Black Tape II is only the second widely available release by Ohkami No Jikan (The Time of the Wolf), one of the more esoteric groups of the 1990s Tokyo underground. Recorded in 1992, it illuminates a largely undocumented facet of Nanjo Asahito's psychedelic cosmology, distinct from his better-known work with High Rise, Musica Transonic, and Toho Sara. Aside from a handful of limited, handmade cassettes and CD-Rs on his La Musica label, there's only been one Ohkami No Jikan album, Mort Nuit, that made it beyond the collector inner circle. One of Nanjo's longest-running, most mysterious outfits, Ohkami No Jikan's conceptualization -- as a psych outfit "that explores 'stasis' and 'motion,' both actively and philosophically" -- hints at the intensity of the music here. There's a pellucid beauty to much of Black Tape II, with the simplest, most erotically charged chord changes descending from the heavens, Nanjo moaning consumptively as the songs slip by in an acid daze. The 1992 line-up here, with Asai Fumiyo on bass and Nagao Kouji on drums, was one of many variations of Ohkami No Jikan; simultaneously languorous and heavy, at times pushed into the red with arcing blasts of feedback, the group feels cosmically aligned with Nanjo's purity of vision. Housed in a custom die-cut, "Uni-Pak" style gatefold with metallic ink, spot finishes and matching La Musica inner sleeve. La Musica Records was a label founded by Asahito Nanjo in Tokyo during the 1990s. It released nearly 200 cassettes and CD-r's, all handmade in micro-editions and sold at shows. The catalog featured artists and recordings largely of obscure, often completely unknown origin, sanctioned and "grey-area" documentation of the Tokyo psychedelic underground. Black Tape II is part of Black Edition's work to bring La Musica's unique and confoundingly beautiful catalog to light.

Limited to 537 numbered copies! Two killer acid-punk/psych-fuzz tracks taken from the ultra-rare Kaleidoscope album from 1969, recorded in the in the Dominican Republic by this Boricuan/Dominican band but released only in Mexico.

2026 restock. MG.ART reissue Seven Up as part two of the authorized 50th anniversary "A.R.T." re-edition series. Seven Up is the third studio album by Ash Ra Tempel and their only album recorded in collaboration with American Ph.D. in psychology, Dr. Timothy Leary. Cover art by famous Swiss artist Walter Wegmüller. Recorded in August 1972 at Sinus Studio in Berne, Switzerland, remixed September 1972 at Dierks Studios in Stommeln, Germany. First release in spring 1973 by OHR Musik -- the first release on the new sub-label "Kosmische Kuriere". Seven Up in a re-cut carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching himself. Features the full original text for the "7 Levels of Consciousness" by Timothy Leary in English, i.e. "Instruction Manual for Pleasure Panel" plus a previously unreleased glimpse view of the original scripts including notes and mark ups as well as partly unreleased photos from the recording session. Gatefold; four-page inlay.

Julian Cope's review and remarks from Krautrocksampler (1995): "When the Leary Mob met the Kaiser Gang, the sparks flew ever Up-wards... 7up is a stone classic in every way. Yes, it is unlikely to find Timothy Leary singing lead vocal in a cosmic group, but even weirder that he chose to sing a wild yelping freaked out blues! Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke had begun their careers in The Steeple Chase Blues Band back in the mid-60ies, and they quickly felt their way through what Barritt and Leary were aiming for. They reconciled it all as a kind of West Coast chordless psychedelia, where blues riffs sparkle out of nowhere and the sheer weight of synthesizers renders everything with an unreal Pere Ubu/early Roxy Music quality. The greatness of Ash Ra Tempel burned so brightly on 7Up that there is really nothing else like it. Hartmut Enke and Manuel Gottsching here returned to their riffy roots. It can hardly be called a retro act, though, as the context of music is everything. And with Dierks at the controls, even the New Kids on the Block would have sounded psychedelic. 7Up is like a late night radio show glimpsed through a shattered tuner where all but the most truly dangerous sounds have been allowed to stay, to drift and to dance around the performers. The result is an extreme gem, a flash of hysterical white lightning, and a pre-punk technicolour yawn in the grandest of traditions. In typical Ash Ra Tempel style, the record is divided into two pieces, 'Space' and 'Time'. Within this, though, Timothy Leary's ideas are allowed to free-flow and the two sides are therefore divided into mini-songs all segued together . . . Leary and Barritt present the greatest twin-vocal of all time, coming on like Jagger and Morrison but too caught up in their own maelstrom to be anything less than Heralds of the Punkfuture still five years away..."

2026 repress. Released exclusively in Germany in March 1966, Black Monk Time by The Monks has become a cult classic -- praised as a groundbreaking forerunner to punk and krautrock. From the explosive opener "Monk Time" to the fierce "Complication," Black Monk Time rejected flower power for something more urgent -- anger, humor, and innovation developing a confrontational, rhythm heavy sound. Though the album was overlooked at the time, its bold sound and sharp lyrics have earned it lasting influence and critical acclaim. The Monks were five American G.I.s stationed near Heidelberg, West Germany. Originally performing as a typical beat group under the name the 5 Torquays, they evolved into something far more radical. After discovering guitar feedback by accident and embracing a raw, percussive approach, they caught the attention of two German ad men -- Walther Niemann and Karl Remy -- who became their managers and helped reinvent their identity. Dressed in monks' robes with tonsured hair and noose neckties, the band developed a confrontational, rhythm heavy sound. Their sole studio album, produced by Jimmy Bowien and recorded in Cologne in late 1965, defied musical norms. At the time, Polydor Records deemed the music too radical for American audiences, delaying its U.S. release. Despite its initial commercial failure, the album is now seen as a pivotal moment in rock history -- loud, strange, and unapologetically ahead of its time. The Monks' story is as unlikely as their sound: five ex-soldiers and two ad executives creating one of the most daring records of the '60s. The band never sparked the revolution they hinted at, but decades later, Black Monk Time still resonates. This is your chance to experience the album that dared to be different -- don't miss it. Remastered sound from the tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl.

Proto-doom metal/stoner/hard-rock by this Mexican band formed in 1972, including their mega-rare early '70s singles plus later material in the same raw vein. Born on Día de los Muertos in 1972, Medusa emerged from Mexico City with a mission: to forge heavy, hard, Spanish-language rock rooted in social awareness and poetic force. Guitarist Luis Antonio "Toño" Urquiza, drummer Víctor Moreno, and bassist/vocalist Javier Plascencia shaped their sound influenced by bands like Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath, as well as the turbulence of the 1968 Student Movement, the 1971 Halconazo, and the creative explosion surrounding the legendary Avándaro Festival. Friends and contemporaries of bands like Peace & Love, the Dug Dug's, and El Ritual, Medusa quickly stood out for their powerful live presence and politically charged energy. They released their mega rare first single in 1973 and then an EP followed in 1974, but their refusal to compromise their artistic direction led to being dropped before completing a full LP -- pushing them into self-produced, underground recordings throughout the following decades. Despite media marginalization, Medusa remained active into the mid-1980s, playing everywhere from stadiums and TV to prisons and "hoyos fonkis." After a decade-long hiatus, they resurfaced in 1994 to a new generation that embraced them as pioneers of heavy metal and early stoner rock in Mexico. Later joined by Jaime García Mares, they reaffirmed their status with a landmark 2006 national TV appearance. In 2015, after more sporadic performances and demos, Medusa were honored by Tianguis del Chopo and recognized by the National Sound Archive as the founders of stoner rock in Mexico, becoming subjects of books and a Rolling Stone special on Mexican rock. Shortly after, the band closed a 43-year chapter and its members moved on to personal projects. Now, thanks to recordings rescued from Víctor Moreno's personal archives, Medusa's early work -- including their four tracks from the '70s and additional raw and unadulterated sessions from the '80s-'90s -- finally appears in long-play format.

A note from Carlos Giffoni: "I initially recorded all tracks in California between 2024 and 2025. The tracks were then sent to various locations around the world to each collaborator for completion, before returning to me in California for final touches. They were subsequently sent to Japan for mixing. Then, back to California, and then to Australia, where the final designs for the artwork were created. The final version was then multiplied and spread all over the world until it reached your ears, their intended target. The Pendulum swings. And the world keeps rotating endlessly." Mixed and mastered by Jim O'Rourke. Featuring Greg Kelley, Mabe Fratti, Zola Jesus, Ben Chasny, Lea Bertucci, and Iggor Cavalera.

Formed in London in 1970, Patto evolved from the legendary Timebox and were known for their unique mix of progressive rock, jazz, blues, and their exceptional musicianship. Featuring Mike Patto, Ollie Halsall (one of rock's great "guitarist's guitarists"), Clive Griffiths, and John Halsey, this is their 1970 debut for Vertigo. Comes in original gatefold artwork in textured sleeve. Features stereo mixes and mastering by Prof. Stoned. Includes insert with detailed liner notes by Ralph Heibutzki and rare photos/memorabilia.

Rising from the ashes of Timebox, Patto delivered a bold fusion of progressive rock, jazz, and blues powered by Mike Patto's soulful vocals and Ollie Halsall's stunning guitar work. Their second album, Hold Your Fire (1971), originally on Vertigo, is a true gem of early '70s progressive rock. Comes with original artwork in gimmix gatefold sleeve. Remastered by Prof. Stoned. Includes insert with detailed liner notes by Ralph Heibutzki and rare photos/memorabilia.

Recorded in 1973, Eclipse was intended as Jade Warrior's fourth Vertigo release but was shelved before pressing, circulating only as rare test pressings. Restored with the band's original running order and period artwork, this is top notch British progressive rock, blending delicate acoustic passages with bursts of heavy-rock intensity, African, and Middle Eastern rhythms. The missing link between Last Autumn's Dream and their later Island-era sound. Sourced and remastered from the original master tapes. Comes in lavish gatefold sleeve in the best early '70s tradition. Includes insert with detailed liner notes and photos.

France's near-revolution of May '68 was the zenith of that generation's struggle for a new kind of life. It kicked the country's small, but vibrant, counter-culture into overdrive, and birthed a local underground music scene. The bands it spawned made music with much less rock purity than groups from the UK and US. Their musical and cultural influences foregrounded improvisation, dis-junction, and genre-blending: Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, free jazz, and radical politics. The introduction of the synthesizer in the early 1970s added fuel to the fire. This collection of French underground music inaugurates a series to accompany Synths, Sax & Situationists, the first English-language book to investigate this movement. It focuses on the music of the second wave of bands that emerged in 1972/3, which saw radicalized psychedelic and jazz in-fluences merge with the future-music possibilities offered by new technology. Featuring Nyl, Etron Fou Leloublan, Lard Free, Heldon, Jacques Berrocal/Dominique Coster/Roger Ferlet, and Delired Chameleon Family.

2026 repress; double-LP version. Gatefold sleeve with insert and original liner notes. Another Thought was the first collection of Arthur Russell's music to be released after his death in 1992. Released on CD by Point Music in 1993 it marked the beginning of nearly 30 years of work to let the world hear the enormous archive of unreleased recordings Arthur left behind. Be With Records revisits this first compilation. This is the only place where you can hear some of Arthur's most recognizable music, like the title track "Another Thought", "A Little Lost", "This Is How We Walk On The Moon", "Keeping Up" and the woozy disco of "In The Light Of The Miracle" and "My Tiger, My Timing". Though technically a compilation, the whole of Another Thought comes together as a consistent, coherent, wonderful album. Janette Beckman reproduced her iconic photograph of Arthur in his newspaper boat hat for the sleeve. Tom Lee gave permission to include his liner notes from the original CD booklet, together with Arthur's lyrics. Another Thought is absolutely essential for even the most casual Arthur Russell collection. In fact, it's essential for any fan of non-obvious pop music.

Sculptures is composer and pianist Derek Hunter Wilson's third solo album, an ode to the ancient and contested shorelines of the Pacific Northwest. Deeply embedded in place, the six longform pieces that make up the album reflect the artist's journey through grief (including losing his father) and the passage of time, each one built upon loops created from extended sessions with harpist Joshua Ward. Like the foggy, moss-encrusted locations that inspired the album, Sculptures has a timeless feel to it, shadowed by the rumblings of a colonial system in decay. Award-winning poet Mathias Svalina composed a poem for the album, entitled "A Dream for Sculptures." It is reproduced on an insert that accompanies each LP. Derek Hunter Wilson is a composer and multi-instrumentalist based in Portland. He has released two solo albums on Beacon Sound, Travelogue (BNSD 016LP, 2017), and Steel, Wood, & Air (BNSD 035LP, 2019), as well as a collaborative album with Location Services entitled Wake (BNSD 066LP, 2022).

2026 restock, last copies, reduced price. Recorded live on April 28, 2014 at Outside Inside Studio, Montebelluna. Featuring Alan Zignoto (bass), Dave Easlick (drums), Tom Greenwood (guitar, vocals), Jeffrey Alexander (synth, chalumeau), Michael Whittaker (saxophone, flute, trombone), and Dave Siebert (violin, lap steel). Mixed and mastered by Matt Bordin. Photos by Lorenzo Ferraro.

Hailing from Kansas City and mid-century America, Robert Steinhilber, AKA Catfish Rushdie, is a drummer/percussionist/animator/illustrator who was a founding member of Ska band The X-Streams in the 1970s in Los Angeles California. After discovering Jamaican music in London in 1971, he tripped around the US as a carny, hitchhiked all over Australia, went to Art School in Miami, then settled on the I-10 corridor between Phoenix and LA where he began his checkered career forming and playing in a variety of bands for the next few decades which includes stints with The Skanksters, X-Streams, Jerry's Kids, Victory Acres, Rhythm Clinic, Sun City Girl's Big Band, and Eddy Detroit. As the founding art director of BEAT magazine, he frequently appeared on KCRW's flagship radio show The Reggae Beat. As a designer, he has worked on LP covers for Lee Scratch Perry, The Heptones, and Bob Marley & The Wailers. As an animator, he started in the late '70s working under Al Brodax (Producer of The Beatles Yellow Submarine), created a controversial 7-minute film called That's My Terrorist (screened at the Scottsdale animated film festival in 2004) along with Cardiac Neurotic, an unreleased feature starring Sun City Girls. For the past few years, Rushdie has been spending time performing in Springfield Oregon and recording in Cairo Egypt where he's just finished his first solo album Count Your Blessings. He describes the record as "a musical dark comedy -- each song an impression of the early 21st century, with a couple of hangovers from the late 20th. A combination plate of novel diseases, social decay, cannibalism (carnivorous and financial), addiction, reckless driving, mass-media psyops, broken hearts, political assassination and genocide." The record also features an unlikely cast of players including Gilbert Zvmaida (guitarist for Thomas Mapfumo -- The Lion of Zimbabwe), Maurice McConnell (played with Zoot Horn Rollo), Sean Jackson, and Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls). This CD edition is limited to only 200 copies and features a 6-page booklet insert with photos of the band members."

2026 repress. Justice's highly-acclaimed debut album from 2007. French-only vinyl version, in deluxe gatefold sleeve. Retreating to their underground post-nuclear shelter/studio, French duo Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay worked on their first album as if their lives depended on it. The result is a mind-fuck of an album that proves that Justice's unique talent is to be found where least expected. Take for example "Let There Be Light" and its strident, angry electro, driven by a jabbing bassline; "D.A.N.C.E," a pure piece of vicious house sung innocently by a choir of children; "Newjack," a funky parody of the opulent times of the French Touch; "Phantom," taking over where "Waters Of Nazareth" left off to drift towards "Phantom Pt. II" and its head-swirling disco violins; "Valentine," an erotic, melancholic nursery rhyme, like a tribute to Vladimir Cosma and "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy," a pure electro-funk track where the sexy Uffie plays more than ever the cheeky Lolita. Justice have thrown established rules out the window (the notion of good and bad taste, the thin line between underground and pop music, the pigeon hole labeling between rock and electro, etc.) with a fantastic talent for synthesizing and mixing their influences with total candor, be it the cosmic disco of Larry Levan or Vladimir Cosma's panty-wetting romantics, Camel's prog rock or the anxious theme of Goblin for Dario Argento, to the flashy funk of the Brothers Johnson or "ABC" by the Jackson 5. Cross isn't a collection of random dancefloor singles. Cross is for listening at home or in clubs. Cross is a link between pop at its purest and experimental music. Cross brings together hardcore elements and cheese. Cross makes the Goths link arms with the rave kids. A generational manifest, ideally positioned on the side of the dancefloor, Cross, insolent with youth, is a testimony that the French electro scene is healthier than ever.

One of the more authentic '60s-styled Mod/R&B/beat acts in continental Europe during the '90s, The Jaybirds formed in Vienna strongly inspired by bands such as The Yardbirds (their name is a nod to them). Going Our Own Ways was their second album, originally released in 1998 (the same year that they supported the Rolling Stones in Vienna in front of an audience of 80,000 people!) As the title suggests, it was a statement of autonomy, emphasizing their distinctive path within the mod/sixties revival scene, blending classic R&B and freakbeat repertoire with their own material. Remastered sound. Featuring new artwork. Includes insert with liner notes, photos, and download card.

Limited to 357 numbered copies! Tough to find 1967 single by the legendary Tropics from Florida, famously covered by the Fuzztones.

2026 restock. "Grayfolded is literally a hundred or so great nights rolled into one extraordinary extended high. Gorgeous sonic origami." --Rolling Stone

"An extended time-warped psychedelic jam that is meticulously hallucinatory." --New York Times

This deluxe 2025 vinyl edition of The Grateful Dead's Grayfolded was pressed at Optimal in Germany, known for their high-end audiophile pressings. In 1993 Canadian composer John Oswald was invited by Phil Lesh to transform historical recordings of the Dead into something new, along the lines of what they had attempted in their Anthem of the Sun album. Oswald chose to focus on the Dead's Dark Star, which, over the course of a quarter century, they had expanded and transformed in myriad ways in live performances. Oswald was given access to the Vaults, where over the course of a month, with the guidance of the Dead's resident archivist Dick Latvala, he collected 105 performances, which through the following year he formed, folded, fondled, and finessed into a kaleidoscopic unstuck-in-time documentary of the Grateful Dead in some of their most psychedelic, symphonic, and rocking excursions -- a singular 110-minute fantasy performance. Here it is, Deadheads, the ultimate Dark Star. Deluxe audiophile pressing cut in Toronto under the watchful ears of John Oswald. Elaborately printed packaging in a heavy-duty triple gatefold jacket includes liner notes by musicologist Rob Bowman featuring interviews with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and Robert Hunter plus six "time maps" which chart the source concerts of Dark Star. Music performed by The Grateful Dead (c) Grateful Dead Productions Inc. & Ice Nine Publishing Inc. Taken from over 100 performances of Dark Star recorded between 1968 and 1993. Built, layered and "folded" to produce one large, new re-composed Dark Star. Original recordings of the Grateful Dead in performance have been processed using Plunderphonic techniques. John Oswald is best known as the creator of the music genre Plunderphonics, an appropriative form of recording studio creation which he began to develop in the late sixties. This has got him in trouble with, and also generated invitations from major record labels and musical icons. Meanwhile, in the '90s he began, with several commissions from the Kronos Quartet, to compose scores for classical musicians and orchestras, the latest of which is an orchestral work, commissioned by the BBC, combining aspects of The Beatles, Gyrgy Ligeti, and Terry Riley. He also improvises on the saxophone in various settings, dances, and is a successful visual artist, best known for the chronophotic series Stillnessence.

2026 restock; 20-year anniversary re-issue! Okie Dokie It´s The Orb On Kompakt the 13th album of one of Britian's most prized cult bands. The music of The Orb only has an intensive effect when taken in as a long-playing full length. And it proves with this lovingly conjured collection of songs brought together like a collage. The first half of Okie Dokie showcase The Orb´s love for minimal techno and Schaffel/Shuffle as it is so obviously present in the foreground, while the second half is only reserved to the classic Orb-ish ancestral domain. There are wonderful guest appearances by Schneider TM and Kompakt´s ambient-guru Ulf Lohmann. As many of you know, there is so much history about The Orb you could write a book. Since Jimmy Cauty and Alex Paterson, in the flush of euphoria invented chill out and ambient house in the first summer of love 1988, an incredible amount of things have occurred. After 2002, The Orb found with Kompakt a new ambient-loving partner and release a row of singles and play live, as the trimmed-down version as Le Petit Orb.

LP version. "This is the first widely distributed release for Isabel Pine after a series of self-released EPs and singles on Bandcamp. She studied classical music on viola from the age of three through into college, where she was on a path to be a performer in a large ensemble, but eventually left after feeling frustrated and limited in a world that did not provide much of an outlet for individual creativity. But the doors of perception really opened when she moved to British Columbia and was exposed to the raw beauty of the wilderness there. She began recording at home using a basic audio setup along with a cello, viola, violin and double bass, and spent time making field recordings of natural sounds in BC. Her next idea was to actually move into nature to record, curious as to 'how it would sound if I recorded outside entirely, with the natural reverb and sounds of the environment in the recording from the very beginning. The rustling of the leaves or a raven's beating wings were as integral to the music as whatever I played.' Fables is a mix of pieces that were recorded in the fall of 2024, in a small, remote cabin and outside, primarily using stringed instruments. The result is a series of stunning vignettes, meditations patiently unfurling like gentle waves, slowly advancing and retreating."

"Nocturnal Emissions' releases throughout the 1980s are eclectic, adventurous and intermittently raw. 1991's Cathedral is something else entirely -- ritualistic, expansive, awe-inducing. It is at turns warm, ominous and ethereal. Originally released by Italy's Musica Maxima Magnetica, Cathedral finally gets its due on vinyl with a deluxe 2LP edition featuring a large booklet with many of Nigel Ayers' visuals from the same era."

"Matthew Bower's Total released Sky Blue Void in 1994 through Freek. Sky Blue Void is the zoner of zoners, as heavenly and crushing as the rapturous cover art suggests. Release yourself to the void."

Camouflage are one of the few German bands to have been making music successfully at home and abroad for the last couple of decades. The Great Commandment (1987) and Love Is A Shield (1989) were actually worldwide hits. After four albums, Camouflage felt it was time to experiment. This phase reached its zenith with the album Spice Crackers in 1995 -- the most daring, most interesting work they ever released. Electropop tracks sit side by side with hypnotic, repetitive, spheric tracks. Now, 30 years later, Spice Crackers is finally released on vinyl for the first time! Heiko Maile, Camouflage founder member and producer of Spice Crackers, has this to say about working on the album: "On our previous productions, we started out with just a few songs, worked on these as demos and then went to an external studio to completely re-record them with a producer. Having the idea to produce an album in our own studio, thus giving us more time to experiment, basically wanting to do the whole thing differently, was the beginning of an interminable recording session. Once we got going, surrounded by synthesizers, drum machines, guitars, microphones, a mammoth analogue mixing desk and a few pieces of recording equipment, we simply taped everything that came into our heads. Only a few of these tracks -- I'm deliberately refraining from calling them songs -- ended up on the original CD. It was a very formative and inspiring time for us in terms of album production."

Limited anniversary edition: hand numbered, yellow transparent vinyl, 500 copies available! From 1971 to 1977, Peter Baumann was a member of the legendary Berlin band Tangerine Dream. The group were pioneers of the so-called Berliner Schule (Berlin School) which had such a profound impact on electronic music. He produced a number of momentous albums at his Paragon Studio (by the likes of Conrad Schnitzler, Cluster, Hans-Joachim Roedelius) and also enjoyed success as a solo artist. The influence of Tangerine Dream can clearly be heard on Romance 76, although the arrangements are comparatively minimalist -- a state of affairs for which David Bowie can be held partially responsible. Open to new ideas, Baumann's positive aura and eagerness to experiment galvanized the band's music almost instantaneously. His catchy melodies, rich in positivity, propelled Tangerine Dream into the charts. After five years of chart appearances and extensive touring through Europe and North America, punctuated by several albums, Baumann called time on his solo career with Romance 76. This shift in focus led him to leave Tangerine Dream towards the end of 1977. He and a friend set up the Paragon Studio in Berlin, which would earn a prominent place in music production history, but that's another story. Still a member of the band in 1976, Baumann rented a hall in the ufaFabrik, Berlin to record Romance 76. Sonic similarities to Tangerine Dream can be explained by the fact that the group used the same space for gig rehearsals, giving Baumann access to their instruments. The distinctive sound of a modular synthesizer system christened "The Big One" can be detected on Romance 76, for example, along with a Mellotron. Some tracks on the album, such as "Romance" and "Phase By Phase", are relatively minimalist in character. This airiness lends the unusual synth sounds space to unfold in all their glory. A state of affairs for which David Bowie is partially responsible, as Baumann recalls: "We were in Berlin and met him for dinner, then he would call in while I was recording the album, listening carefully to what I was working on. I explained to him what still needed to be done, but Bowie suggested: 'Leave it as it is, there's enough there already.'" At which point Baumann decided to look at the tracks in question as finished.

LP version. "Control was created during a phase of Schnitzler's work in which his friendship with Peter Baumann (formerly of Tangerine Dream) allowed him to try out and use new electronic sound generators and peripheral technologies. He never used these innovations merely for their own sake, but always put them at the service of his artistic flair for experimentation. His signature style is clearly recognizable on Control. The album seems to be a kind of compilation of different musical approaches. Tracks 5 and 9, for example, are classic Schnitzler: sparkling cascades of electronic sound particles, interspersed with longer and shorter glissandi, constant movement in all directions. But then there are tracks 1, 8, 11, and 12 -- and here I can only speculate -- where it seems as if Schnitzler wanted to combine a few elements of traditional harmony with his own sound aesthetic in these pieces. And why not? He was completely undaunted by new things. Most important was that the music remained within the framework of his strict overall concept. There is no spacing between the tracks on the original LP, released in 1981 by the DYS label in the US. The A and B sides are originally titled simply 'Control A' and 'Control B', and the thirteen pieces are strung together without interruption. Strange. About half of the tracks on Control are apparently faded in and/or out. This could indicate that Schnitzler either drew on 'overlong' archive material to extract passages suitable for the album, or that he shortened the newly recorded music. Speculation is pointless -- we can no longer ask Schnitzler. In any case, he opted for relatively short pieces averaging three minutes in length, some even shorter, others a little longer. All in all, this creates the impression of sketches. Sketches with sharply defined contours, however: as with almost all his albums, Schnitzler gives us listeners clear information about where he currently resides in his musical universe. For Schnitzler, too, the journey was its own reward, and there were many stops 'on the way to the complete Schnitzler'; he never lingered at any of them for long. His artistic restlessness and curiosity were his lifeblood. And to stay with the metaphor, Control is a strong dose of that elixir." --Asmus Tietchens, 2025

Dr. John Chowning (b. 1934) is a pioneering computer musician, composer and professor who, in 1967, discovered the FM synthesis algorithm. This breakthrough in electronic music allowed for simple, yet rich timbres described as sounding "real." With this discovery, Chowning composed singular, dramatic electronic music and changed the timbre of music forever. Chowning utilized the potential of computers to synthesize sounds according to programmed instructions. The composer's use of his own FM algorithms, digital synthesis with computers and the new compositional concepts offered by a programmable musical structure combine to create some of the most original and unique electronic music ever created. The compositions on this LP were realized between 1966 and 1981 and the music on this LP, with the exception of "Stria," was originally released on CD in Germany (Wergo, 1988). The version of "Stria" included here contains a section not included on the Wergo CD. Thus, this version of "Stria" is complete. This is the first time these purely digital recordings have been released on an analog medium. The original dynamics of these groundbreaking compositions have been preserved on this LP. As a result, listeners are advised to increase volume with caution. In 1975, John Chowning founded the CCRMA -- Center For Computer Research In Music and Acoustics at Stanford University. Through Stanford, Chowning licensed his groundbreaking algorithms to Yamaha resulting in numerous new instruments including the iconic DX series of keyboards. In 1972, his composition "Turenas," which is included on this LP, was the first to create the illusion of continuous 360-degree space using four speakers. All pieces on this LP are originally quadrophonic. The illusion of moving sound sources is thus projected from the surrounding environment given by four loud-speakers on the stereo-basis. The master tape of the original CD was made directly from the computer system at CCRMA which generated and stored the sound data in digital format. No analog recording was involved at any stage of the production and editing process.

LP version. Formed in London in 1992 by singer and songwriter David Christian, Comet Gain were originally inspired by early Creation Records, Television Personalities, and mod culture, drawing from the same ideals as Dexys, The Style Council, and Vic Godard, and from the lineage of The Velvet Underground, The Byrds and the 13th Floor Elevators. In the ensuing years they have released eight albums on such esteemed labels as Wiiija, Kill Rock Stars, What's Your Rupture and Fortuna POP! that blend French New Wave with English kitchen-sink heart, Riot Grrrl with acid punk, and C86 with post-punk and Northern soul, somehow outliving their peers and in turn inspiring a younger generation of DIY musicians. Comet Gain are all things post-punk, DIY, Indie POP, international pop underground, lo fi, garagebeat and folk and rock. Boy/girl vocals, scratchy guitars, sweet noise and rough melodies, enthusiasm and pain. It's all right here. Put it on, turn it up and feel alive again. City Fallen Leaves' was first released in 2005 by Track & Field in the UK and Kill Rock Stars in the USA and is now being reissued worldwide by Tapete Records.

White vinyl version. Cold Spring marks a decade since the label first released Coil's landmark album Backwards, with a special 10-year anniversary vinyl reissue. After the ground-breaking release of 1990's Love's Secret Domain album, Coil were not dormant; the main project was Backwards, which was started in 1992, updated considerably between 1993 and 1995, and transferred in 1996 to New Orleans, where it was finished in the magic of the Nothing studios of Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails). The album saw the fruition of Jhonn Balance's recent vocal coaching, producing haunting, passionate vocals, while reaching new heights. 23 years after its initiation, these tracks have been beautifully preserved by Danny Hyde and are finally available in highest quality audio. Differing substantially from the later, remixed incarnation, "The New Backwards" (2008), Backwards contains the original versions of Coil's much-loved tracks; "A Cold Cell" and "Fire Of The Mind," which have appeared on various compilations over the years, and are now presented as originally intended. This album is the essential bridge between LSD and the later "Musick To Play In The Dark" series. It is an essential conduit, to understand the journey that was taken. 180g heavyweight vinyl in a gatefold matt-laminate sleeve with silver detail.

50th anniversary reissue! Step into the wild heart of New York's underground avant-garde jazz scene with Voyage from Jericho. Recorded in 1974, release in 1975, this landmark session finds the Charles Tyler Ensemble pushing boundaries with fearless improvisation, deep spiritual yearning, and a raw emotional fire. Joined by top-tier collaborators -- including Arthur Blythe, Earl Cross, Ronnie Boykins, and Steve Reid -- Tyler shapes a sound that fuses avant-garde intensity with soulful depth, creating a powerful celebration of freedom and expression. This is music that demands attention and rewards deep listening. Whether you're a devoted explorer of the avant-garde or a curious listener seeking something beyond the mainstream, Voyage from Jericho offers a journey both challenging and transcendent. In short: if you're ready to move past comfort zones and into the outer reaches of jazz, Voyage from Jericho is a voyage worth taking. Includes 28-page booklet.

"This first-ever vinyl reissue of saxophonist/composer Charles Tyler's Voyage from Jericho album brings his life and work into much greater detail with an exhaustive liner essay by historian Cisco Bradley, unpublished photos and a new remaster from the original tapes. Essential!" --Clifford Allen

Rosacea sounds as strange and demented as all the previous albums by this Norwegian one-man project. But it sounds right. Just like he claimed in a recent interview about his untraditional approach to writing songs: "I just make stuff until it sounds right." It sounds absolutely right in fact. As puzzling and lunatic as he may seem, yet a sense of order emanates from the idiosyncrasies featured on this album. Ghédalia Tazartès is a cursory reference. Especially on "Carmelade." However, the spectrum of sound and compositions on Rosacea manage to actually transcend the late French eccentric composer and singer. This is truly unique. Recorded and mixed by Gaute Granli. Master and lacquer cut by Frederic Alstadt. Artwork by Andreas Soma.

"On the cover: dälek: The trailblazing New Jersey hiphop duo of Will 'MC dälek' Brooks and Mike 'Mare' Manteca are preparing for the release of a new album this spring via Ipecac records. Our cover feature interview will be accompanied by a mini-feature on the history of rap's noisiest manoeuvres. By Joseph Stannard and Rob Turner. Features: O Ghettão: A DJ trio formed by DJ Danifox, DJ N***a Fox and DJ Firmenza, O Ghettão have been described by André Ferreira of Lisbon's Príncipe label as the 3 Chairs (the supergroup of Detroit house music elders) of the Portuguese batida sound. By Joe Francis. Vic Bang: The work of the Buenos Aires computer music composer and sound artist Victoria Barca has been homing in on fine acoustic details since she launched her Vic Bang alias in 2006. This year she'll release her new album with Warsaw's Mondoj label. By Daryl Worthington. Pascal Comelade: A near career spanning six disc box set is an opportunity to reflect on four decades of fringe post-minimalism and toy instrument wizardry from the French musician. By Julian Cowley. Invisible Jukebox: Daniel Blumberg: The London multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and film score composer braves The Wire's blind listening test. Tested by Claire Biddles."

A cascading piano improvisation by Xiu Xiu's Hyunhye Seo, recorded live during a Nam June Paik exhibition in Turin. On Side B, Japanese avant-garde pioneer Phew reinterprets Seo's performance into a new electronic landscape. Music as surrender, dialogue between performer, space and the present moment. 200 copies. Comes with Obi. Hyunhye Seo, a core member of Xiu Xiu, in her solo work navigates the precarious edges where composition dissolves into pure gesture. Through ecstatic piano improvisations, restless percussive attacks and an expansive use of acoustic space, she constructs layered sonic environments that move across the boundaries of noise, avant-garde jazz, ambient and contemporary classical music. Her performances reveal an unfiltered process of listening and creation -- a practice in which thinking becomes the enemy, and surrender the only viable strategy. "Continuation" captures one such surrender. Recorded live at MAO -- Museo d'Arte Orientale in Turin during the exhibition Rabbit Inhabits the Moon -- The Art of Nam June Paik in the Mirror of Time, this cascading piano improvisation unfolds as a dialogue between performer, space and the particular acoustics of a museum built to house contemplative objects. Jamie Stewart processes the sound in real time; Giuseppe Ielasi shapes the final mix. What emerges is a work of charged immediacy -- restless gestures giving way to passages of unexpected tenderness, noise and silence trading places in continuous exchange. The title is precise: this is music that refuses conclusion, that exists in a state of perpetual becoming. On Side B, "Continuous Extension" offers an unprecedented response. Phew -- the pioneering figure of Japanese avant-garde music since the late 1970s -- was invited by curators Chiara Lee and Freddie Murphy to reinterpret Seo's performance. Working with synthesizer and subtle processing, Phew distills the resonances of "Continuation" into a new electronic landscape -- waves of abstraction that echo like reflections in sound, tracing the harmonic tensions of Seo's playing into territories she herself did not visit. The accompanying booklet includes an essay by Bruno Lo Turco exploring the deep connections between improvisation and Buddhist thought, and a written reflection by Seo on her own practice of surrender and listening.

LP version. Brazilian avant-jazz vanguardists Grupo Um celebrate their 50th anniversary, sharing a second previously lost 1970s album from the vaults. Nineteen Seventy Seven (titled after the year it was recorded) is another rip-roaring instrumental fusion treasure from the band which spawned from within Hermeto Pascoal's famed mid-1970s São Paulo collective. Like their debut album Starting Point, Grupo Um's Nineteen Seventy Seven was recorded when Brazil's military dictatorship was at its most repressive. Just like Hermeto Pascoal's Viajando Com O Som (1977) and Grupo Um's previous album Starting Point (1975), both of which remained unreleased until the 21st century, Zé Eduardo asserts that the 1977 album was flatly "without any chance to be released at that time." Recorded at Rogério Duprat's Vice-Versa Studios in São Paulo, the group were under both time and space restraints. Expanding from a trio to a quintet, original Grupo Um members Lelo Nazario (keys), Zé Eduardo Nazario (drums), and Zeca Assumpção (bass) were joined by saxophonist Roberto Sion and percussionist Carlinhos Gonçalves. Carlinhos, Zé and Zeca had already played together in the group Mandala, while brothers Lelo and Zé had just finished a stint backing Hermeto Pascoal during his years in São Paulo. Lelo was deeply immersed in modular synthesizer experimentation during this period, working extensively with the ARP2600 and EMS Synthi AKS. These electroacoustic explorations formed the sonic foundation for "Mobile/Stabile," one of his first compositions to merge modular synthesis with Brazilian music, a fusion that would ripple throughout the Brazilian jazz scene. The piece premiered at the first São Paulo International Jazz Festival in 1978, performed by Grupo Um with guest trumpeter Márcio Montarroyos. The version on Nineteen Seventy Seven is the first recording of the composition. Nineteen Seventy Seven combines Afro-Brazilian rhythm, modular synthesis and a plethora of whistles, percussion and effects pedals. Grupo Um's daring music represents a manifesto of resistance during the dictatorship years, but it's one which remains just as relevant today.

The debut single by Germany's rising talent Harmon, presented on Mule Musiq. Colorful, dreamy, and highly addictive, this alternative house track is unique and evocative of early DJ Koze and Superpitcher Productions. A fresh and killer release that seamlessly absorbs a wide range of influences -- in the best possible way.

Limited black vinyl. 750 copies. Once again, Trunk Records comes through with an album of sublime 1980s new age synthwave music from an artist and library company you have never heard of. From Jonny: "My first encounter with Peter Patzer was when I was writing and researching the updated and fully expanded version of The Music Library Book, published by Fuel. The initial book -- called The Music Library, was the first ever overview of library music and the wild, unpredictable graphic art of their sleeves. It was first published in 2005 and featured about 400 sleeves and about 120 library companies over 200+ pages. The book was based on over a decade of intense library LP collecting by myself and a handful of other geeky weirdos and made for fascinating and revealing reading and looking. A few years later the price of the original book had gone bananas. But the geeky weirdos like me had all carried on voraciously consuming and collecting library music so I strongly felt the first book could easily be doubled in size with new info, new sleeves and many newly discovered lost library companies. Which is exactly what I set about doing. The Music Library expanded edition came out in 2015. You have to realize here that The Music Library book was very much a first -- until its unexpected arrival (and even the arrival of the much larger expanded edition) there was no published survey, accessible catalogue or anything about international library music. It was still an odd old world shrouded in some historical mystery -- even the internet had not really caught up. And I was still finding unusual British one-off library LPs, more unusual Italian library diversions, hidden French funky things and then I finally found Peter Patzer. From Germany. Hidden away in a very obscure music library corner. All on his own. Peter was unusual in that he was an artist and musician who made his own music and issued it all on his own library, called Crea Music, based out of Bremen in North Germany. Over a series of eight white vinyl LPs produced in the 1980s, Peter Patzer created synth heavy experiments for possible use in film, TV, video and anything else coming along. All his LPs had the same simple red, white and blue sleeve and a typed name and number. Across the eight LPs Peter goes to musical space, creates post-disco funk, travels to Vegas, goes all geological and more."