Back in stock: All genres

Review: There's certainly plenty to talk about here. British chart-topping and stadium-filling enigmas The 1975 return to prove you really can't predict what the troupe will do next, delivering what would be their most divisive and explorative album if it weren't for the fact they command so much loyalty from fans you could be forgiven for thinking dark forces were at play. 'Notes On A Conditional Form' is easily the furthest we've wandered from the formative years of a band that cut teeth doing teen-punk covers, and it's hard not to notice the subtle theme here. From 'Having No Head', which rides on a sharp house groove, through the garage breaks of 'Yeah I Know', low slung dub of 'Shiny Collarbone' and the shoegaze of 'Streaming', it plays out like a celebration of the breadth and diversity of UK pop culture.

Review: Three years after delivering a stunning debut album that cemented their position as this century's finest fusionists of Middle Eastern music and analogue electronic music, Acid Arab return with a sophomore set that's every bit as impressive. The basic ingredients remain the same - think Arabic vocals, instrumentation and percussion mixed with heavy drum machine rhythms, raw electronics and mind-altering TB-303 motifs - though the resultant tracks arguably draw on a wider range of electronic music influences. So as well as nods towards acid house and techno, the album also contains throbbing, dancefloor-centric workouts informed by EBM, Italo-disco, new wave, synth-pop and industrial. It's a subtle switch-up, but one wholly in keeping with the French quartet's distinctive vision.

Review: During the 1970s, composer and multi-instrumentalist Alessandro Alessandroni and Giovanni Tommaso were two of the most prolific contributors to SR Records, an Italian library music label whose releases are now sought after by collectors worldwide. Their 1972 joint album "Open Air Parade" has long been one of the imprint's most hard-to-find sets, with copies regularly changing hands online for four figure sums. As this reissue proves, it remains an entertaining and hugely enjoyable set that giddily flits between psychedelic rock, quirky soundtrack style compositions, cheeky jazz-funk and the kind of whistle-laden kitsch cuts that you could imagine providing backing music to a saucy Italian sex comedy.

Review: Alkaline Trio still stand strong as a complex band of punk rockers, known for their unusual blend of grunge, goth and punk rock elements. Their fourth album, and considered by many fans to be their best - Good Mourning - flaunts this talent, with the songs therein both energetic and emotional, spanning themes of love, death, addiction and despair. Despite the pop-punk flavour, there's a rawness in these classics that manages to poke through the melodic spectacle. Originally released in 2003, this reissued Deluxe Edition of the album features a limited gatefold 2x10" LP in a spot-varnished sleeve, as well as four bonus tracks that were not included on the original CD version.

Notes: The ZED-12FX is ideal for groups who need to travel light. Even with its small footprint, the 12FX squeezes in 4 auxiliary channels and swept semi-parametric EQ on top of the already impressive feature set including configurable USB audio in/out makes it easy to capture stereo recordings.

Getting audio to and from a computer easily is now a common requirement for live sound and music production. The way this has been implemented on ZED-12FX is super-flexible and super-easy. No longer do you need to fiddle around the back of your PC to get to the soundcard inputs, only to find that the levels are all wrong and noisy. Just plug in a USB lead to your ZED, select the USB routing on the mixer and the device on your computer and that's it.

USB AUDIO FLEXIBILITY
Getting audio to and from a computer easily is now a common requirement for live sound and music production. The way this has been implemented on ZED is super-flexible and super-easy! No longer do you need to fiddle around the back of your PC to get to the soundcard inputs, only to find that the levels are all wrong and noisy. Just plug in a USB lead to your ZED, select the USB routing on the mixer and the device on your computer and that's it! CD quality audio to and from your PC or Mac. Switches and connection through jack socket terminals provide different send/return configurations:-

SEND OPTIONS
1) Main Mix Left + Right (Post-fade)
2) Main Mix Left + Right (Pre-Fade)
3) Auxes 1-2
4) Auxes 3-4

RETURN OPTIONS
1) To Stereo 3 channel

MUSIQ
ZED-12FX features a responsive 3-band, swept mid frequency EQ design which utilises MusiQ - with optimised slope (or Q factor) for equalising individual instruments.

ZED-12FX has an essential selection of 16 time-delay effects, designed for small groups who don't want to carry around an effects unit with their gear but who still want great quality FX at their gigs and on their recordings. Our DSP engineers worked hard, crafting and refining beautiful reverb algorithms to enhance every performance. These effects are available nowhere else at this price point - this quality and integration is only available from the ZED-FX. ZED effects are easily controlled using 3 buttons with 9 display LEDs. For example, the ideal delay time can be quickly tapped-in, or the perfect amount of reverb on the lead vocal can be dialled-in. There is one-stop navigation and editing - in fact, it's just as easy as using effects pedals. To alter effects parameters, the TAP button is held down and the up/down buttons pressed to adjust the specific parameter for that effect, for example, the decay length on PLATE, or the depth on CHORUS.

Based on the proven pre-amps from the hugely successful PA series, ZED-12FX has DuoPre pre-amps, which use a two stage design, with carefully controlled amounts of gain in each stage. When amplifying the signal from the XLR input, the gain range is huge - 69dB of range to be exact - and is very evenly distributed around the gain control, meaning better control of signal level. Most of the gain comes from the first stage, so unwanted noise is kept to a minimum. Line level signals are simply plugged into the second stage of the pre-amp by using the line input jack socket, which has the great advantage of less noise when using the line input and also matching to a
higher input impedance.

Notes: Unique custom design 3.5mm patch cables.

They feature strong, ergonomic barrels which are slim and stubby for max patchability.

Available in various lengths (15, 30, 60, 90 & 120cm) and colours.

Longer 60, 90 & 120 lengths also include ALM cable tie.

Notes: Unique custom design 3.5mm patch cables.

They feature strong, ergonomic barrels which are slim and stubby for max patchability.

Available in various lengths (15, 30, 60, 90 & 120cm) and colours.

Longer 60, 90 & 120 lengths also include ALM cable tie.

Notes: Unique custom design 3.5mm patch cables.

They feature strong, ergonomic barrels which are slim and stubby for max patchability.

Available in various lengths (15, 30, 60, 90 & 120cm) and colours.

Longer 60, 90 & 120 lengths also include ALM cable tie.

Notes: Unique custom design 3.5mm patch cables.

They feature strong, ergonomic barrels which are slim and stubby for max patchability.

Available in various lengths (15, 30, 60, 90 & 120cm) and colours.

Longer 60, 90 & 120 lengths also include ALM cable tie.

Notes: Unique custom design 3.5mm patch cables.

They feature strong, ergonomic barrels which are slim and stubby for max patchability.

Available in various lengths (15, 30, 60, 90 & 120cm) and colours.

Longer 60, 90 & 120 lengths also include ALM cable tie.

Notes: Unique custom design 3.5mm patch cables.

They feature strong, ergonomic barrels which are slim and stubby for max patchability.

Available in various lengths (15, 30, 60, 90 & 120cm) and colours.

Longer 60, 90 & 120 lengths also include ALM cable tie.

Notes: Unique custom design 3.5mm patch cables.

They feature strong, ergonomic barrels which are slim and stubby for max patchability.

Available in various lengths (15, 30, 60, 90 & 120cm) and colours.

Longer 60, 90 & 120 lengths also include ALM cable tie.

Notes: Unique custom design 3.5mm patch cables.

They feature strong, ergonomic barrels which are slim and stubby for max patchability.

Available in various lengths (15, 30, 60, 90 & 120cm) and colours.

Longer 60, 90 & 120 lengths also include ALM cable tie.

Notes: Inspired by the early 80s Synton Syrinx, the SER-2020 is a semi-modular monster, featuring an excellent formant filter section, unique Touch 'N Bend Control and MPE-compatible MIDI interface.

Supplier's Notes:
The SER-2020 is a monophonic semi-modular analog synthesizer with an formant filter section, designed to use as standalone synthesizer or in combination with Eurorack modules. Inspired by the Synton Syrinx *(1) added the flexibility of an MS-20. Its filter design features a combination of a 24dB/octave VC Low Pass Filter, and two independent Resonant VC Peak Filters for precise and dynamic sound shaping. The sound is ranging from solid bass sounds to articulated formant effects. Other features on the SER-2020 are the Touch 'N Bend Control together with the MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) capabilities makes the SER-2020 a special instrument which response to its player. The flexible routing makes the SER-2020 a versatile machine for sound effects.

Key Specifications:
2 VCO's (CEM3340 based)
1 Sub-Oscillator
Ring Modulator
Noise Generator
Audio Mixer
Multi-Mode Sync & Sync D-Tune
3 VCF's (CEM3350 based)
2 ADSR's
2 LFO's with Reset & Shaper Modes
Auto-Glide
Multiple Triggering
Touch 'N Bend Pad
Bend Assign
Sample and Hold
Semi Modular Setup - CV inputs and outputs
Signal and Headphone output.
MIDI interface
USB MIDI interface
MPE compatible - Sensitive for; Strike (note-on velocity), Press (aftertouch), Glide (pitch bend), Slide (brightness) and Lift (note-of velocity).

The SER-2020 consist of two VCO's and one sub-oscillator, driven by VCO 1. Both VCO's deliver a triangle, sawtooth, square wave and pulse signal, which can be selected. A rich spectrum can be obtained with Pulse Width Modulation of VCO 1 and VCO 2. The LFO 1 and 2 signals can be feed to the pulse width modulation section introducing phase shift effects and Doppler frequency shifts. Since the both VCO's have a separate LFO for PWM, chorus-like effects can be obtained by controlling both pulses with different LFO speeds. VCO 2 can be synchronized to VCO 1 in different modes. Synchronization is applied when two or more VCO's have to produce exactly the same pitches, without phase shift or beat effects. When VCO 2 is detuned from VCO 1 another effect occurs, which will result in quite dramatic tone colors.
Each VCO has an individual output, also the noise generator and sub-oscillator has individual outputs.

The most important sections of this synthesizer is the filter. The SER-2020 features a very extensive filtering system, which consists of the standard 24 dB/octave low pass filter and two independent band pass filters, which together form the Voltage Controlled Formant filter.
Both band pass filters have a frequency control and a resonance control for setting the selective amplification in the pass band. The bandpass filters are equipped with a control voltage mixer for LFO, ADSR and key range voltages. The LFO control can be used for the external modulation input.
The low pass filter is an standard 24 dB/octave roll-off. It has a frequency control and a modulated CV mixer from several sources like LFO, ADSR and the key range. The LFO control can be used for the external modulation input. Also the resonance of the low pass filter can be controlled.

The SER-2020 has two ADSR generators, of which one is used to control the internal VCA, and the other one to control the filter section. The control signal can be inverted by means of the ADSR controls in the filter section, so that the filters can be swept in opposite directions.
ADSR 1 and 2 have a positive and negative (inverted) direct output available on the patch panel.

The SER-2020 has two independent Low Frequency Oscillators (LFO's) of which the rate can be controlled, and for LFO 2 also the wave shape.

LFO 1 generates a triangle wave which exclusively is routed to the pulse width modulation control input of VCO2. LFO 1 also generates a square wave and a pulse wave. The square wave is available as direct output on the patch panel. The pulse wave of LFO 1 is internally routed to the sample and hold generator as clock source.

LFO 2 is more versatile and can be used for the modulation of the VCO's and the filters. Moreover LFO 2 can be used as a one shot generator which means that a signal is generated much alike an Attack/Release generated function. Except for the LFO 2 rate control with the preset knob, it also can be controlled dynamically with the pad.

Several sections in the synthesizer can be controlled with the bend pad, by pressing it with the left hand index and middle finger. The pressure sensitivity for the VCO, VCF and VCA can be adjusted. The touch 'N bend pad also reacts on the MIDI modulation control and the MIDI brightness (CC#74) control for MPE compatibility.
Also the speed of the rise/decay mode of the LFO 2 is possible. Pressing the UP pad will result in a shorter cycle, and pressing the DN pad in a longer cycle.

Notes: Very nice old-school vocoder for Eurorack, featuring a built-in mic pre-amp and full 10-band patch bay. Internal VCO and straightforward control setup help simplify operation.

Supplier's Notes:
The VXC-2220 is an 10-band analogue vocoder with patch-bay for each individual filter section. VXC-2220 vocoder is based on the iconic classics 222 vocoder. For stand alone usage the VXC-2220 is equipped with an internal oscillator generating saw and pulse waves form C1 to C6. A simple and efficient vocoder.

Specifications

Microphone input for speech signal
Line input for speech signal
Line input for carrier signal
Input level control for speech and carrier signal
Output level control
Line output
10-Band analyzer outputs
10-Band synthesizer input
Internal VCO (1 semi-nut step size);
* Saw wave (C1 - C6)
* 3x 10% Pulse wave (C1+C2+C3 - C4+C5+C6 )
* White noise
- Synthesis for 's' and 't' sounds
- Feed-trough level control for speech and carrier channel
- Bypass switch
- 10pin power connector (+/-12V)

Dimensions:
(36HP) 128,5×182.5mm (depth: ca. 35mm incl. power connector)

Power Consumption:
+12V = 125mA
-12V = -125mA

Review: Ancient Infinity Orchestra is a 14-member jazz ensemble led by double-bassist and composer Ozzy Moysey, based in the bustling creative city of Leeds in the North of England. Their Gondwana Records debut 'River of Light' drinks deep from the well of spiritual jazz, finding special inspiration in the soulful sounds of Pharoah Sanders, Alice and John Coltrane - all of whom are mentioned in the brilliant track 'Pharoah Sings' - but also channels a certain Northern sensibility that can be heard in the music of Matthew Halsall or Alabaster de Plume. Melodic, warm and honest, this is music that is happy to wear its heart on its sleeve.

Review: The story behind this one is that Vivian Yabby You Jackson once put together a tape that had been labeled The Best Of Patrick Andy but had never been put it out. On it was three unreleased tunes, one unreleased dub, and stereo mixes of several previously mono-only singles. For whatever reason it now sees the light of day and we're glad about it - this forms a fine tribute to a top singer and a legendary producer with some timeless dub. The horns pan, the rhythm tracks are heavy, the studio trickery is impressive throughout.

Notes: Compact phono stage to boost turntable output to line level. Add turntable inputs or upgrade the sound of your DJ mixer. Adjustable capacitance and gain to suit a range of cartridges.

Supplier's notes:
The DJ PRE II acts as an interface between your turntable and your audio recording/playback system. The analog input capacitance can be switched between 100pF and 200pF to optimize your phono cartridge response. A switchable low cut filter removes turntable rumble while leaving the audio pristine. The front gain trim control and signal/clip LED allow you to optimize the preamp's gain for a wide range of input sources. The built-in low noise phono preamp circuitry is highly accurate and precisely conforms to the RIAA standard. The line output jacks are low impedance and can be used with any sound card. Housed in an all aluminum black anodized case, the DJ PRE II can be powered by a wide variety of external supplies. If you need to amplify and EQ your vinyl records to interface with your audio workstation, sound card, home stereo system or main monitor system, the DJ PRE II gives you flawless audio reproduction in a rugged and reliable package.

Notes: ***B-STOCK: Box damaged, product in perfect working order***


Keyboard meets sequencing in Arturia's all-round controller. USB, MIDI, CV and analogue clock compatibility make this 64-step polyphonic sequencer a true all-rounder. Great value.

Supplier's Notes:
KeyStep 37 goes beyond an easy-to-use 64-step sequencer, arpeggiator and MIDI keyboard. It's responsive, dynamic, expanded in every direction to encourage musical exploration - the controller that's built to help write music and also includes Ableton Live Lite, making it a complete music production starter kit, as well as appealing to veteran musicians. Like KeyStep and KeyStep Pro before it, KeyStep 37 offers unique features not found in any other product.

The familiar KeyStep formula, expanded. KeyStep 37 features a velocity-sensitive 37-note keybed, complete with aftertouch and RGB LED feedback, while remaining lightweight and compact.

At the center of the control panel, you'll find 4 new knobs with an LED screen, giving you instant access to inspiring new expressive tools and MIDI tweaking - total creative control.

The new controls unlock KeyStep 37's unique & enhanced Chord mode. Choose from 12 chord types, an array of strum effects, and spread the voices out into complex velocity-sensitive parts that respond like a stringed instrument.

Map out KeyStep 37's 3-octave keyboard range with a scale of your choice using Scale mode. Any key you play will automatically quantize to the nearest note in the chosen scale.

Tap into the inner workings of your MIDI hardware and software with assignable 16 MIDI CC pa-rameters across 4 switchable banks. Use the 4 new controls to tweak settings on the fly for dy-namic performances.

The core of your setup:

KeyStep 37 is designed to be put in control. An accessible interface, a compact design and com-prehensive connectivity make it the perfect centerpiece for your rig - whatever your needs.

Hook up your synth hardware with MIDI in/out. Control your favorite VST instruments with MIDI over USB. Use CV pitch, gate and mod connections for modular integration. Analog sync in/out keeps everything in time without hassle. The best bit? Use it all at the same time.

Included is a free copy of Ableton Live Lite, an accessible music-making suite for your Mac or PC. Register KeyStep 37 for your free download and get creative right out the box - let the music flow freely.

Review: For their latest must-check full length, Swiss ambient and jazz enthusiasts WRWTFWW have offered up a timely reissue of Satoshi Ashikawa's previously Japan-only 1982 album "Still Way". In some quarters it's considered a triumph of Japanese minimalism - an ambient set that was equally as inspired by Erik Satie as Brian Eno. The sounds are sparse, atmospheric and alluring, with simple harp, vibraphone, piano and flute motifs taking it in turns to rise and fall across the soundspace. It's intricate, soft-focus and hugely poignant, evoking memories of similarly lauded sets by Ashikawa's countrymen Hiroshi Yoshimura and Midori Takada. In other words, it's sublime.

Review: This coming together of two dub and reggae giants might never have been heard had it not been unearthed in some long-forgotten vaults. Originally recorded at some unknown point in the seventies, it follows their debut album Ital Dub, and later King Tubby Meets The Rockers, and is just as vital. Lead by the trademark harmonica expressions of Pablo, with the contagious rhythms of Tubby, it is a free flowing record that explores a number of different moods and grooves from deep and hazy to more life affirming and direct. As a result, it keeps you utterly locked throughout.

Review: With both tracks now coming out for the first time on 7" vinyl, the 'Liquid Love' and 'What's The T?' 7" single is a must get for all Roy Ayers fans and serious music collectors, not least as 2023 witnesses Roy's final ever tour of live dates. This release is a fitting tribute to the career of one of the most influential musicians in global Black music history and each track represents his virtuosity as a vibesman and his versatility across genres. 'Liquid Love' is taken from the 2015 BBE released album of Roy's unreleased material, Virgin Ubiquity II and is a wicked mid-tempo track where Roy's vibraphone complements an amazing female vocal arrangement to create harmonies and melody over a tough-as-you-like breakbeat, bassline and keyboard riff.

Review: A tale of two sides, Azimuth's classic "Manha" should be recognisable to many; taken from their self-titled LP in 1975, its golden harmonies and lavish, lolloping Bob James style jazz are as timeless as they were 40 years ago. Flip for "America Latina". Conjured by prolific collaborator Osmar Milito (whose discography features the likes of Sammy Davis Jr, Spanky Wilson and Liza Minelli), its striking, sing-along charms are no accident... It was actually created for 70s Brazilian soap opera Selva De Pedra.