Suche:group a another

Formed in Fullerton, CA in 1978, Social Distortion were one of the original LA punk groups and their first single was released on legendary LA punk label Posh Boy. But far more rare than that first single ("Mainliner" b/w "Playpen") is the unreleased EP Posh Boy's Little Monsters. This EP only made it to the test pressing stage back in 1981, and featured those two tracks from the first single along with "All The Answers" and "Justice For All." This is the absolute holy grail for Social Distortion fans and it's finally available in commercial form on two limited edition pressings for RSD 2019, black vinyl available worldwide and a Europe only red vinyl limited edition. Includes 2 bonus tracks.
“Of the 3 teenagers who recorded for me, one has died, another was believed to be dead and one became immensely wealthy from playing music. The one who did hard time in prison was not Mike Ness. It was the drummer Carrot, better known as John Stevenson, now living a very ordinary life in rural Florida.
I now count John as a dear friend. Apparently, he was only l6 years old when he rolled into the studio that day in April l98l, armed with a taped up pair of drumsticks. He played great as did both Mike and Dennis (RIP). This time there was no fighting in the studio over production values. I had promised Ness that we would not fight so once there was a minor disagreement over the artwork for the proposed l2", I dropped the project in favor of the Playpen/Mainliner 7" which sported iconic artwork from the band.”

Cam Cameron appears to be another one of those performers from an infinite list of Black American artists that cut a solitary 45 single and then disappear into obscurity never to be seen or heard from again. Couple this with the passing of any of the relevant protagonists from the time along with any of the surviving ones ever diminishing memories and the job of collating events and artists back stories from over 50 years ago becomes that much harder.

Cam Cameron appears to be one of those artists (although our investigations are ongoing). Therefore, from the information currently gleaned, the artist Cam Cameron was none other than Alvin Cameron the writer of the featured song “You Say”, with Cam being a kind of nickname. The string arrangements on both “They Say” and “I’m A Lonely Man” were provided by the late John Andrew Cameron a hugely respected arranger, producer and songwriter within the Chicago music scene of the 1960’s and early 70’s, more often credited as Johnny Cameron. Johnny’s credits can be found on many recordings of the time often working with fellow Chicago music scene producer Clarence Johnson, some of the highlights from this liaison being the song “I Really Love You” recorded by both Jimmy Burns (Erica) and Bobby James (Karol) and the girl group, ‘The Lovelites’, on their acclaimed album “With Love From The Lovelites” (Uni). Johnny’s involvement with the Scott Brothers goes as far back as 1965 when he provided the musical arrangements on The Howard Scott penned song “I’ve Got To Get Over” recorded by Syl Johnson for the TMP-Ting label. Although they share the same surname, Alvin (Cam) Cameron is believed to be of no relation to Johnny Cameron.



“You Say” would gain a release on the independent Capri label owned by Sephus Howard Scott who together with brother Walter Scott composed the 45’s flipside “I’m A Lonely Man”. Howard also featured as one of the songs producers alongside the mysterious Edgar Mullins (a name which has been found on a couple of other tape boxes, the investigations continue).

Musical accompaniment was provided by The Scott Brothers Band, with both songs being recorded at RCA Victor’s Chicago number 2 Recording Studio at 445 North Lake Shore Drive, in the Navy Pier section. on the 10th of August 1967 and released on Capri Records during the month of February 1968.



Cameron’s “You Say” was another 45 that was first introduced to UK Soul Collectors via those much lamented and fondly remembered soul packs, always regarded as a quality collector’s 45 the only regular turntable action remembered was provided by Northampton’s very own discerning DJ Cliff Steele at venues such as ‘Detroit Academicals’, ‘Bretby Country Club’ and later ‘Albrighton’ during the leaner days of the UK Rare Soul Scene?! Hopefully a wider appreciation of both sides of this soulful Windy City 45 beckons! The second release in Soul Junction’s Capri series.

The group takes a psychedelic turn, adding lush orchestral arrangements to the group’s tight harmonies and narrative lyrics. The album was recorded at the famed IBC Studios in London. Barry Gibb commented that their recording process was one of impromptu creativity, in which they’d “think up a subject, then write a song on the spot.” The instrumental parts were added later, adding a fullness to the songs. For instance, ‘Bee Gee’s 1st’ opens with strains of oboe and harpsichord on the whimsical “Turn of the Century,” while “Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You” begins with dark Gregorian chants.

The Ghia saga unfolds once more, but in this chapter, there's a new and unique twist. "Out of Luck" draws its roots from a previously lost track, originally composed by the group in 1985. This time around, the song has been expertly reworked by Marian Tone, with new vocals by Adriano Prestel. The outcome? Quite possibly one of the smoothest and most refreshing modern funk tunes you'll hear this year.

But let's rewind to the beginning of this adventure: Earlier this year, DJ Scientist stumbled upon another early Ghia composition tucked away in the depths of a master tape. It was a treasure too precious to remain unheard. Sadly, the original track couldn't see the light of day due to sound quality and issues with the original vocals. To make matters more disappointing, no instrumental version survived. Thus, the only way to share this catchy boogie funk track with the world was to recreate it from scratch.

The heavyweight trio of Keiji Haino, Jim O’Rourke and Oren Ambarchi return with their 12th and most epic release to date, the triple LP With pats on the head, just one too few is evil one too many is good that's all it is. Documenting the entirety of their final performance at the dearly departed Roppongi home of Tokyo underground institution SuperDeluxe in November 2018, the music spread across these six sides splits the difference between the guitar-bass-drums power trio moves and experiments with novel instrumentation that have defined the trio’s decade of working together. Containing some of the most delicate music the three have committed to wax since the gorgeous 12-string acoustic guitar and dulcimer tones of Only wanting to melt beautifully away is it a lack of contentment that stirs affection for those things said to be as of yet unseen (BT011), this wide-ranging release also offers up some of their most blistering free rock performances yet.

The side-long opening piece finds Haino on a single snare drum in duet with O’Rourke on unamplified electric guitar, playing in the lovely post-Bailey vein heard on his classic 90s recordings with Henry Kaiser and Mats Gustafsson. Spiky dissonance and ringing harmonics interweave with flowing melodic fragments as Haino single-mindedly explores the resonance of the snare like an untutored Han Bennink. On ‘Right brain, left brain; right, left; right wing, left wing. Just how many combinations can be made from these?’, O’Rourke moves to synth and electronics, joined by Ambarchi on drums, who at first focuses on sizzle cymbals before hypnotic cycles of gentle tom rhythms combine with electronic burbles and flutters to suggest a dream collaboration between Masahiko Togashi and Jean Schwarz. Ambarchi’s percussion is then joined by Haino on wandering, overblown flute, before the man in black switches back to the snare for a bizarre, stuttering drum duet.

For the first trio performance, Haino makes another new addition to his seemingly infinite catalogue of instruments, this time a homemade contraption he refers to as ‘Strings of Dubious Reputation’. Joined by O’Rourke on increasingly spaced-out electric guitar and Ambarchi on skittering percussion, Haino’s wonky, slack strings adds a definite ‘musique brut’ edge to this side-long performance, certainly one of the most enchantingly odd in the trio’s discography. When the group reconvene for the second set, spread out across the final three sides, they seem ready to breathe fire from the first instant. O’Rourke slashes distorted chords on the six-string bass, Ambarchi breaks into his signature irregular caveman thump, and Haino squeals and squawks on heavily delayed oboe before unleashing an overpowering electrical storm when he first picks up the guitar. For over half an hour, the trio pound out one of their most relentless performances, a constantly rearranging kaleidoscope of tortured fuzz guitar, insanely busy bass riffing and propulsive, tumbling drums. A hushed atmosphere initially reigns on the final long piece, given the mournful title ‘There are always things I wish to say but I can only convey them in this language August 6 August 9’. Haino’s clean guitar strumming calls up the shimmering tones of his PSF classic Affection, gradually building to a surging wall of sound, bass and drums lumbering through a roar of jet-engine guitar. Arriving in a deluxe trifold package with photos by Lasse Marhaug alongside inner sleeves with extensive live images, this epic release is perhaps the most remarkable document yet of this unique trio’s stamina and continuing inventiveness.

The Zeros is a pioneer punk rock band formed in 1976 in Chula Vista, California. Comparisons with The Ramones are often made when describing the energetic and fierce guitar driven sound of the group. This is their second single, released in 1978 on Greg Shaw's very own Bomp! Records (after the fantastic 1977 "Don't Push Me Around" single). 'Beat Your Heart Out'/'Wild Weekend' is another boss one by Javier Escovedo and it also has Robert Lopez's fantastic 'Beat Your Heart Out' on the flip. These first singles recorded by the band instantly catapulted The Zeros into a top draw on the local scene and have become legendary. First time reissue! incl. artwork replica on retro style record sleeves.

The Zeros is a pioneer punk rock band formed in 1976 in Chula Vista, California. Comparisons with The Ramones are often made when describing the energetic and fierce guitar driven sound of the group. First time single reissue in almost four decades! Incl. artwork replica on retro style record sleeves. This is their debut single, released in 1977 on Greg Shaw's very own Bomp! Records. 'Don't Push Me Around' and 'Wimp' are among the greatest punk rock songs of all time, written by Javier Escovedo. It was followed by another single in 1978, "Beat Your Heart Out"/"Wild Weekend". These first singles recorded by the band instantly catapulted The Zeros into a top draw on the local scene and have become legendary.

This is The Zeros' third single, a pioneer punk rock band formed in 1976 in Chula Vista, California. Comparisons with The Ramones are often made when describing the energetic and fierce guitar driven sound of the group. After a 2-year gap, following their two first singles on Greg Shaw's very own Bomp! Records, the band released this third 45 on Test Tube Records. 'They Say That (Everything's Alright)' is a fabulous song by Hector Peñalosa. "Getting Nowhere Fast" is another classic by Javier Escovedo. In spite of the excellence of these two tracks, The Zeros lost the momentum generated by the first two singles, leaving the third as an afterthought. Soon after, the band broke up. First time reissue! Incl. artwork replica on retro style record sleeves.

Impulse’ was a band of Milwaukee, Wisconsin musicians whose members included Michael Reese (Rhodes Piano and background vocals), Cedrick Rupert (Lead and Rhythm guitar), Jeffrey Williamson (Drums and background vocals) and Robin Gregory (Bass and background vocals). They would become a group in their own right with the eventual addition of another local artist John Gee, who joined them as their lead singer. The Impulse musicians formed the backing/touring band for another Milwaukee outfit, a vocal quartet, The Quadraphonics who recorded the solitary 45 single “Betcha If You Check It Out/Prove My Love To You” for the Carl Davis/E. Rodney Jones owned ‘Innovation II’ Record label during 1974. This release would later be nationally distributed by the major Warner Brothers label. With import copies of “Innovation II” single finding their way into the UK the record became popular with the devotees of Blackpool Mecca’s Highland Room.

During 1976 the members of Impulse migrated to Oakland California, they had hoped that, The ‘Quadraphonics’ would join them but instead The Quadraphonics chose to remain in Milwaukee and eventually broke up. It was fellow Brewtown producer/recording artist Harvey Scales who was responsible for inviting ‘Impulse’ to the west coast. Under the auspice of Scales, Impulse recorded their self-titled debut album project at Wally Heider’s Studio in San Francisco. The album was initially offered to Casablanca Records but no firm interest was to materialise, a subsequent approach to Jerry “The Ice Man” Butlers newly formed Chicago label, Fountain Records again failed to secure a release of the album, sadly leaving the project unreleased in the can. In the ensuing years, the former group members have continued with their respective careers, the late John Gee embarked on a solo career, recording the 1980 release “Not Enough Love Makin’/ you Are That Man (Why Don’t You Be That Man)” for Leroy Smith’s Oakland C.A, Pashlo label followed by his 1985 modern favourite “So Good To Me/Just Get On” recorded under the artist name of Jon Pierre Gee on his own newly formed Kandi Inc, Record label. Later Kandi projects included the 1995 Jon Pierre Gee & Touch album and the 2005 Ah’VantSoul cd album project, which featured Jon’s business and real-life partner, Kathryn Hannemann (a.k.a the performing artist Kat Webb).Throughout all the aforementioned projects Jon continued to use and enjoy performing with his former fellow ‘Impulse’ musicians of which the two surviving members Robin Gregory and Michael Reese can still be found jamming to this day in the renowned Milwaukee Restaurant/Coffee House by the name of ‘Coffee Makes You Black’. Sadly, drummer Jeffrey Williamson passed away during 2015 with Coley Jackson coming in to pick up the sticks! Lead and Rhythm guitarist Cedrick Rupert left the group in the 1970’s moving to Lake Charles, LA, sadly, he too passed away in 2020.

The Impulse album project having lain dormant since the 1970’s was resurrected during 2018 when Jon Pierre Gee in conjunction with Stephen Chin of Nice Choice Records (USA) and Soul Junction Records (UK) breathed new life into the project. Beginning with the release of the first of two ‘Impulse’ 45 singles on Jon’s Kandi imprint. Firstly “What’s that Sound/You Changed Me” followed in 2020 by a second 45 “I Really Love You/Get The Funk Off my Back” with all four soul and funk tracks receiving worldwide acclaim. Initial plans for the release of the whole album project had been set in place but we’re unfortunately brought to an unexpected halt with the passing of Jon Pierre in November 2020.

Undetered Soul Junction have finally been able to bring this amazing ‘Impulse’ project to life as a limited vinyl press I’m sure once heard, the old adage of “Good Things Come To Those Who Wait” will certainly ring true, enjoy.

EP compilation of essential UK house cuts recorded between 1987 - 1990. TIP!


Before British house and techno found its’ distinctive groove at the turn of the 1990s, one act led the way: Bang The Party, a trio who emerged from London’s vibrant underground party scene in the mid 1980s and proved, beyond any doubt, that UK producers could make music every bit as magical as the pioneering productions put forward by their counterparts in Chicago, Detroit and New York.

By the time long-running DJs and party promoters Kid Batchelor and Leslie Lawrence joined forces with trained engineer Keith Franklin at legendary North-West London reggae studio Addis Ababa in 1987, they’d spent years as DIY dance music activists in Britain’s capital city. They channelled these experiences and their love of imported house and techno sounds into a new project, Bang The Party, in the process becoming the first British act to appear on Transmat, a reflection of the quality and authenticity of their music.

The latest Rush Hour Reissue Series release offers a snapshot of some of the numerous gems nestled in the Bang The Party catalogue, delivering a much-deserved celebration of one of Britain’s most significant early acid house collectives. It features four fully remastered cuts recorded and released between 1987 and 1990 – on-point and far-sighted club workouts that sound as fresh and timeless now as they did when Britain was sweltering under its infamous ‘second summer of love’.

Fittingly, the EP begins with ‘I Feel Good All Over’, the group’s ground-breaking debut single. Dedicated to their home city and one of the earliest UK interpretations of house music, the track exists in the grey area between Chicago house and New York ‘garage house’ – all jaunty organ stabs, jacking Windy City beats, restless bass and soulful vocalizations. ‘Jacques Theme’, which follows, originally nestled on the B-side of that single release. An early, acid-flecked expression of hip-house with a British twist, breakdance-friendly bongo patterns and a dose of Larry Heard-inspired deep house dreaminess, the track remains an under-appreciated classic whose rap verses reflect the popularity of hip-hop in London at the time.

1988’s ‘Release Your Body’, Bang The Party’s most celebrated early release, was reissued in the United States by Transmat, reflecting the strong working relationship between Derrick May and Kool Kat Records’ Neil Rushton. A hypnotising affair propelled forwards by sweat-soaked drum machine beats, jacking fills and an addictive bassline, the track offers another near perfect distillation of the band’s Black American musical influences while delivering something genuinely new and fresh.

Rounding off the EP is a choice cut from Bang The Party’s sought after 1990 album Back To Prison. Doused in the star-lit synth sounds of the Motor City with jaunty organ stabs inspired by the kind of New Jersey jams championed at East Orange institution Club Zanzibar, ‘Let It Rip’ is a superb slice of deep house soul featuring a lead vocal every bit as emotive as anything laid down by Robert Owens. Like the rest of Bang The Party’s output, it has stood the time better than anything laid down by their London contemporaries.

The official new edition from this rare and great Afrobeat & Soukous masterpiece from Nigeria !

"Vibro Success Intercontinental Orchestra was an extraordinary group from the Central African Republic, founded by the sax player Rodolphe 'Beckers' Bekpa, also known as Master Békers, in the late 60's. The band achieved surprising domestic success after Beckers introduced the first drums to the Congolese Rumba rhythm. His innovation proved to be wildly popular so they were hired as the resident band of “ciel d’Afrique au Km5”, a night club in Bangui. The club was renowned as the temple of the Olympic Réal football team's fans and that visibility propelled them into becoming the official national orchestra.

1970 marked beginning of the band's international fame . Their fame spread beyond national borders until they became so popular that invitations began to arrive from nearby countries like Cameroon and Chad, the former of which the band would then tour that same year. The success of their performances prompted a further tour in 1972. According to Rodolphe Bépka, the audience enthusiasm Vibro encountered was bewildering. "We filled the old military stadium in Yaoundé in 1970, in 1972 the new Amadou Haïdjo stadium ... We are running with great success in the cities.” Their popularity was also growing in Chad, where they would tour several times through the early and mid 70's.

Towards the end of 1976, Vibro Success decided to take their music global and introduce Central African music to listeners worldwide. It worked. The turning point came in Nigeria. There the group achieved extraordinary success, with live performances followed by contracts with local labels like Scottie and Ben/Clover resulting in hit releases. Most of their LP's were originally released on this later label, Ben Limited, owned by Ben Okonkwo.

Ben, also known as Clover Sounds, brought a great number of the biggest bands from the country to market, bands like The Apostles, Akwassa,The Doves, Aktion, The Visitors, Mansion, Folk 77 and many others. Nearly all those groups started their recording careers in the label's studios based in the commercial heart of Aba, Abia State, one of Southeastern Nigeria’s largest cities. Aba at that time was a flourishing city, an important crossroads of people and culture with an intensive and active and cutting edge live music and nightlife.

But after that golden era the group began to lose its popularity. In the 1980's they returned to Bangui and resumed their old-time gigs in dance halls there - only to realize that their music didn't have the appeal it used to. Making matters worse, the domestic economic downturn accelerated, forcing the orchestra to slowly end its activities . Vibro Succès Intercontinental Orchestra disappeared at the end of the 80s and most of its members died in the 90s.

We discovered this LP during our first trip to Nigeria in 2016. While traveling in the east to meet up with a musician, we stopped for a night in a village. As often happens in Nigeria, information has a way of traveling fast. The news that a couple of white guys looking for records had arrived in the village the day before spread like light. When we awoke, we found a couple of elderly music lovers in the hall of our hotel with a little pile of records for sale. The nice cover of the “Drunkard” album was right on top!

At first we thought it was just another really good soukous album made by Vibro Success but after we heard “Drunkard” - we knew we had stumbled onto something very special. That was the “easy” part. Soon after, we had the idea of reissuing this LP and that was a bit harder. There were no credits on the cover and not much information about Vibro Succès. We started to ask to our friends to ask around, see if somebody knew them or the producer. That's when sadly we discovered that Ben Okonkwo had passed. So with no leads to follow and seemingly without any possibility of making progress on the matter, we "gave up" and returned to Italy.

A couple years later, in the summer of 2019, we found ourselves again in Aba. This time we had the chance to meet Nnamdi Okonkwo, the eldest son of the late Ben Okonkwo. After Nnamdi's mother and family agreed, he was glad to cooperate with us for the re-release of this special album."

SOURCED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES: 2LP SET PRESENTS 1991 ALBUM IN 45RPM SPEED FOR FIRST TIME.

PCM Digital Master to Analog Console to Lathe.

Dire Straits never made a big to-do about its final run. In classic understated British fashion, the band simply let its music speak for itself. And how. Originally released in September 1991, On Every Street became the group’s swan song – a lasting testament to the influence, musicianship, and integrity of an ensemble whose merit has never been tainted by cash-grab reunions or farewell treks. It remains an essential part of the Dire Straits catalog and a blueprint of the distinctive U.K. roots rock the collective played for its 15-year career.

Sourced from the original master tapes, housed in gatefold packaging, and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP set of On Every Street presents the album like it has always been meant to be experienced: in reference-grade audiophile sound. Recorded at AIR Studios in London and produced by Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler, it features all of the band’s sonic hallmarks – wide instrumental separation, visceral textures, seemingly limitless air, broad soundstages, atmospherics that you can almost reach out and feel. Each element is made more vibrant, physical, and lifelike on this collectible reissue, which marks the first time this 60-minute work has been available at 45RPM speed.

Afforded generous groove space and black backgrounds, the songs from On Every Street burst with nuanced details and vibrant colors. Dire Straits’ playing appears to float, their intricate performances organized amid hypnotic, fluid, three-dimensional arrangements. Mobile Fidelity’s definitive-sounding set also brings into transparent view Knopfler’s finely sculpted guitar lines, expressive tones, and laid-back vocals – as well as the balanced accompaniment from his band mates. Here’s a record on which you can hear the full blossom and decay of individual notes, and imagine the size and shape of the studio. It is in every regard a demonstration disc. And it happens to be filled with timeless fare.

Remarkably, On Every Street almost never came to light. Dire Straits initially dissolved in September 1988 after touring behind its blockbuster Brothers in Arms and suffering the departure of two members. At the time, Knopfler professed his desire to work on solo material; bassist John Illsley also explored side projects. But Knopfler’s decision in 1989 to form the country-leaning Notting Hillbillies reignited a spark to reconvene his primary band and craft a fresh batch of songs. Six years removed from Brothers in Arms, Knopfler, Illsley, keyboardist Alan Clark, and keyboardist Guy Fletcher teamed with A-list session pros – steel guitarist Paul Franklin, percussionist Danny Cummings, saxophonist Chris White, guitarist Phil Palmer included – to create what still stands as an unforgettable farewell.

The platinum record brings the band full circle in that it returns Dire Straits to a quartet formation; finds the group refreshingly out of step with the era’s prevailing trends; and sees Knopfler and Co. knocking out song after song with the deceptive ease of a punter tossing back a pint at a pub. That subtle cool, clever poise, and innate control – signature traits that no other band ever matched – dominate On Every Street. Knopfler’s clean, virtuosic six-string escapades unfurl with dizzying melodicism and economical efficiency. Led by his winding fills and focused solos, Dire Straits traverse a hybrid landscape of rock, jazz, country, boogie, blues, and pop strains with near-faultless prowess.

More than any other entry in the group’s oeuvre, On Every Street welcomes quick detours down back alleys and into the depths of human souls. What makes it more brilliant is its staunch refusal to cater to commercial expectations or take advantage of prior successes; every passage feels true, every measure echoed in the service of song. It’s evident in the humorous satire of “Heavy Fuel,” closeted desperation of the witty “Calling Elvis,” and shake-and-bake bounce of “The Bug.” It pours from the album’s darker corners, as on the high-and-lonesome melancholy of the title track and bruised emotionalism of “When It Comes to You.”

Hinting at the open-minded approaches and boundless curiosity he’d embrace as a solo artist, Knopfler doesn’t limit himself when it comes to style or subject matter. Look no further than “You and Your Friend,” a shuffle whose all-inclusive lyrics encourage an array of interpretative meanings. Another of the album’s deep cuts, “Iron Hand,” comes on as one of the band’s most memorable moments – the narrative addressing the abuses of power at the 1984 Battle of Orgreave during the U.K. miners’ strike. Given cinematic heft by the expert production, the true-fiction account puts into perspective the richness, poetry, and depth of On Every Street.

“Every victory has a taste that’s bittersweet,” sings Knopfler on the title track. At least that bittersweetness seldom sounded so damn good on record.

The Exciters began as the Masterettes, a girl group formed by high school friends Brenda Reid, Carol Johnson, Lillian Walker, and Sylvia Wilbur. A single was cut for Brooklyn’s Le Sage label before Wilbur was replaced by Brenda’s husband, Herb Rooney, and after auditioning for Leiber & Stoller, the Exciters recorded the international smash ‘Tell Him’, a song so popular that it spawned foreign language renditions. Our edition of this marvellous debut LP includes the spectacular follow-up hit, ‘Do Wah Diddy,’ another immortal nugget of irresistible pop soul. Bright, light grooves for your dancing feet!

Van Halen did more than announce to the world the earthshaking arrival of a revolutionary guitarist. Performed by an enterprising California quartet that took its name from two of its principal members, the 1978 debut ripped headlines away from punk, injected fresh energy into a then-moribund rock 'n' roll scene, reimagined how heavy music and throwback pop could coexist, and invited everyone to experience the top-down pleasures of a beach-front Saturday night every day of the week no matter where they lived. Painstakingly restored by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, and the first of a multi-album series in an exciting partnership between the famous reissue label and Van Halen, Van Halen delivers feel-good thrills and hormonally charged desires like never before.

Limited to 12,000 numbered copies, pressed on dead-quiet MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and mastered from the original analogue master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP collector's edition pays tribute to the record's merit and allows fans to experience Van Halen's original blend of raw power, Hollywood flair, and vaudeville fun for generations to come. Playing with reference-setting sonics that elevate a 10-times-platinum landmark whose importance cannot be quantitatively measured, this definitive version provides a clear, clean, transparent, balanced, and turn-the-volume-up-to-11 view of an album that birthed entirely new styles. Since MoFi's unique SuperVinyl compound allows you to crank the decibels to your wildest desires without risking noise-floor interference, prepare to not only hear but feel Van Halen in your chest, no fifth-row concert seat necessary.

The premium packaging and gorgeous presentation of the UD1S Van Halen pressing befit its extremely select status. Housed in a deluxe box, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. No expense has been spared. Aurally and visually, this UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artefact meant to be preserved, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners that prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in the art – and everything involved with the album, from the iconic cover art to the meticulous finishes and, yes, of course, Eddie Van Halen's pioneering fretwork and his brother Alex's double-bass percussion.

Indeed, could a piece of music that transformed how countless guitarists approached their instrument be more fittingly named than "Eruption"? Likely not, and in just 102 seconds, Eddie Van Halen rewrote, reimagined, and reconfigured a vocabulary last significantly updated a decade earlier by fellow six-string wizard Jimi Hendrix. Akin to the Washington State legend, Eddie Van Halen developed his own techniques and tones all the while making his seismic accomplishments seem effortless. Devoid of the pretence, ego, and showiness that infected many of his imitators, the Dutch native sticks to a straightforward approach that underlines the authority, prowess, and visionary scope of his playing and then-unheard-of finger-tapping skills. Throughout Van Halen, he establishes himself as an instant idol – a savant whose otherworldly combination of breadth, poise, feel, speed, force, and melody seems beamed in from another galaxy.

As does nearly every song on the record, whose cohesiveness and dynamic put into perspective the advanced chemistry and one-for-all spirit the youthful band had out of the gates. Having paid its dues for years in bars and clubs – going as far as recording a 24-track demo for Kiss bassist Gene Simmons at Village Recorders only to be spurned by management companies that felt its music wouldn't go anywhere – Van Halen finally got a deserved break when Warner Bros. executives signed the group in 1977. The subsequent recording sessions further testify on behalf of the band's synergy and alignment. Completed in just a few weeks with producer Ted Templeman, Van Halen was primarily cut live in the studio with minimal overdubs and edits. The explosiveness, energy, and electricity remain definitive, and as heard on this UD1S set, put the group on a private stage – humming amplifiers, Frankenstrat guitar, bright spotlights, sweaty headbands, and then some.

Van Halen yielded just one hit in the form of a Top 40 single (a breathless cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me") but practically every song on the revered LP has become a staple. Named the 202nd Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone and considered by countless experts as one of the best debuts in history, the record displays what can happen with four distinct talents gel and strive for the same purposes. In Van Halen's case, the latter almost always involved partying, freedom, sex, and, in the immortal words of singer David Lee Roth, living "life like there's no tomorrow." The celebration manifests from the opening notes of the strutting "Runnin' with the Devil" – announced with the blare of droning car horns, Michael Anthony's robust bass line, and Alex Van Halen's thumping drumming – and continues through the conclusion of the white-hot "On Fire," goosed by Eddie Van Halen's race-track-ready lines, Roth's flamboyant deliveries, and the rhythm section's cat-like pounce.

Picking out individual highlights on Van Halen is akin to trying to count all the stars in a clear nighttime desert sky: There are far too many to identify, once you see one you notice another dozen you didn't spot before, and the cluster is best enjoyed as a whole. What's evident over repeat listens is the sheer diversity, a fact that's often overlooked: The high harmonies and background funk of "Jamie's Cryin'"; the insistent cane-and-a-tophat shuffle and doo-wop shoo-bop vocal break on "I'm the One"; the throwback acoustic blues that spreads into fast-paced, single-entendre wildfire on the Roth-led standout interpretation of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man." Like the man says, on Van Halen, all the flavours are guaranteed to satisfy.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior


Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master recordings, painstakingly transfer them to DSD 256, and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.

MoFi SuperVinyl


Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

High Vis were formed in 2016 from the ashes of some of the UK's best hardcore bands. Gild-toothed frontman Graham Sayle's anguished lyrics about life in working class Britain were familiar to fans of Tremors' full-throttle thrash, but alongside his former bandmate Edward `Ski' Harper and veterans of Dirty Money, DiE and The Smear, High Vis sought to transform that energy and intensity into something entirely new.Like scene-mates Chubby and the Gang did by pulling in unlikely source material from classic doo-wop or Micromoon have by combining everything from psychedelia and metal into their high potency mix, High Vis' 2019 debut album, No Sense No Feeling showed the band were never going to be constrained by any sense of genre rules or regulations. Its claustrophobic rattle bore traces of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Crisis, The Cure and Gang Of Four lurking in the shadows. 2020's synth-driven EP, Society Exists, was further evidence of the band's restless creative MO.High Vis' second album Blending sees them open their viewfinder wider than ever before. Alongside longstanding favourites such as Fugazi and Echo and The Bunnymen; Ride and even Flock Of Seagulls were shared reference points as the band worked on the album together.From the anthemic sweep of opener "Talk For Hours", through the title track's psychedelic swirl and "Fever Dream"'s baggy groove, it sees High Vis' sound blossoming into something with an unlimited richness. The hazy drift of "Shame" or the melodic jangle of "Trauma Bonds" may take them until uncharted waters, but they still have all the power and bite that made No Sense No Feeling so remarkable.Lyrically, the album represents another leap forward too. Talking frankly about poverty, class politics, and the challenges of everyday life, Sayle's lyrics have always addressed the downtrodden and discarded communities across Britain slipping below the waterline. This time around, Sayle's lost not of that social consciousness, but he's looked at himself and his own emotional landscape, and in the process created something that feels more universal, that reaches a hand-out to people and ultimately gives a message of hope."To me, the lyrics are less selfish," reflects Sayle. "In the past, I couldn't see past whatever was going on with me. It's about accepting things and being open to conversations and learning to talk to people rather than just thinking that we're all doomed."The song "Talk for Hours" is a prime example of that. Born out of an afternoon meeting up with an old group of mates "repeating the same thing and not actually learning anything about each other" it offers to actually break the cycle and to listen and speak frankly about shared feelings and experiences. "Trauma Bonds", meanwhile, traces the broken lines of those living in lost communities, but ultimately realises that despite our shared scars, there's still hope to move on to a better future."The message of the album is you're not who you're told you are," Sayle summarises. "You're not your class background. Whatever it is, you're not that. Don't resign yourself to thinking you can't be this and you can't be that."It's a vitally important message right now, and one that could be the motto for not only Blending, but for High Vis themselves.

Provocative percussion from the jazz trio Zen Widow!
Recorded live to 2-track analogue tape at Capitol Studios (CAP A)
Produced by Tone Poet's Joe Harley, recorded by Mike Ross
100% analogue mastering* by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
Pressed on 180-gram ultra-quiet vinyl at RTI
Deluxe Old Style Tip-On single pocket gatefold jacket by Stoughton Printing

*Track 8 finished from high-resolution digital for vocal track
Intervention Records presents a special collaborative distribution effort with Italian objet-a records, Zen Widow IV – (from one dark age to another). This AAA 180G vinyl release is the fourth recording of Zen Widow, and it places an emphasis on highly melodic, spacious, and engaging treatments of medieval compositions ranging from Gesualdo Da Venosa, the Burana and Chantilly Codex, Welsh Gower folk melodies and texts, as well as the Bach Cello suites. These rich compositions are then reimagined through the lens of a highly accomplished and adventuresome jazz-improvised music trio.

Zen Widow is an international improvisational music-jazz super group. They have recorded and performed in clubs and festivals throughout the United States and Europe for that last 20 years. The trio consists of Gianni Gebbia (Bb soprano saxophone – cornettophone ) from Sicily, Italy, Matthew Goodheart (grand piano – transducer-actuated gong) from New York, Garth Powell (drums, percussion, and gongs) from Los Angeles, and is joined by special guest Dwight Trible (vocals) for this recording. Their previous release featured trumpet and jazz master Wadada Leo Smith, and like this recording was produced by Joe Harley (Blue Note – Tone Poet Series, Charles Lloyd, and Music Matters Jazz).

Garth Powell is also an audio industry legend, and AudioQuest’s Sr. Director of Engineering. Garth is the driving force behind the company’s multi award-winning line of Niagara series power conditioners and its Mythical Creatures ultra high-performance cables.

As powerful as these performances are, the sonic results created by this production/engineering team is equally stunning – a truly reference quality analogue experience.

This recording is captured live-to-two-track analogue, 30ips tape at Capitol Studios (studio “A”) by Mike Ross and Steve Genewick. 7 of the 8 tracks are AAA, while the last track alone is finished high-res digital to accommodate the vocal track. Mastering and lacquers cut by Kevin Gray at CoHEARent Audio, with 180-gram pressings by RTI (Camarillo, California).

The single-gatefold jacket is a deluxe Old Style “tip-on” from Stoughton, designed by Intervention’s longtime Art Director Tom Vadakan.

High Vis were formed in 2016 from the ashes of some of the UK's best hardcore bands. Gild-toothed frontman Graham Sayle's anguished lyrics about life in working class Britain were familiar to fans of Tremors' full-throttle thrash, but alongside his former bandmate Edward `Ski' Harper and veterans of Dirty Money, DiE and The Smear, High Vis sought to transform that energy and intensity into something entirely new.Like scene-mates Chubby and the Gang did by pulling in unlikely source material from classic doo-wop or Micromoon have by combining everything from psychedelia and metal into their high potency mix, High Vis' 2019 debut album, No Sense No Feeling showed the band were never going to be constrained by any sense of genre rules or regulations. Its claustrophobic rattle bore traces of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Crisis, The Cure and Gang Of Four lurking in the shadows. 2020's synth-driven EP, Society Exists, was further evidence of the band's restless creative MO.High Vis' second album Blending sees them open their viewfinder wider than ever before. Alongside longstanding favourites such as Fugazi and Echo and The Bunnymen; Ride and even Flock Of Seagulls were shared reference points as the band worked on the album together.From the anthemic sweep of opener "Talk For Hours", through the title track's psychedelic swirl and "Fever Dream"'s baggy groove, it sees High Vis' sound blossoming into something with an unlimited richness. The hazy drift of "Shame" or the melodic jangle of "Trauma Bonds" may take them until uncharted waters, but they still have all the power and bite that made No Sense No Feeling so remarkable.Lyrically, the album represents another leap forward too. Talking frankly about poverty, class politics, and the challenges of everyday life, Sayle's lyrics have always addressed the downtrodden and discarded communities across Britain slipping below the waterline. This time around, Sayle's lost not of that social consciousness, but he's looked at himself and his own emotional landscape, and in the process created something that feels more universal, that reaches a hand-out to people and ultimately gives a message of hope."To me, the lyrics are less selfish," reflects Sayle. "In the past, I couldn't see past whatever was going on with me. It's about accepting things and being open to conversations and learning to talk to people rather than just thinking that we're all doomed."The song "Talk for Hours" is a prime example of that. Born out of an afternoon meeting up with an old group of mates "repeating the same thing and not actually learning anything about each other" it offers to actually break the cycle and to listen and speak frankly about shared feelings and experiences. "Trauma Bonds", meanwhile, traces the broken lines of those living in lost communities, but ultimately realises that despite our shared scars, there's still hope to move on to a better future."The message of the album is you're not who you're told you are," Sayle summarises. "You're not your class background. Whatever it is, you're not that. Don't resign yourself to thinking you can't be this and you can't be that."It's a vitally important message right now, and one that could be the motto for not only Blending, but for High Vis themselves.

High Vis were formed in 2016 from the ashes of some of the UK's best hardcore bands. Gild-toothed frontman Graham Sayle's anguished lyrics about life in working class Britain were familiar to fans of Tremors' full-throttle thrash, but alongside his former bandmate Edward `Ski' Harper and veterans of Dirty Money, DiE and The Smear, High Vis sought to transform that energy and intensity into something entirely new.Like scene-mates Chubby and the Gang did by pulling in unlikely source material from classic doo-wop or Micromoon have by combining everything from psychedelia and metal into their high potency mix, High Vis' 2019 debut album, No Sense No Feeling showed the band were never going to be constrained by any sense of genre rules or regulations. Its claustrophobic rattle bore traces of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Crisis, The Cure and Gang Of Four lurking in the shadows. 2020's synth-driven EP, Society Exists, was further evidence of the band's restless creative MO.High Vis' second album Blending sees them open their viewfinder wider than ever before. Alongside longstanding favourites such as Fugazi and Echo and The Bunnymen; Ride and even Flock Of Seagulls were shared reference points as the band worked on the album together.From the anthemic sweep of opener "Talk For Hours", through the title track's psychedelic swirl and "Fever Dream"'s baggy groove, it sees High Vis' sound blossoming into something with an unlimited richness. The hazy drift of "Shame" or the melodic jangle of "Trauma Bonds" may take them until uncharted waters, but they still have all the power and bite that made No Sense No Feeling so remarkable.Lyrically, the album represents another leap forward too. Talking frankly about poverty, class politics, and the challenges of everyday life, Sayle's lyrics have always addressed the downtrodden and discarded communities across Britain slipping below the waterline. This time around, Sayle's lost not of that social consciousness, but he's looked at himself and his own emotional landscape, and in the process created something that feels more universal, that reaches a hand-out to people and ultimately gives a message of hope."To me, the lyrics are less selfish," reflects Sayle. "In the past, I couldn't see past whatever was going on with me. It's about accepting things and being open to conversations and learning to talk to people rather than just thinking that we're all doomed."The song "Talk for Hours" is a prime example of that. Born out of an afternoon meeting up with an old group of mates "repeating the same thing and not actually learning anything about each other" it offers to actually break the cycle and to listen and speak frankly about shared feelings and experiences. "Trauma Bonds", meanwhile, traces the broken lines of those living in lost communities, but ultimately realises that despite our shared scars, there's still hope to move on to a better future."The message of the album is you're not who you're told you are," Sayle summarises. "You're not your class background. Whatever it is, you're not that. Don't resign yourself to thinking you can't be this and you can't be that."It's a vitally important message right now, and one that could be the motto for not only Blending, but for High Vis themselves.

90 Day Men spent a decade boldly in conflict with the world, catering to no one and careening toward its own abyss. Forged by Midwestern teens amid a late-90s spike in angular indie rock, the band wrote itself into the lexicon of Chicago music history. Eschewing trend and time, 90 Day Men was as ornate as it was alienating, transcending genre and embracing the strange. This 5LP set, remastered by Heba Kadry, collects the band's three studio albums and a previously unreleased 2001 Peel Session, plus EPs, singles, and outtakes, all detailed within a 68-page oral history curated by Joan of Arc's Tim Kinsella.

90 Day Men spent a decade boldly in conflict with the world, catering to no one and careening toward its own abyss. Forged by Midwestern teens amid a late-90s spike in angular indie rock, the band wrote itself into the lexicon of Chicago music history. Eschewing trend and time, 90 Day Men was as ornate as it was alienating, transcending genre and embracing the strange. This 5LP set, remastered by Heba Kadry, collects the band's three studio albums and a previously unreleased 2001 Peel Session, plus EPs, singles, and outtakes, all detailed within a 68-page oral history curated by Joan of Arc's Tim Kinsella.

Indie pop quartet Melenas hail from Pamplona, Spain, a picturesque region nestled just south of the Pyrenees. Such beauty can't help but inform the band's songwriting, but Melenas aren't content to just sit placidly & take in the scenery. Since they burst onto the scene in 2016, the band has hit the ground running, playing incessantly both locally & on the stages at national festivals like Primavera Sound & Eurosonic as well as releasing a debut full length (2018's "s/t" album) and a 7-inch single both triple-released on local labels Elsa, Nebula & Snap! Clap! Club. Trouble In Mind is honored to be releasing their new album Dias Raros and is the first label outside of Spain to release Melenas music to the world.Dias Raros hums right from the get-go, peppering their garage-pop punch with elements of lysergic dream pop, melancholic indie rock and strident guitar jangle. The album title translates to "Strange Days" an acknowledgement - according to the band - of "...those days where you spend more time inside than outside. Inside your own self, inside your bedroom and your own universe thinking about your wishes, dreams, memories, obsessions or fears." The lyrics - sung entirely in their native Spanish - reference "those interior dialogues where sometimes you fight to escape from a situation, you wonder what another person will be thinking about or feeling, you gotta say goodbye, or you just enjoy the time by yourself. Days that, for different reasons, you're feeling different, they are strange". Opener "Primer tiempo" buzzes with an urgent organ drone, unfolding into a yearning ballad of modern guitar-pop bolstered by the group's lush harmonies & sets the tone for the rest of Dias Raros. Songs like "No puedo pensar" "3 Segundos" and "Despertar" follow suit, with the rhythm section galloping headlong into an insistent guitar strum, while ballads like the tender "El Tiempo ha Padsado" rely on the band's melodious voices bolstered by a lilting guitar riff and gentle organ swells. Elsewhere mid tempo rockers like the stomping "Los alemanes", the simmering "Ciencia Ficción" and "Ya no es Verano"s insistent jangle recall underground greats like The Pastels, R.E.M. and Shop Assistants. "Vals" ("Waltz") closes the album in 3/4 time, named for the ballroom dance as well as the last name of a close friend - a dedication to her. Its dreamy sway alluding to classic Brill Building songwriting; dusted with melancholy, but lifted by cascading voices, and organ and guitar waves and guitars that twinkle and shimmer over a cracking backbeat. Dias Raros is the perfect introduction to a band bursting with promise, confidently inhabiting their own space built upon the foundation of their influences both geographically and culturally, as well as musically.

Limitierte creme(weiß)farbene Vinyl-LP! Seit 30 Jahren fliegen die STAGE BOTTLES nun unter dem Radar der Mainstream-Medien, sind aber in ihrer Szene längst eine feste Größe und international erfolgreich. Sie haben sieben Alben veröffentlicht, spielen weltweit live, haben mit unzähligen Bands zusammen gepunktrockt und dabei immer Haltung bewiesen. Jetzt kommt nach zehn Jahren mit "We Need Each Other" wieder ein neues Album. STAGE BOTTLES gründete sich 1993 aus einem engen Freundeskreis der antifaschistischen Skinhead-Szene. Musikalisch prägt das Saxophon den klassisch melodiös-aggressiven Punkrock, der sich stark klassischen englischen Vorbildern orientiert. Textlich liegt der Fokus klar im Aufruf zum aktiven Antifaschismus und zu einer gesellschaftskritischen und antikapitalistischen Haltung. Eine ausgeprägte Affinität zum Fußball und zu subkulturellen Themen erfolgt auf oft auch für den Punkrock nicht konventionelle und sehr offene Art und Weise. Die größten Hits der Stage Bottles sind "Sometimes Anti-Social, But Always Anti-fascist" und "Dead but not forgiven" sowie ,Russia", "All you need is hate", "Too young to die", "Come together", ,One world one crew" und der Song "Solidarity" (angelehnt an die Version der Band Angelic Upstarts"). Am 1.Dezember 2023 wird das neue Studioalbum erscheinen, zeitgleich feiert die Band ihr 30jähriges Bestehen. Seid bereit für weitere Punkrock-Hymnen wie Useless Idiots, Power-Psycho, You'll Never Stop Us (zusammen mit MOSCOW DEATH BRIGADE), She Hates The City sowie dem Titeltrack und erster Single! "We Need Each Other" soll durchaus keine Floskel sein, sondern die grundlegende Parole für das Album. "Ein Lied über Freundschaft, das Älterwerden, das Altwerden mit Menschen, die seit Jahrzehnten mit einem zusammen sind. Daneben soll es aber auch einen Hinweis auf globale Probleme geben. Wenn wir nicht versuchen, die Dinge gemeinsam zu lösen, werden wir nicht genug Kraft haben, um erfolgreich zu sein" so Olaf Rüger, Sänger, Frontmann und Kopf der Band. Aktueller kann ein Titel wohl heutzutage kaum sein, die STAGE BOTTLES sind zurück und sagen, was Sache ist. Aufklappbare Digisleeve-CD mit 16seitigem Booklet, Vinyl-LP mit bedruckter Innenhülle plus 4seitigem-12"-Booklet.

Seit 30 Jahren fliegen die STAGE BOTTLES nun unter dem Radar der Mainstream-Medien, sind aber in ihrer Szene längst eine feste Größe und international erfolgreich. Sie haben sieben Alben veröffentlicht, spielen weltweit live, haben mit unzähligen Bands zusammen gepunktrockt und dabei immer Haltung bewiesen. Jetzt kommt nach zehn Jahren mit "We Need Each Other" wieder ein neues Album. STAGE BOTTLES gründete sich 1993 aus einem engen Freundeskreis der antifaschistischen Skinhead-Szene. Musikalisch prägt das Saxophon den klassisch melodiös-aggressiven Punkrock, der sich stark klassischen englischen Vorbildern orientiert. Textlich liegt der Fokus klar im Aufruf zum aktiven Antifaschismus und zu einer gesellschaftskritischen und antikapitalistischen Haltung. Eine ausgeprägte Affinität zum Fußball und zu subkulturellen Themen erfolgt auf oft auch für den Punkrock nicht konventionelle und sehr offene Art und Weise. Die größten Hits der Stage Bottles sind "Sometimes Anti-Social, But Always Anti-fascist" und "Dead but not forgiven" sowie ,Russia", "All you need is hate", "Too young to die", "Come together", ,One world one crew" und der Song "Solidarity" (angelehnt an die Version der Band Angelic Upstarts"). Am 1.Dezember 2023 wird das neue Studioalbum erscheinen, zeitgleich feiert die Band ihr 30jähriges Bestehen. Seid bereit für weitere Punkrock-Hymnen wie Useless Idiots, Power-Psycho, You'll Never Stop Us (zusammen mit MOSCOW DEATH BRIGADE), She Hates The City sowie dem Titeltrack und erster Single! "We Need Each Other" soll durchaus keine Floskel sein, sondern die grundlegende Parole für das Album. "Ein Lied über Freundschaft, das Älterwerden, das Altwerden mit Menschen, die seit Jahrzehnten mit einem zusammen sind. Daneben soll es aber auch einen Hinweis auf globale Probleme geben. Wenn wir nicht versuchen, die Dinge gemeinsam zu lösen, werden wir nicht genug Kraft haben, um erfolgreich zu sein" so Olaf Rüger, Sänger, Frontmann und Kopf der Band. Aktueller kann ein Titel wohl heutzutage kaum sein, die STAGE BOTTLES sind zurück und sagen, was Sache ist. Aufklappbare Digisleeve-CD mit 16seitigem Booklet, klassisch schwarze Vinyl-LP mit bedruckter Innenhülle plus 4seitigem-12"-Booklet.

The live reunion of Bob Dylan and The Band during 1973-74 yielded one of the decade's most celebrated, dynamic, and astonishing tours. Captured on Before the Flood, the results portray the two artists' shared chemistry as well as Dylan's instinctive ability to challenge audiences, his group, and himself via inventive rearrangements of classics that simultaneously ward off nostalgia and renew with meaning. Said by noted critic Robert Christgau to be "at its best, the craziest and strongest rock and roll ever recorded," Before the Flood crackles with intensity, relevance, and unhinged performances.

Arriving at a crucial time for both Dylan and The Band, Before the Flood is the furthest thing possible from a nostalgia trip. It's where Dylan begins his now-trademark feat of turning songs upside-down, taking risks, challenging expectations, and leaving audiences riveted to the edge of their seats in anticipation of what might come next. He sings with unabated passion, the moods spanning bitterness to jubilation. And his willingness to play fast and loose with the music gives way to compelling shifts, under-the-surface textures, complementary intricacies, and a sense of newness and discovery on par with that of an adventurer embracing total freedom.

Before the Flood buries any notion of limits, safeguards, or borders. It is an open map, each song a route begging for exploration without need or concern for exactness or an appointed leader. Collaborative in every sense, it's a portrait of six inimitable musicians feeding off one another, trusting in their past history as they hurdle towards uncharted territory, using soulfulness as a compass and opportunity as their vehicle.

Wholly different than the live episodes heard on Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert, Before the Flood is equally seminal and, from the perspective of witnessing an artist dare not only his audience but himself to break through to a new plane, even better. Utterly astounding.

First Word Records are very proud to bring you a new album from Don Leisure with Amanda Whiting. 'Beyond The Midnight Sun' expands upon ground first explored on Don Leisure's track 'All Praises Due', which also featured Amanda (with Angel Bat Dawid), and featured on his previous album 'Shaboo Strikes Back'.

This is a full-length project that these two formidable Welsh artists have collaborated on together. To bring you up to speed, Cardiff DJ and beat-maker Don Leisure has been twice nominated for the Welsh Music Prize, with the afore-mentioned album 'Shaboo Strikes Back', and a previous project, 'Steel Zakusi'.

As well as being 50% of Darkhouse Family with Earl Jeffers, he's released music under various monikers on labels such as Metalheadz, International Anthem, Fat City, Earnest Endeavours, Group BraCil and on Rough Trade with another regular collaborator, Gruff Rhys. Other collabs have included Charlotte Church, Om'Mas Keith, DJ Spinna and First Word label-mate Tyler Daley ...

"Join us as we welcome back New York Underground Funk Band with two more unreleased funk tracks from the early 1970s, “Funk & Soul” and “Wanna Be Free” — a more psychedelic take on their funk sound.

Funk & Soul states, “I’ve got funk and soul...don’t have to worry about a doggone thing” — and we’d have to agree. Yet another excellent track from NYUFB, though a little more psyched-out this time: imagine Sly and the Family Stone getting Jimi Hendrix for a session, then asking him to drop a fuzzed-out guitar solo. You might then end up with “Funk & Soul” — the heaviest, fuzz-driven Sly track you’ve never heard. Though it’s also NYUFB from start to finish.

Now that you’re in the right frame of mind from side A, you’re ready for “Wanna Be Free” — the deep funk B-side that trades out the spirit of Jimi Hendrix for the spirit of Jim Morrison. With all the respect that is due to these greats, NYUFB crafts their own psychedelic sound in this raucous cut that features thunderous drums and alluring interplay between organ and guitar. This was certainly designed to free your mind, and we believe the group succeeds.

These two tracks comprise one of our most exciting releases yet, as that promising band from the New York or New Jersey area further displays their remarkable range. These songs simply cannot remain buried. They’ve finally found their way to you on PP007, and we hope you’ll get a hold of it while you can."

Vocal Shades And Tones is a miraculous leftfield library classic from the genius mind of celebrated UK composer/singer/vocal arranger Barbara Moore. It's a heavenly groove-based blend of jazz, Latin, soft-psych, folk-funk and gospel soul. Recorded for the legendary Music De Wolfe in 1972, it's an audacious start-to-finish listen, as dizzying as it is dazzling. It's a perfect snapshot of a musical era, supported by Moore's glorious vocal arrangements. Widely regarded among collectors, DJs, and lounge/easy-listening acolytes as an absolute essential it is viewed as the holy grail by many production music heads, rarely appearing for sale and disappearing in a flash when it does. Indeed, originals now go for over £300 and it's easy to see why. Just one of the reasons why this fresh Be With reissue, part of a wider De Wolfe reissue campaign, is so utterly crucial.

Racing out the gate, the driving "Hot Heels" is a bright, sophisticated scat groove which sounds Brazilian, richly produced as if coming by the hand of Arthur Verocai. Yes, *that* good. It's followed by "It's Gospel" which is, er, a wonderfully slow and deeply soulful gospel treasure. The appropriately monikered "Steam Heat" is a darker, breathy gem, one for salacious crates and one of the record's most infamous tracks. "Fly Away" is pastoral West Coast soft rock, very much in conversation with John Cameron and Keith Mansfield's epochal KPM recording, Voices In Harmony. "His Name Was" is a stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks Beach Boys accapella church-organ stunner, whilst "Swing Over" is another carefree, richly produced sun-dappled smasher. The gentle Bossa and sunshine soul of the aptly-titled "Touch Of Warmth" closes out a virtually perfect A-Side.

The B-Side opens with the easy grace and dramatic build of "Voice Force Nine". The jaunty "Very Fine Fellow" may be the only track to slightly grate so we advise heading to the slower, moody "Shades-Tones", eminently more compelling with sparkling, hypnotic piano throughout, underpinning the gorgeous wordless vocals. Just beautiful. It was sampled by Redman for his Method Man-featuring "Do What Ya Feel" on the great Muddy Waters. We're back in Brazilian territory with the cool, uptempo "I'm Feather" before swooning to the warm, relaxed "Drifting", another total highlight which was famously sampled by Koushik on his legendary remix of Madvillain's "America's Most Blunted (Doom's Verse)". The penultimate track, "Take Off" is a bright, organ lounge groove before this remarkable set is rounded out by the beaty "Fly Paradise". It's so so good, it sounds like Rotary Connection fronted by The Mamas & the Papas. As noted in a recent Guardian article on Moore's life, "there is a plushness and electricity in the tight vocal harmonies that spring out, sung with the precision of cathedral choristers decades before Auto-Tune." Amen.

In the 1960s, Barbara Moore was a member of Top of the Pops’ resident vocal-harmony group, The Ladybirds and sang backing vocals for Dusty Springfield’s TV show. Her own outfit, the Barbara Moore Singers, were regulars on TOTP, singing with Jimi Hendrix when he performed "Hey Joe" live in Lime Grove Studios. An important detail for Moore was the shepherd’s pie she bought Hendrix when she found him alone, looking emaciated, near the BBC canteen. By 1970, she was working as a session singer for De Wolfe and, by 1972, was composing her own tracks for De Wolfe and working within their tight creative strictures. Each short track had to evoke an obvious mood and theme, with no significant key or tempo changes. Her response, this very album, managed to stay between the lines while cohering as an overarching artistic masterpiece.

The audio for Vocal Shades And Tones has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

• Following on from the highly successful first two editions
of Dance Masters featuring the classics mixes from
maestros Shep Pettibone and Arthur Baker the spotlight
turns to another remix legend, John Luongo.
• Boston born, John is one of the truly legendary DJ's and
remixers of the Disco era. John got his break at Epic by
overdubbing percussion from salt shakers and spoons
onto a promo and then passing them back the tape. This
resulted in him being flown to New York, and put in a
studio (of his choice) to mix and produce Melba Moore`s
“You Stepped Into My Life”. From this point everything he
touched was a hit. He went onto remix Disco classics by
Jackie Moore – “This Time Baby”, Dan Hartman “Vertigo
/ Relight My Fire” and Patti Labelle “Music Is My Way Of
Life”.

• John, however was not afraid of remixing artists that
didn’t fit into the disco genre and this attitude is borne out
by the tracklisting of this compilation on which Gladys
Knight and The Pips rub shoulders with ZZ Top and Billy
Idol, and Baltimora appears alongside Bill Nelson and ILevel.
• “…if you played this whole thing, just put it on and
didn’t tell anyone it was me, they’d say ‘boy, what a great
group of songs this is!’” - John Luongo
• The collection is housed in a beautiful lift-off-lid box, with
a 16 page booklet featuring foreword by Arthur Baker, an
in-depth essay written by Alexis Petridis (Rock and Pop
reviewer for The Guardian) and complete with rare photos
from John’s personal collection plus a limited signed insert.

• All tracks remastered by Nick Robbins at Sound
Mastering.
• A 43-track 4CD edition is also available, along with a 2LP
vinyl edition featuring 16 highlights.

KOU is the new project by Apolline Schöser (half of Nina Harker) & Thomas Coquelet.

Apolline & Thomas have been performing since 2022 under the KOU guise with 24 electronic harmoniums. Producing dense layers of tones & overtones. On their debut album KOU steers in another direction. The harmonium appears occasionally, but more prominent are delicate guitar pluckings, distant vocal effects, synths, flutes, piano strokes, a touch of musical magic and Apolline’s jazz not jazz vocals.

As soon as the needle drops it’s clear we are jump-cutting straight to the other side of the mirror. Cats purr, a woman sings as if asleep, drum machines stutter and warp and Alvin Lucier is not 'sitting in a room that is not different to the one you are not in now’. If you’re already confused, join the club. But, it’s the good kind of confused, a bewildering experience akin to the first time hearing the Faust Tapes or watching Inland Empire. Wait though, as pigeons coo and the tape machine clunk-clicks a gorgeous weirdo version of Roger's and Hart’s Blue Moon emerges to let you know this isn’t just dada splurge, there’s a genius pop sensibility at work here too. Side two takes us further into the murk with mournful detuned brass, stoned Joan La Barbara-esque vocalese and a droning Farfisa hymn, before ending with another too-tempting snatch of DIY pop. Some of the references are recognisable. All kinds of 70s/80s European art prog - think early Battiato, Pierot Lunaire’s Gudrun, Lucia Bosè and Gregorio Paniagua's Io Pomodoro etc etc. There’s a strong whiff of 90s us goof-off surrealism too- Bongwater, Siltbreeze, Royal Trux’s Twin infinitives, the damaged folkier side of Alastair Galbraith, Half-Japanese, early Beck even all feel relevant.

Like an oddball group of friends you might meet by chance and end up weirding-out with for days, the minds behind this deliciously odd music allow you to stay for a while in their strange subcultural world. You might not want to live here forever but a short trip, while it lasts, rewires your brain for the better.

David Byrne is a modern renaissance man - and that’s not just a cliché. From the heady days as co-founder of the celebrated art new-wave group Talking Heads (1976-88) through his own constantly evolving and innovative solo music career, he has pursued his muse on many different artistic fronts. He’s been the driving force behind a body of work that has been both intellectually daring and commercially successful...and he shows no signs of slowing down decades later. This show, captured on November 28, 2001, came on the heels of his hit single, “Like Humans Do” and the release of the album Look Into The Eyeball, which was another typically eclectic musical stew reflecting a variety of styles and influences, from Philly soul to a D.C. Go-Go inspired groove and his first-ever Spanish composition, “Desconocido Soy.” Critics at the time called it his best work in years, and his performance on the Austin City Limits stage shows why. Joined by Austin’s own eclectic tango ensemble Tosca, Byrne takes us down many different musical roads in his ACL debut. Of course, besides the brilliant songwriter and performer that he is, he’s also an accomplished performance artist, photographer, web journalist, film writer / director, composer of motion picture soundtracks, and founder of his own world music label, Luaka Bop Records. He also has a collection of Grammys, Oscars and Golden Globes on his mantel. His music may be complex and poetic, but he makes no bones about his ultimate intent: “I want to move people to dance and cry at the same time. - Terry Lickona (Producer Austin City Limits)

Boy bands and girl groups were a huge factor in 90’s and 00’s pop culture. From the Backstreet Boys and Take That to the Spice Girls, Sugababes and many more great pop-bands, they sparked mass hysteria among their young fanbase. Being one of the first bands in the late 80’s, New Kids On The Block kicked off the hype, although in the 60’s bands like Jackson 5 and The Supremes had been around for quite some time.

The pop genre sparked a whole new breed of both boys and girl bands, with #1 hits all around, fueled by the sing-a-long lyrics, catchy videos on MTV, magazines and tours targeting a young audience around the world. Girlz ‘n Boyz Collected represents the legendary 90’s and 00’s girl- and boy bands including Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, Sugababes, Take That, Atomic Kitten, New Kids On The Block and many more acts.

The 2LP Girlz ‘n Boyz Collected is available as a limited edition on blue
(LP1) and pink (LP2) coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

Dirty Electronics (John Richards) and Oliver Torr met in a bar in Prague. One thing led to another. After collaborating at Prague Quadrennial to create a sound-installation in a repurposed ice-hockey arena, gigs followed. They vowed to make an album together, which
finally happened in the geographical space between Prague, London, Brno and Athens. The album brings together disparate spaces and connected artists as a distorted memory trace.
Improvised group scenarios and abrupt electronic episodes are placed side-by-side in a brutal marriag

and Sebastian Kokus and the prolific Ulf Schütte, the Hamburg-based trio has tirelessly expanded upon its sound and extended its musical style. After 2022’s »S/T« documented the results of their first jam sessions as a newly-founded group, »V.A.« started even more modestly and became an even bigger undertaking. Originally conceived as a small one-off release, it grew into a full record which sees the group embracing dub music, collaborating with Peaking Lights’ Aaron Coyes and inviting other artists—No UFO’s, Seekers International, Coco Em—who reworked select tracks in true dub style. »V.A.« is marked by inconsistency, openness, and heterogeneity in the best sense of those words: ever-changing, constantly surprising and consistently in motion.

The starting point for »V.A.« was a Hamburg concert in December 2022 together with Coyes, who played a solo set as Peaking Lights. On the request of the event organiser, Cloud Management teamed up with him for a jam session after the gig, laying the foundation for a track that the group took to the studio before sending it to Coyes to record vocals for it. Another song quickly followed and even though the band initially intended to release »PST« and »0rten Pitch« as standalone 7” single, they soon decided to have others create versions of the two tunes to round them off in the form of a 12” EP. Once more though, one thing led to another and now »V.A.« collects five original pieces by Cloud Management as well as three—four on the digital version—remixes by other artists.

Collaborating with Leipzig-based Canadian producer No UFO’s, the Canadian Seekers International collective, and Kenyan multi-disciplinary artist Coco Em came about organically. As fans of their friend Konrad Jandavs’ work for labels such as Spectrum Spools, Root Strata and his own Nice Up International, Korf, Kokus and Schütte asked him for a remix and granted him full creative freedom for his take on »PST«. Jandavs also connected them with the prolific Richmond-based soundsystem worshippers, who present their take on the same track on this record as well as a version of »Electric CD.« Also this track appears three times on the record, having been re-rubbed by Emma Mbeki Nzioka, who was introduced to the the trio by its label Altin Village & Mine.

There isn’t really a common thread running through the rough digi-dub of No UFO’s take on »PST«, Seekers International’s traditionally-minded yet infinitely playful dub-psychedelia and Coco Em’s bass-heavy, percussive, pulsating take on »Electric CD.« However, as a group dedicated to staying in flux at all times, Cloud Management ended up embracing the creative differences between their own work and those of their respective collaborators. In calling it »V.A.,« they paid tribute to their somewhat loose, but conceptually consistent concept of giving various artists full creative licence over their own work. Neither a true album in the strict sense of the world nor just a compilation, »V.A.« is actually the essential Cloud Management record: ever-changing, constantly surprising, consistently in motion.

Five groups, one mythical studio - documenting the emergence of a generation!

The initial postulate was simple: five groups, one emblematic studio and 24 hours for each to imagine and record two unreleased tracks with one objective - the will to document a French jazz scene in the midst of renewal.

In these last few years, several innovative currents have shaken up the world of jazz and attracted new fans. They have bubbled up from Los Angeles, impregnated with hip-hop culture (Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Thundercat), or from London, tinged with African rhythms (Nubya Garcia, Kokoroko, Ezra Collective). Meanwhile, in France, a new scene is emerging, carrying with it more of a dancefloor-oriented sound influenced by electronic music - an obvious kinship with the French Touch explosion of the late 90s.

Historically, every movement has been assimilated to a certain neighbourhood, to specific clubs where late at night, young guns stayed up to imagine the jazz of tomorrow - the Cotton Club for the jazz of the 20s, Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem for Be-Bop, the Black Hawk in San Francisco for West Coast jazz, Birdland in New York for Hard-Bop or a lot more recently, the Total Refreshment Centre which has been the playing field for the new London scene.

In Paris too, this new sound is associated with actual venues, places which have allowed these groups to form, create a repertoire and forge an aesthetic - Le Baiser Salé for Monsieur Mâlâ, La Gare/Le Gore for Photon, La Pêche in Montreuil for Ishkero, La Petite Halle for Underground Canopy and also le Duc des Lombards and le 38 Riv’ for Alex Monfort; it’s in a live context that this music will always continue to evolve.

Keeping this “live” spirit, with all its spontaneity, was actually the guiding line for the elaboration of this Studio Pigalle compilation. Each take was recorded in the most organic way possible, bringing all the musicians together in the same room to limit post-production alterations before the final cut was assembled, in just one day, by studio in-house sound engineer, Felix Rémy.

A feeling of urgency permeates a record guided by an artistic production taking care to crystalise the essence of this artistically free-range generation whose childhoods were rocked just as much by Bill Evans and Roy Hargrove as by J Dilla and Jeff Mills. One of the two tracks recorded is geared towards the dancefloor, and the other, more cosmic/ambient gives freer rein to individual interpretation.

There were therefore many possible ways of interpreting these guidelines for the five formations which number among the most distinctive on the current French musical landscape, and the occasion, for some, to rummage through their archives! With Transe (Mbappé) and Da Verdere (Vella), Monsieur

Mâlâ present us with two unreleased tracks issued from the very first rehearsals of the quintet reworked especially for this compilation. “Seen the aesthetic range of this group, it all worked out very naturally in the studio”, recounts keyboardist Nicholas Vella “Recording like they did in the sixties with all the channels live and working with small imperfections was a very interesting task, even when it came to the mix, we had to make do with the takes we had... “

“Our group is very recent, and with this session, in just two tracks, we had the opportunity to present the entirety of our musical universe,” says Photons pianist Gauthier Toux. “All too often, we assimilate this fusion between jazz and dance music to computers and post-production modifications. For “Dessine”, we kept the first take, and we must have recorded just three or four for the other track with more of a techno bent. In one day, we understood that we could play our entire repertoire live, from A to Z”.

“When the Komos label offered me this project, it immediately spoke to me”, remembers Alex Monfort “Straight away, I thought of “Since I Met You”, a track with a nine/four time signature which really is reminiscent of a new- soul groove, but with this extra cosmic vibe! I wrote the words to the chorus and Nina Tonji placed her voice on the track, adding her own verses. For “Tonight”, the up-tempo track, I wanted to head off in more of a hybrid direction inspired by Kaytranada or the Black Radio series by Robert Glasper. A cross-over between jazz and hip-hop which really does represent my world, and I also tried to place vocals centre stage (Emcee Agora)”.

“We truly resonated with the way Antoine Rajon imagined this compilation and the recording session”, confide Warren Dongué and Jérémy Tallon from Underground Canopy. “When arriving in this studio we felt as if we had gone backtothe70s! Inkeepingwiththespiritofthisera,heknewhowtoletus keep our spontaneity, without recording in too many takes, and that’s how we like to work”.

“We managed to adhere to the themes of the compilation without changing our instrumentation, we wanted to remain faithful to the sound of Ishkero on these new compositions and take them somewhere else” – says drummer TaoEhrlich -“Withoutaddinganyelectronics.Thesessionwassupervisedin a truly subtle and benevolent manner. From a human perspective, it was also a wonderful experience”.

Whether turned towards hip-hop, ethnic or electronic music, the artists featured on this Studio Pigalle compilation represent the eclecticism of a new generation in the process of writing the first chapters of its history. Open to experimentation, these artists continue to hold high an immutable love for improvisation and creation in the moment... another definition of the word Jazz!

• Following on from the highly successful first two editions of
Dance Masters featuring the classics mixes from maestros
Shep Pettibone and Arthur Baker, the spotlight turns to
another remix legend, John Luongo.

• Boston born, John is one of the truly legendary DJ's and
remixers of the Disco era. John got his break at Epic by
overdubbing percussion from salt shakers and spoons onto a
promo and then passing them back the tape. This resulted in
him being flown to New York, and put in a studio (of his
choice) to mix and produce Melba Moore`s “You Stepped
Into My Life”. From this point everything he touched was a
hit. He went onto remix Disco classics by Jackie Moore –
“This Time Baby”, Dan Hartman “Vertigo / Relight My Fire”
and Patti Labelle “Music Is My Way Of Life”.

• However, John was not afraid of remixing artists that didn’t
fit into the disco genre and this attitude is borne out by the
tracklisting of this compilation, on which Gladys Knight and
The Pips rub shoulders with Fine Young Cannibals and
Billy Idol, and Baltimora appears alongside Banararama
and Serge Ponsar.

• “…if you played this whole thing, just put it on and didn’t
tell anyone it was me, they’d say ‘boy, what a great group of
songs this is!’” - John Luongo

• This cut down 16 track essential edition in pressed on 140g
black vinyl and features foreword by Arthur Baker and an indepth essay written by Alexis Petridis (Rock and Pop
reviewer for The Guardian).

• All tracks remastered by Nick Robbins at Sound
Mastering

The last twelve months have been a whirlwind for Henry Counsell and Louis Curran, the men who make up Joy (Anonymous). Having established themselves during the Covid-19 era by playing impromptu meet-ups on London’s South Bank, they have graduated to bigger venues, travelled to far-flung locales and recorded their second album, Cult Classics, while maintaining the spontaneous energy and irrepressible joy that made their name. Their music revels in the euphoria of being alive and all the feelings, good or bad, that come with it. It invites us into a community, draws us close and promises the night of our lives.

Recorded over the course of a year, the blueprint for Cult Classics was laid down over a two-week span at Imogen Heap’s Round House in east London. Joy (Anonymous) invited friends old and new to visit - they’d record live instruments in jam sessions upstairs and then retreat to a second room to flip and loop and generally mess with the sounds, moulding them into sizzling dance tracks. “Loads of people were coming up to me like ‘I thought this was going to be a dance record?’” Louis says, remembering the quietly beautiful music they’d be recording. “I’d be like, don’t worry about that, just keep playing.” He’d send it back to people later and they’d be floored - “That was my bit and you’ve made it... jungle!”

It was an organic and creatively fulfilling approach, one that didn’t allow any of the music to get stale or stagnate. As they built the tracks from the sounds they’d collected, Joy (Anonymous) would weave the new songs into their famously improvised live sets, testing them, refining them, taking note of the audiences’ reactions. In a year punctuated by a lot of travel, they’d also incorporate the voices of people they met along the way - “Beazley’s Poem”, which opens the record, features the words of a man who was working security at a Fred Again show at New York’s Terminal Five. “He was basically doing the opposite of his job and being a hype man, climbing on the fence and ramping up the crowd - we ended up hanging out with him - like, who’s this legend?” Louis explains. “He just speaks really amazingly about his life, all these amazing thoughts and opinions - he started jumping on the mic when we were playing, preaching these amazing messages to the crowd, like that we all need to be nicer to each other. The first time we played the record in its entirety, he introduced us and that’s the recording we’ve used.”

Joy (Anonymous) remain dedicated to the spirit of spontaneity. They shut a street down with a surprise waterside party in New York. On a trip to Copenhagen they played an impromptu set in a cafe, which turned into a house party and a night-long good time. In Lithuania, they ended up playing in a decommissioned prison. It’s harder, perhaps, to keep that spirit alive now that they are operating more within the confines of the music industry but they will keep lugging their kit to wherever the party calls for as long as they can. “I think if we lose that, we’ve kind of lost what makes us us,” Henry says.

Bursting with multi-genre reference points and disparate influences, Cult Classics is very much a dance album. The samples we made ourselves or we took from music that is quite different to dance music, but we definitely wanted to shout out a lot of the dance influences that we love,” Henry says. They listened to a lot of Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx as well as The Prodigy (“more rage stuff”), taking songwriting tips from their dance forebears, but also recording bits that felt more like jazz and motown (see: A Place I Belong and the lovely album closer, You’re In Or You’re Out). Emir Taha’s gentle classical guitar runs like a thread throughout Cult Classics, washing into the undertones of the record, tying it all together.

The album follows the beat of a night out, from frenetic, sweaty movement to the gentler winding down as the dawn breaks. At times it is euphoric, celebratory and pure, whirling fun, at others it seeks the joy in the darker emotions that life throws our way. 404 is designed to encapsulate everything about the Joy (Anonymous) journey so far. Skittering beats and ghostly vocals give way to vibrating house chords: sirens blare as we approach a dubstep drop. It’s dramatic and wild, ratcheting up, seeming to settle then hitting you with an intense and frantic breakdown before the ghostly vocal returns to lull us back into the world. It has the feel of a hungry cat playing with a mouse, toying with it before letting it get away.

What sounds like someone playing the spoons on playful, housey How We End Up Here is actually Louis’ restless habit of clicking his rings on everything, one of a myriad of calling cards and easter eggs that day one fans will recognise. They rework Miley Cyrus and Swae Lee’s Party Up The Street into a French-electro-inspired future classic, adding a note of melancholy to a tune that you can imagine hearing blaring from every car on a summer drive. The lyrics on Cult Classic are generally reassuring, inspirational, originally drawn from Henry in stream-of-consciousness freestyles. You’re fine the way you are, they seem to say - the repeated “No need to try” of A Place I Belong, the assurance that “It’s in me all the time” on In Me All The Time. Even the summery but regretful Did You Wrong hints at the growth that is possible from less than ideal behaviour. For Joy (Anonymous), joy isn’t about just being “happy” all the time - it’s about relishing every element of your being.

The name ‘Joy (Anonymous)’ is taken from the work Henry did with Alcoholics Anonymous groups: it is a way to build a community around sharing joy. Their impromptu live sets are known as ‘meetings’; they encourage fans to share moments of joy to their website. They care deeply about the scene they’ve come up in and are determined not to leave it behind. Every show is another chance to reach out and connect with people who love to come together and revel in music as loud as it can go.

Support slots for Fred Again and The Streets, wild B2Bs with Fred and Skrillex, and a set at Four Tet’s Finsbury Park all-dayer this summer have given the duo the opportunity to live out childhood dreams and introduced their infectious live shows to new audiences at huge venues.

With an album as assured and joyful as Cult Classics on the horizon (and a killer collab with The Blessed Madonna coming up), they’re only going to reach higher heights. But the essence of Joy (Anonymous) remains on the South Bank. Between shows at Ally Pally in September, they dragged their camping chairs and gear back down to the banks of the Thames: and it just felt right.

The new Lorelei K album, Gucci Doom, features an expansion on the band's familiar dreampop sound, with a new, glamorous approach to production and songwriting. From song to song, there is an overarching juxtaposition of fashion, music and cerebral lyricism. Lead singer and songwriter Dahlia Knowles took another deep dive to source the materials used throughout the record. Themes of heartbreak, trauma, and gender dysphoria are set to surreal, emotional pop anthems. Vocals travel from soft, reluctant and raw, to full, confident and powerful. Lorelei K is a Dallas-based dreampop band fronted by artist and songwriter Dahlia Knowles. The band parallels post punk, shoegaze, and alternative pop influences, and translates a complex, emotional world into ethereal and glamorous music. Limited Edition Translucent Blue Vinyl LP version of Gucci Doom album by Texas based Dream Pop group Lorelei K

There will always be another peak to summit and boundary to break. END stretch their second full-length offering, The Sin of Human Frailty, beyond its very limits with a fierce commitment to unwavering unpredictability and uncompromising intensity. The New Jersey quintet counts producer and guitarist Will Putney, vocalist Brendan Murphy, guitarist Gregory Thomas, bassist Jay Pepito, and drummer Matt Guglielmo among its ranks. These musicians deliver a concentrated barrage like no other on, The Sin of Human Frailty Closed Casket Activities.

END initially materialized during 2017. The group’s From the Unforgiving Arms of God EP spawned the fan favorite “Necessary Death,” and lead to a signing with label Closed Casket Activities. Highlighted by “Covet Not” and “Absence,” the band bulldozed the senses with their 2020 full-length debut, Splinters From an Ever-Changing Face. Brooklyn Vegan hailed “Pariah” as “an absolutely filthy dose of modern metalcore,” and Kerrang went as far as to describe their Debut LP as, “catharsis fed through a distortion pedal and shaped into a dense, destructive wrecking ball” Perhaps, Invisible Oranges put it best, “These gentlemen have come together to summon a fury seldom heard on any album from the realms of hardcore, grind, and black metal…”

Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express was the phoenix that rose from the ashes of sixties combo The Trinity. Fusing R&B, jazz, soul and funk, keyboard maestro Brian Auger created a new breed of music that took the US and the UK by storm. Auger’s unique experimentation culminated in rhythm-infused jazz funk that united Black and white ’70s audiences. The 6 studio albums that make up Complete Oblivion illustrate the group’s diverse musical influences and progression, from the 1970 self titled debut’s heavy jazz-rock to the jazz fusion, latin and disco tinged Reinforcements from 1975 - this process no doubt powered by the groups’ evolving line up, which included guitarists Jim Mullen and Jack Mills, drummers Robbie McIntosh & Steve Ferrone, bassists Barry Dean and Clive Chaman and vocalist Alex Ligertwood. The musical highlights within Complete Oblivion are many, but particular highlights to mention have to be Total Eclipse (Oblivion Express), Fill Your Head With Laugher (A Better Land), the blistering cover of Eddie Harris’ Freedom Jazz Dance (Second Wind), the Barry Dean composition Whenever You're Ready, the version of Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues (Closer To It), Beginning Again (Straight Ahead) and the mind bending keyboard tour de force Brain Damage (Reinforcements). Given the groups legendary status among fellow musicians such as Zucchero and Herbie Hancock, DJ’s like Kenny Dope and Gilles Peterson and Auger’s legion of fans worldwide - that mission was fully accomplished - or to put it another way, in the words of super fans The Beastie Boys: “Those who remain oblivious to the obvious delights of Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express do so at their own risk!”

'I heard about Seif Abu Bakr and The Scorpions maybe 3-4 years ago. Their album 'Jazz, Jazz Jazz' ended up on my radar because of an eBay auction with the bids eventually rising daily up to a staggering 1000$. The music is a unique combination of incredible horn arrangements powerfully performed, a vigorous drummer contributing a funky backbone and Seif's vocals uniting those elements. The results range from instrumental tracks awaking memories of 1970s crime thriller soundtracks to more Sudanese-rooted tracks, a lot of them modernized versions traditional rhythms of the diverse regions of Sudan and even an excursion into Colgolese Soukouss.
I went for my second trip to Sudan in December 2018 and after doing some research on the first trip my local colleagues Larissa and Yassir had managed to reach Amir, The Scorpions band leader and he was happy to meet. We got together with him in a Cafe right at the Nile in Omdurman. It was a happy occasion for everyone. He told us stories about him meeting Jimmy Cliff and Lewis Armstrong when they visited Sudan and how he and his band mates from The Scorpions played extensively in Kuwait, both in club residencies as well as for television. Amir brought tons of incredible photos illustrating not only the bands history but the vivid cultural live in the many music clubs in Khartoum of the 1970s. During this decade up until 1983 the capital was home to a huge number of clubs, bards and concert halls. This scene started to perish after president Nimeiry's turn away from his socialist policies, that he was widely associated with in the first decade of his rule, towards the implementation of Sharia law in 1983. During the first decade of his rule he had actively supported various artists of the Jazz scene, taking some of them on trips throughout Africa. The 1989 coup of Bashir and his generals then caused the final blow to a once thriving scene. Both of these political events within 6 years lead to significant drawbacks for the Sudanese jazz scene resulting into hardly no gig opportunities left and parties and concerts being critically observed. A number of musicians faced prosecution, most of the time for their political views; some left Sudan for good. Music never completely vanished from public life and even the regime kept selected artists close, but for a majority of those bands affiliated to the jazz scene life and making ends became a lot harder. The Scorpions dissolved as a group around the same time.
The re-release was produced with a clean copy of the vinyl version as a source. The original reel tape of the album stayed with Saif Abu Bakr along with another reel with other recordings that were never released. Unfortunately it was lost when Saif Abu Bakr had to flee to Kuwait temporarily during the second gulf war when Iraq raided Kuwait. Vinyl version comes with extensive booklets with photos, interviews, liner notes. The vinyl version also has a DLL code.

Provocative post-punk from Israel's undercover goth prince. Megira's lone album with the Modern Dance Club showcased a grimier, more driving vision of his brand of trashy no wave. Spread across 31 tracks and two LPs, Love Police schizophrenically mixes industrial soundscapes, surf ditties, hardcore, swamp pop, bubble grunge, screaming, ecstasy, and enough fuzz to warrant a needle check.

Provocative post-punk from Israel's undercover goth prince. Megira's lone album with the Modern Dance Club showcased a grimier, more driving vision of his brand of trashy no wave. Spread across 31 tracks and two LPs, Love Police schizophrenically mixes industrial soundscapes, surf ditties, hardcore, swamp pop, bubble grunge, screaming, ecstasy, and enough fuzz to warrant a needle check.

Brian Auger"s Oblivion Express was the phoenix that rose from the ashes of sixties combo The Trinity. Fusing R&B, jazz, soul and funk, keyboard maestro Brian Auger created a new breed of music that took the US and the UK by storm. Auger"s unique experimentation culminated in rhythm-infused jazz funk that united Black and white "70s audiences. The 6 studio albums that make up Complete Oblivion illustrate the group"s diverse musical influences and progression, from the 1970 self titled debut"s heavy jazz-rock to the jazz fusion, latin and disco tinged Reinforcements from 1975.

The eponymous debut disc from German-Swedish supergroup 4
Wheel Drive went straight to the top spot as Best-Selling Jazz Album
In Germany For 2019. And the media didn’t hold back with their
praise either: “Four first-league jazz musicians with pure joy of playing
and a love of good pop music,” said ZDF’s ‘heute-journal’ about this
spirited and enjoyable group that combines trombonist / singer Nils
Landgren, pianist Michael Wollny, bassist / cellist Lars Danielsson
and drummer Wolfgang Haffner.
 For ‘4 Wheel Drive II’, it is evident that things have shifted up a gear
right from the start, with the rocky, pulsating opening track, ‘Chapter
II’, straight from Wollny’s compositional workbench. Landgren likes to
let his trombone roar like a sports car engine. In similarly dynamic
vein are pieces like Danielsson’s final track of the album, ‘The
Wheelers’, which, thanks to Haffner’s nimble brushwork, makes you
think you’re on a high speed train.
 Compared to the first album, there has been another change, an
increase in the proportion of original compositions written by all of the
participants, as Lars Danielsson, who has contributed a sensitive,
poppy ballad to the new album, ‘Just Another Hour’, remarks.
“Interpretations of worldwide hit songs were a factor behind the huge
success of the debut album, but the ratio to original compositions
here is getting closer to 50:50. That said, the fuel powering 4 Wheel
Drive has remained the same: this band is all about creating music
from deep within, and with like-minded people whom you can
absolutely and implicitly trust to be in the driving seat.”
 “It just flows,” enthuses drummer Haffner, “we’re a group of close
friends with nothing we need to prove, we can just go for it. I've had
so many magic moments with this band, it really is incredible!”
 On the new album, listeners are treated to several new moments of
pure magic, continuing 4 Wheel drive’s illustrious story. For example,
their new instrumental version of the Simon & Garfunkel classic,
‘Sound of Silence’, has something mysteriously Nordic about it. Or
their newly-cast version of the surprisingly infrequently covered
Genesis ballad, ‘Hold On My Heart’, putting it into a jazz context. The
courage to approach pop tunes that have become so ingrained in
many people’s minds from a completely different perspective pays off
in full. Within 4 Wheel Drive are four originals at work, each of whom
can be recognised from the very first note they play or sing.

Since forming in 1999, Suishou No Fune (A Ship Of Crystal), the vehicle for long-term musical collaborators Pirako Kurenai (guitar, voice) and Kageo (guitar), have been one of the most compelling groups in the Japanese underground. Their long, languorous songs are devastating in their simplicity, as though the gently sung ballads of the Velvet Underground’s third album were re-scored by the legendary Japanese free-rock gang, Les Rallizes Denudes. Their new album, 風は春、空は虹、愛は波間に隠れている (The wind is spring -. There is a rainbow in the sky - Love is hiding in the waves.), documents a live performance from May 2021, at Silver Elephant, where the duo are joined by Matsuedo Hideo on bass, and Mark Anderson (Greymouth, Mysteries Of Love) on drums.
The duo of Pirako Kurenai and Kageo have come a long way since their early performances and self-released CD-Rs – in the intervening decades, they’ve released albums on P.S.F., Holy Mountain, Important, Archive, 8mm and Essence, amongst others, each album another manifestation of the duo’s ever-changing same. You can hear them patiently toiling over these beauteous songs, with their choral melodies and lush waves of tonology, Kageo’s guitar radiating bejewelled chimes and dense passages of texture, pulling the songs into a black hole of quietude and sadness. And as Kurenai once told journalist Phil Kaberry, “Suishou No Fune’s songs, sounds and words are often born from heartrending feelings like sadness and pain”.
The wind is spring. There is a rainbow in the sky. Love is hiding in the waves begins with the deep blues of “Cherry”, a drawn-out drift-song that pivots on a most elegant two-chord mantra, as Kurenai sings, siren-like, amidst the sheets of noise Kageo peels from six strings. There’s something painterly about the duo’s playing here, and indeed, Kageo was a painter and Kurenai was a doll maker and watercolour painter when they met in the late ‘90s. On the flip side, a spare, spaced-out improvisation, “A Rainbow Is Floating”, acts as a prelude to “Endless Descent”, one of Suishou No Fune’s most remarkable songs, where a mesmeric guitar line endlessly coils and twines around the flicker and toll of Kurenai’s hypnotic one-chord strum. It’s a bruised, quietly desperate ending to an album that has an achroamatic air, as though the songs were transmitting to a cabal of lost spirits.

Black vinyl, in 3 colour variations of silkscreened jacket with obi in black or kraft, with inserts and a postcard Liner notes by Jon Dale Printed by Alan Sherry

'In 1972, trumpeter Baikida Carroll and some of his colleagues from the Black Artists Group (more precisely saxophonist/flutist Oliver Lake, trombonist Joseph Bowie, drummer Charles "Bobo" Shaw and trumpeter Floyd LeFlore) took the advice of their friends in the Art Ensemble Of Chicago and left their native Missouri to come and discover the bright lights of Paris for themselves. The following year they would even get the chance to record their only album which would rapidly attain mythical status and a collector’s item: “In Paris, Aries 1973”.

Therefore, it was not surprising that they crossed paths with Jef Gilson in the capital. He was always on the lookout for new artists for his recently formed Palm label and had been active on many fronts in jazz since the end of the 50s. The French bandleader / pianist / composer / sound engineer had already recorded, in the preceding months other American musicians who would go on to have great careers: Byard Lancaster, Keno Speller, Clint Jackson III, Khan Jamal... Gilson therefore offered Baikida Carroll the chance to record his first album under his own name, which would be the 13th release on the label. Carroll logically asked Oliver Lake to join him. He also recruited Manuel Villaroel, a young Franco-Chilien pianist from the group Matchi-Oul, who had already released an album on Futura in 1971 and would release another on Palm in 1976. The group was completed with the addition of Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos, who had just released a well-received album on the Saravah label. They were ready to enter the studio for the 3rd, 4th and 5th June 1974.

The first side of the album is divided into two long tracks which send free jazz back to its long-lost African roots. The opener “Orange Fish Tears” indeed rolls out a jungle of percussion of all sorts and sizes -the whole group is involved- which weave and mix together reaching a point where all bearings are lost, lending a sense of wonder to the majestic entry of the brass and woodwinds, flying suddenly out from the undergrowth. “Forest Scorpion” (sic) is a real voodoo ceremony where a venomous percussive groove backs the fiery solos from keyboards and saxophone in a furious trance. A warning; after these two tracks listeners are physically and emotionally wiped out!

The other side is more introspective. Deliberately using dissonance and repetition, “Rue Roger” -the only composition by Oliver Lake- in a long dialogue between trumpet and saxophone, could almost remind us of Terry Riley in his favourite ballpark. “Porte D'Orléans”, the fourth and final track on the album, has the group back to their old tricks in a long hallucinatory jam which owes as much to the contemporary music of György Ligeti as to the most angst-ridden Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack music (remember the heavy chords which beat through “Planet of the Apes»).

With these two sides, and in under 45m, Baikida Carroll and his musicians show just what they can do, from cerebral to charnel without ever simplifying things. This is an essential album if you are a fan of free-wheeling avant-garde music from the Art Ensemble of Chicago to Sonic Youth and including Shabaka Hutchings and Rob Mazurek. For those with good taste, in other words.'

Rainbow Generator are Australia’s first true experimental electronic music group. Consisting of David Labuschagne AKA Mojo, and Rob Greaves AKA Ras. Starting in the mid-70’s, the pair took it upon themselves to begin exploring the possibilities of the sonic dimension and with an ‘open mind’ began investigating the interface between psyche and sound.

In 1976 David established the ‘Lectric Loo’ studio in Woolloomooloo, Sydney. Known to the ‘heads’ as simply the “Loo”, the 3-story building was owned by the Department of Main Roads, and slated for demolition. So, it was that the entire block became a haven for squatters, and while Mojo had the main 3-story building to himself, the rest of the buildings were taken by a hotch-potch of people that included Anarchists, a Clown School and a collection of other random squatters.

Recording in the ‘Lectric Loo’ provided them the ability to record freely. In 1975 they began to experiment, putting Mojo’s Fender Strat through effects pedals, playing with sounds while manipulating shortwave radio stations and also challenging convention by playing the insides of instruments. By 1976 they had built a kit synthesizer and shortly after purchased a full Roland 100 Synthesiser set-up and were on their way.

In 1978, with little resources, or any form of distribution they released their sole LP ‘Dance of the Spheres’. As Mojo puts it, “we were intent on making music with whatever we could beg, borrow, buy, and liberate. Albeit with scant regard for the rules or conventions or niceties of the game. Ultimately, it was all an act of love, of joy. Not just an adventure; it was a musical odyssey”.

This odyssey continued their exploration of the interface between psyche and sound.
Fusing genres and boundaries, Dance of the Spheres incorporates elements of 70’s psych and folk with spoken-word and of course the emerging sounds of the synthesizer and drum machines. Furthermore, the addition of traditional instruments such as the didgeridoo and the classical Indian instrumentation technique of a Raga add a timeless layer, all seamlessly complementing the other elements and launching the album to another dimension.

Catatonic Suns is Patrick Shields (guitar, vocals) , Jakob Christman (bass) and Caleb Strobl (drums) Catatonic Suns new album sees them blend the underground psychedelia of the late 80s / early 90s Pacific Northwest with the shimmering shoegazery of Britain from the same time. Heavy and soft guitars, songs that soar, these new recordings verge on the epic. For fans of The Verve (early), Screaming Trees, Truly, Ride, Slowdive, Alice In Chains. Pennsylvanian threepiece Catatonic Suns release their brand new album via Agitated records this autumn (Fall if you reside in the US), Patrick and Jake have known each other since birth, obsessing on punk rock, but the band actually formed in 2019. Vocalist / guitarist Patrick and fellow guitarist Llambro Llaguri began creating homemade psychedelic psychedelic 4 track cassette demos during the Winter of 2015, taking heavy inspiration from an eclectic mix of acts ranging from Ween to R.E.M. As these early songs were created, the duo sought other like minded individuals in their hometown of Allentown, PA to take these primitive demos to the next level. It was then that Patrick recruited another childhood friend, Jakob Christman, to fill the role of bass along with another mutual friend Caleb Strobl completing the rhythm section of Catatonic Suns. In 2019, the group put out their first release, the Catatonic Suns demo, a collection of lo-fi recordings made by Patrick over the years. During this period, the band began to make a name for itself by playing shows across eastern Pennsylvania including the Lehigh Valley where local garage rock heroes Original Sins hailed from. During the months of August and September of the same year, Catatonic Sun's reputation for wall of sound psych-grunge was really brought to life when the group teamed up with local record producer guru Matt Molchany of Shards Recording Studio to track their debut studio venture “Aphelion” (more an extended EP). Self -Released in the December, the album found an audience beyond the local music circuit of Pennsylvania, even reaching countries such as the U.K.,Germany and Japan. The band continued to play shows growing their fanbase and honing their skills as a cohesive unit resulting in radio airplay across the country and a feature on the compilation “Pedal Worship” by Bummer Recordings. During this same period, Matt Molchany once again helped the band carve their next album (a full length) “Saudade” along with mastering engineer Matt Poirier (War On Drugs), which was also self released, in February 2022. They played plenty more gigs, and ventured to the west coast for some shows in LA with local friends Laurel Canyon, one especially wild night was with both bands supporting Strawberry Alarm Clock at the Whiskey A Go Go. Now a three piece and into 2023 the band record the 7 original songs and one Original Sins cover for this new release.. Recorded early 2023 at Shards Recording Studio, Bethelem, PA with tracking and mixing once again by Matt Molchany. Mastered by Mikey Young. Agitated/ Catatonic Suns intend to remaster/ reissue Saudade on LP / CD formats in 2024, to coincide with debut UK shows.

Another 1983 gem is remastered by the label Mr. Disc Organization
"Gaucho - Dance Forever"!

Gaucho is the trio formed by the great Italian producers Stefano Pulga, Luciano Ninzatti and Bruno Bergonzi that some of them remember in other music groups such as "Kano," "Dharma," "Sphinx" etc.

"Dance Forever!" Yes we want to dance forever with this rhythm!
Percussion that doesn't stop and this synth that provides the backdrop for this dance.

There is also a remix by young Musta and Stefano Ritteri who have
strengthened the track making it more powerful!

For this album Ghetto Kumbé has enlisted an all-star roster of artists from four different continents, they’ve put together a fresh version of their debut album that’s been specifically geared to the world’s diverse slate of dancefloors, whether at home or in the club, this double 12” 45 RPM is the perfect format to experience this music. There's no denying the power of the drum. It's primal, it cuts across borders and most importantly, it makes you want to move. Ghetto Kumbé don't just understand that they celebrate it, and it's why the tambor was at the heart of the Bogotá-based trio's 2020 self-titled debut album. Rooted in mysticism and the Afro-Caribbean rhythms they'd grown up with all their lives, the critically acclaimed LP thrillingly updated the traditional Latin template, folding in elements of modern hip-hop, house and bass music while also delivering a transportive Afro-futurist vision. On Clubbing Remixes, that vision has been further amplified, as Ghetto Kumbé who were already one of Colombia's most prominent alternative acts have now gone fully global; enlisting an all-star roster of artists from four different continents, they've put together a fresh version of their debut album that's been specifically geared to the world's diverse slate of dancefloors. As the title implies, the new LP is meant for the club, which is why Ghetto Kumbé have turned to Latin music heavyweights like Trooka a multiple Grammy winner whose resume includes work with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Residente and Monte (a.k.a. Bomba Estéreo founder Simón Mejía), along with top-shelf DJs like Nickodemus and Uproot Andy, two NYC artists who've spent decades championing Afro-Latin rhythms. True to the LP's global spirit, the record also includes reworks from batida maestro DJ Firmeza, fellow Afro-Portuguese outfit Studio Bros and Parisian house groovers Les Enfants Sauvages, plus genre-blurring remixes from sonically adventurous Colombians Montoya (himself another ZZK artist) and Cero39. Even the artwork on Clubbing Remixes is a remix, as Ghetto Kumbé have tapped Uganda's Denzel Muhumuza to transform the cover of their debut album into a new, explicitly Afro-futuristic illustration. Depicting a strong Black face and glowing neon fauna beneath a sparkling moonlit sky, the fantastical image speaks to both the ritual magic and Afro-indebted heritage of Ghetto Kumbé's music, and thanks to Clubbing Remixes, the group's passionate, drum-fueled sounds will soon be blasting out of soundsystems around the globe.a

It only took fifteen minutes for Bob Gaudio to pen the lyrics to Sherry,
which was originally named Jackie Baby as a tribute to First Lady
Jacqueline Kennedy. Producer Bob Crewe had suggested to Gaudio that he should write a song which exploited Valli's remarkable vocal range.

It reached Number 1 in America and stayed there for five weeks along with top-ten success in the British charts. Under his guidance, the group followed up with Big Girls Don't Cry and another Number 1 in the American charts ensued.

The Four Seasons were one of the few American acts to survive the British invasion of 1964. Indeed, they are the only act to have a US Number 1 hit before, during and after the Beatles successfully invaded the USA.

"The Flying Guillotine 2" is the bloody sequel to Serenace's first appearance on Shaw Cuts in 2019, continuing the head-lopping violence with a group of freedom fighters lead by the heroic Ma Teng battling against the evil despot Emperor Yung and his reign of terror.

Teng has developed a protective device, similar to a spiky metal umbrella, that allows him to defend against the deadly flying guillotine attacks of the violent regime. "Current", its bombastic drum patterns, razor-sharp synth waves and vicious vibe strengthens the rebels to resist the brutal assaults.

But the Emperor immediately reacts, creating a double flying guillotine to counter Ma Teng's iron umbrella and the rebel union is left defenseless again. "Aiming From A Distance", a vivid breakbeat cut combining rolling percussion, arpeggiated synth chords and sirens from hell, raises the rebels' hopes to give them another answer.

Secret insurgent Na Lan infiltrates the Emperor's inner circle by gaining his trust with a group of female warriors whom he allows to train with the flying guillotine palace guards. However, Na Lan only wants to steal the plans of the improved weapon and deliver it to the rebel squad, in order to devise another counteracting force. With the crisp bassline and the energy-filled breaks of "Test 21", the rebels can gain an insight into the elaborated guillotine and find a possible way to defeat it.

Farron's profound techno version of "Current" brings in the necessary tension for the final showdown. The improved double flying guillotine VS a new secret defensive system. Will the rebels be able to team up and defeat the tyrant once and for all? No matter what happens, the saga continues.

In 1995 the self-titled full-length debut of Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung (DAAU) was released. The band consisted of four young, 'classically derailed' musicians who played their own compositions with acoustic instruments such as violin, cello, clarinet and accordion. Their work contained influences from Roma music, Eastern European folk, klezmer and jazz, but was performed with the energy, rebellious spirit and Sturm und Drang of a bona fide punk band. DAAU was part of the fertile Antwerp scene, which also produced dEUS, Zita Swoon and Kiss My Jazz, and soon signed an international record deal with Sony Classical.

The group's influential first record, which has been out of print for a while, is now finally being released again and is available on vinyl for the very first time.

In those early days, DAAU consisted of four young, classically trained musicians who tackled their instrumental compositions with a true punk spirit. 'If we'd had guitars, bass or drums at that time, we would probably have been just another rock band', says accordionist Roel Van Camp, who, together with his schoolmates Buni Lenski on violin, the latter's brother Simon on cello and Han Stubbe on clarinet made up the Antwerp quartet. 'With our acoustic instruments we tried to create our own version of the music we loved listening to, from sixties rock and prog to new wave.'

The quartet, which initially played in streets and cafes, appealed to a diverse audience and sometimes joked that they were a classically trained unit that had 'gone off the rails'. 'As befits teenagers, we wanted to shake things up', Stubbe remembers, 'even though we always kept cherishing our classical backgrounds.' Van Camp: 'Our education was never supposed to feel like a straitjacket. We were free-spirited enough to ignore the laws and regulations of the music academy and to create our own sound. Our compositions were open to influences from Roma music, Eastern European folk, klezmer and jazz'. 'That eclecticism was a direct result of the zeitgeist', Han Stubbe adds. 'We loved different styles and happily mixed them together'.

The monniker Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung was derived from Steppenwolf, a novel by German writer Hermann Hesse about a character who was outside society. 'In the book, the narrator talks of a theatre', Van Camp explains. 'And at the entrance there is a warning sign sign that says: if you go in here, you are guaranteed to lose your mind. That was an apt description of the way our music worked'.

Almost all tracks on DAAU's first album were 'Drieslagstelsels' (or 'three-course rotations'). The term referred to an agricultural method of the early Middle Ages, but also to the fact that each song of the group consisted of three major movements. Van Camp: 'The titles of those pieces referred to our method of writing. We piled up a huge bunch of ideas, because we wanted to tell more than just one story. With each composition, we took the listener for a ride'.

In 1995 the self-titled full-length debut of Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung (DAAU) was released. The band consisted of four young, 'classically derailed' musicians who played their own compositions with acoustic instruments such as violin, cello, clarinet and accordion. Their work contained influences from Roma music, Eastern European folk, klezmer and jazz, but was performed with the energy, rebellious spirit and Sturm und Drang of a bona fide punk band. DAAU was part of the fertile Antwerp scene, which also produced dEUS, Zita Swoon and Kiss My Jazz, and soon signed an international record deal with Sony Classical.

The group's influential first record, which has been out of print for a while, is now finally being released again and is available on vinyl for the very first time.

In those early days, DAAU consisted of four young, classically trained musicians who tackled their instrumental compositions with a true punk spirit. 'If we'd had guitars, bass or drums at that time, we would probably have been just another rock band', says accordionist Roel Van Camp, who, together with his schoolmates Buni Lenski on violin, the latter's brother Simon on cello and Han Stubbe on clarinet made up the Antwerp quartet. 'With our acoustic instruments we tried to create our own version of the music we loved listening to, from sixties rock and prog to new wave.'

The quartet, which initially played in streets and cafes, appealed to a diverse audience and sometimes joked that they were a classically trained unit that had 'gone off the rails'. 'As befits teenagers, we wanted to shake things up', Stubbe remembers, 'even though we always kept cherishing our classical backgrounds.' Van Camp: 'Our education was never supposed to feel like a straitjacket. We were free-spirited enough to ignore the laws and regulations of the music academy and to create our own sound. Our compositions were open to influences from Roma music, Eastern European folk, klezmer and jazz'. 'That eclecticism was a direct result of the zeitgeist', Han Stubbe adds. 'We loved different styles and happily mixed them together'.

The monniker Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung was derived from Steppenwolf, a novel by German writer Hermann Hesse about a character who was outside society. 'In the book, the narrator talks of a theatre', Van Camp explains. 'And at the entrance there is a warning sign sign that says: if you go in here, you are guaranteed to lose your mind. That was an apt description of the way our music worked'.

Almost all tracks on DAAU's first album were 'Drieslagstelsels' (or 'three-course rotations'). The term referred to an agricultural method of the early Middle Ages, but also to the fact that each song of the group consisted of three major movements. Van Camp: 'The titles of those pieces referred to our method of writing. We piled up a huge bunch of ideas, because we wanted to tell more than just one story. With each composition, we took the listener for a ride'.

As one of the most triumphant and beguiling directorial debut features to emerge from the fruitful Polish New Wave, Andrzej Zulawski’s 1971 film Third Part Of The Night not only earned the thirty-year-old filmmaker a place next to other radical Polish directors such as Polanski, Skolimowski and Has, but also galvanised a creative bond with long running collaborator and composer Andrzej Korzyński, providing fans of foreign abstract/suspense cinema with a potent creative fusion to match those of Polanki/Komeda, Fellini/Rota and Argento/Goblin, amongst others.

Quite simply one of the heaviest psych rock film soundtracks of all time Andrzej Korzyński’s short and unreleased score matched the blueprint that adorned the drawing boards of conceptual French jazz orch rock composers like Jean-Claude Vannier, Francois De Roubaix and Alain Gourageur, creating a soundtrack that unknowingly begs comparison to Masahiko Satô’s Belladonna Of Sadness and Billy Green’s Stone. As one of the first progressive pop writers to come out of the vibrant (but carefully scrutinised) Polish beat scene with his bands Ricecar 64 and later Arp Life (and composing for national heroes such as Czeslaw Niemen, Niebiesko-Czarni and Test) Korzyński’s growing passion for conceptual rock and jazz music soon lead to instrumental composition and soundtrack scores.

His cinematic debuts scoring two consecutive transitional new wave films for Andrzej Wajda (in collaboration with the radical Polski pop groups Trubadurzy and Grupa ABC) also provided Korzyński with another significant cinematic muse in that of the stunning actress Malgorzata Braunek with whom they would both eventually achieve their finest performances under the direction of the ravenous first-timer Żuławski. Third Part Of The Night (1971) perhaps epitomises that triangular on-screen unison in its vibrant youth and feeds it through a hallucinogenic mangle finding astonishing beauty (within a repulsive synopsis) against a bleak and shattered backdrop and accompanied by progressive, psychedelic orchestral rock music – elements which would intensify for all three creatives with the next film, Diabel, which was banned by the Polish government the following year until 1988.

Third Part Of The Night also marks the public unison of Żuławski and Braunek whose later private romantic relationship is said to form the basis for another defining Żuławski/Korzyński defining endeavour with the 1981 film Possession exactly a decade later, encapsulating a period that bequeaths a previously unopened vault of some of the composers finest and most inspired sonic adventures.

»This River Only Brings Poison« was released in 2002 as the sixth full-length album of Chris Hooson’s Dakota Suite project. This first-ever vinyl edition of the record includes four bonus pieces and makes it possible for fans to re-evaluate one of the most crucial Dakota Suite albums in the project’s vast discography while also providing new listeners with an entry point into its intricate musical cosmos. With contributions by artists as diverse as steel guitarist Bruce Kaphan and drummer Tim Mooney from American Music Club, Derald Daugherty, and Laura and Chris Donohue as well as long-time collaborators such as David Buxton, Colin Dunkley or Ed Collins, »This River Only Brings Poison« turned out as a sonically rich and stylistically versatile as it is emotionally multi-layered.

»Writing music for me has always been a cathartic exercise,« explains Hooson. While the instrumental pieces generally serve to express a raw sense of his internal struggles, his vocal-led songs communicate them more directly. »Those are the words I cannot say openly. It’s not that I cannot voice them in a conversation, it’s just that they only seem half-formed and not ›true‹ unless they are located within a song,« he says. What makes Dakota Suite unique is that throughout the project’s history, the music and lyrics have always had a single addressee: Hooson’s wife Johanna, whose photographs were used for the album artwork and who is featured on clarinet on »sand fools the shoreline.«

»The title of the record was something that I had said when Johanna and I first met to make her see that the journey she was considering taking would be full of love, but also come at a cost,« explains Hooson. »The songs were written at a time when I was really struggling to think I could be the person that she deserved.« In the end however, »This River Only Brings Poison« marked a turning point in Hooson’s oeuvre after highly productive time with Dakota Suite: it would take another five years until he returned with a new album. »The reason for that was that I needed to accept that she had made her choice to be with me and that was a big thing for me to get my head around,« he says.

Hooson’s highly personal approach to writing songs also has an impact on the ways in which he works with his collaborators when recording them. »The people with whom I play really need to understand how I perceive the world to be able to play what I need,« he says. »My instructions would always be things like, ›This is what the song means to me, this is what I am trying to communicate to Johanna when she hears it, so your cello, for example, needs to sound like you have noticed that the cloud is covering the sun, and the weight of the air on your skin is heavier and it has unsettled you.‹«

For this particular record, he reached out to Mooney and Kaphan as an admirer of their group American Music Club. Expecting to be rejected, he instead found himself on a flight to San Francisco together with multi-instrumentalist Buxton shortly thereafter, about to make what he today calls one of his most cherished recording experiences. After the four musicians finished the basic tracks, overdubs were added in Hooson and Buxton’s respective houses as well as Daugherty’s home studio while Hooson was visiting his old friend in Nashville.

Hooson emphasises that revisiting his older releases can be complicated. »I feel intense feelings, as every record is a diary of who I was in that period and what I was feeling. That is why having to play the songs live is always like having PTSD: I need to re-experience the event that caused me to write the song, and I do not enjoy that.« He remains, however, proud of »This River Only Brings Poison,« pointing especially to the opener »the lepers companion« as what might perhaps be his favourite song of his. »But overall I just hope that Johanna feels it spoke to her,« he says, adding that the two do not discuss his records. »For me it's enough that she is listening to the things I mean to communicate to her.«

Mother I’d Like To Funk are back with another sizzling hot re-issue, this time straight from Denmark. Danish pop group “Boulevard” released an obscure LP back in 1981, called “American Dream”.

This official re-issue features the street funk anthem “Ready For Your Love” on the A Side, with a special “Synthphonic” Dub version on the B Side (previously only available on the album)

This special 7’ version is guaranteed to light up any dance floor

Before the Odysee, there was the Iliad; a tale of the golden age of heroes and warriors.'

The idea behind the new Iliads series is to return to the sound of the golden age of Jungle/Drum & Bass, and more specifically the original ‘heroes’ of the Odysee label.
This second in the series pays homage to the unique sound of the Mirage releases. The influence of these releases on the SD sound that followed has often been overlooked, principally because it was assumed that the ‘Mirage’ moniker was simply another pseudonym for Source Direct, when in actual fact it was a lethal combination of the powerful engineering and arrangement skills of Jim Baker (Source Direct) and the sound selection and co-production of Odysee’s founder, Tilla Kemal (T-Mirage).

Face In The Shadows immediately opens with that slightly darker feel, with tracks like Feel My Dreams and Stonekiller in mind. The trademark SD style of break switches (aptly named ‘call & response) are immediately evident, although the Funky Mule gives the track its primary momentum. The sound selection is eerie, focusing on the 70’s Film-Noire, and deep Electro in line with Tilla’s particular preferences. The spoken word quotes are also unmistakably ‘Mirage-esque.’

Regenesis is a classic Odysee B-side track; lighter, more experimental and Jazzy in it’s feel. It showcases intricate and crisp rolling break work, and a beautifully refined selection of real stand- out musical quotes; from the sweet R&B-esque vocal ad-libs to the lush 70’s style sleaze of the Rhodes rolls. The interaction of these elements is the glue that holds this tune together.

The Darkness Within is the final track of the E.P. and it is the arrangement of samples that really emulates the ‘Mirage’ sound. Tilla & Jim were very particular about grouping sounds to work with & answer each other in each section of a tune. Samples were often sourced from obscure Film OST’s or rare electro albums which had sample diggers scratching their heads for many years! This track is dubbed out deeper, with a punching & rolling Soulpride features as the hero break and a repetitive deep chord stab forming the foundation of the tune.

Look out for the final instalment Volume III, where we will be focusing on the dystopian Jazz sound of the Hokusai releases!

Ted Milton and Graham Lewis return as Elegiac with their second release – a four track EP inch titled “Meet My Stalker”. The pair of idiosyncratic sonic stylists, bullish outsiders with a Dadaist's ear for unexpected rhythms and ear-catching turns of phrase return showcasing a new track – the title of the EP - along with three bass heavy dubbed out no wave versions of tracks from their self titled debut LP.

Ted Milton is a prolific poet, with several volumes under his belt, as well as an avant-garde puppeteer. Yet he's probably best known as vocalist/saxophonist with psycho-funk afro punk fake no-wave pogo jazz trio Blurt. Milton's group has produced an impressive string of albums, not to mention his numerous solo recordings.

Meanwhile, Edvard Graham Lewis has a history of strong solo releases, both under his own name and as He Said. And of course, as bassist, lyricist and sometime vocalist with post punk innovators Wire, he's been responsible for numerous landmark releases, from 1977's Pink Flag, to 2003's Send, to 2020's Mind Hive.

Arranged, like the album, by electronic composer and sound artist Sam Britton whose sure touch pieces all the elements together. Kicking off with a stripped down driving shortened version of “He Folds” with its eerie honking sax and kraut like pulsating bass the perfect complement to Milton’s chorus echoing throughout. “Boat” is another album track beefed up with Milton’s chants backed by layered percussive blasts and squawking sax. “Meet My Stalker” makes its first appearance here with its infectious snarling looped bassline and Milton’s refrain “It’s a wind up”. Closing out with another album highlight an elongated version of “Vancouver Slim” all synth bleeps and ricocheting grumbling sax and hypnotic vocals. Punchy, idiosyncratic, packed with melody and groove, this second release is the fascinating sound of an evolving Elegiac.

The story of the invention of the term, 'deepfunk' is probably only known among fans and practitioners of this niche-genre. In short, it all started in the 1990s when DJs like Keb Darge, Mark 'Snowboy' Cotgrove and others began spinning obscure and feral Funk 45 RPM singles from local American bands, ostensibly generating another sub-category branch off of the mighty Northern Soul tree. The dance-club phenomenon inevitably spilled over to contemporary groups on the funk scene which immediately tried to record their music the way their idols did. The 'rare groove' and 'acid jazz' movements had run their course and there was a concerted effort to reinstate primitive idiomatic styles and techniques into the music, most notably by 90s funk collective The Poets of Rhythm. As more years passed by the number of bands steadily increased (although in tiny numbers, compared to the mainstream market). Almost every country had a representative with the majority of them coming from the United Kingdom. The deepfunk sound was still a niche, however a very few bands made it onto the mainstream charts, most notably Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings.

At the height of the retro-soul movement a questionable development took place. As more bands arrived on the scene, the production became more and more polished and pop-ish. Some of that squeaky-clean tidiness began to creep into the recordings, encouraged in part by the signature sounds of the digital recording technology available at that time. Some bands even tried to jump onto the possibility of promoting their music as 'deepfunk' although they were actually playing slick, funky pop music. This way some people who thought they were listening to raw, energetic funk actually felt quite ambushed when hit with real deepfunk. In fact, a certain percentage of funk music produced within the past 20 years does not deserve to be described as 'deepfunk' at all. Fortunately there were (and are) some pleasant exceptions which did not just imitate but actually rendered amazing funk music just like some of the finest funk combos of the 1960s and 70s.

One of those creative minds is without a doubt Joel Ricci aka Lucky Brown. Originally from Seattle, Washington, USA, he has enriched the deepfunk community since the mid-2000s with his stellar abilities. He is not only an amazing musician playing multiple instruments, but also a brilliant composer, arranger, and producer too. But for us here at Tramp he is much more, a close friend and remarkable human being. Whenever we were struggling, whether with the label or in private life, Joel and his musical work helped us to overcome everything and to keep going our path.

So here we are in 2023. The songs you are listening to right now are the complete Space Dream collection, split into two parts, representing the two living-room recording sessions from which his 2011 Tramp Records debut was compiled. Each fully remastered album contains unreleased material and comes with brand new, beautifully reimagined artwork by Ricci himself, housed in an authentic 1960s tip-on cover. A first class product from a first class musician for the discerning funk enthusiast.

The story of the invention of the term, 'deepfunk' is probably only known among fans and practitioners of this niche-genre. In short, it all started in the 1990s when DJs like Keb Darge, Mark 'Snowboy' Cotgrove and others began spinning obscure and feral Funk 45 RPM singles from local American bands, ostensibly generating another sub-category branch off of the mighty Northern Soul tree. The dance-club phenomenon inevitably spilled over to contemporary groups on the funk scene which immediately tried to record their music the way their idols did. The 'rare groove' and 'acid jazz' movements had run their course and there was a concerted effort to reinstate primitive idiomatic styles and techniques into the music, most notably by 90s funk collective The Poets of Rhythm. As more years passed by the number of bands steadily increased (although in tiny numbers, compared to the mainstream market). Almost every country had a representative with the majority of them coming from the United Kingdom. The deepfunk sound was still a niche, however a very few bands made it onto the mainstream charts, most notably Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings.

At the height of the retro-soul movement a questionable development took place. As more bands arrived on the scene, the production became more and more polished and pop-ish. Some of that squeaky-clean tidiness began to creep into the recordings, encouraged in part by the signature sounds of the digital recording technology available at that time. Some bands even tried to jump onto the possibility of promoting their music as 'deepfunk' although they were actually playing slick, funky pop music. This way some people who thought they were listening to raw, energetic funk actually felt quite ambushed when hit with real deepfunk. In fact, a certain percentage of funk music produced within the past 20 years does not deserve to be described as 'deepfunk' at all. Fortunately there were (and are) some pleasant exceptions which did not just imitate but actually rendered amazing funk music just like some of the finest funk combos of the 1960s and 70s.

One of those creative minds is without a doubt Joel Ricci aka Lucky Brown. Originally from Seattle, Washington, USA, he has enriched the deepfunk community since the mid-2000s with his stellar abilities. He is not only an amazing musician playing multiple instruments, but also a brilliant composer, arranger, and producer too. But for us here at Tramp he is much more, a close friend and remarkable human being. Whenever we were struggling, whether with the label or in private life, Joel and his musical work helped us to overcome everything and to keep going our path.

So here we are in 2023. The songs you are listening to right now are the complete Space Dream collection, split into two parts, representing the two living-room recording sessions from which his 2011 Tramp Records debut was compiled. Each fully remastered album contains unreleased material and comes with brand new, beautifully reimagined artwork by Ricci himself, housed in an authentic 1960s tip-on cover. A first class product from a first class musician for the discerning funk enthusiast.

Cypress Hill’s self-titled debut album was hard as nails, with very few pop concessions. There was humor, but it was laced by cackling, homicidal sneering. Not well known outside of the hardcore hip-hop scene at first, faces of the three group members weren’t usually shown clearly in press photos; they preferred the shadows. As their first singles began hitting the airwaves and record racks, the press and music fans started to take notice.


From the opening notes of the group’s first single, “The Phuncky Feel One,” to deeper album cuts like “Stoned Is The Way Of The Walk” and “Tres Equis,” it was clear that Cypress Hill was something different. And very, very dope. The world Cypress Hill espoused was gang-ridden and far from cheery, but they managed to laugh through the pain. Lead rapper B-Real took each fuzzed-out, rock-hard DJ Muggs beat as a challenge, jumping around it like a spark off a joint as it makes its way to the concrete. MC Sen Dog always had B-Real’s back, to bring intensity and a no-bullshit gruffness that made the group both menacing and unpredictable.


When they introduced percussionist Eric Bobo to the mix in the early 90s, it brought new dimension to the band, making their live performances one of the most unique and accomplished shows in hip-hop. Journalist and author Chris Faraone highlights the group’s relationship in the reissue’s liner notes (which is included only in limited edition Skull) saying, “By the late ‘80s the undisputed Cypress unit finally formed. B and Sen realized that their diametric styles - the latter’s deep wrangle, the former’s inimitable high notes - complemented one another righteously. By then Muggs had bangers in the bag, as well as industry experience from a jaunt with the New York duo 7A3. B and Sen waited while Muggs messed with 7A3, and in that time began to build the blueprint for their raucous and weeded no-holds-barred style. Besides getting schooled on industry pitfalls, Muggs had also grown into hip-hop’s most formidable young producer, while straddling the bi-coastal gap.”

Cypress Hill’s debut went gold by the end of 1991 and has since pushed past double platinum status, making it the first album for a Latino-American hip hop group to do so. The album received raves from the likes of Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times, saw a #1 Hot Rap Single with the release of “The Phuncky One” and helped the band win Artist Of The Year at the 1992 Source Awards. After 25 years, it should come as no surprise that Cypress Hill is a cornerstone of the group’s live set to this day.

Madison Beer veröffentlicht "Home To Another One" als Leadsingle ihres zweiten Albums. Inspiriert von Lana Del Rey und Tame Impala, präsentiert sie mit ihrer unverkennbaren Stimme einen einzigartigen Alternative-Pop-Sound. Die Single handelt von einem Treffen mit ihrem über sie hinweggekommenen Ex-Freund. Mit nostalgischem Unterton fesselt der eingängige Song die Zuhörer:innen mit dem emotionalen Text und bildet den Start zum neuen Album "Silence Between Songs",

Released via RCA Records - ''Silence Between Songs'' is Madison Beer's second major label full length release and a sonic departure from her previous efforts. The x14 song album features the singles 'Home to Another One', 'Dangerous', 'Reckless', and 'Showed Me (How I Fell In Love With You)', a beautiful interpretation of the Turtles classic 'You Showed Me'.

This release heralds the launch of a new 7” series from Mr Bongo. In partnership with London-based DJ and digger, Miche, the series will feature his latest discoveries, as well as choice cuts, taken from his 'With Love' compilations. For the inaugural offering, we take a trip to hazy San Francisco, California, in 1977. Smoke, Inc. were an emerging band in the Greater San Francisco Bay area and a regular fixture in the buzzing live music scene. They had a strong following and were in rotation in most of the Bay area clubs, as well as opening for numerous prestigious acts such as Sly & The Family Stone, Taj Mahal, The Pointer Sisters and Toots and The Maytals. Members of the group worked with Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, and many others considered the cream of the crop of the music world.

Smoke, Inc. featured Roy Schmall on keyboards and vocals, Stan Terry on lead vocals and harmonica, Michael 'Ollie' Schotka, on bass and vocals, Keith Stafford on drums and vocals, and Archie Williams Jr on guitar. They went on to release one 12" EP and two 7" singles. One of those 7’s included 'Waitin' For Love’. It was first released in 1977 and came out on the band's own self-titled imprint. It has gone on to become their rarest and most sought-after recording, now fetching up to an astonishing £2,500 on Discogs. It is a breezy, feel-good, modern/crossover soul beauty, with an infectious sing-along chorus, floaty flute solo, and packed with pure, uplifting dancefloor energy. The B-side features a cover version of the Holland Dozier & Holland-penned classic 'It's the Same Old Song’, made famous by the Four Tops.

Miche enthuses, “I included this gem on my first ‘With Love’ compilation and knew that it deserved its own dedicated reissue complete with original artwork. I’m delighted to get the chance to make that happen for this incredible, soulful AOR glide from a band that is well due another round of appreciation. It’s very rare, and consequently very expensive, so here it is for you all to spin and add to your record collections.”

46 years since its original release, it is our privilege to help Roy and the gang’s light shine once again and let a whole new audience relish the beautiful sounds of 'Waitin' For Love'.

Wewantsounds continues its Akiko Yano series with the reissue of her cult classic 'Ai Ga Nakucha Ne' recorded in 1982 and co-produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Featuring Japan, the album includes additional recording in Tokyo with YMO and is mixed by Steve Nye and Shinichi Tanaka. It is the first time the album is released outside of Japan and the deluxe LP features the original artwork with gatefold sleeve and a lavish 24-page colour booklet with sessions photos by Pennie Smith (famous for The Clash's London Calling photo). The reissue also includes a new introduction by Mac DeMarco and a dual interview with Akiko Yano and Steve Jansen by journalist Paul Bowler. The audio remastered from the Original tapes by Mitsuo Koike.

'Ai Ga Nakucha Ne' ('there must be love' in Japanese) is Akiko Yano’s 6th studio album and follows 'Tadaima' in 1981. It continues exploring the electro-pop sound of its predecessor, hot on the heels of her touring with Yellow Magic Orchestra between 1979 and 1980. For this album, Akiko decided to try something new; she enrolled English fellow musicians Mick Karn, Steve Jansen and David Sylvian from Japan and booked the Air Studios in London under the supervision of engineer Steve Nye. ​​Over a couple of weeks, the musicians created a fascinating soundscape full of catchy pop tunes, sung in both Japanese and English. Reminiscing about the studio sessions, Steve Jansen notes "Our music’s different but we maybe had a similar process of working. It was a great environment because the studio was a great place to work. It was very insular. There were four studios and there were always groups working in there 24/7."

The eleven tracks featured on "Ai Ga Nakucha Ne," mostly composed by Akiko - are a great collection of catchy tunes featuring her distinctive vocals and accompanied by the Japan musicians. As Akiko explains about the creative process, "I didn’t think to imitate or to make another Tin Drum. But I had Steve Jansen and Mick Karn, these excellent musicians. They were eager to understand the songs, then they put in everything they had. I knew the material was different from what they usually played in Japan. But it was a great experience working with them.

​There are many highlights on the album, from the pop edge of "Aisuru Hito Yo" to the avant groove of "Another Wedding Song", each song is memorable and the album ends with the superb “Good Night” sung by Akiko and David Sylvian.

The original 1982 LP release included a 24 page booklet featuring many photos by Pennie Smith and Japanese photographer Bishin Jumonji. The booklet is reproduced in its entirety here and the album on top of contributions by Mac DeMarco, a longtime fan of the album, Akiko and Steve Jansen making this release of 'Ai Ga Nakucha Ne' a unique testament to Akiko Yano's greatness.

Selected Songs 1997-2003 compiles some of the finest moments in the recording history of Hydroplane, the Melbourne-based indie-pop three-piece that operated alongside The Cat’s Miaow through the second half of the nineties. It’s the third release in what feels, now, like a loosely planned series by World Of Echo, documenting the music made by this group of friends in Melbourne sharehouses (The Cat’s Miaow’s Songs ’94-’98, 2022), or in the case of The Shapiros (Gone By Fall, 2023), while traversing the International Pop Underground.

Hydroplane would be familiar to anyone already following these breadcrumb trails – Andrew Withycombe, Bart Cummings and Kerrie Bolton were the group’s core, all members of The Cat’s Miaow. With Cat’s Miaow drummer Cameron Smith itinerant, having moved to London, the trio used this opportunity to expand their music. It’s a subtle, but important shift. If The Cat’s Miaow was about the perfect, minimalist, two-minute pop song, Hydroplane’s music was far more open-ended, embracing the loops and drones, sampled house-y shuffle beats, the burbling of a Roland Jupiter-4 synth, all of which the trio joined, effortlessly, to their endless capacity for moving, elegant melodicism.

They may have only planned to release one seven-inch single, but the sound Hydroplane created was so bewitching, so compelling, that the project’s lifespan ran for around half a decade, and they ended up releasing three albums, including a self-titled debut recently reissued by Efficient Space, and seven singles. There are all kinds of compelling things happening in the music compiled here – the hazy repetition of the gentler side of Krautrock is in here, somewhere, which also suggests Stereolab at their most intimate and disarmed; the gently drifting guitars, gauzy and oneiric, set the songs adrift and floating, each one lost in its own imagined, distracted world. Songs like “The Love You Bring” set indistinct tonal floats across dance rhythms, in a way not quite heard since My Bloody Valentine’s “Instrumental” – but with the added gift of Bolton’s gorgeous voice.

This loose coalition with dance music, and the quiet experimentalism at the heart of Hydroplane, also gestures towards peers like Hood, Acetate Zero and Other People’s Children, and releases on renegade labels like Wurlitzer Jukebox and Enraptured. Like those groups and labels, The Cat’s Miaow were reconciling independent pop music’s past – sweet melody and melancholy, chiming and droning guitars – with the futures promised by DIY electronics and nascent digitalia, the interface of indie and IDM that led to some of the underground’s most blissful, texturally swoonsome music. All that is here, but also, the poise of the melodies is pure Cat’s Miaow, though, with Bolton’s voice sailing, pacifically, over some of the most pared-down, gorgeous music made during their decade.

It was a time, too, when such music could make waves – “We Crossed The Atlantic”, one of their early singles, was picked up by John Peel, who played it repeatedly on his legendary radio show, the song reaching #13 on his 1997 Festive 50. That the song itself was a cover of a tune by 1960s Australian beatnik-pop-poet Pip Proud felt even more perfect – a group of outsiders paying tribute to another outsider, played on the radio one of the few broadcasters brave and human enough to take a chance on this music. But it was a time where everything was up for grabs, and genres were flowing into each other: folk songs went drone; indie re-discovered noise; ambient pop floated, again, out onto the dancefloor. And while they may have been sequestered away in Melbourne, Australia, Hydroplane felt core to that scene, a quietly driving force.

Compiling material from across their brief but mercurial career, this double album perfectly captures the magic and mystery of Hydroplane’s dreamlike, perfect pop songs.

Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl. High Vis were formed in 2016 from the ashes of some of the UK's best hardcore bands. Gild-toothed frontman Graham Sayle's anguished lyrics about life in working class Britain were familiar to fans of Tremors' full-throttle thrash, but alongside his former bandmate Edward `Ski' Harper and veterans of Dirty Money, DiE and The Smear, High Vis sought to transform that energy and intensity into something entirely new.Like scene-mates Chubby and the Gang did by pulling in unlikely source material from classic doo-wop or Micromoon have by combining everything from psychedelia and metal into their high potency mix, High Vis' 2019 debut album, No Sense No Feeling showed the band were never going to be constrained by any sense of genre rules or regulations. Its claustrophobic rattle bore traces of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Crisis, The Cure and Gang Of Four lurking in the shadows. 2020's synth-driven EP, Society Exists, was further evidence of the band's restless creative MO.High Vis' second album Blending sees them open their viewfinder wider than ever before. Alongside longstanding favourites such as Fugazi and Echo and The Bunnymen; Ride and even Flock Of Seagulls were shared reference points as the band worked on the album together.From the anthemic sweep of opener "Talk For Hours", through the title track's psychedelic swirl and "Fever Dream"'s baggy groove, it sees High Vis' sound blossoming into something with an unlimited richness. The hazy drift of "Shame" or the melodic jangle of "Trauma Bonds" may take them until uncharted waters, but they still have all the power and bite that made No Sense No Feeling so remarkable.Lyrically, the album represents another leap forward too. Talking frankly about poverty, class politics, and the challenges of everyday life, Sayle's lyrics have always addressed the downtrodden and discarded communities across Britain slipping below the waterline. This time around, Sayle's lost not of that social consciousness, but he's looked at himself and his own emotional landscape, and in the process created something that feels more universal, that reaches a hand-out to people and ultimately gives a message of hope."To me, the lyrics are less selfish," reflects Sayle. "In the past, I couldn't see past whatever was going on with me. It's about accepting things and being open to conversations and learning to talk to people rather than just thinking that we're all doomed."The song "Talk for Hours" is a prime example of that. Born out of an afternoon meeting up with an old group of mates "repeating the same thing and not actually learning anything about each other" it offers to actually break the cycle and to listen and speak frankly about shared feelings and experiences. "Trauma Bonds", meanwhile, traces the broken lines of those living in lost communities, but ultimately realises that despite our shared scars, there's still hope to move on to a better future."The message of the album is you're not who you're told you are," Sayle summarises. "You're not your class background. Whatever it is, you're not that. Don't resign yourself to thinking you can't be this and you can't be that."It's a vitally important message right now, and one that could be the motto for not only Blending, but for High Vis themselves.

Everybody loves a good comeback story. After releasing five genre-defining albums and building a fiercely loyal fanbase, Turnpike Troubadours — the Tahlequah, Oklahoma kings of Red Dirt music — all but fell apart in 2019, taking a three-year hiatus to find clarity amidst the noise of a red-hot career. But after the break, something remarkable and even unprecedented happened: the band returned more popular than ever. Not to mention stronger. The proof is in the group’s sixth studio album, A Cat in the Rain. Produced by three-time Grammy winner Shooter Jennings and recorded at the legendary FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and in Los Angeles, the 10-song album is a tale of reliability, rebirth, and redemption. It’s the story of brothers — frontman and chief songwriter Evan Felker, fiddler Kyle Nix, steel player Hank Early, guitarist Ryan Engleman, bassist RC Edwards, drummer Gabe Pearson — six musicians who ran the gauntlet of success, scrutiny, and even personal troubles, and would fight tooth and nail for one another. Turnpike Troubadours’ fans can feel this. That bond is in the band’s songs and in their live performances — they’ve racked up 1.5 billion streams globally and are selling out arenas and headlining festivals. Still, to some, they remain a mystery…the most popular band they’ve never heard of. But with A Cat in the Rain, that’s all about to change.

In 2023, Kurt Vile is making numbers count. Just last month, Matador Records presented the iconic Philadelphia songwriter with a (vegan) cheesesteak trophy to commemorate the 100-millionth stream of "Pretty Pimpin" on Spotify. Today, though, we"d like to draw your attention to another significant KV digit: The 10th anniversary of his fifth full-length and first 2xLP, "Wakin on a Pretty Daze" (2013). To celebrate this milestone, we"ve brought the record back as a blue + yellow vinyl split available via KV and Matador webstores. This limited pressing will also include a reproduction of the "make your own cover" ESPO sticker sheet that accompanied the original 2013 special-edition. A yellow vinyl version of the record will be made available everywhere. Where previous albums alternated between gorgeous fingerpicking and heavy guitar workouts, "Wakin" blended the two into dreamy and expansive songs that frequently stretched well out beyond the five-minute mark. Back then we said: "It"s a record that would have sounded great 30 years ago, sounds great today, and will still sound great 30 years from now." Ten years down the line, we"re still confident that "Wakin" will deliver the goods - yesterday, today, and in 2043. The reissue serves as the latest entry in Matador Records" Revisionist History series, our ongoing campaign to jog the record-buying (and streaming!) public"s memory about our many catalog items now poised to celebrate a significant anniversary. Matador will mark these anniversaries with new reissues and re-pressings. So far, the Revisionist History class of 2023 has highlighted Bettie Serveert"s Palomine and Lucy Dacus"s Historian.

Attarazat Addahabia & Faradjallah's album came to us as quite a mystery. Our friends from Radio Martiko got access to the studio archive of the Boussiphone label and a reel labeled “Faradjallah” was among the items they had found there. After listening to the selection of reels they borrowed, Radio Martiko felt it was not a fit for their label and helped us licensing it from Mr. Boussiphone instead. We knew nothing about the band. We just had the reel with the music but very little information. What we knew was that the music was incredible and very unique. Gnawa sounds were combined with funky electronic guitars, very dense layers of percussions and female backing vocals more reminiscent of musical styles further south than Morocco. We started asking around whether anyone knew the band with no immediate success until we asked Tony Day, a musician from Morocco who helped us during our search for Fadoul’s family. His sharp memory came through once again, remembering all the names of the Attarazat Addahabia band members and even how to contact the bands singer and leader Abdelakabir Faradjallah. After visiting him at his home in Casablanca with our Moroccan colleague Sabrina multiple times, he shared his personal story. His father arrived in Casablanca from Aqqa at the age of six and his mother came from Essaouira. Abdelakabir was born in the neighbourhood of Benjdia in 1942. Abdelakabir Faradjallah studied fine arts in Casablanca, graduating in 1962. He also played soccer in the second team of "Jeunesse Societe One". His brother-in-law Ibrahim Sadr worked for one of the biggest football teams of the time in Morocco called "Moroco Sportive Union", which allowed him to travel to France occasionally. While Ibrahim was never part of the band he brought along a few instruments from trips.


Yet the majority of the instruments they could not afford to buy were build by Faradjallah and Abderrazak, Faradjallah's brother who passed away early. For instance they had built a Spanish guitar and a drum made of wood barrel and sheepskin by themselves.During the 1950s Faradjallah was booked as a singer for surprise parties with friends. He started to write his first songs including "L’gnawi" in 1967 and wanted to make people discover Gnawa culture, or maybe rather his take on the culture to be more exact. Faradjallah recalls his first interaction with the genre in the streets of the Dern neighbourhood, where he used to go to elementary school. Gnawa is one of the essential musical genres of Morocco. It combines ritual poetry with traditional dances and music linked with a spiritual foundation. Musically a lot of influences originated from West Africa as well as Sudan. Gnawa is usually played by a selection of specific instruments such as the qaraqab (large iron castanets centrally associated with the music), the hajhouj (a three string lute), guembri loudaâ (a three stringed bass instrument) and the tbel (large drums). People would put shells on their clothes and instruments and use incense at their parties. "Sidi darbo lalla - lala derbo khadem..." came from Gnawa verses Faradjallah used to sing when he was 14. The lyrics tackle a global (im)balance of power and the question of social status in this course. The band Attarazat Addahabia was formed in 1968. The original line-up included 14 members, all from the same family. They played their first small concerts here and there starting in 1969. Later in 1973 they performed bigger shows for instance at the Municipal Theatre followed by the "Al Massira Show" at Velodrome Stadium in downtown Casablanca. Their first album "Al Hadaoui" (the one you are listening to) was recorded at Boussiphone studios in 1972 and was never released before. Nobody seems to remember the exact reason why Boussiphone ended up deciding not to put the album out. The album's title track also served as the basis for Fadoul's "Maktoub Lah", who frequented the same circles as the band for some time.

Their shows sometimes could go as long as 12 hours, starting at 5pm in the afternoon, with an occasional break here and there. In the 1980s the band took a brief break. Faradjallah recalled the reason for that break like this: "Zaki, the bands drummer, had fallen in love with a young girl from Mohammedia. Soon after, he fell very ill. The group members were convinced that the girl had given him ‘s'hor’ (a kind of local Moroccan version of "black magic"). For four years, the whole group stopped playing. It was unthinkable to find another drummer to replace Zaki, even temporarily." So they waited four years for Zaki to "get back on his feet" before going back on stage. Apart from very few gigs here and there Faradjallah stopped playing music in the mid 1990s. Some members from the younger generations formed a new band and still play frequently to this day. Faradjallah runs a television repair shop coupled offerings beverages and snacks in the Belevedere /Ains Sbaa district of Casablanca. While Faradjallah was primarily a musician, he would work for the local cinema and paint their posters for new movies by hand and he designed all artworks and cover posters of the band.

And this eventually led to him participating actively in our first exhibition dealing with Habibi Funk’s work in Dubai 2018. He helped us by creating calligraphic complementations on large photo prints for that show.

Pink Siifu’s latest release, GUMBO!, is another sprawling Afrocentric vision from one of the boldest voices in contemporary rap. Following up on 2020’s NEGRO, the album’s songs are as rich and varied as its titular stew. Siifu’s boundless style makes for an unpredictable but rewarding ride across the album’s 18 tracks, as he explores the diverse sounds of his influences and breaks new ground with a unique class of co-stars.

Siifu, born Livingston Matthews and raised between Alabama and Cincinnati, has already notched a conspicuous list of collaborations in his burgeoning career, from legendary producer the Alchemist to Australian electronic group the Avalanches. Siifu also embodies various inspirations through a range of alter-egos, often producing under the moniker “iiye,” or as half of the duo B. Cool-Aid with Ahwlee, both of which appear on GUMBO!.

The variety of guest features and production on GUMBO! only elevates Siifu’s ability to push the boundaries of genre and song structure. “Voicemails Uptown” (produced by Soulection’s Monte Booker) is the second of two back-to-back posse cuts, sporting five plus vocalists each. “Lng hair dnt care,” the album’s first single, was produced by Ted Kamal, who first garnered attention for his outside-the-box edits of contemporary rap staples. And while several of the album’s tracks are well within his bag, the jazzy, drumless loop on “Fk U Mean/Hold Me Dwn” could’ve been a cut off of his collab album with Virginia rapper Fly Anakin, FlySiifu’s.

Though rife with standout tracks, GUMBO! is greater than the sum of its parts. Siifu’s ambitious range and impressive pool of features create an otherworldly listening experience. Overall, it reflects an intense desire for self-expression and creative growth, one which he shares with many of his influences. Like Outkast, Sun Ra, Baraka, or Bad Brains, his unique soundscapes re-imagine a genre without restrictions, breaking new ground in search of artistic and personal freedom.

Stage Fright is the third studio album by Canadian American group the Band, released on August 17, 1970. Engineered by Todd Rundgren and Glyn Johns, it features two of the group's best-known songs, "The Shape I'm In" and "Stage Fright", both of which showcased inspired lead vocal performances (by Richard Manuel and Rick Danko, respectively) and became staples in the group's live shows.

* 5.1 surround and hi-res stereo mix of album (by Bob Clearmountain) + new bonus tracks + previously unreleased Royal Albert Hall (1970) performance on Blu-ray
* CD of new stereo mix album + new bonus tracks and unreleased Calgary hotel demo tracks
* CD of the Royal Albert Hall performance (stereo)
* LP of main album new stereo mix (180gram, 33rpm)
* 7" reproduction of original "Time To Kill" b/w "The Shape I'm In" Capitol single (Spanish pressing)
* Photo booklet with new notes by Robbie Robertson and a reprinting of the original 1970 Robert Hilburn Los Angeles Times album review
* Limited

Cumgirl8 met in a sex chat 8000 years ago in another metaverse. Made up of Lida Fox (bass), Veronika Vilim (guitar), Chase Lombardo (drums) and Avishag Rodrigues (guitar), the band render the immersive and chaotic energy from cyberspace into our world, coming together to make a boundary-less sound that brilliantly stretches across the likes of ESG, Cocteau Twins, Suicide, CSS, B-52s, The Shangri-Las, Chris & Cosey, Madonna, and many more.

One of the inventors of the modern bebop style of drumming, Blakey is known as a powerful musician and a vital groover; his brand of bluesy, funky hard bop was and continues to be profoundly influential on mainstream jazz.

For more than 30 years his band, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers included many young musicians who went on to become prominent names in jazz. Recorded in 1956, Art Blakey's Drum Suite is a wonderful hybrid of African, Latin, and hard bop rhythms that prefigures the concept of Afro-beat by at least a decade. The sheer energy, not to mention its very special and fresh-sounding intimacy, make it especially astounding.

Even more amazing is that the three parts of the suite -- Blakey's "The Sacrifice," Ray Bryant's "Cubano Chant," and Oscar Pettiford's "Oscalypso" -- were recorded straight through live, and were only intended to be a pre-take run-through. As is obvious here, Blakey and company nailed the whole thing right out of the box.

Groundbreaking for its time, and still sounding vital, powerful, and visionary, the Drum Suite album is somewhat of a lost masterpiece that deserves a fresh audience.

"Art Blakey's first release for Columbia Records is essentially two records. Side one is a percussion ensemble playing what would, ten years later, be called Afro-Cuban drumming. Side two is the mid-fifties version of the Jazz Messengers featuring Jackie McLean on saxophone. Side one features Blakey, Jo Jones and Charles Wright on drums, Candido and Sabu on bongos, and Oscar Pettiford and bass and cello. The group plays three compositions, one by Blakey, one by Pettiford and one by Ray Bryant, fusing African, Cuban, and calypso percussion into a well-integrated suite.

"The group recorded a run through and it was so perfectly executed that they used the practice run for the release, unedited except to add some Swahili chants by the percussionists during a few passages. One cannot help but think of Olantunji's Drums of Passion, another Afro drumming landmark, here. Blakey's drum suite was recorded at Columbia's 30th Street studios in New York in 1957 and is in mono. The almost stereoscopic image is truly remarkable. Mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI, Drum Suite is a valuable record of one of the most important figures in jazz history. Recording: 9/10. Music 9/10." - Dennis Davis, Hifi+

"...The three-part suite was laid down in one take with no arrangements, and begins with a few tympani thwacks followed by an African chant. Soon the ensemble kicks in and the group takes off an a sweaty Afro-Cuban-bop journey that will leave you breathless, as the thing crackles with terrific energy. Side Two is more conventional hard bop, but given this group's mastery of if not invention of the style, these tracks are extremely satisfying. Kevin Gray's remastering is detailed and immediate, with plenty of bit and air, if not the widest dynamic range. For anyone interested in percussion of this genre, this is not to be missed." - Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound

A historic collaboration by two of jazz music's greatest artists on 180g Double LP Set! Impex Records' deluxe production captures the amazing outdoor acoustics with fine detail and wide dynamic range. The beautiful gatefold jacket is coated in a vintage high-gloss lacquer.

The White House Sessions, Live 1962 contains inspired performances of classic tunes "Take Five", "Castilian Blues", "Lullaby of Birdland", and "I Left My Heart In San Francisco".

"Bennett's vocals are particularly natural and present-sounding... Brubeck's group in its prime, with Paul Desmond on Alto, Eugene Wright on bass and Joe Morello on drums... Bennett/Brubeck is nonetheless a record I found myself playing more times than I expected to before sitting down to write this. There's something about a live performance from a time when life was so much simpler, even if more jittery and dangerous because of the cold war, that makes you want to go back in time and enjoy it all again."

This two LP set is beautifully re-mastered and the original artwork has been carefully replicated.

Two remarkable visionaries at the peak of their powers, Dave Brubeck and his quartet and Tony Bennett (both with his group and with Bennett with trio) give hot performances of some of their biggest hits: Brubeck's revved up "Take Five," and Tony Bennett's soulful "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

Playing the popular White House Sessions concert on the Washington Mall for President John F. Kennedy, these titans of popular jazz have a great time informing, joking and playing the lights out. You'll want to play the grooves out of Impex's impeccably produced issue of this lost treasure. Quiet surfaces, incredible dynamics, full frequency responses and deluxe packaging will provide years of listening and viewing pleasure.