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The title of the sixth album from Californian singer-songwriter Nick Waterhouse is more than just the name of one of its tracks. The Fooler is both a clue and a red herring. The Fooler is the observed and the observer, narrator and subject, truth and lie. The Fooler is the shadow and reflection of a city the artist knows sufficiently well to wander with his eyes closed, and a place which very possibly never even existed. The Fooler is not so much an unreliable narrator as a constantly shifting perspective.

The Fooler is the new album by Nick Waterhouse, and it’s a lot. Recorded by Mark Neill (Black Keys; Los Straightjackets; Dave Cobb) in Valdosta, Georgia, it’s a song-cycle of sorts, the arc of the album telling a tale of a city and its denizens.

The result is a record that offers up new riches and fresh perspectives with every spin. From the hidden corners of ‘Hide & Seek’ and the roadhouse soul of ‘Play To Win’ to the primitive, attitudinal, chugging two-chord thrill of ‘Late In The Garden’, it builds inexorably to the drama of the title track and pulsing roll-and-rock of the final pay off, ‘Unreal, Immaterial’. Play it once and it sounds immediately like a collection of great songs. Play it again – and you will – and it feels like a novel or film slowly unveiling its secrets, kaleidoscopic in its narrative complexity. “Especially during this record, I started just becoming what Allen Ginsberg called a pure breath,” says the artist. “I was becoming pure breath with my ideas.”

Los Angeles duo crushed announce their signing to Ghostly International and the first vinyl pressing of their 2023 debut EP, extra life. A love letter to `90s radio, the first collaboration from musicians Bre Morell and Shaun Durkan finds them tuning a shared taste for maximalist dream pop. Open-hearted hooks and melodic riffs move through a haze of breakbeats, spliced sound design, and distortion. Faithful yet fluid in its channeling of golden age alt-rock, Britpop, trip-hop, and electronica, there's a refreshing freedom to the sound, which quickly resonated with fans and critics upon initial release. Pitchfork called it "effortless, widescreen dream pop that's serene without being sentimental," and NPR cited its "deep sense of place and time." The music also struck Ghostly, and the first measure for crushed and their new label home is to give extra life a wider physical release paired with remixes from band favorites Real Lies and DJ Python. The story of crushed is written across midnight transmissions. In the early 2010s, Morell, who fronts the band Temple of Angels (Run For Cover Records), hosted a graveyard shift college radio show and used to play music from Durkan's former band Weekend (Slumberland Records). In 2020, Durkan, having focused on production work (Tamaryn, Young Prisms) following Weekend's run as a formidable shoegaze act, hosted a late-night program on a community radio station in San Francisco. Driving one day, he heard Temple of Angels by chance and was immediately drawn to Morell's voice. He added a song that night to his on-air tracklist. Morell saw it and reached out to thank him and point to that connection made a decade earlier. The exchange sparked a long-distance project. First, they filled an audible moodboard with `90s classics from the likes of Natalie Imbruglia, Sneaker Pimps, and The Sundays. Songs that transported them back to places of comfort and discovery; Morell's memories of a metallic, lavender boombox that dispatched past sounds from a world beyond her Houston suburbia, and Durkan, in his mom's car on the way to band practice. These touchpoints provided a palette for crushed to experiment without expectations, purely for the fun of it. A creative intimacy emerged; stepping outside the reverb walls of her full band, Morell embraced more clarity and a range of emotions in her vocals, while Durkan looked inward as a producer, collaging fragments from their everyday lives: voice memos, piano recordings, even the panting of Morell's late dog on "milksugar." The wistful ballad embodies extra life's feeling as a whole. "I am home again," sings Morell; her refrain cycles above a drum machine beat as Durkan colors their universe with star-lit strums, synth swells, and the crackle of fireworks in the distance. Elsewhere, the duo's uptempo mode is equally effective, like the super-charged duet "coil" or the propulsive opener "waterlily," which sets a cinematic tone for the set. Bold, bright, and replayable, extra life presents crushed as a project of immense promise, two artists unlocking something special within themselves, a space to hold both melancholy and bliss. Durkan adds, "To me, [extra life] is true and pure - in a way I haven't felt about music in a really really long time."

At once a hazy relic and a digital snapshot of the human experience, Your Day Will Come is the debut album from Chanel Beads, arriving April 19 via Jagjaguwar. The remarkable project announces the arrival of New York-based musician Shane Lavers as a new force in experimental music, capturing the many contradictions of modern existence and the strange infiniteness of the digital world. The songs feel like a memory in which you can't distinguish between what actually happened or what was a false reproduction in your mind - although the burning emotion remains intact. Lavers pushed himself to strip his own sense of ego from “Your Day Will Come”. Throughout, Lavers weaves in contributions from his live bandmates, singer-songwriter Maya McGrory (Colle) and experimental instrumentalist Zachary Paul, who offer their own layers of feeling. As McGrory offers a more full-bodied tone and Lavers often sings with his higher-pitched head voice, the two collaborators meet in the middle; it's an intermingling of identities or a subconscious pining for androgyny. In this slippery space, different perspectives merge together, and there's a sense of empathy and humility that arises from the blending of these voices. These days, Chanel Beads live shows see all three performers weaving together in absolute catharsis. This catharsis is pushed to its peak on "Idea June," which sees McGrory taking over lead vocals to project Lavers' lyrics. As McGrory sings, "The waves wash onto my shore," in a voice that's both earnest and digitally processed, it's as though she's speaking as a separate embodiment of Lavers. In under two minutes, the track of clunky acoustic guitar and gutting strings lands somewhere between detachment and kinship. Similar to the off-kilter structure of "Police Scanner," these songs are strangely affecting in their unfinished and liminal forms. Lavers, who is drawn to poor MP3 rips and transitional moments in DJ mixes, knows that these inexact musical artifacts evoke human imperfection. The title of Your Day Will Come could be read as a promise of the arrival of good karma, or it could be a reminder of one's mortality, said out of spite. Yet as Lavers unpacks the haunting feelings of the past that he must release in order to move into his future, he reminds us that grief and hope might be closer than they seem to the naked eye.

Ryota Nozaki, also known as Jazztronik, has decided to make a long-awaited 7” record from his distribution single Excursions series, in which he releases a wide variety of music individually, without being bound by a sense of unity or concept.

Side A is the first song "evoke" that decorates the opening of the Excursions series. A mid-tempo instrumental song that opens with the nostalgic sound of a tape deck button. The song is composed of a minimal composition centered on the keyboard and rhythm section, with a somewhat nostalgic melody, a muffled piano sound, and a rhythm with an impressive solid and rough feel that continues the nostalgic mood at the beginning. You can enjoy the lingering feeling as if you were looking back on your travel memories in a snapshot.

Side B is the third installment of the Excursions series, "Beat Hopper (The 3rd Session)." A funky dance track that is completely different from Side A, with inspiration from techno and house everywhere. This work, which was created in a virtual session that was made possible by overcoming the various restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic, changes the flavor from the previous mid-tempo songs and adds a new dimension to the Excursions series with an uplifting arrangement. .

Love Deluxe is the fourth studio album by the British band Sade, released on October 26, 1992. The album is widely regarded as one of the band’s most critically acclaimed works, featuring a smooth, soulful blend of R&B, jazz, and sophisti-pop, with lyrics that explore themes of love, heartbreak, and introspection. Fronted by the captivating vocals of Sade Adu, the band created an atmospheric, emotionally rich album that remains one of their signature works.

Love Deluxe marked a return after a four-year hiatus following their previous album, Stronger Than Pride (1988). The band continued to refine their signature smooth, sensual sound while introducing new elements, such as more pronounced soul and trip-hop influences.
The album was both a commercial and critical success, peaking at #3 on the US Billboard 200 and earning platinum certifications in multiple countries. Its success solidified Sade's position as one of the most important and enduring acts in contemporary music.
Lyrically, the album revolves around themes of love in all its forms—romantic, painful, and self-reflective. It balances deep vulnerability with strength, as Sade Adu's mesmerizing voice delivers the poetic lyrics with grace and subtlety.

The album combines elements of smooth jazz, soul, R&B, and ambient music, creating a lush and atmospheric soundscape.
The production is minimalist yet sophisticated, with the band opting for understated instrumentation that allows Sade Adu’s vocals to take center stage. The music is moody and introspective, often using spare arrangements to highlight emotion.
There are hints of early trip-hop in some of the tracks, with slower beats and a focus on deep bass and textured sound design, particularly in songs like "Feel No Pain."

Key Tracks and Highlights:
"No Ordinary Love" – One of Sade’s most iconic songs, this track features a mesmerizing bassline, lush synths, and Sade’s haunting vocals. The song explores the pain and intensity of unrequited love. Its atmospheric production and emotional depth made it one of the standout singles from the album.
"Feel No Pain" – A politically charged track, this song addresses themes of poverty and social struggle, reflecting on the effects of unemployment and hardship on families. It features a groovy bassline and more prominent use of percussion, adding a subtle funk influence to the smooth jazz sound.
"Kiss of Life" – A breezy, upbeat song compared to some of the darker tracks on the album, "Kiss of Life" is a love song that feels light and joyful. The smooth, soulful arrangement and optimistic lyrics make it one of the most uplifting moments on the album.
"Cherish the Day" – A standout track known for its hypnotic guitar riff and understated groove. This song is both romantic and meditative, with Sade’s voice soaring above the dreamy instrumental backdrop, expressing devotion and love.
"Bullet Proof Soul" – One of the more emotionally complex tracks on the album, "Bullet Proof Soul" reflects on the aftermath of heartbreak and the armor people build to protect themselves from further pain. The song’s slow, sultry rhythm and melancholic lyrics add to its emotional weight.
"Pearls" – A powerful, introspective ballad that takes on a more global perspective, dealing with the suffering of women in the developing world. Sade Adu’s voice is filled with emotion as she reflects on themes of sacrifice and hardship. The sparse arrangement, featuring strings and soft percussion, complements the poignancy of the lyrics.
"Like a Tattoo" – This track is a quiet, intimate ballad that deals with memory, regret, and the lasting impact of love. The acoustic guitar and Sade’s delicate vocals give the song a fragile yet beautiful quality.

Love and Heartbreak: Many of the songs, such as "No Ordinary Love" and "Cherish the Day," explore the complexities of romantic relationships, touching on themes of devotion, longing, and heartbreak. The lyrics often reflect on love’s power to both uplift and wound.
Resilience and Strength: Tracks like "Bullet Proof Soul" and "Feel No Pain" delve into themes of emotional resilience and survival, both on a personal level (in love and heartbreak) and in the face of societal struggles like poverty.
Global and Social Concerns: "Feel No Pain" and "Pearls" reflect on broader social issues, such as economic inequality and global suffering, adding a layer of socio-political consciousness to the album.
Production and Sound:
The production on Love Deluxe is both sophisticated and restrained. Stuart Matthewman (guitar, saxophone), Paul S. Denman (bass), and Andrew Hale (keyboards) work together to create a cohesive sound that relies on subtle, detailed arrangements.
The use of space in the production is key to the album’s atmosphere. The arrangements are minimal, allowing Sade’s voice to carry much of the emotional weight. This approach highlights the introspective nature of the songs and gives them a cinematic quality.
The instrumentation features a mix of acoustic and electric instruments, often layering guitars, bass, and keyboards to create lush textures. There is also a strong emphasis on rhythm, with percussive elements adding depth to the slower, groove-based tracks.

Upon release, Love Deluxe received widespread critical acclaim, with many praising its emotional depth, elegant production, and Sade Adu’s vocal performance. The album’s timeless quality has made it a favorite among fans and critics alike.
It was lauded for continuing to push the boundaries of sophisti-pop and smooth jazz, blending these genres with elements of trip-hop, R&B, and world music.
The album was commercially successful, selling millions of copies worldwide, and it has since been recognized as one of Sade’s best works. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Legacy and Impact:
Love Deluxe remains one of Sade’s most iconic albums, with tracks like "No Ordinary Love" and "Cherish the Day" becoming staples in their live performances and enduring as fan favorites.
The album’s influence extends beyond the soul and R&B genres, with artists in neo-soul and alternative R&B citing it as an inspiration. The album’s minimalist production, emphasis on mood and texture, and themes of emotional complexity have influenced a generation of artists, including Maxwell, D'Angelo, and The Weeknd.
"No Ordinary Love" has been covered and remixed by numerous artists over the years, further cementing its place in popular culture.

Love Deluxe is a beautifully crafted album that captures Sade at the peak of their creative powers. Its blend of sensuality, introspection, and sophistication makes it one of the defining albums of the early 1990s. With its timeless themes of love and resilience, the album continues to resonate with listeners today and remains a cornerstone in Sade’s illustrious career.

Public Possession proudly presents Aiden Ayers debut album „Venus Copper Rose“. A few words by the artist himself: „ Venus Copper Rose came to me in a dream. The three words are all the same thing, symbols of beauty and material formations of love. Together they are a VCR (videocassette recorder) - a memory machine, a portal into fantasy and myth + a transcriber of dreams. The songs on the album represent the past five years of my life. The oldest of them were written and first recorded in 2017 and the youngest barely made it to the mastering session on time. I am always writing and recording, travelling to and fro, on little islands off the coast of BC, down to the California desert, or in makeshift basement studios throughout Vancouver. Every song has grown up and been captured in a different way - the album is a wild garden of misfits, flowers and weeds. I hope that people feel nourished by this album - I believe that is the ultimate role of music, like another kind of food, light, or love. I hope these songs and this album can help people see the beauty and poetry that flows through their own lives.“

Like some of his contemporary UK peers (looking at you, Tom Misch and Jordan Rakei), the 27-year-old Austrian producer-turned-singer Wandl is a rare example of an artist that’s able to combine the groove and emotionality of soul music with colorful electronic textures and the exciting and youthful feel of hip-hop. His third solo album »Body Memory« works as an empowering statement of clarity and immediacy. Being blunt, it could be described as Wandl’s »pop album«, even though that might do a disservice to his craft. Still, to this day there is no work in his catalogue that allows Lukas Wandl, the human, that much space for presentation.

Recordings for »Body Memory« started even before his last album »Womb« was released in 2020. For Wandl, the process of working on it mirrors the idea of opening himself back up to a community. It all started when he found himself in a place of brokenness, physically and mentally drained, having to cancel a planned tour because of this. To overcome the resulting state of depression and hopelessness, he instigated a process of tuning back in with his environment and the world at large. »Body Memory« is the result of this inner journey, exploring the fact that stress and emotional injuries are stored in our bodies and therefore can only be expressed and given form through our bodies.

For »Body Memory«, Wandl worked with some of his usual peers from the Austrian scene, such as Dorian Concept, The Clonious, Fid Mella or Lex Lugner, but also his new partner-in-crime, German beatsmith Torky Tork, that co-produced almost half of the record. To let their joint creative spirits flow, they traveled to Poland to build a foundation of tunes, while others were written and recorded in Vienna, Berlin, the Austrian countryside and even the basement of Wandl’s parents’ place in St Pölten, Lower Austria. No surprise that this album has turned out a deeply collaborative work, as almost every track contains contributions from multiple musicians. Not forgoing the playfulness and innovation of his past records, Wandl moves his emotional, fragile vocals to the very front of the mix for the first time. In moving past his comfort zone, he breaks free from learned stereotypes of taste, writing slightly more conventional, but still extremely authentic songs. Working to regain access to his true inner voice and intuition, Wandl has written an album of sheer physicality, but also immense emotional depth and beauty.

Still shrink wrapped but opened.
Cover as new with slightly dented corners.
Record is warped but still enjoyable.
Includes original insert.

The Songs of Bacharach & Costello, compiled by Elvis Costello, brings together all of the published songs that Costello has written with Burt Bacharach and celebrates the three decade songwriting partnership between them. The 2LP set includes the newly remastered album, Painted From Memory and six songs from Taken From Life, of which three are newly recorded compositions. The LPs are pressed on 140g vinyl and audio was remastered by Bob Ludwig from the original tapes.

This version contains an exclusive lithograph.

Small light scuff on side A.
Includes original inner sleeve.
Cover as new with faintly worn corners.

With their dulcet fusion of ‘60s French ye-ye pop, slinky Studio One reggae, and liminal Brazilian tropicalia, Claude Fontaine’s songs embody the best kept dreams of a globally connected world. The second album from the Los Angeles artist reflects the dream of creating the soundtrack for this utopia by the sea. Released on Innovative Leisure, La Mer is a mesmerizing portal. It’s impossible for it to exist outside of the modern moment, but it floats on the gilded dust of the past. At times, Fontaine channels Jane Birkin as backed by Jorge Ben. Francois Hardy locked into sonic reverie with Mulatu Astatke, or Margo Guryan making lovers rock. None of this is a happy accident. For her second opus, Fontaine assembled some of the most gifted musicians of the last five decades. First and foremost is her co-writer and producer, the multi-platinum Grammy-Award winning Lester Mendez, whose resume includes everyone from Grace Jones and Baaba Maal to Shakira and Nelly Furtado. As with Fontaine’s self-titled first album, the legendary Tony Chin appears on guitar, bringing the orphic tones expected from someone who has played with some of the greatest reggae musicians of all-time (King Tubby, Dennis Brown, Lee Perry, Jackie Mittoo, Max Romeo, Sly & Robbie). On bass, there’s Ronnie McQueen, one of the co-founders of Steel Pulse. Sergio Mendes’ percussionist, Gibi Dos Santos, supplies propulsive locomotion. So does Ziggy Marley’s drummer, Rock Deadrick. And that’s just the abridged list of storied instrumentalists who appear on La Mer.

With their dulcet fusion of ‘60s French ye-ye pop, slinky Studio One reggae, and liminal Brazilian tropicalia, Claude Fontaine’s songs embody the best kept dreams of a globally connected world. The second album from the Los Angeles artist reflects the dream of creating the soundtrack for this utopia by the sea. Released on Innovative Leisure, La Mer is a mesmerizing portal. It’s impossible for it to exist outside of the modern moment, but it floats on the gilded dust of the past. At times, Fontaine channels Jane Birkin as backed by Jorge Ben. Francois Hardy locked into sonic reverie with Mulatu Astatke, or Margo Guryan making lovers rock. None of this is a happy accident. For her second opus, Fontaine assembled some of the most gifted musicians of the last five decades. First and foremost is her co-writer and producer, the multi-platinum Grammy-Award winning Lester Mendez, whose resume includes everyone from Grace Jones and Baaba Maal to Shakira and Nelly Furtado. As with Fontaine’s self-titled first album, the legendary Tony Chin appears on guitar, bringing the orphic tones expected from someone who has played with some of the greatest reggae musicians of all-time (King Tubby, Dennis Brown, Lee Perry, Jackie Mittoo, Max Romeo, Sly & Robbie). On bass, there’s Ronnie McQueen, one of the co-founders of Steel Pulse. Sergio Mendes’ percussionist, Gibi Dos Santos, supplies propulsive locomotion. So does Ziggy Marley’s drummer, Rock Deadrick. And that’s just the abridged list of storied instrumentalists who appear on La Mer.

“I imagine this record to be just like a flea market, an ensemble of nostalgia, a collage of memories, of dreams, ideas, sounds, words, feelings, places, eras and styles. A unique sonic sound space that I’ve been trying to create for my own music. This is also a record about getting old, about the uneasiness of life, but also about how to embrace it and enjoy the ride. About taking a trip to a place and a time that we have never been to, but that we long for. “ - Leonardo Marques

A multi-talented musician, singer songwriter and record producer full of tales to tell, Leonardo Marques has released three solo records – Dia e Noite no Mesmo Céu in 2012, Curvas, Lados, Linhas Tortas, Sujas e Discretas in 2015, and Early Bird in 2018. All of Leonardo’s solo albums have been released in Japan by Disk Union and the latest one, Early Bird, has also been released worldwide on vinyl format by 180g x Disk Union.



Leonardo was the guitar player of Diesel (later called Udora), one of the main alternative rock bands in Brazil in the early 2000’s. The band was on the main line up of the Rock in Rio III Festival, playing for over 250,000 people as an opening act for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Silverchair, and Deftones. Leonardo then moved to Los Angeles with the band and signed a record deal with Clive Davis (J Records / Rca) and worked with Matt Wallace (Maroon 5, Faith No More), Gavin Macklop (Goo Goo Dolls, Toad the Wet Sprocket), Camus (David Byrne, Arto Lindsay), Bob Marlette (Black Sabbath, Tracy Chapman, Alicce Cooper), and 16-time Grammy Award winner Thom Russo (Michael Jackson, Audioslave, Johnny Cash, Maná). Back to Brazil a few years later, Leonardo launched his Ilha do Corvo recording studio in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The studio is equipped with vintage instruments and gear from various decades which creates a unique sonic landscape and sound signature in each record it produces.

With Flea Market Music, Leonardo Marques presents his long-awaited fourth solo effort and the follow up to the now classic Early Bird album, with a majestic and unique musical trip into nostalgia, dreamy textures and lo-fi flavors, entirely written and recorded at his Ilha Do Corvo studio. This is essential Brazilian contemporary music at its best!

Sun, sea, and surf rock converge with dreamy hypnagogic pop on 'Dmaot,' the enchanting sophomore album by the guitar-wielding, vocal-harmonising trio, Rasco.

Named after Charlie Megira's acclaimed track "At the Rasco" and influenced by iconic artists like The Cramps, Beach Boys, Elvis, April March, and others, Rasco carefully extracts the essence and distinctive sound of sixties surf and garage bands and distils them into a modern and distinctly Mediterranean context. Blending ethereal vocal harmonies with irresistible guitar riffs, Rasco skillfully creates a one-of-a-kind sonic blueprint that sounds like something you dreamed of hearing at Twin Peaks infamous Roadhouse.

Electric guitarist Eden Atiya and bass guitar Gaya Wajsman first crossed paths in a smoky cave in Jerusalem, eventually teaming up with drummer Itay Hamudi to form Rasco. Their self-titled debut album, characterised by catchy guitar riffs entwined with mysterious, ethereal vocals, sung in Hebrew, garnered attention and playlistings from the likes of acclaimed pianist, singer, and composer Hania Rani, and Spotify’s editorial team.

Rasco’s hypnotic guitar and vocal-heavy sound have earned the group coveted opportunities to share the spotlight on stage alongside global psych bands such as Altin Gun, Boom Pam, and Messer Chups. The trio’s musical journey has taken them on tour in Germany and led to their billing on Cologne's famed c/o pop Festival, solidifying their place in the contemporary psych and surf rock scene.

'Dmaot' (Tears) represents a significant evolution from Rasco's debut, showcasing a darker, and denser side with a shift towards the shoegazing sounds of the '80s. The album, produced by multi-instrumentalist Uri Brauner Kinrot, leader of Boom Pam, pioneers of today’s resurgence in Middle Eastern surf rock and now labelmates on Batov Records, packs a heavier punch while maintaining Rasco's signature hypnotising power.

The album delves into dreamlike landscapes, capturing the essence of different scenarios. "Layla" conjures hazy night-drives into the mountains, whilst "Nahar/Rau" reflects prophecies in rivers, birds, and sand. "Suzi Suzuki" is an ode to Japan, and "Louisa" pays homage to Hamudi's Grandma. According to Eden, there's a prevalent theme of "nostalgia for something you've never experienced." Similarly, “Sleeping Sea”, hints at the omnipresent power of the sea, even at its stillest, with its brooding hammond chords and almost C&W guitar, paints memories of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Games”.

'Dmaot' also explores the dichotomy between life in the city and life in the countryside. Eden notes, "It's definitely something to define our songwriting by - the mix between electric heavier sounds and mystical, nature-inspired lyrics”.

Commencing with a chime-like guitar motif before the first heavy wave of shoegaze-like tremolo hits, “Layla” alternates with an almost Lynchian pre-chorus, whilst the song earworms its way to your brain. “Nahur Rau” almost screams “garage rock anthem” with it’s clap-accompanied beat group rhythm, and fuzz guitar riffs, but the energetic delivery is balanced by Rasco’s laidback style. It would be remiss to omit mention of the group’s incredible cover of Tears For Fears’ “Head Over Heels”, that seamlessly connects The Smiths, Julee Cruise and the B-52s, in the group’s own haunting style.

Rasco is a genre-defying trio that transcends the boundaries of surf rock and psych, creating a mesmerising blend of sound and emotion. 'Dmaot' is a testament to their evolution as artists and their ability to weave a tapestry of sonic landscapes into their own world.

Minru is the project of Caroline Blomqvist, a Swedish musician based in Berlin. Woven from light and shadow, the interplay of her folk and indie-rock blend appears from a personal space of finding life after death. On her debut LP »Liminality« she paints melody in soft tones, whispering secrets to navigate feelings of loss.

Built around winding layers of acoustic guitar, piano, and strings, Minru is a surprisingly uplifting and stirring testament to Blomqvist’s own suffering from the passing of someone close to her. Returning to Berlin from Sweden feelings of grief, confusion, and pain travelled with her, and these emotions prompted the journey both of and within the album, heard as a dreamlike actualisation of wandering lost between them. "I read that Carl Jung used the word "»Liminality«” to describe the psychological process of transitioning. I instantly felt seen; it reflected my own experience and the feelings I carried whilst making the album – a sense of the old certainties being gone, but the new not being quite there yet,” she says.

Defined as "the threshold separating one space from another" »Liminality« moves between feeling the ground beneath your feet fall away, fighting through the darkness and the doubt, and the emerging shades of hope and light as you painstakingly make peace with mortality and find yourself as a person again. "I am happy to have encapsulated this moment of time in sound," Blomqvist says, "it will always be there as a memory."

Flourishing from a preferred position of solitude, »Liminality« sees Blomqvist’s vision radiate with intensity from her home-based studio in Neukölln - a small, 2-room apartment with squeaky old wooden floors. Capturing the intimacy of the space, she recorded vocals and synth on gear partly borrowed from friends (to swiftly reunite it with its owners), and the songs flow with a stream of consciousness as feelings become entwined with melody. Time-restraint drew the process to a natural close, preventing Blomqvist from losing herself to experimentation. “Maybe I would have been stuck in »Liminality«, trying out sounds forever,” she suggests of the way ‘Into the well’s instrumental swims into a warm stream of synth pads. "It’s the cosiest moment on the album,” she says, “Cosy is a feeling I always strive for in life."

“This whole album is brilliant” – Jack Rollo (Time Is Away/NTS)

Gemma Blackshaw is a scholar, writer and curator currently Senior Tutor for research at the Royal College of Art. She has curated major exhibitions for galleries and museums in London (National Gallery; Wellcome Collection and Vienna (Leopold Museum; Wien Museum). This is her debut album.

Who Will You Love is the debut collaborative album from The Dengie Hundred with Gemma Blackshaw. In 2023, The Dengie Hundred co-produced with Japan Blues two albums for Demdike Stare’s DDS label, and released the solo album Tube on London’s Sagome imprint; their solo debut Brackenbank appeared on Ethbo in 2022, when they also contributed to World of Echo’s Thorn Valley compilation. Here, they collaborate with Gemma Blackshaw on an album of smudged dream pop. Gemma’s vocals were recorded from home at night on an old iPhone. Who Will You Love surfaces dark, desiring songs on the passion and exhaustion of looking after others. Emerging in simple rounds that expand with layers of field recordings, synths and drum machines, the songs include lullabies for baby boys and men, enchantments of wary lovers and spells of protection for a daughter. Moving between her children and her lover, the mother sings of the demands of daily intimacy (play with me, carry me, sing to me…) that echo through adult relationships too. Who Will You Love was mastered by Carim Clasmann, and mastered and cut for vinyl by Stefan Betke (aka Pole). Artist Alexis-Soul-Gray gifted Screen Memory of 2022, a painting on found paper, for the artwork. Mark Thomson designed the sleeve.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was a work so filled with ambition, yearning, and inner contradictions that it came to represent the condition of a nation itself. Yet, at its core, the slim novel tells a story about people and, more often than not, their inability to communicate and connect with one another — forever running on parallel tracks until tragedy finally twines them together. The color green (often in the form of the faded sodium lit dock of Daisy Buchanan) comes to represent longing and unrequited love in an era (the Roaring Twenties) of decadence and spiritual vacuousness. Green is Gatsby’s North Star, simultaneously pointing backward and forward through time toward some unattainable, impossibly balanced version of his own life.

Nick Waterhouse, a century later but once again in the ’20s, takes the color blue as his hue of choice on Promenade Blue. In Nick’s musical and lyrical world, blue is a refraction of his life and memories — shadowing a deep, spiritual San Francisco that fostered his musical vocabulary but has now been stamped out irrevocably; evoking the endless tours, marathon recording sessions, and highs and lows of success he’s experienced in his decade-long career; conjuring romances that were doomed, loves that lingered, and hope for future days of parity and partnership; summoning spirits of people who have gone but permeate his mind forever. That’s the world of Promenade Blue — one that is vivid and magnetic, buoyed by both light and density due to Nick’s newfound collaboration with producer Paul Butler (Michael Kiwanuka, Devendra Banhart). It’s not Gatsby’s New York in the 1920s, it’s Waterhouse’s California in the 2020s. Nick makes that crystal clear throughout the record but particularly on “Santa Ana (1986),” where he wryly sings, “Not from New York / And I never was / I’m from California.” With that, he answers all questions about place and setting…but as anyone who’s ever listened to a Waterhouse record knows: time, though clearly pegged to the dawn of this new decade, is a more malleable concept. Where he is is clear. When he is varies.

We can try as hard as we can to make sense of Promenade Blue, but in reality, context isn’t really needed because the music on the album is so damn magnificent. In no uncertain terms, it represents Waterhouse’s finest hour as a writer and bandleader — leveraging the musical partnerships he has built over many years to put something forth that is so fully realized and felt that it sparkles beatifically, reverberating with energy, heart, creativity, and vibe from start to finish. Nowhere is this more evident than on the album’s opening track, “Place Names,” perhaps the most remarkable song in the Waterhouse catalogue.

The tune is a pocket symphony, à la Spector and Wilson, with winding piano lines locking puzzle-like into a whining, weeping string arrangement courtesy of musical blood brother J.B. Flatt. A small cadre of women backing vocalists shout “Never!” and Nick replies “I never cry on cold days / I never mind a trip on the freeway / Because it’s what I know / Never really set for the big change / Learn to let things go / And say blow wind, blow.” The freeways between LA and San Francisco; the memory of spending a teenaged evening in the Vesuvio Café, which looms over the entrance of City Lights Books; the wind ripping through you on a foggy Bay Area morning, cutting into your bones; the pride one takes in his hometown; the distinct life that he has made (or that has made him) — it’s all here in “Place Names” and, honestly, if the album were to end with this one song, Waterhouse would’ve done his service to the 2020s in terms of musical creativity and vitality. Thankfully for listeners, it’s just the beginning.

The album twists and turns from the opening to the close — from swinging, sashaying jazz and blues (“Spanish Look”) to jittering, crystalline doo wop (“Very Blue”) and pure, loose, languid mood music with just a hint of Mulatu Astatke’s Ethiopian modal magic (“Promène Blue”). Most striking, perhaps, is the use of men’s voices as a backing texture, bringing an unexpected thematic unity to many of the songs. Lower-than-low gospel chants and refrains lend both energy and emotional weight to these pieces, conjuring a whole new mythic world for Nick’s compositions. This is a statement album, one to get lost in and rediscover over and over again.

In the Waterhouse catalogue, “Promenade Blue” represents rebirth and reinvigoration as well as a clarity of purpose that elevates it and may one day set it apart as something resembling a magnum opus. It’s his ‘Gatsby’ and it’s also his way of reintroducing himself to a fanbase that has grown by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. On this record, he paints a mythic picture of his own life — lost in confusion, grating against time, overheated by false memories, being baptized by nostalgia and a vision of the future that is paradoxically both dark and apocalyptic and sparkling with promise. Sounds a lot like America in the 20s to me. Which 20s though? Which color — green or blue? Which author? Try to figure it out for yourself:

“You were smiling at me / Hanging languidly / On your car door window / Very blue / Very green / The ocean breeze / And shuffling trees / Pacific seas.”

“And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning——

So, we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Limited Edition Crystal Vinyl Though most debuts are the culmination of a lifetime of influences and experiences, few artists succeed in mapping their musical journey quite as vividly as Baba Ali has on Memory Device. Tracing his Nigerian heritage, an adolescence absorbing No Wave and the hip hop on NYC's Hot 97, time immersed in the techno scene in Berlin, and the experimental punk spirit of his current base in London, Memory Device is an enthralling introduction to a musician who resolutely defies pigeonholing.

Synthwave. Darkwave. Silhouettes is a strong debut album that captures the shifting perspectives of its five-year writing period, and the emergence of Yama Uba’s uniquely crafted sound. With Akiko Sampson's charismatic vocals and rumbling bass combined with Winter Zora's sweeping guitar and saxophone soaring over velvet synthesizers and synthpop beats, Yama Uba makes several nods to their post-punk and darkwave predecessors while creating a sound entirely their own. Throughout each track, Yama Uba emerges as a songwriting unit able to capture the complexities of the human spirit, as fragile as it is powerful, as it experiences its own evolution. States Sampson, ‘‘As a whole, Silhouettes is about personal transformation and self-discovery, and is a reckoning with the power of time.”

"Yama Uba’s modern-yet-nostalgic sound plays beautifully into the emotional cadences of Silhouettes, reflecting on personal growth and transformation with the cutting insight of the hard-won wisdom that can only come with age. The band’s nods to earlier darkwave movements evoke past eras and distant memories, but Sampson’s powerful lyrics and no-holds-barred delivery remind us that some wounds don’t heal with time, even as they make us stronger."

Irgendwo zwischen Planet Punk, Milchstraße Retro-Pop, Mikrokosmos New Wave und Hinterwelt Thüringen be

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.”

After the worldwide success of their first album Puzzle (1999), which sold over 200,000 copies and went gold in Japan, Xavier Boyer (vocals, guitars), Pedro Resende (bass), Médéric Gontier (guitars) & Sylvain Marchand (drums) reunited with producer Andy Chase to record the follow-up, Wallpaper for the Soul, in New York City. Starting in November 2001 at Stratosphere Sound, the prolific sessions gave birth to twenty tracks, twelve of which appeared on the original tracklist. The eight outtakes were compiled on the mini albums A Piece of Sunshine (2003) & Extra Pieces of Sunshine (2004). This new vinyl edition will be the first time all these songs appear together. Almost 20 years on, Wfts is a tour de force of contemporary songwriting with obvious nods to the past somehow revisited in a timeless fashion. Tahiti 80’s second effort can also be seen as an alternative and more sophisticated snapshot of an era often associated with the rebirth of rock (The White Stripes, The Strokes…). This set of songs also established them as stalwarts of the Post French Touch cannon, showcasing both their ability to write catchy songs and their knack for mélanges & experimentation. 1,000 Times or The Train are unique examples of blue-eyed soul augmented with French flair (« Prefab Sprout as produced by Thomas Bangalter » suggested Uncut which listed Wfts in their Top Ten’s albums of 2003). Listen to Don’t Look Below today, and ask yourself who was mixing Destiny’s Child with My Bloody Valentine in 2001? Delicate numbers like Open Book or live favorite Better Days Will Come both demonstrate T80’s songwriting skills and their innate sense of melancholia. Listening back to Wfts today, one cannot help but think of it as an album recorded in a state-of-the-art fashion. All four members would typically perform together in the same room. Basic takes were printed on a 24-track analog tape machine and then bounced onto a computer for editing. A fine example of this method is the title track itself. Originally written on acoustic guitar, Wallpaper … is the result of three eight minutes synthesizer jams pieced together. The Frenchmen were keen to try out multitude of ideas and had developed a taste for experimentation. The sessions also coincide with a rich outburst of creativity from a band on top of their game after several months of touring around the world. Another typical Wfts characteristic is Richard Hewson’s orchestration. Veteran string arranger, famous for arranging The Beatles’ The Long And Winding Road or writing RAH Band’s ‘80s classic Clouds Across The Moon Hewson gave the songs a sweeping orchestral touch. Strings, Horns & woodwinds were all performed at the now defunct Olympic Studios in London. Urban Soul Orchestra, a 24-piece ensemble who played on Oasis’ or Spice Girls’ hits can be heard on five songs: the opening trilogy Wallpaper…, 1,000 Times and The Other Side, then on the Northern Soul revival Soul Deep and lastly on the album’s closer Memories Of The Past. Rouen’s most famous four-piece, now relocated in a house on France’s North West Coast, in the quiet seaside town of Étretat, added more bells & whistles and resumed production on the songs. With one last transatlantic leap during the summer of 2002, the boys flew to Portland, Oregon to attend the mixing sessions held by sound wizard Tony Lash (Elliott Smith, The Dandy Warhols…). Suggested by Sub Pop’s craftsman Eric Matthews, also a guest on trumpet and keyboards, Lash would later become a major collaborator on Tahiti 80’s subsequent albums. In the meantime, Laurent Fétis, the designer behind Puzzle’s iconic artwork, had started working with artist Elisabeth Arkhipoff on a set of nostalgic photographs transfigured with a soft air-bush technique. Those visuals, like their predecessors, have since become an inseparable companion to Tahiti 80’s music. Many musical fashions and flavors of the month have come and gone, but twenty years after its release, Wfts still sounds fresh and relevant. And always forward-looking, Tahiti 80 is currently wrapping up the recording of their eighth album, to be released in early 2022.

After the worldwide success of their first album Puzzle (1999), which sold over 200,000 copies and went gold in Japan, Xavier Boyer (vocals, guitars), Pedro Resende (bass), Médéric Gontier (guitars) & Sylvain Marchand (drums) reunited with producer Andy Chase to record the follow-up, Wallpaper for the Soul, in New York City. Starting in November 2001 at Stratosphere Sound, the prolific sessions gave birth to twenty tracks, twelve of which appeared on the original tracklist. The eight outtakes were compiled on the mini albums A Piece of Sunshine (2003) & Extra Pieces of Sunshine (2004). This new vinyl edition will be the first time all these songs appear together. Almost 20 years on, Wfts is a tour de force of contemporary songwriting with obvious nods to the past somehow revisited in a timeless fashion. Tahiti 80’s second effort can also be seen as an alternative and more sophisticated snapshot of an era often associated with the rebirth of rock (The White Stripes, The Strokes…). This set of songs also established them as stalwarts of the Post French Touch cannon, showcasing both their ability to write catchy songs and their knack for mélanges & experimentation. 1,000 Times or The Train are unique examples of blue-eyed soul augmented with French flair (« Prefab Sprout as produced by Thomas Bangalter » suggested Uncut which listed Wfts in their Top Ten’s albums of 2003). Listen to Don’t Look Below today, and ask yourself who was mixing Destiny’s Child with My Bloody Valentine in 2001? Delicate numbers like Open Book or live favorite Better Days Will Come both demonstrate T80’s songwriting skills and their innate sense of melancholia. Listening back to Wfts today, one cannot help but think of it as an album recorded in a state-of-the-art fashion. All four members would typically perform together in the same room. Basic takes were printed on a 24-track analog tape machine and then bounced onto a computer for editing. A fine example of this method is the title track itself. Originally written on acoustic guitar, Wallpaper … is the result of three eight minutes synthesizer jams pieced together. The Frenchmen were keen to try out multitude of ideas and had developed a taste for experimentation. The sessions also coincide with a rich outburst of creativity from a band on top of their game after several months of touring around the world. Another typical Wfts characteristic is Richard Hewson’s orchestration. Veteran string arranger, famous for arranging The Beatles’ The Long And Winding Road or writing RAH Band’s ‘80s classic Clouds Across The Moon Hewson gave the songs a sweeping orchestral touch. Strings, Horns & woodwinds were all performed at the now defunct Olympic Studios in London. Urban Soul Orchestra, a 24-piece ensemble who played on Oasis’ or Spice Girls’ hits can be heard on five songs: the opening trilogy Wallpaper…, 1,000 Times and The Other Side, then on the Northern Soul revival Soul Deep and lastly on the album’s closer Memories Of The Past. Rouen’s most famous four-piece, now relocated in a house on France’s North West Coast, in the quiet seaside town of Étretat, added more bells & whistles and resumed production on the songs. With one last transatlantic leap during the summer of 2002, the boys flew to Portland, Oregon to attend the mixing sessions held by sound wizard Tony Lash (Elliott Smith, The Dandy Warhols…). Suggested by Sub Pop’s craftsman Eric Matthews, also a guest on trumpet and keyboards, Lash would later become a major collaborator on Tahiti 80’s subsequent albums. In the meantime, Laurent Fétis, the designer behind Puzzle’s iconic artwork, had started working with artist Elisabeth Arkhipoff on a set of nostalgic photographs transfigured with a soft air-bush technique. Those visuals, like their predecessors, have since become an inseparable companion to Tahiti 80’s music. Many musical fashions and flavors of the month have come and gone, but twenty years after its release, Wfts still sounds fresh and relevant. And always forward-looking, Tahiti 80 is currently wrapping up the recording of their eighth album, to be released in early 2022.

A download code is included.

‘Jim, I’m Still Here’ is the second album from James Righton under his own name; produced by David & Stephen Dewaele of Soulwax and released on their label DEEWEE, the album follows The Performer released in 2020. James’ musical past is well documented; as the frontman of the genre inventing Klaxons, he helped create a revolution in British music and spawned a youth subculture. ‘Jim, I’m Still Here’ is a captivating meditation on the artists experience of the pandemic as James looks to conceptualize the myriad of emotions and events into a fascinating third person narrative. One of the album tracks features Benny Andersson from Swedish pop legendary band ABBA, with whom James has been working on putting together their new live band.

"I wrote this record during the first few months of the pandemic. At the time I wasn’t intending to make any music. I’d just released ‘The Performer’ on what turned out to be the first week of lockdown. The outside world shut down and I was busy being Dad. Then. I started making notes on my phone. Just words. In moments stolen from family life I’d head downstairs to my garage studio and put the words to music. When I was happy with a song I’d send it to Dave and Stef. Demos and Pro Tools sessions were passed back and forth between my home studio and the Deewee studio in Ghent. I was nervous about their response to the music I was making. It was personal, raw: unlike anything I’d ever written before. A conversation with the outside world during these times of isolation. For the most part my life was centred on the domestic. Getting to spend so much time with my family was a blessing. Making music was my play time. Isolation opened me to memories and allowed me to dream of the future. As the outside world tried to adapt to the pandemic I was asked more and more to promote ‘The Performer’ in live stream concerts on various platforms. As the pandemic went on, demands on production increased (more camera angles, better lighting, higher quality audio recordings). It became a one man show. I’d head downstairs to my garage, put on my Gucci suit, comb my hair and become someone else. Jim. Jim the deluded rock star, living out his fantasies from the confines of his garage. A lonely stardom. And yet, Jim was part me. He made me feel like I still existed. Jim became the centre of the new album. Dave, Stef and I worked into the sessions over the following months. It was always exciting to see where they would take my initial demos. The working method and the restrictions of making music together but in separate spaces, separate countries shaped the sound and feel of the record.
I won’t make another record like this again”.James/Jim

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.”

At once a hazy relic and a digital snapshot of the human experience, Your Day Will Come is the debut album from Chanel Beads, arriving April 19 via Jagjaguwar. The remarkable project announces the arrival of New York-based musician Shane Lavers as a new force in experimental music, capturing the many contradictions of modern existence and the strange infiniteness of the digital world. The songs feel like a memory in which you can't distinguish between what actually happened or what was a false reproduction in your mind - although the burning emotion remains intact. Lavers pushed himself to strip his own sense of ego from “Your Day Will Come”. Throughout, Lavers weaves in contributions from his live bandmates, singer-songwriter Maya McGrory (Colle) and experimental instrumentalist Zachary Paul, who offer their own layers of feeling. As McGrory offers a more full-bodied tone and Lavers often sings with his higher-pitched head voice, the two collaborators meet in the middle; it's an intermingling of identities or a subconscious pining for androgyny. In this slippery space, different perspectives merge together, and there's a sense of empathy and humility that arises from the blending of these voices. These days, Chanel Beads live shows see all three performers weaving together in absolute catharsis. This catharsis is pushed to its peak on "Idea June," which sees McGrory taking over lead vocals to project Lavers' lyrics. As McGrory sings, "The waves wash onto my shore," in a voice that's both earnest and digitally processed, it's as though she's speaking as a separate embodiment of Lavers. In under two minutes, the track of clunky acoustic guitar and gutting strings lands somewhere between detachment and kinship. Similar to the off-kilter structure of "Police Scanner," these songs are strangely affecting in their unfinished and liminal forms. Lavers, who is drawn to poor MP3 rips and transitional moments in DJ mixes, knows that these inexact musical artifacts evoke human imperfection. The title of Your Day Will Come could be read as a promise of the arrival of good karma, or it could be a reminder of one's mortality, said out of spite. Yet as Lavers unpacks the haunting feelings of the past that he must release in order to move into his future, he reminds us that grief and hope might be closer than they seem to the naked eye.

A download code is included.

The second release of Michael Mayer’s IMARA imprint – the self-titled debut by Juliana Martínez, recording as Servicio al Cliente – is exactly the kind of unexpected and quixotic experience you’d want from a label run by a core member of the Kompakt family. In its six gorgeous songs, Martínez teases out both joy and melancholy, her sweet pop melodies set against a backdrop of intimate, gentle, yet beautifully brave arrangements for beats and electronics.

Now based in Berlin, Martínez grew up in Colombia, the daughter of a Colombian mother and Uruguayan father, both psychiatric doctors, from whom she learned a thing or two about the joys of creativity: “My mother especially believed music had no boundaries in what it can do for your brain and soul. Like sort of what sport does to your body.” Martínez attended an all-girl Catholic school, but she also took private music lessons, from which she was expelled “since I composed melodies instead of rehearsing.” In retrospect, this experience reads like a sign of things to come.

After studying law at university, including postgraduate studies in Spain, Martínez decided to change things up: she’d already been playing in a group called Las Palabras Correctas (The Right Words), and eventually found herself embedded in a community of friendship with other artists who “always made songs and art and shared with each other in what we called the ‘Ambassadors of Colombian Music,’ a name taken from a popular Colombian TV show. These friends kept me involved and interested in my keyboards and songs.”

The lovely songs on Servicio al Cliente came to Michael Mayer via an unsolicited demo – “there was no Soundcloud or Dropbox link,” he recalls, “but a beautifully designed website containing an mp3 player. The slightly surreal artwork in combination with Servicio al Cliente’s heartwarming, somehow naive music instantly broke my heart.” There is indeed something deeply moving about these songs, possessed as they are of an uncanny charm, full of ticking rhythm patterns, levitating organ drones and gentle, luscious keyboard patterns. Above it all, Martínez’s voice sails through the air, her delightful Sprechstimme filled with offhand confidence. “It sounds like something that I’ve always known,” Mayer marvels, “like an old forgotten friend or a childhood memory that pops up in a dream.”

Servicio al Cliente reaches us fully formed, the complexities of Colombian life etched deep within its DNA. Its surface sweetness, the sensual sashay and sway of melodies like “La mujer que bailó con el diablo” or the opening “Romántico”, betrays a deeper sense of longing that inhabits the songs’ folds, evidence of Martínez’s sharp, smart awareness of the work of memory, a kind of happy-sad splendor. “I feel my music is full of a South American nostalgia,” she agrees, “and is a try to recall a wider understanding of reality which Colombia forces you to have. A bittersweet irony where most things are simply possible. I try (for) my music to sound like this feeling.” And indeed, it was in a moment of great loss and sadness that Martínez decided to share her music: “It was only when my father passed away that I pushed myself to write to Michael with my songs.”

“And Michael replied back.

Danger Mouse protégé Baba Ali releases his double A-side 7" "Living It Up / Black & Blue" via Zen F.C., the label run by Yard Act members James Smith and Ryan Needham. It's the first new music since Baba Ali's much heralded Memphis Industries debut LP, 2021's Memory Device.

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.”

Drum-machine soul, funk, disco and boogie from Buffalo, NY. Rare 7" singles and previously unreleased tracks presented as a complete album. In the early 70s, Jessie Key and Sylvester Cleary - two passionate idealists living in Buffalo, New York - formed a close friendship based on a mutual mission to better their city. The Attica State Prison Riot of 1971 was a burning memory, and the Arthur vs. Nyquist lawsuit - brought against the City of Buffalo for creating and maintaining a racially segregated school system - was on the docket. Key was once a cotton-laborer in Mississippi, who journeyed north for school where he met his kindred spirit, Cleary. The two struck up an intense friendship, bought a drum machine and recorded their first 45, "A Man," a paean to self-actualization and Black American empowerment, which they custom pressed and issued privately. Dozens of recordings followed over a decade long span, issued on local labels and warehoused on cassette tapes. Perennial optimists, Key & Cleary tried any - perhaps every! - path they could demarcate in hopes of forwarding their agenda of self-effected, positive change. They formed Buffalo’s first minority-owned construction company, opened a health food restaurant in a building previously occupied by a fast food chain, and even concocted a candy bar called "The Buffalo Treat," which they manufactured and sold locally. Eventually they started their own label, Buffalo’s Reflection. On it they released their masterpiece, "What It Takes To Live," a sought-after disco and Northern Soul classic, which previously appeared on Now-Again”s Soul Cal anthology. This album collates the breadth of Key & Cleary’s recordings from 1970 until the mid 1980s, both with songs issued on rare 7" singles and previously unreleased. It presents a conjoined musical vision and tells the story of a duo years ahead of their time, both musically and culturally. Love Is The Way was their ethos - their goal was to enlighten humanity and to bend history in a more loving direction through communion.

Oliver Sim didn't actually have the desire to follow in the footsteps of his The xx bandmates Romy Madley Croft and Jamie Smith and start a solo project. Nor did he think he really had the courage to do so. However, when he was working with Jamie xx on a track called "Romance with a Memory," the latter said, "I think you should do a full record." And that was the beginning of the long and painful birth of "Hideous Bastard", Oliver Sim's solo debut album, which will be released on Young on 09.09.22. "For almost three years I asked myself questions and was searching for answers while writing," Sim describes the process of creating the album. The revelation of his HIV disease thematically haunts the record, as it has always overshadowed his life. In that first song, "Hideous," Sim wonders if his disarming honesty will set him free. The hope and tension are reflected in the musical environment he has created with his friend Jamie xx. Oliver began writing and recording songs at home in London, inspired by his fondness for horror films and his own life, tackling themes of fear and shame through the lens of a queer man in his thirties. A few months later, he returned to Jamie with a collection of demos, and the two began producing them together. He enlisted the help of his lifelong hero and current friend Jimmy Somerville, among others, to put the finishing touches on the album, and also spoke with Elton John about his music. Then it was up to French director Yann Gonzales to create a visual world with the short film "Hideous." The film will premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival. "Hideous Bastard" has become an audiovisual event that Oliver Sim would never have thought himself capable of in the beginning, but now the result is all the more impressive.

JE Liquide by Ruppert Pupkin is a new journey with 11 imaginative landscapes.Roadtrip inside an intimate or collective memory. Each song is available on a postcard that invites us to live a pop experience with unique sounds: acoustic ballad, electronic music, coldwave, folk loops, synthetic dives.Songs in French and English in this new album which oscillates between lightness and abysses. It dances, it bumps, it floats, it always bounces. Liquidate. Moving.Je Liquide is an ode to the freedom to say everything and embody everything. To the life that flows and overflows. Be multiple and let yourself go to the dance.

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.

Gruff Rhys is releasing his new album “Seeking New Gods” on 21st May 2021. “Seeking New Gods” was recorded following a US tour with his band and mixed in LA with superstar producer Mario C (Beastie Boys).

The typically beautiful art direction is by Mark James and the LP features a Mountain Die Cut envelope-style sleeve with a Belly Band and is pressed on dark green vinyl.

The album concept was originally driven to be the biography of a mountain, Mount Paektu (an East Asian active volcano). However, as Gruff’s writing began to reflect on the inhuman timescale of a peak’s existence and the intimate features that bring it to mythological life, both the songs and the mountain became more and more personal.

“The album is about people and the civilisations, and the spaces people inhabit over periods of time. How people come and go but the geology sticks around and changes more slowly. I think it’s about memory and time,” he suggests of Seeking New Gods’ meaning. “It’s still a biography of a mountain, but now it’s a Mount Paektu of the mind. You won’t learn much about the real mountain from listening to this record but you will feel something, hopefully.”- Gruff Rhys

There is something magical about the synergy of the voices of a couple; they gel, they interweave, they lift each other. Remember classic duets sung by partners over the years; so much is said, more than just words. 'Warm You' is the collaboration between Mandaworld (aka Amanda Hicks) and partner Matthew Tavares (aka Matty of Badbadnotgood fame). It is a song about your lover getting out of bed in the middle of the night because they can't sleep and you telling them to come back to where it’s warm and safe and they’re loved. It was written in their Montreal apartment a few months after they moved in. Matty described the writing process "We just spontaneously decided to make music, and the idea came out pretty much immediately. I laid down some guitar and then Amanda played the synth line over it and I edited the guitar so the timing was more interesting. We worked on it for a few days getting the chorus and the verses to feel right and, for the most part, everything fell into place super intuitively. Amanda wrote the lyrics." This heartfelt, dream-pop song, with a mellow shoe-gaze sensibility, lets the pair trade verses whilst the instrumentation builds to a crescendo and the duo's voices finally combine. Lush, passionate and personal, a beautiful song, rich in evocative memories. On the ‘B-side’, Mandaworld takes centre stage. 'Spoonfeed' is a spacey synth bass-led ambient ballad with smokey hazy vocals, calming like a bubble bath. Produced with a timeless quality, the song leaves you with a sense of tranquility and a feeling of being submerged underwater. Like all the best music this 7" is deeply personal, yet these are universal themes that are relatable to any listener as they recognise their own experiences within the mood of the songs.

Flowers’ is an homage to the journey of my first love, the patience it requires, and the pivotal moment I met my wife. It reflects on our memories and tells the story of the comfort I feel in that relationship.” This new single from Jordan Rakei showcases his affecting vocal and ability to reveal his truest feelings, wrapped in his captivating production.

By Night it’s the debut EP of Scerida, a solo project of musician and singer-songwriter Daniela Resconi, and a perfect match for the sound that the new imprint intends to represent. By Night celebrates the dark hours as magical and mesmerizing, even when mysterious or dangerous.It evokes images and scenarios cinematically – a taxi passing by and fading into the distance, ice-cold Martinis during a party, whirlwinds of emotion, psychedelic sunrises and neon sunsets – through a stream of consciousness filled with noir-inflected pop, lo-fi vibes, slow hypnotic rhythms, suspended grooves and swelling atmospheres.

Bézier returns to Dark Entries with Valencia, a six track rumination on memory, geography, and transmutation. Multi-instrumentalist Robert Yang’s Bézier project has appeared on Dark Entries many times over the last decade, most recently with the 2018 LP Parler Musique. Says Yang, “What started as a project to investigate the love of the sound and scenery while living in San Francisco quickly developed into a passionate search for interlocking melodies and driving rhythms.” On Valencia, Bézier invokes twinned places. The Valencia Street of San Francisco is channeled, which was the center of the city’s vibrant new wave scene in the 1980s. But also echoed is Valencia, Spain, and La Ruta del Bakalao aka La Ruta Destroy, the Spanish clubbing scene throughout the 80s and 90s famed for its aggressive and synthetic sounds. Valencia is a darker record for Yang, exploring themes of submission and catharsis with nods to SF’s gay leather bars of the 70s and 80s. The high BPM salvos of “Valencia” and “Scrupulous” capture the frantic energy of Bakalao and Valencian wave acts like Última Emoción. Elsewhere Yang mines the dreamy space disco and Hi-NRG sounds they’re known for, like on the brooding “Past the Marshes” or the anthemic “Reservoir”, which features their partner Len.Leo on vocals. Bézier deftly navigates past and present, light and dark, pain and pleasure, the stasis of memory and the flux of time. Valencia was mastered by Alex Michalski, with EQ for vinyl done by George Horn. Gwenaël Rattke designed the sleeve, which features an 80’s punk zine-esque geometric grid pattern mirroring San Francisco street maps. Also included is a 5x7 postcard with notes.

The artist now known as Danz CM has a strong following in Japan, and P-vine has for a long time heralded her synth-lab experiments in pop having released her debut Scientific Experience back in 2012. On this limited 7” release is a chance to take a trip down memory lane with two pulsating cuts from the electro-wired cybernetic record. On the a-side is “Running,” a hypnotic track that would later power the engine of a Lexus global ad campaign, and on the b-side is “Grand Junction,” a throwback to 80s new wave records through the lens of sci-fi machinery.

Bay Area DIY pop duo Loveshadow join up with Dark Entries to release II, their sophomore LP. Anya Prisk and Izaak Schlossman met in Oakland in 2016, bonded over their love of ‘80s sounds and immediately began building their musical world with lush synths, funky basslines, and irresistible hooks. The past is always in their palette, but Loveshadow’s nostalgia doesn’t trace to any single locus; it’s more like a cloud, and it’s through this haze that they breathe new life into the music they love. Their debut album was released in 2021 on Music from Memory to acclaim. II presents a more subtle and refined statement from the band - laser-focused on the vaporous expanse. Album opener “Last Room” saunters with the confidence of Sade, while “Earthen Track” feels like Kate Bush covering a forgotten city pop anthem. The album is largely focused on club-friendly material, but mellower pieces like “Winter’s Door” and “Mirage” are sophisticated stand-outs that would make Ryuchi Sakamoto proud. Italo funk groover “Power Melts Away” closes out the album by upping the energy into fist-pumping territory. Anya’s lyrics on II use the unreality of dreams as a lens to examine the realities of change and personal growth; illusions made material. Loveshadow elegantly smear the lines between past and present, pop and avant, immanent and transcendent.

In 2022, Twice finally celebrated the 5th anniversary of their debut in Japan! Twice, who have prepared many thanks and gifts for their fans, will release the analogue version of Twice Japan 4th Album "Celebrate" this winter, a much talked about work to celebrate the 5th anniversary of their Japanese debut in a grand way. The memorial piece will be a limited-quantity production disc!

Pictureplane has made his name circling the outer limits of pop culture in several mediums. The Brooklyn-based artist's gallery works, shown both in the U.S. and abroad, collide familiar with fringe and hard lines with visceral spatter. His Alien Body clothing line serves up a stylized study of symbology, the occult, and societal decay. And his music—beautiful yet heavy, swirling wild strains of industrial dance, gothic hip-hop, and emotive New Age—treats electronics not as artificial, but as extensions of our analog selves. After a decade thrashing the status quo, Egedy is not only kin to makers of lovely dark music everywhere, but a vital player in the global DIY community. He is a proud outsider, yes, but his tribe is legion and ever-growing. In 2011, Pictureplane's Thee Physical arrived, marking a major leap forward. Egedy's voice was suddenly dripping sex at the forefront of a lush synthscape, while cuts like "Trancegender" and "Breath Work" explored the human body with gender-dissolving aplomb. He moved to Brooklyn in 2012 in order to stoke alt-rave culture from a more powerful vantage before teaming up with fabled indie-rap imprint Anticon for Technomancer (2015), an LP about the blurring line between ourselves and our machines. Along the way, Egedy's toured with everyone from Crystal Castles and Major Lazer to the Faint and Gang of Four. He has remixed Lil B; been remixed by Grimes; collaborated with bands (Prayers) and SoundCloud stars (Goth Boi Clique)

Fronted by singer-songwriter-guitarist Keeley Moss, Dublin dreampop act Keeley seemingly shot out of nowhere last June with the anthemic song "The Glitter and the Glue", a song dedicated to the memory of murdered German tourist Inga-Maria Hauser in Northern Ireland in 1988. However, Keeley herself had been steadfastly self-promoting in Ireland since late 2020 when she self-released the debut single 'Last Words', topping Newstalk FM's airplay chart, getting playlisted by RTE Radio 1 and 8Radio, and attracting support from radio in multiple countries. Picked by legendary broadcaster Tom Dunne as one of his 'Top Tracks of 2020', it was listed at #12 in Radio Nova's 'Top 15 Irish Songs of 2020' and, upon its release, she became the subject of full-page articles in the Belfast Telegraph and Derry Post newspapers, a frankly unheard-of feat for an indie artist on their debut single. Now one of the most played new artists on Irish radio, Dimple Discs re-issued her tracks in June 2021 and the response from global press, radio and fans of dreampop/neo-psych/nu-gaze music has grown rapidly ever since. She has gained supporters at BBC 6Music and other BBC specialty shows as well as Internet radio in the UK and around the world. Having recently played sold-out shows in Dublin and London, Keeley will be touring Ireland, UK and Europe throughout 2022 in the lead-up to her long-awaited debut album.

A new wave of indiepop is emerging in the UK, and Panic Pocket are at the forefront of it. Playful, tuneful, sardonic and sassy, Sophie and Natalie have been friends since childhood, know each other’s secrets - and probably know a few of yours too.

Formed in 2017, Panic Pocket soon became a DIY sensation, releasing debut EP Never Gonna Happen, with Reckless Yes in 2019. Their debut album has found a new home.

Amelia and Rob at Skep Wax Records fell in love with the mixture of punk-grrrl attitude and songwriting skill: “They reminded us of all our favourite bands rolled into one. Panic Pocket know how to turn anger and humour into brilliant pop songs.” Panic Pocket will be the main support band at Heavenly’s sell-out London shows in May.

Many of Mad Half Hour’s 10 indie-pop anthems are concerned with being at odds with life's accepted milestones, feeling alienated from the people you thought wanted the same things as you, while trying to forge your own path. So the top-down janglepop of ‘Boyfriend’ reflects on what happens when your best friend finds love…and insists on bringing it everywhere, and ‘Get Me’ answers claustrophobic questions about ‘settling down’ with a not-so-silent scream over some deliciously dirty riffs.

But Panic Pocket’s superpower is their sense of fun. On Mad Half Hour, you’re never more than a few seconds away from a monster hook, killer harmony or an acerbically witty turn of phrase worthy of the band’s heroes Aimee Mann or Liz Phair. From receiving a cryptic “frog emoji” from a long-forgotten one-night stand, to ‘Don’t Get Me Started’’s streetlit walk of shame “via Morrisons car park”, no memory is off-limits, no matter how painful.

If you want punkpop exuberance, lyrics that are so truthful they hurt, plus some very infectious tunes - then Mad Half Hour is exactly the soundtrack you need, right down to the minute.

A new standard that transcends time and generation. Good BYE APRIL's major label debut single produced by Tetsuji Hayashi for the Panam label is now available in 7inch analog format! The B-side features a cover of the classic "transit IN Summer", also composed and arranged by Tetsuji Hayashi.

Without following Fashion trends, Kicca only embraces styles that inspire her. Devilishly funky, definitely groovy, straightforward Disco, when all these subtly mix together that is when the magic happens! What’s her secret weapon? Her voice! Kicca conceals in her voice a real gem that she masters perfectly and with which she plays with sensually and with great power. It is the reflection of her soul. Soul music is in fact the basis from which she started all those years ago - music from the soul! And to express it she has surrounded herself with vintage sounds tinted with 70s colours and an irresistible groove. Bass line and guitar never skipping a beat, old school keyboards and organ sounds, all punctuated by vigorous and chiseled brass, and at this point everything becomes possible! Kicca writes all her songs with pianist Oscar Marchioni, singing in English, French, Italian … regardless of the fine wine, it will get you drunk on it! Energy and joy to get you through today’s world and pick-out your best memories. Kicca succeeds in the ever popular return to the future. The main road to the happiness of sharing and to togetherness, all with great sensuality. See you on the dance floor!

With silent film cinematic aesthetics imbued with unique and 21st-century flair, Ukranian Coldwave Duo The Glass Beads invoke sorrowful sounds, both strange and sensual, on their debut LP Therapy, melancholic life stories focused on the search and struggle of trying to find your way as an individual way and to accept yourself. These themes explored on the record are filled with pain and anger as well as hope. The Glass Beads feature the talents of musicians Mark Arshynnikov and Morin Sane, a pair of musicians whose Slavic features construct an appearance that is altogether commanding, beautiful and timelessly Gothic, yet gracefully tempered with a modern and tasteful style woven between two eras of the centennial: 1920, and now. In collaboration, Mark and Morin conjure melodies that reverberate like footsteps through the hallways of an abandoned house, haunted by memories of love, sickness, and death. Their melodic music is interwoven with sighing keys, palpitating drum machines, sauntering basslines, and disaffected vocals like an eastern european version of Velvet Underground chanteuse Nico. It has been 4 years since the two made their debut with “Going”, a song that would two years later make itself part of The Glass Beads’ 4 track debut EP Phobia issued on cassette via Squall Records. For that release, The Wave of Things spotlighted the pair in their Sounds of Ukraine episode, Describing them as a cross between Lebanon Hanover and Drunken C, and highlighted their mesmerizing video for the title track “Phobia” where a blindfold vocalist Morin Sane drifts amongst a field of sunflowers in stark black and white.

An ethereal & surrealist ambient-pop hybrid with nods to library music aesthetics and partly onomatopoeic vocals. All songs written, performed and produced by Sasha Vinogradova and Alina Anufrienko. Recorded in Garnet village, Dmitrovsky region, Russian Federation.

Remember you could be dreaming. Sinking or flying, sound-catching or singing. Witnessing a distant storm in silence, how it exposes purple clouds in unpredictable flashes. Hearing a submarine eruption and finding natal comfort in the warm, fragrant smoke that only wants to sheathe all your edges. The circus has left, only placards remain. And the snow. Look how the flakes sway to your feet without effort - any distance is misleading, illusory. There’s only dream and memory – the two wings of a bird that flaps with an ocean wave, blinks with an eye of a lighthouse. Fragile, you could be dreaming not alone, holding hands with the core of things. The molten core, like touching ice. You could be dreaming. Dreaming in perfect memories of shapes imperfect. Dreaming of the earth raining from the sky, of the wind inside the sea, of the lighthouse & the ship kissing, of exotic fishes in the bay of your ear. Everything is real. If you play. If you dare to ignore the margins. Echoes go on forever. They play with themselves in a stream of mirrors. Echoes of a forgotten language, of a language unwritten - a soothing, indifferent creole that reconciles feeling with understanding. Bathe in the fountain at the source of resonance. Bathe in the clouds on the eyes of intimate strangers passing. Disappear. Disappear and be seen, like the moonlit mist behind your eyes. And sway between hope and wisdom.

Well-versed in vintage vernaculars, Oakland-based producer/musician Mike Walti is about to return with his sophomore offering under the Organi moniker – as new album “Babylonia” follows 2020’s “Parlez-vous Français?,” a landmark in vibe acquisition ever since.

Wyldwood Studios is a portal. It’s a secret gateway to analog spheres. Cross the threshold and you’ll feel the difference: you can pick any ol’ time, any place, any tongue or vibe, in fact. Hit the dancefloor in 1967, feel that plushy loveseat in the early 70s. It’s a welcoming place where better, saner vibes are still within reach. Fueled, at least in part, by those long-classic 12”s on the walls – just imagine the sepia-tinted countenance of Melody Nelson alongside actual Birkin sans wig, right next to Shadow’s immortal crate diggers, forever blurred –, and channeled through ancient time travel devices such as the MCI 416b only to arrive on classic 2-inch tape (mm1000 aka Ol’ Bessy), it’s a haven for all things organic, for all things imbued with that warm élan. Built and run by Oakland’s own Mike Walti, countless artists from many different genres have felt that flair, creating sonic spheres and moving back and forth along the malleable axis that is space-time. Capturing magic.

Emerging from this unique portal back in 2020, Walti’s aka Organi’s first studio album was a stunning answer to its titular question – “Parlez-vous Français?” It was a soothing, somewhat psychedelic trip so magnétique and alluring that it immediately brought back those bits of Franglais you never knew you remembered. Whereas the debut LP indeed felt like a spontané voyage to the French Riviera ca. 1968, its follow-up “Babylonia” is so much more than linguistic confusion and ancient Akkadian Rhythms. Using that hidden portal near Alameda’s finest port to access all kinds of remote regions and sonic spheres, it’s super tight and feels, well, decent, even though, just like the ol’ Babylon, it’s full of surprising tongues and dreams, schemes and melodies.

“Where do we go from here?,” someone asks in opening “Organii-“ – all majestically cinematic boom bap, buoyant bass, sick strings. A fittingly massive opener that feels like cracking open a cold one after long weeks at work (that ecstatic “ahhhh”), it perfectly sets the tone for another half hour of pure time traveling, globe-spanning bliss. Whereas that certain prédilection pour all things French makes “La Rockette” so tempting and tantalizing (think MalMalNonBien), the sophomore album’s Berlin-based guest singer Nana Lacrima soon takes us elsewhere: title track “Babylonia” spins ever so softly, like a magic lantern, with images of dreamier Stones Throw funksters or Savath y Savalas looming over the steady flow of an arrangement that washes you clean like an ancient, unpolluted River Euphrates or Brazil’s actual Amazon. A sexy Portuguese-flavored anthem, occasional guest singer Alix Koliha also enters the scene to add yet another layer of French chic to this Brazilian landscape. Next, we’re back at the Riviera, but the “Italiano” version of it, splendido sunsets and bell towers in the distance, the ragazze laughing and shaking it up, perhaps even some Portofino Gin so you can really feel that “me ne batto il belin,” as your fingers align form some half-serious “ma che vuoi?”

Tim Maia-penned “Padre Cicero” (1970) deals with the stunning transformation of the titular hero – “De reverendo a lutador,” and what a soaring, sensual hook –, and Organi’s take on Elephant Memory’s “Old Man Willow” (now an “Old Man Waltz”) perfectly underlines what Walti’s Wyldwood endeavor is all about: Easy-Going Experimental Dream Pop, fueled by Gainsbourg, Broadcast, Stereolab, etc.

Later on, even though something seems to be tres complique in “Remembering Anna,” it all sounds carefree like a spontaneous Friday afternoon with a bottle of fine wine. Right before the outro, key album guest Yea-Ming Chen (of Yea-Ming & The Rumors) returns to the mic, adding her dark and dusky trademark timbre to melancholy anthem “Pictures Of Your Face”. Reminiscent of Nico and Trish (rip & rip), it’s a track that’s both dark and strangely propelling, hypnotic and hip-shaking.

A third generation Bay Area native, Mike Walti aka Organi has been running Wyldwood Studios in Oakland CA for some 15+ years (recording artists like Tommy Guerrero, Spelling, Why?, Latyrx, Del, Dan The Automator, and Big Freedia, to name but a few). A multi-instrumentalist who’s obviously in love with the 60s/70s, he loves to work with analog equipment (“We just love us some analog!” “Just listen to those relays purr…”). Recorded and mixed by Mike Walti at Wyldwood, “Babylonia” will be released on vinyl/digital by Alien Transistor.

The second release from the My Favorite Soul label is a 7-inch featuring singer Keyco. This ambitious project features Keyco's empowering vocals, recorded with a live band assembled once again by producer Chick-d.

Side A, titled ‘Watashi Jishin,’ is a cover of the track from Ayumi Ishida & Tin Pan Alley Family’s classic 1977 album *Our Connection*. The cover retains the original’s spoken word sections while infusing a touch of Latin funk into the sophisticated city pop vibes, giving the song a warmer feel. (It's also worth noting that a recent cover of "Bye Bye Jet" from the same album by Muro featuring Keyco remains fresh in memory.)

Side B, ‘I Am,’ is a cover of the hidden gem by neo-soul duo Kindred the Family Soul from their 2003 album “Surrender to Love”. This track features a soft and warm band arrangement, with standout contributions from Swing-o (of 45trio) on keys and Tsuyoshi Kosuga’s mellow guitar. However, the real highlight is the heartfelt harmonies shared by long-time collaborators Keyco and Mika Arisaka, whose gentle and beautiful vocals make this recording truly captivating.

"Limited to 300 copies. Okayama's 8-bit hardcore punk band Yahho has released their 1LP, 45rpm, 39-track ""Yahho no Tanoshimikata"" on analog!

Okayama's Yahho, who has played numerous legendary live shows at the All Senses Festival hosted by Juusangetsu/GEZAN, Meteo Night hosted by Less Than TV, and more, will release their first album "" Yahho no Tanoshimikata "" (4-disc set: 3 CDs + 1 DVD)in August 2023. Despite not being distributed nationwide, they sold hundreds of copies through their own live merchandise and their own online shop. And one year after the release, "" Yahho no Tanoshimikata "" is finally being released on analog for nationwide distribution! The vinyl version also includes two new songs not yet released on CD! Limited to 300 copies pressed, so hurry up! ----------------------------------------------------------- We have received comments from everyone regarding the release of the vinyl version of YAHHO's "" Yahho no Tanoshimikata ""! ----------------------------------------------------------- (Yahho) That's why it's fun, and that's why it's lonely. (Together with someone) That's why it's fun, and that's why it's lonely.

Asano (wetnap, GAME&chips) ----------------------------------------------------------- My image of Yahho is him stumbling around on his own over 8-bit sounds, and he's also a friend who often invites me out. He recently performed overseas. I think he's an artist who doesn't fit into a box. It's great to archive his work! He makes me feel free. Yahho of the World

Moto Kawabe ----------------------------------------------------------- The first album by Yahho, the greatest punk rocker born at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts, has finally been released on vinyl. Yahho is here to rewrite and update the view of Japanese punk history!

Kawakami Konosuke (Author of ""Punk no Keifugaku"") ----------------------------------------------------------- On ""How to Enjoy Yahho"" Hey, Yahho! Isn't this first album packed with the romanticism of Yahho, music, and love for friends? While laughing, I read the lyrics and it hits me hard, and there are various gradations of blue. Seriously, no matter what mood I'm in, Yahho always responds with the best Yahho at that time. He'll be stupid with me and get depressed with me. Yahho's Yahho is bottomless! Infinite! Look, just saying Yahho makes me feel like I'm floating. Then I hear Yahho! from far away. After that, I can jump really high. It's a dream to have this sound source become a record! Come a little closer, Yahho! Please keep shouting and letting us hear it to each other. I love you forever!

THE Guays Captain Ryosuke ----------------------------------------------------------- He may look ordinary, but he's a weirdo. I love Shintaro's way of life.

Goto(MASTERPEACE) ----------------------------------------------------------- Yahho Analog Record Release! I was asked to comment, but when I hear Yahho, it's just a nightmare.

Contrary to Hamai's appearance, Yahho's charm is its over-the-top performance and sound, but when they visited Miyazaki Prefecture on a live tour, this caused a disaster, and they were banned from both the live house they performed at and the bar where they had their after-party. Rumors about their performance and sound spread to the Chamber of Commerce, and they were banned from all live houses and bars in Miyazaki Prefecture, and on top of that, all the bands they played with that night were also banned, which was a nightmare-like bonus. The rumor spread like wildfire among the prefecture's residents, and if a hiker shouts ""Yahho"" at the top of a mountain, they are looked at with disdain and spat on, and they can't stand it anymore and rush down the mountain... It has developed into a situation like this.

Yahho, congratulations on the release of the analog record!

Hiroaki Sakai ----------------------------------------------------------- 「Don't Forget Youth Memories,Forever.」

Boredom is the reason why I'm constantly irritated. Boredom is also the reason why I'm constantly spacing out.

Of course, boredom is also the reason why any mathematical formula, no matter how important, slips in one ear and out the other. That winter when I was 16 years old. I wanted something to destroy the saturated negative emotions. And I found it. It was undoubtedly the music of ""Yahho"".

Loud 8-bit sound and booming guitar. Screaming vocals writhing on the rough waves of that sound. In ""Extra Yahho"", the 8-bit sound is transformed into a hardcore band sound, with blast beats and screaming vocals exploding. What follows are unique raps and acoustic pop masterpieces. A fast-paced legend of 47 songs and 40 minutes. (*These comments are based on the CD version. The LP version contains 39 songs.) From the day I pressed the play button on my player, ""Yahho"" music became a part of my life.

When I listen to ""Yahho"" music, I feel the urge to scream. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way. ""Ya-ho"" shouts out the boredom and frustration we've been holding inside, using it as a springboard. The poetic, yet endlessly straightforward lyrics really bring that home.

I pack all my boredom and endlessly overflowing frustration into a backpack and start running. I don't need to decide where to go. Just look ahead. This album gives me the push I need. I hate it. No, I'm totally against it. It's okay if you're bad at it, just keep going. I'm convinced that becoming an adult isn't that hard. "" Yahho no Tanoshimikata"" taught me everything.

It was a winter when I was 16, not sure if I was an adult or a child. Alone in my messy room, I pumped my fist into the air and said, ""I hope this album will help me become an adult.""

Shokudou (door TO Door) ----------------------------------------------------------- Hitting your forehead on the strap. Earphones and sighs leaking out as the train moves slowly. The music that plays when you take that first step to transfer from one crowded train to the next.

Nishioka (Peoples) ----------------------------------------------------------- How to enjoy Yahho I said out loud, ""This is the ultimate Famicom hardcore punk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!""＼(^o^)／ I love how the song ends so quickly＼(^o^)／ I love how it's gentle and tenacious＼(^o^)／ More than anything, I love how it's fun＼(^o^)／ In the end, I was lucky to be able to listen to a variety of music＼(^o^)／

Nozawa Dive Kinshi (Niji no Tasogare) ----------------------------------------------------------- For the vinyl release of Yahho's ""How to Enjoy Yahho"", I asked people around Yahho who are close to me and have always looked after me for comments, and they all replied promptly and readily agreed, which really made me realize how charming Yahho is and how charismatic he is as an artist. *From the beginning, Yahho said he felt bad about asking for comments from everyone, so I took the initiative and did it on my own.

It wasn't easy to get to the point where we decided to release it, but I was driven by a mysterious sense of mission that even Yahho himself probably didn't want, that made me reach this project. Yahho released a CD last year and sold hundreds of copies individually without national distribution, so I took a selfish action that even he didn't want at all, in order to put him in a more interesting situation. Yahho has already established a solid position in the underground, but we approached Yahho with the idea of releasing this album with the sole desire that more people listen to their music, that they come to their live shows and get excited and laugh, and that we want them to become a part of everyone's lives.

This is a wonderful album that you should listen to and experience for yourself if something isn't going right every day and you're struggling and wondering if things are okay. Once you've listened to it, all that's left to do is gather in the mosh pit at the live venue.

Thank you Yahho!

Hiracchi (manga Shock) ----------------------------------------------------------- I think if you listen to this album on vinyl you'll want to run out the door as fast as you can. Awesome!! Mikuru (ANORAK!) ----------------------------------------------------------- To Hamai Congratulations on the release! The three of us used to go to coffee shops together Do you remember? Don't you remember? I hope we can go again someday

Y.I.M. Omiru Asu chan ----------------------------------------------------------- That packs a punch!

Watson (Dotsuitarunen) -----------------------------------------------------------"

Two numbers referring to the year 1972. And in two numbers, everything is said. The project is simple and ambitious, it is the soundtrack of life passing by, of our lives, of theirs: those of two boys who became two men, both born the same year. 1972. And contrary to its commercial destination, the “tm” sometimes af fixed to these two letters appears here rather like a real mental tattoo, if not a purely aes thetic gesture, as if to tell us: these sounds, these feelings, these immaterial emotions, were deposited in the dark recesses of these two brains, these two minds, before passing through their bodies, passing through their fingers, then through the keyboards, the ins truments, to transform themselves, to turn into sounds, which, themselves, through the alchemy of creation, become music. And this music is the soundtrack to these two lives: Benjamin Cohen. Ulysse Genet. And these two lives which at one point crossed, met. And from this crossing was born 72. From these two experiences, from these memories, from the memories of the two artists, music is revealed. Four tracks for the moment, instrumental, mixing the reminiscences of hip hop, the echoes of the ‘ambient’ created by Brian Eno, the techno vo lutes of Detroit, and more particularly those of Carl Craig. Without forgetting the roots of what has been called the French Touch… this unique musical adventure revealing France abroad in a singular way, in which Benjamin Cohen has actively participated.

This listing is for the first pressing of the new single, Controller by Loner Statue on a transparent blue flexi disc with a white foil stamped label. Loner Statue is the Darkwave solo project of Zach Dighans based out of San Francisco, CA. The moniker formed naturally during a time of intense isolation as a means for self-reflection and exploration of newly evolved sounds and production processes.

“…a cerebral haunt of illustrative synth and ornamental guitar textures that dance over the framework of precisely driven bass. Like an opaque memory, warm yet distant slowly withdrawing the harder we attempt to grasp. Loner Statue is a sonic utterance calling from the annals of isolation, yet all we are left to hear are residual echoes.” - Ian Hodges

Rose produced The Art of Forgetting using devices and media that embody the characteristics of fading or faulty memories. She gravitated towards instruments that naturally changed or decayed over time: wooden and string instruments, voices, tape, and granular synthesis. She began recording basic layers in her home studio, and “from there it was about a year of experimenting with those recordings both at home and in a couple other studios––chopping them up into loops and smears, creating modular percussion, and ultimately building any additional parts around them."

Limited to 1000 copies, the VMP exclusive version of Caroline Rose's The Art of Forgetting is pressed on Unique Eco Mix vinyl at The Vinyl Lab. The 2LPs will arrive in a gatefold, direct-to-board, foil...

Limited to 1000 copies, the VMP exclusive version of Caroline Rose's The Art of Forgetting is pressed on Unique Eco Mix vinyl at The Vinyl Lab. The 2LPs will arrive in a gatefold, direct-to-board, foil..." data-full="

Rose produced The Art of Forgetting using devices and media that embody the characteristics of fading or faulty memories. She gravitated towards instruments that naturally changed or decayed over time: wooden and string instruments, voices, tape, and granular synthesis. She began recording basic layers in her home studio, and “from there it was about a year of experimenting with those recordings both at home and in a couple other studios––chopping them up into loops and smears, creating modular percussion, and ultimately building any additional parts around them."

Limited to 1000 copies, the VMP exclusive version of Caroline Rose's The Art of Forgetting is pressed on Unique Eco Mix vinyl at The Vinyl Lab. The 2LPs will arrive in a gatefold, direct-to-board, foil-stamped and numbered jacket. It was mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound.