Suche:d product

Celebrating 20 Years since On The Sun was first Released we are releasing it on Vinyl for the FIRST Time. We have 1 totally new track to be made available Digitally and will include that Track and the previously release Te Reo version of So True on the Physical Product.

Built on the powerful songwriting of Christopher Owens and ethereal production of Chet "JR" White, Girls recorded Album in a mix of bedrooms and studios in their adopted hometown of San Francisco. The resulting 12 tracks evoke a narcotic, sunny afternoon in Dolores Park, yet promising the eventual hangover of summer's departure. Album is self-described as "honest, loose, ethereal, obnoxious, perfect." It’s a sincere tribute to the majesty of great pop music and healing power of rock and roll.

Built on the powerful songwriting of Christopher Owens and ethereal production of Chet "JR" White, Girls recorded Album in a mix of bedrooms and studios in their adopted hometown of San Francisco. The resulting 12 tracks evoke a narcotic, sunny afternoon in Dolores Park, yet promising the eventual hangover of summer's departure. Album is self-described as "honest, loose, ethereal, obnoxious, perfect." It’s a sincere tribute to the majesty of great pop music and healing power of rock and roll.

"Mystic Man," released in 1979 is now available on 1LP Green Recycled, is an introspective and spiritually charged album by Peter Tosh. The album reflects his deep Rastafarian beliefs and features a mix of soulful and political tracks. Songs like "Mystic Man" and "Jah Seh No" highlight Tosh's commitment to his faith and his disdain for societal corruption. The album's production is marked by a refined sound that balances roots reggae with subtle experimentation.

Obscure & outstanding free jazz album reissued for the first time since it’s original release in 1969. Old-style gatefold sleeve LP, with liner notes by Ed Hazell.

In the late 1960s, young jazz musician Bobby Naughton, a keyboardist and vibraphonist, faced significant challenges as he sought to record his first album. With major record labels and jazz clubs catering only to big names, Naughton and other creative musicians of his generation found themselves sidelined by the mainstream music industry. They turned to self-reliance and self-production, becoming part of a movement of independent musicians. Naughton’s debut album, Nature’s Consort, was a DIY effort in every sense—recorded on home equipment and featuring a hand-printed woodblock cover. The album was distributed independently at concerts and by mail, receiving little attention initially, but over the years it gained a reputation as a rare, sought-after artifact of the period.

Though recorded during an outdoor concert in Connecticut, Nature's Consort reflected the "loft jazz" scene in New York City. This avant-garde jazz movement centered around musicians who lived and played in loft spaces in lower Manhattan. Naughton commuted from his home in Southbury, Connecticut, to play with his bandmates Mark Whitecage, Mario Pavone, and Laurence Cook in New York's lofts. These musicians regularly performed at venues like Studio We, a key gathering spot for free-form jazz, where musicians could experiment and develop their sound, often with no audience present.

Naughton’s journey into jazz was a winding one. Originally from Boston, he played rockabilly and blues-rock before transitioning into free jazz. Inspired by avant-garde artists like Carla Bley and Paul Bley, Naughton sought to explore new forms of music that went beyond traditional jazz structures. His bandmates, Mark Whitecage and Mario Pavone, were both deeply affected by the death of John Coltrane in 1967, which prompted them to quit their day jobs, attend Coltrane’s funeral, and move to New York to pursue jazz full-time.

Nature’s Consort was a collective project, with band members sharing equally in any profits. However, Naughton was the driving force behind the group’s creative direction. He composed much of the original material and selected pieces by Ornette Coleman and Carla Bley for the band’s repertoire. Jazz critic Nat Hentoff praised the album for its “high-risk improvisation” and the musicians' ability to anticipate each other’s moves. Though Nature’s Consort received little press at the time, it has since been recognized as a significant early document of the loft jazz era, representing Naughton’s disciplined, improvisational approach to music.

Yabby You aka Vivian Jackson, as singer, songwriter, and producer, has created some of the greatest roots reggae recordings of all time, many of which are rare and among the most sought-after records by serious reggae fans. Dread Prophecy Crucial Cuts is a killer collection of 10 magnificent Vivian Jackson productions featuring himself as Yabby You, his Prophets vocal group, and his discovery, Michael Prophet, including some extended mixes and dubs via King Tubby.

The second of four 12" vinyls will be released on December 6th, anticipating the release of the new Death SS concept album: "The Entity
produced by Steve Sylvester with the magic touch of Tom Dalgety, a Grammy-winning english producer, already at work with Rammstein,
Ghost , Cult and others.

The second single “Out To Get Me” is a dark and orchestral ballad that underlines the moment of the concept of the work in which the main
character Jekyll becomes aware of the evil that his alter-ego has caused. After that he feel the reaction of people surronding him. Tormented
by doubts and remorse, his mental health degenerates and he become to feel himself persecuted by infernal creatures, that are actually the real
monsters of his conscience coming to life.

“Limited Deluxe” edition on transparent blue vinyl with a special shaped cover. The product contains the second part of the booklet with the
entire story behind the concept album together with two other songs taken from the album: “TWO SOULS and HELL IS REVEALED”,
available only in physical format.

Warehouse Find!

A Ron Wells classic intended for release in 2020 and delayed for various reasons including moving factory and our original stampers getting recycled.

This release is sourced from mint vinyl as the original masters are long gone, we have carefully restored and remastered this classic release while retaining all the character of the original. Remastering is by Bob Macc @ Subvert Central Mastering. You can be assured the tracks sound fantastic but do not suffer from the Loudness Wars while still holding their own when mixed with modern productions.

Tommy Boy reissues exclusive limited edition pressing of Afrika Bambatta & Soulsonic Force's "Planet Rock” Considered one of founding fathers of rap, Afrika Bambaataa has long been considered a revolutionary, both within the music business and beyond. Raised in the South Bronx, Afrika Bambaataa made his name as a DJ, rapper and songwriter, eventually becoming the foremost DJ, event organizer and promoter of the large block parties that rocked the neighbourhood during the mid-to-late 70's. Leading into the 80's, Bambaataa had found acclaim for releasing countless genre-defining tracks, infusing Hip Hop and Electronic elements into a sound that would influence other artists for years to come. With the groundbreaking release of Soulsonic Force assisted, "Planet Rock," in 1982, Afrika Bambaataa forever cemented his place in the history books as one of the most revered and innovative artists of his time. Since its release, "Planet Rock" has gone on to be recognized as one of the earliest Hip Hop hits and remains one of the genres most pioneering recordings. A long-time favourite amongst break-dancers, DJ's and music lovers alike, "Planet Rock" was ranked by Rolling Stone magazine at #240 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and has received Gold certification by the RIAA. Originally released in 1986 as a collection of previous singles, this highly sought after record has long since been out of production, until now. Ranked at #84 by Slant Magazine on their "Best Albums of the 1980s" list and was also included in the book, "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

‘Leon’ is the highly anticipated fourth album from Grammy Award-winning recording artist, songwriter, and producer Leon Bridges. With 13 tracks featuring Leon’s signature storytelling and a unique blend of organic genre alchemy, ‘Leon’ is his most poignant, powerful, and personal work to date. He takes fans on a trip through the heart of Ft. Worth he knows best, the things he holds dear, and the people and places that shaped him. Featuring production by Ian Fitchuk (Beyonce, Noah Kahan), Daniel Tashian (Kacey Musgraves), and Tyler Johnson (Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus), Leon describes the album as “somewhat of a self-portrait… I’m excited to share these stories about my home, about nostalgia, about my upbringing, about where I’m from, with all of you. I hope this music brings you back to your roots and your journey.”



Quote from Leon:
“‘Leon’ has been a long-time coming. I started writing pieces of it as far back as ‘Gold-Diggers Sound.’ They didn’t fit what I was trying to do with that album and I tried moving on. But I couldn’t shake them because they’re part of me. And, if I’m honest, also because I think this is some of my most excellent work yet.In many ways, Leon has been in the works since my childhood. This record is about simpler days. It’s about time spent in my beloved Fort Worth and the experiences that made me the man I am today. It’s soulful music in the truest sense - it’s imbued with my soul.I’m excited to share these stories about my home, about nostalgia, about my upbringing, about where I’m from, with all of you. I hope this music brings you back to your roots and your journey.”

Jabu return with ‘A Soft and Gatherable Star’, an LP that sees the Bristol-based trio evolve from a uniquely spectral take on trip hop to proffer a singular vision between cloudy, downered dream-pop, off-kilter ambient, and the warm, low-end throb of sound system culture. This development is aligned with contemporaries like HTRK, Dean Blunt, Tarquin Manek, YL Hooi and Rat Heart Ensemble, whilst also harkening back to the likes of AR Kane (with whom they are set to play shows and release a collaborative single), the languorous drift of 'Victorialand' era Cocteau Twins or The Cure circa ‘Disintegration’. Comprising Jasmine Butt (vocals, guitar), Alex Rendall (vocals, keys) and Amos Childs (production, bass guitar), the trio’s method may have shifted but the feel remains consistent - slow, spatial, sensuous and gently melancholic. With a career arc unlike almost any other current guitar outfit, Jabu sit within a strong lineage of off-centre Bristolian music, and a very British strain of home-spun DIY bands. Self-recorded between Jas and Amos’ home in South Bristol and Amos’ mum’s house in rural North Somerset, the album came together via a process of trial and error - learning to play on borrowed instruments, using the equipment “wrong”, staying up late recording and slipping into strange, semi-conscious sleep deprived/inebriated headspaces. Having captured over 50 tracks, they honed in on those they liked most, shaping them further, whilst carving out space to allow input from people they love and admire - Daniela Dyson’s voice and Will Memotone's clarinet on ‘Ashes Over Shute Shelve’, Birthmark's synth on ‘Gently Fade’ and ‘Sea Mills’, Rakhi Singh (Manchester Collective) and Sebastian Gainsborough (Vessel)’s strings and arrangements on ‘All Night’, Josh Horsley’s cello on ‘If I Asked You, You'd Tell Me’, and Lorenzo Prati’s sax, again on ‘Sea Mills’. The album was mastered by Amir Shoat (HTRK, ML Buch, Dean Blunt, Carla Dal Forno). Influence-wise, the guitar-based material recalls the bands Amos listened to when younger, and Jas’ more folk-leaning inspirations. Deep-lying dub, hip hop and soul influences are also evident in both the way the LP was mixed, and the space ingrained in their subconscious. Tinged with melancholy, the songs cohere as a set of soliloquies and ruminations on love and tenderness. The album’s title comes from a poem by Amos’ late father which hangs on his wall and seeped into the record. ‘Ashes Over Shute Shelve’ is formed of lines from another poem of his. Recited by longtime collaborator Daniela Dyson and with Will Yates (Memotone) playing his mother’s clarinet, the track was imagined as a conversation between his parents. Geography and location also play a big part in the record, with several significant places name-checked in songs. Shute Shelve itself is a hill near Amos’ mum’s house, who explains “There’s a tree at the top with a 360° view of the Mendips, where my dad’s ashes were scattered. We used to go up there when we could first buy booze from the petrol station down the road, get drunk, light a fire, listen to music from my little battery powered CD player and sleep out without tents.” Titled after a Bristol suburb near where Amos’ grandparents lived and where Jas would spend time as a teenager, ‘Sea Mills’ references her being abandoned by friends on the Downs while high on mushrooms, stranded and missing the bus back. ‘Kosiše Flower’ references the city in Slovakia where Amos and Jas holidayed shortly after getting together and a flower he gave her, which she pressed in a book after an argument. ‘Oceanside Spider House’ is a location in Nintendo 64 game The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, where someone seeks shelter from the falling moon. Genre: Electronic / Ambient / Dream-pop

Introspective, surrealist techno on 'Doctrine EP' by 393AD for the maiden release of Full Range Motion! Three playful, layered cuts that draw inspiration from minimal visual arts, DIY culture, and the repetitive grind of everyday life. Based on long hardware jams followed by extended in-the-box production methods, Amsterdam-based artist and co-owner of Full Range Motion 393AD creatively crafts slowly-evolving, locked-in-place techno. While all tracks vary in intensity, the concept for 'Doctrine EP' is a clear one: explorative dancefloor music with a hint of mystery and curiosity to keep you moving. Mastering by Temudo. Distribution by Clone.

Label and collaborative musical collective, +33JOY announce their debut release, this first one from Bopperson & Bikbaye.

Born out of a meeting at New York’s annual Winter Jazz Festival, back in 2020, this 4 track EP entitled ‘The Wellness Project’ is a very personal project.

Neil Bopperson is a DJ, musician and producer originally from Yorkshire. Having travelled the world working as a DJ and chef, he landed in London for a while where he remixed afrobeat legend Dele Sosimi for Wah Wah 45s. Now residing in Paris, France, a sharer and carer of music in every aspect, he chooses not to follow trends but instead follow his heart, with variety being an essential part of his musical DNA.

Based in Los Angeles, Bikbaye Inejnema works as a cultural activist, writer, teacher, counselor and spoken word artist. He has a bachelor’s degree in Sociology boasting over ten years experience in social work. He works as a A.T.O.D. (alcohol, tobacco & other drugs) prevention specialist for Homeless Healthcare in L.A. He is also the Executive Director of The Conscious Youth Global Network (CYGN)

Bikbaye strives to utilize art to equip the youth with the skills to become positive, productive citizens. Focusing on diverse topics ranging from leadership development to financial literacy to health and nutrition, Bikbaye gives youth the tools they need to create empowered and enlightened content.
As Bikbaye says, “The goal is to flood the airwaves, the media, everywhere with enlightened art.”

This first release on +33JOY comes in the form of a collaborative project, with music coming predominantly from Neil, with a little help from some additional players - Sam Crowe; keys (Lianne La Havas, Little Simz & Native Dancer) and the saxophone of Nick Briggs; (Joel Culpepper, Poté & The Last Skeptik). All words and vocals are from Bikbaye.

After a chance meeting in NYC, where Bikbaye was hosting talks at The Winter Jazz Festival, speaking mainly about mental health and wellness in the music industry. His words really resonated with Neil, they connected and this EP is the outcome.

Sitting somewhere in the alternative hip hop world, music is used as a vessel for Bikbaye’s words to ring out. Upon being presented with Bikbaye’s recordings, Neil composed music and collected sound design accordingly.

Starting out the set is the stripped back ‘Wellness Is A Practice’, as the opener to proceedings the vocals take forefront and the message is clear. Found sound, an old crunchy keyboard and some guitar pulses keep the poem afloat.

‘Who Are You?’ raises important questions, directed at other artists and music industry professionals. Flute, choirs and spacy drums come together for an eerie and dubbed out moment.

Third track ‘Consumption’ conveys perhaps the most important memo on the release. Sam Crowe’s grand piano floats beautifully over the reading, really highlighting Bikbaye’s statements.

Finally, and with a more hopeful feel, ‘Changes’ was the last addition to the recording sessions. A sketch Neil had been sitting on for a while, DJ Bobafatt added some cuts and Nick Brigg’s sax solo opens this track out to a goosebumps inducing ending. The most upbeat of the four tracks serves as a perfect prelude to the club-ready remixes that will follow this release.

Roman Flügel returns to Phantasy with his second release of 2024 on Erol Alkan’s beloved London label, ‘No Solutions EP’. Following on from ‘Hotel Kathargo / Energies’, which garnered a summer of support from a typically diverse array of DJs including Gerd Janson, Jamie Jones and Saoirse, ‘No Solutions’ expands Flügel’s contributions to Phantasy into a triple track delight, another generous expression of his lifelong immersion in electronic music culture.

Transporting the zeitgeist of future-facing, eighties pop production onto modern dance floors, the title track ‘No Solutions’ is a fizzy, escalating ode to some of Flügel’s very earliest musical influences. Playfully channeling the wide-eyed electronics pioneered by The Human League or Soft Cell, it accelerates into a contemporary funhouse of wild oscillations and dreamy melodies.

‘Sapphire’ shifts this sound palette forward, a steady acid-not-acid bubbler that maintains maximum intrigue and pressure, occasionally breaking through its hazy clouds with pillowy breakdowns and a sense of space-age whimsy. Flügel takes the same palette in a different, more exacting direction on ‘Dragged’, spinning a creeping, Krautrock-esque groove that pays homage to the steady, lifting pulse of German kosmische traditions. Lift off!

Clair Obscur, the new sub-division of Diki Records, is proud to unveil the latest gem from the duo Made On Sofa, formed by the talented Manu Kenton and Max Walder. These artists, well-known in southern Belgium for their impactful productions and residency at the famous Lagoa club, are back with an explosive track.



"I Love You So Much" is set to be a true anthem, built on a dynamic and captivating rhythm. Its hypnotic and majestic gimmick is sure to ignite dance floors and leave a memorable impression in the minds of the audience.



In addition, the second track, "Masterpiece," brings formidable effectiveness, enhanced by an emotional touch that will resonate with all hearts.



Clair Obscur, la nouvelle sub-division de Diki Records, est fière de dévoiler la dernière pépite du duo Made On Sofa, formé par les talentueux Manu Kenton et Max Walder. Ces artistes, bien connus dans le sud de la Belgique pour leurs productions percutantes et leur résidence au célèbre club Lagoa, nous reviennent avec un titre explosif.



"I Love You So Much" s’annonce comme un véritable hymne, construit sur un rythme dynamique et captivant. Sa gimmick hypnotique et majestueuse saura enflammer les pistes de danse et laissera une empreinte mémorable dans l'esprit du public.



En complément, le deuxième titre, "Masterpiece", apporte une efficacité redoutable, rehaussée d'une touche émotionnelle qui touchera tous les cœurs.

When dub and dope beats entered into an open relationship in the mid-nineties and created a casual hybrid with trip hop, Jean-Yves Prieur aka Kid Loco was one of the first French people to be there. With singles like "She"s My Lover" and "Love Me Sweet" and the album A Grand Love Story, the producer proved himself to be a loverman indeed, with a knack for bedroom moods, charming little melodies and a comforting balance between minimalism and lush arrangements . As a keyboard all-rounder, Guillaume Méténier aka Soul Sugar has been featured on numerous Kid Loco productions for more than twenty years. From the synthesizer to the clavinet, from the Fender Rhodes to the Leslie organ, the "Funky Frenchman" is no stranger to any keyboard instrument. The Hamburg label Echo Beach, which has already issued dub commissions for a number of pop and new wave classics, thought it was time to change that. Dub masters such as Rob Smith, Noiseshaper, Dubmatix, Paolo Baldini and many others remixed for the label. Songs by Martha & The Muffins, The Police, David Bowie, Grace Jones and Robert Palmer, among others. In order to honor the music of Florian Schneider, Ralf Hütter and their respective fellow Kraftwerkers with a dub set, they turned to Kid Loco, who has now established himself as a musical all-rounder, and who immediately invited his long-time accomplice Soul Sugar brought on board. The calculation really worked out.

The Future of Latin / The Gun is a seminal EP from Nino was originally a slow burn upon its release on Production House back in the early 90's, but over the years it has become a much sought after classic.

This repress is lovingly remastered from DAT and available again for the first time since the original run

Lara Sarkissian’s long-awaited debut full-length, ‘Remnants’ is an ornate patchwork of ancient and modern sonic shapes that uses the vernacular of electronic music to reformulate Armenian traditions and memories. Taking digitally modeled instruments (such as the kanun, a large zither, and the duduk, an ancient double reed woodwind instrument), vocals, davul and dhol drums, tenor saxophone (from acclaimed Paris-based player Adrien Soleiman) and myriad electronic elements and techniques, Sarkissian tangles the old and the new, creating an immersive, narrative-driven experience that’s powered by history, mythology and her own familial connection to the West Asian landscape. It’s an album that’s best absorbed like a film; only multiple encounters can reveal its layered themes and references to industrial music, noise, various club styles, ambient and traditional folk.

Born and raised in San Francisco and currently based in Los Angeles, Sarkissian has developed her unique approach to composition over years of relentless experimentation across various disciplines. Her interest in music production initially stemmed from her filmmaking and video editing work, when she began to sculpt her own sound collages and scores to accompany the visuals. Since then, she’s constantly blurred the boundary between dance and experimental music, DJing around the world, producing AV installations and scoring film and video projects that have been exhibited in Berlin’s Gropius Bau, Montréal’s Musée d’art contemporain, the Music Center Los Angeles and other prestigious institutions, and releasing music with labels such as Tresor, Knekelhuis, All Centre, Silva Electronics and CLUB CHAI, the label and event series she co-founded. In recent years, she’s also been able to advance the theory behind her art, publishing a conversation with ethnomusicologist Sylvia Alajaji in the Journal of the Society of Armenian Studies in 2021, and unveiling her methodology in Norient’s ‘This Track Contains Politics – The Culture of Sampling in Experimental Electronica’ a year later.

‘Remnants’ is a new stage in Sarkissian’s evolution as an artist; not only is it her first proper album, but it’s the inaugural release on her new platform btwn Earth+Sky. She sees the label as a place to encourage collaborations between musicians and producers and prioritize sound in visual arts realms, and ‘Remnants’ is the ideal proof of concept. It opens with ‘Heaven, or Paradise; and Hell’, a track that’s inspired by the layout of the Armenian sharakan (or hymn) ‘Aravot Luso’. Sarkissian imagines the original piece’s harmonies and melodies as parts of a dreamy electronic opera, using digital kanun sounds to punctuate her woozy, evocative synths. Soleimen joins on tenor sax in the third act, while Sarkissian repeats the chant and Jace Akira adds ghostly traces of electric guitar and bass. And on the rousing ‘Our Dead Can’t Rest (Old Jugha Flute Dance)’, Sarkissian chops urgent davul and dhol drum rhythms with spine-chilling shvi woodwind sounds lifted from a documentary about Old Jugha. The title is a reference to the moving of graves by Armenian families; the area initially housed over 10,000 elaborately carved khachkars (cross stones), one of which is pictured on the album’s cover, provided by historian Argam Aivazian’s archive.

On ‘Miracle’, Sarkissian samples atmospheres from the post-Soviet Armenian comedy film ‘Կիսանդրի’ (Kisandri). She takes this opportunity to lighten the mood a little, powdering her smudged samples with tightly edited breaks and bass thumps. It’s not until the album’s middle section that the duduk, perhaps Armenia’s best-known instrument, makes its appearance. Its familiar reedy tones, popularized by Djivan Gasparyan on his many Hollywood soundtrack appearances, emerge on ‘Unraveling (Interlude)’, weaving through the acidic ‘Zephyr’ and ‘Far from the eye far from the Heart’, a post-punk inspired stomper. Sarkissian mutates the instrument almost beyond recognition, pitching and layering it into a voice-like wail that creeps between her woody, dancefloor-primed percussion on the former, and turning it into a gentle, ghostly moan on the latter. And she brings ‘Remnants’ to a close with two of her most cryptic tracks, marrying digital kanun strings with Soleiman’s resonant tenor hums on ‘What Solace Can I Give’, and looping the same saxophone sounds until they dissolve into the air on the beatless closer ‘…nothing matters more than touching you although i haven’t touched you yet’.

It’s an album that ties up Sarkissian’s various interests and experiences, finding a romantic, poetic glimmer of light in history’s darkness. But most of all, ‘Remnants’ is about the optimism of starting anew, and rebuilding a life from the pieces of everything that’s been left behind.

Who is Isabelle Lewis, anyway?

What kind of music does she make? Is she an opera singer? Does she write pop songs? Does she compose ethereal ambient soundscapes? Does she play chamber music on the violin? Is she producing dark, electronic beats?

Well… yes. But Isabelle Lewis is not so much a person as a project. Isabelle’s debut album, Greetings, credits a trio of composer–performers at its heart: producer Valgeir Sigurðsson, vocalist Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe, and violinist Elisabeth Klinck. The sound of the elusive Isabelle Lewis is heard most clearly in the push and pull between them, the three-way tension that gives the album its musical and emotional drive.

Each of the three brings more to the collaboration than those epithets might imply. Elisabeth’s solo performance practice incorporates composition, improvisation, live electronics, and a close command of bowing and fingering techniques that make her fiddle sing, whisper or whistle as required. Benjamin is a self-taught countertenor - keening, crooning, and swelling to a voluptuous sensuality—but also an interdisciplinary stage director and performer. Well known for his work as a producer and studio collaborator, and as a composer of scores for film and stage, Valgeir’s solo discography interweaves meticulously crafted electronics, drones, noise, and other digital elements with acoustic instruments and vocals recorded with naked, unflinching clarity.

But the extravagant theatricality Benjamin brings to the aptly titled “Drama”—also featuring a heroic violin solo from Elisabeth—grapples against the thudding bass of the implacable digital backdrop. On “Mother, Shelter Me” Valgeir’s austere and detailed production throws the hushed violin and vocals into stark relief. The result is an exquisitely uncanny juxtaposition of past and present, human and mechanical, like a Rococo treasure viewed under cold fluorescent lights, or an 18th-century automaton slowly opening its clockwork eyes.

Even the lyrics seem somehow out of time. On “O Solitude,” Benjamin goes so far as to quote an entire song by the first great English opera composer, Henry Purcell, verbatim. No stranger to Purcell’s music, which has made its way into Benjamin’s theatrical productions as well, here Isabelle Lewis removes Purcell’s melodies and harmonies and sets the text, Katherine Phillips’s 17th century translation of a poem by Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant, to new music whose heightened, archaic character nevertheless seems haunted by Baroque ghosts.

Throughout the album, the outsized emotions and timeless archetypes of Benjamin’s lyrics feel like relics from some half-forgotten past—from the neatly rhymed couplets of “Fisherman,” a seemingly straightforward (but still somewhat askew) character study, to the abstraction of “Moonshell,” whose words seem like the fragments of some ancient, lost lament. It is just another of many ways in which Isabelle Lewis carefully distorts the listener’s notions of time. On a more micro level, time can stop for a moment of weightless, drifting ambience, and then plunge forward as the cloud of harmonies suddenly lock into tempo with the drop of the bass or the change of a chord. Or else that weightless moment is allowed to be, as in the aptly named prologue and epilogue to these Greetings (“Voicemail”/“…and farewell”), or in the interstitial tracks that bind the album together, connecting its dramatic peaks with expanses of meditative stasis.

The album as a whole is elegantly shaped, swelling from an intimate, interpersonal statement into something deeper and more spacious. The first half of the album leans slightly towards self-contained pop songcraft and ticking beats, while side B jumps off from “O Solitude” into the almost symphonic grandeur of songs like “Moonshell” or the instrumental “Not the water, air, or the dirt.”

But as it progresses, the contrasts only grow more sublime: antique and postmodern, human and machinelike. The ominous weight of the droning sub-bass and trombone (guest player Helgi Hrafn Jónsson) only makes the interplay between vocals and violins (guest player Daniel Pioro joining Elisabeth) seem more delicate and vulnerable. The ethereal string tremolos of “Moonshell” seem to pull against the heavy, shuddering electronics and layers of crooning vocals.

And that, in short, is where you will find Isabelle Lewis. Like an ancient stone archway, or a delicate house of cards, the architecture of Greetings is held together by the tension between opposing forces. Not just in Elisabeth’s playing, Benjamin’s singing, or Valgeir’s arrangements and production but in the conflict and contrast that generates the synergy between them.

Oh—Isabelle says hi, by the way. She’s looking forward to meeting you.

The last couple of years have seen a renaissance for West Coast singer-songwriters. LA-based youngsters such as Drugdealer and Sylvie have attracted considerable attention releasing warm and mellow records tonally reminiscent of the early 70s. Most fans of this new/old sound are unaware of Bart Davenport's early explorations in the same sonic territory. His now 20-year-old "Game Preserve"album should gain an appreciative new audience with its first ever vinyl release.

In the year 2000, Bay Area troubadour Bart Davenport and several other musicians were recruited by a major tech corporation in Seattle to work on an algorithm-based music matching/search engine. It was what looked like the beginning of a promising career. After a year, however, the project was shelved. Bart and his colleagues were laid off with a healthy severance package... on the 12th of September, 2001. Not only had the musician's life changed, so had the world. Rather than blow the money on a holiday or new car, Bart knew he had to make a record. A proper album that meant something.

Back in Oakland, he entered Wally Sound Studios with former Kinetics bandmate Jon Erickson at the controls, and a swathe of talented local musicians. "With Game Preserve," Bart explains, "Jon and I really wanted to knock it out of the park. I wanted to utilize people from my old bands like Loved Ones drummer John Kent. I also invited my newer indie-pop friends from Call & Response, and a young Nedelle Torrisi. Harmony singing by The Moore Brothers was an essential ingredient on Game Preserve as well."

Both Erickson and Davenport fondly recall growing up in households where the music of The Carpenters, Joni Mitchell and The Eagles soundtracked their young lives. By the early 00s they were ready to reconnect with what is often referred to as the "Laurel Canyon" sound. "I'd buy used tapes at garage sales and play them in the car. "Ladies Of The Canyon" by Joni and Jackson Browne's first album were both in heavy rotation. Jon Erickson was getting deeper into the Steely-Mac-Doobie yacht-rock sound in earnest. A certain amount of childhood nostalgia led a lot of us back to that part of the 70s. I'd flirted with classic soft-rock on my first album, but that record was pretty scattered esthetically. I wanted my next one to be more focused. Jon and I made some ground rules: no electric guitars (except on 'Bar-Code Trees'). No synths. Most importantly, all the songs have an air-tight, super dead, close mic'd drum sound. Putting these sorts of limitations on the sessions will give your record a specific quality. In the case of "Game Preserve"it's mostly about tight drums, acoustic instruments and analog production. We used a 24-track, two-inch tape machine for tracking, then ran the mixes through an analog board straight to a 1/4 inch master tape."

While the album's sonic palette may be firmly planted in 1970, Davenport's songwriting covers a sizable landscape of moods and reflections. From the quasi-flamenco intro of 'Sweetest Game' to the somber Wurlitzer of 'Nowhere Left To Go', to the 12-string shimmer of 'Intertwine', "Game Preserve" tells a story of young love, lost innocence and redemption, crossing borders and oceans along the way.

Released in 2003 on family-run Oakland label Antenna Farm, the ultra-analog sounding "Game Preserve" was only made available on digital formats, including CD. Copies were later pressed by labels in Germany and Spain; the latter being one country the album actually did well in, establishing Bart Davenport with a small but loyal fanbase he still enjoys today. Two European tours as support for Kings of Convenience also helped gain a foothold on the continent. Back in the US, however, Davenport and his sophomore album remained quite obscure.

Limited promotion meant it did little, but for the music lovers that heard it, the album undoubtedly remains a classic of the era, deserving far more. Twenty years on, it now finally receives its vinyl debut. "I personally think it holds up well," says Bart of the album two decades later. "The idea was to make something that could be an homage to late 60s/early 70s West Coast pop but hopefully timeless as well. Years on, I hear it as just that. It was a colorful and brief period of my life that felt at times like it could last forever. I discovered the joy of working in a proper studio with a perfect cast of characters. I'm still very close with all these people and still play music with many of them."