Gudrun Gut and Mabe Fratti have worked together on a powerful hybrid album, where taut rhythms fuse with haunted vocal melodies and spoken word, and field recordings meld with extended ambient pieces. As part of Umor Rex's 15th anniversary, the label presents an album that builds a dialogue between two lands and two unique artists. Mexico is the origin and conceptual residence of our label, while Germany is where the label produces and manufacture our records. The intertwining imaginations belong to German producer Gudrun Gut (Malaria!) -- a notable figure of the subculture and the German music scene since the early '80s, and also a founder of Monika Enterprise and recipient of the "Listen to Berlin" Award in 2019 -- and singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer Mabe Fratti (originally from Guatemala, now based in Mexico City). The process started with Gudrun and Mabe having long distance conversations, asking about their whereabouts and discussing the weather. This might seem rather commonplace, but it works as a key thematic component for the entire album. The weather as the new great unknown, perceived through the optics of everyday life. Sound files were methodically exchanged, with Mabe exploring words and vocals, and Gudrun working with field recordings taken from each city. In the end, this joint musical venture would provide a healing effect for both artists during life in quarantine. "Aufregend", the opening track of the album, reflects upon a general lack of excitement in modern life. It wonders what the future might hold. Is it cold? Is it warm? Will it be the same? "Air Condition" is an eerie, dazzling collision of climates: the hazy warmth of Mexico City, the deep cold of Uckermark. The last track, which gives the album its name, is a long ambient piece composed of four parts: sound sculptures, field recordings of city life, news and weather forecasts, and private conversations about the climate. It's kind of a collaborative diary, obsessed with a single, all-encompassing subject. Produced and recorded by Gudrun Gut and Mabe Fratti between Berlin, Uckermark, Veracruz, and Mexico City. Mixed by Gudrun Gut at Stern Studio; mastered by John Tejada in Sherman Oaks, USA. Artwork and photos by Daniel Castrejón in Mexico City. Yellow vinyl; includes download code; edition of 500.

"It has been a while since the release Myriam's acclaimed 2014 debut album, Not So Deep as a Well (FTR 146-4LP). The intervening years have brought a smattering of live performances, a bouquet of children, Trump's Pandemic, and much more . . .

Different concepts for a new album were broached, but the seed of Ma Délire was planted when Myriam recalled a paper she written in university. It was about Leonard Cohen's recording of "The Lost Canadian (Un canadien errant)" from Recent Songs. Ostensibly a cover of an old Quebecois ballad, Cohen stripped away the specificity of the lyrics, tying the song's titular figure to the archetype of 'The Wandering Jew'.

The theme of this paper returned to Myriam when she had a residency at the Old Mill in Le Bic, QC in August 2016. Benoit Chaput had turned her on to the traditional tune 'Au Coeur de ma Délire,' from a 1971 album by Dominique Tremblay and Philippe Gagnon. The song was so haunting, she decided to record it right there in the Mill's boat repair workshop. That is the very recording used here . . .

This started Myriam musing about how the end of the Catholic hegemony in Quebec had the unanticipated consequence of making people think less of traditional Quebecois folk music, because so much of it was soaked in the blood of the lamb. It made sense this music should be explored and updated despite its dogmatic origins which Cohen had proved could be effectively expunged . . .

Just as the world was shutting down, Myriam was awarded a grant which allowed her the time and space to fully investigate and develop this material. She had spent years sifting through traditional music from Quebec, France and the U.S., highlighting parts of songs and ideas she liked, discarding some she found abhorrent, and merging the good bits with her own writing or other cannibalized shards. At some juncture she flashed on this work's common thread -- its thematic roots were always in one type of romantic longing or another. And so, this album came together during the dark days of the General Lockdown. Mixing vocal tracks with instrumentals, singing in both French and English, using a syncretic blend of original, modern and traditional lyrics, Ma Délire fearlessly wanders through a universe of its own invention, daring us to open our minds wide enough to take it all in.

Myriam initially recorded with just guitar and vocals. But when she began working with the sound engineer Tonio Morin-Vargas, he had some insightful suggestions about additional instrumentation that might broaden the album's sound without confounding it. Myriam had already planned to ask her friends, Bill Nace and Chris Corsano, to add some things, so the whole shebang evolved as organically as most great records do..." --Byron Coley, 2021

Aubrite was first released 1995 on the label Barooni. Thomas Köner is one of the most influential modernist minimal composers. His music is often defined as dark ambient or drone, because of the use of low frequencies, material from gongs, shadowy resonances and boreal ambience, but at the same time its sound with constant fluctuation and vulnerability of sonic events, what makes it organic, human and almost comforting. Köner's soundscapes are no longer simply dark, the question now is that of a profound blackness. Such is the generic darkness of the abyss, the void and vacuum, the darkness of more than silence, of catastrophe and cataclysm, but also the soundscapes have utopian moments. It is a cosmological blackness, the black of nonbeing. "The more subtractive, the blacker the sound synthesis", Köner writes. Such blackness is non-music. Music will never be music until it ceases to represent and begins to sound like non-music or monochrome. "Whoever hears the distortion of all sounds, will soon become Ultrablack. Whoever listens to this world, but has no affection for any of its sites, even to the place of Black Noise, may soon reach Ultrablack. Whoever understands the spirit of impartiality through ten thousand million partial tones, hears Ultrablack and can no longer be measured. No measures, no enclosures, no properties are the sign of ultrablack scores." Roland Speckle helped with production of the album. Aubrite is the name of a group of meteorites named for Aubres, a small achondrite meteorite that fell near Nyons in 1836. Includes two bonus tracks.

2021 repress. A selection of eight songs covering the period from 1979 to 1989 by one of Rai's softest voices. Wah-Wah driven, mid-tempo guitar based early Rai from the city where Rai's "harder" form was conceived. Sad romantic songs about lost loves and other sorrowful tales. Mastered by Mark Gergis. Vinyl master and lacquer cut by Frederic Alstadt - Angstrom Studio. Edition of 300.

"... In the mid-1970s, the music scene in the Oran region was dominated by groups such as Les Aigles Noirs, Choc, or The Basils -- playing mainly Western pop covers, ranging from the Beatles to French romantic songs. Then, there were also the emerging new Rai sounds, championed by Messaoud Bellemou and his troupe -- with a sound driven by trumpets and saxophones. I was 17 in 1978, when I joined Les Aigles Noirs as a 'stage animator' . . . This is how I met Ahmed Zergui. Zergui and his group, Les Freres Zergui were pioneers. They were the first to introduce wah-wah pedals and drums in Rai . . . It combined Rai, rock and jazz elements into something unheard before. It was about 1979 when Ahmed Zergui offered me to join his group as an animator . . . In 1979, I released my first cassette Jayya Arassa / Jaya Techoufi Babak on Editions Mekkeraphone with Zergui on guitar. Cheb Khaled was the rising star of Rai after releasing 'Ya Sada' and he covered my song 'Jat Jat', which helped attract a lot of attention, and resulted in many show requests around Oran . . . Ahmed Zergui passed away in 1983 . . . The group separated and we did not know what to do . . . In 1984, I began reaching out to former members of the group, such as Omar Assou, Kassem Atek, Nasser, and Houari Toubi. In Oran, I linked with the label La Nouvelle Etoile, who invited me to start recording again. We signed a three-year contract and we released nine cassettes together; the first of which featured 'Jibek Liyam' and 'Malgre Ma Dert Fiya'. Rai was progressing fast, and had started to integrate modern instruments such as Roland synthesizers, drum machines, etc... We started recording at Studio Malik in Oran, and this is where we met the true legend that was Meghni Mohamed . . . By the late 1980s, we had worked with most of the established Rai labels such as Editions Anwar, Editions Maghreb, or Editions Saint Crepain. In 1994, Kassem Atek and I considered applying quarter tones and Hijaz Maqam to the electric guitar. I was very familiar with them on vocals, but applying them to guitar was a first in North Africa. This new sound had a relatively large success, which resulted in numerous releases...." --Drissi El-Abbassi (Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria September 2020)

LP version. Includes double-sided insert; edition of 500. Dans le Sable is the first new album in over 40 years by composer, pianist, and digital audio pioneer Loren Rush (b. 1935). Active in the Bay Area new music scene since the late 1950s alongside composers such as Robert Erickson and Pauline Oliveros, he also co-founded the Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics in 1975. His music has been performed by the Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra amongst others.

The title piece "Dans le Sable" (1967-68, 70) covers the first side of the record, of which Charles Shere in the Oakland Tribune (1972) writes: "A surreal opera scene. A narrator dwells on the significance of passing time. A soprano sings Barbarina's cabaletta from Figaro, which describes her distraught search in the sand for a lost pin. The chamber orchestra -- mostly solo instruments -- plays soft, half-forgotten tunes reminiscent of the Parisian music hall. If Marcel Duchamp wanted to put painting once more at the service of the mind, so did Rush seem to want to make a composition that speaks directly to that thing behind the mind -- the point where it connects with the soul. And he succeeded. But only because the work is so brilliantly constructed, so careful in its structure and the timing of its phrases, so well balanced in the disposition of its parts that it quite overcomes the audience."

The second piece on the album "Song and Dance" begins with the watery held tones of "Song". Melancholy phrases are deconstructed and stretched in different retellings, invoking a harmonic fog. We are then thrust into "Dance", one of the first orchestral pieces to employ computer-generated digital synthesis. A hypnotic and percussive march is propelled into a storm of early computer-processed cannonades. Recital now illuminate the overlooked composer Loren Rush, whose meticulous attention to detail has perhaps kept his toiled-upon works in the shadows these past decades.

Repressed!! "These songs were recorded a few months after the Los Angeles punk scene began. These five statements of intent transcend Punk and project forward into the future: to the analog synth wave of the late '70s and beyond, to the present day, four decades later, when they finally receive an official release. Sourced from the original reel-to-reels, they are a revelation compared to the countless copies that have been circulating by multiple generations of tape-traders. Here, for the first time, is the Screamers' initial and legendary manifesto. The Screamers concept was simple, yet audacious: take the spirit and the look of punk -- the pseudo-psychotic aggression, the spiky hair, vacant stares and barely concealed sadomasochism -- and match it to a different configuration than the typical '60s rock template. As launched, the Screamers featured two keyboard players (Tommy Gear and David Brown), a drummer (KK Barrett) and an intensely charismatic singer (Tomata du Plenty). The idea was to be confrontational -- to evoke (as Tomata described in an early interview) a state of anxiety. Forty years later, this release builds on the groundswell of interest in the Screamers that has been occurring in the early 21st century. There are web sites with detailed histories of the group and several bootlegs of demos and live material from 1977-79. The video of '122 Hours of Fear' -- perhaps their peak moment, recorded at Target Video in August 1978 -- has now passed over 650,000 views online. This is the Screamers' time, and the time is now." --Jon Savage (excerpt from the liner notes). Cover featuring artwork by Gary Panter.

Since 1991, Tresor has provided a home for artists to germinate their ideas for advanced new sounds and broadcast them to the world. The pioneers that first traversed the Detroit-Berlin connection and were at the forefront of a new cultural movement gave to Tresor its original and continuing mission: community, resistance and reshaping the world to come. The Tresor 30 compilation represents a major landmark in this continuing history of electronic music. This unique collection of music profiles some of the artists that gave the previous three decades of Tresor its sound and foundation, but it also casts its gaze forward. Writing new postcards from the future, this collection brings new artists who maintain a connection to that original mission to the fore, charting ways in which this ethos can continue to build bridges and break walls in the next 30 years. Bringing together 52 essential tracks -- both classics and exclusive commissions -- each of the 12 records in this box-set charts a unique line of flight from those artists that helped define the shape of this new music to those who continue to pattern its landscape further. The future is bright and it's now. Limited edition boxset, 12x12" 180 gram vinyl; silver pantone + foil on ultra-black board; includes 16-page booklet, download card, and poster double-sided 90x60.

Features Underground Resistance, Nomadico, Huey Mnemonic, D. Strange, Speaker Music, AFRODEUTSCHE, Juan Atkins, rRoxymore, Helena Hauff, Paris The Black Fu, Lara Sarkissian, Jeff Mills, K-HAND, Claude Young, Porter Ricks, Basic Channel, Moritz von Oswald, Donato Dozzy, Verraco, KMRU, Surgeon, Regis & James Ruskin present O/V/R, Claudia Anderson, machìna, Robert Hood, Function, LSDXOXO, Sophia Saze, Blake Baxter, SHE Spells Doom, DJ Minx, Whodat, Anthony "Shake" Shakir, Daniel Bell, Bergsonist, Loidis, Drexciya, Russell E.L. Butler, DJ Stingray 313, Jensen Interceptor, Terrence Dixon, Nandele, Roberto Chitsonzo, Jr., Ectomorph, Simulant, TYGAPAW, Joey Beltram, Nene H, FJAAK, Yazzus, Grand River, TV Victor, Carlota, Torus, and Mareena & JakoJako.

LP version. Bureau B present a reissue of Die Fische's Eine Nacht in Cairo, originally released 1986. Die Fische from Ratingen pressed their 1986 album Eine Nacht in Cairo in a small private edition. Long considered a forgotten treasure of the German post-punk underground, it has more recently been discovered all over again by new listeners as one or two cuts, such as "Fire Of Love" and "Conversation Of Everyday-Lovers", have broken through the topsoil into the vast reaches of the internet. Nowadays, collectors over the world search for precious copies of the Eine Nacht in Cairo album, a wonderfully rapturous album, somewhere between leftfield synth-pop and post-punk. Die Fische were founded by Bernd Oprach and Peter Walgenbach back in 1982. During the course of various sessions in the new, openly experimental Ratingen music scene, they got to know drummer Arnd Willert, who soon became a fully-fledged member of the band. The gravitational pull of the Düsseldorf scene and groups like Der Plan grew stronger around this time, with Ratinger Hof at its center. As punk, new wave and early, experimental NDW (Neue Deutsche Welle) orbited around the trio, they decided to renegotiate their own trajectory, creating music far removed from traditional forms. Their approach to recording (including the use of a Walkman) the electronic equipment they had assembled, such as sequencers, synthesizers (for guitar sounds too) and drum machines opened up new sonic horizons. Compared to today's digital technology, however, the means at their disposal were rather limited. Instead of holding them back, this actually set the tone for creative improvisation. Allied to Dadaist elements, the early works are strikingly uncompromising. Ten tracks featured on the 1983 cassette which represented the self-released debut by Die Fische. The band played a host of shows throughout Germany from 1982 onwards, many of them in the Düsseldorf region. The subsequent album, Eine Nacht in Cairo, sounds altogether more structured and mature. This time around, the line-up was augmented by the vocalist Patrick, bassist and co-lodger Konrad Mathieu and an additional session drummer, Gigi Sessenhausen. The band members continued to work in numerous other projects, with fluctuations and new formations in shifting constellations very much in the spirit of the age. Die Fische can be seen as a band who were energized by the current of musical optimism in the early 1980s. Many treasures disappeared all too quickly.

LP version. Catherine Graindorge is a Belgian violinist, violist and composer. Produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Rokia Traoré), Eldorado is her second solo album and her first for Glitterbeat's tak:til imprint.

Gorgeous and haunting, Graindorge uses strings, harmonium and electronic treatments to explore intimate corners and widescreen vistas. Over the centuries Eldorado has become a word weighted down by so many meanings, layer upon layer of possibility and expectation. But it can also be a place to find hope and solace and discover dreams. That's the music of this Eldorado, the second solo album from Belgian violinist and composer Catherine Graindorge. Although she's best-known for her collaborations -- with a range of artists from Nick Cave to Mark Lanegan, as well as her work as part of Nile on waX, and for the music she's written for film and theater -- Graindorge had been intending a second solo release for years. But Eldorado had a much longer gestation period than she expected. The music, she says, became "like a diary", and each page brings new reflections and resonances. She worked with producer John Parish who played various instruments on the album, including the guitar on the homage "Eno". Graindorge had sent him her first album, and they built a friendship that led to her recording most of this disc at his studio. Like a series of secret paths, the music of Eldorado takes curious twists and turns, ranging from stillness to frustration. Things aren't quite as they seem; even the violin is disguised, shapeshifted by electronics, so the only certainty and continuity are the emotions Graindorge expresses. It's intensely personal, a record brimming with tales and reminiscences, like "Rosalie", a track she composed after reading of the death of a Rwandan woman in Belgium. Rosalie had come to Belgium with her husband to escape the genocide in her homeland in 1995, and Graindorge's lawyer father had befriended her. "Rosalie" is caught among the tangled, breathing shadows of the harmonium and the creak of strings, before slowly breaking free towards the light. At other times, Graindorge's compositions carry a wispy ghostliness, as on "Ghost Train", where softly spoken words peer through the swirling fog of sound. There can also be a very physical weight to what she's doing. It's apparent from the very first notes of "Lockdown", as the solid drone of the harmonium creates a foundation for her violin. During the first lockdown, she was trapped in Belgium. It's a slow build, the music exploring the texture of notes, like layers of memory gradually rising to the surface.

We Release Jazz announce the official reissue of Ryo Fukui's only solo piano album, recorded live, June 4-5, 1994 at The Lutheran Hall in Sapporo. Originally released on CD only by Sapporo Jazz Create in 1994, My Favorite Tune is a beautiful bop adventure which includes two superb compositions that Ryo Fukui wrote as an homage to his beloved Hokkaido region, the fan-favorite "Nord" and "Voyage", a tribute to his mentor Barry Harris ("Nobody's"), alternate versions of his mega classics "Scenery" and "Mellow Dream", and, last but not least, bewitching takes on timeless gems by Sonny Clark and Avery Parrish. My Favorite Tune plays like a cool summer night, full of contemplative notes and deep feelings, with Ryo Fukui baring his heart on the piano and displaying the soulful sophistication he is loved for. A true masterpiece completing his amazing discography. Comes with liner notes by Yusuke Ogawa. Sourced from the original masters. LP version comes on 180 gram vinyl mastered at half speed for full audiophile sound.

Reduced price, last copies. Fantôme Phonographique present a reissue of Luc Estang and Pierre Henry's Saint-Exupéry, originally released as a 10" in 1959. During his long and illustrious career, the French composer and musique concrète pioneer Pierre Henry created a large amount of incidental music to accompany literary texts, both on record and for the stage, from Jules Verne to Victor Hugo, from Lautréamont to Antonin Artaud. This incredibly rare LP from 1959 is a radio play about the life of French pilot and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, based on the 1956 book by Luc Estang on the subject. The interpreters are a small theater troupe including French actor Paul Meurisse (1912-1979), famous for popular films and as a member of national theater company, La Comédie Française. Underlying key scenes, Pierre Henry's contribution to the play consists of electronic and musique concrète sounds, adding a contemporary dimension to the text. A beautiful piece from one of the mid-20th century's truly brilliant sonic explorers.

"Born in Rome in 1983, Clara Iannotta is particularly interested in music as an existential, physical experience - music should be seen as well as heard. This is one of the reasons why she sometimes prefers to talk about the choreography of the sound rather than about orchestration. Clara Iannotta's compositions do not tell a story, but rather develop a physiognomy. They nurture sensory spaces in which the ear, figuratively speaking, can wander and contemplate. Spaces that open up beneath a surface like the deep sea beneath the surface of the ocean. Spaces that contain something hidden that indirectly, as a reflex, reaches to the outside world."

Pilz present a reissue of Bröselmaschine's self-titled debut release, originally released in 1971. What an amazing improvement in the sound of this 50-year-old recording. With the help of the original analog master tapes and state-of-the-art technical equipment, the sensitive melodies of the original cast appear in a wonderful light of romance and empathy. Remastered at Dierks Studios, where the recordings were also made. Produced with the assistance of Dieter Dierks. The CD is released on the original Pilz label.

"Languorous atmospheres, lovely vocals, iridescent melodies, and shimmering solos combine on Bröselmaschine's self-titled 1971 debut album, the apotheosis of the German folk-prog scene. The quintet took their cue from England's Canterbury scene and even a traditional folk song, 'Lassie,' from that green and pleasant land. The band's signature sound was derived from Jenni Schucker's delicate and at times ethereal vocals in harmony with Willi Kissmer's stronger tenor, and that sound took on a Teutonic tinge when the pair switched from English to German lyrics. But it was the group's extraordinary use of acoustic and electric guitars that cemented its reputation . . . So self-confident were the bandmembers that they had no need for flashy musicianship, preferring instead to impress by the very understatement of their solos. The ambience is exquisite, casting a spell that isn't broken until the final note fades. A masterful album from start to finish." --Jo-Ann Greene (AllMusic)

"CD of 1969 psychedelic blues classic originally on Stable Records. CD of 1969 psychedelic blues classic originally on Stable Records. This first album by Jaklin demonstrates how a young composer and singer with an ingrained feeling for contemporary blues manages to produce songs which are both emotionally evocative yet simple enough to be tremendously vehicular -- just take a listen to the weaving and pounding, the blending and harmony of the instrumentation."

2021 restock; double LP version. 140 gram vinyl. Includes download code. Einstürzende Neubauten have discovered sounds beyond the pain barrier, the beauty of dissonance and the aesthetics of the scrapyard. They are regarded as the most important engines in the development of new musical strategies; Hardly another German band has characterized the music landscape as lastingly. Their influence on the music world was, and is, as great as their timeless character. Once fully set in motion - by West Berliners Blixa Bargeld, NU Unruh and Alexander Hacke in the early 1980s - Einstürzende Neubauten have pressed on regardless. Indeed since percussionist Rudolf Moser and former Die Haut guitarist Jochen Arbeit joined in 1997, the current Einstürzende Neubauten line-up has not only been their longest lasting; going on the evidence gathered here, it's arguably their broadest ranging and most fruitful partnership, with Rudi and Jochen always gamely responding to the musical challenges posed by NU Unruh's battery of invented instruments and devices. Along with multi-instrumentalist Alex Hacke, who took over bass after the departure of Mark Chung (after their 1992 album Tabula Rasa) and FM Einheit (during the recording of 1996's Ende Neu (POTOMAK 919821/919822)), they willingly switch between their chosen instruments and NU Unruh's inventions, sounding the depths, tapping, scratching and hammering out beats, or drawing haunting tones from the seemingly most unforgiving of source materials presented to them, invariably in the service of the song. The earliest track here is a newly mixed version of "Haus Der Lüge", the title track of their 1989 album Haus Der Lüge (POTOMAK 820001/820002); except it's now adorned with freshly recorded trombone and string parts, which the group wanted on the original but couldn't afford, so had to use synth simulations instead. Five tracks are taken from their 2000 album Silence Is Sexy (POTOMAK 957051/957052). During the 2000s, Einstürzende Neubauten's resourcefulness extended beyond the stage and the recording studio into the economics of alternative music practice. Two Greatest Hits tracks, "Dead Friends (Around The Corner)" and "Ein Leichtes Leises Säuseln", originated on their Supporters Album #1 (2003), which in publicly modified form became Perpetuum Mobile (Mute, 2004). Now as then as always, declares Greatest Hits's newest track "How Did I Die", "The difference makes the song".

The debut album by Perpignan's finest, featuring Pascal Comelade on piano. The Llamps' members met each other in the surroundings of Perpignan a few years ago. Moved by The Velvet Underground, Ennio Morricone, Noir Desir, and L'Agram, the four of them created an alliance between heritage and modernity, pop and hip-hop, country and psychedelics, all of it in Catalan, French and English. Their mysterious universe acquires its full dimension live, where salvage poetry and the band's energy mingle and brew. After their first two 7"s, The Llamps present their self-titled debut. Throughout its 12 tracks, the eponymous album is unrepentant in combining the different musical cultures of this atypical group. It is a resolutely modern version of '60s garage rock: simultaneously psychedelic and acidic, it introduces the listener to a sombre and poetic universe of fuzz guitars, tortured keyboards, bursting trumpets and tattered pianos, while a beguiling female voice sings in English, French or Catalan. The Llamps, a fruit of the communal imagination of the four members of the group and their environment of musician and artist friends -- of which Pascal Comelade is the common thread -- resounds as a testimony of our times: equally fragile and full of splendor.

2021 repress. "The recipe for a cult-classic: a band's most-anticipated release which features a big change in sound encounters a divisive reception. Fans of the band's early work cry foul, and a younger, more open-minded set of fans (acquired by a catchy, almost accidental hit, nonetheless) welcome a tuneful and nuanced, yet often mournful offering. Pepper in an undated production and jump almost two decades into the future. The remarkable thing about Stoned & Dethroned, The Jesus & Mary Chain's fifth album, is not that it's a cult classic, but that it's also regularly touted as the band's best album. Previously known for feedback-drenched pop songs and gothic surf / blues storms, The Jesus & Mary Chain followed a successful year of touring in 1992 (including a slot on the second Lollapalooza tour) by entering the studio to record an acoustic album. The sessions were the first time that principal members Jim and William Reid had embarked on a recording with a full band since their incendiary debut, but the results could not have been different. Though the hooks were still there, Stoned & Dethroned emerged with a calmer, almost folk / country-tinged sound. Any feedback appears as hazy atmospherics rather than pain-inducing squeals. The sound of the album nobly approximates the drugged swagger of the classic early-'70s Rolling Stones records, but with The Jesus & Mary Chain's uniquely foreboding lyrical perspective."

Black Truffle present Sylva Sylvarum, an epic new work from Ora Clementi, the collaborative project of crys cole and James Rushford. Primarily conceived and recorded over several months together in Melbourne, Sylva Sylvarum is a stunning step forward from the mumbled, creaking sound world of the duo's debut, Cover You Will Softer Me (PP 011LP, 2014). From the opening "Peach of Immortality", which takes an unpredictable journey from layers of chiming bells, vocal harmonies and lush synth pads to a desolate landscape of half-animal, half-digital wooshes and cries, it is immediately clear that cole and Rushford are working here with an entirely unique sound palette. Throughout the record's four sides, you hear a large array of carefully detailed synthesizer sounds (many of them recorded at the remarkable Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio), sparse drum machine hits, wind instruments and field recordings of animals, often with a twistedly late '80s/early '90s flavor that at various points calls up new age references, Robert Ashley's later operas or the thinned-out textures of early digital GRM. Threaded through this distinctive array of sounds are the two musicians' voices, sometimes singing, sometimes speaking through varying degrees of manipulation. A guiding thread through the pair's collaboration, beginning with their initial experiments with lip-readings, the presence of these two voices -- cole's crisp and sibilant, Rushford's rich and low -- reinforces the sense that the music is immersed in itself, less performed by two people than occurring between them. On Sylva Sylvarum, these voices first come to the forefront on the third piece, "Dialogue Between a Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller and a Genoese Sea Captain", where in unison they intone fragments of a description of an imaginary space taken from a 17th century utopian text. The two voices resurface periodically thereafter, most stunningly in the unexpected turn into cushiony dream pop on "Magic Mountain". Like the album's title, these textual elements are drawn from various literary descriptions of utopias, a theme that also informed the pair's musical approachThe uncanny sweep of the album's fifteen pieces is expansive enough to take in stretches of crackling austerity, warped microtonal keyboard etudes and moments of stunning beauty, the latter most strikingly when cole and Rushford are joined by Callum G'Froerer on trumpet and Joe O'Connor on trombone for a series of dream-like moments moving from growling overtones to poignant lyricism. Mint green vinyl; gatefold sleeve. Artwork by Sabrina Ratté. Mixed and mastered by Joe Talia at Good Mixture, Berlin.

2021 restock. "Producer Bill Laswell's various artists compilation Funkcronomicon, originally released in 1995 under the name Axiom Funk, is essentially a lost Parliament-Funkadelic album. Featuring former P-Funk members George Clinton, Eddie Hazel (his final recordings), Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins with contributions from Herbie Hancock, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Maceo Parker, Sly Stone, Buckethead and too many others to list. This is old school style (and new) funk, soul and rock colliding on an epic scale exemplified on tracks such as 'Hideous Mutant Freekz', Eddie Hazel's mammoth guitar workout number 'Orbitron Attack', Bootsy Collins spacey rearrangement of Hendrix's 'If 6 Was 9", spoken word tracks 'Pray My Soul' and 'Sacred To The Pain'. For fans of Parliament-Funkadelic this is an essential, must have album. On red & cyan vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with an insert. First time ever released on vinyl!"

2021 repress. "This 1974 release by Keith Hudson is something of a lost gem -- with his gravelly vocal style gaining more and more prominence in recent years. Housed in some sunshine cover art, Entering The Dragon with the man Keith bringing an abrasive edge to the proceedings that probably sounded quite startling in its day, now acts as a sign-post to the dancehall/hip-hop evolutions that were to come. With particular highlights including 'Will You Come Out Tonight', 'It Was When Friends Started to Talk About You' and 'Rage Of Love', Keith Hudson's classic is available for everyone to enjoy on 180 gram vinyl."

"Forty years ago, on July 8th and 9th in 1981, a group formed by the splintering of some of Bristol's essential post punk bands, entered the hallowed studio at Berry Street in London to record their debut single. What would emerge was not only an exuberant post funk classic on the A-side, but also a wildly influential dub workout on the flipside, whose reverberations can still be heard today. Both songs have proven essential in very different ways. A focal point for the unique punk-funk that was coming together in Bristol as the bridge from the '70s to the '80s arrived, Maximum Joy was formed by Glaxo Babies multi-instrumentalist Tony Wrafter and 18-year old vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Janine Rainforth. Soon they drafted in additional Glaxo Babies in the form of drummer Charlie Llewellin and bassist Dan Catsis, along with guitarist John Waddington, fresh from The Pop Group. The group set about making a one-of-a-kind mix of funk, punk, pop, jazz, dub, soul, afrobeat and reggae; creating a brilliant charge of danceable tunes wrapped around elastic basslines and complex percussion, punctuated by melodic horns and stabs of guitar, all of it highlighting Rainforth's naturally enthusiastic vocal style. Bursting at the seams, 'Stretch' feels like it can barely be contained within the studio walls. Rainforth delivers a vocal performance that can only be found within the freedom of someone recording their first ever single. The group's love of funk is evident on 'Stretch', but the heavy influence of dub and reggae from their surroundings shapes the moody skitter of 'Silent Street'. Here, the sing-song vocals seem to drift across the heavy late-night air. The two songs are wildly different, yet both could only have come from this key collection of players. Paired with the likes of The Pop Group, The Slits, The Raincoats and the On-U-Sound collective, Maximum Joy still stands out as a unique voice in the movement. Y Records head Dick O'Dell would join the sessions and give the release a warm home in the UK while legendary 99 Records in New York took on the US release since Maximum Joy made perfect sense being equal parts ESG and Liquid Liquid. This 12-inch has been a staple for DJ's in the know since day one."

"On The Cover: Amazing unseen image of Bikini Kill live at CBGB in 1990, by Mike Galinsky, with accompanying lengthy photo essay exploring indie-rock in the early 1990s, including behind-the-scenes, unpublished black-and-white film images of Sonic Youth, Unwound, Mary Timony, Sleepyhead, Half Japanese, and more. Columns: Luc Sante's ridiculously good 'Pinakothek' column where he goes off on one image; John Colpits AKA Kid Millions on Miles Cooper Seaton (RIP); The forgotten brilliance of bluesy hip-hop pioneers New Kingdom; New tape releases in the tape column; Susan Bernofsky on her Robert Walser bio; The Clean's singer and guitarist David Kilgour on the long-awaited Stephen reissue plus a lot more; the enduring goofy excellence of ELO's Out of the Blue; Legendary Japanese hardcore guitarist Zigyaku from Gudon talks with Takeshi from Boris for the 'One on One' column in celebration of the wide release of Boris's 2020 album NO."

2021 repress. Deluxe remastered reissue of Barney Wilen's 1972 album Moshi, featuring additional artwork and a 20-page booklet of rare pictures, sheet music, and the original liner notes. Includes a bonus DVD (packaged with exclusive artwork) of Caroline de Bendern's 1971 film à l'intention de Mlle Issoufou à Bilma, documenting this amazing African journey. "In 1970 Barney Wilen assembled a team of filmmakers, technicians, and musicians to travel to Africa for the purpose of recording the music of the native pygmy tribes. Upon returning to Paris two years later, he created Moshi, a dark, eccentric effort fusing avant jazz sensibilities with African rhythms, ambient sound effects, and melodies rooted in American blues traditions. Cut with French and African players including guitarist Pierre Chaze, pianist Michel Graillier, and percussionist Didier Leon, this is music with few precedents or followers, spanning from extraterrestrial dissonance to earthbound, street-legal funk. Wilen pays little heed to conventional structure, assembling tracks like 'Afrika Freak Out' and 'Zombizar' from spare parts of indeterminate origins." --Jason Ankeny, AllMusic

Repressed. Souffle Continu Records present the first vinyl reissue of Jef Gilson's Le Massacre Du Printemps, originally released in 1971. In 1971, the day after the death of Igor Stravinsky, Jef Gilson, and his Unit (Pierre Moret and Jean-Claude Pourtier) made this curious homage to classical music. It is jazz, contemporary, and electroacoustic music that the trio interrogate through a wild "noise" session evoking as much John Cage as Pierre Henry, John Coltrane as the Percussions de Strasbourg, the Art Ensemble of Chicago as the Tacet by Jean Guérin. Le Massacre du Printemps, (the Massacre of Spring) is a strange kind of homage to Igor Stravinsky, who had just died when, in 1971, Jef Gilson recorded this not-to-be-missed album of French experimental jazz. "Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end," the Russian composer was quoted as saying and here is Gilson offering us... six! A funny bird (of fire) was Jef Gilson. Clarinetist who came up playing in the basement clubs with Claude Luter and Boris Vian, he turned to piano and multiplied his experiences in jazz: bebop, choral, modal, free, fusion... As a free spirit, Gilson welcomed many "up and coming" French musicians in his bands (Jean-Luc Ponty, Bernard Lubat, Michel Portal, Henri Texier...) as well as being associated with Woody Shaw, Nathan Davis, or Byard Lancaster. Later he would go on to create, Europamerica, a transatlantic formation in which Butch Morris, Frank Lowe, and Joe McPhee would play... But for the time being it's a massacre! With Pierre Moret on organ and Jean-Claude Pourtier on drums, Gilson improvises with style and gusto. On the eponymous title track of the album, he also plays tuba and invites Claude Jeanmaire to get involved on prepared piano. Spring, for the four musicians here, is windswept: billowing, rumbling, frantic, it sounds like Stravinsky played by the "Percussions de Strasbourg" without a scoresheet! After which, behind his electric piano, Gilson with Moret and Pourtier offers us five more "unpremeditated spontaneous expressions", as he wrote on the back of the album sleeve. Five wily and electric expressions which are like the soundtrack to a film which could also have been played by the Art Ensemble or Jean Guérin. Licensed from Futura / Marge. Remastered from the master tapes; restored artwork with obi strip.

"Third Man Records is very proud to announce Up, the first-ever LP from criminally-unheard Manchester noisemakers Magic Roundabout. Up is due September 24, 2021 and is heralded by dreamy lead single 'She's A Waterfall' and its accompanying video. 'I walk in to the studio, Warren [Defever] is working away,' Third Man Records' Dave Buick says about the label's introduction to the group. 'Feedback, hypnotizing bass line, perfect female vocal harmonies and a drummer so minimal you just know they are standing coming out of the speakers. All I could see was stripes and paisleys. I became instantly obsessed with tracking down this mystery band's complete discography. 'They don't have a discography you say?' Just like that my obsession had become dangerous and unhealthy.' Like so many other disenfranchised kids in the heady days of mid-eighties United Kingdom, Magic Roundabout came armed with leather jackets, charity shop instruments, singles by The Fall and Buzzcocks, good haircuts, a healthy VU obsession and a little psychedelic inspiration. Influenced into existence at early gigs by The Jesus and Mary Chain and Shop Assistants, The Roundies wanted to change the world or at the very least make some noise, shake things up and be a part of the happening. The gang established a clubhouse in early 1986 and began rehearsing, recording and gigging. Playing a ton of legendary shows with the likes of The Pastels, The Blue Aeroplanes, Spacemen 3, Loop, My Bloody Valentine, Inspiral Carpets and picking up a bunch of fans along the way. Rumor has it that Noel Gallagher roadied their final show. There was one song released -- 'She's a Waterfall' Parts 1 and 2 on Mark Webber's (Pulp) Oozing Through The Ozone Layer cassette compilation -- and that's it. There were also talks of a flexi-disc that, for whatever reason, never saw the light of day. But by the end of the 80s, the gang had all gone their separate ways and the recordings along with so many other things were thought to be lost forever... Now, these 1987 recordings recently unearthed by Ian Masters (Pale Saints) and Third Man Records and given the 'treatment' by Warren Defever are presented to you lucky ones as the debut album by Magic Roundabout. 34 years too late or perfectly steeped and presented at just the right moment in history? Tune in, turn on and make up your own mind. Enjoy the trip. 'Magic Roundabout: The mysterious missing link between The Velvet Underground and pragVEC. How did the music industry miss these talented teenagers? They were fucking idiots, that's how. From super-catchy pop songs to ambitious 20-minute improvisations, the band had everything but a recording deal. Ambitious live performances where friends were satisfied with spitting out fluff often forgotten in 2 and a half minutes. Finally, the tape that was thought to have been lost was discovered during a search for a lost newborn in Manchester's slums, is now being remastered and presented for everyone to hear. You lucky lucky mofo's...' --Ian Masters (Pale Saints)."

Sage Fisher returns with Body Of Water, recorded last year against the backdrop of the emerging Covid-19 pandemic with Grammy-nominated producer Tucker Martine. Body Of Water represents both a deepening and an expansion of her singular sound. Although the harp retains its pivotal role as Fisher's instrument of choice, the album features a stronger emphasis on her voice, delivered in a series of arresting incantations that take flight over a bed of ground-shifting beats and percussion. Mining the rich seams of experimental pop music, Fisher projects warmth and vulnerability alongside a newfound clarity and confidence, bringing themes of betrayal, transformation, and self-renewal into her songwriting process in a true symbiosis of life and art. Few artists can tackle such complex subject matter, yet leave you exhaling in wonder midway through the album as "Break" ("I'm making preparations for the apocalypse/everything I touch, I break") unfolds out of its percussive frisson into an utterly gorgeous and transportive ambient soundscape. Body Of Water lives and breathes at the intersection of contemporary pop and the intertwined worlds of electronic, ambient, and neoclassical music -- witness an artist metamorphosize in real-time, and with the deft hand of one of the world's most renowned producers by her side. Indeed, as Fisher writes, Body Of Water "moves in and out of the physical, fluttering between worlds, just as I was." Music composed and performed in Portland by Sage Fisher. Produced by Tucker Martine. Recorded and mixed by Tucker Martine at Flora Recording and Playback. Assistant engineer: Cole Halvorsen. Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studio. RIYL: Holly Herndon, Björk, Colleen, Mary Lattimore, Fever Ray, Zeena Parkins, Kate Bush, FKA Twigs.

Bonfire Records present a reissue of Extradition's Hush, originally released in 1971. Little is known about this long-lost gem coming from the outskirts of the Commonwealth. But beauty lies inside. That is the case of the sole album of mysterious Australian band Extradition. Released in a small run on local independent label Sweet Peach in 1971, the album stands as one of the most accurate acid folk renditions outside the UK realm. Formerly a three-piece, Extradition struggle on their personal behavior forging a rural set up that pursue the "think green" revolution. It could be the English folk revival or the West Coast flower power, but the album introduces a different state of mind, far away from the chaotic suburbs of the counter culture. Lost on the isle, the acoustic set up of the band brings joy and happiness, a new age that reflects the multiple essence of the four elements. While the opener "A Water Song" brings to mind the course of a small river, "A Love Song" sets the mood for a long lost medieval folk tale. Acoustic guitar, small percussion, natural found sound and the celestial voice of Shayna Carlin (also member of cult band Tully, a weirdo surf-psychedelic affair) all of the elements above literally conjure for an ambient album before the definition was fully embraced by a massive audience. Licensed by Good Time Inc./Sweet Peach.

LP version. "Barely pausing for breath after 1983's Colours And Soul, Dunkelziffer delivered In The Night the following year, their revolving line-up prompting an evolving sound. Though the playful elements of their debut remained through a trio of sun-blushed dubbers, the album also housed the ensemble's most dense, intense and serious tracks to date. The core septet of Zerlett, Linke, Krachten, Von Senger, Keul, Gelba and Schubert returned as well as the new bassist Rike Gratt, each in their own flow state on this seven track LP. But it was all change behind the mic for In The Night, as Coco Claus and Josefa Martens moved on, while Rebop Kwaku Baah, whose deep and rhythmic vocals decorated most of their debut, had sadly passed away while on tour with Jimmy Cliff the previous year. Luckily a perfect reinforcement was waiting in the wings, and the unmistakable Damo Suzuki led the charge with Helmut Zerlett taking double duties on backing vocals. The loose-limbed reggae of 'Watch On My Head' offers the warmest of welcomes on the A1, a swaying bassline underpinning breezy woodwind and synthetic fanfares with Suzuki's treated vocals forming the final instrumental layer. Things take a jazzier turn on 'Sunday Morning', in which cascading harps and glistening arps clearing the way for a snaking rhythm piano to take the lead . . . Shifting through the gears as we approach the midpoint, Dunkelziffer drop into 'Retrospection', thirteen whole minutes of pulsating and powerful psych-rock retooled for the new wave era. Leaving the fuzzbox back in Haight-Ashbury, the group layer chorus-drenched guitars and bright keyboards into a sky-scraping groove. Yelped mantras and untamed horns add a new found intensity balanced by the limber bassline and nuanced percussion which steals the spotlight during the final quarter. The B-side brings a moment of breezy beachfront cool via 'Q', a sun-kissed stroll from Methaniac fusion into ska-tinged art rock before plunging headfirst into the abrasive psychobilly of '(Do Watch What You Can) Prof.', a sub three-minute headfuck of atonal horns, off kilter percussion and overlapping vocals from Suzuki and Zerlett. Invigorated after that short sharp shock, the group lay a love song on us, the sweet nothings of 'I See Your Smile' bobbing on a Caribbean tide. Pure, playful and hard to resist, this moment of pop perfection was the ideal candidate for the album's single. There's room for one more mood swing as we reach the finale, closing cut 'Oriental Cafe' upping the intensity to deliver ten minutes of tribal percussion and Eastern influence in the same vein as 'Still Der Neuen Zeit' on their debut." --Patrick Ryder

"Second in a series of three records of Library Music miniatures from composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel O'Sullivan (Æthenor, Ulver, This Is Not This Heat, etc.) following 2020's Electric Māyā. For heads, the term 'Library Music' in 2021 might evoke dodgy Italian gray market LPs and crate-diggers hunting for 'funky breaks' -- but London's venerable KPM Music is working with groundbreakers like O'Sullivan to open up new avenues for composers to experiment with. Fourth Density's fifteen tracks include several beguiling instrumental beauties, including the Ashra-like 'Astral Survivor' and the drifty 'Faster Than Light.' Mixed in with the instrumental are almost-pop gems like the hypnotic 'Orgone Attenuation' and 'Head In The Belfry,' both with guest vocals from Astrud Steeholder. Like the other volumes, this is in a beautiful jacket designed by O'Sullivan and Turner Prizenominee Mark Titchner and pressed on aesthetically complimentary blue vinyl."

Black Truffle announce the first-ever vinyl reissue of Alvin Curran's classic Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri, originally issued in 1978 on Ananda, the cooperative label run by Curran, Roberto Laneri, and Giacinto Scelsi. Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri (Light Flowers Dark Flowers) -- its title inspired by an intersection in Milan -- is the second in the series of four solo recordings Alvin Curran issued in the 1970s and early 1980s, preceded by Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden (1975), followed by The Works (1980) and Canti Illuminati (1982). Each of these solo works combines field recordings with performances on synthesizer, various acoustic instruments, and voice, arranged in languorously paced, dreamy sequences. Far from the bracing pointillism of much musique concrete, the elements encountered on the meandering course followed by Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri -- whether a frenetic piano improvisation, dense layers of Serge synthesizer and ocarina, or a monologue from Frederic Rzewski's five-year old son, Alexis -- often occupy the foreground of our attention for minutes at a time. As Curran explains, his approach is like that of a filmmaker in the editing process, working with "whole blocks of recorded time." The purring of a cat, toy piano, a child counting, plaintive synthesizer tones, the cacophony of exotic birds at the London Zoo -- each disappears into the next, until, on the LP's second side, a solo piano performance takes center stage, moving unexpectedly from percussive minimalist permutations to a halting rendition of "Georgia on My Mind". A subtle yet stunning work that more than forty years on still seems charged with possibility, Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri arrives in a loving reproduction of the original sleeve, featuring Edith Schloss' beautiful cover painting, remastered audio and with new liner notes by Alvin Curran and Francis Plagne.

Great collaboration by Appleblim, Deadbeat and Shackleton. For anyone with a penchant for dub-wise low-end sonics and bleeding edge beat science over the last two decades seeing any one of these names on their own on a record would make it something well worth having a listen to. Having all three together on the same record however very easily launches it into the realm of "buy on sight". Comprised of four side-long tracks previously only available via the BLKRTZ Bandcamp page, Dub Conference Vol 1 sees these three masters of bass weight meditations exploring some of the most low-slung and psychedelic corners of their respective catalogues. Vinyl-only and strictly limited edition, this is a meeting of the minds not to me missed.

"The sixth LP by NYC trio, Rhyton, is as heavy as an Egyptian space-funeral. The vibe of this masterful album is fully embodied by its gorgeous Robert Beatty cover art, which looks like a Mati Klarwein reinterpretation of Tony Scott's '68 Verve LP, Music for Yoga Meditation. Rhyton was formed in 2011 by Dave Shuford and fellow travelers, with a notion to balance the songwriterly stance of D. Charles Speer with something more improvisation based. As Shuford says, 'Originally we took certain international rock icons, mainly European and Japanese touchstones, to be points of departure. In general, and as the drummer changed, some of the influences stateside came more to the fore. Improvisation, though still prevalent, began to take a secondary role in the creative method. The studio has continually increased its position as a focused tool for the group, dating back to the Kykeon album and expanding again on this latest batch. Studio -- structure -- rupture -- living asunder.' Pharaonic Crosstalk was recorded at Gary's Electric studio in Greenpoint in bits and pieces, when it wasn't being used otherwise. The process was begun about four years ago, and really only got finished when the Plague shut things down. The sound this time has evolved as Shuford suggests. Drummer Rob Smith shows some of the lessons he must have learned while studying with Bernard Purdie, lending even the zoniest sections a groove-oid bottom that won't stop. And this does not infer boogie tendencies, so much as a solid new approach to fundamentals. Shuford's multivalent string aktion, combined with Jimmy SeiTang's wonderful bass/keyboard dualism and Smith's provocative percolation make this an album of crazy hybridized stoned space-funk-psych-fusion while still manifesting experimental highlights. It is a heady goddamn brew. And never more so than when Al Carlson (who engineered the session) is guesting on sax or the great Tennessee roots pianist, Hans Chew, shows up on clavinet (who knew)! Pharaonic Crosstalk is one of the sweetest bubbles of expressed space-time we've heard in a good long while. Super hard to pin down (like so many truly great records), its contours are a glorious mind-fuck for listeners of all ages." --Byron Coley, 2021 Edition of 400.

"Great second LP (there was also a cassette) by this Portland, OR trio. I became aware of Mouth Painter by following the pedal steel work of Barry Walker Jr., who is akin to the new BJ Cole in terms of being thee underground eminence on his instrument. The rest of the trio features flautist/vocalist Valerie Osterberg (who also contributes songs) and bassist Jason Willmon. Together they comprise a band whose sound is exceedingly hard to pin down. There are rootsy elements to the vocals, but these are offset by floating guitar clouds straight out of Mike Cooper's recent work. Valerie's flute inventions add a slight French prog flavor as well, while Jason's bass highlights the sheer rockiness of the music's brunt. There also many, small but flipped-out instrumental details. The album moves through genres with elegant grace, touching bases with country rock, psychedelia, new age cloud surfing, and even the kind of exotica the late Patrick Lundberg always claimed as one of the real roots of 'higher key' music. Tropicale Moon is all that! The lyrics mix geology, poetry, gambling and much else into a suite that gently sprawls across the sonic map like a previously undiscovered continent. The overall blend generates a vague psychedelic haze everywhere you look, but apart from a few spots, the psych is not overt. It lingers in dark corners more than at the forefront. A shadow peeking out from a lot of places you wouldn't expect. This subtlety is probably Tropicale Moon's secret weapon. Slipping in the needle when we don't expect it, then letting the hallucinations flow like easy water across the parched earth. Nice stuff!" --Byron Coley, 2021

Double LP version. "Morgen's self-titled 1969 album is the sole release by the NYC band led by songwriter/vocalist Steve Morgen. Now-Again's Reserve edition of the release pairs the album with previously-unreleased songs, alternate takes and instrumentals for a de¬finitive triple CD reissue. That casual listeners have never heard of this late 60s masterpiece is by any measure a musical injustice. Morgen offers a portal to a dream space where the expansive, artful touches never prevent the band members from pummeling their instruments like their lives depended on it. Paul Major, perhaps the first Morgen evangelist, likens the album's immediacy to that of Hendrix, stating 'Morgen was one of the records that came closest to giving me that same kind of thrill on that level. It blew my mind!' Geoffrey Weiss, Now-Again's nomination for World's Greatest Record Collector, states '...unlike 95% of the rare psychedelic records that people celebrate it sounds like they were good musicians who were well rehearsed and had worked out this sound very intentionally. Morgen has a kind of power -- you really can't compare it to anything.' The band, and Morgen's arc were -- cribbing Kurt Vonnegut -- unstuck in time. It took 50 years for Steve Morgen's belief, for instance, that an alternate, superior version of his stellar 'Purple' was recorded in 1968. It sees release here, alongside other takes of songs from the album, including a version of 'Beggin' Your Pardon (Ms. Joan)' on which Morgen's fiery guitarist Murray Shiffrin sings lead and songs the band recorded as possibilities for the album, before settling on their dense, hazy vision and etching an indelible entry into the psychedelic canon."

This was Belgium. 1989. First wave EBM duo, but also so much more. Optimo Music Archiv is a new offshoot label for revisiting music JD Twitch has been a big fan of for a very long time. This first release takes five Force Dimension favorites and reconfigures them as an extended EP/mini album. The songs are untouched but have been remastered for 21st century ears. "Tension" comes in two versions, one from each version of their debut album. Oddly they put out an original version "(Blue)", they decided they didn't like it and re-recorded it. Both versions of "Tension" rule. "200 FA" is an end of the night anthem. A perfect piece of E Music that crossed over into the early '90s rave era and still much sought-after to this day. "Aqua 2000" and "All Systems Out" are too Belgian bombs that still slay dancefloors today. Released in full picture sleeve on marbled vinyl.