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No one has lived a life quite like Marcos Valle. He became an overnight international sensation, fled a military dictatorship, dodged the Vietnam war draft, had his music sung by Homer Simpson, made enemies with Marlon Brando, and became an unsuspecting fitness guru for multiple generations. But to truly understand the great Brazilian composer, arranger, singer and multi instrumentalist, one must listen to his music.

Lead Single (Life Is What It Is) : Between the release of his first album in 1962 and today, Marcos Valle has released twenty-two studio albums traversing definitive bossa nova, classic samba, iconic disco pop, psychedelic rock, nineties dance and orchestral music. He has also had his songs recorded by some of the all time greats, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn, Sergio Mendes, Elis Regina, and (last but not least), Emma Button of the Spice Girls. He has also had his music sampled by Jay-Z, Kanye West, Pusha T and many more.


With his twenty-third studio album Túnel Acustico, Valle set out to bring it all together.

“I believe my music is many things. It goes in different directions. I have many different ways of writing music, sometimes it’s melodies and harmony, sometimes the groove is the focus. But all the music I have made over my sixty year career is unified. It is all natural and it is all sincere. And this is what I wanted to bring to my new album.”

A prominent feature of Valle’s career has been his dual residence between Brazil and the USA. Originally moving over in the mid-sixties on the back of bossa nova’s international proliferation, Valle toured with Sergio Mendes and became hugely in demand as a composer and arranger. But the Vietnam War loomed and the threat of being drafted saw him return to Brazil. He spent the following years in Rio writing music for TV and film, as well as four cult favourite albums in collaboration with some of Brazil’s most groundbreaking musicians including Milton Nascimento, Azymuth, Som Imaginario and O Terco.

By 1975, Brazil's military dictatorship was at its most oppressive, making living and working increasingly difficult. Valle moved back to the US where he would reside in LA, writing songs for, and collaborating with the likes of Eumir Deodato, Airto Moreira, Chicago, Sarah Vaughn and Leon Ware, amongst others.

Túnel Acústico features two songs originally conceived during Valle’s time on the West Coast: “Feels So Good”, a stirring two-step soul triumph written in 1979 with soul icon Leon Ware, and the sublime AOR disco track “Life Is What It Is”, composed around the same time, with percussionist Laudir De Oliveira from the group Chicago.

Built around an unfinished demo Marcos found on a shelf in his house 44 years after it was made, the “Feels So Good” demo was restored with the help of producer Daniel Maunick, who also utilised AI stem-separation to remove the placeholder vocal ad-libs. Valle added Portuguese lyrics to sit alongside Ware’s vocal hook, as well as extra keyboards and percussion.

Also written in late seventies LA, “Life Is What Is It” was co-penned by Laudir De Oliveira from the band Chicago and first released on the bands’ Chicago 13 album with lyrics by Robert Lamb. Another nod to his good times in LA, Valle recorded his own version for Túnel Acústico, upping the tempo and deepening the groove for a blast of irresistible summer soul.

On Túnel Acústico, Valle's core band features two members of the renowned Brazilian jazz-funk group Azymuth: Alex Malheiros on bass and Renato Massa on drums. The rhythm section is completed by percussionist Ian Moreira, with additional contributions from guitarist Paulinho Guitarra and trumpeter Jesse Sadoc.

The contemporarily composed music on Túnel Acústico features an impressive lineup of guest lyricists, including renowned Brazilian artists: Joyce Moreno (Bora Meu Vem), Céu (Nao Sei), and Moreno Veloso (Palavras Tão Gentis) as well as Valle's brother Paulo Sergio Valle (Tem Que Ser Feliz).

The album closes with "Thank You Burt (For Bacharach)", a tribute to the legendary composer who passed away in 2023.

Túnel Acústico will be released on 20th September 2024 via Far Out Recordings. Valle is set to tour Europe and America in support of the album.

Camelot, the legendary seat of King Arthur's court in Early Middle Ages Britain, was probably not a real place. A corruption of the name of a real Romano-Briton city, the word "Camelot" accumulated symbolic, mythic resonances over centuries, until achieving its present usage as a near-synonym of "utopia." In the mid-20th century alone, Camelot inspired an explosion of representations and appropriations, among them the violent, affectless Arthurian court of Robert Bresson's 1974 film Lancelot du Lac and the absurdist iteration of Monty Python's 1975 Holy Grail, both of which feature armored knights erupting into fountains of blood; the mystical Welsh world of novelist John Cowper Powys's profoundly weird 1951 novel Porius, with its Roman cults, wizards and witches, and wanton giants; and the nationalist nostalgia of President John F. Kennedy's White House. Unsurprisingly there are fewer Camelots in more recent memory. Camelot, Canadian songwriter Jennifer Castle's extraordinary, moving 2024 chronicle of the artist in early middle age, charts a realer, more rooted, and more metaphorical place than the fabled Camelot of the Early Middle Ages (or its myriad depictions), but it too is a space more psychic than physical. In Castle's Camelot, the fantastic interpenetrates the mundane, and the Grail, if there is one, distills everyday experience into art and art into faith, subliming terrestrial concerns into sublime celestial prayers to Mother Nature, and to the unfolding process of perfecting imperfection in one's own nature. Co-produced by Jennifer and longtime collaborator Jeff McMurrich, her seventh record is at once her most monumental and unguarded to date, demonstrating a mastery of rendering her verse and melodies alike with crisply poignant economy. For all their pointedly plainspoken lyrical detail and exhilarating full-band musical flourishes, these songs sound inevitable, eternal as morning devotions. "Back in Camelot," she sings on the lilting, vulnerable title track, "I really learned a lot / circles in the crops and / sky-high geometry." The album opens with a candid admission of sleeping "in the unfinished basement," an embarrassing joke that comes true. But the dreamer is redeemed by dreaming, setting sail in her airborne bed above "sirens and desert deities." If she questions her own agency_whether she is "wishing stones were standing" or just "pissing in the wind"_it does not diminish the ineffable existential jolt of such signs and wonders. This abiding tension between belief and doubt, magic and pragmatism, self and other, sacred and profane, and even, arguably, paganism and monotheism, suffuses these ten songs, which limn an interior landscape shot through with sunstriped shadows of "multi-felt dimensions" both mystical and quotidian. The epic scale and transport of "Camelot," with its swooning strings, gives way dramatically to "Some Friends," an acoustic-guitar-and-vocals meditation in miniature on Janus-faced friends and the lunar and solar temperatures of their promises_"bright and beaming verses" versus hot curses_which recalls her minimalist last album, 2020's achingly intimate Monarch Season. (In a symmetrical sequencing gesture, the penultimate track, the incantatory "Earthsong," bookends the central six with a similarly spare solo performance and coiled chord progression, this time an ambiguous appeal to _ a wounded lover? a wounded saint? our wounded planet?) Those whom "Trust" accuses of treacherous oaths spit through "gilded and golden tooth"_cynics, critics, hypocrites, gurus, scientists, doctors, lovers, government, the so-called entertainment industry_sow uncertainty that can infect the artist, as in "Louis": "What's that dance / and can it be done? What's that song / and can it be sung?" Answering affirmatively are "Lucky #8," an irrepressible ode to dancing as a bulwark against the "tidal pools of pain" and the "theory of collapse," and "Full Moon in Leo," which finds the narrator dancing around the house with a broom, wearing nothing but her underwear and "big hair." But the central question remains: who can we trust, and at what cost faith, in art or angels or otherwise? Castle's confidence in her collaborators is the cornerstone of Camelot. Carl Didur (piano and keys), Evan Cartwright (drums and percussion), and steadfast sideman Mike Smith (bass) comprise a rhythm section of exquisite delicacy and depth. This fundamental trio anchors the airiness of regular backing vocalists Victoria Cheong and Isla Craig and frames the guitars of Castle, McMurrich, and Paul Mortimer (and on "Lucky #8," special guest Cass McCombs). Reprising his decennial role on Castle's beloved 2014 Pink City, Owen Pallett arranged the strings for Estonia's FAMES Skopje Studio Orchestra. On the ravishing country-soul ballad "Blowing Kisses"_Pallett's crowning achievement here, which can be heard in its entirety in the penultimate episode of the third season of FX's The Bear_Jennifer contemplates time and presence, love and prayer_and how songwriting and poetry both manifest and limit all four dimensions: "No words to fumble with / I'm not a beggar to language any longer." Such rare moments of speechlessness_"I'm so fucking honoured," she bluntly proclaims_suggest a state "only a god could come up with." (If Camelot affirms Castle as one of the great song-poets of her generation, she is not immune to the despairing linguistic beggary that plagues all writers.) Camelot evinces a thoroughgoing faith not only in the natural world_including human bodies, which can, miraculously, dance and swim and bleed and embrace and birth_but also in our interpretations of and interventions in it: the "charts and diagrams" of "Lucky #8," a daydreamt billboard on Fairfax Ave. in LA in "Full Moon in Leo," the bloody invocations of the organ-stained "Mary Miracle," and all manner of water worship, rivers in particular. (Notably, Jennifer has worked as a farmer and a doula.) The album ends with "Fractal Canyon"'s repeated, exalted insistence that she's "not alone here." But where is here? The word "utopia" itself constitutes a pun, indicating in its ambiguous first syllable both the Greek "eutopia," or "good-place"_the facet most remembered today_and "outopia," or "no-place," a negative, impossible geography of the mind. Utopia, like its metonym Camelot, is imaginary. Or as fellow Canadian songwriter Neil Young once sang, "Everyone knows this is nowhere." "Can you see how I'd be tempted," Castle asks out of nowhere, held in the mystery, "to pretend I'm not alone and let the memory bend?"

. For Fans Of: The Weather Station, Weyes Blood, Adrianne Lenker, Phoebe Bridgers, Joan Shelley, Lana Del Rey, Cass McCombs, Angel Olsen & Neil Young. Camelot, the legendary seat of King Arthur’s court in Early Middle Ages Britain, was probably not a real place. A corruption of the name of a real Romano-Briton city, the word “Camelot” accumulated symbolic, mythic resonances over centuries, until achieving its present usage as a near-synonym of “utopia.” In the mid-20th century alone, Camelot inspired an explosion of representations and appropriations, among them the violent, affectless Arthurian court of Robert Bresson’s 1974 film Lancelot du Lac and the absurdist iteration of Monty Python’s 1975 Holy Grail, both of which feature armoured knights erupting into fountains of blood; the mystical Welsh world of novelist John Cowper Powys’s profoundly weird 1951 novel Porius, with its Roman cults, wizards and witches, and wanton giants; and the nationalist nostalgia of President John F. Kennedy’s White House. Unsurprisingly there are fewer Camelots in more recent memory. Camelot, Canadian songwriter Jennifer Castle’s extraordinary, moving 2024 chronicle of the artist in early middle age, charts a realer, more rooted, and more metaphorical place than the fabled Camelot of the Early Middle Ages (or its myriad depictions), but it too is a space more psychic than physical. In Castle’s Camelot, the fantastic interpenetrates the mundane, and the Grail, if there is one, distills everyday experience into art and art into faith, subliming terrestrial concerns into sublime celestial prayers to Mother Nature, and to the unfolding process of perfecting imperfection in one’s own nature. Co-produced by Jennifer and longtime collaborator Jeff McMurrich, her seventh record is at once her most monumental and unguarded to date, demonstrating a mastery of rendering her verse and melodies alike with crisply poignant economy. For all their pointedly plainspoken lyrical detail and exhilarating full-band musical flourishes, these songs sound inevitable, eternal as morning devotions. “Back in Camelot,” she sings on the lilting, vulnerable title track, “I really learned a lot / circles in the crops and / sky-high geometry.” The album opens with a candid admission of sleeping “in the unfinished basement,” an embarrassing joke that comes true. But the dreamer is redeemed by dreaming, setting sail in her airborne bed above “sirens and desert deities.” If she questions her own agency whether she is “wishing stones were standing” or just “pissing in the wind” it does not diminish the ineffable existential jolt of such signs and wonders. This abiding tension between belief and doubt, magic and pragmatism, self and other, sacred and profane, and even, arguably, paganism and monotheism, suffuses these ten songs, which limn an interior landscape shot through with sunstriped shadows of “multi-felt dimensions” both mystical and quotidian. The epic scale and transport of “Camelot,” with its swooning strings, gives way dramatically to “Some Friends,” an acoustic-guitar-and-vocals meditation in miniature on Janus-faced friends and the lunar and solar temperatures of their promises—“bright and beaming verses” versus hot curses which recalls her minimalist last album, 2020’s achingly intimate Monarch Season. (In a symmetrical sequencing gesture, the penultimate track, the incantatory “Earthsong,” bookends the central six with a similarly spare solo performance and coiled chord progression, this time an ambiguous appeal to … a wounded lover? a wounded saint? our wounded planet?). Those whom “Trust” accuses of treacherous oaths spit through “gilded and golden tooth” cynics, critics, hypocrites, gurus, scientists, doctors, lovers, government, the so-called entertainment industry sow uncertainty that can infect the artist, as in “Louis”: “What’s that dance / and can it be done? What’s that song / and can it be sung?” Answering affirmatively are “Lucky #8,” an irrepressible ode to dancing as a bulwark against the “tidal pools of pain” and the “theory of collapse,” and “Full Moon in Leo,” which finds the narrator dancing around the house with a broom, wearing nothing but her underwear and “big hair.” But the central question remains: who can we trust, and at what cost faith, in art or angels or otherwise? Castle’s confidence in her collaborators is the cornerstone of Camelot. Carl Didur (piano and keys), Evan Cartwright (drums and percussion), and steadfast sideman Mike Smith (bass) comprise a rhythm section of exquisite delicacy and depth. This fundamental trio anchors the airiness of regular backing vocalists Victoria Cheong and Isla Craig and frames the guitars of Castle, McMurrich, and Paul Mortimer (and on “Lucky #8,” special guest Cass McCombs). Reprising his decennial role on Castle’s beloved 2014 Pink City, Owen Pallett arranged the strings for Estonia’s FAMES Skopje Studio Orchestra. On the ravishing country-soul ballad “Blowing Kisses” Pallett’s crowning achievement here, which can be heard in its entirety in the penultimate episode of the third season of FX’s The Bear Jennifer contemplates time and presence, love and prayer and how songwriting and poetry both manifest and limit all four dimensions: “No words to fumble with / I’m not a beggar to language any longer.” Such rare moments of speechlessness “I’m so fucking honoured,” she bluntly proclaims suggest a state “only a god could come up with.” (If Camelot affirms Castle as one of the great song-poets of her generation, she is not immune to the despairing linguistic beggary that plagues all writers.) Camelot evinces a thoroughgoing faith not only in the natural world including human bodies, which can, miraculously, dance and swim and bleed and embrace and birth but also in our interpretations of and interventions in it: the “charts and diagrams” of “Lucky #8,” a daydreamt billboard on Fairfax Ave. in LA in “Full Moon in Leo,” the bloody invocations of the organ-stained “Mary Miracle,” and all manner of water worship, rivers in particular. (Notably, Jennifer has worked as a farmer and a doula.) The album ends with “Fractal Canyon”s repeated, exalted insistence that she’s “not alone here.” But where is here? The word “utopia” itself constitutes a pun, indicating in its ambiguous first syllable both the Greek “eutopia,” or “good-place” the facet most remembered today and “outopia,” or “no-place,” a negative, impossible geography of the mind. Utopia, like its metonym Camelot, is imaginary

The wait is over, Return To The 37th Chamber is El Michels Affair's highly anticipated follow up to 2009's underground cult classic Enter the 37th Chamber. Churning out classic records since then for the likes of Lee Fields, The Arcs, The Shacks, and tons more, it is clear that EMA's signature sound is stronger & sharper than ever. This time, in addition to re-interpreting the Wu compositions for a live band, EMA pays homage to the production and sonic fog that makes a RZA beat so recognizable. Producer and bandleader Leon Michels recorded the album completely analog, sometimes hitting 6 generations of tape before it was ready for mixing, giving the Return to The 37th Chamber it's own hazy sound. Adding to the unique fidelity, the record is laced with psychedelic flourishes, John Carpenter' synths, heavy metal guitars, triumpha0nt horns, and traditional Chinese instruments that make up for the lack of the Wu's superlative vocals. From start to finish it's a dark trip that walks the line between RZA's timeless hip-hop aesthetic and the cinematic soul EMA has become known for. El Michels Affair tackles some classics like 4th Chamber and Wu Tang Aint Nuthin to Fuck Wit, as well as some deeper cuts like Ol Dirty Bastard's Snakes, Raekwon's Verbal Intercourse, and Shaolin Brew, Wu-Tang's contribution to the St. Ide's Hip Hop endorsement campaign from 1994. This time El Michels brings some of the Big Crown family along for the ride. Lee Fields handles vocal duties on Snakes and is joined by Shannon Wise of The Shacks for their version of Tearz, which pays as much homage to the Wendy Rene sample as it does to the Wu-Tang Clan. Lady Wray makes an appearance on the cover of Method Man's hit, All I Need, lending her vocal prowess to what gave the Wu one of their biggest hits of all time. Interspersed throughout the record are some original interludes that are like the rug that ties the room together,' giving Return To The 37th Chamber a cinematic narrative that makes it a proper El Michels Affair record and not just a collection of covers. From the music to the presentation, this album is a perfect example of what can only be achieved through diversity. The end result is as much a kaleidoscope of influences and multiculturalism as the city it was recorded in. El Michels Affair is once again, sounding out the city' that raised them, pulling elements of art and culture from across the country and around the globe to create an album truly unique in it's own right.

Rising multi-media artist Shaboozey intends to build his own world.

Determined to carve his own lane in the Alt-Country / Hip-Hop space; he crafts a sound that pays homage to a cast of traditional Western influences, such as Bob Dylan, Lead Belly, Johnny Cash, and Leonard Cohen, while looking into the future of what the two genres have yet to introduce.

Remaining true to his Virginia roots, Shaboozey hopes to continue the region’s long-standing tradition of producing some of the most prolific creatives of the new millennium. This time through elevating the scope of contemporary hip-hop and introducing a modern Americana culture to a global audience.

Fresh off of his inclusion in the groundbreaking Beyonce album, Cowboy Carter, of which he was the only featured artist to appear twice, Shaboozey is set to release his own album, Where I've Been, isn't Where I'm Going. An album that has been years in the making, it includes standout singles “Let It Burn,” “Vegas,” “Anabelle,” & the infectiously fun singalong anthem “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Millions of streams later, and appearances on esteemed programs such as COLORS and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Shaboozey is set to become the new face of modern American country music.

NO COVER!

Limited edition double vinyl release of Jezebell’s debut new-Balearic epic, which stylishly weaves the history of eclectic club classics through 16 tracks of downtempo, dub, and acid chug.

Support from Trevor Fung, Luke Una, Justin Robertson, Leo Elstob, Bill Brewster, Danielle Moore, Sean Johnston, Duncan Gray, Nathan Gregory Wilkins, Tech Support, Lebollet …

In 2007 an Italian film festival invites Mouse on Mars to score a film of their choice. The organizers claim to be able to clear the rights for any movie the band chooses. Werner Herzog’s fictional documentary Fata Morgana, which merges footage of several desert explorations by Herzog and his team into one continuous association, has long been a band’s favorite. The film comes with a soundtrack by Mozart, Leonard Cohen, Third Ear Band and field recordings. Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner are sent a DVD to Düsseldorf and start working. The idea is to score the film in real time so instrumentation has to be readily at hand: guitar, percussion, electronics, mouth harp, pedals, software, tapes, samplers. Once the arrangement for the three-part film is sorted Mouse on Mars bring their score to stage. Herzog Sessions is performed twice: first when the band still thought the rights had been cleared, and a second time at London’s Southbank Center knowing that Herzog would have never approved a new score.

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Mouse On Mars – London Queen Elizabeth Hall soundtracking Werner Herzog.
By Mike Diver, 24.04.2009

Filmed in 1971, Fata Morgana is perhaps not one of Herzog’s best-known works (think Grizzly Man, Rescue Dawn, et cetera…), but then Mouse on Mars have never been ones to embrace the mainstream, quietly letting their modern, experimental take on krautrock do the talking over the years, thus producing some quietly brilliant electronica that far outweighs their modest profile.

The film itself is not altogether dissimilar to the wonderful, Phillip Glass-scored Koyaanisqatsi, with sweeping landscape shots and no obvious plot or narrative, though Fata is concentrated purely in one place – in and around the Sahara Desert, switching from images of barren wasteland to desert tribes and dead, skeletal cattle.

The obvious thing to do when soundtracking such powerful imagery is to vie for dreamy electronic soundscapes which can be sustained for a long period, and whilst this ambient shoegaze approach was present and correct (also carefully constructed and highly effective), Mouse on Mars added a human element to the performance, incorporating a live dimension by using and looping guitars, harmonicas, processed vocals and even a live horn player (quite possibly a flugelhorn. Look it up if you don’t believe me) for the final section of the film.

Some of the most interesting points arose when the duo suddenly switched from solemn, ambient tones to glitchy, bouncing electro (reminiscent of their more upbeat work) whilst on the same film shot – causing the audience mood to flick from tripped-out bliss to attentive semi-wired, utterly subverting any idea of a narrative the film may have possessed. Clever stuff.

Ranging from sinister to surreal to humorous, all the moods portrayed in Fata Morgana were successfully matched by Mouse on Mars’ live rescore – no mean feat. The duo also went above and beyond the call of duty with their own soundtrack, adding a fascinating personal signature to an already unique film.

Mit seiner nunmehr 10. Platte für Exile On Mainstream (die 'Suiciety' Single und das Trialogos-Album "Stroh zu Gold" einfach mal mitgezählt) braucht Conny wohl weder eine Einführung, noch eine oberflächliche Bejubelung. "Troubadour" würde das auch nicht gerecht, denn selten hat man den in Deutschland und Italien lebenden Künstler so reduziert, deep und nahbar erlebt. Die Platte ist eine Hinwendung zu seinen Wurzeln als Solokünstler, der mit spärlicher Instrumentierung und bedingungsloser Ehrlichkeit ganze Kathedralen mit Emotionen füllen kann. Nach eher experimentellen Ausflügen auf "Wahn und Sinn", seinem vielbeachteten deutschsprachigen Album aus 2023 und dem eher opulent instrumentierten "Doom Folk" von 2019 ist "Troubadour" nun wieder ein reines Singer/Songwriter-Album geworden. Eine Gitarre, eine Stimme - mehr braucht es nicht. Conny beschreibt es selbst wie folgt: "Meine Idee war, ein Album zu machen, das den minimalistischen Ansatz von Raw Love Songs und Black Happy aufgreift, aber zugleich das widerspiegelt, was ich heute erlebe. Konzerte sind für mich immer das Herz meiner Musik, deshalb wollte ich Stücke schreiben, die ich jederzeit und überall spielen kann - in Clubs, auf Festivals oder unterwegs, unter den geringsten Anforderungen. Ich hatte eine Platte im Kopf, die Raum zum Atmen und Zuhören bietet, damit man die Details der erzählten Bilder erkennen kann." Für Fans von Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, Elliott Smith

For fans of Michael Kiwunaka, Jon Batiste, Leon Bridges, Gregory Porter, and Mg.Kee. Full tour in the works for 2025 in North America and Europe. Collaborated with a wide range of artists including Jack White, Dwele, Slum Village, Black Milk, Foreign Exchange, 14KT, and Daru Jones. Former musical director for tours for Black Milk and Slum Village, throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. “From the Throne Room” is Abernathy’s fourth official LP, following the trilogy of “Monologue,” “Dialogue,” and “Epilogue,” released between 2016 and 2019. Aaron Abernathy has been firmly established in the modern soul scene for almost two decades, and he continues to elevate his craft as a songwriter and performer. His latest LP “From the Throne Room” once again demonstrates a rare ability to seamlessly shift between lyrical themes and musical styles, and it is his most inspired and uplifting album to date.
The turmoil caused by the pandemic was especially hard on touring musicians, and as a veteran musical director and bandleader who has regularly traversed the globe, Abernathy was certainly affected. Instead of wallowing in grief and darkness, he tapped into his gifts as a songwriter and lyricist to manifest light and optimism in his own life. As expressed on the opening track “New Relationship,” this “new way of seeing” kicked open some new creative doors for him as a musician and producer, with a wide variety of influences. The four-to-the-floor push of “A Reason to Smile” brings to mind 80’s post-disco boogie, “Show Off” shows off a modern rock edge, and the booming, driving energy in tunes like “Hope Song” and “Joy” is reminiscent of the electric 60’s soul of Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding. With its catchy hooks, powerful lead vocals, and slick self-produced arrangements, “From the Throne Room” proves that Aaron Abernathy remains one of the most talented singer/songwriters of his generation in contemporary soul music.

Das Debütalbum des Künstlers Andrzej Steinbach „Portal“ enthält zwei Musikstücke, „Wartehalle“ und „Behörde“, die er Anfang 2024 in Mono im Leopold-Hoesch-Museum Düren aufgenommen hat. Dafür hat Steinbach ein Objekt („Ohne Titel (Zarge aus einer ehemaligen Behörde), 2020“) aus seiner Sammlung zu einem Instrument umfunktioniert. An den metallischen Türrahmen wurde ein Kontaktmikrofon angebracht, das die Eigenschwingungen der Zarge durch einen Verstärker und einen Schallwandler in einer Feedbackschleife zurückgibt. Mit einem zwischengeschalteten Mixer war es Steinbach möglich diese Aufladungen direkt anzusteuern und den Türrahmen in einer Art „Free Industrial Jazz“ zu spielen. In situ entstanden die beiden experimentellen Tracks „Wartehalle“ und „Behörde“, deren klanglichen Charakter Waltraud Blischke u.a. so beschreibt: „Was auf Vinyl mit Glockengeläut von außen und vibrierendem Crescendo durch Schwingungen im Inneren beginnt, diffundiert bald als Feedback, verwandelt stehende Wellen in Klänge von Nebelhörnern. (...) Eine Art rudimentäre Sprache steigt über verschiedene Stimmlagen hinauf, wirkt über Distanzen hinweg drohend, mal launisch wie ein durchnässter Kontrabass, verweilt im rhythmischen, elektrostatischen Knistern, rattert wie ein Relikt frühindustrieller Maschinerie mit Schlagzeug im Gedärm.“ Und damit rüttelt auch „Portal“ – wie alle Arbeiten Steinbachs, die im Rahmen seiner Ausstellung „Unkenntliches Metall“ vom 29.9.2024 - 19.01.2025 im Leopold-Hoesch-Museum Düren gezeigt werden – an den Festschreibungen und Sicherheiten unseres durchstrukturierten Alltags.

Meine Liebsten, ich habe ein neues Album gemacht und ich bin überglücklich. Es heißt „Addio“. Ich freue mich, euch nach so langer Zeit zeigen zu dürfen, an was ich so gearbeitet habe. Es ist wild, ich schwörs.“ Faber sagt sich somit erst einmal los von messbar gemachter Kunst, von Musik, die nicht mehr nur für sich selbst stehen darf, sondern unmittelbar spiegelt, wie massenkompatibel sie ist. Faber hat seine Gedanken frei gemacht, die neuen Lieder werden es ebenfalls bald sein. Kommt mit!

Philadelphian Jazz legend Benny Golson, an American bebop/ hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger, has had a long and storied career.

He has played with luminaries such as John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey, to name just a few.

With his 1978 album “I’m Always Dancin’ To The Music,” Golson took a unique turn. Known primarily for his hard bop roots and classic compositions like “Whisper Not”

and “Killer Joe,” Golson steps into the realms of jazz-funk and disco with this release.

The title song is a stellar dance groove, holding heavyweight status among underground soul, funk, and jazz aficionados—a true ‘rare groove’ indeed.

Produced by George Butler, the instrumental hook of this title song has been sampled many times by artists such as Naughty by Nature, Logistics, Leona Lewis, and many others.

This is a real hidden gem and well worth seeking out!

This release comes as a limited edition of 750 copies on light green coloured vinyl.

Nach der allerersten Vinylauflage im Dezember 2023 (Forest Green Vinyl), folgt nun eine weitere Vinyledition des dritten Albums THE COLD STILL (2010) der britischen Indie-Rock-Band The Boxer Rebellion, diesmal auf Green Swirled Vinyl. Produziert wurde THE COLD STILL von Ethan Johns (Kings Of Leon, Rufus Wainwright, Ryan Adams) in Peter Gabriels Real World Studios.

One of London’s most loved underground parties, Tangent, celebrates its 10th birthday this year with a new compilation on Mr Bongo. Its residents, John Gómez and Nick the Record, have curated a selection of prized, rare and dancefloor-ready tracks that have soundtracked the past decade of their parties. Alongside remastered reissues of these original cuts, the CD version of the compilation also houses three incredible edits from Nick, John and Dan Tyler of the Idjut Boys. These were too good not to press onto vinyl, so we’ve given them the standalone 12" they deserve.

Contextualising their edits Nick states, “Tangent was not only the place for us to play the music we love the most, it also became the testing ground for our edits. It was really helpful being able to see the effect each of these had on a dancefloor before the records were released and many of them also became firm Tangent classics.”

Up first, Nick is joined by Dan Tyler (Idjut Boys), who he runs the edit label Record Mission with, for a furiously feel-good re-edit of Leo Basel’s ‘Quelle Drôle De Vie’. Basing their edit on the 1987 ‘Special Remix’, it does what any great re-work does, dropping the sections from the original that don’t quite hit the mark, whilst focussing on the gold in amongst it all. The result is a slice of peak-time, French boogie joy, that will warm even the coldest hearts.

John then joins Dan at the dials for a cosmic revamp of Love Isaacs 'Surprise Surprise'. A serving of ‘80s electro-funk, dripping in swagger with a highlife tinge. John and Dan extended the grooves for maximum dancefloor power, space echoing it into the stratosphere at all the juiciest points.

Lastly, Nick takes on Rick Asikpo and Afro Fusion 'Let's Get High' from the super sought-after 1980 album, Got To Be Me. Celestial, gospel-infused soul from Nigeria, Nick homes in on the energetic last 2 minutes of the original as the building block of his 12-minute edit. A completely reworked, feverishly paced creation, Nick switches the sections around, saving the slow, soulful segment for a brilliant cosmic breakdown before the track erupts back into its full flow. Synthesised, jazz-funk elation from start to finish!

Australian indie folk rock band The Paper Kites release Evergreen, a compilation featuring the band’s debut EP Woodland and follow-up EP Young North for the first time on vinyl. Notably the release includes standout single "Bloom" which has been certified platinum in the U.S.A, Canada, Australia, Italy & the Netherlands. It melds earthy instrumentals to create a perfect backdrop for the band’s trademark harmonies that have garnered them a dedicated audience and over 1 billion streams across their catalog.

Mayday is the third LP by Montreal-based artist, Myriam Gendron. It follows her earlier, critically acclaimed albums, Not So Deep As A Well (2014) and Ma délire - Songs of love, lost & found (2021). Myriam began exploring the complex folk traditions of Quebec (and beyond), with Ma délire, which combines traditional and original songs with arrangements that make space for avant-garde musical interludes by such folks as guitarist Bill Nace (Body/Head) and renowned jazz percussionist Chris Corsano. Mayday presents an even more syncretic fusion of the elements Myriam uses to create her sound. Most of the songs are original, sung in both English and French, and they blend traditional and avant elements with abandon. She is often accompanied on this album by the guitarist Marisa Anderson and drummer Jim White (Dirty Three, Xylouris White), whose work provides a quietly aggressive sort of free-rock base. Additional players include Montreal bassist Cédric Dind-Lavoie, Bill Nace and saxophonist Zoh Amba. Mayday is a thoroughly thrilling effort that manages to create new vistas of sound while maintaining a feel that is both intimate and familiar. The music here certainly possesses a richly serious tone, but Myriam Gendron (like Leonard Cohen) is able to infuse her darkness with a subtle, powerful light that reminds us that even the most pitch-black night is but a transitional state. Beautiful work.

‘Leon’ is the highly anticipated fourth album from Grammy Award-winning recording artist, songwriter, and producer Leon Bridges. With 13 tracks featuring Leon’s signature storytelling and a unique blend of organic genre alchemy, ‘Leon’ is his most poignant, powerful, and personal work to date. He takes fans on a trip through the heart of Ft. Worth he knows best, the things he holds dear, and the people and places that shaped him. Featuring production by Ian Fitchuk (Beyonce, Noah Kahan), Daniel Tashian (Kacey Musgraves), and Tyler Johnson (Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus), Leon describes the album as “somewhat of a self-portrait… I’m excited to share these stories about my home, about nostalgia, about my upbringing, about where I’m from, with all of you. I hope this music brings you back to your roots and your journey.”



Quote from Leon:
“‘Leon’ has been a long-time coming. I started writing pieces of it as far back as ‘Gold-Diggers Sound.’ They didn’t fit what I was trying to do with that album and I tried moving on. But I couldn’t shake them because they’re part of me. And, if I’m honest, also because I think this is some of my most excellent work yet.In many ways, Leon has been in the works since my childhood. This record is about simpler days. It’s about time spent in my beloved Fort Worth and the experiences that made me the man I am today. It’s soulful music in the truest sense - it’s imbued with my soul.I’m excited to share these stories about my home, about nostalgia, about my upbringing, about where I’m from, with all of you. I hope this music brings you back to your roots and your journey.”

Dame Area's highly anticipated fourth studio album, "Toda la verdad sobre Dame Area" ("The Whole Truth about Dame Area"), a collaboration with the renowned labels Mannequin Records and Humo Records.

Formed in 2017 within the vibrant underground scene of Barcelona's Màgia Roja club, Dame Area comprises the Italian-Catalan duo Silvia Konstance and Viktor Lux Crux. They fuse industrial-tribal polyrhythms with minimalist synth basslines, drawing profound inspiration from avant-garde masters such as Esplendor Geometrico, Throbbing Gristle, Suicide, Einstürzende Neubauten, Can, Coil, Swans, Big Black, and Wolf Eyes.

This record represents a new phase in Dame Area's discography. It's a big step up in terms of sound, composition and ideas. This record it's the perfect representation of what they have been playing live the last three years and what most people know them for. Also it serves as a companion piece to 2022’s Toda la mentira sobre Dame Area ("All The Lies About Dame Area"), which had a stronger focus on melody, while this latest record is more aggressive and industrial-influenced, with a greater emphasis on percussion.

Tracks like the Suicide-influenced "Si no es hoy cuando es" and "Sempre Cambiare" are an onslaught of industrialism and experimentalism—formidable, volatile, and unpredictable avant-garde subversion. Silvia explains, "One of our biggest influences is doing what our influences wouldn't do. We're more into dynamics and structures atypical of electronic music, with changes in time signatures, starts and stops, and dynamics more typical of rock music. We use any musical idea from any genre. Some songs on the album are based on flamenco rhythms, others influenced by '60s experimental pop, heavy metal, or contemporary electronic music."

The confrontational "Vengo dall'aldilà" accelerates with heavy percussion, while "Tu me hiciste creer" builds into a rhythmic, transcendent noise of yelled vocals and hypnotic beats. Viktor adds, "This song took us more time to complete than any other we have recorded. It was a very organic process, evolving slowly from some instrumental percussive stuff we were doing live. Then we started using feedback as a rhythmic element (through a metallic sheet), and this was the first song where we incorporated this element, typical of noise-rock and experimental rock."

Elsewhere, "Esto Es Nuestro Ruido" represents a manic, eclectic form of contemporary industrial music, post-punk, and EBM. Silvia notes, "It's the first album we recorded outside a studio. Although we've been playing live with metallic percussion and floor tom from the very start, in the studio, with some exceptions, it was mostly sample-based until now. On Toda la verdad sobre Dame Area, all drums and almost all metallic percussion have been recorded live."

With a growing reputation as one of the best live bands around since their inception, Dame Area has toured extensively across Europe, performing at renowned festivals like Atonal, CTM, Nuits Sonores, Dour, and Fusion, as well as legendary clubs such as Berghain, Tresor, Apolo, and Spook Factory.

Recorded at Sol de Sants Studios and Estudio Hermetic between August and November 2023

Silvia Konstance: vocals, synths, percussions, electronics, production
Viktor L. Crux: synths, drums, percussions, electronics, production
Mixing and additional production by Guillermo Sánchez Rojo
Mastering by Paul Mac at Hardgroove Mastering
Designed by Leo Sousa
Photography by Fabio Calabretta
Photo concept by Dame Area

Big Crown Records ist stolz darauf, die erste 7" von Derya Yidirim & Grup Simsek auf dem Label zu präsentieren. Sie kamen im Juni 2024 nach New York, um ihr neues Album im The Diamond Mine Studio in Queens aufzunehmen, wobei Leon Michels die Produktion übernahm. Dies sind die ersten beiden Stücke aus diesen Sessions und sie sind sehr aufschlussreich für das, was auf dem neuen Album zu hören sein wird. "Cool Hand" ist ein wunderschönes Nebeneinander von Intensität und Unbeschwertheit mit Texten, die die Tiefen der unerwiderten Liebe erforschen, während die Musik erhebend und hell ist. Deryas leidenschaftlicher Gesang und ihr eigenwilliges Saz-Spiel reiten auf dem ansteckenden Groove der Band, während sie Bilder von rosa Bergen und ungeblühten gelben Tulpen heraufbeschwört. Die Botschaft ist poetisch und kompliziert, indem sie immer wieder erklärt "Ich liebe dich, ich bin verrückt nach dir", aber letztendlich ein Gefühl des Friedens findet, indem sie ein gebrochenes Herz akzeptiert. Die B-Seite ,Yakamoz" ist ein zutiefst bewegender Song, der die tiefen Gefühle einfängt, die mit Vertreibung und Verlust verbunden sind. Der Text erzählt die Geschichte von jemandem, der seine Heimat, den Ort seiner Wurzeln, notgedrungen verlassen musste und nicht weiß, ob er jemals zurückkehren wird. Der gleichmäßige Groove der Band und der gequälte Gesang zeichnen ein lebendiges Bild der Verwüstung, die die Protagonistin erlebt, die schließlich erkennt, dass ihre Wurzeln in ihr selbst liegen und jeder Ort, an den sie geht, ihr Zuhause ist.

Sonor Music Editions is honored to announce the reissue of the very rare LP Aquarium Sounds by Italian composer Filippo Trecca. Originally released in 1979 as a promo-only item, “Aquarium Sounds” is a hybrid collection of tracks; some were used as the soundtrack to the thriller TV series “Così Per Gioco” (1979), directed by Leonardo Cortese; others from the talk show “Acquario” (1978-1979) hosted by Italian journalist and writer Maurizio Costanzo. The album also includes “Elena Tip” which features playful vocals by a young Ilona Staller (aka Cicciolina).

Aquarium Sounds were composed by Trecca himself, Achille Oliva (bass), Alessandro Alessandroni Jr. (keys), Giancarlo de Matteis (guitars), and Marco Parisi (drums), playing together for the creation of this progressive pop gem sought after by many collectors from around the world.

The album, recorded using simple acoustic elements and early synths, is a treasure buried deep into the ocean of time that Sonor Music Editions is bringing back to the surface; a journey into the depths of our music memory as well into the universe of Italian music heritage.

No one has lived a life quite like Marcos Valle. He became an overnight international sensation, fled a military dictatorship, dodged the Vietnam war draft, had his music sung by Homer Simpson, made enemies with Marlon Brando, and became an unsuspecting fitness guru for multiple generations. But to truly understand the great Brazilian composer, arranger, singer and multi instrumentalist, one must listen to his music.

Lead Single (Life Is What It Is) : Between the release of his first album in 1962 and today, Marcos Valle has released twenty-two studio albums traversing definitive bossa nova, classic samba, iconic disco pop, psychedelic rock, nineties dance and orchestral music. He has also had his songs recorded by some of the all time greats, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn, Sergio Mendes, Elis Regina, and (last but not least), Emma Button of the Spice Girls. He has also had his music sampled by Jay-Z, Kanye West, Pusha T and many more.


With his twenty-third studio album Túnel Acustico, Valle set out to bring it all together.

“I believe my music is many things. It goes in different directions. I have many different ways of writing music, sometimes it’s melodies and harmony, sometimes the groove is the focus. But all the music I have made over my sixty year career is unified. It is all natural and it is all sincere. And this is what I wanted to bring to my new album.”

A prominent feature of Valle’s career has been his dual residence between Brazil and the USA. Originally moving over in the mid-sixties on the back of bossa nova’s international proliferation, Valle toured with Sergio Mendes and became hugely in demand as a composer and arranger. But the Vietnam War loomed and the threat of being drafted saw him return to Brazil. He spent the following years in Rio writing music for TV and film, as well as four cult favourite albums in collaboration with some of Brazil’s most groundbreaking musicians including Milton Nascimento, Azymuth, Som Imaginario and O Terco.

By 1975, Brazil's military dictatorship was at its most oppressive, making living and working increasingly difficult. Valle moved back to the US where he would reside in LA, writing songs for, and collaborating with the likes of Eumir Deodato, Airto Moreira, Chicago, Sarah Vaughn and Leon Ware, amongst others.

Túnel Acústico features two songs originally conceived during Valle’s time on the West Coast: “Feels So Good”, a stirring two-step soul triumph written in 1979 with soul icon Leon Ware, and the sublime AOR disco track “Life Is What It Is”, composed around the same time, with percussionist Laudir De Oliveira from the group Chicago.

Built around an unfinished demo Marcos found on a shelf in his house 44 years after it was made, the “Feels So Good” demo was restored with the help of producer Daniel Maunick, who also utilised AI stem-separation to remove the placeholder vocal ad-libs. Valle added Portuguese lyrics to sit alongside Ware’s vocal hook, as well as extra keyboards and percussion.

Also written in late seventies LA, “Life Is What Is It” was co-penned by Laudir De Oliveira from the band Chicago and first released on the bands’ Chicago 13 album with lyrics by Robert Lamb. Another nod to his good times in LA, Valle recorded his own version for Túnel Acústico, upping the tempo and deepening the groove for a blast of irresistible summer soul.

On Túnel Acústico, Valle's core band features two members of the renowned Brazilian jazz-funk group Azymuth: Alex Malheiros on bass and Renato Massa on drums. The rhythm section is completed by percussionist Ian Moreira, with additional contributions from guitarist Paulinho Guitarra and trumpeter Jesse Sadoc.

The contemporarily composed music on Túnel Acústico features an impressive lineup of guest lyricists, including renowned Brazilian artists: Joyce Moreno (Bora Meu Vem), Céu (Nao Sei), and Moreno Veloso (Palavras Tão Gentis) as well as Valle's brother Paulo Sergio Valle (Tem Que Ser Feliz).

The album closes with "Thank You Burt (For Bacharach)", a tribute to the legendary composer who passed away in 2023.

Túnel Acústico will be released on 20th September 2024 via Far Out Recordings. Valle is set to tour Europe and America in support of the album.

Two seminal 12" mixes of a pair of Michael Wycoff heavy hitters from 1982. One a two-step favourite and one a Loft classic, these sought-after versions have never been paired on the same record.

Side A features the smooth-gliding anthem "Looking Up To You". The unmistakable snap of that sighing intro is unlike anything else. As such, it's no surprise that Leon Ware, celebrated master of the unexpected chord, has his fingerprints all over the track. Co-written with Zane Grey, "Looking Up To You" stands among the very best of Leon's staggering bank of compositions, both solo and with Michael Jackson, Minnie Riperton and Marvin Gaye. It's such an influential track, serving as the sample foundation of a massive top five R&B hit for Zhane in 1993, but it has never been bettered upon. Original 12" copies - if you can find them - go for over £50 today, making this side worth the price of admission alone.

If that wasn't enough, it's arguable that the B-Side wins again. A staple of David Mancuso's New York Loft parties, the Tee Scott mix of uplifting boogie gem "Diamond Real" is on another level entirely. A DJ legend of infamous clubs Better Days and Zanzibar and a trailblazing innovator, Tee Scott mastered the art of the reconstructive club mix.

For maximum destruction of discerning dancers, we've opted for here for his heavenly dub. 7 minutes of devastatingly slick dance floor dynamite, at once polished and dilapidated, its ecstatic charm is universal.

Devout lovers of modern soul have long worshipped the rapturous, sophisticated funk of Michael Wycoff. In combining that richly elegant voice, redolent of Donny Hathaway, with the production of keyboardist and arranger Webster Lewis, it's no surprise that both of these tracks became vital club classics of the early 80s R&B scene. Clear, full-bodied and bright - the 12" versions of these tracks are notoriously punchier than those featured on Wycoff's LP, and feature boomin' low end and neck-snapping drums. Buy on sight.

The Decades Collected compilations are part of the Collected compilation series, which is a collaboration between Universal Music and Music On Vinyl. The compilations bring together the biggest names of each decade, combined with forgotten hits and less discovered gems, giving the listener an experience of listening to their favourite tunes while uncovering new musical grounds at the same time.

To launch Mr Bongo’s new Cuban Classic Series, we are thrilled to present this sought-after, psychedelic-funk masterpiece. A fusion of traditional Latin and Afro-Cuban rhythms meets disco, jazz, and funk, with hints of 70s soundtrack productions, this much-loved cult album featuring nine predominantly instrumental tracks is a real treasure that deserves a much wider appreciation. One look at the trippy artwork and you know it is going to be special.

Originally released in 1977 on Areito Records, a sub-label of the state-owned label Egrem, it has become one of the rarest (even in Cuba) and most in-demand albums to come from the label. It is the sole album from Grupo Los Yoyi and was composed, orchestrated, and produced by the mysterious, Jorge Soler Leó.

After Castro ring-fenced Cuba with an embargo on, among other things, Western music, the ‘Yoyi’ album had a sound more left of centre than what was normally allowed to be recorded there at the time. It subtly and covertly flirts with disco, jazz-funk, and electronic sounds coming from the US and Europe. It is probably best known for the space funk, bubbly club cut 'Paco La Calle’. A track that was edited in 2008 by the fantastic DJ / producer, Nick the Record, and one that is guaranteed to set a discerning dancefloor alight. However, ‘Yoyi’ is far from a one-track album. Other highlights include, 'Banana’, with its call and response trombone and horn section, squelchy keys, pulsating breaks and percussion, and a loose, floating vocal arrangement. 'Tu No Me Puedes Conquistar' is a beautiful, bouncing plodder with a variety of instruments interchanging as the track progresses. 'Ruta 30' takes things in a straighter Latin direction, which we are accustomed to from Cuba at that time, yet it is still full of personality, treats and vigour. Take our word for it, this album is strong throughout.

This is one of our favourites and most beloved albums to come out of Cuba and is the perfect flagship for our Cuban Classics Series. Look out for plenty more to come real soon.

Leif Vollebekk ist ein Philosophiestudent, der sich zum Troubadour entwickelt hat. Auf dem treffend benannten Album "Revelation" verbindet er Carl Jungs I Ging-Gedanken, Wittgensteins Liebe zur Sprache und die lyrische Poesie von Bob Dylan. Die 11 Tracks, darunter zwei orchestriert-cineastische Versatzstücke, erinnern an die erzählerischen Skills seiner Landsleute Leonard Cohen und Gordon Lightfoot, an den kristallinen Sound der Eagles und den üppigen Pop von Nick Drake und Scott Walker. Das vollendete Werk, organisch, erdig und handgemacht, verwebt Naturthemen zu einer Meditation über das Leben in einer sich ständig verändernden Gegenwart, durchzogen von existenziellen Zweifeln und der Suche nach einer höheren Macht.

Limited to 500 copies! No repress! Transparent red vinyl! Hype sticker on front! 1961 schwappten die ersten Tropfen der neuen Surf-Welle in den Äther. Eine Gruppe kalifornischer Teenager namens The Belairs veröffentlichten mit "Mr. Moto" das ersten lupenreine Surf-Instrumental und viele weitere sollten folgen. Es war ein Lebensgefühl, es ging um Freiheit, Rebellion gegen die miefigen 50er, um Party und natürlich um die nächste Welle. All das spielte sich vorzugsweise im sonnigen Kalifornien ab. Der erste Hit des Genres war "Misirlou" von Dick Dale, das 1962 veröffentlicht wurde. Der Track stellt deutlich die drei Hauptkomponenten des Surf heraus: ein tragendes Gitarren-Thema (eben kein Gesang!), exotische Harmonien und Akkordfolgen sowie ein gehöriges Maß an Wildheit und Lautstärke! Leo Fender entwickelte dann für Dick Dale zwei Innovationen, ohne die die Surf-Musik nicht das geworden wäre, was sie ist: Den Fender Reverb - ein separates Federhall-Gerät - und den Fender-Showman-Verstärker. Dieses Equipment gehört gerade für Puristen auch heute noch zur Grundausstattung eines Surf-Gitarristen, der seinen Job ernst nimmt. Natürlich gab es jede Menge Bands, die nur eine oder zwei 7"-Singles veröffentlichten, die lokal verteilt oder bei Gigs verkauft wurden. Man braucht schon einen Mann mit Spürnase, um die Juwelen rauszupicken und die entsprechenden Preise für das Kleinvinyl zu zahlen. Unser Mann heißt DJ Crille, seinerseits Resident im Komet! Club in Hamburg (nahe Reeperbahn), und anerkannter Surf-Spezialist. Nebenher ist er auch für die Vocal Group Madness! LP und die Born To Hula Doppel-LP in der DJ Set Serie -beide auf Stag-O-Leeverantwortlich. Surfin Burt"s Surfin Safari! - Vol. 2 ist praktisch die perfekte Welle.

No one has lived a life quite like Marcos Valle. He became an overnight international sensation, fled a military dictatorship, dodged the Vietnam war draft, had his music sung by Homer Simpson, made enemies with Marlon Brando, and became an unsuspecting fitness guru for multiple generations. But to truly understand the great Brazilian composer, arranger, singer and multi instrumentalist, one must listen to his music.

Lead Single (Life Is What It Is) : Between the release of his first album in 1962 and today, Marcos Valle has released twenty-two studio albums traversing definitive bossa nova, classic samba, iconic disco pop, psychedelic rock, nineties dance and orchestral music. He has also had his songs recorded by some of the all time greats, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn, Sergio Mendes, Elis Regina, and (last but not least), Emma Button of the Spice Girls. He has also had his music sampled by Jay-Z, Kanye West, Pusha T and many more.


With his twenty-third studio album Túnel Acustico, Valle set out to bring it all together.

“I believe my music is many things. It goes in different directions. I have many different ways of writing music, sometimes it’s melodies and harmony, sometimes the groove is the focus. But all the music I have made over my sixty year career is unified. It is all natural and it is all sincere. And this is what I wanted to bring to my new album.”

A prominent feature of Valle’s career has been his dual residence between Brazil and the USA. Originally moving over in the mid-sixties on the back of bossa nova’s international proliferation, Valle toured with Sergio Mendes and became hugely in demand as a composer and arranger. But the Vietnam War loomed and the threat of being drafted saw him return to Brazil. He spent the following years in Rio writing music for TV and film, as well as four cult favourite albums in collaboration with some of Brazil’s most groundbreaking musicians including Milton Nascimento, Azymuth, Som Imaginario and O Terco.

By 1975, Brazil's military dictatorship was at its most oppressive, making living and working increasingly difficult. Valle moved back to the US where he would reside in LA, writing songs for, and collaborating with the likes of Eumir Deodato, Airto Moreira, Chicago, Sarah Vaughn and Leon Ware, amongst others.

Túnel Acústico features two songs originally conceived during Valle’s time on the West Coast: “Feels So Good”, a stirring two-step soul triumph written in 1979 with soul icon Leon Ware, and the sublime AOR disco track “Life Is What It Is”, composed around the same time, with percussionist Laudir De Oliveira from the group Chicago.

Built around an unfinished demo Marcos found on a shelf in his house 44 years after it was made, the “Feels So Good” demo was restored with the help of producer Daniel Maunick, who also utilised AI stem-separation to remove the placeholder vocal ad-libs. Valle added Portuguese lyrics to sit alongside Ware’s vocal hook, as well as extra keyboards and percussion.

Also written in late seventies LA, “Life Is What Is It” was co-penned by Laudir De Oliveira from the band Chicago and first released on the bands’ Chicago 13 album with lyrics by Robert Lamb. Another nod to his good times in LA, Valle recorded his own version for Túnel Acústico, upping the tempo and deepening the groove for a blast of irresistible summer soul.

On Túnel Acústico, Valle's core band features two members of the renowned Brazilian jazz-funk group Azymuth: Alex Malheiros on bass and Renato Massa on drums. The rhythm section is completed by percussionist Ian Moreira, with additional contributions from guitarist Paulinho Guitarra and trumpeter Jesse Sadoc.

The contemporarily composed music on Túnel Acústico features an impressive lineup of guest lyricists, including renowned Brazilian artists: Joyce Moreno (Bora Meu Vem), Céu (Nao Sei), and Moreno Veloso (Palavras Tão Gentis) as well as Valle's brother Paulo Sergio Valle (Tem Que Ser Feliz).

The album closes with "Thank You Burt (For Bacharach)", a tribute to the legendary composer who passed away in 2023.

Túnel Acústico will be released on 20th September 2024 via Far Out Recordings. Valle is set to tour Europe and America in support of the album.

Big Crown Records is proud to present Dave Guy’s debut album Ruby. Having lent his talents both on stage and in the studio to artists like Amy Winehouse, Lizzo, Pharrell, and Sharon Jones to currently playing every night on The Tonight Show as a member of The Roots, Dave steps out on his own with a jazz record that is both unique and modern. Ruby mixes his musical in­fluences with the energies of the city that raised him, capturing different moods and inviting the listener into the world as Dave Guy sees and feels it. Recorded in Queens at The Legendary Diamond Mine, the album is produced by Homer Steinweiss and Nick Movshon and features musical contributions from Leon Michels, Marco Benevento, Claire Cottrill, and more.

Ruby instantly sits with the classics as an album that is fully realized and not simply a collection of songs. Lead single “7th Heaven” opens the album with an anthemic energy as Dave’s horn lines soar over thundering drums, ethereal vocals, and dancing piano. Keeping the energy high, “Footwork” is a Latin inspired number that is sure to soundtrack many a dance fl­oor from SoHo to Harlem. The synth intro of “Pinky Ring” cleanses your palate for the mood shift when the track drops. Deep bass tones underline the impeccable drumming and

Dave effortlessly finds the pocket wasting no notes as the verses and choruses trade off. The record leans into spiritual jazz vibes on “Diamond Encore” with a dark and deep almost “Axelrodish” rhythm track then picks the energy back up with the stomper “Still Standing”. “Dave Wants You” has a bop all its own with an unorthodox drum pattern that Dave anchors with his trumpet hits. The otherworldly arrangement of “Drony Boy” puts the production on a pedestal. The first intro almost serves as an intermission on the album while the second

intro sets up the neck snapping track that is about to drop. A menacing guitar signals the builds and the whole thing is juxtaposed by Dave’s beautiful trumpet riffs. “Quesodillas” & “Green Door” begin the autumn of the album with their mellow & intimate energy and “Ruby’s Rubies”, the album’s closer is the perfect ending to the journey.

First re-press since the initial 2019 release of critically acclaimed album featuring Yeah Yeah Yeahs' lead vocalist Karen O, and Danger Mouse, one of the most influential artist/producers of the 21st Century.

Debuting in March 2019, Lux Prima was hailed by Pitchfork as a “dreamy and poignant collaboration.” It featured the single “Woman,” which was accompanied by a memorable Spike Jonze-directed live performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The single was also nominated for the Best Rock Performance Grammy.

The new package includes the original artwork plus a 16 page booklet highlighting their interactive exhibition “An Encounter with Lux Prima”, held at Los Angeles’ Marciano Arts Foundation featuring a 360 degree soundscape of the album mixed at famed Skywalker Ranch.

Samosa Records dips its toes back into the Afrikano waters with Volume 3 of the Afro themed, genre-busting series and features four deadly tracks from some of Samosa’s most trusted lieutenants.

Breaking the ice as the first track of this exceptional EP is Vincent Galgo and ‘African Rebel’. Mr Galgo has clearly read the brief here – giving us a 125bpm marauder that’s a melting pot of unstoppable horns, furious rhythms and an Afro-pop style bass that is the beating heart of the track.

Track 2 is Samosa regular Frank Virgilio who introduces us to his ‘Mistress’. As a straight up jazz-infused, mid-tempo rhythmic chugger, ‘Mistress’ quickly gets down to the important business of racking up the beats and instrumentation. The generous spread of guitar riffs, assertive bass and organ stabs are expertly lifted by the layered and always rolling drums and bongos induce a trance-like state of mind, so be warned!

On the B-Side Samosa newcomer Casper Leo wears his Tribal heart on his sleeve with the enchanting and utterly captivating jangler - ‘Tom Tom’. You can never have too much Kora guitar and ‘Tom Tom’ has lashings of it, with delicious sprinkles of melodic Marimba – perfect for West African sunsets.

Closing the EP off in style is Afro beats grand master, Lego Edit and the filthy-sexy ‘El Safari’. No other producer can take the essence of the Afro beat structure and bend it to their will like Lego Edit can. Like a late night fist-fight in Club Coco Bongo, ‘El Safari’ punches its way out of the doors. A slinky, wily alley cat of a tune that digs deep with its claws and doesn’t let go and another masterpiece from Lego Edit.

Afrikano Vol.3 has done the impossible and set the bar even higher for this wonderfully diverse Samosa series. We want more. We want ‘4’. With this in your record box, you’ll come with a warning.

Blood Smoke Vinyl. The Instrumental version of the underground classic El Michels Affair & Black Thought collaborative album Glorious Game When Leon Michels and El Michels Affair released their ­rst record, Sounding Out The City, in 2005, it was hard to guess what was next for Michels and his then-introduced, now-patented "cinematic soul" sound. Now, four EMA studio albums and scores of tribute and remix projects later_all while producing for some of the biggest names in the industry_Michels has trademarked his sound, with each project taking audiences somewhere new and pushing the boundaries of what he is known for. The man is a river, not a lake and this time he takes his golden touch into the realm of hip-hop laying down a musical bed for one of the greatest to ever rhyme into a microphone: Black Thought of The Roots crew. Releasing on Big Crown Records, the LP is called Glorious Game and it is a remarkable debut partnership in more ways than one. Michels provides his bottom-heavy, soul-tinged production for Black Thought who gives us some of the more personal and transparent verses we've ever heard from him. Michels and Black Thought have been in each other's orbit for a while now. The two ­rst met in the 2000s when Thought was ­rst getting familiar with the contemporary soul scene. "Out of that whole world, Menahan Street Band was probably my favorite," recalling the funk and soul group Michels was a founding member of back in 2007. Fast forward a few years and musicians from that collective_Dave Guy on trumpet and Ian Hendrickson-Smith on sax _are now full time players with The Roots. This connection eventually led Leon and Thought to doing a few fundraising events around NYC and Philly together. "Before long, Black Thought was coming around the studio and would jam with us from time to time," Michels explains. "Then, fast forward to 2020 and COVID lockdowns, he just hit me up out of the blue, wanting me to send him stuff to write to. We both were looking to stay busy." Being that Black Thought is the co-founder and emcee for, hands down, the best live-band group in hip-hop. Michels took a decidedly different approach to this project and instead of sending recorded tracks of live compositions, he pulled out the sampler and sampled himself and some records from his collection. "I'm a big fan of soul music," as if Michels has to remind us. "And part of hip-hop's appeal to me has always been the sample-based production" For Glorious Game, Michels would make wholly composed and recorded soul songs in his studio, sample himself, then chop and/or loop up his sounds and create instrumentals for Black Thought. On some tracks he took a more traditional hip-hop approach, starting from samples of other people's music but then adding live instrumentation on top. But for the most

By 1963, great Latin American artists such as Lucho Gatica, Felipe Pirela, Bienvenido Granda, Leo Marini, Benny Moré, Tito Rodríguez, Toña La Negra, Blanca Rosa Gil and the so- called queen of boleros, Olga Guillot, had enriched the musical landscape, giving personality to the bolero. That year, in the midst of a new panorama, a bolero star was born from the depths of Venezuelan radio: Estelita Del Llano. “Sensual”, her debut album, is one of the greatest gems of the genre, with arrangements and orchestration by Porfi Jiménez. The backing of the Porfi Jiménez Orchestra and his arrangements made “Sensual” one of the most successful albums of its time. The selection of the twelve songs on the album was also a success. Although the years of the bolero's greatest splendor seemed to have passed, the bolero continued to spread throughout Latin America. The great success of “Sensual” lay in the arrangements and the choice of boleros with elements of the cha-cha-cha, another genre that was enjoying great popularity.

"Allegra Krieger’s ""Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine"", her second full-length album with Double Double Whammy, is a collection of 12 songs that pick at the fragile membrane between life and death.

Krieger’s previous album, ""I Keep My Feet on the Fragile Plane"", hewed more closely to the domestic spaces of city and mind. Rolling Stone regarded the album as “ten songs of heady philosophical meanderings packed with emotional dynamite,” and likened her “finely phrased lyrics” to those of “Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and David Berman.” Krieger’s existential meditations remain on ""Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine"", however her meandering melodies have taken on a stronger sense of direction. She narrates candidly and assertively; the full-band arrangements never overpower, only offer a robust platform on which Krieger’s voice reaches new heights.

The full band brings a heightened sense of drama to the album’s arrangements, which contrasts the quieter approach of Krieger’s previous LP. There are noisy interludes, jazz-inflected discursions, impactful stops and starts, and occasional spaces for Krieger to stretch out her impressive vocal range (most prominently at the dazzling climax of album stand out “Came”). In ""Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine"", Krieger invites us to a place where transfiguration is not only possible but actively happening. From this place, the beautiful and the banal and the terrible are all laid out before us. And Krieger asks us not to look away. Instead, she invites us to stare down the beautiful and terrible in the world, and to realize that sometimes the only way out is through."

"Call Of The Champions is an album by legendary American composer John Williams. The piece of the same name was composed by Williams especially for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 in Salt Lake City. It is the opening track of this album which features over a dozen original tracks by Williams, plus an additional bonus track: ""Summon The Heroes"", the anthem written for the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta. The album also features ""American Journey""; a six-part orchestral composition by Williams that was commissioned by U.S. President Bill Clinton for the 2000 Millenium celebrations in Washington D.C. ""American Journey"" is presented for the first time as a complete concert work on this album.

This album features The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Utah Symphony, The Boston Pops Orchestra and the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles. The album was released as An American Journey in the United States.

Call Of The Champions is available for the first time on vinyl as a limited edition of 800 copies on turquoise coloured vinyl and includes an insert with liner notes by music journalist Jackson Braider.

The mighty U Roy is the originator, the man who put the DJ phenomenon on the map and made it an artform. From Kingston Jamaica to the corners of all the Dancefloors, Clubs and Sound Systems across the world. U Roy (B. Ewart Beckford, 1942, Kingston, Jamaica) began his musical career spinning records for Doctor Dickies Sound System way back in 1961. The mid sixties saw him working for Sir George The Atomic before moving in 1967 to the man who best shaped his sound King Tubby on his Home Town HI - FI. Tubbys work in the dub field, dropping out vocals on his versions for the Sound Systems allowed U Roy to voice over these spaces adding to the excitment of the Dance!!!

U Roy moved into the recording arena firstly cutting two disc's for Producer Lee Perry 'Earths Rightful Ruler' and 'OK Corral' and then following this with 'Dynamic Fashion Way' and 'Riot' for Producer Keith Hudson. Producer Duke Reid seeing the protential in this new found form brought U Roy to his Treasure Isle Studios to voice over his back catalogue of Rocksteady Hits. His first three releases for Duke Reid 'Wake The Town', 'Rule The Nation' and 'Wear You To The Ball' held the Top 3 positions for 12 weeks in early 1970's.

We have compiled some of U Roy's best loved cuts from his mid 70's period when all were still looking at him for guidence.  The opening cut Call On Me sees him working over Delroy Wilson's 'Got To Be There'.  You Never Get Away gets U Roy answering Delroy Wison's 'Keep On Rocking'. Johnny Clarke's 'Time Gonna Tell' with rootsy bassline turns into Every Knee Shall Bow. Cornell Campbell the Gorgon himself gets his 'Check Mr Morgon' turned into Gorgon Wise. Johnny Clarke's Hold On gets reworked. Jeff Barnes 'Blowing In The Wind' tuned into Number 1 and alongside King of The Road which sees Lennox Brown blow his saxophone over the instrumental 'In The Swing of Things', was one of U Roys first releases. Linval Thompson's 'Let Jah Arise' is versioned to Joyful Locks. I Originate which lends us to the title of this compilation, says it as it is, a classic built over Dave Barker's 'Shocks of Mighty'. Linval Thompson again provides the backbone with his Cool Down Your Temper cut for U Roys version. The mighty Burning Spear's Creation Rebel although providing our next track, it is Johnny Clarke's version that gets worked over. Leo Graham's 'Birds of A Feather' turns into Stick Together. Soul Syndicates instrumental 'Goliath' grows into Riot. A big hit for Max Romeo Wet Dream sounds great under U Roy's new rendition.

Two extra tracks for the CD release of this album sees the great voice of Slim Smith on his 'Let's Stick Together' becomes ‘Ain’t To Proud To Beg’ and Cornell Campbell's 'Stand Firm' works with
U Roy to sign us off with ‘I Shall Not Remove’.  A fine collection i hope you agree to the Daddy of all DJ's who in his own words ''I Originate, so you must appreciate, while the others got to imitate'' says it all really……

„Infinite Health“ ist das fesselnde sechste Album von Tycho, dem zweifach GRAMMY-nominierten Projekt des gefeierten Songwriters, Musikers und Produzenten Scott Hansen aus San Francisco.

In ‚Infinite Health‘ geht es darum, einen Raum für Heilung und Reflexion zu schaffen, ein Mantra für geistige, emotionale und körperliche Heilung. Klanglich kehrt er mit dem Album zu seinem eher elektronisch geprägten Produktionsstil zurück und konzentriert sich auf Breaks, Drums und rhythmische Elemente. Seit den Anfängen des Projekts im Jahr 2001 hat Scott Hansen den Tycho-Sound kontinuierlich weiterentwickelt und sich als Vorreiter in der elektronischen Szene etabliert. Auf dem Weg dorthin haben Tycho zwei GRAMMY-Nominierungen erhalten, Remixe produziert und mit unzähligen namhaften Künstler:innen wie ODESZA, Maggie Rogers, Little Dragon, Leon Bridges und Death Cab For Cutie zusammengearbeitet.
Jetzt haben Tycho nach „Simulcast“ (2020) - einem Schwesteralbum zu „Weather“ (2019) - dieses fesselnde neue Werk vorgelegt. Obwohl es das Personal der letzten Werke beibehält - wie üblich mit Zac Brown an der Gitarre und Rory O'Connor hinter dem Schlagzeug - sieht Hansen „Infinite Health“ als eine vierte Ära für Tycho an: er stürzte sich in den Aufnahmeprozess mit dem Ziel, den Sound unverwechselbar und prägnant zu gestalten.

Erste Vinyl-Neuauflage dieses fantastischen Albums von 1981 von Marcos Valle, eines der bedeutensten Künstler der brasilianischen Musik. In Brasilien aufgenommen, nachdem er Ende der 70er Jahre in den USA gelebt hat, brachte Valle sein angeborenes Talent für Arrangements und seine vielfältigen Einflüsse auf diesem unwiderstehlichen Album zusammen. Gäste sind u.a. Sivuca, Chicago's Peter Cetera, Robson Jorge und Joses Azymuth Roberto Bertrami. Valle ist einer der wenigen Künstler, die man sich nicht entgehen lassen sollte, wenn man auch nur das geringste Interesse an brasilianischer Musik hat. Ob Sie nun Bossa Jazz, Samba, Psych Folk oder Soul mögen, Valle hat mit Sicherheit ein großartiges Album für Sie aufgenommen. Ende der 60er Jahre hatte er bereits genug qualitativ hochwertige Platten veröffentlicht, um sich einen Platz unter den besten brasilianischen Songwritern aller Zeiten zu sichern, aber seine Karriere war glücklicherweise noch nicht zu Ende, und er veröffentlichte in den folgenden Jahrzehnten weiterhin erstaunliche Musik. Mitte der 70er Jahre ließ er sich in Los Angeles nieder, weil er es leid war, unter der brasilianischen Militärdiktatur zu leben, und begann, mit so talentierten Künstlern wie Leon Ware oder Chicago zusammenzuarbeiten. ,Vontade de rever você" (1981) ist sein erstes Album nach der Rückkehr nach Brasilien und zeigt all die musikalischen Einflüsse, die er während seiner Zeit in den USA erhalten hat, insbesondere Boogie, Soul und Funk, mit hervorragenden Mitwirkenden: Sivuca, Peter Cetera aus Chicago, Robson Jorge und sogar José Roberto Bertrami von Azymuth am Rhodes. Das Eröffnungsstück ,A Paraíba nao é Chicago" ist Marcos Valles eigene Interpretation von Leon Ware's ,Baby Don't Stop Me" und macht deutlich, dass das, was er in LA erreicht hat, nun auch in Brasilien ankommt. Dies ist ein unverzichtbares Album für Boogie-Liebhaber. Hören Sie sich den unwiderstehlichen Groove von ecados de amor, (Valles eigene Komposition, die allerdings zuvor von Cristina Camargo aufgenommen wurde) oder elhos surfistas querendo voar" an, und Sie werden schnell feststellen, dass dieses Album zu den solidesten Leistungen in seiner gesamten Diskografie gehört. Selbst wenn das Tempo im Midtempo gehalten wird, wie beim abschließenden Stück ao pode ser qualquer mulher", schaffen es Valles Songs, die Tanzfläche mit seiner sehr gut gelungenen Mischung aus brasilianischen Klängen und funkigen Rhythmen zu erschüttern.

DJ Support: Sidney Charles Chris Stussy, Archie Hamilton, Toni Varga, Catz 'n dogz, Tough Love, Neverdogs, De La Swing, Marco Carola, REBOOT, Rich NxT, Steve Lawler, Josh Butler, Okain, Ilario Alicante, Joseph Capriati, Leon, Marco Faraone, Riva Starr, Hector Couto, Archie Hamilton

Feel the infectious beats and raw energy of Sidney Charles' latest EP, 'Reso Riddim', which is dropping on his very own Heavy House Society imprint. Renowned for his distinct take on house music, Sidney Charles delivers a powerhouse two tracker that embodies his signature sound and energy for the dancefloor. As a DJ and producer, Sidney Charles has carved out a unique niche in the electronic music scene with what fans affectionately refer to as 'The Sidney Sound.' This signature style is built on heavy low ends, chunky drums, and cavernous low frequencies that connect directly with the body. With tracks like 'House Lessons' and 'Warehouse Romance,' and more recent 'Space Bass' and 'No Way Out,' Sidney established himself as a force to be reckoned with, showcasing his affinity for rough, dirty sounds with a modern twist. 'Reso Riddim' kicks off with the title track, a driving and edgy peak time weapon that boasts a stripped-back groove and an infectious bassline. Breakbeat elements add depth and dimension in the break, creating a track that is guaranteed to get the dancefloor moving and jumping. With its pulsating energy and relentless rhythm, 'Reso Riddim' sets a strong tone for the EP's journey. On 'Rawline 98,' Sidney Charles channels the spirit of the '90s with pumpin' jackin' beats, garage-inspired chords, and an old-school bassline that harkens back to the golden era of house music. The track exudes a bouncing energy and infectious swing that transports clubbers to a bygone era while keeping the dancefloor firmly rooted in the present. The 'Reso Riddim EP,' is also available on Vinyl which will include two extra tracks 'Objection' and 'Charles’ List,' for those who love the feel of wax both in their hands and on the decks