LP version. Twin Color marks the grand return of Murcof to producing a full-length album in all its glory and generosity, nearly two decades after the release of Cosmos in 2007. Celebrated for his classical, minimalist textures and unique soundscapes, Murcof has established himself as a master of modern ambient music alongside Tim Hecker, Alva Noto, and Johann Johannsson. With this new album, Murcof takes a bold step forward, embracing a distinctly cinematic and dystopian narrative influenced by the great science fiction films of the 1980s. This new direction immerses the listener in atmospheres that are at times dark, at times filled with nostalgic brightness, drawing inspiration from post-punk and synth-wave, while partially reconnecting with his early experiments with the Nortec Collective. Premiered at Mutek Montréal in August 2024, Twin Color is also an unprecedented audiovisual performance, created in collaboration with Simon Geilfus, based in Brussels, who has nourished and colored the album's production. This immersive performance, conceived in the IRCAM studios in Paris in 2022, unfolds the album's tracks against a backdrop of moving natural landscapes, as mysterious as they are fascinating, highlighted in the album's visual elements. This album reaffirms Murcof's unique sonic signature, blending analog synthesizers with modern production techniques to create a multisensory experience, propelling Murcof into an exciting new decade.

Massive free-from psych from the Japanese cult band, three long tracks almost approaching 55 minutes in pure controlled chaos. Formed by band leader Mizutani Takashi, their music remained remarkably familiar over the years, and is best described as high volume, raw lo-fi repetitive feedback-drenched guitar noise fests with nods in the direction of the Velvet Underground and Blues Creation.

Classic free jazz album reissued for the first time since the '70s. Old-style Gatefold LP, with liner notes by Ed Hazell. Noah Howard, an alto saxophonist and composer, was known for weaving intricate and innovative musical patterns, often likening his work to "sound paintings." His 1971 album Patterns, the first LP he self-produced on his Altsax label, stands as a testament to his experimental and spiritual approach to music. In interviews, Howard frequently used visual terms like "patterns" and "shapes" to describe his compositions, emphasizing the importance of melody and structure even in highly improvisational settings. For Howard, patterns and melodies were essential to guiding listeners through his explorations without alienating them, maintaining a balance between innovation and accessibility. Howard's quest for an original sound was deeply influenced by jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, and Jackie McLean. While he admired these legends, Howard avoided imitation, striving instead to develop his own distinct voice. His sound was unmistakably his own, and he felt a deep obligation to carry the jazz tradition forward through personal expression, not by mimicking others. His music was also rooted in spirituality, a legacy he traced to his upbringing in the Black Baptist Church. He believed jazz had always contained a spiritual essence, from Louis Armstrong to John Coltrane, and his work aimed to channel this cosmic, spiritual energy. Patterns was recorded in the Netherlands during Howard's second stint in Europe, where he found a more open, less racially charged environment compared to the U.S. For the album, Howard collaborated with Dutch musicians such as Misha Mengelberg (piano), Han Bennink (drums), and Earl Freeman (bass). Despite the challenges faced by guitarist Jaap Schoonhoven, who felt out of place in the session, the album came together as a powerful mix of blues, jazz, and classical elements. The music on Patterns is a high-energy fusion of American free jazz and Dutch improvisation. Howard's saxophone work alternates between leading with passionate, lyrical lines and blending into the collective improvisation. The album's dynamic interplay, particularly between Mengelberg's dissonant piano clusters and Bennink's thunderous drumming, creates a vivid "sound painting" full of contrasting forms and colors. Patterns remains one of Howard's most unique and celebrated recordings, showcasing his visionary approach to jazz.

Anglo-Norwegian ensemble celebrating the work of Nordic poet, Nils Christian Moe-Repstad. With Jan Bang (live sampling, samples and programming, synthesizer), Michael Francis Duch (double bass), Erik Honoré (live sampling, synthesizer), David Toop (paper, cardboard, leaves, friction, activated objects, air, aerophones, bone conduction, cassettes, vibration, voice), and Mark Wastell (tam tam, gongs, sticks, beaters). Recorded live at Punkt, Kristiansand on 31 August 2023.

Pittsburgh's feral punks Snarling Dogs return to bite the hand that feeds them with their debut self-titled LP Snarling Dogs. This unhinged offering kicks out 11 revved-up, slobbering 77-esque punk tracks that will have wasted, spikey punks diving into the pit never to return. Songs like "Nothing Left" are charged and chock full of hits sounding like a demented mix of Raw Power era Stooges with the speed and aggression of The Damned or The Dead Boys. The record expands from there with songs like "Hour at a Time" -- a locked in dirgy, psychedelic stroll through crime ridden city streets. From there songs like "Enemy" rip through the void with manic energy- fast, raw and visceral almost stepping into early hardcore territory. While the record has these intense dynamic shifts, Snarling Dogs glue it all together with their cohesive live rock n roll energy. Snarling Dogs is the perfect escape from the mundanity of life. Chug that 40 oz on your lunch break, smoke that entire pack of cigs, and take a piss on your boss's car. There are two dogs in you. Now it's time to set the Snarling Dog free.

A gas generator, a hi-fi system, a semi-abandoned house, and 20 hastily printed flyers. That's how, almost without realizing it, Lapsus was born in 2004. Over the course of two decades, the label has ridden a rollercoaster of emotions: from soaring epiphanies, convinced that nothing could stop them, to moments of near defeat when they almost threw in the towel. Making a career out of music is not exactly choosing the easy path. But epic tales aside, today Lapsus look back with pride at having created something that is genuine. To celebrate Lapsus' journey and what lies ahead -- and also keeping an eye on what is yet to come -- Lapsus has gathered some of the artists who have joined along the way, musicians they consider friends and for whom they have the deepest admiration. In a way, VINT (Catalan for "twenty") is like a sonic photo album, a tracklist that tells Lapsus' story better than they could themselves, a collection of unreleased music that celebrates the fact that they've made it this far. Leading this outstanding compilation are forward-thinking producers, with contributions from some of the most respected names in cutting-edge electronic music: CLARAGUILAR, GAZZI, Kettel, Kode9, Le Motel, Lord Of The Isles, Marina Herlop, naemi, Nueen, Pépe, Plaid, Seph, Simo Cell, Suzanne Ciani, Wordcolour, and µ-Ziq.

Teatro Del Metapresente is the debut album by La Nuit Je Mens, a duo hailing from the Parisian suburbs and southern Italy. Now based in Rome, the two artists have crafted a striking sound that merges their DIY ethos with raw, unfiltered energy. Driven by synthetic, minimalist rhythms created on a fleet of analog machines, the seven tracks pay homage to the sound of the '80s -- yet entirely forward-looking and embracing the dancefloor modernity. Blending genres such as EBM, synth-pop and minimal-cold-wave, paired with French vocals, the album delves into themes of underground activities, the slow decay of the club scene and the depths of emotional yearning. Released on the Berlin-Basel-based label Reach Another System, Teatro Del Metapresente follows the previously released 7" and reinforces the duo's own sound and unique identity.

Neue Grafik (known to friends as Fred) has successfully transplanted from Parisian rookie to one-man London Institution. Beginning as a solo producer and DJ, Fred spread his wings upon relocating to South London -- at first with his Neue Grafik Ensemble and later with his now iconic twice-weekly Orii Jam -- the latter of which has given agency to an entire new generation of musicians; spawning an aesthetic, nurturing a unique sound and becoming a launchpad for countless artists. Dalston Tape Vol. 1 is Fred's attempt to fall back in love with beatmaking -- taking it back to the roots of where the project began. Since his early MPC-led productions on Parisian label, Beat X Changers, Fred has learnt to play the keys to a concert hall standard, he has become proficient in double bass and built up a dense network of collaborators who he has composed, recorded, engineered and produced for both at home in SE London and in the iconic Total Refreshment Centre Studios in Dalston. This experience adds unavoidable dimensions to his toolbox -- resulting in something more akin to a miniature-magnum-opus than a simple beat-tape. Yes, there are the influences of Pete Rock, Mad Lib, J Dilla, and Al Dobson Jr, but there is also the musicality of D'Aneglo, James Blake, and live contributions from an ever-growing army of young graduates of the Orii School. Featuring Brother Portrait, Max Mckenzie, and Selina Jones.

On Ghadr, Sandy Chamoun, Anthony Sahyoun and Jad Atoui play with chaos. Built on group improvisation, surges of coruscating electronics and distortion meld with vocals that, while stemming from a background in classical Arabic singing, seek to reroute tradition. The album, whose title imperfectly translates to "Treachery," began on a residency in Switzerland while the trio were touring Europe (Chamoun solo, Atoui and Sahyoun as their duo NP). It was later finished in their home city of Beirut. The five tracks are built on vibrant circuits of guitar and modular synthesis, the former often acting as a trigger for the latter's volatile output. Chamoun's vocals blend her background in classical Arabic music with free-singing, using tradition as a foundation for exploration rather than standards to follow. Apart from "Hayawanon Ghader (treacherous animal)," all the songs' lyrics pull from the archive. About the album's title, Chamoun explains: "On this planet, the only thing that's happening now is treachery. It's the headline of our days." Terror in Gaza, its shockwaves through the Middle-East and its place in longer histories loom over the record. However, while Ghadr reflects the present moment, it isn't consumed by it. The trio agree the album reflects tenderness as much as anger. It's audible in the effortless swings between abstract and soaring. The way Chamoun's lyrics put ninth century odes to a bird and ancient Bedouin love songs next to personal reflections by Al-Domouky or Chaoul on real world tragedies. Sonically and lyrically Ghadr is music of possibility and potential. The five tracks travel through unbounded terrain rather than along fixed paths. While the record reflects their state of mind as residents of Lebanon, and the uncertainty that entails, Sahyoun suggests they're striving to reach beyond it. Ghadr is the first release under the name Chamoun/Sahyoun/Atoui, but the trio's connection is deeply rooted. Sahyoun and Chamoun are members of ecstatic rock collective Sanam. Atoui and Sahyoun's explorations of synthesis, solo and as NP, are long-running. On Ghadr these histories form something new. A charged record which faces the world as it is while offering glimpses of something else.

Though allegedly a Texas native, Milton Davis first recorded in Los Angeles in 1967 as a member of the Four Tempos. When that act split, he trekked up the coast in stages, eventually settling in Portland. Here he secured the lead vocal role for local scene heroes, Slickaphonic. Though a full album of their own was taped, another reel of material was cut centered on Milton as a solo artist. Neither set of tracks saw release in their day, but from the latter collection Soul7 has pulled a bona fide 1977 disco-soul smasher and a mid-tempo flipside with a sheen that belies its depth. First time ever on 7" 45, dinked center hole with picture sleeve, 500 numbered copies only.

Singer Andy Stokes, billed as the "Northwest King of Soul Music," may have recently worked with such industry luminaries as Snoop Dogg but, way back in the late '70s, he was fronting a hopeful Jazz-Funk group struggling to break into even just the Oregon circuit. Despite boasting members from internationally successful acts like Fantasy Records' own Pleasure, Lights Out never saw their one demo -- cut in 1982 for the well-established Solar Records -- even get a promo pressing. Two of the tightest and busiest of their dancefloor wreckers from the session now grace their only 7" to date. Important note: The B Side is entitled "Surrender Your Love" and not "Take It" as printed on the label.

With this second record, Shoko Igarashi unveils a new genre called Onsen Music. Each track invites you on a relaxing journey, much like soaking away your troubles in the steamy hot waters of a traditional Japanese spa (Onsen). The variety of songs mimic the variety of onsens, some are salty and scorching, some are smooth and clear, some are bubbly and colorful, and others are a refreshing dip into crisp clear waters. In every instance, there's a sense of satisfaction as soothing and delightful as the tracks themselves. This ode to "relax," while remaining irresistibly danceable, is filled with good vibrations, melodies and hooks that go straight to the heart, saxophone playing virtuosity, intricate electronic compositions, vocals that make listeners dream of new worlds, and beats that could keep them on a dancefloor all night long. Shoko Igarashi was born in Yamagata Prefecture, Tsuruoka city, Japan. An accomplished tenor saxophonist, she is also a versatile flautist and plays alto and soprano saxophone fluently. She has already made her mark as both an arranger and a composer. Shoko grew up surrounded by dreamlike landscapes of abundant nature in the snowy countryside of Tsuruoka, a mysterious and surreal region renowned for producing the best quality rice in Japan, where she says, "the water and the air feel the purest," and where mountains and shrines overflow with ancient mysticism. For fans of: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Restocked. Vivid peyote-induced psychedelia from Texas sounding like an impossible meld between the Elevators and the Velvet Underground but possessing a strongly unique disposition. Recorded in 1970 but never released at the time, featuring future members of Roky Erickson's backing band Bleib Alien/The Aliens. Formed in Austin in the late 1960s by visionary lyricist and autoharp player Billy Bill Miller and his friend Tom McGarrigle on guitar, Cold Sun evolved from a band called Cauldron (later Amethyst) which at one point featured drummer John Kearney from Roky Erickson's first band The Spades. Miller, a proto-Goth figure always dressed in black, highly influenced by Joe Meek and vintage sci-fi/horror movies, started to experiment with weird noises out of his electrified autoharp, favoring the audio-oriented drug mescaline over the LSD associated with hippies. Amethyst jammed with musicians such as Benny Thurman from the 13th Floor Elevators and Steve Webb from the Lost And Found. It was through Mike Waugh's friendship with Elevators drummer John Ike Walton that Billy Miller and the band hooked up with the local label/studio Sonobeat, who expressed interest in recording an album with the intention to shop it to a major label: thus, the now-legendary Cold Sun album was born. The band, driven by Miller's strange electrified autoharp sounds plus the massive fuzz guitar of McGarrigle, dressed with feedback and futuristic lyrics, laid down several tracks in between rehearsals at Miller's house on Castle Hill (west Austin). Never released at the time, the Cold Sun album languished in oblivion and the musicians moved on to other things. It wasn't until 1990 that the Cold Sun album was finally released on vinyl by the Rockadelic label (in a tiny edition of 300 copies), followed by a new edition on German label World In Sound in 2008, now out of print. For this new edition, Guerssen tried to imagine how the Cold Sun album could have looked like if it had been actually released in 1970. It comes in a hard cardboard sleeve with vintage styled artwork by psychedelic illustrator Callum Rooney. Sourced from the same audio master as the original Rockadelic LP, the sound has been vastly improved thanks to the meticulous and careful restoration/remastering by audiophile engineer Ezra Lesser, who has also penned the definitive story of Cold Sun for the liner notes.

Dutch-Surinamese multi-instrumentalist Ronald Snijders presents new album Penta via Night Dreamer. A jazz heavyweight who draws Latin, Brazilian and Surinamese influences into dialogue with the electric sound of Weather Report, Snijders released four albums between 1977 and 1983 that have become holy grails of deep, forward-thinking fusion. Over forty years, 50 releases and 5,000 compositions later, Penta represents a statement return from an unsung jazz great ready to pick up his dues. Recorded direct-to-disc at Artone Studio, with a stellar cast of European musicians, new album Penta fizzes and sparks with the ingenuity of Snijders' flute chops, tight interplay and a palette that spans synths, clavinet, Fender Rhodes, electric bass and sax. A seamless fusion of rhythms, influences and improvisation, Penta has the class of a golden-era jazz-funk record, with the energy and verve of an in-the-pocket live band. Born in Suriname and son of renowned composer and orchestra leader Eddy Snijders, Ronald Snijders made his name in the Netherlands -- his 1977 debut album Natural Sources a remarkable and radical feat of self-determination. Released on his own label, Black Straight Records, the album featured only original compositions, for which Snijders played all the instruments, produced and mixed the album himself. Bucking the expectation that Surinamese or Caribbean musicians should only make party records, Snijders blazed a trail, cutting his second LP, A Safe Return in similarly independent circumstances in 1980. Working with a band for 1981's Black Straight Music and 1983's Quartz, Snijders crafted a discography that will be reissued by Night Dreamer to accompany the release of Penta, all transferred from the original master tapes. Although both Snijders and his father have been knighted for their services to music in the Netherlands, with Ronald receiving the country's most prestigious jazz award, The Boy Edgar Prize, in 2022, his work has been largely obscured to the international jazz audiences. An exposition of Snijders' virtuosic range and beguiling compositional prowess, Penta traces musical trajectories from Suriname to Europe and back again to fuse a sound that is both timeless and original in equal measure.

2024 repress. "It was early in 2019 -- no, November 2018! -- that Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin met at Studio Rymden, in a quiet, pretty suburban district of Stockholm, to make the music that became Ghosted. They can't remember exactly when it was made because that time -- the when and where that it was recorded -- doesn't really matter anymore. Now the music of Ghosted exists in the intention of a shared moment of playing, a clearly delineated time, put forth with a steady flow of small details on bass, guitar and drums, in a remarkable display of rhythmic flexibility within a minimal framework. Oren and Johan have met many times onstage and off since 2003, with several duo recordings to their credit, as well as additional encounters in the group Fire! with Mats Gustafsson and drummer Andreas Werliin. A while back, Oren and Johan decided to reconvene in the studio for a furthering of the thought process that they'd come to on the second Ambarchi/Berthling collaboration, 2015's Tongue Tied. As Andreas had mixed that session, it felt right to have him on kit -- he'd already been intimately involved in the process. The music they all play together in Fire! is, to put it mildly, loud. This session, they sensed an opportunity to explore different dynamics -- to tap, perhaps, a shared inner ECM space. Studio Rymden sits on an upper floor of the building it's located in, and the light coming through the windows was pleasant on that day. They set up, picked out some amps (including the best-sounding Leslie speaker Oren's ever heard) and got started. Rooting in the rich tonality and repeating figures of Johan's acoustic (and sometimes electric) bass, the four tracks that make up Ghosted act as variations on a theme, unspooling continuously over the course of 39 minutes with the terse flow of krautrock jams -- closely observed percussive riffs and repetitions that build continuously with subtle shifts as they move forward, with the small details flying expansively in and out across the stereo spectrum. Oren's guitar often sounds with an organ-like tone, with notes of fire and glass wafting out over the percolation and permutation in Johan and Andreas' rhythms..."

In 1961, a giant awoke in South Central Los Angeles: a musically radical, deep-rooted, politically engaged band, its members drawn from the community it represented and served, and its music composed by them alone -- The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. The brainchild of pianist and composer Horace Tapscott, the Arkestra was intended to preserve Black music, nurture Black musicians, and above all contribute positively to community building in South Central LA. 60 Years celebrates six decades of his radical and uplifting musical and social vision. Digging deep into the Arkestra's archives, the album gathers breath-taking unreleased material, including previously unheard compositions, from every stage of the band's development -- from Tapscott's earliest iterations of the group, recording at home in 1961, to the current incarnation of the band, led by the new generation of young musicians. Tapscott passed on in 1999, but the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra was built to outlast him: over more than half a century it has stayed true to its roots and to Tapscott's vision, welcoming multiple generations of players into its fold, and celebrating their music. And with current leader Mekala Session -- son of the Arkestra's veteran altoist Michael Session -- at the helm, the Ark is still going strong. 60 Years selects a song from every decade of its life, show-casing a musical family tree that includes renowned musicians such as Arthur Blythe, Dwight Trible, Phil Ranelin, Butch Morris, Kamau Daáood, Sonjia Maia Harper, Nate Morgan, Linda Hill, Adele Sebastian, Michael Session, Jesse Sharps and of course the late, great Horace Tapscott himself. Remastered from archival sources by the Arkestra's longstanding engineer Wayne Peet, 60 Years is presented by The Village -- a label operated by members of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. With archival photographs documenting the Arkestra's history, the album arrives with liner notes featuring track-by-track commentary from Arkestra members past and present. For decades, Tapscott's musical brilliance and the majesty of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra was almost unknown outside South Central. 60 Years is the sound of all this history emerging at last, and also of history in the making. To quote Zekkeraya El-Megharbel, Arkestra conductor and trombonist: "There's more to be said, but words feel like they don't do the job."

New repress! "This compilation is dedicated to the memory of the late great 'Prince' Philip Smart -- the first apprentice of King Tubby and the first engineer at Tubby's studio besides Tubby himself. Alongside Tubby, Philip was integral to the innovation that took place at Tubby's studio in the mid-1970s, where the mixing of new roots reggae revolutionized the sound of Jamaican music and created styles and techniques that are still being echoed today, nearly 50 years later. Though rarely credited on records in comparison to Tubby, Philip also mixed a lot of the paramount music produced by those close associates of Tubby's studio such as Bunny Lee, Yabby You, and Augustus Pablo. Philip was closely tied to Pablo due to their childhood friendship and was a partner in his stylistically significant early production works. In the early years of Tubby's studio, both men were making and cutting custom dubs there for their sound systems before starting to produce their own tunes from scratch, and Philip becoming the second chair engineer. Several of the songs on this compilation are a selection of the aforementioned work. All of the songs here are sourced from Philip's personal tape archive, and basically all of these mixes and versions have been scarcely if ever heard, and never released before. This double album comprises a rare and genuine glimpse into the dubplate workings of the inner circle of Tubby's studio in the mid-1970s, where the prime players and emerging giants of reggae music production and sound system versioned, remixed and voiced rhythms for custom and exclusive cuts. Some of the cuts heard here were formerly exclusive power plays on King Tubby's own legendary sound system, and unlike some previous issues of such material, these are genuine mixes done at the time. Some other tracks clearly exude the youthful enthusiasm of the participants. Rest in power Prince Philip Smart." --RB/DKR, Summer 2023

Rose Tang has previously been heard on ESP-Disk in the band ATTITUDE!, whose album Pause & Effect came out in 2021 (ESPDISK 5048LP). She writes: "There was a school of philosophy in ancient China whose core theory stems from a debate entitled 'A White Horse Is Not a Horse.' In a book by Gongsun Long (公孫龍 320-250BC, about 200 years after Confucius) in the Warring States Period, two persons argue if a white horse is a horse: the protagonist argues it is not, because 'white' is the color of a (particular) horse while a 'horse' is a shape and a generic term. It's a linguistic/logical paradox, or sophistry. Ridiculed by his contemporary philosophers and forgotten for centuries, Gongsun is now considered the only philosopher in ancient China who delved into logic and philosophy of language. I was about 12 when my artist father first told me about the debate. He's painted many horses, especially white horses. Long before I discovered I'm a Mongol, I had always loved horses. Funny, my high school politics (Maoism/Marxism) teacher nicknamed me 'Wild Horse Running off the Reins.' That's how I see myself when playing music. Music offers instant and countless ways of freeing myself and connecting with people and the multiverse. It's all about following the qi, the energy, the flow. It's like cooking or making love, with senses and feelings all out in the open, without thinking. Improvising in a group is the most democratic activity. And all sounds are equal -- birds, traffic, construction, the ocean, kids -- all music to my ear. All instruments are my toys (some are indeed my daughter's toys). For every instrument I play, I feel the physical and spiritual connections with them. Ask not what your instrument can do for you, ask what you can do for your instrument. I look for the sounds that an instrument isn't 'supposed' to make. Music is the most abstract art form and the closest to the truth, yet it's the most institutionalized. My slogan is 'Learn through play. Play by ear. Fuck the rest!' So here it is, just some Weird Shit, music that is not music. A white horse is not a horse." All music improvised by Rose Tang and Patrick Golden. Recorded by Jim Clouse at Park West Studios, Brooklyn, on August 28, 2024.

Limited edition pressing of 500 copies worldwide. All pressed on olive green vinyl, housed in a full color sleeve with leather effect laminate, with hype sticker and black polylined inner bag. Continuing Riot Season's quest to get all of the classic early AMT albums released on vinyl, the label turns to 2006's Starless And Bible Black Sabbath, and with the help of Makoto Kawabata's studio wizardry, it is possible. This latest instalment in the Acid Mothers Temple Vinyl Archives - First Time On Vinyl series has been meticulously put together with the help of Makoto Kawabata with the original CD artwork recreated for these vinyl editions from archive photos stored in the vaults at the Acid Mothers Temple in Osaka, Japan and the original audio remastered by James Plotkin. Here's what Brainwashed.com had to say upon its original CD-only release back in 2006: "The title track is the meat of the beast, beginning with a minute of booms and gongs reminiscent of a thunderstorm before launching into some slow, heavy Sabbath-esque riffs. Squealing guitar and synth effects accompany the vocals of bassist Tabata Mitsuru, whose voice captures some of the sound and feeling of Ozzy's more than it does the melody. The pace is slower than most AMT fare, but things speed up considerably around the eight-and-a-half-minute mark."

LP version. With their unpredictable live performances and songs such as "Zurück zum Beton" and "Industriemädchen," S.Y.P.H. caused a ruckus at the end of the '70s -- as one of the bands that began to write lyrics in German around Düsseldorf's Ratinger Hof. Right from the start, the band broke with genre-conformist expectations and borrowed from rock, punk and kraut just as much as from Dadaism and the reality of everyday life. Now, a reissue series sheds light on S.Y.P.H.'s first creative phase from 1977 to 1982. Pure Freude Singles includes previously unreleased songs. S.Y.P.H. formed in 1977 in Solingen and began playing concerts in nearby Düsseldorf. Initially clearly based on punk, the band's sound quickly developed and became increasingly difficult to categorize. In the intensive years that followed, S.Y.P.H.'s productions often featured guests from the Düsseldorf scene around Ratinger Hof or CAN's Holger Czukay. While around 1980, punk and Neue Deutsche Welle (German New Wave) were solidifying as supposedly clear-cut concepts, S.Y.P.H.'s music testified to the blurriness of genre boundaries: already on the first, self-titled LP, the band belts out short punky songs like "Zurück zum Beton" and "Lachleute und Nettmenschen," while the B-side surprises with more than ten-minute long Kraut-inspired pieces.

LP version. Als die Welt noch unterging ("When the world was still ending") is a chronicle of the emergence and development of punk and new wave in German-speaking countries from 1979 - 1984. The apocalyptic sentiment around 1980 gave punk and new wave the necessary push. It led to an incredible outburst of activity and creativity. Against the backdrop of the nuclear armament, nobody believed that this world would have a great future anymore -- so suddenly everything was allowed, regardless of the consequences. This is the subject of a book by German author Frank Apunkt Schneider, in which he unfolds the history of the New German Wave and the German punk underground right through to the regional, cassette and fanzine scenes. To mark the 20th-anniversary of this book, a compilation curated by the author brings this period back to life. Featuring Autofick, Carambolage, Siluetes 61, Hans-A-Plast, Kosmonautentraum, Holger Hiller, Die Zwei, Family 5 Tagein, Rassemenschen helfen armen Menschen, Lustige Mutanten, Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle, Neues Deutschland, Die Egozentrischen 2, Male, Bärchen und die Milchbubis, Die Zimmermänner, The Wirtschaftswunder, Palais Schaumburg, Cretins, and Konstantin.

"On the cover: 2024 Rewind -- The Wire's essential guide to the highs and lows of the last 12 months in underground music and culture, including our Top 50 Releases of the Year and Archive Releases of the Year charts, both compiled from the votes of more than 60 of our critics and contributors. Other features include cultural reflections from our roster of writers, our specialist columnists' charts and analyses from avant rock to noise, and essays on some of 2024's talking points including the revival of the CD, new compositional potentials of noise, and genre naming in the vortex of social media. Elsewhere in the issue: YATTA -- The New York based, Sierra Leone born multidisciplinary artist has just released their latest album Palm Wine via PTP. Five transient, introspective years in the making, it is their most personal release to date, reflecting on their relationship to tradition, family history, story-telling and the idea of home. By Stephanie Philips. Musica Ex Machina: At Lausanne's EPFL Pavilions, the exhibition Musica Ex Machina: Machines Thinking Musically plots a history of algorithmic and computational thought in music from the Middle Ages to the present day citing a range of theories and compositions from Schoenberg to Coltrane, George Lewis to Jennifer Walshe. Robert Barry visits it to ponder the saga of mechanical music. Bridget Hayden: The DIY multi-instrumentalist and singer is known for her involvement with expansive ensembles like Vibracathedral Orchestra and Folklore Tapes as well as duos with Bill Nace and Roy Claire Potter. Todmorden's Basin Rock label will release her new solo album, Cold Blows The Wind, in January. By Lucy Thraves. Plus one page profiles of Oranssi Pazuzu, Sakina Abdou, Stuart Argabright and Everlovin'."

Obscure and outstanding free jazz album reissued for the first time since its original release in 1969. Old-style gatefold LP, with liner notes by Ed Hazell. In the late 1960s, young jazz musician Bobby Naughton, a keyboardist and vibraphonist, faced significant challenges as he sought to record his first album. With major record labels and jazz clubs catering only to big names, Naughton and other creative musicians of his generation found themselves sidelined by the mainstream music industry. They turned to self-reliance and self-production, becoming part of a movement of independent musicians. Naughton's debut album, Nature's Consort, was a DIY effort in every sense -- recorded on home equipment and featuring a hand-printed woodblock cover. The album was distributed independently at concerts and by mail, receiving little attention initially, but over the years it gained a reputation as a rare, sought-after artifact of the period. Though recorded during an outdoor concert in Connecticut, Nature's Consort reflected the "loft jazz" scene in New York City. This avant-garde jazz movement centered around musicians who lived and played in loft spaces in lower Manhattan. Naughton commuted from his home in Southbury, Connecticut, to play with his bandmates Mark Whitecage, Mario Pavone, and Laurence Cook in New York's lofts. These musicians regularly performed at venues like Studio We, a key gathering spot for free-form jazz, where musicians could experiment and develop their sound, often with no audience present. Naughton's journey into jazz was a winding one. Originally from Boston, he played rockabilly and blues-rock before transitioning into free jazz. Inspired by avant-garde artists like Carla Bley and Paul Bley, Naughton sought to explore new forms of music that went beyond traditional jazz structures. His bandmates, Mark Whitecage and Mario Pavone, were both deeply affected by the death of John Coltrane in 1967, which prompted them to quit their day jobs, attend Coltrane's funeral, and move to New York to pursue jazz full-time. Nature's Consort was a collective project, with band members sharing equally in any profits. However, Naughton was the driving force behind the group's creative direction. He composed much of the original material and selected pieces by Ornette Coleman and Carla Bley for the band's repertoire. Jazz critic Nat Hentoff praised the album for its "high-risk improvisation" and the musicians' ability to anticipate each other's moves. Though Nature's Consort received little press at the time, it has since been recognized as a significant early document of the loft jazz era, representing Naughton's disciplined, improvisational approach to music.

The dawn of psychedelic rock in Mexico, ten tracks introducing a worldwide-phenomena in the realm of the South American memory. A fascinating voyage led by cultish band La Revolución De Emiliano Zapata and several other nuggets-style combos. Originally released in 1971 the compilation was aptly titled La Onda, referring to a broader cultural and political movement. La Onda Chicana grew rapidly in a few years, culminating in a two days "Mexican Woodstock" known as "Avándaro," which attracted 300,000 people in September 1971. Featuring La Revolucion De Emiliano Zapata, Tinta Blanca, Javier Batiz, Rosario, La Tribu, La Tribu, La Quinta Vision, Los Clicks, Division Del Norte, and Poly Y Cia.

Ultimo Tango (Milan) and Glossy Mistakes (Madrid) present the release of Tribal Organic: Deep Dive into European Percussions 79-90, a compilation of otherworldly percussion-driven tracks, digging deep into this unknown realm of a past era. Compiled by Luca Fiore and Glossy Mario, the album takes listeners on a rhythmic journey through the diverse sounds of Europe from 1979 to 1990. This collaboration between two like-minded labels highlights forgotten recordings from across Europe, including works by artists from France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, and more. Opening with the ethereal "Rainforest" by British female duo Ova, this collection weaves together nine tracks from artists who were deeply influenced by global percussion traditions. With hints of jazz, new age, gamelan, and West African rhythms, these tracks feature instruments like congas, tablas, and shekeres, and reflect a shared fascination with the organic beat of the drum. From the industrial-meets-African grooves of Jean-Michel Bertrand's "Engines," to the hypnotic accordion and tribal chants of Cuco Pérez's "Calabó Bambú," the compilation offers a cross-cultural listening experience that is both meditative and invigorating. Despite creating these works in isolation during the last years of the Cold War, each artist was inspired by a borderless world of sound. The compilation pays homage to these nomadic musicians who respected the traditions they drew from, while contributing their own experimental takes on percussion-led music. In Tribal Organic, Glossy Mario and Luca Fiore have unearthed a treasure trove of rhythm-driven tracks that blur the lines between nations, genres, and cultures. This compilation offers more than just music; it's a listening experience that is both spiritual and grounded -- bold, exploratory, and deeply rooted in the beat of the Earth. Also featuring Terry Keegan, Van Kampen, Votu, Four Drummers Drumming, Χόρες, Angklunk, and Cipriani One Man Band.

Repressed! Formed in 1977 by brothers Kim Chang-wan, Kim Chang-hoon and Kim Chang-ik, Sanullim are one of the fathers of Korean psychedelic rock. Evening Breeze is the first ever comp focused on their little known 1979-83 albums, selecting their most fuzzed-out, hard-psych-pop-funk (Korean style) tracks. Selected by (probably) Sanullim number one non-Korean fan Antoni Gorgues. Sourced from the original masters, featuring gatefold artwork designed by Spanish illustrator Mario Feal. Liner notes by Hugh Dellar and photos.

"Intervention Records presents its first jazz release, Bobby Bradford and his CuZns' Freddie Ain't Ready. Freddie Ain't Ready is about identity. It is about discovering, developing, and embracing who you are. Freddie was recorded live-to-two-track analog at Hollywood's legendary EastWest (formerly Western) Studios by Steve Genewick and Joe Harley. Custom Flux Magnetics head stacks were used, with no editing, limiting, or compression. Just the highest resolution delivery possible of live sound to your home. Mastering and lacquers are cut by Kevin Gray at CoHEARent Audio, and boutique press RTI delivers dead quiet 180G vinyl. No expense was spared, and laborious attention to detail ensured that the listener is transported into the studio and the creative experience. His discography is extensive and includes classics such as Ornette Coleman's Science Fiction and Broken Shadows. Additionally, he holds a B.M. from Huston-Tillotson University (Austin, Texas), and was a jazz educator of note at Pomona College (Claremont, California) for 44 years. This recording project was initiated when drummer-percussionist Garth Powell (Zen Widow, AudioQuest) proposed a performance with CuZns (Bobby Bradford and William Roper) on the long-time New Music Sunday's series hosted by Open Gate Theatre in Los Angeles. This was extremely well-received, and a grand time was had by all."

In Straight Up, Without Wings, Joe McPhee surveys sixty years in creative music. Starting with his trumpeter-father's influence and formative years in the U.S. Army, McPhee recounts experiences as a Black-hippy-cum-budding-musician based in upstate New York, perched at an ideal distance from Manhattan's free jazz demimonde of the 1960s and its loft scene of the 1970s. A natural storyteller, revealing never-told tales and reveling in the joys of noise, McPhee puts the influence of -- and encounters with -- Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Albert Ayler into the context of an independently-minded young player, ravenous for experience, dealing with the crucible of racism, seeking to break out beyond the bounds of a regional Hudson Valley scene that he knows like the back of his hand. The memoir draws forward through thrilling passages in Europe and across the United States, as McPhee gains momentum, as his music becomes the impetus for multiple record labels, as he collaborates with figures from Peter Brötzmann to Pauline Oliveros, and as he eventually goes on to inspire musicians far and wide. Written as an oral history, deftly conducted by Mike Faloon to preserve McPhee's unique narrative voice, Straight Up, Without Wings includes "reflections" by eight musicians from across the protagonist's rich history. Photography: Ziga Koritnik, Ken Brunton, John Corbett. First printing, edition of 1000. 166 pages. Dimensions: 8.5" x 6" x .5".

2024 repress. "Drummer Chris Corsano is a tireless collaborator. Among the 150 or so albums that he's contributed to over the past 25 years, only six have been credited to Chris alone, which makes the existence of The Key (Became The Important Thing [& Then Just Faded Away]) a rare instance of Chris going deep on his own vision. Indeed, this album finds him involved in every aspect of the process, from making the string-drums that the music is based upon, to playing all parts of the music, mixing them, and doing the cover art, too! This is a special album, bringing his encompassing focus on free improvisation and noise into a granular fusion with acoustic experiments and ideations of hard rock riffing and the post-punk sound. In Chris Corsano's collaborations over time with Paul Flaherty, Joe McPhee, Dredd Foole, Michael Flower, Paul Dunmall, Bill Orcutt, Nate Wooley, Mette Rasmussen, C. Spencer Yeh, Ben Chasny, and Sir Richard Bishop (as individuals, and together as Rangda), Bill Nace, Wally Shoup, Evan Parker, and dozens of other players, it's clear the vibe may get intense/heavy/OUT. Accessing this place, in itself, is an incredible calling -- but on The Key (Became The Important Thing [& Then Just Faded Away]), the intensity radiates entirely from inside Chris's process, in conversation with himself. And that's something that hit a bit different once he was done making it. The pieces here were largely built out of Chris's string drum playing, utilizing a setup he's created involving a silicone string, stretched across a snare drum with a bridge. When the string is hit, it resonates the drum -- a conception similar to that of the banjo, but with more of a bass tone. Several songs focus on Chris playing a bass string drum with a full kit, while the basic parts of two other pieces ('I Don't Have Missions,' 'The Full-Measure Wash Down') implied possibilities for full band arrangements which Chris was compelled to respond to himself. All the results on the tape, when listened back, found a higher order, transcending sequences of experimentation and technique, becoming much more than the sum of an internal conversation, standing together as a set of insistently compelling pieces of a whole. And so they became The Key (Became the Important Thing [& Then Just Faded Away]). They unlocked something in Chris Corsano."

LP version. With their unpredictable live performances and songs such as "Zurück zum Beton" and "Industriemädchen," S.Y.P.H. caused a ruckus at the end of the '70s -- as one of the bands that began to write lyrics in German around Düsseldorf's Ratinger Hof (German '70s punk club equivalent to CBGB's, where D.A.F. originated). Right from the start, the band broke with genre-conformist expectations and borrowed from rock, punk and kraut just as much as from Dadaism and the reality of everyday life. Now, a reissue series sheds light on S.Y.P.H.'s first creative phase from 1977 to 1982. S.Y.P.H. formed in 1977 in Solingen and began playing concerts in nearby Düsseldorf. Initially clearly based on punk, the band's sound quickly developed and became increasingly difficult to categorize. In the intensive years that followed, S.Y.P.H.'s productions often featured guests from the Düsseldorf scene around Ratinger Hof or CAN's Holger Czukay. This is a collection of the band's early singles: four tracks - including "Industriemädchen" and "Europa" -- were originally released in 1979 on the EP Viel Feind, viel Ehr. Thirteen further tracks -- including "Falsche Freunde" and "Knudelblues II" -- were released in 1982 as Der Bauer im Parkdeck. Three further songs are unreleased.

Start of a new series of official reworks of The Warmer Music catalogue, a very special collaboration of Too Slow To Disco with the major label. Official DocotrSoul reworks for one of the most prolific musicians of the Californian Westcoast/Jazz/AOR/Yacht scene, the one and only Michael Franks, who approved personally the new version. Over the languorous course of 33 years and 16 albums, Michael Franks has mesmerized an international legion of fans with his one-of-a-kind artistry. Seamlessly weaving lyrics of stunning sensuality, wit, reflection and literary eloquence over music that tastefully utilizes top shelf shadings of jazz, soul, pop, chamber and music from around the globe. His music was covered by countless international stars, like The Carpenters, Shirley Bassey, Ringo Star, and Natalie Cole. His music lives on and is loved by so many modern Balearic/Soft Disco musicians/producers from today. Parisian producer DoctorSoul is a longtime TSTD collaborator. These reworks of his have been floating around the internet for some time. The D.J./Remix and Music producer/sound designer has collaborated with many artists and bands from diverse genres even in jazz, bringing production remixes for the likes of legendary Tania Maria, Jeff Cascaro, Mandoo, and Interview to name just a few! His own musical releases are deeply rooted in disco and funk territory with a modern sonic production touch that can grab attention from the younger generation, as well as from the elder who like to be reminded of the '80s dance floor culture. Since 2018 he has been hosting a monthly show on RapTz Radio and on the late night dream.com while doing DJ sets for The House Theory Radio Show, The Midnight Riot Radio, and Disko Knights.

2024 repress. Arctic pearl color vinyl. Faith in Strangers was written and recorded between January 2013 and June 2014, and was edited and sequenced in late July of 2014. Making use of on an array of instruments, field recordings, found sounds and vocal treatments, it's a largely analog variant of hi-tech production styles arcing from the dissonant to the sublime. The first two tracks recorded during these early sessions bookend the release, the opener "Time Away" featuring euphonium played by Kim Holly Thorpe and last track "Missing," a contribution by Stott's occasional vocal collaborator Alison Skidmore, who also appeared on 2012's Luxury Problems. Between these two points Faith in Strangers heads off from the sparse and infected "Violence" to the broken, downcast pop of "On Oath" and the motorik, driving melancholy of "Science & Industry" -- three vocal tracks built around that angular production style that imbues proceedings with both a pioneering spirit and a resonating sense of familiarity. Things take a sharp turn with "No Surrender"-- a sparkling analog jam making way for a tough, smudged rhythmic assault, while "How It Was" refracts sweaty warehouse signatures and "Damage" finds the sweet spot between RZA's classic "Ghost Dog" and Terror Danjah at his most brutal. "Faith in Strangers" is next and offers perhaps the most beautiful and open track here, its vocal hook and chiming melody bound to the rest of the album via the almost inaudible hum of Stott's mixing desk. It provides a haze of warmth and nostalgia that ties the nine loose joints that make up the LP into the most memorable and oddly cohesive of Stott's career to date, built and rendered in the spirit of those rare albums that straddle innovation and tradition through darkness and light, lingering on in the mind like nothing else.

Following a four-year hiatus from solo releases, the British musician Matt Karmil returns with the soft-focus gentle beauty and subtly stealthy beats of new LP, No Going Back. With inspired moments of creation happening incrementally, the album came together amidst a busy mixing/remixing/mastering/co-production schedule. Artists who've enlisted his multiple skills includes Bicep, Underworld, Mall Grab, Jayda G, DJ Koze, Neneh Cherry, Sofia Kourtesis, DJ Fett Burger, Matias Aguayo, and Carmen Villain. Feeling the benefits of this new approach, No Going Back is the strongest expression of Matt's artistic vision to date, honing the spectrum of styles for which he's renowned, all smudged together by a warm, gauzy haze. The microhouse anthem "SFP" is followed by the broken tech science of "No Going Back," the spectral dub techno spookiness of "Old Haunts" and the sublime misty shimmer of "The Last Time." Further switching things up is the oddball dancefloor experimentalism of "Still Something There," the washed-out electroid balm of "Things Really Happen," and the epic dark ambient closer "15 mins."

"Smile (sometimes stylized as SMiLE) is the unfinished album by the Beach Boys intended to follow their 1966 album Pet Sounds. the project came to be regarded as the most legendary unreleased album in popular music history. The album was produced and almost entirely composed by Brian Wilson with Van Dyke Parks, both of whom conceived the project as a 'teenage symphony to God' It was a concept album that was planned to feature word paintings, tape manipulation, experiments with musical acoustics, themes of youth and innocence, and comedic interludes, with influences drawn from mysticism, pre-rock and roll pop, doo-wop, jazz, ragtime, musique concrète, classical, American history, poetry, spirituality, and cartoons. A mythology grew around the project, and its unfulfilled potential inspired many, especially those in indie rock, post-punk, electronic, and chamber pop genres."

Agartha: Personal Meditation Music is a 7 CD boxed set, originally released on cassette in 1986, at the height of New Age, as an aid for meditation and alignment. Bringing to mind 20th century composers like Eliane Radigue, La Monte Young, or even Brian Eno's Shutov Assembly, the time-stopping, enveloping, electronic music contained in this series sounds eerily modern, mysterious and moving. Characterized by deep analog drones, rising overtones, floating frequencies surfing on sine-waves and intervals with mystic modulation, this is truly moving, vibrational music. In Agartha, the individual notes of each Harmonic Triad proceed in a fashion that is neither improvisational nor chance-based, nor is it generative. Instead, the music flows outward as if being transmitted -- or channeled -- from a place outside human consciousness. There is a profound sense of cosmic depth expanding ever outward as the music fills the listener with waves of emotion, and a palpable somatic response is felt, although there are subtle differences with each unique Triad. Each disc is individually packaged in original replica sleeves and housed in a heavy-duty cardboard clamshell box. Digitized and remastered by Jessica Thompson. Liner notes include extensive instructions for use from the original text and an essay by library music scholar David Hollander. The original edition of Agartha: Personal Meditation Music, featured one-track, 30-minute track per tape repeated on both sides. Subsequent editions had unique Side B tracks on all but two of the seven volumes. Important Records have included all tracks in this boxed set. RIYL: Eliane Radigue, Pauline Oliveros, Eleh, Duane Pitre, La Monte Young, Eno, Larajji, Iasos.