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Sun Reflector is the debut LP collaboration by Heffernan (Ivan The tolerable, All Structures Align, King Champion Sounds, University Challenged) and Pärk (Black Tempel Pyramid, Teeth Of Glass, Kosmonaut). Sun Reflector is steeped in a haze of primitive drum machines, fanned phase and sustained scuzz-rippled guitar chimes, an ambient electronic creation with emphasis on repetitive trance-inducing rhythmic pulsations of electronic sound and subtle counterpoints that slowly unfold as the rhythmic drive marches forth utilizing the Motorik 4/4 beat with the lysergic kosmische sonic textures of Cluster. With Heffernan (bass, guitars and drones) based in the Northeast of England and Pärk (synths, drones and loops) based in Colorado USA on the border with New Mexico - the portal they opened up between these environments creates a travelogue that unites physical and inner space, a series of trance induced states rendered in vivid colour, a delirious portal into the ether. ‘Harmonic Coast’ opens and is a heady downtempo affair, an earthly vibration that slips effortlessly between peyote peaking trekking trips & Balearic sunset vibes. The somnambulistic drift of 'The Sun' sets the stage with a series of shimmering, circular synth pulses where hidden details slowly emerge over multiple listens. Album closer ‘Fever Mirage’ creates a clear-eyed appreciation of the pastoral beauty that surrounds us, it’s a journey that summons up an occult-like dream of glacial arpeggios and whispering synths that pull your attention in to this hypnotizing listening experience. Sun Reflector is a collective sound in which a lot is allowed, and a lot is done. That combined with the compositional ingenuity where the heterogeneous timbres create a time travelled cosmic mysticism that summons up the spirits and visions of Harmonia, Cluster, Eno and Phillip Glass. Shimmering and transcendent we present to you for your listening experience ‘Sun Reflector’

A1 - Wireframe
Label stalwart Aural Imbalance returns to Spatial with the dreamy Wireframe, opening with a sea of beautiful ambient padwork which ushers in a sumptuous, brisk Circles break pattern to the forefront. A myriad of light touch samples & effects twist and twirl over the composition with a fantastic 808 bassline that complements the show-stealing breaks, completing another exquisite collage of atmospheric bliss.
A2 - Hollow Sun
Another fine exploration in atmospheric serenity, Hollow Sun opens with light hats and high-pass filtered breaks which develop into a thick, weighty slice of breakbeat bliss. Like a gentle breeze on a warm summer night, the tapestry of airy melodies beckon the listener into a realm of sonic wonder, the breaks, bass and effects crafting the kind of inimitable soft yet danceable atmosphere Aural Imbalance has truly mastered in his Spatial guise.

AA1 - Distant Stars
Mixing up the vibe with flowing keys and metallic undertones in the intro, heavy old-school breaks with a dense analogue kick drum seize the limelight as Aural Imbalance showcases an impressively subtle break editing skillset with Distant stars. While a knowing aura of elegance and grace build an ethereal soundscape with the padwork, the breaks playfully jostle in the mix towards a clean DJ-friendly outro. Sublime.
AA2 - Eclipse
Low-pass break filtering and an introspective, slightly tense atmosphere introduce Eclipse, before a real treat to the senses unfolds as heavy breakwork thunders hard into the mix with crisp snares and rolling drums. It's a symphony of light and shadow, of tension and release as Aural Imbalance continues to expand his incredible repertoire of sound on Spatial, rounding off another superb explorative EP
Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist)

Sonor Music Editions presents this restored issue of Maestro Sandro Brugnolini's Overground. This elusive masterpiece in library music captures the most impressive work, alongside Underground (1970), of the Italian composer and alto sax player.

Sandro Brugnolini was a prominent member of the Modern Jazz Gang, a famous Italian jazz group, during the 1950s and 60s, which also included Amedeo Tommasi, Cicci Santucci, and Enzo Scoppa. The group was active from 1956 to 1965 and produced some remarkable albums such as Miles Before And After (1960) and the original soundtrack from Gli Arcangeli (1962), which featured the renowned American jazz singer, Helen Merrill. Subsequently, he recorded many of the genre's most iconic releases, including Feelings (1974), albeit uncredited, and ventured into Psychedelic Lounge Funk and Progressive Jazz Beat tunes.

Overground was released on Sincro Edizioni Musicali in 1970 as the soundtrack to Enrico Moscatelli and Mario Rigoni's documentary Persuasione, commissioned by Ente Provinciale Per Il Turismo Di Trento, a local tourism board in Italy, with music composed by Sandro Brugnolini and Luigi Malatesta featuring some of the best musicians in Italy at the time like Angelo Baroncini and Silvano Chimento on guitars, Giorgio Carnini on piano and organ, Enzo Restuccia on drums, and Giovanni Tommaso on bass and effects. The music spans from underground Psychedelic Prog. Rock with swirling organs, trippy effects, and distorted fuzz guitars to sophisticated Lounge grooves with Avant-garde orchestrations.

The music has been transferred and remastered from the original master tapes. It has been lacquer cut in stereo by Jukka Sarapää at Timmion Cutting and packed in a thick cardboard sleeve featuring a fully restored painting by Umberto Mastroianni licensed by Centro Studi dell’Opera di Umberto Mastroianni

Nearly a decade after their last album, Lilacs and Champagne picks up right where that record, Midnight Features Vol. 2: Made Flesh, left off. With bizarre excursions into pillowy, sentimental made-for-TV music - and children's choirs incanting the blackest dread-filled music the band has conjured to date - Fantasy World is both transcendent and traumatic. Despite sharing two founding members of Grails (multi-instrumentalists Emil Amos and Alex Hall) Fantasy World only peripherally resembles their core group. Lilacs & Champagne have exaggerated their early record's implications and accelerated their mercurial rearranging of music history by deftly incorporating live instrumentation and samples with equal amounts of deference and disregard. Previously existing primarily in a realm adjacent to instrumental hip-hop (J Dilla, Clams Casino, Madlib), Fantasy World exposes Lilacs & Champagne's deeper lineage as playful tape-collage culture jammers in the vein of legendary sound satirists, Negativland and Severed Heads. It embraces the effect of a child entering a dollar store: the immediate euphoria felt upon discovering the seemingly endless aisles piled impossibly high with novelty toys, utensils, party decorations, and toiletries eventually gives way to the overwhelming realization that they're actually just a tourist in a perilous mountain of colorful garbage. From those mountains, Lilacs & Champagne mold monuments to curiosity and confusion.

A1 - Shadowplay
A delicate intro with samples of bustling twilight life gradually eases you into Shadowplay, before a retrospective melody echoes around an uncertain soundscape. Light breaks and pads develop the vibe before the track transforms as the unmistakable Demon's Theme break returns, superbly crafted rolling amens taking you right back to 1992 in ASC's expertly executed, inimitable Spatial style.
A2 - Lacuna
Crisp, sharp breaks open Lacuna in rampant stuttering style, a sci-fi aura riddling this detailed piece with hi hats and machine gun kicks, quickly conjuring a suspenseful intrigue alongside constant pads and epic effects. Driven by deep sub bass and a haunting melody that captivates the listener, long cymbals and synthwork continue before the second half of the track deepens further before the breaks subside for a lush, calming outro.
AA1 - Dimensions
ASC delivers a stunning, deeply atmospheric track with Dimensions, introduced by swathes of elegant synthwork before the Hot Pants breaks begin, chopped elegantly while a heavy bassline drops and the coloured soundscape whooshes and swirls as yearning vocals reverberate. After a sullen breakdown the breaks return and switch up to a rolling 2-step pattern which will leave you and your dancefloor drifting to another realm.
AA2 - Southern Cross
Closing the EP we have Southern Cross, a pensive number with a delicate, intricate selection of breaks - refined with exquisite clarity - set to washes of pads and synths across the mix. ASC utilises a simple high note melody to punctuate proceedings over the swirling atmospherics and breaks, creating a subtle ghostly feel to the track - perfect for a mid set direction shift or an introspective set closer as well as mesmerising headphone material.
Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial / Red Mist)

Coming And Going is the fifth release from Mas Aya, pseudonym of acclaimed Nicaraguan-Canadian composer, producer, and musician Brandon Miguel Valdivia. Over the past twenty years Valdivia has emerged as one of the most prolific and respected musicians in Canada.

In 2021 Valdivia's breakthrough LP as Mas Aya, Máscaras, ushered in a new era. With warm reception from the likes of Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, and NPR it shed new and long-overdue light on his inventive compositional outlook.

Coming And Going is the follow-up to Máscaras and, much like its predecessor, it represents yet another colossal shift in Mas Aya's creative journey.

The fact that its title is so evocative of flux is no mistake; it's an album that teems with subtle contradiction and restless intrigue, all the while carving pathways toward the reconciliation of these opposing sonic and thematic forces.

It's this very plurality that makes Coming And Going Valdivia's most intimate and personal effort to date. The music reflects upon community, family, the nature of home, and spirituality

Prolific Danish drummer Emil de Waal has come to be known for his unique and personal contributions to a wide variety of musical projects in jazz, pop, rock, and electronica, including Kalaha, Baghdad Dagblad, Maluba Orchestra, and his own quartet to name a few. Well versed in the art of collaboration, his new record is his first solo undertaking, combining his jazz musicianship with his affinity for the offoff-kilter and electronically manipulated. Comprised of seven original compositions, as well as creative reinterpretations of pieces by Charlie Haden, Duke Ellington, and Hans Henrik Ley/Jannik Hastrup, the record is a collection of intimate, interactive duo performances decorated with sounds and textures from the electronic world. The record s title translates to four eyes ", a double double-entendre alluding to the album s duo approach, under four eyes so to speak, as well as to the fact that de Waal wears glasses. Making a conscious effort to collaborate with more female instrumentalists as well as musicians de Waal hadn t played with before, Fire Ojne " features a wide spectrum of organic instrumental timbres on the prepared piano, clarinet, saxo-phone, pedal steel guitar, and bass flute. From sung melodies and winding improvisations to spacious, experimental textural approaches, each piece sees de Waal engage in a private conversation with a musician he s admired. From the bluesy New Orleans feel of Ellingtons Limbo Jazz "", to the glitchy, menacing, avant avant-garde groove of Halvfirs Fems "", to the spacious, twinkling, ethereal Diskurs "", the album showcases the staggering breadth of the drummer"s influences and ideas. Programmed drum beats, vast reverbs, foley recordings of flowing water, and ricocheting delays craft an expansive, surprising and inventive context for improvised music in the 21st Century.

Get a taste of everybody's favourite terrestrial with something extra, Jimi Tenor and his fresh brand of galactic balladry with two single versions from his upcoming album on Timmion Records, "Is There Love In Outer Space?". On the A-side, the title track effortlessly merges cosmic synth flourishes with a soulful backbeat, Jimi's smooth vocal and flute stylings, delivering a splendid questioning continuum to Sun Ra's similarly named statement. Flipping to the B-side, the mostly instrumental "Orbiting Telesto" launches us to the outer rings of Saturn with a healthy helping of vintage sci-fi movie soundtrack and library music themes. Accompanied by the down and dirty energy of Cold Diamond & Mink, Jimi's seasoned artistry shines through, showcasing his ability to blend celestial sounds with gritty moondust funk. With these two tracks, Tenor teases our appetite for the two cosmically themed albums in the pipeline for 2024. These songs crafted together with the Timmion crew serve as a testament to Jimi's unique ability to create captivating moods that transcend the usual.

LRK are excited to announce their next full album release LRKLP-08

'ALL I EVER WONDER' By Johnny Burgos

Available on LP/CD/DIGITAL

Singer, songwriter, and producer Johnny Burgos converges with veteran soul producer, Jeremy Page, (Kendra Morris, Czarface, MF Doom) to offer their first joint album together titled, 'All I Ever Wonder.' The album is a vividly vulnerable and honest effort by Burgos, lyrically and vocally, supported effortlessly by Page's masterful production. The pairing of the two seems meant to be, with a sound steeped in retro soul techniques, the album is equal parts novelty and nostalgia, equalling a timelessness that speaks to the humanity in all of us. All I Ever Wonder will be released on Vinyl, CD and all digital platforms on Friday, JUNE 28th, 2024 via UK-based Soul label LRK Records.

Johnny - "Jeremy and I have been ships passing in the night for years now. However, our first official collaboration was a 2021 remix of my song The Grey, which featured his long-time co-collaborator Kendra Morris. From the get-go, the musical chemistry was strong, so we took a shot at writing some original tunes. Since then, we've locked in on a creative groove and churned out a bunch of material. As we learned how to complement each other's musical strengths, the project took on more form and purpose, exploring heavier subject matter and expanding its range of genres. I'm pretty sure that's what makes this project so fun for us, and possibly what the early gatekeepers and listeners resonated with most. Neither of us expected such a reception to the music, which only made us more excited to hone in with more intention towards a goal. This also allowed me to bring more raw ideas to the table and have the confidence in Jeremy to hear the potential, then work his magic to extrapolate on my foundation. The teamwork in this effort was inspiring as we listened and referred to each other in every step of the process, and had a crew of killer musicians on deck for when we needed the extra feels on some joints.

We worked really hard on this record and hope it reconnects our listeners to being human in a visceral way. It's accessible, honest, and soulful because I wanted it to speak to anyone who still wants music to relate to. Music to help you through the valleys, to celebrate the peaks, and handle everything in between. It's a journey of the soul that explores ego, insecurity, love, loss, survival, enlightenment and trusting the process. It's truly 'All I Ever Wonder.' "

"All I Ever Wonder" will have its digital release through LRK Records on all platforms on Friday, JUNE 28th, 2024.

Johnny Burgos is a Brooklyn - born singer, songwriter, producer & engineer. His brand of future-soul embodies a raw uncompromising sound revealing beauty from pain, hope from despair, and the will to keep fighting. Especially influenced by his uncle and world-class percussionist, Andre Martinez, Johnny grew a fascination with the percussive rhythms of salsa and soul music, eventually manifesting into a devoted passion for Hip Hop production using an Akai MPC. With influences from Michael Jackson, OutKast, J Dilla, Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo, Johnny's music draws upon the core principles of R&B, while encompassing elements of Hip Hop, Funk, Pop, Salsa and Reggae.

Johnny has collaborated with DJ Skizz, for Mobb Deep & M.O.P., Marco Polo, Frans Mernick, Liza Colby (The Gold Setting) and led his band Bridge City Hustle, with whom he toured nationally.

As a solo artist Johnny debuted with back-to-back brand endorsements from French's Mustard and Samsung US, using them as a platform to launch his 2018 EP 'Love Through it All.' His debut album 'Gone Into The Grey' was released to critical acclaim in March of 2021 and has since been added to multiple editorial playlists by Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal, creating exponential growth. In 2022, Burgos' song 'Wild About You' was heard as the soundtrack to Neiman Marcus' "It's Your Moment" global streaming campaign. Johnny's currently amid promoting his latest album, The Tangent Tape, performing with his band The Butter, recording new collaborations and preparing his upcoming LP with Jeremy Page & LRK Records.

credits

releases June 28, 2024

Info: The soulful power of Asabi Goodman's vocals is finally on vinyl! Blunted Stylus ft. Asabi Goodman s' "Rhythm's Got Soul" has "groove and style" reminiscent of the back-to-back, wall-to-wall packed dancefloors of the fever-pitched disco era, steady spinning in at 115 BPM. The highly anticipated collaboration between the renowned singer/ songwriter Asabi Goodman, and producer/arranger Geoff Boardman A.K.A. Blunted Stylus brings authority and intrigue to the dance floor, with soul.... "Free your mind and the mirror ball will follow".

Side A "Rhythm's Got Soul bursts through the stratosphere 'all frequencies blazing!"

Treating the listener to pitched horns, filtered drums, those sultry Asabi vocals, reinforced by the everlasting bass from Andrew 'Bigfoot' Leslie.

Momentum steps up with the rhythm guitar of Dave VHS, accompanied with vamp keys and hectic percussion.

The SOULICITORS are the band on this release 'sitting in the groove', syncopated and loose after the MPC4000 sample treatment, a sort of new paradigm of band-samples soul-fusion exploration!



Side B "Rhythm's Hot" (Afro Instrumental) is a monster cut on the flip, a relentlessly persuasive percussion groove, well timed transitions spread smooth like butter, akin to Midnight Marauders chords, styled across 'A Taste Of Honey' bassline for example, on an Afrocentric trip building up to the disco-fever instrumental strut.



Asabi Goodman is an American born (Oklahoma), entertainer now calling Australia home, consistently performing in stage and screen productions, and touring with bands and Broadway musicals (Hairspray! The Musical, CHICAGO). Asabi's vocal ability effortlessly elevates from 'sweet and soulful' to 'commanding and powerful', all the while showing unmistakably that her passion for the audience, and respect for the song is at the heart of every performance.

Geoff Blunted is an Australian producer, avid record collector, and co-founder of the ground breaking sample-funk group the 'RESIN DOGS' (1996-2005) extensively touring and producing. From the early days in the 80's of cutting his teeth in mixtapes, and volunteering at community radio at 4ZZZ in 1988 (arguably the golden era of hip hop) hosting Australia's first dedicated Hip Hop show "Just2Def" that aired for 1 year. Four Jazz-funk sample albums under his belt, 'Rhythm's Got Soul' arrives cued-up ready! The track highlights Geoff's ability to blend his time proven sample ethic into a resonating dynamic disco experience.

Grippng, grooving digi-dubs from the late-80s.
Replay Version sets the mood — malevolent, sick and haunted, but funky like a train, with cruelly brilliant effects; really a stunning piece of music.

"Sun Racket" is the brand new album from legendary Boston trio Throwing Muses, consisting of Kristin Hersh, David Narcizo and Bernard Georges. The follow up to 2013's 'Purgatory/Paradise' is an outpouring of modal guitars, reverbed shapes, echoey drums and driving bass set behind Kristen Hersh's well-thumbed notebook of storylines. A ten-song opus of suitably wrought tales set against a wall of sound that's at once calm and ethereal before building into glorious cacophonous crescendos.

When Throwing Muses wrote their last album, they were shattered. Pieces were coming and going, elements repeating and charging the whole. "It sounded beautiful jumping around like that". Two-minute songs reappearing as twisted instrumentals or another song's bridge.

They mimicked the effect live which kept them on their toes. Whatever was happening was already over in other words. 'Sun Racket' is the opposite. It refused to do anything but sit still. It says, "sit here and deal". "All it asked of us was to comingle two completely disparate sonic vocabularies: one heavy noise, the other delicate music box.

Turns out we didn't have to do much. Sun Racket knew what it was doing and pushed us aside, which is always best. After thirty years of playing together, we trust each other implicitly but we trust the music more" - Kristin Hersh And so, they continue. Business unusual.

"A ground-breaking band who changed the face of alternative music rather than follow the rule book." MXDWN "Pioneers of the 80'/early 90's college rock sound" Pitchfork "One of America's finest guitar bands" - The Quietus.

Die dänische Band Efterklang meldet sich mit ihrem siebten Studioalbum „Things We Have In Common“ zurück, das am 27. September über City Slang veröffentlicht werden soll.

Ein Album über Freundschaft, Zugehörigkeit, Glauben und Verständnis, Themen, die in der Musik spürbar sind, die sanft und erhebend, heilend und mitreißend ist. Efterklang ist zu einer offenen Gemeinschaft mit drei festen Mitgliedern geworden: Mads Brauer, Casper Clausen und Rasmus Stolberg. Für dieses Album hat sich das Kerntrio wieder mit ihrem alten Freund und Efterklang-Gründungsmitglied Rune Mølgaard zusammengetan, der die Band 2007 verließ, um sich der mormonischen Kirche anzuschließen, und schließlich 2022 aus der Kirche austrat. Seine tiefgreifende spirituelle Reise beeinflusst maßgeblich den Inhalt und den Ton des Albums, auf dem er sieben der neun Songs mitgeschrieben hat. Things We Have In Common“ fällt mit dem 20-jährigen Jubiläum des Debütalbums der Band zusammen und präsentiert zwei Jahrzehnte der Zusammenarbeit, Erforschung, Entwicklung und Wiedervereinigung. Das Album enthält Beiträge von einer Vielzahl internationaler Musiker. Zach Condon von Beirut, der finnische Schlagzeuger Tatu Rönkkö, der venezolanische Gitarrist Hector Tosta und die guatemaltekische Cellistin und Sängerin Mabe Fratti wurden zu wichtigen Mitwirkenden. Der preisgekrönte italienische Mixer Francesco Donadello und der Süddänische Mädchenchor haben dem Album ihren Stempel aufgedrückt, wie schon beim 2012er Album „Piramida“ der Band.

Habibi Funk is thrilled to share a second collection of deep grooves and unreleased songs from Algeria's Ahmed Malek, often compared to Italian heavyweight Ennio Morricone. Malek’s music effortlessly switches between thematic jazz, funk, reggae and Algerian folk – creating indelible soundscapes that intersect the musical innovations made in African jazz by Mulatu Astatke, Bembeya Jazz National along with some of Europe’s finest experimental composers like Piero Piccioni and Janko Nilovic. “Musique Originale de Films, Volume Deux” is out June 28th, 2024 via Habibi Funk.

Whenever an interview asks about a “memorable moment” in Habibi Funk label history, one we always reference is how we got in touch Ahmed Malek’s (22K Spotify Followers, 285K Spotify Monthly Listeners) music and subsequently his family. It all started with us coming across Ahmed Malek’s music on YouTube in 2012. We were mesmerized by how effortlessly the music would switch between jazz, funk and Algerian folk while counterweighting it with an undertone of melancholia. Musical perception is different for every person, but there is a chance that his music will touch you in one way or another. At the time, we had just started the Habibi Funk label and we felt Ahmed’s music might be a good fit for the sound we were trying to highlight. Fast forward three years: we had become captivated with the idea of reissuing some of Ahmed Malek’s music. We knew some people had tried to locate his family but, but with no success. In the end it was an incredible amount of luck that made it possible for you to read these words and listen to Ahmed’s music. We were on a DJ gig in Beirut playing old Arabic records and we mentioned our passion for Ahmed Malek’s music to a friend. She said she knew one person in Algier, and as much as it would be a shot in the dark, she could ask her if she had an idea of how to find Malek’s family. Two weeks went by before we heard back, and what we got was incredibly good news - her Algerian friend was the neighbor of Ahmed Malek’s daughter! We’re not spiritual people, but it felt like the universe wanted to see the release happen. We started to speak with Henya, Ahmed Malek’s daughter and she was more than happy with our idea. She assured us that her father would have loved the plan as well. She provided us with tons of awesome material, from great photos, to unseen video footage and unreleased tracks. Eventually we visited Henya in Algeria and we licensed some of her father’s music, first for one (Habibi 003), then for another (Habibi 005), then we eventually organized an exhibition in June/July 2019 – Planète Malek – Une Rétrospective – at the Musée Public National D’Art Moderne & Contemporain in Algiers, focusing on Ahmed Malek’s artistic life. We also produced a small movie about him that our friend Paloma Colombe shot and directed. “Musique Originale de Films, Volume Deux” is a deep collection of unreleased songs and stemmed grooves from the Algerian master, from jazz, funk, psych to reggae rhythms and Latin flavors, all under the sonic umbrella of “Planète Malek;” and to quote the maestro, “I didn’t choose music, music chose me.” Lead single is the subtlety funky “Thème Rythme Léger,” out May 3rd along with LP Pre-Order (coincided with Bandcamp Friday for a larger impact) a delicate sonic dance between flute, piano and Spanish guitar with a Bossainfluenced groove. The steady, swingin’ drum groove is cloudlike - definitely toe-tapping friendly so just grab a partner to feel the Rhythme Léger. Second single out May 17th is the reggae-infused “L’Empire Des Rêves” – a sultry sax melody weaves through a prismatic rocksteady thematic groove. 3rd and final single “Thème Djalti feat. Aïda Guéchoud” – is a true Western-inspired ode to his Italian counterpart Ennio Morricone. “Thème Djalti” features the haunting vocals of Aïda Guéchoud, and combines elements of baroque and Bossa-jazz in a timelessly thematic way that seems grandiose yet remains uniquely personal to your ears. Swelling strings, trumpet, fem vox, flute, and plucked guitar expertly arranged, feels like you’re riding a horse into the sunset. Focus track “La La La” is fiery afro-arab-funk of the highest order! Put on your dancing shoes as Ahmed cuts the rug and gets us grooving along. Sonically the cut sounds like if Ahmed ran into The JB’s and Fela Kuti at a Cymande concert. Driving guitar and organ solos vie over pulsating bass riffs and afro-funk drumming that’ll have you out on the dance floor in no time. As always, both vinyl and CD come with an extensive booklet featuring background and interviews with Ahmed compiled through found newspaper clippings and newsreels, also including unseen photos, scans and more. “Ahmed Malek: Musique Originale de Films, Volume Deux” will be out everywhere June 28th.

2024 Repress

Innercity Griots, the second album from Freestyle Fellowship, is perhaps *the* essential West Coast left-field rap album of the early ’90s. Released in 1993 on 4th & Broadway, it’s a towering, progressive hip-hop masterpiece that expanded rap’s boundaries through lyrical elevation and production innovation. Their talent was ahead of everybody else by light years. This is pure b-boy jazz.

The original single vinyl LP is now hideously scarce, and of course the sound suffers from not being officially released as a double. This Be With re-issue fixes both problems, and for completeness also includes “Pure Thought” from the CD version of the album. This incredible display of imaginative hip-hop sounds better than ever.

Freestyle Fellowship were some of the earliest technically dazzling rappers to come out of California. Mikah 9, P.E.A.C.E., Aceyalone and Self Jupiter - along with DJ Kiilu - forged their famed lyrical dexterity in the ultra-competitive crucible of the Good Life Cafe. Founded in Leimert Park, South Central LA in December 1989, this earthy health-food store and cafe was where the city’s finest microphone fiends would gather to showcase their freestyle skills at the Thursday night open-mic.

Innercity Griots has been described as the Rosetta Stone for rap styles. The group’s dense, vibrant wordplay and enviable interplay quickly earned the attention and respect of the city’s hip-hop underground. Frenetically trading acrobatic rhymes with agility and grace, the Fellowship used their voices as instruments like true virtuosos, spraying improvised raps like a Coltrane sax solo.

With the bulk of the album’s production handled by The Earthquake Brothers, and Bambawar, Daddy-O, and Edman taking over for some of the tracks, Innercity Griots dances between organic and programmed music, largely forgoing sampling and instead built around live jazz jams. The likes of Freddie Hubbard’s “Red Clay” and Miles Davis’s “Black Comedy” were used more as templates for house band The Underground Railroad Band to spiral out from. As Pitchfork noted in their recent 9.0 review of this classic album, “Freestyle Fellowship embodied the style and spirit of jazz on a molecular level. They shared the effortless cool and tough countenance of the great bebop players from the ’50s without verging into jazz-rap parody. Their innate jazziness felt tangible and hard-earned”.

The unusual approach to the music was matched by the Fellowship’s lyrics. Eschewing the tired rap tropes of the time, this multifaceted album instead explores their ruminations on greed and homelessness, weed, sex, survival, insecurity and tribalism.

Remastered by Simon Francis for double vinyl and cut by Pete Norman, we hope this long-overdue re-issue of Innercity Griots satisfies the legions of fans that have since been bewitched by the majesty of this record. It should also introduce some new listeners to yet another overlooked classic.

"Everyone you love will end up dead," Isaiah Neal sings on "Ivy Tech," the second track from Leisure Hour's upcoming The Sunny Side. It's a matter-of-fact lyrics delivered in a matter-of-fact way - but a second later, Grace Dudas and Raegan Gordon join in to harmonize on a booming "whoa-oh-oh-oh" chorus. In the span of about three seconds, Leisure Hour's whole ethos becomes clear. The Sunny Side is the result of years of writing and recording, the culmination of a half-decade of lineup changes; by now, Leisure Hour's reached their final form: bassist/vocalist Dudas, guitarist/vocalist Neal, and drummer/vocalist Gordon. The Sunny Side, according to the band, is about "love, loss, and struggle with mental health as a middle class individual," and maybe it was a case of life mimicking art. The three of them struggled to come up with enough money to record and produce these songs the way they envisioned; they picked up extra shifts at their jobs and, in true DIY fashion, decided to throw as many music festivals as they could to drum up enough cash to bring these songs to life, and "the community around us rallied together to make this album happen, and for that we are eternally grateful." That gratitude is the driving force behind The Sunny Side. The eleven songs that comprise the record are built on shaky hopes and the anticipation of disappointment, but along with that comes a teeth-gritting resilience and a hard-won appreciation for those small victories. "I can't forgive you," Dudas sings at the end of "Forgiveness," but she follows it quickly with "But I'm trying to," and then she repeats it over and over. Maybe she's just trying to convince herself, but it's the effort that matters. Leisure Hour won't stop looking on the sunny side anytime soon, and they're trying their damnedest to convince you to do the same.

Inhaltsangabe:Lautes Gekrächze und Hilfeschreie schallen durch den Park. Peter eilt zu Hilfe, als ein Mann von einem wild gewordenen Schwarm Krähen attackiert wird.Mit ihren spitzen Schnäbeln hacken die Vögel wütend auf den Mann ein und lassen nur schwerlich von ihm ab. Was hat die Krähen so in Aufregung versetzt? Justus, Peter und Bob folgen dem Ruf der Krähen und stoßen auf ein geheimes Projekt, das die Zukunft der Menschheit auf den Kopf stellt. Sprecher:innen & MitwirkendeErzähler: Axel MilbergJustus Jonas, Erster Detektiv: Oliver RohrbeckPeter Shaw, Zweiter Detektiv: Jens WawrczeckBob Andrews, Recherchen und Archiv: Andreas FröhlichGoldie June: Uli HeissigGordon Dust: Till HagenRoy Hancock: Nicolas KönigKimberly Cryder: Viktoria FleerBuch und Effekte: André Minninger - Regie und Produktion: Heikedine KörtingRedaktion: Maike Müller - Titelmusik: Simon Bertling & Christian Hagitte (STIL)Musik: Jan-Friedrich Conrad, Jens-Peter Morgenstern, Constantin Stahlberg Cover-Illustration: Silvia Christoph - Design: Atelier SchoedsackBasierend auf dem gleichnamigen Buch von André Minninger, erschienen im Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart. © 2023Based on characters created by Robert Arthur. Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Universität Michigan. Die drei ??? © 2024 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG. (P) & © 2024 EUROPA a division of Sony Music Entertainment GmbH

Inhaltsangabe:Lautes Gekrächze und Hilfeschreie schallen durch den Park. Peter eilt zu Hilfe, als ein Mann von einem wild gewordenen Schwarm Krähen attackiert wird.Mit ihren spitzen Schnäbeln hacken die Vögel wütend auf den Mann ein und lassen nur schwerlich von ihm ab. Was hat die Krähen so in Aufregung versetzt? Justus, Peter und Bob folgen dem Ruf der Krähen und stoßen auf ein geheimes Projekt, das die Zukunft der Menschheit auf den Kopf stellt. Sprecher:innen & MitwirkendeErzähler: Axel MilbergJustus Jonas, Erster Detektiv: Oliver RohrbeckPeter Shaw, Zweiter Detektiv: Jens WawrczeckBob Andrews, Recherchen und Archiv: Andreas FröhlichGoldie June: Uli HeissigGordon Dust: Till HagenRoy Hancock: Nicolas KönigKimberly Cryder: Viktoria FleerBuch und Effekte: André Minninger - Regie und Produktion: Heikedine KörtingRedaktion: Maike Müller - Titelmusik: Simon Bertling & Christian Hagitte (STIL)Musik: Jan-Friedrich Conrad, Jens-Peter Morgenstern, Constantin Stahlberg Cover-Illustration: Silvia Christoph - Design: Atelier SchoedsackBasierend auf dem gleichnamigen Buch von André Minninger, erschienen im Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart. © 2023Based on characters created by Robert Arthur. Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Universität Michigan. Die drei ??? © 2024 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG. (P) & © 2024 EUROPA a division of Sony Music Entertainment GmbH

Introducing X-Ray Ted's debut album 'Moving On', a testament to years spent honing his craft and refining his signature sound. Seamlessly blending Funk, Soul, Hip Hop, Beats and Breaks, X-Ray Ted delivers a collection that encapsulates his diverse influences as both a producer and turntablist who is endlessly crate digging for hidden gems. From the infectious opening guitar riff to the final beat, it is clear that 'Moving On' promises an experience that is as engaging as it is dancefloor focused. Each track showcases X-Ray Ted's innate ability to re-interpret vintage sounds from decades past, offering listeners something that is both alluringly familiar and refreshingly new.

X-Ray Ted is not alone in creating his musical vision. He is joined by Hip Hop royalty in the form Jungle Brother's Afrika Baby Bam, Jurassic 5's Fullee Love (AKA Soup), and UK MCs Dr Syntax and Professor Elemental. Adding soulful depth and irresistible hooks to the mix are the vocals from fellow Bristolian Carys Abigail. Together, they effortlessly bridge the gap between retro 60's vibes and contemporary beats, creating something that is truly timeless, celebrating the past while embracing the future.




d 04: Get out the House (Dirty Version) feat. Afrika Baby Bam

''Sulla Rotta Dei Venti'' (On the Route of the Winds) is the brand-new album of Italian ska-jazz maestros North East Ska*Jazz Orchestra (NESJO). A collection of eleven own-penned original tracks, written and composed between 2020 and 2023, that frames a new chapter in the ten-year career of the band. In this record, NESJO bravely explores other worlds through music, which, as we know, is always also an inner quest. It is at the same time an effort to place their own music at the centre of the time and space in which they live, even at the cost of going beyond the stylistic limits linked to the band's chosen musical genre. Although, these new 11 cuts are built around rhythms that are undeniably of Jamaican origin, melodies are tainted with music from other traditions and sometimes also feature pop elements. Somehow, in this new album, NESJO has chosen to let the jazz big-band out of the orchestra pit and to mix with the popular sound of the street. Through the tracks of the record, NESJO creates mixed ensembles with the use of instruments such as strings, accordion, flute, clarinet, horn, tuba… together with the band's regular branding of sax, trumpets and trombones. Another novelty of this work is that the non-instrumental tracks are sung in Italian by the three singers Freddy Frenzy, Michela Grena and Rosa Mussin. And the musical journey takes us to exotic but at the same time very close sounds in 21st century Europe: Balkan (“Piazza Della Liberta”, “CiganSka #1”), Arabic (“Petrolio”), African (“Nimi Muzima”), Italian (“Roma Tokyo Paris”), and ska (“Donna Di Chi”) and a sophisticated ska-jazz suite (“Sulla Rotta Dei Venti”). The opening words of the first track of the album give us a glimpse of the feeling of vindication, brotherhood and hope contained in this set of songs: "Where is the empathy for those in difficulty / in the streets of Trieste that shout with vitality / indifference hearts of stone / dense black Balkan agony".