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Following sporadic appearances on compilations and unreleased tracks popping up in the arsenals of multiple heavyweight selectors, SLOW1 - ‘Hole' is the full debut record of Ufaze, and Slow Process. A frantically paced, unrelenting sensory assault from start to end, featuring a very special appearance by DJ Stingray 313 on remix duty for the title track.

This record will likely be filed under “electro”. But there's much more to be found below the surface here than in the usual type of safe, bland assembly line fare cranked out nowadays within those stylistic boundaries. This one truly stands apart, bold and original, whilst paying due respect to pioneers and present day visionaries alike.

First Word Records is very pleased to present a brand new full-length album from Sarah Williams White! Emanating from the "hilly fields of Lewisham" in South London, Sarah Williams White is a singer songwriter, multi-

instrumentalist and producer. Her sound is a unique blend of psych-soul, folktronica and experimental synth-pop.

Sarah released her acclaimed debut album 'Of The New World' on First Word in 2015, which was written, produced and performed by Sarah from her home studio, with the assistance of drummer, engineer & husband, Timmy Rickard. Her projects have seen support from the likes of Lauren Laverne, Tom Ravenscroft, Nemone & Chris Hawkins (BBC 6 Music), Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2), FIP Radio, Clash & The Guardian, to name a few, and she's toured the UK with Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip and Golden Rules (Lex). There have been additional collaborations with label-mate Quiet Dawn (on the 2021 compilation / EP 'A Family Affair') and with her brother, Paul White - a revered producer in his own right, with credits including Danny Brown and Sudan Archives.

Following a hiatus, Sarah now brings us her sophomore album, 'Unfathomable'. A project that offers up escapism from the mundane, enticing us to connect with our natural planet in this prevalent time, via the eyes of a new mother.

In her words, Sarah states that the album is "about escape. It's about deflating the ego by looking up to the endlessness of outer space, connecting with the greatness of mother nature, and loving how unfathomable the universe and life itself is".

11-tracks in all, including the recent singles 'Nebula', 'Green' and 'Monsters', this opus sees Sarah's buttery lathing of vocals merged with cutting beats and atypical pop sensibilities across the project, again entirely self-produced from home, defining her as one of the UK's most irresistible DIY psych-soul talents.

With a voice reminiscent of Peggy Lee, tapestried harmony akin to Hiatus Kaiyote, beats fit for Little Dragon, and experimental production evocative of Kate Bush, Sarah Williams White's signature genre-defying sound invites us into a world uniquely hers.

'Unfathomable' is released on vinyl and digital in late January 2022.

In 2009, Jalapeno Records was approached with some incredible music by the super talented Mixmonster and Schoolmaster, founding members of the jazz funk band 'The Apples'.

Produced under their 'Radio Trip' moniker, the album was a glorious cut & paste journey into sound, with overtones of musique concrete, brought to life by their fascination with vinyl culture, turntablism and sampling.

The first EP taken from the album featured the up-tempo 'Computers Singing' with its crunchy drums, organic horn stabs, bleep FXs, synth bass tones and a myriad of sampled vocals, all deftly arranged into a constantly evolving b boy battle weapon.

Now released for the first time on a limited 45, this little gem also features the sought-after psych-funk remix by fellow DJ, digger and music archivist Markey Funk, who is another a staple of the Israeli groove scene.

In the third of the series, we move to 1973 Detroit, we have been so excited bringing this through to pressing and it has been a long but exciting and rewarding road and we hope you enjoy listening to this this 45 taken directly from the Universal master tapes and brought to you 48 years after its initial release on promo only format. Now available under licence and blessings from Universal Music Group on the Black Top series from us.

Is it good – oh yes – but don’t take our word for it, crank the volume up and hit play.

The A side – Young Train is a fabulous funkedged dancer with a message for us all even today, driven by the constant wah wah guitar and bongos. flip it over for a feelgood crossover dancer that has already been getting radio airtime on some of the UKs best soul stations.

Young Train by the Originals. This incredibly rare 45 is a poignant reminder that 48 years later the struggle continues today for equality and harmony for all.

The title “Young Train” is a brilliant collaboration of using Colemans surname and a hark back to the freedom songs enshrined in the blues and soul history of Black America, think Freedom Riders, Southbound train, Midnight train to Georgia to name but a tiny number. It captured the imagination of Detroit leading to the inauguration of the First Black Mayor of Detroit in 1974. Coleman Young captured the hearts and minds of the people of Detroit, some of his actions and associates led to questions around his fitness for office, but the moment in time lives forever in this exclusively rare 45 now brought to you with the blessings of Universal Music Group via MD Records.

On a final note, it is in many ways incredibly sad that this anthemic song still holds a valid call to action in its message in 2021. So, turn the volume up and get on board the “Young Train” for democracy and equality.

Big thanks go out to Karl “Chalky” White for material used in the sleeve.

All aboard for the third release in the Blacktop series from the MD Collective.

Gratitude is the eagerly anticipated new solo album from Abiodun Oyewole, the poet, teacher and founding member of The Last Poets. The album liner notes include an extensive new interview with Abiodun himself, detailing the writing process of the album.

Looking back, the Last Poets are often referred to as the godfathers of rap, and by listening to their early recordings; it’s easy to hear why. Their words encompass revolution, sex, death, drugs, and Black Power - they own their words. From their mouths – words are a sense of pride, a statement, and a feeling of empowerment. There’s no self-conscious hang-up with the Last Poets using words as an art form. On May 19th, 1968 (in celebration of Malcolm X’s birthday), The Last Poets performed their first ever concert in Mount Morris Park (in Harlem), now called Marcus Garvey Park. Their debut album was released in 1970 including poet/singer Abiodun Oyewole.

Now AFAR is proud to present a whole new way of thinking socially, politically, emotionally, and humanly – via the perspective of Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets with his new solo album ‘Gratitude’ - it's not a protest album, it's an inspirational LP/CD via the inclusive words and God-like voice of Abiodun - this is not an angry man, but an older wiser man - reflecting on his life and spiritual quests. Rappers love him for coining the phrase "Party and Bullshit" decades ago - but this is not that - this is a sacred journey with a universal message for all people regardless of their background and nationality.

“ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SPOKEN-WORD GROUPS THAT PIONEERED HIP-HOP” NPR

“EXPERIMENTING WITH STREET POETRY AND PERCUSSIVE SOUND, THE MUSIC OF HARLEM’S LAST POETS HELPED LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR HIP-HOP” ROLLING STONE

Hitting hard with funk, rap, and soul, paired with powerful messages throughout, Lack of Afro's I'm Here Now (aka Adam Gibbons), his seventh studio album, continues his style of funky, bassline-rich tracks combined with perfectly chosen features and collaborations.

Hands up, hands up, hands up for the champ! Champagne comin' cool and correct with the sweet reggae vibes on his Bonafide imprint ( sister label to Midnight Sun Recordings) featuring the man like Dimention spitting hot fire - hot like pepper sauce! Lionhearted, soulful, melodic riddim's taking you deep into the jungle. On the flip, rough and ready, delivering the remix goods is none other than Greek Junglist badman FLeCK puttin' it down in fine style! Taking things up a notch for the dance floor massive. You ready for this, yes we ready for this, right now we ago kick it off!

WHITE VINYL

"In the beginning of the 2000's being a producer or a DJ wasn't cool, it was something for nerds. And no one was so crazy to spend all their money in machines. I was going to the clubs in the weekend and when everyone was going to the afterparty i was going to work for a little money to be able to make music, music that I wanted to be play by all these big DJ's I had the chance to see, and I made it."
- Tells Hector Sandoval AKA Tensal Aka Syndromania to me and some other younger DJS (P.E.A.R.L, Jheal Bashta) while we drink a beer in Gijon north of Spain, city close to the town where Syndromania is based. -

After hundreds of records released and the recognition of every single artist of the scene. Few has changed for Syndromania, he keeps getting immersed in his studio with the same love although now with another point of view plus the experience to twist it to the next level.

DJing since 1993 his musical knowledge may be in the top 5 more knowledgeable people I ever met. As you can hear along the 6 cuts of this Sacrilegio EP it's fully rooted on straight messages and codes that have been filling up years of rave culture with a new take on them in order to optimize them for a contemporary rave experience.

From UK infected electro, mechanical-industrial techno music, leaning Chicago house cut to a tremendous take on techno-trance. This record is one of my favorites ever released on OAKS/KAOS and one of the ones that I'm sure that sets the level to inspire many to reinvent and develop our culture.

To be honest Sacrilegio is one of the records I'm more proud about of all in our catalogs. Thanks to Syndromania for this extraordinary piece of art and DJ apex tool which won't ever leave my record bag, neither probably yours."
Respeto.
Hector.

#oftenplusneverminus8

Summer at Land’s End is not an interlude or tangent for The Reds, Pinks & Purples but rather a perfect fourth movement following the albums Anxiety Art, You Might Be Happy Someday, and Uncommon Weather. As with these self-recorded records (the primary work of songwriter Glenn Donaldson), the songs on Summer at Land’s End were crafted slowly and then drawn together to make a unified statement. But here, and more than before, Summer at Land’s End combines Donaldson’s rueful pop sensibility with a parallel musical universe, one composed of pictures, dreams, and feelings without words. Even if the underlying theme of this collection is one of conflict or unhappiness, the vision of the music presents an escape to a new world, always fading in and out of sight.

For listeners who may not be familiar with Donaldson’s corner of San Francisco––the Richmond district––or the current wave of hazy, melodic DIY pop groups performing in the city, Summer at Land’s End pulls in images and scenes that feel like a collision of the mundane and the sublime of this present landscape. But settings such as these are the backdrop for personal narratives, expressed as a struggle with love, with companionship and the conflicts of home. With this record, The Reds, Pinks & Purples give less focus to the vanities of a subculture and more to the challenge of connecting with someone, to the ordinary goals of being human and finding harmony with others.

This deliberate saturation in drama and ambiance, along with some of Donaldson’s best songwriting to date, is what gives Summer at Land’s End its special class in the project’s discography. Of the album’s cinematic mood, Donaldson refers to films like Summer of ‘42 and the influence of the classic 4AD catalogue of the 1990s. This style informs much of Donaldson’s prior and current ventures of course (The Ivytree, Vacant Gardens, and a dozen projects in between) but now The Reds, Pinks & Purples have taken the mantle, embracing this instinct for instrumental or dreamier modes of pop songwriting. It’s a pleasure to experience Summer at Land’s End, as this record finds a thrilling balance between songs and sounds, instruments and voices, and the ironic twin poles of art and life.

Heavenly Recordings announce the release of ‘Heavenly remixes 3&4 - Andrew Weatherall volume 1&2’, a brace of compilation albums collecting together some of the finest remixes from the label’s long-time friend, collaborator and go-to remixer. These compilations follow ‘Heavenly remixes 1 & 2’, which showcases some of the label’s other great remixes.

 By the time Heavenly was born in the spring of 1990, Andrew Weatherall was already an inspirational sounding board, as well as a fellow traveller on the bright new road that stretched out ahead, thanks to the massive cultural liberation of acid house. Back then every energised meeting could be turned into a fortuitous opportunity in this burgeoning new underground economy. Bored of your job? Start playing records out! Start a club night! Get in the studio!
Start a label! Just don’t stand still. Commandments Andrew would follow for the rest of his life.

 At the start of things, Andrew was a regular visitor to Capersville - the pre-Heavenly press office run by label founder Jeff Barrett (soon to become Andrew’s manager). It was there that he famously picked up a copy of Primal Scream’s unloved second album and singled out a
track that would later become ‘Loaded’, after being given an instruction to “fucking destroy” it by the band’s Andrew Innes; it was there too that the idea to remix the first Heavenly release
came about.

 Andrew’s mix of that first Heavenly record is very much a product of its time. ‘The World According To Sly and Lovechild’ is a swirling bass punch topped with a hypnotic marimba line and the kind of ecstatic diva vocal that you’d hear coming out of the speakers all night at postShoom clubs like Yellow Book.

 His take on the label’s next release - Saint Etienne’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix of Two Halves’) - would set the template for his next three decades of audio exploration. A drawn-out imperial dub, the track builds and builds with a moody intensity (partly down to the
melodica played by Weather Prophets legend Pete Astor) that’s far more Kingston JA at dusk than Kingston-upon-Thames at kicking out time. It’s both a dancefloor record to get lost in and
headphone psychedelia of the highest order - a perfect example of what he did better than anyone else.

 Between 1990 and his untimely death in 2020, Andrew fed more Heavenly bands through the mixing desk than those of any other label. Consistently, he returned visionary music to the
office, often in person for (at least) one ceremonial playback - a ritual that would involve the volume cranked up high and Andrew rocking back on his heels, eyes closed, lost in the alchemy of it all.

 Each time, he would warp and twist originals into beautiful new shapes - elasticated club records that might evoke Detroit techno one second and Throbbing Gristle the next, before wheel-spinning into something akin to The Fall produced by King Tubby.

 Andrew’s studio adventures would always be guided by that early advice to destroy the source material. It’s why he was the first name that came up when remixes were discussed; the first number on the speed dial. Listening back to these remixes now - to thirty years of glorious outsider sounds - it bangs home again just how fucking good Andrew was.

''I wanted to rock this time,'' says the multi-talented musical and literary
artist, and local Nashville hero, Tommy Womack, sitting making love to an
early morning cup of coffee at Bongo Java in East Nashville, ''they've
called me an Americana artist for over twenty years now, and it's a great
important genre; I've got nothing against it - I've had a great time being
part of the movement
But one day a while back, I had an epiphany. I thought, hey, I hate dobros
anymore! And if I hear another song about a train in the key of G, somebody's
gonna get hurt.'' ''I Thought I Was Fine' has more in common with the
Replacements than 'Car Wheels on a Gravel Road''' Womack continues as the
caffeine begins to kick in, ''It's up-tempo, and sometimes totally in your face. Look,
I'm 58 years old, I nearly died in a car accident on the way to a gig in 2015, I've
beaten back cancer three times since 2017. I've seen musician friends of mind
die before they hit my age, so I want to go back to my first love, rock and roll,
while I still have time.''Womack enjoys a tremendous affection in Nashville and
some among the rest of the world, for his (often intensely personal) songs that
are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and have been noted by journalists and
fans of having songs able to raise laughter and tears within the same song. From
1985-1992, he played in the legendary post- punk college radio darlings
Government Cheese. Then came the bis-quits, from '92 to '94, who did a critically
acclaimed record for Jon Prine's 'Oh Boy!.' Womack has also written several
books, his first band, 'Cheese Chronicles', is a cult classic among both musicians
and fans.

Mimsy describes himself as someone with many interests and few skills, and sure, you can put it that way. But more precisely, he is a seeker and finder who has always felt more at home in the intermediary spaces. Since his first releases on Karaoke Kalk under the names Saucer, Motel and Wunder in 1997, he has mostly been active as Wechsel Garland, working with samples beyond recognition and thus blurring the lines between his own songwriting and the musical material he uses.

In 2011, he ended the project with the album »Dreams Become Things« and is now opening a new chapter as Mimsy with »Ormeology.« The album was ten years in the making and saw the producer work with sounds, voices and text fragments that were gathered over time. The twelve pieces—based on guitar pickings, looped textural sounds, rhythm boxes and shimmering organ sounds—install themselves in the unconscious through sound, melody and subtle rhythmic shifts to send the listener’s perception on a journey into the unknown.

The name Mimsy is a nonce word coined by Lewis Carroll in his famous nonsense poem »Jabberwocky,« a combination of »miserable« and »flimsy,« while the term »Ormeology« refers to the Italian film »Le Orme« (»Footprints on the Moon«), in which the main character is haunted by memories of a fictional film of the same name. While this alone creates a rich thematic frame of references for the album, it does not at all define its themes. Instead, the references are reflected in the methods with which the pieces on »Ormeology« were designed—sound and language orbit freely around one another, images within images are being layered, following their path unconsciously. In »Sans mobile apparent,« the lyrics get to the heart of this: »die Widersprüche aushalten / die Folien übereinanderlegen« (»enduring the contradictions / laying the foils on top of each other.«) Creative frictions emerge not out of binary decision-making patterns, but from additive layering.

Mimsy followed traces forth and back through time and space, collaborating for a few tracks with set designer and musician Lydia Schmidt and letting Wolfram Wire record various lyrics based on automatic writing that were gathered by Mimsy. Furthermore, he asked the photo blogger Lilia Katherine from Brazil and the Canada-based Andrea Hernandez to translate and record his lyrics in their own respective languages. Human global coincidences resulted in collaborations which are presented as discrete and thus make the album as a whole and even more complex meditation on the interplay of the concrete and the abstract. This is best exemplified by the song »Ginster,« throughout which Schmidt and Mimsy’s voices overlap more and more until they enter a sort of call and response pattern, although they never seem to address each other directly.

»Ormeology« is an album that whirrs and flickers, seeking to mediate between the tangible world and the intangible by blurring the boundaries between words and sounds and space. It is an archipelago that is in many ways connected to what surrounds it, while at the same time opening up a space of its own.

"A split-screen maelstrom of Fela Kuti, Led Zep, Morricone, psych and dub" The Budos Band - MOJO - Rising - August 2019

Celebrating 15 years from the release of their debut album, Daptone's Royal Court from Staten Island delivers a truly epic collection of new material that finds the group further bridging the gap between the farfisa-fueled Ethio-Funk stylings of their early recordings, with the psychedelic, Sabbath-inspired hellfire of late.

“In some ways, itʼs reminiscent of our first two albums The Budos Band and Budos II,” says Tom Brenneck. “We branched off on Burnt Offering and Budos V. Now, weʼre still moving forward. You can play these songs on the dance-floor. We knew the horns had to stand out too. Thinking about hip-hop allowed us to put the bounce back into The Budos.”

This is evident from needle drop to final rotation. Heavy drum breaks, reminiscent of the B-Boy approved grooves of their early output reign supreme, setting the stage for the pulsating, hallucinatory wall of organ, menacing horns, and rugged guitar riffs to permeate your soul - leaving the listener in a rhythmic wash of Budonian rapture.

Long in the Tooth represents the culmination of a 15-year journey by a band that has consistently carved its own distinct path through the grooves of history.

Rare South African Funk/Soul album from 1977 - First vinyl reissue since 1982 - First ever release outside of the African Continent - 180g black vinyl // Harari was a band that was deeply rooted in pan-African politics, the parallel cross-influences of the Black Panther Movement and Black Consciousness. African American soul music and Soweto Soul contributed to the way Harari became purveyors of all the styles we know today as Afro-soul, Afro-pop and Afro-jazz. The Beaters/Harari left behind a body of work that fused traditional African sounds with rock, funk, jazz, soul and psychedelia into a unique and coherent sound. It shows their ability to capture the many genres flying around South Africa during a time of intense political and cultural shifts. The album we are presenting you today (Genesis from 1977) comes swinging right out the gate with a set of six monster anthems, explosive up-tempo jams, gorgeous vocal harmonies and chants, Afro-centric fusions of rock, funk and indigenous influences. The album is packed with mesmerizing drum-grooves, psychedelic improvisations and catchy Afrobeat rhythms. This is a quintessential Harari record that every serious collector or fan needs to have in his collection. Originally released in 1977 on Gallo Records South Africa (and later repressed in 1982 on the same label), Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first official reissue of this rare album (original copies tend to go for LARGE amounts on the secondary market_that is if you're lucky enough to come across one). This is also the FIRST time 'Genesis' is being released outside of the African continent. This unique record comes as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (strictly limited to 500 copies) with obi strip and featuring the original artwork.

Philadelphia based quintet, Grayscale, continue to break away from their punk roots & establish themselves firmly in pop leaning alternative rock with their third Fearless Records offering. After racking up 50 million streams and receiving praise from Forbes, Alternative Press, Billboard, and more, the quintet have opened up themselves and their sound throughout these 11 tracks. For Grayscale, Umbra is the end of the beginning. All previous records served as stepping stones accumulating and shaping the band's course and leading them down an artistic and aesthetic path to this point. Umbra is more of a feeling than a concept; it is an energy. It is all the things we keep underneath or to ourselves. It is the cold feeling of internal conflict, the bargaining, and the wickedness that exists within a space otherwise covered in light. The sounds don't necessarily match the stories; the energy doesn’t always match the intent. It's not about the light or the dark. It's about the light and the dark

Pompeii, Cate Le Bon’s sixth full-length studio album and the follow up to 2019’s Mercury-nominated Reward, bears a storied title summoning apocalypse, but the metaphor eclipses any “dissection of immediacy,” says Le Bon. Not to downplay her nod to disorientation induced by double catastrophe — global pandemic plus climate emergency’s colliding eco-traumas resonate all too eerily. “What would be your last gesture?” she asks. But just as Vesuvius remains active, Pompeii reaches past the current crises to tap into what Le Bon calls “an economy of time warp” where life roils, bubbles, wrinkles, melts, hardens, and reconfigures unpredictably, like lava—or sound, rather. Like she says in the opener, “Dirt on the Bed,” Sound doesn’t go away / In habitual silence / It reinvents the surface / Of everything you touch. Pompeii is sonically minimal in parts, and its lyrics jog between self-reflection and direct address. Vulnerability, although “obscured,” challenges Le Bon’s tendencies towards irony. Written primarily on bass and composed entirely alone in an “uninterrupted vacuum,” Le Bon plays every instrument (except drums and saxophones) and recorded the album largely by herself with long-term collaborator and co-producer Samur Khouja in Cardiff, Wales. Enforced time and space pushed boundaries, leading to an even more extreme version of Le Bon's studio process – as exits were sealed, she granted herself “permission to annihilate identity.” “Assumptions were destroyed, and nothing was rejected” as her punk assessments of existence emerged. Enter Le Bon’s signature aesthetic paradox: songs built for Now miraculously germinate from her interests in antiquity, philosophy, architecture, and divinity’s modalities. Unhinged opulence rests in sonic deconstruction that finds coherence in pop structures, and her narrativity favors slippage away from meaning.

Led by the unique lyrical and vocal talents of Larissa Stupar, VENOM PRISON’s rise to prominence has been swift and exhilarating. Both 2016 debut album “Animus” and its 2019 follow-up “Samsara” received widespread praise from media and fans alike, while the band’s ferocious live shows notched up acres of wide-eyed acclaim. As a result, the release of VENOM PRISON’s third full-length, “Erebos”, is destined to be one of /the/ metal events of 2022. A wildly inventive but utterly destructive onslaught of genre-defying extremity, “Erebos” is a giant leap forward and deafening confirmation that VENOM PRISON are the real, ground-breaking deal. “Everything needed to be bigger, better, catchier,” says guitarist Ash Gray. “We have said many times in the past that this band will not write the same record over and over again. It wasn’t about showing how heavy we can be. We know we’re a heavy band. We just wanted to be more creative, and this time we had the luxury of having time on our side. Larissa’s distinctive style comes through even stronger. It’s even more poetic, while still critical of the issues we face in Western society.” A thrilling explosion of artful savagery, warped melodies and tumultuous atmospherics, “Erebos” is a powerful, defining statement from one of the most exciting bands of the modern era. From humble origins to undisputed heavyweight status, VENOM PRISON are now an unstoppable force. “’Erebos’ has really opened our horizons as a band, making us want to be more creative as a whole. For us, it has always been about evolving musically and progress with every single step we take, and that will never change. We have a lot more to explore and we are confident that we’re capable of doing so. The grind must continue.”

Second album from The Datsuns now available on vinyl at a cheaper price. The Datsuns lead the adrenalin-charge into the sheer unadulterated stomach-churning joys of rocking and rolling. The same energy and abandon which pulsed through their eponymous 100k plus selling debut album in 2002 is present and amplified but, with ‘Outta Sight/Outta Mind’, The Datsuns’ take you on a wild and unpredictable rock’n’roll rocket-ride, a ringside seat, if you will, for two years of inspirational madness, guitar wielding in the big wide world.

Known to keep a low profile and cause pandemonium with each reemergence, rhyme writer extraordinaire Your Old Droog recently debuted the appropriately-titled single "The Return Of Sasquatch", a collaboration with legendary producer Madlib. A brash, kinetic masterpiece, the track marks a historic encounter between two of the biggest names in independent hip-hop. Not included on any of Droog’s albums, “The Return Of Sasquatch” is now available on vinyl for the first time. This 7" pressing also includes an exclusive live rehearsal performance of the "The Unknown Comic" on the B-Side, produced by Edan.

Matasuna's latest tidbit takes us back to the South American continent once again - to Venezuela to be exact. The song "Zambo" by the band "La Retreta Mayor", which was released in 1976 on the self-titled LP, is now available as an official reissue and the very first time ever on a 7inch vinyl single! The 45 is complemented by an excellent rework of the American producer & DJ "King Most" from San Francisco.

The A-side features the original of the song. "Zambo" is a furious mix with versatile influences of Latin, Jazz & Funk. The rich horn section and percussion of the guest quartet bring pure heat to the track - the drums, bass and piano intensify this even more. An absolute heater for any dance floor!

The B-side features the "King Most" Redirection. The talented producer gently takes on the song, keeping the organic vibe of the original but still giving it a different, new side. His re-arrangement and additional in/outro and a new passage in the middle of the song fit exquisitely. Also his crunchy drums and own piano passages are very tasty and give the song an own flavour!

"Alexandro Rodríguez" was born in Caracas in 1952 and is considered one of Venezuela's most important jazz guitarists of the seventies. He studied classical guitar in his early years, played electric guitar in various rock groups and performed at various national music festivals. He also had the opportunity to play as a musician for renowned orchestras such as "Onda Nueva", "Renny Show's Orchestra" on Venezuelan Television and "Radio Caracas TV's Orchestra".

In the late 1970's he recorded two significant works that may be considered a reference in Venezuelan music history. He formed the short-lived band "La Retreta Mayor" to record a self-titled album, which was released as an LP on the Venezuelan label "Discomoda" in 1976. The 10-piece band and numerous guest musicians created a jazz-funk & fusion gem. The band unfortunately broke up right after the recording and did not play live or record any more music.

His self-released album "Busqueda", released in 1978 under his name, was recorded between New York and Caracas and has an excellent reputation not only in connoisseur circles. In 2012, the album was reissued on CD by a Japanese label, proving the influence Alexandro's music still has in the jazz scene today.

Between 1979 and 1982, Alexandro lived in "New York", where he worked as a composer, arranger, performer and orchestrator in the jazz scene with renowned orchestras before returning to Venezuela. Subsequently, his musical career turned to the classical guitar, both as a composer and performer. In 2013, he settled in "Pittsburgh", Pennsylvania (USA), where he continues his activity as composer, arranger, guitarist, bassist and teacher to the present time.

Brooklyn-based musician and producer Varsity Star makes his Small Pond Records debut with ‘More Than Anything’, a mini-album of deeply moving and emotive electronic music.

Varsity Star is an electronic musician and upright bassist who grew up in Boston and spent time playing with various bands as a multi-genre sideman. After deciding to go it alone and produce music on a synth and Ableton, he had a spell living in Berlin. Now back in Brooklyn, he has become a prolific artist who, in just a couple of years, has put out various singles, remixes and LPs. As a programmer by day, he has put together high spec live shows involving 3D printers, soldering together LEDs and writing his own programs that read Ableton and output light patterns, he is a truly creative mind.

There is a soft and warm late-night melodic glow to the beautiful opening ambiance of 'Christmas Lights' which then makes way for the prickly live drums of 'Mixtape.' Littered with off-grid hits and detuned synth sounds, it's a modern and electronic take on jazz that is deeply absorbing. 'Bedroom' is a gorgeous affair that floats on airy pads and scuffed up, organic drum sounds while the most innocent of melodies play out.

Soul Jazz Records new ‘Life Between Islands’ collection coincides with the launch of Tate Britain’s exhibition of the same name. This landmark exhibition explores the links between Caribbean and British art and culture from the 1950s to now.

Soul Jazz Records album, sub-titled “Soundsystem Culture – Black Musical Expression 1973-2006,” focuses on the most important Black British musical styles to emerge out of the distinctly Caribbean world of sound systems. The album features an all-star line-up including Dennis Bovell, Shut Up and Dance, Cymande, Digital Mystikz, Brown Sugar, Funk Masters, Janet Kay, Ragga Twins and more.

The album is a lightning-rod journey across Roots Reggae, Jungle/Drum & Bass, Jazz-Funk, Lovers Rock, Jazz, Dubstep and more. Much of Soul Jazz Records’ catalogue comes out of these genres and this album is partly an overview of some of Soul Jazz’s earlier releases (including Digital Mystikz’ long-deleted groundbreaking and now highly-collectible single, ‘Misty Winter’) alongside some choice rare and classic tunes that span over 30 years of sound system culture.

Many of the tracks represent how Black British artists defined their own identity with songs such as Brown Sugar’s righteous ‘Black Pride’, ‘I’m In Love with A Dreadlocks’ and Tabby Cat Kelly’s powerful ‘Don’t Call Us Immigrants’. Aside from being musically rooted in the distinctly Jamaican-born phenomenon of the sound system, much of this identity is also shaped by the triangular relationship of being British-born, of Caribbean heritage, and with an equal love of African-American Jazz, Funk and Soul, as evidenced with many Lovers Rock tunes reggae covers of American soul tunes (such as those of Jean Carn, William de Vaughan and Rose Royce featured here). This stateside influence can also be heard in groups such as the Funk Masters, a group formed by reggae radio DJ Tony Williams, whose jazz-funk music successfully crossed over into New York’s clubland, as well as the great Cymande, whose unique street-funk became staple material for numerous US hip-hop artists in the years that followed.

In the early 1990s, jungle and drum and bass artists took the essence of reggae’s soundsystem culture – MCs, dubplates, crews – and applied them to their own music, applying heavy reggae bass lines to intense double-speed drum breakbeats. At the forefront of this new movement were the duo Shut Up and Dance, working closely with The Ragga Twins, aka Deman Rocker and Flinty Badman, both MCs for North London’s infamous Unity reggae soundsytem. In the early 2000s, dubstep, spearheaded by Digital Mystikz, became the latest instalment in this ever-evolving soundsystem culture.

Gordon Koang is a fountain of warmth and joy, immediately accepting any stranger who strays into his presence. With a beaming smile that is unfettered by blindness, a condition he has lived with since birth, Gordon welcomes any and all around him, encouraging them to sit for a while and chat, maybe even to share a song.

Originating from the Nile Valley in what is now South Sudan, Koang was born blind and began playing music from an early age, busking on the streets of Juba and producing his own self-released CD-R’s and cassettes, before becoming a crowd favourite and recording a series of singles and music videos celebrating South Sudan’s cultural wealth. His music went viral, spreading throughout the country, and Koang was invited to perform at everything from weddings and political rallies to church meetings and parties alike. His reputation quickly grew as the poet and homegrown hero of the Nuer people, sometimes called the ‘Michael Jackson of South Sudan’.

In 2013, while Koang was performing to expatriate Nuer communities in Australia, renewed conflict broke out at home. He made a difficult and heartbreaking decision to not return to Sudan, applying to the Australian government for humanitarian protection. After six long years of waiting, living in a foreign country far away from his family, he now proudly calls himself an ‘Australian’, and eagerly awaits the day he will rejoin his wife and children in safety.

Unity is, remarkably, Gordon’s eleventh full-length album, and his first since coming to Australia. It is his only recorded output in a painstakingly long six years of living as an asylum seeker, mostly recorded in the last winter months of 2019, when Gordon began performing with local musicians through the Music in Exile label. The album was completed just weeks before Gordon was awarded his permanent residency. He could have had no way of knowing, and yet there is no frustration in the songs, not a shred of impatience or anger - only Gordon’s unending positivity, his love of all people and of the world he has never seen.

Everyone is searching for it and we’ve got it for you.

"Let's Dance The Bugalu/Aprende Mi Tumbao" by The Guantanamo Boys, could be one of the most sought after records in recent times, a jewel produced in the late 1960s by Gabriel Oller, Latin music pioneer in the United States, now reissued by the Gladys Palmera label as its debut title.

The passage of time has in no way lessened the power of this record’s rhythm. On the contrary, today the Afro-Cuban + groove + funk + Latin soul sound that has taken it to cult status among collectors and DJs is connecting more than ever. Just ask the MCs and selectors who say that The Guantanamo Boys is the holy grail of Latin sessions. And its re-release has been a long time coming.

Produced by Gabriel Oller as an EP on his SMC (Spanish Music Center) label, with no cover and scant mention of the participating artists, The Guantanamo Boys’ 7” single was an amazing discovery for the team at the Gladys Palmera Collection, the most extensive collection of Afro-Latin music in the world.

That’s why we´ve reissued this record on vinyl, preserving the original sound and with attention to every detail of the recording, which features multi-instrumentalist Ray Fernández (known in the 1970s for his alternative salsa-funk band Ray and His Court; pianist and arranger Papi Peña (Conjunto Impacto) and singer Rubén Ríos, better known as Mr. Pachanga, Cuban music pioneer in the U.S.

Gladys Palmera Records is the Gladys Palmera label, bringing you this exceptional recording in an exceptional format: 10”. Don’t let it out of your sight, because you won’t tire of listening to its sound, rhythm and sabor.

Funky organ groove with a spritual soul swing !

One of the most influential and underground Hammond organists of the 1960's was "Big" John Patton as he was then known. If it was the groove that you wanted Patton was your Man and he made several albums for the legendary Blue Note label, many of which went on to sell for eye watering prices. As his style went out of favor, some of the recordings never saw the light of day until almost 20 years later and at the same time Patton slipped into the background. He resurfaced in the 1980s and went into the studio. Among his albums Soul Connection, originally released in 1983 on Nilva Records has now been re-released

Patton had a strong band with him on this record. Avant Garde trombonist Grachan Moncur III fits in just nicely with some funky lines and solo's. Acid jazz Guitar Hero Melvin Sparks rides in the all important funk grooves but the revelation has to be saxophonist Grant Reed, who you may know from the Jazz Room Release of "Shamek Farrah & Folks" and who was a mainstay of the Mongo Santamaria set up. Jazz Exile Alvin Queen has been part of the sound set ups of Junior Mance, Stanley Turrentine and Charles Tolliver, among others.
The whole album sounds as if it was laid down in a Rudy Van Gelder session in the mid 60's and then languished in a vault somewhere, waiting until the fan base had returned.

AI-28 arrives as a double-12” reissue of an album titled “Lucid Dreams”. Formerly released in 1996 as a CD on the now defunct UK imprint em:t, the album now becomes available for the first time on vinyl. Produced collaboratively by Chris Allen, David Thompson (both co-founders of em:t), plus label affiliates Tom Smyth and Will Joss, the record features outlier academic and philosopher Celia Green narrating passages of her classic book “Lucid Dreams” (published in 1968), seamlessly embellished with atmospheric soundscapes throughout. 

Brooding amorphously on the cusp of the unknown, the music captures the quintessentially mysterious quality of dreams and dreaming. Layer by layer, the listener is submerged deep into the subconscious stream. The record curls and unwinds with bewildering influence whilst exploring key themes of Green’s studies, with topics covering hallucinatory states, apparitions, out of body experiences, and extrasensory perception. The collaborative handling of samples and sound material comes together powerfully to create a piece that is both artistically theatrical in flavour and sumptuously immersive – a true documentary for the ears and imagination.

The debut album from hotly tipped kiwi band Jamie and The Numbers, finally sees a release via Pete Brady’s Superfly Funk and Soul Records. After years of limited release 7”s being fought over worldwide by collectors and fans, this superb LP is the culmination of years of work for highly gifted Tongan-Kiwi Jamie Mavusa. Based in Wellington she can occasionally be seen singing soul tunes for Tapestry Music Promotions at many of their Music Reviews and also in her gospel choir at Church. It was at one of the Tapestry Music shows in Wellington that Jamie met Simon from Deltaphonic Records/The Numbers and after watching Jamie perform an amazing version of "Wade In The Water”. It was suggested they do some recording together with the view of doing some cool Soul classics and a bunch of originals too, the rest is now history.



The Numbers are an incredibly tight Wellington based band. Prolific writers of their own original material they are a 4 piece that consist of three brothers from Wainuiamata and a newly adopted Kiwi originally from Birmingham England. If you get a chance check these guys out they are brimming with cool retro tunes and some barnstorming original songs played with verve and passion and their shows are always fun, 2019 they supported "From The Jam" on their visit to New Zealand and after teaming up with Jamie have played Pasifika Festivals and open-air concerts to thousands of people. The Numbers collectively have played, sessioned, recorded for other artists on such labels as Gut Records, D-Star, EG Records, Imaginary Records and have in excess of 40+ published songs with Universal, Complete Music, KWS Records NYC and Cherry Red Records.

The Redskins debut album ‘Neither Washington Nor Moscow’ recently turned 35 and now is remastered for the first time for deluxe reissues on London Records : 180 G LP Gatefold & 4 CD Boxset.

The $mokebreak EP follows Pink Siifu & Fly Anakin's critically acclaimed 2020 debut album FlySiifu's and further explores the musical community they've assembled around their imagined FlySiifu's record store.
Now FlySiifu welcome their friends Fousheé, Chuck Strangers, ZelooperZ, MAVI, YUNGMORPHEUS, Koncept Jack$on, Big Kahuna OG, 3wayslim and Peso Gordon into the store and onto the mic, with beats provided by Black Noi$e, Ahwlee, Budgie, Ohbliv, Graymatter, ewonee, and iiye.
Don't miss the video for their posse cut 'Tha Divide', featuring ZelooperZ, MAVI, and Koncept Jack$on, shot by Elijah Maura on a cold night in NYC.



"a wild taste of what the two artists can create just by reaching into their inner circles" – SPIN

R.I.P MF DOOM…
MANUFACTURED EARLY 2020 AND HELD BACK FOR RESPECTFUL REASONS IS THE REMASTERED 7” VINYL OF THE GREEDY FINGERS TRACK.
I SELL RHYMES LIKE DIMES, TAKEN FROM THEIR SEMINAL 1999 HIP-HOP ALBUM SHADY SIRENS.
THE ALBUM FEATURED TWO TRACKS WITH MF DOOM & MEGALON, IT ALSO HAD TWO TRACKS
EACH WITH CAGE & NECRO AND FEATURED SCRATCH PERVERT TONY VEGAS. GREEDY FINGERS WERE THE FIRST TO COLLABORATE A FEATURING WITH MF DOOM. THIS EARLY RELATIONSHIP WITH MF GRIMM & MF DOOM ALSO LEAD TO
GREEDY FINGERS PRODUCING MONSTA ISLAND CZARS DEBUT 12” SINGLE RUN THE SPHERE.
THIS TRACK WAS REMASTERED DUE TO BASSLINE MASTERING DISPUTE AND NOW SOUNDS EXACTLY HOW IT SHOULD HAVE ALL THOSE YEARS AGO…
ON THE B-SIDE IS AN ALTERNATE INSTRUMENTAL TO THE LP VERSION.
THE 7” SINGLE IS LIMITED IN SHRINK WRAP WITH IN A STICKERED SLEEVE AND ACCOMPANIED BY A UNIQUE MUSIC VIDEO SHOT BY HMM COOL MOVIEZ.

“For me music is not a calculation, when I play I follow my intuition.
The creative impulse always comes from within me. Me and my
piano, they’re at the centre of my musical world.” - Joel Lyssarides
 For Joel Lyssarides, jazz is above all a language, a tool for
uniquely personal expression. He composed the pieces for ‘Stay
Now’ in a remote house in the forest, a good half-hour outside
Stockholm. And by preference at night, in silence, darkness and
deep concentration.
 The atmosphere of this place is audibly reflected in the music,
which is strongly influenced by space, sound and mood -
reinforced by the highly concentrated, differentiated, subtle
interplay of pianist Lyssarides with bassist Niklas Fernqvist and
drummer Rasmus Blixt.
 What these three young musicians have in common is their
capacity for great sensitivity and expressiveness. Their music is
based on a vocabulary that draws equally from European classical
music, jazz from both sides of the Atlantic and great songwriting,
with all its depth and accessibility.
 And yet this has nothing to do with crossover. Everything flows
and swings, nothing seems deliberate or contrived, one can hear a
natural understanding for the infinite possibilities of every note.
 This trio has the self-confidence to put the entirety of their efforts
into enhancing the expressiveness of the music. And it is in the
most intimate, quiet, focused and concentrated moments that the
most spectacular things happen.
 The album title ‘Stay Now’, therefore, is above all an
acknowledgement of quite how precious the here and now is.
These are the moments when we start to understand the true
value of present and past encounters. As we listen, we can let the
moment linger… and allow ourselves to sink blissfully and
unforgettably into it.

As funny as it may sound, Anaïs Mitchell has spent the past 15 years in some kind of hell. OK, not actual hell, but the multi-faceted world of Hadestown, a musical project she began in Vermont in 2006 that has grown into a Tony®- and Grammy®-award-winning Broadway phenomenon with touring editions now delighting audiences as far away as South Korea.

“I experienced so much joy working on Hadestown, but it just kept ramping up and up and requiring more and more attention,” Mitchell admits. “I had to become so single-minded and really put blinders on to my other creative life.” As it did for many artists, the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly offered Mitchell a blank slate to reconnect with her own music. The result is a new self-titled album made with close collaborators from Bon Iver, The National and her own band Bonny Light Horseman, Mitchell’s first collection of all-new material under her own name since 2012’s Young Man in America.

“I was nine months pregnant when the pandemic reached New York, so we made an 11th hour decision to leave and have the baby in Vermont,” Mitchell recalls. “We left the city and had the baby a week later, and then like everyone, we were in the midst of this unprecedented stillness. It felt like I could see behind me: oh, there’s New York City. There’s Hadestown. There’s my life with just one kid. A certain kind of stress and expectations. In Vermont, we moved onto my family farm and lived in my grandparents’ old house, with a new baby. I’d look at pictures on my phone from a few months earlier and wonder, whose life was that? This record, and the songs that are on it, came out of that time. I got into a flow again that I hadn’t felt in a really long time.”

Dubbed by NPR as “one of the greatest songwriters of her generation,” Mitchell is a master of the worlds of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry. Those talents are evident from the first moments of the new album, as Mitchell narrates what she calls “an unbearably romantic” trip over the Brooklyn Bridge colored by Bon Iver member Michael Lewis’ heartstring-tugging saxophone accompaniment. “Having left New York, I was able to write a love letter to it in a way I never could when I was living there,” she says. “It was like, fuck it. This is how I feel. There is nothing more beautiful than riding over one of the New York bridges at night next to someone who inspires you.”

Produced by Mitchell’s Bonny Light Horseman bandmate Josh Kaufman, the album proceeds to chronicle Mitchell’s reconnection with the Vermont roots that have been so formative in her life and music. “Bright Star” finds her making peace with the idea of being at peace in the familiar setting of her grandparents’ house, while “Revenant” was inspired by paging through a box of journals and letters belonging to herself and her grandmother — “a very pandemic activity,” she says. “That house is literally my happy place. I can picture myself as a kid, in this house, laying on the carpet with a sunbeam coming through the sliding glass door. There’s something about it that is really connected in my mind to my childhood and a very free, imaginative, creative time. “Revenant” has a lot to do with that house and reconnecting with my childhood self.”

Mitchell concedes that she tends “to be someone who thinks it has to be hard in order for it to be good or beautiful,” but that feeling has changed, partly thanks to her deep connection with musicians she’s met through the 37d03d collective established by The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. During the pandemic, some of those artists participated in a “song a day” writing group — an idea Mitchell says is usually “totally opposite of how I roll. But it really helped me to gain access to some kind of trust and intuition and flow. I began a bunch of these songs while doing that.”

“It unlocked something that allowed me to finish a bunch of songs I’d been sitting on, and feeling a bit paralyzed about how to finish them,” she continues. “Because no one was touring, it’s not like I was playing them for anyone before we were in the studio. In other times, I’ve trotted things out in advance. Here, it was like, here’s all these brand new songs. Let’s discover what they can be. That was really exciting.”

That discovery process took flight at Dreamland Recording Studios outside Woodstock, N.Y., which Mitchell describes as “this weird, janky, beautiful church - it’s my favorite studio in the world.” Kaufman, Lewis and Big Red Machine drummer JT Bates formed a core band around Mitchell, while Aaron Dessner and Thomas Bartlett joined the sessions mid-week on guitar and piano, respectively.

After the appropriate COVID tests came back negative, “it was a pretty extraordinary feeling to hug, kiss and share the same space playing together,” Mitchell says. “We went into that world for a week and didn’t leave the studio for any reason. I felt very safe with all those guys. It was warm and joyful.”

Mitchell says this environment brought out unexpected details in the material, which was recorded almost entirely live together in the room. “Sometimes we tried separating things out, like vocals, but we always ended up back in the room together,” she says. Indeed, after spending the better part of a day recording overdubbed versions of “Little Big Girl” that nobody loved, the musicians gave up and tracked it again live. “We got so frustrated that we went in and I was like, I’m just going to sing this as hard as I fucking can. It felt like that’s what the song wanted to be,” Mitchell says. “It felt like all those songs wanted to be recorded as live as possible.” The exception to the rule was Nico Muhly's arrangements for strings and flute, which were added from New York City afterward.

Mitchell will debut the new material during various headline tours in the U.S. and Europe in 2022, at which she’ll be accompanied by players from the album. On stage, she can’t wait to further hone the sights, sounds and scenes that bring the songs to such vivid life. “I’ve spent a lot of time trying to write in the voice of other characters, especially with Hadestown. It’s fun for me, but these songs are not that,” she says. “Weirdly, they’re all me. The narrator is me. That’s why it felt right to self-title the album. It felt like after so many years of working on telling other stories, now here are some of mine.”

As funny as it may sound, Anaïs Mitchell has spent the past 15 years in some kind of hell. OK, not actual hell, but the multi-faceted world of Hadestown, a musical project she began in Vermont in 2006 that has grown into a Tony®- and Grammy®-award-winning Broadway phenomenon with touring editions now delighting audiences as far away as South Korea.

“I experienced so much joy working on Hadestown, but it just kept ramping up and up and requiring more and more attention,” Mitchell admits. “I had to become so single-minded and really put blinders on to my other creative life.” As it did for many artists, the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly offered Mitchell a blank slate to reconnect with her own music. The result is a new self-titled album made with close collaborators from Bon Iver, The National and her own band Bonny Light Horseman, Mitchell’s first collection of all-new material under her own name since 2012’s Young Man in America.

“I was nine months pregnant when the pandemic reached New York, so we made an 11th hour decision to leave and have the baby in Vermont,” Mitchell recalls. “We left the city and had the baby a week later, and then like everyone, we were in the midst of this unprecedented stillness. It felt like I could see behind me: oh, there’s New York City. There’s Hadestown. There’s my life with just one kid. A certain kind of stress and expectations. In Vermont, we moved onto my family farm and lived in my grandparents’ old house, with a new baby. I’d look at pictures on my phone from a few months earlier and wonder, whose life was that? This record, and the songs that are on it, came out of that time. I got into a flow again that I hadn’t felt in a really long time.”

Dubbed by NPR as “one of the greatest songwriters of her generation,” Mitchell is a master of the worlds of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry. Those talents are evident from the first moments of the new album, as Mitchell narrates what she calls “an unbearably romantic” trip over the Brooklyn Bridge colored by Bon Iver member Michael Lewis’ heartstring-tugging saxophone accompaniment. “Having left New York, I was able to write a love letter to it in a way I never could when I was living there,” she says. “It was like, fuck it. This is how I feel. There is nothing more beautiful than riding over one of the New York bridges at night next to someone who inspires you.”

Produced by Mitchell’s Bonny Light Horseman bandmate Josh Kaufman, the album proceeds to chronicle Mitchell’s reconnection with the Vermont roots that have been so formative in her life and music. “Bright Star” finds her making peace with the idea of being at peace in the familiar setting of her grandparents’ house, while “Revenant” was inspired by paging through a box of journals and letters belonging to herself and her grandmother — “a very pandemic activity,” she says. “That house is literally my happy place. I can picture myself as a kid, in this house, laying on the carpet with a sunbeam coming through the sliding glass door. There’s something about it that is really connected in my mind to my childhood and a very free, imaginative, creative time. “Revenant” has a lot to do with that house and reconnecting with my childhood self.”

Mitchell concedes that she tends “to be someone who thinks it has to be hard in order for it to be good or beautiful,” but that feeling has changed, partly thanks to her deep connection with musicians she’s met through the 37d03d collective established by The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. During the pandemic, some of those artists participated in a “song a day” writing group — an idea Mitchell says is usually “totally opposite of how I roll. But it really helped me to gain access to some kind of trust and intuition and flow. I began a bunch of these songs while doing that.”

“It unlocked something that allowed me to finish a bunch of songs I’d been sitting on, and feeling a bit paralyzed about how to finish them,” she continues. “Because no one was touring, it’s not like I was playing them for anyone before we were in the studio. In other times, I’ve trotted things out in advance. Here, it was like, here’s all these brand new songs. Let’s discover what they can be. That was really exciting.”

That discovery process took flight at Dreamland Recording Studios outside Woodstock, N.Y., which Mitchell describes as “this weird, janky, beautiful church - it’s my favorite studio in the world.” Kaufman, Lewis and Big Red Machine drummer JT Bates formed a core band around Mitchell, while Aaron Dessner and Thomas Bartlett joined the sessions mid-week on guitar and piano, respectively.

After the appropriate COVID tests came back negative, “it was a pretty extraordinary feeling to hug, kiss and share the same space playing together,” Mitchell says. “We went into that world for a week and didn’t leave the studio for any reason. I felt very safe with all those guys. It was warm and joyful.”

Mitchell says this environment brought out unexpected details in the material, which was recorded almost entirely live together in the room. “Sometimes we tried separating things out, like vocals, but we always ended up back in the room together,” she says. Indeed, after spending the better part of a day recording overdubbed versions of “Little Big Girl” that nobody loved, the musicians gave up and tracked it again live. “We got so frustrated that we went in and I was like, I’m just going to sing this as hard as I fucking can. It felt like that’s what the song wanted to be,” Mitchell says. “It felt like all those songs wanted to be recorded as live as possible.” The exception to the rule was Nico Muhly's arrangements for strings and flute, which were added from New York City afterward.

Mitchell will debut the new material during various headline tours in the U.S. and Europe in 2022, at which she’ll be accompanied by players from the album. On stage, she can’t wait to further hone the sights, sounds and scenes that bring the songs to such vivid life. “I’ve spent a lot of time trying to write in the voice of other characters, especially with Hadestown. It’s fun for me, but these songs are not that,” she says. “Weirdly, they’re all me. The narrator is me. That’s why it felt right to self-title the album. It felt like after so many years of working on telling other stories, now here are some of mine.”

With a decade between releases, VILDHJARTA remain as inscrutable and as close to anonymity as a band can be. Their down-tuned, staccato riffs and pulverizing grooves are the sound of music stripped to its essence. Formed in 2005 in Hudiksvall, Sweden, VILDHJARTA has become an institution of omission. From their origins, they were unafraid to embrace the untraditional. Since dropping a minute of new live music in 2016, the band's focus has almost entirely been on the new album, “måsstaden under vatten” that was finally released October 15th, 2021, with drummer and now noted producer, Buster Odeholm (also known for his work with Born of Osiris, Shadow of Intent and guitar for Humanity’s Last Breath amongst others) heavily involved in the production, mixing and mastering of the music. While working on “måsstaden under vatten” the band also revamped their two first releases. Buster Odeholm comments: "Before I joined VILDHJARTA they were my favourite band. However, I always felt the production could be a lot better and serve the songs a lot more. After joining I asked for the files from those albums to be able to try my own approach. I’ve re-programmed/produced bass and drums from scratch. For producing the drums on ‘Thousands of Evils (forte)’ I got some help from Chris George from Sworn In. I've also remixed and remastered both albums. This has been going on a long time and a lot of remixing has been done as the years have gone by, but now it’s finally time to release it.". Don’t miss the chance to check out classic VILDHJARTA tunes in all their up to date glory, now entitled ”måsstaden (forte)” and “Thousands of Evils (forte)”. Both are available as Ltd. Gatefold marbled LP, Ltd. CD Edition and Digital Album.

Young LA star, Justin Jay, has already caught the ears of DJs and fans worldwide and released on the likes of dirtybird and Culprit. Last year, Jay shared an EP of deep house gold on Shall Not Fade sister label Lost Palms. Now he returns on their bass-oriented sublabel Time Is Now.

Hypnotized EP is a fun, breaks heavy romp featuring rave powerhouse trio Denham Audio and a remix by jungle mainstay Tim Reaper. From the off the energy is high, the title track rolling out pitched vocals and dramatic drops. "I Know" is ever more frenetic, breaks cascading over one another to a fever pitch, while Denham Audio collab "Swarm" brings out 303s and dramatic sub bass wobbles for a tour-de-force of hardcore dance vibes. Rising lofi house producer Angelo Jsn gives a euphoric, breathless edge to "Burgundy", an emotive space age trance number. Tim Reaper's untameable refix of "Swarm" keeps the heart racing to the end.

There is nothing quite like an evening under the rhythmic spell of the legendary David Morales. Stepping on the dancefloor while he's behind the decks requires full trust and surrender. You agree to hand the reins of your mind, body, and spirit to his intuition and ability to guide you to where you need to be at all times. It will occasionally be cathartic and intense. It will often make the hairs on your body stand on end, and make you sweat more than you ever have before. The endorphin release will be powerful. You will feel like you can touch joy and euphoria it in the air around you. As he gently brings you back down to reality, you will feel renewed and ready for anything life brings your way. This is more than a night of dancing. This is an experience at the hands of a magical maestro of music. How is this possible from a night on the dancefloor? Well, it begins with the brilliant mind of an artist at the peak of his creative power, imbued with the empathy necessary to connect with what has become a global legion of fans. "If there is any secret, it's really simple: I love what I do with all of my heart," Morales says. "I'm a DJ first. I thrive on human interaction. I am always adjusting my sets based on what the people in the room need. Each night, we form an emotional connection that inspires the music as it comes."

For Morales, "working in the studio is important, but it exists as a way of supporting the DJing experience. It's all to inform how it will work on the dancefloor."

To that end, you're reading these words as you dive into a new collection of Morales classics. Ever the collaborator, he has enlisted the input of a wide range of voices and talent. There is the diva power of fellow legend Ultra Nate, who brings her signature sass to "I Can Dream," while Michele Perera's explosive chemistry with David is all over the inspiring "Life is a Song" and "Never Give Up", as well as the impassioned "Addicted."

Morales reminds the listener of his ever-evolving musical scope in collaborations with blondewearingblack ("What Can I Do"), Lea Lorien ("Never Looking Back"), and Blakkat ("Can't Get Enough"). There's the clubland supergroup of David with Mr. V, Scotty P. and DJ Rae on "The Feels." Rounding out the set is a reunion with longtime muses Elle Cato ("I Feel Love") and British soul icon Joe Roberts ("Easy"). Just be sure to listen closely, because there's bound to be a surprise tucked between these grooves to tickle your ears and move your body.

The beauty of this sparkling new foray into electronic music is the heightened intimacy between Morales and the music. What you are hearing here is almost exclusively from the man's own fingertips. "The technology has evolved in the most extraordinary and liberating ways," he says, adding that he is now able to be far more directly hands-on during the building of each track. "Back in the '90s, I had to have more people involved, With the changes and growth in technology, I can now do it, myself. I don't even have to be in the studio anymore. It's smart, financially, but it's also way more fun and creative."

David adds, "I don't have to wait to manifest an idea anymore. I can just build my ideas as they come to me." In fact, he reveals that many of these new tracks were born in unique places, like planes, cars, his bedroom, and a host of other settings. "Music is always spinning around my mind. I no longer worry about losing an idea."

Surviving the highs and lows of an ever-changing world has also brought Morales back to the basic essentials of life and music. "The pandemic has brought things full circle for me," he says. "I love what I do and I still have the passion of a kid who is just getting started"

Yet, we know that Morales has been in the game for longer than a minute. He's a Grammy award-winning producer, remixer, and songwriter. He has lent his skill to countless of records by icons that include Mariah Carey, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, Seal, and Jamiroquai. As a turntable artist originally from New York City, he earned his bones of credibility back in the '80s and '90s in clubs like the Paradise Garage, Red Zone, Tunnel, and Club USA. He initiated the concept of DJs touring beyond their hometowns with countless, wildly successful treks that have taken him the farthest-reaching corners of the world. As electronic music thrives on pop radium, David tops the list of every young artist and DJ as a primary influence.

Even with such a staggering legacy, Morales never looks over his shoulder.

"That is how you stumble and fall," he says. "If you get all caught up in the past, you're going to lose sight of what is right in front of you. You lose the excitement of discovery. That is what gets me off; taking what I know and combining it with what I don't know as I learn it. There is nothing better than experiencing how it all comes together. It's different every time."

And that is the ultimate secret to that extraordinary spell that David Morales casts over us all every single time.

MOMENTS LIKE THESE, THE NEW ALBUM FROM SUBWAY SECT, PRODUCED BY MICK JONES AND FEATURING THE 1981 SUBWAY SECT LINE-UP, VIC GODARD WITH SEAN MCLUSKY, CHRIS BOSTOCK, JOHNNY BRITTON, & DC COLLARD and guest appearances by MICK JONES, PETE WILLIAMS, TERRY EDWARDS and SIMON RIVERS. Sukhdev Sandhu runs a publishing imprint Texte und Töne in New York.

The LP, the imprint's first, is also the first-ever Subway Sect record to come out in the States. (Perhaps unsurprisingly: they did have a song called U.S. Cunts!) It's been produced by Mick Jones of The Clash. (A White Riot '77 reunion of sorts.) ‘There’s a certain element of unspoiltness about the whole thing and that’s what really appealed to me about it.’
Mick Jones MOJO ‘This is Vic reflecting on a lifetime in the music business. It sounds like a record that he had to make and is perfect for now. When I was a kid, I used to make up my fantasy punk band with members from different bands and they almost always
contained Vic Godard and Mick Jones. The songs are as good as it
gets and with Mick Jones producing and playing piano, what more do
you need?’ Jim Reid, Jesus and Mary Chain ‘The Subway Sect story is one of the strangest, and therefore one of the best. Vic Godard indicated ways that pop should go. He dropped hints, left clues. It is all there.’ Kevin Pearce ‘Vic's always walked his own path. He's a model of independence.

No wonder that he's recorded for some of the best UK independents
(Rough Trade, el, Postcard). Years ago, when I was writing a book
about nocturnal London, he took me on a postal round with him, all
the while telling me funny stories about some of the prog rock
aristos whose mail he delivered, and enthusing about the latest hip
hop and bhangra he was listening to.

Asked by Time Out to write an essay about my favourite Londoner, I wrote it about Vic. Now, in summer 2021, I'm very happy to help release Moments Like These. It's about thinking back and thinking forward, about walking your own path. It's got soul, swagger and swing. Vic Godard: always onward!’ Sukhdev Sandhu ‘It was an accident really as Sukhdev wanted to put What's the Matter Boy out until I told him I'd just recorded a new LP. I'd been in discussions with loads of record labels but they all wanted to get my back catalogue digital rights and weren't into the idea of putting out a new LP. I thought it was on course to be my 2nd lost album until the phone calls with Sukhdev.’ Vic

It’s been ten years since Sadie Dupuis recorded the first Speedy Ortiz songs, a solo experiment that quickly became her full-time band. Since then, Speedy has produced an expansive and critically revered discography, toured worldwide, and inspired next generations of bands with inventive songwriting and advocacy to better the music industry. But in 2011, the younger Dupuis was struggling through concurrent traumas: heartbreak from first love, leaving her hometown of New York for Massachusetts, and the grief of losing several young friends. Speedy’s first songs glowed within the contrast of noisiness and intimacy, raw sonic elements that came with closely processing vulnerabilities and Dupuis’ insistence on performing and recording each instrument alone. As the new project fielded show offers from favorite show spaces like Death By Audio and Shea Stadium, these early tracks became the springboard for the playfully melodic and cleverly distorted style for which Speedy Ortiz as a full band is celebrated. Now, ten years later, Speedy’s first self-released collections will be widely available for the first time and reissued as a double LP The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever, alongside previously unreleased tracks, reflective liner notes penned by Dupuis, and unearthed photos and journal scans from that era.

The tracks on The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever were written after student-created prompts while Dupuis was teaching a songwriting class at the same summer camp where she’d first learned guitar. "Hexxy Sadie” was written in an hour, like the rest of the songs, and on Dupuis’ twenty-third birthday; using explosive riffs and distorted harmonies, she explores her uncertain yearning as a twinless twin. "Frankenweenie" came from the prompt “dog,” and over brooding piano, spry tambourine, and eruptive snare, Dupuis sings from the perspective of a dead childhood pet about forgiveness. “Cutco,” which navigates tricky chord changes with deft guitar passages and ironic deadpan, grins at the bitterness of friendships gone awry. These early songs highlighted Dupuis’ remarkable talent at dissecting specific emotions and moments, analyzing the many ways the pieces fit together, and scrutinizing the places where they don’t.

During the recording process, Dupuis was inspired by the impulsive DIY methods of artists like Elliott Smith and Sparklehorse; a mixing note from September 2011 read, “It's important for the 'concept' of this 'album' that I don't redo anything.” The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever still holds onto the magic immediacy of lo-fi recordings, but this reissue is helped by the technical know-how gained through Dupuis’ solo production work as Sad13 (Lizzo, Backxwash). Remixing in 2021, Dupuis cleaned up edits on her triple-tracked drums, made space for instrumental flourishes performed on eclectic instruments like cello, banjo and timpani, and rewired digital sounds to warm up the layers of intersecting guitars. Co-mixer Justin Pizzoferrato (Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh), who worked with Speedy on Sports EP, Major Arcana, and Real Hair, further clarified the mix with analog compressors, and mastering engineer Emily Lazar (Liz Phair, HAIM) added a glossy sheen to the stratified bombast.

As Dupuis’ cult-beloved early material finally re-enters the world in a substantive way, The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever is a seamless fit to the Speedy Ortiz discography that succeeded it, and evidence that Speedy’s biting lyrics, intricate compositions, and daring performances have been inherent to the project since its outset.

The album ‘Romeo’ explores Sega Bodega’s relationship
with his fictional girlfriend, Luci (after Lucifer: bringer of
light), who is a being made entirely from light.
 Featuring some of Sega’s best production work to date,
with a few real sonic curveballs. His vocal performance
is brought more to the forefront than ever before.
 The album shows Sega really coming into himself as a
multifaceted artist and independent great after a couple
of years of building a solid core fanbase and producing
for some impressive names in the alternative space
(from Shygirl to Caroline Polachek, for instance).
 ‘Romeo’ features guest appearances by acts including
Arca and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
 Previous press support for Sega comes from Dazed,
L’officiel (cover), Fader, Office Mag, NME, DIY, i-D plus,
at radio, Annie Mac (Radio 1), Matt Wilkinson (Apple
Music 1) and Nemone (6 Music) have previously
championed Sega’s work.
 Born in Ireland, raised in Glasgow and now based in
London, producer, performer and labelhead Sega
Bodega - aka Salvador Navarrete - has built a reputation
as being one of the UK’s most innovative and precocious
creative minds.
 Inspired as much by his close network of peers as his
love of cinematic soundscapes, Sega has made impacts
spanning across music, fashion and film, soundtracking
some of the most important cultural moments in recent
years, as well as building a catalogue of prolific and
critically acclaimed solo releases that traverse genre,
style and composition.