Vocalist Arooj Aftab, the first Pakistani to win a Grammy, wows audiences worldwide with her mesmerizing live shows; MacArthur genius and Grammy nominee Vijay Iyer is one of today’s most influential pianists; multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily’s sensitivity and technical acumen has made him a legend among musicians like the late Lou Reed for whom he was a session player. Together the three players merge to create a singular, gorgeous sound. Their new collaborative album Love In Exile asks you to step inside its sense of time, to stretch out alongside these delightful and unhurriedly unfolding songs. Profound impact is achieved with minimal instrumentation: Vijay Iyer on pianos and electronics, Shahzad Ismaily on bass and Moog synth, and Arooj Aftab’s exquisite Urdu vocals. Subtle musical interrelationships build into moments of deeply felt drama. Shimmering keyboard melodies and stirring vocals, earthy basslines, and hypnotic drones: together they create an album of stunning gravitas and beauty.

TRACK LISTING

1. To Remain/To Return (9:19)
2. Haseen Thi (12:09)
3. Shadow Forces (14:11)
4. Sajni (8:15)
5. Eyes Of The Endless (14:50)
6. Sharabi (13:42)

Award-winning Scottish composer Craig Armstrong’s trailblazing 2002 album ‘As If To Nothing’ receives 20th anniversary first-ever vinyl release on Hydrogen Dukebox.

Twenty years on from its original release, Craig Armstrong’s ‘As If To Nothing’ - his electronic/orchestral masterpiece featuring musical heavyweights Bono, Mogwai, Evan Dando, King Crimson and others - is being reissued for the first time on vinyl in a super-deluxe, super-limited edition run via Hydrogen Dukebox.

Remastered at Abbey Road Studios and cut at half-speed to produce a superior sound quality, the release comes completely repackaged with reimagined artwork by award-winning designer Christopher Thomson and there's also a special 'Dinked Archive Edition' version limited to just 500 copies worldwide including a bonus 10" of a newly unearthed track from the original recording sessions.

‘As If To Nothing’, Armstrong’s second solo album following 1998’s ‘The Space Between Us’, is a timeless, groundbreaking record that marries stunning string arrangements, atmospheric electronics and contemporary popular music.

Originally released on renowned UK electronic outfit Massive Attack's label Melankolic, the record captures an enduring mood and sentiment that continues to enchant listeners today, from the stirring opener ‘Ruthless Gravity’ to the euphoric closing of ‘Choral Ending’. Armstrong’s collaborative work with Massive Attack on the 1994 album ‘Protection’ is an influence that can be heard throughout ‘As If To Nothing’:
“It was a very particular time musically within Britain, and the world”, he says. “To be part of the label, Melankolic, and working with Massive Attack, was a unique moment in time. They gave me real freedom to do what I wanted. The album was ahead of its time, I think - it still sounds pure and contemporary.”
“A lot of younger acts have contacted me over the years to say how seminal the album has been to them. One of the great things is that people have never stopped listening to the album. To have it reissued and released on this first-ever vinyl package is a very special thing to me.”

The album features a cast of luminaries including Bono on ‘Stay (Farway, So Close!’), Mogwai on ‘Miracle’ and Lemonheads’ Evan Dando ‘Wake Up In New York’, as well as producer Photek, soul singer David McAlmont, Alpha vocalist Wendy Stubbs, and Antye Greie-Fuchs, and a sample of King Crimson’s ‘Starless’ on ‘Starless II’. Praise for the album at the time of its release included Pitchfork ("Powerfully evocative and serene") and Rolling Stone ("[Armstrong] makes Bono sound like a fallen angel on a majestic remake of "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)".

Through his orchestral writing, electronic compositions and wide-ranging artistic collaborations in classical and film music, Craig Armstrong’s work has received worldwide acclaim. Armstrong is widely known for composing award winning film music, having scored both Hollywood and independent films, from Peter Mullan’s directorial debut 'The Close Trilogy' to the BAFTA, Ivor Novello and Golden Globe-winning award scores for Baz Luhrmann’s 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Moulin Rouge!' and 'The Great Gatsby'.

His film scoring has also featured in many other popular films including 'The Quiet American', 'Orphans', 'Love Actually', 'World Trade Centre', 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age', 'Far From The Madding Crowd', and 'Ray!', with the latter awarded a Grammy for Best Original Score. And several collaborations with Oliver Stone, ‘World Trade Center’ and ‘Snowden’.

The reissue of ‘As If To Nothing’ is a fitting celebration of this exemplary album’s 20th anniversary, and an opportunity to own this key record from Armstrong’s celebrated body of work on vinyl for the first time.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Ruthless Gravity
Wake Up In New York
Miracle
Amber
Side B
Finding Beauty
Waltz
Inhaler
Hymn 2
Side C
Snow
Starless II
Stay
Side D
Niente
Sea Song
Let It Be Love
Choral Ending

Arp Frique returns with a new album after a string of releases, leaving the cratediggers and dancefloor tastemakers with underground classics like "Nos Magia", "Voyage" and "Nyame Ye". On ''Analog People Digital World' he embraces the digital coldness of Yamaha’s classic DX7 synthesizer to create a refreshing listening experience using only the FM synthesis-based sounds from this machine to find new heat for an analog world, reflecting on the digital revolution we are living through. The album features Ghanaian songstress Mariseya (Omampam, Jah Kingdom, Digital World, Roi Salomon), Cape Verdean OG Americo Brito (Go Now Wetiko) and Surinam funkstar Sumy, who joins the record on the opening track “Spiritual Masseuse”. Arp Frique closes the album with “Duncan Truffle”, a very intense and wobbling instrumental echoing Bootsy and Bernie Worrell on a solo exercise. Expect an analog-digital exploration of lofi funk, highlife, zouk and reggae. Does that DX7 sound hot or cold to you?

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Arp Frique's synth-laden touch turns its hand to a variety of musical genres - zouk, highlife, reggae, disco etc - with quite dazzling results. There's both cohesion and flamboyance in equal measure across the LP. A technicoloured trip into sound!

TRACK LISTING

Spiritual Masseuse Feat. Sumy
Omampam Feat. Mariseya
Jah Kingdom Feat. Mariseya
Digital World Feat. Mariseya
Go Now Wetiko Feat. Americo Brito & Mariseya
Roi Salomon Feat. Mariseya
Duncan Truffle

Vibraphone and keyboard player, master arranger and bandleader, Mulatu Astatke is one of the all-time greats of Ethiopian music and the creator of his own original music form, Ethio jazz. Through the acclaimed Ethiopiques album series and through featuring on the soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers, his music has belatedly reached a global audience and a new, younger generation of fans. In November of last year, he recorded an inspired new album with London psych jazz band The Heliocentrics for Strut’s ‘Inspiration Information’ studio collaboration series. Now, Strut are proud to present, for the first time anywhere, the definitive Mulatu career retrospective covering his landmark ‘60s and ‘70s recordings.

Mulatu is a true pioneer of African music. He was the first Ethiopian musician of his generation to travel extensively and to record abroad – he studied in the UK in Wales and at Trinity College Of Music in London, cutting his teeth on the buoyant London jazz scene of the early ‘60s. He became the first African student to attend Harvard and he lived and recorded in New York, developing a unique sound that fused Western jazz with traditional Ethiopian melodies.

Tracing the progression of his Ethio jazz experiments with full access to all of the labels for whom he recorded, Mulatu Astatke: New York-Addis-London is the essential Mulatu. Covering his first recordings in the UK during 1965, his groundbreaking fusions for the small Worthy label in New York and his key ‘70s recordings back in Addis on Amha, Phillips and Axum, the album features comprehensive sleeve notes by Miles Cleret, boss of the excellent Soundway Records imprint, and rare, previously unseen photos from Mulatu’s personal archive.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Yèkèrmo Sèw
A2. I Faram Gami I Faram
A3. Shagu
A4. Emnete
A5. Mulatu
B1. Yègelé Tezeta
B2. Asiyo Bellema
B3. Ebo Lala
B4. Fikratchin
B5. Yefikir Tizita
C1. Dèwèl
C2. Yèkatit
C3. Girl From Addis Ababa
C4. Mascaram Setaba
C5. Ené Alantchie Alnorem
D1. Nétsanét
D2. Kasalèfkut Hulu
D3. Wubit
D4. Lanchi Biye
D5. Tezeta

Awanto3 (also known for his work with Aardvarck and Kid Sublime on Rednose Distrikt) returns to Rush Hour with "Party" Volume 1. Moody and rolling MPC work outs with live accompaniment from a solid cast (Jos De Haas (New Cool Collective) on percussion and Stefan Schmid (Zuco 103) on keys). Broken beat heads look out .... this really smacks. TIP!

Backstory: “Party” was born in a small village located in Wallonia during a period of house-sitting for a family on holiday. Initially my mother was asked to take care of the chickens, goat, dog and donkey but eventually I decided to take care of them to relieve my mother. This week turned out to be a small nightmare, because I think the house was being possessed by a spirit that I had to deal with night and day. The vibe of the house was so grimy, due to the fact that there were calendars with all kinds of weapons and dark oak furniture, interspersed with a huge flatscreen and blinds at the ready to be rolled out when the sun started to go down (by request of the paranoid owner). This setting affected my sketches; a dark side that was looking for contra light weight. After I took care of the animals, I had an energy to escape to my MPC to make the basis for a possible new album. When I got back in Amsterdam, I started to work out some of the sketches I’ve made in the ghost house together with Stefan and Jos in Studio K at Sloterdijk.

Containing very much the essence of deep house throughout. Awanto’s skilled MPC usage and choice phrasing decorates the entire EP. A warm, spiritual affair that kicks and bumps enough for any dancefloor. If you like Moods and Grooves, Sound Signature, Andres, DJ Nature and such like - this is for you.

Support from Giles Peterson, Danny Krivit, Radioslave, Axel Bowman and Laurent Garnier.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Warm n live house music inna similar vein to Andres and DJ Nature.

TRACK LISTING

The Lime King
Seayousoon
Sawyoulater

Perennial jazz stars Chet Baker and Bill Evans rarely recorded together and this 2LP set, including a bonus track, represents all of their collaborative sessions.

By the time the music was taped, Chet was already known as much for his singing as for his trumpet playing, but all of the performances here are entirely instrumental.

After cutting these sides Baker and Evans would go their separate ways and these recordings remain the only testimony of their subtle and elegant musical interactions.

Chet Baker trumpet, Bill Evans piano

plus:
Herbie Mann, flute
Pepper Adams, baritone sax
Kenny Burrell, guitar
Paul Chambers, bass
Connie Kay, drums
Philly Joe Jones, drums
Zoot Sims, alto sax.
Pepper Adams, baritone sax
Earl May, bass
Clifford Jarvis, drums

New York, 1958 & 1959

TRACK LISTING

Almost Like Being In Love
I Could Have Danced All Night
Thank Heaven For Little Girls
I Talk To The Trees
Show Me
Early Morning Mood
If You Could See Me Now
You And The Night And The Music
Time On My Hands
You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
September Song
'tis Autumn
It Never Entered My Mind
How High The Moon
Alone Together

“Driving up the coast highway from LA, once you hit Santa Barbara you are struck with a noticeable change in landscape. It is the gateway to the Central Coast, where the contours of the land begin to take on more dramatic inclines and feelings burn like wildfires. This was the childhood home of Lauren Barth, ranch-living and horseriding amongst the golden and dusty open ranges that still expand through parts of California. It is at these gates of change that Lauren Barth explores on Stormwaiting, her second solo effort and first on the Spiritual Pajamas label.

“Behind the musical landscape of Stormwaiting, Lauren drew from a backstory she created as inspiration. A young woman and spiritual leader of a commune, blind yet finds her way by a heightened sense of awareness, is caught between the physical world of ‘Rialto’ and the spiritual—‘Morian.’ ‘Stormwaiting’ is slang for living in Rialto and the storm is the tempest within Morian. The cult’s most important message is one of Awareness. Like her protagonist, Lauren steps through these contemplations of change coming, treading one step at a time between the physical and spiritual realms, in a bittersweet anticipation of something upon us. Each song is like a deep breath in, an exhale, a pondering of the past and a wonder about the future with an acute awareness of each passing moment.

“Barth is a true seasoned folk music player, evoking the California folk movement of the late 1960s like David Crosby (who also hailed from the Santa Barbara area), while also calling upon British influences such as Bert Jansch, Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, and Pentangle, and the later American progressive folk music of Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell, and early Bonnie Raitt. In the time since her last solo record in 2017, she picked up the bass with Farmer Dave and the Wizards Of The West, and with her own music gained experience with the process of composing, recording, arranging, and ultimately the confidence to allow her creative instincts to flourish. She found the perfect partner with producer Lewis Pesacof, recording in his Echo Park home studio and has worked with artists such as Pearl Charles, Best Coast, Fidlar, and also works in the world of classical and world music. Tellingly, Stormwaiting has an expansive spirit, a document of a woman and creative spirit finding and embracing her voice beyond folk music and into her own spiritual universe.” —Scary Flowers

TRACK LISTING

1. Casita
2. Durango
3. Stormwaiting
4. Family Chant II
5. Paisley
6. Leave Behind
7. Highway Sleeping
8. Lord Of The Lake
9. Family Chant I

Remedy is Basement Jaxx’s joyous debut album from 1999. It was one of the most assured, propul-sive full-lengths the dance world had seen since Daft Punk’s Homework. A set of incredibly diverse tracks, Remedy is indebted to the raw American house of Todd Terry and Masters at Work, and even shares a penchant for Latin vibes (especially on the horn-driven “Bingo Bango” and the opener, “Rendez-Vu,” which trades a bit of salsa wiggle with infectious vocoderized disco).

TRACK LISTING

A1. Romeo
A2. Breakaway
A3. SFM
B1. Jus 1 Kiss
B2. Broken Dreams
B3. I Want U
C1. Get Me Off
C2. Where’s Your Head At
D1. Do Your Thing
D2. Freakalude
D3. Crazy Girl
D4. All I Know

Named after their infamous Brixton club night, Basement Jaxx’s second album Rooty saw Basement Jaxx continue to push the boundaries of pop and club music. The album mixes classic house with generous lashings of punk, funk, R&B, jazz, hip hop, 2-step and pop song-craft in a mad genre crash that works like a charm. It features the massive tracks “Where’s Your Head At”, “Romeo” and “Do Your Thing”.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Romeo
A2. Breakaway
A3. SFM
B1. Jus 1 Kiss
B2. Broken Dreams
B3. I Want U
C1. Get Me Off
C2. Where’s Your Head At
D1. Do Your Thing
D2. Freakalude
D3. Crazy Girl
D4. All I Know

Natural Sciences marks its 60th release with a split 12" from Beau Wanzer and Hieroglyphic Being: two cult names from Chicago's underground releasing on record for the first time! With Wanzer's hybrid industrial rap alongside Jamal's wired space ritual this is as suitably gritty & sonically challenging as we've come to expect from the label. 

Wanzer spews up mainframe phlegm whilst mechanized cogs churn and whir. Jamal dials his celestial engagement knob up to +11 and fills the mix with his peppered perx, metallic screaches and forebodding tones; destroying any chakra allignent you were building on for a ground zero, leveling down of the ego.

4 Dysfunctional Psychotic Release & Sonic Reprogramming Purposes Only!! Recommended. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: A real coup for Natural Sciences getting these two underground stars on board to mark the 60th release on this landmark MCR hub. Forever uncompromising, always innovative and often challenging the status quo - it's a typically Manchester mindset championed by Alex Hall's label. Big ups!

TRACK LISTING

A. Beau Wanzer - The Table Scrap
B. Hieroglyphic Being - This Is The Right Time In Human History 2 Be Stupid 

New from Dutch singer-songwriter Benny Sings: an album made entirely in collaboration with producer to the stars Kenny Beats

Benny Sings’ third album for Stones Throw, following the successful City Pop and Music. Benny Sings has collaborated with Mac DeMarco, Tom Misch, GoldLink, Mocky, Cola Boyy, and more. Young Hearts features rising star Remi Wolf on two songs 

TRACK LISTING

1. Young Hearts (ft. Remi Wolf)
2. The Only One
3. Simple Love Songs
4. Pyjamas (ft Remi Wolf)
5. The World
6. Distance
7. Love Will Find A Way
8. Movie Star
9. Let’s Go
10. Take Your Time

Sacramento, CA duo Blank Gloss’s third album, Cornered, is an exquisite statement of pop ambient starkness, an album that oscillates between lush beauty and spare melancholy. It follows from their 2021 debut for Kompakt, Melt, an album that saw Morgan Fox (piano, synths) and Patrick Hills (guitar) aligned, loosely, with the cosmic pastorale of the ‘ambient Americana’ movement. Cornered feels like a significant step forward, though – by peeling back the layers of their music, they’ve revealed both its restful core and its solemn gravitas. It is unendingly lovely, but with something disquieting at its centre.

Cornered was recorded quickly, over two days in December 2020. There’s nothing rushed or haphazard about the album, though; everything has its place, with each sonic element contributing profoundly to these nine miniature dioramas. It signals change, quietly but perceptibly, through the way the duo sculpts their material, building out of loose improvisations that morphed into songs. While there was no plan in mind when Blank Gloss settled into the studio, Fox recalls that “right away we realised that things were sounding and feeling a bit different than any of the sessions we had previously.”

That difference can be heard in the increased amount of space Blank Gloss gift to their sound sources. Some of the most moving moments on Cornered come when Fox and Hills strip everything back – see, for example, “Crossing”, which sets pensive piano across a shyly humming drone and quiet arcs of guitar, recalling the driftworks of Roger Eno. Curiously, the album’s distinctive shape and mood develops, at least in part, from a change in instrumentation, with Hills using a MIDI pick-up on his guitar. “This resulted in making things happen a lot quicker,” Fox says. “It also helped create what I think is a bit more sombre, dark feeling to some of the songs.”

Elsewhere, on songs like “Salt”, the piano tussles with flecks of guitar, single tones sent out to mingle with the stars, like Morricone at 16 RPM, while Cornered’s centrepiece, the eleven-minute “No Appetite”, lets long arcs of electronic texture breathe and sigh, tangling together in a cat’s cradle of bliss. Throughout, it feels as though the music is blossoming as you hear it, like watching time-lapse footage of flora in bloom. But perhaps the most seductive thing about Cornered is the sense you get, listening, that the music was something unexpected, a visitation. “It almost felt like we weren’t dictating where the music went and how it sounded,” Fox agrees. “We were just there in a room together in December and these sounds were happening, and we were lucky enough to be recording the process.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Sender 00:03:44
2. Dusted 00:03:40
3. Get Well Soon 00:03:22
4. No Appetite 00:10:42
5. Soda Lake 00:04:59
6. Crossing 00:02:48
7. On The Ground 00:04:06
8. Salt 00:06:07
9. Dressed Alike 00:04:08

Reissue of this cult 1972 album which featured on the infamous Nurse With Wound List.

Don Bradshaw-Leather is a mysterious cult artist active on the London scene in the early 1970s, releasing just the one ambitious double LP on his own label in 1972. There has been speculation as to who this guy was. Some saying he looks like Robert John Goddfrey of The Enid, and also because of similarity in the title and some of the music, it was touted that it could have been Adrian Wagner’s prequel to his “Distances Between Us” – both not true. Don Bradshaw-Leather was, in fact, his name, born as just Donald Bradshaw I believe, and (according to Jay who was a regular in the basement of Honest Johns, Rhythm Records in Camden Town) was seen around a lot in the area in the early 1970’s busking and at small gatherings and concerts. He would hock his records around the local stores just to cover his expenses, and never sought any proper distribution.

At least two versions exist of this, one with a laminated cover, the other standard matt card. In the late 1970’s it was still possible to find copies of this, in fact, Honest Johns in Goldhawk Road still had new ones in 1979. I and my brother Steve used to buy every copy we could find in Record & Tape Exchange’s various bargain basements in London, copies from as little as 10p, and we had dozens – but we never ever found a good pressing, even ones that were supposedly new! It’s a magical record really, if you can stand the usual record noise (a real annoyance when some parts are so spacious and close to silence), with just 4 tracks, each a slightly different mood, involving drums, percussion, piano, Mellotron, and voice, amongst sundry other things, lots of big reverb, clever layering / multi-tracking. Almost Krautrock in its attitude, it’s wanton abandon, and for the heck of it, experimentation makes it one that peels off the delights layer by layer, drawing the listener into the ritual.

With "Our Love", Dan Snaith made his highly anticipated return to the long player, faced with the unenviable task of following up an undeniable classic, 2010's "Swim". That universally adored album (placed in the Piccadilly Records End Of Year Top 3) saw Snaith complete the journey from the pastoral electronica of his early work as Manitoba, through the woozy hip hop inflected beats of "Milk Of Human Kindness" and "Andorra" to the undisputed champion of leftfield house. "Our Love" sees the producer joining the dots between the synth led euphoria of his dancefloor productions and the polyrhythmic rattle of his Daphni project while offering new take on warm and expansive future soul, while featuring his strongest songwriting to date.

Snaith makes his intentions clear from the off, with album opener "Can't Do Without You" picking up right where "Sun" left off, but with the euphoria turned all the way up to 11 thanks to crescendant synths and heartfelt vocals. Recent single "Our Love" falls into the same camp, pairing emotional vocals and melodies with a skipping garage beat, while organic synths and Owen Pallett's darting strings provide a richly textured backing. The warm analogue sounds of futuristic soul weave themselves deep into the record’s DNA, particularly on "Silver", "Second Chance" (featuring Jesse Lanza's seductive vocals) and "Back Home". These immersive synth ballads form intimate moments of calm between the driving house and garage of "Can't Do Without You" and "Our Love", the Daphni-styled dancefloor diaspora of "Mars" and the raving interludes "Dive" and "Julia Brightly". Snaith's mastery of these diverse styles, and the ease with which he moulds them into his artistic vision is a testament to his mature and accomplished songwriting. Nowehere is this so clear as on the LP finale and crowning moment "Your Love Will Set You Free", which combines the soulful with the driving, the melancholic with the euphoric, bringing the album to a gorgeous bitter sweet conclusion. Ultimately, Snaith has delivered a worthy follow up to "Swim", which is high praise indeed.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Can't Do Without You
A2. Silver
A3. All I Ever Need
A4. Our Love
A5. Dive
B1. Second Chance
B2. Julia Brightly
B3. Mars
B4. Back Home
B5. Your Love Will Set You Free

'Authorized Greatest Hits' is a compilation album by the American rock band Cheap Trick, originally released in 2000. The tracks were picked by the band members themselves, in contrast to 1991's 'Greatest Hits'. It contains several rarities, including one from the EP 'Found All the Parts'.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Want You To Want Me
2. Ain't That A Shame
3. Southern Girls
4. California Man
5. Surrender
6. Stop This Game
7. Voices
8. Dream Police
9. If You Want My Love
10. Tonight It's You
11. Everything Works If You Let It
12. Mandocello
13. I Can't Take It
14. She's Tight
15. That 70's Song
16. Walk Away
17. Can't Stop Fallin' Into Love
18. The Flame

Chris & Cosey’s Elemental 7 – available here for the first time in 40 years - is the soundtrack to the film of the same name (on Cabaret Voltaire’s Doublevision video imprint) that saw the duo working once more with John Lacey – Lacey had previously worked with Cosey in COUM Transmissions and introduced Chris Carter to the collective. The album’s highlight and one of their best loved songs, ‘Dancing Ghosts’, sounds as fresh and relevant today as it must have on its original release.

TRACK LISTING

Side One:
1/ Dancing Ghosts
2/ Temple Bar (Edit)
3/ Meeting Mr. Evans
Side Two:
1/ The Final Calling
2/ Sidereal
3/ Invisible Spectrum (Edit)
4/ Well Spring Of Life

2007’s Feral Vapours of the Silver Ether will be available here for the first time on vinyl, and was the second release under the Carter Tutti name. On it, the electronic and the acoustic are merged in a seamless, crafted album that is awash with echoes of the sea, the moon, the open road, and flatlands.

TRACK LISTING

Side One:
1/So Slow The Knife (Edit)
2/Lowlands (Edit)
3/Torn Window (Edit)
4/Woven Clouds (Edit)
5/It Was

Side Two:
1/Breathless Endings
2/Forest Floor
3/Acid Tongue (Edit)
4/The Sun Shone That Day
5/Feral Vapours (Edit)

1993’s Muzik Fantastique! is receiving its first ever vinyl issue. The album finds Chris & Cosey in one of their most dynamic and melodic periods with an album that slides towards subtler grooves and textures.

TRACK LISTING

Side One:
1/ Fantastique (Edit)
2/ Sound Of Sound (Edit)
3/ Masqued (Edit)
4/ Apocalypso (Edit)
5/ Frakira

Side Two:
1/ Hidden Man
2/ Visions Love (Edit)
3/ Loves Lost Immortal (Edit)
4/ Eternal (Edit)
5/ Neverneverland
6/ Melancholia

If Chua’s 2022 release "Golden," written from the perspective of her younger self, was the meditative prelude to the world of YIAN, then her new single “Echo” places us firmly in its first chapter. A pop song about ancestral trauma, “Echo” is the antihero’s journey, walking the line between respect for the past and the freedom to carve out a new future. (“I won’t carry your shame / Won’t be your echo again… I couldn’t be anyone else / I look to you, I see myself”). Chua delivers with her uniquely intimate, yet otherworldly sound in this self-produced and engineered song, capturing sensuous echoing harmonies and delicate soul-infused piano.

Following intensive studies in Chinese dance forms, Chua joined forces with film director Jade Ang Jackman and movement director Chantel Foo to create the visual for “Echo”; Chua’s take on a choreographed pop MV. The short film is a moving and innovative homage to Chinese fan dance and martial arts; an internal journey through the shifting seasons of emotional weather. Grounded by a stone circle, Chua dances with her handmade Chinese silk fans as the mood shifts from thorny rose garden to blizzard. “Sometimes I think we are all just footprints in the snow,” Chua says.

“YIAN” (燕), means swallow in Chinese, and is part of “Siew Yian,” the name given to Chua by her parents to preserve her connection with her Chinese heritage. Just as the migratory songbird lives between places, so did Chua, the artist living in the in-between of the English, Malaysian and Chinese cultures that make up her heritage. In the absence of Mandarin as a mother tongue, music became a way to express the parts of herself that couldn’t be described in words; “YIAN” emerged as a way to heal.

A deeply introspective and fully realized vessel of creative expression (Chua self-produced and engineered eight of the ten tracks), “YIAN” emerges as less an album than a worldview, a commitment to learning and uncovering one’s own selfhood honed over Chua’s lifelong reconciliation with her own personal history and identity.

Through this process she found new language through which to express her experiences, language which lay in the practices she developed and the creative community with whom she built solidarity along the process: co-authoring visual identities with main collaborators Tash Tung, Jade Ang Jackman and Nhu Xuan Hua and set designers Lydia Chan, Jonquil Lawrence and Erin Tse. Chua also constructed the album’s physical language through dance with movement directors Chantel Foo and Duane Nasis, this expression shown most vividly through the short film made for “Echo,” out today.

TRACK LISTING

1. Golden
2. Meditations On A Place
3. I Promise
4. You
5. An Ocean
6. Autumn Leaves Don't Come
7. Echo
8. Do You Know You Know
9. Grief Piece
10. Something Other Than Years

Cigarettes After Sex frontman Greg Gonzalez’s ability to set a scene and sustain a mood reels you in deeply. On album opener ‘K.’, a tale of blossoming love etched in tiny details luxuriates over chiming guitars; on the hymn to romantic compulsion of ‘Each Time You Fall in Love’, the suspended animation of Angelo Badalamenti’s heart-stopping ‘Twin Peaks ‘music is echoed. ‘Sunsetz’ and the gently lilting ‘Sweet’, meanwhile, showcase Gonzalez’s ability to weave impressionistic snapshots of romance into melodies that haunt like memories of past loves, all coalescing around his melting vocals.

Elsewhere, Gonzalez mounts movies in miniature with the photographic references of ‘Flash’ and ‘Fitzcarraldo’ echoes of ‘Opera House’, a song so lovingly languid it could, conceivably, soundtrack a man hauling ships over mountains for love. And, just as every good filmmaker knows the need for a killer finale, so Gonzalez closes the album with the retro-romantic swing and teasingly filthy put-downs (the “sucking cock” lyric isn’t as barbed as it seems, just friendly joshing) of ‘Young & Dumb’, which brings the album to a close with good, timeless advice: “Drive your car to the beach with the song on repeat…”.

To mirror their woozy romanticism in music, Gonzalez rejected conventional studio routes for his band, which numbers Randy Miller on bass, Jacob Tomsky on drums and Phillip Tubbs on keyboards. Taking influence from The Cowboy Junkies’ ‘The Trinity Session’ (recorded in a church, single microphone),Cigarettes After Sex recorded most of the album in three days at the Sweatshop rehearsal space, Bushwick. The exception is ‘Each Time You Fall In Love’, which was recorded in the Beekman’s stairway after hours, the ghosts of screen overhandled in every warm note. Like the best movie, ‘Cigarettes After Sex’ holds you in a hell of a spell.

TRACK LISTING

1. K.
2. Each Time You Fall In
3. Love
4. Sunsetz
5. Apocalypse
6. Flash
7. Sweet
8. Opera House
9. Truly
10. John Wayne
11. Young & Dumb

As Al Cisneros continues to move through the dub zone, a journey over a decade in length, his music and production continue to evolve and deepen.

The sinew of the bass strings sets the pocket with ever-focused raw and relentless drive, while the rhythm section lays out an elaborate series of movements to roll in perfect accord with its multisegmented melody.

As melodies of the ancient world emerge prayerfully from the mist above the fray, all is right in all of the worlds that we can hope to know.

On the ‘Akeldama’ version, the mixing desk becomes its own instrument.

TRACK LISTING

1. Suicide Of Judas
2. Akeldama

Balearic believers rejoice! Japanese tropical-fusioneers Coastlines are back with the worldwide vinyl release of Coastlines 2. The follow-up to their classic debut, this is the sound of Coastlines's global influences. If the dedication to intricate sonic details is particularly Japanese, the overarching feel captures the sprawling grandeur of the international balearic community. As they put it, Coastlines 2 presents "a more precise and beautifully polished magic hour." If that isn't Balearic, we don't know what is.

Takumi Kaneko and Masanori Ikeda don’t radically alter their sumptuous template with this second LP; and we wouldn't want them to. Yet with a more focused flow from first track to last, both Coastlines and Be With feel this is an even stronger album than their first. One thing that hasn't changed is the use of instrumentals instead of words to express their themes; namely, "the emotional expression of being soaked."

Opener "Tenderly" is appropriately titled, a gentle Latin shuffle easing you back into the Coastlines sound. An organ-heavy synthy exotica that's in step with Lovelock's contemporaneous "Washington Park". Their über-horizontal take on Hawkshaw & Bennett's "Mile High Swinger" (from Synthesiser And Percussion, reissued by Be With!) evokes cocktails-by-the-pool as the sun slowly sets. The blunted deep jazz-funk swing of "Alicia" is a rearranged reimagining of the Gabor Szabo song from his classic Jazz Raga LP. This here sounds like an outtake from The Chronic.

As the sun goes down, "Combustione Lenta" soundtracks the relaxing slow burn of an idyllic bonfire on an isolated beach. Displaying a beautiful new side of Coastlines, we're treated to Moments In Love vibes and melancholic guitar arcs. The piano-laden early morning wonder of "Night Cruise" started life as a completely different song, but the duo found a particularly good loop from the initial sketch and reconstructed it into this sophisticated 80s instrumental soul groove. "Waves And Rays" is all undulating acid waves and lighthouse light. A chopped and screwed steel drum G-Funk with soaring synths and nods toward the squelchy machine soul of Mtume and Jam & Lewis. Yes, *that* good.

The bouncy futureboogie cosmic chug of "Sky Island" represents the beginning of the sunrise, casting images of 80s Japanese fusion and definitely one to play out early doors to get the crowd stepping. "Area Code 868" is the strutting staccato sound of Joe Sample waking up in the Caribbean to craft his piano funk drenched in sunshine. Accordingly, the tentative, naive melodies of "Sand Steps" represent that vivid feeling first thing in the morning, as you step on to the sandy beach in the sunshine and take a deep breath. The world is yours.

The emotional, organ-piano-steel drum-driven "Song For My Mother" is a slo-mo show of sincere gratitude to all the great mothers. "Yasmin's Theme" is Coastlines's Brazilian homage, recalling for them that early summer feeling. It's propelled laconically by the carnival beat of batucada`s big bass surdo drum and complimented by sweeps of warm keys and radiant vocal harmonies. Blissful beatless closer "Asafuji" conjures a scene from a wonderful morning spent with the people of Shizuoka, the symbolic mountain of Japan, Mt Fuji and its inhabitants. It sounds like Dâm-FunK jamming with Sabres Of Paradise.

Coastlines 2 was painstakingly crafted, across the pandemic, at Masanori's rented place in Tokyo and then brought back to his home studio and worked on slowly and repeatedly. With limited time to see each other, the duo became more united in their "consciousness with natural progress."

Mastered by Simon Francis and cut by Cicely Balston at Air Studios, this magnificent double LP has been pressed by the good people at Record Industry.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Tenderly
A2 Mile High Swinger
A3 Alicia
B1 Combustione Lenta
B2 Night Cruise
B3 Waves And Rays
C1 Sky Island
C2 Area Code 868
C3 Sand Steps
D1 Song For My Mother
D2 Yasmin's Theme
D3 Asafuji

After making their introduction earlier this year with debut single ‘Gmaps’, art-pop four piece cowboyy have announced that their debut EP ‘Epic The Movie’ 

Sharing the video for ‘Gmaps’ alongside the news, the band’s Stanley Powell explains, “We wanted to create a D.I.Y. video that was inspired by early Beck videos, in particular ‘Loser’ - which is referenced in a shot from where I pull the blue square off my head. But overall we just wanted to hang out and have a great time creating it. We wanted to film in places that looked quite liminal and unidentifiable, but also linking into themes of moving around different places. As the lyrics were originally thought of whilst on public transport, we wanted to include that in somehow too.”

TRACK LISTING

1 Gmaps
2 Tennis
3 Plastic
4 Algorithmic
5 Nothing

An absolute, hard-charging funk hammer from the Dap-Kings - an incredible instrumental co-written and co-produced by Dapper Bosco Mann and Kenny Dope! If "Nervous Like Me" has a title that reflects some kind of apprehension, the track is anything but! It's simply pummeling - with a rhythm that kicks out from some stealth bongo and rolling trap that build into some playful guitar and bass response until the horns crash and boom! The beats on the flip isolate the funky drums, providing a sizzling beat track.

TRACK LISTING

A. Nervous Like Me (Snippet)
B. Nervous Like Me Beats (Snippet)

Miles Davis and Milt Jackson only recorded together on a few occasions, but those collaborations always produced superb music. Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giantsincludes one such collaborative effort - a unique 1954 quintet session that also features the great Thelonious Monk on piano. These are the only existing studio recordings presenting Miles and Monk together.

Miles Davis, trumpet
Milt Jackson, vibes
Thelonious Monk, piano
Percy Heath, bass
Kenny Clarke, drums

Original session recorded by Rudy Van Gelder & produced by Bob Weinstock.

Hackensack, New Jersey, December 24, 1954.

TRACK LISTING

Swing Spring
The Man I Love [take 2]
The Man I Love [take 1]
Bemsha Swing
Bags Groove [take 2]
Bags Groove [take 1]

Requiem for Jazz is a 12-movement suite composed and arranged by Angel Bat Dawid, inspired in part by dialogue from Edward O. Bland’s 1959 film “The Cry of Jazz.”

The original form of the music was premiered at the 2019 edition of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in Chicago, where Angel conducted a multigenerational fifteen-piece instrumental ensemble (all Black musicians from Chicago’s creative music community) alongside a four- person choir (featuring singers from Black Monument Ensemble), dancers, and visual artists in performance.

Angel mixed and post-produced recordings from the performance – adding interludes, vocals and additional sounds, as well as transcribing a piece from “The Cry of Jazz” film. The final movement of Requiem for Jazz features Marshall Allen and Knoel Scott of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Their contributions were recorded remotely at the historic Arkestral Institute of Sun Ra in Philadelphia in late 2020.

The final Requiem for Jazz work in album form is an immersive 24-track, double LP experience. The physical package is a deluxe, heavyweight gatefold jacket with liner notes by South African writer Nombuso Mathibela, artwork by Damon Locks, and a large fold out poster designed by Jeremiah Chiu, featuring poetry written by Angel Bat Dawid in dedication to all of her collaborators on the project. Additionally, there is a limited Thy Kingdom Come purple color vinyl edition of Requiem for Jazz available for the first pressing only.

TRACK LISTING

1. Jazz Is Merely The Negroes Cry Of Joy & Suffering
2. INTROIT- Joy N’ Suff’rin
3. Jazz Is The Musical Expression Of The Triumph Of The Negroes Spirit
4. KYRIE ELEISON- Lawd Hav’ Merci
5. This Endless Repetition Is Like A Chain Around The Spirit. And Is A Reflection Of The Denial Of A Future To The Negro In The American Way Of Life
6. DIAS IRE- Chain Around The Spirit
7. Another Restraining Factor In Jazz Are The Changes
8. TUBA MIRUM- The Changes
9. The Negro Experiences The Endless Daily Humiliation Of American Life Which Bequeaths Him A Futureless Future
10. REX TREMENDAE –Futureless Future
11. The Negro Transforms America’s Image Of Him Into A Transport Of Joy!
12. RECORDARE-Recall The Joy
13. Jazz Reflects The Improvised Life Thrust Upon The Negro
14. CONFUTATIS-Repression
15. Through Spirituals, Through The Blues, Then Through Jazz We Made A Memory Of Our Past And A Promise Of All To Come
16. LACRIMOSA- Weeping Our Lady Of Sorrow
17. Because Jazz Is The One Element In American Life Where Whites Must Be Humble To The Negro
18. OFFERTURIUM-HOSTIAS-Humility
19. Only When Whites Have Paid The Price In Suffering To Be The Negroes Equal
20. SANCTUS- Holy, Holy, Holy
21. The Jazz Body Is Dead But The Spirit Of Jazz Is Alive
22. AGNUS DEI-Jazz Is Dead!
23. LUX AETERNA-Eternal Light (Angel Bat Dawid) -The Cry Of Jazz (Sun Ra)
24. Long Tone For Rayna Golding (A Binti Zawadi Our Future)

Revered composer, pianist, DJ and acknowledged bridge between jazz, dance and hip-hop, Mark de Clive-Lowe (MdCL), links up with jazz vocalist/flautist Melanie Charles and Detroit drummer/producer & DJ, Shigeto on Hotel San Claudio, a collaborative LP of spiritual jazz and live deconstructed beats. Following Melanie Charles’ formidable Verve album Y’all Don’t (Really) Care About Black Women and MdCL's lauded 2022 Soul Bank album, Freedom – Celebrating the Music of Pharoah Sanders, the three forward-thinking musicians unite for a sonic exploration across jazz, hip-hop and soulful house.

This project was seeded in Detroit, USA, in 2018 when MdCL (Nubya Garcia, Bugz In The Attic, Ge-Ology), was invited to perform alongside Detroit native Zach Saginaw aka Shigeto (Andrés, Dabrye, Shlohmo) at local spot, MotorCity Wine despite the two having never actually met. Months later, the Italian Fat Fat Fat Festival invited them to open their 2019 programme, yet the duo felt a piece of the puzzle was missing. Enter the “triple threat”, Melanie Charles. Having first connected post-show at a festival in Brooklyn in Oct 2018 MdCL knew Charles was the perfect fit.

In light of Pharoah Sanders passing, there's reinterpre- tations of The Creator Has a Master Plan (Part's 1 & 2) and Love is Everywhere reimagining them for the here and now. Strings speaks to the group’s love of hip-hop, whilst Kanazawa references a love of soulful house, with Charles’ 70s disco/fusion flute solo, leading into a euphoric, climactic outro. Bushido leans even heavier on 70s jazz fusion, MFT showcases Charles’ sublime vocals, affording a vast, celestial quality that stands present throughout Hotel San Claudio. 

TRACK LISTING

01/A1: The Creator Has A Master Plan (Part I)
02/A2: Strings
03/A3: MFT
04/A4: Bushido
05/A5: Interlude (Contorni)
06/B1: Kanazawa
07/B2: Love Is Everywhere
08/B3: Interlude (Digestivo)
09/B4: The Creator Has A Master Plan (Part II)

Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd is the ninth studio album from acclaimed singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, comprising 16 tracks and interludes with features including Father John Misty, Tommy Genesis, Jon Batiste, Bleachers and more. It follows the prolific artist's 2021 albums Chemtrails Over The Country Club and Blue Banisters. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: I've only semi-recently become, as you kids say, a Lana stan after her one-two punch releases of 'Norman Fucking Rockwell!' and 'Chemtrails over the Country Club'. I can safely say, this is another banger in her catalogue. Clocking in at just under 80 minutes, 'Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd' is a sprawling opus full of rich storytelling and absolutely spellbinding vocals and instrumentation - perfection!

'Memento Mori' is Depeche Mode's 15th studio album and its first as a two-piece lineup of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, following co-founder Andrew 'Fletch' Fletcher's tragic passing in 2022. Produced by James Ford, with additional production work by Marta Salogni, 'Memento Mori''s gestation took place during the early stages of the COVID pandemic, resulting in themes inspired directly by that period. The album's 12 tracks chart a vast expanse of moods and textures, from its ominous opening to its closing resolve-running the gamut from paranoia and obsession to catharsis and joy, and hitting myriad points between.

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Their first album since the passing of Andrew Fletcher, Depeche Mode's 'Memento Mori' is celebration of life. Full of moments of classic anthemic Mode ('Ghosts Again'), but also plenty of time for self-reflection, this is their best album in years - gorgeous stuff!

African Voodoo, Manu Dibango’s rare and unknown treasure !

1971 : Manu Dibango records the precious album African Voodoo in line with its twin Africadelic. Twelve masterful Afro Soul, Jazz, Funk or Latin nuggets without a ripple for more than fifty years, which are taking us deeply into Manu Dibango’s brilliant dicography.

The authentic material composing African Voodoo, modestly qualified by the maestro as « a bit spicy mood music », was promised to another destiny before representing one of the most emblematic albums of Manu Dibango’s discography.

Recorded in 1971 at Mondiaphone label studio, this album was not meant for sales. It followed a request of Afro-Urban sounds dedicated to French TV and radio shows seeking atmospheric background music.

Barely entered the studio, the eight musicians recorded it all in three days, without having planned anything !

« It was up to you to play what was coming through your mind, to broaden your imagination ! » entrusted Manu to Jacques Denis in 2008.

The one we call today « The Old Lion » did not take up this challenge lightly, or chose his musicians by chance ! The cream of the time formed his Afro-French-Carribean band :

Yvan Julien (Trumpet), Slim Pezin (Guitar), Jacques Bolognesi (Trombone), François Jeanneau (Saxophone), Lucien Dobat (Drums), Emile Boza (Percussions), Manfred (Bass Guitar), and Manu at Vibraphone, Marimba, Saxophone, Organ and Piano.

The same band who played by his side since 1967, in particular in the Television show « Pulsations », in which Manu conducted his very own orchestra. He was moreover the first musician to manage his regular orchestra on TV !

And the result of these recordings was mind boggling !
The freshness of the sound and groove emanating from it are undeniable, and straightaway place this album like a standard of the genre while listening to the first notes !
The very rhythmic Groovy Flute generously opens the album with its solar and constant flute melody. Our ears then savor an African Pop Session with a heavy and imposing rhythmic, or a Ba-Kuba with a slow and mesmerizing tempo. More rhythmic and percussive tunes like the wild Wilderness reminding us Isaac Hayes shaft, or the swinging Soul Saxes Meeting, one more time show the ingenuity of the composer and the extreme variety of styles he was able to play. The African and Latin tones are almost omnipresent all along the disc. Jungle Riders and its electric guitar and flute solos - as melting as jazzy - supported by Coconut and its very Caribbean rhythmic, or the transcendent Walking to Waza, bear witness.

As sublime as surprising, African Voodoo perfectly illustrated the « Afro Somethin’ » invented by the maestro during a time interview with Rolling Stone Magazine. Barely published, these words were then used by all medias. Simple description, and undoubtedly efficient, of the genres crossing Manu Dibango embodies through his music and his universal speech ; a REAL word citizen for whom music has no color.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Groovy Flute
2. Soul Saxes Meeting
3. African Pop Session
4. Walking To Waza
5. Out Of Score
6. Ba-Kuba
SIDE B
1. Zoom 2000
2. Aphrodite Shake
3. Wilderness
4. Jungle Riders
5. Iron Wood
6. Coconut

Full length double LP from contemporary Irish guitarist Jonny Dillon. Beautifully recorded blues / folk guitar pieces. Essential for fans of John Fahey. TIP!

Jonny Dillon’s debut acoustic LP ‘Songs For A One-String Guitar’ took the listening public by surprise and the critics by storm when it dropped out of the blue on All-City in 2019. It represented a departure for an artist who was renowned for having the Midas touch when it came to coaxing dance floor fire from all manner of hardware. But fortune favours the brave and temporarily setting the machinery aside and following an acoustic path to the waterfall has already reaped rich rewards for Jonny Dillon. He’ll never say it in so many words but here’s a man on a mission: “Fail as I may, I have to go back and try again every time, to wait in hope for a glimpse of the spirit that hovers over the face of the deep, and to keep watch for the Light that shines in the darkness.”

The generosity of spirit which is the linchpin of all great music is something that can neither be cheaply conjured nor ever easily faked, god forbid. It’s the elusive emotional conductor in the spinal cord of sound - a foundational component of that mysterious feeling of connection we as listeners are seeking every time we put the needle on the record or press play on a song. The very essence of the thing we seek, in short. The holy grail. When sweet music hits, it’s the spirit that moves us and it’s both the source of the power within it as well as ultimately the place where it resides inside of us too, once heard. This is how music works. Journeying. Spirit to spirit. From the makers and dreamers of the dream to dreamers in general. The indomitable spirit inherent in the instrumental guitar compositions and distinctive finger picking style of Jonny Dillon is a case in point. This is spiritful music of a rarer kind made by an artist as inherently attuned to the troubling times we are living through as he is to the value of carving out new paths to the waterfall through the medium of sound on our behalf. Boom and there it is. Much needed guidance. A priceless new navigational tool of the imagination to help us all through the maze.

Just like the debut offering, this a path inherently worth following too, every step of the way. This time Jonny’s singular playing style finds true expression in a sound world expertly shaped by a master of the production craft, John ’Spud’ Murphy in Hellfire Studio. Masters at work, times two. Like all dream productions, it quickly assumes three dimensional proportions and becomes a place to go in and of itself, worth returning and retreating to, time
and again. On A New Directive From The Bureau of Compulsory Entertaintment, his mode of expression is as clear and impactful as the immediate impression the sound makes on us. His is a strong game. He rises to the occasion and fulfils a great need on our part in so doing. We have to give thanks where it’s due. Balms for the soul are hardly two-a-penny in these challenging times but this is a timely one and of a lasting kind too. In stripping everything back and breaking his sound down into the bare component parts of reverberating steel strings on resonant wood, he has tapped into a kind of universal music of the spheres. It’s in tune with the times and more. Big picture sound with heart and soul to match. The iridescent sound he conjures from that same deep is a joyous thing to behold imbued as it is with a kind of light that never goes out. A dozen jewels adorn this timeless creation, each one a glimpse of eternity. They will shimmer forever. Man gets tired. Spirit don’t.

Dónal Dineen, January 2023.

TRACK LISTING

Numinous Hedgerows Look See
Hey Who Put These Sunsets Here
Rose Gardens Requiems
Lifes Railway To Heaven
Heaven Knows
After Vastopol
The Corridor Of The Heart
I Used To Just Drink Linden Village But Now I Live There
Day Is Breaking In My Soul Blues
In Christ There Is No East Or West
The Great Big Ship That Came And Floated Everybody Away
Here Comes The Ladder Of Divine Ascent

As a solo artist and as a member of the duo Perrey and Kingsley, Jean-Jacques Perrey was one of the leading innovators of early electronic music, and a trailblazer of the Moog synthesizer. Alongside composers likeWendy Carlos, Bruce Haack, and frequent collaborator Gershon Kingsley, Perrey was among the first to introduce the world to the synthesizer as a compositional instrument, via notable tracks such as "Musique deL'infini", "Gossipo Perpetuo", and "Baroque Hoedown", famously used as the theme music to Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade. Along with many of his contemporaries, it was inevitable that such an influential instrumental composer would eventually be sampled into hip-hop tracks. His 1970 Moog composition "E.V.A." was especially popular among producers, making its way into tracks by Gang Starr, Dr. Octagon, Lord Finesse, Pete Rock, and innumerable others. To pay tribute to this prominent composition, Kay-Dee Records is proud to present this loving tribute to "E.V.A." on a 7" single, courtesy of French producer DJ Paikan, who also played sitar, guitar, kobol synth, and monopoly synth on the track. Mixed by Kenny Dope"

TRACK LISTING

A. E.V.A. Pt.1 
B. E.V.A. Pt. 2 

Explore the Duster universe on the far superior 45RPM format. This deluxe triple 7” box contains Duster’s first single—1997’s Transmission Flux (including “Stars Will Fall” & “Orbitron”), 1998’s Apex, Trance[1]Like (featuring “Four Hours”), plus Stratosphere’s painfully absent “Echo, Bravo” and the lost 2002 outtake “What You’re Doing To Me.” Housed in replica sleeves and placed in a sturdy two-piece box, Moods, Modes also contains a Duster-branded hanky for those who like to accessorize.

TRACK LISTING

Disc 1: Transmission, Flux
Side A

1 Orbitron
2 Fuzz And Timbre
3 My Friends Are Cosmonauts

Side B

4 Closer To The Speed Of Sound
5 Stars Will Fall

Disc 2: Apex, Trance-Like
Side A

6 Light Years

Side B

7 Four Hours

Disc 3: Echo, Bravo
Side A

8 Echo, Bravo

Side B

9 What You’re Doing To Me

Shed is back with his EQD alias, hard-edged, face-punching bass-techno killers from this master speaker tweaker. Side A adopts a fierce Berghain vibe - boxy, rumbling, highly syncopated hits and smashes all working within a 4/4 framework with a rising energy throughout. B side offers up a shuffled and skewed circular bass number with ricocheting beats, taut synthline and deep farting sub for a cavernous slice of dungeon bass that all the mutants are gonna shed their skin too. No other producer captures that sense or dark urgency like Shed. 10 / 10 - most recommended.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Proper Berghain tackle from Shed. Pitch black, militant bass techno that makes you feel like a crab in a barrel. Brilliant!

TRACK LISTING

A
B

First vinyl edition of the mythical first ESP Summer album, recorded in 1994 in Livonia, Michigan by 4AD labelmates Ian Masters (Pale Saints) and Warren Defever (His Name Is Alive).

Remastered from the original tapes at Third Man Mastering. Clear vinyl with no banding between tracks.

Double-sided fold out A2 poster with liner notes, lyrics and archival photos, plus download card.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1

1 Sticky Sun 3:40
2 Web Of Dream 3:02
3 Simple Eye 4:32
4 More Water 2:19
5 Golden Heart Of The Year 3:40
6 Land Of 102° 4:21

Side 2

1 Your Hands 5:01
2 On You 2:10
3 Splinters 5:05
4 Last Time Hand 4:03
5 When Leaves Are Gone

The Endless Coloured Ways is a collection of songs by legendary singer / songwriter, Nick Drake, performed and recorded by over 30 incredible artists from a range of different backgrounds, genres, age groups and audiences. From Fontaines D.C to Guy Garvey, and Aurora to Feist, each artist has offered their own incredible take on a timeless classic.

TRACK LISTING

Cello Song - Fontaines D.C
From The Morning - Let's Eat Grandma

‘Take Me Out’ is the second single from Franz Ferdinand’s eponymous debut album. Released in 2004 on Domino, the song reached #3 in the UK singles chart, was hailed by Drowned in Sound as "a work of sheer clanging wonder" and went on to sell nearly four million copies worldwide.The record was accompanied by a Dada-influenced video, blending live-action performance with animated 3D environments and was featured on their recent ‘Hits To The Head’ best-of collection and the world tour that followed. Our version of this Indie anthem is just a shot away from being forever yours, so…

Blisteringly groovy collection of completely off-the-radar songs by Libyan composer / producer Najib Alhoush's group The Free Music, circa 1976. Releasing an astonishing 10 albums, all impressively strong and equally infused by soul, funk, disco and reggae, The Free Music created a distinctly infectious groove that unfortunately didn't make an impact outside of Libya due to the complex political situation at the time. There is a reason it says "Part 1" in the title.

Avid Habibi Funk listeners may be familiar with Libyan composer / producer Najib Alhoush, who's track "Ya Aen Daly" - the Bee Gee's "Stayin Alive" cover - was included in our second compilation. While the original track never excited us, Najib's version managed to strip it from its pop approach that had taken over disco during the genre's peak. At that time, disco tracks mostly were aiming to appeal to the widest audience possible. Najib had turned the original track into something different and very unique. Upon further research we found that Najib was actually the singer and founder of The Free Music band alongside Fakhreddin, Salim Jibreel, Abdulrazzak 'Kit-Kat', Mukhtar Wanis and Mohameed Al Rakibi.

Initially, we only licensed Najib Alhoush's "Ya Aen Daly" from Yousef Alhoush, Najib's son, who was pleased to hear that there was interest in his father's music form someone abroad. In the process of exchanging and learning about Najib's music and career, our understanding was that The Free Music only recorded the one album. This couldn't be further from the truth, in fact, there were ten albums produced by the group, all impressively coherent with a clear influence from disco, soul, funk and reggae.

The Free Music album was probably the longest it ever took us to gather information, photos and musical source material in a good enough quality to be reissued. This is largely due to the complicated political situation in Libya, compounded by the fact that Libya is still largely cut off from international payment systems, so getting an advance payment to the right person can be a process that takes weeks. The same goes for getting master tapes to a studio abroad and afterwards back to Libya.

When we look for music that works under the umbrella of Habibi Funk, we often come across albums where bands experimented with influences from Soul, Jazz, Funk, Disco and more, usually on a single track or two but then they often go down to a different path for the rest of the album. This was not the case for The Free Music. All their albums are fully dedicated to their unique blend of Disco, Reggae and Funk and it feels that when we made the selection for this album, we could have chosen a completely different number of tracks and the album would be been equally strong.

The lead-off single is the stupendously groovy "Ana Qalbi Ehtar" out February 3rd along with LP pre-order to capitalize on Bandcamp Friday. From the outset, the rhythmic strumming of the funkified guitars give way to the galloping drums and bass, opening up to anthemic vocals and rounding out with a blistering guitar solo, a certified disco-funk classic through-andthrough.
Second single, out February 17th is the disco slammer "Hawelt Nensa Ghalaak." Guitars, harmonized horns, synths and bouncing bass and drums collide w/ spaced out vox to make the track a dancefloor sureshot for any party.

Third single is "Mathasebnish," a pure disco-funk slammer if there ever was one – with stabbing horns, funky bass riffs, a riding rhythm guitar and anthemic vocals, rounded out with stunning flute and guitar solos – the track will surely be on repeat along with the arrival of warmer weather.
Album focus track "Men Awel Marra" is another standout disco-infused tune, showcasing the immense creativity out of Najib and The Free Music. This past summer we finally had the opportunity to get together with Yousef face-to-face at a coffee shop in Istanbul's central Istiklal road together with our friend Anas El Horani. Yousef told us the whole story of how his father got into music, the start of the band and his father's continued conflicts with the Gaddafi regime that probably kept his career from becoming even bigger. As always, both vinyl and CD come with an extensive booklet featuring background on The Free Music and Najib Alhoush, including words from Najib's son, Yousef, as well as unseen photos, cassettes and more.

The usual boom-and-bust cycles of growing up -- breaking down, gathering the strength to get up, fumbling hard, doing it all over again - can feel unmooring, to say the least, but, and according to DEBBY FRIDAY, its tragedies and glories need savoring. Losing illusions, gaining expectations; getting deep into the private, soupy kaleidoscope of what’s possible and what’s futile -- GOOD LUCK, her debut, and supernovic, full-length album, is built on welcoming the journey’s complicated drops and mountain highs with something more like grace.

Nigerian-born, then an emigré to bits of Canada - from Montreal to Vancouver to Toronto - DEBBY FRIDAY’s roamings through space and time really began when the sun fell. Nightlife was her emancipation from the toughness of home life, and she fell into it, body and soul, totally seduced. Raves til sunrise; house music in unknown basements and warehouses -- the lure of the party was the perfect escape. Things that feel good sometimes do fall apart, though.

In 2017, after DJing for less than a year, nothing was going the way that she wanted it to go. So she gathered her things and embarked on what would turn out to be the first of a few of her coming-of-age stories. After making the decision to stop herself in her tracks, she pulverized new paths for herself forward. Late-night YouTube tutorials on music production led to an EP, BITCHPUNK, and BITCHPUNK led to her first public performances, and all that gave way to a second EP, DEATH DRIVE. Her art endowed her with the strength she needed to move on. “This is what I was born to do,” she goes. “It came to me so naturally and instinctively.”

So what does it take to hone that power? Discipline - routines, rituals; an MFA, practices of writing and filmmaking, and music-making that guide a person from one day to the next - but something close to mysticism, too. DEBBY’S serious study of astrology, psychology, and philosophy allow her to move through the world, relate to others, and get closer to what’s inside her. She believes in what emerges. She believes in making the unconscious conscious. She wants to be in dialogue with the darkness. It’s why GOOD LUCK works like such a study in entropy. On the surface, you’ll hear smears of Santigold’s dub dazzle, the MIDI-crush of Death Grips, but less obviously the plaintiveness of directors like Eric Rohmer, or the grotesque decadence of later-era Sylvia Plath. (Juno Award and Polaris Prize-nominated composer Graham Walsh adds a sort of heft and pull to the genre-flexibility on parade here: think of it a little like Sevdaliza meets FKA Twigs.)

Few do it like her, though, and GOOD LUCK spans from lucid, acid housey, high-BPM tracks to melancholia and darkness to striking falsetto pop with assuredness and aplomb. The album GOOD LUCK is being co-released with a short film of the same name, co-directed by FRIDAY and Nathan De Paz Habib (past work includes Eroica, based on Chino Amobi's novel of the same name). It’s a story of individuation. It’s a love story about a woman and her masked beloved, but outside of the accompanying-but-stand-alone visual, it’s all a willing, yearning investigation into what goes on behind the veil of sadness, of cruelty. Because knowing the darkness is the only way to understand the light, but also the greys and the blues and the in-between states. FRIDAY’s explorations in GOOD LUCK -- delving down into the muck of nuance - are a kind of courage.

TRACK LISTING

1. Good Luck
2. So Hard To Tell
3. I Got It (Feat. Uñas)
4. Hot Love
5. Heartbreakerrr
6. What A Man
7. Safe
8. Let U Down
9. Pluto Baby
10. Wake Up

Froid Dub continues to explore its synth-lined, slowed down digi-dub cave flooded with waves of echoes and acid bleeps. From begging to end, basslines and flanged delays sail over deep waters, seemingly barely disturbed by the minimal pump of synth-wave track "Not Loved". Much like Tradition's "Captain Ganja And The Space Patrol", Dub Surgeon, SKRS INTL and other hot concept dub albums, Froid Dub paints sonic bassscapes of open seas. There's a proper coastal slant at work, perhaps a lone rickety raft coming into a deserted Jamaican harbour... What imagine it conjures up for you - it's bound to be a striking and vivid one. Really nice addition to this cannon of music we call DUB. Don't sleep!

TRACK LISTING

A1. The Conference
A2. Item By Item
A3. Wet Dub
A4. Not Loved
B1. Isla Morada
B2. Original Stalker
B3. Rude Light

“There are certain records that ‘split the atom’, creating a totally new sound - serendipitous moments in time when an artist pulls a rabbit from the hat and forecasts a change ahead.” - Greg Wilson, DJ Mag.

Few records crossed over into different musical worlds as successfully as the Funk Masters’ sublime UK disco / jazz funk monster classic cut, ‘Love Money’. A monster underground hit in New York - everywhere from Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage and David Mancuso’s Loft in New York - through to the new wave / no wave dance crowds at Area, Club 57, Danceteria, Limelight and Mudd Club, and artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, who similarly played the track to death. The track then also became a huge Chicago house club track and influenced everyone from Masters at Work’s Louie Vega to Francois Kevorkian with its dubbed-out sound.

Originally released in 1981, the track came out on the flipside over a rap cut to the song by Bo Kool, one of the earliest examples of UK rap, but it was the instrumental ‘Love Money’, with its dubbed out sound effects, that was more often played, filling dancefloors everywhere. This nod to reggae and dub was not by chance. The track was produced by long-time UK resident Jamaican reggae DJ and producer Tony Williams. This was his first attempt at a club track but, by using reggae musicians, he created new style blending funk, disco and reggae, years ahead of its time.

So if ever you want to hear a record that encapsulates the world of disco, funk, proto-house, hip-hop, no wave dance and reggae in one go then this is it.

This is the first release from Soul Jazz Records’ delving into the Tony Williams Tania Music and Funk Masters catalogue, which contains a wealth of UK jazz funk killers.

TRACK LISTING

1. Funk Masters - Love Money
2. Bo Kool - (Money) No Love

The sum to infinity of a sequence is the sum of an infinite number of terms in the sequence. It is only possible to compute this sum if the terms of a sequence converge to zero. “Sum To Infinity” is also the second release from Gamut Inc, the retro-futuristic ensemble around composers and curators Marion Wörle and Maciej Śledziecki.

This second album by Gamut Inc combines custom-built autonomous music machines with haunting classical synthesiser sounds to create a dense musical kaleidoscope.

The core of the album is formed by Risset rhythms – cyclic accelerations and decelerations, in which rhythmic layers repeatedly fade in and out, setting in motion a seemingly endless process of rhythmic movement. The motifs are taken from geometric and arithmetic series that create urgency and restlessness. The rigour of the construction is obscured by an orchestra whose timbres are reminiscent of a retro-futuristic indigenous ensemble. Gamut Inc translate strategies of electronic music like pulse-width modulation to music machines such as automated accordion, automated percussion or glockenspiels and create an intense atmosphere that is idiosyncratic, original and modern at the same time.

Gamut Inc build their music machines, play electronic music festivals internationally, curate the Aggregate festival for automated pipe organs and composes for film, radio drama, and theatre. Their first opera, “Rossums Universal Robots”, premiered in 2022. Since 2011, at the intersection of electronic club culture and experimental music, they have produced live music, music theatre, film and theatre scores (including for the Junge Staatstheater Berlin) with their specially developed musical robots. They composed for ensembles like the RIAS chamber choir or the robot orchestra Logos Foundation and received invitations and commissions from international festivals and venues such as Sónar, CTM, Berghain, Sonic Acts, Technosphärenklänge or Numusic (NO). Gamut Inc has received numerous scholarships, including the Villa Kamogawa scholarship from the Goethe Institute in Kyoto, Japan, 2022. Their first release, “Ex Machina” was produced exclusively with music robots and released in 2014 in cooperation with Bôłt Records.

Excellent works here, do not miss! TIP!

TRACK LISTING

Series A
Series B
Series C
Series D
Series E
Series F

This 2LP features soundtracks to unfinished films, live performances and the real versions of tracks you know and love, released for the very first time and mastered from the original reel to reel tapes. Expect the unexpected and be prepared for the unprepared.

Genesis P-Orridge and The Hafler Trio: do these 2 legends still need any introduction?

Genesis P-Orridge was the founding person of COUM Transmissions in 1969, Throbbing Gristle in 1975, Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth and Psychic TV in 1981.

Andrew McKenzie started The Hafler Trio (together with Cabaret Voltaire's Chris Watson) in 1982 and since then released all his work under this moniker and collaborated with William S. Burroughs, Autechre, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Nurse With Wound and Jónsi from Sigur Rós, to name a few. And he constructed the first kit Dreamachine in 1989 together with Brion Gysin.

The impact and influence of these pioneers of the industrial underground,visionary thinkers and open minds, anti heroes of the misfits and the outcasts is hard to underestimate.

On 'Dream Less Suite', the first new album by The Hafler Trio since 2016, Andrew McKenzie unearths, resurrects and completed recordings he made through the years with Genesis P-Orridge.

This 2LP features soundtracks to unfinished films, live performances and the real versions of tracks you know and love, released for the very first time and mastered from the original reel to reel tapes. Expect the unexpected and be prepared for the unprepared.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Genesis P-Orridge & The Hafler Trio - Better Not To Begin
A2. Genesis P-Orridge & The Hafler Trio - Alaura (yes)
A3. Genesis P-Orridge & The Hafler Trio - Veiled Threat (extract)
B1. Genesis P-Orridge & The Hafler Trio - רדאמשענ
B2. Genesis P-Orridge & The Hafler Trio - Slave Priest (yes)
B3. Genesis P-Orridge & The Hafler Trio - Hope Dies Now, Gratefully
C1. Genesis P-Orridge & The Hafler Trio - E-am-E
D1. Genesis P-Orridge & The Hafler Trio - NOW<------->NOW

Originally released in 1993, Fuzzy is the debut release from Grant Lee Buffalo. Rising from the ashes of the recently defunct Shiva Burlesque, the trio of Grant Lee Philips, Paul Kimble and Joey Peters went on to record four studio albums. This premiere created a mellow and political charged album that beautifully fuses many genres into a mellow Americana release, showcasing Grant Lee Phillips evocative voice and paved the way for what was to come. Warm yet angsty, it wields melancholy like a double-barreled shotgun whose bullet rockets through the soul.

TRACK LISTING

The Shining Hour
Jupiter And Teardrop
Fuzzy
Wish You Well
The Hook
Soft Wolf Tread
Stars N’ Stripes
Dixie Drug Store
America  Snoring
Grace
You Just Have To Be Crazy

Originally released in 1994, Mighty Joe Moon is the second release from Grant Lee Buffalo Appearing in the midst of the grunge movement, the trio took raw emotion and embraced it with just as much abrasion but toned it down into a more singer/ songwriter tone, thanks to Grant Lee Phillips' mix of glaring guitars and hushed vocals, that was unlike anything else at the time. With a nod to its predecessor, it is a more complex affair drawing in the listener on a more personal level. The fre burning in him, Phillips blazes through the themes of politics, love, the human spirit, and ends the album with a very chilling take on his own version of the old hymn Rock of Ages.

TRACK LISTING

Lone Star Song
Mockingbirds
It's The Life
Sing Along
Mighty Joe Moon
Demon Called Deception
Lady Godiva And Me
Drag
Last Days Of Tecumseh
Happiness
Honey Don't Think
Side By Side
Rock Of Ages

‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ is the title track from Richard Hawley’s sixth studio album, which debuted at number three in the UK albums chart in 2012 and was nominated for that year’s Mercury Prize. Named after Skye Edge, a hillside area with views over the city centre, the song went onto inspire a musical which tells the story of three families over sixty years living in Sheffield’s Park Hill housing estate. It premiered at the Crucible before transferring to the National in London and won Best Musical Production at the UK Theatre Awards and the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre. This is another great Music Box version of one of Hawley's best-loved songs, so why not…

Dystopian. That’s the first adjective anyone ever used to describe south London auteur Heartworms, after the project was brought to life by its architect Jojo Orme. Heartworms is the conduit for Jojo’s entire identity – her laying down a purposefully discomforting challenge to the outside world but also affirming her own self and passions; which include military history (Jojo has just taken a volunteering role at The Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon) and the poetry of Pound, Thomas, and Keats.

Backed by a full live band, Heartworms’ performances are a masterclass in poise. Jojo describes the theatre brought to her shows - punctuated by her intense stare - as a kick back against preconceived notions of ‘smallness’ and fragility as a female musician. On stage, her projection is the very antithesis: we see an artist who is big, powerful, in total control. Uniformity plays a huge role in all things Heartworms, too. The metronomic music and meticulous fashion of bands like Interpol and Kraftwerk greatly inspires Jojo, as does PJ Harvey, whose dark sense of humour and lyrical dexterity permeates Heartworms’ songwriting.

All of these facets of Jojo’s personality bear fruit on A Comforting Notion – the debut EP from Heartworms and the first release for iconic indie label Speedy Wunderground. A Comforting Notion finds Jojo working with the label’s founder - and a long term influence of hers - Dan Carey across four tracks of mesmeric, gothic-sounding post-rock and punk. The tracks were written by Jojo on guitar and synths, with drums programmed on a MIDI controller before being brought to life in Carey’s studio in his own signature, live takes-only style.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: This dark, brooding debut from Heartworms is definitely one of the best debut releases I've heard in a while. There are heavy goth undertones to the doomy synths and jagged guitars. Topped off with Jojo's distinctive, powerful vocals, these four tracks draw on plenty of influences from the 80s to present day, without sounding quite like anything else around.

TRACK LISTING

Consistent Dedication
Retributions Of An Awful Life
A Comforting Notion
24 Hours

Dystopian. That’s the first adjective anyone ever used to describe south London auteur Heartworms, after the project was brought to life by its architect Jojo Orme. Heartworms is the conduit for Jojo’s entire identity – her laying down a purposefully discomforting challenge to the outside world but also affirming her own self and passions; which include military history (Jojo has just taken a volunteering role at The Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon) and the poetry of Pound, Thomas, and Keats.

Backed by a full live band, Heartworms’ performances are a masterclass in poise. Jojo describes the theatre brought to her shows - punctuated by her intense stare - as a kick back against preconceived notions of ‘smallness’ and fragility as a female musician. On stage, her projection is the very antithesis: we see an artist who is big, powerful, in total control. Uniformity plays a huge role in all things Heartworms, too. The metronomic music and meticulous fashion of bands like Interpol and Kraftwerk greatly inspires Jojo, as does PJ Harvey, whose dark sense of humour and lyrical dexterity permeates Heartworms’ songwriting.

All of these facets of Jojo’s personality bear fruit on A Comforting Notion – the debut EP from Heartworms and the first release for iconic indie label Speedy Wunderground. A Comforting Notion finds Jojo working with the label’s founder - and a long term influence of hers - Dan Carey across four tracks of mesmeric, gothic-sounding post-rock and punk. The tracks were written by Jojo on guitar and synths, with drums programmed on a MIDI controller before being brought to life in Carey’s studio in his own signature, live takes-only style.

TRACK LISTING

Consistent Dedication
Retributions Of An Awful Life
A Comforting Notion
24 Hours

Part of the motivation behind the 1956 Carnegie Hall concert was to promote Billie's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues. The music was attuned entirely to Billie's character part, reinforced by readings from her book by Gilbert Millstein. Although recorded in 1956, the LP was only issued in 1961, almost two years after Billie's passing on July 17, 1959, at the age of 44.

Billie Holiday, vocals
Roy Eldridge, trumpet
Coleman Hawkins, tenor sax
Carl Drinkard, piano
Tony Scott, clarinet (piano on Lady Sings the Blues only)
Carson Smith, bass
Chico Hamilton, drums
Gilbert Millstein, readings from the book Lady Sings the Blues

Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, November 10, 1956.

TRACK LISTING

Oh, What A Little Moonlight Can Do
I Cover The Waterfront
Fine And Mellow
I Cried For You
My Man
Reading From Lady Sings The Blues
I'll Be Seeing You
Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
Yesterdays
Don't Explain
Reading From Lady Sings The Blues
Body And Soul
Billie's Blues
Reading From Lady Sings The Blues
Travelin Light With Reading
It Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do
Lady Sings The Blues
Reading From Lady Sings The Blues

David Holmes (Ocean’s Eleven, Out of Sight, Killing Eve, The Fall, ‘71) new soundtrack to Sky limited series ‘This England’ is released via Stranger Than Paradise Records. The show is co-written and directed by Michael Winterbottom (A Mighty Heart, The Road to Guantanamo) and stars Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson and Ophelia Lovibond as Carrie Symonds. The 6-part drama is based on Boris Johnson’s tumultuous first months as Prime Minister and traces the impact on the country of the first wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The plan for the music for This England came in 3 parts.

1. We wanted to create a theme that was high in tempo. A theme that moved as fast as the virus was spreading. We wanted to always feel that we were chasing the vaccine but were ultimately never catching up as the virus took hold through huge events like Cheltenham & Champions League matches that should never have gone ahead. All the rhythms within the score were created using heart beats, ventilators, defibrillators, ECG machines etc. Even though these weren’t obviously noticeable I felt that it worked great as a linear thread and gave the piece real human movement, emotion and tension that told the story in an original way.

2. The second theme centred around the virus itself as it creeped, crawled and spread through cities, countries and ultimately the world, the horrific nature of it and how the world practically changed overnight. I wanted to create a sense of danger that was uncomfortable. It also had to work with the recklessness, nativity and ultimately mismanagement that was witnessed day in day out in Downing Street.

3. Emotionally, we had to be really careful. The last thing we wanted was to be overblown with the emotion. It was very important to deal with the raw human emotion in a very delicate way that had a profound feeling as people of all ages were dying unnecessarily by the 100s every day. The care homes were very tricky because of the hopelessness and obvious outcome of the situation. There was no room for sentimentality. We also wanted to create a darker sense of melancholy as Boris Johnson was not taking the virus at all seriously as he drove off to Chequers week after week.

David Holmes in his own words:-
“I’ve been profoundly affected by the sheer lawlessness and the dishonesty of the Tory government. When are the people who vote them in ever gonna learn? Boris Johnson is starting to make Margaret Thatcher look like she wasn’t doing a bad job. And she was the devil.”

TRACK LISTING

A1 Welcome To Brexit Britain
A2 Meanwhile In Wuhan
A3 AstraZeneca
A4 Herd Immunity
A5 Care Homes Catastrophe
A6 Why? Why? Why?
A7 Why Are They Not Testing?
A8 A Very Different Britain
A9 15,000 Discharged From Care Homes
B1 No Morality
B2 National Health Service
B3 Test! Test! Test!
B4 Another Break At Chequers
B5 Jobs For The Boys
B6 Forget About The Floods
B7 Human Too Human
B8 Failure Of Leadership

Berlin-based modular synthesist and Berghain resident JakoJako returns with her Mute debut, Verve EP.

Although newly-signed, JakoJako is not a new name within the Mute catalogue with appearances on both Martin Gore’s The Third Chimpanzee Remixed and New Order’s Be a Rebel Remix 12”. This release follows her immersive debut album Metamorphose, and presents four brilliant new songs including the icy techno track ‘Auris’, released exclusively on Beatport in November 2022. 

TRACK LISTING

A1 Impetus
A2 Opak
B1 Auris
B2 Nexus

The Space Grapes disco train continues; destination - FUN! Fast becoming the biggest players on the modern disco circuit - the crew's records exude that authentic warmth and skilled musicianship of the genre's golden period whilst injecting new themes and energy, never sounding cliched, never sounding forced.

Two more crucial iterations, containing material by acts possibly real, possibly made-up (are they all just MCDE and his mates fucking about with us?!). Side A, by Jerry & The Melange, contains a buck wild, freewheeling rhythm section on the verge of careering out of control whilst a whole manner of funky instrumentation grips us by the hips and doesn't let go!

Meanwhile on side B, Bob & The Rustlers contribute the equally frenetic and crazed "Rustle Bob's Creek". Guided by hyperactive clav lines, high synth strings and aggressively plucked bass it's another high octane roller for your next barn dance and guaranteed to get those heels kickin' high into the air!

Just gotta also add a huge thanks and big ups to Rush Hour and Danilo Plessow who've gone outta their way to support physical 'brick n mortar' stores during these testing times by offering us all exclusive on this. You won't find it via online shops or discogs (..yet!), and it's great to receive this kinda support from big independent labels such as Space Grapes. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Space Grapes give us physical record shops a reason to be cheerful, giving us exclusive on this new double header from the label. Hustlin' and bustlin' barn dance trouble on this rambunctious joint. Check!

TRACK LISTING

! A. Jerry & The Melange - New Room
B. Bob & The Rustlers - Rustle Bob's Creek

Superb exact reproduction of the debut (and only) punk single by Johnny and The Self Abusers, originally released on Chiswick Records in 1977.

In classic punk style, the band split-up two weeks after this hi-octane debut, only to start a new band called Simple Minds.

One-off collectors’ pressing, comes in fold out paper sleeve and specially silk-screened Punk 45 outer sleeve.

Johnny and The Self Abusers’ ‘Saints & Sinners’ also features on Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Punk 45: I’m A Mess’, a collection of twisted, raw and energized proto-punk music from the late 1970s.

TRACK LISTING

1. Saints & Sinners
2. Dead Vandals

Joshwa adds to Hot Creations' never-ending purple patch with his label debut, a two track EP entitled "Bass Go Boom". A relative newcomer, he attracted the spotlight in 2022 via a series of high-profile collaborations alongside Lee Foss, CID, and Martin Ikin. Running solo this time, we open with the sub-tickling peaktime house of "Bass Go Boom". Loaded with cheeky vocal snips, busy rhythm section and warbling synth stabs it's never the less that phat, gliding, almost-Reece b-line that'll drag you hurtling into the dance.

"Supersonic" is just as energized and frenetic, a typically grooving tech-house beat supplementing more skilled vocal chops and another precision b-line that'll please and lover of the lower frequency bands. Add to all this a hilarious spoken word passage about a guy walking into a record shop and trying to work out the tune that goes: 'bass ... bass ... bass' and you've got one of those cheeky mid sessioners that hook the crowd with its quirkiness before demolishing them with its beat and bassline. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Another week another super duper tech-house bubbler from the Hot Creations crew. On board this week is Joshwa who melds both humorous and incompressible vocal utterances into fun-loving, party-fuelling tech-house power trax.

TRACK LISTING

A. Bass Go Boom 
B. Supersonic 

"Resonance" is the latest offering from K15, arriving on 2000Black. Resonance opens with a meditative chord arrangement that gets subtly layered with percussion and programmed drums, creating a song of depth and richness.

Within Reach is the most playful track on the record. An uptempo ride, filled with class and flair and demonstrates K15's evolution of ambition and composition.

The EP closes with the militant groove that is Resistance. The heavy bass, the wall of synths and the floating shakers create a track pulsing with life. "Resonance" is filled with life and rhythm, making it a fitting addition to the 2000Black catalogue.

TRACK LISTING

1. Resonance
2. Within Reach
3. Resistance

Kerala Dust was formed in London in 2016. Growing up on the sounds of CAN, The Velvet Underground and Tom Waits while spending blurry mornings in nightclubs, the band combines those disparate influences of psychedelic rock, blues and techno into one.

Kerala Dust are Edmund Kenny on vocals/electronics Harvey Grant on keys Lawrence Howarth on guitar. Their live performances are a constant conversation around the sounds from the studio. Pieces are re-interpreted, looped, dismantled, and put back together again.

Since first touring in 2017, Kerala Dust have played over 150 international shows in the USA, Europe, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Dom. Republic and many more countries. Events such as DGTL (Tel Aviv), Dockville (Hamburg), Lightning in a Bottle (California), Kater Blau (Berlin), Tropico (Mexico), Sonar (Barcelona) are but a few in a long list of festivals and nightclubs that Kerala Dust have played in only a couple of years.

TRACK LISTING

1. Moonbeam, Midnight, Howl
2. Violet Drive
3. Shake
4. Red Light
5. Pulse VI
6. Jacob' Gun
7. Salt
8. Still There
9. Nuove Variazionidi Una Stanza
10. Future Visions
11. Engel's Machine
12. Fine Della Scena

The Kinks are one of the greatest ever British bands, and one of the most influential rock groups of all time, without whom many of the big rock acts that followed would not have existed. Their multi-award winning, legendary front man Sir Ray Davies is one of the greatest all-time British songwriters.

‘The Journey’ is a collection of tracks chosen by The Kinks’ Ray Davies, Dave Davies and Mick Avory that reflect the trials and tribulations of their journey through life together as a band since 1963.

Features 8 Top 20 Hits (of which 5 were top 3) including: Waterloo Sunset, You Really Got Me, Celluloid Heroes, Supersonic Rocket Ship, Dead End Street, Death Of A Clown, All Day And All Of The Night.

Tracks are taken from all the classic original Kinks albums, including: Kinda Kinks, Face To Face, Something Else and the recently remastered 50th anniversary editions of Village Green Preservation Society, Lola, Muswell Hillbillies and Everybody's In Show-Biz.

Compiled by The Kinks.

Booklets include band photos and personal track by track notes from Ray Davies, Dave Davies & Mick Avory.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
Songs About Becoming A Man, The Search For Adventure, Finding An Identity And A Girl:
1. You Really Got Me (UK#1, 1964)
2. All Day And All Of The Night (UK#2, 1964)
3. It's All Right (1964)
4. Who'll Be The Next In Line (1965)
5. Tired Of Waiting For You (UK#1, 1965)
6. She's Got Everything (1968)
7. Just Can't Go To Sleep (1964)
8. Stop Your Sobbing (1964)
9. Wait Till The Summer Comes Along (1965)
10. So Long (1965)

Side 2
Songs Of Ambition Achieved, Bitter Taste Of Success, Loss Of Friends, The Past Comes Back And Bites You In The Back-side:
1. Dead End Street (UK#5, 1966)
2. Schooldays (1975)
3. The Hard Way (1975)
4. Mindless Child Of Motherhood (1969)
5. Supersonic Rocket Ship (UK#2, 1972)
6. I'm In Disgrace (1975)
7. Do You Remember Walter? (1968)

Side 3
Days And Nights Of A Lost Soul, Songs Of Regret And Reflection Of Happier Times:
1. Too Much On My Mind (1966)
2. Nothin’ In The World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout That Girl (1965)
3. Days (UK#2, 1968)
4. Where Have All The Good Times Gone (1965)
5. Strangers (1970)
6. It’s Too Late (1965)
7. Sitting In The Midday Sun (1973)

Side 4
A New Start, A New Love, But Have You Really Changed? Still Haunted By The Quest And The Girl:
1. Waterloo Sunset (UK#2, 1967)
2. No More Looking Back (1975)
3. Death Of A Clown (UK#3, 1967)
4. Celluloid Heroes (1972)
5. Act Nice And Gentle (1967)
6. This Is Where I Belong (1967)

All Analog Roland Kirk, Pre-Rahsaan?! Sightless, peerless, multiinstrumentalist, Roland's Kirk's 1967 debut for Atlantic is a monster of a live set from '65 featuring pianists Lonnie Liston Smith and Jaki Byard, bassist Major Holley and drummer Charles Crosby- all put to tape in Atlantic Studios NYC

TRACK LISTING

1. Roots
2. Here Comes The Whistleman
3. I Wished On The Moon
4. Making Love After Hours
5. Yesterdays
6. Aluminum Baby
7. Step Right Up

DJ, producer and club organiser Øivind 'Kohib' Sjøvoll has been in truly dazzling form of late, serving a series of mesmerising singles that served as a tantalising taster to his latest album – the third he's crafted for Beatservice. Actively producing immaculately crafted sounds for over two decades, sonic alchemist Kohib continues his deft aptitude for sculpting genre-defying compositions, with 'Today's Tales Of Tomorrow' playing host to some of his most compelling material to date. From pitch black introspection to rousing dancefloor abandon, the album is every bit as far-reaching as we've come to expect from this singularly talented artist.

The collection bursts into life via the club-focused thrust of 'Golden Skies', featuring the seductive vocals of enigmatic songstress, Lydia Waits, whose stirring performance shines like a beacon as it soars over Kohib's slick four/four groove. Crisp drums drive the hypnotic rhythm over a subaquatic bass line, as icy pads and pitched synth percussion combine to stunning effect, effortlessly building to Waits' rousing chorus section. Subtly shifting the mood, we arrive in the heads-down throb of 'It's Never Late In Neon Signs', where glistening arpeggios and snarling bass caress Lydia Waits' honeyed vocal, the pristine instrumentation undulating over a mesmerising, radio-friendly arrangement.

'Fake Fur' arrives with deliciously brooding intent, with (Kohib's High Heeled Giants bandmate) Helle Larsen's bewitching vocal gliding over immersive instrumentation and otherworldly textures. Evocative harmonics combine with ethereal synth leads and dramatic aural waves, the hypnotic percussion gently driving the groove deep into the half-light of a crisp autumnal haze. Next, 'Hold That Thought' mischievously switches the rhythm, as thick sub bass and searing synth motifs power over broken drums while Helle Larsen's affecting vocal rises from delicate verse into dramatic chorus bursts.

'Sandcastles' once again sees Helle Larsen grace the stage, lacing waves of cinematic pads glide and live bass as scattered percussion forms an alluring rhythm. Sparse and precise, the evolving music ebbs and flows as the tides, gorgeously caressing Larsen's emotion-rich vocal as she weaves her seductive lyrical metaphors. The album's title track 'Today's Tales Of Tomorrow' sees sinister lead synths exploding over deviant bass as the pulsating rhythm drives the cut through distant vocals, the low-slung groove proving magnetic as the nocturnal melody works its magic.

The tempo rises rapidly, with the pounding bass arpeggio of 'This Kitty Got Claws' purposefully marching through cascading synth textures, euphoric chords, and self-assured lead vocals. Expertly displaying his expansive production finesse, the rhythm once again switches as we sashay into the utterly bewitching 'Rhythm Cast A Spell On Me', with Lydia Waits' indelible vocal providing a profoundly atmospheric moment. A sublimely constructed bed of neatly woven keys, xylophone strikes and haunting bass clarinet elegantly embrace the ethereal lead vocal.

The mystical melodies of 'Not Supposed To Be' echo over a misty woodland landscape, with Lydia Waits' unfeigned vocal flowing over jagged synth textures and gently broken rhythms, before Helle Larsen returns with the sensual swansong 'Let's Stay Right Here'. Sumptuous keys shimmer over a steady tempo, with warm bass and sugary melodies supporting the intoxicating lead vocal for a gorgeously heartfelt finale.

Vividly illustrating Kohib's unthinkably vast sonic repertoire, 'Today's Tales Of Tomorrow' looks set to further enhance the Norwegian producer's already glowing reputation, with each exquisitely-formed track combining to create a collection that's at once powerfully memorable and profoundly coherent.

TRACK LISTING

1. Golden Skies (feat. Lydia Waits)
2. It's Never Late In Neon Signs (feat. Lydia Waits)
3. Fake Fur (Album Version) [feat. Helle Larsen]
4. Hold That Thought (feat. Helle Larsen)
5. Sandcastles (feat. Helle Larsen)
6. Today's Tales Of Tomorrow
7. This Kitty Got Claws (feat. Helle Larsen)
8. Rhythm Cast A Spell On Me (feat. Lydia Waits)
9. Not Supposed To Be Me (feat. Lydia Waits)
10. Let's Stay Right Here (feat. Helle Larsen

The original environmental album from the Kyoto Connection available on Vinyl for the very first time. The album was composed, produced and recorded by Argentinian producer Facundo Arena over the course of one month in early 2018. A classically trained pianist and analogue hardware obsessive, for this project Facundo wanted to move out of his comfort zone and compose the album purely using plugins and sequencing software on his iPad, running the songs directly onto tape, in this case his trusted 1978 Akai GXC-70D tape recorder.

Why an iPad? Facundo explains “In the 1980’s Japanese ambient producers experimented with hardware sequencers and computer sequencers on the Atari ST. Today thanks to IOS apps like Samplr, Korg Gadget and Fugue Machine it’s possible to experiment like the old days with new ways of composing and recording. Each track was recorded live into the Akai, so there were many takes to get the right result with each take recorded on the same cassette (recorded and erased over and over again) which helped to achieve an ‘old tape saturation’ effect”.

The image for the album is taken from an original 1960’s Japanese postcard featuring the famous Arashishama Bridge. The album is pressed on heavyweight 180 Gram Vinyl with sleeve design by Bradley Pinkerton.

TRACK LISTING

Kansai
Dna
Kamakura
Mindscape
Inoue
Rain
Tea House
Suikinkutsu
Birds
Wave Notation
Postcards
The Matsuyama Mirror

False Lankum follows their 2019 breakthrough album The Livelong Day, which paved the way for critical and commercial success, earning them that year’s RTE Choice Music Prize (the Irish equivalent of the Album of the Year Grammy) and the #8 spot on NPR Music’s Best Albums of the Year list. Drawing on traditional folk songs, Lankum put their own dark, distinctive mark onto each, leaning into heavy drones and sonic distortion that imparts new intensity and beauty into each track. This record sees the band cement their breakout from the folk genre, creating bold, contemporary music that may be fashioned from traditional elements but is firmly new, sitting comfortably alongside Rough Trade labelmates like black midi and Gilla Band. False Lankum also features two original tracks, ‘Netta Perseus’ and ‘The Turn’, both penned by the group’s Daragh Lynch.

‘Go Dig My Grave’ was discovered by Lankum’s Radie Peat who learned the particular version on the album from the singing of Jean Ritchie, who recorded it in 1963 on the album Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson at Folk City. It is a member of a family of songs which seem to be largely made up of what are known as ‘floating verses’, originally composed as stanzas of various different ballads, some of which date back as far as the 17th century.

“'Our interpretation of the traditional song Go Dig My Grave is one that centres around the emotion of grief – all-consuming, unbearable and absolute” explain Lankum, “A visceral physical reaction to something that the body and mind are almost incapable of processing. The second part of the song is inspired by the Irish tradition of keening (from the Irish caoineadh) – a traditional form of lament for the deceased. Regarded by some as opening up ‘perilous channels of communication with the dead’, the practice came under severe censure from the catholic church in Ireland from the 17th century on.”

From the start, Dublin’s Lankum planned for False Lankum, their fourth record and third for Rough Trade, to feel like a complete piece – a progression and a journey for the listener. “We wanted to create more contrast on the record so the light parts would be almost spiritual and the dark parts would be incredibly dark, even horror inducing,” they explain. The album’s 12 tracks, composed of 10 traditional songs and two originals, show the four-piece using a new palate to colour their sound in an increasingly experimental way, alongside longtime producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy.

TRACK LISTING

1. Go Dig My Grave
2. Clear Away In The Morning
3. Fugue I
4. Master Crowley’s
5. Newcastle
6. Fugue II
7. Netta Perseus
8. The New York Trader
9. Lord Abore And Mary Flynn
10. Fugue III
11. On A Monday Morning
12. The Turn

“Pour les gens supercool.” This slick tagline caused a commotion among Belgian electronic music fans in 1985 as a jingle in Liaisons Dangereuses, the infamous radio show on local station S.I.S. Antwerpen. Hosted by Paul Ward and DJ Sven Van Hees and playing an exhilarating mix of EBM, house, new beat, acid house, Detroit techno, synthpop and more, the transmit was without a doubt trendsetting, presenting music on the radio that before was only to be witnessed in dark clubs or underground record stores. Listeners needed to make an effort though, since the S.I.S. waves only reached about 10km out of the city center. But a network of copied tape recordings and a fast growing bunch of fans - some of which even driving their cars to parking lots inside the broadcast area to hear the show - created a buzz that would easily exceed the limits of the transmission signal.

In 1989 Ward and Van Hees formed their own band named after the radio show, but to avoid confusion with the eponymous German new wave band, they signed their records with Liaison D or Liaisons D. Assisted by Jan Van Den Bergh (Mappa Mundi, Kumulus, Buzz), Marcos Salon (Outlander), Frank De Wulf (B-Sides, World Party II) and J.P. Ruelle, Liaisons D released a solid string of EP’s and the album “Submerged In Sound” on USA Import Records between 1989 and 1992. We are extremely proud to present four tracks from the album here as a brand new EP, a must-have for fans of their unapologetically rough and ravy sound, testimony of a unique era in Belgium’s electronic music history.

Text by Koen Galle

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Retrospective from these Belgium club goths. Inspired by acid house, rave and hardcore; the Belgium scene took these templates and configured them to their own Up All Night mentality. Liasons D, as well as showcasing these sounds on one of the only commercial radio shows playing this sort of music, recorded these early blueprints between '89 - '92. They still sound hot today!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Stress Free 
A2. Submerged In Sound 
B1. He Chilled Out 
B2. Astrogood 

Singer-songwriter and composer Laura Loriga was born in Bologna, Italy, and in the past decade she has been developing her work between her own country and the United States. With Mimes of Wine, her main project until recently, she has written and published three full-length records (Apocalypse sets in - Midfinger Records/Warner Chappell, 2009, Memories for the unseen - Urtovox Records, 2012 and La maison verte - Urtovox Records - ITA/Accidental Muzik - US, 2016), receiving high praise from the music press (Rolling Stone, Blow Up, Il Mucchio) and collaborating closely with her band both in the studio and in live performance.

Laura has lived in Los Angeles and then in New York, and both cities, together with Italy, have created a superimposition of influences that have led her writing to develop in a personal direction. From more abstract and classically infused atmospheres, she has gradually moved towards a kind of increased simplicity and rawness, complemented by an ongoing research in her sound palette, currently based on organs as opposed to the acoustic piano she started writing on. Her music is variegated and enriched by an array of acoustic and electric elements (among which drones, nyckelharpa, harmonium), a series of darker ballads sometimes far from song form but invariably led by her rare and striking voice, a compelling force across all the landscapes through which it moves.

At present, Laura has just finished producing a fourth album, Vever, written in New York between 2018 and 2020, and featuring the collaboration of a series of musicians among whom Josh Werner (Marc Ribot, Coco Rosie), Otto Hauser (Espers, Vashti Bunyan), Anni Rossi and Janis Brenner (Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble).

Over the years, Laura has also collaborated with various other artists, including songwriter Jaye Bartell, producer Adam Moseley and band Giardini di Mirò. She has also been active in film music, contributing to the soundtracks of a number of films and documentaries. Among these are Shelter, Farewell to Heaven and Lucus a Lucendo (both by Caucaso Films). 

Cult editsmith Love Drop is back with his highly anticipated 3rd release on his sell out series of rework disco rockets.

His deeply enchanted, almost spiritual form of mutant disco packed full of never ending grooves and heavy delays conjures up fond memories of early Moodymann jams. And his releases have attracted plays and support from discerning jocks around the globe such as Gilles Peterson, Art Of Tones, Horse Meat Disco, JKriv, Dicky Trisco and many many more.

A digger's desire for an original source blended together with a dancer's feel for the floor produces a powerful magic spell that'll conjure up sonic infernos for the club. Even though we're only three releases you in; you know this is gonna be a highly collectable and cherished series. Recommended! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: High grade disco edits you feel Horse Meat Disco or Supernature will get a load of road miles out of. Number three from this tasteful series and sure to become a collector's piece.

TRACK LISTING

A.
B.

Previously only available as a digital release, Lucid Express’ Floret, has been remastered and expanded to include remixes from a host of international, acclaimed shoegaze and dream pop artists. For the first time on vinyl, the limited (500) edition orange vinyl will be released March 3, 2023 (Kanine Records).

Lucid Express is five young dreamers who create a stunning airy blend of shoegaze and indie pop amongst the skyscrapers, mountains, and packed alleyways of Hong Kong. The name itself a modest mission statement of the band’s intent: lucid in the poetic sense of something bright and radiant. 

TRACK LISTING

A SIDE:
A1. Lime
A2. She’s A Loner
A3. Blank
A4. Venture
B SIDE:
B1. Lime (Elliott Frazier Remix)
B2. She’s A Loner (Orchin Remix)
B3. Blank (For Tracy Hyde Remix)
B4. Venture (The BV’s Remix)
B5. Lime (Max Bloom Remix) 

Kenny Dope brings the breaks with this fresh 7” release on Kay-Dee Records. The A-side ‘UFO’, reinterprets the seminal breakbeat anthem from ESG. Shaking the scenes in NYC and beyond on its ‘81 release, it went on to become one of the most sampled tracks in hip-hop. In this new version, iconic US producer Kenny Dope brings his inimitable grooves and rhythms to the table. The beats are tightened up with force, the bass is given a beefy crust and the synth-lines freshened up, resulting in four minutes and twenty seconds of body-shaking goodness.

On the flip-side, we’re treated to ‘B-Boy Strut’: a thumping Kenny Dope original which serves electro-punk flavors over a bed of breakbeats. After a couple rounds of drums, the stage is set for the face-melting bass to enter: a wall of sound so heavy it should carry a warning sign. Sweeping resonances take us into Acid and 303 territory, while wave after wave of funky percussion keep the grooves flowing to perfection.

With inspired nods toward classic and future sounds, Kenny Dope has delivered yet another must-have 7”.

TRACK LISTING

A. UFO 
B. B-Boy Strut 

BBE Music continues its highly acclaimed J Jazz Masterclass Series with Kemo Sabe, the debut album from pianist Masao Nakajima. Recorded in 1979 on Yupiteru Records, it’s an elusive beast in the field of J Jazz and balances delicate and refined playing with power and vigour. The Kemo Sabe album features bassist Osamu Kawakami, who has performed and recorded with such J Jazz figureheads as Sadao Watanabe, Isao Suzuki, and Kunihiko Sugano. Sax duty is by Toshiyuki Honda, leader of the popular fusion group Burning Waves. On drums is Donald Bailey, the noted American drummer most known for playing on classic Jimmy Smith Blue Note sessions. Bailey lived and worked in Japan for a number of years from the late 70s and recorded several album dates with local artists such including Keiko Nemoto, Isao Suzuki and George Kawaguchi. Recorded at the height of the electric fusion era, Kemo Sabe is an avowedly acoustic album, which may account for the small sales and low profile of the album at the time. The propulsive title track, written by New Zealand jazzman Mike Nock, was gifted to Nakajima-san when they briefly met and was featured on J Jazz: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan vol 3. The reissue’s liner notes features an exclusive interview with Masao Nakajima himself, discussing his career and background to the album. The BBE J Jazz Masterclass Series is curated by Tony Higgins and Mike Peden and is dedicated to presenting the very finest in Japanese jazz. The series features rare, long-lost and unreleased material presented in the highest quality reproductions of the original releases, fully licensed and authorised.

TRACK LISTING

1. Third Plane
2. Kemo-Sabe
3. Moments Notice
4. Beloved Diane
5. Tell Me A Bedtime Story
6. My Love

Moar's 45 Loves series continues with another dose of double disco delights. On side A he applies his hip-hop chops and sensibilities to Glenn Jones' "I Am Somebody", giving it a sense of urgency and freshness we might not be accustomed to. Side B sees Light Of The World's ode to the capitol from 1980, "London Town" sped up slightly, but retaining much of the original's silk and smoothness. You know the drill by now - essential twists on bar room classics for your hard working vinyl disc jock! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Moar's 'fresh n tasty edits on 7" for the working bar DJ' label - 45 Loves continues in earnest. Rather than concentrate on rare and illusive source material he opts to choose classic tracks and give them inventive touch-ups / rub-downs - offering up new twists on classic sounds. It works!

TRACK LISTING

A. L
B. LL

The artist formerly known as Matt Pond PA returns with the self-titled debut album from The Natural Lines. At once clearly Pond’s work yet a huge leap forward in its measured songcraft, melodic immediacy, collaborative detail and wryly questioning lyrics, the result is a gorgeous album of intimate reflections from a relocated, renamed, revivified talent.

Pond-watchers might wonder why the album took so long to arrive since Matt Pond PA’s last album proper, Still Summer (2017). But The Natural Lines was not a project to be rushed. Recorded with close collaborators and friends over a period that saw Pond make vital adjustments to his life, its stealth emergence reflects his desire to set a fresh pace for himself and come from somewhere new, somewhere more open.

Now based in Kingston, New York, with his partner and wild dog Willa, Matt explains the album’s gestation thus. “It was something different from the start. I wanted to write as purely as I could. Instead of getting stuck in the ‘tour, write an album, release an album, tour’ cycle, which is not a natural way of writing or living, I wanted to write an album and when it was done I wanted to make sure it was done. I didn’t want this feeling of, ‘Oh, we didn’t have time’, or, ‘I don’t know whether I believe in the songs but it’s coming out anyway.’ I used to be always racing to the finish line, but I’m not anymore.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Monotony
2. No More Tragedies
3. Help
4. Alex Bell
5. My Answer
6. Spontaneous Skylights
7. A Scene That Will Never Die
8. Person Of Interest
9. Don't Come Down
10. Artificial Moonlight
11. Mahwah

Deep Listening 2019 - 2022 features the best of Richard Norris' recent ambient, downtempo and deep listening music.

This reflective, meditative take on electronic music has been a daily practice for the musician for some years, and has resulted in numerous releases on the Group Mind and Inner Mind labels. Included are a number of 'Music For Healing' tracks, part of an ongoing series of releases specifically created for relaxation and anxiety relief. The results have been quite phenomenal. People have given birth to this music, and there have been many reports of people using this music to help anxiety, stress and bereavement.

Richard Norris is well known for his work with Soft Cell's Dave Ball in the Grid, and Erol Alkan in Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, as well as many solo releases, productions and remixes. He has been called 'the electronic musician's electronic musician', and the results are all over this double album, with warm analogue bubble baths heavily featured. Dive in... 

TRACK LISTING

1. Eighty Eight
2. December
3. Cornflower
4. Borders
5. I Know How You Feel
6. Through The Window
7. January
8. Four
9. Ultramarine
10. June
11. Nine
12. Grains Of Light
13. In A Heartbeat
14. The Golden Age
15. Deep Orange
16. One
17. Signal To Power
18. Super Wolf Moon
19. Two
20. Space

We're very excited to present a limited edition re-press of The Notwist’s 2002 masterpiece 'Neon Golden'.

Over a year in the making, this lovely second album from The Notwist album fuses classic pop melodies, with electronica, incorporating delicate strings, subtle guitars and plaintive vocals.

Released for the very first time as colored vinyl!

TRACK LISTING

A1. One Step Inside Doesn't Mean You Understand
A2. Pilot
A3. Pick Up The Phone
A4. Trashing Days
A5. This Room
B1. Solitaire
B2. One With The Freaks
B3. Neon Golden
B4. Off The Rail
B5. Consequence

‘The Dream’ is the eighth studio album by The Orb. It was released in 2007 on Liquid Sound Design Records and saw a return to form and leans towards the earlier Orb sound and aesthetic. Dr. Alex Paterson reunites with Martin ‘Youth’ Glover and is also joined by Tim Bran of Dreadzone. Listeners are treated to the magical guitar flair from none other than Steve Hillage (Gong, System 7) as he joins in on several of the album’s tracks. A special one for aficionados, collectors, and connoisseurs across the globe!

TRACK LISTING

A1. The Dream (The Future Academy Of Noise, Rhythm And Gardening Mix)
A2. Vuja De
A3. Something Supernatural
A4. A Beautiful Day
B1. DDD (Dirty Disco Dub)
B2. The Truth Is
B3. Phantom Of Ukraine
B4. Mother Nature
C1. Lost And Found
C2. The Forest Of Lyonesse
C3. Katskills
C4. High Noon
D1. Sleeping Tiger & The Gods Unknown
D2. Codes
D3. Orbisonia

On the heels of his already critically acclaimed (yes, already!) retrospective, World Spirituality Classics 3: The Muslim Highlife of Alhaji Waziri Oshomah, Alhaji Waziri Oshomah — the Oyoyo King, the Godfather of Afemai Music, the Etsako Super Star, Mr. Please Please Please, Mr. Dynamite — returns with Vol. 1.

Along with the other four volumes of the series, Vol. 1 is now available—for the very first time!—as part of a complete set (in a box): Vol 1 - 5 (1978 - 1985) (November 4, 2022).

Waziri hails from a small part of Edo State in southern Nigeria called Afemailand, known for being a harmonious region where Muslims and Christians live—and dance—together. And there, as a devout Muslim and an exemplar of religious piety in his community, Waziri’s music fuses Etsako/Afemai folk styles with pan-Nigerian highlife and pop to create a sublime vehicle for his Islamic philosophy that gets everyone—Muslims, Christians, whoever—on the dancefloor.

Vol. 1 focuses on Waziri’s illustrious mid-career output—the music he created during the years leading up to and after he performed his first hajj. Every song here (one of which you might recognize from The Muslim Highlife) strikes his signature balance of traditional music, highlife, and funk, as he entreats you to stay on the straight and narrow, though there’s nothing straight about his beat.

TRACK LISTING

1. Forgive Them Oh God Amin -- Amin
2. Emoi Khakiegwi Aghumheile
3. Igwegi Baba
4. Iyuchele Opomumhe 

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart's 2009 self-titled debut album was truly an out-of-nowhere smash, garnering widespread acclaim from the likes of The New York Times ("sensitive and sublime, Best of 2009), Pitchfork (Best New Music, Best of 2009) and NME ("pure indiepop to hold close to your heart," Best of 2009) to countless indiepop forums and blogs, and landing the band a dedicated following that endures to this day. 2011 follow-up "Belong" aimed for the stars and hit the mark resoundingly, full to the brim with monster tunes and polished to powerful perfection by the production and mixing team of Flood (Depeche Mode, U2) and Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride). The combination was a resounding success, vaulting the Pains to a spot in the alt-rock firmament rarely reached by indiepop bands and cementing their status as one of the seminal guitar-pop bands of the era.

TRACK LISTING

Belong
Heaven Gonna Happen Now
Heart In Your Heartbreak
The Body
Anne With An E
Even In Dreams
My Terrible Friend
Girl Of 1,000 Dreams
Too Tough
Strange

The Magic Hour features guests including former One Dove singer Dot Allison and pedal steel legend B.J. Cole.

The EP features two brand new tracks alongside two remixes of songs from last year’s acclaimed album Red Sunset Dreams. The Dot Allison-featuring ‘Sundowning’ gets an almost Balearic makeover by Richard Norris which flows perfectly from ‘Silver River’, featuring B.J. Cole, which has been turned into awe-inspiring ambient Americana by the Indianapolis collective Dawn Chorus And The Infallible Sea. “Their album Liberamente on Azure Vista was one of my favourite records of 2020,” says Mark. “It has some of the best ambient guitar recording I’ve heard for a long time. I love how they’ve re-contextualised B.J.’s pedal steel with a different kind of melancholic backdrop – it’s much more reflective and dreamlike than the original.” The two new tracks, despite sharing a common theme with the album in terms of their sunset-themed titles, signal a change in musical mood. Both are much more propulsive and driving, inspired by Mark’s recent live shows which he has played as a trio with bassist Dean Roby and drummer Chris Smith. In fact, adding the title track to his live set finally brought it to life after 20 long years. “I wrote the demo for ‘Magic Hour’ while living in a flat in the centre of Manchester in the early 2000s on a Soundcraft desk loaned to me by Simon Tong,” says Mark of the title track’s origins. “It was called ‘Alesis’ for years because I recorded the initial guitar through an Alesis Quadraverb that belonged to The Verve’s Nick McCabe, but it’s now grown into something more groove-based, like an electronica-influenced take on what I was doing on Innerland.” ‘Alpenglow’ came about more recently after Mark bought a Boss RC-300 Loop Station. “My initial intention was to attempt the unspeakable by recording a psychedelic Joy Division-style track,” explains Mark. It does indeed have a dark, post-punk feel, like a souped-up ‘Shadowplay’, but as it cranks into krautrock gear it could almost be Neu! with the late, great Tom Verlaine replacing Michael Rother on guitar.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Magic Hour
A2. Alpenglow
B1. Silver River (Dawn Chorus And The Infallible Sea Remix)
B2. Sundowning (Richard Norris Remix)

One of the most iconic and influential albums ever, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon celebrates its 50th Anniversary. The album was partly developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of the suite at London’s Rainbow Theatre several months before recording began. ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ is the eighth studio album by Pink Floyd, originally released in March 1973. The new material was recorded in 1972 and 1973 at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London. The iconic sleeve, which depicts a prism spectrum, was designed by Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis and drawn by George Hardie. ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ has sold over 50 million copies worldwide. The new deluxe box set includes CD and gatefold vinyl of the newly remastered studio album and Blu-Ray + DVD audio featuring the original 5.1 mix and remastered stereo versions. The set also includes additional new Blu-ray disc of Atmos mix plus CD and LP of ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon - Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974’.

The Box Includes:

CD1 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (50th Anniversary) [2023 Master]
Remastered by James Guthrie
in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet

CD2 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
LIVE AT WEMBLEY EMPIRE POOL, LONDON, 1974
Mixed by Andy Jackson
in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet. Cover design by Aubrey Powell/Hipgnosis and Peter Curzon/StormStudios. Original 1973 line drawn cover artwork by George Hardie

LP1 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (50th Anniversary) 2023 Remaster
Remastered original studio album
180G Heavyweight 1LP in gatefold sleeve, with original posters and stickers

LP2 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
LIVE AT WEMBLEY EMPIRE POOL, LONDON, 1974 (2023 Master)
180G Heavyweight 1LP in gatefold, with 2 posters featuring design by Ian Emes and Gerald Scarfe. Cover design by Aubrey Powell/Hipgnosis and Peter Curzon/StormStudios. Original 1973 line drawn cover artwork by George Hardie

BLU-RAY 1 (AUDIO)
Original album 5.1 and high-resolution remastered stereo mixes,
1. 5.1 Surround Mix – 24bit/96kHz Uncompressed
2. Stereo Mix – 24bit/192kHz Uncompressed
3. 5.1 Surround Mix – dts-HD MA
4. Stereo Mix – dts-HD MA

BLU-RAY 2 (AUDIO)
Original newly remastered album Atmos and high-resolution stereo mixes,
1. Dolby Atmos Mix
2. Stereo Mix – 24-bit/192kHz Uncompressed
3. Stereo Mix – dts-HD MA

DVD (AUDIO)
Original album 5.1 and remastered stereo mixes,
1. 5.1 Surround Mix – Dolby Digital @448 kbps
2. 5.1 Surround Mix – Dolby Digital @640 kbps
3. Stereo Mix (LPCM) – 24-bit/48 kHz Uncompressed

160-PAGE THAMES & HUDSON HARDCOVER BOOK
with rare black and white photographs from the 1973 – 1974 tours of the UK and the USA taken by Jill Furmanovsky, Peter Christopherson, Aubrey Powell, Storm Thorgerson

76-PAGE MUSIC BOOK
Complete songbook of original album

REPLICAS OF 2×7” SINGLES
7" Single 1 Money/Any Colour You Like
7" Single 2 Us and Them/Time

Plus replica of pamphlet and invitation to the preview of The Dark Side of The Moon at the London Planetarium on 27th February 1973

TRACK LISTING

1. Speak To Me
2. Breathe (In The Air)
3. On The Run
4. Time
5. The Great Gig In The Sky
6. Money
7. Us And Them
8. Any Colour You Like
9. Brain Damage
10. Eclipse

The Dark Side Of The Moon - Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974. Cover design by Aubrey Powell/Hipgnosis and Peter Curzon/Storm Studios. Featuring original 1973 line drawn cover artwork by George Hardie.

TRACK LISTING

Sie One:

Speak To Me
Breathe (In The Air)
On The Run
Time
The Great Gig In The Sky

Side Two:

Money
Us And Them
Any Colour You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse

2LP standard vinyl edition of the classic hits collection from 1992.

A multi-platinum selling global smash on CD, it had a limited vinyl release in 1992 (long out of print), and original vinyl copies became highly sought after by fans. A perfect introduction to the Police for new admirers, original fans and vinyl collectors alike.

Remastered at Abbey Road and pressed on heavyweight black vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

LP1 - Side A
Roxanne 03:13
Can't Stand Losing You 02:49
So Lonely 04:48
Message In A Bottle 04:50
LP1 - Side B
Walking On The Moon 05:01
The Bed's Too Big Without You 04:25
Don't Stand So Close To Me 04:02
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da 04:08
LP2 - Side A
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 04:20
Invisible Sun 03:44
Spirits In The Material World 02:58
Synchronicity II 05:01
LP2 - Side B
Every Breath You Take 04:13
King Of Pain 04:58
Wrapped Around Your Finger 05:14
Tea In The Sahara 04:14

Elvis Live 1972 compiles the best of the rehearsal recordings around Elvis’ April 1972 US tour, all taken from the new Elvis On Tour collection. The 2LP set features rare and previously unreleased versions of “Burning Love”, “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Jailhouse Rock,” along with some of Elvis’ favourite cover songs, gospel songs and more.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Burning Love Take 3 *
2. For The Good Times Take 5 *
3. Always On My Mind Take 3
4. Separate Ways Take 2
5. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
SIDE B
1. See See Rider Take 2
2. Proud Mary Take 2
3. Never Been To Spain Take 2
4. Until It’s Time For Me To Go
5. Polk Salad Annie
6. All Shook Up
7. Heartbreak Hotel
SIDE C
1. Help Me Make It Through The Night
2. Young And Beautiful
3. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
4. Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)
5. A Big Hunk O’Love Take 2
6. Funny How Time Slips Away
7. Can’t Help Falling In Love
SIDE D
1. I, John
2. Bosom Of Abraham
3. You Better Run
4. Lead Me, Guide Me
5. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus/Nearer My God To Thee
6. How Great Thou Art *

* Previously Unreleased

The colliding circles of time bring us back to the brink of the Hiss at last. Classic rock singing/screaming guitars fuse with Mike Polizze’s hope-n-dreamz feels and explode into fresh heartbreak, happening right now today, as sweet tunes and crushed guitar harmonics pour off the turntable and run out in the street, just like in the old days.

It’s 2023, and even the turn of century seems a long time ago now — but oddly, Purling Hiss’s guitar-band ethos feels ever more timeless, even as time accelerates and passes us in the outside lane. The Hiss aren’t just a simple part of the tradition going back 50-odd years. Their DNA, pulsing in waves of punk and classic radio rock, grunge and slacker, is ineffably, re-singably music — but their signature crushed guitar harmonics, fused with deep soulfulness, meld into something that cuts us with fresh heartbreak, an eternal recurrence that seems to be happening right now today, as it pours off the turntable and runs down the street.

Drag On Girard, the first Purling Hiss album in six years, cruises through these states of mind and places in time — dreams from the past and the future, careening lawlessly as they slide around loose on the road, an ever-present youth in their roll. As before, but with new twists, Mike Polizze and his gang let loose with the chaos and noise implied by their name, applying high-end splatter and slow-rolling low end to eight vehicles, running the gamut from gleaming pop gems to head-cleaning epic jams before they’re done.

TRACK LISTING

Yer All In My Dreams
Something In My Basement
Baby
Out The Door
When The End Is Over
Stay With Us
Drag On Girard
Shining Gilded Boulevard

RIYL: Sarah Records, Even As We Speak, The Field Mice, Blue Boy, The Clientele, early Belle & Sebastian.

It’s ok to play out of time.

Music toys with time. Or, maybe songs reflect back that time is always toying with us. The world of a song takes hold of us like an eternity to be lost in, with its repetitions and variations, but ultimately, as with everything else, it has a start and then ends. And there’s no place to lose time like San Francisco, where there are no seasons and all the seasons occur within one day; where the fog takes the space where your plans might have been; where there’s insane wealth all around and everyone you know and love is hanging on at the periphery and making art on any given Tuesday night. About Glenn Donaldson’s new record, The Town That Cursed Your Name, he says, “I realized as I was piecing it together that it's a song cycle about trying to live while also feeling called to make music”. It’s a double life when it works and a deeper doubleness to mirror the Gemini nature of songs themselves. The Town That Cursed Your Name contemplates this problem with wryness, generosity, and the micro- and macroscopic realness Donaldson is known and loved for.

Whereas the 2022 collection Summer at Land’s End was a softer, gauzier world, The Town That Cursed Your Name is heavier, with fuzzed lines running through. 'Leave It All Behind' starts out with an amorphous whine but quickly launches into something both supremely melodic and buzzing at the edges. 'Here Comes the Lunar Hand' is an impressionist geometry that seems to capture the album’s themes without telling you how. Lyrically, Donaldson embraces the earnestness of his heroes Paul Westerberg and Grant McLennan. Sonically, late '80s college rock is filtered through song-forward lo-fi acts like East River Pipe and House of Tomorrow-era Magnetic Fields. Like the images that accompany his releases – flowers and residential street scenes are pushed to the breaking point with colour – Donaldson’s songs are at the same time dazzling and lurid, beautiful and burdened, not unlike life as a musician around here.

In the liner notes, Donaldson dedicates the record “to everyone who ever tried to start a band in the Bay". There will be many knowing smiles at his title, 'It’s Too Late For An Early Grave'. But, this dedication captures something else about the particular strain of sincerity that laces the city water supply – the front man around here is on stage under those lights evincing the fervor not of the pop star but of the biggest fan.

- Karina Gill.

TRACK LISTING

1. Too Late For An Early Grave
2. Leave It All Behind
3. Life In The Void
4. Here Comes The Lunar Hand
5. Burning Sunflowers
6. Waiting On A Ghost To Haunt You
7. What Is A Friend?
8. Mistakes (Too Many To Name)
9. Almost Changed
10. The Town That Cursed Your Name
11. I Still Owe You Everything
12. Break Up The Band

Their enthralling combination of male and female driven vocals, blended with exhilarating fiery riffs, and distinctive psychedelic phrasing is a fresh and ultra-intriguing take on the doom stoner genre. For fans of Black Sabbath, Sleep, High on Fire, Electric Wizard, Hawkwind and much more.

TRACK LISTING

1. Mist
2. Forbidden
3. Awful Deed
4. The Brines Effect
5. I Wanna Play A Game
6. I Can't Roll
7. Trip To The South
8. Mother's Ruin

Our favourite Norwegian noisemaker returns with a new label called Cosmic Oslo. This debut voyage sees Rune teaming up with the Balearic & cosmic disco queen of Norway, Helene Rickhard.
It's a wonderfully varied & esoteric affair, with the ominous opener casting cavernous sonic shapes lit by the midnight sun. The astonishing first cut is followed by 'Fiero', a haunted cosmic pop affair...

On the flip 'Hubris' reminds us of early 90's 'One Dove' era Weatherall productions, while 'Julemix' is a FX drenched optimistic ambient piece.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Standing proud in our psyhedelic dance / drug-chug section is this new belter from Norwegian genius Rune Lindbaek. A stunning interpretation of cosmic / ALFOS / EBM styles given a seriously psychedelic twist.

TRACK LISTING

A. Blodekjaer Rave
A2. Fiero
B. Hubris
B2. Julemix

The first ever complete overview of Goth culture will be released in 2023.

Finally, after a decade of work, countless interviews and immersing himself into the culture, John Robb's definitive book is a journey far into The Art Of Darkness. The first in-depth book on Goth is a deep dive into the enduring culture and the social, historical and political backdrop that created the space for The Art Of Darkness to thrive.

680 pages with interviews with the likes of Andrew Eldritch, Killing Joke, Bauhaus, The Cult, The Banshees, The Damned, Einsturzende Neubauten, Danielle Dax, Johnny Marr, Trent Reznor, Adam Ant, Laibach, The Cure, Nick Cave and many others, this is a deepdive and walk on the dark side and into the very heartland of Goth.

Every generation has got to deal with the blues - embrace the melancholy. Find a beauty in the darkness, a poetry in sex and death...Whether it’s the Roman love of ghost stories, European macabre folk tales of the Middle Ages, Romantic poets, or the original Gothic tribes sacking the Eternal City, a walk on the dark side has always had its attractions. In the post-punk period, Generation Xerox saw music, clothes and culture come together to create one of the most enduring pop cultures of them all that still resonates to this day..
Goth.
It may have been a retrospective term for a scene that was already thriving, but its back story goes back millennia. The book starts with the fall of Rome and ends with Instagram and Tik Tok influencers, taking diversions through Lord Byron, European folk tales, Indian sadhus, Gothic architecture, Romantic poets, philosophers and idealists before coalescing through the dark end of the Sixties’ youthquake, and then blooming like Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs Du Mal in the post-punk period.

Defying the broken heartland of the post-industrial cities, the semi-forgotten satellite towns and the grim real politic of the Thatcher years, this was a post-punk culture full of dark dance and a death disco. The music soundtracked the style and a Stygian obsidian soundtrack fused the many fragments of culture that had been flirted with in the post-war pop narrative; a darker culture that began to coalesce around the holy trinity of the Doors, the Velvets and the Stooges in the late Sixties before flirting with glam rock, being amplified by punk, exploding as Goth, and then splintering into electronic dance music, industrial, psychobilly and new Goth, before finally filtering through dystopian Hollywood blockbusters, modern literature and throughout the modern world.

In the late Seventies, Goth culture emerged around a clutch of bands who found a new form of beauty in the apocalyptic foreboding, as a new youth tribe took glam rock from the catwalk to the cobbles and onto their own dance floors, creating their own art of darkness.

Two more classic tunes from the Deptford Northern Soul Club Records dancefloor. Remastered for maximum effect.

Shawn Robinson’s ‘My Dear Heart’ was originally released on Minit in 1966. Original copies go for around £250 plus. Filled with positively glowing soul sounds underpinned by gorgeous vibes and a heady beat. Big at Wigan back in the day, a favourite of Richard Searling.

The flipside, from 1967, is from the inimitable Bessie Banks, the hit maker of ‘Go Now’ fame. Originally released on the Verve imprint. Fired up by choppy guitar and a heavy cross mix of vibes and horns, it’s a chugger with some essential breaks for added impact.

A triumphant anthem. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Shawn Robinson - ‘My Dear Heart’
2. Bessie Banks - 'I Can’t Make It (Without You Baby)'

Cacophony is the second Rudimentary Peni album. Released after the band returned from their first hiatus following a series of personal events that changed the band forever.

The thirty track LP keeps turning heads 34 years after its release. Far from writing another “Death Church” the band embarked on a truly bizarre quest. To record an album based on the life and writings of horrors absolute king H.P. Lovecraft. A dense cacophony of total free songwriting. Dark, gothic, intricate, unexpected head-scratching punk. The short bursts of music twist and turn at every corner - the vocals are part classic Blinko and part spoken word, the guitar is full of distorted awkward tones and the every inventive bass and drums are locked together creating a truly unique album.

Cacophony is the benchmark of outsider Punk and the influence and cult nature of this album grows with every passing year.

This reissue stays close to the original version, with Nick Blinko’s incredible cover art, including a 11” x 11” 8-page lyric booklet.

TRACK LISTING

1. Nightgaunts
2. The Horrors In The Museum
3. The Only Child
4. Architectonic And Dominant
5. The Evil Clergyman
6. Brown Jenkin
7. Crazed Couplet
8. Sarcophagus
9. Lovecraft Baby
10. Dream City
11. C12 H22 O11
12. Zenophobia
13. Sunset For The Lords Of Venus
14. Beyond The Tanarian Hills
15. Imps Of The Perverse
16. The Dead Loved
17. Periwig Power
18. Kappa Alpha Tau
19. American Anglophile In The World Turned Upside-Down
20. Memento Mori
21. Better Not Born
22. Arkham Hearse
23. The Old Man Is Not So Terribly Misanthropic
24. Gentlemen Prefer Blood
25. Sonia
26. The Day The Universe Ceased (March 15th 1937)
27. The Crime Of The Century
28. Musick In Diabola
29. Shard
29. Black On Gold

Denver producer and visual artist John T. Hastings aka RUMTUM returns to Bastard Jazz for his second album on the label, "Arcadian Daze". The album is a contemplative drive down a nostalgic highway, reflecting on a period of his late adolescence growing up in Ohio, spending time at Arcadia Beach on Lake Erie and discovering the likes DJ Shadow, Madlib, Fila Brazilla, early Four Tet, the original Ninja Tune roster and more. Revisiting these coming of age memories, John purchased an older MPC 2000XL and set out to musically capture the excitement of putting his first nascent loops together, inspired by this pivotal era of electronic music that has since birthed movements like such as Lo-Fi/Chillhop, Vaporwave, LA's mid-2000s Beat Scene / Low End Theory, etc.

The end result of "Arcadian Daze" is indeed filled with that nostalgic spirit paying homage to those aforementioned sounds, but also presents a forward thinking musical palate that's very much grounded in RUMTUM's sensibilities as a producer and time spent learning to program new & vintage outboard gear. The album moves away from the warm, dreamy sounds of last year's "Isles in Indigo" LP, and touches more into a mystical, pensive vibe with elements of darkness and light.

TRACK LISTING

1. No Drugs Needed
2. Echo Drift
3. Arcadian Daze
4. Utopia Dock Lab 1986
5. Bike Race To Nowhere
6. Under 1000 Clouds
7. Pier Light
8. Vapor Sun
9. DaBrye Squared
10. Life In Reverse
11. Sand Spirit

Shabaka Hutchings debut release under his own name, Afrikan Culture, was released on Impulse! Records in May 2022. Known for his globally-acclaimed, groundbreaking groups (Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, Shabaka and The Ancestors), this release finds Shabaka at a quieter, more meditative space than the pulsing, driving material found in his other groups. The 7-track release is primarily made up of Shabaka on various wind instruments with other complimentary instrumentation sprinkled throughout.

Now a classic reggae anthem, 'Bam Bam' celebrates Sister Nancy's success as a woman in the male-dominated dancehall scene of the 80s. Nancy was the first woman to perform at Reggae Sunsplash, a Jamaican reggae festival, and the first female Jamaican DJ to tour internationally. The song's chorus has been sampled, remixed, covered, and interpolated in several songs after its release, including by Main Source, Pete Rock, Gang Starr, Lion of Judah (Congo Natty), Lauryn Hill, Madlib, Groove Armada, Dj Defkline (Deekline), Ed Solo, Stylo G, Jay-Z and many, many more! The hook is in fact sampled from the 1965 song of the same title by The Maytals.

TRACK LISTING

1. Bam Bam
2. Stalag Version

'Beautiful Ones' is the second single from Suede's seminal 1996 album ‘Coming Up’. Released through Nude Records, the song was a top-ten hit in the UK & quickly became a staple of the band’s live set - capturing the atmosphere of the era. “I wanted the song to be a celebration of the madness of mine and my friends lives” frontman Brett Anderson told the NME, “it’s probably the song that we’ve had sung back to us the most… one of those songs that’s really taken on a life of its own, because it just connects with people - they feel it’s about them, and it is.” Our version of this anthemic classic is guaranteed to make Your Bits Shake to the Hits, so why not…

The impossibly cool 1973 album What's Going On from Late, Great Japanese Funk & Jazz Don Takehiro Honda which swings through jazz orchestral renditions of American R&B and Funk Classics like Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On,"

Otis Redding's "Sitting On The Dock of the Bay," and James Brown's "Ain't It Funky Now" turning them into the most Down Home, Grits 'N' Gravy Grooviest Versions and sounding like they were recorded at the studio of the band that taught the Memphis Rhythm Sections all they ever were gonna need to to know.

As well as the aforementioned tracks the album also iconic funk/soul gems from the Impressions (Check-Out Your Mind) & Soul Jazz covers from Eddie Harris (Sham Time), The Crusaders (Greasy Spoon) and a Pacific Soul Jazz Classic in "Ain't Tell You A Good Way But" which was composed by Takehiro Honda.

Original copies regularly change hands for eyewatering sums and the album is seen as a much loved classic of it's era.

TRACK LISTING

1. Ain't Tell You A Good Way But
2. Check Out Your Mind
3. Ain't Funky Now
4. What's Going On
5. Sham Time
6. Greasy Spoon
7. Dock Of The Bay

Riding high on the inexplicable tech-house adoption of their last release, Talking Drums return with hit number six. This desert island disc finds the family bagging a last minute flight to sunnier climes, where the cocktails are strong and the seas are calm.

On 'Air Ecosse', the crew provide an engine overhaul to a middling slice of Scotch boogie, squeezing maximum thrust out of the new beat-y intro before a bubbling bassline and chiming chords provide some serious uplift. The captain takes the comms for a late deadpan vocal, hinting at a little Pet Shop Boys karaoke prior to touchdown in paradise.

The percussion pals kick off the Birkies on the B side, boarding the bateau with a pair of proper harbour heaters. 'Too Yacht To Handle' bubbles along like Mick'n'Keef in disco mode, oozing grooves under a swooning vocal a la Nicolette Larson. A hazy arrangement lets the music play, indulging the instrumental breaks, soaring synths and subtle delays in true 12" Extended Mix stylee, perfect for peak-time at poolside or la playa.

Dropping the tempo to a sunset strut, 'AORwaves' provides the perfect cool-down, as TD cut back the fat on a forgotten soft-rocker to create a cosmic yacht bomb. Low slung, sleazy and spaced out, this is gonna rock a bar set and beyond.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: Oh hello there... what's this sultry little number? Air Ecosse has to be up there with my all-time favourite TD edits, Too Yacht To Handle does exactly what it says on the tin and you can literally feel the sleaze ooze out of AORwaves - in the absolute best possible way. Cosmic after hours tackle at its finest from my favourite percussion posse!

TRACK LISTING

Air Ecosse
Too Yacht To Handle
AORwaves

David Tattersall, the Wave Pictures guitarist and frontman releases a solo album of interpretations of John Fahey tunes, recorded live in the studio. "I have been a fan of John Fahey's music since I was very young; it has always been with me and I can't remember a time when I wasn't affected by it. It is weird music, and very good. Of course, Fahey is an important cult figure in the history of music: as the first man to find a language for steel string guitar that can stand proudly alongside the established tradition of nylon string classical guitar; as one of many men who rediscovered obscure old blues musicians and recorded them for a new generation in the 1960s; as one uniquely able to reconcile 20th century avant-garde music with folk tradition; as an early indie-label DIY pioneer. For me personally, Fahey went beyond technique, and to some extent beyond historical or intellectual justifications for his work. He explored his emotions through his instrument of choice, and in so doing made the case for the guitar as the ultimate conduit for emotional expression. While there are many imitators who try to play ''like Fahey'', I avoided using his fingerpicking style or sense of rhythm, and tried instead to use his music to explore my own emotions, my own dreams and memories. I was more interested in the lyrical and expressive aspects of Fahey's music than in the techniques of it. I tried to find myself within his compositions and without composing anything I feel that I have managed to make a David Tattersall record that says as much about me as any of the many albums that I have written. John Fahey's beautiful discography shows that the guitar can carry as much mystery and soul as the human voice, and simply put, I wanted in on a little of this action. This is my second all-instrumental solo acoustic album, and where this differs from my first attempt, Little Martha, is that here I improvised freely. I used Fahey's originals only as guides. I'm not sure what I was looking for, perhaps something beyond explanation, but I tried to be as free as possible, and I am delighted by the spontaneous results. Hopefully, they will make the listener feel happy and dreamy, just like the effect that Fahey's many albums have on me. One of the most important things that Fahey ever said was his advice to guitarists to try to feel the emotions that each chord they play on a guitar brings forth. He is telling guitarists to not only play the guitar, but to let the guitar play them. I did my best to follow this advice.

I think Fahey was a genius of the kind that creates a whole genre single-handedly. There could be thousands, millions, of reinterpretations of his compositions. In fact, there probably already are. And long may this continue. All tracks were recorded live with no tampering." David Tattersall. 

TRACK LISTING

01. On The Sunny Side Of The Ocean
02. Special Rider Blues
03. St Louis Blues
04. How Green Was My Valley
05. (Poor Boy) Long Way From Home
06. The Death Of The Claptop Peacock
07. Spanish Two Step
08. In Christ There Is No East Or West
09. Steam Boat Gwine Round The Bend
10. Sligo River Blues
11. Poor Boy
12. When The Springtime Comes Again
13. On The Sunny Side Of The Ocean 

The pioneer of West African electronic music was known for being tapped by over 100 other musicians to produce or arrange their music, from King Sunny Adé, Guy Lobe, even Steve Monite's album "Only You" and more. Having already appeared on Soundway's best-selling compilation "Doing It In Lagos", here more of Nkono's limited solo work is carefully remastered and reissued on vinyl for the first time. One of a small handful of pioneers of the Nigerian electronic music scene in the 1980s (alongside the likes of Jake Sollo & William Onyeabor), Teles was known for being tapped by over 100 musicians to feature on, produce or arrange their music. The list of '80s Nigerian records that his sound and style embellished is seemingly endless: Steve Monite (he arranged and produced the music on the Only You album recently re- issued by Soundway), Dizzy K, Peter Abdul, Odion Iruoje, Steve Black, Rick Asikpo, Feladey, Charly Boy, Majek Fashek & Sonny Okosuns, to name just a few, all engaged his enigmatic production and keyboard services throughout the 1980s. He became known as the first person in Nigeria to push the use of the drum machine into popular music and created a unique and original boogie-funk sound combining these new beats with guitars and an array of new and affordable synthesiser sounds that started appearing in the early 1980s.

TRACK LISTING

Martin Street Special
Love Got A Hold Of Me
Hometown Weather
Martin Street
Love Vibration
Party Beats

Known as the Soul Queen of New Orleans, singer Irma Thomas (born in 1941) is arguably the most underrated soul singer ever

Although her voice and musical expression are unparalleled, she never achieved the same degree of fame as her contemporaries Aretha Franklin and Etta James. Nevertheless, her 50-year career has been highly praised in recent years, and she even won a Grammy in 2007. This 18- track vinyl release compiles all of the sessions she recorded with renowned producer Allen Toussaint, who also composed most of the songs. Here is one of America's most distinctive and classic singers, a treasure from the golden age of soul music.

All tracks recorded in New Orleans between 1959 and 1962 and originally issued on 45rpm singles.

TRACK LISTING

It's Raining
I May Be Wrong
It's Too Soon To Know
I Done Got Over It
Two Winters Long
For Goodness Sake
Whenever
Gone
That's All I Ask
I Did My Part
A Good Man
Cry On
Girl Needs A Boy
Don't Mess With My Man
(You Ain't) Hittin On Nothing
Ruler Of My Heart
Somebody Told You
Set Me Free

Acid Jazz presents a very special collaboration with Flying Dutchman – the first new music from the iconic US label since the ’70s. Billy Valentine is one of the great soul voices working in America (‘the secret weapon of almost every songwriter in L.A.’) – with a history as deep and varied as the Young-Hold Trio, the original touring company of ‘The Wiz’, in collaboration with his brother as ‘The Valentine Brothers’, right up to credits that include Swedish House Mafia.

Collaborator Bob Thiele Jr. is the son of legendary producer and Flying Dutchman founder Bob Thiele (John Coltrane, Gil Scott-Heron and many others), and an acclaimed producer and songwriter in his own right. Having worked together for over three decades, his vision was to produce a Billy Valentine record to reflect our times.

Conceived in the summer of 2020, it is a response to the throes of a global pandemic and the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. More than a covers album, this record uncovers the works of the likes of Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron, and Pharaoh Sanders in a new setting. Recorded at EastWest Studios (formally the historic United Western Recorders), produced and mixed by Dave Way, and featuring a stella cast of session musicians, the album is as sonically stunning as it is moving.

TRACK LISTING

1. We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue
2. Home Is Where The Hatred Is
3. My People… Hold On
4. You Haven’t Done Nothin’
5. The Creator Has A Master Plan
6. Sign Of The Times
7. Wade In The Water
8. The World Is A Ghetto 

“Dear Reader,

“About a year or two ago, Naomi Yang (of Galaxie 500) reached out to me after she rediscovered a video that we had made together in 2011, during the making of ‘Tramp’, just before the album’s release. It was for the song ‘Serpents’.

“The timing was uncanny, approaching the anniversary of ‘Tramp’. Thinking about my time in New York while in the bubble of Los Angeles and my home. Thinking about how restless I was, and now settled down and stable. Thinking about how Aaron Dessner took a chance on me after I messaged him with a fury of demos. He could see through the hiss and crappy vocals on my GarageBand demos, and that I had something to say. He gave me the confidence to be loud and to scream my rage and feel founded and justified in my own pain. He gave me more tools to find catharsis in my work. I have carried that with me ever since.

“Being on the West Coast the last two years, I look back on my community in New York and am forever grateful. I had so many friends and peers step up and help me unfold these demos. The album that it became. Doug Keith and Ben Lord from my original touring band, Logan Cole, Peter Silberman from The Antlers, Jessica Larrabee from She Keeps Bees, Thomas Bartlett of Doveman, Rob Moose of yMusic, Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, Julianna Barwick, Zach Condon of Beirut, Matt Barrick (of the Walkmen), Clarice Jensen, Ben Lanz, Bryce Dessner, and Bryan Devendorf (of The National).

“I had almost forgotten about a song titled ‘This Is Too Right’ that didn’t make it onto the record. It was one of the first guitar ‘riffs’ I had ever written and Jenn Wasner sang on it with me. A song about not believing how good I had it, like the other shoe was about to drop. I hope everyone that helped make this record and supported it, feel the love and admiration that I continue to hold for all of you. I hope that in sharing this record again, with a new video and this forgotten track, that new listeners are brought into this album and find meaning and relevance in it today. All of the musicians on this album helped me come to life and perform in ways I never had before.

“May these songs find you well. Sending all my love, Sharon.”

After twenty-five years of waiting, New York City cult indie favourites The Van Pelt have announced a March 17th release date for their upcoming fourth studio full-length, titled 'Artisans & Merchants'

Reunion show soundchecks revealed that this band has a voice that was prematurely muted by their inability to see clearly in the thick of their rise.

More than two decades later, The Van Pelt has returned to explore what was left behind with a new collection of songs, 'Artisans & Merchants.' This is not a reunion album. This is vindication. For lovers of The Van Pelt, listening to 'Artisans & Merchants' is like hearing the voice of a dear friend you haven't seen in years -- a friend you used to share countless beers with over banter that went nowhere other than delivering a solid night. Your friend is older, they've changed. In some ways you're worried for them, looks like they might be teetering on the brink of something. In other ways, it's the same old them, a nugget of a soul too unique to ever be altered. It's for those unfamiliar with The Van Pelt though for whom we should be truly jealous. This is a stand-alone album, incredible vital songwriting in and of itself regardless of the long history this band has. The climax of the single "Image of Health" perhaps describes the beautiful desperation best: "And you never felt more alive / Than when the priest came to read you your rites!"

TRACK LISTING

1. We Gotta Leave
2. Image Of Health
3. Artisans & Merchants
4. Punk House
5. Old Souls From Different Epochs
6. Grid
7. Cold Coconuts
8. Did We Hear The Same Song
9. Love Is Brutal

Born Jephté Mbisi in Genève, Varnish La Pisicine is a 25 year Swiss Rap author, composer & producer. After his former works under the name Pink Flamingo who maDe him work with Sébastien Tellier & Philippe Zdar, Varnish La Piscine also became a movie director and realized his first film “ Les contes du Cockatoo” whose Ost enhanced with bonus Tracks was released by Color Records under the name “ Metronome Pole Dance Twist Amazone”. After they met, Pedro Winter signed him on Ed Banger Record for his next works. “This Lake Is Successful” is the brand new 7 song mini-album. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Nubian Farlow
A2. Ring Island
A3. Quartz Freestyle Feat. Snubnose Frankenstein
A4. "ceviche"...
B1. Shopping (amaury Lefèvre)
B2. Nuvojob
B3. Bye Bye Forever

Another super exclusive wax rocket from the Rush Hour extended family, only available to physical record shops (yay!). In this instance (see also: the new Space Grapes record this week) it's Young Marco delivering the goods as he offers up a club extension of his Ministry Of Sound licensed smasher: "What You Say?". It's no wonder the superclub brand has snaffled this one - talk about infectious. THIS my friends is the forthcoming sound of summer '23! A mix of heady vocodered pop vox (think Panda Bear maybe?), French touch-esque filtered fun and a smattering of trance's wide-eyed aesthetic.

It's like Thomas Bangalter, Todd Terje and Sasha all dropped 2CB and made a technicoloured house jam for sun-kissed festivals throughout the upcoming summer...

Available in painfully short supply - you're gonna have to be in quick grabbing this one folks...

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Super limited, one-time pressing of this summer smasher by Young Marco. MOS have licensed it, but Safe Trip have snuck a cheeky vinyl 12" release from under their noses. Don't sleep!

TRACK LISTING

A. What You Say?