Limited to only 200 copies this firey reissue of 2PAC & Ice Cube is the hot stuff we've been waiting for to get this Summer on the road. Don't wait around on this one, it's sure to fly out of here. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. 2Pac - California Love (feat Dr Dre)
B1. Ice Cube - Jackin For Beats

Influential jazz collective Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids return with an epic new opus, ‘Shaman!’, featuring a fresh line-up including original 1970s Pyramids member Dr. Margaux Simmons on flute Bobby Cobb on guitar, long-term associate Sandra Poindexter on violin, Ruben Ramos on bass, Gioele Pagliaccia on drums and Jack Yglesias on percussion. The band transitions from the political and social commentaries of 2018’s acclaimed ‘An Angel Fell’ into more introspective themes. “I wanted to use this album to touch on some of the issues that we all face as individuals in the inner space of our souls and our conscience,” explains Ackamoor. “The album unfolds over four Acts with personal musical statements about love and loss, mortality, the afterlife, family and salvation.”

Evolving around Ackamoor’s intricate compositions, the album takes us effortlessly across moods and emotions through a series of expansive, extended pieces. Starting with ritual, soul-searching, and masculine vulnerability on the title track, the band explores timeless existence on ‘Eternity’ and mourns the sudden loss of loved ones in the prescient ‘When Will I See You Again?’, a track which gains new relevance amidst the current COVID-19 crisis. Ackamoor pays tribute to his mentor Cecil Taylor on the angular ‘Theme For Cecil’ and renders homage to the ancestors on ‘Salvation’ and ‘The Last Slave Ship’, recalling the last ship to bring slaves to the US from Africa, the Clotilda. The superb ‘Virgin’ is an anthem of forgiveness, new beginnings and self-healing.

TRACK LISTING

1. Shaman!
2. Tango Of Love
3. Eternity
4. When Will I See You Again?
5. Salvation
6. Theme For Cecil
7. Virgin
8. The Last Slave Ship
9. Dogon Mysteries

2024 ushers in a brand new Barry Adamson album entitled, ‘Cut To Black’ The album swaggeringly embraces Adamson’s trademark genre hopping compositions, covering Pop, Soul, Jazz, Hip Hop and Gospel.

A must for fans of all things Cinematic Soul, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Post Punk, Massive Attack, Unloved and much more

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There's an element (and not only in the cover) of Film Noire in Adamson's work, with the storytale lyricism and staggered-cool of the instrumentation, but there's also a lot more at play here. There are hints of slow-moving soul and soaring gospel hints woven through Adamson's thoroughly unique indie-rock backdrop, resulting in a varied and entirely singular album.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Last Words Of Sam Cooke
2. Demon Lover
3. Cut To Black
4. Manhattan Satin
5. These Would Be Blues
6. Please Don’t Call On Me
7. Amen White Jesus
8. One Last Midnight
9. Was It A Dream?
10. Waiting For The End Of Time

Having already forged a scene-shifting career as a DJ, producer, remixer and collaborator, it was only in 2013 that Erol Alkan released a debut EP, 'Illumination' on his label Phantasy. Its shimmering opener was 'A Hold On Love', the soaring, glossy chords that have remained a staple in Alkan's DJ sets in the decade since.

Upon its tenth anniversary, Alkan presents two subtle but hugely effective reworks that transport one of the London producer's most enduring tracks onto contrasting dance floors.

The '(dyna-mix)' finds canyons of heady dub and psychedelia among halcyon chords, first means tested on wide-eyed crowds at Houghton Festival and throughout Alkan's ongoing 'To The Rhythm' all-nighters. Meanwhile, the '(trip-mix)' subtly lifts the energy for a pacier take, rich in reverie yet without sacrificing the detail and musicality always at the centre of Alkan's still fertile blend of house, electro, techno and alternative sensibilities.

The two tracks are available pressed onto extremely limited edition vinyl featuring manually screen printed sleeves, hand numbered by Erol himself. 300 copies only.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Reminiscent of some lost Kevin Saunderson nugget, but with added stadium-busting energy; two fresh takes on a certified Erol Alkan banger that'll obliterate any large arena.

TRACK LISTING

A. A Hold On Love (dyna-mix) 
AA. A Hold On Love (trip-mix) 

Horace Andy [a.k.a.Sleepy] must possess one of the sweetest and most distinctive voices in reggae music. 1951 in Kingston Jamaica. He cut his first track in 1966 for producer George ‘Phil’ Pratt, a tune called ‘Black Man’s Country’. But it was four years later his star really began to shine when he joined the stable of Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd’s Studio One. It was Coxsone Dodd who renamed him Andy after another of his leading artists Bob Andy, such was his belief in Horace’s writing talent and singing abilities. Still only twenty years of age Horace used his falsetto talent to the fore and cut some impressive tracks at 13 Brentford Road, Studio One’s headquarters. Such reggae standards as ’Skylarking’, ‘Just Say Who’, ‘Love of a Women’ and ‘Something on my Mind’ to name but a few. The early 1970’s saw Horace due to political reasons move on to work with producer Bunny Lee, a move that suited his talents and beliefs, Horace being an early advocate to the Rastafarian faith.The tracks which he cut with Bunny, which we concentrate on here gave his songs a rootsy feel. The rhythms often cut at Channel ONE and Randy’s Studio17 and finalised at King Tubby’s, provided a fine backbone for Horace to recut some of his earlier classics, along side his newer songs also to become reggae standards. Like ‘Money Money’, ‘Zion Gate’ the great ‘You are my Angel’ and a version of The Heptones ‘My Guiding Star’. The power of these recordings were such that the earlier tracks like ‘Skylarking’ became hits a second time around.Proving that the ‘you can’t keep a good tune down’ mantra was alive and kicking… …A golden time for Horace and Reggae music in general… Horace would go on to work with other producers like Everton Da Silva in 1977 creating the ‘In the Light’ album and the New York based Lloyd ‘Wackies’ Barnes in the 1980’s for his ‘Dancehall Style’ recordings. Most recently his work with Massive Attack has brought his majestic voice full circle and back into the arena once more. Those ‘Massive’ recordings and this dub collection here seem to fit side by side. Horace’s distinctive vocal riding over the rhythms adding a magic as only he can .....

RESPECT JAH FLOYD.

TRACK LISTING

1 Why Oh Why Dub
2 Dub Larking
3 Zion Dub
4 Dub Money 
5 A True Dub
6 Dub Guidance
7 Dub Say Who
8 Dub On My Mind
9 Love Of A Dub Band
10 Use This Dub
11 Dub Letter
12 Dub Angel
13 Bless This Dub*
14 Dub Ah Fulfil*
*CD Bonus Track

Numero’s second bundle of cover 45s is all things soulful. This, the first in the series sees Rotterdam-based Another Taste electrify Maxx Traxx’s 1984 Chicago boogie grail “Don’t Touch It,” which makes its debut on the 7” format here.

Later in the series we have Colemine Records’ Say She She delivering a glamorous rendition of Jim Spencer’s yacht-disco hit “Wrap Myself Up In Your Love.”

And even later Columbia Recording artist Leon Bridges effortlessly transforms Pastor T.L. Barrett’s “Like A Ship,” updating the 50 year old gospel soul classic for the 21st century.

All include the OG and cover version on one side each, and all three are housed in a newly imagined Numero custom sleeve, reflecting the many shades of our ongoing Eccentric Soul 45 imprint.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Another Taste's cover of "Don't Touch It" caused an almighty rukus on Space Grapes earlier in the year. Mega that Numero have licensed it alongside the original in tidy 7" format. First of three in what's looking like a very promising and collectable series of records.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Another Taste - Don’t Touch It
B1. Maxx Traxx - Don’t Touch It

In celebration of the label's 25th anniversary, Strut have released a special edition of a landmark album within the realm of African music - Mulatu Astatke's 'Mulatu Of Ethiopia’. Recorded in New York in 1972, this pivotal album marks a juncture in Astatke's musical journey when he adeptly fused various styles to craft the distinctive genre known as Ethio-jazz.

For this special edition, the release features the original stereo mix of the full album, as well as a special ‘mono-mix’ of each track retrieved from the original 2" tapes, pressed on opaque white vinyl 2LP.

TRACK LISTING

1. Mulatu (Stereo Mix)
2. Mascaram Setaba (Stereo Mix)
3. Dewel (Stereo Mix)
4. Kulunmanqueleshi (Stereo Mix)
5. Kasalefkut-Hulu (Stereo Mix)
6. Munaye (Stereo Mix)
7. Chifara (Stereo Mix)
8. Mulatu (Mono Mix)
9. Mascaram Setaba (Mono Mix)
10. Dewel (Mono Mix)
11. Kulunmanqueleshi (Mono Mix)
12. Kasalefkut-Hulu (Mono Mix)
13. Munaye (Mono Mix)
14. Chifara (Mono Mix)

Whatever and Ever Amen is the sophomore album from alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five. Originally released in 1997, the album features fan favorite songs like "Brick", "Kate", and "Song for the Dumped.”

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces
Fair
Brick
Song For The Dumped
Selfless, Cold And Composed

SIDE B
Kate
Smoke
Cigarette
Steven’s Last Night In Town
Battle Of Who Could Care Less
Missing The War
Evaporated 

Inspired by the Buddhist sutras, Blitzen Trapper's radiant new album, 100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions, offers a captivating take on rebirth and transcendence, navigating its way through the space beyond dreams and reality, beyond gods and mortals, beyond life and death.

The songs here are as sincere as they are surreal, rooted in rich character studies and deep reflection, and the production is intoxicating to match, blending lo- fi intimacy and trippy psychedelia into a mesmerizing swirl of analog and electronic sounds. Add it all together and you've got a gorgeous collection of stripped-down bedroom folk wrapped in lush layers of synthesizers and washed out electric guitars, a poignant, expansive exploration of perception and purpose that manages to look both forwards and backwards all at once.

Launched roughly two decades ago in Portland, OR, Blitzen Trapper broke out internationally with 2008's Furr, which cemented their status at the forefront of the modern indie folk revival. Rolling Stone hailed the band's "hazy, psychedelic Americana," while NPR praised their "explosive live performances and infectious roots- rock swagger." Dates with Fleet Foxes, Wilco, and Dawes followed, as did festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk, and Coachella, among others. The band would go on to release six more similarly lauded studio albums, culminating with 2020's Holy Smokes Future Jokes, which Mojo proclaimed "sound[s] like the Beatles at Big Pink."

TRACK LISTING

Ain't Got Time To Fight
Dead God Of The Green Arising
Cosmic Backseat Education
Hesher In The Rain
Cheap Fantastical Takedown
So Divine
Planetarium
Hello Hallelujah
Long Game
View From Jackson Hill
Upon The Chain
Bear's Head
At The Cove

A lot of water has flown under the bridge since Błoto released their last album. Sadly, in Polish rivers it wasn't just water flowing, but also all sorts of sewage of unknown origin, which destroyed the condition of these once vibrant bodies of water; it eventually led to a real catastrophe on the Odra River, which, after all, surrounds the entire city of Wroclaw, the band's birthplace. It is time for a decisive response. Błoto is making a comeback with a seven-inch vinyl and their first singles in over two years - "Szlam" and "Ścieki".

Climate change had already led to a permanent hydrological drought, which was echoed on Erozje LP. Today, as many as 91.5 percent of Poland's rivers are in very poor condition. It is not only drought that threatens rivers, but also excessive salinity. This is precisely the kind of disaster that happened on the Odra river. It resulted in 360 tonnes of dead fish and death of the river along a stretch of almost 500 km, and the reason for that was short-sighted human activity that could have been avoided. Still, the decision was made to turn the river into a cesspool.

Two years of hiatus is far too long. During this time, reality has not let up for a moment, providing new inspiration. Szlam (eng. sludge) is the sediment that forms on the river bed and sometimes the river banks. The Polish word derives from German (Schlamm), which means swamp - or mud. Szlam is therefore a sticky and unsettling remorse that rests somewhere at the bottom of the human consciousness.

In "Szlam" and "Ścieki" tracks, you will not only hear references to Erozje, but also to Kwasy i Zasady LP. For it is also a metaphor for everything that pours out of the media, smartphones, and then flows into one's head. The constant bickering, conflicts and dirty play in political campaigns, scandals to which we are already numb. On top of this, hate speech, low-quality stupefying influencer content, resulting in an ever-decreasing cultural capital of a society that breeds conformists, individualistically-minded egoists and mindless consumers. This state of affairs spawns a society of egoists, incapable of critical reflection, questioning and rebelling against reality.

The sound and genres explored by the band are, as usual, difficult to pigeonhole. These two musical miniatures contain a lot of anxious and neurotic sounds, as well as synth glitches evoking emotions such as fear, anger, sadness and guilt. The quartet consisting of Wuja HZG, OlafSaxx, Cancer G and Latarnik managed to distill this mental state by encapsulating it in shades of breakbeat ("Szlam"), and broadly defined house music ("Ścieki").

TRACK LISTING

A1. Szlam
B1. Scienki

Originally released, this soulful gem has maintained its status as a sought-after treasure by DJs and electronic music enthusiasts for years. A favourite of Floating Points, Jeremy Underground and Frederika

With original copies becoming more and more elusive, and only released on poor quality styrene, the decision to reissue this soulful gem was an easy one.

Celestial Echo proudly presents the re- issue on a limited edition 7-inch vinyl re- cord, remastered and pressed on heavyweight vinyl for an authentic ana- log experience. This exclusive release is adorned with a striking picture sleeve and redesigned labels, adding a con- temporary touch to this soulful master- piece.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Dreams For Sale
B1. The Number For Groove

Neon Pill is the highly anticipated new album from Cage The Elephant, and group’s first new music since their album, Social Cues, which won Best Rock album at the 2019 GRAMMY Awards. Cage The Elephant consists of brothers Matt Shultz (vocals) and Brad Shultz (rhythm guitar) along with Daniel Tichenor (bass), Jared Champion (drums), Nick Bockrath (lead guitar) and Matthan Minster (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals).

New Album From The Most Danceable Post-Punk Pop Band In The UK.

It’s like something has exploded!

CRUMBS have been incubating this, their second album, for a few years now. Who knows how they kept all the energy in check. It must have been like sitting on a volcano. The songs burst out with pure pop fire, sending splinters of guitar, sharp lyrics and snatches of the catchiest backing vocals.

The rhythm section (Jamie and Gem): it’s like Delta 5 meeting Le Tigre in a dark alley in Leeds, fusing blindly and completely, and then forcing its way into the back entrance of a venue, sending volts through the limbs of the unwitting punters, forcing them to dance. This is TIGHT.

And as the lights come on and the indie kids throw themselves around, Ruth’s vocals sweetly assault their ears with anger, joy, political intelligence - and all around, Stuart’s guitar, sometimes twangly-melodic like the B52s, sometimes sweet and ringing like a memory of Scars, sometimes furious and feeding back, keeps you alert and thirsty for more.

These songs do NOT outstay their welcome. Starts and ends are cut hard: no pre-echo, no wistful, drawn-out regretful fade-outs. CRUMBS have imbibed the key lessons taught by The Gang Of Four and The Au Pairs: never let the energy dissipate. But there is more than anger here. The band have smuggled a pop sweetness into the disciplined shapes of their angular songs. You’re Just Jealous has sharp edges, but it’s generous too.

TRACK LISTING

1. You’re Just Jealous
2. Stab Alley
3. Dear Deirdre
4. Diy Sos
5. Rest In Pieces
6. Let’s Not
7. 4291
8. Call Now
9. What’s It Means
10. Sad Snoopy
11. Mambo No.6
12. Too Many Creeps 

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Cymande’s 'Promised Heights', a record that closed out an historic three album run of seminal early '70s Afro-soul that also included their 1972 self-titled debut and 1973’s Second Time Round. Promised Heights solidified Cymande’s place in music history, and contains some of their most-beloved and often-sampled tracks such as “Brothers On The Slide”. As children of the Windrush Generation, Cymande were part of the first wave of innovators and originators of the fledgling Black British music scene. Taking influences from their Guyanese and Jamaican roots, the band fused reggae bass lines, Afro-tinged Nyabinghi percussion, psychedelic rock touches, and American style funk instrumentation into a unique sound they dubbed as “Nyah-rock.” Promised Heights was recorded following the band’s US tour with Al Green, which had firmly planted Cymande in the ears of an adoring American audience. Cymande were also the first British band to ever play the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Pon De Dungle
A2. Equatorial Forest
A3. Brothers On The Slide
A4. Changes
A5. Breezeman
B1. Promised Heights
B2. Losin' Ground
B3. Leavert
B4. The Recluse
B5. Sheshamani

Previously only available in Europe in limited quantities, this is the first time many fans will be able to get their hands on a double vinyl copy of "The Mouse and the Mask".

Lex has a history of lavish packaging but this remains one of the lushest sleeves in the catalogue. Design by EHQuestionmark, the outer sleeve is made from thick translucent textured plastic with DOOM's mask printed on cover, and mouse ears on each side of the mask forming a pattern that looks like a Rorschach test (a technique reused in another Danger Mouse project six months later). The inner sleeves, visible through the outer at first glance pattern based on an Ishihara test, but inside the circles in the pattern are tiny icons depicting a different disasters - climate change, acid rain, holy war, nuclear leaks.

"The Mouse and the Mask" was produced by Lex super-producer Danger Mouse and masked supervillain MF DOOM. The album features Cee-Lo Green (also of Gnarls Barkley), Talib Kweli, Ghostface Killah, Money Mark and the cast of cult cartoon show Aqua Teen Hunger Force and ten years on remains DOOM's best selling album to date.

TRACK LISTING

A1. El Chupa Nibre
A2. Sofa King
A3. The Mask
A4. Perfect Hair
B1. Benzie Box
B2. Old School
B3. ATHF
C1. Basket Case
C2. No Names
C3. Crosshairs
C4. Mince Meat
D1. Vats Of Urine
D2. Space Ho's
D3. Bada Bing

An integral figurehead of the new hardcore revivalists, Dawl drops a three razor sharp EPs on the newly minted Under The Radar. Hyped up breaks, bleep melodies, square bass and undiluted rave energy are order of the day as he updates the formula laid down by the early 90s pioneers. Part 1 of a three part series. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Finally someone to give DJ Absolutely Shit some competition on the waltzers. DAWL heads up the southern charge with a 3 part EP series of hardcore, acid and bleeps n bass carnage.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Are You Ready 
2. Chamber 
Side 2
1. Azeotrope 
2. Automatik 

An integral figurehead of the new hardcore revivalists, Dawl drops a three razor sharp EPs on the newly minted Under The Radar. Hyped up breaks, bleep melodies, square bass and undiluted rave energy are order of the day as he updates the formula laid down by the early 90s pioneers. EP 2 of a three part series. 

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Unleash The Sound
2. Sound Reckage 
Side 2
1. Visitor 
2. The Land Of Those Beyond 

An integral figurehead of the new hardcore revivalists, Dawl drops a three razor sharp EPs on the newly minted Under The Radar. Hyped up breaks, bleep melodies, square bass and undiluted rave energy are order of the day as he updates the formula laid down by the early 90s pioneers. Third EP in a three part series. 

TRACK LISTING

Hear This 
Dark Chemistry
Mindtrix
I Control The Energy 

In 2023, Death Cult returned and reunited for a handful of performances. In 2024, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of The Cult, Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy have curated the previously released Death Cult collection 'Ghost Dance', and recompiled the tracks for a 2024 release titled 'Paradise Now'. 

Southern Death Cult formed in 1981, releasing their sole, self-titled album posthumously in 1983. That same year, Death Cult formed, with Astbury joining forces with Duffy for a musical partnership that has endured for 40-plus years. The band released two 12-inches that same year, one being the 'Death Cult EP', which were subsequently combined and released as a CD. Death Cult is a vital transmission from the generation of Shamanic post-punk gothic futurists. In late 2023, Astbury and Duffy reformed Death Cult for a series of live performances including a sole U.S. date at The Theatre at The Ace Hotel in Los Angeles and a limited run of U.K. dates including back-to-back sold out shows at the Brixton Electric. Death Cult became The Cult in 1984, releasing Dreamtime that same year. The seminal post-punk band has gone on to sell in excess of four million albums with numerous international and U.S. gold and platinum certifications.

Ian Astbury (vocals) and Billy Duffy (guitar) have released 11 studio albums over The Cult’s 40-year career. The band, dubbed “Shamanic goths” by Classic Rock Magazine, found international renown with the 1985 album, 'Love', which featured the enduring rock anthem “She Sells Sanctuary,” as well as the oft-heard follow-up single “Rain.” Electric arrived in 1987, with Rolling Stone saying the collection of songs (particularly “Love Removal Machine,” “Wild Flower” and “Lil’ Devil”) “swaggers, crunches and howls.” Most recently, The Cult released Under the Midnight Sun. Mojo, in a review of the eight-song album, said “rock’s unquenchable melodramatists have the fire in their eyes still”.

TRACK LISTING

1. Horse Nation
2. Ghost Dance
3. Brothers Grimm
4. Christians
5. Gods Zoo (These Times)
6. A Flower In The Desert
7. Butterflies
8. With Love (Sea And Sky)

Funky hip hip hop beats as only DJ Soopasoul can make 'em - double mix = double the pleasure

TRACK LISTING

1. It Ain't Hard To Tell (Mix 1)
2. It Ain't Hard To Tell (Mix 2)

The reissue of DJ Tron Feathers Of Funk instrumental full-on funk high energy while containing some essence of Hip Hop which elevates it to new heights. It's super limited to only 90 copies on yellow vinyl so don't hang about on this. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. American Dipper
A2. Masked Water Tyrant
A3. Bluethroat
A4. Wallcreeper
A5. Yellowhammer
B1. Northern Screamer
B2. Goldcrest
B3. Crimson Topaz
B4. Redwing
B5. Alpine Swift
B6. Invisible Rail

Ned Doheny’s Hard Candy, originally released in 1976, is widely considered the finest blue-eyed soul album of all time. It has long been a source of great frustration then, that this perfectly-formed Southern California masterpiece has been unavailable on vinyl for almost 40 years.

Be With Records continues apace by marking its third release with the first officially licensed reissue of Doheny’s nautical classic. Perhaps most famously, this impeccably smooth set features the timeless “Get It Up For Love”, a wonderful example of mid-70s mid-tempo white-(hot)-funk.

Produced by the legendary Steve Cropper, it featured a veritable who’s-who of the Laurel Canyon soft-yacht sound (JD Souther, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, the entire horn section for Tower of Power!) yet bombed mysteriously. It’s been a cult record since.

Pressed on audiophile 180g vinyl and featuring the original artwork for both jacket and full colour inner sleeve, this limited reissue is one not to be missed.

TRACK LISTING

A1: Get It Up For Love (4:42)
A2: If You Should Fall (3:36)
A3: Each Time You Pray (3:39)
A4: When Love Hangs In The Balance (5:12)
B1: A Love Of Your Own (3:46)
B2: I’ve Got Your Number (3:15)
B3: On The Swingshift (3:03)
B4: Sing To Me (3:37)
B5: Valentine (I Was Wrong About You) (5:07)

December 2012 I showed up totally exhausted in Vancouver BC after touring stupidly and relentlessly for however many straight months and got a job at a call centre raising money for the Red Cross. It was a scent free office but one time this woman cooked a piece of fish in the microwave for 10 minutes on low and hot boxed the whole office - we got sent home early no pay. There was the other woman I named the Call Centre Coltrane because her pitch and routine usually involved improvised flights of fancy that went off in both directions at once somehow landing back down with a credit card number and a donation. I used to sleep under the desk. I was there a few months and at the time I reconnected with John Brennan who I had played with briefly in Montreal at the Mutek Festival. In Montreal John was running an experimental music night at a burrito shop downtown called Garbage Night. While in Vancouver I began connecting with the music scene there and would go hang out with the Shearing Pinx lads who I think lived with Sydney the bass player at the time. I knew Nic and Jer from an AIDS Wolf Tour and was so stoked to get to know them both better. I really fell in love with that era of Vancouver's music scene.

Fast Forward to today. 2024

Actually it was the dying days of 2023 but you get it and John asks if I'll sit in with Earth Ball and I keep thinking about Earth Balance, the vegan butter everyone eats here. I brought my aching bones and my ipads on the beautiful ferry named the Queen of Oak Bay and out to Nanaimo BC, home of the nanaimo bar (a dessert treat - special to this region - that seems to be more popularly found under the weird glass sneeze guards in office building deli's out east in Ontario.... anyhoops ). No one in Nanaimo wants to talk to me about the famous treat. I asked a couple of people. Silence. Nanaimo is like London, Ontario but more fried and by the sea. The town is filled with blown out old sea dawgs with tin coffee pots and loose leaf tobacco, then there's the usual streetfolk you find in this part of the Canadian Pacific Northwest and a bunch of bohemians who I guess have left Vancouver behind - that fine city having become uninhabitable for those not making over 100k a year. And then up the way are all the retirees. Yup Nanaimo is a strange one. They mined the shit out of this region and Nanaimo is surely haunted by those buried in mining shafts or maimed by the heavy machinery or blown up by accident in the explosives store house. And when Earth Ball fire up the amps in Izzy and Jer's basement you can hear the voices of the ghosts hum through electrical lines and out the speakers, Kellen's hued feedback, Izy's sturdy basslines, Jer's paperbag guitar tone and rumble pack zaps, Liam's (aka the Kid) sheets of sound and Brennen's multidirectional drums. You wouldn't guess Earth Ball was auto-composing and from what my rat brain can tell - the lyrics are improvised too...Improvising lyrics and singing them is the hardest thing to do in all of music.. Izzy and Jer are pros. And their attitudes are pro too.

TRACK LISTING

1. Moon FM
2. Antifreeze
3. Through & Through
4. A Need To Cool Down
5. Flash In The Pan
6. Hollowgramma

Billie Eilish’s third studio album, "Hit Me Hard And Soft", released via Darkroom/Interscope Records is her most daring body of work to date, a diverse yet cohesive collection of songs— ideally listened to in its entirety from beginning to end—does exactly as the album title suggests; hits you hard and soft both lyrically and sonically, while bending genres and defying trends along the way. With the help of her brother and sole collaborator, Finneas, the pair wrote, recorded, and produced the album together in their hometown of Los Angeles. This album comes on the heels of her two massively successful albums “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" and "Happier Than Ever" and works to further develop the world of Billie Eilish. 

This EP focusses primarily on two releases: "Energy Exchange Records Vol. I" and 30/70's "Art Make Love". In the spirit of the Energy Exchange family, they have shared the duties of remixing / re-imaging some of their most in demand cuts from the year utilizing thief in-house production team and extended family 30/70 collective. Brimming with jubilance; broken beats, soulful house, jazz and moody beatdown are all given consideration throughout - it's a suitably technicoloured journey into the unique label and the charismatic 30/70.

Support from : Severino (Horse Meat DIsco), Stu (Wolf Recordings), Mali (Rhythm Section), Quinton (Strut Records), Mr Redley, Jonny Alexander, Aly Bandcamp, Gilles Secretsundaze, Lucas Benjamin, Dean Chew (Darker Than Wax), Aroop Roy, Alex Attias, Louis Mixmag, Marcel Vogel, cosmosofi, Delfonic

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Tasty smattering of house and broken beats from 30 / 70 and pals Energy Exchange Ensemble. Standing proud and independent, just doing their own thing unvexed by developing trends or anyone else.

TRACK LISTING

A1. 30/70 - Acceptance - Zeitgeist / Goodmood Sex And Candy Flip
A2. Energy Exchange Ensemble - Lime Green Skies - Zeitgeist / Goodmood Edit
B1. 30/70 - Pleasure - Maytra Roller Edit
B2. Energy Exchange Ensemble - Brighter Star - Close Counters Remix
B3. 30/70 - Acceptance - Concrete Souls Sikly House Edit

In honor of the record’s ten year anniversary, North Carolina-based indie label Psychic Hotline will release a deluxe reissue, complete with previously unreleased material. Featuring essential singles "Coffee", "Hey Mami,” and "H.S.K.T.", the expanded edition also includes remixes from J Rocc, Rick Wade, Helado Negro, Dntel, and more. The deluxe 2LP package sports an all-over foil inversion of the original album’s iconic foil “SE” logo.

Recorded in a little bedroom studio out in Durham, North Carolina, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn’s debut LP as Sylvan Esso arrived in 2014 at the juncture of pop and experimental. Even now, years later, the LP remains an urgent and fitting introduction to a push-and-pull that would go on to inform the duo’s sound – a thoughtful headiness that also wants you to get out on the dance floor. A blend of analog and digital, Meath and Sanborn were two unexpected puzzle pieces fitting together with singular ease, producing a ten-track LP that was both minimalist and shimmering, with dark undulations rippling beneath the synthy-surface and crystalline quality of Meath’s voice.

Before all of the international touring and festival headlining and critical acclaim and Grammy nominations, Sylvan Esso was just a shot-in-the dark of musical chemistry gone right. The original album bio for the self-titled presciently sets the stage for the thesis that has gone on to guide Meath and Sanborn’s writing since then: “a collection of vivid addictions concerning suffering and love, darkness and deliverance” arriving as “a necessary pop balm, an album stuffed with songs that don’t suffer the longstanding complications of that term.” And so, even as the band continues to evolve and becomes amorphous, there’s still that argument about what pop can be at its core. This is just the beginning of that conversation captured on tape.

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE
01 Hey Mami
02 Dreamy Bruises
03 Could I Be
04 Wolf
05 Dress
06 H.S.K.T.
07 Coffee
08 Uncatena
09 Play It Right
10 Come Down

DISC TWO
11 Hey Mami (Rick Wade Remix)
12 H.S.K.T. (Dntel Remix)
13 Coffee (Helado Negro Remix)
14 Hey Mami (Charles Spearin Remix)
15 H.S.K.T. (Hercules And Love Affair Remix)
16 Coffee (J Rocc Remix)

In meteorology, the word Norther refers to a cold wind that blows down from the north. For Liverpool’s Ex-Easter Island Head, it’s also an apt title for the strange and multi-faceted sound of their new album that now descends upon the world at large: ever shifting, a multiplicity of sounds both acoustic and manipulated, and yet one that still moves as part of a single mighty breeze. At times it might recall the experiments of Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca, the widescreen beauty of The Necks, the relentless experimentation of Arnold Dreyblatt or the boundary-pushing roster of Kompakt Records, yet ultimately this is music that has no direct compare.

Each of its six pieces demonstrates a different creative process. On blossoming opener ‘Weather’, whirring motors dance fairy-like atop strings and drums; on the dizzying ‘Magnetic Language’ voices are played back through phones and amplified through pickups made of magnets wrapped in copper wire; the title of ‘Golden Bridges’ refers to the brass rods the band shift beneath the strings of their guitar. All, however, tap to one degree or another into that abiding theme of the weather. Norther is Ex-Easter Island Head’s first studio album since 2016, a time spent on collaborations and one-off performances with everyone from classical musicians and fellow experimentalists to schoolchildren.

“All of the projects we were involved in between 2016 and 2024 have expanded the boundaries of what we do by exposing us to a huge variety of instruments, personalities and ways of working. It's really allowed us to see the purity of making music with a four-piece group,” says the band’s Benjamin D. Duvall.That status as a quartet is a new one, with the addition of longstanding friend and collaborator Andrew PM Hunt. Having a member of the band handling recording and mixing helped them push further and further into sonic territory that until Norther remained entirely unexplored – not just by Ex-Easter Island Head, but by any other band on earth. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Weather
2. Norther
3. Easter
4. Magnetic Language
5. Golden Bridges
6. Lodestone

The always hard working Emotional Rescue now unveils the electronic disco project Exo Fender, helmed by esteemed New York producer Eric Calvi and featuring the legendary Steve D'Acquisto. The remastered songs 'Big Mood' and 'Music In My Mind' span two new EPs, with updated edited versions by NYC producer Justin Van Der Volgen. Calvi's journey from Paris to New York's music scene in the 1980s when he engineered hits for artists like Cameo and Africa Bambaataa, and laid the groundwork for Exo Fender. Inspired by clubbing friendships, the project's infectious grooves and tongue-in-cheek nature gained club play and collector's acclaim, with Van Der Volgen's remix enhancing their timeless appeal for today's dancefloors.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: One of two Exo Fender releases this week and this one does what it says on the tin... if you're in need of a mood booster look no further!

TRACK LISTING

Big Mood
Big Mood (Justin Van Der Volgen Edit)

This is the second of two releases from Emotional Rescue that looks to the music of Eric Calvi who headed up the collective Exo Fender, a project that brought together a bunch of friends, producers, and studio amigos. This one is a live boogie jam with Brooklyn DJ and producer Steve D'Aquisto. He was a regal at The Loft and a friend of Arthur Russell so all that bears out in the music - a loose-limbed disco groove with languid percussion and big vocals. A Justin Van Der Volgen edit rounds out the 12".

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: Exo Fender - via the ever reliable Emotional Rescue - deliver an addictive disco jam that had Ryan get out the (air) keytar just now... bag a copy now or forever hold your peace.

TRACK LISTING

Music In My Mind
Music In My Mind (Justin Van Der Volgen Edit)

One of electronic music’s most prolific and beloved figures, Roman Flügel checks in to Phantasy for his debut single on Erol Alkan’s equally storied London label, presenting ‘Hotel Karthago / Energies’, two contrasting dancefloor tracks that capture distinct shades of Flügel’s boundless creativity.

Arranged with energy front and centre, ‘Hotel Karthago’ promises to be an essential addition to Flügel’s peerless back catalogue of club classics. Bolting with the requisite tempo of contemporary dance floors, and accelerated by a joyous piano line, this particular property balances the elegance of vintage house with analogue machines operating at their most energetic.

In keen contrast. ‘Energies’ expertly pours a measure of melancholy, teasing out a twinkling melody that recalls the warmth and wistful moods of his classic LPs such as Fatty Folders and Happiness Is Happening. Illuminating and then unravelling with ease, ‘Energies’ concludes in underscoring the Frankfurt-to-Berlin producer’s skill as a composer, as well as a trusted rave alchemist.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Techno powerhouse Roman Flugel goes on a hi-nrg romp for Phantasy here. Dreamy and direct, without ever losing the playfulness and child like novelty that's one of the producer's lingering footprints.

TRACK LISTING

A. Hotel Karthago 
AA. Energies 

The consistently on-point Heist hit us with another doozy of tech house brilliance via the mighty Dutch duo - Fouk.

"Mirage" is built around a stuttering synth loop and a seductive female vocal chanting ‘What made you wanna…” The real star here is the bassline, which propels the track into a seriously infectious groove. Add some Detroitian strings (very UR / Galaxy 2 Galaxy") and moody changeovers and you’ve got yourself a full-blown dancefloor weapon.

"Coffee" has that familiar bounce we've come to love from the pair. Rising strings and keyboard stabs also bring forth that Detroit flavour but without being too pastiche; whilst the skillfully executed breakdowns, coupled with a hooky arrangement give the track more of an exuberance, terrace-leaning sound.

"Tapioca" unpacks some serious electric funk into proceedings, and with its shuffled drum beat, I'm again reminded of Galaxy 2 Galaxy - it's clear that Fouk are fans of the Detroit supergroup!

Milan techno princess Eliza Bee ups the tempo and intensity of "Mirage" - adding slamming 909s and a very techno mindset before "Abalone" closes off proceedings with a very wavy, psychedelic house jaunt that's great for the warm up or the wind down. Top stuff! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Heist continues to be my one-stop shop when looking for that killer new house track for the weekend. Tasteful A&R, nice pressings, strong themes - they've nailed it!

TRACK LISTING

A1 Mirage
A2 Coffee
B1 Tapioca
B2 Mirage (Elisa Bee Remix)
B3 Abalone

Currently at work on new compositions for a new album, Gerardo Frisina delights our ears with a 45rpm including two unreleased tracks. "Mistical Funk" and "Spaced Out" skilfully mix "modern funk" elements with electronic influences, creating a unique sonic experience characterized by the hypnotic, incessant groove, capable of drawing the listener into a sound universe full of cosmic percussion and atmospheres, enhanced by Dennis Coffey-style guitars and by a Deodato-like Fender piano.

TRACK LISTING

1. Mystical Funk
2. Spaced Out

Fucked Up are one of the most prolific hardcore punk bands of our generation. Since their 2001 inception, they’ve challenged listeners with thoughtful artful chaos and a seemingly limitless drive for musical experimentation. Because of this, they’ve also become a record collectors worst nightmare; releasing over 80 recordings and collaborations on countless labels that include Arts & Crafts, Matador, Jade Tree, and more. Fucked Up “Year of the Hare” is the latest installment of their Zodiac themed releases. Over a two year period, it was recorded and constructed at Electrical Audio, Key Club Studios, and Candle Studios. Title track “Year of the Hare” is a 21 minute epic that frantically mixes traditional instrumentation, piano/synths, flutes and sax, experimental editing/soundscapes, and guest vocals from great Isla Craig into one dizzying experience. While B-Side “California Cold” slowly builds and deconstructs over an 8 and a half minute stretch. Organically shifting from jangly melodic-punk anthem into a fuzzed out psychedelic jam session. Eclectically blending musical styles and voices in the most, well, Fucked Up way possible.

TRACK LISTING

1. Year Of The Hare
2. California Cold

Wow! So you’re telling me Ron Geesin made this kooky electro groovy score to a really progressive maths educational programme on Central TV in 1980 and it’s musically anarchic and amazing and it’s never been issued before? Until now. Wow again!!!! And there’s 30 tracks!!! Trunk Records we love you...

Basic Maths was the second educational TV Series for the Midlands-based ITV station for which I composed, played and recorded all music and noises. The first series, also for budding mathematicians in the 7-10 age group, was Leapfrog in 1978 produced by ATV (Associated Television): Basic Maths was for the newly-formed Central Television, the work spanning 1980-1981; both series were of twenty-eight parts.

The most worthy idea for both of these series was to project mathematics into life by means mainly of non-verbal sound and vision, with both animated and live action films, linked by two presenters, Fred Harris and Mary Waterhouse. In my role as Media Composer, I had had quite enough of voice overs, therefore music well under, so this fairly radical educational approach at the time encouraged my creative juices to run unhindered. Of course the sound had to do something with the picture and not just use it as a carrier for peacock display. It had to duet, play with and explain the visual content using novel and engaging techniques, so this involved the usual and sometimes intricate mathematical calculations which constantly exercised my already reasonable school maths.

Beth Gibbons releases her debut solo album Lives Outgrown on Friday the 17th of May 2024. Featuring 10 beautiful new songs recorded over a period of 10 years, the album was produced by James Ford & Beth Gibbons with additional production by Lee Harris (Talk Talk).

Lives Outgrown is, by some measure, Beth’s most personal work to date, the result of a period of sustained reflection and change — “lots of goodbyes,” in Beth’s words. Farewells to family, to friends, even to her former self. These are songs from the mid-course of life, when looking ahead no longer yields what it used to, and looking back has a sudden, sharper focus.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A stunning selection of downbeat-infused instrumentals, woozy psychedelic folk and Gibbons' unmistakeably emotive vocal prowess. It's brilliantly composed, deeply personal and impeccably sequenced. It's a big relief honestly, because this further cements Gibbons as a musical legend in her own right.

TRACK LISTING

1. Tell Me Who You Are Today   
2. Floating On A Moment        
3. Burden Of Life        
4. Lost Changes          
5. Rewind
6. Reaching Out          
7. Oceans          
8. For Sale        
9. Beyond The Sun  
10. Whispering Love 

The genesis of Glass Beams, which formed around founding member Rajan Silva, stemmed from the rekindling of childhood memories related to his father, who emigrated to Melbourne from India in the late 1970s. Silva, in particular, was drawn to the fusion of Western musical styles and traditional Indian music showcased in his father's music collection. Iconic Bollywood vocalists such as Asha Bhosle coexisted with blues legends like Muddy Waters and DVDs like 'Concert for George'—a star-studded tribute to the late Beatles member George Harrison—were in heavy rotation growing up. This cross-pollination of East and West, of old and new, is a sentiment that the trio have sought to capture in their self-produced, serpentine, psychedelic-tinged music. Throughout their output, Glass Beams present a timeless fusion of cultures and sounds beamed through a prism of live instrumentation and DIY electronica, all wrapped up in a mesmerising visual world of their own creation.

Recommended if you like… Khruangbin, Tame Impala, Altın Gün, SAULT, Yussef Dayes, Surprise Chef, Ezra Collective.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Horizon
A2. Mahal
A3. Orb
B1. Snake Oil
B2. Black Sand

Dub & Sound International returns for a third time and this one welcomes legendary Jamaican trombonist Vin Gordon who is rightly 'Digging The Vibes.' The title track kicks off and pairs his playful patterns with a Dubsetters rhythm and some nice sunny and soothing melodies from Trommie aka Don Drummond Jr. After the horn-led, organic and unhurried instrumental comes a dub that is fleshed out with a little more echo and is a sublime bit of roots. A second version adds another perspective to the original and we already look forward to hearing more from this project.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Breath-taking NEW roots reggae here from a rising star on the scene. Sounds like Bunny Lee & Tommy McCook - with equally impressive dub versions. Those horns man!! A high watermark showing that original JA flavour is still strong.

TRACK LISTING

Digging The Vibes
Vibes Dub
Vibes Riddim

GRUPO ÉBANO (Pr. "Grupo EH-ba-no") In the time-honored spirit of excavating gold from the unlikeliest dark corners, we bring you the shiniest of gems which is guaranteed to thrill lovers of classic Brazilian bossa and MPB. This self-titled album by Rio's Grupo Ébano, an all-female gospel vocal group, was originally released on CD only in 1997 on a small independent label and in small quantities. The songs, all originals from the pen of group leader (and backing vocalist to the stars) Gil Miranda, are richly melodic and sophisticated in the mode of all the 60s and 70s Brazilian classics (think Quarteto Em Cy) while their positive spiritual message is more reminiscent of the Clark Sisters if they sang in Portuguese. This first-time reissue, first-time vinyl & digital edition and debut international release will bring many new fresh ears to this lovely and very classy album which will appeal to different generations of Brazilian music lovers, from tastemaking DJs to their parents to even their grandparents.

TRACK LISTING

Disc: 1
1. Cristalina
2. Ave No Ninho
3. Verso E Rima
4. Sertão Mar
5. Tuas ObrasTeCoroam
6. Pé No Chão

Disc: 2
1. Pai Da Criação
2. Horas
3. Já Vou Indo
4. Ele Chegou
5. Meu Lugar
6. Esse Amor
7. Rio Seco

Guster’s ninth studio LP, Ooh La La reveals a band fully in touch with the voracious creative energy that first inspired their formation. A major leap forward for lead vocalist Ryan Miller, guitarist Adam Gardner, drummer

Brian Rosenworcel, and multi-instrumentalist Luke Reynolds, Ooh La La ultimately matches that wide-eyed spirit with a newly heightened sense of confidence, conviction, and commitment to the raw sincerity that’s made them so beloved.

The follow-up to 2019’s Look Alive, Ooh La La marks a bold departure from its predecessor. This time around, the band worked mainly with producer Josh Kaufman (The Hold Steady, The National, Bonny Light Horseman), holing up at Isokon Studio in Woodstock and carving out a lush and expansive sound rich in acoustic guitars and graceful piano work. With additional production from Ron Aniello (Bruce Springsteen, Bryce Dessner), Rich Costey (Death Cab for Cutie, Of Monsters and Men), and Primarily mixed by Peter Katis (The National, Kurt Vile), the result endlessly radiates an undeniable warmth, even as its songs delve into the more daunting aspects of living in modern times.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. This Heart Is Occupied
2. When We Were Stars
3. All Day
4. My Kind
5. Keep Going
SIDE B
6. Gauguin, Cézanne (Everlasting Love)
7. Witness Tree
8. Black Balloon
9. Elevator
10. Maybe We’re Alright

An electric, searing memoir by the original riot grrrl and legendary frontwoman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre Hey girlfriend I got a proposition, goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want. Kathleen Hanna’s rallying cry to feminists echoed far and wide through the punk scene of the 1980s, ’90s, and beyond. Her band, Bikini Kill, embodies this iconic time, and today their gutsy, radical lyrics of anthems like ‘Rebel Girl’ and ‘Double Dare Ya’ are more powerful than ever.

But where did this transformative voice come from? In Rebel Girl, Hanna’s raw and insightful new memoir, she takes us from her tumultuous childhood home, to her formative college years in Olympia, Washington, and on to her first years on tour, fighting hard for gigs and for her band. As Hanna makes blindingly clear, being in a ‘girl band’, especially a punk girl band, in those years was not a simple or a safe prospect. Male violence and antagonism threatened at every turn, and surviving as a singer who was a lightening rod for controversy took limitless amounts of determination.

But the relationships she developed during those years buoyed her – including with her bandmates Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Billy Karren; her friendship with Kurt Cobain; and her introduction to Joan Jett – and they were a testament to how the true punk world nurtured and cared for its own. Hanna opens up about falling in love with Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys and her debilitating battle with Lyme disease, and she brings us behind the scenes of her later bands, Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin. She also writes candidly about the Riot Grrrl movement and its decline, documenting with love its grassroots origins but critiquing its later exclusivity.

In an uncut voice all her own, Hanna reveals the darkest, hardest times along with the most joyful – and how it all fuelled her revolutionary art, from the 1980s to today.

62 years of music, loves, losses, long summer days and longer, darker nights are vividly recalled by ‘our greatest living songwriter’, Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band as he plays out flickering scenes from his life on new album, Loophole.

12 evocative and autobiographical songs to be accompanied by the written word as Michael Head prepares his memoirs for release with an autobiography with Nine Eight Books. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Dear Scott's mellower sibling picks up where our record of the year left off, with the stunning Shirl's Ghost, and meanders beautifully through Mick's usual magical worlds before ending on his ages old, but hitherto not recorded, lost classic, Coda. Mick's only gone and smashed it again. As the maestro himself would undoubtedly say: Is Right!

TRACK LISTING

1 Shirl's Ghost
2 Ambrosia
3 Ciao Ciao Bambino
4 Tout Suite!
5 The Human Race
6 You Smiled At Me
7 A Ricochet Moment
8 Connemara
9 Merry-Go-Round
10 You're A Long Time Dead
11 Naturally It's You
12 Coda

7" - Exclusive To Dinked Edition
Side A
1. Connemara - Acoustic (Live From Hebden Bridge)
Side B
2. Tour Suite! (Live Acoustic From Hebden Bridge)

More from the Whodem vaults and a particularly special 10" dubplate from Jah Warrior featuring Peter Broggs. "Lef Babylon & Come" is a digi-dancehall monster; with riotous horns, wubbing bass and heavy percussion elements. Defo built with carnival and big rigs in mind, it's the perfect mix of roots, bass and culture. On the dub, Jah Warrior gets busy with the tape delay and spring reverb, teasing in and out elements of the vocal and echoing out the pianos inna typical dub stylee. I have to mention the bassline again - which is pretty much verging on dubstep with its hefty WUB... absolute madness!

On the flip, "Come To Conquer" is another perfect exercise in digi-dub technologies combined with a rootsical approach - both paying tribute to the masters like Scientist and Jah Shaka but utilizing a new rhythm heavy on the keys, vibraslap and woodblock. Again, a dub with extra space echo and reverb keeps things vibing in a traditional, but inventive manner. Essential tackle for sounds, clashes, dances and BBQs! Limited copies. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Lef Babylon & Come
A2. Lef Babylon Dub
B1. Come To Conquer
B2. Come To Dub

Second instalment of Jaycee Indamix's "Ginzu Edits" - taking cues from Glenn Underground, Vick Lavender, Dave Maze etc as he adds some  Chi-town bump into some well versed dancefloor classics. 

Gil Scott-Heron's "Grandma's Hands" gets bolstered with highly swung drums, warm Rhodes and flecks of scintilating electric licks - his voice riding the new instrumental as if it was made for the track. 

Luther Vandross' "Until You Come Back To Me" seems equally at home atop of Jaycee's dexterous instrumental - a more Shelter-esque groove accentuating the soul into late night deep house abandon. Both tracks should go down a treat with your Southport Weekender / vintage Red Light massive, or lovers of deep, soulful house.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Big double header of soulful house edits / mash-ups. If you dug that Erykah Badu "Honey" cut by Glenn Underground, these are for you!

TRACK LISTING

1. Gil Scott-Heron - Grandma's Hands
2. Luther Vandross - Until You Come Back To Me

The only proved efficient time traveling method to date is through listening to music, particularly evident when indulging in Jona Jefferies' latest EP released by Spanish house specialists Apersonal Music. It's a refreshing nod to the golden era of 90s electronic music. Across its three tracks, Jefferies masterfully blends elements of ambient, downtempo, and electronica, evoking a sense of nostalgia as if plucked from a bygone era. In contrast to today's TikTok-dominated landscape of short, immediate singles, this EP harkens back to a time when music was crafted with depth and complexity. Drawing inspiration from legendary acts like Boards of Canada and Underworld, it seamlessly transports listeners to the Gen-X decade, when acts like Daft Punk, Orbital and The Chemical Brothers reign supreme and exploited the electronic scene during the MTV era.

On the A side, "Es Camp" embodies the seamless influence of British electronic music on the Balearic scene of the 90s, and viceversa. Feels like Moby’s “Porcelain” if the film "The Beach" had been set in Ibiza. Max Essa's "Romantic Breaks Mix" elevates the track to pure Balearic bliss, setting the perfect mood for any sunset terrace around the globe.

Side B, tailored for the dancefloor, runs through “Lost in Paradise”, a track that channels euphoria reminiscent of the underground rave culture during the final years of the 20th century. Apersonal's trusted remixer, Eddie C, delivers an extended rendition of the track that continually evolves, echoing Jim Morrison’s words: 'the music was new, black polished chrome, and came over the summer like liquid night.'

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Two pastoral electronica bliss-outs, reminiscent of a weekend spent in the back of some Welsh hippy's camper van on a cocktail of drugs visiting various free parties along the way. Eddie C and Max Essa do their thing - moulding them into more typical dancefloor movements. Nice to see Apersonal back in the fold too.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Es Camp
A2. Es Camp (Max Essa Romantic Break Mix)
A3. California Sunrise… Do You Remember?
B1. Lost In Paradise
B2. Lost In Paradise (Eddie C Remix) 

Fontaines D.C.‘s superconductor frontman Grian Chatten brings a louche and ruffled charm to Kneecap’s relentless and addictive bounce on 'Better Way To Live' - with band mate Tom Coll also joining on drums.

On the B-side, we can a frenetic, skittering overhaul from London based mixer/producer genius Sam Interface (More Time Records) who doubles up the tempo, turns up the bass and then lets the whole thing burn bright as the sun.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Better Way To Live Feat. Grian Chatten
B1. Better Way To Live Feat. Grian Chatten (Sam Interface Remix)

With song titles alluding to the life cycle of an insect, ‘Ar’ (‘Scars’, for non-Scandinavians) deals with the human psyche in its most base forms. The album is meant to be a bruising and challenging encounter with the ugly, shameful and disappointing parts of the human experience. It confronts the listener head-on with all the noise, desperate and threatening screams and brutality this Danish three-piece can muster.

“We purposefully recorded these songs to be abrasive and angular to force the listener to feel the sweaty anxiety and sonic grime. Using the album as a way of dealing with personal issues, both past and present, it is an amalgamation of experiences lived and experiences common on the road”.

Mixing raw and sludgy post-metal and intense noise rock with dissonant chords and aggressive rhythms and vocals, mining in Amphetamine Reptile Records’ signature sound territory but maintaining a distinctly Scandinavian identity, ‘Ar’ will scratch a certain aching itch whilst giving comfort to the lost and lonely.

TRACK LISTING

1. Ar
2. Autofagia
3. Dod
4. Form
5. Dekomposition
6. Kokon
7. Transformation

Originally released in 1974 on Shandar, Dream House 78’17” is the second full-length album by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela. This first-time US edition reproduces the original gatefold sleeve with beautiful calligraphy by Zazeela and liner notes by Young and French musicologist Daniel Caux.

Side one was recorded at a private concert (on the date and time indicated by the title) and features Young and Zazeela’s voices against a sine wave drone with Jon Hassell on trumpet and Garrett List on trombone. This work is a section of the longer composition Map of 49’s Dream the Two Systems of Eleven Sets of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery (begun in 1966 as a sub-section of The Tortoise, His Dreams and Journeys, which was begun in 1964 with Young’s group The Theatre of Eternal Music). The piece evolves with the oscillator changing pitch and dictating an ornate pattern over the course of the performance. Side two is an example of one of the sets of frequencies sustained in the Dream House, the composite sound environments conceived by Young and Zazeela. The composer suggests listening while seated—to experience how the sound interacts with the room and other perceptions of its arrangement—as well as while walking.

As Young states, “The frequency ratios are monitored continuously as lissajous patterns on the oscilloscopes and, in spite of the great stability of the oscillators, the phase relationships of the sine waves gradually drift which causes their amplitudes to add and subtract algebraically. Not only does the sound become a bit louder and softer, but at very loud levels, one actually begins to have a sensation that parts of the body are somehow locked in sync with the sine waves and slowly drifting with them in space and time.”

After crisscrossing the nation for the last half-decade looking for a home, Pokey LaFarge found himself in Mid-Coast Maine. Upon arriving, the Illinois- born singer/ songwriter/ actor pursued a major life change, working 12-hour days on a local farm--a turn of events that catalyzed an extraordinary burst of creativity and redefined his sense of purpose as an artist. Rhumba Country was initially shaped from material that emerged while LaFarge was deep in work on the farm. "I'd be pushing a plow or scattering seeds, and the songs would just come to me," he recalls. "It was tremendously inspirational and made me realize that apart from singing, farming is perhaps the oldest human art form." While farming, LaFarge began dreaming up a kaleidoscopic sound informed by his love of music from far- ranging eras and corners of the globe, including mambo, tropicalia, rocksteady, and mid-century American rock-and-roll. "The songs that naturally come to me are upbeat and make you wanna dance or at least bop your head--they're all very colorful," says LaFarge. "I used to think of my music in dark blue, but now I see it in technicolor." Co- produced along with Chris Seefried and Elliot Bergman and recorded in L.A., the resulting Rhumba Country is an invitation to come together to celebrate life and love.

TRACK LISTING

One You, One Me
For A Night
Run Run Run
Like A Sailor
Sister Andre
So Long Chicago
It's Not Over
Home Home Home
Made To Be Loved
You Make My Garden Grow

More luscious deep house stylings here from Vick Lavender on his own Sophisticado Recordings. A soulful, deep and jazzy affair, "Set Fire To Me" will appeal to fans of vintage Joe Claussell, Ron Trent or Louie Vega. There's a beatific bonus for fans of long, three deck mixes which seem to be (sadly) phased out in a time of 45-minute DJ sets choc full of instagram friendly drops.

"There It Is" takes things to a spiritual high via the empowered vocal of D Millz and a gentle touch up by one Kai Alce. Top drawer stuff from this consistently on-fire producer. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Deep and soulful house stylings with that classic touch - Vick Lavender continues to make his mark.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Set Fire To Me (Vick Re Imagined Time Traveler Version) (11:27)
Side 2
1. There It Is (feat D Millz - Kai Alce Vocal Remix) (9:34)
2. Set Fire To Me (Vick Beats N Life Vinyl Mix) (5:51)

L.B. Dub Corp - "Only the Good Times" - original version & ultra hyped Burial remix.

Cut direct from studio tape master to limited white label vinyl. Taken from the forthcoming album by Luke Slater - “Saturn To Home”, which will be out on Dekmantel later this month.

'For me "Only The Good Times" is a deeply emotional track. It’s one of those tracks that ended up entwined in love and somehow life affirming. My immediate thought was to get Burial to remix it, not only because he is one of the most entrancing producers ever, but also because of our heart felt connection and to get him away from his Playstation for ten seconds. Thank you Arnol, Will and everyone else connecting to the music ♥️' - Luke Slater

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: After being spoken about in hush tones via the more devoted Burial heads for the last few weeks, we've finally secured copies of the vinyl for your enjoyment! Get those orders in folks as copies are seriously limited.

TRACK LISTING

Only The Good Times(Original Version)
Only The Good Times (Burial Remix)

Get ready to embark on a hypnotic journey as Full Circle presents the highly anticipated re-release of Danny J Lewis' iconic track, "Spend The Night," accompanied by a brand new Archie Hamilton remix that brings a fresh new perspective to the classic garage anthem. Not to mention not one but two mesmerizing dub versions by H-Man and DJL VIP. These carefully crafted dubs take the original masterpiece to new heights, offering unique perspectives on the timeless classic.

TRACK LISTING

A1. H-Man Dub
A2. Archie Hamilton Remix
B1. VIP Dub
B2. Disco Dub

'Hex Dealer' is NY-based electronic punk band Lip Critic’s debut album. It was produced in collaboration by vocalist Bret Kaser and Connor Kleitz. Their eclectic sampling style is amplified by the infectious breakbeats and pingy snares crafted by drummers Danny Eberle and Ilan Natter. The singular mixture of classic punk/hardcore and electronic styles result in 12 frantic tracks of postmodern pop for the genreless future. Painted with a broad pallet of only the most extreme hues of emotion, each track is marked by a distinctive danceable mania.

TRACK LISTING

A1 It's The Magic
A1 Love Will Redeem You
A3 The Heart
A4 Bork Pelly (feat. Ghösh, ID.Sus)
A5 Spirit Bomber
A6 Death Lurking (feat. Izzy Da Fonseca)
B1 Milky Max
B2 Sermon
B3 I'm Alive
B4 My Wife And The Goblin
B5 In The Wawa (Convinced I Am God)
B6 Toxin Dodger

“Eggsistentialism” sees The Lovely Eggs return after a 4 year break since their Number One Independent Selling Album “I am Moron”. During that time they have made their own TV show Eggs TV (featuring Ian McKaye, Stewart Lee, Katie Puckrik, Maxine Peake, David Shrigley and more), dueted with Iggy Pop, played a load of sold-out gigs and festivals and fought a campaign to save Lancaster Music Co-op (a community rehearsal rooms and recording studio where they live).

Recorded at home in Lancaster, with production advice from Dave Fridmann, the album was mixed at Tarbox Road Studios, NY with Dave Fridmann and the band.

As the title suggests, “Eggsistentialism” explores a much more personal, introspective, and reflective side to The Lovely Eggs world and sees the Eggs explore new sounds and experiment in unventured musical territories.

“The new album is really a reflection on what has been happening to us these last couple of years, stewing up in Eggland in our own juices,” explains Holly. “It’s about loss and strength. On this album you’ll hear us at our lowest and most vulnerable. Daily life is hard. Realising everything you grew up with and loved is never coming back, alongside the responsibilities of caring for others is sometimes hard to take. The album is about life and death. Eggsistentialism. It’s about dragging yourself through all the shit to get to the other side.”

“It’s a bit of a ‘wilderness years’ album,” continues Holly. “We haven’t released a new record since 2020 and in the meantime, we’ve been here fighting shit and trying to defend a right to a lifestyle that we’ve enjoyed here in this town for the last 30+ years as working musicians who refuse to get a “normal” job and tow the line. It’s about believing in something and not letting go. But that unwillingness to give in ultimately takes its toll. It does start to destroy you and the album is kind of a documentation of that destruction and collapse as well as the strength we’ve got to get through it all. Ultimately, this is a hopeful record about survival.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Another soaring punky missive from The Lovely Eggs, rich with melodic choruses and clashing groove. Putting to the world to rights with wry politicism and instantly unforgettable instrumental hooks has always been the Lovely Eggs' bread and butter, but Eggsistentialism is without a doubt the Warburtons Toastie (the absolute best) of the Lovely Eggs' output.

TRACK LISTING

1. Death Grip Kids
2. Nothing/Everything
3. Meeting Friends At Night
4. People TV
5. My Mood Wave
6. I Don't Fucking Know What I'm Gunna Do
7. Memory Man
8. Things
9. Echo You
10. I Am Gaia

It's a year later and everything has gone from bad to worse.

Machiavellian Art and Riot Season Records present "Population Control". A Sonic Examination of the Mechanisms of Control.

An intense exploration of societal and self-imposed controls, encapsulated in a dynamic contrast between Side A's visceral anger and the introspective ambiance of Side B. This duality mirrors the contrasting themes of external control versus internal reflection.

"Population Control" extends beyond its predecessor, "Indoctrination Sounds," in both musical depth and thematic scope. The album confronts a broad spectrum of modern-day addictions - not just to substances, but to technology, social media, and the relentless 24-hour news cycle. These themes manifest across tracks like "A Slow Death," "Population Control (1) + (2)," "Fear of the Outside World," and "Crisis," each exploring the resulting isolation, paranoia, fear, and hopelessness. "Seaside Holiday," a critique of environmental negligence, specifically highlighting the issue of untreated sewage being dumped into Britain's waterways by private companies.

They’re back! This time the Finnish seers Mahti venture even deeper into the unknown on their third release Musiikki 3, assisted by the creativity of English musicians Richard Dawson and Sally Pilkington.

The music reaches for space and roots at the same time bringing forth Mr. Dawson's earthy guitars and angelic voice while Ms. Pilkington weaves ethereal layerings with her synths and joins occasionally the choir.

Hannu Saha conjures ancient Karelian spirits with his kantele while Muumu, Lehtibabba and Mätky mesmerize the listener with their unique mix of electro, rock and noise.

The end result is an album full of Musiikki unlike you've never heard before!

“These ancient musicians played their ‘mahti’… and the sound they produced was called ‘musiikki’”

Hannu Saha - string kanteles ,Tomi Leppänen - sequencer/drum brain/synthesizers , Jussi Lehtisalo - noise/vocals, Teemu Elo - guitar/synthesizers, Richard Dawson - guitar/vocals , Sally Pilkington - keyboards/vocals

“'Black' is a musical eulogy to Amy Winehouse, a heartfelt memorial to a sorrowful demise. Its an album of predominantly beatless ambience possessed by the ghost of 'Back to Black'. Fragmented moods and hypnotic drones melt together as its circular beauty is set adrift, floating away into an endless void, where the original only remains in spirit alone. It doesn’t make particular sense why I was drawn to this idea and compelled to immerse myself in the original song, and her life in general, but sometimes you just have to roll with your muse. Having barely registered her whilst she was alive and not cared for Mark Ronson's poptastic productions, it was only when I heard of her tragic death that it struck an unexpected chord, recalling the same surreal emotional impact as when I had heard of Kurt Cobain's premature passing previously. Both figures were unarguably gifted, but both left this planet largely without essential support, whilst they were at the peak of their powers and on top of the musical world. Gone too soon and departed too young, a world-weary voice carried on a downward spiral, Amy Winehouse seemed trapped in her self-destructive descent. It was only years later, whilst randomly watching Asif Kapadia's moving bio doc 'Amy' on a long-distance flight, that I realised the scale of her greatness and the tragedy of the circumstances that led to her untimely death. This album is simultaneously a treatise on lovelessness, tragedy and loss, echoing the absence of a support network when it matters most during such a freefall. And just as myself and others I know shed tears watching that 'Amy' documentary, this album is as much a reaction to the universal emotional themes conveyed within that touching documentary as to the tragic life of Amy herself. I have been working on the idea of this sonic album for over a year, and the slo-mo dream rotations remain as blurred and impressionistic as they are repetitive and haunting. An eerie cocktail of spectral jazz, shoegaze drone and dubbed out ambient music, it continues the solo path I have been developing as KRM. I hope it strikes a chord.” - Kevin Richard Martin.

TRACK LISTING

1. Loveless
2. Black
3. Cynthia's Passing
4. Love You Much, Love Too Much
5. On Top Of The World
6. Camden Crawling
7. Blake's Shadow
8. One Hundred Deaths
9. Belgrade Meltdown
10. To Disappear
11. Rest In Peace

Following the release of her 2016 album On The Never, Never, Martin knew that she wanted to take a break from writing and recording music. She moved back to Liverpool, from London, and began an apprenticeship with world renowned flute maker Willy Simmons.

“I was now looking at an instrument I’d been playing all my life at a molecular level. The discipline and repetitiveness of learning a craft freed my mind from thinking about songs for a bit and made me focus instead on some of the toxic chemicals and blow torches used to make the flutes,” she says. “I’ve never been a particularly mindful person; I’m usually zipping from one thing to the next and this work had a pace of its own which I had to submit to. As well as making flutes, I was also repairing them, and this was the part I most enjoyed – the process of renewal. In a corny way, I experienced this renewal myself.”

Following this period, Martin felt inspired to make music again and began setting up her own home studio. “Around this time, I’d started to listen to Joanna Brouk and the I am the Center compilation of early New Age music on Numero Group. This music was nothing like my own but seemed to extend from the Harmonia records I love and exist outside of the album, gig, tour regime. It was so inspiring and freeing, and I tentatively began to experiment in the studio, with the textures of Brouk’s song ‘Maggi’s Flute’ in mind.”

Working closely with co-producer Iwan Morgan (Euros Childs, Cate Le Bon, Gruff Rhys, Georgia Ruth), the pair found themselves drawn to drum machines that wouldn’t stay in time, and a piano with a tuning mind of its own. “I rediscovered the sense of play which brought me into music in the first place,” says Martin. “The palette was infinite and without boundaries. Where my previous records had always operated within the instinct / lack of budget axis, I now had the possibility to sculpt sound, to remake, blend and remodel it for the first time.”

Living next to the main 86 bus route into Liverpool City Centre prompted the idea behind ‘Outside at Night’, of parallel lives on different journeys. ’Three Days’ mines a similar theme but focuses on the hidden lives we share with others, the shift workers paradox. “It asks, do we really know what happens to our closest people when they leave the house?” explains Martin.

Album opener ‘Prepared’ is a hymn to self-reliance but not to perfection, to working your own routes and abandoning the tape measure. In part it’s about looking back at ways you judged yourself in past encounters and not recognising yourself: “I turned away again, was I even there?”. Tied in counterpoint to this, closing track ‘Open Door’ works as a prism through which to view the album (copious drum machines, swelling synths). It’s also as an answer of sorts to Martin’s search - new possibilities rage from cascading melodic and atmospheric structures, reaching some kind of midway between Harmonia’s ‘Deluxe’ and the polyrhythms of Francis Bebey’s Psychedelic Sanza.

Across the record there are vocal and sonic contributions from co-producer Iwan Morgan. “Iwan maintains he’s not a musician but kept singing in the studio and eventually I managed to persuade him to put it on record,” says Martin. ’Living on the Wall’ is the clearest example of this, exuberant monster truck beats, insistent pianos and vocals delivered without irony, think Wrong Way Up era John Cale and Brian Eno meets YMOs ‘Firecracker’.

Collaborative sojourns to Marco Rea's The Barne studio in Clydebank and Mike Lindsay (Tunng, LUMP) in Margate allowed Martin to coax standout contributions from both, shaping the album as both artist and co-producer. The result is a unique fusion of folk, electronic, and experimental pop music that defies expectations and challenges the boundaries of contemporary music.

“In a twisting but circuitous way, Prepared is my composted scrapbook of the last couple of years. I was prepared to follow where the sounds took me, the sonic train left the station and led me on its merry way,” she says. “It’s not an album about flute repairing but it wouldn’t have happened without learning the discipline of preparedness, the small movement, the tweak and the renewal from Willy Simmons.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Prepared
2. Counting Time
3. Living On The Wall (feat. Iwan Morgan)
4. A Better Story
5. Three Days
6. Outside At Night
7. The Dials
8. Magic Mornings
9. Open Door

In October 2017, ex-Hurricane Ophelia and Storm Brian hit the British Isles. These weather systems had formed separately over the Atlantic before moving north-east and converging. In addition to 100mph winds and widespread damage and disruption, the storms brought dust from the Sahara Desert that turned the skies orange over much of the UK. This otherworldly meteorological phenomenon serves as a fitting backdrop to Chimet.

Chimet charts the progress of the two storms over the course of a week, utilising data from Chichester West Pole Beacon a weather station in the Solent which stands in some of the most treacherous waters in the UK.

The album was created using 2,016 sampled data streams, translating seven days of information into 67 minutes and 12 seconds of detailed and evolving music. With mother nature orchestrating the piece, she is joined by intuitive and powerful improvisations on piano, cello and synthesiser. The recording captures the sense of building expectation and tension, the dropping air pressure, the rising winds, the interlocking storm systems and the serene aftermath. The shifts are seamless, monumental and open to the elements.

Chimet is a record to lose yourself in. Like the sea itself, it doesn’t give up its secrets easily. The listening experience seems to change depending on your state of mind, and resonates on a primal level which belies its data led compositional approach. For generations, artists and musicians have been drawn to the sea for their inspiration. That emotional response to the vastness of the ocean is a powerful force. While the origins of Chimet lie in the numbers, the resultant record sits proudly in that artistic tradition. Music to watch the horizon to.

Craig Kirkpatrick-Whitby: project concept, artistic direction, data sourcing, analytics & programming PJ Davy: sound design & programming Matthew Bourne: piano, cello & Lintronics Advanced Memorymoog (LAMM) synthesiser

TRACK LISTING

A1. Ophelia (14:40)
A2. Petrichor (5:58)
B1. Latent (4:40)
B2. Chimet 50º 45’.45 N, 00º 56'.59 W (7:59)
C1. Arise (12:20)
C2. Force 10 Pt. 1 (2:19)
D1. Force 10 Pt. 2 (15:00)
D2. Debris (6.29)

Released by Epic Records on April 6, 2004, Good News For People Who Love Bad News offered a unique blend of existential lyricism and innovative soundscapes which helped Modest Mouse break out of the rock underground after more than a decade of existence. The album, which has been certified double platinum for U.S. shipments of 2 million copies, is hailed as an alternative classic on the strength of songs such as the Modern Rock chart-topping, 5-times platinum single “Float On,” the gold-certified “The World At Large” and “Ocean Breathes Salty.”

Remastered for vinyl in opaque baby pink and opaque spring green, the package includes an alternate album cover, 8-page booklet and five ew remixes. 

SAM MORTON – the musical duo comprising singer, songwriter and acclaimed actor and director Samantha Morton, and music producer and artist Richard Russell – release a new single, “Cry Without End”, via XL Recordings. Featuring musician and composer Alabaster DePlume, “Cry Without End” is simultaneously fragile and powerful, a gorgeous, heart-jangling song that sees Morton’s ethereal vocal – acapella for the first verse – ultimately enveloped by delicate, lush orchestration. The single is complimented by a deeply personal music video directed by, and featuring, Morton herself.

Despite a lifelong love of, and involvement in, music, SAM MORTON is Samantha Morton’s first ever artist project. The collaboration came out after Russell reached out following her much talked-about appearance on Desert Island Discs and shared love of one of her song selections in particular: “I Remember” by Molly Drake. A period of spontaneous and intense collaboration followed, one that yielded more than an album’s worth of music and acted as a cathartic vehicle for their part-autobiographical lyricism and song-writing.

TRACK LISTING

1. Cry Without End (feat Alabaster DePlume)

Mr. K has an amazing knack for knowing what will fill a dancefloor, and it's hard to imagine this pair of tunes causing anything less than a roadblock. On the A-side, he pays tribute to beloved NYC DJ and editor Gail "Sky" King by recreating her extended edit of the Frankie Beverly and Maze sureshot 'Before I Let Go'. The edit arrived a decade after the original surfaced on the best-selling 1981 Live In New Orleans LP, although the track was not actually a concert recording but a new studio track made to fill out the final "D-side" of the release. Alas, the gorgeously danceable funk/soul hybrid was pressed at low quality, the harsh sonic nature meaning it never got the support it truly deserved. It comes here backed by 'Hollywood's Message' from legendary hip-hop pioneer DJ Hollywood, a self-released single from the man who was one of the first to grab the microphone at a jam and rhyme over records. As a backing track for his rhymes, Hollywood took a shortcut and used the renowned 'Love Is The Message' edit created by Mr. K that repeatedly runs the groovy clavinet break from MFSB's tune. Here, Mr. K tightens up the instrumental chant version for its first 7" release, adding a touch of Millie Jackson's 'Now That I Got Your Attention Again' as an intro. Two slices of absolute gold.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Cult collected by disco & soul heads across the globe, Danny Krivit's Mr. K series dunt show any sign on letting up yet! Latest instalment has the deep soul stylings of Frankie Beverly and Maze plus the wildcard curveball of DJ Hollywood 'rapping' over "Love Is The Message" - a totally new jam for me and worth the entrance fee alone. Megohhh!!

TRACK LISTING

Before I Let Go (Homage To Gail Sky King - Mr K 7" Edit)
Hollywood Message (Mr K 7" Edit)

Sugar Honey Iced Tea! is the highly anticipated debut album from musclecars, set for a May 2024 release on BBE Music. Having already established their presence in the club scene, from the joyous atmosphere of their Coloring Lessons parties to their residency at Nowadays in NYC, and with genre-bending performances worldwide, musclecars are eager to unveil this new world they've intentionally crafted. This forthcoming album comprises 13 tracks that sonically come together to offer a profound lens into the Afro-American experience. Themes range from joy, to loss, intimacy, helplessness, perseverance, and all the facets that lie in between. From the very first tune, musclecars set the tone with an exploration of afro-dystopia, carrying listeners through the entire album whilst creating imaginary futures born out of self-preservation and self-discovery. Through their practice of sonic storytelling, native New Yorkers Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield use this album to speak to the nuances of their daily lives and their environment. Join them on this musical journey as they delve into a collection that captures the essence of the black experience with authenticity, emotion, and rhythm. This album stands as one of their favorite bodies of work in recent memory, and they're so excited to share it with you.

TRACK LISTING

Disc: 1
1. The Afro-American Conundrum (Where Does That Leave Us?)
2. Ha Ya! (Eternal Life) (Feat. Natalie Greffel)
3. I Don’t Remember The Last Time I Saw Stars
4. Dream Boy
5. Tonight (Feat. Kamaal)
6. Every Party Must Come To An End (Feat. Kamaal)
7. Running Out Of Time

Disc: 2
1. There’s Space For Us All
2. Carlos Sanchez Interlude
3. Water (Feat. New Past)
4. Hello? (Feat. Aden)
5. Circles I (Prelude)
6. Circles II (Feat. Toribio)

As Night Beats, Texas-born, LA-based artist Danny Lee Blackwell creates music like one might assemble a puzzle. The Western psychedelic auteur builds his work from one moment, an initial spark, that must fit a certain criteria: it must give him goosebumps. If that sensation arrives, Blackwell will pursue the idea relentlessly until he has a new song; if not, he moves onto the next moment, constantly looking for the perfect molecule of a song. On his sixth Night Beats album, 'Rajan', the songwriter is at his strongest, creating works that shine with captivating melodies and hypnotic rhythms, but are underscored by subtle choices of craftsmanship that can only be achieved after countless hours in the studio. Blackwell creates a work that lands somewhere between Spaghetti Western film score and psych-pop opus, a career-defining album that reveals much about Danny Lee Blackwell’s artistic philosophy while keeping that ever crucial air of mystery intact.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hot Ghee
2. Blue
3. Nightmare
4. Motion Picture
5. Anxious Mind
6. Thank You
7. Osaka (feat. Ambrose Kenny Smith)
8. Dusty Jungle
9. Cautionary Tale
10. 9 To 5
11. Morocco Blues

Odopt is back on Especial and this time is in collaborative mode with Sebastian Hoyos aka Sano, who is a regular on the likes of Matias Aguayo's Comeme and Munich's Public Possession. The pair cook up a fine globally-minded club trip that comes with another label return, this time from remixer Jamie Paton. The original 'Picha' first started as a sketch in 2016 then became a demo in 2019 and now finally arrives on wax. It's a raw percussive workout with razor-sharp snares and plenty of cowbells. Next to an instrumental comes the Paton remix and it is a trademark deep and dubwise piece of work with widescreen dynamics.

TRACK LISTING

Picha
Picha" (instrumental)
Picha (Jamie Paton Remix)
Picha (Jamie Paton Dub)

On Of Montreal’s latest album, 'Lady on the Cusp', Kevin Barnes shapeshifts between genres with each song. On tracks like 'Rude Girl on Rotation', Barnes revisits sounds of late 60’s guitar pop & psychedelia reminiscent of 2013’s 'Lousy With Sylvianbriar', while 'Young Hearts Bleed Free' and 'Music Hurts The Head' showcase Barnes’ love of experimental funk pop that has been present throughout much of the band’s discography. 'Lady on the Cusp' is another exciting listen from one of the most prolific and influential artists making music today.

TRACK LISTING

1. Music Hurts The Head
2. 2 Depressed 2 Fuck
3. Rude Girl On Rotation
4. Yung Hearts Bleed Free
5. Soporific Cell
6. I Can Read Smoke
7. PI$$ PI$$
8. Sea Mines That Mr Gone
9. Poetry Surf
10. Genius In The Wind

Notably the release includes standout single "Bloom" which has been certified platinum in the U.S.A, Canada, Australia, Italy & the Netherlands.

It melds earthy instrumentals to create a perfect backdrop for the band's trademark harmonies that have garnered them a dedicated audience and over 1 billion streams across their catalog.

TRACK LISTING

1. Bloom
2. Woodland
3. Featherstone
4. Halcyon
5. Willow Tree March
6. The Mortal Boy King
7. A Maker Of My Time
8. Leopold Street
9. When Our Legs Grew Tall
10. Paint
11. Kiss The Grass

In a remarkable culmination of a nearly five-decade-long career, Donnell Pitman finally graces the music world with his debut album. While Pitman has long been revered among rare groove and deep crate diggers in the Windy City, it's the resurgent charm of 'The Chocolate Lover' that has undeniably become the defining chapter of his illustrious career, gaining momentum since the 2010s. His popularity continues to soar each year, propelled by new records, reissues, remixes, and notable placements in hit TV shows such as Stranger Things Atlanta, and Southside.

Limited import copies - move quick! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Seven tracks of smoochy boogie, sun dappled R&B and hydraulic soul for the boogie juggernaut Star Creature.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Tonight (4:21)
2. Do You Wanna (extended) (5:01)
3. Summertime Girls (3:53)
4. Joog With Me (Hi-Fi Mix) (4:10)
Side 2
1. Get Next To You (5:27)
2. Need My Love (extended) (4:59)
3. Chocolate Lover (E Live Mix) (4:43)

Following on from his atomic single release, "Phonk On The Dancefloor", Sofia’s Raredub now presents his highly anticipated full EP via Mutual Pleasure Records. "Rare, Raw and Ready" is a high-voltage introduction to the Bulgarian bass baron, a title that is fully justified with this latest venture of sound.

Raredub wastes no time in setting the pace for this project, as we’re thrown straight into the searing furnace with opening track "Bamba". Having been road-tested by the likes of Kettam, KiNK, Skin On Skin and Raredub himself, "Bamba", with its infectious vocals, gut-hurdling bassline and devious rave-stab melodies, is a carefully constructed weapon of sound, with proven devastating results.

We’re then brought to "Juicy Fruit", which sees both Raredub and Mutual Pleasure’s head-honcho Partiboi69 lock palms to create a deeply sensual, highly contagious dancefloor anthem that sees the producer masterfully blend hissing hi-hats, ghetto-house informed vocal, and a series of infectious rising chord patterns and melodies which, when combined, are certainly set to cause nothing but dancefloor destruction.

Since being played as the opening track to Partibo69 and DJ Heartstring’s stingzone set, "L.L.L" is a track which, with its mind-warping bassline,euphoria ladened vocals and pad-work, has enjoyed a growing sense of anticipation from listeners, eager for its arrival.

"Snappy Chulo" sees Raredub again use a series of piercing rave-stabs to drive his sound, which is partnered with a plethora of electronic experimentation and instrumentation, before the seismic bassline of "Break Of Dawn" see Raredub bring the walls and ceiling crumbling down; presenting a suitably fitting finale to this atomic attack on the senses.

"Rare, Raw and Ready" brings Raredub’s prowess for production to the fore, as the Bulgarian producer conducts wild electronic experiments, bending genres and sound into form, to create a versatile, highly contagious and highly atomic serving of sound.

TRACK LISTING

A1. BAMBA 
A2. Juicy Fruit Ft. Partiboi69 
A3. L.L.L. 
B1. Snappy Chulo 
B2. Break Of Dawn 

Dave Lee's Z Records looks back to go forward as it offers up a spiffing new 12" of contemporary reworks of 4 classics cuts of various vintages from the ZR back catalog. Kicking things off in fantastic fashion is a slap bass and wah clav powered take on Raven Maize's 'Forever Together', originally released in1989, this was the first house cut to feature the now iconic keys riff. Dave's Heavenly Star mix of 'One Kiss' (first out in 1991) is pure hip-swinging soulful disco. Joey Montenegro (who could that be?) offers two classic cuts on the flip side. 'Make A Move On Me' (Original Disco Mix) sees the crossover hit from 2005 get a Chic like makeover with its zippy leads and timeless diva vocals. Whilst the special 25th Anniversary Mix of 1998's 'Can't Get High Without U' closes things off with some peak time, tension filled, disco house action!

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Dave Lee revisits the past in his disco Delorean, galvanizing some classic moments of dancefloor delight with a fresh new coating. "Forever Together" certainly piqued by beak with its new sfx and driving timpanis.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Raven Maize - Forever Together (Closer To The Source Mix)
2. Pacha - One Kiss (Dave's Heavenly Star Mix)

Side 2
1. Joey Montenegro - Make A Move On Me (Original Disco Mix)
2. Joey Montenegro - Can't Get High Without U (25th Anniversary Mix)

Led by brothers Danny and Robin Herbert, with Andrew Turnbull on drums, Robbie White on bass, and Alice Hancock on live samplers and backing vocals, rEDOLENT are gearing up for 2024, focusing on their upcoming debut album. Their debut LP marks a moment of the band taking control while confident in their warped take on the world, offering harsh reality and joyous escapism over the course of ten sleek, considered tracks.

With all of their output created at Post Electric Studios in Leith, rEDOLENT operate as sole creators of their artistry; writing, recording, producing and mixing their work independently. Whilst citing influences as diverse as Mount Kimble, king krule, Animal Collective, brockhampton, LCD soundsystem, Madvillain, Tom Vek, Clairo, CAN and Talking Heads, the band are undoubtedly operating in their own lane and carving a bespoke sound, which has been recognised and applauded from titles including NME, Clash, The Line of Best Fit, DIY, Hunger, Notion, The Skinny - and still, it’s just the beginning.

TRACK LISTING

1. Dinny Greet
2. Just Trying To Relax
3. Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen To Me
4. Ravvy
5. 5 Day Til' The Weekend
6. Congratulations For Getting Off The Drink
7. How Are You Making It Look So Easy (oshie-t)
8. Dunno (_____)
9. Wherever
10. Yaldi

Lips & Rhythm sails into summer 2024 with a fresh EP from Residentes Balearicos. The Ibiza-based duo of Alessandro Doretto and Luca Avera have been turning out sun-soaked dance music for several years now from their studio in the islands.

The title track 'Paraiso' is a timeless tune with just the right blend of slowed down acid and Flamenco guitar plus plenty of claps. 'Polvo Mineral' is a bit mysterious with ethereal pads, big drum fills and chanting.

'I Wanna Dance' harkens back to the beautiful Italian dream house era from the early 90s with lush chimes and driving synth lines over pitched down vocals and uplifting backing harmonies.

The remix of 'Paraiso' is from Brazil-born, New York formed, Gaspar Muniz, who reworks the title track into a breaky electro number fit for a late night in Rio De Janeiro.

A summer record that's been dancefloor tested and receiving rightful praise. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Tropical disco, star-lit chug, Balearic boogie and hammock house for your paradise trip this party season.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Paraiso
A2. Polvo Mineral
B1. I Wanna Dance
B2. Paraiso (Gaspar Muniz Funky Fresh Remix)

The fledgling Stereo:type label is back with a sizzling second release and it is the UK's Risk Assessment at the buttons. Once again here his sophomore vinyl outing is all about soul drenched and peak time disco cuts with plenty of passion and character. 'Welcome' has all the funky loops and neat keys you need to get you going, 'I Hear Music' is a real stomper with freaky guitar riffs and '5 O'Clock In The Morning' brings some big diva vocals and plenty of lush strings. Last of all is the steamy hot disco funker 'Disco Night' with its slick filter work and rich bass. Another delicious EP, then.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Nice to see an editor get frisky on the filters and loop cutter, injecting some urgency into these lesser known disco bits. Star studded glitter ball treats all the way from Risk Assessment...

TRACK LISTING

Welcome
I Hear Music
5 O’Clock In The Morning
Disco Night

French producer Jerome Barresi assumes his Robert's Diary Palais here for a new outing on Is It Balearic that offers something a little adjacent to the norm. Opener 'Dinky Bird' is a mix of tender keys and hand claps with a soulful vocal sample that reminds of early-era Moby. Norse mainstay Bjorn Torske appears then to remix and brings some scuttling percussive sounds and watery effects over four-four drums. 'Six O Six' is a yearning dub cut packed with wild FX and 'KXP' is a zoned-out and tinny retro-future nu-disco cut that is a perfect B-side.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: This one is already a winner in my book! Even though 'Dinky Bird' is the one that's getting the royalty remix treatment, I personally think the b-side is the star of the show. Can already see myself playing KXP on repeat... ultra dreamy!

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Dinky Bird
Dinky Bird" (Bjorn Torske Remix)

Side B
Six O Six
KXP

Temples of Jura enlist long serving Croatia polymath Ilija Rudman for his ninth LP entitled ‘The Great Beyond’. The concept of the album is the afterlife with words from Nikola Tesla, Slavoj Zizek, Jim Morrison, JF Kennedy, Charles De Gaulle, WH Auden, Azar Nafisi and Eleanor Roosevelt woven together to tell the story of ‘The Great Beyond’ and what may lie ahead for us all. The voice itself was created by AI (let’s call him ERIC) and is set beautifully to music that has a timeless cinematic quality. Ilija only uses pure analogue equipment in the creation of his music, resulting in a rich tapestry of basses, drums, chords and lead sounds. He’s been a prolific producer for over 20 years now with a discography that runs deep with more than 100 vinyl EP releases and 8 studio albums, but we feel he’s reached the pinnacle with this concept album. We’ll leave the final word to ERIC “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Philosophic musings merge with AI and lush, dreamy instrumentals in an ambitious concept album from Rudman. I'm sure there's some Timothy Leary titbits in there...

TRACK LISTING

Anas Theme
River Cant Wash My Tears Down
In The End (Intermezzo Theme)
Heroinas Atom Heart
Dreams (Part I)
Dreams (Part Ii)

Ruf Dug, the Mancunian record producer, radio host, and self-professed video game freak is back for round two on Pinchy and Friends recordings with a 6 song ep that truly defies categorization.

On this latest outing, Ruf Dug touches on genres as diverse as Dub, Zouk, Melodic House, Balearic Chug, Reggaeton and more....

On side A... 'Asking for Trouble' comes brazenly out of the gate with 'buttoned down'- a bold and instantly iconic Zouk-inspired dance floor destroyer.

It is then followed up by the soothing, downtempo sounds of 'Pomegranate Dub' - another instantly iconic track featuring a lead horn melody that evokes memories of the late, great John Hassall.

Jumping over to side two, things kick off with 'Watching', which, even at it's chuggy BPM, is as deadly as a dance floor track can get.

It’s a welcome return to the label with an EP that will sound as good by the poolside in Ibiza or on a wet Tuesday afternoon in Manchester. Buy or cry!

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Ruffy's at it again, roping in local Stretford musician Bob Swans for some stoned rock riffs on "Open Air". The whole EP is a brilliant snapshot of the eccentric brilliance of one of our city's most treasured producers.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Buttoned Down
A2. Pomegranate Dub
A3. Open Air
B1. Watching
B2. Pipes
B3. Night Blossom

Straight from Rio de Janeiro, Dippin' Records introduces the studio album 'ASA', by the sizzling hot modern Brazilian Multi-instrumentalist/Producer Fabio Santanna. Flyest modern Brazilian tropical disco-boogie you'll find in the market! Following up on his most recent collaborations with JKriv and Joutro Mundo, Fabio modernizes the MPB vibes of Joao Donato, Marcos Valle, Ed Motta for the current dance music lovers.

ASA: Dia (Day) evokes a sunny Balearic boogie 'day time' feels just in time for the Brazilian summer skies opening up. So sit back, put on your shades and sip on your tropical drinks and press play to vibe with the fabulous Fabio sounds.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Asa Delta (Voo Da Manha)
A2. Pedra Da Gavea
A3. Asa
B1. Espuma Do Mar
B2. Curticao
B3. You Can Do It
C1. Quando Esse Amor Chegar
C2. Verao Do Amor
C3. Swing Malandragem
D1. Alem Do Horizonte
D2. Do Corcovado
D3. Fim De Tarde

Making his Dekmantel debut with a flourish of symphonic, transcendental techno, Sepehr takes us into a fictional metaphysical zone he calls the "Genesis Domain". Over the past 10 years NYC-based Sepehr Alimagham’s versatile club music practice has taken in techno, D&B, electro, EBM and acid on a suite of scene-leading labels. This new EP builds on the pseudo-spirituality he explored on recent LP "Fall From Grace" with an exploration of an imagined space 'where your reality can be reinvented at any given moment.'

On the A side, the title track sets the pace with a throbbing, sparkling-yet-spooky trip that allows a touch of trance into the mix, while "Delicate Senses" explores snappier, broken beat rhythms and edgy atmospherics with a distinctly moody outlook.

The mystical electro shades of "Twisted Solstice" and "Planet Lonely"'s melancholic 4/4 pastures strike a note between contemplative introspection and anthemic main stage energy. "Queen Of Demons" is the consummate EP closer, leaning on brooding low end and snaking, intricate beats with a healthy dose of shimmering beauty up top.

Consistent with his versatile approach since day one, Sepehr proves any blend of tempos and rhythms can be folded into his vivid, evocative sound world - the results will draw you in close until his vision becomes yours.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Upfront techno-breaks with dark rooms and big subs in mind. Defo got a bit of a Berghain vibe going on, with some highly detailed low end production.

TRACK LISTING

Genesis Domain
Delicate Senses
Twisted Solstice
Queen Of Demons
Planet Lonely

THE BAND
It’s still: Steve Albini ◊ Guitar. Todd Trainer ◊ Drums. Bob Weston ◊ Bass.

DATA
This is Shellac’s sixth studio LP. Recording & Mixing took place at Electrical Audio in Chicago over a bunch of long weekends in November, 2017; October, 2019; September, 2021; and March, 2022. The record was mas-tered by Bob & Steve at Chicago Mastering Service.

PACKAGING
LP and CD packaging and artwork are identical (the CD is just smaller). Bob took all the photos; some with a fancy camera and some with a telephone.

QC
Audio quality is paramount, as always, with Shellac. The LPs are being manufactured by Green Vinyl Records using an injection molding process. This new process uses 100% recyclable PET (like soda bottles) and is environmentally friendly, containing no PVC or Phthalates. The process also uses 79% less CO2 than conventional hydraulic PVC vinyl presses. The records weigh 180 grams.

PROMOTION
Other than the informational sheet you hold in your hand (or virtual hand), this record will have no formal promotion. There will be no advertisements, no press or radio promotion, no e-promotion, no promotional or review copies, no promotional gimmick items, and other-wise no free lunch.

THE IPODS
Shellac doesn’t have a website. Maybe we should get one. To All Trains (2AT) will be available on most streaming services and download sites in all your formats, sample rates, and bit depths; all the way up to 96kHz, 24-bit, Hi-Res (Apple Digital Masters compliant).

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The legendary Shellac release 'To All Trains' under the sad passing of Steve Albini, but the tragedy does little to temper the incendiary heft and bone-breaking weight of Shellac's unmatched energy. Thudding bass guitars and ripped speaker distortion, Snapping snares and pummeling syncopated kick drums. Screaming, unforgettable mayhem, exactly as you'd expect.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. WSOD
2. Girl From Outside
3. Chick New Wave
4. Tattoos
5. Wednesday
Side B
6. Scrappers
7. Days Are Dogs
8. How I Wrote How I Wrote Elastic Man (cock & Bull)
9. Scabby The Rat
10. I Don’t Fear Hell

In January 2023, Tom Skinner and his ensemble performed material from his recently released album Voices of Bishara at London club “mu”— a venue founded by the curators at Brilliant Corners and named after the seminal Don Cherry live album. The set was augmented by a rendition of Tony Williams’ “Red” and three pieces by Abdul Wadud, whose 1977 self-released solo cello album, By Myself, was a primary inspiration for Voices of Bishara.

The soloists featured on the album — Shabaka Hutchings and Nubya Garcia— are replaced in Skinner's live ensemble with saxophonist Robert Stillman (who also plays with Skinner in The Smile) and saxophonist / flutist Chelsea Carmichael. The extended rhythm section of Tom Herbert (double bass) and Kareem Dayes (cello) round out the lineup, with Skinner on drums. It’s clear from the jump that this band’s aim is to excavate the deep corners of this material, kicking the set off with a 15-minute rendition of Skinner’s own composition “Bishara” that employs the same relationship to rhythmic and tonal freedom found in the Abdul Wadud cello work that inspired it. That aesthetic connection is even more clear by the time the group moves into their 20-minute exploration of Waded’s “Oasis,” the stunning centerpiece of the set.

Hearing Skinner’s compositions - flexed and stretched with extended improvisation, and in context with works by Wadud and Williams - both places them and this band firmly in the creative music continuum they honor, and provides us with an unobstructed view of where that continuum is leading us.

TRACK LISTING

1. Bishara
2. Red 2
3. The Journey
4. The Day After Tomorrow
5. Oasis
6. Camille
7. Happiness

Volume 2 from the Jackin' Disco crew promises to deliver something other than murder on the dancefloor despite the Sophie Ellis-Bextor flip; paring the disco pace back to a downer-tempo, albeit still delivering ample energy to fit on a single slice of 7" wax. The edit on the A-side is sourced from not from Bextor's breakout disco-dance hit but rather her equally-as-good, classic feature cut 'Groovejet' by producer Spiller. On the B comes an equally loopy, happy-to-be-jacked bootleg of Carol Williams' 'Love Is You'.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Spiller - Groovejet (feat Sophie Ellis Bextor)
B1. Carol Williams - Love Is You

Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan (founding members of SQÜRL) return with a sonic exploration of the cinematic works of Dadaist pioneer Man Ray, a captivating project that melds music and film.

Over the past eight years, SQÜRL have been enchanting audiences with their live scores to Man Ray’s short films across sold-out shows in prestigious venues like the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, and the Art Institute of Chicago. The culmination of their endeavor took place in the spring of 2023, on the 100th anniversary of Man Ray’s inaugural foray into filmmaking, when the newly restored Return to Reason premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

Produced by Womanray (Marieke Tricoire) and Cinenovo (Julie Viez), Return to Reason unfolds as an anthology featuring four silent short films by Man Ray – Étoile de mer (1928), Emakbakia (1926), Le Retour á la Raison (1923), and Les Mysteres du Château de Dé. (1929) — each paired with an original score by SQÜRL.

Jarmusch and Logan, two multi-disciplinary artists known for their experimentalprowess, approached these scores as a way to create an ecstatic state, a space betweenconsciousness and unconsciousness, reality, and the surreal. The resulting album,Music for Man Ray, born out of a live recording at the Centre Pompidou in Paris inFebruary of 2023, features distorted guitars, hypnotic feedback, loops and affectedsynthesizers. In the words of Logan, “It’s a journey we want to take the audience on,illuminating themes throughout these films. They are discrete, but there are alsorecurring echoes throughout the whole program.” Jim Jarmusch adds, “We feel veryproud to be Man Ray’s backup band.”

Now both the film Return to Reason and the resulting music in the form of Musicfor Man Ray are seeing the light of day - both stand as a testament to the creativesynergy between Man Ray’s groundbreaking cinema and the innovative musicalinterpretation by SQÜRL.

TRACK LISTING

1. Starfish
2. Leave Me Alone
3. The Return
4. Castle Of Dice

In 'Cape Forestier', Angus and Julia Stone express their extraordinary journey through heartfelt songs, emphasizing the universal language of music that feels like home to them. The concept of home has evolved beyond a physical place for Angus and Julia, becoming a deeper connection that grew from their shared musical experiences. Julia reflecis on how creating music brings them peace, acting as a common language that transcends the complexities of life.

The duo's musical journey has taken them across the globe, from childhood beginnings to record deals in London, collaborations with Rick Rubin in LA, and the establishment of a studio in the hinterlands of NSW

'Cape Forestier' serves as a narrative from the hearts and minds of Angus and Julia Stone. Each song unfolds as a different page in their storybook, covering themes from love stones to societal observations. Regardless of labels like folky, acoustic, or indie-rock, the siblings prioritize authenticity over stylistic choices.

The album features tracks like 'Cape Forestier,' 'Losing You,' 'The Wedding Song,' and 'County Sign,' each showcasing the duo's inherent musicality. Angus and Julia Stone acknowledge that this is their most stripped-back album, returing to their roots whlle incorporating the branches of experence gained over the years.

Despite their modesty about their talents, they are of everything good and natural about song writing, as they seem to constantly capture the essence of honest music. Angus and Julia recognize the charm of their innocence in earlier records. However, they also acknowledge their present curiosity and naivety in the face of the world's mysteries, traits evident in 'Cape Forestier'. Through their unspoken connection, they continue to speak the same language, reaffirming the timeless and universal power of music in their lives.

TRACK LISTING

1. Losing You
2. Down To The Sea
3. My Little Anchor
4. Cape Forestier
5. County Sign
6. City Of Lights
7. No Boat No Aeroplane
8. The Wedding Song
9. I Want You
10. Somehow
11. Sitting In Seoul
12. The Wonder Of You

‘Most Perfect Solitude’ is the sixth studio album from The Third Sound, due out May 17th on Fuzz Club. The follow-up to 2022' 'First Light' LP marks a new chapter, in terms of both sound and personnel, for the Berlin psych/post-punk band led by Icelandic musician and author Hakon Adalsteinsson. “After touring ‘First Light’ heavily and releasing our Fuzz Club Session LP last year – a career-spanning, retrospective document – this album feels like starting with a clean slate”, Haken says. Written and recorded in under two weeks, during a rare gap in his non-stop touring schedule as guitarist in The Brian Jonestown Massacre and new project Golden Hours at that time, ‘Most Perfect Solitude’ introduces a new Third Sound line-up: Hakon and long-time member Robin Hughes (Organ/Guitar) now joined by Frankie Broek (drums) and Wim Janssens (bass). As well as the line-up changes, Hakon reflects, “There is a certain warmth to some of the songs that has not been there before, but they still flicker between light and shadows, kind of like a slow motion audio version of Brion Gysin‘s Dreamachine.” On the one hand, jangly ‘60s 12-strings and breezy melodies shine on tracks like ‘Another Time, Another Place’ and ‘On Returning’, undoubtedly The Third Sound at their most radiant. Yet the record is not without its darker, heavier moments either – see the scuzzy psych-rock drone ‘Veiled’ or soon-to-be live favourite ‘Wasteland’, which sets a nightmarish vision of a city in ruins to the tune of heavy fuzz-guitar repetition and hypnotic drums. The album’s title is a phrase lifted from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and found by way of Werner Herzog’s journal writings in ‘Of Walking In Ice’, documenting the film-makers walk from Munich to Paris, which Hakon was reading whilst on the road himself: “Many of the songs touched on the theme of trips or some sort of travel, so I knew immediately that it was going to be the title. When you are travelling or touring you can find yourself in a weird sort of isolation, whilst also often looking for solitude to get away from everything. And, sometimes, it is best to listen to music in that most perfect solitude.”

TRACK LISTING

1. See You On The Other Side
2. On Returning
3. Don't Look Back
4. Catch Fire
5. Veiled
6. Another Time, Another Place
7. Shooting Star
8. Dots
9. Wasteland
10. Departure

Multi / triple Platinum, multi / triple Gold laureates Dutch duo Tinlicker release their third studio album, ‘Cold Enough For Snow’, on [PIAS] Électronique, accompanied by an album tour.

Tinlicker are an electronic music act formed in 2013, consisting of Micha Heyboer (drums, keys) and Jordi van Achthoven (drums, keys).

The ‘Cold Enough For Snow’ album features Placebo’s Brian Molko, Editors’ Tom Smith, Circa Waves, Boxer Rebellion’s singer songwriter Nathan Nicholson (known for work with Joris Voorn, Claptone, Duke Dumont), Australian singer Cloves and South African singer songwriter Julia Church.

Having conquered London’s Roundhouse last year, the duo return to the UK, to the legendary

TRACK LISTING

1. Glasshouse (feat. Julia Church)
2. Staring Down Sunset (feat. Nathan Nicholson)
3. Nothing To Lose (feat. Circa Waves)
4. Blowfish
5. This Life (feat. Tom Smith)
6. Slipstream (feat. Julia Church)
7. Who I'm Not (feat. Cloves)
8. Revolution
9. Crossroads (feat. Nathan Nicholson)
10. In Your Eyes
11. Nowhere To Go (feat. Brian Molko)
12. Strawberry (feat. Nathan Nicholson & Metropole Orkest)
13. Pretender

Bombs always deliver exactly that - 2 weapons grade bangers to detonate any dancefloor, this time with a couple of tunes from the ladies featuring Sean Paul.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Blu Cantrell - Breathe (feat Sean Paul)
B1. Beyonce - Baby Boy (feat Sean Paul)

Italian Ibiza favourite Tuccillo returns to legendary NYC label Nu Groove with another four-track EP, ‘Frames’, including a feature from Chicago native Ron Carroll. With previous Nu Groove releases like the ‘Sunshine City EP’ and ‘I Believe’ with TradeCraft earning the respect of esteemed selectors including Archie Hamilton, Chloe Caillet and Laurent Garnier, Tuccillo’s expertly crafted sound is revered for its analogue approach. Similarly, his passion and respect for vinyl has earned him respect from crate diggers and house music tastemakers globally ever since the 90s. Tuccillo’s ‘Frames EP’ opens with the eponymous lead, showcasing his malleable sound that comes alive in underground scenes for heads in the know. Chicago house authority Ron Carroll lends his vocals to ‘Don’t Walk Away’, supported by Tuccillo’s fresh club-defining production that also permeates ‘You Got Me’. ‘Everything’ closes out this collection of pure house excellence, with expressive yet softer synthwork creating a cooler feel perfect for the afterhours.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Tuccillo man! I practically coin the term 'concentric house' around this dude's grooves! Incessant wriggle, fluttering percussion, deep bass - the perfect formula, executed with style every time. One of the best to do it.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Frames
A2. Tuccillo Featuring Ron Carroll ‘Don’t Walk Away’
B1. You Got Me
B2. Everything

A big coup for lovers of Boo! The inimitable and long serving Chicago stalwart dropping FOUR fresh tracks on his iconic Moonman imprint resulting in nearly half an hour of undiluted Boo Williams glide-n-shuffle!

Drizzled in his usual electric flair and idiosyncratic drum programming; concentric grooves gallop through neon lit textures and perpetual motion - it's impossible to keep still listening to these wrigglers! Beautifully arranged with crystal clear production, these Moonman records are the creme of Williams' crop - do not sleep!  

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Bit 'o Boo fer't boys (and the girls)! I've always had a mighty soft spot for the iconic Chi-town producer and with his label Moonman, we're treated to some of the finest moments he's produced to date. Shuffle them tail feathers!

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Can't Forget You (instrumental) (6:42)
2. All About The Music (Service Mix) (6:35)
Side 2
1. Replay (7:42)
2. Last Thoughts (feat Jamiel Patton) (6:25)

Death Row Records/ gamma is pleased to announce the release of a 30th Anniversary edition of Above The Rim (The Soundtrack) on 17th May. This is the first time the full 21-song tracklist will be available on vinyl. All previous LP releases have been 18 tracks. It will be available on double yellow with orange and red splatter vinyl.

Upon its initial release, Above The Rim (The Soundtrack) sold over 2 million copies and held the #1 spot on the Billboard R&B Albums chart for 10 consecutive weeks. The soundtrack is loaded with songs from epic artists including Tha Dogg Pound featuring Nate Dogg and Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre, Warren G, DJ Quik and Al B. Sure! Additionally, this special 30th Anniversary edition will now include tracks from 2Pac "Pain" (feat. Stretch), Lord G “Mi Monie Rite!" and 2Pac “Loyal To The Game" (feat. Treach & Riddler).

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Anything Swv
2. Old Time's Sake Sweet Sable
3. Part Time Lover H-Town
4. Big Pimpin’ The Dogg Pound Gangstas
5. Didn’t Mean To Turn You On 2nd Ii None

Side B
1. Doggie Style D.J. Rogers
2. Regulate Nate Dogg & Warren G
3. Pour Out A Little Liquor Thug Life
4. Gonna Give It To Ya Jewell & Aaron Hall
5. Afro Puffs The Lady Of Rage

Side C
1. Jus So Ya No Cpo-Boss Hogg
2. Hoochies Need Love Too Paradise
3. I’m Still In Love With You Al B. Sure!
4. Crack ‘Em O.F.T.B.
5. U Bring Da Dog Out Rhythm & Knowledge
6. Blowed Away B-Rezell

Side D
1. It's Not Deep Enough Jewell
2. Dogg Pound 4 Life Tha Dogg Pound
3. Pain 2pac & Stretch
4. Mi Monie Rite! Lord G
5. Loyal To The Game 2pac, Treach & Riddler

The official soundtrack release to the new film of Amy Winehouse, Back  To Black, releasing Spring 2024. Amy Winehouse is widely considered as one of the greatest artists in recent history, selling more than 30 million records worldwide. Her acclaimed self-produced 2006 album Back to Black, propelled her to global stardom, going on to win a (then) record breaking 5 Grammy Awards, including Record Of The Year and Song of The Year for hit single Rehab.

TRACK LISTING

Single LP/CD
1. Amy Winehouse - What Is It About Men
2. Amy Winehouse - Stronger Than Me
3. Amy Winehouse - Know You Now
4. The Shangri-Las - Leader Of The Pack
5. Billie Holiday - All Of Me
6. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
7. Minnie Riperton - Les Fleurs
8. Dinah Washington - Mad About The Boy
9. Amy Winehouse – Love Is A Losing Game
10. Sarah Vaughan Featuring Clifford Brown - Embraceable You
11. Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own
12. Nick Cave – Song For Amy

Double LP/CD
Disc 1:
1. Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser
2. Amy Winehouse - What Is It About Men
3. Amy Winehouse - Stronger Than Me
4. Amy Winehouse - I Heard Love Is Blind
5. The Specials - Ghost Town
6. Amy Winehouse - Know You Now
7. Little Anthony & The Imperials - I'm On The Outside (Looking In)
8. The Shangri-Las - Leader Of The Pack
9. Billie Holiday - All Of Me
10. The Shangri-Las - Dressed In Black
11. Donny Hathaway - I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know
12. The Libertines - Don't Look Back Into The Sun
13. Amy Winehouse - Fuck Me Pumps

Disc 2:
1. Tony Bennett - Body & Soul
2. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
3. Amy Winehouse - Valerie (Live Lounge Version)
4. Minnie Riperton - Les Fleurs
5. Willie Nelson - That’s Life
6. Dinah Washington - Mad About The Boy
7. Amy Winehouse - (There Is) No Greater Love
8. Amy Winehouse - Me & Mr Jones
9. Amy Winehouse - Love Is A Losing Game
10. Amy Winehouse - Rehab
11. Sarah Vaughan Featuring Clifford Brown - Embraceable You
12. Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own
13. Nick Cave - Song For Amy

Frits Wentink’s Bobby Donny Label returns once more for the second BODO-ACE VA release, featuring both familiar and new faces across a six track EP of previously digital only releases. Frits and friends continue to showcase the unique and impeccable sound of Bobby Donny. After the success of the first VA, this won’t be around for long, so buy or cry.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Full to brim of fresh new house music. Frits Wentink and pals deploy a seriously heavy 12" for DJs doing the club thing over the next few months. Elegant and stylish throughout, if yer dig deep house then this'uns 4 U!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Frits Wentink & Malin Genie - Teardrop Renaissance
A2. Frits Wentink & Malin Genie - Atricot
A3. Tom Paris - L’Enfer Du Paradis
B1. Didier Chesto - Ow Yeah
B2. Boy Berger - Etherial
B3. Joy Jenkins - Flowers

Soul Jazz Records’ classic, ‘Delta Swamp Rock’, features a killer all-star line-up of seminal artists who first blended rock, soul and country together to create a stunning new sound of southern American music in the 1970s.

Featuring the Allman Brothers, Dan Penn, Leon Russell, Tony Joe White, Johnny Cash, Bobbie Gentry, Big Star, Link Wray, Area Code 615 and loads more.

This album comes as a classic black vinyl edition complete with extensive original sleevenotes, interviews and exclusive photography, all spread over a 12-page fullsize magazine and two bespoke inner sleeves.

‘Delta Swamp Rock’ is an interstate southern road trip through the United States of America where country, rock and soul met at the crossroads - an exploration of the musical and cultural links between the cities of Memphis, Muscle Shoals and Nashville in the 1960s and 70s.

At the start of the 1970s, a new type of music emerged out of the southern states of Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida. Southern rock, the creation of young blue-collar white Americans, blended rock, soul, country and blues music together to present a new vision of the south - a post-civil rights southern identity complete with a celebration of the regions natural landscape and its way of life.

The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd epitomised the definitive southern rock groups - a mixture of blues-rock and country with a southern rebelliousness and attitude. Unfortunately, both The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd were to be struck by tragedy, which would affect the movement’s rise and fall.

The backstory to southern rock is the fact that a number of the people involved in its creation had been central to the production of southern soul music in the 1960s mainly in Memphis, Tennessee, and the small town of Muscle Shoals (population around 10,000) deep within the Bible Belt, liquor-free, deeply segregated state of Alabama, creating 100s of R&B hits on an almost daily basis.

Here in Muscle Shoals, with its proximity to Memphis and Nashville, an all-white group of in-house musicians, (famously referred to by Lynyrd Skynyrd in the song ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ as the ‘Swampers’), created countless classic soul records for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, Clarence Carter and more during the 1960s.

This album charts the rise and fall of southern rock from its funky swamp roots in southern soul to its phenomenal success in the first half of the 1970s, including its influence on Nashville’s ‘outlaw’ country and tracing it right back to the arrival of rock and roll in the 1950s - the first meeting of black and white American music at the crossroads.

TRACK LISTING

1. Lynyrd Skynyrd - The Seasons
2. Barefoot Jerry - Smokies
3. Joe South - Hush
4. Bobbie Gentry - Papa, Won’t You Let Me Go To Town With You
5. Area Code 615 - Stone Fox Chase
6. Cher - I Walk On Guilded Splinters
7. Cowboy - Please Be With Me
8. The Allman Brothers - Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More
9. Link Wray - Be What You Want To
10. Boz Scaggs - I’ll Be Long Gone
11. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Comin’ Home
12. Bobbie Gentry - Seasons Come, Seasons Go
13. Leon Russell - Out In The Woods
14. Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie
15. Barefoot Jerry - Come To Me Tonight
16. Dan Penn - If Love Was Money
17. Linda Ronstadt - I Won’t Be Hangin’ ‘Round
18. Waylon Jennings - Big D
19. Big Star - Thirteen
20. Bobbie Gentry - Mississippi Delta
21. Travis Wammack - I Forgot To Remember To Forget
22. Johnny Cash & June Carter - If I Were A Carpenter
23. Billy Vera - I’m Leavin’ Here Tomorrow, Mama

We've managed to snaffle some copies of this under-the-radar hip-hop comp from last year. "Down The Local" is an absolute gem; featuring a plethora of rappers I haven't heard yet but the UK flavours are strong throughout with each MC having their own unique flow and style with clear regional accent variations indicating a nationwide roster. Meanwhile the instrumentals are rich with that smokey, jazzy, boom-bap flavour synonymous with the golden days of UK hip-hop complete with nice scratch passages and clever sampling.

Real rap heads ain't gonna wanna sleep on this one trrruusst! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: A truly fine selection of UK hip-hop that brings to mind that halcyon period around 2002 with strong regional dialects and simple, boom-bap, sample heavy production.

TRACK LISTING

1. Deeflux & Miracle - Unquenchable
2. Louie G X Barry Manalog - Stylin Merd
3. Cappo X Luther Andross - Ellar 
4. Deeflux & Miracle Feat Ash The Author & Gee Bag - Reel Me Back In 
5. Ash The Author X Barry Manalog Feat Mysdiggi & Dj Chud - Same As It Never Was 
6. Cappo X Luther Andross - Nye 
7. Louie G X Barry Manalog - Milty 
8. Ash The Author X Barry Manalog Feat Dj Chud - Modern Day Jazz Crumpet 
9. Deeflux & Miracle Feat Chrome - Oovavoo 

The first in a series of mini compilations exploring instrumental dub versions of sought after and long out of print titles from the world of reggae, disco, boogie and house. Many of these versions still contain vocals, snippets here and there drenched in delay or reverb, a style you’ll recognise from many of the Jura Soundsystem edits on the label. The late Glen Adams & Finesse open proceedings with their Island disco cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic, followed on the A2 by a super rare UK boogie / Brit funk mix of Tippa Irie’s ‘Panic Panic’ (shouts to Tippa for personally helping to push through the license) and the A side closes with the 80’s leaning ‘Yes I Do’ from Belgium’s Special Occasion. The first half of the B side comes from Carol Williams with the Special Club Dub mix of ‘Can’t Get Away’, originally a one sided promo only 10” from 1983 complete with spoken word intro from Carol thanking New York’s Metro DJs for their support of the song. The LP closes with a Jura Soundsystem Dubby Edit of La Palace De Beaute’s ‘Sin’ pulling back on the vocal and going heavy on the delay.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Went criminally under-the-radar first time it was released in 2022. Strangely, volume 2 blew up! I think these five versions are just as hot as that material, so nice that Isle Of Jura have repressed for slow coaches like me who missed it first time round.

TRACK LISTING

Glen Adams & Finesse - Sexual Instrumental
Tippa Irie - Panic Panic (Express Mix)
Special Occasion - Yes I Do (12” Instrumental Mix)
Carol Williams - Can’t Get Away (From Your Love) (Special Club Dub Mix)
La Palace De Beaute - Sin (Jura Soundsystem Dub)

Let the sound of the night drums and the cry of the horns empower you! The crate diggers of Jazz Dispensary are proud to present a collection of jams propelled by the spirit of nature, protest, and freedom, featuring songs from pioneering musicians Joe Henderson, Gary Bartz, Ran Blake, Azar Lawrence, A.K. Salim, and The Dungills. 

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A:
1. Afro-Centric – Joe Henderson
2. Freedom One Day – Gary Bartz Quintet
3. Theme For A New Day – Azar Lawrence
SIDE B:
4. Afrika – A.K. Salim
5. Night Drums – The Dungills
6. Three Seeds (A Suite): I) Regis Debray; II) Che Guevara; III) Malcolm – Ran Blake

Following in the wake of baroque chart toppers by the Zombies, Beatles, and the Left Banke, a dandier approach to garage rock flowered in the back half of the ’60s. Awash in majestic harpsichords, lilting guitars, melancholic organs, and middle school orchestras, Soft Summer Breezes captures the decade’s last gasps of optimism via 16 gentle moments of soft psychedelia.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Life - Life
2. The Giant Crab - Soft Summer Breezes
3. Attila & The Huns - Here’s Where I Get Off
4. Lenny Roybal - Little Daisy
5. Margo Guryan - Can You Tell
6. J.C. Horton - Why Why Why
7. Richard Holman - Gentle Flying Dove
8. The Sound Control - When Will It End

SIDE B
1. The Goodthings - The Journey
2. Jerry Benicaso - Wounds Heal And Birds Fly Free
3. Bob Belche - Fall On Me Rain
4. Pisces - A Flower For All Seasons
5. Female Species - Baby Buggy
6. The Morning Sun - Someday
7. Larry Sands & The Sound Affair - You’ll Know The Words
8. The New Colony Six - The Time Of The Year Is Sunset

Ska never stopped you know! From it’s Jamaican music if the piano’s not playing ska or the guitar… any music you have… reggae… even the computer music… the piano’s playing ‘ska, ska, ska…’ it leads the music so ska is still the backbone of Jamaican music. Right?” Bunny Lee

The music of Jamaica has had a profound and lasting influence all around the world and reggae is the name by which it has become universally known. Although the term ska is often used to describe all Jamaican music before dub, deejays and dread in the mid seventies the real Jamaican ska was made in Kingston between 1961/1962 and 1966.

In the early fifties the popularity of driving rhythm & blues from the USA reached fever pitch in Jamaica and mobile sound systems (the forerunners of today’s discos) were assembled and operated by men such as Tom ‘The Great Sebastian’ Wong to play this music to wildly appreciative audiences at levels that were felt physically rather than merely heard. Competition was fierce, both metaphorically and literally, and sound system operators including Arthur Reid, ‘Duke Reid The Trojan’, and Clement Dodd, ‘Sir Coxsone The Downbeat’, would travel to America on record buying expeditions. On their triumphant return to Kingston, laden with exclusive records, they would be met by their enthusiastic supporters. Only the followers of their sound systems could hear these records and the records’ real identity would be a closely guarded secret. The titles were often scratched off and the tunes renamed to confuse the opposition.

As the decade drew to a close America turned to a softer more mellow sound and supplies of the music favoured in Jamaica began to dry up… so the sound system operators began to make their own rhythm & blues recordings. Initially intended for sound system play only on one-off acetates these tunes proved so popular that they were soon made commercially available. Many sound men now became record producers including ‘Sir Coxsone’, Duke Reid ‘The Trojan’ and Prince Buster ‘The Voice Of The People’ although the first ‘local’ recording to make the number one spot in Jamaica was Laurel Aitken’s ‘Boogie In My Bones’/‘Little Sheila’ on Chris Blackwell’s R & B label.

The emphasis was placed firmly on the offbeat and these rhythm & blues shuffle and boogie recordings were unmistakably Jamaican in form and content and far, far more than straightforward copies of American rhythm & blues. A sound was gradually created that was not only completely new and original but that would also go on to outlive a large proportion of its influences. Powered by the musical collective known as The Skatalites together with solo singers including Derrick Morgan, Eric ‘Monty’ Morris, duos Higgs & Wilson, Keith & Enid and Stranger & Patsy and vocal groups The Maytals, The Wailers, Justin Hinds & The Dominoes the producers now began to drive the music one step beyond. Together they created an entirely new genre of music whose inventions and innovations would reach far beyond its parochial beginnings in Kingston sound system rivalry.

TRACK LISTING

1. Ska Boo Da Ba – The Skatalites
2. Confucious – Don Drummond & The Skatalites
3. Storm Warning – Lyn Taitt & The Boys
4. Alley Cat Ska – Tommy McCook & His Ska-Talites
5. Trench Town People – Theophilus Beckford
6. Walking Down King Street – Theophilus Beckford
7. South China Sea – Johnny ‘Dizzy’ Moore
8. Ringo – The Skatalites
9. Nuclear Weapon – Roland Alphonso & His Ska-Talites
10. Magnificent Ska – Lyn Taitt & The Baba Brooks Band
11. Come On My People – Daniel Johnson
12. Hit You Let You Feel It – The Tenor Twins
13. The Re-Burial – Don Drummond & The Skatalites
14. Love Me Or Leave Me – Lloyd Clarke
15. A Shot In The Dark – Roland Alphonso*
16. Distant Drums – Baba Brooks & The Trenton Spence Orchestra*
*CD Bonus Tracks

The ’Rare Mod’ series has been one of the most enduring Acid Jazzcurated comps of recent years. This included the CD Volumes 1-3 and a 3CD Boxset, uncovering a host of lost classics that capture sound of the original Mod scene: Hard R’n’B, Beat & Soul, and archetypal Pop from the 1960s.

For the first time, the Best Of… is available on vinyl, with choice selections from across the series, presented in a hip, evocative sleeve, with printed inner, and on orange transparent vinyl. The track-list contains a couple from the legendary Fleur De Lys, as well as a track from their brief billing as ‘Shyster’. Elsewhere, there are several productions from unsung hero and prolific session man Graham Dee, and even a turn from young David Bowie performing with The Riot Squad!

An absolute must-have collection of the less-heard tracks from one of the most iconic periods of British music.

TRACK LISTING

1. Mud In My Eye – The Fleur De Lys
2. It’s A Hard Way – Cathedral
3. She’s Got The Time – The Afex
4. Tick Tock – Shyster
5. Big Bird – Dog Soul
6. I’m A Man – The Top Six
7. I’m Waiting For The Man – The Riot Squad
8. We Can Make It Together – Tony & Tandy
9. A Love I Believe In – Maxine
10. Brick By Brick (Stone By Stone) – Fleur De Lys
11. Soul Ride – Mike Berry
12. Just A Little Misunderstanding – Richard Kent Style
13. Sing A Simple Song – Ossie Lane Show
14. Mr. Super Cool – Graham Dee

Next up and with a label debut is one of the leading Female artists on the circuit, Tini Gessler! Tini dropped some straight-up club fire on our sister label Toolroom Trax earlier in the year alongside Juliet Sikora and digs deep into her clubby roots once again with 'Do What You Want'. After releases on the mighty Drumcode, Sola and Kittball in recent years, her 10 year career is going from strength to strength which is seeing her DJ all over the Globe on a weekly basis and her music production is making huge waves within the industry, and rightly so. Next up Italian born DJ and producer, CASSIMM is back on Toolroom with a straight up club weapon! After laying down the delicious disco number last year called 'Get On The Funk' with Kid Enigma, this follows suit perfectly and fuses chunky beats, disco licks and has Bruno Blanc sharing some sentimental lyrics about how important house music is to all of us. Last but not least, French artist Tony Romera is back on Toolroom with another slice of Tech House fire. Tony Romera first stepped onto the scene 10 years ago as a fresh-faced 20 year old looking to make waves and disrupt the electronic music world with his unique style and French-house inspired beats. Since then he's been busy releasing music and experimenting with different sounds and styles, putting out music on a range of powerhouse labels and gaining support from the likes of Diplo, Fisher, Chris Lake, Fatboy Slim, Deadmau5, Vintage Culture, Adam Beyer and more. House Y'all's distinct character is built upon a warped, creeping bassline and tough, relentless beats providing an irresistible pulsing backdrop as the familiar chanted vocal emerges. A sonic trip that transports you deep into the heart of the underground.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Piero Pirupa - Party (Extended Mix)
A2. Tini Gessler - Do What You Want (Extended Mix)
B1. CASSIMM, Bruno Blanc - House Affair (Extended Mix)
B2. Tony Romera - House Y'all (Extended Mix)