LP version. By 1973, Faust had already rewired the circuits of German rock. Their first two albums had exploded traditional song form with a joyous disregard for continuity, coherence, or commercial appeal. The Faust Tapes, released earlier that year for 49p as a surreal sampler of their cut-and-paste genius, had earned them a curious British audience and the indulgence of Virgin Records. For a brief moment, it seemed as though Faust might finally play the game, just a little. What emerged instead was Faust IV, their most paradoxical work: accessible enough to lure listeners in, complex enough to keep them guessing. For the first time, the band left the rustic headquarters in Wümme, a former schoolhouse in rural Lower Saxony, stuffed with cabling, hand-built electronics, and limitless weed, and entered the professional confines of The Manor, Virgin's newly christened studio in Oxfordshire. Gone was the radical freedom of the commune. In its place: deadlines, engineers, and a rapidly dwindling budget. The sessions stretched on and grew increasingly fraught, yielding a mixture of fresh material and fragments drawn in from earlier experiments in Wümme. Faust IV is the result: part studio artefact, part salvage operation, part séance. Faust IV is uneven, restless, and full of contradictions, and that's exactly what makes it compelling. Its rough edges and loose threads sit right alongside moments of real focus, giving the sense of a band following ideas wherever they lead. Rather than polish things smooth, Faust left the seams visible, and the result feels all the more vital for it. Nearly half a century on, its spirit remains intact: mischievous, mysterious, and gloriously unfinished. If Faust had set out to build a new language, Faust IV shows them mid-sentence, trailing off, cracking jokes, then suddenly profound. Don't expect to follow the conversation, just keep listening.

2025 repress; originally released in 2020. The Sorcerers began working on a new album during the winter of 2018 and it was during the writing sessions for this album that the concept for the LP began to take shape. The name for the album was taken from the title of a National Geographic article read by bassist Neil Innes and was used as the starting point for the entire concept. The library music scene of the '60s and '70s has always been an intrinsic part of the sound of ATA Records and so it made perfect sense to envisage the album as a soundtrack, given the cinematic quality of The Sorcerers music. Each track was written with a particular scene in mind and the music was then shaped in the studio to best reflect the essence of that scene. Drums, bass and percussion provide the solid foundation onto which flutes, bass clarinets, xylophones, and vibraphones add the atmospheric and melodic counterpoint, deftly weaving between one another to conjure up images of the unforgiving environment of the dense jungle, unknown eyes watching the protagonists of the imagined film as they make their way towards their ultimate goal, their pursuit by unseen assailants, the arcane mysticism of undiscovered cargo cultists and the ancient ruins of long passed civilizations.

140gr vinyl. A surefire Salsoul classic and comfortably one of the label's finest moments, the self-titled LP from The Strangers was originally released in that golden year of 1983 and is one of the greatest albums of the post-disco era. It's one of Be With's favorite ever LPs and it's a complete honor to be giving it the reissue treatment. Still strangely overlooked but not for much longer, The Strangers contains flawless tracks with truly top tier production and includes the eternal Paradise Garage favorite "Step Out Of My Dream." The Strangers were a US electronic-funk studio concept group comprising Edward "Tree" Moore, Howard King, and Hubert Eaves III, all key members of Mtume and Gary Bartz NTU Troop and, in the case of Eaves, one half of D-Train. The album kicks off with the dope electro-funk of "Wanna Take Your Body" which features Gary Bartz on sax and becomes more sensational and irresistible the longer it plays. The wonky super-bomb "Let Me Take You Home" has a punk-funk, post-Prince feel, driving and delicate all at the same time while "Show Me How You Like It" is pure FUNK, the groove just pure fire. Side B is perfection. It kicks off with the NTS favorite "Love Rescue," a track so slick it positively SLAPS out the gate and, while it bangs throughout, the vocals and melodies elevate this to the status of EMOTIONAL POP. Next up, "Step Out Of My Dream" swaggers forth, the undisputed masterpiece that was huge with the London DJs and UK Soul fraternity; it's not hard to see why. It's a gliding, smooth, soulful piece of once-in-a-lifetime magic. The breezy "It's Too Late" is a perfect slow jam before this remarkable set is rounded out with the sickest proto-acid synth-drizzled jam, "Stimulation"; a perfect slab of '80s funk and a strutting vocoder-laced funk workout. Meticulously remastered and cut by both Simon Francis and Cicely Balston respectively, it has been pressed to the highest possible quality at Record Industry in Holland.

So Far, so far out. By 1972, Faust had already dismantled the concept of a rock album. With their self-titled debut, they tore through convention with tape edits, abstract structures, and a scathing collage of cultural detritus. Its successor, recorded just six months later, was not a retreat from that radicalism, but its evolution. Instead of challenging form through outright fragmentation, the band now disguised their subversion in structures that almost, almost, resemble songs. But don't be fooled. This is still Faust: unpredictable, subversive, and unbound by convention. The circumstances surrounding the album's creation were no less unconventional than those of their debut. Faust were still ensconced in the converted schoolhouse in Wümme, Lower Saxony, and its improvised studio -- a riddle of cabling, tape and custom electronics. By this point, the band had grown more cohesive as a unit but remained steadfastly anti-commercial, despite the pleas of their label. Taken as a whole, So Far is less a linear progression from Faust's debut than a sideways leap into a parallel sonic dimension. Where the first album exploded rock from the inside out, So Far rearranges the wreckage into strange new shapes. There's a sly-humor here too, buried under the fuzz and tape edits, a knowing wink that these sonic detours aren't acts of nihilism, but of creation. Faust were building something. What, exactly, remains elusive, and still utterly intoxicating. Also available on black vinyl (BB 493LP) and blue vinyl (BB 493LTD-LP).

For the first time, a release of select music performed at Chicago's Empty Bottle in the heyday of the creative music boom of the 1990s. From 1996-2005, writer and producer John Corbett and musician and composer Ken Vandermark teamed up to curate a series of concerts, the Empty Bottle Jazz & Improvised Music Series. Together with annual international festivals, the series comprised more than 500 performances over its nine-year span, which was lauded in the international press and helped focus attention on Chicago as a hotspot for improvised music. The majority of the music was dutifully documented by Malachi Ritscher, from whose archives The Bottle Tapes: Selections from the Empty Bottle Jazz & Improvised Music Series (1996-2005) is drawn. Over the course of six CDs, arranged in chronological sequence, the box set revels in the span of the music presented at the Bottle, from the hardest blown free jazz to microscopic free improvisation and other kinds of experimental music. The lineup incorporates nearly 100 international musicians, including Peter Brötzmann (who formed his Chicago Tentet at the Empty Bottle in 1997), Milford Graves (performing solo), a Bobby Bradford quartet with Fred Anderson, Hamid Drake and Wadada Leo Smith, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble, the Dutch bands Available Jelly and Clusone 3, Von Freeman in his only performance with Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink, Jim O'Rourke duetting with Cor Fuhler, Mats Gustafsson and Thurston Moore in their first face-off, Chicago Underground Quartet, Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet, and much more. The package comes with a lavishly illustrated 64-page book, loaded with never-published photos and vintage ephemera, including Dan Grzeca's beautiful posters, as well as an in-depth essay by Corbett, with play-by-play notes on the music. Also featuring Willie Pickens, Wilbur Campbell, Ron Dewar, Joshua Abrams, Robert Barry, Alexander Schlippenbach Trio, François Houle, In Zenith, Fred Anderson, Kent Kessler, Hamid Drake, Mars Williams, Misha Mengelberg, Aaly Trio, Dkv Trio, Irene Schweizer, Evan Parker, Ned Rothenberg, André Jaume, Floros Floridis, Peter Kowald, Günter Sommer, John Butcher, Kevin Drumm, Holz Für Europa, Joe Mcphee, Philipp Wachsmann, Daniele D'agaro Quartet, Erik Friedlander, and the Anthony Coleman Quartet.

2025 restock. 12th volume in the BYG Actuel series; 180 gram vinyl. "Super-session recorded in Paris on August 17, 1969. Alan Silva collected here many of the top free jazz players of the time, an incredible 11-piece ensemble featuring, among others, Grachan Moncur III, Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, Dave Burrell, Leroy Jenkins, and Malachi Favors. As a result, this is a very free record and a historical document of Pan-African high art music. Two tracks."

2025 restock; deluxe double LP version, in a beautiful gatefold sleeve. This is the fifth release in Honest Jon's series of albums exploring vintage recordings held in the EMI Hayes Archive. This album uncovers the dizzy beginnings of the golden age of African music zinging with the social and political ferment of the independence movement and anti-colonialism, after the Second World War and the daredevil origins of Congolese rumba -- the entire continent's most popular music in the '60s and '70s. The new music grew in concert with a burgeoning night life especially in the twin capitals of Leopoldville (today's Kinshasa) on the Belgian side, and Brazzaville on the French, where humming factories lured increasing numbers of rural Congolese with the offer of a steady, relatively well-paying job. The astonishing inventions of Europe and America also played an important role in the music's development. Traditional Congolese musicians began to master imported guitars and horns by mimicking what they heard. The jazz of Louis Armstrong and the ballads of European torch singers like Tino Rossi captured the imagination of the rapidly-expanding working class as well as the familiar-sounding music of Latin America. Local musicians swapped the Spanish of the originals for Congolese languages. In his version of "Peanut Vendor," included here, A.H. Depala replaces the seller's cry of "mani," or "peanut," with a lovelorn lament for a woman named "Moni." Depala went on to land a spot in the house-band of the prestigious Loningisa studio. Others failed to gain equivalent recognition, but their music was no less impressive. Listen to likembe (thumb-piano) player Boniface Koufidilia as he makes the transition from traditional to modern in the first few seconds of "Bino," which hits you with a vamping violin while he muses about death (including that of the popular Brazzaville musician Paul Kamba). Andre Denis and Albert Bongu both echo the sounds of palm-wine brought to the Belgian Congo by the coastmen. The sweet vocal harmonies of Vincent Kuli's track were learned, perhaps, in a mission church. Rene Mbu's nimble, likembe-like guitar plucking shines on "Boma Limbala," and is Laurent Lomande using a banjo as a backdrop to "Elisa?" Aren't those kazoos, buzzing along on Jean Mpia's "Tika?" It's as if the musicians, fired up by the times in their zeal for experimental self-expression, tossed into a bottle some new elements and some old, some near and some far, and then shook it hard, to see what would happen. With insert featuring rare photographs and notes by Gary Stewart, author of Rumba On The River. Sound restoration done at Abbey Road.

A note from Lawrence English: "Even without visiting a place, we often think we know it. It's a syndrome of the modern age. The world is right before us, on screen, summarized and sensorially curated into a particular vision that casts light across 'just so much' of an impression of a place and a time. In some ways, I realized this phenomenon most strongly when I visited Antarctica in the summer of 2010. In my mind's ear (and eye) certain features of that place were front and center -- imagined, as to be real. The stark color schematic, the full spectrum dynamics of life (and death), the distance from wider humanity and the uniqueness of climate formed a collaged pre-conception of the ice continent... The recordings here speak to the everyday of our incursions into Antarctica. They are not exceptional, or unique, in that they unfold across much of the continent's camps and bases moment to moment, depending on the season and location of course. What they do highlight is the confluence of environments, materials, climate, and life that all clamber together in these shifting plains of ice, rock, and water. While not exactly intentional, the way this work played out is largely in three chapters, the human, the land and the water. Each of these intersect and fall into one another of course, but they also exist with a sense of being discrete. Whilst the characters might be shared across these zones of entanglement, the stories they tell into are often unfolding in parallel, rather than in sequence... To me these recordings capture the duality of a place like Antarctica. They are a seasonal glimpse into the lived experience of the wildlife and humans that persist in this environment. They also reflect upon the objects and things that comprise this place. The recordings catch the uneasy murmurs of eroding ice plates, the trickling conversations of high summer streams, the clicking echolocations of Orcas, the barked disputes of territorial Antarctic Fur Seals, and the chirping of penguin chicks racing to shed their downy coats and find their way to the relative security of the ocean before the winter sets in. They also capture the feverish rush of researchers, military personal, and station workers as they prepare for the long, frigid months ahead during which time they are effectively disconnected from the remainder of the planet. These moments exist in urgency, the summer's sweet caress is fleeting and the winter knows no forgiveness."

2025 repress. Holy grail of US roots reggae released in 1979. Old-style tip-on sleeve replicating the original sleeve. More Relation started in 1977 in New York as a backup band for reggae artists such as Melodians, Larry Marshall, Carlton Coffee, and Ken Booth. They released many now sought-after singles and one self-titled album.

"46 years after I first heard Stare Kits on a cassette, they finally have an LP. About time! This NYC quartet's name often comes up in discussions of the No Wave era, which make sense. The members -- Angela Jaeger, Amy Rigby, Michael McMahon, and Bob Gurevics -- were all fans of the scene, and involved with various aspects of TR3, one of No Wave's pre-eminent showcases. UT played their first gig opening for Stare Kits. Rick Brown (Blinding Headache, Information, etc.) played guest sax with them. Julia Gorton used Amy as a photo model almost as often as she used Lydia Lunch, and so on. But despite such connections they were not a No Wave band. Stare Kits's music certainly use instrumental elements in line with No Wave's ethos, but these're part of a much larger mix. The band's basic approach is much rockier and punkier. Bob's guitar parts are more in the tradition of Quine and Reed than they are Lydian, the McMahon/Rigby's rhythm section is more primitive than martial, and Angela's vocals are goddamn melodic. Closer musical comparisons might be made to a various aspects of UK bands from Penetration to Wire to Deaf School to X-Ray Spex. There's a soupçon of a '79 UK DIY rattle to some of the tunes as well. But there is an ineffable something lurking in their collective soul that keeps Stare Kits's instrumental sound grounded in the NYC art-punk/street-rock continuum. Angela's vocals may resemble Penelope Houston's at moments but there's not much overt political content in Stare Kits's lyrics. An eclectic mix of elements? Yeah, and it sounds fucking great. The saga of Stare Kits was laid out pretty well in Angela's excellent book, I Feel Famous (Hat & Beard Press 2025) and was also part of Amy McMahon's equally dandy Girl to City (Southern Domestic 2019). Now's your chance to hear what their hubbub was all about." --Byron Coley, 2025

LP version. Alongside Joy Division, The Durutti Column were amongst the first artists to be released by Factory Records. Their debut album, produced by Martin Hannett, showcased the filigree guitar work of Vini Reilly, awash with reverb and early experiments with synthesizers. It would be a first album of a five-decade career, in which The Durutti Column would quietly emerge as one of the most influential acts from the Manchester scene and beyond. To celebrate the album's 45th anniversary, London Records revisits the album with new editions, with audio sourced and remastered from the original tapes for the first time since 1980, with vinyl cut at half speed. LP version includes restored "second edition" artwork with textured sleeve. Liner notes by The Durutti Column/Factory Records expert James Nice.

WRWTFWW Records presents the limited-edition vinyl reissue of Natural Sonic, the groundbreaking 1990 environmental percussion album by Japanese composer and performer Yoshiaki Ochi. Long a hidden gem of the kankyō ongaku movement, Natural Sonic finally returns in its full analog glory, housed in a heavyweight sleeve with obi and carefully remastered from the original archives of Wacoal Art Center/Spiral's visionary NEWSIC label. Originally released only in Japan at the dawn of the 1990s, Natural Sonic is a mesmerizing exploration of earthly sound and rhythm -- a sonic tapestry woven from wood, water, and stone, and skin. Ochi, who at the time was the in-house composer and performer for world-renowned designer Issey Miyake, created a series of elemental pieces that blur the line between avant-garde percussion, ritual music, and environmental sound art. The result is both deeply physical and profoundly meditative -- an album that breathes with nature itself. Echoing the organic minimalism of Midori Takada's Through the Looking Glass and the ecological grandeur of Geinoh Yamashirogumi's Ecophony Gaia, Ochi's compositions open portals into primal landscapes, evoking forests, rivers, and stones in flux. Part of NEWSIC's celebrated experimental catalog -- alongside Yoshio Ojima's Une Collection des Chaînons, Motohiko Hamase's #Notes of Forestry, and Satsuki Shibano's Rendez-Vous -- Natural Sonic now finds new life for contemporary listeners seeking sound that feels both timeless and vital. A singular album of resonance and restraint, Natural Sonic is a treasure from the golden age of Japanese environmental music, finally available again over three decades later.

"On Beacon Hill: at twilight we find Anthony Moore, roots winding backwards to the halcyon days of Slapp Happy and the '70s progressive art rock scene, at guitar and piano. With the atmospheres and accompaniments of AKA & Friends, he breathes infernal new life into songs from his six decades of multivarious music making. This new delivery system is unto a séance, a communal incantation, twining Anthony's avant and pop traditions together in a darkly radiant coil of folky chamber music; a rope to lower the listener through cobwebs and murk, unveiling new life beneath Anthony's mad old lines. AKA are Anthony Moore, Keith Rodway and Amanda Thompson. A pagan family of sound worshipers hailing from that unholiest of all places: Hastings UK, home of Crowley and Turing. Like their sinister forbears in that infamous tradition, this latest trinity shares a passion for subverting pattern and number, factoring unlikely permutations arising from sea and horizon, greensward, the southerly aspect, and the planisphere as half-world. Their equatorial shore speaks of a planet of water and earth, fire and air. AKA's humble tools of choice for this endeavor are guitar, piano, organ, synthesizer and vocals. The Friends of AKA are Tullis Rennie, trombone and electronics; Olie Brice, double bass; Richard Moore, violin; and Haydn Ackerley, guitar. They too navigate the shoreline of the south coast, haunt the same taverns and regularly play together in whatever combinations fit the bill. Leaving the drums (and their drummer) at home to realize anew these dream-laden songs, AKA & Friends ensure that the notes fall around the beat and not on it, so as to define the pulse with absence. Anthony Moore with AKA & Friends manifest a sensuous post-devastation lounge act, seeking to re-invoke natural orders by naming -- rather than cursing -- the darkness in its many guises. Like final-phase Johnny Cash on a lost episode of Twin Peaks, Anthony's innate gravitas is a light through the surreal landscape, as the players combine themselves again and again, their efforts rising and falling in shared space. Their gothic jazz orchestra carves delicately through Anthony's songs, releasing the melodies and the melancholy to drift upward, like smoke against a sooty and scorched backdrop. Fantastic, prophetic journeys, dry eyed but deeply affected, through the shadow depths of Anthony Moore's mirror."

"Glyders been dreaming up this sound for ages -- over years, with different players, countless shows and many late nights at the tape machine. It's been a long ride to Forever -- but now that they've arrived, the vibe's lightning and the blink of an eye. Guitarist/vocalist Joshua Condon and bassist Eliza Weber started up in 2014, but even when they put together their 2023 album debut, Maria's Hunt, they still had a revolving door on the drums. Then they met Joe Seger, who fit on the kit like a glove and in their sound like a brother. Since then, the three have ridden together, building up Forever while playing shows all around the US and Europe. This makes Forever's spirit high and tight, its sinews rumbling with communal joy. The song nugs of Forever sprouted branches and spokes on the road, the increased physicality driving their mellow licks and riffs with a great depth of rolling bottom, its groove taking them further into their own thing. After all this time, the streamlined new chassis feels mighty fine, making this the first real band album for Glyders. These sweet tunes punctuate and emphasize the wind and rain in the hair of Forever's driving jams. Glyders like to keep shuffling the deck. Taped at their own Studio 'G' in Chicago's Humboldt Park, with Josh getting the sounds they like, then mixed by Cooper Crain at Sweat Loge Studios down in Pilsen, Forever is super rich, crackling with the raw details of real life. The title comes from a battle cry within the band, something they hear at shows too. Eliza's amazing art emphasizes this for life credo, mixing classic roots with punk collage style drawn from years of flyers. It's like a family/club vibe, the kind of thing you get tattooed into your skin. Forever lands smooth, its lightning-quick 37 minutes leaving you plenty of time to live. Flip it over and let it go again, then!"

Syncretic marks the debut full-length from Australian duo Bhairavi Raman, a Western and Carnatic violinist, and Nanthesh Sivarajah, a mridangam player and versatile percussionist. Both artists share a Tamil heritage, a current that hums across the album. Raman, from South India, and Sivarajah, from Sri Lanka, draw lines that connect Western practice and Carnatic tradition. This hybrid is central to Raman's approach as a violinist, an instrument itself caught between East and West since the late 18th century. Her playing folds history, lineage and experimentation into music that acknowledges inheritance while gently rewiring its circuitry. Expanding on traditional music can be a precarious practice, but Syncretic never feels heavy-handed. Raman and Sivarajah exercise measured restraint, letting the Carnatic framework breathe even as it is refracted through contemporary tools. Delays, looping, subtle layering and synthesized harmonies tilt tradition into a new light without disguising it. Even within a contemporary framework, Raman's rigorous Carnatic training under gurus Sri S. Varadarajan (India), Sri Murali Kumar (Australia) and Sri Gopinath Iyer (Australia) is unmistakable. She captures the spiritual and emotional essence of each raga: on "Seven," the playful raga Bahudari becomes both centerpiece and conduit, while on the traditional piece "Thunbam Nergayil," drawn from a Tamil poem, listeners hear a deeply personal iteration, a weeping euphony of mixed emotions hitting all at once. Tradition here is absorbed, expanded and reframed. Sivarajah's command of the mridangam, honed by his gurus Sri Jambunathan (Sri Lanka), Sri Balasri Rasiah (Australia) and Sri T. R. Sundaresan (India), is central to his original composition "Guardian." He sustains tradition while extending it through layering and sound-spatialization. The mridangam here functions as both a structural and ornamental force, mapping continuity between inherited form and contemporary sonic architecture. Syncretic resonates as a space where Tamil heritage, diasporic memory and contemporary practice coalesce. Culture, like sound, circulates, transforms and persists. Tradition is not an archive but living material, a soundworld that lingers in the ears and the imagination.

"Shutaro Noguchi didn't set out to make a farewell album, but On the Run captures a moment of profound change. Recorded just weeks before moving back to Japan after 20 formative years in America (spent primarily Louisville, Kentucky), the album reflects a life in motion -- rooted in memories, yet reaching toward the unknown. In Louisville, Noguchi had built a creative home with a tight-knit crew, crafting beloved records that ranged from the country-rock swagger of Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band to the mutant grooves of Equipment Pointed Ankh. Meanwhile, he released compelling solo work, including the full-band psych rock gem Love Super Terranean on Feeding Tube Records. With On the Run, Noguchi joins The Roadhouse Band once more for a searching, expressive collaboration -- an album made at a threshold between past and future. The opening track "Olympic 3.5" begins with Noguchi in solitary introspection: "Now the wind is blowing / It's passing me by -- I'm getting a little too used to watching this sunset." He's soon joined by the syncopated rhythms and lilting synths of The Roadhouse camp, constructing a warped odyssey that intertwines the cosmic spirit of Gong with the melodic, pop-driven abstraction of Ryuichi Sakamoto. Noguchi returns with Wyatt-esque wordless vocalizations before the song spirals into a dark, abstract descent. Jazz-tinged numbers like "Apocalypse/Calendar" and "River Dagger" highlight Noguchi's singular compositional voice. His relaxed vocals float over otherworldly arrangements, while "Drive My Cape Cod" -- a voice memo captured during a long car ride and completed in the studio -- offers a candid glimpse into his melodic daydreaming, in a move reminiscent of Maher Shalal Hash Baz, where casual, unpolished moments reveal deeper emotion. Some tracks lean into groovier, more danceable territory, with production touches that echo Japanese contemporaries like Shintaro Sakamoto, Fishmans, Cornelius, etc. "Melody" pairs a nostalgic City Pop feel with the band's forward-thinking sound. The bubbly rhythm of "Time With You" feels almost weightless beneath the album's perhaps only guitar solo, played, oddly enough, not by guitar wiz Noguchi himself but by bandmate Ryan Davis. Amid the breezy lightness, he accepts the chaos of an uncertain future: "It's beginning to change / The time of the world / Eventually we'll see it." Noguchi's reflections on uncertainty are deeply relatable and bittersweet -- especially in this moment. With On the Run, Shutaro Noguchi and The Roadhouse Band show us how they face the unknown -- together, embracing uncertainty with both resilience and camaraderie." -- Kryssi Battalene, 2025

LP version. On "Cold Sweat," James Brown famously called to "give the drummer some." In 1974, Philadelphia vibraphonist Khan Jamal called to Give the Vibes Some, with superb results. Pianist and composer Jef Gilson's PALM label gave Jamal the platform he needed to deliver a thorough exploration of contemporary vibraphone. After launching PALM in 1973, Gilson quickly demonstrated that he would only produce records not found anywhere else. Give the Vibes Some, PALM number 10, was another confirmation of this guiding principle. Raised and based in Philadelphia, Khan Jamal took up the vibes in 1968, after two years in the army during which he was stationed in France and Germany. Decisively drawn to the instrument by the work of the Modern Jazz Quartet's Milt Jackson, Jamal studied under Philadelphia vibraphone legend Bill Lewis and soon made his debuts in the local underground. Early in 1972, Jamal made his first recording, with the Sounds of Liberation. The band attempted an original fusion of conga-heavy grooves with avant-garde jazz soloing. Saxophonist Byard Lancaster, an important figure in Jamal's development, contributed much of the solo work. Later in 1972, Jamal made his leader debut with Drum Dance to the Motherland, a reverb-drenched, never-to-be-replicated experiment with live sound processing. Both albums appeared on the tiny musician-run Dogtown label. "We couldn't get no play from nowhere. No gigs or recording sessions or anything. So I took off for Paris," Jamal recalled in a Cadence interview with Ken Weiss. "Within a few weeks, I had a few articles and I did a record date. It didn't make me feel good about America." That was in 1974, while Byard Lancaster was recording the music gathered on Souffle Continu's The Complete PALM Recordings, 1973-1974. Jamal's record date delivered Give the Vibes Some. At its core, it was an exploratory solo vibraphone album, even if two tracks added (through technological resourcefulness?) a très célèbre French drummer very much into Elvin Jones appearing under pseudonym for contractual reasons. Another track, for which Jamal switched to the vibes's wooden ancestor, the marimba, added young Texan trumpeter Clint Jackson III. The most notable article published on Jamal during this stay in France was a Jazz Magazine interview. Jamal's last word there were "The Creator has a master plan/drum dance to the motherland." "Give the vibes some" could be added to this programmatic statement.

LP version. Uzed is the fourth album by Belgian band Univers Zero. It was released three years after Ceux du Dehors, due to a change in line-up and a new repertoire, although the EP Crawling Wind had been released in the meantime. The album marked a turning point for the band. Univers Zero explored new electric colors, giving it a more rock feel with the addition of new musicians such as Jean-Luc Plouvier, who introduced the synthesizer, guitarist Michel Delory, who played a memorable solo in "Célesta (For Chantal)," and André Mergen on electric cello and alto saxophone, who enriched the orchestral texture. With Dirk Descheemaeker on clarinet and soprano saxophone and the return of Christian Genet on bass, this evolution can also be explained by the arrival of new musicians. Uzed is entirely composed and arranged by Daniel Denis. The recording and mixing were done at Daylight Studio in Brussels in 1984, but to bring out Uzed, the sound had to be improved by giving it more dynamic range, which was done at ICP Studios in 2024. Univers Zero represents one of the longest-living bands in Belgium. It was established in 1974. Drummer Daniel Denis had the brilliant idea to gather together a team of professionals sharing the same taste for music. The band has adopted an instrumental progressive style. Over the last couple of decades, the band has also implemented a series of influences from chamber music -- most commonly, chamber music from the 20th century. Even if the line-up changes a lot over the years, the overall sound of UZ remained fairly consistent.

DVD is NTSC format, region-free. Never released before. In 2009, the Triton venue (near Paris, France) was sold out to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Univers Zéro, an iconic band of the Rock In Opposition movement. These two exceptional concerts highlighted a radical and unique style of music, at the crossroads of new music and chamber rock, skillfully blending acoustic and electric instruments, as heard on the cult album Ceux du Dehors. Around Daniel Denis (drums, composition), Michel Berckmans (oboe, bassoon), and Andy Kirk (keyboards and guitar), three historical figures of the group, complemented by four other talented musicians, offered an intense multimedia show, intertwining a condensed version of key pieces from the repertoire with more recent compositions. These concerts were part of a key phase in which the band offered one of its most-accomplished line-ups, taking the opportunity to establish its sound and image. The line-up had undergone a few changes since its reformation in 2004, with Pierre Chevalier (from the band Présent) and a new bassist joining the ensemble. This highlight has now resulted in the release of a live CD/DVD, a precious testimony to the band's artistic resurgence and stage energy.

Prolific South East London guitarist and songwriter Alpha Maid presents her album Is this a queue. Beginning from a sense of frustration at the predictable and boring narratives and systems of the world, and the feeling that such rules were the rules of the universe, Alpha Maid formed an interest in particle physics. "We only know 4% of the universe, there is hope in that and the unknown 96%. I found excitement and wonder in that. The theories I was reading about relied more on the conditions of the present moment, and it made the idea of living in the moment feel more accessible. It started to be possible to see present time from all these different angles, and to have infinite more options to choose where to be next." Written across many years and different places, the LP documents a journey and the people Alpha Maid met while moving around, collating moments of the present. Her guitar remains a constant amongst an array of sonic influences throughout: from dub which honors her Jamaican heritage and the Windrush Generation, to the twinges of an emo love song in "On Smoke." Is this a queue revels in the magic of that which people cannot see and coherently understand, and the narratives that have been shrunk down to fit. Remembering, continuing, forgetting, paying attention, building, navigating, contributing, time. Alpha Maid (aka Leisha Thomas) is a guitarist, vocalist, and producer from South London. Her debut EP Spy (2019) was released by the collective/label CURL. She continues to collaborate in various forms with fellow members such as Coby Sey and Mica Levi. Alpha Maid's debut vinyl release Chuckle EP (2021) was released on the C.A.N.V.A.S. collective/label, and garnered significant critical attention. In spring 2023 Alpha Maid teamed up with Mica Levi to self-release their joint EP spresso. Featuring Leo Hermitt, Valentina Magaletti, Ben Vince, and Coby Sey.

Aguirre edition: Mastered by Helge Sten, Audio Virus, Oslo. Lacquers by Dubplates & Mastering. Liner Notes by Theaster Gates. LPs pressed on premium audiophile-quality vinyl at Pallas Records. Rich in musical associations yet utterly singular in its voice, joyous with an inner tranquility, the music of Natural Information Society is unlike any other being made today. Their sixth album in eleven years for eremite records, descension (Out of Our Constrictions) is the first to be recorded live, featuring a set from London's Cafe OTO with veteran English free-improv great Evan Parker, & the first to feature just one extended composition. The 75-minute performance, inspired by the galvanizing presence of Parker, is a sustained bacchanalia of collective ecstasy. You could call it their party album.

This was the second time Parker played with NIS. Joshua Abrams: "Both times we played compositions with Evan in mind. I don't tell Evan anything. He's a free agent."

The music is focused & malleable, energized & even-keeled, drawing on concepts of ensemble playing common to musics from many locations & eras without any one specific aesthetic realization completely defining it.

"The rhythms that Mikel plays are not an exact reference to Chicago house, but that's in there," Abrams says. "I like to take a cyclic view of music history, can we take that four-on-the-floor, & consider how it connects to swing-era music? Can we articulate a through line? I dee-jayed for years in Chicago & lessons I learned from playing records for dancing inform how I think about the group's music. The listener can make connections to aspects of soul music, electronic music, minimalism, traditional folk musics, & other musics of the diaspora as well. It's about these aspects coming together. I don't need to mimic something, I need to embody it to get to the spirit, to get to the living thing."

For jazz fans, the sound of Parker's soprano & Jason Stein's bass clarinet might evoke Coltrane & Dolphy, even though they didn't necessarily set out to do that & they play with complete individuality. Abrams sees a bridge to the historical precedent, too. "Since we first met in the 1990s, one of the things that Evan and I connected on was Coltrane's music," he says. "I hoped that we would tap into that sound world intuitively. In this case, I think that level of evocation adds another layer of depth, versus a layer of reference."

Indeed, this is a performance in which the connections among the ensemble & the creative tension between improvisation and composition build into a complex mesh of associations & interactions. While the band confines itself to the territory mapped out by Abrams' composition, they are remarkably attentive & responsive, making adjustments to Parker's improvisations. When Parker's intricate patterns of notes interweave with the band, the parts reinforce one another & the music rockets upward. Sometimes, Parker's lines are cradled by the group's gentle pulse & an unearthly lyrical balance is struck.

Drummer Mikel Patrick Avery is locked-in, playing with hellacious long-form discipline, feel & responsiveness. Jason Stein's animated, vocalized bass clarinet weaves in & out with Lisa Alvarado's harmonium to state the piece's thematic material; the pulsing tremolo on the harmonium brings a Spacemen 3 vibe to the party. Abrams ties together melody & rhythm on guimbri, a presence that leads without seeming to. Like his bandmates, he shifts modes of playing frequently, improvising & then returning to the composed structure.

"As specific as the composition is, the goal is to internalize it & mix it up," Abrams says. "The idea is to get so comfortable that we can make spontaneous changes, find new routes of activity, stasis & byways every gig. It's like a web we're spinning. If someone makes a move, we all aim to be aware of it, make room for it. Experiencing & listening is what it's about, & Evan supercharges that."

& "supercharged" is the word for this album. With Parker further opening up their music, descension (Out of Our Constrictions) is the sound of Natural Information Society growing both more disciplined and freer, one of the great bands of its time on a deep run.

"The Adolescents' Welcome To Reality on coke bottle colored vinyl."

LP version. Yawning Man return to the studio with founding members Gary Arce and Mario Lalli with Bill Stinson. The new album on Heavy Psych Sounds Records Pavement Ends marks Arce and Lalli returning to a collaboration off the beaten path on some of the band's darkest and heaviest themes. Drenched in sonic tension and release, bleak and beautiful. The first track released titled "Bomba Negra" digs deep in the emotional undertow of Yawning Man's unique approach to rock music. The cover painting is the band's first collaboration with Joshua Tree artist Diane Bennett. Recorded at Gatos Trail Studios by Dan Joeright. Mixed and co-produced by Mike Shear. Cover Art by Diane Bennett.

Gospel melts into soul in this dazzling collection of sides originally released by the Chess subsidiary label Checker. Devised by the same team supporting the likes of Muddy Waters and Etta James at Chess, the vintage of Checker Gospel celebrated here is distinguished by its expertly raw, rugged, live feel -- thumping bass and pounding drums, bluesy guitar and horns -- and its keen engagement with contemporary realities and politics, with an underlying, unwavering commitment to the Civil Rights movement. Key architects of the Chicago Sound and Motown are amongst the scores of contributors: Charles Stepney, Gene Barge, Eddie Kendricks, and Leonard Caston Jr. are in the house; Morris Jennings, drummer on Curtis' "Superfly" and Terry Callier's "What Color Is Love." Louis Satterfield from The Pharaohs and Earth Wind & Fire. Ramsey Lewis' guitarist Byron Gregory; Phil Upchurch; Laura Lee; a protege of Willie Dixon; engineer Malcolm Chisholm set up the Ter Mar studio as if preparing for a live gig, carefully teasing measures of bleed into the microphones. With Ralph Bass from King Records running A&R, they knew exactly what they were after. Focused on the late sixties and early seventies, the twenty-five recordings here are all killer no filler, but try these four, random entry points: the heavy funk ostinato of the Violinaires' "Groovin' With Jesus," working itself up into a post-James-Brown brass frenzy, sure to knock your socks off; Cleo Jackson Randle's title track, for those who like their Gospel straight-up and hard-core; Eddie Kendricks' achingly timely choral call-to-arms, "Stand Up America, Don't Be Afraid"; the East St Louis Gospelettes' heart-stopping, fathoms-deep rendition of Bobby Bland's "I'll Take Care Of You." A beautiful gatefold sleeve; a full-color booklet with excellent notes by Robert Marovich; top-notch sound. Another knockout selection by Greg Belson and David Hill. Also featuring The Meditation Singers, Charlie Brown, Martha Bass, The Williams Singers, The Faithful Wonders, The Salem Travelers, Power And Light Choral Ensemble, The Masonic Wonders, The Majestic Choir & The Soul Stirrers, The Jordan Singers, Lucy Rodgers, The Kindly Shepherds, The Inspirational Singers, The Bells Of Joy, and Stevie Hawkins.

Gatefold sleeve, superior pressing. Includes full-size, sixteen-page booklet, in color throughout, with detailed, bi-lingual notes and stunning photographs. "Since the 16th century, the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas has been home to a unique Afro-Indigenous culture originating in the integration of the Indigenous Chachi and Nigua peoples with African Maroon communities. Juyungo documents significant Esmeraldan artists and bands playing the Afro-Ecuadorian folklore of the province, as well as including some older field recordings. Based mostly on the marimba, whose origins lie partly in the African balafon, partly in Indigenous percussion instruments, the music is laced with call and response chants, ambient insect and bird noise, the filigree finger-styles of the Andean guitar tradition and the panpipes of the mountains. This is resonant insider roots music at its headiest -- the mystic revelation of Esmeraldas, gully deep and lustral." --Francis Gooding, The Wire

LP version. Swiss saxophonist Gilles Torrent, perhaps known from the Spiritual Jazz collection A Tribute to 'Trane, leads the way with his new album Buleria; a mesmerizing set of modal jazz pieces that will speak directly to any listener who has felt the other-worldly depths of John Coltrane. The album is comprised of Torrent originals and explorations of Coltrane standards. It reaches for something beyond the mundane, and blends complex harmonic structures with raw, improvisational energy. The Torrent original, "Danse Tropical," opens the set with a contemplative tone. Led by a sax that pulls the listener through a maze of scales and modes, the rhythm section remains steady, creating a grounding space for exploration. "Quannassa" drives the energy forward, and the band moves seamlessly through shifting tensions as Torrent's saxophone searches for answers within a pantheon of harmonic structures. The standout track, "Buleria" is a daring 8-minute piece, with an evolving, meditative flamenco piece that showcases the saxophonist's raw improvisational skill, a spiritual journey that takes the listener to the windswept plains of Iberia. The quartet is a faithful tribute to classic modal jazz, with the interplay between piano, bass, and drums feeling natural and organic. They provide a harmonic foundation that encourages the saxophone to glide and soar, pushing into new emotional territory, going from tender and melodic to fiery and free. This interplay gives the album its distinctive feel -- while drawing from Coltrane's influence, it's clear the musicians are searching for something new, something personal.

Originally released in 1981, Mr. Circle's Thi Nam should really have been recognized decades ago as a jazz dance classic. A beautiful example of European jazz fusion at its most sophisticated and optimistic, the album is immersed in the sonics and rhythms of pan-Latin fusion and Brazilian samba, but with one foot in the upful jazz fusion exemplified by Roy Ayers or the Mighty Ryeders. Taking inspiration from Ursula Dudziak, Flora Purim, and Norma Winstone, singer Monika Linges uses the crystalline tone of her voice as an instrument within the ensemble. The LP is built around the interaction of her vocalizing with bandleader Mikesch van Grümmer's keyboard versatility, all underpinned by the surging Brazilian rhythms laid down by drummer Gerd Breuer and percussionist Ponda O'Bryan. The result is a unique set of sunlit, Brazilian-inspired jazz fusion. Aimed squarely at the feet throughout, the album kicks off with a double whammy: the funky title track, followed by the percussion-rich "Juntos." The long form "Suka" begins with a shimmering intro before taking flight halfway through into an urgent jazz samba with Linges' vocals to the fore. Featuring the vocals of Bill Ramsay, "Tides" is another driving jazz-dancer with a Brazilian twist, while the summery, propulsive "Schoch-Schach" features virtuosic interplay between Linges and alto saxophone.

A Milan-born multi-instrumentalist of Venetian heritage, Alberto Baldan Bembo was a gifted vibraphonist, organist, pianist, arranger, and composer whose work bridged jazz, pop, and film music. By the early 1960s, he was performing with Italy's leading ensembles, including I Menestrelli del Jazz and Bruno De Filippi's group, and soon became an in-demand session musician. For several years, he toured with the legendary Mina, providing the piano and organ backbone to her live shows -- a role that sharpened the cinematic sensibility and refined musicianship that would later define his soundtrack work. In the years to come, he would be celebrated for his scores to films such as L'Amica Di Mia Madre (1975) and Lingua Argento (1976), earning a place alongside Piero Umiliani, Alessandro Alessandroni, Berto Pisano, and other luminaries of Italy's golden age of soundtrack and library music. Io E Mara is the soundtrack to a film that was never made. Originally released on the CGD label in 1969, this debut album from the brilliant Maestro Baldan Bembo is a sophisticated concept-album tracing 24 hours in the life of two young lovers. Told entirely through music, the record unfolds as a continuous suite of ten tracks, where cinematic lounge, bossa, and jazz flavors mingle to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Baldan Bembo's signature piano and organ are masterfully complemented by Mara's ethereal vocals, while immersive soundscapes of crashing waves, seagulls, and rain showers enhance the feeling of a deeply personal and intimate journey. A cast of exceptional musicians brings this vision to life, including Bruno De Filippi on electric guitar and sitar, Carlo Milano on electric bass, Rolando Ceragioli on drums, and Pasquale Liguori on sound effects. This singular work not only showcases the burgeoning talent of a future soundtrack master but also features the original pop art front cover by Italian cult illustrator Guido Crepax.

Max Graef turns his attention back to his universally adored debut, Rivers of the Red Planet, and offers up an exclusive gatefold edition on marbled vinyl with new versions and unreleased gems. As such, on revisiting Rivers of the Red Planet for this Anniversary Edition, Graef decided to go beyond the basic repackaging and demo offcuts to deliver something meaningful that marks the passing of time and offers a fascinating answer to the sort of "what-ifs" so many fans of the album will have pondered. The new versions of key album tracks are as fascinating for the similarities as the differences, still bursting with the expressive flair of a versatile beat maker while comfortably leaning into a richer variety of moods and grooves. "Running (Ancient Mix)" is a downtempo dancehall-tinged dream that repositions Wayne Snow's wistful vocal in a street soul reverie replete with '90s RnB MIDI-harp. "Superswiss (Atmosphere Mix)" leans on plastic slap bass and deliciously dubbed out sax woven through a laconic beat for the ages -- the consummate lysergic swirl of chill out with teeth. "Itzehoe (World House Mix)" gets into a subheavy, spring-loaded new jack swing funk, like Jam & Lewis meeting Smith & Mighty downtown and stopping by the juice bar for a quick hit of freshness. "Jazz 104 (Acid Mix)" turns the heat up on busy, bustling breaks and bass licks that positively spring forth from the mix with a clarity and purpose that speaks to the progression in Graef's craft over the past decade.

Double LP version. Following the skewed-unself-help-brilliance of Sus Dog (which marked his first full foray into songs, abetted by Thom Yorke), and its companion piece Cave Dog, Chris Clark returns to the dancefloor's simple, but no less affecting pleasures, with Steep Stims. Steep Stims marks a back-to-basics approach, invoking the early years of gung-ho creativity enforced by limitations in technology at the time. Made quickly, Steep Stims reflects the immediate rave energy of his live show, but that's not to say it's basic floor fodder, as it's rife with personality, synth magic, and knack for melody. Although swift and impressionistically captured rather than labored over, it's still formidably deft, with plenty of oddball weirdness lurking beneath the dancefloor. Soft, orange, scorched, brutal, the opening track "Gift and Wound" captures the classic dance music dread/awe/euphoria combo perfectly, before "Infinite Roller" merges sparkly-minimalism with snarling bass and soft sines, which turn more-dense and metallic as it progresses. The melancholic smoke belch of "No Pills U" gives strong classic vibrations, which is belied by its creation, made in just 20 minutes. Drumless, yet still full of exhilarating-big-trance-drama, "Who Booed The Goose" flashes by in stroboscopic fast forward, then "5 Millionth Cave Painting" gives a palate cleanser, letting "the virus with its delicious broken, luxurious reverb have a moment," before "Negation Loop" swoops down in all its glory, with Clark's tweaked vocals leading deconstructed trance breakdowns, tape edits and brutal noisebursts. An antidote to the bombast of its predecessor is "Micro Lyf," which closes the set on a poignant note, of sorts. Muted staccato gives way to field recordings "that gradually put it in this outside space; alien in a meadow somewhere nameless. It feels like a sinkhole. The record kinda swallows itself up and then is gone", ends Chris.

2025 restock. "The album was produced by the band themselves, and issued in two different stereo mixes. The more widely distributed mix is the one done by MGM/Verve staff engineer Val Valentin. The other mix was done by Lou Reed, boosting his vocals and guitar solos, while reducing the level of other instruments. This version was dubbed the 'Closet Mix' by Sterling Morrison, because it sounded to him as if it had been recorded in a closet. The most dramatic difference is that the two versions use entirely different performances of 'Some Kinda Love', both taken from the same recording sessions."

Wewantsounds presents the release of Tokyo Funk Diva, a compilation highlighting the work of Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama, one of Japan's leading funk voices of the 1980s. Blending funk, boogie and soulful grooves, Penny brought a distinctive energy to Japan's music scene during the decade. Compiled by Nick Luscombe -- who previously curated Tokyo Dreaming for the label -- the set marks the first time Hitomi's music has been compiled outside of Japan. Featuring newly remastered tracks and liner notes by Luscombe, the release offers fresh context to Penny's work and its role in the evolution of Japanese funk and groove culture. Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama was one of the few female singers to fully embrace Japan's burgeoning funk and boogie movement of the 1980s. Born in Okinawa in 1957 and raised partly in California, she developed a cosmopolitan outlook that would shape her music. At a time when the country's pop scene was shifting toward slick, funk-oriented productions, Penny crafted a distinctive style that fused boogie, disco, and funk with her confident, soulful delivery. Her albums for Nippon Columbia recorded in the '80s capture this vibrant moment, combining sophisticated studio craft with the pulse of Tokyo's nightlife. The selection includes cult classics such as "Sexy Robot," "Love is the Competition," and "Instant Polaroid," with lesser-known gems such as "Exotic Yokogao" and "I Love You Shika Omoitsukanai." Together they showcase the singer's versatility, moving effortlessly between syncopated upbeat floorfillers and chilled mid-tempo grooves. While her music earned recognition at home, these releases were never widely available outside Japan and slowly became prized finds among DJs and collectors. Tokyo Funk Diva presents highlights from this catalogue for the first time in an international release. Compiled by broadcaster and tastemaker Nick Luscombe, the selection has been newly remastered and comes with Luscombe's liner notes, retracing Penny's career and her role in the evolution of Japanese boogie and disco. As he writes in the liner notes, "It's this deep musical craftsmanship -- both in the songwriting and performances -- that gives Penny Tohyama's work its lasting power. Her music feels as fresh and relevant today as it did when it was first released." With its mix of sharp production, irresistible rhythms, and Penny's unmistakable presence, Tokyo Funk Diva serves both as a long overdue introduction to one of Japan's original funk queens.

Something is brewing in the state of Norway! Kronstad 23 are the latest trailblazers from northern Scandinavia: a creative force exploring the boundaries of musical genres, including but not limited to: psych rock, jazz, post-rock and Scandinavian folk music. The group of young players follows the footsteps of Motorpsycho, Elephant9 and El Paraiso's own Lotus, Fra Det Onde and Kanaan, carving out their path through the musical landscape in seemingly effortless ways! One minute you're floating on cosmic Pharoah Sanders waters, the next you're ascending on electrified if-Tortoise-played-Allman Brothers-style jamming. The band describes their approach as: "Sommermørket is an escape from inhumane technology and politics in search of something that feels authentic. The music breathes in the little that is left of old air and rises slowly into the hazy summer twilight like brittle thoughts that try to connect and fade away." Kronstad 23 was formed in Kronstad, Bergen, Norway in the Autumn of 2023. As old friends and musical collaborators, they rekindled a creative spark that had been dormant for over 10 years. Rarely rehearsed and often caught on first take, Sommermørket was recorded live on tape in the studio of Keyboardist Øyvind Vie Berg in Bergen, Norway. The record captures three sessions across one year, from spring and late summer in 2024 to winter of 2025.

The latest album from Michael Cashmore (formerly of Current 93 plus known for his work as Nature and Organisation) collects ten pieces which, as with the previous album, Until the End of Vibration, released by Lumberton Trading Company, draw from that magical place where crepuscular and moody soundtrack work converges with the kind of synth lines Tangerine Dream made a name for themselves with. Along the way, there are piano-led melodic swells, a couple of surprisingly serrated edges and sparingly used percussion veering between the bombastic and more emotionally charged. Between each of the compositions, there's an overarching sense of sadness or resignation while carefully woven refrains point to the simple beauty one derives from staring at a night sky or the sun's rise or setting over a serene sea apparently untouched by man. Sophisticated yet unostentatious, this is music that's bold, minimal and utterly deserving of the attention of the film that will doubtlessly play out in your head as you lock yourself in to everything it promises.

The brilliantly named duo -- formed by Adam Morrow and Jamie Sego -- might be based in "the hit recording capital of the world," Muscle Shoals, Alabama, but somehow, they have made a concept album about the ancient religious outpost off the coast of northeast England. It's a stunning record that mixes fuzzy guitars with folk horror and fantastic melodies -- for fans of Ride, Slowdive, Galaxie 500, Talk Talk, Yo La Tengo and The Clientele. Despite its lyrical inspiration lying thousands of miles away, it comes imbued with the soulfulness of their surroundings -- not least because it was recorded in the old Muscle Shoals Sound studio by the Tennessee River, now Portside Sound, which is run by Jamie. "The story of Lindisfarne gave us a framework for what were otherwise very abstract ideas and emotions," explains Adam. "It became a way to make sense of our own moment in history. We really want our lives and societies to always get better, and to be left alone to make that happen. But we are stuck in these cycles of progress and regression, and I think most people are really driven to make sense of it and assign meaning. Lately, we've lived through a global pandemic, a devaluation of truth and reality, and a resurgence of far-right politics into the mainstream. Not really what I expected out of life in 2025." He is keen to point out that, despite the seriousness of its inspirations, the duo had a lot of fun making the album and really want it to be "a living and breathing thing". "We want people to be able to engage with it regardless of whether they care about it as a concept record," he says. "For me, it's just another reason to expand the pedalboard," concludes Jamie. "We hope you enjoy it. Peace, love and reverb from Alabama."