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Glasgow's First Lady of Jazz Carol Kidd, whose string of successful Linn recordings in the 1980's have made her a staple of international audiophile artists, returns with an all-new collection of delectable jazz and pop standards delivered in her inimitably smooth and heartfelt style.

Kidd has always been an artist celebrated for her cool, controlled phrasing and easy-going balladry, and her lovely new recording, BOTH SIDES NOW, is replete with her trademark inflection and warmth spread over classic songs by everyone from Rodgers & Hammerstein, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, and Richard Thompson. A songwriter of note, Kidd herself contributes two new tracks co-authored with Chris Anthony.

Impex's exclusive 180-gram 33 rpm LP, mastered by the superlative Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, features brilliantly detailed mid-tones, effortlessly stable bottom end, and crisp overtones. RTI's peerless pressing brings it all together for your listening pleasure.

Carol Kidd is an international award winning singer. She has been named 'Best Vocalist' at the British Jazz Awards on four occasions and was appointed MBE for Services to Jazz. In 2006, Carol was a winner of the prestigious Nordoff-Robbins Tartan Clef Music Award and in 2017 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Scottish Jazz Awards. Renowned for her impeccable phrasing and delivery along with an unforgettable ability to breathe fresh life into any jazz standard, Carol has cut a distinctive path through the Great American Songbook throughout her career with orchestral and trio backing, as well as performing as a unique and intimate duo with guitarist Nigel Clark.

A long line of admirers has included Tony Bennett, Vic Damone and Frank Sinatra, who invited her to open for him at a stadium concert where he remarked that, "Carol Kidd is the best kept secret of British jazz." After a sensational performance at the Tribute to Johnny Mercer show at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, Sir Michael Parkinson observed from the stage that "If there is a better jazz singer out there I have yet to hear them!" Luminaries who have performed alongside Carol as her guests include George Shearing, Georgie Fame, Annie Ross, Benny Carter, Joe Temperley, Bobby Watson and Martin Taylor.

Following a battle with cancer, Carol returned to the stage triumphant in the summer of 2013 to give a powerful, emotional performance at the Glasgow Jazz Festival. In the wake of this homecoming, it is impossible to deny that Kidd is one of the most remarkable artists and performers of our time.

The trashed hotel room and communal living depicted on the cover of the J. Geils Band's sophomore album tell you all you need know about the music, spirit, and energy spilling from within The Morning After. Shot through with raw, lean rock n' roll sparked by juke-joint blues and loose rhythms, the 1971 set comes on like the most fun, party-still-raging hangover any group in the 70s enjoyed. And now it rolls with an abandon that takes you inside the sweaty, smoky roadhouses and wall-to-wall-packed clubs the group dominated in its heyday.

Mastered from the original master tapes, pressed at RTI, and limited to 3,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's 180g vinyl LP achieves a sonic acumen that brings you face-to-face with the sextet's white-hot instrumental prowess and magnetic personalities. It's always been difficult to single out just one member of the band given the cohesive bluster the ensemble achieves as a whole, but this collectible audiophile edition allows you to do just that if you so choose, by way of superb imaging and separation. As for the band's trademark dynamics? Here, they feel like they're on the verge of exploding.

So go ahead. Twist the volume knob to the right as much as you want. You'll lose none of the focus, detail, placement, or presence no matter how high the decibels climb. The Morning After spills forth with previously unheard tonalities, ranging from the distinctive swells of Seth Justman's slow-burn organ to the live-wire spark of Geils' own downed-power-line-jumpy guitar work to the mooring hi-hat/cymbal/snare combinations of arrangement-steadying drummer Steven Bladd. Friends, this is raw rhythm n' blues, this is how it should feel, and, man, this is how it should sound.

Not for nothing did the Massachusetts-based collective name the album The Morning After. The music within doesn't abide by rules, ignores speed limits, flips the bird at curfews, and digs deep down into America's blues roots to yield organic material at once fresh, exciting, traditional, and original. The back-porch punch provided by the combination of "Magic Dick" Salwitz's searing, melodic, snake-like harmonica and vocalist Peter Wolf's animated, barely controlled deliveries is alone enough to make anyone with a faint pulse to stomp their feet, climb atop a kitchen table, and kick their boot heels until the neighbors call the cops.

Just witness the deceptive smoothness of the snake-like "So Sharp" or Maxwell Street zest of the aptly titled Magic Dick showcase "Whammer Jammer," which will leave you gasping for breath before it even ends. J. Geils Band also knew its way around deep-cut soul. The ensemble's Top 40, howling, adrenaline-to-the-heart rendition of the Valentinos' "Looking for a Love" and swirling, romantic take on Don Covay's "The Usual Place" seamlessly balance drive and emotion. Coupled with rafter-shaking originals such as "Floyd's Hotel" and the riff-propelled "I Don't Need You No More," sent up with typical Wolf vocal flair, and the record parks the band's all-night festivities and go-for-broke attitudes right on your front lawn.

One last word of warning to the uninitiated: The Morning After is not the slick-pop J. Geils Band of "Centerfold." And that is a very good thing.

A double treat for those who love timeless Southern Soul flavoured with some of those good ol’ down home blues. Memphis born, and Minneapolis based, Willie Walker can comfortably be included in the pantheon of grittiest soul singers along with Wilson Pickett, Syl Johnson, Lou Rawls, James Carr, Eddie Floyd, Tyrone Davis and L.V. Johnson, to name but a few, but there has always been speculation about other Willie Walkers. The recordings on Eutor and Hi in the 70’s are not by the same Willie as those on Goldwax and Checker in the 60’s. He did, however, also record as Wee Willie Walker.
 
He was a member of The Rhythm Harmonizers, The Val-Dons, The Exciters, The Bound Band, Willie & The Bumblebees (although that Willie is actually Willie Murphy of The Val-Dons), and Canoise, spanning a long and varied career before hooking up with the Minneapolis based band The Butanes in 2004, with whom he made the next three albums. The first of these was mainly cover versions, but "Right Where I Belong" (2004) and "Memphisapolis" (2006) are notable for each providing the tracks that make up this latest Jai Alai release, a label that differs from sister label Soul4Real by featuring 21st century tracks previously CD only but now released on 7” vinyl for the first time. It also has to be noted that all the tracks on both these albums were written and produced by Curtis Obeda, who managed to track down Willie after so many years.
 
“I Feel It” will have been missed by most as it was on the CD "Right Where I Belong" which was released in 2004 on the most unlikely of UK imprints, the Wirral based One On One Records run by Colin Dilnot. The album is a lavish display of real instruments from a band that once backed John Lee Hooker and Little Johnny Taylor and the perfect setting for Willie’s powerful vocals. 
 
Just tipping five glorious minutes, "Cry, Cry, Cry" is a perfect example of why soul music is inextricably linked to the blues, and when the gospel styled chorus joins in towards the end, you realise that this could, maybe should, have carried on for just a little bit longer. Perhaps a fuller length version exists? Sadly, Willie died peacefully in his sleep in November 2019, but to complete his story check out the two albums on Blue Dot as Wee Willie Walker & The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra. To quote the great Quinton Claunch…”Willie was one of the best to come out of Memphis in the 60’s”.
 
Steve Hobbs
(Solar Radio, Totally Wired Radio)

"Bunn DeBrett Quintet is back with volume 2 of the eponymous album series of contemporary Jazz. Following on from the success of the critically acclaimed first album released in 2021 which sold out its vinyl run, volume 2 builds on the artistic and creative expressions of Volume 1 to bring together a group of artists to perform on Stephen Bunn and Jon DeBrett's compositions.

Once again featuring the core musicians of Stephen and Jon along with Neil Corcoran, Alan Barnes, Roger Beujolais, and the stunning spoken word vocals of Tenesha the Wordsmith. BDQ vol. 2 also benefits from the contributions of instrumentalists Nathan Haines, Crispin Taylor, Alastair Martin and the poetry of Daniel B. Summerhill.

Across the five tracks of this album this stellar line-up of musicians, composers and artists have created just under 40 minutes of the most fluid and fluent contemporary Jazz you will hear in many a year. Combining the spiritual with the modal and the modern, the atmosphere of this album will capture, enchant and enrapture all true music fans and those whose boundaries are blurred as to be non-existent."

Few musical discoveries in recent years - perhaps ever - have been as staggering as that of Soap&Skin aka Anja Plaschg. The sheer force this young artist (she is only eighteen) injects into her compositions almost beggars belief, her songs consuming every last drop of her with no regard for grace or beauty. They say I'm different – and they have been saying it about Plaschg since she was a little girl in the small South Steiermark village of Gnas, where her parents had a pigfarm. With her punkish looks, ripped clothes and nihilistic attitude to match, she felt like the archetypal outsider, hating piano lessons until hitting her teens when, all of a sudden, piano playing became her elixir. Anja began practising for 12 hours a day, took up the violin as well and composed her first classical pieces for the village music school. Her older brother installed a sound programme on the computer for her to play around with, and having figured it out for herself, she experimented with productions.Soap&Skin's first album “Lovetune for Vacuum” is a logical progression from her previously released pieces, an unwavering line of drama, inner conflict and melancholy. The impact of this debut lies in its paradoxicality: remarkably mature on the one hand, yet feeding on unbridled youthful exuberance on the other. The songs you find on the album have been written between 2005 – 2008 and have been recorded back at Anja’s place - mostly just by herself.

Repress !


One of the first true moments of genius from saxophonist Nathan Davis - a mid 60s European session cut for the tiny SFP label - and a record that's even rarer than his early classics for MPS! The sound here is similar to the MPS sides - a mixture of soul jazz and modal jazz - served up with a bit more freedoms than Davis might have gotten on the US scene, and featuring a lineup that includes Woody Shaw on trumpet, Jean-Louis Chautemps on baritone sax, Rene Urtreger on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums. The tight rhythm of Woode and Clarke is a nice counterpoint to the modernism of Davis and Shaw - Davis works a bit on soprano, which sounds especially great!

ENZYME RECORDS drops the start of a new line of vinyl. The Enzyme Records Anthology series!



A fresh blend of classics and never before on vinyl released tracks. All tracks are remastered exclusively for vinyl from their original source, sounding bigger, wider and more detailed. This is a limited run and will not be repressed.



! These remasters will only be available on vinyl !

Eck Echo records is set to release a mixed bag of original songs and remixes by one of digital cumbia's founding fathers, Peru's Tribilin Sound. Plastic Toy Sounds turns "Virgenes del Sol" into a woozy cumbia-dub with bright, shimmering guitar lines. Loris, adds squiggly sawtooth synths to the already irresistible beat of "Sarita", and Chancha Via Circuito offers up an atmospheric take on "Condorcanqui" that sounds like DJ Shadow and Augustus Pablo soundtracking a Peruvian heist while Peruvian duo Dengue Dengue Dengue reinvent "El Carmen's" Afro-Peruvian festejo groove as ageless ambient techno. Eck Echo records is set to release a mixed bag of original songs and remixes by one of digital cumbia's founding fathers, Peru's Tribilin Sound. Jalea is the affectionate term used by seafood-craving Peruvians for one of the country's signature dishes. In this jalea the menu consists of four original tracks highlighting the artist's career on one side, and four selected remixes by iconic producers from Mexico, Argentina, and Peru. Tribi arrived on the scene as digital cumbia was busy spreading its wings from Buenos Aires, soon to take over Latin America (and later the world), with Lima the next city to catch the bug. Ernesto had been DJ'ing in clubs since the mid-90s, and experimenting with Peruvian cumbia since the mid-00s, but the birth of his alias Tribilin Sound allowed him to go wholesale into his beloved chicha, reinterpreting grooves by classic Peruvian groups like La Pintura Roja, Los Titanes and Chacalón y la Nueva Crema, as well as proving to be a dab hand at a mash-up. Soon, he found himself at the heart of a like-minded community, releasing a debut self-titled album with Peruvian label, Terror Negro, and following it up with Aquí Siempre Bailamos (2014) for pan-Latin collective Sello Regional. Coming from a club background, rhythm has always been central to Ernesto's approach, his adopting of Peruvian styles never deviating from the necessity to get bodies moving, and the remixers here seem to take delight in stretching out his rhythms. Mexico's Plastic Toy Sounds turns "Virgenes del Sol" into a woozy cumbia-dub with bright, shimmering guitar lines; another Mexican, Loris, adds squiggly sawtooth synths to the already irresistible beat of "Sarita", and Chancha Via Circuito offers up an atmospheric take on "Condorcanqui" that sounds like DJ Shadow and Augustus Pablo soundtracking a Peruvian heist while Peruvian thunder-duo Dengue Dengue Dengue reinvent "El Carmen's" Afro-Peruvian festejo groove as ageless ambient techno..

This compilation brings together 22 sound poems, including both pioneering and current pieces, and constitutes itself as the first great overview of sound poetry from Peru. It continues a cycle that began in 2009 with the appearance of a CD called Inventar la voz: Nuevas tradiciones orales To Invent the Voice: New Oral Traditions and was followed up in 2011 with another one called Irse de lengua [To Let It Slip], both of which contributed to articulate diverse manifestations of poetry that used technological means, also in the context of intense activity in the local scenes of experimental music and sound art that opened spaces for interdisciplinary dialogues. What we know as sound poetry is the product of a technological revolution associated with the appearance of various means of recording, transmission and amplification of the voice. A long process that took shape in the 20th century, until it became a discipline, articulated as an international movement which, based on phonetic research, expanded into a universe of oral/vocal artistic practices as part of a new technological context. The recordings gathered here comprise a time frame that goes from 1972 to 2021. We find poems that work with montage techniques, either because they explore simultaneity or juxtaposition, such as those by Mario Montalbetti, Frido Martín, Florentino Díaz, Carlos Estela, Luisa Fernanda Lindo, Macri Cáceres, Rodrigo Vera Cubas, Tilsa Otta, Giancarlo Huapaya/Omar Córdova, Virginia Benavides, Lisa Carrasco and Luis Alvarado. Others emphasize vocal/oral performance: we find the phonetic poems of Carlos Germán Belli and Eduardo Chirinos, as well as the concrete conceptual poems of Michael Prado, Sandra Suazo, Peru Saizprez, and the oral/guttural poem of Omar Aramayo. Finally, we find another group of pieces where the poem starts with the creation of a computational parameter or algorithm, as is the case with the pieces by Jorge Eduardo Eielson and Enrique Verástegui, eventually reaching the use of Artificial Intelligence as in the poems by Francisco Mariotti and Paola Torres Núñez del Prado. The Verbal Matter: An Anthology of Peruvian Sound Poetry is part of a series produced by Buh Records for Centro del Sonido, a website set up as a digital archive of Peruvian experimental music and sound art. The compilation has been made by Luis Alvarado and is published in a limited edition of 300 copies in vinyl format. It includes extensive notes and visual documentation. Mastered by Alberto Cendra. Art by René Sánchez.

Written and recorded between 1972 and 1982 in Western Oregon, Back to the Woodlands is a previously unreleased, and nearly lost, album made by Ernest Hood during the same era as his near mythical album Neighborhoods . A visionary combination of field recordings, zithers, and synthesizers, Back to the Woodlands offers an unprecedented depth of access to this singular artistic mind. Born into a musical family, Ernest Hood began a promising career as a jazz guitarist during the 1940s, touring internationally with his brother Bill Hood and the saxophonist Charlie Barnet , before contracting polio in his late twenties. The disease left Ernest unable to play the guitar and confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. It also forced him to adapt and innovate around his musical practices in the face of adversity; Hood's value of sound matured with a remarkably democratic and nonhierarchical approach and application. Taking up the zither, a less physically-demanding stringed instrument to the guitar, embarking upon the unprecedented process of incorporating field recordings into his work as early as 1956, and eventually discovering the synthesizer, Hood's music became imbued with optimism and subtle cultural critique. This ethos and technique - refined over the coming decades - would lay the groundwork for a sprawling body of radio work, mail order recordings for homebound listeners, and Neighborhoods , self- issued as a small vinyl edition in 1975. Where Neighborhoods , a nostalgic opus, drawing from a well of collective memory of the 1950s, is defined by traces of human activity, Back to the Woodlands leaves the modern world behind, delving into Hood's love for nature. Only recently discovered in his archives, the album dramatically expands his concept of "musical cinematography," imagistically triggering states of sensory memory from within its zither and synthesizer melodies, intertwined with field recordings made during Hood's extensive travels throughout Oregon. If Neighborhoods is a retreat into the gauzy joys of a romanticized past, Back to the Woodlands is an immersion in the timeless sanctuary of the natural world. A fascinating counterpoint to its predecessor, Back to the Woodlands brings us even closer to Hood's belief in the transportive qualities of sound; that field recordings could serve as a vehicle for the imagination and liberation, particularly for those with similar mobile disabilities as his own. Across the album's twelve compositions, the rippling instrumental harmonics - shifting between abstraction and playful melody - fold so seamlessly into the birdsong, bubbling brooks, and other environmental ambiences, that they often give the impression of having been recording within the landscapes toward which they whisper. Falling somewhere between the immersive calm of healing music and New Age, the creative field recording practices of sound ecologists world building for Folkways, and the jazz infected ambiences during Obscure / Editions EG's highest heights, Back to the Woodlands sculpts an singular proximity of music for its moment; a form of ambient sonic realism that draws the consciousness toward its surroundings as much as within. Working closely with his estate to maintain his original vision, Freedom to Spend has restored and remastered this never before released, lost masterpiece by Ernest Hood from the original tapes. Ernest Hood's Back to the Woodlands will be issued on vinyl, as well as on CD in combination with its contemporary Where the Woods Begin , with new liner notes by Michael Klausman . On behalf of Ernest Hood and Freedom To Spend, a portion of the proceeds from this release will benefit Oregon Wild, an organization dedicated to protecting and restoring Oregon's wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.

Waxwork Records in partnership with Back Lot Music is honored to release NOPE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Michael Abels. Oscarr winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope. The film reunites Peele with Oscarr winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer and Oscarr nominee Steven Yeun as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery. NOPE marks Abels' third feature film score with director Jordan Peele, having previously scored Peele's GET OUT and US. The album also features songs from the film, including a new version of Corey Hart's classic "Sunglasses at Night (Jean Jacket Mix)", Dionne Warwick's "Walk on By", The Lost Generation's "This is the Lost Generation", Exuma's "Exuma, the Obeah Man", and a never-before-released gem by a young Jodie Foster, "La Vie C'est Chouette" from the 1977 film MOI, FLEUR BLEUE. "NOPE is my most ambitious score to date," says Abels. "There are elements from the genres of sci-fi, action, horror, and westerns, but always through the tonal palette of Jordan Peele's unique vision. The lines between source music and score are blurred, as a good part of the score seems to be playing at the theme park, which is a key location in the story. The score is at times terrifying, yet also invokes the sense of awe and wonder that the characters feel as they realize what they are seeing. The film eventually becomes a grand adventure, and so the music expands into the larger-than-life scale we expect of a summer blockbuster." He goes on to say, "it was a joy to compose a score that encompassed such a broad range of genres and emotions, and I'm thrilled to have audiences experience all of them through this album." "Michael is one the most exciting composers working today - he has this amazing ability to create new sounds which was important for this film," Jordan Peele says. "He's able to play in the familiar and in the unfamiliar at the same time, so that helps give every film its own character, and he has an incredible mastery of so many different music genres." Abels is known for his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films GET OUT and US, for which Abels won a World Soundtrack Award, the Jerry Goldsmith Award, a Critics Choice nomination, and multiple critics' awards. The hip-hop influenced score for US was short-listed for an Academy Awardr and was named "Score of the Decade" by The Wrap. Abels is also co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group to increase visibility of composers of color in film, gaming and streaming media. Waxwork Records is thrilled to present the official NOPE deluxe double LP soundtrack album. The package comes complete with 180-gram colored vinyl, quality packaging, original artwork by Ethan Mesa, heavyweight gatefold jacket with matte coating, a multi-page 12" x 12" booklet, liner notes, & more!

Although Los Hermanos Ballumbrosio are one of the most emblematic groups of Afro-Peruvian music, no single recording has been able to portray the essence of the group... Until now. "Homenaje a El Carmen" ("Homage to El Carmen"), their debut album for Buh Records, sets the record straight: it captures the true spirit of the musical tradition of El Carmen, a city located a few miles to the south of Lima that is home to the largest black community in Peru. Songs based on percussion and zapateo bring back the memories and experiences of a culture that has produced one of the greatest treasures of Peruvian music. "Homage to El Carmen", the third volume of the series "Perspectives on Afro-Peruvian Music", signals the return of the group to the recording studio, and also to the sources of rhythms such as festejo and panalivio, which they interpret with cajón, quijada (jawbone), congas, bongo and batá. The result is a distillation and a testimony of the memories and experiences that portray the cultural universe of El Carmen. We have access to a selection of traditional songs that are heard during the festivities, such as "Guanchivalito", which is played during the Yunza Negra, a ceremony in which a willow tree is cut to bring benefits to the community. "Panalivio " and "Serrana Vieja" are two traditional Christmas carols that are played in the "Hatajo de Negritos" and which reflect the syncretic character of the Afro-Peruvian culture. These songs speak of the difficulties of rural life, but they also serve as a vehicle to demonstrate the Ballumbrosio brother's mastery in the art of zapateo, a dance that is accompanied by violin and bells. The classic "La Esquina de El Carmen" is perhaps the song that best expresses the erotic character of festejo, also known as baile de cintura (waist dance). "Homage to El Carmen" is the highly anticipated return of the Ballumbrosio brothers to the recording studio. They have become indisputable references of Afro-Peruvian music and have displayed their sound and dances around the world. It was time for an album that portrays the essence of the group: a collective spirit, where the tutelary image of Amador Ballumbrosio always shines, and which traces a history from Africa to El Carmen. This album is published in vinyl format in a limited edition of 300 copies. Include 8 full-page booklet with liner notes in Spanish and English. Produced by Manongo Mujica and Daniel Mujica. Cover by Yerko Zlatar.

CoOp Presents is incredibly proud to present an all-new compilation album put together by Allysha Joy. This 14-track LP gives us a solid glimpse into the current wave of Antipodean bruk / broken beat artists.

Allysha explains "the connection began with a guest mix for CoOp Presents Worldwide FM radio show. I was asked to guest on the show, so pulled together some heavy unreleased and unmastered "Australian" broken sounds. I immediately called Horatio, Close Counters and Setwun, some of my nearest and dearest inspirations and collaborators to get them in the mix! Within 24 hours I had a brand new beat from Setwun called 'H.B.Y', I ran up some vocals on a Close Counters track and landed a wild jazz-bruk collaboration called 'Fly' from Horatio Luna and Nikodimos! We all felt really blessed to be linking in with some of the innovators of the sound we love!

Also in the mix, I played a track by Lanu a.k.a Lance Ferguson, one of "Australia's" funkiest songwriters and producers. Mike Gurrieri and Chris Gill over at Northside Records had already been scheming to set Lance and I up on a music date for weeks, which turned into writing 'Rewind' . Lanu, along with Ennio Styles, have been integral in the broken beat sound down here from the early 2000s and they connected Jonny Faith in to bring 'Southern Stepper'.

After linking in over the music and working on some collaborations, Alex Phountzi and IG Culture asked me to put together this compilation. The first person that came to mind was Sampology. A wild ride of shifting harmony and incredible vocals, Sam delivered 'Sunny', featuring Maia. Also of Middle Name Dance Band acclaim and a beaming light of creative energy, Kuzko created 'Immunity' for the comp — their debut solo release!

Also up in Meanjin, Special Feelings and Squidgenini were making their own style of jazzy house music and we absolutely knew that they would kill it on the broken beat tip. They sent through 'On Heat' and 'Prophecy' respectively, and inspired me to write and produce 'Listen'. A track about the struggle to be heard as female and non-binary artists. A hard-hitter mixed by co-collaborator Yelderbert of our new duo project, Totek.

As my brother and the one that first introduced me to Agent K, I knew we had to get Ziggy Zeitgeist up in the mix! He immediately sent over a bunch of tunes, and from alongside all of the 30/70 Collective demo drum loops and fresh Z.F.E.X sounds, we selected 'Bruk Samba' featuring Cody Curry, the CC Dance Orchestra.

I had managed to pull together a bunch of tunes for the compilation and after a studio session one afternoon I was walking down Sydney Road and bumped into Silent Jay, Alien and A.KID a.k.a. ACID SLOP at their new spot, the Mandarin Dreams HQ. We were just chatting and above Jay's head I spotted the New Sector Movements record, 'Download This'! To see that they'd just been spinning this record felt so serendipitous, so I had to ask them to be on it! Acid Slop sent me through a tune literally the next day, called 'Everything Falls Apart' and within the week we got 'Walk Away', from Lori and Silent Jay. It felt complete.

The way that this music just effortlessly and lyrically fell together, is a testament to the broken beat undercurrent that runs within the jazz and dance music scene down-under. 'They're Energised' connects a scene of deeply talented and inspired musicians, collectively shaping the new wave of uniquely "Australian" bruk and broken beat music!"

'They're Energised' is released mid-November 2022 on double vinyl and digital worldwide via CoOp Presents.

Many music fans will remember Jimmy Salcedo due to his wonderful work as arranger and producer with the duo Elia and Elizabeth in the early 70s. Their delicate songwriting acquired, after his treatment, a special Tropical aroma that even included the funk influences received by Salcedo at that time. He released with his band, La Onda Tres, a few LPs and singles that had a limited distribution, mainly in Colombia only. This anthology comprises a selection of songs that celebrate Salcedo's sound signature: a base of coastal funk with vocals and melodic bubblegum-bomb arrangements and hints of light psychedelia. Many of the compiled songs became popular radio hits in Colombia that Jimmy Salcedo and La Onda Tres recorded and arranged at the Zeida studios in Medellín. These recordings include Latin-jazz tracks ('Mira') with stunning percussion solos, songs recorded under a heavy Caribbean-soul influence ('­Qué linda es Colombia!' and 'Lo mismo de siempre') 'Maranguango', an irresistible mix of Afrolatin percussion and catchy Tropical harmonies spiced up with moog keyboard sounds, fuzz and wah wah guitars and even touches of hammond, in a psychedelic funk style, an exhilarating moog driven instrumental with a heavy Afro-funk rhythm ('Moogambo') and revisited Latin classics ('Moliendo Café').

Needwant Records arrive with the latest in their ever-evolving roster showcasing the sounds of underground city life, proudly presenting label newcomer NATE08's kaleidoscopic debut LP, 'Furaha'.

London-based label Needwant Records have been tirelessly advancing dance music's esoteric fringes for well over a decade, with their immaculately curated catalogue routinely moving dancers and garnering respect and plays from the industry's most revered tastemakers. Here, the newest recruit to the label's glittering line-up, Mumbai-based musician, producer, and DJ, NATE08 brings forth his breathtaking inaugural album.

Equally adept as a producer, session bass player, and genre-spanning selector, Nathan Thomas has become an irrepressible force in India’s blossoming underground music scene. The Mumbai-based musician’s solo project, NATE08, treads the groove-oriented territories of funk, r&b, and house – with his elegantly spun productions firmly rooted in dance music's glorious heritage while imbued with a future-facing production gloss.

Title track 'Furaha' blissfully sets the tone for what's to follow, with dextrous Latin guitar gliding over intricate percussive waves as heavenly chords fill the sun-kissed panorama. Upping the energy just a touch, Azamaan Hoyvoy's honeyed vocal enlivens the summer haze of 'Trigger Fool', arriving over evocative chords and laser tight four/four rhythms to create a stunning slice of low-slung future house deepness.

The funk-flecked bump of 'Bunker' sees Nathan's bass mastery arrive in full force, with spirited slaps propelling misty chords and sublime guitar licks across a loose-limbed beat. Continuing the horizontal sensations, the captivating chord progressions of 'Hold Up' soar over thick, rolling bass notes and shimmering synth swells.

Lead single 'Sunrise Sundown' is a stunning example of NATE08's organically spun deep house prowess, with Jitwam's soul-drenched vocals cascading over succulent chords and dancing synth melodies as smokey beats and pulsating bass cement the heads-down groove. Next, hypnotic fusion guitar refrains soar over lively percussion and gentle pads for a life-affirming Balearic voyage, maintaining the carefree spirit while enlivening the senses as the arrangement heads for the horizon.

The 'Let's Go To Ibar' interlude makes way for the mesmerising deep house flex of 'Want You', where Megan Murray's yearning vocal provides the seductive hook as acidic bass notes bounce over glistening chords and propulsive beats. A prime example of NATE08's futurist intentions arrives in the form of r&b-meets-house hybrid 'Feel It', with Lojal's striking performance flitting between searing soul and street-ready swagger powers over an intoxicating, organ-infused bed.

The forward-thinking two-step rhythm of 'Cold Muse' sees broken drums drive emotion-heavy chords and bewitching guitar licks over sensual bass, before closing track 'Primrose' sees the album home with a fitting flourish. Here, Naisha's heartfelt vocals sail across an ocean of glassy chords and staccato synths, with kinetically charged congas enlivening the groove as the magnetic bass adds body to the celestial instrumentation.

Scratch The Super Ape is the 1976 studio album by Lee Perry’s studio band The Upsetters. The lineup consisted of Boris Gardener on bass, Mikey Benbow on drums, Earl Smith on guitar, Keith Sterling on keys and the horn quartet Bobby Ellis, Dirty Harry, Herman Marquis, and Vin Gordon. The album is recorded at Lee Perry’s studio and is both composed and produced by him.

This edition of Scratch The Super Ape features the original Jamaican album cover and is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on orange coloured vinyl.

The Belgian minimal synth band's three releases – a cassette and two vinyl EPs – were all titled »Against The Dark Trees Beyond«. This compilation collects the songs from these records.

"They were interesting times, the early eighties. Against a backdrop of cold war and economic crises, the DIY attitude of the earlier punk movement had spawned near countless new genres where artists and bands broke the three-chord guitar mould and experimented with new content matter, singular song structures and – in many cases – new instruments. Synthesizers became affordable and were no longer the sole privilege of rock millionaires. All around the globe, musical creativity boomed as never before, and Belgium was no exception: Digital Dance, Snowy Red, The Names, Pseudocode, Marine, 1000 Ohm, De Kommeniste, M.Bryo & D.M.T., De Brassers, Struggler, Siglo XX are but a few legendary names of bands and artists who started making a name for themselves.

In Leuven, things were happening as well. Until then, the music scene in this rather provincial town had been dominated by straightforward rock and blues acts. Not for much longer, though: in places like Arno'z and (later) The Gladhouse, where young budding artists met with kindred spirits, bands were often formed on the spot and, more importantly, started to make ripples.

Ludo Camberlin and Karel 'Bam' Saelemaekers already had a certain track record in Leuven's burgeoning music microcosm. But what they shared would become the cornerstone of A Blaze Colour (Against The Dark Trees Beyond): a fascination for new forms and instruments, a penchant for sonic adventure and a profound love for gripping songs. The full band name, by the way, was inspired by a phrase from the Irish-American novelist J.P. Donleavy, a writer who belongs in the definitely-worth-checking-out section.

After appearing on the first No Big Business LP (1981) with the instrumental 'Fisk', A Blaze Colour's first proper release, as was so often the case in those days, was a self-produced cassette. The music – which would later be dubbed 'minimal' – was characterized by the use of basic rhythm machines (Boss Dr. 55, mainly) and analog synthesizers (for the synth geeks: Korg Delta and MS20, Roland SH-2 and Jupiter IV, and the infamous Casio VL-1). Camberlin’s vocals, meanwhile, displayed an aloofness totally in sync with the zeitgeist. Equally important, though: all five tracks on this cassette were bona fide songs with a clear sense of structure, aided by a sonic mastery that demonstrated a high level of experience: 'Means To An End' started out as a proto-industrial track before bursting out into a moroderesque finale. The remix of 'Fisk' was as sprightly as the next river salmon, while 'Or Lie Again' proved the perfect soundtrack to a nightly walk through wet deserted streets. On the other hand, 'Through With Life', rife with disturbing sound effects countered by a slow portamento, could have been a prize track on a post punk 'Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'. And in true dramatic fashion, 'Follow The Signs' was the perfect ending of this five-song cycle: a driving sequencer and gripping chord progression coupled with a simple but powerful vocal line. Considering the limited technical means the duo was working with, this was no less than a triumph.

A few months later, the band released a seven-inch single on its own ABLACO label. 'Dark Trees Beyond', a quirky pop song, was coupled with 'Addict Of Time', a dark and brooding spoken word piece. Not the kind of single to storm hit parades, but it didn't go unnoticed. The Minny Pops' Wally van Middendorp, who had founded the Plurex label in 1978, invited A Blaze Colour to his studio in the Netherlands, to record an EP. It would prove to be a massive step forward: recording in a semi-professional studio offered great possibilities, the recently acquired TR-808 drum machine allowed for a broader rhythm palette, and the three new tracks (next to the re-recording of 'Through With Life') showed a band on the top of their game: 'The New Ones' was a wry and haunting song built around a live drum loop and an ominous bass pattern, while 'Nowhere Else' was a near-pop track with very un-minimal vocal harmonies. And it's a mystery why 'Altitude' – another instrumental – was never used in a stylized, high-profile detective soundtrack.

Another song from these sessions, the revved-up 'Cold As Ever' turned up on the high-profile Plurex "Hours" compilation, where it shone brightly, next to songs of a.o. X-Mal Deutschland, Nasmak, Minny Pops and Section XXV.

Meanwhile, Camberlin had already carved out a bit of a reputation for himself as a producer, while Saelemaekers was a respected graphic designer. It remains uncertain if this played a big part in the end of A Blaze Colour, but the fact remains: as studio recordings go, 'The Ultimate Fight' on the "No Big Business 2" compilation, was to be their swan song. What a way to go, though: maybe their best song ever, this was a synthetic bastard funk groove, complete with shout-out chorus and punch-drunk middle-eight. It shut a door, for sure, but it did so with a resounding bang.

So there it is and there it was. Short, sweet, visionary, pioneering and highly influential. And as anybody listening to this first ever compilation will be able to assess probably one of the most colourful electronic acts of its time.

On a more a personal note, A Blaze Colour proved to be instrumental in my own coming of age as a lyric writer, when Ludo and Bam graciously adopted some of my earlier writings, warts and all. To hear them translated into songs was no less than magic, and it certainly gave me the confidence to start our own band a bit later. And the magic continued when Ludo became our producer and Bam designed our record sleeves. But that’s another story, obviously. Because this is the place and the time to dive back into the wondrous world of A Blaze Colour!"

Bart Azijn (Aimless Device)

Originally released 2020 on cassette and digitally.

Forged alone in a cave on the island of Java, and recorded in a fortress in Poland, Antonina Nowacka’s “Lamunan” is an intimate exploration of a mysterious darkness and the earliest of musical forms. Nowacka has co-created raw electronics and audiovisuals as half of WIDT and the enigmatic Mentos Gulgendo, but her solo practice focuses solely on the voice’s inherent connection to mental states, its ability to speak wordlessly, and the apparatus of speech itself – leading her to a six-month trip to study traditional music in Indonesia.

A day trip to visit a Javanese volcano turned into days of exploring, Nowacka eventually stumbling across a cave. “Rarely does anyone come there because Indonesians are afraid of the dark and the cave is poorly lit,” explains Nowacka. “I could sit there and sing for hours without feeling the passage of time.”

Hours spent in the dizzying darkness and echoes of Seplawan Cave produced a series of unaccompanied vocal motifs. Moans, chants, hums, and wordless cries met with the multi-million year-old facades of the stone walls. The freely flowing compositions seem forged from the same natural material as that stone, carved into shape by nothing but water, time, and solitude.

Upon returning to Poland, Nowacka recorded with Rafal Smoliński in the cave-like sonic conditions of the Modlin Fortress some 50km north of Warsaw. The intimate and surreal sound of the cave is recreated, Nowacka overlapping multiple vocal lines to create delicately interwoven chamber choral pieces, musically minimalist and emotionally maximalist. The album’s title – "Lamunan" – comes from the Indonesian word for ‘dreaming’ or ‘fantasy’.

Less than a hundred miles inland from the capital city of Lima lies the great Peruvian jungle, an untamed land of impenetrable forests and endless winding rivers. In its isolated cities, cut off from the fashions of the capital, a unique style of music began to develop, inspired equally by the sounds of the surrounding forests, the roll of the mighty Amazon and Ucayali Rivers, and the rhythms of cumbia picked up from distant stations on transistor radios. With the arrival of electricity, a new generation of young musicians started plugging in their guitars and trading in their accordions for synthesizers: Amazonian cumbia was born.

Powered by fast-paced timbale rhythms, driven by spidery, treble-damaged guitar lines, and drenched in bright splashes of organ, Amazonian cumbia was like a hyperactive distant cousin of surf music crossed with an all-night dance party in the heart of the forest. While many of the genre’s greatest tracks were instrumental, and others were simple celebrations of life in the jungle, the goal of every song was to keep the party going.

Radio stations in Lima remained unaware of the new electric sounds emanating from the jungle, but a handful of pioneering
record producers ventured over the mountain passes to the cities of Tarapoto, Moyobamba, Pucallpa – even Iquitos, a city
reachable only by boat or plane – and lured dozens of bands to the recording studios of the capital to lay down their best
tracks. Although many became local hits, few were ever heard outside the Amazonian region … until now.
With eighteen tracks from some of the greatest names in Amazonian cumbia, Perú Selvatico is both the improbable soundtrack
to a beach party on a banks of the Amazon and a psychedelic safari into the sylvan mysteries of the Peruvian jungle.

LP including booklet with extended liner notes. Channeling wild seventies Impulse vibes, even resonating the guts of early Art Ensemble of Chicago and the tempering spirit of Max Roach's 'We Insist' era: BRAHJA is soul searching their spirit on 'Watermelancholia'.

Devin Brahja Waldman is a New York saxophonist, drummer, synthesizer player and composer who leads the group BRAHJA. Waldman has accompanied his aunt, poet Anne Waldman, since the age of ten. Waldman is a co-founding member of Radical Reversal, Diva of Deva Loka, and Notable Deaths. He has performed with Patti Smith, William Parker, Nadah El Shazly, Malcolm Mooney, Thurston Moore, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Charles Hayward, Luke Stewart and Yoshiko Chuma. Waldman is also a member of NYC's Heroes Are Gang Leaders (led by poet Thomas Sayers Ellis and saxophonist James Brandon Lewis), of Sam Shalabi's Land of Kush, and of the Norwegian hardcore group MoE.

As a youngster, Waldman was taken under the wing of avant-garde giant Paul Bley. Along with Anne Waldman and cousin Ambrose Bye, Waldman is a co-producer for Fast Speaking Music -a NYC poetry and music label which has released recordings with Amiri Baraka, Meredith Monk, William Parker, Laurie Anderson, Eileen Myles, CAConrad, Fred Moten, Daniel Carter, Clark Coolidge, Thurston Moore, Joanne Kyger and many others.

Ancient to the future 2.0

Watermelancholia is about the law of Karma:
a law so obvious that it often goes unspecified and ignored.
Neglecting this law invites a world of chaos.
It's been articulated in endless ways.
Some have called it Cosmic Law or Natural Law.
Others translate it as Do No Harm.

(liner notes excerpt)

The moment the first bass note of Luke Stewart kicks in on 'Watermelancholia', followed by the swelling drum roll of Malick Koly and the lush leading voice of Janice Lowe you feel Devin Brahja will take you on a deep mind-blowing spiritual journey.


Channeling wild seventies Impulse vibes on 'O.P.K' or, could we say, even resonating the guts of early Art Ensemble of Chicago and the tempering spirit of Max Roach's 'We Insist' era: BRAHJA is soul searching their spirit on 'Watermelancholia'.


A poetic stream of consciousness, backboned by top-notch musicians, transcending the cosmic universe, trying to find answers and musically connecting.


Watermelancholia is a meditation on healing the inner schism between the sense of self - the ego - and the inner being. It is about bringing the ego to justice; putting it on trial, as it were.

On December 2th Svart Records will release the slowly gestated second album by the mystical Finnish progressive rock group Getsemane, who describe themselves as performing music "molded from the jawbones of a pike", in reference to the Kalevala where Väinämöinen built his first kantele The group first got together in 2009 in the Tampere area to perform live music for a fire theatre. After the shows they decided to continue as a band finding ever more polyrythmic and progressive ideas still drawing from the Kalevala mythos and eccentric psychedelic visions. Getsemane self-released their eponymous debut album in 2015, and the follow-up Viimaa is due for release this December. Best known for their dynamic live shows, the group's new album is full of unusual time signatures, meandering melodic lines and ethereal landscapes, not forgetting hard rocking in the best 70s style. Those that are into classic prog rock in the lines of Haikara, Tabula Rasa or King Crimson will feel immediately at home. The first single off the album, Varma kuolema ("Certain death") is a good representative of the entire album. According to the band, the song gives "A gruesomely honest but a cradling, positive vibe of the meaninglessness of life."

Surprise Color Edition, with 500 copies on black, 300 on Lime Green vinyl and 199 on XXX on Violet vinyl. "With this album we perfected a style that we now want to grow until we're the biggest band in the world." The third Blind Channel album presented in a definitive edition with gatefold covera and liner notes by James Hickie. Svart Records enters into a vinyl partnership with Ranka Kustannus and will in the future release select albums from their ever growing catalog on vinyl. The co-operation starts with Blind Channel, who've by now become a household name and one of the most important music export items currently out of Finland. Svart Records will release definitive vinyl editions of all three albums Blind Channel released on Ranka - Revolutions, Violent Pop and Blood Brothers. All three shall be presented in a limited edition of 999 copies, split into classic black vinyl and two color editions, which are randomly available to customers. All three feature extensive liner notes and interviews by James Hickie.

Surprise Color Edition, with 500 copies on black, 300 on Magenta vinyl and 199 on Blue vinyl. The second step on the way to world domination - Blind Channel's sophomore album presented in a definitive edition with gatefold covers and liner notes. Svart Records enters into a vinyl partnership with Ranka Kustannus and will in the future release select albums from their ever growing catalog on vinyl. The co-operation starts with Blind Channel, who've by now become a household name and one of the most important music export items currently out of Finland. Svart Records will release definitive vinyl editions of all three albums Blind Channel released on Ranka - Revolutions, Violent Pop and Blood Brothers. All three shall be presented in a limited edition of 999 copies, split into classic black vinyl and two color editions, which are randomly available to customers. All three feature extensive liner notes and interviews by James Hickie.

Surprise Color Edition, with 500 copies on black, 300 on Red vinyl and 199 on Clear vinyl. The baby steps of the Violent Pop Revolution - the Blind Channel debut album presented in a definitive edition with gatefold covers and liner notes. Svart Records enters into a vinyl partnership with Ranka Kustannus and will in the future release select albums from their ever growing catalog on vinyl. The co-operation starts with Blind Channel, who've by now become a household name and one of the most important music export items currently out of Finland. Svart Records will release definitive vinyl editions of all three albums Blind Channel released on Ranka - Revolutions, Violent Pop and Blood Brothers. All three shall be presented in a limited edition of 999 copies, split into classic black vinyl and two color editions, which are randomly available to customers. All three feature extensive liner notes and interviews by James Hickie.

red/clear splatter vinyl

Shake Chain will also be performing at Marina Abramovic’s private view at Modern Art Oxford on September 23rd.

Shake Chain have been busy demolishing audiences and expectations for the best part of three years. Vocalist Kate Mahony sets that standard by starting each live performance by crawling from the back of the room through a disbelieving crowd’s legs in a shiny yellow raincoat. The resulting questions that frantically arise of ‘what’s going on?’, ‘am I hallucinating?’ and ‘is this part of the show?’ are hallmarks of how Shake Chain approach making their unruly, lyric-bespattered rock music.

The four-piece from London are completed by Robert Syres (guitar, synth), Chris Hopkins (bass, synth) and Joe Fergey (drums), all artists hailing from Goldsmiths College, Nottingham Trent and Wimbledon, University of the Arts. A mutual love of thought-provoking performance art and a yearning for disruption have helped Shake Chain lock into their wayward sound. Twitchy guitar lines jolt and jerk, synths burble noisily and tack-sharp drums pin things down for Kate’s reeling vocal to vault and slur. Kate’s singing has drawn comparisons with Yoko Ono, Su Tissue and even a seance with it’s unique embrace of flights of atonal fancy, head-first repetition and ecstatic frenzy. Opinion-dividing arguably, but singular in making Shake Chain dauntingly brilliant.

Shake Chain’s debut album ‘Snake Chain’ was recorded in the New Forest’s Chuckalumba Studios early in 2022. The tranquil setting only slightly skewed by the intense extratropical cyclone occuring outside. When asked to sum up the album the group collectively settled on it sounding like “crying in a Catholic sex dungeon with Eastenders on”, perhaps only half tongue in cheek given the soapy dramatics of opening track ‘Stace’. ‘RU’ is a stompy triumph of ad lib monotony, heavy and wonky, its vocal slowly unwinding into residual sense. Shake Chain’s songs are populated with cowboys, cherry-pickers, content-addicts, private investments, a careless driver called Mike, architects and by much lamentation at the state of our confusing existencies. This last point underlined in luminous marker pen with slow-building vortex ‘Highly Conpeptual’ and whispered closer ‘Duck’.

‘Copy Me’ races along with radiant headbangs of dynamic abandon, one part tumble, two parts pummel, “hold your breath til something changes” commands Kate whilst everything of course is in hammering flux. ‘Second Home’ is similarly coruscating yet bouyant, whilst ‘Arthur’ feels like it could tear inside in two amid sobbing wails and the twining of its disparate parts. Throughout all the unhinged freakouts, found sounds and blasting rhythms though is Kate’s questioning, resilient presence, anchoring everything. On bruising creeper ‘Birthday’ she asks most tellingly “Do we speak language or does language speak us? Is there a mouth in the middle of the desert? Do you ask how cups are designed? Would you say yes when you really mean I don’t know”? Shake Chain are cathartic and absurd, humorous and deadly serious yet always inspired. Its this tightrope walk which makes their album such a thrilling, vital listen.

The origins of Cos date back to the second half of the sixties when Daniel Schell joined forces with Jean-Paul Musette, Pascale Son and Robert Pernet to form Classroom. When Classroom split, Daniel Schell and Pascale Son moved ahead and formed Cos together with Charles Loos, Alain Goutier and Bob Dartsch. They produced an experimental jazz rock sound linked to the influences above mentioned, but without being mere copycats since they always managed to keep to their own personality.



Babel was Cos' third long playing release, issued in 1978. It represented a new step in the band's evolution with the addition of new influences that ranged from musique dodécaphonique, minimalist droning, or even a hint of disco, without turning their backs to their earlier love for Canterbury sounds or more conventional jazz-rock. Dirk Bogaert, Francis Cahen and Marc Moulin all played in its sessions, making this a superb sample of what was going on through the Belgian music scene in those days.



The Wah Wah reissue comes housed in a beautiful reproduction of the original sleeve. Limited edition of 500 copies, licensed from and with the collaboration of Daniel Schell.

Red Vinyl

Introducing Time Is Now's newest recruit, a link up that felt inevitable. A Bristol native, Borai has had a firm foot in the city's bass scene since its inception, his steadfast dedication to rave culture helping to shape what it is today. When he's not curating his own Higher Level label, helping steer the Club Glow collective, or cutting dubplates for Dubstudio, he's exercising his passion for hardware, crafting vital DJ tools which span an impressive crosssection of the hardcore continuum. Naturally EP is a culmination of these endeavours, as well as his far-spanning influences.

We're transported out of Bristol and into late 80's Chicago - the golden era of garage house - via soulful vocals, nebulous melodies and saxophone whispers. It wouldn't be a Borai release, though, without some UK flavours. Rich atmospheric jungle track 'Phosphenes' brings things to a euphoric close, and reminds us of the producer's ambidexterity.

Padang Moonrise is the story of modern Indonesian music
that emerged underneath the volcanoes of Java and
Sumatra. Java, the most populous island in the archipelago
of over 17,000 islands and 1300 distinct ethnic groups, and
its capital city Jakarta, was where most of the post-colonial
national identity, politics, administration and music production
was centred.
Traditional songs from Java, Sumatra, Bali and beyond were
re-imagined by a small group of state-sponsored musicians
that also composed and arranged new music. These songs
aimed at consolidating a geographically disparate country
with a new language and new ideas of national character.
This compilation brings together a handful of these recordings
that combine elements of regional popular music, Islamic
Gambus, Javanese & Balinese Gamelan and Kroncong, with
jazz, Afro-Latin music & instrumentation, and vocal harmonies
influenced by banned American doo-wop and rock & roll.
The results are a unique blend of styles that have remained
mostly insulated from the world outside of Indonesia until a
recent worldwide resurgence in the interest of recorded music
of all forms has shone a new light on these nearly forgotten
recordings.
27 tracks compiled by Miles Cleret, on double vinyl with bonus
7”, housed in gatefold sleeve with extended liner notes.

Experimental - Ambient - Tribal Ambient Mathias Delplanque was born in 1973 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He lives and works in Nantes and cultivates close links with the spheres of ambient, electronic, electro-acoustic and concrete music as well as dub and field recording. A rather elusive character, discreet but prolific, who can be found in the credits of dDamage or Ghislain Poirier's records as well as behind the mixing board for Charlélie Couture, when he doesn't have fun under the name of Lena releasing fabulous minimal dub albums on excellent labels such as Belgian Quatermass.Mathias Delplanque is also known for his ex- cursions as well as for his collaborations with various musicians using traditional instruments: the Korean E'Joung-Ju (geomungo player in the Keda duo), or the Nazairian François Robin (veuze, duduk and mizmar player).

The fight continues in Wood Oak City. After the events of Streets of Rage 4, our heroes wanted to prepare themselves for future threats. Axel, Blaze and their mates will start a very special deranged training with the help of Dr. Zan, who built an AI program from the remnants of Mister X’s brain that simulates every kind of danger they could be facing.

The "Mr. X Nightmare" soundtrack was composed by acclaimed video game musician Tee Lopes. The vinyl soundtrack includes a 12inch record with 12 riveting tracks, a download code for digital tracks, and an insert with artwork and liner notes by Lopes.

Nocturne, the critically acclaimed sophomore album by Wild Noth- ing, is a window into singer/songwriter Jack Tatum’s “ideal world” of pop music. Written largely while living in Savannah, GA during 2011, the songs that became Nocturne blur the lines between Tat- um’s influences and personality. The album features some open ref- erences to past music just as his hit debut Gemini did, but it’s also an album that feels much less rooted in anything in particular, and marks a distinct evolution in songwriting for Wild Nothing.

Gemini was written before there were Wild Nothing fans or even a live band; Nocturne is different. With an unexpected new fan base to turn to, Tatum spent more time perfecting his craft. The obsessive- ness of Nocturne is inherent in it’s gentle harmonies, orchestrated synths, wandering voice, and songs that speak to his post-Gemini experiences as he explores new paradoxes of pop. And yet, Noc- turne isn’t obvious, it is a strange and distinctive musical beast, the product of an obsessive pop vision that creates its own reality.

In celebration of the Cars' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in April 2018, one of the legendary group's most iconic albums - Shake It Up - has been reissued in an Expanded 180g 2LP-set. Remastered edition of the original album with rare unreleased bonus tracks. An Illustrated booklet accompanies the music and contains liner notes written by renowned rock journalist David Fricke, who details the history of the album with new interviews by band member David Robinson.

The Cars recorded Shake It Up in 1981 at Syncro Sound, the band's newfound studio in Boston, with producer Roy Thomas Baker. Working in their own space afforded them the time to perfect the sound of the album, which became their third-straight Top 10 hit record and sold more than two million copies. It features the unforgettable singles "Since You're Gone," "Think It Over" and the title cut, the latter serving as their first Top 10 hit. Several unreleased tracks make their debut on Shake It Up: Expanded, including an early version of "Since You're Gone," the demo for "Shake It Up" and an unreleased song called "Midnight Dancer."

James Taylor's best-selling record since 1970's hallmark Sweet Baby James, the triple-platinum JT takes its permanent place as one of the singer's most enduring albums — an affair that gorges on country, blues, and rock styles as well as incisive songwriting. As the pre-eminent singer-songwriter's Columbia debut, it catapulted Taylor back into the limelight and re-established his place as the era's leading-edge folk-rock troubadour.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g LP possesses a warmth, immediacy, and intimacy absent from other pressings. The singer's comforting voice, breath control, and enchanting guitar lines sound as if they pour right out of the studio control room. Similarly, the splendid array of backing instrumentation is balanced, vivid, and dynamic. Taylor should always sound this realistic, warm, and lively.

More than any other of his records, JT features all sides of Taylor's lyrical persona. Optimistic, content material fills half of the 1977 set while Taylor reveals a darker, moodier identity on a number of songs that keep the 12-track set alternating between shade and light, shadow and sun. He turns romantic and blissful on the touching ballad "There We Are," praises the power of love on "Your Smiling Face," and enchants with the graceful "Secret O'Life."

In addition to channeling domestic bliss, Taylor expresses surprise and cynicism on "Honey Don't Leave L.A.," delves into despair on "Another Grey Morning," and invites sardonic tones on "Bartender's Blues." The result is a complete picture of an extraordinary songwriter and an accurate sketch of the mixed emotions many of us feel when it comes to romance. Taylor's ability to capture deep-seated feelings and set them to lyrical and musical poetry explains why we relate to him on such a meta-level. It's also why his music, including JT, remains timeless.

Taylor doesn't do it all alone. JT benefits from an all-star support cast. Carly Simon and Linda Ronstadt supply background vocals, saxophone great David Sanborn plays the horn, Russ Kunkel mans the percussion, and arranger David Campbell oversees the strings and woodwinds. It's no wonder why many fans consider this gorgeous collection of Laurel Canyon pop-rock Taylor's finest.

Whether you've never heard this record or know it inside and out, this reissue will open your ears to previously hidden details ranging from pedal-steel guitar accents to honky-tonk tonalities. Taylor's funky rhythms, too, gain in stature, as does his command of pace and tempo.

The liner notes for "The Inner Mounting Flame" were written by the guru Sri Chinmoy – now that’s a real sales point! The music too burns right from the very first note to the last as though it were licked by the flames of hell fire. The wealth of ideas, sheer vitality and supreme soloistic virtuosity of the five top-notch musicians from four different countries is absolutely first class.

In addition there is their truly dreamlike interplay; one could say they were born and grew up with the same 'spirit'. "Meeting Of The Spirit", "The Dance Of Maya" and "You Know You Know" are the highlights of this first Mahavishnu Orchestra. Aspiration – struggle, hope and desire – is seen as an inner mounting flame which takes man towards 'divine perfection'. Well, opinions differ of course. But what is certain is that this music from 1971 is still amazingly fresh and creative even 36 years later – and luckily it is available once again in the form of a vinyl disc.

Definitive collection of this seminal NYC punk/powerpop groups singles tracks as well as unreleased studio material. Restored and mastered from the original tapes. Includes extensive liner notes and never before seen photos of the group by David Godlis.

This Is For You, John is an album by saxophonist/composer
Benny Golson, recorded at Vanguard Studio, New York City in
1983 and released the year after. For the recordings, Golson was accompanied by Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax, Cedar Walton on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. The album features tunes associated with, or inspired by the famous American Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, including “Times Past (This Is For You, John)”. “Origin” is an original, composed by Pharoah Sanders.

This Is For You, John is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on green coloured vinyl. The back of the sleeve contains extensive liner notes by Benny Golson, reflecting meetings with John Coltrane and the inspirations behind the songs.