Search:big band

One happy thing to be grateful for during otherwise trying times is finally getting to hear and enjoy new work by a man whose music is familiar to millions even if his name is less so. Indeed, Gil Scott-Heron continues to cast such a wide shadow that even many of his biggest fans often seem to forget that there's another name next to his on the bulk of his albums, the name of a man teamed up with Gil as a teenager and proceeded to ride out the decade as his writing partner, keyboardist, arranger, and bandleader for their Midnight Band. That man's name is Brian Jackson. His considerable backlog of unheard material reveals a stillenergetic and still-vital icon of the music wing of the Black Liberation movement. Prepare to hear from a musician whose work has contributed to the enhancement of all our lives in some form or another with the latest installment of the Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge's Jazz Is Dead series.

One happy thing to be grateful for during otherwise trying times is finally getting to hear and enjoy new work by a man whose music is familiar to millions even if his name is less so. Indeed, Gil Scott-Heron continues to cast such a wide shadow that even many of his biggest fans often seem to forget that there's another name next to his on the bulk of his albums, the name of a man teamed up with Gil as a teenager and proceeded to ride out the decade as his writing partner, keyboardist, arranger, and bandleader for their Midnight Band. That man's name is Brian Jackson. His considerable backlog of unheard material reveals a stillenergetic and still-vital icon of the music wing of the Black Liberation movement. Prepare to hear from a musician whose work has contributed to the enhancement of all our lives in some form or another with the latest installment of the Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge's Jazz Is Dead series.

Walter Lure, best known as co-frontman and songwriter of the Heartbreakers, also led his own band, The Waldos. Their debut ‘Rent Party’ LP has been unavailable on vinyl since 1994. This limited edition in blue vinyl has two bonus tracks, from the 'Crazy Little Baby' 7" of 1991.

Sadly, Walter died in August 2020, the last of the ‘L.A.M.F.’ Heartbreakers. His memoir "To Hell And Back: My Life In Johnny Thunders’ Heartbreakers - In The Words Of The Last Man Standing" will be published by Backbeat in paperback edition on July 1, 2021. Upon the original ‘Rent Party’ release, AllMusic said - "The long awaited Waldos album proved to be a big success, at least artistically ... the Waldos tear through a set of tunes that are as much fun as a CD can have with its clothes on."

Walter Lure’s guitar-sparring partner in The Waldos in place of Johnny Thunders is Joey Pinter, whose self-titled solo album was released in 2015. The rest of the band is the late Tony Coiro on bass and Jeff West on drums except on the bonus 7” tracks, the late Charlie Sox.
The album features six Walter Lure originals, plus covers of Jerry Nolan, Gary US Bonds, Claudine Clark and Ray Charles songs. A limited edition in transparent blue vinyl, with inner bag.

The original Rio beach boy returns in style, with a new record of unabashedly feel-good Brazilian party music. Featuring Azymuth bassist Alex Malheiros (responsible for some of Brazil’s all-time funkiest low-end licks), a horn section including Valle’s go-to high-trumpeter Jesse Sadoc, and percussion master Armando Marcal, Sempre has all the masterful composition, exceptional musicality, and forward-thinking ideas you’d expect from the Brazilian titan, and it’s fresher than a fruity caipirinha in the Copacabana sunshine.

Updating Marcos Valle’s seminal boogie-era sound, Sempre spans ecstatic disco, cosmic samba, and late-night jazz-funk, drawing obvious comparisons to some of Valle’s late-seventies and early-eighties output. ‘Estrelar’ (1983), for example, an ode to the joy of exercise, has become one of the biggest Brazilian disco hits of all time. But lyrically the new album is more closely reminiscent of Valle’s progressive early seventies’ releases. Heralding love, tolerance and living in the present, while satirising political corruption, the new release recalls a time in which Valle, together with his brother Paulo Sergio, was writing subtly subversive lyrics in order to bypass the censorship imposed by the military dictatorship, which ruled over Brazil between 1964 and 1985.
The album marries compositional genius with pure pop perfection. From the blistering brass arrangements on up-tempo disco hit ‘Olha Quem ta Chegando’ and the infinitely classy ‘Vou Amanhã Saber’, to the nine-minute synth heavy instrumental funk stepper ‘Odisséia’, which gradually morphs into an interplanetary samba jam, the songs are tightened and given an extra coat of gloss, by London based producer Daniel Maunick (son of Incognito frontman Bluey). More moments of boogie delight come in the form of ‘Minha Roma’ (a musical nod to the famed ‘Estrelar’), and the sunshine anthem title-track ‘Sempre’.

Translating as ‘Ever’, Sempre is a testament to the continual drive for development and reinvention that has defined Marcos Valle’s astounding six-decade career. Ever changing, ever moving forward, he began as one of the second-wave of early bossa nova composers in the sixties, writing the world famous bossa standard ‘Summer Samba (So Nice)’ for his sophomore album ‘Samba 68’. After a brief stint in the States, Valle returned to Brazil, and the early ’70s saw the release of four ground-breaking Valle albums which incorporated progressive rock, psychedelic influences, pop, jazz, soul and cinematic arrangements. These albums would see Valle work alongside a number of hugely influential Brazilian bands, including Milton Nascimento’s backing band Som Imaginaro, the prog-rock band O Terco and jazz funk legends Azymuth. Returning back to the US in ‘75, Valle resided in LA, writing music for the likes of Eumir Deodato, Airto Moreira, Chicago, Sarah Vaughn and Leon Ware, before returning to Brazil once more, where after releasing a handful of hit pop records, he took a hiatus from recording.

Since the mid-nineties, Marcos Valle has been experiencing a renaissance with London based label Far Out Recordings, where his approach to music has remained, as always; decidedly open to new influences, possibilities and technologies. Sempre is Marcos Valle’s fifth album for the label, following 2010’s critically acclaimed Estatica.

Just in time for summer, Sempre is out on Vinyl LP/ CD on 28th June 2019 on Far Out Recordings, and Marcos Valle and band will be touring Europe in May /June (see below for dates).

Contemporary hard driven Jazz Funk from the north of England. Bee To The Flower, initially released under the influence of Newcastle’s finest Warr
Thompson in a much slower and kind of stepped down version has been rearranged and recorded again by the band expressly for Tesla Groove Internation
at the Loft Studios. We have been on this project for a long while and the biggest thing we blame covid for is the goddamn delay it forced into t
development of artistic projects, of which the physical final release is only the latest of the steps. Driving (and very creative) basslines, a beautiful and almo
psychedelic Fender Rhodes intercalate with a vibrafone played with such a mastery I could only remind of thegreat Pharoah Sanders at the time of h
performances with Lonnie Liston Smith and Nathaniel Betties, one of the greatest afro percussionists of all times. All of this on such a hitting drumming I ju
can’t wait to fire it out of a proper soundsystem. Created in 2011 by north-east based Dave Wilde and Chris Jelly, the original jazz/funk fusion sounds of th
seven piece Newcastle based band have carved a niche as some of the finest exponents of the genre in the UK. The band has given exciting dance induci
live performances up and down the country, at Band on the Wall, Hoochie Coochie and many more, supporting the likes of Craig Charles, Roy Ayers an
Lonnie Liston Smith along the way. New material has been in the making for quite a while, but after the enforced lockdown, King Bee are ready to release th
latest recordings at long last. Worth waiting for.

Double vinyl on blue and orange transparent vinyl in gatefold sleeve with download code.

 Former bIG*fLAME singer and bassist Alan Brown returns with his long term solo project The Great Leap Forward, releasing a powerful and trademark new album ‘Revolt Against An Age Of Plenty’. 

Vigorous, scintillating and life-affirming, this 13-song album sees Brown reach a milestone birthday, as explored in 'Can You Kanreki?’ - the Japanese concept of second childhood and re-birth. Then there are the trademark political and social vignettes, such as the title song of the album 'Revolt Against An Age Of Plenty' – railing against mass consumerism and media control; the wistful 'dEBRA 2021' (a re-working of the bIG*fLAME classic 'Debra'); and the ascerbic 'It's A Wonderful Lie' – a scathing attack on the lack of openness, honesty and humility of our political leaders.

Brown featured on the legendary and influential C86 NME cassette as singer and bassist with Manchester agit-post-punk trio bIG*fLAME, and recorded nine John Peel sessions for BBC Radio One in the 1980’s with bIG*fLAME (4), The Great Leap Forward (2), A Witness (2) and Inca Babies (1). 

Formed by Brown following the disbandment of bIG*fLAME in 1986, The Great Leap Forward is essentially a solo project in which Brown writes all songs and lyrics, and plays / programs all instruments on recordings.

The style and sound is more melodic and accessible than bIG*fLAME, but still with overtly political lyrics and a socialist / humanist ethos: incisive political and social commentary layered over sharp yet melodic guitar pop – and with a touch of electro and humour thrown in for good measure…
Stuart Maconie, writing for NME, summed up the band's sound: "First there's the jagged guitar melodics, sweet but never tacky. Then there's the ferocious rhythmic drive. But best of all there's the stylish and witty use of found voices...snatches and snippets of speech and propaganda that are integral to the songs."

Little wonder that as with McCarthy, The Great Leap Forward were loved by a young James Dean Bradfield.

Brown writes- “This album is the culmination of four year's writing, and it has a much more varied approach than previous releases. Whereas previously I've concentrated on a political approach, this album takes a wider view of the world. Of course I still provide the trademark political and social vignettes - how could I not - such as the title song of the album 'Revolt Against An Age Of Plenty' – named after a collection of works by the English writer Jack Common in which I rail against mass consumerism and media control; the wistful 'dEBRA 2021' (a re-working of the bIG*fLAME classic 'Debra'); and the ascerbic 'It's A Wonderful Lie' – with what I think is a scathing attack on the lack of openness, honesty and humility of our political leaders.

"Inga Rumpf, the myth, the voice - City Preachers, Frumpy, Atlantis, NDR Big Band and so on... it takes a lot of space and time to name all of Inga Rumpf's musical stations. The list of her international companions, colleagues (and admirers) is long and includes such outstanding names as B. B. King, Udo Lindenberg, Lionel Richie, Tina Turner or Keith Richards, to name just a few! If there is a living legend in the music business in Germany, it is Inga Rumpf!
The new studio album “UNIVERSE OF DREAMS” will be released on earMUSIC this late summer. The album is a gift to all fans, but also to Inga Rumpf herself: the Grande Dame celebrates her 75th anniversary birthday on August 2nd."

Music in Exile is excited to announce a new 12” maxi-single release from the “King of Music”, GORDON KOANG. Titled Coronavirus / Disco, this double-A-side release share’s Gordon’s messages of peace, love and positivity, and is his first original offering since his acclaimed Unity album was released in late 2020.

The first single, Coronavirus, was penned by Koang in July 2020 as a response to his personal experiences of the global pandemic. As his hometown of Melbourne went into lockdown, Gordon resided in the outer suburbs of Melbourne with his cousin, Paul, and his four-stringed, guitar-like instrument, the thom. Throughout this single, Gordon offers his condolences to those affected by the pandemic, alongside messages of his faith in frontline workers and the hope that circumstances will improve soon. “People suffer a lot. I ask that God gives the doctors the big wisdom to defeat the coronavirus. When people hear my song, I hope that this music counsels them. The song has a lot of meaning, it is telling them to be hopeful.”

With the cancellation of a national tour and numerous festival appearances, Covid-19 had not only impacted Gordon’s career here in Australia but also his opportunity to visit family he hadn’t seen in five years. After receiving Australian permanent residency, Gordon and Paul were now able to visit family in Uganda, however this was made incredibly difficult due to border closures and the potential health risks. Taking a last minute opportunity, Gordon and Paul travelled to Africa and whilst excited to visit their families, they also experienced the impact of the pandemic on their home communities. “In Africa, it is not like us here, there is no medicine and in Africa there is also no Centrelink if you are in lockdown. It is difficult getting services. Even getting food is difficult.”

After two weeks in hotel quarantine, Gordon and Paul returned to Melbourne, eager to record music once more. With lockdown lifting, Gordon headed to the studio with a new band featuring Zak Olsen (ORB, Traffik Island) Jack Kong (Baked Beans, Traffik Island), David “Daff” Gravolin (ORB), and Jesse Williams (Leah Senior, Girlatones). This new release is the result of these studio sessions, jamming and recording at Button Pusher in Preston, Melbourne.

For the DJ’s out there, both tracks will feature on a limited edition, 12” maxi single vinyl complete with pull-out poster from Gordon, encouraging listeners to stay positive during this difficult time.

“My condolences to you, my audience in lockdown. We are all suffering from coronavirus. Let us stand firm and be strong. Let us look after each other, until the time comes when God brings us together. I give my condolences to people who have died of coronavirus, in aged care and disability. We are heartbroken for everyone. Let us take it easy, and pray in our houses, all around the world. If you believe in God, pray to the God you believe in, and they will help you. God will give us the chance to go back to normal and open all events. Even if it is a bad time now, there will be a change and it will be a good time for us. Thank you to everyone.” - Gordon Koang

For the Perth group, creativity and production hasn’t stopped in 2020. Despite
much of this year’s tour plans being put on pause, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have used their time off road to continue preparing themselves for the release of their fourth studio release, and an eventual blistering return to stages
around the world with a heavy-hitter of an album primed for the live space.
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have already given fans an early taste of the forthcoming SHYGA! era, with ‘Mr. Prism’ in August. The creation of SHYGA! The
Sunlight Mound, especially off the back of 2019’s huge LP And Now For The
Whatchamacallit, came together in a different environment for McEwan and
the results speak to the band’s evolution and McEwan’s evolution as a songwriter.
“For the first time in a long time I was home without any tours booked, no
work, no deadlines and I felt free to create. My writing process became ritualistic; every morning starting with a small walk to the local bottle shop at 11am
and writing whatever flowed, allowing myself to design in all styles without
boundaries, and not trying to theme the album early on. I haven’t had the luxury of writing this way since the first record, which I spent almost a year working
on. It felt like I was myself again, creating without opinion or constraints. I was
gliding through weeks with a day seeming to pass.

From the many musical lives of artist Glenn Donaldson emerges The Reds, Pinks and Purples, a project that sifts out the purest elements of pop music and in the process chronicles the point of view of an assiduous San Francisco-based songwriter. The Reds, Pinks and Purples’ third album, called Uncommon Weather, is both an elusive portrait of San Francisco––during one of its fluctuations as an untenable place for musicians and artists––and also a self-portrait, however inverted, of a songwriter who has dispatched another treasured collection of timeless sounding DIY-pop songs.

How The Reds, Pinks and Purples arrived here is a story with many roots, the most consequential of which is perhaps the musical aftermath of his earlier band, The Art Museums, whose brief tenure in the late ’00s coincided with an explosive period of the Bay Area rock scene and was followed by a hermetic musical period of Donaldson’s. Disenchanted with the dissolution of his band, Donaldson averted the DIY-pop sound with an instrumental, conceptual project called FWY! but meanwhile started a habitual songwriting practice, sharing nascent songs with friends in an email exchange. In 2013–2014, The Reds, Pinks and Purples took shape as the moniker for Glenn’s most direct expressions in the DIY-pop mode, enabled by this new disciplined output. By then, San Francisco was already a changed place. The tragic loss of his former bandmate in Art Museums was another source of discontinuity and rupture. You can hear in The Reds, Pinks and Purples’ earliest songs this grappling with life, anxiety, and atrophying subcultures. For an artist with an overriding interest in the aesthetic principles of discrete musical genres, this turn toward his immediate world for subject matter was a major shift, setting The Reds, Pinks and Purples apart from Donaldson’s other musical ventures.

Preceding the release of Uncommon Weather was the Reds, Pinks and Purples’ 2nd album, one of the record buying joys of 2020, You Might Be Happy Someday, and, earlier, their first proper full length Anxiety Art, a title that might nod to the classic Television Personalities song “Anxiety Block.” Donaldson’s music continuously reckons with the influence of Dan Treacy, whose own forays into drum-machines, echo, and reverb in the early 1990s is an important reference point for The Reds, Pinks and Purples’ musical template. Paul Weller, Robert Smith, and Sarah Records also come to mind. But, as important, Donaldson sees his projects as visual expressions too, often blurring the lines of records and physical art objects. They could just as well be “art multiples” as well as records. The pattern for Reds, Pinks and Purples’ records is to document San Francisco’s Inner Richmond district in photographs: the muted, pastel colours and unpeopled compositions unfold in a series of images that read like counter-melodies to Donaldson’s distinctive voice, a vocal tone that always complements the colours.

Self-recorded and mostly self-performed, Uncommon Weather features pinnacle versions of songs Donaldson has honed since the beginning of the project. The album arrives with grateful timing, quick on the heels of You Might Be Happy Someday, and alleviating, for a brief window at least, whatever it is that keeps us coming back to this elemental music. Donaldson imagines his listeners are just like himself: fascinated and addicted to the spiritual power of uncomplicated pop classics. Anthony Atlas

Bella Union announce the release of Piroshka’s stunning second album,
‘Love Drips And Gathers’. The album builds on the acclaim of the band’s
2018 debut LP ‘Brickbat’ and the reputations of former members of Lush,
Moose, Elastica and Modern English.
Piroshka emerged in 2018, four individuals with distinct musical identities but
also overlapping histories - a combination that might have unsettled, or even
overwhelmed, some bands. But in their case, the bond only got stronger.
After ‘Brickbat’ explored social and political divisions by way of what MOJO
described as “Forceful, driving garage songs and dream-pop epics,” ‘Love
Drips And Gathers’ follows a more introspective line - the ties that bind us, as
lovers, parents, children, friends - to a suitably subtler, more ethereal sound,
whilst still revelling in energy and drama.
“If ‘Brickbat’ was our Britpop album, then ‘Love Drips And Gathers’ is
shoegaze!” reckons vocalist/guitarist Miki Berenyi, formerly of Lush, a band
that effortlessly bridged the two genres like no other. “It wasn’t intentional; we
just wanted a different focus. I’ve always seen debut albums as capturing a
band’s first moments, when you really have momentum, and then the second
album is the chance for a more thoughtful approach.”
Bassist Mick Conroy (Modern English) agrees. “‘Brickbat’ was a classic first
album; noisy and raucous. On ‘Love Drips And Gathers’, we’ve calmed down
and explored sounds, and space.”
The way ‘Love Drips And Gathers’ changes shape and dynamic is less a
reprise of Nineties Brit indie than a transformation into a more shivery, Euromantic version with glistening electronic filigrees. The opening ‘Hastings’ sets
the tone. Luminous drops of guitar underpin Miki’s becalmed vocal before
drums, bass and a Mellotron add pace while the decorative coda features
their old pal Terry Edwards on flugelhorn.
‘Love Drips And Gathers’ - named after a line in a Dylan Thomas poem - was
inspired by love, family, belonging, memory. Miki and Moose split the eight
lyrics, with some poignant overlaps here too. Miki’s ‘Loveable’ looks to
Moose; Moose’s ‘The Knife-Thrower’s Daughter’ looks to Miki but also their
daughter Stella and his sister Anna; an empathic, touching embrace of the
women in his life.
Staying within the family, Moose eulogises his late mother (the idyllic
childhood seaside trip of ‘Hastings 1973’) and father (the more conflicted
‘Scratching At The Lid’). On ‘V.O.’, Miki pays fond tribute to Vaughan Oliver,
4AD’s legendary in-house art director who died suddenly in December 2019
and who had a particularly close relationship with Lush during their time on
the label (like ‘Brickbat’, ‘Love Drips And Gathers’’ beautiful and enigmatic
artwork is by Vaughan’s former design partner Chris Bigg).
LP pressed on clear vinyl.

Where the Streets Lead is the new album from Slowly Rolling Camera, and builds on their acclaimed 2018 release Juniper. Inspired by colliding worlds of jazz, trip-hop, and cinematic soundscapes, SRC’s music blends strong melodies, big grooves, and surprising turns of phrase, and is infused with expansive emotional gravitas. The music on this album, recorded throughout 2020, encompasses greater scale, with an 8-piece string section and a list of world-class guests including Mark Lockheart, Jasper Høiby, Verneri Pohjola, Chris Potter and Sachal Vasandani as well as the band's regular guitarist Stuart McCallum. Where the Streets Lead is emphatic in its purpose: communicating the joy of collaboration and, through an audio-sensory landscape, a vision of the world. There is a boldness and simplicity in the album’s conception, balanced with attention to detail in its production and sound design. Slowly Rolling Camera’s last album Juniper set the band on a new path. Where the Streets Lead is a natural progression and development in the band’s’ continued exploration.

In 2020, 4AD turned 40. Never one to be on time for a party, the label is
commemorating that landmark this year with the release of ‘Bills & Aches & Blues’.
The compilation features 18 of its current artists covering a song of their
choosing from 4AD’s past: a creative experiment rooted in the spirit of
collaboration and a snapshot of 4AD, 41 years after its inception.
‘Bills & Aches & Blues’ will be released on double CD and double LP. The
first 12 months’ profits from ‘Bills & Aches & Blues’ will be donated to The
Harmony Project, a Los Angeles-based after-school programme for children
from communities and schools that lack equitable access to studying the arts
or music.
‘Bills & Aches & Blues’’ 18 recordings contain fascinating connections
between artist and track. The earliest song chosen (by U.S. Girls) is The
Birthday Party’s ‘Junkyard’, from 1981; the most recent are the two Grimes
covers (‘Genesis’ and ‘Oblivion’, respectively by Spencer. and Dry Cleaning)
from 2012. Suitably, for the one band that bridges 4AD past and present, The
Breeders are all over ‘Bills And Aches And Blues. They’re covered three
times - ‘Cannonball’ by Tune-Yards, ‘Mountain Battles’ by Bradford Cox of
Deerhunter and ‘Off You’ by Big Thief, whilst The Breeders cover ‘The Dirt
Eaters’ by their ‘90s contemporaries His Name Is Alive.
Landmark songs such as ‘Cannonball’, ‘Song To The Siren’ and Pixies’
‘Where is My Mind?’ will feel comfortable to casual fans, however by
contrast, much joy can be found in the album’s surprise choices, such as Air
Miami’s ‘Seabird’ and the Lush B-side ‘Sunbathing’, covered respectively by
new signings Maria Somerville and Jenny Hval.
‘Bills & Aches & Blues’ is named, arguably (as Elizabeth Fraser never
published the lyrics), after the opening line of Cocteau Twins ‘CherryColoured Funk’. Perhaps too unique and uncoverable in their own right, their
legendary take on Tim Buckley’s ‘Song To The Siren’, under the name This
Mortal Coil (along with Buckley’s pre-Starsailor acoustic version) informs
SOHN’s cover.
Some tracks unearth hitherto hidden shared DNA, such as Future Islands’
and Colourbox’s ‘The Moon Is Blue’; other tracks are more akin to
reinvention. Aldous Harding distils the melodic essence of Deerhunter’s
‘Revival’ and recasts it in her own uncanny image. U.S. Girls’ future-disco
‘Junkyard’ and Bing & Ruth’s neo-classical instrumental ‘Gigantic’ are even
more radical interpretations. Leading off the album, Tkay Maidza brings both
her Art Rap and R&B game, but also an unexpected ‘80s synth pop template,
to Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind?’, a perfect title for these chaotic times.

John R. Miller is a true hyphenate artist: singer-songwriter-picker.
Every song on his thrilling debut solo album, ‘Depreciated’, is lush with
intricate wordplay and haunting imagery, as well as being backed by a band
that is on fire.
One of his biggest long-time fans is roots music favourite Tyler Childers, who
says he’s “a well-travelled wordsmith mapping out the world he’s seen, three
chords at a time.” Miller is somehow able to transport us to a shadowy honkytonk and get existential all in the same line with his tightly written compositions. Miller’s own guitar-playing is on fine display here along with vocals that
evoke the white-waters of the Potomac River rumbling below the high ridges
of his native Shenandoah Valley.
‘Depreciated’ is a collection of eleven gems that take us to John R. Miller’s
home place even while exploring the way we can’t go home again, no matter
how much we might ache for it. On the album, Miller says he was eager to combine elements of country, blues, and rock to make his own sound. He wanted
‘Depreciated’ to conjure references to recently lost heroes like Prine, Walker,
and Shaver without sounding derivative.
Miller has certainly achieved his own sound here with an album that is almost
novelistic in its journey not only to the complicated relationship Miller has with
the Shenandoah Valley but also into the mind of someone going through transitions. “I wrote most of these songs after finding myself single and without a
band for the first time in a long while,” Miller says. “I stumbled to Nashville and
started to figure things out, so a lot of these have the feel of closing a chapter.”

When Glen Campbell walked onstage at the Troubadour on West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip on August, 19, 2008, he was even more iconic than the legendary venue that birthed The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Elton John, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. 'Performing a stunning mix of songs embedded in our DNA (“Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Galveston”) and unexpected jewels from Lou Reed (“Jesus”), Foo Fighters (“Times Like These”), Tom Petty (“Walls (Circus),” “Angel Dream”), Paul Westerberg (“Sadly Beautiful”) and Green Day (“Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”), Campbell is in fine voice and demonstrates on more than one song his dexterity, tone and emotional transparency on guitar. With a band that includes four of his children, session and live veterans from Beck, Jellyfish, Jane’s Addiction, Murphy’s Law, D Generation and Danzig, it was a night of music that explored the commonalities of genres, country-tinged arrangements and how good live music feels. RADIO: BBC Radio 2 Play, Chris Country Premiere, Absolute Country, Downtown Country, Smooth Country PRESS: Country Music Publications TW: 19.7K, FB: 339K, IG: 12.5K Available as a standard CD jewelcase and 2-disc vinyl.

Composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community
leader William Parker presents a pair of brand new trio albums which
further expound on his limitless vision.
One of the iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the
last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher.
‘Painters Winter’ features the trio of Daniel Carter (reeds, trumpet, flute) William Parker (bass, trombonium, shakuhachi) and Hamid Drake (drums). Carter
& Parker have been perpetual space-ways traveling companions since first
meeting & immediately beginning to channel music together in early 1970s
NYC. Here, Carter again brings the full assembly of instruments he has for decades been a master of: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute.
Likewise, Hamid Drake is a musician’s musician; one of the most in-demand
drummers in the world. He is in command of a vast lexicon of drum languages,
learned and absorbed directly. His frequent flyer miles could get him a ticket to Saturn and back. Drake & Parker launched their devoted “two-man big
band” partnership in 2000 and haven’t stopped since. In trio with Daniel Carter,
they’ve created one previous album together, ‘Painters Spring’, released that
same year.
Drake has made mention of his awe that William could pick up any new instrument and make beautiful music with it from jump. The title track of ‘Painters
Winter’ features Parker on trombonium, one of those many instruments that
he plays beautifully on. The track “Painted Scarf” features Parker on shakuhachi, upon which he has clearly become a master.
William Parker: bass, trombonium, shakuhachi
Daniel Carter: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet, flute
Hamid Drake: drums

Reissue for John Joseph’s own all-star group 2017 debut album

At its purest, there is little that can match the visceral thrill and empowering spirit of hardcore. As front-man of New York City hardcore kings Cro-Mags, this is something John Joseph knows very well, and with Up In Arms, he and his Bloodclot compatriots deliver a furious collection that hits hard on every level. "In this band we're doing what each of us have always done: give it our all," he states plainly. "We work hard, and we have a lot to say. Look around the planet - people are fed up with the corrupt ruling class. They destroy the planet and kill millions for profit, and the formula for our response is simple: Anger + applied knowledge = results. Don't just bitch. Change it."

The results reflect the roots and passions of the individual members. Danzig/Murphy's Law guitarist Todd Youth was the first piece of the puzzle. "We've always talked about doing this record together, Todd had songs written and I had notebooks full of lyrics. In late September 2015, I went out to LA to do a triathlon and injured my calf muscle, so I couldn't race, and Todd said he could get some studio time. So, we went in and cut the demo. While there are things we may perceive as a negative in our lives, in fact the universe has a bigger plan, and that experience ultimately resulted in the record." Having been friends with Queens Of The Stone Age and Danzig powerhouse drummer Joey Castillo for three decades, the two musicians had long admired each other's work, and their collaboration has been a long time coming. Following Castillo's suggestion of bringing in Nick Oliveri (Queens Of The Stone Age/The Dwarves) to handle bass duties, the lineup was complete. The songs that comprise Up In Arms manifested after the quartet plugged in and let the music speak for them. "We didn't decide to try to play anything, these are the songs that happened when we started jamming, and I love this band because there are no egos involved. Our goal is to make the best music possible, period. I love it when those guys contribute with melodies, etc., and I've even helped with some of the arrangements. Because we all think alike, our lyrics deal with the issues of the day, and that makes for better songs."

Every track on Up In Arms lives up to the rallying cry of the album's title - the bursts of high energy hardcore act as the perfect accompaniment to Joseph setting his sights on injustice and the seemingly endless flaws of the contemporary world. The breakneck thrashing of "Slow Kill Genocide" is an anthem for everyone sickened by those responsible for "killing the planet and all its inhabitants through industry and war. They're fucking maniacs and must be stopped." The suitably titled "Manic" attacks with bared fangs, Joseph making it clear that you can only push someone so far before they will react with violence - a call to arms for the disenfranchised who want tomorrow's world to be better than today's. Tracked at NRG in Los Angeles, the raw, old-school production that leaps out from the speaker comes courtesy of producer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Revocation), and the record was mixed by Kyle McAulay at NRG. From the moment the opening title track explodes to life, it's clear that everyone involved is having a blast and playing from the heart, and that this is no frills / no bullshit music at its most passionate - every song evoking mental images of utter chaos in a heaving mosh pit.

For anyone approaching the album for the first time, Joseph has only this to say: "Turn the volume way the fuck up!" And with plans to tour everywhere, Bloodclot will be getting in a lot of faces in 2017 and beyond. "We are already writing material and the next album is in the works. But, for now, all we want is to hit the stage to support 'Up in Arms', and every single night leave every ounce of ourselves up there."

You may know Rodrigo Amarante already. You may have heard "Tuyo," his theme tune to the Netflix drama Narcos, or the Little Joy album, recorded with Fab Moretti and Binki Shapiro, you might have noted his name among the credits on songs by Gal Costa, Norah Jones and Gilberto Gil; or perhaps you saw him play live with Brazilian samba big band Orquestra Imperial, or with Rio rockers Los Hermanos; you really should have heard his debut album, Cavalo, released in 2014. You may think you know Rodrigo Amarante already, but Drama, his second solo album, is going to introduce a whole new level of confusion to the mix.

Drama is purposefully caricatural, cinematic; "As biased as memory". It flows as an arch, playfully deceiving, like a tale. The ominous opening number gives you a hint that things might not be what they appear, and clues are hiding in plain sight. "Projection,

attachment, deception: that is Drama." The sunny upbeat start of "Maré", with a nearly childish opening melody, echoes something less naïf: "The tide will fetch what the ebb brings". The beat helps you move past. "Tango" sounds like falling in love on the dance floor, warm and tropical, it celebrates companionship, while perhaps pleading for it, yearning. "Tara," meanwhile, feels like something Astrud Gilberto might have sung at the height of bossa nova’s global popularity, with the twist of the big-band-era muted horns on the chorus, nearly self-deprecating, as if mocking such idealized infatuation.

Drama closes with the piano on "The End." To live is to fall. After all the emotional upheavals the singer has put his cast through, is this some kind of farewell to this mortal coil? "Everything Furthers." says Amarante. "Whispering, you get louder like that, people respond better to an invitation," and adds: "Staring at the absurd while remaining kind, being open to the gifts of confusion; that's why we create these tools that are stories and songs, to help us see each other."

For nearly two straight years following the release of their critically acclaimed debut, Chasing Lights, Ida Mae lived on the road, crisscrossing the US from coast to coast as they performed hundreds of dates with everyone from Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss to Marcus King and Greta Van Fleet. And while those shows were certainly formative for the electrifying British duo, it was what happened in between — the countless hours spent driving through small towns and big cities, past sprawling suburbs and forgotten ghost towns, across rolling plains and snow-capped mountains — that truly laid the groundwork for the band’s transportive new album, Click Click Domino. Written primarily in the backseat of a moving car, the record embodies all the momentum and possibility of the great American unknown, offering up a series of cinematic vignettes full of hope and disappointment, promise and regret, connection and loneliness. The songs on Click Click Domino are raw and direct, fueled by an innovative mix of vintage instruments and modern electronics, and the performances are loose and exhilarating to match, drawing on early rock and roll, classic country, British folk, and 50’s soul to forge a sound that’s equal parts Alan Lomax field recording and 21st century garage band. Turpin and Jean produced the album themselves, recording primarily on their own in their adopted hometown of Nashville during the COVID-19 pandemic, and while the collection is certainly bolstered by appearances from high profile guests like Marcus King, Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka, and Ethan Johns, the heart and soul of the record remains Ida Mae’s intoxicating chemistry, which has never felt more vibrant, ambitious, or self-assured. Now married, Turpin and Jean first met a little over a decade ago while attending university in Bath. The pair bonded immediately over their love for the sounds of bygone eras, and they quickly earned rave reviews everywhere from the BBC to the NME with their raucous first group, Kill It Kid. Starting over fresh as a duo named for Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee’s “Ida Mae,” the first song they ever harmonized on, Turpin and Jean relocated to Nashville in 2019 and released Chasing Lights to similarly widespread critical acclaim. Rolling Stone hailed the album’s “stomping swirl of blues and guitar-heavy Americana,” while The Independent lauded its “retro lustre” and “impressive experimentation,” and NPR’s Heavy Rotation called it “tightly drawn, harmonic and hypnotic.” The music helped the earn the duo a slew of support dates with the likes of Greta Van Fleet, The Marcus King Band, Blackberry Smoke, Josh Ritter, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and The Lone Bellow, as well as performances at Bonnaroo, the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Germany’s Reeperbahn Festival, and Switzerland’s Zermatt Unplugged.

A deep dive into the one of most collectable jazz catalogues in the world, a selection of some of the rarest and most sought-after recordings from the 60s and 70s, a time when British jazz began to find its own identity. Drawn from the iconic labels of Decca, Deram, Argo, EMI Columbia/Lansdowne Series, Fontana, Mercury, & Philips.



2LPs (+ audio download code voucher)
Vinyl audio remastered & cut by Gearbox Records
180grm Optimal Pressing
16-page 12x12 insert with 20,000 word essay detailing this crucial era of British jazz with track commentaries and artist biographies
2CD Set, hard cover book includes a 20,000 word essay detailing this crucial era of British jazz with track commentaries and artist biographies
Track list below (2CD set is same tracks split LP1 & LP2)









i c1. Neil Ardley, Ian Carr, Don Rendell | Greek Variations: VI Kriti edit

180g Coloured Vinyl Series Contains New Specially Prepared Liner Notes By Penguin Guide To Jazz’s Writer Brian Morton And By Paris’
Prestigious Jazz Magazine. Frank Sinatra & Count Basie Sinatra Basie + 2 Bonus Tracks (Orange Vinyl) “Sinatra had long since mastered the microphone, which had become his instrument, capable of a full-on roar or a whisper so intimate it seemed to be spoken inside the listener’s head. Tackling things like “Nice Work If You Can Get It” and “I Won’t Dance” took him back to a kind of repertoire he had mastered
two decades before. The youthful sheen hadn’t quite left the voice and age hadn’t yet darkened it. Basie wasn’t the greatest sight-reader and may not have played on all the tracks, but his band knew the score and Sinatra-Basie remains a collaboration of great strength and naturalness.” Penguin Guide to Jazz “The following decade would see his comeback to stardom, and Sinatra-Basie remains one of the highlights of that period. In this summit meeting, the iconic sonority of Basie’s orchestra is sublimated by Neal Hefti’s arrangements, while Sinatra, impeccable from start to finish, draws from the prodigious energy of the horns, strings and drums of this triumphant big band a simply irresistible elegance.” Jazz Magazine

This is one of the evergreen albums of 80’s style hair band rock that transcends the years and 2021 is the 30th anniversary of the release. evoXS is releasing Lean into It - The Singles 7” box set, which includes four 7” coloured vinyl singles with their European picture sleeves: ‘Just Take My Heart (edit)’, ‘Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)’, ‘To Be With You’, ‘Green Tinted Sixties Mind’, plus the bonus single ‘Strike Like Lightning’ from the movie Navy Seals, which has never previously been released on 7” vinyl.

“Montreal’s genre-defying post-rock combo BIG|BRAVE could very well be the most noteworthy recent heavy curiosity to come out of the city in recent years.” - NOISEY

“…combines elements of Björk, Neurosis and Sunn O))) into a cohesive whole; but this whole is an ever evolving and challenging sonic mass.
- THE QUIETUS

Minimalism and instinct, structure/freedom and meticulous timing form the cornerstones of their precise, rhythmical sound.
Lyrically, the album explores the weight of race and gender, endurance and navigating other people’s behaviours, observation and protest. The band further comment “this album involves what it means navigating the outside world in a racialized body and what it does to the psyche as a whole while finding individual worth within this reality.”
This time featuring the core trio Robin Wattie, Mathieu Ball and Tasy Hudson, for their most collaborative record they’ve made so far. The band elaborate “having cut our teeth in very different musical backgrounds respectively, our intuitions vary, which has an interesting effect on our individual approaches and ears.”
For this record, BIG | BRAVE once again made the trek down to Rhode Island to record with Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets. They remark “we fully trust his instinct as an engineer and his creative output, getting to experiment with textures, concepts, layers, and with pretty much every single recorded sound, the process of making records with Seth is an absolute journey and pleasure.”
With the initial seeds planted in 2012, with no other goal than simply experimenting with the instruments in their possession, Robin Wattie and Mathieu Ball started writing subtle ambient/minimalistic folk songs together. When long time friend Louis Alexandre Beauregard joined on drums, the goal still remained to play as tranquil as possible. After an incident where Wattie’s acoustic guitar broke, and having borrowed a friend’s electric as a replacement, larger amps that Ball had in storage from previous bands started to get incorporated to the outfit. Now with amplitude as a compositional tool, BB never lost interest in the power of minimalism and fragility. It became clear that loud volume would become just as effective as the lowest possible ones and the juxtaposition of both would become something BB still uses as their main MO to this day.
After self-releasing Feral Verdure in 2014, the band had the opportunity to open for Thee Silver Mt Zion in Montreal QC. After which, Efrim Manuel Menuck found something meaningful in the members and the band and invited them to open on future shows with Mt Zion and with Godspeed! You Black Emperor.
In 2015, the band entered the studio with Menuck and recorded “Au De La”. With no home for the record, they decided to take a chance in writing to Southern Lord. As luck would have it, Greg Anderson happened upon their email among hundreds and responded. Since then, the band has had a home with Southern Lord Records. (Along with Au De La, Southern Lord has released Ardor in 2017, A Gaze Among Them in 2019 and VITAL in 2021).
After Beauregard’s departure in 2018, the band traveled down to Rhode Island with Loel Campbell on drums to make a first record with Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets. After the album’s release, with Campbell unable to tour, Tasy Hudson joined the ranks and the band spent most of the year touring their 2019 album “A Gaze Among Them”.
In 2020, the core trio of Ball, Wattie and Hudson once again made the trek down to Machines with Magnets to record their 5th LP “VITAL”.
Since their inception, the band has had many honours and privileges of touring a number of times in North America and Europe with bands such as Sunn O))), MY DISCO, The Body, Thou, Primitive Man and Thee Silver Mt Zion.

Big Country’s sixth studio album, ‘The Buffalo Skinners’ was originally released in 1993. The self-produced, impassioned explosion of rock roundly delivers on pulling this band's working-class masculinity, love of full-throated guitar and sense of political and social outrage together in one rousing, melodic, lyrical onslaught.
Featuring the singles ‘Alone’ and ‘Ships’, along with fan favorites ‘What Are You Working For’ and “We’re Not In Kansas”, these relying on a heavier guitar sound than their previous album, the pace rarely lets up throughout, taking in the anthemic `The One I Love' and the outraged “The Selling of America” before it all ends on the angry, science-gone-wrong, cloak and dagger horror tale of “Chester's Farm”.
The original vinyl version of the album only had a limited pressing and was only one 1 vinyl. This new deluxe version has been split across 2 vinyl for optimum sound quality and also features some b-sides and rare tracks on side 4.
The package is a 6mm spine gatefold sleeve and 2x 180gm Heavyweight Black Vinyl with sleeve notes written by guitarist Bruce Watson.

Snapped Ankles return to the forest, but it's not as they left it. Trees planted in neat rows. A well-ordered monoculture with access roads and heavy machinery. The smell of greenwashed money in the air. There's no sign of the ancient woodland they emerged from on debut album, Come Play The Trees. And it's far cry from the gentrified East London they found themselves hawking on Stunning Luxury. All is not well in the face of progress. Welcome to the Forest Of Your Problems. Even among the famously close-knit woodwose community there are factions forming. Meet The Business Imp, The Cornucopian, The Nemophile and The Protester. Each with their own motivations and belief systems. Their own sense of injustice: contradictions, anxieties and guilt. There are woodwose who have risen to the top in the boom and bust world of real estate and hedge funds. Grab what you can before the next crash. Others find euphoria in the absolute conviction that wealth and technology will see us through this. There are those with their recycling in order, who are well-versed in the prospect of imminent ecological and economic collapse, burying themselves in vegan cookery and extensive international holiday itineraries. And there's an increasing number angry at the state of the world, ready to take to the streets and the trees in an attempt to force real change. Forest Of Your Problems runs the gamut of modern woodwose emotions. In this neat human approximation of the forest, it's an increasingly knotted affair. Despite all of this, Snapped Ankles haven't lost their innate ability to make you want to move your feet - their Teutonic forest rhythms are still shot through with post-punk lightning. Whether they're exploring those opportunities which might arise when a Nigerian prince emails out of the blue on 'The Evidence', or referencing the crooked woodwose attempting to go straight on 'Rhythm Is Our Business', this is music to lose your inhibitions to. The moments of pure elation on 'Shifting Basslines Of The Cornucopians' are worth the admission price alone - "It's a great time to be alive!" ...apparently. Snapped Ankles outsider status has always allowed them to hold a mirror up to society. Now the boundaries are not so clear. In the four years since Come Play The Trees was released, their cult has flourished. Previous album Stunning Luxury saw the band invited to play the BBC 6 Music Festival and a KEXP session on the back of a sold-out UK tour which culminated with two nights at Village Underground in London. As those who have witnessed the shamanic ritual of their live shows will attest, they are a truly unique, communal experience. Forest Of Your Problems will see the woodwose bring their ancient forest rhythms and high-wire, multi-media live act to ever bigger stages - including Camden's iconic Roundhouse in October.

Leng Records has long had close ties with the underground music scene in San Francisco, with low-slung dub disco and psychedelic disco outfit 40 Thieves releasing their acclaimed album The Sky Is Yours on the imprint way back in 2014. Now Leng has turned to another stalwart of the Bay Area scene, Cole Odin, on a single that’s every bit as trippy and engrossing as you’d expect from one of San Francisco’s most frequently overlooked talents. Cole made his Leng debut earlier in the year, contributing the electro-influenced track ‘Numbers Game’ to the label’s 10th anniversary compilation. On ‘Little Boxes’, he’s joined by good friend Eddie C, a much-loved disco and house producer from Canada best known for his releases on Endless Flight and Red Motorbike. The pair recorded the track while Eddie was staying with Cole in San Francisco last year.



In keeping with the low-slung, hallucinatory sound that has always been a big feature of the San Franciscan scene, ‘Little Boxes’ is a trippy, mind-altering affair in which waves of sitar sounds, cosmic synths, effects-laden guitars and kaleidoscopic electronics rise above a weighty punk-funk bassline and crunchy, snare-heavy beats. It has serious dancefloor chops but is also atmospheric and immersive: perfect 5am music for Bay Area beach parties and mushrooms-fuelled forest raves.



Fittingly, it’s 40 Thieves who provide the accompanying remix, a 10-minute epic created with the assistance of Adonis and Rodney from the psych rock band ‘Guavatron’ for additional synths and the guitars. Beginning with tabla-style percussion, swirling chords, psychedelic guitar licks and mystical sitar sounds, the remix builds in waves, with looser drums and even weightier bass propelling the track forwards at a metronomic and hypnotic pace. By the time the eyes-closed guitar solos drop two thirds of the way through, you’ll be tripping hard and reaching for the lasers. It’s a genuinely stunning remix of a genuinely intoxicating, mind-mangling track.

Repress! This is the first full length release from The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble. The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble - If you are a fan of the organ, gritty Funk, and beautiful original soundtracks, these guys are for you. The SFSE is a heavy, original, instrumental soul band based out of San Diego, CA that released their debut self titled album on Colemine Records in June of 2015, and the band will be releasing their sophomore album in the fall of 2016 on the same label. The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble has recently shared the stage with Lee Fields and the Expressions, Big Sam's Funky Nation, Kung Fu, Polyrhythmics, New Mastersounds, Monophonics, Kamasi Washington, and many others. They draw influence from the masters of the style from the past and modern day, including: The Meters, Isaac Hayes, El Michels Affair, Mulatu Astatke, Budos Band, The Nite Liters, Menahan Street Band, Fela Kuti, and The Poets of Rhythm.

Cosmic traveller Herman ‘Sonny’ Blount became Sun Ra after an alien abduction, proclaiming that he came from Saturn and using music to point to human failure on earth, offering space as ethereal alternative. Supersonic Jazz was released in 1957 on Ra’s Saturn label and regularly reissued, even making it onto Impulse in 1974, its blend of bop, avant-garde and galactic well ahead of its time. More melodic and cohesive than many subsequent titles, ‘Advice To Medics’ is a troubling Ra piano diversion, and ‘Super Blonde’ a big-band stomp; ‘Soft Talk,’ by trombonist Julian Priester, is one of the vehicles for John Gilmore’s tenor sax and ‘Kingdom Of Not’ has uncommon swing. A must for all Sun Ra scholars!

Hong Kong based hypno-tropicalia duo Blood Wine or Honey are set to release their second album 'DTx2' on 30th June 2021. Made up of seasoned multi-instrumentalists James Banbury (synths, bass, percussion, cello) and Joseph von Hess (vocals, clarinet, sax, percussion), they create a heaving, heady brew of brazen sax themes, lo-fi/hi-tech electronics, densely layered cello inflections and motorik drums.

These explorations start with the dance-floor then go above and beyond, taking notes from post-punk and tropical polyrhythms, always anchored by the bass weight of the sound system. Their distinctive sound is created in the industrial warehouses and hidden rural settlements of Hong Kong, surrounded by the low-end throb of heavy machinery, the lingering scent of hand sanitiser and the humidity of the South China Sea.

Written and recorded during 2020-21, new album 'DTx2' looks ahead to an uncertain future, drawing deep on their experiences and influences and welcoming a host of co-conspirators.

Jean Daval, aka Preservation (credits include Yasiin Bey fka Mos Def, MF Doom, RZA, GZA, Raekwon, KRS-One, Aesop Rock), provided truffle-hunted beats, synths and basses, which, when put through the BWoH mangle, emerged as 'Messenger'.

Superstar and old friend of the band KT Tunstall came to work with BWoH after they contributed a DJ mix for her lockdown 'KTRave' on Instagram. 'Attraction' was the result. Wonky bass, found-bounce beats and Buddy Rich drums smashed out by Tim Weller (Marc Almond, Future Sound of London, Goldfrapp, The Chemical Brothers, David Axelrod) resulted in a bonkers production with passionate vocals and layers of harmony.

'I Shall Rush Out As I Am' is a collaboration with legendary pop provocateur Paul Morley and Janice Lau of Hong Kong band David Boring. The track is based on the words and the spirit of sci-fi writer, satirist, literary critic and radical feminist Joanna Russ and took shape quickly, with tinges of A Certain Ratio and memories of Suicide, provoking Janice to an authentic scream-of-consciousness delivery.

Multi-talented London singer, musician and composer Kamal (Neighbourhood Recordings) took time away from being the Next Big Thing to transform 'Testing Time' with funk-edged keys. A key figure in the extraordinary '90s Hong Kong music scene, Zoë Brewster contributed vocals.

Roughly divided, the album's first set of songs make relatively short statements, punchily self-contained with common threads. The final four tracks, Testing Time, Embers, Embrasure

and Echt Embrace disperse into flights of mantric fantasy, with quicksand time-signature shifts and key-changes emerging into a more introspective zone with a fervent pulse, a shift in energy: stamina over speed.

Limited edition gold vinyl edition.
Hamburg's funk adventurers at the top of their game with special guests Ice-T, Charlie Funk, Peter Thomas, Gizelle Smith, Lee Fields, JSwiss & the Mocambo Kidz.

Original press release note (2019):
Carrying blistering funk lines in their fingers and worldly influences in their hearts, the unique and distinctive Mocambo sound is not one to be confused with retro bands trying to recapture an era. Eschewing traditional recording methods, this DIY crew are committed to driving forwards, and 2066 sees them at the height of their powers, broadcasting a call for unity.
After reaching new audiences worldwide and earning critical praise for their two long players on Brooklyn's Big Crown Records in their tropical guise as Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the band have reassembled and refocused in their original form, the workhorses behind dozens of 45s on the Mocambo label and beyond. Crossing generations, this album introduces some of the world's youngest funk talent to step up and rub shoulders with soul and rap legends, soul sisters, an elder statesman composer/arranger and a brand new emerging artist out of New York.
As with all Mocambo releases, the two sides of the record have been meticulously sequenced by the
band. Side A welcomes us aboard with joyous instrumental stomper Preaching To The Choir, and a call to build bridges from Mocambo chanteuse and percussionist Nichola Richards, duetting with emerging rap talent, New York MC JSwiss. B-girls and b-boys are called to the dancefloor as Superstrada and Concrete Stardust commence, all buzzing synth lines and relentless drums. New Jersey legend and Big Crown associate Mr Lee Fields is guest of honour for Where Do We Go From Here before a horn workout brings us to a close with Macumba. It's time for a breather.
The B side kicks off with the grand return of the Golden Girl of Funk, Gizelle Smith, a sister who's been busy taking on the world. Composer and presenter Peter Thomas narrates a Return To Space to mark the centenary of the debut of his score to sci-fi show Space Patrol, which first broadcast in 1966. We're back down to Earth and the mean streets for the furious drums and car chase workout of Golden Shadow. Today slows down the pace for a reflective ballad with Nichola front and centre - and here's the next generation: the Mocambo Kidz sing along to their parents' instrumentation for Here We Go, a new kids' block party anthem... with no sleep 'til bedtime. The album closer makes it clear that the Mocambos are nowhere near powering down as Ice T and Charlie F unk bring their A-game for an old school attack which, since you're up bouncing anyway, gives you no excuse not to flip the LP and drop the needle right back on to Side A. Onwards!
A summation of their journey so far and a celebration in anticipation of what's to come, the album is set
to take its place in a legacy of open minded, organically recorded music, showering listeners with the crew's maze of tantalising sounds pulled from funk, afro, hip hop with cinematic composition and storytelling.

With his ongoing commitment to like-minded archivist label Finders Keepers Records, industrial music pioneer Steven Stapleton further entrusts us to lift the veil and expose “the right tracks” from his uber-legendary and oft misinterpreted psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List.
Following the critically lauded first instalment and it’s exclusively French tracklisting both parties now combine their vinyl-vulturous penchants to bring you the next ‘Strain Crack & Break’ edition which consists of twelve lesser-known German records that played a hugely important part in the initial foundations of the list which began to unfold when Stapleton was just thirteen years old.
From the perspective of a schoolboy Amon Düül (ONE) victim, at the start of a journey that commenced before phrases like kosmische and the xeno-ignant Krautrock tag had become mag hack currency, this compendium is devoid of the tropes that united what many would accurately argue to be the greatest progressive pop bands in Europe
(namely CAN, Neu! and Kraftwerk) and rather shatters the ingredients across a ground zero landscape for both inquisitive fans and socially rehabbing musos to begin to assemble a unique self-styled identity. If Krautrock was the music that journalist told us lurked behind schlager (German pop) in the 1970s, then this record includes the music that skulked behind Krautrock and perhaps refused to polish its backhanded name belt.
Including lesser-known artists like the late Wolfgang Dauner, whose career proceeded and outlived the kosmische movement while consistently informing and outsmarting them whenever they got stuck in their metronomic ruts, or how about Fritz Müller, the man who
was to Kraftwerk what Stuart Sutcliffe was to The Beatles but had more in common with Yoko and quite rightly couldn’t give a stuff about the Fab Four’s Hamburg roots.
Elsewhere we have a plethora of German bands made for German audiences as they try and shed secondhand flower power Americanisms and feel the benefits of much harder drugs and the realisations of difficult second album budgets while Kommune 1
newsflashes wipe smiles from everybody’s faces and replace them with opioid chic or acid-sarcastic grins. Bonzo Cockettes show us their Big Muffs and drummers ask for extra mics while Conny Plank goes for parliamentary office and gives babies good firm handshakes for the camera.
‘Strain Crack & Break: Volume Two’ is the sound of Steve Stapleton’s sponge-like mind and the dividends of anyone who was brave enough to even peek inside those brick-thick gatefold covers never mind drop the needle.
Over forty years since Nurse With Wound’s first album was released, Finders Keepers Records and Steve Stapleton take connoisseurs of our kind of music back to the disused elevator shaft towards ground zero. Arriving at the same checkout from different departments, Finders Keepers and Nurse With Wound continue to sing from the same hymnal with this ongoing collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from Steve’s list, where many overzealous erds have faltered (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick).
After ‘Strain Crack & Break: Volume One’ merely scratched the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities, this second lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium drives a much deeper groove which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focusses exclusively on individual tracks of German origin - the country whose music forged the prototype of the NWW inventory in the form of his secondary school vinyl wantlist in the early 1970s, comprised of disassembled free jazz, unshowered stoner psych, hypnotic prog, deranged monk funk and fuzzed out Deutschmark bin bonzo beats.

Heavy music’s evolution has always been a murky swamp of sub-genres. So, combining Thin Lizzy’s glistening twin guitar harmonies with Melvins- grade sludge and a hearty dose of proto-metal psych probably shouldn’t sound so revolutionary as it does in the hands of L.A. quartet Deathchant. But theirs is a special, transcendent sound.
Waste, the band’s sophomore album and first for RidingEasy Records, is anything but. The 33-minute, 7-song blast flows seamlessly from song to song, aided by droning segues, while simultaneously slithering between genres and moods. Rumbling noise, chiming guitar melodies, bluesy boogie, NWOBHM thrash, COC grunge and punk fury all rear their head at times, sometimes all at once.
Though you wouldn’t be able to tell by the concise structures and well- crafted songs, a lot of Deathchant’s music is improvised, both in the studio and live. That’s not to suggest their songs are jammy — they’re very tightly organized compositions. But the four musicians have that special musical telepathy that allows them to keep the song structures open-ended.
“Improv is a huge things for us and always has been,” singer/guitarist T.J. Lemieux says. “The musical freedom to look at the other dudes in the band and be able to take things wherever we want to go is magical. I like the feel of flying off the hinges.”
Likewise, the band itself is similarly amorphous in its membership. “We run the band with an open door. No lineup is definitive,” Lemieux explains. On Waste, the lineup is: Lemieux, George Camacho on bass, Colin Fahrner on drums, and John Belino on second guitar.
Waste was recorded live in a rented cabin in the mountains of Big Bear, CA. “We packed a big-ass van and set up in the living room and kitchen,” Lemieux says. “Tracked it live, with overdubs after.” The whole album was recorded over two separate weekends, engineered by Steve Schroeder, who also recorded the band’s 2019 self-titled debut album.
“I’d say it has sort of a DIY LA punk aesthetic,” he adds. “Very ironically going hand in hand with a classic metal vibe: Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, classic Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and other melodic heavy rock bands.”

Heavy music’s evolution has always been a murky swamp of sub-genres. So, combining Thin Lizzy’s glistening twin guitar harmonies with Melvins- grade sludge and a hearty dose of proto-metal psych probably shouldn’t sound so revolutionary as it does in the hands of L.A. quartet Deathchant. But theirs is a special, transcendent sound.
Waste, the band’s sophomore album and first for RidingEasy Records, is anything but. The 33-minute, 7-song blast flows seamlessly from song to song, aided by droning segues, while simultaneously slithering between genres and moods. Rumbling noise, chiming guitar melodies, bluesy boogie, NWOBHM thrash, COC grunge and punk fury all rear their head at times, sometimes all at once.
Though you wouldn’t be able to tell by the concise structures and well- crafted songs, a lot of Deathchant’s music is improvised, both in the studio and live. That’s not to suggest their songs are jammy — they’re very tightly organized compositions. But the four musicians have that special musical telepathy that allows them to keep the song structures open-ended.
“Improv is a huge things for us and always has been,” singer/guitarist T.J. Lemieux says. “The musical freedom to look at the other dudes in the band and be able to take things wherever we want to go is magical. I like the feel of flying off the hinges.”
Likewise, the band itself is similarly amorphous in its membership. “We run the band with an open door. No lineup is definitive,” Lemieux explains. On Waste, the lineup is: Lemieux, George Camacho on bass, Colin Fahrner on drums, and John Belino on second guitar.
Waste was recorded live in a rented cabin in the mountains of Big Bear, CA. “We packed a big-ass van and set up in the living room and kitchen,” Lemieux says. “Tracked it live, with overdubs after.” The whole album was recorded over two separate weekends, engineered by Steve Schroeder, who also recorded the band’s 2019 self-titled debut album.
“I’d say it has sort of a DIY LA punk aesthetic,” he adds. “Very ironically going hand in hand with a classic metal vibe: Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, classic Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and other melodic heavy rock bands.”

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Grateful Dead’s first album to be certified Gold, this 2021 Remaster pressed onto 180g Black vinyl features all newly remastered tracks, remastered by GRAMMY ® Award winning engineer, David Glasser with Plangent Process Speed Correction.

Originally released in 1971, this is the American rock band’s second live album, known by fans as Skull and Roses due to the iconic cover art. The album was originally released without a title after the band initially submitted the album name “Skull Fuck”, but the band, fans and almost everyone who knows the Grateful Dead fondly refers to the album as Skull and Roses.

The album was their first album to be certified Gold in the US by the RIAA and is their second best-selling album. Pressed here onto 180g black vinyl, this remaster transports the listener back to the Dead’s residency at The Fillmore East, New York and, as with the first release, features three tracks previously unreleased on the studio album, “Bertha, “Playing In The Band” and “Wharf Rat”.


[a] a1. Bertha (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 27, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
[b] a2. Mama Tried (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 26, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
[c] a3. Big Railroad Blues (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 5, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
[d] a4. Playing in the Band (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 6, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
[e] b1. The Other One (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 28, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
[f] c1. Me & My Uncle (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 29, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
[g] c2. Big Boss Man (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 26, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
[h] c3. Me & Bobby McGee (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 27, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
[i] c4. Johnny B. Goode (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, March 24, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
[j] d1. Wharf Rat (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 26, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
[k] d2. Not Fade Away / Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 5, 1971) [2021 Remaster]

What Did You Expect from The Vaccines? is the debut studio album by English indie rock band The Vaccines. It was released on 11 March
2011, entering the UK Albums Chart at #4 and going on to become the biggest-selling debut by a band in 2011.

The Vaccines were formed in West London in 2010 by Justin Hayward- Young (lead vocals, guitar), Freddie Cowan (lead guitar, vocals), Árni Árnason (bass, vocals) and Pete Robertson (drums, vocals). The band have released four studio albums and have sold more than two million records worldwide. They have performed at the world’s biggest festivals and toured with acts such as The Rolling Stones, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, The Stone Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Imagine Dragons and Muse.






RELEASE: 25-6-2021

What Did You Expect from The Vaccines? drew comparisons to The Ramones and The Jesus and Mary Chain and contains 6 singles; “Wreckin’ Bar”, “Post-Break-Up Sex”, “If You Wanna”, “All In White”, “Nørgaard” and “Wetsuit”.

The 10th anniversary edition on black vinyl contains an exclusive, brand new insert + a free download coupon for the original album + unreleased What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? Demos album.

Surfdog Records and Brian Setzer have announced that for the first time, Setzer’s classic 2003 album Nitro Burnin’ Funny Daddy will be issued on vinyl. It will be released on limited edition 180 gram, red transparent vinyl on 25th June 2021.
Only Brian Setzer could cut an album with more lyrical honesty and musical diversity than anything he's ever done and then title it Nitro Burnin' Funny Daddy. Not that the name is misleading; Nitro is in fact packed with explosive performances. There's more than enough volatile picking and singing to mark this as a highlight of a catalog already crowded with great albums he's delivered as leader of the history-making Stray Cats and on his own too.

But there's more: street-corner doo-wop, heartbreak balladry, a foot-stomp hoedown, several lyrics that will shock and stun longtime fans, and always, somewhere in the mix, the blues. Every track is distinctive, none sounds like any of the others, yet all of them are pure Setzer. And it's all compressed into a tight trio format -- Setzer and his big band colleagues, standup slap-bass powerhouse Johnny Hatton and rhythm dynamo Bernie Dresel on snare and cymbals -- whose sound evokes Les Paul, Junior Parker, and even Earl Scruggs as much as Louis Prima or Eddie Cochran.
Originally released in 2003, Nitro Burnin’ Funny Daddy was Brian Setzer’s eleventh solo album and when it was released he said it was the most personal record he had ever done. The album followed his big-band release Boogie Woogie Christmas from the previous year and saw him back to his rockabilly best, taking in doo-wop (“To Be Loved”), bluegrass (“When The Bells Don’t Chime”), rootsy-rock (“Don’t Trust A Woman (In A Black Cadillac)”) and going on a cinematic Wild-West romp (“Wild Wind”).

• The tracks from the group’s two 1984 EPs together on a swanky 10-inch vinyl LP. Inner bag features liner notes by Kris Needs incorporating new interviews with all three Delmonas and a series of great photos by Eugene Doyen.

• Sarah Crouch, Hilary Wilkins and Louise Baker started singing together as a unique spark of spontaneous magic inextricably linked to their boyfriends in the Milkshakes, then rocking a garage-punk antidote to shiny synth-pop and brash chart stars with a direct lifeline back to rock’n’roll’s original simplicity and wildness. After Billy Childish and Bruce Brand formed the Pop Rivets in 1978, the guys hooked up with Micky Hampshire and Russell Wilkins to found the Milkshakes. Sarah shared a student house with boyfriend Micky plus Billy. After she and Hilary, then dating Russell, sang backing vocals on the Milkshakes’ rollicking Beatles-translated take on the Shirelles’ ‘Boys’, Louise’s arrival turned them into a girl group pretty much by accident.

• “I loved the music the Milkshakes were playing,” Louise recalls. “Loved the small, intimate venues and most of the bands that played with them, especially the Prisoners. I’d gone with the Milkshakes to Belgium and was somehow persuaded to get up on stage and sing something. Next thing I knew, there was some kind of plan to get the three of us in the studio.” At first the three girls were called the Milk-boilers, renaming themselves the Delmonas by the time Ace Records’ Roger Armstrong and Ted Carroll suggested recording the EPs that furnish this collection. “I think we were asked to each think of three songs and turn up,” says Louise. “I mostly listened to music from the 60s: lots of girl groups, Irma Thomas, Dusty Springfield, Bo Diddley, Velvet Underground, Kinks. Bruce had the best record collection; Mel Tormé was in there somewhere and one of my faves. Sarah came up with doing the Doors cover.”

• ‘Comin’ Home Baby’ was written as an instrumental before Bob Dorough added lyrics and Mel Tormé recorded it in 1962. The Delmonas’ finger-clicking, noir-dynamic version kicked off their first EP with authentic-sounding 60s production resonance, iced with mysterioso organ. The Cookies scored a hit with Goffin & King’s ‘Chains’ in 1962, the Beatles’ version providing the Hamburg Star-Club template for the Delmonas’ energised rendition. The first EP, “The Delmonas Volume 1”, rounded off with two songs from the Childish-Hampshire songwriting partnership: ‘Woa’ Now’ and ‘He Tells Me He Loves Me’, the latter recalling the New York Dolls covering the Shangri-Las’ ‘Give Him A Great Big Kiss’, mainly because it has similar chords.

• “The Delmonas Volume 2” opened with Sarah’s idea of covering the Doors’ hit. “We thought, ‘How would the Kinks have played it?’” she affirms. ‘Hello, I Love You’ had got the Doors into hot water with the Kinks’ publishers for its resemblance to ‘All Day And All Of The Night’. The Delmonas home in and highlight that similarity, adding bonkers psychedelic drop and evocative new coda. Their surf-tinged version of the Milkshakes’ ‘I’m The One For You’ is followed by the swampy screaming of ‘Peter Gunn Locomotion’, a cover of a 1963 single by Freddie Starr in his pre-stand-up comedian days as singer with the Midnighters. The set closed with the sultry organ-led vamp of the Milkshakes’ ‘I Want You’, the nearest the Delmonas get to the slowies Sarah helpfully points out they referred to as “shag songs”.

• All these tracks would re-appear on their “Dangerous Charms” album, along with out-takes and recordings from a BBC session, before the original trio splintered, leaving Sarah and Hilary to return for further adventures as Ludella Black and Ida Red. The eight tracks here capture a moment when three fun-loving friends got to live out some musical fantasies and had a blast doing it. 37 years later, it sounds just as contagious.

Madness’ fourth studio record “The Rise & Fall” has often been cited as the band’s best record and is home to one of their biggest tracks in “Our House” UK #5. Originally released in 1982 and reaching #10 in the UK album charts, it is now subject to a brand new re-release on 180g black vinyl in a gatefold sleeve as part of an ongoing reissue campaign.

Featuring exclusive liner notes by journalist Stevie Chick (MOJO, The Guardian & NME) and interviews with band members Lee ‘Kix’ Thompson, Mike Barson, Suggs McPherson, Woody Woodgate and Chrissyboy Foreman. Also featuring the hit single “Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day)” [UK #8].

Recorded during the thick of the Covid lockdown, Kevin, Tony, & Eric hunkered down in their studio and turned their energy inward. With all live shows and future tours canceled, Brainstory had no other outlet besides their rehearsal space which had been converted into a makeshift studio. Stepping up to the obstacles of the moment, they recorded and produced an EP of brand new music. They were already highly skilled musicians two years ago, but time in the studio with Leon Michels producing Buck and playing alongside bands like Holy Hive and Chicano Batman had a profound effect on them. Their ears have developed, their ethos and their drive has matured, their musicianship is full-blown; hence the name of the EP, Ripe. Ripe is a seven song journey into who Brainstory are as people and as a band. They are lighthearted and fun but never anything less than dead serious about their artistry. In choosing to record a mostly instrumental record, they have departed from their 2019 debut Buck and are showing more of their Jazz roots. Ripe pulls from Jazz, Hip Hop, 70s Funk, 60s Soul, and life in Southern California in the year 2021. Kev's intro to the EP is a testament to their thing, his goofy and charming "let's go baby_.less go baby" is welcoming and fun and then "Scissors" drops - serious as can be. The first vocal number we hear is "Seasons", a song about maintaining through the challenges of 2020 that would make Roy Ayers proud. "Long Day" and "Rogers" are drenched in reefer and psychedelia and promise a moment away from reality if listened to in headphones. "Bye Bye" is another stone cold ballad from the group that is destined to be a staple in sweet soul sets around the globe. Ripe is a welcome ray of sunshine as we all shake off the darkness of 2020 and will hold fans over while they finish recording their full length sophomore album due out in 2022.