In an ever-expanding musical universe, Azymuth have long existed as a celestial giant, drawing countless artists, musicians and followers into their orbit. Marking fifty years since their 1975 debut album Azimuth, their new album Marca Passo proves that the band’s alchemic brew of Brazilian jazz-funk and cosmic samba soul remains as vital as ever, as the group honours the profound legacy of their departed founders.
Recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Marca Passo is the first full-length release since the passing of founding drummer Ivan "Mamão" Conti in 2023, following the earlier loss of keyboardist José Roberto Bertrami in 2012. Alex Malheiros, the sole remaining original member, sees his stewardship of the band’s musical legacy as his spiritual duty. He is joined by the equally devoted Kiko Continentino (Milton Nascimento, Djavan) on keyboards, who has been with the group since 2016, and new recruit Renato Massa (Marcos Valle, Ed Motta) on drums.
Yet since their earliest recorded music, Azymuth have always been far greater than the sum of their parts. The "three-man orchestra’s" unmistakable sound is rooted in Brazil's MPB studio scene of the 1970s and early 1980s—a time when artists blended traditional Brazilian rhythms with global jazz, rock, and emerging psychedelic and progressive elements. Marca Passo continues this legacy, seamlessly fusing Brazilian musical traditions with global influences while showcasing the exceptional musicianship that powers Azymuth's distinctive, multi-dimensional sound.
The album is produced by studio mastermind Daniel Maunick, responsible for Azymuth’s two previous studio albums, Fênix in 2016 and Aurora in 2011. Daniel’s credits also include albums by Marcos Valle, Sabrina Malheiros and Terry Callier. Azymuth also invited Daniel’s father, British jazz-funk royalty Jean Paul “Bluey” Maunick, of Incognito, to play guitar on a new version of Azymuth’s eighties classic “Last Summer In Rio”, in tribute to the song’s composer, José Roberto Bertrami. Equally, “Samba Pro Mamao” is a new composition dedicated to Azymuth’s beloved original drummer, Ivan “Mamão” Conti.
Credits:
Alex Malheiros - Bass, Acoustic Guitar & Vocals: 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Kiko Continentino - Keyboards, Organ, Vocoder & Vocals: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Renato Massa - Drums & Vocals: : 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10
Ian Moreira - Percussion: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10
Sidinho Moreira - Percussion: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10
Dudu Viana - Keyboards & Vocals: 1
Victor Bertrami - Drums: 1
Mangueirinha - Repinique: 3
Jean Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick - Electric Guitar: 5
Jose Carlos Bigorna - Soprano Sax: 9
Daniel Maunick: Additional Percussion, Synths & EFX: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Produced, Engineered, Mixed & Arranged by Daniel Maunick
Co-Produced & Arranged by Alex Malheiros
Executive Producer: Joe Davis
Recorded by:
Daniel Maunick & Leonardo Vieira @ Estúdio Nos Trilhos, Santa Teresa, Rio, Brazil
Daniel Maunick & Amadeu Signorelli @ Sigstudio, Niterói, Rio, Brazil
Daniel Maunick & Alex Malheiros @ Estúdio Basslab, Piratininga, Rio, Brazil
Mixed by Daniel Maunick @ The Sugar Shack, Carluke, Scotland
Artwork & Design: Tyler Askew
The Oh Sees wasted no time in racing headlong into nightmarish battle with the mighty Orc, clawing even farther up the ghastly peak stormed so satisfyingly by their previous A Weird Exits. The band is in tour-greased, anvil-on-a-balance beam, gut-pleasingly heavy form, nimbly braining—with equal dashes of abandon and menace—on this fresh batch of bruisers and brooders, hypnotically stirred into to the cauldron of chaos you’ve come to expect. On Orc, fresh blood Paul Quattrone joins Dan Rincon to form a phalanx of interlocking double drums, alternately propelling and fleet-footing shifting ground to pinion John Dwyer’s cliff-face guitars to the boogie. Tim Hellman keeps it swinging like a battle-axe to the eyebrows. The tunes veer toward the violence of their live shows, with a few tasty swerves into other lanes: heavy to lush, groovy to stately. Throughout, it remains sinister in its swaggering skulk, manic in its fuzz-fried fugues. They hit all the sweet spots the heads foggily remember, and there’s plenty to sweat over if you just hopped into the sauna. More evil…more complex…more narcotic…more screech… more blare…more whisper…there’s even more Brigid. Less “Thee,” but more of everything else.
The iconic Hôtel Costes music collection, a veritable benchmark of Parisian luxury and refinement, continues to captivate lovers of sophisticated sounds. Famous for its unique blends of warm vocals, funk, jazzy and pop grooves, fusing electronic sounds and acoustic instruments, this series is a must for connoisseurs of refined music.
This eighth volume, orchestrated by the talented Stéphane Pompougnac, offers light electro soul and racy house, perfect for livening up the most elegant evenings and keeping the most reluctant dancing until the wee hours. The Hôtel Costes series has revealed exceptional talents such as Pink Martini, Flight Facilities, General Elektriks, Angus & Julia Stone and Brigitte, while mixing hidden nuggets with masters such as Gotan Project, Femi Kuti, Trentemøller, Thievery Corporation, Shirley Bassey and Grace Jones.
With over 5 million copies sold worldwide, following the resounding success of the reissue of the first six volumes, this eighth opus is finally available for the first time on vinyl. A true gem that will delight long-time fans and appeal to a new generation of listeners worldwide.
Babez For Breakfast is the fifth studio album by the Finnish rock band Lordi. For this album, the band worked with million-selling hard rock and metal producer and mixer Michael Wagener (Metallica, Megadeth, Alice Cooper). The album also features guest appearances by none other than Bruce Kulick (KISS) and Mark Slaughter (Slaughter). The album entered the album charts in Finland, Greece, and Germany. Babez For Breakfast is available as a limited edition of 666 individually numbered copies on blood pink & red marbled vinyl and comes with a sticker sheet and a 4-page booklet.
Isabelline curator and label head Practitioner reveals a stunning selection of his own archival productions with 'Portobello Innocent', the third release on the mysterious and acclaimed Berlin-based imprint. Recorded between 2016 - 2024, these «ve selected works offer a broad look into Practitioner’s sonic sphere. Introspective club re¬ections that cover a grand scope of machine-translated human emotions. The EP feels like a dug-up lost tape, timeless tracks untouched by current modes or trends, each composition progressively digging deeper into unknown chasms of the enigmatic producers' distinct sound.
Raisina - A hypnotic club track featuring sharp drum machine rhythms and a prominent vocal sample from a 1960s North African love song, creating an alluring and surreally beautiful opener. Well-Behaved Boys - Pulsating, shu®ing techno drums take front and centre, as warped frequencies from raves of a bygone era tune in and out, ¬ickering between past and present with frenetic rhythms and spoken fragments. Form & Emblem - An effervescent ambient interlude, its shimmering textures and layered atmospheres provide a meditative pause amidst the EP’s harder edges. Kala - Hazy and dreamlike, this track layers a wandering dub bassline under a steady house beat, glimmering jazz chords and ethereal textures surround the sonic sphere, evoking ¬ickering memories and lingering mystery. Council - A relentless, bassheavy techno groover with sharp vocal cuts and infectious energy. Council feels like a culmination of all that camebefore, resulting in a hypnotic and kinetic underground offering that feels in«nite. With 'Portobello Innocent', Practitioner offers a rare glimpse into his abstract realm, crafting magnetic spaces between memory and rhythm, the ancient and the future, the human and machine.
Madteo is one of the great eccentric visionaries of Electronic Music and his new album Misto Atmosferico E Ad Azione Diretta on Unsure once more happens to be a mind-bending piece of art. Misto Atmosferico E Ad Azione Diretta shifts between focused gritty grooves and the long freeform associative adventures that you haven't heard before, never static, sometimes overwhelming, always on edge.
The opener Cans People is an archaic rave monster, To Know Those Who is non-linear dub techno, Nocturnal Palates expands the Filter House universe and Rave Nite Itz All Right hits you hard and strange (yet subtle, in a way). The last two tracks then let loose; Madteo manipulates time, space and sounds to create the psychedelic secrets of Luglio Ottantotto. And Emo G (Sticky Wicket) explores the outskirts not only of House or Techno or whatever but music in general, a 15-min-trip through the low frequencies, the rumble, the dark hearts and the enchantment. Breathtaking. Bring The Voodoo Down.
NO COVER![15,34 €]
DJ Sotofett presents a double 12inch with 8 strictly underground & classic Techno tracks. The album features regular collaborators LNS, L.A. 2000, Ronny Nyheim and Zarate_Fix while scanning through a set of tracks designed for DJ Sotofett's resident nights at Berlin's Tresor club. Energy driven Dub-Techno, overtonal and percussive Acid, pumping bassline-riding power Dubs and Deep Techno wraps up this DJ friendly but versatile double pack. The programming, mixing, mastering and cutting on "WANIA mk1" has been perfected for an attempt to resurrect real undeground & no-bullshit club music, strictly for real DJ's and clubbers who passionately loves the core of true Techno music. Includes the bombastically percussive "Preparation" and 909-vocoder driven "My Spirit Is In Techno Music" as well as alternative mixes from the previously released "WANIA mk2".
THIS 2x12" SET IS CUT WITH LOUD VOLUME FOR EXCELLENT CLUB USE!
Pete Herbert is back with another tasteful assembled and escapist compilation. This one focuses on slowed-down, low-slung sounds for the golden hour when love is in the air and the vibes and blissful. Balearic mainstays feature throughout with Max Essa's 'Warm Enough' a delightfully humid and synth-laced deep house jaunt, Fernando's 'Moon Rocks' full of shimmering synth lushness and Pete Herbert's remix of Mantas & Vencla's 'Sun' offering some piano laced fun to rouse the 'floor.
Four artists with a taste for classic deep house infused with more than a touch of house line on the Silver Walker label's sixth release. Following releases on the likes of Local Talk, Balance, Traxx Underground, Mate, Quintessentials and upcoming projects on Nervous and NDATL, Shaka opens proceedings with a flurry of Hammond and plenty of exotic percussion, lie Alan Hawkshaw riffing with Underground Resistance. Glenn Davis (Wolf, Yore Records, Deeper Groove and Selections Records) delivers a deeper house workout on the A2 house track, the jazzy keyboard chords, fluttering flute and restless synths working real magic. One of the masterminds behind the Silver Walker label, Diego aka DFRA, comes on all perky with the saxes and soloing Rhodes, on the second side's opener, 'Nitewax'. Then we close with Damien aka Keymono (founder of several labels including Monocturne Records and Funkyshirts) laying on the handclaps of classic disco strings, the snippets of funk guitar and vibes the cherry on top.
Over the last ten years, Brazil’s Millos Kaiser has cultivated a reputation as a top-ranking selector passionate about bringing his home country’s underappreciated music to the world. After starting as a punk and indie musician in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, he turned his hand to DJing in the late 2000s and relocated to Sāo Paulo. There, he spent the 2010s rocking city squares, warehouse parties and street parties with DJ Trepanado in the Selvagem duo before cofounding the celebrated Selva Discos label in 2017.
Since 2019, Millos’s focus has shifted to his solo DJ career and ventures as an edit maker, reissue compilation curator, audiophile bar co-owner, and now producer. Planet Trip Records has been very good friends with Millos for a long time and is very pleased to present his first original release, the Te Quero Perto (I Want You Close) EP, available in vinyl and digital formats.
Assembled like a DJ-friendly 12” for late 20th-century nightclub specialists, Te Quero Perto kicks off with Millos’ original ‘club mix’ and an accompanying ‘instrumental’ version (digital.only). Driven by an uptempo machine beat straight out of the mid-'80s, rave pianos, 303 acid bass, and an explosive Brazilian pop vocal sung by Juju Bonjour, it’s an absolute belter of a tune and a masterclass in in-period styling.
Elsewhere on the EP, Millos’s European friends Lipelis & Orion Agassi turn in an equally belting Latin Freestyle remix in vocal, dub and instrumental mixes (instrumental is digital only). Rounding things out, fellow Rio de Janeiro producer Paco Cabana throws the tune into a cocktail shaker before pouring a sunkissed, percussion-heavy reimagining for us to sip on. Front to back, it’s an all-killer, no-filler debut from a generational talent.
Worldship Music returns for 2025 with a brand new various artists EP sure to set all soulful dancefloors on fire. The second installation of the Herald Traccs series welcomes back label stalwarts Roberta and Trilaterals while bringing Reelsoul into the fold as well, of course alongside a cut by imprint head Teflon Dons.
Reelsoul kicks proceedings off with a stunningly beautiful version of an all time classic jazz inflected dance jam “La Costa”. Leaning into the sophisticated vocal harmonies, a bed of warm instrumentation carries this familiar joint seamlessly into the modern era. New crowds and veterans alike will be swept away on an unforgettable lover’s holiday to the seashore.
Trilaterals come through in full on party mode on “Flo Jo”. Filtered and chopped samples from a funk staple are twisted into a swinging groove that will have house dancers going off. The stripped back arrangement teases with energy before exploding into dancefloor ecstasy. Adept sample spotters will be sure to get the title reference, a wink and a nod to two legends of black American culture.
Teflon Dons can’t help but put their underground edge into the music, with “DONTWANTU2GO”’s tough drums immediately signaling the late nite intentions of this banger. Pleading vocals and pitched chords add a twinge of that distinctive deep house melancholy before the strings drop in and take the jam to the next level.
Roberta is a perfect choice to end the EP with the smoky jazz club vibes of “Hang Back”. Gritty drums and electric piano riffs provide the hypnotic backbone, while flute and vibes add funky flourishes on top. This is the kind of cut that is sure to elicit whoops of joy from exhausted dancers catching a second wind thanks to its undeniable electricity.
Rave OR DIE presents the 2nd volume of the new serie called "Raverbreakerz".
This release includes 5 huge bangers dedicated to the rave-techno-break beat-doomy hard sounds signed by the great artists Mental Fear Productions, Tripped, Nite Fleit, Scalameriya, Umwelt and Scalameriya.
Don't believe the hype!
Denizens of the Oyster Cult, rejoice. Elusive dancefloor operator S.O.N.S has followed last year’s compilation cameo up with the deadliest of full debuts.
Booting off with some rough ‘n ready gear, “Drive” is the latest chapter as S.O.N.S undergoes his metamorphosis into a more brooding entity. The esteemed Junction Records and Junction Forest proprietor oscillates between tunnelling acid techno and a darkwave-indebted workout somewhat reminiscent of Dutch pioneer Das Ding. Three night-stalking club trax rooted in ominous portent.
Trading the gentler touch and sound sensitivity of releases past for something tougher, and meaner, but there aren’t any diminishing returns. Quite a departure from the introspection of that aforementioned compilation appearance while retaining the transcendent qualities that always typified his work.
Black Vinyl[30,21 €]
Laurant Webb, Dave Coker, Justin Bailey and Dave Pine were the driving forces behind Strange Weather Studios. Based in Southeast London, the studio served as a creative hub, playing a pivotal role in shaping the sound of a groundbreaking genre. Alongside close friends and collaborators, they produced a series of influential records that have left an indelible mark on the music landscape.
This release is a heartfelt tribute to Strange Weather Studios and the talented individuals who brought its magic to life. It also honours the studio’s production partners though iconic projects such as Housey Doingz, 7th Voyage, Space Bunny, Get Fucked and Green Eyed Monster. These projects that were instrumental in forging the signature, original London Tech House sound.
The tracks on this record have been handpicked by Laurant Webb and Yossi Amoyal, meticulously restored and remastered from the rare original DATs.
This release marks a significant milestone for London Tech House, symbolising a collaboration between its key pioneers and a label that evolved alongside the genre. It’s an organic partnership that celebrates the past and looks towards the future. A project we’re incredibly proud to share with you
Die schwedischen Rocker Devil's Cigarette präsentieren ihr Debütalbum 'I Wanna Be On TV'! Beeinflusst von Rock-Ikonen wie The Stooges, MC5, The Beatles, The Hives, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives und The Hellacopters, kreieren Devil's Cigarette eine einzigartige Mischung aus energiegeladenem, düsterem und rasantem Rock 'n' Roll.
M_Sessions - Reworks is offering a contemporary version of Mania D., Malaria and Matador’s music for the 40th anniversary. Bringing the past into the now and into the future.
Monika Werkstatt seemed the perfect choice for new interpretations. Founded in 2015, comprising female electronic musicians and producers from the entourage of Monika Enterprise and Moabit Musik. The loose collective played dozens of improvised concerts around Europe and released a studio album and live recordings in everchanging artist constellations. The M_Sessions involved Pilocka Krach, Beate Bartel, Midori Hirano, Mommo G, Lucrecia Dalt, Antye Greie-Ripatti, Natalie Beridze, Annika Henderson and myself. Here the form of interpretation is focussing on keeping the freedom of their improvised work and adapting it to the collective appropriation of songs. I cannot imagine a better reinterpretation of the material with its real life ups and downs and with its enthusiasm. (G.Gut)
"The three, reunited: Malaria, Matador and Mania D, unter einem Dach, but gutted, replaced with electronic hearts, new beats, new beasts, the time has changed, yet the politics, the problems, the heartache remains the same. 2021 sees the anniversary of the 3 M’s and therewith the production of an album of songs, covering a selection of the bands’ finest output, this time assembled by a new set of feminist misfits; producers, fangirls, instrumentalists, under the strict guidance of original members Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. M-Sessions features: AGF, Lucrecia Dalt, Sonae, Midori Hirano, Islaja, Natalie Beridze, Pilocka Krach, Annika Henderson (Anika), Lupe, Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. Beginning in West Berlin, in 1979, with the inception of Mania D, spawning Malaria! and later Matador; in a time when music was essential to movement, to escape, to space, to the scene and to the rebellion of the people; three bands stood for trial and error, trial and terror, anti- conformity, and anti-consumerism, for girl power and sticking it to the man, and for just doing whatever the hell they wanted. The three, their existence slightly staggered, with different members, different grudges, different heartbreaks, different instrumental expressions, were joined by a string of barbed wire, piecing pigeon hearts, within the playground that was the desolate ex-capital, now again capital, Berlin; a place where artists and freaks could run free amongst the wrinklies and army dodgers; no microscopes, no rules, no property developers." (ANNIKA HENDERSON)
