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Derek Neal is a Turin based producer born in Vermont (USA). He started his DJ'in career as an undergraduate student at his college radio station and since then he's been cultivating his interest in house and techno music. Fostered by his brother's own producer career, who goes by the name of Motions and is 1/3 of the Montreal collective 00:AM, Derek pushed further his own interest in production to the point of proposing a set of tracks to Funnuvojere Records. Probably struck by the simplicity and effectiveness of Derek's sound, the Berlin label agreed on releasing Reason Machine, Derek's debut EP.? A comforting sound distinguishes this record, it is gentle and deep at the same time. If A1 - Sky City feels like diving in calm water, A2 - Jet Fuel could soundtrack a romantic date. On the flip B1 - October has a cinematic personality, envisioning a urban landscape, while B2 - Stereosense expresses a special dynamicity of sound.? Don't get tricked by my rather emotional introduction though, Neal knows about beats and you'll hear. From breakbeat to funk, Chicago house to dub this EP is all-round a delightful expression of contemporary club music.

Greg Hates Car Culture was Venetian Snares' first ever vinyl release. Long out of print, it came out in 1999, as the third release on Minneapolis label History Of The Future. Aaron Funk's hallmarks were there from the start. His absurdist sense of humour, the razor sharp edits and his use of odd time-signatures. There is a rawness here, not often captured on later records, where you can imagine Aaron playing live in front of a room full of young breakcore fanatics. Indeed most of the tracks here were recorded live, tweaking his effects and EQ on the fly, to DAT from his Amiga. The album opens with "Personal Discourse", recorded in 1997, which samples Aaron calling into a Dominatrix live on community cable TV, while "Fuck A Stranger In The Ass" samples from the film The Big Lebowski. The track "Aqap" has a different sound to the others having been recorded later, in 1998, on Aaron's first PC.

We have also added three hitherto unreleased 1997 tracks to this reissue. Two of them "Eating America.." and "Punk Kids" appeared on Venetian Snares rare self-released 1998 cassette Spells and the long sought after "Milk" was only passed around by his friends.

Greg Hates Car Culture lets you hear the raw energy of a musician at the birth of his sound.

Second release from Label head Mouhcine Zouitina commonly Known as Polyswitch. Casablanca’s finest returns for a second release with six songs spanning over the spectrum’s most vivid junctions. « FEVERISH CUTS VOL.2 » flaunts a strong funk connection merging with an uplifting rhythmic activity under a jazzy atmosphere. This continuum endorses the first volume with an ensemble of afro-diasporic and free flowing sonic slices.

Vinyl only imprint DMK (sub-label of Dogmatik Records) returns this November with the ‘Future Funk’ EP from Alex Jann.

Alex Jann’s material has amassed a wide array of supporters over the years, from Solid Blake and Alienata to Dave Clarke, Afrodeutsche and Posthuman his strictly hardware and modular synth workouts perfectly weave emotional synthesis with raw, gritty aesthetics. He’s released several EP’s over the years on labels such as his own Censor imprint with remixes of his work by such artists as Marco Bernardi & Animistic Beliefs, multiple EP’s with Clive Henry and shared label space on Rhythm Cult alongside Deadbeat, Barem, & Aquarius Heaven.

Title-cut ‘Future Funk’ leads with crunchy 808 style bumpy drums, tension building strings and squelchy acid licks at its core, while ethereal pad swells and wandering sub bass tones wander within the groove. ‘Robotic Prayer’ follows next, with shuffled percussion, soft atmospherics and a choppy bass line smoothly carried across five and a half minutes all subtly nuanced throughout.

Opening the flip side is ‘The Return’ which employs robust drums and murky synth flutters alongside cinematic string melodies before ‘Liberation Of Mass’ rounds out the release, fusing a broken rhythm and intricately programmed oscillating synth effects to create a hypnotic end to the EP.

We wanted to make a promo text for this release, but then this message by Alphabets Heaven came thru:

Subtitles is my love letter to salsa. A torn, scribbled, badly translated love letter to an old address that the resident left years ago. But fuck it, it's still a love letter.

Every since I heard Larry Harlow's La Cartera about 12 years ago I've been trying to find out as much as I could about salsa. So much of it runs counter to everything I know about dance music, and yet it so clearly bangs. So on and off for the last 10 years I've been buying salsa, trying to work out how many imprints of Fania there were, trying to get my head round the horn arrangements, and generally having a great time with basically no contact with anyone who was actually a part of the culture in anyway. My Spanish is pretty bad as well, so all I really know is quite a few songs are about farmers.

Subtitles is my shot at salsa. My completely uneducated stab at something that's way too complex to just guess at. Not surprisingly, it sounds nothing like salsa. What's weird is that it sounds like pretty much everything else I listen to. I think in many ways it's the most honest thing I've ever made. By completely failing at making salsa I've managed to blend together all the club music, art music and everything else I've loved. You might hear some UK funky, or whatever the 2019 version of that is called. You might hear some minimalism. You might hear some psyched out shit. You also might hear a gigantic fucking mess. Subtitles is a translation to a film done so badly you find out more about the person who translated it than the film. I was trying to tell you about the film, but maybe you'll like the subtitles.

Shout to London Afrobeat Collective for the horns Memotone for the cello Deft for the Woos. Shout out to Scratcha DVA for being Scratcha DVA.

When it comes to underground New York Disco, Donna McGhee's highly sought-after 1978 LP, "Make It Last Forever," ranks among the best in the genre, thanks to Donna’s singing and the production skills of legendary producers Greg Carmichael and Patrick Adams.

Featuring five songs penned by the producing pair, it's got their quintessential Disco sound of the late 70s topped by Donna McGhee's superb vocals. These have also blessed recordings by The Fatback Band, Phreek, Bumblebee Unlimited and The Universal Robot Band around the same time.

The album has been an elusive affair since it first came out in 1978 and this is one the first times in decades it is widely available in its original form with newly remastered audio. Donna McGhee has been one of the key female singers of the New York disco scene, gracing several cult albums with her superb singing. The Brooklyn native began her career singing Gospel in her grandmother's choir from an early age, honing her skills and making a name for herself locally as a talented singer.
Her first break in the industry came when she was spotted by bass player Johnny Flippin, who invited her to join his band.
The group was none other than The Fatback Band led by drummer Bill Curtis. This was 1975 and the album was "Raising Hell."

McGhee's vocals can be heard throughout the album including the dancefloor classic "(Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop" and after this initial collaboration, she stayed with the group for a another few years recording “Night Fever” in 1976 and touring with them all around the country. Following an encounter with producer Greg Carmichael, Donna McGhee jumped ship and started working with the prolific producer and his partner Patrick Adams.
A string of collaborations followed with singles and albums that have become the stuff of legend over the years: Donna can indeed be heard singing with Bumblebee Unlimited, Universal robot Band and on Phreek's classic self-titled album from 1978, singing on the track "May My Love Be With You."
In 1978, After Greg Carmichael set up his own label, Red Greg Records, he and Adams decided to get McGhee in the recording studio and produce her first solo album. With the pair playing most of the instruments, they got five tracks out of the session. The result, "Make It Last Forever" is an all-time Adams/Carmichael classic: funky disco arrangements with a touch of synths over a pulsating groove magnified by McGhee's superb sexy singing.

All five tracks have become classics in their own right.

The band C.R.A.C. was formed in 1974 by bassist/vocalist Rick Cua, drummer Tommy Rozzano, keyboardist Larry Arlotta, and lead singer/percussionist Ricky Chisholm. Their name is an acronym for the founding members' last names. Playing mostly popular covers, the band's main gig was four nights a week at a Syracuse, NY club called Big Daddy's. It didn't take long before Big Daddy's was packed whenever C.R.A.C. was there.
As they gained popularity, a variety of opportunities presented themselves. Soon, they had enough new gigs to leave Big Daddy's and focus on their budding career.
Drawing inspiration from other bands in their genre, their passion for music, and the success of their first radio single, "Of The Lites," they continued to add to their repertoire of songs written by members of the band. Fresh off the high of their radio debut, they added two new members: guitarist Ronnie DeRollo and singer/percussionist Duane "Spoon" Walker. C.R.A.C., or as they became known at this time, CRAC, continued on their upward trajectory as one of New York's premier funk and R&B bands. The band continued to expand throughout the late 70's as their territory moved throughout New York and New England.
The busier the band got, the more their talent grew, and this afforded some members the honour of playing with such well-known artists as Maynard Ferguson, Melba Moore, Sea Level, Duke Jupiter, and The Outlaws.

Australian Soul Jazz holy grail from 1968! Limited to 300 copies w/wide. Debut release on Pacific Theatre Encore, the reissue label started by Melbourne's contemporary funk / soul lynchpin Australian Lance Ferguson (The Bamboos, Menagerie, Lanu, ex Cookin' On 3 Burners). Two high energy Mod burners, both originals taken from the forthcoming album 'Whatever It's Worth'.

Lead by Australia's own rival to Jimmy Smith and Jimmy Witherspoon, the '68 line up of Col Nolan & The Soul Syndicate would prove to be an Australian jazz super-group, consisting of John Sangster on drums / percussion (whose own late '60s Festival albums are highly collectable), John Allan on bass, Col Loughnan on sax and Jimmy Doyle on guitar (the latter two were also in mid Oz '70s jazz-rock giants, Ayers Rock).

"Pacific Theatre Encore will be reissuing music from across the globe, but it was important to me for the first release to shine a light on the important legacy of our own scene" says Ferguson, who meticulously restored the audio himself, which was then remastered.

My Music is a stellar spiritual soul / jazz-funk gem, recorded by keyboardist-singer Samuel Jonathan Johnson in 1978. The epitome of a cult classic, it didn't do much upon its release but steadily found an audience over the decades that followed. It eventually worked its way into the culture, and latterly the wantlists, of wave after wave of soul aficionados.

This is music that shares the jazzy R&B DNA of contemporaries like Roy Ayers and is an intoxicating blend of mellow moments and more groove-heavy tracks. Spacey keys and lush production give it a luxurious, enveloping warmth.

My Music opens with the gorgeous title track: an indulgent slow jam opus. Introducing us to Johnson’s compelling musical vision, it features a rich mélange of production techniques. Dripping in strings, horns, backing singers, popping funk bass lines and swooshing synth waves, it’s an unusually structured cosmic two stepper that has an irrepressible groove. Accordingly, it’s been a favourite with the diggers and it was sampled by The Alchemist for Jadakiss’s “We Gonna Make It” (and it was also used on Ras Kass’s “Home Sweet Home”… but that’s a story for another time).

The up-tempo “Sweet Love” bubbles over with joy, its uplifting lyrics backed by infectious bass and jazzy Fender Rhodes lines. It follows a cover of “What the World Need’s Now Is Love”, taken at a funereal pace that transforms it into a heartfelt plea for love and understanding. Essential in these dark days.

After a full-minute-long opening of lush cinematic strings and horns, “Because I Love You” makes space for Samuel’s voice, accompanied by some keys and just a sprinkle of guitar. It builds back up and then mellows its way out to a jazz lounge finish (in all the right ways). The feel-good ebullience of the Stevie Wonder-esque “It Ain’t Easy” closes out the LP’s first side.

The second side bursts open with the heavy bounce and disco-funk basslines of “You”, a slightly off-beat string-laden dancer with insistent horns and a piano-assisted groove. Next up is “Just Us”, a legendary steppers track that could be heard oozing out of deep soul radios and funk sound systems back in the late 80s.

“Yesterdays and Tomorrow” is a moving original ballad that is followed by an exquisite high-stepping paean to mom in the form of “Thank You Mother Dear”. The thumping easy-glide of “Reason For The Reason” brings the album to a close.

Respectfully mastered by Simon Francis and cut by the master Pete Norman, this reissue of Samuel Jonathan Johnson’s sole LP sounds as sumptuous as that scarlet gown on the front cover. The sleeve artwork was lovingly restored by the Be With team. My Music is a luxurious and rare collection of songs that now has an opportunity to reach beyond its cult audience.

n 1980, dutch outfit Renée came out with the album "Reaching for the sky". It`s made of delicate pop-songs, with lovely little hooks and ice cold guitars. From songs that sounds almost ABBA, to more Reggae-sounding stuff, and avant pop. In the middle of it all you`ll find Anja Nodelijks hypnotic voice.
The albums highlight is the song "Change your style", already a semi-classic on the Balearic scene. The song can probably be described as "wonky pop funk", with a twist. On the A-side you get the original. On the B-side Prins Thomas has stretched the greater parts, giving the song the length it probably deserves. Almost six minutes of bliss.
Renées "Change your style" is the second release by norwegian label Neppå. This piece of music has never been presented like this before, with the song cut over a whole side of 12" vinyl. The music is remastered, and licensed from CNR entertainment.

Second release for Neppå, Oslobased label focusing on lost and overseen recordings.
Edit by Prins Thomas, recording artist for Smalltown Supersound and labelowner of Full Pupp, Internasjonal, Rett i fletta and Prins Thomas Musikk.

From the people who brought you Disques Sinthomme and Ghost Town comes a new imprint LESDK.

Bringing back that NYC Lower East Side grime, LESDK will feature edits as well as new work from Dennis Kane and his circle of proper low-lifes...

Ghost Town and Disques Sinthomme featured contributions from Brennan Green, Richard Sen, The Beat Broker, Bicep, Jose Manuel, and Cosmic Metal Mother, as well as edit monsters like Jeff 'The Drunk' Overton and Cazbee. Kane will be helming this label, curating work and providing his own productions and remixes.

LESDK

Starts off side A with 'Real' - A soulful disco romp that has a gospel force as well as a powerful vocal performance. The song grooves from its first beat, and pushes the energy as it builds. "Now it's time to be real..." Edit as manifesto - Pure heat! The edit work here comes from one of the OG's of serious digging, Senior Reyes aka Jersey Pete.

Side B brings 'Action' as its first track, complementing the A Side, this is some dirty late night Philadelphia bar nastiness, mentholated disco with a humid female vocal, "I like to party, I like to flirt..."

Side B closes out with 'Motion', a slice of cosmic funkiness that laments a love that is not happening while a thick bassline moves the proceedings along.
This song has heartbreak and the haze of an early morning on the dancefloor.

Three essential edits for the DJ to bless the party people with.

Dennis Kane is a DJ and producer based in NYC, he has run the Disques Sinthomme and Ghost Town labels and is also a partner in the recording group SIREN, (with Darshan Jesrani) on Compost records.
Kane has produced numerous tracks and done remix work for Cantoma, Liz Torres, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, and Hokis Pokis among others.
He has been a DJ in NYC since the mid 90's holding down numerous residencies and touring worldwide.

Ellen Allien Keeps It Raw with the Third Release from Her UFO Label Ellen Allien returns with the third release from her label UFO. Focused on a raw aesthetic, UFO serves as a space for artists to explore the dark, rugged side of the music. On this third installment from the label we get three deliciously dark productions... First out of the block is 'La Musica Es Dios' (Music Is God), which comes in two mixes. The first works from the deep tremor of its juddering bassline, subtle beats tease this cut along with a contagious rhythm. As a master of vocal hooks, Ellen skillfully introduces a distorted clip that repeats over and over as the drama unfolds. Wistful pads and a sombre riff keep it melancholy. On the second mix the mood is a little more upbeat with brighter frequencies and skipping beats. Though, once the main body of the track comes in, a menacing swathe of analogue growls and snarls at you with aplomb. A breakdown tinged with 8-bit leads us into a rousing section of the track before another slight break ushers in more menace in the low end. Finally, 'Junge' penetrates our minds with its punchy drums and snares. The pace is quicker and more energi- sed with a pervading sense of dread emanating from the background. This cut is downright nasty, with a snee- ring riff and shadowy atmospherics. Rough, rugged and raw analogue technoid funk from an unknown future.

The music of Chel White is celebrated in Automaton, a collection of mostly unreleased recordings from 1985 to 1991, by this innovative animator, film maker and visual artist.

Having studied music theory in grade school, White taught himself drumming and played in a new wave band until, in 1981, together with Dan Gediman, they formed the minimal wave duo Process Blue (Alternative Funk, 1985 / Dark Entries, 2018). Here their experimentation went way beyond playing drums.

His interest in industrial music, fostered in the late '70s and early '80s while working in factories as a way to put himself through college, informed his use of electronic instruments, tape manipulation, noise and unconventional percussion.

By 1985, as a now solo artist buoyed by newly affordable audio sampling technology, White tapped into his earlier teenage fascination with the art and films of both the Surrealist and Dada movements - in particular their disparate and fragmented imagery and sound - as a means to create striking new sonic palettes.

Science & Industry - a track largely influenced by Balinese monkey chanting and the consumer excess of American in the 1980's - is a clear example of "music collage". Photocopy Cha Cha, made for the short animation film Choreography for Copy Machine (Berlin International Film Festival, 1992 / Sundance Film Festival, 2001) moved his music into the realm of early multi-media.

Experimenting further, tracks like Liquid Shadows and Pensive provide minimalist moments, before the drone-like Dream #630 and Forest Song point to a future that included music video works (David Lynch/Thom Yorke).

• This is Latin Soul from the heart of Spanish Harlem. A non-stop boogaloo party that never lets up with
plenty of cha-cha and funk grooves
• 1966 album sees Rivera making his biggest splash as the bandleader and vocalist
• Album highlights include Includes Do It To Me, At The Party and Drown My Heart
• Boogaloo classic reissued on 180g heavyweight black vinyl with printed inner sleeve, and original artwork

Skyf Connection (pronounced skAyf) was a short lived project by long time friends Anthony Mthembu and Enoch Nondala. At the time they were working for Annic Music, an independent label run by married couple Anne and Nic Blignaut. Although the label was known mostly for Zulu, Sotho, Tsonga and other traditional styles, they had a few Disco releases on the label including groups like Keith Hutchinson’s Focus and Enoch’s discovery Lena, who went on to have huge success under the name Ebony a few years later.

In 1984, when an artist didn’t show up for a booked session they decided to make use of the studio time and began working on a demo. At the time Anthony and Enoch had been playing for a year at a new club called Gamsho, located on a farm on the outskirts of Kliptown Soweto. Along with Blackie Sibisi, Sepate Mokoena and Elijah “chippa” Khumalo they made up the resident house band. Due to cultural boycotts and American artists refusing to perform in the country, locals took it upon themselves to fill the market with the American sound the crowds demanded. The demo they recorded at Blue Tree Studios was going to be their product they could use to promote their brand of the American sound. They then took the demo to Universal Studios where their friend and trusted engineer Jan “fast fingers” Smit was working. It would be here that they would polish their demo into something they could take to their bosses and have pressed. Equipped with a DX 7, Linn Drum and some Juno synthesizers they were on their way. Jan lived up to his name and programmed the drums, it is rumoured he could program in almost real time, a skill that translated to the local arcade where he held high scores on many machines. Enoch would be singing and playing guitar while Anthony would do all the Bass and Keyboards. The result was 4 funky party anthems with synth work like no other recording at the time. Their take on what they believed the crowd would want to hear at the beloved club they called home.

From start to finish the 4 tracks portray what would have been a standard night at the Gamshu. Although the club would open earlier and the standard hours of most clubs was 6 to 6 , the band would start playing at 10pm. With their standard set time and Anthony and Enoch unique view on what a Disco should be, they chose the motto Ten to Ten as the album title because those were the hours when they were the stars and Disco ruled the dance floor. To get to the club was a bit difficult, you needed to drive along an empty road where thieves waited for any patrons trying their luck walking after dark. Since there was no transport during the night, the safest way to get home was to wait till the next morning to walk home. Even though in the summer months of Johannesburg light begins to peek in just after 4am, crowds refused to leave and stayed enjoying good music and company until 10am. The lead off track “Let’s Freak Together” has powerful lyrics encouraging people to let go of their worries, put aside any differences and let the music bring everyone to freak and dance together. The whole album is about the joy we can all feel when we share the same moments and how music can bring people together in a unique way, a philosophy shared with the original nightclubs of 70s New York. This approach to music is where the name Skyf Connection comes from, translating from slang to mean the connection we create through sharing, in this case Music and good times.

Skyf Connection would go on to play at Gamsho till the club’s closure in 1986. In those years their popularity lead to being booked for private events like weddings and birthday parties, as well as gigs in some other venues like Mofolo Hall. They would share the stage with many artists through the years learning artist’s songs and providing support as a backing band. After the club closed Anthony would go on to join the house band at The Pelican, another famous club located in Orlando East, as well as dabbling with songwriting for artists like Phumi Maduna and helping Enoch on many projects through the years. Enoch would ditch live music altogether and immerse himself in studio work, starting full time as a house producer and A&R for the recently formed Ream Music. He would go on to produce hit albums for pop artists like Percy Kay and Makwerhu but made his mark discovering countless artists that would become stars in the traditional market. They would remain friends until Anthony’s passing in 2016 and although Anthony is no longer with us his spirit lives in the grooves he left on this one of a kind record. His wife Vinolia will be accepting his portion of the profits on his behalf.

Two luscious soul/folk/psychedelic funk crossover jams from LA born Shuggie Otis on Epic, reissued and remastered 45 years after their first release.

Shuggie's trademark soul-laden tones marry with dusty organs and strutting funk guitars to give two blissful slices of '70s gold. A collectable 7 Inch, remastered, reissued and finally available at a respectful price.

Large / dinked centre hole.

These amazing Brazilian soul-funk nuggets from Renata
Lú, originally appeared on a 7” compacto and on her self-titled debut album for Copacabana Records in 1971.
The up tempo break-beat funk of 'Faz Tanto Tempo’ has a real dance-floor cross-over appeal and should please Brazilian, funk, hip-hop breaks heads and mod-soul DJ’s & collectors alike.
Renata Lú had a long career releasing records on labels such as Compacaban / CID & Continental through out the 70’s and 80’s and worked as backing vocalist on recordings by Tim Maia and Nonato Buzar.

Uptempo funk-soul ’Vou Morar No Teu Sorriso’ is a real favourite of ours and a regular spin in DJ sets. Tough drums, breaks and percussion, big vocals, horns and bass.
Taken from their self-titled LP from 1971.
Dancefloor Samba-funk-MPB business on ’Quem Vai Querer’,
originally released in 1977 on RCA.
A rolling samba groove, layered percussion and a lovely lead vocal from Eliana build into a big chorus and increased drum pressure!

Da Lata’s highly anticipated fourth album Birds is a genre busting journey through London Afro-Brazilian soul music.
The most homogeneous Da Lata record to date, Christian Franck has honed his craft and expanded his art to create a glowing testimony from the melting pot of the capital’s musical life.

Gathering his family of collaborators with diverse musical backgrounds in soul, jazz, and gospel as well as African and Brazilian forms, Birds is an album that finally lays waste to that tired idea of World music.

There are tracks that are inspired by Chris’ journeys to the source, there are elegant horn and woodwind arrangements recorded in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, there are lyrics in different tongues, but this is a London record.

Birds is an album of warm organic grooves infused with sophisticated funkiness and splattered with instrumental colour. From the Afro skank swagger of the low slung opener Mentality to the Beatles-esque pathos of the closing title track, it’s a record packed with soulful surprises and beguiling rhythms.

The sound is both intimate and expansive, drawing the listener into Da Lata’s London tropicalia and out into the cosmos.

Birds is an album about keeping doors open and conversation flowing, it’s about survival, hope, family, resistance, awareness, unity and love. 

'Esoteric, modal and deep jazz from the undergound, 1968-77'

Jazzman Records presents the sound of the unsung musicians who – in the midst of the Vietnam War and the fallout of the Civil Rights struggle – created some of the most beautiful Spiritual and meditative music of the era. Sometimes funky, sometimes mellow, but always trying to say something about the world in which we live.
Existing completely under the critical radar and largely ignored or unknown by music fans and critics alike, most of the musicians featured in this album won't be familiar to even the most seasoned aficionado. Their records, frequently turned down by distributors and record stores, saw little attention when first released - and have seen even less since. But in this era of musical apathy, where so many music junkies look to the past for their musical fix, we have re-discovered hidden, obscure and esoteric jazz musicians who looked to the four corners of the earth - and beyond - for inspiration. Here we evaluate Spiritual Jazz – music that is a snapshot of the era after Coltrane, a time which saw the evolution of an underground jazz that spoke about the reform of the soul, the reform of the spirit, and the reform of society: a music which was local and international at once, which was a personal journey and a political statement, and which was religious and secular in one non-contradictory breath.
The music on this album reflects the social and historical forces at work during the closedown of the '60s dream; music made by close-knit collectives and individual visionaries, by prisoners and eccentrics, by mystics and political radicals. It includes music by acknowledged masters, and moments of brilliance by unsung figures known to us from just one or two recordings. It is the jazz music of America in the age of civil rights, brutal repression, political assassination and war; a music that would guarantee the survival of the spiritual dimension in a society that was angry and traumatized, but nevertheless had seen hope of better days to come.

Italian cult cinematic funk combo Calibro 35 are back! "Stan Lee" is the new single that anticipates "Momentum" new studio album that will be released on Record Kicks next January 24th 2020. The first single "Stan Lee" sees a collaboration with rapper, producer and songwriter Illa J. Former member of super group Slum Village, Illa J is the younger brother of the late legendary hip hop producer and rapper J Dilla and on his solo carrier he has released 4 studio albums for labels such as Delicious Vinyl, Stones Throw, Bastard Jazz and Jakarta Records.

Active since 2008 Milan based combo CALIBRO 35 enjoys a worldwide reputation as one of the coolest independent band around. During their ten years career, they have been sampled by Dr. Dre on his Compton album, Jay-Z Love Child & Damon Albarn, they shared stages worldwide with the likes of Roy Ayers, Muse, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sharon Jones, Thundercat and as unique musicians they've collaborated with, amongst others PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, John Parish, Stewart Copeland and Nic Cester (The Jet). Described by Rolling Stone magazine's as "the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing, that happened to Italy in the last years", Calibro 35 now count on a number of aficionados worldwide which includes VIP's fans such as Dj Food (Ninja Tune), Mr Scruff and Huey Morgan (Fun Lovin' Criminals) among others.

Meda Fury are buzzing to welcome Silvestre to the fold for a 6 track EP of low-slung party starters. This Lisbon native and London resident has been on several tastemakers lips for the last year now, serving up no-nonsense but seriously fun dance music, comparable to the spirit of mighty Portuguese scene labels Principe and Naive. Joao’s tracks are mind bending hybrids of breakbeat, reggaeton, R&B, rave and house. His recent artilary coming via Seceretsundaze, Diskotopia and his own Padre Himalaya, he now adds the Yeah EP to his weaponry.

The EP's title track has been the soundbed for the recent Boiler Room Festival 2019 promotional videos, sparking a huge amount of interest and ID requests, its remained secret until now. Add to this another 5 tracks of slow rave-tinted kuduro and faster baile funk blends for a truly monsterous set of club heaters!

TCB aka Chris Beißwenger, our boy on Jah bless road, goes a little something like: 1977, born cross-eyed, parents like Boney M; 1984, suburbia USA, DSNY, still cross-eyed; 1988, 98.7 Kiss FM New York on the school bus radio; 1989, Frankfurt Am Main, hyperactive, outsider, got lazered; 1991, drums and piano in cheesy school band; 1993, kicked out of Omen, kicked out of school band; 1994, kicked out of Omen again, got his own band; 1995, kicked out of band, finally in at Omen, The Box, Wild Pitch Club; 1996, got first car, Fasttracker, EMU ESI-32; 1999, no more car, no more Omen, Robert Johnson instead; 2002, first release, High Tide; 2003, Ableton 0.1 Beta, less MIDI, more gefrickel; 2004, exchange High Tide for CB Funk, kicked out of Cocoon; 2005, a silly move to Düsseldorf, Burkina Faso, more synthesizers; 2006, again silly in Düsseldorf, Brontosaurus, disco-house, love; 2007, Cologne and Frankfurt, back to piano, more love, still no car; 2008, with love to Frankfurt, Arto Mwambe on the road, storyteller; 2009, Mwambe still on the road, bored of work; 2010, Live At Robert Johnson, four-day week (thank God), four bike accidents; 2011, Europe, bored of piano, invention of The Citizen’s Band; 2012, modular cookery, thoughts of moving; 2013, Burkinian's death, Delphi's rise, almost made it, 2014, broke out of seven-year cycle too complicate

Soul Jazz Records are releasing their new ‘Space Funk – Afro Futurist Electro Funk in Space 1976-84’, an intergalactic journey into black space, fuelled by funk, powered by computers.
‘Space Funk’ is a lovingly compiled collection of superb, rare and off-the-wall space funk and electro releases mostly released on small independent labels in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Reactors are reacting, boosters are boosting, pack your funk and shake your booty! Computer funk … makes you jump! This is the space funk program!
The album comes in deluxe artwork and three formats – digipack + slipcase CD, a very limited deluxe 2xLP + bonus 7” single + download vinyl version, and a standard 2xLP + download standard vinyl version.
Features music by Jamie Jupitor, Solaris, Robotron 4, Juju & the Space Rangers and many more intergalactic space warriors!
The shuttle program has been altered – there is no Star Wars only electro funk jam joyriders in Space – hold tight!

Omo Lewa is a delicious slice of Afrobeat blended with funk, jazz and Highlife in a style that has become synonymous with its creator Peter King, one of Nigeriaʼs most talented multi-instrumentalist.

Originally released on Sonny Robertsʼ Orbitone label in 1976, the album was one of Kingʼs two ʻAfrojazz' releases for the label.
It still sounds captivating more than 30 years later.

Omo Lewa is part of a series of Peter King reissues on Mr. Bongoʼs Classic African Recordings series.

The LP features fully reproduced original artwork. Produced on heavyweight, oldstyle packaging, the same as the original LP.

Original label art. Licensed from Clinton Roberts.

Shina Williams ‘Agboju Logun’ was a ground-breaking fusion of afrobeat, electronics, boogie and disco. First released on Phonodisk in 1979 as part of the ‘African Dances’ album, then in 1984 as an alternative version on Rough Trade’s Earthwork off-shoot, it has gone on to attain cult-like status.
So it remains a bit of a mystery how so little has been documented about the follow-up. Shina’s self-titled album was originally released on Help Records in 1980. It differs from the upfront afro-disco-funk of ‘African Dances’ as it diverts into deeper, hypnotic, afro-beat territory. Though listed as a six-track album, each side (composing of 3 tracks) is built-upon one continuous groove with call and response female & male vocals and instrumental solos coming and going as each side progresses. The results are raw, hypnotic, locked-in grooves, which sit perfectly on forward-thinking contemporary dancefloors.
Official Mr Bongo reissue. Replica original artwork. LP only. Licensed from the family of Shina Wiliams.

2x12" 180g Black Vinyl

Pivotal UK producer Kirk Degiorgio returns to De:tuned for his first new and highly anticipated As One studio album in 15 years. "Communion" covers a broad sonic palette, ranging from jazz and hi-tech funk dancefloor beats to minor-chord symphonies, all coming together "As One". A trademark 90s electronica sound shifting between the mind, body and soul, produced and recorded with Kirk's 25 years of studio work experience.

Kevin Foakes (Openmind, DJ Food, Ninja Tune) created all the graphic work. Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Mastering, pressed on 180 gr vinyl and a separate digital version will be available from the usual digital shops. Stay tuned!

2x12"

A stunningly accomplished work, ‘Deep Rave Memory’ is an insight into Fearless’ worlds – both metaphysical and geographical. Pulsating in unison with the heartbeat of a modern metropolis, it was recorded at the Metal Box’ – his studio located on the peninsula of land where the River Lea meets the Thames.

The haunting and wistful blue ambient ‘Vision of You’ leads into the bracingly chilly ‘New Perspective’, which evokes a heavy rush where perceptions are blurred and vision is freeze framed, via elements of techno-soul, Sheffield Bleep and Mika Vainio.

A snarling beast of a track, the relentless machine funk of ‘Devil on Horseback’ perfects the pure cathartic release of dark ‘n’ hot body music, whilst ‘Acid Angels’ is a throbbing low-fi 303 requiem, which encapsulates that perfect dancefloor moment, when the first light breaks through the shutters.

A future classic and the album’s modus operandi, title track ‘Deep Rave Memory’’s discordant filter passes sweep across a hypnotic melody, communicating a deep sense of warm nostalgia and taking you on an epic journey – stretching out a single riff over 12 minutes – akin to the krautrock greats of which Fearless is so fond.

‘Atlas of Insanity’ is big room techno with pounding kicks, death-whip metallic snares and head spinning, spiralling synth lines that drill into your core. This is raw, impulsive and frantic music that sizzles with electric effervescence.

The Germanic kosmische idyll of ‘Driving with Roedelius’ is a homage to one of Richards’ heroes – Hans-Joachim Roedelius – and was inspired by his experience playing a set consisting solely of the electronic pioneer’s music, at a festival celebrating his life and career.

On the album's closer, Fearless recounts, “‘Broken Beauty’ is something I’ve always strived for in my art. It’s inspired by Robert Frank, William Eggleston and the way they could take the most inane object a turn it into something of beauty. It’s equally schooled by the aggressive simplicity of King Tubby’s dubbing and the transcendence of Joy Division’s ‘Decades’. The sparse allure of the best dub and techno is something I’m always striving for; being able to conjure emotion with the fewest possible elements; to not fix what’s broken, but to make it shine.

Limited to 500 copies.

Club Internacional dig deep to launch their new global reissue series in style with two long lost cuts from Rio-based label Top Tape. First up is Jose da Silva aka Zeca Do Trombone.
A massively respected instrumentalist, he has worked his trade over the years with many of Brazil's leading artists such as Tim Maia, Milton Nascimento, Elizeth Cardoso, Beth Carvalo, Martino Da Vila, Gonzaguinha and Carlos Dafe amongst others.
He also produced a very much sought after LP in 1976 alongside Roberto Sax which was finally re-released this year on Mad About Records. Tema Do Brisa dates from a few years later in 1978 and is Zeca's only solo 45 single. Never released on digital and never reissued on vinyl before, it is with great pleasure that Club Internacional re-launch this psychedelic jazz and heavily funk influenced gem with its still stunningly fresh sounding drum patterns to a new generation of listeners. Fans of jazz, funk, rare groove and Brazilian music in general will appreciate the strong vibes of this original track and be delighted to finally have this record in their hands. The track represents a unique moment in the career of a great musician fully in control of his instrument and more than willing to test its musical boundaries. Zeca continues to play out as an artist regularly in Brasil right up to the present time.
On the flip side, Sambacanas, or Os Sambacanas as they were sometimes also known, were a group of Samba musicians recorded by the Sao Paulo based producer Julio Nagib.
Although they were mostly known for a samba covers LP entitled 'Sucessos Da Juventude Em Tempo De Samba' (re-released in the UK under the title 'Fly Me To Brazil'), this song, Panga, Danga, Panga, was the A side of their only 45 single release for Top Tape which came out in 1976. Again this track has never been re-released before in its 45 single version, and has not been made available digitally. A beautiful example of raw and simple Batucada-style Brazilian samba music infused with Latin funk vibes, it features excellent vocals and percussion including the berimbau and cuica. Club Internacional hopes you enjoy this journey back to rediscover these very different, but wonderful, long lost sounds of Brazil on this limited edition vinyl 45 pressing to add to your record collection. Each Club Internacional edition may take some time, but it will be worth the wait!

Issam Hajali is most known as the singer and composer of the Lebanese band Ferkat Al Ard. While they recorded 3 albums only their classic „Oghneya“ saw a vinyl release and is highly sought after in the Lebanese record collector scene (A copy changed hands in Beirut this year for 5000 USD). Before the band came together, he recorded this debut album in Paris in 1977 . This rare album fuses jazz and folk with Arabic and Iranian influences into unique beauty. It was only released in a limited run of 75 cassette tapes and is now officially licensed and reissued by Berlin based Habibi Funk Records.

Gyedu-Blay Ambolley was born on the 11th Street in Sekondi, Ghana 72 years ago. On the cover photo you can see on the right side the house of his birth which was also his parental home. The Ghanian legend’s latest release shows off a pride of heritage, and his honed talent for mixing highlife with other genres like rap, Afro-funk and Disco Ghanaian highlife. Gyedu-Blay Ambolley returns with 11th Street, Sekondi, his 31st album since his debut in 1973. The charismatic stage personality, no stranger to mixing humour into his music and who has performed alongside Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti and highlife bandleader Ebo Taylor, has been a record collector’s staple since his appearance on the seminal Ghana Soundz compilation on Soundway in 2002, which re-introduced the world to his trademark ‘Simigwa’ style. Highlife, which started in Sierra Leone and Liberia, took hold in Ghana in the 1940s as a coming together of the musicians fed up with the foxtrot and quickstep parties originally hosted by English colonists. It began with big band horns and happy lyrics, popularised by artists such as E.T Mensah, before opening up in the ‘50s and ‘60s with a wave of guitardriven, socially conscious and more danceable Afro-funk hits -- a product of the easy movement of people between Nigeria and Ghana. It was then that Ambolley’s trademark baritone vocals burst onto the scene, under the tutelage of close personal friend Ebo Taylor.

Ambolley’s latest album, 11th Street, Sekondi, named after the area of West Ghana in which he grew up, is a look back at the area and musical styles that shaped the musician’s life. Black Woman is a funky number that opens the album with Ambolley on a tenor sax solo, while tracks like Little Small Girl showcase his renowned James Brown-influenced vocal flourishes. Soul, jazz, blues and comedy are present -- in keeping with his fervent belief that music must always be entertaining for the listener. The album is the second of his to be released on German label Agogo records, after acclaimed 2017 hit, Ketan. It also stays true to highlife's social ambitions, with reflections on the misguided pursuit of European ideals ahead of African values. Ambolley's career has been filled with accolades, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Charles R Drew University in Los Angeles, and formal recognition from the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC for producing the first ever commercially recorded rap album.

After launching with Jaxe’s acid bomb Seekings earlier this
year, Dom Trojga is back with a bang (and five smiles). Uniting
artists from Ukraine and Poland, and ditching genre
considerations in favour of a shared wavelength, Domownicy
Różnoracy Cz.1 is all about further revelation of the imprint’s
purpose. First up is synth enchantress Poly Chain with the
storming ostinato of Moonhaze (first track ever signed to the
label, but not her last, by any means), followed by the beaming
legend SLG and his soother-shaker Hello Utopia. On the B-side
Jaxe strikes back, teaming up with the uncanny Bejenec
(CHECK OUT HIS LIVE SHOW, FOR REAL), for a hefty slab of
tekno-funk that is Seamless. Finally, label founder Eltron
rounds things up with his own quirky Rym Cymcym. The
beautiful label art has been drawn by the inimitable Martyna
Bolanowska. Playing this record is good for you, so don’t
hesitate.

“Subservient” ist das 4. Album von Larry Gus für die New Yorker Talentschmiede DFA. Der aus Griechenland stammende Panagiotis Melidis (so der bürgerlicher Name) präsentiert auf dem neuen Werk ein “Crisis Funk Pop” mit traditionellem, mediterranem Groove. Nicht nur politisch ist das Leben des Griechen aktuell eine Herausforderung – auch die Probleme des Vatersein prägen die Songs des neuen Albums.

Limited Edition Vinyl



Vinyl + Digital Ep

Vinyl includes a Bandcamp download

released Oct 25, 2019







The new release of Dusk & Waves is starring by Vicky Montefusco, Dj and producer from Italy, resident in Berlin for a few years. This EP is presented as his first work on vinyl with great force and originality. Whit a style, synthetic, analog, crude and influenced by the legacy of the 80s, has allowed him collaborating on labels such as Ninefont, Clouded Vision or Items & Things.



The EP begins with 'Justice', a low revolution techno track that with its line of acid bass and Martian sounds, added to the speech sampler of JFK, leads us to a state of deeply hypnosis. On the other hand, 'Roar' goes deeper into EBM territory. Above the starting of the arpeggio, it is built a dark track full of synthetic sounds and a nightmare atmosphere (somber, gloomy, baleful). 'During' keeps the darkness of the other two tracks; however in this case, the rhythmic guitar at the beginning adds a more 'funk' touch to the track. It is “a funk” with a narcotic and somber flavor thanks to the vocal and the synth sounds that accompany it. On the B side of the vinyl we find Blacknob's remix to 'Justice', which gives him a re-interpretation more club raising the bpms and creating a perfect track for dance in the late night. Finally, Jamie Braid´s remix offers a reconstruction of the track 'During' with electro beat, generating an odyssey of textures with a development that goes beyond the standard structures of dance music. Timeless!

Following the Stardancer EP and his remix for All I Need To Get High by Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons, Ae:ther unveils his most accomplished and daring work yet on the highly anticipated debut album Me released on Crosstown Rebels. Blazing a trail with his natural aptitude for crafting emotive, captivating compositions that have landed him releases on Crosstown Rebels Afterlife and Fabric, Ae:ther presents his debut LP. The album is a painstakingly produced collection of haunting melodies and narcotic rhythms that display his love and inspiration for ambient electronica, deep underground music and introspective atmospheres, culminating in dreamlike soundscapes programmed with taut percussion. The album begins on Stardancer, setting the tone with gentle keys and space influenced licks that portray a cosmonaut ascending into the stratosphere. This moves into the glistening, atmospheric Finferli, where synths depict aliens conversing in a distant, just-discovered world. Sub-aquatic ambient fills We’ll be Together, boosts of energy and intricate melodies weave in and out of the vocal, locked to the dubby groove. Ice cold subtlety and the otherworldly electronics of Costes drip slowly like water down a pane of glass. A mood of relaxation and weightlessness continues on Tina, a tender beat combined with pattering echoed chimes. N.62, a special ethereal piece, features warm chords and reduced percussion, gradually developing like the morning sun rising. Mysterious, playful charm unfurls on Elf, progressive harmony teases towards a crescendo before dropping back into the hypnotic beat. Clark is light and airy, funky melody constructing an interplanetary anthem. Stimulating a brooding mood, fuzzy clicks and glitches dance on the deep bass of Spektre II, conveying dust spraying off the surface of a moon landing. The shimmering ripples of electronica on title track Me fuse with delicate human vocals creating a heart-warming, personal account of Ae:ther’s relationship with his instruments. Trademark bleeps and blips wash over natural broken beats in one last final call to his utopia in the album outro.

Based in Munich, Germany, the producer, part-time DJ and Permanent Vacation label co-head Tom Bioly aka TB delivers new romantics, inspired by influences like The Cure’s „The Holy Hour“, Boards of Canada’s late 90s electronica, Miami Vice tropic percussion and Angelo Badalamenti’s Twin Peaks. Acid drops, string distortions, lushed melody bits, hushed robo vox and washed space guitars are being layered and sprinkled over machine beats and disco drums.

TB’s first release "Invitation To Love" made it on John Talabot's vinyl-only Hiverned 10" imprint and was voted amongst the best 10" releases by UK Fact magazine. GROOVE magazine wrote "..entirely superb..“, about the follow-up EP "City Girl" on Permanent Vacation, of which the title track has been licensed to the independent film „All These Sleepless Nights“ by director Michal Marczak.
In 2017 TB followed with “Heartbreak Hotel“, a double twelve-inch release with eight tracks of melancholic dance noir set in smoke-filled darkness. In 2018 he followed with the „Night Heat“ single, of which a RMXD EP with contributions by Gerd Janson, Sascha Funke, DJ Hotel and Bostro Pesopeo came out earlier this year.

Founded in 1990, Art of Dance has always been described by it’s founder, Kenny Larkin, as a “phantom label.”

“When I first started Art of Dance, I wanted to obviously release my own stuff, but I quickly learned I didn’t have the time or brain cells to run a label. So I instead licensed my music from my label to other labels. It existed, but it didn’t, in that sense, which is the reason I call it a “phantom label.” Given my low output of music projects, over the years, and my new found desire to put out quality tracks, I decided to relaunch the label, and use it as an outlet for my brother and I to build the Art of Dance brand, and most importantly, release great music!”

For his debut release, Kelvin presents what would be described not as “tech house”, but instead a blend between house and techno. Never straying far from his roots from Detroit, the title track of the single, Tell Me, samples “house diva” Loletta Holloway’s “Sweet Sensation.”

With the interplay between the techno inspired percussion style bassline, and Loletta’s perfectly placed soulful wails, Kelvin creates a beautifully powerful dance floor burner.

“The Force” is all Detroit. Kelvin gives a gentle nod to the past with this slow burner featuring classic 90’s style rolling snares, funky baseline, and horn stabs. This playful track is perfect for buildup for techno or house sets.

High in demand this 7" from LUCID PARADISE (FUNK NIGHT RECORDS): ERIC BOSS/ E DA BOSS and ISHTAR/GIZELLE SMITH. Hot modern soul boogie record produced by SOUL SUPREME (AKA LOVE'S HIGH). B/w "TONIGHT (LOVE'S HIGH REMIX)". Peak boogie delights for a dancefloor near you courtesy of STAR CREATURE!

Having returned from a 4-year break in August with its latest release from GW & Henry, A&R Edits follows up with a debut for Moplen.
With a recent remix of Frankie Knuckles ft. Jamie Principle and a Salsoul Reworks EP, Luca Moplen has been gaining new traction of late, so it felt fitting to release two of his evergreen edits on vinyl for the first time. Moplen’s edit of Tavares’ classic disco stomper ‘It Only Takes A Minute’ coupled with Greg Wilson’s edit of Moplen’s edit of Larry Levan’s mix of David Joseph’s ‘You Can’t Hide (Your Love From Me)’, if you can follow all that!

An all brother group hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, Tavares were a band that evolved with the disco sound, hitting their peak in 1976 when both ‘Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel’ and ‘Don’t Take Away The Music’ became huge club favourites. They scored their first R&B #1 in ‘1974 with a cover of Hall & Oates ‘She’s Gone’ and in 1975 they returned to the top of the R&B chart whilst going top 10 pop and scoring a #2 Disco hit with ‘It Only Takes A Minute’.

In 1992 a cover by boy band Take That would gift them their first top 10 entry, many people unaware that this track had first been recorded 17 years earlier. Rising to prominence in Brit-funk band Hi-Tension, David Joseph soon found his footing as a solo artist after they’d split, with his first release being ‘You Can’t Hide (Your Love From Me)’ in February 1983.

That same month, Greg Wilson appeared on The Tube, mixing between two copies of this very record – the first time mixing had been demonstrated on British TV. It would subsequently enter the UK chart, climbing into the top 20. The track would then be remixed by legendary Paradise Garage DJ Larry Levan, resulting in a #2 placing on the Billboard Dance chart.

Upon hearing Moplen’s extended dub edit, Greg worked further into it reintroducing the song – given his history with the track it was unthinkable that he’d play it without the vocal. The result is a unique version where Moplen’s dub sets the vibe during the first half of the edit before the song is finally introduced.

Time for another new face on Quintessentials: Goshawk! Been around with differnt projects for ages, this East Midlands lad has always been one of the finest exponents of eccentric deep house. Releasing tons of quality music on labels like Hudd Traxx, Boogie Café, DiY Discs or his co-owned Pressed for Time and Atjazz forthcoming, we simply couldn’t resist signing Goshawk. The „stricly bungalow ep“ offers classic house music and 110 slowdown tunes and is full of fun and vibes, rough yet smooth! „Never let me go“ is an uplifting, sexy vocal track, „why I sing“ is one of two slowdown tunes with a nice dosage of funk, „all I have to give“ is a rather dark club banger and „time is just a loop“ is a minimalistic slowish chugger. Yes, strictly bungalow!