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Collision Course is a collaborative EP by Jay-Z and Linkin Park, released on November 30, 2004. The project was an experimental mash-up album that combined elements of hip-hop and nu-metal, blending Jay-Z's raps with Linkin Park's rock sound. Produced by Mike Shinoda (of Linkin Park) and Jay-Z, Collision Course merges some of the biggest hits from both artists into new, hybrid tracks that fuse their distinct genres.

Collision Course was the result of MTV’s "Mash-Up" series, where artists from different genres collaborated to create new music by combining their songs. The project quickly gained attention because it featured two hugely popular artists from vastly different musical backgrounds.
The EP features six tracks, each a combination of Jay-Z’s iconic verses and Linkin Park’s hard-hitting rock instrumentals and vocals. It brings together Jay-Z's hip-hop classics with Linkin Park’s emotionally charged, alternative rock anthems.
The release was accompanied by a DVD, which included behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the album and a live performance of the mash-up tracks.

The mash-ups blend hip-hop beats with rock instrumentation, creating a genre-bending sound. Jay-Z’s verses, which are typically supported by hip-hop production, are now backed by guitar riffs, drums, and electronic elements from Linkin Park’s catalog.
Linkin Park’s co-lead vocalists, Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda, intertwine their vocals with Jay-Z’s raps, adding a dynamic contrast between Chester’s melodic hooks and Mike's rap-style verses.

Key Tracks and Highlights:
"Numb/Encore" – This is arguably the most well-known track from the EP and became a major hit. It combines Jay-Z’s "Encore" from The Black Album with Linkin Park’s "Numb" from Meteora. The song blends Jay-Z's braggadocious lyrics about legacy and success with the emotional weight of "Numb," creating a powerful contrast. The track won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2006.
"Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying from You" – This track combines Jay-Z’s "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" from The Black Album with Linkin Park’s "Lying from You" from Meteora. The mix of Jay-Z’s swaggering, confident lyrics with the angsty tone of "Lying from You" creates an intense, high-energy track.
"Big Pimpin'/Papercut" – In this mash-up, Jay-Z’s party anthem "Big Pimpin’" from Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter is combined with "Papercut", one of Linkin Park’s hard-hitting tracks from Hybrid Theory. The contrast between Jay-Z’s carefree lyrics and the darker themes of "Papercut" makes for a unique and striking combination.
"Jigga What/Faint" – This high-energy mash-up blends Jay-Z’s "Jigga What" from Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life with Linkin Park’s "Faint" from Meteora. The aggressive guitar riffs and fast-paced production of "Faint" complement Jay-Z’s rapid-fire rhyming, making this one of the more intense tracks on the album.
"Izzo/In the End" – This track mashes up Jay-Z’s hit "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" from The Blueprint with Linkin Park’s massive hit "In the End" from Hybrid Theory. The combination of Jay-Z’s celebratory lyrics with the reflective, melancholic tone of "In the End" creates a unique emotional balance.
"Points of Authority/99 Problems/One Step Closer" – This mash-up brings together Jay-Z’s "99 Problems" from The Black Album with Linkin Park’s "Points of Authority" and "One Step Closer" from Hybrid Theory. It’s one of the hardest-hitting tracks on the EP, with aggressive beats and heavy guitars, paired with Jay-Z’s defiant lyrics.

Contrast between genres: One of the major themes in Collision Course is the juxtaposition of hip-hop bravado and rock’s emotional intensity. Jay-Z’s confident, self-assured lyrics are often paired with Linkin Park’s more vulnerable and introspective lyrics, creating a dramatic tension in the songs.

Jay-Z’s lyrics in tracks like "Encore" and "Big Pimpin’" focus on his rise to fame, success, and the challenges he’s overcome, while Linkin Park’s contributions often explore themes of alienation, frustration, and personal struggle.
Critical Reception:
Collision Course received mixed reviews from critics but was praised for its creativity and for bridging the gap between two different musical genres. While some critics felt that the mash-ups were too formulaic, others admired the seamless blending of two very different musical styles.
The EP performed well commercially, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. "Numb/Encore" was particularly successful, becoming a mainstream hit and one of the most recognizable tracks from the project.

Collision Course is seen as a significant experiment in genre fusion, helping to bridge the gap between hip-hop and rock audiences. It contributed to the growing trend of genre-blending that would become more prominent in the 2000s.
The success of the EP demonstrated that collaborations across genres could be commercially viable, paving the way for future projects that mixed hip-hop with rock, pop, and other genres.
The live performance of the EP’s tracks, particularly the "Numb/Encore" mash-up at events like the Grammys and MTV Music Awards, helped to cement its place in pop culture, with fans of both Jay-Z and Linkin Park embracing the crossover.

Collision Course stands as a unique collaboration in music history, bringing together two icons from different genres and creating a blend that resonated with both rock and hip-hop fans. Though brief, the EP’s six tracks showcased the possibilities of genre fusion and delivered some of the most memorable mash-ups of the 2000s. The project continues to be celebrated for its innovation and the seamless combination of Jay-Z’s iconic flows with Linkin Park’s powerful instrumentals and emotive vocals.

The Ouroborus - that is, the icon of the snake or dragon eating its own tail - appears to some a statement of the brutality of nature. To others of a Gnostic disposition it symbolises the duality of the divine and earthly in mankind. But most commonly, it’s taken simply to mean the endless cycles of death and rebirth that characterise life on this planet. As such, it’s an image that looms large in the world of Goat, the ever-mysterious and endlessly revivifying collective whose latest album marks another adventure above and beyond this particular plane of reality.This may be a band that has named albums both Requiem and Oh Death, yet this eponymous salvo proves yet again that transcendence and metamorphosis are their watchwords. Goat sees this ever-unpredictable outfit summoning rhythmically-driven rituals in unmistakable, uplifting and scintillating style, equally adept at ignitiing dancefloors and expanding minds.

‘One More Death’ and ‘Goatbrain’ are spectacular curtain-raisers, embodying a hedonistic spirit driven by incisive funk and possessed by merciless fuzz/wah-drenched guitar. Yet elsewhere, the band’s love of hip hop is the fuel for the end-credits-epic album closer ‘Ourobourus’ which marries infectious chant to breathless Lalo Schifrin-style breakbeat action. And which also means ultimately, like the titular oldest allegorical symbol in alchemy, we’re right back where we started. As Brad Dourif’s character Hazel Moates intones in the 1979 movie Wiseblood, “Where you come from is gone; where you thought you were going weren’t never there. And where you are ain’t no good unless you can get away from it”; in Goat’s eternal now of renewal and revelation, there’s never been a more potent means of escape.

Formed from the ashes of Rema-Rema and Mass in the early ‘80s, The Wolfgang Press were originally a trio of bassist and vocalist Michael Allen, keyboardist Mark Cox and guitarist Andrew Gray. They were one of 4AD’s longest-running acts, and shifted from pitch-black, industrial-tinged post-punk in their early years to funky, hip-hop-inspired avant-dance as they stepped into the ‘90s. But since ‘94’s ‘Funky Little Demons’ they’ve been relatively quiet. There was a compilation of unreleased career-spanning material mostly penned by Allen and Gray released in 2020, but ‘A 2nd Shape’ is the first all-new gear from the duo in almost 30 years, with Gray’s brother Stephen replacing Cox on keys. It’s a fitting move for Downwards too; not only do The Wolfgang Press neatly straddle the label’s musical poles, but the band’s ‘88 high point ‘Bird Wood Cage’ is an enduring favourite of Karl O’Connor.
‘A 2nd Shape’ reflects The Wolfgang Press’s output up to and including that touchstone - the soulful, sampledelic mood of ‘Queer’ (and it’s popular single ‘A Girl Like You’) is nowhere to be found. Allen’s signature dubbed-out basslines are front and centre on ‘The Garden of Eden’, booming over gnarled synths and a blitzed, slo-mo drum machine - the bleakness of ‘The Burden of Mules’ is latent, but sliced into bits by discordant feedback and dissociated FX. The band have always been hyper aware of contemporary musical developments, and it sounds as if they’re offering a corrective here in a landscape pocked by post-punk pretenders. On ‘21st Century’, Allen snarls knowingly over menacing oscillations: “The 21st century can tell you who you are, can tell you what you’re thinking.” The music’s not a remnant of the past, but a way for The Wolfgang Press to acknowledge their tenure while peering into tomorrow.
‘Take It Backwards’ is the album’s most direct post-punk stomper, it’s got all the hallmarks you’d expect to find - reverberating guitars, resonant bass, ice-cold synths - but sounds as if it’s been infected with modern paranoia. If the trio’s early run was marked by inky depression, their new material sounds just as umbral, but far more self-assured. “The future has been set to one side,” Allen deadpans on ‘Rest Your Mind’, slurring over horizontal drums and fuzzy clouds of electronics. They might have lost their appetite for funk, but The Wolfgang Press’s claws have never sounded so razor sharp - ‘A 2nd Shape’ is the rarest of comeback albums, one that captures the OG magic without a shred of pastiche or a trace of repetition.

The Ouroborus - that is, the icon of the snake or dragon eating its own tail - appears to some a statement of the brutality of nature. To others of a Gnostic disposition it symbolises the duality of the divine and earthly in mankind. But most commonly, it’s taken simply to mean the endless cycles of death and rebirth that characterise life on this planet. As such, it’s an image that looms large in the world of Goat, the ever-mysterious and endlessly revivifying collective whose latest album marks another adventure above and beyond this particular plane of reality.This may be a band that has named albums both Requiem and Oh Death, yet this eponymous salvo proves yet again that transcendence and metamorphosis are their watchwords. Goat sees this ever-unpredictable outfit summoning rhythmically-driven rituals in unmistakable, uplifting and scintillating style, equally adept at ignitiing dancefloors and expanding minds.

‘One More Death’ and ‘Goatbrain’ are spectacular curtain-raisers, embodying a hedonistic spirit driven by incisive funk and possessed by merciless fuzz/wah-drenched guitar. Yet elsewhere, the band’s love of hip hop is the fuel for the end-credits-epic album closer ‘Ourobourus’ which marries infectious chant to breathless Lalo Schifrin-style breakbeat action. And which also means ultimately, like the titular oldest allegorical symbol in alchemy, we’re right back where we started. As Brad Dourif’s character Hazel Moates intones in the 1979 movie Wiseblood, “Where you come from is gone; where you thought you were going weren’t never there. And where you are ain’t no good unless you can get away from it”; in Goat’s eternal now of renewal and revelation, there’s never been a more potent means of escape.

With two successful albums and a sold-out world tour under their belt, Paris-based L'Impératrice have matriculated from a good-times instrumental act created by music critic Charles de Boisseguin to a six-piece powerhouse whose sashaying mixes of funk and French Touch, disco and deep house now include the fetching vocals of singer Flore Benguigui. Their new album Pulsar, is a focused but far-reaching record, the jubilant testament of a band with plenty to say and the skills to say it themselves. Across 10 tracks, L'Impératrice move freely and authoritatively among the sounds they love, bridging hip-hop, kosmische, and modern pop with their most unabashed embraces of French Touch and international house ever. Benguigui, meanwhile, boldly sings of self-empowerment by shirking beauty standards, ageism, and drab normalcy, with a little help from an exciting set of new friends.A longtime fan who had seen the band multiple times, Maggie Rogers flew to Paris to lead the svelte and graceful "Any Way," approaching the song with an unabashed vim. They had a similar encounter with Erick the Architect, who was so enthusiastic about the sample- based and panoramic "Sweet & Sublime" that Benguigui scrapped one of her own verses to make more room for him. And Italian singer Fabiana Martone (Nu Genea) crafted the melody for "Danza Marilu" the moment she heard its disco thump. Throughout these 10 songs, L'Impératrice espouses the rare willingness to be real about life and its woes while also sounding like a perfect picture of joy. Pulsar opens like a window being slid open onto an unimagined world. During the title-track finale, where a casual confession of suffering climbs into a mighty climax rooted in redemption, the band intertwines dubstep, turntablism, and symphonic strings to offer a bracing conclusion: however we are is OK.

A sense of destiny hangs over Sentir Que No Sabes, Mabe Fratti’s fourth solo-credited album released in a five year span. Her work has always possessed a finely tuned sense of drama capable of expressing a range of emotional states, and across this new album, she conveys the struggle to process various relationships or situations–and the actions that come next. Sentir Que No Sabes is urgent and clear, poppy, generous and approachable, while showcasing a considerable emotional hinterland. It is also, as Fratti is quick to mention, “groovy.”

Written and recorded with her partner, multi-instrumentalist, and co-composer Héctor Tosta (I.La Católica, Titanic), Sentir Que No Sabes is the result of an intense, detail-oriented process. Fueled by a new confidence gained in their collaborative project, Titanic, and its critically acclaimed 2023 LP, Vidrio, the two hunkered down in the familiarity of their studio (aka Tinho Studios) to bash out the initial sonic coordinates of her new record. “We talked and talked, and discussed ways of playing and recording, until things became inevitable,” Fratti explains. “We recorded a bunch of demos at our home studio and that meant we had a lot of time to re-edit and experiment. We really dug in. We were super focused on detail.” Tosta also took up the controls as producer and arranger-in-chief for all additional instruments. The album was later completed at Willem Twee Studios in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and Pedro y el Lobo Studios and Soy Sauce Studios, in Mexico City.

For the final studio recordings, the pair were joined by drummer Gibran Andrade and trumpetist Jacob Wick to fill out and expand on Tosta’s percussion and brass arrangements. This small group of friends were able to work quickly and openly, and without fear: a testament to the exhaustive groundwork put in at Tinho Studios.

Sentir Que No Sabes is a record full to the brim with a modern pop sensibility, invoked by the sort of magpie spirit that ensnares anything it can find, repositioning sounds for the here and now. The keys and melody on the melancholy “Pantalla azul” (“Blue screen error”) transport us back to the glossy mid-1980s.

The lyrics, for their part, have a stop-start quality to them, and hint at the small, incremental emotional taxes we pay through just living our lives. They circle around the music like birds waiting to swoop. There is something of the spiritual in all of Fratti’s work that expresses itself in a form of yearning: she looks to new horizons while personal dramas find themselves internalized, contextualized, and then dealt with through metaphor.

So what to make of Sentir Que No Sabes? High gloss Pastoralism? The sound of a city-bound, post-post modern soulscape? No matter the emotions evoked, it's the work of an artist coming into their own, and creating a benchmark record.

Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Beastie Boys’ 2X Platinum Check Your Head album, this limited-edition deluxe reissue is a rare version of the album that was released as a limited run in 2009. Long out-of-print and sought after by fans and collectors, it features two bonus LP’s including remixes, live versions, and B-sides. Featuring the songs ‘So What’cha Want’, ‘Pass the Mic’ and ‘Gratitude’ - Check Your Head was a somewhat return to their punk roots and introduced the trio playing their own instruments for the first time on record since their early EP’s. This 4LP Deluxe Box Set is pressed on 180g vinyl housed in a fabric-wrapped, stamped hardcover case.

Tricky’s 2nd most sought-after vinyl LP, repressed for the first time, exclusively on orange Colored Vinyl. The 2LP includes 2 tracks not included on the original CD release: Peyote Sings + Taxi. Martina Topley-Bird is once again on vocal duties but also featured are English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey (on “Broken Homes”), Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian (on “Carriage for Two”) plus Marc Ribot adds his twisted guitar lines to a number of tracks. Continuing Tricky’s penchant for covering hip-hop tracks ‘Angels…’ features a cover of Slick Rick’s “The Moment I Feared”.

Spanish label Hace Calor is back with two more classic cuts to rock the party: the banging DJ Premier-produced "N 2 Gether Now" from Linkin Park, featuring Method Man, and "Street Dreams" by Joe—a big R&B track using a sample made famous by Tupac. Edited specifically for DJs to include an intro and outro for mixing.

Achtung: Es ist dem Zufall überlassen, welche Farbe(n) die Platten haben. Auf dem Produktbild sind Beispiele, wie sie aussehen können. Wir können keine Farben auswählen. Alles ist dem Zufall überlassen.

Omnium Gatherum" bietet mit seinen 16 Tracks ausweitläufigen Prog-Jams, schwindelerregenden Pop-Nuggets, gummibeinigen Hip-Hop-Odysseen und reinen Thrash-Metal-Passagen sowohl für Gizzard-Fans als auch für Neulinge jede Menge Stoff zum Kauen. Typischerweise verfolgen Gizzard-Alben ein einziges Thema oder einen Stil - zum Beispiel die Öko-Metal-Barrage von "Infest The Rat's Nest", der New-Age-Trance-Pop von "Butterfly 3000" oder die endlosen Garagen-Prog-Verrenkungen von "Nonagon Infinity" - ein Teil des Nervenkitzels von "Omnium Gatherum" wiederum war für die Gruppe die Möglichkeit, neue Ideen zu entwickeln, ohne sich zu verpflichten, ein ganzes Album in dieser Richtung zu liefern. Es ist der perfekte Einstiegspunkt für Neulinge und ein solider Leckerbissen für treue Fans.

"Omnium Gatherum" war als Kompendium unveröffentlichter Songs gedacht, die auf früheren Gizzard-Alben keinen Platz gefunden hatten, und schon bald schrieb und nahm die Gruppe neue Songs für das schnell wachsende Album auf. Die Tracks wurden im Gizz-Hauptquartier, aber auch in ihrem legendären, inzwischen verlassenen Clubhaus in der 253 Lygon Street aufgenommen. Textlich sind die Themen vielfältig, doch die Sorge der Gruppe um das ökologische Wohlergehen des Planeten bleibt eine Konstante. Einige Tracks kehren zu den Synthie-Psych-Visionen von "Butterfly 3000" zurück, andere greifen die fiebrige Thrash-Metal-Attacke auf, die Gizzard auf dem 2019er Album "Infest The Rat's Nest" prägte.

Mode is an album borne of the Cromagnon Band's creative process of taking breaks they love from the tracks they love, made by the artists they love and then jamming live in the studio until something new evolves that has taken a long journey away from the source. Taking the grooves they composed in these sessions the band reverse engineered what they created and produced the final tracks as a creative trio. From start to finish the whole process is paradoxically both constrained and given creative spontaneity by the 100% live jam creative technique. The purely instrumental tracks on Mode represent music for the sake of music with no specific narrative but which allow space for the listener to make their own interpretations and create their own mental images. The mood is transcendental and transporting with as many ideas packed into each track as possible. The sound is cinematic and psychedelic dark Funk that showcases the band members' musical pedigrees and heritage as music lovers; Nordic psych/jazz, classical, boom-bap Hip-Hop breaks and riff heavy rock a la early Black Sabbath. The Cromagnon Band was formed in 2015 and is a trio of artists who compose and produce their own work. Drummer Tom Watt and Bassist Lenny Walker are both from a music production background whilst Bert Page is a classically trained musician who plays all the keys as well as sax and clarinet. As well as being a studio entity The Cromagnon Band play out as a live trio, adapting and arranging their tracks to the live stage with Bert playing Moog and Rhodes simultaneously. Mode is the Cromagnon Band's second album and their debut release on BBE Music and will be released as a digital and vinyl LP.

“Evolve” (stylized as ƎVOLVE) is the upcoming third studio album by American rock band Imagine Dragons. The album is the band's new material follow-up to their second studio album, “Smoke + Mirrors”.

After the release of “Smoke + Mirrors” and its respective world tour, a self-imposed hiatus for 2016 and cryptic messages from the band through their social media gained anticipation for their third album. In comparison to “Night Visions” and “Smoke + Mirrors”, frontman Dan Reynolds explained that the album will be an 'evolution for Imagine Dragons'.

HHV and Too Good are happy to present this exclusive color run of 1000 red copies of Tommy Guerreros 2014 album "No Mans Land". Back in print for the first time. Only at HHV. As a special treat you can pick up the poster with the artwork of this album in our bonus section.

Celebrating Tommy Guerreros work and his upcoming world wide tour, Too Good Records and HHV present a new colored run of 500 copies of his "Perpetual" album. Only available at HHV.

Tommy Guerrero continues to expand his horizons while upholding his San Francisco Bay heritage.Starting from the Bones Brigade skate team in the 80’s, he has gone on to make movie appearances, design for Levi’s in Japan, Vans shoes worldwide, Sutro eyewear (among others), sign a skateboard contract with Converse, co-found Real Skateboards and 40’s Clothing and become art director for Krooked Skateboarding, along with maintaining a prolific recording schedule. Tommy’s concerts have packed houses across the country from Café Du Nord in SF to The Knitting Factory in N.Y.C. and continue across the globe from The Underworld in London to the Fujirock Festival in his yearly tours in Japan. In 2014, Tommy performed a 15-city tour of Europe sponsored by Levi’s and plans to return again to support this new release - Perpetual. A continuation to Perpetuum, an album exclusively released in Japan in 2014, Tommy’s intent for Perpetual is “to strip the tunes down and create more of an atmosphere than being concerned with writing ‘songs’... The other idea [is] to abandon the damn computron and record everything on my Tascam 388 1/4" 8 track tape machine. The limitations with an old tape deck were welcomed with open arms - … I gotta say this is one of my faves and hope people will connect with what I [am] trying to convey. Music is all about an emotional response for me... I hope it resonates with you in a
positive way.” From Mission District punkers to Shibuya-ku hipsters- Tommy’s music does resonate in a positive way. His melodies dance lightly around your head while the rhythms build under your feet and move your hips. His is SOUL music, made by a street kid raised on Santana and Bill Withers (with more than a little nod to the Clash and Public Enemy in there, too) who – through Perpetual – continues to share that life is “about the journey not the destination.”

Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches was Happy Mondays commercial peak, both a No.4 victory and a benchmark album in history. That year the Mondays made a generation feel like the freaks were winning again, the dreamers and schemers hurtling in from the shadows to park themselves, like grin-faced goblins, in the daylight glare of the mainstream. Artwork lovingly replicated by original Manchester designers Central Station Design.

In 2018, Low will turn twenty-five. Since 1993, Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker_the married couple whose heaven-and-earth harmonies have always held the band's center_have pioneered a subgenre, shrugged off its strictures, recorded a Christmas classic, become a magnetic onstage force, and emerged as one of music's most steadfast and vital vehicles for pulling light from our darkest emotional recesses. But Low will not commemorate its first quarter-century with mawkish nostalgia or safe runs through songbook favorites. Instead, in faithfully defiant fashion, Low will release its most brazen, abrasive (and, paradoxically, most empowering) album ever: Double Negative, an unflinching eleven-song quest through snarling static and shattering beats that somehow culminates in the brightest pop song of Low's career. To make Double Negative, Low reenlisted B.J. Burton, the quietly energetic and adventurous producer who has made records with James Blake, Sylvan Esso, and The Tallest Man on Earth in recent years while working as one of the go-to figures at Bon Iver's home studio, April Base. Burton recorded Low's last album, 2015's Ones and Sixes, at April Base, adding might to many of its beats and squelch and frisson beneath many of its melodies. This time, though, Sparhawk, Parker, and bassist Steve Garrington knew they wanted to go further with Burton and his palette of sounds, to see what someone who is, as Sparhawk puts it, "a hip-hop guy" could truly do to their music. Rather than obsessively write and rehearse at home in Duluth, Minnesota, they would often head southeast to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, arriving with sketches and ideas that they would work on for days with Burton. Band and producer became collaborative cowriters, building the pieces up and breaking them down and building them again until their purpose and force felt clear. As the world outside seemed to slide deeper into instability, Low repeated this process for the better part of two years, pondering the results during tours and breaks at home. They considered not only how the fragments fit together but also how, in the United States of 2018, they functioned as statements and salves. Double Negative is, indeed, a record perfectly and painfully suited for our time. Loud and contentious and commanding, Low fights for the world by fighting against it. It begins in pure bedlam, with a beat built from a loop of ruptured noise waging war against the paired voices of Sparhawk and Parker the moment they begin to sing during the massive "Quorum." For forty minutes, they indulge the battle, trying to be heard amid the noisy grain, sometimes winning and sometimes being tossed toward oblivion. In spite of the mounting noise, Sparhawk and Parker still sing. Or maybe they sing because of the noise. For Low, has there ever really been a difference?

Damon Albarn's brainchild which includes the massive hit Clint Eastwood feat. Del!

Remember how badly we wanted to join them and be part of those sea-faring adventures: Jack London’s The Sea-Wolf, classic TV shows based on his novel The Road, on Radu Toduran’s novels... back then, a couple decades ago, the titles of these shows alone were enough to trigger some strong gusts in our hearts, salty squalls perfect for imaginary downwind journeys we dreamed of with billowing sails. We wanted to cruise alongside albatrosses, seagulls, and fellow sailors. Floating high above a three-masted vessel, we watched our own adventures unfold far below, an imagined movie scene complete with a whole crew that worked the rigging, and all the rest. Cutting waves. Amidst the storm and stress of sounds hitting our eardrums far out in the ocean. Combined with the sounds of rotors, of tropics crossed, of marimbas and cabin wood pounded, of strange music spotted in the distance. And even though it was merely for an hour or two that we were rescued by that seal-hunting ship “Ghost,” as Jack London had it, plus, even worse, often found ourselves surrounded by villains: it was a great escape, for we’d successfully set sails – to new and exciting places. Both around their own Weilheim shores and elsewhere, brothers Markus and Micha Acher have launched various musical vessels, bands and free-floating constellations over the past three decades – and yet: amid all these other speedboats and unlikely sonic barges, The Notwist has always remained the mother ship. This new album documents the latest live incarnation of this very band, which also features Andi Haberl, Max Punktezahl, Karl Ivar Refseth, and Cico Beck. Recorded on December 16, 2015 on the second of three consecutive, sold-out nights at UT Connewitz in Leipzig, Germany, "Superheroes, Ghost-Villains & Stuff" indeed feels like a first-hand live experience caught on triple vinyl. That’s why it’s the definitive album of The Notwist’s career. Although there is one song that points to the early, “louder years” of The Notwist – “One Dark Love Poem” off the album Nook –, the rest of the night’s set sees the band perform all the major hits off Neon Golden, The Devil, You + Me, and Close To The Glass. However, these are different, organically enhanced versions, new interpretations and combinations that feel much more alive; thanks to Olaf Opal’s incredible mix, they sometimes even outshine the original studio recordings. Listening to "Superheroes, Ghost-Villains & Stuff" feels like watching these songs evolve and change, moving from one frame to the next, much like a baroque triptych. What starts out like ‘wimmelbook’ imagery, the music soon folds and unfolds like a Moebius strip: Sans bottom or top, sans inside or outside, the inside becomes the outside and vice versa. It’s all about sonic interconnection, about music as entanglement, music as reconciliation. The rather majestic, cinematic (indie) pop and experimental, kraut- infused jazz, the spirit of the enlightenment and baroque playfulness, the traces of modernism and minimal music, dub leanings, hip-hop lessons, and even hints of house music: here is where they all come together, reconciled in a sound that’s both melancholy and romantic. And ultimately, the spirit of these songs is set free – and the band has released itself, is free at last. As for the album title, it’s lifted from the song “Kong,” and encapsulates Markus Acher’s motto. Throughout the track, the water theme first appears as a dangerous threat: a force that’s strong enough to wash away an entire house; and yet the fluid state keeps transforming and eventually releases that sense of threat into something rather hopeful, a new musical beginning, a melodic departure that ultimately leads to euphoria and a renewed spirit of adventure. These are the strong gusts mentioned above, it’s the spirit of discovery, the urge to set sail together. The crew’s back at it, working the instruments, the rigging, with sails a- billow, launching the next voyage of discovery, assuming the East in the West and vice versa. And thus the adventure saga continues. Pico Be (Das Weiße Pferd)

A sense of destiny hangs over Sentir Que No Sabes, Mabe Fratti’s fourth solo-credited album released in a five year span. Her work has always possessed a finely tuned sense of drama capable of expressing a range of emotional states, and across this new album, she conveys the struggle to process various relationships or situations–and the actions that come next. Sentir Que No Sabes is urgent and clear, poppy, generous and approachable, while showcasing a considerable emotional hinterland. It is also, as Fratti is quick to mention, “groovy.”

Written and recorded with her partner, multi-instrumentalist, and co-composer Héctor Tosta (I.La Católica, Titanic), Sentir Que No Sabes is the result of an intense, detail-oriented process. Fueled by a new confidence gained in their collaborative project, Titanic, and its critically acclaimed 2023 LP, Vidrio, the two hunkered down in the familiarity of their studio (aka Tinho Studios) to bash out the initial sonic coordinates of her new record. “We talked and talked, and discussed ways of playing and recording, until things became inevitable,” Fratti explains. “We recorded a bunch of demos at our home studio and that meant we had a lot of time to re-edit and experiment. We really dug in. We were super focused on detail.” Tosta also took up the controls as producer and arranger-in-chief for all additional instruments. The album was later completed at Willem Twee Studios in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and Pedro y el Lobo Studios and Soy Sauce Studios, in Mexico City.

For the final studio recordings, the pair were joined by drummer Gibran Andrade and trumpetist Jacob Wick to fill out and expand on Tosta’s percussion and brass arrangements. This small group of friends were able to work quickly and openly, and without fear: a testament to the exhaustive groundwork put in at Tinho Studios.

Sentir Que No Sabes is a record full to the brim with a modern pop sensibility, invoked by the sort of magpie spirit that ensnares anything it can find, repositioning sounds for the here and now. The keys and melody on the melancholy “Pantalla azul” (“Blue screen error”) transport us back to the glossy mid-1980s.

The lyrics, for their part, have a stop-start quality to them, and hint at the small, incremental emotional taxes we pay through just living our lives. They circle around the music like birds waiting to swoop. There is something of the spiritual in all of Fratti’s work that expresses itself in a form of yearning: she looks to new horizons while personal dramas find themselves internalized, contextualized, and then dealt with through metaphor.

So what to make of Sentir Que No Sabes? High gloss Pastoralism? The sound of a city-bound, post-post modern soulscape? No matter the emotions evoked, it's the work of an artist coming into their own, and creating a benchmark record.

it's sabotage again, no more pauls boutique ... brand new instrumental album by the original white boys with able assistance from Keyboard Money Mark and percussionist Alfredo Ortiz

Pittsburgh artist Gregg Gillis (a.k.a. Girl Talk) has scrupulously created music from samples for over eight years. His fourth album on the Illegal Art label, Feed the Animals, continues his sonic evolution towards his party-infested live show and steps even closer towards a creation that is centered on pop musicality rather than attention-deficit sample splicing.

Destination Christmas by Fred Schneider & THE Superions is the perfect holiday party dance album every household needs. If the voice sounds familiar, yes it is that same Fred Schneider of the B-52s. Destination Christmas is equal parts disco bangers, sensual French pop, comedic holiday numbers, suggestive lyrics, and never a dull moment. An album that keeps the Xmas party going through new years. Hit the dance floor with disco party holiday anthems "Santa's Disco", 'Fruitcake", and "Teddy and Betty Yeti", laugh out loud to some of Fred's funniest Christmas tracks "Christmas Tears", "Laughter at Christmas", "Crummy Christmas Tree", don't forget the sensual French pop numbers "Santa Je T'aime", and "Under the Tree", then the more suggestive "Chillin' At Christmas", and "Jingle Those Bells", and don't forget the hi-nrg "Christmas Conga (Jungle Bells)" that answers the question what if Divine wrote a Christmas song. If your party is a bore and the guests are falling asleep or leaving early, just put on Destination Christmas and pull out the rum soaked Fruitcake and get the party in full swing. All the songs on Destination Christmas are all originals, so get ready for all new Christmas holidays classics.

Jess and the Ancient Ones released a three-song EP titled Astral Sabbat on 22 February 2012, recorded with the Swedish sonic wizard Tore Stjerna of Necromorbus Studio in their hometown Kuopio. Astral Sabbat pushed forward the boundaries of the sound established on their first full-length and forging their own path, as personified by the rather unusual choice of cover song Long and Lonesome Road, originally written and recorded by the Dutch rock outfit Shocking Blue, known for their mega-hit Venus.

“We wanted to give these works a space entirely their own, so that listeners can focus on them completely. For this purpose, we considered an EP the perfect means. Regarding the surprising choice of cover, I had heard the song at a very young age. And now, after travelling many roads, it returned to me. It is a timeless song and I hope someone discovers Shocking Blue through us”, revealed guitarist Thomas Corpse more than 10 years ago.

Astral Sabbat proved that Jess and The Ancient Ones were already back then way beyond all those occult, prog or retro-rock tags and playing a game of their own. Svart Records will release limited 12” colored edition of Jess and The Ancient Ones mini-LP Astral Sabbath on 25 October 2024. Svart Records’ webstore also has a limited edition of 150 copies package of green/red/purple marble vinyl version of the self-titled debut album, limited edition of Astral Sabbath mini album with a special slip mat Svart Records’ webstore has a limited edition of 150 copies package of green/red/purple marble vinyl version of the self-titled debut album, limited edition of Astral Sabbath mini album with a special slip mat – all of these are packaged in a unique Jess & The Ancient Ones totebag.

Although he began his career as an artist as a producer, working on the hit ‘Le Code’ in 2017 with Ichon, Myth Syzer and Bonnie Banane, Muddy Monk's work today is far removed from hip-hop and closer to a mutant form of synthetic and romantic variety, sung in French. His debut album, Longue Ride, is a collection of songs about adventure, love, violence and the quest for a good life - themes which, for the young man, are all about overcoming his anxieties. So many subjects that he treats with a mechanical and desperate lyricism often close to that of another fan of powerful two-wheelers whose label was called Les Disques Motors: we're talking about the legendary Christophe.

It's been 10 years since The fin. released their memorable first album, 'Days With Uncertainty,' in 2014. To celebrate this anniversary, it will be reissued as a colored vinyl on "Record Day," November 3, 2024! This debut work, highly praised as a masterpiece from various quarters, includes tracks like "Night Time," which became a sensation with its music video. Yuto Uchino handled the recording and mixing for all the songs. 「Band Profile」 The band was formed in 2012 by Yuto Uchino (Vo./Gt./Synth.) and Kaoru Nakazawa (Ba./Synth.). Yuto Uchino creates the band’ s music, handling songwriting, recording, mixing, and production. The silky and smooth voice with a distinctive floating sensation and mellow sound blend together to create a fantastic and dreamy music. The music style is based on indie and psychedelic pop, fused with soul, funk, and jazz, creating a soft and mellow sound that brings a sense of peace. Yuto’ s lyrics give power while accepting fear of growth and change, adding to the unique aesthetic of The fin.'s musical world. They've taken the stage at numerous venues in the UK, US, Europe, and Asia, showcasing their talent at festivals like Fuji Rock, Summer Sonic, Sxsw, and The Great Escape. In particular, during their 2023 China tour, they staged shows in over 25 cities, drawing a cumulative audience exceeding 20,000 at their solo performances. They have also toured with numerous artists such as Phoenix, The Last Shadows Puppets, MEW, Circa Waves, Wild Nothing. The fin. has released the 1st album “Days With Uncertainty” (2014), which was recorded, mixed, and produced by Yuto Uchino, the 2nd album “There” (2018), which welcomed Bradley Spence (Jamiroquai, Radiohead, alt-J) as a co-producer for the first time, the EP “Wash Away” (2019), which welcomed Bradley Spence and Jake Miller (Bjork, Arca) as co-producers, and the 3rd album “Outer Ego” (2021), which was entirely recorded, mixed, and produced by Yuto Uchino.

With his friendly and sometimes melancholic manner, DJ Koze is one of the most remarkable players in today's club landscape and one of the few internationally active DJs who are also relevant outside of dance music. For his 70-minute journey for the anniversary edition of the "DJ Kicks" series, "Kosi Kos" manages to give the mix its own timbre despite the various styles represented: be it the pared-down hip-hop of Madlib, brutal Berghain techno, timeless songwriting, flowing indie pop and tracks that oscillate between absurdity and melancholy. "I didn't want to shine with knowledge," Koze says, "but rather bring together some gems that make sense to people who aren't necessarily music nerds." It should fit together harmoniously: "The idea was to create the impression of a radio show, like John Peel used to do. A huge cosmos of music rushing through my filter." For fans of DJ Koze, Recondite, Mount Kimbie, Four Tet, Caribou, Matthew Dear, Simian Mobile Disco, Apparat, Efdemin.