Outta Sight presents the third platter in the 'Give 'Em Soul' series showcasing some of the rarest and hottest R&B sounds of the 21st Soul Century. The 'Blue Edition' brings together 14 more killer cuts that are on every DJ's hit list. These major label milestones, dating from 1955 to the dawn of the sixties, feature key artists in the world of R&B and soul including Texan Soul Brother, Joseph Arrington Jr 'Tex', Pittsburgh's finest jazz songstress Dakota Staton, Ohio's own Top Ten R&B singer Lulu Reed, Little Rock's Bobby King and Chicago blues giant Howlin' Wolf, to name but a few. Featuring over $5,000 worth of singles in one affordable package, everyone's a winner!

TRACK LISTING

A1 The Blowflys - Funky In The Hole
A2 Funkadelic - If You Don't Like The Effects, Don't Produce The Cause
A3 Ohio Players - Hustle Bird
A4 The Armada Orchestra - For The Love Of Money
A5 The Sylvers - Handle It
A6 Malone & Barnes And The Spontaneous Simplicity - Road Man
B1 James Brown - Smokin' & Drinkin'
B2 KC & The Sunshine Band - I Get Lifted
B3 T-Connection - Lady Of The Night
B4 Asha Puthli - Flying Fish
B5 The Jimmy Castor Bunch - The Mystery Of Me

A selection of Beatles covers from the Atlantic and Warner vaults. Includes Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Arif Mardin, The Harvey Averne Dozen, The Meters, Charles Wright, Herbie Mann etc.

Ten track compilation from Glasswerk, featuring the top ten tracks voted for by readers of their website. Tracks from: Lisa Brown, Cadium, Spacetrain, Heaven Stereo, Intermajic, The Meddler, Snatch, Failure By Design, Autorain and WUPT.

The official soundtrack compilation release from Glitterbox and Defected Records first foree into Documnetary films : Where Love Lives. The film is a story of music’s enduring power to manifest diverse and inclusive community, and the power of that community to accept and embrace, to liberate, even to save lives. It’s a story of acceptance and creative expression – empowered, enabled and soundtracked by club music. Through extensive exclusive interviews with titans of nightlife culture, Where Love Lives contributors

Billy Porter, Honey Dijon, Kathy Sledge, Kiddy Smile, Lucy Fizz, John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez, Kae Burke (House Of Yes), Fiorious and many more explore how those driven to the margins of society are welcomed unconditionally to the centre of the dancefloor.

Featuring the likes of Roisin Murphy, Horse Meat Disco, The Shapeshifters, DC La Rue, The Vision and more, this compilation, expertly mixed by Simon Dunmore and Seamus Haji includes all of the music featured in the film alongside classic and fresh cuts from the Glitterbox label.

TRACK LISTING

CD1 - Seamus Haji

1. Smith & Mudd Featuring Quinn Lamont Luke ‘The Distance’ (Ron Basejam Remix)
2. Crazy P ‘Eruption’
3. Lovebirds Featuring Holly Backler ‘Give Me A Sign’
4. The Phenomenal Handclap Band ‘Judge Not’ (Ray Mang Disco Mix)
5. Luke Solomon Featuring Queen Rose & Amy Douglas ‘Light You Up’ (Accapella)
6. Róisín Murphy ‘Murphy's Law’ (Extended Mix)
7. Sure Thing ‘Holding You Tight’ (Extended DJ Mix)
8. Sunset City ‘Feels So Right’ (Art Of Tones '1982' Extended Remix)
9. Bobby D'Ambrosio Featuring Lasala ‘Runaway Love’ (Dr Packer Extended Remix)
10. Horse Meat Disco & Kathy Sledge ‘Jump Into The Light’ (Extended 12” Mix)
11. Melvo Baptiste Featuring Phebe Edwards ‘Bad Company’ (Extended Mix)
12. Birdee Featuring Angela Johnson ‘Something About You’ (Extended Mix)
13. William & The Young Five ‘You Turn Me On’ (JKriv Rework)
14. Bongoloverz Featuring An-Tonic ‘Power Of Music’ (Accapella)
15. Aeroplane Featuring Tawatha Agee ‘Love On Hold’ (Dr Packer Extended Remix)
16. Eli Escobar & Nomi Ruiz ‘Dance 4 Love ‘99’ (Club Mix)
17. Chasing Kurt ‘From The Inside’ (Henrik Schwarz Deep Version)
18. Audiowhores & Roland Clark ‘I'm Inspired’ (Spoken Accapella)
19. The Juan Maclean ‘A Simple Design’ (Purple Disco Machine Remix)
20. The Vision Featuring Dames Brown ‘Down’ (Extended Mix)
21. Horse Meat Disco Featuring Amy Douglas ‘Let’s Go Dancing’ (Dimitri From Paris Remix)
22. Seamus Haji Featuring Kathy Brown ‘A Better Place’ (Extended Mix)


CD2 - Simon Dunmore

1. Freeform Five & Carolyn Harding ‘Strength’ (JKriv Extended Remix)
2. Horse Meat Disco Featuring Fi McCluskey ‘Love If You Need It’
3. Hifi Sean Featuring Paris Grey ‘Lost Without U’ (Horse Meat Disco Extended Remix)
4. Nico Saav ‘Steam’ (Dicky Trisco Remix)
Escobar Featuring Nomi Ruiz ‘Can't Stop Dancing’ (Accapella)
Kings Of Tomorrow ‘Let Me Tell You Something’ (Sandy Rivera & C. Castel’s Accapella)
5. Powerdance ‘Power Dance’ (Mousse T.’s Disco Shizzle Extended Mix)
6. The Vision Featuring Andreya Triana ‘Mountains’ (Joey Negro Live And Direct Extended Mix)
7. D.C. LaRue ‘Cathedrals’ (Jamie 3:26 Ballroom Version)
8. Donald’s House ‘Piano Parfait’
9. Mike Dunn Presents The MD X-Spress ‘Git Cho House On (Children)’ (Accapella)
10. Antenna! ‘Rhombus’ (Extended Mix)
12. Ralphi Rosario With Linda Clifford ‘Wanna Give It Up’ (Dr Packer’s Légo’s Dub Accapella)
13. Fallout ‘The Morning After’ (Purple Disco Machine Re-Work)
14. Billie ‘Nobody’s Business’ (Extended Radio)
15. Mike Dunn ‘If I Can’t Get Down’ (Luke Solomon’s Extended Clubland Remix)
16. Mike Dunn ‘Strut Cho Phunky Stuff (Sho' Nuff)’ (Mike Dunn Extended Black Glitter MixX)
17. The Shapeshifters Featuring Kimberly Davis ‘Life Is A Dancefloor’ (Club Mix)
18. D.C. LaRue ‘Hot Jungle Drums And Voo Doo Rhythm’ (Dr Packer Dub)
19. Dimitri From Paris X Fiorious ‘Music Saved My Life’ (The Extended Discomix)
20. Casbah 73 ‘Love Saves The Day’ (Extended Mix)

CD3 - Simon Dunmore

1. Horse Meat Disco & Kathy Sledge ‘Falling Deep In Love’ (Joey Negro 12” Disco Blend)
2. The Shapeshifters Featuring Billy Porter ‘Finally Ready’ (Dimitri From Paris TSOP - The Sound Of Paris - Remix, Pts I & II)
3. Mike Dunn ‘Natural High’ (Mike Dunn Extended Black Glitter MixX)
4. Dam Swindle ‘Hey Mister’ (Extended Mix)
5. Debbie Jacobs ‘Don’t You Want My Love’ (Full Intention Extended Disco Mix)
6. DJ John ‘Julius’ Knight ‘Find A Friend’ (Dr Packer Extended Remix)
7. Luke Solomon Featuring Amy Douglas & Queen Rose ‘Love. Hope. Happiness’ (Accapella)
8. Fiorious ‘I’m Not Defeated’ (Catz ‘n Dogz Extended Pride Mix)
9. Junior Jack Presents Glory Featuring Jocelyn Brown ‘Hold Me Up’ (Riva Starr Tangerine Funk Extended Vocal Mix)
10. Quentin Harris & Jason Walker ‘Stronger’ (Extended Mix)
11. Romain & Danny Krivit Featuring Linda Clifford ‘Philly Groove’ (Joey Negro’s Philly Jump Extended Mix)
12. Soul Creation ‘Maestros Of House’ (Accapella)
13. Dirty Channels ‘Catch Me’ (Extended Mix)
14. Lupe Featuring Josh Caffe ‘Give Me Body’
15. Hifi Sean Featuring Celeda ‘The Music’ (Extended)
16. Catz ‘n Dogz ‘Force’ (Accapella)
17. Mighty Mouse ‘The Spirit’ (Extended Mix)
18. Gershon Jackson Presents Reset Preset ‘Hands Together’ (House Of Omni Hands Together Extended Club Mix)
19. Shakedown ‘At Night’ (Shakedown’s Galactic Boogie) 

The official soundtrack compilation release from Glitterbox and Defected Records first foree into Documnetary films : Where Love Lives. The film is a story of music’s enduring power to manifest diverse and inclusive community, and the power of that community to accept and embrace, to liberate, even to save lives. It’s a story of acceptance and creative expression – empowered, enabled and soundtracked by club music. Through extensive exclusive interviews with titans of nightlife culture, Where Love Lives contributors Billy Porter, Honey Dijon, Kathy Sledge, Kiddy Smile, Lucy Fizz, John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez, Kae Burke (House Of Yes), Fiorious and many more explore how those driven to the margins of society are welcomed unconditionally to the centre of the dancefloor.

TRACK LISTING

A1. The Shapeshifters Featuring Billy Porter ‘Finally Ready’ (Dimitri From Paris TSOP - The Sound Of Paris – Remix)
A2. Antenna! ‘Rhombus’ (Extended Mix)
B1. Mike Dunn ‘Strut Cho Phunky Stuff (Sho' Nuff)’ (Mike Dunn Extended Black Glitter MixX)
B2. Quentin Harris & Jason Walker ‘Stronger’ (Extended Mix)
C1. D.C. LaRue ‘Hot Jungle Drums And Voo Doo Rhythm’ (Dr Packer Dub
C2. Smith & Mudd Featuring Quinn Lamont Luke ‘The Distance’ (Ron Basejam Remix)
D1. The Vision Featuring Andreya Triana ‘Mountains’ (Joey Negro Live And Direct Extended Mix)
D2. Horse Meat Disco Featuring Fi McCluskey ‘Love If You Need It’
E1. William & The Young Five ‘You Turn Me On’ (JKriv Rework)
E2. Melvo Baptiste Featuring Phebe Edwards ‘Bad Company’ (Extended Mix)
F1. The Phenomenal Handclap Band ‘Judge Not’ (Ray Mang Disco Mix)
F2. Powerdance ‘Power Dance’ (Mousse T.’s Disco Shizzle Extended Mix)

Following a string of releases that have cemented Glitterbox as the hub for independent house and disco worldwide, four sought-after mixes that have soundtracked the label's parties get a special outing on vinyl for the very first time. Who better to open Glitterbox Jams Volume 6 but head honcho Melvo Baptiste, featuring esteemed selector Jamie 3:26 & Annette Bowen with ‘Gonna Be Alright’, an instant classic that showcases the label’s very best. Next up, German hit maker Mousse T. and Davie ‘Take It Back’ to Summer of 2023 with their soulful house release, before East London house master and Snatch! Records owner Riva Starr’s ‘How It Feels’ lands on wax for the first time. Closing out this collection of Glitterbox favourites is a collaboration between legends, Shakedown & Bootsy Collins and the Shakedown Work That Mother Mix of ‘Funky And You Know It’. This four-track package from the Glitterbox camp is one you do not want to miss.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Glitzy Saturday night business for city striders and disco ball gliders with a fresh house direction from the label.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Melvo Baptiste Ft. Jamie 3:26 & Annette Bowen - Gonna Be Alright
A2. Mousse T. Ft. Davie - Take It Back
AA1. Riva Starr - How It Feels
AA2. Shakedown & Bootsy Collins - Funky And You Know It (Shakedown Work That Mother Mix) 

Following several releases that continue to establish Glitterbox as the hub for independent house and disco worldwide, four sought-after mixes that have soundtracked the label's parties appear on wax for the first time. Leading Glitterbox Jams Volume 7 is label head Melvo Baptiste alongside Detroit trio Dames Brown with the infectious 'Sweat', a track that made waves in 2023 with its irresistible rhythms and stellar vocals. Marking their first original track on the label, Lovebirds ‘Burn It Down’ showcases the Berlin-based duo as the house and disco authorities that they are. Next up, Art Of Tones & Inaya Day make dancefloor magic with their uplifting collaboration 'Give My Love', before sensual earworm ‘Smooth Sweet Talker’ by Young Pulse & Fleur De Mur closes out the compilation. This four-track package once again shows the disco, funk and soul sound of Glitterbox at its very best.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: These Glitterbox Jams go from strength to strength. Giving other modern disco-house stables such as High Fashion and Lumberjacks In Hell a run for their money. High gloss production, big hooks and driving energy their signature; four more cuts for extended dancefloor enjoyment.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Melvo Baptiste Ft. Dames Brown - Sweat
A2. Lovebirds - Burn It Down (Club Mix)
AA1. Art Of Tones & Inaya Day - Give My Love
AA2. Young Pulse & Fleur De Mur - Smooth Sweet Talker 

It’s all about Y2K, punk-funk and indie disco!

Toy Tonics brings a collection of tracks originally released on the German label, Gomma between 2001 and 2010. Gomma was one of the key labels of the Y2K indie dance wave along with labels like James Murphy’s DFA and Trevor Jackson’s OUTPUT Records. And as the 90s revival that dominated the last years in fashion and electronic music reached its peak, the Toy Tonics gang thought it’s a good moment to re-visit some of these early 2000’s tracks that connected a more raw, indie disco and punky funk vibe. Gomma was happening in Berlin's off-location clubs like Scala and Rio, London’s Trash or 333 partys and Paris' Kill The DJ clubs.

Those Y2K clubs and the Gomma label brought together 80ies inspired Indie rock artists like Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand (who’s was producing records on Gomma before getting world-famous) and electro punk princess Peaches (who did a whole disco album on Gomma records and is featured on this compilation with a cover of "Maniac" from the Flashdance movie soundtrack). Italian disco legends like Baldelli or Robotnick were poppping up in those times after years of silence (before getting hype again later) as well as Gomma’s own discoveries like WhoMadeWho (their first 2 albums where quite punk-funk and produced by Gomma’s head honcho Mathias Modica), Italian disco punkster Rodion, Parisian nasty funk dude Golden Bug, London’s mysterious prince of new wave prince Midnight Mike (who started in Gomma and later ended up on Ed Banger records) and Gomma’s main act Munk. And yes there is even DJ Severino who did an proto house remix for the label in the early Horse Meat Disco days.

That raw and nasty Gomma sound that mixed up many genres and made its own sexy, in your face music melange that was very in demand in those days from 2000 - 2010 and inspired many artists. Not just music people like James Murphy, who did music with Gomma before starting his own LCD Soundsystem or bands like Chromeo, New Young Pony Club or Soulwax who started later with a similar vibe; but also art, graphic and fashion people took inspiration from the Gomma world: Gomma’s edgy album cover designs, their poster fanzine, their colourful t-shirt designs and the whole style that the bands, DJs and people at their worldwide parties were rocking became a gloval trend. In the early 2000’s it was just art students from London’s Central St. Martins or Berlin’s UDK school that played that sound at their parties, later magazine like VICE or i - D invited Munk and the Gomma acts to their parties and later it was fashion brands like Prada, Margiela, Karl Lagerfeld and Hedi Slimane who used Gomma artists to make music at their fashion shows or events.

Gomma then in 2015 finally closed. Gomma’s head honcho and main inventor Mathias Modica stopped the whole thing, changed the name and started something new: Toy Tonics records. Yes! Toy Toy Tonics came out of Gomma and that’s why now it’s time to remember the old inspirational days.

TRACK LISTING

A1) Moullinex & Peaches – Maniac
A2) Munk - Disco Clown (Midnight Mike Version)
A3) Whomadewho - Flat Beat

B1) Golden Bug - Bisco
B2) Headman - It Rough (Chicken Lips Remix)

C1) Baldelli - Atlantide
C2) Trans Mania - Boing Boom Jack (Robotnick Remix)
C3) Leroy Hanghofer - Bathroomboogie

D1) Severino Horse Meat Disco - Bounce
D2) Rodion - Atala Ride
D3) Munk – Androgyn

12 tracks originally released on the indie dance label Gomma between 2001 and 2010. (Gomma was the label Toy Tonics did before starting Toy Tonics.) Along with DFA and Output records Gomma released a wild mix of electronic dance music, indie rock, underground disco, post punk and new wave funk that was big in the 2000s. The Y2K sound!

Gomma released music by artists like Peaches, Whomadewho, The Rammellzee, James Murphy, LCD soundsystem and artists like Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand.

Now it’s 2024 and its feels fresh to put a spotlight on some of these tracks again. And so here comes a 2nd compilation part of Gomma tracks:
Nancy Whang the singer of LCD Soundsystem, WhoMadeWho (the band started their career on Gomma), Italian disco producer Bottin, UK indie disco hero The Deadstock 33s aka Justin Robertson, NY disco hipsters In Flagranti, German producers Munk and many more on this compilation.

Gomma not only was a record label, but was also a home for cutting edge design: wild T-shirt styles, underground exhibitions with new artists from the Berlin scene and crazy poster and fanzine design. Many graphic design trends of the last years were preceded by what the artists on Gomma were doing. And many record and street wear labels of today look a bit like Gomma was looking before ... copying the images that Gomma preceded: ironic cartoons, trash aesthetics, greek symbols, ugly design ideas and lot of ironic things.

The Gomma visuals world was exposed in a couple of exhibitions around the world and at a big exhibition at #hausderkunst München before the label was closed in 2015. (when Toy Tonics took off...) Grab a slice of history kids...

TRACK LISTING

A1) The Deadstock 33s - My Best Dub
A2) Bottin - Red Onions
A3) Munk - Violent Love (2024 Version)

B1) Leroy Hanghofer - Das Pi
B2) Headman - Whomadewho – Satisfaction
B3) Mercury - Sweetness

C1) In Flagranti - In The Silver White Box
C2) Munk - Kick Out The Chairs (Whomadewho Remix)
C3) Golden Bug - St Tropez

D1) Cecile - Sweetness 86
D2) Hiltmeyer Inc - Chefsong
D3) Nancy Whang & Bonar Bradberry - Working The Midnight Shift (Disco Version)

Norman (MBE) and Joey Jay are back with another fine selection of favourites from their Notting Hill Carnival Good Times sound system. As ever they mix up an eclectic party set of tunes taking in funk, disco and soul (The Impressions, Lee Dorsey, James Brown, Eddie Harris, LTD, Billy Paul), house (Shapeshifters - special vocal mix - Ten City), hip hop and nu(ish)-soul (Bomb The Bass, Mica Paris, Brenda Russell, The Nextmen), reggae (Aswad, Zap Pow) and more.

Norman Jay (MBE) returns to the fray once again with yet another lovingly crafted collection of classic and contemporary tracks for his highly esteemed "Good Times" series. Here he digs deep in his expansive Notting Hill Carnival record crates and picks out his usual eclectic selection of tunes, covering everything from soulful house to broken beat, post-funk club sounds to reggae, easy hip swingers to soul, drum and bass to hip hip. The album includes tracks by BB&Q Band, Jimmy Ruffin, Boyz II Men, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, High Contrast, Monique Bingham, CeCe Peniston, Willie Colon, Barry White, Rufus Feat. Chaka Khan, Desmond Dekker, The Clash, Chris Montez, House Of Pain, DJ Spinna, Linn and Lena Horne.

The film Good Vibrations was released late last year to great acclaim, with luminaries such as Roger Daltrey and Bono raving about its excellence. The story follows the turbulent life of record collector, DJ, record shop owner, record label founder and dance promoter Terri Hooley from his childhood to the present day. A true rollercoaster ride with rarely a dull minute, portrayed brilliantly in this cult film. The soundtrack has been woven together by film score composer David Holmes, who grew up listening to our releases, and Terri Hooley himself, whose love of vintage music is the cornerstone of the story.

With musical tastes formed in the 60s and 70s, Terri has chosen some wonderful music to portray his early years. The beauty of ‘Angie’, Bert Jansch’s folk guitar masterpiece, the haunting, sexually charged vocals of the Shangri-Las and the primitive clarity of Hank Williams’ ‘I Saw The Light’ show what an eclectic fellow Terri always was. ‘Outcast’ by the Animals gives a hint of the tougher side of the music eventually leading to Terri’s success and (coincidentally, or possibly not) was also the name of one of his label’s punk bands a dozen years later.

The story of how a scruffy bunch of Londonderry teenagers got their demo to Terri and virtually forced him to record it is one of the film’s highlights. The established record business and a hierarchical society fought against them but boundless energy, belief and desperate measures got a copy of the Undertones ‘Teenage Kicks’ to London-based DJ John Peel who made sure it did not remain an undiscovered gem.

Exciting music of the time from the Saints, Stiff Little Fingers, Niney The Observer and Suicide sit well with the earlier influences of psychedelia from Ramases & Seleka and the rocksteady sound of the Upsetters. Thrown into the imaginative mix are some unclassifiable musical creations from Michael Yonkers, Jason Falkner and the Langley Schools Music Project and of course the label’s top bands Rudi and those Outcasts are well represented. Stand-alone pieces from the film’s soundtrack are included on this musical celebration of a heady era.

Terri provided his own idiosyncratic notes for the booklet and needless to say he was tickled pink to have the great David Bowie singing for him on his CD: ever the fan.

TRACK LISTING

I Saw The Light - Hank Williams
Blood And Fire - Niney (The Observers)
Past, Present And Future - The Shangri-Las
Outcast - The Animals
Freedom Train - The Upsetters
You're A Disease - The Outcasts
Angie - Bert Jansch
Big Time - Rudi
Pear Shaped - Woody Jackson
This Perfect Day - The Saints
Gotta Gettaway - Stiff Little Fingers
Don't Wait Until Tomorrow - Michael Yonkers
Love You - Ramases & Seleka
Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
Dream Baby Dream - Suicide
The Pressure's On - Rudi
I Can Never Go Home Anymore - The Shangri-Las
To Know Him Is To Love Him - The Langley Schools Music Project
Alternative Ulster - Stiff Little Fingers
The Perfect Crime - Jason Falkner
Just Another Teenage Rebel - The Outcasts
Laugh At Me - Holmes Ensemble Aka Whole Ensemble
Star - David Bowie
Self Conscious Over You - The Outcasts

Congratulations! Yippie-Aye-Yay-Yay! Bang! Marina Records celebrates its 25th anniversary with the release of Goosebumps, a deluxe compilation featuring 40 stunning tracks on two groovy compact discs and 3LP.

Goosebumps, living up to its title, includes many unreleased cuts and exclusive contributions, as well as selected nuggets from the label catalogue. Includes tracks from SHACK, JAMES KIRK, THE PALE FOUNTAINS, MALCOLM ROSS, PAUL HAIG, THE PALE FISHERS, ALEX CHILTON and many more..

The splendid booklet features more than 100 photographs from the Marina archive. The strictly limited 3-LP edition comes with beautifully designed innersleeves and individually coloured wax. Orange - Yellow – Red.

Marina Records, founded by Stefan Kassel and Frank Lähnemann in Hamburg 25 years ago, is not only known for its distinctive sleeve design which has been praised in several cover art books, but also for its eclectic, unique artist roster and its devotion to classic pop songwriting. Their fabulous The In-Kraut compilation series even turned out to define a genre of its own.

Kickstarting with Brent Cash’s pop smash Digging The Fault Line, Goosebumps features artists as diverse as exceptional Glasgow funk sextet Gazelle and Chris Thomson’s beloved chamber pop outfit The Bathers from the early days of the label - to the lushly orchestrated Morricone-like soundscapes of Starless and jazz trumpeter Colin Steele, two recent signings. Steele gave the wonderful songs of The Pearlfishers the royal jazz treatment with exciting new arrangements. The Pearlfishers themselves recorded seven albums for Marina so far. Their songwriting has been compared to Paul McCartney, Jimmy Webb and Brian Wilson. They contribute the previously unreleased The Time Is Right. They also recorded a fantastic cover version of The Pale Fountains’ Southbound Excursion - under the nom de plume The Pale Fishers. Another exclusive on this compilation.

The Pale Fountains themselves are featured with The Norfolk Broads – a track from their Marina anthology Longshot For Your Love. Pale Fountains songwriter Michael Head makes a second appearance with Dragonfly from the Shack album Waterpistol. Released by Marina in 1995 - and rated by many critics as one of the best British albums of the 90s. In 2001 Marina effectively initiated the reformation of sunshine pop legends The Free Design. McCarran Airport hails from their comeback album Cosmic Peekaboo. Only With You by Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub and I Wanna Pick You Up by Alex Chilton originate from Marina’s bestselling album Caroline Now! The Songs Of Brian Wilson & The Beach Boys (“Album of the month” in UNCUT).

Eccentric Orange Juice founding member James Kirk recorded his pop-tastic solo album You Can Make It If You Boogie for Marina in 2003. He joins Scottish super-group Port Sulphur on the groovy Orient Express. Felicity, one of his classic Orange Juice songs, is featured in a special, as yet unreleased “Party Mix“. Boogie! Two other Scottish music legends - both of Josef K fame - are featured on Goosebumps: Malcolm Ross and Paul Haig.

Goosebumps - 25 years of pure pop heaven. 

TRACK LISTING

Tracklist CD:
CD1
1. Brent Cash - Digging The Fault Line
2. Port Sulphur Feat. James Kirk - Orient Express
3. Malcolm Ross - Low Shot
4. Ashby - Already Won
5. The Aluminum Group - Star Wish
6. Shack - Dragonfly
7. Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich - Marina
8. The Secret Goldfish - Holiday Hymn
9. Crocker - Crocker At LAX
10. The Pearlfishers - The Time Is Right
11. Norman Blake - Only With You
12. The Pale Fountains - The Norfolk Broads
13. Colin Steele Quartet - You’ll Never Steal My Spirit
14. Friends Again - Sweet Jane
15. Andy Pawlak - Sunshine Girl
16. Starless - Starless (Sam Barker Axor Mix)
17. James Kirk - Felicity (Party Mix)
18. Gazelle - Fear
19. Skinner - Still Messed Up With You
20. Camping - Von Verpassten Gelegenheiten

CD2
1. Die Zimmermänner - Pampelmusen
2. Marina Unlimited Orchestra - Breezy (Marina’s In The Air)
3. The Pale Fishers - Southbound Excursion
4. Sarah Cracknell - Miles Apart
5. The Bathers - If Love Could Last Forever
6. Jazzateers - Up To My Eyes
7. June & The Exit Wounds - Hey Hey Hey
8. The Kingfishers - I Know You're Down (But I Don’t Really Care
) 9. The Magic Circles - Meet Me In Milan
10. Daniel Dodds - Beautiful
11. The Free Design - McCarran Airport
12. Frank Schmiechen - Die Jungs Sind Zurück
13. Alex Chilton - I Wanna Pick You Up
14. Oscar In Venice - Go For A Walk In The Woods
15. Peter Thomas - Multi-Kolored Mini-Skirts
16. Paul Quinn & The Independent Group - You Have Been Seen
17. Mindstore - PC Streets (Radio Edit)
18. Sugartown - 25 Years
19. Paul Haig - Listen To Me
20. Cowboy Mouth - Goodbye (She Quietly Says)

Tracklist 3LP:

Side 1
1. Brent Cash - Digging The Fault Line
2. Port Sulphur Feat. James Kirk - Orient Express
3. Malcolm Ross - Low Shot
4. Ashby - Already Won
5. The Aluminum Group - Star Wish 6. Shack - Dragonfly

Side 2
1. Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich - Marina
2. The Secret Goldfish - Holiday Hymn
3. Crocker - Crocker At LAX
4. The Pearlfishers - The Time Is Right
5. Norman Blake - Only With You
6. The Pale Fountains - The Norfolk Broads
7. Colin Steele Quartet - You’ll Never Steal My Spirit

Side 3
1. Friends Again - Sweet Jane
2. Starless - Starless (Sam Barker Axor Mix)
3. James Kirk - Felicity (Party Mix)
4. Gazelle - Fear
5. Skinner - Still Messed Up With You
6. Camping - Von Verpassten Gelegenheiten

Side 4
1. Die Zimmermänner - Pampelmusen
2. Marina Unlimited Orchestra - Breezy (Marina’s In The Air)
3. The Pale Fishers - Southbound Excursion
4. Sarah Cracknell - Miles Apart
5. The Bathers - If Love Could Last Forever
6. Jazzateers - Up To My Eyes

Side 5
1. June & The Exit Wounds - Hey Hey Hey
2. The Kingfishers - I Know You're Down (But I Don’t Really Care)
3. The Magic Circles - Meet Me In Milan
4. Daniel Dodds - Beautiful
5. The Free Design –  McCarran Airport
6. Frank Schmiechen - Die Jungs Sind Zurück
7. Alex Chilton - I Wanna Pick You Up

Side 6
1. Oscar In Venice - Go For A Walk In The Woods
2. Peter Thomas - Multi-Kolored Mini-Skirts
3. Paul Quinn & The Independent Group - You Have Been Seen
4. Sugartown - 25 Years
5. Paul Haig - Listen To Me
6. Cowboy Mouth - Goodbye (She Quietly Says) 

Originally released in 1997—Salsoul Jam 2000 was Grandmaster Flash’s first album in nine years. A testament to his power as a DJ, the record was produced & segued together as one continuous mix in front of a live audience.

This is the first re-release of the album in two decades and it’s first repressing on vinyl since the original ‘97 release.

Salsoul Jam 2000 is a perfect introduction to the deep bench of talent on the Salsoul Records roster— featuring hits like “Let No Man Put Asunder”, “Love Sensation” & “Ten Percent”—while continuing to connect dots on the family tree from disco to hip-hop.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Intro
2. Runaway - The Salsoul Orchestra
3. Hit And Run - Loleatta Holloway
4. High - Skyy
5. Love Thang - First Choice
6. Spring Rain - Silvetti
SIDE B
1. Dr. Love – First Choice
2. Checking You Out - Aurra
3. Make Up Your Minda - Aurra
4. I Got My Mind Made Up (You Can Get It Girl) - Instant Funk
5. Just The Right Size - The Salsoul Orchestra
SIDE C
1. My Love Is Free - Double Exposure
2. Ooh I Love It (Love Break) - The Salsoul Orchestra
3. Let’s Celebrate – Skyy
4. I Call Me - Skyy
5. Slap Slap Lickedy Lap - Instant Funk
SIDE D
1. Let No Man Put Asunder - First Choice
2. Love Sensation - Loleatta Holloway
3. Here’s To You - Skyy
1. Ten Percent - Double Exposure

This is a compilation CD taken from the DVD of the same name and features the bands, the Locust, the Rapture (this years hottest!), Black Heart Procession, Mens Recovery Project, Tristeza, and Sea Of Tombs.

“GREASE” - THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK FROM THE MOTION PICTURE celebrates its 40th anniversary with a very special vinyl release over two 180g LPs.

Mastered from the original tapes and cut at Half-Speed for a superior sound - tracks such as the Academy Award Nominated ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ and All Time Top 20 Best Selling Singles ‘You’re The One That I Want’ and ‘Summer Nights’ will once again be available in vinyl format along with the original artwork not fully replicated since released 40 years ago.

Comes with a download voucher.

A selection of highlights from the All Saints label, including Brian Eno, John Cale, Harold Budd, Jon Hassell, Roedelius, John Paul Jones and Laraaji, alongside specially commissioned interpretations by contemporary artists including Bee Mask, patten, Sun Araw, Hieroglyphic Being and James Blackshaw.

29 track double disc compilation featuring sleevenotes by Mark Prendergast, author of ‘The Ambient Century’. CD1 is an introduction to the some of the original highlights recorded for the label over the years, whilst CD2 draws the dots between the innovations of the All Saints artists and a younger generation of experimental artists working in a sympathetic idiom.

'Greensleeves Gold' is the ultimate Greensleeves selection -Ten monster
hits loaded up with chart number ones &the biggest stars with their biggest hits Launched in 1977, the iconic London reggae label is celebrating 45 years of being in the business of being the businessThis is where it began - Well Forward!

TRACK LISTING

1. Where Is Jah - Reggae Reguar
2. Chant To Jah - Dr Alimantado
3. War - Wailing Souls & Ranking Trevor
4. Cassava Piece (79 Style) - Augustus Pablo
5. Fally Ranking - Johnny Osbourne
6. Gunman - Michael Prophet
7. Anotherone Bites
8. The Dust - Clint Eastwood & General Saint
9. Wa-Do-Dem - Eek-A-Mouse
10. Look Youthman - Barrington Levy
11. Zungguzungguguzungguzeng - Yellowman

Following on from the success of ‘Greg Belson’s Divine Disco’ series Greg Belson and Cultures of Soul team up again to explore the world of Gospel Funk. Belson is one of the world's leading collectors and DJs of gospel music. You hold in your hands a collection of some of the rarest Gospel funk records from Belson’s amazing collection featuring everything from the laid back breakbeat laced “I Don’t Want to Be Alone" by Allen Gauff Jr to the high octane and socially-on-point take of the Gospel classic ‘This Little Light Of Mine’ by the Gospel Ambassadors to drum break funk of the Wearyland Singers ‘If You See Me Doing Wrong” to the sublime soulfulness of Zella Jackson’s “Days Are Just Like People." Without a doubt though, all of the artists included in this compilation, believed in themselves, the message, and the direction of the Gospel Funk intensity you hear within these grooves. Gettin’ on the Good Foot for God? Listen and decide for yourselves!

TRACK LISTING

A1. The Chariettes Gospel Singers - Nobody But Jesus
A2. Allen Gauff Jr - I Don't Want To Be Alone
A3. The Christian Harmonizers - Troubles Of The World
A4. The Wearyland Singers - If You See Me Doing Wrong
A5. Gospel Travelers - Jesus Is Watching You
A6. Pearl Farano And The High Lites Of Joy - Who's Your Boss
B1. Gospel Ambassadors - This Little Light Of Mine
B2. Vocal Aires - Save A Seat For Me
B3. Birmingham Travelers - Call Me Answer (feat. Henry Burton)
B4. Zella Jackson - Days Are Just Like People
B5. The Original Christian Harmonizers - Blackman Keep Doing Your Thing
B6. Preacherman Isadore Womack - I’ve Got Power In My Mind 

Although gospel and disco music seem like polar opposites—one is secular while the other has embraced a hedonistic culture—the marriage of the two genres has birthed the uplifting spirituality and dance floor thump found in gospel disco. By the mid-'70s many established and independent gospel artists started creating records with a tight four-on-the-floor beat that touched both churchgoers as well as patrons of the drug-fueled establishments of the '70s. Cultures of Soul Records is proud to present the second installment of Greg Belson's Divine Disco. Belson is one of the world's leading authorities on the funky gospel sound; for this collection he dug deep into his crates to undercover the rarest independent and private press gospel disco records ever recorded. Greg Belson's Divine Disco sound is one that's been heard around the world from his DJ appearances at Glastonbury's NYC Donwlow stage to LA's Funky Sole to soul nights across Europe. Many tracks are under the radar or recently discovered such as Harrison Jones - On that Other Shore, Converters, I've Been Converted and the super limited self-released 45 by Mr Jesse R. McGuire – Jesus Is On the Mainline. Only 50 copies were ever pressed. This volume even includes gospel disco from the UK with Paradise's brilliant "Keep the Fire." This compilation also includes remixes and edits by Steve Cobby (who was a member of Fila Brazillia) and the Divine Situation production duo of Greg Belson and Paulo Fulci. 

TRACK LISTING

Converters - I've Been Converted
Harrison Jones - On That Other Shore
Wisdom – Change
Johnson Family Gospel Singers – Imitations
Calvin B. Rhone - I Believe
Psalms - Praise The Lord
Mr. Jesse R. McGuire – Jesus Is On The Mainline
Paradise - Keep The Fire
Wisdom - Let The Lord Come In Your Life
Prophecy - Take It To The Streets
New Creation - Ain't No Right Way To Do Wrong
Calvin B. Rhone - That's How Much He Loves You 
Harrison Jones & The Voices Of Harmony – On That Other Shore 
Mr Jesse R. McGuire – Jesus Is On The Mainline (Steve Cobby Remix)

Remixes of Verraco's debut album "Grial" featuring Chevel, Stenny, Konx-om-Pax and Mari Herzer. A futureproof smattering of hi-tek breaks, IDM and braindance electronica, modern day advancements in bass production, beat manipulation and sheer sonic prowess are displayed perfectly across the EP. It's almost like they're showing off what's capable with the right approach and the right equipment.

Sitting nicely alongside the Phillip Jondo on Dekmental this week, and the INDEX record by Notte Infinita, it's an exciting time for lovers of precision bass & breaks engineering. Check!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Verraco - * (Mari Herzer Remix)
A2. Verraco - NRG Remains (Chevel Remix)
B1. Verraco - +Decodification__ (Stenny Remix)
B2. Verraco - Abya Yala (Konx-om-Pax Remix)

This new volume of the Diggin collection offers a selection of rare and groovy tracks ranging from Funk to Jazz Fusion and Soul

TRACK LISTING

A1. John Fitch & Associates - Romantic Attitude
A2. Charles Johnson - Good Good Lovin'
A3. Cortex - Pauvre Star
A4. Carlo Maria Cordio & Franco Vinciguerra -Quips And Cranks
A5. Calvin Davis - Train Ride To Nowhere
A6. Ultrafunk - Sting Your Jaws Part.1
B1. Maxayn - Gimme Shelter
B2. Barbara Mason - You Better Stop It
B3. The Heads Of Family - Ninety-Nine And One Half
B4. Mr Percolator - I Got A Thing For You Baby
B5. Almon Memela - The Things We Do In Soweto
B6. Pražský Big Band Milana Svobody - Počkej Na Mne

Escaping the Soviet through music is a running theme for the "Groove of ESSR" compilation. Funk Embassy returns with the second volume that includes 11 tracks from 1973-1984. Some hide meaning between lines, others offer solace on the dancefloor. It's an ongoing journey to uncover these jewels and meet their makers. Majority of the tunes will be released for the first time. The 12-inch comes with a 30-page booklet that provides background stories and quotes from the artists.

The "Groove of ESSR" project has garnered attention around the globe. From the first volume released in 2019, tracks were picked up by Gilles Peterson, Mehmet Aslan, Zag Erlat and DJ Tahira to name a few. During the production of this album, two of the most influential figures in Estonian funk and soul passed on: Marju "Maryn" Kuut (1946-2022) and Tõnu Aare (1953-2021). We dedicate this album to them.

TRACK LISTING

1. Eesti TV & Raadio Estraadiorkester - Meie Aeg (Instrumental)
2. Marju Kuut & Apelsin - Maskeraad
3. Laine - Nüüd On Mul Muusika
4. Raivo Parind & Eufoonia - Hei, Päike!
5. Jaan Kumani Instrumentaalansambel - Mind Veel Ei Ole (Instrumental Short Version)
6. Collage & Apelsin - Memme Vaev
7. Magnetic Band - Liiklus
8. Ülle Ernits & Admiral - Ma Tahan Olla Siin
9. Eesti TV & Raadio Estraadiorkester - Mälestus (Short Version)
10. Teravik - Hoia Ennast Koos
11. Els Himma - Veerev Päev
12. Pirita - On See Hea (Instrumental)

Global Underground (GU) has returned under the ownership of one of its original founders, Andy Horsfield. The label returns with GU41 Naples- James Lavelle Presents UNKLE SOUNDS. James Lavelle’s Naples Mix is set host a plethora of exclusive new UNKLE material alongside album exclusive UNKLE remixes of artists as broad as Queens of The Stone Age, Mark Lanegan Band, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Lana Del Rey, through to Naples Legends Planet Funk.

Set to the backdrop of Awesome Mixtape 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team's adventures as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill's true parentage - featuring Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel , Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper. The 14-track mix features songs by David Bowie (The Prettiest Star), The Rolling Stones (Gimme Shelter), and Paul Simon (The Obvious Child), among others.

This Deluxe edition features the entire soundtrack plus the 16-piece original score by Tyler Bates, filling (most) of the second LP. The true compendium of music from this highly regarded and immensely enjoyable duology. 

TRACK LISTING

LP1:

1. Mr. Blue Sky- Electric Light Orchestra
2. Fox On The Run- Sweet
3. Lake Shore Drive - Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah
4. The Chain- Fleetwood Mac
5. Bring It On Home To Me- Sam Cooke
6. Southern Nights- Glen Campbell

1. My Sweet Lord- George Harrison
2. Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)- Looking Glass
3. Come A Little Bit Closer- Jay And The Americans
4. Wham Bam Shang-a-Lang- Silver
5. Surrender- Cheap Trick
6. Father And Son- Yusef / Cat Stevens

LP2:

1. Flash Light- Parliament
2. Guardians Inferno- The Sneepers (Featuring - David Hasselhoff
3. Showtime, A-holes- Tyler Bates
4. Vs. The Abilisk- Tyler Bates
5. Space Chase- Tyler Bates
6. Family History- Tyler Bates
7. Groot Expectations- Tyler Bates
8. Mammalian Bodies- Tyler Bates

1. Two- Time- Galaxy Savers- Tyler Bates
2. I Know Who You Are- Tyler Bates
3. Ego- Tyler Bates
4. Kraglin And Drax- Tyler Bates
5. The Expansion- Tyler Bates
6. Mary Poppins And The Rat- Tyler Bates
7. Gods- Tyler Bates
8. Dad- Tyler Bates
9. A Total Hasselhoff- Tyler Bates
10. Guardians Of The Fricken' Galaxy

Get the Guardians of The Galaxy soundtrack on cloudy storm coloured vinyl. Featuring classic 1970’s songs from the movie including Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling,” David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream,” Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky,” Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” and more!

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Blue Swede - Hooked On A Feeling
Raspberries - Go All The Way - 24-Bit Remaster 1999
Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky
David Bowie - Moonage Daydream - Remastered 2012
Elvin Bishop - Fooled Around And Fell In Love - Album Version
The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back
Side B
10cc - I'm Not In Love
Redbone - Come And Get Your Love
The Runaways - Cherry Bomb
Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
The Five Stairsteps - O-o-h Child
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Vol. 2 orange galaxy coloured vinyl is filled with favourite tracks, deep cuts and new music to use as a playlist while saving the galaxy… again!

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky - Album Version
Sweet - Fox On The Run
Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah - Lake Shore Drive
Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
Sam Cooke - Bring It On Home To Me
Glen Campbell - Southern Nights - Remastered 2003
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord - 2009 Digital Remaster
Side B
Looking Glass - Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)
Jay & The Americans - Come A Little Bit Closer
Silver - Wham Bam Shang-a-Lang
Cheap Trick - Surrender - Album Version
Cat Stevens - Father And Son
Parliament - Flash Light - Single Version
The Sneepers Feat. David Hasselhoff - Guardians Inferno

It's time to face the music. Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own - a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful. Featuring a stellar line-up of tracks perfect for any hero saving the galaxy.

TRACK LISTING

1. "Creep" (Acoustic Version) - Performed By Radiohead
2. "Crazy On You" - Performed By Heart
3. "Since You Been Gone" - Performed By Rainbow
4. "In The Meantime" - Performed By Spacehog
5. "Reasons" - Performed By Earth, Wind And Fire
6. "Do You Realize??" - Performed By The Flaming Lips
7. "We Care A Lot" - Performed By Faith No More
8. "Koinu No Carnival" (From "Minute Waltz") - Performed By EHAMIC
9. "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" - Performed By Alice Cooper
10. "San Francisco" - Performed By The Mowgli's
11. "Poor Girl" - Performed By X
12. "This Is The Day" - Performed By The The
13. "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" - Performed By Beastie Boys
14. "Dog Days Are Over" - Performed By Florence + The Machine
15. "Badlands" - Performed By Bruce Springsteen
16. "I Will Dare" - Performed By The Replacements
17. "Come And Get Your Love" - Performed By Redbone

“Guerrilla Girls!”, Ace Records’ much-anticipated first release of 2023, takes us on a thrilling ride from punk’s mid-70s origins, via the left-field post-punk groups, jangly female combos, grunge bands and vigilante Riot Grrrls of the 80s and 90s, to the she-punk bands of recent years – a five-decade alternative to the macho hegemony of rock.

The collection highlights songs that emerged out of a dynamic underculture of female creative expression. What unites the featured artists is a healthy disregard for the way the music industry ties up its female performers into pretty, neo-liberal packages. From Patti Smith, universal mother of the punk movement, to the Bags, Bikini Kill and Skinny Girl Diet, this music is anti-A&R. Including lesser-known names such as San Francisco street punk Mary Monday and London-based experimentalists pragVec, it shows that, rather than being a few novelty bands existing on the margins, these performers represent a stronger, more three-dimensional version of the female experience.

Glorious resistance was on display in the first wave of UK female-fronted punk bands. Poly Styrene’s charged vocals on X-Ray Spex’s ‘Iama Poseur’, for instance, were a deliberate refusal to be a pretty punkette. With 15 year-old Lora Logic on saxophone, X-Ray Spex epitomised a fearless, self-defined agency that was at odds with the pastel shades and flowery, submissive Laura Ashley version of 1970s girlhood. By the early 80s, there was a hugely vibrant scene propelled by the diverse rhythms and voices of post-punk feminism. Lora Logic had left X-Ray Spex to form the interweaving textures of Essential Logic, the Mo-dettes mangled ska and off-kilter pop, and Birmingham band Au Pairs sliced political rigour into their lyrics and funky guitar work.

Some female artists took that elemental energy into pop, creating pop-punk with a twist. We’ve Got A Fuzzbox And We’re Gonna Use It!! made a statement on music technology and female power with a cheeky play on words. Their song ‘Rules And Regulations’ shows that what Guerrilla Girls do well is debunking – taking genres of popular song and turning them inside out – like the way the Pandoras and the Pussywillows would amp up the driving beat and high vocals of the 60s girl group style, and subvert it with a DIY garage element.

In its fanzine culture, use of montage and DIY music, 90s Riot Grrrl bands such as Bikini Kill and Bratmobile drew direct inspiration from 70s punk, articulated through the prism of Third Wave feminism. Too often, Riot Grrrl gigs were invaded by men intent on heckling “the enemy”. Liz Naylor, manager of British Riot Grrrl band Huggy Bear, says that their concerts became war zones. From the US grunge and Riot Grrrl scenes emerged more female instrumentalists, with bands such as L7 and Babes In Toyland proving that it was possible to recruit cutting-edge drummers, bass players and guitarists. Lori Barbero, whose relentless power drumming is a major element of Babes In Toyland, took the one instrument that has been a staple of male rock’n’roll and made it her muse.

In the 2000s a new generation of girl-punk bands drew on the Riot Grrrl underculture to form their own sound. London trio the Tuts refashioned C86, Riot Grrrl and lush dream pop on songs like the ironically titled ‘Let Go Of The Past’, while the Regrettes injected shots of ska and doo wop into their explosive West Coast pop-punk. What began with Patti Smith and 70s punk has grown into a vast, spikey infrastructure of girl music. Many take inspiration from their foremothers, like Skinny Girl Diet whose vigilante feminism and punk distortion has been championed in return by Viv Albertine of the Slits. As long as these female artists stay aware of their musical vision and what they are trying to express – in a sense, A&R themselves – the underculture will continue to grow and flower. And this “Guerrilla Girls!” compilation is a celebration of that power.

The back sleeve of the release features a scene-setting introductory essay by Lucy O’Brien (author of She Bop: The Definitive History Of Women In Popular Music). Each of the two discs come in a swanky inner bag containing a track commentary by compiler Mick Patrick (Ace Records’ long-serving champion of female artists of all persuasions) and exclusive interviews with many of the featured artists by Vim Renault and Lene Cortina (founders of the Punk Girl Diaries webzine).

TRACK LISTING

SIDE ONE
1. GLORIA: In Excelsis Deo / Gloria (Version) - Patti Smith
2. SURVIVE - The Bags
3. IAMA POSEUR - X-Ray Spex
4. I GAVE MY PUNK JACKET TO RICKIE - Mary Monday & The Bitches
5. I DIDN’T HAVE THE NERVE TO SAY NO - Blondie
6. YOU’RE A MILLION - The Raincoats
SIDE TWO
1. POPCORN BOY (WADDLE YA DO?) - Essential Logic
2. EXPERT - PragVEC
3. MY CHERRY IS IN SHERRY - Ludus
4. KRAY TWINS - Mo-Dettes
5. EARTHBEAT - The Slits
6. DAS AH RIOT - Bush Tetras
SIDE THREE
1. BITCHEN SUMMER (SPEEDWAY) - Bangles
2. SHAKEDOWN - Au Pairs
3. IT’S ABOUT TIME - The Pandoras
4. COME ON NOW - The Pussywillows
5. RULES AND REGULATIONS - We’ve Got A Fuzzbox And We’re Gonna Use It!!
6. HER JAZZ - Huggy Bear
7. BRUISE VIOLET - Babes In Toyland
SIDE FOUR
1. REBEL GIRL - Bikini Kill
2. PRETEND WE’RE DEAD - L7
3. WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU - Bratmobile
4. LET GO OF THE PAST - The Tuts
5. HOT - The Regrettes
6. SILVER SPOONS – Skinny Girl Diet

Compilers Miles Cleret (Soundway) and DJ Okapi (Afrosynth Records) present a selection of 18 rare, handpicked 1980s cuts that highlight the period that nestles in between the ‘70s (where American-influenced jazz, funk and soul bumped shoulders with local Mbaqanga) and the ‘90s when Kwaito and eventually house-music ruled the dancefloors of urban South Africa.
In 1980s black South Africa a local form of pop music evolved as the disco boom died down and slowly mutated. It was often ubiquitously described as Bubblegum - usually stripped-down and lo-fi with a predominance of synths, keyboards and drum-machines and overlaid with the kind of deeply soulful trademark vocals and harmonies that South African music is famous for. Alongside French-Caribbean Zouk this kind of music has slowly been making its way into the DJ sets of many of the most open minded selectors around the world. This compilation is in many ways a sister release to the hugely popular compilation of Nigerian boogie and disco that Soundway released in late 2016 : “Doing it In Lagos: Boogie, Pop & Disco in 1980s Nigeria”.
The album takes its name from the band Ashiko’s track of the same name Gumba Fire that features on the compilation. The term is derived from gumba gumba, the term given to the booming speakers of the old spacegram radios that broadcast music into South Africa’s townships and villages. The phrase later evolved into Gumba Fire to refer to a hot party. Put this record on and feel the heat!

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: As we seem to have reached the end of the great Afro disco excavation (I joke, I hear a new banger every two weeks), things jump forward from the disco era to the time of boogie and proto house with this mega collection of bubble gum bangers selected by Soundway and Afrosynth boss DJ Okapi. Everything on here is excellent, but Condry Ziqubu's "She's Impossible" is way in demand, and this is your only chance to get it without breaking the bank.

TRACK LISTING

LP 1:
The Survivals - My Brother
Stimela - Mind Games
Hot Soul Singers - Hlala Nami
Zoom - Wayawaya
Ashiko - Gumba Fire (Madlakadlaka) 
Monwa & Sun - Heartbeat

LP 2:
Ntombi Ndaba - Do You Trust Amajita?
The Black Five - Selallane 
Starlight - Picnicing
Zasha - Hayi Ngodlame
Joshiba - Gloria
Sabela - Africa

LP 3:
Condry Ziqubu - She’s Impossible /
General Peter Maringa - Listen To Me
Zasha - Arrow Dub
Ozila - Wola Wola

CD:
The Survivals - My Brother
Stimela - Mind Games
Hot Soul Singers - Hlala Nami
Zoom - Wayawaya
Ashiko - Gumba Fire (Madlakadlaka) 
Monwa & Sun - Heartbeat
Ntombi Ndaba - Do You Trust Amajita? 
The Black Five - Selallane
Starlight - Picnicing 
Zasha - Hayi Ngodlame
Sabela - Africa
Condry Ziqubu - She’s Impossible
General Peter Maringa - Listen To Me 
Zasha - Arrow Dub
Ozila - Wola Wola

Fourth volume in a limited edition series on Stag-O-Lee. Limited to 666 copies and packaged in a nice 10” sleeve with center hole. This is a collection of oddball country weepers, moody rockabilly, widescreen country & western and popcorn noir from the 1950s and early 60s. So turn out the lights, sit back and relax to the soundtrack from a jukebox in a ghost town... For best results: listen to after dark! 

Dark Tales Of Western Noir From A Ghost Town Jukebox. Third volume in a limited edition series on Stag-O-Lee. Limited to 666 copies and packaged in a nice 10” sleeve with center hole. This is a collection of oddball country weepers, moody rockabilly and popcorn noir from the 1950’s and early 60’s.

So turn out the lights, sit back and relax to the soundtrack from a jukebox in a ghost town... For best results: listen to after dark! Feat Ben E King, Jody Reynolds, Dorsey Burnette and 9 more. 

Sixth volume in a limited edition series on Stag-O-Lee. Limited to 666 copies and packaged in a nice 10” sleeve with centre hole. This is a collection of oddball country weepers, moody rockabilly, widescreen country & western and popcorn noir from the 1950’s and early 60’s. So turn out the lights, sit back and relax to the soundtrack from a jukebox in a ghost town... For best results: listen to after dark! 

Eighth volume in a limited edition series on Stag-O-Lee. Limited to 666 copies and packaged in a nice 10” sleeve with center hole. This is a collection of oddball country weepers, moody rockabilly, widescreen country & western and popcorn noir from the 1950’s and early 60’s. So turn out the lights, sit back and relax to the soundtrack from a jukebox in a ghost town... For best results: listen to after dark!

Feat Link Wray, Sanford Clark, Duane Eddy, Jimmy Dean, Dorsey Burnette and more...

TRACK LISTING

Bob Hood & The Rhythmaires – The Alamo
Buddy Greco – They Took John Away
Jimmy Dean – Big Bad John
Sanford Clark – Still As The Night
Duane Eddy And His Orchestra – (why Must I Die) The Girl On Death Row
Link Wray And His Raymen - The Outlaw
Don French – Lonely Saturday Night
Doodle Duncan – Death Row
Ernie Chaffin - I'm Lonesome
Jericho Brown – Lonesome Drifter
Dorsey Burnette – Midnight Train
Stan Jones – (ghost) Riders In The Sky

A taster for the these days consistently excellent Golf label, featuring two tracks each from Anberlin, The Hurt Process, Spoken, The Blueprint, October File, Beloved, Norma Jean, Underoath, Emery, and Stretch Arm Strong - yes, that's 20 tracks for a paltry four and a half quid. 22p each. I mean come on.

This collection brings together some of Hammer’s greatest music from the original soundtracks. It’s an evocative and diverse collection of themes that are just as memorable as the remarkable films they accompanied. The release showcases a selection of classic themes from the film company's varied soundtrack catalogue from composers that range from the great James Bernard to David Whitaker and spans Hammer's golden years between 1958 and 1974. Featuring notes and composer bios from Marcus Hearn, the acclaimed author of The Art of Hammer, Hammer Glamour, The Hammer Story (with Alan Barnes) and The Hammer Vault.

TRACK LISTING

1. Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter
2. Twins Of Evil
3. The Kiss Of The Vampire
4. The Mummy
5. Dracula
6. Quatermass And The Pit
7. The Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires
8. The Lost Continent
9. Dracula AD 1972
10. The Devil Rides Out
11. Countess Dracula
12. The Gorgon
13. Hands Of The Ripper
14. Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde
15. She
16. The Satanic Rites Of Dracula
17. Taste The Blood Of Dracula
18. Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell

The first volume of Glitterbeat's new series of releases: Hidden Musics.

Each Hidden Musics release will feature un-mediated "field" recordings of lesser-known global music traditions.

"Hanoi Masters: War is a Wound, Peace is Scar" is a haunting audio document recorded in the summer of 2014 by Grammy-award winning producer Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, Malawi Mouse Boys, The Good Ones). The sepia-tinged songs are sung and played live and direct by elderly Vietnamese musicians using half-forgotten traditional instruments. These musicians all have deep personal connections to the upheavals of the Vietnam War and the album's mesmerizing mood navigates the blurred line between raw beauty and muted sadness. 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War, a war these Hanoi musicians still call the "American War", the wounds and scars of that era are ever-present. "Hanoi Masters" is an album of cautious healing and an unforgettable meditation on conflict, resistance, collective memory, and the longing for what has been lost.

Future Jazzers, notorious experimentalists and outfield eccentrics stumble onto the dancefloor. In the 90s. In the UK.

From an electronic music perspective, the period 1992 to 1996 in the UK that this compilation celebrates, was one of dizzying sonic diversification.

It was also a particularly turbulent time in the UK, not only politically and economically, but also culturally too. Economic catastrophe in ‘92 was followed by widespread poverty, a cost of living crisis and countless political scandals. Meanwhile, John Major’s Tory government pandered to its political base via unpleasant, authoritarian legislation that seemingly sought to crush rave culture, alternative lifestyles, and traveller communities. The UK was not so much a ‘Happy Land’ – to quote the name of this compilation – as an angry and divided one. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Throughout, the music created by producers based across these Isles remained uniquely British, speeding up a process begun in the late 1980s through the emergence of street soul, bleep & bass and breakbeat hardcore – musical styles whose roots in multicultural inner-city communities made them distinctly different from the Black American sounds that had inspired their creators. It was here, rather than in the indie pubs of Camden, that real musical revolutions were taking place.

This deep diving selection brings together some truly adventurous and original electronic music from this period, much of it very hard to find. Major label outings connect with white label oddities with ease. Perhaps it could even be argued that many of these unearthed gems fit more easily into DJ sets in 2023 than they ever did at the time. The off-kilter swing of Richard D James’ obscure and highly sought after Strider B outing, ‘Bradley’s Robot’ is joined by further rare cuts from Cabaret Voltaire and the Black Dog, and artists as diverse as Ultramarine, Herbert, Fretless AZM, and Radioactive Lamb, amongst others.

This collection has been lovingly selected, compiled and mastered for maximum sonic playback. This very special release boasts sublime pastoral themed artwork, as well as informative and passionate liner notes by celebrated music scribe Matt Anniss (‘Join The Future’).

TRACK LISTING

A1. Cabaret Voltaire - Soul Vine (70 Billion People)
A2. Ultramarine - Happy Land (ft. Robert Wyatt)
B. Thunderhead The Word By Eden - True Romance
C1. Xeper - Carceres Ex Novum
C2. Herbert - Housewife
D1. Liquid Son - Big Decision
D2. Syzgzy - Meditation

"Happy Meal Volume 3" is My Records newest compilation and features unreleased songs from Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, Lagwagon, Bright Life, Bad Astronaut and many others.

14 specially recorded songs from 1989 inspired by the BBC TV series "Hard Cash". All the songs revolve around the exploitation of the worker or lack of work or how hard certain types of work can be and how difficult it can be to earn a crust. It features the cream of the British folk scene of the day - Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson, the Watersons, June Tabor, Ron Kavana and others with songs as relevant today as they were a decade ago.

Terror Danjah presents ‘Hardwired’, a showcase and a statement of intent for his Hardrive label in 2013 and beyond. Hardrive was originally built back in 2007 to mentor young MC talents that went onto mainstream stardom like Wretch 32, Chipmunk, P Money and more. The label reformed back in 2010 to provide an outlet for the emerging production talents of D.O.K, Champion and P Jam. ‘Hardwired’ highlights their best material so far, tracks that have been getting battered at the legendary collaboration club night they put together with Butterz in London at Cable. The focus on the club runs throughout, opening with a previously unavailable version of Terror Danjah's 'Full Attention' which was a summer radio smash back in 2011. Champion has gone from strength to strength since debuting with the 'Motherboard EP' back in 2011, with 'Crystal Meth' on Butterz and three releases on his own Formula label, including the anthem 'Lighter'. With a release on Shy FX's Digital Soundboy around the corner, a lot of new ears will pick up on his signature style in the next few months. D.O.K has released two singles on Hyperdub and has been producing for the emerging young MC talent in the grime scene. ‘Hardwired’ offers a rare opportunity for solo D.O.K material to be let out of his possession, as he notoriously retains most of his music for his DJ sets. P Jam released the 'Anger Management EP' on Hardrive and 'Arizona Skyz' is one of the highlights of the album, which also featured on Elijah & Skilliam’s ‘Rinse 17’ compilation. Along with his crew, Terror has brought in a host of top talent to share the disc with. Falty DL, Bok Bok and Royal-T contribute fresh remixes to the Hardrive catalogue. A surprise inclusion is a rare collaborative effort between Zed Bias and Terror Danjah, 'Iceberg History', which was premiered by Benji B and has been sought after ever since. Kode 9’s 'Ice' another rare treat for the enthusiasts. Swindle provides ‘Funktion’, linking back up with Terror Danjah for the first time since he remixed him on Planet Mu. Joker and Terror’s collaboration 'Gully Goon Estate' also features, throwing back to a time when grime and dubstep were as closely sonically linked as ever.

TRACK LISTING

01. Terror Danjah & Ruby Lee Ryder - Full Attention (Royal T Remix)
02. Joker & Terror Danjah - Gully Goon Estate
03. Champion - Loose Control
04. P Jam - Arizona Skyz VIP
05. Swindle – Funktion
06. DOK – Cardio
07. Teddy Music – Sambucca
08. D.O.K. – Sidedok
09. Zed Bias & Terror Danjah - Iceberg History
10. Kode9 – Ice
11. Champion – Yardman
12. P Jam – Insomnia
13. Mz Bratt - Selecta (Bok Bok Remix)
14. Swifta Beater – Move
15. DOK - Tomorrow Never Dies
16. Lex Envy - Hard Candy
17. Terror Danjah - Zumpi Huntah (FaltyDL Refunk)

HARMONY IN MY HEAD is another of Cherry Red’s celebrations of a bygone era – this time, the boom in Power Pop and New Wave which followed the Punk explosion in 1977. This triple-CD box set spins off the success of the 4-CD compilation Action Time Vision (2016), which documented Punk on independent labels. New Wave was a term coined in 1977 to describe a clutch of new artists whose music shared much of the energy of punk, but boasted a more sophisticated level of musicianship and a heavier reliance on traditional pop melodies. Although the term had such a wide definition in the States that it was quickly rendered almost meaningless, it was more strictly applied in the UK, with the radio-friendly likes of Elvis Costello and Squeeze scoring numerous hits and influencing younger bands to the extent that, by the early Eighties, the New Wave itself had become Old Wave.

The British scene’s reiteration of the appeal of a more traditional pop approach saw several attempts to provide an alternative to the unsatisfactory ‘New Wave’ epithet. Nick Lowe coined the phrase “pure pop for now people” to describe his approach, early brand leaders The Pleasers described their sound as Thamesbeat (a literal update of Merseybeat), while a handful of bands (including The Monos! and The Monochrome Set) played regularly at a London club that marketed itself as Newbeat, “a reaction to punk”. But none of these terms caught on, and instead the genre became known as Power Pop. Once again, there was a significant difference between the UK and US models, but Britain had its own Power Pop scene that slowly mutated into the Mod Revival. Many of the Mod bands drew heavily on melodic 60s records (it was, after all, The Who’s Pete Townshend who had coined the term ‘Power Pop’ back in 1967), although by late 1981 that scene had in turn morphed (in London, at least) into the short-lived New Psychedelia movement.

HARMONY IN MY HEAD includes many of the New Wave/Power Pop scene’s biggest hitters alongside the more melodic Punk bands. Name acts include Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Buzzcocks, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Nick Lowe, The Jags and Wreckless Eric, who are joined by other less successful but nevertheless key players (The Records, The Freshies, The Flysetc) as well as a host of rare 45s on tiny labels, many of which have never been on CD before. The deluxe clamshell package includes a weighty booklet full of illustrations, with a 12,000-word sleeve-note incorporating band-by-band biographies by compiler David Wells.

TRACK LISTING

Disc: 1
1. HARMONY IN MY HEAD - The Buzzcocks
2. YOU BELONG TO ME - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3. TIME GOES BY SO SLOW - The Distractions
4. TAKE ME I'M YOURS - Squeeze
5. TROUBLE WITH LOVE - Any Trouble
6. RICH KIDS - Rich Kids
7. TEENARAMA - The Records
8. BORN A WOMAN - Nick Lowe
9. SUFFICE TO SAY - Yachts
10. FIRST TIME - The Boys
11. HE'S FRANK (SLIGHT RETURN) - The Monochrome Set
12. SARAH SMILES - Bram Tchaikovsky
13. YOU KNOW WHAT I'M THINKING GIRL - The Pleasers
14. DOES STEPHANIE KNOW - Squire
15. HOWARD HUGHES - The Tights
16. SHE'S GONNA BREAK YOUR HEART - Salford Jets
17. TEENAGE CRUSH - The Trend
18. STRIKE TALKS - The Donkeys
19. COULDN'T BELIEVE A WORD - The 45's
20. THIS IS THE WAY â| OK - Bleeding Hearts
21. (YOU'RE GONNA) LOSE THAT GIRL - The Name
22. CAN'T SEE - The Drones
23. TURN THE LIGHTS OUT - Venigmas
24. CRAZY TODAY - UXB
25. (I WISH IT COULD BE) 1965 AGAIN - The Barracudas

Disc: 2
1. DO ANYTHING YOU WANNA DO - Eddie & The Hot Rods
2. I'VE GOT A HEART - The Realists
3. THE REAL ME - Radio Stars
4. IRENE - The Photos
5. I'M SORRY - Straight Eight
6. WEST ONE (SHINE ON ME) - Ruts
7. BILLY - The Circles
8. BROKEN DOLL - Wreckless Eric
9. I NEVER WAS A BEACH BOY - The Jags
10. BIFF! BANG! POW! - The Times
11. LET'S TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER - The Radiators
12. JILLY - The Piranhas
13. EVERYDAY, EVERYWAY - Really 3rds
14. HOW ABOUT ME AND YOU - The Carpettes
15. UFO - The Monos!
16. 9 O'CLOCK - Snips
17. SHATTERED BY IT ALL - TV21
18. HEY BABY - Disguise
19. SOME BOYS - Going Red
20. DON'T WANT YOU BACK - The Letters
21. RUBY TOOT - The Vandells
22. WHILE I'M STILL YOUNG - The Autographs
23. WASTING TIME - Strangeways
24. CURTAINS FOR YOU - The Accidents
25. DOWN AT THE ZOO - Those Naughty Lumps
26. 24 HOURS - The Chefs

Disc: 3
1. LOOK AT THE OUTSIDE - Chelsea
2. PLAIN JANE - New Hearts
3. CRAZY WEEKEND - Staa Marx
4. STRAIGHT LINES - New Musik
5. COMMON TRUTH - Amazorblades
6. YOU'RE SO FUNNY - Fast Cars
7. SHE'S SO GOOD LOOKING - Knox
8. ANGRY WITH MYSELF - The Smirks
9. MY BUSINESS - Eater
10. NOW THAT IT'S OVER - The Users
11. SCIENCE FICTION (BABY YOU'RE SO) - The Dodgems
12. LADY OF THE AFTERNOON - Shooter
13. NO MONEY - The Freshies
14. NAME DROPPING - The Flys
15. OUT OF PLACE - The Outsiders
16. MAGIC ROUNDABOUT - The Stiffs
17. SOMETHING TO TELL YOU - The Wasps
18. (I CAN'T) PUT MY FINGER ON YOU - The Amber Squad
19. MR. SAD - The Thought Police
20. SONS OF SURVIVAL - Doctors Of Madness
21. HAPPY SONG - The Nips
22. WAIT A MINUTE - The Cherry Boys
23. HIGH RISE - The Trainspotters
24. DRUMMER MAN - Tonight
25. HEARTS IN HER EYES - The Searchers

Cheap price sampler from Sorted Records. 18 tracks in total, from the likes of Discordia, Prolapse, The Freek Unit, Fish From Tahiti.....

Icelandic compilation of electronica, beats, breaks, electro & funky shit. Inc. Bjork, J-walk, Mike Dred etc.

Heavenly was all but founded on the art of the remix; the label’s sadly departed friend Andrew Weatherall remixed the first ever release, and the label has built up an immense catalogue in the intervening years that demonstrates all that is good about the art form and on Friday 10th December 2021 the label release Heavenly Remixes Vol 1 & 2, a brace of albums documenting this long history.

A label forged in the white-hot heat of post-acid house Britain, these Heavenly remixes are perfectly weighted with respect and irreverence, the remixer in each case carefully chosen to add heft to the song - the tracks across the 2 albums are curated, remixed and delivered with love (and a teensy bit of impertinence) and are a glimpse into the catalogue of one the UK’s finest independent labels.

There may well be no rhyme, nor reason, to how these compilations have been put together, beyond the fact that they are assembled with love, an innate understanding of the power of great pop music, and a skilled marriage of song and remixer.

There is no sense of order to Volume 1. You’ll find a smattering of older tracks: album openers Saint Etienne are taken on a Poseidon Adventure with Underworld, who inject ‘Cool Kids of Death’ with typically manic energy. Elsewhere, ’90s Brum duo Mother add dancefloor pzazz to Espiritu’s innate glamour on an all-funked-up reworking of ‘Los Americanos’, and Mark Lusardi’s remix of Moonflowers’ ‘Get Higher’ is an early Heavenly classic.

On ‘Terracotta Warrior’, a perfect, psyched-out, Mancunian union is created betwixt Jimi Goodwin and Andy Votel, whilst Goodwin cohort Simon Aldred, in his Cherry Ghost guise, receives a proper Tamla-Motowning from Richard Norris (aka Time & Space Machine) on an inspired cover of Cece Peniston’s glam-house hit, ‘Finally’.

There are several of Heavenly’s current darlings there too. One of the most exciting young British prospects, Yorkshire’s Working Men’s Club, effectively remix themselves, as Minsky Rock — WMC’s Syd Minsky-Sargeant and producer Ross Orton — cleave ‘X’ into a riotous industrial racket. Jagwar Ma’s Jono Ma takes the Kraftwerkian leitmotif on ‘Automatic’ and drives the Australian jazz-funkers Mildlife down an electro-convulsive psychedelic tunnel (thankfully no-one was harmed during the making of this remix); Sheffield’s DJ Parrot and Jarvis Cocker deliver one of the outstanding remixes of 2018, turning Baxter Dury’s ‘Miami’ into a lovelorn minor opera; and, making its first appearance on vinyl, David Holmes’ Unloved project is taken on a panoramic Welsh waltz thanks to Gwenno.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The first volume of the wonderful Heavenly Remixes selection, featuring a number of classics like Baxter Dury's 'Miami' and Mattiel's brilliant 'Guns Of Brixton' getting the rework treatment from some of the dance community's hottest talent.

TRACK LISTING

1. Saint Etienne – Cool Kids Of Death (Underworld Mix)
2. Unloved – Why Not (Gwenno Remix)
3. Nots – Reactor (Mikey Remix)
4. Mildlife – Automatic (Jono Ma Ascend Mix)
5. Espiritu – Los Americanos (Mother Mix)
6. Confidence Man – Out The Window (Greg & Che Wilson Mix)
7. Mattiel – Guns Of Brixton (Rub-A-Dub Style Pt.2)
8. Baxter Dury – Miami (Parrot And Cocker Too Remix)
9. Jimi Goodwin – Terracotta Warrior (Andy Votel’s Spazio 1975 De-mix)
10. Working Mens Club – X (Minsky Rock Remix)
11. Moonflowers – Get Higher (Get Dubber Mix)
12. Raf Rundell – Monsterpiece (Harvey Sutherland Remix)
13. Cherry Ghost – Finally (Time & Space Machine Edit)

Heavenly Recordings announce ‘Heavenly remixes Vol 1 & 2’, a pair of albums documenting some of the label’s finest remixes over their 30+ year history.

Heavenly was all but founded on the art of the remix; the label’s sadly departed friend Andrew Weatherall remixed the first ever release, and the label has built up an immense catalogue in the intervening years that demonstrates all that is good about the art form. ‘Heavenly remixes 1 & 2’ document this long history.

A label forged in the white-hot heat of post-acid house Britain, these Heavenly remixes are perfectly weighted with respect and irreverence, the remixer in each case carefully chosen to add heft to the song - the tracks across the two albums are curated, remixed and delivered with love (and a teensy bit of impertinence) and are a glimpse into the catalogue of one the UK’s finest independent labels.

There may well be no rhyme, nor reason, to how these compilations have been put together, beyond the fact that they are assembled with love, an innate understanding of the power of great pop music, and a skilled marriage of song and remixer.

There is no sense of order to volume 1. You’ll find a smattering of older tracks: album openers Saint Etienne are taken on a Poseidon Adventure with Underworld, who inject ‘Cool Kids of Death’ with typically manic energy. Elsewhere, 1990s Brum duo Mother add dancefloor pzazz to Espiritu’s innate glamour on an allfunked- up reworking of ‘Los Americanos’, and Mark Lusardi’s remix of Moonflowers’ ‘Get Higher’ is an early Heavenly classic.

On ‘Terracotta Warrior’, a perfect, psyched-out, Mancunian union is created betwixt Jimi Goodwin and Andy Votel, whilst Goodwin cohort Simon Aldred, in his Cherry Ghost guise, receives a proper Tamla-Motowning from Richard Norris (aka Time & Space Machine) on an inspired cover of Cece Peniston’s glam-house hit, ‘Finally’.

There are several of Heavenly’s current darlings there too. One of the most exciting young British prospects, Yorkshire’s Working Men’s Club, effectively remix themselves, as Minsky Rock - WMC’s Syd Minsky- Sargeant and producer Ross Orton - cleave ‘X’ into a riotous industrial racket. Jagwar Ma’s Jono Ma takes the Kraftwerkian leitmotif on ‘Automatic’ and drives the Australian jazz-funkers Mildlife down an electroconvulsive psychedelic tunnel; Sheffield’s DJ Parrot and Jarvis Cocker deliver one of the outstanding remixes of 2018, turning Baxter Dury’s ‘Miami’ into a lovelorn minor opera; and, making its first appearance on vinyl, David Holmes’ Unloved project is taken on a panoramic Welsh waltz thanks to Gwenno.

Though not purposely themed, beyond being judiciously chosen as the catalogue’s finest gems, there’s a tiny hint of psychedelia about volume 2 that is hard to ignore. Firstly, there are the acid contributions from Gabe Gurnsey, who knows his way around a coruscating bassline, and from Graham Massey, whose impeccable credentials in 808 State are brought to bear on ‘Valleys’, by Working Men’s Club (acid house being modern psychedelia, whether the rock press approves or not).

Jono Ma, meanwhile, flips Night Beats’ amazing ‘Sunday Mourning’ into ‘Warm Leatherette’ on benzos, creating a disorienting glimpse of a dystopian Sunday that most definitely doesn’t include a genteel read of the papers and a nice cup of tea. On the other side of the miasma is Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve’s redemptive re-interpretation of M. Craft’s ‘Chemical Trails’, which, alongside Boy Azooga’s ‘Face Behind Her Cigarette’ (Mikey Young remix), Gwenno’s ‘Chwlydro’ (R. Seiliog remix) and and Katy J. Pearson’s ‘Take Back The Radio’ (Flying Mojito Bros Refrito Dub), is issued on vinyl for the very first time.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: this CD version of Heavenly's remixes includes both volumes of this stylistically diverse and brilliantly inventive selection of remixes from talented folk inc. Gwenno, Votel, Lindstrom and Gabe Gurnsey. What a collection.

TRACK LISTING

Heavenly Remixes 1
Saint Etienne - Cool Kids Of Death (Underworld Mix)
Unloved - Why Not (Gwenno Remix)
Nots - Reactor (Mikey Remix)
Mildlife - Automatic (Jono Ma Ascend Mix)
Espiritu - Los Americanos (Mother Mix)
Confidence Man - Out The Window (Greg & Che Wilson Mix)
Mattiel - Guns Of Brixton (Rub-A-Dub Style Pt.2)
Baxter Dury - Miami (Parrot And Cocker Too Remix)
Jimi Goodwin - Terracotta Warrior (Andy Votel’s Spazio 1975 De-mix)
Working Mens Club - X (Minsky Rock Remix)
Moonflowers - Get Higher (Get Dubber Mix)
Raf Rundell - Monsterpiece (Harvey Sutherland Remix)
Cherry Ghost - Finally (Time & Space Machine Edit)

Heavenly Remixes 2
Halo Maud - Des Bras (Andy Votel Remix)
Boy Azooga - Face Behind Her Cigarette (Mikey Young Remix)
Doves - Jetstream (Lindstrom Remix)
The Orielles - It Makes You Forget (Dicky Trisco & Pete Herbert Remix)
Katy J Pearson - Take Back The Radio (Flying Mojito Bros Mojito Refrito)
Confidence Man - First Class Bitch (Raf Rundell’s Party Nails Remix)
Audiobooks - Friends In The Bubble Bath (Gabe Gurnsey Gamma Ray Remix)
Gwenno - Chwlydro (R.Seilog Remix)
Working Men’s Club - Valleys (Graham Massey Acid Mix)
Saint Etienne - Filthy (Monkey Mafia Mix)
Night Beats - Sunday Morning (Jono Ma Remix)
M Craft - Chemical Trails (Beyond The Wizards Sleeve Re-animation)

Heavenly was all but founded on the art of the remix; the label’s sadly departed friend Andrew Weatherall remixed the first ever release, and the label has built up an immense catalogue in the intervening years that demonstrates all that is good about the art form and on Friday 10th December 2021 the label release Heavenly Remixes Vol 1 & 2, a brace of albums documenting this long history.

A label forged in the white-hot heat of post-acid house Britain, these Heavenly remixes are perfectly weighted with respect and irreverence, the remixer in each case carefully chosen to add heft to the song - the tracks across the 2 albums are curated, remixed and delivered with love (and a teensy bit of impertinence) and are a glimpse into the catalogue of one the UK’s finest independent labels.

There may well be no rhyme, nor reason, to how these compilations have been put together, beyond the fact that they are assembled with love, an innate understanding of the power of great pop music, and a skilled marriage of song and remixer.

Though not purposely themed, beyond being judiciously chosen as the catalogue’s finest gems, there’s a tiny hint of psychedelia about Volume 2 that is hard to ignore. Firstly, there are the acid contributions from Gabe Gurnsey, who knows his way around a coruscating bassline, and from Graham Massey, whose impeccable credentials in 808 State are brought to bear on ‘Valleys’, by young turks Working Men’s Club (acid house being modern psychedelia, whether the rock press approves or not).

Jono Ma, meanwhile, flips Night Beats’ amazing ‘Sunday Mourning’ into ‘Warm Leatherette’ on benzos, creating a disorienting glimpse of a dystopian Sunday that most definitely doesn’t include a genteel read of the papers and a nice cup of tea. On the other side of the miasma is Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve’s redemptive re-interpretation of M. Craft’s ‘Chemical Trails’, which, alongside Boy Azooga’s ‘Face Behind Her Cigarette’ (Mikey Young remix), Gwenno’s ‘Chwlydro’ (R. Seiliog remix) and and Katy J. Pearson’s ‘Take Back The Radio’ (Flying Mojito Bros Refrito Dub), is issued on vinyl for the very first time.

TRACK LISTING

1. Halo Maud – Des Bras (Andy Votel Remix)
2. Boy Azooga – Face Behind Her Cigarette (Mikey Young Remix)
3. Doves – Jetstream (Lindstrom Remix)
4. The Orielles – It Makes You Forget (Dicky Trisco & Pete Herbert Remix)
5. Katy J Pearson – Take Back The Radio (Flying Mojito Bros Mojito Refrito)
6. Confidence Man – First Class Bitch (Raf Rundell’s Party Nails Remix)
7. Audiobooks – Friends In The Bubble Bath (Gabe Gurnsey Gamma Ray Remix)
8. Gwenno – Chwlydro (R.Seilog Remix)
9. Working Men’s Club – Valleys (Graham Massey Acid Mix)
10. Saint Etienne – Filthy (Monkey Mafia Mix)
11. Night Beats – Sunday Morning (Jono Ma Remix)
12. M Craft – Chemical Trails (Beyond The Wizards Sleeve Re-animation)

Andrew Weatherall was Heavenly’s first true friend. By the time the label was born in the spring of 1990, he was already an inspirational sounding board, as well as a fellow traveller on the bright new road that stretched out ahead thanks to the massive cultural liberation of acid house. Back then, every energised meeting could be turned into a fortuitous opportunity in this burgeoning new underground economy. Bored of your job? Start playing records out! Start a club night! Get in the studio! Start a label! Just don’t stand still. Andrew would follow two of those commandments for the rest of his life, and he’d have a hand in the others at various points as well.

At the start of things, Andrew was a regular visitor to Capersville — the pre-Heavenly press office run by friend and label founder Jeff Barrett (soon to become Andrew’s manager). It was there that he famously picked up a copy of Primal Scream’s unloved second album and singled out a track that would later become Loaded, after being given an instruction to ‘fucking destroy’ it by the band’s Andrew Innes; it was there too that the idea to remix the first Heavenly release came about.

Andrew’s mix of that first Heavenly record is very much a product of its time. The World According To Sly and Lovechild is a swirling bass punch topped with a hypnotic marimba line and the kind of ecstatic diva vocal that you’d hear coming out of the speakers all night at post-Shoom clubs like Yellow Book. His take on the label’s next release — Saint Etienne’s Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix of Two Halves) — would set the template for his next three decades of audio exploration. A drawn-out imperial dub, the track builds and builds with a moody intensity (partly down to the melodica played by Weather Prophets legend Pete Astor) that’s far more Kingston JA at dusk than Kingston-upon-Thames at kicking out time. It’s both a dancefloor record to get lost in and headphone psychedelia of the highest order — a perfect example of what he did better than anyone else.

Between 1990 and his untimely death in 2020, Andrew fed more Heavenly bands through the mixing desk than those of any other label. Consistently, he returned visionary music to the office, often in person for (at least) one ceremonial playback — a ritual that would involve the volume cranked up high and Andrew rocking back on his heels, eyes closed, lost in the alchemy of it all.

Each time, he would warp and twist originals into beautiful new shapes — elasticated club records that might evoke Detroit techno one second and Throbbing Gristle the next, before wheel-spinning into something akin to The Fall produced by King Tubby.

Andrew’s studio adventures would always be guided by that early advice to fucking destroy the source material. It’s why he was the first name that came up when remixes were discussed; the first number on the speed dial. Listening back to these remixes now — to thirty years of glorious outsider sounds — it’s more obvious than ever that Heavenly was blessed to have a friend like Andrew Weatherall. 

TRACK LISTING

Sly & Lovechild - The World According To Sly & Lovechild (Soul Of Europe Mix)
Mark Lanegan - Beehive (Andrew Weatherall Dub)
Flowered Up - Weekender (Audrey Is A Little Bit More Partial Mix)
Gwenno - Chwyldro (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix Of Two Halves)
Confidence Man - Bubblegum (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
Espiritu - Conquistador (Sabres Of Paradise No. 3 Mix)
The Orielles - Sugar Tastes Like Salt (Andrew Weatherall Tastes Like Dub Mix Pt.1 - Live Bass)
Audiobooks Feat. Andrew Weatherall - Dance Your Life Away (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
Saint Etienne - Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi) (Two Lone Swordsmen Dub)
Doves - Compulsion (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
TOY - Dead & Gone (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
Confidence Man & Andrew Weatherall - Out The Window (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
LCMDF - Gandhi (Andy Weatherall Remix II)
Espiritu - Bonita Mañana (Sabres Of Paradise Remix)
Unloved - Devils Angels (Andrew Weatherall Remix)

Andrew Weatherall was Heavenly’s first true friend. By the time the label was born in the spring of 1990, he was already an inspirational sounding board, as well as a fellow traveller on the bright new road that stretched out ahead thanks to the massive cultural liberation of acid house. Back then, every energised meeting could be turned into a fortuitous opportunity in this burgeoning new underground economy. Bored of your job? Start playing records out! Start a club night! Get in the studio! Start a label! Just don’t stand still. Andrew would follow two of those commandments for the rest of his life, and he’d have a hand in the others at various points as well.

At the start of things, Andrew was a regular visitor to Capersville — the pre-Heavenly press office run by friend and label founder Jeff Barrett (soon to become Andrew’s manager). It was there that he famously picked up a copy of Primal Scream’s unloved second album and singled out a track that would later become Loaded, after being given an instruction to ‘fucking destroy’ it by the band’s Andrew Innes; it was there too that the idea to remix the first Heavenly release came about.

Andrew’s mix of that first Heavenly record is very much a product of its time. The World According To Sly and Lovechild is a swirling bass punch topped with a hypnotic marimba line and the kind of ecstatic diva vocal that you’d hear coming out of the speakers all night at post-Shoom clubs like Yellow Book. His take on the label’s next release — Saint Etienne’s Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix of Two Halves) — would set the template for his next three decades of audio exploration. A drawn-out imperial dub, the track builds and builds with a moody intensity (partly down to the melodica played by Weather Prophets legend Pete Astor) that’s far more Kingston JA at dusk than Kingston-upon-Thames at kicking out time. It’s both a dancefloor record to get lost in and headphone psychedelia of the highest order — a perfect example of what he did better than anyone else.

Between 1990 and his untimely death in 2020, Andrew fed more Heavenly bands through the mixing desk than those of any other label. Consistently, he returned visionary music to the office, often in person for (at least) one ceremonial playback — a ritual that would involve the volume cranked up high and Andrew rocking back on his heels, eyes closed, lost in the alchemy of it all.

Each time, he would warp and twist originals into beautiful new shapes — elasticated club records that might evoke Detroit techno one second and Throbbing Gristle the next, before wheel-spinning into something akin to The Fall produced by King Tubby.

Andrew’s studio adventures would always be guided by that early advice to fucking destroy the source material. It’s why he was the first name that came up when remixes were discussed; the first number on the speed dial. Listening back to these remixes now — to thirty years of glorious outsider sounds — it’s more obvious than ever that Heavenly was blessed to have a friend like Andrew Weatherall. 

TRACK LISTING

Audiobooks Feat. Andrew Weatherall - Dance Your Life Away (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
Saint Etienne - Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi) (Two Lone Swordsmen Dub)
Doves - Compulsion (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
TOY - Dead & Gone (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
Confidence Man & Andrew Weatherall - Out The Window (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
LCMDF - Gandhi (Andy Weatherall Remix II)
Espiritu - Bonita Mañana (Sabres Of Paradise Remix)
Unloved - Devils Angels (Andrew Weatherall Remix)

There’s been a lot written about how the Heavenly office is almost a living thing. Time and legend have anthropomorphised it into a towering character in the label’s rich history. Although the five-days-a-week workspace is ostensibly just four sturdy walls, a bunch of furniture, a vivid explosion of framed artwork charting a unique and particular journey through the history of music, multiple stacks of records, a bulging fridge and an overworked stereo, the Heavenly office has ended up becoming less a someplace and almost a someone.

The spirit of the office is a restless beast, yet it’s been loyal enough to have faithfully moved (almost) every time the label has relocated. And it’s a spirit that’s been emboldened whenever it has been based in Soho. Whatever the ley lines are that run under that square mile of central London, they seem to electrify the Heavenly office like a National Grid of vibes and volume; strange attractors to the ghosts of Soho’s rock & rollers, ravers, reprobates and roués alike who add a spectral joie de vivre to proceedings.

While the Heavenly office itself might be notorious, it’s the music that fills it up in the afterhours that truly gives the place life. While the open door has long offered something akin to a welcoming hug for both regular and first time visitors, it’s the always cranked up sound system that’s the equivalent of a mate leaning into you, guiding you through the peaks and troughs of the music.

As with any good party, the office soundtrack evolves track by track like selections from an overheating rebellious jukebox. Any average Monday night (the weekend always starts on Monday, right?) might take in music from the label’s artists that’s just pinged the inbox, freshly minted demos that have piqued curiosity, dusty old 7”s by long gone heroes or white label 12”s with minimal info scratched onto them in felt tip pen. And playing between those tracks, a bunch of secret sounds from the Heavenly vaults; remixes that write a rich, alternate history of Heavenly Recordings.

Since the first Heavenly recording, there have been striking remixes that reframe the original track. These remakes offer a parallel reading of the last four decades of releases; they take the music to places where genres can be pulled inside out before being reassembled for different dancefloors, or for a different state of mind.

It’s a selection of those secret sounds that make up the latest in this series of flawless compilations. Each presents a parallel reading of the Heavenly Recordings story, a version that’s best heard as the light fades and the furniture gets shoved to one side of the room in decent work places the world over.

TRACK LISTING

Holiday (Bruise Remix) - Confidence Man
Bobbi’s Second World (Confidence Man Remix) - The Orielles
All I Want (Ewan Pearson Dub Remix) - Out Cold
Iron Warrior (Raf Rundell Dubwise) - Revival Season 
The Doll (LCY Remix) - Audiobooks
You Don't Get Me (Urban Takeover Remix) - Espiritu
Automatic (Psychemagik Dub Mix) - Mildlife
Luxury (Trevor Jackson Reproduction Instrumental) - Raf Rundell Feat. Man & The Echo
Teeth (Anthony Naples Remix) - Working Men's Club
Chilli (Flying Mojito Bros Refrito Edit) - 77:78
Hope Is The Last Thing To Die (Daniel Avery Remix) - David Holmes Feat. Raven Violet
Like A Motorway (Chemical Brothers Chekhov Warp Vocal Mix) - Saint Etienne
It’s Over If We Run Out Of Love (Darren Emerson Huffa Remix) - David Holmes Feat. Raven Violet

This compilation follows ‘Heavenly remixes 1 & 2’ and ‘Heavenly remixes 3 & 4 - Andrew Weatherall volume 1&2’.

There’s been a lot written about how the Heavenly office is almost a living thing. Time and legend have anthropomorphised it into a towering character in the label’s rich history. Although the five-days-a-week workspace is ostensibly just four sturdy walls, a bunch of furniture, a vivid explosion of framed artwork charting a unique and particular journey through the history of music, multiple stacks of records, a bulging fridge and an overworked stereo, the Heavenly office has ended up becoming less a someplace and almost a someone.

The spirit of the office is a restless beast, yet it’s been loyal enough to have faithfully moved (almost) every time the label has relocated. And it’s a spirit that’s been emboldened whenever it has been based in Soho. Whatever the ley lines are that run under that square mile of central London, they seem to electrify the Heavenly office like a National Grid of vibes and volume; strange attractors to the ghosts of Soho’s rock & rollers, ravers, reprobates and roués alike who add a spectral joie de vivre to proceedings.

While the Heavenly office itself might be notorious, it’s the music that fills it up in the afterhours that truly gives the place life. While the open door has long offered something akin to a welcoming hug for both regular and first time visitors, it’s the always cranked up sound system that’s the equivalent of a mate leaning into you, guiding you through the peaks and troughs of the music.

As with any good party, the office soundtrack evolves track by track like selections from an overheating rebellious jukebox. Any average Monday night (the weekend always starts on Monday, right?) might take in music from the label’s artists that’s just pinged the inbox, freshly minted demos that have piqued curiosity, dusty old 7”s by long gone heroes or white label 12”s with minimal info scratched onto them in felt tip pen. And playing between those tracks, a bunch of secret sounds from the Heavenly vaults; remixes that write a rich, alternate history of Heavenly Recordings.

Since the first Heavenly recording, there have been striking remixes that reframe the original track. These remakes offer a parallel reading of the last four decades of releases; they take the music to places where genres can be pulled inside out before being reassembled for different dancefloors, or for a different state of mind.

It’s a selection of those secret sounds that make up the latest in this series of flawless compilations. Each presents a parallel reading of the Heavenly Recordings story, a version that’s best heard as the light fades and the furniture gets shoved to one side of the room in decent work places the world over.

TRACK LISTING

Heavenly Remixes 5
Holiday (Bruise Remix) - Confidence Man
Bobbi’s Second World (Confidence Man Remix) - The Orielles
All I Want (Ewan Pearson Dub Remix) - Out Cold
Iron Warrior (Raf Rundell Dubwise) - Revival Season
The Doll (LCY Remix) - Audiobooks
You Don't Get Me (Urban Takeover Remix) - Espiritu 
Automatic (Psychemagik Dub Mix) - Mildlife
Luxury (Trevor Jackson Reproduction Instrumental) - Raf Rundell Feat. Man & The Echo
Teeth (Anthony Naples Remix) - Working Men's Club
Chilli (Flying Mojito Bros Refrito Edit) - 77:78
Hope Is The Last Thing To Die (Daniel Avery Remix) - David Holmes Feat. Raven Violet
Like A Motorway (Chemical Brothers Chekhov Warp Vocal Mix) - Saint Etienne
It’s Over If We Run Out Of Love (Darren Emerson Huffa Remix) - David Holmes Feat. Raven Violet

Heavenly Remixes 6
It’s Too Late To Go To Bed (Confidence Man Remix) - The Parrots
Ploys (Erol Alkan Rework) - Working Men’s Club
Blow The Whole Joint Up (Let’s Slash The Beats Mix) - Monkey Mafia
Cultural Criminal (Raf Rundell’s Salty Man Dub) - Mattiel Feat. Raf Rundell
Baby I Wanna Live (Monkey Mafia’s Terminal Mix) - Espiritu
LaLaLa It's The Good Life (Herbert’s Vaccine Dub) - audiobooks
Luvin U Is Easy (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix) - Confidence Man
Weatherall’s Weekender (Audrey Is A Little Bit Partial Mix) - Flowered Up

There’s been a lot written about how the Heavenly office is almost a living thing. Time and legend have anthropomorphised it into a towering character in the label’s rich history. Although the five-days-a-week workspace is ostensibly just four sturdy walls, a bunch of furniture, a vivid explosion of framed artwork charting a unique and particular journey through the history of music, multiple stacks of records, a bulging fridge and an overworked stereo, the Heavenly office has ended up becoming less a someplace and almost a someone.

The spirit of the office is a restless beast, yet it’s been loyal enough to have faithfully moved (almost) every time the label has relocated. And it’s a spirit that’s been emboldened whenever it has been based in Soho. Whatever the ley lines are that run under that square mile of central London, they seem to electrify the Heavenly office like a National Grid of vibes and volume; strange attractors to the ghosts of Soho’s rock & rollers, ravers, reprobates and roués alike who add a spectral joie de vivre to proceedings.

While the Heavenly office itself might be notorious, it’s the music that fills it up in the afterhours that truly gives the place life. While the open door has long offered something akin to a welcoming hug for both regular and first time visitors, it’s the always cranked up sound system that’s the equivalent of a mate leaning into you, guiding you through the peaks and troughs of the music.

As with any good party, the office soundtrack evolves track by track like selections from an overheating rebellious jukebox. Any average Monday night (the weekend always starts on Monday, right?) might take in music from the label’s artists that’s just pinged the inbox, freshly minted demos that have piqued curiosity, dusty old 7”s by long gone heroes or white label 12”s with minimal info scratched onto them in felt tip pen. And playing between those tracks, a bunch of secret sounds from the Heavenly vaults; remixes that write a rich, alternate history of Heavenly Recordings.

Since the first Heavenly recording, there have been striking remixes that reframe the original track. These remakes offer a parallel reading of the last four decades of releases; they take the music to places where genres can be pulled inside out before being reassembled for different dancefloors, or for a different state of mind.

It’s a selection of those secret sounds that make up the latest in this series of flawless compilations. Each presents a parallel reading of the Heavenly Recordings story, a version that’s best heard as the light fades and the furniture gets shoved to one side of the room in decent work places the world over.

TRACK LISTING

It’s Too Late To Go To Bed (Confidence Man Remix) - The Parrots
Ploys (Erol Alkan Rework) - Working Men’s Club
Blow The Whole Joint Up (Let’s Slash The Beats Mix) - Monkey Mafia
Cultural Criminal (Raf Rundell’s Salty Man Dub) - Mattiel Feat. Raf Rundell
Baby I Wanna Live (Monkey Mafia’s Terminal Mix) - Espiritu
LaLaLa It's The Good Life (Herbert’s Vaccine Dub) - Audiobooks
Luvin U Is Easy (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix) - Confidence Man
Weatherall’s Weekender (Audrey Is A Little Bit Partial Mix) - Flowered Up

Heavenly Remixes 7 & 8 sees the label going back into the archive as well as picking off some more recent remixes and both albums primarily feature either previously unreleased versions or re-workings available for the first time on vinyl & CD.

Heavenly Remixes Volume 7 heads to Belfast, where David Holmes - a producer who first appeared on Heavenly in 1994 amping up the acid on Saint Etienne’s Like A Motorway - appears as solo artist and as one third of Unloved, who get a lift right to the heart of a Vauxhall sweatbox by Horse Meat Disco. It draws a line between Amsterdam and Frankfurt as Ludwig A.F. amps up the electronics on Pip Blom’s Keep It Together. It stops off in a south London studio where super producer Dan Carey plays the desk with Toy, then relocates L.A. psych rock band Fever The Ghost to an Ibizan shoreline as the sun sets on the horizon. It cements Sheffield’s reputation as the home of modern British techno with the return of true originators Forgemasters. And it pitches up in front of a renegade soundsystem late night at Glastonbury as Erol Alkan’s mighty rework of Con Man gets its third rewind of the night.

TRACK LISTING

1. DAVID HOLMES & RAVEN VIOLET – It’s Over If We Run Out Of Love (Hardway Bros Live At The SSL Dub) *
2. UNLOVED – Mother’s Been A Bad Girl (Horse Meat Disco Remix) *
3. PIP BLOM – Keep It Together (Ludwig A.F. Under Pressure Mix) *
4. CONFIDENCE MAN – Holiday (Erol Alkan OOO Remix) *
5. TOY – You Won’t Be The Same (Dan Carey Dub)
6. AUDIOBOOKS – The Doll (Bruise Remix) *
7. THE ORIELLES – The Room (Shy One Remix) *
8. EYES OF OTHERS – Once Twice Thrice (The Orielles Remix) *
9. FEVER THE GHOST – Source (Leo Zero Dub) %
10. WORKING MEN’S CLUB – The Last One (Foregmasters Remix)

* First Time On Vinyl
% Previously Unreleased

Heavenly Remixes 7 & 8 sees the label going back into the archive as well as picking off some more recent remixes and both albums primarily feature either previously unreleased versions or re-workings available for the first time on vinyl & CD.

Heavenly Remixes Volume 7 heads to Belfast, where David Holmes - a producer who first appeared on Heavenly in 1994 amping up the acid on Saint Etienne’s Like A Motorway - appears as solo artist and as one third of Unloved, who get a lift right to the heart of a Vauxhall sweatbox by Horse Meat Disco. It draws a line between Amsterdam and Frankfurt as Ludwig A.F. amps up the electronics on Pip Blom’s Keep It Together. It stops off in a south London studio where super producer Dan Carey plays the desk with Toy, then relocates L.A. psych rock band Fever The Ghost to an Ibizan shoreline as the sun sets on the horizon. It cements Sheffield’s reputation as the home of modern British techno with the return of true originators Forgemasters. And it pitches up in front of a renegade soundsystem late night at Glastonbury as Erol Alkan’s mighty rework of Con Man gets its third rewind of the night.

Heavenly Remixes Volume 8 opens with Space Afrika’s lush, ambient reimagining of the Orielles’ BEAM/S before Justin Robertson stretches Amber Arcades’ Turning Light into eight minutes of electronic dub. Elsewhere, Baxter Dury’s peerless Miami becomes a string-laden electro skank in the hands of French producer Pilooski; Edinburgh’s bedroom techno genius Eyes of Others’ Safehouse turns into an East End bathhouse courtesy of disco deviants Decius; Ashley Beedle’s Black Science Orchestra turns Unloved’s heart worn torch song into seven minutes of glimmering dreamlike percussive house and Katy J. Pearson’s freak flag is flown high thanks to The Umlauts’ throbbing filtered electro mix. It ends similarly to how it began as TONE takes Fran Lobo’s All I Want on a gorgeous slow motion spacewalk. 

TRACK LISTING

VOLUME 7
1. DAVID HOLMES & RAVEN VIOLET – It’s Over If We Run Out Of Love (Hardway Bros Live At The SSL Dub) *
2. UNLOVED – Mother’s Been A Bad Girl (Horse Meat Disco Remix) *
3. PIP BLOM – Keep It Together (Ludwig A.F. Under Pressure Mix) *
4. CONFIDENCE MAN – Holiday (Erol Alkan OOO Remix) *
5. TOY – You Won’t Be The Same (Dan Carey Dub)
6. AUDIOBOOKS – The Doll (Bruise Remix) *
7. THE ORIELLES – The Room (Shy One Remix) *
8. EYES OF OTHERS – Once Twice Thrice (The Orielles Remix) *
9. FEVER THE GHOST – Source (Leo Zero Dub) %
10. WORKING MEN’S CLUB – The Last One (Foregmasters Remix)

VOLUME 8
1. THE ORIELLES – Beam/s (Space Afrika Remix) *
2. AMBER ARCADES – Turning Light (Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33’s Meditation) %
3. UNLOVED – Number In My Phone (Black Science Orchestra Dub) *
4. CONFIDENCE MAN – Toy Boy (Raw Silk Instrumental Remix) *
5. DAVID HOLMES & RAVEN VIOLET – It’s Over If We Run Out Of Love (Lovefingers & Heidi Lawden Low Tide Mix) *
6. BAXTER DURY – Miami (Pilooski Instrumental Dub) %
7. OUT COLD – Loving Arms (Hardway Brothers Remix) *
8. WORKING MEN’S CLUB – Cut (Mella Dee Spangled On The Terrace Dub) %
9. EYES OF OTHERS – Safehouse (Decius Remix) *
10. KATY J PEARSON – Howl (Umlauts Remix) %
11. FRAN LOBO – All I Want (Tone Remix) *


* First Time On Vinyl
% Previously Unreleased

Heavenly Remixes 7 & 8 sees the label going back into the archive as well as picking off some more recent remixes and both albums primarily feature either previously unreleased versions or re-workings available for the first time on vinyl & CD.

Heavenly Remixes Volume 8 opens with Space Afrika’s lush, ambient reimagining of the Orielles’ BEAM/S before Justin Robertson stretches Amber Arcades’ Turning Light into eight minutes of electronic dub. Elsewhere, Baxter Dury’s peerless Miami becomes a string-laden electro skank in the hands of French producer Pilooski; Edinburgh’s bedroom techno genius Eyes of Others’ Safehouse turns into an East End bathhouse courtesy of disco deviants Decius; Ashley Beedle’s Black Science Orchestra turns Unloved’s heart worn torch song into seven minutes of glimmering dreamlike percussive house and Katy J. Pearson’s freak flag is flown high thanks to The Umlauts’ throbbing filtered electro mix. It ends similarly to how it began as TONE takes Fran Lobo’s All I Want on a gorgeous slow motion spacewalk. 

TRACK LISTING

1. THE ORIELLES – Beam/s (Space Afrika Remix) *
2. AMBER ARCADES – Turning Light (Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33’s Meditation) %
3. UNLOVED – Number In My Phone (Black Science Orchestra Dub) *
4. CONFIDENCE MAN – Toy Boy (Raw Silk Instrumental Remix) *
5. DAVID HOLMES & RAVEN VIOLET – It’s Over If We Run Out Of Love (Lovefingers & Heidi Lawden Low Tide Mix) *
6. BAXTER DURY – Miami (Pilooski Instrumental Dub) %
7. OUT COLD – Loving Arms (Hardway Brothers Remix) *
8. WORKING MEN’S CLUB – Cut (Mella Dee Spangled On The Terrace Dub) %
9. EYES OF OTHERS – Safehouse (Decius Remix) *
10. KATY J PEARSON – Howl (Umlauts Remix) %
11. FRAN LOBO – All I Want (Tone Remix) *


* First Time On Vinyl
% Previously Unreleased

After reissuing Hedzoleh by Hedzoleh in 2022, a collaborative effort by Meakusma and Soundway, this new 12inch features remixes by Jimi Tenor, Mark Ernestus, Gavsborg and Waltraud Blischke, transporting and transfusing Hedzoleh's tracks into new spheres and circumstances. Hedzoleh Soundz were one of the first and most original ‘Afro’ bands from 1970s Ghana, playing an unusual mix of traditional music and western rock as part of the West African Highlife scene. The music for the Hedzoleh album was used by legendary South-African trumpeter Hugh Masekela as the backbone to his afrojazz classic, “Masekela – Introducing Hedzoleh Soundz”. The Hedzoleh Soundz Remixes 12inch features an eloquent, deep, deeply poppy even, dub by Mark Ernestus, Jimi Tenor taking the original Rekpete track into even more joyous territory, adding some subtly hypnagogic touches at the end, Gavsborg transforming Y Yes Baa Gee Wo into a beat-based drone of sorts, a toolin the right hands, and a majestic experimental twist by Waltraud Blischke, sampling one Hedzoleh track and one unreleased solo track by Sascha Todd, son of Hedzoleh bass player and vocalist Stanley Todd.

This record came about with the support of Ostbelgien.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: I mean, it's got Mark Ernestus on it - I was already sold! But the other three tweaks are worthy of investigation. The Jimi Tenor rework had me with its meandering sax lines and jagged beats, whilst Gavsborg's wigged-out wobble sucked me into its languid downbeat whirlpool. Top stuff.

TRACK LISTING

Kaa Ye Oyai Don T Be In A Hurry (Mark Ernestus Remix)
Rekpete - (Jimi Tenor Rework)
Y Yei Baa Gbe Wo (Gavsborg Remix)
Sacha Todd S Simplex Meets Hedzoleh (Waltraud Blischke Remix)

Heed The Call! collects the best New Zealand material from the afrotastic days of 1973 to 1983. Artists like Mark Williams whose House For Sale became a sought after northern Soul single, The (three) Yandall Sisters (two of whom are pictured behind Mark WiIlliams on our cover), a teenage Tina Cross, Dalvanius & Prince Tui Teka, all became household names in NZ. The collection mines some overlooked nuggets from their respective catalogues alongside lesser known boogie cuzzins The Pink Family with their non-secular floor sizzler Don't Give Your Life Away, the gritty gospel soul of Sonia & Skee, The Johnny Rocco Band, Inbetweens, and The Totals. The Kaukau brothers were four fifths of Golden Harvest who hit the national charts with the number one I Need Your Love in 1978 which featured new addition 17 year old Karl Gordon fronting the band. Local 60s beat pioneer Larry Morris fresh out of the big house after a public LSD misdemeanour finds his groove on Who Do We Think We're Fooling. Funk dynamos Collision hail from Tokoroa, and in an earlier incarnation were known as The Shriek Machine, move to Australia on Dalvanius's insistence to record the showstopper You Can Dance. Early 70s Acid Rockers Ticket flaunt their funky flare(s) with their Vertigo single only release Mr Music (later covered by Collision) , and the windy city jazzmen The 1860 Band take form fitting self promoting t-shirts to the next level while re- interpreting Rita Jean Bodine's Thats The Kind Of Love 

Label sampler from Hellcat Records with Agnostic Front, Pietasters, Rancid, Distillers and loads more.

Stag-O-Lee compilation of weird stuff for 'the 5th season'. It would have been way too easy concentrating on titles with 'Ghost', 'Spook' or 'Devil' so they went ahead doing something more subtle and special, spanning the decades from the 1920s through the 1940s in a very wild manner. Every track is solid sending stuff for sophisticated Lindy Hop, Shag or Balboa-dancing.

To mark the 30th anniversary of War Child and celebrate National Album Day’s theme of the 90’s, War Child Records are reissuing the iconic 1995 charity album HELP on red and black smoke vinyl limited to 2,000 copies exclusively for National Album Day. Originally mastered by Brian Eno with artwork by John Squire and featuring images from the original recording sessions shot by Lawrence Watson at Abbey Road Studios.

The album is the perfect snapshot of a golden time for British music in the 90’s with indie and underground acts taking over the mainstream. The 1995 album features tracks from Oasis and Friends, The Boo Radleys, The Stone Roses, Radiohead, Orbital, Portishead, Massive Attack, Suede, The Charlatans vs. The Chemical Brothers, Stereo MCs, Sinéad O’Connor, The Levellers, Manic Street Preachers, Terrorvision, The One World Orchestra (Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty), Planet 4 Folk Quartet (Andrew Weatherall and David Harrow), Terry Hall and Salad, Neneh Cherry and Trout, Blur and The Smokin’ Mojo Filters (Paul McCartney, Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher).

The HELP album was recorded in a single day and released less than a week later, in a time before WeTransfer, iPhone and email. It raised over £1.25 million enabling War Child to bring emergency support to thousands of children in the Bosnian conflict. No charity album before or since has managed to achieve what HELP achieved and attract such a credible and stellar line-up to create such a relevant, respected and cool album – described by Q magazine as “the best charity album ever made.”

The HELP album is a phenomenal achievement made possible by an exceptional collaborative spirit. At a time when the charts were dominated by the infamous race for number one between Blur and Oasis, even they were willing to come together to support War Child – “We’ll put aside our differences for the cause – and it’s the only time you’ll see the two of us agreeing on anything” Noel Gallagher said at the time in an interview.

At the time the situation in Bosnia was drastically deteriorating. Hundreds of thousands had lost their lives, and the fighting had displaced millions from their homes. War Child looked to the music industry to raise much needed emergency funds to help support as many children as possible. A music industry collective led by Go! Discs Tony Crean, The Stone Roses and Manic Street Preachers publicist Terri Hall, Black Grape publicist Anton Brookes and legendary music PR Rob Partridge took immediate action opening their contact books and pulling together an unbelievable line-up of artists and support from the music industry.

The album included several pivotal and poignant moments. Radiohead’s Lucky was a preview of what would eventually become OK Computer, the Manic Street Preachers first studio track since the disappearance of Richey Edwards, Oasis and Friends just weeks before releasing What’s The Story Morning Glory and the one-off creation of the supergroup The Smokin’ Mojo Filters – made up of Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller.

In November 1995 – and a more than fitting tribute for its impact – Tony Blair attended the Q Awards to present a specially created award to the album saying, “At a time when there was a danger of the West turning its back on the war in Bosnia, it helped put it back in the headlines and reactivate public interest. It helped us be aware of our responsibilities to other people."

The original ambition had been to try and raise £200,000 – but the album went on to make over six times that amount, enabling War Child to support thousands of children affected by the war in Bosnia. Today, the challenge is bigger than ever. Across the world, 1 in 6 children are affected by armed conflict. All proceeds from this release will go directly to War Child to fund their mission to protect, educate and stand up for the right of children living through conflict.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Oasis And Friends – "Fade Away"
2. The Boo Radleys – "Oh Brother"
3. The Stone Roses – "Love Spreads"
4. Radiohead – "Lucky"
5. Orbital – "Adnan"
Side B
6. Portishead – "Mourning Air"
7. Massive Attack – "Fake The Aroma" (alternate Version Of "Karmacoma")
8. Suede – "Shipbuilding"
9. The Charlatans Vs. The Chemical Brothers – "Time For Livin'"
10. Stereo MCs – "Sweetest Truth (Show No Fear)"
Side C
11. Sinéad O'Connor – "Ode To Billie Joe"
12. The Levellers – "Searchlights"
13. Manic Street Preachers – "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head"
14. Terrorvision – "Tom Petty Loves Veruca Salt"
15. The One World Orchestra Featuring The Massed Pipes And Drums Of The Children's Free Revolutionary Volunteer Guards (aka The KLF) – "The Magnificent"
Side D
16. Planet 4 Folk Quartet – "Message To Crommie"
17. Terry Hall And Salad – "Dream A Little Dream Of Me"
18. Neneh Cherry And Trout – "1, 2, 3, 4, 5 "
19. Blur – "Eine Kleine Lift Musik"
20. The Smokin' Mojo Filters – "Come Together"

Twenty-five years ago this month, the cream of the British music industry walked into Abbey Road and studios around the UK and recorded an album for War Child in response to the plight of the thousands of families caught up in the bloody Balkans war.

It went onto become the most legendary charity album of all time. Inspired by a John Lennon quote "The best record you can make, is recorded on Monday, cut on Tuesday, pressed up on Wednesday, packaged on Thursday, distributed on Friday, in the shops on Saturday”, Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller formed the super group Smokin’ Mojo Filters and Radiohead, Manic Street Preachers, Portishead, Massive Attack, Suede, The Charlatans and many more contributed tracks.

Go! Discs’ Tony Crean and Andy McDonald, press officer Terri Hall and others rallied artists, media and the industry to come together in those few days. Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic wrote the sleeve notes, John Squire designed the artwork and Johnny Depp even popped in to play guitar.

Within 24 hours, 20 tracks had been recorded and it was in store five days later selling 70,000 copies in its first day. The album went on to make £1.25 million and launched War Child not only as the charity for British music, but more importantly, the only charity who specialise in protecting, educating and supporting children in war.

The difference this album made for War Child cannot be over emphasised. It was the starting point of a relationship with the British music industry that has seen some of the world’s biggest artists come together - but more importantly, it has enabled War Child to reach more than a million children caught in the crossfire of war over the last 20 years.

You only need look at the news today to see that War Child’s work is more important than ever. Four million Syrian refugees have fled the conflict, two million of these are children, some of whom are alone, all of whom are terrified and traumatised by what they have seen.

Since the HELP album, War Child’s work with music has gone onto raise more than £7 million for children in conflict. 

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Oasis And Friends – "Fade Away"
2. The Boo Radleys – "Oh Brother"
3. The Stone Roses – "Love Spreads"
4. Radiohead – "Lucky"
5. Orbital – "Adnan"

Side B
6. Portishead – "Mourning Air"
7. Massive Attack – "Fake The Aroma" (alternate Version Of "Karmacoma")
8. Suede – "Shipbuilding"
9. The Charlatans Vs. The Chemical Brothers – "Time For Livin'"
10. Stereo MCs – "Sweetest Truth (Show No Fear)"

Side C
11. Sinéad O'Connor – "Ode To Billie Joe"
12. The Levellers – "Searchlights"
13. Manic Street Preachers – "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head"
14. Terrorvision – "Tom Petty Loves Veruca Salt"
15. The One World Orchestra Featuring The Massed Pipes And Drums Of The Children's Free Revolutionary Volunteer Guards (aka The KLF) – "The Magnificent"

Side D
16. Planet 4 Folk Quartet – "Message To Crommie"
17. Terry Hall And Salad – "Dream A Little Dream Of Me"
18. Neneh Cherry And Trout – "1, 2, 3, 4, 5 "
19. Blur – "Eine Kleine Lift Musik"
20. The Smokin' Mojo Filters – "Come Together"

4-time GRAMMY-winning producer Larry Klein, who produced Herbie Hancock’s GRAMMY Album of the Year winning release River: The Joni Letters, has assembled another extraordinary star-studded project with Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen. This heartfelt tribute to Klein’s dear friend, the legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, presents stunning renditions of his profound songs by an impressive and eclectic line-up of guest vocalists including James Taylor, Iggy Pop, Mavis Staples, Norah Jones, Gregory Porter, Peter Gabriel, Nathaniel Rateliff, David Gray, Sarah McLachlan, and Luciana Souza. The backing band is no less impressive featuring a remarkable quintet of modern jazz talent including guitarist Bill Frisell, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Nate Smith.

TRACK LISTING

1. Steer Your Way - Norah Jones
2. Here It Is - Peter Gabriel
3. Suzanne - Gregory Porter
4. Hallelujah - Sarah McLachlan
5. Avalanche - Immanuel Wilkins
6. Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye - Luciana Souza
7. Coming Back To You - James Taylor
8. You Want It Darker - Iggy Pop
9. If It Be Your Will - Mavis Staples
10. Seems So Long Ago, Nancy - David Gray
11. Famous Blue Raincoat - Nathaniel Rateliff
12. Bird On The Wire - Bill Frisell

Unintentionally funny and totally pretentious versions of classic Beatles songs performed by musicians on the Windham Hill label who should be told that just playing things slowly doesn't impart 'feeling' or 'meaning' to a song. These guys kill most of the melody lines of these great songs stone dead. A notable exception is George Winston's "Martha My Dear" which is humourous but joyful.

The compilation exists as a way to unite the entire Hessle roster, as well as allowing them an avenue to put out work by friends and producers they have been unable to work with so far. On the CD the first disc is all new work plus a second has a selection of choice cuts from the back catalogue (the vinyl version features all new cuts). There’s also work from producers who they feel have shaped the label’s aesthetic, like D1’s "Sub Zero", whose sub bass stabs were a staple of the early DMZ sets back in 2005. Addison Groove's anthem "Footcrab" has done so much to bring the tough tempo of juke to the world’s dancefloors. The subtle pitch-shifting of a looping hip hop vocal and the polyrhythmic patter of rim shots and cymbals on "Fuk Tha 101" are unmistakably his. Bristol’s Peverelist brings us "Sun Dance", whose synth chords bring to mind the dystopian drum & bass of DJ Krust, the track driven forwarded by paper-like hi-hats and cymbals. The spritely chimes and shuffling beat of Elgato’s "Music", whose muted vocal chant was used to such beautiful effect in Kennedy’s recent Fabriclive mix. Untold bring’s detuned chords, jangling glass and a cheeky synth line, breaking down into mutant funky house. Blawan’s "Potchla Vee" reveals some unexpected instrumentation: the skittering of what sounds like the cogs of a clock gives little breathing room to the assault of tribal drums and processed grunts. Pearson Sound's "Stifle" seems to slow things down, with an adenoidal vocal snippet acting as counterfoil to the percussive snap of the drums, delicate EQing and synth washes providing characteristic texture. Pangaea’s own contribution is a rave homage; oscillating between synth stabs and a filtered ragga MC sample, the track is layered with a bouncy acid bassline, creating a phantom jump up effect. Romania’s TRG was Hessle’s first release and here builds on his mutant garage template, with a reverb-soaked drum kit jostling against some analogue pads and a seagull-sounding distorted warble. James Blake, re-edits an earlier Hessle release, bringing the processed vocals to the fore much in the style of his recent album. It’s soul music that’s undecidedly electronic, the vocals screwed and chopped into the background, a virtuoso display of arrangement ordering a lacklustre pair of cowbells, a chorus of shuffles, croaks and pads into an infectious slow burner.

TRACK LISTING

CD Tracklisting:
CD1:
1 Elgato – Music (Body Mix)
2 Untold – Cool Story Bro
3 Blawan – Potchla Vee
4 Pearson Sound – Stifle
5 Joe – Twice
6 Randomer – Brunk
7 Pangaea – Runout
8 Cosmin TRG – Bijoux
9 D1 – Sub Zero
10 Addison Groove – Fuk Tha 101
11 James Blake – Give A Man A Rod (2nd Version)
12 Peverelist – Sun Dance

CD2:
1 Pangaea – You & I
2 Untold – Test Signal
3 Blawan – Fram
4 James Blake – Buzzard & Kestrel
5 Untold – I Can’t Stop This Feeling
6 Joe – Rut
7 Ramadanman – Blimey
8 TRG – Put You Down
9 Joe – Level Crossing
10 Pangaea – Why
11 TRG – Broken Heart (Martyn’s DCM Remix)
12 Ramadanman – Don’t Change For Me

Vinyl LP Tracklisting:
A1. Elgato – Music (Body Mix)
A2. Untold – Cool Story Bro
B1. Pearson Sound – Stifle
B2. Blawan – Potchla Vee
C1. Pangaea – Run Out
C2. Randomer – Brunk
D1. D1 – Subzero
D2. Cosmin TRG – Bijoux
E1. Joe – Twice
E2. James Blake – Give A Man A Rod (Second Version)
F1. Addison Groove – Fuk Tha 101
F2. Peverelist – Sun Dance

The popularity of Brazilian music from the 60s, 70s and 80s has experienced quite the renaissance; artists such as Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Arthur Verocai, Joyce et al, have become household names to an international audience passionate about global sounds.

However, even for die- hard fans and collectors of Brazilian music of the past, discovering contemporary Brazilian artists is not always easy, nor accessible. But, if you know where to look, you will see that there is a resurgence well underway that can be epitomised by an exciting new wave of Brazilian artists beginning to break through and gather momentum overseas. It's with thanks to Sound and Colours, a website devoted to promoting Latin American music and culture, that we can help shine a light on one particular collective, bursting with creativity and camaraderie.

'Hidden Waters: Strange and Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro' is compiled by Joe Osborne (founder of specialist Brazilian music platform Brazilian Wax) and Russ Slater (editor at large of Sounds and Colours). Focusing solely on the 'Rio Scene', rather than taking on the mammoth task of tackling Brazil as a whole, this collection presents 20-plus ground-breaking artists selected from Rio's resurgent music scene. By presenting a snapshot into the pulse of the city and the vibrant musicians that live in it, 'Hidden Waters' collates tracks from a wide spectrum of musical genres from the avant-garde edge to bossa nova, samba, Candomblé, lofi rock, jazz and funk.

'Hidden Waters' showcases musicians such as iconic Rio mainstays Negro Leo & Ava Rocha, Brazilian jazz upstart Antônio Neves, critically lauded Avant- pop trailblazer Thiago Nassif, breakthrough artists Ana Frango Elétrico and Letrux, lofi psych rocker Lê Almeida, plus the Latin Grammy-winning Bala Desejo who are set to explode onto the world stage. The music featured on 'Hidden Waters' is unequivocally Brazilian, swelling with samba, bossa nova, funk, and jazz. But it's within the album's blend; from sunny psychedelia to dusky synth- pop via experimental electronics, that marks the compilation as the sound of modern, multicultural Rio.

This comprehensive compilation comes with album artwork designed by Rio music's leading album artwork designer, Caio Paiva. It features essays by professor and music critic Bernardo Oliveira and music journalist Leonardo Lichote, plus extensive notes on each track by the artists themselves.

Featuring ground-breaking artists from Rio's resurgent music scene, intent on bringing an avant-garde edge to bossa nova, samba, jazz and funk.

TRACK LISTING

Ana Frango Elétrico - Saudade
Pedro Fonte - Clichê
Bala Desejo - Lua Comanche
Ava Rocha - Boca Do Céu
Exército De Bebês - Avós Da Experiência
Thiago Nassif - Soar Estranho (feat. Arto Lindsay, Vinicius Cantuária & Gabriela Riley)
Negro Leo - Mulato
Mari Romano - Amélie
Rosabege - Sigo Num Site Mármore
Dora Morelenbaum - Vento De Beirada
Cadu Tenório & Juçara Marçal - Candombe - La Cacundê Iauê
Jonas Sa - Gigolô
Troá - Bandeide
Marcelo Callado - Simbora (feat. Silvia Machete)
Ovo Ou Bicho - Moços
Lê Almeida - Apreço Antigo
Vovô Bebê - Briga De Família (feat. Ana Frango)
Joana Queiroz - Dois Litorais
Raquel Dimantas - Flecha Azul
António Neves & Thiaguinho Silva - Das Neves
Letrux - Dorme Com Essa
Os Ritmistas - Sambolero

By public demand, legendary High Fashion Music label from Holland (est. 1982) relaunches “High Fashion Disco”. 35 years after the release of volume 1 and volume 2, it is now time for volume 3 and volume 4! And they doubled the playing-time and made both volume 3 and volume 4 a 2xCD. To bring you the best of the last 5 years of High Fashion Music.

Featuring High Fashion's 12 inch releases only, some of them even upcoming and yet unreleased. Few of them featured with different (but only extended-) re-mixes, reason they made it a 2CD for each volume.

Compact Disco as it should be!

Volume 3 presents to you a.o. the High Fashion released (remixes) by T-Connection (Moplen), Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson (Ben Liebrand), SOS Band (Ben Liebrand and Michael Gray) , Tullio de Piscopo (Michael Gray), Blueboy (David Penn), Loose Change (Moplen), Donna Allen (Dr Packer), Ashford & Simpson (Joey Negro), Dance Reaction (Martin Boer) just to name a few.

TRACK LISTING

T-Connection - Do What You Wanna Do (Moplen Extended Remix)
Johnny Guitar Watson - A Real Mother For Ya (Ben Liebrand Go To A Disco Remix)
SOS Band - Just Get Ready (Michael Gray Remix)
BB&Q Band - Main Attraction (Dr Packer Remix)
Tullio De Piscopo - Stop Bajon (Primavera) (Michael Gray Remix)
Blue Boy - Remember Me (David Penn Extended Remix)
Ashford & Simpson - Found A Cure (Joey Negro Found A Dub Mix)
DHS - House Of God (Funkerman Extended Mix)
Donna Allen - Joy & Pain (Dr. Packer Extended Remix)
BB&Q Band - Dreamer (Michael Gray Remix)
Karen Young - Deetour (Moplen Paradise Boogie)
The Flirts - Passion (Ben Liebrand Sweet N Simple Remix)
SOS Band - Get Ready (Ben Liebrand Funk Groove)
T-Connection - Do What You Wanna Do (Moplen Rollercoaster Dub)
Dance Reaction - Disco Train (Martin Boer Remix)
Ashford & Simpson - Over & Over (Joey Negro Club Mix)
Firefly - Love (Is Gonna Be On Your Side) (Michael Gray Remix)
Loose Change - Straight From The Heart (Moplen Extended Remix)
Karen Young - Hot Shot (Joey Negro Sure Shot Club Mix)
Blue Boy - Remember Me (Franky Rizardo Extended Remix)
Moses - We Just (Ben Liebrand Revolution Remix)
Mirko Deep - Feel It (Michael Gray Remix)

By public demand, legendary High Fashion Music label from Holland (est. 1982) relauches “High Fashion Disco”!

35 years after the release of volume 1 and volume 2, it is now time for volume 3 and volume 4! And they doubled the playing-time and made both volume 3 and volume 4 a 2xCD. To bring you the best of the last 5 years of High Fashion Music.

Featuring High Fashion 12 inch releases only, some of them even ‘upcoming’ and yet unreleased. Few of them featured with different (but only extended) re-mixes, reason they made it a 2xCD for each volume.

Volume 4 brings you the extended versions of a.o. Alok x Ella Eyre x Kenny Dope (Ben Liebrand – unavailable on any digital portal), Donna Allen (Michael Gray), Firefly (Michael Gray) Divine (Ben Liebrand), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Dr Packer) The Bucketheads (Massivedrum), Delia Renee (Moplen), Atlantic Ocean (Dr Packer) and Moses (Ben Liebrand). 

TRACK LISTING

Alok X Ella Eyre X Kenny Dope - Deep Down (Ben Liebrand Extended Mix)
Ben Liebrand & Ojam - Running Away (Full Story Mix)
Firefly - Love (Is Gonna Be On Your Side) - (Ben Liebrand Love Mix)
TJM - I Don't Need No Music (Moplen Extended Remix)
Michael Gray - The Weekend ( Symphonic Mix Extended)
Johnny 'Guitar' Watson - A Real Mother For 'Ya (Ben Liebrand Oldskool Remix)
BB&Q Band - Genie (Michael Gray Remix)
Atlantic Ocean - Waterfall (Dr Packer Remix)
Viola Wills - If You Could Read My Mind (Massivedrum Remix)
Donna Allen - Serious (Michael Gray Remix)
The Flirts-Passion (Ben Liebrand Oldskool Mix)
Disco Dandies - Inside Your Love (2 People) (Dandies Extended Mix)
Divine - Native Love (Ben Liebrand Extended Rework)
Sheryl Lee Ralph - In The Evening (Dr Packer Remix)
Delia Renee - You're Gonna Want Me Back (Joey Negro Disco Blend)
Advance - Take Me To The Top (Michael Gray Remix)
Kenny 'Dope' Presents The Bucketheads - The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind) (Massivedrum Remix)
Ruffneck Feat. Yavahn - Everybody Be Somebody (Steve Disco Newsome Remix)
Moses - We Just (Ben Liebrand Evolution Mix)

In conjunction with compiler and highlife researcher Dr. Markus Coester, Soundway Records present a very special release. Double CD and triple 180g gatefold vinyl (with a bonus 7 inch). This 45 includes the two first ever recordings by a certain Fela Ransome Kuti with his band The Highlife Rakers. Recorded by Melodisc in London in 1960 both tracks have been unearthed after more than fifty years in hiding.

In many ways this compilation is a prequel of sorts to Soundway's groundbreaking Nigeria and Ghana Special compilations, telling the early story of modern highlife's foundation and formulation. It traces the music from West Africa to London, adding elements of jazz, mambo and calypso along the way and paving the way for the afro sounds of the 1970s.

Accompanied by a 44 page CD booklet and 12 page vinyl booklet, the notes by Dr. Coester include rare photographs, labels and advert reproductions alongside some stunning and very rare recordings.

Two years after the well-received compilation "Nebula," Himalaya Collective (probably the largest team of beatmakers in Poland) returns with another release. This time the Himalayan section of 24 producers (and some exceptional guests from outside the collective) will take us on a journey into the skies. On "Latawce" (which means "Kites" in English), we will hear 24 tracks with one goal in mind - to allow a maximum two-minute flight. The premiere (not accidentally) will take place on the 1st day of summer.

The sound of each Kite has been colored thanks to the excellent mastering done by Eprom. The album's vinyl version was made in two options and with two different covers. @Eloprzemi is responsible for the design of the classic version, and the cover of the limited surprise vinyl was designed by Gbur. The limited edition is hand-numbered (111 copies), and the surprise is worth emphasizing the different colors of each vinyl! Crazy Action! Great album! The perfect soundtrack for the summer holidays 2022!

Discover the history of Hip-Hop with this brand-new 3-vinyl box set! — FEAT. — THE PHARCYDE - AFRIKA BAMBAATAA - MOS DEF - GRAND MASTER FLASH – RZA - CAPONE-N-NOREAGA - MONIE LOVE - DIZZEE RASCAL - GRAND PUBA - BRAND NUBIAN - BIG L - 2PAC… - The Gems Of Hip-Hop Culture

TRACK LISTING

DISC 1 – SIDE A
A1. The Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
A2. Joe Bataan – Rap-O Clap-O
A3. Funky 4 + 1 – That’s The Joint (Remix)
A4. Afrika Bambaataa, Zulu Nation & Cosmic Force – Zulu Nation Throw Down

SIDE B
B1. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – The Message
B2. Super-Wolf – Super-Wolf Can Do It
B3. Spoonie Gee – Spoonin’ Rap
B4. Cold Crush Brothers VS. Fantastic Freaks – Basketball Throwdown
B5. Fab 5 Freddy – Donw By Law

DISC 2 – SIDE C
C1. Boogie Down Productions – 9mm Goes Bang
C2. Jungle Brothers – Straight Out The Jungle
C3. Digital Underground Ft. 2Pac – Same Song
C4. Monie Love Ft. True Image – It’s A Shame (My Sister)
C5. Brand Nubian – Slow Down

SIDE D
D1. Grand Puba – I Like It (I Wanna Be Where You Are)
D2. The Pharcyde – Runnin’
D3. Capone-N-Noreaga - Invincible
D4. D.I.T.C Ft. A.G., Big L & O.C. – Thick
D5. DJ Honda Ft. Mos Def – Travellin’ Man

DISC 3 – SIDE E
E1. RZA - Grits
E2. Percee P – Raw Heat (45 Version)
E3. Guilty Simpson Ft. Spacek - Smoking
E4. Brooklyn Academy – Black Out
E5. Dizzee Rascal – Fix Up, Look Sharp

SIDE F
F1. Chinese Man Ft. Kendra Morris & Dillon Cooper – Liar (La Fine Équipe Remix)
F2. Boozoo Bajou Ft. Oh No – Back Up
F3. Greyboy Ft. Main Flow & Elgin Park - Uknowmylife
F4.Beat Assailant – Hard Twelve (The Ante)
F5. Lanu Ft. Kero One – It’s Time

Debut of the "Hit + Run Presents Road Kill" compilation series. Volume 1 includes 29 exclusive and unreleased tracks by the Los Angeles underground and beyond, available on a limited-edition digipak CD. We're talking beat builders, wonky-hoppers, hip hopers, down-beaters, electronica lovers and just, in the case of the Gaslamp Killer, bonkers mentalists.

Previously only available digitally and on CD, the compilation features some of LA’s best and brightest, along with a whole host of artists from around the world - including J Rocc, the Gaslamp Killer, Ras G, Daedelus, Knxwledge, Mndsgn, Jeremiah Jae, Kutmah and many more - all contributing tracks unavailable anywhere else.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Gaslamp Killer - Bullet Shells In My Sneakers
2. Mono/Poly - Crew
3. Shash’U - Akira
4. Matthewdavid - Funky Yelling
5. Jeremiah Jae (feat. Isreal And Oliver The 2nd) - ShamWow
6. Mestizo - Love Me Hard
7. Mndsgn - Golf Shirt
8. Computer Jay - The Opposing Turf
9. N8No Face (feat. Zackey Force Funk) - Fame
10. The Gaslamp Killer - Road Kill Interlude
11. Ras G - Coto Loco
12. Daedelus - If I Fail
13. J.Rocc - Red Wing
14. Knxwledge - Need Wun
15. Seven Davis Jr. - Samurai
16. Sweatson Klank - Little Time To Fly
17. Kutmah + Tehbis - Griots
18. Mr. Feeds - Ride To The Moon
19. Bei Ru - Bekaa Valley Hash
20. Zackey Force Funk - Birdz
21. Kevin D. Mize - Better Late Than
22. Thavius Beck – Noble Roble
23. Alter - Calle Primera
24. Eras - Bangoria
25. Bobby Evans - Le Witt
26. Subtitle - 555 + 333
27. Biff Chitlins - Dulce
28. Adventure Time - Kick It
29. Zackey Force Funk (feat. Reggie Blount) - Where Buffalo Roam.

The first Latin soul collection featuring a mix of chart-topping hits and deeper cuts from the crown jewel of the mambo era Tico Records, celebrating the iconic imprint’s 75th Anniversary. The 2-LP set includes 26 tracks from trailblazers Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Joe Cuba, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, La Lupe, Willie Bobo and more. New liner notes by DJ Dean Rudland that tell the story of the New York City label that launched the careers of some of the most revered names in Latin music.

TRACK LISTING

LP1 - Side A
1. RAY BARRETTO Y SU CHARANGA MODERNA – El Watusi
2. WILLIE BOBO – Bobo! Do That Thing
3. WILLIE BOBO – Be’s That Way
4. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – El Pito (I’ll Never Go Back To Georgia)
5. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Bang! Bang!
6. CANDIDO – Madrid
7. RAY BARRETTO – Babalu
LP1 - Side B
1. EDDIE PALMIERI And CAL TJADER – Come An’ Get It (Boogaloo)
2. TITO PUENTE Y SU ORQUESTRA – Fat Mama
3. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Oh Yeah!
4. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Sock It To Me
5. TITO PUENTE/LA LUPE – Steak-O-Lean
6. TITO PUENTE’S ORCHESTRA – TP’s Shing-A-Ling
7. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Hey Joe, Hey Joe (Hey Girl, Hey Girl)
LP2 - Side C
1. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Psychedelic Baby
2. EDDIE PALMIERI & HIS ORCHESTRA – The African Twist
3. LA LUPE – Fever
4. THE MODERN SOUND OF AL ESCOBAR – Tighten Up
5. THE MODERN SOUND OF AL ESCOBAR – The Horse
6. CELIA CRUZ/TITO PUENTE – Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In
LP2 - Side D
1. GILBERTO SEXTET – Yes I Will (Part 1)
2. TITO PUENTE & HIS ORCHESTRA – Hit The Bongo
3. TITO PUENTE & HIS ORCHESTRA – Oye Como Va
4. JIMMY SABATER – Times Are Changin’
5. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Do You Feel It?
6. JOE PANAMA And COMPANY – My People 

What better way to celebrate 100 releases than with a handmade box containing soul expanding music!? Höga Nord Rekords have reached an important goal and releases a rare box set containing all 12” from the HNRUK-series plus a new record from Birds, unique for this box. Except Birds, this compilation includes Dark Strands, High Boys, Vox Low, Timothy J. Fairplay, Fontän, Bird Of Paradise, Mythologen, Jamie Paton and Frak.

The music is of course the main focus of all releases on Höga Nord Rekords but what birthday gift comes without a proper wrapping? This exclusive handmade box made in Norrmalms kartongfabrik in Stockholm, is a celebration to the Scandinavian Bronze age. You’ll find rock carvings like those on the artwork scattered over the land but mostly near Gothenburg, home of Höga Nord Rekords on the Swedish west coast.

Archaeological evidence proves similarities in ornaments and pictures between the Nordic and European Bronze age, just like you find common features in the music released on our label. Though the acts in this compilation box come from all over Europe and beyond, they stem from an obscured and mysterious common source of escapism, purity and creativity.

TRACK LISTING

Dark Strands - The Last Ride
Dark Strands - We Own The Night
Dark Strands - Black Dog
Dark Strands - Wandering Star
Vox Low - I'll Save You Anyway (Evelyne)
Vox Low - I'm Coming To Your House (feat. Tarik Ziour)
Vox Low - Loving Hell
High Boys - Drunken Master
High Boys - Down With Chaos
High Boys - This Is The Captain Speaking
High Boys - No Hope For A Sexual Revolution
Timothy J. Fairplay - Mindfighter
Timothy J. Fairplay - Nightmare City
Timothy J. Fairplay - Lost In The Mirror Maze
Timothy J. Fairplay - Jennifer Has Some Strange Ideas
Fontän - Sen Sen No Sen (Red Axes Remix)
Fontän - Mangsebung (Timothy J Fairplay Remix)
Fontän - Gangri (Khjinda Remix)
Fontän - Bardo (Mythologen Remix)
Fontän - Shadows (Pardon Moi Remix)
Birds Of Paradise - Tito
Birds Of Paradise - Joy-Rides
Birds Of Paradise - Smoking Holiday
Birds Of Paradise - Breather Resist
Mythologen - The Joy I Feel
Mythologen - Canavan's Peckham Pool Club
Mythologen - Blackheath
Mythologen - House Of Parakeet
Jamie Paton - Enhance 224
Jamie Paton - State Line
Jamie Paton - Disk Memories
Jamie Paton - Leviathan Aftermath
Frak - Corridor
Frak - Stetoskop
Frak - Micro Fisson
Frak - Arcitect
Birds - Solitary Dancers
Birds - Night Time Life
Birds - Dont Drink The Acid Water
Birds - Young Blood

Here you are! A second batch with essential tunes from the hallowed nights of the Hoochie Koo. To us, this is dance floor material. Some of these versions you won't find anywhere else. The Hoochie Koo is a high octane extravaganza inspired by the risqué Rock ‘N’ Roll lifestyle of the early days, delivering an explosive mix of rare 50s/60s tunes, a live - Soundsystem for the dancefloor, Gogo dancing - and the raunchiest Burlesque in town. We’d like to thank all the Queens & Cowboys, frenetic musicians, sultry showgirls and self acclaimed dancing kings. A big shout to the collaborating venues for helping us set a benchmark. And the almighty Bassy Club, that will stay in our hearts forever...

The music: Crazy Lover sets the mood. Thunder is tweaked a bit to kindle the floor, followed by the Earthshaker featuring the crazy honking of our Sax-player, Florent. Rock-a-Chika is an homage to the leader of our GoGo team, because her name is Chika ! Bassy Boogaloo had been recorded years ago at one of our wild nights at the infamous Bassy Club (R.I.P) Snacky is the soundtrack for the quirkiest Burlesque performer we ever had: Snacky The Drag King!

Furthermore: a hiccup rock, the Nabout dance, atmospheric surf and a French Mambo version of the all-time classic Istanbul.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Richard Berry • Crazy Lover
A2 Bob Taylor & The Counts • Thunder*
A3 The Lancasters • Earthshaker**8
A4 Warner Mack • Rock-a-Chicka**
A5 Henry Cording • Rock-Hoquet
B1 Hoochie Krew • Bassy Boogaloo ø
B2 Hajime Kaidou • Snacky De Odorou*
B3 Claude François • Le Nabout Twist
B4 The Atmospheres • Kaballo*
B5 Dario Moreno • Istanbul

It's finally here, all on one handy format for accessing the hottest cuts from the first Round of the HoZac singles club, along with two previously unreleased bonus tracks by Teepee and Idle Times. This compilation spans the first ten elusive subscription-only 7" records released from 2009-2010, featuring rare tracks by Dum Dum Girls, Woven Bones, Box Elders, Flight, White Mystery, Teepee, Idle Times, Mother Of Tears, Art Thieves, and Teeth (the elusive Blank Dogs/Spider side project), and is not to be missed.

Not only does this release mark the 50th record in the Hozac repertoire, but its got the goods to back it up with a massive array of underground gems normally fetching hefty ebay prices as the only other means of access. Although not every track from the 7" series is included due to space limitations, they've culled the most sparkling cuts and remastered the tracks to perfection, and housed it in one convenient package. Oh, and those bonus tracks? You can bet you're gonna want 'em based on the brilliance of Teepee and Idle Times' exquisite track records.

Just to be different, Hospital only drop brand new exclusives on this double pack 12", which includes High Contrast Vs Logistics "If I Could", Nu:Tone Vs Syncopix' EWF-sampling "Upgrade", London Elektricity Vs Logistics "Search Engine" and Q Project Vs Cyantific "11th Hour". None of these tracks are on the triple CD compilation.

Here is the much anticipated volume 3 of the Hot Sauce compilation LPs, dedicated to the Trojan related UK labels between 1965 and 1975. Hot Sauce Vol. 3 features outstanding original Rocksteady, Boss Reggae and early Reggae (“Reggay”) tracks including rare songs, overlooked gems, hidden treasures and a couple of hits. The record labels showcased on this third volume are Amalgamated, Duke, Gayfeet, Grape, Harry J, Rio, Randy’s, Treasure Isle, Upsetter and Trojan. The tracks here have been selected according to their musical interest firstly, their rarity, and their complementarity.

These tracks are all outstanding tracks, “killer tracks”, there is no “filler” whatsoever. Particular attention has been paid to the way the songs are sequenced (or “mixed”) so that the album builds up nicely and gradually, generally starting with the Rocksteady songs on the A side and the 70s songs on the B side. Hot Sauce is a musical journey across early Jamaican Reggae - highlighting its diverse musical genres and outstanding artists – as it was once published by the U.K. record labels during this golden decad. Since the early 70s “Tighten Up” series, no compilations have really explored these labels in depth on vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

A1: J.J. All Stars - Soup (Version)
A2: Carl Dawkins - Hard Time
A3: Naomi, The Gaytones - You're Not My Kind
A4: Toots (aka Lee Scratch Perry) - Do You Like It
A5: Upsetter Pilgrims - A Testimony
A6: Owen Gray - Reggae Dance
A7: The Cables - Feel All Right
B1: Randy's All Stars - Time Out
B2: The Inspirations - La La
B3: The Love Generation ‎– Warricka Hill
B4: Zap Pow - Lottery Spin
B5: Carl Bryan – Red Ash
B6: Tommy McCook & The Supersonics - Arabian Dub
B7: Tommy McCook & The Supersonics - Ride De Dub

Here is the much anticipated volume 4 of the Hot Sauce compilation LPs dedicated to the Trojan related UK labels between 1965 and 1975. Hot Sauce Volume 4 features outstanding original Rocksteady, Boss Reggae and early Reggae (“Reggay”) tracks including rare songs, overlooked gems, hidden treasures and a couple of hits. The record labels showcased on this fourth volume are Amalgamated, Big Shot, Duke, Explosion, Grape, High Note , JJ Records, Treasure Isle and Trojan. The tracks here have been selected according to their musical interest firstly, their rarity, and their complementarity. These tracks are all outstanding tracks, “killer tracks”, there is no “filler” whatsoever. The Hot Sauce series is a musical journey across Trojan and its labels highlighting early Jamaican Reggae’s many diverse musical genres and outstanding artists. Since the early 70s “Tighten Up” series, no compilations have really explored these labels in depth on vinyl.

Many credit New Jersey's Todd Edwards and pivotal in forging the early sound of UKG. His shoulder-dropped, shuffled house beats and accentuated and pitched up vocal cuts fast became adopted and exaggerated by London and Birmingham's embryonic 2step producers as the cross pollination of American dance music and UK attitude bloomed in the late 90s and early millennium. Since then the producer has enjoyed plenty of admiration on this side of the pond, with some legendary DJ performances much later on in his career; and has gone onto collaborate with Daft Punk not to mention accumulating countless hordes of young garage and house heads who regard him with an almost mystic degree of reverence.

Here Defected present a collection of Todd's best remixes and productions, housed on separate discs or in boosted 2xCD format. Includes his remixes of Indo, Moloko, St Germain, Robin S and more plus his own releases "Saved My Life", "Shut The Door", "Main Vibe" and the two collaborative productions with Daft Punk: "Face to Face" and "Fragments of Time".

A producer whose style and sound are instantly recognizable; his inspiration across genre camps and club cultures is far reaching and widely acknowledged. A truly unique enigma with a big character to back it up, it's a beauty to have all these amazing Todd Edwards tracks in one complete package. Most recommended. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: A household name for anyone with even a fleeting interest in dance music culture yet a man whose influence is often felt before his face known. One of UKG's biological parents guides us through some of his most iconic moments.

TRACK LISTING

LP ONE - REMIXES
A1. St Germain - Alabama Blues (Todd Edwards Dub Mix)
A2. Indo - R U Sleeping (Todd Edwards Mix)
B1. Sound Of One - As I Am (Todd Edwards Mix / Version)
B2. Kim English – Tomorrow (Todd Edwards Dub)

LP TWO - PRODUCTIONS
A1. Daft Punk - Face To Face
A2. Todd Edwards – Shut The Door
B1. Todd Edwards – Push The Love
B2. Todd Edwards – The Dream

CD

CD ONE - REMIXES
01. Sound Of One - As I Am (Todd Edwards Mix)
02. Indo - R U Sleeping (Todd Edwards Mix)
03. St Germain - Alabama Blues (Todd Edwards Dub Mix)
04. MJ Cole - Crazy Love (Todd’s Save Your Cries Dub)
05. Moloko - Pure Pleasure Seeker (Todd Edwards Pleasure For Life UK Vocal)
06. Veda Simpson - Ooh Baby (Todd Edwards Dub)
07. Wretch 32 Featuring Etta Bond - Forgiveness (Todd Edwards Remix)
08. Wildchild - Jump To My Beat (Todd Edwards Jump Remix)
09. Beloved - 1000 Years From Today (Todd Edwards Dub)
10. Zoot Woman - Taken It All (Todd Edwards Soul Line Remix)
11 Robin S - Show Me Love (Todd Edwards Remix)

CD TWO - PRODUCTIONS
01. Daft Punk - Face To Face
02. Todd Edwards – Saved My Life
03. Todd Edwards – Shut The Door
04. Todd Edwards – Never Far From You
05. Todd Edwards – God Will Be There
06. Todd Edwards – Main Vibe
07. Todd Edwards – Winter Behaviour
08. Daft Punk Featuring Todd Edwards - Fragments Of Time
09. Todd Edwards – So Real
10. Todd Edwards – Perfect Love
11. Todd Edwards – Dancing For Heaven

TRACK LISTING

A. Tramhed 'U Better' (Sei A Remix)
B1. Peter O 'Formerly Known As' (Kris Wadsworth Hypnotize You Hoes Remix) B2. Shade Of Gray 'Just Do It Again' (Dominic Martin Remix)

Dom Thomas' NN Tapes goes digital with a series of strictly limited CD versions of his previously cassette-only compilations. Limited to just 30 copies for the World!

'I Dream In Colour Vol. One' offers a stream of conciousness, taking in film, library and world oddities from far flung destinations brought into sharp focus by Dom Thomas.

Dom Thomas' NN Tapes goes digital with a series of strictly limited CD versions of his previously cassette-only compilations. Limited to just 30 copies for the World!

'I Dream In Colour Vol. Two' offers a stream of conciousness, taking in film, library and world oddities from far flung destinations brought into sharp focus by Dom Thomas.

Original Soundtrack for A24’s I Saw The TV Glow, featuring 16 original songs by an all-star ensemble, including Caroline Polachek, Florist and Jay Som. Also featuring a vinyl-only exclusive bonus track, 'Tonight Tonight' by Snail Mail.

TRACK LISTING

1. Yeule - Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl
2. Frances Quinlan - Another Season
3. Caroline Polachek - Starburned And Unkissed
4. Florist - Riding Around In The Dark
5. Bartees Strange - Big Glow
6. Maria BC - Taper
7. King Woman - Psychic Wound
8. Jay Som - If I Could
9. L'Rain - Green
10. The Weather Station - Moonlight
11. Drab MAjesty - Photograph
12. Proper - The 90s
13. Sadurn - How Can I Get Out?
14. King Woman - Bury
15. Sloppy Jane Feat. Phoebe Bridgers - Claw Machine
16. Snail Mail - Tonight Tonight

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: AN OVERVIEW

• The Velvet Underground is regarded as one of the most influential bands in rock history.

• Their first 4 albums were included in Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

• Ranked 19th greatest artist by the same magazine and the 24th greatest artist in a poll by VH1.

• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

• Critic Robert Christgau considers them "the number three band of the '60s, after the Beatles and James Brown and His Famous Flames".

• AllMusic wrote that "Few rock groups can claim to have broken so much new territory, and maintain such consistent brilliance on record, as the Velvet Underground during their brief lifespan [...] the Velvets' innovations – which blended the energy of rock with the sonic adventurism of the avant-garde, and introduced a new degree of social realism and sexual kinkiness into rock lyrics – were too abrasive for the mainstream to handle."

TRACK LISTING

1. Sunday Morning – Michael Stipe (3:50)
2. I’m Waiting For The Man – Matt Berninger (3:44)
3. Femme Fatale – Sharon Van Etten (w/ Angel Olsen On Backing Vocals) (4:43)
4. Venus In Furs – Andrew Bird & Lucius (6:55)
5. Run Run Run – Kurt Vile (6:59)
6. All Tomorrow’s Parties – St. Vincent & Thomas Bartlett (4:52)
7. Heroin Feat. Bobby Gillespie– Thurston Moore Feat. Bobby Gillespie (7:24)
8. There She Goes Again – King Princess (3:29)
9. I’ll Be Your Mirror – Courtney Barnett (2:27)
10. The Black Angel’s Death Song – Fontaines D.C. (3:12)
11. European Sun – Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney (7:45)

Housed in a clambox featuring a lavishly illustrated and annotated 36-page booklet. Although vintage British psychedelia is viewed by many these days as an Alice In Wonderland-style enchanted garden full of beatific flower children innocently gathering flowers or chasing butterflies, there was always a more visceral element to the scene. Pointedly free of such fripperies as scarlet tunic-wearing gnomes, phenomenal cats and talismanic bicycles, the power trio format that was popularised by the likes of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience spawned a host of imitators.

Across three discs and four hours of music, I’m A Freak, Baby investigates that largely under-documented period, incorporating everything from some of the biggest names in the burgeoning hard rock/proto-metal firmament all the way down to a significant number of provincial semi-pro bands who gigged extensively but were unable to land a recording contract during their lifetime.

We feature some of British rock’s pioneering acts (The Yardbirds, The Move), a handful of bands who travelled far beyond their blues boom roots (Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, The Groundhogs), the infamous Ladbroke Grove scene (The Deviants, The Pink Fairies, Hawkwind, The Edgar Broughton Band), a smattering of inspired, where-the-hell-did-that-come-from one-shots like The Velvet Frogs and the mighty Egor, and a clutch of previously-unreleased recordings (The Kult, Hellmet, The Phoenix). 

Alfred E Neuman's alter ego MadDisco Edits has been making dance floors go mad with his resent vinyl releases, well now the man himself is releasing more edits but with a more Psychedelic/Balearic/Leftfield flavour on his new label Ideophone Records:

1. First up we have a super funked up tripped out affair, panning slide guitars with fx's galore and cymbals crashing all over the place, file under chilled out psychedelic explosion.

2. Next we have a Balearic and folk space trip, a truly beautiful ambient track with both acoustic and analog instruments including signing violins and an acoustic guitar that provides the rhythm to this chilled journey.

3. A simply divine little edit to get things going on the B side, again on a balearic folk tip with a gorgeous array of percussion instruments resulting in a tropical rhythm to die for with underlining melodies weaving away and sax solos towering over the top.

4. And finally we arrive in the future with this space tingled delight of an tune, vocoder, lush synths, chilled dope beats combining in a hypnotic track sure to put you into a trance, don't sleep on this one!!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Cast Your Fate To The Wind
A2. Echoes
B1. Angry Eyes
B2. Insomnia

Celebrating two decades of IF Music's scrupulous curation through its record shop, a thriving website, album reissues and compilations in collaboration with BBE Music, parties and radio shows, “IF Music Presents You Need This: 20 years” is a 9 track, double vinyl LP beautifully put together by Jean-Claude. Coming, as it does, as the 9th release in the “You Need This” series of compilations curated by Jean-Claude, this album features music that ranges from 1980 (Christine Schaller's spectacular “Fidji”) to exclusive tracks from the likes of Emanative & Liz Elensky (‘Fall Into Me’) and Tenderlonious (‘Dennison Point’) which both bring us up to the present day. It is Jean-Claude's remarkable ear for music that, as with all the previous “You Need This” releases, creates a wonderfully coherent journey through the decades across the four sides of this masterpiece of a compilation album. As mentioned earlier “You Need This: 20 Years” will be released as a double LP pressed on 180 gramme heavy vinyl, cut at 45rpm and on digital. Whether this starts, adds or completes your collection of Jean-Claude's “You Need This” series of compilations, “20 Years” is a must-have and indeed, you really do need this!

TRACK LISTING

1. Sunday Sea Improvisation – Tamar Osborn
2. Fidji – Christine Schaller
3. Fall In To Me (Alternate Version) – Emanative, Liz Elensky
4. Turkish Showbiz – Atilla Engin Group
5. Dennison Point – Tenderlonious
6. Adelie (For Lady D.) – Sylvain Kassap
7. We Are Not Invisible – Ola Szmidt
8. Big Kalimba – Greetje Bijma Kwintet
9. At The Speed Of Light – Sarathy Korwar

Thirteen wah-drenched acid-fried Hendrix-worshipping blown-out free love-fueled black rock jams that’ll change your life.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Three Days Ahead LPF - Rolling Love [Part 2]
2. Little Ed & The Soundmasters Band - It’s A Dream
3. The Basement - Funky Music (Messin’ With My Mind)
4. Directory - World And Creation
5. Stone Coal White - You Know
6. Creations Unlimited - Chrystal Illusion
SIDE B
8. Solid Gold Ft. Alexander Love - Message To Planet Earth
9. Iron Force - Sweet Poison
10. Sir Stanley - I Believe
11. Flying Wedge - I Can’t Believe
12. Muse - Sunshine Road
13. Iron Knowledge - Show-Stopper
14. The Young Senators - Ringing Bells (Sweet Music) [Part 2]

The concept of the compilation is very simple: Permanent Vacation asked their favorite producers if they could each contribute with an exclusive track for the compilation. All of these artists seem to work from very different angles at first glance. But from our point of view, they are all unified through a certain down to earth and back to the roots vision of house music that is more inspired by the time when disc jockeys cut the rhythm sections of the records one after another to create a steamy and sweaty atmosphere through the whole night than the streamlined excrescence of house music that got popular in the era of the super clubs.

Lluckily, almost everyone they asked was up for it, and if that wasn't enough they even got two new pairings of artists who gave their debut on our compilation: Soul Clap and Trickski teamed up for a slow house bomb, while Jacob Korn and Cuthead from the Uncanny Valley family also got creative. Together they morphed to the double-headed mythical creature Kornhead who can kill you with a single groove. We also get ace cuts from John Talabot and Pional, who both individually gave PV back their faith in new house music that doesn't sound like clones of the old masters. Talabot created "Leave Me" one of his most dance floorfriendly productions to date. Beautiful Swimmers drop their first release outside of their Future Times homebase and Slow Hands, after the success of his track "Rough Patch" on the Wolf + Lamb vs. Soul Clap DJ Kicks, brings us "Kreuzberg Blues". Which leads us directly to the big Berlin resident crew consisting of Hunee, Mano Le Tough and Session Victim. All three tracks are crackers. The same is true for Good Guy Mikesh & Filburt, who bewitched us with "Roamer". This time the Permanent Vacation producers also seized the chance to participate in the compilation with "Hendiadyoin" and an edit for the epic "Sightless Brightness" by the ever innovative Contra Communem Opinionem.

TRACK LISTING

01. Pional – Just Passing Through
02. Slow Hands – Kreuzberg Blues
03. Mano Le Tough – Let’s Not Talk About Love
04. Beautiful Swimmers – Excited
05. John Talabot – Leave Me (Friendly Pattern Version)
06. Jacob Korn & Cuthead – Ooohja
07. Hunee – A Study In Wild
08. Permanent Vacation – Hendiadyoin
09. Contra Communem Opinionem – Sightless Brightness (Permanent Vacation Edit)
10. Session Victim – Large Processor
11. Trickski & Soul Clap – Members Of The Clap
12. Good Guy Mikesh & Filburt – Roamer

If youʼre a fan of Daptone Records, chances are youʼve read or heard the name Victor Axelrod, and even if you havenʼt, youʼve heard music from his hand. As a producer, arranger, recording and mixing engineer, and keyboardist, his creativity has extended across more than two decades of the labelʼs releases, even dating to its prehistory with Desco Records.

If You Ask Me To..., the first LP under his name for the label, is a collection of singles released between 2007-2023 as well as unreleased tracks from Sugar Minott and Binky Griptite. The genesis of which came via an 11th hour request from Daptone for a Sharon Jones remix (2007) that resulted in the reggae version of “How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?” found here.

This opened the door to additional explorations of reggae/soul synergies within the catalog, affirming the musical and cultural link between Daptoneʼs core soul sound and Axelrodʼs passion for Jamaican music. While previous projects like Ticklah Vs. Axelrod and Roots Combination (produced under the alias Ticklah) were inspired by the Jamaica of the 1970s and 80s, this set specifically channels an earlier period in the 1960s when Jamaica was both strikingly original in its continuum of genres but also closely and empathetically attuned to Black American music.

Through Axelrodʼs exceptional taste and the notable contributions of guitarist Tom Brenneck, original tapes from Bob & Gene's MoDo discography, members of The Frightnrs, and others from the NYC reggae community, the legacy of trailblazing Jamaican artists like Alton Ellis, Tony Gregory, and Ken Parker continue to resonate and inspire a whole new generation of reggae and soul enthusiasts.

TRACK LISTING

One Step Ahead - Sugar Minott
If You Ask Me To - Leon Dinero
Whatcha Doing (to Me) - Charles Bradley
Icanbecool - Bob & Gene
Lover Like Me - Binky Griptite
I’d Rather Go Blind - The Frightnrs
I Can’t Stand These Lonely Nights - Bob & Gene
It’s Not What You Know (it’s Who You Know) - Bob & Gene
How Long Do I Have To Wait For You - Sharon Jones
Conscience Is Heavy - The Inversions

Besides being an excellent boogie pianist and guitarist supremo, Ike Turner shone as a top-notch composer, producer and talent scout. It's a fact that Ike was at the same professional level as some of the biggest names of the day, whom he worked with on a number of occasions. This new 45’s compilation shines light on this little-known aspect of his artistic career as the genius-behind-the-curtains in several recordings by other artists. Included are R&B essentials such as - My Real Gone Rocket or “I Ain’t Drunk” by the legendary Jackie Brenston and Lonnie the Cat, as well as obscure numbers - never re-issued till now - such as “Nobody Seems to Want me” by Jessie Knight, “Would You Rather” by Kenneth Churchill, the Starrs’ amazing cover of “Ain’t Got No Home” or Chuck Bernard’s “Calling Your Name”. Liner notes and discography/sessionography by Fred Rothwell.

Does the world need another compilation featuring ”Rocket 88”? Probably does, but it’s not included here.

Artists were asked to use Merzbow's album "Amlux" as an instrument in an original composition, rather than to perform the conventional remix. Hoping that this would allow the artist to flourish with greater creative freedom and a less restrictive context. Perhaps the beat oriented tracks, record scratching and vocals will annoy some noise purists, and perhaps the noisy sound collages will irritate others, but overall this collection of tracks from some of the best electronic artists working today will enlighten the listener. Tracks included are from DJ Spooky, Plug (Luke Vibert), Mouse On Mars, KK Null, Alec Empire, Kawabata Makoto, Cornelius, Kid 606, Negativland, Nobukazu Takemura, Atom TM, Chicks On Speed, Experimental Audio Research, Bola, Kim Hiorthoy Staalplaat Sound System, DJ/Rupture and many more.

Part of Be With x KPM Library Reissue Campaign, 2024 first time vinyl reissue, 140g vinyl.

Impossible to find in the wild, KPM's Image is exactly that; this record paints extraordinary, hyper-vivid scenes with music, in the way only the library greats can. Originally released in 1974, Image is an absolutely stunning listen from start to finish, and arguably the most wanted KPM grail that's still not been reissued - until now! Just too good…

Worth the price of admission alone, and likely the reason you're all already drooling about this release, the mellow, dramatic beat of "Image", Brian Bennett's opener and title track, is a Jaylib-sampled firecracker. A reflective, scenic underscore which grows to full orchestra and ends as it begins - it's just beautiful. Next up, swoon to "The Little Orphan" by Neil Richardson featuring strings and harp. It's a deeply emotive, sweeping orchestral piece. Just straight gorgeous. It's followed by "Paradise Island", a lush, horizontal Balearic gem courtesy of Gordon Rees and David Gold; it'll send you into a blissful reverie with its elegant strings and gentle drums. From the same pair, "Forbidden Fruit" is, again, string-drenched but the strings are more insistent, stabbing even, and, with drums and Blaxploitation guitars high up in the mix, it's definitely a funkier proposition. "The Enchantress", again a Rees-Gold special, is a slower, groovy, synthy wonder. Closing out the A-Side, "Phenomena" is a mysterious gem, a Gold solo effort set at a breezier tempo with propulsive percussion and head nod, fast-paced breaks with ace keys.

Flip over for "Infinite Expanse", John Scott's dramatic panorama adorned with proud, triumphant horns. Scott's "Static Objects" paints patient, pastoral scenes; there's a serenity and stillness to the proceedings. Next up, Be With favourite John Fiddy delivers shifting shapes and patterns with his wonderful "Metamorphosis", all wah wah, harps, dramatic percussion and strings. It's by turns billowy and blasting. "Cubist Pictures" follows, Neil Richardson's brilliant nebulous, fragmentary piece. Better yet, Richardson's gorgeous, beatless "Analysis" follows, and it's an orchestral beauty featuring cello, harps and woodwind. It's no exaggeration to describe this as transcendental. His "Crystal Ball" presents more static scenes with cello, twinkling percussion and strings, before Steve Gray's fantastically-titled softly-ace "Gliding Through Clouds" closes out this remarkable set.

As with all of our KPM re-issues, the audio for Image comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. And as usual, the sleeve reproduction duties were handed over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Brian Bennett - Image 4:29
A2 Neil Richardson - The Little Orphan 2:27
A3 David Gold / Gordon Rees - Paradise Island 2:19
A4 David Gold / Gordon Rees - Forbidden Fruit 2:19
A5 David Gold / Gordon Rees - The Enchantress 2:56
A6 David Gold - Phenomena 2:41
B1 John Scott - Infinite Expanse 1:46
B2 John Scott - Static Objects 2:31
B3 John Fiddy - Metamorphosis 2:37
B4 Neil Richardson - Cubist Pictures 2:12
B5 Neil Richardson - Analysis 2:04
B6 Neil Richardson - Crystal Ball 2:38
B7 Steve Gray - Gliding Through Clouds 2:55

Fantastic 16 track compilation that brings together pioneering acoustic guitar heroes of the 60s and 70s alongside a new generation of amazing players. Nearly 70 minutes of archival, live and newly recorded studio tracks – some by artists who haven't released any music in decades. Plus a deluxe booklet with producers notes and never before seen photographs. Features works by: Max Ochs, Brad Barr, Suni McGrath, Harris Newman, Harry Taussig, Jack Rose, Steve Mann, Glenn Jones, Gyan Riley and Terry Riley, Bern Nix, Bob Hadley, Janet Smith & Steve Mann, John Fahey, Kaki King, and Sandy Bull.

The essential contemporary guitar anthology series continues. Since 2005, Tompkins Square label's 'Imaginational Anthem' compilations have featured some of the greatest acoustic guitarists in the world, with recordings spanning five decades. More than mere samplers, these albums have served as state-of-the-art dispatches from the front lines of the art form. The first three volumes, available as a low-priced box set, intermingled generations of American Primitive players - lost, forgotten masters next to contemporary players. Volume 4 saw a departure from that formula, featuring only new jack players. Volume 5, available November 13, also features the current crop of younger players, but with a twist. This is the first volume not compiled by Tompkins Square's Josh Rosenthal. Instead, he recruited guitarist Sam Moss. "I felt I'd exhausted most of the older guys I wanted to dig up, and I wasn't hearing that much new guitar that I really liked. I sensed that Sam knew what was going on." The result is a gorgeous panoramic view of contemporary guitar, full of agile finger-style, and a few jagged detours.

TRACK LISTING

1. Temple Walk - Steve Gunn
2. I Think We'll Be Happy Here- Jordan Fuller
3. Lookout Point- Danny Paul Grody
4. There Is A Place In This Old Town- Nick Schillace
5. Hemet Pine Singer- Will Stratton
6. John Fahey Commemorative Beer Can- Bill Orcutt
7. Confederate Rose- Daniel Bachman
8. Through A House Of Violet Abandon- Eric Carbonara
9. Her Unmediated Eyes- Tom Lecky
10. Standing At The Entrance Of A Hidden City- Alexander Turnquist
11. Modern Man In Search Of A Song- Cam Deas
12. Rivers Gone Badly Wrong- Yair Yona

Curated by in-demand Nashville pedal steel maverick and Third Man recording artist Luke Schneider, the eleventh volume of Tompkins Square’s venerable Imaginational Anthem acoustic guitar series features exclusive tracks by legend BJ Cole, as well as leading exponents on the instrument including Susan Alcorn, Luke himself, and British expat /Nashville hotshot Spencer Cullum among others. Nashville native and Merge recording artist William Tyler has written a beautiful detailed history of the pedal steel for the package (CD & LP versions only).

TRACK LISTING

1. BJ Cole - Ely Revisited
2. Jonny Lam - Rainbow Across The Valley
3. Rocco DeLuca - Many Singing Softly
4. Luke Schneider - Yosemite
5.Spencer Cullum - An Ode To Dungeness
6. Barry Walker, Jr. - I Will Tread Upon The Lion And The Cobra
7. Susan Alcorn - Gilmore Blue
8. Maggie Bjorklund - Lysglimt
9. Will Van Horn - Attwater

Michael Chapman (1941-2021) released his debut album Rainmaker in 1969 on Harvest. He went on to release over fifty albums and influence many with his evocative songwriting and guitar prowess. From heady jams to expressive ballads to experimental noise, Chapman’s work continues to inspire. Tompkins Square recruited Henry Parker to curate a collection of covers by working musicians from Chapman’s home turf in Northern England. With stunning artwork by local artist Bunty Marshall mapping the important places in Michael’s life, this 12th volume of Tompkins Square’s Imaginational Anthem series is the ultimate tribute to a very dearly missed artist.

Notes from Henry Parker: Tompkins Square approached me in Autumn 2022 about putting together a tribute album to Michael Chapman who had passed away one year ago, on my birthday, in 2021. I remember it well; Michael Chapman had always been a huge inspiration to me since starting out on the acoustic guitar and was the first artist I had heard who played the instrument with that heavy thumb, drop tuned sound. I first got the chance to see him live at the Bradford experimental music festival Threadfest in 2015 and then went on to watch him play many more times, in the northern towns of Halifax, Hebden Bridge and Preston, also getting the chance to support him on a couple of his Yorkshire dates in 2018, in Saltaire and his hometown of Leeds. With both Michael Chapman and myself proudly coming from the county of Yorkshire in northern England, Tomkins Square and I decided to make this compilation decidedly Yorkshire focused, bringing together seven other artists from the county who have drawn influence from the profound music of this man.

[For those who don’t know, Yorkshire is an area that spans much of northern England, with its people taking great pride in the county, never too seriously, and poking fun at the “soft south” or it’s near neighbour Lancashire.] Michael’s sound always spanned from introspective folk songwriting to more experimental forms and naturally so does this album, created for Tompkins Square. When it came to choosing musicians to contribute to the record, I was grateful for the Yorkshire limitation on who I could draw from, as the resulting album is comprised of eight artists, who have all shared stages with each other across the folk and experimental scenes in the area. The lack of “bigger” names on the record feels natural, there’s no ego about this project as there never was with Michael, who always seemed content touring the smaller clubs and making records for anyone who was interested.

The artwork for the project came together organically, and firmly within the Yorkshire cottage industry. Two months before I was asked to put this album together, I had played a show in Leeds for the launch of a new zine, centred on folklore and mythology. The artist and founder of the zine Bunty has an exceptional eye for detail and a profound love of Yorkshire landscape and culture. Her intricate maps and illustrations created for ‘Hwaet’ zine were the perfect starting point the for this record, and the cover art and inner sleeve is an ocean of detail for Michael Chapman’s incredible life, music and his connection to Yorkshire.

TRACK LISTING

In The Valley - Henry Parker
Caddo Lake - Dean Mcphee
You Say - Katie Spencer
Heat Index - Bobby Lee
March Rain - Holly Blackshaw
(some) Trains - Andrew Dr Abbott
Kodak Ghosts – Hawthonn
Among The Trees - Chris Brain

Released in October 2005, "Imaginational Anthem Volume One" featured two generations of important acoustic guitarists, from John Fahey and Sandy Bull to Jack Rose and Kaki King. Volume Two expands and builds on this theme with 70+ more minutes of guitar magic. 23-year old UK 12-string upstart James Blackshaw opens the record, while the late master Robbie Basho, a clear influence on Blackshaw's style, closes it. Basho's track is the only live recording by this groundbreaking guitarist ever released. Riches abound with new recordings by former Takoma roster alumni Peter Lang (who made an album with John Fahey and Leo Kottke), Billy Faier (an original Greenwich Village folkie who's late 50s Riverside records inspired a fellow crack banjo player, Steve Martin) and an archival home recording by Fred Gerlach (a favorite of Jimmy Page). The new breed is well-represented by fascinating figures of today - Smith, Christina Carter, Jesse Sparhawk, Sharron Kraus, Jack Rose and James Blackshaw. Legendary singer/songwriter Michael Chapman, whose first albums for the Harvest label in the 60s are now seeing the light again, contributes as well.

In the early 90s, a number of bands exploring the daring side of guitar pop and rock started to emerge in the UK. Most were new, some included members of 80s groups looking for new directions. They were supported by established independent labels such as Rough Trade and 4AD/Guernica and new ventures like Too Pure or Domino.

Influenced by the legacy of post-punk, minimalism, 70s art rock and a growing electronic scene, their first releases were enthusiastically received by the media. This included a 1994 article in The Wire where journalist Simon Reynolds used the term “post-rock” to refer to some of them: Bark Psychosis, Disco Inferno, Moonshake, Seefeel, Main, Pram, Insides…

Even though these bands didn’t sound alike, they seemed to share an ethos of deconstruction and were interested in the possibilities of studio manipulation. Calling their music post-rock meant that it still had a link with established rock music, even as it picked it apart and made something new from its component parts.

However, 1994 was also the first year when Britpop dominated the UK charts and music press, and the contemporary artists featured on this collection felt their already-small window of exposure shrinking. Still, away from the limelight, they released innovative records that were lauded worldwide and have since acquired cult status.

The second part of the 90s brought a new crop of groups and “bedroom” labels that carried on this forward-thinking attitude to music, unburdened by genre notions and open-minded.

“In The Light Of Time” is the first compilation to survey this period and scene of UK music. If they were released today, these tracks would probably be described as post-punk, art rock or leftfield pop. But beyond any tags or labels, they remain as inventive and captivating as when they first came out.

TRACK LISTING

1. Second Language - Disco Inferno
2. Naturally Occurring Anchors – Spoonfed Hybrid
3. City Poison - Moonshake
4. Every Day Shines (D Mix) - Earwig
5. In The Light Of Time - Flying Saucer Attack
6. Starry Night - Laika
7. Spectra Decay - Main
8. Darling Effect - Insides
9. Loose Threads - Pram
10. A Cheery Wave From Stranded Youngsters - Mogwai
11. In The Event Of Just Looking - Appliance
12. (The) Weight - Hood
13. A Street Scene - Bark Psychosis
14. I Am The Sub-Librarian - Piano Magic
15. Play Away - Electric Sound Of Joy
16. Sun Drawing - Movietone
17. Through You - Seefeel