Search:back to disco

This previously unissued 45 came from the esteemed estate of Don Davis, Detroit label owner and legend. Engineered by Ed Wolfdrum who recently passed away.

Not too much is known of The Michigans. Probably a one time demo on a view to getting a record deal.

"Look At My Back Wheels" is a raw edged funk track with incredible breaks and baselines. The vocal content is a little risque so use your imagination i guess.

"Its All Coming Back To Me Now" sounds like it could have been Ocean Colour Scene or a Paul Weller outtake. Very early 1970's Blues influenced Soul Music

Summer at Land’s End is not an interlude or tangent for The Reds, Pinks & Purples but rather a perfect fourth movement following the albums Anxiety Art, You Might Be Happy Someday, and Uncommon Weather. As with these self-recorded records (the primary work of songwriter Glenn Donaldson), the songs on Summer at Land’s End were crafted slowly and then drawn together to make a unified statement. But here, and more than before, Summer at Land’s End combines Donaldson’s rueful pop sensibility with a parallel musical universe, one composed of pictures, dreams, and feelings without words. Even if the underlying theme of this collection is one of conflict or unhappiness, the vision of the music presents an escape to a new world, always fading in and out of sight.

For listeners who may not be familiar with Donaldson’s corner of San Francisco––the Richmond district––or the current wave of hazy, melodic DIY pop groups performing in the city, Summer at Land’s End pulls in images and scenes that feel like a collision of the mundane and the sublime of this present landscape. But settings such as these are the backdrop for personal narratives, expressed as a struggle with love, with companionship and the conflicts of home. With this record, The Reds, Pinks & Purples give less focus to the vanities of a subculture and more to the challenge of connecting with someone, to the ordinary goals of being human and finding harmony with others.

This deliberate saturation in drama and ambiance, along with some of Donaldson’s best songwriting to date, is what gives Summer at Land’s End its special class in the project’s discography. Of the album’s cinematic mood, Donaldson refers to films like Summer of ‘42 and the influence of the classic 4AD catalogue of the 1990s. This style informs much of Donaldson’s prior and current ventures of course (The Ivytree, Vacant Gardens, and a dozen projects in between) but now The Reds, Pinks & Purples have taken the mantle, embracing this instinct for instrumental or dreamier modes of pop songwriting. It’s a pleasure to experience Summer at Land’s End, as this record finds a thrilling balance between songs and sounds, instruments and voices, and the ironic twin poles of art and life.

Matasuna's latest tidbit takes us back to the South American continent once again - to Venezuela to be exact. The song "Zambo" by the band "La Retreta Mayor", which was released in 1976 on the self-titled LP, is now available as an official reissue and the very first time ever on a 7inch vinyl single! The 45 is complemented by an excellent rework of the American producer & DJ "King Most" from San Francisco.

The A-side features the original of the song. "Zambo" is a furious mix with versatile influences of Latin, Jazz & Funk. The rich horn section and percussion of the guest quartet bring pure heat to the track - the drums, bass and piano intensify this even more. An absolute heater for any dance floor!

The B-side features the "King Most" Redirection. The talented producer gently takes on the song, keeping the organic vibe of the original but still giving it a different, new side. His re-arrangement and additional in/outro and a new passage in the middle of the song fit exquisitely. Also his crunchy drums and own piano passages are very tasty and give the song an own flavour!

"Alexandro Rodríguez" was born in Caracas in 1952 and is considered one of Venezuela's most important jazz guitarists of the seventies. He studied classical guitar in his early years, played electric guitar in various rock groups and performed at various national music festivals. He also had the opportunity to play as a musician for renowned orchestras such as "Onda Nueva", "Renny Show's Orchestra" on Venezuelan Television and "Radio Caracas TV's Orchestra".

In the late 1970's he recorded two significant works that may be considered a reference in Venezuelan music history. He formed the short-lived band "La Retreta Mayor" to record a self-titled album, which was released as an LP on the Venezuelan label "Discomoda" in 1976. The 10-piece band and numerous guest musicians created a jazz-funk & fusion gem. The band unfortunately broke up right after the recording and did not play live or record any more music.

His self-released album "Busqueda", released in 1978 under his name, was recorded between New York and Caracas and has an excellent reputation not only in connoisseur circles. In 2012, the album was reissued on CD by a Japanese label, proving the influence Alexandro's music still has in the jazz scene today.

Between 1979 and 1982, Alexandro lived in "New York", where he worked as a composer, arranger, performer and orchestrator in the jazz scene with renowned orchestras before returning to Venezuela. Subsequently, his musical career turned to the classical guitar, both as a composer and performer. In 2013, he settled in "Pittsburgh", Pennsylvania (USA), where he continues his activity as composer, arranger, guitarist, bassist and teacher to the present time.

Dusky’s Life Signs project for Running Back remixed! The Londoners and their distinct hallmark of euphoric, yet multilayered dance floor dynamite get treated by Cinthie, KiNK and Rumu. Similar to the scope of original artists themselves, their interpretations are a wide choice of styles and suitable for different usages. Berlin’s true school house head Cinthie delivers her tried, tested and desired method of disco bass lines and deep house melodies on „Static“, while everyone’s favorite live act from Sofia turns the sounds of „Fridge“ into a lost mid-90ies techno classic. KiNK’s high-octane take would fit perfectly on every fantasy mixtape of Derrick May or Laurent Garnier of those days. Last, but not least, Dusky very own discovery and 17Steps artist Rumu uses „Lea Valley“ to punch his ticket with the UK bass and breaks fare. These goods sell well!

There is nothing quite like an evening under the rhythmic spell of the legendary David Morales. Stepping on the dancefloor while he's behind the decks requires full trust and surrender. You agree to hand the reins of your mind, body, and spirit to his intuition and ability to guide you to where you need to be at all times. It will occasionally be cathartic and intense. It will often make the hairs on your body stand on end, and make you sweat more than you ever have before. The endorphin release will be powerful. You will feel like you can touch joy and euphoria it in the air around you. As he gently brings you back down to reality, you will feel renewed and ready for anything life brings your way. This is more than a night of dancing. This is an experience at the hands of a magical maestro of music. How is this possible from a night on the dancefloor? Well, it begins with the brilliant mind of an artist at the peak of his creative power, imbued with the empathy necessary to connect with what has become a global legion of fans. "If there is any secret, it's really simple: I love what I do with all of my heart," Morales says. "I'm a DJ first. I thrive on human interaction. I am always adjusting my sets based on what the people in the room need. Each night, we form an emotional connection that inspires the music as it comes."

For Morales, "working in the studio is important, but it exists as a way of supporting the DJing experience. It's all to inform how it will work on the dancefloor."

To that end, you're reading these words as you dive into a new collection of Morales classics. Ever the collaborator, he has enlisted the input of a wide range of voices and talent. There is the diva power of fellow legend Ultra Nate, who brings her signature sass to "I Can Dream," while Michele Perera's explosive chemistry with David is all over the inspiring "Life is a Song" and "Never Give Up", as well as the impassioned "Addicted."

Morales reminds the listener of his ever-evolving musical scope in collaborations with blondewearingblack ("What Can I Do"), Lea Lorien ("Never Looking Back"), and Blakkat ("Can't Get Enough"). There's the clubland supergroup of David with Mr. V, Scotty P. and DJ Rae on "The Feels." Rounding out the set is a reunion with longtime muses Elle Cato ("I Feel Love") and British soul icon Joe Roberts ("Easy"). Just be sure to listen closely, because there's bound to be a surprise tucked between these grooves to tickle your ears and move your body.

The beauty of this sparkling new foray into electronic music is the heightened intimacy between Morales and the music. What you are hearing here is almost exclusively from the man's own fingertips. "The technology has evolved in the most extraordinary and liberating ways," he says, adding that he is now able to be far more directly hands-on during the building of each track. "Back in the '90s, I had to have more people involved, With the changes and growth in technology, I can now do it, myself. I don't even have to be in the studio anymore. It's smart, financially, but it's also way more fun and creative."

David adds, "I don't have to wait to manifest an idea anymore. I can just build my ideas as they come to me." In fact, he reveals that many of these new tracks were born in unique places, like planes, cars, his bedroom, and a host of other settings. "Music is always spinning around my mind. I no longer worry about losing an idea."

Surviving the highs and lows of an ever-changing world has also brought Morales back to the basic essentials of life and music. "The pandemic has brought things full circle for me," he says. "I love what I do and I still have the passion of a kid who is just getting started"

Yet, we know that Morales has been in the game for longer than a minute. He's a Grammy award-winning producer, remixer, and songwriter. He has lent his skill to countless of records by icons that include Mariah Carey, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, Seal, and Jamiroquai. As a turntable artist originally from New York City, he earned his bones of credibility back in the '80s and '90s in clubs like the Paradise Garage, Red Zone, Tunnel, and Club USA. He initiated the concept of DJs touring beyond their hometowns with countless, wildly successful treks that have taken him the farthest-reaching corners of the world. As electronic music thrives on pop radium, David tops the list of every young artist and DJ as a primary influence.

Even with such a staggering legacy, Morales never looks over his shoulder.

"That is how you stumble and fall," he says. "If you get all caught up in the past, you're going to lose sight of what is right in front of you. You lose the excitement of discovery. That is what gets me off; taking what I know and combining it with what I don't know as I learn it. There is nothing better than experiencing how it all comes together. It's different every time."

And that is the ultimate secret to that extraordinary spell that David Morales casts over us all every single time.

After the recent reissue of their first eponymous album, Favorite Recordings proudly presents Vegas, the second LP from Venezuelan band Esperanto. Rare and sought-after for many collectors, it was recorded in between Las Vegas and Caracas and originally released in 1981. Following bandleader Jorge Aguilar in his musical trip to the infamous American city bathing into flashing lights and vivid colors, we're invited to an excursion in Disco, Boogie and Jazz-Funk territories. Finally reissued, fully remastered, Vegas will be available as Gatefold Tip-On Vinyl LP.

With great care and attention to details, Esperanto managed to create a very convincing sequel to their Jazz-Funk debuts. Vegas keeps indeed a perfect balance between various influences. Through energic disco beats with intense funky solos, catchy AOR-influenced songs, where Jorge delivers convincing vocal performance, or sunny jazz-funk slow jams, the album still reveals something quite authentic. And this feeling echoes surely the one that could have been felt by Jorge Aguilar while discovering USA on a trip - where it all started for the music he loves. Like sometimes a foreigner's enriching view on some local specialty, he surely brought with the band all his authenticity and young but vibrant experience while convincing at the same time major labels for distribution.

With certain notoriety coming with the release of their first album, Jorge Aguilar and his drummer Pablo Matarazzo planned to go to Los Angeles for a few gigs. But once there, they realized their contact had to leave for Tina Turner's tour in Europe. Before that, he invited them to come along to Las Vegas and eventually meet musicians there. Luckily, the plan worked perfectly: Jorge came back to Los Angeles with a lot of contacts then moved to Boston and NYC before finally coming back to Caracas. He told: "I was so impressed with this trip that I told myself that one day I would return to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The first tracks I did them in Los Angeles with Kenny More, James Gadson and other session musicians from that city. Later, I took the tracks to Caracas where the musicians of the band recorded overdubs. After that, I returned to Los Angeles to master with Bernie Grundman who was still working in his small studio at A & M records studios in Hollywood. As can be seen in the title of some of the songs like "Hollywood", "Vegas", "Kenny's Place", were only the translation of my experiences at the time."

As funny as it may sound, Anaïs Mitchell has spent the past 15 years in some kind of hell. OK, not actual hell, but the multi-faceted world of Hadestown, a musical project she began in Vermont in 2006 that has grown into a Tony®- and Grammy®-award-winning Broadway phenomenon with touring editions now delighting audiences as far away as South Korea.

“I experienced so much joy working on Hadestown, but it just kept ramping up and up and requiring more and more attention,” Mitchell admits. “I had to become so single-minded and really put blinders on to my other creative life.” As it did for many artists, the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly offered Mitchell a blank slate to reconnect with her own music. The result is a new self-titled album made with close collaborators from Bon Iver, The National and her own band Bonny Light Horseman, Mitchell’s first collection of all-new material under her own name since 2012’s Young Man in America.

“I was nine months pregnant when the pandemic reached New York, so we made an 11th hour decision to leave and have the baby in Vermont,” Mitchell recalls. “We left the city and had the baby a week later, and then like everyone, we were in the midst of this unprecedented stillness. It felt like I could see behind me: oh, there’s New York City. There’s Hadestown. There’s my life with just one kid. A certain kind of stress and expectations. In Vermont, we moved onto my family farm and lived in my grandparents’ old house, with a new baby. I’d look at pictures on my phone from a few months earlier and wonder, whose life was that? This record, and the songs that are on it, came out of that time. I got into a flow again that I hadn’t felt in a really long time.”

Dubbed by NPR as “one of the greatest songwriters of her generation,” Mitchell is a master of the worlds of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry. Those talents are evident from the first moments of the new album, as Mitchell narrates what she calls “an unbearably romantic” trip over the Brooklyn Bridge colored by Bon Iver member Michael Lewis’ heartstring-tugging saxophone accompaniment. “Having left New York, I was able to write a love letter to it in a way I never could when I was living there,” she says. “It was like, fuck it. This is how I feel. There is nothing more beautiful than riding over one of the New York bridges at night next to someone who inspires you.”

Produced by Mitchell’s Bonny Light Horseman bandmate Josh Kaufman, the album proceeds to chronicle Mitchell’s reconnection with the Vermont roots that have been so formative in her life and music. “Bright Star” finds her making peace with the idea of being at peace in the familiar setting of her grandparents’ house, while “Revenant” was inspired by paging through a box of journals and letters belonging to herself and her grandmother — “a very pandemic activity,” she says. “That house is literally my happy place. I can picture myself as a kid, in this house, laying on the carpet with a sunbeam coming through the sliding glass door. There’s something about it that is really connected in my mind to my childhood and a very free, imaginative, creative time. “Revenant” has a lot to do with that house and reconnecting with my childhood self.”

Mitchell concedes that she tends “to be someone who thinks it has to be hard in order for it to be good or beautiful,” but that feeling has changed, partly thanks to her deep connection with musicians she’s met through the 37d03d collective established by The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. During the pandemic, some of those artists participated in a “song a day” writing group — an idea Mitchell says is usually “totally opposite of how I roll. But it really helped me to gain access to some kind of trust and intuition and flow. I began a bunch of these songs while doing that.”

“It unlocked something that allowed me to finish a bunch of songs I’d been sitting on, and feeling a bit paralyzed about how to finish them,” she continues. “Because no one was touring, it’s not like I was playing them for anyone before we were in the studio. In other times, I’ve trotted things out in advance. Here, it was like, here’s all these brand new songs. Let’s discover what they can be. That was really exciting.”

That discovery process took flight at Dreamland Recording Studios outside Woodstock, N.Y., which Mitchell describes as “this weird, janky, beautiful church - it’s my favorite studio in the world.” Kaufman, Lewis and Big Red Machine drummer JT Bates formed a core band around Mitchell, while Aaron Dessner and Thomas Bartlett joined the sessions mid-week on guitar and piano, respectively.

After the appropriate COVID tests came back negative, “it was a pretty extraordinary feeling to hug, kiss and share the same space playing together,” Mitchell says. “We went into that world for a week and didn’t leave the studio for any reason. I felt very safe with all those guys. It was warm and joyful.”

Mitchell says this environment brought out unexpected details in the material, which was recorded almost entirely live together in the room. “Sometimes we tried separating things out, like vocals, but we always ended up back in the room together,” she says. Indeed, after spending the better part of a day recording overdubbed versions of “Little Big Girl” that nobody loved, the musicians gave up and tracked it again live. “We got so frustrated that we went in and I was like, I’m just going to sing this as hard as I fucking can. It felt like that’s what the song wanted to be,” Mitchell says. “It felt like all those songs wanted to be recorded as live as possible.” The exception to the rule was Nico Muhly's arrangements for strings and flute, which were added from New York City afterward.

Mitchell will debut the new material during various headline tours in the U.S. and Europe in 2022, at which she’ll be accompanied by players from the album. On stage, she can’t wait to further hone the sights, sounds and scenes that bring the songs to such vivid life. “I’ve spent a lot of time trying to write in the voice of other characters, especially with Hadestown. It’s fun for me, but these songs are not that,” she says. “Weirdly, they’re all me. The narrator is me. That’s why it felt right to self-title the album. It felt like after so many years of working on telling other stories, now here are some of mine.”

As funny as it may sound, Anaïs Mitchell has spent the past 15 years in some kind of hell. OK, not actual hell, but the multi-faceted world of Hadestown, a musical project she began in Vermont in 2006 that has grown into a Tony®- and Grammy®-award-winning Broadway phenomenon with touring editions now delighting audiences as far away as South Korea.

“I experienced so much joy working on Hadestown, but it just kept ramping up and up and requiring more and more attention,” Mitchell admits. “I had to become so single-minded and really put blinders on to my other creative life.” As it did for many artists, the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly offered Mitchell a blank slate to reconnect with her own music. The result is a new self-titled album made with close collaborators from Bon Iver, The National and her own band Bonny Light Horseman, Mitchell’s first collection of all-new material under her own name since 2012’s Young Man in America.

“I was nine months pregnant when the pandemic reached New York, so we made an 11th hour decision to leave and have the baby in Vermont,” Mitchell recalls. “We left the city and had the baby a week later, and then like everyone, we were in the midst of this unprecedented stillness. It felt like I could see behind me: oh, there’s New York City. There’s Hadestown. There’s my life with just one kid. A certain kind of stress and expectations. In Vermont, we moved onto my family farm and lived in my grandparents’ old house, with a new baby. I’d look at pictures on my phone from a few months earlier and wonder, whose life was that? This record, and the songs that are on it, came out of that time. I got into a flow again that I hadn’t felt in a really long time.”

Dubbed by NPR as “one of the greatest songwriters of her generation,” Mitchell is a master of the worlds of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry. Those talents are evident from the first moments of the new album, as Mitchell narrates what she calls “an unbearably romantic” trip over the Brooklyn Bridge colored by Bon Iver member Michael Lewis’ heartstring-tugging saxophone accompaniment. “Having left New York, I was able to write a love letter to it in a way I never could when I was living there,” she says. “It was like, fuck it. This is how I feel. There is nothing more beautiful than riding over one of the New York bridges at night next to someone who inspires you.”

Produced by Mitchell’s Bonny Light Horseman bandmate Josh Kaufman, the album proceeds to chronicle Mitchell’s reconnection with the Vermont roots that have been so formative in her life and music. “Bright Star” finds her making peace with the idea of being at peace in the familiar setting of her grandparents’ house, while “Revenant” was inspired by paging through a box of journals and letters belonging to herself and her grandmother — “a very pandemic activity,” she says. “That house is literally my happy place. I can picture myself as a kid, in this house, laying on the carpet with a sunbeam coming through the sliding glass door. There’s something about it that is really connected in my mind to my childhood and a very free, imaginative, creative time. “Revenant” has a lot to do with that house and reconnecting with my childhood self.”

Mitchell concedes that she tends “to be someone who thinks it has to be hard in order for it to be good or beautiful,” but that feeling has changed, partly thanks to her deep connection with musicians she’s met through the 37d03d collective established by The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. During the pandemic, some of those artists participated in a “song a day” writing group — an idea Mitchell says is usually “totally opposite of how I roll. But it really helped me to gain access to some kind of trust and intuition and flow. I began a bunch of these songs while doing that.”

“It unlocked something that allowed me to finish a bunch of songs I’d been sitting on, and feeling a bit paralyzed about how to finish them,” she continues. “Because no one was touring, it’s not like I was playing them for anyone before we were in the studio. In other times, I’ve trotted things out in advance. Here, it was like, here’s all these brand new songs. Let’s discover what they can be. That was really exciting.”

That discovery process took flight at Dreamland Recording Studios outside Woodstock, N.Y., which Mitchell describes as “this weird, janky, beautiful church - it’s my favorite studio in the world.” Kaufman, Lewis and Big Red Machine drummer JT Bates formed a core band around Mitchell, while Aaron Dessner and Thomas Bartlett joined the sessions mid-week on guitar and piano, respectively.

After the appropriate COVID tests came back negative, “it was a pretty extraordinary feeling to hug, kiss and share the same space playing together,” Mitchell says. “We went into that world for a week and didn’t leave the studio for any reason. I felt very safe with all those guys. It was warm and joyful.”

Mitchell says this environment brought out unexpected details in the material, which was recorded almost entirely live together in the room. “Sometimes we tried separating things out, like vocals, but we always ended up back in the room together,” she says. Indeed, after spending the better part of a day recording overdubbed versions of “Little Big Girl” that nobody loved, the musicians gave up and tracked it again live. “We got so frustrated that we went in and I was like, I’m just going to sing this as hard as I fucking can. It felt like that’s what the song wanted to be,” Mitchell says. “It felt like all those songs wanted to be recorded as live as possible.” The exception to the rule was Nico Muhly's arrangements for strings and flute, which were added from New York City afterward.

Mitchell will debut the new material during various headline tours in the U.S. and Europe in 2022, at which she’ll be accompanied by players from the album. On stage, she can’t wait to further hone the sights, sounds and scenes that bring the songs to such vivid life. “I’ve spent a lot of time trying to write in the voice of other characters, especially with Hadestown. It’s fun for me, but these songs are not that,” she says. “Weirdly, they’re all me. The narrator is me. That’s why it felt right to self-title the album. It felt like after so many years of working on telling other stories, now here are some of mine.”

It’s been ten years since Sadie Dupuis recorded the first Speedy Ortiz songs, a solo experiment that quickly became her full-time band. Since then, Speedy has produced an expansive and critically revered discography, toured worldwide, and inspired next generations of bands with inventive songwriting and advocacy to better the music industry. But in 2011, the younger Dupuis was struggling through concurrent traumas: heartbreak from first love, leaving her hometown of New York for Massachusetts, and the grief of losing several young friends. Speedy’s first songs glowed within the contrast of noisiness and intimacy, raw sonic elements that came with closely processing vulnerabilities and Dupuis’ insistence on performing and recording each instrument alone. As the new project fielded show offers from favorite show spaces like Death By Audio and Shea Stadium, these early tracks became the springboard for the playfully melodic and cleverly distorted style for which Speedy Ortiz as a full band is celebrated. Now, ten years later, Speedy’s first self-released collections will be widely available for the first time and reissued as a double LP The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever, alongside previously unreleased tracks, reflective liner notes penned by Dupuis, and unearthed photos and journal scans from that era.

The tracks on The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever were written after student-created prompts while Dupuis was teaching a songwriting class at the same summer camp where she’d first learned guitar. "Hexxy Sadie” was written in an hour, like the rest of the songs, and on Dupuis’ twenty-third birthday; using explosive riffs and distorted harmonies, she explores her uncertain yearning as a twinless twin. "Frankenweenie" came from the prompt “dog,” and over brooding piano, spry tambourine, and eruptive snare, Dupuis sings from the perspective of a dead childhood pet about forgiveness. “Cutco,” which navigates tricky chord changes with deft guitar passages and ironic deadpan, grins at the bitterness of friendships gone awry. These early songs highlighted Dupuis’ remarkable talent at dissecting specific emotions and moments, analyzing the many ways the pieces fit together, and scrutinizing the places where they don’t.

During the recording process, Dupuis was inspired by the impulsive DIY methods of artists like Elliott Smith and Sparklehorse; a mixing note from September 2011 read, “It's important for the 'concept' of this 'album' that I don't redo anything.” The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever still holds onto the magic immediacy of lo-fi recordings, but this reissue is helped by the technical know-how gained through Dupuis’ solo production work as Sad13 (Lizzo, Backxwash). Remixing in 2021, Dupuis cleaned up edits on her triple-tracked drums, made space for instrumental flourishes performed on eclectic instruments like cello, banjo and timpani, and rewired digital sounds to warm up the layers of intersecting guitars. Co-mixer Justin Pizzoferrato (Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh), who worked with Speedy on Sports EP, Major Arcana, and Real Hair, further clarified the mix with analog compressors, and mastering engineer Emily Lazar (Liz Phair, HAIM) added a glossy sheen to the stratified bombast.

As Dupuis’ cult-beloved early material finally re-enters the world in a substantive way, The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever is a seamless fit to the Speedy Ortiz discography that succeeded it, and evidence that Speedy’s biting lyrics, intricate compositions, and daring performances have been inherent to the project since its outset.

Gonzalo Benitez and Luis Alberto Valencia were kingpins of the musica nacional movement in Ecuador. Check them out on the cover, on a rooftop in Quito’s Old Town, surveying their dominion. In 1970, when Valencia collapsed onstage during a performance of the yaravi Desesperacion — ‘My heart is already in ashes’ — and died four days later, aged 52, his coffin was carried through those city streets on the shoulders of his fans.

They began singing as a duo in their mid-teens. During twenty-eight years together they recorded more than six hundred songs, for Discos Ecuador, Nacional, Granja, Ortiz, Rondador, Onix, Fuente, Real, Tropical, Fadisa, RCA Victor — and of course CAIFE.

Their exquisitely romantic harmonising is a sublime blend of collected forbearance and abject self-annihilation, underpinned and elaborated by the heart-piercing, improvisatory guitar-playing of Bolivar Ortiz. Effectively the third member of the group. ‘El Pollo’ sets the tone and intensity for everything that follows: listen to his soloing at the start of our opener, Lamparilla.

Musically a pasillo — a cross between a Viennese waltz and the indigenous yaravi rhythm — Lamparilla draws its verses from a poem by Luz Martinez from Riobamba, written in 1918 when she was 15, under the influence of Baudelaire and Mallarme. Another pasillo here, Sombras is one of the best-loved songs in the musica nacional canon, setting lines about undercover sex and loss by the Mexican poet Maria Pren, which were considered pornographic on publication in 1911.

And Benitez & Valencia looked back still further, to the indigenous roots of Ecuadorian music, as the key to its future. Carnaval de Guaranda is their take on a song dating back to the era of the Mitimaes, a broad group of Bolivian tribes conquered by the Incas and displaced to Ecuador. ‘Impossible love of mine / I love you for being impossible / Who loves what is impossible / Is the truest lover.’

Lovingly presented in a gatefold sleeve with spot-gloss, and printed inners, with stunning photos and expert notes. Excellent sound, drawn from original tapes, by way of Abbey Road, D&M and Pallas.

‘The Afro Modern Seventies Sounds of Soweto’s First Nightclub

• Over ten years in the making, this is the first compilation from South African vinyl re-issue specialists Matsuli Music

• Ten track double gatefold album journey through jazz, funk, fusion and disco, detailing the incredible story and sounds behind the Soweto nightclub during the height of apartheid

• Uniquely South African take on the trans-Atlantic sounds of Philadelphia, Detroit and New York City

• Cover artwork by Zulu Bidi (of Batsumi fame) with unseen photographs, and liner notes by Kwanele Sosibo featuring interviews with key musicians, players and a former president of South Africa

• Audio mastered and cut for vinyl by Frank Merritt at The Carvery with heavyweight 180g vinyl pressed at Pallas in Germany

A night-time haunt in the backstreets of Soweto run by a well-known bootlegger should have been a prime zone for nefarious underworld activities. Instead, it nurtured an underground of a different kind. Soon after its opening in 1973, Club Pelican became a spot where musicians steeped in the tradition of South African jazz began to cook up experimental sounds inspired by communion, competition and the movements in funk and soul blowing in from the West. Located in an industrial park on the western edge of Orlando East, Soweto, Club Pelican was off the beaten track, among a matrix of railway and industrial infrastructure. In a different time and place, this would have been a prototypical nightclub location, except there was no local precedent to follow. This was Soweto’s first night club.
In the intervening years, this location has served to heighten the now-defunct spot’s legendary status as a singular venue, one that ruled the night in the Seventies. Initially called Lucky’s and established in 1973, the Pelican’s impact on the Soweto cultural landscape was immediate. Lorded over by a charismatic figure known as Lucky Michaels, the club became the jewel in a nondescript collection of family businesses. It boasted a diverse pool of talent in its succession of house bands and an A-list of ghetto-fabulous singers as

its cabaret stars. Its VIP section was a veritable who’s who of Soweto society and its stage, hosting a mix of the day’s pop culture infused with the creativity and individual histories of the musicians, the Pelican filled a live music vacuum.
One Night in Pelican captures the halcyon seventies period with a single nightclub embodying an indomitable spirit of its troubadour players. While schooled and rooted in “standards” and local forms, the music could take any direction, at a moment’s notice. This compilation features all the key groups and players of the time: Abacothozi, Almon Memela’s Soweto, The Black Pages, Dick Khoza and the Afro Pedlars, The Drive, Ensemble of Rhythm and Art , The Headquarters, Makhona Zonke Band, the Shyannes and Spirits Rejoice.’

As no strangers to the West End Records back catalogue – both having taken on remix duties individually in the past – 2022 sees Michael Gray and Dr Packer combine to give two classics the Rework treatment. Brenda Taylor’s seminal “You Cant Have Your Cake And Eat It To” is finessed into a contemporary disco standard: Taylor’s voice still cutting through with plenty of soul while synth and pianos provide the groove. “Don’t Make Me Wait” cuts a slightly edgier tone, with acid-like bleeps and plenty of reverb making it a perfect counter track as part of this release.

Another set of essential Reworks from West End.

Warm presents a brand new compilation called 'Home'; a soundtrack for when we pause, take a breath, and use our senses to explore the magic of the world on our doorsteps. Morning to evening, dawn to dusk, our lives continue moving but sometimes the need to step back and reset is essential to create a balance in our lives. As we open our eyes and ears to our surroundings, our senses become stimulated by small details. Whether it be the sound of the sea lapping on the sand, the wind blowing through the canopy of trees or a robin heralding a new day; nothing is the same but all are unique.

'Home' has been pieced together over the last year by Warm’s Ali Tillett. With the majority of Warm - booking agents for Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, Gerd Janson, Horse Meat Disco, Hot Chip DJs, Lou Hayter, Luke Una - on pause, Ali took the chance to immerse himself in bringing together his passion for music, nature and art.

The 14 tracks, the majority exclusive and specially made for the compilation, includes contributions by Âme, Bobby Lee & Mia Doi Todd, Coyote, Crack’d Man (aka Crooked Man who produced Roisin Murphy's last album), Fug (with their first material for over ten years), Kirk Degiorgio presents As One, Turtle, and Ewan Pearson's World of Apples project (with their first material for nearly 20 years!). The tracks align with specific habitats in the local Dorset area, where Ali is situated, such as Harbour/Estuary, Heathland/Moorland, Woodland/Forest, and Beach/Cliffs.

To immerse the listener even further into the soundscape, critically acclaimed sound and field recording artist Gary Moore, of Springwatch/Autumnwatch fame, has been involved to help bring nature even further to the ears. Intertwined between the music are field recordings specific to area and habitat; whether it be the sound of a ship's horn in Poole harbour, avocets on the scrape, the tawny owl in the woodland or Puffins on the ledges of cliffs.

Gareth Fuller, a fabulous artist who previously lived in Dorset, has kindly allowed one of his artworks to become the centrepiece for the compilation. Titled 'Purbeck', it's a truly wonderful piece of art that encapsulates everything about the area and enables an added dimension to the immersive experience for the listener.

After more than a year of strengthening our bodies through workout, our poetic endeavors via the discovery of our inner worlds, and also the life of plants and mushrooms, insects, arachnids, birds and wild mammals, after a year and a half that saw us in lockdown, shattered around the planet, after one a and a half year in which we deepened our production skills and also the meaningfulness of our work, Cómeme returns to a new planet with new music.

The beginning is this unique collaboration between Medellín based musician and DJ Julianna, and Matias Aguayo aka “The Don” himself.

In this deep therapeutical exploration of rhythm and sound, these artists established a magical dialogue on distance, leading up to this EP called “Que si el mundo”, roughly translated: “What if the world”.

Between soulful industrial expressions, emotional breakdowns but also discoveries free of any grids and algorithms, Julianna and Aguayo have created a beautiful piece of work, intense as the movements that we had to experience mentally and economically. “Que si el mundo” is state of the art electronic music of today, a work that is both introspective but also extremely open to the outside world and the universe. Compositions reminiscent of Coil, Angelo Badalamenti, Closer Musik, Steve Pointdexter or Mark Broom, shaped this EP that can be considered a short album in its conceptual layout and narrative. Let’s dive into it...

A1. Hiedra
One of the more danceable tunes, ideal for both a sensual warmup or the very late night to the rising sun sensitivity, is polyrhythmical melancholy and hypnotic inevitability, slow dance, deep trance.

A2. Primer Paso
A fat, slick and modern synth sequence, accompanied by heavy drumming and celestial drops that seem to fall onto the body of the listener or dancer, this post EBM stomper is a manifestation of elegant minimalism and reason. As if Liaisons Dangereuses reincarnated in a cloudy forest, to then pause towards the end of the track, with sentimental and gloomy synth chords that open the view towards the horizon.

B1. Que Si El Mundo
The title track keeps up the more melodic approach - somewhere between ambient, avant- garde and late night jazz. Morphing melodies that are both disturbing and soothing at a time encounter smooth free jazz drumming with drums that seem to have travelled from the sixties to today’s world.

B2. Bajo Tierra
This track continues the deep drumming experience that this record means, between laid back rides and intense taikoesque drumming. Distorted dark pads and subterranean choirs build up to a heavy sadness and intensity. Again, a therapeutical track to send those demons fly.

B3. Micelio
A more hopeful conclusion of the EP is “Micelio”. Open chords, soothing and melancholic, spread over profound drum grooves of champed and house. Nothing seems as it was before. A new life has begun.

Pure product of the Neapolitan scene, Fabrizio Fattore turns up on Cosmocities Records with his third solo effort. Comprised of two originals on the A-side, and two bespoke revamps from Vince Watson on the flip, this new EP from Fattore draws a direct bridge betwixt the idyllic coastal flow of Italian boogie and straight out pulsating alien disco, sure to keep galaxies bouncing in good order.

Clocking in first is the vibey, otherworldly 'Lyle' - a cross-pollinated ode to the healing power of laid-back, 80s-informed house, bristling with shimmering Casio synthlines and Cuban jazz-friendly pianos and drums. Heliotropic by nature, Fattore's sound sits half-way loungey summer atmospherics and trailblazing post-kosmische jaunts. Then comes 'Island Goddess', casting more of a Sino-Caribbean flavoured spin on the dance floor with its obsessive miss-mash of processed chimes and prismatic webwork of steel pans.

On the B-side dwell two versions of 'Lyle' by true house legend Vince Watson, each of which deliver in their own right. If you’re after a proper classy, straightforward roller, bound to take dancers into a ravishingly deep but rousing trip, then the 'Watson Reshape' fits the bill like a glove, whereas the 'Balearic mix' does exactly what's written on the tin - ushering you into a sense-soothing haven, where keyboard-laden escapism and Afro-style rhythms meet the elegance of muted chamber music.

Parcels have always been a band of extreme light and shade: they’re from surf hotspot Byron Bay in Australia but they’ve been holed up in grimy nightlife utopia Berlin for years; their sweet-as-honey vocal harmonies rival the Beach Boys but they can also turn their live shows into slamming techno rave-ups. The twentysomethings stand out amid the current musical landscape: a soulful rock band that looks like it’s stepped out of a postcard from 1970s California, all flares, moustaches and shaggy hair. They’re a classic band for atypical times.

Since Crommelin, keyboardist Louie Swain, keyboardist/guitarist Patrick Hetherington, bassist Noah Hill and drummer Anatole ‘Toto’ Serret formed in 2014, fresh out of school, they’ve struck upon a singular sound, weaving together gossamer disco and exotica, soft rock and Sixties pop with a focus on uplifting grooves. Their seductive style has translated into 100,000 album sales worldwide, over 200 million streams, cross-continental tours, shows with French royalty Phoenix and Air, a US TV debut on Conan O’Brien, a Coachella slot and a debut single that was produced by none other than Daft Punk, who saw them live in Paris and ushered them into their studio.

After two EPs, 2015’s Clockscared and 2017’s Hideout (the band’s penchant for smooshing words together is a result of a broken keyboard when they submitted their first demo), Parcels’ acclaimed self-titled debut album came in 2018 and was called “timeless and devilishly fun'' in a five-star NME review. They followed it in 2020 with an impressive live album, Live Vol.1, recorded at Hansa Studios, the legendary studio where Iggy Pop and David Berlin hung out during their Berlin years.

The band returns for summer 2021 with an ambitious third studio album,
Day/Night, a double record that spans impossibly catchy disco-soul, prog, pastoral folk, Laurel Canyon-era classic songwriting and cinematic strings. Made over the course of 2020, when the world was at a standstill, it’s the sound of a band growing up; five guys who’ve known each other since childhood and are finding their way together, in spite of all the major obstacles the last 18 months have thrown at them, when they were unable to return home to Australia and see their loved ones. Day/Night is huge in scope and sound, and its hopeful messages of perseverance through difficult times are a balm for these uncertain times.

2 LP Boxset. 2 vinyls packaged together in a clear PVC wallet (in order to display each vinyl cover). 2 x : 140 G black vinyl ( 33 rpm)+ 3mm spine printed sleeve + printed inner sleeve + cmyk vinyl label.
Cello. Marketing Front sticker 5 cm x 7 cm , back cover sticker (upc + tracklisting) 5 cm x 7 cm

Having produced the Emskee – Wall To Wall 12” released early 2021, AE boss Mr Fantastic is back with another slab of essential Hip Hop made without pretence or adhering to modern trends – in others words, how it used to be. Featuring Teekay of Dragon Fli Empire, hailing from Calgary, Canada, ‘Breakdown’ is a stand-alone single with no plans as being part of any album release right now and comes with the Instrumental version on the flip. Pressed on black vinyl and supplied in full colour card sleeve, as is the standard high-quality packaging from AE Productions.

Although only being acquainted via the internet, Mr Fantastic and Teekay have mutual admiration for each other’s work which lead to this collaboration. This funky 45 features crisp drums and disco funk samples that have been chopped into that good old Hip Hop. The beat has a reasonably sparse stabbing feel with subtle wah-wah guitar between the stabs which bounces along not just at a perfect tempo for DJ’s but also sonically perfect for a big sound system, hence this track being picked for a single release and packs that punch that sounds best played loud. No moody introspective thing here, this is crowd rocking Hip Hop.

Teekay’s rhymes flow over the beat like it is 2nd nature to him because, well, it is 2nd nature to him, and is further evidence of why his group Dragon Fli Empire alongside DJ Cosm, have been able to maintain a steady string of superb releases going all the way back to 2002 and have toured Canada, USA and Europe. The chorus features Mr Fantastic’s turntable skills backing up Teekay’s vocal giving a nicely conceived and executed song structure with a little help from 2 of Soul and Funk’s legends.

The artwork for this one was hand painted by Bristol graffiti heavyweight Turroe who favoured a nod to comic book covers for the theme which was then scanned and arranged into the sleeve format with courtesy of AE artwork regular Nick Pointon of Fine Print.

Grey Vinyl

Polymorphism Records continue their intercultural and cross-genre work with their third release E Source. Female vocals return to the label with four original tracks by Russian artist Sestrica, who brings in her characteristic emotional narrative. A remix by Konx Om Pax and
a rework by Antwood make up the crew boarding on a galactic grey/silver vinyl.

PM003 takes off with electro-to-techno beats fuelled by a mild, wrapping acid melody in Today We Meet, where the uplifting countdown to launch can be felt. Sentimental Value gets
us deeper into the spatial trip. Darker samples and a heavier bassline give extra gravity to the anthem of the journey across sonic galaxies. Floating to slow, surrounding sounds and loops we land on a calmer planet called Intention. Its tidal sensation is created by an
orchestral combination of meditative vocals and other layers of composition. New Era enters an orbit of elegant syncopation within a rotating reverb stardust. Ancestral beeps subtly acknowledge legacy to be taken forward to the next odyssey.

Musician and graphical artist Konx Om Pax from Glasgow beautifully introduces nostalgia to New Era with playful breaks and scratches, getting us back to our roots in this excursion visiting alien territoires. Sestrica’s vocals from her original track are drawn into the remix as
echoing words rendering a mysterious aura, travelling through a deep trance of diverse yet harmonic rhythms and effects. A journey within a journey.

Canadian producer Antwood’s rework of side A jumps into an epic vortex of more experimental, unexpected sounds. The album-closer builds up towards absolute chaos, to then create a vacuum to emptiness. A supermassive (tribute to black holes intended) drop
leads to the last minutes of the EP: up tempo cyber-influenced sounds that bring us to a bright futuristic landscape ironically far from a dystopian prophecy.

Purely coincidental fact: the last track of PM002’s originals being Crisis Apparition and its homologue in PM003 New Era, hope seems to be peeking through current times to send an accidental message with this first series of the label.

Mind the overuse of Space metaphors; in this year 2021 where humans are going farther and further in exploring new places out there, it is a tribute and celebration to discover new musical journeys like this out here, on Earth.

Environmental sustainability and social justice are core values of Polymorphism Records. Following their strong interest in contributing to a good cause, shown from the early days, all Bandcamp digital sales are donated to projects such as Team Trees or The Ocean Cleanup.meet f B3 E Source side A (Antwood rework)

Bump 'n Grind Wax's latest limited edition, hand-stamped 7" record is fresh-squeezed lemonade on a hot day. "Back Together Again," the underrated classic from Howard University alums Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway gets the Reggae Roast treatment. UK vibes conductor, Adam Prescott and vocalist, Rachel Wallace make silky smooth waves with this Studio One inspired late 70's disco tune. A beefed-up bassline couples with an array of echoes and reverbs to guide both the A-side and B-side, "Dub Together Again." Ready for the return of reunions, dances, and block parties, this one is played best with overproof rum, over-sized speakers, Clarks, and hot coals in the jerk pan.

Copenhagen based label Escho release “Escho 15 år: Burgers for my new life” - an extensive compilation of exclusive material for their 15th anniversary (2005-2020). The compilation gathers music by all the currently active artists of Escho - both Danish and international - 27 artists in total. Contributing artists for the compilation are (in alphabetical order): Anders P Jensen, August Rosenbaum, Astrid Sonne, Baby In Vain, BishBusch, The Bleeder Group, Bona Fide, Collider, Dane TS Hawk, Eric Copeland, Excepter, First Hate, Gullo Gullo, Homies, iB101, Iceage, Joanne Robertson, Kh Marie, Liss, Puyain Sanati, Small White Man, Smerz, Søren Kjærgaard, Thulebasen, Varnrable, Yangze and Ydegirl. About Escho and the compilation: The Escho sound was born 15 years ago in small apartments around Enghave Plads, a slightly run-down square at the west end of Vesterbro, Copenhagen, past the kebab shops and the porno shops and the drunks. A few years earlier, as teenagers, several members of the Escho crew had made extremely strange, crisp metal in a very popular band. Escho was a promoter and booking agent as much as it was a label in the early days. They put on small shows to foster and hype the local scene and they brought important performers from all over the world to Copenhagen for the first time. Black Dice, Gang Gang Dance, White Magic, Excepter, Hype Williams, Boredoms, Charles Hayward, they rippled through Copenhagen after they came. Eric Copeland stayed for months. Lorenzo Senni, now well known as a vanguard dance producer, brought his high-school hardcore band to Copenhagen. Escho found and asked these artists to play. And Escho played their humble part in giving sound back to the world. Iceage, Posh Isolation and the Mayhem scene went global. Escho is a lot about being in Denmark, what that sounds like, and projecting it for anyone to hear. Across its releases, Escho’s aesthetic has allowed for the amateurish and the obsessive, the soft and the hard. Escho is about the power of shared experimental experience. Escho has been going for such a long time that the kids who started it are now twice as old as they were when they came up with the name, the idea, the desire to start something. Much younger people, generations younger, work at the label. The world has transformed since then. Escho was born in a period of time where alternative and underground music existed on a private, separate plane to mass culture, and it now finds itself in a time where mass culture and the underground are porous. Tribalism and niche knowledge has been blended by the internet, erasing the border between mainstream and underground modes. Alternative thinking takes many forms now, and new artists continue to expand and interpret the sound of Escho, carrying with them the same curiosity that lit the first Escho sparks 15 years ago. As a whole, this compilation — it is important to note — is jagged in form and tone. It is not even close to a conventional scene compilation, where the sound of a clan flows together. This record doesn’t flow like that. And this, fittingly, makes this anniversary album a ‘classic’ Escho release, because conventions about form and presentation are thrown out the window and new conventions proposed. It is a reminder that Escho quietly remains an ongoing art project as much as anything else. More than its form and tone, however, this compilation is jagged because it is a document of today. It is not final, or conclusive in any way, because the contours of contemporary music are boundless. It’s jagged because Escho has been to a million shows, and put on a million shows, and still loves going to shows. It is a picture of pluralism, discovery and openness. It makes a case for having ears, and making art, and propagating this so that successive generations of young people do it too. This is exactly as it was in the beginning






















[v] 22 First Hate – Vampire Boy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ [2020 Demo]

From its earliest utterances, experimental music has been particularly disposed to transnational and cross-cultural collaboration. Seeking the answer for a fundamental problem - how to transcend the boundaries of difference, distance, and time - it presents a means to find common ground and communicate through the elemental form of sound. Over the last 5 years, this precisely what the duo of Félicia Atkinson & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma has achieved, intertwining sublime sonorities across the geographic expanses between their respective homes in France and the United States. Their third album for Shelter Press, ‘Un hiver en plein été’ (‘A winter in the middle of summer’) - the first to have been largely recorded by Atkinson and Cantu-Ledesma together in the same space - distills a mesmerizing pallet of acoustic and electronic sources into an open discourse of radically poetic forms, offering glimpses of warmth and intimacy waiting in the post-covid world to come.

Both veteran experimentalists with celebrated bodies of solo work behind them - each traversing the challenges of electroacoustic practice in their own singular ways - prior to their first recorded outing in 2016, Félicia Atkinson and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma had only crossed paths in person once, initially meeting in San Fransisco during 2009. The mutual bond formed during that brief encounter flowered into their first LP, ‘Comme Un Seul Narcisse’, followed two years later by 2018’s ‘Limpid As The Solitudes’. Both recorded remotely - sending files back and forth, fortified by conversations on a vast range of subjects - these two albums were guided by impassioned conceptual nods to Guy Debord, Baudelaire, Brion Gysin and Sylvia Plath, while seeking resolutions for the challenges and unique possibilities that working at a distance provoked.

Where the triumphs of its predecessors rose from the bridging of disparate moments and divergent spaces, ‘Un hiver en plein été’ culminates as a celebration of closeness, a result of Atkinson and Cantu-Ledesma working together in the studio, responsively in real time, for the first time. Recorded in Brooklyn during August of 2019 - a handful of months before the pandemic would impose chasmic distances across the globe - its six discrete works, carefully crafted and finalized over the ensuing year, evolve seamlessly across the album’s two sides, weaving a sprawling tapestry of sonority, within which both artists retaining their own voices and visions, while drawing each other towards uncharted ground.

Atkinson likens the recording of ‘Un hiver en plein été’ to have been akin to “a playground”, each artist “hungry for each sound, a bit like the rush in the Louvre in Godard’s Bande à part”, to which Cantu-Ledesma adds that the process seemed to have had “a mind of its own”, with both “along for the ride”. This organic sense of entropy and enthusiasm - a joyous exploration of the unknown - guides the momentum of the album’s evolving arc, as unfolding chasms of ambient space ripple with humanity, life, and fleeting glimpses of the actions that led to its material core.

Crafted from deconstructed melodic elements and drifting long-tones - laden with subtle nods to Indian classical ragas and free jazz - searching patterns of speech, textural elements captured within the studio and the outside world, and searching tonal and percussive interventions, ‘Un hiver en plein été’ coheres as a multi-faceted series of electroacoustic dialogues; nesting conversations between two artists working at the juncture of abstraction and narration, field recording and harmony, and the philosophical and phenomenological, in search for the meaning of friendship, and its manifestation in pure sound.

As the world circles the abyss at gathering speed, WIEGEDOOD have returned to provide a perfectly vicious soundtrack. Formed in 2014, the Belgian trio have built an unassailable reputation as purveyors of visceral and bleak black metal in its purest and most destructive form. Since unveiling their debut album “De Doden Hebben Het Goed” in 2015, WIEGEDOOD have blazed an unending trail for musical darkness, bolstering their burgeoning notoriety with some of the most apocalyptic live performances in recent memory, and producing two subsequent albums – “De Doden Hebben Het Goed II” and “III”, released in 2017 and 2018 respectively – which hammered home the band’s unique creative powers. Emerging once more, this time from the involuntary solitude of a plague-bound world, WIEGEDOOD are back with their fourth studio album, “There’s Always Blood At The End Of The Road”. A ferocious tour-de-force, born of frustration and the ever-burning flame of hatred for the modern world, the new record marks a significant departure for this most ruthlessly singular of modern metal bands. “Musically I think we’ve made our most uncomfortable record so far. It’s once again faster than anything we’ve done before, and more unforgiving than the whole trilogy combined”, says vocalist/guitarist Levy Seynaeve. “To me, it feels like a soundtrack, for a movie yet to be made. A movie about the filthiest and most disgusting parts of human nature and society, and about the struggle we lead within, trying to overcome the fact we are all made from that same filth.” “There’s Always Blood At The End Of The Road” is available as: Ltd. CD Edition, 2x 180g LP (with etching on side D) that come in a Wide Spined Sleeve and 2 printed Discobags, Digital Album.

“I’m reeling, I’m restless,” sing Deep Throat Choir from the heart of their second album. That restlessness manifests in a set of tremendously abundant, original songs from the east London female and non-binary vocal collective, founded by Landshapes member Luisa Gerstein.

 Released via Bella Union, ‘In Order to Know You’ is a multi-layered assertion of freshly expansive range, driven by two core virtues: a sense of strength in unity and an open embrace of its singers’ personal experiences, shared through collective, supportive vocal expression.

 After 2017’s largely covers-based debut album, ‘Be OK’, the choir recognised the call to evolve. “Having been singing together for five-plus years, and having released an album of mostly covers, it felt like the logical next step to make our own music together,” says Gerstein. “This album is the alchemy of all the specific voices and players that make up the choir, and a collaborative process of writing and sharing music and ideas. Sonically, I wanted to move beyond just voices and percussion, to see what richness could be brought with acoustic instruments and electronics, and to transition from a choir that
does covers to a band with loads of vocalists.”

 ‘In Order to Know You’ heads towards its climax without seeming to touch the ground, from the title track’s devotional exhalation to the stealthy, smoky shimmer of ‘Unstitching’. Its lyrics drawn from a poem by Emma Cleave, the sublime ‘Field of Not Knowing’ closes the album in a vivid tapestry of folkgothic images (moon beams and pipistrelles) and serene-to-soaring arrangements, revelling in possibility: “It’s the place where I begin,” sing the choir.

 For Deep Throat Choir, the result is both an exquisite culmination of journeys taken so far and a lustrous, exquisite springboard for further adventures. Their travels began in 2013, when the collective took shape from a desire to strip music back to the basic elements of raw female voices and drums, united in a fashion that both honours and transmogrifies personal expression.

 A small group of four or five singers steadily expanded, with Zara Toppin’s drums providing a propulsive energy. Cathartic live shows and collaborations followed, ranging from team-ups with Peggy Sue, Stealing Sheep, Horse Meat Disco and Matthew E White, to performances at Green Man, Wilderness, the Southbank Centre’s WOW festival, London’s Scala and beyond. ‘Be OK’ provided a gutsy showcase for the band’s close, collective strengths, bolstered by weekly gatherings at a church in east London to blow
the roof off. A fruitful collaboration with techno-pop duo Simian Mobile Disco on the 2018 album ‘Murmurations’ followed: a testament to the choir’s alchemical abilities.

Wendell Harrison was born in Detroit in 1942 where he began formal jazz studies for piano, clarinet and tenor saxophone. At 14, while still in high school, Harrison started performing & recording professionally with artists such as Marvin Gaye, Grant Green, Sun Ra, Hank Crawford … and many others.
In 1971, Harrison began teaching music at Metro Arts (a multi-arts complex for youth) where he also connected with Marcus Belgrave, Harold McKinney and Phil Ranelin…soon after they formed the (now legendary) Afro-centric TRIBE record label and artist collective. TRIBE used the Metro Arts complex as a vehicle to convey a growing black political consciousness. Wendell Harrison also published the very popular TRIBE magazine, a publication dedicated to local and national social and political issues, as well as featuring artistic contributions such as poetry and visual pieces.
In 1978 Harrison and McKinney co-founded REBIRTH, a non-profit jazz performance and education organization, in which many notable jazz artists have participated. Around the same time Wendell Harrison also created the WENHA record label and publishing company, which released many of his (now classic) recordings as well as those of other artists, such as Phil Ranelin, Doug Hammond and Reggie Fields (The Real ShooBeeDoo).
In the early 1990s, Wendell Harrison was awarded the title of “Jazz Master” by Arts Midwest. This distinction led Harrison to collaborate with fellow honorees and gave him the chance to tour throughout the United States, Middle East and Africa. Even to this day Wendell Harrison's recordings for the TRIBE, WENHA and REBIRTH labels have a large worldwide fanbase.
It is on WENHA that Harrison released the opus: DREAMS OF A LOVE SUPREME (1980), which we are presenting you today.
DREAMS OF A LOVE SUPREME is a monster album that features an all-star line-up that includes Phil Ranelin (Freddie Hubbard, Solomon Burke, Mulatu Astakte) on trombone, Harold McKinney (Tribe) on Keyboards and Roy Brooks (Yusef Lateef, Chet Baker, Mingus) on percussion. Although you can hear the 80ies creeping in with a smoother sound, more synths, and disco/R&B vocals… this remains a very spiritual (and soulful) jazz record. The record’s an irresistible blend of soul jazz combined with funky electric instrumentation…a groovy sound which is very much of its time, yet overtly timeless and as relevant today as it was back when it was initially released.
Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first ever vinyl reissue of ‘Dreams of A Love Supreme’ since its release in 1980. This official reissue is now available as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (limited to 500 copies) and comes with an unreleased bonus track.

Part of the joy of collecting soul music is searching for and discovering lesser known gems. Phoenix, AZ, might not be known as one of the main American cities for black music despite spawning artists such as Dyke & the Blazers and Eddie & Ernie, but the city holds a cult status among rare soul collectors thanks to the small output of labels like Artco, OK&T, Poorman’s and Raina.
One of the state’s well kept secrets is Bobby Barnes, who had a small number of 45 releases on local labels. All strong tracks which really deserved wider recognition than they got.
The 14th S4R release contains two previously unissued songs, from 1977 and 1984 respectively, recorded for the Raina label with Lawrence Carroll producing and arranging.
”Super High On Your Love” is in my opinion his best song - a super soulful floater type of modern soul dancer. The flip is an alternative, extended version of “I’ve Had My Share”, to my ears superior to the original with a sparser backing and keyboards replacing the guitar. Two truly sublime sides!

Soul music changes just like the weather. Different styles, rhythms and dances have been emerging over the years, making the genre so exciting and assorted. For almost a decade, in the post-disco era, synths and drum machines ruled the day, but by the mid 90s a group of new artists were turning their attention to the golden age of soul music.
One of those names was Adriana Evans, whose debut album from 1996 surprised soul fans around the world. Adriana boasts a solid musical background and this can be heard on the record. Her mom was the jazz singer Mary Stallings and she was also the goddaughter of Pharoah Sanders, so she has been surrounded by music since childhood.
Both choices here are taken from that outstanding album. "Looking For Your Love" is a beautiful mid-tempo tune which could have been recorded by The Emotions or Phyllis Hyman. On the reverse, "I'll Be There" is a sublime piano and flute-led ballad in the vein of Minnie Ripperton.

When Roberto Carlos Lange, the musician known
as Helado Negro, began writing ‘Far In’
immediately following the release of his acclaimed
2019 ‘This is How You Smile’, he could not have
predicted that we would soon need to learn how to
stay at home and be the stars of our domestic
dancefloors with intimate and online communities.
The titular pair in ‘Gemini and Leo’ stay indoors to
discover each other anew with music recalling
Lange’s youth growing up in South Florida
listening to 80s club songs, and their return
sampled in 90s hip-hop.
Visions past and future meet in a euphoria of
uptempo drums, Jen Wasner’s (Flock of Dimes)
funky bassline, and Opal Hoyt’s (Zenizen) galactic
swirl of warm and steely synths and bright backing
vocals.
What was a prophesying rehearsal for the
musician will, we can hope, soon be our fresh
start, a choice to bring that energy home, or go out
to meet it.

Four Flies' new record series, ITALIAN LIBRARY SONGBOOK - Masters of Cinematic Music Reimagined into Song, hopes to build a bridge between the modern and the contemporary. Producers and songwriters from today's music scene put their spin on hidden tracks and outtakes from the catalogues of Italian soundtrack maestros, reimagining them into new, previously unheard songs poised between pop and club culture – a sound nestled somewhere in between Balearic, downtempo, and organic grooves.

Volume I focuses on Alessandro Alessandroni, a composer whose trajectory is emblematic with respect to Four Flies' journey as a label and publisher. Despite being best known in his lifetime for his unmistakable whistle in Ennio Morricone's soundtracks for Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns, Alessandroni was way more than that. He was a refined composer and multi-instrumentalist, and one always ahead of his time. Partly thanks to Four Flies and its contribution to the rediscovery of the Maestro with releases such as the EP "Afro Discoteca" and the compilation album "Lost & Found", this has become unquestionably clear in the past few years, which have seen his name climb to the top of collectors' want lists and gain recognition in the international music industry.

This release goes back to one of Alessandroni's lesser known film scores, Sangue di sbirro (written for Alfonso Brescia's 1976 poliziottesco Cop's Blood), where he created his own version of the soul-infused jazz-funk music typically found in 70s Blaxploitation movies.

More specifically, Neapolitan producer pAd and London singer-songwriter Jessica Duncan reimagine the original "Philadelphia", which appears on Side B and whose title clearly refers to the city that, back in the 70s, saw the birth of (mellow) disco. The result of their collaboration is "Do You Wanna Get Close?" on Side A, a downtempo, jazz-funk and Balearic gem pervaded by warm, sexy and elegant pop-soul vibes that make it a perfect club track to enjoy the night until the early hours of the morning.

To ensure maximum audio quality, the mastering was done by Fabrizio De Carolis at his Reference Mastering studio in Rome's Prati neighborhood (the same neighborhood that was once the epicenter of Roman library music) while the vinyl cut at the The Carvery, the multiple Grammy-nominated London studio behind some of the best organic grooves records of the past decade. The result is a deep, full, rich and three-dimensional sound that enhances the beauty of both tracks.

The series and volume artwork is by graphic designer and calligrapher Luca Barcellona, an artist used to working with analog tools such as ink, brushes and pencils. He drew inspiration from the world of literature, imagining each release as one of the volumes in an elegantly bound classics book series - an analogy that reminds us of the tactile element that makes vinyl records so unique and precious, while also suggesting the cultural value of a music that aims to connect the legacy of the past and the creativity of the present.

Marshall McLuhan’s famous edict ‘the medium is the message’ has never been more apt than with regard to modern remix culture. Although the idea of the remix goes way back to the Jamaican dub pioneers and New York disco remixers of the 1970s, the form didn’t truly come into its own until the acid house explosion of the 1980s, when remixers’ credentials often subsumed — and sometimes surpassed — the original source material. Some, among them our lost friend Andrew Weatherall, used remixing as a springboard into multiple other directions, and became auteurs in their own right.

Forged in the white-hot heat of post-acid house Britain, these Heavenly remixes are perfectly weighted with respect and irreverence, the remixer in each case carefully chosen to add heft to the song (as on Al Breadwinner’s dubwise reworking of Mattiel’s ’Guns of Brixton’— the pairing more a game of chess than a best-of-three arm wrestle).

Although Heavenly was founded in the wake of huge upheavals in electronic music, it was still imbued with its own curious parallel life. I’ve always thought of Heavenly as one of the UK’s alt-pop labels; a place where brilliant pop bands live and record, if the general public would only realise. Some of them have ended up in the real, actual charts (Saint Etienne, Doves), but that’s missing the point about Heavenly, who are, like Factory and Fast Product before them, pop music’s conscience.

There is no sense of order to this compilation and we make no apologies. It’s the Heavenly way. Think of it as a present from Loki, the Norse god of mischief. You’ll find a smattering of older tracks: album openers Saint Etienne are taken on a Poseidon Adventure with Underworld, who inject ‘Cool Kids of Death’ with typically manic energy. Elsewhere, ’90s Brum duo Mother add dancefloor pzazz to Espiritu’s innate glamour on an all-funked-up reworking of ‘Los Americanos’, and Mark Lusardi’s remix of Moonflowers’ ‘Get Higher’ is an early Heavenly classic.

On ‘Terracotta Warrior’, a perfect, psyched-out, Mancunian union is created betwixt Jimi Goodwin and Andy Votel, whilst Goodwin cohort Simon Aldred, in his Cherry Ghost guise, receives a proper Tamla-Motowning from Richard Norris (aka Time & Space Machine) on an inspired cover of Cece Peniston’s glam-house hit, ‘Finally’.

There are several of Heavenly’s current darlings here too. One of the most exciting young British prospects, Yorkshire’s Working Men’s Club, effectively remix themselves, as Minsky Rock — WMC’s Syd Minsky-Sargeant and producer Ross Orton — cleave ‘X’ into a riotous industrial racket. Jagwar Ma’s Jono Ma takes the Kraftwerkian leitmotif on ‘Automatic’ and drives the Australian jazz-funkers Mildlife down an electro-convulsive psychedelic tunnel (thankfully no-one was harmed during the making of this remix); Sheffield’s DJ Parrot and Jarvis Cocker deliver one of the outstanding remixes of 2018, turning Baxter Dury’s ‘Miami’ into a lovelorn minor opera; and, making its first appearance on vinyl, David Holmes’ Unloved project is taken on a panoramic Welsh waltz thanks to Gwenno.


There may well be no rhyme, nor reason, to how these compilations have been put together, beyond the fact that they are assembled with love, an innate understanding of the power of great pop music, and a skilled marriage of song and remixer — but does one really need anything more than that for an album to make sense? I’d suggest not.

It’s incredibly easy to get a remix wrong — as the back catalogues of far too many major labels, whose slapdash commissioning of the latest hot remixer half-guarantees an unsympathetic mangling of the song, can attest. At their best, remixes can make you look at an artist as though positioned from a different angle or using a different camera; sometimes hearing a song in a different context gives it a completely new meaning. “So you take a piece of a vocal…blah” says master remixer David Morales. “That’s a remix? That represents the artist? That doesn’t represent the artist, it represents you.” In the hands of the insensitive a remix is like chucking a song into the washing machine for a 100 extra spins.

In the hands of a master, things are a little more complex. Heavenly was all but founded on the art of the remix; our departed friend Andrew Weatherall remixed the first ever release, and the label has built up an immense catalogue in the intervening years that demonstrates all that is good about the art form.

Assembled on this compilation are twelve sterling examples of the remix, from Hanspeter Lindstrøm’s reading of Doves’ ‘Jetstream’, which turns their glistening pop into Lieutenant Pigeon meets Italo-disco (in a good way), to Andy Votel’s gentle folk-funk version of Halo Maud’s délicieuse ‘Des Bras’. We delve deep into the vaults for Saint Etienne’s ‘Filthy’, Monkey Mafia turning it into a rump-shaking groove perfectly suited to Q-Tee’s rap, while more recently, Flying Mojito Bros, purveyors of Tex-Mex house groove, reimagine Katy J. Pearson as a lonesome Lone Star lover.

Though not purposely themed, beyond being judiciously chosen as the catalogue’s finest gems, there’s a tiny hint of psychedelia about this set that is hard to ignore. Firstly, there are the acid contributions from Gabe Gurnsey, who knows his way around a coruscating bassline, and from Graham Massey, whose impeccable credentials in 808 State are brought to bear on ‘Valleys’, by young turks Working Men’s Club (acid house being modern psychedelia, whether the rock press approves or not).

Jono Ma, meanwhile, flips Night Beats’ amazing ‘Sunday Mourning’ into ‘Warm Leatherette’ on benzos, creating a disorienting glimpse of a dystopian Sunday that most definitely doesn’t include a genteel read of the papers and a nice cup of tea. On the other side of the miasma is Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve’s redemptive re-interpretation of M. Craft’s ‘Chemical Trails’, which, alongside Boy Azooga’s ‘Face Behind Her Cigarette’ (Mikey Young remix), Gwenno’s ‘Chwlydro’ (R. Seiliog remix) and and Katy J. Pearson’s ‘Take Back The Radio’ (Flying Mojito Bros Refrito Dub), is issued on vinyl for the very first time.


This dozen tracks — each one curated, remixed and delivered with love (and a teensy bit of impertinence) — is just a glimpse into the catalogue of one the UK’s finest indie labels.

In the alternative reality in which I’d prefer to exist, this what Top of the Pops might sound like; or, at the very least, the jukebox in the Korova Milk Bar. Pop disruption at its best.

For number 92 in our Brazil45 series, we delve back to another all-time favourite track, 'Embalo Diferente' by Os Devaneios. This sublime funky Samba joint has always ignited the dancefloor for us. It featured on the band's 1978 album, 'O Conjunto Que Faz Você Vibrar’, which originally saw release on EMI. No crazy hype needed for this one, just a fantastic straight-up, no messing Samba Funk made for dancing.

We only know of four albums by Os Devaneios and for the A-side of this 45, we have selected one of our more recent discoveries with a track entitled 'A Beleza É Você Menina'. Taken from their 1979 album 'Raça Suor E Suingue’ (also originally released on EMI), it was recorded only a couple of years after 'Embalo Diferente’. Whilst it remains in that Samba mold, it has also taken on some of the vibe and characteristics of Soul, Brazilian Boogie and AOR from that late 70s and early 80s period. A feel-good and uplifting record, yet one which simultaneously has a hint of melancholy and is all the more beautiful for it. It's always good to discover a new song by an old favourite, and we hope you grow to love it too.

Peggy Gou's Gudu Records proudly presents 'Jack's Jive' - a long overdue re-release of a legendary lost South African record from 1987. Out of print for years and never available digitally, 'Jack's Jive' is the stuff of legend: a bold, bright synthesizer-led cut that has been demanding Discogs prices upwards of £150 and both referenced and ripped off by contemporary artists since. Re-mastered for 2021 and cut to vinyl for the first time in decades, it's backed with two remixes by DMX Krew.

Tough Love have partnered with West Coast imprint Mt St Mtn for the release of Free Advice, the instant slowcore/dreampop classic by San Fran four piece, Cindy. The full album is available to stream/download now, while a highly limited transparent vinyl pressing will be released on 20th November. Limited to just 250 copies, this pressing follows the long sold-out edition of 100 released earlier in the year and which was previously only available in the US. Free Advice offers a somber-yet-uplifting take on sobered dream pop. Imagine if Galaxie 500’s On Fire didn’t have a guitar solo or if The Trinity Session was stripped of its folk & blues roots; it’s just pure mood. Like sitting in a half-empty movie theater that’s playing Alphaville or Wild Strawberries and watching patron’s heads briefly illuminated from the screen; Free Advice (and all of the Cindy output) transfers you to these momentary worlds. Cindy is Karina Gill on guitar/vocals, Aaron Diko on synth/keys, Simon Phillips on Drums/Percussion, and Jesse Jackson on Bass/Keys + Simon and Jesse on backing vocals. The songs on Free Advice are these moments in mood: Phillips & Jackson’s rhythms create the foundation, while Diko’s keys rise and fall. Gill’s guitar rattles, vocals brood, and lyrics create these narratives that depict observers, not necessarily wronged rather, cautious and investigative of the world around them

Rare and highly sought after in its original format, Os Brazoes self-titled album was originally released on RGE Discos in 1969. It is a psychedelic masterpiece that fuses samba, r'n'b and rock 'n' roll influences using fuzz guitars, synths, percussion, lush vocals and effects.

Os Brazoes formed in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1960's. They backed Gal Costa during her Tropicalia period, yet apparently never recorded in the studio with her. Miguel de Deus, the bands front man, recorded the highly sought after 'Black Soul Brothers' LP in 1977, which became an important record in the 'Black Rio' movement. Mr Bongo released the title track from that LP, on the 'Brazilian Beats: Brooklyn' compilation in 2006 and recently as part of their Brazil 45's re-issue series.

'Os Brazoes' features covers of Gilberto Gil's 'Pega a Voga, Cabeludo' and Jorge Ben and Toquinho's 'Carolina, Carol Bela'


The Mr Bongo LP reissue is manufactured in Japan, presented in a super high quality card sleeve with replica original artwork. The CD is presented in a 4-page digi-pack.

Utrecht label U-Trax welcomes 90s legend P.A. Presents for an enhanced re-release of his first two releases on this label, namely "Salicylic Acid" and "Flight Simulator".

Ironically P.A. Presents aka Peter Aarsman is the only artist on U-TRAX that actually is born and bred in the city of Utrecht. Even more irony lies in the fact that he hasn't lived in the city for 25 years and has only recently returned home. He was an early player in the hip hop and boogie scenes and long before house landed in Europe he was playing disco and Italo which helped establish him as a truly vital DJ talent. The two reissue EPs presented here marked his production debut back in 1993, both of which are hugely sought after and pricey techno records on second hand markets. In 2019 he returned to the music scene with two new EPs on U-Trax in the the form of Swirling Gas and Sax Madness and new releases are planned for 2020.

The release kicks off with 'Mesopmorph', an effervescent, nostalgic cut with a deeply buried techno rhythm that eventually takes over in tribal style. 'Pop' is a brilliantly tense and dense track wired up with fizzing synths, chattering claps and haunting effects as well as pending drums, then 'Theme' is cosmic industrial, with powerful hits and metallic sounds married to searching laser synths.

'Vera S' is classic 90s techno with mad vocal sounds and frantic synth lines darting about the mix, then things grow deeper and more heady on the stripped back intergalactic journey that is 'Flight Simulator.' The timelessness continues on the dancing analogue drums and hi hats of the classic Detroit styled 'Experiental' and 'A Gasp' before 'Vexillum' brings more warm solar winds and molten techno grooves whist 'Long Metal' closes out with pounding kicks, skewed synths and real sense of space travel.

These are essential early techno tracks that sound as fresh and relevant now as ever and come with remastering and restoration from Thee J Johanz.

Pressed on 2x12" 180 grams grey marbled vinyl.

Legendary Utrecht DJ and producer P.A. Presents (Peter Aarsman) returns with his first new release since 2000 with this vintage techno stunner, Swirling Gas. This EP also marks the first new music on U-TRAX in more than 21 years, kicking the label s comeback into a higher gear.
Peter ironically is the only artist on U-TRAX that actually is born and bred in the city of Utrecht. Even more irony lies in the fact that he hasn t lived in the city (or stadsie in Utregs, the local dialect) for the past 25 years.
Peter knew he wanted to be a DJ since he was ten years old, in a time when this was still a very unusual career to dream about. Long before house music had landed in Europe, Peter was fiddling around with disco and italo 12 -es and all those years of training is what made him the superior DJ that he still is today. In terms of skills, flair, energy and feel for the dance floor, there are probably not a lot of DJs that can rival with Peter.
While the era of house of techno of the late 80s and the 90s brought him countless DJ gigs, his reputation didn t cross the city borders much, until he bought his first gear and started producing techno music himself. Again, his DJ background proved helpful with producing his tracks, as most of his tracks are dancefloor orientated and usually have an impeccable timing.
Peter debuted with the mini-album Salicylic Acid on U-TRAX in 1993, followed by the Flight Stimulator EP a year later. Both are classics today, but neither brought him as much fame as his 12 Entangled did on Deviate, a record label that was started by a couple of our friends from Utrecht a year prior to U-TRAX. Entangled made it to many charts and compilation albums, including Carl Craig s mix CD as part of !K7 s DJ-Kicks series.
Besides two releases on U-TRAX and three 12 -es on Deviate, Peter recorded a full length album for the latter label. Unfortunately, before the album ever saw the light of day, Deviate closed their doors and the tracks remained on the shelves for the next 17 or so years. These tracks still sound surprisingly fresh and original today and we are super excited to be able to release some of them on this Swirling Gas EP!
The title track Swirling Gas obviously gets its name from the documentary sample that the track kicks off with. The almost heartbeat-like electro rhythms, layered choruses and dreamy synths will give you goose bumps all the way to the soles of your feet.
Raw is quite another thing, but way more complicated and sophisticated than the title suggests. An in-your-face electro bass drum pattern supports layer after layer of additional rhythms, some even touching on salsa, and then big fat layers of pulsating synths take you away into deep space. A unique track that will instantly reward the DJ that has the guts to play it for her/his audience.
Drum Magic on the flipside is exactly that: a magic techno trip built around complicated syncopated drum rhythms, which should serve the adventurous DJ well as a foundation for mixing all sorts of weird stuff on top of. We can t wait to see videos appear with creative mixing ideas.
Final track Freaky is opening with some heavy pounding, yet jumpy beats before it opens up into a bit of a space trip around the 3 minute mark. Though the track has a touch of the Basic Channel sound, its echoing synth tones are very distinct and will light up any venue, no matter how big.
All tracks have been revamped and edited into more current lengths by DJ Zero One, blessed by DJ White Delight and mastered by Thee J Johanz. Label art by Bonk Artwork.

Legendary Utrecht DJ and producer P.A. Presents (Peter Aarsman) returns with his first new release since 2000 with this vintage techno stunner, Swirling Gas. This EP also marks the first new music on U-TRAX in more than 21 years, kicking the label s comeback into a higher gear.
Peter ironically is the only artist on U-TRAX that actually is born and bred in the city of Utrecht. Even more irony lies in the fact that he hasn t lived in the city (or stadsie in Utregs, the local dialect) for the past 25 years.
Peter knew he wanted to be a DJ since he was ten years old, in a time when this was still a very unusual career to dream about. Long before house music had landed in Europe, Peter was fiddling around with disco and italo 12 -es and all those years of training is what made him the superior DJ that he still is today. In terms of skills, flair, energy and feel for the dance floor, there are probably not a lot of DJs that can rival with Peter.
While the era of house of techno of the late 80s and the 90s brought him countless DJ gigs, his reputation didn t cross the city borders much, until he bought his first gear and started producing techno music himself. Again, his DJ background proved helpful with producing his tracks, as most of his tracks are dancefloor orientated and usually have an impeccable timing.
Peter debuted with the mini-album Salicylic Acid on U-TRAX in 1993, followed by the Flight Stimulator EP a year later. Both are classics today, but neither brought him as much fame as his 12 Entangled did on Deviate, a record label that was started by a couple of our friends from Utrecht a year prior to U-TRAX. Entangled made it to many charts and compilation albums, including Carl Craig s mix CD as part of !K7 s DJ-Kicks series.
Besides two releases on U-TRAX and three 12 -es on Deviate, Peter recorded a full length album for the latter label. Unfortunately, before the album ever saw the light of day, Deviate closed their doors and the tracks remained on the shelves for the next 17 or so years. These tracks still sound surprisingly fresh and original today and we are super excited to be able to release some of them on this Swirling Gas EP!
The title track Swirling Gas obviously gets its name from the documentary sample that the track kicks off with. The almost heartbeat-like electro rhythms, layered choruses and dreamy synths will give you goose bumps all the way to the soles of your feet.
Raw is quite another thing, but way more complicated and sophisticated than the title suggests. An in-your-face electro bass drum pattern supports layer after layer of additional rhythms, some even touching on salsa, and then big fat layers of pulsating synths take you away into deep space. A unique track that will instantly reward the DJ that has the guts to play it for her/his audience.
Drum Magic on the flipside is exactly that: a magic techno trip built around complicated syncopated drum rhythms, which should serve the adventurous DJ well as a foundation for mixing all sorts of weird stuff on top of. We can t wait to see videos appear with creative mixing ideas.
Final track Freaky is opening with some heavy pounding, yet jumpy beats before it opens up into a bit of a space trip around the 3 minute mark. Though the track has a touch of the Basic Channel sound, its echoing synth tones are very distinct and will light up any venue, no matter how big.
All tracks have been revamped and edited into more current lengths by DJ Zero One, blessed by DJ White Delight and mastered by Thee J Johanz. Label art by Bonk Artwork.

King Tubby and Producer Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee are intertwined in the birth of Dub Music. After discovering a mistake that made a ‘serious joke’ they went on to release the first pressings of this new musical genre namely ‘Dub Music’. Tubby’s vast knowledge of electronics and Bunny’s vast catalogue of rhythms would lay the foundations of what today is taken as a standard...the Remix / Version cuts to an existing vocal tune. Sit back and enjoy this historic set of sounds. These releases were the first to carry the name of King Tubby and the first to credit the great musicians that contributed so much to the rhythms that made these albums possible.

Multi Culti launch a new quarterly 12" series in step with the seasons beginning with SOLSTICE I:

Post-pandemic lockdown inspiration can be found in the great planetary balancing act that has taken place since a cataclysmic impact with an asteroid caused mass extinction and set our earth’s orbit off axis. This AXIAL TILT, or obliquity, is responsible for the seasons, and life as we know it has evolved around these unleashed forces. As our lives and for many, careers, have spun dramatically off axis as of late, we look ahead to the coming seasons, with the hope that we can weather the changes, and maintain inner stability. To aid in this quest, Multi Culti promises to deliver sonic support with utmost regularity at the peak moments of cosmic significance, with each Solstice and Equinox.

Beginning this journey are some of the label’s most beloved artists. Israeli duo RED AXES provide a chakra-elevating soundtrack with their inimitable blend of psych-garage-tronica, a sun-kissed banger that signals a long-awaited return to the togetherness of the dancefloor.

ZILLAS ON ACID turn in a robustly wiggly jam that electrifies, frazzling zaps and frenetic percussion recall the fritzy tension of the past year, a cathartic shock-treatment for traumatized dancers looking to get back to prime spine-shaking shape.

Mexico managed to stay open for the most part, and TYU seems to have not skipped a beat here, still in perfect form after breaking out as one of the hottest young producers to emerge in recent years. Dark disco, Mexi-chug, call it what you want, but the emergent genre is never better represented than here… spooky, phosphorescent tribal dance, Tulumminati-tested and approved.

Finally, the big guy - MANFREDAS - whose remixes and edits have been highlight-reel material the past couple of years, delivers a long awaited original track with his requisite heavy-weight swag. Wonky tunings and a chunky downtempo beat underpin Manny’s trademark masterful arrangement style, building patiently, with breakdowns that managed to wring every last drop of impact out of an odd, other-worldy assortment of sounds.

We first discovered this when Noir recieved the promo from Ten Ven.Noir then started spreading the word about his love for this new 'Ten Ven' act and shortly after we were generously offered to release it on Noir Music.
We did not hesitate for a second to sign this and we are delighted to be able to present such a great 4-tracker on the label from a new and exciting act. Not only do we believe that Ten Ven could be the next big thing but we also strongly believe that these solid house grooves might lead the way of the changes in the underground this year. Its a throw-back to french and filtered house as it started out more than 20 years ago melted into todays production techniques. It's super refreshing to hear this sound again and we promise there's more to come over the summer period.