkey, resulting in his short lived powerhouse of Kif proto-rock under the changing names of Ganim’s Asia Minors, Ganimian & His Orientals and Ganimian & His Oriental Music Orchestra. Combining a line-up of mostly unknown musicians from his local community, Ganimian, in a short unison with ATCO records, was fortunate enough to accommodate jazz guitarist Al Schactman as part of his studio personnel as well as French born Armenian folk singer Onnik Dinkjian and reid player Steve Bogoshian as well as the esteemed Turkish raised Kanun player Ahmet Yatman. As one of the very few early American recorded authentic Middle Eastern fusion record 'Come With Me To The Casbah' has piqued a refined interest in a new generation of progressive world music collector resulting in a distinct drought in original Ganimian pressings on the collectors’ market earning Chicks name a rising placeholder on the want lists of DJs, vinyl hounds and ethno psychedelia collectors.

This LP includes all of Ganimians recordings including the rare singles for Atco and East West which sit awkwardly next to bizarre and unique takes on popular American standards enhancing the exciting freak factor of this record which simply could not be made by today’s stifling self-aware anti-standards. Aside from rare (poorly recorded) private family tapes this album is the only chance to hear the music of this lost enigma of early world music, Eastern fusion and a missing kink in the fabric of New York pop music history captured before his short stint as an exotic Herbie Mann sideman which proceeded his migration into obscurity and his well-imparted tragic struggle with alcohol dependency depriving pop culture of a forward thinking pioneer who paved the way for the more credible exponents of the cross-continental Indo fusion enigma such as John Berberian and the later well pruned hard rock efforts of The Devils Anvil.

TRACK LISTING

Oriental Jam
Over The Rainbow
The Whirling Dervish
Play Girl Play
Swingin’ The Blues
Daddy Lolo
My Funny Valentine
Come With Me To The Casbah
Hedy Lou
Hayastan Moods
Halvah
Nine-Eight

Fourth album by the most representative band of the Chilean space-rock, with a mature, electric and nostalgic sound close to shoegaze and british rock. In a deluxe remastered edition, the band reaches the quintessence of the sound forged in their previous albums -bold grooves, warm clear-cut guitars, sustained-soft vocals- adding a new guitarist which brings a new zest without losing the laid-back spirit of The Ganjas music. The Ganjas remains one of the longest and most active rock bands in Chile, playing regularly on local stages (till the pandemic) and delivering new works frequently. To the usual band members Pape Astaburuaga on bass and vocals, Sam Maquieira on guitars and vocals, and Aldo Benincasa on drums, Pablo Giadach (Casino, The Cruel Visions) joined on guitar, who refreshed their sound gaining a sonic and opioid combination. With this new formation the band brought back their past repertoire playing live in Chile with bands like Jesus and Mary Chain, R.E.M and Oasis (Andy Bell’s “favorite new band”), proving themselves as a generational symbol not only in the underground, but as a reference for new scenes.

All this hustle led to new songs crafted during rehearsals and long jams on their live performances. During a short break on live activity on summer of 2009, they set up a recording studio at Club Mist, a bar located in ‘Suecia’ neighborhood of Providencia borough - now demolished- which was one of the favorite places where the band used to perform alongside Vuelveteloca, Watchout!, Föllakzoid and La Hell Gang. New guitarist Giadach was in charge of recording with the assistance of Ignacio Rodríguez (Nes, Chicos de Nazca, La Hell Gang), and then mixed by the band in the countryside. Later, the album would be mastered at Puro Mastering, in Florida, Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the prominent sound engineer Eduardo Bergallo. The songs deployed in the studio reflected well a logical continuation of a long-standing task, a work in which the hours of flight together were noted for the better. Few takes of each song and a tight sound demonstrated how their live performances were purified till perfection, also giving liveness to the recording. And on top of it, the room of the club with its warm sound where they played several times before, served as a container and remembrance of the music they have showed before in successful gigs.

A sound with its roots scattered throughout the world, in a trip where the main destinations were Manchester, Jamaica and California. 'Loose' is one of the band's most complex and mature albums, which will now be available in double LP Gatefold format, rescuing the original art in its entirety, with additional credits and extras. The record has a shoegaze/ british rock vibe in many songs like “Heart of Velvet Stone”, “Motoqueiro” and “Trip In The Eye” but also deeper and glowing songs like “The Cut”, “100 Ways” and “Loose”. Remastered for vinyl, a new sound spectrum is opened with more details and atmosphere, especially for the band's audiophiles.

TRACK LISTING

1. Modern Man
2. Heart Of A Velvet Stone
3. Revelate 4. Motoqueiro
5. Trip In The Eye
6. The Cut
7.100 Ways
8. Rusty Destiny
9. I Wanna Burn It All
10. Heroes
11. Loose 

Growth with no reward. Finding strength in your less desirable traits. Coming up with the perfect comeback hours later in bed, glaring at the ceiling. Asking yourself: am I improving, or am I just changing into something unrecognizable? Chicago quartet Ganser probe the futility of striving for self-growth during the chaos of our times for dark comedy and jagged sounds on their potent new LP, Just Look at That Sky. Equal parts Space Odyssey and Ghost World, Ganser released their debut LP Odd Talk in 2018 to favorable coverage from The New York Times, Billboard, and Stereogum. Building on their dissociative disorder namesake, the album’s tone vacillated between frenzied and contemplative, probing on questions of communication, intimacy, and avoidance.

On Just Look at That Sky, Ganser further explores the personal inner climate of uncertain times. Opening track “Lucky” announces an explosive energy that evokes the Midwest noise-rock legacy of bands like Jesus Lizard and Shellac, while embracing a more colorful palette of post-punk and art rock influences. Nadia Garofalo and Alicia Gaines, a self-described two-headed monster who share lead vocal duties, can bring both a recalcitrant cool worthy of Kim Gordon and a booming sneer that recalls Poly Styrene; the discordant interplay of Charlie Landsman’s guitar and Brian Cundiff’s drums on standouts “Self Service” and “Bad Form” build to blistering climaxes that wouldn’t feel out of place on Red Medicine-era Fugazi. And then there’s Ganser’s lyrics: manic explorations of worry and dread mark this record, the epic messiness of daily life in our damaged times attacked with sardonic specificity as often as generalized doom. Just Look at That Sky isn’t afraid to acknowledge that we’re all Extremely Online all the time, but rather explicitly owns it.

These songs chart inner monologues of emphatic confusion, emotions already deeply felt further ratcheted up by the anxiety of always having too much information about other people, and always being just one tweet or status update away from knowing what everyone really thinks about us. This culminates in closing track “Bags for Life,” which imagines how online discourse might tackle a front-row seat for the end of the world. These are songs that never shy away from ugliness and confusion, that believe embracing the totality of the self sometimes means leaning into our dickish behavior. In the past, some listeners have had trouble reconciling non-male voices with the sorts of topics Ganser writes about, but that comes to an end with Just Look at That Sky. Co-produced with Electrelane's Mia Clarke and engineer Brian Fox, this is an assured, fully realized triumph of a record from an art-punk band that’s figured out how to focus on making great art, even if everything else around them falls apart.

TRACK LISTING

1. Lucky
2. Self Service
3. Projector
4. Emergency Equipment & Exits
5. Told You So \
6. Just Look At That Sky
7. Shadowcasting
8. Bad Form
9. [NO YES]
10. Bags For Life

RIYL: Sleater-Kinney, Bartees Strange,Liars, Shellac, Blonde Redhead, Protomartyr, Iceage, A Place To Bury Strangers, Throwing Muses, Omni, Shopping, Bikini Kill.

In the era of Ganser’s Just Look At That Sky delightfully descended on the world in July of 2020, I do admit that I mostly did find myself looking skyward, though that looking was often colored by an ever-present anxiety. My city was coming apart and maybe your city was coming apart too. Maybe atop the buildings of your downtowns there were guns, and men in fatigues. Maybe in front of the libraries, there were tanks, maybe in front of the food banks, there were army patrols. And yet, maybe you found an album or some tunes that reflected the times, which means both everything and nothing at all now, as time fractures into small, elastic shapes, some jagged, some joyful. An album of a moment must require malleability – songs that hold several songs within them.

Ganser is back with a couple of tunes that will anchor spring through fall, a project called Nothing You Do Matters (produced by Liars' Angus Andrew) and the songs are full, biting, sweet and relentlessly tongue-in-cheek. What propels Ganser as a band, for me, is what shines here: their performance of joyful apathy so often has many other moving parts underneath that suggest that they are a band of deep caring, simply unsatisfied

with the hands they’ve been dealt by the world. The dark humor seeped into the apathy is the central and most visual part of the magic trick, but it isn’t the trick itself. It is the disappearing bird or rabbit, that which returns safely to the open palm in order to distract an audience from everything else unfolding during its

disappearance. “People Watching” is almost a mini-suite of a jam, which first kicks in your door and then lulls you with what feels like comfort, before tearing your place apart on the way out. It’s a thrasher of a tune that is more deliberate than breathless, picking its spots to twist the lyrical knife of talk until the words lose meaning, which circle the drain of the song repeatedly, until it has evicted you, or you have evicted it.

“What Me Worry?” fills the space of breathlessness, a sneering romp where each line of lyric feels engaged in a mighty tug-ofwar for what comes before and after, simmering with the kind of tension that Ganser has gotten great at – a tension that pushes a listener to the edge before dragging them back to firm ground.

Survival is hard-won. For many folks, it has always been, for many more folks it feels especially hard-won now. Ganser has adjusted to the times. Yes, the lyrics are darker, seem more exhausted with the realities of having to make it to whatever is next. But there’s also real bursts of playfulness and gratitude wrestling underneath these songs. Gratitude for what winning another inch of survival, perhaps. I needed these songs, and you might, too. It’s good to feel, for a moment, that all is not lost. And even if it is, at least we can laugh our way to somemeaningless demise. - written by Hanif Abdurraqib

TRACK LISTING

01. People Watching
02. What Me Worry
03. People Watching (Liars Remix)

For Helen Ganya, entering her thirties made her question and pull away from the heteronormative social constructs that surround us. On her new album polish the machine, the Brighton-based songwriter stretches away from the suburban nightmare, seeking a cathartic reprieve that looks beyond the ordinary. “I was looking to the truth of removing any expectations that we’ve acquired along the way,” she says.

Previously performing under the moniker Dog in the Snow, Ganya’s 2017 album Consume Me (Battle Worldwide) introduced a meticulous and elegant voice, while 2019 album Vanishing Lands (Bella Union) - inspired by the striking imagery in a period of vivid dreams - utilised swirling dream-pop and haunting post-punk to present an eerie, unflinching look at the often nightmarish reality of the present world. polish the machine leans further into Ganya’s interiority, but refuses to succumb to despondency, instead pursuing a platform for community and tentative optimism. Here, the constraints of societal roles are loosened to encourage a different route: a wandering, ever-evolving path.

TRACK LISTING

1 I Will Hold That Hand For You
2 Young Girls Never Die
3 Wedding In The Night Time
4 Delicate Graffiti
5 Afterparty
6 The Crowd
7 Deep Sea
8 Devotion
9 Polish The Machine
10 Blue Fruit
11 Birdsong