The debut album from The Supreme Dicks, available on vinyl for the first time.

Falling somewhere between Captain Beefheart, Throbbing Gristle and SALEM in the lineage of musicians who’ve found a muse in the nasty, brutish brevity of life, Supreme Dicks chose to cloak disarmingly real paranoia and grief in the contemporary trappings of late '80s and early '90s lo-fi college rock. They may have inhabited the same sonic and physical space as colleagues like Dinosaur Jr (Lou Barlow was an occasional Dick, and at least one early Dinosaur Jr show was actually played by Dicks in disguise), but they stripped away all youthful yearning and anticipation in favor of a bleak and unblinking certainty. Honest, frank, and free of ironic distance. Obtuse and yet so essential that it can’t help but feel familiar to anyone who’s ever spent a sleepless night wondering whether there's any point to all of this. And, on occasion, warm, intimate and lovely.

The Supreme Dicks formed while students at Massachusetts’ Hampshire College in the twilight of the Reagan era. The campus was a fractured posthippie free-for-all that many students theorized was a right- wing think tank experiment in pitting progressives against each other. The constantly revolving lineup centered around songwriters Daniel Oxenberg and Jon Shere, and whoever else was around and willing to torture an instrument. They advocated the teachings of Wilhelm Reich and were vocal about focusing their creative energy via celibacy. This may do much to explain the constant, unrelenting tension that provides the driving force behind the most powerful moments in their music. Regardless of tempo or arrangement, Supreme Dicks songs play like soundtracks to autoerotic asphyxiation, haunting tones that ring in the ears at the moment consciousness is lost and not guaranteed to return.

TRACK LISTING

In A Sweet Song The Arabian Song The Sun's Bells
Jack Smith
That I May Never Forget And Stay Garden Of Your
Past Jack-O-Lantern
River Song
The Fallout Song
Azure Dome
The Forest Song (or Especially When The October
Wind With Frosty Fingers, Punishes My Hair)
Hyacinth Girls
Ten Past Eleven
Woody Would've Wanted It That Way
Strange Song

“We created a holiday inside our heads.”

‘A Deeper Life’, Chaos In The CBD’s debut album over 10 years in the making, is nostalgic for the duo’s nature-filled youth, exploring the magical coastline and lush rainforest of New Zealand. “The title refers to our childhood, which was idyllic,” says Ben. “It was just the sun, the sand, the sea, waterfalls, birds and fish…” The album’s blissful setting is also depicted on the album cover: a painting, by a childhood friend, of the beach where they grew up in Devonport.

‘A Deeper Life’ whirls that profound love of house music and wide-ranging influences – from Brazilian to R&B, ambient to Italo to deep house and downtempo pop – into a serene, cohesive whole with their signature finesse. The result is an international dance sound that feels unmistakably like Chaos and ebbs and flows from the beach party to the club to the afterhours.

On the album they’ve teamed up with a number of US legends and married their vocals with the UK underground: Josh Milan of house pioneers Blaze brings his soulful vocals to the bossa nova beats of ‘I Wanna Tell Somebody,’ a future jazz-dance anthem. Unheralded Chicago house hero and Larry Heard collaborator Lee Pearson Jr. goes deep over ‘More Time’’s broken beat flex. And on ‘Maintaining My Peace’, the brothers have matched veteran house singer-songwriter Stephanie Cooke with UK grime MC Novelist, on a slinky LDN interpretation of LA hip-hop and g-funk.

Also featured on the album are New Zealand jazz artist Nathan Haines, frequent collaborator Isaac Asaeili and more.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Rich, expansive, highly musical long player from New Zealand deep house poster boys Chaos In The CBD. With tons of character and a variety of moods and tempos explored throughout, it's one of those albums you know is gonna be on constant rotation throughout the year. Don't wanna miss this one folks...

TRACK LISTING

A1. Down By The Cove
A2. Mountain Mover Feat. Alex Cosmo Blake
A3. Maintaining My Peace Feat. Novelist & Stephanie Cooke
A4. Tears Feat. Saucy Lady
B1. Brain Gymnasium
B2. I Wanna Tell Somebody Feat. Josh Milan
B3. Ōtaki Feat. Finn Rees
B4. Love Language Feat. Nathan Haines
C1. A Deeper Life Feat. Isaac Aesili
C2. More Time Feat. Lee Pearson Jr. Collective
C3. Tongariro Crossing Feat. Nathan Haines
D1. Barefoot On The Tarmac
D2. Marlboro Sounds
D3. The Eternal Checkout Feat. Cenk Esen

US outfit Garth only left behind a small trail of records, but this obscure 1980 7" still carries the peculiar charm of disco's stranger back rooms. Recorded between New York and Los Angeles across the late 70s, 'Special Part Of My Life' opens in warm, soulful territory through Henrietta Pam Garth's soft vocal glide, before J. Albert Garth gradually enters the frame and pushes the track somewhere more feverish and floor-facing. There's a lovely looseness to it all: the groove is slightly frayed at the edges in that very particular pre-digital way. On the flip, 'The Groove' heads somewhere far murkier, featuring wiggling synth effects and huge hovering atmospherics drifting over the top of the beat that gives the whole thing this faintly eerie quality which, honestly, makes it all the better.

TRACK LISTING

Special Part Of My Life
The Groove

As a girl, Betty Davis fixed her eyes on stardom and never looked back. After leaving a violent marriage to her husband Miles Davis, Betty took unprecedented control of her musical career for a Black woman working in the 1970s, performing and producing a string of defiantly feminist funk records with a screaming, sexually intense style like no one else. And then, at the crest of her powers, she fell silent - until, with the arrival of the internet, she was rediscovered by a wave of artists who are now international megastars.

Gradually, Davis re-emerged, reclaimed some of her legacy, and started to get the recognition her extraordinarily provocative, trailblazing art deserved. Built on decades of interviews and told through the eyes of Danielle Maggio, Davis's close friend in her final years, Game Is Her Middle Name reveals new aspects of Davis's life, music, and struggles. Both a vibrant portrait of a singular artist and a powerful reclamation of a neglected legacy, the book reveals the woman behind one of popular music's most influential cult figures.

The SuckaSide duo have tagged in label regular LROY once more for another irresistible blend of classics on this crucial new 7". 'Pacific Life' kicks off with a laid-back, deep and elastic fusion of a house classic and a rave staple, reimagining both as blissed-out warmth with instantly recognisable vocals and loon bird samples. On the flip, the beats become even slower and more swaggy, with sunny chords lighting them up and real Caribbean heat fusing with elephantine bass. These tunes are high-level blends that are playful and immediately effective but never cheap or obvious.

TRACK LISTING

SuckaSide - Pacific Life
LROY - Only Dub Can Break Your Heart

In an era where technology threatens the art of songwriting and production, 'old' music matters more than ever. Those classic songs from decades ago that still carry so much power are each totally unique, but all were shaped by immense skill, hard work, and moments of pure creative inspiration. Now, esteemed producer Owen Cutts - who has brought his infectious passion to the world through his Old Music Friday series - opens up his record collection to share 52 essential, groundbreaking songs that anyone who cares about music should hear.

From Minnie Ripperton to The Delfonics, The Beatles to Aretha Franklin, Al Green to Dusty Springfield, Owen picks apart the craft behind each song, and delves into why these recordings still cut through the noise and connect so deeply with listeners. This is a book for anyone looking to expand their sonic horizons, understand the creative process and lose themselves in great music. It's about songs that refuse to age, and why they still resonate all these years later.

Marlena Shaw's 'The Spice of Life' is a landmark 1969 soul-jazz album that showcases her powerful, expressive vocals across a rich blend of soul, jazz, blues and socially conscious songwriting. Featuring the timeless classics 'California Soul' and 'Woman of the Ghetto', it remains her signature release.

More than five decades after its release, 'The Spice of Life' continues to resonate for its warmth, sophistication and cultural significance. Blending soul, jazz and socially conscious songwriting, Marlena Shaw's commanding performances have cemented the album as an enduring classic of the Cadet/Verve Records Group catalogue.

TRACK LISTING

1. Woman of the Ghetto
2. Stormy Monday
3. Where Can I Go?
4. I'm Satisfied
5. I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)
6. Liberation Conversation
7. California Soul
8. Go Away Little Boy
9. Looking Through the Eyes of Love
10. Anyone Can Move a Mountain

'4 Dear Life', the fourth studio album from multi-platinum indie/alternative trailblazer Gus Dapperton.

An independent artist for the first time in years, at the close of his twenties, he felt like he needed a clean slate to find his musical practice again. The result is inspired by his life in NYC - DJing and dancing between clubs and bars in Manhattan and Brooklyn, settling into an apartment, building routines, and the community around him. Pairing dance-driven production with his signature songwriting, the album may sound like a departure from his previous work, but it's his most honest and grounded to date.

TRACK LISTING

1. Take Me Out To The Disco 
2. Sweet Tooth 
3. Holding On 
4. Ca$h Out 
5. Place Beyond The Pines 
6. Queen 
7. PhD Rockstar 
8. Down Like This 
9. She Got The Funk 
10. 6th Street 
11. Twyla

Originally released in November 1974, 'Nightlife' marked an important chapter in Thin Lizzy’s history as one of the first albums to feature the band’s classic twin-guitar lineup of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson alongside Phil Lynott and Brian Downey. Produced by Ron Nevison and Phil Lynott, Nightlife includes fan favourites such as ‘Still in Love with You’ and ‘Sha La La’. In celebration of National Album Day, Nightlife is being reissued as a limited-edition 1LP pressed on orange vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

1. She Knows
2. Nightlife
3. It's Only Money
4. Still in Love with You
5. Frankie Carroll
6. Showdown
7. Banshee
8. Philomena
9. Sha-La-La
10. Dear Heart

BOO locks in with some of his strongest work of the decade on this 10 track double. Heads might catch echoes of his RELIEF classics or FINGERS INC., but there's no nostalgia trip here. Deep, hypnotic, groovy forward thinking house at it finest. Do not miss this one. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Life
A2. It's Coming Now
B1. Out of the Norm
B2. Ride With Me
B3. Kick This Feeling
C1. Robotic Chant
C2. Direct Contact (War)
C3. Light of the Day
D1. Make a Way
D2. Lonely Nights

Life Creates Itself is the new album by Bill Baird, releasing September 25th, 2026 on Royal Oakie Records. After years of restless wandering that took him from the Bay Area to India to Abbey Road and back again, Baird has returned home to San Antonio, Texas. Inspired by Lone Star legends Doug Sahm and Roky Erickson, the album inhabits a world where outsider country, avant-garde pop, and psychedelic folk dissolve into one.

Produced by longtime collaborator Jasper Leach (Tony Molina, Color Green) and mastered by indie-rock legend KRAMER (Galaxie 500, Daniel Johnston, Will Oldham), Life Creates Itself was recorded at Sear Sound in New York City in a single remarkable day — fitting for an album as indebted to Arthur Russell and Captain Beefheart as it is to Sir Douglas Quintet and Townes Van Zandt. The sessions brought together a constellation of collaborators around Baird and Leach, including Pedrum Siadatian (Allah-Las, PAINT), Phil Carluzzo, Austin Day, Oliver O'Haver, Jordan Johns, Michael Vattuone, Clara Kennedy, and Carluzzo’s dog Ernie.

Lead single "Yanaguana" — the original Payaya name for San Antonio, meaning either "land of many waters" or simply "where I am right now" — serves as a thesis statement for the album, a restless soul reckoning with what it means to finally come home. Meanwhile, "Karma Loan" is a fuzzy, sprawling psych track that spilled out of Baird during a deep immersion in Bach that features cello by Clara Kennedy and closes with a sound collage of spiritual gurus hawking easy paths to enlightenment. Then there's "Horse Moon" — built around pedal steel that shimmers like rays of moonlight, drifting through vignettes from a late night walk across New York City, with Pedrum Siadatian's lead guitar lending the whole thing an unhurried, dreaming quality. The night they tracked it, Baird climbed to the roof of Sear Sound and watched a full moon wash the city in a warm glow.

TRACK LISTING

1. Fixin’ To Die
2. Life Creates Itself
3. Karma Loan
4. Yanaguana
5. In Dog We Trust
6. Horse Moon
7. Where’s Your Hair?
8. If True Love Is Blind
9. Endless Blue
10. I Can’t Run Away From Me

Originally released in 1996, Korn’s 'Life Is Peachy', the band’s uncompromising second album, cemented Korn’s status as pioneers of a new heavy sound, blending crushing riffs, hip-hop influenced grooves, and Jonathan Davis’ intensely personal lyrics. Featuring fan favourites including 'No Place to Hide', 'A.D.I.D.A.S.', and 'Good God', 'Life Is Peachy' captured the raw energy and emotional intensity that helped redefine heavy music for a generation. The 30th Anniversary edition includes an acapella version of 'Twist'.

TRACK LISTING

1. Twist
2. Chi
3. Lost
4. Swallow
5. Porno Creep
6. Good God
7. Mr. Rogers
8. K@#Ø%!
9. No Place To Hide
10. Wicked
11. A.D.I.D.A.S.
12. Lowrider
13. Ass Itch
14. Kill You
15. Twist (Acapella)

Drawn From Life, originally released on Virgin Records in 2001, was a full collaboration between Brian Eno and J. Peter Schwalm, the two having met through Eno’s longtime friend Rolf Engel. It will carry that joint billing for the first time. The album featured Holger Czukay, Laurie Anderson, Nell Catchpole and Leo Abrahams, and was supported by a tour taking in Porto and Lanzarote before a headline appearance at Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival.
The rights to Drawn From Life reverted to Opal when Citigroup acquired EMI and the album has not been available since. Eno and Schwalm’s partnership also produced the score to Fear X, an early film from Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, Bronson) starring John Turturro and Deborah Kara Unger, and the Japan-only release Music for Onmyo-ji.

The 2026 reissue will be available across all formats and includes the bonus track ‘Bloom (Instrumental)’.

“Sense-soothing head music par excellence. Lie back, chill out - you are tuned into Eno Gold.” - Stephen Dalton, Uncut (2001)

“Something of the quality of [Miles] Davis’s cathedral-in-sound ambience [...] pinpoints of sonic light set within incense-heavy atmospheres.” - Julian Cowley, The Wire (2001)

“Eno’s work can inspire arty and overly intellectual discussion, but a remarkably welcoming listen like Drawn From Life reminds one that, ultimately, he is making music to be enjoyed on a much more sensual level.” - Steve Ciabattoni, College Music Journal (2001)

TRACK LISTING

1. From This Moment
2. Persis
3. Like Pictures Part #1
4. Like Pictures Part #2
5. Night Traffic
6. Rising Dust
7. Intenser
8. More Dust
9. Bloom
10. Two Voices
11. Bloom (Instrumental)

Leroy "Heptone" Sibbles
Garden Of Life (Horns cut)

This raw, deep roots grail by Heptones and Studio One legend Leroy Sibbles has been near impossible to find, until now.
Most reggae fans will be familiar with the Heptones’ Lee Perry sessions including their outstanding “Garden Of Life” from 1979.

Few but the most grizzled collector knew that Sibbles had recorded a deep roots cut in Toronto several years earlier in 1975 while living in Canada.
Urgent, soulful and raucous with its killer horns section and bubbling organ, this version of Garden Of Life is actually Leroy’s favourite.
The dub version transports us right into the converted garage/studio in 1975 as snatches of conversation between musicians are immortalized on wax.

One of 3 official releases showcasing Sid Lovejoy's Toronto productions including the long out of print “Rebel” by Rothadam and the roots missile “King Kong Man” by Sid Lovejoy.

TRACK LISTING

Garden Of Life
Garden Of Life Dub

Whilst compiling and sorting through the Steve Kilbey solo catalogue I came across a great many songs that had no particular home. They were good songs, strong and passionate but with scant information about them and mostly hidden away in a darkened room or wandering empty streets in hope of being played. I pulled out some of these tracks and saved them in a ‘to do’ file. Later on, I found that I had also acquired some wonderful radio sessions thanks to fans and collectors for pointing me in the right direction. These also hadn’t been heard by most fans either. Over a year I messed about with these tracks and felt close to them so much so that I thought I must create an album to home them. The album kicks off with a ‘belter’, intended for a film soundtrack, a very strong song quite brilliant and the album ends with an extraordinary live performance of Steve with the Hoffmen Sean, Ricky & Adrian covering the Triffids classic ‘Lonely Stretch’ such was the power of this performance you just couldn’t put a track after it! - Carlton Sandercock (Easy Action Records)

TRACK LISTING

1. Falling for You Falling Apart
2. Walk The Room
3. Over
4. Double Exposure
5. Zoo
6. The Australian Night
7. One Hundred and One Girl
8. Anti-Theme…( Blackrock)
9. Gone for Good
10. Buffalo
11. Providence
12. Wrong Road
13. Sheba Chiba
14. Cut Up
15. The Glazier
16. Mystic Western Profile
17. Lonely Stretch

Melbourne producer Jordan Brando releases his new Fixation EP today via DJ Tennis’ Life and Death. The four-track project marks Brando’s debut on the label and arrives as he continues to establish himself as one of Australia’s top new club exports.

"Fixation" is built around raw, bass-driven grooves, moving between the shuffling percussion and hypnotic vocal hook of the title track, the tougher techno edge of “Vibration,” and the classic house influence running through “The Bassline.” “After Dub” eases the pace without losing that foundation, closing the EP on a warm, melodic note.

The release extends a growing connection between Life and Death and the current wave of Australian producers making an impact worldwide. It follows recent projects from Brando’s Not Without Friends collaborators Luke Alessi and William Kiss, who both joined the label at the end of 2025. Together, the three have built momentum around a shared strain of forward-thinking club music and recently reunited in New York City for a Raw Cuts event this summer.

Born and raised in Melbourne, Brando has developed a reputation for the breadth of his productions and DJ sets, with his original music and remixes appearing across dance charts around the world. While his solo work has earned support from international tastemakers such as Pete Tong (via his BBC Radio 1 show), he’s performed with Kiss and Alessi at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Beyond the Valley, London’s Night Tales and Rippon Lea Estate.

After a run of performances spanning Australia, New Zealand and Europe -including Lost Village, Beyond the Valley, Night Tales and Melbourne’s Collingwood Town Hall - "Fixation" finds Brando entering his next chapter with one of electronic music’s most respected labels, further cementing his place among a generation of Australian artists reshaping the international club landscape.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Fixation
A2. Vibration
B1. The Bassline (ft. Tyson O’Brien)
B2. After Dub

"JPEGMAFIA, a trailblazing force in experimental hip hop, releases his latest solo project, I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU. This album, his first since 2021, is a complex and innovative work that showcases his meticulous production skills. Featuring collaborations with Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, and Buzzy Lee, the album explores themes like capitalism, conscription, and propaganda through some of JPEGMAFIA’s most anarchic raps to date. The release is accompanied by an extensive global tour, reinforcing his status as one of the genre’s most incendiary talents. Since his last solo release, JPEGMAFIA has continued to push boundaries in the music industry, most notably with his 2023 collaboration with Danny Brown on Scaring the Hoes, which garnered critical acclaim and chart success. With I Lay Down My Life for You, JPEGMAFIA cements his reputation as a visionary artist, delivering a powerful commentary on the world through his unique lens. The album’s release is set to make a significant impact, both in stores and on stages worldwide."

TRACK LISTING

01. I Scream This In The Mirror Before I Interact With Anyone
02. SIN MIEDO
03. I'll Be Right There
04. It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot
05. New Black History (feat. Vince Staples)
06. Don’t Rely On Other Men (album)
07. Vulgar Display Of Power
08. Exmilitary
09. JIHAD JOE
10. JPEGULTRA! (feat. Denzel Curry)
11. Either On Or Off The Drugs
12. Loop It And Leave It
13. Don’t Put Anything On The Bible (feat. Buzzy Lee)
14. I Recovered From This

'Together Through Life', released in 2009, finds Bob Dylan in a loose, road-worn, deeply assured mode. It is a studio album that carries his unmistakable voice through songs that feel lived in, direct, and quietly powerful.

The record includes 'Beyond Here Lies Nothin', 'Life Is Hard', and 'It’s All Good'. A late-era Dylan set with plenty of character, it is an easy one to return to whether you have followed him for years or are just starting to dig deeper.

TRACK LISTING

1. Beyond Here Lies Nothin' 
2. Life Is Hard
3. My Wife's Home Town
4. If You Ever Go to Houston
5. Forgetful Heart
6. Jolene
7. This Dream of You
8. Shake Shake Mama
9.  I Feel a Change Comin' On
10. It's All Good

The Tubs have never lacked for ambition — on 'Hard Life', theirs is to complicate the Tub-ullar experience. Having perfected their chemistry across two prior albums, hundreds of shows, and an ever-expanding universe of bands affiliated with London’s Gob Nation Collective (The TSG, Sniffany & The Nits, Spike, and Garden Centre), the London-based Celtic jangle boyband — Williams (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass), Dan Lucas (guitar), Taylor Stewart (drums), and Max Warren (bass) — push themselves further into the shimmering heart of virtuosic indie rock. They’re joined by frequent collaborators Lan McArdle (vocals), George Nicholls (guitar), and Rachel Kenedy (keyboards), all of whom have orbited various Tubs-adjacent efforts dating back to Joanna Gruesome, but the secret to 'Hard Life’s lushness is the addition of fiddle player Chris Haigh, an instructor and session musician who left an indelible mark on British pop on Steps’ '5, 6, 7, 8'.

Mirroring Williams’ use of trilling on vocal melodies, Haigh’s fiddle shades the vocalist’s rueful croon like a bruise. On 'Stoop to Me', the folkiest, jangliest pop song on the album, Haigh’s licks complement Williams at his most self-deprecating, the lopsided smile of a guy trying not to let on how wounded he is in unrequited love. On album opener and title track 'Hard Life', it’s the sweetness of the ascending fiddle lines in the mix that weds the harshness of Williams’ lyrics to The Tubs’ fist-pumping anthemics.

The hard line Williams takes here and elsewhere on 'Hard Life' further troubles one’s idea of a Tubs song. The persona familiar to listeners of 'Cotton Crown' and 'Dead Meat' — to quote Williams, “navel gazing about romantic abjection, London squalor, and the indignities of grief and OCD” — is still present, but so too is a second voice, steelier and more experienced. “The second persona doesn’t have much time for the first,” Williams explains, “often haranguing him for his self-indulgence and immaturity; sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly.”

On 'Hard Life', these voices argue, pester one another, merge into each other, and break apart, sometimes over the course of a single song. They’re two sides of the same coin, people who’ve experienced grief, disappointment, regret, and shame, emerging from the wreckage as changed men. “I’m interested in the way sympathy and patience for someone suffering always runs out eventually,” Williams says. “How this can be a good and liberating thing as well as a sad and brutal thing. But mostly they’re just pop songs.” Exquisite, irresistible pop songs. Spin them until the healing starts, then spin them again.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: More spirited pop-forward rock and melodic, jangling indie from London (Via Cardiff), with 'Hard Life' showing all of the drive and beautifully harmonised vocals we've come to know from the band. There are moments of divine lift as ever, but a few more introspective meanderings here and there don't dull their boundless energy and irresistible songwriting.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hard Life
2. Who’s Gonna Love You Now?
3. If You Don’t Love Me
4. Stoop to Me
5. Heaven Or London
6. Didn’t I Say?
7. Do Yourself A Favor
8. Now And Then
9. The Way It Goes
10. Hell
11. In Your Place
12. As Long As You Leave

Life On Mars is the 1976 debut album by the American R&B/jazz fusion singer, arranger, musician, composer and conductor Dexter Wansel. The album is considered to be a "space-funk" classic, inspired by David Bowie's "Life on Mars?". Wansel composed his own sci-fi sounds with swirling, ring-like oscillators, cosmic sub tones, and metallic, otherworldly leads using his signature ARP 2600 synthesizer. Wansel's pioneering synth sound was shared on numerous records with artists like MFSB, Billy Paul, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Teddy Pendergrass, and The Jones Girls. The album inspired other artists and Wansel's "Theme From The Planets" drum beat intro is hailed as being one of the first foundation beats of hip-hop. His sampled music has been used by Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Drake, Rick Ross, J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, and Ice Cube amongst others.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. A Prophet Named K.G.
2. Life on Mars
3. Together Once Again
4. Stargazer

SIDE B
1. One Million Miles from the Ground
2. You Can Be What You Wanna Be
3. Theme from the Planets
4. Rings of Saturn

Ringo Starr’s eventful and remarkable life laid bare in a first-of-its-kind mosaic biography of one of the greatest musicians of all time. Often overshadowed by his former bandmates, Starr’s remarkable story is no less compelling. ‘Ringo: A Fab Life’ highlights a life so jaw-droppingly eventful that one is left wondering how he also had time to become one of the best musicians on the planet.

Through an episodic, mosaic format critically acclaimed author Tom Doyle takes readers through the ride of a lifetime, from Starr’s brushes with death as a child bought up in poverty, through to dizzying heights of fame and success with The Beatles and beyond. By examining pivotal moments, anecdotes and cautionary tales, we see Starr soar as part of the biggest band in the world - and then try and cope with life outside of it: a film career, misadventures with friends, children’s TV narrator, furniture designer, marriage to a Bond girl, before eventually finding peace and sobriety as one of the elder statesmen of rock. So much more than another Beatles related biography, we follow Starr’s career far beyond the rose-tinted sixties, through the various addictions and career left turns in the seventies and eighties, before reaching the 1990’s, his legacy and reputation intact.

The life of Richard Starkey is long overdue a proper inspection and this book - with exclusive new interviews conducted by Doyle with, amongst others, Starr himself - provides a never-before-seen level of detail that will delight hardcore fans and curious readers alike. Ringo: A Fab Life - hilarious, moving, insightful and constantly surprising - is the definitive account of one of the greatest living musicians and the uncontested best drummer in The Beatles.

The long-overdue memoir from Adam Ant’s right-hand man Marco Pirroni. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, as punk turned to new wave to new romantic to post-punk to pop, Marco Pirroni was right there front and centre and at the heart of it all. He played guitar with the first incarnation of Siouxsie and the Banshees and was in the line-up for their debut gig at the 100 Club in 1976 with future Sex Pistol Sid Vicious on drums.

Alongside Adam, Marco was the musical architect of the Antmusic phenomenon, co-writing the two classic number one singles ‘Prince Charming’ and the Ivor Novello-winning ‘Stand and Deliver’ and the chart-topping albums Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming. To date, he has sold more than 20 million records. Your Money or Your Life is Pirroni’s long-overdue and much-anticipated account of his time amidst the maelstrom of Antmania.

It chronicles the ten-year period in Pirroni’s life which ends in March 1982, when Adam and the Ants split up amongst heartbreak and acrimony. Opinionated, acerbic and funny, Your Money or Your Life is one of the unforgettable music stories of the 1970s and 1980s.

The debut album by Twisted Teens from New Orleans.

TRACK LISTING

1. Twisted Teen
2. Marionette
3. Something’ I Haven’t Told Ya
4. When The Wire Get Cut
5. Tic Tac Toe
6. The Valley Spirit Never Dies
7. Sister Heat
8. Rando
9. Sea Of Love
10. Waiting For The Whip
11. Cool Former Friend

Twisted Teens are a rockin roll duo from New Orleans who have taken the history of american blues, country, garage rock and punk and drilled it into something new. This is their second album released on Jazz Life.

TRACK LISTING

1. Is It Real?
2. Wild Connection
3. I Operate
4. Little Seed
5. 100 Bill Is Gone!
6. Peekaboo Hand
7. Not Real
8. Who Could It Be
9. Circus Clown
10. Hurricane
11. White Hot Coal
12. Corpse Pose

The life of an icon in her own words, across five decades. Throughout her career, Joni Mitchell graced BBC radio and television with magical performances and open, in-depth, at times controversial interviews. An anonymous talent, a blossoming starlet, a white-hot star and a bona fide legend: the BBC had the inside scoop on it all.

This illuminating collection of transcripts, conversations and appearances is a tapestry of Joni's thoughts and inspirations, a memoir told in moments across five decades. Individually, they are captivating accounts, snapshots of key moments in Joni's long career. But read together they offer a window into the mind of a truly original artist - told through her own words and the memories of those who were there with her.

Compiled and guided by BBC journalist and author Tom Hagler, River of Words: Joni Mitchell at the BBC is the story of an incredible life lived on the airwaves.

'Leap Life' is Saul Williams’ first solo album in over 10 years and marks a major return for one of the most influential voices in spoken word and experimental music. Named after Saul’s leap year birthday, the project has been carefully sequenced by composer and producer Carlos Niño as a fully immersive, front-to-back listening experience.

The album expands Saul’s sound into electronic and ambient territories while remaining rooted in spoken word, with rich sound design built from nature recordings, environmental textures, and expansive instrumentation. It also sees Saul step further into the role of producer, drawing influence from Fela Kuti, Black church traditions, and South African electronic music.

The record features a standout cast of collaborators including Kamasi Washington, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Moor Mother, Gonjasufi, and Surya Botofasina, alongside material developed with Robert Del Naja (Massive Attack). Released via Big Dada, the album marks a full-circle moment with the label where Saul originally launched his solo career.

TRACK LISTING

1. Baobab Constellation
2. Mazahua
3. I Think I Get It Now
4. Great, Great-Grandmother
5. The Dagger
6. Controlled Is Not Controllable
7. 13 Moons
8. Une Photographie (feat. Anisia Uzeyman)
9. Not Everything For Sale
10. Robot Slave
11. Conspiracy
12. Vengeful Spirit
13. Friends I Ain't Met Yet
14. Coming Forth
15. Leap Life

Blurring lines of indie-rock, psychedelic & jam music, Improvement Movement are a philosophy as much as a band. With 4 multi-instrumentalists that all write & sing, they transcend boundaries. Heralded by Rhett Shull as "your new favorite band" & Atlanta Journal Constitution as "band to watch 2026."

TRACK LISTING

1. Still Cold
2. Carry On
3. Common Place
4. I Do
5. In The Morning
6. Wide World
7. Home Again
8. Old Friends
9. Wrong
10. 21st Century
11. Being Right

Black Marble hummed to life in the fall of 2012, switched on by the early aughts New York City synthwave revival. Today, fourteen years on and seven releases later, Chris Stewart continues to make records hunched over machines that warm to the touch when turned on and need to be coaxed to stay in tune. His albums, written, recorded, and delivered solely by Stewart, remain singular visions, with songs that seek to convey a diffuse pastiche, now shaped by a desire to wrap the whole thing in a message that speaks to where he’s been and where he wants to go.

His latest vision, 'Life in Small Spaces', sees Stewart comment on the music industry and his role within it, reflecting on how underground music has changed over time, and how a blueprint for keeping things simple and being true to oneself is the only ideal for living in this complicated landscape.

Stewart's desire to span time with his ideals intact shows up in the songwriting, which retains the project’s pop-sensibilities while adding new tricks to the bag. 'Life in Small Spaces' trades walls of synths for more guitar, drawing on early American left of the dial college radio staccato guitar lines recalling Pylon, The Necessaries, and R Stevie Moore, and live drum samples, a nod to Wire’s simple metronomic style. Stewart explains the reason for the change as a way to “create this chime-y hypnotic quality. Like a radio dial that is between two stations.”

Visually, 'Life in Small Spaces' features Stewart alone on the cover in a sparse room, surrounded with an eruption of confetti — an image that reflects a self-contained world that may appear small, bleak and cluttered, but is fully his own. A fitting frame for a record that embraces limitation as a form of clarity, and one that tells the story of choosing a simple life, giving up stability and comfort for an existence of bold and engaging connections. This further reflects Black Marble’s confidence in not only his artistry, but the community that has grown and evolved around the project over the years. “['Life in Small Spaces'] is what I want to talk about as an artist. It's where I am at this exact moment and I know I'm not alone in how I feel.”

This sentiment isn’t a disclaimer. It’s the point. 'Life in Small Spaces', with its introspective lyricism disguised neatly within Black Marble’s radiant musicality, is an earnest analysis of the pressures that shape artists. It is an invitation to accept and consciously agree to a more minimal lifestyle for the sake of creative expression and freedom, and to never need to compromise your values for the tempting illusion of success.

TRACK LISTING

1. It Always Comes to Me
2. Jim Carol New Year 
3. Anything 
4. Get Back Up 
5. Other Man's Dream 
6. Guess 
7. LifeWithout
8. Missing History 
9. Panopticon Calls 
10. Picture When 
11. Sonny Boy

The electronica/post-punk experience of LEMONSUCKR is present across all 5 tracks of this new EP and sees the four- piece dealing with darkness, demons and the unhinged, all with the utmost precision. Produced by the band and recorded between their own studio and Electric studios in Brighton.

'Life Is A Heist' follows their debut 'H.E.A.T.' EP in 2025, a foundational record and a period of "figuring themselves out", the EP gave them a punk essence along with the release and the energy of their increasingly explosive live shows to amplify their sound and ideas on the self-produced 'Life Is A Heist'.

Also includes the band's debut EP 'H.E.A.T.'

TRACK LISTING

1. Rugrat
2. Stain 
3. House on Fire 
4. Grandaddy 
5. Life is a Heist 
6. Dead Disco 
7. Instant Kinks 
8. H.E.A.T. 
9. Show Me The Money 
10. Sedated

A stunningly presented departure into the deepest reaches of space with Pure Life's 15-year reissue of Hyetal's stunning future-facing electronic odyssey, 'Broadcast'. 

Staggered drum machines and crackling atmospheric washes slowly morph and grow while oscillators warm up in the background for saturated swells of saw waves and cracklling bucket delays. Though there are several moments of disaffected lo-fi revelry, it always feels designed and perfectly manicured, showing that as a producer Hyetal can effortlessly craft the world around your ears. 

It's looking particularly nice here too with full printed art and lyric sheet. Lovely stuff. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Ritual 03:55
2. Diamond Islands 04:25
3. Phoenix 04:32
4. Beach Scene 04:48
5. The Chase 02:43
6. Searchlight 04:58
7. Dime Piece 04:52
8. Boneyard 04:27
9. Transmission 02:02
10. Black Black Black 07:00
11. Like Silver (B-Side) 05:06
12. Diamond Islands (Instrumental) 04:26
13. Black Black Black (Instrumental) 05:24
14. Searchlight (Night Mix) 05:49

In the 6 years since their last release for Pure Life, Broken Canyon has changed significantly as an artist and a person.

'Surface' details a surge in creativity in honest reflection to a challenging period in the artist's life. 'Surface' is about diagnoses, medication, heartbreak, depression, sanctuary and hope.

Both more minimal, more abstract and interior focused than previous release, 'Surface' is, appropriately, a study of texture, focusing in on the details. It's an unflinching and uncompromising vision, seen through a gritty and medicated lens. Ultimately however, it's a tale of survival and redemption from an artist who continues to evolve through their output.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: An undeniably intense, but restoratively full-spectrum drone bath that weaves and oscillates, grows and fades away. There is nuance in the noise, and when it shines, true beauty.

TRACK LISTING

1. Voile 04:06
2. Aero 02:08
3. What It Felt Like 04:08
4. December 24 02:26
5. Cure 01:35
6. Saudade (feat. Leonardo Zurita) 02:29
7. Adrift 02:17
8. Burial 07:19
9. Closer 03:16
10. Resync 03:39

Welcome to Your Life is the captivating and deeply personal memoir from Roland Orzabal, founding member and primary songwriter of the iconic English band Tears for Fears.

Known for their smash hits including "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Shout", "Head Over Heels" and "Mad World", Tears for Fears and their unforgettable songs have been part of the fabric of rock and roll for over forty years.

Orzabal shares the story of his band and also his life. It's a journey marked by massive fame, mental health struggles, a career that's navigated a hugely changed political and musical landscape, the creative and personal breakdown of Roland's relationship with Curt Smith, the devastating loss of his wife and the road back to fulfilment as a man, father and musician.

As he reflects on love, loss, faith and recovery, Orzabal shows how the power of music can heal even the deepest wounds.

The San Diego via Boston alt trio’s complete original studio recordings, remastered, restored, and compiled into one lavish box set. 'Wait A Lifetime' gathers the band’s peerless albums 'Junk' and 'This Afternoon Malady', plus 'R.I.P.', expanded to include their unfinished 3rd album, singles, splits, and comp tracks. The 68-page accompanying booklet details the entire saga via Nina Cocoran’s essay and dozens of period photos, all housed in a stunning case-wrapped and varnished box. Sink into the ground and fly.

TRACK LISTING

Junk Tracklisting:
1. Meteorite
2. Greyscale
3. Pablo
4. Stresser
5. Ethan Allen
6. Indian Giver
7. Radical Firepower
8. Ford

This Afternoons Malady Tracklisting:
1. Morale Is Low
2. Coping With Senility (Lowlife Owns A Pen)
3. This Afternoons Malady
4. Fixed On The One
5. Sitcom Epiphany
6. Solar
7. New Clear Saturday
8. Regrets Are Unanswered Dreams
9. Demonica
10. 38 Calumet
11. One Transmission
12. Same To You

R.I.P. Tracklisting:
1. Record City After World
2. The New State
3. Lunatic
4. The Highs And Lows
5. 2000 Miles
6. Heart Of Desire
7. Early Stars
8. Morale Is Low (Alternate Version)
9. That’s Why She Hates Me
10. Solar (Alternate Version)
11. Lowlife (Version Remix)
12. Grace (Wizard Glick Is Swimming)
13. Drive By Negly
14. Early Stars (7” Version)
15. That’s Why She Hates Me (7” Version)
16. Hialeah
17. Figured Out

By 2010's 'One Life Stand', Hot Chip had evolved. There’d been collaborations with legends like Peter Gabriel and Robert Wyatt, various solo albums and side projects, and, personally, settling down. They’d been touring the world for 10 years and reaching global audiences. As the decade drew to a close, Hot Chip began to take stock. Their songwriting had always been emotionally resonant but on their fourth studio album, it took on a newfound maturity, with themes of domesticity and devotion.

The result was 'One Life Stand', Hot Chip’s most concise album to date: 10 songs that put melody front and centre. It’s clearer and more direct, while outside collaborators infused the sessions with a new energy, fueled by anthems like 'I Feel Better' and the eponymous single 'One Life Stand'. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Thieves in the Night
2. Hand Me Down Your Love
3. I Feel Better
4. One Life Stand
5. Brothers
6. Slush
7. Alley Cats
8. We Have Love
9. Keep Quiet
10. Take It In

Change Life is the new creative project from Portland-based multi-instrumentalist, writer, and longtime Woolen Men leader Lawton Browning. Formed in 2023 in the aftermath of the pandemic years, the project emerged as a collaborative and fluid outlet centered around reinvention, experimentation, and collective creativity. Rather than functioning as a fixed band, Change Life operates as an evolving collective of musicians and visual artists.

The self-titled debut album channels melodic indie rock, lo-fi textures, experimental pop, and reflective songwriting through a conceptual lens informed by anarchist and surrealist traditions. Across the record, Browning and collaborators explore uncertainty, transformation, and cultural dialogue while maintaining a strong sense of immediacy and creative freedom.

Before launching Change Life, Browning spent over a decade fronting Woolen Men, releasing six acclaimed albums and touring extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad. With Change Life, he opens a new chapter rooted in collaboration, artistic experimentation, and new creative possibilities.

For fans of Silver Jews, The Clean, Guided by Voices, The Fall, and Pavement.

TRACK LISTING

1. Smile
2. Fields of Afternoon
3. Beneath the Underdog
4. Beyond Control
5. The Living Green
6. Radio Ragazza
7. Eden Express
8. From Zero to One
9. At Least I am Free
10. Mirai (Peace Version)

Introducing the very first release on No Static - a brand new vinyl-only label from the Reel People Music Group, home to Reel People Music, Papa Records and Foliage Records, dedicated to timeless soul, deep grooves and future classics.

Pressed on stunning yellow vinyl and limited to just 300 copies worldwide, No Static brings together two incredible cuts making their vinyl debut for the very first time.

On the A-side, Reel People feat. Tony Momrelle's uplifting remake of the Bill Withers classic 'Can We Pretend' receives the sublime Tall Black Guy Samba 7" Mix treatment, blending soulful vocals with warm Brazilian-inspired rhythms. Flip it over for Zo! feat. Dornik's modern soul masterpiece 'Lifelines', reimagined in an exclusive Reel People 7" Mix full of rich musicianship and timeless groove.

A must-have collector's piece for DJs, soul lovers and vinyl heads alike.

TRACK LISTING

Reel People feat. Tony Momrelle - Can We Pretend (Tall Black Guy Samba 7"
Mix)
Zo! feat. Dornik - Lifelines (Reel People 7" Mix)

Life & Death kick off their "Peak-Time Archive" series with an EP that's equally compelling and inventive; enlisting four producers not scared of pushing the envelope of this thing we call house. Jennifer Loveless - Guardian Artist To Watch, Mixmag Track of the Year recipient, and alumni of !K7, Future Classic and Butter Sessions - opens with "Satisfaction", a warm, sublime, body-moving slice of techy goodness  that's deliciously futuristic and stylishly subtle. 

UK mystery producer ROKAR follows with "Bedroom Headliner", a garage-rooted, sub-bass-powered house cut that blurs the line between intimate and euphoric, standing proudly alongside the current crop of Up The Stuss tackle, and already earning BBC Radio 1 plays and support from Marco Carola, Skream and Chloé Caillet.

Rudy With A Hoodie & J-Land deliver "The Rhythm", a driving & incendiary peak-time weapon with big drops built for main stages and up-for-it crowds. We're getting a bit of Rekids, a bit of Red Axis, and a bit of DJ Tennis, all presented in a punchy and party-starting fashion.  

Mexico City's PAURRO closes the record with "Chik Fresa", a playful and punchy piece of wavy, tribal-tinged house music from an artist who has performed at Tresor and Boiler Room and released on Cómeme and Nervous.

Four tracks. Four distinct voices. One dancefloor. One love! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Now that tech-house seems to have shaken off it's soiled past, the new era beckons. Here we have four producers who grab the genre by it's fist-pumping, rafter-swinging limbs and show us where it's heading through 2026. I'm welllll on board.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Jennifer Loveless - Satisfaction 07:01
A2. ROKAR - Bedroom Headliner 05:44
B1. Rudy With A Hoodie & J-Land - The Rhythm 06:45
B2. PAURRO - Chik Fresa 06:39

From the Costa-shortlisted author of I'm Not With The Band, a collection of interviews with the weird and wonderful musicians who defined an iconic era Whatever happened to the weirdos? The rock'n'roll rebels? The children of The Revolution who not so much raged against The Man as barely acknowledged the concept of authority?Sylvia Patterson remembers them. The freaks, geeks and oddballs who picked up microphones and instruments not to become rich or famous but because they were too mad (or unemployable) to do anything else. I'm Not With The Man is the flipside to Sylvia's award-winning memoir I'm Not With The Band, celebrating the era of 'the rock 'n' roll nutter' through her own encounters with some of music's most uncompromising mavericks.

From a cursing Adam Ant to a formidable Chrissie Hynde, from a carousing Liam Gallagher to a coruscating Sinead O'Connor, from a comedy Wu Tang Clan to an unrepentant Marianne Faithfull, and many, many more. Hilarious, revealing and poignant, I'm Not With The Man heralds a farewell fanfare to the heroically unhinged, those who lived on the edge of not only society but their own precarious sanity. We will not see their like again.

Proudly independent and deeply rooted in community, LIFE are a tightly-bonded collective whose creative world has always extended far beyond their music. On ABSTRACT / NATURAL, that world expands further still.

Lead single ‘The Dollywaggon’ stands as a compelling entry point to the record as a whole. Built on razor-sharp guitars, swirling synths and lightning-quick, surgically precise drumming, the track finds frontman Mez Sanders-Green delivering near stream-of-consciousness reflections from a protagonist caught between escape and self-reckoning (“I never wanted to leave myself, but I’m leaving now”), and driven by a restless sense of adventure: “the placard reads right to roam, and the boy is roaming”. Written while Mez was walking the 193-mile UK coast-to-coast route, the song traces a physical and emotional journey from the West Coast, over the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, across the moors and finally home to the East Coast.

That sense of movement runs throughout ABSTRACT / NATURAL. Characters rooted in folklore and landscape sit alongside reflections on fatherhood, freedom and personal evolution, forming a body of work that feels both intimate and outward-looking. The album began life not in a rehearsal room, but on the pages of a poetry book frontman Mez has been writing; a collection of musings on landscape, nature, love, acceptance and letting go. Hearing melodies embedded in his words, Mez began presenting fragments to the band as “wonky lullabies”, turning hills, ridges and landmarks into characters: Hen Comb, Pavey Arc, Sergeant Man, The Grey Friar and The Dollywaggon. From there, bandmates Stewart Baxter, Lydia Palmeira and Mick Sanders shaped the music around these narratives, instinctively weaving them into vivid arrangements that collectively present a fully-realised universe.

Produced by Stewart Baxter and Oliver Varga, mixed by James Kenosha and mastered by Stephen Kerrison, ABSTRACT / NATURAL was recorded at LIFE’s own studio in Hull (The Moon Factory); a space the band built themselves on the banks of the river and now run as a creative hub for emerging Northern artists.

The result is LIFE’s most expansive and experimental work to date: story-rich, exploratory and beautifully rooted in a sense of place. 

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Wild Grasses
The Dollywaggon
Turning In
Thistles Kiss
Mermaid Feet

Side B
My Yan
Drinking Games
Sun In Nancy
Buried Giant
Morning Fog

A decade ago, three employees of Jj’s Market and Cafe became Styrofoam Winos. Lou Turner, Trevor Nikrant, and Joe Kenkel bonded over their mutual adoration for Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, and dollar bin country records. They amplified each other's enthusiasm, freaking out over every new song they came across. After a friend moved and left behind a drum set, all three Winos learned to play the drums. Early experiments in group songwriting were born from jam sessions and erasure poetry, blacking out words in old books to generate new poems. They all sang lead and swapped instruments regularly. Seeing Michael Hurley for the first time left a lasting impression and provided the band with one of its creative north stars. Years later, Snock himself would send the Winos his blessing to release their cassette of covers of his songs.

Styrofoam Winos have always gone with the flow, which makes 'Any River' an apt title for their new album, the follow-up to 2024's 'Real Time'. Their playful approach is bolstered by the chops of seasoned musicians who have performed many hundreds of concerts, both together and as touring members of Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band, MJ Lenderman and the Wind, and as solo artists. This is one of their key strengths that can’t be overstated: they are extremely good musicians! When three talented people develop such a deep level of chemistry, the result is nothing short of majestic. Each song on 'Any River' came out of jam sessions at Turner and Nikrant’s home studio, and a shared Google doc of lyrics soon followed. They recorded in Louisville—their first album made outside of Nashville—with Roadhouse bandmate and Equipment Pointed Ankh mastermind Jim Marlowe. Marlowe's understated production kept the band’s unique synergy on full display.

This leads to another essential point about this band. They manage to strike a perfect balance between reverence and irreverence for the musical traditions they're working within. Their knowledge of the canon is scholarly, but such knowledge is always followed by a wink. No moment on the record encapsulates this more than the trumpet solo on ‘New Friend’. It’s a deft performance, but the way Kenkel dips down below the tonic before resolving the solo’s final notes is hysterical. Performed live, he plays the solo note for note on a kazoo while playing the drums at the same time. This music is that of experienced shapeshifters, defying easy categorization while remaining instantly recognisable.

TRACK LISTING

1. Pearls
2. BBQ
3. Somebody Wants to Send You a Message
4. I Felt You
5. New Friend
6. Swimminin
7. Next Thing
8. Off My Mind
9. Just For You
10. You'll Never Take Me Alive
11. Gettin’ Down

Ten reimagined versions of every song from Joan As Police Woman's 'Real Life' album (Reveal Records 2006). Twenty years in the making. Developed through countless nights on stage, these new arrangements are brought to life by the musical brilliance of the players who helped define their sound.Some transformations are subtle. Others are seismic. All of them were made with an entirely new cast of collaborators. In order of appearance: Will Graefe, Jeremy Gustin, Tony Scherr, Parker Kindred , Danny Blume, Krystle Warren, Oren Bloedow, Thomas Bartlett and Iggy Pop.

Joan Wasser, known professionally as Joan As Police Woman, is a critically acclaimed New York-based artist. As a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist she defies easy categorisation, crafting her own sound that blends various genres. She has released ten albums of original material, two cover albums, and an anthology. Beyond her solo career, Wasser is a sought-after collaborator. She's a member of Iggy Pop's touring band and performs with Damon Albarn's Africa Express. Her collaborative spirit has led her to work with Tony Allen, Lou Reed, Anohni & The Johnsons, Meshell Ndegeocello, Rufus Wainwright, John Cale, David Byrne and many other notable musicians around the world.

TRACK LISTING

1. Anyone
2. Flushed Chest
3. The Ride
4. I Defy (featuring Krystle Warren)
5. Feed The Light
6. Christobel
7. Save Me (featuring Iggy Pop) 
8. We Don't Own It
9. Eternal Flame
10. Real Life

Shooting Daggers are a band that never seems to stop. Sal, Bea and Raquel are one of the hardest working outfits out there, constantly playing shows and lending their support to myriad causes all around the U.K. and Europe. So, it’s always an exciting prospect when the band takes some time out from the maelstrom to write and record new material. And 2 years on from the release of their acclaimed debut album ‘Love & Rage’ the band have been in Bear Bites Horse Studio with Wayne Adams (Big Lad, Green Lung) at the controls to come up with the goods once again. ‘The Real Life Thing’ is the latest hardcore sonic missive from one of London’s must-see bands, and it absolutely does not disappoint. Shooting Daggers are the real deal; the best, and most exciting and adventurous hardcore-inspired band in the country.

TRACK LISTING

1. Adrenaline
2. My Oh My!
3. T.R.L.T.
4. We Just Wanna Play
5. Loud Mouths (feat The Menstrual Cramps)
6. Le Soleil
7. GLOW (feat Dennis Lyxzén)

"Good Life" sees Detroit icons Inner City return on KMS with one of the most celebrated house records of all time, presented here on fresh 12” vinyl.

A defining track of the late 80s and early house movement, "Good Life" remains a timeless anthem, driven by uplifting melodies, soulful vocals and unmistakable Detroit energy.

This edition features a remastered version of the original alongside an Inner City edit of the Carl Craig remix, plus a Dub Mix, offering both classic playback and updated DJ functionality.

As a cornerstone release from the KMS catalogue, the record continues to resonate across generations of DJs and listeners, maintaining its place as an essential dancefloor staple.

Back on fresh 12" vinyl, this repress offers strong appeal for both collectors and DJs looking to stock a truly iconic house record.

An essential catalogue piece for lovers of classic house and Detroit's musical heritage.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Detroit history from Keven Saunderson and Paris Grey. Era-defining in 1988 (!!) and still rocking clubs to this day, nearly 40 years later. One of those records anyone with even a passing interest in dance music need to have in their collection.

TRACK LISTING

A. Good Life
B. Good Life (Inner City Edit Of Carl Craig's Remix)
B2. Good Life Dub 

Five years ago, Curren$y proved once again that while the rest of the world might hit the brakes, the Jet Life never stalls. Released in the early months of 2021, 'Collection Agency' arrived as a masterclass in "work-from-home" luxury—a smooth, ten-track victory lap that solidified Curren$y’s status as the most consistent architect in underground hip-hop.

Clocking in at just under 24 minutes, 'Collection Agency' is the sonic equivalent of a pristine, low-mileage 911 Turbo. It’s lean, expensive-sounding, and devoid of filler. While the world was still grappling with a sense of stagnation, Spitta was in the garage, documenting the rewards of a decade-plus grind.

The 10-track release marks his 11th solo studio album, and 90th overall project. Even more impressively, the quality has remained consistent throughout his prolific career. The Louisiana rapper links up with several notable producers on the project including DJ.Fresh, Harry Fraud, Rsonist of The Heatmakerz, Trauma Tone, Purps, & Black Metaphor. We also see an appearance by longtime friend and collaborator, Larry June. Once again, Curren$y delivers another unforgettable round of smooth joints and cruising music.

TRACK LISTING

1. Kush Through The Sunroof
2. Smiled On Me
3. Arrival
4. I Don’t Call
5. Jermaine Dupri
6. Closing Date
7. Shout Out (feat. Larry June)
8. Ferrari Engine
9. Above The Law
10. Misty

That's life is the second album by Sham 69 and probably the first concept punk rock record. The first wave of punk was all about singles and there are two fine ones here: Hurry Up Harry and Angels With Dirty Faces. Anyone who can suffer through an episode of East Enders should be able to follow the "day in the life" narrative, the story of an everyday family living in London in the late 70's. A pretty great record that is anchored up by two great singles and a novel concept for an LP.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Leave Me Alone
2. Who Gives A Damn
3. Everybody's Right, Everybody's Wrong
4. That's Life
5. Win Or Lose

Side B
1. Hurry Up Harry
2. Evil Way
3. Reggae Pick Up Part I
4. Sunday Morning Nightmare
5. Reggae Pick Up Part II
6. Angels With Dirty Faces
7. Is This Me Or Is This You?

The realest-deal storyteller in indie-rock today is the Tampa-born, New Orleans-based singer/songwriter Thomas Dollbaum, and 'Birds of Paradise' is his most powerful and dynamic work yet. Following up his critically acclaimed 'Wellswood' (Big Legal Mess, 2022) and 'Drive All Night' EP (Dear Life Records, 2025), 'Birds of Paradise' is a goodbye letter to lost loved ones and former selves. These songs find Dollbaum searching for acceptance in the transient in-between places: Florida's pine flatwoods, backroads leading to I-95, where birds fly across the water. And even though the ghosts of his alt-country predecessors Townes and Molina are definitely present, on 'Birds of Paradise', Dollbaum emerges from their shadows—waving to the past, sounding all the more like himself.

This moment—this album—is long overdue. Both of Dollbaum’s previous releases had taken way too long to record, due to circumstances out of his control, leaving him frustrated. And after having been away from his home for eight years, the place he had left was no longer the place he remembered, and the unchanging of the natural world felt like a constant he wanted to write about. With a sense of immediacy, he wrote 'Birds of Paradise' in three months. Called up the musicians he trusted and admired the most—Nick Corson, Josh Halper, and Jake Lenderman—and asked them to meet him at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, Mississippi with producer/engineer Clay Jones. They learned and tracked the album in four days, capturing lightning in a bottle, a sonic revelation Dollbaum’s writing has always been waiting for.

With the help of Lenderman, Halper, Corson, and Jones, 'Birds of Paradise' is Dollbaum’s hard-won breakthrough. Alive and echoing like the poems and short stories you can’t shake: coyotes howl, birds fly south, kids chase rabbits through the sugar cane, and cigarettes are four dollars a pack. 'Birds of Paradise' reminds us where we come from—the things inside ourselves we’ve forgotten—we just needed Dollbaum to show us. Here’s how to look back without fear or shame. Here’s authenticity.

TRACK LISTING

1. Visitation
2. Dozen Roses
3. Rabbits
4. Coyote
5. Waterbird
6. Big Boi
7. Pulverize
8. King’s Landing
9. Scrub Jay
10. Blue Meets Blue

'Images of Life' is the career-spanning, 3xLP retrospective boxset illuminating the staggering breadth and depth of Detroit's unheralded songwriting genius, Ted Lucas. Disc one 'Strange Mysterious Sounds (1965-1970)' highlights Ted's flirtation with psychedelic major label clout via his bands the Spike Drivers, the Misty Wizards and the Horny Toads. 'Rainy Days (1970-1974)' will be the solo acoustic warmth and charm most familiar to folks already aware of Ted's selftitled 'OM' album from 1975. 'Impossible Love (1979)' the lost second Album finds Ted smooth and nearly "yacht rock" while never betraying the true artistry and craft of the once-in-a-generation talent of Ted Lucas.

TRACK LISTING

LP1 - STRANGE MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS:
1. Strange Mysterious Sounds
2. It’s Love
3. High On Love
4. High Time
5. Often I Wonder
6. Harold Lloyd
7. I'm So Glad
8. Can't Stand The Pain
9. Love Took A Trip
10. Blue Law Sunday
11. Head In California

LP2 - RAINY DAYS:
1. You've Got The Power
2. Rainy Days
3. It's Love
4. Nobody Loves Me Like
5. My Baby Does
6. Stay High
7. It's Not Easy
8. Anastasia
9. Take What You Need
10. Driftin' Free
11. Images of Life
12. I Wish I Knew

LP3 - IMPOSSIBLE LOVE:
1. Slow Motion Ocean (of Love)
2. Impossible Love
3. What Can I Believe in Without Love
4. Searching For Love
5. You Win Again
6. Sgt. Pinhead
7. If I Can't Be Your Lover (I Won't Be Your Friend)
8. How Does It Feel
9. I Can See It In Your Eyes
10. Impossible Love [Acoustic]

'Warts and all, mainly my own.'

At home, the prayerful eight-year-old altar boy was planning to attend college to train to be a priest. Elsewhere, he was thieving, lying, swearing, fighting and rarely out of trouble. In this astonishing memoir, Dexys’ iconic frontman takes us from the juvenile courts of his troubled teenage years to the early days of the New Romantic scene in the late ’70s. An unwavering passion for music and highly tuned sense of fashion and style ignited an unstoppable drive within him, compelling him down a path that led to his huge chart successes with Dexys Midnight Runners in the early 1980s. However, despite being celebrated as a creative genius, inner turmoil was never far away, and a terrifying series of self-sabotaging events were to follow – including a serious cocaine addiction – leaving him in the wilderness in the 1990s, bankrupt, living in a bedsit, on the dole.

Always resilient in the face of adversity, after a massive upheaval Kevin found his way back. He charts his return journey, from shocking audiences with his pioneering embrace of gender fluidity with My Beauty, right through to Dexys’ triumphant appearance at Glastonbury in 2024. Vividly detailed, and with a truly rare degree of self-insight, this is Kevin's own,deeply personal account of an extraordinary life, raw and unvarnished.

A remarkable memoir, as compelling and original as you would expect from one of the great mavericks of British music.

The irresistible story of a one-man cultural phenomenon. Minister for the Counterculture, Mancunian mainstay and alternative national treasure John Robb has lived a life in music. In this book he charts his adventures on the cultural frontline, chronicling the making of a DIY icon.

Robb’s quest began in his hometown of Blackpool – where punk was a battle against the odds – and went international when he toured the world with his band. The first person to interview Nirvana, he also discovered The Stone Roses for weekly newspaper Sounds and did early interviews with The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Manics, before moving on to legends such as Mark E. Smith, Nick Cave and Patti Smith.

Along the way, he became an on-screen commentator and author of bestselling books. Robb’s memoir tells of deep friendships with figures from Poly Styrene to Chris Packham. Packed with riotous stories, it provides an alternative account of British musical and cultural history and a triumphant blueprint for a punk rock life.

Ambient demigod Brian Eno and modern bass & Boiler Room poster boy Fred Again team up for a rather unexpected curve ball. It seems that Brian has taken the lead on "Secret Life", forcing the young upstart to ditch his rampant, ADHD-fueled finger drumming and inferno-causing bass-garage-house hybrids for an exercise in what his next door neighbour (true story), and mentor, specializes at - the most serene ambient music around.

It's a delicate, spacious listen; with Eno's famous use of reductive techniques allowing the most precious of elements all the room they need to sparkle - like a tiny Faberge Egg presented in a vast, grandiose, but pin-drop silent gallery. The use of silence given plenty of reverence. There's smeared vocal and string manipulations that reverberate from almost heavenly realms, and in parts, it's like the antithesis to Burials recent dystopian ambient project "Antidawn" - exploring the more optimistic territories of the Skyrim metaverse in a non-linear structure which suspends time and allows you to drift in and out of its liminal reality.

It'll sit comfortably by your side on a rain soaked day languidly pottering around the home, or set the perfect atmosphere for your next art show installation; or even serenade your new born into a dreamlike slumber. I can't help feeling its one of those albums that'll be really affected by the environment in which it is aired. Like much of Eno's work, it's a subtle listen that I'm convinced will reward the deeper and more attentive listeners.

Produced by Brian Eno and Fred Gibson (aka Fred Again) 4th April 2020 - 23rd December 2022

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Everyone loves a bit of Eno, right? This collaboration sees Fred Again's chopped-up synthpop / alt r&b hybrid given the Eno treatment and sloooowed into a beautiful, restorative slice of stargazing ambient. A great collaborative endeavour, with more than a little classic Eno.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
01 I Saw You
02 Secret
03 Radio
04 Follow
05 Enough
06 Pause
Side 2
01 Safety
02 Cmon
03 Trying
04 Chest
05 Come On Home

For anyone who loves music this is a backstage pass to a life lived fully as one of rock's greatest heroes. Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie. His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable.

Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him – Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. Clem began writing The Other Side of the Dream more than 20 years ago, often setting it aside amid relentless touring and recording schedules.

When cancer treatment and illness forced his retirement in 2024, completing the book became a priority. As a founding member of Blondie, Clem went on to influence a wide number of musicians, effortlessly moving between genres, bands and countries. In The Other Side of the Dream, Clem Burke reflects on his extraordinary journey from the gritty streets of New York City to global superstardom.

With candour and wit, he recounts the explosive punk scene that gave rise to Blondie, the creative partnerships that defined their music and the challenges of navigating fame in a constantly evolving industry. It's a rock and roll memoir like no other.

They were coming back to life. They were free and getting freer. The heart-breaking, soul-building new novel about the transformative power of love, from the Sunday Times-bestselling KAE TEMPESTRothko Taylor has washed up with the tide, back in their hometown, Edgecliff.

Fifteen years since they left it behind. The past is accelerating towards them: the skateboard kids on the high street that remind them of their teenage years, the splintered benches looking out to sea, where their mum Meg clutched her cans. The nice bit of town, where their dad Ezra tried and failed to build a happy home.

And Dionne's block. Beautiful, extraordinary Dionne, the only person who had ever looked at them and seen what was there. Back then, overwhelmed and full of fear, they sank beneath the surface into chaos.

But they made it out alive. And this time, Rothko is determined that things will be different. His first novel in a decade, Having Spent Life Seeking is about family and forgiveness; redemption and atonement; desire and abandon; selfhood and community.

The things we seek when we are hiding, and what finds us, if we can let ourselves be seen.

From Manchester’s backstreets to global dancefloors – the untold story of a musical pioneer. Beginning on the night in November 1963 when his mum took him to see the Beatles live at Manchester’s ABC Cinema, Mike Pickering takes the reader through sixty years of clubs, clothes, gigs, record labels, football matches and politics. Pickering has lived through decades of rapid change in popular music.

As an influential DJ he introduced house music into the legendary Haçienda. He signed Happy Mondays and James to Factory Records before working with Kasabian, Gossip and Calvin Harris at Sony. His Mercury Prize-winning, multi-million-selling group M People transformed the music industry's attitude to dance music.

As he tells his remarkable story he introduces an array of friends and collaborators, many of whom would become important – and sometimes notorious – figures in music history. Manchester must dance is a revelatory insider’s account that moves from the cramped back streets of 1950s north Manchester on a journey deep into music, the city and the wider world. It features forewords from some of those Pickering inspired: Martin Fry, Johnny Marr, Noel Gallagher and Calvin Harris.

VALVE video games and IPECAC RECORDINGS have a partnership that dates back almost 15 years when we released the PORTAL 2 soundtracks. Since then, there’s been releases of some of the biggest video game soundtracks out there including TEAM FORTRESS 2, DOTA 2 and the entire HALF-LIFE series. These have been some of Ipecac’s best-selling physical and digital releases on the label.

HALF-LIFE: ALYX was originally released digitally as a series of 11 chapters from 2020–2022, and the physical release brings those together in two different formats

The HL:A game itself has sold over 2MM copies since 2020 and had added to the Half-Life series of games that has sold over 30MM copies.

TRACK LISTING

CD Features All 72 Tracks From The HL:A Series Over 4 CDs
2LP Features 21 Tracks Selected By The Composer, And Includes A Download Card With All 72 Tracks

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2026 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 18TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM (BST) ON MONDAY APRIL 20th).

Ten Year Anniversary re-press of Melancholia Hymns with holofoil front cover.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2026 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

‘Bad Life’ was the single collaboration between Sigrid and Bring Me The Horizon, released via Island Records in 2022.

Being the fourth and final single from Sigrid’s second studio album ‘How To Let Go’, this is the first time the standalone track will be available on vinyl, meaning fans of both artists can add to their respective collections.

This special release for Record Store Day 2026 will be a limited edition, blue-coloured 7”.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Bad Life
B1. Bad Life (acoustic)

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2026 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

It’s time to bust out that leather thong, and strap-on those combat boots - My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult remixxxes their Wax Trax! Klassiks for a limited 2LP vinyl release. Originally released in 2010 on CD only, these special remixes and alternative versions by Groovie Mann & Buzz McCoy have been physically out print for over a decade, and will be the first time available in vinyl. Slither onto the dance floor with these incredible remixed versions of “Daisy Chain 4 Satan”, “Cooler Than Jesus”, “Do You Fear For Your Child”, and more! For a special treat this limited release will have an exclusive GLOW IN THE DARK cover and special color variant…THIS EDITION AVAILABLE FOR RSD 2026 ONLY!

New and long awaited releases in the Jah Life reissue program. Al Campbell's "Collie Herb" was originally issued on Jah Life 12" in US & UK, and on Kaya 7" in JA. "World Crisis" was originally issued on 12" on the Reggae Sound label in NY. Killer ganja tune and reality tune, back to back. "Collie Herb" comes equipped with dub, while "World Crisis" is a deadly discomix.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: A tribute to the devil's lettuce that's riotous and infectious. Apparently good for concentration, inflammation and the next generation. Not that I'd know... never touched the stuff! ;)

TRACK LISTING

A1. Collie Herb
A2. Collie Herb (Dub)
B1. World Crisis

Life Slime is the sixth full-length album by Pictish Trail (AKA Johnny Lynch) — a strange, tender, psychedelic electro-pop record shaped by transformation, exhaustion, hope, guilt, and renewal. Written at home on the Isle of Eigg and recorded at Mike Lindsay’s studio down in Margate (Tunng / LUMP), the album follows 2022’s critically acclaimed Island Family, further refining Lynch’s world of lo-fi electronics, warped pop melodies, baggy psych rhythms and emotionally direct songwriting. It’s a record that balances woozy synth-pop, motorik propulsion and intimate acoustic songwriting, all infused with the emotional messiness that gives the album its title.

Across the album’s singles — the guilt-stained psych-pop ballad ‘Hold It’, the life-affirming shimmer of ‘Infinity Ooze’, the late-night confession of ‘Torch Song’, the expansive eight-minute centrepiece ‘Another Way’, and the cinematic closer ‘Werewolf Ending’ — Life Slime charts a journey from emotional fracture to uneasy release. ‘Sorry Eyes’ brings a punchy electro-pop strut with a sharp emotional edge, ‘Crystal Cave’ drifts through crystalline guitars and shoegaze haze into transformation, and the title track ‘Life Slime’ moves with a slow, weary swagger toward bittersweet acceptance. Together, these tracks form a cohesive album statement about surrender, resistance, change and renewal.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: High-definition pop music, gorgeously evocative athletic vocals and otherworldly, unexpected instrumental coimpositions. Lynch has consistently managed to push the boundaries of singer-songwriter pop music over the past few albums and 'Life Slime' shows how his off-piste meanderings are only getting more effective and (if possible) even more unexpected. Brilliant.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hold It
2. Life Slime
3. Toxic Spillage
4. Battery Pack
5. Another Way
6. Sorry Eyes
7. Infinity Ooze
8. Crystal Cave
9. Torch Song
10. Werewolf Ending

Moumneh (Jerusalem In My Heart) and Oberland (Oiseaux-Tempête) consolidate a long history of cross-collaboration on this debut studio album as a duo: a compelling synthesis of their respective and shared sensibilities. Blending juddering electronics with acoustic instruments like buzuk, rababa, clarineau and saxophone, peppered with Moumneh’s Arabic singing, the album is forged in outrage and lamentation over our suprematist and genocidal political present.

Morphing between the sensory and the suppressed, Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and Frédéric D. Oberland’s debut album summons a poetic musical proclamation of transfigured reality and social amnesia. These seven tracks evolved collaboratively over two years, beginning as a series of duets that Moumneh instigated at Montréal’s Hotel2Tango studio in summer 2023. The Arabic title of 'Eternal Life No End' translates more literally as “A dark, cursed night, like the seekers themselves” and the album is an outcry amidst the oceans of injustice flooding the SWANA region, haunting the lives and visions of vast populations.

Like Dante and Virgil in Dante’s Inferno, Oberland and Moumneh’s compositions chart an emotional vortex, as dream-time seeps into trancelike percussion and hypnotic melodies, channeling collective urgencies that ripple through the currents of Radwan’s voice and Arabic lyrics. Oberland’s passages of saxophone and clarineau evoke shamanic exhortations of evil, while Moumneh’s buzuk strums and swarms, often through electronic processing, with tempestuous mourning about unfolding tragedies. An array of instrumentation fleshes out the wider soundscapes: daf (a Middle Eastern frame drum) and bongos, a modified electric rababa, shuddering bass and other synthetic filigree from Oberland’s Buchla and Deckard's Dream synths.

TRACK LISTING

1. Squeal Of Swine
2. Dagger Eyes
3. A Silence With No Ceiling
4. A Shadow With No Silhouette
5. The Serpent
6. A Dream That Never Arrived
7. Walked And Walked

Natalie Jane Hill’s new record, Hopeful Woman, is composed of slender songs, life-sized, in which humans endeavor to reconcile themselves to wildernesses and cities; rearrange their rooms and open windows to be closer to the world outside and its choruses of frogs and crickets; attempt and fail to reach one another across a kitchen table; weather natural disaster. If something we might deign to call self-discovery emerges over the course of these narratives, it owes in no small part to the scale of their scenes, to the modesty of their ambitions, in which tumult and adaptation and growth are metabolized through a body’s gentle actions and reactions, its moments of quietude and observation and reflection. “Into the current of life I will fly,” Hill sings on Oranges, a song that would serve her well as a mission statement. “Changing and loving and growing and trying.”

Hopeful Woman was recorded live in two parts: first in Lockhart, Texas —she’s a native of the state—and then in Western North Carolina, where she now makes her home. She enlisted a small ensemble of collaborators whose spacious but focused arrangements hum with the nuance and delicacy that has attended the recordings of another thoughtful Texas songwriter, the great Edith Frost. Hill’s crackerjack multi-instrumentalist partner Mat Davidson in particular appears throughout with preternatural grace: attend to his aching pedal steel on “Never Left Me,” or demurely pastoral-psychedelic flute that weaves through “Lucky to Be,” or the stacked fiddles on “Blue is the Color of My Sun.” All is in deft service to Hill’s magnificent voice, redolent of Hope Sandoval or Karen Dalton but more humane, more sturdy, closer to the earth.

It’s only close to the earth where hope takes root and, we can only hope, grows—not in reckless, wild fecundity but in measured steps, one at a time, while the storm gathers, rips through, passes. “And I know through time we’ll give and we’ll let go,” Hill sings. “And I know this time I’ll give and I’ll let go.” Hers is a wise and humane hopefulness, built exquisitely to human scale. The same can be said of this record.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
1. Rose And Pink
2. Never Left Me
3. Colors
4. Kitchen Table
5.Lady Pond

Side B:
6. Lucky To Be
7. Blue Is The Color Of My Sun
8. Oranges
9. Endless Memory
10. I Thought Love Meant

The official biography of former Big Country frontman chronicling his career highs and tragic death. This is the story of Stuart Adamson, co-founder of not one but two seminal Scottish post-punk groups, The Skids and Big Country. But this is a book that is about much more than music. Stay Alive is about alcoholism, abuse, family, fame, addiction, depression and working-class pride.

And along the way there are stories of drug busts, debauchery, flag burning, fist-fights, prison escapes and riots, with a revolving cast of characters from The Clash to the Rolling Stones. For the first time, both of Stuart Adamson’s wives, children and bandmates tell their side of the story: unflinching, funny and brutally honest.

'Lush Life' is the Sonar Kollektiv debut EP by German singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Flo Naegeli.

Originally hailing from the Bavarian forests of southeastern Germany, Naegeli began his musical journey at the age of seven as a folk accordionist, later switching to electric guitar and developing a disciplined approach to songwriting and musicianship that led to formal music studies and a professional career. After moving to eastern Germany, he gradually stepped away from band projects to focus on solo work, embracing self-production tools to realise a sound that blends soulful songwriting with warm, organic instrumentation.

Written and largely recorded by Naegeli himself, 'Lush Life' is a deeply personal yet accessible collection of songs reflecting on fatherhood, family relationships and friendship.

Tracks such as 'Love By The Hour' and 'Freedom' explore his relationships with his father and mother respectively, while 'Closer' reflects on intimacy and emotional resilience, and “Shake” captures the bittersweet feeling of separation from a close friend. Despite the introspective themes, the EP carries a strong sense of optimism and warmth throughout. Flo’s soulful vocals and assured arrangements are supported by select guest musicians on drums, trumpet, cello and strings, resulting in a sound that feels both intimate and uplifting.

'Lush Life' positions Flo Naegeli as a distinctive new voice within the Sonar Kollektiv catalogue, combining emotional depth with broad appeal across soul, indie and modern singer-songwriter fans.

TRACK LISTING

1. Shake
2. Freedom
3. Closer
4. Quiet Power
5. Colorblind
6. Love By The Hour

Inspired by a look back to futuristic tracks from the early 90's to the 50's in the US and the impact now of artificial intelligence on life today is the theme of this EP

"Android Blaze" sees Dyantron sets his sights on a future apocalypse. Referencing George Orwell's 1984 and Blade Runner. We here at Picc HQ are getting notes of rolling 90s UK tech with Detroit finesse and exceptional knowledge of synthesis! Pre-mastered by DJ Sotofett. Mixing by Robotron. Mastered by Manmade Mastering.

"Kids and Batteries" depicts virtual kids searching for their souls online. Hyperactive yet disorientated; a melee of seemingly disparate elements converging on a monotonous rhythm. Wrought with tension.

"Real Synthetic Life" references the 50's science fiction movie Forbidden
Planet. A barren and inhuman sonic wasteland populated by computerised utterances and synthetic emotion. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Acido's carefully curated catalogue continues to reveal dramatic and dynamic nuggets of out-there greatness. One of the best labels for those weird backroom sounds where licking frogs, eyeballs and various other body parts seems normal. Think the green room at THW come 4am and you get the idea...

TRACK LISTING

A. Android Blaze
B1. Kids And Batteries
B2. Real Synthetic Life

We've got an agreement now, Pure Life (the person) comes into the shop and brings me some records and says 'You'll like this' and then I take ages to upload it and when I finally listen to it I *really* do like it and tell everyone to buy it and by the time I do, it's sold out. 

I know that's not the best way to hear about something when you probably can't buy it, but believe me if you see this and like synth music or ambient music or even Pure Life (the label), you'll be entirely up for this, but let me warn you now, you should definitely buy anything you like when you can.  

So then to the latest from Dennis Huddleston aka 36. Waves of digital synth and blipping arps, shimmering reverb and FM-stabs, woozy crescendos and echoing, Jan Hammer-y melodies, slowly growing walls of sound that fade and bloom, swell and retract. It's a gorgeous thing, and It deserves all of your attention, not that you'll have a choice after a couple minutes. 

A stunning, characteristically immersive behemoth from 36 and Pure Life.  

TRACK LISTING

1. Pre-Dream Condition 07:02
2. Manual Dream Transmission 06:17
3. A Bright And Tranquil Light 06:51
4. Night Language 05:43
5. Nite Range 07:07
6. An Endless Purple Sea 05:48 

Musician, wife, mother, daughter, sister, grandmother, collaborator, guru, iconoclast: Alice Coltrane is one of the most forward-looking yet misunderstood artists of the last fifty years. For most of her life - and even in the decades since her passing - she was seen merely as the widow of the late John Coltrane, one of jazz's 'great men' who has long been worshipped with an almost religious fervour and devotion. Yet ever so slowly, that level of love and appreciation is also being bestowed upon Alice.

Her influence can be felt on new generations of musicians, especially women, people of colour and artists who seek to combine jazz with other musical forms. In Coltrane's music, we can observe the transformation of Black American music in microcosm: the gospel roots giving rise to jazz and bebop, then intermingling with soul and R&B, then onto rock, modern classical, psychedelia and new age. Cosmic Music is both the first full-length biography of Alice and a long-overdue corrective to the historical and critical record.

Based on extensive research and scores of new interviews by acclaimed music journalist Andy Beta, it is the definitive account of a visionary whose influence is only just beginning to be appreciated in full.

Karma Chief Records (a division of Colemine Records) is proud to bring a dance-floor filling disco 45 of two hot tracks from Say She She's newest LP 'Cut & Rewind.'

The NYC punk-chic, discodelic funk band returned with their third studio LP last October. It's a politically-charged, dancefloor-crushing record led by the powerhouse vocal trio of Piya Malik, Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown.

The A-side, title track 'Cut & Rewind,' is post-punk femme-funk track featuring the group's sweeping harmonies and undeniable funk base/bass line. The song is principally autobiographical but also layered with subtle salutes to songwriting legends.

The group recently performed the B-side, 'Disco Life,' live on Jimmy Kimmel. The upbeat, groove-forward track decries the racism and homophobia of Steve Dahl’s 1979 “Disco Demolition Night,” reclaiming the dancefloor as “a playing field where all are free."

TRACK LISTING

1. Cut & Rewind
2. Disco Life

Four classic US house vocals. Four club-ready remixes. One essential Sub-Urban EP.

Sub-Urban returns with Volume 3 in its much-loved vinyl series, a four-track, vocal-driven house EP built for DJs who want real vocals, real soul and real dancefloor impact.

Featuring iconic voices including Kathleen Murphy, Helen Bruner & Terry Jones and Ceybil Jefferies, this release delivers timeless house songwriting reworked into modern, club-ready cuts by respected underground producers.

This is a no-filler DJ tool, every track works in warm-ups, sunset sessions, peak-time soulful moments and late-night deep floors.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Key To Life Featuring Kathleen Murphy ‘Find Our Way (Breakaway)’ (Marc Cotterell Plastik Factory Vox)
A2. Lee Genesis ‘Ya Can’t Separate Me (I’m Determined)’ (Sean McCabe Vocal Mix)
B1. Next Phase & Helen Bruner & Terry Jones ‘I Ain’t Got Time’ (Grant's Euphoric Club Mix)
B2. Deep Zone Featuring Ceybil Jefferies ‘Praise Him (Lift Your Hands Up)’ (The Deepzone Club Mix)

Everyone is angry nowadays. The internet is awash with anger and people on the streets are angry. LIFE are no exception, they are the untapped anger of the British working class in 2017. Their last offering, Euromillions, was a piece-de-resistance, provocatively released on the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration - taking aim and swiping hard at the so called ‘alt right’. “You have the right to bear arms if you’ve got the right coloured arms” bellowed lead singer Mez Sanders-Green over a cacophony of noise. LIFE are based in Hull, a classic underdog city made good by its new found status as 2017 UK City of Culture. But beneath the cultural progression and media attention there is still fear in the air. It’s this fear that runs through the heart of the band’s debut album, as explained by Mez: “Popular Music sounds like panic and anxiety, it's the sound of shitting it about whatever happens next week, about what you can weigh through on the self-checkout to get your beans cheaper.

It's an LP made up of the psyche of everyone who can see they're getting fucked and there's a lot of people getting fucked right now.” The album was produced and mixed by Grammy award winner, Ian Dowling at The Fish Factory in London. It’s a blistering, thunderous album that barely leaves room for breath. A quintessentially punk record in the spirit of Sham 69, new single In Your Hands (the LP opener) is indicative of the flavour to come. Anger, restlessness, tension. 

TRACK LISTING

Side A:

1. In Your Hands
2. Sugar God
3. Go Go Go
4. Rare Boots
5. Membership Man
6. Earthworm

Side B

7. Popular Music
8. Electricity
9. Beautifully Skint
10. Ba Ba Ba
11. Euromillions

Howling Bells return with their first new album in over a decade. The Australian trio's version of hypnotic indie-rock always stood separate from the pack and very much a reflection of their unbreakable union. Equal parts sepia-toned romance and gritty rock’n’roll thrills. Together with long term collaborator Ben Hillier, in the producer’s chair 'Strange Life' is an album that harnesses the unique musical perspective that pricked up the music world’s ears back in their beginnings, but transposes it onto a lifetime’s more experience, ‘Strange Life’ is both familiar and new; a record that will unfurl like an old friend to long term fans whilst speaking in a language that only hard-won experience and a few more trips around the sun can understand. It may be a ‘Strange Life’ and a weird old world, but it sounds better with Howling Bells back in it.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A brand new album from Howling Bells after 10 long years is more than welcome, and hits all the notes you'd expect despite the long break. Evocative lyrics ride atop jangling guitars, rolling bass and that super laid-back aussie vocal style, pushing into fuzzy grunge territory on a good number of occasions. Top stuff.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Unbroken
2. Heavy Lifting
3. Angel
4. The Looking Glass
5. Sacred Land
6. Halfway Home

Side B
7. Melbourne
8. Dreamer
9. Chimera
10. Sweet Relief
11. Light Touch

DJ Tennis expands the universe of his recent single "Playa Paradiso" featuring vocals by multifaceted British artist Eliza with a deep-diving club Mix, retooling "Playa Paradiso" into a darker, longer-burning version aimed squarely at the dancefloor. Stripping back the sun-kissed gloss of the original, the Club Mix leans into his precision production instincts; elongating the groove, tightening the rhythm, and letting the low-end shine. With the vocal weaving in and out like a guiding light through the haze, it’s a hypnotic take that trades coastal charm for heady club elevation. A masterclass in tension and release, the Club Mix underscores DJ Tennis’s ability to balance emotional depth with dancefloor functionality. The remix is a reframing of “Playa Paradiso” for the night shift: smoke-filled rooms, peak-time crescendos, and sunrise afterglows. Both versions capture different corners of the
same world, one that basks in the Balearic sun, and the other pulsing in the strobe.
Together, they mark a full-circle return for DJ Tennis’s first solo material in three years as an artist whose sonic world has always defied simple categorization.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Eliza Rose continues to elevate producer's careers with a guest collab that rivals THAT Interplanetary Criminal tune from 2022. Her sugary sweet vocals are just the tonic for these hard times! Sure to give one Peggy Gou a run for her money I bet..

TRACK LISTING

A1. Playa Paradiso
A2. Playa Paradiso (Club Mix)
B1. Playa Paradiso (Paul Woolford Remix)

Some of the most beautiful, era-defining music has been co-composed by Karl Bartos. 'The Robots', 'Computer Love', 'Neon Lights', 'Tour De France' and Kraftwerk's 1982 number one single 'The Model' all contain his deft musical touch. For the first time, in The Sound of the Machine, Bartos speaks candidly and with wit and humour about his life in Kraftwerk, a band widely acknowledged as being one of the most important in modern music.

In The Sound of the Machine, Karl vividly recalls what it was like to be in the Kling Klang studios during recording, describing the process and perfectly capturing the joy and passion of three people composing and recording. Now, with a successful solo career of 30 years, Karl Bartos recalls his post-war childhood, the amazement he felt on first hearing The Beatles, his first bands, his parallel career as a musician and teacher, his years with Kraftwerk, and his hopes and fears for today's musical culture. 'Full and frank disclosure of life in the world's most influential electronic band...

On their powerful new album When A Flower Doesn’t Grow, Softcult (Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn) deliver their most unflinching and transformative work to date. Written during a period of personal upheaval and self-discovery, the record charts a journey through trauma, disillusionment, empowerment and eventual liberation.

Musically, Softcult continue to expand their world of grunge, shoegaze and alt-rock textures, pairing fuzz-laden riffs and dreamy soundscapes with raw, confessional lyricism. The result is both intimate and universal: a record for anyone who has ever felt trapped or diminished by their surroundings and a rallying cry to nurture ourselves and each other in the pursuit of freedom and authenticity.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Intro
2. Pill To Swallow
3. Naive
4. 16/25
5. She Said, He Said
6. Hurt Me
SIDE B
1. I Held You Like Glass
2. Queen Of Nothing
3. Tired
4. Not Sorry
5. When A Flower Doesn't Grow

Malena Zavala is an Argentinian-born, London-based artist, producer, and filmmaker, known for crafting ethereal, genre-blending music that navigates the space between her Latin heritage and her British upbringing. With 'If This Life Could Start Again', Zavala presents her most intimate, cohesive, and accomplished work to date, marking a significant evolution in her artistic journey.

With her new album, Malena creates an atmospheric dream pop world, weaving singer-songwriter intimacy with synth pop, Argentine folk, indiepop, rock and experimental music, threaded together by her blissful vocals and dreamy guitar work. Gorgeously warm and vivid, 'If This Life Could Start Again' charts the journey from pain to acceptance, mapping out the non-linear nature of healing through a sonic landscape. Each song embodies a distinct emotion within that journey, from grief and chaos to feeling lost, seeking refuge, finding confidence, and finally acceptance and letting go. Drawing on her Argentinian roots, Malena uses the Andes mountains as both a visual and thematic anchor – the difficult climb towards higher ground becomes a metaphor for healing, whilst being lost at rock bottom reflects the darkest moments of the journey.

Completely composed and performed by Malena herself, the album was recorded in Girona’s L’Empordà countryside in Spain with producer Luke Smith. As a professional producer and audio engineer, this was Malena’s first time relinquishing production control – an intimate creative shift that allowed their shared vision to shape the album’s rich, enveloping sound.

TRACK LISTING

1. Only Thing That’s Right
2. Lost In The Depths Of The Andes
3. What You Need
4. Veins Of The Parana
5. All These
6. Sentiments
7. Don’t Know What You’re Saying
8. Save Me From Me
9. A Different Path

The second of two new 10”s on a new subsidiary label from Studio 16. Black Art recordings, dubplate style, with singer Keith Rowe of Keith & Tex fame.
Recorded at Lee Perry's infamous studio in the mid-’70s. Essential recordings for anyone with a penchant for the golden years of dub reggae. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Beautiful number from Keith Rowe with upbeat demeanor and an almost proto-Lover's feel to proceedings. Bass cut LOUD, with hi-hats sizzling with tape hiss and saturation. MMmmmhmmm :)

TRACK LISTING

1. Mix 1
2. Mix 2

Italian singer-songwriter Marta Del Grandi returns with Dream Life, an album that bustles in a field of dreams, a multi-dimensional panoramic snapshot punctuated with serene disillusionment, that transcends musical boundaries as personal hopes and aspirations are cast against the vastness of the stars and beyond.  

The record opens with Antarctica, addressing the world’s ethical dilemma and shaking us out of our comfort zone with a riff reminiscent of Talking Heads in their prime, infused with Laurie Anderson-like abstract phrasing.  While Neon Lights underlines the sentiment but tackles it on a more personal level, its fuzzy guitars and roaming bass offering a harsher slice of rebellious self-exploration set in a symphonic swirl of sound. 

“My previous album Selva had a poetic and bucolic nature - in my head I can picture each song as an oil painting - Dream Life has a more contemporary approach, with lyrics touching political and social issues, a more explicit personal storytelling and a more defined pop sound. It’s more like a photobook, more defined and detailed”. - Marta Del Grandi 

Further into Dream Life, Alpha Centauri is a haunting introspective slice of pop magic that allows Marta’s gorgeous vocal to prowl in nostalgia for teenage times, rediscovering her inner child while a distant tuba carries a counter melody. The title track examines the quantum leap between reality and our dreams and ambitions, a counter point to Shoe Shaped Cloud and its brooding study of a relationship gone awry that’s propelled by an aching vocal which recalls Radiohead at their most brittle.  

The album reflects a growing awareness that we cannot fully control the future or the outcome of our plans. This thread weaves throughout the record, a journey that is poetic, ironic, and deeply grounded in the present.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Bright, understated melodies and organic rhythms mix with jazzy flourishes and off-kilter production, all topped with Del Grandi's quirky vocal affectation, resulting in an album that defies categorisation in the best possible way.

TRACK LISTING

A1 You Could Perhaps
A2 Dream Life
A3 Antarctica
A4 20 Days Of Summer
A5 Alpha Centauri
B1 Shoe Shaped Cloud
B2 Neon Lights
B3 Gold Mine
B4 Some Days (feat. Fenne Kuppens)
B5 Oh, My Father

Ghetto Pop Life was Danger Mouse’s first full length album on Lex and a hip hop classic, harking back to the sound of the early 90s East Coast and resurrecting Brooklyn’s most soulful thug MC, Jemini The Gifted One.Incorporating a full church choir on the title track, Danger Mouse also brings in heavy hitting guest rappers J-Zone, Tha Alkaholiks, The Pharcyde and Prince Po. In the words of the NME "Ghetto Pop Life is a funk-fuelled hip hop record that virtually orders you to get down’.LEX010LPRT was originally an exclusive variant but now available to all.

TRACK LISTING

1. Born-A-MC
2. Ghetto Pop Life (Intro)
3. Ghetto Pop Life
4. Omega Supreme (Who?!)
5. What U Sittin On? Feat. Tha Alkaholiks
6. The Only One
7. Take Care Of Business Feat. J-Zone
8. That Brooklyn Shit
9. Yoo-Hoo!
10. Copy Cats Feat. Prince Po
11. Don't Do Drugs
12. Medieval Feat. The Pharcyde
13. Bush Boys
14. Here We Go Again
15. I'ma Doomee
16. Knuckle Sandwich
17. What U Sittin' On? DM's 26" Remix Feat. CeeLo & Tha Alkaholiks
18. The Sh!t
19. Ghetto Pop Life II

CER009 finally brings Pumphouse Gang – “Welcome Back Into My Life” back to the 7inch format, a killer slice of Irish modern soul perfection from 1979. Originally pressed in tiny quantities and barely escaping dublin, it’s one of those records that rarely becomes available. A favourite of label boss miche, it’s in his words “an unbeatable soul track, that really fills a dancefloor with smiles”

On the flip, Medlar steps up once again, this time sending his mix straight from the Cayman Islands — a dubbed-out, Part 2-style reprise that stretches the groove, teases the rhythm, and gives the track a second life for late-night dancefloors.

As always, Celestial Echo digs deep into the overlooked corners of soul and disco, unearthing some of the best soul records and giving them a new lease of life. Each release is remastered with care and presented with the respect these recordings deserve.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Welcome Back Into My Life
B1. Welcome Back Into My Life (The Medlar Reprise Edit)

The story of how David Bowie's search for meaning inspired him to write the music that defined a generation. In this wide-ranging biography, Peter Ormerod explores the quest for spirituality that powered David Bowie's creativity from his earliest recordings to his death-defying final album. Bowie’s genre-expanding, era-crossing genius had an extraordinary impact on popular culture but his life-long search for spiritual truth and enlightenment has been overlooked.

From Bowie's first musical encounters as a choirboy, this book traces his spiritual obsessions over the years. As a young musician at the start of his career, he was enraptured by Tibetan Buddhism. It was the first step in a spiritual journey that would generate his most profound lyrics and music.

From the Kabbalah-influenced tracks of Station to Station to Ziggy Stardust's messiah complex and the profound affinity between Heroes and Christian thought, Ormerod sheds new light on the spiritual traditions behind Bowie's genius. Taking Bowie’s spiritual explorations and faith seriously, Ormerod shows us how this quest for meaning propelled him through his darkest moments and biggest successes, lending his music a timelessness and depth that has spoken to so many people across the world. Whether experiencing a dark night of the soul in LA during his occult phase or reciting the Lord's prayer in front of thousands of concertgoers, Bowie was always searching for that universal truth that lies beyond everyday reality.

With this record, New Order properly arrived as a band that could make a consistent, coherent album. Great, tuneful songs (three of which are deliciously poppy) no filler, and a big, full sound that perfectly blended the electronic with the organic, made this their best album so far. There was only one non-album single this time, (the rather weak "Shellshock") and in-fact two songs were actually (the shock! the horror! Sell out! Sell out!) lifted from the album as singles. But fear not, the remixed, extended versions of "The Perfect Kiss" and "Subculture" are so unbelievably good that I think New Order were forgiven!

Twenty-five years since its release My Life Story are reissuing their classic album ‘Joined Up Talking’. 


A nostalgic glance back, delivered with fresh perspective, the brit-pop band’s third album has been lovingly remastered and will be released on vinyl for the first time ever this Autumn. Available on double coloured vinyl, there is also a 3xCD package on offer, full of B-Sides, rarities, and period gems.

Brimming with wit, ambition and unmistakable My Life Story flair, Joined Up Talking features the singles It’s a Girl Thing, Empire Line and Walk/Don’t Walk, plus the groundbreaking world’s first downloadable single If You Can’t Live Without Me Then Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?.

Self-produced with programming wiz Pete Gleadall at Parkgate Studios in 1999, the album has the feel of a millennium time capsule. References to Monica Lewinsky, Tamagotchis, Pret A Manger, the dot-com boom, and even megabytes of storage reflect the everyday vocabulary of the turn of the century with Shillingford’s typically irreverent style.

Across album tracks like “The New New Yorker”, Shillingford stitches together topical newspaper headlines into surreal narratives, while “I Don’t Believe in Love” — originally written when Shillingford was 17 — reveals the band’s roots in classic songwriting traditions.

Building up to the release fans have enjoyed accessing a treasure trove of archive material from the era — digitised tapes, press cuttings and photos — which Jake has shared on his Patreon page.

My Life Story will also perform the album in full alongside a career-spanning “best of” set on special tour dates throughout December.

TRACK LISTING

Vinyl Side A (Joined Up Talking Remastered)
1. Empire Line
2. If You Can’t Live Without Me Then Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?
3. It’s A Girl Thing
4. Sunday Tongue
5. Yes To Everything
6. Walk/Don’t Walk

Vinyl Side B (Joined Up Talking Remastered)
1. There’s Nothing For Nobody And Everybody Wants To Be Someone
2. The New New Yorker
3. Neverland
4. Stalemate
5. I Don’t Believe In Love
6. Two Stars

Vinyl Side C (B Sides)
1. Cherries
2. Holy Deadlock
3. Emerald Green Blah Blah Blah
4. My Sweet Little Death
5. The History Of The World On Ice
6. I’m A Statistic
7. Sleep

Vinyl Side D (B Sides)
1. Florence's Theme
2. Self-Defence Mechanism
3. Paint It Emerald Green
4. It's A Boy Thing
5. E.G.M.C.M.X.C.I.X

CD 1 (Joined Up Talking Remastered)
1. Empire Line
2. If You Can’t Live Without Me Then Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?
3. It’s A Girl Thing
4. Sunday Tongue
5. Yes To Everything
6. Walk / Don’t Walk
7. There’s Nothing For Nobody And Everybody Wants To Be Someone
8. The New New Yorker
9. Neverland
10. Stalemate
11. I Don’t Believe In Love
12. Two Stars

CD 2 (B Sides)
1. Cherries
2. Holy Deadlock
3. Emerald Green Blah Blah Blah
4. My Sweet Little Death
5. The History Of The World On Ice
6. I’m A Statistic
7. Sleep
8. Florence’s Theme
9. Self-Defence Mechanism
10. Paint It Emerald Green
11. It’s A Boy Thing
12. Walk / Don’t Walk (Parts 1 & 2)
13. E.G.M.C.M.X.C.I.X.

CD 3 (Demos And Rarities)
1. Neverland (RAK Demo ’97)
2. New New Yorker (RAK Demo ’97)
3. Emerald Green Blah Blah Blah (RAK Demo ’97)
4. Walk / Don’t Walk (Battery Demo ’97)
5. Florence’s Theme (RAK Demo ’97)
6. It’s A Girl Thing (Matrix Demo ’98)
7. I Don’t Believe In Love (Matrix Demo ’98)
8. Sunday Tongue (Matrix Demo ’98)
9. Empire Line (Single Version)
10. Grieve (Matrix Demo ’98)
11. Here Comes The Big Weekend (Matrix Demo ’98)
12. If You Can’t Live Without Me Then Why Aren’t You Dead Yet? (Matrix Demo ’98)
13. Stalemate (Matrix Demo ’98)
14. Two Stars (Matrix Demo ’98)
15. There’s Nothing For Nobody And Everybody Wants To Be Someone (Demo ’97)
16. It’s A Girl Thing (D-Bop’s Boys Mix)

Dear Life Records and Dinked are proud to present an limited edition deluxe repress of MJ Lenderman's breakout album Boat Songs (DLR031). A little over three years after its release, 'Boat Songs' is now commonly read as the keystone to the 2020s renaissance of alt-country (or whatever you want to call it), and features some of his most enduring hits and live set staples.

“The thing about loving your own frailties is that it deepens your ability to love the rest of it, too. Lenderman renders suffering and joy in the same gentle, unhurried deadpan, dragging all those heightened feelings back down to the ground where they can sprout” - Pitchfork

“There are few eternal truths in this world, but drinking beer with your buddies is always a good time. Asheville’s MJ Lenderman understands this. His third LP Boat Songs doesn’t get bogged down with intellectualism or make apologies for its love of Southern ephemera. These 10 tracks of countrified indie rock sound primed to soundtrack plenty of beer-battered bull sessions” - Flood Magazine.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Hangover Game
You Have Bought Yourself A Boat
TLC Cage Match
Toontown
SUV

Side B
Under Control
Dan Marino
You Are Every Girl To Me
Tastes Just Like It Costs
Six Flags

Mj Lenderman is the project of Asheville native, Jake Lenderman, whose 'Boat Songs' was released to wide acclaim on Dear Life Records in 2022. Now Dear Life is proud to offer a vinyl reissue of MJ's 2021 label debut, 'Ghost of Your Guitar Solo,' a collection of nine songs recorded and performed entirely by Lenderman, and one live band track. The record was written and recorded quickly, songs often being fully constructed and recorded within frenzied single day sessions. Songs were born out of freewheeling jam sessions with his roommates, with Lenderman often freestyling lyrics that would later become the foundations of the finished songs. Lenderman would write 20 disconnected lines a day, scrapping most of them but preserving a few to be used later. This process aided in what became an extremely prolific writing period for the artist in the spring of 2020. The record sounds like country music being played by a noisy punk band, unkempt and imperfect like the characters in his songs. Here, Lenderman broadened his lyrical scope beyond solemn introspection, adding humor to scenes larger than his own life. He points to authors Harry Crews and Larry Brown as inspirations, both of whom were southern, self-taught writers who balanced empathy, humor, and darkness. This leads to the erosion of the line that separates humor and sadness. The resulting songs are about over-indulgence and drug/alcohol abuse, full of self-loathing and pity while celebrating the absurdity of it all.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Ghost Of Your Guitar Solo
A2 I Ate Too Much At The Fair
A3 Someone Get The Grill Out Of The Rain
A4 Inappropriate
A5 Gentleman’s Jack
B1 Another Place
B2 Infinity Pool
B3 Catholic Priest
B4 Ghost Of Your Guitar Solo 2
B5 Live Jack

The Dualers rise to become one of the UK's top Ska and Reggae bands has been remarkable considering their roots from busking on the streets of South-east London just a few years ago.

Their creative power to write brand new tracks that could compare to some of the original classic Jamaican recordings of the 1960's and 70's, remains strong as is shown on their new 'Beach Life' album.

With a mixture of soft relaxing reggae vibes with hypnotic bass lines to their more energetic upbeat ska rhythms, created and produced by their 8- piece band, The Dualers with their lead singer Tyber Cranstoun take you back to summers past with memories of those long hot sunny days by the sea, and then on to dreams of the future listening to sweet, sweet reggae music on a beautiful warm sandy beach.

The 13 new original tracks, with lyrics written by Tyber, along with the sweet melodies and sing- along choruses demonstrate the bands love for producing music for their fans and for the world.

This album follows the success of their previous Top 40 charting albums 'Back to Paradise', 'Palm Trees and 80 Degrees' and 'Voices from the Sun' and continues the vibe that has become their trademark.

TRACK LISTING

1. Strike While The Iron's Hot
2. Sweet Sweet Reggae
3. Mad About You
4. Ocean Drive
5. I Got A Little Thing About You
6. Haven't You Seen Her
7. Miss Uptight
8. Cupid 
9. Keep Walking
10. Loving You Is Easy
11. Tipsy
12. Cool It Down
13. Beautiful Day

A Vega Records special edition 7” by Elements Of Life with sneak peaks of two new Elements Of Life tracks from the forthcoming 2026 album “Dreamer”.

Side A is a brilliant cover of the famed Brazilian band Black Banda Rio’s “Maria Fumaca”.

Side B an energetic Latin jazz infused cover of John Coltrane’s ultra class “Giant Steps” done up Rumba style tributing the great Tito Puente with special guest, the maestro Christian McBride on upright bass. Elements Of Life are on fiyaaah - and it’s just the beginning!

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Like overly competitive brothers, Louie wasn't gonna let Kenny get away with dropping a killer Latin 7" ("Que Se Sepa") without returning fire. So he enlisted Elements Of Life to cover the Brazilian classic "Maria Fumaca" as well as penning an Rumba-themed cover of John Coltraine. Let battle commence - rumble in the rumba anyone?! (sorry).

TRACK LISTING

A. Maria Fumaca
B. Giant Steps (Tito Puente Tribute) 

Silver Lining Music is proud to present 'No Life ’Til Leather – A Tribute to Metallica’s Kill ’Em All': the most propulsive debut album in heavy metal history, re-imagined by the legends who inspired it and the generations that came in its wake!

Organised by diehard Metalli-fans, this track-by-track covers project proves how far the influence of San Francisco’s finest still runs. The veteran likes of Motörhead, Saxon and Diamond Head (three of Metallica’s favourite bands) are joined by such rising stars as Soen and Tailgunner to create a who’s-who of heavy music, with each performer lending their unique sound to one classic track.

'No Life ’Til Leather' represents a labour of love which kicked off when Diamond Head tracked their version of 'No Remorse' for a 2020 re-recording of their landmark debut, 'Lightning to the Nations'. With Motörhead’s Grammy Award-winning take on 'Whiplash' also in their vault, Silver Lining Music selected an array of metal talent to round out the tracklisting on a tribute effort for the ages. Contributions from thrash giants Testament, ex-Megadeth bassist David Ellefson and New Wave of British Heavy Metal linchpins Tygers of Pan Tang show the label looking beyond their own artists to amass the greatest lineup possible.

After Tailgunner’s 'Hit the Lights' opens and demonstrates how kick-ass the song remains in 2025, hard rockers The Almighty dish out a particularly confrontational 'The Four Horsemen': their first recorded work with their founding lineup since 1991. The galloping 'Motorbreath' has Soen shed their prog metal skin, whereas bass solo '(Anaesthesia) Pulling Teeth' is every bit as technical and emotional in Ellefson’s hands.

The album wraps with some of Metallica’s closest peers and greatest champions: Diamond Head have been both idols and a support act for the megastars, Testament (who intensify 'Seek & Destroy' even further) joined them in the trenches of the California metal scene, and Raven (closing with their thundering take on the anthemic 'Metal Militia') were part of their first-ever tour.

'No Life ’Til Leather' is an ambitious achievement worthy of Metallica’s game-changing legacy. By the fans and for the fans, it reaffirms the Four Horsemen’s ironclad legacy – and its stacked roster continues the band’s mission to shove metal up your ass.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hit The Lights (Tailgunner)
2. The Four Horsemen (The Almighty)
3. Motorbreath (Soen)
4. Jump In The Fire (Tygers Of Pan Tang)
5. (Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth (David Ellefson)
6. Whiplash (Motörhead)
7. Phantom Lord (Saxon)
8. No Remorse (Diamond Head)
9. Seek & Destroy (Testament)
10. Metal Militia (Raven)

Take a much-needed vacation for your own mind, right from the comfort of your home. The first compilation from thrift store-to-YouTube darlings Paradise Is A Frequency, The Style of Life illuminates 70 minutes of wine cooler-core, consumer-grade smooth jazz CD- Rs, aerobic proto-vape VHS, and elevator-grade library music tape loops from artists including Metamorphosis, Lorad Group, Ski Johnson, Mensah, and more. Spread across two main- frames and featuring a booklet of reflections, dig sites, and wallpaper groupings for further lifestyle upgrades. The fictional software update for the next version of you.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
A1. David Lee - Freedom From Stress A2. Vincent - Ease Into
A3. Michael Colson - Opening Night A4. Bruce Sherman - Slow R&B
A5. Greg Haage - Two Shall Become One
SIDE B
B1. Scott Bruder - Susie’s Challenge B2. S. Work - Looking For
B3. Luigi Piergiovanni - Coracao
B4. Keope - Song Of Joy
SIDE C
C1. Metamorphosis - Line 2 4 U
C2. Lorad Group - Flirti Di Notte C3. Terrance Coleman - Coolbreeze C4. Ricky J - Reel Track 1
SIDE D
D1. Ski Johnson - Following A Rainbow
D2. Mensah - Happy To See The Sunrise Again D3. Jeff Jones - Daydream
D4. Paul Steven Ray - A.C.

'The Spice of Life', released in November 1969, stands as Marlena Shaw’s second—and final—studio album for Cadet Records, produced and arranged by the renowned Richard Evans and Charles Stepney.

From the opening, Shaw’s voice—both playful and powerful—cuts through the lush yet tight-knit arrangements, weaving together a vibrant tapestry of soul, proto-funk, jazz, gospel, and blues. The album features two defining classics: her deeply resonant original of ‘Woman of the Ghetto’ and a signature take on Ashford & Simpson’s ‘California Soul’, both staples in sampling culture (you'll probably find that you're more familiar with Shaw's material than you thought.)

Evans and Stepney’s arrangements are far from mere support—they’re panoramic and inventive. You’ll hear kalimba flourishes, psych-tinged guitar accents, and bongo-fueled organ textures that elevate each track, keeping the atmosphere rich but never overwhelming. Moments like the Bacharach-styled ‘Looking Through the Eyes of Love’ or the dramatic flair of ‘Stormy Monday’ showcase their widescreen sensibility and Shaw’s versatility.

Beneath its musical elegance, 'The Spice of Life' carries a weighty current of social commentary. Tracks such as ‘Woman of the Ghetto’ and the succinct, fierce ‘Liberation Conversation’ bring political and feminist themes into a soulful, expressive framework—adding unexpected depth to the sophisticated sonic palette.

This album offers an immersive journey through soul-jazz mastery, one that rewarded listeners with sampling gold for decades to come.

TRACK LISTING

1. Woman Of The Ghetto
2. Call It Stormy Monday
3. Where Can I Go
4. I'm Satisfied
5. I Wish I Knew (how It Would Feel To Be Free)
6. Liberation Conversation
7. California Soul
8. Go Away Little Boy
9. Looking Thru The Eyes Of Love
10. Anyone Can Move A Mountain

'Life in Slow Motion' went straight to No.1 in both the UK and Ireland and became a commercial and critical success. But more importantly, it marked the moment when Gray reconnected with the joy of making music—building something lasting.

Now, two decades on, 'Life in Slow Motion' is being celebrated with its first-ever release on vinyl to mark the album’s 20th anniversary.

This reissue of 'Life in Slow Motion' offers the chance to revisit a pivotal album — not just a product of its time, but a body of work that still resonates deeply. Spacious, thoughtful and full of quiet conviction.

TRACK LISTING

LP Tracklisting:
1. The One I Love
2. Alibi
3. Lately
4. Nos Da Cariad
5. Slow Motion
6. From Here You Can Almost See The Sea
7. Ain’t No Love
8. Hospital Food
9. Now And Always
10. Disappearing World

2LP Tracklisting:
1. The One I Love
2. Alibi
3. Lately
4. Nos Da Cariad
5. Slow Motion
6. From Here You Can Almost See The Sea
7. Ain’t No Love
8. Hospital Food
9. Now And Always
10. Disappearing World
11. The One I Love (Demo)
12. Slow Motion (Original Take)
13. From Here You Can Almost See The Sea (Home Recording)
14. Ain’t No Love (Demo)
15. Hospital Food (Acoustic Version)
16. Going In Blind
17. Sacred Ground
18. Long Gone Now
19. Tracer (Alt Version)
20. With Open Arms
21. Crimson Lightning

Josie is Copenhagen’s newest pop group, formed in 2023 and consisting of four friends Charlotte, Dawn, Martin and Anton. Originally a trio, they recorded an early demo before Anton joined on drums, solidifying their lineup and setting the stage for their debut album.

Their debut album, 'A Life on Sweets Alone', is set to be released on the legendary K Records and Perennial, delivering a raw and infectious mix of jangle, wistfulness and attitude.

Josie blends poetic yet relatable lyrics with a rough-edged pop-punk sensibility. Fans of Talulah Gosh, Shop Assistants, and Tiger Trap will feel right at home in Josie’s world, where dreamy melodies and jangly guitars meet woozy vocals but retain the genres original punky “fuck you”-energy and propulsive rhythm section.


With their playful take on indie pop Josie brings a fresh perspective
to a classic sound—and they’re just getting started

TRACK LISTING

1. Cupid Strikes A Blow
2. Sweetie Pie
3. Good Girl
4. Dream Away
5. Falling Apart
6. My Boy And I
7. These Days
8. Always
9. Naturally
10. (Stories) With You
11. If You

'The Life You Save' is the third album by Flock of Dimes, the solo project of multi-instrumentalist and producer Jenn Wasner.

Across the last few decades – whether it be as Flock of Dimes, as half of beloved duo Wye Oak, or via one of her many collaborations with Bon Iver, Sylvan Esso, and a sprawling list of other musical juggernauts – Jenn Wasner’s extensive catalog displays her gift for balancing authenticity and directness with an unmistakable left-of-center sensibility. Her songwriting has always found her as a keen-eyed observer, a deeply empathetic and thoughtful storyteller with a skill for probing memory, heartbreak, and unhealed trauma, a shroud of syncopation or off-kilter guitar taking a song somewhere quietly prodigious.

Her last solo album, the critically-lauded 'Head of Roses', took on heartbreak from a dualistic perspective, following a winding thread of intuition into the unknown and into healing. Her new album, 'The Life You Save', takes that a step further; put simply, it’s the most honest, intimate and personally revealing record of Wasner’s career. As heart-wrenching as they are hopeful, its twelve tracks delve the depths of addiction and codependency, inherited and experienced trauma, and the process of finding peace in the face of others’ suffering. 'The Life You Save' is resonant, unflinchingly exposed – like a missive from the eye of a storm. But while it somehow manages to feel both viscerally raw and vulnerable, above it floats a sense of quiet peace, a sheen of hindsight, or perhaps of acceptance. It is the story of how it feels to be trapped between two worlds—the one you came from, and the one you’ve escaped to; about the belief that somehow, you can take the ones you love with you to this place; about the grief of realizing that the only person you can save is yourself.

'The Life You Save' was produced by Jenn Wasner and recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC, and Montrose Recording in Los Angeles, CA, with additional production from Nick Sanborn. The album was engineered by Adrian Olsen & Alli Rogers, mixed by Adrian Olsen, and mastered by Huntley Miller.

TRACK LISTING

1.Afraid
2.Keep Me In The Dark
3.Long After Midnight
4.Defeat
5.Close To Home
6.The Enemy
7.Not Yet Free
8.Pride
9.Theo
10.Instead Of Calling
11.River In My Arms
12.I Think I'm God

Taylor Swift's 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, will be released worldwide October 3, 2025. The LP includes 12 songs.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Taylor's back! Loads of pop hooks, masterfully written melodies and Tay's unmistakable vocals make for an album we could all accurately describe as Taylor Swift's most recent album.

On his new album 'All Cylinders', Yves Jarvis expresses a brazen songcraft and pure musicianship. 11 tracks he played himself, without a single additional contributor, transforming his now four-time-Polaris-nominated vision into the stuff of verses and choruses, hooks and hits, vibrating like a cosmic anthropology. Whereas once he had fetishized analog tape, now Jarvis appreciated the value of working without any such preciousness: much of All Cylinders was recorded on bare-bones Audacity, sans plugins, channeling the spirit of Paul McCartney’s II.

Jarvis is an omnivore, and 'All Cylinders' smashes together a stunning array of influences: Serge Gainsbourg, Judee Sill, Sheryl Crow, Captain Beefheart, Jackson Browne, Throbbing Gristle, Ray Charles, Brian Eno, Fleetwood Mac… All distilled into tunes that feel like taking sips from a cup, or drags from a cigarette. Vivid and self-contained songs that are just two or three minutes long. “I feel like this is the least contrived thing I’ve ever done,” Jarvis declares. Lyrics that matter. Vocals up front, where people will actually hear them. “If something’s true to you,” he explains, “it’s probably true to a million other people.”

The first run of 'All Cylinders' on limited edition vinyl sold out, leading to this highly anticipated second pressing. This edition includes 4 bonus tracks, making it an essential piece for fans and collectors alike. Originally released via In Real Life to critical acclaim from Pitchfork, Financial Times, NPR, Aquarium Drunkard, Far Out Magazine, New Noise, Out Front, KCRW, RANGE, Atwood Magazine, The Luna Collective, Billboard Canada, The Fader, Blamo! Podcast, Stereogum, and Guitar World.

Pitchfork: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/yves-jarvis-all-cylinders/

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Funky indie songcraft which draws comparisons from Shuggie Otis to Beck. Jarvis says this is his purist and most sincere body of work to date - just his vocals and his instruments, recorded into a simple DAW with very little outboard processing. You can hear the honesty and sentiment throughout.

TRACK LISTING

With A Grain
Gold Filigree
One Gripe
Decision Tree
Ive Been Mean
Im Your Boy
Warp And Woof
All Cylinders
The Knife In Me
Patina
Lucks Last Luster

TRACK LISTING

A1 Come Over
A2 Heartbreak Blues
B1 Left Your Smile
B2 My Baby Says
B3 Southern Birds
C1 Space
C2 Grief
D1 Basketball #1
D2 Ghost Town

Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' is the second soundtrack album by Monty Python, released in 1979 alongside the film of the same name. It contains scenes from the film interrupted by linking sections performed by Eric Idle and Graham Chapman, who also acted as producers following an aborted attempt at a soundtrack album by Michael Palin.

The album opens with a brief rendition of 'Hava Nagila' on Scottish bagpipes, which had earlier been considered for use in a scene later cut from the film. In common with the controversy surrounding the film, the album was banned in Ireland after Father Brian D'Arcy highlighted how it had worked its way through a loophole in the country's censorship laws, claiming "Anybody who buys the record and finds it funny must have something wrong with their mentality". Nevertheless, the album reached No.63 in the UK Albums Chart. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Introduction
2. Brian Song
3. The Wise Men At The Manger
4. Brian Song (cont.)
5. Sermon On The Mount (Big Nose)
6. Stone Salesman
7. Stoning
8. Ex-Leper
9. You Mean You Were Raped? (Nortius Maximus)
10. Revolutionaries In The Amphitheatre (Loretta)
11. Romans Go Home
12. What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us?
13. Ben
14. Brian Before Pilate (Thwow Him To The Floor)
15. Prophets
16. Beard Salesman
17. Brian's Prophecy
18. The Hermit
19. He's Not The Messiah, He's A Very Naughty Boy
20. Pilate Sentences Brian
21. Nisus Wettus
22. Pilate With The Crowd (Welease Wodger)
23. Nisus Wettus With The Gaolers
24. Release Brian
25. Not So Bad Once You're Up
26. Revs Salute Brian
27. Cheeky Is Released
28. "Look On The Bright Side Of Life (All Things Dull And Ugly)"

Monty Python's 'The Meaning of Life' is the third and final soundtrack album by Monty Python, released in 1983 alongside their last film. Billed as "The only soundtrack album to be introduced by live fish! (apart from some copies of 'Shane')", it consists of sketches and songs from the film, with a few links performed by Michael Palin and a brief appearance from Terry Gilliam.

The album features dialogue which didn't make it into the final cut of the film as well as additional sound effects to help with the audio medium. 'The Adventures of Martin Luther' sequence is introduced but does not appear. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Introduction
2. Fish Introduction
3. The Meaning Of Life
4. The Miracle Of Birth
5. Link (Frying Eggs)
6. The Third World (Yorkshire)
7. Every Sperm Is Sacred
8. Protestant Couple
9. Link (Martin Luther)
10. Growth And Learning
11. Fighting Each Other
12. Link (The Great Tea Of 1914–18)
13. Fish Link
14. Terry Gilliam Intro
15. Accountancy Shanty
16. Zulu Wars
17. Middle Age
18. Live Organ Transplants
19. Galaxy Song
20. Penis Song (Not The Noël Coward Song)
21. The Autumn Years
22. Death
23. Christmas In Heaven
24. Dedication To Fish

‘Slapped By My Life’ is a bittersweet paean to Jessy's husband. Musically it leans into a more dancefloor-oriented sound, playful and floaty at a speedy 158bpm. The ‘Existential Edit’ version pushes even further onto the dancefloor, accentuating the sweeping, lush synth textures with just accents and phrases that give it a propulsive bounce.Lyrically, it flits between open love, gratefulness and uncertainty, and is the most simple, direct and personal thing Jessy has ever written, made with co-production from Pearson sound.

TRACK LISTING

1. Slapped By My Life
2. Slapped By My Life (Existential Edit)
3. Limbo (Staying Home Dub)
4. Midnight Ontario (Waterfall Dub)

Renowned for his deeply emotional songwriting and captivating live shows that includes touring with Billie Eilish, Tom Odell has become one of the world’s most compelling artists. From global hits like 'Another Love' to recent viral success with 'Black Friday' and his new single 'Don’t Cry, Put Your Head On My Shoulder', his music continues to resonate with millions around the world. On this his seventh studio album, 'A Wonderful Life' Tom Odell has created a record that embodies a universal spirit of empathetic, total honesty; one that looks out at the broken landscape of modern, fractured society and finds dystopia and doom, but also - integrally - glimmers of beauty and hope.

TRACK LISTING

1. Don’t Let Me Go
2. Don’t Cry, Put Your Head On My Shoulder
3. Prayer
4. Can We Just Go Home Now
5. Why Do I Always Want The Things I Can’t Have
6. Wonderful Live
7. Ugly
8. Strange House
9. Can Old Lovers Ever Be Friends?
10. The End Of Suffering

"This really is gorgeous. One of those rare songs which, irrespective of time considerations, demands to be something more than just a 7" or whatever the post-vinyl equivalent is - a "Blue Monday", "Primitive Painters", "Revolutionary Spirit" or, yes, "Missing The Moon!" Something that just sounds Big and Important". Matt Haynes, Sarah Records

Elefant Records presents the first two tracks to be released from the sessions for the third Lightning In A Twilight Hour album. "There's More to Life Than Crooks" and "Haar" form a stand-alone 12" single reflecting two contrasting approaches; a pop song and a dark tone poem.

The A side combines ideas such as touching the grass in a world of noise and the Albert Camus inspired "existence is an act of rebellion". Written as an immediate reaction to world events, it explores the need to formulate some kind of response when presented with the very worst of times. Musically it takes its cues from Factory Records 12" singles, and pioneering experimental English rock band, Disco Inferno. Using a sound pallete of drum machine, sequencer, abrasive electric rhythm guitar and an outstanding Michael Hiscock (The Gentle Spring, The Field Mice) bassline, the music unfolds patiently over six minutes. Anne Mari Davies (The Field Mice) provides additional vocals which lift the chorus to where it shimmers and sparkles, releasing the tension.
"Illuminate what's tender. Illuminate what's wise".

"Haar", on the B side, is another world altogether. An ominous landscape featuring feedback loops, shortwave radio and autumn waves recorded at dusk in Dungeness, Kent. Anne Mari Davies this time provides layered, wordless vocals as the track's intensity increases. Recommended if you like Main, Labradford, Coil & Northern Picture Library.

TRACK LISTING

01 There's More To Life Than Crooks
02 Haar

Much has changed for Ilan Pdahtzur since the release of his Night City Life compilation six years ago. Back then, he was a little-known record collector who shared obscure, synth-heavy music that “captured the night-time glow” of the city he calls home, London, via a dedicated Instagram page.

Fast forward to 2025 and Ilan is now a respected member of the international digger-selector community, having delivered must-check mixes for the likes of Bordello A Parigi, Bayete, Hunee’s Lifetones and Sound Metaphors.

It seems a fitting time, then, for Spacetalk to unleash Night City Life II, a second deep dive into Ilan’s distinctive, neon-lit sound world – a place where European synth-pop rarities, Italo-dance treats, dancefloor-focused post-boogie instrumentals soundtrack strolls around shuttered skyscrapers, dockside housing estates and wharf-side warehouse conversions.

In the six years that have passed since the release of Night City Life, Ilan has uncovered many more rarities, private-press gems and slept-on treats, with 14 of these featuring on the dusty-fingered crate-digger’s sublime sequel. As with its predecessor, much effort has been made to track down the artists behind the synth-heavy songs on show, with the vinyl edition featuring extended liner notes where some tell the story of their track in detail.

Musically, there’s much to set the pulse racing within Ilan’s superb selections, from the slow-motion shuffle of Playground’s self-released 1984 B-side ‘Rainy Day Woman’ and the brilliance of Shamor’s 1985 South African synth-pop special ‘Close To You (Bwela Pafupi)’, to Sharon & Tracy’s ‘The Sheik’ – a belly-dancing inspired slab of TB-303 bass-driven house – and the kaleidoscopic, piano-rich 1992 Euro-house brilliance of ‘Come Into My Life’ by Jennifer.

Dive deeper into the collection and more under-appreciated musical masterpieces make their presence felt. There’s Sicilian musician Claudio D’Ignoti’s lesser-known boogie-era single ‘Anche Per Noi’, where rubbery bass guitar, Nile Rodgers style disco guitar licks and spacey synths dominate the sound space, Lena’s fashion circuit-inspired, early Pet Shop Boys-esque ‘Embrasse-Moi (Strumentale)’ – one that members of Milan’s Paninaro movement would surely have enjoyed – and a sublime, spaced-out and effects laden dancefloor dub of ‘Rescue Me (Imagination)’ by Jimmy D, a genuinely sought-after jam originally released on a now impossible-to-find seven-inch single.

Offering another genuinely distinctive, carefully curated collection of lesser-known musical treats, Night City Life II is another essential, immersive and synthesizer-powered journey through Ilan’s unique sonic world. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Playground - Rainy Day Woman
A2. Spinnaker - The Spirit Of America
A3. Natalie Ann - You've Got To Feel
A4. Shamor - Close To You (Bwela Pafupi)
B1. Cherry Laine - Land Of No Return
B2. Sharon & Tracy - The Sheik
B3. Methods Of Dance - Aggravation (instrumental)
B4. Claudio D'Ignoti - Anche Per Noi
C1. Jennifer - Come Into My Life
C2. Lena - Embrasse-Moi (instrumental)
C3. Fabrithia - I Want You (instrumental)
D1. Jimmy D - Rescue Me (Imagination) (dub Version)
D2. Alison Sheryll - You're Not Alone
D3. Precious Child - Come Alone