Jeb Loy Nichols is a bonafide country soul legend. The Music Maker presents 21 incredibly deep, grooving and soulful songs from the cream of Jeb's catalogue; from its earliest days to his latest unreleased gems via countless rare and unbelievably good lost-classics. This 2LP set is presented in a gatefold sleeve complete with freshly commissioned artwork courtesy of Jeb himself. In collecting these uncut, under-heard gems, Be With hopes to do justice to Jeb's jaw-dropping artistic brilliance. A man who, in working with Adrian Sherwood, Dennis Bovell, Dan Penn, Larry Jon Wilson, and countless other legendary characters, has crafted some of the most deeply affecting folk, country, soul, funk, blues, dub, reggae, gospel, rap and electronic music, ever heard. This compilation features hand-made, lo-fi, ramshackle, stripped down, real deal music. Heartworn and funky. Music made in the kitchen, not in the studio. A combination of all his loves; country, reggae, soul. The name of this compilation comes from a time when Jeb lived in Peckham, south London and he used to DJ and sometimes perform at a local bar: "The owner of the bar, a Jamaican named Count Percy, once asked me what I called my music. I told him I wasn't sure, I guess just pop music. He thought about it for a minute and then said, 'no, more like mom and pop music.' Rather than call me a country singer or a folk singer he always referred to me as The Music Maker." With the long overdue deluxe overview of his beloved music, Be With hopes to finally shine a light on the unheralded genius of Jeb Loy Nichols. RIYL Larry Jon Wilson, Townes Van Zandt, Bobby Charles, country got soul artists, dub, deep soul, disco, dancing, heartbreak. This deluxe collection, spellbinding from beginning to end, should hopefully go some way to ensuring Jeb reaches an ever bigger, ever more appreciative crowd of followers. Mastering for this special double vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry. The artwork has been lovingly put together by The Music Maker, himself, Jeb Loy Nichols.

Reintroducing Soar -- the alias of Christian Aebi, serial DIY taper and one-man orchestra from Langenthal, a fog-shrouded town in the Swiss provinces. Krautophobia, ambient lo-fi agriculture, analogue soul balm and slowspeed psych gelati-blitz cardboard pop only gesture towards the sound world he coaxed from his broken Tascam four-track recorder, in attics, churches, junkyards and at the kitchen table. The spark for Soar was likely time and space, somewhere in the autumn of 1994. Armed with a cable salad of '60s guitar/bass, fairground drums, mold-speckled organs and toy instruments, Aebi coaxed five albums, an unverified run of 25 cassettes, and a handful of gigs. Mostly issued through Zurich label Corazoo, the records arrived in hand-pasted sleeves, rough-cut reproductions of his teddy bear-fixated artwork that carried the same imperfect immediacy as the music. With Rudi Steiner, performances in galleries, clubs and halls bent into live sound-image happenings -- part installation, part film, part flea-market-instrument theatre -- invariably leaving the house engineers bewildered. At the time of his untimely death in 2021, Aebi remained a village secret, his music passed quietly between friends and local ears. Now, Swiss graphic designer and Ghost Riders compiler Ivan Liechti has pieced together a portrait from the afterglow, gathering tangled audio formats, paintings, illustrations, photographs and notebooks with his family, former label and peers. What emerges is a first glimpse of Soar's intimate cosmos -- brushing against Füxa, Spectrum, Dump, Stereolab, and King Crimson, but orbiting a dimension entirely his own.

LP version. "For the first time in more than fifteen years, the debut album Way Their Crept by Grouper is being made available, reissued in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the original release. The first in a series of ineffable solo albums and collaborations that have come since, these are the initial sounds widely shared by the artist on a long journey of explorations that continue to this day."

"This is ambient music that refuses to simply wash over the listener; it's a riptide dragging you under." --The New Yorker

"The chain reaction these songs generate together produces enough fog and smoke to keep the spell going strong -- and to keep whatever secret she's trying to tell us just on the other side of the speakers." --Pitchfork

"Each track sounds, in the best possible way, like it was never meant to be heard outside of the room in which it was recorded." --New York Times

LP version. "Another Perfect Day is Bill Orcutt's first solo electric guitar record since 2017's eponymous Bill Orcutt. While that eight-year gap might not seem like a ton of time on the cosmic scale, it nonetheless represents a busy half-decade plus for Orcutt projects: a raft of improv collaborations, an acclaimed run of chopped and looped albums on Fake Estates, and the collision of Orcutt's computer and guitar music on Music For Four Guitars and How to Rescue Things, both on Palilalia. The undeniable alchemy of those latter mashups inspired not only a wider appreciation of Orcutt-as-composer, but also the resurrection of Orcutt-as-bandleader, as the Bill Orcutt Quartet hit the road in support of Four Guitars, Orcutt's first work with a proper score (courtesy of Shane Parrish). Here, he is wielding his trademark four-string rather than a mouse, running the neck rather than shuffling waveforms, blasting through Cafe Oto's tattered Fender Twin (the cover model for the aforementioned How to Rescue Things) rather than a pair of ancient NS-10s. Indeed, this 2023 performance at Oto, East London's finest music establishment, boomerangs back into the slashing chords and frenzied double- picking of the Harry Pussy years, tossing the gentler melodic glow of the last few solo records into the dustbin. In other words, this may be Orcutt's most overtly punk-rockist record since Gerty Loves Pussy, his first solo electric LP from a decade ago. It's an affirmation that Orcutt is above all a lead player -- angular runs scaling the heavens, ricocheting back to ground zero before climbing again. Orcutt builds tension with short phrases, repeated with slight variability until it seems like they'll never stop, finally slamming into a fresh line like the dawning valley at the crest of the mountain pass. Another Perfect Day is, ultimately, something of a solo guitar Nouveau Roman, an exhilarating run through melodic reiteration, impossible crescendos breaking into -- a moment rarely found on an Orcutt record -- soft, whisper-quiet tracer notes at the end of 'A Natural Death.' Another Perfect Day returns Orcutt to the immediacy of his earliest records while maintaining the melodic complexity, phrasing, and flow of a player, who's been going, what -- four-plus decades now? And when he taps his roots, it's a reminder of exactly what was so exciting about Orcutt's playing in the first place." --Tom Carter

Double LP version. "Difficult as it may be to imagine, there was a time when Sun City Girls did not exist. Prior to the Bishop brothers teaming up with drummer/shaman Charlie Gocher to form SCG's classic trio lineup, there were various ad-hoc assemblages of local Phoenix-area freaks and weirdos -- groups which existed only long enough to play a single gig, open mic or house party before disbanding without a trace. Hatched from this milieu was Paris 1942, a short-lived band formed by guitarist Jesse Srogoncik that included Alan Bishop, Richard Bishop, and former Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker. Paris 1942 would play only four shows in as many months, but between April and August of 1982, the band would gather several times a week in Tucker's living room, where the group feverishly wrote and rehearsed with a kind of quotidian discipline. While P42 didn't release anything during their brief tenure, a 7" EP and LP (both self-titled) surreptitiously surfaced on the Majora label in the mid to late '90s. Until now, those two titles -- as well as an appearance on Placebo's Amuck comp in late '82 -- would be the only documented evidence that this improbable, serendipitous and magnificent band ever existed. While those expecting P42's music to sound like a tantalizing combination of Sun City Girls' iconoclastic hoodoo havoc and the Velvets' primal drug-chug certainly won't be disappointed, Paris 1942 more often than not transcends even these nearly impossible expectations. Srogoncik's songs, in particular, are a revelation, displaying as much in common with the exuberant raunch of The Gun Club and the chapbook punk of Peter Laughner as they do any of the more obvious touchstones."

Limited 2025 restock. Disco divas, funky queens, and glam ladies in '70s and early '80s Taiwan! Due to its extremely complex history, Taiwan in the '70s saw the creation of some incredibly special music in which the sounds being created at the moment from the west collided with the special sensitivity of Taiwanese musicians, creating a delicious mixture you'll need to hear to believe. Taiwan Disco shines a light on the music created by Taiwanese women during those years ('70s and early '80s) to present a mind-blowing collection of songs with sounds ranging from wild funk to apace glam, exotic disco or fuzzed-out soul. Here's the ticket to some crazy Taiwan nights, get those dancing shoes ready, it's time to shake it! Features Wu Xiu Zhu (吳秀珠), Hua Yi Bao (華怡保), Cui Tai Jing (崔台青), Zou Juan Juan (邹娟娟), Chen Lan Li (陳蘭麗), Wang Xiang Ling (王祥齡), Tian Lu Lu (田路路), Liu Guan Lin (劉冠霖), Wu Xiu Zhu (吳秀珠), Luo Yan Li (駱豔麗), Yu San Shan (于三珊), and Zhang Bei Xin (張蓓心).

2025 reprint. Double LP version. Black vinyl. Since they formed in 2004, Danish instrumental four-piece Causa Sui has become a much-revered act on the fertile European psych scene. The soil planted in festivals like Roadburn, Roskilde, Burg Herzberg, has been harvested with praise by Uncut, Julian Cope, and Mojo, as well as growing a dedicated fanbase -- paying top Euros for a first edition vinyl of any of the band's seven past LPs. Many psych and stoner-rock bands aim for the perfect imitation of that vintage heavy psych sound circa 1970, but Causa Sui have forged their own distinct path. Causa Sui draws on a larger pool than the usual derived exploration of Sabbath riffs and clichéd Krautrock jamming. Collaborations include members of Tortoise and Chicago Underground Collective (under the name Chicago Odense Ensemble) and Sunburned Hand Of The Man (released as Pewt'r Sessions,) and the band always adds untraditional flavors, past and present, into their seething experimental sound. Causa Sui has been described as "the sound of a giant wave rolling up through the last four decades of rock," which is truer than ever for their most ambitious album to date, Euporie Tide. Yes, the heavy riffs are certainly here, but it's apparent that it does not tread the waters of retro rock. There's a different depth here. Whereas previous albums were brewed with spontaneity, and flickers of complete improv, Euporie Tide was meticulously perfected over years of work. Opening track "Homage" pays tribute to the early/mid-1990s American grunge and stoner-rock bands the band grew up with. From that point of departure, Causa Sui goes on to weave a rich and complex textile, with threads coming from early 1970s electric jazz, post-rock, exotica, heavy rock, raga, and all kinds of psychedelia. Whether the band goes for straight-up rock or ventures into freeform territory, there's always that certain warmth and atmosphere present, which is so characteristic for Causa Sui. When one reaches the multigenre-influenced grooves on the album's D-side, it's obvious that the band has arrived at something that is very relevant in the present day. The album was recorded and produced by Jonas Munk, crafting a sound that is simultaneously naturalistic in approach, yet strangely detailed. The album was mastered in a way as to maintain the full dynamic range of the recordings.

Restocked; remastered from the original tapes, Encore features 11 original compositions from Arthur with guest musicians including Azymuth, Ivan Lins, and a nine-piece string section. The highly anticipated follow up to Arthur's eponymous debut album from 1972, Encore saw Arthur joining the dots over 35 years to create a modern classic of Brazilian music that, like his debut, combined Brazilian influences with his take on American soul and cinematic experimentation, and shows Arthur's sound is as poignant now as it ever was. In the mid-2000's, following on from Marcos Valle, Joyce, and of course Azymuth, Arthur Verocai joined the long-line of Brazilian musicians whose music was to be introduced to a whole new legion of fans by Far Out. The story of Encore of course begins with Joe Davis, Far Out's head honcho who stumbled upon Arthur's debut in a dusty record store in downtown Rio in the late '80s. At the time of its release in 1972 critics panned Arthur's debut and both the album and artist subsequently vanished into obscurity. Fast forward to winter 2004 and Joe's at the studio of Far Out Recording artists Harmonic 313 -- aka production duo Mark 'Troubleman' Pritchard and Dave Brinkworth -- playing them some of his favorite Brazilian albums. Three months later and Dave was in Brazil with Arthur Verocai, and the plans for what was to become Encore were being laid down. Produced by Dave, Encore sees Arthur on incredible form, the 35 plus years between the recording of his debut and this the follow-up just melting away as Arthur picked up the (conductor's) baton once again to create 11 epic tracks of stirring samba-soul and experimental cinematic movements that sees him creating a record to rival his debut. Born in Rio de Janeiro on 17 June 1945, Arthur Verocai began his professional music career in 1969 and over the next few years he was responsible for the orchestration of albums by Ivan Lins, Jorge Benjor, Elizeth Cardoso, Gal Costa, Quarteto em Cy, MPB 4, and Marcos Valle, among others. In 1972, following the success Arthur had with the production of Ivan Lins 1971 album Agora, Arthur recorded his self-titled debut album on Continental Records. Arthur Verocai challenged the musical conventions of the day, combining Brazilian influences with folksy soul and lo-fi electronic experimentations of American artists like Shuggie Otis or the orchestration of producer Charles Stepney.

2025 restock. Beautiful, fan-made album of acapella versions of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds classics on one disc. Be able to hear and appreciate their intricate harmonies like never before. Sit back, close your eyes and have a listen to the isolated vocal tracks of one of the greatest albums ever made. "God Only Knows", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "That's Not Me", "You Still Believe In Me" and so on and on... It also contains some rare audio clips Carl Wilson and the Boys at their finest.

Rie Nakajima and David Toop recorded at Dave Hunt's studio, 6 May 2022. Mastered by Lawrence English at Negative Space. A note from David Toop: "These are two conversations we had by emails when we all had to stay inside quietly five years ago. We have always enjoyed chatting on art, music, food and shared what we observed in life since we met but this period of lockdown, we couldn't see each other so somehow we found a way to continue this habit. Also, this extreme situation persuaded us to be 'thoughtful' and 'creative' not in a normal or natural way. Though the way we try to be thoughtful and creative is always with humor and laughter. This part is so important in what we share through art and music. Like sculpture, like music. Some thoughts in spring. Emerging in spring we made a studio recording. Many things had floated away in the time of lockdowns and isolation. Other things became fixed in unfamiliar ways. It's a long time since Lucy Lippard wrote about the dematerialization of the art object but it seems that the word 'sculpture' still has connotations of a solid thing, with weight and mass. Early on in our conversations, maybe 12 years ago, we thought about this word and its weight. What if sculpture was just a duration, an empty cup held in the hand until it disappears, leaves that fell from a tree in autumn, a collection of sounds that one person heard but the other person ignored, a closed suitcase full of objects and then later on the suitcase has been opened and the objects have been stuck to a window, or a season and its transitions, its colors and scents, its feeling of vigor and renewal. The thoughts were sculptures, you could say, but you couldn't touch them. They looked after themselves."

2025 repress; LP version. 180 gram vinyl. WRWTFWW Records present the first official worldwide reissue of the sophomore album from fabled Japanese folk singer-songwriter/actress/writer Hako Yamasaki, Tsunawatari. Recorded right after her outstanding debut Tobimasu (WRWTFWW 079CD/LP), Tsunawatari was released in 1976 on Elec Records, one of the first independent labels in Japan, and solidified Hako Yamasaki as one of the most gorgeous voices of the country and an exceptional musician and singer. A truly perfect follow-up, it immortalizes the bitter beauty of heartache with tearful performances and nostalgic empowerment. The beauty of melancholic songs reaches heartbreaking heights in Tsunawatari, a magnificent ode to the sorrow of lost love and the time that passes offered to the world with a very unique brand of folk music. The kind of folk that goes for the guts, folk that shamelessly flirts with tearful blues, contemplative soft pop and psychedelic nostalgia. Put the needle on "Help Me" -- there's simply no holding back. Hako Yamasaki, a pioneer in both the creative boom and the rise of feminism of 1970s Japan, went on to release over thirty albums, building an impressive discography and a fascinating career filled with ups and downs. Her work, inimitable and timeless, deserves the utmost recognition and should be celebrated. Again and again and again. Tsunawatari is released in conjunction with Hako Yamasaki's classic debut album Tobimasu, also available on WRWTFWW Records.

2025 repress. WRWTFWW Records presents the first ever vinyl release of Joe Hisaishi's original soundtrack for the critically acclaimed and all around classic 1993 Japanese yakuza/crime/thriller movie Sonatine. The legendary album comes in a limited edition housed in a luxurious heavyweight sleeve with selective varnish printing and a special paper obi belt. The celebrated Sonatine was directed, written and edited by Takeshi Kitano, who also takes center stage as the main protagonist of the thrilling yakuza film. Director, screenwriter, comedian, actor, TV personality and icon, 'Beat' Takeshi is also known for Boiling Point, Hana-Bi, Battle Royale, Johnny Mnemonic, Ghost in the Shell, and many many more. Considered one of the greatest ever, Joe Hisaishi is a composer, musical director, conductor and pianist behind over 100 film scores including Kitano's A Scene at the Sea, Kikujiro, and Brother, as well as his famed work for director and animator Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli masterpieces Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and the list goes on. The Sonatine movie score showcases the composer's more contemplative, minimalistic, and intimate side in a superb and deeply evocative neo-classical and ambient musical journey. The depth and emotional resonance of the compositions make for an exceptional and timeless soundtrack. It is known to be one of Hisaishi's own favorites. Sonatine (Original Soundtrack) by Joe Hisaishi follows the release of the soundtrack of Takeshi Kitano's Violent Cop (1989), as well as music from another groundbreaking Japanese movie, Shin'ya Tsukamoto's Tokyo Fist (1995). For fans of yakuza movies, legendary soundtracks, Takeshi Kitano, Joe Hisaishi, piano, ambient, minimalism, classical, crime thrillers of the '90s, Ghibli, good stuff.

LP version. "Scattered notes stretch time, their repetitions evoking the infinite iridescence of dawn -- a ritual as inevitable as it is unpredictable. Melaine Dalibert's Musique pour le lever du jour, composed over two years and completed in 2017, was envisioned as 'an infinite piece,' without beginning or end. Subtle, intangible, both complex and minimal, this hour-long work -- dedicated to pianist Stéphane Ginsburgh -- lets silence and resonance blossom into shifting colors. Released by Elsewhere Music (run by Yuko Zama), the album was among France Musique's 100 best of 2018. Its abstract cover was created by David Sylvian. Dalibert has since performed the piece in varied settings, from dawn to dusk, leading him to craft a condensed 20-minute version more suited to live performance. During this period, he released three more albums on Elsewhere, each featuring artwork by Sylvian -- an artist Dalibert first admired through his experimental works like Blemish and Manafon. Sylvian, best known as the voice of Japan (1974-1982), has also built a significant ambient legacy, collaborating with Holger Czukay, Jon Hassell, Robert Fripp, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Christian Fennesz, and Stephan Mathieu. Their connection naturally led to his contribution on two tracks of Dalibert's 2021 Night Blossoms, subtly enriching its piano textures with electronic color. The two new pieces of Vermilion Hours mark a culmination. With a generational bridge -- Dalibert (b. 1979), Sylvian (1958), Czukay (1938) -- this project reinterprets Musique in a slower, more resonant form, allowing Sylvian's restrained electronics to gently 'baroquize' the texture. Dalibert's Arabesque, also featured, embodies his systematic yet humanized approach."

2025 repress. Akuphone in collaboration with Annihaya present Rats Don't Eat Synthesizers, the long-awaited second album by The Dwarfs Of East Agouza. Hailing from the Agouza district of Cairo, Egypt, this brilliant trio consists of Alan Bishop (acoustic bass, alto sax), Maurice Louca (keyboards, drum machine), and Sam Shalabi (electric guitar). Following their acclaimed first album Bes (NAWA 005CD, 2016), this new full-length is composed of two hypnotic journeys: "Rats Don't Eat Synthesizers" and "Ringa Mask Koshary" which were recorded in Cairo in September of 2015. Mesmerizing electric guitar parts, frenetic beats, both supported by the deep sound of Alan's acoustic bass create a new magical Egyptian soundscape. LP comes in a beautiful hot-foil stamped sleeve that magnifies the red metallic rats and a wonderful printed inner sleeve; Includes download code.

LP version. Color vinyl. "Introducing the Bayside Beat of The Gnomes! Although they emerged from Melbourne bayside outer suburbs onto the local live scene with their fresh and spirited indie-rock update of the garage-beat sounds of The Easybeats, Kinks and early Beatles only recently, Gnomes actually started out as a bedroom solo project for teenaged singer/songwriter/ guitarist Jay Millar a few years back. Jay, playing everything himself, started recording and releasing a steady succession of material -- quite a few albums' worth -- on his own Goblin Records label via Bandcamp. Realizing he needed a band to start playing out, Jay approached some like-minded players from Frankston's rehearsal hub Singing Bird, and with Jay on lead vocals and lead guitar, Ned Capp on guitar, Olly Katsianis on bass, and Ethan Robins on drums, Gnomes became a band. Early in 2025, the last solo Jay recordings released under the Gnome name caused something of an international underground sensation when the Bandcamp only I Like It EP -- four songs of kranked up Kinks-style mono riffage -- was posted by a Spanish garage-punk YouTube page and quickly clocked up over 50,000 views. At the same time, the band quickly began gaining attention on the thriving Frankston scene and around Melbourne. They started breaking out, sharing bills with the likes of Drunk Mums, Skegss, Split System, The Prize, The Unknowns, Cosmic Psychos, Hockey Dad, Guitar Wolf, The 5.6.7.8's, The Breadmakers, Loose Lips, fellow Frankstoners/Singing Bird alumni The Belair Lip Bombs, and, on a quick trip to Sydney, Cammy Cautious & The Wrestlers. And now, finally, comes The Gnomes' debut album. Twelve killer tracks that combine the best of the '60s with the best of today. Twelve killer tracks that show off assertive and accomplished songwriting, singing and playing and an explosive and authentic swinging group sound. Twelve killers slices of raw rock'n'roll running the gamut from savage Rhythm & Blues to vibrant beat pop, with forays into heavy reverb psych, Cavern/Star Club stylings and first flyte jangle along the way. There's more of course, including a new version of that Kinks-style kranker 'I Like It' for good measure. Frankston's Fab Four are taking their sound to the world. Join them for the ride!"

The Album Leaf shares his new ambient LP, Rotations. The record is a mediative experiment into atmospheric sound. Creator Jimmy LaValle explains, "This collection of music is a true reflection of my creative process -- rooted in sound exploration, experimentation, and spontaneous response. Each track captures a moment of creative discovery, free from the pressure of achieving a polished result. Throughout my career, I've often placed significant weight on what an album should be. With this release, I've let go of those expectations to share a body of work that feels genuine and authentic." The Album Leaf began as the solo project of Jimmy LaValle, who came up in the San Diego music scene playing in hardcore bands and the instrumental rock band Tristeza. He had inked a deal to release his next solo album through the indie label Tigerstyle Records, so he put the modest advance towards a self-recording starter setup, building out the sound with occasional studio access. The music that emerged -- vivid, rhythmic, soaring instrumentals guided by lines of guitar and Rhodes -- not only set the path for The Album Leaf over the next two decades of acclaimed releases (for Sub Pop, City Slang, and others), it became a touchstone for the next generation's wave of melodic and meditative electro-organic music. Featuring Six Missing.

Chuck Roth's music wanders. The New York-based guitarist's inquisitive style builds from rippling patterns that center the physicality of his instrument, roaming wherever they take him. Watergh0st Songs, his Palilalia debut, collects songs from the past half-decade, presenting an intimate snapshot of his music that draws from an eclectic background in classical guitar, electronic music, and improvisation. The mark of Watergh0st Songs is its exploratory nature. Roth began his musical journey as a classical guitarist studying the canon works for the instrument, but he was never interested in playing fast or flashy. Instead, he wanted to roam down musical paths and see where they led him. He eventually became more interested in electronic music, where he found inspiration in subtractive properties and patterning. When writing music, Roth wants melodies to feel comfortable in the body, focused less on setting a structure and more on letting music unfold how it happens in any given moment. His songs are fluid and his melodies are clear, plucked with careful attention but never too deterministically. His is the music of a traveler, floating around the strings of the guitar. It is about embracing the banal, or the everyday moments that shape a life. Though Roth's music often feels quite direct, there is a dreaminess that lives inside of it. His lyrics don't feel too hot or cold, instead they have a wistfulness and melancholy of what it feels like to live through every passing day. His exploratory style bolsters these lyrics, giving the music its sense of ennui, as does his focus on texture. Each track takes on a different structure: 'Bunny Hop' unfolds like a squirrel jumping from branch to branch of a tree, while 'Private Boy' has a slower approach, growing from delayed harmonics that almost sound like bowed strings. His textures range from metallic and bristling to soft and feathery, evolving with gentleness. It is about ending up somewhere different than where it started, and watching the notes that fall in-between. The embrace of the routine colors Roth's music. In it, there is a sense of presence, of admiring the smallest details and moments. Roth loves to take walks and look around, observing the beauty of his surroundings. Similarly, Watergh0st Songs feels like moving through the world at the pace of a comfortable trot and soaking in every sound as it emerges. It is a quiet evolution -- but one that stays." Vanessa Ague

Steve Hauschildt returns after six years with a new album titled Aeropsia. After a transcontinental relocation from the US to Tbilisi, Georgia, the electronic composer emerges from a personal and global transformation to explore themes of perceptual distortion, disconnection, and renewal. Aeropsia (which roughly translates as "seeing the air") refers to a visual phenomenon in which objects appear to float or shimmer, often due to changes in pressure, perception, atmospheric shifts or neurological disturbance. This becomes a metaphor for the liminality that informs the record: blurry visions, dreamlike displacements, and the fragile membrane separating what is seen from what is felt. In the years since his last solo release, Hauschildt's world has been marked by relocation and a growing sense of global turbulence. These experiences became the raw material for a work that navigates institutional haze and uncertainty itself. The result is music that employs decay as method, structure as entropy, and mutation as expression. While Aeropsia remains subjective in its vision, Hauschildt invited two previous collaborators to expand the album's gravitational pull. Cellist Lia Kohl, who previously performed on Nonlin, returns and brings a tactile warmth to select tracks, while guitarist Michael Vallera threads spectral harmonics into the mix. The album's electronic foundation and its tactile elements meet in a state of luminous suspension to navigate the shifting in physical and psychological terrain.

LP version. CV Vision returns with the follow-up to his last opus Im Tal der Stutzer and delivers his sixth studio album Release The Beast -- where he finds the sweet spot between psych rock, Detroit techno, fried synths, black metal and library music. Teaming up again with Swedish drummer Uno Bruniusson, CV Vision switched up the last production approach and opted for a return to previous studio methodologies. "I wanted to get a rougher sound on this record," he says. "I dug out my two broken reel-to-reel tape machines, and patched them together, like Frankenstein. That's what gels everything really -- there's different musical styles, but it's the tape machine that brings it all together, sound-wise." Release The Beast does indeed fly off in several directions over the course of fourteen tracks, and gives listeners an insight into the full spectrum of the CV Vision musical universe. Fuzzed-out backbeats and psych progressions establish the opening tracks, as the sweet harmonies of "RTB" and "The Rhythm" are offset by raw magnetic hiss. "Dungeon Drums I, II, III" draws on acid and early Detroit techno experiments, tapping into the cosmic elements of the Motor City's beatdown grooves (and even mediaeval black metal melodies) to bring out a krautrock twist. The second half of Release The Beast takes another turn with instrumental jams, like "Nikita's Tune" and "It's K-Jazz," that nod towards the psychedelic soul of David Axelrod and Rotary Connection, and the trippy DIY experiments of L.G. Mair, Jr. Closing out the album, CV Vision lays down the bluesy stomper "Town Talk" and distorted motorik workout "The Jam" next to the folky incantation of "Brickwall Symphony" and stacked layers of heavy guitars on "Go Your Way." While Release The Beast is a varied tapestry of sounds and styles, there's a common thread running through it all. The cover art depicts the boarded-up entrance of a Berlin stairwell, surrounded by the burnt-out debris of a long-forgotten party.

LP version. While working in Berlin Wedding at andereBaustelle studio on their upcoming album, Kreidler found also time to dig deep into the vaults of their Düsseldorf and Berlin archives. Thirty years ago, Kreidler's eponymous mini-album was released on Cologne-based label Finlayson; and RIVA, their first outing, on cassette tape, was released a year before that. Both released in limited physical formats and long unavailable. This edition documents the band's beginnings, with threads that can be followed throughout their whole history to their current work. Still, they are straight out of a certain scene, at a certain place, at a certain time. Kreidler -- formed from the encounter of the band Deux Baleines Blanches (Thomas Klein, Andreas Reihse, and Stefan Schneider) with DJ Sport (Detlef Weinrich) -- already in its initial years, and in those that followed, managed to hold seemingly contradictory strands, becoming a fluid form that could equally accommodate the various strengths and interests of its members. This ability has remained intact up to the present lineup of Thomas Klein, Alex Paulick, and Andreas Reihse. Oliver Tepel wrote of their mini-album in 1995 in Spex magazine: "On the basis of calm grooves from andante to moderato -- comparable to the dissolution of object and background in analytical cubism -- the contours of the instruments disappear in favor of mysteriously meandering waves of sound." In 1994, RIVA, the beginning: circuitous somehow, a spatial presence in the restraint, strangely physical in its beauty. Mounting with Das Wilde Heinefeld, with voice and bass clarinet by Fritz Sitterle. Produced for an unreleased Monarchie und Alltag cover version album, conceived by Joerg "Zappo" Zboralski as a follow-up to his Brücke Kaufen album The journey ends in a heated but once again taut textual space, familiar ground for Kreidler, after various gigs with spoken word artists. The photography incorporated on the front cover of this release depicts Kreidler in 1995 in the artists' club WP8.

Widely regarded as one of the most uncompromising works in experimental noise, Kevin Drumm's Sheer Hellish Miasma is once again available on vinyl. First released on CD in 2002 on the original Mego label, the album remains a landmark in extreme electronic sound and is an essential and ferocious document of Drumm at his most inventive. The history of Drumm's Sheer Hellish Miasma is one of resilience to the twists of underground trends that have come and gone since its initial release. Using guitar, tape manipulation, microphones, pedals, analog synthesizers, and subtle computer processing, Sheer Hellish Miasma is an overwhelming experience: a sonic onslaught of storming feedback, fractured textures and an unrelenting energy. At once brutal and meticulously composed, the album offers a singular vision at the outermost edges of sound art. For seasoned noise veterans, Sheer Hellish Miasma offers a bracing soundscape filled with exquisitely abrasive textures and more than enough hidden detail to warrant repeated listening -- a distinct voice in the increasingly same-sounding world of abstract electronic noise. For everyone else, Drumm's journey through the noisy underworld is likely to inspire fear or, in an optimistic case, fearful admiration. Drumm's Sheer Hellish Miasma is an abstract noise classic with this 2LP reissue being an artefact of eternal power. Gatefold sleeve, gold pantone print. Includes hot foil stamping.

A duo concert featuring universal artist and activist Moor Mother and Archie Shepp was planned for October 19, 2023, at the Enjoy Jazz Festival. However, a spinal disc operation on the then 86-year-old saxophone legend led to the cancellation of this eagerly awaited world premiere -- and to a spontaneous demonstration of respect. To honor the great Archie Shepp, one of the most influential intellectuals in jazz, an Enjoy Jazz all-star cast spontaneously recorded a tribute song during the festival -- organized by festival director Rainer Kern. The line-up consisted of Nicole Mitchell, the most important flutist in the history of jazz, as well as the Enjoy Jazz "Artists in Residence" for 2023 and 2024, Moor Mother (spoken word) and Nduduzo Makhathini (piano). In her lyrics, the poetess creates a powerful linguistic monument to Archie Shepp, whom she greatly admires, by playing with the titles of the saxophonist's legendary recordings (instead of with him himself). The title One For Archie is an allusion to Shepp's 1964 Impulse debut, Four For Trane, which, according to Jazzwise, is one of the "100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World." In her moving text, Moor Mother also celebrates Shepp's political and social commitment. The way Moor Mother rhythmically and aesthetically picks up on Shepp's unique playing style, which oscillates between rugged clarity and deep humanity, begins to improvise on it, and thereby creates new connections, is impressive proof of her masterful artistry. Her recitation is peppered with haunting dramatic climaxes that give listeners goosebumps due to their authenticity. The B-side features "They've Got A Plan," a song that is like a beacon. An intense and powerful invocation of "Agenda 2063," a master plan of the African Union to transform the continent socially, economically, and politically. Both tracks are available on vinyl for the first time.

LP version. Yellow color vinyl. Anushka Chkheidze and Robert Lippok's Uncontrollable Thoughts on Morr Music is the duo's debut joint release. The Netherlands-based Georgian composer and the German sound artist from Berlin first met in 2019 in the context of a workshop program that took place in Tbilisi, and later worked with Eto Gelashvili, Hayk Karoyi, and Lillevan on the massive Glacier Music II music and book project, released in 2021. This led them to engage in a less conceptually driven form of musicking and real-time composition that corresponds with their respective environments. They draw on traditions such as minimal music or late 1990s and early 2000s electronica to integrate subtle beats with elegiac organ drones, playful melodies with lush textures. The first document of an ever-shifting intergenerational dialogue, Uncontrollable Thoughts is a product of mutual listening outside time. Though Chkheidze and Lippok had access to professional studios, they chose to rent a simple rehearsal space, equipped with only the bare essentials -- bass and guitar amps as well as a small PA -- to maintain immediacy in their working process. The music they made together corresponded to and drew on the respective possibilities and shortcomings of this studio, much like their collaboration in general is characterized by the care with which they approach each other's talents and ideas. While both had loosely defined roles -- Chkheidze was responsible for the free-flowing beat programming and the evocative distortion came courtesy of Lippok, for example -- they individually contributed in different ways to their joint process, which is as free of hierarchies as it is limitless. Hence, the duo's focus on spontaneity and out-of-the-moment emergence makes them organically move beyond tried and tested conventions, resulting in music that seems to suspend time altogether. While there is much that sets Chkheidze and Lippok apart as solo artists, the major shared leitmotif in their respective bodies of work is the sonic engagement with space. Uncontrollable Thoughts is hence best understood as an extension of this practice; as an album that maps the geographies of their minds in motion, tracing musical movements as they melt into each other.

Following a string of acclaimed collaborations, Peruvian artist Alejandra Cárdenas (aka Ale Hop) returns with her most personal work to date yet, A Body Like a Home. Marking her first album under her birth name, the project is a sonic memoir exploring the tangled realms of trauma, recovery, and love through autobiographical soundscapes. A Body Like a Home is the artist at her most exposed. Comprising 13 songs and 15 poems, the album sees her set aside collaborative fusions for solo catharsis, channeling years of turbulence - intergenerational scars left by colonialism, racism, domestic violence, and alcoholism -- into a work that oscillates between brutality and tenderness. At the heart of the album is Cárdenas's own voice -- part witness, part confessor -- reciting over layers of electric guitars, electronic textures, the haunting violin of Mexican musician Gibrana Cervantes, and a collage of field recordings, from rainfall, muffled whispers, broken glass, to archival protest footage from Peru. The result is a work that resonates like a diary written in sound. The first single, "Motherland," is a searing testimony where Cárdenas voice cracks under the weight of history and personal loss. Amid a storm of distorted guitars, she traces the cyclical legacies of colonialism, from state massacres branding Indigenous bodies as "terrorists" to the spiral of addiction as an unavoidable future. The lyrics draw parallels between political and domestic violence: a mother's drunken knife pressed to her chest, and a motherland where racism is currency. Yet, amid the wreckage, a willful grip on love and faith persists. Ultimately, A Body Like a Home is a document of transformation. Tracks like "Evangelina" and the title piece "A Body Like a Home" hold space for resilience, spirituality, and love, while "Early Road" and "Going South" thread subtle nods to Peruvian folklore, opening up bright vignettes into a sense of belonging. The poetry chapbook accompanying A Body Like a Home (five of its pieces are also recited on the album) extends the work, building a parallel architecture. Oscillating between the documentary and the mythic, the intimate and the forensic, the profane and the oneiric, these poems practice a theology of the ordinary, where everyday objects -- cameras, knives, moth-eaten cotton -- are charged with spiritual and historical weight. Here, the body is land, house, battlefield, collective pain, geological territory; and trauma is, in contrast, archival, cellular, ritualistic, inherited.

Quadrant Park is a new label from the makers of frozen reeds (which will continue in its own stream). It exists to present music that demands to reach a little further, occupying new spaces and a new context. For the inaugural release, SDEM delivers a live recording with a twist: this set was recorded in early 2024 in a single take to an audience of one, at a now abandoned empty club space beneath a railway arch in Leeds. Following a series of physical and digital releases culminating with Vortices (SKALD 038CD) in 2023, SDEM has focused on continuous upgrades to a mutating live set, sporadically performed, for example, alongside the Autechre and Gescom axes. In the phase documented here, the set draws deeply from turntable-era early hip hop and '80s drum machine architecture, resulting in a landscape of tactile slippage: rhythms gripping and releasing, gestural scrubs and stabs, scratching meets musique concrète. Interlocking parts snap in and out of alignment, before recombining on the fly -- kinetic, raw, and precise. The SDEM approach is marked by Tom Knapp's sculptural take on sound design, rhythm and texture -- ranging from dystopic ambient passages to pixelated, sub-heavy beats. A member of the Skam circle of atavistic beat freaks since the late '90s, Knapp's sound is that of hyperattentive electronica buried under soil and left to decay (or ferment). What emerges is somehow both ruthlessly futuristic and redolent of decrepit antique engineering. At Quadrant Park is presented in an edition of 500 compact discs with artwork by Robert Beatty unique to every individual copy. In a warped reflection of the recording circumstances, each copy forms one distinct frame of a short film never to be viewed in its totality. Liner notes are provided by the sole witness to the recording, long-standing SDEM co-conspirator Ed Martin, aka edv3ctor, while audio was mastered by the ears that matter, frozen reeds mainstay Jim O'Rourke.

What began as a nostalgic nod to Camden Market's bootleg culture has become the next chapter of in the Running Back Mastermix series. At once deeply personal and openly communal, it shows how a lifetime of production can be condensed into 90 minutes without losing its edge -- proof that the mixtape, even in 2025, still has stories left to tell. What followed was a patient excavation. Old DATs were pulled out of storage, forgotten files surfaced from hard drives, and new material was written to sit alongside them. Together, these fragments revealed a body of work stretching back more than 25 years -- tracks that moved across the spectrum of house and techno but shared a common thread of character and atmosphere. Recorded live on three decks using Serato, the resulting mix brings together 24 tracks: unreleased material from the past and brand-new productions, all stitched together into a continuous narrative. It's equal parts retrospective and statement of intent -- less a museum piece than a living document.

LP version. Color vinyl. "After a storied first year as a band releasing and touring behind their critically acclaimed debut album Today, Galaxie 500 closed out 1988 with a quintessential performance at New York City's famed CBGB with every bit of their signature intimacy and autumnal bombast on display. The unusual bill which also included Sonic Youth, B.A.L.L. and Unsane was a benefit show for the zine shop See Hear. Captured here in a raw but inspired board mix by Kramer and restored and mastered from the analog source by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, CBGB 12.13.88 is a live snapshot of a Galaxie fully formed, punctuating the end of their first chapter while poised to step into their next with On Fire the following year."

Found Keys is the debut album from American artist Ruth Maine. Although Ruth has been playing and composing music for over two decades, this is the first time she decided to record some of her varied compositions and share them with the public. But in times when it is the norm to clamor for attention, she prefers to go the opposite way. Ruth likes to let her music speak for itself and stay in the shadows. The 16 short piano pieces heard on this album, each about two to three minutes long, were recorded remotely and purely surrounded by nature. Once a composition was found and Ruth considered it mature, she only recorded it once, embracing the beauty of doing something for the first time with all its little imperfections. Found Keys sounds anything but imperfect though. These compositions feel timeless, intimate and comforting, as if they have been around for a long time, like an old friend. Gently played keys slowly evolve into minimal pieces through repetitive melodies. There's stillness as much as there's brightness, sadness as much as joy; welcome to a beautiful journey through Ruth's world of wonder. In many ways, Found Keys is a deeply personal record that takes Sonic Pieces back to its roots. And it leaves a feeling of nostalgia while reviving memories of the past.

LP version. "Hikmah is the astonishing new [studio] solo piano work from virtuosic and far-ranging sound scientist; deep and compassionate thinker; UK (and world) musical treasure: Pat Thomas. It is a singular work in his singular and now substantial body of work, and his first for the TAO Forms label. Pat Thomas was Born in Oxford, UK to Antiguan parents on July 27, 1960. Interestingly, just over 4 months separate his birth to that of fellow modern piano master Matthew Shipp (Dec 7, 1960) -- whose The Piano Equation was TAO Forms inaugural release. Thomas is most certainly among the Black Mystery School Pianists of which Shipp elucidates in the title essay of his recently published first book. Eight thoroughly focused improvised and otherwise compositions recorded at Fish Factory studio in London. The album's title, Hikmah, means 'wisdom' in Arabic. The title is also presented in two different forms of Arabic calligraphic script on the cover artwork. This album does indeed bring the information. The vibrantly living jazz tradition and new modes of expression in abundance are brought forth from a lifetime of work and Thomas' decades-long devotion to Sufism, understanding that the practice and performance of this music is an elemental form of spiritual practice. As William Parker writes in the liner notes, '[the] music becomes the prophet and the prayer all in one gesture.' And, 'If you haven't yet heard the music of Pat Thomas, get hip to it quickly.' Attuned American audiences are most likely to have become familiar with Pat Thomas through his work with the quartet [Ahmed], whom over recent years have amazed with their mesmeric, long-form explorations on the compositions of Ahmed Abdul-Malik, and more recently, Thelonious Monk. Their debut US performance took place in March 2025, and TAO Forms were lucky members of the rapt audience at Roulette in Brooklyn that night; the group flew to Knoxville the next day to perform to a equally rapt audiences at Big Ears."

"On the cover: Mulau Astatke; Deep into his latest tour, the pioneering 81-year-old Ethio jazz vibraphonist is finding new ways to be himself. By Francis Gooding. Inside: Features and regular sections: Griot Galaxy: Formed in 1972 by late saxophonist and poet Faruq Z Bey, and led by bassist Jaribu Shahid after a serious motorcycle accident left Bey unable to perform for the better part of a decade, the long under-appreciated Detroit Great Black Music ensemble have seen a renewal of interest in recent years. By Mike Rubin. Alpha Maid: Following a series of releases as one half of the duo Spresso with Mica Levi, Leisha Thomas, aka Alpha Maid returns with Is this a queue on AD93 records, her first solo release since 2021's CHUCKLE EP. By Claire Biddles. Emergence Collective: With a distinguished but revolving lineup of experimental performers from jazz, folk and modern composition backgrounds, the Sheffield group's improvised minimalism responds to the historical, architectural and acoustic qualities of each location where they perform. By Daryl Worthington. Konrad Smolenski: The Warsaw based sound and installation artist combines the DIY ethos and sonic antagonism of punk with minimalist formal strategies. By Robert Barry. Invisible Jukebox: Test Department: The pioneering industrial duo of Graham Cunningham and Paul Jamrozy down tools to take on The Wire's mystery listening challenge. Tested by Mike Barnes. Against The Grain: Holly Dicker on the histories of hardcore. Global Ear: UK Sacred Harp Convention. Unlimited Editions: Glint Music. Plus one page profiles of Debit, Klinck Trio and Erwan Keravec."

Lung Oysters is the new studio album from NWW featuring the multi-instrumentalist Diarmuid MacDiarmada, a heady free-range mix of krautrock, experimental and toe tapping psychedelia, leaning towards a slightly more rock orientated sound. Regular Nurse members Colin Potter, Andrew Liles and Matt Waldron are all on board with the added voice and talents of Irish artist and poet, Tara Baoth Mooney. Artwork by Babs Santini.

Hyper-limited ethereal ambient-guitar-soul, originally released on cassette only. First time ever vinyl release, on 140g vinyl. The phenomenally hyped Thought Leadership returns with another X ideas: the deck this time chooses the Ace of Swords. Originally out on cassette only, Be With presents the first ever vinyl issue. The sonic palate has been augmented by the addition of synth and bass; there are more guitar layers, more pedals and more organic drums this time -- a much fuller production. Still DIY, and still recorded straight to multitrack, just ever so slightly grander in scale; think a rough-hewn, long-lost Claremont 56 cut and you'll have some idea of how XI opens this future classic LP. The touchstones so key to the vision of Pentacles (Cocteau Twins, Dif Juz, Durutti Column) are all still present and correct; XII could be a piece from Extractions, XIII is pure Garlands-era Guthrie and, now with the shuffling jazz drums, XV makes TL even more LC -- but more disparate influences are found this time out too. ECM guitar legends John Abercrombie and Pat Metheny in the more considered melodic phrasing and harmonic structure of the ideas and a nod to the cosmic Balearic spirit in the overall vibe, means more is offered to the listener across Swords. Be With is honored to present the first ever vinyl release of Ace Of Swords, carefully remastered by Be With's engineer Simon Francis to ensure it sounds better than ever after its initial tape release. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut at Abbey Road Studios whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry, in Holland. The original tape cover artwork, so crucial to Thought Leadership's striking visual aesthetic, has been rejigged for vinyl issue here at Be With.

With Michaela Melián's LP music for a while, a-Musik is releasing the first album by the visual artist, co-founder of F.S.K., and solo musician since Monaco (MONIKA 079CD), which appeared on Monika Enterprise in 2013. While her last releases, Electric Ladyland (2016), Music from a Frontier Town (2018), and Tania (2022) were created as part of exhibitions and sound installations, music for a while is Melián's fourth autonomous LP, characterized on the one hand by her unmistakable dreamlike sound along the interfaces between dark chamber music, solemn ambient techno, and cinematic sound art. As with her previous albums, there is also a wonderful avant-pop cover version -- this time of the track "My Other Voice" (1979) by the Sparks. On the other hand, music for a while, whose cover is adorned with Melián's photographs of the clouds above her new home of Marseille, spreads a comparatively ominous mood, thanks in part to the sedate, almost ticking drum sounds of co-producer Felix Raethel. Once again, the multi-instrumentalist, supported by Ruth May on violin and Elen Harutyunyan on viola, weaves her recordings of various string instruments -- cello, guitar, bass, and zither -- into fascinating, lurching, looping, and almost hypnotic soundscapes, but atonal synthesizer sounds in tracks such as "traverse Benjamin" and "märchenwald" open up the music to electroacoustic and experimental music. The concluding cover version of Irving Berlin's "they say it's wonderful" (1946) rounds off one of this year's most impressive releases in an incomparably groovy and melancholic way.

La Traversée (The Crossing) is Matthias Puech's second album for Hallow Ground and follows up on 2023's Mt. Hadamard National Park. Profoundly inspired by re-reading The Odyssey, the French composer, instrument designer, and scholar used a Eurorack modular synthesizer to create four pieces that are by far the most intuitive and emotionally charged in his ever- expanding catalogue. Puech's masterful command of sound comes to the forefront with even more urgency on this record. A wandering meditation on the human condition, La Traversée is an album that is constantly in motion -- complex electronic music at its most gripping and evocative.

Thank You For Almost Everything is the sophomore album for Headache, a collaboration between writer and poet Francis Hornsby Clark and music-producer Joseph Thornalley aka Vegyn. This new album follows on the surprise underground success of their debut: The Head Hurts But The Heart Knows The Truth, releasing on Vegyn's own PLZ Make It Ruins label. Since its release, Headache has built a dedicated global fanbase, with several fans even going so far as to get lyrics or the project's logo tattooed on themselves. Thank You For Almost Everything continues the original's distinct style of trip-hop/downtempo electronica but combining with its own unique (and now imitated) AI-voiced spoken word. For this new album, Headache steps away from the hum-drum of Blighty and instead focuses his gaze to sunnier shores. Recalling personal histories of ruffled hair and school cafeterias, ancient unsolved Albionic riddles, Rome's changing seasons and its poignant graffiti, arguments with girlfriends at luxury hotel beachfront restaurants, and what it truly feels like to be alive in this inscrutable but beautiful world. The project features a further collaboration with artist Cali Thornhill DeWitt who returns to design the packaging and cover for this new album. This double 12" vinyl release, like the first, includes the instrumental versions exclusive to the vinyl version. The album was mixed and mastered by Margo Broom at RAK Studios.