This recorded autobiography of Catherine Howe, age 20, briefly appeared in 1971. Too young for memoirs, most artists have barely established any sort of musical competence by the age of legal adulthood, let alone compositions matching the maturity and complexity of Howe’s. What A Beautiful Place, however, is a prodigious effort wrought from the melancholy ruminations of post-adolescence. The album’s twelve songs unfold like a classic bildungsroman, beginning in the smoke-stained industrial county of Yorkshire, transformed by the electrified creative landscape of mid-century London, and retiring to the warm pastoral bliss of the county of Dorset on England’s southern coast. Produced by noted jazz pianist Bobby Scott, the LP—oft-mistaken for a concept album—was available for only a month in the summer of 1971, disappearing after Reflection Records’ shuttering in 1971.

TRACK LISTING

1. Prologue
2. My Child
3. On A Misty Morning
4. Nothing More Than Strangers
5. Up North
6. Interlude
7. It's Not Likely
8. It Comes With The Breezes
9. Words Through A Locked Door
10. What A Beautiful Place
11. Innocence Of A Child
12. Epilogue

‘Fleuves de l'Ame’ is the debut album of Paris-based Tunisan artist Houeida Hedfi, produced with Olof Dreijer of The Knife. Originally a percussionist, ‘Fleuves de l' me’, is an elegant marriage of traditional folk music and contemporary sound design drawing references from Hedfi's drumming expertise and the textures of Tunisian music alongside a startlingly broad array of global genres.

Hedfi came to music late, getting her first drum kit aged 27 when she was already established as an academic in the field of economics / mathematics. Alongside teaching she toured playing a contemporary spin on stambeli, a genre of Afro-Arab sufi trance music heavy on rhythms. “I loved it,” she recalls, “but I had this need for melody. There was no room for that within our group, so I realised I had to start my own project.” She enlisted the help of Tunisian violin player Radhi Chaouali and Palestinian bouzouk player Jalal Nader and began rehearshals. Over nine years of travel between Tunisia, France, and Dreijer’s Berlin studio, Hedfi refined each composition with a perfectionist’s ear and found a home in melody.

During composition it was essential to Hedfi that the songs contained the quarter tones characteristic of Tunisian/Arabic music. “I wanted it to sound like me. In my mind, if you delete these quarter tones, it’s like deleting all the verbs from a sentence.” While her musical influences are not limited to Tunisia, she still views her album as a modern take on Tunisian music. “It’s not just Tunisian,” she adds, “it’s also made by a woman. That makes a difference. My music doesn’t take up so much space, it has nuance. If I had to put a nationality to my music, I would also put a gender to it.”

Each track is named for a different river, referencing both the safety found in the sound of water and the sinuous drama of each composition, which often starts peacefully, before evolving to encompass drama and tension, conflict and resolution. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A beautiful marriage of swooning modern classical and traditional Tunisian folk music, with moments of elegiac pensiveness and more exuberant, shimmering beauty. A wonderfully written and beautifully crafted masterpiece.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Souffles Du Nil
Namami Gange (Obéissance Au Gange)
Side B
Envol Du Mékong
Appel Du Danube
Side C
Baisers Amers De L’Euphrate
Les Cloches De Yamuna
Echos De Medjerda
Side D
Cheminement Du Tigre

AVAILABLE ONLINE ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 27TH FROM 8AM.

LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Live At Rockpalast are recordings of two German live shows. The album starts with their 1983 set from Loreley Open Air, which was recorded just before the release of their third album Rant N’ Rave.

The second set was recorded a few years before, in 1981 in Cologne. This release lets you hear exactly how the Stray Cats established their reputation as a great live band.

The 3LP-set Live At Rockpalast is available as a Black Friday Exclusive limited edition of 4000 individually numbered copies on silver coloured vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

Baby Blue Eyes (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Double Talkin‘ Baby (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Rumble In Brighton (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Drink That Bottle Down (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Something Is Wrong With My Radio (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Built For Speed (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Look At That Cadillac (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Runaway Boys (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Lonely Summer Nights (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Too Hip, Gotta Go (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Stray Cat Strut (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
She‘s Sexy And 17 (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Banjo Time (foggy Mountain Breakdown) (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
The Race Is On (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Tear It Up (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Oh Boy (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Rock This Town (loreley Open Air, August 20th 1983)
Sweet Love On My Mind (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Double Talkin‘ Baby (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Rumble In (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981) Brighton (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
My One Desire (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Ubangi Stomp (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Drink That Bottle Down (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Storm The Embassy (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Stray Cat Strut (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Fishnet Stockings (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Important Words (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Rock This Town (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Runaway Boys (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Somethin‘ Else (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)
Gonna Ball (satory-säle Cologne, July 16th 1981)

A collaboration between Deviation Records and the Mieruba label. The Super Biton has existed since the 60s, like Ségou, its orchestra, the Super Biton has always remained behind what was done in Bamako and in the big cities of Africa. The Ségou orchestra developed and incorporated amplified instruments that mingle with brass, in particular electric guitars, symbols of modernity at the time. It opens up to Cuban music, and congas and bongos complement the sound of the orchestra. The group drew a unique sound from it, a perfect balance between tradition and the modern. There are about fifteen artits on stage, singers, guitarists, drummer and percussionists.

The Super Biton has for years been the best known and most sought-after orchestra of Mali outside the country's borders, the Super Biton transcends the only Bambara heritage with its repertoire. Ségou is a crossroads between Bambara, Fulani, Mandingo and Somono cultures and Biton has drawn on all these traditions to create a repertoire extremely rich in rhythms and words. Some musicians completed their training in Cuba. They play "bambara jazz", incorporating a lot of brass instruments such as saxophone, trumpet, clarinet. The compositions are modern and sophisticated.

Mieruba Art Center is a place dedicated to the transmission and safeguarding of Malian musical heritage through musical exchange between the older and newer generation - artist residences, music lessons, rehearsals, workshops, masterclasses - and so on. Just as happy former musicians of Mali, the members of Super Biton give lessons on site. 

TRACK LISTING

Ndossoke
Super Biton
Kamalen Wari
Lebamfe
Primprin
Bwabaro
Sournousso Haba
Garan

With its roots in the Mississippi Delta, the Chicago blues exploded onto the scene in the late 1940s as an electrified and souped-up brand of blues.

This Rough Guide features many pioneering artists including Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter, whose influence helped shape the future of rock music.

An album which traces the development of the Chicago blues scene during its late 1940s/1950s heyday and presents some of the finest blues guitar tracks you will ever hear from the likes of Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Earl Hooker. Also Includes tracks by Harmonica pioneers Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson II.

Lovingly remastered using pioneering restoration techniques.

TRACK LISTING

Muddy Waters - I Can’t Be Satisfied
Otis Rush - All Your Love (I Miss Loving)
Billy Boy Arnold - I Wish You Would
Howlin’ Wolf - Back Door Man
Junior Wells - Messin’ With The Kid
Buddy Guy - First Time I Met The Blues
Sonny Boy Williamson II - Do It If You Wanta
Earl Hooker - Blues In D Natural
Little Walter - My Babe
Jimmy Rogers - Chicago Bound
Otis Spann With Robert Lockwood Junior - Take A Little Walk With Me
Baby Face Leroy - Rollin’ And Tumblin’ (Part 1)
Jimmy Reed - Big Boss Man
Elmore James - The Sky Is Crying
Bo Diddley - I’m A Man

AVAILABLE ONLINE ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 27TH FROM 8AM.

LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

A crazy 22-track collection containing some of the biggest dance craze hits from the Philadelphia label that got the world dancing in the early 1960sIncludes tracks by Cameo Parkway’s biggest stars: Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Dee Dee Sharp, The Orlons and The Dovells as well as R&B greats Don Covay and The Turbans. Twelve Top 40 hits including three number 1 chart toppers!Chubby Checker’s original hit version of “The Twist,” which has the distinction of being the only single of the rock era to reach number 1 twice in two consecutive years, is included. Features an essay by acclaimed rock & roll and R&B historian John Broven. Mastered from the original master tapes from ABKCO’s Cameo Parkway archive
Bespoke printed inner bags including extensive liner notes and period photos.