Suche:extra extra

Staple Disco club hit by American producer extraordinaire Hamilton Bohannon. “Let’s Start II Dance Again” features rap vocals by Dr. Perri Johnson, and the “Instrumental Club” version is available for the 1st time on vinyl. This 12’ is a must for every Disco Dj.

Many great singers passed through the hands of late great soul/
R&B producer Jerry Wexler, from Aretha Franklin to Dusty
Springfield, but Etta James was a singer he willingly waited 20
long years to work with. “Etta is a church in herself,” he said in
his autobiography, adding: “Her voice is a mighty influence, her
musical personality able to express an extraordinary range of
moods.” He further described her as “A woman used but not
spent, abused but never defeated, vulnerable but though sheer
strength of will, victorious.” Her legend lives on in her music.
Press play and share her many emotions…

Bunny Lee as producer. Prince Jammy as engineer. The Aggrovators making the tracks. A Holy Trinity of Jamaican Music. Throughout the years, recorded music has been shaped by some enduring partnerships between producer and engineer, such as Teo Macero and Fred Plautt for Miles Davis, Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd for Atlantic Records, and George Martin and Geoff Emerick for the Beatles. But possibly none were as prolific as the collaboration between Bunny 'Striker' Lee and Prince Jammy at King Tubby's Studio between 1976 and 1982.

In 1977 and 1982 respectively, Conflict Dub and Dubbing In The Front Yard were released in London as white labels in extremely limited quantities. The two LPs found the triumvirate of Lee, Jammy and The Aggrovators on perfect form, with driving instrumentals, flashes of vocal beauty, and mixes that ripped apart and rebuilt traditional notions of sonic structure. Due to the nature of their limited release (not to mention the lack of artwork and even titles) the two dub LPs quickly disappeared into that mythic realm of records whispered about by only the most hard-core reggae collectors. This release is the first-ever reissue of these sought after LPs, and contains all the original songs in both vinyl form (double LP set with both albums on the original labels) and a lush double pack cd with 3 extra bonus tracks. The sleeve notes are by Diggory Kenrick with amazing photos by Howard Johnson, director of the influential Channel 4 documentary 'Deep Roots Music'.

The 3 CD bonus tracks are all remixes. Two from Paolo 'Dubfiles' Baldini for the Dubbing in the Front Yard set. One for Conflict Dub by Diggory Kenrick.

In 2018, Pressure Sounds celebrated its 100th album release since it's founding in 1995. In that time, the label has been responsible for unearthing and celebrating some of the rarest, most influential and unique Jamaican records ever cut.

The Wicker Man soundtrack has achieved huge cult status over the years, it has certainly proved to be a major influence on neofolk and psychedelic folk artists ever since the film first appeared in cinemas in 1973.

The soundtrack’s songs were performed by the band Magnet. The band was assembled by musician Gary Carpenter (the film's associate musical director) to perform songs composed by

New York songwriter Paul Giovanni. Giovanni had always planned to release the songs recorded for his soundtrack, firmly believing them to be worthy of existing as an album in their own right.

Of course, this never happened, mostly due to the film’s troubled past, and consequently all of the existing soundtrack albums that have been previously released have included extra incidental music from the film.

So, this edition is the final word in the long history of this influential soundtrack, the songs recorded with Paul Giovanni by Magnet are presented here as an album,

just as Giovanni himself intended. This definitive version of The Wicker Man has only previously been available as a special edition released in 2013 to celebrate the

40th Anniversary of the release of the film. For that release Silva Screen commissioned artist Richey Beckett to create a brand new image for the cover of a one-off pressing on vinyl,

and that edition is long sold out and has become sought after.

This newly put together Silva Screen release features new artwork, extended notes, a gatefold sleeve and is pressed on yellow vinyl.

Sergiu Celibidache was without question one of the most important and original conductors in recent memory. He was a perfectionist who disliked what he perceived to be the synthetic sounds created in the modern recording studio, preferring the immediacy of the concert platform and the interaction with a live audience. This Bruckner recording celebrates the extraordinary legacy of his collaboration with the Münchner Philharmoniker, from which he was Musical Director between 1979 and his death in 1996.

“One of the greatest Bruckner performances I have ever heard – a truly towering act of the re-creative imagination (…). This performance is centred in string playing of astonishing depth, eloquence and homogeneity. As with Giulini, it is the viola and cello sections which seem to harbour the very soul of the music. The viola cantilenas in the slow movement (…) are things of rare beauty.” Gramophone

Let’s get back to the program. Picking up from where things were left off in July 2020…

Whilst most electronic producers of the dance-floor persuasion dabbled with conducting micro-symphonies for their micro-herbs, locked inside their micro-mansions, Dreems has dusted off his dance-floor accreditations and got back to work creating some serious indoor waves for Le Temps Perdu.

The Blue Water EP has all the stuff that encapsulates the label - raw, fun, powerful and free, yet deep, loving, warm and friendly. The music carries on from the previous Shark Water and Blue Hole EPs, calling all sea monsters with Die Orangen Remix of Shark Water, later emerging in calm waters for mermaid pleasing Iñigo Vontier Remix of The Dolphin Communion, and finally swimming into the salty, acidic tones of the Blue Hole (Break Mix).

Dear water-lily enthusiast, you need fear not, there is a hearty nod to the plant-life in Something Else for Spring that grows and sprouts new life with each turning phrase and finally blossoms with a sprinkle of joy. Label head-gardener V gives it the extra push put on the dance floor with his tougher take.

You grab a copy of the vinyl at some bricks and mortar stores if you are fond of wearing your scuba suit whilst browsing the shelves, otherwise head to the regular online outlets to get this small slice of history. It contains, we feel, the best of the past 2 EPs.

Jimmy Tamborello returns with a collection of 10 pop-infused vocal hymns – simultaneously perfect dance floor fillers and lullabies. "Away" is the second of two Dntel albums to be released in 2021 by Morr Music in collaboration with Les Albums Claus. While "The Seas Trees See" showcased Tamborello's more intricate and quiet side, "Away" embraces his love for pop music. A genre which like no other has been resonating the advancements of technology from the very beginning. Songwriting was sequenced and computerized on such a large scale that it would change the sonic aesthetics of the charts forever.

Dntel is a musician who changed pop music forever – and still works in this never-ending labour of love, both effortless and highly focused, constantly tweaking the universe of our musical perception. Whether beatless or uncompromisingly embracing the limelight of collective ecstasy with one of his most remembered tunes "(This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan", his almost forgotten anthem "Don’t Get Your Hopes Up" or his work as James Figurine. "Away" features 10 of these extravaganzas – uniting his audience once more in hope and future-bound optimism.

"I grew up with 80s techno-pop – these influences always come through in my music", Jimmy writes from Los Angeles. For this album, though, "I was thinking more of 80s indie pop or labels like 4AD. It is a mix of those influences along with trying to figure out what elements of my own discography I still connect with. I wanted it to reflect old Dntel records as well as the techno-pop band Figurine I used to be in. I have always considered my music basically being techno-pop, but not referring to pop as popular music – I just like pretty melodies. But with the Dntel moniker, I never had the ambition to produce music for a really big audience.”

It is exactly that looseness in approaching music which makes Tamborello’s style of composing so unique. On "Away" he combines a healthy dose of distortion with the most-sticking melodies, vocals and bitter-sweet lyrics he ever came up with – performing all vocals himself, with the help of technology. "My voice has a limited range. When I applied this vocal processing it seemed to bring out the emotions more. I don’t see it as the same as the more artificial, autotuned style of modern pop music. I think it still sounds like it could be a real person singing, just not me."

Using this technique, Dntel disembodies himself from his own art, welcoming all kinds of interpretations re. his current state as an artist. "Somehow this processed voice feels closer to how I see myself than my normal voice, for better or worse…", he writes. Pop music is a fragile entity, making its kingpins vulnerable. Many emotions reveal a lot of the originator’s personality –this is something one has to be prepared for. On "Away", Jimmy Tamborello finds the perfect way of marrying his unique musical personality with both the demands and possibilities of pop music. Just listen to "Connect" and you’ll know what we’re talking about. A perfect, yet timeless album for less than perfect times.

Grey Vinyl

Nous'klaer presents their summer sampler of 2021! Eight hot tracks by new and known names on the label, to celebrate their 50th vinyl release. Starting with the haunting opener Faded Red by Djoser, to a deep techno cut of Pugilist and straight onto RAFF's banger Yeye. Floid debuts with his pumping 4x4 tune PJEE, and Panda Lassow delivers her signature trippy wonkiness that evolves into an addictive rave climax. The last tracks see Konduku and Oceanic making a return to the label with what they do best - and closing is the dubby debut track from Animalia's label owner Kia. Comes in silver vinyl and artwork, designed by Woody92.

Vanguard captures the iconic Bristol Sound.

The early days of the iconic Bristol Sound are captured in a new album including an exclusive re-release of the very first track from Massive Attack and tracks from Smith & Mighty, Purple Penguin and more.

The curated tracks are also linked in that all were originally released with bespoke original covers from legendary Bristol street artists, including Banksy and Will Barras, tying its release toVanguard’s current exhibition Bristol Street Art: The Evolution of a Global Movement at M Shed, Bristol, running until October.
Compiled by DJ Boca 45 (Scott Hendy), Vanguard brings together the seminal tracks that defined the rebellious era which saw the birth of the Bristol Sound for the first time. Featured tracks include an exclusive re-release of Any Love - the first ever track by Massive Attack released on Massive Attack Records in 1988, Smith & Mighty’s breakout hit Walk On, Purple Penguin’s downtempo classic Memphis and other trip hop classics.

The LP celebrates the globally recognised Bristol Sound whose experimental breakbeat rhythms and influence still dominate the scene today. Along with classic tracks from the ‘90’s into the ‘00’s and beyond, the album uncovers lesser known cuts by some of Bristol’s pioneering musicians such as One Cut and West Country hip hop’s finest Aspects.

The explosion of the Bristol Sound coincided with the boom in UK street art which led to fruitful collaborations between artists and musicians. Finding inspiration in each other’s work, street artists frequently designed rave posters, logos and cover art while DJs provided the beats to accompany street artists’ clandestine painting.
Vanguard The Album pays homage to these relationships with a beautifully put together gatefold LP featuring iconic cover art designed by some of the biggest names in street art such as Inkie, Dicy, Will Barras and Nick Walker. These early works capture the boisterous energy of the era and confirm Bristol’s status as an extraordinary cultural melting pot.

The double vinyl record also features extensive sleeve notes written by Bristolian writer and curator Jamie Hombre as he reflects on these ground breaking cover art collaborations.

NMB are releasing their much-anticipated fourth album, “Innocence & Danger”, on 27th August 2021. The band comprise Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Bill Hubauer & Eric Gillette. With NMB’s previous two releases being concept albums, it’s perhaps remarkable that “Innocence & Danger” is a series of unrelated songs, but drummer Mike Portnoy says “After two sprawling back to back double concept albums in a row, it was refreshing to get back to writing a collection of unrelated individual songs in the vein of our first album.” Six years on from “The Grand Experiment”, Morse is more enthusiastic than ever about the talents and contribution of his fellow band members on “Innocence & Danger”: “The band is really so extraordinary – and is such an amazing team: Mike’s drums are huge, Randy’s bass playing is an ever-solid foundation and Eric’s vocals are becoming crazy good now: often I’ll sing the verse, Eric sings the chorus, Bill sings the bridge and Eric will bring it home. It seems to work really, really well. And both Bill and Eric’s soloing is amazing: they have really hit it out of the park on this record.” Available on Ltd 2CD+DVD Digipak (feat. ‘Making Of’ Documentay), Standard 2CD Jewelcase, 3LP+2CD Boxset & as Digital Album.

Fractal City, the latest Cubenx album is a collection of terrestrial jams and arachnean ambient ballads that are particularly apt for urban listening. If its predecessors cracked the musical codes in force and shone by the versatility of their references, this new opus offers its listener an intense and symbolic sound environment.


The raw material of Fractal City was first conceived as a series of sound patches, designed to run in parallel with Canadian digital artist Maotik's installation. Broadcasted in real-time by generative patches reacting to various external and non-human data, those musical excerpts have been rendered in hundreds of nuances and extended over infinite durations. This unusual approach confers to the recording of the finished album's outstanding immersive strength.

Recorded live on a single track over a short period of a few weeks, the nine compositions of Fractal City capture the obsessions of its author for postmodern urban landscapes, and the revelation of new perspectives on the city of Paris.

The opening piece `Ssarg´ seems to hide the figure of the Mexican ambient producer Jorge Reyes. Cubenx built a cocoon of energetic layers, a new home of the mystical kind harmoniously integrated in a flourishing rainforest ecosystem.

`Transect ´refers to the urban development model of the same name, which is based on a division of the city into autonomous "fractal" zones. It also echoes the concept of "metro polarities" which considers the city as a mosaic of social groups. "By cycling in the evening with a friend, we could get away from the city centre to the suburbs of Paris. The contrasts are striking. You move from chic districts to bedroom communities, from industrial zones to improvised caravan camps. But there is a kind of energy in this heterogeneity that pushes you to always pedal further."

A few miles away, it would look like Art and urbanism have tried to level the cultural and social discrepancies of the outskirts of Paris. "Architectural sites like the Arcades of Bofill are splendid. There are completely extravagant projects, which seem to emerge from nowhere."
These buildings with ambitious aesthetics off the beaten tourist track, deteriorate over time and often remain far from the expectations of the local population. A feeling of nostalgic beauty is particularly perceptible on the slowest and most introspective ballads of the album as 'Urban Decay', 'Hagel' or 'Axe Majeur'. The producer leaves nonetheless no room for melancholic emptiness. "Every time, I have the impression that urban culture is taking its rights back and that young people appropriate the places in one way or another."

Just like `Transect', ` Quantified' and `Fractal City' present themselves as mirrors of a daily urban life in constant motion. All three are empowered by an overheated factory, which dispatches hypnotic beats and burst of analogue compressors with a clinical precision and direct them straight away to the reptilian areas of their listener's brains.

The sequencing leaves however space and time to take breath and makes way for aerial sonic excursions of spiritual and enlightened nature. On `Human Dilemma', Cubenx shows some concerns to opening the Pandora's box of transhumanist theories. While a long cosmic wave gives the listener a feeling of perfect fullness, a dizzying guitar distortion cast doubts on long term outlooks. `Smash Other' on the other way alternates gentle dissonances over an ocean of white noise and concludes the album on ethereal note.

With ´Fractal City", Cubenx eludes his irreconcilable love for shoegaze pop song and techno to concentrate exclusively on the production of mutant experimental materials. The result is an uncanny musical object, rich in image and sensation. Cubenx give us a guiding framework, enthralling enough to engage the listener to a tour of town. But he leaves it to the sole listeners to design their own projection of the city.

Following “La Contra Ola” (BJR015), Bongo Joe presents 'La Ola Interior', a compilation exploring the ambient side of the Spanish electronic music produced in the 80’s, bringing together 19 little-known and innovative pieces from the golden age of Spanish electronic music !

It gathers musicians from various horizons and of many generations, who shared the desire to create an immersive soundscape and to combine electronic music with non-Western musical traditions. As a general rule, the Anglo-Saxon tropism did relate the spanish peninsula’s ambient music to the Balearic Sound, that is to say to the relaxing music played in Ibiza’s nightclubs. But this music takes place in the productive territory of experimental musics, and particularly in its two main breeding grounds: the tape recording underground and the independent musicians-producers scene.

Inseparable from the processes of self-publishing, distribution and exchange of music that were then taking place in Spain in an artisanal way, the vast underground movement of cassettes was divided between an "ethno-trance" combining industrial beats and oriental sounds on the one hand (Esplendor Geométrico, Miguel A. Ruiz / Orfeón Gagarin) and unclassifiable low-fi tinkerers on the other hand (Camino al desván, Eli Gras, Mataparda, Victor Nubla). Hyperactive, this scene is radical and strongly dominated by the hardest musical styles, but the ambient, influenced by the German Kosmische Musik and "krautrock", also develops here.

The second vein of Spanish ambient comes from some of the independent labels of the peninsula (DRO, GASA, El Cometa de Madrid, EGK) whose activity will mark the return of some of the most adventurous musicians-producers of the 70s. Some were influenced by American minimalism (Luis Delgado / Mecánica Popular, Suso Saiz, Javier Segura), others by Fourth-World Music conceived by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno (Finis Africae, Jabir). Having passed through folk, ancient, traditional or contemporary music, and being familiar with improvisation and studio techniques, these artists come from a mutant hippie culture, capable of phagocyting many musical styles from electronic ambient to ethnic improvisation and modal jazz.

These two scenes and generations that make up LA OLA INTERIOR intersect around a common interest in non-Western musical traditions. Their exploration may be that of the tribal origins of electronic rhythms or the Arab heritage of Spain. Above all, it is a dreamy exoticism, an immobile journey as the sounds, rhythms or instruments of these traditions are scrutinized by Western practices (avant-garde music, electronic technology). The result is a hybrid music, filtered and reinvented, neither Western nor extra-Western, with a pronounced taste for the fusion of opposites, which we have called "Acid Exoticism" because of its permanent search for trance or contemplation. Atmospheric, contemplative and serial, these musics still plunge us today into a sensorial journey, at the same time interior and distant, organic and technological, between exotic reminiscences and interior visions.

This collection showcases some of Coltrane's best recordings as a side artist and features collaborations with such jazz greats as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Tadd Dameron, and Art Taylor. Primarily focusing on Coltrane's recordings as side man from 1956 and 1957 on the Prestige, Riverside, and Jazzland labels, it also includes a guest appearance (and legendary tenor saxophone solo) with Miles Davis on the track "Someday My Prince Will Come" (from the 1961 Miles Davis Columbia album of the same title). The 2-LP vinyl edition contains two extra tracks that are not available on the CD and digital editions: Nutty (Originally released on the album Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (Jazzland JLP 46) and Birks' Works (Originally released on the Red Garland Quintet album Soul Junction featuring John Coltrane and Donald Byrd). The liner notes were written by Doug Ramsey, winner of the Jazz Journalists Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Ramsey is the author of the award-winning biography Take Five, The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. His other awards include two ASCAP Deems Taylors.

Fragments, The Debut Album From Trifecta (Beggs, Holzman, Blundell)
Trifecta, a new addition to the Kscope roster, features 3 of the contemporary
music scene’s most lauded and revered musicians - bassist and songwriter Nick
Beggs, keyboardist extraordinaire Adam Holzman and completing the line-up,
Craig Blundell - one of the world’s most celebrated drummers.
Having performed together as part of Steven Wilson’s band, the three would
jam together after soundchecks and from these sessions the fledgling ideas for
Fragments were born. Nick Beggs comments “after the last tour with Steven
finished, we had a handful of tracks ready to work on and as we moved through
our various separate projects we agreed to work on Trifecta.”
The record primarily leans toward a fusion of jazz rock, being instrumental except for the first single (the wonderfully titled “Pavlov’s Dog Killed Schrodinger’s Cat”), the lyrics of which, Beggs states, “are written from the perspective of
a layman trying to understand quantum mechanics...and failing.”
Each band member completed the recording and engineering of their own
contributions in their various home studios, helping to bring their individual
production ideas to each track. Adam Holzman mixed the record at his New
York home studio with the mastering handled by Andy VanDette (Rush, David
Bowie, Deep Purple, Porcupine Tree, Beastie Boys) in New York.
Asked what fans of the musicians can expect from Trifecta, Beggs says, “Fission!
It’s like Fusion but less efficient and more dangerous.”
The debut album resulting from this “fission” of these extraordinary musicians
is entitled ‘Fragments’ and will be released on Kscope on 20th August 2021.

DIE NEUE ZEIT

Old time? New time!

And of course an exciting time - and thus time for DIE NEUE ZEIT and their eponymous high-speed statement "WIR SIND DIE NEUE ZEIT"!

But who is behind DIE NEUE ZEIT? We simply don't know! And we don't want to know. What we know is that these two daredevils race through their theme tune with sheer intensity - there simply is no stopping them - and you better don't - because when that cow bell gets loose … heaven forbid!

For extra extensive play of "WIR SIND DIE NEUE ZEIT" we strongly advise to make good use of the vocal AND the instrumental version playing both back and forth until all dancers surrender to the rhythms of DIE NEUE ZEIT.

Now tanz' die neue Zeit und geh' in die Knie und klatsch in die Hände, beweg' Deine Hüfte! The new time has come!

Released for the very first time in the format it was recorded for. The Holy grail of Bolan's unreleased soul recordings as producer for SISTER PAT HALL, includes completely unheard version of Do Your Thing taken from newly acquired original reels features completely reworked version of classic T. Rex Tracks 'Jitterbug Love', 'Get it On', 'Sunken Rags', and the never released in Marc's lifetime 'Sailors of the highway'. Besides some self-released gospel recordings, Pat Hall was a much sought after vocalist in the late 60's early 70's, having worked with Joe Cocker as one of the `Sanctified Sisters' along with Gloria Jones. In 1972 Pat (& Hloria) became backing singers on the u.s T.Rex concerts and in mid to late 1973 Marc Bolan decided he was going to produce an album by Pat, being well ahead of the then interest in black american soul by fellow pop stars David Bowie John Lennon and Elton John. The album was recorded but never released (on vinyl), until now! Pat Hall never released anything again, this album remains the sole released recordings of this extraordinary singer.

REISSUE - from original press release: For three decades the reclusive Revolutionary Army of The Infant Jesus (RAIJ) have confounded musical classification and studiously declined every invitation to explain their unique form of musical and artistic experimentation. Initially the Liverpool outfit built their reputation on their extraordinary immersive multi-media performances combining multiple layers of visual imagery, elements of ritual, enigmatic samples, field recordings and mesmeric live music. Their cult status was further reinforced with the release of the now much sought-after two studio albums The Gift of Tears (1987) and Mirror (1990) and two EP collections, Liturgie Pour La Fin Du Temps (1992) and Paradis (1995). After an 18-year hiatus the appearance of a new RAIJ album, and the apparent relaxation of their strict vow of silence, are generating predictable excitement and expectancy. Beauty Will Save the World does not disappoint. RAIJ's intoxicating mix of ethereal beauty, dazzling soundscapes and oblique mystery reach new levels of intensity and subtlety. The album title - a quote from Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky - is one of the many literary, cinematic and spiritual references underpinning RAIJ's unexpected comeback. Founder members Paul Boyce, Jon Egan and Les Hampson, joined by a fresh wave of collaborators, have crafted an album of unique beauty and originality. Prolonged silence seems to have deepened rather than dimmed their creative impulse. As ever it is the breadth of musical genres, cultural references, borrowings and retrieved sounds that define the RAIJ aesthetic, but there is also a more consistently meditative and melodic strain that underpins the album's integrity and purpose. In a rare insight into the RAIJ's creative method, Jon Egan explains: "Although our work takes elements and inspiration from many disparate sources we have never viewed it as deconstruction. We are looking for the thread that connects every manifestation of beauty, however fragile, transitory and seemingly accidental. " In addition to the album release on Occultation, RAIJ's second coming also includes a live performance at this year's Greenbelt Festival and the re-release on vinyl of The Gift of Tears by California-based label Feral Sounds. "There is renewed interest and appreciation of our music and that's great", said Leslie Hampson. "We have never tried to cultivate obscurity or anonymity, we simply wanted to avoid having to explain and justify a creative process that isn't necessarily premeditated. Isn't it enough to listen to and experience it?"

Para One, whose real name is Jean-Baptiste de Laubier, releases " Shin Sekai ", the new extract from the upcoming SPECTRE: Machines of Loving Grace. The " Shin Sekai " video is directed by William Laboury, who created a visual tryptic around Para One's SPECTRE: Machines of Loving Grace.
Resonating percussions by Wadaiko Hama and Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares ethereal voices frame Para One's ever evolving electronic music, drawing a new frontier in the artist's musical landscape, bringing together his experience as a film composer and his career as a dj and performer.
The original track comes with 3 remixes: British producer Actress (Ninja Tune) uses Arthur Simonini's strings as the backbone to his emotional climb, German musician Alva Noto (Noton) gives a minimalist stripped down version of the score, while speakwave, the new moniker of French artist dynaRec, proposes a total remake of the melody, the harmonies, and the rhythmic structure of Shin Sekai.

First ever vinyl reissue of rare private pressed Florida Funk/Soul from 1980. Featuring founding members of 'The Winstons' (the 'Amen Break', most sampled track in electronic/hip hop music). 180g Black Vinyl Edition limited to 500 copies, comes with obi strip and insert featuring unseen pics & liner notes. Streetlife was a short-lived soul-funk band from the Tampa Bay area and released just one album in 1980. The group was composed out of several dynamic musicians (ranging from street players to college professors) but at that time nobody knew (yet) that their Nite Songs LP would become such a much sought-after private pressed holy grail within the record collecting community! Streetlife was founded in 1979 by Sonny Pekerol and Phil Tolotta who were both members of the top-selling 1960s Washington DC Grammy Award-winning hit band 'The Winstons'. Their track Amen, Brother is the most widely sampled instrumental in the history of the electronic music & hip hop genres_it would become known as the Amen Break. When `The Wintstons' story came to an end, Sonny Pekerol (founding member and originally playing the bass - then successfully evolving into the manager and promoter) and pianist/vocalist extraordinaire Phil Tolotta would continue their musical friendship/collaboration under the name `Streetlife'. Their high-energy sound got the attention of local crowds in no time_so the decision to record and cut a vinyl album came as a natural thing. Nite Songs (produced by Sonny & Phil, who also wrote the bulk of the songs) saw the light in 1980 and quickly gained attention and airplay (receiving radio & television coverage nation-wide). Described as the hottest band from the state of Florida, `Streetlife' had the magnetism to captivate you, be it on concerts, nightclubs or on vinyl. Other members included: Octavia (responsible for the amazing lead & backing vocals on the album), Mark Halisky (on keyboards & the writer of two songs on Nite Songs), Ray Butler (on drums), Mike Milhoan (on trumpet), Bryan Mann (on the guitar) and Stephen Nathan (playing the trombone, flugelhorn & doing the arrangements). Charles Davis also played bass in the band for a while (he and bandmate-drummer Ray Butler were members of the `Washington Jamb Band' back in 1977). Mike Flore (Sax) and Ramon Lopez (from the well-known `Stan Kenton Orchestra') would also join them on the Nite Songs recordings. Collectively `Streetlife' had more than 75 years of experience_and these extraordinary talents (with almost as many varying backgrounds) are meticulously coming together on the album we are presenting you today. The entire album is filled with sexy (yet strong) unique vocals that make the listener experience a lot of emotions, aggressive `slap & thumb' bass lines & small yet groovy horn sections _one can clearly hear the influences of artists like Otis Redding, Curtis Mayfield, as well as several Motown, acts like Marvin Gaye softly slipping in. If you like your songs either slow, sexy and groovy or prefer them fast-paced and more experimental & cosmic_look no further, Nite Songs has it all. This is THE perfect combination of slick soul, blasting Hammond B-3 organ funk, smooth jazz and melancholic R&B piano works. This album just begs for a prominent space in record collections fans and crate diggers worldwide!

The original Rio beach boy returns in style, with a new record of unabashedly feel-good Brazilian party music. Featuring Azymuth bassist Alex Malheiros (responsible for some of Brazil’s all-time funkiest low-end licks), a horn section including Valle’s go-to high-trumpeter Jesse Sadoc, and percussion master Armando Marcal, Sempre has all the masterful composition, exceptional musicality, and forward-thinking ideas you’d expect from the Brazilian titan, and it’s fresher than a fruity caipirinha in the Copacabana sunshine.

Updating Marcos Valle’s seminal boogie-era sound, Sempre spans ecstatic disco, cosmic samba, and late-night jazz-funk, drawing obvious comparisons to some of Valle’s late-seventies and early-eighties output. ‘Estrelar’ (1983), for example, an ode to the joy of exercise, has become one of the biggest Brazilian disco hits of all time. But lyrically the new album is more closely reminiscent of Valle’s progressive early seventies’ releases. Heralding love, tolerance and living in the present, while satirising political corruption, the new release recalls a time in which Valle, together with his brother Paulo Sergio, was writing subtly subversive lyrics in order to bypass the censorship imposed by the military dictatorship, which ruled over Brazil between 1964 and 1985.
The album marries compositional genius with pure pop perfection. From the blistering brass arrangements on up-tempo disco hit ‘Olha Quem ta Chegando’ and the infinitely classy ‘Vou Amanhã Saber’, to the nine-minute synth heavy instrumental funk stepper ‘Odisséia’, which gradually morphs into an interplanetary samba jam, the songs are tightened and given an extra coat of gloss, by London based producer Daniel Maunick (son of Incognito frontman Bluey). More moments of boogie delight come in the form of ‘Minha Roma’ (a musical nod to the famed ‘Estrelar’), and the sunshine anthem title-track ‘Sempre’.

Translating as ‘Ever’, Sempre is a testament to the continual drive for development and reinvention that has defined Marcos Valle’s astounding six-decade career. Ever changing, ever moving forward, he began as one of the second-wave of early bossa nova composers in the sixties, writing the world famous bossa standard ‘Summer Samba (So Nice)’ for his sophomore album ‘Samba 68’. After a brief stint in the States, Valle returned to Brazil, and the early ’70s saw the release of four ground-breaking Valle albums which incorporated progressive rock, psychedelic influences, pop, jazz, soul and cinematic arrangements. These albums would see Valle work alongside a number of hugely influential Brazilian bands, including Milton Nascimento’s backing band Som Imaginaro, the prog-rock band O Terco and jazz funk legends Azymuth. Returning back to the US in ‘75, Valle resided in LA, writing music for the likes of Eumir Deodato, Airto Moreira, Chicago, Sarah Vaughn and Leon Ware, before returning to Brazil once more, where after releasing a handful of hit pop records, he took a hiatus from recording.

Since the mid-nineties, Marcos Valle has been experiencing a renaissance with London based label Far Out Recordings, where his approach to music has remained, as always; decidedly open to new influences, possibilities and technologies. Sempre is Marcos Valle’s fifth album for the label, following 2010’s critically acclaimed Estatica.

Just in time for summer, Sempre is out on Vinyl LP/ CD on 28th June 2019 on Far Out Recordings, and Marcos Valle and band will be touring Europe in May /June (see below for dates).