Stefan Schwander of course is a man of many names and visions (such as Harmonious Thelonious, Repeat Orchestra and A Rocket in Dub) and here's his latest one: While My Sequencer Gently Bleeps comes up with "OK" on new Hamburg-based label Unsure. As While My Sequencer Gently Bleeps Schwander strips down his equipment even further and refines his longstanding idea of creating reduced minimalistic tracks radiating warmth, digging deep and delivering the groove.

The five tracks on "OK" all follow one basic flow: big basslines, elegant chords and transparent arrangements, rhythms as compelling as unobtrusive. Schwanders love for dub shimmers through the tracks, just as his pop-trained flair for seductive harmonies.
Beautiful groovy music from Düsseldorf to the world. On and on and on.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Amber
A2 Emptiness

B1 Felt
B2 Hesitation 
B3 Burton 

Kiefer’s new album sees the LA based artist return to his roots, playing keys and making beats.

‘It’s Ok, B U’ combines the hallmarks of Kiefer’s sound - masterful piano playing, mesmeric beats and vibrant melodies - with serious emotional heft.

In addition to being a celebrated solo artist, Kiefer is a Grammy-winning producer who has worked with the likes of Drake and Anderson .Paak.

TRACK LISTING

I Could Cry
Panic
My Disorder
Dreamer
High
Falling
I Wish I Wasn’t Me
Head Trip Feat. Luke Titus
Hips
Doomed
August Again
I Was Foolish, I Guess
Glowing Feat. Pera Krstajic
Forgetting U
It’s Ok, B U
I Mean That

Helsinki quartet OK:KO releases their third album "Liesu" with We Jazz Records on 15 April. The band, led by drummer/composer Okko Saastamoinen and including saxophonist Jarno Tikka, pianist Toomas Keski-Säntti and bassist Mikael Saastamoinen (of Superpostion & Linda Fredriksson "Juniper") is a scene favourite in Finland and has recently garnered some international attention with their melodic, dynamic and original approach. The OK:KO sound is adventurous yet accessible, and contemporary yet rooted in the lineage of acoustic small group jazz.

When listening to OK:KO, you can feel that their influences also come from out of the musical realm. After all, isn't this just how it should be? Making music from your own life. Here, you can tell that the landscape of rural Finland, its poetic, at times even melancholy beauty, is ever present. It's folk song country. But don't be fooled, these guys form a real flesh and blood jazz band. That means that the music just starts when the first note hits, and onwards from there, we're in for a wild ride.

Whether punchy like on "Anima", solemn like on "Arvo", or just trekking out there a skiing lane of their own like on "Vanhatie", what you'll get is pure OK:KO. Melodic, interactive, honest and forward-reaching contemporary jazz music. That is something we appreciate – a lot!

Vinyl editions available on opaque white / black vinyl, with inside-out 3mm spine sleeve and a polylined black inner sleeve.

TRACK LISTING

1. Anima
2. Rieju
3. Kirkkis
4. Arvo
5. Vanhatie
6. Yösalmi

The ever-super Pure Life Tapes bring us another (two) slabs of future-facing dystopic 'tronica from Martin-Schultz aka wuso 命.

We kick things off with the thundering bass and cinematic throng of 'Lost In Translation', deftly moving from tense crescentic synth pulls to bursts of neon activity, slipping into 80's synth territory with snappy sidechaines and gated reverbs, nicely ofset by the more introspective twinkling ambience of follower, 'Trapped In The Future'. It's both 'Trapped...' and follower 'The Digital Mine' that really show the depth of expression that can be wrought from relatively unadorned synthesis, with pulses of delay and filter sweeps being the mainstay of both pieces, eventually culminating in a militaristic procession of driving saw stabs and woozy lead lines. 

Closing out the a-side, the duo of 'Too Late To Care' and 'A New Found Loss' swim with crystalline echoes, speeding up and slowing down the delays resulting in a chaotic but enchanting soundtrack redux, with the latter especially diving deep into filmic industrial electronics. 

We begin the B-Side with the shadowy 'Flawed Desire', both eerily gothic and enduringly mechanised, it takes the established sound and further tears it apart into its constituent parts, resulting in an almost diametrically opposed juxtaposition of spine-tingling modern classical ambience and bolschy rave. 

It's the closing tracks that really seal the concept, pulling together the disparate sounds into a rounded and evocative whole. 'Drifting' is probably as heavy as the collection gets, both pummelingly heavy and atmospherically dense. The closing trio skilfully offset the moments of light with intimidating unease, glimmers of light piercing the fog of electronic malaise. 
 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Another absolutely stunning package from super-label Pure Life. The music itself as is evocative as the packaging is beautiful, perfectly conceived and impeccably produced, this is an essential purchase for any of you who like a bit of soundtrack synth (if not, why not?)

TRACK LISTING

1. Lost In Translation 03:48
2. Trapped In The Future 04:14
3. The Digital Mine 03:48
4. Too Late To Care 03:03
5. A New Found Loss 05:58
6. Flawed Desire 05:25
7. Drifting 04:11
8. Something About... 03:35
9. Try 04:01
10. You'll Be Okay, I Promise 05:26

Originally conceived as a quarantine EP collecting material recorded in Memphis during sessions for ‘The Unraveling’, the project quickly grew to include provocative new songs written and recorded over what Drive-By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood calls “this endless summer of protests, riots, political shenanigans and pandemic horrors.”

Tracks such as Hood’s ‘Watching The Orange Clouds’ - inspired by the protests which followed George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police - and a fiery cover of The Ramones’ classic ‘The KKK Took My Baby Away’ (vocals by bassist Matt Patton) were exchanged between Hood, cofounding singer / songwriter / guitarist Mike Cooley, bassist Patton, keyboardist / multiinstrumentalist Jay Gonzalez and drummer Brad Morgan and then mixed by long-time Drive-By Truckers producer David Barbe.

TRACK LISTING

The New OK
Tough To Let Go
The Unraveling
The Perilous Night
Sarah’s Flame
Sea Island Lonely
The Distance
Watching The Orange
Clouds
The KKK Took My Baby Away

The Honey Hahs are three sisters from South London somewhere between Nunhead and Peckham. Their average age is 11 and a ½ years old. Rowan plays guitar and piano, Robin plays bass and Sylvie plays drum. They all sing and harmonise.

Rescued from defunct formats, prised from dark cupboards and brought to light after two decades in cold storage… OKNOTOK will be issued on June 23rd through XL Recordings, coinciding (roughly) with the original 1997 release date(s) of Radiohead’s landmark third album OK COMPUTER.

OKNOTOK features the original OK COMPUTER twelve track album, eight B-sides, and the Radiohead completist’s dream: “I Promise,” “Lift,” and “Man Of War.” The original studio recordings of these three previously unreleased and long sought after OK COMPUTER era tracks finally receive their first official issue on OKNOTOK.

All material on OKNOTOK is newly remastered from the original analogue tapes.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I can't think of anyone that wasn't floored by Radiohead's transformation from grungy gloom mongers to the indie/electronic greats they have become today, and this was the turning point. Liberally spread with their trademark morosity but with an unheard technical ability, ‘OK Computer’ was a stinging criticism of modernity delivered via a new sonic language. Now, twenty years after its landmark release, the band revisits this masterpiece with the definitive version. Alongside the original twelve track LP we’re treated to eight B-sides and a trio of previously unreleased tracks from the same era. This isn’t just an LP, it’s a historical document.

This remixed and expanded reissue of Soundgarden’s Ultramega OK is a long-planned “correction” of the legendary band’s Grammy®-nominated debut full-length. The album was originally recorded and released in 1988 on SST Records. While the band enjoyed working with the original producer, Drew Canulette, they soon realized they weren’t quite happy with the final mix. Thus, shortly after the album’s release, the band decided to remix the album for subsequent pressings. However, success intervened: the band rapidly scored a deal with A&M and began work on their major-label debut, Louder Than Love, and the Ultramega OK remix project fell by the wayside as Soundgarden climbed their way to (ultra)mega-stardom.

In 2016, after worldwide success, a breakup, a reunion, and many albums and tours, the band finally acquired the original multi-track tapes to Ultramega OK and carved out time to dig into the remix. They handed the tapes over to longtime friend and engineer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees, Skin Yard), who worked with the band to create a fresh mix of the album that, for the band, ties up this persistent loose end and remedies the sound of their debut full-length.

While they were at it, the band dug out six early versions of tracks that wound up on Ultramega OK. The songs were recorded in 1987 on 8-track tape by Jack Endino and Chris Hanzsek at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, and mixed by Jack Endino in 2016. These versions feature the band in raw, powerful form – sonically closer to the band’s Endino-recorded six-song debut, Screaming Life – and provide a fascinating window into the development of songs that eventually became staples of the band’s set. The six songs comprise what the band refers to as Ultramega EP, and they are included in this reissue.

Hailed as grunge innovators, Soundgarden redefined rock music for a generation. In the late ‘80s, the band – singer Chris Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Hiro Yamamoto, and drummer Matt Cameron – combined a punk ethos, brutal metal soundscapes, and Cornell’s ravenous roar to capture the attention of the masses. Jagged and ferocious, their music was deeply at odds with the synth-pop and hair metal which dominated the ‘80s airwaves. Early indie releases, including seminal Screaming Life and Ultramega OK, quickly led to a dedicated indie following as the band toured on both sides of the Atlantic. Subsequent albums, including Badmotorfinger, Superunknown, and Down on the Upside, achieved multi-platinum sales and launched the band to international fame.

TRACK LISTING

Flower
All Your Lies
665
Beyond The Wheel
667
Mood For Trouble
Circle Of Power
He Didn't
Smokestack Lightning
Nazi Driver
Head Injury
Incessant Mace
One Minute Of Silence
Head Injury (early Version)
Beyond The Wheel (early Version)
Incessant Mace (early Version)
He Didn't (early Version)
All Your Lies (early Version)
Incessant Mace (V2) (early Version)

THE PICCADILLY RECORDS ALBUM OF THE YEAR 1997

This is the album that started to show their real potential and their first use of electronics (which mix beautifully with their older rawer rock style). The album that pushed them to the very top.

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: There can be few greater endorsements for anything than winning over a convinced sceptic. I started off from the premise that I didn't like this corporate indie sellout, but that, I am happy to say, proved an utterly impossible position to maintain after I actually heard it. Every last track is an utterly mesmerizing glimpse into blighted existence; a beautifully rendered, multilayered kaleidoscope of angst. 'Classic' is an overused word, but this is precisely the kind of idea it was coined for.

TRACK LISTING

1. Airbag
2. Paranoid Android
3. Subterranean Homesick Alien
4. Exit Music (For A Film)
5. Let Down
6. Karma Police
7. Fitter Happier
8. Electioneering
9. Climbing Up The Walls
10. No Surprises
11. Lucky
12. The Tourist