After getting used to eclectic sounds but always rooted in disco music, boogie with some proto-house drift, at the stroke of a dozen reissues, Omaggio delights us with a two tracks new-wave masterpiece, released in the mid-'80s on Color Record, seminal Flemish label, first and only recording of the Sound On Sound project. The original tracks "Macho" and "Depression" have been fully restored and come courtesy of Peter Gillis. Mr. Gillis is a highly regarded artist, sound engineer, composer and producer who has worked for some of the most important Belgian studios as well as an absolute pioneer of the Euro House scene, and a signatory of some of the greatest hits in this genre.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Macho
B1. Depression

Only Music Matters continues its staunchly no-frills approach to releasing music under the eponymous production moniker and with no fancy track titles, but a high-quality and weighty vinyl pressing designed for serious club business. 'AAA001A' is a beefy minimal cut with voices turned into ghostly trails that shimmer amid dusty percussion in a sleek tech groove that dances just above the floor. 'BBB001B' has a bubbly feel thanks to airy pads that gently circle the zoned-out and dubby groove. 'BBB002B' is a more heads-down flip that revels in great snares and funky double kicks.

TRACK LISTING

AAA001A
BBB001B
BBB002B

With a foreword by Moby. Looking Backwards Towards the Future: The Story of Ultravox is the first authorised biography of post-punk mavericks turned commercial superstars, Ultravox. Written with the cooperation of the band's surviving core members, it is the definitive account of one of Britain's most eccentric, unusual and uncompromising groups.

Drawing from a vast archive of research materials and exclusive input from the band, their peers, their label and management, Looking Backwards Towards the Future details the fractures, fallouts, ambition and ego that followed their career. From their experimental, art-school beginnings as post-punk outsiders, to their rebirth as chart-conquering heroes, Ultravox always remained unique. Derided by the mainstream media throughout their career, the band remained unwavering in their pursuit of an eccentric trajectory of their own design, achieving success and millions of record sales, always on their own terms.

At the turn of the millennium, Britain was suffering from a post-britpop hangover. The whirlwind successes of Oasis and Blur had fizzled out and the British music industry, stagnant and directionless, was churning out bland singer-songwriters, identikit girl-groups and boybands - music culture was a vacuum, waiting to be filled. However, across the Atlantic, something was brewing.

In New York City, The Strokes were exploding across the music scene, igniting a new wave of rock'n'roll that catalysed and inspired a new genre: indie rock. Suddenly, kids from both sides of the Atlantic wanted to pick up an instrument, cause a ruckus and join a band. Spawned out of regional D.I.Y scenes and the success of genuinely independent labels and venues, this is the story of 'the last indie scene' in the UK.

Based on thrilling, informative and often hilarious interviews, The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect chronicles the legendary gigs, records, parties, drugs and cheap decadence that coalesced to form a messy, dissolute movement and subculture. An impactful and entertaining social history, author Janine Warren conducts personal interviews with core movers and shakers from the era: from members of the Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and The Cribs, as well as pivotal figures such as controversial NME editor Conor McNicholas and superstar producer Paul Epworth.

Following the runaway success of last year's anthem 'Tom's Tweaks', Hodge comes through with another high-grade, UK house two-tracker, with heavyweight remixes by Eris Drew and Om Unit.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Mega club tackle from Hodge who rarely disappoints but is in excellent form on "Wiggler". Eris Drew and Om Unit both been quite obviously eating their Weetabix too. Full marks to the entire squad!

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Wiggler
2. Wiggler (Eris Drew Remix)

Side B
1. Trust
2. Trust (Om Unit Remix)

Back to the golden nights of zouk clubs, where hip-hop, kompa, zouk and Caribbean grooves ruled the dancefloor. This selection documents a pivotal moment: a time when zouk was still not a fixed genre, but more a place, an atmosphere, somewhere people went to dance. It captures the spirit of an era: its creative effervescence, musical freedom, and the diversity of artists who shaped it. The very concept of “Kaz A Zouk” perfectly encapsulates this idea: a space where all styles could meet.

TRACK LISTING

le style nouveau - jnd
mwen inmin - metal sound
le jeu des cinq - francky vincent
brooklyn - shango gang
moune paradis - claudy siar
invitation a la danse - van leve
debouley heritage - claude vamur
could u satisfy my desire - otaim
rozalie rozalie - zshea
la guyanaise - sylviane cedia
dialogue - edith lefel
enme - dominique bernier
tour - x-taz
mefiez-vous - monique seka
lese la vi roule - kamplis

SCOTLAND, 1992: the music industry is experiencing a comedown from the mid-eighties Scottish indie explosion. Key labels have collapsed; dance music and rave culture have stormed the charts. Guitar-led indie faced a reckoning: adapt or die.

But from this wreckage came reinvention. Around the country, new bands distanced themselves from the jangling guitars typified by the NME C86 cassette. Drawing inspiration from eclectic, transatlantic influences like anarcho-punk, hardcore and no-wave – these new groups were closer to Captain Beefheart than the Byrds.

However, inspiration also arose from closer inspection of the ‘other sound’ of the C86 cassette, specifically the roster of Big Flame, A Witness and The Mackenzies. These bands’ angular and abrasive sounds emulated earlier post-punk heroes such as Josef K and Fire Engines. SCENE WITHIN A SCENE is the story of how Scotland rebuilt its musical landscape.

From the development of new labels such as Chemikal Underground, to defiant new musical directions, this book traces the formation of Scottish indie music’s best-loved acts.

Wild, defiant and startlingly inventive, The Slits were ahead of their time. Despite their innovative fusion of genres - from dub reggae to punk, African rhythms, funk and free jazz - they were dismissed as being "unable to play". Lyrically witty and incisively perceptive, their hugely influential album Cut, challenged perceptions of women in music and girl bands, inspiring generations of women to pick up instruments and rage against the status quo.

Author Zoe Howe speaks to The Slits themselves, to former manager Don Letts, mentor and PIL guitarist Keith Levene and many other friends and collaborators. Typical Girls discovers the origins of the Slits phenomenon, following the group's rise as the "first ladies of punk", celebrating the legacy of a seminal band long overdue its rightful acclaim. An essential addition to the Omnibus Remastered series, this expanded edition features a foreword by punk stalwart and academic, Helen McCookerybook.

There are records that entertain, records that educate and records that become historical documents in their own right. For twenty years, Marc Mac’s Black History Soundbite Series has existed somewhere between all three.

Beginning in 2006 with It’s Right to Be Civil, Marc Mac quietly embarked on what has become one of the most original long-form projects in contemporary independent music. Conceived not simply as albums but as audio documentaries pressed onto vinyl, each release combines original production with carefully curated speeches, interviews, broadcasts and historical recordings, transforming fragments of Black history into immersive musical journeys.

Across six volumes; It’s Right to Be Civil, Extend the Knowledge, Message From Soulville, Generation X, All Power to the People and The Invisible Soldiers the soundbites drops names and instances that allow the listener to explore further.

There are records that entertain, records that educate and records that become historical documents in their own right. For twenty years, Marc Mac’s Black History Soundbite Series has existed somewhere between all three.

Beginning in 2006 with It’s Right to Be Civil, Marc Mac quietly embarked on what has become one of the most original long-form projects in contemporary independent music. Conceived not simply as albums but as audio documentaries pressed onto vinyl, each release combines original production with carefully curated speeches, interviews, broadcasts and historical recordings, transforming fragments of Black history into immersive musical journeys.

Across six volumes; It’s Right to Be Civil, Extend the Knowledge, Message From Soulville, Generation X, All Power to the People and The Invisible Soldiers the soundbites drops names and instances that allow the listener to explore further.

Message To Soulville

There are records that entertain, records that educate and records that become historical documents in their own right. For twenty years, Marc Mac’s Black History Soundbite Series has existed somewhere between all three.

Beginning in 2006 with It’s Right to Be Civil, Marc Mac quietly embarked on what has become one of the most original long-form projects in contemporary independent music. Conceived not simply as albums but as audio documentaries pressed onto vinyl, each release combines original production with carefully curated speeches, interviews, broadcasts and historical recordings, transforming fragments of Black history into immersive musical journeys.

Across six volumes; It’s Right to Be Civil, Extend the Knowledge, Message From Soulville, Generation X, All Power to the People and The Invisible Soldiers the soundbites drops names and instances that allow the listener to explore further.

Generation X

There are records that entertain, records that educate and records that become historical documents in their own right. For twenty years, Marc Mac’s Black History Soundbite Series has existed somewhere between all three.

Beginning in 2006 with It’s Right to Be Civil, Marc Mac quietly embarked on what has become one of the most original long-form projects in contemporary independent music. Conceived not simply as albums but as audio documentaries pressed onto vinyl, each release combines original production with carefully curated speeches, interviews, broadcasts and historical recordings, transforming fragments of Black history into immersive musical journeys.

Across six volumes; It’s Right to Be Civil, Extend the Knowledge, Message From Soulville, Generation X, All Power to the People and The Invisible Soldiers the soundbites drops names and instances that allow the listener to explore further.

All Power To The People

There are records that entertain, records that educate and records that become historical documents in their own right. For twenty years, Marc Mac’s Black History Soundbite Series has existed somewhere between all three.

Beginning in 2006 with It’s Right to Be Civil, Marc Mac quietly embarked on what has become one of the most original long-form projects in contemporary independent music. Conceived not simply as albums but as audio documentaries pressed onto vinyl, each release combines original production with carefully curated speeches, interviews, broadcasts and historical recordings, transforming fragments of Black history into immersive musical journeys.

Across six volumes; It’s Right to Be Civil, Extend the Knowledge, Message From Soulville, Generation X, All Power to the People and The Invisible Soldiers the soundbites drops names and instances that allow the listener to explore further.

The Invisibe Soldiers

There are records that entertain, records that educate and records that become historical documents in their own right. For twenty years, Marc Mac’s Black History Soundbite Series has existed somewhere between all three.

Beginning in 2006 with It’s Right to Be Civil, Marc Mac quietly embarked on what has become one of the most original long-form projects in contemporary independent music. Conceived not simply as albums but as audio documentaries pressed onto vinyl, each release combines original production with carefully curated speeches, interviews, broadcasts and historical recordings, transforming fragments of Black history into immersive musical journeys.

Across six volumes; It’s Right to Be Civil, Extend the Knowledge, Message From Soulville, Generation X, All Power to the People and The Invisible Soldiers the soundbites drops names and instances that allow the listener to explore further.

It’s the summer of 1996, and Andy is stuck in a dead-end admin job at a Soho picture library. His dreams of becoming an indie rockstar are over, but luckily, he’s found the Next Big Thing through promoting gigs in Camden: a Norwegian three-piece who sound like ABBA meets Nirvana. Plan B is simple, live the dream vicariously by managing them.

And when a record company shows interest, a door opens into an exciting new world. The only things standing in his way are a total lack of music industry know-how and his scary boss at work, who disapproves of his extracurricular activities. However, as the clock ticks towards his 30th birthday, success proves elusive.

Everyone else seems to be making it, rival bands, ex-bandmates, his old band manager, even the record shop where he once worked has become famous. Andy fears he’ll never escape the day job to live his daydream. But he also knows that in music, there’s always tomorrow.

Omega Sunrise was a US funk and soul outfit made from several members of the Seawind Horns and spent around eight months a year on the road from 1979 to 1986. They recorded a debut album in 1983 that charted well nationally and years on, Feel The Change remains a favourite of deep diggers. It was a 1983 private press release that had it all, from tight, snappy drums with mellow soul vocals and jazzy melodies drenched in spiritual vibes to more slow funk cuts with more defined drums. Brass tones, synth glows and a devotional energy all pervade the 11 cuts and this is its first-ever vinyl reissue, so do not sleep.

TRACK LISTING

Renewal
Your Love
Spot Light
Can You Hear Him
Too Hip
Celestial Funk
No Disguise
First Love
Eternal Day
Feel The Change Conin'
Follow Your Road

Impressive Collective and BBE Music present Brighter The Days - The Remixes, a new collection built around Omar's epic 9th studio album. The past year has seen Omar on particularly strong form, including two sold-out US tours, standout appearances on NPR’s 'Tiny Desk', BBC TV’s 'Later with Jools Holland' and Channel 4’s 'Sunday Brunch', whilst his guest appearances with various social media stars including DJ AG Online and collaboration with Donae’O on the viral hit 'Nights Like This' resulting in a growing younger audience. This collection draws together extraordinary reinterpretations from the Brighter The Days album, from a dream ticket of legendary and forward-thinking producers; namely Kenny Dope, Joe Claussell, DJ Spinna, Illa J and Super D & Maestro. Of Kenny Dope’s remix of “Lovey Dovey” (with Raheem DeVaughn and Eric Roberson), Omar says that “you can definitely see people locking and popping to that one!”, while he describes Joe Claussell’s two versions of “There’s Much Love In The World” as “simply epic”. Alongside Illa J’s rework of “Love Is Like” featuring India.Arie and Super D & Maestro’s remix of “I’ve Been Waiting”, the collection is a landmark extension of Omar's magnum opus long player.

TRACK LISTING

Disc: 1
1. Lovey Dovey (Kenny Dope Remix)
2. Lovey Dovey (Kenny Dope Remix Instrumental)
3. Brighter The Days (DJ Spinna Remix)
4. Brighter The Days (DJ Spinna Remix Instrumental)
5. Love Is Like (Illa J Remix)
6. Love Is Like (Illa J Remix Instrumental)

Disc: 2
1. There's Much Love In The World (Joe Claussell World Afriqua Dub)
2. There's Much Love In The World (Joe Claussell Remix)
3. I've Been Waiting (Maestro & Supa D Remix)

The anonymous Only Music Matters crew serve up another EP of smoking sounds for discerning crowds. It's the smart sampling of a classic motif from jazz-house great Saint Germain that makes the opener 'AAA001A' so enchanting as a bluesy vocal drifts in and out of a dry, dubby, minimal tech beat. 'BBB001B' is more driving and gritty, a clipped tech cut to keep things moving in the dead of night, then 'BBB002B' brings another supple groove, this time with rays of synth rising out of the mix like the morning sun. Quirky sound designs and a skipping rhythm make it irresistible.

TRACK LISTING

AAA001A
BBB001B
BBB002B

The first Om album, 'Variations on a Theme', features Al Cisneros and Chris
Hakius. It was produced by Om, and was originally released in 2005 on Holy
Mountain. 

TRACK LISTING

1. On the Mountain at Dawn
2. Kapila's Theme
3. Annapurna

The unfiltered story of women in the punk scene— celebrating the highs, confronting the lows, and proving the power of community.

From the gritty streets of 1970s London to the sun-soaked beaches of 2000s California, Rebel Grrrls: The Real Story of Women and Punk is a raw and exhilarating exploration of rebellion and identity through the eyes of its fans. This book goes beyond the musicians, spotlighting the women who defied small-town limitations, challenged family expectations, and shaped the scene from the inside out.

Molly Tie examines what the movement has meant to millions of fans, setting their experiences within a wider cultural and political landscape. What is it like to be a woman at a gig? Which bands and songs truly reflect the female experience in a male-dominated space? And how does our connection to alternative music change when powerful figures face allegations of abuse?

Spanning every era—from the British explosion and American hardcore to riot grrrl, pop punk, emo, ska, and today’s activist revival—Tie reveals how women in the movement have fought to be heard, proving that, at its best, punk is about refusing to stay silent.

The second Om-ing, 'Conference of the Birds', also features Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius, with production by Om, originally released in 2006 on Holy
Mountain.

TRACK LISTING

1. At Giza
2. Flight of the Eagle

Australian experimental outfit King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have built a well-earned reputation as one of the most prolific, adventurous and inventive bands of all time.

Since 2010, the band have released 25 studio albums, which range from expansive jazz-rock, to spaghetti Western soundscapes, semi-acoustic cosmic ballads, sci-fi prog, kaleidoscopic garage rock, thrash metal, explorations of microtonal tunings, Krautrock and more.

‘Omnium Gatherum’’s sprawling 16 tracks of gonzoid prog jams, dizzying pop nuggets, rubberlegged hip-hop odysseys and passages of pure thrash metal abandon offer plenty for Gizzard fans and neophytes alike to chew on. Typically, Gizzard albums pursue a single theme or style - but part of the thrill of ‘Omnium Gatherum’ for the group was the opportunity to present new ideas without committing the entire album to just one. It’s both the perfect entry point for newcomers, and a solid treat for the faithful.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
A1. The Dripping Tap

SIDE B
B1. Magenta Mountain
B2. Kepler-22b
B3. Gaia
B4. Ambergris
B5. Sadie Sorceress

SIDE C
C1. Evilest Man
C2. The Garden Goblin
C3. Blame It On The Weather
C4. Persistence
C5. The Grim Reaper

SIDE D
D1. Presumptuous
D2. Predator X
D3. Red Smoke
D4. Candles
D5. The Funeral

No band has reshaped the possibilities of popular music like The Velvet Underground. Formed in New York in 1965, the Velvets emerged from the nexus of art, fashion, politics, music and counterculture. Although widespread popularity and acclaim evaded them during their four-album lifespan, their enduring, cross-generational appeal meant the Velvets could count iconic contemporaries like Leonard Cohen, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix as fans, alongside future legends such as Roxy Music, the Pretenders and Sonic Youth.

Do What You Fear Most chronicles how an unlikely group of upstarts came to define the musical zeitgeist. In a sprawling and engrossing narrative, Richie Unterberger follows the group from their disparate origins to their ascendancy as Andy Warhol's Factory house band in New York City. It explores the creative alchemy between the core trio of Lou Reed, John Cale and Nico, the shocking exits and ever-changing lineups, as well as the wider New York cultural scene of the period.

Rigorously researched and packed with previously undocumented insights, this book features many first-hand interviews with the group's associates, as well as material newly unearthed from the Lou Reed Archive and the Andy Warhol Archive, alongside never-before-seen images and ephemera. This is the most complete story of The Velvet Underground to date.

From bass player to lead guitarist, member, Steve Diggle has been the driving force keeping Buzzcocks alive since he first met Pete Shelley in 1976. Together they would ignite the Manchester music scene, kickstart indie and become one of the best loved and most influential punk groups of all time. Following Shelley's untimely death in 2018, Autonomy is Diggle's definitive inside account of their shared musical legacy and complex friendship through the band's rise, fall, and rise again - from their punk origins supporting Sex Pistols with original singer Howard Devoto to Top of the Pops, the excess of success, break-up, reformation and life beyond bereavement.

Funny, honest and touchingly philosophical, it is also Diggle's very personal story of working class escape, dreams, redemption and loss - an ultimately heroic survivor's tale from an irrepressible rock'n'roll spirit.

Cognitive Dissident may begin in the music biography tradition, but it quickly becomes something deeper. Borne out of years of conversation and collaboration between Matt Johnson (the creative force behind THE THE) and writer Jason Wood (Executive Director at the BFI), it expands into a work that is philosophical, cultural, and socio-political in scope. The story traces Johnson's childhood growing up above one of East London's most famous pubs, his early international success in music, followed by his sudden disappearance for decades.

Then in 2017, The Inertia Variations project brought about an extraordinary creative rebirth, leading to THE THE's return: The Comeback Special World Tour, live album and film, the release of Ensoulment - their first new album in 25 years - and the acclaimed Ensouled World Tour. Along the way, it illuminates Johnson's evolution from the post-punk DIY scene to his many collaborations with producers, musicians, and cultural icons, as well as the influence of literature, art, and cinema that has always shaped his vision. Through these conversations with Matt Johnson - a working-class auto-didact who achieved success and ultimately career control on his own terms - this book by extension is also a meditation on family, friendship, creativity, conservation, gentrification, geopolitics, love and loss.

By 1983, many of Scotland's post-punk bands had broken up or moved south to chase the major labels in London. That vacuum was filled by an influx of young musicians who were determined to remake the scene in their own image. In this compelling and dynamic oral history, Grant McPhee chronicles the radical transformation of Scotland's independent music scene from 1983-1995.

Including archival photos and drawing from over 100 interviews with the key players of the time, Grant McPhee allows them to set the scene in their own words; including the Cocteau Twins, Shop Assistants, Teenage Fanclub, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and many more. Postcards from Scotland is the definitive story of the radicals, misfits and experimentalists who made independent music what it is today.

oma totem returns to Hivern Discs with the second EP in the "Exercicis Ritmics Series". Volum 2 features five tracks plus two digital bonus tracks, offering an extended deep dive into percussion, exploring accelerated and even more intricate rhythms. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Hivern display the highly advanced electronix of Oma Totem. Comparisons could be drawn with Shackleton or Mark Ernestus, but really this stuff is out there in its own orbit. Defo worth a listen if you're into out-there electronic sounds and rhythm.

TRACK LISTING

1. ER 6
2. ER 7
3. ER 8
4. ER 9
5. ER 10

Ebo Taylor, the Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, and producer is a seminal figure when it comes to highlife music. Remined is proud to present these two classics as a 45 for first time, in conjunction with Mr. Bongo. "Will You Promise" and "Maye Omama" are both taken from Taylor's 1976 release "My Love And Music." Grab doubles and watch the dance floor fill up.

TRACK LISTING

A. Will You Promise
B. Maye Omama

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...

The third album by ATLAS is a glimpse into the longing that echoes through time and matter, resonating in our cells, haunting our dreams. When love whispers, you don't need to know the language. You only need to listen. The five-piece Modern Metal band hailing from Finland is blending ancient echoes with a contemporary edge. The messengers of melancholy craft a sound that channels the raw intensity and mysticism of the North. 'Sunder' fuses haunting atmospheres with crushing rhythms, towering production and the emotive power of Modern Metal - forging a sonic bridge between worlds old and new.

TRACK LISTING

1. Sermon To The Dying Light
2. Tower
3. Salt And Sulfur
4. I Whisper Your Name Like A Curse
5. Coven Of Two
6. Altar Of Your Love
7. Anodyne
8. Sunder

After the release of long player ‘The Gospel Of Jesamy’, Arp Frique & The Perpetual Singers return with a heavy hitting 4-track EP entitled ‘Alpha & Omega’.

The Amsterdam-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer follows up his very well received gospel-funk album with a big chunk of funk fuelled, high energy spiritual music featuring some stellar vocalists also present on the previous record: Texas-born gospel singer Brandon Delagraentiss, longtime collaborator Marissa Nyamekye aka Mariseya, and the legendary LA-born vocalist Rocq-E Harrell who - in her career spanning many decades - has sung with Stevie Wonder, Patti Labelle, Earth Wind & Fire, and toured with Diana Ross and the legendary Barry White.

Fronting out with the familiar high speed energy, "Alpha & Omega" is a highly frenetic disco rocket with empowered male & female vocal interplay, huge guitar riffs and this incessant, bubbly bassline that gives it a kind of Moroder-esque flavour. "For Your Love" carries on with a similiar vibe and instrumental palette, emphasising the gospel inflections and altogether spiritual ascension.

Onto side B and if you weren't prepared to sacfrice your soul for the lord on high, then "Help Me Jesus" and "Live Together Live" is liquid soul and squelchy boogie double header rolled into one, side-long, rare groove opus that'll have you surrendering yourself to the heavens in no time at all. 

Rejoice! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Arp Frique continues to deliver a fresh and contemporary approach to tropical disco sophistication. Throwing in some more mid-tempo, rare groove business on this outing. If you've caught the highly engrossing live shows on the festival circuit and want to recreate the magic at home (or in the club), this EP serves as a nice summation of their sound.

TRACK LISTING

Alpha & Omega Feat. Rocq-E Harrell & Brandon Delagraentiss
For Your Love Feat. Rocq-E Harrell
Help Me Jesus Feat. Rocq-E Harrell & Brandon Delagraentiss
Live Together Live

Rufige Kru return with ‘Alpha Omega (Remixes)’, featuring four heavyweight re-imaginings of their recent jungle / drum & bass belters.

One of the most revered names in breakbeat science, Rufige Kru rewired the dancefloor for the first time back in 1992 with hardcore classics such as ‘Darkrider’, ‘Beachdrifta’ and ‘Terminator’, key moments in the evolution of drum & bass.

‘Alpha Omega (Remixes)’ takes the project's tracks to a new level, with fresh reworks from Metalheadz residents Phase, Seba & Paradox, Special Request and Rufige Kru’s very own Submotive. Each remix twists the raw intensity and deep atmospherics of the originals into something darker, harder and sharper.

TRACK LISTING

Goldikus (feat. Cleveland Watkiss) (Phase Remix)
Still The Same (feat. CASISDEAD) (Submotive Remix)
Virgil (Seba & Paradox Remix)
Still The Same (feat. CASISDEAD) (Special Request Remix)

Adey Omotade, a sound artist and cultural cartographer rooted in Lagos and shaped by diasporic experiences in Paris, Johannesburg, Berlin and Ivory Coast, brings a rare sensibility to this work: walking between worlds, bringing with him the cadence of home and the dissonance of diaspora. In his hands, sound becomes ritual: a migration of soul, an assemblage of bells, melodies and chants woven from Ifa shrines, river banks and Yoruba festivals. Playing the dual role of griot and cartographer, Omotade, who works across acoustic ecology, experimental music and sound design, builds each track like a shrine: layered, intentional, alive with breath and blood, each track a libation, each break an invocation. Each track unfurls like aso-oke, the celebratory fabric of the Yoruba people: drums that speak in polyrhythms, synths bending like waves, incantations layered like memory, fading then returning, gently like the water at the banks of the Osun River.

The influence of experimental sound design is evident throughout, but ‘Ni'ran’ is no cold abstraction. It pulses with life, with the heartbeat of talking drums, the breath of ambient textures and the warmth of the voices of babalawos, priests of Ifa, invoking ire (blessings) on all. ‘Oori : Ogbe’ invokes the sacred Odu Ifá — a divination verse that speaks of beginnings, clarity and destiny. In ‘Ofo : 'Nkantation’, polyrhythms unfold like verses, each beat a coded message inviting listeners to reflect on destiny and alignment.The title track ‘Ęęro : Eeşu’ begins with the haunting voice of a priest reciting the Odu Ifá, a calling to give unto Eesu his due. Percussive patterns unfold like verses, each beat both a memory and a prayer.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Beautifully dynamic ambient music shaped and informed by Yoruban folk and shaped around the core of modern ambient and nu-jazz, resulting in something that's not easily categorisable but incredibly satisfying to listen to.

TRACK LISTING

Ni Ran
Oori Ogbe
Ofo Nkantation
Eero Eesu

Anyone unfamiliar with the early Fleetwood Mac, when they were led by the consummate guitarist and songwriter Peter Green, would do well to start here with this remarkable 1969 collection.

It is comprised of their initial four non-album UK singles and their B-sides, a song from their self-titled debut album, two tracks from their second album, 'Mr. Wonderful', and two pieces by blues artist Eddie Boyd, featuring Fleetwood Mac, and sourced from Boyd’s Blue Horizon album, '7936 South Rhodes'.

Capturing the essence of the band during this period, it’s a compelling document of their unique fusion of Chicago and British blues. Cuts like ‘Albatross,’ ‘Black Magic Woman,’ and ‘I Believe My Time Ain't Long’ are
enduring classics and among their very finest work.

Take a stroll through some of the best blues-rock ever made, music which laid the groundwork for one of the world's most beloved bands before their global breakthrough the following decade with 'Rumours'.

TRACK LISTING

1. Need Your Love So Bad
2. Coming Home
3. Rambling Pony 
4. The Big Boat 
5. I Believe My Time Ain’t Long 
6. The Sun Is Shining
7. Albatross
8. Black Magic Woman
9. Just The Blues
10. Jigsaw Puzzle Blues
11. Looking For Somebody
12. Stop Messin’ Round

**PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE LIMITED COPIES SIGNED BY THE ARTIST WHILE HE WAS IN MANCHESTER. SLEEVES HAVE SEEN THE TINIEST BIT OF WEAR, BUT VINYL IS PERFECT AND UNPLAYED**

Released in 2021 and featuring a plethora of hip-hop royalty, "Omowale" sees the Lootpack MC remerge under a confident solo persona taking his funky flow, vivid lyrics and classic boom-bap influences to another level over an expansive double album featuring 16 tracks. Released after the pandemic and following the rapper becoming a father, there's a deep introspection and perspective that sets it apart from the false bravado and frontin' so rife in rap in 2025. 

RIYL: The Roots, Madlib, Guilty Simpson, Stones Throw. 

TRACK LISTING

A1 Omowale
A2 ManifestenFeaturing – Angelo Arce
A3 PTSDFeaturing – Georgia Anne Muldrow
A4 G.O.A.T.Featuring – Miles Brown 
B1 Fatherhood Featuring – Big Daddy Kane, Posdnuos, Stacy Epps
B2 Breathe Featuring – Guilty Simpson, Soulyghost
B3 Night At The Museum
B4 Manchurian Candidate (Interlude)
C1 3 Sistas & A Child Featuring – Dynasty, Medusa
C2 Reflections
C3 Livin N Color Featuring – Giocello, Ras Kass
C4 Peace Of Mind Featuring – Murs
D1 Grown Folk Featuring – Sadat X
D2 Edge Of Tomorrow Featuring – 2Mex
D3 Say Their Name

Over the past few months, five young musicians performing under the name Omasta have taken the Polish and European jazz scenes by storm. Having gained recognition for their intense live shows, they are now ready to deliver their debut studio effort. “Jazz Report From The Hood” a collectively composed album immersed in the textures of city streets and everyday urban life.

The name Omasta comes from a regional Krakow dialect word meaning “fat added to food for flavor.” It’s a fitting metaphor: the group’s music is saturated with thick drums and deep, heavy bass. Hailing from Krakow, the band took shape over several years, officially launching with a J Dilla tribute concert in February 2024 at the city’s Paul’s Boutique.

Since then, Omasta have performed at venues and festivals across Poland and Europe – including The Jazz Cafe and Ronnie Scott’s in London, AB in Brussels, Gent Jazz Festival, and more. They've shared stages with Slum Village, Aquiles Navarro (Irreversible Entanglements), long-time Astigmatic Records collaborator Tenderlonious, and Polish free jazz legend Leszek Żądło. Along the way, they’ve also paid tribute to the music of Madlib through specially curated live shows. All of this, notably, before even releasing their first single.

References to J Dilla and Madlib are no accident. Omasta’s music walks a fine line between the smoky, off-kilter beats of Detroit and Los Angeles, live instrumental hip-hop, and the jazz-funk sound of the 1970s – drawing inspiration from icons like Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, and Lonnie Liston Smith. What binds it all together is their distinctive voice and unmistakable Polish roots.

“Jazz Report From The Hood” is a universal tale of life in the city – not a moral sermon, but a raw, resonant soundtrack for the everyday hustle, resilience, and rhythm of the neighborhoods that shape us.

TRACK LISTING

1. Cornerstone
2. Burner
3. Mandem
4. Who They Was
5. What's The Point?
6. Dead End
7. Ankle Breaker
8. Falsehood
9. We Gonna Make It
10. Kazimierz

The last word on the movement that shook the world. Punk: The Last Word is a powerful reimagining of punk-not just as a sound or style, but as a radical, DIY philosophy rooted in defiance, truth, and individuality. Cultural insider and Wag Club founder Chris Sullivan and Byline Times co-founder and executive editor Stephen Colegrave bring together over 150 original interviews with punk's most iconic figures-Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Siouxsie Sioux, Vivienne Westwood, and many others.

From musicians and designers to promoters and provocateurs, they paint a vivid portrait of the movement's chaotic rise and lasting impact on both sides of the Atlantic. Tracing punk's rebellious spirit from 19th-century bohemia to the explosion of Kings Road and Coventry in the late '70s, this is, without a doubt, the most in-depth, insider account of punk's evolution and legacy. As the movement approaches its 50th anniversary, its core values-authenticity, resistance, and creative freedom-feel more urgent than ever.

Punk isn't just music. It's a way of life.

In the spring of 2018, Tom Piazza climbed into a cherry-red Cadillac Coupe-Deville with the great singer-songwriter John Prine. The two embarked on a road trip through Florida full of jokes and tall tales, afternoons digging around record stores and long nights playing guitar. Having forged a deep friendship, they decide to embark on a new shared project - to write Prine's memoir together.

When Prine died suddenly of COVID in April 2020, that unfinished memoir evolved into an intimate narrative of the artist's final years. The result is a warm and intimate story, richly detailed with hilarious stories of his youth and family in Chicago and Kentucky, his breakthrough into the national spotlight. Piazza offers fans an unforgettable portrait of the beloved musician in the twilight of his life; as a boyish cut-up, an epic raconteur, a great American poet and most importantly, the good friend his fans have always imagined.

The story of the Brian Wilson's legendary SMiLE album from Beach Boys authority David Leaf.

This is the first book to tell the full story of Brian Wilson and SMiLE, including the details of the original SMiLE recording sessions and their increasingly legendary status as well as the final release of the album, the accompanying concerts and film, and its afterlife.

As a Beatle, Harrison underwent a bewilderingly compressed early adulthood, buffeted by unprecedented levels of fame and success. After Beatlemania left him unsettled and unfulfilled his became a quest for deeper meaning which traveled far beyond the parameters of his former band and indeed music itself.This elegant, in-depth biography tracks him assiduously through his many changes and conflicts, from schoolboy guitarist to global superstar, God seeker to independent film-maker, Formula One enthusiast to UNICEF Fundraiser, and marks the perennial struggle of a man attempting to walk a spiritual path lined with temptation. Drawing on scores of new interviews with close friends and collaborators, rigorous research and critical insight, George Harrison: Behind The Locked Door is the ultimate account of the motives and varied achievements of an often misunderstood man. It is also an intimate character study, beautifully illustrating the eternal yin and tang of Harrison's nature; the definitive account of a compelling, contradictory life.

Rufige Kru is the iconic alias of Drum & Bass legend Goldie. One of the most revered names in breakbeat science, Rufige Kru rewired the dancefloor for the time back in 1992 with the hardcore classic 'Darkrider', and the project produced other pivotal hardcore moments like 'Ghosts Of My Life' and 'Terminator' (still considered one of the key moments in the evolution of drum and bass). ‘Alpha Omega’ is the first album released under the moniker since 2009, with the project now featuring longtime collaborator Submotive alongside Goldie.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: The seminal UK outfit returns in fine form. It's hard to under-talk Goldie's influence on UK culture (not just with his sonics) and for him to be still flexing this hard in 2025 (around 33 years after his first releases) is testament to the longevity and timeless prowess of this UK treasure.

TRACK LISTING

1. Alpha Omega
2. Goldikus (feat. Cleveland Watkiss)
3. Virgil
4. Express Your Soul
5. Sandcastles
6. Still The Same (feat. CASISDEAD)
7. Mercury
8. Siamese Ghost
9. Secret Handshake
10. Spirits
11. People And Places
12. The Guardianz

Foreword by Pete Townshend. Tom Wright first met Pete Townshend at Ealing Art School in the early 60s. He became The Who's official tour photographer and manager from 1967 in the US, also managing the Grande Ballroom in Detroit where The Who's rock opera Tommy premiered.

He was much more than the band's photographer, he was a friend and photographed them right up to their farewell tour in 1991. Tom's vast record collection and musical influences had a big impact on the band in their early years. Their Generation covers The Who's first tours of North America, a hugely creative time with explosive performances both on and off stage, the time of their US hit 'I Can See for Miles' and much more.

Through the fabulous photographs, many of which have never been seen before, we see the band backstage, onstage, on tour, at rehearsal, at ease, in studio, at home. The photos will be accompanied by extended captions providing background details of the time, the people and the places. As well as The Who, Tom Wright toured with the Rolling Stones, the Faces, The James Gang, Elvis Costello, The Eagles and many more, documenting their performances and life on the road.

Based upon work and materials compiled for the acclaimed and now much sought after 2007 Cramps biography A Short History of Rock'n'Roll Psychosis, Journey To The Centre Of The Cramps goes far beyond being a revised and updated edition: Completely overhauled, rewritten and vastly expanded, it now represents the definitive work on the group. In addition to unseen interview material from Ivy, Lux and other former band members, Journey To The Centre Of The Cramps also sees the Cramps' story through to its conclusion, recounting Lux's unexpected death in 2009, the subsequent dissolution of the group and their enduring legacy. The Cramps' history, influences and the cast of characters in and around the group are likewise explored in far greater depth. Features unseen first-hand interview material from Lux Interior and Poison Ivy. A wealth of new interview material with former band members and other key players in the band's history and never before seen/rare photographs and ephemera to help illustrate the book

“If you were in the middle of a forest, surrounded by a thicket of unkempt plants, trees, and wild wonder at every turn, would you marvel at all of the paths and directions you could go?
If it were pitch black, dark, would you trust each step taken into the unknown?
If it were the brightest day, would you bask in the sunshine and fall in love?
Owls, Omens, and Oracles is a collection of songs that summon us to observe the roads we are traveling and how they might lead us through dark times, but we are never alone.
There’s always an inner light to guide the way.”
-Valerie June 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Shining, uplifting rhythmic soul music that's imbued with bright streaks of gospel and country, all topped with the beautifully jubilant lyrics and soaring register of VAlerie June. Beautifully celebratory and full of moments of genuine joy.

TRACK LISTING

1. Joy, Joy!
2. All I Really Wanna Do
3. Endless Tree
4. Inside Me
5. Trust The Path
6. Love Me Any Ole Way
7. Changed (ft. The Blind Boys Of Alabama)
8. Superpower
9. Sweet Things Just For You
10. I Am In Love
11. Calling My Spirit
12. My Life Is A Country Song
13. Missin’ You (Yeh Yeh)
14. Love And Let Go 

Joe Meek. Wayward genius; the British Phil Spector,the first producer to treat the recording studio as an instrument; head of oneof the earliest independent record labels; creator of some of the mostincredibly influential pop music ever, including ‘Telstar’, the first Americannumber one single by a British band; and a man tormented by mental healthissues and financial battles. He was all these and more, as author Darryl W. Bullockreveals through numerous original interviews with friends and colleagues in hiscompelling biography of the legendary producer.

Love and Fury takes readers on a guided tour ofMeek’s fabled Holloway Road studio, examines the recordings issued during hislifetime, looks at the wealth of unreleased material he left behind - thelegendary Tea Chest tapes, rumoured to include recordings by David Bowie, MarcBolan, Ray Davies of the Kinks and others – and examines that events whichultimately led to murder and suicide.

John McGeoch was the unsung hero of the post-punk era. Blazing a trail with some of Britain’s biggest bands and most revered artists – Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Armoury Show and Public Image Ltd. – John left an undeniable and indelible mark on music.

The Light Pours Out of Me examines John’s life and legacy, drawing on original interviews with the likes of Siouxsie Sioux, Howard Devoto, Johnny Marr, Billy Idol, John Frusciante, Keith Levene, Jonny Greenwood, Nick Launay, Ed O’Brien, Peter ‘Hooky’ Hook and many others.

Illustrated with unseen photographs, this moving biography – authorised by the family – celebrates the remarkable guitarist who helped provide the soundtrack to a generation.

Newly revised and updated with cooperation and insight from Brian May and Roger Taylor – and drawing on exclusive interviews with the bandmembers – this book completes the story of the Mercury era and the immediate years after his death.

With numerous extra photographs and a new Foreword from Brian May, Queen – As It Began: Revised and Authorised is an informative and authoritative portrait of Queen’s most fundamental period.

So It Started There chronicles the life and career of drummer Nick Banks, and how he came to be in one of the UK's most iconic and beloved bands: Pulp. Beginning with his childhood in Rotherham, Nick recounts his personal and musical journey through the genres, first as a punk, then as a goth; how it all started when he was first inspired to pick up the sticks by Sex Pistols drummer, Paul Cook.

Flash forward to the eighties, Nick has been playing in a handful of Sheffield groups and spies an ad from his favourite band, Pulp, in a local club. He pays Jarvis and the gang a visit and the rest is history. From there, Nick describes his growth as a professional drummer and musician, the trials and tribulations of chasing success in the music industry, touring triumphs and horrors, the band's journey from relative obscurity to becoming a global sensation, and the process of writing and recording their most famous albums.

Don Letts - filmmaker, musician, DJ, broadcaster, social commentator, husband and father - has always defied conformity. A British-born son of Windrush parents, he seamlessly pivoted between London's punk and reggae scenes - earning his reputation as the 'Rebel Dread'. In There and Black Again, Don Letts looks back on his exceptional life, which has seen him befriend Bob Marley after sneaking into his hotel, join The Clash's White Riot tour as manager of The Slits and become one of the UK's most highly regarded video directors just as the MTV boom hit.

Told in part as scenes from a movie shot on location in London, Kingston, New York City, Los Angeles, Windhoek, Salt Lake City and Goldeneye, There and Black Again co-stars a cast of hundreds, including Joe Strummer, John Lydon, Bob Marley, Chrissie Hynde, Chris Blackwell, Paul McCartney, Nelson Mandela, Keith Richards, Patti Smith, Chuck D., Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. With reflections on the Black Lives Matter movement and the highs and lows of personal relationships, this impactful book includes moments of civil unrest, live music, humour and political struggle. There and Black Again is the refreshing and often unexpected story of a man who has never been afraid to tread his own path.

A riveting oral biography of the proto-punk Detroit rockers MC5, based on original interviews with the band and key members of their inner circle Few bands have dared to ignite a revolution through their fusion of activism and art like MC5. Managed by the charismatic radical and hippie spokesman, John Sinclair, MC5 wasn't just a band; they were a thunderous proclamation of dissent, amplifying the voices of the marginalized long before it was fashionable. From championing Black Lives Matter to rallying for cannabis legalization, they fearlessly thrust their beliefs onto the world stage. For their efforts, the rabble-rousing musical arm of the White Panther Party, the scourge of J.

Edgar Hoover's FBI and other defenders of public decency, were often beaten with clubs, threatened at gunpoint, tossed into jail, and even unceremoniously dumped by their record company, right as their album was storming up the charts--and all while the Sex Pistols were still on training wheels. What has been lost amidst this notoriety is MC5 itself, a band worth remembering not because they were bad boys, but because they were so damn good. In MC5: An Oral Biography of Rock's Most Revolutionary Band?, music journalists Brad Tolinski and Jaan Uhelszki invite readers to reconsider this legendary group. Centered around a series of interviews with MC5, their manager, and their inner circle--many of whom are no longer with us--that Tolinski and Uhelszki inherited from CREEM Magazine founding staffer and Mojo's US editor Ben Edmonds prior to his death, this book presents a genuinely candid, funny, and moving portrait of rock's most uncompromising and articulate band. MC5 also features a virtual "who's who" of 1960s rockers, including Iggy and the Stooges, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, promoter Bill Graham, John Lennon, the Jefferson Airplane, and political firebrands like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, and Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver. As innovative, insightful, and inspiring as the band itself, MC5 is a fitting testament to the legacy of these iconic rock pioneers--told in their very own words.

Blue vinyl reissue of OMD's 13th studio album The Punishment of Luxury - back on vinyl for the first time in 7 years.

The follow up to the critically acclaimed ‘English Electric’ (released in 2013) ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ is a daring collection of stylish synth pop and masterful songwriting which will certainly rank alongside their very best.

Written, recorded, produced and mixed by OMD – Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys – the album is the sound of a band in their prime. ‘On this album we have managed to make beautiful things out of noises and repetitive patterns’, explains Andy. ‘The trouble is, we just cant help but write a catchy melody!’

The album takes its name from an 1891 painting by the Italian Giovani Segantini and contains everything from the Kraftwerkian ‘Isotype’ and ‘Robot Man’ to the blue eyed soul ballads of ‘One More Time’ and ‘The View From Here’ as well as more traditional OMD songs like ‘Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang’ and the synth heavy title track.

TRACK LISTING

A1) The Punishment Of Luxury
A2) Isotype
A3) Robot Man
A4) What Have We Done
A5) Precision & Decay
A6) As We Open, So We Close
B1) Art Eats Art
B2) Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang
B3) One More Time
B4) La Mitrailleuse
B5) Ghost Star
B6) The View From Here

Pressure Drop chronicles reggae’s most tumultuous and influential decade. Beginning in 1970 and unfolding both in Britain and Jamaica, reggae flourished against a backdrop of political upheaval, gang warfare, Black Nationalism, racial and class discrimination and grinding poverty.

The music that developed as rocksteady and early reggae gave birth to deejays, dub, rockers, lovers rock, early dancehall and 2 Tone was by turns brutal and revelatory.

Including an extensive analysis of the decade’s major singles and albums, Pressure Drop includes eyewitness accounts and experiences of the decade from the likes of Burning Spear, Chris Blackwell, Gregory Isaacs, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, U-Roy, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Augustus Pablo, Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker, Sly & Robbie, Dennis Bovell, Don Letts and members of the Specials, as well as first-hand anecdotes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

A full-colour account of Lindsay Reade and Tony Wilson’s working life and relationship told through scans of their letters, pictures and Lindsay’s diary entries accompanied by commentary and reflections from Lindsay.

A Continual Farewell tells the story of the relationship between Factory Records’ Tony Wilson and his first wife, Lindsay Reade, through their letters, Factory Records memorabilia and numerous family photos and snapshots.

Many are typed on Factory notepaper, or are scrawled on pages from various studios and hotels. They begin in the punk year of 1976 from love at first sight to marriage, from a music show entitled So It Goes to the formation of Factory and the Hacienda, across domestic infidelities, separation, stalled reconciliations and a brutal sacking.

After all that, when the reader would doubt any recovery was possible, the letters describe a renewed but now illicit love affair of former marriage partners. And beyond that, to a lasting friendship.

Their classic debut, expanded and back on vinyl! The Muffs burst onto the California music scene at the beginning of the ’90s, and after a few independent singles and EPs, they were quickly snapped up by Warner Bros. Records. Entering the studio with David Katznelson and Rob Cavallo (who would go on the helm records from Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls, and more), The Muffs roared from speakers across the country in 1993.

According to renowned critic Jim DeRogatis, “You’d have to reach all the way back to Blondie’s Plastic Letters to find punkish power pop this endearing.” The quartet rips through the album’s 16 tracks, ranging from and an Angry Samoans cover, to the college radio smash, “Lucky Guy.” In addition, alt-rock superstar Jon Spencer (Pussy Galore and his own Blues Explosion) adds some theremin and The Godfather Of Exotica Korla Pandit’s Hammond Organ makes an appearance. Even the beverage Fruitopia caught the buzz, using the album’s “Everywhere I Go” in a popular television campaign.

This expanded reissue contains the classic original album, and adds a whopping 10 bonus tracks making their vinyl debut: a radio remix of “Lucky Guy,” a version of “Everywhere I Go” which was only available on the cassette of The Muffs album, and 8 demos from the band’s vocalist and lead guitarist, Kim Shattuck. Released with full cooperation from the band, the double-LP contains liner notes from Shattuck and bassist Ronnie Barnett, and features photos and other ephemera from their personal archives. Omnivore Recordings is proud to present this expanded classic on LP. It’s time to go back to where it all started. It’s time for The Muffs.

TRACK LISTING

Lucky Guy
Saying Goodbye
Everywhere I Go
Better Than Me
From Your Girl
Not Like Me
Baby Go Round
North Pole
Big Mouth
Every Single Thing
Don't Waste Another Day
Stupid Jerk
Another Day
Eye To Eye
I Need You
All For Nothing
Lucky Guy (radio Remix)
Everywhere I Go (cassette Version)
All For Nothing (4-track Demo)
Do You Want Her (4-track Demo)
I Don't Expect It (4-track Demo)
My Face (4-track Demo)
Something On My Mind (4-track Demo)
Ethyl My Love (4-track Demo)
Not Like Me (4-track Demo)
Saying Goodbye To Phil (4-track Demo)

The critically acclaimed definitive biography of Kate Bush, revised and updated for 2024, with a new foreword by Sinéad Gleeson. Detailing everything from Bush’s upbringing to her early exposition of talent, to her subsequent evolution into a stunningly creative and endlessly fascinating visual and musical artist, Under The Ivy is the story of one woman's life in music. Written with great detail, accuracy and admiration for her work, this is in equal parts an in-depth biography and an immersive analysis of Kate Bush's art.

Focusing on her unique working methods, her studio techniques, her timeless albums and inescapable influence, Under The Ivy is an eminently readable and insightful exploration of one of the world's most unique and gifted artists. The text has been updated to include coverage of Bush’s return to the top of the charts in 2022 following the extraordinary resurgence of ‘Running Up That Hill.’ An eye-opening journey of discovery for anyone unfamiliar with the breadth of Bush’s work, Under The Ivy also rewards the long-term fan with new insights and fresh analysis.

British artist Douglas Dare announces the release of his fourth album Omni. Seen by Douglas himself as a bold rebirth and embrace of the electronic, Omni is all at once a throbbing, avant-garde, queer, dark and cinematic record imbued with a love of rave culture and sense of fearless storytelling that’s deeply evocative. Omni will be released on May 10 via Erased Tapes. To mark the announcement, Douglas today shares the first taster of the record with ‘Mouth To Mouth’, a pulsing, synth-laden track that begs to be played loud. ‘Mouth To Mouth’ sees a collaboration with label mate Daniel Brandt who appears on production duties, with beats supplied by Rival Consoles. Speaking on the track, Douglas says, “life, death, fate and orgies; this is the heartfelt club track I always wanted to write.” Since 2013, Douglas has blurred classical, chamber-pop, folk and avant-garde to dazzling effect, with a startling voice that can stop you in your tracks. It’s why he’s played with luminaries like Nils Frahm, Perfume Genius and Ólafur Arnalds, and was selected by David Lynch and The Cure’s Robert Smith for their respective cultural festivals in Manchester (MIF) and London (Meltdown). But Douglas’s fourth album, Omni, is a fresh awakening. Encouraged by Erased Tapes founder Robert Raths, he decided to step away from acoustic instruments, especially the piano he grew up playing, and swapped them for synths and drum machines. His new music has much in common with Arca and the late SOPHIE, two artists for whom self-expression meant liberation. “I got to hang out in the studio with her,” says Douglas of the latter musician, “the way she made music made a big impression on me.” And yet Omni is steeped in the kind of deft storytelling, sweeping strings, elegant contrasts and fairytale atmosphere that marks Douglas out as a crucial and singular voice. It’s not often you hear a strutting electro banger that could have been straight out of 90s Soho, with vocal loops inspired by US experimentalist Meredith Monk. For Douglas, Omni is about reconciling all those different sides of himself – the songwriter, the raver, the lover, the observer. It’s a hugely queer record: seductive, sexy, lusty, untethered from the genre binary. “It’s even got sailors on it!” laughs Douglas. “You don’t get more queer than that.

The definitive biography of Shane MacGowan, fully updated to include Shane's final months and the response to his passing. Punk protagonist, legendary drinker, Irish musical icon. The complete and extraordinary journey of the Pogues' notorious frontman from outcast to national treasure.

A Furious Devotion vividly recounts the experiences that shaped the greatest songwriter of his generation, including the formative trips to his mother's homestead in Tipperary and the explosion of punk which changed his life. As well as exclusive interviews with Shane himself, author Richard Balls has secured contributions from his wife and family, and people who have never spoken publicly about Shane before: close associates, former girlfriends and the English teacher who first spotted his literary gift. Nick Cave, Aidan Gillen, Cillian Murphy, Christy Moore, Sinead O'Connor and Dermot O'Leary are on the rollcall of those paying tribute to the gifted songwriter and poet.

This frank and extensive biography includes many previously unseen personal photographs.

Listening to the Music the Machines Make is the revolutionary story of electronic pop from 1978 to 1983, a true golden age of British music. This definitive account explores how krautrock, disco, glam rock and punk inspired a new generation to rip up the rulebook and venture toward a new frontier of electronic music - one that laid the foundations for Hip-Hop, house, techno and beyond. Including an extensive collection of archive images throughout, Richard Evans's kaleidoscopic narrative draws on years of research, a plethora of archive press materials and the input of key figures, including Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure), Martyn Ware (The Human League, B.E.F., Heaven 17) and Daniel Miller (The Normal, Mute Records).

From the gritty and experimental to the camp and theatrical, this book charts the careers and impact of electronic pop's earliest innovators and luminaries, from Devo, The Normal, Telex and Cabaret Voltaire to Soft Cell, Gary Numan, OMD, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode.

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

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.

Foreword by Robin Spence.

Skip Spence was a soldier, a rock star, a folkie, an innovator, an addict, a cult phenomenon and a ward of the state. The cast of characters in his story include some of the biggest stars in music: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young and many more. His life is the story of the Sixties - it's the story of San Francisco, the biggest bands in America and rock'n'roll mayhem.

Although Spence spent much of his life battling addiction and mental illness, during his lucid moments he performed in several bands and is best known for his work with Jefferson Airplane and as the co-founder of Moby Grape. Tracks from his cult solo album Oar has been covered by Tom Waits, Beck and Robert Plant. With family photos, a foreword by Robin Spence, and accounts from his friends, bandmates and family, Weighted Down is the first book to tell his story in full.

BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 - MOJO MAGAZINE & UNCUT MAGAZINE "In early '77 I asked Grant if he'd form a band with me. `No,' was his blunt reply." Grant McLennan didn't want to be in a band. He couldn't play an instrument; Charlie Chaplin was his hero du jour.

And yet, when Robert Forster wrote Hemingway, Genet, Chandler and Joyce into his lyrics, McLennan couldn't resist a second invitation to become 80s indie sensation The Go Betweens. The friends would collaborate for three decades, until Grant's premature death in 2006. Beautifully written - like lyrics, like prose - Grant & I is a rock memoir akin to no other.

Part `making of', part music industry expose, part buddy-book, this is a delicate and perceptive celebration of creative endeavour. With wit and candour, Robert Forster pays tribute to a band who found huge success in the margins, having friendship at its heart.

The music of Atlanta trio Omni has always swung fast and hit hard. And Souvenir, their fourth album and second for Sub Pop, packs their biggest punch yet. Inactive during the majority of the pandemic–the longest downtime in their history–they approached this recording with lots of pent-up energy. Guitarist Frankie Broyles, singer/bassist Philip Frobos, and drummer Chris Yonker converted their creative fuel into sharp, driving songs that land immediately, sporting chopping riffs, staccato beats, and wiry melodies.

Why does Souvenir sound so sharp? Because each track is a compact unit that stands on its own, reflecting the time and place in which it was created. That’s why Omni called the album Souvenir: it’s a collection of audio objects, a stash of musical miniatures. Think of it as a family photo album, a binder of rare playing cards, a shoebox holding precious gems.

Take “Plastic Pyramid,” the first song Omni wrote after coming out of lockdown. Filled with twists and turns, it’s a journey unto itself, charged by clanging chords, spinning rhythm, and Frobos trading lines with Izzy Glaudini of Automatic, with whom Omni toured with last fall. (Glaudini sings on two other Souvenir tracks, the first guest vocalist the band has collaborated with). Or take opener “Exacto,” a slicing web of intertwined guitar and bass. Its razor-fine notes and syncopated beats perfectly match pointillist Frobos lyrics such as “Exacto, de facto, concise, quite right”–a line that could well be an Omni mantra.

The precision and clarity of Souvenir comes from some new Omni developments. For one, this is their first album with Yonker as their full-time drummer, and his forceful playing adds exclamation points to every pointed moment on Souvenir. In addition, the trio worked with Atlanta-based engineer Kristofer Sampson for the first time. Sampson pushed the band to a higher degree of power, with Frobos’s vocals more upfront in his pulsing mix and the rest of the music leaping out of the speakers. You might notice that Frobos’ singing is a bit more emotional and even nostalgic this time around. In crafting his vocals, he was inspired by the early college radio rock of formative favorites like REM, the Cure, and Big Audio Dynamite–the kind of bands whose melodies could have been top 40 hits in an alternative universe. The lyrics on Souvenir are also by turns funny, absurd, and even cryptic. A wry humor has always coursed through Omni’s songs, and this time, it comes in shades of both dark and light. In “Granite Kiss,” an “astronomical” love story concludes with the hope that “we can decay together,” while in “PG,” a romantic walk in the park includes a rose-colored mugging.

Immediacy rushes throughout every moment of Souvenir, making it the band's most powerful album to date. Omni has truly crafted a musical keepsake–a set of songs that you’ll want to keep close, an aural memento you'll cherish for the rest of time.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Though Omni's sounds are clearly rooted in the gloomy mire of post-punk, Omni could never be accused of staying in place for long enough for it to stick. Though 'Souvenir' is decidedly more truncated and pop-forward than their previous outings, it's not a huge leap from 2017's brilliant 'Multi-Task' or 2019's 'Networker' in term of sheer inventive momentum.

TRACK LISTING

1. Exacto
2. Plastic Pyramid
3. Common Mistake
4. INTL Waters
5. Double Negative
6. PG
7. Granite Kiss
8. Verdict
9. F1
10. To Be Rude
11. Compliment 

On Birthmark’s latest album, Birth of Omni, songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Nate Kinsella delivers his most thematically dynamic and experimental album to date. The album highlights the gargantuan shift in perspective that comes along with becoming a parent, including core themes of identity, duality, sexuality, overwhelming responsibility, feminism, and fear of men. Over the course of the album’s ten songs, Kinsella takes the listener on a wild ride, full of emotions and inner thoughts. On “Rodney,” Kinsella enlists Shudder to Think’s Craig Wedren on vocals for a track that explores sexuality and desires, while “Boyfriend” touches on how things change between partners in a relationship while raising children.

In addition to Kinsella’s work with Birthmark, Nate also plays in two other bands with his cousin Mike Kinsella – American Football and Lies. He’s also collaborated with artists such as Tim Kasher, Joan of Arc, TTNG, and others. Kinsella’s work has been featured in outlets such as Pitchfork, Fader, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, NPR, and many others.

TRACK LISTING

1. Snowflake In My Palm (Not For Long)
2. Butterfly
3. Birthday (Product Of Our Lust)
4. Rodney
5. Baby Woncha Come On Home
6. Boyfriend
7. Green Skies
8. Red Meadow
9. I’m Awake
10. Pretty Flowers

Golden Retriever returns to Omena with a release that is adventurous, pleasing and ethereal.

There's never been a more ideal time to revisit this artist and "Nafasam" is a testament to their enduring, transparent & unique compositions.

Six moving and ambitious songs. Absorbing, beatless rhythms blended with a beautiful light-touch and free-flowing feel for harmony, revealing true craftsmanship and a singular sound.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Circular picked guitar passages smothered in dreamy reverb, gentle undulating synthscapes rippling through the coastal breeze; this is unadulterated hammock music at its very finest folks.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Part Lake
A2. Andro Dunos
A3. Digambara
B1. Modulations 1
B2. Modulations 2
B3. Kizuna Encounter

RIYL: Ra Ra Riot, Thao, Regina Spektor, Andrew Bird, Typhoon.

"Omoiyari" means to have empathy and consideration for others, and act on it. This fall, the American indie-folk multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Kishi Bashi is set to release the companion album to his forthcoming documentary song film, titled Music from the Song Film: Omoiyari. Consisting of two LPs "The Songs" and "The Score" the release showcases what is essentially the soundtrack to Omoiyari, the feature-length motion picture co-directed by Kishi Bashi, aka Kaoru Ishibashi or "K," which is being released via MTV Documentary Films in November.

Focusing on K's own six-year journey of discovery surrounding his research of the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans that followed the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the film is part social justice documentary and part song-film experiment. The album includes K's live improvisations, which are featured in the documentary, many recorded on the sites where the concentration camps stood. Written during and about the artist's transformational dive into his personal identity and serving as a broad survey of the Japanese American experience as well as the incarceration Music from the Song Film: Omoiyari serves as an evocative musical accompaniment to the lessons of empathy and compassion portrayed in the film and highlights the process and power of one of modern indie's most talented musicians. 

TRACK LISTING

Intro At The Piano
Red, White, And Blue
Improvisation At Heart Mountain
Summer Of ‘42 (orchestral Edition)
Improvisation In The Root Cellar
ļ

Based in Berlin Max Newton & Matalo have delivered percussion heavy funk and gritty Nuyorican rhythms on both GAMM and Take Away Records. Their new release on Omena LTD continues on the same path and adds deep house and breezy Latin flavours.

"U-Bahn At Midnight" sets things off sounding like a classic MCDE house jam with ringing melodies and sharp horns. "Walkin' On" uses the classic Freddie Hubbard sample we all know and love and adds some gently grooving percussion, flappy kick drums, fluttery arps and electronic bass.

On the flip "Pao De Acucar vs Vesuvius" is a slowly unfurling, summery house track; primed for daytime festival play. Finally "Brooklyn Survivor" ends things and lands somewhere between Glenn Underground and DJ Koze, with warped vox, rising strings and beautifully plotted drums.

A mighty fine way to close the Omena LTD series.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Thick, chunky, sample-based house music in that vintage style we love so well. Includes a nice flip of that Freddie Hubbard track but it's that final track "Pai De..." that really does it for me.

TRACK LISTING

A1. U-Bahn At Night
A2. Walkin' On
B1. Pao De Acucar Vs Vesuvius 

A down-and-dirty chronicle of the birth and evolution of the Seattle grunge scene-from amateur skate parks and underground hardcore clubs to worldwide phenomenon-as told by one of its founding fathers and lead guitarist of legendary alternative rock band, Mudhoney. In the late 80s and early 90s, Steve Turner and his friends-Seattle skate punks, hardcore kids, and assorted misfits-started forming bands in each other's basements and accidentally created a unique sound that spread far beyond their once-sleepy city. Mud Ride offers an inside look at the tight-knit grunge scene, the musical influences and experiments that shaped the grunge sound, and the story of Turner's bands, Green River and Mudhoney, which went from underground flophouse shows to selling out stadiums with Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

Including stories about the key moments, musicians, and albums from grunge's beginnings to its come-down from the highs of global success and stardom, this is the first account of the musical phenomenon that took over the world from someone who was there for it all. Written by Steve Turner, lead guitarist of Mudhoney, a foundational grunge band that inspired musical icons from Kurt Cobain to Sonic Youth, Mud Ride features a foreword by Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard and never-before-seen photographs and grunge memorabilia throughout. Take a seat and ride through the messy and muddy grunge scene that grew from the basements of the Northwest and went on to circle the globe.

Sarabeth Tucek emerges from a decade-long hibernation with a new double-album ‘Joan of All’ under the new moniker SBT – a longtime nickname given to her by the many musicians she has worked with throughout her career.

After retreating from the fevered pace of the record business to concentrate on other creative endeavors, Sarabeth began to piece together the music that would eventually become her most ambitious, personal project yet – the sprawling double-album Joan Of All, which will be released world-wide on 19th May 2023 via her own freshly-minted imprint Ocean Omen.

Sarabeth Tucek officially broke onto the music scene 2003 performing a series of spellbinding duets with Bill Callahan on the acclaimed Smog album Supper. This was swiftly followed by a memorable appearance in the prize-winning Brian Jonestown Massacre documentary DiG! Sarabeth also contributed material to their 2005 EP release, We Are the Radio. One of Sarabeth's compositions covered by the band on that EP, "Seer," would later be retitled and released in 2006 as Tucek's debut single, "Something for You”, which became Steve Lamacq’s Single Of The Week on BBC Radio 6 Music.

Her self-titled debut album produced by Luther Russell and Ethan Johns hit stores the following year and garnered rave reviews in the press, leading her to supporting Bob Dylan and unfaltering support at the BBC.

In 2011, Sarabeth followed up her extraordinary debut with a raw, uncompromising album entitled Get Well Soon, praised as an unflinching meditation on the subject of grief. This release made many year-end lists and the title track was featured on the first season of HBO’s Girls. The new album features lead-off single “The Gift”, as featured heavily on Marc Riley’s BBC 6 Music show, which is taken from the double A-side 7”, “The Gift / 13th St. #2”. Also featured on the album is an entirely different, heavier version of the flip side, entitled “13th St. #1”.

Sarabeth will support the epic Joan Of All with a 18-date tour of the UK May/June 2023, including a BBC 6 Music live session for Marc Riley.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Joan Says/Amber Shade
The Living Rool
Cathy Says
The Gift

Side B
The Box
Work
Make Up Your Mind
!3th St. #1

Side C
Swings
Happiness
Something/Anything
Sheep

Side D
The Tunnel
Unmade/The Dog
Creature Of The Night

American singer-songwriter Sarabeth Tucek re-emerges in 2023 after a decade-long hibernation with the new moniker SBT and a brand new double A-side 7” “The Gift / 13th St. #2” in advance of her long-awaited third album next spring, details to be announced in the new year. “The Gift” has already received heavy rotations on BBC Radio 6 Music courtesy of Marc Riley.

An extensive UK tour is lined up to support the impending album release that will be issued world-wide on SBT's own freshly-minted imprint Ocean Omen. The lead track “The Gift” is a magnificent and swoonsome pop song awash with its modern take on classic Americana. It is indeed, a timely reminder of how great songs can be, evoking the classic chiming guitar pop of the likes of Game Theory, or Australia’s The Church and melding with the contemporary choogle of the likes of Jeff Tweedy / Wilco, whereas the second side has and almost updated that seminal Velvets drone-pop chug that flows like it should be released on Creation or indeed Homestead / Sub Pop in the late 80s. Yes, both tracks are that good.. trust us.

400 only pressing, in 4 different wraparound sleeves, 100 of each randomly distributed.

TRACK LISTING

A: THE GIFT
A: 13TH ST. # 2

Across their career Lamb Of God grew from basement shows and grimy DIY venues to headline arenas. The New Wave of American Heavy Metal architects earned a reverence akin to musical forefathers (and road companions) Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth. "For millions of headbangers, Lamb Of God are simply the most important contemporary metal band in the world," Guitar World observed. Timeless songs like "Laid to Rest," "Redneck," "Walk with Me in Hell," and "Now You've Got Something to Die For" became anthems in the heavy metal songbook, with gargantuan vocals born from both righteous anger and devotion, and unrivaled riffs for the ages.

Now, the Grammy-nominated goliath follows 2020's self-titled slab with a vicious new testament. Riding high on an insatiable drive, a focused collective camaraderie, and a creative renaissance saluted by the likes of Rolling Stone and NME, Lamb Of God returned to longtime producer Josh Wilbur (Megadeth, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold) and carved the gloriously unhinged Omens into sonic stone.

Even as D. Randall Blythe (vocals), Mark Morton (lead guitar), Willie Adler (guitar), John Campbell (bass), and Art Cruz (drums) enjoy one another's company and chemistry like never before, Omens is possibly the angriest Lamb Of God album yet. Densely muscular, soaked in unnerving spite, with a pessimistic eye toward inner struggles and global affairs alike, Omens is a furious entry in the catalog.

Most of the album was recorded live in the studio, including Blythe's vibrantly unhinged vocal attack. Morton and Adler's riffs threaten, challenge, and devastate. Cruz and Campbell's unstoppable rhythms lurch and beckon. Having shined on 2020’s Lamb Of God, Cruz injects even more nuance and personality into his playing across Omens’ songs.

It's a potent, palpable energy Lamb Of God first tapped when they shoved heavy metal into the new millennium with New American Gospel (2000). As the Palaces Burn (2003) joined Rolling Stone's Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time. Ashes of the Wake (2004) was the first Lamb Of Gold album certified gold by the RIAA, a feat once all but impossible for a contemporary extreme metal band.

Sacrament (2006), Revolver's Album of the Year, went gold as well. The raw and organic malice of Wrath (2009) began the band's enduring relationship with Wilbur. Both the diverse Resolution (2012) and the explosive VII: Sturm und Drang (2015) debuted in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200.

The 2020 self-titled set, their first new material in five years, added instant classics "Memento Mori" and "Resurrection Man" to the repertoire, alongside eight more monster tracks. Revolver, Metal Hammer, Loudwire, and Consequence included Lamb Of God on their year-end Best Albums lists. The momentum continues with Omens, arguably the band's most aggressive and ambitious yet.

The hardcore fire at the heart of Lamb Of God still burns as hot as the 12-foot flames blazing the stages on their co-headlining trek with Megadeth, appropriately called "The Metal Tour of the Year." Even as the state of the world descends, the state of the union for Lamb Of God remains strong.

‘Angry Songs’ by Omega Tribe is anarchist punk at its finest, with powerful unrelenting lyricism, caustic riffs and an immediacy that came to define the genre.

It was produced by Penny Rimbaud plus Pete Fender and included Hugh Vivian on guitar and vocals, Daryl Hardcastle on bass, Pete Fender on guitar and Pete Shepherd on drums.

The band have recently reinvented themselves, are creating and releasing new music, and they have a new album out.

First released on 7” vinyl, limiting the sound, the new repressing has been remastered for 12” at Abbey Road Studios, allowing the release to be heard as never before.

This, plus enlarged replicas of the original covers, brings new gusto to the already radical sound.

TRACK LISTING

Another Bloody Day
Profiteer
Is This A Future?
Time For Change

Hypnagogia remains one of the most mysterious and haunting daily states of mind. Moments of revelation are wont to traditionally hit us particularly in the hinterland between dream and waking, It’s this particular headspace that’s very much the world of ‘Pö om pö’, the second Rocket Recordings released full-length record from Sweden’s equally mysterious OCH. Pö om pö (meaning ‘little by little’) is a journey further into inner space from ‘II’, the previous Rocket outing (which followed a 2014 cassette only release)

What’s mapped out here is a trajectory on the kosmische continuum that touches on the terrain of late 70s Sky records style ambience, the more overgrown quarters of Swedish experimental prog and the sun-baked lo-fi DIY cassette culture of the US early ‘00s.Dwelling in a smoke-clouded glow that’s equal parts sunset gold and effects pedal red, OCH have here transcended all influences to creating a tapestry of potent psychotropic sound. A record in which new horizons open up beyond the small hours, and where primeval wah-wah-abetted skronk and mantric folk[1]tinged repetition can collude to reveal new third-eye perceptions. Little By Little, Pö om pö , these forty minutes are here to bridge the chasms between conscious and subconscious, and in style.

TRACK LISTING

01. Bolid
02. Vadstena
03. Syzyrgy
04. Silverstjärnan
05. Isfält
06. Bråviken
07. Impetus
08. Ochra

First new album from Urge Overkill in a decade. The alternative rock pioneers are best known for their cover of Neil Diamond's "Girl You'll Be a Woman Soon", which was popularized in the film "Pulp Fiction".

TRACK LISTING

1. Freedom!
2. A Necessary Evil
3. Follow My Shadow
4. How Sweet The Light
5. I Been Ready
6. A Prisoner’s Dilemma
7. Forgiven
8. Totem Pole
9. Litany
10. I Can’t Stay Glad@U
11. Won’t Let Go
12. Snow

Omar Lyefook MBE is without doubt, one of the greatest soul music talents the United Kingdom has produced in the last 40 years. If anyone has doubts about that, then they might want to consider the list of legendary artists who happily line up to collaborate with him musically, or simply sing his praises - from Stevie Wonder, the late Leon Ware, Erykah Badu, Common, through to Carleen Anderson, D'Angelo, and Soul II Soul's Caron Wheeler, Angie Stone and U.K. artists Courtney Pine, Rodney P, Kele LeRoc, Natasha Watts and Estelle, all appreciate his truly original and unique voice, musicianship and songwriting talent.

When asked to reflect on his long, successful, critically acclaimed and deeply influential career that shows no signs of slowing up, Omar said "I feel blessed. I try to keep things moving and evolving, and when I finish an album, I always put my heart and soul into it. I'm looking at it from an outsider's point of view, because I never really see myself making the music. It's like I'm the vessel and somebody's controlling what I do, I just happen to be the one that gets the praise for it".

That modest statement just re-enforces the fact that Omar is simply a one off, a genuinely unique artist. That is a bold claim, but his sound is so immediately identifiable, that you will know you are hearing an Omar track within seconds - and that is the stamp of true originality.

This collection features many of his classic collaborations, from his evergreen worldwide anthem There's Nothing Like This, It's So, the dancefloor destroying banger inspired by the amalgam of sounds Omar heard at The Notting Hill Carnival. Also included are lesser known, slept on tracks from across his long career - and the exclusive, previously unheard tracks Pass It On ft Terri Walker and Long Time Coming.

TRACK LISTING

1. Pass It On (feat. Terri Walker)
2. There's Nothing Like This
3. I Don't Mind The Waiting
4. Last Request
5. Music
6. Who Chooses The Seasons (feat. Carleen Anderson)
7. Best By Far
8. Winner
9. Outside
10. Little Boy
11. This Is Not A Love Song
12. Long Time Coming
13. I Guess
14. Be Thankful (feat. Erykah Badu)
15. Tell Me
16. Syleste (Lounge Lizzard Mix)
17. Feeling You (feat. Stevie Wonder)
18. It's So
19. Kiss It Right
20. Come On (feat. Kele LeRoc)
21. The Man
22. Treat You (feat. Caron Wheeler)
23. Fuck War, Make Love
24. Bully (feat. The Scratch Professer)
25. I Love Being With You
26. Simplify
27. Vicky's Tune (feat. Robert Glasper & Ty)
28. Gave My Heart (feat. Leon Ware)
29. Doobie Doobie Doo
30. Feeds My Mind (feat. The Floacist)
31. Insatiable (feat. Natasha Watts)
32. De Ja Vu (feat. Mayra Andrade)
33. I Want It To Be 

Super-funky business from Nigerian-born multi-instrumentalist, Peter King; fuses funk, jazz and highlife vibrations. ‘Omo Lewa’ follows his ‘Miliki Sound’ album, also available on Mr Bongo. Recorded in London, originally released in 1976 by Orbitone, this is one of his finest records.

TRACK LISTING

Omo Lewa
Yere Africa
Afro-Funk
Eda
Ajo
Congo
Ko Dara

In an era of increased nationalism and xenophobic bullshit, Antinote reach out to make their first French-Russian connection. Olga is from Moscow. She introduced herself to the label after Dominique Dumont's show in Paris, winter 2018. Zaltan et al immediately fell in love with the song 'Mojno' and step by step built up a nice collection of tracks which became the "1905" LP! Very active in the electronic music scene, she’s spent the last ten years releasing music, performing, recording & DJing as well as being busy with her tech-project Playtronica (with them she's created 3 controllers with which you can play scales on people, objects and colors). Across the "1905" LP she utilises some DIY devices such as Yamaha sampler vss-33, voice glitcher from the Russian company “Naked Boards” and organelle synth that creates this synesthetic tone in “ready when you are”. Besides dreamy pads and dancy beats Olga is ironically singing on Russian about her daily routine, in a positive way. There's no sadness and melancholy in the dark snowy days, where even the full moon or retrograde-mercury don’t even bother you ...if you are in harmony with mother nature's 5 elements.

TRACK LISTING

A1. La Qi
A2. 1905
A3. Romantika
A4. Vmeste
B1. Ready When You Are
B2. Mojno
B3. Hearteater
B4. Normalno

Enter Networker, the new album by Omni and first with indie giant Sub Pop Records. Their sound is still defined by sparse drums, locked-in bass, blistering guitar, and nonchalant, yet assured vocals, but from the first notes of "Sincerely Yours" you'll immediately notice that Networker sounds much cleaner and more "HI-FI" than their prior two albums, Deluxe (2016) and Multi-task (2017). The departure in fidelity suits the new record and allows the listener to enjoy the nuances of their meticulous arrangements. Don't worry, the riffs of Gang of Four and Wire are still present, but the production is more lush and the harmony is even more expansive.

Despite nods to the sounds of the ’70s and ’80s what comes through is a record fully rooted in the here and now. Thematically, this is apparent on the title track "Networker" taking a candid snapshot of the “digital you” aspect of life in the age of the internet. The otherwise fun romp “Skeleton Key” also acknowledges the “direct message and obsessive” side of social media with lines like “if you don't like what you see, the pretty face on the screen, scroll on by...”  Networker was written half between tours and half during recording sessions. The band, Philip Frobos on bass/vocals and Frankie Broyles on guitars/drums/keys, returned with longtime collaborator Nathaniel Higgins to the studio in South Georgia where they also recorded Multi-task and most recent single "Delicacy." In this case, the “studio” is a cabin near Vienna, GA (pronounced Vye-anna) that was built by Frankie Broyles’ great-grandparents in the 1940s. The band completed four sessions between November 2018 and April 2019.

Omni hit their stride in the cabin with songs such as "Moat,” which cruises along at a nice mid-tempo clip with sounds that are maybe piano or maybe the “behind the bridge” strings of a Jaguar a la Sonic Youth or This Heat. "Blunt Force" provides a nice contrast to some of the more upbeat cuts, getting jazzy with it’s less traditional arrangement and psychedelic outro. Overall, Networker is simultaneously fun, catchy, and contains some truly impressive musicianship. This combo is especially hard to pull off as bands that are great players often don’t have great or memorable songs. Omni and Nathaniel Higgins have done a stellar job of reigning in their diverse influences into a cohesive record by curating their sounds into a tight package that leaves you just on the cusp of understanding where the band is coming from, while still feeling like you’re hearing something totally fresh. While their earlier records had more of a “post-punk” sound, Networker is an amalgamation of the best sounds of the ’70s and ’80s, all arranged with (mostly) guitars, bass, and drums for our contemporary age, and it really works! There are hooks everywhere, vocal and instrumental, that will leave you humming along, even during the first listen. As Philip Frobos says in “Present Tense,” “guess who’s on my mind right now?” Well, Omni’s on mine and will be on yours soon.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Omni's sound has been gradually gathering momentum since their superb 2016 LP 'Deluxe' (almost definitely since before then, but 2016 was my entry point). What we've ended up with is a brilliantly confident and swaggering combination of technically superb guitar riffage and off-piste rhythmic hooks all coated in those relaxed vox, delievered perfectly but with the minimum of fuss. Effortlessly cool.

TRACK LISTING

1. Sincerely Yours
2. Courtesy Call
3. Moat
4. Underage
5. Skeleton Key
6. Genuine Person
7. Present Tense
8. Blunt Force
9. Flat Earth
10. Networker
11. Sleep Mask

Big Star formed in 1971, and in their brief 4 years together, created 3 albums that consistently make “Best of All-Time” lists. 18 years after officially disbanding, original members Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens joined forces with The Posies’ Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow for a live performance, which led to a tour (documented on Omnivore Recordings’ Live In Memphis), and years of concerts. While the live shows were a joy and surprise, a bigger surprise happened in 2005. After over a decade playing together: a new studio album. As Ryko A&R’s Jeff Rougvie said. “It was the easiest approval for a project I ever got.” In Space featured new 12 tracks (11 originals and a cover of The Olympics’ “Mine Exclusively”) recorded where Big Star began, at the classic Ardent Studios.

The new line up was creating a new chapter for the band while minding and honoring its past. With original vinyl going for outrageous prices, In Space returns as an LP on translucent blue vinyl, and expanded CD with 6 bonus tracks including “Hot Thing” (previously available on the out-of-print Big Star Story) and 5 previously unissued demos and alternate mixes. Packaging contains liner notes from Rougvie, original album co-producer/engineer Jeff Powell (who also cut the new vinyl), assistant Ardent engineer Adam Hill, and surviving band members Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow, and Jody Stephens. Expanded and remastered, In Space finally returns to earth. Prepare to blast off again

Two LPs and four singles in, WEIRD OMEN still evade direct comparisons to … anyone. Descriptions abound: “Primitive garage, a deluge of trash brass, reverb, and fuzzzzz”, “a crypto-hypnotic garage trance, blending ‘60s tones and psychedelic neo-garage”, and “France’s strangest garage-psych-rock trio - comprised of guitar, sax, and drums. Lost somewhere betweenThe Cramps and The Kinks”. For sound-alikes, you might look to Morphine and James Chance and the Contortions, but all this tells you is that while Weird Omen has influences like everybody else does, their sound is their own. There’s a helluva pedigree here too: King Khan & the Shrines , Bee Dee Kay & the Roller Coaster, Lost Communists, Limiñanas, We Are Not Indians, Escobar, Anomalys… Balancing between a gloomy psychedelic atmosphere and fast-paced punk energy, Weird Omen manage to make some new with the old, imposing their own unique style. Refusing to succumb to one genre only, the band bravely blends garage, exotica, rockabilly, and psych.The lineup is straightforward, if unusual; a storming rhythm section comprised of drummer Remi Pablo and guitarist Sister Ray and what can only be described as a lead baritone saxophonist, Fred Rollercoaster. Weird Omen defies the current trends of garage; or more exactly, builds upon its foundations to make something completely different out of it. 

TRACK LISTING

01. A Place I Want To Know
02. Wild Honey
03. Please Kill Me
04. Earworm
05. Surrealistic Feast
06. Collection Of Regrets
07. The Goat.
08. Trouble In My Head
09. Out Of My Brain
10. I Will Write You Poetry

On "Ways Of Seeing" Konx-om-Pax has switched up the mood and hit gold. He has made an album that is filled with joy and sunshine, saturated with the classic feel of Berlin techno. Tom Scholefield has moved on from the dark ambient and brittle rave of the first two Konx-om-Pax albums, which were a reflection of his hometown Glasgow's electronic music scenes. After a recent move to Berlin, the textures of Glasgow's musical strains have fused into an accessible and friendly mix of poppy melodic electronica built from a stricter 'less is more' sound palette, closer in spirit to the music of his adopted city. It is also a record which was made in opposition to recent music he has been hearing, in particular the troubled, dark and noisy experimental music coming out of Berlin. Tom wanted to focus on more joyful qualities, making this a record imbued with warmth and happiness, a panacea to the darkness and disorientation all around in 2019. Having a social scene full of producers has also influenced the album.

The opening track "LA Melody" came from staying with Ross Birchard (Hudson Mohawke) at his house in LA, hanging out in the glorious sunshine with him and Lunice working on tracks. 'Initially Ross asked me to write some melodies to use in a project he was producing, but I ended up liking it so much I decided to keep the riff. I generally write music alone, but being around other producers gave me a certain excited energy that reminded me of after-parties back in Glasgow where Ross and myself spent our youth together. Spending time in Clark's studio also helped me improve my workflow and sequencing the album by seeing the way he does things'. On "Säule Acid" he collaborates with Silvia Kastel and in "I’m For Real" the vocals of Glaswegian DJ / producer Nightwave filter around the track. Stripped away to just the good bits, "Ways Of Seeing" is a pleasure to listen to. 

TRACK LISTING

01/ LA Melody
02/ Säule Acid (ft. Silvia Kastel)
03/ Paris 5am
04/ I'm For Real (ft. Nightwave)
05/ Rez
06/ Optimism Over Despair
07/ Earthly Delights
08/ Missing Something
09/ Day Dreams
10/ Magenta One
11/ The Paleontologist

• Soul Asylum’s classic EP expanded to LP length.
• Original EP produced By Tom Herbers.
• First time on vinyl since original U.K. & U.S. pressings.
• Reissue co-produced by Twin/Tone co-founder Peter Jesperson and Grammy®-winning producer Cheryl Pawelski.

Originally produced by Tom Herbers (Jayhawks, Gear Daddies, Low), this reissue is co-produced by Twin/Tone Records co-founder and Replacements manager, Peter Jesperson and Grammy®-winner and Omnivore Recordings co-founder, Cheryl Pawelski. Clam Dip & Other Delights is now newly expanded to album length and features the original tracks from the U.K. and U.S. releases, and some previously unissued demos cut around the same time. Additionally, this fresh expanded vinyl pressing of Soul Asylum's Clam Dip & Other Delights is the first since it’s original 1988 U.K. and 1989

• Soul Asylum’s debut album.
• Produced by Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü).
• First time on vinyl since original pressing
• Reissue co-produced by Twin/Tone co-founder Peter Jesperson and Grammy®-winning producer Cheryl Pawelski. Soul Asylum first hit the Minneapolis music scene in early 1981.

Originally produced by Bob Mould, this reissue is co-produced by Twin/Tone Records co-founder and Replacements manager, Peter Jesperson and Grammy®-winner and Omnivore Recordings, Cheryl Pawelski. This fresh vinyl pressing of Soul Asylum’s debut, Say What You Will . . . Everything Can Happen is the first since it’s original 1984 Twin/Tone release and has been restored and mastered by Grammy®-award winning engineer, Michael Graves at Osiris Studio and cut by Chris Muth at Taloowa.

• New compilation featuring tracks from early Soul Asylum (then known as Loud Fast Rules) and select bonus tracks from the Soul Asylum CD reissues.
• Includes alternate takes, demos, cassette-only compilation tracks and more.
• Reissue co-produced by Twin/Tone co-founder Peter Jesperson and Grammy®-winning producer Cheryl Pawelski. Soul Asylum first hit the Minneapolis music scene in early 1981.

This special compilation picks up select bonus tracks featured on the CD reissues of Soul Asylum’s Twin/Tone releases and is co-produced by Twin/Tone Records co-founder and Replacements manager, Peter Jesperson and Grammy®-winner and Omnivore Recordings co-founder, Cheryl Pawelski. This previously unissued, unique compilation reaches back for some of the earliest Soul Asylum recordings as Loud Fast Rules while also offering alternate versions of some well know songs. Twin/Tone Extras has been restored and mastered by Grammy®-award winning engineer, Michael Graves at Osiris Studio and cut by Chris Muth at Taloowa.

• Remastered and restored performance originally recorded and broadcast in 1974.
• On LP officially for the first time.
• New liner notes from authors Robert Gordon and Rich Tupica.
• Liners include an interview with bassist, John Lightman.

Big Star recorded their second album, Radio City, as a trio, after the departure of founding member Chris Bell. When it came time to tour, original bassist Andy Hummel decided to return to school to pursue his engineering education. With this departure, Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens recruited fellow Memphis native John Lightman to take over on bass duties, and the band readied their live set. That set is on display as Big Star recorded a radio session at Ultrasonic Studios in New York for broadcast on the city’s preeminent WLIR. Nearly two decades later, those recordings were issued as Live in 1992. Omnivore Recordings is proud to reintroduce those recordings, restored and remastered from the original tapes, as Live On WLIR, on CD—and, its first official release on LP.

The 15 track set features material from the band’s two releases, as well as a cover of “Motel Blues” by Loudon Wainwright III (which originally appeared on his classic 1971 sophomore release, Album II). With new, updated liner notes from Memphis writer/filmmaker, Robert Gordon (who won a Grammy® for his essay in 2010’s Big Star boxed set Keep An Eye On The Sky) and an interview with John Lightman by Chris Bell biographer Rich Tupica (There Was A Light: The Cosmic History Of Big Star Founder Chris Bell), Live On WLIR enters the Big Star canon in the form it deserves. Because, you know, you get what you deserve.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. September Gurls (Live On WLIR)
2. Way Out West (Live On WLIR)
3. Mod Lang (Live On WLIR)
4. Don't Lie To Me (Live On WLIR)

Side B
1. O My Soul (Live On WLIR)
2. Interview (Live On WLIR)
3. The Ballad Of El Goodo (Live On WLIR)
4. Thirteen (Live On WLIR)

Side C
1. I'm In Love With A Girl (Live On WLIR)
2. Motel Blues (Live On WLIR)
3. In The Street (Live On WLIR)
4. You Get What You Deserve (Live On WLIR)

Side D
1. Daisy Glaze (Live On WLIR)
2. Back Of A Car (Live On WLIR)
3. She's A Mover (Live On WLIR)

Cullen Omori’s path to his second album ‘The Diet’ wasn’t an easy one. After the release of his first album, ‘New Misery’, he had to deal with busted vans, crashed cars, mangled relationships and other trials that can leave one feeling like the world is playing a cosmic joke. From the guitar that drops out of the sky on the opening track ‘Four Years’ all the way through the fade-out of kaleidoscopic closer ‘A Real You’, ‘The Diet’ is a powerful modern indie rock album that is buoyed by warped, analogue pedals / transistors and tailor-made guitar tones. Omori’s winsome vocals crisscross 70’s art rock and classic songwriting all within the span of 40 minutes.

Omori crafted ‘The Diet’ as a series of what can loosely be defined as love songs that metaphorically channel the frustrations and ruptures of his turbulent 2016-2017 into unforgettable compositions with abstract yet sharply rendered lyrics. Omori’s version of the love song medium goes far beyond the la-la-love-you template: “Only a few deal with loving or falling out of love with an actual, physical person,” says Omori. “Then there are, like, love songs to my antidepressants or whatever I thought my life would be like at 27.”

After relocating from Chicago to Los Angeles in 2016, Omori re-examined his whole artistic process. “Whereas on ‘New Misery’ I was locked in a room with a producer for a month tinkering away, this time around I wanted the sessions to be a revolving door of musicians: different people, different aesthetics. I pushed against my inner nature by actively pursuing collaborators.”

‘The Diet’ was recorded at Velveteen Laboratory with Taylor Locke, whose talents wound up being well-suited to the intricacies of the songs that would become ‘The Diet’. “He can sing, he is a multi-instrumentalist. On top of that, he is also a producer. Working with him really lent itself to my process of songwriting,” says Omori.

‘The Diet’ represents a new chapter for the former Smith Westerns member, one in which he stretches out his songwriting chops and uses his life experience to craft loose-limbed, hook-filled songs that combine pop appeal with finely sutured lyrics. “I spent my early 20’s saddled with the ill-conceived, romantic notion that the best songs are written through suffering. The process of trying out a completely different persona and approach in ‘New Misery’, and then facing my negative experiences and the shortcomings of that persona, clarified where I wanted my music to go. While making ‘The Diet’, my songs were constantly presenting themselves to me, and when I got a chance to listen back and read my song journals I saw what a truly beneficial and cathartic event had taken place.” ‘The Diet’s collection of 12 songs has Omori well on his way.

TRACK LISTING

Four Years
Borderline Friends
All By Yourself
Happiness Reigns
Master Eyes
Quiet Girl
Black Rainbow
Natural Woman
Millennial Geishas
Last Line
Queen
A Real You

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

TRACK LISTING

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

Just like Memphis for Rock'n'Roll, Dusseldorf is regarded as the Mecca for electronic music. The capital of North Rhine-Westphalia became the centre of an analog electronic movement which changed the course of all popular music to come.

Electri_City is the oral account of the city's most influential bands, including Kraftwerk, NEU!, DAF, Die Krupps and many more. This history uncovers the myths and reality of the bands emerging from the artistic backdrop of a wealthy, modern, post-WWII German city; the conditions that fostered such a creative explosion.

Interviews include Daniel Miller (Mute Records), Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey (OMD), Martyn Ware (Human League), Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17), Rusty Egan (Visage) Ryuichi Sakamoto and producer, Giorgio Moroder.

Though "Say You Love Me" wasn't "Om" Alec Khaoli's first solo recording, the 1985 EP solidified the bass player and songwriter's standing as one of South Africa's most consistently innovative pop auteurs. He built a career on ubiquitous rock, pop and soul hits with groundbreaking bands like the Beaters, Harari and Umoja. But Khaoli's seemingly endless fountain of music continued outside these ensembles, where he usually played bass and contributed songwriting and vocals. Khaoli released several successful solo works while he made records with Umoja and worked on other productions with friends.
This creativity was aided by Khaoli's own recording studio. He was the first South African to have a privately-owned studio. As black artists were forced to record during lunch breaks and didn't get sufficient access and time in the white-owned studios, having his studio allowed Khaoli to develop in his own way. Hence his productive output during the 80's and early 90's, releasing 5 LPs with Umoja and 5 solo LPs, along with numerous singles and EPs. There's something broad and dynamic about the almost epic pop sound Khaoli creates on "Say You Love Me". Being the first South African to take control his recording process and thereby free himself from one of apartheid's many strictures, he took his vision of music to new realms and made timeless music for the dance floor in the process. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Another rarity reissued by the erm...awesome... Awesome Tapes From Africa, kicking off with the emotional pop of "Say You Love Me", a shoulder rolling love song which could easily have found its way onto the end credits of many an 80s buddy movie. "Make Me Your Lover" fuses a little Paul Simon style songwriting with traditional African styles (oh the irony), while "Crosslines" is an oddball synth funk freakout a la Herbie Hancock. Last but not least we feel the force of the show-stealing "Enjoy It", a dreamy bit a Afro-cosmic for the Balearic crowds.

TRACK LISTING

1. Say You Love Me
2. Make Me Your Lover
3. Crosslines
4. Enjoy It

Seattle electronic duo NAVVI unveil their most captivating and fully realized work with their debut album Omni, coming out via Hush Hush Records. The collaborative vision of vocalist Kristin Henry and producer Brad Boettger, NAVVI’s music carries an instantly magnetic presence. First emerging with their debut single in 2013, their confident take on brooding, propulsive, darkly-lit synth-pop has been on display over a steady string of self-released singles, an inclusion on a compilation curated by the French label Kitsuné, as well as their excellent 2014 EP, II. Press outlets such as NME, Brooklyn Vegan, Impose, Line of Best Fit, and Jay-Z’s Life+Times have all been quick to praise their alluring sound, and they’ve been handpicked by the Capitol Hill Block Party and KEXP to perform on stages all across Seattle. All of these efforts now lead to the strongest and most expansive statement in their young career, Omni. A stunning, filler-free debut album that makes good on the promise of their initial high-quality self-released singles, Omni is yet another confident step forward for NAVVI. A dedicated DIY band that has largely done everything in a self-produced, self-managed, and self-designed fashion, this marks the first official label release for NAVVI. The album has found a fitting home on Hush Hush Records, an independent DIY label run and curated by KEXP DJ Alex Ruder that’s dedicated to an emotional, cinematic, and intimate sound. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Simpatico,
2. Close,
3. Polychrome,
4. Interstate,
5. What Reason Do We Need?,
6. In Gold,
7. Follow You,
8. Another Phase,
9. Sol, 10. Time,
11. From The End And Start.

Former Smith Western frontman Cullen Omori releases his debut long player, ‘New Misery’, through Sub Pop Records.

The album, which features the highlights ‘Cinnamon’ and ‘Sour Silk’, was recorded by Shane Stoneback (Sleigh Bells, Fucked Up, Vampire Weekend) at the now defunct Treefort Studios and was mastered by Emily Lazar (Sia, HAIM, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Bjork) at The Lodge.

In early 2014 Omori began working on the solo material that has now fully materialized as ‘New Misery’, a collection of 11 songs building upon his own musical past while reaching towards the future of what guitar rock could be. His songs marry dark yet blissful pop with vocal melodies and hooks that are at once immediate yet demand to be heard again and again.

Along with Omori, ‘New Misery’ features additional bass and keyboards from Ryan Mattos, drums from Loren Humphrey and James Richardson on guitar. Unlike the more distributed roles within the Smith Westerns, Omori wrote, played and oversaw nearly every part of the new album, beginning a true new chapter of his long-term creative growth.

Cullen Omori knows it’s a false cliché to say there are no second acts in American lives but after the 2014 breakup of his acclaimed band the Smith Westerns living that cliché was his greatest fear. His solo debut is a direct challenge to that anxiety: an album that goes beyond the glam punch of the Smith Westerns to new sounds, new sources of inspiration and greater self-awareness.

TRACK LISTING

No Big Deal
Two Kinds
Hey Girl
And Yet The World Still Turns
Cinnamon
Poison Dart
Sour Silk
Synthetic Romance
Be A Man
LOM
New Misery

Their Classic Pop-Punk Debut—Remastered And Expanded! The Muffs burst onto the California music scene at the beginning of the ’90s, and after a few independent singles and EPs, they were quickly snapped up by Warner Bros. Records. Entering the studio with David Katznelson and Rob Cavallo (who would go on the helm records from Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls, and more), The Muffs roared from speakers across the country in 1993.

According to renowned critic Jim DeRotagis, “You’d have to reach all the way back to Blondie’s Plastic Letters to find punkish power pop this endearing.” The quartet rips through the album’s 16 tracks, ranging from and an Angry Samoans cover, to the college radio smash, “Lucky Guy.” In addition, alt-rock superstar Jon Spencer (Pussy Galore and his own Blues Explosion) adds some theremin and The Godfather Of Exotica Korla Pandit’s Hammond Organ makes an appearance. Even the beverage Fruitopia caught the buzz, using the album’s “Everywhere I Go” in a popular television campaign.

This reissue contains the classic original album, and adds a whopping 10 bonus tracks: a radio remix of “Lucky Guy,” a version of “Everywhere I Go” which was only available on the cassette of The Muffs album, and 8 previously unissued demos from the band’s vocalist and lead guitarist, Kim Shattuck—who filled the role of departed Kim Deal on the Pixies’ 2013 tour. Released with full cooperation from the band, Shattuck and bassist Ronnie Barnett provide new liners, and they have opened their archives for photos and other ephemera. Reuniting and issuing their first new release in a decade last year, garnering critical lauds and playing to enthusiastic crowds, it’s time to go back to where it all started. It’s time for The Muffs!

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

This retrospective features live recordings spanning 15 years of Omar's tireless repertoire, and is rife with frenzied Syrian Dabke (a regional folkloric dance and party music), Iraqi Choubi and a host of Arabic, Kurdish and Turkish styles, among others -- an amalgamation that exemplifies the musical essence of Northeastern Syria. Culled from cassettes recorded between 1995 and 2009, this collection offers a further rare glimpse into Syrian street-level Dabke folk-pop – a phenomena seldom heard in the West, not previously deemed serious enough for export by the Syrians and rarely, if ever, included on the import agenda of worldwide academic musical committees. Over the years, Souleyman's popularity has risen steadily and the group tirelessly performs concerts throughout Syria and has accepted invitations to perform abroad in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. In 2006, Sublime Frequencies partnered with Omar to release Highway to Hassake, the first compilation of his works to be issued in the West. The success of this release and the video for the song "Leh Jani" helped see Souleyman and his group invited for their first Western tour in 2009 alongside label-mates Group Doueh from the Western Sahara. This successful tour quickly elevated Souleyman to the status of an international legend -- and deservedly so.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hafer Gabrak Bidi (I Will Dig Your Grave With My Hands)
2. Ala Il Hanash Madgouga (The Bedouin Tattoo)
3. Hot Il Khanjar Bi Gleibi (Stab My Heart)
4. Labji Wa Bajji Il Hajar (My Tears Will Make The Stones Cry)
5. Dazeitlak Dezzelli (I Signal, You Deny)
6. Li Raja Behawakom (I Beg You, Baby)
7. Kell Il Banat Inkhatban (All The Girls Are Engaged)
8. Mandal (I Don't Know)
9. Eih Min Elemkom (From The Day That I Told You)

Omar Souleyman - the Syrian artist who not only changed the vibe of weddings throughout the Middle East with his Shaabi street sound but also brought it to the West through his notorious late night festival slots - has finally recorded a proper album. After three compilations and a live release, 'Wenu Wenu' is his first album to be recorded in a studio.

Produced by Kieran Hebden (Four Tet), 'Wenu Wenu' combines aspects of Middle Eastern dabke dance music and traditional songs with his own contemporary style. Often described as “Syrian techno”, Souleyman records and performs live with long-time collaborator Rizan Sa'id.

Citing Hebden and Bjork as fans, Souleyman’s audience has expanded, no longer just appealing to those interested in Middle Eastern music and tradition. His festival performances including this year’s Primavera Sound in Spain has seen appreciation for his well-crafted, hectic and - at times - intense music grow and transcend not only language, but cultural barriers.

Recorded in Brooklyn primarily live in the studio, 'Wenu Wenu' distils Omar's enthralling live performances into a fury of ascending and descending techno scales punctuated by his iconic voice.

Self-titled album from new Transatlantic duo Omega Male, comprised of David Best (Fujiya & Miyagi) and Sammy Rubin (Project Jenny, Project Jan).

Ten rump-shaking electronic tracks which combine Best’s trademark hushed vocals with pulsating funk-led basslines.

As well as exploring notions of masculinity and what it means to be an ‘Omega Male’, evident on such songs as lead single ‘Testosterone’, Best’s darkly witty lyrics also cover subject matter as diverse as the coalition government (‘Blue Narcissus’) and voodoo dolls (‘Wax & Glue’).

TRACK LISTING

Omega Male
Testosterone
Uh-pol-uh-jet-ik
You Bore Me To Tears
Wax & Glue
Blue Narcissus
No
Rotten Fruit
X
Buildings Like Symphonies

You might be familiar with Konx-om-Pax previous work without already being aware of it. His real name is Tom Scholefield, he’s from Glasgow, and as a 3D film director and graphic artist he’s made videos for locals Hudson Mohawke and Mogwai as well as Martyn, Jamie Lidell, Kuedo and Lone, created sleeve artwork for Oneohtrix Point Never, Rustie, King Midas Sound and others, plus he has toured with Mogwai as a DJ.

So how on earth does he find the time to make music, or the energy? Tom explains that he makes music to chill out, a form of creative self medication. In contrast to his bright, synthetic and colourful artwork and videos, his music is more mossy and analogue. Often beatless, personal and located in a transporting surrealism, it's sometimes inspired by the idea of rescoring films and TV. 'Glacier Mountain Descent', for instance, is a re-imagining of the start of Werner Herzog’s 'Aguirre'. At other times tracks are inspired by nostalgia for childhood feelings, while watery immersion is a running theme, and a sense of Scottish surrealism is another. Tom started out making tracks in his teens, copying the synth lines he’d heard on prog house CDs, before graduating to a deep fascination with Jeff Mills and Drexciya’s hermetic imagery and alien funk after hearing them on John Peel’s show. This led him to creating lo-fi techno, then DJing and promoting events at art school, which developed his knowledge, driving him to formulate an aesthetic of unpolished, textured and emotive music. 'Regional Surrealism' works largely like a film. Vignettes like 'Isotonic Pool' transition into larger more dramatic pieces like the deep 'At Home With Mum and Dad' which takes an early Aphex sounding ambient track and fills it with odd drama. 'Sura-Tura-Gnosi-Cosi' featuring mysterious U.S. artist Steven Retchard is full of tape-hiss and unsettling spoken word, while 'Zang-Tumb' - with guitar played by Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite - works in bruised and twisted Ash-Ra Tempel territory. Elsewhere 'Slootering' finds a sweet spot between Drexciya and Oneohtrix Point Never, while 'Lagoon Leisure' lets you get lost in musique concrete space and drops. Later on 'Hurt Face' rubs static and raw electronic textures together and 'Chambers' follows it up with a sunny glow. The album finishes on the water-themed 'Let’s Go Swimming' which indulges in a slow-motion nostalgia, sending you away happy.

TRACK LISTING

01. Intro
02. Isotonic Pool
03. At Home With Mum And Dad
04. Twin Portal Redux
05. Sura-Tura-Gnosi-Cosi (Feat Steven Retchard)
06. Zang-Tumb (ft Stuart Braithwaite)
07. Glacier Mountain Descent
08. Pillars Of Creation
09. Slootering
10. Lagoon Leisure
11. Hurt Face
12. Chambers
13. Silent Reading
14. Let's Go Swimming

OM albums are rituals, personal convictions transcripted into verse. Playing the music is visceral, emotional, a catharsis of soul and spirit. As ever, dynamic relationships and the slow building of mood are attenuations that shape the structures of "God Is Good". With careful microscopic increase, the energy grows through the four songs, leading towards moments that one could interpret as… Revelation? Oblivion? Awakening?

Omater hails from Bolton, thanks to a multicultural, multimusical upbringing, her range of influences is broad as her accent. Aimed straight at your coffee table, her dulcet tones and easy laid back grooves will be perfect for the summer.

Comprised of two songs that build on Om's use of cyclical rhythm, riff and vocal intonation, the duo's new album "Conference Of The Birds" blends metal, doom, chant, drone, dub and psychedelia. The band's lyrics expound upon the structure of the universe, potentiality and freedom from the physical body. Engineered by Billy Anderson and produced by the band, "Conference Of The Birds" progresses beyond their debut, "Variations On A Theme", with more fully realized songwriting and production. Om is Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius, rhythm section of legendary sludge and stoner rock pioneers, Sleep.