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Coming in the form of a beautiful antique pink and dark green
3-shutter digipack and gatefold double LP, ‘Two Roses’ is, in
Avishai’s words, “a once in a lifetime project.”
Associating his core trio (Mark Guiliana, Elchin Shirinov) with
the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Avishai Cohen offers a
very cinematic project between jazz, Mediterranean folklore
and classical music, re-exploring a part of his musical journey.
As well as offering new orchestrations of his most successful
works, ‘Two Roses’ also features ‘When I’m Falling’, an original
composition showing how far the sound of Avishai Cohen has
developed.
The 180g double vinyl edition features two exclusive tracks,
including a symphonic version of ‘Seven Seas’, which is one of
Avishai’s most beloved compositions.
“For many years I had thought of writing some of my existing
music and new compositions for a full orchestra. Though it
seemed more like a fantasy for a while, at a certain point it felt
like the right time. So I decided to contact some good
orchestrators and begin the journey. Diving into the assignment
getting deeper and deeper into it and within a few years this
incredible body of work was ready to be performed and
recorded.
“As soon as we finished recording, it was clear something
special had been achieved and now I can’t wait for more.
“Playing and singing with an orchestra is pure magic. I’m
feeling very fortunate for this incredible opportunity and wish to
thank everyone who is a part of it, especially my manager Ray
Jefford who was the main anchor behind this wonderful
production.
“Enjoy” - Avishai Cohen

Antonio L. Newton AKA Tony Newton (born 1948) is a multi-instrumentalist from Detroit, MI who began his professional career at the age of thirteen, playing bass guitar with blues legends like John Lee Hooker and T-Bone Walker. Discovered by Motown executive Hank Cosby while playing the Detroit blues circuit at the age of 18, he became the touring bassist with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on the famed 1965 European ‘Motown Review’ tour. Within two years, Newton became the Miracles’ musical director.

Tony Newton also toured and recorded with other Motown artists such as The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5…and countless others. Earning the nickname “the Baby Funk Brother” he left his trademark of solid, hard-driving and deftly clever grooves on such timeless hits as “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Baby Love,” “Stop In The Name Of Love,” “Nowhere to Run,” “ABC,” “Never Can Say Goodbye,” “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” and many others. Next to his impressive body of work for Motown, Newton can be heard on several hit singles from labels like Invictus-Hotwax and Stax. Later, Newton gained recognition as a member of both the acclaimed jazz-rock fusion group: The New Tony Williams Lifetime (headed by Miles Davis’ drummer Tony Williams) and the British hard rock group: G-Force (with veteran guitarist Gary Moore).

Tony Newton also recorded several solo albums during his impressive career, including the two total classics: ‘Mysticism & Romance’ (1978) and ‘Novaphonia’ (1987).

On the album, we are presenting you today (Novaphonia from 1987) the listener is treated to something UNIQUE (and this is not an overstatement). Newton really puts the ‘multi’ into multi-instrumentalist, playing the synthesizers, the electric bass and the drum machine. Experimental is the keyword here, sounds vary from psych/trance (almost like a soundtrack from a space movie), to funk, fusion, rock, R&B, soul and jazz. Novaphonia has both elements of Tony Newton’s impressive musical past and his vision for the future.

Spacious synths, unusual instruments and an all-around cosmic approach make this an ‘out of this world’ and VERY intriguing album. Resonant, sonically rich, sonorous, colorful, mind-expanding sounds are what one should expect from the 20th century Novaphonic sound developed to its greatest extent. These harmonies are innately pleasing to the human ear, mind and nervous system.

Explore new musical frontiers intended to catapult the listener towards new dimensions…this is an album that just begs for a special place in your record collection!

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first-ever vinyl reissue of ‘Novaphonia’ since its release in 1987. This rare & private-pressed album (original copies tend to go for large amounts on the secondary market) is now finally back available as a limited 180g vinyl edition (500 copies) complete with the original artwork.

Lothian Buses’ is an EP of genre collisions with Proc Fiskal amalgamating his twinkling, caffeinated grime sound with the rhythms and sounds of other genres, without ever overthinking it. To kick off, ‘Thurs Jung Yout’ is a kind of shoegaze drill with strings and gentle tones swelling and dissipating against busy drill beats. ‘Baguettes’ is a more classic Proc sound, a galloping rhythm against a sparse melody that was a quick fix up for a show that turned out well. ‘Choco Frito (Calamari)’ was influenced by the good life, DJing in Portugal in the sunshine and hearing Kuduro played out. The latticing drum patterns nod to the style, dropping into a sunny accordion chorus with a plucked guitar line. ‘Scarab Aloph’ is Proc's style compressed, full of micro-glitches, tight drum fills and incidental drop-outs across a pretty melody, while ‘HopeTak2’ is his percussive, breezy take on funky house with smiley melodic stabs. Finally, ‘Mullit Madollock’ takes the sonics of airy Bukem-style atmospheric jungle, an instantly recognisable inspiration that's not been as foregrounded in Proc’s work before, refitted and updated with grime-inspired melodic bass kicks.

Café Society opened the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews. Woody Allen became the first and only director to have three opening night films selected for the Cannes Film Festival.

It’s New York in the 1930s. As he has more and more trouble putting up with his bickering parents, his gangster brother and the family jewelry store, Bobby Dorfman feels like he needs a change of scenery. He decides to go and try his luck in Hollywood where his high-powered agent uncle Phil hires him as an errand boy.

In Hollywood he soon falls in love, but unfortunately the girl has a boyfriend. Bobby settles for friendship – up until the day the girl knocks at his door, telling him her boyfriend just broke up with her. All of a sudden Bobby’s life takes a new turn, and a very romantic one at that.

The soundtrack features a great collection of the music from the 1930’s. The music is featured prominently in the movie and has been chosen by Woody Allen himself and features newly recorded jazz standards by Grammy Award winners Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks and classic recordings from Ben Selvin, Benny Goodman and Count Basie.





RELEASE: 9-4-2021

Woody Allen says about the soundtrack: “The soundtrack consists of music from the
1930s since that’s when the picture takes place. Most of the material is Richard Rodgers and [Lorenz] Heart, who was very dominant in those years and Lorenz Heart has that bitter sweet romantic quality that defines the spirit of the movie itself.”

This limited edition contains of 500 individually numbered copies on solid gold coloured vinyl. It includes a 4-page booklet with pictures from the film and credits.

A tender and sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean- American family that moves to a tiny Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

Minari already won several awards at Sundance Film Festival, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, Boston Society of Film Critics, Denver Film Festival, Florida Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, North Carolina Film Critics Association and appeared on over 30 critics’ year-end top-ten lists, including first place on two lists and second place on four lists.

Emile Mosseri is an American composer, pianist, singer and producer based in Los Angeles. He has scored films and series including The Last Black Man In San Francisco, Kajillionaire, HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness and Season 2 of Amazon’s Homecoming. Emile is a member of the indie-rock band The Dig.

Orions Belte: «Villa Amorini» Jansen Records 2021 Do you remember the time the doorman ran after some drunken kids around the lake outside the club? As he dives into the lake, he scrapes his stomach on a sharp object in the water, but catches up and returns with one youth under each arm. At the same time the singer from the band playing inside, jumps from the loft hoping that the chandelier he grabs will hold him. It doesn’t. Endless afterparties and constantly trying to avoid visits from the police or the liquor control. Still nothing? This was the 90’s club scene in Bergen, and Villa Amorini was the place where everything happened. Starting as an 80’s fine dining spot, it evolved into an extravagant club with tons of artists and DJ’s in screaming shirts and oversized sunglasses. This sets the scene for Orions Belte’s second album. Still a mix of all the sounds they like, reminiscing eras they haven’t experienced, trying to navigate in their own musical atmosphere. Chaotic and calm at the same time. Villa Amorini is recorded at Norsk Riksstudio by engineer Njål Paulsberg, making sure the sounds were on point while leaving the band alone to play together for hours upon hours, chiseling out the base for the album. Where the debut was summery and a bit brighter, this album tends to lean a bit more towards the big city, night life and leftover food from the fridge. Mixed as always by the magnificent Matias Tellez.

• From the mid-‘50s through to the early ‘70s, Jackie Wilson was a consistent hit-maker and master showman, known as one of the most dynamic singers in American R&B. Jackie Wilson has a dazzling record of 54 US Hot 100 and 49 R&B singles chart entries
• ‘Nobody But You’ is the final studio album by the soul great and is the first vinyl reissue of the 1976 album
• Highlights include ‘Don’t Burn No Bridges’
• Pressed on 140g black vinyl with original artwork and printed inner sleeve

Across The Globe is the new series of releases from Low Key Source which sees established producers team up with vocalists and MC’s from Australia, New Zealand and beyond.

Volume 1 showcases the beats of Detroit’s Apollo Brown known for his production through Mello Music Group which has seen him work with the likes of Oddisee, Guilty Simpson, Skyzoo, Ras Kass, OC, Sean Price, Boog Brown, Big Pooh and most recently Planet Asia on their new album “Anchoives”.

“Reminiscing” sees the UK’s Jehst team up with Children Of Zeus vocalist Tyler Daley and has them reflecting about back in the day and giving a special mention to the passing of UK Producer Mark B. It’s special boom-bap throwback sound with sweeping strings captures perfectly the message of what life was once like being free from responsibilities.

The English city of Nottingham is represented on the posse cut “Time’s Different” showcasing the lyrical skills of up and comers Juga-Naut and Vandal Savage alongside veteran Cappo. It’s hard hitting snare snaps into a crispy beat which instantly takes you into headnod mode.

Apollo Brown never fails to execute his signature robust Hip Hop production as heard on "World Revolves" where Dialectrix spits fire with a rhythmical flow that resembles the way a sparrow would slice across the air - in short bursts left and right, up and down with ease. Rounding out the EP is Brisbane’s Lazy Grey with “First Come First Served”. Another sharp serving of distinct Apollo Brown production paired with Grey's own verbal dexterity.

With the renowned illustrator and designer Dan Lish holding down the artwork for each volume in this series, “Across The Globe” is a limited edition release every good music lover needs in their collection.

Superb unreleased soundtrack from British 1972 sex comedy starring Gabrielle Drake (Nick Drake’s sister) and Rchard O’Sullivan (Gilbert O’Sullivan’s brother!). Brilliant music on many levels, 17 sexy tracks of swinging jet-set jazz, groovy scatty vocals, hell it must be good because it’s on Trunk Records.

Take yourself back to the fleapit cinemas of the early 1970s. My home town of Aldershot had two - the ABC/123 (with three screens) and The Palace (just one screen, and anything but palatial). Au Pair Girls, released in 1972, was exactly the kind of soft porn “comedy” flick with a vague plot that would, without doubt, have been playing as part of a double bill to the regular “dirty mac brigade”. Such films and such establishments guaranteed the small crowd regular titillating wide screen visions of nude women in preposterous situations and fulfilling preposterous fantasies.
The title of Au Pair Girls suggests it all of course; yes, four young women fly into London from Europe and Asia, are sent to their new employers and find themselves in unexpected and unusual situations pretty fast. There is of course full nudity, crudity and a large slab of cheese on the menu.There is also no real comedy, a sprinkling of infamous character actors (Richard O’Sullivan, John Le Mesurier), and “UFO” actress Gabrielle Drake (sister of Nick Drake) wearing nothing at all. If anything, the film has maintained a vague middle aged male following because of Gabrielle.
But there’s little to save this film from contemporary criticism - its outdated view of life, rights, sex and taste sit uncomfortably today. But the jet set soundtrack by Roger Webb was worth saving.
By 1972 Roger Webb’s career in film and TV music was taking off. He was an established songwriter and live pianist with a jazz trio. He’d already penned a few British scores and was just starting on a formidable future with library companies including Chappell, de Wolfe and Capitol. His route to Au Pair Girls was accidentally through Norman Newell, one of the giants of the post war music industry.Actress and performer Dee / Deanne Shenderry had asked Newell to recommend an artist to arrange her up and coming album. New;ee recommended Roger Webb.The two worked together and some music was produced, but to my knowledge only got to acetate stage (possibly for Apple Records). Dee husband was Kenneth Shipman, a co-owner ofTwickenham film studios.And so when Kenneth Shipman started pre
production of Au Pair Girls, Roger Webb was an easy go-to for film music composition.
Many years ago there was an original reel / master for Au Pair Girls. It was transferred to CD, DAT and cassette circa 1990 and the rapidly degrading tape was subsequently misplaced, lost or just binned. So all we had to work with was a rather shaky transfer from nearly 30 years ago, one which included numerous wobbles as well as speeding up and slowing down moments.The job of rescuing all this was left to Jon Brooks, my hero for all such musical problems. The end result is what you hear on this album. It is by no means sonically perfect but it is all we will ever have.
It’s certainly not Roger Webb’s best ever score (I have more of his ace work coming) but it has a certain charm and relentlessness.The lyrics were written by Norman Newell, and I can imagine the pair having a huge amount of fun putting the score together and recording it, with - as you’d expect - a pretty tight band and lively vocal group.The main theme does, as one reviewer state, “go on a bit”, but there’s enough musically here for me to get excited about and really want to “stick it out”. So I have.

The Black Bones story is born out of a shared obsession for crate digging, collecting, and the playing of weird and wonderful music. Their releases so far have manifested in a highly-sought series of seven psychedelic disco 12"s - picking up numerous Record of the Week plaudits on the way. This considered curation and skill for pulling together far-flung sounds fully informs their first original material. These four bold and adventurous club cuts are a thrilling mix of straight-up house sounds, new beat, industrial, dub, sleaze and all the other good shit that comes with low-lighting and a heavy sound system. Kicking off with the full throttle 120 bpm of 'ABTS' - the duo take you straight to the 'floor with one of the wildest rides we've heard in some time. 'Denied' pulls us in to darker territory - chest pummelling bass, ominous high-pitched warnings and a chuggy acid throw-down finding us once again lost in that 5am dance floor fog. Over on the flip and 'Punghi' combines a hypnotic groove, dubbed out FX, percussion and a tripped-out Eastern breakdown. One for the more adventurous DJs and dance floor! The EP is closed by 'Gabi' which sounds like minimal gone maximal with an insane industrial switch-up. Enough words! As always, Black Bones let the music do the talking and this ambitious debut can quickly find itself shelved alongside the records that have fuelled their lifelong obsession.

Launch of a new series of Various Artists 12inches to be released on Night Defined Recordings, which will serve as a platform for the existing NDR label family as well as for new faces. NDVAX01 gathers four tracks by Șerb, SW., Roger 23 and Eduardo De La Calle, which find common ground when it comes to depth and space as well as to walk away from established song structures in favor of establishing a forward-thinking type of club music.

Eagles’ debut live album, featuring live recordings from California venues including The Forum, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, and Long Beach Arena. These live performances are from the peak of their career, spanning 15 recordings from between 1976 and 1980. The live show includes some of Eagles’ biggest hits featuring “Hotel California”, “Desperado”, and “Take It Easy”.

Originally released in 1980, the album is currently certified gold in the UK and x7 platinum in the US. The release is on 180g black vinyl, contains a poster, and features remastered audio from the Legacy box.


[a] A1. HOTEL CALIFORNIA [6:55]
[b] A2. HEARTACHE TONIGHT [4:35]
[c] A3. I CAN’T TELL YOU WHY [5:24]
[d] B1. THE LONG RUN [5:35]
[e] B2. NEW KID IN TOWN [5:45]
[f] B3. LIFE’S BEEN GOOD [9:38]
[g] C1. SEVEN BRIDGES ROAD [3:25]
[h] C2. WASTED TIME [5:40]
[i] C3. TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT [5:20]
[j] C4. DOOLIN-DALTON (REPRISE II) [0:44]
[k] C5. DESPERADO [4:04]
[l] D1. SATURDAY NIGHT [3:55]
[m] D2. ALL NIGHT LONG [5:40]
[n] D3. LIFE IN THE FAST LANE [5:10]
[o] D4. TAKE IT EASY [5:20]

Robert Zimmerman, aka the rock-folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1941. His first three albums – Bob Dylan, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changing – reoriented both folk music and rock. His early songs were largely inspired by Woody Guthrie, and in turn provided inspiration (and soon a religion) to many music fans around the globe.

There is no doubt that the baby-boomers of 1968 – a whole generation – were seeking an ideal, and the promise of change in Dylan’s first songs transformed a merely average nasal-toned folk singer into a figurehead of the protest movement, and later one of its high priests.

But there are also those who will remember how Dylan invented his own life-story as an orphan with Indian blood who spent his childhood in a circus/ Or how he happily explained to 'Time' why their magazine was pointless (and to CBS News why opinions expressed by media were useless and harmful.) Of course they were, and so Bob was there to change the world. Times, indeed, they were changing, and Bob began wearing silk shirts way before he was handed the Nobel Prize for Literature. We need more Jesus Christs and Bob Dylans as world-changers.

Hailing from Los Angeles, Jimmy Tamborello has been a key figure in refining what today is considered electronica for over 20 years. "The Seas Trees See" is the first of two Dntel albums to be released in 2021 by Morr Music in collaboration with Les Albums Claus: a free-floating and rather loose stroke of musical genius, giving ambience a whole new meaningful context. It combines crackles and hiss with deep, yet modest, synths and poignant, yet elegant, vocals and lyrics. "Away", its counterpart album, will follow later in 2021. It will showcase Dntel’s unapologetic love for pop music from a long-gone era, presenting yet another aspect of his multi-faceted personality. Dntel has always covered many musical grounds – from the pop-infused hits on "Life Is Full Of Possibilities" (Plug Research, 2001) to his much more abstract works on "Aimlessness" (Pampa Records, 2012), "Human Voice” (Leaving Records, 2014), and his electronics for The Postal Service (Sub Pop). Whatever his style – Tamborello has retained his very own musical voice.

When it comes to producing music, it can be a good idea to get away from the studio and find a more relaxed environment. Inspiration does not necessarily require huge bass bins. Fewer pieces of gear make it easier to really focus on ideas first and let them be. After recording "Hate In My Heart" – his most recent album, released in 2018 – this way, Tamborello continued working in that fashion, mainly jamming and getting ideas together for upcoming live shows. One of the first results of this creative process was the opening track of "The Seas Trees See" – a cover version of "The Lilac and the Apple", originally recorded by Californian folk singer Kate Wolf in 1977. Tamborello turns the acapella song into a vocoder-like extravaganza. Working with the original recording, the track perfectly sets the tone for what "The Seas Trees See" turns out to be – a quiet yet mesmerizing journey through sound and emotion, bringing together his very own sound design, disguised samples and an incredible feel for moods and atmospheres.

"I thought a lot about making an album that you would find in a thrift store", Tamborello remembers. Something "like a mysterious collection of sketches that leaves a lot unanswered. It doesn’t beg for attention or have any big moments." Despite its perfect and gentle flow, it is worth digging deeper, to surrender oneself to all the painstakingly placed details. Whether the beautiful and haunting piano work on "Movie Tears" or the almost sidechained-sounding "Yoga App" – every aspect of this album has been beautifully crafted, often bringing one of life’s biggest questions to the table: What if? What would have happened if Tamborello would have done this on that track or that on this track? It is good that he did not. Small things add up to something great, diverse and riveting.

The subtlety of his latest endeavor is fascinating. It opens up a new world, in which small musical sketches mean at least as much as perfectly produced pop anthems – if not more.

Life and Times is part of a series of 1972 – 1974 Catalogue Reissues of the Legendary Jim Croce, which are now back in print on CD & 180g Black Vinyl.
The set of reissues includes 3 Top 10 Gold Certified Studio Albums & Top 5 Platinum Certified Greatest Hits Release, featuring 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles, including 8 Top 40, 5 Top 10, and 2 Number 1 Classics.
Life and Times was Croce’s 4th Studio album, released in 1973, and is certified GOLD.
It Features the GOLD #1 single “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”, plus the hit “One Less Set Of Footsteps” (#37).

This is a new release of the Groove Diggers series, the only work released in 1977 by 8-members funka soul band "Moonpie" based in Nashville, USA. Aused to be known as just collectors items but you can listen to high quality sound with skillful performance and various arrangements from this record. The cover take of "Stevie Wonder / Sunshine Of My Life" is really awesome.

“WOLF KING” have returned with a follow up to 2018’s blistering release, Loyal To The Soil. Having lost none of their bite, everyone’s favorite Bay Area blackened heavy metal band has crafted a twelve track opus that will set 2021 off to a smouldering start. The Path of Wrath tells real life tales of existential struggles and explorations of life and death. This abrasive take on mortality and the afterlife traverses themes of judgement, salvation, and looking ‘beyond the veil’. As they pick over the weight of sin and uncover the burdens of both damnation and forgiveness, ripples of pure darkness infiltrate every crevice of the album. Few do blackened heavy metal better than WOLF KING. For an uncompromising, filth-drenched, smoke-infused take on the genre, The Path of Wrath delivers the goods and then some.

For two decades Sara Watkins has been one of the
most visible artists in roots music, with her
catalogue ranging from solo albums and Watkins
Family Hour, a duo with her brother Sean Watkins,
to her Grammy-winning bands Nickel Creek and
I’m With Her.
With the nostalgic and gentle new album ‘Under
the Pepper Tree’, Sara Watkins offers a comforting
record for those moments as daily rhythms fade
into nightly rituals and when a child’s imagination
comes to life.
Made with families in mind, the personal project
encompasses songs she embraced as a child
herself, as well as the musical friendships she’s
made along the way. Recorded in Los Angeles with
producer Tyler Chester, ‘Under the Pepper Tree’
brings storytelling, solace and encouragement to
the listener, no matter the age.
LP in gatefold sleeve.

After a 7-year hiatus, funk legend Steve Arrington returns with his uplifting and soulful new album ‘Down To The Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions’, with artists including Mndsgn, Knxwledge and Jerry Paper on production. The album portrays his diversity of influences, which sees Arrington drawing on funk, soul, jazz, electronic and R&B.
Steve Arrington is known for his innovative vocals on classics including ‘Watching You’ and ‘Just A Touch of Love’, with Slave, as well as his solo work with tracks including ‘Dancin’ in the Key of Life’, ‘Weak at the Knees’ and ‘Nobody Can Be You’. His music has greatly influenced the hip hop generation, having been sampled by Jay-Z, A
Tribe Called Quest, Pharrell, 50 Cent, 2Pac, De La Soul, Snoop Dogg and many more. ‘Down To The Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions’ is Steve Arrington’s first solo album since 2009’s ‘Pure Thang’.

9 African germs that will move your mind to this special combination of highlife, funk and jazz

- The definitive overview of one of Canada's unsung musical heroes - Rare/previously unreleased recordings, photos, and interviews - Lyrics, discography, and filmography - Audio re-mastered by John Baldwin Mastering - Artwork by Christi Belcourt and Alanna Edwards - Liner notes by Kevin Howes (Voluntary In Nature) - Contributions from the Dunn family, Bob Robb, and Alanis Obomsawin (OC) // How did you first experience the poetry, music, and film of Willie Dunn? In a Montreal coffeehouse during the mid-1960s? On a CBC Indian Magazine broadcast with host Johnny Yesno? At a Toronto record store or Native Friendship Centre at the turn of the 1970s? Waiting outside of the Mohawk Nation Longhouse? Maybe in your parent's record collection on the Rez? A White Roots of Peace gathering? Pow wow? The Mariposa Folk Festival? Or was it that Save James Bay Benefit back in '73? On a good friend's stereo? Sitting around a crackling campfire? How about an old NFB film reel or VHS tape in high school? Or while attending Manitou College? A German concert hall in the 1980s? Maybe a direct action protest on the colonial streets of Canada? Busking in Ottawa during the 1990s? College radio? At Willie's celebration of life service in 2013 alongside Alanis Obomsawin and Willy Mitchell? LITA's Grammy-nominated Native North America (Vol. 1) compilation or the very anthology you hold in your hands? There should be no judgment for coming to things when you do. All that's important is remaining open to life-changing messages such as these_ Willie Dunn shared truth through song and celluloid. His original composition, "I Pity the Country," is an unparalleled statement on the greed and hate created by humankind, recorded in 1971 and still unfortunately needed today. "It's like the reason you're supposed to make music," said Kurt Vile about the song to MOJO Magazine in 2015. With "Charlie," Willie was the first to deliver the devastating story of Chanie Wenjack and the Canadian residential school system to the music community, nearly 50 years before the much-celebrated Secret Path, yet ignored outside of Indian Country and the folk festival circuit. Dunn's film technique, featured in 1968's The Ballad of Crowfoot (NFB), predates the "Ken Burns effect" to great effect. Are you catching the drift? Willie Dunn was not only a trailblazing leader in his time, but well ahead of the curve, simply without the PR push and big money backing of major label players. "He was our Leonard Cohen," said singer-songwriter Eric Landry about his musical hero. The only difference is that Willie refused to play the Hollywood showbiz game. In talent, he is Cohen, Dylan, and Cash rolled into one and along with Buffy Sainte-Marie, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, and A. Paul Ortega, brought a new set of perspectives and realities to the folk music tradition. Willie spoke directly to his people and Mother Earth through his creations, not only from experience but by examining his roots and connecting with the world in which he lived. We are humbled to help honor Willie Dunn. May he never be forgotten_ PEACE

Calgary songwriter Chad VanGaalen’s new album, ‘World’s Most Stressed Out
Gardener’, is a psychedelic bumper crop. A collection of tunes that does away with
obsessiveness, the anxiety of perfectionism, in favour of freshness and immediacy -
capturing the world as it was met while recording alone at home over a period of
years. “Don’t overthink it,” VanGaalen told himself again and again, despite the
push/pull love/hate of his relationship with songwriting. “I’m always trying to get
outside of the song - but then I realize I love the song.”
This is a record that gleams with VanGaalen’s musical signatures: found sound,
reverb, polychromatic folk music that is by turns cartoonish and hyperphysical - like
ultra-magnified footage of a virus or a leaf. Apparently, the album began life as a
“pretty minimal” flute record. (There’s only a vestige now, on ‘Flute Peace’, one of
three instrumentals.) Later it became an electronic record “for a while” and finally,
“right at the last second,” it “turned into a pile of garbage.” The good kind of
garbage: glinting, useful, free. Music as compost - leaves and branches ready to be
re-ingested by the earth, turned into a flower.
Throughout these 40 minutes, VanGaalen floats from mania to solace to oblivion,
searching for zen in all the wrong places. “Turn up the radio / I think we’re dead,”
he sings on ‘Nothing Is Strange’; or, on the inside-out rocker ‘Nightmare Scenario’:
“You’re stressed out when you should be feeling very well.” The singer’s mental
landscape is rotting and redemptive, beautiful in spite of itself - and his soundscapes
reflect this fertile decay.
He has been influenced by his instrumental work on TV scores (Dream Corp’s third
season began this fall) but still “nothing can really replace the human voice,” he
admits. Like Arthur Russell or Syd Barrett, it’s VanGaalen’s vocals that shine a path
through the swampland - from the cello-lashed ‘Water Brother’ to ‘Starlight’’s
krautrock pipe-dream.
These days, VanGaalen cherishes the privacy of the studio, the capacity to wander
around, get distracted, and “move at the speed of life.” Whereas once he would
obsess over mic techniques, now he puts the microphone in the same place every
time - trying to capture a song quickly, the idea at its heart. He’ll act on his
infatuations - for the flute, a squeaky clarinet, his basement’s copper plumbing
(remade into xylophones for ‘Samurai Sword’) - and then he’ll try to get out, “veering
away from responsibility,” before he overdoes his stay.
In the end, it’s like gardening. You have to live with your horrible decision-making;
the weather’s going to mess with you if it wants to; and if you plant a hundred
heads of broccoli, “now you gotta eat a hundred heads of broccoli - or watch them
go to seed.” But mostly VanGaalen just tries to be a deer: “I remember seeing some
deer come out in the Okanagan Valley once,” he says, “watching them wait for a
sunbeam to hit a perfect bunch of grapes - and then eating them right out of the
sunbeam. I’d recommend that.”
Initial LP copies pressed on clear with gold, red and blue high melt coloured vinyl.

As a musician, life is often lived on the road. Each city leaves its imprint on the artist as they develop their craft. Touring, recording, and keeping up with friends and family took Oddisee beyond his hometown of Washington DC to Australia, Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. From cities like East Africa's Khartoum in Sudan, to cosmopolitan jaunts like Paris & Tokyo. The influence of these travels can be heard on every one of the 24 tracks included on "Traveling Man". Each track was produced while Oddisee stayed in the city it was titled after. The result is a 24 city sonic tour of the world. Listen as Oddisee guides you through his instrumental journey around the globe. Visit the lonely winter streets of Detroit, festive San Francisco, hypnotic Khartoum - or let your swagger loose with the theme music of Chicago or the bounce of South Central. Oddisee sees the world, so that you can hear it.

They Say: “New directions in contemporary scoring”.

We say: Contempo is one of the best full album listens in the KPM 1000 library. Succinct smoking soul, super tight breaks and string-drenched sleaze composed by the library master, Keith Mansfield.

The creator of the romping tunes that became the iconic themes to the BBC’s Grandstand programme and their televised Wimbledon Tennis Championship coverage, Keith Mansfield was perhaps KPM’s most prolific artist from the mid 1960s right the way through the 1980s. As well as the sort of pop orchestral sound that is all over these classic library records, he could also turn his hand to raw, edgy rock and funk. Quentin Tarantino is a big fan, going as far as including some of Keith’s work on the soundtracks to Kill Bill and Grindhouse.

Many library records are a game of two halves and Contempo is certainly one of those. The first side cooks on a high funk breaks flame whilst the flip is something altogether more tranquil, yet no less groovy. It lays back with dreamier, post-coital grooves.

Rugged funk opener “The Fix” confidently displays its low slung languid grooves with heavy drums, horns and bass. Smokin’ in slow motion. The punchy “What’s Cooking” follows and has a lighter, more whimsical touch. But the drums still roll and the clavs wiggle in fascinating opposition to those horns. The dark and moody intro to “Cut To Music” gives way to a more inclusive, relaxed funk that’s all irresistible bass and stabbing horns. The mid-tempo “Man Alive” signals the time to really get down. A percussive monster jam. If you can’t strut to this then we really can’t help you! Closing out the A side, fresh guitar licks drip all over the slick drums of “Funky Footage”, with a New Orleans piano vibe coming on to really light a fire.

Whilst the dramatic crime funk of the A side is enough on its own to have earned this record its place in the great library record canon, it’s undoubtedly the more smoothed out B side for which Contempo is rightfully adored and celebrated. It’s so chilled and mellow, with beautifully arranged, sweeping strings, sax solos aplenty and a real 70s soundtrack feel. Think Love Boat, CTI label, Bob James, Grover Washington Jr.-type jams.

The super sleek and sexy jazz funk of “Breezin’” is as light and magical as you’d hope. An open-air masterpiece, its indulgent sound is just a taster of the sophisticated funk to follow. The elegant, romantic feels of “Good Vibrations” (used brilliantly by Odd Future’s Mike G for “Swiss Army”) is a string-drenched, wah-wah fuelled ode to living your best life. Nonchalantly. Whilst it keeps a very West Coast feel, the blaxploitation strut is certainly more Blackbyrds than Brian Wilson. “Sun Goddess” will blow your mind with the sensuous sound of glorious horns and beautiful keys. The luxurious “Love De Luxe” and its horizontal grooves have been much sampled, but here it proves that it doesn’t need any help to get you in an intimate mood. Closer “Snake Hips” is a cool mid-pace slouch. Just divine.

Originally released in 1976 but, like the very best KPM records, wonderfully timeless, Contempo is also no mere LP-length collection of loosely related tracks. This is a rare example of a library record that is a genuinely great listen from start to finish.

As with all of our KPM re-issues, the audio for Contempo comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. And as usual, the sleeve reproduction duties were handed over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.
: Contempo (KPM) (LP)

A
few years ago, All Is Well visited his good friend Martin Iveson in the UK for a studio session. A few tracks were written in the analog lab but one especially stood out. It was the then unnamed Cosmos. A kind of Jean-Michel Jarre vs Norwegian Cosmic disco melting pot dictated by the odd nature of the main theme from the Korg Monopoly’s weird Paraphony, and rhythmically sustained by the Arp
2600 Bass line. The track was left to sleep on a hard drive for a few years but never forgotten. AIW decided to bring it back to life during the first confinement in the Spring, stripping it down to its essential message. It was a natural decision to bring it to Prins Thomas’s label Internasjonal via a common friend in Ivaylo Kolev, the label manager. Remixes comes courtesy of exile Norwegian via Berlin Telephones and label boss Prins Thomas. Both Martin Iveson and All Is Well have been releasing music since the mid 90s under different names, Martin as Atjazz and All Is Well as Fred Everything.
All Is Well has been released on Drumpoet Community and Permanent
Vacation."

Cool Ghouls - a band fledged in San Francisco on house shows, minimum wage jobs, BBQ's in Golden Gate Park and the romance of a city’s psychedelic history turns 10 this year. What better a decennial celebration than the release of their fourth album, At George's Zoo!

How did San Francisco's fab four arrive at George's Zoo? The teenage friendship of complimentary spirits Pat McDonald (Guitar/Vox) and Pat Thomas (Bass/Vox) serves as square one. The Patricks were munching on Eggo-waffle-sandwiches and downing warm vokda in suburban Benicia (San Francisco bay) years before McDonald would hear George Clinton address his fans as "Cool Ghouls". The boys played their debut gig as Cool Ghouls at San Francisco's legendary The Stud in 2011, but there's no doubt the musical moment cementing the band's trajectory was much earlier at the 18th birthday party for boy-wonder Ryan Wong (Guitar/Vox) - at the Wong household.

You might remember the Ghouls' earliest days... McDonald’s hair hung luxuriously past his waist, Thomas dreamt of no longer having to crash on friends' couches to call SF home and Wong looked forward to turning 21. Cool Ghouls' Pete Best, Cody Voorhees, thrashed wildly – but briefly - on the drums and Alex Fleshman (Drums), who still claims he's not really "a drummer", turned out to be a really good drummer. Thomas would sleep pee on tour. Those were golden days!

Flash forward to today and everything is up in flames. No shows, parties or bars. Cool people are streaming out of SF. It's been 2 years since the last time Cool Ghouls have even played. The STUD is gone, The Eagle Tavern is for sale and The Hemlock has been demolished for condos. Your boss is an app. Fascism is no-knocking down the door. There's a pandemic.

Fortunately for us, the Ghouls got an album in before it all went to shit, and they made it count. At George's Zoo includes 15 of the 27 tunes they managed to eke out while simultaneously working through major life moves. It was a 5-month, all out, final sprint down the homestretch (to Ryan's moving day) with affable engineer Robby Joseph, at his makeshift garage studio in the Outer Sunset (pictured on the cover). Instead of recording the entire album over a few consecutive days - like they'd done with Tim Cohen, Sonny Smith and Kelley Stoltz for the first three LPs - the band took it slow by working through a few songs each weekend after rehearsing them the week before. Robby would cue up the tape, McDonald would throw some steaks on the grill and they'd get to work - much to the neighbor, George's, chagrin.

These guys have a real commitment to elevating as songwriters, musicians and ensemble players. It's always been for the music with Cool Ghouls and this long-awaited self-produced outing is a track by track display of the ground they've covered and heights they can achieve. Their vocals and trademark harmonies are front and center and out-of-control-good. Ryan's guitar solos are incredible. The horns by Danny Brown (sax) and Andrew Stephens (trumpet) hit in all the right places. Maestro, Henry Baker (Pat Thomas Band / Tino Drima), plays keys throughout. There's even a mesmerizing string section ("Land Song") by sonic polyglot, Dylan Edrich.

None of this growth is to the detriment of the fun, natural, feeling that fans have come to expect from the band. This is a fully realized Cool Ghouls album. It paints a remarkable portrait of SF's homegrown heroes and the many corners they've explored over the last decade. The songwriting, harmony and playing are nothing if not solid. The lyrics are keen. Robby's recording and mixing sound great start to finish and even better after mastering by Mikey Young. It's a triumphant addition to their catalogue. Recommended for Stooges and Beach Boys fans alike. Listen and see!

Yes, many things have changed since 2011. Who knows what the 20's will have in store for life on Earth, let alone the Cool Ghouls? We at least know that 2021 has At George's Zoo for us, a beautiful keepsake from the Before Times when we used to stand in living rooms together while bands played.

Daniel Szlajnda (aka Daniel Drumz) and Piotr Kalinski (aka Hatti Vatti) are one of the most famouse and experienced Polish producers and this album is another step forward for them.

It started with the EP "Krzyżacy", which was released exactly two years ago. Two well-known producers - Daniel Drumz & Hatti Vatti - joined their forces to release an EP, which later on was appreciated by the worldwide listeners, journalists and festival audience. JANKA, which I am talking about, hit the stages of the best Polish festivals such as Opener, Spring Break, Tauron, Slovenian MENT and Moscow Music Week. But that happened in 2019.

On March 8th 2021 the duo's debut album, "MIDI Life Crisis" will be released. Daniel Szlajnda and Piotr Kaliński once again prove that there is much more than just musical chemistry between them. What we can hear there are fascinations from dubby minimalism and IDM to jungle and rave - it's hard to label this unique mature album which should be a pleasant surprise for people open to electronic music. "Modern vintage" might be a good description of what we experience there, music is pressed on modular and analog synths and unusual sampling is drowned in delays and reverbs. However it's not from the late '90s, nothing is typical or obvious, the sound and the style of JANKA are unique.

On the album, you hear two guest voices - Sujka (i.e. Iwona Król - known from the projects Kobieta z Wydm, Lauda, and Król) and Kacha Kowalczyk (i.e. the voice of Coals), the album was mastered by Kwazar. The unique graphic was designed and created by Zosia Paśnik on the analogue gear (as a diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice). The album is released in analog form in two color versions, the 180-gram vinyl edition also includes three inserts with Zosia's graphics.

Daniel Szlajnda (aka Daniel Drumz) and Piotr Kalinski (aka Hatti Vatti) are one of the most famouse and experienced Polish producers and this album is another step forward for them.

It started with the EP "Krzyżacy", which was released exactly two years ago. Two well-known producers - Daniel Drumz & Hatti Vatti - joined their forces to release an EP, which later on was appreciated by the worldwide listeners, journalists and festival audience. JANKA, which I am talking about, hit the stages of the best Polish festivals such as Opener, Spring Break, Tauron, Slovenian MENT and Moscow Music Week. But that happened in 2019.

On March 8th 2021 the duo's debut album, "MIDI Life Crisis" will be released. Daniel Szlajnda and Piotr Kaliński once again prove that there is much more than just musical chemistry between them. What we can hear there are fascinations from dubby minimalism and IDM to jungle and rave - it's hard to label this unique mature album which should be a pleasant surprise for people open to electronic music. "Modern vintage" might be a good description of what we experience there, music is pressed on modular and analog synths and unusual sampling is drowned in delays and reverbs. However it's not from the late '90s, nothing is typical or obvious, the sound and the style of JANKA are unique.

On the album, you hear two guest voices - Sujka (i.e. Iwona Król - known from the projects Kobieta z Wydm, Lauda, and Król) and Kacha Kowalczyk (i.e. the voice of Coals), the album was mastered by Kwazar. The unique graphic was designed and created by Zosia Paśnik on the analogue gear (as a diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice). The album is released in analog form in two color versions, the 180-gram vinyl edition also includes three inserts with Zosia's graphics.

Be assured that even dawning on sixty and with a career spanning more than 30 years, Popa Chubby continues to fight against the injustices of this world !
And the least we can say about 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic is that it offered him the “magnificent” inspiration that fed into the creation of his new album “Tinfoil Hat”! As he writes himself, this record’s creation was self-evident from the beginning of the first lockdown in March.
Back at his base in the Hudson Valley and following his last show played in Florida, our man immediately wanted to send a message of empathy and support to his fans, and that’s how the song “Can I Call You My Friends?” was conceived. The reaction was so sudden, warm, and intense that he found there was enough material for continuing this “dialogue” by composing other songs that today form the framework for “Tinfoil Hat.”
The whole thing was entirely “homemade,” recorded and played by Popa Chubby with the extra Guts and Soul that great causes often bring to life. “Tinfoil Hat” and the 11 songs that make it up were born from a mixture of love, despair, fear, frustration, pain, joy, sorrow, resolution and the leap into the great unknown imposed by the coronavirus that has been with all of us all since last
March. The Trump administration’s chaotic and reckless management of the crisis provided Popa Chubby with the inspiration for uncompromising lyrics. Like those of the title song (supported by, to say the least, an explicit clip) or themes such as “You Ain’t Said Shit,” “No Justice, No Peace,” or “Another Day In Hell.”
Without forgetting to pass on messages of hope (“Someday Soon, Change Is Gonna Come”) or even for good behavior in the face of the virus with “Baby Put On Your Mask.” In the album notes, he writes, “Like all of you, this pandemic has pushed me to the very edge of my humanity. But the music, the sweet music, has put me back on the right path once again. So I offer this work with humility and the deep devotion I have for you!”. That says it all!

Alto saxophonist, composer and producer Logan Richardson’s career has been marked by his deep engagement with the Black American improvised music tradition as much as by his fearlessly open-minded embrace of the contemporary sounds of the global diaspora and his keen gaze towards the future.
‘AfroFuturism’ (his fifth solo album) synthesises all those elements together into a stunningly audacious statement that is epic in its scope while providing a deep, intimately personal view into its creator’s inner life.
The core of the album is a series of towering alt-rock/trap/wonky beat soundscapes created Logan’s extensive range of keyboards, synthesizers and programming along with the latest iteration of his Blues People band - Igor Osypov
on guitar and Peter Schlamb on vibes and keys, with Dominique Sanders on bass and sharing production duties, and the thunderously virtuosic drumming of Ryan J. Lee and Corey Fonville rounding out the rhythm team.
Logan intersperses these with an array of diverse sonic interludes, scraps of found audio, unexpected, limpid pools of introspective strings performed by Ezgi Karakus and quiet glades of hushed balladry from long-time collaborator, vocalist Laura Taglialatela. Over all, his unmistakable keening voice on alto sax provides the constant narrative thread. “I was trying to get back deeper to the core of my artistic voice: using fresh production processes to mix in my interconnected influences and all the sounds I hear, while trying to find a sense of roots.”
As one of today’s most singular voices in contemporary music, with AfroFuturism Richardson delivers not only a hugely impressive statement, but one with a direct and urgent message for the future that is rooted in his own and the larger contemporary Black American state of affairs, while reminding us of his musical unpredictability. One can only imagine what he’ll do next.

First pressing of 400 units comes as yellow vinyl! "I was guzzling wine at my favorite bar in San Francisco, the Rite Spot, and the entertainment that night was some local opera singers singing along with a big video screen showing a collage of various operatic moments with subtitles. One particular subtitle, 'Ah!-(etc)' made me laugh, I thought it was a perfect description of life - the joy of existence against the etcetera of it all, the struggle. With a heavy head of rose' it seemed like ecstatic poetry! I scribbled it on a napkin and thought it might make a good title for something" And so the mystery behind the title of Kelley Stoltz new record is solved. Less of a mystery is the quality contained therein_ after 12 self-titled releases and a several more under pseudonyms, Stoltz is the word for "one-man-band-home-recording-pop-songs of idiosyncratic character." A quick follow up to his more power pop and pub rock LP only "Hard Feelings" offering in the summer, "Ah-(etc)" finds Stoltz returning to his sweet spot, writing songs that never were, but should have been in the 60's and 80's. As with other LPs Stoltz makes virtually every noise on the album which was written and recorded in 2019 at his Electric Duck Studio in. San Francisco. A few friends popped in to play along_ Stoltz former bandmate, Echo & the Bunnymen's Will Sergeant adds electric guitar to "The Quiet Ones" a sort of Scott Walker lyrical take on strangers and neighbors. Karina Denike formerly of Dance Hall Crashers adds gorgeous vocals on the bossanova groover "Moon Shy", where Sergeant pops up again in a spoken word role on the outro. Allyson Baker of SF's Dirty Ghosts sings on "She Like Noise", a song Stoltz wrote for her in celebration of her love of seeing live bands. The album was mastered by Mikey Young in Australia.

Tape

Dylan Henner is back on Dauw with his new album "Great Prairie Plains: studies of American Minimalism". The album is a celebration of two pieces of music that he loves and have been hugely important to his musical life and education.

The album starts with an arrangement of Terry Riley's In C. During his school-time, Henner was allowed by his music teacher - with plenty of persuasion, in an environment of mostly much straighter classical music - to study this piece. He not only had a deep familiarity with it, but also the pdf scores that he transcribed for his homework. The arrangement was created mostly with the marimba, as an instrument that can layer very deeply without muddying the frequency range and also includes some synths, piano and a VST choir.

“I tried to balance my boundless admiration for the piece with a personalised arrangement. It would be pointless to copy Riley's original - it's too good - but I can at least try to do well by it.”

Alongside In C is an arrangement of Su Tissue's 2nd Movement, from her near-mythical "lost" album Salon de Musique. After trying to buy a copy of this record for years - they are so scarcely found he suspects he never will – Henner wondered if the next best thing would be - instead of owning a copy - to create his own copy. He started this arrangement with as much faith as he could. According to Henner, Su’s work is too rare to warrant changing, but instead should be honoured with autencitiy.

“It's not until the end of the piece that my arrangement begins to take a different shape to Su's. Once I started playing along on the piano, the rest fell into place.”

Dylan lives in Brighton, works as a photographer's assistant for his day-job and plays analogue synths, tuned percussion and cello. Last year Dylan released well-received albums on Dauw and AD 93 (fka Whities) among others. Even though he is a relatively new name, with these albums he already came to the fore as a promising artist within the electro-acoustic field.


a 01. In C [Terry Riley]
[b] 02. 2nd Movement [Su Tissue]

[a] 01. In C [Terry Riley]
[b] 02. 2nd Movement [Su Tissue]

Back in October 2009, Strut’s Inspiration Information series was in full swing. Following an acclaimed collaboration between Mulatu Astatke and The Heliocentrics, Finnish maverick Jimi Tenor hit the studio for a mouth-watering head to head with Afrobeat drumming legend, Tony Allen.

Tenor had already built a reputation as a fascinating enigma in modern day music. Consistently one of the most inspired and unpredictable live artists around, his work since his breakthrough album ‘Intervision’ (Warp, 1997) had involved open-minded projects ranging from live film soundtracks and orchestral pieces to a series of Afro-based albums with his band Kabu Kabu. Enjoying a burgeoning revival, Tony Allen had continued to attract new fans. Celebrated as the creator of the Afrobeat rhythm and a lynchpin of Fela Kuti’s Africa 70 band, his work at the time of this recording had included the first album as The Good, The Bad & The Queen with Damon Albarn and his debut recording for World Circuit Records, ‘Secret Agent’.

Recorded at Lovelite Studios in Berlin during November 2008 ith further sessions in Finland and Paris, the Tenor / Allen collaboration whipped up a raw, heavy analogue sound mixing the full range of Allen’s Afrobeat repertoire with Tenor’s off-kilter brew of dark humour, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and tight, firing musicianship. The sessions involved key members of Tenor’s Kabu Kabu band and Berlin-based guest MC Allonymous with tracks evolving naturally from jamming ideas together over five intense days of recording, fuelled by plenty of African food and whisky. Tenor’s trademark range of home-made instruments rubbed shoulders with vintage keyboards and traditional African percussion.

The resulting set became one of the best recordings that both artists produced during this period. Tracks range from Jimi’s S&M tableau, ‘Darker Side of Night’ to the apocalyptic commentary on our times, ‘Path To Wisdom’ and the hilarious lampooning of the UK immigration system, ‘Mama England’, composed on the Tenor tour bus. The album also featured fusions based around more traditional low-slung Afrobeat structures (‘Sinuhe’, ‘Got My Egusi’) and ended with the epic freestyle juggernaut, ‘Three Continents’, a life affirming, mesmeric groove built around another rough-as-nails Allenko rhythm base. 'Inspiration Information: Jimi Tenor / Tony Allen' is re-released on 22nd February 2021 and is dedicated to the memory of the great, incomparable Tony Allen.

First reissue of long out-of-print and sought after release from 2009
Unique fusion of Afrobeat drumming and psychedelic Jazz
Vinyl cut from original sessions

A guitarry hybrid of AZITA’s edgy rock / soul / R&B sound. Grooving good times, acerbic exchanges overheard in the street, shifts in community, the losses you will carry always, dark recesses late at night that echo with a wonder you've never felt before. Life.
All instruments played by AZITA; the wackest, most AZITA-harmonious sounding pop album yet.
For those who find the passage of time a one-way process of attrition, here’s good news for you. In the eight years since AZITA’s last long-player her fevered brain has barely rested and the proof is a new album of unbounded physical and mental activity, music and entertainment, entitled ‘Glen Echo’.
The worlds of the previous AZITAs have left their unmistakable essence. Her singular conception of pop music - the idiosyncratic songs, singing and playing that have graced seven acclaimed releases - is in verdant recurrence on ‘Glen Echo’, blossoming anew, cutting sharply in the spirit and image of her everevolving, always questioning style.
Writing and arranging on keyboards since the time of her solo debut, AZITA focused on guitars for this set of songs. Not simply for swagger or a fresh approach to soloing but as part of a way to elide expected singer-songwriter tropes, to democratically populate the sound-stage in equal partnership instead.
This is a key aspect of the ‘Glen Echo’ sound, one that determined another new choice - AZITA playing everything on the album herself.
Previous long-players ‘Enantiodromia’, ‘Life On the Fly’ and ‘How Will You?’ were achieved via close work with players and engineers who took the compositions from the demo to a finished form. Invariably though, something would get lost in the transmigration somewhere. With ‘Glen Echo’, AZITA comes through fully, jaggedly, most vividly, owning her intention entirely in the dialogue of singing and playing her rock and rhythm and blues.
The lyric sheet is riddled with language that circles, through the many moments of life, aspects of the passage of time, the pre-empted dreams and strangeness of the present and the way we invent an idealized past in response to the changes, guiding the narrative... where? It’s all banded together by AZITA’s wit, equal parts droll and dire, her dispassionate view of fates and outcomes for all of us here together on the planet, textured with unique, cinematic details and sudden dives into a deeply felt, utterly OG sense of soul.
In ‘Glen Echo’ are a multitude of sounds - all the moments in a life: the good time grooves, acerbic exchanges in the street, shifts in community and generosity, moments of loss you know you will carry forever, reflection upon unknown futures and pasts, the dark recesses late at night that echo with a wonder you’ve never felt before. You name it, AZITA’s got some sweet and sour theme music for it.

Argentinian producer Thissperso has been living in Barcelona for a good season while producing music that reflects what he experiences in his day to day life. His productions are harsh and violent, but they have a quality and energy that makes them contagious and addictive. This work, edited by NNY Records, compiles some old songs that have been revisited and remastered, which coexist with new compositions that continue to explore the most visceral and dark side of electronics. This is the work of a producer who is not tied to any style and who enjoys setting the dancefloor on fire when one of his songs is played. Producers like Parris Smith have already been able to verify it in the first person with a couple of songs from this new EP in which we find Electro mixed with Industrial, EBM, Acid and a punk and nonconformist attitude.

In early 2018, Nathan Jenkins returned from the coast of Arrábida to his new home studio in a cottage tucked behind the grand hotel setting of Wim Wenders’ Lisbon Story. Breaking for lunches under a Datura tree in the garden and a far cry from the Finsbury Park basement flat he rented the previous year, a set of recordings followed that galvanised into an EP - ‘We Had A Good Time’. Music informed by out-of-town trips in a 1987 Renault 9 Super, Pitchfork attributed “remarkable healing powers” to lead song ‘Hula’.

After leaving London for a spell in Portugal, Nathan lost his taste for the night life and drew a line under a long-running NTS radio show. Much of the time spent abroad was dedicated to a longstanding collaboration with Westerman, whose album they recorded in a remote part of the Algarve countryside in 2019. Nathan’s own discography opened in 2007 with ‘Pet Sounds: In The Key Of Dee’, before pivoting in a more electronic direction via ‘Get Familiar’ and ‘Young Heartache’. From the sampledelia of 2011’s ‘Too Right’, the new wave and rave of ‘Say Arr Ee’ to the Robert Wyatt-influenced ‘Love Me Oh Please Love Me’, he’s mapped a deliberately peculiar path. 2015’s ‘Rooster’ was Eno & Byrne’s ‘Bush Of Ghosts’ given a shangaan-electro lick and clip. While Nathan’s partnership with fellow out-there pop auteur Jesse Hackett, as Blludd Relations, staggered like a half-cut Prince.

Collaged, rhythmic alternatives. Syncopated avant-garde sambas. Off kilter Sci-Fi jazz. Think Asha Putli in the spot at the Star Wars cantina. Arty, angular. Rich, but uncluttered. Frenetic, electric, blurring the boundaries between what is sampled, what is played. Nathan’s is a wilfully weird Pop, showcased in 2016 on his album ‘Loop The Loop’. Wayward but woven with hooks that come out of nowhere. Lyrical, often beautiful, solos on violin, oboe and desiccated guitars. Songs that demonstrate a nose-thumbing playfulness, a refusal to sit still. Where there’s always the urge to interrupt a carnival beat with a burst of galloping horse hooves. Or juxtapose ambient chords with a kazoo.

A roll call of Nathan’s broader musical adventures encompasses work with Paul Epworth, Sampha, Westerman and Nilüfer Yanya. Commissioned remixes reach from Dita Von Teese to Model 500, Tricky, Todd Terje and Lee “Scratch” Perry. Solo efforts gracing labels Honest Jon’s, R&S, Young Turks, Whities and The Trilogy Tapes. ‘Blue Pedro’, on the latter, making it into Crack Mag’s Top 100 Tracks Of The Decade.

In 2012 Nathan started his own label, DEEK Recordings, assuming the role of inhouse producer to collaborators. The imprint’s tagline and aesthetic - Pop, not slop! - is illustrated by an ongoing playlist of the same name and further explored in a series of compilations where Nathan and friends cover and reinterpret unsung ‘unclassics’ from alt. country to obscure 80s European arthouse scores, bouncing between Captain Beefheart, The Pixies, Sade and Mazzy Starr. DEEK’s roster is equally eccentric, non-linear and pop-literate. Laura Groves and Nautic - the realization and crystallization of a shared love for the Cocteau Twins.

12” pressed on crystal clear vinyl.

We can’t think of many artists that have had as diverse a career and who have been involved in as many different genres of music as Asha Puthli. A musical pioneer who forged a path through 60's psych, free-jazz, pop, rock, disco, and more.

Asha's 1976 album 'The Devil Is Loose' is maybe her most well-known record. Featuring the beautiful disco-funk-classic 'Space Talk’, Asha's ethereal soaring vocals take us on a journey that almost mirrors Asha's eclectic career. The track was championed by a wide-range of musical scenes and movements, and over space and time it has been commandeered as their own. You would hear it played by David Mancuso at the now ‘mythical’ underground New York party 'The Loft’, in the most discerning disco nightclubs across the globe, in the Rare Groove scene, and also being sampled by hip-hop heavyweights such as The Notorious B.I.G / P Diddy, and The Pharcyde. The appeal and lifespan of ’Space Talk’ keeps on extending and morphing as new audiences gleefully discover it for the first time - it still sounds as relevant and fresh on the dancefloor today - a sign of a true classic.

Here at Mr Bongo we are thrilled to be releasing records by such an iconic musical maverick as Asha, from her roots in India to becoming a globe-trotting artist with a celebrated career in music and acting, whilst always staying true to her art. She has blazed a trail so that others could follow. Whether you are buying this album as a replacement for your worn-out original copy or it's the first time you've heard of Asha Puthli and you're just intrigued and drawn in by the cover, we hope you enjoy this quintessential slice of Asha's world.

• Featuring the legendary ’Space Talk’.
• Played by David Mancuso at the ‘mythical’ underground New York party 'The Loft’.
• Sampled by hip-hop heavyweights such as The Notorious B.I.G / P Diddy, and The Pharcyde.
• Also available on Limited Edition Pink Vinyl

‘PEACEMEAL’ is yet another reinvention for Ron
Gallo - a human being on a lifelong chase of
himself and using music as the main vehicle.
On his third LP, he exits the noisy confines of the
garage and goes outside where there’s no limit to
embracing all aspects of himself.
The result is a colourful hodgepodge of 90’s hiphop, r&b, weirdo pop, jazz and punk. The sounds
change but the sense of humanity, humour and a
truly eccentric worldview is the common thread in
all of Gallo’s music.
Mostly written and recorded during a period of
self-isolation in summer 2019, it’s an uncanny
foreshadowing of the global situation that was to
come and give all the songs a new meaning. This
is feel-good music that attempts to confront and
understand human existence.
Ron Gallo just wants to be himself, destroy
expectations and encourage you to do the same in
a world that does just about everything to try and
box us in - not to mention, this is his best most
fun one yet.