A power combo of funk heavyweights, see’s the legendary Kool and the Gang paired up with the Jamiroquai front man.

Taken from a live performance of killer track, “Hollywood Swingin” featuring guest vocalist Jay Kay, has now been reworked by duo Matt Early & Lee Jeffries the result is a track that pays homage to the original while injecting new energy and groove, making it perfect for both longtime fans and newcomers to enjoy on the dance floor.

Limited Vinyl Release Act Fast!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Hollywood Swingin Disco Dust Mix
B1. Hollywood Swingin After Party Mix

Indonesian trio Grrrl Gang builds on their considerable worldwide buzz with Spunky!, their full-length debut album.

Spunky! arrives following some major life changes for Angeeta Sentana (vocals, guitar), Akbar Rumandung (bass, vocals), and Edo Alventa (guitar, vocals), including a switch in locale from Yogyakarta, the city where they formed the band while still in college. “This is Grrrl Gang’s first release after we graduated and got day jobs that made us have to move to Jakarta, which is undeniably 180 degrees compared to Jogja,” says Rumandung. “But moving to Jakarta enabled us to work with Lafa on Spunky! from start to finish.” The song itself essentially describes Sentana's experience during a manic episode. “I feel like I’m on top of the world, untouchable. I do things without thinking, always chasing after that feeling of instant gratification. I feel extra confident in myself to a point of grandiose thinking and that I could do anything,” Sentana explains. That would be Lafa Pratomo, the in-demand producer brought in to help shape the ten tracks that make up Spunky! With a resume that includes the likes of the chanteuse Danilla and legendary singer-songwriter Iwan Fals, Pratomo might not seem the obvious choice to take the Grrrl Gang producer’s chair. But according to Rumandung, “In terms of production, this was something new for us by working with someone outside of Grrrl Gang’s comfort zone.” Indeed, Pratomo considerably beefs up Grrrl Gang’s sound particularly Alventa’s guitar tones, Rumandung’s rumbling bass, and touring drummer Muhammad Faiz Abdurrahman’s muscular beats while preserving the band’s signature raucous energy, catchy melodies, and Sentana’s attitude-filled, equal-parts-honey-and-vinegar vocals.

The power trio, composed of Angee Sentana on guitar and vocals, Akbar Rumandung on bass, and Edo Alventa on guitar, has been making waves in the Southeast Asian music scene since their formation in 2016. Grrrl Gang's music is a celebration of their collective roots and a testament to the power of pop music to connect people across cultures and borders. Their lyrics touch on themes such as feminism, mental health, and relationships with a raw honesty that speaks to a generation of young listeners. With their infectious energy, socially conscious lyrics, and unique sound, Grrrl Gang is poised to take the global music scene by storm and become a voice for a new generation. 

TRACK LISTING

01 Birthday Blues
02 A Fight Breaks Out At A Karaoke Bar
03 Rude Awakening
04 Spunky
05 Cool Girl
06 Better Than Life
07 Tower Moment
08 Mother’s Prayer
09 Blue Stained Lips
10 The Star

Manchester jazz-funkers, Secret Night Gang return with their sophomore album “Belongs on a Place Called Earth”, via Brownswood Recordings. “Belongs on a Place Called Earth” is a record birthed from the emotional rollercoaster the world collectively faced over the past few years, as a result of the pandemic. A time which cultivated self-reflection and profound life questions leading to an evolution for the Manchester natives. This new record is undeniably a fresh & bold new sound, with the leading purpose of permeating hope & light through their music. In continued strength to strength, Secret Night Gang are carving their own lane across the British jazz & street soul scene and this upcoming album, is set to take them to new heights.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Following on from a very well received couple of releases for Brownswood, the soulful funk powerhouse that is SNG returns for 'Belongs On A Place Called Earth'. Soaring funky instrumentals, perfectly played and full of vigour, simmer beneath the silken vocals and perfect layered harmonies. Rich, sumptuous and perfect for the summer.

TRACK LISTING

1. Respect Me
2. Dkw Tomorrow Brings
3. One & Only
4. Never Ever
5. Find A Way
6. Do For You
7. Outta Ma Head
8. Ev'ry Nation
9. Things Will Work Out 

Gemma Ray takes an unexpected detour from her acclaimed psych-soul and torch song oeuvre with a hard-edged experiment in cinematic electronica.

Epic despite its underlying simplicity and groove, ‘Gemma Ray & The Death Bell Gang’ blends the funereal and the sinister with tenderness and yearning, with a dash of automaton-pop and a Dada-esque playfulness for good measure. Front and centre are Gemma’s trademark stirring voice and harmonies.

Released on eco-mix and splatter coloured vinyl formats, with download card and exclusive pull-out poster by British painter Deryk Thomas (Swans, Angels of Light).

The record was recorded at Tempelhof Flughafen in Berlin and features collaborations from sound designer Ralf Goldkind (Fantastichen Vier, Mona Mur), lap steel player Kristof Hahn (Swans), and syncussion by Andy Zammit (Jon Spencer).

Accompanying videos for the singles ‘Come Oblivion’, ‘Howling’ and ‘Procession’ by animator Lucy Dyson (Paul McCartney, Beyonce, Courtney Barnett).

TRACK LISTING

No Love
Procession
Be Still
Howling
Come Oblivion
Tempelhof Desert Inn
I Am Not Who I Am
The Point That Tears
All These Things
Blowing Up Rocks

After the first jam experiment back in 2019 here we have the second chapter of the Bosconi Gang Band session pressed on this limited white label hand stamped & numbered wax. This jam was recorded in front of an actual crowd in an event held at Manifattura tabacchi Florence on the 21st February 2020 just a couple weeks before the pandemic started and the first lockdown happened in Italy.

The concept is the same as the previous one with Fabio Della Torre on the mixer conducting the gang mystic gulf this time with: Ennio Colaci from Minimono, Dukwa, Rufus, Andrea Giachetti & Antonio Pecori from The Clover and Dj Rou. As it happened with the previous release, the actual jam follows the order of the live execution which naturally developed in a crescendo of speed and intensity.

The result is a collection of 5 of the best takes slightly mixed and revisited afterwards but very much faithful to those performed live. This is another adventurous release that goes well off grid, plays with strange temps, original textures and moods. There's a punk-funk, acid house & cosmic slant to their vibe which is infectious, fun and cutting edge all at the same time!

Bosconi Gang Band aims to be an itinerant live improvisational project open to all artists who have released on Bosconi Records that sets the goal of always being unpredictable and special, naturally affected by the artists who perform always creating something unplanned new, and unexpected.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Really nice n varied EP which traverses electric punk-funk, acid house and cosmic styles with a live approach, fuzzy aesthetic and held together by some incredible basslines.

TRACK LISTING

A1. 90 Dial 
A2. 122 Merge 
A3. 128 Wave
B1. 160 Wasp 
B2. 105 Keen 

TRACK LISTING

A1 Who Loves Ya (Coup D'état)
B1 Twice Shy
B2 Ain't There No One?

Handpicked by Gilles Peterson from Manchester’s vibrant live music community, and newly signed to Brownswood, 2021 is set to be the main stage for them to breeze on to the scene. Founded by singer/song-writer Kemani Anderson, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Callum Connell and Manchester music scene stalwart, Stuart Whitehead they were encouraged by their music teacher, Tom Burford, (aka Rhythm Section’s Contours) to start attending jam nights like ‘Jam Street’ and ‘Matt and Phreds’. Later, the band expanded to include veteran drummer and guitarist Myke Wilson and Jack Duckham; coming together to carve out their own lane, a real celebration of exceptional songwriting and musicianship. A multi-generational band breathing new life into the classic British street-soul sound.

“Incredibly complete music, tight arrangements and with far reaching musical ambition” Gilles Peterson

“Secret Night Gang’s burst of positive musical and life energy is a cathartic antidote to the troubles of the last year.” Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: Manchester's' own, Secret Night Gang are hot off the press with this upbeat offering to the jazz world and we can't get enough of it!

TRACK LISTING

1. Lonely
2. Fall In Love
3. Beautiful Day
4. The Sun
5. You Are My Love
6. Journey
7. Wanna Be With You
8. Live Your Life
9. Captured

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

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

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

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

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

TRACK LISTING

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

The Forbidden Dance label is marking their first year of existence and with already top-notch names (Vick Lavender, Alton Miller, The Mechanical Man) with the first three releases, they are celebrating the one year mark with another global gem, disco and house finest - Ilija Rudman! Where Wild Horses Go is conveying an unquestionable sense of 80’s electro and synth boogie filled with smooth and heavily reverberated rhythmics drenched in strong snares. Aligned with catchy and spaced-out disco pads, the album is riddled with ever strong analogue elements processed in a light, quirky and summerish way but with enough groove in some tracks easily applicable on the dancefloors in the late hours. Dead Horse Gang is a brainchild music band/brand by Ilija Rudman dedicated to cinematic dance concept laying on the Los Angeles funk attitude, Art Of Noise perception of sound and raw 12-bit grooves making a statement of mid 80’s culture with surf vibe of California summer. “Dead Horse Gang Music is more than music, it’s a way of life, a way of thinking, a path to a maximum freedom of the one, who can accept it.” -Ilija Rudman

TRACK LISTING

A1. Three Four Amazing
A2. We Hold The Light
A3. Your Smile Is Shotgun
A4. Where Wild Horses Go
A5. Demons Race (theme) 
A6. After The Gold Rush
B1. Over The Hill
B2. Broken Home (Lost Son's Diary)
B3. Black Marble
B4. Exodus Theme
B5. Ministry Of Lost Souls (outro Theme)
B6. Riders Of The Secret Gardens

West London five-piece Chubby and the Gang are balanced by two energies – a casual “fuck it” on one side, an active “fuck off” on the other. For every moment of punk imperfection, there’s an intricate flurry of detail. For every enraged statement about modern life as war, there’s a lyric like “Hello heartbreak, my old friend” that catches you off guard. Made up of musicians from across the consistently thriving and criminally overlooked UK hardcore scene (ft. The Chisel, Big Cheese and more), Chubby and the Gang marinate its characteristic speed and sick-of-it-all energy in a mixture of 50s pop sounds. The result is a prickly take on the older, more melodic genres that punk derives from, chewing them up and spitting them out into something mangled but revitalised.

Fronted by Charlie Manning Walker (aka Chubby Charles) and backed by Tom ‘Razor’ Hardwick, Meg Brooks Mills, Ethan Stahl and Joe McMahon (aka the Gang), the band tell stories of modern London.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Chubby And The Gang manage to weave together a scathing, 90's pop-punk aesthetic with 50's rock and roll via doo-wop and hardcore. It's a baffling and HIGHLY effective combination, and one that I couldn't imagine anyone else pulling off except these lot. It's superb, a well accomplished and brilliantly listenable treat.

TRACK LISTING

1 The Mutt’s Nuts
2 It’s Me Who’ll Pay
3 Coming Up Tough
4 On The Meter
5 Beat That Drum
6 Pressure
7 Take Me Home To London
8 Life On The Bayou
9 White Rags
10 Overachiever
11 Someone's Gunna Die
12 Getting Beat Again (Eppu Normaali)
13 Life’s Lemons
14 Lightning Don’t Strike Twice
15 I Hate The Radio

The Problem of Leisure: A Celebration of Andy Gill and Gang of Four is a double album of tracks written by Andy Gill and Gang of Four, all newly reinterpreted and recorded by artists whose own unique contributions to music were enriched by listening to Gang of Four.

The album features songs from across Gang of Four’s 40-plus year career, each individually chosen by the artists who covered them.

Andy Gill originally conceived of the album to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Entertainment! in 2019.

His widow, Catherine Mayer, explains that this plan had already changed by the time of Andy’s death in 2020, after some artists chose tracks from different albums and periods.

“Andy was massively excited about this project,” Mayer says. “It wasn’t of course conceived as a tribute album, but it’s comforting to me that he lived to see artists he hugely admired enthusiastically agreeing to participate, signalling that the admiration was mutual.”

The album artwork has been created by English artist Damien Hirst, a long-time friend of Andy’s.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A wonderful collection of some of the world's most respected artists covering the beloved tunes of Gang Of Four. From genres spanning electronic, indie and avant and from a huge variety of eras, it's clear how many people Andy Gill influenced, and how important these compositions are to today's musical landscape.

TRACK LISTING

Idles - Damaged Goods
Tom Morello & Serj Tankian - Natural’s Not In It
Helmet - In The Ditch
3D X Gang Of Four Feat. Nova Twins - Where The Nightingale Sings
Hotei - To Hell With Poverty
Gary Numan - Love Like Anthrax
Gail Ann Dorsey - We Live As We Dream Alone
Herbert Grönemeyer Feat. Alex Silva - I Love A Man In A Uniform
LoneLady - Not Great Men
JJ Sterry - 5.45
La Roux - Damaged Goods
Everything Everything - Natural’s Not In It
Dado Villa-Lobos - Return The Gift
The Dandy Warhols - What We All Want
Warpaint - Paralysed
Flea & John Frusciante - Not Great Men
The Sounds - I Love A Man In Uniform
Hardcore Raver In Tears - Last Mile
Killing Joke X Gang Of Four - Forever Starts Now (Killing Joke Dub)
Sekar Melati - Not Great Men (live Version)

Made up of musicians from across the consistently thriving and criminally overlooked UK hardcore scene (featuring The Chisel, Big Cheese and more), West London five-piece Chubby and the Gang marinate its characteristic speed and sick-of-it-all energy in a mixture of 50s pop sounds. The result is a prickly take on the older, more melodic genres that punk derives from, chewing them up and spitting them out into something mangled but revitalised.

Through sheer force of strength, their 2020 debut album ‘Speed Kills’ pummelled its way out of the local hardcore scene and across the Atlantic, where it was met with a landslide of critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork and Rolling Stone.

Available to independent retailers, this double A-side 7” contains ‘Lightning Don’t Strike Twice’ and ‘Life’s Lemons’ and is released via Partisan Records (IDLES, Fontaines D.C., Fela Kuti). Both tracks will appear on the band’s highly anticipated second LP due out later this year.

TRACK LISTING

Lightning Don’t Strike Twice
Life’s Lemons

At the start of 2020 several US publications began running glowing reviews of ‘Speed Kills’, the breakneck debut album from Chubby & the Gang, a West London punk troupe comprised of members of various bands associated with The New Wave of British Hardcore, among them Violent Reaction, Abolition, Big Cheese and more. At the time, the band - helmed by local electrician Charlie Manning - had developed a cult following in the UK, largely rooted in the cross-pollinating nature of the punk scene, select shows including dates with Sheer Mag and an impending, last minute US run with Royal Hounds.

‘Speed Kills’, produced by Jonah Falco of Fucked Up, would go on to be called “the best punk-pop LP in recent memory” by Paste Magazine, a debut that “comes alive with liberating energy” in an 8.0 review from Pitchfork and full of “massive barroom gang choruses, power chords at breakneck tempos, rock spelled R-A-W-K and visceral gratification” as Stereogum put it. Impressive going for a band at the time with no publicist, no big budget label backing and no industry clout per se, beyond increasingly fervent underground support.

Following the quietly blossoming success of ‘Speed Kills’ earlier this year, Chubby & the Gang now find a new home on Partisan Records (IDLES, Fontaines D.C., Laura Marling, Fela Kuti) who reissue the album in remastered form with the unreleased cut ‘Union Dues’ included to boot and with new music on the horizon.

TRACK LISTING

Chubby And The Gang Rule OK?
Pariah Radio
All Along The Uxbridge Road
Speed Kills
Can’t Tell Me Nothing 
Trouble (You Were Always On My Mind)
The Rise And Fall Of The Gang
Hold Your Breath
Moscow
Bruce Grove Bullies
Blue Ain’t My Colour
Grenfell Forever
Union Dues

The Magic Gang made a stellar return with the joyous ‘Think’, which added some fleet-footed Northern Soul grooves to their melodic take on modern indie. It immediately made an impact at Radio 1 as it premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World, while Jack Saunders subsequently named it as Tune of the Week. Further radio play also came from Matt Wilkinson at Beats 1 and John Kennedy at Radio X.

The Magic Gang now build on that flying momentum with the news that their buoyant new album ‘Death Of The Party’. It follows their self-titled first album, which was hailed as one of the best debuts of 2018 as the band earned award nominations from NME and Q.

‘Death Of The Party’ was recorded in Atlanta with the Grammy-winning producer Ben H. Allen (Deerhunter, Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley), whose work in alternative and pop matches for band’s own blend of genres.

The quartet approached the album with two objectives in mind. They aimed to broaden the scope of their harmony-rich, melodically focused pop. And inspired by Lou Reed, Alex Turner and especially Jonathan Richman they wanted to take a more observational lyrical approach.

The stories they tell reflect the experiences of many of their early-twentysomething contemporaries. They explore anxieties about money, relationships and the future, but also the fun moments that they use to escape from such issues. Two songs – Jack Kaye’s ‘Make A Sound’ and Kristian Smith’s title track – best encapsulate their flair for a narrative, with two radically different perspectives on a New Year’s Eve party. Meanwhile, the album closer ‘(The World) Outside My Door’ explores Jack’s guilt at writing music while the Extinction Rebellion protests were hitting the streets.

The album also finds The Magic Gang evolving their sound without losing what people loved them for in the first place. There are elements of disco in ‘Take Back The Track’ and ‘Make A Sound’, ‘Gonna Bounce Back’ hits somewhere between slacker rock and post-punk, while the piano, strings and vocal harmonies on ‘I Am Sunshine’ recalls their love of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys.

TRACK LISTING

Intro
Think
Make A Sound
Just A Minute
What Have You Got To Lose
Death Of The Party
Take Back The Track
I Am Sunshine
Gonna Bounce Back
Fail Better
(The World) Outside My Door

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

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

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

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

TRACK LISTING

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

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

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

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

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

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

TRACK LISTING

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

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

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

TRACK LISTING

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

By the time Twin Peaks’ second season had aired and Fire Walk With Me had just begun principle production, Thought Gang had been born. The esoteric jazz side-project of David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti evolved from the seeds of Twin Peaks’ trademark slow cool jazz and blossomed into more experimental pastures: horizonless vistas of acid-soaked free-jazz, laced with spoken word narratives and sprawling noisescapes. Fire Walk With Me’s soundtrack would ultimately showcase two preliminary tracks (“A Real Indication” and “The Black Dog Runs at Night”) from a full-length album that wouldn’t see release for two-and-ahalf decades. Beginning in May 1992 and continuing throughout 1993, the bulk of the remaining material for the album was recorded in pieces, and dove-tailed into a string of contracted sessions for other Lynch-Badalamenti projects.

In the years following, fragments and working versions of Thought Gang material would make appearances in everything from a Lynch-helmed Adidas commercial to scenes in Hotel Room, Mulholland Dr., Inland Empire, deleted scenes from Fire Walk With Me, and most expansively utilized in Showtime’s third season of Twin Peaks. “Frank 2000” and “Summer Night Noise,” as well as an alternate instrumental mix of “Logic and Common Sense,” would score scenes from season three and aid in defining the show’s distinctly experimental, noisetilted soundtrack.

“It’s sort of like jet-fueled jazz in a weird way…but it’s all based on stories,” says Lynch. “It’s Modern Music.”

Those two words seem to efficiently capture both Thought Gang’s essence and distinctively genre-less genre. Quite often music that finds release beyond its decade of creation experiences a bit of an aural patina resulting from the process of marinating in the ether of time. Perplexingly, Thought Gang retains a contemporary quality difficult to quantify. Fittingly, the resulting album somehow still sounds “modern” and will continue to remain “modern,” decades upon decades after is creation.

TRACK LISTING

1. Stalin Revisited
2. Logic And Common Sense
3. One Dog Bark
4. Woodcutters From Fiery Ships
5. A Real Indication
6. Jack Paints It Red
7. A Meaningless Conversation
8. Frank 2000 Prelude
9. Multi-Tempo Wind Boogie
10. The Black Dog Runs At Night
11. Frank 2000
12. Summer Night Noise

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

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

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

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

STAFF COMMENTS

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

TRACK LISTING

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

Chain & The Gang are different than the rest—you won’t see their name on the garbage heap of hyped bands pushed by paidoff web-zine tastemakers. They’re not “jingle-core,” tattooed onto your subconscious via Madison Avenue mind-control ad campaigns. They’re not middle brow NPR indie-listening for Prius-owning cubicle rockers or a tiresome teenage retread of ’90s surrender sludge. No, Chain & The Gang are singular, terrifying, and unparalleled. Not only the most ferocious live combo ever witnessed but also the world’s only anti-liberty rock ’n’ roll group. Their motto? “Down with Liberty … Up with Chains!”

This band doesn’t care about grades, likes, traffic or hits. They don’t petition publicists for goofy hype or pander to the corrupt institutions who molest rock ’n’ roll and use it as their plaything. Chain & Co. don’t play that game. They want total destruction of the insipid rock ’n’ roll status quo and the foul system from which it purports to offer relief, but in fact keeps afloat. They’ve released five uncompromising records, each one a brilliant, tossed-off sketchbook of insolence and provocation: Down with Liberty … Up With Chains!, Music’s Not For Everyone, In Cool Blood, Minimum Rock ’n’ Roll, and Experimental Music.

Now only one is needed: Best Of Crime Rock. Just recorded, it’s easily the best record, with the most passion, the most accuracy, the most cunning, and the most vigor. Every song on these records is a classic, each lyric an anthem. The tunes are simplistic to the point of parody; call and response rhythm chants which infiltrate the consciousness and leave the listener forever transformed. Each group member is a star. But together they’re something greater than the parts. An irresistible combo that provides the best hope for the future and the only answer to the embarrassing slime pit called “culture.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Devitalize
2. Certain Kinds Of Trash
3. Why Not?
4. The Logic Of Night
5. I See Progress
6. What Is A Dollar?
7. Mums The Word
8. Free Will
9. Come Over
10. Livin Rough
11. Nuff Said
12. Deathbed Confession

Playing with other artists over the years, Emmett Kelly has exhibited an encompassing approach to music which lends flexibility to The Cairo Gang’s song-style. He’s a harmony singer of supreme skill, bringing not only a sweet and supple voice but also a tremendous sympathy to the singing of it (as anyone who’s caught Cairo onstage with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy will ever know). Now a couple of albums and tapes and singles and things into it he’s making streamlined music for the ears, constructing with a heavy hand in order to have a heavy impact with more than just sounds but songs and beaming them in on bright bolts of sunshine.

‘Gone Missing’ isn’t just an awesome, awesome-sounding record of guitar pop that rocks, of songs sweetly hung with candified hooks; also it’s a new report from the side of the road. The Cairo Gang have made tracks and travelled distances from their former states of mind, their former hooded selves.

The Cairo Gang have found themselves - their most perfect alignment to date, taking a more intuitive path to the song, letting go of the sense of design, letting it write itself, as it will in the right hands.

‘Gone Missing’ was written in between places, on the run, recorded in a variety of rooms. Lines appear to have been straightened - yet still, blood beats sidewise inside Cairo’s temples, their rebel heart is drunk on the outskirts of town. The impulse to dig underneath the bittersweet heart, to invert meaning, shapes the songs of ‘Goes Missing’.

TRACK LISTING

An Angel, A Wizard
Be What You Are
Swiper
She Don’t Want You
Chains
Gangsters Holding Hands
A Heart Like Yours
Some Other Time
Ice Fishing
The Open Sky
So What? Who Cares?

“Dream pop with fangs, packing their reverblayered surfaces with punchy playing and swooning melodies” - SPIN

Toronto duo Moon King, made up of songwriter Daniel Benjamin and singer / guitarist Maddy Wilde, have crafted a raw, rapturous and emotional new record, which documents their ascent from an intimate conceptual project into a powerful live band.

Following a year of touring in support of their ‘Obsession I’ and ‘II’ EPs, Daniel and Maddy relocated to a cottage in northern Ontario to record the album with a group of Toronto music scene luminaries, all of whom had played in various incarnations of the live band.

Mostly recorded live off the floor, there is a deep sense of loss and longing in ‘Secret Life’. Moon King channel desperation and project it outwards, each song carrying with it both a weight and a sense of urgency.

TRACK LISTING

Roswell
Secret Life
Impossible
Come Back
Hexe
Threads
Apocalypse
Golden Age
Medicine

Thru Me Again is the 2nd release from Chilean trio La Hell Gang and their first with Mexican Summer. Hailing from Santiago, which plays host to an ever growing psychedelic scene (Holydrug Couple, Follakzoid, La Banda, etc), the band create a remote and wild brand of rock ‘n' roll. The eight tracks across Thru Me Again weave seamlessly, channeling heat, light and endless desert dunes.

Despite the heavy context, there's a real clarity in the production, making the blistering guitar solos and mirage-like vocals all the more potent. Tracks like "Inside My Fall" and "Last Hit" recall bands like The Black Angels and BRMC, but some of the more lucid moments ("Sweet Dear", "So High") feel like a grittier Brightblack Morning Light. The soundtrack for your heat swept summer.

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

TRACK LISTING

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

After three thick years of performances, passport abuse, and pumping, pleasure-principle EPs, Damon Palermo, AKA classic house torchbearer Magic Touch, presents his pinnacle statement to date: 'Palermo House Gang'. Joining forces with a vast cast of collaborators sourced from his intercontinental travels - Octo Octa, Newbody, Benny Badge, The Horses, Sarah Bates, Sorcerer, Ash Williams - Palermo swings and sweats through funky new wave club mixes, freestyle R&B, mesh-top house, freeform hardware workouts and decadent disco for a sprawling celebration of communal motion and dancefloor idealism.

Sustained heavy touring often grizzles musicians into cynical survivalists but it seems to have had the opposite effect on Palermo - these are his most generous, playful and sensual tracks to date. Let go, lighten up, join the Gang.

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

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

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

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

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

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

For this 2010 album of songs, Bonny Billy and The Cairo Gang together have built a bridge forward, assembled with riffs and bits from Emmett Kelly's guitar and the lyricism of Bonny's heart. But mostly, "The Wonder Show Of The World" was, in its making, about trust. It's a record made eye-to-eye in a room, close and careful, by and for a few men who wanted to be together, who wanted to make music that sounds as good to listen to as it did to make, and who in doing so forged something new in space, the wonder of you and of them.

TRACK LISTING

1. Troublesome Houses
2. Teach Me To Bear You
3. With Cornstalks Or Among Them
4. Sounds Are Always Begging, The
5. Go Folks Go
6. That's What Our Love Is
7. Merciless And Great
8. Where Wind Blows
9. Someone Coming Through
10. Kids

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

With their second album "God's Money" Gang Gang Dance creates a modern music which reorients the palette of electronic music into an organic context, manipulating sound, rhythm and melody in an almost mercurial manner. Painstakingly recorded over the course of a year at Junkyard Audio Salvage, the band utilized whatever means were available to them to craft their sound: drums of all shapes, sizes and circuits, various keyboards and synthesizers, midi-triggering guitar scenarios, vocals reconfigured via guitar effect pedal and even the occasional aluminium chair. Blending their hypnotic rhythms into a highly structured compositional style or soaring in the lofty heights of practiced improvisation, this recording follows in the footsteps of the bands previous output all the while marking new ground.

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

Part of the local Minus Money collective.