A landmark in jazz history, Time Out (1959) by the Dave Brubeck Quartet broke conventions with its bold exploration of unusual time signatures

From the fiery 9/8 rhythm of "Blue Rondo a la Turk" to the cool, hypnotic 5/4 pulse of "Take Five", this album fuses complexity with accessibility. "Strange Meadow Lark" and "Three to Get Ready" blend lyrical piano with dynamic interplay, while "Kathy's Waltz", "Everybody's Jumpin'", and "Pick Up Sticks" round out Side B with vibrant energy and rhythmic innovation. A timeless classic that redefined modern jazz.

TRACK LISTING

Blue Rondo A La Turk
Strange Meadow Lark
Take Five
Three To Get Ready
Kathy's Waltz
Everybody's Jumpin'
Pick Up Sticks

Part Two of the 'Back To The Old School' series has arrived in full effect. Once again, Mr "Love" Lee updates classic disco-rap cuts for today's dancefloors while preserving their original flavour and integrity. Kicking things off is Xanadu & Sweet Lady's Jamaican version of 'Rappers Delight', where Dave refreshes the instantly recognisable percussion track into a captivating jazz-funk workout, perfectly complementing Sweet Lady's luscious rapping and somehow making it even more danceable than ever. Up next, Solo Sound 'We Are The Crew (Called Solo Sound)' delivers a swampy, lo-down slice of cosmic funk primed to rock any block party. On the flip is an alternate Philly flavoured take on TJ Swann's 1981 jam 'Get Fly'. This time Dave Lee re-tracks the MFSB backbone, putting his remixing prowess fully on display and landing squarely in the dancefloor sweet spot. As a bonus, any wannabe disco rappers can hone their skills over the B2 Shepherds Delight (No Rapstrumental Mix).

STAFF COMMENTS

Paul says: Classic disco-rap tracks given the Dave Lee treatment. Delicious! And already boxed for the weekend's activities...

TRACK LISTING

Xanadu & Sweet Lady - Rappers Delight (Sureshot Mix)
Solo Sound - We Are The Crew (Whole Damn Remix)
TJ Swann - Get Fly (Rock The Message Mix)
Clocktower Of Power - Shepherds Delight (No Rapstrumental Mix)

Chicago stalwart Dave Maze is back with more "Disco Yams" on his D&E imprint straight outta tha Windy City!

Joining up edit elite such as Rahaan & Pete Blaker, Dave Maze has been spearheading the new school with a vintage flavour, well sourced material and exceptional details to the mixing and mastering - making these "Disco Yams" somewhat of a collectors piece amongst disco aficionados both sides of the pond.

On this excursion Dave keeps the source material well known but the snips adventurous meaning you're twice as likely to turn heads in the dance! Dave's sympathetic hand and keen ear for musicality mean he gets right down to the nuts and bolts of the tune; so not only does he breathe new life into these dancefloor staples, he offers up a fresh, contemporary interpretation. Top stuff!

Limited import copies. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: High grade disco edits from the modern legend that is Dave Maze. Everyone's a winner but the "Jazz Carnival" cut needs a special mention.

TRACK LISTING

A1. I'm Alive
A2. Jazz Carnival 
B1. A Groove That'll Make You Move
B2. Speak About It

One of the UK’s most singular voices, Murkage Dave has spent the last decade crafting a body of work that refuses to fit neatly into any genre box. His music, loosely pop but informed by indie, outsider art, and an instinct for storytelling, is built on honesty, empathy, and fearless social commentary. Across his career, he has earned a cult following and praise from Pharrell Williams, Iggy Pop, BBC Radio 6 Music, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Clash, Complex, Highsnobiety, and Vogue.

With his new album 'Brut Thoughts', Dave connects the inner turbulence of modern life with the fractured world around him, reflecting on internet culture, overstimulation, immigrant experience, political extremism and the power of community. The album channels present day anger and disillusionment while refusing to lose sight of hope. “It’s millennial meme culture music,” he explains. “The cacophony of what’s going on in my head spiling out into song. Living in the shadow of 80s Thatcherite/Reaganite economic policy, the broken social contract, the unkept promise of a life we were supposed to get if we did our bit.”

A cathartic soundtrack for life in late capitalism, the album draws inspiration from Talking Heads, Sampha, The Smiths, and The Streets. It came together in an unorthodox, nomadic way, across living rooms and borrowed studios in London, Manchester, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and the Danish countryside. “Like most musicians in London I can’t afford a studio,” says Dave. “So I put a call out to see who’d let me crash and write. I ended up in right-wing and left-wing parts of the country - Bristol, Margate, Cardiff, Leicester, Manchester, and the Reform stronghold of Ashfield.”

The record’s collaborative spirit is central to its DNA, featuring contributions from James from Yard Act, Kayus from Young Fathers, Ellery from WU LYF, and Lauren Auder. Touring with Yard Act in 2024 also served as a creative catalyst. “All the music being played on the tour bus opened up avenues for me,” says Dave. “It inspired me to start my radio show The Outlet on Refuge Worldwide, and all of this bled into the music.” Beyond his songwriting, Dave continues to shape UK culture through curation - from Manchester’s Murkage Club to Tonga, the touring party co-founded with Mike Skinner, and his ongoing radio work.

Standout track ‘Generation Left On Read’ captures millennial disillusionment and the numbing effects of irony-as-coping-mechanism. With an affecting contribution from James Smith of Yard Act - his first under new solo moniker Konopinsky - the track crystalises the album’s exploration of lost promises and the determination to still care in a world that encourages detachment.

Meanwhile, ‘Swordfight In A Chicken Shop’ serves as a chaotic centrepiece, a vivid depiction of information overload produced by Tim London and featuring Kayus Bankole, Ellery James Roberts, Lauren Auder and Bournemouth Hope Youth Choir. In contrast, ‘RNA’ is one of the record’s most intimate moments. An unguarded meditation on masculinity, grief and spiritual ambivalence, coproduced by Kiddus with backing vocals from Young Fathers. For Dave, the record is also a reckoning with his past. “I’ve come to the realisation lately that the church my family attended during the early portion of my life was a cult,” he shares. “It was in the church that I first witnessed abuse of power and physical abuse, and where the idea that white Europeans were superior to other races was first introduced to me.” These experiences shaped his mistrust of institutions, echoing throughout Brut Thoughts, a record that dissects narcissism, personal, political, and digital, and questions how compassion is being eroded in the algorithm age. The title 'Brut Thoughts' draws from Jean Dubuffet’s Art Brut movement - an embrace of outsider art and raw, untrained creativity. “Brut” also means both “raw” in French and “unsweetened” in English, reflecting the album’s spirit of unfiltered honesty. The title references the classic Brut fragrance too, tied to the working-class masculinity of his grandad’s and dad’s generation. “In a way,” Dave says, “this album is all the things my dad would have said if he wasn’t hemmed in by the socioeconomic factors of the 80s, being chased by the National Front and being a parent.” Made during the period of his father’s passing in early 2024, the record holds onto a quiet belief that things can change - a thread of hope running beneath its heaviness.

TRACK LISTING

1. Brut Thoughts Theme
2. Swordfight In A Chicken Shop
3. Putting On A Party
4. RNA
5. Generation Left On Read (Feat. Konopinksy)
6. Friends And Family (Interlude)
7. Brut Pop (Feat. Meme Gold)
8. Running Outta Road (Feat. Trainee)
9. Mortgage Guy (Interlude)
10. One 4 Me & U
11. Money Isn'T Real (Feat. Kiddus)
12. Brut Thoughts Reprise
13. How To Subtly Disappear (Feat. Lauren Auder)

Dave Lee invites everyone to congregate at the piece of waste land behind his church where he also parks his combine harvester from time to time. Leading proceedings is 'Feel The Light' an extended super uplifting Gospel cut, filled with rousing horns, scorching organ solos and top tier sing-a-long vocal chants. The kind of record that really brings people together, much like the house of god. Flip the record and you're whisked away to the sunny shores of Rio with the Latin Jazz-Funk-tastic 'Further Tales Of Ladybug' a Wayne Henderson of The Crusaders fame piece that has, like the opposite side track been lovingly re-crafted from the stems by Mr Lee.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1:
Feel The Light (Redeption Mix)
Feel The Light (Redemption Reprise)

Side 2:
Further Tales Of Ladybug (At Home Edit)
Further Tales Of Ladybug (Big Daddies Beats)

Now totally established in the musical mainstream, grime has enjoyed a sensational year in 2019. UK artists have topped the global charts with polished club tracks and gritty roadman anthems, Slowthai's dropped a debut LP inspired by punk energy, and the manlike Dave has delivered a new genre highpoint with the phenomenal "Psychodrama" LP. Swerving away from the flossy end of the spectrum, Dave serves up confessional and conscious lyricisim, opening up about mental health problems, domestic abuse and racism across eleven tracks. 
Blessed with the same versatility as Kendrick, Dave can move from the deep and powerful "Black" (think a British Tupac wrapping over Jay Z's "Renegade" beat) to the romantic and sensual "Purple Heart" (a bit like Kendrick's "Pride") to the reflective "Location" in three tracks. This is not the archetypal rapper with big chains, gun chat and a love of hating women, instead his masterful album is presented as a series of discussions with his therapist, recorded over a year of treatment. It will suck you into his world with genius lyrical depth and intricacy and moving explanations of life as a young black person living in the UK. It's utterly prescient and insightful.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Psycho 
A2. Streatham 
A3. Black
A4. Purple Heart
B1. Location (feat Burna Boy)
B2. Disaster (feat J Hus)
B3. Screwface Capital
C1. Environment
C2. Lesley (feat Ruelle)
D1. Voices
D2. Drama

Widely regarded as the most exciting storyteller of his generation, Dave's next chapter follows the critically acclaimed No.1 albums 'Psychodrama' and 'We’re All Alone in This Together'.

'The Boy Who Played the Harp' is the first release from Dave since 2023, when self-produced Central Cee collaboration ‘Sprinter’ broke the record for the longest running #1 rap record in UK chart history, succeeding his 2022 single ‘Starlight’ which set the record for longest-running No.1 solo UK track, and the first UK No.1 by a sole writer and producer in 8 years. The record-breaking release of 'We’re All Alone In This Together' in July 2021 confirmed Dave as one of the most established artists of our time, with the biggest first week sales across all genres for 2 years at the time and the biggest UK Rap record in over a decade, achieving gold status within 3 weeks of release, and quickly becoming his second Platinum album.

TRACK LISTING

TBC

Drummer Dave Rowntree’s exclusive, intimate, never-seen-before photographs of Blur at the start of their career.

Dave Rowntree, drummer and founder member of Blur, brought his camera along to all of the band’s first adventures. He used it to capture insider moments: close-up and personal pictures of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and himself in the thrilling early stages of the band’s rise to the top. Here are photographs from Blur’s debut tours of America and Japan, in the studio in the UK, playing games in the tour bus, larking around backstage, messing about in hotel rooms, at video shoots, with fans and friends. A one-of-its kind document of what it’s really like to be in a young band during the vital first few years, when everything is new, romantic and fresh.

With hundreds of previously unseen photographs, a personal foreword and detailed quotes of memories attached to the images, “No One You Know” is a unique visual insight into the first few years of one of Britain’s most successful and well-loved bands, from one of the only four people who knows what it was really like.

Wax Digits hits release number five with a tight and tidy two-tracker from the late veteran Robert Ouimet who passed a couple of years ago. Before then he cooked up these gems with his pal and production partner Dave Godin. They are being released as a tribute to the memory of Ouimet and a fine one they are too. 'Plenty' has a raw groove and big chords with jangling guitars adding hints of melancholy that counter the big stabs. Soulful vocals are a great finishing touch then 'Funky Together' is more loose and strident with big horns leading the way under psyched-out chords. Two quality party starters.

TRACK LISTING

Plenty
Funky Together

It's the return of Chicago house don Dave Maze; only this time he's on an editing tip! Volume two of the "Disco Yams" series drops 4 upbeat, booty shakin' groovers re-edited and tweaked for your clubbing pleasure. Untitled to keep the crate diggers guessing, what I can tell you is there's definitely a cut of Instant House amongst the foliage! A producer we've had our eyes on for a while, he yet again doesn't disappoint! Limited US copies. Check!

The Real Ambassadors features Louis Armstrong's first and only recorded collaborations with Dave Brubeck, singer Carmen McRae, and the vocal trio of Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, and Annie Ross

The Real Ambassadors project, which delivered a strong political message condemning racism, was an original Broadway play written and composed by Brubeck and his wife Iola.

The Real Ambassadors is a jazz musical developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Dave Brubeck and Lola Brubeck in collaboration withLouis Amstrongand his band. It addressed the Civil Rights Movement, the music business, America's place in the world during theCold War, the nature of God, and other themes.

It was set in a fictional African nation called Talgalla, and its central character was based on Louis Armstrong and his time as a jazz ambassador for the US State Department.It was the first major large scale musical collaboration between Dave and Iola Brubeck and served as a template for their future musical collaborations. Songs from the musical were recorded by Columbia Records and a soundtrack album was released in 1962, just before the show's premiere at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival with an all-star cast.

TRACK LISTING

Everybody's Comin'
Cultural Exchange
Good Reviews
Remember Who You Are
My One Bad Habit
Summer Song
King For A Day
Blow Satchmo
The Real Ambassador
Lonesome
In The Lurch
One Moment Worth Years
They Say I Look Like God
Since Love Had Its Way
I Didn't Know Until You Told Me
Swing Bells/ Blow Satchmo/ Finale
You Swing Baby [the Duke]

Member of The Roots, Menahan Street Band, & El Michels Affair.

Musical contributions from Leon Michels, Claire Cottrill, Marco Benevento, Shanny and more.

Big Crown Records is proud to present Dave Guy’s debut album Ruby. Having lent his talents both on stage and in the studio to artists like Amy Winehouse, Lizzo, Pharrell, and Sharon Jones to currently playing every night on The Tonight Show as a member of The Roots, Dave steps out on his own with a jazz record that is both unique and modern. Ruby mixes his musical in­fluences with the energies of the city that raised him, capturing different moods and inviting the listener into the world as Dave Guy sees and feels it. Recorded in Queens at The Legendary Diamond Mine, the album is produced by Homer Steinweiss and Nick Movshon and features musical contributions from Leon Michels, Marco Benevento, Claire Cottrill, and more.

Ruby instantly sits with the classics as an album that is fully realized and not simply a collection of songs. Lead single “7th Heaven” opens the album with an anthemic energy as Dave’s horn lines soar over thundering drums, ethereal vocals, and dancing piano. Keeping the energy high, “Footwork” is a Latin inspired number that is sure to soundtrack many a dance fl­oor from SoHo to Harlem. The synth intro of “Pinky Ring” cleanses your palate for the mood shift when the track drops. Deep bass tones underline the impeccable drumming and Dave effortlessly finds the pocket wasting no notes as the verses and choruses trade off. The record leans into spiritual jazz vibes on “Diamond Encore” with a dark and deep almost “Axelrodish” rhythm track then picks the energy back up with the stomper “Still Standing”. “Dave Wants You” has a bop all its own with an unorthodox drum pattern that Dave anchors with his trumpet hits. The otherworldly arrangement of “Drony Boy” puts the production on a pedestal. The first intro almost serves as an intermission on the album while the second intro sets up the neck snapping track that is about to drop. A menacing guitar signals the builds and the whole thing is juxtaposed by Dave’s beautiful trumpet riffs. “Quesodillas” & “Green Door” begin the autumn of the album with their mellow & intimate energy and “Ruby’s Rubies”, the album’s closer is the perfect ending to the journey.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
7th Heaven
Footwork
I’ll Follow You
Morning Glory
Pinky Ring
Diamond Encore

Side B:
Still Standing
Dave Wants You
Drony Boy
Quesodillas
The Green Door
Ruby’s Rubies

The all new, must-read memoir by legendary Kinks guitarist Dave Davies'BOOK OF THE DAY' - Guardian'This powerful tell-all from the Kinks guitarist puts the spotlight on his own bad behaviour, dalliances with the occult and his recovery from a stroke.' - Observer'Heartfelt, hilarious, revealing, insightful and astonishingly candid. Boy, you really got me Dave. I can't wait to read it again.' - Mark Hamill Dave Davies is the co-founder and lead guitarist of epoch-defining band the Kinks, a group with fifty million record sales to their name.

In his autobiography, Davies revisits the glory days of the band that spawned so much extraordinary music, and which had such a profound influence on bands from The Clash and Van Halen to Oasis and Blur. Full of tales of the tumultuous times and the ups-and-downs of his relationship with his brother Ray, along with encounters with the likes of John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix, this will be a glorious read for Kinks fans and anyone who wants to read about the heyday of rock 'n' roll.

‘Elephantasia’ is a glorious folk opus from 1972, long lost and attaining a legendary reputation for its candour and creativity, from the late Bangor-born singer/songwriter Dave Evans. Finally, the LP sees the light of day again via Earth Recordings, it is a true gem from the vaults of British folk history. For fans of Nick Drake, Bill Fay and Davy Graham – with a touch of Michael Chapman, Bert Jansch and Fahey for good measure.

Dave Evans’ story is like a Pinter play; he sailed the seas in the merchant navy, was taught guitar in a brief interlude by the “mythical” Morocco John, wound up sharing a room with Steve Tilston in 1963 when they attended Loughborough Art College and ran the local folk club, while learning to make stringed instruments, the art of wine making and ceramics. Over the next year, Dave got a domestic 2-track reel-to-reel tape recorder and experimented with its two speeds to produce the tracks ‘Elephantasia’ and ‘Lady Portia’. He pulled in members of local prog band Squidd, including latter day Hawkwind member Steve Swindells on keyboards, John Merritt on bass and Rodney Matthews on drums, who also designed the ‘Elephantasia’ album cover, and went on to become a renowned fantasy artist.

‘Elephantasia’ the album was originally released in 1972, fully exposing Dave’s finger picking style, lilting vocal and his dalliance with the tape manipulation. It sold around 2000 copies and over the years became a talked about rarity, deemed too progressive for folk, too folk for the new prog heads. In best plot-thickening style, Dave tried two more releases and then disappeared. The scant sleeve notes recounted the songs’ creation, featuring tales of experimentation in sound inspired by elephants, old memories recounted with all of the unpleasant bits edited out, storylines for escapists, the residents of St Agnes Park, broken beauty queens and a fat feline. It’s an eclectic but beautifully fluent narrative from a finger picking maestro with a warm and engaging vocal style that wowed Peel and Whispering Bob back in the day.

Dave Evans sadly died in April 2021. Earth Recordings is proud to reissue ‘Elephantasia’ for the first time in over 50 years, in collaboration with his estate and original Village Thing producer Ian A. Anderson.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
A1 Only Blue
A2 Elephantasia
A3 Lady Portia
A4 That's My Way
A5 On The Run
Side B
B1 St. Agnes Park
B2 Beauty Queen
B3 Ten Ton Tasha
B4 Earth, Wind, Sun & Rain
B5 Take Me Easy

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

Following previous albums exploring British coastal quicksands, shorelines, caves and forests, Dave Clarkson takes his recorder into faded seaside towns and fairgrounds (including Rhyl, New Brighton, Blackpool, Porthcawl, Northumberland, Margate and Hastings) and applies his production technique to the results. Some tracks are melodic and rhythmic while others are more desolate, capturing the unique fading atmosphere for the locations. Music was generated from the source sounds he recorded of penny falls, onboard rides, fairground organs, demolition noise, electrics and location ambience. One track (Spectral Pier Ballroom) is a spliced and stripped composite of three separate old musical recordings from his family archive, featuring his late father, grandmother and grandfather.

Contains natural source sound ingredients, some left pure, some processed, some mangled, some untangled. Field recordings at funfairs and coastal ghost towns, plus voices, instrumentation and electronics.

Location recordings plus composition, production, mastering, photography, sleeve design, packaging and coordination by Dave Clarkson at Cavendish House studios between December 2021 and September 2022.

TRACK LISTING

1. Organ Donor 00:48
2. Rollercoaster Ghost 04:54
3. Illuminations (Dirty Electricity) 05:54
4. Sizzling Hot Dogs And Burnt Onions 02:54
5. Spectral Pier Ballroom 05:34
6. Penny Arcade In The Rain 05:18
7. Tiny Lights (Magic In A Child's Eyes) 03:12
8. Coastal Ghost Towns 04:06
9. Memories And Loss 06:04
10. Organ Transplant 02:44

Further Afield Recordings....

Hunting in search of sound food in remote, isolated and sometimes dangerous locations. Audio is taken as original sound source material for the foundation of sound collages and compositions. Field recordings as sound ingredients like natural ingredients in a carton of orange juice. Location recordings are re-fabricated e.g. rhythms created from dry snapped twigs or water pumps. The transformation of gentle splashes of sea water into harmonic layers of celestial sound. The sounds are processed, mangled, untangled, enhanced, collaborated with unnatural sounds and instrumentation, like painting with a palette of electronic colours. These turn out as further afield from the original sound source.

Following previously exploring faded seaside towns and fairgrounds, Dave Clarkson has investigated a number of isolated, unpopulated and obscure locations and applied the Further Afield production technique to the results. Some tracks are melodic and rhythmic while others are more desolate, capturing the unique atmosphere of the locations.

TRACK LISTING

1. Piel Island Quicksands And Fast Tides 09:04
2. Woodland Sanctuary 02:40
3. Ghosts Of Norfolk Coast 03:44
4. Traeth Porthor (Whistling Sands) 05:14
5. Limestone 03:36
6. Rollercoaster Ghost (Live) 08:34
7. Rendlesham (Live) 06:28
8. Clear Well (Live) 13:44

David Westlake’s first album finally gets a new day in the sun in the wake of his brilliant current LP ‘My Beautiful England’. 36 years after it first appeared in 1987 on Creation Records.

David Westlake formed The Servants in 1985, who released 2 excellent singles and appeared on the NME compiled C86 LP.

Searching for a stable Servants line-up to release an album he recruited Luke Haines (The Auteurs/Black Box Recorder) via an NME advert , who came on board, and stayed for five years. After failing to find a committed rhythm section, he enlisted the help of Martyn Casey (The Triffids/Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ) & Alsy Macdonald (The Triffids) and recorded the 1987 ‘Westlake’ album for Creation. Overlooked at the time, the record was later described as a minor classic by Luke Haines himself. It is included here on Side One of the album, available on vinyl for the first time in 36 years. and CD for the first time in 30 years.

Side Two contains the previously unreleased Janice Long BBC session recorded in the summer of 1987 featuring Go Betweens members Robert Forster, Amanda Brown & Robert Vickers.

As chronicled in an interview in US music magazine The Big Takeover (issue 53, 2004), Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch was a huge Westlake fan and tried to locate him in the early 1990s in hope of forming a band with him, before launching Belle and Sebastian in his school class instead.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1:
1. The Word Around Town
2. She Grew And She Grew
3. Rings On Her Fingers
4. Talk Like That
5. Dream Come True
6. Everlasting
Side 2:
7. Faithful To 3 Lovers (BBC Session)
8. Everlasting (BBC Session)
9. The Word Around Town (BBC Session)
10. Dream Come True (BBC Session)
11. Take Me To Your Heart (demo)
12. Never Grow Up (demo)

Okumu released his first solo record Knopperz in 2021; an instrumental concept album based on pianist Duval Timothy’s 2017 album Sen AmIt was friend and mentor Lexxx who sparked the soul searching that kicked off his next record after he told Okumu that he was trying to explain who Okumu was but struggled to summarise his vast catalogue.

“There are all these ways into these aspects of who I am and I felt like he was saying, it would be so cool if you could find out how to say who you are in a comprehensive way”. Okumu took on that challenge and in response devised his sophomore release I Came From Love, a tapestry of Black experience that explores ancestry, the legacy of slavery, what it means to exist in an unjust society, and Okumu’s own family history.  

The album writing and demoing process began in January 2021 at Lexxx’s East Sussex studio The Barn, while early recordings were completed at Okumu’s studio with Tom Skinner on drums, and Nick Ramm on keys, and Aviram Barath on synths. On I Came From Love, Okumu calls on a star-studded array of guests, including Eska, Kwabs, Wesley Joseph, Robert Stillman, Anthony Joseph, Byron Wallen, Raven Bush, and Grace Jones.

Rather than release solely under his name, Okumu has chosen the moniker ‘Dave Okumu & the 7 Generations’, which Okumu sees as “my actual ancestors, the ancestors of others, my musical ancestors, and my descendants”. Sonically the album hits a kaleidoscopic frenzy of notes, rocketing through bass heavy rhythms, neo soul-tinged cries and frenetic spoken word passages.

The album is a body of work presented in chapters; “You Survived So I Might Live” [tracks 1-4], “The Intolerable Suffering Of (The) Other” [5-8], “Seduced By Babylon” (9-11), and “Cave Of Origins” (12-14).

TRACK LISTING

Two Things
7 Generations
Blood Ah Go Run Streets
My Negritude
The Cost
Prison
Black Firework
Scenes
Amnesia
Get Out
The Struggle
Eyes On Me
Abaka
A Paradise

Rowntree came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur, one of the most successful British bands of the last two decades. The drummer's first solo single, London Bridge was produced with Leo Abrahams (Wild Beasts/Brian Eno/Ghostpoet). It heralds the start of an exciting new project for Rowntree, over three decades since Blur formed back in 1989. London Bridge is an enticing opening statement. Deceptively bright and upbeat, with its staccato ‘la-la-la-la’ hook line, the music belies a lyrical sense of dread. As proficient with a synth or guitar as he is behind the drum-kit, Rowntree’s innate ear for a melody is given free-reign on this scuzzy but impactful, lo-fi number.

TRACK LISTING

1. Devil's Island
2. Downtown
3. London Bridge
4. 1000 Miles
5. HK
6. Tape Measure, Feat Juliyah
7. Machines Like Me
8. Black Sheep
9. Volcano
10. Who's Asking

The definitive account of the first rise and fall of Boy George and Culture Club, and British pop music in the 1980s. NEW EXPANDED EDITION, WITH A FOREWORD BY NEIL TENNANTFEATURES A BONUS CHAPTER ON DURAN DURAN AND A NEW AFTERWORD'Speaks from the centure of pop's beating heart.' DYLAN JONES'Fascinating.' NEW YORK TIMES'A controversial and honest account.' NME'Music journalism at its best.' THE WORDA story of money, sex, stardom, screaming fans and forgotten ideals, Like Punk Never Happened is Dave Rimmer's witty, authoritative, fast-moving and provocative insider account of the roller-coaster ride that was Boy George & Culture Club and the new '80s pop. 'Rimmer is among the most entertaining writers ever to pen a rock book.'ROCK AND ROLL CONFIDENTIAL'The funniest, smartest book I know about the connections between pop glitter and real-life human passion, the erotics of fandom, or the dirty details.'ROB SHEFFIELD, author of Talking to Girls about Duran Duran'As sharp a study of British pop as we'll get.'SIMON FRITH, CITY LIMITS

Bart Davenport might be a multitude of things, depending on whom you ask. He's been a mod, a blues singer, and a softrock troubadour. He's an eclectic singer songwriter with the timeless voice of a real crooner. He lives and creates music in Los Angeles. Smooth and yet curiously pointed, his work transports us to an imagined past or present filled with romantic odes and enigmatic characters. Davenport's stories are often a reflection of now, taking place in a fantasy world but conveying personal and universal truths. Returning to acoustic guitars and 60s baroque pop tones, Davenport recently tracked twelve new songs in his home studio in Los Angeles. He takes us on an exclusive tour of colorful stories, both comic and tragic. The resulting 'Episodes' marks his eighth proper album and is scheduled for release in March 2022 on Tapete Records.

Davenport's evocative, new material provides both an escape from and an unusual commentary on turbulent times. From digital antagonists in 'Holograms' to waltzing oligarchs in 'Billionaires' to an enigmatic nudist in 'Naked Man', many offbeat characters populate the funny little world within Davenport's verses. His vocals are distinctively smooth at times, while at others, a slightly cheeky, more dramatic baritone takes over. His patented happy/sad sensibility remains along with the occasional jazz chord.

While 'Episodes' features Davenport on multiple instruments, he did not go it alone. Several guest musicians were crucial to the production. Drummer Graeme Gibson's casual feel graces several tracks, notably the Kinksy 'It's You'. The samba-tinged 'Easy Listeners' has that tropical flavor Davenport's been known to dabble in, this time aided by impeccable percussionist Andres Renteria (Jose Gonzales, Rodrigo Amarante). Meanwhile, the Turkish Psych-inspired 'Strange Animal' showcases futuristic organ riffing by Aaron M. Olson (L.A. Takedown), who produced Davenport's previous album ('Blue Motel' by Bart & The Bedazzled). Other longtime bandmates, Jessica Espeleta (bass) and Wayne Faler (lead guitar), both make appearances.

Perhaps the standout track of the album is its quietest; the Brit-folk-styled 'Alice Arrives'. Davenport's autumnal vocal and guitar are adeptly accompanied by Dina Maccabee's original string arrangement, which morphs from earnest baroque to playful modern and back again. This along with the heavier, orchestral sound of 'Billionaires' adds a touch of hi-fi to an otherwise homemade album.

TRACK LISTING

1. It's You
2. Holograms
3. Alice Arrives
4. Easy Listeners
5. Billionaires
6. All Dressed In Rain
7. Naked Man
8. Strange Animal
9. Wireless Moon
10. 99 Forever
11. Creatures In Love
12. Still Life

Imposter is a collection of songs by Dave Gahan & Soulsavers. Dave & Soulsavers didn’t write these songs, but they listened to them, studied them & gave them new life.

Recorded at the legendary Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, these versions of songs you know & some you may not, range from sparse to lush, sombre to joyful. The choices and the sequencing were deliberate & meaningful. It shines a light on the enduring strength of poignant lyrics and well executed melodies.

Imposter is a reflection of Dave’s life, a story told by others, but in his own distinct voice. 

TRACK LISTING

The Dark End Of The Street
Strange Religion
Lilac Wine
I Held My Baby Last Night
A Man Needs A Maid
Metal Heart
Shut Me Down
Where My Love Lies Asleep
Smile
The Desperate Kingdom Of Love
Not Dark Yet
Always On My Mind

Of the album Joan Wasser says :
Damon Albarn introduced me to Afrobeat legend, Tony Allen, at the March 2019 Africa Express event “The Circus” and we hit it off. Tony and I played a version of Nina Simone's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" and decided to record together. I asked my old friend and fierce musician, Dave Okumu, to join from London and that November, in a Parisian studio, we improvised all night. When the world shut down, I used those recordings to write a record entitled “The Solution Is Restless”. This first single, “Take Me To Your Leader”, is the most incendiary on the new record. I wrote it watching Jacinda Ardern, PM of New Zealand, navigate 2020. In my dreamworld, the US asks to meet her in order to learn how to better run the country. “Take me to your leader/ ‘cause I’m ready to play/ can’t hold my breath any longer/ word on the street is she’s a healer/ I’m know I’m down to obey/ and don’t we need a break in the chaos”

Tony Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti’s band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the primary co-founders of the genre of Afrobeat. Fela once stated that, "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat” and he was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived". Besides many other musical milestones and collaborations, in recent years Tony teamed up with Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon and Simon Tong to form The Good, the Bad & the Queen.

Dave Okumu is best known for fronting the Mercury Music Prize band The Invisible and more recently announcing the release of a solo album ‘Knopperz’ due for release in September.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Barbarian
2. Get My Bearings (feat. Damon Albarn)
3. Take Me To Your Leader
4. Masquerader
5. Dinner Date
6. Enter The Dragon
7. Geometry Of You
8. The Love Has Got Me
9. Perfect Shade Of Blue
10. Reaction 

Vinyl pressing of Dave Chappelle's wildly popular and powerful 846 performance from June 2020.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1

1. 8:46

SIDE 2

1. My Insides Out - Amir Sulaiman
2. We Must Win - A

Debut solo album from Dave Okumu - who you probably don't know from producing and guesting on projects with Arlo Parks, St. Vincent, Tony Allen and Jesse Ware (amongst others). You might recognize him as singer and guitarist from the Mercury nominated band, The Invisible.

However this isn't anything like anything he's made before. An ode to early electronica, downbeat and instrumental hip-hop, it combines elements of glitch, boom-bap, and warped sample heaven to create something with soul, identity and, more important, something that'll sound amazing in your living room as the dark nights draw in.

Playing with a tantalizingly organic palette of sounds, it's jazz-indebted, with lots of dusty piano, upright bass and brushed drums strung up with an elastic, head-bobbing groove which I can't workout is some expert MPC trickery or some other kind of beat-production voodoo. Either way it pulls you in and out, fast and slower as it nods through its movements and is a guaranteed H I T for anyone with penchant for stoner, instrumental hip-hop in the vein of Madlib, J Dilla and Your Old Droog. 

TRACK LISTING

Intro
Son Of Emmerson
Ballpark
Trouble
New Dawn
Brother
Reprise
RTN
Don’t Die

BJ Cole is back with first original music in years....and it is HAWAII'AN! Featuring guitarist Dave Eastoe and special guests this one is special. So after over 50 years in music, what has B.J. Cole left to achieve? Award winning multi-instrumentalist B.J. Cole, began his career gigging with Irish Country bands on the US Airforce bases around the UK in the ’60’s. He went on to be a founder member of the psychedelic Country Rock band COCHISE, who recorded three albums for United Artists and shared stages with Hawkwind and a demo studio with Elton John. After working with EJ on ’Tiny Dancer’, BJ became established on the British recording session scene and went on to record with most of the greats of popular music, including: Steve Marriott, Scott Walker, Dave Gilmour, Dave Edmunds, Albert Lee, Gerry Rafferty, Sting, Bjork and on and on: and continues to do so to this day. As a recording artist, BJ has covered most of the stylistic territories, beginning with the psychedelic prog of 1972s ’The New Hovering Dog’ for United Artists, and then a hiatus due to the demands of his busy session career. Until 1989 and his breakthrough ambient album for Joe Boyd’s Hannibal Records, ’Transparent Music’, that combined Enoesque soundscapes with lush arrangements of Debussy, Satie and Ravel.


Not content with dragging his Pedal Steel into the Concert Hall; BJ then sought out new territory in the world of Electronica, BJ worked with such leading lights of that genre as Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Luke Vibert, which resulted in his groundbreaking 2000 album for Astralwerks / Cooking Vinyl, ’Stop The Panic’. Since then, BJ’s records have been largely experimental, and designed to expand the musical remit for the Pedal Steel, boldly going ever more deeply into the territories of Jazz and Classical Music; and then ...Where? Well, back to his roots of course. To his passion for the lyricism of Hank Marvin’s guitar, Santo & Johnny’s ’Sleepwalk’ and the music of the Hawaiian Islands, the sounds that ignited his musical flame. So who is Dave Eastoe? Dave is a great musician, a magician, a dabbler in essences, most which he found in his frequent sojourns in the Hawaiian Islands; a place and culture that he deeply loves. But to BJ’s great good fortune, he is the right person at the right time.


BJ and Dave write intuitively together and Dave can play the Hawaiian Slack Key guitar style like a native. The musical chemistry between BJ and Dave is what makes this record possible. So what’s the big deal about Hawaiian Music? Without going into too much historical detail, the music of Hawaii was a smash around the World from its introduction into mainland United States at the beginning of the 20th Century, until it was eclipsed by rock ’n’ roll in the late 1950s. Hawaiian musicians brought steel string guitar madness to the United States and helped to lay down the musical culture that influenced the evolving styles of American popular music, the blues, western, cowboy and country music. And of course, without Hawaiian music, crooning would never have happened. Above all, ‘Daydream Smile’ is a statement by two friends who have a love for the music and culture of the Hawaiian Islands. It may not be particularly authentic, but it is passionate. It’s about time that the music of Hawaii was properly recognised for the vital role it played in the development of Americana and in the history of American popular music. Dave Eastoe: A lifelong musician / composer, Dave turned his skills to sounds and music that influence consciousness and states of being. During the 1980s he created 16 albums of music for this purpose, sold in the UK and Europe, then travelled widely with Tibetan singing bowls and Sonic therapy workshops, featuring on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Afternoon Shift’, then ending up in Hawaii where over 12 lengthy visits he found the local Slack Key guitar styles and the spirit of that music infused itself into his playing. Whilst developing a deep love for this musical form, Dave began making recordings, only too aware perhaps of their cultural and geographical displacement in the UK, and was very happy to find his old friend BJ interested in creating a project based on Hawaiian themes. 

TRACK LISTING

01 Slinky Hula Heaven
02 Down In Old Hawaii
03 Tipsy Doodle
04 Daydream Smile
05 Little Gem Waltz
06 Waltz Of The Dolphins
07 Paniolo Song
08 Muscle Beach
09 Blue Aloha 

The ideal of the residency was to mix things up with special guests, different band lineups, and varied set lists, keeping things fresh and new week-to-week, and this show was the wild card of the bunch.

That's because although Ryan and I have played together for years, and Dave and Spencer have played together for years, neither half of the band had ever met each other. I was tangentially aware of Dave and his music and was intrigued by what I'd heard, so I thought it was a cool idea when Chris Tart, the residency promoter, suggested a collaboration.

So, about 30 minutes after we'd all heard each others voices for the first time, we got up and played for a little over an hour, uninterrupted. The only thing discussed beforehand was that we shouldn't discuss anything beforehand - not a key or a riff to start with, nothing - so as to preserve maximum spontaneity.

I think this music demonstrates a real connection on stage. In other words, each player was completely present and actively listening on the bandstand. Listening back, there are moments I can hear Ryan saying - musically - "Hey, let's go over here! Check this out!," or Spencer being like "Wouldn't it be cool to go down this path?" And we followed. And it was cool.

In my mind, that listening thing is the number one most important factor in any collaboration or cooperative effort, but especially in improvised music.

And I think it's fair to say that a little more listening, a little more presence, would do the whole world some good right about now, don't you think?

-Chris Forsyth

"It's moody - as in low, subdued," says David Kilgour of his new album, Bobbie's a girl. David Kilgour’s 11th solo album, Bobbie’s a girl is a quieter affair than fans may associate with the pioneer of New Zealand indie rock. “I tended to shy away from too much guitar playing for a point of difference and to mix things up for myself a little,” Kilgour continues. The style set in at the beginning of sessions, as he and the Heavy Eights (i.e., longtime collaborators Thomas Bell, Tony de Raad, and Taane Tokona) headed to Port Chalmers Recording Services with producer Tex Houston. “We have worked on these songs for a number of years now, so that’s different because I usually can’t wait to get them out,” Kilgour says. Why the delay? Like with the themes of the album, Kilgour doesn’t want to elaborate too much.

“Everything’s related to the music and mood,” he says, “but I’d rather not say how. I like a little mystery.” Largely missing the jangly distortion of Kilgour’s other work, the album’s ten songs exude a hazy warmth, with a light psychedelia that recalls the ’60s outfits like The Byrds and The Velvet Underground. Opener “Entrance” floats wordlessly on acoustic guitar, whose ringing chords slightly mask the deft fingerpicking beneath it. “Smoke you right out of here” picks up the pace, but “Crawler” rolls in like a storm, its organ and fingerpicked guitars creating an ominous sound until a chorus of “aaaahs” lightens the mood. Only four songs have lyrics. “I kind of wanted a rest from verbalizing everything, like listening to yourself going, ‘Blah blah blah blah…,” Kilgour says. The guitar quietly shimmering between channels, the music seems to speak more than the words. “Ngapara,” the closing track of Bobbie’s a girl, is his favorite song on the album. It’s a loping instrumental carried by thickly distorted guitars and heavy reverb. Like the rest of Bobbie’s a girl, it feels both a part of Kilgour’s previous work, and just outside of it

TRACK LISTING

1. Entrance
2. Smoke You Right Out Of Here
3. Crawler
4. Threads
5. Coming In From Nowhere Now
6. Spotlight
7. Swan Loop 
8. If You Were Here And I Was There
9. Looks Like I’m Running Out
10. Ngapara.

Davey Woodward has been a prolific songwriter with his bands The Brilliant Corners and The Experimental Pop Band. An indie pop legend to some, obscure outsider to most. He approaches his fourth decade making alternative music with the same enthusiasm and single mindedness as he did in the first. Julian (guitar) had not been in a studio for over a decade. Steve (drums) was playing in a million other bands but found time. Steve knew Mark who was a guitarist. Davey said well he can play bass and piano then! Davey played them the songs. The band said they liked the songs. They told Davey the songs sounded very personal, were they? They said it reminded them of English Folk, Courtney Barnett, The Velvets, The Band and Johnny Cash. 

The songs on Some Waking Woman come up like ragged wildflowers in the unnameable heel of wasteland between the end house of the terrace and the already-dated concrete and plastic of the new business park. The songs come up from the hot gap between the weird dissociative dreamscape and the phone-alarm of a slate Tuesday morningtime. They look out from the record with a gaze that's lost between doe-eyed affection and a murky voyeurism. They're made of a music caught between the battered nylon-string and a layered orchestration turning between lush and gritty.

It's between the pottery and the calcified dogshit, between the filthy rebels and the eerie loyalists, between the probable cause of an action not quite either the Frenchman's crime of passion or the English barfight. It's a record of between-ness - like, this is just between us, right It's the same gap between the ballad and the mumbled apology, the love song and the exasperated sigh. My trousers have been pulled down in the playground again. Tsk. I love you and all of love turns out to be a colossal shitshow. Tsk.

Some Waking Woman isn't an anthem nor an elegy, although it has moments of both. It isn't quite in the gutter, but it's sure as hell not looking at the stars - the album has its gaze locked on the school playground, or the overgrown tarmac country-road corner, or another identical dawn colouring in the PVC windowframes. In the hands of O. D. Davey, the ordinary surfaces of a life like the one everyone actually has are made to glimmer weirdly with the inevitable love, misery and resignation underneath them.

These are touching, intricate ballads with melodies of nursery-rhyme sweetness, as reimagined by a failed gameshow host humming his old theme-tunes as he staggers back home pissed after closing time. But they're songs of love, for all that, his daughters haven't called in months. The sense is that these narrators have more love than they know what to do with, move love than they can trust themselves to handle, more love than they can believe in. Davey handles the flaws and imperfections and fractures of day-to-day living, finds the gap and digs in. This is an attention paid to the agonising and lovely awkward corners of life that don't get talked about. This is a record as in an LP, but a record too in the sense of a setting down of something true.

TRACK LISTING

1: Some Waking Woman
2: Every Rebel Campaign
3: Two Fingers Flicked
4: The Way Home
5: Holy Land
6: Crash
7: The Blue Note
8: The Mustard Cloud
9: This Time
10: A Right Honorable Friend

Marcel Fengler can look back upon a very productive year as an artist. There was the “Frantic EP“ on Ostgut Ton, followed by DIN (a joint project with Efdemin) whose compositions formed one third of the “MASSE“ CD and ballet and then arguably his most creative and intense project to date: the release of his debut solo album “Fokus“. For the remix EP accompanying this release Dave Clarke, Aubrey, The Exaltics and The Traveller were invited to place their focus on some chosen tracks.

Dave Clarke opens the 12“ with his remix of “Sky Pushing“, the forceful but tender character of the original track is overturned into deep distortion and systematically lead towards gentle chaos, the steady drive of this rework leaves no room for pause as it propels the energies set free.

The break techno of The Exaltics, whipped up with nervous bass and smoky drums, serves as one of the groovier additions to this EP. The massive beats that follow the break lift the track to another level and when the mellow vocals of “Mayria“ set in, things fall into place in perfect combination.

On the other side Aubrey redefines “Trespass“. The absorbing arrangement combines unpredictable use of hi-hats and synths from the original with a dark and classic pumping beat and inspired flanger effects to diffuse the tension and create a balanced mix.

The final remix by The Traveller is also the greatest surprise, the track lures you in with a soft intro but soon develops into an old school techno stomper, the heavy kick and percussion is complemented by the reoccurring melody from “Jaz“ inviting you to immerse yourself in the sound.

“You are going to hear Rhythm & Blues the way I personally likes to pervert it” - Son Of Dave.

Twenty-first century blues man Son Of Dave returns with new single ‘Ain’t Nuthin’ But The Blues’, produced by Jimmy Hogarth (Paolo Nutini, Amy Winehouse). A feverishly contagious three and a half minutes of twisted voodoo pop.

Infamous for his one-man band style, both in the studio and on the road, this new recording of the song (previously released on the Steve Albini produced ‘Shake A Bone’ album) sees Son Of Dave’s lo-fi sound expanded and built upon with full horn section, bubbling Hammond organ, handclaps and a Stax style rhythm section.

TRACK LISTING

Ain’t Nuthin’ But The Blues
Shake Your Hips

Four track EP from The Pocketmen. They play quintessentially Northern harmonic guitar pop, with a nod to classic British pop, psyche and freakbeat.

Two giants of the English folk scene with a canny selection of tracks from their early years together. Carthy has never been better than on "Lucy Wan", "Davy Lowston" and the equally haunting "Long Lankin" all songs dripping in blood and death. The understanding between the two players is there for all to see and the intervening years has simply enhanced these tracks.