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Born in 1999, Charlie Hickey grew up in South Pasadena,
just minutes from Downtown Los Angeles. Raised by two
singer-songwriter parents, Charlie’s second language was
music since day one. As early as grade school, he was
making sense of the world through songwriting, and by
middle school he was writing, recording and performing
songs that attracted a community of collaborators and could
silence a room.
 A turning point for Charlie came at around the age of
thirteen, when he covered a song by then up-and-coming
artist Phoebe Bridgers, who was still in high school herself.
The two quickly became friends and collaborators, setting
Charlie on an exciting new musical path. Years later,
Bridgers introduced Charlie to songwriter, drummer, producer
and her bandmate Marshall Vore, who noticed something
special about Charlie. The two began writing and recording
songs together, and soon Charlie dropped out of school to
work on his music full-time.
 Charlie Hickey’s first proper single was ‘No Good at Lying’
and it’s the first track on ‘Count The Stairs’. The Marshall
Vore-produced track introduces us to Charlie’s evocative
storytelling and features Phoebe Bridgers on backing vocals.
“I’m no good at lying / on my back or through my teeth / but
I’m good at dreaming / I can do it in my sleep,” he sings over
hushed guitars and a whimsical banjo, searching for truth as
his unconscious mind runs wild and bleeds into reality. It’s a
slow, quiet, and understated peek to the world of Charlie
Hickey, who is barely of legal drinking age, but taps into such
universal themes that showcase a wisdom beyond his years
and exudes promise for what’s to come.

Born in 1999, Charlie Hickey grew up in South Pasadena,
just minutes from Downtown Los Angeles. Raised by two
singer-songwriter parents, Charlie’s second language was
music since day one. As early as grade school, he was
making sense of the world through songwriting, and by
middle school he was writing, recording and performing
songs that attracted a community of collaborators and could
silence a room.
 A turning point for Charlie came at around the age of
thirteen, when he covered a song by then up-and-coming
artist Phoebe Bridgers, who was still in high school herself.
The two quickly became friends and collaborators, setting
Charlie on an exciting new musical path. Years later,
Bridgers introduced Charlie to songwriter, drummer, producer
and her bandmate Marshall Vore, who noticed something
special about Charlie. The two began writing and recording
songs together, and soon Charlie dropped out of school to
work on his music full-time.
 Charlie Hickey’s first proper single was ‘No Good at Lying’
and it’s the first track on ‘Count The Stairs’. The Marshall
Vore-produced track introduces us to Charlie’s evocative
storytelling and features Phoebe Bridgers on backing vocals.
“I’m no good at lying / on my back or through my teeth / but
I’m good at dreaming / I can do it in my sleep,” he sings over
hushed guitars and a whimsical banjo, searching for truth as
his unconscious mind runs wild and bleeds into reality. It’s a
slow, quiet, and understated peek to the world of Charlie
Hickey, who is barely of legal drinking age, but taps into such
universal themes that showcase a wisdom beyond his years
and exudes promise for what’s to come.

Paz en La Tierra is a result of a search by the Meridian Brothers & Conjunto Media Luna of the heart of something that can be called a 'power format' of Colombian Caribbean music; Accordion , Guacharaca, Caja, Congas, Electric bass, and vocals.

Departing from this idea, and casually working with the music of a documentary on the famous singer Diomedes Diaz, Iván Medellín (accordionist of Conjunto media luna), and Eblis Álvarez from the Meridian Brothers, embarked on a new work building a sound exclusively on the traditional format, searching for several spaces between the lines in the universe of accordion in Colombian music.

The duo departed from the basic: the line of vallenato, the most famous in the country but not the only one, the line of sabanero music more of the lands of Sucre and Córdoba inclined towards cumbia, bullerengue, son vallenato among other airs fed the group's ideas. The Barranquilla center deserves a separate mention, due to its cosmopolitan approach, using all kinds of influences, from the Caribbean islands to ancient rhythms or even modern rock and funk, also used as an inspiration for this record.

In the process, new ways of melody appeared and new ways of expression emerged. Although the rhythms used in the record are rooted in the traditional, the duo glitched those rhythms turning them into new directions in the style, using exclusively the past references to transmute the sound into something that looks inside a parallel future.

Using several theatrical situations, alterations in musical structures, and slight deformations of the traditional harmony (a tonal center and its dominant) the result of "Paz en la Tierra" is enigmatic and charming, and at the same time directed towards the dance floor keeping the past alive and flourishing the essence of the tradition.

Recorded in Havana’s famed Egrem Studios, the group displays a cohesion forged by an intense performing and touring cycle. The musical conversation that began in the Areito studios three years earlier blossomed into an easy, intimate dialogue between good friends - allowing full, fearless musical expression and risk-taking outside of their comfort zones.

Building upon Perez Prado’s dissonant, near avant-garde vision of the mambo, and highlighting the Lucumí subtext of Cuban rhythms and styles, the band continues to explore, develop and expand the island’s rich rhythmic palette and repertoire - pushing the conventions of what is considered “mambo” - and drawing deeply from folkloric and religious traditions seldom heard in popular music. 16 Rayos is here to shine its musical rays on us, warm our hearts, and irresistibly move our bodies.

When Orquesta Akokán burst onto the global music scene a mere three years ago, their no-holds-barred 21st century take on the venerable Cuban mambo lit up stages around the world with a fierce and unremitting joy. Singer José "Pepito" Gómez, Chulo Records producer and multi instrumentalist Jacob Plasse, and arranger Michael Eckroth joined forces with a carefully curated selection of Havana’s most extraordinary musicians as Orquesta Akokán, polishing Cuban mambo’s golden sound to a luminous, contemporary sheen. Along the way Orquesta Akokán imbued these legendary Cuban grooves with a renewed vitality and powerful sense of akokán ---the Yoruba word used by Cubans to mean “from the heart” or “soul.”



On the Cuban side of the equation the Orquesta boasts some of the island’s greatest instrumentalists culled from members of near-mythical groups such as Los Van Van, NG La Banda, and Irakere (notably César Lopez, Orquesta Akokan’s point man in Havana). The ensemble for 16 Rayos shines a light on Cuba’s musical families and multigenerational legacy with the participation of two fabled Vizcainos on percussion - Roberto "Tato" Vizcaino Jr. and his father Roberto Vizcaino Guillot, a member of Chucho Valdes’ seminal 90’s quartet. Another family duo added their masterful legacy to the recording, with trumpeter Reinaldo “Molote” Melián bringing in his son, Reinaldo Melián Zamora, to play trumpet on several tunes alongside lead trumpet Harold Madrigal Frías. The winds and brass are rounded out with a rich saxophone section made up of young lion Jamil Shery and Germán Velazco (musical director for Pablo Milanés)on tenor, with Evaristo Denis on baritone and César López on alto, along with Yoandy Argudin and Heikel Fabián Trimiño on trombone. Coros were sung by Eddie Venegas and Luis Soto. Significantly, Orquesta Akokán added strings to the ensemble for the first time, with the participation of violinists Amelia Febles Díaz, Jenny Peña and Anabel Estévez Acosta, whose virtuosity stems from the classical training for which Cuban musicians are so renowned. The power and grace of Pedro "Tata" Francisco Almeida Barriel’s vocals lead the way on “4 de Octubre” and “Llegue con mi Rumba,” evincing why he is considered one of the Cuban rumba’s premier exponents. Another highly recognized singer, legendary guarachera Xiomara Valdés - who’s shared the stage with legends such as Beny Moré and Omara Portuondo and received the Ministry of Culture’s Distinción por la Cultura Nacional de Cuba as a significant contributor to Cuba’s musical legacy - is the featured guest on the title track.

IMPORTANT NOTE: UNFORTUNATELY THE SIDES ARE REVERSED ON THE VINYL, I.E. THE A-SIDE IS THE B-SIDE AND VICE VERSA. WITH THE PURCHASE OF THE VINYL OR THE CD YOU WILL GET THE SINGLE MP3 FILES AS WELL AS A CONTINOUS MIX VIA E-MAIL.

With the cover artwork for Pop Ambient 2022, longtime KOMPAKT graphic artist Veronika Unland has once again outdone herself. Following the almost baroque, blood-red and jet-black, extremely physical sculptures of Pop Ambient 2021, which emerged from a dark, floral sea like bodies erect for dancing, the front of 2022 is adorned with a pastel-white form, intertwined, folded many times and crisscrossed with delicate shading, which seems to float on a pale pink background; soft, gentle waves woven from Venetian colors that leave the viewer puzzled: Is it a flower, a coral, a mollusk?

Again, the current edition of the tradition-steeped compilation series curated by Wolfgang Voigt is about the persistent and ever-necessary definition of beauty, of reduction, of electronic music of heavy lightness and light heaviness, of ambient's eternal promise of a state of physical and acoustic weightlessness and Pop's of redemption. And about the question why a never arbitrary combination of soundscape, drones, samples and loops, put together in a certain way, can create this feeling of warmth, depth and space, - something three-dimensional, where the imagination feels at home as a fish in the water or a bird in the sky. A key aesthetic stimulus that sends all the senses into a slow glide and drift, after which your synapses feel like they've been bathed in essential oil. Next to Soul, Ambient is probably the most effective musical healing plant of mankind.

Behind the aural test tubes, the who's who of Pop Ambient is once again at work, led for the first time by the highly trafficked Californian duo Blank Gloss, whose debut album "Melt" this year was certified by The Guardian as nothing less than "heartaching beauty". Yui Onodera's "Chrome" as well as "Kari", a cooperation of Markus Guentner and Joachim Spieth, could also be imagined in the score of Denis Villeneuve's new film version of DUNE - however, colleague Hans Zimmer managed that quite well without the three. After such wonderful and stylish contributions by Reich & Würden, Triola and Thomas Fehlmann, the ear then lingers a bit longer on the ghostly "Weiht" by Morgen Wurde feat. Maria Estrella, a track like a temple of sound, a deep electronic immersion in a Japanese onsen. In this sea of unnameable time you could sink forever, but with the tracks of Andrew Thomas, Thore Pfeiffer and Max Würden & Pepo Galán the journey slowly comes to an end.

Mit dem Cover-Artwork für Pop Ambient 2022 hat sich die langjährige KOMPAKT-Grafikerin Veronika Unland einmal mehr selbst übertroffen. Nach den geradezu barocken, in blutrot und tiefschwarz gehaltenen, äußerst physischen Formationen von Pop Ambient 2021, die wie zum Tanz aufgerichtete Körper aus einem dunklen, floralen Meer auftauchten, ziert die Vorderseite von 2022 eine pastell-weiße Skulptur, in sich verschlungen, vielfach gefaltet und von zarten Schattierungen durchzogen, die auf einem blass-rosa Hintergrund zu schweben scheint; weiche, sanfte Wellen aus venezianischen Farben gewebt, die dem Betrachter Rätsel aufgeben: Ist es eine Blüte, eine Koralle, eine Molluske?

Natürlich geht es auch in der aktuellen Ausgabe der traditionsreichen, von Wolfgang Voigt kuratierten Compilation-Reihe um die beharrliche und immer wieder notwendige Definition von Schönheit, von Reduktion, um elektronische Musik von schwerer Leichtigkeit und leichter Schwere, vom ewigen Versprechen des Ambient auf einen Zustand körperlicher und akustischer Schwerelosigkeit und dem von Pop auf Erlösung. Und um die Frage, warum eine nie beliebige Kombination aus Klangfläche, Drones, Samples und Loops, auf eine bestimmte Art zusammengefügt, dieses Gefühl von Wärme, Tiefe und Raum entstehen lassen kann, - etwas dreidimensionales, in dem die Fantasie sich so zuhause fühlt wie ein Fisch im Wasser oder ein Vogel in der Luft. Ein ästhetischer Schlüsselreiz, der alle Sinne in ein langsames Gleiten und Driften versetzt, wonach sich deine Synapsen wieder anfühlen, als habe man sie in ätherischem Öl gebadet. Neben Soul ist Ambient die wahrscheinlich wirksamste musikalische Heilpflanze der Menschheit.

Hinter den auralen Reagenzgläsern hantiert einmal mehr das Who-is-Who der kompaktschen Pop Ambient-Riege, erstmals angeführt vom hoch gehandelten kalifornischen Duo Blank Gloss, deren diesjähriges Debüt-Album “Melt” der englische Guardian nichts weniger als “herzergreifende Schönheit” bescheinigte. Yui Onodera’s “Chrome” sowie “Kari”, eine Kooperation von Markus Guentner und Joachim Spieth, könnte man sich auch gut im Score von Denis Villeneuve’s Neuverfilmung von DUNE vorstellen, - das hat der Kollege Hans Zimmer allerdings auch ohne die drei ganz gut hinbekommen. Nach so wundervollen wie stilsicheren Beiträgen von Reich & Würden, Triola und Thomas Fehlmann verharrt das Ohr dann etwas länger beim geisterhaften “Weiht” von Morgen Wurde feat. Maria Estrella-Weiht, ein Track wie ein Tempel aus Klang, ein tiefes elektronisches Eintauchen in einen japanischen Onsen. In diesem Meer aus unnennbarer Zeit könnte man ewig versinken, doch mit den Tracks von Andrew Thomas, Thore Pfeiffer und Max Würden & Pepo Galán geht die Reise langsam zu Ende.

Originally released on Colpix Records in 1963, this striking release consists of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers performing selected music from the Broadway musical Golden Boy. Arranged by three master musicians, Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller and Cedar Walton, the music is performed by an amazing all-star line up featuring Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan - trumpet, Curtis Fuller - trombone, Julius Watkins - French horn, Bill Barber - tuba, James Spaulding - alto sax, Wayne Shorter - tenor sax, Charles Davis - baritone sax, Cedar Walton - piano, Reggie Workman - bass, and of course Blakey "the Boss" on drums.

It's back-to-back hits with the return of the Names You Can Trust split single series featuring two new emerging artists and record debuts.

After years on the local New York scene as DJs, collaborators and permanent fixtures amongst the brightest of musicians and artists, Raspadura has spent a long time brewing behind the curtain, tucked away in the musical minds of real life partners Josue Granados (Sonidero Mixteco, Los Taxis) and Dayan Silva (Dayansiiita). Their coming out party as recording artists is a perfect encapsulation of the duo's raucous but delightful energy. "Pa Que Gocen" is pure punkera, but seasoned with a deep musical appreciation that abounds in the timeless tropical music universe, and surely a precursor to further recording adventures, as this debut should warrant. The appeal is obvious as soon as the needle drops. Silva's enchanting vocals grab you immediately, with tales of sweets upon sweets. Pure visions of dulce, panela and miel are chanted over the rhythm of Granados' low down ska-beat and hypnotizing tres cubano. For Raspadura, dessert is first!

Come fly with Grupo Pernil in this ode to the timeless vibes of gypsy rumba, merengue and guaracha. Featuring an international all-star cast of musicians from travelling adventures and collaborations of recent years, "Danza de la Cabra" was originally conceived at home in the NYCT studio, and later brought to life with additional sessions inside Amsterdam's Heat Too Hot and Barcelona's Nación Funk studios. This one-off instrumental recording turned into a case of severe psicodelica, under the influence and improvisation of the group's talented players and percussion professionals, then amped and electrified for maximum effect with a touch of studio magic and a taste for local iberico. Featuring members of Greenwood Rhythm Coalition, Conjunto Papa Upa, Fundación Tony Manero and Los Fulanos.

In 2012, Snarky Puppy booked their first European tour through Facebook posts, begging people to help find a bar they could play in. Years later, on November 14th, 2019, Snarky Puppy recorded their sold-out show from the iconic Royal Albert Hall in London, which will be their first official live release in almost 4 years. Featuring an extended line-up of 15 out of their 18 regular members, the record includes many tracks from their recent studio album, "Immigrance." "Live at the Royal Albert Hall" captures an interesting mix of new and old songs, illustrating their musical and artistic progression over the years. This record will be released digitally, along with a double CD and triple colored vinyl (band webstore only).

What happens when you put four of the most creative musicians from the Norwegian jazz scene in lockdown? They create. In march 2020, when the corona pandemic forced Norway into lockdown, Flukten found their oasis. Flukten springs out of one thing - the will to create music. Flukten consists of musicians from some of the most critically acclaimed jazz groups in Norway: Hanna Paulsberg Concept, Atomic, Moskus, GURLS, Wako, Espen Berg Trio, Hullyboo, Skadedyr and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra.After Flukten's debut concert last year one music critic wrote: "if there is one band debut that really has left their mark in soul and heart, it is this".With a musical reference library filled with the likes of John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Per "Texas" Johansson, Salif Keita and Paul Motian, they take detours through hip hop, soul and folk music from all over the world. Here, all spontaneous whims can be cultivated and explored. Flukten gives you dirty jazz that makes you move, and soft, fine tuned jazz that makes you think. This is music that celebrates life and embraces the unbelievable. In February 2021, the four musicians entered the recording studio with the same open attitude as when they first jammed together. On Flukten`s debut album you hear saxophonist Hanna Paulsberg's eternal vocabulary and multifaceted tone unfold completely without compromises. You hear guitarist Marius Klovning somewhere in the middle of John Scofield, sharp soul, western and Norwegian folk music. Hans Hulbækmo's drumming is tempting to compare with the playing of a solo pianist in his melodic repertoire. Bassist Bárdur Reinert Poulsen drives everything with his punchy, hard swinging hand, but also provides us with emotional solos.Together, Flukten are an explosion of joyful playing from some of Norways most talented musicians. The songs of Flukten's debut album span from playful melodies to dissonant harmonies. Sometimes it's a composition based on a voice memo of someone humming. Other times we hear snapshots from improvisations in the vivid studio atmosphere. The music dances, other times it is like a soft caress. Suddenly they fly into ecstasy. This album is the sonic equivalent to jumping from a hot sauna and into cold water. The music wakes you up. This is music that could only appear this exact moment from these exact musicians. Maybe you spend hours lying on the floor, lost in a book. Maybe you get drunk, or you run into the woods? We all need to escape now and then.

First new release from Lizard Music in over two decades Since their hiatus, band members have joined Wilco, become the musical director for Cat Power, been a featured guest on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and worked with artists including Lana Del Rey, Brian Wilson, The Monkees, and more! Available on CD, Digital, and double-LP What Lizard Music says about Arizone! This collection of buzzy, whirly pop songs from a parallel dimension is a testament to Martin Short, Martin Sheen, Sheena Easton, Tina Turner, and Tiny Tim. Arizone! is better than discovering never-before seen discs for a View-Master. Arizone! is the sound of four old friends who spent their formative years playing music, traveling, and learning about the world, reuniting after a 25 year hiatus to compare notes and wound up with a one-way ticket to Arizone! Lizard Music began in Atlantic Highlands, NJ in 1989 when high school friends Mikael Jorgensen and Erik Paparozzi started learning and writing songs with a four-track. They pillaged their parents' record collections and discovered the musical universes of The Beatles, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, XTC, James Brown and The Meters. In the fall of 1990, Lizard Music (named after the book by Daniel Pinkwater) was hired to be the backing band for David Peel and The Lower East Side at the recently-closed Brighton Bar in Long Branch, NJ, which would serve as the unofficial home base for the band for the next five years.

On Now Where Were We, The Exbats hit the ground running like
a dystopian garage rock version of the Shangri-Las, or like
a message to the future from the pre-Velvet Underground doowop
wannabe Lou Reed. The album rings bright, like a beacon
in the wilderness: eminently, effortlessly catchy, and loaded
with buoyant choruses that rank alongside the best chart-toppers
launched by the Brill Building or Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound.
Kenny McClain and his daughter, vocalist and drummer
Inez McClain, formed the nucleus of the Exbats over a decade
ago, when Inez was just 10 years old; today, Bobby Carlson
rounds out the group on bass. Despite their remote location in
Bisbee, Arizona, just eleven miles north of the U.S.-Mexican
border, the group quickly racked up accolades citing a wealth of
influences that run from cartoon quintet the Archies to punk rock
originators the Avengers, and from the so-sweet-it-hurts 1910
Fruitgum Company to Los Angeles antiheroes the Weirdos.
Truthfully, The Exbats embrace a wider swath of musical styles,
incorporating blue-eyed soul, tongue-in-cheek country, Brit
pop, psych, and R&B into their sound.
The McClains describe this album as “more ambitious” than
its predecessors. They tooled ninety minutes northeast to Tucson
to record, per usual, with Matt Rendon at Midtown Island Studios.
Months later, the Exbats emerged with an album imbued
with harmoniously cautious optimism—the musical equivalent
but psychological antithesis to the Brian Wilson-Tony Asher
masterpiece “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times.” While Wilson
was looking for “a place to fit in,” The Exbats have found
sanctuary via the brilliant “Ghost In The Record Store,” which
is “for all of us who need the joy of a little bit of plastic making
lots of noise.” Like the best records to croon along with, Now
Where Were We is captivatingly simple, yet hardly simplistic.
The Exbats are singing from their hearts—and they aren’t afraid
to bare their souls.

For Andy and Edwin White, the brothers behind Orlando’s Tonstartssbandht, a song is a living, breathing thing. Through constant touring, the Whites’ songs both take shape and change shape, becoming something a little different every night as they explore the possibilities inherent within them. With time, attention, and intention, these songs—long, languid, full of open musical questions and temporary answers—become distinct objects, and the process begins again. On Petunia, Tonstartssbandht’s 18th album and second for Mexican Summer, they bring us to the earliest moments of this process, showing off a barn full of hatchlings already decked with splendid plumage. Using little more than a 12-string guitar and a drum kit, Andy and Edwin weave together the gentle headiness of Laurel Canyon and the sweaty pacing of Cologne; like a gyroscope, its constant motion produces the illusion of stillness—and that stillness gives it a sense of intimacy and introspection, something that’s further illuminated by the new emphasis placed on the brothers’ vocals. It allows the quiet wisdom of the lyrics—what Andy self-deprecatingly calls “generic broad platitudes that I still think resonate when I say them”—to slip in almost unnoticed, delivering their emotional truths while preparing a feather bed for you to collapse into. “All roads will lead to the heart of town, when you’ve been running too long,” he sings in the album’s opening moments. “Being at peace only slows you down, but you’ve been running so long now.” If Petunia feels like a journey in the direction of peace, that, too, is a reflection of how it was made—the entire thing was written and recorded in Orlando in 2020, rather than pieced together in spurts over the years. This is an album built on level ground that shows what can happen when the artistic environment is stable, even while the world’s environment is anything but. Petunia is not Tonstartssbandht’s definitive statement on these songs, because how could it be? But it is a portrait of Andy and Edwin White at home in Florida, an artfully staged landscape rich in detail, its winding passages and airy environment waiting to be explored.

Barenaked Ladies return with their first new album in four years, ‘Detour de Force’. The 14-track effort is the result of both pre- and post-lockdown recording sessions. The band spent five weeks at vocalist/guitarists Ed Robertson’s cabin outside Toronto pre pandemic writing and recording in a makeshift studio. During pandemic lockdown, they decided they wanted to polish things up a bit. They returned to a Toronto studio when the lockdown lifted to rework the tracks resulting in ‘Detour de Force’. The Barenaked Ladies are Ed Robertson: Guitar, Vocals Jim Creeggan: Bass, Vocals Kevin Hearn: Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals Tyler Stewart: Drums, Vocals Over the course of their remarkable career, Barenaked Ladies have sold over 15 million albums, written multiple top 20 hits (including radio staples “One Week,” “Pinch Me,” “If I Had $1,000,000”), garnered 2 GRAMMY nominations, won 8 JUNO Awards, had Ben & Jerry’s name an ice cream after them (“If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours”), participated in the first-ever “space-to-earth musical collaboration” with astronaut Chris Hadfield, and garnered an international fan base whose members number in the millions. In 2018, the band were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Toronto Mayor John Tory declared October 1st “Barenaked Ladies Day.”

“The noisiest pop music on the planet” - Pitchfork Austin, TX’s cult noise rock trio CHERUBS return with their new EP, SLO BLO 4 FRNZ & SXY. A follow up to their critically acclaimed Immaculada High (2019), the new EP capitalizes on the musical frenzy and shining moments of the latest full length, resulting in another dose of the legendary band's take on punk infused noise rock. Lead track "A Pair of Pear Tarts" explodes out of the speakers - Kevin Whitley's vocals are at the forefront once again, backed by absolutely raucous drumming and whirry, fuzzed out bass and guitars. "Lazy Snakes" continues this momentum; the trademark psychedelic qualities of CHERUBS heaviness are at the forefront as drums rinse and repeat as the song builds and builds. Elsewhere on the EP, Immaculada High standout "Sooey Pig" is converted into an acoustic anthem, giving the track new dynamics and heights. For Fans Of: The Melvins, Metz, Queens of the Stone Age, Unsane, Butthole Surfers

Norah Jones has been a steady voice of warmth and reassurance for nearly 20 years since her cozy 2002 debut album Come Away With Me became a familiar musical companion for millions of people around the world. Now the 9-time GRAMMY-winning singer, songwriter, and pianist has made her first-ever holiday album with I Dream Of Christmas, a delightful and comforting collection of timeless seasonal favorites and affecting new originals that explore the complicated emotions of our times and our hopes that this holiday season will be full of joy and togetherness. I Dream Of Christmas will be released October 15 on Blue Note Records and can be pre-ordered now on vinyl, CD, and digital download.

“I’ve always loved Christmas music but never had the inclination to make a holiday album until now,” Norah says. “Last year I found myself listening to James Brown’s Funky Christmas and Elvis’s Christmas Album on Sunday’s during lockdown for a sense of comfort. In January 2021, I started thinking about making a Christmas album of my own. It gave me something fun to work on and look forward to.”

The album’s opening track, Norah’s original “Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones)” is available to stream or download today. Over chiming piano chords, Norah expresses a deep desire for holiday cheer and companionship. “I wanna hear the music play / I wanna dance and laugh and sway / I wanna happy holiday for Christmas.”

“When I was trying to figure out which direction to take, the original songs started popping in my head,” Norah explains. “They were all about trying to find the joys of Christmas, catching that spark, that feeling of love and inclusion that I was longing for during the rest of the year. Then there are all the classics that have that special nostalgia that can hit you no matter who or where you are in life. It was hard to narrow down, but I picked favorite classics that I knew I could make my own.”

Among the album’s many pleasures are Norah’s playful reinvention of The Chipmunk’s “Christmas Don’t Be Late” by David Seville (aka Ross Bagdasarian), which is given a languid beat and swaggering horns. Other highlights include sublime versions of “White Christmas,” “Blue Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “Christmas Time Is Here.”

I Dream Of Christmas was produced by Leon Michels, and features an excellent cast of musicians including Brian Blade on drums, Tony Scherr and Nick Movshon on bass, Russ Pahl on pedal steel guitar, Marika Hughes on cello, Dave Guy on trumpet, Raymond Mason on trombone, and Michels on saxophone, flute, percussion, and more.

Norah Jones first emerged on the world stage with the February 2002 release of Come Away With Me, her self-described “moody little record” that introduced a singular new voice and grew into a global phenomenon, sweeping the 2003 GRAMMY Awards. Since then, Jones has become a nine-time GRAMMY-winner. She has sold 50 million albums and her songs have been streamed six billion times worldwide. She has released a series of critically acclaimed and commercially successful solo albums—Feels Like Home (2004), Not Too Late (2007), The Fall (2009), Little Broken Hearts (2012), Day Breaks (2016), Pick Me Up Off The Floor (2020), and her first-ever live album ‘Til We Meet Again (2021)—as well as albums with her collective bands The Little Willies, El Madmo, and Puss N Boots featuring Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper who released their second LP Sister in 2020. The 2010 compilation …Featuring Norah Jones showcased her incredible versatility by collecting her collaborations with artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Outkast, Herbie Hancock, and Foo Fighters. Since 2018 Jones has been releasing a series of singles including collaborations with artists and friends such as Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy, Thomas Bartlett, Tarriona Tank Ball, Rodrigo Amarante, and Brian Blade, some of which were compiled on the 2019 singles collection Begin Again.

2021 marks the 50th Anniversary of the legendary record Fela Kuti made
with Ginger Baker of Cream.
 This Anniversary edition features a newly unearthed second drum solo
from Tony Allen and Ginger Baker, taken from Afrika 70’s performance
at the 1978 Berlin Jazz Festival. Part I has never appeared on vinyl and
this second part has never been heard - until now.
 1978’s Berlin Jazz Festival marked Afrika 70’s final live performance with
Fela. In the Spring of 1979, several members of Afrika 70, including
Allen, would leave the band. Allen had been with Fela since 1964. 1980
saw the birth of Egypt 80, with Baritone saxophonist Lekan Animashaun,
who had been with Fela since 1965, as its founding bandleader.
 Reissued with Abbey Road mastered audio.
 Red double vinyl with collector's 50th Anniversary gold foil obi strip.
 Bespoke etching of album artwork on Side D.
 Fela’s legacy spans decades and genres, touching on jazz, pop, funk,
hip-hop, rock and beyond. While he never achieved true icon status
during his lifetime, the last (roughly) decade has seen a broad
resurgence in his popularity and a critical reevaluation of his life, music
and influence. In 2008, the biographical musical ‘Fela!’ (co-produced by
Jay-Z and Will Smith) became a surprise hit off-Broadway and then
Broadway itself. Since then, Beyoncé performed Fela’s ‘Zombie’ at
Coachella, he’s been called out as an influence by everyone from Paul
McCartney to Questlove and sampled by Missy Elliott, Kendrick Lamar,
J. Cole, Nas, and more. Vice President Kamala Harris even used Fela’s
music at her and President Biden's first joint event together.
 ‘Let’s Start’ features prominently in the trailer and the soundtrack for the
new Western, ‘The Harder They Fall’, staring Idris Elba and Regina King.
 Fela features prominently in an episode of Hulu’s docuseries ‘McCartney
3, 2, 1’, where Paul McCartney cites Fela as one of his important
influences.
 This past spring Fela came in second place, behind Tina Turner, for the
fan vote for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame nominations and received
great press coverage in NY Times, Rolling Stone, MOJO, Record
Collector and more.

River Lea (a division of Rough Trade) releases Fire Draw Near - an album of
Irish traditional songs and music from the archives, compiled by Ian Lynch
of Dublin band Lankum.
“This LP is a collection of 13 rare, strange and wonderful gems from the Irish
tradition. Recorded in various parts of the country over a period of over 60
years between 1947 and 2013.
They show us a strong, multi-faceted and vibrant musical tradition in the country; one that still exists in the present day. The settings are varied - bars, living rooms, campsites, recording studios - as are the backgrounds of those who
perform.
The music of the Travellers, who tended to the flame of tradition while the rest
of society began to lose interest is well-represented, as are styles ranging from
sean-n s singing in Connemara, Donegal fiddle-playing, uilleann piping from
Dublin and English language singing of ballads both bawdy and beautiful from
across Ireland.” - Ian Lynch.
Fire Draw Near - An Anthology of Traditional Irish Song and Music is the fifth
album to be released by River Lea, following records by Lisa O’Neill, Br ghde
Chaimbeul, Ye Vagabonds and John Francis Flynn.
Fire Draw Near is also a monthly podcast and radio show, hosted by Ian Lynch
which investigates Irish traditional music in all its myriad forms.

Odd, Ordinary & Otherwise,’ the third full-length record from New Orleans
country-folk songsmith Chris Acker, is a collection of songs brimming with
true tales, eloquent songwriting, and fearless honesty.
During his decade-long songwriting career, Chris has explored musical terrain
tread by contemporary folk music’s greatest champions: Prine, Dylan, Guthrie,
etc. With ‘Odd, Ordinary & Otherwise,’ Acker has forged an unmistakable lyrical
style that’s truly his own, containing more reverence than reference to those
who came before him.
The songs of O-O-O are equally as influenced by months of isolation during
COVID quarantine as they are by Chris’ place in the New Orleans dancehall and
busking communities in years previous.
The album’s thirteen tracks flow gracefully from introspective, quiet tunes worthy of the modern Folk Music cannon, to downright barn burners ready for
the dancehall and all the space in between. Acker’s creative response to the
heartbreak and anxiety that defined the year 2020 is primarily one full of life.
The vividly painted scenes and stories that define the record are his and no one
else’s. Paired with his signature pop sensibility, playful and sometimes humorous language, and a professional sonic presentation, ‘Odd, Ordinary & Otherwise’ is a compelling record that merits close investigation.

Through his dedication to the Los Angeles grassroots projects that gave so much stability and focus to many younger musicians, artists and the community, Horace Tapscott became a neighbourhood hero at a time when the world wanted his presence. He stayed in Los Angeles and focused instead on building a community, rarely giving interviews and instead focusing on passing on the message from his mentors. He shaped a unique sound with his arkestra and community minded musicians. It was a close-knit family that emanated a sound that was deep and unique, flowing with a creative spirit that definitely comes through on this album.

In 1961 he founded the Pan-African Peoples Arkestra, which aimed to preserve, develop and publicise African-American music through the ever-growing family that emanated within many of the deprived areas of Los Angeles. Through his subsequent collaboration with Bruce Albach, a producer and founder of Nimbus West Records, they sought to document the importance of this music alongside many artists who were energetically linked to the ethos and understanding which came from the collective dialogue.

Here the composer leads four extensive arrangements through his 16 piece orchestra, featuring many of the Nimbus West artists including Adele Sebastian, Jesse Sharps and Linda Hill. The music weaves the sound of afro-futuristic music through changing tempos and a relentless dynamic expressive sound that is complex and beguiling with a deep spiritual sound throughout all four tracks.

The ceremonial ‘Peyete Song no. III’ is a great swirling evocative piece from the large collective, with amazing solos from especially Horace Tapscott who seems to find a sound from the piano that is from another dimension. The arrangement airs an important message of a people and their rituals.

Horace Tapscott gives Cal Massey’s composition ‘Nakatini Suite’ a splendid futuristic big band interpretation. The composition had been earlier illuminated by both Lee Morgan on his ‘Lee-Way’ album and John Coltrane on his ‘Believer’ album titled ‘Nakatini Serenade’. Through the more expansive soundscape, the interpretation allows for some great interplay between saxophonist Jesse Sharps and drummer Everett Brown Jr. with the whole orchestra led by Horace Tapscott capturing the essence of Cal Massey’s message.

Vocalist Adele Sebastian opens up the free probing arrangement ‘Quagmire Manor at 5am’ composition with a similar delivery as with her ‘Day Dream’ from the classic ‘Desert Fairy Princess’ album before the music takes off onto the mothership adding a sense of what time and space within the manner was about amongst many great musicians and artists. Their journey and moments encapsulated within the music.

There are certain albums you hear something new every time you revisit the music and this is one of those albums. An important part of Afro-American history; the politics and art which surrounded the album. If you get a chance check out the film ‘Horace Tapscott, Musical Griot’, by filmmaker Barbara McCullough, or buy the book ‘Songs Of The Unsung’: The Musical & Social Journey of Horace Tapscott’. Mark Jones/UK Vibe