Search:cincinnati

All the music in the world is at your fingertips, and it's up to you to set the vibe_ So, what should we listen to? If you're having trouble deciding, turn on the radio. It's the perfect place to discover something new, or jam along to a tried-and-true station that'll never let you down.Tune In is due out 11/1/2024 via Chiefdom Records. The second of three installments in the Terrestrial Radio series, it's a carefully curated collection of instrumental fusion, designed to serve as the perfect radio mix for fans of jazz, hip hop, funk, soul, reggae and beyond. It's the latest release from Cincinnati based executive producer Doctor Bionic (Jason Grimez). As a DJ, producer, and former member of 90s rap group MOOD, Grimez' musical career revolves around hip hop. He's always preferred to sample songs from the late 60s and early 70s because of the authentic tone. "Growing up collecting and sampling records was an education, whether we realized it or not," he explained. Grimez records and produces music using analog gear to emulate the instrumentals that he's always loved as he works with some of the best musicians in the Cincinnati area to bring his ideas to life. Among others, Jonathan Luck Spaulding and Josh "Mojo" Cole made several appearances on guitar throughout the record. Every Doctor Bionic release is accompanied by a unique, thought-provoking album cover. For Tune In, Grimez worked with Refael Idan Suissa, a painter and digital artist based in Israel.Next time you're looking for some new instrumental tunes to set the tone, you can count on the growing catalog from Doctor Bionic. Tune In is available everywhere on 11/1/24.

cLOUDDEAD's debut album, compiling six 10" EPs that appeared between 2000-2001, is aurally dense and obscured. A sprawling mass of miniature beat-suites and Dadaist lyrics, this strange and beautiful 3xLP would influence a myriad of sub-genres (cloud rap, hauntology, lo-fi hip-hop, etc.) in the two decades since its initial release.

Only the three members of cLOUDDEAD – Why?, Doseone and Odd Nosdam – can speak to the group's origins, but in the context of underground hip-hop towards the end of the 20th century, their arrival makes perfect sense. Cincinnati had a vital scene; home to Scribble Jam, an annual confluence of MCs, DJs, B-boys and graffiti artists. While the trio soon relocated to the Bay Area where they co-founded the Anticon collective, their Midwestern roots – in ramshackle basements of off-campus hovels, as the "cerberus of Southern Ohio" – would remain the atomic heart of their early recordings.

As Chris Martins writes in the liner notes, "The only reason we know their names today is because of how loudly and curiously they aired their insularity. They rewrote the entire world as they knew it through their own fucked perspective, and when those mysterious 10-inches started popping up in record shops, it wasn't just a puzzle to investigate: there seemed to be a whole cosmology hidden in those grooves."

Each side of the album represents one of those elusive 10-inches, each embodying a universe unto itself. Opening salvo "Apt. A" and "And All You Can Do Is Laugh" are perhaps most emblematic of the cLOUDDEAD experience. Why? and Dose create a new language through boundless non-sequiturs, sing-song non-choruses and call-and-response hooks, while Nosdam's dexterous production shifts from crackling ambience of Flying Saucer Attack to tight Ohio Players drum breaks and oblique film samples.

Taken all together, cLOUDDEAD is an original interpretation of hip-hop in the surreal Y2K glow – a bizarre meeting point between William Basinski's Disintegration Loops and MF DOOM's Operation: Doomsday. All it took was a Dr. Sample SP-202, Tascam cassette eight-track and cheap RadioShack mic. There's truly nothing like it.

This edition has been faithfully restored by Nosdam. European exclusive version comes on clear vinyl, incl. fold-out poster and liner notes insert.

"Sympathy Pain is an unusual animal, as their collective backgrounds come from hardcore, drone, and experimental pop in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sympathy Pain began as Skyler Hitchcox’s gloomy drone project which was later joined by Casey Hansen (of Cult Leader) to explore and expand the sullen space that the project initially carved out. Sympathy Pain is rounded out by Chaz Prymek (Lake Mary) and Nora Price. The deep connections to Salt Lake City’s underground well of experimental music have deep entanglements. Sympathy Pain has emerged from those entanglements with a clear eyed thesis, transmuting the often oppressive cultural climate of Utah through a personal veil of heavy sorrow.

Swan Dive is the product of years of excavating that space into a cavern, yielding their self-described “emo)))” (a nod to the preeminent doom/drone band Sunn) while still holding onto the submerged soundscapes that began as the core of the project. The album is expansive — a winding ride that travels from minimalism, to claustrophobic ambient, to triumphant passages that all underscore its forlorn undercurrent.

Originally released in January of 2024 as a CD by The Ghost is Clear and cassette by Diabolical Records, Swan Dive finally finds a new life on vinyl - reissued by the Cincinnati, OH record label Whited Sepulchre Records.

Tracked with Wes Johnson at Archive Recordings in SLC, UT and mixed/mastered by longtime friend and co-conspirator Ben Young, the album features a haunting guest spot by Madeline Johnston of Midwife on “Heaven + Hell” to close out the album."

Upper Space is the new album from beloved Hip Hop DJ/Producer/turntablist, Rude One. Upper Space was sparked when Rude suffered a serious burn out from his day job in NYC's ultra high-end interior design world. Moonwalking out of that life, and away from a $250k income, he retreated to a small apartment in downtown Cincinnati where he attended every Cincinnati Reds home game for a full baseball season. The remainder of his time was spent utilizing hallucinogens, running long distances, talking to his cats, writing short stories, and making beats that would ultimately pave the foundation for this project. Upper Space is comprised of 9 songs featuring Rude's hand-crafted production specifically tailored for a select list of collaborators such as Valee, Stove God Cooks, Jeremiah Jae, Roc Marciano, RXKNephew, YNOT DUSABLE and more. Upper Space is the official follow-up to Rude’s 2016 LP, ONEderful, which featured Your Old Droog, Westside Gunn, Roc Marciano, and Conway The Machine ahead of their stints as leaders of a stylistic shift in Hip Hop. Upper Space will be out via Closed Sessions on October 18th, 2024.

Nick Maurer’s Come On In! is the stuff of a modern American fable. The 20 year-old Cincinnatian’s first release on Happy Families feels wise beyond years but is equally moving in its innocent enthusiasm. Written while still in highschool and recorded using his cellphone, Come On In! is best enjoyed live, but even on vinyl or digitally, the album feels timeless, like you are stepping into a colorful picture book illustrated with a careful hand.

For nearly three decades, WHY? have thrived in subverting expectations. Across seven unpredictable and adventurous studio albums, the band led by Cincinnati songwriter Yoni Wolf has stretched the fringes of psychedelic pop, hip-hop, and electronic music. No matter the genre experiments and thematic departures, their discography is remarkably consistent, anchored by Wolf's disarming lyrical transparency. His writing is provocative, self-lacerating, and always considered, coming from a place of blunt emotional openness. The Well I Fell Into, the eighth full-length from WHY?, is Wolf at his most cohesive and poignant. An autopsy of heartbreak, the album charts the ups and downs of a devastating breakup while trading bitterness for healing. Self-released on Waterlines, Wolf's new label that follows in the footsteps of Anticon, the trailblazing artist-run collective he co-founded, its 14 tracks stand as the band's prettiest and most immediate work yet.

Das Album "Songs in A&E" erscheint in Neuauflage. Die britischen Space-Rocker Spiritualized, die aus der Band Spaceman 3 hervorgingen, veröffentlichten es ursprünglich 2008, woraufhin es auf Platz 15 der UK-Albumcharts einstieg.

Songs in A&E ist ein wunderschönes, beängstigendes Album, und es war beinahe das letzte, was J Spaceman jemals veröffentlichen würde. Im Jahr 2005, als die Schreib- und Aufnahmearbeiten bereits in vollem Gange waren, wurde Spaceman mit einer doppelten ungenentzündung ins Royal London Infirmary eingeliefert. Das Cover dieser
iederveröffentlichung zeigt ein Foto, das aufgenommen wurde, als er auf dem Sterbebett lag, wie seine engen Freunde und seine Familie zu diesem Zeitpunkt befürchteten. "Wir dachten, er sei tot", erinnerte sich sein Bandkollege John Coxon an diese Zeit.

Das Album ist eine Sammlung anmutiger, Country-beeinflusster Songs, die vertraute Themen wie Liebe, Tod, Hoffnung und Hoffnungslosigkeit aufgreifen. Das Country-Element wurde durch eine kleine schwarze 1928er Gibson Akustikgitarre geprägt, die er in Cincinnati gekauft hatte, als die Band auf Tournee für das Album Amazing Grace war. Spaceman nannte sie "The Devil".

"With a career spanning more than eight decades, The Isley Brothers have one of the longest, most influential and most diverse careers in popular music. The group began in 1954 as an American family music group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, which began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley. The Isley Brothers have sold over 18 million records in the United States alone. Go For Your Guns is the fifteenth album by The Isley Brothers. Originally released in mid-April 1977, the album peaked a month later at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Soul chart, and at No. 6 on the Billboard 200. The album Includes ""Footsteps In The Dark"" as sampled by hip hop artist Ice Cube for his hit ""It Was A Good Day"". The song peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 25 on the 1993 Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Go For Your Guns is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl. The album is housed in a gatefold sleeve and includes an insert. "

Go For Your Guns by The Isley Brothers, released 3 May 2024, includes the following tracks: "Tell Me When You Need It Again (Part 1 & 2)", "Voyage To Atlantis ", "Go For Your Guns" and more.

This version of Go For Your Guns comes as a 1xLP in a(n) Gatefold Sleeve packaging. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

The vinyl is pressed as a translucent, blue disc.

After 25 years of living his dream as one of hip hop’s most respected producers, Hi-Tek is digging back into his roots with a brand new trio of instrumental vinyl LPs. “Werk Road (1997 MPC 60)” is the third volume of the series, each featuring a selection of restored and remastered beats, carefully chosen from an archive of DAT tapes. These LPs manage to both provide a window into Tek’s development and to shine light on the work of an already enormously talented musician whose beats would’ve sounded right at home on classic releases from the mid-1990s.

1997 is when the name Hi-Tek began to develop a global buzz, largely due to the combustible indie-rap scene. He’d moved on from the now-shuttered Beatbox Studios in his hometown of Cincinnati and began building his first proper home studio in his new apartment on Werk Road. With a borrowed Akai MPC 60 drum machine as the foundation, he began churning out beats at a more prolific rate than ever.

In addition to placements on debut LPs by Mood and Royal Flush, Tek would make his name in 1997 as one-half of the duo Reflection Eternal with Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli. Their Rawkus Records debut 12” “Fortified Live” was an instant smash, and it quickly placed him at the top of the class of up-and-coming beatmakers. His unique balance of bassline-driven grooves behind soulful samples would eventually lead him to be in high demand for artists across the spectrum of the genre, and in short time he was producing for Common, Snoop Dogg, Raphael Saadiq, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, and others from all over the country.

The work featured on “Werk Road (1997 MPC 60)” reveals an artist who would not only become one of the most respected producers in rap, but one of the cultural ambassadors of his home city of Cincinnati for over 25 years. In 2022, Hi-Tek was inducted into the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame alongside luminaries like The Isley Brothers, Bootsy Collins and Midnight Star, and remains the most successful hip hop artist that the city has ever produced.

Jason Grimez is a Cincinnati-based DJ and producer. He has a long history of record collecting, sampling, and creating new sounds with analog gear. Grimez works with some of Cincinnati's finest studio musicians to create raw, soulful, instrumental hip-hop under the moniker Doctor Bionic. The next LP, In The Infinite, is due out 12/01/2023 via Chiefdom Records. Grimez fell in love with music during the golden era of early 90's east coast hip hop - when digging for jazz and funky samples were the backbone of beats. He became comfortable scratching on a pair of 1200s and sampling records with an MPC 3000 in high school. After years of collecting music and working on his sound behind the scenes, he has compiled a huge discography of original songs. In 2015, Grimez started his independent label Chiefdom Records. His studio persona Doctor Bionic was one of the first to see a release on the new imprint. The project features a studio band of session musicians. Grimez is responsible for writing, recording, producing, mixing, and releasing the records. He gathers a group of musicians in his studio, presents a few ideas, and hits record. Due to a rotating cast of musicians and ever-changing inspirations, no two sessions are alike. "There's no set pattern," Grimez explained. "I'll invite some session players and have them jam on a few ideas. Sometimes we'll start with a drum break and add melodies over top. It's mostly improv, and I can always go back and chop it up." One common thread is the fresh, original sounds. "I like to call it Organic Groove," he shared. "I'm inspired by all kinds of music - instrumental hip-hop, soul, classic rock, jazz, you name it. When we get in the studio, all of the pieces add up to a new sound." In The Infinite features some of the best players in the Cincinnati music scene. Cameron Brown played guitar on several tracks. Brian Batchelor-Glader, an award-winning pianist, was also involved. All 12 tracks provide the perfect backdrop for hanging with a group of good friends or cruising in the car. The drums are solid, consistent, and lay an effortless foundation for all kinds of instrumentation. Jazzy trumpet lines, ethereal keyboards, choppy soul guitar licks, and much more. "Do You Remember?" (track 2) heroes a busy, poppy guitar and a head-bobbing bassline. The record scratching and tape-recorded drum tones on "Plastic Art" (track 7) feels like a hip-hop instrumental from the early aughts. From top to bottom, this record has a lot to offer. Pick up a copy of In The Infinite on vinyl or stream the album on 12/01/2023

A real soul gem from 1970 on the James Brown affiliated Deluxe label, the first and only album by this mysterious singer: Marie Queenie Lyons.
It is perhaps apropos that Queenie Marie Lyons’s best known song is titled ‘See And Don’t See.’ For all the acclaim that song has accrued, and all the times it has been compiled, reissued and, yes, bootlegged — for all the times it has been seen — Queenie herself has somehow remained unseen. How did a singer from Ashtabula, Ohio record one of the great female-led soul albums and then simply fall off the map, never to record or perform again? Queenie was a natural performer and a gifted singer. At the age of fifteen, she was doing three shows a week at a local venue. In early 1962, Queenie moved to Queens and was soon playing gigs across the city — an early engagement was with Gene Krupa at the famous Metropole Café in Times Square — as well as touring with established acts like Fats Domino and Ray Charles. The following year, Queenie made her debut recording, for a subsidiary of RCA called Groove, credited to an entirely fictitious “Shelley Shoop and the Shakers.” It remained Queenie’s only presence on wax until early 1968, when a Nashville-based label called Sims gave her her first accurately attributed single, “A Minute Of His Goodtime / Good Soul Lovin’.” Although the 45 is now a highly collectible part of the Northern Soul and Lowrider Oldies pantheons, it made no impact at the time, as Sims was focused on more typical Nashville sounds. A few months later Queenie was back in New York City, performing R&B and pop covers with her band when a man passed her his business card at a performance. The card read James Brown Enterprises. James Brown “was my idol,” she says, and someone whose business acumen and stage presence she strove to emulate. Although Queenie ended up on tour with James Brown for only a month or so, when the group reached Cincinnati in mid-’68 she entered the King Records studio there to record what would become the
album you hold in your hands. The songs were a combination of covers, some of which she’d been doing in her live shows, like ‘Fever’ and ‘Try Me,’ and originals written by producer Henry Glover and pianist Don Pullen, who was the bandleader on the session. The album opener, ‘See And Don’t See,’ was also recorded by the veteran R&B singer Maxine Brown, but Queenie’s version blows hers away. “Soul Fever” is a supremely funky and soulful affair, with Queenie’s powerful and captivating voice magnetically attractive, with an urgency that is impossible to ignore. ‘Your Thing Ain’t No Good Without My Thing,’ ‘Your Key Don’t Fit It Anymore,’ and ‘I Don’t Want Nobody To Have It But You’ are as funky and soulful as the best of Tina Turner and Aretha — a statement not to be made lightly!
The album was critically acclaimed — the October 10, 1970, issue of Billboard listed it as their sole “four star” pick in the Soul category — but perhaps due to the tumult at Starday-King, whose stewardship had turned over several times in only a few years, it never seemed to be able to break through to a larger audience.

Building on the styles showcased on the first “Beatbox Studios” LP, Hi-Tek was clearly developing his own personal style on the studio’s in-house Akai MPC 60II sampler. The drums were swinging more; the grooves were deeper; the bass thumped harder. Even when choosing familiar samples, he was chopping them in fresh and unexpected ways, which would eventually help shape his signature sound.

As his reputation was becoming cemented in the local Cincinnati scene, his relationship with the rap group Mood was helping to catalyze more regular visits to New York City. The beats collected for “Beatbox Studios 2” were the ones that would stick in the auto-reverse tape deck for those road trips, as were the demo tapes he crafted with Mood, which would eventually earn them a record deal with Blunt Records in 1996—the same label and year where he would land his first major placement on Royal Flush’s “Ghetto Millionaire” album. It was also on one of those 1996 journeys to NYC that he would meet a young Brooklyn emcee named Talib Kweli—with whom he would form one of the most iconic duos of the indie-rap boom of the late-nineties.

“Beatbox Studios 2 (1996 MPC 60II)” showcases Hi-Tek as a hungry young talent on the rise, and his continued elevation would lead him to a career as one of the few producers who can claim to have worked with such a broad range of legendary artists; from superstars like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Anderson .Paak, to underground heroes like Mos Def, Common, and J Dilla.

For Fans Of... El Michels Affair, Adrian Younge, Roy Ayers, Karriem Riggins, The Roots, Khruangbin. Producer "Grimez" has been making music for 20 years deep Grimez has ghost produced tracks for 50 cent, Hi-Tek, Kool Keith, Stick man (DEAD PREZ), Killah Priest, Sadat X, MOOD & Talib Kweli, and Mighty Diamonds to name a few. Gritty & raw analog instrumentals. Jason Grimes is all about making timeless music. The Cincinnati-based DJ and producer has a long history of record collecting, sampling, and creating new sounds with analog gear. Grimes works with some of Cincinnati’s finest studio musicians to create raw, soulful, instrumental hip-hop under the moniker Doctor Bionic. As a teenager in the 90s, Grimes fell in love with hip-hop at an early age. He became comfortable scratching on a pair of 1200s and sampling records with an NPC in high school. After years of collecting records and working on his sound behind the scenes, he had compiled a huge discography of original songs – but he wasn’t sure how to share them. “I got pretty burnt out and I had to take a hiatus for a few years,” he explained. “There wasn’t much going on in the Cincinnati music scene, and it always felt like an uphill battle.” Then, on a casual bike ride with his wife through Loveland in 2015, Grimes came across a new record shop. “I heard some music playing and I saw a sign that read ‘funk/soul’ – I had to go in and see what these guys were all about.” He spoke with Terry Cole, co-owner of Colemine & Plaid Room Records. “It was a breath of fresh air to meet Terry. The interaction inspired me to start making records again.” A short time later, Grimes started his independent label Chiefdom Records. His studio persona Doctor Bionic was one of the first to see a release on the new imprint. “Doctor Bionic is a studio band of session musicians,” he shared. “The personnel changes on every record. It depends on the sound I’m going for.” For every record, the goal is to make timeless music. Grimes is responsible for writing, recording, producing, mixing, and releasing the records. Spiritual Conquest features several heavy hitters from the Cincinnati music scene. Brad Myers and Brandon Scott played guitar on a few tracks each. Marvin Hawkins laid down some live drums. The album offers a dynamic mix of instrumental hip-hop sounds. From punchy, head-bobbing beats to ethereal, floating piano lines, the mix offers a little something for everyone

Repress! We at Now-Again unearthed so much information about the bands that recorded the definitive disco and modern soul contained in our recently launched Soul Cal anthology that we decided we had no choice but to release an album and a book at the same time. Well, following that line, the music contained on Loving On The Flip Side music is too damn good to be anonymously relaunched, decades after musical visionaries blended the best of heavy funk and sweet soul into a unified whole. And simply telling the stories of these vocalists and bands without allowing their lovelorn pleas to be heard again wasn’t an option. Thus, Loving On The Flip Side again offers the enthused a chance to listen to, read about and reflect on another great burst of black American creativity: the creation of the sublime
genre we like to call “sweet funk.”
It seems laughable to skip past Thomas East’s “Slipping Around” 7” for the cheesy funk of ‘Just A Trip,” or to listen obsessively to Lou Ragland’s instrumental funk on the Hot Chocolate LP and ignore his indolent-yet-stirring “We Had True Love.” Yet we did just that, until we first heard the Darling Dears and Funky Heavy’s beautiful
two-sider nearly ten years back. This was the record that set Loving On The Flip Side in motion, as the Darling Dears and Funky Heavy’s two songs precipitated the sweet funk genre: the dichotomy of Funky Heavy’s skull snapping rhythm section and the teenage Dears’ angelic harmonies didn’t sound like anything we’d heard before. That discovery set off a decade long search for the band and culminated in their discovery, the documenting of their stories, the emergence of their master tapes and the inclusion of their songs on Loving On The Flip Side.
The excitement we felt while listening to the Darling Dears and Funky Heavy’s masterworks forced us back into the field, in search of other sweet funk swooners and beat-heavy ballads to round out this anthology. The opportunity to present anew such wondrous soul music made the exhaustive process that produced Loving On The
Flip Side worthwhile, and allowed us to collect one-offs that escaped prior investigations into the deep funk and sweet soul genres.

Jeder, der genau hinschaut, kann erkennen, dass Cincinnati, OH, derzeit eine wahre Brutstätte musikalischer Kreativität ist, und die drei Mitglieder von The Serfs - Dylan McCartney (Gesang, Perkussion, Gitarre, Bass, Elektronik), Dakota Carlyle (Elektronik, Bass, Gitarre, Gesang) & Andie Luman (Gesang, Synthesizer) - und ihre jeweiligen Nebenprojekte (The Drin, Crime of Passing, Motorbike) sind unbestreitbar im Zentrum der New-Underground-Szene von Cincinnati. Nach der Veröffentlichung von Alben auf dem Berliner Minimal-Synth-Label Detriti und dem in Seattle ansässigen DREAM Records im Jahr 2018 bzw. 2022 macht die Band für ihr drittes und bisher bestes Album den Schritt zu Trouble In Mind. "Half Eaten By Dogs" gibt dem modernistischen Twitch von Future-Forward-Bands wie Total Control oder Cold Beat sowie dem post-industriellen Dancefloor-Grime von Skinny Puppy, Dark Day, This Heat oder Factrix einen entschiedenen Midwestern-Spin. "Half Eaten by Dogs" ist ein Blick durch ein Fernrohr in eine dystopische Vision, in der eisverkrustete Synthie-Harmonien triefende chemische Rhythmen und aufgebohrte elementare Rockformationen beherrschen. Die Musik ist eine Mischung aus düsterem Drum- und Synthesizer-Industrial und stygischen Gitarreninstrumenten, mal mit vorsichtiger Paranoia, mal mit melodischem Trotz und Ausgelassenheit (und in manchen Momenten mit Mundharmonika, Saxophon oder Flöte). "Half Eaten By Dogs" fasst erfolgreich alles zusammen, was The Serfs bisher erreicht haben, aber mit weitaus größerer Absicht und Zielsetzung als ihre vorherigen Alben. Es gibt Songs zum Tanzen und Songs, die man während eines Sturms oder beim Fahren durch die Straßen der Welt in sich aufnehmen kann. Es mag für die Band ein weiterer Schritt hinunter in die Katakomben sein, dabei aber auf dem Weg zu etwas Höherem.

Jeder, der genau hinschaut, kann erkennen, dass Cincinnati, OH, derzeit eine wahre Brutstätte musikalischer Kreativität ist, und die drei Mitglieder von The Serfs - Dylan McCartney (Gesang, Perkussion, Gitarre, Bass, Elektronik), Dakota Carlyle (Elektronik, Bass, Gitarre, Gesang) & Andie Luman (Gesang, Synthesizer) - und ihre jeweiligen Nebenprojekte (The Drin, Crime of Passing, Motorbike) sind unbestreitbar im Zentrum der New-Underground-Szene von Cincinnati. Nach der Veröffentlichung von Alben auf dem Berliner Minimal-Synth-Label Detriti und dem in Seattle ansässigen DREAM Records im Jahr 2018 bzw. 2022 macht die Band für ihr drittes und bisher bestes Album den Schritt zu Trouble In Mind. "Half Eaten By Dogs" gibt dem modernistischen Twitch von Future-Forward-Bands wie Total Control oder Cold Beat sowie dem post-industriellen Dancefloor-Grime von Skinny Puppy, Dark Day, This Heat oder Factrix einen entschiedenen Midwestern-Spin. "Half Eaten by Dogs" ist ein Blick durch ein Fernrohr in eine dystopische Vision, in der eisverkrustete Synthie-Harmonien triefende chemische Rhythmen und aufgebohrte elementare Rockformationen beherrschen. Die Musik ist eine Mischung aus düsterem Drum- und Synthesizer-Industrial und stygischen Gitarreninstrumenten, mal mit vorsichtiger Paranoia, mal mit melodischem Trotz und Ausgelassenheit (und in manchen Momenten mit Mundharmonika, Saxophon oder Flöte). "Half Eaten By Dogs" fasst erfolgreich alles zusammen, was The Serfs bisher erreicht haben, aber mit weitaus größerer Absicht und Zielsetzung als ihre vorherigen Alben. Es gibt Songs zum Tanzen und Songs, die man während eines Sturms oder beim Fahren durch die Straßen der Welt in sich aufnehmen kann. Es mag für die Band ein weiterer Schritt hinunter in die Katakomben sein, dabei aber auf dem Weg zu etwas Höherem.

AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON VINYL! 25-plus years and thousands of fan requests later, Over the Rhine’s Christmas classic, The Darkest Night of the Year, finally gets the vinyl treatment it
has long deserved. The Darkest Night of the Year is Over the Rhine’s first holiday release and quietly helped re-define the genre for many listeners. It should be filed squarely in the “Now-for-something-a-little-different” file. It includes dark ambient arrangements of classic carols as well as strange and wonderful originals. We are told that in-store holiday airplay always generates keen interest for this after-midnight, deeply-layered record. The very first national review the album
received contained the opening salvo: Take a deep breath. Relax. Over the Rhine’s The Darkest Night of the Year is the Christmas disc of the year and destined to become a classic. Curl up with someone
you love, or enjoy some quiet time alone, The Darkest Night of the Year is the perfect soundtrack…”

Reviews for Over the Rhine’s visionary Christmas Music have continued to pour in over the years with coverage in the New York Times, NPR’s Morning Edition, USA Today, Paste, No Depression and many others. TOURING: Over the Rhine will be supporting the vinyl release of The Darkest Night of the Year with 2023 Christmas concerts currently booked in Chicago, Boston, DC, Philadelphia, Cincinnati (three shows), Ann Arbor, Pittsburgh, Grand Rapids and Kent, Ohio

After 25 years of living his dream as one of hip hop’s most respected producers, Hi-Tek is digging back into his roots with a brand new trio of instrumental vinyl LPs in 2023. “Beatbox Studios (1995 MPC 60II)” is the first of the series, each featuring a selection of restored and remastered beats, carefully chosen from an archive of DAT tapes. These LPs manage to both provide a window into Tek’s development and to shine light on the work of an already enormously-talented musician whose beats would’ve sounded right at home on classic releases from the mid-1990s.

Having learned to make beats off of borrowed equipment as a teenager, the aspiring DJ/producer born as Tony Cottrell achieved a break of sorts when he was hired in 1995 to manage one of the rooms at Beatbox Studios, a sprawling complex in the Clifton neighborhood in Cincinnati. It became the go-to-spot in town for emerging talent, giving him a chance to learn about the intricacies of recording and to sharpen his communication skills with artists to maximize their performance The gig also gave Tek plenty of down time to practice on and to master the studio’s Akai MPC 60II while making his own music. It was around this time he began to collaborate with the top rap talent in Cincinnati, and he started regularly visiting New York City to plant seeds for new relationships in the industry.

Though his work eventually evolved far beyond the styles present on “Beatbox Studios,” here you’ll find many signature elements of that era’s contemporary New York sound: some snappy drums reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest or Easy Mo Bee, plenty of horn stabs a la Pete Rock or Lord Finesse, and the kind of dark pianos and filtered bass lines that producers like the Beatminerz were steadily employing. These were his biggest influences at the time, and that was the sound of 1995. As it turns out, that classic sound remains in demand today, and while Hi-Tek was not a well-known name in hip hop circles at that time, the calibre of beats on “Beatbox Studios” prove that he was a talent to be reckoned with, even then.

Pink Siifu’s latest release, GUMBO!, is another sprawling Afrocentric vision from one of the boldest voices in contemporary rap. Following up on 2020’s NEGRO, the album’s songs are as rich and varied as its titular stew. Siifu’s boundless style makes for an unpredictable but rewarding ride across the album’s 18 tracks, as he explores the diverse sounds of his influences and breaks new ground with a unique class of co-stars.

Siifu, born Livingston Matthews and raised between Alabama and Cincinnati, has already notched a conspicuous list of collaborations in his burgeoning career, from legendary producer the Alchemist to Australian electronic group the Avalanches. Siifu also embodies various inspirations through a range of alter-egos, often producing under the moniker “iiye,” or as half of the duo B. Cool-Aid with Ahwlee, both of which appear on GUMBO!.

The variety of guest features and production on GUMBO! only elevates Siifu’s ability to push the boundaries of genre and song structure. “Voicemails Uptown” (produced by Soulection’s Monte Booker) is the second of two back-to-back posse cuts, sporting five plus vocalists each. “Lng hair dnt care,” the album’s first single, was produced by Ted Kamal, who first garnered attention for his outside-the-box edits of contemporary rap staples. And while several of the album’s tracks are well within his bag, the jazzy, drumless loop on “Fk U Mean/Hold Me Dwn” could’ve been a cut off of his collab album with Virginia rapper Fly Anakin, FlySiifu’s.

Though rife with standout tracks, GUMBO! is greater than the sum of its parts. Siifu’s ambitious range and impressive pool of features create an otherworldly listening experience. Overall, it reflects an intense desire for self-expression and creative growth, one which he shares with many of his influences. Like Outkast, Sun Ra, Baraka, or Bad Brains, his unique soundscapes re-imagine a genre without restrictions, breaking new ground in search of artistic and personal freedom.

For Fans Of... El Michels Affair, Adrian Younge, Roy Ayers, Karriem Riggins, The Roots, Khruangbin. Producer "Grimez" has been making music for 20 years deep. Grimez has ghost produced tracks for 50 cent, Hi-Tek, Kool Keith, Stick man (DEAD PREZ), Killah Priest, Sadat X, MOOD & Talib Kweli, and Mighty Diamonds to name a few. Gritty & raw analog instrumentals Deep, Hard Hitting Soul-Jazz Meets Dub Instrumental Analog Grooves For Your Psyche. In few words, Doctor Bionic can be described as Instrumental b-movie psych-hop. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Doctor Bionic is the brainchild of Cincinnati's Jason Grimes, formerly the producer of the hip-hop group MOOD (with emcees Main Flow & Donte). Having grown up in the Scribble Jam scene here in Cincy, and running in circles that included artists like Hi-Tek & Talib Kweli, Grimes' music has continued to evolve from sample-based loops, to live instrumentation with deep layering; provided by a revolving door of local musicians. The common thread in most Doctor Bionic tracks are the neck snapping drum breaks, but the tempo adjustments and varying instrumentation lends itself to a collection of non-genre specific songs - held together in unity by the flawless drums, often provided by Josiah Wolf (of indie-rock band Why?). The result of these recording sessions are a masterclass in musical juxtaposition. Spacious yet clustered. Futuristic nostalgia. Ideal for long car rides or setting the vibe during a laid back gathering of friends. Also Available From Doctor Bionic: Animal Totem LP, The Invisible Hand LP

"To kick off the yearlong celebration and provide the perfect summer soundtrack, Capitol Records and UMe will release a newly remastered and expanded edition of The Beach Boys career-spanning greatest hits collection, Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys, on June 17. Originally released in 2003, the album soared to no. 16 in the US and stayed on the chart for 104 weeks. Now certified 4x platinum for sales of nearly four and a half million albums, the collection has been updated in both number of songs and audio quality, expanding the original 30-track best of with 50 more of the band’s most beloved songs for a total of 80 tracks that span their earliest hits to deeper fan-favorite cuts and from their 1962 debut album, Surfin’ Safari through to 1989’s Still Cruisin’.
Assembled by Mark Linett and Alan Boyd, the team behind 2013's GRAMMY® Award-winning SMiLE Sessions and last year’s acclaimed boxed set, Feel Flows – The Sunflower and Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971, Sounds Of Summer features nearly every US Top 40 hit of The Beach Boys’ incredible career, including “California Girls,” “I Get Around,” “Surfer Girl,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “God Only Knows,” “Good Vibrations,” “Be True To Your School,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Kokomo,” “Barbara Ann,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” “In My Room,” and many others. Fifty additional tracks showcase a broad mix of songs from across their wide-ranging catalog with some of the many highlights including “All Summer Long,” “Disney Girls,” “Forever,” “Feel Flows,” “Friends,” “Roll Plymouth Rock,” “Sail on Sailor,” “Surf’s Up,” and “Wind Chimes.”
The collection boasts 24 new mixes including two first-time stereo mixes, plus 22 new-and-improved stereo mixes, which in some cases feature the latest in digital stereo extraction technology, allowing for the team to separate the original mono backing tracks for the first time.
The expanded edition of Sounds Of Summer will be available in a variety of formats, including a 3CD softpack, and as a Super Deluxe Edition 6LP vinyl boxed set on 180-gram black vinyl in two options – a standard set or a numbered, limited edition version featuring a rainbow foil slipcase and four collectible lithographs. Both versions will feature color printed sleeves that replicate the original “Capitol Catalog” sleeves that highlight the entire Beach Boys discography, and all formats will include a booklet with new liner notes and updated photos. The original 30-track version will also be available in its newly remastered and upgraded form on single CD or double gatefold LP on standard weight vinyl or as a higher-end limited edition numbered version pressed on 180-gram vinyl with a tip-on jacket and a lithograph. "

Real post-punk from Cincinnati, Usa. Recently featured in the Netflix "Elite" series, this record is a must-have for all the lovers of the old raw d.i.y. synthpunk sound.

The third installment of Numero's ode to lowrider souldies, Rust Side Story compiles highly sought after sweet soul singles from the Buck Eye State. Prepare for a low and slow ride from Youngstown to Dayton, Cleveland to Columbus, Toledo to Cincinnati, all soundtracked with silky falsettos and dreamy harmonies.

Hear angel trumpets and devil trombones on the first instalment of the long awaited ‘Plastic Legacy pt II’ from transcontinental punk trash band Pale Angels. The album boasts soaring melodies and tortured guitar tones anchored by a fuzz bass guitar that sings uniquely yet thumps rhythmically. ‘Plastic Legacy pt II’ sees Pale Angels’ Jamie Morrison and Michael Santostefano joined by Jerome Westerkamp (songwriter for Cincinnati, Ohio’s Vacation) on drums. Returning after 6 years to longtime friend and producer Benjamin Greenberg (uniform, Christfucker, danny elfman) to create a masterpiece of gut-wrenching sincerity and sensitivity. Track listing: Killer; Casper; 21 Days; Must Be Love; Halloween; Thorn; Little Lover; Rahway

With a career spanning more than eight decades, The Isley Brothers have one of the longest, most influential and most diverse careers in popular music. The group began in 1954 as an American family music group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, which began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O’Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley. The Isley Brothers have sold over 18 million records in the United States alone.

Go For Your Guns is the fifteenth album by The Isley Brothers. Originally released in mid-April 1977, the album peaked a month later at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Soul chart, and at No. 6 on the Billboard 200. The album Includes “Footsteps In The Dark” as sampled by hip hop artist Ice Cube for his hit “It Was A Good Day”. The song peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 25 on the 1993
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Go For Your Guns is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on red coloured vinyl, is housed in a gatefold sleeve and includes an insert.

Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, Lincoln's music is equal parts pretentious and angsty. One day Sam Means (previously of The Format) tweeted a link to one of Lincoln’s Youtube covers, catching the attention of I Surrender Records. In a moment of sheer enthusiasm, the label couldn’t resist reaching out and signing him. Lincoln released his debut EP A Constant State of Ohio on I Surrender Records in early 2017. The single Saint Bernard is a TikTok smash having been used in over 100k user generated videos. The song went on to stream over 200,000,000 times between YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music.

For Fans Of...El Michels Affair, Adrian Younge, Roy Ayers, Karriem Riggins, The Roots, Khruangbin. Deep, Hard Hitting Soul-Jazz Meets Dub Instrumental Analog Grooves For Your Psyche. In few words, Doctor Bionic can be described as Instrumental b-movie psych-hop. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Doctor Bionic is the brainchild of Cincinnati's Jason Grimes, formerly the producer of the hip-hop group MOOD (with emcees Main Flow & Donte). Having grown up in the Scribble Jam scene here in Cincy, and running in circles that included artists like Hi-Tek & Talib Kweli, Grimes' music has continued to evolve from sample-based loops, to live instrumentation with deep layering; provided by a revolving door of local musicians. The common thread in most Doctor Bionic tracks are the neck snapping drum breaks, but the tempo adjustments and varying instrumentation lends itself to a collection of non-genre specific songs - held together in unity by the flawless drums, often provided by Josiah Wolf (of indie-rock band Why?). The result of these recording sessions are a masterclass in musical juxtaposition. Spacious yet clustered. Futuristic nostalgia. Ideal for long car rides or setting the vibe during a laid back gathering of friends. Also Available From Doctor Bionic: The Invisible Hand LP. Tracks: 1.The Messengers 2. No Middle Ground 3. Purple Spark 4. Decades To Come 5. Shadows In The Sun 6. Snow Bird 7. In The Mirror 8. Dose Of Dank 9. The Things That We Love 10. History Lessons

Fat Beats in partnership with Space Invadaz is pleased to release the 25 year anniversary edition reissue of Mood’s acclaimed 1997 debut LP, Doom. Originally released on September 23 of 1997, Doom was an important springboard for the careers of Talib Kweli, DJ Hi-Tek, Sunz of Man and Lone Catalysts. The 18 track LP is an artistically experimental album marked by stand out production and lyricism that remains on-point throughout.

Cincinnati rappers Main Flow and Donte kick apocalyptic rhymes that cite sacred scripture, ancient history, and politics. Both their rhyme schemes and chemistry are strong and prove to be equally compatible with DJ Hi-Tek, who made his production debut on this record, composing nine of the album’s 18 tracks, with newcomer Jahson handling the remaining production. Similar to the lyrical pairing, the production duo of Hi-Tek and Jahson are well matched, as they add a sense of darkness and mystery that shrouds the sonic backdrop throughout the album.

Doom is lyrically and sonically an outstanding body of work that stands out as one of the more noteworthy indie rap titles of ’97. In celebration of the 25 year anniversary milestone, this reissue comes equipped with remixes, including the J Dilla Remix for “Secrets of the Sand” which was never before featured on any previous album represses or reissues.

[a] 1 Esoteric Manuscript (Remix) [feat. Micah9]

A rigorous recollection of all the music that went into last year's Netflix smash The Queen's Gambit. You were probably too busy trying to keep up with actress Anya Taylor-Joy's timer-stopping and piece-placing chops to notice the ingenuity of the soundtrack; packed with contemporaneous music to the time in which the series is set, from Donovan to The Monkees to The Vogues, we're duly thrown back by this new 2xLP edition (which comes to a special black and white colour vinyl). Check it, mate.

Blues from Chicago to Paris pays rousing tribute to two of Chicago's
postwar blues legends, piano-pounding Memphis Slim and bass-slapping
powerhouse Willie Dixon
Focused in particular on the period when the two giants of the genre teamed up
to tour the globe during the late 1950s and early '60s, the album presents a wellrounded collection of favorite songs as well as those innovative tunes that have
inspired and influenced blues players ever since.
"Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon were a team, and their styles worked great
together," says Kenny. "Out of many other blues piano players that I've listened to,
I found a playfulness between these two men unlike the many other great blues
pianists." - Kenny Blues Boss Wayne
Legendary blues piano master Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne was inducted into the
Boogie Woogie Piano Hall of Fame in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2017. He is recognized
by Living Blues Magazine for his six-decade career of bringing the piano back to
the front ranks of contemporary blues. This Juno Award winner, WCMA winner
and multiple Maple Blues Award winner is at the forefront of modern day blues
piano.
Advertising in Blues In Britain and RnR

The legendary composer of Mission: Impossible participates in this tribute album entirely produced and performed by Jean-Michel Bernard and his musicians, himself a acclaimed composer and jazzman / pianist recognized throughout the world. This vinyl edition is exclusive to Wayô Records, after the CD version by Varese Sarabande in the USA.

Jean-Michel Bernard Plays Lalo Schifrin is above all a beautiful story of friendship...

The pianist, conductor, composer and Argentinian arranger Lalo Schifrin is known, among others, for his film music (Bullitt, Dirty Harry, Enter the Dragon…) and tv shows (Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Starsky and Hutch…). On the other side, pianist and composer Jean-Michel Bernard accompanied Ray Charles in concert for the last three years of his life, and is notably the usual composer for Michel Gondry's films.

This album, focusing on the orchestrations of film scores composed by Lalo Schifrin, was born from the friendship that unites the two composers and the success of a concert program put on by Jean-Michel in tribute to Lalo Schifrin at the La Baule Festival (France) in 2017.

With the presence, on three tracks, of Lalo Schifrin as well as Kyle Eastwood on, of course, the music of Dirty Harry…

The third installment of Numero’s ode to lowrider souldies, Rust Side Story compiles highly sought after sweet soul singles from the Buck Eye State. Prepare for a low and slow ride from Youngstown to Dayton, Cleveland to Columbus, Toledo to Cincinnati, all soundtracked with silky falsettos and dreamy harmonies

• When Lonnie Mack’s treatment of Chuck Berry’s ‘Memphis’ broke into the US Hot 100 on 8 June 1963 and peaked at #5 during its 13-week stay, he was initially pigeonholed as an instrumental artist. This perception was heightened by ‘Down In The Dumps’ on the flip, and furthered by his double-sided instrumental follow-up whose topside, ‘Wham!’, reached #28.

• Six months later the other side of Lonnie was revealed with his first vocal 45. The topside was a dynamic re-vamp of Jimmy Reed’s ‘Baby, What’s Wrong’, backed with a version of the gospel classic ‘Where There’s A Will’. Here you could hear him emoting in a way white singers never did – hollering, pleading and screaming in the very finest gospel tradition. The track was even picked up by some black radio stations in the south, but quietly dropped once it was realised that Lonnie was white.

• ‘Memphis’ was recorded at King Records Studio in Cincinnati on 12 March 1963. Carl Edmondson had been booked to produce a split session for Max Falcon, Kenny Smith and the Charmaines, but Edmondson’s band had recently broken up, so Lonnie and his crew were drafted in. With some time left at the end of the session, Lonnie was asked if he had anything he might like to record. ‘Memphis’ was the result. Edmondson thought the track had potential and suggested to Fraternity Records boss, Harry Carlson, that he should put it out. Within weeks it was climbing the charts, launching Lonnie’s long career.

• Post-Fraternity releases on Elektra, Capitol, Epic and Alligator cemented his reputation as the man who brought gospel, soul, blues, country and rock’n’roll together. He was one of the creators of blue-eyed soul, as well as the leading light for the legion of blues-based rock guitarists who plied their trade from the 60s onwards. It has to be said, though, that the bedrock of his legend rests on his Fraternity recordings, which highlighted both sides of Lonnie Mack – the vocalist and the guitarist.

Sometimes a record comes along that is a wonderful anomaly that really is all about the music. Silver Leaf recently appeared on the radar via obscuro diggers on both sides of the Atlantic and landed with a Hey!
What is known about Silver Leaf, beyond that it was a short-lived mid-80s project out of Cincinnati, Ohio, is that it features ex-Zephyr keyboardist John Faris, working alongside the mysterious vocalist Silvia Leaf.
The difference between the blues and occasional psychedelic rock of early 70s Boulder, Colorado's Zephyr and the lo-fi recordings of Silver Leaf are striking, but in Hey! and Can We Rebuild Our City?, the power of the ballad and strong playing of John, is wrapped in mid-80s, mid-States lo fi heaven.
Whether a non-de-plume, Ms Leaf's searing, innocent vocals fly above John's keys and programming. Hey!'s repetitive exhalations act like a mantra to a party, while tom's chime in accompaniment. Here it comes!
Can We Rebuild Our City? starts with Faris' forlorn intro before crashing percussion heads to some kind of wonderful, as Leaf questions a calls to hearts.
Releasing just 3 singles, Silver Leaf's music is unique and essential, an experience and a delight to present.

"Don't Turn Me From Your Door" - John Lee Hooker (g, voc), Earl Hooker, Eddie Kirkland (g), a.o

John Lee Hooker is not only a mystery but also an interesting man to study. Some, like the author Jacques Demêtre called the musician from Mississippi »the most raw and African of all blues players from a musical point of view«, while the critic Net Hentoff was awestruck by Hooker’s unfiltered power of expression that could scare the pants off a listener taken unawares. The numbers on this LP bear witness to the fact that Hooker’s musical language could stir one’s emotions deeply, even without the meaty 'boom boom'. Each title is like a raw diamond, which is intentionally uncut and is to be perceived with directness. With a stutter and a slur in his speech, the singer declaims his song over a twangy guitar, which is driven along by the rhythmic meter. A final farewell is taken sluggishly and sullenly in the forthright text of "You Lost A Good Man", and even a song without words ("Misbelieving Baby") ponders a question in a purely instrumental monologue. Apart from a dash of boogie ("Pouring Down Rain") Hooker avoids all manner of sweet sounds and harmonies. He remains austerely raw, mercilessly honest, occasionally unforgiving and denies all thoughts of any kind regarding going 'back to the roots'. This sound IS the root of it all.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under pure-analogue.

All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: 1953 in Cincinnati (OH) and July 1961 in Miami (FL)

Production: Henry Stone

Oscar- and Grammy-nominated composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens will release his acclaimed score for Justin Peck’s ballet TheDecalogue October 18 via his own label, AKR. Performed by the pianist Timo Andres, the recording is the first time the score, premiered during the NewYork City Ballet’s 2017 season, is available to the public.



The Decalogue is the third collaboration between NYCB Resident Choreographer Peck and Stevens, following 2012’s Year of theRabbit and 2014’s Everywhere We Go. The piece was widely praised upon its premiere; The New York Times lauded the “beauty and charm” of Peck’s choreography as well as Stevens’ “romantically modernist études.”



Brooklyn-based composer-pianist Timo Andres is a Nonesuch Records artist, who has written major works for the Boston Symphony, Carnegie Hall, the Barbican, the Takács Quartet, the Concertgebouw, and elsewhere. He performs regularly with Gabriel Kahane, and has frequently appeared with Philip Glass, Becca Stevens, Nadia Sirota, the Kronos Quartet, John Adams, Ted Hearne, and others. As a pianist, Timo has performed at Lincoln Center, for the NewYork Philharmonic, the LA Phil, at Wigmore Hall, for San Francisco Performances, and at (le) Poisson Rouge. Upcoming highlights include a curated program for the Cincinnati Symphony (featuring Dance Heginbotham and a performance of Andres’s cello concerto, Upstate Obscura), and a solo piano recital for Carnegie Hall. Previous work with Sufjan Stevens includes the orchestration of “Principia” for Justin Peck and the New York City Ballet.

The Seeds of Fulfillment by David Drazin (November 2018)

Andrew Venson founded Seeds of Fulfillment (SOF) in early 1978. In the 1960s he had played electric bass with Arthur Conley, and later the original Peaches and Herb. On the same bill with Big Brother and the Holding Company, he hung out backstage with Janis Joplin. Yes! Vince was hoping SOF would get all of us to the top. He composed three tunes for the band, and we always had a ball playing them.

Roger Myers is a marvelous drummer. We co-composed Namaste. Roger would settle on a drum pattern of four measures at a time that he wanted to keep, and I'd put chords and melody right on top of his pattern. When he layered a second drum pattern on top of the first one, we'd get two melodies at the same time. We thought we were going to collaborate on more songs this way, but it didn't happen.

Lee Savory is a very inventive jazz man. He's musically literate, and wrote excellent transpositions. I remember Lee's asking for my input while he was composing Tight Squeeze, but it was clear he had it down. Once when I was visiting a DJ who played the album in a local radio station, the total of checks next to Tight Squeeze for number of plays was by far the highest!

Randy Mather's sax playing always knocked me out. I could hardly wait to hear him solo. When he left SOF to go with Woody Herman's orchestra it was amazing, but true.

Jeanette Williams had recorded 45s for the Duke and Peacock label when she was 17 years old. Her powerful singing was incredible to me. When we needed an original for Jeanette, Vince composed it, and Roger's wife Linda wrote the lyrics.

In 1978 I was in my senior year at Ohio State University when I met Vince. He came into a bar called My Brother's Place where I was playing with a trumpet player named Bobby Alston. When I was a freshman at OSU I'd played in an off campus band called Akadama. Before that I played in my home town of Cleveland, Ohio in the Brush High School Stage Band and a jobbing band called The Midnight Combo.

Everyone in the band contributed something to Egg Cartons in a composition jam session. We rehearsed in Vince's basement, and he had covered the walls with egg cartons to make the room sound more like a recording studio. The Provider was inspired by Country Preacher by Joe Zawinul. In those days I especially admired the way Zawinul would get his soulful feelings across, but also loved Herbie Hancock and to a lesser degree Chick Corea too. It took two years (with a break of several months) for the band to conquer Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. It shows you what consideration and dedication is, that ultimately they felt it was worth learning.

We recorded at Fifth Floor Studios in Cincinnati, Ohio. While we were there I got to shake hands with Bootsy Collins, who was recording in the rooms downstairs at the same time. Years later, Fifth Floor burned down and all the master tapes were destroyed.

CODY BLACK was born and raised in Cincinnati in the shadow of King Records where he cut this landmark Northern Soul 45 'I'm Slowly Molding' in 1968. However, it didn't impact on the UK soul scene until the mid-Eighties when, at last, it finally hit at the ground-breaking 'Top Of The World' club in Stafford. Still a mainstay of the All-Nighter scene to this day and commanding prices in the region of $1,000. Black recorded a string of 45s for as many labels including the highly prized 'It's Our Time To Fall In Love' on 'GIG' and the sublime 'Mr Blue' on 'D-Town'.
CHARLES SPURLING was a fellow Cincinnati music hustler working as an A&R man at King Records when he cut this pounding Northern Soul dancer in 1967. AWESOME!

Following the release of lo-fi electronic masterpiece I Don't Remember Now / I Don't Want To Talk About It and his brilliant follow-up Plaster Falling, Cincinnati-based artist John Bender began assembling his third and last album, Pop Surgery, in late 1982.


While all of Bender's work draws from intimate home recordings - featuring the artist alone with various keyboards, analogue sequencers and tape delays - Pop Surgery remains the one that perhaps best distills his arrant deconstruction of the "pop" concept. These twelve frenetic tracks, meticulously stitched together with dubbed-out vocals and disjointed drum machines, stretch the boundaries of bedroom electronics.


Bender would forgo the handmade LP sleeves typical of his Record Sluts imprint. The cover depicts an imposing scrapyard crane, ready to pick up discarded objects with its bright red electromagnet, while the center labels détourn Columbia's classic '70s style.


"I pressed a single run of 500 copies," Bender recounts. "The only review I remember railed at the poor production quality. The DIY era had clearly come to an end."


This first-time standalone reissue is recommended for fans of Suicide, TG's 20 Jazz Funk Greats and early Cabaret Voltaire. Liner notes by John Bender.