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Strut kick off a brand new deal with the seminal independent black jazz and soul label Black Fire in May with 'African Rhythms 1970-1982', a comprehensive 2CD / 3LP compilation of Oneness Of Juju, led by Plunky J. Branch. Tracing their career from the band's earliest work in 1970 with South African exiled jazzman Ndikho Xaba in San Francisco, the compilation covers the band's journey to New York's loft jazz scene, forming Juju and releasing two landmark albums of hard-hitting percussive jazz on Strata-East. "I saw myself as a cultural warrior," explains Plunky. "We studied about Africa and tried to infuse our music with an African spirit." Moving back to his hometown of Richmond, Virginia during the mid-'70s, Plunky drew in a superb new group of musicians and vocalists and created the band's new incarnation, Oneness Of Juju, retaining the African influence but fusing his sound with funk and R'n'B on the classic 'African Rhythms' album. "We realised that, if we put a backbeat to the Afro-Cuban rhythms, people in Richmond and Washington D.C. could be drawn into it; it didn't change anything about our message." The change would lead to a series of enduring soul-jazz classics on Jimmy Gray's Black Fire label, including 'River Luv Rite', 'Plastic' and 'Don't Give Up' and their biggest crossover international hit, 'Every Way But Loose' in 1982, later famously remixed by Larry Levan. The band received renewed interest in their music during the mid-'80s as Washington D.C.'s go-go innovators cited the band as a major influence and rare groove DJs revived their albums for London dancefloors.

Like many electronic artists, Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles spent his early years experimenting with IDM, glitch and dance, but one consistent element in his musical journey has been his desire to create a more organic, humanised sound. Through these experimentations he has found a process of producing electronic music that feels close to this urge. Restricting himself to a small selection of analogue equipment, West engages his hands directly with instruments and is very selective about what he then records into the computer. He reduces musical parts even further, leaving enough space around the sound for it to breath.

‘Odyssey’ is a reflection of West’s quest to create atmosphere and space from minimal arrangements. ‘I don’t like music to sound overly laboured, so I restrict how much is going on. I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of reduction.’ The new 5-track EP was mastered by Naweed and will be released worldwide on October 21 in the form of a 12" Vinyl and Download via Erased Tapes.

‘Odyssey’ and ‘Voyager’ are both incredibly stripped down and have a great sense of space throughout them. It's all about using the right ingredients at the right points in time. A lot of these ingredients are short recordings, such as ice cracking, mechanical clicks, clicks from synth errors, sounds of debris, guitar plucks etc., which interact with the simple arrangements and create little hints of rhythm. I also love the technique of swelling in music, but I realised that hardly anyone has done that in electronic music. So when I first got the synth to swell in and out with the opening chords of ‘Philip’, it was a great moment. Because it creates a human mood in a matter of seconds, which is very difficult to do with electronic sounds. That track is very important to me, and I think it will influence how I make music in the future.’ – Ryan Lee West

West will perform alongside his contemporary composer mates Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm for a special electronic Erased Tapes night as part of London’s The Hydra series on October 18. The same day will also see a special in-store event at Phonica Records, where West will showcase the ‘Odyssey’ EP amongst other tracks on his beloved analogue gear, joined by South London artist Supermundane creating a live art piece in the shop window.

NYC's legendary West End record label has contributed a fair few classics to the disco cannon and continues to influence dance music today with it's forward looking releases. 'When you touch me' is no exception, recorded and released in the golden year of 1979 and featuring the breathy, sensual vocals of a young Tanaa Gardner who had previously worked as a backing vocalist for numerous other projects until the label released her (other) stone cold solo classic 'Work that body' the same year on 12".
Both cuts featured on her self titled debut LP and boasted the combined production and studio talents of Kenton Nix, Bob Blank and of course - Larry Levan. Now, that's a serious line-up to have behind the boards (& in the clubs!) and of course 'When you touch me' was a classic with it's slow, elongated intro that calls to mind a sleazier version of Donna Summer's 'Love hangover' before launching into a full-on disco assault that you won't forget in a hurry! Yes, the record surprises you, Tanaa leads us into a false sense of a 'slow jam' and then - Boom - We're off!
Backed with the incredible instrumental version the 12" is repressed here in it's original 1979 glory, an essential classic that has stood the test of time for the last 30+ years & is now available again, remastered & repressed for 2017 in conjunction with West End Records, NYC.

Another West-End sure-shot! This sublime piece of early electronic Boogie has always worn it's "classic" badge with a relaxed sense of pride since it's release in 1982, perhaps it's the languid synthed out groove supplied by studio maestros Nick martinelli & David Todd or Brenda Taylor's sublime vocals reminding us all that the game of love is always a 2 way street that are to blame

Whatever it is, this is a solid, classic slice of Disco gold, more on the down to mid-tempo tip but still big enough to keep the dance-floors packed from the Garage to the Loft & beyond with ease! The production simply sounds years ahead of it's time (still does!) & it has the FUNK in bucket-loads, this is as essential as it gets, the real deal. Featured here are all the original mixes that were on the 1982 pressing (Yes! There's a dub mix!).

Re-mastered, re-pressed & re-released for 2015 with all original West End Records label artwork intact. Done in conjunction & with the permission of all right holders.

Khruangbin has always been multilingual, weaving far-flung musical languages like East Asian surf-rock, Persian funk, and Jamaican dub into mellifluous harmony. But on its third album, it's finally speaking out loud. Mordechai features vocals prominently on nearly every song, a first for the mostly instrumental band. It's a shift that rewards the risk, reorienting Khruangbin's transportive sound toward a new sense of emotional directness, without losing the spirit of nomadic wandering that's always defined it. And it all started with them coming home. By the summer of 2019, the Houston group_bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, guitarist Mark Speer, drummer DJ Johnson_had been on tour for nearly three-and-ahalf years, playing to audiences across North and South America, Europe, and southeast Asia behind its acclaimed albums The Universe Smiles Upon You and Con Todo El Mundo. They returned to their farmhouse studio in Burton, Texas, ready to begin work on their third album. But they were also determined to slow down, to take their time and luxuriate in building something together. Musically, the band's ever-restless ear saw it pulling reference points from Pakistan, Korea, and West Africa, incorporating strains of Indian chanting boxes and Congolese syncopated guitar. But more than anything, the album became a celebration of Houston, the eclectic city that had nurtured them, and a cultural nexus where you can check out country and zydeco, trap rap, or avant-garde opera on any given night. In those years away from home, Khruangbin's members often felt like they were swimming underwater, unsure of where they were going, or why they were going there. But Mordechai leads them gently back to the surface, allowing them to take a breath, look around, and find itself again. It is a snapshot taken along a larger journey_a moment all the more beautiful for its impermanence. And it's a memory to revisit again and again, speaking to us now more clearly than ever.

Louis Armstrong is one of the most important jazz musicians. He belongs to those who transformed the local music scene born in the Southern States of the United States - around New Orleans - into an international language.

It was in the 1920's, in Chicago, that he recorded his first records with His Hot Five and His Hot Seven. His personality and his natural enthusiasm, combined with his talent as a trumpet player and singer, helped him pave his way to success.

He traveled the United States with his orchestra throughout the 1930's and the 1940's, and appeared on television sets from all around the world throughout the 1950's and the 1960's. In five decades, Armstrong's music had evolved into jazz music, then known as a familiar universal language, popular on five continents.

The four sides of this double album revive the history of jazz, from "Muskrat Ramble" to "Hello Dolly".

What was it Dorothy said?

A few months back, we released Westcoast Goddess' LPH debut, The Inner Snoopy, a classic house EP reincarnated as one of those giant rainbow-colored lollipops. And that really wasn't enough, so now we have a second four-tracker from the guy, a continuation of the technicolor adventure through nightclubs in the Kingdom of Caring.

Pop it on and feel the sugar rush, feel your pupils dilate, feel your heart race and swell with joy.

A new sub-label of the longstanding Canadian electro imprint Suction Records, Ice Machine — focusing on old-school wave/post-punk sounds — is thrilled to present a new, deluxe reissue of “Pow Wow”, the debut 1982 solo LP from Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder. Now expanded to a double-LP, and also released on CD/digital, it’s a definitive reissue which now includes Mallinder’s early solo discography in its entirety. This collection of mutant dub/funk/postpunk sounds just as fresh and contemporary in 2020 as it did in 1982 (note Autechre’s inclusion of standout cut “Del Sol” in a mix earlier this year), and highlights Mallinder’s crucial contributions to Cabaret Voltaire.

Some words from Mr.Mallinder on the scene and era from which “Pow Wow” was born: “It was an interesting, and inspiring, time. The primal caterwaul of punk was dying and lots of really significant things were emerging from the fires. Much looser vibes were in the air and there was a much more exploratory feel. Punk had championed a visceral, anti-intellectual approach but in truth the real characters brought so much more to the table, and what began to happen - from people like The Pop Group to Throbbing Gristle, and emerging scenes from No New York to Factory Records - is we began to embrace the art of it all. There was acknowledgement of the importance of books, films, graphic art, and experimentation with all those mediums. We were just as interested in turning over rocks to see what lay beneath, as throwing them. There was a sense of new magik emerging.”

“Pow Wow” was commissioned by the Fetish Records label, and recorded at the Cabs’ Western Works studio, where Mallinder would spend his days recording with Cabaret Voltaire, and continue on alone into night recording his debut solo material. “I slept very little in those days,” he adds, continuing: “It was done on 8 track and very multi-tracked, so lots of recording, then bouncing, and overdubbing, to get the integrated feel of the tracks. I became very adept at pressing record then jumping onto equipment to play it - it was actually a very 'live' record in that sense. I've always seen rhythm at the core of what I do so I loved the layering of counter rhythms. The sequence/arpeggiator parts were all drum machine triggers that were played live. It was about creating a distinct groove so arrangements came from weaving in and out of those linear grooves. It was fun to play everything from drums, guitars, keys, trumpet, percussion, tapes… and record and produce it all. Prince got it from me!”

Surprisingly, Mallinder’s first solo LP would also prove to be his last - that is, until last year’s critically-acclaimed solo return “Um Dada”, on Dais.

This new edition of “Pow Wow” contains 14 songs, and is housed in a recreation of the original, iconic Neville Brody jacket, painstakingly recreated using scans of Brody’s original artwork elements. The 2LP vinyl edition is in a reverse board, thick-spine jacket, and adds a 12”x24” folded poster/insert, featuring unused elements from Brody’s original designs, sketches, and instructions for the LP. The CD edition comes in a reverse board, 6-panel digipack.


2-11 from the Pow-Wow LP on Fetish Records, 1982.

13-14 from the Temperature Drop / Cool Down 12” on Fetish Records, 1981.

12 from the Fetish Records compilation The Last Testament, 1983.

1 edit from the Pow-Wow Plus LP on Fetish Records (Japanese pressing), 1984.

2xLP: Wide Spine, pressed on Gold Nugget vinyl with spot gloss printing on cover

About:
Free Nationals are best known as Anderson Paak's live band, until now. Band members Kelsey Gonzalez (Bass), Ron "Tnava" Avant (Keyboard/ Vocoder), Callum Connor (Drums) and José Rios (Guitar) have graced the stage at Coachella, opened for performers such as Beyoncé and completed World Tours alongside J.Cole, Bruno Mars - the list continues. Paying homage to the musical legends that paved the way before them; Free Nationals means The first people of America, Indigenous to the land before Columbus came. Staying Indigenous to the funk, Free Nationals pay tribute to inspirations such as Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Herbie Hancock and Al Green by incorporating musicianship while pioneering musical euphoria for a new generation.

Embarking on a journey from Italy to Anatolia and from Africa to the Americas, Nelson of the East soars over imagined landscapes in his debut, motion picture- inspired album, Kybele. Plug in your headphones, drown out the world, and set
out on a mystic voyage of Earth through the lens of Kybele, the Anatolian goddess of wild nature.

With the world in flux and isolation taking its toll, musical escapism has become a much needed pastime for today’s armchair adventurers. Treating recorded sound as a vehicle of time travel, Milanese artist Nelson of the East (N.O.T.E) takes listeners on a journey through kaleidoscopic soundscapes with his debut album Kybele released on Tartelet Records.

Skillfully weaving the sounds of East and West, the nine-track LP fuses Turkish and cosmic influences with a strong electronic backbone into an otherworldly soundtrack of our time.

“The feeling that passes through the record isn’t straight. It changes, it turns, it is never predictable. Never being able to predict which landscape you arrive at next or where the music is taking you is key to enjoying the sound journey,” says Nelson. “

Named Kybele after the Anatolian goddess of nature, fertility, mountains, and wild animals, the record is a continuous saga that takes from the Berlin-based artist’s own adventurous spirit. Following his previous EP releases Night Frames and Phase Alternating Lines, Nelson explores new territories on Kybele.

The album opener, “Explorer,” is an exhilarating build up to what could be a 80s sci-fi movie, showcasing Nelson’s knack for cinematic moods. “Draw Me,” speaks to the artist’s intention of making a “snare album,” with an irregular, dominating beat untethering it from time or boundaries. “What I realize while I was writing the rhythm part is that the more you keep a beat simple the more difficult it becomes to make it interesting. So I just put down some rules to follow. For example, using swing as smoothly as possible, or using lot of syncopated sequence over the straight 2-4 groove,” says Nicolas.

Another thing Nelson achieves in this album is ambience, or the “motion picture touch” as he calls it. Tracks like the wild and obscure Culto, with its Anatolian nuances and middle eastern-sounding scales are made by layering synths to achieve an orchestral effect.

Other tracks capture the musician’s penchant for African and Brazilian grooves, like the Saudade mix of Burning Palm. On the B side, the Italo-flavored Phase Lines comes through with shimmering synth and electronic drums complete with hazy vocals delivered by DJ Rayne and Nelson himself. Yahuda dives into dark, melancholic electro with a Detroit feel not far from the sounds of the great Drexciya.

The album closes with ZETA, a track that could easily double as an obscure cinematic composition. The nine-track LP is strictly limited to 300 copies, pressed on 180g vinyl with artwork by The Emperor of Antarctica. No repress.

new quartet by Samuel Rohrer, Max Loderbauer, Stian Westerhus & Tobias Freund In the present era of media saturation, the artist's dilemma has shifted away from the question whether to fuse disparate stylistic elements, towards the decision of which energies to draw upon: a situation most rewarding for those who listen to musicians navigating this limitless terrain. One such journey, the captivating full-length release from Samuel Rohrer's new Kave quartet coming out this May, is bringing together players who are equally well-versed in the quick-thinking mechanics of free group improvisation and the compositional strategies of contemplative / ‘ambient’ electronic music. With Rohrer acting as creative director and most of the quartet sharing synthesizer duties, there’s a strong sense of unified purpose to this set, and a narrative flow that never causes the listener to focus on one constituent part at the expense of the whole. At the same time, the players know all well that cohesion counts for little without those constituent parts being compelling in their own right. Rohrer and Loderbauer, for example, have previously crafted a unique techno-organic approach with the Ambiq trio, and the lessons learned from that partnership are put to inspired use within this new configuration. Stian Westerhus’ contributions on guitar and vocals, along with Tobias Freund’s electronic reinforcements - Freund also has worked since many years with Max Loderbauer as NSI - all conspire to make something that Rohrer aptly compares as “forest”-like. It’s a descriptor that will have vastly different meanings for each listener. For Rohrer, it refers to music that is confident in the “deep-rootedness” of its foundations and defined by a density and mystery easily confused with darkness, while nevertheless proving its bright vitRight away, on the introductory odyssey 'Cambium' the quartet sets out to make good on this metaphor, creating a hypnotic foundation for what is about to unfold during the next 42 minutes, with brooding, slow, 'searchlight in a fog,' synth washes and percussive stridulation. The twin 'Hibernation' tracks show all the unique elements beginning to coalesce: the emotional tenor is one of vulnerability that melts into the determination of 'staring into the void', a temperamental state challenging to represent authentically in music. The atmosphere of psychic challenge effort lessly gives way to the faintly nostalgic glimmers of 'Giant Peach' - a literary reference to the macabre whimsy of Roald Dahl.
The ultimate dissolution of barriers between organicism and synthesis is accomplished on the majestic 'Divided We Fall', a title referring to Westerhus’ smoky vocalization that winds into a double helix formed from electronic surges.
Again, the ease with which it all comes together is mesmerizing, and while there’s an aura of risk accompanying this walk through the woods, there’s a much more enduring impression of carefully orchestrated growth and change.

Killer 13-track compilation of 70's music from Mauritius that evolved from the original sega genre - the music of the slaves as well as their descendants, sung to protest against injustices in Mauritian society.

Created at the crossroads of Afro-Malagasy, the 70s strain fused Western and Indian cultures, pop, soul and funk arrangements, syncopated polyrhythms, saturated guitars, psychedelic organs and Creole vocals. Although the exact origins of sega remain unknown, it contains vocal and percussive practices that originated from Madagascar, Mozambique and East Africa. A social escape and a space for improvisation, satire and verbal jousting, it transcended everyday life and made room for the expression of conflicts and the transgression of taboos.

The main instrument of sega is the ravanne, a large tambourine-like drum made of a large wooden frame and goat skin. It is accompanied by the maravanne, a rectangular rattle filled with seeds, and other homemade forms of percussion. Eric Nelson a solo guitarist and arranger, set up the band Features Of Life which, in the mid 70’s, gave birth to a new sound. Fuzzy distorted guitars and funky beats invite each other to play over the unbridled beats created by fabulous drummer Raoul Lacariate.

The band accompanied a new wave of singers, including the atypical Joseph Roland Fatime aka Ti L’Afrique, a hyperbolic and hyperactive character, a fan of blues and James Brown who launched an explosive raw, and funky style of sega.

Vesa-Matti Kivioja has been making waves as an integral part of the multi-faceted Ljudverket & Meltdown Deejays crews in his native Finland for many years. His productions merge 80's ambient & library stylings with John Hassell-esque soundscaping, live percussions and vintage drum-computer programming drenched in fathoms deep kaleidoscopic dubbing and mixing. This particular EP is all of the above, the sound of rural Western Finland thawing after the hard-bitten winter months, each track inspired by Kivioja's fascination with various species of lizard, hence the EP & track titles.

Coloured Vinyl

The tenth, jubilee release of "Instrument" series is a sudden turning point and immediately changes the rules of the game, anticipating emerging trends. Oleg Buyanov - one of the main GOST contributors responsible for prominent records "True White" and "Height Difference" makes his debut in "Instrument" framework. OL's new release creates a path of complete diverseness - a unique mix of ambient, dub and mutational electronica, though the author's hip-hop DNA is still recognisable.

The release title as well as its symbol flirts with the privacy of communication in the context of its facilities and tools of the present world. Music acts as the info-channel, which provides unseen and coded data to a person from aside. The vagueness of mood, recurrent rhythm changes, and order of arrangement seem to rhyme with the paranoid feeling of being wiretapped. OL (along with another GOST ZVUK resident Flaty) recently had a similar experience of sound synthesis with their Serwed project whose recent LP was released via West Mineral Ltd. The groove of "SORM" is swirling, distorted and sometimes "disengaged"; sound guided by its waves exists in a constant process of decomposition, dissolution and then reassembles in new configurations.

Moscow's leading deep and underground house label Deepology presents a series of releases, Four Seasons. Four releases, vinyl only, each corresponding to a specific season of the year.

The first record, EP 1, includes four tracks by residents and friends of the label - an international team of the artists from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and Finland.

Limited edition of 300 copies. Spread the analogue love!


DJ Feedback:

Mark Farina, Sascha Dive, Luna City Express, Martin Landsky, Jimpster, DJ Linus, Charles Spencer, Nick Holder, Terry Francis, Jay West, Igor Marijuan (Ibiza Sonica FM), Glenn Underground, Jesus Gonsev, Robert Owens, Patrick Lindsey, Lars Behrenroth, Carlo Gambino, Mucho Soul, Finest Wear, Fer Ferrari, Sumsuch and more.

We’ve worked with Ian Willson to reissue his insanely good, self-released West Coast classic “Straight From The Heart”. Privately pressed and originally released in 1985, this is the only album Ian ever put out. A magical blend of AOR/sophisticated funk/synth-boogie/spiritual jazz and modern soul, it’s a spellbinding record of many colours.

You might already know “Straight From The Heart” for the dubby-disco paranoid-balearic anthem “Four In The Morning”, and it’s easy to assume this is probably just another one of those one-track LPs. But trust us when we say it’s definitely not. This is an impressively slick record from start to finish, just ask those modern soul DJs and AOR collectors who’ve managed to find a rare copy in the last 35 years. It could’ve (should’ve?) been number 1 all over the world back in 1985.

Album opener “Think About It” is all sorts of right. It’s emotional. It’s tops-off. It’s funk in its purest form. And take the proto-modern-funk of the title track (half Dâm-Funk / half Dâd-Funk).

The shimmering, spiritual Bossa-Jazz of “If I Were You” serves as the album’s soaring centrepiece. A gorgeous suite of Cosmic vibes to get Gilles frothing, it sounds like nothing else on the record which makes sense given that it was recorded a couple of years earlier, and is the only track on the LP that wasn’t recorded in Ian’s own studio.

Side B opens with the propulsive ode to love that is “Two Is Better Than One”. Wonderfully sparse when it needs to be, it’s also richly percussive and that special kind of California-warm. Frenetic, speaker smashing synth and horn workout “Funk Invasion” dares you not to dance and “A Game Called Love” is heavily indebted to Prince with its lush, deep funk stylings. The sweeping sax-drenched instrumental “Song For Katelyn” is head-nod, beat-heavy AOR for that melancholic magic hour we spend our days longing for. It all adds up to the ultimate BBQ record.

Almost all of “Straight From The Heart” was recorded over a few months between 1983 and 1984 on Ian’s brand new Otari 8 track in the Oakland, California studio he built just the year before. Only “If I Were You” was recorded elsewhere, at Bay Sound in 1982.

A “full time poor musician” at the time (and he says he still is), Ian produced the album himself and played all of the instruments, except for guitar. That’s Peter Fujii you can hear, his good friend from growing up together.

Tower Of Power, Average White Band, Earth Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder was the list of influences Ian gave us when we asked. No wonder the record’s just so easy on the ears.

And why did he put the record out himself? Simple, he had no idea how to go about getting a record deal.

When we first got in touch with Ian he had no idea that “Straight From The Heart” had become something of a cult record, let alone that there were those of us out there that thought the album deserved to be pressed again. The original tapes have long since been lost so this re-issue was only made possible by remastering Ian’s one and only pristine copy of the finished LP.

The end results have been worth the work, including reproducing the original’s unmistakeable sleeve. Ian Willson’s “Straight From The Heart” is yet another Be With release that will find an easy home on the shelves of those of you who up to now have only dreamt of finding a copy and also those of you who who never knew it even existed.

Introducing this debut release on Reptile Dysfunction from Aniche. A
super exciting Graduate of Doorly's Orbit DJ / Production Academy
project and new member of the Reptile Dysfunction clan.
Taking inspiration from his cultural background of old school Hindi
cinema and 90s Dance music, his sound is what happens when Eastern
philosophy meets Western electronica. This unique approach is what
makes Aniche a niche.

Entitled ‘My Heart Is Hungry And The Days Go By So Quickly’ Danish singer and songwriter Jacob Bellens presents his fifth solo album. Thanks to his unique voice and his talent for heartfelt melodies, over the years Jacob, also known as frontman of I Got You On Tape and Murder, has become one of the most distinctive figures on the Scandinavian music scene. Slightly darker in tone than its predecessors ‘Trail Of Intuition’ (2018) or ‘Polyester Skin’ (2016), the new album lets us see the world through Jacob’s eyes.
Somewhere between left-field pop and a classical singer/songwriter approach, the songs were recorded in two sessions with producer Mads Brinch, drummer Tobias Laust, bass player Jonas Westergaard, keyboardist Malthe Rostrup and guitarist Tobias Fuglsang. “So many good friends and amazing instrumentalists have contributed to the sound“, explained Jacob. “And mostly, people were playing what they felt the song needed, which was an incredibly inspiring way of just letting the process develop naturally, and take on a life of its own.” As such, the recordings give off a distinct light-footed and organic feel. Rich in metaphors, the lyrics deal with personal perceptions based on everyday life occurrences that at the same time hint at the meaning of life in general - or at least suggest a higher perspective. The sonical expression is timeless but also modernistic and the lyrical point of view is refreshingly diverse, never just black or white. The sad songs have uplifting, often surreal qualities, and the lighter, uptempo songs also invite to a certain darkness. A flower basket full of difficult emotions, sprinkled with magical fairy dust that somehow makes everything worthwhile.

BEHOLD! The inaugural long player from Wick Records - The Mystery Lights! In an era when the city kvetches that there are no good NYC bands, when half of the music scene has split for sunny California, the Mystery Lights are an anomaly. Not only did these bold young men reverse the direction - optimistically migrating east against the tide from the west coast, but they also immersed themselves in the action and diversity of New York City. Organically unfolding over the nights, months and years, the Lights' sound has evolved into a fuzz-fueled, hopped-up 21st Century take on '60s garage pebbles, and artful '70s punk, that is all their own.

If you've ever seen the Mystery Lights live, then you've experienced the otherworldly energy and conviction they exude on stage, compelling their rabid fans to emphatically entwine themselves into an electrified mob. This album is a testament to that. Recorded at The Daptone House Of Soul by (Grammy Award winning) engineer, Wayne Gordon - shortly after their debut single sold out - it marries the Lights' youthful, visceral energy with seasoned song-craft and musicianship far beyond their years.

The Mystery Lights are living proof that vital contemporary music, in this case real-deal rock 'n roll, can still be dreamed, constructed, and thankfully recorded in the Empire City.