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"One Sunday afternoon in 1990, I had a phone call from Keith saying that Sarah Records had received the demo cassette the two of us had recorded on a 4-track in a friend's shed and were interested in putting out two of the songs as a single. T

hey were Clearer and Alison. Delighted by this news, we booked some recording time with a studio we'd regularly used in our previous incarnation as Feverfew, the White House in Weston-super-Mare.

This was the first time we'd ever played a note of music that was using someone else's money, so the pressure was being felt. We recorded Clearer, Fearon and Chelsea Guitar, with Clearer becoming Sarah 55, the first of eight singles for the band across two labels. At that time, we were still toying with a name for ourselves and had settled with the Art Bunnies.

While driving us back home from Weston, though, I declared that I really couldn't see how people would take us seriously with a name like that. Disappointed, Keith (Girdler) then got out a piece of paper upon which he'd written several other contenders. These included Opal Trumpet, the Smiling Monarchs and (thankfully) Blueboy."

A Colourful Storm presents Blueboy's singles collection and the band's final retrospective release. Beautiful gatefold sleeve designed by Sarah Records' own Matt Haynes with original artwork insert, postcard and liner notes by Paul Stewart.

Wewantsounds Is Pursuing Its Ambitious Akiko Yano Reissue Program With The Release Of "japanese Girl", Her Landmark Debut Album From 1976. Backed By Little Feat With Lowell George And By The Cream Of Japanese Musicians (including Haruomi Hosono), Japanese Girl Is One Of The Most Important Japanese Albums Of The 70s, Mixing Pop, Rock, Japanese Folk Together With Little Feat's Superb Classic Sound. This Is The Very First Time The Album Is Released Internationally. The Deluxe Lp Edition Includes Remastered Sound, Tip-on Lp Sleeve, Download Card Plus The Original 4-page Insert With Lyrics And Full Line-up!
When Akiko Suzuki Left Her Home Town Of Aomori For Tokyo In The Early 70s Aged Just 15 To Become A Professional Musician, She Quickly Started Making Waves On The Local Music Scene Performing At The Jazz Club Rob Roy. In 1973 She Released A 7" With The Group Zariba And Caught The Attention Of A&r Man Koki Miura. She Then Recorded One Song, "oinaru Shiino-ki" With Haruomi Hosono On Bass And Drummer Tatsuo Hayashi (who Features On Many Hosono Albums And Also Hiroshi Sato's 1979 Album Orient) With A Full Album In Mind.

After A Marriage With Musician/producer Makoto Yano And The Birth Of Her Son (named Fuuta), Yano And Her Team Resumed The Recording Of The Album And Decided To Pitch Little Feat For A Collaboration As She Loved The Group. Against All Odds They Said Yes And Yano Left Tokyo For Los Angeles In March 1976 To Record A Full Side With Them. The Legend Has It They Found It So Difficult To Keep Up With Yano's Compositions They Returned Some Of Their Fee. The Session Was Nevertheless Stunning And Lowell George Even Compared Yano To Stevie Wonder. The Little Feat Blend Of New Orleans Groove Matched Yano's Melodies Perfectly, As Witnessed On "funamachi-uta Part 2." Originally A Traditional Song From The Nebuta Festival In Her Hometown Of Aomori (part I On Side 2 Gives A Good Idea Of What The Original Form Sounds Like), The Little Feat Version Is A Formidable Slow-funk Workout Not Dissimilar To Their Classic, "spanish Moon", Serving Yano's Beautiful Vocals And Sense Of Groove To Perfection. The Whole Side Is A Match Made In Heaven, Showcasing The Classic Little Feat Line Up At Their Funkiest With Yano's Unique Japanese Twist.

The Japanese Side On The Album Gives A Great Snapshot Of The Tokyo Music Scene Of The 70s With Many Musicians Gravitating Around Haruomi Hosono (and Present On His 1973 Classic Album 'hosono House' Including Sound Engineer Kinji Yoshino) And Also Several Musicians From Japanese Band, The Moonriders.

Recorded At The Legendary Onkyo Haus Studio In Tokyo, The Sessions Mix Singer-songwriter Sensitivity And Pop With Traditional Japanese Sounds And Instruments Like The Shinobue Transverse Flute, The Koto String Instrument Or The Tsuzumi Hand Drum As Played On "hekoriputaa" By The Legendary Percussionist Kisaku Katada Who Was Appointed Living National Treasure By The Japanese State In 1999; Together They Create A Beautiful East-meets-west Mix Masterfully Driven By Yano's Creativity And Unique Talent.

A Breathtaking Debut Album That Made Akiko Yano One Of The Most Important Artists To Emerge From The 70s, Japanese Girl Has Since Become A Milestone In Japanese Music With A Recent Documentary On Nhk Tv Telling The Whole Story Behind This Classic. Wewantsounds Is Now Proud To Present This Essential Album To The Rest Of The World.

The new LP by Krefeld-born, Berlin-based artist Philipp Otterbach entitled 'The Dahlem Diaries'.

Recorded in a little-visited corner of the German capital, 'The Dahlem Diaries' is a convergence of ideas, sketches and tracks, both old and new, most of which were produced between 2020-2022. Whilst eerie atmospheres, electronics and drums have played a pivotal role in Philipp’s earlier releases, his latest is a rather more introspective affair, in which the guitar takes a leading role. A role Otterbach uses to quietly bring light and hope to his music.

Speaking about his writing process, Philipp explains that, based around his original compositions, “Friends were nice enough to contribute additional parts on their instruments which I then reworked, put together and re-contextualized. The recordings encapsulate a very specific moment in time, one that would have sounded perhaps very different the day before or after.”

Combined with a strong use of effects and field recordings, 'The Dahlem Diaries' feels somewhat like a scene or fragment from a story, in which the narrative remains undefined. It is a playful album that is something of a blurred underwater adventure, sounding as bright as it is hazy, even psychedelic at times, yet with an almost melancholic positivity. In Philipp’s own words: “It could be an album about friendship and being at one with myself, whilst at the same time bringing a certain seriousness to my music, but not necessarily to myself; there is also a playful humour hidden in there. ”

“Orlando Furioso is a haunting, one-of-a-kind statement, from an important new voice in improvised music.” - Steve Lehman

“…imagining instruments that haven’t been invented yet: space harps, cosmic gamelan, Venusian banjo. It’s the purest distillation of Atria’s musical language, simultaneously grounded and unearthly.” - Stewart Smith for The Wire (November 2022)

“Making liberal use of microtonal harmony and hypnotic, ostinato rhythms – as well as the occasional stylistic smash-cut, reminiscent of John Zorn – Orlando Furioso announced itself on Wednesday as a punchy, creative force on the New York scene. (…) Atria’s rhythms had a welcoming, social propulsion, and the microtonality of his writing for keyboard proposed an individual – even insular – language.” - Seth Colter Walls for The New York Times.

Early European composers felt that their work reflected in its structure the divine nature of the material world. Via tuning, form, and contrapuntal alchemy, these musicians sought to illuminate and edify the complex and perfect order of existence. The music recorded here also reflects the contours of an ordered world, but it is no place any of us has ever visited. By assembling far-flung building blocks from the detritus of a 21st-century musical vocabulary, Orlando Furioso brings the listener into a bizarre new cosmos. The result is deeply expressive music that speaks not with the voice of a narrator or memoirist, but with that of a cartographer.

Like a science-fiction Dante, the listener is taken on a tour of many diverse and colorful provinces of an alien world. Though each composition references its own set of real-world musical locales (from the Andes to Indonesia to Italy to New Orleans), they are bound by stylistic consistency into a coherent, continuous geography. Permeating this world is an uncompromising commitment to microtonal harmony, rhythmic intensity, and an ability to deploy the esoteric (Nicola Vicentino's notorious 31-tone temperament) and the head-smackingly obvious (a surprise djent breakdown) with equal conviction. Though Vicente's compositions are steering the ship, serious recognition is due to all the players on the record for their ability to meet these demands.

Our omnivorous musical diets offer real abundance. They enrich our craft by providing access to limitless approaches from which to choose - more masters to study, traditions to absorb, and techniques to hone than is possible in multiple lifetimes. They can also inflict heavy and often contradictory burdens of influence. When every corner of the map has been charted, it becomes difficult to find a new direction in which to travel. One solution I hope to see more often is the one pursued on this record: breaking down distinct musical worlds into component parts and reassembling them into a language. When completed with precision and with no stone left unturned, the seams between the pieces vanish and the listener is deposited somewhere beautiful and strange, left to assign their sensations meanings of their own. - Mat Muntz

Orlando Furioso is led by Vicente and features David Acevedo, David Leon, Andrew Boudreau, Alec Goldfarb, Daniel Hass, Simón Willson, and Niña Tormenta. Orlando Furioso celebrated its release at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, NY, as a part of Wet Ink Ensemble's 24th Season opening concert, a performance which The New York Times heralded as "virtuosic", "punchy, creative" and "even revelatory."

Winner of the Deutscher Jazz Preis: Best International Debut Album 2023

First Word Records is very proud to welcome Ruby Wood to the label, with her debut solo EP 'Sincerely'.

Ruby is a vocalist & songwriter hailing from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Her soulful yet distinctive voice has enabled her to front numerous projects; perhaps best known as lead vocalist of the critically acclaimed Submotion Orchestra, since 2009.

She also toured as lead vocalist for Bonobo's live band, for Nubiyan Twist, and with hugely successful 1940's-esque vocal trio, The Sugar Sisters. There have also been features for dance outfits such as GLXY & Franky Wah, additionally to writing & recording for the likes of Krept & Konan, Alfa Mist, Roska, Hemai, Barney Artist and XOA, to name just a few.

In 2021, Ruby was awarded a DYCP Arts Council grant to fund her own creative project, which was taken as an opportunity to go back to the drawing board creatively, spending time working out how her own music would sound and what messages she wanted to convey.

After initial sketches on her Native Instruments Maschine, she began to work with fellow Submotion Orchestra member, Chris 'Fatty' Hargreaves; a long time friend and collaborator, and a revered musician in his own right, with his low-end theory science triumphantly stamped across his other projects, such as Pengshui and Outlook Orchestra. Ruby and Chris began bouncing ideas back and forth, and gradually this solo project started to take shape and form the bulk of this debut EP.

In Ruby's words "After years of working in big projects with lots of people, I often struggled to feel like my voice was being heard. Branching out on my own is an opportunity for me to make music that I would actually listen to myself! This process has been healing for me, and I'm so proud of myself for continuing to learn and develop my craft, whilst learning how to produce songs from scratch.


Becoming a mother also changed me for the better, and provided me with a wealth of experiences and challenges that have gone on to fuel my lyrics. I've grown a lot, and this EP gives a snippet of my life thus far".

'Sincerely' is comprised of five tracks, firmly based in the realms of hip hop soul and neo soul sonically, with an unashamedly '90s R&B vibe throughout. Throughout the EP, Ruby's story tells tales of motherhood, relationships, commitment, independence and inspirations. Further collaborations on the set come from vocalist Isaac Malibu (on 'Mr. Unavailable'), wind player Arran Kent (on 'My Favourite Song'), and assistance on a couple of beats from acclaimed hip hop producer, Pitch 92 and San Diego's Martel Howard, along with more Submotion alumni, Danny Templeman, Dom Howard and Bobby Beddoe and the debut performance from Ruby's daughter, Amber!

A truly triumphant body of work, this is just the start of a new chapter for Ruby Wood.

Remastered for its 10th Anniversary, the newly cut vinyl edition of Ripely Pine features the bonus track “Up In The Rafters,” long a live favorite that really should have been on the album in the first place. More than anything, Aly Spaltro has 20,000 second-hand DVDs to thank for her first album. Despite being recorded at a proper studio in her recently adopted home of Brooklyn, Ripely Pine showcases songs conceived during her tenure at Bart’s & Greg’s DVD Explosion in Brunswick, Maine. Little did customers know, the same store they’d drop off their Transformers movies was providing the ideal four-year cocoon for the development of a major musical talent. Spaltro worked the 3:00 PM to 11:00 PM shift. Each night, after locking up, she’d walk past Drama and Horror, pull out her music gear from behind a wall of movies, and write and record songs until morning broke. She did this every day, drawing strength from the monotony of her routine and testing out multiple techniques, approaches and instrumentation. Anger, confusion, love, happiness and sadness reigned, and the songs ran rampant, with little form or structure. Isolated for those many hours, Spaltro let melodies morph together, break apart and pair up. This is how she taught herself to write music and sing. Taking the name Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Spaltro became one of the most beloved musicians in Portland. Her live shows were unhinged, as melodies followed an internal logic only apparent to Spaltro herself. She sang and played guitar, and the songs offered a vivid yet brief snapshot of her expansive world. At 23, with years of writing and performing music already under her belt, she ventured to the next milestone—recording an album. This would be the first time she did so in a professional studio and the first time she shared the process with anyone else. Luckily, she met Nadim Issa at Let ’Em Music in Brooklyn. He was taken enough by her abilities to dedicate nine full months toward the recording of Ripely Pine, and she with his producing abilities to ease comfortably into making him a part of her recording process. She wrote everything—all the songs, all the arrangements. And the two of them assembled an album that finally fit what existed in Spaltro’s mind. Keeping the songs’ stark rawness, the record is a pure representation of her sound. Ripely Pine shouts the introduction of a new talent from every groove. These recordings come as close as possible to conveying the intense majesty of her live shows, and, much like those performances, a narrative breathes through the record’s progression. The album opens with urgency and anger, settles into reconciliation and reciprocation, and ultimately reaches toward resolution, realizing infatuation leads to a loss of self; instead, embracing one’s own strengths is the most powerful thing of all.

Part of Tele Music Reissue Campaign, 2023 first time reissue, 140g vinyl

Wow! Pierre-Alain Dahan & Mat Camison's Rythmiques is another iconic release in the hallowed Tele Music catalogue. First appearing in 1973, it features tense funk, blunted jazz and heavy breaks all the way. Considered the rightful sequel to Continental Pop Sound, it's a vital album for producers and DJs; and you can probably guess that RHYTHM is central to the record's presentation. And you can really taste what's rhythm, to borrow a phrase. French drummer, percussionist and composer Pierre-Alain Dahan was a key member of the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Mallia et al!) and Jef Gilson Septet whilst his partner here, Mat Camison, was a pioneering synth LORD. So, you know this Be With reissue is absolutely crucial.

The album picks up from where Continental Pop Sound left us, opening with the tense, stabbing thriller-funk of "Rythmiques N° 4". The dubbier "Rythmiques N° 5" is no less electric and definitely has a spacey air of wonky funk about it with the slightly off-kilter rolling piano. "Rythmiques N° 6" is more percussive-focussed with a brilliantly hypnotic opening that really stretches the drama out. “Rythmique N° 7” alternates between fast-paced, skipping drums and slo-mo funk, always with the clavinet high up in the mix. Wicked. The dope jazz of “Rythmique N° 8” truly mesmerises with licks of electric piano, funky bass flourishes and varied percussion. “Rythmique N° 9” has great, sloppy-yet-hard intro drums which sound like something Daft Punk could've pilfered circa Human After All, punctuated by a guitar rock refrain that repeats til the end but is never overdone. The A-Side closes with the beautiful, melancholic "Piano + Piano", a reflective jazzy piano track which could easily open a wide-ranging set this autumn and many after it. Stunning.

Opening Side B, "Auto Rythmiques" is a hectic yet compelling funk workout but it's all about the frankly devastating breakbeats on “Rythmiques N° 10 & N° 11” with effortlessly twisted funk bass lines over open drum breaks and enough tension and rhythmic switch-ups to keep your neck-snapping and your mind lifted. Downright essential. Taking leave from the heavy funk break action, the pastoral "Océan Horizon" is perhaps an unfairly overlooked highlight. A gorgeous, softly-aquatic, ambient gem, it's gently percussive with warm, floaty keys decorating the mellow rhythmic bed. The mercifully brief "Super Carrousel" is harmless fun-fair-funk but perhaps best skipped over whilst the intriguingly titled "Gay Shopping" is another throwaway exercise in inexcusable jaunt whilst. To close out this memorable set, thankfully, we're left with "Suspense N° 1" to get us back on course with its unsurprisingly tense mix of urgent stringed instruments that flirt with rhythm and melody yet the longer the track goes on. Deep.

One of the very best French drummers ever, Pierre-Alain Dahan began his career at the Blue Note in Paris with Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Daniel Humair. Some start, eh?! He also participated in the recording of Serge Gainsbourg's cult album 'La Ballade de Melody Nelson' before going on to make countless KILLER library funk records and be a key member in the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Sauveur Mallia et al), Jef Gilson Septet (alongside Henri Texier) and many more. Some pedigree.

The audio for Rythmiques has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Welchem 60s-Fan klingen die Songs nicht in den Ohren: 'Painter Man', 'Making Time', 'Cool Jerk', 'Tom Tom', 'Biff Bang Pow', ihre ultra-coolen Versionen von 'Like A Rolling Stone' oder 'Hey Joe' und einige mehr. Speziell in Deutschland hatte die 1966 formierte Beat-Band um Gitarrist Eddie Phillips eine treue Fan-Gemeinde.. Stilistisch nah bei The Who und den Kinks wurde The Creation von deren Produzenten Shel Talmy produziert. Bis sich die Band 1968 erstmalig auflöste, entstand kein reines Studioalbum, aber jede Menge Single-Hits. Später wurde das legendäre Label von Alan McGee nach ihnen benannt. Das luxuriöse 2CD-Set im 7inch Format hält nochmal alle Klassiker bereit, die die Band in den 1960er Jahren aufgenommen hat. Die im Tracklisting reduzierte Halfspeed-Master-LP kommt mit dem dänischen Artwork , OBI-Strip, 4-Seiten-Booklet und natürlich auf 180Gr. Black Vinyl.

"All The Old 45s - The Very Best of Deacon Blue" coincides with the band"s UK and Ireland tour of the same name, and charts their multi-million selling history - from bringing "Chocolate Girl" and "Dignity" to life in the corner of a Glasgow basement, to skyscraping, stadium-filling hits like "Wages Day" and "Real Gone Kid", via their swoon-inducing tribute to Bacharach and David ("I"ll Never Fall In Love Again"), their collective favourite single ("Your Swaying Arms"), and one of the most significant songs in the Deacon Blue canon, which followed a split in 1994 and the loss of two original members: 2012"s comeback single "The Hipsters" heralded a new lease of life for the group, and jump-started a second act that"s seen them more fired up, and prolific, than ever.

'Ain't Ever Easy' is the best example to date. The muscular, chooglin' beat of the country funk heater "Can't Take Back" opens Ryan Curtis' sophomore album 'Ain't Ever Easy.' Like a steam train gliding into some high desert station, it bears the strong vintage machinery of Curtis' "alt-country from the high country" sound. The song lopes in on oozing guitar and keys over a backbeat that pulses sexier than a
breakup song has the right to be. Regret has rarely sounded this happy, but Curtis is capable of turning love and loss into dripping hot, powerful songs. Over the last decade the various styles of country have become Curtis' stock-in-trade. With a gravelly growl he paints cinematic pictures of picaresque people from the Midwest and the badlands; down and out townies, bar room drifters, forlorn lovers, and resilient loners fill his visionary tales, mournful subject matter he turns into country gold.

Canary features 10 new songs written, performed, recorded, and mastered by Jefferies during the COVID-19 lockdown. Inspired by Emily Bronte's spiritual beliefs, NZ's most famous racehorse, and the haunting timbre of a meticulouslyrestored Marxophone, Jefferies mesmerizes with perhaps his finest balladry yet. "Where Did We All Go Wrong?" and "Where Do We Run To Now?" wrestle with the challenges presented by pandemic isolation and uncertainty. Jefferies deftly examines the limited choices during lockdown, employing a bit of black humor and finger pointing to stir the soul, and bringing some much-needed levity to this unprecedented time.

You have said too much to a stranger in a bar bathroom; your back is killing you because of everything you haven’t said; you’ve overwatered your houseplants again. Small Million is here for you. Flowing from the collaboration of longtime creative partners Ryan Linder and Malachi Graham, the Portland-based indie pop outfit welds deeply affecting sonic production to smart lyrics about intuition and inhibition, losing control and ending up in unexpected places, being willing to fuck up, bodies hurt and bodies joyful.

The effect is both intimate and epic, delicate and fierce. Listen to it to ache, dance to it to heal. In the time since Small Million's last release, years of chronic pain have led lead vocalist and lyricist Malachi Graham to deep explorations of embodiment that have changed everything from her singing voice to her dance moves to her observation of human frailty. “There’s one side of chronic pain that leads you towards intuition, self-discovery, and listening closely to yourself. But it also means you end up sitting on the side of the room a lot, watching people and paying attention. Also you’re pissed,” notes Graham. Producer and instrumentalist Ryan Linder’s background as a filmmaker informs the textured richness and intelligent restraint of his song building. He approaches production with obsessive technical rigor that’s always in service of centering intense emotion.

Graham’s clear, unadulterated vocals breathe at the heart of Linder’s rich sonic terrain, drawing comparisons to The Cranberries and Florence + the Machine. Linder and Graham have been writing as a duo for a decade, but for their newest chapter they've expanded the band, enlisting Ben Tyler (Small Skies) on drums and Kale Chesney (Lo Pony) on bass and harmonies.

Small Million's evolution into a four-piece has expanded the band’s sound from their synth pop origins to encompass more organic, raw indie rock energy. Small Million has played with artists like Fakear, IDER, Hatchie, HÆLOS, Lo Moon, and Loch Lomond, and their tracks have been featured on compilations by Tender Loving Empire, PDX Pop Now!, and Vortex Music Magazine. They released their debut EP Before the Fall in June 2016, their follow-up, Young Fools, in Fall 2018, and singles “Saintly” and “Tarot” in 2019. Their newest music is dropping throughout 2022.

There are different ways to celebrate an anniversary. We can look back and reflect on where we've been and how far we've come. Or we can look forward towards future possibilities. Alternatively, we can simply pause for a moment and be present - right here, right now. Rather like we are aware and mindful of what is happening at this very moment when we're enjoying superb music, excellently recorded and played.

That's how Clearaudio is celebrating its 45th anniversary. To mark the occasion, Clearaudio are delighted to present an album of music that embodies their passion for perfection, for nuanced and detailed sound, and for an intimate marriage of creativity and technical finesse. In other words, an album that reflects the key principles by Clearaudio.

"Take the best, make it better - only then it is just good enough." This well-known quote is as valid today as it was 45 years ago, and has inspired a host of colleagues and collaborators along the way. Ever since the release of Delta and Sigma speakers in 1978 and the development of the first moving coil cartridges, not a day has passed when Clearaudio didn't strive to set new standards for higher fidelity. This mindset continues to underpin their work to this day.

No matter where you've come from or where you are going, if your heart beats to the drum of truly authentic sound, then you'll find Clearaudio spirit, will and drive in every single one of their products - from the most towering turntable to the smallest cable.

While some creators may be content with merely looking closely, Clearaudio has always looked and listened closely. Very closely - and at both ends of the spectrum, from top-quality record engineering to excellent playback. So the early stages of every Clearaudio musical recording begin with questions like: "Does it sound exactly like in a concert hall?" and "Does the music feel as was intended when it was written and composed?"

In addition to their own recordings, a number of their favourite legendary productions from Deutsche Grammophon have also found their way onto this album. So why not take a pause, "take five," and enjoy these moments of exceptional music, lovingly produced? And join Clearaudio in celebrating 45 years of loving music!

The final U.S. show, a triumphant and blistering bookend to the storied career of one of the most influential bands in rock music, featuring a unique and expansive eighty-five minute set list that spans Sonic Youth’s nearly three decade catalog. Mixed from multitrack by longtime live engineer Aaron Mullan and mastered and cut by Carl Saff. On August 12, 2011 Sonic Youth played their final US show on an outdoor stage overlooking the East River at the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn. Fitting that their storied career would bookend with a panoramic view of New York City where it all began 30 years before, having left in their wake one of one of the most powerfully influential careers in rock music. Following incredible sets from Kurt Vile and Wild Flag, the band took the stage. As the sun went down over the city, Sonic Youth ripped through a 17 song set that spanned from deep cuts off their first studio album and highlighting many other albums all the way through to their last, like a band with everything to prove. Or as Brooklyn Vegan’s Andrew Sacher said at the time: “While most bands who are thirty years into their career are either fading away or living off of the nostalgia of their older material, Sonic Youth continue to sound and perform as fresh as ever.” Steve Shelley explains the uniquely career spanning set list of Live in Brooklyn 2011 and how it came to be, as well as the importance of outdoor NYC summer shows in Sonic Youth’s legacy: “This show was a culmination of a run of really special outdoor summertime shows in New York City for us, starting in ’92 with Summerstage in Central Park when we played with Sun Ra. For the Williamsburg Waterfront show I wrote out the set list to present to the band and it was a lot of material we hadn’t played in a while, a lot of deep cuts, so I wasn’t sure if everybody would feel like doing it. After worrying about which songs the band might say yes or no to, I threw those concerns out the window and I just made a list of songs that I thought would be a great set. We practiced the week of the show at our space in Hoboken and put the set together. First we’d try and make sure we had a guitar in the song’s tuning, then we’d try to remember the arrangement and try and put it together, sometimes re-learning bar by bar. In the end I think the whole song list made it through. Even as early as ’86 and ’87 we stopped playing ‘Death Valley 69’ and ‘Brave Men Run’ with any regularity. We’d just get excited about new material coming into the set and songs would get ‘retired’ and wouldn’t get played again for years. So on this particular night in Brooklyn a lot of those retired songs and deep cuts got dusted off and played for this show. It turned out to be a pretty special event with a really special song list.” The band would go on to fulfill a contracted festival run in South America a few months later but, by then, the group’s center was severed beyond repair and the festival appearances didn’t hold the same kind of weight. “The stage was facing the East River from the Williamsburg, Brooklyn waterfront, and I recall the sun going down in the west during our set. It was a pretty magical, if kinda weird day. Fitting, somehow, that our ‘last show’ should be in New York City, our home and where it all began…” Lee Ranaldo The Williamsburg Waterfront show would fondly become referred to as ‘The Last Show’ by fans and band alike, equally for its triumphant high energy performance, its unique and expansive set list and locale. Newly remixed and remastered, Live in Brooklyn 2011 is presented for the first time on 2xLP, 2Xcd, August 18, 2023.

Blonde on Blonde: A double album that transcends time, defies space, suspends reality, and looks through the human soul and tells the listener characteristics about themselves they didn't know. Professor Sean Wilentz, historian-in-residence for Bob Dylan's Web site, comes as close to summing up its brilliance in his superb Bob Dylan In America as any who've tried: "The songs are rich meditations on desire, frailty, promises, boredom, hurt, envy, connections, missed connections, paranoia, and transcendent beauty – in short, the lures and snare of love, stock themes of rock and pop music, but written with a powerful literary imagination and played out in a pop netherworld." No lie.

As part of its Bob Dylan catalogue restoration series, we are thoroughly humbled to have the privilege of mastering the iconic LP from the master tapes and pressing it on 45RPM LPs at RTI. We feel that the end result is the very finest, most transparent edition of Blonde on Blonde ever produced. Forever renowned for what the Bard deemed "that thin, that wild mercury sound," the album's famed aural character lives and breathes on this superb version, with wider and deeper grooves affording playback of previously buried information and lifelike presentation of the studio sessions.

Prized for a unique sound that cultural critic Greil Marcus tagged "the most glamorous record imaginable; listening you can see the chequered jester's suit Dylan had worn on stage for the nine previous, furious months," Blonde on Blonde is to music, production, prose, and performance as what hydrogen is to water. The secret to its inimitable aural character partially stems from Dylan's request in Nashville to producer Bob Johnston to remove the baffles from the studio room, allowing the musicians to interact as well as the music to assume a more organic quality that drifts from one microphone to another.

The story of Blonde on Blonde is almost as compelling as the music within. Dylan, frustrated with how initial attempts fared in New York, relocating to Tennessee and pairing with Nashville's top session players as well as members of what would become the Band, feverishly chasing perfectionism while also arriving at an on-the-fly feel that remains a reference point for recorded music. The Bard sweated over lyrics, demanded his band get the exact sounds he heard in his head, and limited most takes to a handful at most. A majority of songs were recorded long after midnight, the post-A.M. vibe reflected in the nocturnal aura, woozy optimism, inversion of intervals, and spiritual soulfulness of the playing.

If you dig deep enough into the underground you will find the most precious jewels and it ain't that much of an effort these days to turn on the computer and trip through the colorful World Wide Web. But beware for not all the glitter is gold. I stepped by some dark and dusty back street club in Atlanta / Georgia, USA and some enchanting music tempted me to enter. A powerful raspy voice screaming out the pain of the world no matter if it were big or small affairs. "California dreaming on such a winter's day", wow, when the MAMAS AND PAPAS sang this in a sweet folk manner it was a light and joyful anthem for all hippies and hipsters back in 1966, like a call to love. Lee Moses' version is more of a desperate cry for sunshine and freedom. And it goes on this way. His voice has this special phrase showing determination, pain but also sheer joy of life. His 1971 album is a steady groover with a steaming hot band performing , which includes a brass section of divine greatness. These devoted players build up a massive wall of groove and melody on which Lee Moses can unleash his voice like a volcanic eruption. The groove itself stays quite relaxed but definitely hypnotizing throughout the whole album and clears up your mind for the message of love Lee Moses raves about. The high skills of Lee's backing band gets showcased in a steaming instrumental version of THE FOUR TOPS' "Reach out (I'll be there)", which appeared on an early 7" first and got added here as a bonus track. They don't stop for THE BEATLES' "Day tripper" either and next to "California dreamin'" you can find another heart warming version of "Hey Joe" on the regular album. Not as extraordinary outraging as Hendrix' turn on this classic Lee and his mates make it a slightly more epic effort. All in all this is a soul album with very few covers and even more classic anthems of this genre that should actually be worshipped by lovers of the late 1960s Motown sound. Especially the bonus tracks will drive you wild. Go for it, brothers and sisters.

Rare Jazz-Funk album from 1978 by Headhunters founder.
Featuring an all-star line-up including Herbie Hancock.
Originally released in 1978 on Tobisha EMI Japan.
First vinyl reissue outside of Japan released in collab w/Totown Records. Comes with double side insert.

Paul Jackson (born in Oakland, California in 1947) needs little introduction. Paul began playing bass at the age of nine and was considered by many of his teachers to be a musical prodigy. Jackson was known as a “Musician’s Musician” and shaped a sound that launched a new direction in contemporary music: the so-called ‘Pulse Playing’, a trademark sound of close-meshed funk grooves combined with sensational rhythms. With this innovative approach, he influenced entire generations of jazz and funk musicians to come. Paul’s compositions were sampled by big acts from the likes of Prince, TLC, Mobb Deep and NWA…just to name a few.

Paul Jackson was a founding member of the Headhunters under Herbie Hancock (THE group responsible for their ground-breaking fusion and jazz-funk compositions that took the world by storm in the 70’s). The solid union between Hancock and Jackson has been especially evident in the many international tours they have made together…not to mention that he participated on most of the Headhunters albums and Herbie’s solo albums.

Paul has also worked as a producer and as a studio/live musician alongside acts such as Santana, Sonny Rollins and The Pointer Sisters. He was a frequent guest performer at renowned international festivals such as the Montreux and Newport events. Jackson’s composing has not gone without recognition and was nominated for Grammy Awards in 1974, 1975 and 1976. Like other highly talented, creatively motivated engineers of music, Paul has expanded his career to other mediums such as playing on blockbuster movie soundtracks such as “Death wish” and “Dirty Harry”.

Paul Jackson also wrote five solo albums worth listening to – including the monster of an album that is known as “Black Octopus” which is considered to be a kind of lost Headhunters album.

His debut album “Black Octopus” saw the light of day in 1978 and is a total piece of art filled with abstract sticky funky grooves, floating electric piano playing, strong thumping bass lines, raw heavy drums and amazing vocal acrobatics (Jackson himself takes vocals in 3 out of 5 songs, and his soulful singing voice strikes an emotional chord that does not go unnoticed).

On “Black Octopus” you’ll also find some of the best all-star musicians from the likes of Alphonse Mouzon (Roy Ayers, Betty Davis, Azar Lawrence)…and last but not least fellow Headhunters Bennie Maupin and Herbie Hancock himself.

With “Black Octopus” Paul Jackson wrote the book on how a jazz-funk-fusion album should sound like. The fact that the album was only distributed in Japan at the time (Jackson resided in Tokyo since the late 70’s, where he passed away in 2021) continues to increase its reputation as an album that is VERY hard to find. This is a must-have gem…not only for fans of jazz, funk and rare grooves, but also for DJs and collectors around the globe.

Following up on the incredible success of El Michels & Black Thought's Glorious Game album the duo treat us to another 7" with two of the standouts from the album. The A Side "Hollow Way" is a testament to the chemistry between Leon & Thought. EMA uses his signature sound with a new approach pulling records from his collection and sampling them. The result is a gritty lofi sonic backdrop that Black Thought flexes his lyrical brilliance on weaving a tune about guns and gun violence. The beat change at the end drives the point home, leaving any samples behind and lets the band remind people why they are one of the most in demand acts out there today. The B side "I'm Still Somehow" is a deeply introspective tune that Thought rhymes about vulnerability and overcoming challenges with heavy lines like "a happy black boy is like an alien" and "one crown, who was run down, somehow still standing tall". Michels again takes his ear and sensibility to the sampler, chopping up an old 45 that makes the perfect backdrop for this powerful and timeless song.

The show, which rolled over the open-air stage of the Greek Theatre night after night in the late summer of 1963, attracted fans as if on a pilgrimage to the mountains of Hollywood. Many who could not get hold of a map climbed the surrounding trees to be able to admire the Calypso man at least from a distance.

Also on the lookout and with sound equipment at the ready were the people of the company RCA, which released the eagerly awaited album the following year. Some of the songs like the wriggling "Zombie Jamboree", "Look Over Yonder" and the wonderfully dripping Schmonzette "Try To Remember" were previously only available as studio versions. Most of the other numbers were brand new and sounded for the first time in a sparkling live atmosphere, which is authentically reproduced on this record.

Here a laugh as a receipt for a casual saying, there a rumble of boards, then again concentrated silence of a spellbound listening audience - something like this only happens on stage.

For Belafonte connoisseurs, these recordings are regarded as the crowning glory of the artistically highly productive phase of the years 1959 to 1963. Of the many good albums, this is one of the best.

Personnel: Harry Belafonte (voc); Howard Roberts (cond); William Eaton (clavietta); Ernest Calabria, Jay Berliner (g); John Cartwright (b); Percy Brice (dr); Ralph MacDonald (perc), choir and orchestra

repressed !

Undesignated remixes is an expansive project containing 12 remixes of tracks from dgoHn’s iconic 2020 full-length by some choice artists from in and around the Love Love sphere. Remixes that take dgoHn’s unique razor-sharp original productions and send them through a loop and round the twist, some stripped down, some messed up, most but not all maintaining the speedier tempos that dgoHn likes to work around. The result is a collection of seriously futuristic electronic music with some stylistic leanings towards labels like braindance or drumfunk or jungle but completely genre-eluding as a whole, reshaped from the minerals of the original LP by some absolute dons of their craft.

Opening the album Equinox does a fantastic job highlighting the lushness of ‘Puppet’ layering sky-high sunshine pads before sliding into Meat Beat Manifesto’s heavy sci-fi acid dub version of ‘Daisy Takes Two’. A woozy remix of ‘Lucky Gonk’ by Macc & dgoHn marks the first new material from them as a duo since ’09 and Wisp also makes a rare appearance bringing his inimitable post-rephlexian vibes on an agonisingly wonderful, melody-heavy remix of 'Electryon'. Skee Mask’s choice of remixing ‘Robin’s Windmill’ turns the original into a bundle of writhing rhythms organically unfolding with swelling ambient tones. Homegrown heroes Rognvald & Scrase both opt for pumped up post-breakcore in unconventional time signatures while Djrum emphatically provides the LP’s dose of peak jungle choppage, tempering the drum breaks of ‘Ninnyhammer’ with a blistering amen. Also featured on the LP are crisp and beefy drum workouts courtesy of Coco Bryce and Forest Drive West, visceral and apocalyptic half-time bass from Activia Benz affiliated duo Quavis and virtuosic noir-jazz tearout from fellow East-Anglian Carl Brown.