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Proudly presenting a new series of Mr Bongo reissues exploring the incredible back catalogue of Sonny Lester’s iconic Groove Merchant record label. First up, the spellbinding funk-fuelled, soul jazz album ‘Simba’, by guitar maestro O'Donel Levy.

Baltimore-born, Levy was already well regarded as one of the best up-and-coming jazz guitarists at the time of Simba’s release. Having toured with George Benson and Jimmy McGriff, as well as featuring on McGriff’s Black Pearl album on Blue Note, he went on to sign with Sonny Lester’s Groove Merchant. Produced by Lester himself and recorded over two back-to-back days of sessions in 1973, Simba features a who's who of ‘70s session players. The album features the legendary studio drummer Steve Gadd, Cecil Bridgewater on Flugelhorn, bass by Tony Levin and arrangements by Manny Albam.

A masterclass in tight yet effortlessly funk-driven rhythms, the tracks showcase these musicians at their zenith. Album opener 'Bad, Bad, Simba' wouldn’t have been out of place on a Lalo Schifrin ‘70s car chase soundtrack. Levy's playing is brilliant, bright and slick, with an infectiously exuberant energy that is complimented perfectly by Gadd's supreme drumming. ‘Playhouse' serves up another vibrant offering, Wah Wah guitars, horns and flutes duelling it out in a fast-paced fashion.

The cinematic thread continues throughout, yet with the tempo taken down a notch. 'Sierra Lonely' and ‘Sad, Sad, Simba’ head into lush ballad territory, with superb arrangements by Albam and beautiful playing by Collins and Bridgewater on Flugelhorn. Here Levy shines without taking any limelight, as the players synergize to a relaxed perfection. ‘Nigerian Knights’ closes the album flawlessly, showcasing once more Levy’s understated yet magnetic flow on the guitar.

Every track on ‘Simba’ is a winner. As with CTI Recordings of the same era, the feel and textures of Sonny Lester's productions have that pre-emptive, hip-hop aesthetic, which later producers would rework and reimagine. This album is expertly balanced, deftly arranged and magically executed, ebbing and flowing with a cool buoyancy that just grooves and grooves.

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4 To The Floor is committed to delivering seminal house music to wax, making sought after heritage tracks readily available on vinyl for crate diggers to add to their collections. The third edition of the series pays homage to one of the most heralded names in house music - Armand Van Helden. While Armand’s productions like ‘U Don’t Know Me’ and ‘Bonkers’ have soared to #1, he has remained a true legend of the underground. One of the most illustrious remixers in the game, this 12” package celebrates this part of Armand’s skillset. Kicking off the A-side is his remix of the 1993 club anthem by Tonja Dantzler ‘In And Out Of My Life’, followed by the Shan and Gerd Janson edit which amplifies the original even further. On the flip is a classic bouncing house and garage sound from 1997 on Armand’s remix of Geoffrey Williams’ ‘Sex Life’, followed by the more recent Armand remix of Lee Walker vs. DJ Deeon’s ‘Freak Like Me’ – an explosive club track that was championed by everyone from Marco Carola to Annie Mac.

Revision of new beats on the horizon
Every 20 years or so, certain musical movements come full circle. Young musicians are inspired by genres dating back two decades, channelling them through their modern sensibility. The legendary J Dilla’s Donuts album was released in 2006 and instantly marked a starting point for the work of musicians worldwide, laying the foundations especially for the beat scene in Los Angeles. A whole young generation of musicians brought up on the new, instrumental and abstract hip-hop has carried jazz into a new era. The four London-based musicians who make up Uniri have gone one step further by abandoning the idea of a jazz band and "bedroom production" in favour of collective composing, creating a new look at the new-beat aesthetics, framing it as a road novel set in an unspecified time and space.

Uniri translates as ‘one unified dream’ and is the key driving motto of the project conceived by Chiminyo (Cykada, Maisha), the band's founder and head honcho. The project materialised in his private studio, where he invited fellow jazz musicians Amane Tsuganami (Jorja Smith, Maisha), Al Macsween (Nubya Garcia, Gary Bartz, Kefaya) and Luke Wynter (Nubyan Twist, Golden Mean) to spontaneously compose together. Hence, despite this being the band's first album, it wouldn't be right to call them rookies. The result of Uniri's collaborative work is the psychedelic, rhythmic album Infinite Reflections, packed with cosmic and warm synths, which neatly balances hip-hop beat and jazz composition. It's safe to say this music is even more appealing when played live, although it's equally suited to the club dancefloor.

UK Jazz has become a permanent fixture in the London landscape, but also across Europe and the US. Today, the musicians who shape the new wave of jazz are drawing on more and more genres, reducing solo improvisation for the benefit of composition and increasingly drawing on influences from the beat scene. Among such formations are the British NOK Cultural Ensemble, the Polish Błoto, the Belgian ECHT!, and the Dutch Comité Hypnotisé. Uniri is part of this emerging yet already international trend, creating an entirely fresh aesthetic that echoes artists such as Flying Lotus, Samiyam, Dorian Concept, Ras G and Nosaj Things oriented around the Californian 'new beats generation' scene.

The title Infinite Reflections alludes to a phenomenon observable on the open sea or during intercontinental flights. Gazing at the horizon blurs the boundary between the ocean and the sky, forming an infinite palette of blue shades. This inspiration sparked an elusive musical narrative, navigating between a sea voyage and an astral journey, destination unknown.

Transparent Yellow w/ Black Splatter Vinyl. Since founding Swedish synthpop duo KITE in 2008, singer Nicklas Stenemo and keyboardist Christian Hutchinson Berg's brooding fusion of cinematic electronics and anthemic pop has steadily elevated into a spectacle of passion, atmosphere, and communion. Their debut double-A vinyl single for Dais Records, Don't take the light away / Remember me captures KITE at their most urgent, thrilling and apocalyptic."Don't take the light away" is a song about "the war between energies," with singer Stenemo's wounded croon leading a rising tide of stabbing strings, pulsing percussion, and looming bass orchestrated by keyboardist Hutchinson Berg, surging to a mass-chanted chorus both desperate and triumphant ("dance, let them dance into me / people versus people can't see / hands should be holding hands"). "Remember me" was written following the band's 2017 US tour, capturing the intense feelings of burnout and exhaustion. "Remember me, Won't you remember me, Promise you'll remember me."Words only tell half of the story; smoke spills across the stage, and the melodies become a battle cry. Our worst fears eventually boil over, turning into hope and resilience. Like the best of KITE's music, "Don't take the light away" and "Remember me" fuse theater and catharsis into anthems of universal yearning, born of "the struggle to keep a flickering candle lit in a very dark space."

We’re hugely excited to announce the brand new album from Dee C. Lee - ‘Just Something’, out 22 March on Acid Jazz. It follows the incredible response to the new single ‘Walk Away’ and last year’s double-sider ‘Don’t Forget About Love’ / ‘Be There In The Morning’, marking the return of one of the UK’s most revered soul singers. Dee is known for her work with The Style Council, Wham!, Slam Slam and Animal Nightlife, and an illustrious solo career (including the Top 3 hit ‘See The Day’). ‘Just Something’ is her first new record since 1998, and her debut for Acid Jazz. Available on LP and CD, all pre-orders from the Acid Jazz Store will be signed by Dee.

‘Just Something’ features 11 songs: nine originals co-written by Dee, a song penned by her daughter Leah Weller, a successful singer/songwriter in her own right, and two inspired covers. Produced by Sir Tristan Longworth, the album is a soulful collection that frames her instantly recognisable vocals in luxurious horns, percussion and keys, and heritage soul with a disco backdrop. While making the record has been a collaborative process, ‘Just Something’ is nevertheless the sound of a singer in charge of her own style and direction. Her vocal delivery and phrasing steal the show throughout, bright and lilting one moment, passionate and ringing the next. She cites Chaka Khan and Jean Carn as major influences, but Lee’s voice is resolutely her own, the product of a life lived.

Inspired by classic Motown, current single ‘Walk Away’ was written by Dee with one of her ‘brothers from another mother’, former fellow Style Council member Mick Talbot, and features Talbot’s distinctive piano and Wulitzer playing on the track. Talbot also plays on another of the album’s many standouts, the Leah Weller-penned ‘Everyday Summer’.

Three of the album’s songs, opener ‘Back In Time’, first single ‘Don’t Forget About Love’ and ‘How To Love’ were co-written with Michael McEvoy and Ernest McKone, whom Dee wrote with back in the 1980s. All three songs channel her musical past, from the thrill and excitement of those early Wham! days, going out and partying, to The Style Council’s trademark jazzy soul, and expressive balladry and killer choruses, which places Lee in the lineage of classic soul singers.

Elsewhere, on ‘Anything’, co-written with Paul Barry, Dee sings her heart out on a song full of optimism and hope for the future, while ‘For Once In My Life’, the oldest song here dates back to 1998, is effortlessly commercial and has hit written all over it, with Lee empowered and regal sounding over a warm blanket of bassy funk.

The album’s two covers, meanwhile, were both suggested to Lee by Acid Jazz’s Eddie Piller. In Lee’s hands, Renee Geyer’s ‘Be There In The Morning’ is pure celebration, taking its cue from the Norman Connors version from 1979. ‘I Love You’, written by Don Blackman and recorded by Weldon Irvine in 1976, could have been written with Lee in mind. A big club tune, Dee recalls hearing it everywhere she went and I wanted to keep as close to the original vibe as she could.

Dee’s relationship with Acid Jazz the goes back to The Style Council days, and it was the 2019 documentary ‘Long Hot Summers’ that renewed Dee’s friendship with label founder Ed Piller and director Dean Rudland. We’re honoured to release this record and be a part of Dee’s return to the forefront of UK soul music.

Acclaimed Americana duo Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams have been called "the first couple of Americana" by MOJO Magazine, while American Songwriter declared: "They have created a sound that is spirited, stirring and timeless"

Initially Larry and Teresa made their marks separately: Larry as indispensable multi- instrumentalist with Bob Dylan, kd lang, Sheryl Crow, Keith Richards and Emmylou Harris among others, and Teresa as a stage actor in productions like Keep On the Sunny Side where she portrayed Sara Carter and Always...Patsy Cline where she starred as none other than Patsy herself.Their performing partnership, however, was born when recording and touring with Levon Helm, iconic drummer and voice of The Band.

"All This Time" by Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams includes the following tracks: "Ride With Me", "I Think About You", "A Little Better", "We Done Earned It" and more.

Bereits im Laufe der vergangenen Woche hatten Vampire Weekend damit begonnen, via Instagram Teaser zu teilen, die das Kürzel "OGWAU" sowie Teile des Artworks zur neuen Platte und Musik-Snippets enthielten. Die offizielle Ankündigung folgte dann letzten Donnerstag: "Only God Was Above Us", das fünfte Album der New Yorker, erscheint am 5. April 2024. Die beiden ersten Vorboten "Gen X Cops" und "Capricorn" werden diesen Freitag erscheinen. Am 8. April 2024 hat die Band zudem eine besondere Release-Show geplant: Zur Mittagszeit, exakt während der stattfindenden Sonnenfinsternis, im Moody Amphitheater in Austin.

The Nomads remastered reissue of their album Solna, recorded by the Swedes in 2012, limited edition of ww 500 copies. The tracklist here is following the 2013 US release of the album, comprised of nine original album album tracks, but cutting three tunes to have those replaced with three songs culled from the Loaded Deluxe EP. After many years of career, The Nomads produced their strongest album to date. The group perfected their sound, live and in the studio. Solna is the distilled essence of what Nomads are known for. The Nomads deliver hair-raising authenticity of rock and roll with unsurpassed purity. Nobody coughs on them or will cough on them. They are still as good as ever. The formula is simple: a strong frontman, Nick Vahlberg, a guitar hero, Hans Ostlund, a powerful drummer, Joakim Werning, and a multi-talented bassist and composer, Bjorne Froberg. The Nomads are an institution in Europe after more than 40 years of career. Their last album, "Solna" was named after the Stockholm neighborhood from which they emerged in 1981, paving the way for the garage rock scene of the time. "Aside from the Pebbles compilations, not much was known about the garage bands of the 60s and many people first heard those great songs in The Nomads version," according to Chips K (famous Swedish producer - Hellacopters, la Secta_- and member of Sator). "But one thing that distinguishes the band from many other revival bands is that they never just copied the sound of the originals. They added extra influences such as punk, power pop and hard rock. That special recipe is what still makes their sound unique." Bands like The Hellacopters, Maharajas and Sator are direct descendants of what The Nomads created. They were closer to Australian punk rock and took varied influences to create something completely their own.

Bereits im Laufe der vergangenen Woche hatten Vampire Weekend damit begonnen, via Instagram Teaser zu teilen, die das Kürzel "OGWAU" sowie Teile des Artworks zur neuen Platte und Musik-Snippets enthielten. Die offizielle Ankündigung folgte dann letzten Donnerstag: "Only God Was Above Us", das fünfte Album der New Yorker, erscheint am 5. April 2024. Die beiden ersten Vorboten "Gen X Cops" und "Capricorn" werden diesen Freitag erscheinen. Am 8. April 2024 hat die Band zudem eine besondere Release-Show geplant: Zur Mittagszeit, exakt während der stattfindenden Sonnenfinsternis, im Moody Amphitheater in Austin.

The Cover Ups vinyl edition is a double LP consisting of the first Cover Ups (digital only release 2016) and the new Cover Ups 2 (released April 2023).

Recorded mostly on Flunk's annual Christmas parties, "julebord" in Norwegian, with a big dinner and plenty of drinks, rounding off with an acoustic recording of a favourite cover version.

Cover Ups / LP1 consists of coversongs from New Order, Yazoo, Depeche Mode and Fink.

Cover Ups 2 / LP2 consists of coversongs from Rod Stewart / Everything But The Girl, Simon & Gafunkel, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Stranglers, Soft Cell and Radiohead, and some new acoustic versions of old Flunk-songs.

The acoustic downbeat version of Yazoo's "Only You" was featured on the Designated Survivor TV-series.

There weren't a lot of rockabilly bands from Norway in 1993, and Hot Rod Torgeir & His Rock-A-Hulas were rather exotic when they appeared as unknown freshmen on the Oslo stage with washboards on fire, two drummers, skeleton masks and fireworks from the edge of stage. After some line up changes they went on to record the album "Cruisin'". The songs were mostly originals, with classic rockabilly themes such as cars, girls, card games, sex and goats. Two bonus tracks have been added to this vinyl reissue including a cover version of "I feel fine" by The Beatles.

New Juice WRLD album Fighting Demons cover and tracklist has been revealed. The album, features collaborations with Justin Bieber, Trippie Redd, SUGA of BTS, and Polo G.
“There was nothing Jarad “Juice WRLD” Higgins enjoyed more than delivering new music to his millions of fans around the world. He left behind an astonishingly deep catalog of music that will ensure his fans will have new songs to listen to for years to come. Jarad was always searingly honest about his struggles and through his musical genius he articulated what was on his heart and mind vividly through his art. He never gave up and his friends and family never gave up on offering their support to him. Today we announce a new album “Fighting Demons” out Dec 10th. We encourage all of you who struggle with addiction and mental health to never give up the fight. We continue to extend free support to you via LiveFree999.org created in his honor.”
- Ms. Carmela Wallace and Grade A

Released on July 10th, 2020, Legends Never Die had a record-shattering debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spent two weeks at the top spot and has since landed five singles in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.

In April of 2020, Juice’s mother Carmela Wallace announced the establishment of the Live Free 999 Fund, which receives additional support via Grade A and Interscope Records in addition to individual donations. The Live Free 999 Fund honors the legacy of her son by supporting young people in their battles and to do so with love, joy, and emotional honesty.

Erstmals seit 1982 auf Vinyl erhältlich: 'Psychotic Jonkanoo' war das sechste Creation Rebel-Album in drei Jahren, ursprünglich lizenziert an das Glasgower Post-Punk-Label Statik. Ein weiterer solider Killer-Dub, weniger instrumental, mehr ausgereichtet auf bewusste Vocals im militanten Stil samt unterstützenden Harmonien im Black Uhuru-Stil. Mit Backing-Vocals der Punk-Legende John Lydon (The Sex Pistols, Public Image Limited) und einer ausgesprochen experimentell-britischen Herangehensweise an traditionell-jamaikanischen Roots-Reggae, was zu einem unverwechselbaren Hybrid-Sound führt, der immer noch frisch klingt.

'Anybody searching Adrian Sherwood's catalogue for an easy point of entry would do well to start here, and everyone else can simply applaud Psychotic Jonkanoo as the last truly great roots reggae album of the 1980s.' - All Music

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The birth of rock steady portrayed in a consummate collection from the vaults of Federal Records

Most of them drawn directly from Ken Khouri's master tapes this miscellany of cool rock steady includes marvellous music from the originator of the genre, the one and only Lynn Taitt, alongside an array of Jamaica's greatest singers and vocal harmony group

American rhythm & blues fervour, boosted by a multitude of sound systems playing 78rpm records on increasingly larger sets, gripped Jamaica from the late forties onwards but, towards the end of the decade, the American audience began to move towards a somewhat softer sound. The driving rhythm & blues discs became increasingly hard to find and the more progressive Jamaican sound system operators, realising that they now needed to make their own music, turned to Kingston's jazz and big band musicians to record one off custom cut discs. These were not initially intended for commercial release but designed solely for sound system play on acetate or 'dub plates' as they would later be termed. These 'specials' soon began to eclipse the popularity of American rhythm & blues and the demand for their locally produced music proved so great that the sound system operators began to release their music commercially on vinyl and became record producers. Clement Coxsone' Dodd, Duke Reid 'The Trojan' and Prince Buster, who operated his Voice Of The People Sound System, were among the first to establish themselves in this new role and the nascent Jamaican recording industry now went into overdrive.

In 1954 Ken Khouri had numbered among the first far sighted entrepreneurs to produce mento records with local musicians (mento is Jamaica's original indigenous music) before progressing to opening Jamaica's first record manufacturing plant. Three years later he moved his operation to Foreshore Road (later renamed Marcus Garvey Drive) where, with the assistance of the inestimable Graeme Goodall, he updated and upgraded his recording studio. The importance of this enterprising move was critical to the development of Jamaican music and its influence both profound and far reaching.

"It was Ken Khouri's Federal Recording Studio, the womb that gave birth to the talented writers, artists and musicians that gave Jamaica its musical identity." Prince Buster

Federal Records was not only the place for the sound system men to record their music but it was also where they had their records manufactured and, consequently, the company enjoyed a near total monopoly on recording and record pressing in Kingston. In 1963 Ken Khouri sold his one track board to Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd, who established Studio One, and Ken imported the first stereo equipment to Jamaica and Federal began making stereo records. The following year WIRL (West Indies Records Limited) opened but the competition served to drive the company on to higher heights. Ken Khouri continued to work on his own productions and, in 1966, the seven inch release of Hopeton Lewis' 'Take It Easy', recorded under the guidance of Trinidadian guitarist Lynn Taitt, ushered in the rock steady era.

These two essential albums showcase a stunning selection of well known hits, and not so well known rarities, from the vast Federal catalogue. All tracks have been transferred direct from the master tapes and assembled with the invaluable assistance of Ken Khouri's son, Paul Khouri, who generously gave Dub Store unlimited access to the Federal tape vaults. The extensive liner notes feature extracts from extensive interviews with Paul Khouri whose knowledgeable recollections of working on Marcus Garvey Drive, not only as a producer but as an engineer and musician, are illuminating and educational. Both sets present an insight into the birth and growth of Federal Records and the Jamaican recording industry and are essential to an understanding of the real roots of reggae music.

Anjunabeats is pleased to announce the self-titled debut album from JODA, aka Jono Grant and Darren Tate. JODA are a fresh musical pairing with shared DNA. Both together and apart, Jono Grant and Darren Tate have been there, done that and bought the vintage synth gear to celebrate.

Grant is one-third of Above & Beyond who, over the course of a two-decade career, have established themselves as one of the biggest electronic groups in the world. Eight studio albums (including one as vocal trance group OceanLab and two acoustic reworks), 17 compilation albums, a film score and nearing 100 singles speak to an output as varied as it is prodigious.

Their label Anjunabeats is home to a bustling community of artists with over twenty years of catalogue. As a classically trained musician, songwriter, producer and hitmaker, Tate is an OG Top of the Pops-botherer. In the early Noughties, at the outset of his career, he appeared on the show three times, once with Angelic, his collaboration with Judge Jules and the latter’s wife, performing classic trance banger It’s My Turn, then twice under the name Jurgen Vries.

The following years saw more musical adventures, more Top 40 UK hits (12 in total) and more pseudonyms, including the trance-facing DT8 Project. In 2003, the pair managed to sync their schedules to work on a couple of tracks, ‘Let The Light Shine In’ and ‘Nocturnal Creatures’. Clearly, there was chemistry here. But as the pair’s respective careers subsequently took them off round the world in opposite directions, reconnecting other than fleetingly was never easy. Then in 2019 Tate returned to his trance roots and signed to Anjunabeats for his DT8 Project releases.

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He made remixes matter more than the original songs. He introduced dramatic, forceful horns to rap’s sonic discussion. It almost goes without saying that Pete Rock is among the greatest hip-hop producers of all time, and Soul Brother #1 is still crafting timeless music. Now back on vinyl for the first time in years, Pete’s acclaimed album NY’s Finest features an impressive lineup of vocalists, including Wu-Tang emcees Raekwon and Masta Killa, Jim Jones, Little Brother, Styles P, Redman, Max B, Papoose, and more. Entirely produced by Pete Rock, the album is a modern masterpiece from a legendary artist. This repress also includes the bonus track “It’s So G” featuring Roc Marciano, a lost treasure from the NY’s Finest sessions that wasn’t on the original tracklist.

The Last Ronin project was born from the encounter of 2 minds, geographically far but so close ideologically. It was a simple idea at first:

'Why don’t we put some beats up, sample some bits, and mix it up with nowadays sounds and technology and see what comes up?’

That’s basically how ‘Sleepers’ was born.

Stretch & Enjoy sound is a mixture of cultures, vibes, experiences but has its common point into the 90’s breakbeat flavor and you can feel it all the way through.

Repressed clear yellow w/ red splatter vinyl! This is the 5th full length for London-based USA Nails full of post-punk noise rock that's as grating as it is catchy. USA Nails release their fifth album "Character Stop" on October 23rd 2020 through Hex Records. The new album from London-based USA Nails (and 2nd for Hex Records) is a post-punk, noise-rock platter that is as grating as it is catchy. The record was tracked live over 4 days at Bear Bites Horse in London with producer Wayne Adams. Though "Character Stop" still features the pummeling noise-punk that USA Nails have become renowned for, it's balanced with more sober, downbeat moments. On it they explore identity - like the online personas of aggressive twitter users, influencers and vloggers, as well as more introspective takes on mental health, giving up on dreams, the joy (and despair) of being a part-timer, and contemplating who they would be if they decided to hang up their guitars for good. Guitarist Gareth Thomas comments, "For me "Character Stop" is the best album USA Nails have ever made by miles. It's more varied than anything we've ever done before and I think it's stronger for it. I feel like it's more fully realized, and more complete as a collection of songs. Every time we get in a room together and write, the dynamic of our relationship as writers (and mates) develops a bit further, we get better at anticipating and complimenting each other. We've always tried to be efficient in our creativity, to do what feels natural and just let things flow. I'm obviously still really happy with all the music we've written up to this point, but on this record everything seemed to come together so sweetly. " Comes on clear green vinyl. USA Nails will tour Europe and the US in 2021, following a clutch of UK album launch shows in late 2020 - COVID permitting. In the last few years, USA Nails have toured with Sub-Pop lovelies Metz, completed numerous USA and European headline stints, and supported the likes of Mission Of Burma, John, Future Of The Left, Mclusky*, Cocaine Piss, Viagra Boys and Murder Capital. Ffo Pissed Jeans, Wire, Gang Of Four, Pinko, Blacklisters, Drive Like Jehu Press Quotes: 'Heavy, crushing, and aggressive post-hardcore' _The Needle Drop 'A mix of Drive Like Jehu headbangers, nods to psychedelia and a throttling of hardcore for good measure' _The Skinny

"Back in the 1990s original Verve pressings of this record were hot items pushed into prominence in great part by write-ups in The Absolute Sound, particularly by my friend Frank Doris. I found a few, and even a few in pretty good condition, but none of them begin to compare to this double 45 RPM set that offers more of everything, particularly transparency and instrumental separation. ...Ella's on a microphone with a slightly rising high end but if it sounds icy, don't blame the recording or the mastering. It's your system. If it's well-balanced and your cartridge is a good tracker, the vocal transparency and clarity are spooky and the sibilant articulation is precise. These double LPs cut at Sterling Sound use the original tapes, not copies of the original tapes and the clarity and transparency coupled with QRP's drop-dead silent pressings are remarkable. The original pre-MGM buyout LP has a pleasingly nostalgic quality and the added warmth produces a bit more room sound, but in my opinion it can't compare to this reissue unless you like hearing things through rose-tinted loudspeakers. Elegantly produced, arranged and recorded and easy to recommend ..." Music = 9/11; Sound = 9/11 - Michael Fremer, February 15, 2013.

Fourteen numbers from the heyday of swing, composed sometime between 1930 and 1945 - played and sung time and time again in ballrooms, or on the radio to advertise biscuits or war bonds, were recorded by Ella in completely new and personal interpretations in 1961. No one should be put off by the rather unfortunate cover. Clap Hands... is absolutely top notch as regards musicality, perfect recording quality, superb accompaniment by a small ensemble, with room for improvisations; it offers a wonderful opportunity to discover something new in these evergreens, despite the occasionally banal lyrics. The songs of this recording conjure up bygone days, with listeners in the 21st century being offered a highly personal homage to one of the most successful periods in the 100-year history of jazz.

Recorded by award-winning mastering engineer Kevin Gray's record label, Anthony Wilson's Hackensack West is Cohearent Records' follow-up to Kirsten Edkins' Shapes & Sound album. Produced by Joe Harley and recorded all-analogue/all-tube at Gray's studio, Cohearent Recording, the AAA vinyl release is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI and housed in a deluxe tip-on gatefold jacket.

From the liner notes:

The week before these sessions in the summer of 2023, I sat down each morning with the goal of composing one new song by day's end. I knew I'd soon be in the room with my dear friends Gerald Clayton, John Clayton, and Jeff Hamilton, three musicians whom I trust the most, and with whom I've played the most over the last couple of decades. I tried to imagine themes that would feel natural to us, the kinds of songs we could simply dive into without much thinking. When we headed to Kevin Gray's studio to record, I brought seven new songs along with me. Five are included on this album.

"Daido" is dedicated to Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama, who became known in the late 1960s for his grainy, sometimes blurry, high-contrast black and white images made throughout Japan. I love his pictures taken on the streets of various Tokyo neighbourhoods such as Shinjuku. His portrait of a menacing stray dong, from his series "A Hunter," is the kind of picture that, seen just once, is unforgettable. These days Daido is still out on the street making pictures, at the ripe young age of 85.

"Verdesse" has a sinuous, chorinho-like melody and rhythmic feel. The tune seems to weave and bob playfully in a space of brightness the way a grapevine seems to curl towards the sunlight. So I named it after a wine grape native to the pre-Alpine region of Isère, near Grenoble in eastern France, that makes a particularly delicious and drinkable white wine.

I wrote "Sunday," well...on Sunday. It unfolds slowly, like a good Sunday does when there's nothing to do, you can sleep in, you've got your person beside you, and you just relax into the day.

"The Lands" is dedicated to a family very dear to my heart: that of tenor saxophonist Harold Land. My mother met Harold when they were both teenagers growing up in San Diego, California. The two of them became lifelong friends, and a little later, Harold enjoyed a fruitful musical association and close friendship with my father, Gerald Wilson. Harold, his lovely wife Lydia, and their son Harold Jr. were extended family for us; they looked after me with love and care. Some of my first gigs ever as a young guitarist were with Harold's incredible band that included Oscar Brashear, Billy Higgins, Richard Reid, and Harold Land Jr.

I've loved Todd Rundgren's "Marlene" since I first heard it on his epic double-album Something/Anything. With its tender, well-contoured melody buoyed by a few special harmonic surprises, it almost seems like something from the pen of Burt Bacharach. It tells such a complete musical story. Rundgren's recorded version has a beautiful endlessly repeating tag. So we played the melody simply, and used the tag as a small staging area for a bit of improvising.

Hackensack West is our alias for engineer Kevin Gray's studio Cohearent Recording, a place inspired by Rudy Van Gelder's first studio in Hackensack, New Jersey. Located inside Van Gelder's parents' home, the musicians played in the living room! It was there, in 1954, that Thelonious Monk recorded his classic tune "Hackensack," a "contrafact" melody over the chord changes to the Gershwins' "Oh, Lady Be Good!" In contrafact-like fashion, my own bebop-spirited melody "Hackensack West" seems to nod toward the changes of a few recognizable standards, without corresponding to any particular one.

It’s obvious listening to Sarah Shook and the Disarmers’ clear-eyed, biting, and unafraid songs that integrity is the most important thing to the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, country-punk outfit. “A lot of artists are in this industry for fame, recognition, and money but those things don’t mean anything to me,” says bandleader River Shook. “Songwriting is it for me. It’s the only real healthy coping mechanism I've ever had. It’s life-saving. I don't care about any superficial things when I’m making a record.” On their resonant fourth album Revelations, produced by Shook and out March 29 via Thirty Tigers, these raw and resilient tracks come first. Throughout, Shook’s deft storytelling documents regular people getting by and keeping on, all presented without filter or pretension. In 2022, Shook was remarkably productive. They released two albums: debut solo indie rock record Cruel Liars under the moniker Mightmare (Kill Rock Stars) and a third Disarmers full-length called Nightroamer (Thirty Tigers). Compared to every Disarmers record before that, which captured the in-the-room energy of the band with live recorded songs, the latter LP was instead more of a product of the studio with meticulous tracking sessions and an outside producer. While that effort was well-received, Shook believed the songs on Revelations deserved a more direct approach. “Since the Disarmers started in 2015, our strength has always been in our live performance,” says Shook. “To me, an album should capture the essence of a band. With this new set of songs that are all super special to me, I didn't trust anybody else to capture the songs and decide how to best serve each song.” Shook, who honed their production skills with their Mightmare LP and Izzy Ryder’s debut record, confidently took the reins during a blistering recording session, capturing 10 songs in two days. For Shook, it was paramount the recordings match the band’s tangible live ferocity because these songs boast their most immediate lyrics yet.

"Soul artist Bettye Swann was born in Shreveport, USA on October 24, 1944 and spent her first nineteen years in Louisiana. She moved to California and signed a deal with Money Records, recording her breakthrough hit ""Make Me Yours"" in 1967, which is still her biggest selling record. After the contract expired, she signed to Capitol Records and teamed up with producer Wayne Shuler and recorded a R&B version of Hank Cochran's country song ""Don't Touch Me"". On this comprehensive self-titled double album, compiled by Mark Ainley, classic songs such as ""Tell Me Like It Is"", ""Stand By Your Man"", ""(My Heart Is) Closed For The Season"", ""Willie & Laura Mae Jones"" plus 18 heartfelt soul songs showcase Bettye's unique voice. Bettye Swann is available as a 2LP and includes an insert with liner notes written by Tim Tooher. "

Bettye Swann by Bettye Swann, released 29 March 2024, includes the following tracks: "I'm Lonely For You", "Little Things Mean A Lot", "Just Because You Can't Be Mine", "Sweet Dreams" and more.

This version of Bettye Swann comes as a 2xLP. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

Il Quadro di Troisi presents La Commedia
Everything changes, all things evolve: four years after their eponymous debut, Il Quadro di Troisi return with a new album and a new line-up.

The perfect circle traced by Eva Geist (aka Andrea Noce) and Donato Dozzy (aka Donato Scaramuzzi) becomes a triangle with the permanent addition of Pietro Micioni, who collaborated in the previous recordings and had been part of ll Quadro’s live set.
Nothing stays the same, and the world is a lot different from what it was in 2020. The global crisis generated by the constant escalation of conflict and by the pandemic was mirrored by a time of individual crisis and personal, often irreversible transformation that underscored the entire period of the album’s composition.
The influence of these turbulent times is felt in the writing: La Commedia is about turning a crisis into an opportunity and using change as a catalyst for rebirth. Much like the characters in classic Italian comedies, who are masters in using irony to face life’s hardships, Il Quadro di Troisi explores the vast and unpredictable terrain between the lighter and darker sides of the human experience, matching the magical with the mundane.

La Commedia is about the many facets of life: each song is named after an archetype (e.g. the truth, the night, the Earth, the prophet), as though our existence were a tarot deck and its reading an exercise in collective consciousness.

La Commedia marks the band’s embrace of a more traditional song form, shaped by a very personal and distinctive musical style. The distinguishing elements of Il Quadro di Troisi’s music – classic Italian songwriting with an electronic spin – meld into a unique mix that is both seductive and eerie, elegant and earthy, contemporary and timeless. La Commedia celebrates the band’s cultural roots while constantly moving into new territory, balancing nostalgia with a forward-thinking approach.

La Commedia is a rare gem that confirms Il Quadro di Troisi’s relevance in the international music scene, as demonstrated by the number of top-level artists featured on the album: from Suzanne Ciani, a legend and a pioneer of independent music with a career spanning five decades, to Aimee Portioli, aka Grand River, a Dutch-Italian musician, composer and sound designer based in Berlin, along with Francesca Colombo’s eclectic violin (the de facto “fourth angle” of Il Quadro di Troisi’s frame), Fiona Brice’s strings, cultural agitator and icon of the Roman underground scene Stefano Di Trapani (aka Demented Burrocacao and a member of Trapcoustic and System Hardware Abnormal, among other projects), Maestro Daniele Di Gregorio, an excellent musician and a longtime collaboration of songwriting legend Paolo Conte, and Tommaso Cappellato, whose professional description goes well beyond “drummer” and who has been working with artists like Rabih Beaini and Maurice Louca.
The cover of the album, as well as those of the singles, was designed by Francesco Messina, another icon of Italian music. Messina is a longtime Franco Battiato collaborator and co-author, a cult musician (his Prati Bagnati del Monte Analogo, made in collaboration with Roul Lovisoni, is considered a seminal record by the alternative Italian music scene), as well as a photographer, visual artist and the author of legendary record covers.

In 1972, Rick Hall moved distribution of his Fame label from Capitol to United Artists. This was to give his label more heft internationally as well as Stateside. The first single from this new agreement was Candi Staton’s ‘In The Ghetto’ which was released in May 1972. Not only did the single do well, but Staton received a personal note from Elvis Presley telling her how much he had enjoyed her version of the song.

Two more successful singles – ‘Lovin’, You, Lovin’ Me’ and ‘Do It In The Name Of Love’ – followed before her third Fame album – “Candi Staton” – became the first LP to be distributed under the new agreement with United Artists.

Containing all three singles and B-sides such as ‘You Don’t Love Me No More’ and ‘The Thanks I Get For Loving You’ “Candi Staton” is a ten track beauty, a fantastic album and a cornerstone of Southern Soul.

Ace have already reissued Staton’s first two Fame albums – “I’m Just A Prisoner” and “Stand By Your Man” – which received rave reviews and put Staton’s classic music on the turntables of an old and new generation. This is the third card in that three card trick to complete the series.

With liner notes by our own Ian Shirley and fantastic photos from the FAME archive, “Candi Staton” looks as good as it sounds.

Donovan invited fans to submit their top 5 favourite songs of his to help curate this limited edition Record Store Day exclusive vinyl. With over 680 submissions, the top songs were chosen and became the tracklist. Each fan who submitted their song picks will have their name listed in the liner notes of the record. Description from Donovan Woods: People like vinyl records, you may have heard. So folks are always asking me about when certain songs will be available on vinyl. The problem is, some of these songs were singles. They were never on an album. I’m not gonna make vinyl singles. This ain’t 1952. I was hoping that vinyl’s popularity would wane and I could wait it out, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. So, we had an idea to let fans vote on which songs they’d like on a vinyl release. Not like a greatest hits, because I have no “hits”, but like a compilation. So, you voted (thank you) and these are all of the popular choices that would fit on an album. Do I agree with all of them? No, of course not. But it's not up to me, that's the beauty of it. It’s not a greatest hits, I can’t stress that enough. It’s just a compilation of songs that a certain set of people enjoy and they'd like to hear these songs with a few more vintagey crackley-pops. Canada RSD Exclusive Pressing - 300 Units - Recycled Mixed-Blend Colourway USA RSD Exclusive Pressing - 200 Units - Recycled Mixed-Blend Colourway Merch Store Exclusive Pressing - 200 Units - Pink Colourway (DW Online Sales Only)

La donna della domenica” (Sunday Woman) is a 1975 giallo movie, an Italian/French co-production directed by Luigi Comencini and starring

Marcello Mastroianni, Jacqueline Bisset and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

The soundtrack of this film, composed, orchestrated and directed by Ennio Morricone, enjoys the typical elements of the Maestro's style,

At the time, only a single 45rpm was released for “La donna della domenica”, including the main theme and

“Torino di notte” as the B-side, and only in 2008 the full score has been finally released on CD;

this is therefore the very first vinyl version of this soundtrack! Clear light blue vinyl edition. Audio remastered by Claudio Fuiano.

Once billed as "Europe's First Lady of Jazz," Rita Reys was a legend overseas during the second half of the 20th century, and certainly one of the top European jazz singers. Two Jazz People finds Reys sharing the spotlight with Swedish jazz pianist Bengt Hallberg's trio. Hallberg (1932-2013) played with bassist Thore Jederby, saxophonists Arne Domnérus and Lars Gullin, and during the 1950s, performed with leading visiting American players, including the Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Clifford Brown, and Quincy Jones.

"Two Jazzy People" by Rita Reys includes the following tracks: "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "I'm Glad There Is You", "You Stepped Out Of A Dream", "Love For Sale" and more.

Milky Clear Vinyl

Driven by lust-fueled limerence and drifting far from conformity, Butterflies Don't Go Away captures Majesty Crush's transient, yet subversive mark on the landscape of American shoegaze to come. Tracked between 1991-1995, the quartet reimagined the collapse of the American rust belt as a late-night, nail biting fever dream/revenge fantasy. This deluxe 2xLP compiles their Love 15 album, singles, EPs, and rarities, all remastered from the original tapes, with thorough annotation and visual documentation in a 24-page booklet. An immortal transcendence if there ever was one.

"The Last Rebel is the seventh studio album by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd and was originally released in 199This album showcases how this line-up could passionately tear their way through southern rock just as easily as the original line-up. It's a superb collection of songs with the title track being as good as anything the band has ever done! Cool riffing, honky-tonk piano playing, slide guitar and a combination of up-tempo songs and ballads. The old Skynyrd recipe works like a charm on this record. It is the last album to feature drummer Kurt Custer and guitarist Randall Hall. The Last Rebel is available on black vinyl. "

The Last Rebel by Lynyrd Skynyrd, released 29 March 2024, includes the following tracks: "Can't Take That Away ", "The Last Rebel ", "Kiss Your Freedom Goodbye ", "Love Don't Always Come Easy " and more.

This version of The Last Rebel comes as a 1xLP.

As she's gotten older, Ella Smoker has found that her subconscious has been trying to tell her "some pretty wacky stuff". Thoughts will come to the 21-year-old singer-songwriter in dreams, or as she writes lyrics in studio sessions, words floating onto the page before she's really had a moment to realise what they are. "As soon as we start making the music, my brain sort of turns off," she explains. "I'll be sitting there, writing all this stuff that feels like a load of nonsense, and a month later, I'll look back and be like `oh'. It all comes from a place I didn't even realise was there." In learning how to open up to herself, gglum ended up finding a kindred spirit in producer Karma Kid (Maisie Peters, Shygirl, Connie Constance), pushing past her natural bedroom-pop introversion to find joy in the process of collaboration. Whether it's the ragged radio-rock of `SPLAT!' ("basically about realising that somebody you held up very highly is actually just a massive shambles of a person") or the riotous, industrial energy of `Easy Fun', Smoker is able to reshape her vocal around the mood, creating a record which expertly balances light and shade. "I've never really done anything in like that vocal style before," she says of `Easy Fun's near-spoken delivery. "I love that song because it's not something I would have come up with on my own, but Karma Kid was great at pushing me out of my comfort zone. I just thought like, look: I can be a little silly with this." The release of `The Garden Dream' will offer gglum plenty more opportunity to get both silly and serious, to be bold in her exploration of new ideas and sounds But it will also offer the opportunity to further accept herself as the dreamlike artist she always wanted to be; confidently embellishing acoustic worlds that her listeners can burrow safely within. "I feel like I naturally gravitate towards wanting to make musical spaces that you can feel like you're living in, rather than trying to make songs", she says. "That's something I really wanted to solidify with this album: I basically want to make music that feels like when you're looking out the window and it's the end of the film and you're imagining what comes next. That's the sound of what I want to be doing."

As she's gotten older, Ella Smoker has found that her subconscious has been trying to tell her "some pretty wacky stuff". Thoughts will come to the 21-year-old singer-songwriter in dreams, or as she writes lyrics in studio sessions, words floating onto the page before she's really had a moment to realise what they are. "As soon as we start making the music, my brain sort of turns off," she explains. "I'll be sitting there, writing all this stuff that feels like a load of nonsense, and a month later, I'll look back and be like `oh'. It all comes from a place I didn't even realise was there." In learning how to open up to herself, gglum ended up finding a kindred spirit in producer Karma Kid (Maisie Peters, Shygirl, Connie Constance), pushing past her natural bedroom-pop introversion to find joy in the process of collaboration. Whether it's the ragged radio-rock of `SPLAT!' ("basically about realising that somebody you held up very highly is actually just a massive shambles of a person") or the riotous, industrial energy of `Easy Fun', Smoker is able to reshape her vocal around the mood, creating a record which expertly balances light and shade. "I've never really done anything in like that vocal style before," she says of `Easy Fun's near-spoken delivery. "I love that song because it's not something I would have come up with on my own, but Karma Kid was great at pushing me out of my comfort zone. I just thought like, look: I can be a little silly with this." The release of `The Garden Dream' will offer gglum plenty more opportunity to get both silly and serious, to be bold in her exploration of new ideas and sounds But it will also offer the opportunity to further accept herself as the dreamlike artist she always wanted to be; confidently embellishing acoustic worlds that her listeners can burrow safely within. "I feel like I naturally gravitate towards wanting to make musical spaces that you can feel like you're living in, rather than trying to make songs", she says. "That's something I really wanted to solidify with this album: I basically want to make music that feels like when you're looking out the window and it's the end of the film and you're imagining what comes next. That's the sound of what I want to be doing."

As she's gotten older, Ella Smoker has found that her subconscious has been trying to tell her "some pretty wacky stuff". Thoughts will come to the 21-year-old singer-songwriter in dreams, or as she writes lyrics in studio sessions, words floating onto the page before she's really had a moment to realise what they are. "As soon as we start making the music, my brain sort of turns off," she explains. "I'll be sitting there, writing all this stuff that feels like a load of nonsense, and a month later, I'll look back and be like `oh'. It all comes from a place I didn't even realise was there." In learning how to open up to herself, gglum ended up finding a kindred spirit in producer Karma Kid (Maisie Peters, Shygirl, Connie Constance), pushing past her natural bedroom-pop introversion to find joy in the process of collaboration. Whether it's the ragged radio-rock of `SPLAT!' ("basically about realising that somebody you held up very highly is actually just a massive shambles of a person") or the riotous, industrial energy of `Easy Fun', Smoker is able to reshape her vocal around the mood, creating a record which expertly balances light and shade. "I've never really done anything in like that vocal style before," she says of `Easy Fun's near-spoken delivery. "I love that song because it's not something I would have come up with on my own, but Karma Kid was great at pushing me out of my comfort zone. I just thought like, look: I can be a little silly with this." The release of `The Garden Dream' will offer gglum plenty more opportunity to get both silly and serious, to be bold in her exploration of new ideas and sounds But it will also offer the opportunity to further accept herself as the dreamlike artist she always wanted to be; confidently embellishing acoustic worlds that her listeners can burrow safely within. "I feel like I naturally gravitate towards wanting to make musical spaces that you can feel like you're living in, rather than trying to make songs", she says. "That's something I really wanted to solidify with this album: I basically want to make music that feels like when you're looking out the window and it's the end of the film and you're imagining what comes next. That's the sound of what I want to be doing."

An expanded 3-LP edition of Sonny Rollins’ essential and legendary live trio album A Night At The Village Vanguard: The Complete Masters is added to Blue Note’s acclaimed audiophile vinyl series in Q1, mastered for the very first time from the original tapes. (The first release and subsequent reissues were made from a tape transfer.) This deluxe tri-fold edition includes a plethora of great editorial, including a new interview with Rollins in conversation with Blue Note President Don Was.

“As we began to prepare for this album, I made my customary call to Capitol tape vault archivist Jack Arenas to inquire about the analog master tapes. Naturally, I assumed there would be a set of Rudy Van Gelder assembled 15ips analog masters of all the material. Indeed, there was, but then Jack said something that caught my ear. ‘Now there are these other tapes, but they haven’t been assembled, and they are all recorded at 7.5ips.’ I sat straight up and probably looked a bit like the mind-blown emoji. With this issue of Sonny Rollins ‘A Night At The Village Vanguard: The Complete Masters’ we are finally able to hear the actual masters that were recorded that afternoon and evening.” — Joe Harley

Für LORNA SHORE war 2020 nichts weniger als eine Abrechnung - in einer Karriere, die auf Herausforderungen, Veränderungen und einer zielstrebigen Vision aufgebaut war. Für das Quintett aus New Jersey bedeutete 2020 die Pandemie und abgesagte Tourneen. Das darauffolgende Jahr stellte die Band vor eine große kreative Herausforderung in Form des Songs 'To the Hellfire' von ihrer vielbeachteten '...And I Return to Nothingness'-EP. Und doch haben sie mit 'Pain Remains' ihr klangliches Niveau gesteigert, ein Album, das nicht nur alles zusammenfügt, was LORNA SHORE angedeutet haben, sondern es auch übertrifft - brutal und großartig. 'Es fühlt sich an wie eine Wiedergeburt von allem für uns - von der Energie, der Band, der Moral', sagt Schlagzeuger Austin Archey. 'Pain Remains' ist der Sound einer Band, die ihren Klang und ihre Identität verfeinert hat. Von den eröffnenden Chorgesängen und der Orchestrierung (komponiert von Gitarrist Andrew O'Connor) von 'Welcome Back, O' Sleeping Dreamer' direkt in das Labyrinth aus musikalischen Wendungen, technischen Details und rohen Emotionen im Kern von Tracks wie 'Sun Eater' oder 'Soulless Existence' und gipfelnd in der 'Pain Remains'-Trilogie, haben LORNA SHORE ein ausuferndes Dokument aus Ehrgeiz, Seele und Können gewoben, das nur Wenige erreichen können. Es ist auch der Sound von LORNA SHORE, der aus jeder Art von Kategorisierung ausbricht und sich selbst als eine großartige Extrem-Metal-Band etabliert. Mit 'Pain Remains' sind LORNA SHORE wirklich angekommen. 'Das war schon seit Jahren die Idee und die Vision für die Band', sagt Adam. 'Wir wollten uns nie einschränken lassen oder die Erwartungen von irgendjemandem erfüllen, was wir zu sein haben.

Halle Weissensee (or Weißensee if you wish) starts where Sascha Funke’s last Ep for Running Back stopped. Mesmerizing house and techno music that interweaves classic forms with modern means and looks through the lenses of nostalgia with an open mind.
The Halle was a former engine plant in Berlin that got converted into a rave areal for the now legendary Mayday raves and one of the birthplaces and leading spots of the nineties. Coincidentally and unknowingly, 1993’s winter edition was attended by Funke and Gerd Janson and a conversation about it spawned this record. Don’t be mislead: this is not a retro rave fest, but an ode to the esprit of the times, the possibilities if an envisioned future and maybe most of all an afterglow. While Reality (sounding like a Relief record if the label would have been a topic at Bauhaus university) and the warped bleepiness of Halle Weissensee itself come closest to the actual sound aesthetic of that very night, Fantasy invokes the language of contemplative deep house from vintage New York, while Puzzle evokes a notion of what the same thing could be with the prefix progressive instead. Reality often falls short behind fantasy, but once in a while both complement each other very well.

Debut album from Italian trio of Gabriele Mitelli, Pasquale Mirra, and Cristiano Calcagnile, longstanding members of the Italian jazz community who over the past ten years have collaborated in various formations with the likes of Rob Mazurek, Jeff Parker, Alexander Hawkins, Damon Locks, Danilo Gallo, Chad Taylor and many others.

The Elephant was first formed in 2017 with one of their first performance at the Venice Biennale, within the French Pavilion as part of the opera set up by Xavier Veilhan. Since then the trio has continued to work together across different projects but never made enough time to record a full project.

This changed in 2023 and In The Room presents the trio's vision for jazz with an intimate collection of musical polaroids that reflect the expressiveness and potentiality of the music they love.

The album features vocals from Cristina Donà, Damon Locks, and Rob Mazurek.

Every morning when Dent May wakes up, the first thing he says is, “What’s for breakfast?” For the Los Angeles-based songwriter and pop auteur, this question is part inside joke with his girlfriend, part sitcom-style catchphrase, and part mantra about getting up every day and persevering in the face of good or bad is happening around you in your life. It’s also the title of his sixth album, which is out on March 29, 2024 via Carpark Records. What’s For Breakfast? is May’s most immediate, nostalgic, and rollicking LP yet, one that’s concerned with breaking daily routines and rediscovering the joys of songwriting.

Over the past 17 years, May has been a consistently adventurous and prolific bedroom pop pioneer and connoisseur of impeccably crafted melodies. Though his songs are always well-written and comfortable, with What’s For Breakfast?, May has freed himself up to more playfully experiment with new and vintage musical inspirations. “I’ve occupied a lot of different lanes over the years,” says May. “I’ve always been drawn to making kaleidoscopic pop inspired by old soul, disco, country, whatever. This time around, I was tapping into music from my childhood, like The Strokes, Weezer and Elephant 6 Collective bands.” By revisiting the music of his youth—energetic and infectious guitar rock—he found a vibrant palate to explore for this new LP.

Lead single “One Call, That’s All” kickstarts with frenetic guitar-driven intensity. While the track slyly takes its name from the slogan of an ambulance-chasing Mississippi lawyer, May sings of unrequited love and phone-based ennui. “It’s a fast tempo pop-rock song that isn’t like anything I’ve done before,” says May. Elsewhere, opener “You Already Know” showcases May’s goofball lyrical charm with lines about playing chess online and looking like a Dawson’s Creek character. Beyond the jokes in the song, there is a bittersweet recognition of time passing and a call to action when May sings, “Now you already know what time it is / It’s time to live your life / Cuz it’s flying by / No matter the day, week, month or year / It’s time to do a lot / Ready or not.”

What’s For Breakfast? marks another first for Dent in being his most collaborative LP yet. Alongside guest appearances from Jimmy Whispers and co-writes with Paul Cherry, are two standout singles with Jordana and Pearl & The Oysters respectively. Jordana assists on the wistful “Coasting on Fumes,” which captures the feeling of being stuck in a rut while the yearning “Time Flies When You’re Having Fun” guests Pearl and the Oysters. “My first album came out almost 15 years ago, so bringing in others to help out is crucial to keep things interesting,” says May. “I’m constantly falling back in love with music through the eyes of others. This album is about remembering why I like music.”

"I Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Shivaree. The album was originally released in 1999 and featured their big hit “Goodnight Moon”, which featured in the tv-series Dawson’s Creek and the films Kill Bill: Volume 2 and Silver Linings Playbook. The album spawned a second single, “Bossa Nova”. I Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump celebrates its 25th anniversary and is therefore available on vinyl for the first time and includes an insert. "

I Oughtta Give You A Shot In The Head For Making Me Live In This Dump by Shivaree, released 29 March 2024, includes the following tracks: "Daring Lousy Guy", "Oh, No", "Goodnight Moon", "Pimp" and more.

This version of I Oughtta Give You A Shot In The Head For Making Me Live In This Dump comes as a 1xLP. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

This EP was one of the fastest selling records we have released in the last few years and more importantly it marked the triumphant return of Messiah to the rave scene! All three remixes are just sublime but don’t take my word for it, listen to the sound clips. All of the artists involved brought their A-game and then some for this, quite frankly, gorgeous slice of wax.

An R&B band formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, in 1961. The members were lead vocalist and guitarist Harvey Scales (b. 1941, Arkansas, USA), Monny Smith, Bill Purtie, Rudy Jacobs, Al Vance, Bill Stonewall and Ray Armstead. Superstar James Brown was sweeping the charts in the late 60s with his new kind of hard soul called ‘funk’, and under his influence, Harvey Scales And The Seven Sounds, like numerous other groups at that time, made their presence felt recording new funk sounds. The group’s one hit, ‘Get Down’ (number 32 R&B, 1967), was recorded on Lenny LeCour’s Magic Touch label. The b-side, ‘Love-itis’, was later recorded by the rock group J. Geils Band. After signing with Chess Records, Scales and his group had a regional hit with the LeCour-produced ‘The Yolk’ in 1969. Later, under the aegis of Detroit producer Don Davis, the group recorded for Stax Records with little success. In 1976, for southern soul hit-maker Johnnie Taylor, Scales co-wrote the massive hit ‘Disco Lady’. That success secured Scales a recording contract with Casablanca, with whom the artist released two albums. Scales was still recording in the early 90s.