Always a treat: drugs. You don't necessarily have to take them, you can just hang them up and get high or whatever. Anyway, The 13th Floor Elevators. A band from Marlboro Cowboy Country. And one that was quite good in the best of times for musicians, when a guitar solo alone was allowed to last two and a half weeks. That was a long time ago, of course. Nowadays everyone just touches their nose nervously. Well, Houston. Maybe we do have a problem.

»Trouser Tricks« would have been the debut album of punk band Ack Ack - had it ever been released. By the time the five Londoners recorded it in a small studio in Fulham in 1980, they had already made a name for themselves in the local punk scene with their energetic live performances. Their music reflected elements of everything that was popular at the time: punk, new wave, ska, a bit of reggae, a touch of northern soul. But in the end they lacked money, courage and luck. Now, 45 years later, »Trouser Tricks« is being released on vinyl for the first time by Italian label Radiation Reissues.

Before we forget how good Bloc Party were long before their debut album, it's best to revisit their first EPs and wonder how it could have happened that hits like the long-sought »Skeleton« or the sharp-tongued »Storm & Stress« were relegated to B-sides. The newly re-released 10" »Little Thoughts EP« is a musical snapshot of a time when the whole world was open to this highly talented band.

Hate and nihilism expressed through music: When the US band Cop Shoot Cop released their debut album »Consumer Revolt« 35 years ago, the tracks were reminiscent of New York noise rock and no wave. No guitars, but two bass guitars. More slogans than vocals. More sound installation than song collection. Listening habits may have changed, but »Consumer Revolt« still stands out from the genre in its consistency. A dark monolith that rubs off on every soul.

Record Store Day 2025 will also see the release of a reissue of Creation Rebel. And it's a banger: »Independent Man/Creation Rebel« is the first reissue ever. It was originally released in 1982 on the great On-U Sound and was produced by the no less great label founder Adrian Sherwood. As always with Creation Rebel, the dub part is high, but a very, very classic roots reggae approach prevails. Not a matter of course for a band that likes to experiment. As if to confirm this, Dennis Brown's monster hit »Easy Take It Easy« can be heard at the end of 'Independent Man'.

Back on vinyl for the first time in 30 years, »Fire In The Sky« is the album that saw US band Half Japanese make the leap from lo-fi listlessness to perfectly formed rock music. Incidentally, and this is what makes it so good, it actually sounds a lot more like British punk than the US alt-rock the band is generally pigeonholed as. In terms of vibe, 'Fire In The Sky' is actually totally The Fall - just in Vans instead of leather shoes. It's highly likely that these songs are already the soundtrack to skate videos, but we'll have to ask others to confirm.

Islandman, the project of Turkish musician Tolga Böyük, which has now grown into a trio, is releasing the »Bahar« EP, which was only released digitally in 2022, on vinyl for the first time – and expanding it. In addition to the four tracks from the original, which has been streamed over three million times, the edition includes three previously unreleased vinyl tracks: a reinterpretation of Cem Karaca's 1984 song »Yorgunum Kaptan«, a remix of »Nara Nara Nara« by Mongolian fusion band NaraBara, and the 2018 Hey! Douglas Extended Remix of »Future Days«.

Before Afrobeat became the 'signature sound' of the continent, not least outside Africa, Highlife ruled the clubs of West Africa. With »Kyenkyen Bi Adi M'awu«, the first song on this album, K. Frimpong created one of the most famous songs of the genre and at the same time gave it a new impetus: funky, rhythmically complex, with influences from Congolese rumba reggae. A great moment in Ghanaian music.

Dreamy, delirious, in a fog. This is what »Venom's In« by Panda Bear sounds like. There's looping, shallow percussion together with synths, while Noah Lennox oscillates between hope and hopelessness as he sings. And yet there is a light at the end of the tunnel, led by his clear voice, known from the psychadelic pop band “Animal Collective”, founded in Baltimore in 1999. Lennox's solo project Panda Bear moves between ambient, folk and electronic music. The multi-instrumentalist has released »Venom's In« on record as a combination with an interpretation of the song by US rock musician Cass McCombs. He actually wrote it for his idol as a gift.

»Equilibria«, the Brazilian term for very good music, has been shown to boost your vitamin levels. At least for those who like a bit of sun on their face and the feeling of being outside all night, with or without a T-shirt. Luckily, we won't have to fly south for this any time soon. Soon you'll be able to harvest all the superfood from the Amazon in the Uckermark. Things were different in 2005. Sabrina Malheiros, the daughter of Azimuth's bassist (it's always best to say that), explains how on this very beautiful record.

Even with only two albums in their catalogue, a record can (almost) be forgotten by cultural history: the US band Slint had already released music before the legendary »Spiderland« - namely »Tweez«, which was released in 1989. It is no less bizarre, raw and challenging than its successor. A year ago, bassist Ethan Buckler gave the record a new mix and a different track list. The aim of Slint's debut, however, remained the same: to massage your brain through your ears in just under thirty minutes. Not forgotten.

When one of the best line-ups of the Sun Ra Arkestra made its first European appearance at the Fondation Maeght art museum in the south of France in August 1970, it caused great confusion among the audience. The bandleader on Moog synthesiser and organ - with saxophonists Marshall Allen and John Gilmore among others - jumps freely between space jazz, avant-garde, gospel, percussive excursions and pure cacophony. The 6-LP box set contains the two performances in their entirety, with 47 tracks and a 24-page booklet.