Kalita are proud to announce the first ever 7” single reissue of what is possibly the most coveted gospel disco record in existence, the Al-Dos Band’s soulful masterpiece ‘Doing Our Thing With Pride’. This iconic reissue is backed by the band’s previously unreleased recording ‘Love Jones Coming Down’. At long last, Kalita revives this South Carolinian grail single, housed in a limited-edition picture sleeve. Originally penned and produced in 1976 by husband-and-wife duo William and Elizabeth Robinson in Greenville, South Carolina – a city steeped in musical heritage – the record was released in a run of just 200 copies the following year on their own label, Warmer Productions. ‘Doing Our Thing With Pride’ epitomises the best in uplifting crossover gospel disco, equally suited to both peaceful listening and dancefloor action. Despite garnering some attention upon its original release, the single struggled to make headway against the prevailing music forces of the time. Coupled with mounting academic and familial obligations, the release faded into obscurity, eventually becoming a highly sought-after gem, commanding exorbitant prices whenever an original copy surfaced for sale—a rarity that occurred only once every decade. Now, following their successful unearthing of the band’s unreleased album in 2021, Kalita present this remarkable record in a limited-edition 7” picture sleeve single.

TRACK LISTING

A. Doing Our Thing With Pride
B. Love Jones Coming Down

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, set for release on Fri 3 May 2024 on Modern Sky.

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. 

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)

Standard-bearers of the early Louisville scene, Babylon Dance Band created (largely out of whole cloth) the magic that later became identifiable as the Louisville sound: abstract yet urgent garagepunk stylings smothered in generous helpings of guitar heroism and surprisingly soul-shouterinfluenced vocals.

In December 1980, the Babylon Dance Band’s massive artistic footprint landed them on the cover of NYC’s Village Voice (even before the band’s first single was released). A year later, they broke up before releasing this: their posthumous second single.

Later generations of Louisville rockers from Squirrel Bait to King Kong to Slint to Will Oldham to Tara Jane O’Neil freely cite Babylon Dance Band as a major influence, as do northern compatriots including Yo La Tengo.

In 1994, Matador Records issued a posthumous Babylon Dance Band LP. Today, Babylon Dance Band guitarist Tara Key and bassist Tim Harris continue to work together in the New York City band, Antietam.

TRACK LISTING

1. Somebody
2. Rubbertown

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.

Milky Clear vinyl 140g 2LP The Spotlight Kid is the sixth studio album by Captain Beefheart. Originally released in 1972, it is the only album credited solely to Captain Beefheart rather than Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, although every member is featured, and its material is considered part of the band's repertoire. REleased for RSD 2024 as a 2LP in gatefold jacket with milky clear coloured vinyl.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.

I love these musicians [Sam Amidon, Karl Blau, Charlotte Greve, Shahzad Ismaily] - I've played with some of them for two years and some for over twenty - We met up last spring at Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn and rehearsed for one day before recording this album at the nearby Owl Parlor on March 29 and 30, 2023

It fills me with joy to hear my songs reinterpreted through the spirits of these masterful musicians (who are also my dear friends). I hope you enjoy this document, too. Thank you to Oren Bloedow at The Owl Parlor for creating a beautiful space for us to perform and record this music." Pressed on Black- In- Ultra-Clear color vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

1. Autumn Song
2. White Cherry
3. Ring Song
4. Time Will Show You
5. Signal 
6. Seaside Haiku
7. Pink Light
8. New Arms
9. My Lantern
10. I Can See Your Tracks

Bossa nova was in vogue in 1962 and following the release of the Stan Getz/ Charlie Byrd LP Jazz Samba, jazz record producers were anxious to get their signed artists to jump on the "jazz bossa nova" craze.

As Mercury Records' musical director at that time, Quincy Jones was his own producer and decided to take advantage of the opportunity with his Big Band Bossa Nova, which put together some Antonio Carlos Jobim classics, along with some original compositions, including the international hit single 'Soul Bossa Nova'. All wonderfully arranged by Jones and performed by his incredible all-star big band.

TRACK LISTING

1. Soul Bossa Nova
2. Boogie Bossa Nova
3. Desafinado
4. Manha De Carnaval (Morning Of The Carnival)
5. Se E Tarde, Me Perdoa (Forgive Me If I'm Late)
6. On The Street Where You Live
7. Samba De Uma Nota So (One Note Samba)
8. Lalo Bossa Nova
9. Serenata
10. Chega De Saudade (No More Blues)
11. A Taste Of Honey

The Stanford Family Band release their debut EP "For Your Listening Pleasure". Fronted by the captivating lead vocals of Elliot Stanford, the EP's six songs capture a vintage pop aura whilst retaining a fresh indie and garage rock edge.

Offering a sound which journeys through bittersweet memories, nostalgia, and the warmth of sunlit days, The Stanford Family Band have started to make a name for their unique sonic approach - drawing inspiration from iconic acts such as The Beach Boys and The Modern Lovers, built around complex four-part harmonies and irresistibly memorable melodic hooks.

Speaking about the EP, Elliot Stanford (lead vocals, piano, guitar and songwriter) said: "When we were first signing with Goo, we really had no idea what we would release or how it would end up looking. We have a lot of songs, old and new, some of which have been floating around for many years. In the end we just really wanted to put out a body of work that really encapsulates everything we are about! We love big dramatic songs and arrangements, but at the same time, a little cheeky country/garage rock beat has always tickled us so we just really wanted to capture everything that we love in one concise record. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work on this with our friend Harry Hayes (Producer) and we are mega proud of how it all came together!"

Having already garnered tastemaker press coverage and a whole host of radio play, The Stanford Family Band have quickly started to gain critical acclaim. This EP showcases the outfit’s uncanny ability as songwriters, creating memorable, charming and beautifully constructed melodic tracks.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
A1. Your Chair
A2. Make My Day
A3. Sweep The Floor

Side B
B1. Love Me A Bit
B2. Nothing Like Something
B3. On My Holiday

Strut proudly presents the first official remastered reissue of Lafayette Afro Rock Band's elusive funk/Afro original album, 'Malik,' originally released in 1974. In 1971, an undocumented seven-member Afro-American ensemble known as the Bobby Boyd Congress made a transformative journey from the United States to France. Bandleader Frank Abel recollects, "We sensed that the soul and funk market was saturated back home, and our original plan was a brief 6-month stint in Paris. Surprisingly, we ended up staying for a decade." Upon lead singer Bobby Boyd's return to the U.S., the group rebranded as Ice and crossed paths with independent producer Pierre Jaubert, a seasoned studio professional with credits on groundbreaking recordings alongside Charles Mingus, John Lee Hooker, and Archie Shepp, among others.

Drawing inspiration from Motown's work ethic, Jaubert initiated regular rehearsals with Ice. He recalled, "I didn't want to mimic Berry, but with seven talented musicians collaborating daily, something unique emerged. " The band, residing in Paris and immersed in the African-dominated Barbesse district, began infusing African elements into their music frequently performing with Paris-dwelling Camaroonian and legendary composer Manu Dibango.

Under the new moniker Lafayette Afro Rock Band, the group's music transitioned to predominantly instrumental compositions, featuring a denser Afro-funk sound. Their inaugural recording with the new name, 'Soul Makossa, ' included a compelling rendition of Dibango's classic and the impactful break in 'Hihache.' The subsequent release a year later, 'Malik,' refined their sound with the percussive Afro party jam 'Conga, ' the atmospheric vocoder and piano-led piece 'Djungi,' and the robust funk of 'Darkest Light.'

Despite a limited impact upon its initial release, 'Malik' found appreciation as hip-hop culture flourished in the '80s, establishing itself as a rich source of samples and riffs. 'Conga' was featured in the 'Ultimate Breaks And Beats' series, while the opening horn line from 'Darkest Light' became a pivotal hip-hop motif, employed by Jay-Z, Public Enemy, Wreckx 'N' Effect, and many others.

This remastered reissue, the first of its kind, meticulously crafted by The Carvery from the original tapes, showcases the album in its entirety and includes the full original artwork.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Djungi
A2. Raff
A3. Conga
A4. Avi-vo
B1. Malik
B2. Darkest Light
B3. Baba Hya

Strut proudly presents the first official remastered reissue of the funk/Afro classic, Lafayette Afro Rock Band's 'Soul Makossa' from 1973. In 1971, an undocumented seven-member Afro-American ensemble known as the Bobby Boyd Congress made a transformative journey from the United States to France. Bandleader Frank Abel recollects,"We sensed that the soul and funk market was saturated back home, and our original plan was a brief 6-month stint in Paris. Surprisingly, we ended up staying for a decade." Upon lead singer Bobby Boyd's return to the U.S., the group rebranded as Ice and crossed paths with independent producer Pierre Jaubert, a seasoned studio professional with credits on groundbreaking recordings alongside Charles Mingus, John Lee Hooker, and Archie Shepp, among others.

Drawing inspiration from Motown's work ethic, Jaubert initiated regular rehearsals with Ice. He recalled, "I didn't want to mimic Berry, but with seven talented musicians collaborating daily, something unique emerged." The band, residing in Paris and immersed in the African-dominated Barbesse district, began infusing African elements into their music frequently performing with Paris-dwelling Camaroonian and legendary composer Manu Dibango.

Rechristening themselves Lafayette Afro Rock Band, the group's musical direction shifted towards predominantly instrumental compositions, characterized by a weightier, more intricate Afro-funk sound. Their debut recording under this new moniker, 'Soul Makossa,' made a powerful impact with a dynamic rendition of Dibango's classic, coupled with the intense break of 'Hihache' and the contagious 'Nicky.' Initially released by Musidisc in France and later in the U.S. via Editions Makossa, the album omitted the title track due to publishing clearance issues.

Despite modest sales upon its initial release, the album's enduring influence became evident as hip-hop culture surged in the '80s, establishing it as a primary source for samples and riffs. The iconic 'Hihache' break found fame in Biz Markie's 'Nobody Beats The Biz,' and tracks from the album were lifted by LL Cool J, The Beatnuts, Kruder & Dorfmeister, and numerous others.

This remastered reissue, the first of its kind, meticulously crafted by The Carvery from the original tapes, showcases the album in its entirety and includes the full original artwork.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Soul Makossa
A2. Azeta
A3. Oglenon
B1. Voodounon
B2. Hihache
B3. Nicky

Band Of Nowhere is a new constellation project by Juanjo Sánchez, together with other collaborators with whom he had previously worked. It is worth mentioning Bob Drake on drums, former member of the legendary formation Thinking Plague (also on Hail, 5UU's, The Science Group) who has also mastered the project from their studio in the Midi-Pyrénées and also to mention the guitarist Jordi Cabayol (Camino al Desván) both Juanjo and Jordi began their career in a significant band of Barcelona of the early eighties, such as Entr'acte.

The becoming of Juanjo Sánchez would take him to other latitudes as a member of Alondra Satori and without losing the lighthouse of his city, he would collaborate with other outstanding musicians such as Quicu Samsó (Koniec, Macromassa).

The fluidity and chromaticism of his previous album Gonza Magilla is still perceived in here, but in a much more electrified way with guitars that are sometimes expansive, other times exuberant wrapped up with contagious synthesizer modulations and very marked rhythms. The production and especially the arrangements are fantastic with those special presences of synthesizers that are not common around here.

Its original improvisation and experimentation is skilfully adjusted by Juanjo Sánchez, giving a much more playful result with unexpected combinations, very much in continuity with a certain European Art Rock such as Aksak Maboul, Etron Fou, Zamla,The Work or the mischievous resonances of The League of Gentlemen; all this mapping the sound transit, to an unpredictable and vibrant non-place.

Housed in it's original hand made artwork with the little upgrade twist of silk-screen printing textured grey cardboard and including a insert colour with photos and text provided by Juanjo Sánchez.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
Calling All Beginners
Fleeing To The Poles
Ashes
Rouler Ma Bosse
Sunday Machinery

SIDE B
Lucid Dreams
Twisted Maze
Rolla Bolla
Chinese Forecast

In the early '60s, four friends from Liverpool formed a band. But this is not the 'fab four' story we know . .

Mary, Sylvia, Valerie and Pamela - also known as The Liverbirds - were one of the world's first all-female rock'n'roll bands. At an early gig, backstage at the Cavern Club, a young John Lennon told them that 'girls don't play guitars'.

But they took that as a challenge. Despite the early scepticism, they won over tough crowds, toured stadiums, recorded two hit albums, and played with the Kinks, Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry - all in the space of just five years. Now, the two surviving members of the band tell their incredible story in full for the first time - capturing a lost era of liberation and rock'n'roll, as they thrived in the vibrant Merseybeat music scene and formed a friendship that has endured through the decades.

Miles away from the current UK jazz scene, a mysterious composer from the Nottingham area cooks raw and noisy library music with groovy jazz fusion and beat-heavy funk breaks tackling themes of satanism and witchcraft.

Having previously released music with Jazzman Records, Stones Throw subsidiary Now-Again and French label BMM Records, The Natural Yogurt Band presents the 7th album of his discography that marks an experimental turn.

"Spores" takes us on an obscure sci-fi journey into extra-terrestrial territories where tropical flutes, pianos, guitars and organs melt under corrosive electronic sounds, modular bird chirps and vintage drum machines sounds.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Natural Yoghurt Band's deliciously free and experimental jazz / library project is a true feast for the ears. Incomparable and infectious; it's a wild, untamed beast of electronics and improvisation that you're gonna love.

TRACK LISTING

A1.Vital Signs
A2.Children Of The Black Planet
A3.Life Forms
A4.Strange Life On A Distant Planet
A5.Exotic Creatures
A6.First Contact
A7.Obscure Jungle

B1.Warning Signs
B2.Followers Of A New Moon
B3.Gas Narcosis
B4.We Are Alone
B5.Possible Danger
B6.Unknown Landscapes

Steel Drum covers of Drake, Snoop Dogg & Dr Dre, Claudja Barry, The Game & 50 Cent, A$AP Rocky, Stranger Things Theme, and more.

Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the mysterious steel pan outfi­t hailing from Hamburg, Germany have amassed a cult following around the globe. With a slew of classic 7”s and three critically acclaimed full length albums, they set a high bar for themselves, one they clearly intend on pushing even higher with this new offering. On their fourth album BRSB, Bacao are back with more of the same, but more of the same with them is inherently different. Covering songs that span genres and range from mega hits to underground album cuts, they make them their own with their unique approach to the traditional steel pans of Trinidad and Tobago.

While part of the allure of a new Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band album is ­finding out what covers they do it is equally intriguing to see what original tunes they cooked upland this record is foul of stand out originals. The album opener, “In The Crosshairs” is a rough and tough mid tempo head nodder while both “Grilled” & “Treasure Quest” pick up the tempo with heavy African Funk in‑fluences on both. Bacao goes deep with “Hazy Memories”, a bass heavy slow burner that walks a line between hypnotic and hype. All these originals stand as testament that the term “cover band” is a shoe that could never fi­t Bacao.

However, in the tradition of steel pan music, they do a heavy amount of covers. This time around there is a big West Coast Hip Hop influence with covers of Game & 50 Cent’s “How We Do”, Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg’s “Nuthin But A G Thang”, and Tupac’s “Got My Mind Made Up” all of which take on new energy and lend themselves to the BRSB steel treatment. Bacao puts another certifi­ed dance‑floor fil­ler on their resume with their cover of Claudja Barry’s uber Disco classic “Love For The Sake Of Love” which they flip into a dubbed out affair aptly changing even the title to “Love For The Sake Of Dub”. Pulling from the contemporary smash hit section of Hip Hop they cover Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and “Love$ick” by Mura Masa & A$AP Rocky. Then they go very unexpected with “Stranger Things Theme” where they take the synth heavy theme song to the hit show and give it a more hypnotizing tone than the original.

By the time BRSB is through, Bacao has taken the listener on a journey spanning a myriad of energies, tempos, and moods while keeping it all under one umbrella. For all that, these songs are alive, and they will be taken out of the context of this album and sewn into the fabric of DJ sets around the globe for many years to come. Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band continues building their legacy and pushing the boundaries of steel pan music forward with another rock solid musical offering. Enjoy.

TRACK LISTING

1. In The Crosshairs
2. How We Do
3. Hazy Memories
4. Love For The Sake Of Dub
5. Hotline Bling
6. Grilled
7. Love$ick
8. Stranger Things Theme
9. Treasure Quest
10. Nuthin’ But A G Thang
11. Got My Mind Made Up
12. The Champion’s Walk

The second release on the club night cum record label, Nijmegen Blauwdruk is here, enlisting the help of Telephones and Mario Marini to edit two 80s boogie cuts from the European mainland.

On the A-side, the Norwegian Berliner Telephones delivers an epic rework of the 1983 tune 'Sock It' by Indian-Finnish artist Jolly Kunjappu. Sax solos, extended breakdowns and synth hooks that will stick like glue; it's all there.
On the B-side, Nijmegen's Mario Marini delivers the midas touch to the lost Dutch boogie tune 'Without Love' by L & B Band. You'll instantly recognize the original this version was based on, but the synth solo and drum break give the tune a whole new life.

Pressed LOUD at Mother Tongue, Verona. Remastered and cut by Helmut Erler.
Officially licensed from the original artists. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Two huge hits retweaked for our delectation - one from the boogie and one from the Balearic-rock camps. It's a splendid outing for all, guaranteed to hog the front of your record bag longer than most.

TRACK LISTING

Jolly Kunjappu - Sock It (Telephones Edit)
L En B Band - Without Love (Mario Marini Edit)

First reissue of these cult 1974 recordings of a Mayan brass band playing funeral dirges and popular songs in its distinctive extended harmonic and rhythmic style. The members of the San Lucas Band lived in the mountain village of San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala, playing local events of both religious and social nature. The pride of their town since 1922, the band represented a fast-disappearing musical tradition when these recordings were originally released in 1975. Their unique sound derived from an unusual combination of instruments, a repertoire including pieces dating from more than fifty years before the recordings were made to more recent ones, and above all from the highland Maya style of their playing, which is characterized by a preference for freer rhythmic structures and a wider variety of pitches than Western scales allow. One of Jon Hassell and Charlie Haden's favorite records, it was nominated for a Grammy Award upon first release and has remained much beloved by a small community of enthusiasts for decades. A profound and rewarding musical experience for all adventurous listeners, notably fans of Albert Ayler, microtonal and raw cosmic music.

TRACK LISTING

1. Marcha Número Cuatro (March Number Four)
2. Marcha Número Tres (March Number Three)
3. Marcha Número Seis (March Number Six)
4. Chufa (The Chuj)
5. El Son De Los Altos (The Son From The Mountain Tops)
6. Las Tres Botellas (The Three Bottles)
7. La Chirimía (The Chirimía)
8. Noches Eternas (Eternal Nights)

Vinyl Description:
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Band On The Run, this special vinyl edition was cut at half speed using a high-resolution transfer of the original master tapes from 1973 by Miles Showell at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, London. This tracklist mirrors the US release which includes the song “Helen Wheels”. Includes reproduction of Linda McCartney Polaroid poster. Features an Obi strip.

CD Description:
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Band On The Run, this special 2CD edition features the original album and a second disc of previously unreleased “underdubbed” mixes of the songs. CD1 mirrors the US release which includes the song “Helen Wheels”. The set also includes a double-sided fold-out Polaroid poster taken by Linda McCartney.

TRACK LISTING

1LP: 
Band On The Run (Side A)
Jet (Side A)
Bluebird (Side A)
Mrs. Vandebilt (Side A)
Let Me Roll It (Side A)
Mamunia (Side B)
No Words (Side B)
Helen Wheels (Side B)
Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me) (Side B)
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (Side B)

2CD:
Disc 1 - Band On The Run
Band On The Run
Jet
Bluebird
Mrs. Vandebilt
Let Me Roll It
Mamunia
No Words
Helen Wheels
Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five

Disc 2 - Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes)
Band On The Run
Mamunia
No Words
Jet
Bluebird
Mrs. Vandebilt
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)
Let Me Roll It

Hot Apple Band’s long-awaited debut album, So Long, Noodle House is a collection of 11 tracks recorded between 2019-2022, mostly at Jack Kinder’s home studio in Strathfield, Sydney. Once the pandemic hit, Jack and Lewis Mosley had ample time to give birth to the songs, allowing for this body of work so it could become all that it deserved to be. The resulting album will no doubt please long-time fans, with a number of songs being staples from the band’s live repertoire.

So Long, Noodle House is symbolic sign-off on the band’s past and an exciting peek into what’s to come. The record covers broad ground, from 70s imbued alt-country and catchy Beatles-era pop, through to emotive folk and soft rock. Coming-of-age themes run deep in the album, as Jack Kinder's lyrics touch on life changes, friendship, shitty jobs and of course, love. With Kinder's smooth vocals, clever arrangements and gorgeous vintage production, and Lewis Mosley’s unforgettable lead guitar, slide and keyboard performance, Hot Apple Band’s debut has the same charm of some of the best records from the early 1970s, radiating George Harrison, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Harry Nilsson and Fanny in a similar style to modern counterparts such as Drugdealer, Weyes Blood, Daniel Romano and The Lemon Twigs. 

Dave Matthews Band’s first album in four years, largely written throughout the pandemic, is as much a reflection on the current times as an urge to find common ground. The twelve-track album was recorded with producer Rob Evans in studios throughout Seattle, Charlottesville, and Los Angeles. “Monsters” was produced by longtime collaborator John Alagia. “'Walk Around The Moon' touches on my children, the futility of our struggles as a human race, gun violence, love, modern political discourse, gratitude.” - Dave Matthews

TRACK LISTING

1. Walk Around The Moon
2. Madman’s Eyes
3. Looking For A Vein
4. The Ocean And The Butterfly
5. It Could Happen
6. Something To Tell My Baby
7. After Everything
8. All You Wanted Was Tomorrow
9. The Only Thing
10. Break Free
11. Monsters
12. Singing From The Windows

Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff is the sprawling drum collective tearing up Dakar’s nightlife scene. Senegalese poet Djiby Ly (Wau Wau Collectif) is backed by fourteen different percussive instruments plus horns, winds, balafon, and the occasional accordion, combining Count Ossie’s spiritually elevated polyrhythms with Fela Kuti’s orchestra and Tony Allen’s groove.

Based in the impoverished neighborhood of Grand Yoff and operating as a mutual aid group for the larger community, the band builds its songs on ancient rhythms passed on from Senegal, Cameroon and the infamous Gorée Island. In both Wolof and French, Djiby preaches a message of uplift and cooperation rooted in the Sufi teachings of the Mouride Brotherhood, as well as Christianity and animist religions. “Senegal, my life my joy” is the call and response chanted over cascading, infinitely layered drum patterns on opener “La Musique Du Cœur.”

“We build our own country” the band proclaims in Wolof on “Xarritt.”

For twenty years and across three generations of band members, Assiko have played raucous all-night jams at weddings, secret parties, and political rallies. Grainy cellphone footage of their live shows have spread online. But this is their first album, the result of a collaboration with Swedish musician and archivist Karl-Jonas Winqvist (Sing A Song Fighter), who met the band in Dakar in 2018 and facilitated recording sessions and overdubs via Whatsapp (no small feat with so many musicians). This is vital, exciting and innovative music, alive with energy and purpose, a band rooted in a very specific community but speaking to the world.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. La Musique Du Cœur
2. Bègue Bègue
3. Sama Néné
4. Kora Interlude
5. Magg Tekki
Side B
6. Baye Ndongo
7. Xarritt
8. Mix Louange
9. Kora Interlude II
10. Borom Darou

Chicago’s Magic Touch label gets the Numero treatment. This Windy City Holy-Grail 2-sider featuring early Boogie Rap on the A Side and stone cold rare groove disco killer on the flip. Available on 7” for the first time and housed in Official Magic Touch Double Disco Smash 7” Company Sleeve. One listen and you’ll be checking for flights and hotels because Chi-C-A-G-O (Is My Chicago) shows that the Second City produced First Rank funky soul jams.

TRACK LISTING

A. Chi - C - A - G - O (Is My Chicago)

B. Sexy Lady

They are about my family, my lovers and me. I recorded them alone in my living room into my voice memo app. I like their relaxed feel. These songs were mastered but we made no edits to the recordings. I hope you enjoy this intimate glimpse into my artistic process. All songs by me except "Up is a Nice Place to Be" by Rosalie Sorrels and "The Archers" with lyrics adapted from a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca.

TRACK LISTING

1. Creatures Of A Day 
2. If You Could Hold Someone 
3.Rocks Of Time 
4. Tree
5. Climber 
6. Up Is A Nice Place To Be 
7. The Archers 
8. Tiger Ocean Instrumental 
9. Smoke Song 
10. Valentine 
11. Magnolia Sphere 
12. Swan Dive 
13. Next One, Maybe 
14. Piano Improv 
15. Beautiful Dreams

The long awaited official reissue of ‘She Wants’, one of the first UK street soul singles originally released in 1985 by The NM Band.

The NM Band was an alias for UK lovers' rock band Natural Mystic, responsible for a number of hits in the late 70’s and early 80’s most notably ‘Runaway Love’ and ‘Groove Rocking’. They released a string of acclaimed reggae LPs and toured extensively throughout the UK, but by 1985 wanted to try something away from their trademark roots reggae sound. Influenced by the availability of affordable hardware the band set about fusing reggae and soul using an Akai drum machine, Yamaha DX7 and Roland sound module. ‘She Wants’ is one of the forebearers of UK street soul, raw machine drums paired with an incredibly soulful vocal from Ashley Sommers. The band created their own imprint Mixdown to release the single, but it slipped under the radar, despite strong radio play from Choice FM and the then pirate station Kiss. The 12” is backed with dub version ‘She Wants (More)'.

A 140gram pressing in 3mm spine black disco sleeve with metallic sticker designed by Bradley Pinkerton.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Phwwoooarr! Isle Of Jura really know how to treat us. Unearthing and repressing this absolute GEM of a street soul jam from The NM Band. Rich with the duo's reggae heritage but exercising those (then modern) drum machines and FM synths with all the excitement that new equipment brings! A true holy grail.

TRACK LISTING

She Wants
She Wants More

The highly sought-after Japanese disco funk soundtrack from 1977 featuring the cream of the Tokyo scene gets officially reissued for the first time outside of Japan. The ‘imaginary’ soundtrack to the adventures Of Kindaichi Kosuke, the cult detective book series by writer Seishi Yokomizo is on many DJ want-lists. Arranged by soundtrack master Kentaro Haneda and featuring a mysterious group of the best 70s Japanese Funk musicians, the album is pure undiluted Disco Funk. This reissue is the album's first official release outside of Japan. Remastered from the original tapes, it features artwork by renowned illustrator Ichibun Sugimoto, OBI strip and a 4 page insert with a new introduction by Anton Spice Writer Seishi Yokomizo is an institution in Japan. He could be compared to Agatha Christie with his series of novels based on the adventures of detective Kosuke Kindaichi. The fictional character was born in 1946 with Yokomizo's first novel in the series and solved mysteries until the late 70s under Yokomizo's pen before the death of the writer in 1981. Kindaichi is a peculiar character. He is a sort of goofy, yet scrupulous detective, not dissimilar to Columbo, and has become legendary in Japan over the decades. Yokomizo's novels have been a prime source for film and TV scenarios, so when, in 1977, Japanese label King Records decided to record a concept album based on the Kindaichi novels, it made complete sense. The writer was slightly surprised though. As he wrote on the back of the LP sleeve "When I first heard an album was being made based on my novels, I felt very strange. I could understand if my novels were turned into films and then soundtracks were recorded based on these films. But this time, the music created was directly inspired by my novels. I felt very intrigued, yet very excited." The concept album was arranged by pianist Kentaro Haneda, a key TV and film composer who has worked on many anime films and is also famous outside of Japan for composing the music for the video game 'Wizardry'.

For "The Adventures Of Kindaichi Kosuke" album, he assembled a supergroup of some of the best Tokyo funk and City Pop musicians. The long list includes jazz pianist Hideo Ichikawa who played on the 1971 'Joe Henderson In Japan' album, Jun Moriya (ds), who is on Joe Hisaichi's cult 'Wonder City Orchestra' album, Tadaomi Anai (perc) who played with Disco singer Eri Ohno, Koji Hadori (tpt) who's featured on Haruomi Hosono's "Pacific" album. Also present on the album are Takeru Muraoka (sax) who plays on many Tatsuro Yamashita cult albums including "For You" and "Spacy", Kimiko Yamauchi (koto) who's on Akiko Yano's landmark "Japanese Girl" and, last but not least, Koji Yamaguchi (fr horn) who plays on Yazuaki Shimizu's "Kakashi" album Together they lay the funk on ten instrumentals filled with pur disco and funk breakbeats, making the album one of the highly-coveted Japanese LPs on international cratedigger scene. This reissue which Wewantsounds is delighted to officially put back on the market, features OBI strip and a four page insert faithfully reproduces the original artwork plus audio remastered from the original tapes.

TRACK LISTING

1. Kindaichi Kosuke No Theme
2. Yatsuhakamura
3. Kamen Butoukai
4. Honjin Satsujin Jiken
5. Gokumontou
6. Akuma No Temariuta
7. Meirosou No Sangeki
8. Akuma Ga Kitarite Fue Wo Fuku
9. Mitsukubitou
10. Inugamike No Ichizoku

Scott Hepple and the Sun Band are a Psychedelic Rock Band from Newcastle, UK. The band favours a 60's/70's sound, with influences including Neil Young, Black Sabbath, The Beatles and Ty Segall.

Debut album 'Ashes to Wildflowers' was recorded analogue with Maximo Park's Duncan Lloyd, and was mastered by the renowned Chicago-based engineer Carl Saff (Sonic Youth, Ty Segall, J Mascis).

"The album's main theme of reincarnation goes hand in hand with the production" Scott says. "I wanted to produce the overdriven raw analogue sound that was rife in the late 60's/early 70s, which is where I take alot of my inspiration from".

The first single 'Letting Go' was released in January, followed by 'Nobody Else (Is Gonna Do It For You)' in April. On the run up to their headline UK and European album tour in Autumn/Winter, the band are supporting acts such as Love, Teke Teke, Nice Biscuit, GIFT and Ghost Woman. In June 2023, they performed at Third Man Records in London.

TRACK LISTING

1. Letting Go
2. Warm Night
3. Nobody Else (Is Gonna Do It For You)
4. Caligula
5. Leisure Cruise
6. Spirit Animal
7. Hair Of The Dog
8. Wildfires
9. Chosen

Miles Kane returns with a blistering new album One Man Band, out August 4th on Modern Sky Records. The album’s first offering is the exuberant indie banger ‘Troubled Son’.

Opening the record, ‘Troubled Son’ is raw, pop-driven indie, made for festival stages. “It’s about the struggle we all have in life,” Miles said of the track. “Sometimes we have our shit together and sometimes we don’t. This is me acknowledging my faults and my fears and showing the journey I’m taking as I try to figure it all out.

Miles returns to his guitar hero best on One Man Band as he focuses on big hooks and even bigger anthems. Sharp, infectious, urgent and packed to the brim with singalong moments, it’s Miles on the top of his game. A deeply personal record, Miles returned to Liverpool to work on the album, finding himself reflecting on his journey.

“Making the album back in Liverpool with my family really helped to bring this out of me,” Miles said of the writing process. “We left no stone unturned. Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards, and this album helped me rediscover why I picked up a guitar in the first place. This album is like a brand new, yet somehow familiar leather jacket. A comforting melting pot of all the music that has inspired and continues to inspire me every day.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Miles Kane returns for his most focused outing yet, clearly showing his role in the hugely popular Last Shadow Puppets with Alex Turner. Asymmetrical indie-rock, full of soaring melodies and Kane's distinctive vocal drawl.

TRACK LISTING

1. Troubled Son
2. The Best Is Yet To Come
3. One Man Band
4. Never Taking Me Alive
5. Heartbreaks The New Sensation
6. The Wonder
7. Baggio
8. Ransom
9. Doubles
10. Heal
11. Scared Of Love

Frontier’s Edge is the new EP by the fiery, energetic and genre-defying group The Budos Band.

After a two-decade run with the legendary Daptone Records, Frontier’s Edge is the first new music from the group on the new label, Diamond West Records — run by The Budos’ saxophonist Jared Tankel and guitarist Tom Brenneck.

The Budos Band’s departure from Daptone was on good terms; the split from their long-time home base was an organic result of the band’s evolution.

“It’s just a natural growth,” Brenneck says, admitting: “We’re going further away from the sound of Daptone and into territory they probably wanted to stay away from.”

As a result, Frontier’s Edge finds the group hungry, passionate and primed to charge into their next epoch newfound sense autonomy within the collective. “We’re a powerhouse in the studio; we can produce ourselves,” Brenneck says proudly of a long process of self-containment. “I take the helm, but the band, they know what they want.” As expected from The Budos Band, Frontier’s Edge resists analysis; it represents the band as they are: a contained explosion. You don’t pick apart Frontier’s Edge; you feel it all at once.

“Somehow, we wrote six songs in two days,” says The Budos’ drummer, Brian Profilio. “Tom was able to take what we were doing and put it together in a cohesive manner.”

Whether this is your first rodeo with The Budos Band or you’ve been following them throughout their two-decade run, Frontier’s Edge contains their musical universe Afrobeat, Ethiopian music, proto-metal, any number of other streams in microcosm.

Dime the volume and behold The Budos.

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Tasty little EP from The Budos Band, 'Frontier's Edge' has everything you'd come to expect from these genre-wizards. A little bit of jazz, some desert psych and plenty of tasteful improvisation, this is definitely worth checking out!

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Frontier’s Edge
2. Devil Doesn’t Care
3. KRITN
SIDE B
4. Crescent Blade
5. A Passage To Ashinol
6. Curled Steel

We have here three musicians with such a rich shared history that they might as well share the same blood - Each an accomplished solo artist in their own right, there's a vibrant track record of collaborative work as well, with others and among themselves

The Gunn-Truscinski Duo has been a formal going concern for nearly a decade and a half, producing a fabulous string of albums for this label. Truscinski and Nace, along with Jake Meginksy, make up xo4, a group dating back to the early days of this century. All three, with the addition of Kim Gordon, appeared on a record documenting their live scoring of Andy Warhol's film "Kiss".

And so on "Glass Band", the record at hand, they just fall in together. It's a seamless grouping, so much so that, despite the distinct instrumentation, it's somehow hard at times to tell who's doing what. This is true all the way down to the LP sleeve, which features Nace's artwork adorned with Gunn's familiar handwriting. There is no leader, there are no accompanists; we encounter highly developed musical intellects melding in such a refined way as to dispose entirely with expectations in order to get right down to the crucial business of creation.

What a pleasure to be able to shake one's head and chuckle at the futility of trying to saddle this art with a genre. What a joy to acknowledge that it's impossible to say what kind of music this is. It reminds me not of other records on my sagging shelves, but of moods and places, of memories from long ago and memories not yet made. Even for those intimately familiar with the output of these three, "Glass Band" delivers the delight of surprise.

Something new.....imagine that.

TRACK LISTING

Entrance
On Lamp
Tape
Venus
Corner Dogs
Fencer
Stacked.

Bonus 7"
Junctions 
Noctiluca 

Recorded in various basements and professional studios around Chicago between 1980 and 1984, the Apart Demos documents 12 intimate and stripped-down sketches, demos and unreleased tracks by Andre Gibson and the Universal Togetherness Band as they pivoted to solo careers. From heartfelt tributes to lovers adorned by a silky Fender Rhodes to disco party-starters about spiritual gratitude, Andre Gibson universally lets us into his heart and brings it all together in the end.

TRACK LISTING

1. All My Pals
2. Thankful For You
3. Love Changes Life’s Changes
4. Bring Me Home
5. Call Me
6. Valentine Lover
7. Don’t It Feel Good
8. I Wanna Take You Away
9. Stuck On A Thrill
10. Say I Will (Ft. Dawn Brooks)
11. Breakaway
12. I’m Falling

Miles Away Records are proud to introduce our latest single to land on the label: the cosmic soul gem "Super Star" by Ruth Waters and the State of Mind Show Band.

A Texas native, Ruth "Silky" Waters was best known for her two disco-infused album's "Never Gonna Be The Same" and "Out In The Open"- produced by the late, great John Davis (John Davis Orchestra). It was however some of Ruth's early material that caught our interest when we started the label as far back as 2018. "Super Star", released on the tiny independent KMBA Recordings label in the late 1970s, draws from the wells of modern soul and gospel with a touch of cosmic synthy goodness. An proper ear turner, it was like nothing we'd heard before. Flip it and "Super Star Pt.2" goes deeper into the cosmic essence of the track with extended guitar and synth solos making this a crackin' little 45.

The track has been lovingly remastered by Phil Kinrade at the legendary AIR Studios and the lacquer was cut deep by Jukka at Timmion Records. It's now presented in our custom teal green labels and house bag.

TRACK LISTING

1. Super Star, Pt.1 (feat. State Of Mind Show Band)
2. Super Star, Pt.2 (feat. State Of Mind Show Band)

Early Band Of Holy Joy existed somewhere on the cut-up side of proto-industrial music, resting between Marc Stewart & Maffia, Sonic Youth, and Current 93, and proponents of a more romantic musical language - Virginia Astley, Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins among them - all artists whose work BPHJ's music sat comfortably alongside across on a stream of low-budget vinyl and cassette compilations after the start of the eighties. A great leap in polish led to a deal with Rough Trade and several early '90s albums which flirted with the mainstream, with BOHJ almost an odder, less obvious cousin to Dexys Midnight Runners. When these releases failed to take off as hoped, lost years followed on smaller labels and self-released projects, until the renewed urgency of the 2016 Brutalism Begins At Home EP and increasingly majestic albums on which saw leader Johny Brown's lyricism enter a new phase. The common thread through BOHJ's four decades of recordings is the foundational warmth and humanity of Brown's words. The band's earliest recordings seemed garnered from street-level observations of neighbourhood people and sights. By the time of near-hit "Tactless", their songs - whatever the underlying impulses may have been - had become immediate enough to overcome the mystery of a line like "Do you remember the swan that was shot in the park?"

Over each of their last three albums - Funambulist We Love You, Neon Primitives and Dreams Take Flight - BOHJ has bettered itself, and may now have reached their apex, Fated Beautiful Mistakes. We live in a time of generally justifiable gloom and awkward uncertainty. So it may appear cavalier to claim this album sounds revelatory in that context, but Band Of Holy Joy's strengths rest largely in Johny Brown and the band's ability to capture a wider societal feeling. One listen to the escapist fantasy of "Our Flighty Season Under The Flighty Sun" and its slightly-haunted ending speaks volumes beyond most of what passes for music in 2023, and it's just one of many perfect moments on this album.

TRACK LISTING

Lighthouse Keeper
New York Romantic
A Citadel Of Crooked Soul
Mersey Ferry On The River Thames
Our Flighty Season Inn The Dirty Sun
Circus Folk
City People
Instagram Moon
The Curve Of The Bay
The Full Bloom Of Roses
Babylon Farewell

Here's a hot drop for your unsuspecting asses! Lyskestrekk Records hit us with a one time repress of that blink-and-you'll-miss-it Flammer Dance Band 7" from over the summer. Selling out in seconds despite a global lockdown rendering all record shops shut, this one was too hot to handle first time round, and deserves a little extra shine. Hot, sultry and groovy sounds abound as Flammer Dance Band pull a one-two combo of  hip-shaking garage funk tunes!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Mer
B1. Holder Rytme

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

The seminal album from Half Japanese back on Limited edition Orange vinyl and featuring updated artwork and liner notes from Jad Fair and producer Kramer. This is the Zen of Half Japanese, of prolific songwriter Jad Fair; wide-eyed crooner, humorous raconteur and spontaneous storyteller. A genre-bending romp through the mind of the man, originally released in 1989 in a purple patch for the group, preceded by "Music To Strip By" and "Charmed Life". "Half Japanese were a song machine," attested Pitchfork, while AllMusic saw this album as a collection of "humorous lo-fi rock'n'roll hit singles."

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

2-LP set of legendary Scottish rockers Travis’ entire performance of The Invisible Band captured at the final night of the 20th Anniversary tour in their hometown concert of Glasgow in May 2022. Pressed on 180-gram clear vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket featuring exclusive photography from the tour.

On Garden Party, Rose City Band’s country psychedelic rock evokes the wide-open spaces of the American west and free spirits who call it home. Lead by acclaimed guitarist and vocalist Ripley Johnson, Rose City Band are some of the best players in contemporary rock: pedal steel guitarist Barry Walker, keyboardist Paul Hasenberg, bassist Dewey Mahood (aka Plankton Wat), drummer Dustin Dybvig, and features Sanae Yamada of Moon Duo on Synthesizer. At its inception Rose City Band focused on what songwriter Johnson calls “porch music”. Recorded largely at Center for Sound, Light, and Color Therapy in Portland and mixed by John McEntire, Garden Party features guest appearances by Moon Duo bandmates John Jeffrey on drums and Sanae Yamada on synths, as well as Rose City Band live performers Hasenberg on keyboards and Walker on pedal steel. With the musicians in his life in mind, Ripley’s porch has opened up for each player to step into. Despite being tracked primarily as a solo endeavor the recordings capture the twists and bends of a fully realized ensemble, and in a nod to bands such as the Grateful Dead it doesn’t stop there. “The songs won’t really be finished until we play them on the road,” says Johnson. Like all great music, Garden Party taps into the listener’s emotional center and takes them to their happy place – their sunny spot. The album is an invitation to recalibrate, a joyous ride where the band’s sounds surround and embrace you. Ripley says it best: “I always like when an album starts in one place, and ends in another” What a beautiful journey it is.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Another languid slice of new country from the brilliant Rose city Band. Evoking a sense of hazy road trips and bristling summer sunshine, these pieces flow and bloom from dusty lounge jazz into full groove-led psychedelic territory. Another smash hit from Johnson & co.

TRACK LISTING

1. Chasing Rainbows
2. Slow Burn
3. Garden Song
4. Porch Boogie
5. Saturday’s Gone
6. Mariposa
7. Moonlight Highway
8. El Rio

NYC leftfield disco darlings Phenomenal Handclap Band made their first appearance on RNT by way of a collab with JKriv in 2022, and now they return for an offering all their own, the Burning Bridges EP.

The title track juxtaposes riffy guitar driven funk with plaintive vocals that smack of 1970s Heart in the best way, and Prins Thomas turns the tempo knob up a few clicks and launches into an extended interstellar excursion with his remix.

On the B side the cinematic slow burner ‘It Was The Summer’ begins sparse and hazy and builds to driving peak of backbeat rhythm and an insistent vocal soliloquy. Each Other (Justin Strauss & Max Pask) then take the tune straight the rave with arpeggiated and acidic synths, recasting the haunting vocals as a modern New Wave anthem.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Burning Bridges (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)
A2. Burning Bridges
B1. It Was The Summer (Each Other Remix)
B2. It Was The Summer

Originally from Nancy (France), NCY Milky Band is the project of 20something Louis Treffel and the BMM Backing band. Influences range from Mount Kimbie and BBNG to Thundercat mixed with 70's french soundtrack producers like JJ Perrey or Michel Colombier. Recorded during the tour following their debut LP Burn’IN, the prolific French quartet present their second album of hybrid jazz, inviting us in a cinematic, melodic and poignant universe. These 14 tracks, including two collaborations with Detroit rapper Quelle Chris and French producer FLUPKE, reflect sonic photographs of everyday moments with a psychedelic sound that pushes jazz out of its comfort zone.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: NCY Milky Band effortlessly combine nu jazz and electronica with orchestral ambient, hip hop elements and psych-y grooves. The list of genres they cruise could go on... What a trip!

TRACK LISTING

1. An Zéro
2. 54 Zeppelin
3. Le Cascadeur Fleuriste, Pt. I
4. Le Cascadeur Fleuriste, Pt. II
5. Damoiselle Pouly
6. 92 Ans
7. Le Cascadeur Fleuriste, Pt. III
8. Mr. Potato
9. Otite (feat. FLUPKE)
10 Nous Sommes
11. À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu
12. Back To Up (feat. Quelle Chris)
13. Les Fils Du Temps
14. 100 Ans

Two Killer unreleased Memphis deepfunk tracks from Benjamin Robinson of Coco and Ben fame's tape archive, working with Robert Garcia & Daniel Mathis on all of Bens tracks has been amazing, to find quality unreleased material is always the dream. 'AM Funk' is a driving disco tinged Sisterfunk club banger that I have been smashing dance floors with since I got the tapes transferred. On the flip 'Summer Rest' is a more floaty instrumental soul funk track, also rock solid. You know the score.

TRACK LISTING

1. AM Funk
2. Summer Rest

In the last decade many early recordings of Somalia's Funk, Soul and Disco scene have been reissued, finding their way into the vinyl collections of music fans outside the Somali community, as well as radio and streaming playlists. But this record is different. 'The Berlin Session' by Dur-Dur Band Int. is not a reissue; it is the first new studio recording by a full group from Somalia since the country's golden era of music ended three decades ago. 'The Berlin Session' captures a historic reunion which took place in Germany's capital in 2019: Dur-Dur Band Int. together with legendary singers Xabiib Sharaabi (who lives in exile in Sweden), Cabdinuur Alaale (from Djibouti) and London-based Fadumina Hilowle. Previously heard on reissues such as the Grammy-nominated compilation 'Sweet As Broken Dates', these are living representatives of a distinct era. There may be over three decades between the original and new recordings but 'The Berlin Session' is proof that Somali music is hot, funky and alive - again.

TRACK LISTING

Wanka Helaa
Riyo
Hasha Geel
Heeyaa
Duurka
Love My Love
Sallal
Jija Love

Liverpool legend Michael Head (Shack, The Strands, Pale Fountains) returns with a stunningly beautiful double A-side single. "Velvets In The Dark" is a gorgeous conversational swooner in the style of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking", whilst the flip, "Koala Bears" has an almost jazzy flavour and slips into (Bacharach and David's) "Close To You" as made famous by The Carpenters! Strange, inspired magic from a bygone time, these two tracks perfectly complement one another: two evocative little stories done justice by the prettiest finger-picking, warmest horns and the classiest of arrangements. All in all, a little gem.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: This is a beautiful, stand alone single, unavailable anywhere else and a good old fashioned double A side too. Both songs are absolutely beautiful but then that's a given where Mick is concerned.

Behold! Yes, Blue Butterfly, one of the absolute stunners on the revered Selected Sound label is finally available for all the beat-heads. Heavyweight library funk with a psychedelic touch, the super in-demand Blue Butterfly from *deep breath* Hardy's Jet Band, Orchestra Klaus Wuesthoff, Jan Troysen Band and Orchestra Gary Pacific - was originally released in 1971. Incredibly ahead of its time, it's been rare and sought-after for decades.

For many aficionados, this is the best Selected Sound release. Loaded with fuzzy wah-wah guitar, deep flute-lines atop soulful psych-rock breakbeats and huge organ action, its uncompromising funk will blow you away. Sampled for many hip hop beats and dropped by well known rare groove DJs around the world, one jewel in particular from this glorious German vault needs little introduction. The intro to Orchestra Gary Pacific's mesmeric "Soft Wind" rides the illest, crispest drum break you've perhaps never heard - like, the drum break to end them all - alongside a smooth, deep bass line from the heavens. It featured notoriously on the beloved Dusty Fingers comps of the 90s and was brilliantly sampled by Pacewon for his eternal "Sunroof Top". Just listen and be dazzled.

Beyond this mini-masterpiece, the other killer tracks offer brilliance in abundance. Hardy's Jet Band take control of the full A side, and it's full of dynamic psych-funk bombs. Hard, "big city" industrial groovers. In particular, the initial one-two of "Sorry, Doc!" and "Wind It Up" provide thrilling funky-blues rock instrumentals showcasing relentless guitars, flutes, sax and organ, the latter containing gorgeous, hypnotic breakdowns; these tracks just slay. The title track, "Blue Butterfly" is a real deep strut of a track with fantastic soloing from guitar and flute over crisp drums whilst the highway banger "What You Call To Be Free" certainly sounds a lot like unbridled, rhythmical liberty.

On the flip, the ghost-riding "Lady In Space" is a string-drenched acid-western foxtrot. Yep. “Pop Happening” by Jan Troysen Band is a heavy, druggy psych-fuzz organ groover whilst their slow beat-organ-flute gem "A Blue Message" is a gorgeous psych floater conjuring deeply strange frontier lands. Preceding their monster "Soft Wind", the soulful, uptempo groover “Ghetto Gap” by Orchestra Gary Pacific contains solo piano and flute whilst closing out the set is the free-and-easy samba beat of "So Far".

Founded in the late 60s by German composer and musician Klaus Netzle (who recorded under the alias Claude Larson for Sonoton) Selected Sound began as a production music company specialising in jazz, orchestral and electronic recordings. You can’t miss those early LPs in their iconic glossy metallic copper sleeves with minimal German typography. Serious, classy stuff.

The audio for Blue Butterfly has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis whilst Richard Robinson has handled reproducing the glossy metallic (iconic) original Selected Sound sleeve. Essential.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Hardy's Jet Band – Sorry, Doc! (3:12)
A2 Hardy's Jet Band – Wind It Up (2:52)
A3 Hardy's Jet Band – Safari Track (2:58)
A4 Hardy's Jet Band – Look At Me (2:27)
A5 Hardy's Jet Band – Blue Butterfly (2:44)
A6 Hardy's Jet Band – What You Call To Be Free (3:03)
B1 Orchestra Klaus Wuesthoff – Lady In Space (2:26)
B2 Orchestra Klaus Wuesthoff – Big Beat (2:45)
B3 Jan Troysen Band – A Blue Message (3:31)
B4 Jan Troysen Band – Pop Happening (2:29)
B5 Orchestra Gary Pacific – Ghetto Gap (2:43)
B6 Orchestra Gary Pacific – Soft Wind (2:07)
B7 Orchestra Gary Pacific – So Far (1:38)

This all analog promenade through the seminal 1968 album by Gram Parsons' International Submarine Band is widely regarded as the record that launched the country-rock movement and was the first album to spotlight Parsons' charismatic vocals and visionary songwriting. Cut all analog from the original mono masters!

TRACK LISTING

Blue Eyes
I Must Be Somebody Else You've Known
A Satisfied Mind
Folsom Prison Blues/That's All Right
Knee Deep In The Blues
Miller's Cave
I Still Miss Someone
Luxury Liner
Strong Boy
Do You Know How It Feels To Be Lonesome?

Long time in the making but good things always come to astral travellers as transatlantic soul mates Dead Sea Apes and The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol are joined together on black vinyl for the first time. Two artists that for over the last ten years (& longer) have spent their lives creating music that defies easy categorizations – psych rock / kraut rock /minimal / maximal /avant /free are phrases that only give you fleeting glimpses of what each artist represents. What we do know is that via a sprawling range of sound that is always uncompromising these two artists have pushed each other into a stunning realm of alchemy. The Dead Sea Apes create a hypnotic pulsing sound that weaves an ecstatic line starting from a raw minimal buzz and hum that takes in eastern modes and entrancing minimalism. The music is at once dissonant and hypnotic, rich with unfurling drones that dynamically ebb and flow as a searching interplay between instruments slowly emerges from a sparse open field and builds with the tension of a looming thunder storm. The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol recording is a live recording from the farmland in Richmond this year when Mr Cardinal Fuzz journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean to have his brain well and truly fried by these Ottawa Acid Punks. For this show TBWNIS was expanded to a 9 piece with the addition of Saskatoons Christopher Laramee (Shooting Guns, Wasted Cathedral, The Switching Yard..) and Mrs.Carol Lane (Resin Scraper / Beld). TBWNIS emerged to play as the Sun set over the never-ending Horizon and the Mozzies came out to play – And proceeded to lay down a barrage of high energy, free flowing ecstatic blues – like an endorphin spike into your cortex that felt like your head was sandwiched between the amplifiers as wave after wave of unrelenting free flowing orgasmic energy exploded within. Take note I was on some home made cookies that had me well and truly blasted as I merged with the universe and the vibrations emitting from the stage – it was a good place. 500 pressing – Black Vinyl with a Brett Savage Sleeve design based on the famous and much loved Bootleg label - TAKRL Love and thanks to Mike Coulis for all the efforts in putting on the live show and recordings

THE PICCADILLY RECORDS ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2022.

PICCADILLY RECORDS EXCLUSIVE: 
For a limited period only, buy either the CD or vinyl you’ll get an exclusive 14 track CD bonus disc, 'Live At Strathaven'.

Finding that luck, love and letting things roll works out for him just fine, Michael Head leads his Red Elastic Band into a fresh chapter with optimism and some of the best music of his career, releases his, Bill Ryder-Jones-produced album, Dear Scott.  

Revered by heavyweight songwriting peers and discovered by new generations of discerning listeners, all enraptured by the fruits of Head’s winding, 40-year career, the Liverpool singer-songwriter enters a new age of creativity and collaboration with Dear Scott. Promising to be a shimmering jewel cast by the minds and hearts of Merseyside’s finest musicians, the 12-track album is dusted with both Ryder-Jones’ artistry and the heavyweight musicianship of The Red Elastic Band, which Head found had ‘stepped up’ following almost a year apart, forcing him to dig deeper himself.

Of slipping back into writing and recording in 2021, Head continues: “After being apart for a while, I went for a walk on the beach with the band and it was beautiful, literally and personally. Rehearsals followed and it clicked into place, with one thing leading to the next. It’s very much the ethos we’re working by, keeping things simple, but keeping the momentum. I’d met Bill a few times and he’s a lovely guy. Once we knew he was interested in producing the album we didn’t need to think about it again, it just progressed and became a completely natural thing.”

Dear Scott refers to novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose debt-ridden, down-and-out years captured the imagination of Head, specifically a postcard Fitzgerald addressed to himself upon checking in at Hollywood’s infamous Golden Age retreat, The Garden Of Allah Hotel. Head explains: “A decade after being the king of the jazz age, Fitzgerald arrived unfashionable and sober, ready to conquer Hollywood. His agent with a sense of humour booked him into The Garden Of Allah, where writers, movie stars and even Stravinsky sometimes lived. He famously picked up a postcard on checking in and addressed it to himself.”

The postcard read: Dear Scott, How are you? Have been meaning to come and see you. I have living at the Garden Of Allah. Yours Scott Fitzgerald

Head states that the formation of The Red Elastic Band in 2008 began with ‘whoever was available at the time’, primarily as a vehicle for live performance, producing one, previous album in 2017’s Adiós Señor Pussycat. The band has since developed into a cohesive, mutually-supportive and permanent line-up, with Phil Murphy on drums, Tom Powell on bass, Danny Murphy on guitars and Nathaniel Cummins on guitars and backing vocals being the musicians taking on the world in 2022 alongside Head. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Dear Scott is a masterpiece. Twelve perfect songs with melodies to die for and words that feel like scenes from a film condensed into poetry. Michael Head is the Liverpudlian genius renowned for his classic pop songs from “Thank You” and “Jean’s Not Happening” through to “Comedy” and “Meant To Be”. Forty years making music and he’s just made his joint best LP, one that if you’re into guitar based pop music you’d be daft to ignore.

It’s not always been like this. In a career buffeted by personal problems and dodgy deals it has taken the arrival of erstwhile Coral guitarist Bill Ryder Jones, a fellow Merseysider and huge fan, to draw the very best out of Mick. Bill has helped create what feels like a greatest hits LP but made up of brand new songs. There’s jangling indie pop, jazz, mystical folk, roving psych pop and even a splash of bossa, taking us right back to Mick's days as a teen star in the Pale Fountains! As I mentioned, each track is a short story or mini movie touching on the kindness of strangers, old Hollywood dreams, the futility of war, Liverpool trips, Love from afar and even a murder in gangland made wild and funky on album highlight “Gino And Rico”.

The tunes themselves are proper ear worms and the album is designed as an old fashioned two sided listen. Side 1 has six perfect pop songs, hit after hit, but flip it over and you’re whisked off into what almost feels like a song suite, interspersed as they are with towering strings, mad interludes (each track has contrasting parts that surprise and amaze) and psych rock guitar; it’s bewildering but oh so beautiful and it grows and grows with every listen. The record starts off neat but slowly expands into the stratosphere only to end on a heavenly lullaby, melancholic and magical.

Mick’s other great album, Waterpistol, was loved by all at Piccadilly nearly 30 years ago. That we’re here again all these years later is bizarre and brilliant.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Kismet
A2 Broken Beauty
A3 The Next Day
A4 Freedom
A5 American Kid
A6 Grace And Eddie
B7 Fluke
B8 Gino And Rico
B9 The Grass
B10 The Ten
B11 Pretty Child
B12 Shirls Ghost 

For their first album as Gilla Band, (formerly Girl Band) the foursome has redrawn their own paradigm. Most Normal is like little you’ve heard before, a kaleidoscopic spectrum of noise put in service of broken pop songs, FX-strafed Avant-punk rollercoaster rides and passages of futurist dancefloor nihilism.

Covid lockdown robbed Gilla Band of any opportunity to try the new material out live, but the pandemic also incinerated any idea of a deadline for the new album. They were free to tinker at leisure, to rewrite and restructure and reinvent tracks they’d cut – to, as drummer Adam Faulkner puts it, “pull things apart and be like, ‘Let’s try this. We could try out every wild idea.”

The group also fell under the spell of modern hip-hop, “where there’s really heavy-handed production and they’re messing with the track the whole time,” says Fox. “That felt like a fun route to go down, it was a definite influence.”

Most Normal opens with an absolute industrial-noise banger that sounds like a manic house-party throbbing through the walls of the next room as a downed jetliner brings death from above. What follows is unpredictable, leading the listener through a sonic house of mirrors, where the unexpected awaits around every corner.

The common thread holding Most Normal’s ambitious Avant-pop shapes together is frontman Dara Kiely. Throughout, he’s an antic, antagonistic presence, barking wild, hilarious, unsettling spiels, babbling about smearing fish with lubricant or dressing up in bin-liners or having to wear hand-me-down boot-cut jeans (“It was a big, shameful thing, growing up, not being able to afford the look I wanted and having to wear all my brother’s old clothes”, says Kiely).

Most Normal, then, is a triumph, the bold work of a group who’ve taken the time to evolve their ideas, to deconstruct and reconstruct their music and rebuild it into something new, something challenging and infinitely rewarding. It’s a headphone masterpiece. It’s a majestic exploration of the infinite possibilities of noise. It’s a bold riposte to your parochial beliefs on whatever a pop song can or should be. It’s the best work these musicians have put to (mangled) tape.

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Their first LP under new moniker Gilla Band (formally Girl Band), 'Most Normal' sees the Irish quartet further expanding on their already established brand of pummelling noise rock, whilst also incorporating elements of 00s dance-punk - especially with the James Murphy-esque delivery on album closer 'Post Ryan'. Infectious and full of catchy rhythms, 'Most Normal' is far from normal and is an exciting new future for Gilla Band. Also for fans of old, don't be deterred, this is still the LOUD Gilla Band we all came to initially love.

TRACK LISTING

The Gum
Eight Fivers
Backwash
Gushie
Binliner Fashion
Capgras
The Weirds
I Was Away
Almost Soon
Red Polo Neck
Pratfall
Post Ryan 

The Greatest High School Band Of All Time Plays Hard Soul, Funk And Jazz On This Double LP. The word is out The Kashmere Stage Band was the greatest high school band - ever. The bandleader at Kashmere High School, Conrad Johnson, transformed a bunch of rough-hewn Houston high schoolers into a band that could compete with any in the nation – professional, or otherwise. Forget high school bands, we're talking about sixteen year old kids who would give the JBs a run for their money! The Kashmere Stage Band released a total of eight albums and three 45s on Johnson’s Kram label. The band’s best tracks are collected on Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974

TRACK LISTING

A1. Boss City
A2. Burning Spear
A3. Take Five
A4. Super Bad
A5. Keep Doing It
A6. Thunder Soul
B1. Do You Dig It, Man?
B2. Headwiggle
B3. Do Your Thing
B4. Scorpio
C1. Thank You
C2. Al’s Tune
C3. All Praises
C4. Shaft
D1. Kashmere
D2. $$ Kash Register $$
D3. Zero Point – Pt.1 & Pt. 2 (45 Version)
D4. Getting It Out Of My System

Enriched with plenty of scene and period colour from British pop from the 1960s to the present, "Dreamworld" tells of all the ups and downs of a legend who once ironically (but quite rightly) described himself in an interview as the "Godfather of Indie Pop".

After the first jam experiment back in 2019 here we have the second chapter of the Bosconi Gang Band session pressed on this limited white label hand stamped & numbered wax. This jam was recorded in front of an actual crowd in an event held at Manifattura tabacchi Florence on the 21st February 2020 just a couple weeks before the pandemic started and the first lockdown happened in Italy.

The concept is the same as the previous one with Fabio Della Torre on the mixer conducting the gang mystic gulf this time with: Ennio Colaci from Minimono, Dukwa, Rufus, Andrea Giachetti & Antonio Pecori from The Clover and Dj Rou. As it happened with the previous release, the actual jam follows the order of the live execution which naturally developed in a crescendo of speed and intensity.

The result is a collection of 5 of the best takes slightly mixed and revisited afterwards but very much faithful to those performed live. This is another adventurous release that goes well off grid, plays with strange temps, original textures and moods. There's a punk-funk, acid house & cosmic slant to their vibe which is infectious, fun and cutting edge all at the same time!

Bosconi Gang Band aims to be an itinerant live improvisational project open to all artists who have released on Bosconi Records that sets the goal of always being unpredictable and special, naturally affected by the artists who perform always creating something unplanned new, and unexpected.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Really nice n varied EP which traverses electric punk-funk, acid house and cosmic styles with a live approach, fuzzy aesthetic and held together by some incredible basslines.

TRACK LISTING

A1. 90 Dial 
A2. 122 Merge 
A3. 128 Wave
B1. 160 Wasp 
B2. 105 Keen 

First single “Eight Fivers” announces itself in that typical Gilla Band way where the lyrics often feel abstracted from the music. Dara’s voice is two opposing forces at once: it’s the melodic cry yearning and dancing over the driving beat. In some ways it’s the album’s most memorable track for how instant it sounds and simple it feels, however, its idiosyncratic enough to create its own peculiar feel. On the track Dara says “Eight Fivers is about 40 quid. It's about being out of touch with modern circumstances while feeling socially limited. Never fitting in and kind of proud of it. Stuck with what I have and happy for it. Being grateful and not fashionable, self-conscious and too aware of what is lacking. Accepting that jealousy played a big role in my life but trying not to feed into it.”

TRACK LISTING

A – Eight Fivers
B - Sportsday

Sourced From The Master Tapes. Original Mono Mixes. Initially Released 1967. Includes printed inner sleeve with rare master reel photos. “The Weirdest, most original man-made sensation I’ve ever experienced.” - Career Magazine (1967). Formed in Los Angeles in 1965, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band were considered by many to be the West Coast’s answer to the Velvet Underground. The group created California psych/rock music that was both fragile and dreamy. Part One was originally released in 1967 on Frank Sinatra’s Reprise Records. Though they didn’t achieve the fame or notoriety of other bands from the area, they have nonetheless achieved a cult status among collectors and people curious about a rich, albeit short-lived musical genre known as West-Coast Psychedelia. First time reissued in mono, from the original master tapes.

TRACK LISTING

1. Shifting Sands
2. I Won’t Hurt You
3. 1906 4. Help, I’m A Rock
5 Will You Walk With Me
6 Transparent Day
7 Leiyla
8 Here’s Where You Belong
9 If You Want This Love
10 ‘Scuse Me, Miss Rose
11 High Coin

Love Record Stores Edition, limited to one per person.


Heavenly Recordings reissue of this hidden gem from Liverpool duo The Sand Band. Originally released in 2011 on Deltasonic, it's a collection of beautifully textured home studio recordings. Wonderful, warm, melodic songs for fans of Michael Head, Shack, The Coral.

Band on the Wall Recordings unveil its fourth release from The Singles Club, their 7" series supporting a selection of Manchester most exciting rising artists.

Following support from the likes of Jamie Cullum (BBCR2), Jazz FM & more, Manchester keyboardist, composer and producer Matt Wilde steps up with his debut physical release, having spent much of his early years laying the foundations of his musical development through workshops at Band on the Wall.

A truly feel-good slice of musical goodness centred around Matt's lyrical, virtuosic and jazz-leaning keys, 'Every Story / Pivot' delivers wondrous blends of hip-hop and jazz elements.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: More goodies from Band on the Wall label as they bring the fourth instalment in the series of Manchester artists, Matt Wilde provides the most easy going jazz I've heard in a while, it's laid back, harmonious and uplifting. I can't recommend this enough, go go go n listen right now.

TRACK LISTING

1. Every Story
2. Pivot

Recorded exactly two years after acclaimed visual artist and songwriter Terry Allen’s masterpiece Lubbock (on everything), the feral follow-up Smokin the Dummy is less conceptually focused but more sonically and stylistically unified than its predecessor it’s also rougher and rowdier, wilder and more wired, and altogether more menacingly rock and roll.

Following the 1973 Whitney Biennial, in which songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen and fellow iconic artist Horace Clifford “Cliff” Westermann both exhibited, Allen maintained a lively long-distance correspondence and exchange of artworks and music with Westermann, whose singular and highly influential art he admired enormously. In a February 1981 letter to his friend and mentor, written shortly after the late 1980 release of his third album Smokin the Dummy, while he and his family were living in Fresno, California, Terry explains the genesis of the album title: Westermann died shortly after receiving this letter, enclosed with a Smokin the Dummy LP, the minimalist black jacket of which Allen suggested that Cliff fold into a jaunty cardboard hat if he didn’t like the music. That response was unlikely, since Westermann loved Terry’s music, calling his debut record Juarez (1975) “the finest, most honest and heartfelt piece of music I ever heard.”

The Panhandle Mystery Band had only recently coalesced during those 1978 Lubbock sessions, Lloyd Maines’s first foray into production. Through 1979, they honed their sound and tightened their arrangements with a series of periodic performances beyond Allen’s regular art-world circuit, including memorable record release concerts in Lubbock, Chicago, L.A., and Kansas City. Terry sought to harness the high-octane power of this now well-oiled collective engine to overdrive his songs into rawer and rockier off-road territory.

His first album to share top billing with the Panhandle Mystery Band, Dummy documents a ferocious new band in fully telepathic, tornado-fueled flight, refining its caliber, increasing its range, and never looking down. Alongside the stalwart Maines brothers co-producer, guitarist, and all-rounder Lloyd, bassist Kenny, and drummer Donnie and mainstay Richard Bowden (who here contributes not only fiddle but also mandolin, cello, and “truck noise theory,” the big-rig doppler effect of Lloyd’s steel on “Roll Truck Roll”), new addition Jesse Taylor supplies blistering lead guitar, on loan from Joe Ely (who plays harmonica here). Jesse’s kinetic blues lines and penchant for extreme volume were instrumental in pushing these recordings into brisker tempos and tougher attitudes. Terry was feverish for several studio days, suffering from a bad flu and sweating through his

clothes, which partially explains the literally febrile edge to his performances, rendered largely in a perma-growl. (By this point, he was regularly breaking piano pedals with his heavy-booted stomp.) Like the album title itself, the songs on Smokin the Dummy ring various demented bells. The tracks rifle through Terry’s assorted

Obsessions especially the potential energy and escape of the open road, elevated here to an ecstatic, prayerful pitch and are populated by a cast of crooked characters: truckers, truck-stop waitresses, convicts, cokeheads, speed freaks, greasers, holy rollers, rodeo riders, dancehall cheaters, and sacrificial prairie dogs, sinners seeking some small reprieve, any fugitive moment of grace.

A reigning deity of a certain kind of country music since the mid-70s.
– The New York Times.

The kind of singular American artist who expresses the fundamental weirdness of his country. – The Wire.

TRACK LISTING

A1. The Heart Of California (for Lowell George)
A2. Cocaine Cowboy
A3. Whatever Happened To Jesus (and Maybeline)?
A4. Helena Montana
A5. Texas Tears
B1. Cajun Roll
B2. Feelin Easy
B3. The Night Café
B4. Roll Truck Roll
B5. Red Bird
B6. The Lubbock Tornado (I Don't Know)

On his manifold fourth album, acclaimed songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen contemplates kinship the ways sex and violence stitch and sever the ties of family, faith, and society with skewering satire and affection alike. Bloodlines compiles thematically related but disparate recordings from miscellaneous sources both theatrical and historical: two songs written for plays; two full-band reprises of selections from Juarez; the irreverent hellfire-hitchhiker-on-highway ballad “Gimme a Ride to Heaven Boy” (featuring Joe Ely); and the poignant eponymous ode to the arteries of ancestry and landscape (the debut recording of eight year-old Natalie Maines, later covered by Lucinda Williams).

Since 1970, when they met in Allen’s studio in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas, one of songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen’s great foils and friends was the sometimes cantankerous but always brilliant art critic and writer Dave Hickey, with whom he sparred on topics musical, visual, and beyond (and to whom this reissue is dedicated in memoriam, in the wake of his passing in 2021.) Hickey, a fellow Texan paddling against the currents of the hermetic New York centric art world, was an accomplished songwriter in his own right, and

he and Terry pushed each other to refine their respective practices. In 1983, the two were thick as thieves brothers in blood and Hickey’s wry but big-hearted presence haunts the history and periphery of Bloodlines, the album Terry released in June of that year.

Hickey’s commercial doubts notwithstanding, critical recognition was not in short demand. In a 1984 review of Bloodlines, the L.A. Herald Examiner called Allen “one of the most compelling American songwriters working today … making the most unique art-pop of our time,” elsewhere comparing him not only to Moon Mullican and Jerry Lee Lewis, but also to the Velvet Underground and Philip Glass (probably the first time that unlikely quartet ever appeared together in one sentence). In 1983, against all odds, such sentiments were growing in underground prominence, as Allen’s records gained a fanatical word-of-mouth following they weren’t easy to find in those days.

Recorded piecemeal at Caldwell Studios in Lubbock, in sessions spanning August 1982 through January 1983, Terry self-released it, like all his previous records, on his own Fate Records imprint. Despite his frustration with the protracted timeline and some anxiety about the correspondingly higher budget, the production on Bloodlines courtesy, once again, of master guitarist Lloyd Maines is slicker, cleaner, and more dynamic than prior efforts, and it reached a broader audience than ever before. UK label Making Waves reissued it in 1985, facilitating semi-reliable European distribution for the first time as well as a 1986 UK tour, on which the great BJ Cole filled in for Lloyd on pedal steel.

No veteran country songwriter sounds more attuned to the national mood. His songs still feel like little guidebooks for staring down a harsh universe.
– The Washington Post

It has always been a fool’s errand to frame Allen in terms of other artists there was nobody like him before he showed up, and the subsequent 40 years have been equally light on plausible peers. – Uncut

TRACK LISTING

A1. Bloodlines (I)
A2. Gimme A Ride To Heaven Boy
A3. Cantina Carlotta
A4. Ourland A5. Oh Hally Lou
B1. Oh What A Dangerous Life
B2. Manhattan Bluebird
B3. There Oughta Be A Law Against Sunny Southern California
B4. Bloodlines (II)

Finding each other amidst the more soulful side of the Manchester club scene, Lovescene can do it all. Able to both go big – as show-stopping early performances at Manchester International Festival and We Out Here Festival proved – and revel in the heady after-hours of the likes of Salford underground hub The White Hotel, new Band on the Wall-released 7” is a devastating encapsulation of the collective’s multiple personalities.

Suits You/Overnight (Dancefloor Mix) comes out hot on the announcement of the group’s debut album out in the Spring and is an irresistibly rich mix of velvet RnB, groove-laden soul and driving floor filler. The group deliver both in widescreen opulence, a direct link to their name which comes from band leader and vocalist Pop Roberts’ love of cinema.

“Good song writing should affect the viewer/listener in the same way a classic scene in a film should - the details in tone, wording and the emotion of the performance are everything” she says. “We’ll always strive to capture that in our music.”

Suits You adds to the canon of RnB torch ballads in its lament over unrequited love. It sees Roberts’ vocal soar high over gently rolling percussion, murmuring low-end and comparatively bolder guitars and keys that pull the track between hushed sadness to more heart-rending grief.

Flip side Overnight (Dancefloor Mix) sees Dub Phizix pop up with a guest engineer spot as the hook from the group’s original 2020 tune turns into a sultry, house-inflected party starter. “I played it at a few parties and the response was so good it just made sense to give it over to the dancefloors!” Roberts says. “We were even more pleased that Dub Phizix was up for mix engineering it - he's the king of beats and we respect his exceptional ears and advice.”

The split is the third release on the Band on the Wall 7” series, and a tantalisingly glimpse of one of Manchester’s most exciting new groups.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Suits You
B1. Overnight

Band of Horses’ sixth studio album and first record in more than five years. Sonically, the album is a return to their earlier work and the kind of raw ethos that lies at the heart of Band of Horses. Emotionally intense, both on a personal and elemental level, on Things Are Great we find band founder Ben Bridwell more autobiographical than he’s ever been on record detailing the nebulous frustrations and quiet indignities of relationship changes and what a person will do to make things right.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The first Band Of Horses outing since 2016 sees the now streamlined outfit (having lost both a bass player and a guitarist since the last LP) in fine form, with woozy lite-country slides and perfect poppy melodies breaking through beneath the ever-recognisable vocal syrup of Ben Bridwell. As beautiful and wistful as ever.

TRACK LISTING

1. Warning Signs
2. Crutch 
3. Tragedy Of The Commons
4. In The Hard Times
5. In Need Of Repair
6. Aftermath
7. Lights
8. Ice Night We're Having
9. You Are Nice To Me
10. Coalinga

Cardinal Fuzz are pleased to bring your way The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol – Ensemble 2016. Eight players made up the iteration of the always mutating ensemble cast, who were as follows for this recording - John Westhaver, Nathaniel Hurlow, Bill Guerrero, Jason Vaughan, Dave Reford, Scott Thompson, Mark McIntyre and Eric Larock.

The session for Ensemble went down at their spiritual home of Birdman Sound in Ottawa in August 2016 where what you hear on record was recorded direct from the floor (and mastered/tweaked by Chris Hardman).
The whole session (and note this is an edit to fit the constraints of vinyl) - flies by with a reckless, organic abandon, as at times 8 players fly off in different dynamic directions of abstract playing and improvisation with trumpet player Scott Thompson much to the fore and blowing wild. At times the feel of this recording is like a collision between a 70s album on the German Sky transported to a San Franciscan Ballroom is ’68 as the audience are peaking on ‘Orange Sunshine’ as Ensemble finishes up like a beautiful trip, well taken.

2021 marks the 50th anniversary of The Band’s fourth studio album, ‘Cahoots’. On December 3, Capitol/UMe will release the newly remixed and remastered album in variety of formats to celebrate this iconic and influential album.

‘Cahoots’ was the fourth studio album, and last album of original material for four years.

The front cover painted by New York artist/illustrator Gilbert Stone Back cover features a photograph portrait of the group by Richard Avedon.
Features guest vocals from Van Morrison (on “4% Pantomime”)

TRACK LISTING

Life Is A Carnival
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Last Of The Blacksmiths
Where Do We Go From Here?
4% Pantomime
Shoot Out In Chinatown
The Moon Struck One
Thinkin’ Out Loud
Smoke Signal
Volcano
The River Hymn

Band on the Wall's latest 7" release is from producer, musician & DJ Contours. Known for applying his own percussive dexterity, his sound is placed within the intersection of House, Jazz, Broken-Beat and percussive experimentation. Double A-side 'The Programme / Conga Quinto (Dub)' is the latest in an ongoing sonic evolution for Contours, having released music on labels including Rhythm Section, Tru-Thoughts, Anma Records, in turn receiving praise from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Mr Scruff, Alex Nut and Bradley Zero.

The Programme is a woozy mix of sunset synths, squelchy bass, crisp propulsive hi-hats and snare-led rhythms. The sound has a depth you can sink into, yet the skittering beats add levity and a club-leaning energy to the track. Conga Quinto (Dub) shares a similarly twilight plane. This time it draws on the Latin aspect of Contours' influences, with the titular congos offering a loose, earthy foundation into which Burford inserts the track's jutting melodies and sharp interjections of sound.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: Just what we needed in the shop, Contours hazy deep-house beats with jazz intertwined is refreshingly new. We are loving Band On the Walls releases from the series The Singles Club. Hot stuff.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Programme
2. Conga Quinto (Dub Version)

Originally released on CD in 2004, later released on vinyl in 2007 and out of print since 2010 and widely seen as a groundbreaking album in the Laura Veirs canon. “With her landmark fourth album, Veirs evoked the Pacific Northwest in climactic imagery” - Uncut.

“Carbon Glacier is a cold, beautiful and engaging record that translates the bleak, isolated vastness of nature into the bleak, isolated vastness of the modern city-sprawl, leaving one voice to sing in solitude.” - Pitchfork.

“This is an oddly beautiful album - far more engaging than you’d expect of one written in a grey Seattle winter, pondering mortality, Moby Dick and the great sheet of blackened ice after which it’s named.” - The Guardian.

Producer/drummer Tucker Martine (Modest Mouse). Martine allows the experimentation to bloom in all the right places, resulting in a record that never overworks itself, despite being packed to the gills with ghostly glockenspiels, organs, random percussion, and trombone.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Ether Sings
A2. Icebound Stream
A3. Rapture
A4. Lonely Angel Dust
A5. The Cloud Room
A6. Wind Is Blowing Stars
A7. Shadow Blues
B1. Anne Bonny Rag
B2. Snow Camping
B3. Chimney Sweeping Man
B4. Salvage A Smile
B5. Blackened Anchor
B6. Riptide

Hamburg-based Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band offer up another 7” double header on the amazing Big Crown label. On side A they take on J Dilla’s “Raise It Up”, earnestly reconstructing the track with live brass, guitars & glockenspiels and hitting the MAXIMUM NOD setting on the drummer’s program set. Not only is this a great twist on the Dilla instrumental for creative rappers to freestyle over; it’s a head-turning alt version to populate your next mixtape or club session with.

On side B Galt MacDermot’s “Space” gets reworked by the band. Made famous by the Busta Rhymes track “Woohah Got You All In Check” it’s another instant crowd pleaser with nice, chilled, laid back mood that’ll surely be the staple in countless DJ sets over the next few months. TIP! 

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A: Raise It Up
SIDE B: Space

Band on the Wall Recordings is excited to present the first release from The Singles Club; a body of new work for 2021 that celebrates the artistic practice and far-reaching talents of one of its favourite artists and one of the hardest working musicians to grace the Band on the Wall stage.

Second year participant of Gilles Peterson’s Future Bubblers scheme and rising vocal talent, Mali Hayes is a jazzy-nu-R&B type neo soul artist, who has received personal endorsements from the likes of Jamz Supernova, Gilles Peterson & Jamie Cullum.

“A really great new British female vocalist from Manchester… She's got a real un-flashy kind of approach which I really like. Kind of a milder Jill Scott / Erykah Badu, definitely one to watch. We'll be hearing a lot more from her I'm sure!” – Jamie Cullum, BBC Radio 2

"I was fortunate enough to play demo's on my shows here at the BBC by Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott. All premiers. And this is another one I think I'm gonna be proud of in a few years. Remember the name, Mali Hayes” – Gilles Peterson

A rising star in a flourishing Manchester music scene, jazzy-nu-R&B type neo soul artist Mali Hayes steps in a new direction for The Singles Club. Calling on past sounds, she breathes new life into previous work, combining vibrant real-life stories with honesty and soul, resulting in a release that is refreshing, infectious and dynamic. The lead track ‘Forgive You’ is a collaboration with fellow Future Bubblers participants, Medikul & Cult Architect.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: Two stunning tracks from Mali Hayes fresh off the new Band on the Wall Recordings label, if this is a sample of what’s to come then we’re in for a treat. Soulful hazy-jazz which is good for the soul, mind and body.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Forgive You
B1. Come Closer

Steel Drum Covers of Grace Jones, Galt MacDermot, Slum Village, Minnie Riperton, Jay Z, Ike Turner, and more.

Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the mysterious steel pan out­t hailing from Hamburg, Germany have amassed a cult following around the globe. With a slew of classic 7”s and two critically acclaimed full length albums, they set a high bar for themselves, one they clearly intend on pushing even higher with this new offering. On their third album, aptly titled Expansions, BRSB are back with more of the same, but more of the same with them is inherently different. Covering songs that span genres and range from mega hits to album cuts, they make them their own with their unique approach to the traditional steel pans of Trinidad and Tobago.

Part of the allure of a new record from Bacao is ­nding out what covers they chose. However, die hard fans are also waiting to hear the original numbers like the stellar album opener “Tough Victory”. Its airtight rhythm section, brass arrangements, and layers of steel pan melodies make the term “cover band” a shoe that could never ­t Bacao. Within the next three songs they go from Jazz (Galt MacDermot), to Hip Hop (Slum Village / J Dilla), to a dance ‑oor classic (Grace Jones) taking them all on with their signature style, expanding on the originals. An easy crowd favorite is their gritty, gully, and neck snapping cover of the Timbaland produced Jay-Z club hit “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”. The infamous crushing Bacao drums start the show and the moment they start playing the top line on the pans, all bets are off. Sure to become a dance ‑oor ­ller is their bottom heavy, four on the ‑oor version of Sylvester’s classic “I Need Somebody To Love Tonight”. They venture into some gutbucket funk with Ike Turner’s “Getting Nasty” and bring the steel pans to Minnie Riperton’s Jazz classic “Les Fleurs”. Digging deeper in the modern canon and paying tribute to a tribute, they cover Erykah Badu’s homage to the late great J Dilla, “The Healer”. This is the type of thing to make Spice Adams jump on his kitchen counter and scream. From the second the beat drops they give the original Madlib production a run for its money, shaking subwoofers with the eerie tremolo bass while the pans play E. Badu’s vocal melodies.

By the time the album is through Bacao has taken the listener on a journey that spans a myriad of energies, tempos, and moods while somehow managing to keep it all under one umbrella. For all that, these songs are alive, and they will be taken out of the context of this album and sewn into the fabric of DJ sets around the globe for many years to come. Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band is breathing renewed life into the originals and continuing to push the boundaries of steel pan music, or, as the title suggests, expanding on it.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A:
1. Tough Victory
2. Space
3. Raise It Up
4. My Jamaican Dub
5. I Need Somebody To Love Tonight
6. Dirt Off Your Shoulder

SIDE B:
1. Getting Nasty
2. Blow Your Cover
3. Represent
4. The Healer
5. Les Fleur
6. Squaring The Circles

CD Has Three Bonus Tracks:
Juicy
Look Out Baby (Here I Come)
Kaiser Noir

Rose City Band is celebrated guitarist Ripley Johnson. A prolific songwriter, Johnson started Rose City Band to have an outlet to explore songwriting styles apart from Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo, where he is often not the lead songwriter. Rose City Band allowed him to follow his musical muses as they greet him and not be bound by the schedule of bandmates and demands of a touring group. Stepping out from behind the psychedelic haze that envelops his other output, Rose City Band’s lean yet richly textured arrangements lay bare the beauty of his songcraft. On Earth Trip, Johnson reveals more of himself than ever before, coloring the project’s country-rock twang with a melancholic, wistful undertone. It charts a journey of personal growth and introspection with surprising honesty, from pining for summers spent with friends to meditations on space, stillness and the splendor of the natural world. It continues Rose City Band’s celebration of summer warmth and the great outdoors, seen from a new vantage point, and with newfound appreciation for the freedom and joy that nature provides.

Earth Trip was written during a period of sudden shocks and drastic lifestyle changes for Johnson. Forced to cancel extensive touring plans for 2020, the guitarist found himself home for an extended period for the first time in years. No longer in constant motion, he was able to experience and enjoy the simple pleasures of home life, of being in one place: hikes in nature, bathing outside, and waking with the dawn. Forming new connections to his surroundings, from tending to a garden to sleeping out under the stars, Johnson found hope and healing in a more mindful relationship with the natural world.

Themes of recalibration and finding personal space are equally mirrored in Earth Trip’s lean production. Recorded at his home studio in Portland and mixed by Cooper Crain (Bitchin’ Bajas, Cave), Johnson makes deft use of space while experimenting with new sonics. Shimmering pedal steel, woozy harmonica melodies, and stately piano enhance the album’s introspective tone without ever clouding arrangements. Psychedelic elements that nod to Johnson’s other projects and influences still appear throughout, but hover at the edge of perception, a subtle halo adding colour and texture to Johnson’s songwriting rather than taking centrer-stage. He elaborates: “I told Cooper I was trying to capture that feeling when you take psychedelics and they just start coming on - maybe objects start buzzing in the edges of your vision, you start seeing slight trails, maybe the characteristics of sound change subtly. But you’re not fully tripping yet. He got the idea right away and his mix really captures that feeling.” Johnson’s lithe guitar playing throughout treads a fine line between country and cosmic, taut melodies spiralling out into long reverb trails or free-form solos buoyed by a breeze, radiating summer warmth.

Through its daring honesty and masteful arrangements, Earth Trip cements Johnson’s place as a singular songwriter of inimitable skill. It’s message of mindfulness and our interconnectedness to the environment expands on a long country and blues music tradition that draws a symbiotic relationship between storyteller and the land, capturing the beauty of the natural world while also emphasising our responsibility in preserving it for future generations.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Rose city band go full country! Slide guitars, lap steel and tasteful reverb coalesce into a brilliantly evocative and wonderfully produced distillation of that Rose City sound into a country shell. It's a testament to Ripley Johnson's skill that his sound can be so successfully transplanted into a different shell while retaining everything that made him so great in the first place. Lovely stuff.

TRACK LISTING

1. Silver Roses
2. In The Rain
3. World Is Turning
4. Feel Of Love
5. Lonely Places
6. Ramblin’ With The Day
7. Rabbit
8. Dawn Patrol

The apotheosis of Band Of Holy Joy's bile toward today's pathetic state of affairs will be released shortly – a blistering remix of "The Devil Has A Hold On The Land" from their last album, Neon Primitives. Remixed by Youth (Killing Joke bassist, Paul McCartney collaborator, producer of Melanie C and U2!), who was so taken by the song as to remix it gratis, the remix will be part of a series of 23 discrete 7" 45s by Jon Langford of The Mekons and an assortment fellow travellers from around the globe. Dreams Take Flight transitions from political discourse into a post-virus rebirth of human relationship and the inevitable fumblings of the society's psychological reconstruction over the forthcoming year. Have you ever wondered what purpose your joy or my pain? All those moments shared together to be washed away by the rain . . . Have you ever doubted our super hipster being love-in at all? Just a pair of urbane fools passing through waiting for our call . . . Take a leap into the great unknown. Almost perversely heart-on-sleeve, Johny Brown and compatriots have never fitted well within a particular scene - nor have they ever seem to try.

Although recorded under the existence of quarantine and a healthy amount of paranoia, in search of the joy of greatly hindered collaboration, the band has opted to turn over each song to a different visionary video artist for an exhibition which will take place for a week at London's Gallery 46 beginning at the end of February and open to the public. The video exhibition will subsequently be available online, before the album's release. While still featuring some of the band's strongest songs, Dreams Take Flight has a strange film-like ambience in parts, almost as if planned as a soundtrack, a thought mirrored in Inga Tillere's sublime, dream-like sleeve, best seen in real life. "A Leap Into The Great Unknown" and "Notes From A Gallery" will likely be heard as too disarmingly direct for radio, and the videos will likely never see the entry door to MTV, but Dreams Take Flight will ultimately be considered a masterwork of clarity in a confused, contentious time.

TRACK LISTING

1. This Is The Festival Scene 
2. A Leap Into The Great Unknown 
3. That Magic Thing 
4. When Love Is Not Enough 
5. On Set Romance 
6. Notes From A Gallery 
7. The Rhythm Of Life 
8. A New Clear Vision 

From their genesis as members of the Venus club in-house band in the early 70s, Hailu Mergia and the Walias Band were at the forefront of the musical revolution during an era where modern instruments and foreign styles superseded the traditional fare to become the staple sound of Ethiopia. No one would argue that the Walias were the trailblazing powerhouse of modern Ethiopian music. They were the first band to form independently without affiliation to a theatre house, a club or a hotel; unprecedented and risky as they had to raise all funding for expenses by themselves including buying equipment. They were the first to release full instrumental albums, considered to be commercially unviable at the time. They opened their own recording studio, with band members Melake Gebre and Mahmoud Aman doubling as technical buffs during sessions. They were also the first independent band to tour abroad. In short, they were the pioneers every band tried to emulate; some more successfully than others. Odds are, any Ethiopian over the age of 35 who had access to TV or radio by the early 90s, will instantly recognize the sound of Walias. What is not a given is, how many would actually identify the band itself.

Barely a day went by without hearing the Walias either in the background on radio or as an accompaniment to various programs on TV. This Tezeta album, the band’s second recording, released in 1975, is one of those that have been impossible to find for nearly three decades. Sourced by Awesome Tapes From Africa and expertly remastered by Jessica Thompson, its unique and funky renditions of standards and popular songs of the day are so quintessentially Walias, flavorful and evocative. Hailu's melodic organ, unashamedly front and center in every track, makes even the complex pieces accessible. Profoundly engaging; it's an immersive trip down memory lane for those of us getting reacquainted with it, while also an enthralling and gratifying experience for fresh ears.

TRACK LISTING

01. Tezeta 04:30
02. Endegena 05:00
03. Zengadyw Derekou 03:40
04. Gumegum 04:26
05. Nefas New Zemedie 03:34
06. Atmetalegnem Woi 03:39
07. Mestirawi Debdabe 04:36
08. Ou-Ou-Ta 03:23
09. Aya Belew Belew 04:24

Los Angeles’ Grave Flowers Bongo Band’s sophomore LP “Strength of Spring” is an inverted pyramid balanced on the headstock of an acoustic guitar, a rainbow painted in campfire smoke, an endless staircase circling into the clouds. That acoustic guitar, perfectly captured here by Ty Segall’s excellently sere and close mic’d production, plays skeleton to these conjurors woolly grooves, and singer Gabe Flores’ thousand-yard moan keeps us guessing as to exactly where this wildebeest is headed. He pinions these far out tunes, which burst generously with shit-hot guitar leads, Stoogeseque sax squalls, and a gaggle of great eight-armed drum fills, with a flinty wrist-flicking heartbeat as the band turns from whimsy to nimble riffery on a dime, following that pied-piper six string jangling down many lovely rabbit-holes of melody and exploration. It’s obvious these guys play together a lot (the lineup shares two members with acclaimed space rockers Hoover III to boot) and the telepathy on display here is synapse-snappy. Coursing throughout is that note-pad filling, lighter raising, undefinable black magic that feels so rare these days….

TRACK LISTING

1. Lazy River
2. Sleepy Eyes
3. Tomorrow
4. Smile
5. Inner Bongolia
6. Animal Lord
7. VATMM
8. Outer Bongolia
9. Down Man

Plastic Ono Band was the debut solo album by John Lennon. Released on December 11th 1970, John and Yoko had started writing and demoing at Abbey Road (EMI Studios) in the summer, with recording sessions during September/October

After the break-up of The Beatles that year, John and Yoko embarked on a period of self-reflection and experimentation, with the results that the songs and sessions for Plastic Ono Band were heavily influenced by his immersion in Arthur Janov’s primal therapy. John was able to find emotional depth and honesty within himself that few artists had ever done before, with John saying to Rolling Stone “now I write all about me and that’s why I like it. It’s me.” . The result is perhaps the most honest and emotionally raw album that anyone has ever released, let alone someone who was one of the four most famous musicians on the planet. With a small core band comprised of just Ringo Starr on drums and old friend Klaus Voorman on bass, co-produced by Phil Spector, the album peaked at 8 in the UK charts and 6 in the USA. It has come to be regarded by many as John’s finest solo work and has continued to grow in stature and reverence and has often featured in various Best Of lists through the years since. 

Released on the same day was Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band album, the couple regarding the release as a pair of albums rather than two entirely separate projects, albeit of course it not achieving the same sort of coverage or chart success as John’s.

Coming as this does hot on the heels of last year’s much loved and well-reviewed “Gimme Some Truth” set and “Imagine” before that, the audio has been completely remixed from the original studio tapes as part of the ongoing John Lennon Ultimate Mix series. The aim for this mix process is to achieve three things: to remain faithful and respectful to the original recordings; to ensure that the sound is sonically clearer overall and to increase the clarity of John’s vocals. As Yoko says, “it’s about John” and this new mix shows that it is his voice that brings the biggest emotional impact of the album.

TRACK LISTING

2LP
Side A: The Ultimate Mixes Album And Singles
Mother
Hold On
I Found Out
Working Class Hero
Isolation

Side B: The Ultimate Mixes Album And Singles
Remember
Love
Well Well Well
Look At Me
God
My Mummy’s Dead

Side C: The Ultimate Mixes/Out-takes Album And Singles
Mother / Take 61
Hold On / Take 2
I Found Out / Take 1
Working Class Hero / Take 1
Isolation / Take 23

Side D: The Ultimate Mixes/Out-takes Album And Singles
Remember / Rehearsal 1
Love / Take 8
Well Well Well / Take 2
Look At Me / Take 2
God / Take 27
My Mummy’s Dead / Take 2

MSB tracks have been the foundation for some of modern hip-hop's most successful beats; their music has been sampled by the likes of Eminem, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, 50 Cent, Curren$y, to name a few.

Menahan Street Band, a veritable supergroup of some of today's most prolific songwriters, arrangers, and producers return with this beat-forward, cinematic masterpiece.

Their unique brand of instrumental soul has not only been the foundation for some of modern hip-hop's most successful beats, it has also become the perennial soundtrack and veritable vibe-generator for countless parties, art shows, and restaurants throughout NYC and abroad.

While this album carries the aesthetic torch that MSB has skillfully woven into the tapestry of their DNA, it also delves deeper into the experimental, exotic sounds that fill many of the coveted Sound Library and Soundtrack LPs of the late sixties and early seventies - an amalgamation of moog synths, electric pianos, drum machines, and a bevy of analog instrumentation, that ebb and flow in lush swells of Morriconian grandeur.

TRACK LISTING

1. Midnight Morning
2. Rainy Day Lady
3. The Starchaser
4. Silkworm
5. Cabin Fever
6. Rising Dawn
7. Glovebox Pistol
8. Queens Highway
9. Snow Day
10. Parlor Trick
11. The Duke
12. Stepping Through Shadow
13. Devil's Respite
14. There Was A Man

NYC’s 75 Dollar Bill began its prolific career in 2012, after percussionist Rick Brown – a veteran of the indie underground (Fish & Roses, Run On, V-Effect) – and noise scene guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Che Chen – connected via MySpace. Since that initial jam session, when Brown began experimenting with his signature plywood crate drum rhythms, they have released 3 LPs and a clutch of self-released cassette and digital releases. Last year’s 2xLP I Was Real received serious critical acclaim – The Wire calling it 2019’s Album of the Year.

On their first live album, Live at Tubby’s, 75 Dollar Bill assembled a unique “little big band” [Sue Garner on bass, Cheryl Kingan on sax, Steve Maing on guitar, Jim Pugliese on percussion and Karen Waltuch on viola] for the small Kingston, NY club show. Recorded on the last day of their spring tour, the record puts a new perspective on themes from their body of work: a little more intimacy, a little more freedom, a little more controlled chaos. Brown’s idiosyncratic rhythms are all the more hypnotizing in Tubby’s cozy setting, and Chen’s furious guitar work cuts and hums with sounds seemingly only attainable on stage. It's an album both challenging and immediate. The expanded 75 Dollar Bill's affinity for improvisation and the avant-garde even leads to a rousing take on the Ornette Coleman classic, 'Friends and Neighbors' that feels right at home in their own repertoire. The listener can't help but feel present and part of the communal joy and catharsis being shared here in this room. This performance at Tubby’s turned out not only to be the last show of their tour, but the last show possible as the pandemic hit. Originally offered as a digital-only release on 75 Dollar Bill’s Bandcamp, Live at Tubby’s now documents a highlight and closure of sorts; this kind of musical improvisation and community interaction being on hold for the foreseeable future. The double LP on Grapefruit will have to tide us over until it can all happen again.

From Rick Brown:
75 Dollar Bill has always been a duo of Che Chen and myself, but many of our most satisfying and just plain fun experiences have involved some (or almost all) of our great crew of friend musicians who've worked with us for years and who play on our studio recordings, like 2019's I Was Real (Thin Wrist/Glitterbeat). Live at Tubby's presents a couple of sets recorded just as Spring and the coronavirus were arriving on the scene. We didn't plan for this as a “Little Big Band” concert, but we took advantage of timing and geography - as well as the fact that “everybody knows how to play WZN #3” - and sent out a call for any who could make it to come to Kingston, NY for the night's blowout, the last gig of a short tour we'd done as a duo. The material comes from I Was Real and its predecessor Wood, Metal, Plastic, Pattern, Rhythm, Rock plus a cover of the great and inspiring Ornette Coleman's song “Friends and Neighbors.” Hopefully, you'll agree it turned out pretty good – at the very least, it should be obvious that we had a good time! We sure do miss playing music with our friends and for our neighbors.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Beni Said
A2 I'm Not Trying To Wake Up
B1 Like Like Laundry
C1 Friends & Neighbors
C2 Every Last Coffee Or Tea
D1 WZN#3 / Verso

2020 features music from some of our favourite artists and closest friends on the new Manchester scene. The Covid-19 pandemic has placed a colossal strain on the music industry. 2020 has been created with a vision of providing financial support for Manchester artists and Band on the Wall, with all proceeds split 50/50.

Featuring hand-picked tracks, contributed by artists whose music spans neo soul, jazz, afro-electronic and more, 2020 is an eclectic discovery of inspired and curated sounds; a shining light on the emerging talent of Manchester’s live music scene.

"Band on the Wall is more than just a building, it is an idea and a passion for great music that is born from the diverse communities of Manchester and beyond; and an organisation designed to celebrate those who make music for the sake of making music rather than money or celebrity. In the first half of 2020 we, and many of the creators we work with, had to stop what we were doing and while activity initially stalled, it was clear that it would be impossible for the artists to stop creating and for us to stop celebrating their music. Therefore, the idea was born to help support our local creative partners and ourselves by producing this ‘memento’ of this incredibly strange year.

Encapsulating this music on this disk reminiscent of this time, produced this year by young people who couldn’t stop making music if they tried, and despite not being allowed to perform in public, is our way of still saying thank you to them, and that we are all still here. Thanks for supporting." Gavin Sharp, CEO, Band on the Wall

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: A gorgeous collection of tracks compiled from emerging Manchester artists, featuring some of my personal favourites Katbrownsugar and Porij. 2020 has hit the music industry hard and this charity release helps artists and venues during this difficult time.

TRACK LISTING

1. Honeyfeet X Werkha - You Go To My Head (rewerked)
2. Mali Hayes - Oceans Ft Layfullstop
3. Secret Night Gang - Don't Mess With My Heart
4. Agbeko - There Is A Jungle (Live)
5. Porij - Closer
6. Lovescene - To The Side
7. Skeltr - Lojong
8. Contours - Northbound
9. Cervo - Reaching
10. Katbrownsugar & Al Turnbull - Jungle
11.Yemi Bolatiwa - Troubled Living
12. Shunya - The Clay & The Sculpture
13. Lieko Quintet - Black Lake
14. MSC Big Band - Grown Ups (Live) 

This release features a selection of some of our favourite songs, from some of the most memorable shows, to have been recorded as part of the Band on the Wall archive.

These tracks represent our commitment to celebrating the diversity and excellence of music created by remarkable people from across the world. All tracks were performed at Band on the Wall and very kindly contributed by the artists for release on this CD, which has been produced to support the venue and our ongoing mission to promote and celebrate the great music of many cultures, during this challenging year.

As 2020 has become a defining year for all of us who work to bring people together to celebrate live music, for us this represents not only the journey we have been on over the last ten years, but also helps to define our future commitment to this amazing music.

A special thanks to the artists, labels and management that have helped assemble this wonderful collection of tracks, recorded live inside Band on the Wall between 2009 – 2014. All sales proceeds will be split 50/50 between the artists and Band on the Wall.

Live from Band on the Wall is the second release on Band on the Wall’s new in-house imprint, Band on the Wall Recordings and follows the release of last month’s 2020 – a fundraiser compilation to support emerging Manchester artists.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: Missing live music? Band on the Wall Manchester's iconic institution has released live tracks will take you right back to the atmosphere of being at a gig. We will be there again! Support venues and live music with this fundraising release.

TRACK LISTING

1. Gregory Porter - On My Way To Harlem
2. Jazzanova - Boom Clicky Boom Klack
3. Dele Sosimi - Lady
4. Charles Bradley - I Believe In Your Love
5. Kirsty Almeida - Cool Down Rewind
6. Azymuth - Club Morocco
7. Snarky Puppy - Strawman
8. Yellowjackets - Why Is It
9. Hafdis Huld - Oldest Friend
10. Bugge Wesseltoft - Singing 

Stage Fright is the third studio album by Canadian American group the Band, released on August 17, 1970. Engineered by Todd Rundgren and Glyn Johns, it features two of the group’s best-known songs, “The Shape I’m In” and “Stage Fright”, both of which showcased inspired lead vocal performances (by Richard Manuel and Rick Danko, respectively) and became staples in the group’s live shows.

TRACK LISTING

1. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show
2. The Shape I’m In
3. Daniel And The Sacred Harp
4. Stage Fright
5. The Rumor
6. Time To Kill
7. Just Another Whistle Stop
8. All La Glory
9. Strawberry Wine
10. Sleeping

Previously Unreleased Disco-Soul-Funk Album With Mixes By Kenny Dope. The Gatefold LP Includes Extensive Liner Notes And A Download Card to WAV Files Of The Full Album. CD Contains Instrumentals And Kenny Dope Extended Remixes. Tucked in the back corner of a linen closet in Macon, Georgia since 1979 sat a box that very few people knew existed. Lost and presumed forgotten, this box contained reel-to-reel tapes of the lost album by the band that issued the lauded Black Gold as The Mighty Chevelles in 1977. By 1979, while transitioning to the name Music Makers Band, the band entered Capricorn Studios and recorded this previously-unreleased disco funk opus, finally issued as You Can Be as part of the Now-Again Reserve series. Nearly all songs have been remixed from the original multi-track masters by Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez. Georgia funk and soul historian Brian Poust details the band and album’s story in detailed liner notes in an oversized booklet.

TRACK LISTING

A1. That Look In Your Eyes
A2. You Can Be
A3. Lady In My Dream
A4. Let Me Start Lovin’ You

B1. That’s The Way
B2. Shake Your Booty
B3. That True Love Of Mine
B4. We’re The Band…. 

Tramp fans certainly remember the name Nolla Mainor whose band Nola & The Soul Rockers contributed their song "Reach Down & Get It" for the second volume in the Feeling Nice series. This is her other 45, equally rare and for some people this two sider beats the quality of The Soul Rockers disc.

TRACK LISTING

1. This Is A Song
2. Ease It To Me

Enrique Rodríguez and the Negra Chiway Band group have an instantly powerful and unique sound that is reminiscent of the ensembles of Sun Ra and his Arkestra as well as Horace Tapscott and his Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, one that channels the righteous spirits of Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp and McCoy Tyner together with a stunning Latin rhythmical and new consciousness and percussive energy. Added to this are elements of the Samurai film soundtracks of Akira Kurosawa, Popol Vuh’s musical spirituality (especially their work with film director Werner Herzog), Tibetan Buddhism and over-blowing chants, all combining to give a truly unique new sound.

Enrique Rodríguez is a composer, percussionist, keyboardist and producer from Santiago, Chile, whose work shows many similarities with the music featured on Soul Jazz Records’ recent collection ‘Kaleidoscope - New Spirts Known and Unknown’, featuring new forward-looking jazz artists including Mathew Halsall, Theon Cross, Emma-Jean Thackray and Makaya McCraven.

Like all these artists, Rodríguez’s work is a progressive and experimental fusion of earlier influences that combine into a new and definitely 21st Century ground-breaking sound that, on account of its South American setting, give the group its truly unique feeling. Hypnotic modal piano riffs, powerful brass and flutes, an army of Latin percussion instruments and addictive vocal chants all combine in this powerful mix of radical 60s Afro-centric jazz, Eastern spirituality and cosmology and Latin American rhythmical movement.

TRACK LISTING

Dónde?
Descenso
Vindakalla-Welukan (Autoconfrontación)
No Quiero Seguir Así
Acabar De Conocerse
Paso Firme
Dónde? (Alt. Take)

"A split-screen maelstrom of Fela Kuti, Led Zep, Morricone, psych and dub" The Budos Band - MOJO - Rising - August 2019 Celebrating 15 years from the release of their debut album, Daptone's Royal Court from Staten Island delivers a truly epic collection of new material that finds the group further bridging the gap between the farfisa-fueled Ethio-Funk stylings of their early recordings, with the psychedelic, Sabbath-inspired hellfire of late. “In some ways, itʼs reminiscent of our first two albums The Budos Band and Budos II,” says Tom Brenneck. “We branched off on Burnt Offering and Budos V. Now, weʼre still moving forward.

You can play these songs on the dance-floor. We knew the horns had to stand out too. Thinking about hip-hop allowed us to put the bounce back into The Budos.” This is evident from needle drop to final rotation. Heavy drum breaks, reminiscent of the B-Boy approved grooves of their early output reign supreme, setting the stage for the pulsating, hallucinatory wall of organ, menacing horns, and rugged guitar riffs to permeate your soul - leaving the listener in a rhythmic wash of Budonian rapture. Long in the Tooth represents the culmination of a 15-year journey by a band that has consistently carved its own distinct path through the grooves of history.

TRACK LISTING

1 Long In The Tooth
2 Sixth Hammer
3 Snake Hawk
4 Dusterado
5 Silver Stallion
6 Haunted Sea
7 The Wrangler
8 Gun Metal Grey
9 Mierda De Toro
10 Budonian Knight Renegade

It is impossible to talk about modern psychedelic music without mentioning Ripley Johnson. As bandleader of Wooden Shjips and half of Moon Duo, Johnson has continually charted new cosmic paths that expand on the language of the genre. With Rose City Band, Johnson’s songwriting and beautiful guitar lines take center stage. While his vocal treatment would be recognizable to any Wooden Shjips fan, the sparseness of the instrumentation lays bare the beauty of his writing. Shimmering guitar lines are free to shine, buoyed by driving rhythms. New to the mix are arrangements and instruments drawn directly from classic country, resulting in songs with more than a hint of twang. Buoyant and joyous, Summerlong is a captivating listen that leaves the listener yearning for more. The record is an ode to freedom, born of a musician stepping out of all routines and whose own liberation is communicated so completely in his music. Summerlong is a record that, taken in its entirety, is an emphatic statement on the songwriting power of Ripley Johnson. Johnson’s joy in every aspect of this album is delightfully infectious.

Rose City Band started purely as a recording project, with Johnson’s role mostly obscured for the self-titled debut album. Released with no promotion, in the style of private press records, it was a liberating, a focus on music without any expectations. With a chuckle, Johnson elaborates, “I always would threaten to my friends that I’m gonna start a country rock band so I can retire and just play down at the pub every Thursday night during happy hour. I love being able to tour and travel, but I also like the idea of having a local band … more of a social music experience.” Freedom from expectation and obligation gave Johnson the space to experiment. The introduction of lap steel, mandolin, and jaw harp enhance Johnson’s lean guitar work with radiant overtones, placing Summerlong more overtly within the country tradition than its predecessor. Work on the album began at Johnson’s home studio in Portland during the summer, but, interrupted by touring, was not be finished until winter. The dark isolation of winter and the pining for summer’s easier days can be felt in the album’s few quieter moments. Summerlong was mixed by John McEntire (Stereolab, Broken Social Scene, Tortoise) at his newly minted Portland Soma Studios and mastered by Amy Dragon at Telegraph Mastering, also based in Portland.

The aptly named Summerlong, born of Johnson’s own fondness for the season, delivers an emotional lift—an expression akin to the joy of getting out there on a warm day, be it gathering for a BBQ, hopping onto a bike, leaping into a swimming hole, or simply reading in a park.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Ripley Johnson once again brings the good stuff for his second album under this moniker. Swooning guitars and hazy atmospheric ambience underpin the solid backdrop of Ripley's sweet vocal delivery and syrupy, languid melodies. It's an enchanting and evocative collection, and one that continues the (very high) reputation set by last years' eponymous debut.

TRACK LISTING

1. Only Lonely
2. Empty Bottles
3. Real Long Gone
4. Floating Out
5. Morning Light
6. Reno Shuffle
7. Wee Hours >
8. Wildflowers

Band of Gypsys was originally released in March 1970, at a time when Hendrix was at the peak of his powers. Featuring a new line up consisting of drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox, it was recorded across two performances at the Fillmore East on New Year’s Day 1970. The resulting live album captured an incendiary mix of blues, rock, and funk.

The 50th anniversary edition of Band of Gypsys features an 8 page book featuring rare archival photos and an essay by Hendrix archivist John McDermott, and has been remastered from the original analogue stereo tapes by Eddie Kramer, long time engineer to Jimi Hendrix. 

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
Who Knows
Machine Gun
Recorded January 1, 1970 Early Show

SIDE B
Changes
Power To Love
Message To Love
We Gotta Live Together
Recorded January 1, 1970 Late Show

"The space-age songsmiths of Once & Future Band have been ting-tinging away on the truly heavy anvil of hominid perspective and emotion again to bring you this singing scape of songs.
Annealing for over a year now, until it was cool enough to hold in your ears, nested in the pinnae, the time has finally come.
Dew drops pop and hiss as they settle on the gliding guitarmonies.

Once & Future Band have outdone themselves this time around, in my opinion. If songs could stop heated exchanges by mere presence, these are the ones, and more needed than ever.
As I tuned in to each new transmission, each step closer to this perfect platter, I had to stop and do nothing else, and merely absorb how wonderful this album is. Each tune exists in the company it was born to live with. There are haunting chorale escorts here...long trains of room warmth... the belting of the machine heart...lofty guitar and bass melange... and just beautifully laid to magnetic tape with a sure hand by the throbbing brains that are Once & Future Band for fans of Roy Wood, Idle Race, ELO, Roxy Music, Head Hunters, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, The Lord Bowie, The Band, and the soundtrack from every movie that ever pierced your cold, cold heart”
- John Dwyer.

TRACK LISTING

1. Andromeda
2. Automatic Air
3. Problem Addict
4. Several Bullets In My Head
5. Freaks
6. Mr. G
7. Deleted Scenes
8. Airplane
9. The End And The Beginning

The highly sought-after Japanese disco funk soundtrack from 1977 featuring the cream of the Tokyo scene gets officially reissued for the first time outside of Japan. The ‘imaginary’ soundtrack to the adventures Of Kindaichi Kosuke, the cult detective book series by writer Seishi Yokomizo is on many DJ want-lists. Arranged by soundtrack master Kentaro Haneda and featuring a mysterious group of the best 70s Japanese Funk musicians, the album is pure undiluted Disco Funk. This reissue is the album's first official release outside of Japan. Remastered from the original tapes, it features artwork by renowned illustrator Ichibun Sugimoto, OBI strip and a 4 page insert with a new introduction by Anton Spice Writer Seishi Yokomizo is an institution in Japan. He could be compared to Agatha Christie with his series of novels based on the adventures of detective Kosuke Kindaichi. The fictional character was born in 1946 with Yokomizo's first novel in the series and solved mysteries until the late 70s under Yokomizo's pen before the death of the writer in 1981. Kindaichi is a peculiar character. He is a sort of goofy, yet scrupulous detective, not dissimilar to Columbo, and has become legendary in Japan over the decades. Yokomizo's novels have been a prime source for film and TV scenarios, so when, in 1977, Japanese label King Records decided to record a concept album based on the Kindaichi novels, it made complete sense. The writer was slightly surprised though. As he wrote on the back of the LP sleeve "When I first heard an album was being made based on my novels, I felt very strange. I could understand if my novels were turned into films and then soundtracks were recorded based on these films. But this time, the music created was directly inspired by my novels. I felt very intrigued, yet very excited." The concept album was arranged by pianist Kentaro Haneda, a key TV and film composer who has worked on many anime films and is also famous outside of Japan for composing the music for the video game 'Wizardry'.

For "The Adventures Of Kindaichi Kosuke" album, he assembled a supergroup of some of the best Tokyo funk and City Pop musicians. The long list includes jazz pianist Hideo Ichikawa who played on the 1971 'Joe Henderson In Japan' album, Jun Moriya (ds), who is on Joe Hisaichi's cult 'Wonder City Orchestra' album, Tadaomi Anai (perc) who played with Disco singer Eri Ohno, Koji Hadori (tpt) who's featured on Haruomi Hosono's "Pacific" album. Also present on the album are Takeru Muraoka (sax) who plays on many Tatsuro Yamashita cult albums including "For You" and "Spacy", Kimiko Yamauchi (koto) who's on Akiko Yano's landmark "Japanese Girl" and, last but not least, Koji Yamaguchi (fr horn) who plays on Yazuaki Shimizu's "Kakashi" album Together they lay the funk on ten instrumentals filled with pur disco and funk breakbeats, making the album one of the highly-coveted Japanese LPs on international cratedigger scene. This reissue which Wewantsounds is delighted to officially put back on the market, features OBI strip and a four page insert faithfully reproduces the original artwork plus audio remastered from the original tapes.

TRACK LISTING

1. Kindaichi Kosuke No Theme
2. Yatsuhakamura
3. Kamen Butoukai
4. Honjin Satsujin Jiken
5. Gokumontou
6. Akuma No Temariuta
7. Meirosou No Sangeki
8. Akuma Ga Kitarite Fue Wo Fuku
9. Mitsukubitou
10. Inugamike No Ichizoku

The legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band present the soundtrack to ‘A Tuba To Cuba’, the critically acclaimed documentary directed by TG Herrington and Danny Clinch. The film follows Ben Jaffe of New Orleans’ famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band as he seeks to fulfil his late father's dream of retracing their musical roots to the shores of Cuba in search of the indigenous music that gave birth to New Orleans jazz. ‘A Tuba To Cuba’ celebrates the triumph of the human spirit expressed through the universal language of music and challenges us to resolve to build bridges, not walls.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s Ben Jaffe said of ‘Kreyol’ from the soundtrack: “Every evening in Havana people gather along the waterfront to socialize. I’ve always been taken by the tempo at which people stroll, like New Orleans, there’s a very particular rhythm to their walk. That rhythm was the inspiration for ‘Kreyol’. In fact, ‘Kreyol’ is the Cuban spelling of ‘Creole.’ You can feel that same Creole influence in New Orleans, it’s one of our many shared connections with Cuba.”

At a moment when musical streams are crossing with unprecedented frequency it’s crucial to remember that throughout its history New Orleans has been the point at which sounds and cultures from around the world converge, mingle and resurface, transformed by the Crescent City’s inimitable spirit and joie de vivre. Nowhere is that idea more vividly embodied than in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which has held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for more than 50 years, all the while carrying it enthusiastically forward as a reminder that the history they were founded to preserve is a vibrantly living one.

TRACK LISTING

Yesteryear
Tumba
I Am
Descarga Del Son
Keep Your Head Up
Corazon
Elegguà
Kreyol
El Manicero
Solitude
Las Palomas
Malecón

Released on the 22nd September, 1969, the eponymous second studio effort by The Band is a concept album, with the songs focusing on people, places and traditions associated with an older version of Americana. It was recorded in the pool house of a home rented by the group in the Hollywood Hills which was once owned by Judy Garland, Wally Cox and, at the time the group worked there, Sammy Davis, Jr. According to Robbie Robertson, the location was chosen to give the songs a Basement Tapes–like feel in what was termed “a clubhouse concept.”

The album includes many of The Band’s best-known and critically acclaimed songs, including “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” which Rolling Stone named the 249th greatest song of all time. The magazine also ranked the album number 45 in their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Time magazine included it in their unranked 2006 list of the 100 greatest albums.

Robert Christgau, who spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, declared it better than Abbey Road, which had been released four days following, writing that The Band’s LP is an “A-plus record if I’ve ever rated one.”

The album is preserved in the National Recording Registry and is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

TRACK LISTING

1 Across The Great Divide
2 Rag Mama Rag
3 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
4 When You Awake
5 Up On Cripple Creek
6 Whispering Pines
7 Jemima Surrender
8 Rockin’ Chair
9 Look Out Cleveland
10 Jawbone
11 The Unfaithful Servant
12 King Harvest (Has Surely Come)

‘Somebody’s Knocking’ is the eleventh album from Mark Lanegan. The album pulsates with energy echoing the punch of Eighties garage metallers Raw Power and the sweep of brooding atmosphere concreted by late Joy Division. With his love for electronic dance dating back his youth, tracks on ‘Somebody’s Knocking’ act as a callback to these days whilst simultaneously signifying a definitive shift in his sensibilities and very approach to songwriting.

It’s unsurprising then that ‘Somebody’s Knocking’ was cowritten by Rob Marshall - of Exit Calm and collaborator on 2017’s Gargoyle - alongside Martin Jenkins of electronica project Pye Corner Audio. In Lanegan’s own words, he approached working with the two “from the perspective of a fan.” This is unsurprising; Lanegan’s love for European dance music even led to Jenkins contributing album remixes for both 2015’s ‘A Thousand Miles Of Midnight’ and 2017’s ‘Still Life With Roses’, Pye Corner once again proving to be the perfect foil for Lanegan’s more overtly electronica infused approach.

Mostly recorded in LA over an eleven-day session, ‘Somebody’s Knocking’ is a shift in perspective for Lanegan, showcasing his maturing approach to songwriting and remaining instinctive, elusive and unflinchingly honest.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Lanegan's newest outing is full to the brim with gritty, southern rock drive and the undeniable musicality we've come to expect from him over the past 30 years, only this time we get the more electronic-leaning production of Martin of Pye Corner Audio and Rob Marshall of cooking vinyl, a match made in music heaven.

TRACK LISTING

1 Disbelief Suspension
2 Letter Never Sent
3 Night Flight To Kabul
4 Dark Disco Jag
5 Name And Number
6 Playing Nero
7 Radio Silence
8 Penthouse High
9 Paper Hat
10 Stitch It Up
11 Gazing From The Shore
12 War Horse
13 She Loved You
14 Two Bells Ringing At Once

Recorded in November 2018 at Ballintubbert House, Ireland, “a few pay grades above what we're used to!”, the alien construction of Ballintubbert and its corridors help to navigate Girl Band’s cataclysmic sound within a world of its own.

“In many ways the idea behind the album was to make an audio representation of the house.“ And this enigmatic manor becomes Girl Band’s sonic playground: to place yourself within a space, and to work with that space harmoniously. Dan continues, “We recorded all the drums twice: once on the landing and once in the cellar” -The Well of Souls- “and during production we could actually cut in between both these sounds”. The Talkies vacillates between being big, ambient, and atmospheric to suddenly terribly intimate and up close.

The Talkies is living, breathing, in a continual state of metamorphosis. It encompasses everything there is to love about Girl Band while simultaneously causing an exciting level of discomfort. The moaning and sawing guitars, atonal blankets of sound, abstractive lyrical repetition, chugging snare and ascending/descending snakes and ladders noise-rock guitar deliver something that is so distinctively Girl Band.

…Eregenis. Album closes to steady breathing. It drips with catharsis, slow and mindful and purging over the familiar key and darkly syncopated grooves which closes the door to Girl Band’s sonic universe and brings ‘The Talkies’ to its first and final silence.

TRACK LISTING

Prolix
Going Norway
Shoulderblades
Couch Combover
Aibophobia
Salmon Of Knowledge
Akineton
Amygdala
Caveat
Laggard
Prefab Castle
Ereignis

Going Norway is Girl Band’s second single following their 4-year hiatus, a two track 7” with an exclusive B side taking the same name as their upcoming album ‘The Talkies’.

In Going Norway, we hear the mimicry of Dara’s vocal to Alan’s guitar coming close to a moan, both simultaneously reaching outside of the confines of Adam’s steady, flitting snare sound: ‘And Why/ Is the Death/ So Alive?’ The track pushes and pulls against itself, and the emotion is felt within this combative movement and the elongation of vowels – the intensive repetition to the point of abstraction results in a violent discrepancy between language and meaning, as Dara draws attention instead to the way the mouth moves and how sound is formed.

TRACK LISTING

A – Going Norway
B – The Talkies

At a moment when musical streams are crossing with unprecedented frequency, it’s crucial to remember that throughout its history, New Orleans has been the point at which sounds and cultures from around the world converge, mingle and resurface, transformed by the Crescent City’s inimitable spirit and joie de vivre. Nowhere is that idea more vividly embodied than in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which has held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for more than 50 years, all the while carrying it enthusiastically forward as a reminder that the history they were founded to preserve is a vibrantly living history.

‘So It Is’ (2017) finds the classic Preservation Hall Jazz Band sound invigorated by a number of fresh influences, not least among them the band’s 2015 life-changing trip to Cuba. A visit to the island, so integral to the evolution of jazz and New Orleans culture in general, had long been in the works when President Obama’s diplomatic opening suddenly allowed for a more extensive journey than had originally seemed possible. Producer David Sitek, a founder of art rock innovators TV On The Radio who has helmed projects by Kelis, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Santigold among others, offered both a keen modern perspective and a profound respect for the band’s storied history.

TRACK LISTING

So It Is
Santiago
Innocence
La Malanga
Covergence
One Hundred Fires
Mad

Lou Clarke and the All-Scars Band

Lou Clarke spent most of the 70's not of this Earth, a greatly formative time for him and those around him. The intervening period was spent retrospectively constructing a back catalogue of music to rival even the most seasoned of 'straight to charity shop' vinyl ghosts.

The All-Scars are a collection of well-trodden troubadours from a variety of Mancunian haunts who've generously come together to present these songs in something close to their original form as once might have been heard.

The 'Greatest Hits' album is a preventative measure precluding necessary high standards for a second work. All of the tracks have been taken from the future back catalogue including the upcoming demand avoidant '4th Album'.

Informed by New Orleans, built in Manchester, songs to drink dance or drown to.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Encompassing all the best gloomy moments of Nick Cave and the sozzled pub-rock of the Pogues, but drawing in perfectly measured elements of jazz, lounge and classic rock, Clarke et. al. perfectly soundtrack our austere political climate with wry, tipsy tongue-in-cheek commentary and damn good music to boot. Great stuff.

TRACK LISTING

1. Configure Your Life 02:59
2. Anyman 04:39
3. Blue Eyes 03:13
4. Down Again 04:05
5. My Beautiful Girl 03:17
6. Intoxicated Man 02:53
7. Run Deep 03:36
8. Co-Dependency Suicide Blues 03:25
9. Walking 02:55
10. I Got Nothing 02:43
11. Wrung Out 02:43

Entirely self-produced, the band has reiterated their favourite elements of the 70s legacy of the Afro-Latin psychedelic music of Colombia and Peru, interpreting it through the context of modern day Amsterdam. The output is a No Wave groove all its own, rooted in a deep love of champeta, Palenque, psychedelic cumbia, chichi, classic afrobeat and pic soundsystem culture.

Since the release of their successful “Down In The Basement EP” on Soundway Records in early 2018, the band have found themselves on a hectic touring schedule - not to mention being involved in other exciting side projects. Following stints with Turkish psychedelic folk rock group Altin Gun, and touring with the re-formed 70s Zamrock outfit W.I.T.C.H., Nic Mauskovic also teamed up with Dutch neo-psychedelic artist Jacco Gardner to form the “cinematic Balearic disco” duo of Bruxas (released by Dutch institution Dekmantel) - and together, he and Jacco mixed The Mauskovic Dance Band debut album in Lisbon.

Constantly in demand for live shows - not only does The Mauskovic Dance Band’s music flourish on stage particularly in a club, this time it was made in one. The album was recorded in the storage space of Amsterdam’s Garage Noord, a recent addition to the scene but already a favourite amongst clubgoers for its forward-thinking programming. Its industrial yet intimate nature permeates the album, lending it a pulsing, hypnotic and hazy atmosphere.

Heavily championed by DJs and tastemakers, they were selected by Gilles Peterson for the Brownswood Bubblers Thirteen compilation and nominated for Track of the Year at the Worldwide Awards in London. But 2019 marks the year to deep dive into the “percussione and spazio” sound of The Mauskovic Dance Band.

TRACK LISTING

Drinks By The Sea
Space Drum Machine
Same Heads
Dance Place Garage
Alto In Vacanza
Late Night People
Percussione & Spazio Sounds
It’s The Wrong Goodie

Skip leaves his hotel. Its a cold day in Nashville, climbing to only 43 F in the afternoon. It may be Sunday, but on this day a 22-year-old musician is working at Columbia Recording Studios. Over the past few days, hes recorded a slew of new songs and today will be no different. On December 7, 1968, Skip Spence will record no less than 8 different songs. He has only 3 more days left to finish the album. It's been fast and furious and its also been tough, recording every instrument on every track, layer after layer, song after song, overdub after overdub.

In a sense, Skip is now a one-man rock & roll band. A few months ago, he was in a band, but now hes on a different path. On one of today's tracks, he opens with a low growl, "I want a rock & roll band." He then sighs, perhaps wishing he didn't have to do it all himself. After repeating the phrase, he adds, "One that spits fire and chews blood!" Skip was in that sort of band just a few months earlier the talented but jinxed Moby Grape. It's like he was writing a note to himself, thinking about his old band, thinking about himself as a band, and perhaps thinking about other bands as well. Maybe he was also writing a reply to the Byrds, who once sang, "So you want to be a rock & roll star." Like the Byrds, Skip was grounded in folk music. Twenty months ago, Moby Grape opened for the Byrds at the Fillmore and Winterland in San Francisco. They’d rehearsed tirelessly for days-on-end beforehand. But Skip doesn't want to go back to his past. "I don't want the Fillmore," he roars, "I want a rock & roll plan."

While his future may be unclear, Skip is on a mission to record everything he has in his body & soul. For a part of that Sunday so long ago, that included, "I Want a Rock & Roll Band” a song that features so many of Skips hallmarks, wit, spontaneity, wordplay, a mixture of intricate & percussive guitar, verve, & a beautiful falsetto. It's a rollicking snapshot of where Skip Spence was at, smack dab in the middle of his Oar sessions one cold Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee.

‘Love Is All You Love’ was recorded in London’s Miloco Studios, The Smoakstack studio in Nashville, and in the Southampton studio of Band Of Skulls founder members’ Russell Marsden (guitar, vocals) and Emma Richardson (bass, vocals). Following the amicable departure of drummer Matt Hayward, Russell and Emma started the writing process for the record in 2017 and quickly accumulated a host of new songs. It was a free and experimental process mixing electronic and live instruments, working quickly, getting ideas down, then moving on.

Work then switched to The Toyshop studio at Miloco to collaborate with Richard X, known for his innovative production with artists from Pet Shop Boys to Goldfrapp to Sugababes, whose ‘Freak Like Me’ was one of the standout singles of the 2000s. Richard X encouraged Band Of Skulls new spirit of experimentation, pushing the combination of live and electronic as mixing the two was creating interesting dynamics. Once the writing was complete the band decamped to Nashville to record the live element of the record with Eagles Of Death Metal’s Julian Dorio on drums.

All these elements added a heavy punch and power to ‘Love Is All You Love’, especially on the unrelenting ‘Carnivorous’ and short sharp shock of ‘That’s My Trouble’. ‘Cool Your Battles is more widescreen, while ‘We’re Alive’ has a heavy dance pulse with a touch of melancholy. The song ‘Love Is All You Love’ focuses on the groove and keeps the feel of when they tracked it live in Nashville. This song in particular seems to encapsulate the sentiment of the whole record.

“This record is tough and tender with a rebellious spirit,” say Emma and Russell. “It is a positive record. It looks to what is possible and how a little love and human kindness can help bring about positive change. We drew on personal experiences, changes in our situation, and couldn’t help but be affected by what has been going on in the world politically, culturally and environmentally. Attempting to overcome that sometimes powerless feeling by creating and connecting with people and making something new.” 

TRACK LISTING

1. Carnivorous
2. That’s My Trouble
3. Love Is All You Love
4. Not The Kind Of Nothing
5. Cool Your Battles
6. Sound Of You
7. Thanks A Lot
8. We’re Alive
9. Speed Of Light
10. Gold

Deluxe CD Bonus Tracks:
1. In Colours
2. Heavenly Creatures
3. Dying Day 

As menacing and unhinged as ever, the pride of Staten Island is back with their fifth full-length offering, V. Raw and absent of modern technological trappings, the Budos pick up where they left off with 2014’s “Burnt Offering,” and finds the Budos expanding on the brooding, fuzz-fueled riffs, whilst harkening back to the Ethiopian inspired rhythms and percussive proclivity that put Budos Band on the map.

“Old Engine Oil,” a rocker at heart, kicks things into gear and delivers a high-octane burst of Budos mayhem. “The Enchanter” serves up a classic dose of upbeat afro-soul, drenched in a venomous assault of wall-melting proportions that leads you to the “Spider Web,” a rumbling ode to the Cowbell Colossus whose punctuated horn stabs take you on an untamed ride to the dark side of the spoon. The side closes with “Peak of Eternal Night,” whose odd time signature and haunting horns transport the listener to the peak of a menacing otherworldly landscape that’s further explored in the final track “Ghost Talk” – a guitar driven groover that gives way to an organ-washed space ritual beneath sun-summoning trumpet blasts.

Side Two opens with “Arcane Rambler,” an interstellar ramble across space and time that leaves the listener in cosmic purgatory. “Maelstrom,” released as a single shortly after the release of “Burnt Offering,” boasts waves of furious sonic power that batter the listener via a maw of snarling sea-foam bubbling with the power of the Budos. Soon darkness falls as “The Veil of Shadows” is draped across the land – in this realm of twilight one quickly loses their way, only to find themselves at a dusk-to-dawn pyre of budonian proportions. “Rumble from the Void” then pulls you into a percussive black hole of formless beat-worship. There are no horns to help you here, just the tentacles of rhythm that tirelessly pull you back into the void. “Valley of the Damned” closes the record, it’s twisting groove coupled with hypnotic drones of synth and horns transports you to a place of little hope and even less reason. You’ve been warned…

TRACK LISTING

1. Old Engine Oil
2. The Enchanter
3. Spider Web, Pt. 1
4. Peak Of Eternal Night
5. Ghost Talk
6. Arcane Rambler
7. Maelstrom
8. Veil Of Shadows
9. Rumble From The Void
10. Valley Of The Damned

In 2018, Ty Segall’s Freedom’s Goblin hit with a watershed feeling. A feeling like, how much longer will rock albums like this even exist? An epic epoch double-LP that took the heroic arc of Ty’s populist masterpiece Manipulator and wadded it up into a much more aerodynamic (and harder-hitting) ball (or 20-sided D&D die), FG was also the continued work of the Freedom Band, Ty’s crew of choice since 2016. Storming the world playing songs from throughout his catalog in a series of ecstatic setlists, they sought freedom for themselves and the audience, even it if was just one night of emancipation from world’s numbing chill. Then they went and did it again the next night!

An all analog production, recorded live on stage at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles by Steve Albini (via mobile unit onto two-inch tape!) and mixed with Steve in Chicago at Electrical Audio, Deforming Lobes witnesses the blunt-force traumpact of The Freedom Band in full effect, updating (and upending) numbers from Melted, Emotional Mugger, Twins, Manipulator, $ingle$ 2 and Self-Titled. From the start, the “Warm Hands” suite shows the growth of the group since recording the original version for the 2017 Self-Titled album—the jam has a new life all its own, and the band explores every song with similar unrestrained curiosity, never forgetting the collective experience they’re sharing. The feeling between audience and band at Los Angeles’ Teragram Ballroom on those January nights was its own special thing; here, the band is somehow even more front and center, making Deforming Lobes the first wholly original statement from The Freedom Band and bookending the Goblin experience with a fuck of an exclamation point.

A year-plus later, another rock album exists—but what’s to be done with the guitar? These guys did everything they could get away with to a certain degree of (well-focused) depravity. Maybe now it’s time for a transition, away from live band rawk into whatever, who knows? But before you grieve your speculative future loss too hard, you really oughta get Deforming Lobes.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: By all accounts, Ty Segall are one of the most dominant forces in live music around today, and this perfectly captures the energy and visceral heft of this momentous experience. Grooves are stretched out and worked around, turning a simple riff into a multi-layered tapestry, rich with distortion and so huge you can almost feel the sweat dripping off the stage.

TRACK LISTING

1 Warm Hands
2 Squealer
3 Breakfast Eggs
4 The Crawler
5 Finger
6 They Told Me Too
7 Cherry Red
8 Love Fuzz

By incorporating all manner of homemade instruments, jug bands were hugely popular in America during the 1920s and early 1930s. With an unparalleled vibrancy this ‘do it yourself’ and often overlooked approach to music was highly influential in the history of the blues. This LP set was lovingly remastered using pioneering restoration techniques.

TRACK LISTING

Memphis Sheiks - He’s In The Jailhouse Now
Whistler & His Jug Band - The Jug Band Special
Cannon’s Jug Stompers - Going To Germany
Birmingham Jug Band - Giving It Away
Earl McDonald’s Original Louisville Jug Band - Casey Bill
Tampa Red’s Hokum Jug Band - It’s Tight Like That
Carolina Peanut Boys - This Will Bring You Back
Daddy Stovepipe & Mississippi Sarah - The Spasm
Memphis Minnie And Her Jug Band - Grandpa And Grandma Blues
King David’s Jug Band - What’s That Tastes Like Gravy
Memphis Jug Band - Stealin’, Stealin’
Jimmie Rodgers & The Louisville Jug Band - My Good Gal’s Gone Blues
Picaninny Jug Band - Bottle It Up And Go
Old Southern Jug Band - Blues, Just Blues, That’s All

Arguably one of the most acclaimed and loved bands of the past 20 years, by both fans and their musical peers alike, The Beta Band formed in St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1996. Innovative and singular, their unique musical and aesthetic approach to everything they did set them far apart from their musical contemporaries. Together for a relatively short period of time, the three albums and three EPs they released between 1996 and 2004 would nonetheless help define them as one of the most exciting and cherished bands of their generation.

“Heroes to Zeros” is the third and final studio album by The Beta Band released in 2004. It was mixed by famed producer Nigel Godrich and rose to number 18 in the UK charts.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Assessment
A2. Space
A3. Lion Thief
A4. Easy
A5. Wonderful
A6. Troubles
B1. Out-Side
B2. Space Beatle
B3. Rhododendron
B4. Liquid Bird
B5. Simple
B6. Pure For

The Craig Brown Band is back with a dizzying new garage-country 7”, their first songs since the release of debut album The Lucky Ones Forget. Much has happened for the group since the album’s release, from touring with Dwight Yoakam (based solely on Dwight’s observance of the magnetism of their powerful live show) to opening for Jack White at the huge Little Caesars Arena concert in Detroit. And now, this new single will be accompanying Craig and the band on their first trip overseas to Europe, featuring new bassist and longtime Liquor Store co-conspirator Derek “Block” Warren.

“Big City Small Town” is a little country rock groover that depicts a very familiar scene for anyone who’s lived in a midsize city; word travels quickly, so own who you are and what you do 100%. “Tell Me” is a charmingly concise and heartfelt appeal for a little fulfillment, from answering life’s big questions to enjoying a good song with someone who cares.

Arguably one of the most acclaimed and loved bands of the past 20 years, by both fans and their musical peers alike, The Beta Band formed in St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1996. Innovative and singular, their unique musical and aesthetic approach to everything they did set them far apart from their musical contemporaries. Together for a relatively short period of time, the three albums and three EPs they released between 1996 and 2004 would nonetheless help define them as one of the most exciting and cherished bands of their generation.

After a short hiatus the band gradually gravitated back into the studio and recruited noted UK producer Colin Emmanuel, aka C-Swing, to oversee the process of “Hot Shots II” which was released in mid 2001. Notoriously the band had intended to release "Squares", which featured a sample from the Günter Kallmann Choir's 1970 version of Wallace Collection's "Daydream", as the lead single. However after filming the music video and taking the single to radio it suddenly transpired that another single "Daydream in Blue" by I Monster featuring the sample from Günter Kallmann Choir recording was also to be released at the same time causing the band to release "Broke" instead. Touring extensively and supporting Radiohead in August 2002, they made No. 3 on Q magazine's list of "50 Bands to See Before You Die".

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A killer second (full-length) outing from The Beta Band sees Mason & Co. straying away slightly from the longing indie of their debut (and first three EP's) into anthemic minimalist acousticry, dancefloor rhythms and throbbing background electronics, whilst still retaining their melodic thread.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Squares
A2. Al Sharp
B1. Human Being
B2. Gone
B3. Dragon
C1. Broke
C2. Quiet
C3. Alleged
D1. Life
D2. Eclipse

Arguably one of the most acclaimed and loved bands of the past 20 years, by both fans and their musical peers alike, The Beta Band formed in St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1996. Innovative and singular, their unique musical and aesthetic approach to everything they did set them far apart from their musical contemporaries. Together for a relatively short period of time, the three albums and three EPs they released between 1996 and 2004 would nonetheless help define them as one of the most exciting and cherished bands of their generation.

Released in 1999, the album “The Beta Band” followed the critically acclaimed compilation “The Three E.P.'s” (1998). With high anticipation for The Beta Band, the band originally planned to record the album in four separate continents, but financial constraints slimmed the recording locations down; however, the album was still recorded in a variety of locations and pulling inspiration from sources as diverse as Jamaican reggae, Disney's movie “The Black Hole” and Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

The band also originally intended the album to contain a bonus disc of two long form ambient pieces, ‘Happiness and Colour’ and ‘The Hut’, both of which lasted over 20 minutes and represented the band's desire to "make a record of sound as a description for something like happiness, where a distinct first part gives way to a distinct second part”. However, the band and label ultimately decided to remove these tracks from the album prior to release.

TRACK LISTING

A1. The Beta Band Rap
A2. It's Not Too Beautiful
A3. Simple Boy
B1. Round The Bend
B2. Dance O'er The Border
B3. Brokenupadingdong
C1. Number 15
C2. Smiling
D1. The Hard One
D2. The Cow's Wrong

Bonus EP/CD: A. Happiness And Colour / B. The Hut

2CD Edition Features The Same Tracks In The Same Order.