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The discovery of Doris Dennison's score represents a genuine musicological breakthrough—what once would have been "a tree falling in the woods" thirty years ago now holds the potential to render "a thunderous clap in our minds." While researching Anna Halprin's lesser-known collaborators, scholar Tom Welsh uncovered the archives of AA Leath, one of Halprin's principal dancers. Buried within these materials was Dennison's handwritten score for Earth Interval, dated May 1956. Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1908, and raised near Seattle, Dennison (1908-2009) encountered John Cage while teaching Dalcroze eurythmics at the Cornish College of the Arts. She joined Cage's earliest percussion quartet—alongside Margaret Jansen, the composer and his wife Xenia—in the group widely regarded as having performed the first complete concert of percussion music in the United States. This historic December 1938 concert was followed by tours and the landmark May 1941 performance at the California Club, comprising Cage and Lou Harrison's Double Music, the premiere of Cage's Third Construction, and Harrison's 13th Simfony.

As Bradford Bailey observes in his extensive liner notes, Earth Interval demonstrates "an extraordinary balance of elements that imbues the piece with a sense of clarity, directness, and constraint that is both distinct and ahead of its time." The work's most remarkable innovation lies in its approach to extended techniques, particularly Dennison's notation for the central movement: "In 2nd movement, 1st player lowers + raises a gong into a tub of water while beating." This technique, absorbed from Cage's experimental vocabulary, generates what Bailey describes as "fields of acoustic abstraction that bend and warp time through sustained resonances, beat, and space." The temporal sophistication of these manipulations anticipated Karlheinz Stockhausen's Mikrophonie I (1964) and Annea Lockwood's water-based sound investigations by over a decade. After joining Mills College as dance accompanist, Dennison maintained crucial connections to the Bay Area's experimental scene, collaborating with figures like Merce Cunningham and programming Cage's music throughout the 1950s.

Comprising three movements—Land Form, Air Tide, and Earth Play—Earth Interval is scored for recorder, drums, gongs, maracas, muted gongs, and bowl gongs. In total, the piece is just under eight minutes: "a fleeting glimmer of moment in time, a life spent at the cutting edge, and a singular creative vision that packs a powerful punch." When viewed in historical context, placed in contrast to roughly contemporaneous avant-garde percussion works by Cage, Harrison, Louis Thomas Hardin (Moondog), and Harry Partch, or important precursors like Edgard Varèse's Ionisation (1931) and Henry Cowell's Ostinato Pianissimo (1934), it's clear that Dennison was following her own path. Earth Interval is not derivative. It is a precursor to what was yet to come, alluding to developments of avant-garde and experimental music that wouldn't begin to appear on the cultural landscape until the 1970s and '80s, with the emergence of Post-Minimalism and more idiosyncratic artists and ensembles like Midori Takada, Ros Bandt, Peter Giger, Frank Perry, Christopher Tree, Michael Ranta, Gamelan Son of Lion, and Niagara.

This recording by Chicago's Third Coast Percussion, captured in March 2022, represents the first complete documentation of this pioneering work. The ensemble's interpretation reveals the piece's remarkable contemporaneity while maintaining its historical specificity. Where Cage, Harrison, and Partch employed "self-consciously off-kilter polyrhythms," Dennison's rhythmic sensibility anticipates minimalist developments by nearly a decade, yet integrates "forceful rests, as well as sharp shifts in sonic character, tempo, and meter, that break the momentum and breathe a sense of life into the piece's structure." This positions her work closer to Post-Minimalism decades before its emergence. The architectural approach demonstrates Dennison's understanding that "the composer almost entirely disappears" in favor of phenomenological listening experience, creating what might be called an egoless music that places its realities and meaning entirely in the ear of the beholder. The present recording, realized by Chicago's distinguished Third Coast Percussion ensemble, represents a significant achievement in experimental music scholarship and performance practice. As specialists in the Cage tradition and contemporary percussion repertoire, Third Coast Percussion approached Earth Interval with the historical sensitivity and technical precision required to illuminate Dennison's subtle compositional innovations. The March 2022 recording sessions, engineered by Colin Campbell, capture both the work's intimate chamber music qualities and its bold exploration of extended techniques. The ensemble's interpretation reveals the piece's remarkable contemporaneity—its ability to speak directly to current musical concerns while maintaining its historical specificity.

This recording serves multiple scholarly functions: it provides the first complete documentation of Dennison's compositional voice, offers insight into the broader network of experimental music practitioners surrounding Cage and Harrison, and demonstrates the sophisticated level of compositional thinking that was occurring within the Bay Area's dance-music collaborations of the 1950s. The work's emphasis on phenomenological listening—what might be called an "egoless" approach to musical experience—places it within a lineage of American experimental music that prioritizes perceptual process over compositional personality. The work's original obscurity—limited to AA Leath's performances at venues like the 1957 Pacific Coast Arts Festival at Reed College—paradoxically allowed it to remain "entirely on its own terms," free from the constraints of historical categorization. Drawing on Jacques Derrida's Archive Fever, the argument emerges that "the archive can acknowledge, celebrate, and resurrect" overlooked voices, transforming our understanding of experimental music history. The present Blume edition, featuring Third Coast Percussion's authoritative interpretation, includes a lavishly illustrated 16-page booklet designed by Bruno Stucchi / dinamomilano, containing complete scholarly apparatus, historical photographs, and detailed production notes. This recording enables "cross-temporal intersectionality," allowing Dennison to "belong to a newly formed and more dynamic understanding of the present and past," demonstrating how forgotten voices can reshape entire historical narratives when given proper scholarly attention and performance advocacy.

Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Plays with Authoritative Tonality, Airiness, and Clarity:
Pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl and Strictly Limited to
3,000 Numbered Copies
1/4” / 15 IPS Dolby A analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Joni Mitchell is the only artist who could’ve made Hejira. The legendary singer-songwriter said as much when discussing the album decades after its release. Yet that fact seemed obvious from the moment the gold-certified effort streeted in fall 1976. An adventurous travelogue, probing narrative, and offbeat homage to freedom, Hejira remains an inimitable entry in the catalog of recorded music — a spare, gorgeous, meditative series of sonic vignettes comprised of floating harmonic pop, cool jazz, soft rock, and sensitive vocal elements that beckon feelings of motion, discovery, and self-examination.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents the record ranked the 133rd Greatest of All Time by Rolling Stone with definitive detail, richness, accuracy, and directness. Marking the first time the revered LP has received audiophile treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on vinyl and SACD.

Playing with a virtually nonexistent noise floor, dead-quiet surfaces, and superior groove definition, this collectible reissue reproduces in enveloping fashion the tones, textures, and craftsmanship that help Hejira function as the equivalent of a liberating trip down an open road with nothing but blue sky, natural landscape, and fresh air in the immediate vicinity. Passages bloom, carry, decay as they do amid an acoustically optimized environment. Soundstages extend far, wide, and deep, with black backgrounds and pinpoint images adding to the realism.

The reference-grade immediacy, airiness, and presence put in transparent perspective Mitchell’s dense strings of words, stream-of-conscious-like phrasing, and unhurried albeit forward momentum. Likewise, the instrumental contributions of her A-list support musicians — a cast that includes L.A. Express members John Guerin, Max Bennett and Tom Scott, plus Neil Young, Victor Feldman, and Abe Most — emerges with breathtaking clarity and dimensionality.

While Mitchell, whose intimate vocals and abstract guitar parts center everything, Mobile Fidelity's restoration of Hejira further reveals the visionary breadth of guitarist Larry Carlton and bassist Jaco Pastorius. Though heard on only four tracks, Pastorius' fretless bass epitomizes the fluid, subtle, flexible, roomy, and shape-shifting characteristics of songs that often appear to transpire out of nowhere akin to the formation of a puffy cumulus cloud overhead. In sync with Mitchell’s voice, Pastorius’ fusion hovers and floats, suspended in a fog you want to deeply inhale. The "grace notes" Mitchell desired on Hejira can now be heard in full. Ditto the luxurious tapestries of alinear lines, fills, and supplements unreeled on Carlton’s six-string.

Visually, the packaging of this UD1S set complements its identity as the copy to own. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, the LPs come in foil-stamped jackets with faithful-to-the-original graphics. This version is for listeners who desire to become immersed in everything about Hejira, including the unforgettable album cover — a pastiche of 14 different photos Mitchell used a Camera Lucida to assemble into one image that’s anchored by a portrait of her in a stoic pose — and the interior shots of Mitchell skating on a frozen Wisconsin lake wearing a pair of black skates, black shirt, and fur cape.

The notion of skating, feeling an awakening wind whipping against your face, and losing yourself to the surroundings are extremely apt for Hejira, which Mitchell wrote after a sequence of trips and relationships prompted her to reflect on the complicated conflicts between independence and marriage, success and satisfaction, duty and desire — and, more specifically, “the cost of being a woman.” The Canadian native delved into such themes before. But never as she does on Hejira, whose liberating, running-away aura doubles as another of Mitchell’s rejections of tradition as well as a suggestion of a better alternative.

At once observational and personal, expansive and insular, cheerful and poignant, Hejira spans a sea of human conditions, emotions, and circumstances. It addresses drifting, isolation, pleasure, place, time, and surroundings with strikingly poetic discourse matched with music that, save for the crooned ballad “Blue Motel Room,” forgoes conventional structures and choruses.

The jazz-based arrangements, marked by scaled-down percussion and all manner of bent, rounded, and unsettled notes, hint that Mitchell has no exact destination in mind. Excursions such as the moody “Furry Sings the Blues,” funky “Coyote” and edgy “Black Crow” throw open previously locked doors to possibility and journey. They signal it’s time for a welcome departure from norms and the past, one that leads to a heightened sense of clarity and perspective. Or, as Mitchell said upon choosing the album title, it’s time for “leaving the dream, no blame.”

Bob Marley & The Wailers' Rastaman Vibration Analogue Productions' UHQR, the pinnacle of high-quality vinyl! 45 RPM 2LP Ultra High Quality Record release limited to 4,500 copies Mastered from the original tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound Pressed on 180-gram at Quality Record Pressings using Clarity Vinyl® Includes "12 x 12" 8-page booklet featuring new liner notes by musician and Marley biographer Leroy Jodie Pierson (APO Records Direct-To-Disc AAPO 005), plus exclusive photos by Kim-Gottlieb Walker Purest possible pressing and most visually stunning presentation and packaging!

When Rastaman Vibration was first released in America in 1976 it did what some in the music industry considered nearly impossible at the time. It took Bob Marley into the Top Ten alongside disco records and corporate rock, points out Rolling Stone, which rates the album 4 stars. Despite the good cheer of the title track and the upbeat "Roots, Rock, Reggae," Rastaman Vibration contains some of Marley's most intense images of oppression, paranoia and despair. Tracks such as "Who the Cap Fit," "Crazy Baldhead" and "War" are offered by the Wailers with dire urgency as Marley's brutal visions are echoed by his own church choir, the I-Threes.

More than four decades later, neither Marley's music nor his message has lost its sting. Now, Analogue Productions presents perfection — Rastaman Vibration cut at 45 RPM in UHQR format on 180-gram 2LP Clarity Vinyl. This Ultra High Quality Record release will be limited to 4,500 copies, with gold foil individually numbered jackets. For Bob Marley, 1975 was a triumphant year. The singer's Natty Dread album featured one of his strongest batches of original material (the first compiled after the departure of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer) and delivered Top 40 hit "No Woman No Cry." The follow-up Live set, a document of Marley's appearance at London's Lyceum, found the singer conquering England as well. Upon completing the tour, Marley and his band returned to Jamaica, laying down the tracks for Rastaman Vibration (1976) at legendary studios run by Harry Johnson and Joe Gibbs.

At the mixing board for the sessions were Sylvan Morris and Errol Thompson, Jamaican engineers of the highest caliber. Of the material on Rastaman Vibration, "War," for one, remains one of the most stunning statements of the singer's career. Though it is essentially a straight reading of one of Haile Selassie's speeches, Marley phrases the text exquisitely to fit a musical setting, a quiet intensity lying just below the surface. Equally strong are the likes of "Rat Race,""'Crazy Baldhead," and "Want More."

These songs are tempered by buoyant, lighthearted material like "Cry to Me," "Night Shift," and "Positive Vibration." Not quite as strong as some of the love songs Marley would score hits with on subsequent albums, "Cry to Me" seems like an obvious choice for a single and remains underrated. This UHQR is remastered at 45 RPM by Sterling Sound's Ryan K. Smith from the original analog master tapes. Each UHQR will be pressed at Acoustic Sounds' industry-leading pressing plant Quality Record Pressings (QRP) using hand-selected Clarity Vinyl® with attention paid to every single detail. These records will feature the same flat profile that helped to make the original UHQR so desirable. From the lead-in groove to the run-out groove, there is no pitch to the profile, allowing the customer's stylus to play truly perpendicular to the grooves from edge to center.

Clarity Vinyl allows for the purest possible pressing and the most visually stunning presentation. Every UHQR will be hand inspected upon pressing completion, and only the truly flawless will be allowed to go to market. Each UHQR will be packaged in a custom clamshell box and will include a booklet detailing the entire process of making a UHQR along with a hand-signed certificate of inspection. This will be a truly deluxe, collectible product. In addition to the UHQR booklet the package will contain a 8-page 12" x 12" booklet containing new liner notes by musican and Marley biographer Leroy Jodie Pierson as well as exclusive photos by Kim-Gottlieb Walker. Pierson is a past performer for Blues Masters at the Crossroads, the two-night historic blues festival at Blue Heaven Studios in Salina, Kansas. He's also recorded a Direct-To-Disc blues album for APO Records. (AAPO 005) Rastaman Vibration — now a landmark production on 180-gram 45 RPM Analogue Productions UHQR Clarity Vinyl!

odh Teri is back with a brand-new chapter.
The Return of Neela Devi kicks off a vinyl-only series where the iconic characters from Deep In India finally take center stage. With the Sampadan era behind us, a bold new sound is rising.
Leading the way is Neela Devi herself, across three genre-spanning tracks that cover everything from vintage disco to spaced-out synths and slow-burning indie dance. There’s something here for every kind of listener – the groover, the dreamer, and the deep digger.
We open with “Maalgaadi 54” – a relentless disco heater drenched in ’70s glam, trippy layers, and hands-in-the-air energy.
Next comes “Cosmic Dirt” – dusty, mysterious, and dripping with attitude. Think desert synths, dark disco grooves, and a mood straight out of an Indian spaghetti western.
Closing the record is “Beauty Blues” – a dubby slow-burner that gently builds before locking into a bouncing, blissed-out groove. A cheeky take on a classic that’ll leave you smiling from start to finish.Those who dig a little deeper into the wax will uncover a secret locked groove Visually, the record is a stunner. The artwork is helmed by Soju Aduckathil, with creative direction by Manoj Kurian, the visionary behind Masala Movement.
Marking the sixth release on the Masala Movement label, this vinyl-only beauty is just the beginning – with plenty more surprises lined up for 2025.
The new era has arrived. Ready to dive in?

"Stop & Go", released in 1973, is o)en considered one of Hamilton Bohannon's finest works. This album showcases a dis6nct and primal funk sound, different from his later, more disco-oriented material. It is a highly regarded funk album, characterized by its deep grooves, inven6ve arrangements, and a unique blend of instrumental funk with soulful vocal touches. It stands out as a more nuanced and varied offering compared to some of his later, more direct disco releases, making it a must-listen for fans of early 70s funk.

Dana Schechter: Lap Steel Guitar, Bass, Electronics. - Paul Wallfisch: Piano, Organ, SOMA Pipe, Guitaret. Music from the Vienna Volkstheater production of Wolfram Lotz's play "Die Politiker" directed by Kay Voges; performed live in the theatre, spring 2022. These 2 beautiful exiles travel limbic landscapes and underwater dreams with a map that disintegrates instantly when viewed. Their fractured sounds dissolve and reconfigure endlessly in our cochlea and infest our imaginations with spiked armies of ultra-vivid, sentient and carnivorous coral predators, atavistically intent on devouring the sweet meat hiding deep in the center of the amygdala. Michael Gira (SWANS). Wallfisch has played in bands like Firewater and Little Annie, while Schechter has logged time with American Music Club, Angels of Light and her own Insect Ark, among others; both spent time touring and recording with SWANS. They've been friends since meeting in New York in the 1990s. Years later they forged a stronger connection as bandmates in Botanica. They renewed their artistic partnership in 2021, when Paul invited Dana to Vienna to develop the music for a theatrical spectacle called Die Politiker written by Kleist prize winner Wolfram Lotz. The music from the production provides the foundation for the duo's first album, The Heart of A Whale. Across its six intense tracks one can detect a subtle homage to storied Berlin musical traditions, as the pair puts a raw, often brutal veneer on songs steeped in Weimar cabaret (a la Tom Waits) but updated with a visceral mixture of noise, post-punk, and industrial elements. Performed on a panoply of instruments from bass, organ and lap steel to SOMA Synths, Guitaret, a variety of electronics and a grand piano hammered with a shoe, the music reflects the New York- Berlin nexus they've both been part of for decades. Echoes of Swans, Einstürzende Neubauten and The Birthday Party, but also hints of Throbbing Gristle, Eno and even William Basinski and Michael Gordon. The music can't be contained by any single tradition, with a decidedly experimental bent that ruptures the fixed rhythm of rock for something more theatrical and emotionally harrowing.

Enjoy The Ride Records and Enjoy The Toons Records in partnership with WaterTower Music proudly present |The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Emmy-nominated composer Joshua Moshier (Baskets, The Shrink Next Door). Pressed on limited edition colored vinyl, this pressing is limited to 1,000 copies.

That’s not all folks! From Ketchup Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, director Pete Browngardt, and the creative team behind the award-winning “Looney Tunes Cartoons” comes The Day the Earth Blew Up: Looney Tunes Movie, a brand-new buddy comedy starring one of the greatest comedic duos in history - Porky Pig and Daffy Duck! This richly crafted, hand-drawn 2D animated adventure marks the first fully animated feature-length film in Looney Tunes history, told on a scope and scale that’s truly out of this world.

Porky Pig and Daffy Duck venture to the big screen as unlikely heroes and Earth’s only hope when their antics at the local bubble gum factory uncover a secret alien mind control plot. Faced with cosmic odds, the two are determined to save their town (and the world!)... that is if they don’t drive each other totally looney in the process. Featuring the voices of acclaimed actors Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Wayne Knight, and Laraine Newman with the laugh-out-loud gags, vibrant visuals, and beloved characters that make the Looney Tunes so timeless and iconic. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie arrives in theaters on March 14, 2025.

FOLLOW UP TO THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED 2023 ALBUM ‘RPB’ (UTR151):

- #4 MOJO FOLK ALBUMS OF THE YEAR+ FOLK ALBUM OF THE MONTH:
“ IT MELTS TRAD TECHNIQUES AND MINECRAFT BURBLE INTO ‘A MASSIVE, MULTI-PLAYER ONLINE DREAM’ . INCOMPREHENSIBLE/IRRESISTIBLE’

‘ME LOST ME’S RPG (UPSET THE RHYTHM) IS AN EXCITING, IMAGINATIVE ALBUM EXPLORING THE LINKS BETWEEN TRADITIONAL INFLUENCES AND ELECTRONICS IN FERTILE WAYS.’ THE GUARDIAN - FOLK ALBUMS OF THE MONTH.

'FROM NEWCASTLE, VIA UPSET THE RHYTHM, JAYNE DENT EXPLORES FOLK ART AND FUTURISM TO SPELLBINDING EFFECT' THE QUIETUS

FULL PAGE REVIEW IN WIRE MAGAZINE:"ME LOST ME'S NEW ALBUM RPG IS FILLED WITH STORIES OF ADVENTURE AND SELF-DISCOVERY IN VERDANT NATURAL LANDSCAPES, SUNG WITH FEELING AND CLARITY"

Me Lost Me - the project of Newcastle-based artist Jayne Dent - delights in experimenting with songwriting, creating a beguiling mix of soaring vocals and atmospheric electronics that playfully push the boundaries of genre.

On Me Lost Me’s fourth full-length, This Material Moment - arriving on Upset the Rhythm on 27th June - she has created an “emotionally raw” album, her most honest and vulnerable yet.

Concerned with physicality, interpretations, and, yes, materiality, This Material Moment is an album akin to rummaging through a box of long-forgotten trinkets. With each song, Me Lost Me extracts something from the box and asks us to consider it from every angle. "This is an album which uses words as a material, a playful tool for experimentation, full of metaphor, abstraction and analogies.” Jayne says, “it has softness and anger, humour, hope and despair, intensity of feeling in all directions expressed as textures, objects, places."

With the release of This Material Moment Me Lost Me puts into practice the automatic writing techniques she developed during a workshop with Julia Holter, and in the process has spun her music in different directions that draws on poetry, psalms and using mesostic poems and phonetic translations to generate words. “Despite the chance-based writing strategies throughout, it feels like the most emotionally raw album I've ever made,” she says, likening the process to a Rorschah test which revealed things to her she wasn’t expecting to express. “I wanted to hide in stories, but I saw things plainly when I tried to write.” Having finished the writing process, Jayne realised that she had an unexpectedly personal album on her hands, into which her feelings of burnout and overwhelm had crept unconsciously. “Several of the songs for me express a kind of inner conflict, where you’re trying to keep hope and desire and beauty and art near to your heart, to live a meaningful life, but finding that increasingly hard to hold onto in a world that’s so fucked up.”

Whilst Jayne Dent’s music as Me Lost Me has previously presented time stretching back and forwards in opposition (noticeably on 2023’s album RPG), on This Material Moment she does away with linearity altogether, evoking rather than narrating, and presenting feelings, happenings and moods with no clear beginning or end point - “like experiencing a vista, trying to capture a moment that is unfolding all at once”. Instead, each track on This Material Moment exists entirely in media res, adjacent to past and future, and instead sprawling across the endless now.

This Material Moment was written and arranged solo, but played with a core band of John Pope on electric/double bass, Faye MacCalman on clarinet, and now with the addition of Ewan Mackenzie (Dextro/Pigs x7) on drums - bringing in live drums and electric bass for the first time. The album was recorded by Sam Grant at Blank Studios in Newcastle, who also worked on RPG.

Proudly presenting Maravilhosamente Bem the powerful, female-centred third album by Brazilian singer, songwriter, actress, and creative director, Julia Mestre.
Alongside being a member of the Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian supergroup, Bala Desejo, Julia has been steadily building a solo career where her unique vision and alluring soft, sultry voice take centre stage. Drawing inspiration from ‘80s ballads, MPB, pop and disco productions, each song on this third album finds Julia creatively exploring different characters and tones.

A love-song-driven LP at its core, Maravilhosamente Bem holds a playful mirror up to blissful days gone by, artfully reimagined with Julia’s own modern twist. An album filled with love and nostalgia, it pays homage to her love of classic female disco divas such as Donna Summer, Sade, Alcione, Lady Zu, and the Brazilian rock queens Rita Lee and Marina Lima. Of that latter pairing, the late iconic Brazilian vocalist and musician Rita Lee (Os Mutantes) is referenced in the music video for the first single, ‘Sou Fera’, blessing Julia with a magical guitar. Marina Lima then provides guest vocals on the album’s closing track, ‘Marinou, Limou’, with her name transformed into a mantra by Julia.

Channelling a lo-fi ‘80s ballad aesthetic, Julia navigates a multitude of themes across the nine sublime tracks. From the sexy, whispered performances on vintage horror movie-inspired tunes ‘Vampira’ and ‘Pra Lua’ to the delicate, fragile love lullabies of ‘Sentimento Blues’ and ‘Cariñito’, and the seductive disco diva embodiment on dance tracks ‘Veneno de Serente’ and title track ‘Maravilhosamente Bem’. Another hidden highlight is the palette-cleansing mini-suite, ‘Interlúdio dos Amantes’. A luscious strings instrumental piece that lends to the beautiful Sade-esque ‘Seu Romance’.

Produced by Julia and longtime collaborators Gabriel Quirino, Gabriel Quinto, and João Moreira, Maravilhosamente Bem sees Julia embarking on a new era of her musical career. This sensational third album is a captivating showcase of the creative vision and versatility of one of Brazil’s finest stars.

Released on Mr. Bongo (ROW) and Altafonte (Brazil).

After what seems like an aeon of anticipation, Yugen Blakrok returns bolder than ever with The Illusion of Being, a raw, fearless exploration of emotion and resilience. This album is a call to triumph. Through poetic lyricism and experimental soundscapes, this project offers the listener a journey into the heart of uncertainty and the power of perseverance. Created and recorded in a world in flux, The Illusion of Being reflects the artist's evolution as a storyteller and resonates directly with the era that shaped her. Driven by incisive lyrics andsoundscapes blending grunge, trip-hop, and 90s spirit, this project tests the boundaries of alternative hip-hop. Here, rhythm speaks louder than reason, and the acceptance of "Being" becomes the thread that ties each track together. This album captures a bold new chapter in Yugen Blakrok's discography. While rooted in the lyrical mastery and poetic precision that fans cherish, it marks a departure from the familiar, embracing a more unfiltered and experimental approach. The collaborations seem purposeful, and match this intensity: Sa-Roc delivers combative and sisterly energy,Cambatta brings his visceral urgency, while Hannah Allen offers a touch both delicate and impactful. Instrumentally, the arrangements dare to break new ground: wailing electric guitars,enchanting flutes, and hypnotic beats create a striking sonic alchemy. As described by Yugen in three words: Free. Involved. Anti.Free from convention. Involved in the fight. Anti-establishment. In many ways this album is a sonic manifesto. Each track resonates as a call to rebellion, an anthem for those who refuse to bow down. The Illusion of Being is not just a work of art; it’s a statement: for freedom, for community, against oppression. A mirror of our collectivestruggles and a light for those who keep moving forward. It promises its listeners a deeply personal connection, offering a glimmer of hope amidst despair and a soundtrack for their fight.

Thomas Valverde unveils Polka, his second album. This new record dedicated to solo piano takes the approach of a pared-down, minimalist production. Both upright and grand pianos are used. The grand piano is used to develop a powerful, committed and liberating discourse, while the upright piano brings a more organic sound and allows an intimate experience. The tracks on the album are conceived as sidereal love songs. Songs without words, more apt to translate the invisible, the threads of love and beauty. Everything has to be said on the keyboard, in the notes and between the notes. The album was recorded at the prestigious La Fabrique des Ondes studio, with David Chalmin (collaborator of Thom Yorke, The National, Katia & Marielle Labèque) recording and mixing. The album's title is a nod to two of his teenage heroes: Serguei Rachmaninov (genius composer) and Vladimir Horowitz (legendary pianist), whose music haunts so many musicians and music lovers. It's also a pun on the name of DJ and producer Paul Kalkbrenner (Paul K), whose simple, powerful tunes influenced the title "Polka". Thomas Valverde is also the founder and artistic director of the Biarritz Piano Festival, which features some of the world's finest pianists.

Wonderwheel is happy to present the very first pressing of Nickodemus' longtime classic "Sun People", pressed on translucent yellow vinyl. Originally released in 2009 by Thievery Corporation's Eighteenth Street Lounge label, "Sun People" was built with songs made for people who love the sun, sunshine and brighter days to come. Appropriate, of course, as Nickodemus has made his mark soundtracking NYC summers with his massively popular Turntables On The Hudson live events as well as with 20 consecutive years touring the World. The songs were inspired by various people Nickodemus met and places he's been, along with his collective feelings of optimism. It's these positive sonic vibes from all over the globe that Nickodemus matches with collaborators hailing from destinations including Guinea, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Romania, India, Turkey, United Kingdom and New York City. These are the Sun People.As songs like "N'dini" "Sun Children" & "The Love Feeling" continue to kept parties dancing until today, "Calle Sol" & "Gira Do Sol" are being discovered by new fans & playlists today. As Jason Bentley, former Music Director at KCRW once said, "Sun People reflects a rich musicality, while infectious rhythms keep the party live. Nickodemus truly knows
no borders on this global dancefloor."Wonderwheel recordings is happy to keep the fire burning with this special limited color vinyl reissue out on June 21st, 2024.

a 01: Sun People (Intro) feat. Ismael Kouyaté
b 02: Sun Children (Original Mix) [feat. The Real Live Show]

Impressed proudly presents the soundtrack to Memoir of a Snail, a 2024 Australian stop-motion animated film directed by Academy Award-winning animator Adam Elliot, on a very special golden swirl picture disc.

The film follows the story of Grace Pudel, a quirky, book-loving misfit with a passion for collecting snails, whose world unravels when she is separated from her twin brother, Gilbert. As she faces challenges, Grace finds unexpected hope and inspiration in a heartwarming friendship with Pinky, an eccentric and wise elderly woman. Together, they embark on a journey of self-discovery, proving that even in the most difficult times, connection and courage can shine through.

Composed by Elena Kats-Chernin, and performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the soundtrack masterfully blends classical, contemporary, and emotionally dynamic arrangements to mirror the film's emotional journey. This 42-track record is both delicate and powerful, with soft piano passages, rich strings, and an overall mood that is whimsically bittersweet.

Critics have lauded the soundtrack for how it beautifully captures the heart of the film through its effortless flow between reflective intimate moments and dramatic passages.

Iori Wakasa, one of the leading lights of the Tokyo club scene is set to release his second 12” from his own label, “BOTANICA” which he established to express his own primal sensibilities.

The Concept of the Label:
Tokyo-based DJ/producer, Iori Wakasa launched BOTANICA to assert that his label’s activities in itself is art and a palette for his creative, self-expression. It is also based on 2 main concepts: To integrate the sensibilities of both "nature" and “artificial and human activities" and to “contribute music that presents a scenery from the listener's point of view”.

For Iori, his label is an interface of some sort and is also a symbol of his own personal musical expectations.

Iori produced these 2 new tracks during the recent pandemic when the world was under severe restrictions. While taking into account and focusing on both 'his current outlook' and returning to “the roots of his own production aesthetic', he strived to produce something that would substitute it and as a result, created these two new tracks and the artwork that are presented in the label's second release, 'The Party Is Here EP’.

In this EP, he also attempts to express the sentiment that 'the experience that music provides to people is invaluably infinite' and that 'if you truly want to go out and party, it will happen, then and there!’.

About the tracks:
For the track, ’Bedroom Disco’, Iori tries to express his memories of 'a virtual night of partying’ that he experienced during Covid and created this track while being ‘in a state of wanting to break free from oppression’ and reminiscing about a party in a bedroom at night.

He also wanted to express the idea that no matter what situation or environment you are in, you can go to anywhere you want if you really want to and with that sentiment, he wanted to express a scenerio that transcends it and at the same time, he also wanted to convey his feelings of nostalgia for the past, rebellion against the environment and his feelings of desire.

For this track, Iori did not use any sampled voices or field recordings and created it by layering pure sonic imagery repeatedly folded and desolved which triggered the creation of new developments while imagining the thought that “a party actually begins when you step out” and the swaying of emotions that take place from it.

’Tropica' is a track that Iori produced by heavily mixing a utopian feel that people have inside of them with his own sensuality and is designed to ‘guide you to a tropical seaside', regardless of what the listener may have experienced in the past.
Unlike 'Bedroom Disco', this track uses a variety of samples and envisages "many elements intertwining with each other, working together to create this sound structure”. And it also expresses that equal opportunity exists for anyone who wants to visit an imaginary tropical land as well as the hope that even a brief break of the mind can be created by yourself and those close to you, if one pursues it.

About the artwork:
The cover of this new EP, the concept text 'Is your window open?', and the label's logo was designed by illustrator, HILOSHI SHINOZAKI who also worked on the first release, BOTANICA EP. For over 10 years, he has been a regular visitor of Hawaii, where he tries to cultivate his "true way of life” in his art.

And, artwork for the cover and label design of the EP is complemented by the label design and art direction of the record by hiro, a graphic designer who has been his partner and best friend since the first Botanica EP.
hiro expresses Bedroom Disco track's shifting compositional changes and its complex series of sound waves by creating an intricately multi-layered design that is a perfect representation of the way he sees it.
Also initially inspired by the fluctuations of waves, islands, sun, rays, sky and time, the artwork of Tropica also found inspiration from a drawing that made by Iori’s daughter who drew a picture of a scenery when she listened to the track. So through this design, one of the label’s concept of “the label’s activities is in itself art” was realised via the surprising contribution coming from his own family.

Enjoy The Ride Records and Enjoy The Toons Records in partnership with WaterTower Music proudly present The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Emmy-nominated composer Joshua Moshier (Baskets, The Shrink Next Door). Pressed on limited edition colored vinyl, this pressing is limited to 1,000 copies.

That’s not all folks! From Ketchup Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, director Pete Browngardt, and the creative team behind the award-winning “Looney Tunes Cartoons” comes The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, a brand-new buddy comedy starring one of the greatest comedic duos in history - Porky Pig and Daffy Duck! This richly crafted, hand-drawn 2D animated adventure marks the first fully animated feature-length film in Looney Tunes history, told on a scope and scale that’s truly out of this world.

Porky Pig and Daffy Duck venture to the big screen as unlikely heroes and Earth’s only hope when their antics at the local bubble gum factory uncover a secret alien mind control plot. Faced with cosmic odds, the two are determined to save their town (and the world!)... that is if they don’t drive each other totally looney in the process. Featuring the voices of acclaimed actors Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Wayne Knight, and Laraine Newman with the laugh-out-loud gags, vibrant visuals, and beloved characters that make the Looney Tunes so timeless and iconic. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie arrives in theaters on March 14, 2025.

Born from a desire to explore her background in film composing to create a music film, Hannah Holland’s upcoming album 'Last Exit On Bethnal’ is set for release via PRAH Recordings on 18th July. Together with director Lydia Garnett, the multi-faceted London producer shaped ideas born out of images the pair weren’t finding in film, inspired by queer icon filmmakers like Kenneth Anger and Derek Jarman. “We wanted to craft something unapologetically for dykes: a poetic, surreal exploration of dyke power and sexuality set in a fantasy underworld,” explains Holland. Once the film was shot, she channelled its stunning imagery and the energy of the cast into making the record. Seductive and bass-driven, its nine tracks merge sleazy guitars with 707 machine drums, beautiful evolving arps, and surreal moments of Lynchian dreaminess and Aphex Twin-inspired atmospherics. "It was a really amazing collaborative experience and coming together of a community to make something totally unique….and hot!” she continues. The first single ‘Biker’ features a filthy synth hook atop Hannah’s signature bass-guitar, perfectly capturing the raw and sexy energy of the album and its visual centrepiece. You can listen to it here. The film will be screened at a one-off club night at London’s ICA on 11th April in association with Culture Divided, Somesuch and Bala Project.

Hannah Holland has played a pivotal role in London’s alternative and queer London club scene since the mid-noughties. Rooted deeply in London’s fertile musical community, musical exploration and the transcendent potential of dancefloor have always been her biggest inspiration. Her recent delve into experimental theatre, film and TV scores has proved a future further artistic voyage to explore her creative vision. Holland first arrived on dancefloors sharing electro-tinged techno, with equal inspiration taken from the sounds of DnB and jungle heard at legendary parties such as Metalheadz, which she had frequented in her early teens. Having already been “borrowing” (and perhaps never since returning) Kraftwerk, Grace Jones and Talking Heads records from her parents, the influence of this metropolitan musical soup ensured that Holland emerged on the decks with a unique musical character and diverse taste, hallmarks of her sound that she has not lost since. This has been reinforced with trusted residencies at iconic parties such as Trailer Trash, Adonis, Glastonbury’s NYC Downlow, or undertaking far-reaching marathon sets at Berlin’s Panorama Bar. In 2006 Hannah started Batty Bass with vocalist Mama. Immediately a roadblock party and then a record label with releases from Josh Caffe and The Carry Nation sitting in its discography, Batty Bass explores the disparate strains of electro, acid, techno and house. Hannah also released her own music on the label including the ever-anthemic Paris’ Acid Ball.

A steady stream of releases have followed on Shall Not Fade, Super Rhythm Trax, Crosstown Rebels, Classic, Nervous, as well as remixes for Blessed Madonna ft. Kylie Minogue, Planningtorock, The Knife and Goldfrapp among others. Hannah also finds the time to play bass in several bands including Black Gold Buffalo whose debut album she also co-wrote. Her much-anticipated debut album, Tectonic, came out on PRAH Recordings in 2021, with a second on the way. Hannah’s latest venture into the world of film scores have included queer icon Bruce LaBruce’s ‘The Visitor,’ Channel 4 series Adult Material and award-winning indie feature Electrician.

Hannah Holland continues to push the boundaries of electronic and live music, telling stories and carving her own path in the deeper frequencies.

After 45 years, Trigger’s never-released second album, Second Round, invites listeners to rediscover the hard rock sound that made the band a standout act of the 1970s. In early 1979, Trigger walked out of Electric Ladyland Studios with a completed second album. Mere months had passed since their self-titled debut came out on Casablanca Records, home to KISS and Parliament. The band had toured with Cheap Trick and The Godz, met Bruce Springsteen and Joni Mitchell, and things were looking bright. But Casablanca unexpectedly went bankrupt, and the label’s artists went into freefall. Trigger unsuccessfully sought interested parties, shelved the recordings and disbanded; a disappointing end for a band who dominated the Jersey Shore club scene on their way up with fiery, kick ass live shows. RIP Trigger: 1973-1979. Jump to 2024. Guitarist Richie House is living in Northern New Jersey with his wife, enjoying a relaxing afternoon at the community pool with neighbors. One of them, Andrew Wexler is shocked to discover his friend had a band in the ’70s. He listens to their recordings, and as an avid record collector, assumes the mission of getting that unheard second album released. He writes to Ba Da Bing, a label with Jersey roots. Much excitement ensues. Second Round’s long-awaited release will now be available. All original members—Derek Remington (vocals/drums), Jimmy Duggan (guitar/vocals), Tom Nigra (bass guitar/backing vocals), and Richie House (lead guitar/vocals)—are present on the recordings. Sadly, Duggan and Nigra have passed away, but Remington and House have overseen this reissue, with songs sourced directly from the analog masters.. The Trigger of today maintains a high level of quality, albeit with a bit less flair, and even less hair. And there’s more going on here than at first listen. While the band carries the earmarks of their era—melodic hard-rock fashioned for Saturday night parties—they override the cliché with incredibly catchy songs. How would a ripping song like “Back Talk” have been received in 1979? It’s a question we’ll never be able to answer, but the raw energy of the track spans generations. “One In A Million,” however, with its full harmonies and forceful chorus, could have easily made the soundtrack for Fast Times. Celebrate the discovery of this lost gem by giving it a listen. You’ll be Trigger happy…

Proudly presenting Maravilhosamente Bem the powerful, female-centred third album by Brazilian singer, songwriter, actress, and creative director, Julia Mestre.
Alongside being a member of the Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian supergroup, Bala Desejo, Julia has been steadily building a solo career where her unique vision and alluring soft, sultry voice take centre stage. Drawing inspiration from ‘80s ballads, MPB, pop and disco productions, each song on this third album finds Julia creatively exploring different characters and tones.

A love-song-driven LP at its core, Maravilhosamente Bem holds a playful mirror up to blissful days gone by, artfully reimagined with Julia’s own modern twist. An album filled with love and nostalgia, it pays homage to her love of classic female disco divas such as Donna Summer, Sade, Alcione, Lady Zu, and the Brazilian rock queens Rita Lee and Marina Lima. Of that latter pairing, the late iconic Brazilian vocalist and musician Rita Lee (Os Mutantes) is referenced in the music video for the first single, ‘Sou Fera’, blessing Julia with a magical guitar. Marina Lima then provides guest vocals on the album’s closing track, ‘Marinou, Limou’, with her name transformed into a mantra by Julia.

Channelling a lo-fi ‘80s ballad aesthetic, Julia navigates a multitude of themes across the nine sublime tracks. From the sexy, whispered performances on vintage horror movie-inspired tunes ‘Vampira’ and ‘Pra Lua’ to the delicate, fragile love lullabies of ‘Sentimento Blues’ and ‘Cariñito’, and the seductive disco diva embodiment on dance tracks ‘Veneno de Serente’ and title track ‘Maravilhosamente Bem’. Another hidden highlight is the palette-cleansing mini-suite, ‘Interlúdio dos Amantes’. A luscious strings instrumental piece that lends to the beautiful Sade-esque ‘Seu Romance’.

Produced by Julia and longtime collaborators Gabriel Quirino, Gabriel Quinto, and João Moreira, Maravilhosamente Bem sees Julia embarking on a new era of her musical career. This sensational third album is a captivating showcase of the creative vision and versatility of one of Brazil’s finest stars.

Released on Mr. Bongo (ROW) and Altafonte (Brazil).

Denmark's premiere outlet for forward-thinking modern jazz, April Records proudly presents the debut of a brand new quartet featuring some of Scandinavia and the UK's most celebrated instrumentalists: Mathias Heise, Anton Eger, Rasmus Sørensen and Conor Chaplin. Meeting for the first time on a spring day in 2023, the quartet quickly discovered a natural synergy.Their debut performances that summer were met with resounding acclaim, with Politiken music editor Thomas Michelsen calling them a "supergroup" and awarding their concert at Balders Plads five hearts. Buoyed by their success, the group headed into the studio to record their eponymous debut album. THE ACTION 4s thrives at the intersection of jazz, rock, funk, fusion, and electronica. Their music is a dynamic interplay of raw energy and masterful artistry, seamlessly blending the acoustic and the electronic. The chromatic harmonica's soulful tone meets the rich textures of piano and synthesizer, while the foundation laid by the electric bass and dynamic drumming creates a playful arena for ever-evolving spontaneity. Their compositions pulse with rhythm, melody and interplay, pushing the boundaries of genre and tradition to forge an exciting new direction for Danish jazz. The quartet brings together four internationally acclaimed musicians, each a master of their craft: Mathias Heise: Chromatic Harmonica, Synthesizer Anton Eger: Drums, Percussion Rasmus Sørensen: Grand Piano, Synthesizer Conar Chaplin: Electric Bass

Something different from Causa Sui. While Causa Sui have always had one foot in heavy psychedelic rock, they've had the other one deep in a wide variety of esoteric styles. On this new double LP set, that other dimension of the band is being explored full-scale. "Szabodelico" paints with a colourful palette, both compositionally and sonically - digging deep into an assortment of cultures, eras and sounds with a true crate-digger mindset. Throughout their 15 year life-span Causa Sui has always been about seeking out new directions, exploring the past and the present in a way that's unique at each step of their subtle progression - forging new paths into an existing map. "Szabodelico" feels like discovering a small room under the stairs of your own house: familiar, yet new and exciting. Their latest vision is an elegantly zoned-out version of itself: a turn inward. Anti-bombastic, yet rich with ecstatic harmonics and dynamics. The band stringed together a long series of sessions in 2019 and early 2020 in their studio in Odense, often prioritizing playful first takes and good vibes rather than clinical perfection.Sparsely dubbed and mixed with a natural, full bodied flavour by Jonas Munk during the summer of 2020, each track has its own aesthetic. There's no simple equation to sum up the 13 individual parts of the album, but as a whole it creates an entity that's as complete as each of its parts. From the windblown opener "Echoes of Light", to the closing slow-motion epic "Merging Waters" you'll find yourself asking where did the time go? The answer of course is: Szabodelico.

"Non Rompere" is a dark, decidedly experimental song from the disco era, a style embraced in the second half of the 70s by Amanda Lear and then in the early 80s by Italian showgirls such as Nadia Cassini, Patrizia Pellegrino, Pamela Prati, who considered disco-music the most transgressive genre of the time (which later often became ''trash''). G.Bri, namely Vanna Brosio, a seductive actress and TV presenter, follows this trend with an equally bold approach, making use of the shameless lyrics of Cristiano Malgioglio (Cristiano Facile) and the arrangement and orchestral direction of Beppe Cantarelli, one of the key figures of Italian music in the world (with over 100 million records sold). The record production of ''Non Rompere', longed for by followers for decades, nevertheless needs to be enriched. Dave Mathmos takes care of it, choosing to keep the original version intact and faithful to his style he creates two alternative versions: the ''Remix'' oriented towards High Energy, replacing the rock guitar with synthesizers that evoke the sounds of artists such as Giorgio Moroder and Patrick Cowley; the "Italo Dub", draws on the roots of Italo-Disco, highlighting the melodies of the chorus and adding another layer of melodic depth, all through the use of synthesizers (Additional instruments used: Linndrum drum machine, Roland TR-707 drum machine, Moog V - Synth, Jupiter 8V - Synth, Diva - Synth). This approach shows once again the talent of the Italian-Australian DJ in fusing and reinventing the genre, while preserving the energy and innovation, characteristics of the Italian Disco music scene of that time.

Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 release their new album "Fontana Rosa". Possibly the world's only musical group to fuse Latin music of all kinds with the Welsh language, this time Rio 18 draw inspiration from slightly different musical corners, including Chicano Soul, Nuyorican pop, and Salsoul disco plus Latin sounds filtered through the cultural spectrum of the USA.

Most significantly though, the album was among the last ever to be recorded by the acclaimed producer Liam Watson at his legendary studio and shrine to all things analogue, Toerag Studios - a huge inspiration and influence on Rio 18's Carwyn Ellis. The "Fontana Rosa" sessions saw Ellis draw together an all-star band at the fabled studio which is perhaps best known through its place in the White Stripes history.

Talking about the story and gestation of the album, Carwyn said:

"I was in Mexico City with Baldo Verdú when I heard that Toerag Studios in London was going to close. It came as a shock - Toerag and Liam Watson, its owner and resident producer had been a massive influence on me. Liam, along with Edwyn Collins, had taught me much of what I know about recording, had hired me as an instrumentalist on countless sessions and had helped me to get started when I began my own solo career. And over the years, I'd still go in to record with Liam whenever the opportunity arose. When I heard that Liam was shutting up shop, I took it upon myself to try and ensure he went out with a musical bang. I rounded up the best band I could get: the aforementioned Venezuelan percussion wiz and singer, Baldo Verdú: American drummer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Shawn Lee: the Isle of Wight's finest drum and percussion master, producer and composer Rupert Brown (whom I'd originally met at Toerag many moons ago): Elan Rhys, one of Wales's finest voices and long term collaborator with Rio 18, as well as being one third of the wonderful folk group, Plu: and Kassin - my Brazilian brother from Rio de Janeiro, bassist and producer with artists such as Jorge Ben, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and a multitude of others, including Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18.

So this was my dream team, assembled to make beautiful music one more time at Toerag (I have to add at this point that Shawn and Rupert hit it off so well at our sessions that they booked their own session shortly afterwards! Look out for the brilliant Shawn Lee's Toerag Orchestra 'Percussion Discussion' album). Toerag, if you're not familiar with the place, made its name as London's foremost analogue studio for some 30 years, recording directly to tape which in essence means musicians playing live, together in a room until they get it right. And the sound? Oh the SOUND!! And this is all Liam Watson's doing, his sonic aesthetic - a real master engineer. The studio is perhaps best known as the place where the White Stripes recorded their monster hit album 'Elephant' but for me it's where I got to record with James Hunter, Lay Low (from Iceland), Quruli (from Japan), Fabienne Delsol (from France) and made many lasting friendships, learnt a great deal about popular music, as well as making a bunch of my own best recordings with Colorama.

Over the course of five days we laid down as much music as we could. We had some visitors too: guitar slinger Little Barrie (Primal Scream, The The and Liam Gallagher among other things, but also my dear bandmate in Edwyn Collins's band): sax and flute maestro Jim Hunt (Amy Winehouse, Primal Scream, Duffy and very many others): and Diego Laverde Rojas, the Colombian Latin harp virtuoso.

This time the music had a slightly different edge - although we still maintained our Brazilian/Welsh connection on 'Deffro'r Dydd' (written with and sung by Elan Rhys), our Cumbia vibe and some Merengue ('Mariposa' and 'Te Adoro', sung by Baldo Verdú) and even a traditional Afro-Venezuelan tune ('La Quichimba', again sung by Baldo) - the main influence for me this time was Latin music as recorded in the USA, both new and old. 'No More Secrets' is a straight up slice of Salsoul disco, while 'Hei Ti' is a punky funky but of Nu Yorican pop somewhere between ESG and the Beastie Boys. But one of my main influences in the last couple of years has been the current wave of Chicano Soul coming from California, particularly via the Penrose and Big Crown labels. I was turned on to this music when I was in Japan in early 2023 - Takashi-san at Pleased To Meet Me Records in Nara played me the Altons' 'Float' and I was hooked!

And that music has a similar aesthetic to Toerag: music recorded live to tape by excellent engineers, performed by fine musicians and singers. So our songs 'Impossible', 'Heartbreaker' and 'Lovesick' are very much in this vein. And that just leaves the title track, 'Fontana Rosa'."

La Pambelé Unveils Nací Mestizo, A Bold New Album Reviving Salsa with a Contemporary Twist Bogotá’s heavy guaguancó orchestra, La Pambelé, proudly presents their highlyanticipated second studio album, Nací Mestizo, now available on all major digital platforms as of November 27th. This album pays tribute to the golden era of salsa, particularly the 1970s, while breathing new life into the genre with modern lyrics and stories that resonate deeply with Latin communities.

All while maintaining a distinct Bogotan essence that highlights the city’s unique cultural flavor. Nací Mestizo seamlessly blends the timeless salsa brava sound with contemporary themes, reflecting the everyday lives of people across Latin neighborhoods. The album’s songs capture the struggles, passions, and joys of ordinary people, presented through the vibrant rhythms of salsa, creating a musical experience that connects the past with the present. Building on Their Rising Popularity Prior to the album’s release, La Pambelé debuted the singles “Amargura” and “Perdí mi Corazón”, which quickly captivated audiences and set the stage for the full album's success. The band’s electric performance of these tracks at the MedPlus Coliseum in Bogotá, before an audience of 22,000 attendees awaiting Marc Anthony, was met with enthusiasm as fans danced and applauded.

This moment marked a significant milestone for the orchestra, cementing their place as a rising force in the global salsa scene. Additionally, La Pambelé’s growing visibility has been marked by their appearances at major festivals such as Salsa al Parque and features on prominent radio stations, including Radio Nacional de Colombia and Latina Stereo. These platforms have helped introduce La Pambelé’s signature sound to a wider audience, building anticipation for the release of Nací Mestizo and reaffirming their influence in Colombia’s tropical and alternative music scenes. A Contemporary Salsa Sound with Classic Roots La Pambelé’s unique blend of traditional salsa brava and contemporary Latin storytelling is showcased through their distinctive nine-piece orchestra, which includes piano, conga, flute, trumpet, trombone, timbales, bongos, and baby bass. The dynamic vocals of Miguel RoRebolledo and Lorena Contento elevate the album’s themes, creating a sound that invites listeners to their feet and onto the dance floor. Under the direction of Camilo Toro Morato, the orchestra has honed its signature style, pushing the boundaries of salsa while staying true to its roots. As a proud defiance of stereotypes about Bogotá’s musical abilities, La Pambelé’s name pays homage to legendary Colombian boxer Kid Pambelé, symbolizing resilience and strength.

The name also draws from the Bantú language, meaning "defender of one's own," reinforcing the band’s connection to their Colombian heritage and pride in their distinctive sound. Global Recognition and Continuing Influence Since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2022, La Pambelé has gained international recognition, especially within the vinyl collector community. Theirdebut album was released in both 45” and LP vinyl editions, further solidifying their unique position in the contemporary salsa movement. Influenced by salsa greats such as Markolino Dimond, Eddie Palmieri, Edy Martínez, and Ismael Miranda, La Pambelé has carried forward the torch of salsa brava with passion and innovation. Nací Mestizo marks a significant evolution in the orchestra’s journey, melding the old and the new, and cementing La Pambelé as a driving force in the future of salsa music. A Collector’s Dream With their 2022 debut album garnering international recognition, La Pambelé’s vinyl releases—including 45” and LP editions—have become coveted items for salsa collectors worldwide. Their music is a bridge between classic salsa traditions and a modern vision, appealing to seasoned fans and new listeners alike. About La Pambelé La Pambelé is a heavy guaguancó orchestra from Bogotá, Colombia, known for their vibrant, rhythm-driven sound that blends 1970s salsa brava with modern Latin influences. With a unique nine-piece lineup and powerful vocals, the band continues to break boundaries, defying expectations and inspiring audiences around the world

On their debut album Seven Dances to Embrace the Hollow, Zurich-based artists Magda Drozd and Nicola Genovese, as Sopraterra, offer exactly what’s announced: seven compositions which, as they unhurriedly flow into each other, mark potential entry points to discover what might be lying underneath. By choosing Sopraterra, which translates to “above the earth” in Italian, as their shared project’s name, Drozd and Genovese indicate their own position in this archeological-looking endeavor, hinting at the potential for sonic explorations to produce deeply submerged discoveries.
Sopraterra’s object of inquiry isn’t easily grasped, traversing histories and blending influences alike. In a time-line-bending manner, musical signifiers from the past, along with specific tonal scales lifted from baroque and medieval music, get digitally synthesized. As sonic matter, the result is distinctly of today: a collection of electro-acoustic compositions that remain experimental at their core, referencing genres like post-rock, shoegaze, or psychedelic, while evoking aural memories of ancient times. Seven Dances to Embrace the Hollow pulls backward and pushes forward alike. Without ever forcing a didactic listening experience, musical motifs and archetypes are thoroughly investigated. But there is no scientific ambition at play here. Rather, the harmonies of late medieval Ars Nova or the transcendent elegance of Baroque chamber music lend their emotional qualities to perceived ideas of old times.
Oscillating between ambient and drone, the album’s seven brooding compositions bring primal connections to a universally shared past to the surface. In its multi-directional positioning, Seven Dances to Embrace the Hollow makes the case for embracing the confusion of warped time and paying attention to all that’s rather felt than seen.

Mediocampo (1984), Jaime Roos's fifth album concludes an unintentional trilogy that began with Aquello (1981) and continued with Siempre son las cuatro (1982). It is the bright side of the series, a groundbreaking album that has become a classic, perhaps the most prestigious and well-known work of his discography. The album's sound, aligned with international trends of the 1980s, made Mediocampo the gateway to Jaime Roos's universe for a younger audience approaching music through rock. Its proposal was unique and deeply Uruguayan, yet it incorporated elements that resonated with a public accustomed to Anglo-Saxon pop. The albums Aquello and Siempre son las cuatro, despite being very different works, share a focus on the Beatles-inspired pop song structure, stylistic diversity, and a search for popular roots. Mediocampo, the conclusion of this song-driven trilogy, is as daring and experimental as its predecessors but with much more direct and accessible communication, achieving an almost perfect distillation of his artistic vision. Today, many of its songs are an essential part of Montevideo's cultural soundtrack.

Lael Neale's minimalist drone pop draws inspiration from the Transcendentalists, the alienation of modern life, and a rich array of musical influences-ranging from Dionne Warwick and John Lennon to primitive American gospel and Spacemen 3. Her expansive new record, Altogether Stranger, due May 2, was written and recorded in the early morning quiet of Los Angeles. Clocking in at just 32 minutes, the 9-song LP covers an unexpected breadth of musical and lyrical terrain-from garage rock nursery rhymes and creation myths to Motorik dance dirges and solitary Omnichord meditations. A brilliant lyricist, Neale has a unique ability to uncover the extraordinary within the mundane, tackling themes of polarity that recur throughout her work-country vs. city, humanity vs. technology, isolation vs. society. This album is her third collaboration with producer Guy Blakeslee who helps expand the tonal palette while staying true to Neale's commitment to the raw immediacy and hand-made intimacy of home recording. Altogether Stranger - a stunning album filled with dreamlike reverie, Neale's crystalline voice, and echoes of the Velvet Underground - was conceived after four years of oscillating between rural solitude and urban chaos. It finds Neale perched at the piano in a hilltop bungalow, looking down on a rare curve of Sunset Blvd. Here, in this daily ritual of writing, singing, and painting-what David Lynch referred to as "the Art Life"-she creates the space for her most adventurous work to date. Born and raised in Virginia's idyllic countryside, Neale brought the high-lonesome sound of her home state with her when she moved to California to pursue music. After years of writing songs on guitar and playing small venues in Los Angeles, she discovered the Omnichord in 2019, which sparked a new creative direction. This led to her 2021 Sub Pop debut album, Acquainted With Night. That album's 2023 follow-up, Star Eaters Delight, deepened the collaboration with Blakeslee, infusing minimalist soundscapes with a heightened electric energy. The album found a devoted audience, and Neale's subsequent tour included sold-out shows in Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Paris, multiple trips across Europe, and a West Coast run supporting kindred spirit Weyes Blood. This marked yet another return to Los Angeles. Indeed, Los Angeles is not just the backdrop of Altogether Stranger but a lead character. The album's accompanying film - created with Neale's faithful Sony Handycam - builds on her ongoing series of videos, telling the story of Neale as an alien in a suit of mirrors stranded on Earth. Wandering through modern-day LA, she finds both absurdity and beauty in our fragile, untenable way of life. Over the long year it took to write Altogether Stranger, Neale vacillated between childlike optimism and existential melancholy. While she may not have been able to reconcile these opposing states, Altogether Stranger represents an ambitious breakthrough for this singular, self-sufficient artist.

Celebrate a decade of Turnover's iconic sophomore album Peripheral Vision with this 10 Year Anniversary Edition. Retaining the album's iconic cover art, the packaging has been completely overhauled to include a new lyric poster & printed photo inner sleeve. This special limited edition also includes two bonus tracks from the era - "Humblest Pleasures" and "Change Irreversible." Released on May 4th, 2015 via Run For Cover Records, Turnover's second album Peripheral Vision is widely regarded as an essential body of the work in the band's discography, maturing its sound into a shoegaze-inflected post-punk direction following the band's 2013 debut record Magnolia. Described as "a tour de force" by Kerrang!, the album set the stage for an extensive and prolific touring history over the past decade and three subsequent albums, including their most recent LP, 2022's Myself in the Way. - Updated vinyl packing - new jacket, inner-sleeve, lyric poster - 2 Bonus tracks from "Humblest Pleasures" EP

Celebrate a decade of Turnover's iconic sophomore album Peripheral Vision with this 10 Year Anniversary Edition. Retaining the album's iconic cover art, the packaging has been completely overhauled to include a new lyric poster & printed photo inner sleeve. This special limited edition also includes two bonus tracks from the era - "Humblest Pleasures" and "Change Irreversible." Released on May 4th, 2015 via Run For Cover Records, Turnover's second album Peripheral Vision is widely regarded as an essential body of the work in the band's discography, maturing its sound into a shoegaze-inflected post-punk direction following the band's 2013 debut record Magnolia. Described as "a tour de force" by Kerrang!, the album set the stage for an extensive and prolific touring history over the past decade and three subsequent albums, including their most recent LP, 2022's Myself in the Way. - Updated vinyl packing - new jacket, inner-sleeve, lyric poster - 2 Bonus tracks from "Humblest Pleasures" EP

Celebrate a decade of Turnover's iconic sophomore album Peripheral Vision with this Deluxe Anniversary Edition. This Ripple 3LP box set includes Peripheral Vision in full alongside two bonus tracks ("Humblest Pleasures" and "Change Irreversible") on disc one. Disc two features a completely instrumental version of Peripheral Vision's original eleven songs. Disc three features newly-recorded alternate versions of 6 Turnover songs from the era recorded with original producer Will Yip at Studio 4. Packaged in a slip-case set, this deluxe edition features a 24" poster and 12" x 12" book with lyrics, liner notes, archival photos and an interview with the band reflecting on a decade of Peripheral Vision. Released on May 4th, 2015 via Run For Cover Records, Turnover's second album Peripheral Vision is widely regarded as an essential body of the work in the band's discography, maturing its sound into a shoegaze-inflected post-punk direction following the band's 2013 debut record Magnolia. Described as "a tour de force" by Kerrang!, the album set the stage for an extensive and prolific touring history over the past decade and three subsequent albums, including their most recent LP, 2022's Myself in the Way. - Deluxe 3xLP Box Set Celebrating 10 years of Peripheral Vision - Three disc set includes original album, 2 bonus tracks, full instrumental album & 6 alternative versions of album-era songs - Updated packaging includes belly-band, jumbo lyric poster and 12"x12" book with archival photos, tour dates & an interview with the band - Limited edition of 5000 copies

NEIL ARDLEY’S HARMONY OF THE SPHERES RETURNS TO VINYL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER 40 YEARS
Analogue October Records proudly presents the long-awaited LICENSED reissue of Harmony of the Spheres, Neil Ardley’s cosmic jazz masterpiece, originally released in 1979 by Decca. This marks the first vinyl reissue of the album since its original release, offering fans a rare opportunity to experience this extraordinary record in its purest form.

A Visionary Fusion of Jazz and Science
Recorded at the legendary Morgan Studios and produced by the esteemed Martin Levan, Harmony of the Spheres is another bold evolution in Ardley’s ever-expanding musical journey. A unique blend of jazz, electronic synthesis, and progressive rock, the album explores the ancient Greek concept that planets create celestial harmonies as they move through space. Using precise astronomical calculations, Ardley transposed planetary orbits into a nine-note chord—one that extends beyond the range of traditional acoustic instruments, making synthesizers the only means of fully realizing this cosmic sound.
The album features an all-star lineup, including the visionary John Martyn on guitar, saxophonist Barbara Thompson, Tony Coe, Ian Carr, and keyboardist Geoff Castle, alongside the formidable rhythm section of Billy Kristian (bass), Richard Burgess (drums), and Trevor Tomkins (percussion).

A True AAA Reissue – Cut Direct from the Original Master Tapes
Following the reissue success of Journey to the Urge Within (1986) by Courtney Pine (AOR-001-ST), Analogue October Records’ founder Craig Crane embarked on a mission to restore Harmony of the Spheres to its full sonic glory. Working with Gearbox and using Decca’s original 15ips 2-track stereo master tapes, this reissue is a true AAA release—an all-analogue production with no digital step. The album was meticulously cut directly from the tapes and pressed to the highest standards at Optimal in Germany.
Inside the deluxe package, fans will discover an 8-page booklet featuring an in-depth essay by Jazzwise magazine editor Mike Flynn, along with never-before-seen photos from the original recording sessions.

Continuing the Legacy
This reissue is just the beginning—Analogue October Records is committed to further explorations of Neil Ardley’s work, alongside other deep cuts from the UK’s vibrant 1970s jazz fusion and jazz-rock scene.
Whether you’re rediscovering Harmony of the Spheres or experiencing it for the first time, this release is a testament to the artistry and innovation of Neil Ardley.

David Janeway’s 1986 independent release Entry Point is a gathered and stylish offering of fusion jazz, flitting between Latin, modal and spiritual themes. Featuring desirable cameos from the likes of Bob Berg, Steve Berrios and Marcus Belgrave, the album comprises seven tracks, six of which are original Janeway compositions.

Self-released in 1986, Entry Point didn’t initially make a splash and fell into relative obscurity, only to be discovered by rare jazz collectors and dealers many years later. Upon contacting David with a view to potentially reissue Entry Point, he revealed that he had original sealed copies of the release in his possession – a record which has commanded high prices in jazz dealer circles. We have exclusively imported the last of the original stock: what you’ll get here are original, sealed copies from 1986, pressed up on David’s New Direction label. They are all in mint condition, sealed in their original shrink wrapping, and extremely limited in quantity, with only forty copies in stock.

Entry Point is a beautiful album full of outstanding musicianship, dedication, craft and audible passion, informed by the many diverse musical stylings of its time and gathered by the overarching sonic maturity and discipline of jazz. A true classic of its ilk, and a one-of-a-kind album that is an absolute must for any discerning jazz collector, a newly discovered gem that is long overdue recognition for the outstanding piece of work that it truly is.

David Janeway is an extraordinary pianist with a great facility and wealth of ideas. He exhibits maturity and depth in his playing. He has most definitely “ARRIVED”. ~ Eddie Henderson

Celebrate a decade of Turnover's iconic sophomore album Peripheral Vision with this 10 Year Anniversary Edition. Retaining the album's iconic cover art, the packaging has been completely overhauled to include a new lyric poster & printed photo inner sleeve. This special limited edition also includes two bonus tracks from the era - "Humblest Pleasures" and "Change Irreversible." Released on May 4th, 2015 via Run For Cover Records, Turnover's second album Peripheral Vision is widely regarded as an essential body of the work in the band's discography, maturing its sound into a shoegaze-inflected post-punk direction following the band's 2013 debut record Magnolia. Described as "a tour de force" by Kerrang!, the album set the stage for an extensive and prolific touring history over the past decade and three subsequent albums, including their most recent LP, 2022's Myself in the Way. - Updated vinyl packing - new jacket, inner-sleeve, lyric poster - 2 Bonus tracks from "Humblest Pleasures" EP

Hermon Mehari and Tony Tixier first met in 2010, in their early twenties, in a club on Paris's Rue des Lombards for a concert with saxophonist Rodolphe Lauretta. Over the next decade, the two musicians took opposite paths, while continuing to collaborate on two continents. The American trumpeter moved to France to discover European culture and the world cultures that coexist there, while the Parisian pianist of Martinican origin spent several years in the USA, immersing himself in the roots of jazz and Afro-American music.



In June 2024, the two musicians, who had been working for fifteen years on numerous albums and collaborations, and whose musical understanding had continued to be forged in clubs, festivals, and on recordings, met again for a duet at the TOC-TOC festival in the Puisaye region, where Antoine Rajon was a collaborator. Enthusiastic about the idea, the artistic director of the KOMOS label invited them back to his home in this corner of Burgundy to record this Fender Rhodes/trumpet formula. He called on sound engineer Christian Hierro, who traveled with his mobile studio for the album recording, then mixed and produced the master in his studio in Lyon, using the best analog equipment and his expert ear.



At dusk on November 12, 2024, the duo played eight tracks in a single, direct take on a 33-minute magnetic tape.



Four unusual cover versions were carefully chosen. "Maimoun" is a composition emblematic of pianist Stanley Cowell's style, also recorded by Marion Brown. George Duke's "The Black Messiah" was captured live by Cannonball Adderley's band on an album of the same name but has never been released as a studio version. "Hello To The Wind" was created by Bobby Hutcherson in 1969, sung by Eugene McDaniels. Finally, "Laini," dedicated by the great Martinican pianist Marius Cultier to one of his daughters, is a mazurka dear to Tony's heart.



Each of the musicians also contributed a composition: Hermon with "This Is Our Fantasy," written especially for the session, and Tony with "Poem For The Oppressed," a moving composition with an explicit title. Lastly, the duo improvised two tracks, without repetition, in mutual symbiosis and echo.

SOUL SONG captures a moment without enhancement, transformation, or additives, far removed from contemporary virtual technologies.

Lunchbox's legendary lost album "Evolver" is lost no more! Sparklingly remastered for the album’s twentieth (and a few!) anniversary and available on CD, cassette and (for the first time) vinyl, this psychedelic masterpiece fills a crucial hole in the band's discography. Recorded in the couple's 1990s Oakland basement between stays in Berlin, tour dates in London, and dreamy sojourns up the rugged Mendocino coastline, "Evolver" fuses jangle and jungle, ambient and dub into a striking pop statement.

Marrying refined songcraft to the serendipitous magic hidden in half-broken reel-to-reel tape decks and vintage synthesizers, the "Evolver" plants its pop flag on the terrain of magic and mystery. Dreamy jangle pop gems emerge seamlessly out of a sea of loops, drones, and dubbed-out horn fanfares, cascades of tape echo feedback and whispers from outer space providing a trance-inducing backdrop to the pop sensibility for which Lunchbox is well-known. Hook-filled and hypnotic, "Evolver" is a sublime slice of post-pop psychedelia that you won't want to miss.

For this special and long-overdue reissue we've raided the bands vaults for three previously unreleased tunes that add extra dimensions to the album's uniquely trippy flow. And for the vinyl heads we're pressing this as a double LP for maximum fidelity and playability, including a vinyl-only fourth side of beats, loops, interludes and puzzling aural ephemera, all taken directly from the original master tapes. Super cool!

Lunchbox's legendary lost album "Evolver" is lost no more! Sparklingly remastered for the album’s twentieth (and a few!) anniversary and available on CD, cassette and (for the first time) vinyl, this psychedelic masterpiece fills a crucial hole in the band's discography. Recorded in the couple's 1990s Oakland basement between stays in Berlin, tour dates in London, and dreamy sojourns up the rugged Mendocino coastline, "Evolver" fuses jangle and jungle, ambient and dub into a striking pop statement.

Marrying refined songcraft to the serendipitous magic hidden in half-broken reel-to-reel tape decks and vintage synthesizers, the "Evolver" plants its pop flag on the terrain of magic and mystery. Dreamy jangle pop gems emerge seamlessly out of a sea of loops, drones, and dubbed-out horn fanfares, cascades of tape echo feedback and whispers from outer space providing a trance-inducing backdrop to the pop sensibility for which Lunchbox is well-known. Hook-filled and hypnotic, "Evolver" is a sublime slice of post-pop psychedelia that you won't want to miss.

For this special and long-overdue reissue we've raided the bands vaults for three previously unreleased tunes that add extra dimensions to the album's uniquely trippy flow. And for the vinyl heads we're pressing this as a double LP for maximum fidelity and playability, including a vinyl-only fourth side of beats, loops, interludes and puzzling aural ephemera, all taken directly from the original master tapes. Super cool!

Music possesses an incredible ability to transform raw emotion into an expansive array of expression. Nackley knows this ideation well. Having spent years working behind the scenes as an agent, Bordello’s latest discovery now steps fully into the spotlight with Anger Management, channeling the turbulence of transition into sound.

Cathartic and charged compositions are at the heart of this four-track release. Acid-dipped keys are both delicate and direct in the driving highs of Return of the Gecko, a track pulsing with raw energy. The crueler side of the music industry isn’t so much parodied here as it is dismissed entirely—Nackley lets the music do the talking. Sublime Desolation is pure dancefloor dynamite, where synth sirens detonate and explosive rhythm commands movement.

Been A Long Time arrives dripping in attitude. Breaks and a juddering bassline face off with a hustling 303 hook, harmonies weaving through deep sonic textures. A renewed confidence courses through the release as Nackley explores a range of styles, closing with the synth romance of Heartbreaker—an addictive blend of keyboards, guitar strings, and enveloping vocals are the emotive ingredients of this tear-streaked work of 1980s-inspired joy.
And joy is exactly what Anger Management delivers—a healing triumph and a bold debut declaration from a rising talent.

Introducing the vinyl reissue of "Defective Breakdown" by The Defects, a cornerstone album in the history of Irish punk. Originally released in 1982, this album captures the raw energy and rebellious spirit of Belfast’s punk scene during a turbulent period. Known for their uncompromising lyrics and driving rhythms, The Defects became anthems for youth discontent and anti-establishment sentiments. Fronted by the powerful vocals of Buck Defect, with infectious guitar work from Geoff "Duke" Gilmore, the band brought a visceral sound that resonated with audiences far beyond Northern Ireland. Tracks like "Survival" and "Brutality" showcase their fast-paced, no-holds-barred approach to punk, combining aggressive instrumentals with direct, hard-hitting lyrics. This vinyl edition brings "Defective Breakdown" back to life with enhanced clarity and depth, giving both long-time fans and new listeners the chance to experience The Defects’ iconic sound as it was meant to be heard.

Introducing the vinyl reissue of "Defective Breakdown" by The Defects, a cornerstone album in the history of Irish punk. Originally released in 1982, this album captures the raw energy and rebellious spirit of Belfast’s punk scene during a turbulent period. Known for their uncompromising lyrics and driving rhythms, The Defects became anthems for youth discontent and anti-establishment sentiments. Fronted by the powerful vocals of Buck Defect, with infectious guitar work from Geoff "Duke" Gilmore, the band brought a visceral sound that resonated with audiences far beyond Northern Ireland. Tracks like "Survival" and "Brutality" showcase their fast-paced, no-holds-barred approach to punk, combining aggressive instrumentals with direct, hard-hitting lyrics. This vinyl edition brings "Defective Breakdown" back to life with enhanced clarity and depth, giving both long-time fans and new listeners the chance to experience The Defects’ iconic sound as it was meant to be heard.

Mr. K with two slices of Philadelphia disco, from smooth and slinky on our A-side to all-out floor pounding disco madness on the B.

Janice McClain, rightly adored for her Garage classic “Smack Dab In The Middle” (feat. on MXMRK-2068) but her second single is a real under-the-radar treat. The comfortably laid back groove somewhere between a stepper and simmering midtempo disco, classy and danceable as the finest Philly soul. Originally on a small LA-based label in 1983 (and sounding like it could have come out a good five years earlier), written and produced by McClain’s uncle Milt Tennant and his writing partner Thom Page, the same team responsible for “Smack Dab” — all Philadelphia rooted, so the sound should come as no surprise. Add McClain’s heartfelt and uplifting vocal and we easily have a lost classic. Mr. K’s edit trims the rare 12-inch version down for maximum sonic fidelity for its first appearance in a 7-inch format.

The flip side vibe goes in a completely different direction, although once again has its roots in Philly. The disco remake of the standard “Brazil” was a massive hit for the Ritchie Family in 1975, topping Billboard’s dance charts and getting deep into the Top 20 on the Hot 100. The group itself was a studio concoction led by veteran producer Richie Rome, with legendary trio Sweethearts of Sigma handling vocals — you’ll recognize their trademark harmonies from other huge classics like “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” and “Love Is The Message", studious listeners will detect a lot of similarities in the vamp section of “Brazil” and “Love Is…” as the MFSB house band launches into their trademark groove. This vamp section is unfortunately truncated on the original 7-inch single, but the always-attentive ear of Mr. K picks this point to begin his edit, starting where the original single faded out and giving us a full four-plus minutes of galloping disco delight.

Two flavors, both as tasty as it gets, all on one compact piece of wax! Another essential addition to your collection.