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Tapper Zukie after taking a little time out of the musical arena has come back with an album full of great material and has called in an A list of fellow Jamaican artists to add flavour to this great set. As Tapper named the album himself ‘Bunker Buster’ it shows Mr Zukie busting back out of the studio and back in the arena in fine style.

The opening track finds his long-standing working partner Horace Andy adding his distinctive vocal style to ‘Aquarius’. ‘Nuh Fraid A Dem’ features the great Luciano, ‘The Blessings’ the mighty Michael Rose, and Little Roy adds some magical rhymes to ‘Wicked’. The soulful voice of Beres Hammond sweetens the effects of `Stress’. The killer title track `Buster Bunker’ is backed up by the Musical Intimidators and Tapper has reworked his ‘Good Luck My Friend’ track to ‘Lucky Friend’ which features the timeless backing vocals by the legendary Jamaican vocal group The Tamlins. Digging even deeper into his back catalogue he has also pulled up some classic rhythms and more existing vocals to rework over. For example, ‘The Light In Me’ features the greatly missed Ronnie Davis. Junior Rass adds his mighty roar to ‘Humble Lion’ and Junior Reid leads the charge on ‘Warrior’. Half Pint adds a musical layer to Flesh and Blood. All in all a great selection of musical ideas that also features the cream of Jamaica’s musicians, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, Flabba Holt, Chinna Smith to name but a few. Tapper’s son Noel Barnes (AKA Brand New) alongside Pam Hall adds some gloss to the CD edition of this release.

Such is his standing in the reggae community that a call out to Jamaica’s finest set of singers and their eager reply to add their talents has made this an album not to be missed and can sit proudly alongside and find a place in his already prodigious catalogue.

Hope you enjoy the set…….

• Esther Marrow began singing professionally in the early 60s. Her big break came in 1965 when she was asked by Duke Ellington to take part in his ground-breaking Concert of Sacred Music at the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Marrow toured with the Duke Ellington Band as well as Harry Belafonte and came to the attention of Bob Thiele who recorded and released this debut album on his Flying Dutchman label in 1969.

• Musically, it’s a compelling mix of funk and soul, occupying similar terrain to Alice Clark’s great album that was released on Mainstream in 1972. For example, Jesse Stone’s ‘Money Honey’ is given a crunching funk arrangement and is one of three tracks that tempt collectors to pay big money for an original copy; ‘Walk Tall’ and ‘Chains Of Love’ are the other two. ‘Chains Of Love’ was originally recorded in Detroit by J.J. Barnes and became a Northern Soul classic. ‘Walk Tall’ is one of the album’s highlights and features music originally written by pianist Joe Zawinul and performed by Cannonball Adderley, with lyrics by James Rein and Morrow. It has become something of a jazz standard, but no version ever bettered this original track.

• Add to the mix the lush string driven power of ‘Peaceful Man’, ‘Mama’ and a tilt at the classic ‘What A Wonderful World’ and you have a truly wonderful album.

• Pressed on 180gm vinyl, we have remained faithful to the original pressing replicating the Flying Dutchman label style and gatefold sleeve.

Certain Sound Records and DJ Jazz T announce the second in a series of DJ mixtapes from the World-Famous Steel Devils Turntablist Crew.

When he is not touring the world with Jehst or High Focus Records artists or running his own legendary label Boot Records. You will find Jazz T laying down cuts or mastering some of the UK’s finest hip hop releases. So, it was an honour that he wanted to drop a brand-new mixtape for us. Spurred on by his counterparts in the Steel Devil’s crew, Jazz put together this outstanding collection of rarely or never heard beats and collaborations and distilled it into 60 mins of mixtape glory. The track listing says it all.

London-based musician Harriet Zoe Pittard aka Zoee has been described as an artist who writes 'personal pop for people who don't fit in' (Huck Magazine). Previously, Zoee has released singles through Ryan Hemworth's 'Secret Songs' imprint and Vegyn's label Plz Make It Ruins, as well as guesting as a vocalist on tracks with Hot Chip's Joe Goddard and with hyper-pop collective PC Music.Over the past two years Zoee has taken some time to nurture her voice and her sound. Her debut album 'Flaw Flower' is due on June 25th. 'Flaw Flower' is an honest and vulnerable glimpse into Zoee's interior world, a world she creates through marrying her real-life phone notes with imagery taken from modern works of literature such as "The Flowering Corpse" by Djuna Barnes, Sylvia Plath's "A Winter Ship" and Maggie Nelson's "Bluets". Through these 11 new songs, Zoee delves deep into her own emotional life, combining aspects of the everyday with the surreal in order to uncover the beauty found in being flawed. The record nods to the avant pop of the 80s, an era that Zoee has always been drawn to thanks to the expressive and trailblazing music of women including Anne Clark, Joan Armatrading, Cyndi Lauper, Rose McDowall and Anna Domino. The album is characterised by a mix of hi-fi and lo-fi instrumentation. 'The Loft' features a free jazz solo from acclaimed experimental saxophonist Ben Vince alongside stock GarageBand synths. 'Host' combines home demo backing vocals with an elaborate baby grand piano solo. Zoee sources foley sounds from YouTube and pulls from her own domestic field recordings, such as a microwave buzzing in 'Microwave' and a shower running in 'Evening Primrose', often using these sounds as the starting point for the songs. Maintaining intimate bedroom elements whilst developing a more expansive band sound, felt integral to the project, since that's where Zoee's writing process often starts, sat on her bed with her laptop and midi keyboard. Writing for the album began in October 2018 when Zoee started working closely again with friend and long-term musical collaborator Rowan Martin. As the material for the record began to take shape the writing and recording process also evolved with the addition of bassist Kyrone Oak and keys player Laura Norman, as well as contributions from Ben Vince and London pop artist Saint Torrente. "I feel like the songs on this album took me deeper into myself, the sad song that I thought was about a boy is still about that but it's also about loss, about self-determination, about not losing hope, about memory, about domesticity, about detachment, about my dad, about my mum, about change, about feeling incredibly alone, about growing up."

"Rise Against, the multi-gold and platinum-selling punk rock band comprised of mcilrath, bassist joe principe, drummer brandon barnes and guitarist zach blair, is known for its out spoken, socially-conscious lyrics that speak to the mood of our times: the environment, economic injustice, forced displacement, political corruption, animal rights, and interpersonal relationships, all delivered with big, chunky riffs and melodic post-grunge hooks. the band has amassed five top 10 albums on billboard’s top 200 chart, six top 10 singles on its hot 100 chart, and accumulated more than 6-billion global streams; “savior,”rise against’s gold-certified single, has accumulated nearly one billion streams alone. nowhere generation was produced and engineered by bill stephenson (black flag, the descendents), jason livermore, andrew berlin, and chris beeble, and recorded at the blasting room in ft.collins, Colorado. The 11 songs on nowhere generation explore the tight bonds and the distances we share, the struggles of everyday life, our personal failings and triumphs, and the sometimes challenging interactions we have with each other. but nowhere generation also hints at the reclamation of ourselves, a call to resurrect who we are at our core, who we want to be and what we want to do with our lives, despite the rampant weaponizing of our culture. as lyricist tim mcilrath wrote on “the numbers”:   ...these cold nights are almost unbearable, but purpose keeps us warm.

As Dense & Pika, Alex Jones and Chris Spero have garnered an enviable reputation for making devastating club ordnance that finds the sweet spot between dark, mysterious house and roaring, brawny techno. With over a decade of material under their belt, Jones and Spero are set to release their first studio length debut album, ‘Colour Burn’ via London major imprint BMG on 4th December, home to the likes of Leftfield, The Prodigy, Holy Ghost and Faithless.

‘Colour Burn’ is a 13-track composition crossing through downtempo house and electronica, built as a conceptual sonic representation of the pair’s live audio and visual set up. The album is a step away from harder and faster material and a move towards a more leftfield sonic trajectory, featuring a handful of impressive heavyweight features of Jones & Spero’s musical heroes who have informed the Dense & Pika output.

Released today, album moment ‘Honey’ features the master of sensual, slow-burn techno, Matthew Dear whose contribution to ‘Honey’ arrives in vocal form – a breathy, brooding ensemble of spoken word that glues perfectly with the duo’s trademark rough and textured sound palette. It helps turn what Alex calls “a headsy, dusty piece of housey tech” into something sensual and otherworldly.

Dark and smouldering, it seems to the suck the air out of the room like a tightly packed subterranean dancefloor deep in the throes of night. Glitched out percussion and fizzling hi-hats feel caustic against the track’s low-end frequencies. The thumping bassline and kick drum combination delivers punch and pressure to the mix in a true Dense & Pika format. Matthew’s sauntering vocal contribution guides the track into a deep and hypnotic groove well equipped for any late-night excursion. “The boys sent over a lengthy jam, but there was that simple loop that stood out and had me hooked. I put it on repeat and let the mind and pen wander. It’s a bit of cosmic abandonment, brazenly sung by a professional of the night.” Matthew Dear

Elsewhere on the LP, standout track ‘Hidden’ features the drums of Sepultura’s legendary metal icon Igor Cavalera resulting in a fabulous frenzy of percussion and driving rhythm. The equally momentous and unforgettable ‘Control’ features the heavily robotic vocoder of Leftfield’s Neil Barnes aiding and abetting in its quest to be a high-octane, twisted rave jam.

The impressive features on ‘Colour Burn’ are an insight into the hugely artistic and visionary A&R skills of Alex and Chris and the start of a new chapter for Dense & Pika kicking off with the long-awaited release of their first studio length album.

The incredible sonic beauty of the Sphincter Ensemble results from musical spontaneity, a random jam session undertaken by a loose group of friends in the unlikely setting of the
Harrovian Club in Barnes, west London, on 2 January 1972. The sumptuous free jazz/prog rock/avant-classical fusion features top session players at their peak, with Trevor Morais’
funky drumming loosely tied to Quatermass bassist John Gustafson’s rough melodic lines, embellished by Anne Odell’s far-out synths, Martyn Ford’s French horn and arrangements by Elton John’s orchestrator, Paul Buckmaster. This hugely enjoyable rarity is appearing on vinyl here for the very first time—a thing of wonder for all discerning prog fans.

Okocha Records sendet Grüße aus „Jazzenatico“ und nimmt euch mit auf eine musikalische Reise an der italienischen Adria entlang. Nehmt euch eine kurze Auszeit und genießt den sonnigen Tag am Strand von "Jazzenatico" mit harmonischen Melodien und warmen, jazzinspirierten Instrumentals von u.a. FloFilz, Wandl, Wun Two, Twit One, digitalluc, Melodiesinfonie uvm.

Columbus, Ohio’s Rudolph Johnson drew comparisons to John Coltrane during his career; like the jazz legend in his later years, Johnson eschewed drugs or alcohol and spent his time every day either meditating and rehearsing on his horn. You can definitely hear
a little bit of Coltrane in Johnson’s playing on this, his 1971 debut release for the Black Jazz label, the first of two he recorded for the
imprint and the first he recorded as a leader after some sideman work (most notably for organist Jimmy McGriff); his ability to explore the upper registers and overtones of his tenor sax while retaining control is quite striking. Of course, this being a Black Jazz release, along with the bebop sounds of “Sylvia Ann” and the mid-‘60s Blue Note stylings of “Sylvia Ann,” there’s the soul jazz of “Diswa” and the groove funk of “Devon Jean,” all played by, as is typical on Black Jazz releases, by top-notch sidemen including drummer Raymond Pounds, who’s layed
with everybody from Stevie Wonder to Pharoah Sanders to Bob Dylan, and pianist John Barnes, whose work is very familiar to Motown fans (Supremes, Temptations, Marvin Gaye). Bassist Reggie Jackson, who appeared on the Walter Bishop, Jr. Coral Keys record we previously released, rounds out the quartet. First vinyl reissue of another stellar Black Jazz release!

Vinyl includes mp3 coupon. Shabazz Palaces' Black Up, the group's Sub Pop debut, was recently hailed as one of the best albums of the decade by outlets like Pitchfork, Gorilla Vs Bear, and Variety. Pitchfork summed it up thusly: "Black Up is drowned in murky instrumentals and bombastic, introspective rhymes. The sounds flirt with jazz but also root themselves in a firm understanding of silence, or the sparse magic of simplicity. The songs teem with unexpected climaxes...From great mystery exploded an album of impossible vision." That "impossible vision" has continued to confound and engage Shabazz Palaces fans over the course of four acclaimed albums and two EPs. Each release feels like an evolution, letting the music speak for itself, while slowly revealing more about its creator. With The Don of Diamond Dreams, the group's fifth album, that spirit remains, this time embracing modernism in hip-hop and rap. Featuring 10 tracks in 43 minutes, the album features the highlights "Fast Learner (ft. Purple Tape Nate)," "Chocolate Souffle," "Bad Bitch Walking (ft. Stas THEE Boss), and "Thanking The Girls." It also features contributions from singer/keyboardist Darrius Willrich, Seattle's OCnotes (who collaborated with Shabazz leader Ishmael Butler on the Knife Knights project), Los Angeles musician Carlos Overall, and bassist Evan Flory-Barnes. The Don of Diamond Dreams was recorded throughout 2019 and produced by Shabazz Palaces at Protect and Exalt: A Black Space in Seattle, mixed and engineered by Erik Blood at Studio 4 Labs in Venice, California, and mastered by Scott Sedillo at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Los Angeles.

LP SKY BLUE VINYL/LOSER-EDITION

Vinyl includes mp3 coupon. Shabazz Palaces' Black Up, the group's Sub Pop debut, was recently hailed as one of the best albums of the decade by outlets like Pitchfork, Gorilla Vs Bear, and Variety. Pitchfork summed it up thusly: "Black Up is drowned in murky instrumentals and bombastic, introspective rhymes. The sounds flirt with jazz but also root themselves in a firm understanding of silence, or the sparse magic of simplicity. The songs teem with unexpected climaxes...From great mystery exploded an album of impossible vision." That "impossible vision" has continued to confound and engage Shabazz Palaces fans over the course of four acclaimed albums and two EPs. Each release feels like an evolution, letting the music speak for itself, while slowly revealing more about its creator. With The Don of Diamond Dreams, the group's fifth album, that spirit remains, this time embracing modernism in hip-hop and rap. Featuring 10 tracks in 43 minutes, the album features the highlights "Fast Learner (ft. Purple Tape Nate)," "Chocolate Souffle," "Bad Bitch Walking (ft. Stas THEE Boss), and "Thanking The Girls." It also features contributions from singer/keyboardist Darrius Willrich, Seattle's OCnotes (who collaborated with Shabazz leader Ishmael Butler on the Knife Knights project), Los Angeles musician Carlos Overall, and bassist Evan Flory-Barnes. The Don of Diamond Dreams was recorded throughout 2019 and produced by Shabazz Palaces at Protect and Exalt: A Black Space in Seattle, mixed and engineered by Erik Blood at Studio 4 Labs in Venice, California, and mastered by Scott Sedillo at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Los Angeles.

First time on vinyl. Recorded for DC's Black Fire Records in 1976, Theatre West's music never made record until now. Selected works taken from the master tapes of James "Plunky" Branch (Oneness of JuJu, Experience Unlimited etc). Hailing from Ohio and resident in DC, Theatre West was made up of musicians from Slave, Gil Scott Heron's Midnight Band, The Fabulous Originals, Malone & Barnes and others. Serious jazz-funk-soul selections via the vaults of Plunky and Black Fire Records.

Features the extraordinary 1967 Smothers Brothers TV show version of My Generation.

With a third album, ‘Return To Telepathic Heights’, released this year on Gerd Janson’s Running Back label, techno outlaw A Sagittariun returns to themes of a space western nature with a closing epilogue, ‘A Fistful of Bitcoins’.
An extended player that traverses Tucumcari, Vietnam’s Black River, and the ultimate, and final leg, of the journey; to Devils Tower in Wyoming.


Vital Sales Points:
- full picture sleeve, designed by Jonny O (Rocket Recordings/Goat)
- global PR and marketing campaign from Hype Filter
- last A Sagittairun album for Gerd Janson’s Running Back label received excellent reviews in Mixmag, DJ Mag, The Wire & more…


Selected DJ feedback:
Robag Whrume – Good one!
Shanti Celeste – love this!
Nick Höppner – Sounding great
Brendon Moeller – Dope AF!
Johanna Knutsson – Beautiful stuff
Ed Davenport – Some heavy stuff here, Road To Devils Tower is a special cut!
Bruce (Livity Sound) – Real digging the slow bits, proper gear!
John Osborn – The Sacred Chao is heaven!
Interstellar Funk – Really like ‘A Fistful Of Bitcoins’
Neil Barnes (Leftfield) – very nice and imaginative EP
Fabrice Lig – Really nice EP, love it
DJ Octopus – Great one!
Vincent Neumann – Ooh, so nice!
Ell Weston (Banoffe Pies) – Superb selection
Cormac – Black River is super nice
Cooper Saver – wow, love these
Bill Brewster – lot’s of nice gear on here, good work
96 Back (CPU) – wonderfully bleepy and dubby
Tensnake – lovely release
Kirsti (Null & Void) – So consistent, another great release from A Sagittariun

Originally out in 1983, Love Power is co-produced by Fabian Cooke (from Itopia) and Lloyd Bullwackie Barnes, with assistance from Prince Douglas. Cooke plays most of the instruments himself, with his drumming centre-stage, though Ras Menelik puts in a brilliant shift on congas, and backing vocals are by Sugar Minott and the Love Joys. Cooke's own well-crafted compositions are joined by covers of Irene Cara and the Four Tops, infectiously bridging roots, lovers and synthy, soulful eighties boogie.
Betrayed is solid-gold, signature Wackies. He's My God is a tasty sip of low-slung, grooving gospel-reggae. Evoking Michael Jackson, the jamming album-closer Drums is top-notch disco-reggae, opportunely poised for revival.
Terrific stuff, full of personality, charm and in-ting hybridity.

Eary support from Olderic, Richie Hawtin, Leftfield (Neil Barnes), Dubfire, Agoria, Felix Da Housecat, Abstract Division (Dave Miller), Dj Fra, Hd Substance, Angel Molina

A fresh iteration of the mid-eighties LP (itself a compilation of recordings from the previous five years or so), replacing two tracks — Dancing In The Rain and All Things — with their full 12' versions.This is a deeply personable, expert, limber blend of roots and lovers, kicking off with an exclusive mix of the deadly Mash Down Babylon; dropping classic, lush, spaced-out Wackies dub science to close; and taking in reworkings of Lickshot, Billie Jean and The Righteous Flames' I Was Born To Be Loved, along the route.The moniker 'Chosen Brothers' is Lloyd Barnes' spiritual way of sharing the credit for his solo projects. "Anyone in the studio at the time could be a Chosen Brother,' he says. In this case a full crew includes Sugar Minott and Prince Douglas at the desk; Jah Batta, Milton Henry, Wayne Jarrett and Junior Delahaye all on backing vocals; and such dream-team Bullwackies instrumentalists as Clive Hunt, Jerry Johnson, Fabian Cooke and Ras Menelik.

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

Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku, is a term that means taking in the
forest atmosphere.' It was developed in Japan during the 1980s and has become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine.
Taking in the forest atmosphere' became the inspiration for A
Hawk and A Hacksaw's newest album. Their forest bath of choice is the Valle De Oro National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. This new album features ten original compositions by Heather Trost and Jeremy Barnes. The opening track Alexandria' features Barnes on the Persian Santur, an ancient hammer struck dulcimer, and Trost's string and woodwind melodies. The composition evokes the long trader's route between what is now Bulgaria and the wealthy cities of Istanbul and Alexandria.
The band has always had a bird's eye view of this part the world—
looking for the connections between places and even eras: a belief in the power of music to reach across borders and unite.
The band is based on the idea of collecting music and inspiration
through travel. They are not of a place, but their music evokes places along a route. This is not urban music. It's rural: songs of the woods and roads where there are no sidewalks or street lamps to light your way.
While the bulk of the music heard on this record is played by Barnes and Trost, they do have some incredible guest performances, namely the clarinet virtouso Cüneyt Sepetçi, from Istanbul, Hungarian cimbalom master Unger Balász, and closer to home, Chicago trumpeter Sam Johnson, Deerhoof's John Dieterich and Noah Martinez, of the band Lone Piñon.