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Album first released 1983 and now re-released on 180 Gram vinyl
The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio. They were a
significant force in that played a major role in the gradual transition between ska
and rocksteady into reggae with their three-part harmonies.
The Heptones: Barry Llewellyn, Earl Morgan & Dolphin ‘Naggo’ Morris
Recorded at Black Star Recording Studio, 46 Spencer Road, Tottenham, London,
N17 9UU, UK
Includes extensive sleeve notes.
Promotion across social media platforms
Advertising in, Echoes, Record Collector Magazine and Riddim

It's been 10 years since Finnish troubadour, The Mattoid, returned to
Scandinavia after a decade living as an 'illegal alien' (stress the alien) in
Music City
During his time in Nashville, he recorded 4 albums with Cleft and 1 of decidedly
crooked covers for JEFF the Brotherhood imprint, Infinity Cat. 'Great Lovers' was
recorded and mixed during Mattoid's ten year exile between Nashville, Helsinki
and London. It serves as the final piece in a set of albums constituting a
subsequent, catalog spanning comp for release in later 2022, along with first time
pressings of his previous two full length albums on vinyl!

For the uninitiated, The William Loveday Intention is the latest band put
together by the multi-hyphenate Billy Childish
It would be impossible to pigeonhole Billy Childish as he has been
successful in music, art, poetry, photography, filmmaking, advocacy and
more
This fifth album from his The William Loveday Intention project may be his best
yet and his fan base is huge.
Having recorded over 125 albums over a career that spans nearly forty years,
every five years or so Billy is cited by a current top band as the embodiment of
rock and roll integrity. Running in parallel with this, every five years or so Billy
splits his group up and starts again from scratch.
Billy Childish and his bands have been championed by a succession of high
profile artists including the late Kurt Cobain, Beck, Jack White and even Kylie
Minogue who named an LP after one of Billy’s poetry collections.

Cosmic jazz from the Canary Islands. After a few years in London, where he worked with Archie Shepp and recorded a sought-after album for the famed library music label De Wolfe, Argentinian pianist Luis Vecchio settled in the island of Gran Canaria following advice from a superior entity from outer space. Vecchio subsequently opened the first jazz school in the Canary Islands, effectively planting the seeds of jazz in the archipelago.


In Contactos, recorded in 1978 in the Mayra studio owned by Ramiro González, Vecchio gives a free jazz account (with a dash of funky jazz rock) of his contacts with Adionesis, who delivers his ominous message upon the human race on side B of the album. Fellow Argentinean Fernando Bermúdez on percussion and Japanese bass player Yoichi Yahiro complete the line-up of Contactos.

Winston 'Niney' Holmes AKA The Observer, must be one of Reggaes finest Roots Rebel producers. Capable of making some of the heaviest, innovative music, not only in sound but also in the Cultural/Political sense.
Born George Boswell, Montego Bay, Jamaica 1951, and name checked 'Niney' due to losing a thumb in a workshop accident. He began his career in music by organising bands to play at school dances. But his first steps learning the musical ropes came working under the tutelage of producer Bunny Lee around 1967, organising sessions for Bunny's stable of artists. He moved on to work alongside Lee Perry at Joe Gibb's 'Amalgamated' label setup, where on Lee Perry's leaving in 1969 to start his own 'Upsetter' label, Niney became chief engineer.
Inspired by Perry's success it wasn't long before his own 'Destroyer' label was under way. It was 1970, and his first production entitled 'Mr Brown' by DJ's Dennis Alcapone and Lizzy, proved to be a minor hit, but his own 'Blood and Fire' track released in December of that year would become a major hit. After initial problems with it's likeness to Bob Marley's track ' Duppy Conqueror' being ironed out, it's reissue on his now named 'Observer' label, saw it go on to become, Jamaican Record of the Year 1971. Far out selling Bob Marley's track to the tune of 30,000 copies in Jamaica alone. A roots classic...
Niney's reputation for building great roots tracks, was furthered with more success working with singer Max Romeo. Issuing cuts such as 'Beard Man Feast', the great 'Reggae Matic' and 'Aily Ailaloo' and renewing his friendship with Lee Perry on the track 'Rasta Band Wagon', who's production credit read Perry, Niney, Maxie. In 1973, Niney began working with Dennis Brown, who was already an established star from an early age, they found a chemistry that went on to produce some of Dennis' finest work. The 1973 hit 'Westbound Train' was followed in 1974 by 'Cassandra', 'I am the Conqueror' and the timeless 'No More Shall I rOam'. Another important connection around this time was the great King Tubby who Niney would take his tapes along to and even record some of his tracks at Tubby's house, 18 Drummlie Avenue, Kingston, which doubles as his Studio of Dub.
It's these tracks that we are concentrating on here. Tubby would strip the tracks back to the bone and rebuild then sometimes leaving off the hook line. Whether that be the horn line or keyboard line and adding effects over the top that could disguise the cut even more. Even Niney stating that when Tubby had finished with a cut, he found it hard to recognise the track himself. Its these tracks as dub plate specials that Tubby would play on his Hometown HI-FI Sound System and it's these such tracks that we have compiled for this release. Dub Plated that have not seen the light of day since tragically the great Osborne Ruddock AKA King Tubby was gunned won and murdered on the 06th December 1989. For a few dollars and a gold chain, reggae music has lost one of it's most creative, inventive forces.

Niney also cut tracks with many other Reggae giants such as Gregory Issacs, Michael Rose, Junior Delgado, Horace Andy and Delroy Wilson to name but a few. As in house producer at the legendry Channel Studios and supervising sessions at Dynamic and Randy's Studio 17, his magic touched many. DJ, Arranger, Producer, his Roots Rebel music still stands the test of time.
Hope you enjoy the set.....

Welcome To Our World is the debut studio album by the Norfolk, VA duo Timbaland & Magoo. First released in 1997 by Blackground Records, the platinum selling album features guest appearances from artists such as Missy Elliot, Aaliyah, Ginuwine, and Playa. Known as a classic among duos in Hip-Hop history, the album features singles such as "Up Jumps Da Boogie," "Clock Strikes," & "Luv 2 Luv Ya."

White Vinyl

Part of The Optic Sevens 4.0 Reissue Series.
Limited to 800 copies worldwide. Please check your allocation with your sales rep.
Pressed on White Vinyl.
Includes postcard and poster. Non-Returnable.
The Wake formed in Glasgow (Scotland) in April 1981, after singer/ guitarist Caesar teamed up with drummer Steven Allen and a bassist, Joe Donnelly. Previously Caesar had played guitar in Altered Images, writing first single Dead Pop Stars and appearing on the first two John Peel sessions, but left the group shortly before they crashed into the mainstream pop charts with Happy Birthday.
With few opportunities to play large live shows the new group financed a single on their own Scan 45 label, coupling upbeat indiepop number On Our Honeymoon with Give Up, a darker song featuring a keyboard line picked out by band friend Robert ‘Bobby’ Gillespie.

CLEAR VINYL 2XLP SET IN GATEFOLD SLEEVE

First time on vinyl. Originally released as a CD only album on Riot Season back in 2008 and out of print ever since. Fourteen years later it's finally getting the double vinyl release it fully deserves.
Now expanded, and with new artwork 'Pink Lady Lemonade - You're From Outer Space' really could be Acid Mothers Temple’s first 'summer album'.
Here, Acid Mothers Temple's most representative song 'Pink Lady Lemonade' is dismantled and reconstructed as a blissful ecstatic psychedelic trip where chaos and silence intersect.
These were the first Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno studio recordings since the addition of Pikachu, drummer and vocalist with Osaka grenade-girl duo Afrirampo. The popular AMT standard "Pink Lady Lemonade" showcases a 21st century acid rock update on the 60s San Francisco psychedelic sound.
This one doesn't reach in the red status often - it’s a more out-there trippy ride. But when it does finally soar, Kawabata's guitar has never sounded more alive.
"Pink Lady Lemonade, You're soooooooooo sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!"
Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno :Pikacyu : drums, voice, cosmic shaman Tabata Mitsuru : bass, voice, malatab Higashi Hiroshi : synthesizer, dancin'king Shimura Koji : drums, latino cool Kawabata Makoto : guitar, voice, electronics, speed guru Audrey Ginestet : voice, cosmos

In a genre belonging to crooners like Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, James Brown and Otis Redding, authenticity is a requirement.
Enter Anduze, a unique vocalis whose riffs evoke the retro sounds of the aforementioned artists, but reverently done his way
– a fresh brand, re-imagines and crefted into a modern depiction of the era.

Anduze was raised on his father’s native land of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. His distinctive upbringing still lines the
threading of his creative fabric, which continues to expand into all corners of taday’s musical landscape.

It’s been over a decade since Anduze last released a full album. A lot has changed and progressed since then. He left behind the LA/Hollywood nights in exchange for a better quality of life in Athens, Greece. Also, during this span, he’s been a multi-featured artist on collaborations with producers such as Satin Jackets, Art of Tones, LTJ Xperience, Gramatik, and more…

However, his most noteworthy ascent is as lead singer (and songwriter) of Austrian act, Parov Stelar, with whom he tours
worldwide. Still, with all his accomplishments within the electronic world, it was time for Anduze to get back to his own sound – SOUL.

Using the pandemic as an opportunity, instead of a crutch, Anduze recorded “Aura,” a nine-song album that blurs the lines of
soul, funk, pop, folk, and R&B, with 20 contributing musicians.
If you like Prince, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Lenny Kravitz, Terence Trent D’arby etc…this album takes influences from
all their best moments and combines them into one mighty explosion that is simply, ANDUZE.
These days he is also living the new life of his song in collaboration with LTJ Xperience entitled Bad Side which has been
included in the new game update for Play Station GTA 'Los Santos' starring the DJ producer Moodyman and in the soundtrack of the new series And Just Like That, a popular follow-up to Sex And The City, which aired worldwide.

A lot has been said and repeated about the interiority of this club music - how the joyful tremor of the "Raingurl" refrain holds hands with such soft and doubtful verses. How special it is that house music so of New York can contain storytelling cultivated so far away. That repetition is born of people all over the world going out, and staying in, with this music as a compass; songs that define so many late night hangs for crews of friends, singalongs in DJ booths, contemplative 5am walks home from the club. What can get lost in that repetition, in the shifting canonization of these recordings as symbols of any one scene or moment, is what was behind the pair of round glasses reflecting so tirelessly outwards. Yaeji, an exceptional friend only at the very beginning of finding her path as a cross-disciplinary artist and collaborator. Yaeji wrote this music while going out nearly every night of the week to DJ and support her own NYC community of friends at their turns behind the decks. These tracks originated from explorations in dancefloor anonymity, growing from seeds planted by sharing her first musical experiments online.

Drummer "Drummie" Joe Isaacs had already created history as the house drummer at Studio 1 in Jamaica on countless pre-reggae classics before moving to Canada in 1968 and is credited with slowing down the fast pace of ska during the rocksteady era. With Risco Connection, Isaacs released a series of choice reggae / disco covers, from 'Ain't No Stopping Us Now' and 'Good Times' to 'I'm Caught Up (In A One Night Love Affair)' and 'It's My House' as limited 12" singles on his own Black Rose imprint. "Arriving in Canada, we were one of the first set of musicians out of Jamaica coming here," explains Isaacs. "With Risco Connection, we wanted to try something new, songs that would have a crossover between disco and the rocksteady feeling and the right lyrics. We had trouble getting them well distributed widely at the time but people still picked up on the sound." 'Risco Version' brings together all of the vocal versions, dubs and extra tracks from the singles. Both formats feature an interview with Joe Isaacs and liner notes by journalist Angus Taylor. Audio is restored by Sean P and fully remastered and cut loud and proud by The Carvery.

BBC 6 MusicAlbum of the Yearas chosen by

DJ Craig Charles

★★★★Mojo

★★★★★Blues & Soul

★★★★★UK Vibe

9/10 DJ Mag (Single I Miss You)

"One of the very best soul voices I've heard for a very long time"

Craig Charles (BBC 6Music)

"Delivered with a vocal dripping with yearning and desperation"

4/5 Mojo

"A high octane soul masterpiece"

Blues & Soul,5/5Album of the Month

"Undoubtedly the album of the year"

5/5 UK Vibe

Burundian soul singer JP Bimeni is set to release his first music since his BBC 6 Music award winning album Free, from 2018. Give Me Hope is a slice of horn heavy, Afro tinged, Stax inspired soul and is the first taster of a new album set for release in early 2022

Give me Hope is the title track from his new album, featuring his band The Black Belts, set to drop on February 4thon Lovemonk Records.

A supremely funky number it boasts bassline and powerful horn arrangements, and gives a taster to a new work that dots between classic '60s Motown, psychedelia and Afro-funk.

LGR015 sees Locked Groove teaming up with Gacha Bakradze for “3 Variations Sur Un Thème”.

After linking up online in 2020, Gacha and Tim decided to join forces and make something they believe is truly special.

Gacha Bakradze hails from Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. He has deservedly earned plaudits after releases on Apollo, Cin Cin, Die Orakel, Fever AM and Lapsus. Gacha regularly redefines his musical ideology; always bestowing it with mood based authenticity and excitement through rhythms and harmonies.

Just like Locked Groove, his musical output is diverse and always evolving, which makes them great collaborators.

Like the EP title suggests, the 3 tracks are loosely based on the same theme but explore different sonic landscapes.

Variation 1 opens the EP with skittish percussion and melodies weaving in and out. Variation 2 pushes the tempo to 150+ BPM with synth sounds reminiscing of rave years gone by. Variation 3 dials things back and provides a more subdued yet euphoric addition to the EP.

For the remix they’ve enlisted Deniro. The Dutch producer, known for his precise use of melody and rhythm delivers a soulful and timeless rendition of Variation 1.

The EP is due 10 June on all digital platforms and will also be available on vinyl from 20th May.

Artwork by Ollie George with photos by Locked Groove.

“I’m closing a chapter in my life,” Barbie Bertisch says to me from a park bench in Greenpoint, “I spent the last four years working towards gaining confidence around my ideas and my creative perspective. This feels like a culmination of that process” The “this,” in question is Bertisch’s debut record Prelude, a collection of eleven songs that chronicle 5 years of Bertisch’s life. The legendary musician Anna Domino describes the record best: “Prelude is a record of layers and depths. The melting phases and soaring distances.”


Raised in Buenos Aires and Miami, Bertisch has called New York home for most of her adult life. When she started piecing together Prelude, she was in her Brooklyn kitchen. It was early quarantine. Stuck at home instead of DJing at clubs, she found the space to parse through the archives. What she previously considered unworthy of attention in the era of distractions, finally made sense as a whole once all the noise was turned down. Compiling a list of songs in various states of completion, Bertisch dreamed up an album, a chronicle in growth and healing frustrations of the past, an honest account of someone trying to find her own voice. That in and of itself was a journey. It took years for Bertisch to accept that she was an artist. “I felt like I was surrounded by men who ruled every space. I constantly felt like I had to ask permission to enter, always around bands but never the girl in the band” she says.


Prelude is an introspective record. It explores all of the valences of being and feeling. Some songs are chaotic and choppy. Others are soft and searching. There is rage and innocence, and moments of forced stillness, like capturing the aftermath of panic attacks, as in “After The Storm”. Bertisch also focuses on rhythm, bass guitar being her main instrument, and no stranger to the power of the beat. The record also draws on influences as varied as Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Cocteau Twins, Berlin School, and pioneering producer François Kevorkian. Both sonically and conceptually, Prelude is a portrait of who Bertisch is as a person.“Is This What You Wanted?” is fiery, a pointed provocation to domineering figures from her past. It’s full of strobing, strident synths, and heady lines of bass. It gives off the same vibe as a fire alarm, as a big room dance track that subverts your expectations of what it means to dance in a sea of bodies. “28,” the record’s opening track is more peaceful. It’s all languid keyboard arpeggios with the occasional flourish of a cascading synth effect.


Since most of the songs already existed in some form or another, Bertisch’s job on Prelude was to refine and reimagine music that had previously been private. She spent time rearranging, rewriting, adding elements newly available to her, such as the saxophone, and pushing the limits of the rough mixes to mold the universe she envisioned. Along the way, Bertisch grew more excited about her abilities as a musician. The resulting record is one that is inherently confident.


Prelude is also a homespun release. It’s coming out on Bertisch’s own label, Love Injection Records, which she runs with her partner Paul Raffaele. The two also DJ and make zines under the name, which started in 2015. Love Injection is a love letter to New York. Prelude is a word of encouragement to those struggling with self-actualization. The record was mixed by Justin Van Der Volgen and mastered by Walter Coelho. Love Injection Records holds the remix tradition in high regard, and they’ve enlisted reworks by some of Barbie’s favorite producers. It’s all a labor of love for Bertisch. Prelude is her: Barbie the musician.
©℗ Love Injection Records 2022

As a fine collector of Jazz-Funk and Fusion for many years, Charles Maurice selected some of his favorite forgotten productions, as he previously did for the AOR Global Sounds, French and Brazilian Disco Boogie Sounds compilations series.

This time, recordings come from Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, New Zealand, Uruguay, Spain and France, from artists and bands mostly known in their local scenes. You'll hear here the best elements of the Fusion and Jazz-Funk genre: breezy vocal arrangements reminding Flora Purim in Return To Forever or George Duke's albums, sweet and virtuosic Fender Rhodes (kind of common thread of the comp), melodic spiral-shaped fuzzy synthesizers leads, or irresistible basslines, altogether bringing a unique groove to life.

Höga Nord Rekords kindly welcomes Teecwa back to the label, following up his last full length-album “Beyond the Altai” with “Elysian on Moon Lake”. He is still exploring the intersections between house, electro, techno and dub and once again he manages to harness the analogue electronics in his machines to produce modern psychedelia.

“Elysian On Moon Lake” is rawer, less airy and not as sparkling as his last album. This is a tighter, and slightly darker experience than Teecwa’s previous work, maybe caused by being in quarantine for extensive time during production, letting some of the dreaminess aside for the harsher reality in a pandemic world. Still, you get a mind-altering experience in a lot of tracks since the album starts off in a lighter tone than how it later develops. Switching from the A- to the B-side works as a rite of passage going from dusk to night; the sun rays through the blinders are replaced by neon light dancing on the walls and ceiling.

Regarding the dramaturgy of “Elysian On Moon Lake”, this album has movielike qualities; a well-directed piece from the opening impact and setup through the confrontational part where intensity builds up to the climax in “Hythmdoser” to the cooling down effect of the peaceful closer “Celestial Trails”. The trip eventually ends up in a safe and happy place after the cathartic finale.

This is not a just collection of songs, this is an album made to experience in full length without interruptions.

On May 20th On Rotation returns for their first VA release - Genetic Memories Vol. 1.

Anderson opens the release with the mystical ‘Polymorphic Magic’ - a low-slung builder combining deep synths with sampled instrumentation. 

“I’m a huge fan of self resonating / overtone instruments so using the Fujara was a no brainer. A naturally psychedelic sounding instrument, I wanted to accompany the flutey pipe with a deeper and low-mid tempo chug.” - Anderson

Next up is Musty Head Records main man Jamie Leather - combining the tight drums and skilful melodic work of his previous releases with all the influences we love, ‘Discovery’ is sure to get any party going.

Leading the B-Side of the record is Ed Hodge's ‘Atreides’ - a tough yet playful banger drawing influences from across the spectrum of UK music. Gun fingers guaranteed! 

“It’s probably the fastest, rowdiest track I’ve made under the Ed Hodge moniker and pulls influences from house, trance and speed garage.” - Ed

Closing the release, we speed things up and travel deep into the past with Phazma's ‘Arrakeen’. Featuring ethereal synths, driving rhythms and beefy low end, this floaty number works just as well at home as in the club - a perfect way to round off the EP! 

“After some help from my musical peers and some heavy inspiration from the release of the new Dune movie, I managed to come up with something that I’m pretty stoked with!.” - Phazma

Freestyle continues with their drive to unearth rare and classic UK funk, soul & boogie records with a reissue of a formerly white label-only, rare-as-hens-teeth debut 12" by UK soul icon Rick Clarke from way back in 1981.

Sharing the same line-up of performers as the eponymous group Potion (Rick Clarke, Carlton White on bass & Everton McCalla, formerly of Light of the World and later Freeez, on drums) though credited on the OG press as Rick Clarke alone, this 12" came out originally in the same year as the also sought after Potion 12" "Catch The Feelin' (Showstopper)" - a year before we would see Rick & Everton release the classic british electro funk of "Magic" as Side On (with Peter Mass) on Beggars Banquet.

This is a classic slice of British disco funk, showcasing an early vocal talent that would go on to become a key feature of the late 80s UK soul scene, alongside a tight-as rhythm section. The subtly dubbed-out instrumental mix is a real treat too, bringing those synth flourishes and soaring horns to the fore and letting us hear Carlton's bass work wonders unencumbered.

"Points of Light” is the debut album from Sơn FM, consisting of Nic Ford and Attiss Ngo. After being part of the Vinyan cassette, the Vietnam-based duo returns to Siamese Twins Records with the label's first album in 2xLP format.

The album is an ode to the patterns of nature, which are repetitive but never quite identical. Playing with the endless possibilities of phase-shifting is at the core of Sơn FM's heavy ambient sound, shaped by their signature live performances across art galleries or surrounded by nature. Weaving dreamy kinetic sound tapestries into morphing texture movements. Analog synthesizers loops slowly decay and unfurl, ranging from melodic elements to droning sequences in a fourth world atmosphere.

This is music for inward journeys and exploring the interstices between cosmic patterns. Commanding harmonies evolve in soft-focus, phase-shifting soundscapes reminiscent of how sound is perceived underwater, at mountain summits, in the womb, or in altered states. Resembling liminal spaces between places, like dreams that haven't been dreamt yet or forgotten visions at the edge of consciousness, gently corralling its audience towards transcendental points of light.

The groove-obsessed Sdban Ultra label are pleased to present an outstanding new collection of musical gems from Belgium's thriving jazz scene, compiled by Belgian DJ and eclectic connoisseur, Lefto.



'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2', released 24th June, features a balance of known and obscure artists. From the thrilling frenetic grooves and innovative soundscapes of Bandler Ching and the electronic influenced Stellar Legions (Andrew Claes from (STUFF.), to the jazz fusion collective L?p?GangGang and weaving musical odyssey that is M.CHUZI, 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2' is a melting pot of the best musical talent coming out one of the smallest countries in Europe. In addition, there's the beautiful unease of One Frame Movement, the laidback 'acoustic electronica' of Boombox Experiments, the classic funky jazz stylings of Cargo Mas and the cinematic The Brums, making 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2' an essential release for any jazzhead with a passion for new sounds.



"By collecting all the music for 'Jazz Cats volume 2', I come to the conclusion that we are living in an era of very talented individuals and collectives. Even more so than 4 years ago. I have the impression that the Belgian jazz sound is more diverse, with more influences and more creativity. There was a time that jazz would be the starting sample to create a beat for rappers, today it is electronica, rap or afrobeat that influences our youth to create a sound or style that suits their vision of what jazz sounds like in 2022. So, once again it is with extreme pleasure that I present to you some of the best present and next generation of jazz cats this little country has to offer."



2018's 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats' included tracks from some of Belgium's biggest hitters including Black Flower, STUFF., and Glass Museum who have all gone on to receive global acclaim. The album was given the accolade of 'Album of the Week' on Worldwide FM and also received further radio support from Jazz FM in addition to numerous glowing reviews.



Tastemaker, selector, curator, DJ and producer, Lefto is one of the most important and respected tastemakers around the world with a record collection of over 15,000 records. Cutting his teeth on jazz and new beat, a genre that moulded the shape of electronic music in 80s Belgium, Lefto formed his early tastemaker know-how via his dad's record collection.



Creating his fine ear for music and the cutting edge at Belgium's legendary Music Mania record store in his hometown Brussels, he has been a resident on Belgium's leading radio station Studio Brussel and currently hosts a show on Kiosk Radio (BE) and The Lot Radio (US). He also curates his own stage at the Dour Festival and hosts his own nights in Gent. World renowned, he regularly blesses sound systems from Tokyo to Seoul, Singapore to Manila, Kazakhstan to Germany, San Francisco and Los Angeles, with residencies in Amsterdam and New York.

Limited version 2LP on red vinyl in gatefold sleeve. An outstanding new collection of musical gems from Belgium's thriving jazz scene, compiled by Belgian DJ and eclectic connoisseur, Lefto.

The groove-obsessed Sdban Ultra label are pleased to present an outstanding new collection of musical gems from Belgium's thriving jazz scene, compiled by Belgian DJ and eclectic connoisseur, Lefto.



'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2', released 24th June, features a balance of known and obscure artists. From the thrilling frenetic grooves and innovative soundscapes of Bandler Ching and the electronic influenced Stellar Legions (Andrew Claes from (STUFF.), to the jazz fusion collective L?p?GangGang and weaving musical odyssey that is M.CHUZI, 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2' is a melting pot of the best musical talent coming out one of the smallest countries in Europe. In addition, there's the beautiful unease of One Frame Movement, the laidback 'acoustic electronica' of Boombox Experiments, the classic funky jazz stylings of Cargo Mas and the cinematic The Brums, making 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats volume 2' an essential release for any jazzhead with a passion for new sounds.



"By collecting all the music for 'Jazz Cats volume 2', I come to the conclusion that we are living in an era of very talented individuals and collectives. Even more so than 4 years ago. I have the impression that the Belgian jazz sound is more diverse, with more influences and more creativity. There was a time that jazz would be the starting sample to create a beat for rappers, today it is electronica, rap or afrobeat that influences our youth to create a sound or style that suits their vision of what jazz sounds like in 2022. So, once again it is with extreme pleasure that I present to you some of the best present and next generation of jazz cats this little country has to offer."



2018's 'Lefto presents Jazz Cats' included tracks from some of Belgium's biggest hitters including Black Flower, STUFF., and Glass Museum who have all gone on to receive global acclaim. The album was given the accolade of 'Album of the Week' on Worldwide FM and also received further radio support from Jazz FM in addition to numerous glowing reviews.



Tastemaker, selector, curator, DJ and producer, Lefto is one of the most important and respected tastemakers around the world with a record collection of over 15,000 records. Cutting his teeth on jazz and new beat, a genre that moulded the shape of electronic music in 80s Belgium, Lefto formed his early tastemaker know-how via his dad's record collection.



Creating his fine ear for music and the cutting edge at Belgium's legendary Music Mania record store in his hometown Brussels, he has been a resident on Belgium's leading radio station Studio Brussel and currently hosts a show on Kiosk Radio (BE) and The Lot Radio (US). He also curates his own stage at the Dour Festival and hosts his own nights in Gent. World renowned, he regularly blesses sound systems from Tokyo to Seoul, Singapore to Manila, Kazakhstan to Germany, San Francisco and Los Angeles, with residencies in Amsterdam and New York.

After an initial link up last summer, Altrimenti Records present four more remixes of cult Italian synth maestros Cabaret Du Ciel. Once again the focus is on experimentation, testing unusual crossovers between artists, eras and styles in pursuit of compelling new sounds.
The results across all four of these versions are distinct from each other, and distinct from wider trends in dance music.
First up, Benedek approaches 'Great Plains' as a low-tempo space-boogie excursion. Following in the wake of his releases on Leaving Records, L.I.E.S. and People's Potential Unlimited, the LA-based artist lays down thick slabs of Moog while retaining the ethereal swirl of the source material.
Rome's L.U.C.A. (aka Francesco De Bellis) has established his new wave-inspired sound on his own Edizioni Mondo label, not to mention working in other projects such as MAT101 and Jollymusic, and he brings a sprightly, motorik energy to 'Climatic Variation'.
Lorenzo Fortino's 'Suspacid Revisitation' version of 'Lakota' is aqueous and psychedelic, but remains elegant and understated in its execution. The emergent producer has already released on Wo-Land and most recently Miniera, and this remix ably embodies the entrancing qualities inherent in his sound.
The remix package concludes with a playful, leftfield electro diversion from elusive Montreal-based producers Sentena. Hailing from an emergent scene orbiting the Doo label and projects like SnP 500 and Fashion, their crooked take on machine music perfectly meets the adventurous aims of Altrimenti in testing out crossovers of styles and creative processes.

After an extended interval between releases, Data Arts Group owner/operator Document Swell (real name Simon Cotter), presents his first full length LP "Hybrid Emotion". Document Swell's first musical contribution to Data Arts Group is also the first vinyl release for the label and brings DAG into the new world of 2022 and beyond. Song-writing, and sound sketches for "Hybrid Emotion" took place over a time span of approximately 5 years in various bedroom studios and life-phases throughout northern Melbourne/Naarm, as well as small setups in the Berlin localities of Templehof and Schöneberg. Arranging and mixing was completed in Northcote, throughout that period of ample time in Melbourne's Covid-19 lockdowns. The album spans a rich tapestry of ideas and moods which can be perceived as something between Document Swell's classic playful dance floor style to a more reflective and brooding tone.

The opening track "River Heart", is built of rudimentary pitched percussion, warm Juno pads and randomised Blofeld synthesis to construct an electronic impression and nostalgic sense of life by the river. The title track "Hybrid Emotion" brings the album closer to the realm of the club with relaxed house grooves and moody but spirited melodies, along with hybridised vocal samples."Why Then Here" pushes the album's character towards something less human, with a more synthetic affection portrayed by repetitive vocal samples and individualistic synth tangents. "Now and Then" realigns the trajectory to a warmer and more predictable landscape with chugging Balearic rhythms, glassy synths and jottings of lush electric guitar. On the flip side, "Day of Thunder" drops things down into an animated variety of industrial darkness, with heavy weight kick drums, metallic percussion and bleak vocal messaging. "Little G", an ode to a well loved cat, lightens things up instantly with playful synth noodlings, disco beats and clatter from pots and pans. "Vergangenheit" exhibits Simon's explorations into the acid world, with 303 squawks, cassette crunched drums and shadowy synth pads. The closing track "Epic Sands" ends the album, not with an end note, but a sense of ongoing possibilities.

A sound that embraces different styles and different eras, but which has only one basic concept as a common denominator: spreading the “Black Power Sound”.

That’s the spirit of the double vinyl compilation of Soul Fingers, a legendary Black Music traveling party that has now become a cult in Italy, still religiously followed by dancers of all kinds and ages.

At Soul Fingers it is usual to listen and dance to a unique and tasty blend of soul, disco and funk, with rap and latin rhythms. There are no preconceptions other than that of putting songs to feel good and make people feel good.

The real deal is to share with the dancefloor a record that is magical, full of soul and that can elevate us from our state of human beings to become a single beating heart under the speakers of the sound system.

THE CULT 1990 DEBUT ALBUM OF INFLUENTIAL UK GRINDCORE FROM
PROPHECY OF DOOM - PRESENTED ON THE VINYL FORMAT WITH
COVER ARTWORK FROM THE ORIGINAL 1990 PRESSING.UK grind/death
veterans Prophecy Of Doom formed in Gloucestershire, 1988, with
bassist Martin Holt & vocalist Shrew Schroder uniting to embark upon a
journey to create something challenging & memorable to stand out in the
UK scene
After a few personnel changes whilst looking to establish a permanent recording
line-up after their 1988 demo & the 1989 EP, 'Calculated Mind Rape' (which had
brought the band to the attention of legendary DJ John Peel), the time had come
to create their debut full- length album. And so 'Acknowledge the Confusion
Master' came to be & was released in 1990 on the burgeoning Peaceville Records
& their then newly established sub- label, Deaf Records. A highly effective
concoction of blasting amid a titanic wall of raw grinding riffs & chaos propelled
Prophecy Of Doom to the forefront of the scene, also leading to two recording
sessions with John Peel & further enforcing Prophecy Of Doom's position on the
map of notable British grind acts.
As a further distinguishing factor, there was a great depth & consideration to the
themes of the album, perhaps in stark contrast to how the tracks were presented
sonically. Written by mainman/vocalist "Shrew", there with a strong philosophical
element to the lyrics, an exploration of awareness & intuition amid an era of
increasingly suppressed feelings & an urge to rise above mental restrictions.
This vinyl edition of 'Acknowledge the Confusion Master' contains cover artwork
from the 1990 release with printed inner sleeve containing lyrics & receives its
first vinyl pressing on Peaceville since that initial 1990 edition.

‘Bye Bye’ is a three-track offering from Philadelphia-based
sextet Blood, that rarely stays put in one style for long.

 All three songs were recorded by the band throughout the
pandemic, providing a uniting force whilst touring remained
impossible.

 The tracks are a testament to the unforgiving and rewarding
process of self-recording. The band found great relief in
finally having the time to flesh out an experimental
atmosphere without the constraint of paid studio time.
 Blood are proud of the work they’ve made, but it is
imperative to mention that all three tracks were brought to life
in a way not formerly thought possible, by the mixing
brilliance of Nancy Conforti.

 ‘Money Worries’ finds Blood slingshotted over an open letter
to their landlord. What starts as a clear threat to an obvious
albeit deserving villain, soon caves into an acoustic respite,
in which the nightmare of financial ruin becomes lullaby.

 Blood began as a solo project of current lead singer Tim
O’Brien in the winter of 2017. After going through several
line-up changes throughout 2018, the current iteration began
making waves in the bijou punk scene of Austin. They were
considered “a live staple in their own prospective scene” and
“one of Austin’s buzziest new acts” by press nationally and
locally.

 After twice touring the US, Blood were poised for a big 2020
when plans were altered drastically by the pandemic. They
then self-released their debut EP, ‘Why Wait Til’ 55, We Might
Not Even Be Alive’, in April of that year.

 In 2021, the sextet made a move to West Philadelphia and
began recording their upcoming release, ‘Bye Bye’, while
also playing shows throughout the North Eastern United
States. At this time, the group live in a seven-bedroom house
with a converted basement for recording and rehearsing.

‘Found Light’ may be Laura Veirs’ 12th studio
album, but it also, in many ways, feels like her
debut. If 2020’s ‘My Echo’ - written and mixed just
prior to her 2019 split from her long-time husband,
her long-time producer, and the father of her two
sons - was her divorce album, ‘Found Light’ is
about what comes after.
 ‘Found Light’ is a liberating collection of inquisitive
and surprisingly assured snapshots of healing and
personal growth, and her very first release with coproduction credits. Despite the sadness and
suffering that prompted these 14 graceful wonders,
the result is a testament to the inspiration of
independence, to shaping new possibilities for
yourself even after great loss. It is a reminder that
we are always capable of something more.
 CD in 4-panel digisleeve with 12-page booklet with
lyrics.
 LP on 140g Pink Galaxy vinyl in 3mm spined
sleeve with printed inner sleeve.

The Ice Warriors is the 39th story arc of the series Doctor Who consisting of 6 parts and ran in the 5th season. Parts 2 and 3 are considered lost and were animated for DVD release in 2013.

Plot: The TARDIS materializes on Earth, where humanity is fighting a new ice age. At Brittanicus Base, scientists are trying to use an ionic device to combat the advance of a glacier. When a giant humanoid creature is discovered nearby in the perpetual ice, additional complications arise as the ice warrior comes to life after thawing. It is the captain of a spaceship from Mars that crashed centuries ago. Varga also wants to revive his comrades and conquer Earth, since life is no longer possible on Mars. The Doctor and his companions must not only prevent Varga's plans but also save the base's crew from the approaching glacier....

On three LPs in a deluxe box set, fans can now relisten to the four surviving original TV episodes from 1967. The 140 gr. LPs come in the special color Molten Ice vinyl. Elaborately illustrated sleeves on top.

1985 session by piano great Duke Jordan alongside bassist Jesper
Lundgaard and drummer Billy Hart
Duke Jordan (1922-2006) famous for his intense lyricism embarked on the world
jazz scene as a member of the classic Charlie Parker Quintet in the late 40s with
his trademark introduction to "Embraceable You". Jordan unlike many other
American jazz musicians in Bebop era found his artistic and personal living space
in Europe since the early '70s. His extensive recording output on SteepleChase
including this album from 1985 recorded in Denmark makes up the huge part of
his discography.
"A most agreeable set that is both eminently listenable and very
enterprising...Jordan was always a fleetly swinging but subtle pianist whose allround musicianship has never got the recognition it merits. This fine trio deserves
to sell well and spared his name further afield." - Richard Palmer, Jazz Journal
International

2 Vinyl Disc - Swirl Color - Live archive release
Chuck Berry, the songwriter and guitarist now known worldwide as the Father of
Rock & Roll, came from humble beginnings. The complete Concert. Mastered
from the Analog Tapes: There was no shortage of historic rock music festivals in
1969, from highs of Woodstock to the crashing lows of Altamont. Meanwhile,
interest was steadily building on another front. A full-fledged 1950s rock and roll
revival was brewing, and the idiom's pioneers were experiencing a Renaissance.
No longer viewed as over-the-hill relics, they stood as vital sources of real rock
and roll. Combining the two contrasting demographics at one event was a rare
sight to behold, but the Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival 1969, held that September 13
at the University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium, represented that unlikely hybrid.
That afternoon the Father of Rock & Roll returned to lead the apostles of rock into
the next decade. After decades of inferior releases, for the first time, this
historical concert is presented in its entirety. Includes, School Days, Carol,
Memphis, Nadine, Rock & Roll Music, Johnny B. Goode, I'm Your Hoochie Coochie
Man, Too Much Monkey Business, Sweet Little Sixteen, Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight and more. Double LP Pressed on Swirl Color Color Vinyl.

Jose Medeles feat. M Ward, Marisa Anderson & Chris Funk
Railroad Cadences & Melancholic Anthems Led by drummer Jose Medeles (Breeders, 1939 Ensemble, Revival Drum Shop), Railroad Cadences & Melancholic Anthems is a drummer's tribute to guitarist and DIY iconoclast John Fahey Joined for a series of guitar and drum duets with M. Ward, experimental guitarist Marisa Anderson, and Chris Funk (Decemberists, Stephen Malkmus), it's a genuinely honorific project, featuring not Fahey compositions, but rather a series of improvised rendezvous inspired and informed by his looseness and rhythmic idiosyncrasies. Recording in the comfortable setting of Bocce Recording in Vancouver, WA, in 2020, these duets are playful and spiritually deep, presented with snapshot clarity Medeles likens to the recordings of Alan Lomax or Chris Strachwitz, 'who boldly captured field recording of Southern chain gangs and juke joint raconteurs decades ago. The result here is similar: pure and honest recordings.'

Sofatalk & XL Regular have come up with a wonderful jazzy EP for Outplay. Filled with warm chords and broken house beats.
Italy’s Piero Paolinelli and Alessandro Giacchi are the newest addition to our Outplay family. They have released music previously on Omena, ANMA, Cognitiva Records (Sofatalk’s own label), INI Movement, Nómada and Monologues. Their EP for Outplay is called Afro Quarters EP and contains 4 electronic jazzfunk infused house
tracks and make for a perfect testimony of their musicianship.
Rumble Strip kicks off with broken beats turning into a 4x4 house beat filled with percussion, dreamy keyboard licks and sultry vocals to underline the floaty vibe.
The title track, Afro Quarters, is up next pushing us further into their signature jazz infused broken beat house style. With the funky bassline and the stabby keys it’s hard not to move. Throw in tastefully done flute and Rhodes solos for the mature sound they’re known for.
The third piece is called Easy and contrary to its name it’s not as chilled out as you’d think. It’s incredibly groovy, with heavy staccato bass and keys, while keeping the dreamed out jazzy chords to balance it out. It makes us think of the masterful work of Kaidi Tatham.
“On The Run” concludes the EP and continues the vibe displayed throughout the release filled with arpeggiated and stabby keys and vocal bits.
It’s our absolute pleasure to be able release this and we are excited to share it with you!

Earth Trax’s ‘Afloat' EP follows his third LP for Bristol based Shall Not Fade. Earth Trax aka Bartosz touches on Trance, Techno and Deep spacey Electro. B's knack for building tension is infectious, here you see his production skills on full display each track has so much clarity you can feel the space it’s Broody and Beautiful and always delivered with a unique touch of class.

Helmed by Dave Watts aka D.WattsRiot (Fun-da-mental), the debut KingL Man album, ‘Headonix’ is beat-laden shout out in response to the perpetual state of war we seem to find ourselves at. Outrage and disgust, love and hate, history and presence.

Contributions come from four continents.

Fresh on the scene is Senegalese vocalist Sidi I.B., who arrived on Canarian shores with two hundred other compatriots, cold, wet and hungry after seven days at sea with nothing but his future in his hands.

Temporarily housed at the infamous migrant holding centre in Las Raíces, Tenerife, the studio environment provided an avenue of relief from the inadequate conditions at the overcrowded camp.

Also from Senegal, living in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is rapper Ibrahima El Latigazo who delivers his lyrics in French, Wolof, Spanish, English & Sérère. Rounding up the Senegalese contingent is Mame Samba, a group that hold the spirits close when performing. Their contribution is from recording sessions they had with François R. Cambuzat & Gianna Greco (Putan Club / Ifriqiyya Electrique).

Kiki Hitomi (Waq Waq Kingdom/King Midas Sound) returns to the fold, exhaling positivity with Canarian multi-instrumentalist Javier Afonso (Grenouille). The Canarian faction also includes violinist Mónica Viñoly, Dani Garcia (Lagoss/Tupperwear) and Vakawuare. Further guests include percussionist Miroca Paris (Cesária Évora/Madonna); Hamid Mantu (TransGlobal Underground);
Ramjac (Dub Colossus), drums and percussion respectively.

Canadian songwriter and producer Jeremy Haywood-Smith needed an escape from his state of mourning when he began working on Slingshot, his most recent LP as JayWood. After the loss of his mother in 2019, and a global standstill with multiple social crises throughout 2020, Haywood-Smith yearned for some forward momentum. "The idea of looking back to go forward became a really big thing for me _ hence the title, Slingshot." Feeling disconnected from his past and ancestry after the death of a parent, Haywood-Smith made a conscious effort to better understand his identity and unique Black experience living in the predominantly white province of Manitoba. Merging fantasy scenarios, personal anecdotes, and infectious pop and dance instrumentals, Slingshot is a self-portrait of JayWood at his surface and his depths. Musically, Slingshot reaches into sounds and styles Haywood-Smith has continued to explore throughout his catalog. "I think I made a really big deal to not pigeonhole myself," he explains. "Whatever is inspiring me at one point will work it's way into whatever I'm creating." Slingshot is an amalgamation of Haywood-Smith's many musical sensibilities, achieved with help from a crew of talented peers. Haywood-Smith wrote and performed a bulk of the track's instrumentations, but the LP has notable appearances from Canadian contemporaries Ami Cheon (on "Just Sayin") and Mckinley Dixon (on "Shine.") The album's penultimate track, "Thank You," was co-produced with Jacob Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra. The song brings JayWood's sound full circle, offering something reminiscent of Haywood-Smith's earliest recordings, while flaunting that "The best is yet to come."

Very Limited yellow vinyl LP. By popular demand, we are proud to present Ekundayo Inversions (Instrumentals). Liam Bailey released his debut album Ekundayo on the label at the end of 2020, then in the Summer of 2021 El Michels Affair took the tapes from that and did a dub version of the album in his own style aptly titled Ekundayo Inversions. Both of these releases quickly became cult classics in their own right. The chemistry between Liam and producer Leon Michels is undeniable, each pushing the other to new places in their sounds. Here we take the vocals out of the mix and focus on the production and the players pulling instrumentals versions from both the Ekundayo album and the Ekundayo Inversions album. This is a limited one time pressing of 1000 pieces.

"The past 5 years we have taken our music all over the world: Europe, Asia, Africa besides our homeland Denmark, and even though we cannot speak with many of the people we meet, our music is a universal language that transcends borders. The meetings we have had (and continue to have) all over inspire us to create new music. But of course we are the composers of the music, so this is our representation of those meetings.

Our 3rd album is called AFROTROPISM. Tropism is a biological phenomenon that indicates growth of a plant in response to the environment; so when you see a plant turning for the sunlight, this is tropism. In other words, this is not so much about the plant's roots but more about how it reacts when it touches the air, feels sunlight or rain - in other words the outside world. So AFROTROPISM refers to the fact that we are drawn towards the African traditions, but we are "growing" our own music.

On our first two albums we have recorded extensively with African musicians, and AFROTROPISM is centered around The KutiMangoes (TKM) as a band. We are developing our artistic direction by going more in depth with how we can mix our inspirations with our own musical heritage. Our musical mission is (and has always been) to mix cultures and create our own sound.

With our background in jazz music, TKM counts virtuoso instrumentalists with a heartfelt intent and sound innovators with our horns, effect pedals, synthesizers, drums and percussion from all over the world. AFROTROPISM is a further and deeper development of our trademark bold sound that experiments with synthesizers, soundscapes and a bit of electronic effects without losing it's focus on groove, melody, atmosphere and musicianship."

The KutiMangoes, July 2019


About each track:

STRETCH TOWARDS THE SUN
This track opens up with a synthesizer groove that is inspired by the polyrhythmic grooves played by the balafon (a predecessor of the piano) from West Africa. Our rolling sequence could not be played on the balafon because of the key changes, but the basic idea comes from that instrument. Quick and light, we wanted to write a song where you can feel the sun coming out and feel the energy it's rays give. The combination of the programmed groove, the horn-arrangement, the huge percussion section and the live instruments makes for a sound that we have not heard before, and it illustrates what this album is all about (and what the track's title refers to): that we stretch towards the things that give us energy – and that although our roots are in Denmark, when we encounter a musical tradition as rich as in West Africa, it changes us and our music.

A SNAKE IS JUST A STRING
The first time we saw Mali-bluesman extraordinaire Vieux Farka Touré on stage was just after we had played at a huge festival in Burkina Faso, and we almost literally caught on fire. Their groove was so strong and insistent that we were mesmerized, and it inspired us to come up with the opening guitar part of this song. Basically a bluesy tune with some unusual chord changes and a crazy synthesizer solo by Johannes Buhl Andresen reminiscent of that fuzzy guitar-sound we love so much in the Mali blues. The title is an homage to the Nigerian writer Chinua Acheba, who in his masterpiece novel "Things Fall Apart" tells that in the village during the night, to ward off the fear of darkness, people would call dangerous animals by a different name: don't be afraid, a snake is just a string.

KEEP YOU SAFE
It is a basic human necessity to have a place where you can feel safe. But there are far too many people in our world that fear for their safety, their livelihood, their children, their relatives – and this is surely not a feeling that helps us to flourish as humans. With this song we are saying that we all need to make it a priority to help our fellow humans to feel safe. And of course, if our song can offer a feeling of safety and comfort for a short time to those who listen, we are truly thankful.

MONEY IS THE CURSE
This track is directly inspired by Fela Kuti's ability to create music that is both physical and political. Dance music with a serious message about our times. For the solo part we wanted a more melancholy, pensive feel (than the full-on baritone-trombone melody) and also wanted to experiment with some choppy, stuttering effects to make the horns sound desperate. Money is the curse because it can become the objective of our life; money is the curse because it changes the relationships we have with our fellow humans. Money is the curse.

THORNS TO FRUIT
This melody is inspired by the scales and developments of a traditional Bambara folk-song. We love the way these melodies constantly evolve with small developments and changes. We felt like an accompaniment that is really dry, sparse and earthy would fit well and then made a contrasting solo part. As a group we are interested in how to develop our improvisations together and create sonic landscapes that evoke a distinctive atmosphere – so here, we have no soloist, but a collection of synthesizer parts, saxophone lines and guitar-sounds that together create a dreamy and lush ambience.

SAND TO SOIL
We started out with a short ngoni riff played by our good friend and master musician Aboubacar Konaté. We then sampled it, built soundscapes and our own both meditative and pumping groove around it. We created a melody with both melancholy and joy, with afterthought and impulse and then the brilliant Aske Drasbæk added an emotive and blistering saxophone solo. The title refers to the contrasts in our humanism. As part of our human nature, we have a dark side that drives us (and each other) towards destruction – making the fertile soil into barren sand. The title is an encouragement to emphasize the opposite movement in our nature: to create life and help it flourish. We keep ourselves human by insisting that we must never forget this side of our nature no matter how tough, tiresome or trying it might be. Let's keep our focus on the light, the warmth, the positive energy – that can turn the cold stone into fertile ground.

Indecent Proposal is the second studio album from Norfolk, VA duo Timbaland & Magoo. Originally released in 2001, the album features Magoo's Q-Tip-like flow and Timbaland's distinct production style drawing from reggae, retro and soul. Features include early appearances from Jay-Z, Twista, Petey Pablo and Ludacris, as well as looks from Aaliyah, & Static Major. Released nearly two months after Aaliyah's untimely passing, the album was dedicated to the memory of "Babygirl."

First time reissue from this essential latin jazz album from 1971 !

Often affectionately referred to as the "Godfather of British Latin music" Robin Jones was truly one of the great performers on the international Latin scene.

Denga, his first recording from 1971 is a scintillating fusion of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazillian rhythms laden with heavy Fender Rhodes sounds and no less than three Afro-Latin Percussionists. The hard-to-find album has now been reissued by legendary London jazz DJ Paul Murphy's Jazz Room Records imprint. It should be an essential purchase for anyone who loves Latin jazz.

Feature's Robin's personal favorites including "Goodbye Batucada" which rightfully lays claim to be the first Brazilian Jazz Samba tune recorded in the UK and the Worldwide Sound standard setters "Denga" and "Africa Revisited".

After the blackest night comes the most radiant dawn; the spark of life illuminates all that which was swallowed by shadows. "Fäghring" bears the gift of rebirth - both in nature and for Swedish folk metal band Bhleg. The fourth and closing part of the album tetralogy "Ár" is the most ambitious Bhleg recording to date. Its metal parts are saturated with both primal ferocity and majestic atmosphere. The ambient interludes from their early works are still here, but now conveyed mostly through analogue recordings.

The sweeping, dreamy soundscapes are enhanced by a slew of unorthodox instruments, courtesy of S - who performs not only guitars and bass, but also lyre, hurdy-gurdy, mouth harp, keyboards, bullroarer, birch trumpet, as well as percussion such as frame drums, birch sticks, and stones. Besides the characteristic voice of Bhleg vocalist and lyricist L, "Fäghring" features various guest appearances with a range of singing styles rooted in Scandinavian folk-tradition such as Andreas Pettersson from Saiva, Êlea of Noêta, and Swedish author Lars Magnar Enoksen.

"Fäghring" will be released by Nordvis Produktion on April 1, 2022. Tracked and mixed using the band's own recording setup, Studio Asu. Mastered by Tore Stjerna at Necromorbus Studios. Both the CD and LP booklets have received a lot of attention, consisting entirely of custom photography and illustrations.

Sound Like: Grift, Ulver (early), Burzum, Panphage, Fluisteraars, Djevel, Skogen

Mit „Deathrider“ erscheint das 2. Album der rheinischen Hard Rocker von 2006 nun endlich auch auf limitiertem Vinyl feat. den Live Granaten „Destroyer“ „Legion of Rock“ & „The Howling“ - Vollgas Rock bis der Auspuff Knallt!

Ltd. Auflage 500
Tracklist: Side A 1. Legion Of Rock 2. Destroyer 3. 10 Feet Underground 4. Deathrider 5. Distortion Sleep 6. The Howling Side B 7. The Undertaken 8. Hellmachine 9. Invisible Man 10. Black Fuel Domination 11. Death Hammer Overload 12. The Evil

For their second installment, the Chateau Chepere crew brings on board legendary producer Stephan Laubner under his STL moniker, with four time warping pieces of music. With his distinctive and intricate sonic palette, Laubner extracts from his hardware different musical colors and shapes to produce singular atmospheres. Opening up the EP is Fly Fly, an epic 11 min minimal house trip full of tension and excitement, followed by Eargrind, an eerie, laid back Detroit leaning ballad. On the flip is Light Up, a spaced out, playful and bittersweet number that will revitalize any hazy after-hours dancefloor. Closing up the EP is Unlike Dislike, a quirky, jacking and mischievous techno workout for the packed club. This diverse ep will pull the listeners and dancers into Laubner's multifaceted, low key but captivating universe.

Mit „Deathrider“ erscheint das 2. Album der rheinischen Hard Rocker von 2006 nun endlich auch auf limitiertem Vinyl feat. den Live Granaten „Destroyer“ „Legion of Rock“ & „The Howling“ - Vollgas Rock bis der Auspuff Knallt!

Ltd. Auflage 500
Tracklist: Side A 1. Legion Of Rock 2. Destroyer 3. 10 Feet Underground 4. Deathrider 5. Distortion Sleep 6. The Howling Side B 7. The Undertaken 8. Hellmachine 9. Invisible Man 10. Black Fuel Domination 11. Death Hammer Overload 12. The Evil

After a small nap, Tokyo’s finest Studio Mule is back on the scene, bringing the world some deeply composed guitar music from Japan, crafted by Shin Sasakubo.

Since almost 20 years the guitarist is specialized in classic and contemporary Andean and Peruvian music. a knowledge that he deepened through a three-year stint in Peru between 2004 and 2007.

During his time in Latin America, he played live in Argentina, Chile, or Bolivia and researched in the works of Peruvian novelist, poet, and anthropologist José María Ar-Guedas, as Shin Sasakubo’s take on art is not one-dimensional.

He also loves movies, painting, photography, writing, and theater - artforms that con-stantly influence his music on many different layers. since his return to his hometown Chichibu City in the japanese Saitama Prefecture, he launched the "Chichibu Avant-Garde School”, a college that looks through art and lectures on the Chichibu region, and his en-vironmental and folkloristic history.

As sincerely driven composer, he released three guitar leaning albums in the past ten years. his latest sensation “Chichibu”, originally only released in Japan, now travels the globe via Studio Mule, making his fantastique listening voyage available for all those souls that seek joy through the sound of guitar strings.

Veyl is pleased to welcome Marco Freivogel’s Prequel Tapes for an immense 8 song release, 'The Golden Cage'. Completing an album cycle of themes and exploration which began with 2015’s 'Inner Systems', 'The Golden Cage' is perhaps Prequel Tapes’ most diverse and expansive work - utilising the artist’s own vocals for the first time and evolving his production and sound to new, uncharted dimensions.

Working off the trauma of his father’s suicide, 'The Golden Cage' was spawned from a hyper-realistic dream experience which revealed the artist’s path, catalysing new productions and techniques. The result is a striking work of unconventional electronics that journeys through rhythms, atmospheres and experimentations. A true narrative of a continuously challenging personal journey Beginning with the tension-building, free flow of 'My Turn', we then delve into grief and anger with 'I Hate You', which transforms into the pulsating tempos of 'Stranger or Lover'. The glistening nostalgia of 'Last Things' marks the halfway point before grappling with the heavy introversion of 'Alone' and devious energy of 'Mind Corner'. Nearing the end of our trip, 'Without Remission' uncovers the most dance floor tuned
piece while finally the title track closes things out with an energy that will linger long after you’ve listened.

Since slipping out a decade ago, Fürsattl’s sole 12” on Claremont 56 has become an in-demand item, thanks to a mixture of its’ undeniable quality and the patronage of several high-profile, well-regarded DJs. Because of this, the label has responded to demand for a reissue of those two tracks and announced the release of a double-album of the krautrock-inspired trio’s works for the label.

Presented in a gatefold sleeve sporting Mark Warrington’s original 2012 artwork and limited to 400 copies, the 2022 album edition of Rheinlust not only tells the tale of the band’s now decade-long association with Claremont 56, but also features a previously unreleased track from the archives, ‘Für Paul’. Tucked away at the end of the LP, the track is amongst the most atmospheric in their catalogue – a slowly building number in which celestial synthesizer chords, ambient textures, echo-laden electric piano chords and lilting synth strings rise above a rubbery bassline and Jaki Liebezeit style drums.

It provides a superb conclusion to a genuinely evocative album of music you can get lost in, but it’s by no means the only highlight. Fittingly, the album’s first slab of wax boasts both tracks from Fürsattl’s hard-to-find debut 12”: title track ‘Rheinlust’, a driving but deep and hypnotic krautrock masterpiece full of elongated chords, restless bass, twinkling motifs and cascading electronic melodies, and the wonderfully epic ‘Links Der Pegnitz’. Clocking in at just under 15 minutes, this sublime excursion features band members trading glistening guitar and colourful synthesizer solos over a funky but laidback groove that sits somewhere between krautrock and cosmic funk.

The album’s second slab of wax showcases Fürsattl’s lesser-known tracks for Claremont 56, alongside the previously mentioned unreleased cut. These two workouts were originally featured on the label’s Claremont Editions compilations and further expand on their now trademark krautrock sound. There’s ‘Leerlauf’, a breathlessly up-tempo, weighty and immersive chunk of low-slung dancefloor creepiness that you’ll want to get lost in time and again, and the twangy and buzzing ‘Haru’, a birdsong-splattered affair that sounds like their tribute to krautrock originals Neu! and Harmonium. Like the rest of the album, these are seriously seductive outings that slowly build towards impactful, emotive conclusions.

James 'Perturbator' Kent and Cult of Luna are the masters of their respective worlds. Over the last decade, the French maestro has become the most expectation-breaking name in synthwave, transcending its '80s video game aesthetic with metal and post-punk.

Meanwhile, the Swedish sextet have affirmed themselves as post-metal's biggest stars. Seismic riffs, earth-quaking growls and brave collaborations with everyone from Julie Christmas to Colin Stetson have ensured they're as blistering as they are forward-thinking.
Eclecticism and violence are married in Final Light: Perturbator's team-up with Cult of Luna singer/guitarist Johannes Persson. The pair's self-titled debut album is the perfect conglomerate between seemingly incompatible sounds.

On its opening track, the insidious "Nothing Will Bear Your Name", synths bubble to construct an arresting opening half. Then, release. Johannes' roar strikes and guitar chords boom as computerised beats anchor the chaos.

"It Came with the Water" echoes Cult of Luna's 2013 titan Vertikal, invoking images of an urban dystopia as its deep guitar melody grinds beneath sci-fi electronica. The title track's distorted EDM beats, on the other hand, are all James 'Perturbator' Kent, capable of invigorating the seediest of underground nightclubs. Both parties are clearly playing to their strengths - but for them to do so in such perfect harmony is, in itself, a genre-demolishing feat.

Lyrically, Final Light seethes with anger. "There was so much that I was so fucking pissed about," Johannes explains. "Some of my friends were dealing with a poisonous person: a narcissistic, crazy person. I was walking around full of anger and hate, so I think that came out in those lyrics."

The tandem's story began in 2019. Walter Hoeijmakers, the artistic director of the Netherlands' lauded Roadburn festival, approached James 'Perturbator' Kent with the opportunity of doing a commissioned piece with any musician of his choosing. As soon as the pair began work on their boundary-decimating songs, they knew that they had to be immortalised as an album.

"It was immediate," states Perturbator. "It's a project that I really want to share; it's not only the fruit of a collaboration between me and one of my favourite musicians, but also very unique and once-in-a-lifetime."
They wrote and recorded together in Paris before the start of the pandemic. Covid, which postponed the Roadburn festival at which the band would have debuted, gave them time to perfect what they'd crafted.
Johannes recorded additional vocals at Cult of Luna's resident studio in Umeå, Sweden, fully capturing the rage of his apocalyptically harsh voice.

Borders were built to be shattered. This is the sound of their destruction. Single-handedly, Final Light have birthed a new, bleak breed of experimental metal.

James 'Perturbator' Kent and Cult of Luna are the masters of their respective worlds. Over the last decade, the French maestro has become the most expectation-breaking name in synthwave, transcending its '80s video game aesthetic with metal and post-punk.

Meanwhile, the Swedish sextet have affirmed themselves as post-metal's biggest stars. Seismic riffs, earth-quaking growls and brave collaborations with everyone from Julie Christmas to Colin Stetson have ensured they're as blistering as they are forward-thinking.
Eclecticism and violence are married in Final Light: Perturbator's team-up with Cult of Luna singer/guitarist Johannes Persson. The pair's self-titled debut album is the perfect conglomerate between seemingly incompatible sounds.

On its opening track, the insidious "Nothing Will Bear Your Name", synths bubble to construct an arresting opening half. Then, release. Johannes' roar strikes and guitar chords boom as computerised beats anchor the chaos.

"It Came with the Water" echoes Cult of Luna's 2013 titan Vertikal, invoking images of an urban dystopia as its deep guitar melody grinds beneath sci-fi electronica. The title track's distorted EDM beats, on the other hand, are all James 'Perturbator' Kent, capable of invigorating the seediest of underground nightclubs. Both parties are clearly playing to their strengths - but for them to do so in such perfect harmony is, in itself, a genre-demolishing feat.

Lyrically, Final Light seethes with anger. "There was so much that I was so fucking pissed about," Johannes explains. "Some of my friends were dealing with a poisonous person: a narcissistic, crazy person. I was walking around full of anger and hate, so I think that came out in those lyrics."

The tandem's story began in 2019. Walter Hoeijmakers, the artistic director of the Netherlands' lauded Roadburn festival, approached James 'Perturbator' Kent with the opportunity of doing a commissioned piece with any musician of his choosing. As soon as the pair began work on their boundary-decimating songs, they knew that they had to be immortalised as an album.

"It was immediate," states Perturbator. "It's a project that I really want to share; it's not only the fruit of a collaboration between me and one of my favourite musicians, but also very unique and once-in-a-lifetime."
They wrote and recorded together in Paris before the start of the pandemic. Covid, which postponed the Roadburn festival at which the band would have debuted, gave them time to perfect what they'd crafted.
Johannes recorded additional vocals at Cult of Luna's resident studio in Umeå, Sweden, fully capturing the rage of his apocalyptically harsh voice.

Borders were built to be shattered. This is the sound of their destruction. Single-handedly, Final Light have birthed a new, bleak breed of experimental metal.

After her stunning collaboration with Jim O’Rourke (Le Piano Englouti, BT055), Brunhild Ferrari returns to Black Truffle with Stürmische Ruhe, her first duo with Christoph Heemann. A legendary figure in underground music, Heemann has quietly produced a unique body of work since his beginnings with the absurdist cutups of H.N.A.S. in the mid-1980, including collaborations with Merzbow, Organum and Nurse With Wound, the eerie psychedelia of Mirror (with Andrew Chalk), In Camera (with Timo van Lujik) and Plastic Palace People (with Jim O’Rourke), and the precise cinema pour l’oreille constructions of his solo works. Created together in Ferrari’s Parisian studio (once shared with Luc) between 2011 and 2014, Stürmische Ruhe is a single half-hour piece that folds rain and storm recordings into a intricately woven fabric of haunted electronics, unexpected edits and disorienting processing. Banging with the jarring thump of a slamming door (an element that will reappear periodically throughout the piece as a kind of punctuation mark), it is immediately obvious that concrete sound is used here in a free, poetic way outside of the strict confines of documentary field recording. The wind captured by Ferrari’s microphone roars and whistles, accompanied by thick clusters of wavering tones whose unpredictable rises and falls in volumes are synchronised with the bumping and thudding of windows and doors. At some points the microphone sound melts into a wavering low-bit digital smear before fanning out into broad, atmospheric depths. The cinema for the ear constructed here suggests not linear narrative or documentary, but an organic flow of cross-fades, double-exposures and abrupt cuts, a free-associative dream in which wind and water take on mythical characteristics. Throughout the piece's second half, layers of synthetic floating tones and pinging upward glissandi negotiate a constantly shifting balance with wind-borne whispers and rustles, at times dropping to silence, at others rising up with elemental force. As Ferrari explains in her liner notes, Stürmische Ruhe is a meeting of ‘completely opposite sound worlds’ in which ‘almost-violence’ is joined with a ‘reconciling harmony’. Reaffirming the infinite possibilities of the musique concrète tradition while avoiding its academic tropes, Stürmische Ruhe is accompanied by tri-lingual liner notes from Brunhild Ferrari and arrives in a sleeve graced with the beautiful art informel paintings of her father, Wolfgang Meyer Tomin. Cut at 45rpm for maximum fidelity.

Los Jerjeles were born in 2019 in Santiago de Chile. Friends since they were young, participants in the Santiago hardcore punk scene, decided to start a band inspired by the music they were listening to at the time: cumbia, funk, afrobeat and a bit of punk. The stages where they use to perform are small underground bars in Santiago's barrios, full of weed smoke and beer bottles, and the public are usually melomaniac freaks and vinyl lovers who are fans of this fresh and eclectic style. Currently the group devotedly practices every week, getting stuff ready for their next long player. We can assure you it's a labour of love for music and friendship. Band Members during the recording of Chanchiwua & Desayuno de Campeones: Guitars: Matías Espinosa / Bass: Christobal Loader / Drums: Pablo Madrid / Congas: Andres Ugarte / Trumpet: Matías Pedreros / Trumpet: Felipe Cordova / Kaos pad, knobs and circuit bending: Ervo Pérez

Well, sometimes the mountain goes to Mehemet, not the usual other way round. After years spent chasing soul Artists on the other side of the world we managed to find one right here in Rome, at the heart of our beloved boot-shaped peninsula. And boy what an Artist! Just a few bars into "Let You In" and that Warren-G style flavours back to my ears like if it still was a saturday night in 1994 and we were packing 12" and heading to dj at our regular venue up north-east, the Rototom. A few bars in and soon as I hear the chorus it instantly becomes a Tesla Groove release. Like many a true Soul singers, the amazing Fatimah Provillon (a Newark, New Jersey native) started her musical career singing in churches at the early age of eight. She would later hone her singing skills in various choirs where she was both lead vocalist and choir member. As a teen she fell in love with hiphop music and began writing songs and performing in talent shows. As a songwriter she prefers to mix her soul and hiphop roots to speak on topics ranging from heartbreak to consumerism. As a singer, her biggest influences include Gladys Knight, Sade, Patsy Cline, Lauryn Hill, Wu Tang Clan, and Nas. Fatimah is currently living and working in Europe with Rome, Italy, as her base as she tours performing live concerts and collaborating with deejays in house music productions, entering now our catalogue as a true headliner. Enjoy Mrs. Provillon folks, you'll hear her name more and more in the future!

On this anniversary release, Lilies invites DJ Ali (Al Gharib / Falling Apart / Mutual Pleasure) for two heavyweight tracks with his pedal to the metal signature sound.

On the B-side a production dialogue / live recording takes place between Gothenburgers Enmetertre (founder of Jens Records / GBG Wax Trax) and DJ Lily, who release their first song together after their joint vinyl in 2018 (BRORX1/JENS009). The 909 on the track is actually Ace Of Base's old workhorse! The second track on the B-side is presented by DJ Lily who brings out "Brukstechno" in 150 bpm.

A deeply meditative soundscape for inner exploration and a dance of sonic textures. composed to be experienced inside a floatation tank, Noiro creates a moment of calm over the 50 minute concept record (2x 25 minute sides). Think Space-Music..
The debut LP is his first entirely solo Ambient Electronic LP, encouraged by the purchase of an old piano with warmth and plenty of character. Recorded in London during the sweltering summer of 2018, the final product is timeless and powerful, whether experienced afloat or just in a horizontal position.

Inside the tank is a whole different experience, touching on the euphoric. The depravation of other senses lead to the music stimulating the mind to fully transport the listener to another realm with maximum effect.

Feelings of immense calm and reassurance come from the experience. Intimate and delicate melodic moments let the mind settle and explore the ambient scape. Later moments build with a sense of the epic, where the listener is left feeling that any obstacle can be overcome.

»Tableau« is Rolf Hansen's second full-length album under his given name and acts as a sequel to his solo debut »Elektrisk Guitar«, released in 2019 through Karaoke Kalk. On the 14 new pieces, the Copenhagen-based composer and musician further explores the sonic possibilities of the electric guitar by opting for a radically different approach and putting great limitations on himself as a performer. »Tableau« is an experimental record in the truest sense of the word, eschewing conventional modes of playing the instrument and instead turning the guitar into a sound source for compositions that are at once abstract and concrete.

Already on his last album, Hansen had found a different approach to playing and composing, but this time went even further and created a set-up in which the electric guitar becomes a different instrument altogether. This is also expressed in its title: a tableau is, broadly understood, an image-forming momentary bodily pause in a dramaturgical or narrative process. In the context of the album, tableau is the form and sound that emerge when the musician’s usual approach to playing and the compositional practice is halted and transformed. To achieve this, the guitar is placed on a table with microphones installed around it and tuned in a static microtonal modality thanks to wooden replacement frets that have been inserted under the strings. This alters how the sounds are being generated with the instrument, which is now played from above, occasionally strummed or stroked with a tool.

The opener »Begyndelse« already sets the tone by punctuating dense layers of sound with a one-note melody that provides a rough rhythmic structure and harmonic anchor for the track that still seems to mutate wildly the further it progresses. Even in moments in which Hansen opts for a more directly accessible approach like on the following »Over Grænsen« or »Tid«, the pieces’ emotional qualities are greatly amplified by their sonic idiosyncrasies. This is best exemplified by the first track on the second side of the LP, »Højre hånd«. Using high microphone gain to magnify the high-frequency acoustic sounds of the electric guitar, Hansen captured a rich near-symphonic changing spectrum of overtones. This is typical for the attention to detail put into the overall record whose approach maximises the music’s affective impact by focusing on minute nuances.

»Tableau« is full of moments marked by almost unnoticeable shifts and changes, offering a wealth of sounds that are as evocative as they come unexpectedly. Despite their aesthetic differences, the kinship between its predecessor »Elektrisk Guitar« and these 14 compositions is undeniable. Both are based on self-imposed constraints, a radical form of reduction that made it possible for Hansen to broaden his sonic palette and compositional approach. Though mostly short, concise, and abstract-sounding, the pieces on »Tableau« speak a clear, varied and simple language.

"Catch me in the corner not speakin'/Crushed out heavenly/ U.G. rock the sweet daddy long fox minks/Chicken and broccoli, Wally's look stink"

Ghostface Killah released his debut solo album 25 years ago on October 29, 1996. Produced by fellow Wu-Tang Clan member RZA, Ironman found inspiration in sources ranging from blaxploitation films to classic soul and charted a whole new direction for hip-hop in the process. The album features classic bangers like Daytona 500 featuring Raekwon and Cappadonna to soulful emotionally moving cuts like All That I Got Is You with Mary J Blige. To commemorate the 25 year anniversary Get On Down is proud to present Ironman in a 2xLP set available on both ‘Blue & Cream’ and ‘Chicken & Broccoli’ half-n-half colored vinyl, each version housed in a deluxe gatefold jacket, packed inside a ‘shoebox’-style 2nd outer jacket embossed with the year 1996.

This is the "lost" second album by hard-prog band T.2., featuring demos recorded at Decca Studios by the original line-up in 1970, just after the release of their debut masterpiece It'll All Work Out In Boomland.

Known also as T.2. and Fantasy, 1970 shows T.2. at their rawest, featuring the explosive guitar of KEITH CROSS, the powerful drumming and cool vocals of PETER DUNTON and the fantastic bass playing of BERNIE JINKS.

*Hard cardboard sleeve

*Includes insert with liner notes & photos

Reissue in Opaque Purple Vinyl

Two years after his first EP Bagarre Bagarre, French artist Julien Granel brilliantly signs the soundtrack of the summer and continues his chromatic odyssey with Cooleur, his solar and bewitching first album. With its orchestral melodies, its pop and funky accents and its explosive collaborations, Cooleur appears as an ode to colorful joy and will certainly shake the heads of cool kids. Julien surrounded himself with Pedro Winter, the boss of the Ed Banger label, the Montreal duo Chromeo and Jean Charles de Castelbajac. Through this deliberately cool album, stuffed with irresistible grooves, burning jams and feel-good nuggets, Julien Granel rolls out the red carpet for us for a super cool summer.

”Sometimes, Forever” - das dritte Album von Soccer Mommy erscheint am 24.06. und beweist Sophie
Allison endgültig als einer der talentiertesten Songwriterinnen der Rockmusik unserer Zeit. Mit cleveren
Anspielungen auf Synthie-Subgenres wie New Wave und Gothic erweitert die heute 24-Jährige die Grenzen
ihrer Ästhetik. ”Sometimes, Forever” ist eine faszinierende Sammlung, die sowohl von der Vergangenheit
als auch von der Gegenwart geprägt ist und damit das gewagteste und ästhetisch abenteuerlichste Werk
von Soccer Mommy. Das Album lebt von widersprüchlichen Kräften: Verlangen und Apathie, Ekstase
und Elend, Gut und Böse, Selbstbeherrschung und Wildheit. Unverblümte Liebeslieder reiben sich an viel
düstererer Kost mit makabre Bildern, die selbst die fröhlichsten Passagen heimsuchen. Aber da es ihr heute
besser geht als zu der Zeit, als sie die Lieder schrieb, hat sie keine Probleme damit, in den Momenten des
unkomplizierten Glücks zu schwelgen, die neben der Dunkelheit existieren. Sie sagt: ”Ich wollte nicht etwas
super Deprimierendes ohne jeden Sinn für Magie machen”. Der Album-Titel bezieht sich auf die Idee, dass
sowohl gute als auch schlechte Gefühle zyklisch sind. ”Kummer und Leere gehen vorbei, aber sie kommen
immer wieder - genauso wie die Freude”, sagt Allison. ”Irgendwann ist man gezwungen zu sagen: Ich muss
einfach beides nehmen.”
Produziert wurde der neue Longplayer von Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never.

8 years after the release of his critically acclaimed latest album 'Bambi Galaxy', Florent Marchet is back. Since his debut, Florent Marchet has continued to produce and create for cinema, theater, literature... and to tour with multiple projects and original creations. He has become in the space of a few years one of the finest feathers of French song, and one of the most productive and singular artists of his generation. With this new album, the first on Labréa / Wagram, Florent Marchet reconnects with tradition and modernity. This album is a real journey. Composed of 13 tracks exclusively recorded in his own studio with sound engineer Loris Bernot. He has a duet with the artist PR2B.

Vinyl is limited to 500 copies on black vinyl, no download card. Sunzoom have been making a stir from their Liverpool base and this highly anticipated debut is not to be missed. Lo-fi and DIY in equal measure, the record was only conceived of 4 weeks into the first lockdown when songwriter Greg McVeigh decided that recording music was the only way to stay sane. Building a makeshift studio in the kitchen of his North Liverpool home (and deciding to name the new project SUNZOOM after a favourite Captain Beefheart track) Greg set about learning the processes of home recording from the ground up. The album theme draws upon the peculiar aspects of lockdown; isolation, spiritual introspection, longing to be somewhere else, weird dreams, drinking too much and takes the listener on a journey of escape. The songs move the record through fields, countries, time, space, memories and longings to finally end back at home in the reality of the four walls. Digging into some past unreleased recordings, poems, unfinished snippets of tunes and writing new songs (usually sung into his phone during months of daily beach walks with his dog) Greg began to build a record within the claustrophobic environment of summer 2020. Friends were able to collaborate (by the magic of old recordings and new parts sent via email) and in early 2021 Sunzoom entered ARK Recording Studios in Liverpool to add live drums and vocal parts subsequently spending a month mixing the record back home in the familiar surroundings of the kitchen where the concept first began. The result is a snapshot of the period that magically transforms personal and public strife into glorious pop-folk psychedelia.

The Entertains were a vocal group from Cleveland Ohio whose line up at different times varied between four to five members. Initially signed to Belkin Productions in Cleveland the group were persuaded by Nick Holiday to move to his Pittsburgh Steel Town Records Label. The group had already been working on two songs penned by C-Way Productions Richard Calloway who had strong links with Cleveland through his work with Jesse Fisher and Lester Johnson at Way Out Records. The two songs in question being “Love Will Turn It Around” and Why Couldn’t I Believe Them”, demo cuts of both songs where touted around to several major labels with 20th Century showing some serious interest, but the owner reputedly turned down 20th Century’s advances and instead chose to release the songs on his own Steel Town Label. Recorded at Jerree’s Studio in New Brighton P.A with the musical arrangements being provided by Don Groton, The Entertains 45 received limited local airplay reputedly due in part to Holiday’s refusal to provide a set of Dining Room furniture for an influential local radio promotion man. Greater radio play was eventually received with “Love Will Turn It Around” gaining air time on WANN, Annapolis Maryland’s largest Black radio station, courtesy of Disc-jockey Charles “Hoppy” Adams. For a time, a popular tune throughout Baltimore, Washington and Delaware without breaking out nationally. Wider appreciation of the Entertains 45 would come from foreign shores as copies of the 45 found their way in the UK. The effervescent dance side of the 45 “Love Will Turn It Around” was heavily championed by Legendary DJ Colin Curtis and became a firm favourite with the dancers within the Highland Room of the Blackpool Mecca and subsequent Northern Soul venues of the time. The Entertains line up on the Steel Town sessions where Donald Rice, Howard Rice (the cousin of Donald) Alfred Wilson and Andrew Wright the lead vocalist on all The Entertains songs. During 1978 Richard Calloway held a second recording session on The Entertains again at Jeree’s Studio’s which yielded a further two songs “I’ll Answer You With Love” and “Your Love I Give It Up” which due to lack of finance at the time of their conception remained in the can. These two songs have now been brought to life through Soul Junction’s licensing deal with C-Way Production’s in the format they originally intended for. The A-side of the release is the emotional charge stepper “I’ll Answer You With Love” with the opening monologue parts been performed by Howard Rice. While the B-side “Your Love I Give It Up” is a punchier up-tempo version of Richie Merrett’s earlier C-Way Records recording “I Gave It Up”, the flipside to “You’ll Always Have Yesterday Standing By” (C-way 103).

In later life Donald Rice would perform with Lonnie Turner Jr a former member of the Detroit groups The Mighty Lovers (Boo-Ga-Loo and Soulhawk) and Innervision (Private Stock and Ariola America) and his daughter Africa Turner in a vocal combo known as The Ambassadors Of Soul, sadly Donald has now passed. It is believed that the other members of The Entertains are still out there performing solo or as members of other different groups.

World renowned extreme Metal titans KREATOR are back. 5 Years after their incredibly successful “Gods Of Violence” album (2107, #1 in the German album charts, #4 in Austria, #7 in Czech Republic and Finland + chart entries in numerous other territories), the genre-defining band presents their most political effort to date. “Hate Über Alles” (in tradition of US punk icons DEAD KENNEDYS’ “California Über Alles”) is a bold statement against hate and the division of society in today’s world. While perfecting their signature sound of thrash metal that inspired countless other bands over the past 4 decades, KREATOR have managed to close the gap between the old and new school, still reaching new audiences, playing sold out shows to even bigger crowds as they move on. “

Hate Über Alles” features 11 tracks that once again show who’s boss in this game that many begin but only few ultimately last in. The crushing frenzy of the title track, the pounding “Strongest Of The Strong” featuring world famous vegan strongman Patrik Baboumian, the nostalgia of “Become Immortal” or the extravaganza of “Midnight Sun” make the band’s 14th album their most diverse and thrilling so far. “Hate Über Alles” will be accompanied by massive online and out-of-home campaigns, leading up to the band’s European co-headlining tour with Grammy-nominated US powerhouse LAMB OF GOD in November/December 2022. The album is available in various lavish vinyl editions featuring a beautiful, yet grim trifold artwork by famous artist Eliran Kantor (TESTAMENT, SOULFLY, HELLOWEEN, HEAVEN SHALL BURN, HATEBREED among others) as well as in a noble CD Digibook and bold box set including an extended Making-Of Book, a live album of the band’s 2021 Bloodstock Open Air appearance, an art print of the cover and a pin of the band’s iconic logo.

Another Limited edition remastered official reissue of one of the classic boogie song now very rare and sought after coming from the legendary Delirium Records now handled by Best Record Italy.

Friendsome Records and Belaria are delighted to present her debut EP Boost & Doubt. After only two singles and a remix to date she already managed to leave quite an impression, launching a very promising career. The young ‘home grown’ prodigy has produced this beautiful four tracker to take you on a retro-minimal journey of heavy beats and melodic synth.

Oscillating between Dark-Disco, Italo and Synth-Wave, starting and ending with two dancefloor oriented tracks Boost and Esteem (A1 & B2). Neither will allow you to sit still, in the middle of this you’ll find Rest In B (A2), a more poppy but still minimalist track that will remind you of throw backs of Chloé or Peaches. All sat alongside Burning Inside (B1) a downer tempo intimate song that would suite a room three or a long summer road trip. Enjoy the ride!

Denver-based Seafoam (Brian Cavender) is by far the most prolific of the talented Cavender brothers, but he has remained elusive for his 2+ decades-long career in deep funk. After releasing a one-off 12-inch in 1999 on a small Denver label, Seafoam quickly found his way to the Guidance family by way of gatherings at Miami's Winter Music Conference. A string of three twelves on Guidance from 2000 to 2003 cemented his legacy early in his career, however, having never quite reached the same heights as some of the Guidance greats, Seafoam's output mysteriously declined around the time of the label's demise. New releases dried up until the formative reissue campaign of Paris-based Rue De Plaisance in 2017, which culminated in the essential Collected Works 1999-2005 double LP. The flood gates opened, and a whole new generation of diggers and labels turned to his sound. And Seafoam, seemingly untouched by the passage of time, hunkered down in the studio with a steady release schedule-a new lease on life for the occult deep house assassin.

Mr. K is back again with a double-sider that tackles the ups and downs of love and does it in fabulous style with two solid soul classics.

Yvonne Fair was a veteran of the soul music world when she finally got the chance to record her first full length album in 1975. She had recorded multiple singles under the guidance of James Brown (her “I Found You” was reworked by Brown into the chart-topper “I Got You (I Feel Good)”) and, after leaving the JB camp for the auspices of Motown, a clutch of 7-inches with Norman Whitfield. These were gathered together to form her first (and only) full-length, but before the album was completed a final song was added to fill things out. This last minute touch would turn out to be the crowning achievement of her career. “It Should’ve Been Me” didn’t seem to be a notable addition at first. The song was originally done by Kim Weston a decade earlier and then by Gladys Knight. But Fair’s version had something special. In addition to the novel addition of a percolating drum machine pulse, Fair imbued the lyrics with a heartfelt sincerity and gruff emotion that touched listeners in a way that other versions had missed. Released as a single in the UK in late ’75, the song rose to the top ten of the British charts by February of the following year, inspiring Motown to release it as a US single. The song never replicated its UK success in the States, but went on to have a long life as a staple of drag performances and gay club life. Gay club life being the heart of all great club life, it’s only natural that the impact of the song has continued to spread, from Adeva’s hit house version in 1991 to Miley Cyrus’s recent revival of the song. Danny Krivit pays tribute to this storied history with his own version, a simple yet effective edit that stays true to the original but gives DJs a little more room (and fans a little more time to sing along!) than the all-too-brief original.

Continuing on our theme of lovelorn loss and redemption, Mr. K turns his attention to the New Birth’s “Brand New Lover” for our B-side. While the original slowly moves from the tentative, immediate aftermath of breakup to the eventual positive path forward, Krivit’s edit jumps straight to the joyous resolution to find new love, riding a delicious call and response chorus punctuated by signature breakdowns from master producer Harvey Fuqua. Danny’s edit provides a natural uplifting opportunity that never stops building over the course of its extended five minutes. Until now, the track has only been available on the group’s debut 1970 full-length, and never on a 7-inch single.

As always, this release has been mastered to the highest standards and is certain to find a spot in the bags of discerning listeners and DJs alike.

A soundtrack of Sudan's revolution and the first ever international release of the Beja sound, performed by Noori and his Dorpa Band, an unheard outfit from Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea coast in eastern Sudan and the heart of Beja culture.

Beja Power! is a living archive of the finest, most heartfelt Beja songs—a six-track portal to another time and place, of melodies long forgotten and never before interpreted by an electric and brass-driven ensemble. Few older Beja recordings were produced. Even fewer, if any, remain.

Electric soul, blues, jazz, rock, surf, even hints of country, speak fluently to styles and chords that could be Tuareg, Ethiopian, Peruvian or Thai—all grounded by hypnotic Sudanese grooves, Naji's impeccable, airy tenor sax, and of course, Noori's tambo-guitar, a self-made unique hybrid of an electric guitar and an electric tambour, a four-string instrument found across East Africa.

A truly ancient community, Beja trace their ancestry back millennia. Some say they are among the living descendants of Ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush. They are even depicted in the hieroglyphics. Beja melodies—nostalgic, hopeful and sweet, ambiguous and honest—are thousands of years old. Yet their sounds are also reminiscent of Dick Dale's 1963 "Misirlou" and jazz great Charlie Rouse's 1968 "Meci Bon Dieu". This album could be 6,000 years, 60 years, or 6 months old.

Along with his Dorpa Band, formed in 2006, Noori's instrumental Beja music forms the latest link in an unbroken chain of an inherited, arresting sound that is local as it is global, a gift of a storied past and the exchanges of the well-traveled Red Sea.

Ostinato Records is honored to bring the nearly forgotten Beja sound in all its nostalgia, sweetness, honesty, and power, recorded and mastered to maintain the warmth of Sudan's signature aesthetic, to your sound system.

An absolutely legendary album from Lebanon by Issam Hajali’s group Ferkat Al Ard, “Oghneya” stands out as one of the great musical gems of the Arab world. A groundbreaking release from 1978 that represents the meeting point of Arab, jazz, folk and Brazilian styles with the talent of Ziad Rahbani, who did the albums arrangements. Filled with a variety of sounds and genres, from Baroque Pop to Psych-Folk to flashes of Bossa Nova, Tropicalia and MPB, “Oghneya” is like if Arthur Verocai took a trip to Beirut in the 70’s to record an album.

In 2015 we heard Ferkat Al Ard’s music for the first time, a Lebanese trio compromised of Issam Hajali, Toufic Farroukh and Elia Saba. It was a stunningly unique release that blends traditional Arabic elements, jazz and Brazilian rhythms hand in hand with poetic-yet-politically engaged lyrics. The band was active in the left-wing movement of Lebanon of the time and they communicated their political ideas candidly through their songwriting.

In our mind the idea was to see whether Issam was interested in re-releasing “Oghneya.” He was not opposed to it, but also made it clear that it was not his priority for a first project. He suggested we start with his first album, before Ferkat Al Ard was formed, “Mouasalat Ila Jacad El Ard,” which was recorded in 1977 in Paris together with his friend Roger Fakhr (whose work we have been privileged to re-release in the meantime as well.) “Mouasalat Ila Jacad El Ard” is melancholic, stripped-down, guitar-based folk intertwined with jazz-fused breaks, and the unique sound of the santour glistens through. While the music is very accessible, some song structures are rather atypical, neglecting common patterns of verse, hook, verse, hook. The lyrics mostly trace back to the poetic work of Palestinian author Samih El Kasem, with one song also written by Issam, who composed the music for the whole album.

We re-released Issam’s “Mouasalat Ila Jacad El Ard” in 2019 to a great reception, with positive reviews all over the place and an ongoing appreciation for the album. This meant it was time for us to undertake an “Oghneya” re-release again!

If you compare “Mouasalat Ila Jacad El Ard” and “Oghneya,” one apparent distinction is the strong Brazilian influence in the music. Issam Hajali explained that you can already hear traces of this influence on his debut, but it’s “Oghneya” where this musical relationship really peaks. Lebanon and Brazil have had a strong connection for nearly a century due to the continuous flow of immigrants from one country to the other. Today, Brazil has the largest Lebanese diaspora in the world, the “Brasilibanês”. The migratory route was not a one-way street, however, and some Lebanese returned to their home country, taking recordings of the music they learned to love in Brazil with them. They were followed by Brazilian musicians who visited primarily Beirut during the 1960’s and the first half of the 1970’s, just like many other musicians from around the world. In these years between the independence and the beginning of the civil war, Beirut became even more of a cultural center and regional hub than it already was.

Bossa Nova, at that time, was one of the defining sounds of Brazilian popular music. Issam Hajali remembers hearing it at a bar in Beirut’s Hamra district in 1974, which hosted musicians from Brazil playing the occasional gig. When Issam had returned from Paris in 1976 he got to know Ziad Rahbani, son of Fairouz, who had a shared passion with Issam for a lot of things, among them Brazilian music. Issam showed him some of the tracks he was working on, and Ziad agreed to help with arranging. The music that evolved from this cooperation between Ferkat Al Ard and Ziad Rahbani’s arrangement is, to put it lightly, outstanding. Issam’s singing is embedded into the uniquely beautiful string arrangements backed by the band’s poignant, swinging groove. The lyrics of the songs on “Oghneya” are based on poems by Mahmoud Darwish, Samih Al Qasem and Tawfiq Ziad, three pillars of Palestinian poetry within the last century, and their influence on “Oghneya” was itself a strong political statement during the Lebanese war.

“Oghneya” was eventually released in 1978 by the band themselves on cassette tapes. Finding a blank tape that fit the playing time proved to be impossible during the war so they needed to open up the case of each cassette to physically cut down the tape and customize it to the playing time. The album was well received, though some cultural critics deemed it too “occidental” in its sound. While the cassette was circulating, Ziad Rahbani started a label called Zida, together with Khatchik Mardirian. They decided to help the band with a re-release on vinyl in 1979, a year after “Oghneya” was originally released on cassette.

Sadly, there are two tracks from the original release of “Oghneya” that did not make it onto the reissue. “Ghfyara Ghaza” was replaced by the song “Juma’a 6 Hziran.” while “Huloul” was taken off without a replacement. This happened as a precondition from the band for this reissue to happen. We would have loved to include all tracks, but the decision ranged between having either a reissue like the one we put out or no reissue at all. Thus, an easy choice for us.

As always both vinyl and CD come with an extensive booklet with an interview with Issam as well as unseen photos from the recording sessions.

In 1990 Ronald Lee Trent Jr. was the teenage creator of Altered States – a raw, futuristic techno-not-techno anthem, which in retrospect was something of a stylistic anomaly for the young artist. Across subsequent years, with time spent in Chicago, New York and Detroit, came the development of his signature sound, and renown as a world class purveyor of deep, soul infused house/garage. This story has already been told, and on casual inspection, the well-worn platitude ‘house music legend’ is an old shoe that still fits. However, in fact, he’s actually so much more, and has been for quite a while. A genuine musician, songwriter, and ‘producer’ in the proper, old-school sense, the artist today has more in common with Quincy Jones than he does your average journeyman DJ track-hack.

To those in the know, these broader skills haven’t gone unnoticed, which is why on the highly collaborative, career-topping new LP ‘What Do The Stars Say To You’, it took little persuasion to recruit serious star power. Brazilian royalty Ivan Conti and Alex Malheriros from Azymuth, violin maestro Jean Luc Ponty, ambient hero Gigi Masin, hype band Khruangbin and more performed, whilst NY cornerstone François K provided mastering duties. At various points Ron himself played drums, percussion, keys, synths, piano, guitar and electronics.

Harking back to the 70s and 80s boom in adventurous, luxurious albums, WDTSSTY is a love letter to the longplayer, where rich musicality and a liquid smooth, silky flow make seemingly odd genre bedfellows acquiesce harmoniously. Each song its own high-fidelity odyssey, Trent incorporated a broad range of live instruments and electronics into a sophisticated, euphonic whole. Described by him as being “designed for harmonising with spirit, urban life and nature”, this is aural soul food, gently easing you into balmy nights, where everything is alright.

Originally wanting to be an architect, Trent’s views his approach to collaboration and music in general as having the same principles. A firm believer in the nourishing qualities of sound, he sees direct parallels between the two disciplines, being as the purpose of good architecture is to improve quality of life. “With WARM, through sound design, I built frameworks for the musicians, who furnished and occupied these structures beautifully, which was a big compliment for me”, he comments.

The conditions required for a good collab are more than simply structural though, as Trent expounds, “I’m a huge fan of everyone on the record, especially Jean Luc and Azymuth, who’re part of my DNA. Each track was made with that guest in mind – for example, when I started writing ‘Sphere’, I immediately thought ‘this IS Ponty’. I played the keys in his style, and did a guide violin solo using a synth, which he then re-did, amazingly. ‘Cool Water’ is based around Azymuth themes, so when I sent it to Ivan, he could immediately see himself in the piece; He got what I was going for straight away. For ‘Melt Into You’ I hit up Alex on Instagram, sent him the track, he liked it, and within 24 hours he’d sent back six different bass passes!”
“Conversely, Admira began with a sketch sent by Gigi and became something combining Jon Hassell-esque chords and the feel of ‘Aquamarine’ by Carlos Santana, which links back to Masin’s recurrent nautical theme”, he adds.

With community, history and the need for racial equality never far from Ron’s mind, ‘Flos Potentia’ translates from Spanish as flower power, but rather than promoting some hippy idyll, instead it refers to plants which drove the slave trade: tobacco, sugar and cotton. Joined by Khruangbin, together they propel Dinosaur L, Hi-Tension and afrobeat into an ethereal, clear-skyed stratosphere.
Aside from these esteemed guests, other key influences cited by Trent include ‘Gigolos Get Lonely Too’ by Prince, ‘Beyond’ by Herb Alpert, David Mancuso, Jan Hammer, Tangerine Dream, The Cars, Trevor Horn, Alan Parsons Project and pre-Kraftwerk incarnation Organization. A multitude of others are audible too, including George Bension, Vangelis, Loose Ends, Maze, Flora Purim, Weather Report, Atmosphere, Grace Jones, James Mason and Brass Construction.

On the subject of influences, although opposed to the fences erected by genre tags, to understand where Ron is coming from, and where he’s at, it’s important to acknowledge just how big the palette is from which he paints. Traversing jazz funk, quiet storm, sophisti-pop, new age, new wave, kosmische, Balearic, samba, afrobeat, Latin rock, soft rock and yacht rock, his deeply entrenched digger’s knowledge pays off in dividends.

In 1990 Ronald Lee Trent Jr. was the teenage creator of Altered States – a raw, futuristic techno-not-techno anthem, which in retrospect was something of a stylistic anomaly for the young artist. Across subsequent years, with time spent in Chicago, New York and Detroit, came the development of his signature sound, and renown as a world class purveyor of deep, soul infused house/garage. This story has already been told, and on casual inspection, the well-worn platitude ‘house music legend’ is an old shoe that still fits. However, in fact, he’s actually so much more, and has been for quite a while. A genuine musician, songwriter, and ‘producer’ in the proper, old-school sense, the artist today has more in common with Quincy Jones than he does your average journeyman DJ track-hack.

To those in the know, these broader skills haven’t gone unnoticed, which is why on the highly collaborative, career-topping new LP ‘What Do The Stars Say To You’, it took little persuasion to recruit serious star power. Brazilian royalty Ivan Conti and Alex Malheriros from Azymuth, violin maestro Jean Luc Ponty, ambient hero Gigi Masin, hype band Khruangbin and more performed, whilst NY cornerstone François K provided mastering duties. At various points Ron himself played drums, percussion, keys, synths, piano, guitar and electronics.

Harking back to the 70s and 80s boom in adventurous, luxurious albums, WDTSSTY is a love letter to the longplayer, where rich musicality and a liquid smooth, silky flow make seemingly odd genre bedfellows acquiesce harmoniously. Each song its own high-fidelity odyssey, Trent incorporated a broad range of live instruments and electronics into a sophisticated, euphonic whole. Described by him as being “designed for harmonising with spirit, urban life and nature”, this is aural soul food, gently easing you into balmy nights, where everything is alright.

Originally wanting to be an architect, Trent’s views his approach to collaboration and music in general as having the same principles. A firm believer in the nourishing qualities of sound, he sees direct parallels between the two disciplines, being as the purpose of good architecture is to improve quality of life. “With WARM, through sound design, I built frameworks for the musicians, who furnished and occupied these structures beautifully, which was a big compliment for me”, he comments.

The conditions required for a good collab are more than simply structural though, as Trent expounds, “I’m a huge fan of everyone on the record, especially Jean Luc and Azymuth, who’re part of my DNA. Each track was made with that guest in mind – for example, when I started writing ‘Sphere’, I immediately thought ‘this IS Ponty’. I played the keys in his style, and did a guide violin solo using a synth, which he then re-did, amazingly. ‘Cool Water’ is based around Azymuth themes, so when I sent it to Ivan, he could immediately see himself in the piece; He got what I was going for straight away. For ‘Melt Into You’ I hit up Alex on Instagram, sent him the track, he liked it, and within 24 hours he’d sent back six different bass passes!”
“Conversely, Admira began with a sketch sent by Gigi and became something combining Jon Hassell-esque chords and the feel of ‘Aquamarine’ by Carlos Santana, which links back to Masin’s recurrent nautical theme”, he adds.

With community, history and the need for racial equality never far from Ron’s mind, ‘Flos Potentia’ translates from Spanish as flower power, but rather than promoting some hippy idyll, instead it refers to plants which drove the slave trade: tobacco, sugar and cotton. Joined by Khruangbin, together they propel Dinosaur L, Hi-Tension and afrobeat into an ethereal, clear-skyed stratosphere.
Aside from these esteemed guests, other key influences cited by Trent include ‘Gigolos Get Lonely Too’ by Prince, ‘Beyond’ by Herb Alpert, David Mancuso, Jan Hammer, Tangerine Dream, The Cars, Trevor Horn, Alan Parsons Project and pre-Kraftwerk incarnation Organization. A multitude of others are audible too, including George Bension, Vangelis, Loose Ends, Maze, Flora Purim, Weather Report, Atmosphere, Grace Jones, James Mason and Brass Construction.

On the subject of influences, although opposed to the fences erected by genre tags, to understand where Ron is coming from, and where he’s at, it’s important to acknowledge just how big the palette is from which he paints. Traversing jazz funk, quiet storm, sophisti-pop, new age, new wave, kosmische, Balearic, samba, afrobeat, Latin rock, soft rock and yacht rock, his deeply entrenched digger’s knowledge pays off in dividends.

‘4-Vesta’ is the brightest asteroid visible from Earth. Measuring around 500km in diameter, it’s one of the four largest objects in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. Fragments of Vesta have been found on Earth, as meteorites that were ejected into space after two collisions that left huge craters on its surface. These fragments show that Vesta was probably once a planet itself, made of the same material as the four terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars).

It was an encounter with one of these fragments that inspired the name for Azu Tiwaline’s latest EP for I.O.T Records, ‘Vesta’, which features tracks that were written and recorded around the same time as ‘Magnetic Service’, her break-through EP for Livity Sound. Holding a piece of Vesta that had been found in the Saharan Desert - already a place of deep significance for her - she felt a sense of wonder, on a cosmic scale. In her hands, was an object so apparently familiar, of the same age and made of the same fundamental materials as the Earth on which she stood, yet from somewhere else entirely. A perfect name for the four tracks that make up ‘Vesta’. And also the perfect source material for the EP’s cover, an electron microscope image of a razor-thin slice of that same cosmic fragment that Azu held in her hand.

‘Vesta’ is familiar, yet distinct. It’s recognisably Azu Tiwaline from the very start, yet the unexpected always finds a way in. A booming, echoing kick opens ‘Low’, followed by the rattling, shivering sound of a tanbur hand-drum, courtesy of his regular collaborator, Franco-Iranian percussionist and producer Cinna Peyghamy. But then, tentatively at first, a jazzy synth line emerges, and disappears again, only to reappear later. An another colour to add to Azu Tiwaline’s already rich palette?

Azu Tiwaline’s music has always explored the dynamics between space and depth, and the contrasts between light and density. ‘Vesta’ often feels like a high-wire act, an exercise in finding space even as the air fills with drum patterns and synth lines. ‘Medium Time’ builds from a chorus of buzzing insects into a thick percussive track across eight minutes, without ever losing that initial wide-open sound of the dusk. ‘Into The Void’ pays homage to her well-worn collection of Rhythm & Sound and Basic Channel 12-inch singles, all swaying dub echoes and languid kick drums. Then mid-track, it pivots in intensity, each element suddenly expanded and magnified: a psychedelic shift. Those who’ve had the chance to see Azu Tiwaline perform in the past few years might get a few flashbacks - it’s been a key part of her live set.

But it’s the final track ‘Deep Theko’ that best fits the EP’s cosmic title. A shape-shifting ‘ambient’ track that never seems to settle, it drifts restlessly, sporadic percussion and synth washes injecting random bursts of activity. A sonic representation of planetary debris floating through space? Here, as with the airless void of space, emptiness enables a certain perspective. If the distances between the stars weren’t so enormous, we wouldn’t be able to gaze upon them in their entirety, after all.

Hassan Ideddir’s 1989 single “Atfalouna” sees an expanded repress courtesy of Dark Entries. Born to Berber parents in Morocco, Ideddir began making music at the age of 10 after being discovered singing in the stairwell by his school’s headmaster. Encouraged by his peers, he began playing concerts, and his status grew. In 1987, he played a string of sold-out concerts in Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakesh, in support of a children’s charity. The success of these concerts secured him a record deal, and he went to Paris to record his debut single “Atfalouna” in 1988.

Released in 1989 on WEA, “Atfalouna” is a dense slab of multi-genre pop. An opening wash of digital synths and reverberant vocals quickly falls away to a cascade of orchestra hits and pulsing electronic drums; the monotone chant-rap of a female chorus collides with Ideddir’s soaring melismatic vocals, pleading against the injustice and hunger in the world. While Hip-Hop and New Beat borrowed tropes from Arabic music, “Atfalouna” inverts the gesture, resituating orchestra hits and sampling techniques within a Moroccan music framework. A shorter instrumental version follows, which preserves the female vocals. Also included are two tracks not on the original 12”. “Ibina” is a moody, downtempo instrumental that sounds like a cult Italo B-side. The record closes with “Ydouchababe”, an electro number driven by funky guitars, electronic claps, huge horn riff. Here, Ideddir sings of a youth festival honoring Hassan II, former king of Morocco.

All songs were remastered by George Horn. The sleeve is a replica of the original 12” cover art, featuring Ideddir set in a cheeky collage of clocks, columns, and camels. Also included is a postcard with a photo of Hassan, as well as lyrics in both Arabic and English. We will be donating 100% of proceeds from this release to Sphere who provide support to the young queer community across Ukraine and the Palestine Children's Relief Fund who help provide urgent humanitarian care for Gaza's children.

White Vinyl

This is the third all-solo outing from Nat Birchall, following on from last year’s very well received Ancient Africa.

Once again Nat plays all the instruments in this homage to the patron saint of the tenor saxophone, John Coltrane.

Afro Trane presents a balanced programme of Coltrane songs and original compositions which focus on the more Afro-centric aspects of the music,

included are the classic Coltrane compositions Acknowledgement from A Love Supreme, India from the Impressions album and Dahomey Dance from Ole.

Kicking off proceedings on new label, Scene Unseen is Yorkshire’s finest, Jinjé a.k.a. Lee J Malcolm.

Scene Unseen will focus on exploring and showcasing scenes from around the world (some seen or some maybe unseen), as well as releasing music from artists who incorporate sounds from across the globe within a music style that's closer to home. This is where Jinjé steps in, delivering an EP of Afro-funk and Afro-tech. He draws upon his usual duties as a fine Techno, House and Electronica producer and combines them with rhythms inspired by African and Indian music, using instruments (played and recorded live by Jinjé) and field recordings from both regions.

Jinjé (Lee J Malcolm) has released on labels such as Messrs. Kicks & Drums, EPM Music, Mesh and Ostgut Ton. He was also a founding member and mainstay in the Leeds band, Vessels (Different Recordings), until leaving a couple of years ago to concentrate on solo projects.

The track names tell all, as Jinjé gives a clear nod to the Africanism is his music. First track, 'Ngoma' is a name used across Africa to describe certain drums and percussive instruments, which can be heard here, like Djembes from the Conga region, as well as live and acoustic components, blended with modular and other electronic sounds.

'Burkina Faso' takes us west and hits the ground running with a vocal sample of Tribal women from the area, singing praise and joy to engineers who have come to provide fresh water to the village: "Praise God for they have come to build us a well." The progression of the track is based around this joy and develops nicely alongside some intense bass and drums.

'Dusk' is inspired by thoughts of the Serengeti planes at night fall, all built around Jinjé's live M'bira plugged into a modular synth, grouped with live flute and field recordings from India which provide additional percussion.

'Ya Maji' is a collection of high energy rhythms from a Moroccan frame drum, congas, clapping, live bass, distorted marimba and the mighty Korg Ms20 playing the lead synth lines.

Last up is 'Jara', a nod to Steve Reich and his six marimbas, as well as drawing inspiration from Fela Kuti. Vocal samples bring in more of the field recordings Jinjé made in India, as well as the clapping elements. Acoustic and electronic sounds intertwine to great effect and sum up the EP as a whole.

Look out for more from Jinjé in this musical direction as he seeks to bring these tracks and future ones to a live band setup.