"Here is the first volume of protean solo improvisations recorded by Loren Connors in his artist's garret in New Haven, Connecticut. It was committed to tape on February 20, 1979 and pressed to vinyl soon after. As with the two earlier LPs on Loren's Daggett label, singer/recorder-player Kath Bloom also appears on this record, although only on the second side. Those prior LPs were both issued in 1978, The first was Acoustic Guitar/Gifts a split LP with Loren solo on one side and with Kath joining him on the flip. The second was Fields, which I have been assured uses the same split format. Although most people cannot help themselves from believing all nine volumes of this series (all of which we will be reissuing) are of a piece, the first volume represents a real declaration of identity for Loren. He was introducing himself publicly as a guitar player, although his approach was still very much dictated by the influence of the painter, Mark Rothko, who Loren once described as using a minimal palette to create vital art. The music on Unaccompanied Acoustic Guitar Vol. 1 is less violent than the solo side of the Acoustic Guitar/Gifts split. I've never been able to hear a copy of Fields, so I can't compare that one. But the feel to this session is bluesy, in as much as Loren's wordless vocals have a surface similarity to a hellhound's, and while he was not using a slide, most of the notes he plays are bent to the edges of their known range. Fahey always said blues was 'about' anger, however and there's not really any of that here. I am more reminded of this Rothko quote. 'You've got sadness in you, I've got sadness in me ... and my works of art are places where the two sadnesses can meet, and therefore both of us need to feel less sad.' The first side is solo. On the second Loren is joined for a bit by Kath on hums and recorder. The music brims with sorrow more than anything else. And while it's clear Loren was embracing an abstract avant garde aesthetic vis-a-vis his playing, the urge to communicate seems to lie at its roots. Whatever you choose to call it, this is the beginning of something quite beautiful." --Byron Coley, 2020

Frozen in time over four decades this 1984 "cyclic incantation" combines electroacoustics, grazed euphoria, industrial aesthetics, sampled salvage, and recycled mechanic folk to score a widely revered dystopian physical theatre performance from the UK's hugely influential Impact Theatre Co-Operative. From a seminal post-punk art-action faction (formed in a Leeds warehouse space alongside Gang Of Four and The Mekons), this apocalyptic prophecy not only cracked avant-garde stage boundaries but provided a captive audience with stunning set design and an incredible broken-music soundtrack before its swan song amidst Poland's 1986 power plant panic. From the sonic workbench of the very same bedsit-situationists that created the haunting 1983 music to The Moomins TV animation comes the eventual isolated music release to this pioneering theatrical spectacle of truly mythical status. The Carrier Frequency (1984) was a legendary stage work that emerged from the collaboration between the influential performance company Impact Theatre Co-operative and cult novelist Russel Hoban. The incantation of Hoban's text voiced in the broken verbiage of a post-apocalyptic broken language and the entranced physicality of Impact's ritualistic performance in a pool of cold dark water printed deeply on those who witnessed it. It reached an impassioned crescendo on the rising score by Graeme Miller and Steve Shill who also performed in the work. The music exploited samples from Hoban's own recordings of the shortwave radio broadcasts which he tuned in as he wrote, helping him order the green phosphorescent letters on the screen of his Apple computer. Shill and Miller mirrored Hoban's channeling in their approach to making the score, following the notion that this was the broadcast of some Central Eurasian radio station doomed forever to circulate fragments of static interlaced with desultory public information broadcasts and "The Record", its only surviving fragment of a lost culture. The score was forged on an 8-track tape recorder sandwiching harmonium and accordion with the output of a digital delay machine that could trap and fragments of audio to be triggered and manually pitched. It is a knowingly crude montage where samples denote fragmentation itself and their reassembly, like Frankenstein's monster, shows the stitches that join the stolen body parts.

"To be heard with ears half bent, or with one side facing what Maryanne Amacher calls 'the third ear'. The great reverence in which the Tanpura is held by Indian classical music, its transcendental but occulted place in the tradition alongside its normal function as a drone, made a strong impression on the composer such that it has taken decades to formulate even a simple Tanpura Study. The fundamentals, the Om, as well as the overtones, the music of the spheres -- all these have their valid rights, but in Tanpura Study they are embedded in a series of gestures, what I call signatures, on the melodic level. In 'Tanpura & Harpsichord', there is an encounter of overtones with chords braided into pun-notes, what Gerard Grisey calls 'degrees of transposition'. Taken together, this amounts to a non-spectralism in which, contrary to first impressions, there are no fundamental frequencies, even in the bass. Ajaeng Ajaeng: with respect to European string instruments, the technique col legno affords the direct encounter of wood and string, opening the way to a more tactile conception of the sustained sound, while bringing the materiality of the bow and its practices into question. In violin, viola, cello bows, Pernambuco wood offers an ideal example of extraction, colonialism, deforestation. With the Ajaeng, a Korean musical instrument, the situation is more complex. The dialectic of court to folk music, always political, always incendiary, may be heard here in the encounter of forsythia and silk, of Dae Ajaeng to So Ajaeng, and on a broader level of Dang Ak (Tang Dynasty music) to Hyang Ak (native Korean music) and their representations. Alternating music and sound, overtone arrays mingled with noise, marked by the bow change, in flamelike patterns which flicker, emerge, and fade again. A slow-down structure, also formalized in Time Medicine, seems to produce a long decrescendo, with the technique of the players drawing out the flicker patterns in a kind of game. The point here is not to produce a drone but to delve into the question of life in sound. This apparent emergence of life is due to the apparatus, what Marx calls a 'social hieroglyphic', which brings forsythia and silk together in technique, cultivated by practices which are themselves sustained by the real relations of student to teacher to student..." --Eyvind Kang, April 2020

Double LP version. "Named after the geographic formations of the seismically volatile Cascadian coastal mountains, loscil's coast/range/ arc// reissue features new artwork and an additional track. Remastered by James Plotkin and available on vinyl for the first time."

"Four new chapters from Nicolás Jaar in Telas. Here, again, it's the odder and more essence-like devotion to sound that is semi-narrative, ambient, and concrète that we heard and were drawn to in Pomegranates. Telas gestures towards a more refined tone, with less sudden shifts and vignettes, incrementally shaping an hour of self-reflective music with tracks building and collapsing across its vinyl sides. When Telas was first drafted and presented to Mana it felt appropriate to mention a sense of monastic retreat. Where Pomegranates often felt epic-like in its scope and shifting scales, this album conveys images of quieter moments spent tending to a vegetable patch within a cloistered garden, perhaps, or the threading of a tapestry with filigree. Nicolás often moves slowly and deliberately throughout, focused on manipulating gauzy fibres and room tone or fluttering around other cryptic actors, so that when bursts of clarity and emotion appear they take on a deeper character. There's a greater sense of contemplation and patience in the album's logic, pointing to a conception of art, melody, and sound which is continuously under construction. In relationship with sister-album Cenizas and surface qualities of recent Against All Logic material it feels that there's a centre being defined and meditated upon. Telas was made between December 2016 and January 2020." Black & clear vinyl in gatefold jacket, with art by Somnath Bhatt. [Please note: remaining copies have a slight corner bump]

LP version. "Some bands struggle to transcend their initial mythos, those stories that introduce them to the public eye. But The Dead C is a notable exception. They appeared in 1986 under a cloud of mystery, their unconventional location (South Island, New Zealand) helping to fuel their erratic sound. Name-dropped through the nineties by groups like Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo, they gained influence and acclaim but never strayed from their original mainlined performing technique, which can sound like chaos to the casual listener. What kind of a world greets them and their new album Unknowns in 2020? New Zealand culture is better known throughout the world, not to mention a low-virus paradise. Yes, isolated as in the past, but this time for being a nation of efficacy in tackling a public health crisis. But what about the rest of the world? The music of Mssrs. Robbie Yates, Bruce Russell and Michael Morley endures, partially because their errant sounds, once so alienating, now feel like they've been made flesh in a large part of the modern-day world. Continuing to delve inwards for inspiration with tin ears towards trends, styles and technique, The Dead C forge onward. Unpolished, dusty and gritty, these three have again taken two guitars and drums, a combo which has less to say than ever, and leave the listener stunned. Unknowns has Morley slurring over spiraling dissemblance, with tracks ricocheting from intense to assaultive to drained, yet consistently magnificent. As reliable as ever, The Dead C are firmly grounded as an unassailable Truth."

Vanish is Julia Reidy's yearning, fat debut for Editions Mego. Since 2019, Julia's bubbling 12-string guitar work -- sighing streams of crystal plucks drawn closer or echoing on -- has moored a tactile, ever-lusher sound. On "Guitar", the Australian, Berlin-based musician melts down sharp synths; electric fuzz and flex; uncanny found sounds; and autotuned voice and harmonica in a heady, overpowering potion. Reidy's music sweeps you up. It's restless, always traveling on. Lonesome tones into machine chorales into hesitant hum. The LP's side-long cuts sway between scenes but are always rooted: Julia's guitar and vocal lines seem mapped to the natural ebb-and-flow of breath and thought, they lull you as they push through vast and secret spaces. Vanish completes a trio of releases begun with last year's brace, brace (Slip, 2019) and In Real Life (BT 051LP). The delicious unease, the anxious burning of the preceding volumes has settled, becoming more wide-eyed and resolute. For all its poise, the album's sense of build -- electric licks rasping into glistening synths, punctured by distant kicks -- feels freshest. When "Oh Boy"'s smudged whistle comes, it has fought its way out of the thickets, and hits like heartbreak. Music by Julia Reidy. Mixed and mastered by Joe Talia at Holding Pattern Berlin, June 2020. Artwork by Suze Whaites. Layout by Nik Void. Impossible without: Suze Whaites, Adam Pultz Melbye, Manuel Pessoa de Lima, David Walker.

Last available copies, RSD 2020 release. Following the release of Milton Nascimento's Maria Maria (FARO 215LP), Far Out Recordings present Nascimento's 1980 follow-up. With the success of Maria Maria in 1976 behind them, Nascimento reunited with his writing partner Fernando Brant in 1980 to produce another ballet, Ultimo Trem (Last Train). This time, they chose to tackle a more contemporarily relevant subject, the impact of the closure of a train line that connected certain towns and cities in the North East of Minas Gerais to the coast. "The military government shut down the route and the whole region began to fade away," explains Milton. "I love train rides" adds the composer, "But today there are almost no trains to Brazil..." Featuring much of the same all-star line-up as Maria Maria -- including legendary Brazilian musicians Naná Vasconcelos, João Donato, Paulinho Jobim, and members of Som Imaginário, amongst many others, like Maria Maria, the album holds what Milton himself considers to be the definitive versions of some of his most beloved tracks, including "Saídas E Bandeiras" and "Ponte de Areia". The title track, "Ultimo Trem" -- performed exquisitely by Zezé Mota with a choir and piano -- is a mournful lament about the human consequences of the axed line. "A Viagem (The Trip)", launched with a train's steam whistle, sees Milton's guitar moving to a train's rhythm. "Bicho Homen (Beastly Man)" and "Decreto (Degree)" are atypically upbeat and funky, their vocals a mesh of wordless male voices resembling the then fashionable Swingles Singers' renderings of Bach. "E Daí? (And So What?)", and "Olho d'Agua (Water's Eye)" were both drawn from Clube Da Esquina (1972). The unusual "O Velho (The Old Man)" conjures up an image of an old shaman singing alone into the wind against the cries of nature. Perhaps the most affecting songs are Nascimento's "Itamarandiba" and "Oração (Prayer)". The latter is a cry for a change in the situation whilst "Itamarandiba" ends with an upbeat, whirling Hammond organ and guitar timepiece. The closing track "Ponta de Areia (Sand Edge)", was based on one of Fernando's newspaper stories and became one of Milton's most famous pieces, covered by musicians such as Wayne Shorter and Earth, Wind and Fire. After 27 years of being locked inside contracts and record company legalities, these sublime songs were finally released in 2003 as a double-CD package, along with Maria Maria. This is the first ever vinyl release, on limited edition red vinyl, for Ultimo Trem.

The electro-acoustic works by Erhard Grosskopf offer a grand insight into the pioneering days of the large electronics studios. Grosskopf was able to experiment with state-of-the-art analog technology at the Instituut voor Sonologie at the Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht; this is how "Dialectics" was created amongst others for the EXPO'70 in Osaka. In addition to the purely electronic version as it was heard in the German pavilion at the time, a performance with three live instrumentalists and tape is documented here: Eberhard Blum (flute); Hans Deinzer (clarinet); Vinko Globokar (trombone); Erhard Grosskopf (sound control). "Prozess der Veränderung" (Process of Change) and "Night Tracks" also originated in Utrecht in the early 1970s, where Grosskopf was a research assistant for a few months in order to be able to realize the compositions. The analog tapes were digitized for this publication by the Institute of Sonology, which is now based in The Hague. Performers: Eberhard Blum (flute); Hans Deinzer (clarinet); Vinko Globokar (trombone); Claude Lelong (viola); Erhard Grosskopf (sound control).

Clemens von Reusner finds the sound material for his electroacoustic works in unusual places. For "rückbau" (2011) he uses recordings of the demolition of a sugar factory. In "de monstris epistola" (2012) he refers to a work by the poet Jean Paul and uses sounds that were recorded at the places of Jean Paul's early childhood and youth in Upper Franconia. And "draught" (1999), 30 years after the Berlin Wall opened, is based on a variety of over- and underwater sounds on both sides of the Elbe. The origin of a sound, both physically and geographically, plays a central role for Clemens von Reusner when he dissects it electronically, as it were, and then creates "soundscapes" from the result.

Nicolás Jaar is a Chilean sound maker born in 1990. He is known in the club world for his various dance 12" EPs and remixes he put out from 2008 to 2011. Since his first full length (Space Is Only Noise, 2011), he has embarked in multiple divergent path. For the last seven years, he has released a large volume of recordings through his label Other People. In 2015, Nicolás scored Dheepan by director Jacques Audiard (winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2015). In 2016, Jaar launched The Network, a web of 111 fictional radio stations done in collaboration with artists Jena Myung and Maziyar Pahlevan. In 2017, The Network became a book, published by Printed Matter in NY. In the spring of 2019, Jaar was commissioned for a nine-hour improvisation in the Oude Kerk Church in Amsterdam which he performed alongside two organists and a dozen surround speakers pointed at the ceiling of the church. Nicolás is currently curating a residency for sound artists in the West Bank that takes place in a 130 year-old converted food storage shack in Bethlehem (within the Dar Yusuf Nasri Jacir For Art And Research دار يوسف نصري جاسر للفن و للبحث.) Residents so far include composer Sebastian Jatz Rawicz and researcher and artist Rolando Hernández. In the fall of 2019, he presented Incomprehensible Sun, a sound and light installation in a 200-meter-long ex-military shooting range in Zaandam (The Netherlands) and Retaining The Energy, But Losing The Image alongside artist Vincent De Belleval which consisted of ten large rotating parabolic reflectors that capture and emit hyper-focalized surround sound. For the first Sharjah Architecture Triennale (curated by Adrian Lahoud in 2019). Nicolás performed a piece for 16 buried speakers in the desert near the Mleiha Archaeological Centre. Nicolás has collaborated with artist Lydia Ourahmane, FKA Twigs, and Patrick Higgins under the name AEAEA.

"Given all the technical ground Cenizas covers, Jarr is an impressively meticulous guide. Every pluck, ping, buzz, scratch, and whistle is intentional, a bump in the tunnel as you slide down the rabbit hole" --Pitchfork (8.0)

Late 2020 RSD release. Lee Scratch Perry and long-time collaborator Daniel Boyle, team up once again to deconstruct Max Romeo's sell-out double-vinyl album, Horror Zone. Into an eight-track journey into the deepest and heaviest of dub albums to hit the streets in recent decades. After collaborating on a number of award-winning vinyl albums, box sets, and singles totaling over 80 songs together, they are back once again with this special, limited edition vinyl dub album. The original Horror Zone album was recorded live, using vintage Black Ark equipment to recreate Lee's famous lo-fi drum sound. With veteran Upsetter and Bob Marley and the Wailers musicians -- Glen Da Costa, Vin Gordon, and Robbie Lynn, alongside Daniels Rolling Lion All Stars session band. It has now been deconstructed and dub mixed live on Rolling Lion Studios SSL mixing console, using entirely vintage analog equipment including the same pieces from Lee's original Black Ark Studio. Driven by the idea to merge lo-fi and hi-fi. Merging the absolute best in class analog equipment available on the planet, with the very best vintage equipment from the 1950s-1970s. Glow-in-the-dark vinyl, with a hand painted cover by Ellen G. Limited crystal clear vinyl.

2020 restock; double LP version. First vinyl edition; 180 gram vinyl; printed inner sleeves; includes CD. Because Music present a reissue of JJ Cale's Live, originally released in 1996. This live album features 14 classics, including "After Midnight", "Cocaine", and "Old Man". All tracks were recorded across several different shows: Carnegie Hall (New York, 1996), The Philharmonic (Munich, 1994), Flynn Theater (Burlington, 1993), The Great American Music Hall (San Francisco, 1994), The Hammersmith Apollo (London, 1994), The Sommerville Theater (Sommerville, 1993), and Park West (Chicago, 1990).

"Cale's live performance style does nothing to quell his reputation for laid-back but pristine guitar playing and reserved Mississippi John Hurt-style delivery. A man who truly appreciates the value of restraint, Cale leaves plenty of room for his immaculate guitar lines, even to the point of irony on an ambling version of the previously insistent 'Mama Don't.' This collection, which was gleaned from an assortment of live shows dating from 1990-1996, finds Cale allowing his songs to unfold organically." --All Music

LP version. Heavy Psych Sounds present reissue of Mondo Generator's Cocaine Radio, originally released in 2000. Prior to the formation of Queens of the Stone Age, bassist/singer Nick Oliveri recorded some originals with ex-Kyuss bandmates Josh Homme (guitar) and Brant Bjork (drums), plus Karma To Burn's Rob (drums) and others. But once recording was completed, Oliveri decided to shelve the tapes; it wasn't until several years later (well after Queens of the Stone Age began to establish themselves) that the bassist decided to release the songs on a friend's indie label, Southern Lord Records. Going by the name Mondo Generator, 10 tracks were compiled for the 2000 release Cocaine Rodeo. The majority of the songs are much more raw and hardcore/punk-based than Oliveri's output with QOTSA, as evidenced by such tracks as "Shawnette", "Uncle Tommy", "Unless I Can Kill", and "I Want You to Die".

"You know, hyenas aren't the bad ones... These days it's humans you should fear." Erik K Skodvin's first solo film score evokes otherworldly dreamscapes that capture the atmosphere of the film Anbessa (2019), shot in Ethiopia by director Mo Scarpelli. As a "creative" documentary the film follows Asalif, a 10-year-old imaginative boy caught between the ancient and the new, navigating modernization on his own terms. Asalif tries to make sense of things while living in a shed on the outskirts of Addis Ababa with his mom. A place where capitalism and "progress" is closing in on all fronts, and threatening their lifestyle. By becoming a lion (anbessa) he can fight back against the forces outside of his control. Pursuing escapism and moments in sound is something Skodvin has been dedicating his life to the last 20 years, with his various projects: Svarte Greiner, Deaf Center, Miasmah. Often in the darker, shadowy corners of sound, but never without glimpses of light and humanity. Anbessa can at first seem like an unlikely film to be his first venture into solo film scoring, and second in total, after his collaborative score with Raúl Pastor Medall for Birgitte Stæremose's thriller Darling (2017). But somehow, the playful, dreamy character of Asalif fits perfectly with his sound. The choice was made to mix field recordings from the film with the music, which creates a type of audio cinema that fully captures the atmosphere of Asalif's world: screaming hyenas, birds, animals, nature, Asalif repairing found electronic devices, talking and singing, seamlessly blend in with bowed guitars, electro-acoustic instruments, trumpets, long pipes, and clay drums, played by Skodvin and by Volcano The Bear's Aaron Moore. The result is an affecting journey. An escape into something hopeful. For the LP edition, the score is set to one vinyl side, while the other side has a series of lone field recordings with locked grooves that creates an eerie further immersion into the world of Asalif. A photo/screenshot from the film comes with the vinyl. Full-tone artwork. B-side contains exclusive field recordings and locked grooves. Includes insert; includes download code; edition of 500.

"Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin's music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Mesfin's recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7" singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia's 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation. Though Mesfin was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in 1974, he has returned almost 50 years later with this triumphant set albums -- the first time that his music has been presented in this form. These albums give us a chance to discover a rare and beautiful moment in music history, in anthologies built from Mesfin's uber-rare 7" single releases and from previously unreleased recordings taken from master tapes. Wegene gives us a chance to discover a rare & beautiful moment in music history, in an anthology built from his uber-rare 7" single releases. Contains an oversized 11x11" 16-page book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Mesfin's role within it."

"Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin's music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Mesfin's recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7" singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia's 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation. Though Mesfin was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in 1974, he has returned almost 50 years later with this triumphant set albums -- the first time that his music has been presented in this form. These albums give us a chance to discover a rare and beautiful moment in music history, in anthologies built from Mesfin's uber-rare 7" single releases and from previously unreleased recordings taken from master tapes. Mot Aykerim gives us a chance to discover a rare & beautiful moment in music history, in an anthology built from his uber-rare 7" single releases. Contains an oversized 11" x 11" 16 page book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Mesfin's role within it."

2020 restock. Available on vinyl for the first time in 40 years, Outernational Sounds presents Horace Tapscott's burning, spiritualized 1978 set, The Call. One of the unsung giants of jazz music, the composer, bandleader, arranger, pianist and community activist Tapscott was the undisputed keystone of the grassroots Los Angeles jazz scene. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, his radical community arts and music formations the UGMA (Underground Musicians Association) and his protean big band, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, were at the epicenter of music, culture, and politics in the Los Angeles area. Hundreds of musicians passed through these groups and played their part. Major figures such as Arthur Blythe, Azar Lawrence, Jimmy Woods, John Carter, Bobby Bradford, Sonny Criss, Ndugu Chancler, and dozens of others all paid dues or just got down with Tapscott, not to mention the core Arkestra regulars who have since become celebrated names; Nate Morgan, Jesse Sharps, Adele Sebastian, Dadisi Komolafe, and Gary Bias, to mention only a few. Tapscott and the Arkestra were down on the ground -- playing fundraisers in parks and streets, organizing teach-ins and workshops for young and old, mixing it with radical theater groups, firebrand poets, political radicals, Black separatists, community groups, and churches. As a result of this grassroots community focus and Tapscott's antipathy to the music industry, the Arkestra didn't record for nearly two decades. That only changed when long-time jazz fan Tom Albach started Nimbus Records. The label was initiated specifically in order to document Tapscott and his circle, and the first three records showcased Horace and the Arkestra. The Call was put together from two studio sessions in April 1978, one at Hollywood Sage and Sound, and one at United Western -- the latter session had the addition of a string section, who can be heard on the moody Cal Massey composition "Nakatini Suite" and Jesse Sharp's swinging modal trip, "Peyote Song No. III," with its swirling soprano solo. In keeping with the communal nature of the Arkestra, the other two compositions, "The Call" and "Quagmire Manor at Five A.M." are also by Arkestra members. But at the center of the music is the builder of the Ark, the visionary whose original call to action started a movement whose legacy continues to this day -- Horace Tapscott. Vinyl-only release, 180 gram pressing by Pallas, fully licensed from Nimbus West founder Tom Albach.

Three's a charm, as they say. After Waste The Time (IML 004LP, 2016) and Socialo Blanco (RBINC 002LP, 2019), Money completes Daniel Meuzard's Feater triptych. Again joined by the likes of Eric Owusu and Sam Irl and their musical as well as technical skills, as well as by the lovely voice of Vilja Larjosto, the ageless beauty and intellectual brilliance of Money is impossible to resist. It could have been imagined, written and recorded almost any time in the last 50 years. Inspired or -- better put -- troubled by the rise and transformation of capitalist systems, fatalism, extravism, climate change and -- surprise -- the power, corruption, and lies revolving around money, its topic is anything, but bubblegum. The music though, is ranging from powerful songs to clever synth experiments. Incredibly executed with a perfectly wonderful result. And even if Daniel writes that there is "no need to worry, I want you to panic," you should listen to this album, while you do so!

From the amazingly rich vaults of John Peel's BBC 1 Radio session recordings, comes one of the best punk rock compilations in a long while. Focusing on the less known side of the huge Peel Sessions catalog, Killed By John Peel comes stuffed to the rafters with mind blowing and little known gems, from the opening track with French synth punk pioneers Metal Urbain and the incendiary recording of their hit "E-202" to the closing with the kick ass power pop punk hit "She's Alarming" by the Wasps, each and every single track on this monster of a record presents a band at their prime giving it all at the legendary BBC Radio 1 studios. Absolutely essential! Also features Outcasts, King, Rudi, Idiot Dancers, The Cortinas, Alternative TV, Skids, Scars, The Lurkers, The Flys, Funboy Five, and Pragvec.

Double-LP version. 180 gram vinyl, white vinyl with black splatters; Gatefold sleeve. Damage Control combines both EPs released by The Vacant Lots on Anton Newcombe's label A Recordings: Berlin EP (AUK 124EP, 2016) and Exit EP (AUK 131LP, 2019). All tracks were produced and recorded by Anton Newcombe (Brian Jonestown Massacre) at Anton's Cobra Studio in Berlin. Jared Artaud of The Vacant Lots says, "working with someone who made you want to make records is fucking inspiring. You not only learn a lot working with Anton in the studio -- you become a better artist in the process. Through this collaboration we were able to distill ideas on the spot and turn fragments into songs. Anton pushes you further to get the best results and that really drives the process of making records." The Vacant Lots have recently released their critically acclaimed third album Interzone (2020) on Fuzz Club and have previously released singles with Mexican Summer and Reverberation Appreciation Society. The duo has collaborated on their debut album Departure (SCR 080CD, 2014) with Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom, and their second album Endless Night (2017) with Alan Vega. The group has toured with Suicide, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Growlers, Dean Wareham, The Dandy Warhols, and Spectrum.

"All the music on this album is improvised. I designed and built a long-forgotten instrument, experimented with wound and pleated horse hair strings, I engaged with historical texts and poetry, learnt the techniques and music from the Robert ap Huw manuscript and researched the importance of the horse and horse cults in Welsh culture. All these interventions were a means to improvise historically informed music and re-evaluate the legacy of the harp in Wales but ultimately served as a jumping off point so as to create new possibilities." --Rhodri Davies

"Fourteen of the Godfather of Gore's finest attractions, restored from original and best surviving vault materials. High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentation of the features and extras seven blu-ray discs."

The latest chapter in the unfolding musical story of Bill Wells finds the Scottish jazz outsider's compositions played by a trio of tuba players with energetic contributions from young brass players from his adopted hometown of Glasgow. The results, The Viaduct Tuba Trio Plays The Music Of Bill Wells, are alternately ruminative, playful, and profound, ranging from the cyclical opener "Fanfare For Three Tubas" to a mischievous interpretation of "The Midges", a comic tribute to the entomological scourge of the Highlands by Scottish singer Kenneth McKellar, and the doleful "Chorale 4K" before the arresting finale of "Stone Throw Dream Anthem". Throughout the variety of moods conjured by the musicians the listener is reminded of both the power and tenderness of brass instruments -- their capacity to astound and reassure, to soothe and tickle. The trio in the title -- Antony Hook, Danielle Price, and Mark Reynolds -- formed in 2018 to perform in the lee of the Glenfinnan Viaduct as part of the Loch Shiel Festival. Wells contributed three tunes for the performance, including "Fanfare For Three Tubas", and composed the remainder after being commissioned by Glasgow's underground/experimental festival Counterflows as a direct result of the Glenfinnan Viaduct performance. The trio subsequently performed Wells's tunes in Glasgow with the Gorbals Youth Brass Band, who play on three of the album's ten tracks, sharing a bill with a duo featuring Chicago composer, flautist and educator Nicole Mitchell and London-based percussionist Mark Sanders. The Viaduct Tuba Trio Plays The Music Of Bill Wells represents another creative achievement for the prolific composer and multi-instrumentalist. Recorded at Castle of Doom studios in Glasgow by Tony Doogan, mixed by Bill at Loathsome Reels and mastered by Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub. Cover art by longtime collaborator Annabel Wright.

Double LP version. Transparent orange vinyl. This is Thurston Moore's seventh solo album, and features musicians Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine) on bass and backing vocals, Jon Leidecker aka "Wobbly" (of Negativland) on electronics, James Sedwards on guitar, and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, as well as Jem Doulton, alternating on drums. "Hashish", the first single from the album, is described by Moore as "an ode to the narcotic of love in our shared responsibility to each other during isolation." The song includes a video with footage from The Thurston Moore Group's tour in early 2020 in Europe, as well as footage of Thurston quarantined in his home during the past few months "with respect to the sacred healing truth of nature." Prior to isolation during the COVID pandemic, Thurston worked in recording studios in North London until the third week of March 2020 to complete this album for release on September 5, 2020. While the musicians may not immediately tour, Thurston was adamant to release By The Fire in 2020, and with Daydream Library, has released this quote: By The Fire is music in flames. 2020 is our time for radical change and collective awareness and Thurston Moore has written nine songs of enlightenment, released to a world on fire. Taking a cue from Albert Ayler's "music is the healing force of the universe," this recording offers songs as flames of rainbow energy, where the power of love becomes our call. These are love songs in a time where creativity is our dignity, our demonstration against the forces of oppression. By The Fire is a gathering, a party of peace -- songs in the heat of the moment.

Last copies, RSD 2020 release. Far Out Recordings present a special "poisoned vinyl" edition of Ivan "Mamão" Conti's critically acclaimed Poison Fruit album. The 180 gram, splattered color LP is accompanied by an exclusive bonus 7" with a previously unreleased track from the original Poison Fruit sessions "Katmandu", and "Ninho", a track never before released on vinyl. From an artist in their seventies, you probably wouldn't expect to hear an album like this. But Brazilian drumming legend Ivan "Mamão" Conti has been experimenting and innovating for the last half a century. As one third of cult Rio jazz-funk trio Azymuth, Mamão was at the root of the group's "samba doido" (crazy samba) philosophy, which warped the traditional samba compass with jazz influences and space age electronics. Even with his lesser-known jovem guarda group The Youngsters, Mamão was experimenting with tapes and delays to create unique, ahead-of-its-time sounds, way back in the sixties. More recently Mamão recorded an album with hip-hop royalty Madlib under the shared moniker Jackson Conti. With his first album in over twenty years, and the first to be released on vinyl since his 1984 classic The Human Factor, Mamão shares his zany carioca character across eleven tracks of roots-y electronic samba and tripped-out jazz, beats, and dance music. Featuring Alex Malheiros and Kiko Continentino on a number of tracks, the Azymuth lifeblood runs deep, but venturing into the modern discotheque (as Mamão would call it), Poison Fruit also experiments with sounds more commonly associated with house and techno, with the help of London-based producer Daniel Maunick (aka Dokta Venom) and Mamão's son Thiago Maranhão. Take a bite of Mamão's psychoactive papaya and join the maestro on a weird and wonderful stroll through the Brazilian jungle.

Following 2019's release of Azymuth's Demos (1973-75) (FARO 210CD, FARO 210-1LP, FARO 210-2LP), two more home-recorded demo tracks by the Brazilian psychedelic jazz-funk masters have surfaced from a tape in drummer Ivan Conti's private archive. These five-decade old recordings by the young band show the maturity, musicianship and distinctive style that saw Azymuth become one of the most important groups in Brazilian history. Featuring an instrumental take on Roberto and Erasmo Carlos' 1969 Jovem Guarda hit "As Curvas da Estrada de Santos", and spacey psych-folk oddity "Zé e Paraná", the new 7" release via Far Out Recordings shines yet more light on this critical period for Azymuth.

"Here is the second solo LP by the wonderful London-based singer/multi-instrumentalist Alison Cotton. Originally issued on cassette by the mighty Bloxham Tapes, just about everyone who heard Only Darkness Now suggested it might make for an excellent LP. And hey -- they were right. Alison's debut LP All Is Quiet at the Ancient Theatre (FTR 424LP) received wide ranging critical acclaim from placing in the Guardians Writers 'Album Of The Year' to placing in the Quietus 'Albums of the Year'. Ms. Cotton has a storied past performing with Saloon and The Eighteenth Day of May, and she still may be found doing likewise with The Left Outsides . . . Only Darkness Now begins with a sidelong instrumental track, 'Behind the Spiderweb Gate,' during which Cotton displays her immense drone chops, organizing rich, thick layers of viola, Omnichord, and voice into the soundtrack for a totally immersive trip. The effect is such that seconds become minutes and as time stretches till eventually, in the peak, time ceases to have any meaning whatsoever -- a beautiful state to be transported too as everything slows down. You could spend a whole year listening to this one. The second side starts with 'In Solitude I Will Fade Away,' a collage of Alison's voice, twinned and then some. It's short and sweet with just a little drumming to move things along. 'How My Heart Bled in Bleeding Heart Yard' brims with as much longing as it title suggests. It opens with a long instrumental passage, emphasizing the human pace of a harmonium's breath patterns, soon joined by a viola, also offering tones of a very human quality. All of this swells into a chorale of immense and mournful depth before being joined by Nico-like vocals that raise a wordless alarm. 'The Hill Was Hollow' is a short mystery for percussion and violin. Unravel at your own peril. Finally there is 'Shirt of Lace.' This is a studio recording of one of Alison's regular live covers. The song is by the late Dorothy Carter (a visionary American musician whose work bridged experimental and medieval musics) and Cotton's version is a sheer blast -- her vocals curling and twisting high above a supple bed of key drones, string plucks and sliding arco passageways . . . one of the very few albums I can name that matches the cold fire of Nico's Marble Index and it does so without taking a single step that isn't purely Alison's own..." --Byron Coley, 2020 Edition of 300.

Dateline unknown -- emanations from a planet in meltdown. The universal cosmic event tracker estimates between 22 to 52 points of possible physical contact with The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol but it has lost count. This Canadian improv unit have over the last few years started to get the gushing love and attention they have always deserved. Like all the best artists, they do not fit snugly into any genre -- as from one moment to the next their ability to create cosmically juiced up and fucked up music which in many cases when played and recorded was the first time and last time said tracks will ever be played. This has proven to be the case time after time across too many releases to mention (no wonder Damo Suzuki always calls on TBWNIS to back him up). If you said Berserkir Volume II could be the pinnacle, you would yet again be getting caught up in the moment of magic they spin on you. Berserkir II contains four long tracks of hypnotic and freaked out cosmic haze (all recorded in the same four-hour session that yielded Berserkir Volume I). There are zero overdubs whatsoever and no studio gimmickry. The pieces are framed by supercharged, blistering, psychedelic dual guitars, pummeling rhythm, mutated; Miles-inspired flights of free form trumpet and flowing synth drones touching side excursions into the depths of alien prog. One may well be compelled to crank this up loud and leave speakers and mind, shattered and melded together in a smoldering heap on the floor! End of transmission...

"Life Guarding" offers a first glance into an upcoming album by Wolfgang Tillmans. The song finds Tillmans in open waters, lyrically exploring wor(l)ds as they appear like undertows and tie in the listeners by his candid approach to accept whatever the drift throws at him and leaving him exposed at his most vulnerable. It seems no coincidence that the video Tillmans' shot and directed for the song finds a similar approach to "liquidity" in visual language. Shifting the lens between micro and macrocosms, collages of body parts, fruit and insects, we find him equally paying attention to the waves of the Atlantic Ocean as well as to the "same" water in the form of drops, evaporating on a hot kitchen plate. This current shape of "Life Guarding", in equal measures upbeat and melancholic, emerged in sessions with Tillmans' long term musical collaborators Tim Knapp and Jay Pluck in early 2019 at Trixx Studios in Berlin, that were further developed and produced by Tim Knapp and Bruno Breitzke. "Growing" was originally part of Wolfgang Tillmans' sound, light and video installation "South Tank" at Tate Modern in 2017. This summer finally sees the independent release of this collaboration with the L.A.-based duo Wreck and Reference. The song also features excerpts of Fred Weyrich's lyrics for German singer Alexandra's 1968 hit "Sehnsucht" (Longing). "Growing" involved the band placing samples of Tillmans' singing and spoken word over a kick drum-driven techno track made with synthesizers, acoustic drum recordings converted to digital drums, and noisy samples of jangling keys. Wreck and Reference are an experimental music project from California by Felix Skinner and Ignat Frege. Drawing upon the blown-out intensity of black metal and noise rock, they eschew traditional guitar-centric instrumentation to construct songs with digital samples, drums, and voice. To date, the band has released four EPs and four full-length albums, and has contributed to the production of the title track to Tillmans' 2018 EP Heute Will Ich Frei Sein.

"A celebration of the ever-expanding and evolving label family, LLI008 comprises an LP, a fifty-odd-page booklet (and eight page photobook and insert), further digital tracks and some web-based stuff contributed by friends new and old from far and wide."

"Minor Planets completes a trilogy of cosmically themed electro-acoustic albums by UK and Berlin based trio Twinkle3, 15 years in the making. This third installment is once again all about the unique synergies the group discover in combining free group improvisation with studio and musique-concrete techniques. The group's combined love of everything from Lee Perry to Noh Theatre via Karlheinz Stockhausen and King Sunny Ade lead them to respond musically to create a single universe where they all coexist and interact. Aleatoric analogue sequencing, chamber-like acoustic improvisation and dub treatments become distilled into a distinct and emotive narrative that takes us on an exhilarating hyperspace cruise to the outer reaches. Clive Bell is a virtuoso of the Shakuhachi. His aesthetic takes us on a timbral journey between noise and pitch, expressed and phrased rhythmically by the contour of human breath. This creates a perfect context and focus for a music that moves seamlessly between rhythm, suspension, time modulated analogue states, dissonance and melody. Richard Scott and David Ross share a background in acoustic free improvisation and have pioneered new approaches to rhythm using self-designed analogue systems. On Minor Planets these seemingly paradoxical orthodoxies cross-pollinate in a spirit of wonder and optimism to produce original and experimental music that is both life affirming and uplifting. Album artwork by Benjamin Kilchhofer captures the feeling of peering through the vacuum of space and catching a rare glimpse of the mysterious alien biomes, fossils, and silhouettes cast by dwarf planets, asteroids, Kuiper belt, and other trans-Neptunian objects."

2020 repress. A golden era gem from the master himself, Masahiko Satoh, presented by Mitsuko & Svetlana Records. Archival reissue of long-lost treasure from genius pianist and composer whose resume includes hundreds of legendary albums and collaborations with Midori Takada -- Lunar Cruise and Ton-Klami) among many others. Very rare soundtrack of a nine-episode suspense drama that aired on TV in 1969 and 1970. Filled with exquisite jazz, soul-jazz, folk-jazz, and mystery-jazz, plus groovy affairs, classical moods, and '70s flair. Highly recommended to Japanese jazz collectors, soundtrack collectors, Masahiko Sato collectors, lovers of rare gems and wearers of vintage trench coats.Originally released in November 1970 as an LP on Toho Records (BL-1001). All compositions and arrangements by Masahiko Sato. Personnel: Masahiko Sato - piano, keyboard; Yoshiko Goto - vocal; Kiyoshi Sugimoto - guitar; Kunimitsu Inaba - bass; Yasuo Arakawa - bass; Akira Ishikawa - drums. Edition of 500.

After six years, The Notwist return with three new tracks on Morr Music. It's both an exposition of the band's musical variety and a prospect on a forthcoming album. Six years have passed since The Notwist released their last regular studio album, but that doesn't mean that the members of this outstanding band have been idle in the meantime. There have been side projects, movie scoring, and other activities, like programming four editions of Alien Disko, a festival taking place in Munich, Germany. One of that event's regular guests was the Japanese duo Tenniscoats -- and a lovely side effect from that was an evolving friendship between the two bands. It lead to various collaborations: most recently in a new album by international band -- Spirit Fest (featuring Tenniscoats singer Saya and The Notwist's Markus and Cico) and a deep digging compilation of Japanese indie music called Minna Miteru (MORR 168CD/LP). The title track of this new EP is another step in this collaboration -- and a first step to an upcoming album by The Notwist -- as it features Saya, who lends her voice to the percussive song. It is built around a slightly detuned synth line, which is contrasted by more pragmatic guitar work. "It neither sounds like The Notwist, Tenniscoats, nor Spirit Fest", tells Markus Acher. "Just like Saya is saying in the lyrics: 'I want to go outside, I want to meet people', 'Ship' is another chapter in what The Notwist always tries to do: redefining itself, exploring something new, integrating different styles of music and collaborating with musicians they admire." The second song "Loose Ends" is, in contrast, more classic Notwist material. A gently expanding ballad, this time featuring the distinctive voice of Markus Acher. The song came out of recording sessions for the soundtrack for One Of These Days, a movie by Bastian Günther. The EP then closes with "Avalanche" a carefully optimistic instrumental. With its variety of styles, "Ship" also serves as an outlook on an upcoming album, which will be influenced by the band's experiences from their detailed work of creating sounds and moods for film soundtracks, and it will include more collaborations with international guest musicians. Three exclusive tracks; 10"; includes download code; edition of 1000.

"Cindy Lee, the performance and songwriting vehicle of Canadian artist Patrick Flegel (who fronted influential indie group Women earlier), previously stunned listeners with Act Of Tenderness, a heart-wrenching statement informed by the noirish core of celebrity, and has continued to enchant with every album, including the startling What's Tonight To Eternity released earlier this year. Model Express originally appeared as a self-released edition of 100 gold cassettes. The arch, filmic drama of Cindy Lee's songwriting -- realized with keyboards, guitars, aching voice and collaged, lo-fi production -- traverses a wide range of emotional and sonic terrain. The red velvet psych-pop of 'What Can I Do' gives way to the fluid 'Diamond Ring' like radio bursts from space. Model Express finds Flegel at both their most experimental and immediately melodic, and this first-time vinyl release recognizes the collected tracks as a pillar in the Cindy Lee catalogue. Cindy Lee (who uses the gender neutral pronoun they) is a drag persona drawing on suburban closet queens and mid-century divas. In keeping with Flegel's interest in the fault lines of identity, gender expression, performance and media, Model Express delivers an intense and diverse set of unforgettable songs."