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• Fame collectors know how rare this 45 is to find in the wild; it hardly ever happens. ‘Go Away With Me’ is a fabulously, catchy dance number from 1963 when the little-known Dixon wandered into the Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals and laid these track down. It is one of Dan Penn’s very early compositions and the nascent talent of the writer is in evidence here.

• The tuneful self-penned ‘Time Will Tell’ flip reveals another accomplished musical bent to the singer who, though he only cut two 45s, was revered as a major Muscle Shoals influence by the likes of Jimmy Johnson, Donnie Fritts and David Hood.

Griselda's Rick Hyde release's Plates 2 w/ features by Benny The Butcher, Conway the Machine, Westside Gunn and others With Griselda rhymer Benny The Butcher having what seems like an endless run of Ws, his BSF Records imprint appears to be getting more attention by the day. Rick Hyde is one of the top benefactors. His new project Plates II, a sequel to his independent mixtape Plates, positions Hyde as one to watch in the Griselda-wave 2.0. Sporting production from the likes of Daringer, Sha Money XL, Harry Fraud and the late DJ Shay (who the album commemorates by its release date falling on the anniversary of his death), as well as verses from Benny, Heem, Skyzoo and Westside Gunn, Hyde flexes his connections and curates a solid body of work.The project's shiniest gems include some of the singles that have already hit the net. "Hustler's Prayer" features Hyde and Heem interlocked in a battle to see who can drop the most street flexes, complemented by The SoulMonsters' grainy production. Another noteworthy cut is the DJ L-produced "Alone" featuring Benny and G Herbo -- which, aside from the DJ Shay-produced outro "Black Sinatra," is possibly the project's most replayable track.One thing that comes across crystal clear is Hyde's lyricism. He holds his own alongside a formidable tracklist of guests and shows a lot of diversity with his delivery. Look no further than the "Sarah Freestyle," where the subdued DJ Chopz and Skrilla loop provides an atmospheric backdrop to a relentless, two-minute onslaught.

Repress due in soon, this one on red vinyl, note new price. For fans of Jesus Lizard, Melvins, Korn, Nick Cave, and, The Flenser. Must anticipated debut full-length from Oklahoma-based noise rock band. Multiple vinyl pressing of the band’s EPs on cult noise rock label Reptilian Records have quickly sold out. There’s a sick irony to how a country that extols rhetoric of individual freedom, in the same gasp, has no problem commodifying human life as if it were meat to feed the insatiable hunger of capitalism. If this is American nihilism taken to its absolute zenith, then God’s Country, the first full length record from Oklahoma City noise rock quartet Chat Pile is the aural embodiment of such a concept. Having lived alongside the heaps of toxic refuse that the band derives its name from, the fatalism of daily life in the American Midwest permeates throughout the works of Chat Pile, and especially so on its debut album. Exasperated by the pandemic, the hopelessness of climate change, the cattle shoot of global capitalism, and fueled by “...lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of THC,” God’s Country is as much of an acknowledgement of the Earth’s most assured demise as it is a snarling violent act of defiance against it. Within its over forty minute runtime, the album displays both Chat Pile’s most aggressively unhinged and contemplatively nuanced moments to date, drawing from its preceding two EPs and its score for the 2021 film, Tenkiller. In the band’s own words, the album is, at its heart, “Oklahoma’s specific brand of misery.” A misery intent on taking all down with it and its cacophonous chaos on its own terms as opposed to idly accepting its otherwise assured fall. This is what the end of the world sounds like.

500 on clear vinyl - Pitch Shifter ‘The 1990 Demo’ - Agent provocateurs who prophetically foreshadowed the Brexit debacle with their 1999 release ‘Un-United Kingdom”. Spanning a career of over 30 years, the band released ten albums, toured 30 countries, were featured on the covers of Kerrang! and Metal Hammer magazines, recorded Peel Sessions, won Kerrang! awards, had their music featured on video games, on tv shows and in Hollywood films, played main stages at Reading, Ozzfest, Vans Warped Tour and the Big Day out Festivals, were featured in 2000AD Magazine with Judge Dredd and fucked a lot of shit up along the way! Here for the first time, the band release their original demo, previously unreleased and unavailable to the general public. The original audio has been enhanced and the vinyl includes a revisited track, that did not feature on the original release ‘Behemoth’, with vocals recorded by M D Clayden. The demo landed the band their first record deal in 1990 with Peaceville Records, where the band then forged these tracks into their critically acclaimed debut ‘Industrial’.

Coalmine Records, in partnership with Duck Down Music, is excited to announce the upcoming release of the deluxe edition of Sean Price & Small Professor’s collaborative classic, 86 Witness. Released as a limited edition gatefold 2XLP with both the main and instrumental versions, the album boasts several packaging accoutrements that involve an artwork overhaul designed with metallic inks. For those unfamiliar with 86 Witness, the album is a testament to both Hip-Hop's Golden Era and the unbelievable talents of Sean Price, one of the genre's biggest and best voices who was taken from us far, far too soon. His hilarious, tack-sharp rhymes are complemented by the imaginative and dusty production of Small Pro, who may just be rap's best kept secret. Like his previous projects, 86 Witness is brimming with classic lines and lyrical barbs from P. What's different here, however, is the depth of his references in addition to his incredible chemistry with Small Pro. From the verses to the beats, they have provided so many musical Easter eggs that each listen tips off something you've yet to discover. And that's not even mentioning the ambitious lineup of guests featuring Your Old Droog, Guilty Simpson, Rockness Monsta, Elucid, Castel, Reef the Lost Cauze, Curly Castro, Zilla Rocca, and more.

We have a very limited amount of these available now for stores. 4LP boxset - white vinyl - edition of 300 - includes: The Dream Derealised LP, Lightnesses I & II LPs, Near Future Residence LP. It’s nearing a decade since William Doyle released his Mercury Music Prize nominated debut album, Total Strife Forever, as East India Youth in 2014. A year later, he had toured the world and was releasing his second album, Culture of Volume, but it would be another four years before Doyle returned with his third full album, and the first official release under his own name. The dizzyingly ambitious Your Wilderness Revisited arrived in 2019 and was followed last year by the artpop masterpiece, Great Spans of Muddy Time. In the years between leaving the old project behind and re-emerging under his own name, Doyle self-released a string of ambient-leaning albums, The Dream Derealised, Lightnesses Vol I & II and Near Future Residence, which are now to receive a first vinyl pressing via Tough Love as both a highly limited four LP box set, titled ‘Slowly Arranged: 2016-19’, and as separate albums. The Dream Derealised is a collection of nine abstract, lo-fi pieces that were recorded during the summer of 2016, when focusing on creating them helped guide Doyle through a “difficult period of anxiety, panic and a regular dissociative feeling called derealisation.” At the time, doing something creative in a quick and immediate fashion felt vital to Doyle, carrying him to a new place: “I’m releasing them now as a cathartic measure, and as a message for others who may be going through difficult times themselves. What I told myself at the time, what I can tell you now: You are not in danger. You are not going insane. You are not alone.” Lightnesses Vol. I & II sees Doyle create what we might understand as true ambient music – that is, music intended for the background that wasn’t composed as such, but allowed to blossom out of the setting of some rules and parameters, played by sounds he created and then resampled. The deceptively simple, droning pieces are unlike anything Doyle has made before or since. “During their creation I’d often take photographs of the light coming in through the windows of the two houses I lived in during their creation. I’d post these on social media and they became quite popular parts of my output. This music was intended to accompany those visuals. The first volume’s photo is a double exposure of the sun shining in on my notebook and my hand, whereas the photo for the second volume was taken in Joshua Tree Park, California as I saw our tail lights illuminate one of the trees.” Near Future Residence is music for an imagined place based on real ideas; the soundtrack for an ecologically sustainable housing development somewhere in a not-too-distant future Britain. The eleven instrumental pieces here come from a place of optimism, imagining a future that is based on cooperation, community and ecological urbanism. It's music intended to sit in this imagined environment rather than impose upon it, similar in principle to the function of Kankyō Ongaku (Japanese environmental music). The ideas contained on Near Future Residence laid the groundwork for - and can be seen as a companion piece to - the album Your Wilderness Revisited, released to critical acclaim in 2019. Doyle explains how the pieces “were composed in entirely generative ways using samples of instruments, synthesisers and field recordings I've collected and developed throughout 2018. In generative composition, rules are set and parameters are chosen and then put into motion, the results constantly changing and surprising.”

Widely regarded as a modern day classic. First repress (in nearly twenty tears) of this highly sought after treasure. Limited edition vinyl with original, single sleeve, artwork.

Bitty McLean’s rebirth as a bona fide hit-making lovers rock singer, since his link up with Daddy Peckings’ sons Duke and Chris, has been particularly sweet, due in no small part to his superior talents in the vocal department, and his accomplishment in the studio, but also because he is a humble soul whose talent has often been overshadowed by the perception of him as something of a reggae lightweight, due to the commercial success he experienced back in the early nineties with It’s Raining. Bitty’s credentials far outstrip any of his detractors though, and with the release of the superb single Walk Away From Love, he’s proved beyond doubt his worth as an interpreter of classic songs and a gifted songwriter in his own right. Kicking off with the hit single which utilised the classic original 1967 Treasure Isle rhythm to Alton Ellis’ Rocksteady. All selections revive original Duke Reid rhythms created by Tommy McCook & The Supersonics including the beautiful Ranglin On Bond Street (Tell Me), Those Guys (Baby Tonight), Moonlight Lover (To Fall In Love), Inez (My Lovers Call), Queen Majesty (a wicked version of Bread’s Make It With You featuring some beautiful overdubs from Dean Fraser), I’ll Get Along Without You (I’ve Got Love), Lonely Street, and a cover of Smokey Robinson’s Cruisin’. An album to cherish for young and old alike.

Die Band - bestehend aus den Mitgliedern Derek Day (Gesang), Dane Pieper (Gitarre), Griffin Tucker (Gitarre), Franco Gravante (Bass) und Chuck McKissock (Schlagzeug) - wurde 2018 gegründet, nachdem sie sich durch ihre Liebe und Leidenschaft zur Musik virtuell verbunden hatten. Jetzt sind sie in Los Angeles und haben sich auf einer Mission vereint, um der nächste große generationsbestimmende Act zu sein, der sich von klassischen Rock-Acts der 70er Jahre und Alt-Rock-Gruppen der 90er Jahre inspirieren lässt. Ihre Musik erinnert an die Markenzeichen früherer Generationen - hymnische Rhythmen, schreddernde Gitarren, erhebender Gesang - aber sie bahnt sich ihren Weg in die Zukunft mit cleveren Arrangements, scharfsinniger Musikalität und gekonntem Songwriting. Die Band hat sich in der Branche bereits einen Namen gemacht und war mit Weltklasse-Produzenten wie Bob Rock, Michael Beinhorn und Joe Chiccarrelli im Studio, die bereits Hits für Bands wie The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Soundgarden und The White Stripes geschrieben haben.Le groupe - composé des membres Derek Day (Chant), Dane Pieper (Guitare), Griffin Tucker (Guitare), Franco Gravante (Basse), et Chuck McKissock (Batterie) - s'est initialement formé en 2018 après s'être connectés et liés virtuellement par leur amour et leur passion de la musique. Maintenant à Los Angeles, ils se sont unis pour une mission : être le prochain grand acte de définition de la génération, en s'inspirant des actes de rock classique des années 70 et des groupes de rock alternatif des années 90. Leur musique fait écho aux caractéristiques des générations précédentes - rythmes hymniques, guitares déchiquetées, voix envoûtantes - mais se fraye un chemin vers le futur grâce à des arrangements astucieux, une musicalité aiguisée et des compositions efficaces.

Die Band - bestehend aus den Mitgliedern Derek Day (Gesang), Dane Pieper (Gitarre), Griffin Tucker (Gitarre), Franco Gravante (Bass) und Chuck McKissock (Schlagzeug) - wurde 2018 gegründet, nachdem sie sich durch ihre Liebe und Leidenschaft zur Musik virtuell verbunden hatten. Jetzt sind sie in Los Angeles und haben sich auf einer Mission vereint, um der nächste große generationsbestimmende Act zu sein, der sich von klassischen Rock-Acts der 70er Jahre und Alt-Rock-Gruppen der 90er Jahre inspirieren lässt. Ihre Musik erinnert an die Markenzeichen früherer Generationen - hymnische Rhythmen, schreddernde Gitarren, erhebender Gesang - aber sie bahnt sich ihren Weg in die Zukunft mit cleveren Arrangements, scharfsinniger Musikalität und gekonntem Songwriting. Die Band hat sich in der Branche bereits einen Namen gemacht und war mit Weltklasse-Produzenten wie Bob Rock, Michael Beinhorn und Joe Chiccarrelli im Studio, die bereits Hits für Bands wie The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Soundgarden und The White Stripes geschrieben haben.Le groupe - composé des membres Derek Day (Chant), Dane Pieper (Guitare), Griffin Tucker (Guitare), Franco Gravante (Basse), et Chuck McKissock (Batterie) - s'est initialement formé en 2018 après s'être connectés et liés virtuellement par leur amour et leur passion de la musique. Maintenant à Los Angeles, ils se sont unis pour une mission : être le prochain grand acte de définition de la génération, en s'inspirant des actes de rock classique des années 70 et des groupes de rock alternatif des années 90. Leur musique fait écho aux caractéristiques des générations précédentes - rythmes hymniques, guitares déchiquetées, voix envoûtantes - mais se fraye un chemin vers le futur grâce à des arrangements astucieux, une musicalité aiguisée et des compositions efficaces.

Blue Vinyl

Thundermother: Vier Rockgranaten aus Schweden!
Sie spielen nicht nur Rock'n'Roll: Thundermother sind Rock'n'Roll!
Aufrund der großen Nachfrage gibt es die "Heat Wave Deluxe Edition" jetzt als neue Auflage auf Vinyl in knackigem Clear Blue!
Wo die vier Schwedinnen auftreten, brennt die Luft! Damit erspielten sich Thundermother den Ruf der „am härtesten arbeitenden Band in der Rock Szene“. Das erkannte aktuell auch CAA, eine der größten Booking Agenturen der USA (u.a. Kiss, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Rammstein, Scorpions uvm.) und signten Thundermother in Windeseile für ihr Artist Roster.

Originally released in 1971, Tales Of The Algonquin, is one of the finest artifacts of the British modal and free jazz scene of the 1960s/1970s. Johns Surman and Warren, like their contemporary Mike Westbrook, take the big band form and flip it on its head by incorporating elements of modal, free, and progressive jazz. The results are powerful and this album is perhaps the greatest example of that quintessentially British jazz style. Long sought after by jazz collectors across the globe, this classic title is finally back in print on LP.

SIDE ONE:
1. With Terry's Help 2. We'll Make It 3. The Dandelion 4. Picture-Tree

SIDE TWO:
TALES OF THE ALGONQUIN I. The Purple Swan II. Shingebis and the North Wind III. The Adventures of Manabush IV. The White Water Lily V. Wihio the Wanderer

Die offizielle Vinyl zur gefeierten 6. Staffel von "My Hero Academia" - eine der beliebtesten Shonen-Anime-Serien weltweit - begleitet die andauernden, nerventreibenden Abenteuerreisen im Hero-Reich mit epischen Melodien und Vocals!Sie enthält Yuki Hayashis kompletten Score zur Fortsetzung, einschließlich der fan-favourite Tracks "Revengers" und "Weeee Are Fuxkin Super Hero!!".Die exklusive Edition erscheint mit zwei grün-gefärbten LP-Discs, die alle in einer wunderschönen Gatefold-Hülle mit lebhaftem Artwork aus der Serie verpackt sind - ein absolutes Must-Have-Produkt für treue Fans.

XUNTANZA is a Galician word that means: The action of gathering a group of people to discuss an issue or have fun. And this is what it is the second volume of this VVAA series. A meeting point for great artists discussing and having fun around ELECTRO music. For this is the second chapter, we have brought four great artists from the Spanish electro scene to the table. Annie Hall, Boris Divider, Dark Vektor and Lefrenk are the artists in charge of this new release.

Glasgow's First Lady of Jazz Carol Kidd, whose string of successful Linn recordings in the 1980's have made her a staple of international audiophile artists, returns with an all-new collection of delectable jazz and pop standards delivered in her inimitably smooth and heartfelt style.

Kidd has always been an artist celebrated for her cool, controlled phrasing and easy-going balladry, and her lovely new recording, BOTH SIDES NOW, is replete with her trademark inflection and warmth spread over classic songs by everyone from Rodgers & Hammerstein, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, and Richard Thompson. A songwriter of note, Kidd herself contributes two new tracks co-authored with Chris Anthony.

Impex's exclusive 180-gram 33 rpm LP, mastered by the superlative Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, features brilliantly detailed mid-tones, effortlessly stable bottom end, and crisp overtones. RTI's peerless pressing brings it all together for your listening pleasure.

Carol Kidd is an international award winning singer. She has been named 'Best Vocalist' at the British Jazz Awards on four occasions and was appointed MBE for Services to Jazz. In 2006, Carol was a winner of the prestigious Nordoff-Robbins Tartan Clef Music Award and in 2017 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Scottish Jazz Awards. Renowned for her impeccable phrasing and delivery along with an unforgettable ability to breathe fresh life into any jazz standard, Carol has cut a distinctive path through the Great American Songbook throughout her career with orchestral and trio backing, as well as performing as a unique and intimate duo with guitarist Nigel Clark.

A long line of admirers has included Tony Bennett, Vic Damone and Frank Sinatra, who invited her to open for him at a stadium concert where he remarked that, "Carol Kidd is the best kept secret of British jazz." After a sensational performance at the Tribute to Johnny Mercer show at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, Sir Michael Parkinson observed from the stage that "If there is a better jazz singer out there I have yet to hear them!" Luminaries who have performed alongside Carol as her guests include George Shearing, Georgie Fame, Annie Ross, Benny Carter, Joe Temperley, Bobby Watson and Martin Taylor.

Following a battle with cancer, Carol returned to the stage triumphant in the summer of 2013 to give a powerful, emotional performance at the Glasgow Jazz Festival. In the wake of this homecoming, it is impossible to deny that Kidd is one of the most remarkable artists and performers of our time.

Pharoah Sanders' "Shukuru" is noteworthy as being the album that reunited Sanders with vocalist Leon Thomas, who sang on some of Sanders' most endearing and powerful compositions-- among them the legendary "The Creator Has a Masterplan".

Thomas only joins the band on two tracks-- "Mas in Brooklyn (Highlife)" and "Sun Song". The former gets a full calypso reading complete with steel drum sounds and chanted vocals traded between Sanders and Thomas. It's a lot of fun, but by and large, throwaway. The latter is one of the true gems on the album-- a pretty ballad that serves as both a launching point for Sanders' best balladry and Thomas' vocal, with the latter soaring in his upper register wordlessly between verses intoned in his trademark baritone. It's by and large simply stunning.

The rest of the record has got its issues however, and by and large this comes in the part of Henderson's synthesizer-- while his piano tone is virtually indistinguishable from an acoustic piano, several tracks receive irritating synth vocals or strings (it's really hard to tell which, it's fairly indistinct and obnoxious), mangling otherwise fine performances of traditional tenor feature "Body and Soul", Sanders-penned "Jitu" (although admittedly the leader manages such a powerful solo it gets past it) and an absolutely breathtaking reading of "Too Young to Go Steady". At least opener "Shukuru" and closing funereal piece "For Big George" are spared this as the use of synths of them are far more tasteful (although one questions Sanders' choice to intone his wife's name over the former's smokey lines, but that's another story). by Vine Voice

If, among the Afro-Peruvian music groups that have emerged in recent years, there is one that has dared to take the sound to new dimensions, it is Perkutao. Heirs to the best Afro-Peruvian tradition, they have been able to integrate Afro-Cuban elements and various contemporary popular styles, which they play with amazing with speed and precision. "Mis ancestros", is their debut album for Buh Records. Perkutao is an Afro-Peruvian percussion ensemble founded in 2005, directed by Percy Chinchilla, musician, percussionist, zapateador and teacher of young generations of percussionists. "Mis Ancestros" (My ancestors) is their first record under the production of Manongo Mujica and is the fourth title of the collection "Perspectivas de la Música Afroperuana" (Perspectives on Afro-Peruvian Music). Chinchilla shares the artistic direction of Perkutao with William Nicasio 'Makarito', another outstanding percussionist. Both grew up in the famous Callejón del Buque, in the district of La Victoria, a spot preferred by bohemians and known by local music partying -jaranas criollas. Both were also formed in Perú Negro, an emblematic Afro-Peruvian ensemble, and both carry in their blood the cult of percussion and Afro tradition. Chinchilla comes from a family of Afro-Peruvian musicians including Caitro Soto and Ronaldo Campos. And Makarito is the son of Macario Nicasio and grandson of El Niño, legendary Cuban percussionist in charge of introducing congas and bongo to Afro-Peruvian rhythms. Perkutao arose precisely from the merging of these traditions, Afro-Peruvian, Afro-Cuban and Caribbean music, and have become one of the most sought-after percussion ensembles due to the intensity of their sound and their powerful performances that include stage movements and surprising acrobatic skills. In addition to Chinchilla and Makarito, the ensemble is completed by Edu Campos, Andree Liendo and Víctor Sánchez Pitín. "I follow in the footsteps of my ancestors, to the beat of the cajita, the quijada and the cajón, to the rhythm of a zamacueca, a festejo and a good landó". This is an excerpt of the lyrics of "Poema", the opening track of the album, the rhythmic base accompanies Chinchilla's voice and then increases in a crescendo that announces the paths to be explored by Perkutao. "Azañero Colorao", "Trucutum Kiti Pa" and "Cancha con Sabor", composed based on minor percussion (cajita, quijada), zapateo and cajón, respectively, are compositions that serve as an introduction, a tribute to the essential instruments of the Afro-Peruvian tradition. The last one in particular already defines Perkutao's style: a trepidant and orgiastic rhythm, hypnotic and hard hitting, Dionysian and cathartic. With "Madre Africa" and "Al Tayta Bukense", for djembes and congas, respectively, we find Perkutao retaking the Afro-Cuban heritage embedded to the Afro-Peruvian sounds, abakuá and festejo. "Lloraré", a version of a famous Cuban song, mirror the ensemble's fascination with Caribbean music (salsa is another genre cultivated by its members). "Mis ancestros" is an album about a tradition, but it is also a renewal. Perkutao opens a new direction for Afro-Peruvian music, its sound is an evocation and the here and now, it is deep-rooted but freely flowing percussion. Perkutao are Percy Chinchilla, William Nicasio "Makarito", Edu Campos, Andree Liendo y Víctor Sánchez Pitín. Produced by Manongo Mujica y Daniel Mujica. Recorded and mixed by Juan José Salazar at La Encía del Leopardo Estudio, Chorrillos, Lima, Perú. Mastered by Mario Breuer en Sensei Mastering, Córdoba, Argentina. Cover and Design by Yerko Zlatar.

Not a great deal is known about this talented artist having released only 4 albums in a recording career that started in 1993. Raised in a musical family by piano playing parents he began learning the instrument at an early age, later concentrating on the saxophone, but became a multi-instrumentalist by the time was signed to Verve Records, playing most forms of keyboards, synths, vibes, as well as sax and flute. He moved to Florida, from his native New York, shortly after graduating from studying music at university in New Jersey, and played in local rock bands whilst developing his love for jazz, and was working on a demo to try and get a record deal. 
 
Disaster struck when he was involved in a serious boating accident in which both hands were badly crushed and he was unable to play an instrument for many months, during which time he developed a skill for singing and composing. Turning adversity into opportunity is the best way to describe the outcome.
 
So why is a soul label interested in releasing some of his material? Both tracks selected, "One" and "Sweeter", are released on vinyl for the first time and come from his third album, "Lights On", released on his own label Eaak Records following a break of 7 years which was devoted to raising his children. The sounds are undeniably late night make-out music, lush, sophisticated and sensuous. 
 
The majority of plaudits for his work previously came from the world of contemporary jazz and, dare I say it, smooth jazz, and was largely ignored by the soul magazines and radio stations. His captivating falsetto vocal style, reflects his influences by Curtis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye. All his material is self-penned and the albums were co-produced with drummer Guy Eckstine. There is an underlying 70’s feel to the contemporary arrangements and his work is clearly deserving of greater recognition.

Steve Hobbs (Solar Radio, Totally Wired Radio)soul

What a privilege to start a new record label with an album of such quality. As we're sure most of you will know, Tom was the front man of the legendary US psychedelic/folk band PEARLS BEFORE SWINE. Recording for the ESP label in the 60s, then moving to Reprise, PBS left us a legacy of strange, beautiful music. In the early 70s Tom went solo, recording more albums for Reprise and Blue Thumb. As a schoolkid he came third in a talent show in which fellow schoolboy, Bobby Zimmerman (yes, that Bobby Zimmerman), came fifth! He played gigs with Pink Floyd, Crazy Horse, Patti Smith and many more before calling time in 1976, and becoming a Civil Rights lawyer. Renewed interest in Tom and PBS in the late 90s led to him making some staggeringly good live appearances. Then in 1999 he released his first album for over 25 years. The prophetically titled 'A Journal Of The Plague Year'. Featuring appearances from Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang (of Galaxie 500 fame) and Masakai Batoh of Japanese band Ghost, came out on the British label Woronzow to great acclaim. This is the first ever reissue of 'Plague Year' and it comes with the original artwork and lyric insert, as a limited vinyl edition of 400 and a CD version of just 200. Tragically, Tom died in 2018 aged 70. It was a joy to count him as a friend. Blue Matter would like to thank Lynn Madison-Rapp & Ade Shaw for their help with making this reissue a reality.

A double treat for those who love timeless Southern Soul flavoured with some of those good ol’ down home blues. Memphis born, and Minneapolis based, Willie Walker can comfortably be included in the pantheon of grittiest soul singers along with Wilson Pickett, Syl Johnson, Lou Rawls, James Carr, Eddie Floyd, Tyrone Davis and L.V. Johnson, to name but a few, but there has always been speculation about other Willie Walkers. The recordings on Eutor and Hi in the 70’s are not by the same Willie as those on Goldwax and Checker in the 60’s. He did, however, also record as Wee Willie Walker.
 
He was a member of The Rhythm Harmonizers, The Val-Dons, The Exciters, The Bound Band, Willie & The Bumblebees (although that Willie is actually Willie Murphy of The Val-Dons), and Canoise, spanning a long and varied career before hooking up with the Minneapolis based band The Butanes in 2004, with whom he made the next three albums. The first of these was mainly cover versions, but "Right Where I Belong" (2004) and "Memphisapolis" (2006) are notable for each providing the tracks that make up this latest Jai Alai release, a label that differs from sister label Soul4Real by featuring 21st century tracks previously CD only but now released on 7” vinyl for the first time. It also has to be noted that all the tracks on both these albums were written and produced by Curtis Obeda, who managed to track down Willie after so many years.
 
“I Feel It” will have been missed by most as it was on the CD "Right Where I Belong" which was released in 2004 on the most unlikely of UK imprints, the Wirral based One On One Records run by Colin Dilnot. The album is a lavish display of real instruments from a band that once backed John Lee Hooker and Little Johnny Taylor and the perfect setting for Willie’s powerful vocals. 
 
Just tipping five glorious minutes, "Cry, Cry, Cry" is a perfect example of why soul music is inextricably linked to the blues, and when the gospel styled chorus joins in towards the end, you realise that this could, maybe should, have carried on for just a little bit longer. Perhaps a fuller length version exists? Sadly, Willie died peacefully in his sleep in November 2019, but to complete his story check out the two albums on Blue Dot as Wee Willie Walker & The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra. To quote the great Quinton Claunch…”Willie was one of the best to come out of Memphis in the 60’s”.
 
Steve Hobbs
(Solar Radio, Totally Wired Radio)