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At first, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes Our Girl so special, or why the Brighton-formed, London-based trio's music stands out within a busy crowd of fellow guitar-wielding-types. But if an explanation didn't jump out when they first emerged with a debut EP of mighty fuzz-soaked songs in November 2016, it surfaces with 'Stranger Today', a debut album of personal, emotional juggernauts that could have only been made by these three people: Guitarist / vocalist Soph Nathan, bassist Josh Tyler and drummer Lauren Wilson.

Since forming in Nathan and Tyler's Brighton home four years ago - Wilson joining as a late recruit when she was wowed by a demo of their self-titled debut track, and 'Stranger Today''s opener - Our Girl's members have only had pockets of time to work together. A day booked in a local studio here, a soundcheck there, full-time jobs and other projects meant the three rarely had a concentrated, collective patch. This changed in September 2017, when they stayed in Eve Studios in Stockport for a week, recording with Bill Ryder-Jones. Their week in Stockport became a crucial catalyst for what would follow. Ryder-Jones is a guitar virtuoso himself ('He did stuff neither me or Soph had ever seen anyone do before,' Tyler remarks), and he became an unofficial fourth member of the group.

'Stranger Today' is a special debut for several reasons: First, because it's the sound of a band beginning to grasp their own value and place in the world. Secondly, because you can hear the trio's hunger to finally get in the same room and put to tape years' worth of scrapbooks, half-finished ideas, and a slowly-forming feel for how their first album would actually sound. 'What band isn't itching to make their debut But it's quite frightening, knowing you're about to do it,' Wilson remembers.

The real clincher, however, is Our Girl's dynamic, and how it plays out across 'Stranger Today'. Best friends in person, the trio share the same close kinship and chemistry on record. On one side is Nathan's visceral lyricism, which has a habit of detailing and chipping away at precise moments; the first heart-flutter of a new crush; the moment a long-term friendship begins to ebb away. Around her, Tyler and Wilson's rhythm section carefully mirrors each feeling Nathan conveys. When she sings pointedly about love ('I Really Like It'), she's backed by a major-key afterglow. When the subject turns on its head ('Josephine'), out steps a wall of taut, earth-shaking noise. They each 'serve the song,' in Wilson's words, moving in sync but with their own personal slant. Not least on the closer 'Boring', where all restraint is thrown aside and the trio let out one final, violent thrash. They inhabit a space bigger than the first loves, sleepless nights and growing pains that define this record.

Nathan remembers being in Brighton four years ago, shortly after Our Girl formed, and realising, 'I was finally in the band I wanted to be in.' Almost half a decade later, and this eureka moment is sewn up on 'Stranger Today'. It's the sound of three friends totally at ease in their own space, discontent with being anywhere else; a vibrant document of what it's like to be young, invigorated and amongst people who feel the same.

Classic singles like Billy Fury's 'Halfway To Paradise', Dusty Springfield's 'I Only Want To Be With You' and The Walker Brothers' 'Make It Easy On Yourself' would not have been hits without Ivor Raymonde. As their arranger, and in the case of 'I Only Want To Be With You' songwriter too, he shaped the final recordings. He decided on the orchestration and backing
vocals, chose the instruments and determined what was heard on the radio - and what record buyers bought.
'Paradise: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde' is a long-overdue celebration of Ivor Raymonde, collecting his work as an arranger, musical director, producer, singer and songwriter. The story of a British musical great is told for the first time.
Billy Fury, Dusty Springfield and The Walker Brothers are heard. So is the only vocal performance for which Ivor Raymonde received a credit on a record label. He worked with the pre-fame David Bowie and Tom Jones. He spotted the potential of Los Bravos, steering them into the charts with 'Black Is Black'. Near-misses and obscurities made with Brit-girls Cindy Cole and
Helen Shapiro, the soulful Sonny Childe and confrontational protopsychedelic London band The Flies are as fantastic as the hits. With these and more, 'Paradise: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde' distils the essence of the magic of Ivor Raymonde.
'Paradise: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde' is released by Bella Union, the label run by Ivor's son, former Cocteau Twins member Simon Raymonde.
Compiled by Simon and Kieron Tyler, it is a very personal tribute to a sadly missed father. Born in 1926, Ivor Raymonde passed away in 1990. The previously untold story is revealed through a moving reminiscence written by Simon and in-depth liner notes and a track-by-track commentary by Kieron. Ivor Raymonde played on the ocean liner The Queen Mary in 1949. In the Fifties, British television viewers saw him in legendary comedian Tony Hancock's 'Hancock's Half Hour' but music was always going
to be most important - the hits with Billy Fury and Dusty Springfield in 1961 and 1963 meant he was in demand. The 26 selections balance the wellknown with collectable rarities and tracks drawn from - until now - barely heard-of singles. Each is a gem and each shows the magic of an Ivor Raymonde recording.
'Paradise: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde' is issued on CD and 180g heavyweight double vinyl album with digital download code. The vinyl version is sequenced slightly differently for listening flow. Every track was originally issued as a single issued in mono for the pop market until 1968 / 1969. Keeping the integrity of the compilation in mind, all but four tracks appear in mono as they did originally. The masters used are those of the original singles.

Sampled by Drake ( Jungle') and G-Eazy ( Running'). Instrumental versions of Gabriel's Stones Throw Records debut Jardín now available on limited edition wax. Gabriel Garzón-Montano's formidable skills have come to fruition on Jardín in his Stones Throw debut. This album came out of wanting to make music that reminds people how beautiful life is and how delicate their heart is,' he said. I've always wanted to make music that is healing, comforting, and funky. I named the album Jardín hoping for it to create a space for healing when people put it on. A garden is full of life, growth and beauty,' Gabriel said of choosing that unifying image as the title for his new album. It makes me think of green and white and all the colors as they appear in different flowers.' That vivid spectrum bursts forth on Jardín itself and the album contains references to fruit of all sorts, sour mango, juicy tangerines and sweet peaches. From the heartache and aching vocals that float over the dusty drums of Crawl' to the stutter-step thump of Bombo Fabrika' to the high falsetto he nails on Octave,' Garzón-Montano proves himself to already be one of 2017's biggest breakout talents.

Minialbum EP + Insert CD
An Ardent Heart is a focused techno mini album that brings forward Stefan Goldmann's most dancefloor-centered material in a decade. The tracks push and pull relentlessly. Despite their linear appeal, there is an intricately balanced interplay between the heavy-handed kicks, the bouncy bass accents and the sizzling, yet clear-cut details whipped up by the rallying drums. The peculiar, seemingly 'vocalised' mode of synthesis is maybe the most unifying sonic characteristic of the six tracks and one coda. Formant shaping, vowel filters and airstream perturbations let a wide range of sounding elements speak in the tongues of a cybernetic Babylon. Layered polymetric patterns perforate the aural plane with alien scripts. Clearly structured, yet opaque messages that seem to have traveled for aeons emanate from the red-hot circuitry. They spill into a network of delays, channeled down into labyrinthine corridors, enveloped in electrostatic noise. Most tracks build on chance patterns evoked with hardware sequencers and freeform modulation sources. The resulting synthetic systems are as cohesive as they exhibit vast internal variation and range. Thus balancing simplicity and complexity right in the middle, the results are just as immediately gripping as they can feed sustained attention. A wide palette of distortion and overtones mark the contours of individual elements that seem to have near-physical qualities - as if there were metallic strings, thick membranes, a resonating sphere, all struck by electric mallets, caused to vibrate by mechanical bows and sung by silicone lips.

The unseen forces emitting out around ever being natures forces of destiny. Belief itself is God.

AURA's journey could be best described as a spiritual call to connect man and music.

Each new day brought in new and more difficult problems. In the hardest of times Aura lost their original lead guitarist. Green-Bird real name Dannie Stewart - a Jamaican, humble, handsome, and talented to the bones. He was too nice to die. He was drowned in a river within the historical city of Benin. All friendly hearts cried and cried, a memory too sad to recollect. Aura's journey sorrowly went along. Full of accedents, and frustration. We nearly crash-landed.

Thanks to Sheila, for her love and courage. Uzo, a true frendship that inspired every-body in Aura. He solved so many problems. Gratitude is the only word of our choice. The Lawsons and the Shotade family also have their very noble thanks; they were nice and helpful. Many more thanks to the numerous friends and heart-felt appriciations to Mr. J. H. Booth - Decca's new Director for his kindness and the entire staff that made this great 8 track maiden stereo album possible.

A solid belief in ourselves has pushed this group to this point; Aura making an "Astral Trip". This is an album which is a sincere sweet fruit of determination, soulful enough to turn you loose into true life experiences of good music.

All I owe you is love and appriciation.

Repress!

First Word Records is very proud to present the debut album by Children of Zeus - 'Travel Light'. It's been a long road leading to this album for Tyler Daley and Konny Kon.

They first embarked on their expedition into the music game two decades back - Tyler entered the scene as a songwriter, producer and vocalist, originally under the moniker Hoodman, whilst Konny began MCing, DJing and beat-making for hip hop crews The Microdisiacs and Broke'n'£nglish, along with DRS & Strategy.

To date, Children of Zeus have released three sell-out singles on First Word ('Still Standing', 'I Can't Wait' and 'Slow Down') and a compilation EP comprised of tracks made by the duo over the last decade entitled 'The Story So Far...'. Children of Zeus are finally at the stage where they are releasing their debut album proper, the over-riding ethos of which is about keeping their eyes on the road ahead, whilst shedding the baggage they've accumulated over the years - 'Travel Light'.

Features mainly come from Manny family, ( K S R ), LayFullStop, Metrodome (Levelz) and former Broke 'n' £nglish spar DRS. Guest production comes in the form of Switzerland's Sebb Bash, Nottingham's Juga-Naut, and London's Beat Butcha, and there's your favourite DJ's favourite DJ,

Mr Thing, slicing up the turntables on two tracks too. There's a few extra special ingredients on this album, along with their trademark sub-heavy, rhodes-laden hip hop soul hybrid. Reggae music has always been an integral piece of the CoZ sound-system ethic, so we see Tyler putting on his lover's rock hat for 'Hard Work', and they invite soul queen Terri Walker to join them on the fierce 'Sling Shot Riddim', while the album closes with the epic K15-produced jazz-bruk opus, 'Vibrations', on which Konny breaks it down quite simply: "high frequency means that you travel light, so get lifted yo, we'll live gifted".

Long as the journey has been, the time for looking back is over. This is about the present and future of Children of Zeus. A shining light in Manchester's now-school, and rightly heralded by many as the best new act to emerge in British soul music in the past decade. Aside from the above features, this project is written, performed and produced entirely by Tyler and Konny.
Since the crew first took flight, the end destination has never changed, the aim remains the same - to create timeless music, in their own unique style, without compromise, irrespective of industry and life distractions. The moral being this - travel light.

Den Hague's Dazion (who previously released a 12" on MFM's Second Circle imprint), with a 2 tracker for Safe Trip.
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Label say:

''URGENT: THE SAFE TRIP ORGANISATION HAS TAKEN TO THE WATER IN A BID TO SPREAD THEIR CODED MUSICAL MESSAGES FAR AND WIDE. THEY HAVE RECRUITED A YOING OPERATIVE KNOWN AS DAZION, A KEEN WINDSURFER, TO DEVELOP A METHOD OF BROADCASTING THEIR ADDICTIVE AND MIND-ALTERING MUSICAL MISSIVES WHEREVER THERE IS A SUITABLE BODY OF WATER.

OUR OPERATIVES TRACKED DAZION TO A REMOTE SPOT ON THE DUTCH COAST, WHERE HE WAS SPOTTED TRIALLING THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY WITH HIS FAVOURED F2 DRAGON BOARD. AS HE RODE THE CHOPPY WAVES, WE WERE ABLE RECORD THE RHYTHMICAL ELECTRONIC MUSIC BROADCASTING FROM WITHIN THE BROAD. THIS MUSIC FEATURED THE KIND OF TRIBALISTIC, DELAY-LADEN DRUMS, SWELLING ELECTRONICS AND EXOTIC MELODIC REFRAINS THAT ARE KNOWN TO INSPIRE FRENZIED DANCING IN MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. WE HAVE CHRISTENED THE RECORDING DRAGON WAVE'.

WE LATER TRACKED DAZION TO A LIGHT INDUSTRIAL UNIT ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF AMSTERDAM. THERE HE CONTINUED TO TINKER WITH THE TECHNOLOGY, TESTING IT OUT BY BROADCASTING ANOTHER MUSICAL COMPOSITION. THIS WAS MORE POIGNANT AND MELANCHOLIC IN TONE, UTILISING SPAACEY ELECTRONIC MELODIES, GENTLY BOBBING CHORDS, HEART-ACHING GUITAR FLOURISHES AND A TOUGH BUT BROKEN RHYTHM TRACK. THE RECORDING - CODE NAME VX LTD' - HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON US EMOTIONALLY AND EVEN REDUCED ONE OPERATIVE TO TEARS.''

Betty Harris' The Lost Queen of New Orleans Soul collects together the steady stream of amazing soul and funk singles issued by Betty Harris from 1964 to 1969, under the musical guidance of legendary composer, musician and producer extraordinaire Allen Toussaint, a collection which truly captures the heart and soul of the city of New Orleans during this era.
Betty Harris's powerful, fiery soulful vocals found a perfect accompaniment with the New Orleans' players that Toussaint put together to back her, which by the time of her funk classic 'There's A Break In The Road' were the legendary super-tight, super-funk New Orleans group The Meters.
With the extraordinary song-writing skills of Allen Toussaint alongside the powerful, soaring, confident and emotive singer and the groove of The Meters, you have an unbeatable combination. That Harris never in fact lived in New Orleans (she flew in from Florida for all her sessions with Toussaint's local in-house players) seems almost an irrelevance, a geographical aside to the defining New Orleans sound captured on the recordings featured here.
All of these singles featured here were released on Allen Toussaint and his business partner Marshal Sehorn's local New Orleans label Sansu, widely distributed in the southern city but in only limited quantities elsewhere. As a consequence, Betty Harris' music failed to achieve the commercial success of other New Orleans artists such as Lee Dorsey (who she recorded with) and The Meters (who backed her). And so at the end of the decade she stopped recording, retired from the music business to raise her family in Florida.
This is no reflection of the stunning musical quality of all these songs which encompass everything from southern soul, heavy funk, deep soul ballads and northern soul. Betty Harris has been a cornerstone of Soul Jazz Records' New Orleans Funk and New Orleans Soul compilations. Always soulful and always funky, Betty Harris' music contains the essence of New Orleans music. She is the Lost Soul Queen of New Orleans.
This collection is released on CD, heavyweight gatefold double LP vinyl (+ download code) and digital and comes complete with full biography, original label artwork.

After releasing their Yantar LP digitally last year, Hell Yeah now serve up a much anticipated vinyl version of Richard Somerville and Craig Wilson's perfectly horizontal sounds. It features two of the superb originals with remixes from The Beat Broker and Los Gatos Escobar.

Somerville & Wilson have appeared on ISM Records, DWDK (Danny Was A Drag King), Paper Records and Music for Dreams and count the likes of Tensnake and Gerd Janson as fans of their laidback and charming grooves, and this EP is a real slab of heat that will surely sizzle souls across the world this summer.

First up, The Beat Broker proves he is on fire right now with a remix of the classic 'Melt'. His heart swelling remix has impossibly mellow chords ringing out into a yellow-orange sky as melodies rise and fall like a yacht bobbing on gentle waters. It's a blissed out musical sunset of the highest order.

Then comes Somerville & Wilson's 'Cero Gravity', eight minutes of cosmic synth workouts, yawning chords and long legged drums offset by soft acid. Drenched in reverb and rippling out in all directions, it's a warm musical rush that keeps washing over you until your soul melts away.

From New York, Los Gatos Escobar duo offer a more driving but just as tropical remix of 'Yantar' with big rubbery drums, zoned out chords and smeared pads. It's beautifully innocent and honest, heartfelt and meditative music that encourages you to escape to a seaside paradise.

Last of all, a melted Space Edit of Yantar is drowned in saturated chords, scorched pads and heat damaged keys that leave you adrift in a sea of sumptuousness.

Music doesn't come much more majestic, melodic and mellow than this.

e mighty Man Power returns to Correspondant. One of the earliest labels to champion his explorative technoid landscapes, and deliver his debut album, the Mexico based composer makes a welcome return with three truly singular trips...

'The Zen Of Xen' comes in two segued parts, comprising almost 13 minutes of full intergalactic immersion. Laced with the alluring deep-dream vocals of Tel Aviv's Xen, anchored with tripped-out humanized harmonics and weaved with soaring pads, it's a genuinely emotional narrative that's been cooking away on Man Power's creative wishlist since he first met Xen at a show five years ago.

Elsewhere 'Heart For Yes, Life For No' will have you spitting rainbow emojis all night. An incredible piece of vibrant melodic techno rooted in synthesis, galvanized with emotive layers, driven by feels it sets us up perfectly for the fantastical finale 'Hubris'. Cosmic, soft-focused, sparkling but topped with a choral chant that comes in from nowhere and arrests every sense as the elements rise and fuse with theatre.

By far one of Man Power's most techno-focused and biggest records to date.

Two northern soul dance floor destroyers that rocked the dance halls of the 1970's. Roscoe & Friends powerhouse instrumental Broadway Sissy' has been a perennial favourite for the last 40 plus years and can rightly lay claim to being regarded as a northern soul classic. While Robert Tojo' Barnes falsetto dancer Broken Hearted Lover' rose to prominence under the cover name of Ann Perry Have You Ever Been In Love' in the later days of Wigan Casino but fell away during the ensuing years. That is until recently when some of the more adventurous northern DJ's who look to reactivate titles which still have some life in them are giving Broken Hearted Lover' it's well deserved second coming. The Broadway Sissy' too is enjoying more widespread popularity having crossed over and found a new audience with the funk scene.

Dark Matters label head Amirali returns with the expertly crafted Odyssey EP, employing his vital understanding of
space and texture to construct a highly emotive release featuring a remix from Fort Romeau. The three track
package is out digitally on May 14th followed by the vinyl release a few weeks later.
Leading on from his critically acclaimed discography and curatorial work with the inimitable Dark Matters imprint,
Amirali enters 2018 with grand plans for the future. He is currently conceptualising a live stage show whilst
continuing to provide a platform for all manner of weird and wonderful music.
'Odyssey' is a striking example of Amirali's penchant for songwriting, as well as a testament to his sonic identity,
merging memorable harmonies with heartfelt vocals and complex soundscapes. 'Hidden Past' veers more towards
the dancefloor, brandishing vast sonic explorations and levitating pads amongst detailed drum patterns. For the
'Hidden Past' remix, Fort Romeau mutates the delicacy of the original into a spaced out dose of peak time house,
gradually building rich harmonies around a fierce rhythmic motif.
On the creation of this forthcoming EP, Amirali states:
"Nothing is more important than my craft which is the main reason I'm here. There's no better satisfaction than to
create an amazing piece of music, that's my happiest point in life. I don't want my work to just be good or ok and that
takes a lot of effort and sacrifice in life. I got to a point where I said to myself I have to go and disappear for a while,
go be normal and do normal things. Instead of being on the road all the time, stay home, create an environment I
like to write music. There have been many experimentations involved in my upcoming material. I wanted to try and
push myself to the limit and I believe I've succeeded. For me, it's all about evolving and exploring areas I haven't
touched. That's why sometimes it takes a bit longer than expected, I don't just want to meet people's expectations,
sometimes I want to blow them away. There is so much music coming out week in and week out, the music is
evidently becoming more disposable and I would like to stay out of that chaos. When you stay true to your heart and
try to do something different you put yourself in an uncomfortable situation, that's when you grow as an artist and
also as a person, but the satisfaction you get when you finish a work cannot be put into words.

FINA Records welcome Jad & The for a new EP that shows off the Australian-born, Berlin-based producer's majestically melodic house sound. A special dub from 6th Borough Project makes this another essential release.

Before now Jad & The has served up tracks of the year ('Strings That Never Win' - Mixmag 2017), fronted four piece live act Mitzi—who played alongside the likes of Nile Rodgers—and also produced as Jad & The Ladyboy, all the while picking up fans like Moxie and Bradley Zero. Sonar Kollektiv and Toy Tonics have put out his charming sounds before and this new one is another joyous offering.

The feel good '2 Getha (4 Eva Mix)' kicks things of with old school drum breaks and loved-up vocals. Big smeared pads, a new age melody and classic bassline line finish it off and carry you away to summery house heaven. 'Twist Club' then drops into lush deep house with a long legged bassline tumbling beneath organic drums. It's a dreamy and romantic cut before 'Disco Hold Down' has live sounding jazz drums, choppy vocals and rough edges that take you to the heart of a vibe-fulled basement party. Delusions Of Grandeur's 6th Borough Project serve up a Dub that's more stripped back and built on a big rubber bassline. Jacking drums and a more rapturous vocal make it a truly steamy jam.

Buy the EP digitally and you get a bonus track, '2 Getha (Neva Mix)' which is another blissed out and rave tinged house cut which oozes pure euphoria. It closes out a brilliantly heartfelt EP of varied and vital house sounds.

This Is First Full Length Offering From The Brian Jonestown Massacre For 2018 , A Second, Self Titled, Album Will Be Coming Out In September. This Is The 17th Full Length Release From The Band & The Style Is Less Experimental & More Of A Retracing Back To The Traditional Sound Of The Band .recorded Between 2017 & 2018 , This 9 Track Album Will Please Old & New Fans Alike . The Band Have Announced Tours Of The Usa , Canada , Australasia & Will Be Announcing Tours Through Europe Later This Year.

Rumored to be one of the most intriguing collaborations of 2018, Rocketgirl presents Pieter Nooten's 4th solo album 'STEM' as Nooten teams up with legendary producer/ mixer/sound-artist Stephen W Tayler (Kate Bush, Underworld) at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios. 'STEM' is probably Nooten's finest work since collaborating with Michael Brook 30 years ago, producing the timeless cult classic 'Sleeps With The Fishes'.Setting the tone in his 2012 double cd 'HAVEN', Nooten further explores the boundaries between the neoclassical and ambient genre, delivering an album of  heartwrenching, profound melodic compositions that invites you to listen to 'STEM' over and over again.

Stem is 60 minutes long (The CD includes a bonus track)
The vinyl has been specially edited by Stephen and Pieter and comes with a postcard and a download code of the full version.

Press:'Moments in life so often slip by with only the rusted acquaintance of memory to recall them but with a masterpiece like Haven in your collection you won't ever walk alone. No matter the slips and pitfalls you encounter or the loves you recriminate yourself for squandering, Pieter Nooten's newest will allow you to dwell with your thoughts in private with dignity...''Haven is the kind of record that gives modern composition a good name. It will also give countless budding musicians the belief that they can create a valid piece of work with nothing but a laptop. This may not be a bad thing, but it will be a while before anything in the genre matches the maturity, warmth and technical ability displayed by Nooten...'

Nooten's musical career began in the late 1970s. Starting out as the drummer in a local symphonic rock band,2 he quickly changed to bass guitar and later keyboards, playing in different bands. At the height of house squatting culture and new wave, Nooten met Anka Wolbert and Ronny Moorings who had just formed Clan of Xymox together. During the mid-eighties Clan of Xymox recorded two highly acclaimed albums on 4AD.

2023 Repress Spice 1 is an undisputed West Coast legend, who first hit the scene after the N.W.A. and – closer to home – Too $hort explosion of the late ‘80s. As history showed, he continued that bloodline with finesse and authority. His nasal flow is menacing and strong, and fans have been consistently captivated by his ‘hood tales since his self-titled debut in 1992. If you want thematic range with your MCs, Spice isn’t that dude – he is all about crime tales and the perils of ghetto life. And he attacks that storytelling sweet spot with each new cut. Spice 1 boasted four singles by the time it was all said and done, and breezed to Gold status on the strength of cuts like the catchy “East Bay Gangster”; the heartfelt tales and truths of “Welcome To The Ghetto”; and the thick, grooving “In My Neighborhood.” He even produced the alcohol-themed “187 Proof,” another of the album’s singles, and the hands-down cleverest vocal outing on the LP. Sonically, the backdrops on Spice 1 range from plunky, keyboard-bassline funk to deeper, fuzzy ‘70s samples – and he sounds strong on top of both. “Break Yourself” is fueled with an electro-funk drive; “1-800 Spice” brings reggae flavor; and “Peace To My Nine” gets chunkier, with a well-placed P-Funk “One Nation Under A Groove” sample. Presented here on official retail vinyl for the first time since its initial release 26 years ago, Spice 1’s debut holds the test of time and carries the California gangsta flag with pride. Some colors just don’t fade.

Comprised of Vancouver producers and multi-instrumentalists Nick Wisdom and Astrological, Canadian duo Potatohead People boast a number of noteworthy accolades thanks to a their signature sound drawing influences from 90's boom-bap, future soul, classic jazz, deep house and boogie/funk. Beginning with a series of EP's, including their landmark "Kosmichemusik" EP, Potatohead People's productions quickly made their way to artists like Illa J who tapped the duo to produce his now critically acclaimed self-titled album, as well as producers like Kaytranada (who co-produced Illa J's "Strippers" with the pair). Supporters such as Soulection, Nightmares on Wax, Pomo, DJ Spinna, Big Boi, and Phife Dawg have also played formidable roles in championing the sound of Potatohead People worldwide.

Now with three years since their last release, 2015's critically acclaimed debut album Big Luxury, Potatohead People are back their long awaited new album Nick & Astro's Guide To The Galaxy (due out May 11th via Brooklyn label Bastard Jazz) The record picks up right where the pair left off, showcasing a leap forward in production chops, musicality, and songwriting. The first single "Quest For Love" "with it's neck snapping drum break, lush rhodes chords, cosmic synths, guitar & horn flourishes and unexpected musical changeups bring in the hip-hop infected musicality the duo has become so loved for, while Nick & Astro collaborate vocally on top. "Morning Sun" featuring Danish vocalist (and Anderson.Paak collaborator) Nanna.B is in part a melancholy piece with knocking drums, an infectious bassline and a soulful, shimmering hook, while "Do My Thing" featuring Canadian singer Kapok and Illa J is a neck-snapping Hip-Hop joint perfect for the dancefloor. "Liftin' Up" featuring San Francisco's K-Maxx ventures into West Coast boogie territories, while the album's closer "Rituals" goes for a deeper more atmospheric electronic vibe.

Apollo proudly presents the return of SW, joined by partner SVN for a sublime 6 track EP. SW's lush sound design and hypnotic arrangements of 2017's 'The Album' had hearts and minds swooning following it's license from SUED to Apollo.
It's balmy glory won over Pitchfork ('deeply expressive debut album' 8/10), Rolling Stone (best electronic albums 2017) and XLR8R (Best releases 2017) amongst many others.
One year later, SW and SVN have gone into the studio, together; 'to make some original music specifically for Apollo. The results are the 6 tracks on this EP,' they share in a typically taciturn statement.Taking inspiration from the iconic house and techno of the mid / late 90s - SW and SVN combine dreamy melodies and mesmeric grooves with unfussy, focussed minimalism, their beguiling, modern take on classic sounds and rhythms remains thrillingly unique and elusive. While SW and SVN are more comfortable out of the limelight, this 6 track EP for Apollo once again proves that they are rightly worthy of the hype that swirls around them.

Danny McLewin (Psychemagik) and Jamie Cruisey have a new label of original signed artists called SPIRITS. The first release is from Mexican hotness 'Lokier' of She Made Monster and 'Jason Greer' aka 'The Machine', one of the Californian undergrounds best kept secrets. They met in 2015 at a festival in London and after spending a few days together, became musically obsessed with each other. That summer, as Jason bounced around Europe, he stayed with Lokier in Barcelona for some weeks and after long night walks, some tapas and absinthe bars they came up with their first EP together.

A1 "White Room's" slo-mo headnod film score, kick starts the EP, brooding synths buzzing with electric cocaine gloss, their oscillators fluttering like cyborg butterflies around the pulsating strobelight beat. Creepy.
A2 "Stained Glass" hits tough straight out the gate with subterranean bubbling acid bass and charges headlong into deep psychedelic territory with a goth-inspired guitar, reverb on 11, turning the track into a next-level robo-Giallo monster!

B1 "Pearly Hate" begins as if a menacing swarm of bionic rave bees is slowly surrounding you, the tension of their impending drone amping up steadily as your brain thinks: Do I run This midtempo Carpenter-esque jam is atmospheric putty in the hands of sleazoned DJ's and sounds like the beginning of a long, strange trip.
B2 "Red Floor" is a chugging, barely restrained dark disco beast, flagrantly wearing its Weatherall and Neu Beat-ing heart on its tattered sleeve, elliptical melodies keeping you from your sanity with a solid drop for the dancefloor - another one for DJ's who ride it rough.

Thus completes the first release for new label SPIRITS. Four tracks exploring another corner of otherworldly analogue hedonism for extra-dimensional travel. Keep your ear on "Red Floor", as its potential for dancefloor uplift is proven and Machine-ready! Stay jacked in for more missives soon...

Ivan Smagghe:
"When your best Mexican chola low-rider meets our favourite Californian mechanic, you get a proper slice of (Lokier and) Machine funk. This is grease electronics, black leather under the very dark sun of 'Pearly Hate' or in the bright isolation tank of 'White Room''

Tune after tune, Coops consistently delivers truly original and unique music, his newest single 'Jetpack' taken from
the recently announced 'No Brainer' project is no exception. Twist up a paper plane and take ight with Coops as he transports us out of the mundane into completely uncharted territory with this perfectly executed audio/visual experience. At High Focus Records, we are rm believers in artistic freedom, so when an artist as versatile as Coops delivered this 14 track project, it was a 'No Brainer' to share these highly innovative creations with the
world. 'Jetpack', alongside previous singles 'That Jazz', 'Bob Dylan' & 'What You Want' can all be found on Coops'
forthcoming 'No Brainer' project which is now available to pre order on limited edition splatter vinyl, CD, cassette tape and on all digital platforms. This forthcoming record showcases Coops' versatility and creative approach to his craft displaying a broad palette of sounds and moods. The cosmic cover art shows the two sides of the brain, representing the different approaches Coops has taken when crafting this project, ranging from experimental modern soundscapes to that classic Hip Hop sound. 'No Brainer' isn't really a album but more an experiment... I made most of these tracks alongside music I'd been making for an album... People have always tried to categorise me as a "Boom-Bap artist" but that I have never been. I am constantly making music of different styles and never work on one project at a time. Sadly some of these tracks never see the light of day, even though they are still of high quality and sick, so this time it was a 'No Brainer' that I put some of these tracks out.' - Coops
Coops - 'No Brainer' is offcially released on the 27th of April 2018 on High Focus Records.

"It was the most beautiful summer of my life."

Memories — places, vacancies, allusions — are fundamental characters in Mary Lattimore's evocative craft. Inside her music, wordless narratives, indenite travelogues, and braided events skew into something enchantingly new. The Los Angeles-based harpist recorded her breakout 2016 album, At The Dam, during stops along a road trip across America, letting the serene landscapes of Joshua Tree and Marfa, Texas color her compositions. In 2017, she presented Collected Pieces, a tape compiling sounds from her past life in Philadelphia: odes to the east coast, burning motels, and beach town convenience stores. In 2018, from a restorative station — a redwood barn, nestled in the hills above San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge — emanates Hundreds of Days, her second full-length LP with Ghostly International. The record sojourns between silences and speech, between microcosmic daily scenes and macrocosmic universal understandings, between being alien in promising new places and feeling torn from old native havens. It's an expansive new chapter in Lattimore's story, and an expression of mystied gratitude. A study in how ordinary components helix together to create an extraordinary world.

Awarded a residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Lattimore spent two summer months living with 15 fellow artists — writers, playwrights, musicians, poets, painters, activists, curators — in a cluster of old Victorian military buildings on the Northern Pacic Coast. Days offered solitude, Lattimore set up in a spacious barn, able to arrange her instruments at will. Nights welcomed new perspectives. "Hanging out with a lot of accomplished artists with poetic ways of looking at the world was really inspiring. My heart was in a bit of a tangle after leaving Philadelphia. I was holding onto things instead of moving forward. My time there was a nostalgia detox, a way to press reset in a healthy way. Also breathing in the freshest air in America, straight off of the ocean, felt good."

Throughout the shifting locales there is one consistent companion Lattimore engages: a 47-string Lyon and Healy harp. The instrument wires directly into her psyche. Pitchfork's Marc Masters posits, "she can practically talk through it at this point, she's created a language." The space and stillness of the Headlands afforded Lattimore freedom to her expand her vocabulary, to stretch out and experiment with layers of keyboard, guitar, theremin, and grand piano. Lattimore's voice sweeps beneath the plucks and washes of opener It Feels Like Floating,' enraptured by the winding current, and reappearing in the second minute of the immense "Never Saw Him Again." The track elevates towards a shimmering apex of static and percussion before organ drone yields to signature halcyon utters. As with much of Lattimore's work, the track titles are telling, "Baltic Birch" is a somber windswept march that sways gracefully out of step, a remembrance of a recent trip to Latvia where she was struck by the abandoned resort towns along the Baltic Sea. Hello From The Edge of The Earth' is an earnest reection of Lattimore's love of the natural world, recognizing the thresholds of varying terrains.

The album's fth track borrows its name from Lattimore's favorite line in Denis Johnson's short story Emergency' from Jesus' Son. A character, lost in a blizzard, reassesses a disjointed universe, a clash between curtains of snow and angels descending out of a brilliant blue summer: it isn't an apocalypse, it is a drive-in movie, with stars hovering above the lot, off the screen, in the throes of the Midwestern storm. This mix-up is disorienting and existentially tragic, Lattimore's darkly strummed piece is a melancholic parallel, mimicking Johnson's elegant suture attaching two remarkably discontinuous spaces.

Micro-revelations, not quite as bright as torn skies but nonetheless enlightening, were everyday occurrences during Lattimore's residency. Living small days with small tasks — feeling little dramas within the arcadian universe of a national park — rendered her the sense that disjointed spaces can be interconnected no matter the enormity that divides them. It's in this elastic scale of perception that something as simultaneously simple and intricate as Hundreds of Days can ourish.

- Second solo album for Ghostly, past releases on Thrill Jockey
- Recently toured w/ Sharon Van Etten, Jarvis Cocker, Kurt Vile, Steve Gunn, Julia Holter, Iceage
- Mary Lattimore has been featured on Pitchfork, NPR, The Wire Magazine, and more

Transparent Vinyl

Label boss Scalameriya is back! The Serbian behemoth delivers a must-have, 4-track EP full of epic synths, heavy beats and dramatic breakdowns.

First Word Records is very proud to present the triumphant return of the UK's finest Hip Hop Soul duo, Children of Zeus, with a double-header of brand new material.

Since the release of 'The Story So Far' EP in 2017, Konny Kon and Tyler Daley have proceeded to draw in the attention of tastemakers across the world, receiving big ups from Hip Hop, Soul and dance music royalty, such as US legends Jazzy Jeff & DJ Spinna, and UK heavyweights Stormzy & Rag'n'Bone Man.

In addition to relentlessly rocking stages and studios all over Europe, Children of Zeus have somehow found the time to write and produce their debut album proper. This is the first taste..

'Slow Down' is a sure-shot Summer anthem, with a twist. A deceptively soulful slow jam that lulls you into a false sense of filtered smoothness, before a floor-shaking beat & trill hats drop in from above, as if thrown in via a thunderbolt from Zeus himself. On the flip, we have the uptempo boom-bap steppa, 'All Night'. Konny sets this one off on some straight b-boy isht, riding a rhythm that's guaranteed to make grown Hip Hoppers reminisce, before Tyler's sweet swing-tinged vocals glide into play to keep you firmly steppin' - this one again illustrating the Mancunian duo's craft of creating timeless Hip Hop Soul music.

Manchester has been riding a wave of immense creativity & musical prowess in recent years. Children of Zeus exemplify the heart and soul of Manny's now-movement - but don't get it twisted - the vibe is universal, and they definitely ain't new to this. Two decades on from the inception of Broke'N'£nglish and Hoodman, Tyler and Konny have consistently persistently held their corner, stayed true to the music they love and nurtured their own unique sound. It's almost time to drop that album... But for now, here's more future classics.

originally released in 1990-with Liz Lamere - Never released on vinyl-

Born in Brooklyn, Alan Vega was reared on the rock 'n' roll sound of Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison, but originally struck out on a career as a visual artist and light sculptor, making pieces out of electronic debris. But on the occasion of seeing Iggy Pop fronting the Stooges at The Stooges at the New York State Pavilion in 1969 was an epiphany for Vega. It showed me you didn't have to do static artworks, you could create situations,' he said. That show was the first time in my life the audience and the stage merged into one." It was that eradication of barriers between the two that Vega took to heart.

Their first two albums, 1977's Suicide and their 1980 follow-up, remain two of the era's greatest touchstones, beacons for others seeking to transform their worlds with sound. And even during the group's hiatus through the 1980s, Vega continued to pursue his singular vision across an individualistic solo output. From his 1980 self-titled debut and rockabilly-infused albums like Saturn Strip, through bracing albums like Power On to Zero Hour and IT, Vega forged his own singular path.

For all the darkness and despair that encompasses this moment in our world - and despite his work being depicted as bleak and nihilistic - for Vega there was always a sense of hope and a place for dreams to become reality. People have always told me that my music is angry,' he said. To me, it was always just an energy. It was the way I perceived the world. The key Suicide song was 'Dream Baby Dream,' which was about the need to keep our dreams alive. I knew back then that something poisonous was encroaching on our lives, on all our freedoms.' He fought to his very last breath for that freedom.

originally released in 1993 - with Ric Ocasek & Liz Lamere-Never released on vinyl-

Born in Brooklyn, Alan Vega was reared on the rock 'n' roll sound of Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison, but originally struck out on a career as a visual artist and light sculptor, making pieces out of electronic debris. But on the occasion of seeing Iggy Pop fronting the Stooges at The Stooges at the New York State Pavilion in 1969 was an epiphany for Vega. It showed me you didn't have to do static artworks, you could create situations,' he said. That show was the first time in my life the audience and the stage merged into one." It was that eradication of barriers between the two that Vega took to heart.

Their first two albums, 1977's Suicide and their 1980 follow-up, remain two of the era's greatest touchstones, beacons for others seeking to transform their worlds with sound. And even during the group's hiatus through the 1980s, Vega continued to pursue his singular vision across an individualistic solo output. From his 1980 self-titled debut and rockabilly-infused albums like Saturn Strip, through bracing albums like Power On to Zero Hour and IT, Vega forged his own singular path.

For all the darkness and despair that encompasses this moment in our world - and despite his work being depicted as bleak and nihilistic - for Vega there was always a sense of hope and a place for dreams to become reality. People have always told me that my music is angry,' he said. To me, it was always just an energy. It was the way I perceived the world. The key Suicide song was 'Dream Baby Dream,' which was about the need to keep our dreams alive. I knew back then that something poisonous was encroaching on our lives, on all our freedoms.' He fought to his very last breath for that freedom.

Happy Alec ! Clubby Empire ! Somethnig he wouldn't have done 10 years ago... Style exercise about the hate and the freedom... Alec Ampire, de pire en Pire ! Enjoy the 'too mutch' electro insud mix... or the Breakbeat one...

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UPPERMOST will be releasing his upcoming album on March 23, 2018 with a completely new perspective that should change the course of his career, expanding to a brand new pop oriented approach but keeping his French signature at the core of the project. His previous hit tracks Flashback and Beautiful Light have already generated more than 27 Million combined streams across platforms, while Mercedes-Benz selected Uppermost single Disco Kids to be featured in their Formula One advertising campaign and Starz/Encore chose another of his instrumentals for their 2018 TV spot only few weeks ago. Uppermost is being closely followed by international media leading to great articles from influent press channels such as DJMAG, Vice, Complex, Paper Magazine, and famous radios such as BBC 1 and Virgin. In addition to releasing music via his own independent label Uppwind Records, Uppermost has released music through powerful labels such as Sony and Ministry Of Sound and done official remixes for Dada Life, Lemaitre and Crystal Fighters. He has also already shared french festival SOLIDAYS's stage with Madeon, Yelle, Fakear and Die Antwoord. This new year, Uppermost premiered his upcoming live show at Paris . Point Ephemere . for a sold out event that turned into a great success. Meanwhile, a U.S. tour is already confirmed for the month of March.

IT'S TIME TO PAAAARTY! Why The Universe knows that Tramp is celebrating their 40th trip around the sun in 2018. And what about planet Earth Well... it is as blind as it is in so many other situations. Therefore, it is time to shine the light on Tramp for all of its unremitting efforts. As musical diversity is vanishing, especially in the field of African American music from the 1960s/70s, it is our duty to stop the extinction of threatened species of music in the same way an animal welfare activist would do anything to save a gorilla's life. Tramp Records keeps this beautiful heritage alive, every single day, again and again and again. So we are here wondering why Earth people and especially to those from our beloved home country, why why are you just sitting there, going about your life unaware of this historic event What a pity!

The announcement is especially striking when it comes to the prestigious "Movements" series. Like all its predecessors, this ninth volume contains Rare Groove nuggets recorded between the early 1960s and the late 1970s. The fact that only one of the songs appear anywhere else is a jaw-dropping phenomenon! The chronological track listing starts with two amazing cover versions: "Fever" by Gee Gee Shinn & the Boogie Kings and "I'm A Woman" by Connie Kaye Trio. Bus Brown, Earl Demus and Chuck Finney remain in the same direction although their contributions are slightly jazzier. Chick Willis' gut-wrenching "Sometime Soon" easily rivals James Brown's "It's A Man's World" and the recordings by Australia, J.R. and Joe Akens are beautiful examples of privately produced soul from the 1970s. The latin-soul of "Cho Cho San" by Hummingbird 4 heads the sound in another direction for the next three tunes, highlighted by one more stunning cover version, Oscar Brown Jr.'s "Brother, Where Are You". The album closes with some pre-disco tracks from The Counts, Reunion and Hot Cakes' dance floor bomb cover of "Harlem Shuffle".

Over a hundred great unknown songs have been re-released on the first eight volumes in the "Movements" series, the majority of which can not be found elsewhere, and Vol. 9 is no exception. The work of Germany's tiniest but grooviest record label is still incomprehensibly underestimated. We know you diggers, collectors, mavens, aficionados, fanatics, completists, enthusiasts, and just plain record geeks know what's up and we heartily salute you! Without your support there would be no Tramp Records. But now it's time for a broader cultural shift for good music and a sweeping move to uphold the legacy of the unsung heroes of funk and soul. Therefore, we humbly petition you: in 2018, Don't keep all this glory to yourself! Turn your friends and neighbors on! Thank you!


- the double vinyl LP comes with a full album download code

- deluxe double-gatefold LP with detailed liner notes, label scans & unseen photographs

- all but one song appear on vinyl-LP for the very first-time

Le Galaxie are: Michael Pope, Dave Mc Gloughli, Alistair Higgins, Anthony Hyland, and newly
minted fifth member May Kay Gegharty who, having guested on the second album Le Club,
came fully on board for their third album, 'Pleasure'.
Le Galaxie have recently returned with Pleasure,' their first single from their forthcoming
third effort. Pleasure' is a dangerously charged sensuous slice of dance pop featuring the
vocals of May Kay (Fight Like Apes) - the calling card for an album that sees the band
producing a new body of work, to be enjoyed as much between your ears as between the
throbbing floors and laser lit ceilings of venues and festivals across the globe.
Recorded in their own studio with ultra-producer Blende, Pleasure' points to Le Galaxie's
evolution from purveyors of dance floor bangers to creators of well-crafted songs. The
affecting, almost master- and servant-like vocal exchange between Michael Pope and
vocalist May Kay demonstrates a self-confidence and maturity of a band in control.
With trademark grooves, synth, and bass distilled into songs like Pleasure,' Le Galaxie are
set to move beyond the scorched tarpaulins of Bennicassim and Lovebox this year, with tour
dates in the US, Ireland and beyond.

LP+DL

To those familiar with the output of Cologne-based imprint Firm from back in the early '00s, the name of Geiger, alias Nass, shall undoubtedly ring a bell. Herald of an hedonistic melange of funk- soaked electro pop and guitar-riddled synth music, sitting somewhere close to acts like Ween and Junior Boys, Alexander Geiger is about to break a eight-year hiatus with the drop of his debut album under the newly-founded moniker of Fahrland. A release that both encompasses a healthy dose of the discoid tropes from the Firm era but also aspires to split with a segment of it, geared towards exploring further undisclosed fringes of his shape-shifting sound universe, 'Mixtape Vol.1' is the fruit of a decisive move from the sleepless Berlin to the peaceful countryside landscapes of Fahrland - a lushly forested area near Potsdam which you'll have understood played an essential role in Geiger's longed-for return. Versatile and inclusive, the album sweeps a polyamorous gamut of styles and tempos like an answer to the virtual prisons that inhibit us on a daily basis, straying away from normative standards and classic full-length calibration as a result. Instead weaving a singular narrative course, clear from all type of shackles and chains, Geiger navigates on sight, reflecting on notions as wide and universal as freedom, friendship and love across a multiversal patchwork of sounds and feels. From the languid sexy vibe of 'Beggin', 'Plastic People' and 'Yesterday' - all three featuring the sensual whispers of multi-talented vocalist and artist MZ Sunday Luv, through the heavily vocodized, chip- implemented groove of I AM ROBOT - reminiscent of Telex and Space Art, balearic jazz & rap shine of 'Sky So High', smokey lounge ambience of 'L AND H' onto broader ambient-friendly spans such as 'Suspension', 'Windshield Gently Wipers' and the smooth, sun-basking closer 'Get Down', each track holds a fragile cocooned world at its heart.

Bei denjenigen, die mit dem Output vom Kölner Label Firm aus den frühen Nullerjahren vertraut sind, sollte der Name Geiger alias Nass zweifellos die Glocken klingeln lassen. Als der Herold einer hedonistischen Melange aus Funk durchdrungenem Elektro-Pop und Gitarren durchzogener Synthie-Musik irgendwo zwischen Ween und den Junior Boys, bricht Alexander Geiger seine achtjährige Schaffenspause mit der Veröffentlichung seines Debüt-Albums unter neuen Pseudonym: Fahrland.

Ein Release, das sowohl die diskoiden Tropen der Firm-Ära affirmiert, als auch danach strebt ein bestimmtes Segment davon zu spalten. Aufgenommen um ungeahnte Interferenzen seines gestaltverändernden Sounduniversums zu entdecken, ist 'Mixtape Vol.1' das Resultat eines bewussten Umzugs aus dem schlaflosen Berlin in die friedliche Landschaft von Fahrland - einem üppigen Waldgebiet in der Nähe von Potsdam, das eine entscheidende Rolle in Geigers ersehnter Rückkehr zur Musik gespielt hat.

Vielfältig und offen erforscht das Album polyamorös eine Skala von Stilen und Tempi als Antwort auf die virtuellen Ketten, die uns tagtäglich hemmen. Bewusst vergessen werden dabei normative Standards und klassische Langspieler-Kategorien. Geiger webt stattdessen ein einzigartiges Narrativ, frei von jeglichen Fesseln und Ketten und führt uns auf seinem multiversalen Flickenteppich aus Sounds und Gefühle mit Sichtkontakt an so allgemeingültige und universelle Begriffe wie Freiheit, Freundschaft und Liebe.

Vom nochalanten Vibe von 'Beggin', 'Plastic People' und'Yesterday' (alle drei mit der sinnlich wispernden und vielseitigen Sängerin MZ Sunday Luv), bis zu dem durch den Vocoder gejagten und computergenerierten Groove von I AM ROBOT; Reminiszenzen an Telex und Space Art, balearischen Jazz und Rap erklingen in 'Sky So High', rauchiges Loungeambiente auf 'L AND H' bis zu völliger Ambient-Anschlussfähigkeit in 'Suspension', 'Windshield Gently Wipers' und dem sanften, Sonne anbetenden Schlusslied 'Get Down' - jeder Track hält eine Welt für sich in seinem Herzen.

LP+DL+MC Limited

To those familiar with the output of Cologne-based imprint Firm from back in the early '00s, the name of Geiger, alias Nass, shall undoubtedly ring a bell. Herald of an hedonistic melange of funk- soaked electro pop and guitar-riddled synth music, sitting somewhere close to acts like Ween and Junior Boys, Alexander Geiger is about to break a eight-year hiatus with the drop of his debut album under the newly-founded moniker of Fahrland. A release that both encompasses a healthy dose of the discoid tropes from the Firm era but also aspires to split with a segment of it, geared towards exploring further undisclosed fringes of his shape-shifting sound universe, 'Mixtape Vol.1' is the fruit of a decisive move from the sleepless Berlin to the peaceful countryside landscapes of Fahrland - a lushly forested area near Potsdam which you'll have understood played an essential role in Geiger's longed-for return. Versatile and inclusive, the album sweeps a polyamorous gamut of styles and tempos like an answer to the virtual prisons that inhibit us on a daily basis, straying away from normative standards and classic full-length calibration as a result. Instead weaving a singular narrative course, clear from all type of shackles and chains, Geiger navigates on sight, reflecting on notions as wide and universal as freedom, friendship and love across a multiversal patchwork of sounds and feels. From the languid sexy vibe of 'Beggin', 'Plastic People' and 'Yesterday' - all three featuring the sensual whispers of multi-talented vocalist and artist MZ Sunday Luv, through the heavily vocodized, chip- implemented groove of I AM ROBOT - reminiscent of Telex and Space Art, balearic jazz & rap shine of 'Sky So High', smokey lounge ambience of 'L AND H' onto broader ambient-friendly spans such as 'Suspension', 'Windshield Gently Wipers' and the smooth, sun-basking closer 'Get Down', each track holds a fragile cocooned world at its heart.

Bei denjenigen, die mit dem Output vom Kölner Label Firm aus den frühen Nullerjahren vertraut sind, sollte der Name Geiger alias Nass zweifellos die Glocken klingeln lassen. Als der Herold einer hedonistischen Melange aus Funk durchdrungenem Elektro-Pop und Gitarren durchzogener Synthie-Musik irgendwo zwischen Ween und den Junior Boys, bricht Alexander Geiger seine achtjährige Schaffenspause mit der Veröffentlichung seines Debüt-Albums unter neuen Pseudonym: Fahrland.

Ein Release, das sowohl die diskoiden Tropen der Firm-Ära affirmiert, als auch danach strebt ein bestimmtes Segment davon zu spalten. Aufgenommen um ungeahnte Interferenzen seines gestaltverändernden Sounduniversums zu entdecken, ist 'Mixtape Vol.1' das Resultat eines bewussten Umzugs aus dem schlaflosen Berlin in die friedliche Landschaft von Fahrland - einem üppigen Waldgebiet in der Nähe von Potsdam, das eine entscheidende Rolle in Geigers ersehnter Rückkehr zur Musik gespielt hat.

Vielfältig und offen erforscht das Album polyamorös eine Skala von Stilen und Tempi als Antwort auf die virtuellen Ketten, die uns tagtäglich hemmen. Bewusst vergessen werden dabei normative Standards und klassische Langspieler-Kategorien. Geiger webt stattdessen ein einzigartiges Narrativ, frei von jeglichen Fesseln und Ketten und führt uns auf seinem multiversalen Flickenteppich aus Sounds und Gefühle mit Sichtkontakt an so allgemeingültige und universelle Begriffe wie Freiheit, Freundschaft und Liebe.

Vom nochalanten Vibe von 'Beggin', 'Plastic People' und'Yesterday' (alle drei mit der sinnlich wispernden und vielseitigen Sängerin MZ Sunday Luv), bis zu dem durch den Vocoder gejagten und computergenerierten Groove von I AM ROBOT; Reminiszenzen an Telex und Space Art, balearischen Jazz und Rap erklingen in 'Sky So High', rauchiges Loungeambiente auf 'L AND H' bis zu völliger Ambient-Anschlussfähigkeit in 'Suspension', 'Windshield Gently Wipers' und dem sanften, Sonne anbetenden Schlusslied 'Get Down' - jeder Track hält eine Welt für sich in seinem Herzen.

With its latest reissue, Majik's Back Into Your Heart - Melodies International dug deep into the back catalogue of Hi Records, legendary soul label from Memphis found ed in the 1950s.

Originally signed as a recording artist, Willie Mitchell took the reigns of the label and guided it through its most successful period in the 1970s, notably producing a string of studio recordings for Al Green, Syl Johnson and O.V. right among other eminent soul musicians of the time. Whilst the Hi Records catalogue shifted hands multiple times since the late 1970s, it was mainly exploited as a means to reissue recordings from Al Green and other high profile Hi Records artists (notably by Motown) while the label's more obscure back catalogue remained largely untouched. Years later, a few lesser known one offs from the label's vaults holding the distinctive raw Hi Records production sound and a circling hypnotic quality that makes them potential successful records for modern day dance floors have been getting a second life with record collectors, DJs and on dance floors worldwide. As such, recordings such as Africano's Open Your Hearts have become You're A Melody classics for some years now and Melodies International are glad to bring you one more reissue which in our hearts hold at least the same level of quality and potential as the former. With Back Into Your Heart, Majik pull through with a strong up-tempo disco tune that embodies Mitchell's sound as well as a level of modernity that might explain why it has remained largely unnoticed up until now.

Licensed and re-mastered, MEL010 comes forth in its original 7' format with a folded 14'x14' poster designed by Mafalda.

Ichisan's 2017 Aperitiv was so good that we've decided to return for a second helping from his sumptuous album. Four choice cuts have been selected and reworked with a specific instrument focus. The harpsicord version of 'Hotel' keeps the intoxicating melody of the original but allows beats to relax as notes shine with an incandescent brilliance. Drums put their feet up for the Rhodes version of 'Modri Tunel.' Deep stings and lounging lines mingle in this work of smoke swirling seduction. 'Kozmetika (Trumpet Version)' dances to a different tune. Rich bass is again central but this time brash and bold brass intertwine with funk filled bars. The last waltz arrives with the piano version of 'Terminal E.' Alluring notes ascend, rising and falling against heartwrenching guitar strings for a finale to end this ballroom inspired beauty.

Dutch artist Mokona returns to Templar Sound for his third release on the label with 'Love in Restricted Areas', described as being set in a private laboratory complex deep inside a forest, recorded during the summer after long nights of medical research.

* 'Love in Restricted Areas' continues the lush and serene soundscapes explored on 2015's 'Breathless' EP, while mixing more club friendly tracks like 'Perfumed Steel' and 'A.N.G.E.L. Guard System' with the meditative as found in 'Heart Sync' and 'Natalie's Aquarium Lab'. With a strong cinematic feel permeating throughout, and having taken his name from a character of the manga xxxHOLiC, which explores Japanese mythology and culture, it makes perfect sense that a track like 'Cupid's Bow' feels like it could have been lifted from a Studio Ghibli soundtrack.

* Though hard to pin down to a single genre, Mokona has produced a beautifully layered record that is just as fitting for head phone listening as the chill out room.

2x12"

Helsinki based HPTY Recordings run by TREVOR DEEP JR. celebrates and honors Finnish dance music and some of its champions operating close to the main source by releasing an anniversary double vinyl package of underground rhythms cross the genres!

Our latest examination of Esoteric, Modal & Progressive Jazz of the 20th Century has taken us to Japan. The liberating force of jazz has been created and felt all around the world, but few nations on earth embraced the jazz message with the passion and intensity of Japan. From the dawn of the jazz age to the present day, Japanese audiences have been renowned tastemakers, enthusiasts and champions of the music - in the 1980s, Japan was the biggest per capita market in the world for jazz records, and it has even been said that Japanese jazz fans kept the jazz record industry alive through the lean years of the 1970s, when the music fell from commercial favour in the land of its birth.

But while the jazz aficionados of Japan are celebrated as sophisticated fans and consumers of the music, comparatively little is known outside Japan of the remarkable and abundant music produced by generations of Japanese jazz musicians. Numerous Japanese jazzers have found enormous success on the international stage - Toshiko Akiyoshi, Sadao Watanabe, Teramasu Hino, and many others are household names among jazz listeners all over the world, and with good reason. But if such global figures are put aside, the stunning heritage of Japanese jazz remains poorly understood outside Japan. As a result, the work of many celebrated Japanese jazumen has remained largely unknown to international audiences, and the extraordinary scope and depth of Japanese jazz has not been widely recognised.

Compiled for the Spiritual Jazz series in collaboration with the celebrated collector and DJ Yusuke Ogawa (Deep Jazz Reality, Tokyo), this 2CD/twin set of double LPs aims to correct that omission by uncovering the uniquely deep sound of esoteric, modal and progressive jazz from Japan - music of the heart, soul and Japanese spirit!

Each 2LP set comes complete with OBI strip and thick, textured sleeve. Our extensive liner notes extend onto printed inners, and are in both Japanese and English.

It is Melodies International's greatest pleasure to bring forth its latest reissue comprising two stripped-back, reflective pieces of US folk soul.

Largely forgotten for the past forty-odd years, Bobby Wright (now Abu Talib)'s "Blood Of An American" and "Everyone Should Have His Day" resurface as politically-infused works that shine bright and still hold meaning to this day.

The 60s and 70s constituted an exceptional era for its unique blend of popular culture and political radicalism. Household names such as Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye and Gil Scott-Heron used art to express their discontent with the current state of affairs, namely the US government's involvement in warfare and their inability to deal with critical social issues of the time. Though not a musician, Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay Jr) was advocating a similar anti-government stance in the boxing ring, and his objection to serving in the Vietnam War sealed his status as an icon for the wider counterculture generation.

Meanwhile in Queens, New York City, Abu used to work several jobs as a construction worker and cab driver - but still found time to play with his band in clubs for $100 a night to support his family. Against the backdrop of international conflict and violence, most of his surroundings failed to listen to how he felt. However, he considered music to be the greatest form of communication with the world and it was his belief that a positive message should be spread to future generations.

After one band member was killed in Vietnam and another went into the service, Abu resolved to pick up his guitar and record these songs as a duet in 1974 with his bassist - the only other remaining band member. Combining guitar, bass and a voice that quavers with emotion he self-released the record in 1974, one which holds its own alongside the all-time greats.

These songs of introspection remind us of the beauty there is in simplicity and how moving art can be when the feelings expressed come from the heart. MEL009 will be released in its original 7" format alongside a 16-page Melozine, featuring words from Abu Talib, social studies professor Paul Rekret and much more.

Strata-Gemma's eponymous debut album is set to provide a soundtrack to 2018.

The trio hail from Modena, the Northern Italian motor city. As with the Ferrari and Maserati cars that are designed and manufactured in Modena, Strata-Gemma produce a music of beautiful symmetry.

Strata-Gemma create jazz for the head, the heart and the body. Their sound is shaped by the ambient adventures Miles Davis and Ron Carter engaged in alongside the electronic pulse Mo' Wax and Ninja Tune carved out of clubland. Add to this a touch of Nino Rota's Fellini film scores, employ a pinch of Balkan and klezmer brass arrangements, and you have an instrumental trio who create music so fresh it stimulates the senses.

Strata-Gemma are a collaboration between Billy Bogus, Luca Cacciatore and Andrea Moretti. The trio first took shape as a club jam between DJs and musicians. Their ability to create atmospheric music, pulsing with rhythm but never solely reliant on beats, music that breaks free and explores sonic possibilities, quickly won notice and lead to the trio playing their freeform music in clubs, music venues and festivals across Italy.

Strata-Gemma consist of producer Niccolò Bruni (aka Billy Bogus), horns player Luca Cacciatore, double bassist Andrea Moretti. Bruni is a DJ, producer and founder of Pizzico Records. Over the past two decades he has striven to mix jazz, beats, soundtracks and funk. Coming together with Luca and Andrea allowed Bruni to explore a vision of post-club jazz that is as rich as Modena's food and as elegant as Modena's cars. Strata-Gemma create a sensual sonic storm, music to be savoured and explored, the opposite of much of today's fast-food music.

Lorenzo Bandiera, the London-based Italian founder of Fly By Night Music, heard a Strata-Gemma demo via friends and was immediately impressed. "I thought 'this is great!", he says. "Music as strong as this can't be ignored. I'm excited about releasing Strata-Gemma."

This is the first album of Borusiade, in which she takes her music to a new level, finding her very own expression, that is making us first shiver then sweat, then chill and finally melt.

Cómeme starts 2018 by proving again to be a safe haven and a sanctuary for sensitive plants and unique characters devoted to music - just like Miruna Boruzescu aka Borusiade - from Bucharest - who conquered the radio stations of our parallel worlds and utopian desire. 'Dream catcher' was the name of the show, and 'Jeopardy', a nocturnal EP, her first release on vinyl.

Now, after adventurous travels through night clubs, theatres, windy cities, snowy fields and merciless deserts her desires and imagination have manifested themselves in her very first album, carrying the intriguing title: 'A Body'

The record sleeve features the back of her head, making us wonder what she sees, on the other side. Her visions unfold through 8 pieces of music that follow a dreamlike narrative of associations and transformations. Somber synthetic atmospheres, sparse and spatial rhythmical arrangements, strangely seductive melodies and lysergic ally pulsating bass lines lead us away from a dystopian present towards a sensorial experience we long to repeat as soon as it's over.

'A Body' is a deeply poetic work in which again and again you will hear Borusiade's voice, sometimes dissolving and recreating meanings in mantra-like repetitions, sometimes layering itself to pagan choirs of smooth ecstasy. Then again you will also hear that voice close to you, singing, sharing an experience or a thought. It is always soft, effortless and unpretentious, but always strong, clear and precise, like the voice that speaks to you in an altered state of consciousness. It seems to come from the same person that is holding your hand, when everything else seems to fade into uncertainty while wandering through strange times and places...

Starting with the song CLUSTER the effect is kicking in, we sink into the universe of the album through this throbbing ambience that seems populated by a reverberated ant colony that broke into a synthesizer. The introduction of this album is a complex emotional soundscape that is followed by a song: BREATHE, which sounds like a classic you never heard. With its catchy melancholia, it creates a déjà vu like strange familiarity of the unknown - a memory from the future. And though our minds were just twisting and turning in an overflow of information, we suddenly leave our bodies and observe ourselves breathe.

Other tracks, like DORMANT are more focused on the narration of the body and its state. Words, describing it in many ways, softly and incessantly repeated, are mixed deeply into the soundscapes of a track that features a bass drum so soft it could be a heartbeat. Foggy moments like these dissolve in a track like AN ACUARIAN FEELING, which is queer synthesizer love, shifting in shape and momentum, a ray of light that pushes itself through the nightly atmosphere that was preceding these moments, a similar landscape in different times - a choir enters, cheerful drums, climbing and descending melodies and rhythms of hope. Just like the utopian vision in the title track A BODY, that stands at the end of this journey, which in itself just opens another new horizon.

James Ramey, better known by his self-depreciating stage name Baby Huey, was a potently flamboyant presence in Chicago's soul scene during the 1960s. Though he suffered weight problems throughout his life due to a glandular disorder, he was easily recognizable for his appearance, which featured an enormous afro, and long, flowing African robes. He and his band The Babysitters were a wildly popular and successful local act across Illinois, cutting numerous 45 singles, without releasing a single full-length album. A chance audition with Donny Hathaway and Curtis Mayfield of Curtom Records would change everything for the band. Though the two of them were pleased with the group, they opted only to sign Baby Huey without the Babysitters. Huey would go on to spend much of

1970 recording a studio debut of psychedelic soul and funk music, comprised largely of covers of tracks by Mayfield, Sam Cooke, and others, plus two original compositions. During this time the now 400-pound singer struggled with addiction to alcohol and heroin. Huey would not see the release of his debut album, dying at the age of 26 from a drug-related heart attack. So many years after its 1971 release, Baby Huey's studio album Baby Huey: The Living Legend went on to become a cult phenomenon, a massive influence to hip-hop artists and fans, and is now considered a classic of its era. Tracks from the album have been a treasure trove of sample material for artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, DJ Shadow, and The Chemical Brothers to name just a few. Additionally Huey's own vocal style, which dabbled in sing-song melodies and self-referential rhyming, has been said to have influenced the development of rapping itself.