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We finally made it: BEWITH100LP! And what better way for a re-issue label to celebrate such a landmark catalogue number than to give it to a record of new music. We couldn’t resist when the artist is Official Be With Family Member Kenny Dickenson and when the music is his lovely, lovely score to French-Vietnamese artist Mai Hua's 2020 documentary film “Les Rivières”. If you enjoy the more minimal, intimate piano of the likes of Nils Frahm or John Carroll Kirby’s solo work, you’re certain to fall for this beautiful album.

Taking six years to make, Mai’s film explores what happened when she brought her dying grandmother to France, pulling together four generations of women from the same family. Kenny’s score accompanies all the pretty things, sad things, dirty, beautiful, happy, broken and reborn moments of these women’s experiences.

The whole score is built around delicate, sparkling piano motifs. At times they’re joined by cello and complemented with ambient chords and other flourishes. It’s a very particular palette that Kenny and Mai established early on, as Kenny explains: “We had agreed on a particular sonic aesthetic early on in the process - to use specific and relatively minimal instrumentation, reflecting the intimacy of the picture. So piano and cello were quite prominent in instructing a sense of space and immediacy. Until I had to get the junkyard percussion out… ”

When it comes to describing the end results, Kenny’s happy to wear his influences on his sleeve:

“When the director and I sat down for the creative meetings early in the process, we watched ‘Wolf Children’, a Japanese animation film by Mamoru Hosoda. The amazing soundtrack by Masakatsu Takagi was a launching point for me and thereafter I leaned into more modern classical composers - Reich, Sakamoto, Glass as well as Jon Hassell’s Fourth World output. Richard Reed Parry’s ‘Music for Heart and Breath’ was a good early touchstone for me and Mark Hollis’ sparse, considered and deliberate approach was a constant presence. Also labels like Ghostly, ASIP and the ubiquitous Erased Tapes should probably get a nod here too…”

We’d even suggest there’s the occasional Yann Tiersen moment in there too.

Out of sheer necessity the collaboration between Kenny and Mai continued beyond this initial creative direction. With Kenny speaking neither French nor Vietnamese, Mai acted as translator, a process that naturally lead to discussing the film beyond just what was being said in the footage. Mai herself explains just how successful this relationship felt to her: “Music plays a very important role in all my work, particularly in Les Rivières. I cried every time Kenny sent me a new composition. I felt understood in a way that words cannot describe. It was absolutely magical and I am so happy if this music can make your soul vibrate too.”

Kenny composed much of the music in London, at the same time that Mai was shooting and editing. As the film took shape and the music also evolved, another challenge presented itself when Kenny relocated to Los Angeles part way through, resulting in Arnulf Lindners beautiful cello taking on new shapes- multi sampled, played and manipulated by Kenny into new compositions.

What Kenny has put together for the film score release is definitely a “soundtrack LP”, with the music arranged to work as a proper album in its own right that should be listened to from start to finish. Indeed the album also includes a new piece “Pour Marthe” that Kenny composed in memory of Mai’s grandmother who died after the film was finished.

Kenny’s personal highlight is also ours: “When I listen back to the album as a whole now, I never want part II of the Trilogy (Belles Larmes) to end. I have fond memories of recording it and I love how the dynamic of the piece gradually evolves from falling on the ‘1 and the 3’ to the ‘1 and the 2’. It’s so short and sweet, I keep wanting it to last for longer. But it’s kind of perfect as it is.”

Pretty much our sentiment for the album as a whole.

Running a record label means we often get asked advice about pressing a record. In this case the music was too good not to offer to release it ourselves. To Kenny, having the Les Rivières score on vinyl also feels like the final part of the project.

“It’s a beautiful thing to have it on vinyl. It’s quite an intimate soundtrack so there’s something really perfect about being able to listen to it on that format. When I was a kid, my Uncle Pat who used to work at Woolworths would visit and bring random records from their record department over to us. I can remember listening to “Theme From Exodus” by Ernest Gold. I had no idea what it was about but the imagery it conjured up when listening to that record was just mind blowing to me at that age. Soundtracks can have their own life on vinyl I think, and removed from their original context is this unique format for reinvention. So I’m excited that people who haven’t (and have for that matter) seen the film can have that experience.”

This might not be a re-issue, but the Les Rivières film score album has still been given the full Be With treatment. The vinyl has been mastered by Simon Francis (under Kenny’s ever-watchful eye/ear, of course), cut by Pete Norman and pressed at Record Industry. The sleeve follows the film’s poster and other promotional material, including Lucile Gomez’s almost magical illustration.

We’re under no illusions that many people reading this will have seen “Les Rivières”, but that doesn’t really matter when it comes to listening to the score. Just on its own, Kenny’s music still captures the robustness and the delicacy of lives lived.

Mattiel, the Atlanta based group made up of Mattiel Brown and Jonah Swilley, announce
the release of their third album, ‘Georgia Gothic’, on Heavenly Recordings. ‘Georgia
Gothic’, a magic third in Mattiel’s run of full-length albums, was shaped in the quiet
seclusion of a woodland cabin in the north of the Atlanta duo’s mother-state; “Some
faraway place that just Jonah and I could go where there would be no distractions,
nothing else going on, and we could turn everything off and only focus on writing songs,”
reflects Brown.
 Where 2017’s self-titled debut and its 2019 follow-up Satis Factory were written with what
Swilley refers to as a “hands-off” approach - he arranging the music and Brown the lyrics
and vocals, the two working largely separately - the making of ‘Georgia Gothic’ was, for
the first time, a truly collaborative undertaking. “This was the first time we made a point to
just be together and work out ideas in the same room. That was the initial intention... it
was about learning what each other wanted to accomplish on a sonic level, and then just
trying different things out,” Swilley continues. “Everything happened backwards. Normally,
you’d have friends that make a band... with us, we started making music from the jump,
and then became homies.”
 Cultivated by time spent together on the road touring the first two albums, it is this
newfound sense of intimacy between Mattiel’s members that enabled the writing of
‘Georgia Gothic’ not as two separate musicians, but rather as one creative entity. The
album remained within the four walls of Brown and Swilley’s private world for much of its
evolution - with recording taking place in a simple studio set up by the pair in the
borrowed room of a dialysis centre, Swilley in the producer’s seat - until, nearing
completion, it was transferred into the trusted hands of the Grammy award-winning John
Congleton (whose extensive list of credits includes artists as diverse as Angel Olsen, Earl
Sweatshirt, Erykah Badu and Sleater Kinney) for mixing.
 Not only does the affinity between its creators translate into an electric synergy between
‘Georgia Gothic’s words and music - the brine-shock of Brown’s taut lyricism cut against
the bourbon-smoothness of Swilley’s instrumentation - but here too are the palpable
spoils of experimentation, each party trustful enough of the other to trial and error their
practices into new geometries. Swilley puts this wide palate, in part, down to the place
they call home. “I definitely feel like being from Georgia allows us to have a certain way of
approaching music.” Brown chimes in: “We haven’t really highlighted where we’re from in
the past two records, even though those were also written in Georgia. There’s so much
great art and great music that’s come from Georgia, from all different types of genres and
all over the state - but take R.E.M. and OutKast: there’s this weirdness that I can’t really
put my finger on.” Swilley concurs: “It’s the same with the B-52s, the Black Lips... it
doesn’t feel like L.A., it doesn’t feel like New York, it feels like another planet. We’re not
really in a ‘scene’ here in the same way. You have to make your own sound, create your
own identity.”
 And it is precisely the forging of Mattiel’s distinct musical identity that ‘Georgia Gothic’
signals; its members guiding each other ever-homewards not just in a geographical or
sonic sense, but spiritually, too.
 Initial LP pressing on Red Hot coloured 140g vinyl with digital download code. (Once this
format has sold out, a black 140g vinyl edition with digital download - HVNLP202 - will be
made available.)

Born in Birmingham, Thomas Atlas began his impressive musical journey studying the greats thanks to his Father’s record collection.
From then, his fondness for Funk and Soul has grown stronger, taking him touring the UK and USA with some of the finest outfits. But Thomas always knew his destiny was to follow his own path and he has done just that! Now collaborating with British boutique record label Hillside Global on these exclusiverecordings.

The self-titled ten-track debut album leaks zest like a freshly pressed fruit.

This multifaceted artist takes influence from Maceo Parker and George Duke, while keeping true to his vision. It gets the foot-tapping instantly with an infectious cadence. Also, vocally, Thomas boasts a charming timbre which smashes through the mix with conviction.
The slick guitar riffs, bluesy rhythms and fist-pumping beats rip through with might, leaving the thirst for feel-good fully quenched! Hillside Global’s aim is to deliver an experience not just a product. These recordings are pressed under the Hillside Global Exclusive Black Label. The limited edition, first pressing consists of a spot-varnished gatefold sleeve housing a 180g marbled coloured vinyl.
This deluxe release also includes a complimentary download card, alongside a hand numbered certificate of authenticity signed by the label director and recording artist. Designed and pressed in Great Britain

Steve Vai has continually challenged notions of traditional guitar playing
and composition – and on more than one occasion even reimagined the
very instrument itself."I don't sit around and say, 'Okay, what can I do now
that pushes the boundaries?," Vai explains about his approach to the
guitar
"What I do say to myself is, 'Okay, Vai – what are you going to do now that's going
to interest you, that's going to fascinate you, and that's different than anything
you've done before?"The answer to that question comes in the form of Vai's
newest and 10th solo album, 'Inviolate', a nine-song opus that does indeed push
the boundaries of instrumental guitar music – this time out, Vai quite literally
invented not just a new guitar, but also a new guitar-playing technique. The Hydra,
the elaborate three- necked steampunk- inspired guitar that Steve holds on the
album cover, is actually played on the song 'Teeth of the Hydra'. On the other hand
(no pun intended), Steve recorded and played the song 'Knappsack' with just his
left hand, after his right arm was in a sling following shoulder surgery.
At the same time, 'Inviolate' presents his most focused, streamlined and perhaps
invigorating music in years. The album features a host of esteemed musicians,
including Billy Sheehan, Vinnie Colaiuta and Terry Bozzio.
Classic Rock - Album Review Classic Rock - Soundtrack To My Life feature
Fireworks – 2-page interview Fireworks - Album Review The Guitar Mag - 8-10
page Interview Guitar Techniques - Album Review GT332 9th Feb Guitar
Techniques - Q&A 9th Feb GT332. Guitar Interactive - Front cover & substantial
feature Guitarist - Front cover/Guest Editor/8-10 page feature Guitarist - Album
Review HRH - Album Review HRH - interview Powerplay - Interview Prog - My Prog
Hero feature on John Petrucci Rock Candy - 8-Page Interview Feb/Mar iss Total
Guitar - Interview

As pieces of musical curation go, Kenny Dope’s reimagining and reediting of the Wild Style breakbeats is outstanding. While the music from the ‘Wild Style’ OST is truly seminal, the story behind it is even more fascinating.

Underneath the voices of important rappers from hip-hop’s first wave – Cold Crush Brothers, Double Trouble, Rammellzee, Busy Bee and more – were a selection of backing beats that have underpinned and influenced a whole lot of hip-hop ever since.

It would be easy to mistake them for genuine breakbeats dug out of crates, but they’re not. Overseen by hip-hop impresario Freddie Braithwaite – better known as Fab 5 Freddy – in collaboration with Blondie’s Chris Stein – the songs from the Wild Style soundtrack are all unique creations intended as a homage to the early breakbeats.

Drummer Lenny Ferrari – who had played for Aretha Franklin before emerging on the punk scene – and bassist David Harper played many of the iconic grooves, two somewhat forgotten participants in shaping a legendary sound. They – and Chris Stein – weren’t even in the same studio at the same time.

Kenny Dope, a long-time fan of the music, later acquired the original reel-to-reel tapes from Charlie Ahearn, the film’s director. Using the Wild Style breakbeats – many just a minute or so long – he transformed them into longer edits that give them more room to breathe. ‘Down by Law’ and ‘Subway Beat’ are two of the most famous, breakdance classics that summon up visions of graffiti’d trains speeding through the South Bronx.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952), the third novel in C. S. Lewis’ fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. It is also the third and final installment in the original Chronicles of Narnia film series. Set three years after the events of Prince Caspian, the film follows the two youngest Pevensie children, Edmund and Lucy, as they return to Narnia to join the new king Caspian in his quest to rescue seven lost lords and to save Narnia from a corrupting evil that resides on a dark island.

Composer David Arnold scored the film, with themes composed by Harry Gregson-Williams (who scored the first two films). It was Arnold’s fourth collaboration with director Michael Apted. He created specific themes for the characters The Dawn Treader and Reepicheep, and used themes from the previous films for the opening and closing scenes as well as recurring characters, to ensure that the film is consistent with the franchise. The score was performed by an 87-piece orchestra and a 40-piece choir, resulting in an epic soundtrack with just the right magical touch to compliment this film.

The Original Soundtrack to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader is available on black vinyl and includes an insert.

Green coloured vinyl edition of William The Conqueror’s
‘Maverick Thinker’ album from last year, released to
coincide with the band’s upcoming tour and book
publication.
 William The Conqueror have paid their damn dues. Like
the sportsman cutting chipped teeth in the lower leagues
before shooting to the very top, this band have lugged all
the amps, placated the in-house sound guy for an easier
life, their nails dirty, their hair unkempt. Enough.
 Except it’s never enough, because despite their slinky,
swampy, razor-sharp, blues-drenched, guitar thrashed
alt. rock songs that form new album ‘Maverick Thinker’
and suggest that the door is opening for bigger rooms
and broader audiences, it’s those sticky basement bar
stages where the songs have always shed a skin and
come alive. The record put the three piece behind the
glass at Sound City Studios in LA, treading the same
carpet as the likes of Nirvana, Johnny Cash, Neil Young,
and Fleetwood Mac and they might well have inhaled
the spirit of them all.
 William The Conqueror’s protagonist is Ruarri Joseph,
who knows his way around a melody and a verse.
Joseph’s wryness suggests life just ain’t plain sailin’ and
he fizzes that sigh and lament into something that
breathes heavy with heart and with soul.
 LP in a gatefold sleeve with printed inner sleeve and
digital download card.

New West Records is proud to present the reissue of two classic Antone's Records blues titles.

These two titles have been remastered for vinyl. Each LP is displayed in a beautiful, one of a kind package (leather texture, die- cut, embossed logo) and pressed onto 180- gram vinyl that is manufactured in the USA. These limited edition pressings are now available on color vinyl for the first time. Pressed on 180 gram Cherry Red Color Vinyl.

With the world in chaos, exhilarating new music has become more
important than ever before.

As a re-sult, the emergence of French tech-metal mavericks Stengah could hardly be better timed. One of the most exciting new bands on the planet, the French quintet have spent the last few years in a state of per-petual evolution, armed with some of the most visceral and forward- thinking riffs and refrains in recent memory. Now, the band are ready to introduce themselves to the world. Founded by drummer Eliott Williame in 2013, Stengah have the sound, the smarts and the
ambition to push heavy music ever further into the future. After years of steady evolution and meticulous attention to detail, the band – completed by bassist Benoit Creteur, lead guitarist Maxime Delassus, rhythm guitarist Alex Orta and powerhouse frontman Nicolas Queste - have honed their sound to a state of cutting- edge perfection, as showcased on their formidable, forthcoming debut album SOMA SEMA."The music is about (re)connecting with yourself," says Eliott.
"It's about people, their fears, their faiths and their philosophies. How sometimes those things can guide them, and how sometimes they can blind them. It asks, with no judgement, about how odd and how strange the social and emotional behaviors of human beings are. It's all about the power to believe, in creativity, and in consciousness. Our music is technical but fun to play," adds Eliott. "People often become surprisingly transfixed by our energy, espe-cially when they haven't
seen us before. We love being on stage, we are truly passionate and that is what you see and feel during our live performances, from the first to the last song."

The history of metal is littered with the burnt-out shells of bands that lacked the vision and the vivacity to make things happen. For Stengah, the sheer power and fury of their music drives them forward. Mean- while, the sheer quality and ingenuity of Soma/ Sema looks certain to propel the band swiftly up the heavy music ladder and into the spotlight. Newly signed to Mascot Label Group, they're just getting start-ed and the sky's the limit!

Nate Scheible's "work of gentle genius" – Fairfax – is arriving on vinyl & all digital services in February 2022. Remastered by Lawrence English and featuring brand new artwork, this edition uncovers a completely new side of the "dreamy and dramatic, meditative and somber" album by the American artist. ~~~

"Few albums have stuck with me like Nate Scheible's Fairfax. In fact, I feel lucky to have had my copy of the original tape to drop into over several years, some heartbreaks, a few streaks of loneliness; when I've not felt terribly well, or couldn't face reflecting for fear of noticing personal decay.

With fresh treatment from mastering maestro, Lawrence English, this new version has brought out fresh new colours in Scheible's elegant composition. The moments of icy isolation are sharper, while the embrace of the album's finale is warmer and heartier than ever. Scheible's found polaroids on the front of the package also fit so aptly that they barely even feel new. The album's allure and message of craving is more powerful than ever.

To anybody who hears this album, she's a great heroine of literature, the voice of Fairfax. Her frank admissions of longing and weakness are infectious cries of hope. She's a powerful woman, unashamed, the innermost voice of reason, grasping the world together selflessly. I wanted to tell her about the times when things weren't so good. I want to tell her now too, just how well things can turn out.

Scheible's beds of oozing and luscious melodies, decaying on reels or tape, flinging out from plucked bass strings, or rising from a struck vibraphone, are a truly loving soundtrack to this mysterious voice found on a tape that came into the artist's possession. The audio letters reveal the woman's story of painful hope and self-gifted redemption, while the click of the saxophone and moan of Scheible's wobbly piano snippets, they sing her – no ~our~ – mood right back to us. Fairfax reminds us that, like the protagonist, we're all gonna do something, ~someday~."
– Tristan Bath

Nightcrawlers is a Scottish house music project, assembled by producer, DJ and vocalist John Reid. In 1992, John Reid formed the act following his local success as a DJ and vocalist. It was 1995 when he released his debut album, which was titled after its lead single. Two singles of the album reached the UK Top 10: “Push The Feeling On” and “Surrender Your Love”, plus three singles that reached the UK Top 40: “Don’t Let The Feeling Go”, “Should I Ever (Fall In Love)” and the lead single “Let’s Push It”. The latter became an overnight success, peaking at No. 7 on the US Hot Dance Club Play charts and briefly crossing over to pop radio, peaking at No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Push The Night Again” gained new spotlight recently, when Nightcrawlers together with Riton scored a worldwide#1 hit with “Friday”, which is a remix of the track.

“Push The Feeling On” was then remixed by Marc Kinchen, an American record producer. He stripped down the song to edited vocal samples, creating an unusual sounding track “The Dub of Doom Mix”. Reid released an album containing all six singles he had previously released, using the single “Let’s Push It” as the album’s title. Marc Kinchen once again worked closely with Reid, repeatedly remixing tracks to his trademark sound.

If this word "music" is sacred and reserved for eighteenth and nineteenth century instruments, we can substitute a more meaningful term: organization of sound.
- John Cage

Kista returns from a long hiatus with his first ever all instrumental LP.

Songs From The Seas Edge takes us on a journey into the mind of producer and Graffiti Writer Kista.

It's an album where all his early influences or things that intrigued him, all come together, his love for Sc-Fi Movies, Hip Hop, 80's Arcade Games, John Carpenter Soundtracks and Films (you will notice a few vocal samples from his films nestled away among the songs) and many other things that influenced him growing up as a kid.

In a world now dominated by Playlists and the digital age, Kista took a step back to try and make an album that all fitted together, a concept album based around living on the coast as a kid in the 80's.
“ I started going through samples i put aside years ago and started to go back to them, to try and make them all fit and blend together to form an instrumental album”.

“It's kind of hard to explain where Songs From The Sea's Edge fits to my previous work” explains Kista
“ I wanted to make something for myself that I could then share, a journey, something to listen to from start to finish,with certain samples making an apperance in more than just one track.

Songs From The Sea's Edge has an hypnotic and haunting synergy to it, it's atmospheric, melodic but is still firmly rooted in Kista's love for Hip Hop.

Press play and enjoy.

"If I could watch any jazz band in the UK, any, I would choose Matthew Halsall's band, just love what he's been doing over the last few years... It's always high level, spiritual jazz music" Gilles Peterson BBC Radio 1.

Matthew Halsall (born September 11, 1983, in Manchester, England) is a Worldwide Award winning and MOBO nominated trumpeter, composer, producer and DJ.

Since 2008, Matthew has released seven critically acclaimed studio recordings and has been a key figure in the rise of a new jazz sound in the UK. In addition to his own releases Halsall has collaborated with many DJs and producers, most notably DJ Shadow and Mr. Scruff, and in 2013 Matthew's music was selected by Bonobo for his Late Night Tales compilation. Halsall is also the founder of Gondwana Records, a genre bending independent record label featuring a wealth defining albums by the likes of Portico Quartet, GoGo Penguin, Hania Rani and Mammal Hands.

His own rich music draws on the spiritual-jazz of Alice Coltrane and Phaorah Sanders, contemporary electronica and dance music alongside his travels in Japan, the traditional art and music of which, has left a lasting impression on his compositions.

Sending My Love (2008) and Colour Yes (2009) were his first releases and document Halsall's first great bands featuring the likes of flautist Chip Wickham, saxophonist Nat Birchall, harpist Rachael Gladwin, bassist Gavin Barras and drummer Gaz Hughes. Joyful, life-enhancing albums, drawing on UK jazz and spiritual jazz influences but with a decidedly modern bounce, they introduced Halsall's music to the world gathering support from the likes of Gilles Peterson and Jamie Cullum, Mojo, Straight No Chaser and beyond.

But Halsall was never completely happy with how the records were presented and as part of Gondwana Records 10th anniversary decided to revisit the recordings, meticulously remixing and remastering them for vinyl and commissioning new artwork from Ian Anderson, one of his favourite designers. These then are the definitive editions of the records.
Sending My Love comes complete with the beautiful bonus track This Time, while Colour Yes features the equally striking It's What We Do and Ai.

"I am very proud of these early recordings. They represent the starting point of my musical journey in Manchester and showcase some of the cities finest musicians such as: Nat Birchall, Chip Wickham, Rachael Gladwin, Adam Fairhall, Gavin Barras and Gaz Hughes. They are also the very first recordings my brother and I decided to release on our record label (Gondwana Records). Listening back they sound full of energy and joy and really reflect how I was feeling at that precise moment. But as much as I loved the music, I was never 100 percent happy with the sound of the mixes and mastering.
So I decided to go back to the original tapes to remix and remaster them and present them the way I'd always wanted, and along the way we unearthed a couple extra unreleased tracks, which we decided to include as bonus material. Myself and my brother also decided to bring in Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic to re-imagine the artwork and we are super blown away by the results!" Matthew Halsall, Oct 2019

Some Crate-digging Compilations Are Often The Result Of Someone Hand-picking Their Choice Favourites From Another Country's Musical History, Perhaps Unaware Or Uninvolved With Its Cultural Lineage In The Process. On Soundway's Latest Release - A Treasure Trove Of Synth Jams, Pop, Samba Boogie, Balearic And Electro From 1980 & '90s Brazil - The Tracks Are Picked By Millos Kaiser, One Half Of The Brazilian Duo Selvagem, Who Are At The Helm Of Throwing Some Of The Country's Best Dance Parties. It's A Rare Compilation That Offers Brazilian Music Actually Picked By A Brazilian.
Whilst Names Such As Ricardo Bomba, Villa Box, Fogo Baiano, Electric Boogies And Batista Junior May Not Be Household Names, They Tell An Untold, Yet Rich And Important Part Of Musical History In Brazil. The Release Also Covers A Decade That Has Been Intentionally Forgotten And Brushed Aside By Many In The Country.
Onda De Amor Is A Release That Is Loaded With Smooth Grooves, Bubbling Bass, Glistening Synthesisers, Funk Strutting Guitar Lines And Sheen Of Production That Undeniably Marks It Of Its Time. For Kaiser This Compilation Is About Reintroducing Music During A Period Of Reappraisal, Catching A New Wave And Hoping Contemporary Listeners Will Ride It With Him. the Idea Is To Do Justice To These Songs. Songs That Combine All The Right Ingredients That Should Have Put Them On
Radio Playlists When I Was Growing Up Or At Least In The Cases Of More Adventurous Djs'.
Millos Kaiser Is A Dj, Digger, Vinyl Junkie/dealer Born In Rio De
Janeiro And Living In São Paulo For The Past 8 Years. He Launched The Dance Party/club Night Selvagem With Partner Trepanado In 2010, Bringing Thousands Of Dancers One Sunday A Month To A Public Square In The Heart Of São Paulo.

Today sees Belgian-Caribbean provocateur Charlotte Adigéry and her long-term musical partner, Bolis Pupul announce their debut album Topical Dancer, due for release on March 4 2022 via Soulwax’s iconic label DEEWEE.
Cultural appropriation. Misogyny and racism. Social media vanity. Post-colonialism and political correctness. These are not talking points that you’d ordinarily hear on the dancefloor but Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are ripping up the rulebook with their debut album Topical Dancer. The Ghent-based duo, who broke out with their 2019 Zandoli EP, are rare storytellers in electronic music: they take the temperature of the time and funnel them into their playful synth concoctions – never didactic and always with a knowing wink.

Their debut studio record – which cements them as a duo under both their names for the first time and is co-written and co-produced by Soulwax – is both a triumph of kaleidoscopic electro-pop and “a snapshot of how we think about pop culture in the 2020s.” It captures Charlotte and Bolis’s essence as musical collaborators and the conversations they’ve had over the past two years on tour, as well as their perspectives as Belgians with an immigrant background, Charlotte with Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Bolis being of Chinese descent.

Beyond the album’s thematic heft, Topical Dancer reflects Charlotte and Bolis’s idiosyncratic sound: it’s thoughtful but it bangs. Their take on familiar genres is always off-kilter; songs sound undone or a little wonky; but these are nocturnal heaters to make the club throb. “We like to fuck things up a bit,” laughs Bolis. “We cringe when we feel like we're making something that already exists, so we're always looking for things to combine to make it sound not like a pop song, not like an R&B song, not a techno song. We’re always putting different worlds together. Charlotte and I get bored when things get too predictable.”

Topical Dancer is fizzing with ideas – there’s certainly no filler among its 13 tracks. But above all, perhaps, it has a restlessness, a desire not to be boxed in and to escape others’ narrow perceptions of who they are. It’s summarised by the refrain of their new single, ‘Blenda’: “Don’t sound like what I look like / Don’t look like what I sound like.” “One thing that always comes up,” says Bolis, “is that people perceive me as the producer, and Charlotte as just a singer. Or that being a Black artist means you should be making ‘urban’ music. Those kinds of boxes don’t feel good to us.”

‘Blenda’ in particular references how “I am a product of colonialism,” says Charlotte, “and I feel guilty for taking up space in a white country.” The song was inspired in part by Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book Why I’m Not Longer Talking To White People About Race. “It talks about the colonial past and post-colonial present in the UK,” Charlotte continues, “but that isn’t merely a British or American problem, Belgium is part of that as well.” She says that her home country is likewise “oblivious to a big part of its history” which “results in general ignorance and a lack of understanding and empathy towards Belgian inhabitants of immigrant descent.”

On Topical Dancer, it’s less about finger pointing or being dogmatic about all the things they speak about. It’s about emancipation through humour. “I don’t want to feel this heaviness on me,” says Charlotte. “These aren’t my crosses to bear. Topical Dancer is my way of freeing myself of these issues. And of having fun.”

Ltd Black & White LP

Today sees Belgian-Caribbean provocateur Charlotte Adigéry and her long-term musical partner, Bolis Pupul announce their debut album Topical Dancer, due for release on March 4 2022 via Soulwax’s iconic label DEEWEE.
Cultural appropriation. Misogyny and racism. Social media vanity. Post-colonialism and political correctness. These are not talking points that you’d ordinarily hear on the dancefloor but Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are ripping up the rulebook with their debut album Topical Dancer. The Ghent-based duo, who broke out with their 2019 Zandoli EP, are rare storytellers in electronic music: they take the temperature of the time and funnel them into their playful synth concoctions – never didactic and always with a knowing wink.

Their debut studio record – which cements them as a duo under both their names for the first time and is co-written and co-produced by Soulwax – is both a triumph of kaleidoscopic electro-pop and “a snapshot of how we think about pop culture in the 2020s.” It captures Charlotte and Bolis’s essence as musical collaborators and the conversations they’ve had over the past two years on tour, as well as their perspectives as Belgians with an immigrant background, Charlotte with Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Bolis being of Chinese descent.

Beyond the album’s thematic heft, Topical Dancer reflects Charlotte and Bolis’s idiosyncratic sound: it’s thoughtful but it bangs. Their take on familiar genres is always off-kilter; songs sound undone or a little wonky; but these are nocturnal heaters to make the club throb. “We like to fuck things up a bit,” laughs Bolis. “We cringe when we feel like we're making something that already exists, so we're always looking for things to combine to make it sound not like a pop song, not like an R&B song, not a techno song. We’re always putting different worlds together. Charlotte and I get bored when things get too predictable.”

Topical Dancer is fizzing with ideas – there’s certainly no filler among its 13 tracks. But above all, perhaps, it has a restlessness, a desire not to be boxed in and to escape others’ narrow perceptions of who they are. It’s summarised by the refrain of their new single, ‘Blenda’: “Don’t sound like what I look like / Don’t look like what I sound like.” “One thing that always comes up,” says Bolis, “is that people perceive me as the producer, and Charlotte as just a singer. Or that being a Black artist means you should be making ‘urban’ music. Those kinds of boxes don’t feel good to us.”

‘Blenda’ in particular references how “I am a product of colonialism,” says Charlotte, “and I feel guilty for taking up space in a white country.” The song was inspired in part by Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book Why I’m Not Longer Talking To White People About Race. “It talks about the colonial past and post-colonial present in the UK,” Charlotte continues, “but that isn’t merely a British or American problem, Belgium is part of that as well.” She says that her home country is likewise “oblivious to a big part of its history” which “results in general ignorance and a lack of understanding and empathy towards Belgian inhabitants of immigrant descent.”

On Topical Dancer, it’s less about finger pointing or being dogmatic about all the things they speak about. It’s about emancipation through humour. “I don’t want to feel this heaviness on me,” says Charlotte. “These aren’t my crosses to bear. Topical Dancer is my way of freeing myself of these issues. And of having fun.”

Much is made of Detroit techno progenitors proximity to the auto plants. Similarly, overlooked electronic pioneer Jeff Phelps was raised just blocks from a Western Pennsylvania steel mill_close enough to smell the sulphur and hear the roaring blast furnace. When Tascam released their ground breaking Portastudio in 1984_allowing multi tracking on the far more financially inclusive cassette tape_Phelps purchased one immediately, and quickly added a Roland SH-101 monophonic synthesizer, Fender Rhodes suitcase piano, Roland drum machine, and a basic Radio Shack stereo mic. Those basic tools were employed on his first commercial productions for his own Engineered For Sound label: 1985's "Magnetic Eyes" LP and Antoinette's "Now You're Gone" 45. These DIY sketches generated few profits, and Phelps kept his day job in the energy business. Jeff Phelps eventually found his way back into performance and recording, starting with The Next Level Band near the end of the decade. Houston gourmands might have caught them at the opening of Texas's first Cheesecake Factory. "Magnetic Eyes" has already had a few lives, between TomLab's 2010 replica pressing and inclusion on Dante Carfagna's genre-defying Personal Space compilation. This 2021 edition features the heretofore un-re-released second mix, completed after discovering flaws in the initial 1985 pressing. Enjoy this technically perfect, artist-approved version of a visionary techno-adjacent masterwork.

On a balmy Brazilian night in February, 1981, a crowd gathered in Rio de Janeiro's Gávea neighbourhood under the iconic dome of the city's Planetário (Planetarium). Alongside musicians like Helio Delmiro and Milton Nascimento (who were in the audience that night), they were there to see the great "Bruxo" (sorcerer) Hermeto Pascoal live in concert, with his new band formation which would become known simply as "O Grupo" (The Group).

Growing up on a farm in Brazil's northeastern state of Alagoas, Hermeto has always been deeply in tune with, and inspired by nature. In his youth he would make his own flutes to play call and response with the birds and frogs. He would build scrap-metal instruments in his blacksmith grandfather's forge, and sit for hours by the lake listening to the sounds of nature. On the Planetário Da Gávea recordings though, Hermeto is cast as the "sorcerer" or the "cosmic emissary" (as the great Brazilian guitarist Guinga once called him), exhibiting an intuitive sense of harmony and melody beyond that of our own world.

"Tudo e Som" (All is Sound). It's a phrase Hermeto regularly returns to, and it points to the fact that not only can music be made from anything, but also alludes to something much more profound. It's an understanding of the universe as being in a state of constant movement, forever vibrating at the quantum level, like the string of a guitar, or a saxophone's reed. "Tudo e Som" is a declaration of the mystical and spiritual power of sound, as a fundamentally vibrational force.

The series of concerts at the Planetário marked the birth of "O Grupo" which would last with the same line-up (apart from Zé Eduardo Nazário) for the next eleven years. Every member of O Grupo was a phenomenal musician in their own right. It was one of saxophonist/flautist Carlos Malta's first gigs with the group, and the concert unusually featured two drummers, Zé Eduardo Nazário and Marcio Bahia. Nazário, from São Paulo, had played with Hermeto during the mid-70s (as well as with Milton Nascimento, Egberto Gismonti and Toninho Horta, to name a few). Bahia though had just joined the group. Acclaimed keyboard player Jovino Santos Neto was on keyboards, piano and organ, and the great Itiberê Zwarg (who remains in Hermeto's band to this day), played bass. Rounding the group off was the percussionist Pernambuco. During this period (up until the early 90s) the group would rehearse for hours on end, virtually seven days a week, with a total dedication to music and Hermeto's musical vision.

Most of the compositions performed that night at the Planetário had never been recorded before, and many are unique to this album, including the wild 'Homônimo Sintróvio', the exaltant 'Samba Do Belaqua', 'Vou Pra Lá e Pra Cá' and 'Bombardino', which features Hermeto's wonderfully absurd call and response mouthpiece soliloquy. Then there's the stunning 7/4 Samba 'Jegue' which builds with inventive dissonance, before releasing yet another celestially colourful, celebratory refrain. The show also features the first recorded performances of 'Era Pra Ser e Não Foi' and 'Ilza na Feijoada' (inspired by Hermetos' wife Ilza's famed black bean and meat stew), which Hermeto later recorded on his 1984 studio album "Lagoa Da Canoa Município De Arapiraca".

Dubbed by Miles Davis as "one of the most important musicians on the planet", a Hermeto Pascoal live show was (and still is) an experience like no other. Across the recording of the Planetário concert, wild improvisation meets groovy, virtuosic vamping on progressive, extended psychedelic jams. The tracks are generally built around a beautiful, transcendent melody; instantly recognisable as being Hermeto's, and for the most part, the musicians then solo over extended two chord vamps. There's a plethora of powerfully delivered rhythms, wild solos and the performances are punctuated by Hermeto's unpredictable, at times comical sonic antics.

Over forty years since this historic happening, Far Out Recordings is overjoyed to release this magical recording of Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo Live at Planetário Da Gávea, on double vinyl LP, CD and digitally for a February 4th 2022 release.

Limited Edition Vinyl LP – 1971 album cover, thick tip-on sleeve, 700 copies only

Finally putting an end to a long wait for library music lovers, Four Flies Records is proud to present the first reissue of Piero Umiliani's Paesaggi – a record that, despite remaining for many years pretty obscure compared to other titles in the maestro's discography, is now regarded by collectors and experts as the gold standard in Italian library music.

Originally released in two versions with different sleeves, the first on Liuto Records in 1971 and the second on Ciak Record in 1980, the album features tracks composed by the maestro himself (under his alias Zalla) and performed by the legendary super-group of Italian session players I Marc 4, this time with Angelo Baroncini instead of Carlo Pes on guitars (which probably explains the name being spelled with a 'k' instead of a 'c' on the album cover).

The Italian word paesaggi means "landscapes", and that is exactly what the music in the album has been designed to evoke – a journey of moods and emotions, through exotic and pastoral scenery, with loungey sounds that caress your ears like the song of an enchanted nightingale. Mysterious yet captivating soundscapes transport you to a faraway and peaceful place, possibly somewhere in rural Asia. While listening to the record, you'll feel as if you are sitting under a pavilion, right in the middle of a tea plantation, enjoying a freshly brewed green tea and watching the calm sunset.

In addition, Paesaggi is paradigmatic of Italian library music and its genre-defying nature. By using a multitude of instruments, such as flute, vibraphone, harpsichord, sitar, gong and others, it brings together a variety of arrangements, styles, and genres spanning from bossa nova to jazz, easy listening to psychedelic, Latin, exotica, and many more.

Under Umiliani's brilliant direction, the pianos and keyboard instruments of Antonello Vannucchi, the guitars of Angelo Baroncini, the bass of Maurizio Majorana, and the drums of Roberto Podio dance together and – enriched by other instruments played by top session musicians like Bruno Battisti D'Amario (sitar), Franco De Gemini (harmonica), or Franco Chiari (vibraphone) – create the sound that makes Paesaggi so unique.

With the honour of reissuing this masterpiece so many decades since its release comes a responsibility to do full justice to one of the greatest Italian composers of the 20th century and his now celebrated legacy. Four Flies have done their best to put out a record that replicates as closely as possible the value of the original as a cultural artefact, providing Italian library connoisseurs and novices alike with an exquisite sonic, and tactile, experience.

Fabio & Grooverider have been at the forefront of UK dance music for over 3 decades. This is the roots of their story told through music. The 2 London DJ's are part of the DNA of the global Jungle / D&B movement and they have remained relevant, cutting edge, authoritative and essential to this truly underground art-form since it's inception. RAGE could arguably be the ground zero of Jungle. The party was started at London's cavernous Heaven club by Fabio & Grooverider in 1988, at the height of Acid House fever that was making it's way up and down the motorways, slip-roads, fields and warehouses of the M25 and further beyond every weekend, troubling the nation, the police, your parents and the press as it went. RAGE was a different beast, it certainly channelled some of that Acid energy but pitted it against the new and exciting sounds emanating from Belgium, Amsterdam, Detroit, Sheffield, Essex and Hackney and in turn created a new style, a new sonic attitude and energy in the process. Rumbling bass-lines, narcotic synth rushes and roughly chopped and sped-up breakbeats all merged into a style that we now know as Jungle. Nothing like this had been heard before, this was a brand new style and it was coming out of London's West End and Fabio & Grooverider were the people firmly behind it. RAGE is approaching its 30th anniversary. Its sonic and cultural legacy is still being felt today, Fabio & Groove are still shutting down raves and festivals every weekend all over the world with their superior DJ sets and musical knowledge guided by their pioneering spirit. This musical selection you hold in your hands, the first of 4 parts, sees them delve into their prodigious memories and record boxes to select a true musical representation of the very beginning of one of the UK's most unique and influential musical movements of the last 50 years. Across 4 x 2 x 12"s compilations we are taken on the journey through the sounds of RAGE, accompanied with track by track notes from Fabio & Groove themselves. This is the sound of the underground, from the inside out. This is a masterclass in the old-school. The roots. There is no filler here, it's simply ALL killer. Lovingly selected and programmed by the masters - 'The Living Shock' & 'The Ladies Choice'. Produced in conjunction with Above Board distribution and Fabio & Grooverider. All tracks mastered from original sources and fully licensed. Mastering by Optimum, Bristol. Artwork and design by Atelier Superplus. 2019