Search:earl band

For the last 20 years London-based author and party organiser Tim Lawrence has dedicated himself to excavating the history of New York City party culture and bringing some of the most powerful aspects of that culture to London's dance scene, from where it has ricocheted around the world. Having conducted the first set of major interviews with David Mancuso, Lawrence started to put on Loft-style Lucky Cloud Sound System parties with David and friends in London in June 2003. In early 2004 he published Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-79, which tracked the influence of the Loft on the wider New York DJ, dance and disco scene. In 2009 his biography of the iconic musician Arthur Russell became the first book to map the wider downtown music scene. These beautifully written and politically insightful histories have educated, inspired and celebrated the previously overlooked foundations of contemporary dance music.

Lawrence's most recent publication, Life & Death On The New York Dancefloor, 1980 - 1983, published in late 2016, shines a light on 'one of the most dynamic and creative periods in the history of New York City'. Falling between the more regularly celebrated sounds of disco, house and techno, the period produced a uniquely hybrid series of sounds that never acquired a settled name. This led them to be largely ignored by historians and even DJs, yet the power of the period's music and the scenes it birthed, Lawrence argues, remains undeniable. Met with a rapturous response, Life and Death On The New York Dance Floor saw Lawrence on the road for most of the next year as he spread the word about the characters, the records, the clubs and the bands that shaped the post-Disco, post-Punk, and burgeoning Hip Hop landscapes of New York City during the early 1980s—a period when freedom still ruled.

This, the first of a 2-part sonic tribute to the 1980 - 1983 era as well as a musical companion piece to Life & Death On The New York Dance Floor sees recognised musicians (David Byrne of Talking Heads) nestle up alongside the belatedly recognised (Arthur Russell's Dinosaur L and Loose Joints, and Suicide's Alan Vega) and the downright obscure (Gray, 2 Teens Kill 4 and Tuxedomoon). An indication of what's to follow, Dinosaur L's original album version of 'Go Bang' has been dramatically overshadowed by the definitive François Kevorkian remix yet received regular play by David Mancuso and remains an enthralling experimental Arthur Russell jam.

Lovingly curated across 2 slabs of vinyl, the album introduces listeners to a stunning array of sounds, styles, vibes and feelings that encapsulate this most fertile and forward-thinking era, when music, fashion, sound system innovations, leaps in music technology, a DIY attitude and a freedom from corporate politics combined with extraordinary expressivity. All music contained within this album has been hand-picked and programmed by Tim Lawrence. It represents a selective yet rich introduction to one of the most extraordinary periods in New York City's epic musical history.

This is the first release on Reappearing Records, a label led by Tim Lawrence and distributed worldwide by Above Board distribution. Licensing courtesy of Tracksuit Music. Mastering by Optimum Mastering, Bristol UK. Artwork & design courtesy of Atelier Superplus. 2018.

Photonz is the alias of Marco Rodrigues a DJ, producer and driving force of Lisbon's underground scene. For little over a decade now, he's been crafting his own deeply personal style of Portuguese house and techno for labels such as Créme Organization, 20:20 Vision, Don't Be Afraid, Skylax, Unknown To The Unknown and his own One Eyed Jacks. As a DJ, Photonz grew a reputation for deep crates and intensely euphoric sets and in 2017, together with Violet (co-founder at his Radio Quantica) and Lisbon's own Rabbit Hole collective, he started the now infamous Mina parties - a monthly, sex-positive, queer and intersectional-feminist techno party aimed at using the dissociative potential of intense raving to create a temporary space of suspension away from patriarchal expectations.

Etheric Body Music is Photonz's debut 6-track EP for Dark Entries and a simultaneous reference to hermeticism and EBM (Electronic Body Music). Marco loves that 'aesthetic when 80s industrial and EBM bands split up and start to make trance in the early 90s and all the ritual magick pushes them to zen stuff and they do ecstasy.' There's this concept in theosophy and hermetic philosophy of the Etheric Body, which is an energy body superimposed and connected to the physical body, similar to the acupuncture idea of an energetic body. That idea manifests itself as six primal club cuts, which also channel early techno, Drexciyan rhythms, balearic & old school jack. Raw arpeggiated synth lines and bass blast jut against metallic stabs and highly percussive shakedowns to create mournful atmospheric warped house. All songs have been mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in a psychedelic jacket with snakey green and purple velvet in an electric acid spewing weird biological alien energy form designed by Eloise Leigh.

Ever since Onom Agemo & The Disco Jumpers broke the dreaded curse of the difficult second album by releasing "Liquid Love", a cocktail so spicy and delectable that it could warm the cockles of the grumpiest man alive's heart, even in the most Arctic conditions, everybody wondered how the Onom crew could top that one. But now you have an opportunity to whip out your "Magic Polaroid" as proof that this wasn't an impossible Project. Never before has the band so successfully captured their full-on live sound as they do here, thanks to three days of recording frenzy at Daniel Nentwig and Sebastian Maschat's Butterama studio, a haven of analog hardware hidden in a remote part of Berlin's Neukölln district. The exploding kaleidoscope of styles that make up this album, perfectly reflected by the stunning cover artwork from Nick Henderson and photography by Christoph Rothmeier, means that they can no longer be confined to their early description as an "Afro-Funk Quintet" or merely described as a lively tribute to the artists which have influenced them: their sound is 100 per cent pure uncut Onom Agemo, even though every track feels like a new beginning. The presence of a charismatic in-house vocalist who brought her own lyrics along has also boosted their confidence considerably and provided a further knock-out punch to their onstage performances.
And no one will be disappointed as soon as the first bars of "The Trumpets Of Denmark" stomp on stage like a boisterous fanfare, with Johannes Schleiermacher's impressive wall of sound production making the musicians sound like a much bigger band than what their line-up suggests (with Maria Schneider from Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra adding some extra percussive clout) and just the right amount of dizzying cross-rhythms to steer it away from potential bombast. When Onom Agemo's powerhouse vocalist Natalie Greffel starts chanting what at first sounds like a string of Onomatopoeia, it soon becomes clear that she's laying down her manifesto for a nostalgic Space-Age yet to come, with a few key words serving as Mantra (Focus, patience, tears and creation): an invitation to drive off the Information Superhighway and its endless litany of polite noises, to redirect our gaze inside ourselves and learn to understand and sometimes question how others perceive us.

We are excited to release a 6-track EP from San Francisco based DJ, producer, and remixer Sepehr Alimagham. The San Jose native has been a fixture in the Bay Area house and techno scene for quite awhile now — on the dance-floor, behind the decks, in the studio, or all of the above. Early influences like Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin and post-hardcore bands later in high school started his affinity for off-kilter, underground music. In 2017 he began performing live PA sets, utilizing his immense production backlog to perform vivid and electric sets, from potent dance music to psychedelic and esoteric soundscapes.

"Body Mechanics" is six tracks of acid drenched dance music that ebb and flow from floor filling club thumpers to more cerebral soundscapes. Inspired by the new wave of the acid sound as well as nostalgia from his formative years in the San Francisco music scene, 'Body Mechanics' takes a functional, yet psychedelic approach to 303 styled techno and electronica. Attention demanding basslines, indiosyncratic structures and hallucinatory atmospheres provide an effective framework for Sepehr's vision. The themes of the track titles take root from a series of dreams Sepehr had with a common atmosphere of strange characters and textures, akin to scenes from David Lynch's 'Twin Peaks'. All songs have been mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in a jacket featuring a dark and inviting cyborg hand holding a rose designed by Nicole Ginelli.

"In 1978, Nova performed for Obama. Well, kind of: Nova was the band for the Punahou School prom in Honolulu, Hawaii, and a young student named Barack (known then as 'Barry') was in attendance.

Backtrack to 1976, and Nova was the opening band for Donald Byrd at the nearby Blaisdell Arena. The day was Sunday, June 27. The following day, Isaac Hayes would perform on island for the admission price of $1.

Nova, led by singer Checo Tohomaso, was one of several go-to party bands during the golden era of Hawaii funk and soul music in the mid-1970s through early 1980s.

The band's infectious gospel-funk-disco can be heard on their sole release, a self-titled 1980 LP that feels like one big party recorded live in the studio. (Check out the Marvin Gaye-inspired 'I Feel Like Getting Down' on the 2016 'Aloha Got Soul' compilation on Strut Records).

The story is all too familiar, however: funk band releases LP, the music goes dormant in years to follow, and today original copies sell for hundreds online.

Not long after the album's 1980 release, Checo met Marvin Gaye, who was living on Maui (where George Benson also resided). Shortly after, Marvin invited Checo and his counterparts to join his multi-city tour across Europe. Videos of Checo rocking keyboards, percussion and singing background vocals for Marvin Gaye's last European tour can be found online.

Checo, born in Florida yet raised in lush Manoa Valley as well as Okinawa, Japan, now resides in Vancouver, Canada, where he leads the VOC Sweet Soul Gospel Choir and continues to deliver his signature sound: high energy, positive, 'sweet soul' music.

AGS-7010 features two non-stop groovers with a 7' edit by Roger Bong on the A-side. LP reissue in the works!"

After a long time in the works, Mothball Record is proud to present a lost album from legendary Italian wave band: Ruins.

Hailing from Venice, Ruins are one of the pioneering artists of the Italian new wave scene beginning in the late seventies: an explosion of new and exciting art, music and film.

The tracks on 'New Record' were taken from the self-distributed, tape only release from 1983 'Side Roads'.
This album was timed directly before their most well-known releases in contemporary times, the 'Fire / Crime' 12' and the eponymous 4 track EP on Black Square.

Taken from the original master tapes and selected by Ruins themselves, the album should be listened as a whole to gain the full experience, but immediate 'must-hear' tracks are 'I Don't Know', 'I Love You' and 'Last Night DJ Killed My Wife' featuring early use of Roland TB303.

At times unsettling, beautiful, violent, harmonious, these songs will finally get the audience and exposure they deserve 35 years later.

Repress of their first 12'' single "The Stains". This extended edition includes a bonus track - 'Phantasmagoria'- and a friendly dancefloor cut of the title-track by Alessandro Adriani.

Conceived by vocalist Gerrie Brand, the band was starting out as performance art, and quickly became more as Gerrie surrounded himself with some of the best musicians from the club and art scene in South Florida, including our dear Mystic Bill, who was playing the guitar with the band in the early stages.

Originally self-released in 1991, the single "The Stains" became an underground club hit and charted on many college radio stations, in both the extended and the original version. The single was distributed as a hard to get promo only release. The repress contains also the title-track of the single 'Phantasmagoria" - another cult tune for early 90's goth djs - originally released in 1992. Mega tip!

Available as either a 3CD/1 Blu-ray set or a 6LP/1 Blu-ray set, both packages include:

· The original album, now newly remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes. For the LP set, Grundman prepared an all analog direct to disc vinyl transfer of the album, preserving the authenticity.

· Electric Ladyland: The Early Takes, which presents 20 never before heard demos and studio outtakes. Included are incredibly intimate demos for song ideas Hendrix recorded himself on a reel-to-reel tape at the Drake Hotel, as well as early recording session studio takes featuring guest appearances from Buddy Miles, Stephen Stills and Al Kooper. Full tracklist included below.

· Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At the Hollywood Bowl 9/14/68: Part of Experience Hendrix's Dagger Records official bootleg series, this live album documents their triumphant Los Angeles concert held a few weeks before Electric Ladyland was released. The recently discovered two-track soundboard recording captures the energy that had the audience in such a frenzy that many concert goers jumped into the reflecting pool that separated the bandstand from the seats. Full tracklist below. Experience Hendrix's Dagger Records releases are physical only so this will ONLY be available as part of the physical release with no digital.

· Blu-Ray: includes the acclaimed full-length documentary At Last... The Beginning: The Making of Electric Ladyland, the first ever 5.1 surround sound mix of the original album overseen by Hendrix's original engineer Eddie Kramer plus the original stereo mixes in uncompressed 24 bit/96 kz high resolution audio. NOTE: unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances the documentary will not have translated subtitles.

· Electric Ladyland 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition includes a full color, 48-page book containing Jimi's handwritten lyrics, poem and instructions to his record label, as well as never before published photos from the recording sessions that were shot by Eddie Kramer himself. Also included are essays by celebrated journalist David Fricke and Hendrix authority John McDermott

· All contained in a numbered luxe casemade book for CD+Blu-Ray release and casemade lifttop box for the LP+Blu-Ray release with new cover art which is true to Hendrix's original vision of the album's cover: a Linda (McCartney) Eastman photograph of the band and children at the statue of Alice In Wonderland in New York's Central Park.

Too Pure and Beggars Arkive reissue 'Peng!' and 'The
Groop Played Space Age Batchelor Pad Music' on clear
vinyl.
'Peng!' is the band's 1992 debut album. 'The Groop
Played Space Age Batchelor Pad Music' is an 8-track
mini album, released in 1993.
Often noted as being one of the most influential and
original bands of the 90s, Stereolab were formed by
Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier in London in 1990 and
released 13 studio albums, 15 EPs and numerous
singles. Simon Reynolds commented in Rolling Stone
that the group's early records form 'an endlessly
seductive body of work that sounds always the same,
always different.'
They are often noted as being one of the most
influential and original bands of the 90s. Theirs is a
rich, overflowing palette, readily able to blur the gulf
between Os Mutantes and the BBC Radiophonic
Orchestra; merge Krzysztof Komeda with the Velvet
Underground, Francoise Hardy with Neu! and Burt
Bacharach with Esquivel. A deluxe blend, in other
words, with ingredients plucked assiduously from
pop's coolest outposts: 50's lounge, Rive Gauche
chanson, Brazilian tropicalia, North American art rock,
East European film music, Krautrock. hi-fi test
recordings, mood music and more. Somehow they
distil these apparently incongruent components into
an ageless exotica that is all their own.

Too Pure and Beggars Arkive reissue 'Peng!' and 'The
Groop Played Space Age Batchelor Pad Music' on clear
vinyl.
'Peng!' is the band's 1992 debut album. 'The Groop
Played Space Age Batchelor Pad Music' is an 8-track
mini album, released in 1993.
Often noted as being one of the most influential and
original bands of the 90s, Stereolab were formed by
Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier in London in 1990 and
released 13 studio albums, 15 EPs and numerous
singles. Simon Reynolds commented in Rolling Stone
that the group's early records form 'an endlessly
seductive body of work that sounds always the same,
always different.'
They are often noted as being one of the most
influential and original bands of the 90s. Theirs is a
rich, overflowing palette, readily able to blur the gulf
between Os Mutantes and the BBC Radiophonic
Orchestra; merge Krzysztof Komeda with the Velvet
Underground, Francoise Hardy with Neu! and Burt
Bacharach with Esquivel. A deluxe blend, in other
words, with ingredients plucked assiduously from
pop's coolest outposts: 50's lounge, Rive Gauche
chanson, Brazilian tropicalia, North American art rock,
East European film music, Krautrock. hi-fi test
recordings, mood music and more. Somehow they
distil these apparently incongruent components into
an ageless exotica that is all their own.

In the expansive sleeve notes accompanying this superb triple-album, Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb accounts, in great detail, the epic tale of Dur-Dur Band, a Mogadishu-based deep funk outfit that took Somalian radio by storm during the early 1980s. It's a remarkable story, all told, but nowhere near as remarkable as the music contained on this essential retrospective. Redjeb has managed to license both of their previously cassette-only albums, stretching them across three slabs of wax. Brilliantly played and performed, the songs mix killer American and African style funk grooves with hooky Somalian vocals, spacey synths and occasional nods towards other styles (most notably reggae on later period cut "Diinleeya" and Juju on "Salkuu Dhigey"). Simply essential.

Corduroy's third album 'Out Of Here' updated their sound, taking in
1970s influences that would later be defined at yacht rock. The
Iconic cover with the band about to take off in a bubble-fronted
helicopter the album shows the band at the height of their powers.
The track features the Top 75 hit 'Mini', the anthemic tribute to
Japanese jazz star Monday Michiru 'Don't Wait For Monday' and their
reverent cover of 'Motorhead'.
Available on LP for the first time in two decades, it comes pressed on
shiny blue vinyl, re-mastered from the original tapes.
The perfect companions to the comeback album 'Return Of The
Fabric Four', which was released earlier this year.

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

Four-and-a-half decades after the event, saxophonist Charles Lloyd's Love-In, recorded live at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium in 1967, the counterculture's West Coast music hub, endures as much as an archaeological artifact as a musical document. From sleeve designer Stanislaw Zagorski's treatment of Rolling Stone photographer Jim Marshall's cover shot, through the album title and some of the track titles ("Tribal Dance," "Temple Bells"), and the inclusion of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's "Here There and Everywhere," Love-In's semiology reeks of the acid-drenched zeitgeist of the mid 1960s, a time when creative music flourished, and rock fans were prepared to embrace jazz, provided the musicians did not come on like their parents: juicers dressed in sharp suits exuding cynicism.




It is likely that more joints were rolled on Love-In's cover than that of any other jazz LP of the era, with the possible exception of saxophonists John Coltrane's A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1965) and Pharoah Sanders's Tauhid (Impulse!, 1967). Chet Helms, a key mover and shaker in the West Coast counterculture, spoke for many when he hailed the Lloyd quartet as "the first psychedelic jazz group."




It is to Lloyd's credit that, at least in the early stages of his adoption by the counterculture, he resisted dumbing down his music. The adoption stemmed from Lloyd's espoused attitude to society, his media savvy, his sartorial style and his sheer nerve in playing jazz in the temples of rock culture. He took the quartet into the Fillmore West three years before trumpeter Miles Davis took his into the Fillmore East—as documented on Live at the Fillmore East, March 6 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia)—by which time his pianist, Keith Jarrett, and drummer, Jack DeJohnette, were members of Davis' band (although Jarrett didn't appear at the 1970 gig).

Harlem's legendary Disco label Queen Constance has long been a cult favourite among fans of underground dance music for decades.

One of many labels operating under the equally legendary P&P family of imprints Queen Constance was operated by one Peter Brown, a truly colossal figure in NYC's music scene, it's catalogue still fascinates music lovers to this day. Covering a wide range of styles including Gospel, early Rap and Disco the label's output continually finds it way into the playlists of respected DJ's and selectors across the globe. Wayne Forde's super heavyweight 'Dance To The Music Freakout' is the second reissue from the label for 2018!

Yet again, not much is known about Wayne Forde, or his band 'Stereo'. Could it be another Peter and Patrick studio project Another selection of local, neighbourhood players and singers Who knows What we do know, however, is that this record is a TOTAL disco bomb. All of what you want from a Queen Constance record is here, it's dripping in funk, raw and soulful. Essential stuff for anyone with even a passing interest in disco or anything funky. These jams are super long, percussive dance-floor melters that will do damage! Super rare, too. You won't find one of these nestled in the racks in your local chazzer, which is exactly why these (legit) represses should be in your cart. Essential.

This is a 100% legit reissue, made in conjunction with Above Board distribution and the Demon Music group, lovingly remastered with love by Optimum Mastering, Bristol UK.

Beautiful contemporary African music. Deep percussion with great guitar playing and vocal chants on top. Driving basslines all over the album. Spiritual feel! Tip
.
Son of the legendary Dr Philip Nchipi Tabane and heir to the malombo sound that he originated and pioneered in the early 1960s, Thabang Tabane has been touring the world playing with his father's band and other South African luminaries (such as Thandiswa Mazwai, Madala Kunene and Mabi Thobejane) since he was 8 years old.

Emerging into his own with his debut solo album, Matjale, this energetic percussionist carves a driving, joyous and worldly version of the malombo genre that takes in his continental travels. The album brims with ambition and an appetite for life. Employing brisk tempos, nimble basslines and intersecting polyrhythms, Thabang crafts songs cognisant of the hardships of life, but chooses to deliver them with an irrepressible optimism.

Expanding parameters of what is essentially an artform patented by his father, Thabang and his cohorts seem unburdened by pedigree, infusing the sound with a modern sensibility. His reverence for the vibrational resonance and drive of the bass guitar, not to mention his explosive bursts of hand drumming, gives the album an undeniable, cathartic exuberance.

'they've quietly found themselves elevated into the psych scenes premier league.' Drowned In Sound 
 
'when they go pedal-to-metal it rarely fails.' Mojo Magazine
 
'The Lucid Dream are rapidly becoming major players in an ever-increasingly crowded psych scene..utterly seductive.' The Quietus
  
'one of the most enthralling bands in the UK.' Far Out Magazine
 
 
The Lucid Dream return in October with the release of their 4th album, 'Actualisation'.
Driven by fans raising £10,000 to help replace all equipment robbed after a Paris show in early 2017, a new album became the instant focus in the summer of 2017 for a rejuvenated The Lucid Dream.
 
'Actualisation' is soaked in the influence of acid house, amalgamated with dub and kosmische. It will again see them acknowledged for venturing into pastures new, setting themselves apart from 'genres', 'scenes' or what any other act are currently doing. 
 
The album was penned over the summer of 2017 by Mark Emmerson (vocals/guitar/synths), using only the classic Roland 303/808 synths, bass and vocals as tools for writing. Inspiration for the writing was formed via continuous listening to the Chicago to UK acid house works of 1986-1992, the focus predominantly on the groove.
Several months on from those writing sessions and The Lucid Dream have completed their 4th album in 5 years. A record made for the dancefloor.
 
 
Recorded at Whitewood Studios, Liverpool, with Rob Whiteley, the album is produced alongside long-time collaborator Ross Halden (Ghost Town Studios, Leeds), with mastering via Dean Honer (All Seeing I/I Monster/The Moonlandingz).
 
The confrontational techno-punk of 'Alone In Fear' opens the album, a 9-minute attack fuelled by the frustration and anger spawned by Brexit, government and a realisation of what 2018 Britain currently is.
Recent single 'SX1000' (the first work from the album, unveiled via 12' vinyl in April this year) is the band's first move into pure acid house. The acid house fusion runs throughout the record, represented furthermore by 'Ardency', a track already praised by live critics when aired live for the first time earlier this year as 'even on first hearing, would've raised the roof of The Hacienda'.
 
The 2-part opus of 'Zenith' follows, commencing with a space-dub/house instrumental groove before building into a track that will go for your head as much as your hips. Only 'Breakdown' harks back to sounds of old for the band, a little reminder of the skull-crushing impact they can make when stripped to the bare bones. 'No Sunlight Dub' closes the album, a dark-dub that invites the classic acid-house tool (Roland 808) into the dub. The track makes a stop-off into drum 'n' bass/jungle along the way before rounding up in a manner suited to Lee Perry, King Tubby, Augustus Pablo and other Jamaican greats.
 
 
The Lucid Dream formed in Carlisle, Cumbria, in 2008. A string of sold-out 7s was followed by the debut longer player, 'Songs Of Lies and Deceit', in August 2013. The initial vinyl pressing of the debut album (500 copies) sold out within 2 days, and was backed by a main stage slot at Kendal Calling, and supports to Death In Vegas and A Place To Bury Strangers (full UK tour).
 
The bands 2nd album ('The Lucid Dream') was released in March 2015 to further acclaim. This included 2 BBC 6 Music sessions and plays across most shows on the station, as well as plays from BBC Radio 1 (Huw Stephens) and BBC Radio 2. Further press followed from Uncut, The Skinny, Louder Than War, and Drowned In Sound, who named the album #7 UK album of 2015. Supports to Clinic and A Place To Bury Strangers also coincided.
 
 
3rd album, 'Compulsion Songs' was released in September 2016, on Holy Are You Recordings. The vinyl pressing of the album sold-out within a day, prompting an immediate 2nd press, with pre-sales of the album topping 1,000 before release. The album was backed by a headline UK tour, and a main slot at Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia (for which they were singled out for major plaudits from The Quietus, The Skinny and Drowned In Sound). The album again received acclaim from the likes of Mojo, Uncut, Classic Rock Magazine, BBC Radio 2 (Huey Morgan) and across the board on BBC 6 Music (Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley, Tom Ravenscroft, Gideon Coe, Stuart Maconie).
 
 
 
'Actualisation' is released on 19th October 2018 (CD/download/ltd red vinyl/standard black vinyl), via Holy Are You Recordings.

'they've quietly found themselves elevated into the psych scenes premier league.' Drowned In Sound 
 
'when they go pedal-to-metal it rarely fails.' Mojo Magazine
 
'The Lucid Dream are rapidly becoming major players in an ever-increasingly crowded psych scene..utterly seductive.' The Quietus
  
'one of the most enthralling bands in the UK.' Far Out Magazine
 
 
The Lucid Dream return in October with the release of their 4th album, 'Actualisation'.
Driven by fans raising £10,000 to help replace all equipment robbed after a Paris show in early 2017, a new album became the instant focus in the summer of 2017 for a rejuvenated The Lucid Dream.
 
'Actualisation' is soaked in the influence of acid house, amalgamated with dub and kosmische. It will again see them acknowledged for venturing into pastures new, setting themselves apart from 'genres', 'scenes' or what any other act are currently doing. 
 
The album was penned over the summer of 2017 by Mark Emmerson (vocals/guitar/synths), using only the classic Roland 303/808 synths, bass and vocals as tools for writing. Inspiration for the writing was formed via continuous listening to the Chicago to UK acid house works of 1986-1992, the focus predominantly on the groove.
Several months on from those writing sessions and The Lucid Dream have completed their 4th album in 5 years. A record made for the dancefloor.
 
 
Recorded at Whitewood Studios, Liverpool, with Rob Whiteley, the album is produced alongside long-time collaborator Ross Halden (Ghost Town Studios, Leeds), with mastering via Dean Honer (All Seeing I/I Monster/The Moonlandingz).
 
The confrontational techno-punk of 'Alone In Fear' opens the album, a 9-minute attack fuelled by the frustration and anger spawned by Brexit, government and a realisation of what 2018 Britain currently is.
Recent single 'SX1000' (the first work from the album, unveiled via 12' vinyl in April this year) is the band's first move into pure acid house. The acid house fusion runs throughout the record, represented furthermore by 'Ardency', a track already praised by live critics when aired live for the first time earlier this year as 'even on first hearing, would've raised the roof of The Hacienda'.
 
The 2-part opus of 'Zenith' follows, commencing with a space-dub/house instrumental groove before building into a track that will go for your head as much as your hips. Only 'Breakdown' harks back to sounds of old for the band, a little reminder of the skull-crushing impact they can make when stripped to the bare bones. 'No Sunlight Dub' closes the album, a dark-dub that invites the classic acid-house tool (Roland 808) into the dub. The track makes a stop-off into drum 'n' bass/jungle along the way before rounding up in a manner suited to Lee Perry, King Tubby, Augustus Pablo and other Jamaican greats.
 
 
The Lucid Dream formed in Carlisle, Cumbria, in 2008. A string of sold-out 7s was followed by the debut longer player, 'Songs Of Lies and Deceit', in August 2013. The initial vinyl pressing of the debut album (500 copies) sold out within 2 days, and was backed by a main stage slot at Kendal Calling, and supports to Death In Vegas and A Place To Bury Strangers (full UK tour).
 
The bands 2nd album ('The Lucid Dream') was released in March 2015 to further acclaim. This included 2 BBC 6 Music sessions and plays across most shows on the station, as well as plays from BBC Radio 1 (Huw Stephens) and BBC Radio 2. Further press followed from Uncut, The Skinny, Louder Than War, and Drowned In Sound, who named the album #7 UK album of 2015. Supports to Clinic and A Place To Bury Strangers also coincided.
 
 
3rd album, 'Compulsion Songs' was released in September 2016, on Holy Are You Recordings. The vinyl pressing of the album sold-out within a day, prompting an immediate 2nd press, with pre-sales of the album topping 1,000 before release. The album was backed by a headline UK tour, and a main slot at Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia (for which they were singled out for major plaudits from The Quietus, The Skinny and Drowned In Sound). The album again received acclaim from the likes of Mojo, Uncut, Classic Rock Magazine, BBC Radio 2 (Huey Morgan) and across the board on BBC 6 Music (Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley, Tom Ravenscroft, Gideon Coe, Stuart Maconie).
 
 
 
'Actualisation' is released on 19th October 2018 (CD/download/ltd red vinyl/standard black vinyl), via Holy Are You Recordings.

At 83 Years Of Age, Lee Scratch Perry Is Proud To Present To The World His Next Full Length Solo Album (with Dub Versions) , Continuing His Inimitable Roots Reggae Legacy.

Lee's Brief For The Album, Was To Blend The Vintage And The Obscure, During The Sessions Lee Referred To The Sound And 'black' And Wanted Space, Light And Darkness In The Songs And Their Respective Dub Versions.

The Result Sees Lee Having Mixed Up An Analogue Concoction Of Ultra-rare Effects, Sonic Wizardry And Deep Heavy Roots Rhythms.

Over 2017 and 2018, Lee Scratch Perry re united with Producer and Mixer Daniel Boyle, to start work on their second Solo album project for Lee.

Picking up where their last efforts ''Back on the Controls'' left off. Lee wanted to continue the raw analogue sound they had cultivated together over multiple past releases, and take it to the next level with new effects devices to create another sonic signature.

They entered the studio in 2017, to begin to put together ideas for the tracks, which were then taken to RAK studios in London with their ever changing Rolling Lion All Stars session band; to lay down the rhythm versions.

Using strictly vintage analogue equipment, they employed Neuman valve and RCA Ribbon microphones, and RAK's early model vintage API desk to record, the 'sound' for the album was sculpted in these sessions. Vintage, but punchy, which was then blended with Lee's choice of super rare and custom analogue effects. Ursa Major Space Station and Stargate delays and reverbs, old choruses, Plate and spring reverbs, and tape delays were used to create a tight vintage feel but retaining the rawness of the 'Low Fi' roots sound Lee was aiming for.

With the music coming together, the vocal sessions were held in Abbey Road studio 3, again using vintage RCA ribbon mics, over driving their EMI TG console and Fairchild compressors to create a pleasantly distorted Lo Fi vocal sound.

Lee and Daniel then returned to Daniels Rolling Lion Studio, to mix and Dub the album, live, on the mixing console.

'Rolling Lion All Stars' Musicians: Vocals: Lee 'Scratch' Perry Drums: Ed West Bass & Guitar: Hughie Izachaar Keys: Robbie Lynn Additional Keys: Calvin Bennion Percussion: Daniel Boyle Kete Drum: Mathias Liengme Hurdy Gurdy: Brian McCoy Horn Section: Rory Sadler, Robert Landen Melodica: Puraman Backing Vocals :

Hosono's solo career would take many twists and turns from this point forward, with forays into exotica, electronic, ambient, and techno, culminating in the massive success of techno pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), who made their debut in 1978. Admired by artists ranging from Van Dyke Parks to Mac DeMarco, Hosono continues to forge ahead as he heads into his fifth decade as a musician. With the re-release of his key albums for the first time outside of Japan, his genius will be discovered by a whole new generation of fans around the world.
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The unbelievably prolific Haruomi Hosono is one of the major architects of modern Japanese pop music. With his encyclopedic knowledge of music and boundless curiosity for new sounds, Hosono is the auteur of his own idiosyncratic musical world, putting his unmistakable stamp on hundreds of recordings as an artist, session player, songwriter and producer.

Born and raised in central Tokyo, his adolescent obsession with American pop culture informed his early forays into country music, which he would revisit later in his career. Hosono made his professional debut in 1969 as a member of Apryl Fool, whose heavy psychedelia was somewhat at odds with his influences, which leaned towards the rootsy sounds of Moby Grape and Buffalo Springfield. The latter was one of the main inspirations for his next group, Happy End, whose unique blend of West Coast sounds with Japanese lyrics proved to be highly influential over the course of three albums. After the band’s amicable break up in 1973, Hosono began his solo career with Hosono House, an intimate slice of Japanese Americana recorded inside a rented house with recording gear squeezed into its tiny bedroom.

To be released on World Mental Health Day, part of the album's proceeds will be donated to a UK-based mental health charity. 'I often wonder how sadness moves through people,' Emika says, 'through time, through stories and history, and if it's something that becomes us rather than coming from us.'
% of album sales will be donated to charity Help Musicians UK
emikarecords. com Invites fans to anonymously share their experiences of depression and create a waterfall of comments inspired by the song Wash It All Away
Studio video promoting the album via Soundcloud, Autumn
Live / DJ video, promoting the album with Beatport, Autumn
Live streaming of the album from Emika's studio via FB, Insta, YT, September.
Bookings by Christopher at Melt Bookings. Team chose to give fans time to listen to the album first, shows starting early 2019, special album show with live band and dome visuals planned in the Berlin Planetarium Feb 2019. A few promo shows summer / fall 2018.
Boiler Room live show as part of Open Dance Floor series tbc
* Given its years of manifestation behind the scenes of other projects, Falling In Love With Sadness reflects a renewed understanding of Emika's own genealogy, kindred lineage and its connection to modernity. Marking a drastic departure from the menacing, stripped-down qualities of albums past, Dva and Drei, Emika has surfaced with a new upwelling of sound gracing the bittersweet, melancholic and sanguine.

* With the interplay of myriad genres both rhythmically and melodically intertwining between spacey, dub tinged Promises, lush synth pop hooks on Escape and the title track's soulful electro, a full spectrum of musicology remains primary to the ever-evolving chroma of Emika's umbrous sound.

* Further characterised by the breathy sibilance and sultry tones of Emika's noirish, vocal aesthetic, the album navigates through the morose and trappings of misanthropy by illuminating a narrative of emotional resilience and recovery.

* Co-produced with Robert Witschakowski of The Exaltics, and continuing her collaboration with guitarist Chris Lockington (as heard on Drei and Dva), Falling In Love With Sadness provides a fifth solo album for Emika, but moreover, defines itself as an overture for her future works.

'The U.K. Singles Volume One: 1972-1978' presents ELO's early output of hits and b-sides as originally experienced by the band's fans in their native U.K. This collector's box set features 15 groundbreaking 45 RPM singles plus 1978's "The ELO EP," each fully recreated from their original releases more than four decades ago.

All of the music on 'The U.K. Singles Volume One: 1972-1978' was remastered from the analogue source tapes while each of the 16 7" vinyl discs in the collection features detailed reproductions of the original sleeves and labels from the 1970s. Nine of these singles - including "Roll Over Beethoven," "Evil Woman," "Livin' Thing," "Telephone Line" and "Mr. Blue Sky" - reached the Top 10 of the British charts and remain among the world's most enduring classic rock songs. On rock radio and beyond, ELO's hits continue to permeate pop culture. In 2017, "Livin' Thing" was featured in a widely-seen advertisement for Volkswagen while "Mr. Blue Sky" underscored a pivotal scene in the Marvel Studios blockbuster Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2.

*Repress*

The Future Sound of London's long and varied history stretches back almost 25 years and as such a vast amount of unrealised material exists in the FSOL Archives.
 
1988 to 2018 - 30 years of recorded history
 
Archived 9 brings further treats from the mammoth FSOL archives - this time ranging from early 90s right up to recent times.

14 unreleased tracks woven together to form over 60 mins of mind bending sound experiments 
From light to darkness from forests to deserts
onwards............ 
 
Did you know - The Future Sound of London were the first band to distribute their music via the internet, in 1994
 
Did you know - The Future Sound of London were the first band to use ISDN technology to transmit their music via the internet and also to radio stations across the world - a system that has now been adopted by the radio industry worldwide

After years of working as a graphic artist, designer, and creative director, Pilar Zeta will release her debut album Moments of Reality on Ultramajic Records on October 5th, 2018.

Inspired by Japanese post-modern art from the 1980s and produced using synthesizers from the 1990s, the new age album of nine electronic pieces is ambient and cinematic with an off-world feeling.

Her sound draws on the style of bands like Art of Noise and Steve Roach that she was exposed to early in her life and evokes the work of Yasuaki Shimizu, Yello, and Laurie Anderson. Each of the nine tracks will feature a cover with different objects in absurdist settings. Much the same way Zetas visuals seem to be artifacts from a parallel universe, Zetas ethereal and melodic compositions sound like a coded language transmitting from a neighboring galaxy.

I feel privileged to be able to translate my visual world into sound, the unknown was the most fun and fascinating aspect of it

Fueled by a lifelong love of the paranormal, Zetas metaphysical iconography and music exist in futuristic, surreal, and elegant spaces. Her visual and sonic works function as a form of practical magic in a machine-centric world, connecting different mediums through a singular, transcendent vision.

Skinny Pelembe has corralled together a cast of talented friends for his new EP. It's the second release from the Doncaster-raised, multi-talented producer-cum-bandleader since signing to Gilles Peterson's Brownswood label in February. This one's a group effort, with each of its tracks featuring a different artist, each of them an act he's met through music or through linking with Brownswood's talent development programme Future Bubblers two years ago.

The EP touches on hip-hop, psych-rock and jazz-influenced sounds, continuing in the gloriously magpie-like approach of his earlier releases. Each of its songs started as a rough idea which was then fleshed out and re-imagined with his collaborators. He says that the title of the EP comes from some advice which he left for himself on an old notebook. The singer-guitarist-producer, born in Johannesburg and raised in Doncaster, signed to Brownswood earlier this year and debuted with the 'Spit / Swallow' single in March. It's seen support from Dazed, The Quietus and Huck. He's been invited as a guest onto Jamz Supernova on Radio 1xtra, as well as Tom Ravenscroft and Lauren Laverne on 6 Music. He recently featured as one of the guests chosen for 6 Music's showcase at The Great Escape. The single release will be followed by Skinny's first UK Tour in September.

You may know of 'Rude Movements', an early dance music classic produced by SunPalace (Mike Collins and Keith O'Connell) back in 1983 that brought together protohouse, balearic beats and funky vibes. In 1984, the tune quickly became an anthem that could regularly be heard at David Mancuso's 'The Loft' or at Larry Levan's 'Paradise Garage' for example.
Thanks to Mike Collins, the studio veteran still in the business after more than 35 years and currently busy perpetuating the legacy of SunPalace, more material from the archives
has been 'surfacing' over the past few years on UK-based record labels. After a very productive meeting earlier this year, Parisian label Chuwanaga is really proud to present four unreleased songs produced between 1982 and 1984! Co-written by Mike Collins from SunPalace and Breeze McKrieth, a founder member of Britfunk bands Light Of The World and Beggar & Co, these Lost Songs are the almost forgotten result of this seminal collaboration, an exclusive musical rendez-vous between experienced studio music makers and funksters at the top of their game, including some of the finest Britfunk musicians. Bringing together eighties influences and futuristic sounds, the result covers a wide range of genres, from jazz-funk to new wave: it captured a unique
moment in British musical history, a smooth transition to a more electronic sound. Definitely not one to be missed!

Having Previously Released Some Rare Solo Material From Ende Shneafliet Member Hanjo Erkamp Aka Dr. C. Stein, Artificial Dance Is Now Serving Up Something Special From The Cult Dutch Minimal Wave Band's Lesser-known Side Project, King Ende Shneafliet. The Result Is The First Ever Vinyl Release Of Tracks From The Outfit's Cult Dimension Mix Series.
Adding king' To Their Name In Honour Of Original Dub Maestro King Tubby, King Ende Shneafliet Produced Far More Experimental And Out-there Material Than Their Better-known Big Brother. They Released Their First Cassette, Dimension Mix Chapter I In 1981 Via Cult Label Trumpett, With Batches Of Follow-up Material Trickling Out On Various Obscure Tapes And Later Cd-rs Up To The Year 2000.

Artificial Dance's First Dip Into The Dimension Mix Archives - A Second Vinyl Volume Will Follow Later In The Year - Features Selections From Chapter Ii (1999), Which Was Originally Recorded Between 1981 And '88. The Magical, Mind-altering Music Is Raw, Lo-fi, Spaced-out And Forward-thinking, Combining Effects-laden, Sample-heavy Sound Collages And Reverberating Ambient Soundscapes With Pulsating Proto-electro Jams, Moody Minimal Wave Instrumentals And Kosmiche-influenced Throw-downs. It Effectively Joins The Dots Between Early-80s, Diy Electronic Exploration And Dub Soundsystem Culture.

'Garage bands suddenly obtain cult status and become the antithesis of their initial appeal'

Garage Class were a group of reluctant outliers who produced one of the finest contributions to the wave of UK DIY music that emerged during the late 70s and early to mid-80s.

Hailing from Alsager in North West England and comprised of Tim Shutt (vocals) Phil Murphy (lead guitar) Clive Williams (guitar) Lynne Sanders (bass) and Phil Bourne (drums / bass on studio recordings) Garage Class originally went by the name of The Pits before their then manager Steve Hurt imposed an alias which, though unpopular within their ranks, would nevertheless reflect the shambolic art they would eventually capture on their first and only single.

As The Pits the group offered a loutish inflection on glam-punk flamboyance, evoking Johnny Thunder hitting the north and remaining disowned yet undeterred in a dreary old boozer. But as Garage Class the group distilled a roughcast and homespun primitivism that felt quintessentially their own. In this they proved too unruly to be assimilated into any wider scene. Early gigs descended into acrimony and recognition proved elusive. Yet what they managed to make back then now sounds like an extraordinary article of underdog ambition.

Released in 1984, four years after it was originally recorded, the Terminal Tokyo single is an unlikely triumph of exceptional messthetic punk. Though raw and unpolished the songs here are precariously pop-minded and indisputably anthemic. The titular A-side reveals the dry and detached drawl of Shutt aka The Subliminal Kid, a sharp, jaded and poetic voice that has some of the most iconic lines never heard in punk. Accompanied by second-hand guitars, on-the-fly handclaps and a chorus like a terrace chant this is the cult hit that never was, a heroically artless masterpiece that has all the ragged character and misfit euphoria of Swell Maps and The Buzzcocks if they were more impulsive and boisterous, and left to their own devices in the remote margins of a Cheshire town. The original B-side is here substituted for I Got Standards, a track that, until now, has somehow remained unreleased. An ideal twin to Terminal Tokyo there's the same brusque and dog-eared quality to the band's delivery, as well as the same upfront emphasis on strong hooks and insistent momentum. Yet again, Shutt is on impeccable form, perfecting an inflated, adolescent antagonism that has all the sardonic, malcontented charm of similarly 'shirty' buggers like Dan Treacy (Television Personalities), Patrik Fitzgerald and Mark Perry (Alternative TV).

Although never accepted in their own time both tracks represent a brief but inspired moment of fervent imperfection, one that epitomized the best of a diffuse and autonomous underground movement spearheaded by The Desperate Bicycles and built upon by the likes of Amos & Sara, The Homosexuals, The Cleaners From Venus and Family Fodder. Like them Garage Class were situated at a point where punk, art, humour and a sense of stubborn independence all intersected.

In the years since Terminal Tokyo has accumulated a retrospective appeal among certain trusted circles, with Jon Dale celebrating the single in his exhaustive and essential Story of UK DIY for Fact Magazine, and original copies regularly changing hands for a foolish forty quid or so. With this inaugural release on the Outer Reaches label Terminal Tokyo is not only restored for the very first time but given a worthy expansion courtesy of JD Twitch (Optimo).

Continuing his own fascination with the fringe history of UK DIY - documented on his own outstanding compilation Cease & Desist: DIY! (Cult Classics From The Post Punk Era 1978-1982) and in his re-edits of Crass Records classics for an early release on RVNG INTL - Twitch reinterprets I Got Standards as an incisive, dubwise outing that pictures Jaki Liebezeit and Muslimgauze on a bender in England's provinces, tasked with remixing the raw product of local punks. A new slant on Garage Class' crude magnificence, built to play loud on contemporary soundsystems.

Although the latter part of 1980 spelled the end for Garage Class with members moving on to other projects (Bourne fell in with The Colours Out of Time, Murphy went on to front The Regular Guys and Shutt eventually left to form Happy Refugees) this reissue attempts to give their fleeting time together and the unique single statement they made the treatment it deserves. If this means Garage Class have obtained cult status, their initial appeal remains. Just listen for yourself.

The music contained in this album invokes the vibes and spirit that were so crucial to much of the music recorded during the 1960's & 70's in Jamaica. If you talk to the musicians and singers of this era, they will tell you that the driving force behind the songs they created was the sheer love of music. This is one of the reasons these recordings are so powerful and move listeners to this day. Music like this can only be made by those who were schooled in the studios and yards around Kingston and is not something that can be easily reproduced outside Jamaica. The Kingston All Stars represent some of the most legendary musicians to ever grace the little island & it is thanks to their passion and dedication that we have a lifetime of music to enjoy.

The members of KAS have been working & recording with each other in some of Jamaica's most legendary studios for over 50 years. The vibes and music that are created when they get together is nothing short of magic. This is the 3rd KAS LP showcasing the talents of Jamaica's top session musicians from the golden era of Jamaican music. These are the artists who laid the foundation for Rocksteady, Reggae, Roots and beyond in countless recording sessions around Jamaica & without them the music we love would not exist.

The album's intro piece 'Boo Rock', is a tribute to the legendary drummer Mikey 'Boo' Richards. Mikey has recorded with many of the Kingston All Stars in some of Jamaica's most fabled studios. It is obvious that Mikey is revered by all of the Kingston All Stars and it is fitting that this is the 1st track on the album.

Singer Allen Jahsana who is known for his work with Mikey Chung in the early 70's brings two amazing songs to the project. The first 'Jungle Justice' is a commentary on the lack of justice in the tough streets of Kingston, one which Alan knows firsthand as a longtime Kingstonian. The second vocal 'Rising from the Ghetto' is a call to the youth to rise up out of sufferation with some seriously heavy basslines courtesy Jackie Jackson.

New to the KAS family Carol Brown's 'Only Jah Knows' on a sweet dubbed out Rocksteady riddim shines that much brighter with the help of her daughter, Krystal Mittoo. Carl was married to Jackie Mittoo before his untimely passing.

Greenwich Farm rasta and legendary roots vocalist Prince Alla adds a real classic vibe to a new he wrote titled 'My Vision". The deep and powerful style Alla is known for was voiced on a riddim built by keyboard legend Ansel "Stagalag" Collins.

'Guns & Pulpit', the companion vocal for 'Clappers Dub' which saw release on the KAS Dub LP, finally sees the light of day. A proper roots anthem from singer RZee Jackson with conscious lyrics and RZee's unique vocal style.

The Kingston All Stars include Sly Dunbar, Hux Brown, Mikey 'Mao' Chung, Ansel Collins, Jackie Jackson, Robbie Lyn, Everton & Everald Gayle with the guidance of musician, writer & engineer Moss ' Mossman ' Raxlen. Members of the Kingston All Stars have been part of / or recorded with The Revolutionaries, Lynn Taitt & The Jets, Studio One's Sound Dimension and Soul Vendors Band, Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Upsetters, Peter Tosh's Word Sound and Power Band, Toots and the Maytals, Now Generation, In Crowd, Wailers Band and countless others.

The music contained in this album invokes the vibes and spirit that were so crucial to much of the music recorded during the 1960's & 70's in Jamaica. If you talk to the musicians and singers of this era, they will tell you that the driving force behind the songs they created was the sheer love of music. This is one of the reasons these recordings are so powerful and move listeners to this day. Music like this can only be made by those who were schooled in the studios and yards around Kingston and is not something that can be easily reproduced outside Jamaica. The Kingston All Stars represent some of the most legendary musicians to ever grace the little island & it is thanks to their passion and dedication that we have a lifetime of music to enjoy.

The members of KAS have been working & recording with each other in some of Jamaica's most legendary studios for over 50 years. The vibes and music that are created when they get together is nothing short of magic. This is the 3rd KAS LP showcasing the talents of Jamaica's top session musicians from the golden era of Jamaican music. These are the artists who laid the foundation for Rocksteady, Reggae, Roots and beyond in countless recording sessions around Jamaica & without them the music we love would not exist.

The album's intro piece 'Boo Rock', is a tribute to the legendary drummer Mikey 'Boo' Richards. Mikey has recorded with many of the Kingston All Stars in some of Jamaica's most fabled studios. It is obvious that Mikey is revered by all of the Kingston All Stars and it is fitting that this is the 1st track on the album.

Singer Allen Jahsana who is known for his work with Mikey Chung in the early 70's brings two amazing songs to the project. The first 'Jungle Justice' is a commentary on the lack of justice in the tough streets of Kingston, one which Alan knows firsthand as a longtime Kingstonian. The second vocal 'Rising from the Ghetto' is a call to the youth to rise up out of sufferation with some seriously heavy basslines courtesy Jackie Jackson.

New to the KAS family Carol Brown's 'Only Jah Knows' on a sweet dubbed out Rocksteady riddim shines that much brighter with the help of her daughter, Krystal Mittoo. Carl was married to Jackie Mittoo before his untimely passing.

Greenwich Farm rasta and legendary roots vocalist Prince Alla adds a real classic vibe to a new he wrote titled 'My Vision". The deep and powerful style Alla is known for was voiced on a riddim built by keyboard legend Ansel "Stagalag" Collins.

'Guns & Pulpit', the companion vocal for 'Clappers Dub' which saw release on the KAS Dub LP, finally sees the light of day. A proper roots anthem from singer RZee Jackson with conscious lyrics and RZee's unique vocal style.

The Kingston All Stars include Sly Dunbar, Hux Brown, Mikey 'Mao' Chung, Ansel Collins, Jackie Jackson, Robbie Lyn, Everton & Everald Gayle with the guidance of musician, writer & engineer Moss ' Mossman ' Raxlen. Members of the Kingston All Stars have been part of / or recorded with The Revolutionaries, Lynn Taitt & The Jets, Studio One's Sound Dimension and Soul Vendors Band, Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Upsetters, Peter Tosh's Word Sound and Power Band, Toots and the Maytals, Now Generation, In Crowd, Wailers Band and countless others

Italian finest cosmic disco from the genius of no other than Dodias, superb drummer, former member of Gli Idoli the very first band of Lucio Dalla, and cowriters of few of his early songs. Essential!!!

Dark Entries reissue the 3rd full length from Carolyn Fok / CYRNAI, an Asian-American female solo artist from the Bay Area. Carolyn's adventures in sound began with recording stories on a tape recorder at age 9 in 1976. A short time later, exploring the scattering of musical instruments and effects units her father left lying around the family home. She became especially fascinated by his TEAC reel-to-reel recorder that set off a lifelong fascination with sound design. By the age of 16 Carolyn had become inspired by industrial electronic act Cabaret Voltaire, as well as anarcho-punks Crass. Creating the stage name CYRNAI, a rearranging alphabet of Carolyn Fok, she played in several Bay Area bands including Treason, A State Of Mind, Trial and Rhythm & Noise between 1983 and 1991.

In 1987, towards the end of art school, Carolyn won another award from the New York Society of Illustrators. During the trip to New York to accept the award, she met electronic/dulcimer musician, Dan Joseph. After writing some letters they decided to make a split cassette titled 'Hypno-Seizure'. CYRNAI contributed 30 minutes of music to Side A of the cassette, 10 untitled pieces that ran into each other. She had just bought a round-the-world ticket going from China to Europe via Eurails, to Egypt, where she liked to wander. She picked up instruments from several countries and recorded the sounds of her new surroundings. Technology was changing into early sampling and she used a Commodore 64 with large floppy disks to record loops. Originally self-released in 1988, this reissue adds 3 unreleased bonus tracks recorded during the same period. Each copy includes a double sided insert with lyrics, photos and notes by Carolyn. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios.

5 catchy tracks by eighties bristol outfit Umo Vogue Umo Vogue formed in Bristol by Stig Manley, Russ Crook and Neil Deamer who were in Bath based ska rock outfit 'The AT's', along with Bristol based singer Debbie Marlow. Neil's Brother Clive joined the band bringing a fantastic new dynamic to the band on drums, percussion and heavy artillery. The band name is a deliberate misspelling of the ultra-chic Italian fashion magazine 'L'Uomo Vogue'. After winning the Bristol 'Battle of the Bands' in 1982 they were signed to Phonogram and dropped a few months later. They then signed to EMI in '83 and released their first single 'Just My Love' released in early 1984. The second single was 'Make It Real' and was never released as the band were culled from the EMI roster in late '84. For this reissue of their debut single we've added 3 bonus tracks, a demo of 'Just My Love', the unreleased follow single 'Make It Real' and a bedroom demo 'Erotica.'

Each song displays ridiculously catchy melodies and innovative electronic rhythms. The drum tracks, a combination of rhythm machines and hand percussion, were mixed down from the 4-track tape used as backing on stage, with the rich slap bass and Roland SH09 synths weaves fluid lead lines in between the harmony vocals. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The record is housed in an exact replica of the original jacket and includes an 8-page booklet with photos, notes and press clippings from the band's archive. 'We're synthetic but not antiseptic. We are interested in the naivety and spontaneity of music.' - Umo Vogue

Cold Beat is a San Francisco-based quartet fronted by Hannah Lew (synths, vocals) with Kyle King (synths, guitar), Luciano Talpini Aita (synths) and Sean Monaghan (guitar). Formed in 2013 the band has released three albums and two EPs. 'A Simple Reflection' is a 7-song collection of Eurythmics covers, yet feels just as personal as any of their original material. While digging through a collection of 12s for her record shop Contact Records, Lew stumbled across the earliest Eurythmics B-sides and was floored. This lead to the discovery of their debut album 'In The Garden'. Annie Lennox's abstract and poetic lyrics really struck a chord with Hannah. What had started out as a single cover quickly snowballed into a full blown obsession. The synth and drum programming resonated with her songwriting process, so reimagining them was very creatively fulfilling. The covers on this EP are simultaneously dynamic and atmospheric post-punk that plays to Lew's ethereal vocals and King's crystalline guitar. All songs have been mixed by Mikey Young (Total Control) and mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The record is housed in a jacket designed by Eloise Leigh, which features pink and purple clouds that evoke a dreamy softness and DIY playfulness and photos Lew in her best Lennox-inspired drag. Each copy includes a postcard with photos and notes. 'Sometimes a song seems to sing just for you, as if someone knows your most inner thoughts and feelings and has found a way to describe them effortlessly' - Hannah Lew

The second of Polytechnic Youth's ace new LPs for July, sees a mighty set from Austria based synth pop duo Mitra Mitra. Following previous releases on Peripheral Minimal and their own Micromort label, not to mention a lathe cut right here on PY that sold out in 20 minutes in Dec. 2015.



The band was formed in Vienna in late 2014 by Violet Candide and Mahk Rumbae. Originally from New Zealand, Violet Candide is a founding member of the Crazy Hospital DJ collective, and one of the organisers of the legendary 'Future Echo' club night in Vienna, and is one half of 'Anesthetic Hairpins'; whilst British musician Mahk Rumbae is known for his work as a member of the industrial/experimental project 'Konstruktivists', 'Oppenheimer MkII' (with Andy Oppenheimer of Oppenheimer Analysis) and his solo techno project 'Codex Empire'.

After working together on one of Violet's solo songs, 'Heat', the pair decided to continue working together and formed Mitra Mitra as a more full time project, with the aim of writing electronic songs not tied to any particular influence or style. However, if there was such a thing as a signature PY sound- arguably this LP (alongside last year's Vorderhaus full length), encapsulates it most. Beautifully icy cold synth pop straight outta' early prime era Mute / Blackwing studios output. Serene yet melodic, edgy, dry icy hooks and delicious grooves aplenty all over this record. Eight wonderful tracks where quality and sheer melodic guile of the song writing never dips and attention truly is held across the whole set, ....no mean feat indeed.

Available as a 300 pressing LP only, destined to sell out rapid style as have all previous releases by both artist and label.

World Music And Ethno Sounds With An Obvious Japanese Origin Meet Progressive Rock And Psyche. The Result Is A Captivating Piece Of Melodic And Deeply Atmospheric Music That Paints Pictures Of Life In Ancient Japan Into Your Mind When You Lay Back, Close Your Eyes And Listen Closely With Your Thoughts Turned Off. If Pink Floyd Were Japanese Their Music Might Have Sounded Like That. The Frequency Of The Arrangements On - benzaiten Reminds Of What Our English Heroes Have Created In The Early To Mid 70s Just With A Different Ethnical Approach. - benzaiten Is Even A More Progressive Effort Than Anything Most British Bands Have Ever Managed To Fabricate And Still Utterly Natural And Vivid Concerning The Flow Of The Music. All Participating Musicians Here Are Professionals And Their Performances Are Tight And Still Passionate. The Sound Is Warm And Vivid, The Song Structures Are Wide Open And Welcome You To Slip Inside. East Meets West On This Record And Osamu Kitajima And His Companions Really Grab You By The Soul. Electronic Elements In The Percussion Section Add Some Oddity To The Whole Musical Picture. Not Sure What Osamu Kitajima And His Band Intended When They Recorded This Record But I Am Certain They Achieved It. The Cool Aspect Of - benzaiten Is The Rocking Guitar Which Keeps The Whole Album Together. Must Be The Japanese Pendant To German Acts Like Amon Düül Ii, Embryo And Guru Guru. Well, There Is Definitely Some Truth In This Comparison. Anyway, This Album Will Enchant You!

Harlem's legendary Disco label Queen Constance has long been a cult favourite among fans of underground dance music for decades.

One of many labels operating under the equally legendary P&P family of imprints Land Of Hits was operated by one Peter Brown, a truly colossal figure in NYC's music scene, it's catalogue still fascinates music lovers to this day. Covering a wide range of styles including Gospel, early Rap and Disco the label's output continually finds it way into the playlists of respected DJ's and selectors across the globe. Mistafide's colossal old-school rap behemoth 'Equidity Funk' has long been a record that makes the serious collectors salivate and is now here in full 12" form repress, too legit to quit.

Not much is known about the crew behind 'Mistafide', their government names are listed online but this is the only record they put out using this name. Suffice to say, this has no impact on the fury and style with which the MC's deliver their raps, backed with the studio nous of impresario Peter Brown. Across 12 minutes 'Equdity Funk' is a slamming Disco-rap monster, interpolating elements of the evergreen B-boy jam 'Theme From SWAT' it sounds like everyone just got into the studio and went for it. In the style of the times this is the real hip-hop flavour, a live band, some MC's and some death defying bars being dropped, proper old school. A truly rare recording, 'Equidity Funk' has been one of those records fans of the Disco-rap era have been fiending for for decades - often commanding prices over the $1000 mark you can now grab this slice of essential NYC street Funk.

This is a 100% legit reissue, made in conjunction with Above Board distribution and the Demon Music group, remastered with love by Optimum Mastering, Bristol UK.

Todres Records, the uprising middle eastern boutique label from Tel Aviv, is proud to present it's first official 7" reissue release: A double A side bombshell comprising of all the elements searched for by Dj Shadow, J Dilla & Kid Koala.

Led by Dj Todres (The Apples, CRuNCH 22), the label's vision is to expose the world to Israel's finest artists, past or present, all joined by the same common ground: the groove.

A Side:

Composed by organ and keyboard great Haim Shmueli, "Halilit Kesem" was the theme song of his group, "The High Voices", the famous house band at the legendary "Calypso Club" in Ramle, Israel, during the early to mid 70's. The psychedelic, spanish-phrygian flavoured track is built around the Sonata form, with Shmueli's captivating oriental synth solo is shining right at the middle, between beautiful Stop-Time breaks and the African triplet-feel segment. Inspired by Keith Emerson and Jimmy Smith, Shmueli's masterful playing and composing is a unique world to explore.

B Side:

Based on Bach's prelude no 1 in C Major, Shlomo Gronich's re-composing was created while he was under the influence of an Acid trip. The vicious drums, the fat bass line and the flying flute melody, illuminated the track in psychedelic colors, making it one the most unique arrangements a classical piece ever received.

The music on this EP was conceived in China, between 1989 and 1993. The original tracks were mixed to DAT in real time, in a small neighbour-proof studio inside my apartment in Macau, a 19th floor with a view to the hurricanes. There's a small, unexpected or improbable story behind each track, some little magic fused with the local atmosphere, certainly guaranteeing their lasting authenticity 25 years later.

TAIPEI DISCO
Late 80s Guangzhou was an exotic city where the traditional past coexisted in harmony with the present and even already with the future.
I'd rather spend my weekends in Guangzhou than diving into Hong Kong consumerism - as most ex-pats in Macau did. I took a cab at the border and travelled 150 Km through chaotic roads with family and friends until reaching the hot, humid, mega South China metropolis.
We ate on street joints in the evenings, went on to a karaoke bar and ended up at Taipei Disco, the only proper club in town. All the others were inside hotels and played generic music or they were seedy, sleazy, smoky cabarets.
Taipei Disco used to be a cinema and played cantonese pop music and anglo-saxon pop/rock (that was new). The spacious dance floor was generously lighted, the atmosphere was airy and modern. Boys and girls were in the habit of dancing in pairs, one in front of the other, observing a respectful yet sensual distance. When the girl took a few steps back, the boy went along and vice versa. With legs and feet (more than the upper bodies) synchronized with the music, they never exceeded in extroversion. Cool.
I always carried a MicroComposer and a portable DAT recorder in my travels through China and weekends in Canton. Any spontaneous musical idea was imediately recorded and memorized. The MicroComposer allowed multitrack recording, which was very handy on the road. Based on the emphatic choreography of Taipei Disco's dancers, i started to compose a rhythm track while sitting at a table, with headphones, listening to Cantopop in the background. As if by magic - not a rare occasion in music - everything began fitting together. Odd as it may seem, the track ended up sounding more germanic (Kraftwerkian) than Cantonese pop.

The story ends in a circle: the cantonese DJ at Taipei Disco, whom i used to ask to play certain records, wanted to play my music at the disco when it was basically only just a rhythm track and little else. From a cupboard under his set up he took out a battered keyboard (unrecognizable brand) and invited me to play over the track with the available sounds on the keyboard. The circle was complete, with Cantonese clubbers happily dancing forwards and backwards, as if it were another Cantopop hit.
I didn't get payed but the house offered us free ice cream cups in which little Portuguese flags were sticked.
The track would be finished later, in studio, with vocoder strings ensemble and synth solos.

TAIPEI DISCO (LIVE)
The live version of 'Taipei Disco' was recorded during a live set at the China Pop venue, in Macau, 1993. China Pop was a rock club built in the ample space of an old fishing warehouse, located in the labyrinthic Inner Harbour area. It was decorated with large Mao Zedong and Cultural Revolution posters and memorabilia and had a unique atmosphere, fusing Pop Art with film noir. We began our performance at 1AM, pretty early for Macau's nightlife standards. We were lucky. An audience showed up. And in Macau there were always several friends among the audience, which tranformed a musical performance into a relaxed party.
The atmosphere was particularly surreal on that night. The front row was dominated by French Crazy Horse dancers, a sort of Oriental Moulin Rouge. The girls had finished their last performance of the evening at the Crazy Horse and were still energized from their show. During our performance, right in front of us and perfectly synched, we could hear the famous irreverent screams of can-can dancers. You always had to expect the unexpected in Macau.

RED MAMBO (IMPROMPTU)
I was familiar with the Portuguese-speaking African countries well before having lived in China. I found myself returning several times to one in particular, always attracted by its magic and very distinct, identitary culture and music: Cape Verde.
During the early years of DWART a lot of the inspiration for drum machine rhythms (Roland's TR series) came from African music, especially from new musical trends that gained full autonomy with Cape Verde's independence from Portugal, as was the case with funaná.
I had the privilege of having known and befriended some of the greatest Capeverdian composers, musicians and singers during the 70s and 80s, such as Bana, Luís Morais, Cesária Évora, Paulino Vieira, Chico Serra, Tito Paris, and historical bands such as Bulimundo (ambassadors of funaná) and Os Tubarões (great innovators of morna, coladera and funaná, with the sonic impact of an afro-beat big band).
When Luís Filipe de Barros began playing Os Tubarões for the first time on Portuguese radio, that was the turning point for African music in Portugal. The 'Tabanca' album was so widely heard and talked about that it quickly got a Portuguese release through one of the big labels of the time.
The mystic of this band from the Santiago Island would reach the East. Os Tubarões played to a packed room in Macau in 1992, and after the bombastic gig we arranged a dinner and party at my place.
We ate and drank generously and the moment came for a jam session at the small studio on the 19th floor. Because Os Tubarões didn't all fit in the studio, we recorded an impromptu with only three of the musicians: Tótó Silva (electric guitar), Mário Russo Bettencourt (bass) and Zeca Couto (piano). And there we were improvising without barriers, suddenly detached from cultural roots, labels and constraints, a truly unique moment. The track is now being released exactly as it was recorded, imbued with the real communion between the musicians. And it could only be titled 'Red Mambo'. I wish to dedicate it to the memory of Ildo Lobo and Jaime do Rosário, founders of Os Tubarões, sadly and too soon departed from the land of music.

Goatherder is the seventh album from underground London producer Kristian Craig Robinson, AKA Capitol K. This ace manipulator of audio and punk warlord of groove has crossed a tapestry of styles and approaches with his own secret compass since 1998.

Along with everything from Chinese pop to the marching band music of the United Arab Emirates in his early musical vocabulary, the influence of rave, new wave, grunge, and noise-core would collide to create a bold new sound. His early studio experiments gave birth to his debut, Sounds of the Empire (Planet Mu, 1999) built upon a heady balance of samples and live sources that placed Capitol K at the forefront of the UK's electronic scene. The follow-up, 2002's Island Row, was released via XL Records, with lead single Pillow becoming a daytime Radio 1 crossover. Nomad Junk (2005) combined Asian field recordings into a vibrant psychedelic collage, while Notes From: Life On The Wire With A Wrecking Ball (2008) paid homage to London's squats and free anarchistic artistic spaces of which K was a part for many years. Andean Dub (2012) was an exploratory South American-influenced album of heavy synth laden cumbia sound system tracks.

The last seven years have seen Capitol K's stature as a producer elevated with his establishment of the renowned Total Refreshment Studio and recording work with musicians such as the Mercury Music prize nominated The Comet Is Coming, global dance act Ibibio Sound Machine (Merge), the pan-Arabic Flamingods (Moshi Moshi), Serafina Steer and her BAS JAN project, and contemporary folk artist Rozi Plain, among many more.

This latest work was developed and recorded in his native Malta, where he built a studio in a cave (a former goat stable). K gathered bamboo instruments collected around the world, including an ancient Quecha reeded pipe (his new-found lead instrument), and various resonating vessels and percussive objects including dry fennel storks collected from Punic troglodyte sites, and atonal flutes built from fresh cut farmland reed. Ritualistic improvisations took place over a series of seasonal visits, awakening genetic memory and plant communication.

Back in London the tracks were interfaced and expanded with post-industrial machine beat and bass guitar lock down. Homage is paid to New Age synthscapes, while a Spirit Jazz overtone arrives from K's recent years as the sonic muscle behind a plethora of luminous albums born in his Total Refreshment Studio. Goatherder follows on from the 2016 collaborative incarnation LOOSE MEAT and sonically abridges 2012's Capitol K album Andean Dub.

Outside of studio production and his solo repertoire as Capitol K, Kristian has toured as guest musician with multiple bands over the last 15 years, including Brazil's Cibelle (Crammed Discs), Archie Bronson Outfit (Domino) (whom he also co-produced), and recently Du Blonde (Mute Records).

His last project, Loose Meat, was a collaborative album of poetic dance music received lots of radio play in the UK and toured across the country for a year, performing a number of festivals.

He established the Faith and Industry record label which handled his subsequent releases and through which now he releases a number of other artists that he develops and produces.

Jonny Drop's debut, Sub Plot, was the very first album release on the fledgling Albert's Favourites label at the beginning of 2016. The initial offering, a 7" of album favourites Mind Field and This Is The One had quickly been picked up on by the good people at BBC Radio 6 Music as well as some of Drop's personal heroes including Kenny Dope, Mr. Thing and Nightmares On Wax.

But when the infectious rhythms and warm production of the beat tape landed, its impact was greater than anyone at the label could have hoped.

Although Jonny never stopped producing beats in the following years, he was also kept busy as a drummer, playing live for Andrew Ashong, The Bongolian and Connie Constance, whose Boring Connie EP he also laid down beats for.

Then in early 2018 his band The Expansions delivered their celebrated Murmuration LP. All the while, with the support of his label family, Drop had been evolving his solo sound too.

'The Only Sound sees a huge progression in my writing direction, as I collaborated with multiple vocalists and musicians, instead of the usual 'one-man band' approach.

The development of these processes make this LP a steady departure from the beat-tape influence of my past releases, and hopefully, showcase the more original sound I've been working to achieve over the past few years.'

The new album is more atmospheric, emotional and expressive. It is filled with beautiful vocal performances, musical contributions from label partners and close friends Deoke and James O'Keefe, and inspirational London jazz composer, flautist and master saxophonist Tamar Osborn (Collocutor/On The Corner).

Voices here include Shea Soul, Grace Walker, former Myron and E soul man Eric Boss with his Lucid Paradise and Pendletons partner Ishtar, plus First Word Records producer/Golden Rules collaborator Sarah Williams White.

While there are thoughtful, down-tempo moments of electronica in abundance here, Drop brings his favourite elements of disco and soul into the picture too.

And there's no shortage of low end throughout. The Only Sound is a welcome next step from Jonny Drop, the sound of a beat maker not just finding his feet as a composer, but thriving in new territory.

Huey Morgan (BBC Radio 6 Music),

Music Is My Sanctuary premiere for All This Trouble, Bonafide Magazine premiere for Looking Glass
'A really talented musician, absolutely loving that" Lauren Laverne on This Is The One, BBC Radio 6 Music

The Disco music fever was also present in the Rumba and Flamenco scene of Spain in the late '70s / early '80s. Producers, sound engineers and studio musicians, collaborated closely with flamenco / rumba singers and bands, highlighting the productions that genius Josep Llobell did for the Belter label in Barcelona. Here you got 12 disco-rumba-flamenco bombs, a time machine to the boites and discotheques of the late 70s and the perfect soundtrack to an imaginary Kinki' cinema soundtrack.

Featuring Sangre Gitana, Rumba 3, Tobago, Los Gachós, La Marelu, El Turronero...

Insert with liner notes by Txarly Brown and photos.

Peter Kadergard has been active in the Helsingborg (Sweden) electronic music scene since the early 1990's. He was involved in various collaborations during the 90's and appeared on a few cassette releases under the names Grodans Fodelsedag, Marchentraum and Mannix System. Peter released his first Rittowski record on the Borft sub label Djuring Phonogram in 2004. Apart from this electro project Peter is a member of the bands Goz Mongo Alliance and Inyurmania, who has made a few releases on the Ufo Mongo, Pripuzzi and Skiboy record labels. This is new Electro!

On Video Age's forthcoming album Pop Therapy, out June 22nd via Inflated Records, longtime friends and songwriting partners Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli conjure up a thrilling assortment of experimental pop songs. Using a palette of vintage synthesizers and the propulsion of a Sequential Circuits Drumtraks drum machine, the New Orleans-based group's buoyant synth-pop echoes from some imagined vision of the past, leaning on an invented nostalgia to soundtrack an ideal future that never arrived. Video Age brings that future fully to life on Pop Therapy. Emerging from New Orleans' DIY scene and label collectives, Farbe and Micarelli were intrigued by each other's songwriting among several curiously satisfying guitar pop bands. As a producer and prolific engineer, Farbe has helmed some of the most exciting releases from genre-pushing New Orleans artists, whose singular visions are made possible with his gifted ear and love of tape recording. Micarelli's talent for crafting simple, tangible melodies complements Farbe's studio world-building, letting ideas drift until they emerge into impressive arrangements. The pair's seemingly effortless gift for crafting earworm hooks was glimpsed on their 2016 debut Living Alone, a gorgeous collection of guitar-driven melancholy. On Pop Therapy, they're joined by Duncan Troast, Nick Corson and Jordan Odom, taking inspiration from the limitless possibility on sonic canvases of the late 1970s and early 1980s (Yellow Magic Orchestra, McCartney II, Donald Fagen's The Nightfly). Where Living Alone catalogued the solitude of reflecting on what was and could have been, the sentimental love songs on Pop Therapy gaze longingly at the likeliness of a brighter tomorrow.

After their psychedelic tour to Alice's Wonderland on their adventurous second album, CRuNCH 22, the Tel Aviv based Rhodes, turntables & drums power-trio, is back with "LUSH FLUSH", a fiercer than ever EP of raw, in-your-face grooves.

Opening track "Cairo" places a persistent Egyptian orchestra sample on top of a Led Zepplin-styled heavy beat; "Osaka" sounds like an early 2000s indie-pop with vocals sampled from a japanese folk song; "Baba" fuses Middle Eastern leads with broken beats; "Minderbinder" is a quirky afrobeat and "Young & Happy" is an odd metered pseudo-house track. While this list might seem as eclectic as you can get, the band's unique instrumentation and live playing style manages to make it sound completely coherent.

On the flip side of this 12" vinyl are three remixes by some of Israel's finest producers: Markey Funk's space-rock version of Cairo; Mule Driver's techno edit of Baba; and Obas Nenor's house remix of Young & Happy take these tunes deep into the dancefloor, making the "LUSH FLUSH" EP an important tool in any DJ's arsenal.

"For the final part of SchleiBen 5 - 8, Emotional Response welcomes two Scottish based artists to close out the series. In Jon Keliehor you have a world and music traveler with history from psychedelic rock to fourth world exposure, alongside one of the best electronic producers of the last decade, Lord Of The Isles. As the drummer of West Coast folk rock / psychedelic band The Daily Flash, Keleihor spent much of the mid-60 based in and out of Seattle and Los Angles, playing alongside the likes of Jefferson Airplane, Cream and The Doors, before an increasing interest in meditation and philosophies outside of the 'rock' realm led him to England in the early 70s where he become involved in dance theatre. Teaching Advanced Rhythmic Music Studies at the London Contemporary Dance School, his music composition style became influenced by his studies of world music. Finally settling in Glasgow for over 20 years, while running the Luminous Music label and Gamelan Naga Mas, his earlier recordings for labels like Indipop, Touch and Bruton have seen a recent revival, with music appearing recently on contemporaries Optimo Music and Invisible Inc. The wonderful recordings included here span over 3 decades, from sessions at the Luminous Studio at The Diorama Theatre, London in the early 80s, through to recent field-work based recordings in the Cairngorms. Reconfigured and updated, a common thread appears through the pieces - a sense of longing and appreciation - as Jon's knowledge of outer-national instrumentation alongside equally extensive travels around the globe gives the recordings a seamless blend of organic craft. The tonal consonances within unlikely combinations of instruments, with tuned glasses (tarang), tabla, jaw harps, clay flutes and ocarinas, Chinese instruments that include Xiao-Bo and Xiao-Ping, large Noah bells, small and larges gongs all employed, the recordings have been reconstructed, edited and updated via sampling and digital processing. Featuring the playing of John "Jhalib" Millar - the extraordinarily gifted musician and tabla player - who has appeared with an EP on sister label, Emotional Rescue (ERC029), sadly recently deceased, the contribution acts as a tribute and more. To close, the music of Lord Of The Isles is an excellent companion to Jon's work. Neil McDonald's list of club-based releases on labels CockTail D'Amor, Ene, Firecracker, Permanent Vacation, ESP Institute and Phonica is comprehensive and exemplary, however within his productions has often been an other-worldly element, a space between the beats and occasional fully ambient pieces. Approached originally for series one of SchleiBen, the 7 pieces included were worth the wait, a journey in themselves and the perfect completion. Spanning almost 5 years, the majority were written during an extended exile in the Cairngorms. The lifting, ethereal, but melodic nature of the music fits that aesthetic. Blue skies, snow, long walks, space to think, but with a longing and appreciation of family and friends. The solitary nature found in SchleiBen 8 and the geographical incidence of both artist's recordings including sessions in the Scottish Highlands fits the series ideals and is a nice closure. Enjoy and listen. "

Speed For Lovers release debut album 'Hot Yoga Emoji' on society Records / Ubishi Recordings
Originally from Sheffield, Liverpool & The Forest Of Dean, the three lovers met in the network of little mesters music studios on John Street in Sheffield.Initially engineering, producing and playing on each other's projects, they subsequently teamed up to form Speed For Lovers in 2010.
The past eight years have been spent wearing out rave trainers, building studios in their attics and sheds, geeking out with Sound on Sound articles and faffing with tech.
With two members who came and stayed and one who couldn't leave, 'Hot Yoga Emoji' is the band's ode to Sheffield.
Field recordings of late nights out and early stumblings home link tracks together and place their moments of creation in the city.
Spurred on by Sheffield's Kabal nights and trips to The Electric Chair in Mcr, 'Hot Yoga Emoji' mixes live drums and bass guitar with pocket sound generators, old synths and vocals to create an album of irresistible live dance music.!

Salvador Font studied violin, clarinet, composition and harmony at the Conservatori Municipal de Barcelona, but very soon started to gain notoriety as a saxophonist in the rich jazz scene of 1940s Barcelona. Font would soon be playing tenor sax and clarinet in the Orquesta Gran Casino. He was in his early twenties and his hot swing technique was already praised through the citiy's scene, he would grow to be considered the best saxophonist in Spain by playing in many orchestras and combos, among them: José Puertas', Antonio Vilá's Virgina, Bonet de San Pedro's band, Pierre Michel, El Lirio Campestre, Los Marios, Luis Rovira y su orquesta, Orquesta brasileña Fon-Fon, Jaime Camino, Los Embajadores, Italo Leone's... With these and others, Font toured constantly, visiting many countries and even staying on some for long seasons: Mexico, Morocco, Switzerland, Egypt... Hungarian violinst of Turkish ancestry Kurt Dogan gave him the "Mantequilla" surname - he felt "Mantequilla" (which means "butter") fit Font's mellow yet swinging improvisation style.

Mantequilla y su conjunto

In the early sixties, "Mantequilla" had the chance to lead his own combo, Mantequilla y su conjunto, with which he was to record the three splendid EPs that are compiled on the present album. All these 7" have become elusive collector pieces in the record market, with sellers demanding from 200 to as much as 950 euros per copy.

In 1961 "Mantequilla" was at his best moment, his gigs at the Jamboree Jazz Cava had brought him back to the first line of Barcelona's jazzmen after he had been working abroad for a long time, and was approached by the Belter label to record an EP. On the sessions he was accompanied by Manolo Mercedes on trumpet, Pedro Ferré on piano, Rafael Lizandra on double bass and Rafael Verdura on Drums. The material chosen for the disc were four original compositions by Salvador Font which had a high West Coast flavour all over: "La Tuna Club", "Whisky Jazz" and "Jamboree" named after famous jazz clubs and "Azul Trompeta", dedicated to Manolo Mercedes.

In late 1962, after spending some time in Madrid working as members of the Italo Leone combo, "Mantequilla" and pianist Manuel Gas came back to Barcelona for the recording of the second "Mantequilla" EP, also on Belter. We find again Manolo Mercedes on trumpet, Pedro Ferré on piano and Rafael Lizandra on double bass, the drummer this time was José Farreras. Another news is that Manuel Gas also sat on piano and vibraphone. The songs chosen for the occasion were two tunes from the Art Blakey Jazz Messengers repertoire: Bobby Timmons' classic "Moanin'" and the Jacques Marray track "No Problem" from the soundtrack of the Les liaisons dangereuses film (mispelled "Not Problem" on the sleeve and label), plus the Salvador Font penned "Blue Note" and "Full de ases" - on "Full de ases" "Mantequilla" trades his sax for the violin, which he also mastered under high influence from Stephane Grapelli. The record was released on Belter in early 1963 and showed "Mantequilla" adding a certain aggressivity to his sound, in a soloist style which has been compared to that of tenor saxophonists Barney Wilen or Benny Golson.

1965 was the year of release of Mantequilla y su conjunto's third EP, now on the Discophon label. Mercedes and Farreras are again present in the recording sessions, joined by Ricardo Miralles on piano and Enrique Ponsa on double bass. Four original Font compositions make up the fantastic EP: "Blues 3/4", "Atmósfera", "Vat 69" and "Balada".

There would be a further EP on Belter, released in 1971 as Mantequilla Group it was a cash-in operation to take some redits of the ye-yé discothèque phenomenon, it gets quite afar in style from the jazz works of Mantequilla y su conjunto, so we just left it aside for the present edition.

"Mantequilla"'s career would continue, in 1968 he would settle in Majorca and form a swing band with Bonet de San Pedro and Manuel Bolao. He played in local orquestras and also with first class world acts like Gerry Mulligan, Tete Montoliu, Errol Gardner, a.o. He was even approached by Henry Mancini to play sax on The Pink Panther Theme in a gig Mancini did with his orchestra in Palma de Mallorca in 1975, He also joined his son Salvador Font (a demanded drummer himself who has played with Máquina!, Orquestra Mirasol, Música Urbana, Gary Burton Quartet, Georgie Fame, and many others) and his peers Carles Benavent, Emili Baleriola, Josep Mas 'Kitflus' and Jordi Bonell with whom he recorded his acclaimed "Mantequilla" album in 1987.

Now, for the first time ever, the legendary three ultra rare and imposible to find EPs by Mantequilla y su conjunto are compiled in a lavish vinyl LP with remastered sound, featuring liner notes and photos and a fantastic period inspired, three backflaped, front laminated sleeve. It is a stricly limited edition of only 500 copies and they are expected to sell out very soon, do not miss your chance of getting yours - it may be the last chance of chasing the Mantequilla sound on vinyl at a reasonable price!














l

One man's vision of Soul music's evolving potential' ROLLING STONE

The Bamboos are one of the highest profile soul / funk acts in Australia, and have been recognised worldwide as masters of reinventing the genre with modern songwriting within classic arrangements & production over the past 10 years. They've clocked up some impressive Spotify hits numbers on along the way: " Wilhelm Scream" (3.5 M), 'On The Sly' (2.8 M), 'Helpless Blues' (1.8 M)"
Mainstay members Lance Ferguson and vocalist Kylie Auldist are also the creative forces behind one of 2016's biggest singles, 'This Girl' by Kungs Vs Cookin' On 3 Burners. Ferguson played on and co-wrote the song (incl that infectious guitar riff and lyrics) which along with Auldist's powerhouse vocals. The remix went on to hit #1 in France, Germany, #2 in the UK, top 20 in Australia and the US and top 30 in 35 countries. It's edging close to half a billion Spotify plays and 300 million Youtube hits.
Having previously collaborated with the likes of Aloe Blacc and Alice Russell, their latest offering 'Night Time People' see's the band call to mind everyone from Martha Reeves to Sharon Jones, The Bamboos deliver two catchy singles that draw together the raw drive of their earliest LPs and their more recent progressive experimentations in the studio. It's a fresh approach that finds the band wholly reenergised.

Favorite Recordings presents this new official album reissue of State of Emmergency by French band The Fizz: A real underrated, complete and intriguing album, originally released in 1986 as a private-press LP and quite hard to find in good conditions nowadays.

The Fizz is mostly the result of Patrick Jouanneau, a French musician, composer and producer who's still active today. He remembers: In the early 80's I had a recording studio allowing me to easily fulfil my desire to create songs. It was then that I began to compose and write songs, in French or in English in this case. State Of Emergency (spelling on the LP is a mistake), is born from a fierce will on my part, and the other four have followed, but it was not easy, the musicians, you have to get them out of bed! I have to say that Richard Larozé, the pianist, was a very strong guy with harmonies, and has somewhat changed my first version, much more oriented in Soul and R&B.'

And when asked about his main influences, Patrick says: It's always difficult for me to speak about influences, out of respect, and humility especially, but they nourished us and nourished this project, Stevie Wonder, Al Jarreau, Earth, Wind & Fire, and so on, were and still are important to me and this was the case for the entire FIZZ group.'

At the end, State of Emmergency by The Fizz is a very interesting and brilliant album with great inspiration in melodies and compositions. And who knows, listening to the title "A So Called Being", it could even have inspired a certain King of Pop'...

WHITE RING mark a triumphant return with a brand new full-length Gate Of Grief, due out on Rocket Girl on 22 June 2018. Their debut album arrives a full eight years since their benchmark EP, Black Earth That Made Me, which sold out almost instantly, making their records some of the most highly sought after on the underground scene and earning them a cult following across the globe. Swerving from aggressively abrasive to beautifully ethereal, musically they draw from varied and challenging palette, whilst tackling themes of loss and acceptance due to struggles with drug addiction and existential dread on a broader scope.

WHITE RING were originally formed by Bryan Kurkimilis and Kendra Malia, before they were joined by Adina Viarengo, with Bryan and Adina currently touring as a duo. One of the most acclaimed proponents of the "Witch House" movement, WHITE RING blend heavy, distorted electronics with eerie, unsettling vocals. However, their new material, created over the course of seven years, pushes the boundaries further, subverting genre ideas and mashing them all together, with industrial, metal, rave, chopped and screwed, rap, grunge, neo folk, post punk and new wave all in the mix. As Bryan Kurkimilis explains; 'We treat our influences like tools to create a certain feeling. We are interested in covering more ground than sticking to a certain formula.'
Bryan and Kendra originally met on Myspace in 2006. At the time Bryan lived in New Orleans and Kendra was in New York, and they didn't even meet face-to-face until 2008 after they had already released a few singles. In 2010 they released the EP Black Earth That Made Me, which was a collection of songs that they mostly recorded before they met in person. The record confounded expectations by selling out immediately on pre-order, making it very rare and highly sought after, with copies going on Ebay for large sums. It was reissued by Rocket Girl in 2011 and still continues to sell in voluminous amounts.

They started playing live in 2009 and rapidly grew a reputation for their captivating performances, usually bringing their own lighting equipment and putting on a spectacular laser show. They have played for large crowds in their hometown of NYC and toured the UK in 2010 in support of their sold out split 7" with oOoOO, playing InTheCity and SWN festivals - which were their first shows outside of New York. They have since shared the stage with the likes of Cold Cave, araabMUZIK, Liturgy, Blank Dogs, Gatekeeper, Blondes, oOoOO, Clams Casino, and others.  
They started recording Gate Of Grief in 2010, with the hope of exploring new musical territory, however they took a while to find their path. Bryan and Kendra had some tough personal battles to fight, a sense that pervades the whole album. Thematically it delves in to some pretty dark places whilst exploring the concept of time and what it does to people, relationships and society. As Bryan explains; 'There is a lot of tragedy in this album but there is also hope at the end of it.'
By 2016 pressure was building to finish recording, however due to Kendra's ill health, they needed to bring in someone new to assist with vocals. Fortunately they found Adina Viarengo, who had played in various bands and gave them the impetus needed to complete the album. Shortly after meeting in Brooklyn, Bryan and Adina moved to Joshua Tree, California to finish recording the album, before settling in Massachusetts. Her vocal style fitted in seamlessly with what Kendra had been doing, and although she sang on half the songs, it's almost impossible to tell who is singing on which track, thus making her the perfect addition to the band.
Gate of Grief can be considered the second part of Black Earth That Made Me, or rather, they are the first two chapters in an overarching trilogy about evolution. As Bryan explains; 'First you are born but then you realize what you are and what is against you and it's a flood of emotion that you can only hope to hold on for and let it pass.'
The album title, Gate of Grief, refers to the real gate between Africa and Saudi Arabia that is believed to be the spot where the first humans migrated out of Africa and went on to populate the rest of the world. The album art ties in with this concept, with an image depicting a group of settlers in the USA in early 1900 during a parade. They were actually from a cult in the early 1900s in Bryan's hometown of Fort Myers, Florida.













M 13) Burn It Down

Who Do You Go To For Your Very First Session When You Have Just Been Gifted Your Very Own Top-flight 'stradivarius Of Synth Based Studios' Enter 'the Grid' ...mr David Ball: One Man Band Of Pioneering Electro-pop Distorters Soft Cell, Part Time Psychic Tv Personality, Film Soundtrack Composer And All Round Synth Afficionado & Richard Norris: Eclectic Beat-meister & Ambient Dj, Record Producer, Commited Psychedelicist From 'beyond The Wizard's Sleeve'. The 1990's Saw Worldwide Commercial Success As The Grid Scored 10 Uk Chart Hits, Many A Euro Hit Including 1994's International Mega-hit 'swamp Thing' Featuring A Twisted Use Of Sampled Banjos Lifted From The 1970's Okie Shocker Movie 'providence. In 1996 The Grid Went On A Holiday And They Didn't Return Till 2005. In The Initial Week Of The Moog Sound-lab In Early 2015 As The Studio Was Literally Put Together Around Them, Our Abiding Memory Was Their Absolutely Delighted Grins As Each Moog Unit Was Added To The Lab. Dave & Richard Created This Benchmark Album Of Deluxe 'tronic Trax That Showcased Their Prarie Wide Knowledge Of Electronica & Their Ocean Deep Skills As Both Technicians & Original Soundscapers - Kraftwerk-ian Werk-outs, Space Noise Jams, And Slinky Grooves With Subtle Pop-tones.

Repress

Micah Shemaiah Teamed Up With Fruits Records' Studio Band The 18th Parallel Earlier This Year To Produce The Unanimously Acclaimed roots I Vision' Album On Evidence Music Label. The Album Hit Every Charts In The Reggae World And Is Seen As One Of The Best Effort Of 2018! In Collaboration With Evidence Music, Fruits Records Is Proud To Release On 12' Maxi Vinyl Two Of The Toughest Tunes Of The Album In Their Eight Minutes Extended Versions : A Side Features Heavyweight Stepper zion Trod' And B Side Gives The Rub A Dub Anthem soul Rider'. This One Is A Sound System Must Have! Killer Tunes + Ultra Heavy Pressing In A Early 80's Jamaican Simmons Style!

'Middle of the Road Less Travelled' is not only the debut release by Michal Turtle on Light of Other Days, it is also his first new material released since the amazing reissues put out by Music From Memory in recent years. The three tracks on this EP were written and produced by Michal in 2017 with additional production and guitar playing by Light of Other Days' very own HOVE.

The two met back in 2016 when HOVE contacted Michal after he heard the 12' «Are you Psychic» and was blown away. As it turned out Michal was living in Basel which is only a short train ride away by train from the Light of Other Days home base in Zurich. The two started meeting and playing music together. Soon after, they put together a live-show for Michal's music which had its debut show at Phono Festival in Denmark in 2017. During this time, they started working on new music together as well. The result is this EP.

The music on 'Middle of the Road Less Travelled' is a continuation of Michal's musical exploration into other-worldly territory. Michal is a master in building hypnotic textures from repetitive rhythms that collide with trippy and atmospheric synthesizers. The delayed and dubby guitar lines by HOVE were recorded during rehearsal sessions in Michal's living room in Basel and the last track of the EP 'Agallo (Real)' ends with vocals performed by Lucianne Lassalle. Besides playing in local bands with Michal back in the 80s, Lucianne also performed and co- wrote early Michal Turtle tracks like 'Phantoms of Dreamland' or 'Village Voice' from his first record 'Music from the Living Room'.

Miss Kittin & The Hacker are the Electro duo of Caroline Hervé and Michel Amato from Grenoble, France. The pair met during the early 90s at a rave and soon after bought turntables and began DJing. In 1996, they started writing music heavily influenced by 1980s synthpop and post-punk bands like Fad Gadget, DAF, Liaisons Dangeuresues, and Yazoo, as well as Italo Disco. Bored by the techno scene at the time, they set out out to lighten the serious tone and bring a campy sexiness to the dour musical landscape. Upon hearing their demos DJ Hell signed them to his Munich-based International DJ Gigolo label and released their first 2 EPs in 1998 and 1999. Their debut album 'First Album" was released in 2001 followed by . in .

Lost Tracks Vol. 2' contains 4 previously unreleased demos recorded between 1997 and 1999. The duo fused 80's European New Wave/Italo Disco with 90's Detroit Electro acts like Le Car and Dopplereffekt. By utilizing verse-chorus structures, they playfully shook up the loop based hard techno and electro that was popular at the time. Their studio set up at the time was a Korg MS-20, Roland SH-101, TR-606, TR-808, Siel DK80, and Boss DR-660 drum machine. The songs are direct, spontaneous, seemingly improvised in places. Miss Kittin sings about falling in love in the new millennium, snuff movies and controlling the unknown trip to death, all in her cheekily derisive French accent.

All songs have been transferred from the original DAT tapes by the band and remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The vinyl comes housed in a glossy jacket featuring a black and white photo of the duo taken in 1996. Each LP includes a postcard with liner notes from Miss Kittin and The Hacker designed by Eloise Leigh. As Miss Kittin says of these demos, We were naive, innocent, adventurous and we didn't expect anything in return'

Twenty-eight Years Ago, Pissed-off Twelve-year-olds Around The Universe Discovered A New Planet, A Black Planet. Public Enemy's Aggressive, Benihana Beats And Incendiary Lyrics Instilled Fear Among Parents And Teachers Everywhere, Even In The Border Town Of Laredo, Texas, Home Of The Future Founders Of The Latin-funk-soul-breaks Super Group, Brownout. The Band's Sixth Full-length Album (out May 25th) Fear Of A Brown Planet Is A Musical Manifesto Inspired By Public Enemy's Music And Revolutionary Spirit.

Chuck D., The Bomb Squad, Flava Flav And The Rest Of The P.e. Posse Couldn't Possibly Have Expected That Their Golden-era Hip Hop Albums Would Sow The Seeds For Countless Public Enemy Sleeper Cells, One That Would Emerge Nearly Three Decades Later In Austin, Texas. Greg Gonzalez (bass) Remembers A Kid Back In Junior High Hipped Him To The Fact That Public Enemy's bring The Noise' Is Built On James Brown Samples, While A Teenaged Beto Martinez (guitar) Alternated Between Metal And Hip-hop In His Walk-man, And Adrian Quesada (guitar/keys) Remembers Falling In Love With Public Enemy's Sound At An Early Age. when I Got Into Hip Hop, I Was Looking For This Aggressive Outlet . . . And I Didn't Even Understand What They Were Pissed Off About, Because I Was Twelve And Lived In Laredo . . . But I Loved It And I Felt Angry Along With Them.'

Joseph Abajian (fat Beats' Owner) Must Have Sensed The Deep Hip-hop Well Lying Beneath The Versatile Band's Latin-funk Veneer. i Thought Their Sound Would Work Covering Public Enemy Songs,' Abajian Says, And, it Was Good To Know They Were P.e. Fans . . . We Came Up With A Track Listing And They Went To Work.' Despite The Band's Eagerness To Work On New Original Material (an Album Of Original Songs Is Slated For Next Year), They Couldn't Pass Up The Opportunity To Pay Homage To This Iconic And Influential Posse.

Translating Sample-based Music To A Live Band Turned Out To Be More Of A Challenge Than They Anticipated. Adrian Tried To Get Inside The Bomb Squad's (public Enemy's Producers/beat-making Team) Head In Order To Find The Inspiration To Reinterpret P.e.'s Songs: imagine The Bomb Squad Going Back In Time And Getting The J.b.s (james Brown's Funky Backing Band) In The Studio And Setting Up A Couple Analog Synths And Then Playing Those Songs.' While Some Songs Closely Follow The Original Musical Blueprint, Others Use The Source Breakbeats As Jumping-off Points Later Sweetened By Trombonist Mark speedy' Gonzales' Horn Arrangements, Synth Wizardry Courtesy Of Friend-of-the-band Peter Stopschinski, And Dj Trackstar's Turntable Scratches. But Don't Listen Expecting To Hear Paint-by-numbers Recreations Of Classic Public Enemy Jams. our Approach Is Never In The Tribute Sense,' Adrian Explains. we've Always Taken It And Made It Our Own, Whether It's The Brown Sabbath Thing Or This Public Enemy Thing.' Coming Off Numerous Tours As Brown Sabbath And Even A Stint Backing The Late Legend Prince, Brownout Is Arguably The Tightest And Funkiest Band On The Road Today And They're Psyched To Bring This Revolutionary Music To The People. For A Band Without An Overt Political Agenda, They Collectively Couldn't Resist The Opportunity To Play This Music Live, Especially Now. if There's Any Way That We Can Use The Already Political And Protest Nature (of P.e.'s Music), We Would Like To Try,' Beto Says. the Album's Title, Fear Of Brown Planet Is Definitely A Relevant Idea Today And We're Not Afraid To Put It Out There, Because We Want To Speak Out.' By Reinterpreting These Hip Hop Classics In Their Unique Style And Channeling The Spirit Of Public Enemy That First Echoed Around The World And Captured Their Imaginations All Those Years Ago, Brownout Is Doing Exactly That.

Factory Benelux presents a new vinyl edition of Swimming, the debut album by Belgian new wave group The Names, originally issued in June 1982, and now issued in a limited edition of 300 copies on clear vinyl.

Between 1979 and 1982 The Names recorded a string of excellent records for Factory, Factory Benelux and Les Disques du Crepuscule, all helmed by legendary producer Martin Hannett. Recorded at Strawberry Studios in Manchester, Swimming has come to be regarded as a European cold wave classic, combining strong songwriting from Michel Sordinia and poised, tasteful delivery by guitarist Marc Deprez and keyboards player Christophe Den Tandt.

"Exhibits many of the fine qualities of early 80s avant-rock: icy brutalism, spectral reverb, tormented vocals, techno-tribal rumbles" (Uncut, 12/2000); "Swimming retains a gorgeously shrouded, sepulchral mood" (Mojo, 12/2011); "Intelligent and imaginative" (The Face, 7/1982)
Bonus tracks include the popular singles Calcutta, Nightshift, Spectators of Life and The Astronaut, as well as the band's John Peel session from February 1982 - the first ever recorded by a Belgian band. The gatefold sleeve features original artwork and poster design by Benoit Hennebert, and photographs by Marc Portee.

Sing a song fighter have never been more proud and happy than to finally announce and release this unissued and unheard fantastic recording South African in exile Johnny Dyani was one of the greatest bass players. Played with Don Cherry, Chris McGregor, Archie Sheep, Dollar Brand / Abdullah Ibrahim etc etc. He also made many great albums as a bandleader. And a few rare minimal albums where it was mostly him and his upright bass. He died way too early, in 1986. Karl Jonas Winqvist (Sing A Song Fighter) ranks some of Dyani's works ("African Bass", 'Witchdoctor's Son" with Okay Temiz and "Good News From Africa', with Dollar Brand) as "the most natural, creative musical force there is'. KJW investigated for years if there was more recorded Dyani material waiting to be heard. And where After e-mailing endlessly with the National Radio Museum in Switzerland he finally found what he was looking for.In 1978 graphic designer Niklaus Troxler arranged the great Willisau Jazz Festival in Switzerland. A lot of legendary artists like Max Roach, Jan Garbarek, Elvin Jones and Don Cherry were performing, and Johnny Dyani was one of them. He did this rare solo concert with some of the material that two years later would end up on his great album "African Bass". This LP contains the concert from beginning to end, showing Dyani at his very best on piano, gong, bass and vocals. Spiritual, adventurous and truly free,beautiful music.Gatefold cover, with extensive liner notes from Francis Gooding and Niklaus Troxler

Recorded in the Autumn of 2017 at their studio in Vancouver's Deep Blue, MVX / U41A' is the first new music from Minimal Violence to be released on Ninja Tune's Technicolor imprint and the first to be recorded outside their usual home production space. The result is a record that intends to reduce pop music to its emotive qualities and apply that abstract nostalgia back into dance tracks. Their penchant for the heavier and more aggressive side of dance music is most evident in its infiltration of the duo's often raw and disorientating live set. Formed in 2015 the duo, consisting of Ashlee Luk and Lida P, have a string of releases to date with labels such as Lobster Theremin, 1080p and Jungle Gym Records. Drawing on Luk's years of experience playing in punk bands, they combine hardware sequencers, drum machines and synths, to weave together acid tinged compositions that derive inspiration from early electronic and minimal synth through to heavier UK rave and hardcore.

Recorded in Philadelphia in 1969, The Deirdre Wilson Tabac's sole album is a beautiful blend of funk, jazz and soulful pop. Possessing the complex grooves, thrilling breaks and ethereal weirdness that The Rotary Connection pedalled so brilliantly, the LP failed to connect with audiences upon its original release.

In the decades since, it has deservedly attracted a considerable cult following. However, almost inevitably, it has become increasingly tricky to pick up a copy in good condition for anything less than eye-watering sums. As such, we're delighted to present the first officially licensed vinyl reissue of this undoubted masterpiece of freaky funk-rock, limited to just 500 copies.

The Tabac were, in fact, a trio. Discovered, managed and produced by Svengali Sonny Casella (who'd earlier managed garage band The Magic Mushrooms), they comprised Deirdre Wilson, Stu Freeman (formerly of said Mushrooms) and Barbara Payne (formerly with the James Brown Revue). They were backed by session players including jazz guitarist Chuck Anderson, bassist Hugh McDonald and keyboardist Roy Bittan (who went on to be a long-term Bruce Springsteen sideman).

Their first single coupled two fine Casella compositions, each featuring powerhouse vocal workouts, the supremely funk-fuelled blues beat of "The Other Side Of Life" and the psychedelic-flavoured "Look In My Face" - both of which are featured here. This 7" picked enough up airplay to merit an album, which duly appeared early the following year, but, as is often the way with these lost classics, it received barely any press. Correspondingly, sales where low and the trio didn't last long.

And herein lies the real tragedy. The rest of the LP deserves to be heard from start-to-finish - it's that good. A beguiling mix of funky folk and rocky jazz tracks, with some deep, string-drenched harmony soul ballads and a handful of remarkable covers elegantly presented througout. Indeed, they put some sauntered head-nod funk into The Beatles' "Get Back" whilst tearing through a version of "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay" which gives Otis' original a real run for its money.

But the real standout cut for most - with its soulful, haunting vocals, swinging hammond organ and stabbing horns, is the incredible 6/8 time jazz dancer "I Can't Keep From Cryin' Sometimes." Staggering.

This is the only album from The Tutt Band known to ever be recorded. The ultra rare and sought after boogie-funk LP on Spoonful Records out of Phoenix, Arizona was released in 1988, but style-wise it sounds much more like being recorded in 1983 or 1984. It contains ten very solid and good tracks - both club tunes and slow jams - that all hit the required spot. There's also some treats for all Roger Troutman and vocoder lovers. Head straight to the ultra dope tracks 'Get It On' and 'She's Got It Going'. In retrospect The Tutt Band has been one of the little known but essential groups whom created the funky and beat heavy new jack swing sound that dominated American r&b from the mid eighties and early nineties.

On The 50th Anniversary Of The Band's Inception At An Event In Harlem, Ny To Commemorate Malcolm X's Birthday On 19 May 1968, Influential Spoken Word Artists, Poets And Commentators The Last Poets Are Set To Make A Glorious And Relevant Return With Their First Album In Over 20 Years, 'understand What Black Is'.

Produced By Ben Lamdin (nostaglia 77) And Brighton Legend Prince Fatty, Whose Speciality Is Traditional Reggae And Dub Production's, 'understand What Black Is' Is A Ten-track Album Which Speaks Of A Revolutionary Struggle Defined By Both Race And Identity, That Has Never Sounded More Relevant. Released On Studio Rockers, There Will Also Be An Accompanying Single Featuring Remixes Of The Title Track "understand What Black Is" By Mala (south London Collective Digital Mystikz) And Uk Dance Music Innovators Dego And Kaidi.

Since The Initial Line-up Of Dahveed Nelson, Gylan Kain And Felipe Luciano Formed In East Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, The Last Poets Have Produced Under Various Guises Over The Subsequent Years. However, It Was Their Seminal Output, Namely 1970's 'the Last Poets' Under Both Umar Bin Hassan And Abiodun Oyewole That Secured Their Legacy, Becoming One Of The Most Important Influences In Early Hip Hop.

Throughout The Last 20 Years, The Band Have Remained Largely On Hiatus. But Their Influence Could Still Be Felt With Their Tracks Being Sampled By The Notorious B.i.g, Nwa, A Tribe Called Quest, Dr.dre And Snoop Dogg. Umar Has Recorded Various Solo Albums And Featured On Common And Kanye West's Grammy Nominated 'the Corner'. Abiodun Appeared On The Red Hot Organization's Album, Stolen Moments Which Was Named "album Of The Year" By Time. He Also Conducts Weekly Open House Poetry Readings, Where He Constructively Critiques Upcoming Poets, Helping To Nurture Them. He Has Also Conducted Classes At Columbia University, Where He Teaches Creative Writing.

The Inauguration Of Donald Trump As Us President In 2016 Inspired Hassan And Oyewole To Resurrect The Group To Create A Brand New Record, Modern And Edgy, And Deeply Relevant And Reflective Of Our Times.

Tracks On 'understand What Black Is' Include 'how Many Bullets', Which Bridles With Defiance As Oyewole Works Through A Litany Of Injustices Suffered By Black People In The Us: " You've Tried

To Blow My Brains Out With Bigotry, Chopped Off My Wings, So I Couldn't Fly Free, And Dared Me To Be Me, Took My Drum, Broke My Hands, Yanked My Roots Right Up Out Of The Land, And Riddled My Soul With Jesus" 'what I Want To See' Describes A Utopia - A Refuge From Hurt And Those Who'd Make "our Vision Blurred, And Our Faith Obscure", Whilst The Title Track 'understand What Black Is' Aims To Transcend Ethnicity: "understand What Black Is....it's The Source From Which All Things Come...black Is A Hero, Not A Villain."

The Album Even Takes Reference From Prince's 2003 Album Of Instrumentals, 'news', Which Hassan Drew Comparisons From With His Own Childhood Experiences: "that Poem Took Me About A Year To Write....i Just Kept Writing And Writing But Not Getting Too Far And Then I Heard That Album And The Musicianship Was Amazing. I Was Left Wondering If It Was Jazz, Classical, Rock Or Maybe Something New But All Those Images That I Write About Came To Me From Listening To That Album. I Loved Prince In That Movie Purple Rain Because My Father Was A Talented Musician But He Was Into Brutalising Mama At Times And In The Movie There's A Jerome And My Name Is Jerome, So It Was Like He Was Telling My Life Story As Well."

The Album Acts As A Body Of Work Between Individual Members Each Speaking Of Their Own Personal Journeys, But Feeding Into The Much Larger Narrative Of Struggle And Oppression, Alongside A Fervent Hunger For Social Change. These Are Struggles And Tests Of Personal Resolve That Have Directly Shaped And Moulded The Bands' Unique Sound Over The Course Of An Impressive 50 Years, And Their Powerful And Influential Commentary Remains As Relevant As Ever.

Grammy-nominated Ostinato Records presents "Abu Obaida Hassan & His Tambour: The Shaigiya Sound of Sudan" in a gatefold LP packaging with vintage photos and authentic Sudanese designs.
A complex blend of Arab melodies, Nubian rhythms, and signature Sudanese call and response by a legend of Shaigiya music from nothern Sudan.

Abu Obaida Hassan and the wonders of his five-string tambour remained largely a mystery. In the early 2000's, a prominent Sudanese newspaper declared him dead. Internet forums confirmed his passing. Many in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, said he had indeed died.
But rumors that he was still alive persisted.

What was always certain is Abu Obaida Hassan's mercurial talent.
His command of a modified tambour, backed by a chorus and two drummers, unleashed swirling melodies alongside complex Nubian rhythms and hypnotic Sudanese call and response. His bands roster constantly changed, but he remained at the helm, playing for sold out shows in cities across the country and capturing the dancefloors and youth of 1970's and 80's Sudan. This is a rich, raw example of the human experience with sound from northern Sudan, an ancient part of the world, and the birthplace of civilization. Music like this isn't mastered overnight.

The Ostinato team first came across Abu Obaida's recordings in 2011, finding scratchy bits and pieces along the years. We traveled to Sudan in 2016 to find the clues to piece together the Abu Obaida Hassan puzzle. Through some extensive detective work with our man in Khartoum, Ahmed Asysouti, and a generous dose of good fortune, we tracked Abu Obaida to the rural outskirts of Omdurman, the old capital just across the White Nile from Khartoum. Age has taken its toll, but he remains full of life and music, ready to jointly curate a selection of his eight best cuts. He has written over 100 songs, only 30 were recorded.

Abu Obaida comes from the Shaigiya people, whose culture is spread around the ancient city of Merowe, home of traditional Nubian culture, where pyramids older than those in Egypt still stand. They trace their entire lineage to one man, Shaig, who migrated from the Arabian peninsula in the 15th century. An endlessly rhythmic syncretism between Arab and Nubian styles, Abu Obaida's Shaigiya music was an in demand party affair in an era when a vibrant nightlife and roving sound systems were a staple of life in Sudan.

It was music for a modern era, and Abu Obaida, at just 19, rebelliously abandoned traditional Shaigiya music traditions, pioneering a new sound by adding an extra string to his tambour and electrifying an instrument adored across East Africa. The result was complexity in simplicity and a hyper-talented artist who mirrors the story of Sudan's highs and lows, from the leading tambour maestro of the hour to such obscurity on the fringes that he was believed dead. "They killed me!", he likes to joke.

Abu Obaida Hassan, his music and the musical traditions of the Shaigiya remain alive and kicking. A culmination of a 7-year journey — from first hearing Abu Obaida's distinct sound, found only in Sudan, to finding the man — has produced the first global release of Shaigiya music and is just the beginning of Ostinato's immersion into Sudan, with a full compilation of the lavish musical history of one the most diverse countries in Africa due later this year. All brought to you by the Grammy-nominated team behind last year's "Sweet As Broken Dates."

Since the early aughts, Alan Abrahams aka Portable has been producing records for labels like Perlon, Live At Robert Johnson, K7, and Süd Electronic. With his new band project 'RANGEr', the releases as Bodycode and Portable and his very own label Khoikhoi to be launched this summer, the South Africa born Alan Abrahams is an artist in-between genres. 'A Life Without Notifications' is now here, marking his first release for Dial records.

Division of Laura Lee are a musical tornado from Gothenburg, Sweden. In 2003, Lovitt and Division of Laura Lee teamed up to release the compilation album 97-99, which compiled early singles and hard to find tunes. Now, twenty years later, it's time to do it again. This will be the band's first release since 2013's full-length, Tree.
'Year 2018. To be fair, we haven't made an awful lot of noise lately. Our last album went by quite unnoticed, and some folks even thought we'd closed shop. To straighten things out we decided to record some new sounds.
The first tune revealed is called Hollow Pricks. A song about staying true to your beliefs. Written in the same fashion as usual, just like we have been doing it for twenty fast years. We are also thrilled that it is released in the US by Lovitt, based in Washington, D.C., our home away from home. The world needs a new haircut. This just might be the first song from our new album.'
-- Jonas Gustafsson
Per Sta°lberg - Guitar,Vocals Jonas Gustafsson - Bass,Vocals Viktor Lager - Guitar ha°kan Johansson - Drums

Born in 1990 to a truck manufacturer in Nara Japan, Youtaro was attracted to HIPHOP early on. First engaging with the culture through break dancing and then by making beats by 2010. In 2012 he began to release his MPC2000XL beats on Bandcamp -beats with heavy basslines and rough samples, described as a CHILL that intoxicates.

Strut presents the brand new album from cosmic jazz travellers The Pyramids, led by saxophonist Idris Ackamoor, 'An Angel Fell'. I wanted to use folklore, fantasy and drama as a warning bell,' explains Ackamoor. The songs explore global themes that are important to me and to us all: the rise of catastrophic climate change and our lack of concern for our planet, loss of innocence and separation... but positive themes too, the healing power of music, collective action and the simple beauty of nature.' Produced by Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics, the album was recorded during an intense week at Quatermass studios in London and is one of the deepest, richest works yet from a band reaching their highest creative peak since the early '70s. Some of the many highlights include the poignant title track depicting a fallen angel in purgatory, outrage and grief on the powerful, hard hitting 'Soliloquy For Michael Brown' and the lilting, beautiful album closer, 'Sunset'.

The Pyramids originally came together in 1972 at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio where teachers included renowned pianist, Cecil Taylor. After forming in Paris and embarking on a cultural odyssey' across Africa, the group recorded three independent albums, 'Lalibela' (1973), 'King Of Kings' (1974) and 'Birth / Speed / Merging' (1976) and became renowned for their striking live shows, mixing percussive, spiritual and space-age jazz with performance theatre and dance. After migrating to San Francisco, they disbanded in 1977. 35 years later, the band reunited in 2012 following growing demand for their music from vinyl collectors. German label Disko B released the freeform album 'Otherwordly' and in 2016, they released their first album for Strut, the acclaimed 'We Be All Africans'.

'An Angel Fell' is released on Strut on 11th May 2018 and features full hand-painted artwork by Lewis Heriz.

New concept album by leading cosmic jazz collective exploring global apocalypse, climate change and the healing power of music
Produced by Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics - Superb cover painting by Lewis Heriz
Full priority worldwide PR campaign and marketing
Release supported by major European tour dates in May and key Summer festivals

Glyn Bigga Bush has been producing electronic and sample-based music since the early 90s when he formed Rockers Hi Fi, going on to release numerous albums. Since the turn of the century he has produced and DJ'd as BiggaBush as well as various side projects such as Lightning Head (Sonar Kollektiv), the Dandelion Set (Buried Treasure) and the Magic Drum Orchestral (Tru Thoughts).

Bigga's latest project 'Sunken Foal Stories' represents a departure from much of his other work in that it is not primarily based on beats. Instead, his working method was to go with fascinating samples, accidental juxtapositions and irregular loops - inspired by pioneers of sound such as Faust and the audio experiments of Julian House as well as early stereo test records, soundtracks and library music.

The 21 concise tracks of Sunken Foal Stories link into two 15 minute segments on the LP. Bush explores the random elements created by overlaying disparate samples, where chimes of baroque psychedelia clash with ascending classical strings, or a haunting Eastern European folk song is looped into an eternal cadence of longing. Various voices float over the speakers, lost poets, disturbing therapists, dreaming vampires, chuckling cabaret singers. Sourced almost entirely from charity shops and carboot sales, the source material speaks of a forgotten yet relatively recent period, when stereo was something new and exciting, when home entertainment first came into its own and suburban homes thrilled to the exotic sounds of home organs, primitive beatboxes, LPs bought in unusual holiday destinations and 'glamorous' soundtracks.

Swingrowers are known for their mixture of JAZZ, SWING, POP and ELECTRO, they have extensively toured Europe and North America, opening sell-out shows for Parov Stelar, Chinese Man & Caravan Palace. On top of delivering official remixes for Caro Emerald and Swing Republic, Swingrowers also boast musical collaborations with The Lost Fingers, Gypsy Hill, DJ Pony Montana and have had their own songs remixed by Bart&Baker and Jamie Berry.

Following on from their debut album 'Pronounced Swing Grow'ers' in 2012, Swingrowers have released their second album 'REMOTE' in early 2015, followed now by 'OUTSIDEIN', the band's third full-length studio album. This new release shows their expert musicianship and most meticulous production to date, mixing genres from jazz to electronica, from gypsy-swing to full-on rock'n'roll with a melodic pop sensibility.

His latest release I KNOW from Elypsia Records is a quintet of Detroit inspired remixes of the song 'I Know'. Inspired by Kevin Saunderson, his original TECHNO MIX (7:06) is a hardcore and high energy track with intensity to match the wildest of crowds. The EP also contains 3 remixes of the track, each exposing and accentuating the brilliant aspects of his complex tune. It begins with the LUCIEN FOORT REMIX (6:41), a lively big room hit with a punch fit for an epic Saturday night. UK MIX (6:46) follows with subtle electric melo-dies and rhythmic drum and bass patterns that give listeners the feel of wonder and excitement under a clear starry sky. With a clean and gravitating groove BIT FLOAT REMIX (7:42) would fit perfectly in any Ibiza party with flair and style. This release is a masterpiece of its own and nothing less than the product of a man who was born with beats and melodies ingrained in his soul. For Orlando Voorn, making music is more than a way of life, it's a necessity. From the early age of 9 his natural intuitions became apparent when his drum teacher told his parents he could play everything that was shown to him, even though he had no ability to read a score. He began to DJ at the age of 12, and 3 years later won the World Mixing Championships of 1983 at just 15 years old. Steve Clisby, from the popular American band 'American Gypsies', recognized Voorn's ability and taught him chord structures, which gave him the tools to begin composing tracks using keys and bass. His artistry then took off, making a name for him-self with his vibrant dance tracks under the alias 'Frequency". Today, he's known as one of the Netherland's most inventive and ingenious producers in the world of electronic dance music. Having produced a wide variety of music under a number of monikers including 'Fix', 'Format', 'Urban Nature' and 'X-it', his diverse ability stems

"Emotional Rescue begins the first in a series of reissues looking at the music of guitarist Carl Weingarten and his Multiphase Records label, starting at his highly sought after collaborate album with Walter Whitney, Dreaming In Colors. With an early interest in photography and Super 8 film leading to a degree in cinema production, Weingarten's other, self-taught, love was the slide guitar. Taking its blues roots and merging them with his visual arts background created a unique "painting in sound" style of playing. While looking to break into the film industry he began writing and recording his own film scores and other music for modern dance companies. From this, he founded Multiphase Records in St Louis in 1980. By the time of Dreaming In Colors, the label had released a series of cassettes and vinyl albums offering abstract, experimental, jazz-fusion, new wave and increasingly, new age compositions. Throughout this period the work of engineer, keyboardist and programmer, Walter Whitney was often present and by the 1985 release of Dreaming In Colors the duo had collaborated for a number of years and released several projects together, most notably as members of the Delay Tactics band. Recorded during off days from the Delay Tactics sessions, the album came together at Whitney's Subterranean Sound studio with a focus away from the bands guitar driven instrumentals to explore a multilayered approach to synthesis, blending textures with Whitney's original samples and sound design, while Weingarten's guitar moved from shining solo moments to complimenting the overall oeuvre, all with heavy washes of delay. This ecumenical approach led to the creation of this compelling album. A masterful conceptual whole that is linked by rich melodies and a concise playing style, heavy on substance while never forgoing the uplifting vibrations. "

Another fierce and unique act from the depths of the Glasgow underground appear on Optimo Music with their debut Green Door studios recorded four track EP.

Keyboard player Jim McKinven was previously in Altered Images, worked for many years in Martin Rushent's Genetic Studios, was in One Dove and previously appeared on Optimo Music as one half of Organs Of Love. He is however but one component of this transgenerational band.

They describe their music far better than we could - "Seedy Electronica, consisting of 2 Basses, Electronic Drums, Synths and Dark Vocals. Inspired by the avant-garde that influenced the electronic music scene of the late '70's and early '80's.'

*New Artwork* Early 80s rarity 'Movin On' by Zambian band Witch finally gets a repress on Invisible City Editions!
Known for their psychedelic fuzz masterpiece 'Lazy Bones', 'Movin On' shows a different side of Witch and features a whole new sound, capturing both the spirit of the early 80s and the changing political atmosphere in Africa with a perfect blend of MJ/Jake Solo boogie, and Fleetwood Mac AOR moves. The album showcases the band at its creative peak, blending American and African influences with stellar musicianship. Featuring synthesizer work by the great Patrick Mwondela. This is the African boogie version of Band On The Run.

One of the earliest MC5 singles! Packaged in new envelope style sleeves, with rare unseen band photos! The Motor City 5 pressed on black vinyl at Third Man Pressing in the Motor City! Includes brand spankin' new liners by David Fricke of Rolling Stone, who says, "In a 1966 live recording, the MC5 played 'Looking at You' like Motown raga. At United Sound, the band hit the zigzag riff at light speed and stayed there, framed by searing lead guitar and explosive drumming. 'Borderline' was a frantic jigsaw of power-chord jolts and sheet-like harmonies detonated again, at the Grande, for the live recording of the MC5's first LP, Kick Out the Jams."

* Released for the first time on vinyl
* The ultimate collection of rare early materials by this electronic music pioneer
* Comes as a deluxe double LP set with insert and extensive liner notes . Limited black vinyl pressing (700 copies) with obi strip.

Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician that needs very little introduction. In the late sixties & early seventies he was a member of several iconic bands such as 'Tangerine Dream', 'The Cosmic Jokers' & 'Ash Ra Tempel' before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades. Collaborations were numerous and highlights include working with Steve Winwood, Brian Eno & Alphaville... just to name a few.

Klaus Schulze's proto moog-synthesizer work is regarded as a milestone in electronic music & during the decades he released landmark albums in genres catalogued as 'Ambient', 'Electronic', 'New Age', 'Berlin School', 'Experimental', 'Kosmische Musik' & 'Krautrock'. Mr. Schulze had a more organic sound than most electronic artists of the time, often he would throw in decidedly non-electronic sounds such as acoustic guitar and a male operatic voice. Schulze is also known for developing a Minimoog technique that sounds uncannily like an electric guitar, which is quite impressive in concert.

On occasions he would also compose film scores such as Body Love (1977), Barracuda (1978), Next of Kin (1982), & Angst (1983). His best known song 'Freeze' has been used in films like Manhunter (1986) and more recently in Sofia Coppola's 'The Bling Ring' from 2013.

In 2009, producer Klaus D. Mueller and Schulze began releasing La Vie Electronique ( The Electronic Life'), a series of sets that collected rare sought-after early works & unreleased tracks put in chronological sequence. These sets contain some of the best music Klaus ever created and are early 70's masterworks that will appeal to both fans and collectors.

Now available for the first time on vinyl, One Way Static Records presents the first volume in our new archival series 'La Vie Electronique'. This volume (1.0) focuses on the years 1968-1971 and is spread over two glorious LP's containing +78 minutes of Klaus Shulze rarities. This deluxe vinyl set also comes with an insert containing extensive liner notes.

* Out of print since 1997

* Sixteen carefully selected tracks including their most renowned work

* Covering Funkadelic at the height of their career (1970-1976)

* Double LP set that comes with OBI-strip, Limited to 1000 copies

Tidal Waves Music proudly presents: FUNKADELIC Finest

Compilations are tricky and hard to get right ... Finest is that rare one that knocks it out of the park. This release focuses on George Clinton and crew at the height of their career & on their most renowned work.

Comprised out of sixteen carefully selected tracks and covering a six-year period (1970-1976) Finest may be the best-assembled Funkadelic collection from this period yet, as both renowned band standards share space with several oft-overlooked tracks.

The early tracks "I Got a Thing" and "I Wanna Know if It's Good to You" show the band-members still honing their rich 'n' funky sound, before they hit their stride with selections from the classic 'Maggot Brain' album. As a result, you get a healthy sampling of some of the best funk the '70s had to offer, including "Hit It and Quit It," "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks," "Loose Booty," "Cosmic Slop," "Red Hot Mama," and "Get Off Your Ass and Jam."

Finest is an exceptional sampler for those discovering the wild and wacky universe of Funkadelic. Out of print since 1997 and transferred from the original analogue master tapes, now finally back available as a deluxe Double-LP set with some of the craziest psychedelic crumb-style artwork you'll ever see.

The Telescopes were founded in England in 1987 by chief member Stephen Lawrie and released several recordings in the late 1980s but it is in 1990, when the band signed to legendary label Creation, that they hit their stride and helped to define a decade of UK rock music. Fusing elements of psychedelia with noise-rock, and dreamy pop, The Telescopes were near the forefront of the early shoegaze scene and hugely influential on the next wave of early 1990s Brit-pop. This crucial collection complies all 4 of their 12" singles on Creation as well as a 1991 John Peel session and other bonus tracks. Issued on 180 gram 2LP with a deluxe double sided poster insert.

Over the past few years orchestral instrumental music from outside the classical establishment has become huge, and Neil Leiter and Margaret Hermant of the Belgian Echo Collective have witnessed the evolution and extraordinary rise of this movement right up close. They've worked with some of the most important players, including Stars Of The Lid, Dustin O'Halloran and Adam Wiltze's A Winged Victory For The Sullen and O'Halloran's solo projects, as well as Jóhann Jóhannsson. And though the Echo Collective members themselves very much do come from within the classical music establishment, they don't care which side of the fence they are seen to be on. It was this which grabbed the attention of German music hub !K7's new sub-label 7K! - who have signed them for a two album deal: first to release the Amnesiac reinterpretation, then for a record of Echo Collective's own compositions. Not only that but they have been signed for publishing by Mutesong, which led to a hook-up with Mute mainstays Erasure, re-arranging and re-recording their latest album World Be Gone with classical instrumentation backing Andy Bell's vocals. This ability to flow easily from black metal to Radiohead, from Erasure to Stars Of The Lid shows exactly what kind of musicians Echo Collective are. The album, which features artwork by the renowned photographer and artist Roger Ballen, will be released on 30 March on CD, 2LP and digital platforms.
- New album by belgian band Echo Collective covering Radiohead's classic Amnesiac'.
- Perfect balance between classical, neoclassical & indie.
- Past and ongoing collaborations include Erasure, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Stars of the Lid, Johann Johannsson and Dustin O'Halloran.
- Echo Collective have produced, arranged and performed on Erasure's upcoming album due to release early March on Mute.
- Artwork by renowned photographer / artist Roger Balle.