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A.R. Kive collates the three most astonishing works from that most miraculous of

duos - A.R. Kane - comprising the ‘Up Home' EP from 1988 that signified the

band's dawning realisation of their own powers and possibilities, their legendary

debut LP ‘sixty nine' (1988) and its kaleidoscopic, prophetic double-LP follow up ‘i'

(1989).

In founder-member Rudy Tambala's new remastering, the music on these pivotal

transmissions from the birth of dream pop, have been reinvigorated and re-infused

with a new power, a new depth and intimacy, a new height and immensity. Vivid,

timeless and yet always timely whenever they're recalled, these records still force

any listener to realise that despite the habits of retrospective myth-making and the

safe neutering effects of ‘genre', thirty years have in no way dimmed how resistant

and dissident to critical habits of categorisation A.R. Kane always were. Never quite

‘avant-pop' or ‘shoegaze' or ‘post-rock' or any of those sobriquets designed to file

and categorise, A.R. Kive is a reminder that those genres had to be coined, had to

be invented precisely to contain the astonishing sound of A.R. Kane, because

previous formulations couldn't come close to their sui generis sound and

suggestiveness. This is music that pointed towards futures which a whole generation

of artists and sonic explorers would map out. Now beautifully repackaged,

remastered and fleshed out with extensive sleeve notes and accompanying

materials, ‘A.R. Kive' reveals that 35 years on it's still a struggle to defuse the

revolutionary and inspirational possibility of A.R. Kane's music.

A.R. Kane were formed in 1986 by Rudy Tambala and Alex Ayuli, two second-

generation immigrants who grew up together in Stratford, East London. From the off

the pair were outsiders in the culturally mixed (cockney/Irish/West Indian/Asian)

milieu of the East End, with Alex and Rudy's folks first generation immigrants from

Nigeria and Malawi, respectively. The two of them quickly developed and fostered an

innate and near-telepathic mutual understanding forged in musical, literary and

artistic exploration. Like a lot of second-generation immigrants, they were ferocious

autodidacts in all kinds of areas, especially around music and literature. Diving deep

into the music of afro-futurist luminaries such as Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Lee Perry and

Hendrix, as well as devouring the explorations of lysergic noise and feedback from

contemporaries like Sonic Youth and Butthole Surfers, they also thoroughly

immersed themselves in the alternate literary realities of sci-fi and ancient history

(the fascination with the arcane that gave the band their name), all to feed their

voracious cultural thirsts and intellectual curiosity.

It was seeing the Cocteau Twins performing on Channel 4 show the Tube that

spurred A.R. Kane into being - “They had no drummer. They used tapes and

technology and Liz Fraser looked completely otherworldly with those big eyes. And

the noise coming out of Robin's guitar! That was the ‘Fuck! We could do that! We

could express ourselves like that!' moment”, recalls Tambala - and through a mix of

confidence, chutzpah, ad hoc almost-mythical live shows and sheer innocent will the

duo debuted with the astonishing ‘When You're Sad' single for One Little Indian in

1986. Immediately dubbed a ‘black Jesus & Mary Chain' by a press unsure of

Where to put a black band clearly immersed in feedback and noise, what was

immediately apparent for listeners was just how much more was going on here - a

tapping of dub's stealth and guile, a resonant umbilicus back to fusion and jazz, the

music less a conjuration of past highs than a re-summoning of lost spirits.

The run of singles and EPs that followed picked up increasingly rapt reviews in the

press, but it was the ‘Up Home EP' released in 1988 on their new home, Rough

Trade that really suggested something immense was about to break. Simon

Reynolds noted the EP was: Their most concentrated slab of iridescent

awesomeness and a true pinnacle of an era that abounded with astounding

landmarks of guitar-reinvention, A.R. Kane at their most elixir-like.

If anything, the remastered ‘Up Home' that forms the first part of ‘A.R. Kive' is even

more dazzling, even more startling than it was when it first emerged, and listening

now you again wonder not just about how many bands christened ‘shoegaze' tried to

emulate it, but how all of them fell so far short of its lambent, pellucid wonder. This

remains intrinsically experimental music but with none of the frowning orthodoxy

those words imply. A.R. Kane, thanks to that second generation auto-didacticism

were always supremely aware about the interstices of music and magic, but at the

same time gloriously free in the way they explored that connection within their own

sound, fascinated always with the creation of ‘perfect mistakes' and the possibilities

inherent in informed play.

‘sixty nine' the group's debut LP that emerged in 1988 had

critics and listeners struggling to fit language around A.R. Kane's sound. As a title it

was telling - the year of ‘Bitches Brew', the year of ‘In A Silent Way', the erotic

möbius between two lovers - and as originally coined by the band themselves,

‘dream pop' (before it became a free-floating signifier of vague import) was entirely

apposite for the music A.R. Kane were making. Crafted in a dark small basement

studio in which Tambala recalls the duo had “complete freedom - We wanted to go

as far out as we could, and in doing so we discovered the point where it stops being

music”. There was an irresistibly dreamy, somnambulant, sensual and almost surreal

flow to ‘sixty nine's sound, but also real darkness/dankness, the ruptures of the

primordial and the reverberations of the subconscious, within the grooves of

remarkable songs like ‘Dizzy' and ‘Crazy Blue'. Alex's plangent vocals floated and

surged amidst exquisite peals of refracted feedback but crucially there was Bass

here, lugubrious and funky and full of dread, sonic pleasure and sonic disturbance

crushed together to make music with a center so deep it felt subcutaneous, music

constructed from both the accidental and the deliberate, generous enough to dance

with both serendipity and chaos. ‘sixty nine' remains - especially in this remastered

iteration - ravishing, revolutionary.

The final part of this ‘A.R. Kive' contains 1989's astonishing double-LP ‘i' which

followed up on ‘sixty nine's promise and saw the duo fully unleash their experimental

pop sensibilities over 26 tracks, plunging the A.R. Kane sound into a dazzlingly

kaleidoscopic vision of pop experiment and play. Suffused with new digital

technologies and combining searingly sweet and danceable pop with perhaps the

duo's strangest and boundary-pushing compositions, the album did exactly what a

great double-set should do - indulge the artists sprawling pursuit of their own

imaginations but always with a concision and an ear for those moments where pop

both transcends and toys with the listeners expectations. Jason Ankeny has noted

that “In retrospect, ‘i' now seems like a crystal ball prophesying virtually every major

musical development of the 1990s; from the shimmering techno of ‘A Love from

Outer Space' to the liquid dub of ‘What's All This Then?', from the alien drone-pop of

‘Conundrum' to the sinister shoegazer miasma of ‘Supervixens' — it's all here, an

underground road map for countless bands to follow.” Perhaps the most

overwhelmingly all-encompassing transmission from A.R. Kane, ‘i' bookended a

three year period in which the duo had made some of the most prophetic and

revelatory music of the entire decade.

After ‘i' the duo's output became more sporadic with Tambala and Ayuli moving in

different directions both geographically and musically, with only 1994's ‘New Clear

Child' a crystalline re-fraction of future and past echoes of jazz, folk and soul, before

the duo went their separate ways. Since then, A.R. Kane's music has endured, not

thanks to the usual sepia'd false memories that seem to maintain interest in so much

of the musical past, but because those who hear A.R. Kane music and are changed

irrevocably, have to share that universe which A.R. Kane opened up, with anyone

else who will listen. Far more than other lauded documents of the late 80s it still

sounds astonishingly fresh, astonishingly livid and vivid and necessary and NOW.

A.R. Kane were formed in 1986 by Rudy Tambala and Alex Ayuli, two second-generation immigrants who grew up together in Stratford, East London. From the off the pair were outsiders in the culturally mixed (cockney/Irish/West Indian/Asian) milieu of the East End, with Alex and Rudy’s folks first generation immigrants from Nigeria and Malawi, respectively. The two of them quickly developed and fostered an innate and near-telepathic mutual understanding forged in musical, literary and

artistic exploration. Like a lot of second-generation immigrants, they were ferocious autodidacts in all kinds of areas, especially around music and literature. Diving deep into the music of afro-futurist luminaries such as Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Lee Perry and Hendrix, as well as devouring the explorations of lysergic noise and feedback from contemporaries like Sonic Youth and Butthole Surfers, they also thoroughly immersed themselves in the alternate literary realities of sci-fi and ancient history (the

fascination with the arcane that gave the band their name), all to feed their voracious cultural thirsts and intellectual curiosity.

It was seeing the Cocteau Twins performing on Channel 4 show the Tube that spurred A.R. Kane into being - “They had no drummer. They used tapes and technology and Liz Fraser looked completely otherworldly with those big eyes. And the noise coming out of Robin’s guitar! That was the ‘Fuck! We could do that!

The duo debuted with the astonishing ‘When You’re Sad’ single for One Little Indian in

1986. Immediately dubbed a ‘black Jesus & Mary Chain’ by a press unsure of Where to put a black band clearly immersed in feedback and noise, what was immediately apparent for listeners was just how much more was going on here – a tapping of dub’s stealth and guile, a resonant umbilicus back to fusion and jazz, the music less a conjuration of past highs than a re-summoning of lost spirits.

The run of singles and EPs that followed picked up increasingly rapt reviews in the press, but it was the ‘Up Home EP’ released in 1988 on their new home, Rough Trade that really suggested something immense was about to break. SimonReynolds noted the EP was: Their most concentrated slab of iridescent awesomeness and a true pinnacle of an era that abounded with astounding

landmarks of guitar-reinvention, A.R. Kane at their most elixir-like.

If anything, the remastered ‘Up Home’ is even more dazzling, even more startling than it was when it first emerged, and listening now you again wonder not just about how many bands christened ‘shoegaze’ tried to emulate it, but how all of them fell so far short of its lambent, pellucid wonder. This

remains intrinsically experimental music but with none of the frowning orthodoxy those words imply. A.R. Kane, thanks to that second generation auto-didacticism were always supremely aware about the interstices of music and magic, but at the same time gloriously free in the way they explored that connection within their own sound, fascinated always with the creation of ‘perfect mistakes’ and the possibilities inherent in informed play.

Endearing Montreal-based trio Afternoon Bike Ride announce their forthcoming second album "Glossover", set to be released via Friends of Friends. Consisting of Lia Kurihara (vocals, guitar, programming), David Tanton (vocals, guitar, drums, programming), and Éloi Le Blanc-Ringuette (vocals, keys, drums, programming), Afternoon Bike Ride is a lo-fi folk trio providing a comfort zone in audio form. It"s in the name. When all three artists are together, their chemistry culminates into one organic and lush sound. Sonics that feel natural and freeing, as if fireside with a handful of microphones and instruments and toys. The band has released a series of cohesive projects where field recordings blend with ambient, acoustic, folk, and pop. A cauldron of genres they stir during each song. With precision, Afternoon Bike Ride presents a soothing sound all their own, one that continues to expand and deliver with each new release.

Record Store Day 2021 release.

Aksk is the collaborative effort of Adda Kaleh and Suzanne Kraft. Recorded over the course of almost seven years and despite local separation or virtual realities, it sums up the magic that already inhered in their debut song „Breaking“ for Gerd Janson’s „Musik for Autobahns“ compilation on Rush Hour. An eight track LP of crystalline chansons and pastels pop that features the skills of The Coober Pedy University Band aka Cpub (Tornado Wallace and William Paxton) on dub duties to complete the magical musical mysteries of Aksk.

Built around the successes of his soundtracks and songs for the movies of Christophe Honoré, Alex Beaupain’s profile in the ‘chanson française’ landscape is quite unique. Beaupain alternates between soundtracks, songs he writes for others (mainly great French actresses) and his own solo albums. In march 2021, Beaupain paid tribute to the late Serge Gainsbourg for the 30th anniversary of his passing during a special live on air event where he covered in full, with the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, Gainsbourg’s penultimate shocking album from 1984 : Love On The Beat. This experience led him directly in the studio with Saint DX as producer, the French American duet Faux Real singing backing vocals and a full string section to re-record this cult album with a 2021 twist. He had also dreamed of covering that particular album that had so much impact on him, musically and lyrically, when he first discovered it. The 80s funky sound of the record, produced by Billy Rush, was a new start for Gainsbourg and at the time, the lyrics schocked everyone but achieved to avoid any censorship.

In celebration of National Album Day, All Saints' iconic debut album All Saints is finally making its debut on Green Vinyl. This release brings forth the timeless allure of the British girl group's chart-topping hits, including the infectious rhythms of "Never Ever," the soulful harmonies of "Under the Bridge," and the irresistibly catchy "Bootie Call." Transport back to the late 1990s, where the signature blend of pop, R&B, and hip-hop captivated global audiences. Limited to 1500 copies for National Album Day UK.

With fans ranging from Bon Iver to The War On Drugs, critically acclaimed Amason member, farmer, record label boss & singer-songwriter Amanda Bergman - known for her grand voice - is back with her first solo album in over 8 years titled ‘Your Hand Forever Checking On My Fever’, due June 7.

With fans ranging from Bon Iver to The War On Drugs, critically acclaimed Amason member, farmer, record label boss & singer-songwriter Amanda Bergman - known for her grand voice - is back with her first solo album in over 8 years titled ‘Your Hand Forever Checking On My Fever’, due June 7.

how do we live in times when nothing seems safe, how do we listen to music when rockets and bullets make the air scream, how do we produce music when the building with our studio is simply no longer there? over the last 2 years, Amas and Konstantin Kost have been trying to produce a techno EP across the borders of the war in ukraine. Konstantin Kost was never able to leave ukraine for this, while we were able to move freely through europe. this ambivalence is part of this album, it is part of every note and every line of the poems that can be heard here. we all associate techno with bass-heavy and dancing through the night, but Odessa is more, it is a journey without being able to travel, an experience without being able to experience, an escape without being able to escape and a life without really being able to live ... neither Amas was able to travel to odessa during this time, nor Konstantin Kost to europe, neither was able to experience the other personally. however, the exchange of music and lyrics has built up a relationship to a country at war, as well as to its people, musicians, women and children. while we were dealing with our everyday problems in germany, the situation in Odessa became increasingly confusing. the constant fear of being drafted and producing videos and images for the album at the same time were extremely ambivalent moments. how do you deal with your counterpart in such moments and what do you say to someone in a situation that we can hardly imagine? we often talked about friends simply disappearing and corrupt officials and soldiers embezzling money and in the next sentence it was straight back to the vinyl production. these conversations were very rational and at the same time extremely surreal. this EP is not meant to be a political EP, it is meant to be a human album and to take away the feeling of powerlessness from the people who were and are involved. this production and its music is a triumph over the destructive and dark side of war, it is meant to show that art is boundless and that people are connected all over the world even in the darkest times. in the first track RED Glow our guest Tanya (musician and djane from Odessa) stoically repeats the words Love and Fear, followed by the words: ?i meet you with red glow, in your eyes i quickly dissolve!? the track is part of everyday life, everywhere you meet this red glow and yet everything has to flow on and yet people still live and dance ... in Nightcall we walk through the streets and follow the call of darkness. the words ?through the night? are used here repetitively like a percussion. but the highs and lows also give us hope and the belief that we will wake up again tomorrow and start a new day. in the dark there is always light, which must be preserved and found. OLD Kings is also the title of the poem we have written, based on the poem Ozymandias by percy bysshe shelley. OLD Kings determine our times and our political systems, seemingly unteachable old men hold the world in a stranglehold and it seems as if there are an infinite number of them. yet we continue to fight against these people, we cannot and do not want to do otherwise ... in Talk TO GOD, Konstantin Kost reads from the well-known ukrainian poem ?a cloud floating behind the sun? by Taras Shevchenko, a famous ukrainian poet and writer. he is considered the founder of modern ukrainian literature and, in part, of the ukrainian language. it is about red fields, the fog and its darkness, as well as the sea and the calmness of the heart in nature, the longing for peace and peace with god. in addition to poetry and music, all photographs and videos are original recordings by Konstantin Kost of his city Odessa. although we cannot visit each other, we still share strong visual impressions of a city that, in all its beauty and resilience, will hopefully soon be open to the world again. the cover is therefore also a picture of the port of odessa, a place where people and goods from all parts oft he world will soon be able to sail in and out again.

"WOW!! Of course we love it, but even if “Strange Tide”, ANC4’s second release wasn’t on Kool Kat we’d still rate as a Top 5 (or maybe even #1) “Best Power Pop Record Of 2021” – it’s that brilliant! The band delivers impeccably well crafted songs written by the songwriting duo of Roger Arvidson and Tomas Nilsson with the backing of a superb rhythm section made up of Janne Borgh on bass and Niclas Österberg on drums. “’Strange Tide’ is a 10/10 rated affair. The Swedish summer normally ends in August but this album will lengthen it to Christmas. It’s brimming with melodic songs, jangly guitars and lovely vocals. All 16 tracks have potential to be singles. ‘Being Nice’ is this year’s best power pop track. Roger Arvidson and Tomas Nilsson …. We salute you.” – Per Dahlqvist “It is not often you find a band that is consistent in the quality of their releases but ANC4 have proved they have the knack to pen and play a plethora of tip top pop. Album opener ‘Struck Gold’ is almost like an epiphany as every track on this album is gold and you will feel like you have won the musical lottery. You want jangle, you want harmonies, you want melodies and more hooks than Ikea’ curtain department, along with well crafted lyrics, then look no further than ANC4, this Swedish quartet has all you want and all you need.” Wayne Ford/The Ice Cream Man We could gush more, but have a listen…you will be pleased! GREAT!!"

" I’ve started to work on this album before I knew it. During June 2018 I was in Japan for a month to release my previous album « Cairn » as well as my first solo exhibition of drawings in Tokyo.

Everyday on my way to the gallery I passed in front of the same building, its name kept haunting me.

Back then I was digging for cheap 80’s Japanese CD’s in second hand stores. Most of them set the tone of this album and the direction I wanted to follow. I feel there’s a direct connection between these original sources and the sound I pursue by their meditative aspect.

Most of the demo songs were done before my daughter’s birth on August 2019 and were finalized since then. Many of the titles refer to this main event and relate to how it changed my position in life : being a link through time by becoming a father. "

After appearing on some of the labels key releases, dub maestro Andre Kronert is back on Berg Audio doing what he does best : dubby, reduced, and highly efficient dancefloor breaking tunes - Incl. a highly awaited repress of >Triton<.

A viscous embrace, a pulsating pouring out, Anohni's voice is above all else a vessel for political armament. On 2016's Hopelessness, her voice bombarded with explicit illustration of Obama-era atrocities -- of war crimes, of apocalyptic climate change, of patriarchal violence. Now sharing a dual cover set - Bob Dylan's `It's All Over Now, Baby Blue' and Nina Simone's `Be My Husband' - she casts a subtler, but no less powerful incantation towards change. The original tracks dating to 1965, a year marked by the Selma marches, the Watts Rebellion, and the landmark Voting Rights Act, illuminate the eerily parallel struggles of this year. Anohni's rendition of `It's All Over Now_' reads as a hopeful, future goodbye to times dominated by oppression. With `Be My Husband," textually woven with marital submission and want for acceptance, she examines our reliance on the very systems that fail us. In borrowing these songs, Anohni adopts their history along with her contemporary interpretations, respecting the lineage of the people's movement while calling for its continuance today. "When Biden said `Americans don't want revolution, they want a return to decency,' he was wrong," she explained. "We all know deep down that the continuation of our civilizations for much longer will require seismic change." On `It's All Over Now, Baby Blue', Anohni explained: "I recorded It's All Over Now, Baby Blue with Kevin Barker one afternoon a few years ago. I listened to it recently and it reminded me of Now, a nausea of nostalgia for the suffering of the present, or even the future. I did a couple of songs by Bob Dylan at that time, encouraged by Hal Willner, the producer who we lost to Covid 19 in April. I hope that this period, and this repugnant presidency, will be over soon, and that these bigots and apocalyptic capitalists and evangelicals will crawl back into their rotten little holes. But how can this happen unless the American media and social media are forced to tell the truth? I am glad to see the mobilization of Black Lives Matter and the re-emergence of the Occupy movement. When Biden said "Americans don't want revolution, they want a return to decency," he was wrong. We all know deep down that the continuation of our civilizations for much longer will require seismic change." On `Be My Husband', Anohni said: "I saw Nina Simone perform at Carnegie Hall in 1991 while I was still in college. The concert was not properly publicized, and the theater was only half full. I think it may have been her first time back in NYC in many years. She was rumored to be volatile and unpredictable. That night she sang and played with such dignity, so incredibly, and she did 5 or 6 encores. For me, she was the greatest musician of the 20th Century. She didn't write many songs, but the ones she wrote were among the most profound of the era. Be My Husband was one such song. The lyrics spin a paradox of romantic assertion and submission. This live version of the song was recorded at an Antony and the Johnsons concert at the Knitting Factory in NYC in 1999."

Limited White Vinyl Edition.
Includes original inner sleeve.

My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross, Anohni’s sixth studio album, expresses a world view by shape-shifting through a broad range of subject matter. Through a personal lens, Anohni addresses loss of loved ones, inequality, alienation, acceptance, cruelty, ecocide, devastation wrought by Abrahamic theologies, Future Feminism, and the possibility that we might yet transform our ways of thinking, our spiritual ideas, our societal structures, and our relationships with the rest of nature. On her first full album since 2016’s Hopelessness, she explains the creative process was painstaking, yet also inspired, joyful, and intimate, a renewal and a renaming of her response to the world as she sees it. “Some of these songs respond to global and environmental concerns first voiced in popular music over 50 years ago.” Anohni’s approach since her last record has shifted from someone tasked with challenging global denial, to an artist seeking to support others on the front lines. “I learned with Hopelessness that I can provide a soundtrack that might fortify people in their work, in their activism, in their dreaming and decision-making. I can sing of an awareness that makes others feel less alone, people for whom the frank articulation of these frightening times is not a source of discomfort but a cause for identification and relief. On “It Must Change,” Anohni soulfully describes systems in collapse with a note of compassion for humanity: “The truth is I always thought you were beautiful in your own way // That’s why this is so sad.” Anohni’s voice is sensual and smoothed, selectively reaching to the edges of what it can contain. “We’re not getting out of here // No one’s getting out of here // This is our world,” she murmurs. A portrait of legendary human rights activist Marsha P. Johnson taken by Alvin Baltrop features on the cover, reflecting a 25-year relationship with the memory of Johnson that Anohni has held space for in the presentation of her own work. Elsewhere, the album artwork states ”it’s Time TO Feel What’s Really Happening”. In some ways it feels as if she is reaching across her life’s expression, and has found a moment of unique composure, wearing her long exploration of disarming intensity, with the maturity of a painter carefully choosing her colors. “I want the work to be useful, to help others move through these conversations we are now facing, to move with dignity and resilience through this bitter dawning.”

My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross, Anohni’s sixth studio album, expresses a world view by shape-shifting through a broad range of subject matter. Through a personal lens, Anohni addresses loss of loved ones, inequality, alienation, acceptance, cruelty, ecocide, devastation wrought by Abrahamic theologies, Future Feminism, and the possibility that we might yet transform our ways of thinking, our spiritual ideas, our societal structures, and our relationships with the rest of nature. On her first full album since 2016’s Hopelessness, she explains the creative process was painstaking, yet also inspired, joyful, and intimate, a renewal and a renaming of her response to the world as she sees it. “Some of these songs respond to global and environmental concerns first voiced in popular music over 50 years ago.” Anohni’s approach since her last record has shifted from someone tasked with challenging global denial, to an artist seeking to support others on the front lines. “I learned with Hopelessness that I can provide a soundtrack that might fortify people in their work, in their activism, in their dreaming and decision-making. I can sing of an awareness that makes others feel less alone, people for whom the frank articulation of these frightening times is not a source of discomfort but a cause for identification and relief. On “It Must Change,” Anohni soulfully describes systems in collapse with a note of compassion for humanity: “The truth is I always thought you were beautiful in your own way // That’s why this is so sad.” Anohni’s voice is sensual and smoothed, selectively reaching to the edges of what it can contain. “We’re not getting out of here // No one’s getting out of here // This is our world,” she murmurs. A portrait of legendary human rights activist Marsha P. Johnson taken by Alvin Baltrop features on the cover, reflecting a 25-year relationship with the memory of Johnson that Anohni has held space for in the presentation of her own work. Elsewhere, the album artwork states ”it’s Time TO Feel What’s Really Happening”. In some ways it feels as if she is reaching across her life’s expression, and has found a moment of unique composure, wearing her long exploration of disarming intensity, with the maturity of a painter carefully choosing her colors. “I want the work to be useful, to help others move through these conversations we are now facing, to move with dignity and resilience through this bitter dawning.”

My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross, Anohni’s sixth studio album, expresses a world view by shape-shifting through a broad range of subject matter. Through a personal lens, Anohni addresses loss of loved ones, inequality, alienation, acceptance, cruelty, ecocide, devastation wrought by Abrahamic theologies, Future Feminism, and the possibility that we might yet transform our ways of thinking, our spiritual ideas, our societal structures, and our relationships with the rest of nature. On her first full album since 2016’s Hopelessness, she explains the creative process was painstaking, yet also inspired, joyful, and intimate, a renewal and a renaming of her response to the world as she sees it. “Some of these songs respond to global and environmental concerns first voiced in popular music over 50 years ago.” Anohni’s approach since her last record has shifted from someone tasked with challenging global denial, to an artist seeking to support others on the front lines. “I learned with Hopelessness that I can provide a soundtrack that might fortify people in their work, in their activism, in their dreaming and decision-making. I can sing of an awareness that makes others feel less alone, people for whom the frank articulation of these frightening times is not a source of discomfort but a cause for identification and relief. On “It Must Change,” Anohni soulfully describes systems in collapse with a note of compassion for humanity: “The truth is I always thought you were beautiful in your own way // That’s why this is so sad.” Anohni’s voice is sensual and smoothed, selectively reaching to the edges of what it can contain. “We’re not getting out of here // No one’s getting out of here // This is our world,” she murmurs. A portrait of legendary human rights activist Marsha P. Johnson taken by Alvin Baltrop features on the cover, reflecting a 25-year relationship with the memory of Johnson that Anohni has held space for in the presentation of her own work. Elsewhere, the album artwork states ”it’s Time TO Feel What’s Really Happening”. In some ways it feels as if she is reaching across her life’s expression, and has found a moment of unique composure, wearing her long exploration of disarming intensity, with the maturity of a painter carefully choosing her colors. “I want the work to be useful, to help others move through these conversations we are now facing, to move with dignity and resilience through this bitter dawning.”

Aparde's new album, Alliance sees the German musician retreat from his recent experimentations with avant-gard pop music back into the world of deep, and oftentimes dark, electronica. For his previous album, Hands Rest, Aparde ventured outside Berlin's club scene through the use of his voice, which gave his music a softer and more intimate edge. Alliance is no less intimate, except this time the musician's vulnerability seeps through the cracks rather than taking center stage. With Alliance, Aparde brings listeners deep into his soul, a soul that is at times conflicted and agitated and at times low-key and solemn. And as he does so, the listener's own mood is muted and lifted in a journey of quest, dance and healing.

Hotly-tipped musician and singer Arlo Parks is hotly-tipped for a reason. Collapsed In Sunbeams is a pop album with an irreverent twinge; Parks’ lyricism is poignant as she recounts the mundanities of daily life — a slightly bungled kiss, an argument on a busy street, seeing your crush with somebody else — with a certain romantic awe, delivered in an irresistible mode recalling a youthful Macy Gray, backed by indie rock instrumentation which hinges on the simple and emotive. The soaring chorus hook of ‘Caroline’ is endlessly catchy, and while the LP is loaded with hit after hit, the whole thing demands repeated listens for all the tinier details.

Woo-hoo! Two of the best Italian rare grooves ever are finally back on 7’’ for the first time since their original French release on the format! Both are from that most iconic film soundtrack of the Italian 70s (the LP is now a holy grail for collectors), Armando Trovajoli’s score to Dino Risi’s anthology sex comedy Sessomatto (1973) starring Laura Antonelli and Giancarlo Giannini. In the title track the influence of Manu Dibango’s afro-funk hit “Soul Makossa” is filtered through, and enriched by, an exquisitely Italian approach, with a sweet ’n’ groovy funk base (the terrific mid-song drum break has been a DJ favorite for decades) over which Edda Dell’Orso seductively laughs and repeats the words ‘sesso’ and ‘matto’ again and again. The wild and fun electronic samba “Kinky Peanuts” on side B is a wonderful example of ‘strange incredible music’, with infectiously quirky Moog themes and runs.

Aufgang is back with its 3rd album, “Broad Ways”, slated for release in November 2021

With this 3rd album, the franco-lebanese duo perpetuates its winning alchemy by drawing on the psychic and collective traumas of recent History at the crossroads between European and Middle Eastern cultures.

What more was there to prove for the Aufgang duo since their re-invention of US techno a few years ago through the means of organic instruments like piano + drums, and releases on Infiné & BlueNote/Decca ?

Maybe that they would from now on independently take onto themselves, the full conception and distribution of their body of work, supported by a collective of visual-arts creators, dancers, and emerging talent-incubators (Bi:Pole/Believe/ BigWax/Alter-K)...

“Broad Ways” could be translated as «in many ways» in the sense that there are many ways of seeing the world, and that everything is not binary and that on the contrary, our lives are shaped by the each other’s own paradigms...

In this clever mix of experimental techno, lyrical prowess and melodies in the Arab tradition, can one imagine a future that would solve the world’s current contradictions in a boiling magma so complex of which Edgar Morin would be proud... Following this unique trademark, this art of mixing influences and cultures, along the New York, Paris, Lebanon and now Sydney axis... how far will they go?

According to Pitchfork, Aufgang “blends piano, drums and electronic music with virtuosity, with one foot in the club and the other in the conservatory.”

Rami Khalifé, composer and pianist, transcends the classical heritage of his years studying at the Juilliard School in NYC and the Middle Eastern origins of his masterful family: his father Marcel Khalifé is a major composer and musician in the Arab world.

The drummer and producer Aymeric Westrich has an instinctive DIY approach and infuses his music with his knowledge of urban and electronic cultures, developed with Kery James, Cassius, Phoenix and more recently Lomepal.

Taking their inspiration from multiple artistic movements and currents, from the Disco of the mythical Larry Levan to the poetry of Oum Kalthoum, these two free electrons have created their sound between Paris, Beirut and New York, in reaction to the frenetic energy of big cities, as if in an effort to prevent this energy from corroding their freedom. It’s a unique experience born from the sublime diversity of these two masterful approaches.

First ever vinyl edition of this one off collaboration between Philippe Poirier (Kat Onoma) and Stefan Schneider (to rococo rot / Tal) which was initiated by La Batie - Festival de Geneve, in 2002. The original recordings of the album took place the same year at Bleibeil Studios, Berlin. Engineered by Bernd Jestram. Restauration and mastering by Detlef Funder at Paraschall, Düsseldorf in 2022.

"19 or 20 years, what difference does it make if the beautiful things in life are able to transport us back to Year Zero - again and again. The moment when this album was created. It is the timeless horizon that motivates the artist. “Dad, what’s the line doing there ?” - a good start for a story. Philippe Poirier and Stefan Schneider recount tales of slow travel, far beyond the known continents. The adventures of a certain Corto Maltese, mysterious love stories in long forgotten harbours. A love that creates its own time, just like a chess game, an ocean liner or propeller airoplanes. The enthusiasm for cartography which Philippe Poirier and Stefan Schneider share, time and again, similar to dream. The dream of an idea, of exploration, of finding. The first lines of a drawing that become the great painting. The sequences and the words which design a world in its own right. A tremendous reservoir and my old friend knows that there is an ideal companion for every journey. This time Philippe Poirier is a narrator who finds a sound like sand flowing through fingers and who knows how deep each object accompanies each love. Les Choses de la Vie." Detlef Weinrich (tolouse low tax), Paris 2021

Baby Rose makes healing music for the aimless and heartbroken. The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and producer's uniquely rich voice naturally lends itself to her powerful, smoke-filled ballads lamenting lost loves and broken futures. "I make music to help myself get through things," she says. The piercing honesty and vulnerability she brings to her lyrics in turn helps others process their feelings and find a place of healing. For Rose, it's a journey that's still ongoing. "If I'm going to leave anything behind, it's going to be getting people back to themselves," she says. "As I get back to myself, it's a constant reset: Remember who you are, remember who you want to be." You can hear the impact of this approach in Baby Rose's upcoming second album, Through and Through. Take the hypnotic "Fight Club." Over the track's simmering baseline and crashing cymbals, she declares, "I don't need no one else to show me the way." She describes the song as a "breaking of the shell. It encourages me to just go for it and not care about what anyone else thinks." Therein lies Baby Rose's strength: a determination to live, love, and create on her own terms. "I'm not just a singer with a unique voice," she says. "I'm somebody that has something to say." In the years since releasing her last album, To Myself, Rose has been painstakingly piecing together its sequel. Started almost immediately after its release, her new body of work finds her in a state of musical and personal transition. It's a subtle merging of new sounds_stirring rock, upbeat r&b, psychedelic funk, pop, and soulful ballads_, all mastered through analog tape to make the music feel warmer and all-encompassing. It's also a journey inward as she battles past fear and self-doubt to finally discover_and love_who she is, where she is. Finishing an album with such peace and firm resolution is a first for Rose, but she makes it clear: She's nowhere near done writing her story. "I think as long as I'm being raw and trying to push past my comfort zone, it will feel rewarding," she says. "I don't want to be the type that doesn't take risks because I'm afraid. I have to trust that as long as the music is honest and innovative, it'll be timeless."

This album, much more personal than the previous one, aims to immerse the listener in the chronicles of human life, ordinary yet unique. Each track can be likened to a story with an English soundtrack. These narratives are familiar to us, and the language barrier does not hinder the transmission of a universal message. These tracks echo our daily emotions, sometimes gentle and light, sometimes intense and cruel. They reflect moments lived where the pendulum keeps the beat of our lives. We endure, we question, we embrace, we exult, and above all, we experiment. Each title plunges us back into these states of mind, and each in its own way is invited to participate in the journey.We confront mourning and absence, we question our own vanity to gradually shed our burdens, we contemplate past mistakes, the harm caused, and we find ourselves face to face with ourselves. The rebirth concludes the recording. it is the beginning of a new cycle.

Limited edition, 100 copies. exclusively at HHV

More than five years after "Unschuld & Verwüstung", Barbara Morgenstern returns with a new album in January 2024. It's called "In anderem Licht" and was recorded by Guy Sternberg at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin.

The chamber music double album tells of the impending climate catastrophe, the necessity of social transformation processes and the hope of liberation from the state of general paralysis: "Everything can be different", says the album opener "Die Wand" (The Wall) or in the song that gives the album its title: "Everything will hopefully be as it always has been, only in a different light" and finally: "Except the old world!". What reads somewhat didactically on paper is translated into mostly small miniatures on "In anderem Licht", from which Barbara Morgenstern and her ensemble create dramatic arcs of tension and surprising twists and turns. Strings, saxophone, double bass and drums follow Morgenstern's grand piano playing with impressive swarm intelligence. "I look around for alliances", she sings and states - struggling to find the right metaphors: "Time heals more than a thousand words". So she takes all the time in the world in her music, although she is unmistakably aware of the urgency of the questions and paradoxes raised in her songs.

In times of fiercely contested attention economies and clickbait logics that seem to permeate all areas of life, passing and emerging every second, this hour of music spread over 11 tracks is like a balm. A tender manifesto of change.

"Because I don't tell the joke to myself, but to you and me and then we're here", she sings in "Der Witz" and in the loop the music circles, like a bee that wants to settle tenderly on a flower, around a more pleasant now-state of the world, a space of possibility. Before the whole thing flies around our ears in the end and her ensemble makes the melancholy melodic arcs seem bigger and bigger with each round until they appear to us in a completely different light! When Barbara Morgenstern sings "This place will stay when we go, this place will never be the same again" in "Dein Name", it sounds as if she wants to conjure up the world for us. Or free us from a curse. "I always thought connection mattered, love for the cause, for the rest of the world!" she finally sings in "Die Liebe zur Sache", and wonders whether that still counts at all in the world out there. A justified question! Barbara Morgenstern has been one of the most independent musicians in Germany for over 20 years. From the Berlin living room scene of the 90s to the latest award-winning theatre productions with Rimini Protokoll, she has always followed her inner voice in her unbroken belief in the magic of music. John Cale, Mark Hollis, Hans Unstern, Robert Wyatt or Björk come to mind as possible kindred spirits: a certain oddness, paired with great virtuosity and a penchant for a certain minimalism, which can always be big and epic. For the moment. With this wonderfully enraptured, somnambulistic album, we can only wish Barbara Morgenstern and her courageous ensemble that they will play the big stages with it. Because as the song "Zwischen den Stühlen" (Between the Chairs) says so beautifully: "Leave me in peace, it's no use to me. I want to get out of here, between the chairs!". A documentary film by Berlin filmmaker Sabine Herpich, who has accompanied Barbara Morgenstern over the last few years and which traces the story of the creation of this extraordinary album, will also be released in 2024. The video for the first single "In anderem Licht" already shows footage from it, so this is more of a film trailer than a video. Incidentally, the cover motif of the album dates back to 1829 and was painted by Barbara Morgenstern's great-great-great-grandfather Friedrich Preller the Elder.

"In anderem Licht" will be released on 26.01.2024 via Staatsakt on LP/CD/Digital.