Suche:ic red

Belgium's iconic DJ and producer, Yves Deruyter, who celebrates his 40th DJ career in 2025, makes a triumphant return to the music scene with the much-anticipated remaster of his seminal second album: "2001".

Renowned for his pioneering influence on techno and classics, Deruyter's re-release is packed with timeless tracks, including the unforgettable anthem "Back To Earth" and also including but not limited to: "Music-Non-Stop", "Rhythmic Bazz", the much sought after Transfusion and as a special bonus "Born Slippy".

Available in an exclusive 2 x 12" vinyl release, collectors and fans alike can choose between a special light blue edition, limited to 500 copies, or an ultra-limited faded smoked black-to-transparent white 180-gram audiophile version, limited to just 200 copies.

Each version comes repackaged in a stunning, redesigned sleeve, making it a must-have collector's item for true enthusiasts. Don't miss the chance to own a piece of techno history!

Mit "Lieben wir" präsentiert OEHL ein intimes und packendes Konzeptalbum über die Liebe in all ihren Facetten – von Knutschflecken bis zu den Momenten, die unser Leben prägen. Ariel Oehl wagt Neues und bleibt sich treu: Sein "Gitarrenalbum" vereint handgemachte Klangwelten mit verführerischen Melodien, die zwischen Nostalgie und großer Emotion pendeln. Produzent Niklas Apfel sorgt für ein ausdrucksstarkes, organisches Sounderlebnis.Ein Album, das von Enttäuschungen, Glück und der Magie flüchtiger Augenblicke erzählt – Musik für Menschen, die etwas von Musik verstehen – und ein Herz haben.

- Ausstattung: Rot-transparentes Vinyl mit silberfarbiger Innentasche mit Songtexten & Herz

compiled by tsunaki kadowaki
artwork by yoshirotten
mastering by kuniyuki takahashi

Tsunaki Kadowaki, a staff member at Kyoto’s record store Meditations, the supervisor of "New Age Music Disc Guide", and the founder of Sad Disco, curates the fourth installment of "Midnight in Tokyo" themed around Ambient Kayō.

The Midnight in Tokyo series by Studio Mule focuses on Japanese music, serving as a soundtrack for Tokyo nights—whether for home listening, club play, or as a driving BGM, transcending location and space. After a six-year hiatus, the fourth volume takes "Ambient Kayō" as its new perspective, compiling genre-defying tracks released between 1977 and 1999 to explore the intersection of Japanese ambient and pop music.

For this long-awaited fourth installment, selections were made regardless of record label status (major or independent), era, format (vinyl or CD), original release price, or prior reissues. Instead, the focus was on music that deeply moves the listener, is open-minded and evocative, brims with inspiration and spiritual insight, and embodies the "utagokoro" (singing heart) of Japanese artists.

Opening the compilation is "Umi e Kinasai" by Yōsui Inoue, a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter whose works have recently gained renewed interest as hidden gems of Walearic and ambient pop

Composed and arranged by Katsu Hoshi—who is also known for his arrangements on Inoue’s masterpiece Ice World—the track features renowned players such as Masayoshi Takanaka, Hiroki Inui, and Shigeru Inoue. The song embodies a yearning for Balearic horizons, tinged with youthful vibrancy and sentimentality.

Next, "Oritatamu Umi", compiled from Keiko Nosaka, a 20-string koto player, and George Murasaki, a pioneer of Okinawan rock, is an instrumental track from their album "Niraikanai Requiem 1945". As the title suggests, it carries themes of requiem and remembrance, conveying poetic lyricism even without words. Blending Ryukyuan/Okinawan harmonies and indigenous elements, it unfolds as an intimate and nostalgic piece of progressive rock.

Also featured is "Natsu no Kowareru Koro" by Higurashi, a folk-rock band led by Seiichi Takeda, formerly a guitarist of The Remainders of The Clover, the predecessor of RC Succession. Like the opening track "Umi e Kinasai", this song was also produced by Katsu Hoshi. It stands as a folk/new music piece that takes a step into an "otherworldly" realm, recommended for fans of Twin Cosmos and Masumi Hara.

From the enigmatic Blue, the only work left by the mysterious composer S.R. Kinoshita, comes "Mangrove", a hidden treasure of Japan's ambient/new age scene from the CD era. With an oriental and enigmatic atmosphere, the track evokes a mystical world of deep, uncharted jungles, unfolding as an otherworldly New Age Kayō.

"Yaponesia Sakura", selected from Rehabilual’s sole album New Child, is a masterpiece of Japanese new age music. Produced by Swami Dhyan Akamo, a disciple of Indian meditation teacher Osho and a renowned balafon player, the track features Michio Ogawa (Chakra) and Atsuo Fujimoto (Colored Music). Their collective artistry creates an exquisite spiritual ambient pop sound.

"Asa no Hitoshizuku", the opening folk song from Sachiko Kanenobu’s album Sachiko, is also included. Known for her legendary folk album Misora, produced by Haruomi Hosono, Kanenobu’s fourth album after resuming her career was inspired by her experiences living in San Francisco and revolves around the theme of "love." This track carries the same intimate poetic world as Misora, imbued with a pure, crystalline innocence.

From the synth-pop band E.S. Island, known for the Haruomi Hosono-produced *Teku Teku Mami", comes "Yume Fūrin ", selected from their long-lost new age classic Nanpū from Hachijo. Created while the band’s core duo was living in Hachijō Island, the album aimed to sonically capture "the high and happy vibrations of everyday island life." This track offers a dynamic, tribal-infused New Age Kayō experience.

Dubbed "the world's first Min’yō House Mix" "Esashi Oiwake (Maeuta) " comes from Kanazawa Akiko HOUSE MIX Ⅰ, a collaboration between Japanese house music pioneer Soichi Terada and Akiko Kanazawa, a renowned min’yō singer. Through the prism of club music, Hokkaido's Esashi Oiwake, one of Japan’s most iconic folk songs, is transformed into a futuristic ambient pop piece with intricate sound design.

The compilation also includes "Sweet Ong Choh", a track from Voice From Asia, a group active between 1989 and 1992 featuring vocal artist Shizuru Ohtaka. Taken from their imaginative minimal work Voice From Asia, released under Aoyama Spiral’s music label Newsic, the song presents a tranquil, tribal-minimal soundscape enriched by ethnic instruments.

Hailed by Haruomi Hosono as having “a shaman residing in her voice,” singer-songwriter Nami Hōdatsu also appears in the selection. Known for her collaborations with Henry Kawahara, her debut album featured "Asa-Hikari-Ame-Yume", a track that now stands as a precursor to modern vocaloid/synthesized vocal music—a hidden gem of post-choir aesthetics that deserves rediscovery.

Likewise, "Tennessee Waltz", from Naomi Akimoto’s album One Night Stand, supported by members of Mariah, serves as another early prototype of vocaloid/synthesized vocal music. The track weaves fragmented vocal samples, pastoral yet sweetly minimal synth sounds, and mechanical beats into a strikingly unconventional piece in the history of Japanese music.

Closing the compilation is "Heaven Electric", a track from Nav Katze’s album Gentle & Elegance, which featured remixes by Autechre, Seefeel, and Sun Electric. Merging elements of IDM, ambient techno, and chillout, the song embodies an optimism reminiscent of space music while seamlessly blending a mystical Japanese aesthetic—an ambient pop masterpiece.

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The album presents 12 exquisite pop tracks infused with an ambient feeling, resonating deeply with the evolving landscape of the mid-2020s—a time of post-hyperpop and Y2K revival.

Tsunaki Kadowaki (Compiler)

Born in 1993 in Yonago, Tottori, Tsunaki Kadowaki is a staff member and buyer at Kyoto’s Meditations record store. He is the editor of New Age Music Disc Guide (DU BOOKS) and a contributor to Music Magazine, Record Collectors' Magazine, ele-king, and more. Kadowaki has written liner notes for multiple Japanese releases (Brian Eno, Masahiro Sugaya etc.) and runs the Sad Disco music label under Disk Union. He also curates Spotify’s official New Age Music playlist and performed as a DJ at YCAM’s Audio Base Camp #3 in 2024.

Limited vinyl release for aya's 2021 Hyperdub-debut album, a one-time pressing on Ecomix random colour-mix recycled vinyl. Originally released in 2021 as a book and digital album, im hole is now presented on ecomix splatter-effect vinyl. A welcome reminder ahead of new aya music in 2025. On im hole, aya distilled the incisive sonic experimentation of her early run of releases, the tongue-in-cheek giggles of her DJ sets and edits, and the identity-fluxing lyricism of her live shows. The album was immediately championed from all corners, 'Best New Music' in Pitchfork to DJ Mary Anne Hobbs Album of the Year, followed by incredible live shows which drew new listeners further into the net. Contorting language, dialect, gender and sexuality between intermittently controlled bursts of rhythm, noise and aural goop, aya sculpted a set of autobiographical vignettes that challenge established norms, question supposed truths, and affirm a spectrum of interlocking experiences. But while it's wide open and personal, im hole also challenges queer art's tendency to veer towards repetitive solipsism. Even the title itself references the unwieldy mix of self-actualization and sexualization that bogs down cultural perceptions of the trans experience. It's neither one thing nor t'other, just as much a sly nod to dissociative afterparty sloppiness as it is any self-congratulatory pinkwashed grandstanding. The music follows suit, fragmenting familiar sounds, twinned with familiar words, assembled in unfamiliar ways, full of sharp humour, even in the middle of despair. Stories are muddled with phonetics just as dubstep is macrodosed with microtonal drone.










j B4. If [redacted] Thinks He's Having This As A Remix He Can Frankly Do One

Arny Margret, Iceland’s remarkable and poetic upcoming singer-songwriter, is due to release her second album ‘I Miss You, I Do’ on March 7th via One Little Independent Records. The follow-up to 2022’s celebrated, minimalist folk debut ‘they only talk about the weather’ sees her working with new producers in America to develop and hone a sound that’s more textured, expansive, and mature.

‘I Miss You, I Do’ incorporates sessions from Arny Margret’s trips to New York City, North Carolina, and Colorado, as well as those recorded in Iceland. During extensive international touring, she wrote prolifically and spent time getting to know producers and musicians who each brought their own unique and individual talents to the project. Arny’s atmospheric and introspective material has been layered with country-inflected full band ensembles, keys, banjo, harmonium, slide guitar and more, adding an ambience that only enhances her natural ability to convey crystal-clear imagery within thematically rich writing.

In pursuit of her creative vision, Arny enlisted producers Josh Kaufman, Andrew Berlin, Brad Cook, and Guðm. “Kiddi” Kristinn Jónsson. Josh Kaufman is best known for his work with Grateful Dead founder Bob Weir, The National, This Is The Kit, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter, and The War on Drugs. Andrew Berlin, GRAMMY nominated for his work on Gregory Alan Isakov’s record ‘Evening Machines’, also mixes national punk rock staples such as A Wilhelm Scream, Rise Against, and Teenage Bottlerocket. Brad Cook served as a producer for Bon Iver, Big Red Machine, Waxahatchee, Hand Habits, Kevin Morby, and Whitney amongst others. Arny also returned to Iceland to record with her long-time collaborator and friend Kiddi Jónsson in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Stainless starteten offiziell im Jahre 2022 in Portland, Oregon. Aktuelle und frühere Musiker waren vorher bei lokalen Underground-Bands wie Black Breath, Long Knife, Lebenden Toten, Halt, Bellicose Minds, Nightfell, Malikili und Ripper aktiv. Das erste Lebenszeichen der Band war die in Eigenregie gepresste 7" Single "Snakebite"/"Too Hot To Steal". Nun erscheint als Nachfolger das Mini-Album "Nocturnal Racer" mit dem Titelstück sowie "Shot For Shot", "Believer" und "The Evil Lies". Die vier Songs wurden 2023/24 in den Red Lantern Studios (Portland) von Larissa Cavacece (Gesang), Mira Sonnleitner (Bass), Joe Sugar (Drums) und Jamie Byrum (Gitarre, Gesang) eingespielt. Mittlerweile ist Joe Sugar durch Terrica Catwood von der Band Time Rift ersetzt worden. "Ich würde uns als Hardrock oder Heavy Rock bezeichnen", weiß Gitarrist und Sänger Jamie Byrum. "Es gibt zwar viele Elemente des Heavy Metal in unserer Musik, aber es wäre wohl missverständlich, uns als reinrassige Hevy-Metal-Band zu bezeichnen. Die erste Single war im Gegensatz zu "Nocturnal Racer" noch viel mehr im Blues verwurzelt." Frontlady Larissa Cavacece, die von Kanada nach Portland gezogen ist, prägt mit ihrer messerscharfen Stimme irgendwo zwischen Leather Leone und Wendy O. Williams den Sound von Stainless nicht unwesentlich. Jamie Byrum: "Ihre Einflüsse gehen weiter als Chastain und Plasmatics. Allerdings weiß ich, dass sie es ehrt, in einem Atemzug mit den beiden genannt zu werden. Larissa besitzt einen Goth-Background, schwört aber auch auf Crust-Bands wie Amebix und Sacrilege. Des weiteren ist sie ein großer Bowie-Fan und liebt den Rock der Siebziger. Passenderweise hat ihre Karriere als Sängerin in einer Plasmatics-Coverband begonnen." Laut dem Gitarristen/Sänger sind "Sex, Schlangen, Motorräder, schnelle Autos, Rock 'n' Roll, Standhaftigkeit, das Böse und Heavy Metal geeignete Themen für Stainless." Davon wird es in absehbarer Zukunft wohl noch mehr zu hören geben, denn Stainless arbeiten derzeit am Material für ihr erstes vollständiges Album.

After many years, Deformer has proven to still amaze and reinvent themselves. Fans always await the next record, because you never know what to expect, other than that it's most likely ear-shattering. This time again Deformer exceeded the expectations! The new crushing four track record entitled 'Instruments of torture', shows that Deformer still takes the lead when it comes to originality. Deformer has collaborated with some musical giants before and this time teamed up with Death Metal icon David Vincent (Vltimas, I Am Morbid), who previously shook up the music industry with Death Metal legends Morbid Angel. Featured on two tracks, David's signature grunt goes hand in hand with Deformer's musical carnage. This is not just groundbreaking, it's legendary!

Deformer producer, Mike Redman, is considered a musical maniac, known to be an artistic freethinker and has never watered down the Deformer concept. Where its foundation is still Hardcore Jungle, Deformer has always added various music genres into the mix making Deformer a genre of its own, even before terms like 'Breakcore' existed. Many of the more popular names in the field acknowledge that Deformer has always been a great source of inspiration. Where David Vincent made a blueprint in Death Metal, Deformer definitely did that for Hardcore Jungle/Breakcore.

Red Motorbike maestro Eddie C drops on the ensemble with an anthemic ode to the most sought-after of desires. We’ve been keeping this secret for far too long; it’s time to bring U Be Mine into the light, complete with remixes from Lex, Da Silva and Marcello Giordani aka Italo Deviance.
It was just over a year ago when Eddie sent us his original demo of U Be Mine. I remember plugging i the speakers in my fat, pressing play. A fash from a place of love that wet, grey day. The lyrical bass, euphoric stabs, the iconic delay, the pining vox. There are times where things seem naturally bound, designed to intertwine. An instant essential. We couldn’t wait to throw it down in the disco. Much like the coveted desire of its vocoder-clad protaganist, we needed a club-ready fx. Eddie, getting the message, sent us over a quick master - the Eddie C ‘Cash’ Version. Over the next year, at parties from Lisbon to Ibiza, I saw how those swirling arps locked onto the foor, how dancers cosied up to its decadent groove. It was peak time, warm-up and wind-down at once. In the true spirit of the ensemble, we got to work curating a cast of balearic technicians to write their distinct shade of depth onto Eddie’s golden letter. And that’s where it lands.
Lex from Athens casts an exotic, eclectic spirit with his Plaka Remix, all shufing percussions and wild, breezy strings, rejigged baselines and NYC disco tackle. Label curator Da Silva ups the ante with his 7-minute club-ready fx: tight kicks and searing acid, all the bells and whistles for your peak-time excursions. Finally, Marcello Giordani shifts into hyperdrive with the ITALO DEVIANCE ACID CONTROL version, conjuring creatures of the night in kaleidoscopic confgurations, a trusted party roller for the most decadent dancefoors.
We’re releasing U Be Mine on 150 pristine discs only. Claim it as yours, forevermore.

“Eerie, wailing sounds over distorted feedback drones… Vibrato-heavy harmonies chirrup and throb in agonisingly slow motion.”
The Guardian, Album of the Month

“Cinematic...carefully orchestrated...delicately explores unfamiliar territory with uncanny finesse.”
The Wire

Acclaimed Icelandic theremin musician Hekla returns with Turnar, her third album of devastatingly heavy, spectral soundscape-songwriting, entering a sublime paranormal plane of haunting dread.

Now augmenting her virtuosic solo theremin work with cello, voice, and the sacred church organ of Icelandic master Kristján Hrannar, the evolution of Hekla’s unique magic summons new worlds with Turnar. The album was recorded partly in (and named after) a medieval castle tower in rural France, its ruinous black broken in spare beams of angelic stained-glass light. But, writes Hekla, “the sound of theremin kind of opens up a portal into a new realm that both looks into a dark old world and to the future.” The record is an alternately beautiful and crushing space voyage into a glacial underworld cascading with phosphorescence and cave drip, conjuring ancient choral ritual just as readily as redolent sci-fi gloam.

Opener “Inni” begins with swooning and shimmering lines of theremin that shiver with electrified energy before subfrequency bass elevates them into a glowing plasma, hovering above a crystallised surf. Key moment “Gráminn” wails with ghostly harmonics while distorted drones crash together in a stormy and blackened netherworld sea. It traces a neat progression from Hekla’s last album - the acclaimed Xiuxiuejar - while also welcoming an expanded timbral palette and flourishing compositional confidence. At the end of side A, “Var” delicately places sonic artefacts about a desolate negative space, creating a dense inverse gravity. As with the rest of the record, a claustrophobic gauze hangs over music that could otherwise be called subverted songwriting, aligning Hekla’s sonics with avant-garde, musique concréte and sound-art.

The first-ever vinyl reissue of 1988’s I Wanna Have Some Fun, perennial pop icon and pin-up Samantha Fox’s third album. The only British female solo artist to score three Top Ten hits on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1980s, Samantha made her name as the nation’s favourite Page Three girl before launching an enviable music career.

I Wanna Have Some Fun features Sam’s irresistible Stock/Aitken/Waterman-produced cover of Dusty Springfield’s ‘I Only Wanna Be With You’ (#16 UK, #31 US) the gold-certified, Full Force-helmed title track (#8 US) and the acidinflected club favourite ‘Love House’ (#32 UK). Samantha’s most danceable, transatlantic and eclectic set so far, I Wanna Have Some Fun reached #46 in the UK and #37 in the US, giving her a third consecutive gold certification. Pressed on striking transparent red vinyl with black and yellow splatters to complement the original aesthetic, this edition boasts painstakingly rebuilt artwork and a newly designed inner bag featuring full lyrics.

A strictly limitededition picture disc is also available. I Wanna Have Some Fun is reissued alongside Samantha’s 1986 debut, Touch Me, and her eponymous 1987 sophomore album.

The first-ever vinyl reissue of 1988’s I Wanna Have Some Fun, perennial pop icon and pin-up Samantha Fox’s third album. The only British female solo artist to score three Top Ten hits on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1980s, Samantha made her name as the nation’s favourite Page Three girl before launching an enviable music career.

I Wanna Have Some Fun features Sam’s irresistible Stock/Aitken/Waterman-produced cover of Dusty Springfield’s ‘I Only Wanna Be With You’ (#16 UK, #31 US) the gold-certified, Full Force-helmed title track (#8 US) and the acidinflected club favourite ‘Love House’ (#32 UK). Samantha’s most danceable, transatlantic and eclectic set so far, I Wanna Have Some Fun reached #46 in the UK and #37 in the US, giving her a third consecutive gold certification. Pressed on striking transparent red vinyl with black and yellow splatters to complement the original aesthetic, this edition boasts painstakingly rebuilt artwork and a newly designed inner bag featuring full lyrics.

A strictly limitededition picture disc is also available. I Wanna Have Some Fun is reissued alongside Samantha’s 1986 debut, Touch Me, and her eponymous 1987 sophomore album.

Makaya McCraven"s International Anthem debut In The Moment is the album that properly introduced the then-burgeoning drummer/producer to the world. Over the course of 2025 International Anthem will be celebrating their eleventh year of existence by revisiting some of the most celebrated (and hard to find) entries in their decade of releases. These LP packages will be presented with new liner notes, new insert booklets, and the fresh 2025 redesign of their iconic obi strip and dome logo.

2026 Repress

MOLA's music is the unadorned antithesis to a rosy world. She celebrates herself to death, pulls you into her inner chaos and does without the usual romanticising transfiguration of the merciless disorientation that catches up with you on the way home after the last cigarette.

MOLA knows better than anyone that she is a border commuter - and she has never made a secret of it. Perhaps it was fate that the course of events abandoned her shortly after her birth in Erba, Italy, in Germany's most austere metropolis. In Munich, where flying free and falling free are a little more complicated than in the cesspit of Berlin, where one would naturally place Isabella Streifeneder and her music if one didn't know better.

Temporarily reduced to intimacy, then escalating into iconic 80s "Purpel Rain" pathos, MOLA illustrates the emotional chaos that the inner dialogue of left and right brain triggers in her. Unconventional pop music that bundles the nonchalance of great soul anthems, the grace of the Italo-disco of the eighties and the ingenuousness of lascivious hip-hop bangers instead of trying to sound modern by force.

MOLA celebrates defeat, exposes life lies, criticises adulthood, documents radical mood swings. She balances along the abyss in her ball gown, jokes about things you don't joke about, praises and curses intoxication and love - "Vino Bianco no longer tastes like dolce vita, it only tastes like losing".

You can now see MOLA supporting Fatoni, Roy Bianco & the Abbrunzati Boys, Mayberg and Kaffkiez in a flurry of strobe lights after sold-out "nothing breaks me" shows in Munich, Cologne, Berlin & Hamburg. In addition to a festival season that couldn't have been more beautiful, they finally have a big tour of their own coming up for their next album, which will see the light of day in September.

After more than 40 festivals "Snow in Summer" on well-known stages like Lollapalooza Berlin, Rocken am Brocken, Puls Open Air, but also as support for Udo Lindenberg at the Hermann-Hesse-Festival, "Life is Beautiful", the darned second record, sounds almost cynical, ironic or simply naive? In the end, it doesn't matter, because when you are overcome by this spontaneous feeling that is far removed from any rationality, you don't ask any questions. It tastes like the melancholy of a summer in its last breaths, like the last drink of an uncompromisingly insane night.

There is sweating, pogoing and feeling together. Even where it hurts.
You are not just an onlooker or a silent spectator, but part of this empowering feeling of "we".

Reissue of the 1983's classic Messages From The Stars by British Electronic Funk outfit, The Rah Band.

Released in 1983, "Messages From The Stars" by The RAH Band—AKA multi-instrumentalist and producer Richard Anthony Hewson—emerged as a modest club hit, peaking at number 42 on the UK charts. Four decades later, the song has been rediscovered and revered as a cult classic, transcending time and generations. This reissue celebrates The RAH Band’s pioneering sound and the track’s unexpected rise from obscurity to international acclaim, largely thanks to devoted selectors and fans who never let it fade away.

Created on a Roland SH5 synthesizer in Hewson’s home studio, the track’s iconic vocals, spontaneously delivered with playful innocence by Hewson’s then-wife Liz, proved to be a masterstroke, with her warm, conversational tone giving the track an authentic charm. The interstellar lyrics, cosmic synth-line and funky bassline combined are addictively catchy, undoubtedly contributing to the track's success as a crossover boogie-funk classic.

The RAH Band’s resurgence owes much to DJs like DāM-FunK and Martin Iveson (Atjazz), who introduced "Messages" to new audiences in the ‘90s and ‘00s. DāM-FunK recalls discovering the track in the late '90s and making it the centrepiece of his sets, with crowds demanding repeat plays during his iconic Funkmosphere nights in Los Angeles. Fast-forward to 2019, “Messages” was selected as the opening track on pop superstar Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonded’ radio show and playlist, fuelling the track's viral explosion on TikTok in 2020 and sparking a relentless, enduring internet popularity that continues to this day.

Hewson, now in his eighties and residing quietly near the Sussex coast, continues to create music every day in his garage-turned-studio, using the original vintage gear that once brought "Messages From The Stars" to life. Enjoy this slice of space-disco history, where messages from the past have made their way to the present.

Hello, Do you read me?
I have a message
A message from the stars

Free jazz poetry by a spry, 85 year old Joe McPhee, adapting his renowned improvised practice to words - juxtaposed with Mats Gustafson’s sparing brass and electric gestures. It’s an utterly timeless and transfixing salvo, another shiny notch for Smalltown Supersound’s Le Jazz Non Series.

As a common ligature to the OG free jazz scene of ‘60s NYC, with formative binds to its European offshoots and the experimental avant garde, Joe McPhee is a true force of nature who has represented jazz at its freest over a remarkable lifetime. In duo with Swedish free jazz and noise standard bearer Mats Gustafson, he upends expectations with an astonishingly vivid and upfront example of his enduring contribution to freely improvised music. In 11 parts he variously reflects on everything from the neon sleaze and scuzz of NYC to contemporary US politicians and laugh out loud imitations of his previous sparring partners such as Peter Brötzmann, with a head-slapping immediacy that leaves you reeling, spellbound.

McPhee’s flow of rare, organic cadence, ranging from urgent to contemplative and dreamlike, is blessed with a unique turn-of-phrase that surely mirrors his decades of instrumental work. Gustafsson, meanwhile, dextrously takes up the mantle with a multi-instrumental spectrum of sounds, leaving McPhee unbound and able to float and sting on the mic. There’s obvious wisdom in his perceptively penetrative observations, as derived from a rich cultural life well spent, but also a playful naivety and levity in his ability to veer from almost melodic speech to explosive aggression and a knowing, bathetic wit. It’s perhaps hard to believe that McPhee only started incorporating and performing spoken word in his work in the past ten years, a half century since his declaration of “What Time Is It‽” announced his arrival on a legendary debut ‘Nation Time’ (1971), ushering in one of free jazz’s most singular characters in the process.

Oscillating between discordant reflections on life as a touring musician, set to Gustafsson’s skronk and culminating in a snort-worthy imitation of Peter Brötzmann’s gruff German accent, on ‘Short Pieces’ or the glowering growl and noise exhortations of ‘Guitar’, he evokes a more sweetly consonant calm in ‘When I Grow Up’ and eerie threat of ‘The Dreams Book’, and viscerality of ‘Disco Death’, where Gustafson’s tonal versatility comes into hugely mutable play, whilst McPhee’s extraordinary, unaffected voice is a constant. It’s perhaps McPhee’s balance of cool measuredness and wellspring of barbed energies that allows us, at least, to get the most out of this one; not stifling with mannered or manicured enunciation that can trigger certain icks; keeping close to the nature of spoken word in a way that avoids cliche and becomes inherently critical of it within his purposeful, non-hesitant clarity and unflinching approach.

Der Pianist Louis Philippson begeistert seine Generation mit emotionalen und virtuosen Videos auf Social Media für die klassische Musik. Für sein Debütalbum "Exposition" verfolgt er die gleiche Idee und verbindet eigene Kompositionen mit neuen Arrangements bekannter Melodien klassischer Werke, sowie von Anime- und Pop-Songs. Selbstgeschriebene, epische Stücke wie "Supernova" und das groß-orchestrierte "C'est toi" stellt er seinen reduzierten Klavierminiaturen wie "Paulette", "Memories of Moldau" und "Dragon's Lullaby" gegenüber. Seine Eigenkompositionen ergänzt Louis Philippson durch frische, farbenfrohe Arrangements von Melodien aus verschiedenen Genres. Nach dem Motto von Duke Ellington, dass es "nur gute oder schlechte Musik" gibt, vereint er eine poetische Klavierversionen von "OMG" der K-Pop-Band NewJeans mit einer dynamischen Bearbeitung von Tschaikowskys Klavierkonzert, kreiert elegische Klavierversionen über Melodien aus Mahlers Symphonie der Tausend oder "In Trutina" aus Carl Orffs Carmina Burana, und spielt Puccinis "O mio babbino caro" begleitet von einem Cello. Auch Anime-Klassiker wie "A Town with an Ocean View" und "Lover's Oath" spielt er am Konzertflügel.Über sein Debüt-Album sagt Philippson: "Die Entstehung von 'Exposition' war eine unglaubliche Reise. Ich wollte ein Album schaffen, in dem ich alle Genres verbinden kann, die mich inspirieren. Es gibt so viele großartige Melodien, die man neu auf dem Klavier entdecken kann. Mein Ziel ist es meine Generation für die Schönheit der Klaviermusik auf neue Weise zu begeistern."Lange vor seiner TikTok-Karriere wurde Louis Philippson im Alter von sieben Jahren auf YouTube von seinem zukünftigen Klavierlehrer entdeckt, einem Professor an der Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. Dort wurde er später Jungstudent und nahm an zahlreichen nationalen und internationalen Klavierwettbewerben teil, darunter der prestigeträchtige Bach-Wettbewerb, den er gewann. Während der Pandemie im Jahr 2022 startete Louis Philippson seinen TikTok-Kanal und begeistert seitdem die Gen Z mit Vlogs, Humor und eindrucksvollen Klavierdarbietungen. Seine Posts haben inzwischen über 750.000 Follower erreicht. Philippson hat bereits mit einer Vielzahl von Künstlern aus unterschiedlichen Genres zusammengearbeitet. Unter anderen dem Konzertpianisten Martin Stadtfeld, der Geigerin und Influencerin Esther Abrami sowie dem italienischen TikTok-Pianisten Gabriele Bagnati. Ein besonderes Highlight seiner Kooperationen war die Zusammenarbeit mit der Sängerin Teya Dora für eine akustische Version ihres weltweiten Top-50-Hits "Dzanum".

Mr Bongo is proud to present an official reissue of Zé Rodrix E A Agência De Mágicos ‘O Esquadrão Da Morte’. Written, arranged and composed by the genius of Zé Rodrix and performed by his band 'Agência de Mágicos’, this Brazilian library funk beauty is the soundtrack to Carlos Imperial's 1975 film of the same title. Echoing European soundtrack maestros such as Roy Budd and Ennio Morricone, but with a Brazilian swagger, Zé Rodrix's score is a sublime gem that needs rediscovery.

Rich in 70's soundtrack cool, the score is packed with orchestrated jazz, chase scene-funk, breaks, psychedelic freakouts and plenty of drama. The loose and quirky break-beat jazz-funk of 'Assalto' feels almost tailor-made for today's hip-hop production aesthetic. The opening drum break of 'Esconderijo' is a sampler’s dream and has already been reinterpreted by the Turkish Rapper Anıl Piyancı, as well as Brazil's DJ Caique.

Carlos Imperial was a jack of all trades. As a songwriter and music producer, he created a highly impressive back catalogue. It includes working with or writing songs for Tim Maia, Elza Soares, Brigitte Bardot, and Wilson Simonal. He also co-wrote the rare cult Brazilian 7" compacto 'Lindo Sonho Delirante (L. S. D') by Fábio. Carlos Imperial wrote liner notes and was an actor, filmmaker, television presenter, and media figure. His film 'O Esquadrão da Morte' is a violent heist movie starring Beto Bandeira, Claire Chevalier, and Baby Conceicao; in the vein of exploitation films and gritty, raw B-Movie cinema of the day. Both the film and album share striking, macabre artwork by artist Benicio.

The instrumentalist, arranger, and singer-songwriter Zé Rodrix has a musical achievements list that is also one to admire. He’s worked with the cream of Brazilian music, having written songs covered by the greats, including Quarteto Em Cy, Ronald Mesquita, Elis Regina, Karma, and Célia, to name just a few. His written arrangements have graced the music of Luli Lucinha E O Bando and Helio Matheus. He was a member of the iconic group Som Imaginário and played piano and synthesizer on Secos & Molhado's classic 1973 album.

We are super pleased to make this dusty treasure available again. It is a wonderful soundtrack score that more than holds its own with its European and American counterparts of the era.

"Enjoy The Ride Records in conjunction with Curry Cuts proudly presents Songs, Bond Songs: The Music of 007. For over sixty years, people around the world have been thrilled by the ongoing adventures of James Bond. And it's not hard to see why. The combination of death-defying stunts, cool gadgets, beautiful women, and sinister villains is nearly irresistible.

But there's another feature of the James Bond films that's just as crucial to their success: The music.

Songs, Bond Songs: The Music of 007 pays tribute to that great Bond music, with some of today's best indie pop artists - including members of Drive-By Truckers, The New Pornographers, Fountains of Wayne, and Bowling For Soup - offering updated interpretations of 26 James Bond themes, from Dr. No up to Spectre.

Songs, Bond Songs: The Music of 007 is available on vinyl for the first time. Featuring new gatefold and back cover art by Garreth Gibson, this release is sure to delight fans of 007. This pressing is limited to 500 copies across 2 color variants. "

Jamwax proudly presents the reissue of Laurel Aitken’s iconic 1966 single, showcasing two R&B dancefloor gems: Last Night and the soulful classic Don’t Break Your Promises. Originally released on the Rainbow label in the UK, this 7-inch record captures the essence of Aitken’s versatility and his pivotal role in bridging the Jamaican and British music scenes.

Last Night draws direct inspiration from the sounds of The Mar-Keys (1961) and Georgie Fame (1966), reflecting the influence of R&B rhythms on Aitken’s work. This release marked a milestone in his career as he gained increasing popularity in the UK, particularly among the mod and skinhead subcultures.

As for Don’t Break Your Promises, it is a cover of Milson Luce’s 1956 release on the Argo label. The song was already a hit in Jamaica, having been licensed the same year by Dada Tewari on his Downbeat imprint. Following Aitken’s rendition, the song inspired several Jamaican covers, including versions by Dandy (1972, Trojan), The Chosen Few (1973, Studio One), and John Holt (1973, Bunny Lee).

Nicknamed the "Godfather of Ska," Laurel Aitken was born Lorenzo Aitken on April 22, 1927, in Cuba. He moved to Jamaica at the age of 11 and became a central figure in the development of ska during the 1950s and 1960s. Before shaping the emerging ska sound, he recorded mento and calypso, laying the foundation for his groundbreaking contributions. His prolific recording career in England included numerous singles on legendary labels such as Blue Beat, Pama Records, and Trojan Records. Aitken’s legacy as a pioneer of Jamaican music and his influence on British subcultures firmly establish him as a key figure in the global evolution of ska and reggae.

Originally released in 1966
Licensed courtesy of Cherry Red Records Limited

The essence of Mina in a timeless vinyl. With "Sentimentale", Italy's most iconic artist enchants once again with a remastered collection that celebrates love in all its forms. This refined selection takes us on an emotional journey through unforgettable tracks that marked the early successes of her extraordinary career. Among the gems of this collection are "Il cielo in una stanza", the absolute symbol of Italian music, "Un Tale", rich with mystery and intensity, "Le Tue Mani", a tribute to the sweetness of touch, and of course, the beautiful title track "Sentimentale", which captures the soul with its profound poetry. This collection is more than just music: it is a journey through Mina's history, an invitation to rediscover the unique talent that defined an era and continues to inspire generations. "Sentimentale" is not just a vinyl; it is a piece of history to cherish, a timeless celebration of a voice that has touched the hearts of millions.