Music has long been believed to aid out of body experiences and many of us have searched long and hard for a combination of those elusive ingredients that might alleviate some of the monotony of everyday life, our daily routines and obligations, and those things that seem to block us from the spirit of the universe. In this collection, Luke selects music with all the right ingredients in just the right quantities, allowing the listener to engage in an esoteric journey of enlightenment through sound. Being a prolific collector of music, Luke initially delivered enough tracks to compile several compilations, making the licensing process the biggest effort to date for the label. The music moves softly and slowly, never becoming too intrusive, exemplifying the wonderful elevating properties of simple songs played from the heart.
Luke’s Everything Above The Sky manifesto reads, “Astral Travelling in the meadowlands with acid folk, spiritual jazz, around midnight hocus pocus, cosmic psychedelic soul, magical spellbound whirling swirling love songs, Brazilian ballads of light into machine soul gospel utopia dreaming, Balearic bossa, Outer Space ancient African drum, the breath of trees, escaping the big bad modern world, gathering round winter fires, walking amongst the bracken in Padley Gorge in late summer twilight, overlooking the Hope Valley, escaping ego, detaching and finally letting go amongst the stars with the slowly floating people. It’s beautiful beyond. Everything above the Sky”.
Beginning his career as an original Sheffield house young blood in the mid 1980s, Luke’s move to Manchester and partnership with Justin Crawford saw the birth of Electric Chair, a cornerstone cult night in the UK underground club scene. Then came Electric Elephant, a Croatian festival paying homage to their wild eclecticism from Balearic to Brazilian to É Soul, house, disco and techno. Luke’s much loved, long-running Homoelectric night and more recently Homobloc sell out festival for 10,000 souls has been at the forefront of Manchester’s LGBTQ+ cultural landscape. Luke’s Friday evening show on Worldwide FM captured imaginations and became a cult four-hour must-listen monthly journey for fans all over the world. Today, Luke remains, as ever, at the forefront of a changing milieu, pairing the momentous legacy of Manchester’s 80s and 90s scene with the delivery of what today’s club communities need to get down.
STAFF COMMENTS
Matt says: Having fallen down the cracks of the sofa providing the soundtrack to the late night disenfranchised across two incredible compilations; our trusted socio-spirit-guide takes some time out for meditation and ascension, moving from "inside" to, generally, a more "outdoorsy" state of being on 'Everything Above The Sky'. Designed, at least in part, to aid astral travelling; a selection to escape the mundanities and indeed the troubles of our present times. Luke’s shamanic skills as a nightclub technician transfer equally well to a more horizontal mode of listening; take off your shoes, feel the soil underneath your feet, lie down in the daisies, look up to the sky - it’s full of wonderment!As usual there's some true curios (not least the ‘bongo mix’ of "Pacific State" (!!)), and some magical moments of spiritual jazz and cosmic soul; but it’s in the slowly unwinding majesty of acid folk that the compilation really finds it footing – relishing the expansiveness and novelty of nature – as much an inspiration for our curator as any debauched nights spent sweating and dancing to repetitive machine music.
TRACK LISTING
Vinyl Tracklisting:
SIDE A:
1. John Martyn - Small Hours
2. Stephen Whynott – A Better Way
3. April Fulladosa - Sunlit Horizon
SIDE B:
1. Sylvain Kassap - Plancoët
2. Manu Dibango - Night In Zeralda
3. Henri Texier - Hocoka Time
4. Nivaldo Orneleas - O Que Ha
5. 808 State – Pacific State (Massey’s Conga Mix)
SIDE C:
1. Magma - Eliphas Levi
2. Homelife - Stranger
3. Michael Gregory Jackson - Unspoken Magic
SIDE D:
1. Dora Morelenboum - Avermelhar
2. Simone - Tudo Que Você Podia Ser
3. Experience Unlimited – People
4. Otis G. Johnson - I Got It
5. Mel & Tim - Keep The Faith
CD Tracklisting:
Disc 1
1. John Martyn - Small Hours
2. Stephen Whynott – A Better Way
3. April Fulladosa - Sunlit Horizon
4. Sylvain Kassap - Plancoët
5. Manu Dibango - Night In Zeralda
6. Henri Texier - Hocoka
7. Nivaldo Orneleas - O Que Ha
8. 808 State – Pacific State (Masseys Conga Mix)
9. Magma - Eliphas Levi
10. Homelife - Strangers
Disc 2
1. Michael Gregory Jackson - Unspoken Magic
2. Dora Morelenbaum – Avermelhar
3. Simone - Tudo Que Você Podia Ser
4. Experience Unlimited – People
5. Otis G. Johnson - I Got It
6. Mel & Tim - Keep The Faith
7. Anita Strandell - Elektriska Du (Bonus Track)
8. Camarón - Romance Del Amargo (Bonus Track)
9. Michael Gregory Jackson - Unspoken Magic (Solo) (Bonus Track)
10. Luke Una Spoken Word Manifesto (Bonus Spoken Word Track)
