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Detroit, MI based label Harbonder brings you Strand's latest 12" vinyl release “You Have Been Warned” - a bar-raising blend of classic musical motifs and forward-looking electronic production that dares/invites the listener to embrace the unknown.

A1: “Astral Plainsman” - A 4/4 excursion into a landscape of percussive funk driven by a soulful bassline and elevated by cosmic chordsmanship.

A2: “Quantum Game Engine” - An epic homage to the video games Strand played as kids with an eye towards the future of immersive, seemingly boundless gameplay. Ethereal pads, a soaring topline, precision machine bass, and killer percussion combine to form a driving, yet funky, yet euphoric standout that goes from 8 bits to qubits.

B1: “A Path Forward” - Techno and Jazz Fusion are brought together to create an afro- futuristic trip through space, guided by an otherworldly melody that traverses expansive strings, exemplifying Strand’s knack for exploring unexpected trajectories.

B2: “Quantum Game Engine (Reprise)” - An entangled version that bounces to the essence of the original mix.

Among the most revered voices in funk, Marva Whitney holds a special place thanks to her fierce energy and unmistakable style on tracks like the classic 'Unwind Yourself,' a long-time favorite for DJs and dance floors alike. Emerging from the dynamic world of the James Brown Revue in the late 1960s--alongside iconic names like Lyn Collins and Vicki Anderson--Marva quickly carved out a name for herself. In 1969, she began recording as a solo artist under James Brown's King label, scoring a Top 20 R&B hit with 'It's My Thing.' While mainstream hits were few, her music resonated deeply with funk lovers and crate diggers around the world. Songs like 'You Got to Have a Job' and the endlessly sampled 'Unwind Yourself' have only grown in stature over the decades. Her album, "It's My Thing", dropped that same year and has since become a touchstone of the genre. Backed by the legendary JB's and produced by James Brown himself--who also contributed to most of the songwriting--the album captures a raw, unapologetic funk sound with a distinctly female voice at the forefront. From the explosive opening of 'It's My Thing'--a bold response to the Isley Brothers' 'It's Your Thing'--Marva channels sheer intensity, backed by a band that doesn't let up. The pace briefly softens with 'If You Love Me,' a soul soaked ballad in the spirit of Otis Redding, before diving back into the rhythmic grit of tracks like 'Unwind Yourself.' Decades later, "It's My Thing" continues to inspire, sampled by producers and treasured by collectors--a powerful snapshot of funk at its most uncompromising. Reissue on 180g vinyl.

OOOOH! by Alex Bad Baby Lukashevsky with Cocoa Corner (2025)

Celebrated veteran of Toronto’s music scene, known for his boundary-pushing approach to folk and avant-garde music, twists rock music into strange and brilliant new shapes with the help of young jazz players, U.S. Girls, and his own immensely talented son.



OOOOH! is hard on the outside and soft on the inside. Made in the spirit of unity,
humanity, and poetry — disobediently renouncing the glory of personal triumph for the
generosity of an honest experiment. On the last track of the album you’ll hear “Or do you only ever never want to make a single enemy? / That’s not freedom or humility / It’s nothing, honestly.” Oooh, that's a bad baby!

A celebrated Toronto songwriter and performer, Alex Lukashevsky has always been disobedient. Which simply means, nothing is off the table when he’s looking for his
poetic voice; when trying to find the realest I of the teller. As he sings on the lead track “that musician that’s dead” The musician is radical/ it’s the world that’s demented/ listening with their eyes, the music looks dented/ they’re over-represented.
OOOOH! was recorded in January 2024 at Sound Department in Toronto, engineered by Patrick Lefler (ROY), mixed by Grammy-nominated producer Matt Smith. All the songs were tracked live off the floor in two days, with one extra day for recording vocals, to keep the recording fully alive and breathing. As leader of Deep Dark United, as a solo performer, and a sideman in Brodie Wests’ Eucalyptus and Luka Kuplowsky’s Ryokan Band, Alex has been an outsized influence on the Toronto music scene that spawned acts like Broken Social Scene and Owen Pallett. (Pallett, who has toured with Lukashevsky, went so far as to record an entire album’s worth of Alex’s songs, backed
by a full orchestra.)

Lukashevsky has approached each of his albums and projects as something completely new, using only the musical boundaries he creates with each song. Even when he
has recorded songs with nothing but his voice and his own acoustic guitar accompaniment, the results are never “stripped down” or “back to basics,”
Gong! How do you get to heaven / have fun! have fun!
It’s cool to approach music as a game of “spot the influence”; Burt Bacharach-meets-Black Flag; Lana Del Rey-meets-LCD Soundsystem etc. Glorified mash-ups are promising because of their conversational nature. But they can turn us into hyperboreans; blowing cold air beyond ourselves while doing what we can to remain warm. To devise a game or a narrative is to have a winner and a loser, but we all know that just as you win/ so you lose. And does anything really change? Alex Lukashevsky and Cocoa Corner are more at ease drawing blind contours or playing an old game like consequences. They let things add up without knowing particularly how. Cognition is recognition.

Lukashevsky, in addition to writing all the songs, plays guitar and sings on OOOOH!, doing both in ways that are soulful and spikey at the same time. Joining him on guitar and vocals is his oldest child, Charlie Lukashevsky, who, at 23, is already a talented performer and songwriter in his own right. Cocoa Corner also includes Aidan McConnell, an in-demand drummer and composer, Jack Johnston, a jazz bassist and Barry Harris acolyte, and percussionist Evan Cartwright (The Weather Station, U.S. Girls, Cola, Tasseomancy), who plays steel pan and marching drum.

Working with his son and with other younger musicians is central to the album’s
unpredictable aesthetic. It reinvigorated the sound in unexpected ways. Lukashevsky says, “I had to reconsider my own instincts. I had to deal with being 99 years old.”
In addition to these performers, the album includes a tasty contribution from Meg
Remy, the visionary musician and producer who is the leader of the critically acclaimed
project U.S. Girls. Remy duets with Lukashevsky on the imagistic and sprawling album
closer “things keep happening.”
About that album title: OOOOH! is taken straight from “that musician that’s dead” an
arch and unhinged comment on the exertion required to navigate a lifetime of music making.
Lukashevsky’s delivery of that one emotive word is a kind of cultural posture, but also a
hundred percent primitive expression. The impact is never less than visceral. His vocal
delivery ranges through rich baritone blues to keening falsettos to a kind of sprechstimme that periodically steps out from the music to grab the listener’s shirt. He
doesn’t sound too nice, but he is sincere. When life gives you lemons lament.
For OOOOH! his first official full-length album since 2012’s Too Late Blues, (a collection of knotty-yet-effervescent tunes built upon the enchantingly serpentine harmonies of Lukashevsky and his vocal collaborators, Felicity Williams (Bahamas, Bernice) and Daniela Gesundheit (Snowblink, HYDRA)), Alex has once again broken apart and rebuilt his own approach to music. Or rather (because that sounds too over-determined), he
has allowed his music to build itself into strange new shapes that only fleetingly and
coincidentally, but happily, resemble anything that might be called rock and roll. There is some editorializing within the song’s lyrics— Lukashevsky even cheekily contributes to the “spot the influence” game with the line “Muddy Waters, Rite of Spring!” a funny preemptive strike against anyone already reaching for some variation of avant-blues to describe what the song is up to here. In fact there are many names checked on this record (literally and in spirit); they are the lily pads that trace the path of this expression! Palestrina, Peter Pears and Benjamin Brittain, Andrés Segovia, Stravinsky, Lotte Lenya, Alice Coltrane, Skip James, Chuck Berry, D’Gary, Betty Carter, Mukhtiyar Ali, Chuck D, Yoko Ono, Hailu Mergia, David Bowie, Jane Siberry. rhythm is a skeleton mansion / haunted by melody / feckless prodigy / the world is under a spell / cast by some demon angel / Practice day and night / Try as hard as hell / no one can sing that well Musicians are often worried by the way in which they are prepared to fail rather
than how they would like to succeed; it’s such a deep concern that it tempers their creativity and shackles their process. Current cultural proclivities, tend to comfort a certain kind of artistic failure and abnegate another kind. How many testimonials, full of heartfelt care and investment, have you heard for Taylor Swift, and yet a craftsman like Chris Weisman is often dismissed easily as though he’s doing something anti-social. what’s throwing itself in my ears and my eyes / arrogant devil ad hominem christ.
The music you will hear on this recording veers off in multiple directions at once,
and features a rock and roll spirit with a divergent heart. This is no sclerotic clomp of the Average Rock Song, but in fact a flood of humanity in all its darkness and moodiness and unpredictability. If most performers make songs that are like sports cars or pickup trucks to drive around, Lukashevsky has built something more akin to a rowboat in a tree: it’s weird and beautiful.

Ramirez returns with THA PLAYA$ MANUAL II, the long-awaited sequel to his cult classic that helped solidify his place as one of underground rap’s most distinctive voices. Steeped in Southern-fried funk, Bay Area swagger, and Memphis-style menace, this new chapter finds Ramirez sharper, smoother, and more seasoned—delivering game like a streetwise sage with a gold grill grin.

Where the original Playa$ Manual was gritty and raw, THA PLAYA$ MANUAL II sounds like a player who's leveled up. The beats knock harder, the flows glide slicker, and the game is deeper. Ramirez weaves tales of betrayal, come-ups, late-night drives, and cold-hearted reality with the same charismatic cool that made him a standout in the $uicideboy$-adjacent G59 movement—but this time with a more refined, cinematic approach.

From trunk-rattling bangers to syrupy smooth cuts that soundtrack late-night escapades, THA PLAYA$ MANUAL II feels like a ride through Ramirez’s world with tinted windows up and the bass on max. It’s a record for the hustlers, the heartbreakers, the loners, and the legends in the making.

This is more than a sequel—it’s a statement: the playa’s still active, and the manual’s been updated.

180 Gramm schweres schwarzes Vinyl. Violence Fog, eine sehr kurzlebige, aber kraftvolle Psychedelic-Rock-Band aus Baden-Baden, wurde 1969 gegründet. Die Besetzung umfasste Wolfgang Höfer (Gesang/Flöte), Karl-Heinz Höfer (Gitarre/Flöte/Gesang), Enno Dernov (Gitarre), Hilmar Beine (Bass) und Herbert Brandmeier (Schlagzeug). Ihre Musik mischte rohe, verzerrte Gitarrenklänge und britisch/amerikanisch beeinflusste bluesige Soli zu einem Sound, der von energiegeladenen Riffs bis zu stimmungsvollen und hypnotischen Psych-Jams reichte. Die Band baute sich schnell eine treue lokale Fangemeinde auf und spielte oft in Jugendzentren, Musikclubs und sogar bei Filmpremieren, wo ihre trippige psychedelische Lichtshow ihre Live-Auftritte begleitete. Ihr Repertoire umfasste sowohl Eigenkompositionen als auch Coverversionen von Songs wie ,Paint It Black". Violence Fog wurden bekannter, als sie am 23. April 1971 im Studio Ul des SWF-Radios in Baden-Baden fünf Titel aufnahmen, die ihr energiegeladenes Zusammenspiel aus schwindelerregenden Dual-Lead-Gitarren, Lautstärkedynamik und einer stimmungsvollen Rhythmusgruppe dokumentierten. Trotz ihres Talents und ihrer wachsenden Bekanntheit löste sich Violence Fog kurz nach Abschluss der SWF-Aufnahmen auf, was vor allem auf andere berufliche Verpflichtungen zurückzuführen war. Obwohl ihre gemeinsame Zeit nur von kurzer Dauer war, bleibt Violence Fog ein faszinierendes Kapitel in der lebendigen Psychedelic-Rock-Geschichte Deutschlands. Das Archiv-Plattenlabel Ancient Grease Records hat sich auf die Veröffentlichung seltener Heavy-Rock- und Psych-Musik aus den 1970er Jahren aus aller Welt spezialisiert. Begleitet wird das remasterte Audiomaterial von reichhaltigen visuellen Elementen und ausführlichen Liner Notes, um die unbekannte Musik dieser Ära für Sammler und neue Fans gleichermaßen wiederzubeleben und zu feiern.

DJ Support: Luke Una, Justin Robertson, Trevor Fung, Leo Elstob, Bill Brewster , Sean Johnston, Duncan Gray, Nathan Gregory Wilkins and DJ mag Balearic album of the month.

Limited edition double vinyl release of Jezebell’s debut new-Balearic epic, which stylishly weaves the history of eclectic club bombs through 16 tracks of downtempo, electro dub, and acid chug.

After the huge, and now sold out, never to be repressed debut album release, Jezebell come again with their second instalment, delivering their trademark Balearic and chuggy, electro-tinged dancefloor bizness in the form of Jezebellearic Beats Volume 2. You get the vibe of the artwork, the Jez crew have the class. These won’t be around for long. One press only. Buy or Cry.

The Spice of Life, released in November 1969, stands as Marlena Shaw's second--and final--studio album for Cadet Records, produced and arranged by the renowned Richard Evans and Charles Stepney. From the opening, Shaw's voice--both playful and powerful--cuts through the lush yet tight-knit arrangements, weaving together a vibrant tapestry of soul, proto-funk, jazz, gospel, and blues. The album features two defining classics: her deeply resonant original of 'Woman of the Ghetto' and a signature take on Ashford & Simpson's 'California Soul', both staples in sampling culture (you'll probably find that you're more familiar with Shaw's material than you thought.) Evans and Stepney's arrangements are far from mere support--they're panoramic and inventive. You'll hear kalimba flourishes, psych-tinged guitar accents, and bongo-fueled organ textures that elevate each track, keeping the atmosphere rich but never overwhelming. Moments like the Bacharach-styled 'Looking Through the Eyes of Love' or the dramatic flair of 'Stormy Monday' showcase their widescreen sensibility and Shaw's versatility. Beneath its musical elegance, "The Spice of Life" carries a weighty current of social commentary. Tracks such as 'Woman of the Ghetto' and the succinct, fierce 'Liberation Conversation' bring political and feminist themes into a soulful, expressive framework--adding unexpected depth to the sophisticated sonic palette. This album offers an immersive journey through soul-jazz mastery, one that rewarded listeners with sampling gold for decades to come. Reissue on 180g vinyl.

Recorded in Switzerland and mastered in Madrid, on Deságua Mello blends classical harp training with experimental techniques, creating a rich sonic journey that pushes the boundaries of the instrument. Brazilian harpist and composer Marina Mello presents Deságua, her solo debut released by the Peruvian label Buh Records. Based in Zurich, Mello has developed a unique and expressive approach to the harp, combining her classical training with a deep exploration of the instrument's sonic possibilities. Deságua is the result of this process: an intimate and expansive work that traverses sonic landscapes rich in contrast and texture. In the artist's own words, this album is a synthesis of material developed through her musical practice. The title refers to the Portuguese word that describes the moment a river flows into the sea. This concept guides the album's sonic narrative, in which each piece functions as a tributary flowing into an immersive and unexpected listening experience. From bittersweet whale-like sounds to destructive, unsettling, and shattering noise provocations, she explores, senses, and transcends the musical boundaries of her instrument. The album presents a wide range of sounds and styles, yet maintains a strong internal coherence through its technical and conceptual exploration of the harp. Mello performs on both lever and pedal harps, employing a range of non-traditional techniques: preparing the instrument with objects, using guitar effects pedals, detuning the strings, and using close mic recording to capture the subtlest sounds and the shifts that lie between them. The result is a collection of pieces that move between the melodic and the dissonant. Deságua does not shy away from repetition, noise, or raw textures. Instead, it embraces them fully, situating the album at the crossroads of contemporary music, improvisation, and electronic experimentation.

The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. They are best known for their 1970s hits "Respect Yourself",
"I'll Take You There", "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)".

This is the soundtrack for the Bill Cosby/Sidney Poitier film Let's Do It Again.

The main title song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and spent two non-consecutive weeks
at the top of the Hot Soul Singles chart. All tracks on this album were written by the legendary Curtis Mayfield

Blang Records are thrilled to announce another two vinyl album re-releases from Jeffrey Lewis's back catalogue: The debut classic The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane (originally Rough Trade 2001) and The critically acclaimed 4th album 12 Crass Songs (originally Rough Trade 2007). 12 Crass Songs (VV004LP): Astonishingly transformed covers of songs originally written by the band Crass in 1978-1984, this 2007 LP is the most rare and sought-after vinyl in Jeffrey's catalogue and is also now completely out of stock. "Weird? Very_ _ but it's also downright inspiring" (4 of 5 stars) - Rolling Stone. "The record presents Crass's lyrics calmly, often demonstrating how sane and practical they are; it proves once again, and kind of thrillingly this time, that no music is immune to interpretation" - The New York Times. "Folk maverick raids anarchist commune and finds catchy tunes_ Works wonderfully" - Spin "Jeffrey Lewis' talents appear without end_ (on 12 Crass Songs he) magically makes the anarcho-rockers' anti-establishment savagery his own, by wrapping their barbed sentiments in his trademark mottled tea-towel warmth" - NME. "12 Crass Songs succeeds utterly_ eerily beautiful and strangely affecting" - Plan B Magazine "He's taken hold of any number of my old stormy favourites and breathed fresh life and fire into them. . . Man, I'm in awe of Jeffrey right now. Who'd have thought he could have done that?" - Everett True/ Village Voice "Quite brilliant" - (4 of 5 stars) MOJO. "It's no mean feat to transform such abrasive harangues into lush, tuneful folk_ without defusing their righteous anger_ but Crass's intelligent and indignant screeds could not hope for a more sympathetic translator." (4 of 5 stars) - THE GUARDIAN. Blang Records and Jeffrey Lewis have history: before Blang was a label, it started life as a live night at the 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street, hosting many a set of the NY Antifolk artists over on UK shores, including Jeffrey Lewis. Now 20+ years since Jeffrey first played Blang. Native New Yorker Jeffrey Lewis is a comic book writer/artist and a musician. A cult hero birthed from the now infamous antifolk movement that sprung up on Manhattan's Lower East Side in the 90s, Jeffrey has released dozens of albums showcasing his unique blend of bleakly witty observations, scratchy, lo-fi punk and croaky folk/anti-folk, all firmly rooted in a strong DIY sensibility. Jeffrey and his band have toured the world multiple times over, released albums on Rough Trade, Moshi Moshi and Don GIovanni Records, and have been featured by NPR, The History Channel, The NY Times and more.

A record born of insurmountable joy and simultaneous profound loss; World Maker marks a time of great change for Psychonaut, both personally and musically, as the band burn away the philosophical narrative complexities of previous offerings with a searing, panoramic clarity that implores us to savour the beauty of the now as a means of leaving a legacy for the future. The traditional, three-piece line up of Belgian, psychedelic post-metal collective Psychonaut has long belied the compositional prowess, captivating narrative depth and crushing live presence of a band now operating at the forefront of forward-thinking, contemporary heavy music. Having sent a shockwave through the post-metal and prog scenes with their three times repressed Pelagic Records debut Unfold The God Man in 2020 before following it up with the transformative metaphysical complexities of 2022's Violate Consensus Reality, Psychonaut have played prestigious Belgian open-air festivals like Alcatraz, Rock Herk and Boomtown Festival as well as boutique events such as Soulcrusher, Roadburn Redux and A Colossal Weekend whilst sharing stages across Europe with the likes of Amenra, Brutus and Pelagic labelmates The Ocean and PG.Lost. The seed of World Maker took shape just as the campaign for Violate Consensus Reality came to a close, with the news that guitarist/vocalist Stefan De Graef was to become a father. This tilting of life's axis led De Graef, like most fathers-to-be, to re-assess what was really important. As such, the music he was inspired to write felt free of the band's previous philosophical and spiritual foundations and instead took the form of life lessons for his unborn son, a legacy of love in case something were ever to happen. This hopeful euphoria shines keenly throughout World Maker as an uncharacteristically optimistic warmth; from the reverberating Rhodes organ on the titular opening track and the meandering, free-jazz inspired guitar solo that introduces `Everything Else is Just The Weather' to elements of world music, electronica and the otherworldly voice of Dutch multi-instrumentalist and old friend Anthe Huybrechts (Anthe/Helion Creek) most notably on tracks like `Origins' which also features tabla, a pair of indian hand drums, as its propulsive heartbeat. Whilst Psychonaut's giant riffs, punishing polyrhythms and guttural vocal rage are more resplendent than ever, there is a wider dynamic spectrum to World Maker that sees the band proudly exploring their more delicate, intimate extremes as well as their most aggressive and abrasive. Not long after the birth of De Graef's son came the devastating news that both his own father and Psychonaut bassist/vocalist Thomas Michiels' father had been diagnosed with advanced cancers. Living day-to-day and torn between joy and grief, the band found themselves shedding the grand scope and world-shattering agenda of Violate Consensus Reality to focus on the here and now. Lead single `Endless Currents', the first full track on the album, explodes in a barrage of staccato guitar tapping but mellows to let the powerful, newly pared back lyrics ring out as a call to embrace the flow and follow joy. The song's final few words `Lead the way. / Soar. / Everlong.' double as both a greeting and a goodbye as the trio build their formidable post-metal might to a thunderous breaking point. Similarly, the pulsing, propellant `Stargazer', named so for De Graef's son being born in stargazer position, pairs delicate guitar motifs and folk-inflected optimism with huge and sprawling breakdowns as some of the band's most genre-pushing work to date; asking difficult but important questions of what happens next. It is `And You Came With Searing Light' though that most immediately exemplifies Psychonaut's redirected ambition on World Maker, as euphoria collides with blinding fury. The first track written for the album, `_Searing Light' is easily the most complex and initially wouldn't sound out of place on Violate Consensus Reality. Originally meant to be the new album's opening track; the decision to defer its impact, not to mention its compositional and dynamic gravity, speaks of a fundamental change to the band's very core. The words "Discover the world with wide eyes" recurring throughout speak as much to those having lost a part of their world as they do to those seeing it for the first time. Amidst such turbulent times, the band found strength and support within their Post-Metal community. The album was recorded and produced by the band alongside their longtime collaborator and close friend Chiaran Verheyden (Hippotraktor) with help and advice from Psychonaut's live engineer Victor, who will no doubt make this album sound just as awesome on stage. Even the artwork for World Maker was a family affair, being designed by close friend Sam Coussens of Belgian cosmic sludge metallers Pothamus. In the face of life's soaring highs and desolate lows, World Maker is direct and brave without sacrificing any of Psychonaut's raw power, creative innovation or inimitable musical depth. Where their previous full-length offerings have charted grand introspective courses through time and space, World Maker is breathtaking in its uncompromising clarity: a father singing to his newborn son as a son bids his own father farewell. FOR FANS OF Mastodon, Russian Circles, Tool, Gojira, The Ocean, Pelican, Hypno5e, Cult Of Luna, Amenra

Get ready to trim your tree with a rollicking mix of mid-century Rhythm & Blues holiday gems. This vinyl is packed with everything from soulful longing to boisterous celebration, featuring legendary artists like Charles Brown's heart-wrenching "Please Come Home for Christmas" and the Dominoes' gorgeous "Christmas in Heaven" with a young Jackie Wilson on vocals. Dive into the bluesy mischief of Jimmy Butler's playful "Trim Your Tree" and the fiery gospel of Marvin Williams' "When Was Jesus Born." From the sweet soul stomp of Big Dee Irwin & Little Eva's "I Wish You a Merry Christmas" to Lightnin' Hopkins' funky "Happy New Year," each track captures a unique holiday spirit. This lively collection is sure to be a December favourite, filled with both cheer and heartbreak, grit and grace_an unforgettable Christmas party on vinyl!

Pink vinyl. Get ready to trim your tree with a rollicking mix of mid-century Rhythm & Blues holiday gems. This vinyl is packed with everything from soulful longing to boisterous celebration, featuring legendary artists like Charles Brown's heart-wrenching "Please Come Home for Christmas" and the Dominoes' gorgeous "Christmas in Heaven" with a young Jackie Wilson on vocals. Dive into the bluesy mischief of Jimmy Butler's playful "Trim Your Tree" and the fiery gospel of Marvin Williams' "When Was Jesus Born." From the sweet soul stomp of Big Dee Irwin & Little Eva's "I Wish You a Merry Christmas" to Lightnin' Hopkins' funky "Happy New Year," each track captures a unique holiday spirit. This lively collection is sure to be a December favourite, filled with both cheer and heartbreak, grit and grace_an unforgettable Christmas party on vinyl!

Green coloured repress of Sababa 5"s self-titled 2022 debut album of original instrumentals, built around the band"s distinct mix of Middle Eastern psych, funk and disco groove.

Das Debütalbum des Jazz-Multiinstrumentalisten Yusef Lateef, Jazz Mood, wurde ursprünglich 1957 auf
dem Label Savoy aus New Jersey veröffentlicht. Das Album enthält fünf Originalkompositionen von Lateef
und wurde von Curtis Fuller (Posaune), Hugh Lawson (Klavier), Ernie Farrow (Bass) und Louis Hayes
(Schlagzeug) eingespielt. Diese Neuauflage des Albums erscheint als Teil der Original Jazz Classics Series
auf 180-Gramm-Vinyl, gepresst bei RTI, mit vollständig analogem Mastering von den Originalbändern bei
Cohearent Audio und einem Stoughton Tip-On-Cover.

Clarence Carter, blind from birth, was a blues singer with lascivious wit, a talented guitarist, a songwriter with a twinkle in his eye, and a champion of down-to-earth soul grooves who taught himself to play the guitar.

He sang in a gospel choir, completed a degree in music, and grounded the duo Clarence & Calvin but was not however very successful.

After a car crash involving Calvin Scott, Carter started on a solo career and signed a contract with Rick Hall and the Fame label as a soloist.

Among the earliest singles recorded at the Muscle Shoals studio were a few hits. After leaving Fame for Atlantic, he managed to enter the Top 20 of the R & B charts with "Looking For A Fox". His breakthrough came with "Slip Away", which sold a million copies and was awarded a Gold Record.

The legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals remained the home basis, as it were, for Carter during his career with Atlantic. "This Is…" begins with a contemplative, soft sound. "Do What You Gotta Do", written by Jim Webb, is a lovely, melancholic mid-tempo ballad, saturated with Barry Beckett’s keyboard and smothered by lush, plaintive winds.

But the man is primarily funky here … as three danceable, finger-snapping tracks prove; "Wind It Up", with further witty improvisations and a fervid organ solo, the highly syncopated, playful "Thread The Needle", and the smoky, irresistible "Funky Fever" – all written by Carter himself.

Dan Penn’s and Spooner Oldham’s "Slippin’ Around" has an unorthodox bossa nova-like beat that is reminiscent of Ray Charles’s "What’d I Say", while Carter’s unmistakable chuckle is to be heard for the first time on the riotous funk-rock number "I’m Qualified", which has the very same unique, infectious groove as was to be heard on Wilson Pickett’s "In The Midnight Hour". "She Ain’t Gonna Do Right", composed by the same man, brings more Alabama Country to the mix, whereby Beckett contributes a catchy, persistent organ riff in the refrain.

rstmals auf Vinyl erscheint das 2011er Album ""If You Want Loyalty, Buy A Dog"" von Little Axe, dem Blues-Alter Ego des Gitarristen Skip McDonald, Mitglied von The Sugarhill Gang, Tackhead und anderen, sowie Arrangeur eines Großteils des On-U-Sound-Katalogs. Für Vinyl editiert von Adrian Sherwood. Neu geschnitten von Frank Merritt im The Carvery. Schwarzes Vinyl in bedruckter Innenhülle. Design von Chris Bigg von v23. Limitierte Auflage.

"Ein wunderschönes, sanft funky und zutiefst trauriges Album – entgegen aller Erwartungen hat McDonald musikalische Elemente, die wenig mit Blues zu tun haben, aufgegriffen und daraus die tiefste Essenz des Blues herausgearbeitet. Es gibt keinen einzigen schwachen Track auf diesem Album. Es ist ein ungewöhnlich bewegendes und eindringliches Dokument von einem der unbesungenen Helden der amerikanischen (und, seltsamerweise, jamaikanischen) Roots-Musik." - Rick Anderson

Mit der neuen Ausgabe der Rare Groove Collection tauchen wir ein in die pulsierende Klangwelt Nordafrikas. Diese Doppel-LP vereint seltene Tracks aus Algerien, Marokko, Libyen und Tunesien, die zwischen den späten 70ern und frühen 80ern entstanden sind - eine Zeit, in der traditionelle Rhythmen auf Soul, Funk und Disco trafen. Die Compilation präsentiert eine elektrisierende Mischung aus hypnotischen Grooves, treibenden Basslines und souligen Gesangslinien, inspiriert von den Sounds jenseits des Atlantiks. Künstler wie Faboul, Freh Khodja, Vigon, Abranis, Faraji, Raina Raï, Malik Adouane und Najib Alhous stehen für eine Ära musikalischer Grenzüberschreitungen, in der kulturelle Identität und globale Einflüsse auf faszinierende Weise verschmolzen. Jeder Track ist ein Stück Musikgeschichte - tanzbar, psychedelisch, politisch und voller Energie.