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The Radio 2 Top 2000 is the largest annual radio event in The Netherlands. The audience of Radio gets to vote for their favorite all-time songs. These literally millions of votes come together in the Top 2000. All these 2000 songs are broadcasted back to back from Christmas until a few minutes before New Years Eve, when they air the No.1 of the chart.

Top 2000 - The 60’s contains the best hits from the century in which the music industry saw its biggest change. It were the years some of the biggest bands in the history of music rose to fame, like The Beach Boys, The Kinks, The Who, and Fleetwood Mac. Rock, pop, funk, soul and psychedelia all stand side by side on this release, with artists like James Brown, Nina Simone, David Bowie, Etta James, Elvis Presley, and Dusty Springfield. These artists and many more you’ll find on this wonderful 2LP.

The Top 2000 bridges the gaps between all musical generation from the Sixties to the present, making it the most eclectic chart out there, and keeping more that half of the country glued to their radio day and night for the whole week it’s broadcasted. And with a daily tv spin-off during its broadcast, it has reached an even bigger audience.

Top 2000 - The 60’s is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on yellow vinyl. The package includes an insert.

Brand new studio album! Featuring Captain Sensible and Paul Gray from The Damned, with Johnny Moped drummer Marty Love! Who, what and why are The Sensible Gray Cells? Captain: "Paul Gray and myself being garage psych aficionados would prefer to hear more of this kind of music and this is our contribution to the cause. If I said that some of the songs were 'Damned rejects' that shouldn't be seen as an indication of inferior songwriting.. more that they're not wearing the right shirt." A Postcard From Britain came out in 2013. What have you been up to since then? Captain: "I've never been a prolific writer.. being a lazy so and so I think it's best to wait for inspiration to call.. which explains the 7 year gap..( how many albums could the Beatles have crammed in that period!) but in the meantime PG rejoined the Damned and we've gigged about a bit, which is always fun - CAN WE HAVE GIGS BACK AGAIN PLEASE!" A Postcard From Britain was a snapshot of modern life. Does the new album cover similar themes or have you taken a new direction? Captain: "It's sad that high streets around the world have been destroyed by online shopping but nobody's forcing people to do it.. but what can you do. These are very strange times were living though - I just count myself lucky to have been around to witness the 2nd half of the 20th century.. a fab time for music, culture, ideas.. and that without even mentioning Benny Hill and On The Buses. The new album coincides with all this virus malarkey.. which, unpleasant as it is will undoubtedly be used by the powers that be to tighten the screws on us little people on behalf of their billionaire paymasters. Blah blah, etc. There's a bit of that hidden away in the album."

'Kind of Strange' is taken from Edinburgh super group, Out of the Ordinary's debut album, 'Stranger Things Have Happened'. The original version is an eerily, atmospheric track with a classic film noir vibe, underscored with beats provided by Joseph Malik on the ones and twos, in collaboration with Check Masses members Vic Galloway, Saleem Andrew McGroarty and Philly Collins. Vocal powerhouses, Rosanne Erskine and Philly Collins will have you looking over your shoulder with their edgy, unsettling vocal delivery – was that a ghostly outline or just a curtain blowing in the breeze?

Combine all of these elements with the mighty Steven Christie's keyboard, Paulo ‘Brother’ Riddle’s anchoring percussion and Saleem Andrew McGroarty at the production controls, something rather special comes out of the speakers.

To prepare for their ‘North Street’ remixes, Jo Wallace and Darren Morris immersed themselves in continuous re-runs of iconic TV series, ‘Randall + Hopkirk Deceased’ and ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ enabling them to channel their inner John Barry. Throughout the track, Darren provides swirling, cinematic vamps and lush string arrangements echoing the Warsaw Concerto whilst Chris Greive’s haunting trombone and Vic Galloway, on his electric guitar, beautifully underpin the melody, transporting the listener back to a world of Black and White mystery and suspense.

Mort Garson’s road to cool cultural caché and the sublimity of Plantasia meant a decades’ long journey through an underworld of sophisticated, international, string-laced dreck (i.e., your great-grandparents’ record collection) to arrive at Music from Patch Cord Productions, this set of queasy-listening you now hold.

Music from Patch Cord Productions shows that Garson’s knack was to exist in both worlds, super-commercial and waaay out. He cut delirious minute-long blasts for commercials (as to whether or not they were actually ever aired remains unknown) and spacecraft-hovering études. Were there really account managers out there in the early ’70s that gave the greenlight to these commercial compositions which seemed to anticipate everyone from John Carpenter to Suicide? What were these campaigns actually for, Soylent Green? Regardless, Mort’s jingle work laid the groundwork for the future. As Robert Moog himself noted: “The jingles were important because they domesticated the sound.” Via Garson’s wizardry, the synthesizer transcended novelty to ubiquity and dominance.

Other curios and questions abound. How did Garson’s arrangement work for Arthur Prysock’s satiny body worship album This Is My Beloved transmogrify into the body-snatcher pulses of “This is My Beloved”? Are the two pieces even related? What is the IATA code for the airport of “Realizations of an Aeropolis”? What denomination is the “Cathedral of Pleasure”? If “Son of Blob” sounds like a hallucinatory melted ice cream truck theme, what on earth does Blob’s father sound like? Every sound wrangled out of that Moog by Garson pushes things further and further out.

Of course, these are all questions that may never get answers, as Garson wasn’t the most organized modern day composer, busy as he was conjuring strange new realms with his circuit boards and synths. He worked and wrote right up until his death in 2008, his daughter and Sacred Bones still going through all of the material left behind. He wouldn’t live to see it, but his renaissance was just around the corner, the seeds that had been scattered in record bins around the world suddenly coming to bear fruit. Take a bite!

Mort Garson’s road to cool cultural caché and the sublimity of Plantasia meant a decades’ long journey through an underworld of sophisticated, international, string-laced dreck (i.e., your great-grandparents’ record collection) to arrive at Music from Patch Cord Productions, this set of queasy-listening you now hold.

Music from Patch Cord Productions shows that Garson’s knack was to exist in both worlds, super-commercial and waaay out. He cut delirious minute-long blasts for commercials (as to whether or not they were actually ever aired remains unknown) and spacecraft-hovering études. Were there really account managers out there in the early ’70s that gave the greenlight to these commercial compositions which seemed to anticipate everyone from John Carpenter to Suicide? What were these campaigns actually for, Soylent Green? Regardless, Mort’s jingle work laid the groundwork for the future. As Robert Moog himself noted: “The jingles were important because they domesticated the sound.” Via Garson’s wizardry, the synthesizer transcended novelty to ubiquity and dominance.

Other curios and questions abound. How did Garson’s arrangement work for Arthur Prysock’s satiny body worship album This Is My Beloved transmogrify into the body-snatcher pulses of “This is My Beloved”? Are the two pieces even related? What is the IATA code for the airport of “Realizations of an Aeropolis”? What denomination is the “Cathedral of Pleasure”? If “Son of Blob” sounds like a hallucinatory melted ice cream truck theme, what on earth does Blob’s father sound like? Every sound wrangled out of that Moog by Garson pushes things further and further out.

Of course, these are all questions that may never get answers, as Garson wasn’t the most organized modern day composer, busy as he was conjuring strange new realms with his circuit boards and synths. He worked and wrote right up until his death in 2008, his daughter and Sacred Bones still going through all of the material left behind. He wouldn’t live to see it, but his renaissance was just around the corner, the seeds that had been scattered in record bins around the world suddenly coming to bear fruit. Take a bite!

The cassette (TWI 007) is a faithful reproduction of the 1980 original, complete with PVC wallet, 16 page booklet and tracklist insert.

Les Disques du Crepuscule is proud to present newly remastered vinyl and cassette editions of iconic compilation album From Brussels With Love, which was the very first release on the Crepuscule label back in November 1980 – and is now celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Originally released as a deluxe cassette/book package in a PVC wallet, From Brussels With Love featured 21 exclusive tracks from the international avant-garde and new wave, as well as contributions from the celebrated Factory Records roster. Then, as now, the featured artists include A Certain Ratio, Gavin Bryars, Harold Budd, Thomas Dolby, Dome, The Durutti Column, John Foxx, Martin Hannett, Richard Jobson, The Names, Bill Nelson, Kevin Hewick + New Order, Michael Nyman and Der Plan.
Running for 78 minutes, the cosmopolitan ‘cassette journal’ was curated by Michel Duval, Annik Honore and Wim Mertens, and also includes extended interviews with Brian Eno and legendary French film actress Jeanne Moreau. The cover art by Jean-Francois Octave, with additional graphics by Benoit Hennebert, Marc Borgers and Claude Stassart in the booklet.
From Brussels With Love quickly sold 6000 copies around Europe, earning rapturous reviews in the UK music press. “This is a reminder – without really trying, without being obvious – that pop is modern poetry. Is the sharpest, shiniest collection of experiences. Is always something new” (Paul Morley, NME). More recently, Dan Fox of art magazine Frieze described TWI 007 as “a masterpiece of distinctly northern European post-punk eclecticism.”
To mark the 40th anniversary of From Brussels With Love, Crepuscule will issue 3 remastered editions.
There is also a deluxe 2xCD ‘earbook’ edition (TWI 007 CD) presented as a 10-inch square hardback book, with two full length audio CDs and 60 page book including rare images, posters, sleeve designs and period ephemera, plus a detailed history of the Crepuscule label between 1979 and 1984.

Gorillaz started the year with Episode 1 - ‘Momentary Bliss ft. slowthai and Slaves’ - of Song Machine, a whole new concept from one of the most innovative bands around. Now, six episodes in, Noodle, 2D, Murdoc and Russel have visited Morocco and Paris, London and Lake Como, as well as travelling all the way to the moon, and Gorillaz is ready to bring you the full collection titled Song Machine: Season One - Strange Timez, out on 23rd October 2020.

Song Machine is the ongoing and ever-evolving process which has seen Gorillaz joined by an expanding roster of collaborators captured live in Kong Studios and beyond. The result is an expansive collection of tracks embracing a myriad of sounds, styles, genres and attitudes from a breath-taking line-up of guest artists including Beck, Elton John, Fatoumata Diawara, Georgia, Kano, Leee John, Octavian, Peter Hook, Robert Smith, Roxani Arias, ScHoolboy Q, Slaves, Slowthai, St Vincent and 6LACK.
To date the project has seen over 100million streams on all tracks already and the band’s biggest period of sustained growth across both listenership and fanbase growth. All this before the album has even been announced!

Virtual band Gorillaz is singer 2D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, guitarist Noodle and drummer Russel Hobbs. Created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, their acclaimed eponymous debut album was released in 2001. The BRIT and Grammy Award winning band’s subsequent albums are Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010), The Fall (2011), Humanz (2017) and The Now Now (2018). A truly global phenomenon, Gorillaz have achieved success in entirely ground-breaking ways, touring the world from San Diego to Syria, winning numerous awards including the coveted Jim Henson Creativity Honor.

The band are recognised by The Guinness Book Of World Records as the planet’s Most Successful Virtual Act.

2 x 180g Black 12” vinyl
20 page hardcover 12” art book
Song Machine Season One Deluxe CD
Download card for the full deluxe album
3 x 12” art prints
1 x 12” label copy sheet











j 10. Désolé (feat. Fatoumata Diawara) Extended Version










j 10. Désolé (feat. Fatoumata Diawara) Extended Version

Fragile X is an exciting new collaboration between vocalist Inga Schunn and producer Dylan Chase.

The group began in 2019 when Schunn posted an iPhone voice recording on Facebook in which she sang an acapella in her native German. Her friend Chase, who was recording and releasing at that time as Caffeine Worldwide, heard the 30-second clip and immediately asked Schunn, at that time only an acquaintance, if she might like to record something. Neither of them realised at the time that the first sessions would lead to a debut 4-track EP that capably references as many styles as most full-length albums from established artists, while also setting a blueprint for a project that could go anywhere from here.

The opening track alone, 'Lifetime', opens with a woozy blend of UKG rhythms and Royksopp synths, before giving way to Schunn's sedate rendition of Daniel Johnston's 'Some Things Last A Long Time'...basically the years 1990-2002 distilled into 5 furious minutes of 5am energy.

Across the whole release, Chase's productions show the same cinematic flair that made his previous releases on French Press Lounge, Third Try and Human Concrete Block must-haves for your late-night record bag.
A2 'Prix' with the kind of R&S attitude that would make forebears like LFO or Lone proud, could be the soundtrack for an illegal outback rave or a sunset drive over a Big Sur overpass.
The album closer, 'Fragile X Theme,” sounds something like if late 90's Bjork was commissioned to soundtrack the movie Hackers with Akai samplers on loan from the Hartnoll brothers.

The whole release may be overshadowed by the B1, 'Karaoke Girl', a track Schunn and Chase wrote in Mexico City in 2019 after a rough night at a Zona Rosa karaoke bar.
Opening with dripping synths as soft and inviting as the last drink before sunrise, Schunn tells a story of a woman who overstays her invite at an intimate birthday party between friends, taking the mic from the birthday girl and singing "Seal, Rush and Kate Bush" with a "death grip on the mic."
It's a bizarre, vivid song for such new artists to have come up with, and the lyrics are underpinned by Chase's equally adventurous combination of Nordic disco elements with heavily treated bursts of Japanese koto.
The Lifetime EP's title is a reference to the laborious process that it took to make the record, with multiple recording sessions across two countries followed by endless edits and a Covid 19 related vinyl slowdown bringing its release to a crawl.
The record itself is a fast-paced, dopamine rush debut that we are proud to share with you as both the culmination of a long process, and the beginning of a strange new story.

Rare musical magic from the Bruton library catalogue – ambient, spacey, pastoral and electronic. Music by John Cameron, Alan Hawkshaw, Fran-cis Monkman, Brian Bennett and more – all total masters of the scene. All very cool. All very now. All will sell very fast.

Over the last three decades Jonny Trunk has collected and written about library music. But he’s never had a great deal of luck with the Bruton catalogue. By this he means that he’s never stumbled across a massive stash, or lucked-out buying a huge run for practically nothing –that’s the kind of thing that used to happen in the 1990s and the early noughties if you were out there looking hard for library music. But he did manage to get about 25 in one hit about 20 years ago when the BBC shut down their “TV Training Department” near Lime Grove and also when a box of Brutons ended up being dumped at a hospital radio, and they didn’t want the records, so Jonny got a call.

There are lots of Bruton albums in existence – over 330 LPs in the vinyl catalogue, issued between 1978 and 1985. That’s a lot of music to wade through if you are looking for sublime modern day sounds. For many years now the “trophies” from the Bruton catalogue have been the beat or action driven LPs – the two Drama Montage albums (BRJ2 and BRJ8) have always been the big hitters, and others such as High Adventure (BRK2) too.

But Jonny has always found himself drawn to the lime green LPs, the pastoral, peaceful albums (The BRDs), which were full of the kind of gentle, lovely music that would turn up in Take Hart as Tony was paint-ing a woodpecker or a badger or an Autumn tree. The other Brutons he likes are the orange ones (The BRIs) simply because they are full of ex-perimental futuristic electronics and would remind him of 1980s ITV backgrounds. This LP series includes Brian Bennett’s cosmic classic Fantasia (BRI 10). Jonny has been knows to refer to this style of library music as “Krypton Factor library”, because it’s exactly what that strange but successful 1980s TV quiz show sounded like.

In recent years as interest in library music has expanded, we’ve watched
the price of a handful of Brutons really going through the roof - not the just the action and drama ones, but the more esoteric and experimental LPs too – like the BRDs and the BRIs. Jonny gets the vibe that people fi-nally want to hear this other more interesting and experimental side of the Bruton catalogue. So what better time than now to put together a compilation of such sublime period sounds.

Not only does this album bring together a set of fabulous cues that would cost the average man in the street a month’s wages (if the origi-nals were all wanted and if you could even track them all down), but it also chops out the need to listen to other tracks on library albums that are nowhere near as good.

The cues here all date from between 1978 and 1984. They come from the BRD, BRI, BRH, BRJ, BRM, BRR and BRs catalogues.

The composers are all legends within the genre, and here, were doing what great library composers do best – fulfilling a brief and utilising modern studio equipment to both commercial and beguiling effect.

Laura Marling’s exquisite seventh album 'Song For Our Daughter' arrives almost without preamble or warning in the midst of uncharted global chaos, and yet instantly and tenderly offers a sense of purpose, clarity and calm. As a balm for the soul, this full-blooded new collection could be posited as Laura’s richest to date, but in truth it’s another incredibly fine record by a British artist who rarely strays from delivering incredibly fine records.

Taking much of the production reins herself, alongside long-time collaborators Ethan Johns and Dom Monks, Laura has layered up lush string arrangements and a broad sense of scale to these songs without losing any of the intimacy or reverence we’ve come to anticipate and almost take for granted from her throughout the past decade.

ALTER presents a remastered edition of Cremation Lily’s second album, on vinyl for the first time. Recorded whilst living in Hastings and originally released as a double cassette on his Strange Rules label in 2017, The Processes… forms a trilogy of albums in the CL canon that were influenced by the life and atmospheres within British coastal towns. Composed using a rudimentary set-up of synth, drum machine and two modified walkmans, CL draws upon a broad range of influences from the underground electronic music spectrum. Noise, tape music and ambient techno are all referenced and align to form a cohesive collection of tracks, flowing fluidly in sequence. Melancholic synth pads and deep kick drums intersect with crude field recordings and occasional bursts of feedback, evoking a claustrophobic uncertainty that feels more like being pulled under than carried above.

Features additional piano and violin by Theodore Cale Schafer.
Remastered by John Hannon.

Marion formed in Manchester in 1994 and released their debut album This World And Body in 1996. The album reached number 10 in the UK album chart and the band found further success with the singles ‘Let’s All Go Together’ and ‘Sleep’. To follow up on their triumphant debut, the band returned to the studio to record The Program with exSmiths guitarist Johnny Marr on production duties. Demon Records is proud to present The Program on vinyl for the very first time, pressed on 180g heavyweight translucent green vinyl. This edition includes a print of the album artwork, hand signed by Jaime Harding and is strictly limited to 500 copies.

Grammy-nominated artist and musician Stuart Hyatt returns with another sonic wonder in the Field Works series, bringing the listener into truly uncharted acoustic territory. Ultrasonic is perhaps the first-ever album to use the echolocations of bats as compositional source material. For this special album, Hyatt has assembled an extraordinary group of contributors: Eluvium, Christina Vantzou, Sarah Davachi, Ben Lukas Boysen, Machinefabriek, Mary Lattimore, Felicia Atkinson, Noveller, Chihei Hatakeyama, John Also Bennett, Kelly Moran, Taylor Deupree, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Julien Marchal, and Player Piano. Ultrasonic is part of a broader storytelling project about the federally endangered Indiana bat. Generously funded by the IUPUI Arts & Humanities Institute and the National Geographic Society, each album contains an official printed booklet of The Endangered Species Act of 1973.

"Lost Ark Music" proudly present to you another labour of passion "Praying for the Angels" by Pura Vida. 'The heart of the Last Ark' is beating on the riddim of the drums" ... Play it loud!

"Crawling" is about Puraman's personal struggle in life (...) trying to blend a stepping, jazzy reggae groove with some psychedelic stuff, Pieter De Naegel & Mathieu Vilain provide some "Last Ark Fyah Horns". "Song to Bob" is Puraman's tribute to Bob Marley, with a haunting Bassline provide by Aston "Familyman" Barrett, Orginal Wailer (...) His son Aston Barrett Junior hits the drums like Lightening!

"When the right time come" was recorded in an oldschool fashion, Recording the riddim in one take (...) Puraman on Vocals and Guitar, Boris Perck on the bass, Xan Albrecht on the drums, Wouter Rosseel on Lead Guitar. Bos Debusscher provides a wicked synthline!
Are you ready?

"Pretty Stranger I wrote this song for you... You shurely look like danger but that's what I like about you". Pura Vida goes Psychedelic Rock (...) "Les Eaux Sauvages" is a Love-Song with the Wonderfull voice of Nina "Vitalia" Schelfthout!

"O sopro de Inae" features the warm voice of Alessandra De Queiroz...Straight from Brazil she came to the Mare Altar forest under the guidance of Maarten Rosa in search for the "Arka Perdida".
This song has Portugese Lyrics, praying for the Spirits of Iemanja and Inae (...) The Spirits of the Ocean! "Find a way Home" is a Soultune features Alessandra De Queiroz!

The Title Track "Praying for the Angels" is another combination of Puraman & Alessandra's voice. In a Sixties Psychedelic Spirit (...) Singing about the Lost Souls dwelling the streets of the Ancient City! It was recorded on Puraman's Birthday (...)

"And the lights of the city, drive them crazy. And there's nowhere to run (...) And they're praying, hear them praying for the Angels...".

"Blessings from the Last Ark" features the amazing voices of Roydel "Ashanti Roy" Johnson, Derrick "Watty" Burnett & Kenroy "Tallash" Fyffe from 'The Congos'. Ashanti Roy provides the Bassline and Percussion. Watty & Tallash provide extra magic percussion. Puraman on Vocals, Melodica & Guitar. Pieter De Naegel & Mathieu Vilain play humble and bright on this Deep Roots Tune. Blessings from the Ark. Beyond Time & Space (...)

"Ancestor Spirit Dance" is an Afrobeat inspired tune features the voice of Puraman's Great-Grand-Mother Mathilde Spruytte, who
was a local folk singer.

Kristian Craig Robinson, aka Capitol K, is a multi-instrumentalist and record producer with a long history in London’s most interesting under-the-radar music places and spaces. With a musical story like his, you can expect side streams. New record ‘Birdtrapper’ is “the sound of an initiation rave in a utopian hidden village”, and his latest exploration of Mediterranean audio mythos following from ’Goatherder’ (2018). The six track mini-album was similarly formed from ritualistic improvisations performed in Malta (where Capitol K was born), using home-made flutes, reed pipe, bamboo percussion, drum machine, bass guitar, but this time features a wider use of synthesizers, with the alternative dance floor in mind. Where ‘Goatherder’ was an awakening of genetic primitivism, ‘Birdtrapper’ is an evocation of sonic bird callers, proto-rave abandon, ambient resonance and an ecstatic captive state, along with the previous work's visions of hunters, temples and scrub land music
‘Goatherder’ caused a quiet kind of quake and was beloved by The Quietus, BBCR3 and 6Music. Vinyl Factory described it as “like a series of manipulated field recordings that have an ancient, ritualistic quality … Goatherder shimmers with Balearic strangeness, rooted in an earthy outer-national dance music tradition”. For the last seven years K has been behind the consoles at the heavily influential Total Refreshment Centre, recording and mixing records with the likes of Trash Kit, The Comet Is Coming, Rozi Plain, Alabaster DePlume, Dry Cleaning, Flamingods Cykada, Ibibio Sound Machine, BAS JAN and John Johanna. It’s not just recording. He’s also become an influential if understated mentor to a new wave of producers and bands. His experience in studio environments is long and storied, including stints at Studio Plateaux on an island in the middle of the Thames and in the Royal Symphonia’s squatted rehearsal rooms. Capitol K has released seven albums and the 'Birdtapper EP' follows a legacy of influential releases on early 2000s electronica labels including Planet Mu and XL. Aside this he also runs the record label Faith & Industry. It’s a friends and family, love not money affair and he has released music by Champagne Dub, John Johanna, Super Best Friends Club, Blue House & Clémentine March.

At the turn of the 80's, a new generation of musicians appeared who saw synthesisers not as dehumanizing machines but as musical instruments that could be coaxed into creating modern, beautiful and decidedly emotional music. It was almost as if the musicians were intentionally creating this music to prove the doubters wrong. 

Compiled by Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, “The Tears Of Technology” celebrates this brief period when scruffy synth duos from the provinces broke through and took over British pop. Like mellotrons before them, synths could project a strange and deep emotion; listen to OMD’s ‘Sealand’, or the Human League’s ‘WXJL Tonight’, and it was clear that something in the wiring had an inherent melancholy.

In the 60's and 70's, the synthesiser had mostly been regarded as either a novelty or a threat. Tomorrow’s World warned us that the cold, heartless synth would soon make orchestras redundant. But by 1980, Korgs, Moogs and Rolands were becoming affordable for all, and post-punk had created a safe place for new groups to experiment with these new toys.

The influence of Kraftwerk – who had made a landmark appearance on Tomorrow’s World in 1975 – is all over this collection. Big names rub shoulders with obscurities by Turquoise Days, Electronic Circus and Illustration, all highly prized recordings among ‘cold wave’ and ‘minimal synth’ afficionados. There are pioneers like John Foxx and Thomas Leer, alongside unexpected synth sadness from Simple Minds and the Teardrop Explodes.

“The Tears Of Technology” celebrates an era of electronic melancholia, synthesized intimacies and insights – even Tomorrow’s World didn’t see that coming.

‘Still Strange’ reaches back into the prized loft tapes of Jeff Sharp aka Orior following the revelatory discovery of his overlooked early ‘80s gems on 2016’s ‘Strange Dream’ collection, as coaxed out by
DDS dons Miles Whittaker and Sean Canty.
Huddling another sublime, dusty set of analogue tapes freshly baked and remarkably well-restored by Andy Popplewell, ’Still Strange’ contains four gorgeous flashbacks to the era 1979-1983
surrounding and even pre-dating ‘Strange Beauty’, and then shifts focus to recordings that Orior made around the early ‘90s.
As with its predecessor, Orior is not alone on the material in ’Still Strange.’ From those feted early tapes we find Phil Hollis returning to lend jagged guitar on the drum machine sizzle of ‘Feels Like
Summer’, while the mysterious synth player New Cross John makes vital contribution to ‘Invium.’
Along with the aching synth sigh of ‘To Return’, which pre-dated all of these recordings, and the nine minutes of haunting bedsit strums in ‘Larbico Alt Mix’ which came from the first batch, the
early material is all arguably worth the price of admission alone for seekers of lost synth treasures - really this stuff is just so good..
However, the album’s other six tracks expand knowledge of Orior’s work into the ‘90s and also contain some extraordinary material. Salvaged from further loft tapes found in various states of degradation, and subsequently mixed down between London’s Goldsmiths College and Miles Whittaker’s Whalley Range attic (and elsewhere), they are decidedly more blunt and gloaming, especially in the Deathprod-like ‘Under Shadow’ and the near static witching hour ambience of ‘Endless’, while shorter vignettes such as ‘Unknown Future’, ‘Gothic’ and ‘Another’ point to pre-echoes of BoC’s crepuscular scapes and even Bladerunner-esque sci-fi noir soundscapes

green vinyl / full colour sleeve / incl dl. code

Klute, a.k.a. Tom Withers is no stranger to the LP format, Whatever It Takes is his 9th solo album. It was recorded over a period of 18 months in his own PBJ Studio, located in Suffolk.

Whatever It Takes contains Klute's signature blend of Drum & Bass, Hardcore, Jungle, House, Techno, Electro & Ambient stitched together with Klute' typical disregard for the rules of each genre.

Split into two halves, the album begins in high gear with 8 tracks of Drum & Bass. A rich pallet of D&B styles delicately layered with hidden depths and melancholic harmony. The album then shifts into Klute's own brand of House Techno & Electro, fully revealing his vivid tapestry of musical influences. The end result is highly original, individual and unique. Nobody sounds like Klute.

Klute on the album: "...with so much going on in the world and all the noise created by a growing instant culture I felt compelled to retreat into my own imagination and write individual chapters in melody and rhythm as a form of distraction and personal remedy. Early on in the process I made a conscious decision to make a wholly solo and instrumental record - the first time since my debut album CASUAL BODIES in 1998".
"There's something powerful in the mystique and imagination of music, closing your eyes and letting your mind and body loose to create its own visions. I feel that there is a lot of "surface" music around at the moment that physically dictates what you are supposed to feel. The music I love the most, the music that stays with me the longest is always the stuff that enters my subconscious state."

"Whatever It Takes" is an album for the long haul, to stand the test of time. Take your time, switch off your phone and listen and keep coming back for more.

Facts on Klute: Over the past 25 years Klute has established himself as a leader not just in the world of Drum & Bass but the entire Electronic music spectrum, counting a diverse range of luminaries amongst his fans, including the likes of Goldie, Laurent Garnier, Sasha, Mary Ann Hobbs, Doc Scott, Lee Burridge, Zane Lowe, Nastia, Andrew Weatherall, BT, and the sadly passed Marcus Intalex, David Bowie and late great John Peel.

Klute continues to tour the world as both an in demand DJ and drummer and singer in his hardcore band The Stupids.

The much anticipated follow up to January 2018's 'Season 1' album, which sold over 12k on vinyl and over 6.5k on CD. Formats are double black vinyl with bonus 7"and standard CD. Both formats feature 16 songs. Artists include The Who, Madonna, Howard Jones, The Pointer Sisters, Wham, REO Speedwagon, Teena Marie, The Cars, John Mellencamp, Vera Lynn, Foreigner and more (full track list still TBC). Co op advertising across Netflix. Ads, features and reviews across all press. Online/social media activity. Poster campaign and database mailout. Vinyl format released on July 26th.

Any historians keen on the subject of "French youth in the 1980s" are holding a treasure in their hands. As a true archaeologist of this decade dedicated to disposable culture, digger-in-chief Vidal Benjamin with his newest compilation, 'Pop Sympathie', offers them a unique journey in the heart of the cyclone of emotions that struck all teenagers during the first seven years of François Mitterrand's mandate. Fifteen musical nuggets, exhumed from the dungeons of history, each and every one of them teaching us about what really obsessed the youngsters at that exact moment, i.e. what happens when the city lights come on at dusk, when irrepressible urges that stir them to get lost even more appear until the end of the night.

The artists gathered here did not have the honour of breaking into the local charts, but they all individually reached for the sky. Each song of 'Pop Sympathie' tells more or less the same story: that of a girl who throws herself into the night like one immerses one's self into the void, who rushes into a one-night adventure to become a star. And too bad if in the early morning she finds herself back at square one. In all these miniature odysseys there is neon lights, lasers, smoke machines, broken glass on checkered tiles, strangers on leather benches, celebrities in the bathrooms, stolen kisses, alcohol, drugs and cigarettes, Polaroids, venetian blinds and radioactive tubes.

If the first opus of Vidal Benjamin, 'Disco Sympathie', focused on the funky mood of songs that could have been played at Le Palace, then 'Pop Sympathie' develops itself as the imaginary soundtrack of another nightclub, Les Bains-Douches, the capital’s epicenter of nocturnal drifts. So what do we listen to, blasé, at Bains-Douches? Mainly synthesizers. The child of punk and post punk, French New Wave celebrates the matrimony of machines and lolitas under the auspices of a retro trend that revisits the atomic age. Trying to surf on that wave and hit the charts, a bunch of producers (Stéphane Berlow, Laurent Stopnicki, Bernard "Black Devil" Fèvre, Johny Rech, Jean-Yves Joanny ...) will spot their talents amongst friends, in a travel agency or at the local bar. These virtual stars are called Cecilia, Laurent, Sonia, Janou, Fabienne, Anne, Arielle or Ronan, not even 20 years old, and often leaving just an overexposed photo and their first name on a single as the only memories of their swift passage in this particular musical story. It took all the love and sweet madness of Vidal Benjamin to bring them back in the light of day.

Clovis Goux

"I love it. SO beautiful"
Josh Rosenthal [Tompkins Square]

Songs For A One-String Guitar is the debut instrumental acoustic guitar LP from Jonny Dillon. Better known for his analogue electronic music productions and all-hardware live sets under the ‘Automatic Tasty’ moniker [Lunar Disko, CPU, Wrong Island], Jonny’s records (bearing heavy acid and electro influences), along with live appearances at venues like Berlin’s Panorama Bar and Kiev’s Closer belie the fact that he has been quietly exploring the musical landscape of the guitar for nearly twenty years.

Recorded as a series of sketches over the last 10 years, Songs For A One-String Guitar represents a snapshot taken over a long exposure; one individual’s private response to a variety of currents and inspirations both musical and emotional. While informed in large measure by the world of Irish traditional music and song (of Sweeney’s Men, Planxty and Seán Garvey) along with that of primitivism and the American Spiritual (of John Fahey, Hank Williams and Mississippi John Hurt) these songs are equally a personal attempt to give expression to an inner landscape, from the experience of sorrow and loss to the promise of redemption and renewal.

The LP opens with ‘Turning Invisible In An Imaginary Rose Garden One-Evening’ a contemplative piece played in free-time; “I’ve been playing this piece for years, and it’s gone by so many different names in that time. It’s a sort of shoe-staring daydream, to my mind at least. I want people to disappear when they hear it, and think it suits the LP to open up slowly and reflectively”. While a contemplative strain underpins some of these songs, others are informed more directly by the experience of grief; “I wrote ‘A Requiem For Joe Dillon’ at the death of my uncle. He used play lots of wonderful songs of his own at family gatherings when I was a child, and while a very gifted and sensitive soul, was also troubled by his own demons. The last time I saw him alive was at my family home with my father; I was going out to see some friends and Joe called me back, gave me a hug and made the sign of the cross with his thumb on my forehead, to bless me. It still chokes me up when I think about it. A song of his ‘Light A Penny Candle’ I included to finish the piece in his honour.” A sense of longing and hope is present in other pieces; “Songs like ‘Again But With Feeling This Time’ and ‘Start Again (Carry On)’ come from a sort of hopeful yearning feeling which is always within me; a melancholic sort of joy in search of redemption. For me, music has the strange capacity to express contrary positions simultaneously; to console, redeem and offer transcendence while also expressing suffering and pain. I don’t know what any of this means, but feel as though I’m trying to find my way home by writing the same song over and over again.”

Songs For A One-String Guitar may seem to represent a departure for those who know Dillon for his electronic productions alone, though the reality is that these songs merely represent a new opening onto an old landscape; they are an invitation to more fully share in one individual’s yearning to find meaning through creative expression. “These songs are very personal to me, so there’s a certain nervousness in my seeing them released. I hope that they prove of some use, and that they do some small good to those who hear them.”

LP comes pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

On 29th March, Reclaimed Records are proud to present pianist and composer Taz Modi's elegant debut solo album 'Reclaimed Goods', which brings to light his love for contemporary composition – something which may come as a surprise to fans of soulful dance music heavyweights Submotion Orchestra, and jazz trumpeter Matthew Halsall's Gondwana Orchestra - for both of whom Modi plays keys/piano. Whilst also gaining further demand as a musician, including for A-list studio and live work for funk 'n' soul legends Dennis Coffey and Fred Wesley, plus beatmaker heroes DJ Shadow and Mr. Scruff, Modi has been discreetly pursuing an additional passion during down-time for years – and his prolonged, patient crafting shows in the record's tasteful and beautiful spirit.

Calling to mind the piano music of Cage, Frahm, Hauchska, Sakamoto and Aphex Twin, 'Reclaimed Goods' is a graceful affair, in which lush strings and gently pulsing rhythmic flutters sit alongside prepared and plaintive piano, with the tunes ranging from sparse beauty to weightier moments of electronic rhythms. This allows the music to appeal equally to fans of heavier electronic acts such as Cinematic Orchestra and Bonobo, to devotees of ambient and contemporary classical music, as well as those familiar with Modi's work with both Submotion Orchestra and Matthew Halsall.



Positive review by John Lewis for the Guardian's contemporary music album of the month section: 'An even more effective exploration of solo piano territory comes from British pianist Taz Modi; best known for his work in various jazz and funk ensembles, his solo debut Reclaimed Goods features a host of introspective instrumentals that are reminiscent, variously, of Ryuichi Sakamoto (Libra), Nils Frahm (Time to Practise, Crystalline) and Hauschka (Ethical Tourist).

Featured in Music Week's Tastemaker section, 15th April 2019 with Haydon Spenceley: 'Listen to it; it'll lift you high above our care-worn world to a place of safety and grace'.

First single 'Ethical Tourist' featured as a premiere on 18 Feb 2019

Second single 'Crystalline' premiered on Boiler Room's 4:3 video channel, 12 Mar 2019

'A kaleidoscopic album that seductively pulls you in and leaves you curious about the inspiration behind the songs' - AAA Music

Positive review on Magazine Sixty

Support on Soho Radio, Dom Servini

Played on Worldwide FM, April 3, Gondwana Records show

Featured on Bleep's Spotify playlist 'For Your Ears and For Your Head', April 2019

Played by Mischa Kreiskott, NDR Radio Germany, ndr.de

Worldwide FM's Gondwana Records show on May 1 featured an interview with Taz Modi, along with multiple tracks from the album.



Musicians:

Taz Modi – piano, keyboards/electronics, arrangement and production

Natalie Purton – violin + viola

Liz Hanks – cello

Margit van der Zwan – cello

Seb Hankins and Jon Scott – drums

'Buntús Rince' translates from Irish as 'basic rhythms', and this new compilation explores how Irish musicians were influenced by strands of different genres of music from around the world, merging them to create their own unique sounds. The compilation features some of the most innovative and talented figures in the history of Irish music and includes rare Irish jazz, fusion and folk outliers from the 1970s and early 1980s from musicians relatively unknown outside of Ireland.

Often regarded as a musical backwater, the 1970s finally saw Ireland begin to make its mark on international music. The nature of this feat is all the more commendable, considering how isolated and conservative the country still was in the middle of the last century. The emergence of acts like Skid Row, Thin Lizzy and Van Morrison instilled in budding young Irish musicians the belief to dream big.

Unlike many other European countries, Ireland had not benefited from the cultural impact of immigration. Pioneering Irish musicians did not have access to the type of vibrant music scenes ubiquitous to most European cities at that time. With no talented players or even in some cases recordings of the music, they had to cultivate and invent their own small scenes.

A jazz scene had begun to blossom in Dublin in the late 1950s. Self-taught players like Noel Kelehan and Louis Stewart emerged as the Irish standard-bearers. Their level of musicianship saw them play with some of the world's most renowned artists. The 1960s would see the emergence of the 'beat' scene in Ireland, with groups like Granny's Intentions, Taste and Eire Apparent finally challenging the hegemony of Irish Showbands. Change was in the air.
The late 1960s also saw many Irish emigrants returning home, bringing with them inspiration from the new styles and sounds of London and further afield. The arrival in the late 1960s of pirate radio stations like Radio Caroline, new music magazines and the availability of music on vinyl meant that different genres were now becoming more accessible. The musical landscape of the country began to transform and evolve, influencing a new generation of musicians in the process.
The 1970s saw advancements in studio technology. 8-track studios began appearing in Dublin, offering more opportunities for groups to record singles and albums. Synthesizers and other instruments were also becoming easier to acquire as the younger generation turned to electric jazz and fusion music.
While the level of musicianship was high, the levels of opportunities in Ireland were still very limited. Many groups and solo musicians had to emigrate to try and succeed.
Thankfully for those who remained, this new emerging scene didn't go totally unnoticed and local labels began to take a chance on more obscure Irish groups. Labels like Mulligan and also producers like John D'Ardis and Terri Hooley championed and documented music from the Irish underground of the 1970s.

Their valuable work is a common thread which connects many of the tracks on this compilation. From the soaring flute playing of Brian Dunning, to the swinging piano of Noel Kelehan and the sonic force of Jolyon Jackson's synthesizers; 'Buntús Rince' lifts the lid on a vastly underappreciated period of Irish music history.
One for the collectors.

Eagerly awaited debut album from oft-cited UK's most out-there band, features in the works with The Quietus and Wire already.

180GM PRESSING - 500 COPIES ONLY.

Difficult times required difficult music, my Yarns, that's why we had Guttersnipe; with its own sort of energy-kind there then.Reiner: A singular yield, a singular yield now.Barns: A whot
Reiner: A singular yield mate! Rich guitar strang, flow motive pounding underneath.Vox like Death come winding through the fields. Barns:  Hell of a way to describe a vocal style.
Me: Nah but for real my Donny, Have you read a presser 1 sheet lately It's the most

They say the PR era, circa late 80's killed the golden age of music journalism:
They say Guttersnipe have continuously melted all the forms that they come up against. They are right.  Because Guttersnipe is not part of a tradition we know well. You will identify the departure from it though, immediately, upon hearing My Mother The Vent. This LP, the promotional version of which, likely sits in your hands (disk, whatever). The innovation here is a FIRM commitment to the flowmotive polyrhythm underwriting the seared, nay fried, tonal rainbow and de-reasoned vox.

Not Nate Nelson, nor John the masseuse dude from Sightings but TIPULA CONFUSA.  Don't want to put the captain obvious pants on so tight I can't jump around the yard because why waste a good yard hang. I'll put on my blighty nighty instead. UROCERAS GIGAS has bridged so many gaps, finally unlocked the AxeWeld CODE and is really playing the thing. Not to mention bringing forth a world-view so utterly unique.  Good luck finding anything like it.

Finally some REAL disjunction in the music; clear and intended. In an age when most computer music composers use stochastic systems and still manage to drop some linear pathground shit, the brawler drums and slanky guitar constructions on My Mother The Vent are a genuine treat.  I've spent too much of my adult life so far hearing too much of this shit to not recognize REAL GAME. And here it crawls out of the grey shadows of ol' BLIGHTY.

Our post-music age: after the fine human endeavour known as music, the result of letting the cybernetic run ITS horrible game on us. I'm not waxing confusingly in a rarefied tone here. Nor running the boring sci-fi script. I really think that is were we is.  We left the human-music-on-a-human-scale behind and much to our detriment. Here we sit in our crumbling reality. But Guttersnipe come paleo, like the rhapsodes with long ass memories rattling off Homeric verse well into the age of manuscript culture, but here, with future tones.  Luckily. Otherwise, me and the record label here wouldn't be wasting our time and yours with a 1 sheet for My Mother The Vent.

So a proper first time on wax for these amazing creatures is a welcome addition to the world of things.  These drums and these guit-lines are so cranké, as they say here in my odd neighborhood.  These voices are so utterly expressive without even the damn language at hand ; like the great horns. We'll rinse this record out, I'll put on my old blighty nighty and go dance in the street.  Alex Moskos, Montreal, August 2018Guttersnipe is:UROCERAS GIGAS - Guitar, Analog Synth, VoxTIPULA CONFUSA - Drums, Drum Synth, Vox

Phil Ranelin's first record as a leader is worlds away from his later 1976 offering, Vibes From the Tribe. The Time Is Now is a vanguard jazz record, full of the spirit, determination, and innovation inspired by John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, Pharoah Sanders, and Archie Shepp. Recorded in 1973 and 1974 and released at the end of 1974, the set shows Ranelin to be an imposing composer and frightfully good trombonist. The original album contained six compositions that are a deep musical brew of avant-garde improvisation, hard bop jazz esthetics, and soulful melodic ideas that were superimposed as a jump off point for both harmonic and rhythmic (read: Latin) invention. The stamp of Detroit is all over this thing. Tracks like the title and "Black Destiny" reflect the anger and vision of the era, while moving it all in a positive musical direction. Soloists on the set include the rest of the Tribe collective -- Marcus Belgrave and Wendell Harrison -- as well as local players who deserved far more than they received in terms of national recognitions: bassist Reggie "Shoo-Be Doo" Fields, trumpeter Charles Moore, pianist Keith Vreeland, drummer Bill Turner, and others including Ranelin himself. The arrangements on The Time Is Now were ahead of their time, clustering a rhythm section as part of the horn's front line ("13th and Senate" and the title track) and a stylistic angularity that reflected both musical history and futurism in jazz and R&B ("Time Is Running Out" and "Times Gone By"). The Time Is Now is a must for any vanguard jazz aficionado or anyone interested in the strange, rhythm-oriented evolution of Detroit music. Thom Jurek/AMG

The Lemonheads' first record in 10 years!
Covers album - Includes versions of Nick Cave, Yo La Tengo, The Bevis Frond, Eagles and more.

Extensive world tour over the 12 months, including Europe, USA and Asia. Banana scented scratch & sniff vinyl sleeve!

'The Lemonheads are no strangers to a cover, the grunge-pop heroes perfect the art.' NME

The Lemonheads follow up the critically acclaimed 'Varshons' from nearly ten years ago with another eclectic collection of covers.
Produced by director Matthew Cullen and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Beastie Boys, Nirvana, The Ramones), their tenth studio album brims with the slowly-matured vocal of Evan Dando as he lures a host of personal faves to his melodic lair. He really has become one of the great expressive singers of our time.
What they said about Varshons:

'Gram Parsons, Wire, and GG Allin: You'd be hard pressed to find three more disparate rock acts, yet on 'Varshons' they all sound like the Lemonheads - boppy, overcast alt-rock delivered at a fast clip and sung in a whiskey tenor.' Pitchfork

'Varshons 2' is a hokey jukebox filled with unique versions of Yo La Tengo, Nick Cave, The Bevis Frond, NRBQ, The Eagles, Paul Westerberg, The Jayhawks, Lucinda Williams and John Prine.
Like Hank Williams slumped in his car between gigs, strumming and hollering, reasoning and weeping, humming it on over, Evan and his Lemonheads make every tune their own.

Anders Trentemøller's career is a travel-heavy one, with his touring schedule taking him pretty much all over the world. But it's his home port that's inspired his latest project, the sprawling, stunning compilation mix 'Harbour Boat Trips Vol. 02: Copenhagen'. Clocking in at just over an hour long, the compilation sees Trentemøller curate and craft sixteen songs into a heavy, hazy mix that ranges from shoegaze to electronica, featuring both familiar and celebrated artists like A Place to Bury Strangers (with a new Trentemøller remix) and Slowdive to more obscure finds, as well as Trentemøller's own tracks and remixes, most notably a brand new Trentemøller cover of Neil Young's classic 'Transformer Man'. The mix sees him pick up a thread he left off earlier in his career. In 2009 he put together 'Harbour Boat Trips - 01: Copenhagen', a compilation mix comprised of his favourite music, both Danish and international, from across four decades, loosely inspired by the motion and movement of Copenhagen's busy harbour. Closing in on a decade later, we're getting the second edition, with 'Harbour Boat Trips - 02' arriving this November.

Available as either a 3CD/1 Blu-ray set or a 6LP/1 Blu-ray set, both packages include:

· The original album, now newly remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes. For the LP set, Grundman prepared an all analog direct to disc vinyl transfer of the album, preserving the authenticity.

· Electric Ladyland: The Early Takes, which presents 20 never before heard demos and studio outtakes. Included are incredibly intimate demos for song ideas Hendrix recorded himself on a reel-to-reel tape at the Drake Hotel, as well as early recording session studio takes featuring guest appearances from Buddy Miles, Stephen Stills and Al Kooper. Full tracklist included below.

· Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At the Hollywood Bowl 9/14/68: Part of Experience Hendrix's Dagger Records official bootleg series, this live album documents their triumphant Los Angeles concert held a few weeks before Electric Ladyland was released. The recently discovered two-track soundboard recording captures the energy that had the audience in such a frenzy that many concert goers jumped into the reflecting pool that separated the bandstand from the seats. Full tracklist below. Experience Hendrix's Dagger Records releases are physical only so this will ONLY be available as part of the physical release with no digital.

· Blu-Ray: includes the acclaimed full-length documentary At Last... The Beginning: The Making of Electric Ladyland, the first ever 5.1 surround sound mix of the original album overseen by Hendrix's original engineer Eddie Kramer plus the original stereo mixes in uncompressed 24 bit/96 kz high resolution audio. NOTE: unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances the documentary will not have translated subtitles.

· Electric Ladyland 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition includes a full color, 48-page book containing Jimi's handwritten lyrics, poem and instructions to his record label, as well as never before published photos from the recording sessions that were shot by Eddie Kramer himself. Also included are essays by celebrated journalist David Fricke and Hendrix authority John McDermott

· All contained in a numbered luxe casemade book for CD+Blu-Ray release and casemade lifttop box for the LP+Blu-Ray release with new cover art which is true to Hendrix's original vision of the album's cover: a Linda (McCartney) Eastman photograph of the band and children at the statue of Alice In Wonderland in New York's Central Park.

33 years after it's first release Rick Clarke's street soul simmerdown on Local Records, 'Love With A Stranger', gets a much welcomed official reissue, lovingly remastered from the original tapes.

Just peep that OG artwork to get a taste of how this one's about to go down. Written and produced by John Collins, known for producing The Specials - 'Ghost Town', 'Love With A Stranger' perfectly encapsulates that '80s street soul sound. Distinctly soulful, synthy slow jams, heavy on the bass with a touch of the low-slung, lovers rock vibrations about them. Rick Clarke's sultry sweet nothings weave their way irresistibly through this five minute gem, but for those that want to provide their own rendition over the top, the dub has been affectionately cut to the flip.

Top tier tackle - reissued to serenade red dressed souls the world over once more.

The fourth release of Another Earth, a small Dutch vinyl only label with limited 300 pressings, has finally arrived. The A side is proper techno created by Dave Simon. A1 In Acid We Trust is a peak time acid techno track and A2 Path of Ability has a warm Detroit feel. The B side by Anders Ilar together with John H is more obscure. Deep weird acid techno that seems to come from another planet. Uncertain Principle feels like its exploring the surface of a strange planet with it's weird soundscapes and Field of Vision is a deep obscure acid track with a proper groove. Both tracks have a great analog feel to them.

In ancient LDDLM times, BLDDLM even, Belgium could well have been the freaky house and ecstasy center of the world. If only we could remember all the lost hours... But after all, as the Brussel saying goes: 'it's Friday, tomorrow is Tuesday'.
At LDDLM, we try not to reminisce, that was just setting the mood.We are very happy to welcome ARTHUR JOHNSON in our non-fold, a young producer from Liege via Marseille and La Dame Noir. AJ is amongst those ever mutating artists, his u-turns slowly composing a real personality, and one fitting our contrarian attitude. In a way PERFECT STRANGER reminds us of a good 90's Farley/Heller remix, not so much camp Fire Island than almost sweaty late night trancer. We love those tracks that do not fit our ethos a priori but that we can't stop playing. COSMO VITELLI is a long time family friend and he beams up this stranger through the axis into some kind of romantic italo-german anthem.
BALLADA and SECRETARY DISCORDIA show a different side of AJ, a dub march echoing Dif Juz and a percussive machine funk number. We sincerely hope AJ keeps on straying for the best, his way being our way.

"a Heavy Selection Of Mod-rockers, Garage And Psych-funk Tracks," Runs The Sub-title Of New Compilation Series, Down In The Valley From Perfect Toy, Encapsulating In A Nutshell The Multifarious Pleasures On Offer.

Volume 2 Continues The Good Work Of Volume 1 With Yet Another Breathtaking Selection. Morning Reign's Previously Unreleased Can't Get Enough Of It Provides Big-ass Funky Thrills Along With This Volume's Only Cover - The Penny Arcade's Mod-funk Take On Funky Way. Next Come Two Frantic Garage-soul Cuts From A Pair Of Super-obscure Groups: 1906 & Company And Band Of Gold While Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers' Titty-shaking Instrumental Strange Happenings Slows Things Down To A Monster Shimmy With Retro Horror Movie Vibes. The Animal Show Band's Tell Daddy Provides The Male Answer To Etta James' Tell Mama And Rocks Just As Hard As The Original While Gino Scorza's Funk-tinged Soul Heater Little By Little (which He Originally Privately Pressed Himself) Gets Reissued For The First Time. Closing The Album Is A Real Treasure By Big John K In The Shape Of His Heavyweight Slab Of Soulful Blues-funk - Poor Souls.

Once Again, Chan The Man - Previously The Guiding Light For Perfect Toy's Down & Wired Series - Was The Driving Force Behind This Project. It Is His Incredible Knowledge, Combined With The Network Of Record Collectors, Djs And Vinyl Nerds That He Has Established Over The Past Few Decades Which Have Made It Possible To Come Up With Such A High-octane Selection Of Super-heavy And Extremely Rare Tracks. Accompanied By Detailed Liner Notes And Never-before-seen Photos Of The Artists, Down In The Valley 2 Sets The Bar High For Future Volumes.

Females have never figured strongly in the ranks of blues and rock guitar players, but the woman featured on this LP can claim to be one of the formative influences on modern rock 'n' roll guitar. Sister Rosetta Tharpe is remarkable, not just because she was an acclaimed gospel singer from the late Thirties to her death in 1973, but because she was also one of the earliest exponents of the electric guitar. In fact she helped to invent the whole concept of rock lead guitar. Her guitar-playing, which featured a fingerpicking style unusual at the time, strongly influenced Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Etta James, Little Richard and Bonnie Raitt. Enjoy some of those moments on this collection selected from her prolific first recording decade.

Now presented in a shrink-wrapped 6 panel fold out card wallet on CD, on heavyweight double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve. Digitally re-mastered by John Rivers at Woodbine Studios, November 2017 August 1988, Spacemen 3 embark on one of the strangest events in the band's already strange history. Billed as "An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music" (although consciously omitting the sitar), the group would play in the foyer of Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford, Middlesex to a largely unsuspecting and unsympathetic audience waiting to take their seats for Wim Wenders' film 'Wings of Desire'. Spacemen 3's proceeding set, forty-five minutes of repetitive drone-like guitar riffs, could be seen as the "Sweet Sister Ray" of '80s Britain. Their signature sound is at once recognizable and disorienting - pointing as much to the hypnotic minimalism of La Monte Young as to a future shoegaze constituency. On this double LP reissue, Dreamweapon is augmented by studio sessions and rehearsal tapes from 1987 that would lead up to the recording of Spacemen 3's classic 'Playing With Fire' album. 'Spacemen Jam,' featuring Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce on dual guitar, is a side-long mediation on delicate textures and psychedelic effects.

Southend quartet Ghost Music release their evocative debut album I Was Hoping You'd Pass By Here via Arlen on 19 January. They create careful, considered songs, weaving lo-fi lullabies with gliding guitars and understated arrangements. Influenced by Silver Jews, Flying Nun and K Records, they explore themes of nature, love, loss and a melancholic English romanticism embellished with beautifully spectral melodies and executed with startling subtlety.

Despite this record being their debut, the band has produced a veritable wealth of music over the past 20 years in various guises. Ghost Music revolves around the songwriting partnership of Matt Randall and Lee Hall, who had played together in the 90s with John Peel favourites Beatglider. More recently Randall has received critical acclaim as Plantman, with his three albums Closer to the Snow, Whispering Trees and To The Lighthouse receiving praise from The Guardian, Uncut and Mojo. When Randall and Hall reunited to collaborate on another album together, they brought in the talents of Roy Thirlwall on bass (Melodie Group) and Leighton Jennings on drums (Dark Globes) to complete the band.

The original idea would be that the songs would be 'ghosts' and create 'ghost music' to resurrect and dust off old songs that they had already started. Lee had found the beginnings of 'Home Dog' on a dusty old 4-track and he had recorded 'Strange Love' on his iPhone in 2014, whilst Matt had written 'My Cloud' as far back as 1997 (the night he moved out of his parents' house). As the album began to take shape, the ghostly premise took a back seat, as they began to breathe new life into the songs they found the impetus to write new ones.

Randall explains the songwriting process; 'When we were in Beatglider together and in the past we'd made a 'thing' out of writing long songs with a lot of changes. This time we pared it back a bit and stuck to the melodies more. We really wanted to make a proper guitar record. Lee's my favourite guitarist and it was lovely to see him stretch out on these songs with his diamond fingers.'

Not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves, Ghost Music's sound is instantly familiar, echoing beloved bands from the 90s such as Pavement ('Home Dog' has a definite 'Range Life' feel), Galaxie 500 ('Blindspot'), Yo La Tengo ('Heart Shaped Holiday' is influenced by the languid YLT songs that peak after a short intro) and even old-school rock'n'roll ('Strange Love' was born out of an appreciation for the instantly engaging opening riff in 50s songs). Yet Ghost Music's work never feels derivative, being instead effortlessly emotive, melancholic and affecting, creating a world of sound that is hugely reassuring and a tonic for the modern age.

Having been an electronic activist in Marseille for more two decades and more, DJ OIL is now a firm staple of LDDLM. Following the RAIN ep released in the summer 2016, here is the first 2018 outing from us: the already bubbling HERITAGE ep.
'Heritage' has been an Ivan Smagghe (and a few others) secret weapon for more than a year now, a strange sampladelic track featuring a full Marcus Garvey speech. A subtle yet powerful appropriation of early house clichés, the hit has one feet in tradition, one feet in political modernity.The EP comes with two more warped cuts: the slow guitar swamp of 'Brouillage' and the System 01/McKenna influenced 'May Be'. Psychedelics and sun.
A second 12' by DJ OIL will follow shortly, doubled with a full digital release of the two EP's with digital extras.
Expect new releases from our camp by Rheinzand, Init, Johnson and more...

This is volume 1 out of 2 of hip hop gone wrong from John Daly's West 2 West project.
.
Following up last years well received The Smoke Clears, John Daly returns to the label under another alias - West 2 West which was debuted on Jheri Tracks Vol 1. Equally as atmospheric as the ethereal Smoke Clears, this project is the result of his ongoing hip hop obsession. MPC workouts inspired by current listening, the result isn't quite hip hop, but sits nicely in the all city beat discography. There's an after hours headphone feel to the set - spanning twenty four tracks split evenly over two 12 inches - Volume 1

A strange confluence of sound that sounds part Krautrock synth label Brain records, part Hyperdub.   Techno haze and synth wormholes with spectacular sound design that has banged at Berghain and soundtracked winter night drives.

Greenspan is known mainly for his work with Junior Boys and Jessy Lanza and Taraval is a longtime touring member of Caribou, but both have released several 12' and EPs of electronic exploration over the past few years. 

Inspired by synthesizer minimalists like JD Emmanuel, Cluster and John Carpenter, the two attempted to create a type of dance music with hardware that was indebted to their influences but did not feel intrinsically retrogressive. The idea was to make a type of raw synthesizer and drum machine music that could be listened to beside the hypermodern techno of Pearson Sound or Actress.  

The cover art is a tribute to a mysterious mural that looms over the Hamilton Ontario area where the album was recorded.
Each of the five tracks on the EP were edited down from much longer recording jams which were done with hardware sequencers in real time. The recording was done completely off the floor with no overdubs or added material after the fact. As this release might appeal to synthesizer hobbyists and enthusiasts it seemed appropriate to compile a list of the instruments used in the original recordings. they are as follows: Arp Odyssey  Pioneer Toraiz SP 16 Eurorack Modular System Roland JX8P DSI Tempest Simmons SDS8 Roland SH101 Roland Jupiter 6 Yamaha CS50 Oberheim OBXA

The Numero Group's dive into the deep end of America's private press continues. Having battled the witches and wizards of Darkscorch, the outlaws of Cosmic Americana, and traveled alongside Ladies From the Canyon and their Lonesome Heroes, it's time to take it easy.With pop music's volume knob adjusted for deflation in the early '70s, softness begat smoothness. Crewmen arrived from the worlds of jazz, folk, rock, and soul, all peddling a product that was sincere, leisurely, and lofty. A sound that was buoyant, crisp, defined. Sometimes classified as West Coast—and, later, Yacht Rock—the compass points of our Private Yacht expedition are the blue-eyed harmonies of Hall and Oates, the cocaine-dusted Fender Rhodes of Michael McDonald, and the combover strums of James Taylor. Here, at the glassy apex of rock's softer side, 20 strong swimmers are gathered together. An album for both relaxation and reflection, where listeners can enjoy the present, a cool breeze, and a taste of the good life.

Running a record label offers adiversified and challenging field of activity. This is particularly true when speaking of tiny independent re-issue labels where one, two or three guys have to take care of everything. Tracking down musicians, collecting their stories, writing the liner notes, creating the cover artwork, mastering the songs, promoting the release, communicating with pressing plants and distributors, and so on. Most of the tasks mean fun with the exception of one thing which nobody here at Tramp is keen on doing: writing the sales notes.

Far be it from us to praise our release to the skies. Naturally, we are pretty much convinced of the sheer quality of each song, otherwise we would not have invested so much time and efforts into completing those compilation albums. One thing which surprises us is that despite thousands of Rare Groove compilations on the market neither of the songs to be found here has been compiled elsewhere yet. A fact that not only fills us with pride but also determines our claim for the future. As for now we have done our homework and it is time to let the music speak so that the Gunn High School Jazz Reunion, Keither Florence, Robert Cote, Plas Johnson, Charlie Chisholm Boss-tet, and all the others get the recognition they so richly deserve for their talent and work.

When Tramp opened its doors in the early 2000s it was just for the fun of it. A business plan did not exist and nobody involved with the label had studied anything music related. It was just a bunch of crazy record collectors and music lovers with a simple idea: to share their favourite music with the world. Nobody could have known that this would last for 15 years - and there is no end in sight.