Поиск:funk lab

Bangs and Talbot get back to business with a stonking new 45 for 2025, their take on the instrumental classic ‘K Jee’.

Originally by US band the Nite Liters (an instrumental precursor to soul act New Birth), this classic track has been a club favourite for decades. It was later covered by MFSB and included in the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

Taken from their forthcoming album on Acid Jazz, this latin disco funk flavoured jam is written by Motown hit producer Harvey Fuqua and Charles Hearndon. It features Mick Talbot on Wurlitzer, organ and piano, ably assisted by German funk guitarist Felix Fraenkel, Italy’s Donato Greco on flute, brass from California’s Dan C, and drums, percussion, and bass from original Acid Jazz DJ/producer Chris Bangs.

On the flip is a Mick Talbot-original ‘Re-Micks’ from the ‘Back to Business’ sessions, which gets a heavy-duty live boom bap rework by hip hop pioneer DJ Premier Inn.

Presented on black vinyl in a new colour version of the current Acid Jazz house-bag, with labels reminiscent of the classic RCA design for an authentic ’70s touch…

Peach Discs’ first EP of the post-summer season comes from DJ, producer, and our good pal Amaliah.

The five tracks that make up the Hypnosis EP are a true showcase of Amaliah's rapidly growing skills as a producer, as she picks thoughtfully from her inspirations and flips them into a uniquely Amaliah-coded record – leaning into the housier side of her sound while incorporating elements of bass, garage, UK funky, and prog that have become her calling card.

Lead track "Hypnosis" draws a line straight back to her early UK raving days, with tuff, speed-garage-indebted drums bouncing off prowling subs and emosh, pinging synth lines, while "Watch This" harnesses a similarly heaving bassline but dips towards classic UKG territory with its swinging, broken beat and disembodied vocal chops.

The closest thing to straight-up house on the EP, "Hold Me Closer," features Amaliah's vocals for the first time, as well as additional production from Shanti – an influence evident in the tight, ascending bassline that wraps itself around the stomping percussion.

"Laser Tag" and "Earthling" are maybe the most Amaliah-coded tracks on the record – a pair of highly percussive, UK funky inspired tunes that balance shoulder-bumping drums with wild, arcing synths that prowl across the stereo field, trippy and screwface inducing in equal measure.

Amaliah is also the founder of Borne Fruits, an independent label, event series, and monthly Rinse FM show, showcasing new sounds and emerging talent. This record follows neatly in that vein, as her own emerging talent marries forward-thinking sound design with her roots in raving and soundsystem culture for an EP that's all her own, and one we're thrilled to release.

Italian producer, musician, DJ, and groove architect Sam Ruffillo drops his long-awaited debut album Tipo Così on Toy Tonics – a sun-drenched, genre-blurring statement that blends classic house with Mediterranean flair, romantic funk, and tongue-in-cheek Italo vibes. Over 11 expertly crafted tracks, Ruffillo delivers a dancefloor-ready, emotionally rich LP that connects deep musicality with irresistible rhythm and light-hearted elegance.

After three acclaimed EPs and collaborations with revered artists such as Barbara Boeing, Kapote, and Fimiani, Ruffillo has firmly cemented himself as a core artist on the Berlin-based label. Known for his unmistakable signature sound — a warm mix of vintage disco, 90s house, and Italian vocals — Sam’s music has garnered widespread DJ support from tastemakers like Gerd Janson, Palms Trax, Seth Troxler, and DJ Tennis, while becoming a staple on Italian airwaves. His infectious summer anthems like Danza Organica and Perfetta Così have soundtracked countless club nights and festivals, creating a loyal following that eagerly awaited this full-length debut.

Tipo Così is the natural culmination of a musical journey that’s both playful and profound — a travel diary written in grooves, synth stabs, and melodies that feel like postcards from a parallel Mediterranean universe. The album expands and deepens Ruffillo’s world into a fully immersive experience: lush emotional chords meet tight syncopated grooves, vintage synth textures collide with irresistibly catchy pop refrains, and the boundary between sincerity and playful irony is exquisitely blurred.

Entirely written, produced, and recorded in Italy, in his beloved hometown of Bologna, the album finds Ruffillo at the helm on keys, drum machines, and production, supported by a talented cast of musicians contributing live bass, guitar, and other organic elements — further enriching his trademark fusion of electronic grooves and natural instrumentation. There’s a tactile warmth in these tracks, a hands-on feel that adds soul and depth to every beat.

This album also marks Ruffillo’s heartfelt return to singing in Italian, with standout tracks like House Tipo Così, Mi Fa Volare, Ancora, and Dentro Di Me, where romantic naïveté meets pulsing club energy in a way that feels both timeless and refreshingly new. The vocal performances add an intimate, human touch to the music, reinforcing the personal stories woven into each song. There’s poetry in the casual, a bittersweet elegance in the way the lyrics float over groove-heavy production.

Having toured extensively across Europe, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Mexico — with sets at iconic venues like Panorama Bar and festivals such as Sónar Barcelona — Ruffillo has fine-tuned much of this album in front of live audiences. The real-world testing ground infused the record with a dynamic energy and immediacy that only comes from genuine crowd interaction. These songs weren’t just made in the studio — they were lived on dancefloors around the world.

Tipo Così is not just a collection of tracks. It’s a philosophy — playful, stylish and unmistakably personal. A modern club album bursting with heartfelt emotion and sophistication. Music for dancers with taste; for lovers of beauty, rhythm, and the little imperfections that make things feel real.

But what exactly is Tipo Così? More than just a phrase, it’s a way of being. It’s about embracing elegance without effort, mixing irony with sincerity, and letting nostalgia slip into the room without taking over the party. It’s Sam Ruffillo’s signature language: relaxed, confident, meticulous yet never rigid — where a chord progression can say as much as a lyric, and every beat carries intention.

The album’s visual identity complements this vision perfectly. The artwork and promotional materials lovingly reference Italian design from the ’80s and ’90s, combining bold graphic elements with playful pop culture nods. This aesthetic mirrors Ruffillo’s music — a fusion of vintage warmth and contemporary freshness, delivered with authenticity and charm.

Sam Ruffillo belongs to a new generation of European artists who are reshaping electronic music by blending past and present, analog and digital, groove and emotion — without nostalgia or pose. His artistic universe is coherent, vibrant, and alive; a rich tapestry of sound, images, and stories that coexist with lightness, precision, and a distinctive voice.

Reflecting on his artistic journey, Sam describes music as a vital, deeply human impulse — a tribal connection to rhythm and body that has driven him since he was a teenager. His creative process balances meticulous planning with room for spontaneity, usually sparked by clear melodic ideas that evolve naturally. Collaborations with close friends, especially vocalists like Ninfa, add warmth and authenticity, exemplified in tracks like “House Tipo Così.” For Sam, music is honest self-expression — crafted for listeners who crave memorable melodies and rhythms imbued with genuine feeling.

While technical perfection is tempting, Sam prioritizes emotion, knowing that what truly resonates is the soul behind the sounds. His long-standing partnership with Toy Tonics has been key in nurturing his vision, offering a blend of creative freedom and professional support. Looking ahead, Sam Ruffillo is excited to broaden his live performances, and release new projects that continue to blend electronic grooves with organic, heartfelt sounds — maintaining the delicate balance between playful irony and sincere emotion that defines Tipo Così.




Kurzversion:
Italian DJ, producer and musician Sam Ruffillo drops his debut album Tipo Così on Toy Tonics - a sunny blend of house, funk, Italo and pop, full of groove and emotion. Written and recorded in Bologna with live instruments and Italian vocals, it’s a playful, elegant journey shaped on dancefloors worldwide. A stylish, sincere club album where nostalgia, irony and rhythm meet in perfect harmony.

- Mi Fa Volare
Road-tested across continents and now finally released, “Mi Fa Volare” channels 90s uplifting euphoria with big breakbeats, lush chords, and Italian vocals built to stick. Somewhere between balearic bliss and piano house nostalgia, it’s a feel-good club weapon made for peak-time moments - already sung back by crowds after just one listen.


- Ancora
“Ancora” is a vibrant hi-NRG track inspired by 80s Italo disco, sung entirely in Italian. It blends driving rhythms with dreamy melodies, capturing the radiant spirit of the decade. This fresh yet nostalgic song delivers euphoric vibes and timeless energy, making it a perfect fit for both dancefloors and reflective listening moments worldwide.


- Dentro Di Me
“Dentro Di Me” channels ‘90s sensuality through a fast-paced, UK house-inspired lens. Entirely in Italian, it’s a bold and contemporary dance track where hypnotic vocals meet high-energy grooves. Blending nostalgic textures with forward-thinking production, the result is a seductive and euphoric trip - equal parts emotional and club-ready.


- Amigo
“Amigo” blends Latin groove, acoustic guitar-driven rhythm, and Mediterranean flair into a warm, magnetic, cross-cultural dance anthem. Sung in Spanish and Italian, it celebrates connection, inclusivity, and the joy of moving together - whether stranger or friend. With its unstoppable rhythm and vibrant energy, it’s a feel-good track with a unifying spirit.


- Ma Sei Fuori
“Ma Sei Fuori” is a tongue-in-cheek dancefloor bomb blending raw house energy with catchy vocal phrases and a nod to classic French touch. Driven by hypnotic vocal lines and a playful attitude, it doesn’t take itself too seriously - while still proving serious club impact. Built for late-night moments, it’s bold, bouncy, and impossible to ignore.

Following a wildly successful first release, Risk/Reward returns with an outstanding EP from Bizarre Trax bossman and Felon5 member Jhobei, featuring a remix from UK electro royalty Carl Finlow no less!

Digitaria combines a groovy organ bass with psychedelic synths and progressive elements, to create a dancefloor-focused, trance-inducing bomb, guaranteed to get crowds of all sizes moving. Trippy, hypnotic but always playful, the perfect track to bring the energy up in the room.

A monster bassline, punchy drums and dreamy pads make Thinking Nodes a versatile tool, equally at home early in the night or deep into the after hours. Classic UKG swing meets deep house, plus a sprinkling of rave elements go into the recipe, making a tasty treat for DJs and collectors alike.

Beatagroove Funk see's Jhobei channel his inner Random Factor, to create an Electro House ripper, with quirky vocals, glitchy synths, a bassline straight out of a 80s new wave banger and enough drive in the drums to make this a peak time weapon.

Carl Finlow delivers an epic masterpiece on the remix of Beatagroove Funk, creating a work of sheer beauty that sounds like a blissful sunset cruise on a hover bike through a futuristic metropolis. Unexplainably detailed and emotional, this is the work of a true master of his craft and will surely go on to be recognized as some of his very best work - simply unmissable!

With heavy support from Tini, Harry McCanna, Anna Wall, Rich NxT, Voigtmann and more, Jhobei's star seems destined to keep rising, as Risk/Reward continues to establish itself as a must buy label.

'Don't Turn Your Back On Me feat. Pauline Taylor' originally featured on US house innovator and Basement Boys co-founder Teddy Douglas's ‘I’m Here’ album in late 2024. It's a true soulful house anthem with funky bass and a glorious vocal that was primed for a A-list remix package. Douglas himself opens up this package with joyous organ chords and soft melodies lighting up the smooth, seductive drums. Swiss DJ and producer Shaka goes next as an artist who has spent decades blending acid, Chicago, and Detroit influences into his own tunes on top labels like Nervous, GooD MooD, and Mister Bear Records. His 12-inch Club version strips things back to go deep and dubby before rebuilding with sunny melodies, expressive organs, and proggy guitar licks that bring joyous energy and real dance floor unity.

Next is NYC DJ Tedd Patterson, a true originator, resident at Ladyfags’ Battle Hymn party and a regular at Horse Meat Disco, Berghain’s Panorama Bar, and Glitterbox, as well as releasing on Strictly Rhythm, Nervous, Defected, and more. His sophisticated remix boasts a warm and bouncy sound, complemented by soulful vocals that lend richness. Then it's seminal NYC favourite Danny Krivit, who is part of the cult Body and Soul crew, is a renowned remixer and editor with hundreds of credits to his name on the most important labels in the scene, and is resident DJ at New York’s legendary 718 Sessions. He draws on his vast experience to edit the original into a playful disco stomper, complete with neat guitar riffs and zippy synths, all bursting with joy as the funky beats roll on and the lush vocals soar to new heights.

Demuir marks an inaugural release on Hot Creations with High. Alive. And Dirty., a
diverse four track EP made up of all original records.

The EP opens with Santa and The Elf. A penetrating bassline ratchets up and down, as horn
like synths whir occasionally in the background, alongside tassel-like hi-hats. Up next, the title
track High. Alive. And Dirty. provides stunning contrast. A happy, funk-fuelled number, the
track incorporates disco elements with “positive and soulful vibes”, before Rawness - Beat 3
features a “raw native structure”, bongo sounding drums and tropical vocals to from a well-
rounded, feel-good record. Eerbawdy Wants to Deeezsko rounds off the EP in fine form, with
more disco elements and chiming, emotional keys.

Canadian-based Demuir is a distinctive talent in the electronic music sphere. A prolific
producer, Demuir has already made a home on labels including I’m A House Gangster as well
as Cassy’s Kwench Records, whilst he is soon set to release on Loco Dice’s iconic Desolat
imprint.

Berlin-Hamburg duo Session Victim return to the ever-reliable Delusions Of Grandeur imprint with Chapter Two of their Sidequests trilogy, marking yet another high point in their almost twenty year journey through heartfelt, sample-rich music. Overflowing with analog warmth, sundrenched textures and irresistible grooves, the release also features a stellar remix from label cofounder and deep house pioneer Jimpster who kicks off the EP. Here he takes Behind The Glass into spaced out house-not-house territory. With crisp drum programming, trademark Rhodes, and subtle pads that build over time, his version delivers that late-night sophistication he's known for—steering the downtempo original in a clubbier direction without losing its blissed-out essence. Up next we have a brand new collaborative effort with long time friend, label mate and fellow sample nerd Nebraska. Make It Happen is a dusty, slo-mo house groove featuring delicate keys, euphoric strings and that unmistakable sense of journey. It’s just the kind of low-slung epic house they do best—intimate yet club-ready, nostalgic but never retro. Flipping over, Too Soft To Be Loud, another collaboration with Viken Arman, follows with a jazzy, almost samba-esque rhythm and swirling atmospherics. Loose percussion, catchy guitar riffs and Rhodes stabs collide with off-kilter dub FX and soft vocal snippets giving the track a laid-back, live-band feel that harks back to their See You When You Get There era. Hubcap Candy dives deep into funk territory. Nebraska’s on point boogie bassline drives the track forward as crunchy drums and layers of synths create a dreamlike haze. It’s loopy, moody, and finds Session Victim at their very best. Closing out the EP we have the original of Behind The Glass, a headsy, beatdown piece that slowly unfolds over an unconventional brass-like bassline and delicate guitar textures, paying homage to the golden age of Trip Hop haziness and it’s pioneer turntable spirit. Blending crate-digging sensibilities with forward-thinking production, this latest release solidifies Session Victim’s reputation as genre-blurring tastemakers, and their chemistry with Delusions Of Grandeur remains as strong as ever

Wer seine 50-jährige Karriere verfolgt hat, kennt Vernon Reid als Künstler, der in allen Farben malt. Je nachdem, in welche Ära man eintaucht und welches Album auf dem Plattenteller liegt, findet man den New Yorker Universalgelehrten zwischen Jazz, Metal, Punk, Funk, Electronica und Hip-Hop pendelnd. Und das alles mit so vielseitigen Kollaborateuren wie Mick Jagger oder Public Enemy. Ein Künstler im Wandel und doch eine feste Größe, auf dessen Aussagen man bauen kann. “Hoodoo Telemetry”, sagt der 66-jährige über sein Werk, “ist wie ein Stück meines Geistes. Ich habe eine ganze Weile gebraucht, um mit diesem Album zu beginnen. Diese Songs kommen aus unterschiedlichen Zeiten und Lebenssituationen. Einige Songs sind ganz neu, andere sind aus älteren Ideen, die ich wieder aufgegriffen habe, entstanden.
Plötzlich fand ich den Fokus und mir war klar das ich jetzt mit der Arbeit an diesem neuen Album anfangen muss.

Emerging from the house scene of the 2000s with his label Place Blanche, Greg Kozo has been a bartender in naughty bars, music director at Galeries Lafayette, bassist in funk bands, and legendary producer and DJ with his former band Make The Girl Dance. Far from settling down, he returns to the arena with a sharp sound. Several catchy tracks such as "Reviens" and "After" are sultry and subversive electro-pop songs, reminiscent of the sensuality of French Touch House or 80s Synth Pop. These tracks are performed by La Montespan, a mysterious creature and poetess of carnal desires, who gives them a gently erotic tone. In the dead of night, "Flamingos," "The Room," "Who Take Me Higher," and "Club Melancholia" take us to the depths of Paris' hottest clubs, where the beats pound like bodies on fire. "Magnolia" feat. Coeur (from the punk-rock band Schlasss) is a return to raw electro-rock, like a total experience of letting go. Finally, to climb the stairs out of the club, "Amour Fou" and "Turbulences" are hymns celebrating pure love in a couple who have weathered all the dangers of the nighttogether.

With the Scratch EP, Scottish techno powerhouse Gary Beck delivers four razor-sharp cuts that bring raw energy and dancefloor pressure to FJAAK's label CROWD. Known for his unmistakable grooves and stripped-down power, Beck presents a no-frills EP that bridges classic techno aesthetics with forward momentum. Opening with the single 'French System', the EP kicks off in full throttle. It's a propulsive roller built around tough drums, catchy synths, a female vocal leading the way and Beck's signature percussive tension. Title track 'Scratch' follows with a twitchy, angular rhythm that spirals around a fragmented vocal motif and bold machine-funk energy with tense breaks leading to ecstatic drops. On the record's flip side, 'How Do You Feel' keeps the level high, fusing jacking rhythms with a funky vocal and a Beck's heavy signature kicks. Finally, 'Eclipse' closes the EP pushing the energy into darker territories with relentless drive, its distorted pulse and industrial edge. This release marks a fierce debut on CROWD for Gary Beck - four no-nonsense weapons crafted for peak-time moments and the rawer corners of the club. A heavy-hitting addition to the label's catalog and a must-have for techno selectors with a taste for precision and punch.

Adam Wise, you may know, is Fabulous Lover and this new record marks his first for Pete Herbert's Music for Swimming Pools. It's a mature mix of 80s-inspired Balearic electro-funk with a tropical twist straight from his Bali studio. This sun-soaked collection bridges sunset vibes and dancefloor energy with 'It's Lonely At The Top' a funky opener with a squelchy bassline and playful riffs. 'Elevate' douses you in 80s synth sounds that glow warm, and label head remixes into a more buoyant Balearic house beat. Elsewhere is the gentle swagger of 'Low Bounce' and lush synth disco buzz of 'Automatic.' Feel-good grooves, for sure.

DJ Feedback

Ed Templ�:
"Stunning release!!"

Ben Gomori:
"Another beaut from Pete, gorgeous stuff"

Dicky Trisco:
"Nice chilled Balearic vibes"

Pathaan:
"Top release! Top package!"

S/A/M:
"Chunky, squelchy delights just how we like it :)"

Mat Anthony:
"Brilliant EP of 80's infused machine funk"

Justin Deighton:
"Will be playing a selection of these"

Joey Fitzgerald:
"Nice work!"

Bill Brewster:
"It's Lonely At The Top is the best track"

The debut album from Mexican duo Destino Sonido, namely electronic music veteran Juan Soto and rising vocal talent Labibe, mixes up disco swagger, upright funk attitude, synthpop flavours and just the tastiest smidge of pop instinct. 'Seduccion Galactica' has more than a touch of Vince Clarke's magic but rich simplicity about it, while closing tune 'Oscuridad' (You Man remix) adds an epic feel to proceedings, while simultaneously keeping them shiny and approachable. Dan Solo makes two appearances, Krofon pops in to lend a hand on 'Amandote' and Monsieur Von Pratt remixes 'Playa, Sol Y Amor' into a robo-disco banger. Following nobody's rules, it's an awful lots of fun from start to finish.

WRWTFWW Records is extremely happy to present the official reissue of Safari's self-titled album from 1984. The Japanese jazz-fusion super gem is available now as a limited-edition transparent vinyl LP housed in a heavyweight sleeve with obi.

Originally released on fabled label VAP, Safari is a one-of-a-kind city pop-adjacent summer blend of AOR, smooth jazz, and sun-drenched boogie. The sole album from the all-star outfit was the brainchild of keyboardist Toshiyuki Daitoku and Japan-based Californian jazz-funk-latin-fusion bassist Gregg Lee. Together with a large team of experienced musicians, they created a lush, immaculately-arranged 8-track cruise filled with poolside grooves, breezy rhythms, and feel-good vocal harmonies.

Safari features the well-known title track which acted as the theme song for an 80s sports program on Fuji Television, the night-swim chill music tune "All Right in The Night", and the fan-favorite buoyant vacation hit "The Morning After".

The official reissue is fully licensed and sourced from the original masters, with an audiophile cut by Sidney Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios, ensuring the warm, pristine sound this lost treasure deserves.

Safari is the second release from WRWTFWW's City Pop Series, following Momoko Kikuchi's beach classic Ocean Side, also available on transparent vinyl LP. The series, complete with a visual identity designed by Lopetz/Büro Destruct, also comes with a limited merch capsule, and more sun-soaked gems lined up for the future.

Butch’s unmistakable music has always worn the influence of disco proudly on its sleeve. Both his mega-hit No Worries and his first contribution to the Running Back catalogue, Desire, are essentially modern-day disco records. The same goes for his return to the label with Glory Night—perhaps even more so, thanks to its vintage engineering and authentic aural treatment. Equipped with the genre’s signature sounds and arranged like a lost disco edit from the late ’70s, Butch applies the lotions and potions that today’s dancers demand, creating one of those peak-time sensations that make him unique—complete with confetti, a firecracker breakdown on top, and an extra rhythm section bonus tool included. Just Chill and Just Fly continue that narrative. While the first appeals to fans of R&B or funk samples (though no recordings were harmed in the process), it is catchy as hell and creates an inescapable maelstrom. The second, meanwhile, draws on the principles of deep house and exercises itself in contemplation. Be that as it may, here are a couple of tracks that work on almost any floor and at any time. Or, to quote Giorgio Moroder: “Disco is music for dancing, and people will always want to dance.”

Italian cinematic funk legends Calibro 35 continue their journey into the world of cinematic jazz-funk. "Exploration" marks their return to independent label Record Kicks after their last studio album "Nouvelle Aventures" released on Universal Music in 2023. The band picks up from their latest EP, "Jazzploitation," released on Record Kicks last October. "Exploration" is a deep dive into the universe of cinematic jazz-funk, showcasing both the band's reinterpretations of timeless classics such as Roy Ayers' "Coffy" or Bob James "Nautilus" and original compositions by the band such us the lead single "Reptile Strut", the jazz-funk stormer "The Twang" and the soulful cinematic number "Pied De Poule". An exploration and a new journey for the Milanese combo that a long its way pays homage to artists such as Lalo Schifrin (Mission Impossible), Italian Maestro Piero Umiliani (Discomania and Gassman Blues) and Herbie Hancock (Chamelon). Described by Rolling Stone as "the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing that has happened to Italy in the past few years," Milan-based Calibro 35 enjoy a worldwide reputation as one of the coolest independent bands around. Active since 2007, during their long career, they have been sampled by Dr. Dre on Compton ("One Shot One Kill" feat. Snoop Dogg), Jay-Z ("Picasso Baby"), The Child of Lov & Damon Albarn ("One Day"), and Demigodz ("The Summer Of Sam"). They have played major venues and festivals all over Europe, and as unique musicians, they have collaborated with, among others, PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, John Parish, Stewart Copeland, and Rokia Traoré. FOR FANS OF... Piero Umiliani, El Michels Affair, Idris Muhammad, Surprise Chef, Nu Genea, Khruangbin, Snarky Puppy, The Cinematic Orchestra, Comet is Coming, Kamasi Washington

Livity Sound welcomes Joe Milli to the fold with an assured EP of crisp club workouts that land between techno's evocative depth and UK funky's offbeat, drum-focused functionality.

Over the past few years Milli has been establishing his sound across a swathe of radio shows, guest mixes and releases, and he lands on Livity with a timeless take on the label's commitment to stripped back, atmospheric soundsystem music.

There's variety across the Deep Forest EP, ranging from the balmy bassweight house of the title track to the deep-diving dub pulses and bruk drum science of 'Look Again'. 'Keep That Wire' draws nervous energy from its synth hooks and the taut, angular beat before the rolling Detroit techno pulse of 'Expressions' brings the EP home in punchy, percussion-loaded style.

In line with past releases from the likes of Bakongo, DJ Polo and Tribal Brothers, Milli's strength lies in his ability to bend the UK funky formula to different styles, all precision-tooled for the club.


Livity Sound is a label set up by Peverelist in 2011 as a vehicle for a raw and exploratory strain of UK techno, rooted in the heritage of UK dance music and sound system culture. It has since become one of the UK's foremost protagonists for cutting edge underground electronic music.

Daniel Monaco Band is an international group led by Italian bassist Daniele Labbate. Blending jazz, funk, house and disco with live energy, their debut EP ‘Get Naked and Fly’ captures years of collaboration and experimentation. The result is a warm, analog-driven sound crafted by seasoned session musicians who’ve toured the world and are now channeling their creativity into original music as a group.

Lead track ‘Love Ago’ delivers modern disco with the authenticity of the golden era, ‘Mimouna’ has a psychedelic edge, with the WHODAMMANY remix taking the original into a more electronic direction. ‘The Devil Left Dancing’ takes a subtly off centre path, nodding to Brazilian influences, while the title track ‘Get Naked and Fly’ is raw and instinctive blending live instrumentation with electronic sensibilities.

The project is a testament to what happens when musicians trust each other enough to explore freely without chasing perfection. A live band speaking house, funk and jazz with one voice — analogue, soulful, and free.

Personnel : Percussion by Yannick Van Ter Beek, Drums by Robin van Rijn, Sax by Alessandro Russo, Guitar by Simone Cesarini and Bass by Daniele Labbate.

Designed by Bradley Pinkerton.

Label boss Dead Man’s Chest drops his debut LORE LTD record in the vinyl only series from Western Lore.

Bass heavy hardcore jungle tekno raveyness and a funky b-boy breakbeat workout. Strictly for the Hardcore!

2025 Repress

More than once Jay Richford and Gary Stevan’s Feelings has been described as the greatest library record ever released. Of course Be With can’t be seen to be playing favourites, but we have to admit, it’s pretty good. Insanely rare and immensely sought-after, it’s a tough funk, street jazz masterpiece coveted for many years by collectors of all musical genres.

Since its original release on Italian label Carosello in 1974, Feelings has appeared on several labels with different sleeves and even under a different artist. Indeed cult library label Conroy put it out in one of their iconic red sleeves in 1976 and yes, Feelings has indeed had more than one modern re-issue since these “original” releases. But a record this special deserves to be kept in press and we think it deserves the Be With treatment.

No, Jay Richford and Gary Stevan aren’t two of the most Italian sounding names. As the story goes these were the pseudonyms adopted by Stefano Torossi and Giancarlo Gazzani who wrote the album but couldn’t use their real names on the original release for legal reasons. But Stefano Torossi himself later both clarified and confused the tale further by explaining that Feelings was the work of four people not just Gazzani and himself. Fellow composers and musicians Sandro Brugnolini and Puccio Roelens also worked on the album and as Torossi himself explained “we all worked together”, with all four gents “dividing the royalties in equal parts… that’s the story.” Right, so, with that all sorted out let’s get back to talking about the music. And what music it is.

Long hailed as a holy grail of library music, Feelings is the epitome of the sort of cinematic orchestral jazzy funk that is “that 70s library music sound”. Infectiously funky, deliciously melodic and with impeccible, elegant production, this record is the showcase for a stunning set of compositions and arrangements and with performances that are nothing short of virtuoso.

The record’s first side lifts off with “Flying High”, soaring brilliant and shimmering. Funk licks, menacing strings and swaggering horns combine for an ice-cold intro groove that Isaac Hayes would surely have envied, before the steady-paced drums deliver the slo-mo TKO. The string-drenched cop-funk of “Going Home” raises the tempo. All funky quick-fire bass lines and killer electric guitar soloing. A real thriller.

“Walking In The Dark” positively drips in blaxploitation-funk drama strings and horn struts, all laced with delicate drums, velvet piano and more filthy wah-wah. “Fighting For Life” is another funk-fuelled workout built around an effortlessly relentless drum track that refuses to give up until even the stiffest-necked head is nodding.

The loping, open drum break that guides the much-loved “Feeling Tense” through its early stages would be good enough on its own. The heavy bass gloss, swirling strings and ominous horns that follow take things to the next level.

The second side opens with another favourite “Running Fast”, and the track does precisely that. This is one fine rollicking chase theme underpinned by frenetic (yet funky) Fender Rhodes and skipping bass and drums. Those sweeping strings are a gorgeous extra. It’s a deliciously feel-good groove that sets the heart racing.

“Loving Tenderly” envelops us in warm, velvety night-time vibes with easy listening horns and slinky strings dialing up the seduction. Definitely one for the lithe lovers out there. The pace picks up on the electrifying “Fearing Much” where strings dart around deep bass, buzzing guitars and another funky drum break. The lush, melancholic “Being Friendly” is another easy beauty, all warm Rhodes and strings. Majestic stuff that puts an aural arm around you. The climactic “Having Fun” rides a pulsating, bass-heavy drum break with snatches of a funky guitar refrain, some luxurious keys, sweeping strings and triumphant horns. Sensational.

Sascha Dive, Deadbeat, Samuel L Session, Funk D Void, Aquarius Heaven, Eric Volta, Reboot, Headbirds! Well selected label compilation! Mixtoure between house and techno.

Much sought-after funk 45 originally recorded and released in Tasmania on the Candle label in 1976.
Written and performed by Lyn Thomas to celebrate the opening of the Silvers Nightclub at the Hobart Casino.

A guitar player, writer, producer, and composer, Stevie Salas has recorded on over 70 different albums with artists as diverse as George Clinton, Justin Timberlake, Buddy Miles, T.I., Mick Jagger, and Rod Stewart. Having sold over two million solo albums around the world, Stevie has been cited as one of the top 50 guitarists of all time. Dreaming of a career in music, Stevie left the small town of Oceanside, California in 1985. Eight months later he was discovered by funk music legend George Clinton as the lead guitarist for Clinton's albums. Stevie received his first major label producer credit with Was (Not Was) when he co-produced the UK hit "Out Come the Freaks" from the album "What up Dog?" Rolling Stone Magazine listed "What up Dog?" as one of the top 100 records of the decade. With an extensive solo career, Stevie has now teamed up with Deko Entertainment to reissue some of these albums starting with the 30th Anniversary of "Back From The Living (Deluxe Edition)"













k MUCH ADO ABOUT BUTTIN' [SUCKERMANGRUBBY MOUTH MIX]





[q] TELL YOUR STORY WALKIN' [MUG MASHER REMIX]
[r] CRACK KILLED APPLE JACK [GRAVY BOOTY REMIX)











[k] MUCH ADO ABOUT BUTTIN' [SUCKERMANGRUBBY MOUTH MIX]





[q] TELL YOUR STORY WALKIN' [MUG MASHER REMIX]
[r] CRACK KILLED APPLE JACK [GRAVY BOOTY REMIX)

Leila Gamal’s ‘Abaleeh Abalingi’

At the height of Pan-Arabism, when the United Arab Republic fused Egypt and Syria in a fleeting but bold experiment, a new wave of popular music was emerging—vibrant, infectious, and universally danceable. Among its lesser-known stars was actress Leila Gamal, whose voice—delicate yet rich with longing—embodied the golden era of Egyptian cinema. Born in Alexandria to Syrian roots, Gamal’s vocals were a magnetic blend of sweetness and passion, with a timeless allure that echoed the silver-screen sweethearts of her time.

Abaleeh Abalingi pulses with the hypnotic drive of funky organ riffs, reminiscent of the blind visionary Ammar El Sheriyi, creating a sound both cinematic and undeniably catchy. The delicate lyrics by Khairi Fouad place the track firmly in the lineage of the Middle East’s most iconic pop divas, from Angham to Nawal El-Zoughbi who he subsequently wrote for. This reissue, lovingly remastered, brings this long-lost gem back to life, where it belongs—spinning on turntables, teasing dance floors, and transporting listeners to Egypt in the late sixties.


Adel Osman’s “Oriental Eyes”

Oriental Eyes captures the essence of the 60s Egyptian Franco-Arab movement, blending Western (often jazz) influences with Arabic melodies to mesh mystique with sensuality. Osman’s commanding yet delicate vocals deliver the bilingual lyrics with captivating sincerity, his voice effortlessly gliding over the swells of the arrangement. The trumpet, possibly connecting him to Zaki Osman of Salah Ragab’s legendary Cairo Jazz Band, adds a layer of flair, enriching the track’s Tarantino-esque eclecticism. Now remastered, ‘Oriental Eyes’ is not only a nostalgic gem but a timeless reminder of the boundary-defying spirit that defined the 1960s musical landscape.

Given the ongoing war efforts against Israel, this record wasn’t pressed by Sono Cairo till much later in 1975 once Egypt had recaptured the Sinai and restored national pride. Sono Cairo (Sawt el-Qahira) was the first Arab-owned and by far the largest record label in the Middle East, amassing an unmatched catalogue of music. With exclusive rights over much of Umm Kulthum’s works, Sono Cairo played a crucial role in disseminating the sounds of Arab Nationalism and projecting Egypt’s soft power across the region.

Muhammad Al-Najjar
London, April 2025

credits
Audio restoration and vinyl mastering: Colin Young
Lacquer cut: Timmion cutting lab
Sleeve and label artwork: Grotezk Studio
Under License of Sono Cairo

Maggid Tewfik – Mazzika Nicab Parts 1 & 2:

Released in 1973, Mazzika Nicab by Egyptian film director and iconic figure Maggid Tewfik is a trippy instrumental journey into the experimental realms of baladi music. Known for his prolific career as a director and DOP in over 30 Coptic films, Tewfik’s composition, split in two parts, presents a moody yet undeniably cheeky tune that is unlike anything found in Egyptian music over the ages.

The track is a hypnotic blend of Eastern rhythms and Latin grooves, featuring an early drum machine that guides the track through its jubilant and stormy atmosphere. This mechanical beat is paired with funky garage sounds, creating a psychedelic fusion that evokes images of an epic cinematic score, where belly dance meets the raw energy of late-60s experimental rock. Belly-dance sci-fi perhaps..?

Muhammad Al-Najjar
London, April 2025

credits
Audio restoration and vinyl mastering: Colin Young
Lacquer cut: Timmion cutting lab
Sleeve and label artwork: Grotezk Studio
Under License of Sono Cairo

The 23rd flight from the Pilot label run by Burnski is a future-facing blend of tech, disco and house with a real intergalactic aesthetic. 'It's Your Duty' opens with a grinding bassline and snappy drums that soon get you marching, then 'Save Our Planet' (dub) spins out with some silky celestial melodies and twitchy drum funk. 'Nothing To Hide' glistens with some sci-fi charm as the tight drums and bulbous bassline move things onwards, and 'Strolling The River' shuts down with another disco-tech sound that is lit up with sugar melodies and boogie motifs.

"This is brilliant" - Gilles Peterson

Azymuth bassist Alex Malheiros doesn't remember recording this single. It's understandable—the sessions happened over forty years ago, and at the time, Malheiros, Ivan Conti and José Roberto Bertrami were backing countless MPB artists throughout the genre's golden age. As one of Brazil’s most influential groups, Azymuth's story is well known. Vocalist Luisa, however, remains something of an enigma. She recorded this, her one and only single, in 1981 for Carlos Lemos' Piramide Label.

With Luisa’s powerful yet understated vocal, Bertrami's futuristic synths and José Carlos Bigorna's brow-raising tenor sax licks, the stirring early-80s pop ballad "Romantica" should have been a radio hit. On B-side, "Lenha na Fogueira", Azymuth lock into an exceptional samba-funk groove with legendary guitarist Paulinho Guitarra. The record also features backing vocals from the lesser-known vocal group Arco Iris.

Luisa will be reissued for the first time on 7" vinyl and digital on September 5th, 2025, via Far Out Recordings.

'Girl Violence' ist das dritte Album der New Yorker Künstlerin King Princess (Mikaela Straus) und ihr bisher persönlichstes und unverblümtestes Werk. Sie schrieb das Album, nachdem sie eine langjährige Beziehung, einen Major-Label-Deal und eine Stadt, die ihr den Funken nahm, hinter sich gelassen hatte. Es fängt das Chaos, die Klarheit und die Katharsis eines Neuanfangs ein.

In kühnen Pop-Hymnen und intimen Bekenntnissen erforscht Straus die nuancierte, chaotische und magnetische Dynamik der Liebe zu Frauen. Das Ergebnis ist eine Platte, die emotional wild, klanglich furchtlos und zutiefst selbstbewusst ist.

Seit ihrem Durchbruch mit der Platin-zertifizierten Hymne '1950', die über eine Milliarde Streams verzeichnen konnte, hat sich King Princess einen einzigartigen Platz im modernen Pop geschaffen. Mit 'Girl Violence' wendet sie das Blatt, übernimmt die volle kreative Kontrolle und liefert ihre bisher eindrucksvollste und kompromissloseste Vision.

Die Psych-Rocker aus Cincinnati kehren mit ihrem vierten Album zurück und drehen die texturierten Synthesizer und spacigen Melodien voll auf, um ihr bisher shoegaze-lastigstes Album zu schaffen. Das zentrale Nervensystem von In The Pines befindet sich in The Lodge - einem alten Freimaurertempel, der als Mehrzweckraum gegenüber von Cincinnati in Dayton, Kentucky, umfunktioniert wurde. Die Band bewohnt eine Ecke des Kellers in diesem weitläufigen Labyrinth, wo sie Foleytronics betreibt - einen kleinen Laden für Vintage-Profi-Audio-Reparaturen und einer der wenigen Läden weltweit, der Vintage-Digitaleffekte reparieren kann. Ein natürliches Nebenprodukt dieses Ladens ist das Studio in Bandmitglied Peter Foleys Keller, ein Raum voller verschiedener Vintage-Effekte, Bandmaschinen und Synthesizer, in dem sie Sunbeam Dream vollständig aufgenommen und produziert haben. Alle Aufnahmegeräte, die für ,Sunbeam Dream" verwendet wurden, wurden vor dem sicheren Tod gerettet, repariert und von der Band selbst wieder funktionsfähig gemacht, die sich der Grenzen dieser Geräte bewusst war (und diese gerne ausnutzen wollte). Ähnlich wie beim Konzept von Oulipo in der Poesie und Mathematik entstehen Kreativität und Problemlösungsfähigkeiten aus einem klaren Verständnis und ständiger Überprüfung der Grenzen. Der Aufnahmeprozess ermöglichte es In the Pines zum ersten Mal, sich mit den kleinsten Details zu beschäftigen - ganze Tage wurden damit verbracht, den richtigen Akustikgitarrensound zu finden, nur um schließlich auf ein Stück Klebeband zu kommen, das über die Saiten geklebt wurde; Stunden, die in anderen Studios als Luxus gelten würden, wurden damit verbracht, verschiedene Beckenkombinationen für einen Refrain oder eine Bridge auszuprobieren. Genau wie bei ihrer Reparaturwerkstatt schuf die Band einen Aufnahmeraum, in dem Hyperfokus und Liebe zum Detail nicht nur erlaubt, sondern ausdrücklich erwünscht sind. Das Ergebnis dieser obsessiven Kontrolle ist das bislang ausgereifteste Werk von In The Pines. Sunbeam Dream hebt den Shoegaze-beeinflussten Psych-Rock der Band auf ein neues Niveau. Mit einer stärkeren Betonung der Synthesizer, die sich von einem strukturellen Element zu einem Hauptcharakter im Sound der Band entwickeln (dank eines wiederbelebten Mellotrons von 1971), reiht sich die Band in die Tradition großartiger und kraftvoller Alben wie ,A Northern Soul" von The Verve oder dem selbstbetitelten Album von The Charlatans (UK), bei denen die Produktion der beiden Bands ihrer kreativen Vision zu entsprechen schien. Mit ,Sunbeam Dream" fühlt sich alles heller und klarer an, während es gleichzeitig auf wunderbare Weise in einem Zwielichtschleier schwebt, der jedes Element umgibt.

Continuing the sensational Spring Revisited series - Acid Jazz presents a new 12” release – Fatback Band: ‘Night Fever (Kenny Dope Mix)’ / ‘(Hey) I Feel Real Good (DJ Spinna Refreak). Spring Revisited is an exciting and unique mix project that explores the musical legacy of legendary New York label Spring Records, with a series of new mixes from top mix artists, using the original masters. Fatback Band are a disco/funk group that were at the peak of their success in the ’70s, and they were one of Spring Records’ most iconic artists. This is the second release in the series featuring the band’s classic work. ‘Night Fever’ is an electro-disco track released in 1976.

Keeping the soulful vocal and strings from the original, house legend Kenny Dope beefs up a looped section of the percussion that forms the backbone of his version. He lifts the tempo and creates a DJ friendly version, while keeping the improvised feel of the original. This rough and ready remix has the kind of bumping groove that’s infectious on a dance floor. On the flip, DJ Spinna gives a new take on the Fatback’s ‘(Hey) I Feel Real Good’. Presented in the signature Spring Revisited house-bag, looking as if it were hand delivered to you from a 1970s record pool.

Limited edition…

'Girl Violence' ist das dritte Album der New Yorker Künstlerin King Princess (Mikaela Straus) und ihr bisher persönlichstes und unverblümtestes Werk. Sie schrieb das Album, nachdem sie eine langjährige Beziehung, einen Major-Label-Deal und eine Stadt, die ihr den Funken nahm, hinter sich gelassen hatte. Es fängt das Chaos, die Klarheit und die Katharsis eines Neuanfangs ein.

In kühnen Pop-Hymnen und intimen Bekenntnissen erforscht Straus die nuancierte, chaotische und magnetische Dynamik der Liebe zu Frauen. Das Ergebnis ist eine Platte, die emotional wild, klanglich furchtlos und zutiefst selbstbewusst ist.

Seit ihrem Durchbruch mit der Platin-zertifizierten Hymne '1950', die über eine Milliarde Streams verzeichnen konnte, hat sich King Princess einen einzigartigen Platz im modernen Pop geschaffen. Mit 'Girl Violence' wendet sie das Blatt, übernimmt die volle kreative Kontrolle und liefert ihre bisher eindrucksvollste und kompromissloseste Vision.

We are excited to announce the return of the iconic Totally Wired series with a brand new collection on LP and CD. The first 50 orders will include a special art print of the artwork. We are also doing a limited edition T-shirt to celebrate this milestone!

In 1988 Acid Jazz released its first compilation album ‘Totally Wired: A Collection From Acid Jazz Records’. Compiled by Eddie Piller and Gilles Peterson it collated 11 tracks that summed up the early days of our scene, mixing new label signings, cool new records being played in our clubs and a couple of oldies. It sold well to the then small scene and set the template for a series, that in the wake of the international success of The Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai, The James Taylor Quartet and others exploded. By the time that Volume 5 appeared, we were selling tens of thousands of copies, with major label artists vying for inclusion.

By that point ‘Totally Wired’ was a phenomenon, that sign-posted changes in both the directions of new music, but of the oldies that were played on the scene. It gave DJs new tunes to play and soundtracked 1000s of Cafés and bars the world over in the age of the CD. It was largely retired at the end of the 90s and as times changed.

Over the years we have been asked to return to the scene of the crime, but it has never quite felt right, until now. With vinyl back, and the need for easy to digest compilations becoming neccessary in the chaos of streaming’s ‘I can listen to anything I want, but can’t think what that might be’ is evident, but also we are feeling excited about where Acid Jazz is right now. New artists on the label are making great records, Matt Berry has a Top thirty album, and The Brand New Heavies are headlining the Royal Albert Hall. It’s easy to make an exciting album when that is happening.

So we are releasing “Totally Wired: A New Collection From Acid Jazz” and treating it like the important milestone that it is. From the Acid Jazz sid we have new and exclusive recordings by Matt Berry, Chris Bangs and new signings Earth-o-Naut and Quiet Fire, there is also a recent white label only 45 cut by the Soul Revivers – released ahead of their new album due this Autumn and featuring Kokoroko’s Shiela Maurice-Grey and Anoushka Nanguy. For the oldies we have dug deep into our own archives to bring you the Acid Jazz Orchestra’s version of Corduroy’s ‘Something In My Eye’ and The Brand New Heavies astounding funk take of Aretha Franklin’s ‘Rock Steady’. These are all joined by recent scene records by Carmy Love – one of the greatest voices in the UK – The Romero Brothers, and BDQ, carrying the series onwards at last.

Back in the early 1990s as Acid Jazz began a period of extraordinary commercial success where acts like the Brand New Heavies and Jamiroquai sold millions of records, and US groups such as A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and Digable Planets were actively influenced by what was being played in London, the whole scene was being fuelled by a small number of clubs, led by Gilles Peterson’s Sunday afternoons at Dingwalls but taking in nights in Leeds, Bari, Munich, Tokyo, Stockholm and New York. In those clubs funky jazz, latin boogaloo and 70s soul soundracks competed for time on the dance floor with import records from New York, and the latest sounds coming out of bedrooms and makeshift basement studios that created contemporary sounds out of the past.

Acid Jazz’s Eddie Piller and Dean Rudland have put together this compilation of the sort of sounds that we were playing at the time. They are releases on Acid Jazz and other label’s that surrounded the scene and they were mainly made by people we knew from either around the club scene, behind the counters of our favourite record shops, or from trips to New York or Europe. They range from The Ballistic Brother anthem ‘Blacker’ to the jazz house of A-Zel - a Roger Sanchez mix that still sounds fresh today. We have the Humble Soul’s instrumental version of ‘Beads Things And Flowers’ which at the time was only available as a DJ special on Acetate. There is the presence of A Man Called Adam before they went to Ibiza, and the early Mo’ Wax (before they went Trip Hop) single by Marden Hill ‘Come On’.

These records could fill a dance floor in seconds and we feel that they are today largely forgotten, as they were non-album, underground club records. It’s time to celebrate them!

Neo funk rising star Buscrates aims high with Blasting Off, his first full-length album. The Pittsburgh-based keyboard cosmonaut has been grabbing ears since his days hooking up beats with the hip hop crew East Liberty Quarters, but after slinging spicy one-offs to a slew of hot labels like Omega Supreme, Voyage Funktastique and Razor N Tape (as well as contributing production to Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y's 2009 project), the time has come for a full-length featuring his growing modern funk repertoire.

"I'm a '90s hip hop dude, but I grew up on that '80s funk stuff," Buscrates acknowledges. DJ gigs provided a working knowledge of the jams that moved a contemporary crowd, and as his collection of keyboards and drum machines grew he began blending the best of both decades with his personal futuristic edge. "I was nice on the MPC but I wanted to have a little more dynamic range with what I was doing," he notes. The self-described "certified synth geek" was soon branching into sounds that recalled '80s legend Kashif crossed with the hip hop bounce of DJ Spinna, and the modern funk community took notice.

For his first full-length, Buscrates has crewed up with an ace team of collaborators, featuring vocalist Sally Green on the bouncy lead single "Lost And Found" and "Eight Nine." Kate Moe Dee takes over mic duties for the second single, "How Ya Gonna Do It," a slinky groove that slides in place alongside groups like the Sunburst Band and Rene & Angela as an exemplar of sophisticated R&B. Adding to those credentials are the sultry vocals of Anda on "Believe," but of course, it wouldn't be a Buscrates set without some stank, neck-snapping instrumentals. "Five Days" and "Sure Shot," both collabos with the drum technician DJ Epik, will rattle speakers and have already been lighting up message boards on recent Buscrates DJ sets. Round things out with some easy gliding, jazzy funk ("Turn It Out" with Brothermartino on flute and "Evergreen" featuring Tony Ozier) and you've got all the ingredients for a high-flying cosmic ride with Buscrates at the controls.

Mysticisms returns, looking to the source, Detroit City, with the beautiful house music of Soiree Records International and their 1995 deep vocal bomb, That's How Lovers Be.

Established in 1990 by Derrick Thompson, Soiree has long focused on the deeper side of house, late night rhythms across over 70 releases. Never making a shout out about it, the label might not of garnered the kudos it deserves while laying down a tight standard of cosmic sonic delight.

Featuring in the main Thompson's own Drivetrain releases, his production skills are deployed on this one time project. Written and sung by Montaze Armstrong, alongside the smooth accompaniment of Merchon Bower, the production is ubiquitous Drivetrain. His main mix sets the scene; hats proffering swing and impetus while bass and chords underpin the vocal interplay to skyward perfection.

Once again the label conjoins a latter day contemporary and admired producer to offer their own retake and who better than the essential producer of all things deep, Nail. A huge influence on the label during the formative years of (free party) house music's ascent, his recent return has been widely welcomed. His 'mix' is full of respect and perfect pitch, adding his distinctive low-end rumble, hypnotic hats, skips, loop and shake.

To close, it's all about the legend that is Scott Grooves. Nothing more needs be said, his 9-minute ride show jazz roots worn firmly. Rhodes, claps, piano and vocal are all that's needed. Loose, funky and soulful from a true master.

Love the Mystery.

Fragments Of Reality is an ongoing series from 20/20 Visions that explores interplanetary sounds, and this seventh outing is another doozy. American artist Miles Mercer kicks off with the crunchy drums and big hits of his acid-laced electro-tech fusion, 'Voice Control.' Shaked flip the script with a funky minimal jam that's wired up with innocent sounding melodies and lush colours that feel psychoactive. Label curator Luther Vine then flips things once again with his punchy 'Take The Wheel' with its bold bassline and tight tech bounce, while London's Pach serves up 'Critical Emergency' which hits a sweet spot between trip-out cosmic synth work and kinetic drum programming. Four tasteful tools once more from this fine old label.

Zopelar has built a distinguished place in the Brazilian electronic music industry. He is known as a complete and versatile DJ and music producer, and is a key figure in São Paulo’s underground music scene.

With his signature “retro-futuristic-funky-groovy” style, Zopelar has made some celebrated albums and EPs released by labels like Apron Records, Clone Records, Tartelet Records, Soul Clap Records and others.

A prolific producer and sound designer, Zopelar’s work extends beyond music production into the realm of contemporary art and film scoring. His sound pieces have been showcased in prestigious
exhibitions and galleries, including New Museum (NYC) and the Venice Biennale.

Zopelar is now back for his third solo release on Apron Records - LP titled "Call it Love” The first single "We Can Make It" feels nostalgic but with a modern to the future twist which compliments the Apron DNA! It features Brazilian artist Ashira, she lays her beautiful voice over Zopelar classic R&B production..

The second single Je t'aime features French born Brazilian based L’Homme Statue plus Amsterdam’s Retromigration” giving a tropical and very hot Brazilian house for the dance floors and the last single
features US Virgina Beach very own MC “Hernbean5150” With a soulful downtempo smooth production with a perfect complimentary vocal, Some say he reminds them of MF Doom”.

Overall this LP slams in every way and its very well put together, whether at home, driving, in nature or in the clubs, it takes you on a journey for your listening pleasure!

Siebdruckcover, gedruckt in der Küche des Labelbosses. Plus Sticker. Nach 4 Livekonzerten Anfang des Jahres als Gästeband der Antilopengang fassen "Die Benjamins" die ihnen eigene Live-Energie in zwei neue Songs: "Wer liebt dich in 10 Jahren" und "Pas de deux". Folgerichtig wurde im Proberaum alles live eingespielt, aufgenommen von Moses Schneider. "Wer liebt dich in 10 Jahren" Annette Benjamin, ehemalige Sängerin der legendären Punkband "Hans-A-Plast", fragt: Wer liebt dich in 10 Jahren? In einer Gesellschaft, in der viele eine nicht enden wollende Jugend anstreben. Was bleibt? Mit Zeilen wie "heute underground - morgen schlecht gelaunt" stellt sie die Halbwertszeit der Szene infrage. "Deine Freundin ist jung, küss ihren Mund, kauf einen Hund". Dass solche Textzeilen nicht ins schlagerartige Abrutschen, sondern extrem bissig funktionieren, ist Verdienst des Zusammenspiels aller Bandmitglieder. Thomas Götz und Julian Knoth zurren den Song auf eine postpunkige Art zurecht, Max Grubers geschmackvolle Knochenbrechergitarre setzt die Akzente, und Charlotte Brandis 80's-Synthesizer rundet ab - fertig ist der Sound von DIE BENJAMINS. "Pas de deux" ist eine Hetzjagd.Durch die fest verzahnten Riffs pflügt Annette Benjamins helle Stimme, die von Gewalt, von Dominanz und wahrscheinlich auch von Liebe erzählt: "Schnell bist du ihm zuwider / dein König zwingt dich nieder". Ein Männerchor, der "pas de deux" brüllt, die souveräne Aufteilung der einzelnen Bandmitglieder zu einem knurrenden Ganzen - das ist Punk in Bestform. Mitglieder: Annette Benjamin, Max Gruber (Drangsal), Julian Knoth (Die Nerven), Thomas Götz (Beatsteaks), Charlotte Brandi

Coflo is a dancer, producer and Capoeira expert born and raised in the East Bay Area of California with a lifelong love of house music. For this one on Jambala, he hooks up with Adeniji Heavywind for a tune named after the label. It's the sort of cultured, organic sound that brings musical charm as well as infectious groove with Afro, soul and jazz all worked in through the bold brass notes, jangling rhythms and funky guitars, which get topped with a charming vocal a la Fela Kuti. The Backside mix is more deep and dubby to make for a tidy two tracker.

This is a raw and soulful collection of beats, swiftly cooked up by the legendary DJ Spinna. Originally dropped on Instagram as sonic teasers for his “Here To There Radio Show” on Apple Music, each beat is a tribute to the artists spotlighted in each episode.
What started as a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Spinna’s creative process quickly sparked a wave of demand—so by popular request, these exclusive grooves are now being released to the public.
Straight from the lab to your ears. Enjoy the vibe!

The talented Canadian vocalist Tara Laine recorded the funky gem “You Made Me Believe” with members of the band Change, an Italian-
American post-disco group that was heavily influenced by Chic. Recorded in 1985 for the legendary Street Level label, featured here is he
original 12” version complete with bonus instrumental. This session was produced by in-demand session drummer Leslie Ming, whose fine work
can be heard on the records of Kashif, Melba Moore, B.T. Express and many others.

A hard-hitting slab of electro-boogie released on the legendary Street Level label in 1985, Lemuria’s Thunder In Your Love was written and
produced by Phil Valentine, who also provides the gritty lead vocals, and features backing from members of the influential Italo-American post-
disco outfits B. B. & Q. Band and Change, including New York session aces Leslie Ming (drums), Timmy Allen (bass) and guitarists Kevin
Robinson and Ira Siegel, whose impressive fret work powers this highly addictive track. This is a must-have for collectors of funky sounds and
rare groove from the mid-1980s.

Hip Hop Collected will take you on a musical journey through the history of hip hop. This 2LP covers the first 20 years of the genre, showcasing 25 early pioneers who participated in the rise of hip hop. This compilation features music from the new labels that started to rise from the underground scene, like Sugar Hill Records, Profile and of course Def Jam. Including artists that defined a genre, a lifestyle and most of all, artists that inspired millions of young kids with both socially critical lyrics as well as classic party anthems.

This hip hop compilation album is part of the new Collected compilation series, which is a collaboration between Universal Music and Music On Vinyl. The compilations bring together the biggest and best names of its genre, combined with forgotten hits and less discovered gems, giving the listener an experience of both nostalgia and uncovering new musical grounds at the same time.

The 2LP features Kurtis Blow “The Breaks”, Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five “The Message”, Beastie Boys “She’s On It”, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock “Get On The Dancefloor”, and Eric B. & Rakim “Paid In Full” amongst many others.

Hip Hop Collected is available as a limited edition of 5000 individually numbered copies on red (LP1) and white (LP2) coloured vinyl. The album includes an insert with liner notes, photos and credits.

Bassist Pino Palladino hat als gefragter Studiomusiker mit vielen Giganten gespielt, darunter Elton John,
Tears for Fears, David Gilmour, D’Angelo und Adele. Sein Jazz-Talent spielte er mit Manu Katché, Dominic
Miller u.a. aus. 2021 erschien auf Impulse! Records „Notes with Attachments“, seine erste gemeinsame
Produktion mit dem Gitarristen und Multiinstrumentalisten Blake Mills.
Beider Mischung aus Jazz, minimalistischem Funk, Indie Rock und subtilen Melodien kam bei Hörern
und Kritikern an und wurde sogar mit Joni Mitchell’s “Hejira” und Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew” verglichen.
Jetzt kehren Palladino und Mills mit ihrem zweiten gemeinsamen Album auf Impulse! Records zurück, das
ihren ganz eigenen Sound fortführt und weiterentwickelt.

‘Two taches intertwine. An EP born out of Demi’s visit to Melbourne during his AU tour, and Luke’s easily accessible studio based above an inviting pub, naturally the vibes were high after a couple of schooners in the summer sun.’
Life & Death welcomes a standout collaboration from Demi Riquísimo and Luke Alessi with the release of their new EP ‘Yes Bby’ landing 29 August 2025. Setting themselves the brief of, “upbeat rollers and a little bit of naughtiness,” the two producers blend their sonic identities on this club-ready two tracker, formed of ‘Basement Trash’ and title track ‘Yes Bby’.
“Basement Trash was actually the first track we wrote. A funky, fun, hypnotic groover thatlocks you in on the d floor, made for those late nights (or early mornings) in the “basement” of a grungy club. For ‘Yes Bby’ we wanted something that worked on a bigger scale. We dialled up the French rave synths, bigger builds, more drive in the groove and added a cheeky classic vocal chop for the hook.”
– Demi Riquísimo & Luke Alessi

Known for his genre-blending productions and distinctive edits, Semi Delicious head honcho Demi has steadily carved out his space in the scene, a respected tastemaker and Ibiza mainstay, while Luke Alessi has continued to establish a global profile over the last 12 months with major European and US gigs, plus releases on Shall Not Fade, SMiiLE records and of course Life & Death, making this pairing a natural fit.
Already receiving support from the likes of Chloé Caillet, Call Super, Moxie and more, ‘Yes Bby’ marks an exciting moment in both artists’ trajectories. For Demi, this EP also serves as the first in a new chapter, one that places him at the centre of a more collaborative space, setting the tone for landmark projects to follow on his own imprint later this year.
As one of dance music’s most respected tastemakers, Life & Death continues to shape the global underground through its diverse output, with ‘Yes Bby’ slotting seamlessly into the label’s catalogue of playful, sexy and forward-thinking club music.

„Rivière Noire“ ist das erste Album von Reginald Omas Mamode IV auf dem Kölner Label Melting Pot Music und sein erstes Solo-Projekt seit 2022.
Reginald Omas Mamode IV ist ein anglo-mauritischer Sänger, Produzent und Multiinstrumentalist. Geboren und aufgewachsen in Großbritannien, pflegt er eine enge Verbindung zur afrikanischen Insel Mauritius, der Heimat seines Vaters. Seine musikalischen Wurzeln reichen von Süd-London bis zu den Maskarenen-Inseln (Réunion, Mauritius und Rodrigues), wo seine Familie einst an den legendären „Electric Sega“-Aufnahmen der 1970er beteiligt war. Musik liegt den Mamodes im Blut: Auch seine Brüder sind als Musiker aktiv.
Reginalds Stil vereint Elemente aus Golden Era Hip-Hop, Jazz, Soul, Afro, Funk sowie den traditionellen mauritischen Stilen Sega und Maloya. Man hört Einflüsse von J Dilla und D’Angelo, aber auch den Spirit von Sly Stone, Shuggie Otis oder Lee Perry. Mit vier Soloalben auf dem Londoner Label Five Easy Pieces sowie zahlreichen Kollaborationen gehört Reginald zu den prägenden Stimmen der britischen Beat- und Jazzszene. Seit 2012 wird er regelmäßig von BBC-Legende Gilles Peterson unterstützt, der seine Musik seither kontinuierlich spielt.
Gemeinsam mit seinen Brüdern Mo Kolours und Jeen Bassa sowie langjährigen Weggefährten wie Al Dobson Jr. und Tenderlonious zählt Reginald zu den Mitbegründern der 22a-Kooperative. Das US-Magazin The FADER beschrieb deren Sound einmal als „ein kaleidoskopisches Patchwork aus Hip-Hop-, House- und Groove-Explorationen – verbunden durch den zeitlosen Glauben an Rhythmus als universelle Sprache.“
„Rivière Noire“ markiert eine künstlerische Weiterentwicklung – fast schon eine Wiedergeburt. Zum ersten Mal verzichtet Reginald vollständig auf Samples. Stattdessen spielt er sämtliche Instrumente und Gesangsspuren selbst ein. In seinem bescheidenen Studio erschafft er organische Grooves aus Live-Drums, Drumcomputern, Perkussion, Gitarre, Fender Rhodes und Synthesizern.
Seine Musik ist Ausdruck einer tiefen Sehnsucht nach universeller Liebe und Mitgefühl. Sie reflektiert globale Herausforderungen ebenso wie persönliche Erfahrungen: wachsende Armut, politische Spannungen, ethnische Spaltungen – aber auch alltägliche Beobachtungen. „Rivière Noire“ ist Reginalds Aufruf an die Menschheit, sich ihrer Verbundenheit bewusst zu werden.

Celestial Echo (miche & Stu Clark) team up with Divine Disco’s Greg Belson to continue their 7-inch series spotlighting Detroit’s powerhouse gospel, soul and R&B label — HOB (House of Beauty).

This second 7-inch gives us two more in-demand killers:

Side A: Messiahs of Glory - “Can’t Find No Other Love"
Lp only before, this track makes its way to a 45 for the first time, super feel good soulful number. Uptempo with a glorious vocal, this one is built for the discerning dancefloor.

Side B: The Royal Travelers - “Jesus Hold My Hand”
raw, soulful and defining of the era. Rarer than rare and never before sold online, it’s a heavy dose of funky gospel oozing with breaky drums and soul.

Fully licensed and remastered, this 7-inch comes housed in a custom Celestial Echo / Divine Disco series sleeve with a faithful reproduction of the HOB label.

Founded in 1956 by Mrs. Carmen Murphy, HOB wasn't just a label — it was a beacon. From the basement of her beauty salon on Detroit’s West Side, she ran one of the most important Black-owned gospel imprints of the 20th century. At a time when both the music industry and the country were stacked against her, Mrs. Murphy built a sanctuary for soul — a Black woman-owned business and creative hub in volatile times.

Pressed and distributed by Prime Direct Distribution.
Don’t miss — buy or cry. Volume 2 continues the journey.

'The story of IDM in the USA begins in Miami’ - Fact Mag

Control Freak Recordings are thrilled to be launching its new reissue sub-label with Soul Oddity’s Tone Capsule - a seminal electro/IDM classic from mid-90s Miami.

Originally released as a series of 3 EPs, the reissue compiles these into an album, newly remastered by Keith Tenniswood (Radioactive Man) - available digitally and, for the first time, on 2x12" LP album.

Soul Oddity marked the first outing for a pair of musicians who were instrumental in bringing the UK's post-rave IDM scene to the US. Having bonded over a love for the Warp output at the time, the pair fused this influence with the sound of their native Miami, where hip-hop, breaks and bass soundtracked a lively party scene.

A masterpiece of machine-driven, emotionally abstract storytelling, Tone Capsule rivals some of the best of 90s leftfield electronica. Twitchy beats and gloopy synth-funk are melded into jams that make for a seriously otherworldly listen - as forward-thinking now as it was in 1996.

This record kickstarts our new reissue sub label Capsule Freak - marking the beginning of our dive into the rich past of dance music history which has brought the scene we love to where it is today. We can’t think of a more fitting time capsule to begin this journey with - over two years in the making, we hope you find this release as wild and intriguing as we do.

The faultless Funkyjaws music rolls out another irresistible disco dazzler in its Discolifting series with Enigmatic producer Black Truffle at the helm. He debuted in 2023 and has landed on labels like Gamm and this one before now, always making a mark in the process. 'Ti Voglio' starts with some fiery Latin vocals and big strings straight from a Philly disco classic. 'Venus' has a fat low end and stepping groove with plenty of lavish instrumental flair, and 'To Be The One' is a filter-heavy, funky-disco cruiser for good times only. 'Cassandra' slows things down with some steamy sexual energy from the horns and rich chord stabs, sure to get any dance floor heated right up.

This top label continues to do great work, serving up hip-hop gems from legends of the scene from days gone by. Next up on this limited 7" is another classic from a pioneering MC and producer. 'Black Snake Root' dropped more than 20 years ago but endures as a classic with its smart use of samples, breezy jazz-funk melodies and warm drums all lifting spirits like the dawn of a new Spring day. On the flip is 'Cedar' by the same artist, this time sampling a great West Indian funk and soul outfit to craft a low-slung groove with hooky riffs and noodling bass.

New label alert: Tuff Funk makes its debut here with, indeed, a tough funk workout built on raw and ragged breaks from a pair of well-schooled artists. Mighty Delrokz kicks off with blazing horns lighting up the rhythms of 'Renegade', which is a devastating tool. 'Scratch Loop' is a twisted mix of vocals drawn out for DJ deployment, and on the flip Netwerk comes through first of all with 'Mustard Break,' which has a rousing sense of power with mumble rap bars, live drums and a new school vibe. His seance is 'Doechi Break', another crucial tool with soulful vocals and yet more big breaks.

Antwerp-based duo Bobby & Djenko joins forces with hometown label Flipsight for their debut vinyl release. The Funky Dancer EP features four dancefloor-ready tunes full of character and percussion. The cover track 'Funky Dancer' is a vocal-led opener laced with crisp bongos and classic house stabs. A seductive groover 'Get high' takes the other piece of the A-side with a bouncy bassline and confident club mood. A French house-inspired 'Impala' kicks off the flipsight.

This belter is a constantly evolving phenomena including all types of elements with no dull moments. Closing off with a tribal flair, "Perc Talk" is a percussion-driven house jam with hints of jungle flavor - rough, raw, and ready to rumble.

Hot on the heels of 12bit Jungle Out There's 'Right Mind' EP, Foundations Records brings you the hotly anticipated follow-up from rising star Arkyn on 'The Spirit EP' Drawing influence from classic '93 era jungle techno on the likes of Basement Records, it's perhaps his most accomplished work to date in his first foray into all hardware production. Arkyn is a UK based DJ and Producer. His production is influenced from a wide range of music he grew up listening to including Reggae, Dub, Soul, Techno and Funk to name a few. After discovering rave music through the underground party scene in Northampton, he began to cut his teeth DJing and has since gone on to play at some of the most established Jungle/Hardcore events in the country including Distant Planet, The Rave Story and Calling The Hardcore among others. He also recently debuted at Fabric for Motive Hunter Audio's takeover. Arkyn has released on FFF's 3am Eternal, Billy Daniel Bunter's Music Mondays and Motive Hunter Audio to name a few. He also runs his own label TufStuf Records. FOUNDATIONS002 - Arkyn - The Spirit EP Four tracks of Hardcore Jungle Techno and 4x4 made with Akai S3000 XL sampler, Roland 909, Roland JV 1080, Korg 01/W FD and Roland D50.

Supa Jams are proud to present. For our, And their debut release, The CJP Band.

Two peak time Disco Soul Funk laced 'Supa™' jams. Ready for the floor, Whilst perfectly encapsulating the labels ethos core.

Disco by extension, Funk for guaranteed dancefloor retention. Music and lyrics for the soul will never not be the intention.

First up 'You and Me and the Music', for the dancers, and DJ's looking for them to 'Lose it' on the floor. This one has it all, Just wait for the strings and 'hat tip' refrain to a legend of the game.

On the flip 'We Can Never Go Back" brings us squarely back to 2025 lyrically. We ALL know 'The systems have changed' and indeed hope that nature will intrinsically "Remain the same".

Nolo asks the same questions clearly forgotten by Jay K in 1993 perhaps? How do we balance our 'Pleasure as an act of defiance in a world that runs on greed'?

In the meantime both tracks deliver the same time honoured essentials for dancing potential - Drum breaks for days, And the night time haze. Bass lines for the loose spined, Lyrical refined for the spiritual of mind. Hotter than the summer dance floors they'll be played on.

300 limited pressing - Hand Stamped Sleeve.

Don't Sleep!

Repress.

Roof lifting new single from Nicole Willis! Pending between soul and essence of hip-hop this is the best of many worlds: warm, sexy, cool, deep, funky and powerfull. B-side with superb stripped bass-horn-vocal version. Excellent heat from Jimi Tenors new label.

For Fans Of: New Mastersounds, Soulive, Jimmy Smith, Khruangbin. Over the course of the last five years, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio have established themselves as the world's premier funky organ trio. The organ trio, along with founder and manager Amy Novo, continues to devise the perfect blend of raw, passionate music and engaging industry practices. Through a firm partnership with label Colemine Records, the trio has garnered Billboard charting albums, sold out shows, tens of thousands of albums sold, and millions of streams. Lofty accomplishments for an instrumental organ trio. Now, with permanent drummer Dan Weiss behind to kit, DLO3 is proud to present Cold As Weiss, their third studio album to date that finds them tighter than ever, and continuing to push funky instrumental music to a new generation of fans. Third full-length LP. Their KEXP video has over 8 million views and no other KEXP upload in the last three years has more views 60k followers on Spotify. Previous studio album entered at #1 on Billboard Jazz charts. “An obvious mastery of their craft….” MOJO // “keyboard cool recalling bygone times…” UNCUT // “…purveyors of the snappiest grooves…” SHINDIG

N-You-Up & Boogie Vice Deliver Feel-Good Firepower with 'Come On Closer' on Definitive Recordings
Definitive Recordings proudly welcomes a brand-new floor-filling release from Boogie Vice and N-You-Up, two artists well
known to fans of Get Physical Music and the global house underground. Their new collaboration, ‘Come On Closer’, is a
powerful, feel-good house bomb that blends infectious female vocals, uplifting grooves, and jazzy soul into one irresistible EP.
The Original Mix sets the tone with its high-energy beat and bouncy piano bassline, laying the foundation for a hooky female
vocal that anchors the entire track. It’s pure peak-time house, designed for hot, sweaty dancefloors. Things get deeper on the
Carboot Sale Mix, a jazz-infused reinterpretation featuring live drum fills, trumpet flourishes, and rich organ chords that give it a
smooth, late-night edge.

A stripped-back Dub Mix follows, keeping things rolling with minimal vocals and a groovy focus on rhythm and atmosphere. The
EP also includes two bonus DJ-friendly tools: the Piano Tool, which spotlights the irresistible keys at the heart of the original,
and the Intro Mental Tool, a perfect warm-up cut with gradual layering and tension-building groove.
N-You-Up, the Southern France-rooted producer formerly known as The Beatangers, brings decades of DJ experience and a
deep love for jazz, funk, and disco into his sound. With standout releases on Nervous and Get Physical he is a name
synonymous with high-quality house music that always moves the crowd. Boogie Vice, hailing from Paris, burst onto the scene
with chart-topping nu-disco releases like 'Bel-Air' and 'Bad Girl', later gracing labels such as Ed Banger, Cuff, and Outcross
Records. With his unmistakable blend of funk, house, and flair, he continues to push boundaries while connecting with a global
audience.

Earl Jeffers is no stranger to crafting effective, big-hearted sounds. He's got plenty of them dropping in the early part of 2025 too, and all of them are slightly different but equally effective. This latest drop on the Melange Archives label was originally released back in 2013 and starts with 'Monster (feat Kofi Tarris)' which is raw-as-you-like house music at a slow and steady pace but with such energy in the chords and funky guitars that it will blow up any club. 'Thunder & Lightning (feat TOG)' lands a little more heavy. There is garage swing in the drums and plenty of expression in the vocal stabs. Two bombs, for sure.

The third volume of the AfroColombia Remix series merges African and Colombian sounds with contemporary electronica. It's a collaboration between Colombian labels Galletas Calientes and Palenque Records that celebrates Palenque's 20+ years of activism and Galletas Calientes' two-decade legacy while honouring the late Abelardo Carbono with a remix of his track 'La PiNa Madura' by Voilaaa - it's a standout here with hints of funk, soul and disco all bringing the sunshine. The compilation also reinterprets Nigerian Igbo Highlife and Ekobe music thanks to producers Captain Planet, Uproot Andy and Caribombo. They bring new, funky energy to timeless classics while preserving the original cultural essence.

Repress!

Ahead of a full-length album coming on Glitterbox Recordings, the king of disco re-edits Dr Packer presents the second instalment of this 12' series. 'Different Strokes Part 2' features four Dr Packer versions of soulful house favourites, giving a flavour of what's to come from the LP. Kicking off with a bonafide classic, Dr Packer's take on Soulsearcher's 'Can't Get Enough!' maintains all its most iconic elements, the euphoric vocals and timeless groove given a fresh-sounding elasticity. Next up is Dr Packer's remix of The Shapeshifter's evergreen 'Lola's Theme Recut' appearing for the first time on vinyl. An exclusive to this vinyl release, a remix of Johnny Corporate's 'Sunday Shoutin'' picks up the pace with a funking bassline to suit any dynamic disco set. Rounding off this foursome of impeccable remixes is Cleptomaniacs featuring Bryan Chambers 'All I Do', a vocal house classic from the early noughties, reinterpreted masterfully for today's Glitterbox dancefloor,r which was originally featured on the label's A Disco Hï compilation. Dr Packer has done it again, breathing new life into your most beloved dance records so you can fall in love with them all over again.

Acid Tongue is an American garage band heavily influenced by classic soul, punk & psychedelic rock. Formed in a damp Seattle basement in 2015, the band immediately hit the road, extensively touring the US & Europe and refining their unique brand of rock & roll. The brainchild of singer/songwriter Guy Keltner, the band also includes numerous touring & studio musicians scattered between Paris, New York, London, Mexico City, & Los Angeles, with a rotating roster that seems to grow larger by the day. In 2015, Acid Tongue established their own label, Freakout Records, and in 2017 the band released their debut album, aptly titled BABIES. The album is a soulful, stoney, heartfelt approach to modern psychedelia. Their 2020 sophomore album, BULLIES, expanded upon the themes of their debut, cementing the band as the Pacific Northwest's most unique garage-rock proprietors. For their third studio album, ARBORETUM, the band recruited veterans from the psychedelic rock scene during production, resulting in first-rate collaborations with artists such as Death Valley Girls, Naked Giants and Canadian singer Calvin Love. Acid Tongue's fourth full-length, ACID ON THE DANCEFLOOR, showcases their now signature sound and a back-to-basics approach to rock music. Incorporating elements of glam, R&B and post-punk, the album is a loud, funky and chaotic acid trip that redefines "the Seattle sound". Acid Tongue's latest album, SCARS, is the band's most personal release to date. The record is moody, atmospheric and overflowing with the psychedelia and punk rock characteristics that have defined the band's sound over the past decade.

Motown’s L.A.-based Mowest label lasted less than two years, but managed in that short time to release some of the most adventurous music the company ever put out. And probably the most intrepid—and nowadays, adored—Mowest release of them all was the 1992 self-titled release from Odyssey. This one-off brought elite West Coast sessionmen like Wrecking Crew mainstay Don Peake, one-time Chicago member Donnie Dacus, and arranger/orchestrator extraordinaire Gene Page together with a bunch of West Coast hippie rockers (as Peake says, “We were invited to lunch, introduced to some nice people and told we were going to form a band”).

The happy result was a record that has appeared on more deejay turntables than you can count, a one-of-a-kind blend of funky Motown bottom with a spacy sensibility and sound that fits right in next to, say, the latest Khruangbin album on your psychedelic chill playlist even as it activates your 5th Dimension sunshine pop endorphins. The single “Our Lives Are Shaped by What We Love” is probably the pick to click, but the whole album is a total vibe. We’re reissuing Odyssey for the first time ever in the U.S. (the Japanese have long been all over this album) in blue-green “ocean spray” vinyl, complete with original album art including the lyric insert. Remastered for the format by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision, and pressed at Gotta Groove Records for superior sound. A must!

Eddie Richards' vaults are surely some of the best there can be for tech house heads. The Brit was there on the ground, helping to shape the earliest incarnations of the newly emerging genre back in the 90s and early 00s and few have bettered it since. Proof comes from this reissue of a pair of remastered beauties on new label likethis. 'Destiny' has never before been on wax and is a silky, synth-laced sound with crisp drum funk and then the B-side jam 'The Soul' is a dusty and stripped-back mix of drums, hits, swirling pads and irresistibly loopy grooves.

The Funkyjaws label is back with a second in its Discolifting series and once again it's the sort of 12" that you cannot pass up. Markus "Delfonic" Lindner is the man behind this project and is no stranger to blazing hot grooves on labels like Razor-N-Tape and Disco Disco. Here he turns things up once more with the red hot 'Sister' getting things underway on a nice organic groove, 'Disco Party' then brings some funky undertones, 'You Can Get It' has a steamy edge and plenty of soul worked into the melodies and 'Roommate' shuts down with another irresistible mix of the old and the new.

Hamburg-born composer, pianist and producer Niklas Paschburg announces his latest project, 'Mexican Alps' EP due for release on July 11th. 'La Hormiga' is a rhythmic exploration of life in motion. Pulsing beats and textured synths create forward momentum, echoing the journey through the winding paths of Oaxaca's mountainous surroundings, where tradition and nature intertwine. 'Mexican Alps' combines inspirations gathered from the picturesque mountains of southern Mexico and the majestic peaks of the Swiss Alps. The EP is a mesmerizing journey through those landscapes; drawing inspiration from nature's grandeur and the vibrancy of Día de los Muertos, Niklas blends electronic textures, atmospheric samples, and innovative instrumentation to create a soundscape that is both grounding and transcendent. Without relying on his signature piano, this EP explores new creative territories, evoking deep emotional resonance and moments of introspection. -- If his first album, 'Oceanic '(2018), was conceived as an ode to the Baltic Sea, for his next release, 'Svalbard' (2020), produced with Andy Barlow of Lamb, the Hamburg-born musician, now a Berliner by adoption, sought refuge on an island in the Arctic Ocean, surrounded by snow, ice, darkness and breathtaking landscapes. This time, however, the setting is completely different. "It all started with an invitation to play at a festival in Oaxaca," Niklas says. "Since I had never been to Latin America, I began considering how to take advantage of the opportunity to stay for a while and write something there. I started looking for houses, but I quickly realized it was almost impossible to find one with a piano—it's not a common instrument in Mexican culture. I thought, why not try immersing myself in a writing process that doesn't involve one? I was so excited about the idea that I jumped in." 'Mexican Alps' is the result of a challenge in which Paschburg harnessed his collection of synths and effects to create an ambient-electronic record. On the one hand, an evolution of the work primarily carried out in 'Svalbard' and 'Panta Rhei'; on the other hand, an episode in its own right, distinct from its predecessors due to the absence of the piano and the greater role played by improvisation, by coincidence, it became his first work created without his signature instrument. "Not having the opportunity to write chords, harmonies, and everything else on the piano, I improvised more, focusing on the sound. This was the approach I used to record demos in Mexico, which I then brought with me to Switzerland, where I carried on working on the EP. In addition to my usual setup (the OB-6 by Dave Smith and Tom Oberheim and the OP-1 by Teenage Engineering, plus my ever-beloved Hohner accordion, inherited from my grandfather), I was also guided by the purchase of a new Moog Matriarch with a unique delay. All this helped me build the sound I had in mind: a spacious, abstract, 3D sound that is definitely immersive." He expands. It is an emotional landscape that translates into music. In some of the tracks, Paschburg has also included field recordings collected during the Día de los Muertos, a deeply felt Mexican holiday: "A great celebration, a colorful parade of skeletons, skulls, flowers, and decorated altars, so engaging and intoxicating that I felt compelled to use its sounds in my music." It was precisely from this blend of influences that the fourth track, "Oaxaca de Juárez", emerged—a single characterized by a catchy funk procession and enhanced by the guitar work of Tal Arditi, a rising European jazz artist and singer-songwriter based between Basel and Berlin. 'Mexican Alps' is his new calling card, featuring an enveloping sound crafted by Paschburg in collaboration with Gijs van Klooster, who mixed the EP in a studio specifically designed for Atmos music. Mastering was handled by Bo Kondren at Calyx Studio in Berlin.

ATA Records is pleased to announce the release of Early Works 2: Funk, Soul & Afro Rarities From The Archive, a compilation of tracks recorded in the fledgling days of the label paired with some rediscovered treasures from more recent years. While the majority of the album is previously unreleased material several tracks have appeared on different formats.

This is a rare chance for listeners to experience the birth of the ATA's enduring concept and recording techniques from the comfort of their own home.

In 2020 label founder and musician Neil Innes decided to destroy the studio he had spent 14-years building, destroy it and rebuild it from the ground up.

Once the studio began to take shape again and Innes was finally able to take a breath he began rooting through the label's archives, pulling out reels that had been propping up tables, holding open doors and generally lurking in nooks and crannies for years.

His trip down memory uncovered a wealth of dusty musical treasures and also got him thinking about tracks from newer artists, nuggets to compliment the archive gold.

Along with the first airings of tracks by The Harmony Society, The Disarrays this 11track comp includes appearances by studio favourites: The Magnificent Tape Band, The Sorcerers, The Mandatory Eight, Ivan Von Engleberger's Asteroid and long time collaborator Chris Dawkins (recording under Earl Dawkins).Also on the comp is Joe Tatton's Bang Bang Boogaloo, previously only released on 7 inch and greatly desired by record diggers everywhere.

The ‘Split EP’ is a collaborative release with James Hayford and BiggaBush, as well as labels Filtered Deluxe and Tru Thoughts Recordings.

The collaboration commenced several years back, when Glyn ‘Bigga’ Bush reached out to James (known for his Shoes Edits series), one conversation led to the next, and a remix exchange was initiated.

In 2022, James contributed a remix to BiggaBush’s ‘A Different Style’ remix collection, released on Tru Thoughts Recordings - followed by Bigga’s version of James Hayford’s ‘Flower Of Thy Womb’, released via Filtered Deluxe Recordings in the spring of 2025.

The ‘Split EP’ is presented as a vinyl-only release, including the previously unreleased ‘Come To Crunch’ by
BiggaBush.

-

James Hayford is a sample-based producer best known for his unparalleled series of Shoes edits (feat. Al Green, Miles Davis, Roy Ayer, and more), plus remixes released under his own Shoes and Plimsoll labels - as well as for the Numero Group.
James continues to release original downtempo and leftfield dance music on labels Filtered Deluxe Recordings, and Growroom Productions.

Glyn ‘Bigga’ Bush launched his career as half of Rockers Hi-Fi, and co-founded the Magic Drum Orchestra. He’s
released as BiggaBush and Lightning Head through the ever-evolving Tru Thoughts Recordings, and many more.
His influences range from afrobeat, dub and funk, to library music and soundtracks - as well as electronic, Latin, and jazz music.

Repress!

Tony Price is back again with Street Theatre, an electrifying new LP on his Maximum Exposure label that serves up eight tracks of rude, crude, real-deal house music with absolute attitude.

Following the recent release of the psychedelic jazz reveries of Requiem for the Ontario Science Centre, this is his second release of 2025 and marks a return to the dancefloor.

Street Theatre is total midnight music—eight tracks of ferocious Chicago house worship, replete with slamming drum machine beatdowns, laser-guided synthesizers, and radioactive funk refractions that evoke Z-Factor’s primal neon pulse, trench coat-era Prince, WBMX cut-ups, and Ron Hardy’s splice-happy Muzic Box mania.

Produced in the span of a week at his studio in Greektown, Toronto, these recordings exemplify what can now undoubtedly be called Tony Price’s signature style—an unvarnished, elemental, no-nonsense approach to record production and sound design that reduces dance music down to its crudest textures and core principles, an approach and ethos that have guided his entire body of work.

Tony’s recorded output showcases fearless exploration across genres—classic house, funk, electro, and the outer limits of electronic jazz and musique concrète. Street Theatre stands tall alongside his Hit Piece LP, the Bail Bonds EP, and his NTS show, The Maximum Exposure Power Hour, as a bold, ecstatic, and direct expression of the eternal essence of house music.

Chaz Bear (formerly Bundick) was a musician from birth. Growing up, it was normal to hear music across genres, from Michael Jackson to Elvis Costello to The Specials, in the Bundick household. These influences were quite unique for a biracial kid growing up in South Carolina, contributing to the complexity of Chaz’s self-understanding and expression through his own music.

Chaz began playing and recording original compositions in his preteen years, forming multiple indie bands starting in middle school and continuing until his personal project, Toro y Moi, was signed by Carpark Records in 2009. Before getting signed, he was already an incredibly prolific artist, having released over 10 Toro y Moi albums on his own (and undoubtedly retaining a vast compendium of unreleased songs). His personal work drew upon a vaster array of influences than did his full band. Early Toro work called upon Chaz’s childhood exposure to 80’s R&B, pop and electronic music, while also evolving with his discoveries of acts like My Bloody Valentine and J Dilla and his burgeoning interest in French house. Just before his graduation from the University of South Carolina, where he earned a degree in graphic design, Chaz caught the attention of music bloggers and record labels with his dreamy, bedroom recordings.

Outer Peace, was written and recorded in the Bay Area after Chaz’s return from a one year stint in Portland. It is somewhat of a homecoming celebration, filled with features by friends and saturated with a playfulness that had not previously been embraced in past Toro albums. Outer Peace stands in contrast to the more sparse and contemplative Boo Boo, an album recorded while in Portland in relative isolation. With Outer Peace, Chaz showcases his ability to remain on the cutting edge of music’s evolution while not taking himself too seriously. There are contemporary hip hop references mixed in with funk, Eurodance and ambient elements, all interwoven expertly and retaining that quintessential Toro y Moi aesthetic.

In 1979, Record Player privately pressed and issued a solitary 45 on their Gem City Records imprint in Dayton, Ohio. Though they had recorded a host of other songs, and were on the verge of signing to a major label, their trajectory stalled and the band splintered by the early 1980s. In the early 2000s, Record Player principle Charles Jackson surfaced with their unreleased songs. Todate, only two Record Player songs have been reissued, as part of Now-Again's long-running Soul Cal series. Now, the entirety of their oeuvre is presented here as Free Your Mind, and their story detailed in words by Bret Sjerven. This is a special release for us at Now-Again, and will be perfect for any fan of the deep disco scene that birthed the likes of Luther Davis, Edge of Daybreak, Tomorrow's People, Split Decision Band, and so many others issued by us, Numero Group, and other like minded labels.

Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Plays with Authoritative Tonality, Airiness, and Clarity:
Pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl and Strictly Limited to
3,000 Numbered Copies
1/4” / 15 IPS Dolby A analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Joni Mitchell is the only artist who could’ve made Hejira. The legendary singer-songwriter said as much when discussing the album decades after its release. Yet that fact seemed obvious from the moment the gold-certified effort streeted in fall 1976. An adventurous travelogue, probing narrative, and offbeat homage to freedom, Hejira remains an inimitable entry in the catalog of recorded music — a spare, gorgeous, meditative series of sonic vignettes comprised of floating harmonic pop, cool jazz, soft rock, and sensitive vocal elements that beckon feelings of motion, discovery, and self-examination.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents the record ranked the 133rd Greatest of All Time by Rolling Stone with definitive detail, richness, accuracy, and directness. Marking the first time the revered LP has received audiophile treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on vinyl and SACD.

Playing with a virtually nonexistent noise floor, dead-quiet surfaces, and superior groove definition, this collectible reissue reproduces in enveloping fashion the tones, textures, and craftsmanship that help Hejira function as the equivalent of a liberating trip down an open road with nothing but blue sky, natural landscape, and fresh air in the immediate vicinity. Passages bloom, carry, decay as they do amid an acoustically optimized environment. Soundstages extend far, wide, and deep, with black backgrounds and pinpoint images adding to the realism.

The reference-grade immediacy, airiness, and presence put in transparent perspective Mitchell’s dense strings of words, stream-of-conscious-like phrasing, and unhurried albeit forward momentum. Likewise, the instrumental contributions of her A-list support musicians — a cast that includes L.A. Express members John Guerin, Max Bennett and Tom Scott, plus Neil Young, Victor Feldman, and Abe Most — emerges with breathtaking clarity and dimensionality.

While Mitchell, whose intimate vocals and abstract guitar parts center everything, Mobile Fidelity's restoration of Hejira further reveals the visionary breadth of guitarist Larry Carlton and bassist Jaco Pastorius. Though heard on only four tracks, Pastorius' fretless bass epitomizes the fluid, subtle, flexible, roomy, and shape-shifting characteristics of songs that often appear to transpire out of nowhere akin to the formation of a puffy cumulus cloud overhead. In sync with Mitchell’s voice, Pastorius’ fusion hovers and floats, suspended in a fog you want to deeply inhale. The "grace notes" Mitchell desired on Hejira can now be heard in full. Ditto the luxurious tapestries of alinear lines, fills, and supplements unreeled on Carlton’s six-string.

Visually, the packaging of this UD1S set complements its identity as the copy to own. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, the LPs come in foil-stamped jackets with faithful-to-the-original graphics. This version is for listeners who desire to become immersed in everything about Hejira, including the unforgettable album cover — a pastiche of 14 different photos Mitchell used a Camera Lucida to assemble into one image that’s anchored by a portrait of her in a stoic pose — and the interior shots of Mitchell skating on a frozen Wisconsin lake wearing a pair of black skates, black shirt, and fur cape.

The notion of skating, feeling an awakening wind whipping against your face, and losing yourself to the surroundings are extremely apt for Hejira, which Mitchell wrote after a sequence of trips and relationships prompted her to reflect on the complicated conflicts between independence and marriage, success and satisfaction, duty and desire — and, more specifically, “the cost of being a woman.” The Canadian native delved into such themes before. But never as she does on Hejira, whose liberating, running-away aura doubles as another of Mitchell’s rejections of tradition as well as a suggestion of a better alternative.

At once observational and personal, expansive and insular, cheerful and poignant, Hejira spans a sea of human conditions, emotions, and circumstances. It addresses drifting, isolation, pleasure, place, time, and surroundings with strikingly poetic discourse matched with music that, save for the crooned ballad “Blue Motel Room,” forgoes conventional structures and choruses.

The jazz-based arrangements, marked by scaled-down percussion and all manner of bent, rounded, and unsettled notes, hint that Mitchell has no exact destination in mind. Excursions such as the moody “Furry Sings the Blues,” funky “Coyote” and edgy “Black Crow” throw open previously locked doors to possibility and journey. They signal it’s time for a welcome departure from norms and the past, one that leads to a heightened sense of clarity and perspective. Or, as Mitchell said upon choosing the album title, it’s time for “leaving the dream, no blame.”

The Italian duo of Fabio della Torre & Ennio Colaci, founders of Bosconi Records, are in sprightly mood on their latest EP for Jorge Caiado’s Inner Balance label, one of the catalogues under Chez Damier’s legendary Balance imprint. Funky, snappy, playful — these four whipsmart house tracks skip along like Gemini records of old, trading sinuous leads and walking basslines with cheeky abandon. 
Minimono have been doing this for a while now yet their signature sound hits as fresh as ever.

Jazz Is Dead geht in die dritte Phase von Veröffentlichungen mit erstklassigen Aufnahmen, die den Hörer auf eine Reise durch die funkigen Klänge Ghanas bis hin zum psychedelischen Soul und Samba Brasiliens mitnehmen. Von den Labelgründern Adrian Younge und Ali Shaheed Muhammad produziert, enthält Jazz Is Dead 021 neue analoge Aufnahmen der lebenden Legenden Ebo Taylor, Hyldon, Dom Salvador, Antonio Carlos e Jocafi, Carlos Dafé, und Joyce e Tutty Moreno.

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

Repress!

More ultra rare disco-soul from the sunshine state! Phillip Wright only dropped 1 45 single under his own name on TK Disco`s tiny Dash label in 1976. Long sought after & coveted by lovers of rare disco & modern soul "keep her happy" has never been reissued in its original 45 format, until now!

Often fetching around the $200 mark for a used copy this sublime slice of funk deserves to be heard by a wider audience, sadly Phillip never achieved the commercial success of his sister Betty but perhaps now this obscure single of his will make people hit the dancefloor in 2015!

Repressed, remastered & re-released in it`s original dinner 45 rpm format with all original Dash records artwork intact in conjunction with Joe Stone / TK Disco, Miami FL.

2025 Repress

Hector Couto joins Cécille Records this summer for the heavy hitting ‘Hot Stuff’ EP, comprising one collaboration with Alejandro Paz and three solo jams.

Spain’s Hector Couto has long been at the forefront of the underground house scene now, since the early 2000’s he’s racked up releases on Hot Creations, BPitch, Defected, Solä, Saved, ElRow and of course his own Roush among others. Here we see Couto add another reputed label to his affiliations, namely Nick Curly and Marc Scholl’s Cécille, the powerhouse German label that’s also been a staple platform in the scene since the early 2000’s.

Opening up the EP is a special collaboration that’s already been causing a stir across South America, Alejandro Paz’s original vocal of ‘El House’ was released on the beloved Cómeme 12 years ago and became a cult classic. Here Hector revisits it, stirring in the vocal alongside his own robust, stripped-back house style. ‘Cami’s House’ follows with vacillating sub bass tones, shuffled snares, crisp percussion and resonant flutters running
alongside dubbed out chords and hypnotic vocal hooks. Opening the B-Side is ‘Hot Stuff’ , leaning into a more filter-house aesthetic with sweeping, choppy soul samples and swinging drums before ‘Red Velvet’ concludes the release, laying down funk-infused guitar licks, organic percussive grooves, bulbous low-end tones and twitchy synth stabs.

2018 repress of this highly limited heavyweight classic. Clatterbox is no joke! Regular pressing black vinyl... don't sleep!

During the mid-nineties, David Kempston secured himself a considerable following while recording releases for the seminal UK labels Clear and Evolution/Universal Language. He went on to produce music under various guises including the solid house sounds of Cartel Productions and his darker electro alias Clatterbox.

For two decades, Trad Vibe Records has been exploring and celebrating the many facets of hip-hop, funk and soul music, always driven by a passion for authentic, organic sounds. Founded in 2005, this independent French label has made its mark on the underground scene with cult releases, transatlantic collaborations and a loyalty to vinyl culture. In 20 years, Trad Vibe has brought together beatmakers, MCs and DJs around a musical vision that is both timeless and audacious. To celebrate this anniversary, the label unveils a limited vinyl edition of 300 copies, a veritable digest of its musical universe.

Side A kicks off with "Boom Bap Introduction", a track mixing jazz and boom bap in a characteristic old-school instrumentation by DJ Vince.
This is followed by the West Coast energy of DJ King Flow & Lex Lakaiser on "Money".
The soulful groove of Moar, Raashan Ahmad and Kohndo explodes on "Stand Up (Soul
Train Mix)".
Juliano concludes the side with his blues-inspired "Nothing or All".
The B-side kicks off with the classic “Rock It Feel The Groove”, a funky bomb orchestrated and scratched by Dee Nasty, a historic figure in French hip-hop.
Moar and Raashan Ahmad return with "Sky High", a track reminiscent of the golden age of 80's Disco Rap.
Followed by LS Brigandes with the sensual "You Make Me Feel", bathed in New York, Hip-Hop, Soul and Jazzy influences.
To round off the album in style, DJ Clyde concludes with a positive message on Boom Bap sounds and Lofi with “More Love”.
This anniversary compilation is available on vinyl only, in an ultra-limited edition of 300 copies. A must-have collector's item for fans of polished beats and authentic vibes.

Release number 9 is the second 7" on the label, this time from Fradinho with two Jazzy Broken beat / Bruk cuts that feature the legendary Portuguese Jazz Musician (Sax, Flute, EWI) Nanã Sousa Dias!

A-side sees the original version with Nanã's absolute magic on Tenor Sax, Baritone Sax and EWI, on a jazzy funky Fradinho Broken Beat cut! B-side has a Fradinho "Broken Swing" Remix with a bouncier feel for the jazzier dancefloor!

We’re proud to present the first-ever official reissue of Les Nkenda — a rare and genre-blending spiritual gem from 1982, originally released in the Republic of Congo by the Cercle Biblique Évangélique (C.B.E.) of Pointe-Noire and produced by Adam Julien Koubemba on the small Adamsol Record Edition label. Pressed in extremely limited quantities and virtually impossible to find for decades, Les Nkenda has become a “holy grail” among collectors of African music. Fully remastered from the original tapes, it returns on vinyl for the first time since its initial release. More than a reissue, this is a revelation — a powerful fusion of gospel, psychedelic groove, folk, soulful funk, and Afro-Latin rhythms. Recorded in Pointe-Noire, the album channels the raw spirit of 1980s Congo with vibrant multilingual vocals and rich, polyrhythmic textures. Both hypnotic and deeply emotional, Les Nkenda is music made without compromise — once lost, now revived for a new generation of collectors, diggers, and seekers of the extraordinary.

The Island Festival presents its first vinyl sampler — a celebration of groove and unity
Born from the spirit of one of northern France’s most beloved electronic gatherings, The Island Festival unveils its very first vinyl sampler on its freshly launched label, The Island.
Held annually on the stunning Île des Saules, The Island has become a beacon for house and electronic music lovers. This limited-edition record captures that magic with four carefully selected tracks, bridging international talent and local energy.

The sampler features:

• A standout cut by Italian duo The Deepshakerz (Great Stuff, Defected, Toolroom, Crosstown Rebels), bringing their trademark blend of funky, percussive house.
• A feel-good track from Etienne & Eddsax, offering sun-soaked grooves and uplifting vibes.
• A deep and dreamy voyage by The Sandman, blurring the lines between groove and introspection.
• And the iconic “Midnight in New York” by Michael Sanctorum.

This release is a sonic snapshot of the festival’s soul. From open-air euphoria to late-night intimacy, The Island Sampler EP 1 is both a collector’s item and a dancefloor weapon.


Français

The Island Festival dévoile son premier vinyle sampler — une célébration du groove et de l’unité
Né de l’esprit de l’un des festivals électroniques les plus emblématiques du nord de la France, The Island Festival présente son tout premier vinyle sampler, lancé sur son propre label : The Island.
Organisé chaque année sur la magnifique Île des Saules, The Island est devenu un rendez-vous incontournable pour les amoureux de house et de musique électronique. Cette édition limitée en vinyle capture l’essence du festival à travers quatre titres soigneusement sélectionnés, mêlant talents internationaux et énergie locale.

Ce sampler réunit :

• Un titre percutant du duo italien The Deepshakerz (Great Stuff, Defected, Toolroom, Crosstown Rebels), fidèles à leur style house percussif et groovy.
• Un morceau feel-good signé Etienne & Eddsax, aux accents ensoleillés et aux rythmes entraînants.
• Une plongée onirique et profonde avec The Sandman, à la frontière entre groove hypnotique et ambiance introspective.
• Et le classique intemporel “Midnight in New York” de Michael Sanctorum.

Cette sortie est un instantané sonore de l’âme du festival. De l’euphorie en plein air à l’intimité des sets nocturnes, The Island Sampler EP 1 s’impose comme un objet de collection autant qu’une arme pour le dancefloor.

Milton Wright's perfect deep Soul classic "Keep It Up" has always been a top shelf record, everything about it is almost flawless! Whether it's Milton's silky vocal delivery, the incessant guitar driven back beat or the total space Funk vibe of his omnipresent ARP-2600 synthesizer this record has it all. Originally released on TK Disco's more Soul and Funk orientated Alston label which was home to many legendary artists and records, this 1975 sunshine classic never fails to make people move. A classic rare groove indeed. "The Silence That You Keep" takes up side-B, a jazzy, flute driven love song that again features Milton's perfect voice and some fantastic arrangement. A real gem of a record, with the original 45 changing hands for over £100 a time in used condition.

This is the first time "Keep It Up" has been re-issued in it's original 45 rpm format with the original Alston label artwork. It's been re-mastered, re-pressed and made available again with the permission of TK Disco / Alston Records, Miami Florida, USA.