We are thrilled to announce the highly anticipated re-issue of Ash Ra Tempel's legendary 5th Studio Album "Starring Rosi" in our "50th Anniversary Edition". Originally released in 1973, this seminal work remains a cornerstone of the Krautrock and "Kosmische" movement, blending psychedelic rock, ambient soundscapes, and early electronics into a transcendent auditory experience.

The Album has been recorded by Manuel Göttsching in it´s entity, with additional help to come from Producer Dieter Diercks playing bass, percussion, Drummer Harald Grosskopf and of course Rosemarie "Rosi" Müller.

"Starring Rosi" is an essential piece of their continuation of blending cosmic psychedelia, ambient textures, and avant-garde electronic experimentation. Originally released in 1973, this album marked a significant departure for the band, featuring Rosi Müller, who added a lyrical and vocal dimension to the band's typically instrumental soundscapes & Manuel Göttsching background singing.

To many technically Ash Ra Tempel last, yet most accessible, release, although there was the soundtrack to Philippe Garrel´s movie "Le Berceau de Cristal" and there might be some further previously unreleased, music to come out later.

Album Background:
'Starring Rosi' stands out in Ash Ra Tempel's discography for its lighter, more accessible sound, balancing the band's signature cosmic explorations with melodic structures and poetic lyrics.

It marks an unique chapter in Ash Ra Tempel's discography, featuring the ethereal vocals of Rosi Müller alongside Manuel Göttsching's visionary guitar work. The album is a sonic journey that takes listeners through seven distinct tracks, each showcasing Manuel Göttschings pioneering approach to music.
From the dreamy opening track "Laughter Loving" to the meditative "Day-Dream" and the atmospheric "Interplay of Forces," songs that illustrate the band's evolution from their earlier, more intense and improvisational albums, showcasing a more reflective and introspective side .
"The Fairy Dance" is delving into the mystical and meditative, transporting listeners to a dreamlike state.

While "Schizo" sounds like a continuation of the best moments of the previous Ash Ra Tempel records, is the last track "Bring Me Up" an Up-tempo Song that features Manuel as well on vocals.
"Starring Rosi" captivates with its blend of cosmic improvisation and melodic beauty.

Reissue Details:
This reissue of *Starring Rosi* has been introduced and overseen by Manuel Göttsching still, and finalised by his Family exactly to his standards, in which the meticulous approach to his work lives on.
An updated 2024 recut carefully commissioned by Schnittselle in Berlin (who also signs responsible for the previous ART Reissues, likewise, the 2016 E2 E4 Anniversary Edition ensure the warm depth sound while bringing out the rich textures and nuances, all of the original recordings. The reissue is available on 180-gram Black vinyl and a Limited Edition in transparent Pearl Sunrise Vinyl.
Both vinyl editions comes with a replica of the original Vinyl Artwork including it´s original Backside.
The Limited Edition also includes a Poster of the alternate Backside, used later on the CD Editions showing Rosi and Manuel improvising during studio sessions. Also included are prints of previously unreleased Original "The Fairy Dance" Music and "Schizo" Composition Sheets handwritten by Manuel.

TRACK LISTING

1. Laughter Loving
2. Day-Dream
3. Schizo
4. Cosmic Tango
5. Interplay Of Forces
6. The Fairy Dance
7. Bring Me Up

‘Ash Grey And The Gull Glides On’ is the new album by Scottish composers Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman.The pair have orbited each others worlds for a number of years through audio-visual collaborations spanning record releases, films and sound installations.

Wasylyk’s cinematic compositions have been nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year Award and been awarded BBC Radio 6 Music’s Gideon Coe’s Album of the Year. He has collaborated with former National Poet for Scotland, Liz Lochhead, and written soundtracks for Radio 4. Perman’s work as a musician and DJ has taken him across the world, with numerous record releases under his own name and with experimental group/arts collective FOUND, alongside visual works at the Sydney Opera House and National Museum of Scotland.

‘Ash Grey And The Gull Glides On’ is the pair’s first collaborative album as a duo.The record is rooted in Perman's ambient-acid-house grooves and multi-textural percussion built from sampling the knocks, clangs and creaks of Wasylyk’s upright piano.These are woven through a palette of drum machines, rolling transcendental piano motifs, fluttering synthesisers, saxophones swells and hymnal choral vocals.

Approaching the meditative ten-song collection,Tommy posted Andrew three envelopes containing ‘Recording Instructions’, ‘Tempo Cards’ and ‘Chord Cards’. Nodding towards the Fluxus instructions of Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit and the environmental cues of Perman and Wasylyk’s collaboration on Sing the Gloaming (‘If it’s wet outside: 100bpm. If it’s dry outside: 70bpm’) the cards inspired exploration and improvisations which were then cut up and collaged.

The spirit of this project channels through ‘Communal Imagination’ as Wasylyk’s trademark airy piano chords float above Perman’s juddering rhythms, conjuring a Balaeric abstraction of Basil Kirchin.The group brass and stuttering echoes of ‘Root Grow Emerge’ are accompanied by field recordings of Tommy’s children playing and reciting cyclical chants. ‘Blessing Of The Banners’ slowly unspools through spiritual cinematic jazz patterns into a hymn of hope, whilst ‘Spec Of Dust Becomes A Beam’ ignites into an expansive, kosmiche four-to-the-floor crescendo.

A sense of warmth, openness and curiosity floods through ‘Ash Grey And The Gull Glides On’.A document of forward-thinking artistic union from a pair at the height of their imaginations, perched over the Tay estuary.

“So leave us as you found us, walk with us or around us, you might find nothing to see here, but come tomorrow we’ll still be here,” warmly warns Aidan Moffat (Arab Strap) over ascending chords on the album’s closing track ‘Be the Hammer’: a mantra of quiet defiance from idiosyncratic composers in full flight. Liminal, illuminating ideas landing where melody meets rhythm: ‘Ash Grey And The Gull Glides On’ is a place where community, love and goodness prevail. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Climb Like A Floating Vapour
2. Communal Imagination
3. Root Grow Emerge
4. Blessing Of The Banners
5. The Unbearable Sound Of The Roses
6. Spec Of Dust Becomes A Beam
7. Unrepeatable Air
8. Remain In Memory Full Of Light
9. Ash Grey And The Gull Glides On
10. Be The Hammer (feat. Aidan Moffat)

Emptyset present ash — a new collection of sound experiments developed over the last three years and assembled in Bristol during summer 2023.

The work draws on the project's roots in structural percussion and physical sonics, employing spatialised recording techniques and an array of analogue hardware,evoking the transformative and sculptural properties of sound.

The release marks a return for the collaborative duo of James Ginzburg and Paul Purgas, following Ginzburg's work within the exploratory performance group Osmium and Purgas' extensive research into the history of India's first electronic music studio. It brings them back to Bristol where the project first began, channeling the echoes of the city's sound system culture and resonant musical continuum, anchoring their sound within its formative origins.

Race The Night, the band’s eighth studio album, is released via one of their earliest label homes Fierce Panda. With 29 years, 18 hit singles, seven studio albums and an unfathomable number of tour dates since their appearance on the label’s 1994 Crazed And Confused compilation, Race The Night is both a party with old friends and a message to leap into the present with arms wide open.

Fitting then that the lead single should be the album’s title-track, with its super-charged and widescreen anthemia being the perfect primer for a record that has melodies to spare. “Before the shadows let us go, and it’s too late, to race the night” sings lead vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler as the band feel the heat of obsession on their backs and motor away to grab hold of opportunity.

Wheeler comments: “Race the Night is the sound of the band revelling in the sheer joy of being a band after being separated by time and distance through the insanity of the early 2020s. Lyrically it's all about seizing the crossroads moments in life with both hands. Take every chance as if it could be your last.”

Continuing about the video he says: “Race the Night video is the product from the fevered mind of long time friend and horror director Jed Shepherd. He's taken a song about seizing the moment and had the band seized by a super fan who proceeds to force the band into doing her bidding. Enjoy the Misery…”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I kind of feel like i've grown up with Ash at this point, and there's still something wildly nostalgic that triggers whenever I hear the start of their debut LP, '1977'. It's some comfort then that verging on 30 years later, we're still presented with a heavy, unmistakeable but also undeniably unique Ash offering. Huge melodies, hints of melancholy and loads of drive. Exactly the ticket.

TRACK LISTING

1. Race The Night
2. Usual Places
3. Reward In Mind
4. Oslo (feat. Démira)
5. Like A God
6. Peanut Brain
7. Crashed Out Wasted
8. Braindead
9. Double Dare
10. Over & Out
11. Like A God (Reprise)

Expanded CD Bonus Tracks:
12. Race The Night (Acoustic)
13. Usual Places (Acoustic)
14. Reward In Mind (Acoustic)
15. Peanut Brain (Acoustic)
16. Oh Yeah (Teenage Years) [The Subways Cover]
17. Like A God (Extended Version)
18. Race The Night (Antosh V Ash Remix)

For Boogie Butt's latest project, on side A you'll find 3 tracks: Ian Ash's cover of "I Want to Thank You", originally sung by Ms Alicia Myers and here performed by Ella May. Surrounded by fantastic musicians such as Mathieu Karcher, Olivier Magarotto and Jérôme Billeter, it offers his vision of this track with no samples, everything is played afresh. Welcome to Ian Ash's "Boogievision"!

Remix is by the impressive combo of Mr Doris and D-Funk who inject a certain degree of electricity and power into the track via a more digital instrumental and rhythm palette, plus some modern edits and chops.

On the B-side, "Try Again", originally created by Fostin with Jessie Wagner gets transformed into a bright, summery, acid-jazz version. Jessica has toured the world with Chic, Lenny Kravitz , Kid Rock and Duran Duran. Her liquid necter vocals give "Try Again" a sleek elegance that's highly infectious - just listen to those juicy clav sections!

Proper top drawer, connoisseur level, modern boogie. Don't sleep on this! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Ian Ash offers up some stylish covers of two classic boogie tracks with impressive results. Smooth, soulful, summery vibes with maximum positivity.

TRACK LISTING

A1. I Want To Thank You
A2. I Want To Thank You (Mr Doris & D-Funk Remix)
A3. I Want To Thank You - Instrumental

B1. Try Again
B2. Try Again - Instrumental

Four years on from his explorative third full-length ‘Aquamarine,’ Londoner Ash Walker returns with an equally ambitious follow-up, via Night Time Stories. Alongside a plethora of award-winning collaborators and combining a dizzy- ing array of sounds, ‘Astronaut’ hears Walker push his astral shower of rhythm and vibes to new heights. If 'Aquamarine’ was the take-off of his audial spaceship, ‘Astronaut’ is the cosmic voyage reaching terminal velocity; a rocket-powered masterclass spanning jazz, blues, soul, funk, and reggae.

An avid record collector, Walker has DJed far and wide... from the infamous Royal Mail squat party to the canals of Venice, spinning vinyl in Brixton with The Specials to scattering dub across San Francisco and LA. His own production output is similarly explor- atory: his journeys have taken him far and wide, from tunnels under the river Thames to recording local percussionists in the Atlas mountains of Morocco

TRACK LISTING

01 Only Love Feat. Lou Rhodes
02 Letting Go Feat. Andrew Ashong
03 Afronaut Feat. Amp Fiddler & Laville
04 Babylonian Triangle Of Captivity Feat. Ebi Soda
05 Time Gets Wasted Feat. Sly5thAve & Denitia
06 Automation Feat. Oscar Jerome & Joe Armon-Jones
07 Running Away Feat. Jazz Ahmed & Laville
08 Petrol Head Feat. Laville
09 Detroit Velvet Smooth Feat. Yazz Ahmed
10 Jupiter Feat. Kennebe

Nu-Clear Sounds was the second smash hit album from Ash. The album a reached No.7 within the UK and has since become a gold record. The hard rock album contains monster hits Jesus Says, Wildsurf and Numbskull.

Ash and BMG are proud to reissue Ash’s second LP ‘Nu-Clear Sounds’ for the first time on Clear and Nu-Clear Green splatter vinyl. This album has not been re-issued since it’s 1998 release, so will be an exciting prospect within the Ash community. Meltdown contains hit after hit and with its hard rock sound resonates strongly with a wide audience. Upon release Ash drew critical acclaim from multiple publications including Wall Of Sound, Pitchfork and many more, whilst touring the album worldwide, and appearing as one of the main acts at the Glastonbury Festival. 

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
1. Projects (2023 Remaster)
2. Low Ebb (2023 Remaster)
3. Jesus Says (2023 Remaster)
4. Wildsurf (2023 Remaster)
5. Death Trip 21 (2023 Remaster)
Side B:
1. Folk Song (2023 Remaster)
2. Numbskull (2023 Remaster)
3. Burnt Out (2023 Remaster)
4. Aphrodite (2023 Remaster)
5. Fortune Teller (2023 Remaster)
6. I’m Gonna Fall (2023 Remaster)

“The first three are innocent in a way, because we didn’t have an audience when we were making them,” says Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst. “But from ‘Lifted’ on, I was definitely aware of an audience. ‘Lifted’ was well received right away, and then everything happened with ‘Wide Awake’ and ‘Digital Ash’.”

Those two albums came out simultaneously. And their lead singles - ‘Take It Easy (Love Nothing)’, from the austere, remote ‘Digital Ash’, and ‘Lua’, from the warm, folky ‘Wide Awake’ - debuted in the top two slots on the Billboard Hot 100. ‘First Day of My Life’, also from ‘Wide Awake’, would later be voted the Number One Love Song Of All Time by NPR Music’s readers’ poll. 

Bright Eyes had officially broken through. It was a heady, exciting time, but also fraught and tense, both because of the band’s careening new fame, and because of the state of the world. When Bright Eyes made their Tonight Show debut in 2006, they chose to perform none of their shiny new hits, instead delivering a searing, harrowing rendition of their caustic anti-Bush anthem, ‘When The President Talks To God’. 

TRACK LISTING

Time Code
Gold Mine Gutted
Arc Of Time (Time Code)
Down In A Rabbit Hole
Take It Easy (Love Nothing)
Hit The Switch
I Believe In Symmetry
Devil In The Details
Ship In A Bottle
Light Pollution
Theme To Piñata
Easy/Lucky/Free

TRACK LISTING

Hit The Switch
Down In A Rabbit Hole
Arc Of Time (Time Code)
Ship In A Bottle
Agenda Suicide
Gold Mine Gutted

Meltdown was the fourth smash hit album from Ash. The album again reached No.5 within the UK and has since become a gold record. The hard rock album contains mega hits including Clones, Orpheus, Starcrossed, Renegade Cavalcade and Meltdown.

Ash and BMG are proud to reissue Ash’s fourth LP ‘Meltdown for the first time on Orange and Black splatter vinyl. This album has not been re-issued since it’s 2004 release, so will be an exciting prospect within the Ash community. Meltdown contains hit after hit and with its hard rock sound resonates strongly with a wide audience. Upon release Ash drew critical acclaim from multiple publications including Pitchfork, The Guardian, Drowned In Sound and many more, whilst touring with allusive contemporaries The Darkness, and headlining Coachella Festival.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
1. Evil Eye (2022 Remaster)
2. Orpheus (2022 Remaster)
3. Meltdown (2022 Remaster)
4. Starcrossed (2022 Remaster)
5. Clones (2022 Remaster)
Side B:
1. Renegade Cavalcade (2022 Remaster)
2. Vampire Love (2022 Remaster)
3. Out Of The Blue (2022 Remaster)
4. Won’t Be Saved (2022 Remaster)
5. On A Wave (2022 Remaster)
6. Detonator (2022 Remaster)

London electronic act Real Lies combine classic English pop-poetic story-telling with the uncanny rainswept atmospheres of auteurs like Claude Young, Drexciya and Richard D James. On their second album, lyricist Kevin Lee Kharas romanticises ecstasy-fuelled teenage joyrides that set the coordinates for two decades of thrill-seeking hedonism. A wild period that resulted in both the group’s euphoric 2015 debut Real Life and the prolonged six-year wait for its follow up.

In places, that euphoria remains – they’ve never sounded higher than on ‘Dream On’ – but generally the mood here is darker, more late-night, club-ready and ruminative. There are songs about losing childhood friends in mysterious circumstances (‘Dolphin Junction’), bandmates (‘Boss Trick’ is a wake for former member Tom Watson), childhood innocence (‘An Oral History Of My First Kiss’) and huge swathes of memory (‘The Carousel’). As the title implies, Lad Ash is a coming-of-age album that draws out the beauty and longing of the young British male experience by reframing it through an elegiac, at times almost gothic, lens.

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Without a doubt one of my releases of the year, Real Lies' sophomore 'Lad Ash' is finally available on vinyl after its digital release earlier this year. Capturing the magic and the melancholia of being in your 20s in 2022, 'Lad Ash's mixture of The Streets and Pet Shop Boys will have you craving and reminiscing those long-lost nights out you never had.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Ethos
A2 Boss Trick
A3 An Oral History Of My First Kiss
A4 Dream On

B1 Late Arcades
B2 Thameslink Tryst
B3 Dolphin Junction
B4 All Good Dogs

C1 Since I
C2 The Carousel
C3 Your Guiding Hand
C4 DiCaprio

D1 You Were In Love
D2 I Wander
D3 Oh Me, Oh My (Nicotine Patch)
D4 Birds

Free All Angels was the third smash hit album from Ash. The album again reached No.1 within the UK and has since become a platinum record. The punk rock pop album contains mega hits including the Ivor Novello winner ‘Shining Light’, the NME single of the year ‘Burn Baby Burn’, ‘Sometimes’, ‘There’s A Star’, ‘Candy’ and Walking Barefoot’.

Ash and BMG are proud to reissue Ash’s third LP ‘Free All Angels’ for the first time on vivid yellow and clear splatter vinyl. This album has not been re-issued since it’s 2001 release, so will be an exciting prospect within the Ash community. Free All Angels contains hit after hit and with its punk rock sound resonates strongly with a wide audience. Upon release Ash drew critical comparisons to works of China Drum, Compulsion and The Replacements, , whilst touring with allusive contemporaries Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins and many more.

This re-issue coincides with the release of Free All Angels on immersive Sony 360RA for the very first time. This unique mix will give fans insight into Tim Wheeler’s sonic spatial sphere bringing Ash’s incredible hits into the new age.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
Walking Barefoot (2022 Remaster)
Shining Light (2022 Remaster)
Burn Baby Burn (2022 Remaster)
Candy (2022 Remaster)
Cherry Bomb (2022 Remaster)
Submission (2022 Remaster)
Side B:
Someday (2022 Remaster)
Pacific Palisades (2022 Remaster)
Shark (2022 Remaster)
Sometimes (2022 Remaster)
Nicole (2022 Remaster)
There’s A Star (2022 Remaster)
World Domination (2022 Remaster)

The spectacular debut release from Ash, 1977 was a monumental album in the brit-rock scene, reaching No.1 within the UK and has since become a platinum record. The Northern Irish (NI) band, smashed out the huge singles ‘Girl From Mars’, ‘Kung Fu’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Angel Interceptor’ and ‘Oh Yeah’ on the album.

Ash and BMG are proud to reissue Ash’s debut LP ‘1977’ for the first time on stunning black and white splatter vinyl. This album has not been re-issued since it’s 1996 release, so will be an exciting prospect within the brit-rock community. 1977 was included in NME’s 500 best albums of all time, so resonates strongly with a wide audience. Upon release Ash drew critical comparisons to Buzzcocks, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth, whilst touring with allusive contemporaries Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins and many more.

This re-issue coincides with the release of 1977 on immersive Sony 360RA for the very first time. This unique mix will give fans insight into Tim Wheeler’s sonic spatial sphere bringing Ash’s incredible hits into the new age.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
Lose Control (2022 Remaster)
Goldfinger (2022 Remaster)
Girl From Mars (2022 Remaster)
I’d Give You Anything (2022 Remaster)
Gone The Dream (2022 Remaster)
Kung Fu (2022 Remaster)
Side B:
Oh Yeah (2022 Remaster)
Let It Flow (2022 Remaster)
Innocent Smile (2022 Remaster)
Angel Interceptor (2022 Remaster)
Lost In You (2022 Remaster)
Darkside Lightside (2022 Remaster)

We proudly announce the authorised 50th Anniversary Edition 2021 of the 1972 Original release , one of the most important German Krautrock albums in a 2021 re-cut carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching himself.

As for the info we refer to Julian Cope´s review in his “Krautrocksampler” Book, Publisher : Head Heritage (1 Oct. 1995) :

“Beware of Schwingungen!” That should be the large sticker on the front of all copies of this record. For it is dangerous to be casually introduced to something that is life-changing, as I found out to my cost when first listening to this record. It all starts fairly simply and without any cause for alarm - “Look at Your Sun” begins with a Doorsy lone groover guitar begins a pedestrian blues, beautiful. Then the most crushed voice, a cross between Johnny Rotten and Tiny Tim, preaches its way into the proceeds. God, it is beautiful - John L. repeats over and over, “We are all one, we are all one”, until a howling fuzztone solo guitar blows the whole onechord “Signed D.C.” ringing-cymbals torture to an end. And then the most far out track of all begins. This is called “Flower Must Die” and it is a free-rock giant that transcends everything else in its field (there are no contenders.) As I've written before, PIL sounds like this. John L. was John Lydon in a previous incarnation. After a slow weird build, a frantic streamlined one-chord mantra kicks in and it’s like the Stooges’ Funhouse period but in a Righteous Vision Zone that fucks them right off. Phasing tears at the whole tracks as this Holy Racket crosses into Hyper-space and everything gets all hyphenated just-for-the-sake-of-it. “Flowers Must Die”, man, it’s fucked up.

Over on Side 2, the title-track (“Vibrations”) begins poetically enough with Wolfgang Muller’s epic and hugely reverbed vibraphone. Organ fades in and FX guitars, and time passes by. Finally, tom-toms roll and the developing pace is built upon until that great eternal chord sequence finally materialises — this is the one that Göttsching and Enke believed was the sound of heaven. They may have been right. And Schwingungen was a gift from the Gods.“

TRACK LISTING

Side A :
Light And Darkness
A1. Light: Look At Your Sun 6:20
A2. Darkness: Flowers Must Die 12:20
Side B :
Schwingungen 19:00

Maples, Ash, and Oaks: Cedars Instrumentals is a mesmerizing soundtrack for a long walk in the woods, made up of pedal steel, oud, guitar, hurdy-gurdy, and piano. Based on the original Field Works album Cedars, this new suite of instrumental music brings the listener even deeper into the forest. For this special limited-edition release, Stuart Hyatt deconstructed each track from Cedars and rebuilt them one layer at a time. He removed the narrators’ voices and invited Julien Marchal to introduce piano as the new protagonist.

The 15 new tracks are named from each line of the new poem, Deciduous, by Cecily Parks. The musical frameworks are based on the Field Works album Cedars, created by Marisa Anderson, Fadi Tabbal, and Stuart Hyatt – and performed by Julien Marchal, Youmna Saba, Dena El Saffar, Danny Paul Grody, Bob Hoffnar, Stuart Hyatt, Tomás Lozano, Nathan Bowles, Alex Roldan, Fadi Tabbal, and Marisa Anderson. The forest soundscape was recorded by Harrison Ridley in the Welsh countryside. PRESS - “For those interested in the intersection between field recordings and music, this is a must-have.” A Closer Listen.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Morning Bends Down (2:36)
2. To Meet The Canopy (2:54)
3. That We Walk Under. (2:19)
4. We Know The Moss, Forget-Me-Nots (2:08)
5. And Blue-Green Spruce (2:41)
6. But We Want To Be Known (2:32)
7. By The Woods. We Say (1:29)
8. Without Saying, Forget Me Not. (2:18)
9. We Listen To Maples, Ash, And Oaks, (1:58)
10. Without Hearing, But Not Hearing (2:12)
11. Doesn't Mean That We Aren't (2:01)
12. Being Spoken To. (2:16)
13. What Was That? Leaves Rustle (2:14)
14. As If To Say, You Forget. (1:48)
15. We Forgot. (2:07)

A heavyweight astral shower of rhythm and vibes, Ash Walker’s third album ‘Aquamarine’ is released on 19th July 2019 via Night Time Stories. Ash’s production output is similarly exploratory: his journeys have taken him far and wide, from tunnels under the river Thames to recording local percussionists in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. Inspired by a deep dive of sounds from artists including Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, King Tubby, Bo Diddley, 4Hero, J Dilla, Pete Rock, Curtis Mayfield, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich; his first two albums, ‘Augmented 7th’ (2015) and ‘Echo Chamber’ (2016) gained attention from the likes of BBC 6 Music DJs Gilles Peterson, Don Letts, Gideon Coe and Clash Maga- zine, XLR8R and MIMS.

‘Aquamarine’ is a projection and culmination of all he’s absorbed. A cosmic explosion of sound and colour, rhythm, shape and patterns. The arrival of an unassuming dreamer now projecting his unique flavour of expression. ‘Aqua- marine’ is the take-off of this audial spaceship, a sound discovered in the grooves of thousands of records, united in one. A meditation designed to inspire good energy, Ash hopes to bring a sense of calm and tranquility to the listener amongst the chaos of life. Recorded at home with the freedom of time and space, it combines analogue with digital, and a fondness for normally unwanted shapes and textures such as fuzz, hiss and crackle.

“My previous albums have felt to me more like ventures on land. This one feels more like a deep sea voyage into the subconscious. Living to dream with visions of grandeur. Manifesting a beautiful path to walk on. It was inspired by everything around me, from friends and family to art and design, engineering and architecture, movement and how we use our five senses. I love to try and push my own boundaries of what I perceive to be right and wrong, seeing mistakes as innovations, and obstacles as inspiration.”

Highlights on the album include ‘Under The Sun’, ‘Time’ and ‘Finishing Touch’, all of which feature the smooth and silky voice of Laville. Themes of metaphysical exploration and transportation re-occur in the cosmic jazz of ‘Brave New World’ and the smoked beats on ‘Come With Us’. Also featured across the album are trumpet and flugel-horn genius Yazz Ahmed, bassist Marc Cyril (Keziah Jones, Jr Walker & The All Stars) and renowned musician and producer Jonathan Shorten.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Mixing elements of downbeat, hip-hop and a healthy dose of soul, 'Aquamarine' is another superb outing for the ever-talented Ash Walker. Shadowy beats clash with reverbed guitar and echoing vocals before breaking into loungy slow-jazz and heady opium-den instrumentals. It actually confounds all genre expectations and is all the better for it. Proper lovely.

TRACK LISTING

CD
1. Under The Sun (ft Laville)
2. Time (ft Laville)
3. Come With Us
4. Brave New World
5. Finishing Touch (ft Laville)
6. Aquamarine 07. Sanity (ft Laville)
8. I Need Money
9. Fat King Smoke
10. Aint Got You (ft Laville)

Vinyl
A1. Under The Sun (ft Laville)
A2. Time (ft Laville)
A3. Come With Us
A4. Brave New World
A5. Finishing Touch (ft Laville)
A6. Aquamarine B1. Sanity (ft Laville)
B3. I Need Money B4. Fat King Smoke
B5. Aint Got You (ft Laville)
B6. The Dagon's Cashmere Jumper

French-Cuban twins Ibeyi are back with their second album ‘Ash’, a record that tackles subjects as diverse as womanhood, spirituality, activism and racism, all conveyed in Ibeyi’s own unique blend of modern pop, hip-hop and electronic influenced music that incorporates the traditional sounds of Yorùbá. ‘Ash’ is the follow-up to the twin’s 2015 critically acclaimed, eponymous debut album that made Ibeyi a globally recognized name.

While Ibeyi’s first album grappled with the past—the sister’s relationship, origins, loss, and roots. It earned them fans and collaborators in some of the most iconic and crucial artists of today, Beyoncé and Alvin Ailey included. By contrast, Ash is a more visceral and potent political statement, and while firmly rooted in Afro-Cuban culture and history, finds itself entirely concerned with Ibeyi’s present: Who Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi are, what’s important to them, and how they live today, especially given that the spheres, both personally and politically, are entirely different from when Ibeyi was recorded.

‘Ash’ was recorded in November 2016 in London with producer Richard Russell at his studio The Copper House. The album features twelve new tracks, including ‘Away Away’ which was released in June, and includes appearances from Kamasi Washington, Mala Rodriguez, Chilly Gonzales, Meshell Ndegeocello.

‘Deathless,’ the second track to be debuted from ‘Ash’, features the incomparable Kamasi Washington on saxophone, and was written in the wake of an experience that Lisa-Kaindé had when she was sixteen that involved her being wrongly arrested by French police. She went home and wrote the emotive ‘Deathless,’ in which she describes her experience: “I was writing ‘Deathless’ as an anthem for everybody!” Lisa-Kaindé says. “For every minority. For everybody that feels that they are nothing, that feels small, that feels not cared about and I want them to listen to our song and for three minutes feel large, powerful, deathless. I have a huge amount of respect for people who fought for, what I think, are my rights today and if we all sing together ‘we are deathless, ’they will be living through us into a better world”.

Step out of the gloom and into Ibeyi’s world, a place of optimism, openness and acceptance. The modern world never looked so beautiful as it does through Ibeyi’s lens

To coincide with the 20th Anniversary of their number one debut 1977, Ash have announced the release of a live album called Live On Mars: London Astoria 1997. Recorded over the band's record breaking five night run at the London Astoria from the 28th February to the 4th March. The album includes their hit singles ‘Girl From Mars’, ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Kung Fu’, as well as a covers of Abba’s 'Does Your Mother Know’ and Dusty Springfield’s 'I Only Want To Be With You’.

The set captures the raw energy of the band on their homecoming celebration to wrap up the epic year of touring for 1977, which was released the previous year.

The album will be released as a limited edition numbered and coloured vinyl, CD and download via the band’s website, the live shows and select retailers.

The band said "The Ashtoria Five Night Stand was one of the most memorable run of shows for us. It really was the icing on the cake of a manic year since 1977 was released. We'd achieved a number one album followed by a world tour that came close to breaking us. These shows allowed us to look back and celebrate with everyone involved. And it was one hell of an aftershow!"

“These five nights at The Astoria, from February 28th to March 4th 1997, sound and feel like a party. An exuberant, irresistible celebration of a band who, transcending the faddishness of concurrent Britpop, succeeded on that rarest of commodities: raw talent.” - Ian Fortnam, Classic Rock

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Lose Control
2. Season
3. Goldfinger
4. Girl From Mars

Side B
5. I’d Give You Anything
6. Lost In You
7. I Only Want To Be With You
8. Innocent Smile

Side C
9. Oh Yeah
10. T-Rex
11. Uncle Pat
12. Petrol
13. Let It Flow
14. Jack Names The Planets

Side D
15. Darkside Lightside
16. Gone The Dream
17. Does Your Mother Know?
18. Kung Fu

Over their almost decade-and-a-half career, The Kills have released four records. Each one a restless, reckless enigmatic art statement that bristled with tension, anxiety, sex, unstudied cool and winking ennui, yet not one of them sounded like the previous one. Ash & Ice is the follow up to 2011’s critically lauded Blood Pressures and was five years in the making in part due to Jamie Hince’s five hand surgeries, which resulted in him having to re-learn how to play guitar with a permanently damaged finger.

Unlike earlier albums, which have largely been written and recorded at Key Club Studio in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the bulk of the recording for Ash & Ice took place in a rented house in LA and at the world famous Electric Lady Studios in NYC. The album was produced by Jamie Hince and co-produced by John O’Mahony (Metric, The Cribs), and mixed by Tom Elmhirst (Adele, Arcade Fire, Amy Winehouse) and Tchad Blake (Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys).

It was during Hince’s recuperation from surgery that he first started sketching out what would become the songs for the album. To shake up the writing process, Hince booked a solo trip on the infamous Trans-Siberian Express for inspiration while Alison Mosshart, now residing in Nashville, TN, wrote some of the most affecting, poetically candid lyrics that she ever has, painting word pictures that mine the dangerous terrain between romantic obsession, prophecy and tough love. Where previous albums had an air of detachment and emotional austerity, underpinned by an uneasy self-awareness and unexpressed anger, the 13 songs on Ash & Ice are more understated, less tempestuous and more affecting because of that, exposing the kind of push-pull you feel when you find yourself in a complicated but all-consuming relationship. Ash & Ice is The Kills at their emotionally charged, arresting best. Prepare to be slayed.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The Kills return with their newest album since 2011's 'Blood Pressures' and this might just be their most intricate and emotive offering yet. Further emphasising their innate ability to pluck at the heartstrings whilst soothing the soul. Mossheart's vocals are as sultry and emotive as ever, and the instrumentation is just as you'd expect : raw, honest and beautiful.

TRACK LISTING

1. Doing It To Death
2. Heart Of A Dog
3. Hard Habit To Break
4. Bitter Fruit
5. Days Of Why And How
6. Let It Drop
7. Hum For Your Buzz
8. Siberian Nights
9. That Love
10. Impossible Tracks
11. Black Tar
12. Echo Home
13. Whirling Eye

Ninja Tune are proud to announce the release of a new album, 'I AKA I', from Ash Koosha. Born in Iran and currently living in London, Ash makes the kind of “mind-bending electronic music” (Pitchfork), which has had the cognoscenti buzzing for months.

Working mainly with his own field recordings, treating each sampled source as a physical object, Koosha squeezes, stretches, distorts and moulds units of sound before using a background in classical music - both Persian and Western - gleaned from his time at the Tehran Conservatory of Music to structure and shape the result into affecting, original and often beautiful movements - a process he calls “finding geometry in sounds.”

Koosha has already lived and done more than most artists do in a lifetime, not least being imprisoned in Iran for his music and having to seek asylum in the UK. More important to him are his current activities, from film and synaesthetic experiments to FACT Albums of the Year and support from the likes of Run The Jewels and Empress OF, to an interest in virtual reality which will lead to a world’s first VR “experience” of his new album, at special ‘viewings’ next year. His process sounds technical and the results are both destructive as well as constructive, but the resulting album 'I AKA I' is also fundamentally human, and that’s set to take Koosha to a whole new level.

"Seven Up, Ash Ra Tempel's third album is often very misunderstood by fans of their music. It's a real odd one to say the least, and if you're familiar with such albums as their 1971 debut, Join Inn (1973), or Inventions For Electric Guitar (1975, actually a Manuel Göttsching solo album) this one is quite a shock indeed. By this point, trying to figure out who was in the group has became pretty pointless. Guitarist Manuel Göttsching and bassist Hartmut Enke are still here, with tons of different vocalists, and ex-Tangerine Dream organist Steve Schroyder (he played on Alpha Centauri and guested on Zeit).

The album starts off with "Space". It's a suite divided in to four movements. It starts off with "Downtown", which doesn't sound too encouraging. It sounds like downright generic blues sung by a female vocalist, but never let that deceive you. You quickly face some truly mind blowing spacy electronic effects and noise that never lets up! It's pretty much the same throughout, although three more blues songs will follow, but as always, the blues songs never last because it sounds like the band was just so stoned at the time, they'd rather blow people's mind. I can sense quite a bit of irony in the way the band played those blues numbers.

Thanks to the presence of Timothy Leary (who was in exile in neighboring Switzerland), it's no surprise that this music is the effects of an LSD trip. The second half of the album is taken up by a three movement suite called "Time". Here's where detractors of the album finds its redeeming qualities, as this is very much like like Alpha Centauri-era Tangerine Dream. The last movement of "Time" is "She" which is basically a re-recording of "Suche & Liebe" off Ash Ra Tempel's 1972 album Schwingungen. This is a wonderful, and underrated album, which if you approach with an open-mind you'll probably enjoy it."

A - Z Vol. 1 marks the halfway point in Ash’s groundbreaking 26 single campaign the A-Z Series. Wrapping up singles A to M alongside a host of bonus material, the compilation illustrates Ash’s rejuvenated creative zeal.
Currently back in their Manhattan HQ recording tracks which will complete the second half of the series, Ash have been spurred on by the unique challenge of a singles only future. The scrutiny of each track being drip-fed to fans, juxtaposed by freedom from the traditional 2-year album cycle, has fostered a new Ash era of diverse, imaginative pop.

This ain't called "Meltdown" for nothing. It takes all the pop thrills, kinetic melodies, slam-dunking riffs that made the world love Ash, then douses them in petrol and drops in a match. After the fireworks, out come 11 white-hot slabs of pure rock power. From the butane rush of the single "Orpheus" to the skyscraping peaks of "Evil Eye" and the fierce-yet-beautiful love "Starcross'd", this is Ash at their melodic best with a ton of new engines strapped on for extra power.

Recorded with the bands last line up in Paris in October 1999.