Search:all that jazz

Almost three decades after he put out his first record as one half of Tummy Touch twosome Tutto Matto, Paulo Guigliemino continues to produce effortlessly brilliant music that joins the dots between vintage disco, boogie, proto-house and sun-kissed Balearica. For proof, just check the heavyweight dancefloor sunshine that is 'Bella Topa', his first release on Leng Records.

Slow, sensual and blessed with all manner of delay-laden drum machine percussion hits, the track fixes the producer's usual colourful, boogie-era synth flourishes and ear-pleasing instrumentation (think fluid electric pianos, fluttering flutes, eyes-closed jazz guitar solos, lilting saxophones and spacey electronic chords) to a chugging, head-in-the-clouds groove reminiscent of Lindstrom and Prins Thomas's early collaborative work. 'Bella Topa' cleverly shifts shape several times throughout, utilising jazzier rhythms and bolder melodies to light up key moments.

Remixes come from Guigliemino's old pal Federico Marton, a producer best known for being one half of sometime Get Physical, Superfiction and Snatch Recordings artists Italoboyz. He lays down two distinctive revisions, starting with a 'Slow' club reconstruction that adds additional percussive heaviness and sparkling electronics to Super Paolo's twinkling, sun-baked original.

His other version, a 'Fast' club reconstruction, drags Guigliemino's track towards peak-time dancefloors kicking and screaming. Making the most of his friend's killer groove and finding sufficient time and space for each life-affirming musical element to sparkle, his mix bobs, weaves and eventually soars for 12 mesmerizing minutes. The mix, like his slow version, makes use of additional percussion and wisely gives more prominence to the A-side's spacey electronics and boogie-influenced synthesizer flourishes. The results are little less than breathtaking.

Following the release of lo-fi electronic masterpiece I Don't Remember Now / I Don't Want To Talk About It and his brilliant follow-up Plaster Falling, Cincinnati-based artist John Bender began assembling his third and last album, Pop Surgery, in late 1982.


While all of Bender's work draws from intimate home recordings - featuring the artist alone with various keyboards, analogue sequencers and tape delays - Pop Surgery remains the one that perhaps best distills his arrant deconstruction of the "pop" concept. These twelve frenetic tracks, meticulously stitched together with dubbed-out vocals and disjointed drum machines, stretch the boundaries of bedroom electronics.


Bender would forgo the handmade LP sleeves typical of his Record Sluts imprint. The cover depicts an imposing scrapyard crane, ready to pick up discarded objects with its bright red electromagnet, while the center labels détourn Columbia's classic '70s style.


"I pressed a single run of 500 copies," Bender recounts. "The only review I remember railed at the poor production quality. The DIY era had clearly come to an end."


This first-time standalone reissue is recommended for fans of Suicide, TG's 20 Jazz Funk Greats and early Cabaret Voltaire. Liner notes by John Bender.

With "Rhythmic Conversations" Frisina shifts the coordinates of his music to a more 'raw' soundscape, in which the rhythmic element stands in the foreground. Not just Latin-jazz dancefloor material then, but music with strong percussive and tribal elements. Music is perhaps the only truly effective language that allows people who speak different idioms to communicate with each other, and this is precisely what Gerardo Frisina's "Rhythmic Conversations" are about. Closing the record we have an alternative version of "Camagüey", a very different mix from the original one, in a particular Afro-Cuban music style called "Tumbao".

Formed in 2007 by Jakob Seidensticker, Florian Schirmacher and Henrik Raabe, Wareika was accidentally gathered on stage for the first time at Hamburg's mythical Mojo Club. Since then, the german trio has built a very singular sound signature after a decade of playing together. Revealing the diverse influences and musical educations from all three individuals, the band's discography has been built over a solid live experience. Being academically trained in Jazz and Classical but also self taught through electronic music, Jakob, Florian and Henrik are able to sing, play guitars, drum machines, pianos, synthesizers, bass, percussions and way more. Concocting their stylistic blend with meditative Jazz, hypnotic Dub, meticulous Techno and subtle House, it leaves no surprise as you think about the high level of versatility of Wareika's musical spirit. Calling from King Tubby, Sun Ra or afrobeat master Fela Kuti, they develop a dazzling kaleidoscope of melodies and polyrhythmic patterns over four to the floor beats that is entirely unique in the electronic music scene. When it comes down to live gigs Wareika is putting a stress on quality and delivers an outstanding sound. As a trio of singular performers the band jumps on stage without computers, setting up an improvised dialog based on their original material but always handing over a unique piece taking form in the moment. Jakob Seidensticker on MPC arrangements, drum machine sequencing and mixing, Florian Schirmacher on vocals, synthesizer, percussions and Henrik Raabe on guitar, synthesizer and percussions, the trio holds the mastery of enhancing a crowd with a multitude of tools and elements, sometimes for more than four hours. Also occasionally rendering live versions of their own full-length releases, they always cross borders of their studio work to unfold their creations into a whole new level.

On her debut EP, Brussels-based multi-instrumentalist Esinam gives us an entrancing insight into her eclectic world of jazztronica.

Released 21st September via Sdban Ultra, her self-titled EP carries influences from different worlds geographically, culturally and musically. Blending traditional and modern instruments with her soulful voice, the acoustic sounds of the instruments are allowed to evolve and take on new dimensions, opening up a kaleidoscopic spectrum of sound and colour.

Esinam Dogbatse is part of a new generation of musicians bringing forth a cultural blend of music. Having opened for the likes of Nakhane and Témé Tan at Les Nuits earlier this year, Belgian rapper Baloji invited her to guest on his latest critically acclaimed album '137 Avenue Kaniama'. She has also supported Alsarah & The Nubatones, Selah Sue and Melanie De Biasio on her sold-out shows at Ancienne Belgique.

For the recording of the EP, Esinam joined forces with Jules Fradet from Studio Planet (Damso, Afrikan Prötökol). Producing and playing most of the instruments herself, the EP was mastered by LA-based producer Kelly Hibbert aka Almachrome (J Dilla, Madlib, Little Dragon, Flying Lotus, Ebo Taylor, Mark de Clive-Lowe and Arca).

Lead track 'Birds Fly Under a Heavy Sky' is a mesmerising opener that smoulders effortlessly against a backdrop of subtle beats and sensual rhythms, with Esinam's soft vocals and hypnotic flute providing the groove.

On 'Do Not Go Into That Black Night', she is dark and direct. It's a magnetic take on jazz noire that doesn't distract from the sultry inflections of her voice, while 'Gavoé' recalls the spirit of her Ghanaian roots in a ballet of instruments that display a level of personal freedom and sensitivity. Through merging different genres of music, we are warmly welcomed into Esinam's musical universe.

Esinam teamed up with Senegalese DJ and producer Ibaaku on the highly charged 'Electric Lady', who provided some distinctive musical hues. A track drenched in afro-futurist colours, sonic samples and collages freely mix with electric and raw sounds, supporting the energetic playing of the flute. The structure of the song remains true to Esinam's signature sounds: surprising ruptures, poetic atmospheres and constant affirmation of groove.

When Esinam performs live, she juggles traditional instruments such as the tama, kalimba and pandeiro, which she loops and blends with the sound of her flute and voice. It sometimes triggers dance, sometimes contemplation

SEPT 2016. The Moog Sound Lab's first trip out for a live session at Café Oto's project & café rooms. Jimi Tenor, finnish futurist, shako & Warp Records confederate, jazzed, funked, far-ra'd out. Tony Allen - original drummer to Fela Kuti - Godfather of the Afro-Beat.

These two titans of the beat strange -fed & watered through the mighty Moog Sound Lab via a prototype future sound

systems drum trigger unit built & operated by UK moog minder engineer Mr Finlay Shakespeare. New sound universes emerge, collide.

Explosions & implosions make sonic debris. Cosmic dancers prepare to be run ragged by a feral 'tronic funk that brings to mind early 'D.A.F.

This is already our seventh Deep Love compilation and we dare to say our most complete yet in sound and flow. The ten pieces on this sampler blend in perfectly with that laid back 'late' summer mood. We are very pleased to welcome yet again some new acts to Dirt Crew with the likes of 'Jaxx Madicine', 'Ouer', 'Times are Ruff' and 'S3A'. We cross many borders not only in genres but also country wise. From the heavy Disco sampled jam by French producer 'S3A' to the Jazz and Funk laden epos of the Italian 3 piece 'Jaxx Madicine' over to the Dutch deep house boys 'Times Are Ruff' who are well known from their, same named, label and finally to the Berlin duo 'Ouer' who also run an own label and released with our good friends at 'Heist Recordings', delivering an ecstatic electronic floating tune here.

This is all completed by some excellence from long time Dirt Crew artists. '25 Places' have been with us for many years now and their two Ep's have gotten so much love from the deeper deep house community. Here they drop an epic almost IDM techno like tune that closes this great album in the best possible way. Our Icelandic stall wart 'Felix Leifur' drops a heavy hitter named 'Buster'. After his recent 'Bobby Donny' Ep earlier this year we are thrilled to have him back on Dirt Crew! 'Harry Wolfman' and 'Ponty Mython' need no introduction really, they are adding Electro/ Disco/ Electronica fuelled cuts that form a great middle part to this mix of tunes. Harry going in very smooth and relaxed, something else than his usual House workout which we really loved to present to you. 'Ponty Mython' drops an irresistible 'good times' indie acid track in his unique 'free' style.

Last, we must of course not forget 'Dan Only' and key wizzard 'Lorenz Rhode'! With another beautifully smooth cut 'Dan Only' follows up on his latest debut Ep with us. Again a smart cross over in Techno and House with a distinct relaxed groove and atmosphere to it. Lorenz is back 'On Top' here after his super successful first offering to the Deep Love series last year and his 'And I Said' EP which stormed many charts. In the middle of touring and working with Detroit Swindle on their 'High Life' album we are super happy that he found the time to make another gem with that raw n funky live feel to it... We couldn't have started this compilation off with a better joint than 'Marakuja'.

Enough words for now ... just put these vinyl on your decks or stream/play it on the go and don't forget to drop them at a sweaty club night. Deep Love is here to stay!

Thomas Fehlmann steps away as co-member of The Orb following two acclaimed full lengths on Kompakt (COW - 2016, Moonbuilding 2703 AD - 2015) and embarks back on his solo career with a career defining album 'Los Lagos' - from Detroit to Schaffel techno he conducts a broad spectrum of electronic music into a seamless flow.

Thomas Fehlmann has been active since the late 1970's from Palais Schaumburg, the Tresor defnining trio 3MB (with Moritz von Oswald and Juan Atkins), Ocean Club (together with Gudrun Gut) and of course The Orb.

Artwork direction and design by DESIGNERS REPUBLIC.

'Los Lagos' is Thomas Fehlmann's seventh solo full-length, his 4th for Kompakt following his Berlin inspired 2010 full length 'Gute Luft'. in the musician's own words it's about "checking the juice".

Establishing a picture of his current artistic condition, as suggested by the title - los lagos / die lage / the situation (literally translating to 'the lakes' but taking the meaning of 'wassup' in the context of a relaxed discussion between friends), the album refers to Fehlmann's "musical motivation, dreams and wishes" through the language of music exclusively: a way to "allow myself to techno" he says, "to techno as a means to deconstruct and rebuild again. Set up an area of tension, loose it in the flow of the grooves. Magnifying some detail out of proportion, regroup around that and slowly knit a texture. Expand."

"It was time to take a bend and head where the sun rises or sets, wherever my heart drives me." This is pretty much the kind of decision Thomas Fehlmann has made. 61 and shining, longstanding member of The Orb, multi-talented composer and boundless experimentalist, had to make in the twilight of his collaboration with Alex Paterson, eager to taste the flavours of the unknown on his own again. "It was the moment when felxibility would have become compromise'. Far from being the demise of their joint dream, this was bound to split it in two distinct, parallel fantasies - rich of their own singularity.

As goes with that essential love of his for the free-flowing nature of electronic music, a fascination born out of its "lack of borders", capable of "inventing, changing the emphasis, experimenting with an unpredictable outcome", 'Los Lagos' "freely connects disparate extremes. Art, disco, minimalism, schmalz, jazz and funk". As he likes to say, Fehlmann's head functions as a sampler, capturing elements and re-assembling them under his own embracing perspective ; not afraid to leap from a deep, dubbed-out hypnotism ('Window', 'Morrislouis', 'Freiluft') to the playfulness of '90s-style bleepy schaffel ('Tempelhof' featuring Max Loderbauer), through out-there, muscle-flexing dancefloor cuts ('Triggerism') onto the calmness of ambient ('Geworden').

In need to keep his inner balance in check, Fehlmann committed himself to "switch off the control" and follow his intuition, which isn't so much of an easy process as he also wanted to incorporate the side disturbances experienced: "it's a complex process of search and destroy to bring out a new beauty trying to expand my vocabulary". With 'Los Lagos', Fehlmann looked at finding "the structure that's surprising, disturbing and rewarding". The artwork for the record, courtesy of contemporary artist and friend Albert Oehlen whom he shares lots of artistic ambitions with, echoes the producer's "funky use of shape and space, sludge and clarity" like a second skin. A search for light and harmony that Fehlmann sums up eloquently: "Does your inner musical voice respond", that is the question. Then "doors open up in unexpected corners, rays of light appear; you follow through and you're in - in your oasis."

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

Genius work from the Detroit underground of the 70s - one of the greatest records ever on the now-famous Tribe Records label, and a masterpiece of soul, jazz, and righteous spirit! The session's headed by tenor player Wendell Harrison - and it's got an all-star Motor City lineup that includes Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Phil Ranelin on trombone, Jeamel Lee on vocals, Charles Eubanks on electric piano, and Charles Moore on flugel horn. The tracks have a spacious spiritual approach that recalls some of the later Archie Shepp on Impulse - a blend of soul jazz with slight touches of electric instrumentation, some vocals, and a very progressive spirit overall - stepping proud in the new freedoms of the 70s, yet still swinging and very groovy.

The young virtuoso producer Prins Emanuel follows up his acclaimed debut album on Music For Dreams with something quite different than what we're used to hearing from him. While Arbete & Fritid was an epic odyssey into the furthest corners of disco with an array of studio wizardry and complex rhythms, Diagonal Musik is a sparse and delicate exploration of the acoustic guitar. Steering away from his comfort zone, the Prins follows his intuition for experimentation and lands somewhere in a field of genre-defiant folk-jazz meditations; a development that fits like hand in glove for the eccentric nature of Music For Dreams. The album reads like a soundtrack to the country house Emanuel shares with his family and friends, a place on the map called Oran. From atop a hillside overlooking a lake, Oran is lodged deep in the heart of the Skåne landscape, the southern part of Sweden that once belonged to Denmark. This place encompasses the whole of the album, as the track titles all pinpoint crucial locations on the courtyard and its surroundings. 'Orön' which opens the album is named after the small half-island that sits in the centre of the lake. There's the hand-built sauna ("Bastun") at the edge of the yard, and behind that in a slope the old root cellar ("Jordkällaren"). While the nature here is anything but balearic, the overwhelming calm of the country life seems to inspire the same laid-back attitude and passion for all things organic (and not just musically, as this is where Emanuel also makes cider from local apples according to the vin naturel school). Upon listening to Diagonal Musik one might be keen to draw references to works in similar style, such as the output of late 80's new age label Windham Hill or the dreamy lullabies of long-time friend and Music For Dreams affiliate 55 Cancri e. This is all circumstantial however, surprising as it may seem.

"The album's one of Ra's greatest from the 70s -- recorded in Italy in 1978, and featuring some incredibly otherworldly keyboards that are some of his most enigmatic on record! Original tracks from the album include "Disco 3000", an incredible workout on synthesizer, with a tiny bit of drum machine, a little "Space Is The Place" breakdown, and all of the wild sound you'd expect from a Sun Ra album -- plus more long tracks -- the sweetly soulful "Friendly Galaxy", a great soul jazz number, and "Dance Of The Cosmo Aliens", which has spooky organ, frenetic bass, and somber percussion" Check!

Originally released in 1972, Lord Of Lords was Alice Coltrane's final album for Impulse! and the last installment in her awe-inspiring trilogy that also included Universal Consciousness and World Galaxy. While all three records featured strings alongside a jazz ensemble, Lords Of Lords stood apart from its predecessors due to the sheer size of the orchestra (12 violins, 6 violas and 7 cellos, arranged and conducted by Coltrane herself) and its refined, blissful performances - shining a vital light on the devotional path that she would follow for the rest of her career.

On the first two pieces, "Andromeda's Suffering" and "Sri Rama Ohnedaruth" (titled after the spiritual name for her late husband), Alice's dazzling piano and harp blend perfectly with the blanket of strings, while the haunting rhythm section of Charlie Haden and Ben Riley and a magnificent, droning electric organ emerge immaculately on the title track and closer "Going Home." Coltrane's musical vision is bold in its imagination and cosmic in scope, yet remains intensely personal and immediate. Lord Of Lords points inward as much as to the beyond, recalling her classical roots and recasting Eastern modes to radically invert the American avant-garde and spiritual jazz traditions.

This first-time vinyl reissue has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes.

Unreleased baroque jazz horror score to controversial lesbian sex cult witchcraft exploitation drama from 1973, composed by the man who wrote the Catweazle theme! Hell yeah!

HISTORY:
Ted Dicks is not that well known as a composer these days, but back in the mid 1960s he was composing library music as well penning some of the greatest comedy songs of the era, including 'Hole In The Ground' and 'Right Said Fred'. His work was performed by Kenneth Williams, Petula Clarke, Bernard Cribbins, Topol and more. But until now, little has been known of his brief flirtation with film music.

Virgin Witch was his first brush with film scoring - one of only two score he wrote. The film was produced by legendary wrestling commentator Ken Walton (under his Sexploitation pseudonym of 'Ralph Solomans'), with the help of Hazel Adair, a woman famed for co-creating the long running UK TV soap Crossroads. Virgin Witch was a racey film, turned down at least once for certification by the BBFC, passed uncut with an X for release just in London, then cut and passed for general release shortly afterwards.

The score itself is a unique and quite beautiful pop baroque work, utilizing the cimbalom, an instrument more than likely played here by 'Ipcress file' musician John Leach.

This is a very limited release of a most unique 1970s pop horror lesbian witch score. Get it before they are all sold and you start moaning you didn't order it in time.

After a triplet of solo 12"s, all courtesy of label main man Rupert Marnie, Hamburg-based imprint The Press Group are set to break 2018 in with the multi-flavoured TPG004 - a versatile debut VA that offers a fine close up on the label's whole cast of operating forces with some choice contributions from TPG's core tetrad including Youthman(29), Ten Letu, DJ Dodo and Marnie himself. Mind your backs!

Shape-shifting yet coherent as a whole, this collective effort puts together a swinging confluence of sounds and aesthetics - clearly aimed at the dancefloor but equally poised for laid-back chill sessions. First release on the label to reunite the entire crew, TPG004 mashes up a wide-spanning array of grooves and tempi in exploded view, giving full vent to each artist's idiosyncratic universe whilst establishing a hyper-modern sound ID, both infectiously funky and undeniably potent.

Casting its net far and wide: from the pared-down astronautical breakbeat of Youthman's 'Aemilia' to DJ Dodo's breezy jacking jazz-footwork hybrid 'The Machine' via Rupert Marnie's lithe ganjah-smelling shuffler 'Health' and Ten Letu's muscle-flexing acid roller 'Ah, You Shot Me!', it's a feast of feelgood beats that you're invited to, neatly connecting the dots between the guys' shared love for video game soundtracks, liquid dubstep, heavy jungle breaks, minimal house and further daydreaming, hazy harmonics to drape yourself into.

Over the last several years, the Zappa Family Trust and UMC have lovingly been restoring Frank Zappa's iconic catalog together by reissuing his classic albums on CD and pressing long-out-of-print records back on vinyl. Next up in the ongoing vinyl initiative, coming on the heels of the reissue of his enigmatic Burnt Weeny Sandwich, is Zappa's 1970 stylistically diverse and subversive album, Chunga's Revenge, which will receive a 180-gram audiophile repressing on black vinyl on July 20. Supervised by the ZFT, the record, which has been unavailable on vinyl for more than three decades, will be press pressed at Pallas In Germany and feature reproductions of the original artwork. Chunga's Revenge, although released under Frank Zappa's own name, introduced a new Mothers lineup that included former Turtles members Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, aka Flo and Eddie, as well as keyboardist George Duke, drummer Aynsley Dunbar and multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood. The album is one of Zappa's most eclectic efforts, encompassing the improvisational title track, the raucous guitar jam "Transylvania Boogie," the bluesy "Road Ladies" and the jazzy "Twenty Small Cigars," along with more conventional rock numbers like "Tell Me You Love Me," "Would You Go All the Way" and "Sharleena."

The Song Says - Bruno Pronsato´s label restarts after 4 years of hiatus with a Vinyl Version of his seminal "Lovers Do"

It's been fours years since the original release of Lovers Do. For the first time now finally released on vinyl. In the meantime he's kept very busy--primarily with side projects. First there was Others, his experimental house outfit with Daze Maxim. Then came Public Lover, his duo with the French artist Ninca Leece that debuted last year on thesongsays (Bruno's label). He's continued to join forces with Sammy Dee as Half Hawaii, playing live shows around Europe and putting out tracks on Perlon and Diamonds & Pearls. As half of the duo Ndf, he coproduced Since We Last Met, a single that marked his debut on DFA and landed in Pitchfork's top tracks of the year. But while he was juggling all these different projects, one piece of music was slowly taking shape: his third and most immersive album, Lovers Do. Like much of Bruno's work to date, Lovers Do is experimental without being snobby--or to use his own term, accidentally avantgarde'-- but this one takes it further than the others. It has a looseness that's truly rare in techno, scrapping formulaic verses and breaks, it winds along like an abstract sketch, guided by intuition instead of logic. Some songs are fraught with nervous tension, others are soothing and rich with detail, from dappling rhodes to orchestral swells, jazzy drum fills and wet hand claps. Human voices swirl in and out of the mix, serving only to make things more surreal. Many of the tracks stretch well beyond ten minutes, one bows out after less than three. The album overall is delicate and subtle, but it also features Bruno's best club tune in years, the eerie and delirious Feel Right.' Brian Eno once described his own

2022 repress

currently the rediscovery of long forgotten japanese electronic, jazz and new age music is at a peak like never before. but although many re-issues already flood the record stores around the world: the large, diverse musical culture of japan still got some gems in store that are really missing.

for example, it is still quiet around the the work of japanese bass player, new-age and ambient musi-cian motohiko hamase. when the today 66-years old artist started to be a professional musician in the 1970's, he quickly gained success as a versed studio instrumentalist and started to be part of the great modern jazz isao suzuki sextett, where he played with legends like pianist tsuyoshi yamamoto or fu-sion guitar one-off-a-kind kazumi watanabe.

he also was around in the studio when legendary japanese jazz records like 'straight ahead' of takao uematsu, 'moritato for osada' of jazz singer minami yasuda or 'moon stone' of synthesizer, piano and organ wizard mikio masuda been recorded.

in the 1980's hamase began to slowly drift away from jazz and drowned himself and his musical vision into new-age, ambient and experimental electronic spheres, in which he incorporated his funky medi-tative way of playing the bass above airy sounds and arrangements.

his first solo album 'intaglio' was not only a milestone of japanese new-age ambient, it was also fresh sonic journey in jazz that does not sound like jazz at all. now studio mule is happy to announce the re-recording of his gem from 1986, that opens new doors of perception while being not quite at all.

first issued by the japanese label shi zen, the record had a decent success in japan and by some overseas fans of music from the far east. with seven haunting, stylistically hard to pigeonhole compo-sitions hamase drifts around new-age worlds with howling wind sounds, gently bass picking and dis-creet drums, that sometimes remind the listener on the power of japanese taiko percussions. also, propulsive fourth-world-grooves call the tune and all composition avoid a foreseeable structure. at large his albums seem to be improvised and yet all is deeply composed.

music that works like shuffling through an imaginary sound library full of spiritual deepness, that even spreads in its shaky moments some profound relaxing moods. a true discovery of old music that oper-ates deeply contemporary due to his exploratory spirit and gently played tones. the release marks another highlight in studio mule's fresh mission to excavate neglected japanese music, that somehow has more to offer in present age, than at the time of his original birth.

Originally Hailing From Columbus, Ohio, Where He Was Born In July 1948, Bill Mason, The Son Of A Baptist Minister, Had First Learnt Music In Church. Starting Out On Piano He Switched To Organ In His Late Teens. Mason Had Come To Bob Porter's Attention When As Part Of The Bryant Group He Recorded At Prestige On Two Sessions In 1971. Bill Mason Proves Himself A Formidable Leader With His Solo Album, The Aptly Titled Jazz-funk Outing gettin' Off'. The Album's Physicality Is Astounding, Mason Is An Extraordinary Soulful Hammond Organist, Conjuring Spiraling, Spellbinding Grooves That Seem To Grow Deeper And More Relentless With Each Successive Track. He Also Proves His Talent As A Composer With Originals Like "mister Jay" And The Scorching Title Cut Standing Tall Alongside Covers Highlighted By Al Green's Immortal "let's Stay Together".
Gettin' Off Features Idris Muhammad On Drums, Which Means A Frenzy Of Funky Jb-influenced Over-the-top Soul-jazz Drumming. Featured On Bass Is The Legendary Gordon Edwards (known For His Work With James Brown, Weldon Irvine, Funk Inc., Aretha Franklin, Etc.) And Saxophone Duties Are Handled By Hubert Laws (quincy Jones, Gil Scott Heron, Moondog).
All Of The Above Is Carefully Overseen By Engineer Rudy Van Gelder & Producer Bob Porter (known For Their Work With Herbie Hancock, Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis...and Many Others). Bill Mason's First (and Only) Album Was Originally Released In 1972 On Eastbound Records, Super Rare And Fetching Large Sums On The Collectors Market, Now Finally Back Available As A Limited Deluxe Vinyl Edition (500 Copies). This Album Also Comes With The Original 1972 Art By Prestige Records Photographer Al Johnson.

Mid last century. Commercial Music is a machine that generates dances that run each other over in the urge to reach the audiences and mark their place in time and history.

A never-ending list of choreographies co-habit: hully gully, madison, rock, limbo, twist and a long etcetera, until a new dance, bossa nova takes over the dance floors. Joao Gilberto, Tom Jobim or Vinicius de Moraes reach stardom in Brazil with this mix of samba and jazz, but the genre doesn't explode internationally until a few American jazzmen decide to import it. From there it reaches Europe, via France, thanks to Sacha Distel, the first on the continent to record an EP completely dedicated to this phenomenon.

It is 1962.

Shortly after in Spain, the number of artists including original or adapted tracks in their albums, escalate: Tony Vilaplana, Mina, Duo Dinámico, Latin Combo, Los 4 Brujos, Gina Baró, Grau Carol, Salomé or Marisol, who popularizes the new trend by recording 'Marisol rumbo a Río', a blockbuster film partially filmed in Brazil. The maestro Augusto Algueró writes the films soundtrack.

For this compilation we have consciously dug into the archives of three Barcelona based labels like Belter, Discophon and Olympo to serve Spanish sung bossa nova songs that have never, inexplicably, been released on vinyl, all songs are recorded during those two (musically speaking) prodigious decades: the twentieth centuries sixties and seventies.

Jonny Drop's debut, Sub Plot, was the very first album release on the fledgling Albert's Favourites label at the beginning of 2016. The initial offering, a 7" of album favourites Mind Field and This Is The One had quickly been picked up on by the good people at BBC Radio 6 Music as well as some of Drop's personal heroes including Kenny Dope, Mr. Thing and Nightmares On Wax.

But when the infectious rhythms and warm production of the beat tape landed, its impact was greater than anyone at the label could have hoped.

Although Jonny never stopped producing beats in the following years, he was also kept busy as a drummer, playing live for Andrew Ashong, The Bongolian and Connie Constance, whose Boring Connie EP he also laid down beats for.

Then in early 2018 his band The Expansions delivered their celebrated Murmuration LP. All the while, with the support of his label family, Drop had been evolving his solo sound too.

'The Only Sound sees a huge progression in my writing direction, as I collaborated with multiple vocalists and musicians, instead of the usual 'one-man band' approach.

The development of these processes make this LP a steady departure from the beat-tape influence of my past releases, and hopefully, showcase the more original sound I've been working to achieve over the past few years.'

The new album is more atmospheric, emotional and expressive. It is filled with beautiful vocal performances, musical contributions from label partners and close friends Deoke and James O'Keefe, and inspirational London jazz composer, flautist and master saxophonist Tamar Osborn (Collocutor/On The Corner).

Voices here include Shea Soul, Grace Walker, former Myron and E soul man Eric Boss with his Lucid Paradise and Pendletons partner Ishtar, plus First Word Records producer/Golden Rules collaborator Sarah Williams White.

While there are thoughtful, down-tempo moments of electronica in abundance here, Drop brings his favourite elements of disco and soul into the picture too.

And there's no shortage of low end throughout. The Only Sound is a welcome next step from Jonny Drop, the sound of a beat maker not just finding his feet as a composer, but thriving in new territory.

Huey Morgan (BBC Radio 6 Music),

Music Is My Sanctuary premiere for All This Trouble, Bonafide Magazine premiere for Looking Glass
'A really talented musician, absolutely loving that" Lauren Laverne on This Is The One, BBC Radio 6 Music

Woven Entity are Patrick Dawes, Lascelle Lascelles and Paul May, three percussionists and drummers with a huge range of playing experience between them, from dance music to jazz, rock and folk to free improvisation and all points inbetween.

Their credits have included Groove Armada, Brand New Heavies, Campag Velocet, The Herbaliser, Petra Jean Phillipson, Richie Havens, Duke Garwood, Beth Orton to name a few.

Woven Entity is an improvisational group, inspired by a diverse range of influences from 70s free jazz to Krautrock to post punk to dub, Afrobeat and Tropicalia. They make a lush, joyful noise that tickles the brain and mobilises the body at the same time. Loose clothing is advised when listening.

Joining the core trio on a regular and irregular basis are keyboardist Ben Cowen, trumpeter Andy Knight, bassist Peter Marsh, saxophonists Alan Wilkinson, es, Lascelle Lascelles and Paul May, three percussionists and drummers with a huge range of playing experience between them, from dance music to jazz, rock and folk to free improvisation and all points inbetween.
Their credits have included Groove Armada, Brand New Heavies, Campag Velocet, The Herbaliser, Petra Jean Phillipson, Richie Havens, Duke Garwood, Beth Orton to name a few.

Woven Entity are Patrick Dawes, Lascelle Lascelles and Paul May, three percussionists and drummers with a huge range of playing experience between them, from dance music to jazz, rock and folk to free improvisation and all points inbetween.
Their credits have included Groove Armada, Brand New Heavies, Campag Velocet, The Herbaliser, Petra Jean Phillipson, Richie HavensWoven Entity are Patrick Dawes, Lascelle Lascelles and Paul May, three percussionists and drummers with a huge range of playing experience between them, from dance music to jazz, rock and folk to free improvisation and all points inbetween.

Their credits have included Groove Armada, Brand New Heavies, Campag Velocet, The Herbaliser, Petra Jean Phillipson, Richie Havens, Duke Garwood, Beth Orton to name a few.

Woven Entity is an improvisational group, inspired by a diverse range of influences from 70s free jazz to Krautrock to post punk to dub, Afrobeat and Tropicalia. They make a lush, joyful noise that tickles the brain and mobilises the body at the same time. Loose clothing is advised when listening.

Joining the core trio on a regular and irregular basis are keyboardist Ben Cowen, trumpeter Andy Knight, bassist Peter Marsh, saxophonists Alan Wilkinson, , Duke Garwood, Beth Orton to name a few.

Woven Entity is an improvisational group, inspired by a diverse range of influences from 70s free jazz to Krautrock to post punk to dub, Afrobeat and Tropicalia. They make a lush, joyful noise that tickles the brain and mobilises the body at the same time. Loose clothing is advised when listening.

Joining the core trio on a regular and irregular basis are keyboardist Ben Cowen, trumpeter Andy Knight, bassist Peter Marsh, saxophonists Alan Wilkinson,
Woven Entity is an improvisational group, inspired by a diverse range of influences from 70s free jazz to Krautrock to post punk to dub, Afrobeat and Tropicalia. They make a lush, joyful noise that tickles the brain and mobilises the body at the same time. Loose clothing is advised when listening.

Joining the core trio on a regular and irregular basis are keyboardist Ben Cowen, trumpeter Andy Knight, bassist Peter Marsh, saxophonists Alan Wilkinson,

The 2nd Release On 823, A Creative Project Founded By Ta-ku, Is Featuring The Label Debut Of Portland Wunderkind Quickly, Quickly.

823 Is Also The Numerical Representation Of The Phrase 'thinking Of You'. It Represents The Appreciation For The People/ideas/places That Inspire Us And Push Us Forward. As A Label We Are Proud To Present A Series Of Musical Releases That Showcase The Artists Musical & Visual Endeavors. The Artwork Is Shot By The Artist Themselves & Each Release Has An Accompanying Photo Zine That Acts As A Visual Story That Compliments The Music They Wrote At That Time.

There's A Maturity To The Sound Of Portland, Oregon-based Producer Quickly, Quickly That Makes It Difficult To Believe He's Just 17 Years Old. Using Elements Of Jazz, Hip Hop, And R&b, Quickly, Quickly Weaves A Tapestry Of Wispy Productions That Feel Equally Inspired By The Dusty Drums Of Early '90s Boom Bap As They Do By The Whimsical Electronics Of Head-turning Contemporaries Like Tennyson. Taking Over On Vocals, Bass, Drums, And Piano, He Offers Insight Into A Greater Understanding Of Musicality, There's Time Devoted To Each Audible Layer And It Shows.

Ta-ku:
graham First Caught My Eye With His Film Photography - It Was Only Co-incidental That He Also Made World Class Sounds & Made Me Ever So Jealous With His Musical Talent At Such A Young Age. Graham Is One Of Those Wunderkinds That Have Managed To Create Such A Strong Musical Identity For Himself And Makes It Look So Effortless. Graham Is The Reason Why I Started 823. He Is The Epitome Of Someone Who Embodies That Free Flowing Creative Energy That Needs To Be Showcased To The World!

Music Has Always Been A Part Of Quickly, Quickly's Life, As He Started Playing Piano When He Was Two Years Old. This Love Of Music Shaped His Young Life And Created A Solid Musical Foundation For Future Efforts. In 5th Grade Quickly, Quickly Found Hip-hop, Citing Common Market, J Dilla, Blue Scholars, And The Pharcyde As Early Influences. With His Love Of Hip-hop And Early Musical Background, It Seemed Only Right That Quickly Would Begin To Produce His Own Music.
Having Now Made Beats For Around Six Years, Quickly, Quickly Is Producing At The Top Of His Game. The Production On His Debut Ep over Skies' Is As Easy-going As It Is Complex, And The Fact That There Are No Samples On The Ep Makes It All The More Impressive. Inspired Heavily By The Sky And The Many Forms It Takes, This Ep Blends Genres And Crosses Musical Borders With Ease.

A long time ago, in a Norway far far away in time, keyboardist Bugge Wesseltoft introduced his New Conception of Jazz to the world. We're talking about the late 90s, when Bugge's cosmopolitan blend of jazz, hiphop and techno beats was pretty much the coolest music coming out of Norway at that moment. That was a golden time for Norwegian music, in fact, when the rest of the world began to sit up and take notice that something was stirring up north, and realised the music was more than just glacial tones hurtled from icy mountaintops and frozen lakes. This was the sound of urban Scandinavia.

A few years later came the electronic dance genre 'space disco'. Along with Todd Terje, Bjørn Torske and Lindstrøm, Prins Thomas was at the epicentre of this next big wave to surge out of Norway. Now, the two generations have come together in this exclusive collaboration between Bugge and Prins Thomas on the Smalltown Supersound label. Jazz and electronics combine for that energising vitamin D shot of Nordic sunshine.

The Rainbow Studio in Oslo is a familiar name to anyone who follows the ECM label - many of its classic 1970s jazz albums were recorded there under the eye of resident producer Jan Erik Kongshaug. Bugge and Thomas booked a couple of sessions at the legendary space with Kongshaug at the controls, and improvised some tunes in the style and spirit of some of their favourite ECM moments, like the fresh, open sounds of Codona, Egberto Gismonti, Oregon and Kenny Wheeler. Bugge had previously done a remix of Thomas's 'Bobletekno' in 2015 but this is the first time they have worked together as active musicians. The results - also partly taped at Thomas's home studio - fuse programmed rhythms, live synths and percussion, all captured in a sumptuously spacious acoustic.

For an even more authentic touch they called up one of their all time local heroes and one of Norway's most famous jazz drummers, Jon Christensen, who's been the go-to guy for Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Keith Jarrett and many more. At 75 years he's still pretty spry behind the kit, as you'll hear on several tracks here.

Make no mistake, though, this is not retro pastiche but contemporary music, coasting on gently insistent programmed grooves and bubbling basslines. The whole thing feels not so much like a consciously hip fusion of DJ and jazz musician, more like two great musicians totally enjoying themselves. Which is exactly what it is.

Key facts:
Bugge Wesseltoft is one of Norway's leading jazz figures. He set up Jazzland Recordings in 1996. His solo Christmas LP It's Snowing On My Piano remains Norway's best selling jazz album!

Prins Thomas's real name is Thomas Hermansen. His label, Full Pupp, means 'full breast'. He's released several albums under his own name, as well as collaborations with Bjørn Torske and Lindström. Check out his amazing Paradise Goulash mixtapes.

Repress!

First Word Records is very proud to present the debut album by Children of Zeus - 'Travel Light'. It's been a long road leading to this album for Tyler Daley and Konny Kon.

They first embarked on their expedition into the music game two decades back - Tyler entered the scene as a songwriter, producer and vocalist, originally under the moniker Hoodman, whilst Konny began MCing, DJing and beat-making for hip hop crews The Microdisiacs and Broke'n'£nglish, along with DRS & Strategy.

To date, Children of Zeus have released three sell-out singles on First Word ('Still Standing', 'I Can't Wait' and 'Slow Down') and a compilation EP comprised of tracks made by the duo over the last decade entitled 'The Story So Far...'. Children of Zeus are finally at the stage where they are releasing their debut album proper, the over-riding ethos of which is about keeping their eyes on the road ahead, whilst shedding the baggage they've accumulated over the years - 'Travel Light'.

Features mainly come from Manny family, ( K S R ), LayFullStop, Metrodome (Levelz) and former Broke 'n' £nglish spar DRS. Guest production comes in the form of Switzerland's Sebb Bash, Nottingham's Juga-Naut, and London's Beat Butcha, and there's your favourite DJ's favourite DJ,

Mr Thing, slicing up the turntables on two tracks too. There's a few extra special ingredients on this album, along with their trademark sub-heavy, rhodes-laden hip hop soul hybrid. Reggae music has always been an integral piece of the CoZ sound-system ethic, so we see Tyler putting on his lover's rock hat for 'Hard Work', and they invite soul queen Terri Walker to join them on the fierce 'Sling Shot Riddim', while the album closes with the epic K15-produced jazz-bruk opus, 'Vibrations', on which Konny breaks it down quite simply: "high frequency means that you travel light, so get lifted yo, we'll live gifted".

Long as the journey has been, the time for looking back is over. This is about the present and future of Children of Zeus. A shining light in Manchester's now-school, and rightly heralded by many as the best new act to emerge in British soul music in the past decade. Aside from the above features, this project is written, performed and produced entirely by Tyler and Konny.
Since the crew first took flight, the end destination has never changed, the aim remains the same - to create timeless music, in their own unique style, without compromise, irrespective of industry and life distractions. The moral being this - travel light.

Salvador Font studied violin, clarinet, composition and harmony at the Conservatori Municipal de Barcelona, but very soon started to gain notoriety as a saxophonist in the rich jazz scene of 1940s Barcelona. Font would soon be playing tenor sax and clarinet in the Orquesta Gran Casino. He was in his early twenties and his hot swing technique was already praised through the citiy's scene, he would grow to be considered the best saxophonist in Spain by playing in many orchestras and combos, among them: José Puertas', Antonio Vilá's Virgina, Bonet de San Pedro's band, Pierre Michel, El Lirio Campestre, Los Marios, Luis Rovira y su orquesta, Orquesta brasileña Fon-Fon, Jaime Camino, Los Embajadores, Italo Leone's... With these and others, Font toured constantly, visiting many countries and even staying on some for long seasons: Mexico, Morocco, Switzerland, Egypt... Hungarian violinst of Turkish ancestry Kurt Dogan gave him the "Mantequilla" surname - he felt "Mantequilla" (which means "butter") fit Font's mellow yet swinging improvisation style.

Mantequilla y su conjunto

In the early sixties, "Mantequilla" had the chance to lead his own combo, Mantequilla y su conjunto, with which he was to record the three splendid EPs that are compiled on the present album. All these 7" have become elusive collector pieces in the record market, with sellers demanding from 200 to as much as 950 euros per copy.

In 1961 "Mantequilla" was at his best moment, his gigs at the Jamboree Jazz Cava had brought him back to the first line of Barcelona's jazzmen after he had been working abroad for a long time, and was approached by the Belter label to record an EP. On the sessions he was accompanied by Manolo Mercedes on trumpet, Pedro Ferré on piano, Rafael Lizandra on double bass and Rafael Verdura on Drums. The material chosen for the disc were four original compositions by Salvador Font which had a high West Coast flavour all over: "La Tuna Club", "Whisky Jazz" and "Jamboree" named after famous jazz clubs and "Azul Trompeta", dedicated to Manolo Mercedes.

In late 1962, after spending some time in Madrid working as members of the Italo Leone combo, "Mantequilla" and pianist Manuel Gas came back to Barcelona for the recording of the second "Mantequilla" EP, also on Belter. We find again Manolo Mercedes on trumpet, Pedro Ferré on piano and Rafael Lizandra on double bass, the drummer this time was José Farreras. Another news is that Manuel Gas also sat on piano and vibraphone. The songs chosen for the occasion were two tunes from the Art Blakey Jazz Messengers repertoire: Bobby Timmons' classic "Moanin'" and the Jacques Marray track "No Problem" from the soundtrack of the Les liaisons dangereuses film (mispelled "Not Problem" on the sleeve and label), plus the Salvador Font penned "Blue Note" and "Full de ases" - on "Full de ases" "Mantequilla" trades his sax for the violin, which he also mastered under high influence from Stephane Grapelli. The record was released on Belter in early 1963 and showed "Mantequilla" adding a certain aggressivity to his sound, in a soloist style which has been compared to that of tenor saxophonists Barney Wilen or Benny Golson.

1965 was the year of release of Mantequilla y su conjunto's third EP, now on the Discophon label. Mercedes and Farreras are again present in the recording sessions, joined by Ricardo Miralles on piano and Enrique Ponsa on double bass. Four original Font compositions make up the fantastic EP: "Blues 3/4", "Atmósfera", "Vat 69" and "Balada".

There would be a further EP on Belter, released in 1971 as Mantequilla Group it was a cash-in operation to take some redits of the ye-yé discothèque phenomenon, it gets quite afar in style from the jazz works of Mantequilla y su conjunto, so we just left it aside for the present edition.

"Mantequilla"'s career would continue, in 1968 he would settle in Majorca and form a swing band with Bonet de San Pedro and Manuel Bolao. He played in local orquestras and also with first class world acts like Gerry Mulligan, Tete Montoliu, Errol Gardner, a.o. He was even approached by Henry Mancini to play sax on The Pink Panther Theme in a gig Mancini did with his orchestra in Palma de Mallorca in 1975, He also joined his son Salvador Font (a demanded drummer himself who has played with Máquina!, Orquestra Mirasol, Música Urbana, Gary Burton Quartet, Georgie Fame, and many others) and his peers Carles Benavent, Emili Baleriola, Josep Mas 'Kitflus' and Jordi Bonell with whom he recorded his acclaimed "Mantequilla" album in 1987.

Now, for the first time ever, the legendary three ultra rare and imposible to find EPs by Mantequilla y su conjunto are compiled in a lavish vinyl LP with remastered sound, featuring liner notes and photos and a fantastic period inspired, three backflaped, front laminated sleeve. It is a stricly limited edition of only 500 copies and they are expected to sell out very soon, do not miss your chance of getting yours - it may be the last chance of chasing the Mantequilla sound on vinyl at a reasonable price!














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Betty Harris' The Lost Queen of New Orleans Soul collects together the steady stream of amazing soul and funk singles issued by Betty Harris from 1964 to 1969, under the musical guidance of legendary composer, musician and producer extraordinaire Allen Toussaint, a collection which truly captures the heart and soul of the city of New Orleans during this era.
Betty Harris's powerful, fiery soulful vocals found a perfect accompaniment with the New Orleans' players that Toussaint put together to back her, which by the time of her funk classic 'There's A Break In The Road' were the legendary super-tight, super-funk New Orleans group The Meters.
With the extraordinary song-writing skills of Allen Toussaint alongside the powerful, soaring, confident and emotive singer and the groove of The Meters, you have an unbeatable combination. That Harris never in fact lived in New Orleans (she flew in from Florida for all her sessions with Toussaint's local in-house players) seems almost an irrelevance, a geographical aside to the defining New Orleans sound captured on the recordings featured here.
All of these singles featured here were released on Allen Toussaint and his business partner Marshal Sehorn's local New Orleans label Sansu, widely distributed in the southern city but in only limited quantities elsewhere. As a consequence, Betty Harris' music failed to achieve the commercial success of other New Orleans artists such as Lee Dorsey (who she recorded with) and The Meters (who backed her). And so at the end of the decade she stopped recording, retired from the music business to raise her family in Florida.
This is no reflection of the stunning musical quality of all these songs which encompass everything from southern soul, heavy funk, deep soul ballads and northern soul. Betty Harris has been a cornerstone of Soul Jazz Records' New Orleans Funk and New Orleans Soul compilations. Always soulful and always funky, Betty Harris' music contains the essence of New Orleans music. She is the Lost Soul Queen of New Orleans.
This collection is released on CD, heavyweight gatefold double LP vinyl (+ download code) and digital and comes complete with full biography, original label artwork.

When Ann Arbor's Tadd Mullinix began exploring hip-hop under the name Dabrye 20 years ago, he soon honed in on a startling vision of what the genre could be: ingenious, refined, daring. This vision came to life across two albums for Ghostly International — 2001's One/Three and its 2006 follow-up Two/Three— with each record further positioning the quiet Michigan producer as one of his generation's best, equally comfortable creating minimalist instrumental meditations or sharp rap salvos. In the late 2000s, following critical acclaim and accolades from both peers and inspirations (including the late Jay Dee with whom Mullinix collaborated before his untimely passing), Mullinix put the Dabrye moniker on ice and dedicated himself to other genres and ideas. All the while the influence of his work on a new generation of electronic musicians continued to make itself felt in subtle but meaningful ways.

All this changes in 2017 as Dabrye makes his long-awaited return with Three/Three, a razor-sharp rap album that brings to completion a prophetic trilogy. Mullinix's incisive productions provide the backdrop for equally acute rhymes that run the gamut from intergenerational observations and being your best self to back alley deals and having fun in the ride. Guests include indie rap legend DOOM, whose previous collaboration with Dabrye remains a point of reference for many, Wu Tang storyteller Ghostface Killah, L.A word fanatic Jonwayne, and Long Island's rugged surrealist Roc Marciano. Most importantly Three/Three is, much like its predecessor, an unfettered celebration of Detroit-area talent with Guilty Simpson, Phat Kat, Kadence, Quelle Chris, Danny Brown, Shigeto, Clear Soul Forces and more all lending their touch to Dabrye's return.

The blend of American and British dance music, hip-hop sampling, and Jamaican sound clash energy that underpinned Two/Three remains a quiet, guiding principle. At the same time Mullinix rejoices in a refreshed perspective, having had time to incubate ideas and find clarity in the distance between albums and the evolution of scenes.The beats are looser and less angular, more embracing of repetition. Organic techniques inspired by soul and jazz round off some of the harsher sonics. The resulting broad palette of tracks reflects both this evolution and the range of the Dabrye persona: relaxed headnod ("Tunnel Vision"), nervous, slow-motion electro ("The Appetite"), glacial motifs ("Emancipated"), jazzy, cut-up funk ("Sunset"), minimal brutalism ("Electrocutor"), intricate layering ("Culture Shuffle").

Three/Three marks the return of an innovator after close to a decade of silence. Despite what the title might imply, the album isn't the end of the story but rather the completion of a creative arc. Expect more Dabrye in the near future. The game is far from over.

- Final installment of the /Three series, started in 2001
- Guests include Ghostface Killah, Jonwayne, Doom, Danny Brown, Shigeto, and more.
- Media support from: The Wire, FACT Magazine, The Detroit Free Press, Pitchfork, XLR8R
- Past collabs with Jay Dee (J Dilla), MF DOOM, Beans & more
- Vinyl is housed in a matte jacket with black hot foil and includes 24-page zine designed by Michael Cina.

Helsinki's We Jazz Records Presents "y-otis", The Debut Lp From Berlin-based Swedish Saxophonist/composer Otis Sandsjö, Joining Forces With Keyboardist Elias Stemeseder, Bassist Petter Eldh And Drummer Tilo Weber. The Album Is A Forward-reaching, Multilayered Collection Of Eight Originals Penned By Sandsjö And Produced By Sandsjö And Eldh. What You Get Is A Form Of "liquid Jazz", Born In An Era Where The Understanding Of Jazz As A Musical Language Has Evolved Way Beyond The Concept Of The Previous "modern". Informed By Hiphop And Electronic Music, "y-otis" Is Pure Jazz In That The Quartet Stays True To Its Constant Mission Of Creating A New Form Of Musical Communication. Sandjö's Circular Sax Riffs, The Album's Rich Production Touch, And The Chopped-up Jazz Form Creates A Musical Concept Which Stays Melodic And Beat-laden While Being "free" Right To The Edge Of Avantgarde. It's As If The Music Is Sampling Itself, Constantly Keeping Ahead Of The Curve In The Musical Lineage Of Jazz.

Otis Sandsjö (b. 1987) Hails From Gothenburg, Sweden. He Is Known Previously For Example For His Inspired Work On Singer Lucia Cadotsch's Globe-trotting Trio Formation "speak Low", Also Featuring "y-otis" Co-producer And Bassist Petter Eldh. Elias Stemeseder Was Dubbed One Of The Top 15 Young European Musicians To Watch By All About Jazz In 2017. Tilo Weber Ranks Among The Most Creative Young Drummers In The Scene. Stemeseder Is Currently Based In New York, While The Remaining Three Musicians Here Live In Berlin. Live On Stage, The Band Performing The Material On The New Release Is Called Y-otis.

After three major releases by Tell, Nachtbraker and S3A, its time for debuting Italian artist Verner to close our beloved Trophy Quartet. This Milanese key virtuoso is ready to blow your mind with this eccentric yet humble ep, taking you on an emotional journey. Long stretched pads, playful chord progressions, organic percussion all produced with analogue 70's and 80's vintage synthesizers and drum computers in Verner's studio reminding us a bit of Harvey Sutherland and Nu Guinea's style. We're talking groove, funk, jazz but also house and soundtrack style compositions which together form a very complete record carefully A&R'd by Nachtbraker.

Drop the needle on the A side and you'll start off with L'inizio, a majestic piece of synthwork. Hurdling through different emotions and vibes, this could easily be the intro of one of your favourite 80's tv series. Upset takes you on a happy groovy tour whilst Crash of the Web Era and The Motion Pictures take us on a trippy and ambient voyage that is hard to wake up from. When flipping the record to the B side, Verner is stepping back into the groove and funk with Tecladista, arguably the dance floor hit of this debut EP. Starting of with again a majestic synth intro Area drops into a festive funk and jazz bomb with some intricate synth work treating us with some lovely solos. Closing this versatile EP is Late Night Job, a deep, deep tune with a thriving baseline and mesmerizing synths.

We suggest to don't sleep on this one and have a listen to this piece of art by the very talented Verner.

Following the success of Joey Negro's 'Produced With Love' album, four of the album cuts get the remix treatment from an all-star cast of producers each with their own particular flavor.

Kicking it off Chicago legend Ron Trent takes the original funked out, Arthur Russell flavoured, 'Distorting Space Time' and turns it into a deep house groover complete with a strong walking bass alongside adding a soul & richness to the elements that only he knows how. Crackazat step up next to take on 'Lactican Boogie' crafting it into an uptempo piano driven, emotionally charged stomper sure to do some damage this summer.

Flip it over and Lay-Far delve into 'In Search of The Dream', adding squelchy synth stabs and a deep bass to give a more hard hitting edge to the track whilst retaining that disco flavor with Angela Johnson's emotive vocals.

Closing out the e.p. Fouk come full circle, bringing their hazy, jazz tinged style to 'Distorting Space Time' - building the remix around those warm Rhodes chords, shuffling rhythm and dynamic bassline.

Gold once again from the Z Records camp!

As a Dutch label, we're proud supporters of the homegrown sounds of guys like Nachtbraker, Frits Wentink and Fouk. Adding another Dutchie to our list of exquisite producers, we present you 'Pitto' with his debut on Heist Recordings. Pitto is a musically omnipotent creature, venturing into deep house with the underground hit 'Richklap' on Wolfskuil back in 2012 and dreamy electronic pop with his album 'Breaking up the Static' on Sonar Kollektiv and Virgin. He has also moved beyond producing his own music, running 'Studio Stekker'; a Dutch music festival that focused on freeform creative interactions between musicians where the artists performing on the festival locked themselves up a week in advance in Kytopia (Colin Benders' synth paradise) to make new music together. Through this, he's worked with people like Kyteman, Matthew Johnson, Sebastian Mullaert and Colin de la Plante, better known as 'The Mole', who is also present on Pitto's Heist debut with a remix.

The 'Late night studio moves' ep is one of varied styles, where Pitto's inspiration from African music, jazzy and soulful samples becomes evident. He finds his 'funk' in repetition, clever sample combinations and combining electronic and live elements in the most organic way.

'Late night studio moves' finds its basic groove in an African percussive loop. Over the 9:26 minutes, the track slowly adds elements, chopped African chants and piercing synth hits. It's all really dreamy and energetic at the same time, but it is when the bass and main keys kick in, that you really feel the euphoric vibe of the track. The Mole chose to remix this track and he turned it completely upside down, both in vibe and tempo. His version is an atmospheric and mesmerizing downtempo track, where the percussion works in an intoxicating way and bells, birds and chants move in and out of the spotlight.
Pitto's second original track on the ep is the mesmerizing 'Treat me like a fool'. 16th hi-hats, claps on the hats, and a chopped piano loop set the mood here, but it's the vocal that steals the show. A mantra like 'You love me' builds up and breaks down into 'you love me like an angel, but you treat me like a fool'. Each time, the track builds and builds, never quite giving in to a massive drop, but instead, focuses on the stripped back soul that is the heart of the track.

'Jazz kids' evolves around a jazzy bass loop and a set of quirky African percussive elements that you could imagine Henrik Schwarz making if he were in a more leftfield mood. A syncopated synth melody filters in and out throughout the track and a basic kick and hi-hat combo keeps the energy going strong on this on.

We're proud to bring you this deep, dreamy and provocative EP by Pitto and hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do.

Ryan Parks is a mixed media artist, music producer/performer,
and CEO/founder of critically robust cassette tape label, HARSH
RIDDIMS. He was born in College Park, GA and grew up skating
all around Atlanta, soaking up the dense kaleidoscopic cultural
ooze found both in and outside the perimeter of Atlanta. Aside
from his visual practice, which usually takes shape as mixed
media (Jacob Lawrence/Matisse inspired in my opinion!) collage,
he has been releasing music as FIT OF BODY for seven years. Fit
of Body crafts soulful house ballads that draw on freestyle, Bell
Hooks, old school Detroit techno, jazz, and southern rap passed
through a No Wave paradigm. Fit of Body has previously released
work on CGI, DKA, Ransom Note, and his own label,
Harsh Riddims.

Helsinki's We Jazz Records presents "Y-OTIS", the debut LP from Berlin-based Swedish saxophonist/composer Otis Sandsjö, joining forces with keyboardist Elias Stemeseder, bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Tilo Weber. The album is a forward-reaching, multilayered collection of eight originals penned by Sandsjö and produced by Sandsjö and Eldh. What you get is a form of "liquid jazz", born in an era where the understanding of jazz as a musical language has evolved way beyond the concept of the previous "modern". Informed by hiphop and electronic music, "Y-OTIS" is pure jazz in that the quartet stays true to its constant mission of creating a new form of musical communication. Sandjö's circular sax riffs, the album's rich production touch, and the chopped-up jazz form creates a musical concept which stays melodic and beat-laden while being "free" right to the edge of avantgarde. It's as if the music is sampling itself, constantly keeping ahead of the curve in the musical lineage of jazz.

Otis Sandsjö (b. 1987) hails from Gothenburg, Sweden. He is known previously for example for his inspired work on singer Lucia Cadotsch's globe-trotting trio formation "Speak Low", also featuring "Y-OTIS" co-producer and bassist Petter Eldh. Elias Stemeseder was dubbed one of the top 15 young European musicians to watch by All About Jazz in 2017. Tilo Weber ranks among the most creative young drummers in the scene. Stemeseder is currently based in New York, while the remaining three musicians here live in Berlin. Live on stage, the band performing the material on the new release is called Y-OTIS.

Sun yellow vinyl, comes with download.

Airplay: Worldwide FM

"The art of the future, therefore, will not be poorer, but infinitely richer in subject-matter. And the form of the art of the future will also not be inferior to the present forms of art, but infinitely superior to them. Superior, not in the sense of having a refined and complex technique, but in the sense of the capacity briefly, simply, and clearly to transmit, without any superfluities, the feeling which the artist has experienced and wishes to transmit." - Leo Tolstoy, "What is Art"

This statement can be made of Lucky Brown's attempt to "briefly, simply, and clearly" capture the feeling of the sound, soul, smoke and soil of the Texas Hill Country with his upcoming album "Mesquite Suite".

A little more than one year after the release of his firebrand "Mesquite Beat/Justice" single on imprint "Tramp Tapes" (TR-1040) Lucky Brown offers us here another glimpse into the sound and concept of the Mesquite Suite.

Saints & Beggars is a rustic pentatonic horn-led 6/8 anthem that builds upon a simple primitive melody assembled from two opposing figures set against two repeating figures. Brown conceived the motif while in meditation in a yoga-turned-composition studio in San Marcos, Texas. He later delicately draped the parts around it like woodsmoke. The overall effect of the composition is one of economy and restraint - nothing could be added or taken away. The horns, guitar and vintage electric combo organ begin in unison and then the figure brazenly explodes like a flock of white winged doves from a pecan tree in humid dusk. Here are featured extemporizations from Jason Cressey - trombone, Peter Daniel - saxophone, Colin Higgins - guitar, and drummer Ollie Klomp, with an exposition of open horns in the climax. The tune is drenched in shitty reverb which engenders a mysterious dimension begging the record diggers' favorite questions: "...when is this from", "...where is this from".

'Bout To Blow, remaining uncompiled in the upcoming "Mesquite Suite" (exclusively released on this single only), is a specimen of the generic Deep Funk on 45 that lit a fire in Lucky's heart more than 20 years ago. The use of the word generic here is not meant to be derogatory. Rather, it is to transmit the sense that this tune falls squarely within the confines of the so-called Deep Funk canon. 'Bout to Blow offers classic dancefloor essentials: driving bassline, hard drum beat, chanky guitar, and outrageously distorted horns fiercely executing a devastatingly primitive horn line. Also, for devout followers of Lucky Brown's recorded work, there is hidden in the bridge an easter egg in the form of a self-referential quote: the bridge of 'Bout To Blow is also the head of T.D. & The Jimmy James 3's "Jalapeño Pep" (TR-1025)!

It has been Lucky Brown's aim to paint for the world a picture of the vernacular jazz that America's neighborhoods once crafted as their own homegrown cultural heritage. Lucky Brown's music is a rejection of the elitism, classism, and status of the music industrial complex and is an antitoxin to it's resultant homogeneity. He wants with his heart and his art to transmit an everyday people's sound, made by everyday people, dedicated to the upliftment of all people. Could this be the "art of the future" that Tolstoy wrote of in 1904

Key-selling points:
- "Bout To Blow" is available on this 7" release only
- "Saints & Beggars" is taken from the forthcoming album "Mesquite Suite" (out september 2018)

Norm De Plume has been quietly making a name for himself the last eight years with remixes for Tornado Wallace and Ben La Desh and EP's for Kolour LTD and his own vinyl only imprint Plumage winning him a solid fol- lowing along the way. His passion for all things disco and deep, dubby, un- derground house inspired by his musical hero Ron Hardy feeds through into his production style as well as his recently formed Peaches & Prunes party which boasts an audiophile sound system and vinyl-only sets from the DJ's. So when the opportunity arose to do a full EP with Norm we jumped at it. Here we present you with the Castlecrag EP, a nod to the Londoner's new adoptive home of Sydney, Australia, and whilst his sound may be more akin to the recent musical movements of Melbourne, the laid-back sun-kissed melting pot of The Harbour City certainly shine through in the two originals and Folamour remix on offer here.
Title track Castlecrag leads the charge with a deep mood-setter driven by a cowbell riff and filtering pads. The spacious mix and less is more arrange- ment ensures that the drums and rolling bassline punch through making for a track that sounds both unique yet accessible and demonstrates Norm's sense of musicality as well as DJ instinct for setting the right mood on the dancefloor. Next up we have Whole In One which treads a similar path whilst dropping the BPM's a touch and building up layers of synth strings to create a subtle yet engaging track to immerse yourself in. Finally, man of the moment Folamour gets busy on the remix of Whole In One working his magic by upping the tempo and going heavy on the jazz- inspired drums. By laying down a driving groove and pushing the string stabs to the fore, the Lyonnais producer behind the wonderful Moonrise Hill Material label has delivered a fresh-sounding take that will work like magic on discerning dance floors out there.

Way back in 1967, an animated superhero cartoon was released into the world. It was created by Grantray-Lawrence Animation and was based on a web-spinning, crime fighting blue and red dressed character that had originated in1962, in Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. This amazing series (that we're not allowed to mention the name of for legal reasons) ran on ABC TV in the USA, then Canada, then a few years later started to spread its web further, running here in the UK throughout summer holidays, after school and possibly early mornings at weekends in the late 1970s. The series then got released on VHS video (and probably Betamax too) in the mid 1980s and still continues to spin its animated magic around the world through further broadcasts, YouTube and DVDs.

The series was notoriously low budget, with animated errors everywhere and numerous scenes, sequences and backgrounds being re-used all the time, often across the same episode. Even a certain spider logo on a costume would appear with six legs, then eight legs later on, then back to six again in the same show.

Series One opened with a newly written spider theme, a classic, hooky song all about doing whatever spiders can, and had, as Big George (RIP) once pointed out to me, a set of session singers falling slightly out of time with the backing track after the first verse. Series One also featured background music by jobbing composers Bob Harris and Ray Ellis but these cues and master tapes are now believed to be lost.

After Series One the company Grantray-Lawrence went bankrupt, so the amazing spider series (that we're not allowed to mention for legal reasons) was taken on by producer Steve Krantz. He brought in new talent, including animation director Ralph Bakshi who later went on to turn a Robert Crumb strip cartoon into the feature Fritz The Cat. Krantz also slashed the already cripplingly small spider budget, and brought in the idea of using economic library music. Here, thanks possibly to an independent sync agent (it has been suggested that a company called Music Sound Track Services may have been the one) production turned to the KPM catalogue. This was one of the few really established library catalogues around at the time with a modern edge, it was full of fabulous, modern dramatic music tracks - often all on the same LP. But more importantly all the tracks were far longer than the one minute musical cuts that many of the fledgling USA library companies were issuing at the time. Not only would this KPM music be efficient, affordable and very easy to use, it would also mean syndication worldwide would not be held up by any future musical issues. Krantz produced two amazing spider series (that we're not allowed to mention for legal reasons), and both were smothered with KPM music. In fact barely a spider second goes by without music playing in either the background or foreground.

For many years I - and many nostalgic others - have been thinking about putting this vinyl album together. For many enthusiasts this really is formative music - a junior foray into hip swinging crime jazz and esoteric musical grooviness. I've also read on line accounts by DJs from WFMU on the trail of original spider master tapes, and there's even a whole forum dedicated to Spidey-Jazz'. Then recently I was looking at an old spider tracklist and realized that several of my favourite KPM cues were there including Syd Dale's Hell Raisers' and Walk And Talk', both from one of the most elusive and desirable KPM albums of all time (yes, you just try and find yourself a copy of KPM 1002 right now), so I decided to push on and get the album made.

So, what features on this Spider-Jazz Lp Well it's music from the amazing TV series we are not allowed to mention for legal reasons, BUT, not music from Series One. No, but it is all from Series Two and Series Three. From looking at archival cue sheets, over 50 tracks from various early KPM 1000 series albums were used across episodes. I've distilled this down into one exciting and enthralling LP, and if this works a further Spider Jazz album may well swing in to production. If you're interested (and I'm sure you may well be) cues here came from KPM1001, KPM1002, KPM1015, KPM1017, KPM1018 and KPM1043 and were composed by master library composers of the era - Dale, Hawkshaw, Hawksworth, Mansfield etc.

And if you are listening over there in the USA, you may well recognize many of the cues here not just from the amazing TV series (that we're not allowed to mention for legal reasons) but also from classic 1960s and 1970s NFL highlight shows that we are allowed to mention.

Record Kicks Is Extremely Proud To Present You A New Outfit That Will Take The Soul Scene By Storm: The Faithful Brothers. Coming Straight From The Brainchild Of Tel Aviv Soul Club, The Faithful Brothers Is Man Of North Country's (acid Jazz Records) Side -project And Its Leaded By Singer "soul Boy" Yashiv Cohen. Monc Teamed Up With Record Diggers The Neeman Brothers To Form This New Eight-piece Deep Soul Combo. Their Official Debut On Record Kicks Is Expected With 2 Brand New Singles That Will Be Available On Digital Download And Limited Edition 45 Next 15 Of June.

On The A Side "crossroads Of Love" Is A Northern Soul / R&b Stormer That Will Set All The Dancefloor On Fire. On The Flip Side The Stunning Crossover Soul Single "one More Time" Penned To Be An Instant Classic On All Rare Soul Dancefloors Across The World.

Don't Sleep Though, This 45 Will Be Limited To 500 Copies, So First Come First Served...watch Out!

- Four Flies Records keep on researching Alessandro Alessandroni's limitless archive, compiling this time an LP of tracks

composed between 1972-1978

- All the tracks were previously unreleased and are presented here for the first time - a truly 'Lost & Found' treasure that sees the light for the first time!

- After the incredible success of Afro Discoteca (Four Flies Records, 2017), Pierpaolo De Sanctis compiles a 15-tracks LP of forgotten soundtracks and library music treasures from the Italian Maestro

- Jazz, Disco, Electronic music - there's no genre Alessandroni hasn't explored - this compilation testifying the incredible diversity of his production and immense musical mind

LB aka LABAT is a regular cat in the french circuit with releases on Disques Solaires, DKO or recently WOLF Music. This ep highlights once again his unique style with an all inside MPC production blending samples with sharp signature beats. The opener is stone cold disco house jam in the deep Parrish tradition. Nothing New is a spacey hip hop joint taking you a ride to destination Spice Go- a detroish hip house beat. On flipside, CELESTIAL PLAN is a special party break with deep jazz samples mixed with a mpc signature that gives this track a very uncommon signature and groove. Better be ready for this one before landing to STICKY GREEN countryside.

For our next Excursion, we're off to the library. In search of library records that is - you know the type, the crazy rare records used for soundtracks and such and such. We have a sick selection of synthed-up beats and pieces chopped together by one Earl Jeffers, making the most out of his international library digging card* (*not a real thing).

For those that don't know, Cardiff's Earl Jeffers is one half of Darkhouse Family, regular family at our sister label, First Word, on which they released their debut album 'The Offering' late last year. Earl is a prolific producer in his own right, also releasing over the years under the aliases Chesus and Metabeats on labels like MCDE, Fat City and Local Talk, collaborating with artists like Byron The Aquarius, Action Bronson and Kamaal Williams / Henry Wu, turning his hand ably to house, hip hop, jungle, jazz and more. All this in addition to running his own label, Mélange Records.

A dedicated digger and record collector first and foremost, Earl has provided us with a quadruple set of heavyweight stuttery sci-fi boom bap. In Earl's words: "This record was mostly inspired by my penchant for the more electronic / synthesized jams, mostly replayed from the original compositions then thrust in to 2028 and beyond...."

Fresh on Francis Harris' Kingdoms imprint comes Rasmus Juncker's 'Ophold' - six tracks of sublime atmospheres and textures. The Danish musician, sound composer and DJ fits perfectly with the label's aesthetic, joining the dots between ambient, leftfield electronica and modern classical.

Juncker has a background in studying jazz drumming and has been playing improvised music within the jazz domain for many years. He also started to DJ at the age of 14 and was introduced to the world of electronic music production at the same time.

When Rasmus started to think about his debut album he spent several months trying to find his own way to combine his favourite musical influences, improvisation, electronics and classical music. 'Almost a year later', Juncker says, "I went to a sensory deprivation floating tank in Copenhagen while researching for another performance and while I was lying there, floating in the water, deprived from most of my senses, I got the idea to do something drastic in my musical process. Philosophers like Immanuel Kant describe this deprived state as a mental 'Cesura', which became some sort of guideline for the album."

So Juncker decided to start working on the album by leaving the process as well as the final result completely open. 'I wanted to create sounds and music that I had no idea what they would sound like, but would feel like a mental 'Cesura', an 'Ophold' (in Danish)' he states.

He invited musicians, one after the other, to his studio. "I had an electronic musician to improvise patterns and new interesting sounds based on my experience in the deprivation tank. I chose some of the takes and some weeks later I invited a jazz guitarist to listen and improvise on top of what he heard. Then a classical string quartet and a double bass player came to my studio months later, and finally I recorded myself on percussion and drums.

Throughout the recording process I've been experimenting with special microphones in various setups, used noises from the recordings and the room became absolutely essential for the pieces." Juncker states.

"The material I used was all first take improvision which I arranged, layered and edited into compositions. The final pieces were mixed by Andreas Pallisgaard with the same improvised and experimental approach of the recording and the production. None of the musician met each other, but their sounds developed into something completely fantastic I think. The presence of the acoustic instruments and the depth and complexity of the synthesized layers gave some kind of an indescribable sounding music from another galaxy.

Track by track:

'Norddrum' starts proceedings - ethereal, grainy sounds merge and disassociate, as a distant rhythm gradually finds its way to the fore.

The second track, 'Sora' , clocking in at under 2 minutes, is an interlude full of strings, pads, and percussive hits, rich in feeling. This strong sense of sound design and seemingly disparate sounds woven together into a whole carries through into 'Eksotisk Tirsdag' - the strings, plucked instruments and electronics harking back to 4th world adventurers like Jon Hassel and Brian Eno.

'Cyklus' dives into drone textures, pulsing and modulating to create an unearthly soundtrack.

'Havekunst' is another 2 minutes interlude, this time bringing a fully charged rhythmic barrage to the front.

'Cesura', the final track is in essence the EP's centerpiece - a sprawling 8 minute journey that traverses tense, fibrous sections and on into pulsing modular passages, before opening up into glorious moments of wonder and brightness. It's a hugely bold yet fragile endeavour, in line with the whole release.

Only those who read all the credits on record liner notes will know the full details: Areski is of course Brigitte Fontaine's partner in life, but also her creative alter ego, and the composer of the music of most of her songs. Even though it was his wife Brigitte and not him who wrote the lyrics, Areski is a poet in his own right. Furthermore, he is polyvalent: composing, arranging, singing, improvising, playing every possible instrument and even acting! Areski, to sum up, is the perfect mix of the tradition of Munir Bashir with the European sophistication' of someone like Jean-Claude Vannier, one foot permanently in Versailles (where he was born) and the maghreb. Areski, is left bank French songs without the stylistic effects, revised and updated through contact with arab-andalusian music. He is a Living Theatre style happening with a dose of cosmic free jazz, surrealist poetry viewed through the prism of Kabyle culture... All that and a lot more!

Areski honed his talent observing the stars of traditional chaâbi, testing it out in bars and dives before meeting, during military service, the singer Jacques Higelin with whom he would record his first cult album, and who would present him to his wife-to-be, Brigitte Fontaine. Between 1969 and 1980, with her, Areski would contribute an essential chapter to French underground music including classics such as Comme à la radio (with the Art Ensemble of Chicago), Je ne connais pas cet homme, L'Incendie, Le Bonheur and Vous et nous. For all that, Areski has never really tried to have a career under his own name, in spite of the wonderful Un Beau matin first published in 1970, and which it is high time to de (re)discover (better late than never). Those already in the know will not be surprised to see, especially, Jean-Charles Capon, author of the inspired L'Univers-solitude, Brigitte Fontaine of course, or Daniel Vallancien, author of a no-less inspired duo with saxophonist Philippe Maté. All contributing to an acerbic poetic universe, concerned but never militant, and open to worldwide influences long before they became a fashion.

Inspired, poetic, in a word essential: Un Beau Matin is one of the best albums of the French underground produced by Pierre Barouh on his label Saravah, alongside those by Maurice Lemaître, Catharsis, Claude Yvans, Mahjun, Barney Wilen, Cohelmec Ensemble et Michel Roques.

Max Loderbauer, who has so far made consistently engaging contributions to the Arjunamusic family, is back to lend his unique interpretive skills to the master recordings for the Brightbird album by João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Mário Franco and Samuel Rohrer. Loderbauer has set himself up for a chal- lenge, since the original album's completely improvised flow of small-ensemble, conversational jazz feels complete enough without outside intervention. However, Loderbauer's role as electronics operator in the similarly attuned Ambiq trio has already shown that, through his mastery of tone color, he has a talent for teasing out the additional hidden details within an apparently 'complete' sonic environment. It's a task he mana- ges to accomplish without ever overriding or contradicting the cohesive message provided by his collaborators.

Adding to the challenge here, Loderbauer chooses to re- mix using only sounds from the original recordings. By doing so, it might seem he is willfully denying himself the chance to use his own signature tools and turn Brightbird's source materi- al into stunningly new electro-acoustic hybrid blooms. Yet Loderbauer succeeds here by becoming something more like a translator than an augmenter - he finds a way to make mea- ningful syntactical changes to the trio's rich and versatile vo- cabulary, and once again unveils a verdant world of hidden details in the process.

The A-side 'Trusting Heart/Cosmos' has an anxious tone introduced by a set of Doppler-effected piano notes that seem to melt in the sun, and is soon complemented by a va- riegated, chattering rhythm line. Here Loderbauer builds up a tactile tension between rhythmic certainty and sharp-angled, de-tuned, and occasionally scrambled instrumentation, framing a disorienting (yet engaging) virtual space where ob- jects' bright hues rapidly change as they contract and expand along multiple dimensions. For the b-side 'Noontide', Lo- derbauer switches to a more focused and streamlined idiom with an uncanny ease, riding along steady waves of sequencer patterning and silvery, resonant shiverings. Reverberating, ho- lographic piano again provides the tonal center here, and the notes ring with a forward-thinking optimism not far removed from classics of the 'Krautrock' era.

Current supporters of all the artists involved will find this to be an invigorating synopsis of their work to date, while newcomers will be treated to a soundworld where skillful fu- sion (the act itself, rather than the music genre with the same name) is constantly on display.

Presenting 'Envelope'. Album written, produced & mixed by Milan W. and pressed on 180g vinyl, by Ekster. Coming out on the 6th of June 2018, with foil-stamped cover-drawing by Gerard Herman. Mastered & cut by Helmut Erler at Dubplates & Mastering.
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Milan W (AKA Milan Warmoeskerken) is an Antwerp-based musician. In 2015 he released the Slo Mo cassette, on local label JJ Funhouse. The Intact LP a year later. Compositions constructed from gentle, yet persistent, rhythms. Intricately textured downtempo echoes. Brain-dancing, rather than four-to-the-floor raving. 2017`s split with Ekolalis, for The Hague`s BAKK, made clear the direction Milan`s headed in. His contribution being a seventeen minute float. The kick largely removed. The textures cut-up, expanded and magnified. Envelope, for Ekster, builds on this work.

The harlequin turns the handle. The contraption sucks in air, and breathes. Blows out tone poems. Wordless ballads that soundtrack enchanted scenarios. Issues forth magic. A sorcerer`s apprentice casting its spell. Animating the inanimate. To everything a life. Sets the frozen fluttering. Pirouetting in red shoes. Illuminates what was dark. Astma sings a Gamelan lullaby. Summons comforting angels to a post-Industrial landscape. Glaasjes has Jazz ghosts inhabit an empty bar room. Spirits stealing excuse-me`s under its deserted spot. In Limbo amplifies their whispers. Lead soldiers court jewellery-box ballerinas behind shuttered shop fronts. On Heraldic Snippets, a tin infantry marches. Ten thousand men up to the top, and back down again. Keys make-believing that they are massed brass and fife.

The bellows pump, and the pipes all the while wheezing. An automaton philharmonic at the bidding of a steam-punk master. Analogue and digital. Clockwork and glitch. Malady finds sounds isolated, extrapolated, mutated. Orchestral`s organ-grinder moves with urgency, and alchemy. Spinning straw into gold. Snare rolls become bubbling mercury. Metallic, yet fluid. Racing at the speed of flight and escape. Slope is the music of water chasing through crystal caves. Slow Runner, a funeral crawl. Shoved into motion by a drama of strings remembered.
Like the charismatic Rat-Catcher of Hamelin, the harlequin turns the handle, and we bang the cup.

FINA Records welcome Jad & The for a new EP that shows off the Australian-born, Berlin-based producer's majestically melodic house sound. A special dub from 6th Borough Project makes this another essential release.

Before now Jad & The has served up tracks of the year ('Strings That Never Win' - Mixmag 2017), fronted four piece live act Mitzi—who played alongside the likes of Nile Rodgers—and also produced as Jad & The Ladyboy, all the while picking up fans like Moxie and Bradley Zero. Sonar Kollektiv and Toy Tonics have put out his charming sounds before and this new one is another joyous offering.

The feel good '2 Getha (4 Eva Mix)' kicks things of with old school drum breaks and loved-up vocals. Big smeared pads, a new age melody and classic bassline line finish it off and carry you away to summery house heaven. 'Twist Club' then drops into lush deep house with a long legged bassline tumbling beneath organic drums. It's a dreamy and romantic cut before 'Disco Hold Down' has live sounding jazz drums, choppy vocals and rough edges that take you to the heart of a vibe-fulled basement party. Delusions Of Grandeur's 6th Borough Project serve up a Dub that's more stripped back and built on a big rubber bassline. Jacking drums and a more rapturous vocal make it a truly steamy jam.

Buy the EP digitally and you get a bonus track, '2 Getha (Neva Mix)' which is another blissed out and rave tinged house cut which oozes pure euphoria. It closes out a brilliantly heartfelt EP of varied and vital house sounds.

A near-perfect record, White Magic was the lauded CD-only debut album by Sorcerer (Californian native Dan Judd, one half of Windsurf with Hatchback). Just in time for Spring/Summer, we present the first ever vinyl issue, released as a deluxe double LP.

Back in summer 2007, this majestic set gently nestled itself into the Balearic soundtrack-to-summer slot for many, making him a household name for Cosmic Disco heads alongside the likes of Lindstrom, Metro Area, Todd Terje, Mudd, Studio and Quiet Village. In the intervening years, exceptional producers have created vibrant variations on the dreamy, dubby, melodic nu-disco theme. Happily, the emergence of such luminaries as Jex Opolis, Harvey Sutherland, Suzanne Kraft, Tornado Wallace et al has only served to make the master - Sorcerer - sound ever more brilliant and vital.

Utilising his array of guitars, drum machines, synths, and trusty MPC, the loved-up Sorcerer sound inspires halcyon memories of warm days, endless sunsets and pure youthful abandon. Influenced by surf, 80s dance pop, acid-R&B, space jazz, krautrock, disco, dub, and am radio gold, his music maps a tour through a uniquely Californian lifestyle. Yet when music so vividly captures a vibe and a feeling, it can make writing about it appear almost redundant. Instead, to glean the full colour of what your turntable will soon gratefully radiate, we prescribe the generous soundclips presented here.

And, for a unique insight into the process behind the wonderful sounds conjured up, here's Sorcerer himself:

"White Magic is a reflection of personal freedom and discovery. Having been in bands for years, this was a chance to develop music that stood alone and for me to be in full control.

I was living alone and worked on jams whenever I could. I was highly inspired by a new openness to music as a pure inspiration, not being part of any scene. I tapped into the mixes I was hearing coming out the UK where deejays were playing "cosmic" sounds that were so strangely familiar.

I was picking up all kinds of $1 vinyl and throwing bits of it into my sampler almost randomly to see what would come out.

In my mind, I was making music to be played at my friend's Broker/Dealer Pop nights where they fused golden German techno sounds with the new disco emerging at the time. Also, I took vacations and reconnected with the Pacific Ocean where I spent so much time as a kid: it spilled out into the sounds.

Lastly, I forged a partnership with Hatchback (Sam Grawe) who was working on music in the same way. I learned so much about arrangement and the colors of music. We began recording together as Windsurf and released our own stuff. It all seems like a small glorious moment in time, so I am so excited to keep the legacy alive and I continue to work on my music with these spirits inside of me."

Lovingly remastered by the esteemed Simon Francis, cut reassuringly loud on to heavyweight double vinyl and presented in a deluxe gatefold jacket with freshly commissioned artwork throughout from original designer Rich Robinson, this limited edition of 500 copies is sure to fly.

Recorded in Philadelphia in 1969, The Deirdre Wilson Tabac's sole album is a beautiful blend of funk, jazz and soulful pop. Possessing the complex grooves, thrilling breaks and ethereal weirdness that The Rotary Connection pedalled so brilliantly, the LP failed to connect with audiences upon its original release.

In the decades since, it has deservedly attracted a considerable cult following. However, almost inevitably, it has become increasingly tricky to pick up a copy in good condition for anything less than eye-watering sums. As such, we're delighted to present the first officially licensed vinyl reissue of this undoubted masterpiece of freaky funk-rock, limited to just 500 copies.

The Tabac were, in fact, a trio. Discovered, managed and produced by Svengali Sonny Casella (who'd earlier managed garage band The Magic Mushrooms), they comprised Deirdre Wilson, Stu Freeman (formerly of said Mushrooms) and Barbara Payne (formerly with the James Brown Revue). They were backed by session players including jazz guitarist Chuck Anderson, bassist Hugh McDonald and keyboardist Roy Bittan (who went on to be a long-term Bruce Springsteen sideman).

Their first single coupled two fine Casella compositions, each featuring powerhouse vocal workouts, the supremely funk-fuelled blues beat of "The Other Side Of Life" and the psychedelic-flavoured "Look In My Face" - both of which are featured here. This 7" picked enough up airplay to merit an album, which duly appeared early the following year, but, as is often the way with these lost classics, it received barely any press. Correspondingly, sales where low and the trio didn't last long.

And herein lies the real tragedy. The rest of the LP deserves to be heard from start-to-finish - it's that good. A beguiling mix of funky folk and rocky jazz tracks, with some deep, string-drenched harmony soul ballads and a handful of remarkable covers elegantly presented througout. Indeed, they put some sauntered head-nod funk into The Beatles' "Get Back" whilst tearing through a version of "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay" which gives Otis' original a real run for its money.

But the real standout cut for most - with its soulful, haunting vocals, swinging hammond organ and stabbing horns, is the incredible 6/8 time jazz dancer "I Can't Keep From Cryin' Sometimes." Staggering.

One of the most unique albums on the Strata East label - and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the creative energies flowing through that legendary jazz outlet! Descendents Of Mike & Phoebe is a righteous little project put together by Spike Lee's father, Bill Lee, and his brothers and sisters (Cliff Lee, Grace Lee Mims, and Consuela Lee Moorhead) - working here in a group named after their slave ancestors, who are paid tribute in a beautifully flowing batch of tunes! Lee's round, warm bass tones are firmly at the head of the group on most numbers - recorded at a similar level to his excellent work with Clifford Jordan on Strata East during the same time - and other instrumentation includes piano from Consuela, flugelhorn from Cliff, and percussion from Sonny Brown and Billy Higgins - all used in a wonderfully evocative style that's even better than some of Lee's later soundtrack work. A few numbers feature vocals from Grace - singing wordlessly and with a really heavenly sort of quality - and together, the whole group have an undeniable sense of power and majesty, yet also one that's touched by a really personal sense of poetry too. Titles include a great version of Lee's "Coltrane", which was more famously recorded with Clifford Jordan.

By Drago Museveni

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

This jazz recording is considered as the 'magnum opus' of master "drummer extraordinaire'', composer, arranger, producer, and leader Norman Connor's in a career that has spanned 4 decades. This recording is what many will consider the debut of the legendary vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater who has since gone on to a brilliant career. Connor's put together an all-star group with Herbie Hancock and Onaje Allan Gumbs on piano and Fender Rhodes, Dr. Eddie Henderson on trumpet/flugelhorn, Carlos Garnett on tenor/soprano saxes, Gary Bartz on alto/soprano saxes, Buster Williams on bass, drummer/vocalist Bill Summers and Kenneth Nash on percussion, and effective, crucial cameos by master flautist Hubert Laws. On the song, "Love From the Sun'", Connors added Nathan Rubin on violin and Terry Adams on cello.

The 'best of the best' begins with the exotic theme of Hancock's "Revelation", doubled wordlessly and beautifully by Ms. Bridgewater over Williams bouncing ostinato bass pattern with flights of fancy from Hubert Laws on flute, and superb, luminous solos from Henderson's exotic trumpet, Garnett on soprano, and Hancock on Fender Rhodes. Garnett's "Carlos II" is another great composition with remarkable solos. Connors' own "Drums Around The Worlds'" is influenced by African and latin rhythms with emotional vocals from Summers and a drum-only section that builds in intensity. One of the high points of the album is Dee Dee Bridgewater's awesome, glorious vocalizing on Richard Clay's lovely "Love From The Sun", in one of the greatest performances in her career, arranged by Gumbs. Elmer Gibson's "Kumakucha" (The Sun Has Risen) is a blazing display of uptempo musicianship by Connor's driving drums, the propulsive congas of Summers and Nash, and exciting solos from Bartz, Henderson on trumpet, and Hancock's furious piano solo. The set ends with a marvelous "Holy Waters" composed and arranged by Garnett in a scorching performance by Bridgewater on vocals, Garnett unleashing one of the greatest solos in his storied career, followed by Gumbs' astute solo.

My Highest Recommendation.

By John Braswell

Lord Tusk has associated with acts like Klein, John T. Gast, Dean Blunt, Yasiin Bey AKA Mos Def, and released on Jon Rust's Levels, Funkineven's Apron, Soul Jazz Records and Low Income $quad.

Communiqué is made of breathy, glossy Sci-Fi electro, bitcrushed drum samples and Minneapolitan funk feng shui, the hits and stabs of new jack swing and FM boogie, all pieced together with a one-take energy but a meticulous attention to detail. It's songwriting for a miscellaneous kind of soundsystem music, body music, flamboyant across tempo, from the yearning thump of Shyne Eyed Gal to the puffed-up strut of Champion Lovers (sounding like a home-taped Electrifying Mojo opener), the staggered slink of Beyond Limitation's unfiltered tones to the 4x4 uptempo skid of Don't Be Shy or the veering slap-bass groove of Elevation. It's a record that shoots around corners, conjuring lazy romances and smokey vistas, lit by the nocturnal shimmer of an electrified city, streaked with gargantuan, shrill, birdlike call-and-response riffs and visited by the astral bodies of Teddy Riley, Gerald Donald, Prince.

Discover Le Deltaplane, fifth album by Andre Solomko, and third produced on Favorite Recordings, pursuing a collaboration that started more than 5 years ago.

Born in Ukraine in 1965 and now based in Finland, Andre Solomko is primarily a rich and engaging personality, but above all, a brilliant saxophonist, composer and engineer, whose contagious passion cannot leave anyone indifferent. After beginning a meteoric career in USSR, fate led him to Finland, where he started the adventure Vinyl Jam, a label / studio / group. It resulted in two self-produced albums that will capture the attention of some international collectors, including Pascal Rioux (founder of Favorite Recordings). Between 2012 and 2014, they released 2 albums together, Où es-tu maintenant and Le Polaroid, hailed by many tastemakers and meeting notable success in Japan.

Following Le Premier Disco Sans Toi, an acclaimed single released earlier this year and unveiling two new compositions with Disco flavors, Andre Solomko and Favorite Recordings also proudly present Le Deltaplane. Fully composed and arranged by Andre Solomko, the 6 tracks of the album are deeply infused with his longtime passion for Jazz-Funk and Movie-Soundtracks, this time also injecting more influences from WestCoast and Modern-Soul music.

Andre's backed again by a team of great musicians, recording and producing the album in analog like he always did. As for vocals and lyrics, he teams up with Charlotta Kerbs, a young emerging and talented singer from Helsinki.

Andre Solomko, an artist who spreads love like in the good old days!

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

For a label that wasn't around long, Strata East achieved the same sort of label recognition that Impulse! or Blue Note managed to build. In other words, you knew what you were getting when you bought a record on the label, even if you didn't know the names on the outside of the cover.

"Don't Look Back" is an album led by American saxophonist Harold Vick recorded in 1974 and released in the wake of Harold Vick's recovery from a heart attack, which may partially explain the passion with which he approaches his playing throughout.

One of the best-ever Strata East sessions! The album's a masterfully conceived session by reed player Harold Vick - best known to the world as the funky tenorist from albums by John Patton and Jack McDuff in the 60s, but emerging here as an incredibly sensitive soul jazz player, capable of turning out some incredibly sophisticated and emotional compositions. Vick produced and wrote all the material on the album. A treasure all the way through. (Dusty Groove, Inc.)

On The 50th Anniversary Of The Band's Inception At An Event In Harlem, Ny To Commemorate Malcolm X's Birthday On 19 May 1968, Influential Spoken Word Artists, Poets And Commentators The Last Poets Are Set To Make A Glorious And Relevant Return With Their First Album In Over 20 Years, 'understand What Black Is'.

Produced By Ben Lamdin (nostaglia 77) And Brighton Legend Prince Fatty, Whose Speciality Is Traditional Reggae And Dub Production's, 'understand What Black Is' Is A Ten-track Album Which Speaks Of A Revolutionary Struggle Defined By Both Race And Identity, That Has Never Sounded More Relevant. Released On Studio Rockers, There Will Also Be An Accompanying Single Featuring Remixes Of The Title Track "understand What Black Is" By Mala (south London Collective Digital Mystikz) And Uk Dance Music Innovators Dego And Kaidi.

Since The Initial Line-up Of Dahveed Nelson, Gylan Kain And Felipe Luciano Formed In East Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, The Last Poets Have Produced Under Various Guises Over The Subsequent Years. However, It Was Their Seminal Output, Namely 1970's 'the Last Poets' Under Both Umar Bin Hassan And Abiodun Oyewole That Secured Their Legacy, Becoming One Of The Most Important Influences In Early Hip Hop.

Throughout The Last 20 Years, The Band Have Remained Largely On Hiatus. But Their Influence Could Still Be Felt With Their Tracks Being Sampled By The Notorious B.i.g, Nwa, A Tribe Called Quest, Dr.dre And Snoop Dogg. Umar Has Recorded Various Solo Albums And Featured On Common And Kanye West's Grammy Nominated 'the Corner'. Abiodun Appeared On The Red Hot Organization's Album, Stolen Moments Which Was Named "album Of The Year" By Time. He Also Conducts Weekly Open House Poetry Readings, Where He Constructively Critiques Upcoming Poets, Helping To Nurture Them. He Has Also Conducted Classes At Columbia University, Where He Teaches Creative Writing.

The Inauguration Of Donald Trump As Us President In 2016 Inspired Hassan And Oyewole To Resurrect The Group To Create A Brand New Record, Modern And Edgy, And Deeply Relevant And Reflective Of Our Times.

Tracks On 'understand What Black Is' Include 'how Many Bullets', Which Bridles With Defiance As Oyewole Works Through A Litany Of Injustices Suffered By Black People In The Us: " You've Tried

To Blow My Brains Out With Bigotry, Chopped Off My Wings, So I Couldn't Fly Free, And Dared Me To Be Me, Took My Drum, Broke My Hands, Yanked My Roots Right Up Out Of The Land, And Riddled My Soul With Jesus" 'what I Want To See' Describes A Utopia - A Refuge From Hurt And Those Who'd Make "our Vision Blurred, And Our Faith Obscure", Whilst The Title Track 'understand What Black Is' Aims To Transcend Ethnicity: "understand What Black Is....it's The Source From Which All Things Come...black Is A Hero, Not A Villain."

The Album Even Takes Reference From Prince's 2003 Album Of Instrumentals, 'news', Which Hassan Drew Comparisons From With His Own Childhood Experiences: "that Poem Took Me About A Year To Write....i Just Kept Writing And Writing But Not Getting Too Far And Then I Heard That Album And The Musicianship Was Amazing. I Was Left Wondering If It Was Jazz, Classical, Rock Or Maybe Something New But All Those Images That I Write About Came To Me From Listening To That Album. I Loved Prince In That Movie Purple Rain Because My Father Was A Talented Musician But He Was Into Brutalising Mama At Times And In The Movie There's A Jerome And My Name Is Jerome, So It Was Like He Was Telling My Life Story As Well."

The Album Acts As A Body Of Work Between Individual Members Each Speaking Of Their Own Personal Journeys, But Feeding Into The Much Larger Narrative Of Struggle And Oppression, Alongside A Fervent Hunger For Social Change. These Are Struggles And Tests Of Personal Resolve That Have Directly Shaped And Moulded The Bands' Unique Sound Over The Course Of An Impressive 50 Years, And Their Powerful And Influential Commentary Remains As Relevant As Ever.

2x12"

It's the return of the sexual vigilante Sex Judas and his trusted sidekick Ricky. This time in full album mode. Norwegian producer Tore Gjedrem of Ost & Kjex fame, channels his love of comix, bohemia and fascination with human vice, the unspoken, the Red Light districts, the alleys of the mind into his alter ego.

Sex Judas is no bad character but certainly says what it's author cannot.

'I wanted to create a world where any musical idea is possible, wound together by the world and word of Judas, the ultimate sinner, reborn as a child of Venus.'

Inspiration ranges from Africa to 80's NYC, from Bohannon to Quasimoto, from Norwegian New Wave to Acid House. With contributions by friends in the Oslo scene as hometown legend Dj Pål Strangefruit Nyhus, composer Ole-Henrik Moe, jazzpianist Bugge Wesseltoft, Sidiki Camara from Mali playing that beautiful Ngoni, and multi instrumentalist Ivar Snuten Winther, the album touches anything from blues, funk, disco and post-punk to IDM, acid house and electronic explorer music.

First Word Records is very proud to present the triumphant return of the UK's finest Hip Hop Soul duo, Children of Zeus, with a double-header of brand new material.

Since the release of 'The Story So Far' EP in 2017, Konny Kon and Tyler Daley have proceeded to draw in the attention of tastemakers across the world, receiving big ups from Hip Hop, Soul and dance music royalty, such as US legends Jazzy Jeff & DJ Spinna, and UK heavyweights Stormzy & Rag'n'Bone Man.

In addition to relentlessly rocking stages and studios all over Europe, Children of Zeus have somehow found the time to write and produce their debut album proper. This is the first taste..

'Slow Down' is a sure-shot Summer anthem, with a twist. A deceptively soulful slow jam that lulls you into a false sense of filtered smoothness, before a floor-shaking beat & trill hats drop in from above, as if thrown in via a thunderbolt from Zeus himself. On the flip, we have the uptempo boom-bap steppa, 'All Night'. Konny sets this one off on some straight b-boy isht, riding a rhythm that's guaranteed to make grown Hip Hoppers reminisce, before Tyler's sweet swing-tinged vocals glide into play to keep you firmly steppin' - this one again illustrating the Mancunian duo's craft of creating timeless Hip Hop Soul music.

Manchester has been riding a wave of immense creativity & musical prowess in recent years. Children of Zeus exemplify the heart and soul of Manny's now-movement - but don't get it twisted - the vibe is universal, and they definitely ain't new to this. Two decades on from the inception of Broke'N'£nglish and Hoodman, Tyler and Konny have consistently persistently held their corner, stayed true to the music they love and nurtured their own unique sound. It's almost time to drop that album... But for now, here's more future classics.

Foxy Red Recordings is proud to announce their first vinyl release consisting of four deep & funky House tunes by TiTLEZ!
If you're up for the warmth, depth, and feel of the classic House sounds of Chicago - look no further! TiTLEZ's new EP delivers the goods while going for a diverse, organic, and eclectic productionapproach. You can expect punchy drums combined with live(ly) percussion samples, jazzy piano chords, and spacey pads, among otherstudio trickery.
The tracks on TiTLEZ's new EP are carefully produced and naturally dynamic, not only mesmerizing the audience with beautiful
soundscapes but also telling powerful stories in a heartfelt, honest, and emotional way. 'Family Affairs' is all about taking the listener on an atmospheric journey and exploring the needs and desires of human beings... while bringing massive grooves to the floor!
Side A features 'Longing' and 'Love', two tracks that focus on the story of love and loss, making for a dreamy, spacey, and nostalgic tone and stretching out the line between love that imprisons and the one that sets free. On side B, 'Fame' and 'Richness' tell the story of wealth and recognition, putting a modern twist on the classical notion of these concepts.
TiTLEZ is a driven, talented, and diverse music producer and his sound is influenced by Afrobeat, Latin grooves and jazz, which all play a vital role on his tracks.
As a result of his kaleidoscopic influences, TiTLEZ developed a unique blend of deep house with a tech and afro twist with an edgy and authentic feel. His work is all about telling stories and conveying that deep, warm feeling to his audience. TiTLEZ's tracks stand out for their diverse approach and catchy vibes, showcasing world-class production aesthetics and excellent musicianship from this promising artist.

Strut presents the brand new album from cosmic jazz travellers The Pyramids, led by saxophonist Idris Ackamoor, 'An Angel Fell'. I wanted to use folklore, fantasy and drama as a warning bell,' explains Ackamoor. The songs explore global themes that are important to me and to us all: the rise of catastrophic climate change and our lack of concern for our planet, loss of innocence and separation... but positive themes too, the healing power of music, collective action and the simple beauty of nature.' Produced by Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics, the album was recorded during an intense week at Quatermass studios in London and is one of the deepest, richest works yet from a band reaching their highest creative peak since the early '70s. Some of the many highlights include the poignant title track depicting a fallen angel in purgatory, outrage and grief on the powerful, hard hitting 'Soliloquy For Michael Brown' and the lilting, beautiful album closer, 'Sunset'.

The Pyramids originally came together in 1972 at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio where teachers included renowned pianist, Cecil Taylor. After forming in Paris and embarking on a cultural odyssey' across Africa, the group recorded three independent albums, 'Lalibela' (1973), 'King Of Kings' (1974) and 'Birth / Speed / Merging' (1976) and became renowned for their striking live shows, mixing percussive, spiritual and space-age jazz with performance theatre and dance. After migrating to San Francisco, they disbanded in 1977. 35 years later, the band reunited in 2012 following growing demand for their music from vinyl collectors. German label Disko B released the freeform album 'Otherwordly' and in 2016, they released their first album for Strut, the acclaimed 'We Be All Africans'.

'An Angel Fell' is released on Strut on 11th May 2018 and features full hand-painted artwork by Lewis Heriz.

New concept album by leading cosmic jazz collective exploring global apocalypse, climate change and the healing power of music
Produced by Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics - Superb cover painting by Lewis Heriz
Full priority worldwide PR campaign and marketing
Release supported by major European tour dates in May and key Summer festivals

Faitiche releases the album Improvisations And Edits, Tokyo 26.09.2001 on vinyl for the first time. For the original 2002 CD on Soup-Disk and Sub Rosa (Audiosphere), Jan Jelinek and the Japanese trio Computer Soup (Satoru Hori - trumpet, Osamu Okubo - toys & electronics, Kei Ikeda - toys & electronics) presented eight tracks all recorded one afternoon in the trio's living room in Tokyo. They are excerpts from a joint group improvisation that subsequently underwent rudimentary editing, on which Jelinek and Computer Soup worked separately.

Jelinek met the three musicians at his first concert in Japan in 2001, at Tokyo's Yellow club, where Computer Soup performed as the support act. Delighted by their free improvisation on pocket-sized electronic toys, trumpet and oscillators, he arranged to meet Hori, Okubo and Ikeda a few days later for a session at their apartment. The resulting three-hour recording, made on their living room floor, formed the basis for Improvisations and Edits. A few days later, Jelinek returned to Berlin. Over the following months, they separately chose passages from the recording that were then edited and assembled into an album.

Formed in Tokyo in 1996 as a quintet (including Shusaku Hariya and Daisuke Oishi), Computer Soup began by performing with acoustic instruments on the streets of Shibuya. Ikeda und Okubo soon switched instruments, and from then on the group's minimalistic but densely woven sound was defined by electronic toys, oscillators and Satoru Hori's trumpet. Their first album was released in 1997 on the Japanese label Soup Disk. Eight further releases followed.

From the reviews of Improvisations and Edits, Tokyo 26.09.2001 in 2003:

"The mind-blowing first track Straight Life is perhaps the best example of what the album has to offer. Jelinek's trademark smears and washes occupy the midrange, like ghosted images of Joe Zawinul's electric piano floating quietly in the wind. DSP jazz modes are set against a walking bassline (possibly computer generated) and a gently tooted trumpet complete with Harmon mute, a dead ringer for Miles Davis' Prestige-era ballads. The effect is something like a three-dimensional film, with different realities on each layer, images of what jazz was manage to interact with a real-time demonstration of all it could be."
pitchfork, 2003

"Improvisations and Edits is a warm and mellow Ambient release with beautiful glitch fragments, static noise bursts and real trumpet intersections. However, there are times where it is the exact opposite, mainly effect-laden, overdriven and bouncy with a lack of melodies and focus, so be aware of these specific tracks."
ambientexotica, 2003

"Often deliciously dreamy and hazy, Improvisations and Edits is like listening to an exceptional instrumental jazz performance while half-conscious or under some sort of chemical influence. Computerised blips and bleeps, loops and treatments and murky sonic skips curl up around desolate horn notes and scattered instrumental noises that culminate in elegant music."
exclaim.ca, 2003

Japanese vocal performer Hatis Noit will release her enigmatic EP Illogical Dance via Erased Tapes worldwide on 23rd March 2018.
The arresting 4-track record creates unique song-worlds with transcendent vocal interpretations that at once deconstruct and recombine Western Classical, Japanese folk and nature's own ambience atmosphere. Illogical Dance also features Björk-collaborators Matmos, who were so impressed with Hatis Noit's recordings, they volunteered to edit the lead track Illogical Lullaby.

Hailing from the distant Shiretoko, a small town in Hokkaido, which is the largest island in north Japan, Hatis Noit's accomplished range is astonishingly self-taught, inspired by everything she could find from Gagaku — Japanese classical music — and operatic styles, Bulgarian and Gregorian chanting, to avant-garde and pop vocalists. The sounds she created on Illogical Dance, co-produced by Haruhisa Tanaka and Matmos, bring to mind the experimental vocal patterns of Meredith Monk with the attentive production of Holly Herndon.

It was at the age of 16, during a trek in Nepal to the Buddha's birthplace, when she realised singing was her calling. While staying at a women's temple in Lumbini, one morning on a walk Hatis Noit heard someone singing. On further investigation it was a female monk singing Buddhist chants, alone. The sound moved her so intensely she was instantly aware of the visceral power of the human voice, a primal and instinctive instrument that connects us to the very essence of humanity, nature and our universe.

The name Hatis Noit itself is taken from Japanese folklore, meaning the stem of the lotus flower. The lotus represents the living world, while its root the spirit world, therefore Hatis Noit is what connects the two. For Hatis Noit, music represents the same netherworld with its ability to move and transport us to the other side, the past, a memory, our subconscious. It is the same for Illogical Dance, a set of transformative songs that taps into our most primal instincts.

The human voice is our oldest, most primal yet most powerful instrument. I use it to describe nature's many sounds, a language that isn't logical. Yet it forms a beautiful conversation that isn't restricted to words like the human language is. I want my music to remind us of that.' — Hatis Noit

Wanting to interpret and mimic the sounds Hatis Noit hears in nature, Illogical Dance is as unpredictable, beautiful and mysterious as the world around us. Each track is made up from multi layers of vocals, all improvised and without words, before being carefully pieced together. Astonishingly no samples are used throughout, even the sound of crushing leaves came from Hatis Noit's own vocal chords.

The result is a stunning array of sound sculptures that see her switching between multiple styles with great ease. From the sweet operatics on Illogical Lullaby, the manipulated vocal loops duplicating electronic production on Anagram c.i.y. to the primordial chanting call to arms of Angelus Novus, a 10-minute odyssey that features whispering and leaves crunching, it showcases Hatis Noit's full range and introduces a truly original artist.

Previously only available in Japan, Illogical Dance will receive a worldwide release on 23rd March 2018 including a first edition on 12' vinyl. After participating in a ceremony for memorial and appreciation tailored to the withdrawal of the evacuation area in Fukushima on 31st March 2017, Hatis Noit collaborated with renowned visual artist Nobumichi Asai on a project titled INORI (prayer) which they premiered live as part of an Erased Tapes showcase at Mutek Japan in Tokyo.

Having recently moved to London and performed a first string of UK shows, followed by a special live performance at the Milan Fashion Week and Mutek Japan appearance, Peter Broderick has invited Hatis Noit to support him at the Jazz Cafe on April 15th. She's also been announced as part of this year's Sea Change Festival line-up, and asked to participate in a workshop with the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Her Majesty's Ship is proud to present 'This Never Happened', the latest album from hugely talented French-American singer and producer Yan Wagner.

This always inventive and off kilter artist has had many top releases on labels like Kitsune and has worked with the likes of the legendary Arnaud Rebotini and Etienne Daho. He also has a side project, The Populists, is producing the first album of Calypso Valois and wrote the soundtrack for the short film 'Victoria' by Mathilde Marc. Someone who plays events like SXSW and Montreux Jazz Festival, Wagner's playful disco-pop tunes always find their way into the emotions of those who hear them.

For his second album, the artist wondered what to do: surprise everyone with a selection of ballads or serve up the electronic sounds that defined his last effort Forty Eight Hours. The answer lies somewhere in between, with covers of Frank Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood mixed in with fresh and catchy disco production. Unlike the last record produced by Arnaud Rebotini, this record is producer by Yan himself with a triple objective: to favour the first takes, the heat of the sound and to reduce the post- production to a minimum. It makes for something authentic and real, and is an album of artistic self-questioning, tenacious dreaming and overcoming doubt.

Says the artist, "The songs on this record are a series of lies; views of the mind. 'This Never Happened' is a collection of stories that never happened. Ten tracks talking of vain loves, of nocturnal experiences and of life and truth, which are all so short.'

Starting with the retro synths and shiny arpeggios of the title track, ensuing cuts like 'Blacker' are real chuggers with almost de-humanised vocals over the robot beats. 'SlamDunk Cha-Cha' is descended from Bowie with its camp synth wiggles and sung- spoken vocals. Switching up the tempo, slower tracks like 'Grenades' are perfectly glowing and frazzled with their pixelated melodies and cold chords. More upbeat affairs like 'No Love' are like lighter and cheerier versions of Depeche Mode, and the Sinatra cover 'It Was A Very Good Year' is a stirring, synth heavy version that is every bit as tender as the original.

This is a fantastic album of timeless electronic songs and is sure to be one of the standout releases of the year.

"Emotional Rescue begins the first in a series of reissues looking at the music of guitarist Carl Weingarten and his Multiphase Records label, starting at his highly sought after collaborate album with Walter Whitney, Dreaming In Colors. With an early interest in photography and Super 8 film leading to a degree in cinema production, Weingarten's other, self-taught, love was the slide guitar. Taking its blues roots and merging them with his visual arts background created a unique "painting in sound" style of playing. While looking to break into the film industry he began writing and recording his own film scores and other music for modern dance companies. From this, he founded Multiphase Records in St Louis in 1980. By the time of Dreaming In Colors, the label had released a series of cassettes and vinyl albums offering abstract, experimental, jazz-fusion, new wave and increasingly, new age compositions. Throughout this period the work of engineer, keyboardist and programmer, Walter Whitney was often present and by the 1985 release of Dreaming In Colors the duo had collaborated for a number of years and released several projects together, most notably as members of the Delay Tactics band. Recorded during off days from the Delay Tactics sessions, the album came together at Whitney's Subterranean Sound studio with a focus away from the bands guitar driven instrumentals to explore a multilayered approach to synthesis, blending textures with Whitney's original samples and sound design, while Weingarten's guitar moved from shining solo moments to complimenting the overall oeuvre, all with heavy washes of delay. This ecumenical approach led to the creation of this compelling album. A masterful conceptual whole that is linked by rich melodies and a concise playing style, heavy on substance while never forgoing the uplifting vibrations. "

Ghent based pianotrio Steiger have earned their place in the ever growing peloton of young Belgian jazz innovators. As a result, they won the Young Jazztalent price at the 2017 Gent Jazz Festival. With their luscious and rigid grooves in minimalistic framing, they cose themselves between SCHNTZL and De Beren Gieren, likewise minded young Beljazzbands that don't take it so closely with traditions. They play jazz with a rock'n'roll attitude. Sdban Ultra is very pleased to present a sampler of their debut album 'And Above All' on a limited 10" vinyl for Record Store Day 2018. This release marks their introduction on Sdban Ultra, their sophomore album is expected next fall. And Above All' houses both jazz and modern compositions, avant-garde and experimental electronics. Steiger takes inspiration from jazz and refers to the traditions but equally pulls those apart, for example in the chaotic miniature 'Bachfag' and in the intimate 'Inverse/Reverse'. With 'Berlin Revisited' the band clearly chooses electronic instrumentation. It is reminiscent of the electronic jazz of the noughties: bands like Triosk, Sofa Surfers and Flanger did not so much work towards jazz but used the genre as a stepping stone to dive into the cosmos. Steiger are launching themselves into infinity on this track with a pounding beat, shrill cymbals, overdriven keys and an unwieldy bass.

First ever Vinyl release of this iconic critically acclaimed Soul album from 2014 for RSD 2018. This record is one of the most significant and award winning Soul albums of the 21st century.
The album is presented a Double Vinyl with a gatefold sleeve limited to 750 copies.
The album draws on the spirit of Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye along with influences from Stevie Wonder and many of the Soul and Jazz greats, but Jarrod has created his own identity. The twelve self-penned songs have meaningful lyrics and a spirituality which is uncommon in contemporary music, making it a future classic. It has been one of the bestselling independent Soul albums in the last decade.
Jarrod Lawson has performed many times in the UK supporting the album at many venues including Ronnie Scott's, Jazz Café and at Shepherds Bush Empire as part of the London .Jazz Festival, building up a large fan base. Jarrod also recorded a session for Gilles Peterson's BBC6 which increased his profile.
The release will be backed up by an online eflyer and video campaign from both Soul Brother and Dome Records in the UK and internationally from Jarrod Himself, to create awareness and demand.

Bergen is the next, and natural step in the expanding career of Dutch producer Tom Trago. The acclaimed producer behind Voyage Direct will release his fourth LP, with the label and crew he's built a close relationship with over the past ten years - Dekmantel. With a new studio and approach to music, Bergen is Trago sounding at his very finest, returning to his roots with a focussed, and dedicated production ethos.
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'If you change your environment, your music will also change with you,' Trago reflects on the new album. A staple in the Amsterdam club scene, Tom Trago has been a familiar face at the Dekmantel events for over ten years. 'I was even playing Dekmantel parties, before they were even called Dekmantel,' he states. Tom Trago's collaboration with Dekmantel has allowed him the space to grow and finish his most accomplished, and honest album to date. Bergen is an LP that connects his legacy, family, and commitment to dance music in one resplendent package.


Having relocated from Amsterdam, Tom Trago set up his new studio in the coastal town of Bergen, located in the northern Netherlands. Recorded in his family house, with the sea at one side, and the countryside to the other, the resultant record is a craftful piece of art, full of space, and the classic machine-driven, house music aesthetic that has come to represent Trago's sound. Bergen was made with the aim of re-creating a global-music sound, along with the music that has influenced him throughout his life, with a new approach influenced by Trago's immediate natural environment. 'I would take long walks in-between tracks,' explains Tom about the music making process, "and the creative ideas would happen in the forest."

The spacey-passively-paced LP intro 'Bergen' was the first to be picked up by Dekmantel's Casper Tielrooij, who upon hearing the track stated - 'now we are talking album business'. Yet it was the electro- orientated 'Zeeweg' that became the template for the rest of the record. 'The LP was built around this track,' Trago states. The b-boy electro vibe, with its melodramatic synth melody was influenced by the road that leads to his scenic retreat - with slow, steady curves, and a gentle, upward trajectory, Zeeweg and its album namesake, twist and turn in fluid synchronicity. 'The Creation of Lalibela' plays on this world music vibe, with ethereal and fun key patterns, influenced by the work of Mulatu Astatke. 'Always be with you' is one of the LP's standout tracks, epitomising the new album's country settings, and featuring his girlfriend on vocals; it swings at a steady, up-beat pace, rich with harmony, colour and melody. Elsewhere on the album, Trago sticks to his dance floor roots, 'Faith Belongs to Us' is moulded in a Chicago-to- Amsterdam house style, while album closer 'Working Machines' plays with resonance and atmospherics, creating a moody, pulsing yet stylish rhythm.

Having been raised in a musically-driven, and open-spirited household in which the producer grew up learning the piano, it didn't take long for Tom Trago to be indoctrinated into the new school of Amsterdam producers. Studying at a private jazz school while still a teenager, Trago would eventually come to cross paths with the hip-hop loving Dutch duo Rednose Distrikt, who left a permanent imprint on his approach to music. 'They showed me a world of music making using the MPC,' Trago says. 15 years later, the Dutch producer still sticks to this template. Looking to recreate this production approach that influenced him from the very beginning, Trago stripped down his studio to a simple setup with just a few, key 'weapons of choice'. Removing the computer from the setup, the MPC 2000 XL once again became the heart of the music making process. Bergen's analogue tools lend to its organic sound, one honed and crafted by its natural surroundings, and matured approach by one of the Netherland's most accomplished producers.

IT'S TIME TO PAAAARTY! Why The Universe knows that Tramp is celebrating their 40th trip around the sun in 2018. And what about planet Earth Well... it is as blind as it is in so many other situations. Therefore, it is time to shine the light on Tramp for all of its unremitting efforts. As musical diversity is vanishing, especially in the field of African American music from the 1960s/70s, it is our duty to stop the extinction of threatened species of music in the same way an animal welfare activist would do anything to save a gorilla's life. Tramp Records keeps this beautiful heritage alive, every single day, again and again and again. So we are here wondering why Earth people and especially to those from our beloved home country, why why are you just sitting there, going about your life unaware of this historic event What a pity!

The announcement is especially striking when it comes to the prestigious "Movements" series. Like all its predecessors, this ninth volume contains Rare Groove nuggets recorded between the early 1960s and the late 1970s. The fact that only one of the songs appear anywhere else is a jaw-dropping phenomenon! The chronological track listing starts with two amazing cover versions: "Fever" by Gee Gee Shinn & the Boogie Kings and "I'm A Woman" by Connie Kaye Trio. Bus Brown, Earl Demus and Chuck Finney remain in the same direction although their contributions are slightly jazzier. Chick Willis' gut-wrenching "Sometime Soon" easily rivals James Brown's "It's A Man's World" and the recordings by Australia, J.R. and Joe Akens are beautiful examples of privately produced soul from the 1970s. The latin-soul of "Cho Cho San" by Hummingbird 4 heads the sound in another direction for the next three tunes, highlighted by one more stunning cover version, Oscar Brown Jr.'s "Brother, Where Are You". The album closes with some pre-disco tracks from The Counts, Reunion and Hot Cakes' dance floor bomb cover of "Harlem Shuffle".

Over a hundred great unknown songs have been re-released on the first eight volumes in the "Movements" series, the majority of which can not be found elsewhere, and Vol. 9 is no exception. The work of Germany's tiniest but grooviest record label is still incomprehensibly underestimated. We know you diggers, collectors, mavens, aficionados, fanatics, completists, enthusiasts, and just plain record geeks know what's up and we heartily salute you! Without your support there would be no Tramp Records. But now it's time for a broader cultural shift for good music and a sweeping move to uphold the legacy of the unsung heroes of funk and soul. Therefore, we humbly petition you: in 2018, Don't keep all this glory to yourself! Turn your friends and neighbors on! Thank you!


- the double vinyl LP comes with a full album download code

- deluxe double-gatefold LP with detailed liner notes, label scans & unseen photographs

- all but one song appear on vinyl-LP for the very first-time

LP+DL

To those familiar with the output of Cologne-based imprint Firm from back in the early '00s, the name of Geiger, alias Nass, shall undoubtedly ring a bell. Herald of an hedonistic melange of funk- soaked electro pop and guitar-riddled synth music, sitting somewhere close to acts like Ween and Junior Boys, Alexander Geiger is about to break a eight-year hiatus with the drop of his debut album under the newly-founded moniker of Fahrland. A release that both encompasses a healthy dose of the discoid tropes from the Firm era but also aspires to split with a segment of it, geared towards exploring further undisclosed fringes of his shape-shifting sound universe, 'Mixtape Vol.1' is the fruit of a decisive move from the sleepless Berlin to the peaceful countryside landscapes of Fahrland - a lushly forested area near Potsdam which you'll have understood played an essential role in Geiger's longed-for return. Versatile and inclusive, the album sweeps a polyamorous gamut of styles and tempos like an answer to the virtual prisons that inhibit us on a daily basis, straying away from normative standards and classic full-length calibration as a result. Instead weaving a singular narrative course, clear from all type of shackles and chains, Geiger navigates on sight, reflecting on notions as wide and universal as freedom, friendship and love across a multiversal patchwork of sounds and feels. From the languid sexy vibe of 'Beggin', 'Plastic People' and 'Yesterday' - all three featuring the sensual whispers of multi-talented vocalist and artist MZ Sunday Luv, through the heavily vocodized, chip- implemented groove of I AM ROBOT - reminiscent of Telex and Space Art, balearic jazz & rap shine of 'Sky So High', smokey lounge ambience of 'L AND H' onto broader ambient-friendly spans such as 'Suspension', 'Windshield Gently Wipers' and the smooth, sun-basking closer 'Get Down', each track holds a fragile cocooned world at its heart.

Bei denjenigen, die mit dem Output vom Kölner Label Firm aus den frühen Nullerjahren vertraut sind, sollte der Name Geiger alias Nass zweifellos die Glocken klingeln lassen. Als der Herold einer hedonistischen Melange aus Funk durchdrungenem Elektro-Pop und Gitarren durchzogener Synthie-Musik irgendwo zwischen Ween und den Junior Boys, bricht Alexander Geiger seine achtjährige Schaffenspause mit der Veröffentlichung seines Debüt-Albums unter neuen Pseudonym: Fahrland.

Ein Release, das sowohl die diskoiden Tropen der Firm-Ära affirmiert, als auch danach strebt ein bestimmtes Segment davon zu spalten. Aufgenommen um ungeahnte Interferenzen seines gestaltverändernden Sounduniversums zu entdecken, ist 'Mixtape Vol.1' das Resultat eines bewussten Umzugs aus dem schlaflosen Berlin in die friedliche Landschaft von Fahrland - einem üppigen Waldgebiet in der Nähe von Potsdam, das eine entscheidende Rolle in Geigers ersehnter Rückkehr zur Musik gespielt hat.

Vielfältig und offen erforscht das Album polyamorös eine Skala von Stilen und Tempi als Antwort auf die virtuellen Ketten, die uns tagtäglich hemmen. Bewusst vergessen werden dabei normative Standards und klassische Langspieler-Kategorien. Geiger webt stattdessen ein einzigartiges Narrativ, frei von jeglichen Fesseln und Ketten und führt uns auf seinem multiversalen Flickenteppich aus Sounds und Gefühle mit Sichtkontakt an so allgemeingültige und universelle Begriffe wie Freiheit, Freundschaft und Liebe.

Vom nochalanten Vibe von 'Beggin', 'Plastic People' und'Yesterday' (alle drei mit der sinnlich wispernden und vielseitigen Sängerin MZ Sunday Luv), bis zu dem durch den Vocoder gejagten und computergenerierten Groove von I AM ROBOT; Reminiszenzen an Telex und Space Art, balearischen Jazz und Rap erklingen in 'Sky So High', rauchiges Loungeambiente auf 'L AND H' bis zu völliger Ambient-Anschlussfähigkeit in 'Suspension', 'Windshield Gently Wipers' und dem sanften, Sonne anbetenden Schlusslied 'Get Down' - jeder Track hält eine Welt für sich in seinem Herzen.

LP+DL+MC Limited

To those familiar with the output of Cologne-based imprint Firm from back in the early '00s, the name of Geiger, alias Nass, shall undoubtedly ring a bell. Herald of an hedonistic melange of funk- soaked electro pop and guitar-riddled synth music, sitting somewhere close to acts like Ween and Junior Boys, Alexander Geiger is about to break a eight-year hiatus with the drop of his debut album under the newly-founded moniker of Fahrland. A release that both encompasses a healthy dose of the discoid tropes from the Firm era but also aspires to split with a segment of it, geared towards exploring further undisclosed fringes of his shape-shifting sound universe, 'Mixtape Vol.1' is the fruit of a decisive move from the sleepless Berlin to the peaceful countryside landscapes of Fahrland - a lushly forested area near Potsdam which you'll have understood played an essential role in Geiger's longed-for return. Versatile and inclusive, the album sweeps a polyamorous gamut of styles and tempos like an answer to the virtual prisons that inhibit us on a daily basis, straying away from normative standards and classic full-length calibration as a result. Instead weaving a singular narrative course, clear from all type of shackles and chains, Geiger navigates on sight, reflecting on notions as wide and universal as freedom, friendship and love across a multiversal patchwork of sounds and feels. From the languid sexy vibe of 'Beggin', 'Plastic People' and 'Yesterday' - all three featuring the sensual whispers of multi-talented vocalist and artist MZ Sunday Luv, through the heavily vocodized, chip- implemented groove of I AM ROBOT - reminiscent of Telex and Space Art, balearic jazz & rap shine of 'Sky So High', smokey lounge ambience of 'L AND H' onto broader ambient-friendly spans such as 'Suspension', 'Windshield Gently Wipers' and the smooth, sun-basking closer 'Get Down', each track holds a fragile cocooned world at its heart.

Bei denjenigen, die mit dem Output vom Kölner Label Firm aus den frühen Nullerjahren vertraut sind, sollte der Name Geiger alias Nass zweifellos die Glocken klingeln lassen. Als der Herold einer hedonistischen Melange aus Funk durchdrungenem Elektro-Pop und Gitarren durchzogener Synthie-Musik irgendwo zwischen Ween und den Junior Boys, bricht Alexander Geiger seine achtjährige Schaffenspause mit der Veröffentlichung seines Debüt-Albums unter neuen Pseudonym: Fahrland.

Ein Release, das sowohl die diskoiden Tropen der Firm-Ära affirmiert, als auch danach strebt ein bestimmtes Segment davon zu spalten. Aufgenommen um ungeahnte Interferenzen seines gestaltverändernden Sounduniversums zu entdecken, ist 'Mixtape Vol.1' das Resultat eines bewussten Umzugs aus dem schlaflosen Berlin in die friedliche Landschaft von Fahrland - einem üppigen Waldgebiet in der Nähe von Potsdam, das eine entscheidende Rolle in Geigers ersehnter Rückkehr zur Musik gespielt hat.

Vielfältig und offen erforscht das Album polyamorös eine Skala von Stilen und Tempi als Antwort auf die virtuellen Ketten, die uns tagtäglich hemmen. Bewusst vergessen werden dabei normative Standards und klassische Langspieler-Kategorien. Geiger webt stattdessen ein einzigartiges Narrativ, frei von jeglichen Fesseln und Ketten und führt uns auf seinem multiversalen Flickenteppich aus Sounds und Gefühle mit Sichtkontakt an so allgemeingültige und universelle Begriffe wie Freiheit, Freundschaft und Liebe.

Vom nochalanten Vibe von 'Beggin', 'Plastic People' und'Yesterday' (alle drei mit der sinnlich wispernden und vielseitigen Sängerin MZ Sunday Luv), bis zu dem durch den Vocoder gejagten und computergenerierten Groove von I AM ROBOT; Reminiszenzen an Telex und Space Art, balearischen Jazz und Rap erklingen in 'Sky So High', rauchiges Loungeambiente auf 'L AND H' bis zu völliger Ambient-Anschlussfähigkeit in 'Suspension', 'Windshield Gently Wipers' und dem sanften, Sonne anbetenden Schlusslied 'Get Down' - jeder Track hält eine Welt für sich in seinem Herzen.

First new LP in over 15 years. Builds on 3 successful ATFA reissues of Mergia's music. Legendary artist still active after decades of historic work. Modern Ethiopian jazz built on ancient scales and standards. Capping several successful years traveling the world performing to audiences big and small, Hailu Mergia's Lala Belu has been a long time coming. It builds on Mergia's remarkable career resurgence over the past few years. Beginning in 2013 with the reissue of his dreamy Hailu Mergia and His Classical Instrument followed by the enormous success of his seminal Ethio-jazz masterpiece Tche Belew and continuing with last year's widely acclaimed Wede Harer Guzo, Mergia has received considerable accolades from listeners and press globally, including The New York Times, Pitchfork and The Wire. His old recordings are cherished revelations for Ethiopian music fans; however, Mergia's return to the stage has been just as inspiring and electrifying. Mergia's vintage recordings are known for an inherently mysterious and worn-in quality, while his new recordings echo his band's 21st century live show with modern instrumental interpretations of crucial Ethiopian standards and Mergia's own original compositions. Tony Buck (drums) and Mike Majkowski (bass), who have backed Mergia on tour throughout Europe and Australia, form the bass-drums trio on the recording. Having played venues from Radio City Music Hall and the Kennedy Center to jazz festivals, rock clubs and DIY spaces all over North America, Europe and Australia, Mergia and Awesome Tapes From Africa want to document this moment in his landmark career with a snapshot of Mergia's current sound. Since he emigrated from Ethiopia and built a life in Washington, D.C. around 1981—where he remains working as an airport taxi driver when he is not on tour—Mergia's career has followed a humble trajectory. He made a few recordings in America but they didn't easily reach fans back home. He kept making music on his own and with friends but after the early 80's his gigs in the U.S. mostly dried up. It wasn't until he began working with Awesome Tapes From Africa and putting together bands with the help of booking agents and musicians in Europe and the U.S., that he was able to chart a new path. With a broad audience of young listeners in diverse venues and distant locales, at age 71, Mergia is enjoying his comeback and is not slowing down.

Originally from the United Kingdom, funky soul-jazz veterans The New Mastersounds have been touring USA, Europe and Japan for over a decade and return here with their twelfth studio album, recorded in New Orleans and Denver and featuring a slew of musical guests.

"Renewable Energy" expands on the NMS template while still providing plenty of the band's trademark sounds. Guitarist Eddie Roberts, drummer Simon Allen, bassist Pete Shand and keyboardist Joe Tatton are joined on this 11-track effort by a number of guests: Sam Bell, one of the founding members of NMS precursor The Mastersounds who also guested on two previous NMS albums, plays percussion on most of the tracks. Mike Olmos and Joe Cohen of the West Coast Horns once again provide added horn action as they did on "Made For Pleasure" from 2015, while Adryon de León from LA band Orgone contributes vocals on "Gonna Be Just Me". Uptempo numbers "Tantalus" and "Yokacoka" see the band flexing their playing chops over a tightly-wound rhythm, while "Green Was Beautiful" and "Groovin On The Groomers" are toe-tapping slabs of soul jazz. The band's cover of James Gang's "Funk 49" takes the album in a fuzzed-out psych-rock direction with Eddie singing the lead, while the moody Hancock-esque inflections of "Stash" and the sweet mellow vibes of "Swimming With My Fishies" add the final brushstrokes of colour to the canvas.

On 30thMarch, Wah Wah 45s will release ORANGE WHIP, the new album by their latest signing, Honeyfeet. The outfit, who have received praise from the likes of The Guardian, have also set festivals alight up and down the country with their unique melange of sounds.

For the last couple of years the Honeyfeet (who name from a line in the Blues Brothers film) have been a conduit for the ideas and expressions of an exotic mixture of Manchester based musicians. This genre-defying band incorporate styles including jazz, folk and hip hop into their music. Someone once called it Folk-Hop and Barrelhouse-pop, and that's just vague enough to make sense.

The band are fronted by Ríoghnach Connolly - also known for her work with Real World artists Afro Celt Sound System and The Breath - "a remarkable singer and flautist who...can ease from Irish traditional influences to soul" (The Guardian). The line up is completed by Rik Warren (vocals/harmonica), Gus Fairbairn (tenor sax), Biff Roxby (trombone/vocals), Ellis Davies (guitar), Lorien Edwards (bass guitar), John Ellis (keyboards) and David Schlechtriemen (drums).

ORANGE WHIP finds the band at their most incredibly diverse. Opening with recent single Sinner (received radio play from the likes of 6 Music and BBC Manchester), which showcases Ríoghnach's extraordinary agile and emotive voice, the album moves with dizzying swagger on songs covering a wide range of subjects. Quickball tells the story of being so infatuated with someone you want to eat them, while Whatever You Do addresses the fear-mongering of the press over folk-hop and oom-pah, and Demons deals with love and redemption on a blast of harmonica-driven country, sung by Rik Warren.

Rik also takes lead vocal on a re-working of Robert Johnson's Love in Vain, a song showing Honeyfeet's more reflective side, his Skip James-esque drawl bringing an eerie quality to the lyrics about a doomed relationship. The band reshape the progression too, swinging the tune slowly and creating a little underground blues club in the midst of the recording.

Elsewhere the band go all New Orleanian on Colonel Hathi's Trunk Juice, a sinister tale inspired by trombonist Biff Roxby's horn riff recalling one of the elephants of The Jungle Book. Further showcasing their virtuosity, on one of the album's best moments - especially the nuanced vocal performance by Ríoghnach, who was raised on Irish folk - on Hunt and Gather the band do their own take on prog-folk, with a flute and cello melody running alongside a brass counterpoint.

Ríoghnach turns in another incredible vocal on the album's final track - future single Meet Me On The Corner. With a pounding beat, it is one of the album's main highlights. Guitar and brass propels Ríoghnach to sing lyrics that could be straight out of the playground, but suggest something deeper, possibly mystical even, in it's demands for a dalliance on the street. It closes the album on a high note, for a band who have that rare ability to distil all their disparate influences, while always sounding like their unique selves.

ORANGE WHIP heralds the sound of a remarkable band going overground.

Daytoner are a 7 piece funk & soul remix band based in Cornwall, UK fronted by Lucy Richards and led by 'vintage breaks' producer, Moss Daytoner. They have been touring UK festivals since 2016 playing stages including Bestival, Boardmasters, Boomtown, Wilderness, NASS along with special events such as the opening of the Blue Whale exhibit at The Natural History Museum and supporting Craig Charles at his Funk & Soul Club nights.

Daytoner's debut single release as a band features 2 live favourites: the new northern soul stomp of 'Needed You' and the remake of a 60s jazz dance classic 'Sicka' delivered by the southern soul powerhouse that is Lucy Richards, backed with a unique 6 piece band. A second single appropriately titled 'Second Stomp' is to follow on 7' vinyl in May ahead of Daytoner's debut LP in their full live band line-up. Daytoner head off on an LP tour in April, taking in festivals such as Shindig, Great Estate & Boomtown plus support gigs for The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show.

Radio Airplay: 4 plays on The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show on BBC6 Music // BBC Introducing Feature on BBC Radio One // Repeat daytime plays on BBC Radio Cornwall and evening on BBC Introducing in Cornwall

DJ Support: Smoove, The Allergies, Renegades Of Jazz, Mr Bird

Ghanaian music legend Ebo Taylor returns with perhaps his finest album to date.
But don't take our word for it. That's coming straight from the man himself.
And he should know after more than 60 years in the business.
The 81-year-old composer, arranger, guitarist and vocalist has been a key figure in the evolving afro-funk sound since the Seventies, working with the likes of Apagya Show Band, CK Mann and Pat Thomas.
Famously, he rubbed shoulders with Fela Kuti while studying in London in the Sixties, before going on to lead the Ghana Black Star Band (featuring Osei and Sol Amarfio from Osibisa) and later the Uhuru Dance Band back in Ghana. Like Fela, he is always pushing forward, constantly reconceptualising his sound and
attuning it for a new generation. Part teacher, part messenger.
Listen to Yen Ara and you will not only hear the high-energy afrobeat, sweet highlife, jazz and konkoma influences that he's famous for. There is also a disco pulse and hard-hitting percussive edge to the tracks, which were produced by Justin Adams (Tinariwen, Rachid Taha, Robert Plant) and recorded in the live room at Electric Monkey Studio in Amsterdam. An Ebo Taylor for these times, you might say.
His group, the Saltpond City Band, are all handpicked local musicians featuring two of his sons. An appropriate line-up on an album whose titles means we'.
And they are on fine form, ripping through tracks such as 'Krumandey' (a surefire party starter) and 'Mind Your Own Business' (a simple message delivered over a frenetic drum rhythm).
Elsewhere, 'Aboa Kyirbin' will please fans of tough afrobeat grooves, while Taylor could well be inciting a riot at his next gig with 'Mumudey Mumudey', We hear him calling for 'preshaaah' and leading us into a call and response as the trumpet takes us higher. And the lift of those horns on 'Ankoma'm' evokes some
of his finest work such as 'Love & Death' and 'Come Along', the latter recorded with the Pelikans and featured on a recent Mr Bongo reissue.

* Taking its title from a Minoan legend that deals with rage, greed and destruction, the latest release from Abyss X expands and reconstructs conceptions of aural space and time. Out on February 16 on Danse Noire, Pleasures of the Bull finds the multi-disciplinary artist and producer flirting with the sounds of hard jazz while mystifying the parameters of experimental music across several distinct movements, thus allowing the listener to break free from their sonic principles.
* Intoxicating, ambient textures mesh with Abyss X's own expressive vocals, as well as the sounds of the traditional Cretan lyra, played by Maria Skoula. Her sound modification creates a collage of temporalities - allow yourself to move outside linear dimensions, and her to confide in you. Prog rock guitar lines twist stolidly beneath warped vocal samples, and the timbre of the bowed lyra permeates the atmosphere in a thick, suffocating haze.
* As the listener travels through space and time, so too does the artist. Abyss X delves into the fullness of her craft, drawing from her background in theater and performance, in addition to the frenzied energy of her live shows as a musician. The music throbs with a frantic yet unmistakably deliberate drama. Pleasures of the Bull feels like a gentle punch in the gut; a compelling auditory performance and a bold exploration of the narrative album format.

"The more I hear this the more I'm loving it. As a starter while we wait for the main course which will be the album this is just perfect."Craig Charles on S.T.A.Y. (feat Eric Boss)

"It's fabulous and it sees the return of one of my favourite UK vocalists - the pocket rocket that is Gizelle Smith" - Craig Charles on S.T.A.Y. (feat Eric Boss)

"such a powerful singer...a real british soul talent" - Eddie Piller (Acid Jazz)

Radio support:

BBC 6 Music: Craig Charles - 'STAY' (25.11.17) (2.12.17) (9.12.17), 'Sacred of Something' (13.01.17)

KCRW (USA): Garth Trinidad - STAY. Jazz FM (UK): John Osborne - Sweet Memories'

3Fach (playlisted), Delite (playlisted), Mi Soul , NTS, Solar, 1BTN, Radio Krimi, Ibiza Sonica, Radio Pepper, Republic 100.3, Kane FM, WUTK 90.3, Juice brighton (playlisted) , Colourful Radio, Crackers Fresh, Radio Cardiff, Starpoint Radio,

DJ: Felix Da Housecat, Benoit C, Yamwho,Doc Scott, Basement Freaks, Dom Servini, Mat The Alien, All Good Funk Alliance, Marc Hype

Aroop Roy has been making waves with his unique sounds for the past few years, with a wealth of successful releases and a busy gig schedule at the helm of some of the best clubs around the world. By fusing elements of Jazz, Afro, Latin, Funk and Soul with the deeper end of House and Disco, Aroop has forged his own style with EPs on revered labels including G.A.M.M, Basic Fingers, Freestyle and Lazy Days. For his Delusions Of Grandeur debut he pulled out all the stops, delivering three original tracks which further show his diversity as an artist and ability to produce left of centre, quality underground music without losing sight of the dancefloor.

Things kick off with Save Our Love, a track that's absolutely brimming with energy thanks to punchy Wurlitzer chops, tension-building Philly strings, and a rock-solid disco groove.

Next up we have What I love which sees Aroop take an altogether more freaky approach flipping an uptempo rolling break, distorted synth line, cross-rhythm stabs and rasping vocal cuts into an edgy dance floor workout.

Closing this brilliant EP is the low-slung bump of Walk That Walk featuring original vocals from Oakland, CA based Blacktroniks who delivers his flow on top of a bass-heavy slice of deep electro boogie.

In an interview with Jazz Magazine in the early 1970s, Dharma, as a collective voice, outlined their method: 'we try to reach, within free jazz, the same sort of rhythmic cohesion as in Bop, a cohesion based not exactly on tempo, but something which feels like tempo. A kind of underlying pulse'. Evidence of these ideas can be heard immediately on listening to Mr Robinson, the first album by the Dharma Quintet, for whom community living seemed obvious, in order to add to the aforementioned cohesion. Through this, the group members played together on a daily basis, trying out things which were worked on day in, day out. They were also listening to a lot of records, with of course a preference for free jazz, but not forgetting Miles Davis in his electric period, notably for the keyboards of Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea. To which should be added esthetical-political concerns based on a refusal of hierarchy, and a desire to escape from a restrictive academic approach... It was within this framework that Jef Sicard and Gérard Coppéré (saxophones, flute, bass clarinet), Patricio Villarroel (electric and acoustic piano), Michel Gladieux (bass) and Jacques Mahieux (drums) formed the first version of a collective united by structured intentions. Because, within Dharma, individual improvisation cannot be envisaged outside of a clearly designated framework, even non-tempo. The result is a beneficial cohesion, and moments of great beauty born of a collective excitement and giving rise to ambiances which seemed almost possessed. The use of modes could seem to link Mr Robinson to the spiritual jazz of the past but that is without taking into account the fact that the benevolent spirit of Eric Dolphy seems to watch over this album. In France, a similar desire for cohesion could be found in the Cohelmec Ensemble, who had parallel preoccupations, to the point where their bassist, François Méchali, ended up by joining Dharma: there is unfortunately no recorded trace of this, just the memories. As a quintet, with however some personnel changes, Dharma recorded three albums (there is also one as a trio, under the name of Dharma Trio), which are all of fundamental importance (Dharma would also accompany, and to great effect, the songs of Jean-Marie Vivier and Colette Magny). Individually, the members would record with musicians passing through (notably Anthony Ortega, Dave Burrell) and participated in other key groups including Machi Oul and Full Moon Ensemble.

more talking all that jazz, more high aiming music by fumio itabashi: mule musiq is ready to release another record by the legendary japanese jazz pianist, born in ashikaga, tochigi in the year 1949.
this time his first solo record ever: the heavy jazzing 'nature', which has never been reissued on vinyl since its birth in 1979. it has been recorded at nippon columbia 1st studio, tokyo from march 13 to 15 in the year of its release.
it features itabashi making feverish love with the piano and sharing the studio with the great bass players hideaki mochizuki and koichi yamazaki, drummers kenichi kameyama and ryojiro furusawa, soprano saxophonist yoshio otomo and vibraphone wizard hiroshi hatsuyama.
they all joined him to perform his very own songs, composed by itabashi himself and produced by ryonosuke honmura, who also produced japanese jazz heroes like saxophonist keizo inoue during his career.
but enough background information. what counts is sound. it is fresh, propulsive, twitchy and melodi-ous from the first to the last tone. sometimes the instrumentalists play a classic solo in an overall deep modal jazz atmosphere that seems to be made for cats that love the good old stars and inventors - from john coltrane to mile davis, from thelonious monk to art blakey.
'nature' also shows how deep itabashi studied the history of the genre, while keeping his very own vision of jazz alive. the man that made his professional debut as a member of the sadao watanabe quintet in 1971 and that also was a member of the elvin jones jazz machine world tour from 1985 to 1987, plays the piano in all tempos: nervous high-flying quick, deeply blue blues style slow.
besides the traditional jazz flavours, you get a feeling of mind-expanding spiritual jazz, that grand mas-ters like pharaoh sanders or gary bartz turned into a sacred music genre. a master-class record in ravishing big city jazz music, adventurous, sometimes meditative, sometimes faster than the speed of light, always grooving with a bright, pure-toned sensibility and deeply soulful melodic imaginations.
it extends the jazz history with a fine balance between tradition and innovation. and it stays infectious all the time while sounding surprisingly fresh due to a lot of thrilling musical spontaneity that touches profoundly even though all notes have been written down by fumio itabashi before he and his combat-ants entered the studio.
and maybe that's the mystery of these timeless five at times epic recordings: all notes been written on paper but each musician had the freedom to dance with them in his very own unique way. so, turn the volume loud and get ready to be steamrolled by fumio itabashi's 'nature', an inebriant album that is talking all that jazz deeply!

"Kinfolk returns after a long hiatus with an outstanding release from the mighty Mind Fair donning their newly invented 'Sundown Drive' hats. 'Sunset over Santorini' is a sonic brew of percussion, guitars, jazz-funk keys and heavenly vox that's all kept together with a driving shuffle that brings to mind the more experimental Leftfield disco sounds of 70's NYC and beyond. On The flip Dan 'Nad' Tyler delivers a wacked-out remix monster that takes it deep into a Norwegian via Homerton disco-dub-not disco-dub vortex of truly epic proportions that will twist your body, mind & soul as it ventures in and out of the groove laden original. "