Cerca:artist

Jazz iconoclast Albert Ayler took the experimental leanings of contemporaries like John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman as a starting point and then blasted them to stratospheric extremes, creating some of the most polarizing and brilliant music of the 20th Century. In particular, 1964 was a pivotal – and well documented – year in the free jazz artist’s career. After returning to New York, Ayler assembled a brilliant group with Sunny Murray on drums and Gary Peacock on bass, recording Spiritual Unity, Ayler’s first record for the legendary ESP-Disk’ label, that summer.

Soon after that session, Ayler took his trio to Europe where they were joined by cornetist Don Cherry for a tour of The Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark. The Hilversum Session is a live radio session recorded on November 9th, 1964. At that point the quartet was months into its European tour and the interplay is extraordinary. On classic Ayler compositions like “Spirits” and “Ghosts” the band absolutely rip, with a kind of intuition and connectivity rarely heard, creating some of the most untethered and undeniably powerful music in the history of free jazz. Our Swimmer is pleased to present the first official vinyl reissue of The Hilversum Session in over thirty years.

On 21 April 1960, Claudio Arrau recorded Johannes
Brahms' 1st Piano Concerto in London with the
Philharmonia Orchestra and Carlo Maria Giulini - under
the auspices of Walter Legge, the legendary artistic
director of EMI, who hired the pianist. The Chilean pianist
is an immense Brahmsian, and here he delivers a
masterly version that is at once heroic and tragically
profound.
The LP benefits from a new remastering in 192htz/24 bit
done in 2022 from original tapes by Art & Son Studio,
Annecy.

After the worldwide success of her debut album ‘Believer’, LAU’s long awaited sophomore album ‘Circumstance’ is finally here.



LAU (AKA Laura Fares), a prominent figure in the Synthwave and Retrowave scenes has finally gone solo after over a decade of writing Synthwave hits for other artists.



What is it like to fall in love in these crazy pandemic times? What about falling for someone miles away that we’ve never met? Is it real love or just a fantasy?



In this new album, LAU talks about the challenges, the uncertainty, the crazy circumstance she has found herself in, the ups and downs of “virtual romancing” in the distance, and falling in love with a complete stranger that she’s never met (yet). LAU explores the bittersweet feelings of happiness (to finally fall in love again), mixed with the anxiety and the uncertainty of longing for someone that we’ve only seen on a screen, added to the frustration of not being able to travel to meet them in person.



LAU recorded most of this album in her new home in Barcelona (Spain) throughout 2021 and finished recording the album in her hometown (Buenos Aires, Argentina), creating ten fantastic Synthpop / Retrowave tracks (and a couple of Disco-Pop songs) produced by international producers like Brian Skeel (USA), Zak Vortex (UK), Ends 84 (France), Saint Innocent (France), Popcorn Kid (India), Adam Siana (Sweden) and TAKTA (Norway).

Blue Mitchell’s run of albums for Blue Note in the
1960s are considered some of the great jazz
recordings of the era. However, his early 1970s
output following his departure from the label is
often overlooked.
 ‘Blue Mitchell’ is a fantastic jazz soul set featuring
a stellar line up of Black Jazz recording artist
Walter Bishop Jr., Doug Sides, Larry Gales and the
legendary Jimmy Forrest.
 Licensed officially from Mainstream and
remastered from the original tapes, this is the best
the record has ever sounded.
 Mastered from the original analogue tape transfers
by Kevin Gray.
 12” insert featuring rare photographs and words
written especially for this release by Doug Sides.
 Printed and pressed at Pallas on 180 gram vinyl
and housed in a deluxe reverse-board jacket.

CHARLES MINGUS (1922 – 1979)

At the end of the Fifties, hard bop was something else looking for a way out. The inexorable cycle of avant-garde trends needed renewal. These were years when both sides of the Atlantic saw wide-reaching deconstruction in philosophy, painting and music. Everything that seemed to belong to a healthy, normal, established order was seen with the most scrupulous scepticism.

In the history of art, successive pivotal years have always had an artificial aspect while at the same time they have revealed the state of an art that would define a new aesthetic. 1913… 1922 … 1959 … The Shape of Jazz to Come, Kind of Blue, Time Out, Ah Um … When creative minds decoded the structures of an art that was current, it was time to discover new ones. Charles Mingus was one of those who deconstructed, a creator and inventor who marked out a path for the other artists to come.

Acclaimed composer, artist, and producer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith returns to Ghostly International with Let’s Turn it Into Sound, her most ambitious, intuitive, and inviting work to date. Though ambient and modern new age circles have embraced Smith’s catalog, Let’s Turn it Into Sound favors a more baroque and robust form of avant-pop. The music bursts with vertiginous vocal harmonies and detailed sound design, forming a truly unique sonic vision.

Acclaimed composer, artist, and producer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith returns to Ghostly International with Let’s Turn it Into Sound, her most ambitious, intuitive, and inviting work to date. Though ambient and modern new age circles have embraced Smith’s catalog, Let’s Turn it Into Sound favors a more baroque and robust form of avant-pop. The music bursts with vertiginous vocal harmonies and detailed sound design, forming a truly unique sonic vision.

Silent Treatment was the third studio album from Arizona hardcore / punk band The Bled, their second released via Vagrant Records.

The band’s guitarist Jeremy Ray Talley recently commented on their time with Vagrant, speaking with Kerrang Magazine: “We signed to Vagrant because it was a label with a great reputation of taking care of their bands and helping them get to the next level, without having to compromise artistic vision,”

Silent Treatment was the third studio album from Arizona hardcore / punk band The Bled, their second released via Vagrant Records.

The band’s guitarist Jeremy Ray Talley recently commented on their time with Vagrant, speaking with Kerrang Magazine: “We signed to Vagrant because it was a label with a great reputation of taking care of their bands and helping them get to the next level, without having to compromise artistic vision,”

'College Music Presents: 'Back on Track' is a twenty nine track compilation featuring original music from artists and producers the world over. 'Back on Track' aims to act as a beacon of hope after a tricky few years across the world. We invited some of the very best producers we know to create something that reflected a 'light at the end of the tunnel', and the end result is a wide array of uplifting vibes, from instrumental beats and jazzy joints to euphoric vocal breakbeats and lo-fi house, featuring the likes of Tennyson, Cookin Soul, Athletic Progression, L'indécis, Conor Albert and a lot more.

The artwork itself, done by the incredible Doug John Miller (instagram/dougjohnmiller) reflects the journey from the darker, lockdown days to present day and beyond, where things are looking far brighter. We aimed to represent this positive shift in the music selected within the project, hoping to offer a glimmer of light to people in their dark days.

The project title 'Back on Track' reflects how things have come off the rails in the past few years, but that better times are on the way, and as a collective, we are gradually getting 'Back on Track'.

One of the most rare and sought after soul lp’s from the mid 1970s, Love Is a Very Special Thing by Charles Williams receives a lush reissue from Svart Records. Originally released in Finland only, American singer and songwriter Charles Williams has remained in obscurity ever since, only known to die hard soul record collecting enthusiasts. Williams’ Love Is a Very Special Thing is an epic concept album that has only been reissued in Japan some years ago in a limited edition run and is still a hard to find, highly prized collectors item. Brilliantly crafted black funk and soul from the disco era, Williams was a highly talented soul singer and musician influenced by a wide range of styles, from soul stars Marvin Gaye, Barry White and Isaac Hayes to folk rock band Crosby, Stills & Nash. Williams’ soul music is neither easy listening nor disco, but brings to mind the best of the creative 1960s Motown artists and singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins. Love Is a Very Special Thing began raising interest among soul collectors in the 1990s, when the internet brought record collecting into a new era. Williams’ name was discovered outside Finland and the prices soon went up. It’s no wonder: Love Is a Very Special Thing is as good as the best US soul albums of the era, but soul fanatics outside Finland didn’t have a clue about it, because it was released in Finland only, and as a relatively small pressing too. This new luxury edition by Svart Records is the LP plus a replica of the rare 7” Just As Long / Funky Music (1976) that has never been reissued until now. The CD has the single as bonus tracks. Get yourself acquainted with a rare piece of Finnish funk and soul history, and discover an artist whose music deserves to shine again.

For Oleg Azelitskiy, known as DJ Slon, the nineties and the first half of the aughts were an era of "firsts". First squat parties on the banks of the Obvodny Canal and more legitimate ones at Tunnel, first proper techno club in Russia. First DJ sets, first vinyl records in his collection, first radio shows at Port FM. He is a true veteran of the Russian techno movement, who carried his love for the genre through three decades and inspired more than one generation of musicians. Album Nr. 1 is the first edition of his music on vinyl. It comprises the music that Azelitskiy made during 1995 - 2005, except for the track My 40th Vesna, produced in 2010.

Azelitskiy's love for techno was born out of contradictions. Thanks to the Soviet synth band Zodiac and the French pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre, he had loved electronic music since his childhood. When he grew up, he got into the dark, introspective pieces by Einsturzende Neubauten and Bauhaus. Not only does the wide-ranging palette on Album Nr. 1 reflect its creator's taste, it echoes the changing times of the Russian nineties. It was the time when confrontations with criminals were inseparable from the parties and get-togethers bustling with local artists.

His affection for various genres led to many monikers and projects, all represented here on Album Nr. 1. He recorded most of his music as DJ Slon. Then there was a project Zhutkiy Lazer (Scary Laser), where Azelitskiy made music that was more experimental but still techno-oriented, with the occasional help of his friend Aleksey Gaponenko (Lazer became a proper solo project of DJ Slon in 1999). There are also tracks under the aliases Mass Fatality, which combined techno and synth-pop, and Razrushiteli Mozgovych Uliev (Brain Hive' Destroyers), with its more direct tight techno tracks.

The music of DJ Slon sounds fresher and more alive on Album Nr. 1 than ever before.
Noticeably, this record, first and foremost, is dance music. As a voice on one of the album tracks boldly states, we came to dance.

1972-1985 KATEBEGIAK - Prog-Rock, Psych-Folk & Jazz-Rock Music from the BASQUE COUNTRY. The album KATEBEGIAK, now published by ELKAR, contains 13 tunes on double LP gatefold edition from Haizea, Izukaitz, William S. Fischer, Magdalena, Enbor, Itoiz, Koska, Itziar, Errobi, Lisker, Amaia Zubiria & Pascal Gaigne, Gontzal Mendibil & Taldea and Urria, and the CD-Book edition adds an extra bonus track by the great unknown artist Juan Arkotxa. Complied by Mikel Unzurrunzaga Schmitz aka DJ Makala. Music produced in the 70's in the Basque Country got trapped between two earth shattering artistic currents; Ez Dok Amairu in the 60s and Basque Radical Rock in the 80's, and unfortunately, most of the lovely discs and tunes created at that magical time have been pushed to a remote (and sometimes even despised) corner of our collective memory. 60's and 80's music currents are almost opposite, and both work as magnetic poles with a very strong power of attraction, and maybe also as a burden for any of the later artistic currents. 60's generation of artists searched within their rich and ancient cultural roots to acknowledge and update them, in proud, hopeful and unforgettable folk songs. The 80's one on the other hand, worked in a flammable environment in constant social and political conflict and found in punk the perfect way to express their anger and weariness for so many unfulfilled promises and the lack of opportunities into short, noisy, direct and corrosive songs, technically sparse but full of energy and expressive power. Most of the "classic" names engraved in our memory come from one or the other like Benito Lertxundi, Mikel Laboa, Lourdes Iriondo and Xabier Lete or Kortatu, Hertzainak, Zarama, Las vulpes, Eskorbuto or Cicatriz. 70's generation and their music work somehow as the "missing link" ("katebegia" in Basque) between the two. They loved folky tunes and don't forget their ancient roots, but they also look outside for inspiration and experimentation. Just as the 80's boys and girls found punk the 70's guys found a completely different sonic and aesthetic landscape in the works of Grateful Dead, Fairport Convention, King Crimson, Soft Machine, Gong_ and worked closely with keen souls in other neighboring regions such as Maquina!, Pau Riba or Sisa in Catalonia or Smash and Triana in Andalusia. This resulted in more abstract and poetic lyrical content, much longer psych-folk-prog-jazz tunes, full of complex instrumental passages and mesmerizing structures of sheer ambition and masterful execution in many cases. But, most important of all, they found a voice of their own, rich, unique, and fascinating, and that's what makes them so valuable to us. Not only to us, but also to lots of vinyl collectors and crate-diggers around the world, who have in many cases paid fortunes for some of the original editions of LPs that are the source of tunes in this compilation. Mikel Unzurrunzaga Schmitz aka DJ Makala, DJ and producer of worldwide scope and wisdom, noticed this fact first and decided to pay homage to these wonderful tunes through this masterful and dedicated selection for your pleasure and as an open invitation to dig deeper into your adventures in the dark and hidden side of Basque popular music.

With arrangements and piano by Alfredo Linares, this is a thrilling double-sider sought after by collectors and DJs because of the funky dancefloor cuts 'Enyere Kumbara' (covered by Quantic a few years back) and 'INS-Rock'. Proper Afroantillano party business melting Cuban, Nuyorican and Colombian tropical traditions. First time reissue on 7" vinyl. Julián y su Combo was founded in 1962 by left-handed guitarist Julián Angulo Ponce, who was originally from Guapi, Cauca, Colombia and made his name in Cali and Buenaventura, signing initially with Bogotá's Sello Vergara in 1966. During a 20-year period Julián y su Combo released eight records (with several band name variations). Angulo was part of the first generation of artists from the Colombian Pacific who migrated to Bogotá in the 1970s, and his combo enjoyed popularity in his adopted city as well as in Medellín and Mexico. The band also travelled to Venezuela and the US. Angulo described his sound as Afroantillano, combining Cuban, New York Latin and Puerto Rican elements with Colombia's own tropical traditions. The combo's arrangements were distinguished by the bandleader's funky, jazzy electric guitar work (Angulo played without changing the order of the strings), a hot rhythm section and the potent brass line-up of two saxophones and a trumpet (much like Cortijo y su Combo). At that time Alfredo Linares was musical director at INS and this album -the first one Julián Angulo recorded for the label- bears his influence in the funky 'Mambo Rock' sections (breaks and handclaps galore!) and hot Cuban and Latin jazz piano styles that also graced his own records.

Fast-emerging British singer, songwriter and pianist Reuben James’ virtuoso jazz techniques and soulful, evocative voice have led him to be widely regarded as one of the most exciting and creatively assured artists to have emerged in recent years.

He has written for and performed with an array of international star acts including the likes of Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, John Legend, Disclosure etc.

Reuben’s Sophmore EP ‘Slow Down’ landed to critical acclaim in 2020 we also have in stock (last few copies) in addition to his debut EP from 2019 ‘Adore’ which first brought us to his attention.

Reuben released his single ‘BBQ Energy’ in late 2020 followed by the star-studded ‘Tunnel Vision’ featuring Frida Touray, Daley with Tom Misch in early 2021.

Here we have his most recent and arguably most popular singles available for the first time on Vinyl as a Limited Edition release.

The Body has been an iconic force in heavy music for over 2 de- cades with a long history of collaborations. Recent collaborators include BUMMER, Full of Hell, Thou, Uniform. Lee Buford from The Body is also in Manslaughter 777 and Sightless Pit. BIG| BRAVE have a singular voice in heavy music, honed over 5 albums The Body and BIG|BRAVE are both bands possessed with an unequaled ability to convey overwhelming weight with simplicity, repetition, and detailed sonic atmospheres; artists who continue to alter the definition of what it means to be a heavy band. The Body are consistently prolific while increasingly ambitious as untethered producers and collaborators. BIG|BRAVE shape sound with dense waves of guitar and feedback, minimalist and hypnotic crashes, and emotionally exacting vocal melodies. In collaboration, The Body and BIG|BRAVE shift the gravity of their compositions to woven layers of percussion and unspooling guitars that sprawl through stark frameworks of earthy folk. Their debut collaborative album Leaving None But Small Birds distills the two ensembles" pioneering approach to heavy music into psalms for the forgotten, threnodies of lost love, and odes to vengeance. Typical to The Body"s creative process, Leaving None But Small Birds was composed almost entirely in the studio at Machine With Magnets with engineer/producer Seth Manchester. The Body and BIG|BRAVE aimed to challenge themselves to craft a fully realized and cohesive work that strayed outside the boundaries of the music they make individually. The Body"s Lee Buford set up the initial challenge: collaborating to make an album that evoked the country and folk roots of The Band. BIG|BRAVE"s Robin Wattie compiled lyrics and melodic lines from across Appalachian, Canadian, and English hymns and folk songs. Select phrases were then reworked and precisely arranged to center the experiences of marginalized characters, victims of hardship, and those yearning for love within each story. The despair and empowerment of these traditional tunes draw remarkable parallels with each group"s focus on championing people often cast aside in history. The Body and BIG|BRAVE, following a folk tradition, make each song their own through shifts in perspective and a synthesis of passages from kindred tales. BIG|BRAVE"s roots as a minimalist folk band and The Body"s love of old-time, country blues, and folk music enable the quintet to strike a formidable balance between sorrowful lamentation and uplifting resolve to weighty effect. Leaving None But Small Birds thatches together two monumental innovative forces that render the emotionally profound with lucid, devastating vitality

With their ability to move seamlessly from the triangle to the donkey jaw, cymbals to Chinese gong, vibraphone to wind machine, percussionists are undoubtedly the most atypical members of the classical orchestra. Paul Changarnier, Nicolas Cousin and Alexandre Esperet are a case in point. Having set their sights on the marimba - Latin American xylophone, cousin of the African balafon - they decided to use it as the main vehicle for their artistic dreams. With the label No Format, they embarked on a project which would see them taking on pop hits of the kind that are produced in mega studios on the other side of the Atlantic and dazzle with a thousand lights and special effects. But they wanted to do it without leaving France or their beloved instruments. They wanted to make pop without machines, guitars, bass or synths. They ended up finding a hitherto unknown instrumental formula that belongs to them and them only, one conceived as the perfect fit for the voices from the well-known French artists that were called upon to interpret the songs. Camille, with her extraordinary energy, makes Rihanna"s "Don"t Stop the Music" waltz in a new organic mode; Blick Bassy redecorates Ariana Grande"s "One Last Time" in the colours of Bassa; Malik Djoudi envelopes Frank Ocean"s "Super Rich Kids" with a subtle ethereal texture; Camélia Jordana made her mark on this bonanza of reinvention by slowing down the tempo of "Dance Monkey"; The voice of Sandra Nkaké, imbued Lana del Rey"s "Video Games" with a solemn and sublime mystery. Like an old love that"s rediscovered with new eyes, an air that comes back from far away but could have been born today, somehow familiar but never seen before. Déjà vu but never heard until now. Déjà Vu: the name of this magnificent, unprecedented experience, this unidentifiable flying platter.

"Ésta sí es salsa!" is one of the most sought-after records in the impressive catalog of the Discos Fuentes tropical all-star group Los Corraleros de Majagual. The record is high on collectors' want lists for many reasons: excellent sound quality, diverse and highly danceable repertoire infusing its grooves, and the inclusion of the Cuban genres of descarga and charanga. The album includes outstanding cover versions of '60s New York salsa but featuring the unusual sound of the accordion and the heavy bass playing of Julio Estrada. First time reissue. "Ésta sí es salsa!" is one of the most sought-after records in the impressive catalog of the Discos Fuentes tropical all-star group Los Corraleros de Majagual. It was released in 1970, nine years after the band was first conceived by Alfredo Gutiérrez, Calixto Ochoa and label boss Don Antonio Fuentes as an orchestra to play mostly typical folkloric Colombian genres like porro, cumbia and paseo and the occasional guaracha or pachanga, but with a fully orchestrated big band sound that combined the accordion with a complete rhythm and brass section. The record is high on collectors' want lists for many reasons, not least of which is its excellent sound quality and the diverse repertoire infusing its grooves, ranging from expected coastal tropical Colombian rhythms like paseaíto, paseo and pasebol (all related to cumbia and vallenato), to more exotic modes like sonsonete, casatschok, and the Cuban genres of descarga and charanga. There was never any doubt with the label's intentions of introducing this "new" genre of salsa on this LP, albeit as seen through the lens of Colombian musicians only recently converted to the movement, and indeed, the title unequivocally proclaims: "¡Ésta sí es salsa!" ("This is definitely salsa!"). The proof is in the fascinating (and long) cover versions of Nuyorican artists from the burgeoning Big Apple salsa scene that are the centerpiece of the album. Two massive dance tracks on the record are 'Ocho días' and 'Amanací tomando', but neither was inspired by exposure to New York salsa, as they are very "typical" Colombian numbers. First time reissue.

Latest release in the ‘Artist Code’ series as always a focus on eclecticism, open-mindedness, divergence and non-conformity. Expect to hear a wide range of electronic music from house, techno, electronica, spoken word, hip hop cherry picked by Laurent Garnier & Scan X

COD3 QR wants to remain free of all expectations and all prejudices because only one thing counts for us: the music, The Music, THE MUSIC in every shape and form!

Incase you missed the announcement 010 artist reveals were: Laurent Garnier, Speaking Minds & Amarcord, Scan X, Diego Infanzon.

Previous releases have included tracks from the likes of Agents of Time, JoeFarr, Nicolas Bougaieff, Madben, CYRK, Biz, Sagitario, Kmyle, Marco Bailey and rising talents Works of Intent fka R.O.S.H, LOIS, Softly Voltaire, Joaquim Plossu, Loloman, Prequel, Athven, City 2 City, LOIS.

Cod3QR’s profile is steadily growing as a label releasing quality music. With music being the main focus you'll have to wait another 2 months to find out who is behind this latest release. Who could be behind these latest track ??? The curiosity continues…..

Natural Sciences introduce the first issue of Embryo: a 50 page magazine, 12" record, A3 Poster and mix series, ft: Hieroglyphic Being, Beau Wanzer, Fumu, Margenrot, Breathing Problem Productions, December, Ki Jeal, Bacon Grease and other artists and labels from across the underground.

The first issue comes with an exclusive mix from Sawf (available as a QR Code) and killer two-track 12" from Smpl Smpl.

Enclosed in heavy-duty PVC Wallet (w. flap) and outer sticker, inside sticker and hi-gloss A3 poster.