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The magic and majesty of Holger Czukay’s late career works for Claremont 56 is being celebrated on a new compilation. The former Can bassist – a musical maverick renowned for his freewheeling approach to composition, recording and promotion – released a string of inspired tracks on Paul Murphy’s label between 2009 and 2012, typically delivering hard-to-pigeonhole workouts, bona-fide epics and radical reinventions of some of his most beloved tracks.

The collection has been a labour of love – fitting given the sonic details and inventive musicality that marked out the late artist’s solo career – for Claremont 56 founder Paul Murphy AKA Mudd, who first reached out to Czukay after witnessing his now legendary live performance at the Roundhouse in 2009. As Murphy details in his introductory liner notes, it led to a productive working relationship between the pair that included collaborative recording sessions with Ben Smith in Czukay’s legendary Innerspace Studio – a former cinema in Cologne in which much of Can’s music was recorded.The impact of that Roundhouse gig on Murphy is reflected in the fact that two of the tracks on the collection are based on that celebrated performance. There’s ‘Ode To Perfume’, a languid and solo-laden version of one of Czukay’s most celebrated solo records that ratchets up the original’s inherent dreaminess, and a jaunty take on quirky kraut-pop number ‘Photosong’ featuring a spoken introduction recorded at the concert in question.

Murphy’s ability to coax Czukay into delving into his archives is evident across the compilation. Opener ‘A Perfect World (Remix)’ is an eccentric, ever-building masterpiece originally recorded in 1984 – but later re-imagined for Claremont 56 – featuring vocalist Sheldon Ancel and former Can band-mates Jaki Leibezeit and Michael Karoli, while ‘Fragrance’ is a subtly re-wired slab of picturesque Balearic kraut-dub which was initially recorded as a coda for ‘Ode To Perfume’ but lay unreleased for decades.

Then there’s ‘Let’s Get Cool’, a bright and breezy, French horn-sporting 2009 take on 1979 avant-disco classic ‘Cool In The Pool’; ‘My Persian Love (Remix)’, a 2010 re-take of one of his earliest solos recordings; and the near 18-minute brilliance of ‘Music Is A Miracle’. Originally recorded for his fans in the 1980s – but only released three decades later – this widescreen epic not only features drums by Jaki Leibezeit and a fine spoken word vocal by Czukay, but also numerous nods to some of his most revered tracks.

It's fitting, too, that two of the most potent cuts feature Czukay’s much-missed wife and musical muse Ursa Major: the dense, trippy and fittingly out-there ambient soundscape ‘In Space’, and the mesmerising ‘Music To be Murdered By’. Partially inspired by hearing painfully out of tune violin practice through his studio windows, the track was originally recorded for an unreleased album but finally found a home on Claremont 56’s 10th anniversary box set ion 2017. A genuinely spaced-out and mind-mangling slab of organic dub in Czukay’s distinctive style, it delivers a fine curtain call to the iconic artist’s endlessly inventive career.

Highly wanted amongst collectors for its unique sound, this Italian psychedelic percussion heavy disco single was originally only released on 7" format sometime in the late 70s on the Idea label. Quite experimental for its time, it stands out not only for the reckless use of percussion but also the use of early synthesiser sounds in very rhythmic conscientious manners, some moments almost sounding as if a pioneering example of Acid House years before its time. While it seems like all possible percussion instrument sounds are chaotically employed into the drum salad that unfolds, the clavinet and vibraphone offer a contrasting dreamy nuance via a simple and slowly moving melody. Besides the original “Parte 02a” version this release comes with a new remix “Drum Implosion (Parte 10a)” further propelling the chaos commenced in the original release with the aid of flangers and delays, already striking the fancy of DJs like Marcell Dettmann. Severely remastered at Manmade mastering, now featured in 12” format with full cover artwork.

“Todavía No”, La Paloma’s debut album, consolidates the young band from Madrid as one of the realities of the current scene. Undoubtedly, it’s definitely a bold step forward in all senses: compositional, interpretative, and artistic. Noise-rock to combat all the noise out there.

In “Una idea, pero es triste”, their celebrated debut EP, La Paloma expounded something very serious, but they explained it only once. Five songs that instantly connected with an audience eager for new references. In “Todavía no” there is more depth; here practically each cut shows a different shade of being La Paloma. “Tiré una piedra al aire” is far from “Algo ha cambiado”, but both are unequivocally La Paloma. Surely, this is something that can be attributed to the baggage acquired during this time lapse, but it certainly speaks very well of the artistic ambition of a band to which now seems to have no ceiling.
We are not, therefore, facing a mere extension of their 2021 EP, although musically they pick it up from where they left off. “Todavía no” is an accessible and contagious work, equal qualities shared with “Una idea, pero es triste”. It’s a work that conveys discontent and liberation, ambition and boredom. In large part, it’s due to the accredited ability of its composers Nico Yubero and Lucas Sierra to observe the world with the right dose of skepticism and disappointment, avoiding tormented gesticulation.
The presentation tour that followed the publication of the EP was extensive and led La Paloma to defend their songs throughout the Spanish geography, as well as visits to Portugal, Mexico and the United States. That state of grace was transferred to the studio, where they tried to reflect their live sound and proposal. With an elegant production and without undue frills, the mission of preserving the sharp fang shown in concert halls was achieved, ensuring, in turn, that the elements, arrangements and the proposal of each instrument were heard crystal clear.
Right from the start, we notice in the sequence many of the virtues that make La Paloma one of the most advantaged groups of the current scene: gushing guitars, the solidity of its rhythm section with Rubén Almonacid on bass and Juan Rojo on drums and the color tone provided by the voices of Nico and Lucas, who share the vocal tasks on alternate tracks.
But there’s more: songs that destroy the most generic canon of noise-rock to take it to little-explored territories, frantic guitar games and a cascade of imaginative arrangements. It combines popular song constructions with unpredictable structures that prevent you from anticipating what twist is to come next, making listening experience exhilarating and addictive.
“Todavía no” is a tightly cohesive album, a remarkable fact considering the two creative inputs from which the band draws from and the artistic ambition with which they faced the building of this work. Because we are talking about a complete work, conceived as such. The first chords of “Sigo aquí” sound and the disorganization of reality… is still disorganized, but somehow it makes sense now.

For its next outing, the Nebraska label has curated a mini best-of EP that serves up a quartet of tunes that have been digital only until now. Side A opens with 'Senza Parole,' featuring a weird and wonderful vocal sound and some loose hand claps under Italo-infused disco-funk drums. 'Let Me Be The One' is a nice tripped pout and slow motion 90s downtempo jam and 'Funkbraska' is an homage to French Touch with filtered synth loops fizzing with sugar goodness over a characterful bassline, and last of all is 'Love + Hate', another low slung hose groove that oozes cool and has a fantastic bassline propping it up.

After meeting in 1992 as members of St Etienne's touring band, Debsey Wykes (Dolly Mixture) and Paul Kelly (East Village) turned their shared love of the soft rock and sunshine pop of the 1960s and 1970s into the now-legendary Birdie. In the summer of 1998 Birdie recorded their debut album "Some Dusty" with the estimable Brian O'Shaughnessy (Denim, Moose, The Clientele). It's a deep and beautiful album, with melodic & sophisticated (yet understated) arrangements providing the perfect setting for Debsey's sweet and soulful soft-pop vocals. Add in gorgeous string arrangements from The High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan and you have all the makings of a pop classic.

Subsequent singles and a second album cemented their reputation as top-notch purveyors of pop, but family life and other artistic pursuits called and Birdie has only been sporadically active since 2001. Their brief but perfectly-formed discography has become the stuff of legend, though, charming savvy pop fans around the world with its timeless songcraft and flawless production.

Summer 2024 will see the long overdue vinyl reissue of "Some Dusty" on US indie label Slumberland Records, returning this classic album to much-needed availability in deluxe remastered form with a deluxe 60s-style laminated heavy card jacket and a fine insert with rare photos and liner notes by Chickfactor’s Gail O’Hara.

Boxed set of five 7-inch vinyl records, 300 copies limited edition. Artwork poster included.

All tracks remastered from the original master tapes.

Alessandro Alessandroni is no longer remembered simply as 'the whistler' in Morricone's spaghetti western soundtracks – and rightly so, since he was the key figure behind much of Italian 'secret music' from the 60s and 70s, always there in the studio during recording sessions, whether as a multi-instrumentalist or as the leader of session vocal group I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni. Today his pervasive presence and important role has been finally recognized by music professionals and enthusiasts alike, so much so that he is now considered the true father of Italian library music – a genre whose sound he shaped since 1968.


As a film composer, Alessandroni often worked for small productions that had very limited (and often regional-only) distribution, and whose budgets were worlds apart from those in the 'top league' where friends and colleagues like Morricone, Bacalov, Trovajoli or Piccioni thrived. Rarely released as a soundtrack, this music ended up, at best, forgotten inside dusty ¼-inch reels or, at worst, disappearing into thin air.

After a string of releases that have brought back to life forgotten or lost works by Alessandroni (Sangue di Sbirro, Afro Discoteca, Lost and Found, etc.), it was pretty natural for us at Four Flies to start delving into a little investigated area of his filmography: his scores for erotic films, the last genre to gain popularity in the flourishing Italian film industry of the 60s and 70s, and perhaps the most extreme too, the one that, by pushing things too far, eventually put an end to that industry and its genres.

So, we're now very proud to present Alessandroni Proibito, an exclusive boxed set of five 7-inch records. It contains a total of 14 previously unreleased tracks from the soundtracks of 4 soft-core erotic films that included hard-core sequences and, therefore, fell somewhere in-between normal commercial distribution and the underground scene of adult movie theatres.

Taking an artisanal approach to his musical craft, Alessandroni was not afraid of having to deal with spicy subject matter, wobbly productions, implausible plots, improvised actors, or cinematographers who were clearly no disciples of Storaro. And he was so good at making a virtue out of necessity, at turning budget constraints into creative advantages, that he created soundtracks that far surpass the films' quality, with music that at once captures and elevates the spirit of the erotic genre as if into a condensed symbol.

More specifically, the maestro recorded many of the pieces in a DIY fashion at home, using a 4-track Teac tape machine to arrange his compositions. The Teac allowed him to play different instruments on each track, which meant he could basically put an entire soundtrack together all by himself, or almost all by himself.

These recordings often feature drum machines – which provide that retro, early electronic music vibe – as well as funk guitars and exotic-sounding percussion in the rhythm tracks. In addition, there is an extensive, almost bewildering use of synthesizers to replace solo instruments that would have required a paid session player. On top this minimalist arrangement, Alessandroni layered what he could: some piano chords, a little flute and, most importantly, his signature 12-string guitar phrasing.

The result is just stunning: a unique mixture of electronic music and acoustic instruments, in a style that stops short of kitsch and ranges from cinematic ambient pieces like "Tensione erotica" to disco-funk tracks like "Snake Disco" and "One Sunday Morning", both of which feature vocals by Alessandroni himself.

Alessandroni Proibito comes with artwork by Eric Adrien Lee and a matching 30x70cm folded poster inspired to the insert-size posters which used to be hung outside movie theatres to attract cinema-goers.

The boxed set is being released in a limited edition of just 300 copies and will never be reissued. First come, first served.

The UK’s first and only emo band Los Campesinos! return with their highly-anticipated seventh album, All Hell. It is perhaps their most ambitious and assured album yet, whilst simultaneously recalling everything we’ve come to love about LC! over their faultless discography. Recorded between October 2023 and February 2024, it is the first album to be wholly self-produced by band member Tom Bromley (having co-produced previous albums Sick Scenes and NO BLUES). The album is also self-released on the band’s own Heart Swells record label.

In the band’s words All Hell is an album about…

Drinking for fun and drinking for misery // adult acne // adult friendship // football // death and dying // love and sex // late-stage capitalism // Orpheus // day dreaming // night terrors // the heart as an organ and as a burden // suburban boredom // Tears of the Kingdom // the punks on the playlist // increments of time // climate apocalypse // the moon the moon the moon ///

Los Campesinos! have become one of the most important and influential cult acts in the UK since they formed in the mid-2000s. Starting out in the Cardiff indie scene and soundtracking Budweiser adverts, the seven-piece’s musical evolution since then has been slow, steady and remarkable. From the frenzied chaos of debut album Hold On Now, Youngster… (2008) through 2010 breakthrough Romance is Boring and the self-mythologising of latter day highlights NO BLUES (2013) and Sick Scenes (2017), their discography is an interconnected web of niche references, big swings and unflinching honesty.

Making self-professed sleeper hits for weeping dipshits, they’re as influenced by The Beautiful South as they are US emo, with emotional intensity and connection always at the core. Their lyrics are a treasure trove of football references, tales of romantic woe and painfully frank exorcisms, which have been tattooed across hundreds of fans’ bodies and served as comfort and insight during that break-up you had (there’s a reason the band’s tagline is “your ex-girlfriend’s favourite band”).

Now with the release of All Hell, Los Camp! approach their third decade as a band more brilliant, more potent and more vital than ever.

MC Duke aka The Darkest Knight EP Picture Disc

Subbase honors the great MC Duke, Kashif Adham, a true legend in the music scene and the Godfather of UK Rap.

This incredible limited edition tribute vinyl picture disc celebrates MC Duke's legacy. He began working with Suburban Base in the early '90s and became the most prolific artist on their sister imprint, Boogie Times, before they collaborated with his own label, Hard Disk. This stunning picture disc features some of his rarest releases from Hard Disk, which have never been reissued since their original pressings in the '90s. Together, Duke and Suburban base meticulously planned and remastered these amazing tracks before Duke's unfortunate passing. He was so excited for collectors to enjoy these tunes once again.

MC Duke's unparalleled talent and unwavering dedication to music throughout his life solidified his status as a true legend in the UK music scene. He made significant contributions to UK music, from Hip Hop and Rap to Hardcore and Jungle. Let’s remember the man and his music!

This 4 track EP includes all tracks from The Darkest Knight HARDDISK 004 plus the promo only white label My Sound (HD7) which has sold for as much as £95 on discogs although none have been available for over four years since 2020

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.

One mere year after their previous pitch-black sounding album Krypt, LA outfit Male Tears is back with a new full-length and – oh boy – everything is changed.

The used-to-be duo is now a four piece with James Edward as the sole founding member remaining and apparently this new line-up helped the original vocalist to shapeshift again.
Remember their very first debut album from 2021 and those dark synthpop sounds?

With their upcoming fourth album (in only three years), this American electronic-pop act from Southern California doubles the stakes once again and where Krypt was all about being goth and gloomy and disturbingly paroxysmal, Paradisco is somehow quite the opposite.

Eight new tracks of pure italo disco, hi-NRG and freestyle bliss that pick up where the band left off three years ago to pursue much darker realms. Now that the quest for darkness is done, it is time to polish our nails and dress up for the night-out cause there’s more in life than feeling sorry for yourself. Yes you will need to cut out the deadwood but there is no change in stillness.

So join Male Tears and their new arsenal of bangers and floor fillers with assertive titles such as Out of my Life, Regret 4 Nothing and Leave it Alone.

Get yourself wrapped up in one warm cover of delicate nostalgia and reborn romanticism, driven by sounds that pay homage equally to Miko Mission and Ken Laszlo, Lisa Lisa and Exposé and, well yeah, even The Smiths because say what you wanna say but you simply cannot not love The Smiths.

Embrace the vintage vibes that organically propagate from this new record’s grooves and get in the mood for this new course in full-on 1980’s Pop.

One mere year after their previous pitch-black sounding album Krypt, LA outfit Male Tears is back with a new full-length and – oh boy – everything is changed.

The used-to-be duo is now a four piece with James Edward as the sole founding member remaining and apparently this new line-up helped the original vocalist to shapeshift again.
Remember their very first debut album from 2021 and those dark synthpop sounds?

With their upcoming fourth album (in only three years), this American electronic-pop act from Southern California doubles the stakes once again and where Krypt was all about being goth and gloomy and disturbingly paroxysmal, Paradisco is somehow quite the opposite.

Eight new tracks of pure italo disco, hi-NRG and freestyle bliss that pick up where the band left off three years ago to pursue much darker realms. Now that the quest for darkness is done, it is time to polish our nails and dress up for the night-out cause there’s more in life than feeling sorry for yourself. Yes you will need to cut out the deadwood but there is no change in stillness.

So join Male Tears and their new arsenal of bangers and floor fillers with assertive titles such as Out of my Life, Regret 4 Nothing and Leave it Alone.

Get yourself wrapped up in one warm cover of delicate nostalgia and reborn romanticism, driven by sounds that pay homage equally to Miko Mission and Ken Laszlo, Lisa Lisa and Exposé and, well yeah, even The Smiths because say what you wanna say but you simply cannot not love The Smiths.

Embrace the vintage vibes that organically propagate from this new record’s grooves and get in the mood for this new course in full-on 1980’s Pop.

HIGHLIGHTS Originally released in 1980, this was Stiv Bators' first solo album. Now reissued with 2 bonus tracks, not available on the original version, a slightly different picture on the cover (the actual unfiltered photo as used on the 1980 issue) and a booklet with extensive liner notes and photos. Bators was the man who destroyed Rocket from the Tombs, from which he hijacked half the members to found one of the most influential American punk bands to have existed, The Dead Boys. Stiv had turned in his broken teeth for a more power pop oriented solo career. This is not an album recorded by a has-been former punk idealist; instead it's a true step forward into another unknown arena packing all the glare and attitude that remained from the last. The music is more similar to 60's power pop than the vicious punk rock that Bators became known for originally, while a member of The Dead Boys. New generations continue to discover it. It still holds up very well and sounds as fresh and vibrant as ever. DESCRIPTION On August 11th of 1980, Stiv Bators, David Quinton Steinberg, George Cabaniss and Frank Secich flew to Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. They were there to do the West Coast leg of the "URGH! A Music War" tour. On the bill of the tour were Pere Ubu, Magazine, the Members, and they were billed as Stiv Bators and the Dead Boys or just the Dead Boys. After the tour they were supposed to embark on a 6-week tour of Australia, New Zealand, and the Far East. During the beginning of the Urgh Tour the Australian Tour was abruptly canceled. Greg Shaw who owned Bomp Records decided that since the band were already going to be in California that they should do Stiv's solo album which they had planned to do after returning from Down Under. So, Bators and the rest of the group set up camp at the infamous Tropicana Motel in West Hollywood and Greg booked them into Perspective Studios in Sun Valley, CA. Before going into Perspective, they went into Andy Chappel's Stone Fox rehearsal studio in North Hollywood, CA for a few days to rehearse the songs and arrange them for the album. "We had 'Evil Boy' (Zero-Secich), David Quinton's 'Make Up Your Mind' and my song 'A Million Miles Away'. We also rearranged mine and Stiv's 'The Last Year' changing the key from D to F# and making it much easier to sing in a power pop vein. In addition, we had 'Swinging A Go-Go' another great contribution by George Cabaniss. Stiv and I had written two more for the album 'Ready Anytime' and the album closer 'I Wanna Forget You (Just the Way You Are)'. We also had a moody dark instrumental (written by Cabaniss-Quinton-Secich) that we were playing around with for some time. Stiv was supposed to write lyrics for it, but he never got around to it, so we left it as an instrumental. It had a great vibe and reminded me of the John Cassavetes 1956 film "Crime in The Streets" and was thus christened that. The last song we picked for the LP was 'I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)' which was the one cover we did that suited Stiv's voice perfectly. After a few days of rehearsing at Stone Fox, we went into Perspective Studio in Sun Valley, California. Greg hired Thom Wilson (who would later become a famous punk rock producer of Offspring, Iggy Pop, Dead Kennedys, T.S.O.L., Bad Religion and many others). Stiv co-produced with Thom and Andy Chappel and Thom did the engineering." Frank Secich recalls. In September, after the "Disconnected" mixing sessions, Stiv went to Baltimore to film "Polyester" with Movie Director John Waters and actors Tab Hunter and Divine. Stiv then went to the UK to record with the Wanderers doing their LP "Only Lovers Left Alive". He wanted to have both bands going simultaneously but logistically and practically they all knew that could never work. The "Disconnected" Band would do one last tour to support the album release of "Disconnected". The LP was released by Bomp Records on Monday December 08th, 1980. Later that night, John Lennon was murdered in New York City. So many of the principal characters involved in the creation of "Disconnected" have passed on. Stiv Bators (June 3rd, 1990), Greg Shaw (October 2nd, 2004), Thom Wilson (February 8th, 2015), and George Cabaniss (July 17th, 2020). But "Disconnected" lives on and on and has left quite a legacy for itself. There have been over 100 cover versions internationally of the songs from "Disconnected" and it has been in print and reissued in various forms in many countries around the world. New generations continue to discover it. It still holds up very well and sounds as fresh and vibrant as ever.

Chris Cohen was always a quiet kid. In fact, this introversion was one reason he began playing music as a toddler-to communicate without speaking, to identify with others without the direct representation of words. It has worked, too, with Cohen's terrific stint in the mighty Deerhoof and his own captivating art-rock act The Curtains, preceding production and session work for the likes of Weyes Blood, Kurt Vile, Le Ren, and Marina Allen. Somewhere along that long way, Cohen started writing lyrics. He found that, though it didn't come naturally, the process offered a new sense of self-discovery and reckoning, a way to see himself and the world from unexpected angles. His three twilit albums of casually complicated pop during the last decade radiated these epiphanies: handling family strife, navigating advancing age, and understanding social woes. But Cohen has never had as much to sing so directly as he does on Paint a Room, his first album in five years and his debut for Hardly Art. If Cohen's meanings have previously lurked inside the tessellated musical layers he built alone, they are newly clear and resonant here, animated and underscored for the first time by a band playing in real time. There is the endless miasma of state violence on the subversively melodious opener "Damage," the existential exhaustion of modernity on the horn-traced jangle "Laughing": this is Cohen communicating with friends not only through his deep understanding of groove, harmony, and hook but also with his listeners through songs that croon of our uneasy little era. On Paint a Room, Cohen's music feels like a warm spring breeze, easy to love and gentle to feel. But it's often carrying something heavy, as if blowing in from some unseen storm cloud. Paint a Room both reckons with reality and conjures an alternate one, where nighttime walks and a neighbor's wind chimes offer endless escapes for the imagination, space for the mind to roam. Sublime and sun-lit, these 10 songs consider dreamy new ways out of old predicaments, clearly stating the problem and dancing and singing their way somewhere new. Paint a Room features Jeff Parker contributing the fluttering horn arrangement on "Damage," and Parker collaborator Josh Johnson (who produced Meshell Ndegeocello's Grammy-Award-winning album The Omnichord Real Book) supplying flute, sax, and clarinet arrangements throughout the record.

MC Duke aka The Darkest Knight EP Picture Disc

Subbase honors the great MC Duke, Kashif Adham, a true legend in the music scene and the Godfather of UK Rap.

This incredible limited edition tribute vinyl picture disc celebrates MC Duke's legacy. He began working with Suburban Base in the early '90s and became the most prolific artist on their sister imprint, Boogie Times, before they collaborated with his own label, Hard Disk. This stunning picture disc features some of his rarest releases from Hard Disk, which have never been reissued since their original pressings in the '90s. Together, Duke and Suburban base meticulously planned and remastered these amazing tracks before Duke's unfortunate passing. He was so excited for collectors to enjoy these tunes once again.

MC Duke's unparalleled talent and unwavering dedication to music throughout his life solidified his status as a true legend in the UK music scene. He made significant contributions to UK music, from Hip Hop and Rap to Hardcore and Jungle. Let’s remember the man and his music!

This 4 track EP includes all tracks from The Darkest Knight HARDDISK 004 plus the promo only white label My Sound (HD7) which has sold for as much as £95 on discogs although none have been available for over four years since 2020

A lost solo piano record from the Night Tripper! Originally put to tape in ‘82 & ‘83 for the Clean Cuts label, these tracks have remained unheard until now.

Two numbers feature the doc's raspy growl while his solo piano navigates us through the rest of the train ride, past touches of blues, jazz, and foot stompin’ boogie-woogie jive. It's the kind of magic that can only come from a dusty tape box.

In 1981, Dr. John began recording his first of two solo piano albums. The “new” performances featured on this release are of the same quality as the music on Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack and The Brightest Smile In Town.

His left hand creates a three-note rhythmic pattern that forms the foundation for the performance while his right soulfully plays the melody and then builds off of it in the tradition of the New Orleans piano blues masters. In other songs, it begins as a nostalgic and heartfelt ballad, picking up steam during the performance and switching moods several times before returning to where it began.

While it is a real shame that he would never again record a full album of unaccompanied solos (Dr. John enjoyed leading a band too much), the release of Frankie & Johnny gives one an additional opportunity to discover just how brilliant and spirited a pianist Mac Rebennack was during his colorful career.

For fans of - Darko, Bad Omens, Deftones, Alice In Chains On tour in the US April- May 2024 w/ Attila + Born Of Osiris Band names go a long way in helping paint a figurative picture in the listeners mind of what to expect before one ever hits “play.” When it comes to Extortionist, you think crime—you think gritty, raw, merciless and unsavory and maybe, just maybe, a little sprinkling of suaveness. When it comes to the Pacific Northwest’s resident moshslingers, those premonitions from their name are exactly what you get. As a band who have proven themselves exemplary at styles of heavy music ranging from downtempo deathcore to grunge- tinted metal, Extortionist are more than just a jack-of-all-trades; they’re masters. Utilizing bold, roaring guitars overtop crushing, steamrolling percussion and vocals that run the gamut from guttural to grating, pitched singing and topped off with—you guessed it—a now-infamous dodgeball-smack snare, Extortionist have proven that not only are they incredible at what they do, they’re a band that the heavy scene just can’t go without.

Celebrated Zambian guitarist and bandleader Paul Ngozi’s concept album about the stuggles of those living in Africa’s 1970s townships Includes Oversized 8 Page Booklet That Details Paul Ngozi and The Ngozi Family’s Arc, Including Rare Photographs, Discography And Annotation. The third entry in an era-defining reissue series on Now-Again centered around this Zamrock legend and his band - previous entries include Day Of Judgement and 45,000 Volts

"Zambia’s Zamrock movement that exploded in the 1970s...provided young musicians access to European and American music, and created a unique sound. At its root, Zamrock melded fuzz-toned psychedelia, chugging garage rock and roiling funk with a broad mix of African cadences and beats...enlivening a scene that included bands like Musi-O-Tunya, Amanaz and the Ngozi Family” (New York Times)

Zamrock was a bona-fide rock scene: on the African continent, only Nigeria can claim one so comprehensive, and Nigeria’s was largely catalyzed and funded by subsidiaries of the European major labels. Zamrock was as independent as the newly-named country, formerly known as Northern Rhodesia. Zamrock is starting in its completeness, especially for a scene that emerged, unfurled and disappeared so quickly. From Musi-O-Tunyaís fusion of Fela’s Afro-beat, Hendrix’s rock, South African jazz and traditional Zambian melodies and rhythms to Salty Dog’s acid folk/rock, Zambia’s rock scene contained all of rock’s subgenres. Zamrock was much more than an imitation of American and European rock music: it quickly became a uniquely Zambian movement, befitting of its name. WITCH, Paul Ngozi and Amanaz sound nothing like other rock music from the African continent - or elsewhere.

In 2018 Diagonal Records released an intriguing, three track, hand stamped, white label
12” of dancfloor sampledelia by Shit & Shine onto an unsuspecting world. The lead track
on this 12” ‘You Were Very High’ turned a lot of heads and became a club oddity, being
played out by DJ’s around the world – and some movers and shakers have hailed the 12”
as “Shit & Shine’s best ever release.”
Now in 2024, as the original 12” has become a bit of a collector’s item, trading hands for
£60+ on Discogs – Shit and Shine and Rocket Recordings have decided ‘You Were Really
High’ deserves a one off repress. This expanded version of the EP, which is housed in new
art and ltd to only 300 copies, also features a mighty extra track called ‘Dave, Have You
Ever Been To London.

2024 repress

Music From Memory is excited to announce a special compilation that they’ve been working on for some time now; MFM053 – VA – Heisei No Oto – Japanese Left-field Pop From The CD Age (1989-1996). Compiled by long-time friends of the label, Eiji Taniguchi and Norio Sato, Heisei No Oto delves into a world of music released almost exclusively on CD and brings together a fascinating selection of discoveries from a little known and overlooked part of Japan’s musical history.

The last ten or so years have seen a global wave of interest in Japanese music encompassing ambient, jazz, new wave and pop records from the 1980s, some of which is increasingly considered the most innovative and visionary music of that time. Although some music from this period, in the form of ‘City Pop’ or ‘rare groove’ records, had been coveted by collectors and DJs for a number of years, most Japanese music from the time was little known outside and often even within Japan.

Sometime around the mid 2000s, two Osaka record store owners, Eiji Taniguchi of Revelation Time and Norio Sato of Rare Groove, along with a handful of deep Japanese diggers such as Chee Shimizu of Organic Music records in Tokyo, began to explore beyond the typical ‘grooves’ or ‘breaks’. Much like their counterparts in Europe and the US, they began delving into home-grown ambient, jazz, new wave and pop records, discovering visionary music, often driven by synthesizers or drum computers, that broke beyond the typical confines of their genres.

Spending tireless hours in local record stores and embarking on digging trips across the country, Eiji Taniguchi and Norio Sato, much like Chee Shimizu, have been at the forefront of unearthing and introducing many of the very Japanese records now loved and sought after around the world. Yet as YouTube algorithms and vinyl reissues would transport such music into the global consciousness and demand and therefore scarcity intensified for such records, so Eiji and Norio have recently begun to turn their attention to CDs.

The title of the compilation Heisei No Oto refers to the sound of the Heisei era, which began in 1989 and corresponds to the reign of Emperor Akihito until his abdication in 2019. Marking the culmination of one of the most rapid economic growths in Japanese history, 1989 also coincided with the music industry’s final shift away from vinyl in favour of CDs. And, although compact discs were first introduced seven years earlier it wasn’t until late into the ‘80s that, beyond dance music labels, CDs became the exclusive format for major and independent labels in Japan and throughout the world.

This however didn’t signal the end of the innovation in Japan. Many of those same musicians who have become known for their work in the ‘80s would continue to produce outstanding music well into the mid ‘90s, as greater innovation and advances in musical equipment allowed Japanese musicians and producers to refine and explore new sounds. While musicians such as the seminal Haruomi Hosono, whose productions feature on a number of tracks, would continue to push the boundaries of these new technologies, these technological advances also meant less established musicians were able to make use of increasingly affordable but state-of-the-art equipment.

Including music by Haruomi Hosono as well as Yasuaki Shimizu, Toshifumi Hinata and Ichiko Hashimoto who have become known and loved around the world in recent years, Hesei No Oto also features Japanese pop star Yosui Inoue, producers Jun Sato and Keisuke Kikuchi in aaddition to less established artists from the contemporary, jazz, new wave, pop and dance music scenes. Bringing together a selection of tracks that seem to define these specific genres and in fact move fluidly between a number of them, the music on the compilation is again underscored by experimentations with synthesizers and drum computers though with something of a gentle Pop sensibility. Reimagined here then under the encompassing term ‘Left-field Pop’, this is an exciting chapter in Japanese musical history that has only just begun to be fully explored.

VA - Heisei No Oto - Japanese Left-field Pop From The CD Age (1989-1996) is a 2xLP/2xCD that includes liner notes by Chee Shimizu and artwork by Hagihara Takuya and is released on February 28th.