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It’s that time again when we look back on the past twelve months and wonder where they went.
To help recall, we have curated a playlist featuring notable artists with whom we collaborated throughout the year. The playlist link is available in our profile.

Poet and musician Anthony Joseph joined forces with visionary producer Dave Okumu for an electrifying Afrofuturist journey blending stories of lost names and forgotten histories with a blend of funk, dub, jazz, Afrobeat and soul.

Waldo’s Gift have already attained legendary status due to their regular improv sessions at my local venue, leaving listeners open-mouthed by trampling over the niceties of jazz and rock with gleeful maximalism. Malcolm’s Law is their long-awaited debut album and it was well worth waiting for.

The most important electronic music label to emerge from Bristol in the last two decades is without doubt, Tectonic and to celebrate their anniversary, founder Pinch has assembled alumni from across time to contribute new tracks to form an expansive 24 track collection. Among the artists who have contributed tracks to the release are Peverelist, Shed, Coki, 2562, Sophia Loizou, Appleblim, Flora Yin Wong and Pinch himself.

The vinyl resurgence blossomed in territories where the record-buying scene is still in its infancy for the new generation.We are very proud to have made new friends with themanufacturers championing vinyl culture in India, Colombia, Brazil and South Korea.

Wishing all you creatives out there a Happy Holiday and fruitful New Year 🎉🎅🏾🎄

🎛️🎚️🔊Want to start a career in mastering?

Check out these top tips from Grammy Award-winning mastering engineer Shawn Joseph, who is also the founder and director of @optimummastering.

Head to our YouTube channel to learn more about Shawn, Optimum Mastering and the importance of mastering engineers for the music industry.

#dbsinstitute #dbscommunity #bristol #masteringengineer #masteringengineering

Coming soon 🚀 @ben_o_blivion Hi! The debut Oblivion album ‘Diamond Dust’ is coming out on July 10th via @hoofbeatsmusic + @state51

It was recorded with two microphones on location in Bristol, with additional tracking at @axeandtrapstudios in Somerset and features the talents of these wonderful people:

@chrisaxe3 - Bass
@davecolebournsaxes - Clarinet & Saxophones
@conor.ross.harrington - Drums & Percussion
@petejudgemusic - Trumpet
@danmooremusic - Keyboards, Hammond, Synthesiser
@morgannoise - Cello
@harrietrileymusic - Marimba & Vibraphone

@ben_scott_turner - Mix
@shawn_optimum - Master
@myrnaquinonez - Artwork

If you’d like to preorder it please visit benoblivion.bandcamp.com to place an order and get 2 songs upfront. Physical release and gigs tbc.

RIYL Nels Cline, John Coltrane, Flying Saucer Attack, Chris Forsyth, Led Zeppelin, James Brandon Lewis & The Messthetics, Mission Of Burma, Augustus Pablo, Sly & Robbie, Talk Talk, Tortoise and William Tyler.

Thanks for reading/listening. Ben x

Via @batovrecords @kronstad23 return with Dødehavet, the Norwegian quartet’s third album and first release on Batov Records. Continuing their instinctive, analogue-led approach, the record sits between cinematic jazz and psychedelic rock, threaded with Scandinavian folk and wider global influences. Recorded live to tape with minimal preparation and no modern studio intervention, Dødehavet captures a band working on feel, interaction and momentum rather than polish or precision.

The group’s first two albums earned rave reviews from Record Collector, Prog Magazine and Sweden’s Lira, with Record Collector praising their “funky, atmospheric and understated” sound and describing the debut as “one of the warmest gatherings of instrumental jazz to be heard this year”. On Dødehavet, Kronstad23 lean more decisively towards groove and collective propulsion, expanding their palette without sacrificing the immediacy that defines their sound. While still largely recorded in single takes, the album is given added heat by contributions from saxophonists Håvar Skaugen and Inge Weatherhead Breistein.

Recorded with all four core musicians playing together in the same room, Dødehavet avoids sterile production in favour of a raw, direct sound. Tracks typically begin with a simple idea — a bassline, melody or chord sequence — before being allowed to unfold naturally through collective playing. Most pieces were captured in one or two takes using a 50-year-old mixing console and tape recorder, deliberately resisting contemporary studio techniques to preserve a timeless, lived-in character.

Kronstad 23’s Dødehavet pulses with live energy: hypnotic grooves, analogue warmth, and cinematic jazz-rock that grows with every listen.

FFO: Gábor Szabó, Amancio D’Silva, Mulatu Astatke, Soft Machine, Surprise Chef, Menahan Street Band, Ikebe Shakedown, El Michels Affair, The Sorcerers, Sababa 5, Ill Considered, Tommy Guerrero, Glass Beams.

Congratulations 🥂 @elderisland New Album ‘Hello Baby Okay’ Out Today!
For our fans, friends & family for all their support, encouragement and love

We’re incredibly excited to get this one out into the world! Coming from of a time of uncertainty we made a conscious decision to take time out to make this album. To nurture ourselves and our friendship to have the energy and freedom to make it playful, fun and joyous. We hope this album lifts you up, holds your hand and dances you round. From us to you with lots and lots of love. 
Katy, Dave and Luke x

Produced with @alichant in Playpen Bristol-Mixed by @niklas.lueger - Mastered by @shawn_optimum @optimummastering
Photo here by @kin40k ♡

Happy Release Day @slowemusic My second album, In Moments, is out everywhere 🧡

This album is a collection of moments of mine, fragments of feelings captured in time. Written in the thick of my late twenties, In Moments is a meditation on change: fearing it, needing it, and learning to let it shape me.

I wrote these songs to reckon with those all too familiar feelings of self-doubt, shifting & changing relationships, the search for purpose and life’s quiet joys, and the bittersweet privilege of time passing.

I share these moments with you now 🧡

Thank you to everyone who made this album possible; My treasured family and friends, the amazing @tru_thoughts team, and my incredible collaborators.

It takes a village🥹
@laurencefbmusic @alamaycombley @conor.ross.harrington @ethanmarkmusic @_samuelfox @jitsuto_ @alex_veitch_ @olimorrismusic @joesonar_ @john_foyle_@shawn_optimum @abbey.n.music @musicwithmatth

Cover photo by @sebjjp design and back cover by @loulou.maker

A high-energy stormer of a track to open their account ⚡️And people ask where are all the bands … 🥁@openreturnband Our debut single BLACKOUT is available now on all major streaming platforms!

Produced by @humm_studios
Mastered by @shawn_optimum at @optimummastering
Artwork by @quintsprints

Videography by @reygatemedia
Edited by @HalDimond

#OpenReturn#AltRock #NewMusic #MusicRelease #LinkInBio

@mesadorm Happy May Day!
Our new single Wet Socks is out today. Probably the heart of the album. Recorded at @invadarecords studios
Studio engineered and mixed by @timothy_james_allen
Mastered by @shawn_optimum at @optimummastering
Artwork by @dreamtaverna

Available on all streaming platforms, especially available to buy on mesadorm.BandCamp.com
If you would like us to keep making music 🤪

But you are gonna stream, then we encourage you to do so on @qobuz as a fairer and more artist friendly platform. Plus its much nicer to use and less war lordy!

Big hugs

Mesadorm x

Headline news from @ninawinderlind This is Our Life is out now! Big big day

Credits below

Nina Winder-Lind - pop guitar and vocals
Toma Sapir - drums and tiny glockenspiel
Ella Oona Russell -happy piano and BVs
Edward Deeney - perfect bass
Finlay Burrows - second in command guitar and endless solos

Produced by Jack Ogborne
Mastererd by @shawn_optimum

Single art by Hugo Winder-Lind and Nina Winder-Lind

The video was made by Nina Winder-Lind and Hugo-Winder-Lind. Also starring Ella Oona Russell, the sea, the sky, the wind and an anonymous godsent dog

Always a pleasure to work with the immensely talented @naomikimpenu So excited to announce my brand new single ‘Scared To Love Again’ co-written with legendary, Oscar winning lyricist Don Black. This song is a dream come true and I can’t wait for you all to hear it on May 1st. Pre save link in my bio!! 💕

Morning visit from the legendary @jackbessant of @reefband for something very special coming soon. Watch this space 👀🏄‍♂️🔈🔉🔊

Morning visit from the legendary @jackbessant of @reefband for something very special coming soon. Watch this space 👀🏄‍♂️🔈🔉🔊

The wait is almost over you lucky people • @slowemusic “Temporary (You’ll Be Gone) has landed. The 4th and final single before my ✨album✨drops in May.

Produced by me. Mixed by me and @joesonar_ who helped me get the mix to its sexiest and silkiest version. Guitar by the one & only @jitsuto_ , bass duties by @_samuelfox because duh! And of course the cherry on top, the delicious trumpet from the amazing @abbey.n.music “

📸Cover art photography by @sebjjp

@tru_thoughts