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Rose Spearman will release her long-awaited album King of Air. Followed by a tour that starts with four shows in the Netherlands. The title refers to her father, the Afro-American jazz saxophonist Glenn Spearman, to whom the album is dedicated.

As the daughter of Afro-American jazz saxophonist Glenn Spearman and a Dutch mother, the singer has felt trapped between two continents since her early childhood. Half European, half American, and always looking for a home.

Rose Spearman’s professional credits include the prestigious European Border Breakers Award, international solo albums on United and Sony Music, performances at Lowlands, North Sea Jazz, Montreux Jazz, Glastonbury, Exit, Sziget, Joshua Tree Festival, and the Love Box Festival. For several years, Rose was the lead singer of Kraak & Smaak. She collaborated with producers and DJs like King Britt, Kerri Chandler, Boris Dlugosch, and Roger Sanchez and was invited on stage with Solomon Burke, Jools Holland, and KT Tunstall. Rose was also one of the few Dutch guest artists to appear on the American syndicated television show, Jimmy Kimmel.

Scout (Amsterdam, 17 februari 2001) heeft in de afgelopen jaren volledig zijn eigen geluid gevonden binnen de Nederlandse popmuziek. In een wereld tussen Hip-Hop en alternatieve Pop ziet de zanger en producer zich als verhalenverteller. In zijn EP "littekens" komt zijn grootse en melancholische geluid tot leven in een verhaal over zijn ervaringen met liefde en mentale gezondheid. Door in zijn eigen slaapkamer te schrijven en op te nemen is de EP doordrenkt met kwetsbaarheid en intimiteit. Hierdoor neemt de opkomende ster de luisteraar mee naar zijn eigen wereld.

Na jaren ervaring te hebben opgedaan op piano pakt Scout in 2016 voor het eerst een basgitaar op en voordat hij het weet schrijft de jonge artiest op zijn kleine studentenkamertje in Delft zijn eigen muziek. Het ging ineens niet meer over noten, rijmschema's en akkoorden: het maken van muziek was uitgegroeid tot zijn therapeutische uitlaatklep. Hieruit volgt in 2020 uiteindelijk zijn self-titled debuutalbum "Scout".

Sinds eind 2022 brengt het opkomend talent consistent muziek uit en vindt hij zijn eigen weg binnen het muzieklandschap. Door steeds meer instrumenten onder de knie te krijgen en meer en meer te leren over muziek en emotie ontstaat een werkelijk nieuw, echt en eigen geluid wat maar met één woord te omschrijven valt: kippenvelmuziek.

Na het uitkomen van zijn EP "littekens" in april 2023 wordt hij benaderd om dit werk uit te brengen op vinyl. Om deze muzikale reis uit te breiden en om nog dieper in de wereld van scout te duiken bevat de LP vier bonustracks. Hieronder valt een akoestische versie van het populairste nummer "herfst", die de kwetsbaarheid van de jonge maker nog verder naar voren brengt. Ook bevat de LP een live versie van "de wereld draait door". Deze versie is opgenomen in beroemd restaurant "De Goudfazant" in Amsterdam. Een speciale plek voor Scout, hier heeft veel van zijn familiegeschiedenis zich afgespeeld. Het nummer komt hierdoor nog meer tot zijn recht door het rauwe geluid van alleen piano en stem. Ook bevat de LP twee extension tracks die het verhaal van de spreekwoordelijke littekens verder uitbreiden. Zo komt Scout in zijn nummer "hartendief" tot de realisatie dat zijn partner hem niet ziet zoals hij haar en komt hij in het nummer "kwijt voor altijd" tot een besluit om het hoofdstuk van deze littekens voorgoed af te sluiten. Deze extension tracks zijn tot op heden alleen te beluisteren op de LP maar zullen in de loop van 2024 ook op streamingdiensten verschijnen. Deze releases zijn de voorzet voor een reeks singles in 2024 die uiteindelijk zullen leiden tot zijn eerste studioalbum in 2025.

Hank Wangford, pioneer and Godfather of British alternative Country
music and Americana, joins forces with Noel Dashwood, Britain's premier
dobro player for a unique duo album of original songs A fresh take on
classic Country and Americana it is Studio recorded live with Hank on
guitar and ukulele and Noel on bass ukulele and dobro and harmonica
Dobro is a guitar played horizontally with a slide bar in the Hawaiian style, a
foretaste of the classic Country sound of pedal steel and lap steel guitar. They
sing spine tingling harmonies together on Hank's songs and the one non-original
Image of Me, Conway Twitty's first Country hit which Hank learned from his
mentor and inspiration the late Gram Parsons.
With Noel's lyrical dobro they celebrate the much-ignored influence of Hawaiian
music on American popular music and most especially Country music. Noel tips
his hat to the dobro of Pete Kirby - Bashful Brother Oswald of Roy Acuff's seminal
Smoky Mountain Boys - in much of his playing. Two sides to this album - first
Toetappers is up- tempo with songs about Oil and the current fossil fuel crisis,
Jump In A River about lockdowns, spiritual and societal and Simple Pleasures,
something we all crave. The second side Heartbreakers is sadder ballads about
cheating, lies, lost love, jilted wedding, drinking and broken Promises Promises.
And Something In The Air asks is there a god?
The whole album is a heartfelt tribute to the classic roots of Country that Hank
was pulled into by his friend Gram.

Red Vinyl

For the first time in their diverse second act, they allow themselves to be a rock band, freed of adornment and embellishment. As much as Carlson’s guitar has always been the focal point of EARTH’s music, it’s been surrounded by consistently diverse instrumentation. Here the dialog between Carlson and Davies drumming remains pivotal, underpinned by the sympathetic bass of Bill Herzog (Sunn O))), Joel RL Phelps, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter) and thickened by additional layers of guitar from Brett Netson (Built To Spill, Caustic Resin) and Jodie Cox (Narrows). Perhaps the largest left turn on Primitive And Deadly, though, is the prominence of guest vocalists Mark Lanegan and Rabia Shaheen Qazi (Rose Windows) who transform the traditionally free ranging meditations of EARTH into something approaching traditional pop structures.
On “Rooks Across the Gates,” a song stylistically the closest to the folk inspired modality of Angels Of Darkness, Carlson stretches out into some of his most lyrical playing to date, creating an almost symbiotic relationship between his performance and the vocals of old friend Mark Lanegan. “From the Zodiacal Light,” meanwhile, takes the late 60s San Franciscan/freaked-out jazz-rock transcendence of The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull and quickly re-appropriates that sound into a musky torch song for the witching hour.
This contradictive tension between a band pushing itself ever-forward whilst surveying their history is reflected in the albums twin recording locales. The foundation of the record was laid in the mystic desert highlands of Joshua Tree, California where EARTH recorded hour after hour of meditations on each track's central theme at Rancho de la Luna. Upon returning to Seattle these were edited, arranged and expanded upon at Avast with the help of long-term collaborator Randall Dunn (who was previously at the helm for the Hex, The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull and Hibernaculum sessions).

Javier Jiménez Rolo surprises with Saint Malo, a project that explores the intersections of neoclassicism, folk, ambient and electronic textures.

That Saint-Malo is a town in Brittany is the least of it. Even the fact that it exists is unimportant. Javier has never been there. Similarly, his album takes us to remote or not so remote places without moving from where we are. Javier composed these twelve songs between 2019 and 2021 from his room: "One of the problems with recording at home rather than in a studio is that when you move, your recording space changes too. In the case of this album, I was involved in three moves during its whole process. Trying to see the positive side of this situation, I realised that, as well as a collection of songs, it was a testimonial to the different places where I had lived during those years and their respective views: 'Promenade' is an imagined walk from an interior flat; 'Picture In A Frame' is a sunny afternoon in a park in Ciudad Lineal, Madrid, and 'Bells Of Nowhere' is a stroll through the neighbourhood that was once my grandparents' and is now mine."

It's an eminently evocative album but also powerfully narrative, which moves through different emotional states. Along the way, references as heterogeneous as Javier's own tastes come up. From the inevitable Arvo Pärt, Max Richter and Steve Reich to the more unsuspected Thom Yorke, Burial, Caribou, Vulfpeck or even Dua Lipa. Stéphane Grappelli, Andrew Bird, Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds or Rene Aubry are other names Javier mentions when he talks about something similar to influences.

The journey, during which the songs miraculously fit with magical precision to the landscapes we are travelling through, begins with the promising 'Beware Of The Dogs' and 'Maltravieso'. It is followed by the obsessive arpeggios of 'Le Havre' that give way to the luminous 'Fields Of Gold', the emotion of 'Cais do Sodré' and the passionate 'Le pont roulant', reminiscent of a restrained Alexandre Desplat. Along the way, dogs will bark, rain will fall on the 'Promenade' and the sun will come out with the perfectly playful 'Dolce Far Niente' ("a mix between elevator music and a song announcing the arrival of summer" according to Javier) in which echoes of Isao Tomita and Raymond Scott resound.

The result of this captivating, unexpected and suggestive mixture is Saint Malo, Javier Jiménez's first album and the empirical demonstration that he does not have, despite his classical training, any red lines. "I've always flirted with jazz, with swing... Then I moved on to messing around with loops, to doing more ambient and experimental things. I also had my folkie phase with the klezmer group Barrunto Bellota Band..."

In Saint Malo the melodies grow, become small, return and intertwine with loops and improbable aromas, to form an album that describes a journey through emotions. From melancholy to joy and the surprise of first discoveries.

The Innocence Mission's best selling album in nearly two decades will
now be available for the first time on vinyl - Jazz-tinged and dreamy, this offering from the Innocence Mission collects standards and traditional songs that singer Karen Peris has sung to her children as lullabies since they were born - The album features new album art (created by Karen Peris) and a new version of the song "Edelweiss" that is available only on this LP

Sloe Gin is the seventh studio album by Joe Bonamassa and originally releasedon August 20, 2007. The album re- teams Joe Bonamassa with producer Kevin Shirley (Joe Satriani, Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin), who produced 2006's You & Me, which debuted at #1 on the US Billboard's Blues chart in June of 2006.

With 27 #1 albums, yearly sold-out tours worldwide and custom annual cruises, he's a hard act to beat. These albums are a testament to his credentials and a toast to his longtime fans who remember them originally and new fans who can experience them for the first time.

It's Joe Bonamassa at his finest, ready to rock

So, It's Like That is the second studio album by Joe Bonamassa and originally released on August 13, 2002. Contrary to Bonamassa's 2000 debut album A New Day Yesterday, which featured a mix of original songs and cover versions, So, It's Like That is made up almost entirely of tracks written by Bonamassa and a range of collaborators.

With 27 #1 albums, yearly sold-out tours worldwide and custom nnual cruises, he's a hard act to beat. These albums are a testament to his credentials and a toast to his longtime fans who remember them originally and new fans who can experience them for the first time.

It's Joe Bonamassa at his finest, ready to rock

Black Rock is released December 8, 2023 and will be available on solid gold vinyl for the first time - Black Rock is the eight album by Joe Bonamassa, originally released worldwide on March 23, 2010.

It was recorded at Black Rock Studios in the Greek island of Santorini by Kevin Shirley. Track 8, "Night Life", features a duet between Bonamassa and his mentor B.B. King.

With 27 #1 albums, yearly sold-out tours worldwide and custom annual cruises, he's a hard act to beat. These albums are a testament to his credentials and a toast to his longtime fans who remember them originally and new fans who can experience them for the first time.

Blues Deluxe is the third studio album by Joe Bonamassa and originally released on August 26, 2003. Recorded at Unique Recording Studios in New York City, it was produced by Bob Held and features nine cover versions of songs by classic blues artists, such as BB King, Jeff Beck, John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, Elmore James and more. The album is completed with three original tracks, including the fan favorite Woke Up Dreaming.

"If you had told me 20 years ago my career would last long enough to see the 20th anniversary of this little record called 'Blues Deluxe,' I'm sure I would have laughed," Bonamassa reflects. "Blues Deluxe was my last shot after being dropped by two major record labels and my booking agent.It was then that my manager, Roy Weisman, had his first 'all in' moment.We would go back into the studio and record. A record that would hopefully define the direction of whatever future career I might have."

With 26 #1 albums, yearly sold-out tours worldwide and custom annual cruises, he's a hard act to beat. These albums are a testament to his credentials and a toast to his longtime fans who remember them originally and new fans who can experience them for the first time. It's Joe Bonamassa at his finest, ready to rock.

Formed in Melbourne Australia in 2014, the band consists of Dave Hill (guitars), Tony Forde (vocals), and David Haley (drums) and have recently added long time live bass player Tim Anderson to their permanent line- up. The quartet forge a sound that captures the essence of old whilst fanning the embers of more modern musical influences, seamlessly combining all elements to create their signature sound, cold but uplifting.

Prepare for the pilgrimage.

Formed in Melbourne Australia in 2014, the band consists of Dave Hill (guitars), Tony Forde (vocals), and David Haley (drums) and have recently added long time live bass player Tim Anderson to their permanent line- up. The quartet forge a sound that captures the essence of old whilst fanning the embers of more modern musical influences, seamlessly combining all elements to create their signature sound, cold but uplifting.

Prepare for the pilgrimage.

Imagine a perfect mix of early HELLOWEEN, early BLIND GUARDIAN and ACID: SENTINELS is precisely that! Entirely sung in Spanish, we consider "Trasciende" one of the best South American albums of recent years If you're a fan of speed metal with female vocals, then this album is for you.

With a total of eight songs full of fury, metal and the cry for freedom, "Trasciende will be available in an ultra limited edition on vinyl LP, with all the extras that our followers are used to

The official re-edition of WESTFALEN is now a reality and we are joyous with this opportunity of releasing this cult band from the '80s Belgian Heavy Metal scene! From now on, we will have the opportunity to listen WESTFALEN's 1985 self-titled mini-album on a vinyl reissue, which will include the original artwork concept, as well as live bonus tracks from the 2012 reunion concert at the Metal Legacy Festival in Genk, Belgium

Candlemass was formed by bassist & songwriter Leif Edling in Stockholm, Sweden in 1984 & is well known for its epic doom metal, having a great influence over a generation of the genre's subsequent greats such as Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride - Candlemass themselves taking a large influence from Black Sabbath.

'Ancient Dreams' was Candlemass' third album, released in 1988 & it featured a natural progression of slow- mid tempo epic arrangements from their previous release, 'Nightfall' - perhaps even more distinction between slow & faster parts - with the unique tones & unmistakable voice of Messiah Marcolin still dominating proceedings on this pure doom metal classic.

With a perfect balance between melody & sheer heaviness, it is still debatable as to whether this is the ultimate Candlemass & therefore greatest doom metal album of all time, with some giving this particular title preference over the seminal 'Nightfall' album. 'Ancient Dreams' was produced by Leif Edling & Candlemass & was recorded at Stockholm Recording studios in 1988.

Marking 35 years since release, this edition of 'Ancient Dreams' is presented on limited green marble-effect vinyl, featuring the original cover art

Norwegian act Ulver rose to prominence from a blacker metal-rooted background in their early years, to becoming widely known for high- calibre soundscapes & exquisite experimental & electronic art as part of their continual & ever- shifting evolution.

With a penchant for folklore- laced black metal in their formative years & with what could be considered even then to be eclectic & unconventional compositions compared to the more raw & primitive offerings from other arising acts in the scene at the time, Ulver made a big mark on the genre since their formation in the early 90's, spawning a unique & celebrated trilogy of early works which arrived in quick succession, starting with their monumental 1995 debut, 'Bergtatt', before the more serene acoustic- driven experience of 'Kveldssanger'
the following year & completed by the more feral & ferocious
utpouring of #Nattens Madrigal' in 1997.


Before this much revered trilogy, though, came 1993's 'Vargnatt'. This was Ulver's
first foray into the wilds & an exceptional debut demo, utilising what was to
become a staple acoustic guitar implementation amid melodic & often complex &
obtuse arrangements, conjured & delivered with an already advanced degree of
musicianship, with vocals appearing courtesy of longstanding frontman Kristoffer
"Garm" Rygg. This early incarnation of Ulver also notably featured Carl- Michael
Eide of Aura Noir/Ved Buens Ende fame on drums, plus this recording featured
Robin "Mean" Malmberg on bass guitar, from fellow Norwegian pioneers
Mysticum.
This edition of 'Vargnatt' marks 30 years since its original release. The audio itself
is sourced from the original DAT, plus this release contains the bonus track
'Vargnatt', captured live at Bootleg TV in Oslo, 1993 & sourced from the original UMatic, courtesy of the National Library of Norway.

Some of the earliest works by American composer Phill Niblock, including three never before released pieces: "Index" (1969), "Tenor," and "Boston III" (both from 1972). Until now, it's been impossible to encounter Niblock's compositions from earlier than the 1960s, a reality thankfully rectified by the long overdue publication of this Boston/Tenor/Index LP on Alga Marghen.

"Tenor" (1972) represents the first evolution of Niblock's musical thought towards the aesthetics of microtones, overtones, and drones which the composer would develop in following decades. The piece was recorded by the photographer Martin Bough on tenor saxophone and gradually dubbed back and forth by the composer in his New York studio. "Boston III" (1972) was recorded at the Intermedia Sound studio in Boston with Rhys Chatham (flute, voice), Martin Bough (tenor saxophone), and Gregory Reeve (viola, voice); the composer himself also contributed with his voice. The LP also includes "Index" (1969), an improvised sound performance by the composer himself. Guitar (both its body and strings), fingers and fingering fuse in a vehement action around which barely listenable sounds and resonances vibrate. Considering the extended pulsation as an organic blend of impulse, rhythm, drive, strength, vitality and passion, the end of this sole solo in Niblock's complete oeuvre is not defined by the fixed duration of the piece but as the consequence of the tiredness of the performer. The music changes according to the loudness of playback. The interaction of the upper harmonics changes especially, with much richer overtone patterns being produced at louder levels.

With Observatories, we see longtime Dauw-collaboraters Ian Hawgood (Home Normal) and Craig Tattersall (the humble bee) joining forces. If their debut on IIKKI was still rooted in a dialog with photographical work, the duo now offers a more autonomous work. Both being experts in the use of tape in their productions, it’s no surprise that sending loops back and forth was the starting point of this fourth album. On »autumn diffusion – winter seclusion’« we hear 2 longform pieces consisting of several tape-collages in which harmonium, voice and electronics weave together and form structures on which crackling piano sounds can do their magic. A new episode in their growing catalog and one which truly displays the strength of their collaboration.

‘Rituals’ is the new album of spiralling drone & ambient formations by Italian artist Danilo Betti aka April Clocks (Union Editions / Mixed Up); a new work of sublime disorientation by the Rimini-based outlier, arising from a period of reinvigorated artistic practice.

Emerging just over a year after the project’s second album ‘It Takes Time’, ‘Rituals’ heads deeper into spheres of consuming, hypnagogic haze, coursing through nine coalescent compositions of amorphous yet absorbing electronics.

Where ‘It Takes Time’ represented an autodidactic interpretation of Betti’s formative influences – namely shoegaze & proto-ambient - ‘Rituals’ is an enigmatic proposition, the product of subconscious resonances, a mysterious sound world that finds traces of evanescent beauty and uncanny captivation in sustained tones, cavernous oscillations, and aesthetic imperfections, like the notes of subtle surface noise embedded within many of these productions.

Attesting to the value of Betti’s background as an industrious solo artist, making music away from prevailing sites of activity, ‘Rituals’ consolidates the inspirations and hallmarks of the April Clocks project into an acute reflection of Betti’s vision, one that feels completely his own.

In the buried somnolent splendour of the opener ‘Hypersleep’, through the sound art rustle and time-stretched cycles of ‘A Cure’, into the stroboscopic magnitude of ‘Ceremony’ and the haunting string loops of ‘Coward’, Betti captures compelling impressions drawn from a submerged perspective; a deluge of smokescreens and crosscurrents from the other side.

Bearing the influence of subliminal states, ‘Rituals’ is nevertheless lucid and arresting. There are sumptuous holding patterns of ambient evaporation that stream into vast maelstroms of sound (‘Displaced Euphoria’), enervated organ themes that distil sensations of stasis and dissociation (‘Wound’), as well as psychedelic movements in wide tracts of negative space (‘No Time, No Land’). From here, the acoustic glitch of ‘Disappearer’ and the stratospheric slipstreams of ‘Mirror Being’ bring the album to an astonishingly dramatic conclusion.

Throughout such moments of reverie and tension, ‘Rituals’ makes for a hypnotic listening experience. It’s an album that signals a pronounced sense of development for the April Clocks project, from past vestiges of physicality to present degrees of heightened abstraction and ethereality, from the Warp-influenced rhythms and frameworks of ‘It Takes Time’ to the wide- ranging, experimental sounds that unfold here.

Encompassing forms of decomposition and otherworldly futurism, decay and sublimation, distortion and lustre, this is unique, cerebral music that reaches inward and ascends outward, drifting elsewhere, according to its own coordinates.

Recorded and Mixed at Tower of Disintegration, 2022.
Mastered by Miles Whittaker.

da Googie is the solo project of Deb Googe, bass player with My Bloody Valentine, Thurston Moore Group and Brix Smith. Taking a bass IV, a looper and a pile of FX pedals, da Googie blends traditonal basslines with more abstract noises to make intricate, layered soundscapes.

Too Many Things are duo Marion Andrau (The Wharves/ Underground Railroad/Throw Down Bones) & Jem Doulton (Thurston Moore Group/The Oscillation). Marion & Jem play each other’s songs best described as gloomy noise, politico-romantic psych; expect well oiled electronics, guitar, keys and vocals leading you to an underworld reminiscent of the red room of Twin Peaks.

X - Atlantic Records 75th Anniversary Edition will now be available on crystal clear vinyl.

Ed Sheeran recorded X at various locations around the globe (all the while drawing on experiences and influences encountered on his over three years of unrelenting touring) with such luminary producers as Rick Rubin (Eminem, Jay-Z, Red Hot Chilli Peppers), Pharrell Williams (Daft Punk, Robin Thicke, N.E.R.D), Benny Blanco (Rhianna, Wiz Khalifa) and Jeff Bhasker (Alicia Keys, Jay-Z) adding new flavours to the classy work of key collaborators Johnny McDaid (Snow Patrol) and Jake Gosling (who produced +).

Originally released in 2014, X features singles ‘’Don’t’’, ‘’Sing’’, ‘’Thinking Out Loud’’, ‘’Bloodstream’’ and ‘’Photograph’’.

The first album release on Sprechen is a trip across the astral planes of electronica and through the neon soaked streets of South Manchester, where genres cross & styles meet on the creative peripherals away from the dance floor.

A life lived through clubs, comic books, cult movies, cosmic adventures & electronic musical endeavours have all played a role in the creation of 'Where Do I Belong?', the debut long player by The Thief Of Time, a new studio project from Sprechen founder Chris Massey.

What started as just very loose ideas and half started projects during lockdown resulted in a semi autobiographical collection of songs that draw on a lifetime love of electronic artists & synth heavy movie scores.
Nods are given, toes are dipped & caps are doffed in various sonic directions whilst still treading a truly unique path of its own making.

As Chris says: "it started really with me being in a headspace I've never really had in the studio. There was no pre-conceived ideas or agenda of what I wanted to achieve other than just going with what felt right and pursuing sounds & style I favour away from a smokey basement of ravers. Being a child of the 80's gave me a wealth of ever-evolving influences of sounds, styles, imagery, fashion, literature & art which all somehow seemed to direct this project.
It's the first time I've ever created something that contains personal reflections of my own life. Good & bad alongside the high & low points have all driven this creative process which reflects my own headspace will hopefully speak to everyone on some sort of level".

The album also features a host of Manchester artists including A Certain Ratio, Bay Bryan, Psychederek, NIIX & Love Letters From Space as well as Allison Rae from Causeway (Italians Do It Better) who were all instrumental in realising Chris' vision and bringing this exciting project into existence.

Detroit label Choose Better Friends made an immediate impact late last year when it dropped three EPs all in the same week. We've had to wait a while for this next one but it has been worth it: Bale Defoe is on the buttons and brings some dusty Motor City house heat with opener 'Morning Workouts' which rides a bumpy, booty shaking broken beat with meaningful chords and aching vocal snatches up top. 'Prewar Vibe' brings some swinging jazz chords and cut-up drums seemingly bashed out on an MPC. There is subtle euphoria in the bursts of excitable chords and vocal fragments of 'In Love On The Balcony At Terminal 5' and plenty of humidity in the diffuse synths and bumps drum funk of 'Summertime On Michigan Ave'. It's EPs like this that keep our fascination with Detroit very much alive.

Roy Porter's classic 1975 album Inner Feelings has long been a treasure trove of sample sources for hip-hop artists over the years. DJ Spine is one of those who made use of parts of the album's opener 'Party Time' in his own tune 'Rock.'

Now for the first time that single gets reissued on 7" along with DJ Spinna's edited version on the flip. The original is a real funk classic with fat bass grooves and hefty drum breaks. This track was once released on the famous tax scam label with the artwork which is presented here. It makes for a package with a great backstory and an even better sound for lovers of rare grooves and hip-hop.

Toronto native Demur is a master of groovy, funky deep house and has been since his fine debut TruSkool back in 2016. He has been busy of late with Visions back in March finding him collaborating with the likes of Fred P and Aaron Gray. Now comes another full length in Under The Waning Moon, another compelling mix of contemporary deep house sounds, well-sourced and deployed samples and elements of everything from jazz to funk to downtempo colouring the grooves. For steamy late-night stuff look no further than '21 Days A Hoe' while 'Wasted Wednesdays' is delightfully sunny and well swung for cosy back room vibes.

Last year's superb Pura Lempuyang album has been pulled apart and served up on a couple of separate 12"s and this is the second one. It comes on limited turquoise vinyl and offers four cuts of stylish deep dub and techno. Fletcher's 'It's A Virtue' goes first with taught, twanging bass and grubby basslines then Mike Schommer's 'Kingmaker' offers liquid dub funk with watery pads and hissing static. Nicolas Barnes picks it up a little with a darker but still warm dub techno roller in 'Sonic Dial' and Redrop's 'Genesis' is the more driving of the lot but again exists right on the ocean floor.

In the collection 'I Got Soul', this new release, 'Groove Wash', is a reference to the movie 'Car Wash'. Same ingredients as the the previous volume : a bit of Blaxploitation, some seventies Soul mood, wah wah guitar and lots of groove !


It’s Dancehall / Ragga so.. PLAY IT LOUD , THATS IT !

With Scream If You Don’t Exist, Richie Culver metamorphoses from outsider musician to underground fixture, feeling his way from the fringes towards a growing community of musicians that have gravitated towards his singular sound world. Building upon the stark catharsis of his previous dispatches, on his sophomore album the artist draws from grimdark drone, industrial noise, experimental hip-hop and UK rave to map out a space for himself, caught between genre and discipline. While on his debut, I Was Born By The Sea, Culver took a last glimpse back at his grey, salt-flecked past while struggling towards somewhere brighter, here, he documents the process of finding fresh waters, parsing through the complexity of inhabiting a more open and optimistic place while contending with the weight of his resolve, staring hard won self-acceptance in the face. The album’s title speaks to this creative and emotional work, serving both as the foundational paradox from which the artist’s new discordant sound emerges and as a call to action, a defiant cry in the face of existential angst.

Part of this process involves visiting familiar territory with renewed focus. Macabre opener ‘Hottest Day Of The Year’ signals an unpleasant memory with crow caw, queasy, gas leak ambience and dental drill whir as Culver recalls a life lived in nihilism: “Everything is just something that happened / Reductionism, muscles spasms, a mother’s first contraction.” Yet, on Scream If You Don’t Exist, Culver’s irresistible formula for ragged machine poetry is shot through with palpable urgency. No longer listless and despairing, he finds new intricacies for these compositions, tracing a stark interplay between crushing bass excavations and penetrating vocal clarity, a contrast picked out in the delicate threads of rhythmic pulse suggesting themselves in the blunt pressure and skittering creep of ‘Weakness’, on which Culver offers up vulnerability as a tentative solution to self-described emotional constipation: “Please do / Do take my kindness for weakness / For I am weak / And that is ok.” The amniotic soundscape of ‘YOLO (then u die)’ gives way to depth charge drone and unnerving machinic improvisations, like a noise show heard from deep in the Mariana trench, while on ‘Underground Flower’ the low-end fog lifts to reveal a brighter, colder scene. “Love me for who I could be / Not who I am,” he pleads, tending gently to his own tenacious bud.

Scream If You Don’t Exist gives us a glimpse of this flower in bloom. On the album’s cursed self-help tape title track stuttering loops of off-kilter keys and childlike repetition make light of the very real risk of disappearing all-together, a nervous breakdown rendered as a malfunctioning nursery rhyme. Paranoiac anthem ‘Say 4 Sure’ introduces bit-crushed boom-bap stomp, as though hammered out on a water-logged Game Boy, swarms of loose-wire noise sparking up against guttural grunts and ragged exhalations, while ‘On The Top’ enacts a seance for the hardcore spirit, with loops of rave piano and hiccuping vocal chops pirouetting through knackered samples, air raid sirens and the ghostly crash of breakbeat cymbals. As though in response to the solitary nature of much of his musical exploration, this time, the artist invites other voices into the world of Scream If You Don’t Exist. On ‘Swollen’, the unflinching, brimstone prophecy of Billy Woods sounds clear through an expanse of spirallic bass, preaching the same frayed gospel as Culver when he issues the quietly devastating contemporary diagnosis: “Computer broke but it still works for now / That’s the best you can say for most of us anyhow,” while another fearless correspondent from the fringes, Moor Mother, brings earthbound heft to the ambient drift and obliterating barrage of ‘Restaurants,’ teasing out meaning with elongated intonation and pitch-shifted intensity.

It’s during the album’s most meditative moments that we might recognise this space Culver has found for himself for what it really is. ‘OMG They’re Gone’ follows a chopped and slowed monologue from Culver’s wife, who works as a death doula, reflecting on her own experiences with grief and the reality of living within a culture both terrified and ignorant of the process. Floating over glistening ebb, etherised croons and luminous chimes, her words stand as a prescient reminder of the power of ephemerality. Just as Culver flourishes in imperfection, here we can find enormous strength in transcience. But it’s with ‘Just Jump In,’ which unfurls like a buoyant counterpart to the sparkling oil rigs of ‘I was born by the sea’, that Culver illuminates the hopeful waters we realise we’ve been making our steady way towards. “I know now / That you loved me,” he admits, a revelation a lifetime in the making. Through the rawest reflection Culver has found a way forward, driven by an optimism drawn from a resolve to be better, to love and be loved, an admission to weakness and the discovery of a new kind of strength. “Don’t test the water,” he reassures us and himself, “just jump in.”

Scream If You Don’t Exist will be released in November 2023 by Participant, on limited edition vinyl, and digital download . The release will be accompanied by a series of films directed by Mau Morgo, Josiane M.H Pozi, William Markarian-Martin, Simon Bus, and Bruxism.

Limited Edition Promo White Label.
250 Press.
Hand Stamped.
No repress

Soul II Soul revitalises the iconic “Nothing Compares to You,” now featuring the mesmerising vocals of Nadine Ceaser. Initially penned by Prince and famously interpreted by Sinead O’Connor, this rendition is infused with a reggae twist, expertly mixed by long-time collaborators Mafia and Fluxy, who have deep roots in London’s music scene alongside Jazzie B.

Continuing to build on a remarkable legacy, this release pays homage to Soul II Soul’s sound system origins and is a powerful testament to music’s ability to unite.

The Last Trane ist ein Album des Jazzmusikers John Coltrane, das 1966 bei Prestige Records (Katalog 7378) erschien.

Es wurde aus unveröffentlichtem Material von drei separaten Aufnahmesitzungen im Studio von Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack, New Jersey, in den Jahren 1957 und 1958 zusammengestellt. Coltrane war bei allen Original-Sessions als Sideman dabei, die von Trompeter Donald Byrd, Pianist Red Garland oder Schlagzeuger Art Taylor geleitet wurden

“The Hype” is an expansive pop anthem that shows us everything we have come to love about the pop sensation, with gritty lyricism and melodies that don’t have an endpoint and keep rising.

Asking the question: did I live up to the hype? Sigrid finds a universal feeling encapsulating revelations on career and relationship successes.

This quick-witted power anthem is both tongue-in-cheek and blunt, a full circle moment from Don’t Kill My Vibe, which was the beginning of Sigrid's Hype. , Sigrid remains one of the most understated pop stars, wearing T-shirt and jeans to play live on stage, picking practicality over what is expected of young female artists in the music industry.

Staying true to herself, the visuals for “The Hype” are reminiscent of Sigrid’s debut EP; with no props to lean on and no grandiose concepts, just Sigrid, honest and raw.

With two top 5 critically acclaimed albums under her belt, 2019’s Sucker Punch and 2022’s How To Let Go, arena shows in both London and Ireland, global world tours from Japan to LA and festival performances from Glastonbury to her first UK festival headline at Belladrum in Scotland, Sigrid has become one of the leading live pop acts of her generation

IT Recordings finally comes back with a new release, offering a sequel to its sound-vision.

This Various Artists project is a culmination of the refinement of IT Recordings sound-vision, guaranteeing a spacey atmosphere filled by groovy low riffs.

Eric Fetcher’s composition is the starting point of this 4-tracks story, made of a distinct atmosphere associated to some dynamically sequenced kicks.

Then follows Alexis Vogel’s Divergence made of a bright melodic synth, groovy low end and varied rhythmic patterns maintaining an intense energy throughout the track.

The 3rd composition is a fast paced rolling cut designed by Corium, that marks the highest point of this 4-tracks story.

Finally Matthieu Benjamin’s Early Mornings is the perfect conclusion to this EP, maintaining the groove of the previous tracks. A refreshing breeze after the storm, makes this project a consistent and diversified tool for the dancefloor.

Repress in Blue Vinyl

2023 Repress.

Music From Memory are excited to present the debut LP of Kaifeng born, Vancouver based artist Yu Su in collaboration with Chinese label bié Records. Titled 'Yellow River Blue' it is our first release of 2021 and the second collaboration between label and artist, following up on the strongly received EP 'Roll With The Punches' from 2019 on Second Circle.

Named after the world’s most heavily silted river, 'Yellow River Blue' is Yu Su's personal musical autobiography, constructed around stories of chasing something inconceivable. Written and recorded in different continents in between August 2019 and March 2020, all songs seek to musically translate years of moving and touring, temporarily settling, and the feelings of both being turned away and accepted. In her own words, “The world is my home and it isn’t, but as long as there is generosity of water and mud...” It is an homage to her home beside the Yellow River.

Yu Su's debut album consists of eight songs that are versatile in both writing and aesthetics. Versatile individually, consistent as a whole. Yu Su is in a class of her own, dodging the obvious while combining sounds and inspirations of various origins into a new destination that sounds like her home in the here and now. It's a release that is constantly in motion and moves fluently between contemporary pop, ethereal sound compositions and dance-floor experiments.

'Yellow River Blue' comes as part of a collaboration with Yu Su's co-founded new label bié Records and will be released as MFM052 in vinyl format by Music From Memory on January 25th 2021, after seeing a full digital album release via bié on January 22nd in the new Year of the Ox, according to the Chinese zodiac. Both formats come in different exclusively designed artworks.

JAPENESE IMPORT! :)

The poetry of the human voice encounters the magic of contemporary electronic musical technology. Heart, mind and spirit, conveyed by the word, are augmented and altered, enhanced and embraced, by electronic sound. Air from Air is a collaboration between Japanese vocalist/producer Dove and American electronic duo Georgia. This singular partnership is a collection of audio poems in which words breathed by Dove are modified and expanded, cradled and celebrated, syllable by syllable and phrase by phrase. Georgia thoughtfully highlight Dove’s voice, transforming breath and air through the ether of circuitry, dismantling meaning, yet paradoxically revealing new meaning, both verbal and musical. Part of the magic here is that Japanese-speaking listeners will find clouds and constellations of meaning in these atmospheres, while those who do not understand Dove’s native language will nevertheless find pure pleasure in these same atmospheres. While some listeners may perceive it as a brand new extension of the attempts of contemporary music pioneers to explore the possibilities of human
voice sound in sound art and electronic music, Air from Air will be rather a foray into the unexplored territory of new music, yet difficult to be named, extended into modern bass music and other fields.

Disc is made of environmentally friendly new material BioVinyl. Cover art by Sakura Kondo.

Bangalore-based brotherly duo Ashwin and Ashrith Baburao combine as Audio Units on a potent new EP for Lady Tazz's Mind Medizin, featuring remixes from Ben Sims and Temudo.

Obsessed with quality, soul and futurism, Audio Units have vast experience of DJing worldwide and real studio know-how. Each of their tracks is a perfect blend of intricacy and experimentation, and they have turned the heads of tastemakers on labels like Dutchie Music, Deep Edition Recordings and Sinnmusik.

They open this high-octane EP with the raw and unrelenting drum funk of 'Aristotelian Tradition', which is run through with warped synths and carefully layered up with gritty percussion and FX. Vocal snippets and smeared pads further flesh out the groove, making for an uplifting sound. Machine party and label head Ben Sims is a UK techno heavyweight at the forefront of the scene. His remix shows that as it ups the percussive energy and allows the synths and vocals more prominence with hypnotic effects.

The second original, 'I'm Just All You Need,' is a twisted and intense mix of fragmented vocals and pulsing synths over vast rock-solid kick drums. It's an urgent track that cannot fail to sweep the floor off its feet and keep it locked for the ride. Next is a remix from new school tastemaker Temudo, who has already put out outstanding records on labels like Klockworks, Soma and Modularz. His version of 'I'm Just All You Need' strips it back to icy hi-hat loops and buffed metal synth lines that weave in and out of the minimal yet tribal techno drums

The ‘Aristotelian Tradition’ EP is another superb release from Mind Medizin that combines the dark and kinky allure of techno with all-out dance floor dynamics.

There has been a huge outpouring of loving tributes to Bernie Marsden since he passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family on 24th August 2023 at the age of 72 Although Bernie had always worked hard and kept busy, most recently releasing 3 chart busting solo albums since 2021 in KINGS, CHESS and TRIOS as part of his Inspirations series, only a few knew that he had just completed a brand new album. Earlier in August, Bernie had approved the artwork, sequence and audio masters for WORKING MAN. An album of Bernie Marsden original songs. The album contains 12 brand new Bernie Marsden penned tracks. Produced by Bernie Marsden and Mixed by Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers, The Who). The limited first pressing of the LP & CD will come with a bonus disc of 10 more new recordings

'Light Years', released a few days before Kate's 50th birthday, is Rusby's 7th Christmas record and features vocals by Alison Krauss and Ron Block Her love of Christmas music and upbringing on a rich tradition of 'local carols' is no secret to her many fans.' Light Years', a lyric in one of the albums songs, is full of Rusby-fied versions of carols and well-known songs which depict in her own words, "Joyful memories of music, family, community, warmth and happiness - and a little wine!" The album follows in the footsteps sonically of her last two releases, 'Hand Me Down' 2020 and '30: Happy Returns' 2023. Experimental sounds, moogs, layered banjos, lush electric guitars, low subs, soaring acoustics, wonderful effects and of course, her own spellbinding vocals. There are songs old and new on this record. Many standout tracks include Rusby's self-penned 'Glorious', a song about a lost and broken angel and one which takes the listener on a thrilling journey through snow laden trees and a warm glow of the evening sun illuminating only half of the world. Her own version of 'Rockin Around the Christmas Tree & Sleigh Ride,' combined, make a simply wonderful version that will have you spilling your nutmeg all over the dancefloor! 'The Moon Shines Bright' features the gorgeous harmony vocals of Alison Krauss and Ron Block amongst a gorgeous soundscape of guitars and 'The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year' is a true example of how Rusby can take a classic and stunningly make it her own. No Rusby Christmas album would be complete without a little humour and 'Nothin For Christmas' and Chris Sugden's (aka Sid Kipper) parody 'Arrest These Merry Gentlemen' will not fail to make any 'bah humbugger' chuckle. Another superb release from Kate Rusby & Crew. John Lewis, look no further for your Christmas advert music...

Glasgow's finest Austin Ato is first out of the blocks off this mysterious new series “I Love Your Edits” with a 4 track EP of Disco Edits & Reworks following on from his work on Classic Music Company, Percolate, Phonica White, Defected, Me Me Me, Futureboogie, Delusions Of Grandeur and our very own Pantai People.

Two tracks on the funkier edge, whilst two are full on face-melters, both will tear the floors up.

Das Debütalbum von Lizzo, mit den Hitsingles "Juice", "Truth Hurts" und einer brandneuen Version von "Good As Hell" mit Arianna Grande. Wenn man sich selbst liebt, wird alles möglich. Lizzo kanalisiert grenzenloses Selbstvertrauen durch eine geradezu erdbebende Stimme, eine farbenfrohe Persönlichkeit und eine unbestreitbare Star-Power und stolziert ins Rampenlicht mit einer Menge Frechheit, Geist und Seele. Sie umarmt ihren Stimmumfang wie nie zuvor und zelebriert sich selbst in vollen Zügen. Sie sagt ihre Meinung, zensiert nichts und liefert ein beneidenswertes Maß an Ehrlichkeit, purer Leidenschaft und frischem Feuer.

Tommy Boy Music veröffentlicht ein Compilation-Projekt mit dem Titel "... And You Don't Stop", um das 50-jährige Jubiläum des Hip Hop mit einem 6 LP Box-Set zu feiern. Es wird einige der größten Hits aus dem Katalog enthalten, von den kultigen Naughty By Nature, De La Soul, Digital Underground und Queen Latifah bis hin zu digital unveröffentlichten Hits von G.L.O.B.E & Whiz Kid, Sweet Trio und mehr.

DJ Manny's new album 'Hypnotized' is full of fresh ideas which push the footwork format of 160bpm hyper-rhythmic music in really enjoyable new directions. He builds on the romantic themes of his last album 'Signals In My Head' and evolves them with shades of blue, taking very natural sounding experimentation into new moods and musical colour while never making the album inaccessible. Arguably this is a fine successor to the ground broken by DJ Rashad's 'Double Cup' album, which of course Manny also worked on. 'Hypnotized' solidifies Manny's style, from relaxed r'n'b rollers to moments of romantic distress - like 'WTF Goin On' and the reflective 'You N You (ft. DJ Phil)', to more intense moments like the dubstep inflected 'Ooh Baby' from the vaults, co-produced by DJ Rashad himself. Other tracks like 'Want U Bad' retool Robert Hood style minimal techno whereas dark, nervous belters like 'Turn Me Up' sound like Paul Johnson at his most wild but welded to footwork rhythms and a pumping jump up drum & bass-line. There are also moments of enjoyably hype daftness like the acid and diva head-fuck of 'Opera' or the old school Bukem style jungle homage 'Lost In Da Jungle'. 'Hypnotized' is an album that expands footwork's template with natural ease and outstanding skill.

There was definitely something in the Welsh water during the COVID lockdown! By the third lockdown Spencer was missing going out dancing at indie clubs He wanted to write an album to replace that feeling of being out all-night to jangly melodic pop. The influences on the album are the kind you'd see on any poster advertising an indie night including Teenage Fanclub, Belle and Sebastian, REM, The LA's The Cribs, The Strokes, Violent Femmes, Fleet Foxes, Suede, Pulp and Television, As a result of the honing down over two and half years of material, every track on the album could be a single and it is a bold claim from us, but we think it is possibly the best indie pop album of the new millennium. "You're a Lighthouse, I'm at Sea" contains the singles "And We Get Burned" and "Disco In Your Heart".

Javier Jiménez Rolo surprises with Saint Malo, a project that explores the intersections of neoclassicism, folk, ambient and electronic textures.

That Saint-Malo is a town in Brittany is the least of it. Even the fact that it exists is unimportant. Javier has never been there. Similarly, his album takes us to remote or not so remote places without moving from where we are. Javier composed these twelve songs between 2019 and 2021 from his room: "One of the problems with recording at home rather than in a studio is that when you move, your recording space changes too. In the case of this album, I was involved in three moves during its whole process. Trying to see the positive side of this situation, I realised that, as well as a collection of songs, it was a testimonial to the different places where I had lived during those years and their respective views: 'Promenade' is an imagined walk from an interior flat; 'Picture In A Frame' is a sunny afternoon in a park in Ciudad Lineal, Madrid, and 'Bells Of Nowhere' is a stroll through the neighbourhood that was once my grandparents' and is now mine."

It's an eminently evocative album but also powerfully narrative, which moves through different emotional states. Along the way, references as heterogeneous as Javier's own tastes come up. From the inevitable Arvo Pärt, Max Richter and Steve Reich to the more unsuspected Thom Yorke, Burial, Caribou, Vulfpeck or even Dua Lipa. Stéphane Grappelli, Andrew Bird, Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds or Rene Aubry are other names Javier mentions when he talks about something similar to influences.

The journey, during which the songs miraculously fit with magical precision to the landscapes we are travelling through, begins with the promising 'Beware Of The Dogs' and 'Maltravieso'. It is followed by the obsessive arpeggios of 'Le Havre' that give way to the luminous 'Fields Of Gold', the emotion of 'Cais do Sodré' and the passionate 'Le pont roulant', reminiscent of a restrained Alexandre Desplat. Along the way, dogs will bark, rain will fall on the 'Promenade' and the sun will come out with the perfectly playful 'Dolce Far Niente' ("a mix between elevator music and a song announcing the arrival of summer" according to Javier) in which echoes of Isao Tomita and Raymond Scott resound.

The result of this captivating, unexpected and suggestive mixture is Saint Malo, Javier Jiménez's first album and the empirical demonstration that he does not have, despite his classical training, any red lines. "I've always flirted with jazz, with swing... Then I moved on to messing around with loops, to doing more ambient and experimental things. I also had my folkie phase with the klezmer group Barrunto Bellota Band..."

In Saint Malo the melodies grow, become small, return and intertwine with loops and improbable aromas, to form an album that describes a journey through emotions. From melancholy to joy and the surprise of first discoveries.

After a two-year pause, the PIV label returns with a new release on its ‘Limited’ vinyl only sub label. This time in good company by two legends in the making: Fabe and Alexander Skancke. PIVLIM, as the sublabel is called, focusses on the more underground sound of house music. Fabe provides 3 original very unique sounding tracks, with Alexander showing off his skills on the high energy driving remix. The tracks have shown their effectiveness countless times on dancefloors around the globe, so be sure to get your copy now, as only a limited amount will be pressed on vinyl only.

DJ Support: Lauren Lo Sung, Rossi, Chris Stussy, M-High, Fabe, Alexander Skancke.

Big Bill Broonzy was a trailblazing Chicago bluesman steeped in southern traditions, whose songs stretched genres from folk music to hokum and ragtime to country These seminal recordings from his early years highlight his sublime guitar playing and ice cool vocal style which inspired a generation of legendary blues and rock musicians. Includes many of his early masterpieces including 'Saturday Night Rub', 'Brownskin Shuffle' and 'Long Tall Mama' from his first creative wave during the late 1920s/early 1930s. Lovingly remastered using pioneering restoration techniques, this Rough Guide highlights his diverse repertoire from ragtime and hokum to traditional blues and other novelty songs.

180g audiophile vinyl reissue of American blues guitarist Melvin Taylor's 1995 album 'Melvin Taylor & The Slack Band', which is appearing on vinyl for the first time with remastering by Cicely Baston at Alchemy/Air Mastering, London "The U.S. release of Melvin Taylor's two early-'80s LPs by Evidence a decade later was a shock introduction to a blues guitarist who seemingly blazed out of nowhere - outside of Rosa's Lounge in Chicago, that is. "Blazed" is the right word, too, because Taylor is a total maximalist who unleashes torrents of notes to fill up every space. But he's so convincing a player that the concept of "blues guitar hero" might get a good name again, even with fans dead- tired of excess who never thought they'd think things like, "Man, can Melvin Taylor play the ever-loving (add the expletive superlative of your choice) out of the guitar" again. Taylor's first real-time release, Melvin Taylor & the Slack Band, is a pretty straightforward affair - basic trio with minimal overdubs, serviceable vocals in an Albert King mode, and a mix of originals and very classic covers. The opening "Texas Flood" lets him rip on a slow blues, constantly changing up his playing with wah-wah blitzes as the real ace in his sonic hole. The originals "Depression Blues" and "Groovin' in New Orleans" add some funk flair, while "Talking to Anna Mae" is a straight- up Chicago boogie instrumental that Taylor shines on. But he's even more in his element on the unadorned slow blues "Tin Pan Alley" and King's "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong." It's partly the speed but even more the phrasing - the unexpected stops and starts, the spiky and blazing runs and flurries, the unusual note selections he tosses in - that sets his playing apart. The other covers have their sporadic moments - "TBone Shuffle" is inconsequential, but Otis Rush's "All Your Love" and "Voodoo Chile" are worth listening to, even if the latter doesn't add anything to the famous Hendrix wah-wah workout. Taylor actually doesn't sound that radical here, like he was playing to establish blues circuit credentials by putting his stamp on familiar songs more than indulging offbeat personal touches like the mellow lounge jazz take on the Champs' "Tequila." But his playing can be truly electrifying and Melvin Taylor & the Slack Band is recommended for anyone, especially Stevie Ray Vaughan fans, looking for a distinctive new blues guitar voice." - Don Snowden, AllMusic Personnel: Melvin Taylor, guitar, vocals / Willie Smith, bass guitar / Steve Potts, drums Recorded and mixed on March 27-30, 1995 at Dockside Studios, Maurice, LA

'Ultrasound', the fifth release under the Banger Factory umbrella, is a further stride forward toward founder and trumpeter Mark Kavuma's vision of bringing together seemingly disparate elements from within the bubbling London jazz scene, uniting sounds, and players from across generations and creating a unique, exciting, and fresh sound all its own Marking the start of a new partnership with alto sax player Theo Erskine strengthening the imprints artistic reach and sparkling ever more creative ideas, Ultrasound is the product of hours and days spent practicing together during the pandemic - hours and days that turned into time spent plotting and planning future musical collaborations and projects when getting together in person became impossible. The recording itself captures the zeitgeist (spirit) of a unique moment in time when musicians starved of creative, collaborative music- making during the pandemic, were able to meet again and record, each track suffused with palpable joy, yet tinged with reflection. 'The Day After Tomorrow' promises respite from a hangover, 'The Return of Johnny Bravo' characterises a re-emergence in a whirlwind of excitement . 'June' describes the glinting skyline of a world- reopened and 'The Loneliest' explores how peace is drawn from inward sources in the loneliest of times. Personnel: Theo Erskin- tenor saxophone, Mark Kavuma - trumpet, Noah Stoneman - piano, Michael Shrimpling - double bass, Shane Forbes - drums

Caribe, the third album by Cuban cellist and composer Ana Carla Maza, is a renewed declaration of love for Latin American music, already expressed in her previous work, Bahia Released in 2022, Bahia was followed by a tour of 150 concerts in 14 countries. At the crossroads of her travels, Ana Carla Maza has transformed the intimacy of the cello into a colorful, energetic and danceable Latin jazz sextet. Classically trained, Ana Carla takes her own liberties here in the Caribbean and beyond (Argentina, Brazil). The first of these is to impose her sensitivity and her voice as a woman. "I wrote Caribe while travelling the world. In a studio in Rome, on the shores of Lake Annecy, in a castle in Portugal, on a plane to Mexico... It was a kind of search for my identity, which started in Guanabacoa, the district of Havana where I grew up with my grandparents and which happens to be the epicenter of the "rumberos", the percussionists from the pure Afro- Caribbean tradition". Ana Carla Maza: cello & voice Arnaud Dolmen: drums Irving Acao: saxophone, flute Norman Peplow: piano & keyboards Luis Guerra: percussion Fidel Fourneyron: trombone Noe Clerc: accordion

For 20 years, Pierrick Pedron has been recognised by his peers and the media as one of the virtuosos of the alto saxophone and a beacon of the French jazz scene, attested by his multiple awards in 2021, including Artist of the Year, by Victoires du Jazz, Jazz Magazine, Jazz News, and other publications organizations This collaboration with Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba was born out of a conversation between Pierrick Pedron and arranger Daniel Yvinec about longterm large ensemble projects that were in the early stages of planning, and that in the meantime, they should imagine an intimate saxophone/piano duo project. To approach the pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba is to approach a legend. He is one of those immense jazz pianists whom nothing and nobody can resist. Inspired by both the Afro- Cuban and Western traditions, a gifted keyboardist and counterpoint player, he soon attracted international attention and began a fruitful collaboration with the legendary Blue Note label, with which he has recorded some fifteen albums. The result is record composed of great moments of bravura where the lines fly over the written scores with obvious mastery, touching on romantic, contemporary, and sometimes even noisy music. In this "art of the duo" session, Pierrick and Gonzalo challenge each other, provoke each other, test each other, have fun surprising each other, and even try to outdo each other. Pierrick Pedron: alto saxophone

A Tribe Called Quest wurde 1985 in Queens, New York City, gegründet und bestand ursprünglich aus dem Rapper und Hauptproduzenten Q-Tip, dem Rapper Phife Dawg, dem DJ und Koproduzenten Ali Shaheed Muhammad und dem Rapper Jarobi White. Alle sechs Alben der Gruppe wurden mit Gold oder Platin ausgezeichnet. ATCQ gilt als eine der innovativsten und künstlerischsten Rap-Formationen der 1990er Jahre.

Nelly Furtado’s Hit Multi-Platinum Album Loose Is Finally Released on 2LP Vinyl After 17 years! Featuring the #1 worldwide hits “Promiscuous (feat. Timbaland)” & “Say It Right,” Nelly’s 3rd album is still held as one of the biggest and best Pop albums of the era. Selling over 12 million copies worldwide, this album cemented her as one of the genre’s biggest stars! Also includes radio staples “Maneater,” “Te Busque,” and “Do It.”

Little Girl Blue Remixed is the 2015 remix album of the iconic 1958 debut album by Nina Simone, Little Girl Blue. The original debut album was released by Bethlehem Records, the label that earned its place in jazz history by releasing acclaimed debut albums by Carmen McRae, Chris Connor, Herbie Mann, and Johnny Hartman amongst others.

When DJ Maestro got the chance to remix this album, he was thrilled. Soon he got the idea to ask some of his favourite producers to collaborate, like Mop Mop, Renegades of Jazz, Gramophonedzie, Fab Samperi, The Reflex, and Mees Dierdorp. They all had one thing in common: excitement to work with the original recordings from this iconic album. The result is 14 remixes, each with a unique approach to the original song, and all with a contemporary feel.

Little Girl Blue Remixed is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on translucent green coloured vinyl.

We love to just try things at Athens of the North and when Clara and Theo (one of our PR friends) were chilling with us at pikes one evening it came up in conversation that Theo has a lovely singing voice and fancied having a spin in the studio. Roll on a month later, and they were home in Edinburgh, and we threw ourselves into a couple of days of experimenting, this little electro floater we were all super pleased with came out of the session. Tonight is a super late night CR78 drum machine mashed work out with a Theo's floaty falsetto smashing out the park, we flipped the OG with a brilliant dubbed out mix that's not to be slept on either.

Repress!

Housemeister Joins Herbert's Ever Burgeoning Accidental Jnr Roster With An Ep Of Definitive Leftfield Techno Clout. Lead Track Late At Night Pulsates With A Piercing Vocal Hook Whilst A Remix Of The Track From Matthew Herbert Offers A Funkier And Altogether Darker Edge. Other Offerings On The Release Are The Acid Inflected Der Kleine König Dezember And Closing The Show Is The Simple But Affecting Funk That Which Really Speaks For Itself. Housemeister Has Never Looked To Conform To The Genre Rule Book And This Latest Release Is No Different With Serious Execution And Cheeky Playfulness In Equal Measure

Repress!

The Accidental label pushes on in it’s 21st anniversary year with ‘Thanet House EP’, a no nonsense, no pretention house 12” from renowned sound artist and designer Yuri Suzuki. Born in Tokyo in 1980, Suzuki studied in Tokyo and London, exploring the relationship between music and technology. His design and sound work is widely lauded, with examples of his practice being found in, among others, Tate Britain, MoMA and Mudan. In 2016 he was recognized by Design Miami, receiving their Designer of the Future award and in 2018 became a partner at the world’s largest independently owned design studio, Pentagram.

Trym Søvdsnes is a relative newcomer to the scene, but he’s been putting in work in and around Bergen for years, scoring a residency at the infamous Café Opera, where he snagged the attention of local house legend Bjørn Torske. Soon, the duo were DJing, producing and performing together, eventually running the monthly radio show Pigs in Space where they would go head-to-head for six hours at a time, plumbing the depths of their immense record collections.

It’s this lust for bottom-of-the-crate oddities that guides Søvdsnes’ self-titled debut album, a concoction of dub techno, hard-swung house and percussive club music that positions itself a few paces away from any conventional modes. Basically, a perfect fit for Le Jazz Non.

‘Gølles Dans’ opens with a filtered acid bassline and bone dry kick that’s like some psychedelic, slower variant of Basic Channel’s ‘Enforcement’, slicing into the groove with gristly acoustic percussion that drags it up from the basement. The producer leans into asymmetry on ‘Døgnrytmen’, wrangling 303 squelches with booming Berghain kicks and tight snares, enhancing the psychedelic potential by layering ticking percussion into loopy spirals. If you’ve ever caught an extended Dozzy set, this is the kind of ruff-edged gear he would likely play an hour before sunrise. ‘Ordnings Mix’ is weirder still, slopping chirpy bleep/rave stabs into a jazzy hybrid that sounds like a bossa meltdown.

Søvdsnes saves his most cosmic mettle for last, on ‘Cowboy Acid (Solstikk Dub)’ he strips the kickdrum to a faint knock, before building up into a sort of screwed Metro Area mirrorball that sounds brilliantly out of time.

Compiling the follow-up to a very successful first album is always a tricky task, but just 12 months since the release of volume one in the 'With Love' series, miche has excelled himself once again with another glorious, deep dive into the world of rare soul. 15 tracks of independently released music, created by magnificent artists with stories to tell and primed for rediscovery.

The ambition to celebrate under-the-radar artists has remained, but instead of a facsimile of volume one, what we have here is a selection shaped by life changes. Volume two is for the dancers; still soulful, still ultra-rare and slept-on records from the USA, Chile, Brazil and beyond, but the dynamics of the collection have shifted slightly. It represents a move from being immersed in a week in week out environment of beautiful, soulful music in a cosy, dimly lit hi-fi bar to playing livelier, more energetic, dancefloor-focused music in nightclubs. This volume will get you on your feet, make you move and unleash whatever it is that makes you get down.

One of the jewels in the crown of this compilation is a joyous, anthemic gospel version of Stevie Wonder's 'As' by The Family Tree (a project produced by the fantastic Julius Brockington). We are also treated to a rare and sought-after Pennsylvanian funk / AOR bomb by Maxwell, a stunning modern soul tune 'High On You' by Freedom, and self-released Brazilian 45s by Banda 22 and Zé Da Lata. P.J. City's 'Straight Forward (Non-Stop)' is gospel-disco perfection, and we also have 'Dame Solamente Amor’, a sublime, soul beauty from Chile by Rogers Mitchell. Many of these artists featured in this compilation aren't household names, but they deserve their moment to shine, to be heard, loved and appreciated for their artistry.

As Miche says it, “I hope this compilation helps in some way to keep this glorious music alive and play a part in connecting generations of music lovers from the worldwide soul family. As always, it has been made ‘With Love’.”

Danny Daze presents a brand new alias for Slacker 85 first solo artist EP - D33 is a long-gestating alter-ego through which the Miami DJ & producer plans to explore a more house-leaning output.

The Operator EP sees the Omnidisc label owner channeling his multi-genre, Miami bass-infused sound into a quartet of stripped-down machine jams tailored for house DJ sets, with the fidgety title track issued in two flavors, the D33 ‘Wet Mix’ and Danny Daze ‘Dry Mix’, while on the B-side the heavy kick and evil bassline of ‘Azuca’ is offset by the hypnotic Jonny From Space collab ‘C’mon’.

“D33 is an alias I’ve had floating around in my head for years. It leans more towards my house music side and allows my head to dig into simpler production of dance music. My D33 production and DJ sets purposely feel a bit more laid back. Now I have the time to give out a crazy amount of hugs in between tracks while DJing… :) ” - Danny Daze aka D33

"Trolls Band Together (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" ist das Album zum gleichnamigen DreamWorks-Animationsfilm. Der mehrfach preisgekrönte Künstler Justin Timberlake kehrt als ausführender Musikproduzent des Soundtracks an der Seite des GRAMMY-prämierten Produzenten/Songwriters Mike Elizondo zurück. Timberlake schrieb und sang neue Originalmusik für den Film, der auch Musik von den Darstellern und einigen der heutigen Top-Künstler wie Kid Cudi, Camila Cabello, Troye Sivan, Anna Kendrick und anderen enthält. Das Album enthält auch den ersten gemeinsamen Song von *NSYNC seit zwei Jahrzehnten, "Better Place"

If there's one specific component that grounds 'Sky Flesh', it's focus. Italian musician and sound designer Marta De Pascalis flexed her technical muscle on 2020's 'Sonus Ruinae', layering various sounds and processes in an attempt to touch the sublime. In contrast, 'Sky Flesh' is a single thought, composed using just one instrument: the Yamaha CS-60. A slimmed-down sibling to the gargantuan CS-80 - the analog synthesizer used by Vangelis to create his iconic 'Blade Runner' score - the CS-60 was released in 1977, a few years before the MIDI protocol was introduced to help standardize production methods. MIDI would change the electronic music landscape completely, offering a level of control that De Pascalis consciously relinquishes, preferring to highlight expressiveness and timbre, elements more readily associated with acoustic instruments. The album arrives as much of the wider experimental scene busies itself with algorithmic composition and AI-assisted modeling; De Pascalis chooses to work instead like an organologist, harnessing the CS-60's mercurial magic to suggest deeper truths about our evolving relationship with machines.

Currently based in Berlin, De Pascalis grew up in Rome, where she was surrounded by atrophied ruins that piqued her interest in decay and memory. Over her last three albums, she used tape loops and advanced synthesizer techniques to create a unique sound world that's guided by her musical philosophy, rather than a specific aesthetic. As she's developed her technique and confidence, her music has become even more idiosyncratic, and at this stage in her career she's stripped her sound down to its core elements, focusing on emotion, narrative and mystery. Using timbres that recall a time when electronic music still waved towards the future

Aiko T. is a concept, an entity, a ghost that appears only through her own music.

"I’ve released various materials over the years under other names, Aiko has been materialized in 2022 through self-published music and with IIKKI it's the first official release that I am very proud of. Despite this, Aiko has been publishing in other forms since 2020, but always within the sphere of ambient music.

This album was born as a long-lasting sound continuum. It was then cut, stitched together and reassembled to give shape and restore unity from the fragments, in order to have an album that shows its completeness halfway between the titles and the compositions themselves. Contrary to what it may seem, it is not born from a concept and does not want to be. The titles were chosen in a poetic, almost naïve way, the sounds of these creatures led me to believe that they could be divided into different distinct phases of the day. What I want to communicate with the titles is just what came to mind in a moment of reflection, a very simple thing, that sometimes time passes too quickly, and the moments we spend with our loved ones could always be better, it could have been a beautiful morning, afternoon, evening or night." - Aiko Takahashi

Music crafted by Aiko Takahashi with laptop and various music devices, analogue and otherwise

There’s a big clue to the pacific wisdom of The Orchestra in the Sky in the artist name – Hochzeitskapelle + Japanese Friends. For this is, indeed, music based in, and resonating with, friendship, camaraderie, collaboration, and creative exchange. Across two albums – one documenting recordings from Tokyo, the other an expansive double album of sessions from Kobe – Hochzeitskapelle gather around them some of the finest voices in Japanese independent and underground pop music, like Tenniscoats, Eddie Marcon, Yuko Ikema, and Kama Aina, and explore an open field of music, full of creative encounters.

You may already know Hochzeitskapelle as the German instrumental quintet formed by members of The Notwist, Alien Ensemble, and friends from the jazz scene. Across three albums, one a collaboration with Kama Aina (2018’s Wayfaring Suite), they’ve developed a way of playing together that’s intimate and playful, rich and human; it’s a music that’s deliberately rough around the edges, and that nestles cosily into the everyday. Their relationship with Japanese indie has developed over the years, doubtless encouraged by Saya´s „Minna Miteru“, compilations series of Japanese indie pop for Morr Music. A peripatetic gang, Hochzeitskapelle also recently backed Japanese singer-songwriter Makoto Kawamoto on her new album, Hikari.

In many ways, The Orchestra in the Sky feels like the culmination of a set of ongoing cross-cultural exchanges: the Minna Miteru compilations; tours of Japan by Hochzeitskapelle and The Notwist; and indeed, Markus Acher’s Spirit Fest group with Saya and Ueno of Tenniscoats. The latter are present throughout much of The Orchestra in the Sky, and Saya’s voice is particularly winning on songs like “Tsuki no oto”, where the two outfits are joined by brass ensemble Zayaendo. There are several lovely turns from singer-songwriter Yuko Ikema, and Eddie Marcon appear twice; their songs are still beautiful, spectral acid folk, but with Hochzeitskapelle filling the details with lush, sad brass and strings.

But it’s also the potentially lesser-known names that shine through The Orchestra in the Sky, like the frail folk of Gratin Carnival; the delightful, gentle pop songs by sekifu and Zayaendo member, Kanako Numata; a trio of beautiful, stumble-drunk melodies played in swaying consort with popo. That group, along with the presence of Zayaendo, Fuigo, and Mitamurakandadan?, make strong connections with the Japanese underground’s love of brass bands, partly informed by the tradition of chindon’ya, marching bands that walk the streets of Japanese cities. They also all appeared on the recent Alien Parade Japan compilation of such groups, assembled by Acher and Saya.

All things converge, then, on The Orchestra in the Sky, a smart, spirited collection of heavenly pop songs, intimate folk melodies, lungfuls of joyous brass, deep weeping strings, and swooning sighs. The last words go to Acher himself: “Many things we did in the last years come together here and it feels like something special was captured.” We hope you like what you hear.

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, presents the 2nd release from its new Mellow Reggae Series project. Launched earlier this year by Mato & Ethel Lindsey with a stunning cover of the famous “What You Won’t Do For Love” by Bobby Caldwell, the series continues with the same duo, now taking over “Baby Come Back”, the underground AOR/Blue-Eyed-Soul classic from Player.

This time again and likewise could be told about Bobby’s most famous song, “Baby Come Back” can be considered as a “One-Hit Wonder”, reaching #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1977, while very few people might be able to name who performed it. Like he always does, Mato delivers an outstanding version, delighting us with his matchless skills for dub production. Already perfectly matching on Bobby Caldwell’s rendition, Ethel Lindsey ensure again the perfect vocals over Mato’s production. Currently preparing her 1st album to be released on Favorite Recordings, Ethel has a long music and singing experience, unless an almost blank discography. From her very young age, she’s developed a deep passion for AOR and Blue-Eyed-Soul style.

Starting his reggae production career in 2006, Thomas Blanchot (aka Mato) has released music through various projects on EDR Records, Big Singles or Makasound... In the meantime, he developed a real trademark: taking over classic French, Hip-Hop, OST, Classical or Pop songs, into roots reggae-dub new versions. His 15 years collaboration with Stix Records and label honcho Pascal Rioux gave life to many masterpieces and the story seems far from the end…

There’s a big clue to the pacific wisdom of The Orchestra in the Sky in the artist name – Hochzeitskapelle + Japanese Friends. For this is, indeed, music based in, and resonating with, friendship, camaraderie, collaboration, and creative exchange. Across two albums – one documenting recordings from Tokyo, the other an expansive double album of sessions from Kobe – Hochzeitskapelle gather around them some of the finest voices in Japanese independent and underground pop music, like Tenniscoats, Eddie Marcon, Yuko Ikema, and Kama Aina, and explore an open field of music, full of creative encounters.

You may already know Hochzeitskapelle as the German instrumental quintet formed by members of The Notwist, Alien Ensemble, and friends from the jazz scene. Across three albums, one a collaboration with Kama Aina (2018’s Wayfaring Suite), they’ve developed a way of playing together that’s intimate and playful, rich and human; it’s a music that’s deliberately rough around the edges, and that nestles cosily into the everyday. Their relationship with Japanese indie has developed over the years, doubtless encouraged by Saya´s „Minna Miteru“, compilations series of Japanese indie pop for Morr Music. A peripatetic gang, Hochzeitskapelle also recently backed Japanese singer-songwriter Makoto Kawamoto on her new album, Hikari.

In many ways, The Orchestra in the Sky feels like the culmination of a set of ongoing cross-cultural exchanges: the Minna Miteru compilations; tours of Japan by Hochzeitskapelle and The Notwist; and indeed, Markus Acher’s Spirit Fest group with Saya and Ueno of Tenniscoats. The latter are present throughout much of The Orchestra in the Sky, and Saya’s voice is particularly winning on songs like “Tsuki no oto”, where the two outfits are joined by brass ensemble Zayaendo. There are several lovely turns from singer-songwriter Yuko Ikema, and Eddie Marcon appear twice; their songs are still beautiful, spectral acid folk, but with Hochzeitskapelle filling the details with lush, sad brass and strings.

But it’s also the potentially lesser-known names that shine through The Orchestra in the Sky, like the frail folk of Gratin Carnival; the delightful, gentle pop songs by sekifu and Zayaendo member, Kanako Numata; a trio of beautiful, stumble-drunk melodies played in swaying consort with popo. That group, along with the presence of Zayaendo, Fuigo, and Mitamurakandadan?, make strong connections with the Japanese underground’s love of brass bands, partly informed by the tradition of chindon’ya, marching bands that walk the streets of Japanese cities. They also all appeared on the recent Alien Parade Japan compilation of such groups, assembled by Acher and Saya.

All things converge, then, on The Orchestra in the Sky, a smart, spirited collection of heavenly pop songs, intimate folk melodies, lungfuls of joyous brass, deep weeping strings, and swooning sighs. The last words go to Acher himself: “Many things we did in the last years come together here and it feels like something special was captured.” We hope you like what you hear.

The vinyl single LOVE/HATE brings together two sample collages on the theme of good and evil. Often evoked and sung about, but rarely in such concentrated, systematic form, these collages present the words LOVE and HATE in a variegated catalogue of articulations. Poirier’s miniature radio play is anything but misanthropic: never before has the message of hate been conveyed in such a wonderfully warm-hearted manner. The LOVE side features a track originally released by Jan Jelinek in 2005 on the Eastern Developments label under the long-forgotten pseudonym The Exposures.

From the original press release:

Originally intended as the intro to a special edition of the radio broadcast “Abenteuer Forschung” (Adventures in Research) on “sexuality and romance in digital postmodernism”, the composition collages countless “love” samples from the R&B genre. The “collage of digital passion” had a devastating effect, acting as an aphrodisiac that turned the recording session into an orgy. No further details were revealed by the broadcaster. Unfortunately, the programme wasn’t broadcast live so the secret is likely to remain locked away in the station’s archives forever. Nevertheless, Eastern Developments have managed to obtain authorisation for a “toned down” version of the original, providing the listener with a vague idea of the composition’s true impact.

Far Out Recordings proudly presents the new album from Brazilian guitarist and composer Fabiano do Nascimento: Mundo Solo.

Recorded at his home studio in Los Angeles (2020) the album is fundamentally the sound of a man alone with his instruments.

Utilizing a variety of guitars, including 6, 7 and 10 strings, Oktav guitar and electric baritone guitar, alongside a host of pedals and synthesizers, Fabiano tracked imagined landscapes with expressive, expansive improvisations, which tend toward the more ambient and atmospheric reaches of his recent output.

Adopting Hermeto Pascoal’s concept of Universal Music, a rejection of nationalistic tendencies in order to express all of one’s musical influences all at once, Fabiano avoided leaning too heavily on any particular musical language, without denying his own musical roots.

After studying classical piano as a child, the Rio de Janeiro native discovered the guitar aged 10. Studying under his late uncle, Lucio Nascimento, he eventually left Brazil for LA, where he soon became an in-demand player for his distinct and authentic sound. He has since released seven albums under his own name and collaborated with renowned Brazilian artists including Arthur Verocai and Airto Moreira, as well as experimental US saxophonist Sam Gendel.

Mundo Solo (Do Nascimento’s eighth), was recorded in one take per track, with occasional overdubs and a few appearances from collaborators and friends Julien Canthelm (drums on Etude 1), Ajurinã Zwarg, (percussion on CPMV) and Gabe Noel (Bass on Curumim).

Fabiano Do Nascimento’s consummate mastery of his instrument has afforded him a freedom of expression few can claim. Blending the emotional with the elemental, Mundo Solo is a stunning snapshot of solitude and the beauty which can blossom within it.

Mundo Solo will be released on vinyl LP, CD and digitally on the 24th November, via Far Out Recordings.

Diffrent Music roars back into action after an extended hiatus to raise a couple of young giraffes with the electrifying new compilation, ‘Revolution Of The Giraffe’ LP.

Launched in 2010 with the aim of bringing something new to a drum & bass scene that had become overly formulaic, the label has continuously pushed in new directions, often incubated tomorrow’s stars, and evolved beyond even that original grand ideal. ‘Revolution Of The Giraffe’ unleashes 17 tracks of bleeding-edge electronic music, proving that after 13 years, Diffrent still sounds like nothing else.

Core artists from the label’s distinguished history bring their expertise, such as drum & bass mainstay Arkaik and sound architect Fearful, who team up with label boss Dexta for the MC GQ-sampling ‘Old Skool’ — a new track with a classic Diffrent sound. And there are numerous debuts: A.Fruit reworks an all-time Diffrent classic, ‘Boxgroove’ by Dexta & Hyroglifics, into a glitchy halftime stomper; none60 bosses Silent Dust turn Dexta’s ‘SE4’ into a rebellious dancefloor juggernaut; and the mysterious Gaunt’s ‘Firefloor’ becomes locked ‘n’ loaded rave artillery in the hands of Pepsi Slammer.

Label stalwart Mauoq puts his signature psychedelic future dub spin on ‘Departed’ by Cuelock, who in turn delivers the ice-cold, grime-indebted ‘Pages Of Snow’. Lakeway conjures the epic ‘Even Though’, nearly eight minutes of ecstatic, spell-binding, hyper-rave wonder. Dexta goes solo with squelchy techno jungle stormer ‘Giraffes On Acid’. Even Sense MC makes an… appearance.

New-gen Diffrent acts are in fine form too. The inimitable BrandNewTrumpets opens the album alongside Macc; ‘We Are The Tightrope Walkers’ is a powerful spoken word piece that erupts into a hail of punishing breaks. No Nation, Sheba Q and BK Balance, meanwhile, turn out explosive, hi-tek junglism on ‘Too Late’. From Diffrent’s industrial-toned sister label Are We Really Alone? (A.W.R.A.), Amir De Bois joins forces with Fearful for the paranoid, jittering ‘73’; Tokyo’s Itti summons thunderous bass on the ritualistic ‘Rumbling’; and Croatian artist Spaj.A.S.E.’s competition-winning, mind-mashing remix of the first ever Diffrent release, ‘Everyones Mad’ by Chills, finally sees the light of day.

Always looking to the future, Diffrent also welcomes modern jungle visionary Eusebeia, who puts his ethereal touch to Crypticz’s ‘Could Have Been’, and Stateside up-and-comers Illexandra & TGRbass, who deliver the supercharged, elastic bounce of ‘Swampy Swami’.
Closing out with one from deep within the vaults, ‘Aftaparty’ is Beezy and MNTX’s ode to seeing where the night takes you. It’s a fitting note to end on, as a new era of Diffrent Music begins. Where will it take you? Join us on the ride and find out.

"I've loved every moment of the label so far: the fast-paced release schedules, the slow years, the podcasts, albums, singles, EPs, parties, etc. This compilation album signposts where we are at — a bunch of classic Diffrent artists, a load of new faces, and a few remixes thrown in for good measure. Each tune stands alone, but stands tall next to each of its siblings. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we have! The revolution is here, join the revolution!"
- Dexta

Powerhouse R&B/Soul vocalist and Canadian Idol finalist. Gary Beals, is thrilled to be releasing his new album, The Melody Within. The Melody within is a musical journey that unfolds across two sides, much like a story that reveals new layers with each turn. The album is more than just a collection of songs; it's an emotional guide that beckons us to explore the depths of our own feelings and explores navigating emotions, self discovery, and nostalgia through soulful melodies. "This album serves as the aftermath to my previous album, "Bleed My Truth". It's a continuation of my musical journey, a fusion of soulful melodies and diverse influences that mirror both my personal and artistic evolution," said Gary Beals. "Each song is a chapter, a piece of my heart and soul, inviting listeners into my world of emotions, experiences and connection. It uncovers the melody that resides within. The anticipation is building as I look forward to sharing this collection of new music, and I hope it resonates deeply, offering a meaningful and memorable musical experience enriched with a multitude of emotions." With this new body of work, Gary had the opportunity to work with two talented primary producers,Beatchild (Drake, Justin Nozuka, Glen Lewis) and Myles "Losh'' Schwartz (Allan Rayman, Tobi, The Game, Pretty Lights). Additional production credits on the album include, Chris Guirguis, Frizzy Astro (Raz Fresco, Daniel Son), Jordan "Tempo" Farmer, Kobebeats (Rodwave, Kcamp, Sevyn),Sid Aakowa, Ty Danelley (Popcaan, Tory Lanez, Pressa) and Warren Williams, who all helped to shape the makings of the album while maintaining a consistent synergy. Side A of the album draws inspiration from the likes of Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, and James Brown, and pays homage to artists who have played an integral part in shaping Gary's musical roots. This side includes Gary's previously released singles, "Good People, Good Vibes" and "All of Me," and the album's title track "The Melody Within," that commends the process of self-discovery and introspection. Also included is the album's 5th single, "Self Revolution," which will be released on October 27th along with the official music video. On Side B, you'll encounter a fusion of R&B and pop elements while still staying true to the album's soulful essence. Included on this side, is Gary's third single "I Like That," featuring JRDN and KAYO ,and the new single "How Do I Say (I Love You)," released September 22nd. "How Do I Say (I Love You)" dives into the inner conflict of conveying affection, showing vulnerability, and the bravery needed to expose one's heart to someone else. About Gary Beals: Two decades ago, Gary embarked on his musical journey when he, a small-town kid from Nova Scotia (now calling Toronto home), made a remarkable entrance onto the national stage as a part of Canada's inaugural season of Canadian Idol. This month marks the 20th anniversary of the finale where Gary was crowned as the "runner up" on the show. The experience ignited a transformative period of self-reflection and discovery that propelled Gary toward personal growth, shaping his life and musical career in lasting ways.

Fast forward through three albums and twenty years, Gary's work and talent have made a remarkable impact and received widespread critical acclaim. Among his accomplishments are debuting in the top 10 of the Canadian sales chart, being nominated for a JUNO Award for "Best R&B/Soul Recording," winning an East Coast Music Award and seven African Nova Scotia Music Awards, as well as scoring nominations for an Urban Music Award and a Canadian Radio Music Award. These accomplishments led to his home province's Premier officially designating November 22nd as Gary Beals Day in acknowledgment of his achievements.

With his return, Gary is poised to make a positive impact on the ever-expanding global community as he prepares to release his new album The Melody Within. The album will stand as a tribute to the strength that resides within all of us and a reminder that true fulfillment comes not just from achieving goals, but from discovering the intricate beauty that lies within our own hearts and souls.

Craig Charles is a big supporter of Gary Beals and spun his single 'All Of Me' for three weeks in a row on his Funk and Soul Show on BBC Radio Six

LVE1 is the highly anticipated debut EP from East London’s Liv East – a 5-track collection of neo-soul & R&B infused cuts that follows a string of prolific R&B influenced releases, including her much loved collab with in-demand French funk aficionado Folamour & ‘You’re My’ on Defected’s well known disco label Glitterbox.

‘FREAK’ & ‘LVE UNLIMITED’ nod to Liv’s connection with the dancefloor, her silky soul vocals sewn through beatdown edits that would suit the slower moments on the dancefloor. While ‘You Got Me’ swings to a 2-steppin back-beat of funk grooves & popping basslines. Alongside these brand new originals are two hypnotic bonus tracks ‘So Badly’ and ’So Badly (Kid Fonque Remix), available for the first time on vinyl.

Purple Color Vinyl

We are really proud to introduce a new release on Mawimbi Records: "Mawimbi, Vol. 2”. Its title is a nod to “Mawimbi, Vol. 1”, which was the inaugural release of our record label back in 2015. A new compilation, at last, after a decade of music activism and a handful of EPs and albums which have helped unearth some of today’s talents from the new global music scene (Onipa, Loya, Afriquoi, Raz & Afla). It stays true to the driving principles of our artistic direction: support upcoming artists, e ncourage the breaking down of musical frontiers, help make happen new encounters between electronic music and so-called “afro” music. While these encounters can now be witnessed anywhere in pop music’s current zeitgeist, from Beyoncé to South African’s vibrant amapiano scene, we think there’s still plenty to explore.

“Mawimbi, Vol. 2” truly feels like the culmination of a long path for our record label. Because it includes artists who have been actively contributing to the Mawimbi adventure over the years, and also because it’s another convincing testimony of the fruitfulness of this musical intuition we have so heartily been defending for the last decade. Indeed, the 8 tracks of “Mawimbi, Vol. 2” resist all the usual labels. They sound like they stem more from human encounters and artistic dialogues launched in the moment than attempts to be associated with any music scene in particular. Each of the 8 pieces of this compilation presents in a unique way the search for this cross-pollinating sound.

The compilation opens with a really engaging rework of James Stewart’s classic track “Cotonou” by Lyon-based tropical music enthusiasts Voilaaa, who took Peter Solo’s voodoo soul lines on a trip across the Black Atlantic beginning with a horn-heavy cuban cha-cha-cha before falling into a savory triple time dance. As tireless sonic adventurers, Amsterdam-based duo Umoja have brought back a handful of hits from their numerous trips to Kenya meeting with local benga musicians. “Avana Va” is one of their compelling tunes, featuring Kenyan musician and producer Sidney Simila. This urge to collaborate with musicians from across the African continent is also to be found in Village Cuts’ ever expanding discography. On “Sentima”, they showcase their trademark London funky sound, introducing us to the talents of Congolese guitarist and singer Kissangwa.

Afriquoi’s 2020 hit “Ndeko Solo” is presented in a brand new shape, sprinkled with some French Touch flavours. “Djansa”, by Toulouse-based producers Mr. Boom, rides a distinct South African-inspired groove, while inviting us to a nighttime dance by the Balearic sea. On “Silent Runner”, French producer and musician Ozferti moulds his own musical galaxy where East African scales meet cutting edge global club beats. With “Nabi Kumi”, Anglo-Ghanaian duo Raz & Afla delivers their deepest piece, once again inducing a state of trance with a triple-time beat and an hypnotic kora loop. Closing the compilation, “It's Holy” is a unique collaboration between Tom Excell (Onipa, Nubiyan Twist, David Walters) and Dizraeli, one of the most interesting voices in British rap, which by making connections between broken beat, jazz and african music, illustrates the precious mixture of musical aesthetics that make up the current UK musical landscape.

Whisky soaked, nocturnal, brooding. Aging’s album »Troubles? I Got A Bartender« was a noteworthy, film-noir infused suite that quietly slipped out on cassette in 2015 by a then budding Manchester avant-jazz ensemble, led by David McLean.

In 2020, amidst the pandemic’s tempest and winter's gloom, the idea manifested of showcasing McLean’s slow burning, wistful soirée in a new light via a curated effort by Berlin’s Vaagner label, which invited a series of hand-picked artist to rework selected compositions from the album, rendering its mournful, smoke-tinged resonances into new shapes.

Its result is »Reworks (Rewoven)«, and it presents 6 new interpretations by 5 artists. These range from ruminating, tape smudged ambient works interlaced with sublime acoustic strums by fellow Manchester musicians The Humble Bee and Tape Loop Orchestra, to poignant steel guitar renditions by Nashville based Kelby Clark. Furthermore, Barcelona based Dania and London based Laila Sakini, each present pieces that draw the listener into opaque realms harbored by swooning reverie and eerie, glistening prophecy.

Carefully assembled across two sides of vinyl, McLean’s penchant for hard-boiled detective novels, vintage Japanese crime flicks and film noir iconography have a continued lurking presence in the reworks, yet the new pieces each add a modern facet to the original’s cinematic narrative, its morose and sulky mood now opening into new avenues of interpretation. And whilst some artists have chosen to dive further into the themes of contentious ambivalence and pensive solitude, others have sought to slightly lift the haze, stirring up melodies tinged with a sense of hope, hinting at times, towards instants of poise and vivacity.

In the end this leaves us with a new body of work that manages to feel poignant in its complexity whilst remaining dissonant and elusive in its renditions, hinting at a modern day existence even more opaque, intricate and convoluted than the film noir classics of old might have pictured the world.

Eusebeia makes a welcome return to Rupture with his next release, the 'Restoration EP'.

The Wiltshire based producer has been super prolific since his Rupture debut ('You Reap What You Sow EP') in 2021, with quality releases coming on labels like Samurai, Western Lore, Livity Sound and Future Retro.

'Restoration EP' has a spiritual feel throughout, drawing you in as it progresses upwards, with Eusebeia setting dreamy pads and keys against deep subs and stripped back breaks.

Lucy Railton trusts in the nuance of her own creative instincts on an intensely modern, quietly radical new album, her second for Modern Love.

Following her 2018 solo debut »Paradise 94’« and countless collaborations in the time since, Railton’s diverse musical circles here bleed into each other, creating an insoluble testament to a lifelong pursuit of sound. The multi-instrumentalist further articulates her own tonal register, embracing her solo strengths and trusting the process to reveal vulnerable and compelling emotional facets through a fluid mix of composition, and pure expression.

On the simplest level, »Corner Dancer« is a record that revels in the momentum of creation. Through a range of approaches, Railton gradually loosens her grip and allows her identities to expose themselves; cut to the bone, sinew and spirit of music making. Reaching outside tried and tested zones, she lands at a charged space characterised by unmetered pacing and an embrace of imperfection, using cello, viella (a medieval cello), Buchla, 808, a fan, synths, horse hair whips, a hand held harp and her own voice, across 8 tracks that arc from an opening sequence of ruptured asymmetries, to something bordering the sublime on »Blush Study’« the album’s masterful closing flourish.

In between, Railton invokes psychoacoustic, heady spins and repetitions, while also allowing space for live performance, a mode to which she feels most attuned, and here captured best on »Held in Paradise« (her violin debut) and »Rib Cage«.

Collapsing boundaries, Railton harnesses a lifetime of formal training in order to patiently trace more ambiguous, intimate and sometimes deviant shapes, operating to a fuzzed logic that loops back to themes with an ingenious underlying dramaturgy of energies, dismantling the form from the inside out, in a way that bends through feeling, rather than design.

Fixed Abode labelhead Rainy Miller met Space Afrika through regular nights he runs at Salford’s The White Hotel, a hub for leftfield electronic music. What started out as an idea for a collaborative EP between Rainy and Space Afrika turned into a longer form project, with features from Mica Levi, Coby Sey, Richie Culver, Voice Actor and Iceboy Violet, amongst others. ‘A Grisaille Wedding’ is an immersive experience that fills the space these artists have come to dwell in during their creative journeys. It not only pushes the boundaries of music but also bridges regional dialects within the conversation of contemporary electronic music. Rainy Miller: “‘A Grisaille Wedding’ is a project based in the personification of the semi-fictitious world that Space Afrika have come to build over the years. Using musique concrete and British soundscapes, I wanted to fuse the sonic with both noise and the contemporary.” Space Afrika: “The record’s title figuratively describes the marriage of two similarly motivated perspectives, each affected by a common backdrop and familiar ground tread amongst the scrimmage of urban sprawl, sombre, a boisterous landscape and clouds of uncertainty.” Rainy Miller’s 2022 solo album was included in 6 Music’s Albums Of The Year and Crack Magazine’s Best Albums Of 2022. Following the LP release, Rainy Miller and Space Afrika will be announcing joint UK and EU live shows taking place at the start of 2024. For fans of Actress, Dean Blunt, Lee Gamble, Loraine James