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Doppler Vinyl 2x180g (1xRed 1xGreen vinyl)

A few years ago, a certain Robin Schulz released a DJ mix on SoundCloud. Hailing from the town of Osnabrück, Germany and completely unknown at the time, he dubbed his mix “Wenn Träume fliegen lernen”, referencing the Peter Pan movie “Finding Neverland”. Seven years down the line, Robin Schulz hasn’t only found his Neverland, but keeps adding new chapters to his fairy tale.



Take this one, for instance: Robin Schulz is now the only German artist in the country’s chart history with three diamond-certified singles. Following “Prayer in C“ and “Waves“, his hit single “Sugar“ is the latest to officially reach this rare feat. Add his 275 gold and platinum awards in 30 markets, sales in excess of 20 million and nearly 8 billion global streams and you get the idea why the German DJ and producer is considered an exceptional phenomenon.



It should come as no surprise that he didn’t get there by accident. That also goes for his coming fourth album “IIII”, slated for a February 26 release. Over the course of three years, the creative powerhouse that is Schulz created ideas and worked tirelessly on the album whilst touring all around the world. “Of course, I’m absolutely stoked about gaining the third diamond award in my career”, Robin shares. “However, in my head I’m still that bloke from Osnabrück who wants to make it out there with his creative vision. With that ambition, I also approached my new album.”



Some of the album’s songs are already well familiar – “Speechless” (feat. Erika Sirola)”, “All This Love” (feat. Harloe), “Rather Be Alone” (feat. Nick Martin & Sam Martin), “In Your Eyes” (feat. Alida), “Alane” (feat. Wes) and the current single “All We Got” (feat. Kiddo). Another 11 tracks are still to see the light of day and Robin is looking forward to releasing them soon: “I can’t wait to share the new cuts with you. I really hope you’ll love them as much as I do”, he says.



Robin is ready to write the next chapter of his very own fairy tale.

LTD. BLUE & PINK SWIRL VINYL

"Do you feel what I feel too?" Brijean Murphy floats the question at the start of Feelings, the full-length Ghostly International debut from Brijean, her collaborative project with Doug Stuart. Guided by a lush mix of charismatic keyboard chords, grooving bass lines, and radiant bongo-driven rhythms, the "Day Dreaming" lyric doubles as an invitation and a statement of intention. Brijean want you to move, physically, mentally, dimensionally; this is dance music for the mind, body, and soul. With Feelings, they've manifested a gentle collective space for respite, for self-reflection, for self-care, for uninhibited imagination and new possibilities. The album cultivates a specific vibe, a softness Murphy has come to call "romancing the psyche." Growing up in a family immersed in jazz, Latin and soul music, Murphy would become an accomplished DJ, session and live player in Oakland's diverse music scene and one of indie's most in-demand percussionists (Poolside, Toro Y Moi, U.S. Girls). In 2018, she began recording songs with multi-instrumentalist and producer Doug Stuart, who shares a background in jazz and pop in bands such as Bells Atlas, Meernaa, and Luke Temple. Following their first sessions, which resulted in the mini-album Walkie Talkie (released in 2019 on Native Cat Recordings), the duo continued freeform hangs in Oakland, inviting friends Chaz Bear, Tony Peppers, and Hamir Atwal. "We improvised on different feels for hours," says Murphy. "Nothing quite developed at first but we had seeds. We re-opened the sessions a couple months later, after returning from tours, and spent a month developing the songs in a little 400 square foot cottage." Aforementioned album opener "Day Dreaming" is a dynamic celebration of newness: the excitement in finding deeper understandings of yourself as you get to know someone, something, or somewhere new. "Wifi Beach" drops a pin in pure psych-pop exotica. With Atwal on drums, Stuart on bass, Peppers on keys, and Bear engineering, the group improvised the track's intro sequence based on the vision of a lavish 1970s pool party. Establishing the scene is a mid-frequency drum kit disco shuffle augmented by tight congas and timbale effect, as Murphy sings in spurts: "I want to be / Deep in love / I want to be / Say you love me too / I want to be / Honey." The stanzas cut between "reflective moments of wants and being overwhelmed by feelings of the present," she explains. "A lot of the `love songs' I write are to my psyche, self-reflections on how to encourage tender perspectives and make more time for the sweet stuff." Though there is a loose, dance-oriented motif throughout, the material gives way to somnolent turns. On "Ocean," Brijean's anodyne lyrics, reminiscent of Astrud Gilberto's airy croon, float atop a brushed drum pattern, sparkling rhodes lines, and pittering and softly funky woodblock bops. The opening line sets up the rest, "In this gentle space we lay" _ among the album's propensity for movement, tracks like "Ocean" stand out by leaning back for momentary sways of blissful introspection. Murphy calls the charming "Hey Boy" a "psychedelic guide _ the exploration of finding what feels good _ through sorrow, anxiety, apathy." This mentality applies to Feelings on the whole: in these nebulous and verdant worlds of hazy melodies, feathery hooks, and percussive details, the songs simply want us to feel alive. They radiate in wonderful abandon and with a sense of devotion to the self. RIYL: Stereolab, Astrud Gilberto, Air, Little Dragon, Broadcast, Khruangbin, Poolside.

-LTD. 180G RED VINYL-

Jonathan Bree's fourth album `After The Curtains Close' sees the producers trademark orchestral pop take a few unexpected turns both into the experimental and into kitschy territory populated by some of his french heroes of the 1960s. The end result is an album that retains Bree's musical DNA while being fun and varied. What could be described as Bree's `sleazy' album could also be described as Bree's break-up album. Dealing with the break-down of a major relationship Bree opens up to reveal a year of loneliness and mental trauma while also channelling positive feelings by embracing sex and sleaze in his music, subject material more traditionally reserved for the single man. Bree strikes a great balance here between darkness and silliness and he does this without appearing snide, which is a line some artists can seem all too happy to cross. Bree's vocals are on display in a full range of styles, his baritone croon jumps octaves and everywhere in between across the 12 tracks and he is even present singing his own back-up vocals in child like falsetto. Opening track `Happy Daze' is a ray of heady sunshine and wall of strings celebrating worrying about nothing else while in a lovers arms. First single `Waiting on The Moment' has been accurately described as a celebratory break-up song, with cynical and slightly mean lyrics set to a grand and danceable 80s pop arrangement. Bree celebrates new romantic encounters with fun orchestral pop songs full of double entendres ('Heavenly Visions', 'Kiss My Lips' feat Princess Chelsea, '69' feat Crystal Choi) and his talent for writing for the female lead vocal has not been so obviously on display since his work with The Brunettes, also evident on 'Meadows in Bloom', a tragic Shangri-La's inspired narrative about the pitfalls of sleeping with the drummer, in which Britta Phillips (Luna) takes lead vocal duties.

Whitesnake celebrates the blues sound that helped inspire its multi-platinum career on a new collection that features remixed and remastered versions of the group’s best blues-rock songs. The Blues Album is the third and final release in the band’s Red, White and Blues Trilogy, a series of compilations organised by musical themes that began earlier in 2020 with Love Songs (red) and The Rock Album (white). The new compilation delivers a potent mix of hits and deep tracks that originally appeared between 1984 and 2011 on six Whitesnake studio albums and Coverdale’s solo album, Into the Light.

Whitesnake’s singer-songwriter David Coverdale says, the music reflects how blues artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and the three Kings (Albert, B.B. and Freddie) continue to inspire him. In the album’s liner notes, he writes: “It’s hard to find the words to show how profoundly they connected with my soul. But ‘blues’ to me is a beautiful word that describes emotional expression… feelings, be it feelings of sadness, loneliness, emptiness… but, also those that express great joy, celebration and dance, sexiness and love!!!”

The Blues Album showcases two of the band’s biggest songs: “Slow An’ Easy,” a big hit in 1984 from Whitesnake’s massive album Slide It In, and the smash “Give Me All Your Love” from the band’s 1987 self-titled globally successful album. Other choice tracks from Whitesnake are also featured: “Looking For Love” and “Crying In The Rain,” and “Steal Your Heart Away.” The collection also includes “If You Want Me,” a studio recording released in 2006 as a bonus track on the live album, Live…in the Shadows of the Blues. Coverdale also taps his 2000 solo album, Into the Light, for “The River Song.”

When Claud Mintz's mother finally heard the 13 songs on her kid's magnetic first album, Super Monster, she asked a concerned question: Just how many people had her 21-year-old dated? From beginning to end, these sparkling pop tunes capture the assorted stages of a relationship's delight and dejection_the giddy sensation of a first kiss during the beaming "Overnight," the heartsick longing of a pending rejection during the yearning "Jordan," the reluctant call for a requisite breakup during the smoldering "Ana." Claud, though, replied that these songs detailed the phases of only two or three relationships, simply written during them or at various points after they were over. The debut release on Phoebe Bridgers' Saddest Factory Records, Super Monster is a vertiginous but joyous coming-of-age reckoning with such young love. Claud sees relationships as games of endless wonder, intrigue, and second-guesses, a roller-coaster thrilling you even when it's terrifying. If "Gold" turns the tension and indecision of a bad match into an undeniable bit of lithe disco, "That's Mr. Bitch To You" uses a spurt of righteous indignation to fuse a little soul and emo into one breathless hook. Super Monster is like a compulsive compilation that Claud culled from a lifetime of musical enthusiasms_the arcing alt-rock of '90s airwaves, the rapturous pop of '00s chart-toppers, the diligent genre-hopping of modern online life. Claud emerges as the chameleonic mastermind of this mélange, channeling all of love's emotions into songs so sharp they make even the hardest times feel fun. Perhaps you are in the throes of one of these romantic moments yourself right now, resentful of a frustrating paramour like Claud during "Pepsi" or indulging in lust like "In or In Between." Or maybe these songs recall those wild days and tough situations. Incisive, instant, and addictive Super Monster works on either level_to remind us of love's wild ups and downs or to help us deal with them in real time. In that way, Mom, these songs are about dating, well, everyone.

Just when you thought every loner folk genius had been outed/discovered, hyped, and pontificated about, a new/old challenger lurks in the murky depths of time...and Maine. Sure, you have your Skip Spences, Dave Bixbys, Stone Harbours, and Perry Leopolds already, but have you heard the lonesome sound of Bill Stone? Well, don't feel bad or "unkool", hardly anyone has--unless you lived in rural Maine in the early 70s and grabbed his barely-ever seen LP in the day. Titled simply Stone, Bill's mysterious album was pressed in the micro-est of quantities, covering wistful, airy psychedelia on par with the UK's Mark Fry's classic Dreaming of Alice, while still evoking the earthy, evening-hour melancholy of Leonard Cohen or Tom Rapp. Stone was also especially influenced by one Donny P. Leitch, one Robby Zimmerman, and much trad folk, while growing up in his hometown of Old Town, Maine. Stone started out playing in a few small folk ensembles while also moonlighting with occasional solo gigs, finally recording this lone platter in 1969 in a pottery studio (!?) on a 2-track Panasonic tape recorder in Boothbay, Maine (where he says, they competed with a cat in heat). The LP features Tom Blackwell/Bill Stone-guitars, Arthur Webster-bass, Bob Blackwell/Skip Smith-drums, Bill/Beth Waterhouse on vocals. It also seems cover artist Doug Bane went on to become an acclaimed cosmic painter--committing loads of animals, psychedelic scenes, and Native American portraits to canvas, who knew? But we digress--anyhow, seems Stone's solo career slowed down after marriage hit, and he transitioned to playing covers in bars for cash, but after acquiring a masters and doctorate in education, he moved into the teaching walk of life. Bill published books and articles on subjects as diverse as school counseling and chaos theory--but now retired, he's returned to music, even recording a new album of originals and traditional numbers, based on his experiences as a cab driver (another wrinkle in the Stone Saga we must hear more of someday - but for now check out). So with Bill back in action and the world slowly crawling out of a disillusioning haze, now seems like the perfect time for a first-time-ever reissue of this incredibly rare, happy-sad, gently delicate, Stone(d) classic of a downer song-cycle.

DeWolff return with their new album, Wolffpack, released on 5th February 2021 via Mascot Records.

DeWolff, the kaleidoscopic warriors were not long into their 2019 Tascam Tapes European Tour when the Covid19 pandemic broke and they, like so many others, had to turn back and head home. They started working on the new album Wolffpack.

The album kicks off with the first song they finished, the soulful psychedelic funk of "Yes You Do," featuring Ian Peres and longtime friend of the band, Judy Blank. "We wrote it in a Zoom meeting!" Pablo says. "Treasure City Moonchild," struts in with a funky swagger and Piso's trademark swirling Hammond, with Dawn Brothers' Levis Vis providing some Bass juice. "Do Me," includes Theo Lawrence on vocals and is through the eyes of an anti-hero who realizes he isn't worthy of the woman of his dreams, and dates back to 2019 and the Next of Kin live show. "I consider this the best song I ever wrote, so I couldn't stand the idea that it was only used for those Next of Kin shows and then never again! That's why I brought it to DeWolff, but it needed some rearranging," he says. Another song from the Next of Kin sessions was "Sweet Loretta" and features Dawn Brothers' Stefan Wolfs and Darilyn's Diwa Meijman. "Loretta is the protagonist's childhood sweetheart. She has a rich dad, but he's really conservative, and so she can only inherit his money if she marries a man. But she's lesbian. So, the protagonist, who's also out for this old guy's money, suggests they play pretend and marry so they can split the money."

They sweep through disco on "Half Your Love," swamp rock on "Bona Fide" and take on sci-fi and the Old Testament on "RU My Savior." Their tour buddies The Grand East show up on "Roll Up the Rise." Written in the first days of quarantine, it's about the end of the quarantine - told from a future perspective. "Lady J," came after Pablo watched the documentary "13th." "I was quite shaken up by it," he admits. "The lyrics are based on the idea that Lady Justice seems to have a scale that doesn't measure the "weight" of your crime but the tone of your skin. She is supposed to be blindfolded, but the people who act in "her" name aren't blind at all: they discriminate between white and black."

The album ends with the forlorn "Hope Train." Based on the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead about two slaves in the US during the 19th century, who make a bid for freedom from their Georgia plantation. "I found it really hard to envision the world in which it takes place," he says. The band used a 1970s Fisher-Price Toy cassette recorder in the intro, "We wanted to see if we could somehow approach the sound of those very early country blues recordings, like the ones by Blind Willie Johnson.”

Craft Recordings is pleased to reissue four classic, remastered titles from legendary jazz artist Chet Baker. Set for release on March 5th and available for pre-order now, the albums comprise Baker’s entire output as a leader for the renowned jazz label Riverside—all recorded and released between 1958 and 1959: (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You, Chet Baker in New York, Chet and Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe. The recordings, which feature such icons as Bill Evans, Johnny Griffin and Kenny Burrell, have all been cut from their original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. Each title will also be available on March 5th across digital platforms in hi-res 192/24 and 96/24 formats.

There are few genres in which German artists play such a central pioneering role as they do in electronic music, be it techno, electropop, trance or rave. At the frontline for many years were Kraftwerk and U96, two absolute trailblazers of this musical direction. While Kraftwerk wrote international music history mainly in the 1970s with cult albums such as Autobahn (1974), Radio-Aktivität (1975), Trans Europa Express (1977) and Die Mensch-Maschine (1978), U96 had a profound influence on the global pop music, rave and techno scene of the 1990s with hits such as ‘Das Boot’, ‘Love Sees No Colour’, ‘Night In Motion’ and ‘Heaven’. Transhuman, scheduled for release on UNLTD Recordings on 30th October 2020, will feature a spectacular collaboration between U96 (Ingo Hauss

& Hayo Lewerentz) and Wolfgang Flür, Kraftwerk’s drummer in the years between 1972 and 1987 and therefore involved in the most seminal albums by the group from Düsseldorf.

This remarkable cooperation was first announced and implemented by two joint numbers on U96’s 2018 offering Reboot. Transhuman sees U96 and Wolfgang Flür develop their creative exchange across a full album, creating fascinating sonic worlds. The title song ‘Transhuman’ and an updated version of ‘Zukunftsmusik (Radiophonique)’ will be released as lead singles, including, as we’ve come to expect from U96, experimental video clips. That New York record label Radikal Records immediately secured the rights to the album for the US and Canada points to major interest in this project, not only on these shores but also across the Atlantic.

“Transhuman is a stylistic mélange of our different histories,” describe Wolfgang Flür and U96 masterminds Hauss and Lewerentz an offering that is spectacular in many respects, featuring, along with typical U96 tracks such as ‘Clone’ and ‘Specimen’, numbers such as ‘Transhuman’, ‘Planet In Fever’ and ‘Sexersizer’ that are inspired by Flür’s past. Notably, the content has been reduced to the sheer basics, in other words: sparingly used associative statements with deep, but at times also playful and mysterious messages that the listener feels rather than consciously registers. The lyrics are about the transformation of people through technology and our massive interference in life on our planet. Hauss: “Pieces like ‘Zukunftsmusik’ and ‘Transhuman’ don’t tell a story in the classic sense, they articulate emotions and associations in very few words, bringing to mind recordings such as Radio-Aktivität, Autobahn and Die Mensch-Maschine. In addition Transhuman, features a number of melodies created on the basis of computer algorithms, in other words fractal music which takes us even further back in history, to Klaus Schulze, Stockhausen, the electronics laboratories of the fifties and sixties and the musique concrete compositional technique.”

Nach Crazy Rhythms Of Mata Hari, Shake Your Bones, dem Cool Cat Club und Born To Hula! Folgt nun der 5. Teil der DJ-Set Serie auf Stag-O-Lee. Wie auch bei den Vorgängern handelt es sich hier um einen auf 80 Minuten eingedampftes DJ-Set von einem verdienten Recken der Zunft - Keb Darge. Gaz Mayall folgt direkt mit Volume 6. Linernotes: Rockabilly didn't cross my world until the early nineteen eighties at a Dirtbox weekender in Bournemouth, until then I was a pure northern soul boy. I didn't really get stuck into collecting the stuff until a decade later, but when I did what a wonderful world of tunes opened up to me, and I went wild on it. I was very lucky to be doing a record stall in Camden market at the time just across from Boz Boorer and Neil Scott's stall. They along with other serious collectors Dave Vickers, Barney Koumis, Cosmic Keith, Jim Fox, Dave Crozier, and many others taught me all I needed to know. I only ever made one great rockabilly discovery which none of them knew, "Little Bit Lonesome" by Charles Ross, but I was happy enough buying all their recommendations as they were all new and exciting for me. I have done several rockabilly comps before, but sadly the Philippines typhoon in 2013 destroyed my village and forced me to sell the bulk of my collection. Here are some of my favourites that I never got round to putting out before that happened. Two of the aforementioned collectors are no longer with us. I therefore dedicate this comp to Dave Vickers and Cosmic Keith who both had a huge influence on my life and my musical taste.

Houston’s reputation for developing first-class jazz acts is well-established, as a stream of young players have been distinguishing themselves for decades…among those musicians and mentors who stood tallest, Bubbha Thomas was no exception (and a major key-player) in this long tradition of talent.

Before becoming an artist and educator, Bubbha Thomas (born 1937) was a Fourth Ward kid who grew up in a music-filled household. In High School he divided his time between music & basketball (he excelled at both) and studied with jazz legend Conrad “Prof” Johnson. “Prof” would later bring jazz glory to Texas with the Kashmere Stage Band, the group of teenagers who would win the “Best High School Stage Band In The Nation” prize in Mobile, Alabama in 1972 and who were anthologized in 2006 on Now-Again’s ‘Thunder Soul’ (which led to the 2010 Jamie Foxx documentary of the same name).

After finishing college, Bubbha got drafted in the service (he was a Korean War veteran) and would return to Houston in the early 1960s where he found work as a session drummer for the Duke and Peacock labels. Thomas drummed on recordings by O.V. Wright, Buddy Ace and the Mighty Clouds of Joy. He was playing his own stuff and backing luminaries such as R&B singer Chuck Jackson and homegrown legends like Lightnin’ Hopkins. Bubbha Thomas also teamed up with some of his equally legendary peers (like guitarist Melvin Sparks & organist Leon Spencer) and eventually established his own group, the Jazz Merchants.
Bubbha learned every style that was thrown at him and he played straight-ahead jazz with renowned artists before the political and social upheaval of the late 1960s led him to a path first charted by Coltrane and Sun Ra…the result of these new found influences was the incredible spiritual jazz ensemble ‘The Lightmen’, who released four incredible recordings in the 1970s. Their first album ‘Free As You wanna be’ predates the deep-set, maverick jazz issued by the likes of Tribe and Strata East and is a harbinger of some of the best in the 1970s jazz underground. The Lightmen albums eventually fell out of print until 2017 when the Now-Again record label brought them back into circulation and generated new interest in Bubbha Thomas’ work.
Thomas had a storied career as a drummer and bandleader, but perhaps his most enduring work is that as founder of Houston’s Summer Jazz Workshop, a remarkable program that nurtured upcoming talent for generations...we can’t begin to count the number of young people who benefitted from the exposure to music-arts because of Bubbha Thomas and what he meant to the Houston music community. In his career he earned five Grammy nominations and authored a pair of books. Next to this he was also a writer/editor for several local newspapers, ran one of the first Houston African American Television shows and he hosted a radio program on KYOK. Impressive to say the least!

Bubbha Thomas passed away in March 2020 at the age of 82. It was obvious he was a principled, fiery & wise person…and any anger he felt at America’s (and the world’s) injustices he met with music, intellect, activism and unity!

Next to his work with ‘’The Lightmen’’, Bubbha also released the fantastic (solo) album ‘Life & Times’ in 1985. ‘Life & Times’ (which we are proudly presenting you today) is particularly interesting to boogie-enthusiasts because of its high doses of funky twerks, solid grooves, crazy synth work, soulful vocals and excellent drum-beats courtesy of Mr. Thomas himself. You’ll quickly find yourself shaking hips the moment the needle hits the first track! The whole album is backed by a fantastic cast of all-star players and includes Howard Harris (Ruth Copeland), Dwight Sills (Bobby Lyle - TLC), Jerry McPherson (Donna Summer), Leo Polk (Kashmere Stage Band), John Gordon (Strata East) and Jackie Simley (Queen Latifah - Lionel Richie). All of the above makes this LP an essential purchase for any self-respecting fan and collector.

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the FIRST ever vinyl reissue of this fantastic album (originally released in 1985 on Lightin’ Records). This rare record (original copies tend to go for large amounts on the secondary market) is now finally back available as a limited 180g vinyl edition (500 copies) complete with the original artwork.

Recorded and produced sometime, somewhere between the back streets of Hackney, Margate and Sydney, this release brings together 4 deep and diverse tracks from UK producer Mike Misiu (previously seen on Razor n Tape and Pleasure Unit among others). It also marks the maiden musical voyage of his new label Heads High.

Opening track 'Darkness Falls' floats a dramatic filtered string section over a driving dub-disco-house beat, spacey synth plucks and euphoric swells.

Track 2 'Cascade' builds on a tumbling synth bass and moody chord stabs with jazzy rhodes, strings and filtered vocals to create an infectious shuffling deep House groove.

On the B side 'For Your Love' is a bubbling psychedelic cauldron of hypnotic synths, piano lines and soulful vocal echoes which come together as a driving electro-discoid-funk jam.

Closing out the E.P. is 'Bala' is an uplifting percussive number with a vibe that transports you to an Afro-cosmic dancefloor beyond the stars.

"When Candy Opera first appeared on the kaleidoscopic early 1980s Liverpool music scene, by rights they should have changed the world" ~ Louder Than War
"Very welcome news as a highly underrated band who is now back with a force. While their previous output is stellar, this new single is even more commanding of attention. This is absolutely stunning, the band reaching higher than ever before" ~ Big Takeover Magazine
Sometimes it takes a while to realise what you’ve got. So it goes with pop craftsmen Candy Opera, who emerged during Liverpool’s 1980s golden age and whose new LP 'The Patron Saint of Heartache' is their first collection of new material in nearly three decades.
Ahead of that, they present 'These Days Are Ours', a rally cry of hope for the current times and the first single from this long-play, which is due for release in mid-November via European / UK label A Turntable Friend Records. The video was created / produced by James
Davies and Paul Malone.
Mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Guy Massey and featuring back vocals by Paul Simpson of The Wild Swans, the track was recorded at Elevator Studios in Liverpool.
With all the hallmarks of an enduring pop anthem, this impeccably produced, adrenalin-fuelled song captures the essence of Candy Opera’s infectious energy and celebrates life with a genuine wonder-lust, whilst delivering the excitement of their live performances.
Following the overdue release of two archival sets - '45 Revolutions Per
Minute' and 'Rarities' (released in 2018 by Firestation Records., quickly selling out of their first runs) - their new album 'The Patron Saint of Heartache' picks up where the band left off, with 14 fresh songs ready for discovery of a sound as timeless as any Candy Opera output.
Candy Opera were formed in Liverpool in 1982 and went through various incarnations before calling it a day in 1992. By 1985, the band had played alongside the likes of The Pogues, The Go-Betweens and The Redskins, as well as appearing on Granada TV.
The band's current line-up is drawn from all eras of the band’s existence and features Brian Chin Smithers (guitar, vocals), Alan Currie (drums), Frank Mahon (bass), Paul Malone (vocals, guitar), Ken Moss (guitar) and Gary O'Donnell (keyboards, vocals, percussion).
This new LP also features a swathe of friends and contemporaries, including Paul Simpson (The Wild Swans) and Phil Jones (Afraid of Mice). The result is an exquisite piece of pop craftsmanship that brings their songs into the light. This is a labour of love born of experience, but retaining the sense of wonder that brought the band together in the first place.

"When Candy Opera first appeared on the kaleidoscopic early 1980s Liverpool music scene, by rights they should have changed the world" ~ Louder Than War
"Very welcome news as a highly underrated band who is now back with a force. While their previous output is stellar, this new single is even more commanding of attention. This is absolutely stunning, the band reaching higher than ever before" ~ Big Takeover Magazine
Sometimes it takes a while to realise what you’ve got. So it goes with pop craftsmen Candy Opera, who emerged during Liverpool’s 1980s golden age and whose new LP 'The Patron Saint of Heartache' is their first collection of new material in nearly three decades.
Ahead of that, they present 'These Days Are Ours', a rally cry of hope for the current times and the first single from this long-play, which is due for release in mid-November via European / UK label A Turntable Friend Records. The video was created / produced by James
Davies and Paul Malone.
Mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Guy Massey and featuring back vocals by Paul Simpson of The Wild Swans, the track was recorded at Elevator Studios in Liverpool.
With all the hallmarks of an enduring pop anthem, this impeccably produced, adrenalin-fuelled song captures the essence of Candy Opera’s infectious energy and celebrates life with a genuine wonder-lust, whilst delivering the excitement of their live performances.
Following the overdue release of two archival sets - '45 Revolutions Per
Minute' and 'Rarities' (released in 2018 by Firestation Records., quickly selling out of their first runs) - their new album 'The Patron Saint of Heartache' picks up where the band left off, with 14 fresh songs ready for discovery of a sound as timeless as any Candy Opera output.
Candy Opera were formed in Liverpool in 1982 and went through various incarnations before calling it a day in 1992. By 1985, the band had played alongside the likes of The Pogues, The Go-Betweens and The Redskins, as well as appearing on Granada TV.
The band's current line-up is drawn from all eras of the band’s existence and features Brian Chin Smithers (guitar, vocals), Alan Currie (drums), Frank Mahon (bass), Paul Malone (vocals, guitar), Ken Moss (guitar) and Gary O'Donnell (keyboards, vocals, percussion).
This new LP also features a swathe of friends and contemporaries, including Paul Simpson (The Wild Swans) and Phil Jones (Afraid of Mice). The result is an exquisite piece of pop craftsmanship that brings their songs into the light. This is a labour of love born of experience, but retaining the sense of wonder that brought the band together in the first place.

Bristol-based trip hop trio Jabu this week announced details of their second album. ‘Sweet Company’ will be released on November 20th via the group’s own do you have peace? imprint.

Sweet Company is the second album by Jabu. Where their first LP, Sleep Heavy, was an unflinching exploration of grief, dark and disembodied, Sweet Company’s deep, sedative soul feels like more of a lovers’ outing: optimistic, becalmed, looking outwards as well as inwards, and longing for the kind of human connections where ego and self-consciousness might dissolve. It is perhaps also an exhortation to love and accept yourself, to recover a lost innocence and peace – that paradise which has always been lost. Released via their own do you have peace? label, Sweet Company is on the one hand a very intimate and private-sounding work - the sound of life played out in a room, a bubble, a home, a head. The rhythms of everyday domesticity: listening to the plants, cars in the street, voices through the wall…. going to work, not going to work, sleeping heavy or not sleeping at all. Wavering on the brink of a revelation, of something just beyond the material world, while you wait for the kettle to boil. The core Jabu trio of producer Amos Childs and vocalists Jasmine Butt and Alex Rendall is present and correct. Sweet Company has theexhilarating sweep and confidence of a collaboration between people who trust and understand each other implicitly, and, secure in that knowledge, are able to give the absolute best of themselves to us. As before, Jasmine’s voice is a textural, painterly instrument, layered and blurred into abstraction, resisting the limits of language; the songs she sings on are portals into vast internal landscapes where the normal rules of gravity are suspended, every sound is smothered in a cathedral-like resonance, and you're both fearful and hopeful that you might never find your way back out again. Alex takes a more narrative, confessional and no less engaging pop tack: as on the gauzy, decelerated 2-step of ‘Lately’, with his masochistic, self-mocking entreaties to “be cruel to me … I like it when you make a fool of me”. Childs has a true hip-hop fiend's ear for a striking sample, and how to loop it to most hypnotic and rapturous effect, but here takes things to ever more powerfully uncanny and auteurish places, drawing inspiration from the voidal bliss-outs of shoegaze (AR Kane’s amniotic dream-pop epic 69 is one influence cited) and the space-time disturbances of dub, commanding both a raindrops-on-cobwebs delicacy and an immense, oceanic pressure. His productions seem to resist linear progression - instead they move by a kind of unstoppable diffusion, like weeds reclaiming an unkempt garden, or alien flora patterning the sea-floor and coral-caves of the subaquatic level of a computer game which may exist only in your, or his, imagination. Perhaps it's Daniela Dyson, the British-Afro-Colombian artist who contributes her vivid, energising poetic mysticism to two tracks, who best sums up Sweet Company's ambition and effect: “Me quiero perder en los momentos tan puros en su esencia que Las Horas mismas se detienen para ser testigo de nuestro amor” (I want to lose myself in the moments so pure in their essence / that The Hours themselves stop to bear witness to our love…). For a precious half an hour, we're invited to celebrate the smallness of our lives - and the limitless grandeur which that smallness contains. When it ends, we step back from the brink but things aren’t quite the same anymore: we’re haunted by what we briefly almost knew.

• This is Gene’s second studio album released in 1997
• Singles include ‘Where Are They Now?’ (no.22 UK Charts), ‘Speak To Me Someone’ and ‘Fighting Fit’
• Double LP pressed on 180g Heavyweight vinyl, with original artwork,
presented in a gatefold sleeve with printed inner sleeves
• Inspired by the songs of The Smiths, The Jam and The Faces, Martin
Rossiter’s literate vocals and Steve Mason’s fluid guitar lines were perfectly complemented by the intuitive rhythm section of Kevin Miles and Matt James. They released four studio albums and a collection of B-sides and radio demos between 1995 and 2001, were named Best New Act at the inaugural NME awards in 1995, and went on to score 10 Top 40 hits.

Cameroonian Joe Bisso's earliest musical influences didn't come primarily from his homeland, but more from the neighbouring Congo, where the kind of early 60's Congolese Rumba played by the likes of Franco / TP Ok Jazz, and Tabu Ley Rochereau was establishing itself as a musical force in the region.

Alongside this exuberant, swinging, jazz influenced sound, the growing impact of the all conquering US soul titans became inescapable, and sprinkled with a bit of Johnny Halliday & Co's smooth chanson over the top, we get a snapshot of where Jo Bisso and friends post school musical experimentation was headed in the late 60's.

As that decade drew to a close, the single minded Bisso headed off to France to begin his quest for the future, and by 1972 could afford the journey to the US that he'd long dreamed of.

Enrollment at the Berkeley School of Music in Boston soon lead to a new band coming together, and by 1974 the all conquering, multi faceted approach that marks Bisso's musical career, meant he'd written, produced and sung on his debut single for the mighty Decca Records. 'Flying To The Land Of Soul' drew heavily from James Brown's propulsive dancefloor funk, whilst wearing it's African colours loud and proud via 'African Express' chants, and drums front and centre.

At the same time, Bisso and friends had started to immerse themselves in the fast emerging disco sound pulsing outwards from Downtown NYC into the Boston nightclubs, and by the time his debut album 'Dance To It' was released on France's influential Le Disques Esperance in 1976, it was the driving, 4/4 floor power of disco that was to define Bisso's sound on that, and the following two albums.

Whilst Bisso's immersion in Disco was based around it's energy and musicality (rather than any associated hedonism), 'African Disco Experimentals (1974 to 1978)' paints a picture of an artist dedicated to the underground club side of the scene, rather than focused exclusively on the fast emerging pop potential of the sound at the time.

The album's tone is set by 3.20 mins of building, tribal percussion and rolling rhythms of the opener 'Love Beat', a 'strictly dancefloor' approach mirrored in the near 11 mins of 'Love Somebody', building from soulful keys to deep bass funk, extended percussion breaks, joyous squelchy Moog licks, breathy vocals and more (interesting footnote : Bisso is credited as Producer / Writer / Arranger, but 'Recorded by' is attributed to Joe Chiccarelli, better known in recent years for his work with The White Stripes, Shins, and Broken Social Scene.)

Still clocking in at a healthy 6 mins plus, "The Mystery With Me" (1978) makes a nod towards more radio friendly waters with it's hooky, floaty choruses and tight structures (a then 22 year old Arthur Baker is credited as sole writer on Discogs - Bisso himself doesn't seemed convinced by this idea, but that's another story...)

'Let's Keep it Together' (1977) loops the song title over a slower groove, with free form electric guitar licks adding new textures, whilst 'Disco Madonna' (1976) showcases Bisso at his most playful, combining spoken word Hispanic vocals, rattling percussion and more of the always welcome Moog, switching up keys at the end for an unselfconsciously camp finale.

And if anything sums up the ambition of Bisso's work in the field at the time, 'Play Me' (1978) can lay claim to being the magnum opus. It's presented here as a continuous 16 minute extravaganza (as opposed to the 4 parts it came in originally) : lush strings, hypnotic vocal sections, irresistible basslines, crisp drums, the odd Barry White style interjection, disco moans, the occasional nod to a chorus vocal. None of it seeming in much of a hurry to go anywhere in particular, choosing instead to joyfully revel in the expansiveness of the form.

Sutja Gutierrez is back on Lumière Noire. The finesse of his productions and his implacable stage performances have given him a special place within the Parisian label. In 2017, he released the EP "The Legend of Time" and one year later, he appeared on the compilation From Above with his track "Allodoxaphobia". He comes back here with an LP entitled PHYLAX SOCIETY, which confirms that Sutja Gutierrez is indeed an artist in his own right. Phylax means guardian in Latin, and the album’s title is directly inspired by the “Phylax Society”, a group of people who, in the late 19th century, wanted to create the ultimate canine breed, but who due their lack of consensus failed and dissolved. Later on, an ex-member eventually bred the very first German Shepherd. On this heartfelt record, as emotional as it is catchy, the artist deals with the feelings that come after the loss of a loved one, chiefly nostalgia and melancholia. The result is an ardent record where crooning is sincere and never a posture. The artist’s lo-fi psychedelic pop trademark oozes in every track of this album. Many of these songs feature his vocals, often doused in ethereal echoes or even shrewdly chopped and distorted in a way that reminds us of the great musique concrete experiments of the past. A DIY approach sometimes indebted to punk and post-punk music, all mixed with a vast variety of traditional pop instruments such as guitar, bass, electric keyboards and real drums, but also drum machines, synth bleeps, found sounds and other strange but fascinating samples. EMPTY FLOWER POTS, which was released as a single ahead of the LP, is definitely one of the album’s standout tracks. This catchy mid-tempo song is the perfect entry point into Sutja’s finely twisted world. A world in which you can find that particular balance between nostalgia and optimism. Oh, life is great, what is life? Life is death. . he sings. It is one of those songs that stays in your head for a while. Do not let the idea of alternative pop fool you, it is quite impossible to listen to any of these songs without reacting in some way or another through moving, dancing or thinking, regardless of the tempo or meaning. I’M DIGGIN’ might be the perfect example of this. Deceptively simple and far removed from dance music, this rock-infused number will not only have you singing along instantly, but you will also find yourself dancing and responding accordingly to the energetic mantra of this song... I'm digging for the truth, I am so diggin' into it. Truly, the dance floor is never too far, sometimes quite blatantly and sometimes in a more oblique fashion. Another case in point is PHYLAX SOCIETY, the eponym track which closes the album, a song in two parts, where a slo-mo club groove carries Sutja’s trademark singing to yet another level of uniqueness, with his surreal soundscapes, twisted melodies and everyday life sounds. An ode to humanity and an homage to the ones who are risking their lives every day in the mediterranean sea. It is rare to encounter an album which is immediately satisfying on one hand but also reveals more and more beautiful secrets with each listen. PHYLAX SOCIETY is clearly one of those special albums.

Today internationally renowned composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and visual artist Tim Koh announces the release of his debut solo album ‘In Your Dreams’, set for release on 18 September via Tim Burgess’ O Genesis Recordings. The announce follows the release of recent single ‘Fall Into Your Dream’ in May.

In Your Dreams is Tim’s most straightforward and accessible release to date, and an exciting addition to his body of solo work, which hitherto can broadly be described as experimental noise. The poignant song collection tackles core themes of life’s calamities, broken love, and transitory relationships, yet counterbalances its essential melancholy with a whimsical, upbeat, and playful spirit throughout. While not strictly autobiographical, the songs draw from Tim’s recent personal experiences during his two-year isolation from friends and family, and create a compelling narrative of alienation, loss, and love.

Tim wrote In Your Dreams in Amsterdam, L.A., and London in-between his time touring with Ariel Pink, and subsequently recorded the songs at home in Amsterdam while recovering from a near-fatal 2018 accident. The recurring hospitalizations that Tim has endured in recent years subtly find their way into the album through phone recordings from Tim’s actual hospital stints, underscoring the album’s themes on this highly personal work. In Your Dreams deftly juxtaposes lush, densely layered sounds with stark simplicity through a series of quick turnarounds, creating the captivating feeling of tension and release that characterizes this remarkable song collection.

Guest musicians on In Your Dreams include Chris Cohen on guitar, and drum help from Jay Watson (Tame Impala, Gum) and Josh da Costa (CMON). Adding to the family feel of the album, longtime Ariel Pink and Tim Koh collaborator Jorge Elbrecht performed mixing duties along with mastering by Heba Kadry.

East London-born music legend and all round boundary-breaking innovator, Dizzee Rascal, today announces the release of his 7th studio album, entitled ‘E3 AF’ and new single ‘L.L.L.L (Love Life Live Large)’, out via Island Records.

This new release marks the genesis of a new era for Dizzee and is the first album wholly written, recorded and produced in the UK in over a decade. ‘E3 AF’ is a 10-track layered, purposeful statement of intent, rooted in Dizzee’s inedible ties to both east London and Black British music’s legacy. He sound is sharper, stronger and more self-assured than ever, and it is obvious that he has poured the creative energy of the past few years into ‘E3 AF’ as a body of work. First single, L.L.L.L (Love Life Live Large), features Tottenham born MC Chip and kicks open the door with the force of a steel toe capped boot. Chip, adds another thwack of bravado to the rumbling, Dizzee-produced beat. ‘E3 AF’ confirms Dizzee’s status as an artist still very much in his prime, sonically it draws on the infectious pace of grime and resolutely forward-thinking UK rap. From one song to the next, you are taken on a journey through Black British musical excellence. Ice-cold UK drill drips on Smoke Boys-featuring ‘Act Like You Know’ (produced by MK the Plug) and Eastside pulses with pure grime courtesy of Chubby Dreadz and Platinum 45. Self-produced opener ‘God Knows’ (featuring P Money) and high-octane ‘You Don’t Know’ pull from dubstep, grime and drum ‘n’ bass while threatening to wreak havoc with your speakers. By the time Alicai Harley’s warm up vocals float over sunny syths on the deeply personal ‘Energies + Powers’ (produced by Steel Banglez), the album practically radiates heat. Dizzee Rascal is a unique artist that has inspired many for multiple generations. From his 2003 debut album release, the Mercury Prize-winning ‘Boy In The Corner’ to date, Dizzee has continued to push expectations and boundaries. He is British musical royalty. Every album that followed stacked up another marker of success. Between 2004 and 2017 all album releases blasted firmly into the Top 10 Official album chart, won awards, critical acclaim and amassed Dizzee a huge following of devoted fans. ‘E3 AF’ is set to confirm Dizzee Rascal’s status as the master at the top of his game.

Signals is an absolutely beautiful new collaborative effort between the much beloved Finnish electronic artist Lau Nau, and the brilliant Swedish composer and pianist Matti Bye. These 8 gently melancholic and deeply sensitive tracks are a perfect antidote to the stressful times that we all find ourselves in. Let these soothing sounds from the light filled days and nights of the far north soften your cares during these all too dark days. As usual at the Time Released Sound label no effort or expense was spared here, and this lovely record comes with 180gm black vinyl in a super heavyweight, beautifully printed reverse board jacket.

Five years after his critically acclaimed debut album Throwback, Glenn Astro returns with his deeply personal album Homespun.

Marking a change in course from his first release on Tartelet Records, Glenn Astro is set to showcase his sophomore album Homespun, a testament to a visionary artist who has come into his own. Made up of ten tracks spanning 45 minutes, the record twists and turns between electronic meditations, soulful vocals by Ajnascnet, and futuristic electro, carving out a world of spacey eclecticism that is as nostalgic as it is experimental.

“This album is in all facets different from the first one, which was a deliberate decision. No vintage sounds and references, no sampling, combined with futuristic sound design and song structures.I tried to keep it as current and intuitive as possible,” he says.

Known for his chunky beats and fuzzy textures, Glenn Astro has released on labels such as Ninja Tune and Apollo, leaving a distinctive signature on everything he touches.

But Glenn Astro has quietly been crafting a new sound for himself. Sometimes taking detours – morphing into his dark alter ego and experimenting with artist collaborations.

The sound of Homespun is a culmination of several years of reflection and artistic development – however, the album itself was produced in less than three months. “I set myself an ultimatum to finish the album within three months. If I didn’t make it, I’d
have to rethink my career path and keep music as a hobby, he says.

On the introspective first single and album title track “Homespun,” Ajnascent’s vocals lend a sincerity to the melancholic production. “It’s about the regret of not taking chances and giving in too much, but also about taking responsibility and being honest with yourself. Homespun is a nod to nostalgia and a desire for simplicity and prudence, being equally the culprit and the cure,” elaborates Ajnascent.

On “The Yancey,” an homage to J Dilla, Glenn Astro paints his vision of contemporary dance music with shimmering melodies, deep ambient soundscapes, and advanced drum programming. “Moreira” and “Look at You” feel like spaced-out electronic funk hybrids, while “Taking Care of Business” goes back to the future with Glenn Astro’s take on jungle. Other tracks such as “Mezzanine,” “Slow Poke Flange,” and “Viktor’s Meditation” provide the finest dubby electronics.

Reissue of this long lost funky Afrobeat/Reggae classic from 1978
For fans of Fela Kuti, Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Segun Bucknor

The year is 1978 and one hot thing from the musical underground is Reggae music from Jamaica, the USA or the UK, where most of the acts had musicians of Caribbean descent. Reggae had the groove, the rebel spirit, and the relaxed attitude all in one, to enchant a big part of the world’s inhabitants. And while at least Jamaica as a relatively poor and so-called "Third World“ country proved to spawn Reggae acts of the highest quality, literally nobody dared to look further and dig deeper into the underground except of a few maniacs who were not satisfied with spinning Marley over and over again. And maybe they stumbled over the 1970s Afro Beat sound from countries like Zambia or Nigeria and then got interested. What did they find in the simmering metropolises of this still mysterious continent? Somewhere in Nigeria, they would have certainly caught a glimpse of mind-blowing performances of The Sea Lions, a six-piece group mixing the then hip Reggae and Afro Beat styles to generate fresh and furious music with a hypnotizing atmosphere.



Polyrhythmic beat patterns build the foundation, the utterly fruitful soil for the heartwarming melodies wailed out by the guitars and the commanding vocals with their conjuring charm. Great organ work builds the link between the groove section and the melody instruments. You can imagine what a pleasant experience this band might have been live back in 1978 when their sole album "Free The People“ got released. And this album, of which copies in only good conditions already fetch prices of $450, while nice clean pieces might go up to $1200, lives up to the expectations one might have from watching a live show by the Sea Lions. The sound is vivid, transparent, powerful, and clean enough to make the music a real pleasure listening to, but earthy enough to present nothing but the band going wild here. The songs all have a similar pace, not too fast, but swinging and pulsating to spread their energy to and among the listeners. The melodies are simple but come from the depth of the heart. This feels typical for African 70s music and despite being kind of reduced, these melodies keep haunting you still even hours after the record been taken off the turntable and put back into its sleeve. They bring images of an ever pulsating city by night, warm climate, palm trees, people at the bar, a witches cauldron of sounds, smells, voice, and pictures. And you feel the magic floating through the air while this groove will not let you go so easily.

You can either dance your soul out to this ultimate reissue or you can sit down, listen and let the music tell you a story of the dark corners of the big city, the narrow alleys that lead you into a boiling labyrinth of mystical dreams. And in songs like "You Can Make It If You Try“ you will find the whole magic of the African world, a world so fascinating for us Europeans but still so unapproachable in some ways and dangerous for the weak. Do not try to resist, this is your pleasure. Grab a copy and the Sea Lions will carry you off to their place. I haven’t heard such a killer Afro Beat and Reggae album with songs this exciting and wild in a long time. If you equally love Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Segun Bucknor, and Fela Kuti, look no further. Here is the spiritual essence of all these great artists merged into one giant act.

Over the years, the sonic world of Heist has grown into a place where energetic house, live instruments and worldly electronics move together in the most natural way. We're very proud of the fact that we can showcase artists that cross boundaries or simply create their own universe, while keeping a strong connection with the identity of the label.

Our next release, the 'Exposures EP' by Teleseen, fits perfectly into this aesthetic. Teleseen is the main project of nomadic DJ, producer and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Cyr and draws influence from deep house, afro house, samba, batucada as well as the experimentalism and sound system cultures of his home town NYC. His sound leans heavily on polyrhythmic programming and he's nothing short of a synth wizard. His 'Exposures EP' features 3 originals, and a remix by Berlin based Italian house guru Black Loops.

The record features a number of collaborators and recordings of various instruments, ranging from percussive sections to synths and guitar. This live approach to electronic music is one that is deeply rooted into Gabriel's work. His upcoming release on Soundway as 'Thaba' is another good example of this approach and also shows how diverse his sounds really is.

The title track is a thrilling synth affair with tribal-like chants running through a vocoder. The combination of handclaps, crunchy synths and steady drums make for a thrilling afro house track that hints towards early motor city electronics.

Black Loops is known for his deep grooves and built his fame with his releases on Freerange, Pets and Shall not Fade. His take on 'Exposures' sees him upping the tempo to a pacey 130 bpm, where an introvert vibe of reverbed hits and bleeps take you into full dream mode. He expertly chops up the original into a contemporary track that fits somewhere between high tempo tech-house and minimalistic deephouse.

On the flip we get to hear more of the sonic world Teleseen has to offer. 'Dekalb' is a track that seems impossible to box into a genre. Its mood is set by a lovely section of free-flowing Rhodes chords and the chopped vocals and open synth- bass give the track a whole new feel. It is that ballsy electronic edge combined with dreamy textures and live rhythms that give 'Dekalb' its unique vibe.

The final track of the EP -'Transfer'- takes us down to a mid-tempo percussive workout with a balearic twist. The steady electronic groove and the free flowing guitar take you to yet another corner of Teleseen's beautifully crafted universe.

Enjoy the music and play it loud!

Yours Sincerely,
Lars & Maarten

Widely and rightly regarded as one of the best ever soul and funk bands, the now legendary Average White Band tore-up the rule book and conquered the US, UK & International charts with a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980.

AWB’s repertoire has been a source of inspiration and influence for many R&B acts and they are one of the most sampled bands in history, remaining relevant today, continuing to reach new generations of younger audiences.

Snoop Dogg, Fatboy Slim, Ice Cube, Puff Daddy, TLC, Rick Ross, will.i.am and Mark Ronson amongst countless others, have all borrowed sections of their grooves.

Following a seven-year break, Average White Band returned in 2003, with their most recently released wholestudio album, ‘Living In Colour’, which includes two soul classics in ‘I’m Gonna Make You Love Me’ and Major Harris’ ‘Love Won’t Let Me Wait’.

The full album line-up comprised Alan Gorrie, Onnie McIntyre, Klyde Jones, Fred Vigdor and Brian Dunne, along with additional musicians Eliot Lewis ,Cliff Lyons, John Fumasoli, Tony Kadleck, Bill Harris, Carlos Gomez, Joe Najmy and Rob Aries.

Widely and rightly regarded as one of the best ever soul and funk bands, the now legendary Average White Band tore-up the rule book and conquered the US, UK & International charts with a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980.

AWB’s repertoire has been a source of inspiration and influence for many R&B acts and they are one of the most sampled bands in history, remaining relevant today, continuing to reach new generations of younger audiences.

Snoop Dogg, Fatboy Slim, Ice Cube, Puff Daddy, TLC, Rick Ross, will.i.am and Mark Ronson amongst countless others, have all borrowed sections of their grooves.

Following an eight-year hiatus, Average White Band returned in 1996, recording ‘Soul Tattoo’, the Band’s 12th album, at Daryl Hall’s studio in New York State.

‘Soul Tattoo’ includes the single ‘Back To Basics’, with Hall & Oates collaborator Klyde Jones, on lead vocals on ‘Every Beat Of My Heart’, and Daryl Hall appearing on ‘I Wanna Be Loved’, which was co-written with Alan Gorrie.

This is the 1973 solo album by Ghanaian percussionist Anthony Kwaku Bah, who was given the nickname „Reebop“ by American
jazz legend Dizzie Gillespie. He passed away early at the age of 39 in Stockholm in 1983, but before made himself a name for his
works with UK 70s rock heroes TRAFFIC and German Krautrockers CAN, amongst others. If you might expect here the prototypical
Afro Beat and Afro Rock you mostly know from British bands, you will be surprised that this is only one part of the deal. Yes, there
are African elements to be found, buried somewhere in this boiling cauldron where polyrhythmic grooves are the base for jazz
improvisations by the brass section, that range from naughty swing and bebop, to freaked out free jazz and enchanting soul jazz
the way it was popular in the late 60s. The arrangements are utterly lush with so much going on here in every aspect that you
would get lost if there was no trace of melody to be discovered, but there they are and they tell you fantastic stories of exotic
places that only exist in your wildest dreams. Kwaku Bah’s rhythm patterns grab you by the horns and pull you into a world of
their own. Hypnotical, irresistible, hot and vivid. The tunes combine jazz, soul, funk and each one is constructed like a self –
contained story. One could imagine these tunes being used as library music for 70s movies from action to romance. All pieces
though are characterized by the constantly pulsating rhythm. To avoid drifting into the field of insubstantial disco dance music,
the performances witnessed here were executed with the highest possible emotional intensity and dedication. Lay back, close
your eyes and float away on a raft of sound upon the wild river of grooves and melodies. Some haunting Exotica jazz passages
with a typical „jungle“ feel get thrown in for the good measure. There are even vocals in an African language hard to identify,
which create and even more mysterious atmosphere. This is just an introduction part of another powerful speed funk groover but
the vocals stay and make this a clear standout track. Saxophone and guitars seem to have a duel here. You will not sit still while
having this tune „Iphonohimine“ coming down on you like a thunderstorm. Blues, Afro Beat, Psychedelic Rock, Funk, it can all be
found in here and the band goes wild into an everlasting improvisation that deprives you of your breath. Can this record get even better? Do not ask, just enjoy what comes next. If you think that some melodies by the giant brass section sound a bit too catchy
just reach out beyond these harmony lines and find yourself in a thicket of grooves, pulsations, bits and pieces of melody with a
dense, sultry atmosphere. Some smaller parts might make you think of cruise ship big bands and white suits, but everybody will
soon drop these and dance in their underwear for the hot blooded power funk base of the tune called „Africa“, which will take
over one’s soul and set it on fire. So clean, so nice and so filthy and dangerous at the same time, this album is a masterpiece of it’s
style. The exciting and very sensual funk rock of „Lovin‘ you baby“ with crazy fuzz guitars and a dark and haunting approach is
another reason to kneel down when you put this record onto your turntable. Great clean lead guitars give it a latin garage rock
edge Carlos Santana would commit serious crimes for. If you love bands like OSIBISA, Eric Burden & WAR, GINGER BAKER
AIRFORCE, SANTANA, Miles Davis, all around 1969 to 1973, this is what you always wanted to listen to. Grab your copy now.

Duñe and Crayon have been working together for a few years now. Crayon, discovered by Kitsuné is a close relative of FKJ and Kartell. Duñe, on the other hand, has evolved with the duo Saje.

It was within the Roche Musique family that they met and naturally started working on a joint-EP in 2016, soberly entitled Duñe x Crayon. Both self-taught producers, Crayon and Duñe, former inhabitants of Parisian suburbs located at opposite positions, yet quickly found each other.

For their first album, they lock themselves in their studio day and night, until they choke. It would take them several years - interspersed with a few solo projects - for the two artists to give birth to Hundred Fifty Roses. An album through which they expose themselves, both in production and in writing but also in interpretation. On rhythms sometimes inspired by Anglo-Saxon sensuality, but with a production that is indie enough to infuse more warmth. A groove with a soft pop feel to which Thomas Clairice, former bass player of HER, also contributes. To accompany Duñe, bright voices were invited on six of the album's thirteen tracks : We hear French singer and rapper Ichon‘s velvet voice (whom Crayon also produces) on "Pointless"; Gracy Hopkins brings his soul on "Your fruit". Ph Trigano - another artist who produces Ichon - participates in "PS" along with Swing.
Lossapardo - with whom Crayon had already recorded on his solo projects - close the album with "Slowdiving". On the English side, we discover Jadu Heart, a duet signed on Anchor Point, Mura Masa's label, giving the replica on "Invisible". More than perfection, Hundred Fifty Roses resolutely seeks emotion. The album is the musical result of an open discussion in an intimate context, halfway between the live experience and the digital exercise.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut album 'Olympian', this is the definitive ‘Best Of’ Gene compilation, available exclusively on vinyl. Compiled by Matt James, Steve Mason and Kevin Miles and featuring 22 tracks, pressed on 2LP 180g heavyweight blue coloured vinyl Featuring fan favourites, plus all of the bands 10 top 40 UK singles including ‘Sleep Well Tonight’, ‘Haunted By You’, ‘Olympian’, ‘For The Dead’, ‘Fighting Fit’, ‘We Could Be Kings’, ‘Where Are They Now?’, ‘Speak To Me Someone’, ‘As Good As It Gets’ and ‘Fill Her Up’
Includes a selection of sleeve notes from the band and respected journalist Keith Cameron Inspired by the songs of The Smiths, The Jam and The Faces, Martin Rossiter’s literate vocals and Steve Mason’s fluid guitar lines were perfectly complemented by the intuitive rhythm section of Kevin Miles and Matt James. Gene released four studio albums and a collection of Bsides and radio demos between 1995 and 2001, and were named Best New Act at the inaugural NME awards in 1995, and went on to score 10 Top 40 hits.

• Widely and rightly regarded as one of the best ever soul and funk bands, the now legendary Average White Band tore-up the rule book
and conquered the US, UK & International charts with a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980.
• AWB’s repertoire has been a source of inspiration and influence for many R&B acts and they are one of the most sampled bands in
history, remaining relevant today, continuing to reach new generations of younger audiences.
• Snoop Dogg, Fatboy Slim, Ice Cube, Puff Daddy, TLC, Rick Ross, will.i.am and Mark Ronson amongst countless others, have all borrowed
sections of their grooves.
• After the success of 1979’s ‘Feel No Fret’, the band went into the studio record their next album and in 1980, ‘Shine’ was released with
the worldwide Chart and Club hit ‘Let’s Go ‘Round Again’, reaching #14 in the UK Albums Chart. However, there was a back-story
behind the album’s release, which Alan Gorrie and Hamish Stuart have annotated in the LP notes.
• To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of ‘Shine’, AWB (past and present) have reconfigured the album as they had originally intended,
bringing in the four tracks that they had to ‘leave’ behind when they changed record labels. In addition, due to separate behind the
scenes situations, two further tracks were unable to be included on the album and remained unreleased until this century.
• ‘On The Strip – The Sunset Sessions’ is what ‘Shine’ could have been; a slightly longer 2LP set, heralding in the new decade.
• The album includes the singles ‘Let’s Go ‘Round Again’ and ‘For You, For Love’, as well as ‘Whatcha’ Gonna Do For Me’, which later
become synonymous with Chaka Khan, who recorded it the following year, having sung on an early-take for AWB, when they were
recording the album. ‘Miss Sun’ makes it long-awaited inclusion on the album for which it had been recorded until fate dealt another
hand, with permission being withheld then appearing as the lead track on Boz Scaggs’ ‘Hits’ LP; reaching #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• 40 years on, Average White Band still ‘shine’ brightly and remain highly influential for today’s groove-merchants and EDM DJs.

'Prole Art Threat' is producer Anthoney Hart's second LP for Planet Mu under his East Man alias, after 2018's well received debut 'Red White & Zero'. It brings together a set of MCs from all over London, Darkos and Eklipse from East London and Lyrical Strally from near Feltham who were on the first album, Ny Ny and Mic Ty also from East London, Streema and 'Vision Crew' member Whack Eye from Lewisham plus Fernando Kep, an MC from the burgeoning Brazil grime scene. They work across a cohesive set of tight riddims forged from thoughtful amalgams of grime, dancehall and drum & bass. The album takes its name from a Fall song/mission statement of the same title, the band being self-consciously working class and led by a brilliant autodidact in Mark E Smith. East Man relates that the title is to be taken as “a reflection of working-class creativity and how the establishment marginalise us and (perhaps on a subconscious level) see us as a threat.” Les Back, author of 'The Art of Listening' and 'Out of Whiteness: Color, Politics and Culture (with Vron Ware)' contributes liner notes to the record: East Man understands the force and the democracy of the mic. Listening to Prole Art Threat is like being at a dance. As the mic is passed between each of the MCs, a different tale is ‘elevated... off the map’ as Ny Ny puts it. We hear instalmentsfrom Forest Gate, Lee, Lewisham and Manor Park as these ‘lyrical gaffers’ and ’top boys and girls’ tell tough stories of life under the scrutiny of the ‘Feds’ in a brutal and divided city. The bars and rhymes document what it means to live here; from the double standards applied to the sexuality of young girls and boys to the corrosive violence of everyday life. All this is dissected without compromise. This is not just aLondon story though, the inclusion of Fernando Kep from the burgeoning Grime scene in Brazil is evidence of the outernational reach of the music. The tracks on East Man’s album explode the wilful ignorance of those who see ‘the working class’ in contemporary London as code for whiteness. This is the sound of a proletarian urban multiculture, made from Caribbean and African influences, sound system culture, pirate radio and the inexorable rhythms of Grime, Drum & Bass, Techno and Dancehall. It is the stirring of the "white" & "black" working classes who are living together and coming together on their own terms in sound. ‘Making music because you love it... what the fuck else could you do?’ as East Man says. The tracks and voices you are holding in your hands are, as a result urgent, vital, as hard nails and twice as sharp.

Widely and rightly regarded as one of the best ever soul and funk bands, the now legendary Average White Band tore-up the rule book and conquered the US, UK & International charts with a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. AWB’s repertoire has been a source of inspiration and influence for many R&B acts and they are one of the most sampled bands in history, remaining relevant today, continuing to reach new generations of younger audiences. Snoop Dogg, Fatboy Slim, Ice Cube, Puff Daddy, TLC, Rick Ross, will.i.am and Mark Ronson amongst countless others, have all borrowed sections of their grooves. ‘Warmer Communications’ is the 7th album by AWB, originally released in 1978. The album reached #28 in the
USA. ‘Warmer Communications’ includes the single ‘Your Love Is A Miracle’, which reached #33 in the USA. It was produced by Atlantic’s legendary producer, Arif Mardin.

Volker.live ’s debut and final release
“My Love Will Set You Free” Final release? We see the question mark popping up over your head. Well yes, these four tracks are a time capsule, a historic cache which takes you back to one hot summer of 2019. When this care-free boy band formed and made it their goal to climb up the world’s stages to play an all-hardware live set & have f.u.n. while doing so. This endeavor went swimmingly. Festival gigs were pocketed and crowds intrigued. The stand-out track of their gigs was always “My Love Will Set You Free”, an acid-house stomper with uplifting, yet melancholic vocals from their friend ÆN.
Friends and neighbors were quick to re-interpret the song and the idea of a record took shape.
Lehult’s Lucky Charmz propels the listener into the void by upping the acidity. Closing in on a playtime of 10 minutes, we’re readily giving up our sense for time and space. Whirring drum hits meet feedbacking tape delay while riding the rock solid bass line.
Erobique liked the song so much, he quickly drew up two versions of his own. His “Disko Mix” oozes that saccharine, danceable magic mélange of days past. Warm keys, hand claps, and Aen’s intimate voice are stirred into an exquisite cocktail. You know that Carsten Meyer would never forget the umbrella on top. He’ll keep the cherry though.
The “Black Velvet Mix” closes the curtains for a slow dance. This is personal, it’s just between you and the song. Sub rosa.
In the meantime, Volker.live decided to follow separate paths of their adventure, but everyone agreed to release these songs into the world. May they serve as a reminder of what can be created out of care-free energy that’s driven by a deep connection to music. Please check out their other musical undertakings as Echoel and Goodmemory.live .

Dee Edwards is a 70s soul singer who has impacted on the modern, rare and two step scenes. She is particularly well known for “(I Can) Deal With That” for the Detroit De-To label before her spell at Cotillion Records. Here she recorded two albums “Heavy Love” and “Two Hearts Are Better Than One” from which the A and B side or our 7” are taken. “Put The World On Hold” has previously been only a go to modern dancer track on an album. “Put Your Love On The Line” is a disco/boogie pleaser produced by Michael Zager, an early 7” issue of this being an edit. Enjoy it now in all its glory

**LP FORMAT IS VERY LIMITED - PLEASE BE AWARE THAT UNFORTUNATELY THERE MAY BE CUTS TO ORDERS**

For Los Angeles' The Black Queen, the depths of isolation and loss have always functioned as a gateway to being born anew. Much has transpired since the band released their cold, cutting debut album Fever Daydream (a record that Revolver described as 'a haunting exploration of the darker side of pop music'). But throughout it all, the trio of Greg Puciato (former frontman of the now-defunct The Dillinger Escape Plan), Joshua Eustis (of Telefon Tel Aviv, Puscifer, and Nine Inch Nails), and Steven Alexander (a tech member for Nine Inch Nails, Ke$ha, and A Perfect Circle) have emerged as triumphant and intense as ever, documenting their journey via the synth-streaked industrial anthems of their sophomore release, Infinite Games.Formed in 2011 after a chance meeting between Puciato and Eustis backstage at a Dillinger show in which they both realized they were huge fansof each other's work, The Black Queen became a labor of love for its members to explore sounds and emotions that they couldn't quite fit into their full-time projects. Injecting a pained, twilit edge into slick new-wave tracks as fit for the dance floor as they are for some imagined dystopian skyline, the trio have managed to channel their scattered, eclectic influences into a surprisingly cohesive vision. 'We've got a pretty weird cross section,' Puciato says of the band's musical chemistry. 'We can go out for food and listen to Power Trip on the way there, then Baltimore club music on the way back, and then talk about how killer Maxwell's Embrya album was, and then get sidetracked and talk about the Celeste video game soundtrack, then all have to be quiet so that we can grab a voice recording of some weird sounding radio interference. It's all over the place and unusually far reaching,and there's a lot of passion for discovery.'After releasing their 2016 debut album Fever Daydream to critical acclaim however, the trio underwent several major upheavals that cast the project in a completely new light. Puciato's main project The Dillinger Escape Plan disbanded. Chris Cornell of Soundgarden killed himself while Puciato was on tour with him. Eustis put out music under his beloved Telefon Tel Aviv monikerfor the first time since his former bandmate Charles Cooper died in 2009. Thetrio's storage space was robbed. Puciato suffered a relapse into crippling anxiety and paranoia. Once again, in the face of tragedy, The Black Queen had to rebuild everything from the ground up.The first step was acquiring a new studio space, which immensely helped the band get back into the rhythm of freely collaborating with one another, and experimenting with sounds for as long (and as loud) as they wanted. The resulting album, Infinite Games, marks a massive leap forward for The Black Queen. Not only are the band's icy R&B instincts more sharply pronounced; they've also rendered their morbid electronics in more lush detail than ever before, filling out the corners of their songs with chilling ambient passages
that create a wide-screen backdrop for Puciato's eerie, tortured vocals. 'I think this album is actually hookier, but more insidious in that it reveals itself over time,' Puciato says about Infinite Games. His choice of words says something about the album's creeping, pitch-black approach to pop music.With this release, the group have also announced a new undertaking in the form of their new label, Federal Prisoner. Resisting the more marketing-centricapproach that feels standard at this point for the record label game, the goal of Federal Prisoner is to provide an outlet for projects that emerge naturally from The Black Queen's own creative endeavors and collaborations with otherartists. In a way, Federal Prisoner solidifies TBQ's commitment to creating music on their own terms, following the same organic sense of inspiration that led them to forming in the first place. As Puciato puts it, 'It's just an expression of passion and individualism in a way that opens more doors for us to create and to own what we create with minimal compromise. It's as much an act of refusal as it is a statement of intent.'Infinite Games, the second album from experimental Los Angeles synth-pop trio The Black Queen, comes out on September 28th

BBE Music announces the first repress of the classic Roy Ayers albums ‘Virgin Ubiquity’ 1 and 2 since 2006, on luxurious 180g vinyl with brand new sleeve notes written by Sean P. The music on 'Virgin Ubiquity' was selected and mixed down from previously unreleased multi-tracks recorded between 1976 & 1981, which Roy had in storage. It's all unmistakably Ayers, but is diverse and fresh enough to be more than a mere adjunct to one of his most productive and popular periods - testament to his and his musicians' creative abilities, as much of most revered Ayers output stems from this time. These discoveries take their place beside some illustrious company in a timeline bookended by 'Everybody Loves The Sunshine' and 'Africa, Center Of The World', several solo and Ubiquity albums, collaborations with Wayne Henderson & Fela Kuti, as well as guesting on LPs by Buster Williams and Herbie Mann. Out of print on vinyl and CD for over a decade now, BBE is delighted to re- present these groundbreaking Roy Ayers titles, neatly coinciding with the 45th anniversary of his classic album ‘Mystic Voyage’ and a UK tour to commemorate it during April 2020.

The landmark 1980 album, representing a period of consolidation for Patrice Rushen. Her studio reputation as a go-to pianist and arranger among other artists and musicians was well established and was growing exponentially. Although never originally planning a career as a solo artist, she had built this side of her work through three Prestige albums and two sophisticated soul and disco albums for Elektra, 'Patrice' and 'Pizzazz'. "I was lucky to have a group of musicians that I knew well by the time of these recording sessions," remembers Patrice. "I had my pick of really incredible players because of all of the studio work I was doing. I also played with Lee Ritenour, Harvey Mason and others almost on a weekly basis at The Baked Potato club in L.A." Tracks include the singles 'Don't Blame Me', 'Look Up!' and 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. "'Never Gonna Give You Up' came out of playing ideas at home. Bassist Freddie Washington was living with my family while he tried to get a foothold in L.A.'s music scene and that groove came out of those jams. With 'The Dream', I had been listening to Minnie Riperton's 'Come To My Garden', one of my favourite albums. With Charles Stepney's arrangements, I saw that he didn't have to use large instrumentation to be orchestral in his approach. So, 'The Dream' was a homage to that kind of writing." "After 'Posh', we had a much better idea from the performance side what was important in our music and that informed my next album, 'Straight From The Heart'. We took a little break after 'Posh' was released, although I was still writing and working regularly on scores for film and TV. That had always been my main focus in my music."

The first collaborative album between alternative rock artist Matthew Sweet and Bangles singer/guitarist Susanna Hoffs. First released in 2006, Under The Covers Vol. 1 finds the duo celebrating their mutual love of song writing from the ‘60s across 17 cover versions from the era. Highlights include a fan-favourite version of ‘Different Drum’, ‘Cinnamon Girl’ and ‘Sunday Morning’. Pressed on two heavyweight 180g silver vinyl.

The second collaborative album between alternative rock artist Matthew Sweet and Bangles singer/guitarist Susanna Hoffs. First released in 2009, on Under The Covers Vol. 2 the duo cover 26 of their favourite tracks from the 1970s. For this edition in the series, Sweet and Hoffs invited guests into the studio including Lindsey Buckingham on ‘Second Hand News’, Dhani Harrison on a cover of his father’s ‘Beware Of Darkness and Steve Howe reprising his guitar parts on a version of the Yes track ‘I’ve Seen All Good People’ Pressed on two heavyweight 180g green vinyl.