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Before The Verdict Hits For RSD Black Friday 2023 In A Gold Vinyl Pressing. In 2010 Madlib launched the Madlib Medicine Show Series - an ambitious undertaking that saw the prolific producer release a new title on a monthly basis - which kept him busy into 2011. The series debuted with Before The Verdict with Guilty Simpson, a seventeen track rap outing with the Detroit MC. In addition to being the debut of Madlib's Medicine Show Series the release also served as a prelude to Guilty Simpson's OJ Simpson album, his collaboration with Madlib from later that year. Before The Verdict, an action-adventure psycho-thriller in the form of a full-length rap album, is back on print on vinyl for RSD Black Friday 2023

TRACK LISTING

1. Arraignment (Intro)
2. Ode To The Ghetto (OJ Simpson Remix)
3. Yikes (OJ Simpson Remix)
4. Further
5. Lucky Guy
6. Pigs (OJ Simpson Remix)
7. Life Goes By
8. Get Bitches (OJ Simpson Remix)
9. The Exclusive (feat. MED)
10. Robbery (OJ Simpson Remix)
11. Kill 'Em (OJ Simpson Remix)
12. The Paper
13. I Must Love You (OJ Simpson Remix)
14. Looking For Trouble
15. Young Guns (feat. J Dilla)
16. My Moment (OJ Simpson Remix)
17. American Dream & Future (OJ Simpson Remix)

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Live trio show from Matt Berninger's trio performance at London Union Chapel, April 5, 2025 Including a song from his debut album, which has not been played live due to his tour getting canceled in 2020 (COVID). Plus three songs from his new album 'Get Sunk'. Trio format is not commercially available anywhere else. Union Chapel is in Islington, London a live venue and charity drop in center for the unhomed built in the 19th Century.

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One of the most legendary engagements in jazz history, the Miles Davis Quintet’s stand at The Plugged Nickel in December of 1965 saw Miles, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, andTony Williams deliver a masterclass in controlled volatility, dismantling tradition and reshaping their language night after night. The Plugged Nickel recordings document the Second Great Quintet revolutionizing improvisation in real time, welcoming surprise, discarding certainty, and turning “wrong” notes into revelations.

TRACK LISTING

1. All Of You - Live At The Plugged Nickel, Chicago, IL (2nd Set) - December 23, 1965
2. Agitation - Live At The Plugged Nickel, Chicago, IL (2nd Set) - December 23, 1965
3. My Funny Valentine - Live At The Plugged Nickel, Chicago, IL (2nd Set) - December 23, 1965
4. On Green Dolphin Street - Live At The Plugged Nickel, Chicago, IL (2nd Set) - December 23, 1965
5. So What - Live At The Plugged Nickel, Chicago, IL (2nd Set) - December 23, 1965
6. The Theme - Live At The Plugged Nickel, Chicago, IL (2nd Set) - December 23, 1965

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Maribou State’s classic debut album celebrates ten years and is pressed for the first time on coloured vinyl alongside a second disc of bonus tracks from the era.

Housed in a reverse board gatefold sleeve with textured effect text.

TRACK LISTING

1. Home
2. The Clown
3. Rituals
4. Steal
5. Wallflower
6. Say More
7. Raincoats
8. Midas
9. Natural Fools
10. Varklaa
11. Fawn
12. November Nights
13. Manila
14. Colours In Sea
15. Rituals (MS Edit)
16. Wallflower (Ross From Friends Remix)
17. The Clown (Axel Boman Remix)
18. Midas (Ben Pearce ReEdit)

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Mötley Crüe's iconic power ballad, “Home Sweet Home,” released on limited-edition picture disc 12” vinyl for Record Store Day. Celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of rock's most legendary anthems. Includes 6 versions, including "Home Sweet Home" (original), "Home Sweet Home" feat. Dolly Parton and the Top 40 charting "Home Sweet Home '91"

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Released on vinyl for the first time in 30 years as part of Motörhead’s 50th anniversary celebrations, 'Live At Brixton ’87' is presented on colour vinyl exclusively for Record Store Day.

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THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2025 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

British electronic/trip hop pioneers Morcheeba return with their first ever 7” single release 30 years into their career, exclusively for Record Store Day.

This double A-side is presented on transparent orange vinyl, and is the only physical single release of the band’s new tracks We Live And Die and Peace Of Me (featuring upcoming Tottenham rapper Oscar #Worldpeace), both of which will appear on their forthcoming 11th studio album

TRACK LISTING

A1: We Live And Die
B1: Peace Of Me (feat. Oscar #Worldpeace)

It's the 21st Century and the cult of mass information has finally vanquished the allure of mystery. Reality TV, live blogging, social media and iCloud leaks - we don't wanna see our idols airbrushed, we wanna see them before they zip their skin up. We want the process dammit, the 4 a.m. burnout, the smudged ink and the pencil shavings. 
Melody As Truth know what we want, and the Amsterdam label duly give it to us with their new MATstudio series. Inviting us into their workspace, Jonny Nash and Suzanne Kraft catalogue some of the experiments, explorations, accidents and fortuitous events that regularly take place. Each record will feature two compositions created from a collage of works created using guitar, bass, synth, piano, chime and fx.
This first offering treats us to a pair of drifting dreamscapes, both strange, beautiful and organic. Imagine floating down a river in a land of divergent DNA.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Jonny Nash and Suzanne Kraft serve up the first in a series of recordings taken from live jams, improvised sessions and machine experiments. Floral beauty on the A-side, seismic power on the flip.

TRACK LISTING

A1. In Strange Company He Spoke Softly
B1. The Land Through Which We Pass

There's no shortage of heat emanating from the Neapolitan scene right now, and Periodica's latest must have masterpiece comes from the expanded mind of E. Fierro, otherwise known as Space Garage and Mystic Jungle Tribe member Milord. Switching up the format for spectacular 7" to luxurious LP, the Italian keeps the palate reassuringly spacey, tripping us out with library-style synthesis, twisted space echo and killer funk arte facts. Ambient opener "Mnemonic Induction" chimes wonderfully with the retro-futurist sleeve art, bringing to mind Superman's Fortress of Solitude or that trippy crystalline bit in Bill & Ted. "Onironauta" introduces rhythm in the most syrupy cosmic style, serving up spaced out slow mo complete with churning sequencers and tasty FX. We take another plunge into the symphonic and synthetic with the soundscaping of "Sub-aquatic level" before "Virus Of Time" takes us on a subtle glide through sparkling circuitry and dub delay. Flipping the disc, we're instantly unhinged by the library-styled techno of "The Glass Maze", scattershot electro of "Third Layer" and deliriously disorienting synth squelch of "Static Rain". All that remains is for "False Awake" to fling us through an interdimensional portal of sleek sequencing, proggy tones and tripped out FX and we're entirely enlightened by another amazing Periodica release.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Naples in the house! The Italian city is totally killing it at the moment, dominating our staff picks with releases from Nu Guinea, Mystic Jungle Tribe, Space Garage and Whodamanny. Now Milord goes solo on Periodica with a killer LP of spaced out sounds, proggy electro funk and A-grade cosmic. As usual, it's buy on sight tackle.

TRACK LISTING

Mnemonic Induction
Onironauta
Sub-aquatic Level
Virus Of Time
The Glass Maze
Third Layer
Static Rain
False Awake

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Mayer Hawthorne is an R&B / soul singer who debuted on Stones Throw in 2009 with A Strange Arrangement - The Impressions EP, a collection of covers, was released in 2011 for free online. This RSD exclusive edition brings these covers to vinyl for the first time - Exclusive art for the vinyl by Alvaro Ilizarbe / Freegums - Includes covers of tracks by Chromeo, Average White Band, ELO, and more Tracklisting Side A 1. Mr. Blue Sky 2. Donít Turn The Lights On 3. Youíve Got The Makings Of A Lover Side B 4. Fantasy Girl 5. Little Person 6. Work To Do

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The Classic 1977 Folk album now reissued on 180m gram vinyl. Feat: Mick Ronson (David Bowie) Andy Latimer (Camel) & Keef Hartley. Insert with extensive sleeve notes by Andru Chapman. Recorded during 1977 at Sawmills Studios, Cornwall, Tapestry Studios, London and Fairview Studios, Hull. Michael Chapman - Guitar and vocals. Keef Hartley - Drums. Rod Clements - Bass. Pete Wingfield - String Synthesiser (Track 1), Organ (Track 2) and Electric Piano (Track 3). Johnny Van Derek - Violin (Track 1). John McBurnie and Vivienne McAuliffe - Backing vocals (Tracks 1,5,6 and 8). Mick Ronson - Guitar (Track 2). Andy Latimer - Electric Guitar Intro (Track 3) and Guitar (Track 9). B.J. Cole - Steel Guitar (Track 5,6,7,8,10).

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This double LP release includes one of Miles Davis' final great bands including John Scofield on guitar, Bill 'The Other Bill Evans' Evans on saxophones, flute and electric piano, Darryl Jones on bass, Al Foster on drums and percussionist Mino Cinelu. Miles was back in amazing form (ìincandescent and iridescent as ever as Greg Tate noted), when he mounted the stage at the Theatre St-Denis during theFestival International De Jazz De Montreal in July 1983 and this release is the first time this revelatory performance will be released. It has been lovingly mixed and mastered and will be included on CD and digitally in the next edition of the Miles Davis Bootleg series that focuses on the 1981-1985 period, coming later in the year, but the Record Store Day release would be it's exclusive release on vinyl.What It Is includes tracks from that year's release Star People, the Marcus Miller tune Hopscotch and the song Jean-Pierre that appeared on 1982's We Want Miles. The recordings of What It Is and That's What Happened were so well thought of by Miles that he utilized them for his 1984 release Decoy, but in heavily edited form and this release would include the first release of them in complete form. Packaged in beautiful gatefold packaging, the album features liner notes penned by the incomparable music journalist Greg Tate and represent some of his final writing.

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Opaque Pink Coloured LP Vinyl - M.E.B. (formerly Miles Electric Band) led by Vince Wilburn, Jr collects a progressive All-Star ensemble featuring Miles Davis alumni and the players Miles inspired. This brand new, never-released studio recording captures a multi-generational whoís who of acclaimed artists performing new Miles-inspired compositions. Two tracks of the five on the album include unreleased trumpet performances by Miles and the album, produced by Miles' alumni Lenny White and Wilburn, features music legends including Ron Carter, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, Donald Harrison, Darryl Jones, Vernon Reid and John Scofield. This album is dedicated to the memory of Wallace Roney and Bernard Wright and contains some of their final recordings. The cover is an original painting from artist and Milesí associate Mikel Elam. Pressed on hot pink vinyl, this is the exclusive vinyl release.

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First time on vinyl for the gorgeous 'Late December', with a second LP featuring rare recordings from her Live Acoustic LA tour in 2006, the package includes new liner notes and a download of the studio album and live show. An album thatís broader than Broadway, a panoramic view of life, love and loss filled with drama and theatricality. Plus a live set thatís heart-on-sleeve time, bringing together songs from Lone Justice, plus covers of the traditional country anthem 'The World Is Not My Home', Richard Thompson's 'Has He Got A Friend For Me' and three songs that show the bittersweet beauty of her brother Bryan MacLeanís song writing. In total, it's Kurt Weill, Springsteen, itís the million-selling global hit 'A Good Heart' delivered by the songwriter herself in all its Phil Spector-like baroque beauty.

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Metronomy’s last studio album "Small World" revisited : new version of each track with a guest . This 1 x Black LP will be the only physical edition and features an exclusive artwork. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Life And Death - Metronomy X Porij
A2. Things Will Be Fine - Metronomy X PPJ
A3. It’s Good To Be Back - Metronomy X Panic Shack
A4. Loneliness On The Run - Metronomy X Nadeem Din Gibisi & Tony Njoku
B1. Love Factory - Metronomy X Katy J Pearson
B2. I Lost My Mind - Metronomy X Jessica Winter
B3. Right On Time - Metronomy X Haich Ber Na
B4. Hold Me Tonight - Metronomy X Bolis Pupul
B5. I Have Seen Enough - Metronomy X Sebastien Tellier

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

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'Faithfull Forever' is a 1966 studio album by Marianne that was only issued in the United States. This RSD pressing marks its first U.K release and it has not been re-issued on vinyl in the U.S. In 2024 Marianne celebrates her 60th anniversary in music, and for fans of her Decca catalogue ëFaithfull ForeverÖí is a must. The album is a defining moment of the baroque pop sound and features some of Marianneís best 60ís performances with interpretations of songs by writers particularly suited to her interpretive gifts. Standout compositions include ëWith You In Mindí by Jackie De Shannon who had previously written ëCome And Stay With Meí for her, Donovan contributes ëIn The Night Timeí aka ëHampstead Incidentí which was released 6 months in advance of his own recording, Bob Lindís ëCountingí arranged by Jack Nitzsche and ëTomorrowís Callingí written for her by Eric Woolfson later of the Alan Parsonís project. The album features some unexpected song choices from Marianne including a pop arrangement of Ewan MacCollís ëThe First Time Ever I Saw Your Faceí originally recorded for her second folk LP ëNorth Country Maidí, her reading of the Love theme from ëThe Umbrellas of Cherbourgí soundtrack performed in the original French, and a foray into jazz on the Herzog Jr / Kitchins classic ëSome Other Springí which will be a revelation to those who only know Marianne as a singer of folk pop. This track along with ëLucky Girlí by Les Reed and Barry Mason and Norma Tanegaís ëIím The Skyí have never been released in the UK, and are still unavailable elsewhere. 7 of the albums 12 tracks are also appearing on vinyl for the first time since the original release.All tracks have been remastered from the original tapes by Andrew Batt, and this special RSD release comes with detailed sleeve notes featuring exclusive commentary by Marianne herself and new artwork based on the original sleeve shot by the master French photographer Jean-Marie Perier.

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5-song stripped-back EP featuring guest appearances from Manchester Orchestra, Bully, and Mannequin Pussy.

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For Recordstore Day 2024 Universal Music Recordings and Virgin Records will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the album ëMonty Python Live At Drury Laneí. Inspired by Terry Gilliamís unmistakable animations and graphics, the original artwork was created by Kate Hepburn (who later created visuals for Pink Floyd, and the Rolling Stones) and has been adapted for a first release on picture disc by Darren Evans and Holly Gilliam, who were also responsible for 2019 ëLife Of Brianí RSD release.Following the success of four studio albums ñ ëMonty Pythonís Flying Circusí (1970), ëAnother Monty Python Recordí (1971), ëMonty Pythonís Previous Recordí (1972), and ëThe Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchiefí (1973) ñ ëMonty Python Live At Drury Laneí was recorded in March 1974 on the last night of a sell-out four week-run at the London theatre. It peaked at No. 19 on the UK album chart that July, where it nestled between Marvin Hamlischís soundtrack to The Sting, and the debut album from Bad Company.The album features live versions of sketches made famous on the BBC TV progamme Monty Pythonís Flying Circus, written and performed by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terr Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, with support from Lyn Ashley and Neil Innes. This 50th anniversary celebration can only mean that the following message, that appeared on the original 1974 artwork, was a little premature: ìThis could be, but by no means definitely, perhaps almost your very last chance but one to hear some of these classic rib-ticklers, before they are all handed over to the British Museum archives (Loopy and Dappy Things Department).î

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“The letter X marks the spot, crosses over, literally with a cross. It’s the former, the ex-. The ex-lover known simply as “an ex”. Ex- is the latin prefix meaning “out”. Exterior, an exit. Extraordinary. Excellent. It’s exciting. Generation X. X-files. X is the unknown. X is Extreme“.

Extreme is Molly Nilsson’s tenth studio album. Recorded in 2019 and throughout the 2020 global pandemic at home in Berlin, Extreme is a departure for Nilsson, an explosion of angry love. It’s an album of anthems for the jilted generation, soaked with joy and offering solace, bristling with distorted, Metal guitars and planet-sized choruses that bring light to the dark centre of the galaxy. It’s an album of the times, by the times and for the people. It’s a record about power. About how to fight it, how to take it and how to share it.

Absolute Power explodes with massive guitars, double kick beats and the instantly iconic line “It’s me versus the black hole at the centre of the galaxy.” Nilsson’s performance itself portrays absolute power in its confidence but the song is a call-to-arms, an entreaty to grasp the here and now, to take the power back. It’s Nilsson pacing the ring and we’re instantly in her corner. Earth Girls takes familiar Molly Nilsson themes - female empowerment and subverting the patriarchy - but casually throws in one of the choruses of her career. “Women have no place in this world” she sings, but it’s the world that isn’t good enough. Stadium-sized but still warmly hazy, Earth Girls has its fists in the air, glorifying in harmony, almost ecstatic in its feeling good. Nilsson’s Springsteen-level conviction and righteousness bleeds through the speaker cones, the cognitive dissonance between the song’s cadences and angry lyrics redolent of Bruce in his prime. Female empowerment isn’t always an angry energy on Extreme, however. On Fearless Like A Child, Nilsson’s anthem to the female body and women’s sovereignty of it, she croons over a mid-80s blue-eyed Soul groove. It sets a nocturnal scene as the narrator surveys her past and her surroundings. Before we’re fully submerged in a dreamlike, Steve McQueen-era Prefab Sprout poem to learning from your mistakes the song erupts into one of those lines only Molly Nilsson can get away with: “I love my womb, come inside I feel so alive” she fervently sings. Against the backdrop of ever-encroaching, conservative rulings on women’s reproductive rights in places like Texas, it’s simultaneously angry and full of love.

Every song on Extreme is a gleaming gem in a pouch of jewels. On Kids Today, Nilsson is the voice of wisdom, archly commenting on the eternal struggle between youth and authority. Wisdom infuses Sweet Smell Of Success with a transcendent love that forgives the narrator’s shortcomings and celebrates the moment, it’s a letter to the author from the author that asks “what is success” and concludes that this is it, this song, this moment. It’s a rare moment of simple reflection that is generous in its insight to Nilsson’s inner life. “Success” is a tool of power and we don’t need it… We need power tools and there are moments on Extreme where it feels like Nilsson is showing us how to find them. It's an open conversation through out Extreme. She’s a warm, comforting presence through out the album and specially on these songs of encouragement, songs perhaps sang to a younger Molly Nilsson or, really, to whomever needs to hear them. “They’ll praise your efforts, they’ll call you slurs a rebel, a master, an amateur / Merely with your own existence, you already offer your resistance.” On Avoid Heaven she’s even more direct, pleading with us to avoid concepts of purity and to embrace the glorious, ebullient, emotional mess we’re often in as a method of upending the power structures who need things to be perfect.

They Will Pay brings back the big, distorted power chords in the form of a agit-punk, pop slammer. Of course, when Molly Nilsson does punk pop we get the catchiest chorus this side of The Bangles or The Nerves. It’s rendered in an off the cuff, throwaway manner that is just perfect in its roughness. However, it’s on Pompeii that Nilsson delivers the album’s epic, emotional heartbreaker. Like 1995 on Nilsson’s album Zenith, or Days Of Dust on Twenty Twenty, the lyrics of Pompeii are heavy with a transcendent sadness, an aching poetry that cuts to the truth of the heart like the best Leonard Cohen lines, though here delivered with an uplifting, life-affirming love. It contains the most personal moments of Extreme, a song lit by the dying embers of romance. Yet it’s here where the alchemy at the base of all Nilsson’s best work is found. Turning small nuggets of personal truth into big, generous universal moments that invite everyone to cry, to love and to fight the power. In an album of jewels, it might be the shining star.

Molly Nilsson’s biggest, boldest and most vital album to date, Extreme is about power. Against the love of power and for the power of love.

TRACK LISTING

1. Absolute Power
2. Earth Girls
3. Fearless Like A Child
4. Kids Today
5. Intermezzo
6. Sweet Smell Of Success
7. Obnoxiously Talented
8. Avoid Heaven
9. Take Me To Your Leader
10. They Will Pay
11. Pompeii

Michael Price, one of the UK’s most sought after composers (Unforgotten, Sherlock, Dracula), releases the original soundtrack from director Craig Roberts’ (Submarine, Just Jim) latest feature Eternal Beauty, starring Sally Hawkins.

The Eternal Beauty soundtrack will be released on vinyl as the 73rd Dinked Edition, exclusive to the Dinked network of the UK’s best independent record shops.

The 16 track Première edition LP - exclusive to the Dinked network - is a limited edition on blue vinyl with multi-colour splatter and includes a signed and numbered print.

It becomes available to pre-order from October 2nd, coinciding with the cinema release and on demand première of the film. It will also be available exclusively on Bandcamp from the same date, before arriving on all other digital platforms in November.

Recorded and mixed by Andrew Dudman at Abbey Road Studios and The Control Room.
Mastered by Oli Morgan at Abbey Road Mastering.

Price’s score, as his so often do, serves as a narrator, a character helping to guide us through the true highs and lows of Jane’s (Sally Hawkins) rarely uneventful life. Price’s signature sweeping strings, underpinned by piano and a beautifully restrained use of sound design ensures that whilst the score drives the story forwards it never distracts from that which is unfolding before our eyes.

“A soundtrack that provides the rocket fuel for a story that unzips our understanding of ’normal’ " Adrian Bates, Eternal Beauty Producer

When Jane (Sally Hawkins) is dumped at the altar she has a breakdown and spirals into a chaotic world, where love (both real and imagined) and family relationships collide with touching and humorous consequences.

The reality we see through Jane’s eyes is vividly different, heightened in the film by the stylized palette, camera work and intoxicating score - a reality that the film celebrates and treats with dignity, humour and affection.

On writing the music, Michael Price explains:

"Finding a musical voice for Jane was a little daunting at first. Craig Roberts' kaleidoscopic writing, and Sally Hawkins' blazing performance seemed to fill so much of the air around me, that the first few notes to emerge were tiny and bird-like. In fact, there is literally bird-song, an Irish nightingale, that stayed in the score, early in the film when Jane sits and feeds the pigeons in the park. That became a key to unlocking Jane's interior world, as did using snippets of her vocalisations, which became percussion instruments and stretched into more ambient pads. Once I had opened the door to her world, though, the music came tumbling out - rich, romantic, delicate and tender, and sometimes terrifying. All of it brought into life by the writing and performance, and the opportunity to celebrate Jane's "superpower", as Craig described it.”

Shot in and around writer/director Craig Robert’s native South Wales, the inspiration for the character of Jane at the heart of Eternal Beauty came from people Craig was close to when growing up. He explains “The character came fully formed. I just kind of knew those people, to be honest.

On the recording, Michael Price recalls:

When we finally recorded the orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, I was touched to see that Craig had brought some of his family down to listen too. I think this is an incredibly personal film for him, and there was something about hearing the orchestra sounding majestic and noble, which seemed as if we had done musical justice to both the characters, and the people who had inspired their creation."

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There's something inherently soundtracky about Michael Price's work for the decidedly soundtracky Erased Tapes records, so it's no giant surprise that this soundtrack of his for Craig Roberts' 'Eternal Beauty'. It's the perfect score, and displays wonderfully how talented a composer Price is.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. A Walk And A Wedding
2. Eternal Beauty
3. Different Dose
4. Where Have You Been
5. Cannibals
6. Beauty Pageant
7. Marry Me

Side B
8. Pot Plant
9. Unpacking
10. Making You Better
11. The Other Side
12. Towards The Light
13. Time To Go
14. More Friends Than You
15. Nice Or Really Nice?
16. The End

The accomplished and uniquely characteristic world-builder Mart Avi delivers his most complete body of work yet with Vega Never Sets. His fifth full-length solo release, a record of abstract soul and spectral electronic textures finds him evolving further into a state of hyperkinetism and timeless grandeur. Like the great storyteller, Mart Avi blends the familiar and comforting with the new and the unpalatable, to seduce the unawares with a bold new record that veers between folkloristic tech-noir and melodic, post-digital ballads; a movement of electronic pulses, gently held together by his finely composed worlds. Pulling at deeper contexts, he expresses an unstrained defiance of gravity through his playful character — one that is smartly dressed, charming and full of boyish anarchism. As The Quietus wrote, Avi is “like a David Foster Wallace of pop”, cerebral and hot-blooded, with plenty of fervour and a lust for living.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Porridge Bullet play host to Mart Avi's fifth full length solo release, revelling in every second of its uncanny beauty. Reminiscent of both the chamber pop of Dutch Uncles, James Blake's electronic ballads and the synthesised shimmer of Rex Orange County, this is Avi's most honed release to date.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Feather
A2. Wire
A3. Soul Reaver
A4. Avirex
A5. Firefly
B1. The Fifth Season
B2. Spark
B3. Endsville
B4. Milton
B5. Vega

Originally released as one side of a split E.P on Firewire Recordings back in 2002 “Venting Steam” and “Solid Gear” get a fresh remaster on Varial Records.

Featuring alongside are two additional unreleased tracks created and recorded at The Cube in the same time period, "Muted Point" and "Tallon Drive" provide a more lo-fi 4/4 techno workout. Inspired by the other worlds we escape into through sci-fi and video game culture. Both original tracks have become sought artefacts amongst devote techno and electro collectors whilst the new ones on offer here have plenty of kinetic energy nestled within their grooves to power a dancefloor when the doors reopen in June. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Venting Steam
A2. Solid Gear
B1. Muted Point
B2. Tallon Drive

Maria McKee has been out of the proverbial spotlight for some time, her creative talents re-engaging with her first love of acting, performance and the musical tapestries that accompany such activities.

Candid and passionate, she’s, quite simply, had a beatific awakening and in a crescendo of prose, her new album ‘La Vita Nuova’ unlocks her story, sketching out her journey that started many moons ago when she sang in her bedroom with her older brother, the late, great musical innovator Bryan MacLean. Along the way she retooled punk and country in Lone Justice, released a string of evocative and eclectic solo records, wrote chart topping hits and touched millions of people before seemingly disappearing…

Some of the new album sounds like modern show tunes for musical extravaganzas that are still to be penned.

‘Little Beast’ is almost Disney-esque and ‘I Should Have Looked Away’ has a real stagey feel to it. Title track ‘La Vita Nouva’ and ‘Let Me Forget’ are all beautifully written stories of relationships in various states of evolution or disrepair. And, ‘However Worn’ is like a slice of American gothic.

A homage to new life, the completion of ‘La Vita Nuova’ saw Maria’s life entirely change and illustrates an important period in the artist’s life.

“It’s a really personal record; all I can do is tell my story. People can find their own meaning in it, taking them deeper, perhaps, into something they need to experience, I think that’s what music and art does.”

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
A1 Effigy Of Salt
A2 Page Of Cups
A3 Let Me Forget
A4 I Should Have Looked Away

Side B:
B1 Right Down To The Heart Of London
B2 La Vita Nuova
B3 Little Beast

Side C:
C1 Courage
C2 Ceann Bró
C3 The Last Boy

Side D:
D1 I Never Asked
D2 I Just Want To Know That You're Alright
D3 Weatherspace
D4 However Worn

Where once was Superwolf, now roam Superwolves, the new album and demon spawn of Matt Sweeney and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

The songs that make up Superwolves, the duo’s second album and first since 2005’s Superwolf, go boldly into undreamed-of places, and go deep, as Matt and Bonny take all the musics they know to make songs that penetrate. In classic Garcia-Hunter style, Sweeney and the ‘Prince’ first work separately, finding a path to each other in their solitary imaginings. Bonnie lyric sets delivered to Matt spark Sweeney’s guitar brain; chords and a melody are shaped, recorded fast and loose and sent back to the Prince, then the two parties meet up to sing, stitch, strengthen and finally perform them together in front of a small unsuspecting audience. Then new sets of lyrics are sent, animated and played in a high wire style until the shared songs and experiences are ready to commit to record. This is just the beginning of their fusion process, as words imply vocalizations to counter and support, and guitar lines suggest harmonic fields to subtly push into. In this process, a new creature grows out of the old one. In this name of this partnership, the guitar shares an open and fluid space with the vocals, the voices sing with the guitars—every moment in the life of Superwolves is an extravaganza, guided only by its need.

“The chemistry comes from lives, lived separately, in which music is crucial sustenance. We listen with gratitude and awe, knowing that we belong in there. We construct our dream selves with the faith that these selves will have their chance at life. We know what we are capable of doing and just need each other’s support to bring the imagined languages to life.” — Will Oldham

“I love the challenge to write melodies for Will to sing. Struggle with that challenge too. Knowing that Will’s voice will elevate the melody makes me reach higher and dig deeper for the tune. Makes me want to match it with a guitar part that holds his voice like a chalice holds wine (or blood, or whatever is needed to live the best life). I also love singing harmonies and responses to this voice of his.” — Matt Sweeney

As far as this record, as in when and how it came together, the two man crew started working on it five years ago. The first actual session, however, went down about a year ago at Brooklyn’s Strange Weather and the next took place at the Butcher Shoppe in Nashville. Sweeney oversaw the mixing of the Brooklyn sessions with Oldham overseeing the Nashville mixes. On the album, Sweeney sings harmonies along, with, and around his favorite singer, and plays all electric, acoustic, and bass guitars, joined in places by David Ferguson on stand-up bass, Mike Coltun on electric bass, Mdou Moctar on electric lead, Ahmoudou Madassane on rhythm guitar, Souleyman Ibrahim, Ryan Sawyer and Peter Townsend on drums and Mike Rojas on keys. The Bonnie ‘Prince’ sings. Does he ever. And Superwolves rules over all.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: This is a perfect collaborative effort from Sweeney & Oldham here, offsetting BPB's sometimes saccharine vocal style with Sweeney's brilliantly dynamic guitar playing. There are moments of stunning minimalistic bliss ('Resist The Urge') or more psychedelic grooving force ('Hall Of Death') but this is a constantly confounding and rewarding listen.

TRACK LISTING

1. Make Worry For Me
2. Good To My Girls
3. God Is Waiting
4. Hall Of Death
5. Shorty’s Ark
6. I Am A Youth Inclined To Ramble
7. My Popsicle
8. Watch What Happens
9. Resist The Urge
10. There Must Be A Someone
11. My Blue Suit
12. My Body Is My Own
13. You Can Regret What You Have Done
14. Not Fooling

Where once was Superwolf, now roam Superwolves, the new album and demon spawn of Matt Sweeney and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

The songs that make up Superwolves, the duo’s second album and first since 2005’s Superwolf, go boldly into undreamed-of places, and go deep, as Matt and Bonny take all the musics they know to make songs that penetrate. In classic Garcia-Hunter style, Sweeney and the ‘Prince’ first work separately, finding a path to each other in their solitary imaginings. Bonnie lyric sets delivered to Matt spark Sweeney’s guitar brain; chords and a melody are shaped, recorded fast and loose and sent back to the Prince, then the two parties meet up to sing, stitch, strengthen and finally perform them together in front of a small unsuspecting audience. Then new sets of lyrics are sent, animated and played in a high wire style until the shared songs and experiences are ready to commit to record. This is just the beginning of their fusion process, as words imply vocalizations to counter and support, and guitar lines suggest harmonic fields to subtly push into. In this process, a new creature grows out of the old one. In this name of this partnership, the guitar shares an open and fluid space with the vocals, the voices sing with the guitars—every moment in the life of Superwolves is an extravaganza, guided only by its need.

“The chemistry comes from lives, lived separately, in which music is crucial sustenance. We listen with gratitude and awe, knowing that we belong in there. We construct our dream selves with the faith that these selves will have their chance at life. We know what we are capable of doing and just need each other’s support to bring the imagined languages to life.” — Will Oldham

“I love the challenge to write melodies for Will to sing. Struggle with that challenge too. Knowing that Will’s voice will elevate the melody makes me reach higher and dig deeper for the tune. Makes me want to match it with a guitar part that holds his voice like a chalice holds wine (or blood, or whatever is needed to live the best life). I also love singing harmonies and responses to this voice of his.” — Matt Sweeney

As far as this record, as in when and how it came together, the two man crew started working on it five years ago. The first actual session, however, went down about a year ago at Brooklyn’s Strange Weather and the next took place at the Butcher Shoppe in Nashville. Sweeney oversaw the mixing of the Brooklyn sessions with Oldham overseeing the Nashville mixes. On the album, Sweeney sings harmonies along, with, and around his favorite singer, and plays all electric, acoustic, and bass guitars, joined in places by David Ferguson on stand-up bass, Mike Coltun on electric bass, Mdou Moctar on electric lead, Ahmoudou Madassane on rhythm guitar, Souleyman Ibrahim, Ryan Sawyer and Peter Townsend on drums and Mike Rojas on keys. The Bonnie ‘Prince’ sings. Does he ever. And Superwolves rules over all.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: This is a perfect collaborative effort from Sweeney & Oldham here, offsetting BPB's sometimes saccharine vocal style with Sweeney's brilliantly dynamic guitar playing. There are moments of stunning minimalistic bliss ('Resist The Urge') or more psychedelic grooving force ('Hall Of Death') but this is a constantly confounding and rewarding listen.

TRACK LISTING

1. Make Worry For Me
2. Good To My Girls
3. God Is Waiting
4. Hall Of Death
5. Shorty’s Ark
6. I Am A Youth Inclined To Ramble
7. My Popsicle
8. Watch What Happens
9. Resist The Urge
10. There Must Be A Someone
11. My Blue Suit
12. My Body Is My Own
13. You Can Regret What You Have Done
14. Not Fooling

"Naive overlooked New Beat / New Age project from 1989"

Sometimes in life, a certain incentive is needed to convert talent into productivity. As for the case of MKS, the enigmatic and musical disguise of Nicolas Aubard, it was a merely coincidental encounter at the end of the 80s that set the stone rolling. For Nico, it all began in his hometown of Saint-Quentin in Northern France. At a young age, he got obsessed with Japanese and American cartoon culture. Being a devoted collector of cartoon-related toys and widgets, he spent hours watching anime series on TV and creating scale models of science fiction and horror-related sceneries. Growing up in a musical household, young Nico took on stringent training in classical and jazz piano. But, frustrated with the fact of not being the technical virtuoso he wanted to be, he turned away from his training at the age of 16. “I had no choice, as I felt as if my creativity got limited by my piano. That’s when I got drawn into the world of synthesizers.” Not long after, Nico put together a home studio and started to experiment with ambience and sound-inserts. Despite years of experimentation and music making, all Nico’s productions stayed between the 4 walls of his modest home studio. Something that would change in 1988, when Nico bumped into Emmanuel “Manu” Prevost.

“We met on a night out in Lille”, Nico recalls. “I usually just stood by the dj booth, as I wasn’t a good dancer. So instead of throwing shapes at the dancefloor, I started a conversation with the dj, who happened to be Manu. By the end of the night, I handed him a demo tape of the album I was wanting to do.” Propelled by good fate, a fruitful collab happened between Nico and this dj. For Manu, everything also fell in place: “At the time, I was looking for a composer to work on producing a new beat record. As a dj, I often crossed the Belgian border for gigs and this new style was in full explosion over there. I heard Nico’s songs and naively told him: “Let’s make an album”, without knowing how.” Despite the high hopes for the new alliance, the project turned out to be a shot in the dark. “I assumed Manu already had some experience, as he proposed to do the mastering himself. But funnily he only told me after the release of the record that it was his first time too. But you know, we managed.” Not willing to release under his own name, Nico came up with Musical Keyboard System, abbreviated as MKS. The alias was born and the journey ready to take off.

The album finally released in September 1989. After the release, Nico went on a low-key promo tour together with Manu in Northern France. “We aired a video clip on FR3 for two songs, together with a short interview. In their studio, we created a scrimpy décor with some green plants to resemble the Vietnam jungle (as for the track Nam Revelation) and we shot the clip. Manu even lay down behind a screen operating the fog machine.” As a live act, MKS’ career was rather short-lived, with a first and final gig in the Theatre of Saint-Quentin a few months after the release. “In France, we would remain illustrious strangers. Yet in the meantime, our music got played on new age radios in the USA.” After the end of MKS, Nico moved to Paris and Manu took on his military duty. In the army, Manu met movie animator Jacques Rouxel (the man behind French cult series Les Shadoks) and got him in touch with Nico. The duo collaborated with Rouxel on some compositions, before they went their separate ways at last. Nico went on to pursue his childhood dream, as a pioneer in France for integrating 3D animations into classical cartoons. Manu in turn became a producer for feature films.

TRACK LISTING

A1. The New Age Of House
A2. Twilight Zone
B1. Figure
B2. The Dream
B3. Nam Revelation

Recommended If You Like: Pedro The Lion, The Sea and Cake, David Bazan, Major Murphy, Kurt Vonnegut & Guided by Voices. For ten years now, I’ve understood “Oscillate Wisely” as a play on the Smiths’ instrumental “Oscillate Wildly”--itself, of course, a pun on Morrissey’s muse, Oscar Wilde. This is not to say that anything about Mike Adams and his band reminds me of the Smiths (especially­Morrissey), as much as the idea that rock bands like Mike Adams At His Honest Weight take shape more or less as a thesaurus of past ideas--winking at them, borrowing them like a library book, checking them out from across the room, cloning them.

But the best stuff is more ineffable, far more than just cut-and-paste. There’s a weird grandeur to Adams' music, starting with that fully formed, geekily majestic 2011 debut LP Oscillate Wisely, that I don’t hear in anything else, before or since. A sense that Adams is guiding his listeners toward a cosmic joke so personal, so inscrutable, so funny (“funny”), if you give him your attention. It's in his blood, I think. He's not Oscar Wilde, but a uniquely Midwestern type of deeply sincere romantic and dyed-in-the-wool goofball cast from the mold of Hoosier icons like Letterman and Vonnegut.

He doesn’t want to believe in anything, he didn’t create this body, he­loves­a parade.­ It’s all in fun, but it gets so personal. Onstage, Adams is gregarious and playfully self-effacing, a college town denizen telescoping backwards to the brief early 90s moment when “college rock” entered the corporate suite, and performers forced to become showmen retreated to the comfort of their native tongue: irony.­And­Oscillate Wisely­has demonstrated for a decade that earnestness and sarcasm are as intricately bound in rock and roll's­lingua franca­as hang-ups and chill hangs. I’ve never heard any musician summon everything I love about being from Indiana so perfectly. And I’m­fucking­old. Eric Harvey.

TRACK LISTING

1 Bad Weather
2 Skeletons In The Cloner
3 I Don’t Want To Believe In Anything
4 I’m Not Worried
5 Sunrise
6 Don’t You Blanket When That Happens
7 I Did Not Create This Body
8 IIIIIIIII Love A Parade
9 It’s All Been Done You Said
10 You’ll Have Me As Long… 

Marina Allen glides on angelic highs, surfing the husky deep; she is one of the great new voices of her generation. Writing songs that carry notes from other realms; these are kitchen table tales about love and fear, the capturing of the wild heart, sketching the breaking of dawn, bringing real life back to life. Every song on stunning debut album ‘Candlepower’ is a tick box of influences, asides, inspirations, quickfire theories, storylines and melodic progressions that galvanise a chemical reaction for each dramatic scene that unfolds on this genre-traversing seven song epic.

One listen to opening track ‘Oh, Louise’ underlines the range of Marina’s talent, it’s a filmic play on words, with an arrangement that’s like a Kate Bush dream sequence. It’s the perfect foil for the plaintive strum of ‘Sleeper Train’, a haunting, folky paean fit for Judee Sill brought up to date with some echoey electric guitar; or the conversational ‘Believer’; with a nod to Joni Mitchell in the lyrics it sounds every bit like Simon And Garfunkel at their Big Apple best listening to the ‘7 O’Clock News’ re-imagined on Sunset. The stuff of legend for a voice that surfs many musical tangents, hovers, and persists, that stings with honesty; morphing from Karen Carpenter’s gentle reverence to Laura Nyro’s soulful grit, moving through the phases like some possessed Dada performance artist before throwing in a melody from Joni at her jazziest or from the close harmonies of the lamented Roches when they flipped out with Robert Fripp. ‘Candlepower’ is a juxtaposition of melodies, an achingly beautiful set of songs set against the clank of the mundane world, a beguiling commentary on the everyday and everywhere. It’s all here, in under 20 minutes… every second counts.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Oh, Louise
A2 Original Goodness
A3 Belong Here
A4 Sleeper Tran
B1 Believer
B2 Ophelia
B3 Reunion

LA-based musician Marina Allen’s spectacular debut proper, and follow up to last years acclaimed 18 minute mini-opus, ‘Candlepower’.

‘Centrifics’ is a joyful collection of observations and questions about the self, the world, and how they interact. Awe-inspiring reflections accompany mesmerizing melodies while Allen’s extraordinary range and depth of singing showcases a wide array of influences from Karen Carpenter to Karen Dalton, from Joanna Newsom to Fiona Apple, from Cate Le Bon to Waxahatchee, via Meredith Monk and the New York avant-garde.

Produced, engineered and mixed by Chris Cohen. Co-engineered by Jonny Kosmo.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
A1 Celadon
A2 Getting Better
A3 Or Else
A4 Smoke Bush
A5 Superreality
Side B
B1 New Song Rising
B2 Halfway Home
B3 My Stranger
B4 Foul Weather Jacket Drawing
B5 Gardiner's Island

The third album of powerfully vivid songwriting from Marina Allen. Beautifully orchestrated, highly melodic and delivered with unrivalled lyrical perspective. Across two acclaimed records, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter has ripened a rare harvest, but her third studio album is an arrival home.

Taking fragments and stories from Marina’s past, Eight-Pointed Star deftly weaves together a new future, in what feels for all the world like a glittering, clear-eyed modern classic of alternative folk and Americana. For fans of Aldous Harding, Fiona Apple and Waxahatchee.

Ineffable and timeless, this collection of songs holds a curiosity that’s as open to you as you are to them. Compared to the soaring and swelling compositions of Allen’s second album Centrifics or the innocent tranquillity of Candlepower, the world of Eight Pointed Star is more deeply addressing and open-armed. It favours a type of soul-searching that doesn’t dwell in complications, and is open to answers. Rolling guitars rise and fall with the canyons and dust is kicked-up from the red scarred earth. Allen’s vocals pure and crystalline whilst the instrumentation is rich and bursting with brightness. You can hear contentment radiating from the music, with Chris Cohen’s production offering a full-band affair.

Allen’s affection runs deepest for singers who in her words can really sing, from The Roches to Karen Dalton, Joanna Newsom to Meredith Monk. But these influences vanish like ghosts in the attic when she starts to sing herself. Allen has a voice that stands up to the canon – inimitable – and it’s never sounded more resolute than it does here.

TRACK LISTING

A1 I'm The Same
A2 Deep Fake
A3 Red Cloud
A4 Swinging Doors
A5 Bad Eye Opal
B1 Easy
B2 Love Comes Back
B3 Landlocked
B4 Between Seasons

Matt Anniss's critically acclaimed alternative history of UK dance music in the acid house era returns in updated and expanded form. Named by Rolling Stone UK as one of the best books on British music culture, Join The Future puts forward a persuasive new argument about the origins of UK club culture's longrunning love affair with bass. Since the dawn of the 1990s, Britain's dancefloors have moved to a string of styles built around skeletal rhythms and heavy sub-bass, including breakbeat hardcore, jungle, drum & bass, dubstep, UK garage, grime and bassline. Yet another previously overlooked sound pre-dated them all: bleep and bass, or bleep techno, the first distinctly British form of electronic dance music.

A stunning survey of the 1970s heyday of this great Japanese singer and countercultural icon. Deep-indigo, dead-of-night enka, folk and blues, inhaling Billie Holiday and Nina Simone down to the bone. A traditional waltz abuts Nico-style incantation; defamiliarised versions of Oscar Brown Jr and Bessie Smith collide with big-band experiments alongside Shuji Terayama; a sitar-led psychedelic wig-out runs into a killer excursion in modal, spiritual jazz. Existentialism and noir, mystery and allure, hurt and hauteur. With excellent notes by Alan Cummings and the fabulous photographs of Hitoshi Jin Tamura. Hotly recommended.

TRACK LISTING

Nemuru No Ga Kowai
Chicchana Toki Kara (Live)
Blue Spirit Blues
Fushiawase To Lu Na No Neko
Govinda
Chicchana
Toki Kara
Boro To Furutetsu
Aisa Nai No Aise Nai No
Uramado
Kamome
Machi
Gogo
Zenkamono No
Christmas
Hikkoshi
Cabaret
Konna Fūni Sugite Iku No
Nara
Onna
Yuki Ga Furu

Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke joins the Hoodna Orchestra, Tel Aviv’s number one Afro funk collective, melding his enchanting vibraphone playing with their brass heavy force across seven original compositions that play tribute to the classic Mulatu sound while forging fresh paths. Produced by and featuring Dap-King Neal Sugarman, the results are gritty, yet majestic, soulful and uplifting.

TRACK LISTING

1. Tension
2. Major
3. Hatula
4. Yashan
5. Delilah
6. Dung Gate

Strut present the official reissue of a landmark album in the field of African music, Mulatu Astatke’s ‘Mulatu Of Ethiopia’ from 1972. Recorded in New York, the album arrived at a time when Astatke had begun to master the delicate fusion of styles needed to create Ethio jazz. “I left the UK for America and studied at Berklee College in Boston. I learnt the technical aspects of jazz and gained a beautiful understanding of many different types of music. That’s where I got my tools. Berklee really shook me up.”

Journeying regularly to the Big Apple to play and watch live shows at the Cheetah, the Palladium and the Village Gate, Astatke met producer Gil Snapper on the circuit. “Gil was a nice and very interesting guy. He produced music and worked with all kinds of musicians.” The meeting would lead to a series of albums on Snapper’s Worthy label, Astatke began to hone his sound, infusing funk and Azmari “chik- chikka” rhythms into the mix. Returning to a downtown Manhattan studio with Snapper and working with some of the city’s top young jazz and latin session players, ‘Mulatu Of Ethiopia’ began to take shape. “We rehearsed for 3-4 weeks,” remembers Astatke. “it took them a while to get the right feeling in the music.”

The resultant album represented the first fully formed document of Astatke’s trademark Ethio jazz sound. It features ‘Kulunmanqueleshi’, ‘Dewel’, and ‘Kasalefku-Hulu’, tracks that Mulatu would return to regularly on singles and in live shows, the Ethio- Latin workout ‘Chifara’ and the self-titled groover ‘Mulatu’ (“I wanted to make a track for.... myself!”).

TRACK LISTING

A1. Mulatu
A2. Mascaram Setaba
A3. Dewel
B1. Kulunmanqueleshi
B2. Kasalefkut-hulu
B3. Munaye
B4. Chifara

In celebration of the label's 25th anniversary, Strut have released a special edition of a landmark album within the realm of African music - Mulatu Astatke's 'Mulatu Of Ethiopia’. Recorded in New York in 1972, this pivotal album marks a juncture in Astatke's musical journey when he adeptly fused various styles to craft the distinctive genre known as Ethio-jazz.

For this special edition, the release features the original stereo mix of the full album, as well as a special ‘mono-mix’ of each track retrieved from the original 2" tapes, pressed on opaque white vinyl 2LP.

TRACK LISTING

1. Mulatu (Stereo Mix)
2. Mascaram Setaba (Stereo Mix)
3. Dewel (Stereo Mix)
4. Kulunmanqueleshi (Stereo Mix)
5. Kasalefkut-Hulu (Stereo Mix)
6. Munaye (Stereo Mix)
7. Chifara (Stereo Mix)
8. Mulatu (Mono Mix)
9. Mascaram Setaba (Mono Mix)
10. Dewel (Mono Mix)
11. Kulunmanqueleshi (Mono Mix)
12. Kasalefkut-Hulu (Mono Mix)
13. Munaye (Mono Mix)
14. Chifara (Mono Mix)

Strut presents Mulatu Plays Mulatu, the first major studio album in over 10 years from the father of Ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke.

Featuring masterful new arrangements of some of his classic compositions, Mulatu Plays Mulatu finds Mulatu revisiting the sounds that helped to change the face of Ethiopian music during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The album was recorded between London and Addis Ababa, working with his long-standing UK band, a tight, intuitive ensemble honed through years of live performance, alongside cultural musicians resident at his Jazz Vi lage club in Addis. Mulatu Plays Mulatu realises Mulatu’s long-term vision of Ethio-jazz, intricately balancing Western jazz arrangements with the rich sounds of traditional Ethiopian instruments including the krar, masenqo, washint, kebero and begena. Throughout the album, he reshapes familiar material with rich textures, expanded improvisations and a deepened rhythmic complexity, creating a body of work that feels as vital and contemporary as it does steeped in tradition. Familiar compositions like ‘Yekermo Sew’, ‘Netsanet’ and the celebratory ‘Kulun’ are reinvented here as elegant big band performances.

“Ethio-jazz brings us together and makes us one,” explains Mulatu. “This album is the culmination of my work bringing this music to the world and pays respect to our unsung heroes, the original musical scientists in Ethiopia who gave us our cultural music.”

Bridging continents and generations throughout his 50-year career, Astatke now offers us an invitation to hear his music again, with a completely fresh perspective. Ethio-jazz, like its creator, is always in motion.

Mulatu Plays Mulatu was produced by Dexter Story and features contemporary artists LA-based artists Carlos Niño and Kibrom Birhane. The album was recorded and mixed by Isabel Gracefield at RAK Studios in London and by Dexter Story in Addis. The inspired album artwork was created by acclaimed Oslo-based Ethiopian artist, Wendimagegn Belete with photography by Alexis Maryon.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The Ethio-jazz godfather returns for a brand new album, clearly showing how his dedication to the preservation of classic Ethiopian music has shaped the appreciation of it throughout the world. One of the true legends and pioneers, in the finest form of his stellar career.

TRACK LISTING

LP
A1. Zelesenga Dewel
A2. Kulun
A3. Netsanet
B1. Yekermo Sew
B2. Chik Chikka
B3. Motherland
B4. Yekatit

CD
1. Zelesenga Dewel
2. Kulun
3. Netsanet
4. Yekermo Sew
5. Azmari
6. Chik Chikka
7. The Way To Nice
8. Motherland Intro
9. Motherland
10. Mulatu
11. Yekati

Vibraphone and keyboard player, master arranger and bandleader, Mulatu Astatke is one of the all-time greats of Ethiopian music and the creator of his own original music form, Ethio jazz. Through the acclaimed Ethiopiques album series and through featuring on the soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers, his music has belatedly reached a global audience and a new, younger generation of fans. In November of last year, he recorded an inspired new album with London psych jazz band The Heliocentrics for Strut’s ‘Inspiration Information’ studio collaboration series. Now, Strut are proud to present, for the first time anywhere, the definitive Mulatu career retrospective covering his landmark ‘60s and ‘70s recordings.

Mulatu is a true pioneer of African music. He was the first Ethiopian musician of his generation to travel extensively and to record abroad – he studied in the UK in Wales and at Trinity College Of Music in London, cutting his teeth on the buoyant London jazz scene of the early ‘60s. He became the first African student to attend Harvard and he lived and recorded in New York, developing a unique sound that fused Western jazz with traditional Ethiopian melodies.

Tracing the progression of his Ethio jazz experiments with full access to all of the labels for whom he recorded, Mulatu Astatke: New York-Addis-London is the essential Mulatu. Covering his first recordings in the UK during 1965, his groundbreaking fusions for the small Worthy label in New York and his key ‘70s recordings back in Addis on Amha, Phillips and Axum, the album features comprehensive sleeve notes by Miles Cleret, boss of the excellent Soundway Records imprint, and rare, previously unseen photos from Mulatu’s personal archive.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Yèkèrmo Sèw
A2. I Faram Gami I Faram
A3. Shagu
A4. Emnete
A5. Mulatu
B1. Yègelé Tezeta
B2. Asiyo Bellema
B3. Ebo Lala
B4. Fikratchin
B5. Yefikir Tizita
C1. Dèwèl
C2. Yèkatit
C3. Girl From Addis Ababa
C4. Mascaram Setaba
C5. Ené Alantchie Alnorem
D1. Nétsanét
D2. Kasalèfkut Hulu
D3. Wubit
D4. Lanchi Biye
D5. Tezeta

The first official account of the iconic record label. This Mortal Coil, Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Pixies, Throwing Muses, Breeders, Dead Can Dance, Lisa Germano, Kristin Hersh, Belly, Red House Painters. Just a handful of the bands and artists who started out recording for 4AD, a record label founded by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1979, and which went on to be one of the most influential of the modern era.

Combining the unique tastes of Watts-Russell and the striking design aesthetic of Vaughan Oliver, 4AD records were recognisable by their look as much their sound. In this comprehensive account concentrating on the label’s first two decades (now updated with extensive new material 13 years after the paperback was first published), music journalist Martin Aston explores the fascinating story with unique access to all the key players and almost every artist who released a record on 4AD during that time, and to its notoriously reclusive founder. With a cover designed by Vaughan Oliver, this is an essential book for all 4AD fans and anyone who loved and loves the music of this period.

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, one of the preeminent musicians, orchestrators, arrangers and composers of our time, presents his magnum opus. 12 years in the making, ‘Les Jardins Mystiques Vol.1’ comprises three and a half hours of music spanning jazz, modern classical and ambient.

Composed, arranged and produced by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson with contributions from 50+ friends and family including Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, DOMi & JD Beck, Jeff Parker, Carlos Niño, Austin Peralta, Bennie Maupin, Lara Somogyi, Jamael Dean, Jamire Williams, Burniss Travis II, Deantoni Parks, Brandon Coleman, Marcus Gilmore and more.

For fans of Flying Lotus, Floating Points with LSO & Pharoah Sanders, Kamasi Washington, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ólafur Arnalds.

Miguel joined an all-star lineup at the Hollywood Bowl recently, to conduct the Los Angeles Studio Orchestra in a performance of ‘Promises’, the acclaimed 2021 album recorded by Floating Points with the late tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders.

Miguel has released music on cult indie labels such as Ninja Tune, Kindred Spirits and International Anthem.

He is best known to hip-hop fans for his stunning orchestral tribute to the music of James ‘Dilla’ Yancey - ‘Mochilla Presents Timeless: Suite for Ma Dukes’ in 2009.

TRACK LISTING

Disc 01:
1. Kiseki
2. Persinette
3. Narva
4. Eudaimonia
5. Porpita
6. Nazo No Tenkai (Ernok)
7. Mångata
8. Ano Yo
9. Zarra
10. Kairos (Amor Fati)
11. Magnolia (Aisling)
12. Cho Oyu
13. Matumaini
14. Zoticus

Disc 02:
1. Légäsi
2. Votivus
3. Querencia
4. Kundinyota
5. Dragons Of Eden
6. Eunoia
7. Znaniya (Falkor)
8. Tzedakah
9. Apocrypha
10. Asherah
11. Plotinus
12. Kairos (Kefi)
13. Qumran
14. Makaria
15. Kupaianaha
16. Taijasa
17. Vesta
18. Ziggurat

Disc 03:
1. Ziya
2. Scar
3. Let The Light Shine In
4. Komorebi
5. Daydream
6. Dream Dance
7. Apotheosis
8. Magnolia (Astronomia Nova)
9. Moksha
10. Datsuzoku
11. Hypatia
12. Kuleana
13. Aldous
14. Jijivisha
15. Paititi
16. Airavata
17. Znaniya (Ahura Mazda)
18. Nag Hammadi
19. Halcyon
20. Sweet Invitation

Thanks to a thrown beer bottle and a fan letter to a P.O. box, Melissa Auf der Maur's first band scored an opening slot for the Smashing Pumpkins in her bohemian home town, Montreal. Sensing Melissa's talent, Billy Corgan recommended her to Courtney Love.

Whisked from her local scene, Melissa joined Hole just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and Hole's prior bassist, Kristen Pfaff, with the just-widowed Courtney Love at the centre of it all. That was only the beginning of Melissa's journey through alternative rock, a trip she undertook alongside 90s luminaries including Rufus Wainwright, Michael Stipe and her former boyfriend, Dave Grohl. Even the Good Girls Will Cry is a vivid dispatch from the last analogue decade, capturing that bygone era in all its messy, angsty glory.

Devils Ghosts and Firearms is Mike Badger’s first studio album in almost a decade. The album reflects Mike’s love of homespun & RnR roots music; Americana, Rockabilly, Pop and Country Blues, created with his raw DIY Punk ethos. Feat. guest performances from members of Lightning Seeds, The Christians, Furious, The La’s, The Shakers, Nashville’s Barflies, Mojave Collective, Jazzophonists, and Seprona.

RIYL: Alt-Country, Michael Head, Jay Farrar, John Martyn, Steve Earle, Chuck Prophet.

TRACK LISTING

(A1) Ghost In This Machine
(A2) Growing Older So Gracefully
(A3) Wolfman
(A4) Shoot Me In The Head (If I Ever Become One Of Them)
(A5) Beach Buggies On The Moon!
(A6) How The Hell It Come To This?
(A7) Sunset On Levant
(B8) Keep ‘Em Busy (So They Don’t Look Up)
(B9) Dark Side Of The Mountain
(B10) Sci Fi Hot Rod Messiah
(B11) Cudda Wudda Shudda
(B12) Half Bottle O’ Whisky
(B13) Who Am I Now?
(B14) Devils Ghosts And Firearms

I Tried Words began with words, mostly words. Moriah Bailey laid the lyrics out on several pages. The words were crafted over many months with feedback from Bailey’s sister and input from the growing melodies and body of music that began to take shape around those words. The contributing musicians, Sarah Reid (violin), Ryan Robinson (percussion), and Ricky Tutaan (guitar), recorded their own parts and sent them to Bailey. The result is lush, intricate arrangements that complement a solid base of harp and vocals.

The album explores dualities: yes/no, future/past, darkness/light, giving/taking, masculinity/femininity, wants/needs. It is in part about Moriah Bailey’s struggle to learn healthy boundaries but also about the harmfulness, complexity, and entanglement of many social boundaries.

With I Tried Words, Bailey relies less on experimental sounds, and instead, lyrically focuses on her struggles to understand and make sense of definitions and expectations of femininity. It explores these themes through an intimate narrative of losing oneself in a relationship and struggling to find a way out of the relationship.

The album ends with a triumphant goodbye and joyous new beginning in “Not Staying”. She sings: “I contorted my body and stretched myself thin to form a bridge between now and when. So, as I'm gathering my strength to say goodbye, please quit saying I should've tried.”

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A:
1. Wishful Thoughts
2. A Late Spring
3. The Downpour
4. So You Say…
SIDE B:
5. The Ocean LIfe
6. My Father’s Words
7. My Mother’s Words
8. Not Staying

"Laughing Boy", the second solo album from Matteah Baim, was recorded in Chicago, where it was produced, arranged, and mixed by Baim with engineer Jamie Carter. Expanding on the sounds hinted at with her previous band, Metallic Falcons, and her first solo record, "Death of The Sun", Baim has created her most lush and beautiful recordings yet with "Laughing Boy". Matteah Baim was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1996, at the age of 17, she moved to California to study painting and drawing at the San Francisco Art Institute. After graduating, Baim moved to New York where she met Sierra Casady. In 2005, the duo began to write music together and formed the 'soft metal' Metallic Falcons. Voodoo Eros released their first record, "Desert Doughnuts", in 2006, recorded in Brooklyn, New Mexico, and Chicago, with performances by Antony, Devendra Banhart, Jana Hunter, and Greg Rogove. After the Metallic Falcons disbanded, Baim moved to Los Angeles and began writing and recording material (both at her Venice Beach home and at Chicago's CarterCo studio) for "Death Of The Sun". She spent the next two years touring and writing material for "Laughing Boy", working on music for several films, and exhibiting drawings.

Melanie Baker makes music about everything that hurts and everything that feels just right. Based in Newcastle (UK), she writes with unflinching honesty — songs that sway between noisy catharsis and quiet confession, between absurd humour and deep vulnerability. With pounding drums, fuzzy guitars, and tender lyrical precision, Baker reclaims the grit and spirit of ’90s alt-rock through a queer, modern lens.

TRACK LISTING

1. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!
2. Sad Clown
3. HAHA!
4. Bored
5. Why Would I Want To Be Just Like You? A6 - Cabin Fever
6. My Head Fell Off Last Night B2 - Real Life
7. City Strange
8. Bye Bye, Loser Blues
9. Slugs
10. You’ll Get Better

One of the more unexpected - if worthwhile - by products of the 21st-century underground American folk revival is a renewed interest in solo acoustic guitar music. Spare, haunting, pastoral sounds have struck a new chord, and the names John Fahey and Takoma are hip again. Matt Baldwin, raised in California's rustic Pacific Grove, educated in the alternative mecca of Berkeley, sits in the center of this quiet, swirling scene. He is the visionary wildcard of today's solo guitar music, the ambitious fever dreamer, the serpent in the grass. Unlike many of his peers, he looks beyond the traditions of Fahey (whom he calls 'a teacher', not a god), bringing portentous and progressive elements into his music, alongside a dreamy country lilt. He covers krautrock legends Neu! ("Weissensee") and metal Vikings Judas Priest ("Winter"), and culls inspiration from prog heroes yes on the closing epic "Rainbow". His music comes on like a creeping moss, verdant but threatening, comforting yet unsettling.

A$AB Mob affiliate Marty Baller, started his career out as A$AP Ferg’s hype man, before becoming a serious solo artistic his own right. The last year and a half has seen Baller steadily building up to the release of ‘Baller Nation’ with co signs from A$AP Mob and support tours with the likes of Future. ‘Baller Nation’ is Marty’s second mixtape, following 2016’s ‘Marty G Raw.’ The concise 10 track tape sees Marty upping the stakes, with confident lyrics, big trap beats and an all start features list including A$AP FERG, Rich The Kid, Rob $tone and Smooky Margeilaa. Omerta Inc will be bringing Marty Baller’s ‘Baller Nation’ to vinyl for the very first time, to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the albums original release. Limited to 150 copies pressed onto 180gm cocaine white vinyl. Each copy will be individually hand numbered in gold pen and come housed in a high quality matte finish sleeve with original artwork

TRACK LISTING

1. First Quarter
2. Gladys Knight (ft 5Am & Reese LAFLARE)
3. Do My Thing (ft Madein-TYO)
4. I'm On The Moon
5. Slick Talk (ft Rob $tone)
6. Like Mike (ft A$AP Ferg, SMOOKY Margielaa & Aexyz)
7. Send Em My Way (ft A$AP Ferg)
8. Rambo (ft Rich The Kid)
9. Nothing Wasted
10. Throw The Money Away

Banabila returns with a second LP release on Knekelhuis. The renowned Dutch producer is up there among the stars when it comes to ambient music and the so-called ‘fourth world’ legacy. On this eleven-track album, we witness soul-wrenching, kraut-tinted, and early-yet-modernist electronics.

Coming from his heart, these imaginative recordings center around otherworldly voices – fictional characters chanting in a made-up language, imbued with a captivating spirit, transcending linguistic barriers. Through remarkable complexity and technique, 'Unspeakable Visions' is full of sonic textures, together evoking a layered, emotional arc.

While the track 'Rattles' still references the artist's first album on Knekelhuis, 'Echo Transformations', the style of most other tracks departs towards an intriguing new mix of both pop-infused songs and gloomy abstraction, balancing between a sense of anticipation and desolation.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Real trippy weirdness with moments of cerebrum-popping brilliance. Granular sound design, fractal glitches, manipulated organica... A truly immersive long player for your next mushroom ritual.

TRACK LISTING

Viva Voce
Vowels Of Love
Darker And Darker
Hometapers Tricky Universe
So Far Yet So Near
Your Words Against Mine
Rattles
Little Star
AI Brainfire
Sounds From An Unforgettable Place 1 (Uv Remix)
Unspeakable Visions

Ever since he released his music in the early '80s Michel Banabila has been hard to pinpoint to a specific genre or style. His musical output includes jazz, experimental cut-up electronics, world music (especially influenced by the Fourth World music as developed by Jon Hassell), New Age, eclectic pop tunes, music for dance or other stage projects, and soundtracks for TV. Some listeners may have found it difficult throughout the years to find their way in this versatile output.

For this particular release, Bureau B chose a different approach. Instead of archiving early works from the 1980s, Wah-Wah Whispers focuses on Banabila's more recent output. It is a collection of works showcasing many facets of his music: a journey visiting the minimal and cinematic sample scape, contemplative ambient / fourth world scenes and more. The album ends with a kaleidoscope of atmospheres gradually building up to a noise climax.

DISCOVER the BEST places on the planet to buy records – Marcus Barnes’s updated guide is a MUST-READ for all vinyl lovers, crate diggers and music fans. Looking for the best place in Europe to buy electronic music? Want to get lost in the racks of the world’s biggest independent record store? Are you constantly in search of the undiscovered, the original, the cult, the lost classics? Around the World in 80 Record Stores offers a unique look at where music lovers need to go to feed their addiction for new records. Boasting a truly global outlook – featuring stores everywhere from Iceland and India to the coolest cities in Europe, the US and the UK, plus the mecca for crate diggers that is Japan – each entry includes plenty of interesting details about the record store, including the music genres sold, the store's opening date and facts about its history and quirks. Showcasing the best places to buy house, indie, jazz, rock, hip-hop, afrobeat and everything in between, this is an essential companion for all record junkies.

Two more Soopastole edits (that’s twelve and counting) of some damn funky tunes. A side is the more chilled offering from Myra Barnes whilst the flip will get the party started for sure.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Myra Barnes - The Message From The Soul Sisters
B1. Barbara Gwen - Right On (To The Street Called Love)

Featuring the otherworldly vocals of the legendary jazz singer Norma Winstone whose vocals were recently sampled in Drake's 2023 chart topping single IDGAF (feat. Yeat) and Leo Taylor (Floating Points, Hot Chip, Joy Crookes) on drums, the EP is the amalgamation of Barrott's long term fascination with sunset music, and the ways the change of seasons impact the way we co-exist with the sun. As winter draws closer and we move on from the Autumn equinox to Winter solstice, Barrott's latest release captures the transformative yet paradoxical feeling of melancholy over the end of Summer and the start of winter while creating an eerie sensation of serenity.

The EP follows from the release of Barrott's critically acclaimed and deeply personal 2024 album Everything Changes, Nothing Ends.

The new EP sees Barrott return to his beloved sunset music, as he continues his eternal quest to find new ways to soundtrack this sacred Ibiza moment.

Crowned as the"master of sunset music"by Pitchfork, Barrott's new EP is filled with celestial grandeur that stops you in your tracks. A profound musical meditation and an homage to the sunsets of the Autumn months, the EP captures the sonic poetry of the changing skies and the seasons.

The haunting combination of Barrott's production & arrangement skills, Taylor's jazz drums and Winstone's endlessly ethereal vocals soar in a harmonious union across the title track of the EP while the openerI Am The Starssummons you in for a brief respite from the cacophony of the modern world. The wistful second trackMy Blue Heartlingers with you with its melancholic jazz horns swelling side by side with Winstone's vocals while the closing trackI Am The Airfloats through your ears with its sublime contemplativeness. I Am The Sun, You Are The Moonsees Barrott returning to his sonic ruminations on sunsets, however they are more profound and life affirming than ever.

"At the end of the summer, on a clear bright starry night I climbed to the top of a mountain in Ibiza with a pair of headphones and listened to these tracks and lost myself in the vastness of the night sky and the endlessness of Norma's voice. At that moment everything made sense in my world for the first time in a long while and it just felt right", Mark Barrott says.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Am The Stars (feat. Norma Winstone & Leo Taylor)
2. My Blue Heart (feat. Norma Winstone & Leo Taylor)

Most music does not come out of nowhere. Arising and appearing in a pre-existing system of influences, cross-references, roots, memories and desires, it either directly points towards a heritage or into the future. Mark Barrott’s "Nature Sounds of the Balearics" is a bit of both. The mastermind behind the International Feel label and the Sketches from an Island series presents an intermediary.

Technically, it’s his departure from a software based workflow and onto (or back to) a hardware driven creative point of view. Philosophically, it deals with the schizophrenia of our times: the late Paul Virgilio’s dromology and logistics of perception versus a decelerated life outside of cities, internet algorhythmics (sic!) versus meditation, the excessive stock market (all track titles are derivates of that world) against a tactile way of living.
Musically, it is the outcome of what Barrott himself described as his "techno album". For people whose definition of techno has to do with speed (again) and kick drums that might seem like a misinterpretation. Listeners who remember the Artificial Intelligence and Freezone compilations, various chill out channels or Detroit’s mellow moments, will tend to agree. "Nature Sounds of the Balearics" miraculously evokes those days and times, without breaking his neck. It is as much at home in a Caribbean water utopia between dolphins and old fishing boats as it feels current and applicable in a Ridley Scott dystopia. And if meta levels aren't your thing: it’s just a beautiful album.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Moving away slightly from the beach-bound cocktail-fuelled halcyon lysergia of the previous outings, Barrott opts for off-kilter melodies and hardware-based sequencing to create a more rhythmically diverse offering, as fascinating as it is engrossing. Lovely stuff.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Aroon
A2. Morning Star
A3. Point & Figure
A4. Heikin-Ashi
A5. TRIX
B1. Keltner & Chalkin
B2. Ichimoku
B3. Donchian Reprise
B4. Boolean Hawks
B5. Evening Star 

Mixing classical and contemporary sound, Mario Batkovic seeks to explore the sonic possibilities of the accordion, without effects or loops, rather through a mutualist symbiotic relationship between man and instrument. Challenging, hypnotic and grandiose; Batkovic’s symphonic vision is unique and he has received widespread critical acclaim, including Rolling Stone magazine who voted his self-titled debut album in the Top 10 ‘Best Avant Albums of 2017’

‘Introspectio’ is a self-questioning, self-examination of society and the meaning of sound. Featuring collaborations with electronic sorcerer James Holden and former BEAK> member Matthew Williams aka MXLX, in addition to drummer Clive Deamer (Radiohead/Portishead/Robert Plant/Roni Size), saxophonist Colin Stetson and concert choir Cantus Domus, Batkovic questions the place of sound, clichés and prejudices, taking the listener on a journey through infinite universes of sound.

Musical contrasts run throughout the album. Sound aesthetics versus compositional ethics play out, it all about creation and destruction as our sound researcher creates his very own macrocosm of music and sound. Whether solo or in collaboration, ‘Introspectio’ invites us on a rhythmically pulsating trip somewhere between dissolution and new beginnings.

TRACK LISTING

SANATIO
REPERTIO (w/ Clive Deamer & MXLX)
CHOREA DUPLEX (w/ James Holden)
QUIS EST QUIS (w/ Colin Stetson)
SURROGATUM
PRIMORDIUM FINALE

Dream Violence, Michael Beach’s fourth full-length, is an epic album that explores the duality of the human condition. Or, as Beach himself puts it, the album is about “human futility, passion, desire, anger, frustration, and the struggle to maintain hope in a somewhat hopeless time.” Dream Violence, then, addresses the existential crisis of being an artist in 2020. Known for his work touring with the Australian guitar pop band Thigh Master and the late, brilliantly eccentric Israeli guitarist Charlie Megira, currently the focus of a number of reissues by the Numero Group, Beach is the architect of a sound that is both well-built and ramshackle, straightforward and indeterminably complex, out of the norm yet familiar in all the best ways. Dream Violence unfolds like a revelation, filled with sonic tumbleweeds that reference Neil Young’s On the Beach, Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, the Velvet Underground’s Loaded, and the Go Betweens’ Before Hollywood. Influences ranging from the enigmatic outlier Megira to Glenn Branca to the Oblivians are combined to create a new, exhilarating sound, part of the path that Beach has been on since 2008’s Blood Courses. A veteran of year-end indie rock round ups beginning with Golden Theft in 2013 and continuing with Gravity/Repulsion, released in 2017, Beach distills the best of those early albums and adds sharpened intent.

TRACK LISTING

1. Irregardless
2. De Facto Blues
3. The Tower
4. Metaphysical Dice
5. You Know, Life Is Cheap
6. Spring
7. Curtain Of Night
8. You Found Me Out
9. Dream Violence
10. Sometimes I Get That Cold Feeling

Killer and classic 80s Roots Rubadub from the wonderful Reggae diva, Melody Beecher! An obscure cover version, with a star-studded rhythm section, including the likes of Sly & Robbie. Some amazing stories about these days, when working with Paul Beecher on reissuing this gem. All the way from Houston, Texas!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Only One You
B1. Instrumental Version

Big Crown Records is proud to announce Marco Benevento to the family with his unstoppable debut 7”. A true piano virtuoso who’s been playing since the age of seven, Marco’s career has taken him around the world many times over, earning him a deep discography and a reputation as an in-demand session player.??Big Crown co-founder and Grammy-winning producer Leon Michels first brought Marco into the fold during the recording of El Michels Affair’s Adult Themes album, and he’s been lending his talents to countless Big Crown projects ever since. Outside the label, Marco’s unmistakable touch can be heard on records by Clairo, Kevin Morby, and Freddie Gibbs, among others.??But enough about what he’s done for everyone else—this release is Marco at his finest: doing his own thing, and doing it well. The A-side, “Frizzante,” is pure celebration captured on wax, waiting for the needle to set it free. It’s a high-energy, feel-good banger that finds Marco trading melodies with himself over a relentless groove. From the first note, the infectious topline riff hooks you in, giving way to cascading piano runs, lush horn arrangements, and layers of electric piano and synths that keep the energy rising. There’s no lull, no letup—just a proper soul-jazz dancefloor affair.??On the flip side, Marco shows an entirely different shade of his sound with “Turnadot,” featuring Italy’s own Marianne Mirage. Hauntingly beautiful and cinematic, the song sits comfortably between Portishead and Serge Gainsbourg. Marianne’s vocals float over Marco’s perfectly balanced arrangement—his production both restrained and expressive, making the tune universally captivating, whether or not you speak Italian.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
FRIZZANTE
Side B
TURANDOT Feat. MARIANNE MIRAGE

A new chapter, a new-line-up, a newly minted sound; Miki Berenyi Trio's debut album 'Tripla' is a landmark record for its three creators: Miki Berenyi, KJ 'Moose' McKillop and Oliver Cherer.

The album's richly layered, imaginative and uniquely slanted strain of dream pop is an often euphoric and sometimes melancholic mix of guitars and electronica, fronted by Miki's instantly recognisable vocal, overlaid with an often profound and sometimes abrasive or yearning view of the world.

Miki Berenyi Trio, or MB3 for short, is named after its lead singer - a direct way to convey the presence of the former singer/co-guitarist of Lush, and one of the most instantly recognisable faces of the '90s - but the songwriting is entirely a three-way collaboration, as the album title describes: acknowledging the mother tongue of Miki's father, 'Tripla' is Hungarian for 'triple'.

Miki and Moose, who came of age during the era of shoegaze and Britpop in Lush and the equally beloved Moose respectively, arrived here from Piroshka, which the couple formed in 2017 with drummer Justin Welch (ex-Elastica) and bassist Mick Conroy (Modern English). When Mick broke his arm during the tour that followed Piroshka's second album 'Love Drips And Gathers', in stepped Oliver, Justin's bandmate in Aircooled and an eclectic, roving solo artist, under aliases such as Dollboy and Gilroy Mere.

With Mick moving to America, and Justin swamped by session work and live duties for The Jesus & Mary Chain and The Pretenders, Piroshka was put on ice, before the Miki-Moose-Oliver trio came together to play a handful of Lush songs whilst promoting her hugely acclaimed memoir Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success.A bout of songwriting sessions followed. "Nothing was planned," Oliver recalls. "It was more of an organic process."

Likewise, the gleaming, gliding MB3 sound. Minus a drummer, the trio incorporated drum machines behind Moose and Miki's guitars and Oliver's bass, which led to the addition of more electronic components. Freed too from the logistics of touring with a drumkit, MB3 have seized the chance to regularly play live, including support tours to Gang Of Four and Wedding Present (twice) plus regular headline shows, including summer 2024's US dates, supported by post-punk legends Lol Tolhurst x Budgie

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A beautifully psychedelic take on Berenyi's sound with the addition of the hugely talented Oliver Cherer and Moose McKillop. Where things previously were a little more muted, it feels like with the addition of a pair of likeminded collaborators and a raft of skill, the trio has opened Berenyi's sound right up. Expansive, beguiling psychedelic electronic music.

TRACK LISTING

1. 8th Deadly Sin
2. Kinch
3. Vertigo
4. Gango
5. Big I Am
6. Hurricane
7. Manu
8. Ubique
9. A Different Girl

'Compelling, funny, vivid.' Mojo
'Beautifully written.' Stylist
'Remarkable, revelatory.' The Times

Formed in 1988, Lush were part of the London gig scene during one of the most vibrant and creative periods in UK music. Now, Miki Berenyi tells all. From the bohemian ways of her father's social circle to the privileged glamour of her mother's acting career, Miki's young life was a blur of travel, celebrities and peripatetic schooling.

But frequent relocation, parental neglect and the dark presence of her abusive grandmother resulted in crippling shyness, mental-health issues and a vulnerability to exploitation. The route out of this hole was music - a passion shared by schoolmate Emma Anderson. The teenagers began attending gigs together and would ultimately go on to form Lush.

Talented and exuberant, the band became hot property, swiftly transitioning from shoegaze icons to Britpop darlings. Re-living the tours, recording sessions and music-industry madness they experienced along the way, this uncompromising memoir documents Lush's thrilling rise and untimely fall. Yet at the heart of the book are Miki's own battles: the conflict between her mouthy public persona and her thin-skinned private identity; the trials of being a woman in an infuriatingly male world; the struggle to find a middle ground between 'safe' indie obscurity and 'sell-out' international success.

Miki also explores her complicated relationship with Emma - one that has fluctuated between camaraderie and rivalry over the years - and addresses the devastating tragedy that led to the band's split. Told through frank confession, wry humour and searing emotional honesty, this is the incredible tale of a trailblazing woman and a seminal band.

'Get Sunk' is an ode to the infinite. It brings brush-stroked, blurry memories to the surface, amassing in a heap of colors and connections that stretches beyond individuality and into an endless altering. Under water, everything moves in slow motion and for Matt Berninger, he saw his creative voice slipping away with the current. But sometimes we have to drown to remember how to breathe. 'Get Sunk' is the purgative inhale. It’s seeing the undulating reflection in the water and realizing that you are not yourself without a thousand others: parents, friends, siblings, spouses and exes, college roommates, childhood best friends, cousins and kids, strangers even––all of it––make up the spirit of 'Get Sunk’s narrator. Berninger wanted to figure out why he loves what he does and it’s in the album’s collaborative spirit and loose, unfurling attitude that Berninger looked up and felt the warmth on his face. When we sink into ourselves, we’ll often find that we are actually swimming with others. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Matt Berninger finds his latest LP draped in the sort of thoughtful solemnity we find in the work of his parent band, but 'Get Sunk' has reaped the sonic benefits from crackly, saturated drift and staggered syncopated wooze.

TRACK LISTING

1. Inland Ocean
2. No Love
3. Bonnet Of Pins
4. Frozen Oranges
5. Breaking Into Acting Feat. Hand Habits
6. Nowhere Special
7. Little By Little
8. Junk
9. Silver Jeep Feat. Ronboy
10. Times Of Difficulty 

Serpentine Prison is the debut solo record from Matt Berninger front man of The National. The album, produced by renowned Memphis multi-instrumentalist Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. & The MG’s fame) will be released via Book Records, a new imprint formed by Berninger and Jones in conjunction with Concord Records.

“The song ‘Serpentine Prison’ was written in December 2018, about a week after recording The National’s I Am Easy to Find,” Berninger explains about the new track. “For a long time, I had been writing songs for movies and musicals and other projects where I needed to get inside someone else’s head and convey another person’s feelings. I liked doing that, but I was ready to dig back into my own garbage and this was the first thing that came out.”

Berninger continues, “The title is from a twisting sewer pipe that drains into the ocean near LAX. There’s a cage on the pipe to keep people from climbing out to sea. I worked on the song with Sean O’Brien and Harrison Whitford and recorded it about six months later with Booker T. Jones producing. It feels like an epilogue, so I named the record after it and put it last.”

The album features contributions from a wide array of notable artists, including Matt Barrick (The Walkmen, Jonathan Fire*Eater), Andrew Bird, Mike Brewer, Hayden Desser, Scott Devendorf (The National), Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie, Lenny Kravitz), Booker T. Jones, Teddy Jones, Brent Knopf (EL VY, Menomena), Ben Lanz (The National, Beirut), Walter Martin (The Walkmen, Jonathan Fire*Eater), Sean O'Brien, Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan), Kyle Resnick (The National, Beirut), Matt Sheehy (EL VY, Lost Lander) and Harrison Whitford (Phoebe Bridgers). Additional production on the album was provided by Sean O’Brien.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Matt Berninger has had our attention for a long time, fronting and writing songs for The National. It comes as a little surprise then, that he's smashed out a solo album with the band still fully intact (just not the done thing is it?). Anyway, he's forgiven because what we have here is a beautifully emotive but comfortingly different creative path than his 'Day Job'. How the songs keep flowing at this quality is beyond me, let's just hope they keep flowing.

TRACK LISTING

1. My Eyes Are T-Shirts
2. Distant Axis
3. One More Second
4. Loved So Little
5. Silver Springs
6. Oh Dearie
7. Take Me Out Of Town
8. Collar Of Your Shirt
9. All For Nothing
10. Serpentine Prison

Whether you’re familiar with Matt’s Live shows or want to understand what they are like, this album takes you there! From the excited audience chatter to the clarity of his pulsing KORG, each element resonates with perfect clarity. Berry and The Maypoles' musical prowess shines through their prog-folk excursions and trombone flairs which are reminiscent of an early Acid Jazz release, all with the a nod to Berry's surreal and panoramic world-view.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Innkeeper’s Song
2. So Low
3. October Sun
4. Take My Hand
5. Sorry (Theme From)
6. Solstice
7. Snuff Box
8. Song For Rosie
9. Medicine
10. Devil Inside Me
11. The Pheasant

Gather Up is the culmination of ten years on Acid Jazz for Matt Berry. Gather Up comes as a beautifully packaged 5LP Box set with a 64 page booklet or 4CD Hardback book-set with a 28 pages of illustrations and notes.

The 55 tracks are split between an anthology compilation that tracks the very best tracks from his 8 albums and associated singles for the label over the last decade, an album of unreleased tracks and rarities, a demo version of his 2020 album Phantom Birds and the previously unreleased Live At A Festival LP which showcases Matt & his band the Maypoles in full flight.

The book included in both formats has an extended essay by Chris Catchpole which review Matt’s musical career and an exclusive set of photo images culled from the archive of Matt’s long time photographic collaborator Ben Meadows.

The LP Box is strictly limited to 1500 copies and comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Matt.

TRACK LISTING

CD 1 - Gather Up
1. Take My Hand
2. Something In My Eye
3. Medicine
4. Badger's Wake
5. World In Action
6. One By One
7. Take A Bow
8. October Sun
9. So Low
10. Summer Sun
11. Gather Up
12. Theme From Snuff Box
13. Middle Of The East
14. Like Stone
15. Phantom Birds
16. Music For Insomniacs Part IV
17. Say It Again
18. The Innkeepers Song Live
19. Obsessed & So Obscure
20. Woman
21. Solstice

CD 2 - Rare & Unreleased
1. Bigger Than A Dog - Original Witchazel Intro
2. Take My Hand - Live On Absolute Radio
3. Autumn - Witchazel Outtake
4. The Dawn - From Myspace EP 'Summer Sun' 2010
5. Snuff Box - Live Loop Used Live Between 2005 - 2012
6. Catch Me In Time
7. Dark Beach - From Myspace EP 'Summer Sun' 2010
8. The Hangman - Acoustic Version 2007
9. Wonder Theme - Became 'Something In My Eye’
10. Music For Insomniacs - Alternative Intro
11. Theme From 'Sorry’ - Live From Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe 2007
12. Music For Insomnaics - Rejected Theme
13. Walk With Samuel - Devil Inside Me’
14. Blankety Blank - Vocal Intro
15. The Blue Elephant - Trip Two
16. Sweet Velvet - Became 'Seasons On Fire’
17. The Blue Elephant - Alternative

CD 3 - Phantom First
1. Covered In Clowns
2. Get Her Out Of My Mind
3. I'm Going
4. Make It Go Away
5. Peter Cleopatra And The Windmill
6. Play On
7. Take A Bow
8. The Preacher's House
9. A Shot Rang Out In The Forest
10. The Wrong House
11. Where's My Love?
12. You Danced All Night

CD 4 - Live At A Festival
1. Medicine / So Low
2. Silver Sun
3. Theme From Snuffbox
4. Solstice
5. The Pheasant

Following the huge acclaim earlier this year for Matt Berry’s eighth studio album The Blue Elephant, Acid Jazz Records release Gather Up, a compilation album encompassing the singular musical adventures this extraordinary musician has taken over the past decade, offering a revelatory and fascinating insight into the working process of a genuine musical maverick and sonic explorer.

Over 10 years with Acid Jazz Records Berry has released nine incredibly diverse albums (including one live album). From the tangled-folk rock thickets of Witchazel and Kill The Wolf (which features the song from which this box gets its name), to the out-there explorations of Music For Insomniacs or TV Themes’ retro-kitsch delights, through the soul power in Matt Berry & The Maypoles Live or the twilight grooves of The Small Hours to the classic pedal-steel songwriting of Phantom Birds and the smorgasbord of psychedelic sounds on The Blue Elephant, Berry’s journey has produced a feast for the ears that twists and turns down more unexpected avenues than most artists could manage over several careers. 

Gather Up pulls together an excellent 21-track career spanning collection expertly compiled by Berry, available as a separate, standalone release on 2LP or single CD, including non-album tracks such as ‘Snuff Box Theme’. No easy achievement considering the sheer breadth, diversity and volume of his exceptional musical output. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Take My Hand
2. Something In My Eye
3. Medicine
4. Badger's Wake
5. World In Action
6. One By One
7. Take A Bow
8. October Sun
9. So Low
10. Summer Sun
11. Gather Up
12. Theme From Snuff Box
13. Middle Of The East
14. Like Stone
15. Phantom Birds
16. Music For Insomniacs Part IV
17. Say It Again
18. The Innkeepers Song Live
19. Obsessed & So Obscure
20. Woman
21. Solstice 

In January 2025, Acid Jazz released ‘Heard Noises’, the latest album from Matt Berry. It was met with all-round acclaim, with wild sell-out Q&A sessions at Rough Trade, and an incredible buzz among fans and critics alike, as it immediately climbed to #22 on the Official UK Charts.

In the restless mind of Matt Berry, there was more of a story to be told around the album. Throughout the year he has worked with a number of his favourite people to create this Super Deluxe edition, which provides a new and definitive take on the album and its recording process.

Presented in a beautiful lift-off-lid boxset with new artwork, this ultimate ‘Heard Noises’ experience is limited to 1000 copies and contains the following beautifully curated components:

HEARD NOISES: Half-Speed Master Version. A new version of the album half-speed mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell. This process provides a unique and extremely high fidelity listening experience, giving a distinct perspective on the album. It is presented in a redesigned gatefold and printed inner sleeve.

BONUS TRACKS: A four-track twelve-inch vinyl EP, featuring the four bonus tracks from the sessions, including a previously unreleased cover of Beach House's 'Lover Of Mine’, featuring the vocals of Celia Fage. The other tracks are Snake Organ’ and ‘Screaming Walls’, which were only available on a limited retail CD, and ‘Crucifix Lane’ which appeared on an Acid Jazz compilation.

REMIXES: An eight-track vinyl album featuring remixes of ‘Heard Noises’ tracks by the likes of Tennis, Midfield General, Moog Cookbook, Andy Votel, Rodeo Clown, Project Gemini, Brian Kehew and Sean Ono Lennon. These explore the sonic landscape of the album and wander off into some exciting new vistas. The Moog Cookbook team present their first remix in over 25 years, and Tennis totally recast ‘Wedding Photo Stranger’.

REMIX PICTURE DISC: One album was too small to contain all of the brilliant remixes, so in an Acid Jazz first, also included is a picture disc 7-inch single that includes an extra mix by Sean Ono Lennon and Project Gemini respectively.

64 PAGE MAKING OF HEARD NOISES HARDBACK BOOK: A beautiful boxset-exclusive tome that is adorned with regular Matt Berry collaborator Ben Meadows' full colour photographs of the studio and instruments that were used in the making of the album, alongside a detailed commentary of what they are and what they mean to Matt. The book also rounds up the Rough Trade in-store promotional tour that launched the album, and Matt's trip to Abbey Road Studios to cut the halfspeed master.

POSTERS: Two high quality posters, showing the promotional adverts for the cassette and 8 Track cartridge version of the album

SIGNED PROMOTIONAL PHOTOGRAPH: Included in every box set, is a promotional photograph signed personally by Matt Berry.

Matt Berry returns with his first new solo album since 2021’s ‘Blue Elephant’. This time he delivers a Soul and West Coast Psych-inspired collection of songs, which attach an innate sense of melody to a lush, contemporary take on classic recording techniques. All of this is allied with Matt’s rich voice and unique lyrics.

The album’s opening single ‘I Gotta Limit’ is a sharp, pounding number with vocal duties shared with Kitty Liv. Elsewhere, there are collaborations with Eric D Johnson of The Shins, and Golden Globe-winning actress Natasha Lyonne. In the past four years Matt has been busy with a number of projects, including his Library Music collaboration with KPM ‘Simplicity’, and his EMMY award nominated role as Laszlo in ‘What We Do In The Shadows’.
 
This record, his 8th studio album for Acid Jazz, sees him return to his love of music.

TRACK LISTING

1. Why On Fire?
2. Silver Rings
3. Interlude
4. Be Alarmed
5. I Gotta Limit
6. Wedding Photo Stranger
7. Stay On The Ground
8. I Entered As I Came
9. There Are Monsters
10. To Live For What Once Was
11. Canada Dry
12. The Snakes Will Slide
13. Interlude 2
14. Sky High

In 2013, Matt Berry released his second album on Acid Jazz, ‘Kill The Wolf’, introducing progressive music, 1970s pop and psychedelic experimentation for a critically acclaimed album that established him as a musician in his own right. 

The original release plan saw a short run of a box set that included exclusive music and has inevitably become a sought after rarity since. 

For the album’s tenth anniversary, special edition deluxe versions make these tracks availableagain, in some formats for the very first time.

TRACK LISTING

CD
Gather Up
Devil Inside Me
Fallen Angel
Medicine
Wolf Quartet
Solstice
October Sun
The Signs
Knock Knock
Bonfire
Village Dance
Farewell Summer Sun
The Dawn
You That I See
Fire Chant
Food Chain Blues
Early Knock
October
To The Floor
Sea Chant
Devil Inside Me (Walk With Samuel)
Honky Knock
Venison Sketch
Wolf Quartet (‘Original’ Mix)

2LP
Gather Up
Devil Inside Me
Fallen Angel
Medicine
Wolf Quartet
Solstice
October Sun
The Signs
Knock Knock
Bonfire
Village Dance
Farewell Summer Sun
The Dawn
Devil Inside Me (Walk With Samuel)
Fire Chant
You That I See
Early Knock
To The Floor
Wolf Quartet (‘original' Mix)
Ukenwhistle
Venison Sketch
On A High
October
Honky Knock
An Electric Hero
Food Chain Blues
Sea Chant

BAFTA Award-winning actor Matt Berry has been the star of a number of high profile TV series including Toast Of London, The IT Crowd and most recently What We Do In The Shadows. Concurrently he has cultivated a career as a musician that has seen him release six solo albums and collaborate with the likes of Bond composer David Arnold, Jean-Michel Jarre and most recently Josh Homme, who invited him to perform on the Desert Sessions.

His most recent album ‘TV Themes’ was a UK Top 40 hit and was awarded four stars by Will Hodgkinson writing for The Times. His reinterpretation of British TV themes of the past was no mere wallow in nostalgia but an exploration of recording techniques and a joyous celebration of the music.

‘Phantom Birds’ was inspired by a fascination with Bob Dylan’s ‘John Wesley Harding’, the way it was recorded with the minimum of musicians to draw attention to the songs. For the recording Matt worked with drummer Craig Blundell - known for his work with Steven Wilson and Steve Hackett - and legendary pedal steel player BJ Cole, yet the tinges of Americana are never allowed to overwhelm Matt’s own distinctive style.

TRACK LISTING

Something In My Eye
You Danced All Night
Phantom Birds
Moonlight Flit
Man Of Doom
Where’s My Love?
Take A Bow
Intermission
Hail To The King
In My Mind
That Yellow Bird
Waving Goodbye
Covered In Clowns

This November Matt Berry will release a unique collaboration with esteemed Library Music label KPM. KPM is renowned for providing the musical bedrock for so many classics of British TV and international cinema, using the best British composers - such as Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw, John Cameron and Alan Moorhouse - to do so. ’Simplicity’ follows in the footsteps of these giants, and is a worthy successor to them. Alongside his formidable acting career, Matt Berry has released a series of acclaimed albums on the Acid Jazz label. Ranging from the folk stylings of ‘Kill The Wolf’, the ambient electronica of ‘Music For Insomniacs’, to the psych rock of ‘Blue Elephant’, these have marked Berry out as an impressive musician and recording artist in his own right. Embodying the form of KPM’s original LPs geared towards film and television pitching, the album consists of 11 sharp and vibrant instrumentals, which will no doubt be heard productions for many years to come. released in special collaboration with Acid Jazz, the album is presented in a beautiful graphic sleeve, with notes that allude to the original KPM releases, for something that is instantly hip and familiar, yet unmistakably new.

TRACK LISTING

1. Top Brass
2. Driving Seat
3. Rising Bass
4. Set The Scene
5. Good Sport
6. Transition To…
7. Simple Basics
8. Widescreen
Features
9. Too Many Hats
10. Telescopic
11. Top Brass Two 

After a busy, successful and critically acclaimed year Matt Berry offers one final salvo to his fans. A unique 12” single featuring his two collaborations with Sean Ono Lennon.

Sean worked on two tracks from ‘The Blue Elephant’ album and applied his mind to give us distinctive re-interpretations of ‘Summer Sun’ and ‘Like Stone’. Psychedelics mixed with a stomping beat for ‘Summer Sun’ and something a little bit weird and reflective for ‘Like Stone’.

TRACK LISTING

Summer Sun (Sean Ono Lennon Remix)
Like Stone (Sean Ono Lennon Remix)

In his tenth year with Acid Jazz, the ever-prolific Matt Berry has crafted a psych masterpiece. Once again proving his artistic progression and ambition knows no bounds

Recorded during the summer of 2020, ‘Blue Elephant’ is testament to Matt’s exceptional musicianship, production skills and songwriting prowess with every instrument played by Matt including, guitars, bass, a variety of keyboards and synthesizers (piano, Wurlitzer, mellotron, Moog, Hammond, Vox and Farfisa organs), with the exception of drums – supplied by Craig Blundell, on arguably his best album to date. 

This music soundtracks an album that explores themes surrounding today’s close scrutiny in all its bewildering, objectifying and unnerving experiences. Very much a conceptual and, therefore, continuous long-player, the album’s infectious grooves come to the fore on standout tracks ‘Summer Sun’, heavy-psych instrumental ‘Invisible’, the three-part ‘Blues Inside Me’, which encompasses a psych journey through a late ‘60s and early glam filter mixed with the propulsive ‘Like Stone’.

TRACK LISTING

1. Aboard
2. Summer Sun
3. Safe Passage
4. Now Disappear
5. Alone
6. Invisible
7. Blues Inside Me
8. I Cannot Speak
9. The Blue Elephant
10. Life Unknown
11. Safer Passage
12. Like Stone
13. Story Told
14. Forget Me
15. Now Disappear (Again)

Strange things can happen during the morning twilight. Mysterious shapes appear and play tricks on the mind but it is also when the magic happens. Emerging from the darkness, Matt Berry’s new album, ‘The Small Hours’ captures that awakening feeling and the moment all his wild imagination springs to life.

“‘The Small Hours’ is that time before dawn when we worry about things,” tells Matt of the album’s title and its beautifully complex and beguiling nature. “It can be an intensely quiet time so all your thoughts and fears can be amplified.”

Naya Beat is incredibly excited to announce the release of an astonishing lost holy grail, Mohinder Kaur Bhamra’s 1982 masterpiece ‘Punjabi Disco’. Unknown and inaccessible to even the deepest of diggers, it is the first British Asian electronic dance album recorded and a true lost relic. A chance find of the original multitrack masters during the Covid lockdown led to ‘Punjabi Disco’ being rediscovered. Lovingly mixed down and remastered from these very studio recordings, the reissue also includes remixes by Peaking Lights, Baalti, Mystic Jungle, Psychemagik, and Danger Boys, as well as a cover by Say She She’s Piya Malik and Turbotito & Ragz and a previously unreleased track. 

Released the same year and into equal obscurity as ‘Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat’, Charanjit Singh’s acid house opus, the reissue of ‘Punjabi Disco’ is set to have similar reverberations in the world of dance music. Produced by Mohinder’s eldest son and legendary bhangra pioneer Kuljit Bhamra using a recently acquired Roland SH-1000 synthesizer and a CR-8000 CompuRhythm drum machine played by his then 11-year-old brother, the album was recorded at Roxy Music bass player Rick Kenton’s studio in London. The concept for a Punjabi disco album was subsequently stolen from the Bhamra’s by the very record label that had agreed to distribute the album. Eventually self-released with no label support, ‘Punjabi Disco’ vanished into complete obscurity.

A pivotal figure in British Asian music, West London-based vocalist and first-generation immigrant Mohinder Kaur Bhamra became the first woman to sing at Punjabi weddings and other community events in the UK. Her son, Kuljit, would accompany her, playing tabla at her events from the age of six. Wedding music was traditionally a tame, segregated affair: men and women seated and separated on opposite sides of the room. ‘Punjabi Disco’ was born out of a desire to create an unsegregated dancefloor and inspired by the sounds of disco from the era. A tapestry of electric drum rhythm, warbling bass, and psychedelic siren-like Roland synth melodies provide a vehicle for Mohinder’s powerful voice. Part disco, part funk, part acid house, and infused with Punjabi folk melodies, the sound of ‘Punjabi Disco’ is as mesmerising as it is undefinable.

Featuring an incredible gatefold package and exhaustive liner notes by the Guardian’s Global Music Critic, Ammar Kalia, the 2LP release has been cut to vinyl for the discerning listener and DJ by Grammy-nominated Frank Merritt from The Carvery, London.

This is Naya Beat’s ninth release in a series of reissues, remixes, and compilations dedicated to uncovering electronic and dance music from the subcontinent and South Asian diaspora.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Naya Beat continue to delver the goods, unearthing this historic moment for British Asian music. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra deploys the alluring and haunting Punjabi melodies across a backdrop of digital drum machines and primitive synthesizers to create a magical piece that should find favour with the more obscure musicologists out there. Very nice.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Disco Wich Aa
A2. Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya
A3. Par Toon Ki Janay
A4. Pyar Mainu Kar
A5. Aye Deewane

B1. Soniya Mukh Tera
B2. Mainu Apne Pyar Wich
B3. Chum Chum Dil Nal
B4. Ve Tu Jaldi Jaldi Aa
B5. Dohai Ni Dohai

C1. Disco Wich Aa (Peaking Lights Remix)
C2. Turbotito & Ragz Featuring Piya Malik - Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya
C3. Par Toon Ki Janay (Danger Boys Remix)

D1. Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya (Psychemagik Remix)
D2. Par Toon Ki Janay (Dexter+Franz Remix)
D3. Mainu Apne Pyar Wich (Mystic Jungle Remix)
D4. Disco Wich Aa (Baalti Remix)

Mario Biondi is a singer and composer, born in Catania, Italy. In 1988 he had an important opportunity as support act to Ray Charles' Italian dates. His love for soul music helped shape his particular vocal styling that takes its cue from great vocalists like Lou Rawls, Al Jarreau and Isacc Hayes. His first big break came in 2004 with the original release of the single "This Is What You Are". Originally planned for release only in Japan, the cool and irresistible song gets noticed by European radio. Well-known DJ, Norman Jay begins to feature the song on his BBC1 show playlist and Mario's incredible voice crosses the European continent ahead of the artist himself. His album "If shot up the charts and went triple - platinum. “This Is What You Are” is one of the most important and iconic Italian jazz vocal tracks of the last decade.

TRACK LISTING

A. This Is What You Are (Original Mix)
B. This Is What You Are (Opolopo Remix)

For our 100th Eccentric Soul 45, Numero returns to our Ohio roots with three replica 45s from the Capsoul universe.

This 7" is Marion Black’s timeless two-sider “Who Knows” b/w “Go On Fool” which made a few blips upon its 1970 release, but has taken on a life of its own soundtracking prestige TV and car commercials around the globe and finally going gold after 65 years.

Eccentric Soul from the heart of it all.

TRACK LISTING

Go On Fool
Who Knows

Though her music is firmly based in the Irish tradition, Mary Black is equally at home with Lennon & McCartney, country, pop, jazz, show tunes and American gospel too. Her first influences included Sandy Denny and the bonus disc of this compilation of her best work recorded between 1991 - 2001 is a haunting version of the Denny classic "Who Knows Where The Time Goes".

Featuring interviews with John Oswald, Negativland, and others and drawing on a wealth of research on copyright and intellectual property, Plunderphonics explores the impact of a genre that made illegality a point of pride.

In Plunderphonics, Matthew Blackwell tells the story of a group of musicians who advocated for changes to the copyright system by deploying unlicensed samples in their recordings. The composer John Oswald, who coined the genre term “plunderphonics,” was threatened with legal action by the Canadian Recording Industry Association on behalf of Michael Jackson. The Bay Area group Negativland was sued by Island Records on behalf of U2 for their parody of the band. These artists attracted media attention to their cause in a bid to expand fair use protections. Later, the Australian band the Avalanches encountered the limitations of the music licensing system during the release of their debut album, having to drop several samples that could not be successfully cleared. Finally, American DJ and producer Girl Talk released a series of albums featuring hundreds of uncleared samples and successfully avoided lawsuits by publicly arguing a fair use defense.

This book narrates the conflicts between these artists and the recording industry. Blackwell places plunderphonics in the cultural contexts of postmodernism, Situationism, and culture jamming and analyzes responses to the genre from the media and the legal system. Along with histories of each artist, changes to American copyright law are tracked through important cases like Grand Upright v. Warner Bros. and Bridgeport v. Dimension Films. Though the legal terrain did not shift in the favor of plunderphonic musicians, they changed public perception of fair use and enabled more widespread sampling in underground music.

Fleetwood Mac have had a chart-topping career that spans over fifty years and includes some of the biggest-selling albums and greatest hits of the 20th and 21st centuries. But the band's story is one of enormous triumph and also unimaginable tragedy. There has never been a band in the history of music riven with as much romantic drama, sexual tension and incredible highs and lows as Fleetwood Mac.

Dreams is a must-read for casual Fleetwood Mac fans and die-hard devotees alike. In this unique collection of mini-biographies, observations and essays, Mark Blake explores all eras of the Fleetwood Mac story to explore what it is that has made them one of the most successful bands in history. Blake draws on his own exclusive interviews with Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and the late Peter Green and Christine McVie, and addresses the complex human drama at the heart of the Fleetwood Mac story, including the complicated relationships between the band's main members, but he also dives deep into the towering discography that the band have built over the past half-century.

The definitive oral history of Pink Floyd as told by friends, associates, family members and the band themselves through exclusive, never before published interviews. Bestselling music author Mark Blake has been an associate and collaborator of Pink Floyd for over thirty years. Shine On takes on the behemoth task of capturing the most comprehensive history of the band ever compiled, drawing on huge amounts of new, archive and unpublished interview material with Gilmour, Waters, Mason and Wright.

No other writer has interviewed the members of Pink Floyd as often nor as thoroughly, which is candidly apparent in this textured, gripping and consistently surprising biography. For the first time, the band's story is told as an oral history with each chapter presented through the words of the band, their friends, contemporaries and supporting musicians. The accessible structure and high level of detail means that the narrative is both approachable to casual readers and magnetic to the committed.

Shine On is comprised of a significant amount of previously unpublished material, including a rare interview with Rosemary Breen lamenting that her younger brother Roger, aka Syd Barrett, should have never become a musician as well as exclusive new interviews with Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and Guy Pratt, reflecting on their enduring legacy and rather more complicated recent twists and turns in the bands story. Shine on is a forensic retelling of one of the most turbulent and enduring groups in rock music history, a complex history that only someone as skilled and insightful as Blake can navigate.

First official release in nearly five years from the rapper, poet, and trailblazer Mykki Blanco, since their debut full-length "Mykki." Features special guests Blood Orange (Dev Hynes), Big Freedia, Kari Faux and is produced by FaltyDL.

Opening with the groovy yet ethereal "Trust A Little Bit" - seared with soulful auto-tune and huge harmonies - we move into the anthemic boom-slap of "Summer Ride" which has vintage Outkast vibes beamed via a hologram of Justin Timberlake. It's clear that Blanco's hear is in big tunes that fill the room.

Elsewhere we get drank-fueled, slo-mo RnB, cut with trap beats and rich with FaltyDL's glassy, refracted production aesthetic. Somehow perfectly bridging the gap between pop and RnB's hooky ephemera, gritty street rap and the overwhelming stimulus of bass music and future beats. There's some quirky, idiosyncratic skits that tie tracks together that really, you're only gonna dig if you follow the artist's whole social profile (that's followers grandad - Ed) but they do provide some light yet beautifully timed, and sometimes comedic relief between the attitude-riddled songs that pepper the album.

Includes the 6Music A-listed single "Free Ride" co-produced with Hudson Mohawke.

TRACK LISTING

1. Trust A Little Bit (God Colony Version)
2. Free Ride
3. Summer Fling (feat. Kari Faux)
4. It’s Not My Choice (feat. Blood Orange)
5. Fuck Your Choices
6. Love Me (feat. Jamila Woods And Jay Cue)
7. Want From Me (feat. Bruno Ribeiro)
8. Patriarchy Ain’t The End Of Me
9. That’s Folks (feat. Big Freedia)

 A singular artist who has made an indelible mark on the pop music landscape with a string of street-level releases and mixtapes, Mykki Blanco releases his debut album “Mykki“. Produced by Woodkid and Jeremiah Meece, the album finds Blanco simultaneously at his most fearless and his most accessible.

“I realised as an artist I need to focus on myself and on my work. Arguments with people online distract from that. I used to have a problem with the media trying to define me, either as a drag queen, or a transvestite, as a homosexual rapper, a transsexual or an HIV positive pop star, but most people need labels and my true fans know who I am and what I'm about".

Mykki Blanco’s referential framework is both archival and futuristic; a myriad of culture references, spiritual anecdotes, designer labels, make-up brands, hippie jargon, Fendi here and Snapchat there, all perfectly reflecting the reative dialogue digital landscape we live in.

TRACK LISTING

01 / A1 I'm In A Mood
02 / A2 Loner Feat. Jean Deaux
03 / B1 High School Never Ends
04 / B2 Interlude 1
05 / B3 My Nene
06 / C1 The Plug Won't
07 / C2 Hideaway Feat. Jeremiah Meece
08 / C3 Interlude 2
09 / C4 You Don't Know Me
10 / D1 Fendi Band
11 / D2 For The Cunts
12 / D3 Shit Talking Creep
13 / D4 Rock N Roll Dough

“Stay Close To Music”, the new studio album from Mykki Blanco, is unlike anything they have released before. Adventurous and expansive, it shatters any previously held assumptions about Mykki’s artistry, leaving them free to define their sound for themselves.

Throughout their evolution, poet, artist, musician Mykki Blanco has continuously blurred genres - pulling rave, trap, grunge and punk influences into a swirling pool of experimental hip hop that celebrated queer and trans experiences.

Ultimately Mykki concluded they wanted to create their own sonic universe from scratch. To facilitate this, they collaborated with producer and multi-instrumentalist FaltyDL, who allowed them to envision new soundscapes built from lush, live instrumentation.

The songs spun together through numerous jam sessions, with writing taking place in Lisbon, Paris, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. By 2019, Mykki realized that they were working on two different records concurrently. The first became 2021’s lauded mini-album Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep and now Mykki readies the second collection of the sessions via Stay Close To Music.

“I wanted to see what it would be like to go back and be a musician from another time where you had to start every ingredient raw from scratch. That process, ideology and that way of making has not only changed me as a musician, it has creatively changed me as a person.”

“Stay Close To Music” features contributions from from Michael Stripe, Saul Williams, ANOHNI, Dianna Gordon, Devendra Banhart, Jónsi and more.

Mykki Blanco is an artist revered for their fearless ability to evolve, placing their creative exploration at the forefront of their career. With “Stay Close To Music”, Mykki Blanco is leveling up. By stepping into unchartered territory untethered and free, they have fulfilled their ambitions and created a rich, complex and accomplished sound that belongs entirely to them and which only solidifies their status as one of the world’s most innovative musical pioneers.

TRACK LISTING

01 - Pink Diamond Bezel
02 - Steps (feat. Saul Williams And MNEK)
03 - French Lessons (feat. ANOHNI And Kelsey Lu)
04 - Ketamine (feat. Slug Christ)
05 - Your Love Was A Gift (feat. Diana Gordon)
06 - Family Ties (feat. Michael Stipe)
07 - Your Feminism Is Not My Feminism (feat. Ah-Mer-Ah-Su)
08 - Lucky
09 - Interlude
10 - Trust A Little Bit
11 - You Will Find It (feat. Devendra Banhart)
12 - Carry On (feat. Jónsi)
13 - French Lessons [Single Version] (feat. Kelsey Lu)

9 time GRAMMY® Award winning, 12 Billboard Music Awards winning “Queen of R&B”, Mary J Blige, releases her long-awaited 15th Studio Album ‘Gratitude’.

The 15-track album hosts nostalgic collaborations with Fat Joe, Jadakiss, and more!

TRACK LISTING

Breathing (feat. Fabolous)
Need You More (feat. Jadakiss)
Beautiful People
You Ain’t The Only One
Never Give Up On Me
Nobody But You
Here I Am
Don’t Fuck Up
Superpowers
Can’t Wait For You
God’s Child (feat. Fat Joe)
I Got Plans (feat. FERG)

De La Soul. Mobb Deep. LL Cool J. Justin Bieber. Moby. These artists - and countless others - have one thing in common: Melvin Bliss' "Synthetic Substitution." Released in 1973, Bliss' "Synthetic Substitution" started off as a throwaway B- side to his single "Reward." It would go on to become one of the most frequently sampled songs of the late 80s and early 90s, a legacy that continues to this day.

TRACK LISTING

Synthetic Substitution
Synthetic Substitution (Just Blaze Take 6 Master Mix)

The (second) single compilation 2015 – 2021. Here is the second compilation of the wizard of rhythm - full-packed with his 7" output (all limited and sold out by now) from 2015 until 2021 and some unreleased songs and muscial themes for theatreplays among others.

The vinyl comes in a gatefold cover with lots of infos and photos and with an extra bonus 7" of unreleased material inc a cover of Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand.

Reissued for the first time, "Fragmentos da Casa" by Brazilian percussionist Marco Bosco, was originally released in 1986, by Carmo, owned by Egberto Gismonti. Carmo also released albums by Gismonti, Piry Reis, Fernando Falcão, Nando Carneiro and André Geraissati, among others.

Brazilian percussion is a universe apart. The fusion of African and Brazilian cultures and rhythms has generated many talented musicians who have gone deep into Brazilian roots to search for its essence and thoroughly research all of our diversity. Many of the percussionists have been transformed into an "export products” worshiped worldwide: Airto Moreira, Naná Vasconcelos, Djalma Corrêa, Fernando Falcão, Pedro “Sorongo” Santos and Marco Bosco, among many others. Marco Bosco started his personal journey in the 70s, but the biggest impact happened when he released his first solo work, Metalmadeira (1983), a journey made up of acoustic and electronic textures, sons of nature, vocoders, synthesizers and sequencers.

Fragmentos da Casa, his second solo album, had a striking concept, explained by the artist himself, from the original press release : “Antagonizing the synthesized universe of digital equipment and instruments to an acoustic aesthetics; plus emphasizing the timbristic characteristics of percussion: Fragmentos da Casa is a musical interpretation of a journey - one night and one day - through the rooms of an imaginary house”In 1986, Marco Bosco's percussive arsenal was unique and extremely peculiar, containing chizanzhi, caxixis, purrinhola, requo-requo, shequeres, berimbaus and lingo drum, among other instruments.This fusion of acoustic and synthetic, promoted by some Brazilian artists in the 80's and celebrated worldwide, still brings memories to the percussionist. For him, the arrival of those electronic gadgets "was the best thing that happened on the planet".

This reissue includes a reproduction of the original artwork, new testimonies by Marco Bosco and a a long article signed by Bento Araujo, author of the series of books "Lindo S onho Delirante", which investigates audacious and fearless music produced in the Brazilian underground.

The track "Sol da Manhã" was included in "Outro Tempo"(Electronic and Contemporary Music from Brazil 1978-1992), compilation by DJ John Gomez released by Dutch music From Memory.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
A1. Fragmentos
A2. Sol Da Manhã
A3. Dia Claro
SIDE B
B1. Tua Casa, Minha Casa
B2. Quarto
B3. Sala
B4. Cozinha
B5. Pela Janela

With Wolves The Lamb Will Lie is M G Boulter’s second full-length solo release, following 2013’s The Water & the Wave. Relocating this time from the shores of the Thames Delta in Essex to the peak district of Sheffield, Boulter has worked closely with award-winning producer Andy Bell (Bellowhead, Seasick Steve and Teenage Fanclub) to produce an album of lyrical depth and quiet brilliance. As with former projects, Boulter has surrounded himself with an array of musicians from different genres to help forge his vision; here one finds Ben Nicholls (The Full English, Seth Lakeman), Toby Kearney (These New Puritans), Sheffield songwriter Neil McSweeney and folk artist Lucy Farrell, among others. With Wolves The Lamb Will Lie reaffirms M G Boulter’s ability to conjure up compelling stories and mesmeric musical arrangements.

M G Boulter is the principle songwriter and lead singer of Southend-based roots-rock band The Lucky Strikes and is a much sought after session musician who has toured with The Duke and the King, Simone Felice and Blue Rose Code, as well as recording with Dirk Powell, Rosalie Deighton and Vera Van Heeringan among many others. He has most recently been touring as a member of BBC Folk Award winner Emily Portman’s band.

TRACK LISTING

01. Sean Or Patrick
02. In Sight Of The Cellar
03. His Name Is Jean
04. Carmel Oakes
05. Lalita
06. The Last Song
07. Defeatist Hymn
09. Brother Uncles
10. Starlings
11. Love Trees
12. Let Light In

Matthew Bourne follows 2017’s Isotach album, and recent collaborations with Keeley Forsyth and Nightports, with a collection of prepared piano pieces.

Irrealis was recorded in a single session, each take played as live without any overdubs. Having taught himself the basics of prepared piano by throwing confectionary into his school’s instrument, elements of these experimentations played a key role in Bourne’s early performances. This culminated in an infamous performance piece which saw the explosive musical demolition of an upright piano with a sledgehammer.

Far from the staid academic process the discipline is often approached with, Irrealis sees a restless improvisational musician explore the possibilities of his instrument with a box of nuts, bolts and Blu-Tak, and a sense of playfulness and spontaneity.

TRACK LISTING

Shri
Asaf
Dušan
Jane
Laurent
Alice
Armando

Following his celebrated 'Moogmemory' project, Matthew Bourne returns to the piano for Isotach. Once again, spontaneity is the keyword where Bourne is concerned, catching on tape that pregnant moment when a piece begins to form. Skeletal piano motifs, an aching use of space and sparin g cello arrangements are deployed to devastating effect.

Recorded in his rural North Yorkshire home, Bourne’s piano placed to overlook the moors while he works, the album title is a nod to the weather, which played a part in its creation. The recordings took place during what Bourne describes as “extreme weather” . If you listen carefully you can hear the wind and rain picked up on the microphones, the sparse instrumentation providing the calm in the eye of the storm. Isotach is Bourne’ s first full length solo piano album since 2012’s Montauk Variations The audiophile vinyl edition is half-speed mastered and pressed at Optimal in Germany.

Vinyl also includes a CD of the album. Both vinyl and CD editions feature a spot varnished sleeve, picking out the weather symbols that represent each track on the album. The title track was originally conceived for the first Piano Day in 2015. Nils Frahm had asked for a contribution, to which Bourne agreed and promptly forgot. 'Isotach ’ was written and recorded with a single microphone, the night before Piano Day. It has now been streamed over 275k times on SoundCloud . 'Candela (For Sascha Heeney)’ was released for Piano Day 2017 .

The album follows the critical success of the synth-focused works 'moogmemory' and Radioland: Radio-Activity Revisited , a visceral live audio/visual experience created to mark the 40th anniversary of Kraftwerk's seminal album, with Franck Vigroux and video artist Antoine Schmitt. Bourne’s first solo studio album, Montauk Variations (The Sunday Times’ Leftfield Album of the Year in 2012), was celebrated for its sense of stillness and serenity, marking an important musical turning point.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Like the haunted prepared piano works of Hauschka or the paddling rolling beauty of Nils Frahm's more ambient works, Matthew Bourne takes the framework of modern classical and injects it with a spontaneity through rhythmic about-turns and fluid time-signature shifts, leading to a truly beguiling wonder. Top stuff.

Matthew Bourne is difficult to pin down. You may have preconceptions of an artist who first came to prominence as a virtuosic pianist and winner of the Perrier Jazz Award in 2001. Witnessing Bourne at the piano is a visceral thrill with the instrument becoming an extension of his body. It’s unclear where one ends and the other begins as he climbs inside a grand to pluck, strum and bend the notes to his will. There’s a rare physicality in his performances that sets him apart – unexpected in the world of concert halls and Steinways. And yet, that’s not Bourne. He balances those moments of tension and drama with space and an innate sense of melody, as adept at using silence as he is with the notes he plays. But that’s not Bourne either.

Over the last twenty or so years, you’re as likely to find Bourne piloting Moogs, bothering cellos and harmoniums, covering Kraftwerk, Charlie Chaplin and Phil Collins, collaborating with the weather or unearthing rare Victorian keyboard instruments as you are “playing” the piano. His fingerprints are all over a huge number of diverse projects. And then there’s the infamous performance piece in which he demolished an old upright with a sledgehammer. A form of self-flagellation or two fingers up to the “establishment”? Matthew Bourne is difficult to pin down.

For such a restless and forward-thinking artist, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Bourne can be a little reluctant to return to the instrument on which he made his name. At least in public. That would be too easy. When he does, it’s certainly cause for celebration. But that’s not Bourne. If you happen to spend time in his company, either in concert or in person, you’ll find an endearing and somewhat acerbic wit never far from the surface. There’s an unwillingness to accept popular convention and obey the rules unless they can be bent or played with. But that’s not the whole story either, because he’s also unfailingly generous with his time and with his music. It’s evident in the fact almost all of his recorded output has been in dedication to friends, family, lovers and peers. The titles tell their own story.

And yet… This Is Not For You.

This is Not for You. was born from an off-hand comment by one of Matthew Bourne’s confidants. His instruction, “Do not delete,” provided Bourne with a commission of sorts, an ideal restriction to work within. Everything on
the album was given a chance to shine in the studio, to be worked on amongst the freedom of that no deletion diktat - new inspirations now lie beside deep-mined remembrances. Cello and Dulcitone have been added sparingly for colour, but this is Bourne playing for his own enjoyment. Intimate. Reserved even. The real Matthew Bourne?

“I could just sit down and do other stuff… that sounds really arrogant but I don’t mean it in that way. This is the healing bit of the process for me - that’s why I sit at the piano. It’s a place of trust. It’s always there, and will always be there.”

TRACK LISTING

1. A1. This Is Not For You
2. A2. Désinance IV.1 (for Tommi Grönlund)
3. A3. To Francesca
4. A4. The Mirror And Its Fragments
5. A5. Only When It Is (In Memoriam Bill Kinghorn)
6. B1. Eclipsis
7. B2. Dissemble (for Brian Irvine)
8. B3. Précipice / Précis
9. B4. Dedicated To You, Because You Were Listening (In Memoriam Keith Tippett)

Matthew Bourne is the latest signing to The Leaf Label, and Montauk Variations is his first ever solo studio album.

A phenomenal live performer, Bourne brings a breathtaking physicality to the piano that, once witnessed, is hard to forget (try searching for ‘Matthew Bourne piano’ on YouTube).

A genuinely unique pianist and composer, whose music straddles jazz, classical and rock, Bourne uses every imaginable technique to wring the last drop of inspiration from his chosen instrument.

Montauk Variations represents something of a change of direction for him – an album of beautiful, lyrical solo piano compositions, punctuated by visceral percussive pieces.

The album was recorded in The Great Hall at Dartington College, Devon in May 2011, with additional recordings at St Margaret’s Rectory in Manchester and Rebel Elements studio close to his Yorkshire home.

A restless, endlessly exploratory musician, don’t expect him to stand still - this is the first in a series of albums under the ‘Matthew Bourne presents’ banner, with future releases to include an audio-visual project recorded with his beloved Memorymoog analogue synthesizer, and an album with vocalist Seaming To under the name Billy Moon.

'Moogmemory' is the latest album from multi-award winning pianist and composer Matthew Bourne, who has turned his considerable talents to the world of analogue synthesizers.

Very much in demand as a collaborator and co-conspirator, Bourne has his fingerprints on a huge number of projects, having worked with artists as diverse as John Zorn, Annette Peacock, Nils Frahm, Nostalgia 77, Amon Tobin and Broadway Project.

Growing from spontaneous improvised live performances, the album took shape in the studio as Bourne explored and moulded the vast sonic possibilities of voltage-controlled oscillators, creating beautiful, brooding landscapes of thick impasto and translucent sunbursts.

The seed for this project was planted when Bourne acquired an uncooperative 1982 Memorymoog, having it painstakingly modified and upgraded by Rudi Linhard in Germany .

Created without the use of computers or sequencers,Moogmemory is the first album to be recorded using only the Lintronics Advanced Memorymoog.

Bourne will tour moogmemory in collaboration with brilliant visual artist Michael England, who has worked with Autechre, Bola, Leila, Demdike Stare and many more.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Bringing to mind the more ambient, beat-less works of Alessandro Cortini (or indeed Nine Inch Nails), or the early electronics-heavy compositions by Nils Frahm ; Moogmemory is unsurprisingly, unashamed synth-worship. Through the impeccably textured compositions and characteristic, classic sound of a legendary instrument, this collection is breathtaking.

TRACK LISTING

1. Somewhere I Have Never Travelled
2. Alex
3. Nils
4. On Rivock EdgeE
5. B2 Sam
6. B3 Andrew
7. A3 Horn And Vellum
8. B4 Daniziel
9. I Loved Her, Madly

'Dark Matter’ is a landmark record, a producer album by a young auteur, threading several thrilling musical traditions into a bold new tapestry: the raw energy of grime and afrobeats and the rolling club rhythms of the London underground, combined with the freewheeling creativity and collaborative spirit of his jazz training. With that mentality in mind, it’s no surprise that his talents have trickled over into fashion, producing original compositions for the Louis Vuitton Foundation x MoMa Archive film (2017) and most recently scoring the Men's Dunhill Paris Fashion shows in both 2018 and 2019.

A double MOBO & Jazz FM Award winner, Boyd’s live and studio collaborations have been as varied as they have been prolific, from touring with Sampha & Kelsey Lu, to drumming on Sons of Kemet’s Mercury-nominated album, to his recent collaboration with South African Gqom king DJ Lag, which made its way onto Beyonce’s official soundtrack for The Lion King. He produced Zara McFarlane 's 2017 full-length, Arise, in its entirety, for Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label, and released several acclaimed solo projects though his Exodus record label. Boyd has produced original scores for major Paris fashion shows, and with saxophonist Binker Golding, he’s co-leader and co-producer of the ferocious semi-free group Binker and Moses.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Sitting at the heart of the British Nu-Jazz scene, Moses Boyd steps forward to bring us ‘Dark Matter’. An upbeat album with amazing depth and complexity, featuring the likes of Nathaniel Cross, Joe Armon Jones, Theon Jones, Nubya Garcia and Ife Ogunjobe.

TRACK LISTING

A.
Stranger Than Fiction
Hard Food Interlude
B.T.B

B.
Y.O.Y.O
Shades Of You (ft. Poppy Ajudha)

C.
Dancing In The Dark (ft. Obongjayar)
Only You
2 Far Gone (ft. Joe Armon Jones)

D.
Nommos Descent (ft. Nonku Phiri)
What Now?

I am sure that what I remember is not necessarily what actually happened, but I can only write what I remember. Wildly inventive and magnificently surreal, The Smiths: A Novella recounts the impact of an unconventional pop group from Manchester on one man's life. Taking the form of a flâneuring journey through the landscape of memory, our anonymous protagonist is accompanied by the iconic French actress Carole Bouquet, who becomes his guide and interlocutor, asking about his life during the years The Smiths were together and the profound effect of their music upon him.

As the unlikely couple perambulate from the old Selfridge Hotel to West Hollywood by way of a park bench in Cavendish Square, their conversation interrogates and celebrates the joys of outlandish pop genius, the zealous dedication of fans and the cult of outsider disaffection given uproarious voice. As such, this is not a book about The Smiths but one that emerges from their music, their emotional register and their literary resonance. Michael Bracewell's novella cum-fairy tale is at once deeply romantic and laced with comedy - not unlike the band themselves - and perhaps (in fictional form) the most astute and celebratory portrait of The Smiths to date.