Suche:favourite people

For most of us, life is a series of human interactions; some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. But what would life be without those peripheral characters who plant themselves into our worlds through the sheer force of their presence? Whether we speak to them or not, those vibrant contrasts to the everyday tide of ordinary people are a magical part of the human experience. Oddballs and misfits, flamboyant instigators or low-key game changers, we all clock them on our own hectic journeys, and they make the day a little brighter. Everyone has their favourite people.

Following the runaway success of their first one-shot single in 2020, Favourite People reconvene for a full-length of blues-tinged cuts stemming from sessions at Selva Studios in Brooklyn. The project’s roots predate the studio, from scattered jams and sweaty nights in New York nightspots to impromptu recordings on cruise ships, but the flashpoint of inspiration that truly set the album in motion was the arrival of a blonde 1960s Fender Telecaster. From there, the motley crew of sharp-shooting string slingers and sticks men set about crafting paeans to those striking souls who make the world a more colourful place.

The emphasis here is on the kind of forward-facing, electrically charged mix you felt (whether you realised it or not) hearing early Sabbath or Priest for the first time. With their undeniable bias towards vintage soul, Favourite People are far from heavy metal, but the same lineage of blues and by extension jazz informs the music, while the tonal crunch of that 70s era guides the sound. Feasting on tasteful overdrive and leaning on the unmistakable flavour of tape for much of the recording, the deal was sealed on this purposeful exercise in vibe thanks to the near-mythical texture of Guy Davie’s EMI Nigeria console at Electric Mastering.

Across the album there are mellow shades and bursts of good-time get-down exuberance, but the lead singles capture the essence of the band in no uncertain terms.

‘Promise Of Nibbles’ brings the Favourite People MO into sharp relief with a low-slung, hard swinging blues confection full of overheating organ and duelling guitars in pursuit of Southern-stewed boogie (im)perfection.

‘We’ll Be Late To The Party’ turns up the tempo and dials in the fuzz, striking an anthemic note which lands somewhere between urgent highway escapism and euphoric communal revelation.

‘Mass and Mustiness’ leans in on the funk dimension of the group’s sound with the sweetest licks and chops on that fabled telecaster backed up by an acutely angled beat and the slinkiest of b-lines.

These are but three of the vibrant vignettes laid down by this quietly unassuming collective of heads down jammers, loose groovers and vintage sound freaks –heavy grooving instrumentals pulled from their own moments of pure musical magic and captured on disc for your listening, dancing, living, loving pleasure.

For most of us, life is a series of human interactions; some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. But what would life be without those peripheral characters who plant themselves into our worlds through the sheer force of their presence? Whether we speak to them or not, those vibrant contrasts to the everyday tide of ordinary people are a magical part of the human experience. Oddballs and misfits, flamboyant instigators or low-key game changers, we all clock them on our own hectic journeys, and they make the day a little brighter. Everyone has their favourite people.

Following the runaway success of their first one-shot single in 2020, Favourite People reconvene for a full-length of blues-tinged cuts stemming from sessions at Selva Studios in Brooklyn. The project’s roots predate the studio, from scattered jams and sweaty nights in New York nightspots to impromptu recordings on cruise ships, but the flashpoint of inspiration that truly set the album in motion was the arrival of a blonde 1960s Fender Telecaster. From there, the motley crew of sharp-shooting string slingers and sticks men set about crafting paeans to those striking souls who make the world a more colourful place.

The emphasis here is on the kind of forward-facing, electrically charged mix you felt (whether you realised it or not) hearing early Sabbath or Priest for the first time. With their undeniable bias towards vintage soul, Favourite People are far from heavy metal, but the same lineage of blues and by extension jazz informs the music, while the tonal crunch of that 70s era guides the sound. Feasting on tasteful overdrive and leaning on the unmistakable flavour of tape for much of the recording, the deal was sealed on this purposeful exercise in vibe thanks to the near-mythical texture of Guy Davie’s EMI Nigeria console at Electric Mastering.

Across the album there are mellow shades and bursts of good-time get-down exuberance, but the lead singles capture the essence of the band in no uncertain terms.

‘Promise Of Nibbles’ brings the Favourite People MO into sharp relief with a low-slung, hard swinging blues confection full of overheating organ and duelling guitars in pursuit of Southern-stewed boogie (im)perfection.

‘We’ll Be Late To The Party’ turns up the tempo and dials in the fuzz, striking an anthemic note which lands somewhere between urgent highway escapism and euphoric communal revelation.

‘Mass and Mustiness’ leans in on the funk dimension of the group’s sound with the sweetest licks and chops on that fabled telecaster backed up by an acutely angled beat and the slinkiest of b-lines.

These are but three of the vibrant vignettes laid down by this quietly unassuming collective of heads down jammers, loose groovers and vintage sound freaks –heavy grooving instrumentals pulled from their own moments of pure musical magic and captured on disc for your listening, dancing, living, loving pleasure.

Radiant, spring-loaded and alive with movement, Lab Boogie sees Jupiter’s Depth go full dancefloor as Vienna-based Nizar Sarakbi makes his first appearance on the label.

The A-side cuts a brighter path through house, with rolling low-end, dubby flashes and percussion flickering from every angle. Across the B-side, the groove turns techier and the mood slightly darker, before Bella Sarris closes the record with a warped, off-centre take on “Angel Dust”.

Ukrainian-born and now based in Vienna, Nizar follows releases on Outdom and Naked Groove Records, including the recent *Truth Seekers* EP alongside COZi. The record is already picking up support from label favourites Julian Anthony, Christopher Ledger, Roza Terenzi, Eoin DJ and Jennifer Cardini.

RADYO BOMBERO - ABOUT THE LABEL
Radyo Bombero is the record label founded by acclaimed filmmaker, author, DJ and record collector Fatih Akin. Born out of his personal passion for vinyl and film music, the label will initially focus on soundtracks from his films: previously unavailable works will be released on vinyl for the first time, while out-of-print titles will return as carefully produced reissues. Its inaugural release is the soundtrack to Akin's new film Geister, scheduled for release in November 2026. Further projects are already in development.

ABOUT THE RELEASE

MALAKOFF KOWALSKI - GEISTER
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
Composed by Malakoff Kowalski, the soundtrack to Fatih Akin's Geister is the inaugural release on Radyo Bombero.
Born in the United States, raised in Hamburg and now based in Berlin, Kowalski is a composer, pianist and multi-instrumentalist whose work moves between film music, contemporary classical composition, theatre and pop. He composed the music for eleven films by Klaus Lemke, as well as for productions including Schweigend steht der Wald and Stasikomödie. His solo work has been released by MPS and Sony Classical, and he has collaborated with artists including 2raumwohnung, Igor Levit, Chilly Gonzales and Nils Frahm. His sound combines elegiac melodies with a warm, cinematic atmosphere and a subtle sense of unrest beneath the surface.

For Geister, this distinctive musical language meets Fatih Akin's vision of a deliberately anachronistic and romantic score: a tribute to Ennio Morricone's great love themes that plays a defining role in the film's tragic love story and atmosphere.
LP 1 contains Kowalski's complete original film score.
LP by JUGGLERZ opens up a second musical world, bringing together four productions by the internationally successful Jugglerz on a four-track 12-inch disc at 45 RPM: the film's title song Ya Mami, performed by Aya Samra; Mood by Cloudee, Milaa and Jugglerz; Tip by Jugglerz, Limitlezz, Maureen and Demarco; and Beirut Nights Riddim. The four tracks bring Arabic tarab and contemporary Levantine pop together with hip-hop, urban beats and dancehall rhythms.

FATIH AKIN ON RADYO BOMBERO
"Radyo Bombero is on the air. Don't miss a tune!
"
Music is - alongside cinema and literature - a fundamental source of inspiration for me. Having grown up in the 1980s, the way I listen to music has hardly changed: I buy records, listen to them carefully and then copy them onto a portable device. It used to be a Walkman, then an iPod - today it is my smartphone with my playlists.
I do not use Spotify or any other streaming services. Why that is, I do not know. In most other areas, I try to keep up with technological developments. Not with music. I like unpacking a record, cleaning it before listening, holding the sleeve in my hands and reading who worked in the studio, who wrote the music and where the record was made. These things interest me. And they lower my cortisol levels.
Music plays a major role in my films. It is not that, as a director, I want to impose my favourite music on the audience. The music must always serve the story. In Head-On, for example, it tells us something about the characters and their biographies. Crossing the Bridge - The Sound of Istanbul is the musical portrait of a city. Its music tells us about the people who live there: where they come from, the cultures they brought with them and how those cultures have merged with local traditions. The Cut was conceived as a Western, and the music had to help reinforce that idea.
Geister tells a tragic love story. The music was meant to be gloriously anachronistic. And romantic. Just like the light and colours, it had to shape the atmosphere of the film. My films are often about cinema itself, and Geister is no exception. Its music is a tribute to Ennio Morricone's great love themes.
In Malakoff Kowalski, I found the perfect creative partner. He immediately understood my idea and realised it brilliantly. That made it all the more painful when I was told by the music industry that there could be no soundtrack release for Geister because soundtracks were too expensive to produce and would simply sit on the shelves.
It is not as though I am a spoiled child who absolutely has to have a lollipop. But this music is simply too good to withhold from the audience. The idea that there would be no soundtrack release felt like a great injustice.
Then several friends and collaborators advised me to release the record myself. No sooner said than done. But Radyo Bombero is not a one-off project. Geister is only the beginning.

Finally, I have the opportunity to gradually release all the soundtracks from my films that have remained unavailable. Soundtracks that were previously released but have since gone out of print will also return as reissues.
Hainbach's soundtrack to Amrum is already in development, as is a double album featuring the unforgettable German pop songs from The Golden Glove. And, finally, a vinyl soundtrack to Head-On.
Fatih Akin

Nail is one of our favourite house artists. He was a key player in the 90s, not least with Nottinghman's DiY, then disappeared for many years before returning a decade or so again. Since then he has kept on turning out unique house jams (there have been tens of them by his and others on his latest label in the last six months) and now curates the first volume of House Fire Records material for his In The Dance label. This compilation brings together his aliases Scorpio Parish, DJ XE0re, George F, Peoples Inc. and Five Bagonag. The grooves are killer, the production perfectly undercooked, the swing often central to everything.

LP,180, 2018 REISSUE - REMASTERED FROM ORIGINAL TAPES, CAREFULLY REPRODUCED ORIGINAL ART

The two sides of 1973's Big Business / Wind of Change are mainly the work of thegreat Keith Mansfeld but there's a killer cameo each from Alan Hawkshaw and David Snell to help deliver a thematic suite, diverse in mood, applicable to dramatic and environmental situations'. A Be With favourite and truly one for the heads.
The Big Business of side A is all the work of Keith Mansfeld. It's heavy on the suspense and features the vital Hot Property', an insistent groove so good that Madlib sampled it to lace the ace Long Awaited' by Lootpack with Dilated Peoples.
Sleeping Giant 1' is a more feshed out version of the equally-dazzling Fatal Error', evoking the orchestral magic of David Axelrod. Indeed, it conjures images of Diamond D falling over himself in the early-to-mid 90s to loop its intoxicatingly
eerie soundscape. Complete with guitar flls that recall Paris, Texas-era Ry Cooder, you need this record for this piece alone.
The horn-and-fute-led "Tycoon" is a head-nodder and "Power Complex" has some fantastic percussion. Other highlights include the breezy glide of Whistle Stop Tour' and its sister groove Clean Air.'
Over on Side B is the more expansive Wind Of Change, which includes the David Snell and the Alan Hawkshaw contributions. But these ain't no fller. Snell's shufing International Flight' sounds like a smooth Dorothy Ashby track tossed from the heavens. Hawkshaw's Road And Rail' is about as luxurious and strung-
out as the great man gets and it might just be the highlight of this whole set.
Not to be outdone, if Mansfeld's Balance Of Power' doesn't make you feel like king of the world then you must be playing it wrong. Oh, and did we mention World In Action'!
As with all ten re-issues, the audio for Big Business / Wind of Change comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regularSimon Francis. We've taken the same care with the sleeves, handing the reproduction duties over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM's
brand identity.

I first encountered Pascal Comelade’s music thirty years ago—and nothing has sounded quite the same since. I was immediately captivated: he is an artist like no other, whose sincere and selfless love of music is always evident, especially in his tender reworkings of other people’s songs.

Comelade seems to work like a watchmaker: meticulous, precise, and obsessive—yet always drifting into something dreamlike. His music opens hidden doors, telling strange and beguiling stories filled with obscurity, kindness, and reserved humour.

Back then, my fascination was instinctive. Today, with a few more words at my disposal, I look to this exceptional 70-year-old French musician and feel exactly the same pull.

Métaphysique Du Hit-Parade is the first vinyl compilation devoted to Pascal Comelade’s favourite cover versions. It spans a forty-year career and traces sixty years of rock and roll history along the way. “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” becomes a soft, soothing lullaby that may well have made the Ramones weep. Then there are his idiosyncratic tributes to Jonathan Richman (“Egyptian Reggae”) and The Kinks (“Sunny Afternoon”), alongside nods to formative heroes such as The Gun Club, Captain Beefheart, and MC5.

Two exclusive recordings stand out particularly: Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country” and Nirvana’s “Come As You Are”—a song that shaped my early youth. Both were recorded especially for this release.

Jan Lankisch, January 2026

Drumcode returns with its flagship A-Sides series, led by a huge new Adam Beyer single that highlights the 20-track compilation.

If you want a snapshot of techno in any given year, look no further than Drumcode’s annual A-Sides compilation. The release broadly charts the evolution of the genre, while giving a platform to standout demo’s Adam Beyer has received across the course of the year with many emerging artists finding their music on Drumcode for the first time. Case in point – Wehbba, Charles D and Raxon who all debuted on the label via a track on the A-Sides series and have gone on to become regular contributors to Beyer’s influential labels.

This year’s compilation features an exciting mix of established heavy-hitters, alongside a slew of new faces set to make their mark on the genre. ‘We Don’t Say Please’ – is emblematic of Adam Beyer’s sound in 2025 – fresh, experimental and thriving on cross-genre pollinations, as elements of bass music, rap and techno collide, underpinned by a distinctive UK vocal. The results are inspiring.

Elsewhere, the 20-track compilation brims with highlights. HI-LO’s ‘NYC to Amsterdam’ has inflections of New York house fused with driving techno elements. Nicole Moudaber returns to DC in cahoots with the rising ZLATA for the super-charged ‘Report to the Dancefloor’. Oscar L & Charles D mint a new collaborative partnership with the immersive, spacey cut ‘Lift Me Up’. LUSU continue their red-hot run following the recent ‘Move 2 the Groove’ EP, and craft a straight-up mind-mashing single ‘LIKE THIS’. Mark Reeve is in trademark strong form with hypnotic ‘My Mind’, which comes to life via a massive synth led. The fantastic Kaufmann shares her ‘People are Strange’, a nod to a classic vox, re-contextualised for a modern techno audience.

As is tradition, a troupe of ascendant producers land on Drumcode for the first time. They include Uruguay’s Enzo Monza, who delivers the crisp ‘Late Night’ – a favourite of Beyer’s; Mattia Saviola, whose ‘Parallel Dimension’ is a powerful cut with fantastic sound design; Romanian artist Tao Andra, who shares the celestial ‘Unity’; and long-time industry stalwart AdamK, who makes a richly deserved Drumcode debut in partnership with Vikthor feat. MC Stretch on the stunning ‘Silence + The Sound’.

Gap Mangione's monumentally influential Diana In The Autumn Wind. AKA BEWITH200LP. And, without question, Be With's White Whale.

They said it could never be done. And with good reason.

We've spent the past 12 years trying to license this legendary 1968 recording from Gap and, after much work, it's finally here. Remarkably, this is the first ever vinyl reissue of Gap Mangione's Diana In The Autumn Wind, produced with the full and extensive participation of Gap. An exceedingly rare album, it's been coveted by funk, soul, jazz and hip-hop sample fiends for decades.

It's unarguably *the* most sought after album for J Dilla / Madlib sample collectors. It has also been brilliantly sampled by A Tribe Called Quest, Large Professor, Ghostface Killah, Kendrick Lamar and Talib Kweli.

But this record is so much more than a sample-spotters curio. It's solid gold throughout. Bursting with killer funky-jazz grooves and tracks adorned with warm electric piano, the release is notable for featuring some extremely significant players at the very outset of their careers; Tony Levin, at 21, whose superb playing on both acoustic and electric bass was the harmonic mainstay of the trio and Steve Gadd, at 23, one of the greatest drummers of his generation.

With acceptable copies of this holy grail changing hands for $400, to call this reissue "much-needed" underplays just how vital it is. Gap's story is told in his words alongside rare photos across a sumptuously designed 2-page insert and, to augment this deluxe edition further, its all wrapped up in a beautiful, no-expense-spared luxury tip-on sleeve, as per the original hens-teeth release. And, while we're talking packaging, just take a look at that cover - a work of art in and of itself.

The tracks are short but complex, with that extraordinary rhythm section backing the beautiful piano, organ and electric piano work of Gap. It's like the best ever library funk breaks record you never heard - but all your favourite golden age rap producers were all over it, long ago. It's a stunning blend of the vibrant, driving music of the Gap Mangione Trio coupled with the sensitive composition and superb orchestration of Gap's legendary brother, Chuck Mangione, who helmed an amalgam of seemingly disparate elements – rock, big band jazz, solo improvisation and "classical" music - into a spectacularly cohesive whole that has aged wonderfully well. As Gap himself notes in the liners, "with this group I was able to explore and add new and exciting elements from rock, Brazilian and then-current pop music."

Opener "Boy With Toys" triumphantly swaggers out the gate, all big band horns, flutes and dextrous organ work. The synthesis of everything going on is nothing short of stunning. When one wise YouTube commentator called this tune "old school superhero music", Gap agreed. Rap luminaries did, too, amongst them Talib Kweli, who rapped over DJ Scratch's chopped up intro for "Shock Body" on his Quality album back in 2002.

You've barely recovered from that incredibly affecting opener when you get hit over the head with the exquisite title-track. And now you see how two of the greatest beats of all time emerged from one single track produced nearly 50 years earlier. Unforgettably utilised by Dilla for Slum Village's heartbreakingly good "Fall In Love" and then Madlib for his "Official" beat for Dilla to rap over, on the Jaylib record. Regardless of the records it went on to spawn, this is just a staggering tune in its own right. Be beguiled by the flutes and the flutter tonguing, the counter-melody from the trombones, the soprano sax solo. All of it. Simply beautiful.

The questing organ and horn workout "Long Hair Soulful" deserves a lot more attention, overshadowed somewhat by the opening two monsters but no less fantastic. It swings, it grooves and Gadd and Levin truly cook. Up next, Gap's wonderfully percussive, mellifluously piano-heavy cover of "Yesterday" by some fellas called The Beatles. It's a subtly arresting gem. "The XIth Commandment" is damn fine, with thick, gorgeous electric piano and snappy drum work underpinning chaotic soundtracky horns. To close out the side, "St. Thomas" showcases the "fourth" member of the Gap Mangione Trio, conga drummer Dhui Mandingo. Having performed with the Trio since 1965, Dhui‘s African-based and jazz-latin-influenced style amazed listeners and its way to hear why.

Opening the B-Side, standard "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" breezes along in the late-night jazz club fashion before things get super deep with the outstanding and - up to now - un-sampled "Pond With Swans". It's simply heavenly, and how its moody, melancholic intro has yet to be pilfered is anybody's guess. It oscillates between gentle, sombre movements and bombastic grooves, equally hypnotic and joyous. The rendition of "You Are My Sunshine" is yet another showcase for Gap's virtuoso playing and Gadd's mastery of the pocket. Indeed Gadd's drumming on "Free Again" is nothing short of neck-SNAPPING! Ghostface took it for not one but two "Iron's Theme" tracks across his seminal Supreme Clientele. It's got that Galt MacDermot "Coffee Cold" feel. Suuuuuper cool. The frantic "Dream On Little Dreamer" hurtles along and must've surely had the whole room absolutely swinging from the chandeliers back in Rochester in the late 60s. The album closes with the magnificent Graduate Medley, featuring memorable renditions of "Scarborough Fair", "The Sounds of Silence" and "Mrs. Robinson". The warm electric piano lines of the former were sampled by The Ummah (Dilla again!) for Tribe's "Pad & Pen" from their reappraised final album, The Love Movement, as well as by Large Professor on his much-loved "The LP (For My People)".

Under the watchful eye - and extremely attentive ears - of Gap Mangione himself, the audio for Diana In The Autumn Wind has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, with a few much needed tweaks here and there, according to the artist's wishes. At the prestigious Abbey Road Studios, Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at the always stellar Record Industry in Holland. The artwork restoration has taken place here at Be With HQ and has that drop-dead gorgeous cover artwork popping like new. Buy on sight!

Drumcode returns with its flagship A-Sides series, led by a huge new Adam Beyer single that highlights the 20-track compilation.

If you want a snapshot of techno in any given year, look no further than Drumcode’s annual A-Sides compilation. The release broadly charts the evolution of the genre, while giving a platform to standout demo’s Adam Beyer has received across the course of the year with many emerging artists finding their music on Drumcode for the first time. Case in point – Wehbba, Charles D and Raxon who all debuted on the label via a track on the A-Sides series and have gone on to become regular contributors to Beyer’s influential labels.

This year’s compilation features an exciting mix of established heavy-hitters, alongside a slew of new faces set to make their mark on the genre. ‘We Don’t Say Please’ – is emblematic of Adam Beyer’s sound in 2025 – fresh, experimental and thriving on cross-genre pollinations, as elements of bass music, rap and techno collide, underpinned by a distinctive UK vocal. The results are inspiring.

Elsewhere, the 20-track compilation brims with highlights. HI-LO’s ‘NYC to Amsterdam’ has inflections of New York house fused with driving techno elements. Nicole Moudaber returns to DC in cahoots with the rising ZLATA for the super-charged ‘Report to the Dancefloor’. Oscar L & Charles D mint a new collaborative partnership with the immersive, spacey cut ‘Lift Me Up’. LUSU continue their red-hot run following the recent ‘Move 2 the Groove’ EP, and craft a straight-up mind-mashing single ‘LIKE THIS’. Mark Reeve is in trademark strong form with hypnotic ‘My Mind’, which comes to life via a massive synth led. The fantastic Kaufmann shares her ‘People are Strange’, a nod to a classic vox, re-contextualised for a modern techno audience.

As is tradition, a troupe of ascendant producers land on Drumcode for the first time. They include Uruguay’s Enzo Monza, who delivers the crisp ‘Late Night’ – a favourite of Beyer’s; Mattia Saviola, whose ‘Parallel Dimension’ is a powerful cut with fantastic sound design; Romanian artist Tao Andra, who shares the celestial ‘Unity’; and long-time industry stalwart AdamK, who makes a richly deserved Drumcode debut in partnership with Vikthor feat. MC Stretch on the stunning ‘Silence + The Sound’.

Crate digger and music enthusiast James Endeacott compiles ‘Unlock Your Mind With Morning Glory’ for Two-Piers Records – A glorious heady mix of the weird and wonderful eclectic music from his radio show ‘Morning Glory’

“One weekday afternoon towards the end of 2017 I sat in The Lyric pub on Great Windmill Street, Soho with my dear friend Raf. I’d just finished another of my weekly Soho Radio shows and was starting to think about the next one. Raf had been on as a guest playing some of his favourite tunes of the day. We had a few drinks, told a few stories and started to plot and scheme. It was always a dream of mine to have a daily radio show. Radio had always informed and excited me from my early teens listening to John Peel under the blanket when I should’ve been either sleeping or revising right up to the present-day musical excursions of NTS, WFMU and numerous internet based stations.

We decided to speak to Adrian and Dan who ran Soho Radio to see if they’d be up for us doing a daily morning show. To our surprise they were into the idea and within 5 minutes Adrain came up with the name Morning Glory. We all liked it. We were all excited. It was all systems go. In December 2017 Raf and myself started a daily 2 hour show. We did the show together, got guests in and the musical policy was whatever we felt like that day. After several months Raf found the mornings too much. Off he went into the distance occasionally coming back with a smile, and a bag of new music. I carried on alone and then suddenly in March 2020 the world stopped, and we went into lockdown.

We set up in my house in Catford, Southeast London and carried on. The show became 3 hours a day and I started to invite friends, record labels, record shops, bands etc.. to supply me with hour long mixes that I played every day. The show took off during this time. My musical tastes expanded as I spent all day long searching for new sounds from around the globe. People started to send me more and more music. I became obsessed with the show. The audience started to take to social media and ask for certain tracks or artists to be played. I got listeners to make me mixes to play on the show and I did several phone interviews with musicians while playing some of their favourite tunes.

I was grateful that Soho Radio left me to my own devices. They never told me what to do or what to play – they trusted ma and I trusted my instincts.

The music on this compilation is not a ‘best of’ it’s just how I felt when I compiled it at the start of 2025. Apart from a couple of tracks they are all things I’ve come across since the show started in December 2017. If I did a list of tracks now I’m sure it would be completely different. Surely that’s the point. We never stick in one place. We are always moving and searching. Always trying to unlock our minds. Put it on. Take your time and let it take you somewhere” James Endeacott 2025

Paranoid London with Water Machine - Decimated Driver Tested over the summer on the stages of our favourite festivals & hot on the heels of the Nu Groove release & the Medlar remix.
Side A is a proper throbber with a vocal chant from Glasgow band Water Machine.
Side B is dubbier, clubbier & bloodier. More speaker testers from people that should know better by now.

Jalapeno Records are celebrating their 25th anniversary in the business. The label are marking the occasion with the release of a 3LP compilation featuring some of label boss Trevor Mac's favourite dancefloor gems from across the years. From a humble start in a basement recording studio on Holloway Road to a quarter century anniversary celebrated from their Brighton offices – Jalapeno Records has been an indie label with a mission - to bring the funk to the masses. Along the way that has taken in so many genres from chill to house, gospel to soul, breaks to drum & bass but it has all had a common thread running through it - the funk. "Twenty Five years means there are too many artists to list and this album is not supposed to be a Greatest Hits. We did that on the 20th anniversary. The album is dedicated to all of the artists that trusted us with their music and all the people who supported us along the way" says Trevor











k 11. Back Again (Hot Toddy Remix) feat. John Turrell — Kraak & Smaak


n 14. Alone with You (Purple Disco Machine Remix) feat. Cleopold — Kraak & Smaak











[k] 11. Back Again (Hot Toddy Remix) [feat. John Turrell] — Kraak & Smaak


[n] 14. Alone with You (Purple Disco Machine Remix) [feat. Cleopold] — Kraak & Smaak











[k] 11. Back Again (Hot Toddy Remix) [feat. John Turrell] — Kraak & Smaak


[n] 14. Alone with You (Purple Disco Machine Remix) [feat. Cleopold] — Kraak & Smaak

Break 3000 - Human Nature EP

A special collaboration with Partout records from Paris. Break 3000 digged deep in the archives for this one and found some old unreleased music on his dusted DAT tapes ranging from 1993 to 2002.
Now released for the first time ever on vinyl 12” and digital.

“Human” and “Komputerok were produced in the same project in his Maastricht bedroom studio back in 2002 and reflect to great influence artists like David Caretta and The Hacker had on his sound back then, a mix of banging Electro Clash meets EBM, 80s Proto House.

“Overdrive” opens the B-side and a window to the late 90s. This track was produced together with his classic “Plastique People” around 98/99 and was an instrumental track luckily found again, Break 3000 added a new vocal and made a fresh shorter Edit. Thanks to the excellent mastering by Salz Music this one is back in todays sound standards.

The next pearl from the past is a real favourite and is the oldest track featured on this EP. “Ambizone” was recorded back in 93/94 and marks the transition from his first musical project Amazone to becoming Break 3000. Recorded in an amazing analog studio in Venray Netherlands where Break 3000 worked on a full album.
More music will follow from these old sessions! Stay tuned.

Closing out with “Nature”, a true hommage to the early Rephlex sound and produced around 97/98. Acts like Bochum Welt, D’arcangelo and µ-Ziq had an immense influence on Break 3000 and are a reason why he started to make more electro orientated music.

All tracks mastered by Salz Mastering in Cologne.

Utter presents Marshall Jefferson's previously unreleased meditation opus 'Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation' alongside two remixes from French production maestro Joakim.

Marshall Jefferson: Chicago House music pioneer, creator of the anthemic ‘Move My Body’, an original collaborator of Adonis, Ce Ce Rogers and Roy Davis Jr., production mastermind of countless dancefloor classics such as Phuture’s ‘Acid Tracks’, Sterling Void’s ’It’s All Right’, Hercules’ ‘7 Ways’… and the soothing voice behind a 36 minute healing meditation guide. Yes, really.

But let’s rewind, slightly.

In 2017, Marshall was approached and encouraged by Ian ‘Snowy’ Snowball to write his autobiography and the pair set about putting Marshall’s account of the history of House music together. The book, ‘Marshall Jefferson: Diary of a DJ’ was published in 2019.

Following the book’s release, Ian and Marshall's collaboration continued and during the pandemic an outlandish idea arose to create a piece of music combining Ian's interest in meditation (he runs Club Chi specialising in Shibashi Qigong - a form of Tai Chi Qigong - which is a gentle form of movement therapy/exercise) and Marshall's willingness to experiment musically to see what might be possible.



The result is ‘Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation’, where Marshall vocalises Ian’s lyrics in his instantly recognisable voice. The keen-eared out there may also recognise aspects of the music itself as a stripped back, lengthened and far mellower version of Marshall’s 1985 obscurity ‘Vibe’:

“I would take tapes to the Music Box and Ron Hardy would play my music. ‘Vibe’ was one of those tracks. I recorded ‘Vibe’ in 1985, but it became one of my tracks that I just forgot about until some guy on Facebook sent me a recording of it that was taken from a club. The only person who I ever gave a recording of ‘Vibe’ to was Ron Hardy. The other people I know who had copies of the track were Gene Hunt and Emanuel Pippin (DJ Spookie).

"The original version of ‘Vibe’ was made using a Roland 707, Roland JX-8P keyboard and a Roland 727 drum machine. I was still working at the Post Office at the time, and this was pre-‘Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)’. ‘Vibe’ has the building blocks for ‘Move Your Body’ because it was using the instruments on the track that I discovered what I could do with the bass sound, to make a track like ‘Move Your Body’.”



Still, Ian’s initial intention for ‘Yellow Meditation’ was function and it was designed to be a ‘Sequential Relaxation Exercise’ focusing on the Solar Plexus. Bearing this in mind, Marshall took a bare-bones and hypnotic approach to this particular re-recording of ‘Vibe’ so that the voice takes centre stage and listeners (hopefully) find themselves on a meditative journey. In fact, this long-form track was always intended as a private tool purely for meditation at Club Chi rather than released to the public - after all, Marshall had also created and released a more drum heavy, ’traditional’ club-focused 'Vibe Three' instrumental version for that very purpose - but a chance airing of the full 36 minute version changed its path.



Much like those 1985 ‘Vibe’ cassettes, Marshall had sent the track to a few close contacts, one of whom was Kieran at Phonica Records who aired it over the shop’s basement soundsystem. Its unorthodox nature caught the ear of colleague Alex (of Utter) and the seeds of a physical release were planted.

Eventually, with the full-version carefully whittled down to a vinyl friendly length of 24 minutes, full track parts in hand and a b-side to fill, Alex sought out one of his favourite producers to take up the remix reigns: Joakim. The Tigersushi co-founder and Crowdspacer boss has a long history of boundary-pushing remixes that straddle both dancefloor functionality and experimentation. This time the original material resulted in Joakim coming up with a number of ideas and he finally delivered two versions - one club focused (‘Vertical’), the other more introspective and meditative (‘Horizontal’), both of which appear on the final 12”.

The limited edition 12” also includes a download code giving buyers access to all of the vinyl tracks plus an 18 minute extended version of Joakim’s ‘Horizontal’ remix, its instrumental counterpart (for those who can live without Marshall's voice) and full 12 minute acapella (for those who can't!)


Alex

a A1. Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation (Edit) 24:00
b B1. Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation (Joakim's Vertical Remix) 9:09
9:05

2025 Repress

More than once Jay Richford and Gary Stevan’s Feelings has been described as the greatest library record ever released. Of course Be With can’t be seen to be playing favourites, but we have to admit, it’s pretty good. Insanely rare and immensely sought-after, it’s a tough funk, street jazz masterpiece coveted for many years by collectors of all musical genres.

Since its original release on Italian label Carosello in 1974, Feelings has appeared on several labels with different sleeves and even under a different artist. Indeed cult library label Conroy put it out in one of their iconic red sleeves in 1976 and yes, Feelings has indeed had more than one modern re-issue since these “original” releases. But a record this special deserves to be kept in press and we think it deserves the Be With treatment.

No, Jay Richford and Gary Stevan aren’t two of the most Italian sounding names. As the story goes these were the pseudonyms adopted by Stefano Torossi and Giancarlo Gazzani who wrote the album but couldn’t use their real names on the original release for legal reasons. But Stefano Torossi himself later both clarified and confused the tale further by explaining that Feelings was the work of four people not just Gazzani and himself. Fellow composers and musicians Sandro Brugnolini and Puccio Roelens also worked on the album and as Torossi himself explained “we all worked together”, with all four gents “dividing the royalties in equal parts… that’s the story.” Right, so, with that all sorted out let’s get back to talking about the music. And what music it is.

Long hailed as a holy grail of library music, Feelings is the epitome of the sort of cinematic orchestral jazzy funk that is “that 70s library music sound”. Infectiously funky, deliciously melodic and with impeccible, elegant production, this record is the showcase for a stunning set of compositions and arrangements and with performances that are nothing short of virtuoso.

The record’s first side lifts off with “Flying High”, soaring brilliant and shimmering. Funk licks, menacing strings and swaggering horns combine for an ice-cold intro groove that Isaac Hayes would surely have envied, before the steady-paced drums deliver the slo-mo TKO. The string-drenched cop-funk of “Going Home” raises the tempo. All funky quick-fire bass lines and killer electric guitar soloing. A real thriller.

“Walking In The Dark” positively drips in blaxploitation-funk drama strings and horn struts, all laced with delicate drums, velvet piano and more filthy wah-wah. “Fighting For Life” is another funk-fuelled workout built around an effortlessly relentless drum track that refuses to give up until even the stiffest-necked head is nodding.

The loping, open drum break that guides the much-loved “Feeling Tense” through its early stages would be good enough on its own. The heavy bass gloss, swirling strings and ominous horns that follow take things to the next level.

The second side opens with another favourite “Running Fast”, and the track does precisely that. This is one fine rollicking chase theme underpinned by frenetic (yet funky) Fender Rhodes and skipping bass and drums. Those sweeping strings are a gorgeous extra. It’s a deliciously feel-good groove that sets the heart racing.

“Loving Tenderly” envelops us in warm, velvety night-time vibes with easy listening horns and slinky strings dialing up the seduction. Definitely one for the lithe lovers out there. The pace picks up on the electrifying “Fearing Much” where strings dart around deep bass, buzzing guitars and another funky drum break. The lush, melancholic “Being Friendly” is another easy beauty, all warm Rhodes and strings. Majestic stuff that puts an aural arm around you. The climactic “Having Fun” rides a pulsating, bass-heavy drum break with snatches of a funky guitar refrain, some luxurious keys, sweeping strings and triumphant horns. Sensational.

First things first, I want to thank Nectax for his patience, because he's been regularly sending me his music for well over 2 years & I was so swamped with other music being sent to me on a regular basis from other people, that I never made the time to actually check most of what he was sending me or to properly get back to him in response to the tracks of his that I did check. It's hard making time for listening to demos submitted for Future Retro London, amongst all the other commitments I have to take care of on a day-to-day basis, but he kept at it until I was finally able to realise what I had been sleeping on for so long.

Now that's out of the way, I was first made properly familiar with his music through his release on Over/shadow, as well as seeing some of his sets in London and hearing other people supporting his music, which made me more vigilant towards any music he'd send to me.

He sent me "London Bridge" and I really liked it, so much so that it gave me some ideas that I wanted to add to it & we turned it into a collab. He also sent me "Akaizen" which to me, is my favourite track of his that I'd heard of everything he'd sent me (that I actually made effort to check!), which Harmony has done a great job remixing. And then to complete the release, he met up with Champa B (who's based near him) to work on "Prisoners Of Psilocybe", and like that, it all came together in the end!

Big thanks to Nectax for his music (& again, sorry for being so consistently slow to respond!), to Harmony for his quality version of "Akaizen" & to Champa B for collaborating on "Prisoners Of Psilocybe".

Back in the early 1990s as Acid Jazz began a period of extraordinary commercial success where acts like the Brand New Heavies and Jamiroquai sold millions of records, and US groups such as A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and Digable Planets were actively influenced by what was being played in London, the whole scene was being fuelled by a small number of clubs, led by Gilles Peterson’s Sunday afternoons at Dingwalls but taking in nights in Leeds, Bari, Munich, Tokyo, Stockholm and New York. In those clubs funky jazz, latin boogaloo and 70s soul soundracks competed for time on the dance floor with import records from New York, and the latest sounds coming out of bedrooms and makeshift basement studios that created contemporary sounds out of the past.

Acid Jazz’s Eddie Piller and Dean Rudland have put together this compilation of the sort of sounds that we were playing at the time. They are releases on Acid Jazz and other label’s that surrounded the scene and they were mainly made by people we knew from either around the club scene, behind the counters of our favourite record shops, or from trips to New York or Europe. They range from The Ballistic Brother anthem ‘Blacker’ to the jazz house of A-Zel - a Roger Sanchez mix that still sounds fresh today. We have the Humble Soul’s instrumental version of ‘Beads Things And Flowers’ which at the time was only available as a DJ special on Acetate. There is the presence of A Man Called Adam before they went to Ibiza, and the early Mo’ Wax (before they went Trip Hop) single by Marden Hill ‘Come On’.

These records could fill a dance floor in seconds and we feel that they are today largely forgotten, as they were non-album, underground club records. It’s time to celebrate them!

The Patchouli Brothers are best friends bound together by oddities. They share an affinity for the esoteric side of disco, house, and all other forms of soulful dance music. They hold down a residency at Beam Me Up, a disco night in Toronto & Montreal, and have had releases on some of their favourite labels like Defected, Nervous, Razor-n-Tape, Soundway, GAMM, Soul Clap, Star Creature, Pleasure of Love & Basic Fingers.

We are so stoked to have them join us here for their first release on Sosilly and our seventh vinyl release SSE007… Like Bond they delivered nothing short of pure class! 4 x absolute fire cuts that can turn any place upside down.

South Londons’ indomitable Medlar delivers an ambitious new album

The long-time underground favourite has collaborated with the likes of Dele Sosimi, Rebekah Reid, Deevoenay, Finn Peters, Sam Virdie, Afla Sackey and Arnau Obiols on an album that finds him taking his production to new levels.
From roots playing illegal raves in the South West to building up a cultured catalogue that bounces between house and garage, Medlar has long been part of the underground conversation. He has dropped a previous album and many innovative remixes and edits for the likes of Billy Cobham and Shirley Lites, worked in the studio and on stage with Afro legend Dele Sosimi and most recently released an album under his own name that collected myriad different sonic sketches from the past 15 years.

Islands is an altogether different proposition that comes after establishing himself as a mix engineer and producer of other people's music. In that time, Medlar has honed his skills, learnt new tricks and grown more able to express himself in sound. The result is an album that explores a more electronic palette inspired by '80s fusion sounds whilst maintaining a loose, organic flow through his use of live instrumentation. “The idea for the LP was for a collection of music which could sit alone as club tracks, but would work equally well as part of a whole. The name Islands came from this, as there's some connecting ideas but the tracks sit independently in their own little sonic worlds. I took a lot of inspiration from early 80’s electronic music produced during early years of MIDI technology… proto house, jazz fusion, electronic disco and experimental ambient. I wanted to juxtapose some of these methods with more contemporary production and make something that's ultimately quite fun!” says Medlar of the record which could easily soundtrack a summer road trip.

Across 11 tracks, he blends old-school techniques like a fusion of live instruments, FM synthesis and MIDI triggered vocal samples with more contemporary touches such as punchy, club-friendly drums and dub inspired, speaker-wobbling low end. The result is less reliant on samples than his previous works and makes for a perfect blend of retro authenticity and future freshness.

Here at Mr Bongo we have been inundated with people asking us to reissue this release. Ana Frango Elétrico's petit cult classic masterpiece 'Little Electric Chicken Heart' from 2019, which was only ever released on vinyl and CD in Brazil and Japan, has fast become a collector's item.

Well received by fans, DJs, and reviewers on release, The Needle Drop expressed "Ana Frango Elétrico's authentically vintage fusion of chamber pop, rock, samba and jazz is a real blast!" listing it as one of its Top 50 Albums of 2019. The album's reputation has been slowly building ever since, gaining a Latin Grammy nomination in 2020, and now solidly cementing itself as a gem of contemporary Brazilian music.

Across the albums nine tracks, Ana blends elements and influences from MPB, Tropicália, indie rock, punk and pop, forging them together with a sumptuous dose of her signature style. The finesse of 'Saudade' kicks off the LP, one of Ana's most known tracks to a non-Brazilian audience. A sublime opener, beginning with a spellbinding piano solo before transcending into a beautiful dream-laden slice of warmth, complete with luscious jazzy horns and deft vocal delivery. ‘Promessa e previsões’ follows, the only track on the album not to be written by Ana, instead being penned by Chico França. It’s a swelling and sweeping twilight groover, building and breaking across absorbing peaks.

Other highlights on the album include the anthemic 'Chocolate', which was a firm favourite with a packed sing-along crowd when we heard Ana perform it live. Elsewhere, 'Se No Cinema' hits with its quirky allure, charm and catchy melodies before transforming into a carnival spirit.

Tapping into the richness of Brazil’s new wave of musical energy, the album also includes a heavyweight lineup of collaborations with artists such as Dora Morelenbaum (Bala Desejo), Tim Bernardes, Antonio Neves and Guilherme Lirio to name but a few.

A short, sweet and refreshing record, that leaves nothing to waste, marrying playful ideas with poignant themes. 'Little Electric Chicken Heart' is a future classic and will beguile fans of ‘70s Brazilian recordings, Gal Costa, Mac DeMarco, Stereolab, Superorganism, Caetano Veloso and more.

Late-night jams in their new studio sees Jazzbois return to their beat-tape roots on Still Blunted

Having established themselves as one of the leading live bands in Europe grooving in improvised jazz motifs and hip-hop beats, Budapest trio Jazzbois return with their fourth LP Still Blunted that sees them touch base with their beat-tape roots.

Now situated in the heart of Buda at their new studio above a club, the Hungarian trio of Bencze Molnár (Rhodes/synth), Viktor Sági (bass) and Tamás Czirják (drums) take a more considered approach to Still Blunted and offer a snapshot into the jams, sessions, and shows they have played over the past year. The new album comes after performing at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival this summer and will be followed by a European tour in October.

Inspired by contemporaries Domi and JD Beck, Kiefer, Nala Sinephro, and the sounds of Radio Juicy, Jazzbois have been more critical of their track selection for the sequel to their Goes Blunt albums. They’ve ripped up their playbook of producing records in a matter of days and took their time to approach the record through reworking their favourite tracks recorded over the past year.

“We’re trying to keep the same formula but there was a lot of thought gone into the process of making an improvised jam sound like a song. It has to be good in the moment, and we chose the ones we felt were expressive and resonated the most with us musically. We focus on our feelings in the moment and have trust in our own taste and music visions.”

The trio’s new studio has offered them the space and time to get the best out of their creativity. “This new spot is a Jazzbois headquarters. It’s above this club, sometimes there's a DJ playing outside on the street – everyday there's something on and lots of people coming and going. We hang out for the whole day and just record anything or edit.”

Jazzbois are a part of the rich, underground jam scene in Budapest, and those improvised-led sessions have fed into Still Blunted. One of their late-night jams turned after-parties produced sketches for tracks they selected for the album.

“It was the end of a wild night celebrating getting the album done. We’re having a jam and we looked around while we were recording and there was twenty people smoking and drinking around us – half of them we didn't even know who they are. It turned into an open after-party where people were coming to ours from the club. It was very spontaneous and unexpectedly, we made five or six new songs we ended up using for the album.”

The ethos of those unplanned, open jams is something they carry through into their live shows, as they never rehearse so their music can develop freely. Their trusted fourth ‘live’ member DomBeats joins them on Still Blunted adding saxophone to some of the psychedelic-tinged beats, such as on singles Shangri La and Chrome. After recently digging back into 70s and 80s jazz, discovering more hip-hop sampled tracks, and absorbing the breaks and high-energy of footwork and juke, these influences come through strong across Still Blunted.

The footwork sound is replicated in the shuffling, busy drums of Shangri La, with the echoing guitar twang reminiscent of a sample you may hear on an MF Doom beat. “Shangri La was a catalyst for the new album. It reflects on our trip to America and SXSW. We played at this venue Shangri La. The Texan air and sun are in that track.”

Chrome takes on a much more furious style of playing that allows for the drums to cascade and flow along with the pulsating, chromatic bass line, with the synths and saxophone spiralling into an engrossing frenzy. The liquidy keys and synths glides over the bass on Flute Thang, creating a 70s jazz-funk vibe that stands out from the rest of the album.

With hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners across Spotify and Apple Music, they have become a playlist staple that has earned them millions of streams since their debut release Jazzbois Goes Blunt in 2019. As more live dates are booked for the Hungarian trio, Jazzbois continue to transform the traditional jazz trio sound into deep, groove-led beats on Still Blunted.

From London to Ibiza via Berlin, inspired by Chigago and Detroit, Ceri finds her truth in proper house music. ‘Can’t Pay My Bills’ EP provides a message of hope during uncertain times. Acknowledged as a “rising selector” by Crack Magazine, producer, label boss and record digger Ceri steps into 2024 with a brand-new EP ‘Can’t Pay My Bills” via her imprint “Find Your Own Records”.

“The title track is inspired by the current economic situation in the world, and also features a positive message that reflects the values and true origins of house music, reinforcing the belief that we can overcome our circumstances and improve our situation” - Ceri


The new four track EP drips with Chicago, New York and Detroit jackin’ house with garage influence, and a sprinkle of ripping UK breakbeat for good measure. The people’s producer D'Julz steps up, on remix duties, contributing not one but two remixes to the label’s ongoing message of artist authenticity and collaboration. The remixes will be vinyl only, and the originals will see a digital release later in the year.

“I have collected D'Julz music for many years, his label started around the same time I started DJing, and it was and still is, one of the few labels that I buy on sight. I know it will always be quality. Something I aspire to do with my label too.”– Ceri

As an artist led label 'Find Your Own Records’ has become a home for genuine house legends Mr G, Fred P, Alex Arnout, and has rightly gained support from Mixmag, Resident Advisor, BBC Radio 1, BB6Music and BBC1Xtra.

Support for the label so far comes from the likes of:

Midland, Ben UFO, Move D, K-HAND, Fumiya Tanaka, Fred P, Paranoid London, Steve O'Sullivan, Tristan Da Cunha, Ryan Elliot, Lakuti, DJ Deep, Kerri Chandler, Chloe Caillet, Fred P, Jeremy Underground, Cici, D’Julz, Chez Damier and more…


As a DJ Ceri has performed marathon sets at Fabric, Corsica Studios, Pikes Ibiza, Thisishaven, and recently made her debut at the legendary Panorama Bar/Berghain. Confidently sharing the booth with club favourites Ryan Elliot, Jeremy Underground, Paranoid London and Objekt it’s certain the next year of live shows will be ones to remember for the UK artist. Inspiring far beyond the dancefloor, Ceri also regularly steps up as a masterclass host / panelist on creativity, mental health, meditation and wellness with renowned platforms Beatport, ADE, RedBull, Point Blank and Native Instruments, earning her a distinctive reputation as a multifaceted artist and
thought leader.

Ceri – ‘Can’t Pay My Bils’ EP is out on Find Your Own Records. Vinyl end of Feb tbc. The remixes re vinyl only. And the originals will be released digitally in the summer.

Recorded almost entirely in a single day at the legendary Total Refreshment Centre in London, JOY MACHINE brings together some of the most exciting musicians in London’s new jazz explosion. With features from Alabaster DePlume and trumpeter Jonathon Enser (Nubiyan Twist), vocals from Dizraeli (Worldwide Music Awards Best Album nominee), drums from Ben Brown (Alfa Mist, Mulatu Astatke), bass from uk jazz scene favourite Daisy George, synths from Joseph Costi (Yusef Cat Stevens, Bahla) and saxophone from free jazzer Ronan Perrett.



In the tradition of Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew, the band came to the studio in October 23 with only one pre-written track (the uplifting summer anthem Greek Summer) and once that was recorded, spent the rest of the day improvising wild, explosive music laced with Dizraeli’s rap and spoken word lyricism. The result is JOY MACHINE, a record bursting with urgency, intensity and life, and one that cements Dizraeli’s position as an innovative wordsmith, bringing both personal depth (as in Abigail, a homage to the sister who died before he was born) and fierce political commentary (as in Dear Cousin, a goosebumps-inducing narrative that transports the listener aboard the boat Adriana carrying refugees across the Mediterranean, which sank in June 2023 drowning 500 people, and then confronts a very English bigot in the second verse).

Revered DJ and radio veteran Lefto Early bird has announced his album Motherless Father which will be released on 8th March.

Your favourite DJ’s favourite DJ presents his 10-track album; "This record feels like the starting point of a new era, which I’m sure a lot of people can relate to what I mean; the tracks I recorded, the ones I’m singing over and the guests i invited have been my way to deal with the pandemic, the motherless child that I am and the father that I am. I call this record a deep pre-club record, one that will give you the energy to go out there and party but with a feeling of letting go of everything."

Matthew Halsall announces a limited-edition Vinyl only pressing of Bright Sparkling Light, a luminous three track EP featuring some of his most gorgeous compositions. Originally conceived as a tour only exclusive, Bright Sparkling Light was recorded alongside, last year’s expansive beguiling long-player An Ever Changing View and draws on the same trademark blend of jazz, electronica, global and spiritual jazz influences. The original pressing sold-out on Matthew’s EU and UK tour last October and November and so many people got in touch with us here at Gondwana asking how they could get a copy that we decided to make a further 2000 copies available for retail and online sales. The title track is a hypnotic meditation built on one of the lushest loops Halsall has ever created and featuring stellar work from Halsall and flautist Matt Cliffe. Newborough Forest is a brisk, uplifting composition celebrating one of Halsall’s favourite landscapes and the wonderous Tide and the Moon paints a sonic picture of late-night waters and deep mindfulness and features some of Matt Cliffe’s most beautiful tenor playing. Like An Ever Changing View, Bright Sparkling Light comes in a package as striking as the music, with handmade fonts designed by Ian Anderson and a beautifully realised embossed artwork that offers a perfect compliment to the LP. Strictly limited and featuring a download code, Bright Sparkling Light will not be re-pressed.

‘Threads’ was my 1st album as Om Unit and this 10-year re-mastered anniversary edition comes around at what feels like a similar time for me of experimentation and finding new ways to connect sounds. Something of a full circle of sorts but then again I am marking time with this re-issue at a time where I can look back and feel very proud of the work still sounding so convincing. Now even better thanks to Subvert Central’s Robert Macchiochi!

Reflecting on the past 10 years since this record came out, I can say it’s been an incredibly fruitful journey, with the most striking element of it all being the opportunity to travel and meet so many people from so many different backgrounds with different world views and stories. I found that ‘Threads’ for many was their first insight into my music, and for some people was something of a milestone in their journey of exploring music itself with tracks like ‘The silence’ and ‘Governor’s Bay’ having been mentioned over the years as amongst favourites alongside some of the work released on Cosmic Bridge and Civil

I want to take a moment to give my Love and gratitude to all the featured vocalists. Thanks to Simon Jinadu for his angelic voice on ‘The Silence’, to Charlie Dark MBE for his reflective words on ‘The Road’ and to Alex ‘Bogues’ Rendall aka MC Jabu (of Jabu) for his intense delivery on ‘Patients’ as well as Jneiro Jarel for his self-reflective narration on “just sayin’” All 4 are still outliers in their own field and upstanding creative forces to boot. I feel blessed to have been able to capture them on this project.

Threads was made in a bedroom of 2a Station Rise in Tulse Hill, a flat I shared with journalist and writer Laurent Fintoni, in a space that had such a great sound to it that I’ll always miss that room. I hope that you feel the warmth that I felt then whilst making it. It’s been an adventure since and whilst I’ve moved on from a lot of the tropes intrinsic to the album, it will always remain a body of work that is dear to my heart.


Enjoy!
<3

You know Krash Slaughta right? The man behind the recent wildly successful DOOM/Sugacubes mash-up LP Sugar-Coated DOOM, not to mention his unofficial remixes of the Wu’s K.R.E.A.M. and P.L.O. Style and collab. 45 with Phill Most Chill, Rebel Base? ‘Is he at it again?’ the monkey hears you ask. Yes, he is at it again, though the closest of the the three aforementioned releases to what he’s about to drop is the Wu remix 45. And what he’s about to drop is Diggin Deeper, not a single this time but a whole remix album of one of his (and the monkey’s!) all-time favourite hip-hop LPs – to wit, Niggamortis – more usually known as Six Feet Deep (especially in the U.S., though minus the best track under that name) by hip-hop supergroup Gravediggaz.

As many will know, this LP with its horror-movie fixated lyrics gave birth to a whole hip-hop sub-genre – that of ‘horrorcore.’ However, none of those who came after seemed to manage the lyrical humour of The RZArector, The Grym Reaper and The Gatekeeper (a.k.a. RZA, Poetic and Frukwan) and the only bit of production by The Undertaker (a.k.a. Prince Paul) that they seemed interested in was the sub-metal rap sludge of the shouty Bang Your Head – i.e. the LP’s one weak spot. But don’t worry, Krash isn’t interested in that sort of thing. Not only does he avoid rap-metal beats for Bang Your Head, he doesn’t use any on the LP at all – hurrah! What he does do is employ, arguably, as eclectic an array of sample sources as Prince Paul on the original – though with an entirely different end result. Bang Your Head with its apparently sixties garage band-derived beat for example is one of the standouts. The skeletal piano skank of 6 Feet Deep is another, while a beat featuring spaced-out eighties synths forms the new musical backdrop to Constant Elevation. Two more of the monkey’s favourites on this one are Here Comes The Gravediggaz, now underpinned by double-bass-led funk and the glorious inappropriately joyous bounce of Blood Brothers. The result? Your favourite cuts on this one might not be the same as your favourite cuts on the original. Two different versions of a much-loved LP, then; it’s why people remix hip-hop. All the vocal stems were created by Krash and the ultimate intention is to do a limited vinyl release. Cover art is by the Dead Residents’ Junior Disprol.

repressed !

Some people are just not destined to have enough sleep.When you don't sleep enough the world appears to be a different place, compared to the way it is when the mind is fully rested. In such cases very different scenarios may occur.
Starting with a dreamy melody of Roma Zuckerman's 'Sleep not found', which inspired the entire 008 album, and ending with a thirteen minute live recording by a_000, the side project of Alex Backdrop, the entire record has a dreamy and tripped out flow. 008 continues the tradition of gatefold double EPs as conceptual album.All tracks are selected around a particular story, a trip, and presented as a continuous sonic landscape.All tracks are structured in a way that they can be mixed one with another an endless amount of times making a continuous loop, a trip, that needs only end when the party stops. Kraviz works without release dates or deadlines, enabling her to achieve a certain sound bank to shape the story, unmasking the thoughts and unravelling like a dream. A1. Roma Zuckerman - Sleep Not found (North Edit) Apart form the fact that he leaves in Krasnoyarsk in the middle of Russia, very little is known about Roma (short version of the name Roman). But listening to his music and engaging in random short conversations late at night makes it clear that there are really a lot of things going on Romas mind... Minimalistic yet emotionally complex, his music always stands out with it's murkiness and signature moodiness that Roma creates like nobody else.
A2. Deniro - G Deniro continues the record's journey with his new live cut that like pretty much everything he did so far is a beautiful sparse atmospheric groover. He says he wanted it to be angry and it its done with triggering synths from the tr909 and tr808.
B1. Maayan Nidam - Infinite Rattle
Maayan was born in Tel-Aviv. She does not like computers and prefers to record her music live using hardware only. In order to do so she built her incredible studio in Berlin where she recorded "Infinite Rattle'.There is much more to come from Maayan on
B2. Bbbbbb - Prins Polo Caramel milkshake.
Side project by Bjarki-bbbbbb. Like any other normal Icelander, Bjarki really likes ice cream. In Iceland they are absolutely crazy about it.They walk the streets, ice cream in hand, even when its freezing cold outside. But even more than that Icelanders like Milkshakes with all sorts of added cookies and candies. Bjarki's favourite is called Prince Polo after the name of a chocolate bar. He always believed Prins Polo was an Icelandic brand but a couple of months ago somebody proved him wrong.
C1. Exos- dub jazz
In Iceland Exos is a legend. Everybody knows him there. He's been playing incredibly powerful and technically advanced techno sets since the late 90s and releasing delicious dub techno on Icelandic label Thule. Nina always appreciated his subtler, dubbier side, and this short recording a the continuation of it.
C2. Maaayn Nidam - Justice for some
This second live recording was a perfect fit for this album. Maayan has managed to create a particular mysterious night time dreamer here. Sound wise it's even more unique. It took a few times to get the master right, because we wanted to keep the original breathing of the machine that has captured a seriously freaky vibe. Maayan has always been one of Nina's favourite DJs as they share a similar attitude towards music. But after this tune she has also reserved a place in Nina's collective of favourite producers. D1. A_000
This is a side project of Italian native Alessio Meneghello (Alan Backdrop) & Enrico Voltan. . A beautiful 13-minute sonic journey.

'an incredible, funked-out live show and production team with their own modern take on boogie, Philly soul, and NY disco.' - XLR8R The Possé are a new face to many people. The five piece run by Andrew Elston and Ross Ferraro is comprised of veterans from all over Australia's music scene. After a year of knuckling down in the studio and a string of sold out shows they've boiled down their favourite influences into an in-credible, raw, funked out live show and production team. Watch out for The Posse's debut EP, Our Thing, featuring contributions from Andrew Elston (Phy-sique/Toni Toni Lee/Catcall), Ross Ferraro & Jarrol Renaud (The Goods), Michael Di Francesco (Touch Sensitive/Van She) and NZ jazz keys prodigy Andrew Bruce.

Bonding over a shared love of soul, jazz, funk and hip-hop, rapper Essa and producer / multi-instrumentalist J-Felix assembled a dream-team of top notch vocalists and players for this collective effort.



The result? Driving beats, poignant bars, soulful hooks and stirring brass.



The collective includes vocalists Avijè, Vanya Lyma, Marshall Mandiangu and Jerry Clavier, with Jack Kendon on horns and a guest appearance from your favourite drummer’s favourite drummer, Richard Spaven.



With his customary wit and masterful flow, Essa speaks on finding truth, confronting ego, eloping to the tropics and breaking generational curses. The esteemed lyricist was a key figure in UK Hip-Hop’s heralded “golden era”, alongside contemporaries and collaborators Jehst, Klashnekoff and TY, performing and recording with such luminaries as De La Soul, Wu-Tang Clan, Guru, Slum Village and Pharoahe Monch, winning praise from Nas and Mark Ronson.



J-Felix’s rich production takes in neo-soul, UK Jazz, boogie and hip-hop. His signature “J-Funk” style evokes classic samples but with all-original playing from the versatile multi- instrumentalist, who has worked with Swindle, Kojey Radical, Mahalia and Alice Russell.



The Fifth Foundation’s explosive live experience ranges from a versatile MC/DJ set-up to a full live band, with horns and multiple vocalists, mixing originals from this bold debut with inspiration from timeless soul, jazz, funk and rap classics.

Originally released in 1978. A Classic Reggae album re-released on 180 gram vinyl and produced by Linval Thompson with extensive sleeve notes.
Recorded at Channel One Recording Studio & Harry J's Recording Studio.
Cornell Campbell is one of an elite group of Jamaican reggae singers who has weathered the changes throughout the music's development - in his case, from the ska era to right up to date - whilst retaining their relevance. Witness his recent alliance with UK Afrobeat/reggae band The Soothsayers or Jazmine Sullivan's R & B hit Need U Bad, which sampled his classic 'Queen Of The Minstrel' -a song that still sounds fresh more than thirty years later.
Sweet Baby was pressed on bright red vinyl, which only added to the excitement when you saw the selector position it carefully on the deck.
On the LP cover was a painting of Cornell wearing an emerald green shirt and framed by a lurid sky, which might have left some people wondering if it was a soul album. It wasn't, although there is certainly soul in the grooves, and especially on R&B covers like Gonna Take A Miracle - first recorded by the Royalettes -and Darling You Send Me, which Sam Cooke had introduced to the US Billboard charts some twenty years earlier.
Both are among the highlights but then the whole album is good in truth, and a heartfelt I Need Somebody and My Sweet Baby, plus the two-step favourite Just Enough were regularly played on sound system. Blinded By Love, I Didn't Know and Can't Hide My Love are tinged with melancholy and like the seductive Whenever You Need Me, display all the hallmarks of a classic Cornell Campbell side -swooping vocals, a driving rhythm and seductive lyrics included.

Nearly forty years later, it is gratifying to know there is still no mistaking him when his records are played in a dance. That relaxed vocal style draws you in but it's his falsetto, quivering with understated emotion that hooks you and turns you into a lifelong fan.

The Sound Of Slip ’n’ Slide, Vol. 2 continues the new series from the legendary Slip ’n’ Slide catalogue, bringing together another selection of timeless house and deep house cuts from some of the genre’s most influential artists.

Featuring standout productions and remixes from Masters At Work, Blaze, Kings Of Tomorrow, Booker T and Cassio Ware, the release showcases the soulful, groove-led sound that has made Slip ’n’ Slide a cornerstone of underground house music.

Including classics such as Funky People, Open Your Mind and Breathe, this second volume brings together a selection of proven dancefloor records in one DJ-friendly vinyl package.

With warm grooves, uplifting vocals and timeless club arrangements throughout, these tracks continue to resonate with both long-time house collectors and DJs looking for reliable dancefloor material.

As the second edition in The Sound Of Slip ’n’ Slide series, this release builds on the success of the collection, bringing more essential catalogue favourites back to fresh black 12" vinyl.

A strong catalogue addition for stores supporting classic house, deep house and soulful underground sounds.

Shaped in the shadows and sounds of the legendary Topanga Canyon, California. The debut album from Biita Houdei is buoyed by a magic that feels wildly and beautifully untamed; wild-hearted sentiments that are shaped by the world around it, fascinated by the enchantment of it all, and delivered via a collective (harmony layered) voice that understands the complex nature of what it means to be alive in the here and now.

Produced by Haley Heynderickx, 'This Bed Was Made For Me' is a striking collection of stirring, signature folk songs animated by subtle instrumentation and orchestral flourishes. It feels lived in: vocals weave together in a beautiful harmonic dance, seasons shift, sunshine appears and bold psychedelic colours warm the horizon.

In the early stages of making her debut album, Biita Houdei knew two things: that she wanted the recordings to feel distinctly and palpably warm, and that she would sew a unique patch for every song on the album. The first of those things is subjective, though brightness pours in from all corners of This Bed Was Made For Me. The second became a laborious task she undertook throughout the process, the completion of which is testament to the slow process of it all, to the physical commitment and patience required to make a full work of art.

The patches she crafted during the making of This Bed Was Made For Me became a full quilt, one that now adorns the album’s front cover. Beneath it sits a striking collection of Houdei’s stirring, signature folk songs, brought into fruition with the help of fellow songwriter Haley Heynderickx, in her first lead production role, and the album’s producer/engineer Sahil Ansari. It’s also the first release Biita (pronounced “bee-tah”) is releasing under her newly-taken name, one that was gifted to her by her auntie and means "unique" in the Farsi language. “I proudly take this name,” Biita says of the change. “It makes me feel that much closer to my Persian heritage.”

Recorded across ten back-to-back and full days, the album touches on themes of love and heritage, of taking chances, the preciousness of time and the impact we all have on the world around us. A number of the songs were written in Topanga, California, while Biita settled into a new home as wild fires raged, and as she adjusted to a life which no longer held distinct seasonal changes, far from the Ozark Mountain home she felt so attached to. Such themes reveal themselves in a variety of ways across the album’s fourteen songs, that key sense of warmth retained in the bones of the album whether they are stepping into darkness or seeking out light.

The album feels lived in and alive; dust swirls, seasons shift, sunshine appears and is held. Biita calls it ‘psychedelic’ and there is indeed a sense of that in the world building, in the way the bold colours are always shifting. Formed of fourteen songs, and filling nearly forty-five minutes, This Bed Was Made For Me not only builds a whole world for listeners to inhabit but also implores you to stay a while. This was deliberate, indeed it’s Biita’s wish that listeners give the album dedicated time; to learn its shape, to explore it fully, away from the instant grab of playlists and skewed algorithms.

“Many of my favourite albums didn’t reveal themselves instantly to me,” Biita, now based in the Catskill Mountains of New York, explains. “Some did, of course, but I had to work to understand the full scope of the piece as a whole. I encourage people to dive deeper into everything that they choose to consume. It is not my intention to sound pretentious, but instead, I am trying harder to explain the gratitude I have for being able to craft every part of this album— using my hands, my brain, my voice, my visions. To me, it is an all encompassing work of art,” she continues. “Making the quilt was laborious. Taking the cover photo was laborious. No shortcuts, but rather a manual and tangible approach. I am thankful for the time it took.”