LP version. WRWTFWW Records and MEG Museum (Geneva) present the first new solo album by renowned Japanese percussionist Midori Takada in 23 years, Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter. Recorded in a live setting and played with instruments conserved in the collections of the MEG Museum, Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter is Midori Takada's very own rendition of "Nhemamusasa", a traditional work emblematic of the musical repertoire for mbira of the Shona of Zimbabwe, well known worldwide, thanks notably to its version by Paul F. Berliner included on the famed 1973 album The Soul of Mbira. The choice of this title by Midori Takada evokes the links between traditional African and contemporary music which are the foundation of this work, and it also translates the resolutely multicultural vision of the artist. Midori Takada explains: "African music is remarkable for its polyrhythms. Not only are there simultaneously several rhythmic motifs, sometimes as many as ten, but furthermore it may be that the part played by each musician has its own starting point and its own pace, all combining to form a cycle. All the cycles progress at the same time according to a single metrical structure which functions as a reference point, but which is not played by any one person from beginning to end. The structure emerges out of the multi-level parts, all different. With the Shona, the musical system is based on the polymelody: one performs simultaneously several melodic lines which are superimposed, each having its own rhythmic organization. It is truly captivating. In Western classical music, one four-beat rhythm induces some precise temporal framework and regular reference points, which come on the strong beats 1 and 3. But in the logic of the Shona musical system, and in other African music, the melody can begin in the very middle of the cycle and be continued up to some other place in an autonomous manner, as if it had its own personality. It's very rich." Includes in-depth liner notes that include an interview with Midori Takada, a point of view by Zimbabwean scholar, musician and activist Forward Mazuruse, and background information on the project by Isabel Garcia Gomez and Madeleine Leclair from MEG Museum. Artwork by celebrated Zimbabwean painter Portia Zvavahera.

LP version. WRWTFWW Records and MEG Museum (Geneva) announce a new full-length album by celebrated Japanese percussionist Midori Takada, in collaboration with Buddhist monks belonging to the Samgha group of the Shingon school of Koya-san, led by Reverend Syuukoh Ikawa. Recorded at The Premises Studio (London) and in Tokyo in 2019, You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana is a majestic work combining a suite of six Buddhist liturgical chants and a musical creation by Midori Takada. The Buddhist chants come from three types of repertoires: shomyo ("Teisan", "Unga-Bai", "Sange", "Taiyo"), but also goeika ("Kannon-Daiji") and mantra ("Hannya-Singyo"). After supervising the recording of the Buddhist chants, Midori Takada added her own compositions, with subtle layers of percussion and the melodies of her beloved marimba, giving full life to the sacred texts. Reverend Syuukoh Ikawa explains: "Shomyo is a form of declamation of sacred esoteric texts, inherited over many generations. The power of words goes far beyond their mere pronunciation. I think there is something that words alone cannot really convey. If I recite prayers in a musical way, the feeling transmitted will be even stronger than if I say it normally, in everyday language. I think that the musicality of a work carries a hidden power that cannot be expressed in words alone. The setting of the music has an additional power for you and for those around you who listen to it. The words of a song are not just words set to music. They carry an additional hidden power that cannot be expressed in any other way. Listening to Midori Takada's musical performance, the words truly seem to come alive." Original recordings of the Buddhist chants are held in the International Archives of Folk Music (IAFM) at the MEG Museum in Geneva. The album sleeve features an artwork by famed Japanese sculptor Katsura Funakoshi selected by Midori Takada. LP version comes on half speed mastered vinyl.

"Raymond Pettibon on the cover! And on the inside, in a wide-ranging and sweet interview by Adam Woodhead, Pettibon walks us through his entire career, and even makes economics sound interesting. Columns: Lucy Sante (their first autobiographical writing for us, touching and brilliant); Mimi Lipson with a tear-jerker of an advice column; The forgotten hip-hop column is on the enigmatic Son of Bazerk!; A look at forgotten early Hawaiian music in the reissue column; We go into detail about why the mysterious Seymour Glass from Bananafish matters so much; We revisit the roadside America column with a dinosaur theme because why not; There's a terrific first-person account of growing up in DC right when Fugazi hit and why that band was such a crucial signpost for misfits of all stripes at the time. Also featuring: Cheri Knight: The great Seattle-based scribe Dave Segal goes deep on this neglected experimental pop musician from Olympia in the '80s; David Nance: Editor Mike McGonigal is fascinated by the way Nance manages to mix up tributes, and collaborations, with such strong solo material; Amy Ruhl: The cinematic visual artist is explored in depth by Chelsea Wolfe; John Brannon: the most epic and excellent career spanning photo packed feature by photographer Doug Coombe; Melvins photo tour diary, entirely by Buzz Osbourne, photos and words; Lidia Yuknavitch: Alex Behr turned in a brilliant interview with the cult writer; Kan Mikami: The Japanese outsider blues-folk musician and actor is interviewed by the LA-based saxophone player and composer Patrick Shiroishi; The Willies: And here we have thanks to Tyler Wilcox the most Maggot Brain type article, a big in-depth, lyrical feature on the Feelies ambient offshoot who have never been written on in-depth; Sarah Elizabeth Schantz: We have some brilliant and timely fiction that deals with gun violence by this great writer."

Recorded in Berlin and remotely between 2020 and 2021, The Brian Jonestown Massacre returns with their 19th full-length studio album. Fire Doesn't Grow On Trees is the beginning of a thrilling new phase for Anton Newcombe and his band. Joining him in the studio and remotely for this album were Ricky Maymi (guitars), Ryan Carlson Van Kriedt (keyboards), Hakon Adalsteinsson (guitar), Hallberg Daði Hallbergsson (bass), and Uri Rennert (drums). Originally, Newcombe was heavily influenced by The Rolling Stones' psychedelic phase -- the name comes from Stones guitarist Brian Jones combined with a reference to cult leader Jim Jones. But his work in the 2000s has expanded into aesthetic dimensions approximating the UK shoegaze genre of the 1990s and incorporating influences from world music, especially Middle Eastern and Brazilian music.

Accompanying the cassette album of Lerosa's fourth full-length, Catena (AT 016CS), this heavyweight 12" features two originals from the album and two remixes from familiar faces: childhood friend Donato Dozzy and long-time fellow traveler Jordan GCZ (of Juju & Jordash). Album closer "Suite De Paris" places pitch-bent liquid acid over a huge skanking bassline, the perfect material for Dozzy to make hay with his simmering techno take. Meanwhile, album opener "Apollo" churns with industrial fervor, before Jordan GCZ reduces it down to its acid techno essence, leaving little space for you to catch your breath.

Princess Diana of Wales, by London-based Australian Laila Sakini, is A Colourful Storm's latest and most curious project. Someone, no one, a notion, a feeling... Sakini offers clues but no simple answers. Vocal-led pieces "Still Beach" and "Fragments of Blue" are brittle and intoxicating, contemplating recklessness and unfulfillment of a past life: "Watching the future wash away/ Giving it up to have this day". She studies closeness and, incredulous of the feelings that emerge, wonders if detachment is impermanent. She catalogs these emotions as a series of memories, colors, and images. "Evaporate", sedated and hushed, is a secret confession and ode to resolution, albeit, fatally, only a temporary one: "Take some form/ Later on when I can do this/ When we can do this/ Together". Behind the album is a stage of dubwise disorientations evoking in-between states of the everyday. "Swing" and "Closer" are woozy and dreamlike, their voices summoning ghosts of fortunes past while "Exhaust" finds an aperture in our protagonist's daydream. A perilous foreshadowing of the incantatory "Choir Chant", whose spell pacifies her inquisition, submerging both self and feeling into the deep blue sea. RIYL: Grouper, Kali Malone, Drew McDowall. Full-color sleeve with insert.

"The trance blues stylings of Otha Turner and his Rising Star Fife And Drum Band should be a music classification unto itself, a whole new primitive take on drum and bass. This music is the oldest still-practiced post-colonial American music, and Turner was one of its greatest artists of the 20th century. Blowing the cane fife with a band of drummers as back up, The Rising Star Fife And Drum band was legendary in the hills of Tate County, Mississippi, where they would perform during the yearly goat picnics on Turner's farm. These tracks were recorded by Luther Dickinson during such picnics and released when Turner was ninety years old. Everybody Hollerin' Goat shows firsthand the hypnotic and rhythmic style of fife and drum music at its best -- raw and beautiful. It is every bit as essential a document of America's folk-music heritage as anything Harry Smith or Alan Lomax ever offered up for posterity. Turner's band included some of his children and grandchildren that have gone on to continue the fife and drum tradition since his death in 2003. This first ever vinyl release of Everybody Hollerin' Goat contains a whole side of unreleased recordings from one night of the picnic and is intended to bring the experience of hollerin' for goat in Senatobia, Mississippi to the living room. Dancing around the plants is recommended (but don't eat the pickled eggs). The entire album is remastered by legend Gary Hobish." "One of the top five blues LPs from the 90s." --David Fricke, Rolling Stone

After the release of Dissidænce (Episode 1) (CLV 004CD/LP), warmly met with both critical and popular success, Vitalic keeps his promise and returns with a second instalment, darker and more techno than the first, and this time with a marked industrial aesthetic -- cold and minimal. The composition and production style have a post-cold wave heritage, something that has always been part of the artist's DNA but is now brandished with renewed pride. Dissidænce (Episode 2) opens with "Sirens", a towering tornado of synths and sweat, followed by "Dancing in the Street", "The Void", and "The Light is a Train", sparse techno boiled down to its essence -- mechanical, cold, and alarming. Tempering this hostility are moments of grace and poetry like "Marching", "Friends & Foes", and "Winter is Coming", both melodic and melancholic. A two-pronged project masterfully orchestrated by Vitalic, a strange cosmic voyage of implacable energy. 180 gram vinyl; includes download code.

"Well before Shuggie Otis cut his debut album, musicianship and performance had long been a part of his life. The son of rhythm and blues legend Johnny Otis, Shuggie learned to play guitar as early as the age of two, and performed professionally with his father's band at eleven. Throughout his long and illustrious career he'd performed on records for the likes of Frank Zappa, Al Kooper, Etta James, and George Duke, to name a few. In spite of all this, widespread mainstream success eluded Shuggie for much of his career. His most famous release to date is his 1974 album Inspiration/Information, which would experience new resurgent life in the 2000s. Those willing to dig a little deeper however, would discover hidden gold in his earlier releases, especially in the album directly before Inspiration/Information, his sophomore 1971 release Freedom Flight. As with his debut, Freedom Flight was produced by Shuggie's father Johnny Otis, and built upon the distinct sounds of his debut album: lush, baroque, string section arrangements, paired with hard funk rhythms, and funky blues melodies, with the majority of the instruments once again performed by Shuggie himself. The album also features backing from premium session greats like George Duke and Aynsley Dunbar, and the track 'Strawberry Letter 23' which became a monster hit for The Brothers Johnson three years later. Freedom Flight is a treasure of deft, technical skill, and virtuosic composition."

"20,000 Days On Earth is an inventive, lyrical ode to creativity and an intimate examination of the artistic process of musician and cultural icon Nick Cave. In their debut feature directors Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard fuse drama and documentary, weaving a staged day in Cave's life with never-before-seen verité observation of his creative cycle."

LP version. "Jacob Long's third Earthen Sea outing for Kranky, Ghost Poems, further refines his fragile, fractured palette into fluttering arrythmias of dust, percussion, and yearning. Composed during the first wave of lockdowns in New York, the pieces took shape patiently from samples of piano, texture, and domestic sounds (sink splashing, room tone, clinking objects), filtered through live FX to imbue them with an intuitive, immaterial feel. Wisps of melody splinter, shimmer, and refract, like light on water; pulses accrue and dissipate, as if mapping shifting sands. Throughout, there's a sense of matter made animate, of absences felt. Long cites notions of 'the studio as a dub instrument' and the melancholy of '7th chords on a fake Rhodes patch' as central elements in his process, transforming raw materials into rare thresholds of symbiosis and hypnosis. This is music for night skies in hollowed-out cities, for views across rivers towards unknown shores: restless, placeless, and profound."

Black vinyl. 25 Year Anniversary Edition of Goldie's Timeless, originally released in 1995, remastered and expanded with rarities and new remixes, featuring Grooverider, 4 Hero, and [re:jazz]. Goldie's groundbreaking album Timeless turns 25, and to celebrate Clifford Joseph Price, the pioneering producer and DJ announces a reissue with London Records. A complex debut album, Timeless founded a new chapter in the history of the electronic genre originally reaching no. 7 in the charts and since been celebrated for its unique blend of sublime strings, beautiful atmospheres, and sophisticated vocals. Inarguably an ambitious blueprint at the time; Goldie's production in 1995 fashioned the edgy rhythms and bass of jungle into a newly futuristic model, now globally admired as drum & bass. Features rarities and remixes unearthed from Goldie's personal archive. New liner notes by Tim Barr.

The new Cristian Vogel album 1Zhuayo sounds as if non-musicology and ultra-blackness is not an end or a destination to be arrived at, but as if it is the point of departure, much like tomorrow relates to the day after tomorrow. As if we have left the space of certainties and are moving instead into one of manifold possibilities. They are anticipated in the micro-structures of sound, which is the process of playing with and against the software. Beyond genre delimitation and fragmentation, it is non-music in the post, without itself immediately becoming a cliché, like deconstructed club music or hyper pop. Without being superficially conceptual, the musical material alone succeeds in creating a different, coherent, sonically possible world.

LP version. JB Dunckel, half of electronic iconic French band Air, releases a new solo album. Carbon, JB Dunckel's first album in four years, considers the recent uncertainties that have befallen the planet and explores diffuse visions of how a better future might look. There are meditations on existential bliss (the airy, chiming "Cristal Mind") and egotistical escapist fantasies ("Sex UFO", which can't help but recall Jeff Bezos phallic rocket). Yet Carbon also considers the subversive pleasures of nihilism: reveling in man's insignificance compared to the cosmos (the languid "Space") and wondering whether big tech might save us yet (the triumphalist "Corporate Sunset"). The album is a psychological test that reveals the listener's own outlook, says Dunckel -- an artist who taught pop fans how to dream more than 20 years ago as half of the trailblazing cosmic pop duo Air. Since then, he's become a lauded, César-nominated composer for films such as François Ozon's film Summer of 85 (2020). With Carbon, the accompanying images are entirely of the listener's creation: "I want them to feel ready to travel in space," he says. "Space" features Heather d'Angelo.

Saltern's latest offering marks the first-ever release of "lost minimalist" Terry Jennings' visionary 1960 composition, Piece for Cello and Saxophone, as arranged in just intonation by legendary composer La Monte Young for renowned cellist Charles Curtis. Born in Los Angeles in 1940, Jennings was a close associate of Young, Terry Riley, and Dennis Johnson, and an early adopter of minimalist tendencies, creating slow, sustained music, influenced by jazz, modalism, and late romantic classical music. Jennings died tragically in his early forties, most of his work lost to a chaotic life; however, his forward-looking music quietly exerted a lasting influence on composers including Young and Harold Budd. Composed over sixty years ago, Piece for Cello and Saxophone, foreshadows a number of movements in postwar avant-garde music. Despite the title, there is no saxophone on this album. At over eighty minutes, La Monte Young's justly tuned realization of Piece for Cello and Saxophone for cello alone unifies and extrapolates Terry Jennings' dense harmonies, creating an extended field of complex sonorities in motion, all brought to life by the immaculate playing of Charles Curtis. The recording captures Curtis in a performance from 2016 reflecting more than twenty-five years of dedication to the piece. Piece for Cello and Saxophone is released physically on double-LP. Mixed by Anthony Burr, mastered by Stephan Mathieu, and cut to vinyl via direct metal mastering by Hans Jörg Maucksch at Pauler Acoustics. Pressed at RTI and printed at Stoughton. Includes a four-page insert with liner notes by Young, Curtis, Burr, and Tashi Wada, and a download of the full recording.

Following his trio debut Triptych in 2021 (SQM 012CD/LP), trumpeter Matthias Lindermayr presents his duo record Sequence with long-time companion and ECM recording artist Matthieu Bordenave on tenor saxophone. In contrast to its technical title, Sequence is a very lyrical record, sacral at times. Like two figure skaters, the voices gracefully glide along and whirl around in perfect synch, always sensing where the other one is going. A fitting comparison also, as the recording session was equally exhausting, due to the level of concentration required to perform this music. The minimalist line-up and the hyper-focused playing gives the album both a breath-like purity and solemn depth.

Prime Sequences is the latest album by DJ and electronic music producer GummiHz, real name Alexander Tsotsos. Alex has an ear for what he describes as elastic frequencies, thus gummi-hertz! In other words, low bass lines, airy synth phrases, and shuffle rhythms, playfully arranged within loose forms. A philosophy that comes across throughout this long player. Elements fall in and out of order, time swings back and forth, all together in perfect harmony. Pushing the boundaries of what has become his signature sound, a fusion of house and techno all the way from Berlin to Detroit. This package features underground music coming straight from the heart, or the Hertz more appropriately. The story unfolds within no less than nine tracks showcasing Alex's versatility in making waves. The opening track titled "Berlinopolis" is a sonic portrait of the city of Berlin, where Alex lives since more than a decade. A smooth soundscape produced by combining abstract melodies with field recordings of the city's ambience. "Second Wave" follows airy jazz chords and drum parts to launch the listener into trajectory. The title track "Prime Sequence" is a Detroit brewed piece with some Berlin minimalism rawness in the rhythm section. Next up comes "Submerge", a tight and hypnotic affair carrying the right amount of subtle release. "Prime Dub" dives deeper into the frequency spectrum. "Proto Sequence" follows a simple still infectious groove laced with various modulations. Inspired by proto-house motifs pioneered by artists like Chi-town's Ron Hardy. "Metafunk" reaches out to Berlin's club culture at its core. "Mindloop" is a track written for the afterhours looping state of mind. Another minimal house cut with a fair dose of psychedelic sound design. Lastly, "Descension" relaxes the mood through deep pulsating rhythms and playful arpeggios. Prime Sequences covers a wide range of styles like ambient electronics, peak time house, and techno, as well as seriously effed-up afterhours minimalism. Made for both DJs and music lovers, this is the second long player by GummiHz to come out on vinyl after his debut album Sleepless Nights back in 2009.

"Joe Gibbs Roots Reggae 1976-1977. CD debut of two of the finest roots albums of the late '70s includes many tracks new to CD. Features many of the biggest reggae hits of the roots era."

Swedish duo Thunder Tillman come together again in healing harmony to produce a much-needed LP for troubled times. Thunder and his life coach Pony bring their spirits in sync for 40 minutes of improvised soundtracks for mental and physical wellbeing. Recorded on Stockholm's Wind Island, the pair have carefully selected specimens from their collection of vintage musical paraphernalia to channel these specific vibrations for maximum healing power. Side one is a gentle wake up call for the soul, with pipes and chimes that gently give way to mind-expanding synths and feedback echoes that sound like sun glistening off a mountain river. Those sounds lead into an electric piano and life affirming synth figure, before disintegrating into santoor strings and chants with a slight Indian flavor. It's a cosmic combination that invites relaxation and meditation, and the kind of deep breathing exercises that could turn back the clock on a host of bodily ailments. An electric piano comes back to the foreground with a bass and synth combination that drives forward with healing hands, before parting the frequencies for ear-tickling pads and voices. Rounding out the side is a chiming synth and santoor figure that brings the wandering spirit home and to rest. Side two starts up with "Cosmic Osmosis" -- a motorik drum machine beat and bass line that briefly brings to mind some of their more krautrock inspired modes across their three previous EPs, but soon collapses back into visceral synth twinkles and relaxing washes of analog tones. It's a dynamic that drives the whole record, sounds that excite the soul perhaps even the body on an atomic level, before bringing that energy down to a calming, relaxing home. There's a craftsmanship to their synthesized tones that goes beyond mere artistry, and the interplay between sounds and frequencies is especially inspired, to the point where the music practically sparkles out of the speakers. Side two closes out with harmonic chimes that could put you on a Himalayan Mountain side, and succeeds in raising the spirit, mind and body to higher plains of cosmic consciousness. The Aural Healing Program is accompanied by a 40-minute Visual Healing Program that will be unveiled in conjunction with the vinyl release. The first visual healing session featuring side B opener "Cosmic Osmosis", is already available for all to partake. Relax, let go, and let the frequencies guide you. Inlay insert included.

"Dagobah is the first LP (following a couple of cassettes and a CD) by Kool Music, the solo guitar project helmed by Glasgow-based polymath, Jasper Baydala. Jasper has previously had some exposure on the label, when his image appeared on the cover of Joanne Robertson's Black Moon Days LP (FTR 179LP, 2015). At that point we knew of Jasper as a video artist and writer, but Joanne assured us he was an excellent musician as well. And so began the road to Dagobah. The soubriquet Kool Music has a bit of a hip-hop heft to it, but the 14 tracks here present a very different picture. Jasper has said that when he first hoisted the Kool Music flag, in Canada back in 2010, its sound was something of a cross between country music and Asian string traditions. Easy aural evidence of those roots has vanished over the past dozen years. The music on Dagobah has certain tonal similarities to the UK free music tradition, but the pieces display a humanity and sense of humor that (rightly or wrongly) we don't always associate with that scene. Each of the tracks is a solo electric guitar instrumental, usually taken at a slow pace with carefully built layers of sound that often overlap and decay before Kool Music moves on to the next trope. This gives the music a meditative quality, but the mildly casual dissonances make it tough for listeners to just float along on the sound. In that sense, Kool Music demands your attention. Although generally in the politest way imaginable. Every time I spin Dagobah I hear a bunch of new details. And they're really engaging. As is this whole damn album. And if you let yourself sink into its web, I do believe you will feel just the same. Now that's Kool Music." --Byron Coley, 2022

LP version. "Tremblers And Goggles By Rank marks a new phase in Robert Pollard's songwriting evolution. His songs have always included non-traditional approaches to form and song structure, but with this album, he has pushed it further than ever. While the familiar Guided By Voices pop-craft and melodic virtuosity always occupies center stage, the first-time listener will never be able to predict what's coming next in a song. 'Alex Bell' and 'Focus On The Flock' are the two anchors, each one expansive and filled with rock grandeur, and both exemplifying the complex wordplay, melodies, and structures that are hallmarks of the album. GBV's latest batch of brilliant songs ride on colorful psychedelic flourishes and brash post-punk textures that make this ten-song album a one-of-a-kind head trip. While there are hooks and earworms aplenty within, this album is a complex and kaleidoscopic journey, representing a new echelon in the Guided By Voices universe. It represents another level of songwriting and performance from the group. It plays out like an intricate and powerful collage, in a very multicolored and multi-faceted fashion; a work grand in scale and undertaking. There are triumphant and glorious choruses, deep and dark wormholes, sinewy twists and turns, bold and theatrical bravados, massive cliffs, plateaus, peaks, and valleys -- these emotional landscapes reach new and unexpected heights along the way."

"In The Red is proud to announce the 12-inch vinyl release of six songs from The Linda Lindas' early recording sessions on beautiful color vinyl variants that were specifically picked by each member of the band. The group released the tracks digitally a year ago and have since become instant sensations when their song 'Racist, Sexist Boy' went viral -- now everyone knows how awesome they are. In The Red were already huge fans of the band and are thrilled to be giving these songs the vinyl treatment. This release will be priming the pump for their debut album which will be out later in 2022 on Epitaph." "I first had my mind blown by The Linda Lindas at a Save The Music in Chinatown Event. The series of concerts was meant to raise funds for the music program at Castelar Elementary School in Chinatown. At that point, the girls played covers of popular punk songs and traded instruments. They played with skill, joy and zero pretense. The children in the audience danced and chased each other around to the music. As I recall, the old timers in the audience included OG members of the Adolescents, the Dils, the Zeros, the Alley Cats, Nervous Gender, and of course the Bags. We were all smiling from ear to ear during the entire set, recognizing that punk spirit of fearlessness and an eagerness to take on the world." --Alice Bag

LP version. "'60s Brit band The Troggs are garage music forefathers and are cited as influences on numerous alternative and punk bands such as The MC5, R.E.M., The Buzzcocks, The Fleshtones and countless others. Their classic rock hit 'Wild Thing' is an international classic covered numerously from Jimi Hendrix, X, Fancy, and Siouxsie & The Creatures. Other songs are revered and often covered including 'Love Is All Around', 'With A Girl Like You' and 'I Can't Control Myself'. The band recorded four studio albums in the '60s before a hiatus in the early '70s. They recorded two albums in the mid-part of the decade with The Troggs Tapes (not be confused with the legendary spoken word tapes) in 1976. This 12-track album has a '70s glam-punk sound with raucous tracks like 'Supergirl' and 'Down South to Georgia' along with cover versions of Rufus Thomas's 'Walkin' the Dog' and Brendon Dunning's 'Rock and Roll Little Lady'."

"How does one follow up one of the most legendary, yet rarest albums said to signal the birth of doom metal? If you're Randy Holden, you give everyone about fifty years to catch up, then casually drop a tastefully modernized reinterpretation of that sound. Population III picks up where Holden's 1969 solo debut left off, updated with several decades worth of technological advances and personal hindsight. Following his tenure in proto-metal pioneers Blue Cheer in 1969, the guitarist aimed for more control over his next project. Thus, Randy Holden -- Population II was born, the duo naming itself after the astronomical term for a particular star cluster with heavy metals present. Along with drummer/keyboardist Chris Lockheed, Holden created what many say is one of the earliest forms of doom metal. Their six-song debut album Population II delves into leaden sludge, lumbering doom and epic soaring riffs that sound free from all constraints of the era. However, troubles with the album's original 1970 release bankrupted Holden, who subsequently left music for over two decades. For good reason, it's widely hailed as a masterpiece, and until finally getting a proper formal release in 2020 on Riding Easy Records, was a longtime Holy Grail for record collectors. Flash forward forty years to 2010, one finds the guitarist/vocalist quietly coaxed into recording a follow-up album by Holden superfan and Cactus member Randy Pratt. Joined by drummer Bobby Rondinelli (who has played with Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow), the trio cut the six-song collection of leaden future blues, Population III. 'Randy Pratt had written the basic song structures, he understood my music and where I come from quite well,' Holden says. 'He nailed it.' But the recording was ultimately shelved for over a decade. Throughout Population III, Holden effortlessly dishes out squealing, soaring leads and skull-thwacking riffs with his signature low end grit and penchant for Middle Eastern scales. Coupled with Pratt's pocket-locked bass, the slight flanging effect on Rondinelli's drums and his pugilistic beats, the album occasionally brings to mind Presence-era Led Zeppelin. At times, Holden sounds reminiscent of Neil Young leading Crazy Horse's ruptured grunge as his lilting falsetto vocals push and pull his guitar's siren's call. Population III is the real deal -- a powerful continuation of a sound forged fifty years ago, that almost didn't happen. Somehow, Randy Holden's music always finds a way to stand the tests of time."

Frank & Tony drop their new Dream Vibration EP some five years after their last outing as a duo with the much-celebrated Odes EP. Having teased the full release with two upfront tracks -- "Time Out Of Mind" and Timmy Regisford's masterful instrumental rework of "Stretch Out Like The World", you now get to enjoy the full package. Title track "Dream Vibration" kicks off with a lazy breakbeat, floating, barely-there chord washes and eventually and slowly reveals a thick, low kick and deep sub to drive things along. Frank & Tony's original version of "Stretch Out Like The World" features Eliana Glass on vocals -- a melancholic but tough track that exudes a classic in the making. Timmy Regisford's vocal mix amps up the percussion to create a hypnotic club jam idea for an early morning Shelter dancefloor.

"The exemplary and well-traveled cornetist Kirk Knuffke here introduces a bold new trio -- with bassist Michael Bisio and pianist Matthew Shipp -- on an intimate and expansive double album. Gravity Without Airs features the three world-class musicians on both Knuffke compositions and in open form, creating a tour-de-force of poetry and verve. This is Knuffke's debut as a leader for TAO Forms, following on his being full part of James Brandon Lewis / Red Lily Quintet's Jesup Wagon, one of the most acclaimed jazz releases of 2021. That album was eventually voted #1 Album of the Year in the JazzTimes Critics Poll, the international Jazz Critics Poll established by Francis Davis, and the (soon to be announced) DownBeat Critics Poll. Accolades for the cornetist's own recent work as leader include NPR's Jazz Album of the Year laurel for 2017's Cherryco, his homage to Don Cherry, a prime influence. DownBeat praised the way that album showcased Knuffke's 'nonchalant versatility and ebullient melodic gifts,' while esteemed critic Francis Davis called it 'nothing short of spectacular.' Davis also wrote the liner notes for Gravity Without Airs, noting the allure of Knuffke's instrumental aplomb: 'Kirk plays as if his cornet is a part of him -- he plays with it, not just on it.' On his guiding artistic impulse, Kirk Knuffke says: 'I'm concerned with making beautiful music. Beauty is always first, though not in a precious way. It can be in a rough way, too.' A prolific, lauded record-maker, Gravity Without Airs fulfills his poetic aims as well as any recording he has made. This work finds Knuffke in the rare, even unique, trio format of cornet, piano and double-bass. His partners are two ever-estimable pillars of creative music, and the work they've created together here brims with melody and mystery, intimacy and dynamism. Regarding the album title, Knuffke explains: 'I was reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius while preparing for this recording. He used the phrase 'gravity without airs', and it stuck with me. That's what it's all about! Being heavy but not putting on airs -- that's what my favorite musicians do. In these days of social media and constant hype and self-promotion, this is what we should really aspire to: do the work and study, get into your thing and avoid showing it off half-cooked. Matthew and Michael have that sort of grace. I was really touched because once we started playing, they both got excited and wanted to play more and more -- that's how we ended up with a double album,' Knuffke recalls. 'I hope people can listen to it as a whole, so they can hear all the subtleties as well as the shape and flow of the album. I have to say: I'm especially proud of this one.' Liner notes by Francis Davis." "Rhythmically precise, New Orleans funky and full of grace, Kirk Knuffke's music is a reflection of his multifaceted personality: part musical sage, part jazz philosopher, a self-taught musician with wide interests, endless curiosity and an abundance of good humor." --DownBeat

Because Music announces the signing of French artist Aime Simone. Aime is a young singer and songwriter making flamboyant, epic, and minimalistic pop songs. Previously based in Berlin, where he crafted his sound and found his voice, Aime is now based in Paris. Since he started making music a few years ago, he has been working fully self-produced and self-distributed, amassing over ten million streams worldwide and getting a lot of attention from international fans. He released digitally only his debut album Say Yes, Say No in the summer of 2021 which includes songs such as "Shining Light" and "In The Dark Time". Following the steps of artists such as Christine and The Queens and Feu! Chatterton, he was recently awarded with the prestigious Chorus new talent prize. Because Music releases the first time physical edition of Say Yes, Say No.

Four LP box version. 180 gram vinyl. Includes 12x12" foldout booklet. Includes slip mat. Orbital missed their actual thirtieth anniversary due to lockdown, but it gave Paul and Phil pause to think and find a way to celebrate their past that was actually about the future. Unlike other "Best Of"s, the 30 Something album contains reworks, remakes, remixes and re-imaginings of landmark Orbital tracks based on the duo's unrivalled live show. "Satan", "The Box", "Impact", "Belfast", and more appear in new 30 Something guises, familiar yet new, time reversing, yesterday becoming tomorrow. Plus, new track "Smiley". Also including remixes from Yotto, ANNA, Jon Hopkins, Dusky, Joris Voorn, Logo 1000, Eli Brown, Shanti Celeste, and more. Also features remixes by Floex, John Tejada, Octave One, Lone, Rich NxT, and David Holmes. Includes sleeve notes by Andrew Harrison.

"There is something really special about music based on drones. Whether it's the vocals of Pandit Pran Nath, the ARP 2500 of Eliane Radigue, or the nearly-blown amps of Sunn O))), by changing the listener's focus on details to one that favors flow, drones are uniquely capable of transporting our brains far far away. The debut LP, Repeater, by this loudly droning Austin septet is a goddamn splendid example of how the process works. Using the motto, 'Maximal Repetition Minimal Deviation,' Water Damage create glowing fields of post-rock lava that pretty much suck you right in and boil you alive. Water Damage, while technically a septet, actually operate in various configurations, with the proviso there should always be two drummers and two bass players on hand. They prefer if each of their sonic ideas takes up a whole reel of tape, and once they start they don't look back. Everything proceeds towards an imaginary end point that is only achieved when the tape starts flapping. What a way to run a railroad! But the folks in the band are all vets of various projects -- Spray Paint, USA/Mexico, Marriage, Black Eyes, Thor & Friends, among others -- so let's assume they know what they're doing. And why not? They sound fucking great. Their approach to the form is less front-loaded than most of their peers, and the surface of their sound is sometimes ruffled by aural events of an un-dronelike nature. But the main gush is usually a blend of harmonic tones and textures pointing towards a goal that is just out of ear-shot, just over the next bluff, and perhaps forever just beyond our reach. So remember to drink plenty of liquid while you spin this fine album. Nobody wants you to parch." --Byron Coley

"Beyond The Willow Tree is a hauntingly beautiful anthology of folk songs chronicling the experience of a young black man growing up in the segregated south. A balanced mix of covers and originals, Cleveland Francis' body of work seamlessly blends deep, soulful vocals with the stripped-down acoustic instrumentation of folk. In the late '60s Francis coined the term 'soulfolk', playing his genre bending music across college campuses and coffee shops while earning a medical degree at William & Mary. These songs serve as a missing link between soul and folk music, suppressed by the harsh political landscape of a music industry heavily influenced by racial stereotypes. 'If you were black, you played blues or soul music ... I wanted to play folk music,' Cleveland professed. Included in this double LP set is Cleveland Francis' entire 1970 self-released album Follow Me, featuring the original artwork and liner notes printed inside the gatefold. The second LP takes you Beyond The Willow Tree with unreleased demos recorded in 1968 along with one 45 only single recorded in 1970." "These recordings are a look into my soul through a long and lonely journey to understand feelings of my childhood, poverty, racial segregation, bigotry, war, love and hope. It represents my attempt to express and come to terms with all that I have seen and felt as a Black man growing up in America." --Cleveland Francis

"Sull'Accordo Mimetico (On the Mimetic Chord) dates back to the end of the '80s. It was commissioned by the artistic director of the ParcoScenico Festival, held in Treviso, Italy. Since the area where artists and the public gathered after the festival was located to a very busy street, Marco asked me for a sound installation that could work as some sort of a defensive barrier for the street noise. I suggested that my work, rather than hiding the noise, should aim to harmonize the disturbances coming from the street within musical structures and forms, without burdening or saturating too much the acoustic spectrum of the place. In this way, I thought about sonic veils, consisting of repetitive -- but also light and discreet -- harmonic-rhythmic structures. Since the festival took place in a beautiful centenary park, I also integrated the music with natural sounds and animal calls, always as an attempt to bridge these sound events and the other materials that made up the composition. The human voice constitutes a central element in this musique d'ameublement project, as a constant source of memory of places and times -- here with many references to traditional music for children." --Tiziano Popoli

A pearl of ambient electroacoustic minimalism with field recordings components in which the nostalgia of maestro Tiziano Popoli shines through in painting landscapes that slowly change to be seen with the ears. Nocturnal, emblematic, Lynchian.

Batov Records presents a full-length foray into the musical world of Italian producer and multi-instrumentalist Ayala, with particular emphasis on his love of African music, from Afrobeat to disco. Whilst earning the support of leading DJs such as Colleen Cosmo Murphy, Dave Lee, Danny Tenaglia, J-Kriv, and DJ Rocco, Ayala has built an increasingly visible profile producing and DJ, with releases across a wide range of prolific labels, such as Compost, Hector Romero's Latin freestyle label, Orianna, and leading Italian label, Rebirth, early supporters of the likes of Tensnake, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Soul Clap, Jimmy Edgar, and Deetron. Previous to Views, Ayala worked closely with the likes of Hector Romero, remixing jazz sensation Web Web, and receiving the remix treatment himself from cosmic disco legend, Daniele Baldelli, NY party starter Nickodemus, and Italian stalwart Musumeci. Now Views sees Ayala heading deep within, into his primary loves, Afrobeat and African funk, evolving a warm and organic sound, irresistible to the ear, soul, and body. Views opens proceedings with the Afrobeat funk of "Caravan", which as Ayala remarks, "highlights the value of organic improvisation combined with groove." However, Ayala's Italian sensibility comes into play on "Adrian". For Ayala, this song feels like "an intrusion of African grooves into Italy's obscure '70s disco", offering a "feeling like smoking cigarettes and drinking champagne in a night clubin Rome." It's not all floor-filling bangers on View. The deeper side of the album is best exemplified in "Fuse". A full-bodied slow-groover, the steady Afrobeat rhythm, and bassline are complimented by laidback horns and synths. In this, his first full-length, Ayala doesn't disappoint as he looks deep within to create a new vision, fusing his musical passions and roots with an underground Italian club sensibility. For fans of: Kruder & Dorfmeister, Funky Jaws, Captain Planet, Gerardo Frisina, Nicola Conte & Gianluca Petrella, BOSQ.

"First time reissue of this killer mid '80s LP cut at Philip Smart's HC&F studio in NYC. A solo album by Wiss from Israel Vibration made during a period when the group had parted ways, this one features nine vocals and one dub. A balanced mix of hard rhythms and more mellow cuts, this is a proper album made as such, and a great listen all the way thru."

Toma Kami returns to Livity Sound Recordings for a third EP of provocative, experimental club gear. At the helm of his own Man Band label the French producer continues to explore a hybridized style which favors fractured beats, playful samples and occasional psychedelic flourishes. Compared to the busier sound of previous releases, minimalism informs Toma's approach on this EP as he sits his crunchy drums and weighty low-end in a tangibly spacious mix on "Amapicante". Even within a stripped-down context, his unique approach shines through as "Later To The Bone" progressively ramps up in scratched and scuffed sonic interference and "Mzecal" trips over its own fragmented found-sound drum formations.

"Giallo is part of the Ennio Morricone Themes series, a unique collection of the greatest scores 'The Maestro' has composed for movies over the past 70 years, divided into different themes. Starting 70 years ago as an arranger for the piece Mamma Bianca, Ennio Morricone is the emperor of scores and soundtracks. Morricone has always been a huge influence for the likes of Hans Zimmer, Danger Mouse, Muse, Metallica and many more musicians. He was one of the most successful composers of all-time, selling over 70 million records and winning dozens of awards. When we think of 1960's Italian pulp cinema, the spaghetti western is the genre that comes to mind. However, Italy was responsible for another classic cinematic exploitation movement around the same time, one that is equally as compelling, but less widely recognized. Giallo, meaning 'yellow', is the Italian term for crime fiction, it was named after the bright yellow colors of early pulp fiction paperbacks. Film audiences adopted it as the name for a peculiarly Italian sub-genre of thriller cinema that had its heyday in the 1970's -- just as the spaghetti western movement was waning. The Giallo can be difficult to define, but essentially it is an Italian crime film that draws from a pool of common themes: stylized murders, amateur sleuths, sleazy glamour, psychological crimes, enigmatic titles and all these themes are underpinned by creepily atmospheric Ennio Morricone music scores. Giallo is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on 'bloody & black' marbled vinyl. The package includes a four-page insert with liner notes written by Claudio Fuiano."