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In September last year, Josh Tillman stopped by our Nashville headquarters on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday afternoon and surprised us all with a lunchtime solo, acoustic set before his sold-out Ryman Auditorium performance. We, of course, had our 1955 Scully Lathe warmed at the ready to capture the occasion.

As is typical for direct-to-acetate recordings in the Blue Room, Josh warmed up the room (and our engineers) with two songs before we started cutting the LP. He began with the debut performance of his newly penned 'Mr. Tillman' (foreshadowing its release as the first single on God's Favorite Customer 9 months later). We then used the second song as an opportunity to carve a 12' on-the-spot single of 'Now I'm Learning to Love the War,' which was promptly handed it to a lucky attendee for safe keeping. If you want to know more about that, you'll have to scour the depths of FJM's fan net.

Live at Third Man Records covers songs from all three Father John Misty albums out at the time of its recording, heard here stripped totally bare





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Drum & bass pioneer and Hospital Record's crown jewel Danny Byrd is back! He's set 2018 ablaze with monolith anthems 'Devil's Drop', 'Salute' ft MC GQ and 'Hold Up The Crown' ft Ky Lenz, now he proudly presents his first album in five years.

A 15-track funk-fuelled compendium of rolling dancefloor-fillers that tributes to the jungle foundation moulding his early discography. Collaborations with the likes of I-Kay, Maduk, Ownglow, Times x Two and MC GQ, fuse with powerful
doses of Danny's hip-hop and R&B infused 174BPM productions. 'Atomic Funk' is undoubtedly Mr Byrd's finest work to date and includes one of the biggest future D+B anthems 'Holy Star' that's brought to life with vocal delights from MC Foxy.

'Just A Step Away' (ft. Ownglow) has become a silver bullet for the Byrd, taking a spotlight in his DJ sets as his finishing move. With its gorgeous vocals, volatile rave synths and humming sub-bass, it's not hard to see why. However, that's
far from the only weapon in this legend's locker. 'Roll The Drums' is a certified sub shaker bringing a fierce bassline and thundering percussion, plus there's raw jungle madness with 'In The Meantime' (ft. Hannah Symons). With fifteen incredible tracks from Hospital Records' longest standing signing, 'Atomic Funk'
is Danny Byrd at his best. Crafted for the dancefloor and Feel-good from start to finish, a must-have for a true Hospital fan.

When a Russian missile struck the ground not far from my studio in Kyiv, I vividly remember how my body reacted to the explosion, milliseconds before my mind did. That traumatic explosion reduced my essence to a primal state. There existed nothing but dread—the kind that, in scripture, accompanies the appearance of angels announcing, ’Be not afraid’.

The visions of Abbess, composer and mystic Hildegard von Bingen were preceded by bright, excruciating flashes of light. Modern medicine reduces them to cluster migraines, one symptom of which is the retinal aura, often accompanied by blurred vision and blind spots. Hildegard’s music can place great demands on the bodies of its performers, emphasizing uncomfortable intervals and the wide distance between the lowest and highest pitch. In comparison, Gregorian chant, the liturgical standard of the time, represents a tempered attempt to grasp God intellectually; indeed, Hildegard’s music was once described as a stick of dynamite thrown into a Gregorian chant.

This album is not a historically informed performance. Hildegard’s persona and music are a starting point—a distant mirror, akin to the shield of Perseus, used to reflect Medusa. It allows us to reflect, comprehend, externalise, and transcend traumatic wartime experience, reinstating the embodied origins of Christianity, which contained suffering but also offered the promise of transcendence. Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko emphasises this physical aspect of Hildegard’s music by drawing on authentic Ukrainian folk singing, a form that survived despite efforts by the Soviet occupation to replace it with a simulacrum that is naive, harmless, and devoid of contradictions—an attempt to ‘civilise’ the body by disembodying it.
The musical approach is also informed by my ongoing practice of reimagining early music in modular synthesis. I accompany Andriana-Yaroslava’s fiery singing with drones—extended sounds that also occurred in medieval music. The drones alternate with improvisations, one taking its starting point in medieval polyphony, the other working with the concept of the interchangeability of sound and light, referring both to Hildegard’s visions and the space in which we recorded the album: the Cistercian abbey of Sylvanès in Occitania, known for contemporary stained glass windows whose patterns reference the dispersion of acoustic waves inside the church.


The album features two compositions by Hildegard von Bingen: O Ignis Spiritus Paracliti (O Fire of the Spirit and Defender), dedicated to the Holy Spirit, and O Tu Suavissima Virga (O Sweetest Branch), in honour of the Virgin Mary. Both pieces are performed radically slower than usual, expanding in time and space. On vinyl, the compositions are designed to reflect one another and can be listened to in either order. In the digital edition, there is a bonus track titled Zelenaia Dubrovonka (The Green Oak Grove). Based on a Ukrainian folk song from the Polissia region, Andriana Yaroslava adapted the lyrics to reflect our contemporary reality. The green oak grove does not rustle with the wind; instead, it resonates with a different sound—perhaps the missile that struck near my Kyiv studio.

MEMORIALS jump off the waterslides and head above the clouds with their stunning second album, ‘All Clouds Bring Not Rain’. The duo of Verity Susman and Matthew Simms (formerly of Electrelane and WIRE) locked themselves away in a studio in a barn secluded deep in the woods in southwestern France and re-emerged with a beautiful, unusual record that is both melodic and unconventional. For such an ambitious album it’s striking that it was written, performed, recorded and mixed solely by the two of them. Sounding like an unearthed classic, MEMORIALS twist their influences into their own unmistakable sound. Imagine Nico singing with Can produced by David Axelrod and you’re somewhere in the right ballpark.

The record draws inspiration from a wide range of music including folk, dub, post punk, experimental tape music, 60s soul, garage rock, 70s spiritual jazz and Canterbury prog. This attention to detail in their sound meant finding several other studios to get what they needed to record with, including a harpsichord at 4AD’s studio in London and a vibraphone and vintage Leslie speaker in Stereolab drummer Andy Ramsay’s studio Press Play. Verity’s distinctive, unadorned singing is a focal point of the record, moving from tender to wild. Her vocal melodies quickly become earworms, providing the tuneful heart around which the songs’ more unorthodox elements are arranged, which is where Matthew’s unconventional approach to recording and production comes to the fore. With their adventurous arrangements, classic songwriting skills and innovative production techniques, MEMORIALS have created another mesmerising listen that’s accomplished and compelling in its unique approach yet remains dizzyingly immersive - just like their acclaimed live shows.

MEMORIALS jump off the waterslides and head above the clouds with their stunning second album proper, 'All Clouds Bring Not Rain'. The duo of Verity Susman and Matthew Simms (formerly of Electrelane and WIRE) locked themselves away in a studio in a barn secluded deep in the woods in southwestern France and re-emerged with a beautiful, unusual record that is both melodic and unconventional. For such an ambitious album it's striking that it was written, performed, recorded and mixed solely by the two of them. Sounding like an unearthed classic, MEMORIALS twist their influences into their own unmistakable sound. Imagine Nico singing with Can produced by David Axelrod and you're somewhere in the right ballpark. The record draws inspiration from a wide range of music including folk, dub, post punk, experimental tape music, 60s soul, garage rock, 70s spiritual jazz and Canterbury prog. Verity's distinctive, unadorned singing is a focal point of the record, moving from tender to wild. Her vocal melodies quickly become earworms, providing the tuneful heart around which the songs' more unorthodox elements are arranged, which is where Matthew's unconventional approach to recording and production comes to the fore. With their adventurous arrangements, classic songwriting skills and innovative production techniques, MEMORIALS have created another mesmerising listen that's accomplished and compelling in its unique approach yet remains dizzyingly immersive - just like their acclaimed live shows. "Exciting and unpredictable" The Guardian "Everything you'd expect from a duo adept in the strange and esoteric, while also in thrall to pop music's melodic bent." The Quietus "Stunning, kaleidoscopic tunes" Electronic Sound "Engagingly eclectic" UNCUT "Divinely tuneful yet confrontational" The Wire "Kaleidoscopic art-pop and adventurous psych-rock with an immersive, experimental aura." KEXP.

2026 Repress

Deadbeat & Tikiman's occasional collaborative performances have since blown the minds of many audiences

Deadbeat. Tikiman. Infinity. Dub. A quadrangle of such obvious statement and perfect musical inference may very well never have been uttered for those of the wholly weeded out persuasion. Indeed, when the great book of Dub music is written the names Scott Monteith and Paul St Hilaire will undoubtedly figure highly in its chapters devoted to recent years. Monteith, the last great prodigal son of the doctrine handed down from the Blue Mount of Lord Scratch and King Tubby, St Hilaire the undisputed voice of a generation, those fanatical warrior monks, followers of the most Holy House of Ernestus and Von Oswald incarnate.

Having developed a fast friendship from their very first meeting in Montreal at the premier Micro Mutek event a decade ago, Deadbeat and Tikiman's occasional collaborative performances have since blown the minds of audiences from Berlin to Tokyo and many points in between. No great surprise then that their first album length venture is a Tour de Force of Dub music of the highest order.

Nearly a year in the making, the genetic code of Deadbeat's Infinity Dubs series gets shot through with a Dreader than Dread Kingstonian logic, hi hats dropping back from the three to the one, Tikiman at his most militant, poetic, fierce, and flowing. These are the recordings of two lions uncaged, and none who bare witness shall escape their fiery judgement.

If music is truly eternal, here be two voices which shall echo in infinity with all the weight, reverence, and dire power unleashed with every tectonic bass hit, and every whimsical turn of phrase. And if these eight burnt offerings are any indication of what happens when these two sit down for a session of smoke and reasoning, here's hoping they choose to do it frequently. Dub without end. Ad Infinitum.

Faitiche welcomes a new artist: Christina Kubisch belongs to the first generation of sound artists. Her practice ranges from performances, concerts, to works with video and visual art, but she is best known for her sound installations and electro-acoustic compositions.

TUNING brings together three pieces by Christina Kubisch from different periods of her oeuvre. What they have in common is the way they transform sound phenomena originally considered “non-music” into compositions.

Jan Jelinek: Gaming in Silence (2024) is the most recent work on this compilation. It’s a collage of electromagnetic waves, voice, and abstract sound textures. How did this combination come about?

Christina Kubisch: Gaming was commissioned as a fixed-media composition for the Sound Dome at ZKM Karlsruhe. Since Resonances: The Electromagnetic Bodies Project (2005), I’ve been making recordings in the old and new server rooms at the ZKM and in their permanent collection of historical computer games. Computer games like Asteroids (Atari, 1979) and Poly-Play (VEB Polytechnik, 1986) have specially generated analogue electromagnetic waves that interest me in particular on account of their density, rhythms and textures. I originally studied painting and to me the work of composition often feels like painting an abstract picture. I alter my source material as little as possible, layering and overlapping until a distinctive sound space emerges. In recent pieces, I sometimes combine magnetic waves with field recordings or live instruments. In Gaming it’s my recording of a Chinese song about silence.

JJ: Two persons walking through a street in Madrid (2004) is a recording from your Electrical Walks series. Here we should give a brief explanation of one of your best known works: participants in an Electrical Walk move through public spaces wearing prepared headphones that allow them to receive electromagnetic waves from their surroundings – for example from security gates, ATMs or neon signs. They discover a situation that normally is inaudible to the human ear and they can actively shape it by choreographing their movements. I really admire this piece, not least because there’s no clear dividing line between participants and artist. What exactly do we hear in Two persons walking through a street in Madrid (2004)?

CK: With this early work, I wanted to understand what is heard by people participating in an Electrical Walk in the same place but moving in different ways. The Spanish composer Miguel Alvarez-Fernàndez and I set off from opposite ends of a major shopping street in Madrid, met briefly in the middle, and then continued to the end. We both recorded our walks and I then layered them over one another. You might call it a work of electromagnetic conceptualism.

JJ: Diapason (2009 version) is an installation that plays a composition based on sounds from fifteen tuning forks. This setting is audible in the recording: there’s no dramatic arc, no beginning or end – instead, it recalls a piece of aleatoric music focussing on the decay phase. How did you come to make this work and could you tell us something about your compositional method?

CK: Diapason is part of a series of three pieces that deal with “non-instruments” or instruments that no longer exist: electrical mine bells used to send signals to the workers underground; a historical glass harmonica originally used for medicinal purposes; and tuning forks that were used by doctors to test people’s hearing. All of these methods are no longer in use. The sound of the tuning forks, audible only if held close to the ear, was recorded at the electronic studio at Berlin’s Technical University in such a way that even their decay remained audible. The frequencies range between 64 and 2048 Hertz and they can be adjusted at micro-intervals using small movable weights. The sequence and the duration of the pauses are dictated by chance and were not defined in advance. The 2009 version was created for an installation in the historic Holy Cross Church (Korskirken) in Bergen. Visitors could enter and leave the space at any time, deciding for themselves where and for how long they wished to listen to the sounds played back over an array of small loudspeakers placed on the floor of the apse.

Credits:

Gaming in Silence: commission of the ZKM/Hertzlab, Karlsruhe 2023
elektronic sound processing: Tom Thiel
sound engineering and mixing: Eckehard Güther

Diapason: produced at Elektronisches Studio of TU Berlin
rearrangement: Eckehard Güther

Christina Kubisch, published by Edition Christina Kubisch / Random Musick Publishing

image front: Transitionen 2021 by C. Kubisch, sonagrams of electronic waves (courtesy: Galerie Mazzoli Berlin)
image back: Diapason Tuning Fork, property of Folkmar Hein, Photo: Archiv Christina Kubisch

design by Tim Tetzner
mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Thanks to Miguel Álvarez-Fernández, Folkmar Hein, Dominik Kautz and Mario Mazzoli

First issued in 1990 on the UK's 'Faze 1 FM' label, Trevor Dale's SMILING / SUMMER 88 has become somewhat of a holy grail house record. This is the first time these tracks have been re-issued in any form.

Also included here are two other tracks from his Torrington Foe side-project: 'Take Me Back' from 1990 (featuring vocals from Chicago's Robert Owens) and the deep acid cut 'Morning Shuffle' from 1994.

Dale had the ability to create timeless tracks that still echo decades later - this release will leave you nostalgic for the early London club days.

Gap Mangione's monumentally influential Diana In The Autumn Wind. AKA BEWITH200LP. And, without question, Be With's White Whale.

They said it could never be done. And with good reason.

We've spent the past 12 years trying to license this legendary 1968 recording from Gap and, after much work, it's finally here. Remarkably, this is the first ever vinyl reissue of Gap Mangione's Diana In The Autumn Wind, produced with the full and extensive participation of Gap. An exceedingly rare album, it's been coveted by funk, soul, jazz and hip-hop sample fiends for decades.

It's unarguably *the* most sought after album for J Dilla / Madlib sample collectors. It has also been brilliantly sampled by A Tribe Called Quest, Large Professor, Ghostface Killah, Kendrick Lamar and Talib Kweli.

But this record is so much more than a sample-spotters curio. It's solid gold throughout. Bursting with killer funky-jazz grooves and tracks adorned with warm electric piano, the release is notable for featuring some extremely significant players at the very outset of their careers; Tony Levin, at 21, whose superb playing on both acoustic and electric bass was the harmonic mainstay of the trio and Steve Gadd, at 23, one of the greatest drummers of his generation.

With acceptable copies of this holy grail changing hands for $400, to call this reissue "much-needed" underplays just how vital it is. Gap's story is told in his words alongside rare photos across a sumptuously designed 2-page insert and, to augment this deluxe edition further, its all wrapped up in a beautiful, no-expense-spared luxury tip-on sleeve, as per the original hens-teeth release. And, while we're talking packaging, just take a look at that cover - a work of art in and of itself.

The tracks are short but complex, with that extraordinary rhythm section backing the beautiful piano, organ and electric piano work of Gap. It's like the best ever library funk breaks record you never heard - but all your favourite golden age rap producers were all over it, long ago. It's a stunning blend of the vibrant, driving music of the Gap Mangione Trio coupled with the sensitive composition and superb orchestration of Gap's legendary brother, Chuck Mangione, who helmed an amalgam of seemingly disparate elements – rock, big band jazz, solo improvisation and "classical" music - into a spectacularly cohesive whole that has aged wonderfully well. As Gap himself notes in the liners, "with this group I was able to explore and add new and exciting elements from rock, Brazilian and then-current pop music."

Opener "Boy With Toys" triumphantly swaggers out the gate, all big band horns, flutes and dextrous organ work. The synthesis of everything going on is nothing short of stunning. When one wise YouTube commentator called this tune "old school superhero music", Gap agreed. Rap luminaries did, too, amongst them Talib Kweli, who rapped over DJ Scratch's chopped up intro for "Shock Body" on his Quality album back in 2002.

You've barely recovered from that incredibly affecting opener when you get hit over the head with the exquisite title-track. And now you see how two of the greatest beats of all time emerged from one single track produced nearly 50 years earlier. Unforgettably utilised by Dilla for Slum Village's heartbreakingly good "Fall In Love" and then Madlib for his "Official" beat for Dilla to rap over, on the Jaylib record. Regardless of the records it went on to spawn, this is just a staggering tune in its own right. Be beguiled by the flutes and the flutter tonguing, the counter-melody from the trombones, the soprano sax solo. All of it. Simply beautiful.

The questing organ and horn workout "Long Hair Soulful" deserves a lot more attention, overshadowed somewhat by the opening two monsters but no less fantastic. It swings, it grooves and Gadd and Levin truly cook. Up next, Gap's wonderfully percussive, mellifluously piano-heavy cover of "Yesterday" by some fellas called The Beatles. It's a subtly arresting gem. "The XIth Commandment" is damn fine, with thick, gorgeous electric piano and snappy drum work underpinning chaotic soundtracky horns. To close out the side, "St. Thomas" showcases the "fourth" member of the Gap Mangione Trio, conga drummer Dhui Mandingo. Having performed with the Trio since 1965, Dhui‘s African-based and jazz-latin-influenced style amazed listeners and its way to hear why.

Opening the B-Side, standard "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" breezes along in the late-night jazz club fashion before things get super deep with the outstanding and - up to now - un-sampled "Pond With Swans". It's simply heavenly, and how its moody, melancholic intro has yet to be pilfered is anybody's guess. It oscillates between gentle, sombre movements and bombastic grooves, equally hypnotic and joyous. The rendition of "You Are My Sunshine" is yet another showcase for Gap's virtuoso playing and Gadd's mastery of the pocket. Indeed Gadd's drumming on "Free Again" is nothing short of neck-SNAPPING! Ghostface took it for not one but two "Iron's Theme" tracks across his seminal Supreme Clientele. It's got that Galt MacDermot "Coffee Cold" feel. Suuuuuper cool. The frantic "Dream On Little Dreamer" hurtles along and must've surely had the whole room absolutely swinging from the chandeliers back in Rochester in the late 60s. The album closes with the magnificent Graduate Medley, featuring memorable renditions of "Scarborough Fair", "The Sounds of Silence" and "Mrs. Robinson". The warm electric piano lines of the former were sampled by The Ummah (Dilla again!) for Tribe's "Pad & Pen" from their reappraised final album, The Love Movement, as well as by Large Professor on his much-loved "The LP (For My People)".

Under the watchful eye - and extremely attentive ears - of Gap Mangione himself, the audio for Diana In The Autumn Wind has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, with a few much needed tweaks here and there, according to the artist's wishes. At the prestigious Abbey Road Studios, 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 the always stellar Record Industry in Holland. The artwork restoration has taken place here at Be With HQ and has that drop-dead gorgeous cover artwork popping like new. Buy on sight!

Esteemed soul man of Panama Mr. Ralph Weeks has in recent years been enjoying a much overdue retrospective of his remarkable six decades-long musical journey with the help of Names You Can Trust. Now onto their fifth record release together since 2019, the label has covered both Weeks' original holy grail material as well as re-cuts and reimagining of some of his rarefied and unreleased songs.

One of Mr. Weeks' two iconic 45 releases on Panamanian label Sally Ruth was a funky soul side called "Let Me Do My Thing," originally recorded in 1971 as Weeks' answer to Charles Wright's big tune "Express Yourself," which had just hit the airwaves in 1970. Weeks' musical response would help define his legacy. He was gonna express himself, he was gonna Do His Thing. This golden age ultimatum recorded with the Dynamic Exciters of Panama as the backing band was a simple, straight ahead number with a defining message that would be carried on throughout Weeks' independent career. The funkified air and creative freedom of the original tune is a prime example of the crossover Combos Nationales sound that flourished in the prolific Panama recording industry of the era, and in the ensuing decades Weeks' tune would live on as a cherished rare groove for souleros, funk fans, and bootleggers alike.

Fast forward to 2023, when Ralph Weeks and Names You Can Trust prepared for a Bay Area appearance at the wonderful Latinos Con Soul weekender put on by San Francisco's Discodelic record shop, the groundwork was laid in the studio for a revival, a reawakening of Weeks' funky fan favorite. A spectacular ensemble of NYCT's All-Star artists and alumni was convened in the studio, including Caito Sánchez on drums, Victor Axelrod (Daptone Records) on clavinet and Sam Day Harmet (La Banda Chuska) on guitar. Anant Pradhan (The Skatalites), Eric Biondo (The Budos Band) and Alex Asher (Los Cumpleaños) occupied the brass section, and Ralph Weeks even lent his still formidable chops on electric bass and keyboards, a little OG flare to back up his silky voice with a deft musical touch. What came out of the sessions was a chance for NYCT to pay homage to Weeks' iconic original, without replacing it, and build a brand new version from the ground up with the maestro and composer himself!

Als Pionier der elektronischen Musik, vereint The Bloody Beetroots seit 2005 Elemente aus Electro, Punkrock und Dance zu einem unverwechselbaren, genre-übergreifenden Sound. Hinter dem Projekt steht der italienische Musiker und Produzent Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo, der mit Tracks wie „Warp 1.9“ (feat. Steve Aoki) und Alben wie Romborama, Hide und The Great Electronic Swindle internationale Bekanntheit erlangte. Jetzt kehrt „The Baddest Man in Electronic Music“ mit seiner neuen EP “FOREVER PART ONE” zurück. „Dieses Projekt ist mein Leben“, sagt Rifo. Und das spürt man in jedem einzelnen Beat. Keine Grenzen, keine Kompromisse. Stattdessen persönliche Geschichten, Gedanken und Momente, die The Bloody Beetroots über Jahre hinweg geprägt und geformt haben. „Dieses Release ist sowohl ein Danke als auch ein Statement. Denn in einer Welt, die Anpassung belohnt, glaube ich immer noch daran, dass wahre Rebellion darin besteht, sich selbst treu zu bleiben.“ - Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo Das ist The Bloody Beetroots. FOREVER.

FOREVER PART ONE erscheint als Digipak CD und auf limitiertem Grey Marble Vinyl.ist eine Auseinandersetzung mit dem eigenen Werden: damit, was passiert, wenn man sich der verzerrten Version seiner selbst stellen muss - der Version, die durch Schmerz entstanden ist.

Naya Beat Records reveals Volume 2 of its critically acclaimed series dedicated to South Asian dance and electronic music. Label founders Turbotito and Ragz have curated an exceptional 13-track compilation with a focus on an overlooked era of house and electronic music released between '88 and '94.
While Volume 1 explored early 80s Balearic, synth pop, and disco, Volume 2 uncovers lost or forgotten future classics from later in the decade. The release spotlights a unique era in the late 80s and early 90s when fertile cross-cultural collaboration abounded in diasporic communities in cities like London and New York and when South Asian music was infused with acid house, New Beat, and dub.
There is a true wealth of sounds here, from The Jets Orkhestra’s organ-fuelled house workout ‘X-290’ to the downtempo splendour of the Asha Bhosle fronted West India Company. Lady M lends the Hindi house track and arpeggiated wonder of ‘Kali Raat’ and Mantra’s eponymously titled cut is a hypnotic gem. Featuring other scintillating Balearic house, dub, and street soul from the likes of Asha Puthli, Bappi Lahiri, Johnny Zee, and Kuljit Bhamra, this double album is a treasure of never-before-reissued and previously impossible-to-find holy grails.
Often "too Asian for mainstream success in the West, and too Western for success in Asia," the pioneering music from this time was frequently released to short-lived success or relative anonymity. Naya Beat founders Filip Nikolic (aka Turbotito) and Raghav Mani (aka Ragz) have spent the last four years endlessly hunting through dusty records, obscure cassettes, and unreleased studio tapes to deliver a reference release for contemporary collectors, tastemakers, and bold selectors looking for fresh sounds.
Featuring an incredible gatefold package with Naya Beat’s trademark stunning artwork and exhaustive liner notes, the 2LP release has been cut to vinyl for the discerning DJ and listener by Grammy-nominated Frank Merritt from The Carvery, London.
Naya Beat Records is focused on uncovering foundational dance and electronic music from the subcontinent and South Asian diaspora through reissues, remixes and compilations. Success came immediately with ‘Naya Beat Volume 1’, which was named Vinyl Factory’s number 1 reissue of 2021, and has been followed up with more fascinating releases such as a two-part remix project with disco-jazz legend Asha Puthli, a scintillating bhangra acid house EP with Mr. Scruff, a reissue of Pinky Ann Rihal’s 1985 Hindi new wave album, and the superb Bollywood compilation ‘Awaaz Series 1

2025 Repress

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Celestial Echo (miche & Stu Clark) team up with Divine Disco’s Greg Belson to launch a brand-new 7-inch series spotlighting Detroit’s powerhouse gospel, soul and R&B label — HOB (House of Beauty). Founded in 1956 by Mrs. Carmen Murphy, HOB wasn't just a label — it was a beacon. From the basement of her beauty salon on Detroit’s West Side, she ran one of the most important Black-owned gospel imprints of the 20th century. At a time when both the music industry and the country were stacked against her, Mrs. Murphy built a sanctuary for soul — a Black woman-owned business and creative hub in volatile times.

This inaugural 7-inch kicks off with two in-demand killers:

Side A: Elder Ward & The Ward Singers – "It’ll All Be Over" A fast-paced gospel dancer with a monster groove, killer breaks and heart-wrenching vocal delivery — this one’s a guaranteed floor-filler and rarely surfaces for less than £250 on the collector circuit, if at all. Urgent, uplifting, and impossible to ignore.

Side B: Victory Travelers – "Power Lord" Another holy grail moment — deep, raw, and unshakeably soulful. Rare in its original form, often fetching close to £100, it’s a heavy dose of electrified gospel sure to hit home with fans of deep soul and spiritual funk alike. Fully licensed and remastered, this 7-inch comes housed in a custom Celestial Echo / Divine Disco series sleeve with a faithful reproduction of the HOB label.

Some of these songs ­first time on LP. The Sound of Big Crown. Gold foil cover art. An amazing listen. Big Crown is proud to present the next volume of Crown Jewels, our various artists compilation series that highlights some of the most popular tunes next to some of the more obscure. Every artist on Big Crown stands on their own two feet with ease, but together, something else becomes apparent. If you discover one artist on the roster and it brings you to the label, it's very likely you will ­nd more that you enjoy. The Crown Jewels comps are just that, a chance to get a listen to the whole roster in one place. Even though not all BC artists can be found in the same aisle of the record store, after listening to Crown Jewels Vol. 2, it should be clear how they all ­t on the same record label. When we started Big Crown we wanted to have a label that’s only boundaries were de­ned by our taste, not by genre. We think that this is a perfect example of that. Thank you to everyone who has supported us thus far and please stay tuned as we have a lot more music on deck

Zongamin and Mytron reunite on Multi Culti with an album of collaborations. Exploring the depths of leftfield outer nationalism these two mainstays of our global family serve up a colorful array of mind-altering disco and interdimensional dub. Tribal motifs merge with field recordings while synthesized animals call out over exotic hand percussion. Jams on vintage synths meet 8-bit sampling bounced onto spring reverbs and digital delays from the 80s. Started mid-pandemic, this collaboration ignored the surrounding havoc and social distancing, instead focusing on Good Vibes TM and positivity with a genre-defying approach belying trans-continental origins. The result is a playful symbiosis that is Phatter than the sum of its elements. Mytron is Jacek Janiszewski, a pan-European multi-instrumentalist, producer and DJ, born in Poland, raised in Holland and Germany, and now living in London for the best part of a decade, his releases, for labels including XXX, Codek, Bordello A Parigi, Multi Culti, Nein and Les Yeux Orange, herald a similar nomadic spirit. Zongamin, Susumu Mukai is a composer, producer, and illustrator based in London. He has released records on Multi Culti, Flesh Records, XL recordings, Ed Banger, ESP Institute, and AD93, and has remixed for Air, John Cale, Trevor Jackson, Sandro Perri, and others. He is a member of groups Vanishing Twin, V/Z, Holy Tongue, and Stalactite.

We are overjoyed to present this album, another one from our bucket list and another one to set the record straight and illuminate the history of another much loved, but until now mysterious group. The Invaders made some of our all time favorite records - back in 2013 we issued five 45’s of their brilliant, sometimes plaintive, sometimes hopeful and sweet early roots music. Their sound touches folk and gospel in lovely subtle ways that elevate them above the many harmony groups of the early roots reggae era. Since the start of DKR we were striving to learn more about the group - and despite being able to license a portion of their output for reissue, and get anecdotes about them here and there, we were never able to connect with the group themselves. But we never gave up asking about them, and finally in 2024 we were able to link with Delroy “Bongo Pat” Forde, the surviving member of the group. Unfortunately other Invader, Lloyd “Paddy” Campbell passed on several years back. To hear and learn their full story, you need to check out this album and read the liner notes. This 13 song LP corrals much of their output - some of the tracks we previously issued but have been long out of press, some more never before reissued, and some great related solo works by the duo. And to cap it all off we’ve added two new voicings on a couple of our favorite vintage rhythms, by Invader Bongo Pat himself, live in 2024, singing two Invaders songs written way back in the early 1970s but never recorded back then. All together this is a long overdue document of one of the 1970’s finest groups and one dear to our heart.

- Channel Tres releases his debut album Head Rush via RCA Records.

The album, which features the previously-released singles "Berghain" featuring Barney Bones and "Cactus Water" is the culmination of Channel's steady ascent since he first broke through to public consciousness with his cult-classic debut single "Controller." Head Rush features all of the sounds that have come to be hallmarks of Channel Tres songs, but finds him incorporating musical influences not heard in his prior catalog, as evidenced by "Berghain" and other songs from the album including the Ty Dolla $ign-featuring “Holy Moly,” a visualizer for which is out now. The album arrives on the heels of two recent head-turning Channel Tres collaborations as well -- his contribution to KAYTRANADA's "Drip Sweat" and Jay Worthy, DāM FunK & ATrak's "105 West" alongside fellow LA legends Ty Dolla $ignand DJ Quik exemplify his versatility. Head Rush is a richly layered record, but one that feels totally intuitive, without a trace of doubt or self-consciousness.

The way “I’m Him” shimmers is balanced by the Estelle-featuring “We Hungry,” which nearly growls; the spare, percussion-forward Ravyn Lenaeduet “Need U 2 Know” (the stylization of its title a nod to Prince, one of Tres’s major influences) at delightful odds with the easy ride of “Gold Daytonas.” Head Rush shows the staggering array of styles Channel Tres can evoke. But that versatility is not the point in and of itself—the point is that all these component parts can be reassembled into something that feels uniquely personal, and honest. Through his career, Tres has blended recognizable genres, textures, and points of view into a truly singular form all his own. Longtime listeners will recognize in Head Rush the hallmarks of a Channel Tres record: a mastery of rhythm, the rare ability to make songs sinister and fluorescent at once.

But this LP also opens a new sonic world, one rife with unexpected terrain and hairpin turns—see the way “Type” takes what sounds at first to be a simple romantic boundary and stretches it out into an alien landscape. Or take “Berghain,” a song that nods to the kinetic live shows that became must-see events—a crescendo of interest that included his momentous Coachella 2022 performance and culminated, at least symbolically, with his early 2023 set at Berghain, the legendary Berlin club that has long been a musical hub of the Western world. “Berghain” is delirious but thumps almost impossibly hard, in line with the album as a whole—always molting, always ready to turn from the claustrophobic to the communal, as the pivot on “Joyful Noise” accomplishes so seamlessly. Head Rush also features some of Tres’s most deeply felt vocals to date, like the veritable bloodletting on “Two Ways.” And so the record, which also features Ty Dolla $ign, Thundercat, Teezo Touchdown, Watr, Barney Bones and Toro y Moi, marks a new era for Channel Tres, personally as well as artistically. “I’m older now, and the things that I’ve accomplished tell me I’m ready to do this,” he says. “You’ve worked your whole life for this, you’ve been able to do these shows and walk into these rooms and make these songs. There’s no reason you have to live by the same insecurity that you had to use in years past.” Shedding that baggage accomplished exactly what it was meant to—lightening the load so we’re free to get heavier than ever

Take cover! It's impossible to get rid of the now legendary Stupeflip Crou (="crew"). Like a two-taste chewing-gum that's been stuck under your trainers since 1994, King Ju is back in force with Sons2ouf!!, an album meticulously selected from hundreds of unreleased tracks and alternative versions accumulated over the years. Always on the fringes of a bloated Game, Ju takes us on a tour of his strange cabinet of curiosities. Far from being a simple collection of sounds, the album is a real creation in its own right in the Stup discography. 'Mock-ups are often better than the final sound, like a sketch that's always more alive than a finished painting,' he explains. Here we find that first draft, bits of stuff not yet digested by the industry. Some of the nuggets are antediluvian, but they sound extremely lively, as if they had been written the day before. In Stupeflip's parallel world, time doesn't exist. We find the themes dear to Crou: childhood, rage, non- violence, the passage of time, a passion for music and nostalgia. As usual, the beat is cut with a meticulous flow, there's no time to take a breath, the Stup just does what it wants, churning out one bullet after another in a fusion of genres and styles that's as distinctive as ever. Specially dedicated to aficionados, the album celebrates 30 years of Le Crou! The Holy Grail for every Stup fan!

This is a repress of a highly collectable record that was originally released on A Guy Called Gerald’s Juicebox label in 1993. Over the years it increased in value, making it a holy grail within the hardcore rave/early jungle collector’s market.

But luckily Vinyl Fanatiks were already working with the producers on another repress – to be precise the SDR & Subsonic release of ‘Ideology/Abstrax’ which came out last year on the label. Both records were recorded by the same producers in the same year, under two different artist names.

Digital Pressure was an alias they created for Gerald, whilst the bulk of their output came out on their own label Shoebox.

A limited repress of 350 units on 180g heavyweight vinyl. Mastered by Dapz at Compound Audio and cut onto vinyl by the legend Beau Thomas at Ten Eight Seven, who is very knowledgeable about this sound as he was in the early 90’s groups The Genesis Project/Intense.

Watch Dis Space as this will sell out!

Theme: collaboration. Or how to remain creative in the modern world. Nanocluster started as a bespoke one off pop up gig that turned into an album series. Built around Colin Newman from acclaimed UK post-punk band Wire and his partner in life and sound Malka Spigel from Minimal Compact with various guests, they define collaboration. Colin met Malka when he produced her band in 1985.The collaboration started there. They became a couple and created their own projects like the instrumental electronic duo Immersion in 1994 and Githead in 2004 - spaces where they both 'feel really comfortable.' Growing out of Immersion, Nanocluster was birthed as a series of one-off gigs at the Rosehill in their new hometown of Brighton in 2017 with an added cast of influential and cutting edge musicians. These were not ad hoc jams. The songs had been written and rehearsed prior to each performance. This adventure led to a debut album, Nanocluster Vol 1, released in 2021 with Stereolab singer/guitarist Laetitia Sadier, German post-rock duo Tarwater, electronic musician Ulrich Schnauss and experimental artist Robin Rimbaud (Scanner). Released again as double 10 inch with each collaboration taking up each disc, the new album Nanocluster Vol 2 has further developed this idea with a stark beauty that sounds like a future pop with sleek lines and unexpected great melodies. Disc one is built around Thor Harris, the charismatic percussion player from Swans and many other projects, who they met and performed with at South By South West in Austin, Texas in 2023. Thor adds ideas, his tuned percussion instruments, clarinet and trumpet to the sessions. Disc two is built around Cubzoa (Jack Wolter from the band Penelope Isles) who brings his musical craft, beguiling voice, guitar and much more. Meanwhile Matt Schulz from Holy Fuck plays drums across both combinations helping the resulting music become a third entity. What results is a true collaboration that, enhanced via Immersion's production, merges its elements to develop a new harmony. Key to the process is Colin and Malka's radio show for Slack City radio, 'Swimming In Sound' with its entertainingly diverse playlist that has widened their horizons. It's also helped build relationships not only with these collaborators but also musicians like ambient country masters SUSS, with whom they plan an extended Nanocluster tour in the USA with in 2025 and Brighton via Falmouth's "jangly pop punk" Holiday Ghosts with whom they will perform the next Nanocluster event in their hometown, as well as many more in the pipeline. Malka: 'Nanocluster is collaboration but in a very specific form. We don't have rules. It's a series of creative snapshots. We start as the gig with our collaborators with tracks that we rehearse because this is not a jam and where it stops is an album.' Colin: 'It's chemistry & music. Malka & I operate as a team and now we've taken it to another level. Malka comes from a band where they would stand in a room together and work out the material. In Wire, I would present the songs, so when Malka and I first started working together, we had to find a third path, and that was the concept behind our collaboration.' Nanocluster Volume 2 is a 21st century collusion of shared ideas, creating a momentary extended musical family. It's about musical and personal relationships and the meeting place in the middle. A temporary band of house guests. The place where Immersion happens.

Forest Green Vinyl

Seafood Sam is a futuristic artifact. If that description might sound confusing at first, it matches the eclectic dualities found in true originals. With his effortless cool and timeless style, the North Long Beach native defies convention and exact comparison. He's a virtuosic rapper, a stop-you-in-your tracks singer, and a symphonic producer. Welcome to the lavish life of a laid-back transcontinental man of mystery, rolling in old school Cadillacs, eating caviar with a blade in his pocket, and making plays in vintage Pelle Pelle gear. A blaxploitation icon for the Instagram age, blessed with the bars of a `90s legend and 23rd century swagger. Seafood Sam is a true hero of modernity. On his full-length album debut for up-and-coming label drink sum wtr (Kari Faux, Deem Spencer, Aja Monet) debut, Standing on Giant Shoulders, Sam splits the difference between Snoop Dogg and D' Angelo, Curren$y and David Ruffin. The songs reveal a forward-thinking sensibility rooted in ancestral soul. He creates spiritual hymns for the streets that tap into universal ideals and irrepressible groove. In an era plagued by short-term thinking, his ambitions reveal a crate-digging depth of music history and a meticulous ear for detail. The giant shoulders in the album's title refer to James Brown, Bobby Brown, and Miles Davis - the holy trinity who inspired Sam's process. From the Godfather of Soul, Sam took a perfectionist's rigor and focus. The example of Bobby Brown lent an unshakeable confidence and self-belief. While the constant artistic left turns of the trumpeter that birthed Ccool offered an aspirational archetype. The story starts in the glory days of Long Beach hip-hop. As a young child, the G-Funk era soundtracked rides in Sam's father's car. Some of his earliest memories are trying to memorize Snoop's verse on "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang." Beyond gangsta rap, the LBC has historically doubled as a capital of lowrider soul and carwash oldies. At any intersection, you could hear Dogg Food or Brenton Wood, Warren G or Barbara Lynn. This too was absorbed via osmosis. It also just so happened that the art of performance was always in Sam's blood. So at family functions, he and his sister supplied entertainment by singing karaoke renditions of The Isley Brothers. While his Harlem Shake remains a thing of local lore. Long Beach is a culturally diverse mecca of skate parks and gang life, street fashion and tricky dance moves. This is the place that raised Sam on a diet of Wu-Tang and Nelly Furtado, Lil Bow Wow and Allen Iverson. He was the middle ground between his two older brothers: one who gangbanged, the other who graduated with a master's degree from UC-Santa Barbara. But it wasn't until the end of high school that Sam started to take rap seriously. Alongside long-time collaborators like Huey Briss and Reaper Mook, Sam's name began to make waves on the northside of the city, but he was partially distracted by a modeling career that paid the bills and took him all to way to walk in Paris' fashion week. The first turning point arrived with 2018's "Ramsey," a self-produced, slick-talk anthem with over 10,000,000 streams across all platforms. With each subsequent release, Sam showcased his peerless consistency, building buzz both online and in the city streets. Spin hailed his "smooth and unhurried cadences and understated lyricism_ that sounds like nothing else in Long Beach." Clash raved about Sam's "evolution as an artist, cruising through nostalgic production with slick, witty rhymes." The culmination arrives with Standing on Giant Shoulders. It's the evidence of a master, a young sensei in the model of Quincy Jones. All rhymes, singing, production, and arrangements were handled by Sam - with an assist from his close Long Beach kinsman Tom Kendall from the group Soular System. It's hard-edged and lyrical enough for disciples of Larry June and Roc Marciano, but orchestral and melodic enough for fans of Anderson .Paak and H.E.R.

Holy Grail alert! Two stunning sweet soul cuts from New York based quintet, The Village Choir. Blending latin, soul & jazz, two dancefloor swayers of serious class. This super soulful 70’s 7 inch has regularly been changing hands for over £500 on the second hand market & for the first time ever, it has been officially licenced and lovingly reissued on heavyweight 7 inch vinyl for this RSD exclusive release. For the dancers and the romancers!

É Soul Cultura captain, originator of Manchester’s legendary Electric Chair and definitive people’s champion, Luke Una taps into a lifetime’s worth of musical discovery for the second volume in our Mr Bongo Edits series. A cosmic coming together that sees two of Luke’s secret weapons, re-edited and re-contextualised by the man himself to provide optimal dancefloor euphoria.

A stalwart of the underground for nearly 40 years, Luke has become an appointed leader of the late night disenfranchised, with an unquestionable ability to pick records that make minds tick. Not least through his two É Soul Cultura compilations released on Mr Bongo over the past two years.

A taste that traverses genres as much as it does emotions and decades, who better to give an insight into the tracks he has chosen to edit, than the man himself. “I've been an avid collector of afro-beat house, techno and underground black heart disco since before the basement soul days of Electric Chair 30 years ago. Both these bombs were very much holy grail finds, plucked from the last four decades of digging in random crates of dusty vinyl all over the world.”

First up, Thandi Zulu & The Young Five’s interpretation of Pure Energy’s early ‘80s disco power play – ‘Love Game’. With a distinctive South African synth bass and killer keys combo, Luke explains the original has this “bonkers alchemy of heavy machine soul, uptempo rawness and a majestic disco evangelism”, making it ripe for a re-edit.

On the B side, Lionel Pillay’s Jazz dancer ‘Plum’. “The original was a relentless 18-minute raw jam”, Luke states, “which despite its late ‘70s South African origin kinda reminded me of a 1986 Chicago piano House record”.

“These edits strip the tracks back and rebuild them, giving them more sonic weight with that looped up drum jacking militancy from the days of Chicago, combined with a boosted sense of transcendental, psychedelic, cosmic disco. They have always had such an explosive reaction on so many dancefloors including the heavier electronic club, so it felt only right to reshare them”.

...Finally repressed! No more words needed... Classic!

The original version of this gorgeous schlager techno track, released in august 2001 on Kompakt's Total 3, would put a smile on a lot of people's faces. Apart from the reworked original version, you'll get two sensational remixes: The one from Frankfurt's high-aesthete, super hipster, club- and label-owner with a three-letter name: Ata. Since the very beginning, his Playhouse label has always been a guarantee for finest German House music. It's his first (!) remix ever and his first studio work since the legendary first Playhouse release 'Holy Garage' in 1993. The 'Playhouse Mix' turns the original version into a mega-hip, late-night monster and reminds a bit of the great Larry Levan and Metro Area's congenious adaption of early-80s disco music. The 'Robert Johnson' club is going down on its knees. Wonderful. The other remix comes from one of Kompakt's in-house pioneers of pop ambient: it's Olaf Dettinger. Who didn't want to miss this chance and has interrupted his creative pause only for doing this wonderful 'Moonlight Mix'. Dettinger's cosy hi-tech sounds and Sonja Luebke's seraphic voice, both singing a duet to the moon. Very, very beautiful, indeed.

DER SMARTE HIT VON JÜRGEN PAAPE MIT REMIXEN VON PLAYHOUSE'S ATA UND DETTINGER. HERRLICH !

In anticipation of Kerri Chandler’s forthcoming album Spaces and Places, his first in 14 years, that sees the New Jersey legend celebrating club and soundsystem culture by recording, writing and performing a track in twenty-two of the worlds most distinguished nightclubs, Kaoz Theory drop the second in a series of vinyl album samplers.

Sampler 2, a sublime gatefold, double 12 inch package sees Kerri soak up and channel the atmosphere of Dublin’s District 8, Glasgow holy grail Sub Club, NYC’s Output and Lisbon’s crowning jewel Lux into four trademark Kerri cuts, doubled up with a further mix of each track for good measure too. Piano-laden deep house, heads-down groovers, vocal-tinged soulful gems, recorded directly from each space, it’s brimming with future classics from start to finish.

Death Is Not The End's 333 sub-label follows the reissue of Devon Russell's Darker Than Blue LP late last year with a first-time reissue of a veritable reggae-dancehall holy grail - Robert Ffrench's 1985 LP 'Wondering'.

Pioneering artist and producer (and cousin of the late, great Pat Kelly) Robert Ffrench was born in central Kingston in 1962, recording his first records in 1979 at the age of 17. Coming out off the back of a slew of roots & early dancehall-style 45s cut with a wide range of producers thoughout the early '80s, the Wondering LP followed closely after two acclaimed LP sets ('Showcase' produced with Lord Koos & 'The Favourite' for Ossie Thomas' Black Solidarity label - plus a split showcase LP with Anthony "Gunshot" Johnson for Jah Thomas' Midnight Rock label).

Ffrench would write and produce the Wondering LP himself in it's entirity, laying down the tracks at Herman Chin-Loy's Aquarius & Michael Carroll's Creative Sounds studios with the help of engineer Christopher Daley. Representing the sound of an artist first confidently sriking out on his own, the album elegantly mixes a classic rub-a-dub & lovers rock-inspired sound with nascent digi-esque flourishes. It boasts an enviable list of contributors too, incl. Sly & Robbie, Dwight Pinkney, Robbie Lyn, Nelson Miller (Burning Spear) and Ronald "Nambo" Robinson among others, with Beres Hammond also providing backing vocals in places.

Following the release of Wondering, Ffrench would continue to write and produce, soon after releasing two further self-produced LPs for Edgar White's Parish label - and founded his own 'France' label in the late 80s, through which his productions would start to hit big, most notably alongside Courtney Melody on 'Modern Girl', and with US rapper Heavy D on the track 'More Love'. Robert's productions released through later label 'Ffrench' would go on to boast the cream of the crop of dancehall artists throughout the 90s and early 2000s, and he is often credited with discovering Buju Banton (producing his first single "Ruler" on the Stamina riddim). Ffrench is still actively producing music of his own to this day, having released singles 'Everyday of My Life' and 'Black Is a Colour' in late 2022 and Feb 2023 respectively, available through all digital platforms now.

333, under exclusive license from Robert Ffrench.

Born in Douarnenez, at the far edge of Brittany (France), Komodor has quickly established itself as one of the most vibrant names in the French rock landscape. Their high-energy rock, fueled by fuzz, sweat, and vocal harmonies woven in the spirit of MC5 and T. Rex, immediately drew attention: Rolling Stone, Rock & Folk, Libération and Rock Hard Germany all praised the fiery impact of their debut album Nasty Habits (which sold over 2,000 vinyl copies). Since then, the quintet has mostly lived on the road: a long European tour, followed by the larger-than-life saga of Komodrag & The Mounodor, carrying them to stages such as Hellfest, Les Vieilles Charrues, and the Francofolies de La Rochelle, among many others.

Their second album, Time & Space, reveals a band in full metamorphosis. Without abandoning the explosive force that defines them, Komodor widens its scope: volcanic riffs, more sinuous grooves, mist-laden harmonies, psychedelic flashes… The energy is still wild, but more inhabited, more liberated, almost ceremonial at times. The record opens with two telling bursts: Bliss & Joy, a libertarian charge with the feel of a manifesto, and Soul Tricker, a rock incantation where trance overtakes sheer electric assault. Two sides of the same coin, pulled taut between urgency and enchantment.

On stage, Komodor remains a true shockwave, forged across European festivals (Freak Valley, Motocultor, Fête du Bruit, and more) and now awaited at the legendary Desertfest London. Their music feels made for such spaces: a visceral, flesh-and-amp kind of rock, drawing from the seventies’ heritage to speak even more vividly to the present. A band moving forward at full volume, without nostalgia or calculation, carried by a simple conviction: as long as the amps are hot, rock can still burn.

In short: Komodor is the band of friends from Douarnenez bringing pencil-and-paper rock into the streaming age while preserving its analog soul (with the album mastered at the legendary Miraval Studios), the smell of warm tubes, the grain of vinyl. With this second album, they hit harder, truer, and more vividly than ever.
Time & Space stands as a “must-have French rock record”, a tangible piece worth cherishing in any collection.

Born in Douarnenez, at the far edge of Brittany (France), Komodor has quickly established itself as one of the most vibrant names in the French rock landscape. Their high-energy rock, fueled by fuzz, sweat, and vocal harmonies woven in the spirit of MC5 and T. Rex, immediately drew attention: Rolling Stone, Rock & Folk, Libération and Rock Hard Germany all praised the fiery impact of their debut album Nasty Habits (which sold over 2,000 vinyl copies). Since then, the quintet has mostly lived on the road: a long European tour, followed by the larger-than-life saga of Komodrag & The Mounodor, carrying them to stages such as Hellfest, Les Vieilles Charrues, and the Francofolies de La Rochelle, among many others.

Their second album, Time & Space, reveals a band in full metamorphosis. Without abandoning the explosive force that defines them, Komodor widens its scope: volcanic riffs, more sinuous grooves, mist-laden harmonies, psychedelic flashes… The energy is still wild, but more inhabited, more liberated, almost ceremonial at times. The record opens with two telling bursts: Bliss & Joy, a libertarian charge with the feel of a manifesto, and Soul Tricker, a rock incantation where trance overtakes sheer electric assault. Two sides of the same coin, pulled taut between urgency and enchantment.

On stage, Komodor remains a true shockwave, forged across European festivals (Freak Valley, Motocultor, Fête du Bruit, and more) and now awaited at the legendary Desertfest London. Their music feels made for such spaces: a visceral, flesh-and-amp kind of rock, drawing from the seventies’ heritage to speak even more vividly to the present. A band moving forward at full volume, without nostalgia or calculation, carried by a simple conviction: as long as the amps are hot, rock can still burn.

In short: Komodor is the band of friends from Douarnenez bringing pencil-and-paper rock into the streaming age while preserving its analog soul (with the album mastered at the legendary Miraval Studios), the smell of warm tubes, the grain of vinyl. With this second album, they hit harder, truer, and more vividly than ever.
Time & Space stands as a “must-have French rock record”, a tangible piece worth cherishing in any collection.

In the pantheon of classic free jazz, Noah Howard's The Black Ark looms large. Recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City in 1969 – just prior to the alto saxophonist's relocation to Europe – the album was eventually released in 1972.

The Black Ark exhibits not only the power and imagination of Howard's playing, but also his breadth as a composer and bandleader. Listeners expecting unrelenting blasts of "energy music" might be surprised to find a cohesion atypical of free jazz; amidst the wild, impassioned solos, Howard weaves in Latin rhythms and fat-bottomed grooves.

The first side, consisting of "Domiabra" and “Ole Negro,” sets the album's tone. Both tracks sound as if they could have appeared on some of Blue Note's proto-spiritual jazz, groove-heavy releases – evoking the likes of Lou Donaldson or Horace Silver – before ceding the floor to the horn players' anarchic firepower.

As John Corbett writes in the liner notes, "Two players stand out. Bassist Norris Jones – who would soon consolidate his name into a one-word reversed amalgamation/permutation of the two, Sirone – is given ample room, largely unaccompanied; his corporal approach foreshadows later work with the Revolutionary Ensemble. But the secret weapon on The Black Ark is Arthur Doyle. Straight from basement rehearsal sessions with Milford Graves, whose ensemble he had joined and who remained a favorite of the drummer for decades, Doyle is a human flamethrower."

Trumpeter Earl Cross' guttural, vocal effects complement Doyle's take-no-prisoners approach, while the estimable combination of Muhammad Ali (Rashied's brother) on drums and Juma Sultan on congas adds an ever-shifting propulsion. The septet is rounded out by the enigmatic pianist Leslie Waldron, who anchors the group with imaginative accompaniment and occasional boppish flourishes.

Every bit worthy of its reputation as an "out-jazz" holy grail, The Black Ark only sounds better with age. It remains the ideal record to convert the remaining free-jazz skeptics.

Synthpop, minimal wave, post-punk, goth, new romantic - fans and critics alike have dug deeply into their vintage thesauruses to describe the beguiling work of Nation of Language. And if you can't precisely define the band, that's the point. Frontman Ian Richard Devaney has become prodigious in expanding what synthesizer-driven music can evoke, such that his output is as much an extrasensory journey as it is an all-too-human destination. With that experience in mind, he wrote the band's fourth album - the spectral, spacious Dance Called Memory - in the most humble of ways: chipping away at melancholia by sitting around and strumming his guitar. Nation of Language's first two albums, Introduction, Presence (2020), and A Way Forward (2021), came as pandemic godsends: gorgeous, relatable soundtracks to our collective doldrums. But it was their last LP, Strange Disciple (2023), that catapulted the group from cultural standouts to critical darlings, with the album being named Rough Trade's Album of the Year. With that release, Pitchfork wrote that the band "are learning what it means to get bigger and better." This is Devaney's calling: soulfully translating individual despair into a comforting, collective mourning. The single "Now That You're Gone," which radiates and reverberates with a devastating wistfulness, was inspired by witnessing his godfather's tragic death from ALS, and his parents' role as caretakers for this ailing friend. At its heart, the song is a reflection of how friends can be there for each other, and also highlights a theme throughout the record: the pain and lost promise of friendships that fall apart. On Dance Called Memory, the band once again collaborated with friend and Strange Disciple producer Nick Millhiser (LCD Soundsystem, Holy Ghost!). "What's so great about Nick is his ability to make us feel like we don't need to do what might be expected of us," says synth player Aidan Noell, who, along with bassist Alex MacKay, rounds out the Nation of Language lineup. They imbued Dance Called Memory with a shifted palette - sampling chopped-up drum breaks on "I'm Not Ready for the Change" for a touch of Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine or smashing all of the percussion of "In Another Life" through a synthesizer to cast a shade of early-2000s electronic music. Ultimately, the hope was to weave raw vulnerability and humanity into a synth-heavy album. "There is a dichotomy between the Kraftwerk school of thought and the Brian Eno school of thought, each of which I've been drawn to at different points. I've read about how Kraftwerk wanted to remove all the humanity from their music, but Eno often spoke about wanting to make synthesized music that felt distinctly human," Devaney says. "As much as Kraftwerk is a sonically foundational influence, with this record I leaned much more towards the Eno school of thought. In this era quickly being defined by the rise of AI supplanting human creators I'm focusing more on the human condition, and I need the underlying music to support that_ Instead of hopelessness, I want to leave the listener with a feeling of us really seeing one another, that our individual struggles can actually unite us in empathy."

"deathcrash’s third album, Somersaults, glimmers with an everyday euphoria. The London-based slowcore/ post-rock quartet has always had an affinity for building worlds only to crush them. From their breakout EP, People thought my windows were stars (2021), through two critically acclaimed studio albums, Return (2022) and Less (2023), they have been both the architects and the destroyers, the creationists and the ones manning the flood barrier. But, recorded between Black Box Studio in the Loire Valley and Haggerston’s Holy Mountain, Somersaults is almost joyful.

Its ten tracks are more vocal heavy than any of the band’s catalogue – think Mark Linkous via The Kinks – but lyrically, Somersaults resists revelation. For all its abrasion, phrases appear half-swallowed, broken off at the edge of meaning, consumed by the smaller textures of living. “Thirty, no career, it fucking worries me / And doing the band doesn’t help,” Banks sings in ‘NYC’. But, “This life is the best life,” he finishes in ‘CMC’ on top of the ambient white noise of an office printer, thankful that the band is still there, “still making noise in the doorway.”

Their role as caretakers of Duster, Low and Codeine’s slowcore lineage is all across Somersaults – songs scud to a narcotic crawl, sound monolithic and inwards before spotlighting a crystalline nothing. Cathartic builds are muddied with tenderness, the bass a heavy grounding, the drums an exhausted heartbeat grasping for air. But more so than ever, even the silence feels collaborative – a gesture of communal trust – friends celebrating the room they’ve made for each other’s ghosts, and some of the biggest, brightest songs they’ve made to date."

If art is to be exhibited, then Ulrika Spacek will ensure that their art is collective; that even as the world becomes inhospitable to community, their intentions are an act of resistance.

Whether it is Oysterland, the self-curated night the band have been Hosting for over ten years to platform artists of other disciplines in live music spaces, or Total Refreshment Centre, the East London studio Syd runs which connects the dots between the jazz scene and like-minded experimental artists of the capital and beyond, or their creative bleed as musicians and producers over the years with the likes of Crack Cloud, caroline, DIIV, Holy Wave and Slowdive, the band’s existence is inseparable from their community.

In a hyper-individual world, the band’s fourth album, ‘EXPO’, offers an antidote. It’s there, in the shared dream logic of the music, the off-kilter melodies, jagged guitars and cirrus cloud atmospherics. It’s there, in all the things that are said and unsaid between them; there in the writing, producing and mixing processes they share in. And even as each of their parts Moves toward a unified vision, it’s never more keenly felt than in the bigger Picture to which Ulrika Spacek belong.

Though their well-established foundations are in the art-rock world - and though they are inspired by electronic elements more than ever - Ulrika Spacek are interested in the glitch that exists between the two. Their Music reckons with human warmth and digital isolation, equal parts welcoming and altogether alienating. “Our music has always been a collage - a bit patchwork, sonically - but what makes this album a landmark for us is that we went one step further and made our own sample bank,” explains singer / guitarist Rhys. They create their own doppelgängers in a world of almostreal, where the band appear as if in a hall of mirrors. Digital drums are sampled layered upon real drums, and the effect is almost like birth in reverse - pulled from the ether and returned back to the tangible world.

“There’s a lot that can be said about writing when there is no aim, there is a freedom and a purity in it which opens a door to more music, and in this case, it set a mood for a new album, one that would be colder, darker and one that would embrace electronics and new instrumentation in a new terrain,” the band share. “The album’s greater theme is isolation and alienation in an online world where it seems everybody around you is constantly exhibiting themselves, living in public wanting to be seen and heard. The age of ‘individuality’ is lonely, it’s a room of concave mirrors, and with this in mind, we set upon making our most collective effort; ‘It’s back to strength in numbers, count in fives.”

For fans of Radiohead, Moin, DIIV, Astrel K, Slowdive.

LP presented on Crystal Clear vinyl.

DJ Support: Andy Votel, Nemone (BBC Radio 6), Andy Bell, The Quietus and more

The sweet hum from the vampire wood returns as Five Green Moons make another orbit. Ritual incantations and Dubwise vibrations are fused with angular guitars and skittering basement electronics to form a new entity. Moon 2.

Justin Robertson's second outing as Five Green Moons is a fusion of influences. The presence of occult mystery can be felt in the chants and vocal motifs, there lurks a manifestation of elastic post punk in the zigzag echo further enhanced by the appearance of Brix Smith, former high priestess of the Fall on two tracks. One could draw comparisons with P.I.L, Holy Tongue, the hauntological sound of Current 93, the trippy off kilter hypnotism of Brown Rice era Don Cherry, and of course the solid foundations of Dub. The bass is heavy, the sound spacious. This is a new form of pastoral dub!

Pressed on Limited Green Vinyl.

In This Moment is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed by singer Maria Brink
and guitarist Chris Howorth in 2005.
Their seventh studio album, Mother was released in 2020.

The band have received two nominations of Alternative Press Music Awards, including two for Best Hard Rock Artist and
one for Best Live Band. They have also received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance.
Mother is available as a numbered limited edition of 1000 copies on white coloured vinyl.
This 2LP comes in a gatefold sleeve and contains a 4 page booklet.

2025 Repress

FINALLY! The very first commercial release of two legendary remixes of Arthur Russell's "In The Light Of The Miracle". Both are widely regarded as transcendent masterpieces and very much befitting of the title “holy grails”.

These long-beloved mixes are the types you'd wish would last for eternity. With almost 30 minutes of music here, we very nearly get our desires granted. At last, these jaw-dropping mixes are widely available to every Arthur fan in the world. This is musical perfection.

The deep Loft classic "In The Light Of The Miracle" remained unreleased during Arthur's lifetime, finally discovered when Phillip Glass included the original version on Another Thought on Point Music in 1993. As Steve Knutson told us, when Another Thought was being put together, the plan was to release a companion album of remixes that was overseen by Steve D'Aquisto but the project only got as far as these two remixes of "In The Light Of The Miracle".

Some dodgy scans of some centre label designs suggest that Point Music might’ve been planning to release these on a 12" but it didn’t happen. The story goes that Gilles Peterson heard the remixes on a visit to the Point Music offices and wanted to release them on Talkin’ Loud. We’re not sure how many white label copies made it out into the wild, but again, these remixes didn’t make it to a proper release.

These remixes both extend and undeniably enhance the original, elevating it to new heights. The 13 minute remix on the A-side is by Danny Krivit & Tony Smith with editing duties performed by Tony Morgan. As ever with Arthur, the music is almost impossible to describe: is it Disco? Garage House? Avant Garde? None of these tags do full justice to its sheer majesty. You best just listen. Stretching out the original with some unbelievably great percussive elements, until we're in a deeply spiritual, otherworldly realm, it's just too beautiful for words. As many have claimed, it's the prototype for EVERYTHING.

The "Ponytail Club Mix (Part 1 & 2)", produced by Tony Morgan in the mid-90s, is in a more up-tempo style, with vocals higher in the mix, the BPM upped to 120 and the addition of a housey 4/4 kick drum. A 14 minute epic, you could say this is a more straight ahead "club-friendly" mix (but can things ever be that straightforward with Arthur?!) It also has some really interesting vocal parts not used in the other versions, including some vocals from guest poet Allen Ginsberg.

These remixes are part of the same original project that also produced the Another Thought album so it seems only right that they have a sleeve that matches. Thanks again to Janette Beckman for letting us use another of her photos of Arthur and the rest of the design follows what Margery Greenspan, Tina Lauffer and Michael Klotz did for Another Thought back in 1994.

Simon Francis remastered the original audio for both tracks and Cicely Balston's precise cut for Alchemy at AIR Studios ensures this 12" well and truly slaps. The immaculate Record Industry pressing will ensure this incredibly sought-after treasure finds a home in many more collections, this and every year.

Phoenician Drive is a six-piece band from Brussels, blending Western rock with traditional Eastern music into a style they describe as Dune Krautrock. Oud, darbuka, and riq meet distorted guitars and pop textures, weaving connections across the Mediterranean. Inspired by East–West fusions from the 1970s (like Erkin Koray and Orient Express) and the German krautrock scene (Neu!, Can, Faust…), their music explores borderless, hypnotic landscapes rooted in both rhythm and experimentation.

Following a debut EP released on EXAG' Records in 2017, the band put out a self-titled LP and collaborated with choreographer Wim Vandekeybus in 2018. In 2019, Phoenician Drive reimagined their sound in an acoustic format, which they toured extensively for two years throughout the post-Covid period.

Between 2021 and 2022, the group returned to electric instrumentation and recorded Glow, an EP released in June 2023 via EXAG' Records. The release was celebrated with a powerful live show at Brasserie Illegaal in Brussels — a performance captured in the live album Live in Brussels '23. The record channels the band’s raw stage energy and deepens their sonic exploration of trance, tension, and Mediterranean melodies.

If there is one person, who has been causing a stir on the international club circuit recently, it is Barcelona's John Talabot. Already his debut “My Old School“ (which is meant literally by the way) on Permanent Vacation in 2009 and shortly after that the single “ Sunshine”, which he put out on his own Hivern Disc imprint, made him one of the most promising musicians of the Spanish electronic scene. And those two releases also already set the mark for John Talabot’s unparalleled music: raw, loopy, heavy on the kick drum, sample based, moderate on the tempo, distorted on the drums and light years away from the clean and ever revolving house sound of today. This unique style which also blends influences from afro beat, Detroit techno, Chicago house and cosmic disco, but also northern soul or the energy of Flamenco, immediately turned some heads around. James Murphy, Âme and Aeroplane started including Talabot music in their sets like it was the most natural thing. However - and this is quite rare - he not only gained legions of fans in the house and disco community, but also amongst the leftfield pop and indie rock followers. NME and Resident Advisor both had “Breakthrough“ features on John Talabot and he can be proud of a “Best New Music“ dubbing on
Pitchfork. (Being rather elusive on showing his face in magazines or the web it also came to some funny rumors that John Talabot was the alter ego of a well-known techno producer from Detroit).
At the same time he drew the attention of like-minded artists like James Holden and Luke Abott from Border Community, Blondes or Delorean, which lead to a bunch of fertile collaborations: Luke Abbott and Blondes remixed Talabot’s “Sunshine“ single , John Talabot remixed a track by Delorean and vice versa Delorean’s Ekhi contributed vocals to the track “Journeys “ on John’s album). Another example is the Young Turks Label (home of Jamie XX, Holy Fuck, El Guincho or SBTRKT ) on which he released the “Families“ EP in 2010. It was praised beyond limits. Pitchfork for
instance hailed: “… where pop and house influences sweetly buffer up against one another to provide an unyielding sense of elation“ and even brought Talabot a comparison with artists like Four Tet or Caribou.
While staying true to his sound, John Talabot has nevertheless shown a constant evolution as a producer since his first release. He has traced a solid musical path that has turned him into one of the big references of European House and has made him also a highly in demand Remixer (for the likes of The XX, Francesco Tristano’s “Aufgang” project, Shit Robot on DFA, Thaiti 80, Joakim or Teengirl Fantasy to name just a few ).
A progression that now crystallizes in “ƒin”, his first full-length album for Permanent Vacation. A record, in which the Barcelona mastermind sets aside the danceable immediacy to expand his stylistic palette more than ever. For that purpose, Talabot melts all the elements that have constructed his distinctive sound until now and makes them emerge from a new perspective, in which the construction of complex song structures, intricate rhythms and superpositions of ever-evolving melodies and atmospheres pick up the baton of the “a kick-drum and a sampler” philosophy of his initial productions. The result brings us 11 tracks (we should call them songs really!) dominated by dark ambiances, gaseous textures and bittersweet moods that, above all, reveal a kind of vivacity that’s really hard to find in contemporary electronics. “Fin” is far from being a track collection. From the majestic opener “Depak Ine“ to it’s solemn ending with
“So Will Be Now“ , one of the two tracks that features Talabot’s soul and label mate Pional, each song traces an overall dialogue with the rest, culminating a highly emotional journey through Talabot’s always compelling and unique musical vision.

Jackpot Records is extremely proud to announce our re-issue of the revered reggae album 1976’s War Ina Babylon by Max Romeo & The Upsetters. Originally released on Island Records, the album is considered one of the greatest Reggae albums of all time and was a massive influence on the UK punk movement that was just starting to bubble to the surface.
The record’s incredible power belies an unlikely partnership between one of the world’s greatest producers (and experimenters in sound), Lee “Scratch” Perry, and vocalist Max Romeo (who by 1976 had performed on over 120 7” singles) Romeo had been transforming from his “rude” records to writing lyrics with social themes as the era in Jamaica was rife with poverty, gangs, and politically motivated killings. As he was looking to produce protest music at its most powerful alongside music that would never leave the listener’s souls, Lee Perry and Max Romeo started collaborating together.
Recorded in two weeks in 1976, utilizing Lee Perry’s kitchen sink production, War Ina Babylon is considered part of Lee Perry’s ‘holy trinity’ Black Ark produced LPs released by Island
Records (Junior Murvin’s Police and Thieves and The Heptones’ Party Time being the other classics LPs in the trinity), this LP continues to find new fans with every passing generation.

2025 Repress


Ash Ra Tempel is the eponymous debut studio album by the Krautrock band Ash Ra Tempel. It features guitarist Manuel Göttsching with drummer Klaus Schulze and bassist Hartmut Enke.
Engineered by Conny Plank it was recorded in March 1971 and released in June 1971 on Ohr Records.

This 50Th Anniversary Album will be Released in Memoriam of all the Musical Contributors to this Release and on Manuel Göttsching´s MG.ART label. It´s the fourth and headlining edition in this series and was finalised, carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching himself in the late Autumn of 2022.

Much has been written about the record and band.

Having finished a first musical chapter with their Steeple Chase Bluesband and still at very young age of only 17 and 18 years old Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke met Klaus Schulze. Together they started to write and and compose what, to many, became one the holy grails of Psychedelic Rock and early Electronic Music -
the German variant which was later also named "Krautrock":

Ash Ra Tempel´s self-titled first album "Ash Ra Tempel".

"The trio of Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke decided to abandon conventional composition and song writing, in favour of free-form improvising and developing a new musical language. As such, they became notorious for jams that could exceed 30 minutes." Says Discogs. "Some of these recordings can be found on Manuel Göttsching´s "The Private Tapes" releases", which will be re-released on MG.ART as well, following this edition.

"Krautrocksampler" author Julian Cope mentioned it to be "… one of the greatest rock 'n' roll LPs ever made." (Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage | Unsung | Reviews | Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel". 15 March 2000.)

AllMusic called the album "both astonishingly prescient and just flat out good, a logical extension of the space-jam-freakout ethos into rarified realms."

Here we would like the Band to be heard, for what can easily be said as the first time in 50+ years, with the exception of some early Journalists for whom the young Manuel Göttsching wrote a statement of intent (the original text can be found inside this edition) as following:

"Our musical concept is based on a combination of blues rock and delicate collages of electronic sound. These two elements should remain inseparable. And in their complex unity, the different musical philosophies of each musician find a common sweet spot. Our music is a permanently impulsive experience left to develop as it will, starting from a common fixed point of departure. This is where the difficulty of the music begins: No standardized formulation of our music can and should be possible. Only the constant reaction within the band can determine the musical result. And this requires constant listening with full concentration on the part of the creators. The idea of a particular musician will be - if flexible enough - absorbed by the others, transposed to their own instrument, and reflected back into the music as an individual contribution. This reciprocity within the band is then transferred over to the audience. And this process means that their reaction is not only a contribution to the end result; it actually makes them jointly responsible for the creation of the final musical product.
…
On our album, the track "Amboss" represents the first layer. Conventional instruments communicate familiar music which is in part expanded through electronic means. In the second track of the album - "Traummaschine" - the actual basic sound approach is dissolved into an electronic Nirvana which no longer allows the concrete identification of actual instruments. Innocent, virgin listening, free from any and every association, can finally begin - and the music can be absorbed and processed free from the limitations of categorization. That is the purpose of our music: To convey freedom without any predetermined criteria or traditions.

Thank you for your attention."
(Taken from the original A-R-T Bio 1970)


Hartmut Enke, Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze aka. Ash Ra Tempel travelled to Hamburg in March 1971 to record their debut, with assistance of another Icon, legendary engineer Conny Plank.
The rest is history.